[ Ah, he's actually too good at this adult thing, using his name to hush him. It's a silence that lingers on a little longer after Alvin's done too, his hands having found each other and a thumb rubbing at the ash covering his palms, sometimes pausing to just sit and press into his skin.

He's trying to think, but it's hard to do that with the pressure of the topic and the noise and people of the city so obviously present. Shoulders still hard yet arms like jelly--


--What did Alvin even say, again?

No, he's sure he remembers the general gist of it. It's only been a few seconds. Don't keep it to yourself, don't self-destruct... ]

I won't-- [ .... ] I can't keep it to myself. That's not going to work. People know.

[ One more than Red had figured would. His fingers curls in and trap his thumb, and he moves them closer to himself. Out of sight. ]

But there's things I have to figure out for myself too. You know. I have to... I can't avoid it, and I can't just think about it all day either. [ That's a sure way to upset the emotional balance of the land. ] I have my pokémon to think about too. They... I'm not the only one.

[ His lips tighten together, eyes even tighter, in a long moment when his heart drops further than he could've anticipated. All this time he was trying to explain himself, but it was all a fumbling mess once it reached his own ears. Nothing sounds convincing, and it makes it difficult to just drop it right there.

So he inhales through his nose again. Takes a moment. Goes in as evenly as he can manage, and clearly stressed: ]

We need time.