It's only a little broken glass. No great harm done.
[She's aware, of course, that that's probably not what he meant — certainly not what he's apologizing for. But it seems kinder, for the moment, to avoid remarking on his sadness and distress. Better, perhaps, to keep from calling attention to it, lest it come back in force. Better, instead, to remain calm herself, in the hopes that he can follow her to find a calm of his own.]
Did your hand slip, when you were filling it?
[She doesn't take her hands off of him. She won't, not when that connection is his lifeline to knowing she's still there. One hand comes to settle on his arm, near his elbow, while the other leaves his chest and skims back up to pet at his hair.
She tries to make it idle, incidental, kind when her fingertips drift down to gently brush his tears away. She doesn't know if it works.]
no subject
[She's aware, of course, that that's probably not what he meant — certainly not what he's apologizing for. But it seems kinder, for the moment, to avoid remarking on his sadness and distress. Better, perhaps, to keep from calling attention to it, lest it come back in force. Better, instead, to remain calm herself, in the hopes that he can follow her to find a calm of his own.]
Did your hand slip, when you were filling it?
[She doesn't take her hands off of him. She won't, not when that connection is his lifeline to knowing she's still there. One hand comes to settle on his arm, near his elbow, while the other leaves his chest and skims back up to pet at his hair.
She tries to make it idle, incidental, kind when her fingertips drift down to gently brush his tears away. She doesn't know if it works.]