That kind squeeze to her hand is awfully nice right now, warm and grounding. Ah, look at her--she hadn't wanted to make Shinji comfort her, especially when this was surely hard enough on him, but she was a mess anyway.

Pulling a tight little smile, she looked sidelong at him. "I didn't like the thought of him out there on his own before, but somehow, seeing him and then watching him go out there again... for some reason, I hate it even more now. You know?"