[ It's late when he decides to venture down the stairs. Late enough that it's pitch black in the stairwell and he has to light the way with his tablet to land his steps right without falling down there instead. In the past, when it had come to Tadashi... and when it had come to Cloud especially, he'd been in the bad habit of closing off. Of shutting down and grieving alone, blaming himself.
The blame's still there. But if there's anything Hiro had reminded him of, it's that he can't fall apart on them. That if a kid half his size with no claim to combat experience can bravely take a death blow for him, this should be nothing to him. It... has to be. Doesn't mean it doesn't hurt like hell.
But... they're hurting like hell, too. And he's gotta...
The last step feels like it echoes, even if it doesn't. He swings the tablet around, heart lurching in his chest as light bounces off the broken glass of the display case, as it lances across the empty spot on the wall where he knows used to house the very thing that aided Jim to damnation. Softly, throat tightening, he calls out: ] Zell?
for that other idiot who almost got himself killed, too
The blame's still there. But if there's anything Hiro had reminded him of, it's that he can't fall apart on them. That if a kid half his size with no claim to combat experience can bravely take a death blow for him, this should be nothing to him. It... has to be. Doesn't mean it doesn't hurt like hell.
But... they're hurting like hell, too. And he's gotta...
The last step feels like it echoes, even if it doesn't. He swings the tablet around, heart lurching in his chest as light bounces off the broken glass of the display case, as it lances across the empty spot on the wall where he knows used to house the very thing that aided Jim to damnation. Softly, throat tightening, he calls out: ] Zell?