A sigh slowly escaped Zero once Rebecca began to speak again, a tiny smile cracking across his scarred face. He gently continued brushing her hair with his fingers, voice coming through much softer now that he had her attention. “Y’did fine little Berry, combat isn’t a one time adjustment.” He was hoping to placate her in this moment, and was struggling to find certain words, “You…You made it to the end at least, that’s better than X can say.” He was spouting nonsense, but he hoped she might laugh at least.
That was a fairly sporadic fight, nothing Zero wasn’t used to, but it escalated quickly so it didn’t surprise him that she had frozen up. He was simply worried that she’d been struck too hard or something.
She quietly listened to what Zero said, nodding quietly as shaky hands grasped onto his own.
“Y-Yeah…”
She didn’t seem that hurt, but she lowered her head, swallowing dryly as she looked at the cracked ground for a moment, cycling in air. She was calming down now, especially since Zero was helping.
There was a twist of shame in her stomach though, she should have been better, she shouldn’t have frozen up.
But she knew she couldn’t have helped it. She absently squeezed Zero’s hands and leaned into the touch.
Back in the Game 