[ Oh, no, he absolutely figures Todoroki isn't joking. His demeanor was far too frank for even a poker face. And that's honestly what made him laugh and appreciate it as he did: that it was so genuine, that ironic concern. How could he not be fond of that?
Unfortunately, it's short lived. They're arriving back at the area, and Allen's demeanor quickly sobers. The smell has returned, and this time he keeps both an eye ahead and one on Shouto as well. To take in his reaction this time and not make the same mistake as before.
To offer a quick, reassuringly firm and grounding squeeze of the hand with his one good one if it looks like his emotions might falter.
Especially when they get close enough to see the broken remains of the akuma's previous evolution, the arms that had been pulling their way from its eyeball had morphed into various staged of half-formed other, more humanoid creatures. Stacking up upon themselves like tortured monsters reaching towards the sky, frozen and statuesque, until the giant statue of a fully human woman finally peels upward and out of them. Bent backward with her arms now limp behind her like a grotesque sacrifice to the moon above --
-- and her swollen belly shattered open, empty save for smoke pouring from it. ]
It's already been born... [ It's murmured uneasily, and even someone like Allen sounds unsettled by it. He didn't know how long it might take; he'd missed that part before. But he tenses suddenly, head snapping to look towards the base of the statue's legs.
Nothing yet in sight, but not even a fraction of a second later... there's an eerie, disconnected giggling. ]
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Unfortunately, it's short lived. They're arriving back at the area, and Allen's demeanor quickly sobers. The smell has returned, and this time he keeps both an eye ahead and one on Shouto as well. To take in his reaction this time and not make the same mistake as before.
To offer a quick, reassuringly firm and grounding squeeze of the hand with his one good one if it looks like his emotions might falter.
Especially when they get close enough to see the broken remains of the akuma's previous evolution, the arms that had been pulling their way from its eyeball had morphed into various staged of half-formed other, more humanoid creatures. Stacking up upon themselves like tortured monsters reaching towards the sky, frozen and statuesque, until the giant statue of a fully human woman finally peels upward and out of them. Bent backward with her arms now limp behind her like a grotesque sacrifice to the moon above --
-- and her swollen belly shattered open, empty save for smoke pouring from it. ]
It's already been born... [ It's murmured uneasily, and even someone like Allen sounds unsettled by it. He didn't know how long it might take; he'd missed that part before. But he tenses suddenly, head snapping to look towards the base of the statue's legs.
Nothing yet in sight, but not even a fraction of a second later... there's an eerie, disconnected giggling. ]