“He's very sensitive,” he said, still cooing to the Jaeger for a few seconds longer before turning around and hugging his friend.

“Damn, you got way taller. I remember when you were going through recruitment. Now you have your own Jaeger and everything. I...I heard what happened to Leo when I landed. I'm sorry,” and he squeezed her a bit tighter.

He certainly didn't understand how it would feel to lose a co pilot, but he did understand losing friends. This Ranger thing was second nature to him now, and he lost plenty of fellow pilots, but Iris was young. Losing friends never got any easier, but coming back from it did. He had crying in the shower down to a science. It was a skill that he was sorry to know, and he felt even worse knowing how good his friend would eventually become at it. It was necessary.