Day 58: Lunch

[full_score]

Although it had been good to see his mom again, Claude entered the cafeteria with a dark expression on his face. He was glad she felt comfortable enough with him to share her experiences from last night, but that didn't make him any less angry at the military for using her to do their dirty work. Why couldn't those bastards clean up their own

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[sixth_attack]

Ignoring his gruel, Sechs returned Aigis' strained smile with an awkward lopsided one of his own. He was glad that Aigis was unharmed. Yet Sechs' relief to hear that the fellow droid had not fallen under the mercy of the institute's cruel traps was short lived. To Sechs' increasing apprehension, he was met with deep despair upon Aigis' face, flooding out whatever light and hope was left in her once bright blue eyes. As he listened to her pained words, Sechs' brain struggled over what to do, and most importantly, what to say.

"Your friends..." he murmured, recounting the emotions he felt when he learned of Forte's disappearance. Sechs cringed, his struggling smile listlessly fell back into a somber grimace. "Only one left...?"

Sechs found himself at a total loss for words. Damnit, he wasn't very good with situations like this! He badly wished to help his friend feel better, but the only way he knew how was through fighting, like attacking Aigis' tormentors and bringing back her friends... Yet things couldn't be solved with just his fists anymore. Sechs raked his brain for an alternative, trying to remember examples from others who dealt with conundrums like this, and his friend Kibitoshin immediately came to mind.

With a nervous gulp, Sechs slowly moved his chair closer to Aigis. Then with uncertainty in his face, he carefully raised his hand and gently rested it on the top of Aigis' chair behind her back. He wasn't sure if he was doing this right, but he wanted to somehow show Aigis that she wasn't alone...

"Hey, listen..." he said, his voice a soft rumble near Aigis' ear, "I'm here for ya..."

Scrambling to think of something to instill hope back into those deeply sad eyes, Sechs thought of his own theories of what occurred to Forte. "Maybe... maybe they found a way out and just haven't been able to get you back home with them yet...?" Sechs hesitantly suggested with the most reassuring smile he could muster on his grim face. That was the only reassuring thought Sechs had over Forte... If only he had something tangible to prove such an uplifting fate for those who had disappeared...

Sorry this took so long, I am failsauce ;;

[no_dont_go]

Aigis nodded at Sechs' half-muttered utterances. Yes, she was the only one left, that was certain. No more Minato, or Yukari, and certainly Junpei was gone too. So it was true, she was alone. So alone. The tearing of her emotions left her feeling raw around her heart. Heavy and burning inside, while cold on the outside. Knowing true emotion was hell. How could she ever have wanted this before now, she didn't even know.

There was a movement nearby. Aigis kept her eyes on her gruel, but she knew Sechs had moved closer. And his voice, it was clear in her ears as he spoke a soft reassurance to her. Here, for her.

The thought they maybe, maybe his words were true, that made her hopeful. But hope was dangerous. It made her feel safe when there was very little safety at all, if any. And it made her vulnerable. Maybe Sechs was here now, but would he be here tomorrow? And the day after? But even so, could she afford to completely give up on hope too? That was not an option.

Aigis looked up, her blue eyes wavering. "I... I am afraid." Her voice was soft, unsteady, but clear. "I do not want to lose to false hope but... but if I give up, then I will lose regardless."

His arm was around her. She hadn't realized that he had moved quite so close, but this was nice. Nicer than she would have thought before, to have another person so close after feeling so ripped apart. It was welcoming, maybe more-so than if today had been a 'better' day. Aigis tried to mimic his smile, and it probably came across just as strained as his own. But it was a smile, and she had managed it nonetheless. "Thank you, Sechs-san. I will... remember. To believe they are home. Because that is the best alternative." She swallowed a lump in her throat. "I cannot give up, for their sake. Right?"