"I am. The spirits on the boat are far from the first spirits I've encountered. I've dealt with both sides of the problem - the living and the dead alike. Bringing people messages from one to the other." ... And then there's the personal experience, but that's a topic for later.
He nods and lets the other cry it out a little before he speaks again. "We don't know each other that well, I know that. But you seem like the kind of person who would have done whatever he could. You might feel like blaming yourself, but at least you tried. You didn't stand by and let someone die, you tried to prevent it. The fact that you feel bad that you couldn't just proves the point that you're a decent person."
Bob lets out a quiet croak, hopping over and leaning carefully against Federico.
"I don't know the details and I don't need you to tell me if it'll be distressing. But if I've learned anything, it's that the living have to go on for the sake of the dead if not for their own sakes. There's too much that can be left undone. The dead don't want to leave it, but they have no choice. You need to pick up and move on. You have to make the world better than the one they left." He gives the other another squeeze, careful of his wings.
He swallows hard and takes a breath out of habit. "It's scary. The responsibility, but also... the hole they leave behind. Any decent person is saddened by the death of another. Grief doesn't make sense - not logical sense anyway. So allow yourself to feel your feelings and - and don't try to make sense of them. They won't, but that's okay." Tears prick at his own eyes - did anyone mourn for him when he died? He's pretty sure the answer is 'no'. But there's decent people in the world who care about other decent people. Part of his duty to the dead is to take care of the living, too.
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He nods and lets the other cry it out a little before he speaks again. "We don't know each other that well, I know that. But you seem like the kind of person who would have done whatever he could. You might feel like blaming yourself, but at least you tried. You didn't stand by and let someone die, you tried to prevent it. The fact that you feel bad that you couldn't just proves the point that you're a decent person."
Bob lets out a quiet croak, hopping over and leaning carefully against Federico.
"I don't know the details and I don't need you to tell me if it'll be distressing. But if I've learned anything, it's that the living have to go on for the sake of the dead if not for their own sakes. There's too much that can be left undone. The dead don't want to leave it, but they have no choice. You need to pick up and move on. You have to make the world better than the one they left." He gives the other another squeeze, careful of his wings.
He swallows hard and takes a breath out of habit. "It's scary. The responsibility, but also... the hole they leave behind. Any decent person is saddened by the death of another. Grief doesn't make sense - not logical sense anyway. So allow yourself to feel your feelings and - and don't try to make sense of them. They won't, but that's okay." Tears prick at his own eyes - did anyone mourn for him when he died? He's pretty sure the answer is 'no'. But there's decent people in the world who care about other decent people. Part of his duty to the dead is to take care of the living, too.