I meant to ask him a little more about it, today. [Thank goodness he's alive or that would've been awkward. But yesterday was... well. She knows.
He's quiet for a little while, then, just sitting with her, keeping her company. But eventually he speaks up again.]
Alex--I'm sorry to ask this now. We can talk about it later, if you'd rather. [Since she obviously has other things on her mind right now.] But... did you get a strange message earlier?
Okay. [He puts it away again, then reaches out--he pauses, letting her move away in case she doesn't want to be touched, but if she doesn't, he'll gently squeeze her wrist.] We'll deal with it another time.
just kidding, it's alex. she is so lost on how to reply to that, because sure jonas is doing better from cyoa but also setsu literally just died so it's like one step forward, ten steps back.
[It's a useless gesture, he knows--but he hates how little he can do for them. If there's anything at all, even just bringing them food and water so that she doesn't have to leave Jonas and Kazuki, he'll do it in a heartbeat.]
[ alex is not good at being looked after by adults, because it's never really happened before. so it had felt very, "oh, of course," that kaveh was just here to ask for information. and now he's asking after jonas. not that jonas isn't generally the top priority to alex, but her headspace is a little different right now. given that setsu was her teammate too. given the voice in her head.
so. of course. ]
You can message him yourself to ask. He'd probably appreciate it.
[He's quiet a little longer, then, just... lingering. Trying to keep her company without forcing comfort onto her. Grief is such a personal thing, after all; even within the same person, it changes from day to day. He knows that. He remembers, back when his father died, how wildly he'd oscillated between the desperate fear of being alone and the need to get as far away from the stifling attentions of well-wishers as he could. For all that he cares about her, he doesn't know what she'd prefer, and he doesn't want to upset her with well-meaning but ultimately grating gestures. Besides that, it's still... disorienting. Being yanked from one routine of death and thrust right back into another. If it's hard for him, he can only imagine what it's like for her.
After a little while:]
If you need anything from me tomorrow, just let me know. We'll be there for you.
We just want to know what happened to Setsu. That's all.
[ well, the good news is he certainly hasn't overwhelmed her with well-meaning gestures. but he is right that she's moody right now and difficult to work with, so that's not really his fault. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
I'm sorry.
no subject
[ ... ]
So who's voice is in your head?
no subject
...Punishing Bird, I think. It's got to be. You?
no subject
no subject
I hope he's alright.
no subject
no subject
[Or. "Real." Man, he really has no idea what happened to the facility after all that.]
no subject
[ yeah that's. a complicated thing. who knows. ]
Well, I think the real-real one is doing okay. Netzach said.
no subject
I meant to ask him a little more about it, today. [Thank goodness he's alive or that would've been awkward. But yesterday was... well. She knows.
He's quiet for a little while, then, just sitting with her, keeping her company. But eventually he speaks up again.]
Alex--I'm sorry to ask this now. We can talk about it later, if you'd rather. [Since she obviously has other things on her mind right now.] But... did you get a strange message earlier?
no subject
Yeah. The one with all the weird symbols. Did you get the same one?
no subject
[He digs out his phone, then shows her the message: it looks like this.]
This one, right?
no subject
no subject
[Setsu is more important.]
no subject
anyway he hasn't actually said anything about setsu, so. she just shrugs. why not keep talking about what there is to talk about. ]
The other group got the same one. Maybe one of them got the key to decoding it.
no subject
Mm, maybe. [...] Is Jonas...?
[He can't really say "better," today, because he obviously isn't going to be--but he wants to know how he's recovering from his own CYOA.]
no subject
just kidding, it's alex. she is so lost on how to reply to that, because sure jonas is doing better from cyoa but also setsu literally just died so it's like one step forward, ten steps back.
so she just doesn't say anything. i'm sorry. ]
no subject
...Can I bring him anything?
[It's a useless gesture, he knows--but he hates how little he can do for them. If there's anything at all, even just bringing them food and water so that she doesn't have to leave Jonas and Kazuki, he'll do it in a heartbeat.]
no subject
so. of course. ]
You can message him yourself to ask. He'd probably appreciate it.
no subject
[He's quiet a little longer, then, just... lingering. Trying to keep her company without forcing comfort onto her. Grief is such a personal thing, after all; even within the same person, it changes from day to day. He knows that. He remembers, back when his father died, how wildly he'd oscillated between the desperate fear of being alone and the need to get as far away from the stifling attentions of well-wishers as he could. For all that he cares about her, he doesn't know what she'd prefer, and he doesn't want to upset her with well-meaning but ultimately grating gestures. Besides that, it's still... disorienting. Being yanked from one routine of death and thrust right back into another. If it's hard for him, he can only imagine what it's like for her.
After a little while:]
If you need anything from me tomorrow, just let me know. We'll be there for you.
no subject
[ well, the good news is he certainly hasn't overwhelmed her with well-meaning gestures. but he is right that she's moody right now and difficult to work with, so that's not really his fault. ]