livestudioaudience | R4 Viewing Party - no crying til the end (if you can help it)

[Partial list of things that could have happened at this exact moment that Arianna would have found extremely upsetting:

that reaction

Arianna never thought seeing Yuuri like this would be an improvement, but it is, which just goes to show how bad it was before. Still, she withdraws her hand quickly, like someone who was just hissed at by a cat they were trying to pet.]

I... I do not...

[She doesn't know what to say. Now of all times, with Yuuri of all people, she can't think of so much as an encouraging syllable.]

[ And the worst part of it is that Yuuri quails too, just as upset by her own response as Arianna is. ]

I'm... I'm sorry. I just-- I don't--

[ ELOQUENCE 'R US HERE AT YOUR LOCAL SURVIVOR POOL TODAY ]

[NO NO NO SHE'S MAKING IT WORSE SHE DOESN'T WANT TO MAKE IT WORSE NOOOO]

Rii-san, I--

[

What are words?

She tries... reaching for her shoulder again? Cautiously? Seeing how she reacts?]

[ She doesn't flinch this time, which is a step up! But she doesn't look any less tense or unhappy. ]

I'm so sick of this. Of just sitting around and not doing anything b--but... this is all over already. It's already happened. So I can't do anything. None of us can.

[Oh hey, Arianna knows that feeling. She knows it perhaps excessively well, lately.]

It is not over. These events have already occurred, but we have already seen Dame Chloe appear with the other dead. There is still hope.

[ That isn't a comfort -- not like it used to be, because no matter where Kurumi and Miki are now, Yuuri's still failed them. Still been unable to protect them, just like always.

But. Maybe, just maybe, when they take this fight to the Network, she can do something then. Maybe eventually she can make up for failing them like she has. ]

... We'll get them back. Won't we? Kurumi and Miki-san and-- and all the others.

[ she doesn't sound determined or sure of herself or anything like that -- she sounds lost. ]

Won't we?

We will.

[Arianna doesn't sound determined, either, unlike a moment ago. It's just... a statement. This is what will happen.

She pulls Yuuri into a hug. Sorry, Ardyn, emergency sword training is a good idea and she'll allow her to go soon, but this is a very important hug.

It's important for both of them. Arianna can't fail her sister at a time like this. Her place in this little family they've found is all she has in this world.]

We will find where their minds are being kept, and reunite with Dame Cece, and all will be well again.

[ God. What has she ever done to deserve a sister like Arianna? Someone who's spent her whole life being strong for other people, who's been thrown into a hell like this but somehow -- she's still strong, still shining bright and holding Yuuri up when her own two feet won't do it.

She holds onto Arianna as tight as she can for a moment, so hard her arms ache. Whatever accident of fate decided they were going to end up together in this history, Yuuri's more grateful for it than she'll ever find words to say. ]

We will. I...

[ What can she say to Arianna, to let her know how much she's loved? How much Yuuri appreciates everything she does? There's nothing she can say or do to ever really convey it. Instead, all she can do is give a shaky sigh and an equally shaky smile as she pulls back. ]

... thank you. I don't know what I'd do without you.

...it is the same for me.

[What would she do without her Rii-san? What would she have done the evening after that first trial, if she'd had to stay strong for everyone all by herself? What would she have done when it finally came time to go back to the room where Mai belonged? Or after they rescued Ardyn and the others, when it was finally too much for her, who else could have picked her back up?]

I never wish to learn the answer.

R4 Viewing Party - no crying til the end (if you can help it)

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