Week 51: Neighbors, Season 3

"No, no, it's fine," the other woman replied, hastily. It was quite clear that she didn't blame Shinobu for anything and was scrambling to apologise for her own behaviour. "I'm just overreacting, is all." She paused for a moment. "So what have you been talking about with him?" Once again, she seemed to be trying to change the subject, and not very well at that.

"Oh, you know, stuff. He asked about my family, talked a bit about his own, he called you pretty... Just small talk, really," Shinobu replied with a shrug. "How about you? Got any siblings?"

Hugo's eyes narrowed as the two talked in Japanese, giving Shinobu a little wary glance. There was a playful little smile on his lips, however, and he continued to rock back on his heels. After a while he just watched whoever was talking, trying to listen for his name.

Silvia seemed to start to perk up slightly at Hugo's apparent compliment, but Shinobu's question quickly deflated her. "I...I used to," she said. Now her voice was shifting into sadness. "A brother. Yuki. But...they told me he died. In the tsunami." Her gaze moved towards one of the candles still burning on the floor, and her voice quietened even further. "I only found out when I got back to Japan."

Shinobu's face fell. "I'm sorry," she said, putting a hand on Silvia's shoulder in a comforting gesture, the playful tone gone from her voice. In that moment she'd forgotten the rule she'd learned while travelling around between ronin hotspots - if they don't bring up family, you don't bring up family. "Lots of people I know lost someone, or were that someone... Finding out that they hadn't even told you must have been... She shook her head. "Sorry for mentioning the subject."

Hugo noticed the change in conversation, and his brow furrowed. The temperature in the room seemed to drop sharply, and the little rogue was looking at a candle so sadly. With Silvia sitting on the floor and Shinobu sitting by her in a chair, the massive nuke felt out of place. He knelt, voice soft. "What are you saying now, bonita?" His eyes glanced from Shinobu to Silvia, slightly concerned and struggling to follow along.

"She asked what we were talking abut, I told her and asked if she has any siblings. Turns out her brother died in the tsunami," Shinobu replied, not mentioning the obvious possibility that they'd just been lying to cover something up. "Not the best topic of conversation..." There was an awkward pause, as Shinobu tried to think of a good way to move to talking about something else.

Hugo's brow furrowed heavily at Shinobu, though he didn't seem cross with her... Just upset for the news he just heard. Without asking for permission or even giving any obvious sign of his intent, the massive ex-Fed agent wrapped his massive arms around Silvia and pulled her close. His clothes felt heavy and weird, as if there were wires running under the fabric, but despite his strength, his movement were very tender. "I'm so sorry, picarita."

It was easy enough for Silvia to guess what Hugo was talking about, so she simply leant into Hugo's shoulder and sighed. Her eyes were still dry, but her expression was mournful. "I hadn't seen any of them for ten years," she said, quietly. "Hadn't spoken to any of them for three. And then I get back home, and have to wait two hours while they search through a database to tell me my family and friends are dead." She didn't even sound bitter, just speaking in a low monotone. "I mean, I was gone for long enough that I knew something might happen, but...I didn't realise it would be anything this big." She shook her head, as though trying to clear it, although she didn't move from her position resting on Hugo. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be bothering you with this. It's not your fault, and there's nothing you can do. You too," she added to Shinobu. "I'm sorry, I'm still a bit...shocked."

Hugo soothingly stroked Silvia's hair, voice quiet. "I am not bothered. Losing a brother is the worst thing I can imagine. You don't have to be sorry." The massive agent seemed pretty moved by the bad news. "I have two brothers myself, picara. My family is very important to me. If I could have found some way to support them back home, I probably wouldn't have left." He paused, and frowned to himself. He gave Silvia a tiny squeeze that would have knocked the breath of a non-agent. "Well, I wouldn't have gone so far away, to where I can't speak the language." He turned his face to Shinobu and inclined his head slightly, moving his eyes down to Silvia. After a moment it became very obvious he was trying to signal to Shinobu to hug the cartographer, too.

Shinobu picked up on Hugo's signal and left her chair to embrace Silvia, gently but meaningfully, to the degree that she could when Silvia was surrounded by the far larger Hugo. "Don't apologise, you haven't done anything wrong. Compared to some of the refugees I've seen since I left, I'm impressed by how much you've got it together. Any time you need someone to talk to, anything like that, just ask."

"Thank you," Silvia said, as she reached out to embrace both the other Agents - at least as well as she could while still leaning into Hugo's massive frame. It was one of the few pieces of English she had picked up, and she felt it appropriate to address both of them at once for once. "You've been a wonderful friend already," she said to Hugo, with a gratitude that was almost frighteningly sincere, and then turned to Shinobu. "You too, you've been wonderful already. I'm so glad we're starting together." There was a moment of silence as she simply leaned back, and then she addressed Shinobu again, her voice slightly lowered, almost conspiratorial. "Did he really say I was pretty?"

Moving his arm so he could put a hand on Shinobu's back, Hugo gave them both another 'small' squeeze before letting go. "No te preocupes, picarita bonita. I would want the same if our situations were reversed." Hugo slid a few steps away, crouching slightly, putting one of his hands on the ground between his legs to steady himself. "It is good to find people I get along with so soon into my arrival at a new corporation. And thank you, hermanita. My home town is in war, but I forget how bad the CCZ has gotten. And poor honey here needs friends."

"Yeah. Might just be one of those guys who likes to give out compliments, but he wasn't speaking to you or even in a language you can understand..." Shinobu muttered back, breaking from the hug.

"Well," she said in response to Hugo as he slipped back. "If there's anything I can offer you guys, it's friendship. New guys gotta stick together, right?"