004 Video; UN: Cuddlebunny

[lightthedarkness]

[Usually, Usagi would just make this a text, but this was for Rei.

She took a deep breath as she looks at the camera, her eyes red and swollen, her nose red as well. She offers a wet smile before it falls away completely.

She takes another deep breath.]

For those of you who knew her, Rei Hino went- went home.

[Her breath hitches on that last part but she gets it out without a single sob or tears. Rei would be proud. She's done her crying, though, in truth, she's likely to do more later. Usagi knows she'll see Rei again, their lives intertwined, but it doesn't make her loss hurt any less.

Usagi debates for a moment if she should say anything else, pressing her lips together, and then lets out a breath.]

I know she meant a lot to many of you and those of you who Rei loved, she loved you fiercely, I can say that with certainty. [Rei never loved by halves.

Usagi is silent for a moment and then nods. She leaves it at that, at a loss on what else to say.]

Comments

private;

[entreats]

[ Rei.. gone, huh? It felt like the other had been present for so long. Not just here, but back in Deerington too.. It makes this message feel almost weird.

But rather than focusing on that feeling, what Ange mostly can think about is the way Usagi looks as she's making the message. So obviously upset. So obviously having cried - and unsurprisingly so. Usagi cares so much about everyone, let alone the people from her own world.. ]

I know.. there's no right thing to say here.

[ Because nothing makes loss better. Not a single word. Ange knows that so well, yet staying quiet feels too cruel as well. ]

But you two are so close.. Maybe she'll show up on the shores again in no time.

Private;

[lightthedarkness]

She's one of the most precious people in my life. I've died and killed for her. And she's done the same for me. [She offers sincerely, grateful for the privacy.] Rei-chan... there's no one else like her. She's not just a safe harbor in stormy waters, she's practically a mountain to protect you from the storm. Rei-chan was unshakeable, calm and fierce and always honest. Rei-chan never sugar-coated anything, telling you exactly what you NEEDED to hear even if it wasn't what you WANTED to hear.

And I know I'll see her again because our lives and destinies are intertwined. But... but she's a thread in my heart, Ange-chan, and I can follow it and find her anywhere. But while the thread isn't broken, when I tug on it, it feels like I can pull and pull and pull until I have a whole bobbin of it.

But I can feel her missing.

Private;

[entreats]

[ For a moment Ange is quiet in the face of that admission. Not because it's awkward, but.. while she's so grateful that Usagi is actually sharing her feelings, rather than cropping it all up, Ange still isn't sure what to say in a situation where no words will help. Loss eats away at you like that.

But as she silently thinks, she can realise one thing. Usagi always seemed more at ease with physical comfort, right..?

... ]

I can come over right now, if you want. [ It's offered quietly, like she doesn't want Usagi to feel pressured into accepting it if she isn't ready for company. But Ange figures Usagi more often wants company than not, so she can offer it in case the other needs it. ]

Private;

[lightthedarkness]

I-I'm going to be... be really bad company. Just gonna cry the... the whole time. [Because she's a crybaby and one of her best friends in the damn universe is gone.]

Private;

[entreats]

Then you can cry on me.

[ There's no hesitation in saying that, at least. Usagi can cry on her if she wants to. It's not like Ange is very good company by nature, after all. She's pretty sure she will be better at just being some sort of hug-cry cushion rather than saying anything that'll actually help. ]

.. don't worry about the kind of company you are. I just.. want to help you.

[ Because it's so obvious that Usagi is having a hard time. ]

Private;

[lightthedarkness]

..........Alright. [Her voice is soft, a whisper. She doesn't want to be alone, but she also has a tendency to retreat so people can't see her break down. She locks herself away so she can scream, and yell, and cry. In private, she can be weak and selfish, and powerless.

Usagi lets out a breath.]

I just... the door will be open.

[entreats]

[ Honestly, it's not like Ange knows how hard this sort of thing is for Usagi. Especially with how much more social the other seems than Ange on a regular basis.. but it's not like she's totally discounting the possibility either, with how difficult it seems for Usagi to agree right now, and when Ange is very well aware of the trouble she personally has with this.

So there's an equally soft: ] Thank you.

[ Before it's followed up with-- ]

I'll be right over.

[ Which is not a lie in any way. Ange shuts down the feed, but mostly so she can immediately head on over to Usagi's place. With the door being open, she even lets herself in, starting to look around for the other. She softly calls out so the other can know it's just her. ]

Usagi..?

[lightthedarkness]

[Usagi is easy enough to find, or well, the ball of pink blankets and pillows that is Usagi-sized and sniffling softly, a hand reaching out for a tissue from the box on the table in the living room is easy enough to find. Usagi for her part is somewhere inside of it.

When she hears Ange come in a weak:]

T-Take off your shoes. [Follows. Even deeply depressed Usagi follows traditions in her home, house slippers waiting for Ange at the mat inside the door.]

[entreats]

[ Ange may be Japanese as well, but some traditions are entirely lost on her with how western her family can be. It's why she didn't even think about it, but listens to the voice coming from the blanket pile all the same, wordlessly walking back to take off her shoes and exchange them for the slippers, leaving the shoes behind on the mat.

It's then that she moves back to where she heard the voice coming from.

The girl squats down next to the blanket and pillow pile, at first just saying a soft: ]

.. Hey. I'm here.

[lightthedarkness]

[It would almost be something out of an introvert's horror movie, the way two arms reached out from the blanket and wrapped around Ange in a strange, blanket hug. Usagi's face was still covered but as she shifted to rest her head on Ange's shoulder, the blanket slipped away revealing the top of her head.]

Good... Don't leave. [She whispered.]

[entreats]

I'm not. [ Ange mumbles. It's like she doesn't want to make the volume of her voice rise too much when the other girl is whispering like this, seeming so vulnerable.

But she does mean what she's saying, even if she's saying it softly. She isn't going anywhere.

She shifts, slowly and carefully, like she doesn't want the other's hug to slip while she's moving. It makes all of this a little more difficult, but Ange manages to shift herself until she's sitting down on the furniture as well, giving Usagi a bit more of an easy chance to cling to her. ]

I'll be here with you for as long as you need me.