For inbound-outbound-angels, who wanted IngoxEmmet with the prompt being “loss”. God this was so much angst I’m sorry. ;n;
Ingo sometimes wondered if Emmet understood how life worked. Ingo had always thought Emmet innocent, but he was never prepared for something like this. Emmet was sweet and gentle and kind. He was more like a child than some children are. Ingo should have seen something like this coming. He should have tried to prevent it. But no, he had to play the father…had to make Emmet take care of the babies. They were his, after all. But Ingo blamed himself. He should have checked up on them. Then he wouldn’t have woken up at 3 am to the sound of Emmet crying.
Ingo ran into the living room to see Emmet sitting on the floor. A single lamp was on. Emmet’s head was down and sobs were escaping from his lips. He was cradling something in his hands.
“Emmet? What happened?”
Emmet didn’t look up. He shook his head and pointed to their Galvantula. It was backed up in the corner of the room, looking terrified and just as upset as Emmet.
“Gal?” Ingo’s frown deepened. He walked over to Emmet and kneeled by him. Immediately, Ingo saw what he was crying over. One of the many Joltik babies was in his hands, stomach up. Limp. “Oh. Oh, Emmet.” Emmet cried harder, hugging the baby Joltik to him. Ingo put an arm around Emmet’s shoulders. “Gal did this?”
“H-he didn’t mean to.” Emmet sputtered out. “They were playing, I think. The others are o-okay, though. I think…Gal shocked…” Emmet’s breathing hitched, and another sob rose to his lips.
“I’m sorry.” Ingo was at a loss for words. “…we can have a little funeral for him.” Ingo raised his hand to the limp Joltik, petting its stomach very lightly.
“Her.” Emmet muttered between sobs.
Ingo felt tears come to his eyes. He had known this baby…it was the one that got shocked by her brother. Before he knew it, his sobs had joined Emmet’s. It made sense, now. This one was the only girl of the litter. Ingo remember how excited Emmet was. He was going to dress her and put her into contests. He had loved this one more than the others--but he loved the others a lot too.
Wiping his nose, Ingo stood up. “Come on, let’s get her into a…restful place.” He helped Emmet up. Emmet had ceased his crying, but his nose was still running and his eyes were puffy. “It’ll be okay. She’s in a good place.” Ingo placed a kiss on Emmet’s forehead. “She didn’t suffer.”
Ingo called all their Pokemon, and they held a small funeral in their backyard. A coffee tin was used as a coffin. It wasn’t until 5 am that Ingo and Emmet made it back to bed. Emmet clung to Ingo as he fell asleep. Ingo, however, couldn’t sleep. He vowed that he would never let something like this happen again. Tears filled his eyes as he gazed at Emmet’s troubled face, wondering if he would ever be able to forget this dreadful morning.
