"Mom--"

The beginnings of panic start in Vanya as Grace struggles against her internal mechanisms. V can just see how it will go, catastrophizing in her head almost immediately: Mom will go haywire again, completely off kilter, the others will blame her, it'll be her fault, for bringing this up or for talking about it at all and - and, what, is she supposed to just feel guilty for everything, expect to take the blame for every little thing?

Or just the apocalypse?

But Grace gets the words out, and though she relaxes, Vanya has a death grip on her hand still, clinging. It's more for herself than it ever was for Grace, but V can't quite bring herself to let go. She wants to cry, ask if Grace really means it, just so she can hear it again. I'm proud of you for writing it. She never thought anyone would ever say that to her. Hell, not even her therapist could say it to her, give the praise in small pieces peppered with ways in which it may have just made everything worse. Like Vanya hadn't been able to see that for herself.

She sniffs, turning to drag her nose and eye against her shoulder, rather than letting go of Mom's hand to wipe them. "Are you okay?"