[video]

[pencilpremonition]

[Becca's been putzing with her PDA, so when she opens the door to Shion's room, it's already on, at a weird angle, but her voice is clear.]

Hey Shion, so what are you pla--

...Shion?

[The PDA clatters to the floor and lands at an angle, propped up against the wall. It shows an empty room and Becca on her knees, holding an upgrade ring and a memory charm. The video cuts out as she bursts into sobs.]

Comments

[action]

[afraid_of_my_shadow]

[Alex will come in behind her, putting his arms around her shoulders and taking her hand.] Shhh, [That's all he'll say for now, just trying to let Becca start to clam down. He hadn't yet even processed for himself why Becca was so upset. He wasn't thinking, just acting.]

[pencilpremonition]

[She turns and wraps her arms around him, cuddling into him and just sobbing for a while. Eventually she'll calm down, though, and pull back to wipe her face.]

[afraid_of_my_shadow]

[Alex rubs her back, pulling away just a bit to give her room to wipe her face. He looks around at the empty room, starting to really take it in.] Sh-Shion...

[pencilpremonition]

[holds out the memory and the upgrade]

[afraid_of_my_shadow]

[Alex rocks back so that he's actually sitting, moving his arms back to prop him up and looking like he was just hit with a brick.] Scheisse,

[He looks around at where Shion's things usually would be, only to see it bare. He could feel tears in his throat, but was still a bit to shocked to really start crying.]

[pencilpremonition]

[drops them in his lap and tries to pull him in for a hug and to cry on him]

[afraid_of_my_shadow]

[He lets her, holding onto her gently and finally staring to tear up as well.]

[pencilpremonition]

[Let's cry together!]

[afraid_of_my_shadow]

[It takes Alex a minute, but he falls into silent sobbing too, half of his own tears just from sharing in Becca's pain. He didn't know Shion half as well, but Shion had become one of his only real close friends here. He had started opening up to Shion, and that wasn't something Alex did with just anyone.]

[pencilpremonition]

[She cries with him until her tears are spent, just holding onto him tightly. Finally, she calms down, and she waits for him to do the same.]

[afraid_of_my_shadow]

[He calms himself as soon as she stops, tensing in her arms. He still wasn't used to crying in front of people and realizing that she had caught him crying still activated his knee-jerk reflex to hide that he was crying.]

[pencilpremonition]

[She pulls back a bit and looks into his eyes, smiling sadly for him. She reaches out, stroking his cheek gently.]

You're okay, Alex...

[afraid_of_my_shadow]

[Alex flinched at the touch, but then grabbed her hand, crying rather suddenly, and actually audibly this time.]

[pencilpremonition]

[She held still, letting him cry, and letting him take what comfort he needed. She'd go with any movements he made, if he wanted to move her hand around.]

[afraid_of_my_shadow]

[He just held her hand, curling into himself, making himself essentially a ball, crying far more than he expected to. It wasn't all because of Shion, but those tears opened floodgates he usually kept locked tight.]

[pencilpremonition]

[She squeezed his hand gently, then slowly scooted forward, trying not to spook him. She wanted to pull him into her arms, but if he started tensing she'd back off right away.]

[afraid_of_my_shadow]

[He didn't tense or pull away, he just let her hold him, leaning towards her only the slightest bit, but mostly remaining in his protective ball.]

[pencilpremonition]

[She kept a hold of him, protective and gentle. She wasn't going to let anything hurt him. Her own sadness had run its course, now she needed to focus on protecting Alex. She could do that.]