All Kai could do now was hold him close, pressing warm palms against his back. Those hot little drips were almost comforting-- there you go, let them out, he could carry that weight if it made Shinji lighter.

He didn't trust himself to say anything, so for the moment he didn't say anything at all. What could he even say, in face of all of that? The reality of the moment was already the worse, but all the implications of what came before and after were just as harrowing. And if that had been Shinji's lead up to here, where he'd just tried to put a brave face on... Fucking hell.

Dipping his head down against Shinji's, Kai just held him a little tighter and hummed tiny sounds of encouragement. He hadn't gone anywhere on that chilly midnight all those months ago, and he sure as hell wasn't going anywhere now if he could help it.