[For all that she's concerned about the implications of what he's so recently said, she can't help cracking a brief smile of her own. 'Not so bad' is more than she'd be willing to say of herself, but that doesn't mean she doesn't like hearing it. All she slips in on the subject is a quiet,]
I don't mind being here.
[Which feels like the natural thing to say, if only to address any aspect of that subject which might bother him. The more she thinks of it after the fact, the more she'll realize how true what she said is - but for now the next subject catches her attention and holds it.]
['Five--?' she almost echoes, her mouth shaping the word but voice never quite following up on it. Five? And all at the same time, no less. Well, it makes sense now why he might be a bit down; Naminé sort of deflates, herself, because she doesn't even have five people she could freely call friends but the idea of losing that many all at once may be all the worse for it. Horrified,] I'm so sorry...!
[-- Ah, but she can't go writing it off as a great loss that quickly, can she? After all, he did say he's still waiting, and that they might be back. Reminding herself of this, she straightens a little. Probably better not to linger on how awful this might turn out to be and focus on the facts. (That doesn't stop her from looking at him for a long moment with unmistakable sympathy, openly sad for his sake, but she tucks her chin a little and averts her eyes for the time it takes to sort her expression into something a bit less - noticeable. The frown sticks around, but it's smaller than before.)] Is it-- normal for them to take so many people at once?
no subject
I don't mind being here.
[Which feels like the natural thing to say, if only to address any aspect of that subject which might bother him. The more she thinks of it after the fact, the more she'll realize how true what she said is - but for now the next subject catches her attention and holds it.]
['Five--?' she almost echoes, her mouth shaping the word but voice never quite following up on it. Five? And all at the same time, no less. Well, it makes sense now why he might be a bit down; Naminé sort of deflates, herself, because she doesn't even have five people she could freely call friends but the idea of losing that many all at once may be all the worse for it. Horrified,] I'm so sorry...!
[-- Ah, but she can't go writing it off as a great loss that quickly, can she? After all, he did say he's still waiting, and that they might be back. Reminding herself of this, she straightens a little. Probably better not to linger on how awful this might turn out to be and focus on the facts. (That doesn't stop her from looking at him for a long moment with unmistakable sympathy, openly sad for his sake, but she tucks her chin a little and averts her eyes for the time it takes to sort her expression into something a bit less - noticeable. The frown sticks around, but it's smaller than before.)] Is it-- normal for them to take so many people at once?