This... had kind of been what the tension of the moment was building to, hadn't it? Even so, Shinji's caught a little off guard as Kai pulls him in close, and it takes him just a moment to recover from the surprise.

"It's okay," he mumbles softly, reassuringly, as he carefully threads his arms around Kai in return. This, absolutely, is not something he has much practice with - receiving and possibly returning a hug like this outside of getting tangled up in late-night cozy encounters simply hardly ever happened, but if this was needed as much as just seeing Shinji apparently was, he can do this, too. "If you're afraid and lonely, that's okay. I'm right here for you."

He's not about to run, or vanish. Here, he'll even lean up a little bit, up on to the balls of his feet, to make this position that much easier on Kai. There we go.