[Mmm. There's that pride again. Mettaton knows it well - if he was feeling particularly insightful, he could reflect on the fact that it was most probably the root of all his problems. And if he were interested in making Giorno look at himself, he'd say it out loud.

...Mettaton doesn't really feel like doing either. Instead, he draws in his knees and wraps his arms in tighter. He's like a gorgeous shield. Some sort of beautiful armor.]

I hope it's nice. And of course he's coming with me; I can't break his heart. [Heh.] Believe me. I've tried. Man has a rib cage of steel.

[Anyway.]

...to be honest, we put in the request to leave ourselves, [he explains, softly, his smile pained, yet bittersweet.] I... I've started to realize that my personal brand of cheer and regalement isn't... [Sigh.] It's not what Audentes needs. I need to be somewhere brighter. Somewhere I can actually help instead of failing to inspire empathy or being dragged into murderous paranoia. I understand the concept of needing to break a few eggs more than anyone knows, but...

[He shrugs.]

It's not for me. I can't do it anymore.