"I can't stop you from worrying," because Kai definitely worried over the exact same thing, "but I'd be glad to prove you wrong whenever you want me to." Whatever that might entail. Kai didn't know. He just knew that this thought Shinji was holding on to was fundamentally incorrect.
"Even if there's a better person out there, they're not you."
Time for Shinji to once again bury his face in Kai's shoulder, this time more securely wrapping his arms around him as if to emphasize that 'not wanting to let go' point all that much more. "Thank you," he murmurs. Even if he still has trouble letting go of that particular worry, the reassurances are always welcome. "You really are good to me, you know that?"
So just... let him stay here for another moment or two.
His shoulder was all his for as long as Shinji wanted it.
Kai gave him a squeeze before he went back to threading his fingers through his hair. "I sure hope so," he murmured back fondly. "Wanna give you my best." Shinji deserved way better than that, but he wasn't the only person here that didn't want to let go.
"Promise I'll be upfront if I want anything. You'll know."
Edited (wrote that different) 2021-02-04 02:11 (UTC)
On the contrary, Shinji's positive that this is so, so much more than he deserves. He's going to hang on to it as long as possible, though, as long as Kai will have him.
For now, he takes the opportunity to just... bask in reassuring and pleasant this moment is. He keeps his arms wrapped tightly around the other, and after a handful of seconds settled quietly in like that, he takes a deep breath and loosens his hold, just a bit.
"Thank you," he starts, nice and soft and sincere, "I'm... I'm feeling better now. This helped, a lot."
Kai let out a soft, relieved sigh across Shinji's hair. Thank goodness. This had been quite the emotional adventure that he hadn't known to anticipate. This was a good conclusion though, and an educational one at that. Very valuable lessons were learned today, from not assuming things would be fine from the get-go to making sure Shinji got all those extra reassurances he was so good at giving Kai.
"Really glad it did. 'M sorry I made you worry so much in the first place."
"It's okay," he'll reassure Kai of this as many times as he needs as well. Whatever feelings were stirred up on his end, it's nothing he feels the need to really blame either Kai or Kyoko for. "I had... a really strong feeling that talking with you would ease that worry."
That trust paying off is quite a reassurance on its own.
"I should... go let Kyoko know that everything's all right."
Hearing that brought Kai a little bit more relief. As long as they could talk things out like this, things would be fine probably. He just had to be mindful of his promises.
"Ah... yeah, I'm sure she's worried. She'll definitely want to hear it from you."
Which meant it was finally time to let Shinji go. Giving him another little squeeze, Kai eased his hold. There was one more kiss planted right there on his noggin.
"I didn't see a cake, but that doesn't mean she didn't go all out on dinner."
Ah. That's entirely possible. He's not confident that he wouldn't be shoo'd right out of the kitchen if he offered to help under these circumstances, but she at least deserves to know there aren't any hurt feelings floating around out there.
"I'll see if I can stop her from going any more overboard with it than she already might have."
Unlikely, but he may as well try, right? Before he lets go of Kai completely, however, Shinji leans up once more to return that kiss, brushing a quick, soft one onto Kai's cheek. One more reassurance, one more sincere display of affection to really cement the idea that everything will be fine.
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"I can't stop you from worrying," because Kai definitely worried over the exact same thing, "but I'd be glad to prove you wrong whenever you want me to." Whatever that might entail. Kai didn't know. He just knew that this thought Shinji was holding on to was fundamentally incorrect.
"Even if there's a better person out there, they're not you."
no subject
Time for Shinji to once again bury his face in Kai's shoulder, this time more securely wrapping his arms around him as if to emphasize that 'not wanting to let go' point all that much more. "Thank you," he murmurs. Even if he still has trouble letting go of that particular worry, the reassurances are always welcome. "You really are good to me, you know that?"
So just... let him stay here for another moment or two.
no subject
Kai gave him a squeeze before he went back to threading his fingers through his hair. "I sure hope so," he murmured back fondly. "Wanna give you my best." Shinji deserved way better than that, but he wasn't the only person here that didn't want to let go.
"Promise I'll be upfront if I want anything. You'll know."
no subject
For now, he takes the opportunity to just... bask in reassuring and pleasant this moment is. He keeps his arms wrapped tightly around the other, and after a handful of seconds settled quietly in like that, he takes a deep breath and loosens his hold, just a bit.
"Thank you," he starts, nice and soft and sincere, "I'm... I'm feeling better now. This helped, a lot."
no subject
"Really glad it did. 'M sorry I made you worry so much in the first place."
no subject
That trust paying off is quite a reassurance on its own.
"I should... go let Kyoko know that everything's all right."
no subject
"Ah... yeah, I'm sure she's worried. She'll definitely want to hear it from you."
Which meant it was finally time to let Shinji go. Giving him another little squeeze, Kai eased his hold. There was one more kiss planted right there on his noggin.
"I didn't see a cake, but that doesn't mean she didn't go all out on dinner."
no subject
"I'll see if I can stop her from going any more overboard with it than she already might have."
Unlikely, but he may as well try, right? Before he lets go of Kai completely, however, Shinji leans up once more to return that kiss, brushing a quick, soft one onto Kai's cheek. One more reassurance, one more sincere display of affection to really cement the idea that everything will be fine.
"Hopefully it won't take too much convincing."
He. Will see.