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[He rounds the end of the couch, and...

...for the love of Grimoire, Raven.

Ondorus sucks in a startled breath and mutters something to the still-hovering Sanja. The Munna shoots across the room and up the stairs, and Ondorus walks the last few steps to his intended seat.

It's obvious what happened - he'd been out there, too. But Raven-

-the Pokeball-

-ah.

Well. That was heart-chilling to think about.

Is there any safe way to break the silence? Hurry up with that first-aid kit, Felix...]

[Something flares into her eyes when he gasps, and she manages to look at him once, fierce.]

I didn't try for this.

[She didn't go walking into trouble or try to rescue someone when it was clear she was at a disadvantage or even not run when running was the better option.

It just took that long to get away.]

I can imagine. [There's a growing expression of worry on his face as he thinks about that mad dragon's lunge. There were two others, weren't there...

Ondorus looks up at a noise from the stairs, cringing when he sees his Audino running down them at a breakneck pace. Sanja follows, floating down the stairwell with a bag hanging from her trunk.]

[By now, she's familiar with his pokémon, so she doesn't pull away quite as far as she might have otherwise. Everything hurts and she will be quite satisfied if no one touches her. Just leave her be to stare at the carpet pattern and take off-beat shaky breaths.

There's no chance of that, is there? Raven knows better.]

They'll hate me.

["They"? Maybe...]

No. It'll be okay.

[Ondorus says it in as calm a tone as he has, while beckoning the pair of Pokemon over. Sanja drops the bag at Raven's feet, and floats over to Ondorus with a low coo. Felix totters towards Raven and climbs up onto the sofa next to her, dragging the bag up with him and pulling a pack of antiseptic wipes out of it. He looks Raven over, his ears fluttering in concern.]

[For all her newly-discovered actual humanity, Raven looks an awful lot like a cornered bird when she stares back at Felix. The instinct to run - from friends, at that, or what passes for friends to someone who won't allow herself to have them - is just beaten out by her inability to stand back up at the moment.

But her words address Ondorus.]

They will. I couldn't help them.

And it's no fault of yours.

[Ondorus prays his assumptions are correct, because he's running on guesswork trying to reassure Raven.

The Audino steps forward and very gingerly hugs her arm, babbling softly. A soft glow plays around him for a moment - Refresh. Not a proper healing move, but just in case.]

It is. [Aren't you listening?] I can't-

[The hug makes her wince, but the feeling that follows after it successfully cut her off. That was...

...He can do that? To people?

A very tentative, ungloved hand reaches across to rest on Felix's head.] I'm sorry.

[Felix hums contentedly, then gently takes Raven's hand off his head and grabs an antiseptic wipe to clean it off.]

He wants to tend to your injuries. [Please let him.] You're far from the only person who was unequipped to face that attack. That was likely the idea behind it in the first place.

[She doesn't pull away from Felix, for the time being. Though she does believe she deserves to look like this.]

Who did this?

I haven't the faintest. Rocket, likely.

[Felix tugs on Raven's sleeve. Take off the jacket or pull your arm out or something, he's nowhere near done.]

[She's especially careful with taking off her coat. It looks...practically unsalvageable. Raven winces again, at the loss of something that tied her to home. As if she hadn't lost enough already.]

Them again. Did you see the market? [She was in it, but can hardly remember exactly what she saw. Ondorus limped in here, though, and it finally hit her that he must have gotten involved somehow.]

[Ondorus is thinking the same thing, as he eyes the coat. He's glad he'd been wearing his winter outfit and not his cape from home. He could always patch it up, but...hm. Maybe he should try to fix up Raven's jacket.]

I passed through it. Gunther and I ran into the Salamence, closer to the Pokemon Center.

[Felix goes about slathering her arm in wipes, antibacterial cream, and band-aids.]

[Salamence evokes the image of that particular giant and Raven inhales, shuddering. With any luck (which she never does have) they'll think it was from being put back together instead. When she collects herself again, Raven swallows hard.]

That's where my monsters are.

[His assumptions were right on the money, then.

The reaction doesn't go unnoticed, though Ondorus doesn't say anything about it. He just nods.]

Then they're going to be alright.

I couldn't help them. ...They won't want to come back.

[And thus will Raven lose yet another round of friends, all at once. She twitches away from a well-meaning Audino hand trying to clean her face.]

What if they're not?

Raven, they're not just your combat partners. Melody and Crimsone and the others - they're your friends. They won't discard you over something like this. I know you wouldn't.

[Felix goes for her face again, undeterred. He is an Audino on a mission.]

[At least it's a worthwhile mission. She won't pull away a second time.

Staring down at her hands again seems like the best thing to do. She hasn't been able to look Ondorus in the eye since that first moment. It takes a very long look for her to realize the truth about how shaky she is; both hands close into loose fists almost immediately after.

Maybe they are her friends. She tried to treat them like friends. Then she put them in real danger without thinking of how bad it might be.

The circle of beating herself up about it, of feeling undeserving of even these kindnesses here, is just going to continue. Raven knows that and she doesn't know how to stop it. Doesn't particularly want to.]

But I couldn't help them. [When she tried, nothing happened, and suddenly she was both powerless and no longer quite herself.]

You kept Melody safe from that blizzard, didn't you? Sometimes things happen that are out of your control, and that's no one's fault.

[He should get her some hot chocolate or tea or something. Raven looks like she could use something warm...getting up right now wouldn't help anything, though.

You don't under-

[Stop. He does understand, doesn't he? Kind of, right, because he-

When she looks up, quickly enough to make her own head spin a little, she looks right past the concerned face and glasses at the spot where his horn used to be.

He probably does, indeed, understand. This is not the way she would have wanted this to ever come up. With anyone. Maybe in this one case, though, it wouldn't be...terrible.]

I'm human too.

[For the first few seconds after Raven says that, the meaning of it soars happily over Ondorus' head. He looks puzzled. Then the puzzled expression changes to one of thought, then of realization.

Oh. Oh.

It makes sense now - Ondorus remembers very clearly the sense of clumsy uselessness at not being able to do so much as start a fire, the frustration at standing back while Olivia tussled with a Sentret. Dwarves didn't tend to take to magic, but maybe...or maybe even...

...no, that was reaching. It would answer some questions, but...

It doesn't matter. Whatever it is exactly that Raven's lost, it's scared her.]

...As are we all.

[He gets it.

Felix gives Raven another light arm squeeze.]

I wanted to help them. [But she couldn't transform, not even a little bit. Not one single feather.] I shouldn't have tried to fight but we were trapped.

[Some part of her knows he probably hasn't guessed. Raven doesn't count explaining herself in words as a strong point.]

You did the best that you could. [Even if he wasn't there to see what happened, Ondorus can say that much with confidence. It's clear just how much Raven cares about her own little cadre of monsters.] Don't blame yourself.

[A quick headshake.]

They deserve somebody better.

[She regrets that right away, and it shows, but she can't take it back. She just isn't herself right now; it took her this long to notice that Felix hugged her again.]

But it's you they want. Melody truly cares about you, Raven. That's more important than who is or isn't the strongest.

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