[ On some level, Levi'd rather expected Petra to cry--he'd steeled himself for it earlier on, and had rather let his guard down as it seemed like she'd been doing so well to hold herself together. It's true that Levi is emotionally stunted; he's spent his life without the right skills and tools to cope with, tolerate, and sort through his own emotions--but that hardly meant that they weren't there. Still, a discomfort rises in him at the sight of her tears; fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
He doesn't know what to do. He doesn't panic--Levi has long exercised his inhibition in the face of anything that should make him feel anxious, worried, or in danger; however, his own inability to identify and quantify his emotions puts him in a terrible place for being, well, comforting.
His features are twisted into a sort of pained frown. Purrloin is making a distressed sound momentarily before she sits up and begins to rub her face against Petra's hands and legs--anything she can reach, really, in an attempt at comfort. What is happening?? Did Levi make you cry? Why is this guy so bad at social interaction??
Levi swallows. He takes a breath and his eyelids flutter as he works to consider his options. After a moment, he's moving closer to her, as though he realizes that's Step One of Human Interaction. Purrloin doesn't lift her head from Petra; all of her attention has shifted to the woman, now, even as Levi is reaching out to place a hand on Petra's shoulder. He's silent--he doesn't know what to say, and he has a brief moment of clarity that grants him the realization that yeah, you'd probably fuck this up more if you tried to open your mouth.
So instead Levi is moving to get closer to her in his effort to help her with her tears in the only real way he can presently come up with--he's trying to dismiss his own discomfort so he can focus on hers, but it's difficult. There's a second at which he hopes he's not just made her worse off and his fingers tighten slightly against her shoulder. ]
Hey.
[ Should he hug her? he wonders. That's what people do, right? This is a rather exceptional circumstance, after all. You don't often get the opportunity to speak to someone whose death you witnessed -- whose own death they're now trying to cope with. Levi's still frowning, even as he reaches for her other shoulder with his opposite hand. He grasps her shoulders a bit tightly and he pulls her forward to close the distance between them as Purrloin hurries to move out of the way.
Levi slides one arm around Petra's shoulders as he tries to abruptly pull her close in a momentary hug. It's stiff and awkward; he never does this, really, so it's not like he's had any practice. Situations have never called for it until this moment, if he's honest with himself. His voice is still stern, strained but sincere, when he speaks. ]
oh noooo my heart omfgfjlskj
He doesn't know what to do. He doesn't panic--Levi has long exercised his inhibition in the face of anything that should make him feel anxious, worried, or in danger; however, his own inability to identify and quantify his emotions puts him in a terrible place for being, well, comforting.
His features are twisted into a sort of pained frown. Purrloin is making a distressed sound momentarily before she sits up and begins to rub her face against Petra's hands and legs--anything she can reach, really, in an attempt at comfort. What is happening?? Did Levi make you cry? Why is this guy so bad at social interaction??
Levi swallows. He takes a breath and his eyelids flutter as he works to consider his options. After a moment, he's moving closer to her, as though he realizes that's Step One of Human Interaction. Purrloin doesn't lift her head from Petra; all of her attention has shifted to the woman, now, even as Levi is reaching out to place a hand on Petra's shoulder. He's silent--he doesn't know what to say, and he has a brief moment of clarity that grants him the realization that yeah, you'd probably fuck this up more if you tried to open your mouth.
So instead Levi is moving to get closer to her in his effort to help her with her tears in the only real way he can presently come up with--he's trying to dismiss his own discomfort so he can focus on hers, but it's difficult. There's a second at which he hopes he's not just made her worse off and his fingers tighten slightly against her shoulder. ]
Hey.
[ Should he hug her? he wonders. That's what people do, right? This is a rather exceptional circumstance, after all. You don't often get the opportunity to speak to someone whose death you witnessed -- whose own death they're now trying to cope with. Levi's still frowning, even as he reaches for her other shoulder with his opposite hand. He grasps her shoulders a bit tightly and he pulls her forward to close the distance between them as Purrloin hurries to move out of the way.
Levi slides one arm around Petra's shoulders as he tries to abruptly pull her close in a momentary hug. It's stiff and awkward; he never does this, really, so it's not like he's had any practice. Situations have never called for it until this moment, if he's honest with himself. His voice is still stern, strained but sincere, when he speaks. ]
It's fine. It's all right.