Alick lay crying for several long minutes more before the sound of arguing outside brought him out of it. He still felt like crying, but he felt forced to collect himself, should the situation escalate further. He could hear the cranky old crone at the counter shouting something, and it didn't seem to have exactly calmed things down. When the condition intensified for a short burst, he sat up on the bed and was about to get up and see if he needed to help, but then it quickly calmed down. Alick could faintly hear a guy shouting "Hey, why are you arresting me too, he's the one who..." the rest inaudible through the other noise. Part of Alick wanted to just keep crying, but with the moment gone, and his facade back up, he ended up not doing it.
He looked back at Fia, who seemed a bit distant, but otherwise fine. Part of him admired her fortitude, but he was growing increasingly worried she was merely good at bottling stuff up. She'd had a reaction earlier, but compared to him, she'd hardly cried at all. Alick was a bit ashamed of that, but even so, his was a fairly natural reaction, wasn't it? After a short moment of deliberation, he decided to act on his hunch. He reached over, resting his hand firmly on her shoulder. "Hey, you can cry too, you know? Won't think less of you for. Promise."
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