Cait’s reaction varies, based on what happened. If there is evidence of parents doing the best they can for their children, she will likely get very angry. Not at the loss of life, or at the way the family died or broke, but at how she never had a chance to know even a fraction of that kind of love from her parents and yet she was forced to suffer through it until they sold her. But this moment isn’t meant to be about her. This moment is about Sole, and how they can and have offered her that kind of love, and now it’s her chance to return it in the form of soft words and whatever else they need.

All Codsworth can do is be nearby, ready with a sympathetic audio input unit, snacks and jokes- both slightly dirty and family friendly. He understands how Sole must feel seeing or hearing about the families that were torn apart by war, and while he might not be able to hold them he really hopes that his presence will still be enough.

Curie understands tragedy more than people think she does. She spent two centuries of her “life” in a room filled with the same people every day, and she watched as they passed one-by-one until she was the only one left. She kept her processors sharp, however, by making up little stories about them and how their lives would have gone if things had been different. This is a trick she will attempt to use with Sole, in hopes of bringing a smile to their face eventually.

Danse is likely to miss the part where Sole is in obvious need of comfort at first, but not because he wants to be mean. He is simply caught up in his own feelings about the wars and tragedies that tore so many families apart that he fails to notice, at first, that it’s affecting Sole in a different way. Once he notices, he will feel rather ashamed to have allowed his anger to stop him from helping his friend first.

Deacon would sit quietly with Sole as they let the feelings roll until they feel ready to talk, and he won’t be giving them any choice but to talk about it. It’s obvious that it’s something more than just an upsetting scenario that has them in tears, and whether it’s for his own curiosity or to make sure he can help them later is up for debate, but either way he is respectful but persistent in getting them to talk.

Dogmeat does what Dogmeat does best: he offers comfort. Comfort might come in the form of cuddles and kisses, or it might be Sole finding his favorite teddy bear dropped into their lap mid-sob. There really isn’t much else that he can do for them, so whatever he can do you can bet he is giving his all.

Hancock would be just as upset about it all as Sole is, but he hides it better, too. After all, there’s no need for both of them being upset. He will offer them comfort and take some for himself without letting on that that is exactly what he is doing. If he somehow got caught out, or if Sole felt the need to apologize for showing emotion he might let on that he completely understands their pain. Until that moment, however, he will just be there for them as they work through their emotions in a safe space.

MacCready is angry, but not for the same reason as Cait. His anger comes from knowing that he is technically part of a broken family. A couple of them perhaps, given what little he remembers of his life before Little Lamplight. He is angry because seeing Sole break down and become nearly inconsolable was all the proof he needed that his story was indeed a tragic one. Basically, he finds himself stuck on the anger part of grieving, but in helping Sole understand that not all the stories had to have an unhappy ending, he might be able to work through the rest of the steps as well.

Nick would do his best to casually recount some of his old cases that actually had happy endings. Not all of them will be relevant to what Sole is upset about, but a good few of them, such as stopping an attempted abduction and being asked to be a godfather of at least one child, will hopefully bring a smile and a bit of hope back to Sole.

All Piper can do is offer Sole some words of comfort and a shoulder to lean on. If the two are in a relationship already, she might be a bit more intimate in her comfort, but if they aren’t then she will only go as far as they are comfortable going with her.

Preston feels the hurt as well, but he can push it all aside when it comes to caring for Sole. He can offer them a shoulder to cry on, an ear to talk into, and advice on how to push it all aside when the time comes to move on.

Strong doesn’t understand why Sole is upset until it’s put into the context of his brothers: Even if he didn’t know them personally, he almost certainly feels some kind of hurt when he sees them dead but then he remembers that it was their own fault for dying. They should have been stronger, they should have been smarter, they should have had a better leader. Strong stops himself just short of bringing this all up to an already distraught Sole, and just lets them grieve for people they had never even met.

X6-88 isn’t sure how to comfort Sole, but he will do his best to learn based on how they choose to comfort others. If they are into physical touch such as hugs or, preferably, hand tap, he will offer them the same. If they’re comfort language seems to be words of sympathy, then that is what he will give them. In the chance that he isn't sure how they prefer to comfort others, he will calmly tell them that what they feel is a good thing as it shows that they still have their humanity.

Ada has seen first hand how affected Sole can be by that kind of situation, and she is glad that her sympathy and empathy components are still working. She is not made of flesh and blood, but metal and plastic, yet she will do her best to offer physical comfort as well 

Old Longfellow offers his comfort in the form of a respectful silence and a shared bottle. If Sole wants to talk about what all is upsetting them, he will listen. But if they want to wait and see how long it takes them to reach the bottom of the bottle together, he is fine with that, too.

Gage doesn’t get it. It was centuries ago in some cases, and here the Overboss is bawling their eyes out over it. He is not saying that the Overboss shouldn’t feel any kind of compassion for anyone- that’s just one of the many things about Nisha that scares the Hell out of him- but he thinks that perhaps they should hold off on showing so much emotion until it can be just the two of them.

Mags is almost disgusted by it. Or so she tells herself. One must take into consideration the life that she had lived before forming the Operators and how that may have shaped her opinion on how important such families are. She has William and Lizzie, her brother and her best friend, what more does she need in that aspect? Why is it so hard for her to get the Overboss’ tears over the stories of families long gone out of her mind? Perhaps talking about it for just a little while wouldn’t hurt after all?

Mason gets it. He really does. But he also knows that such things should be dealt with privately. Tears are a sign of weakness, and being weak makes you prey. But at the same time, you shouldn’t hold it all in. The more you hold it back, the more likely it is to burst later, and usually at the most inopportune time. He would tell them to leave, get themselves together, then come back to the pack to talk to him later, unless perhaps they wanted to go somewhere more alone with him for a while?

Nisha would find the tears and sorrows useless and even pathetic, but she would also understand where the Overboss is coming from. Families get broken and lives are lost, but the survivors must do what they have to do to move on and continue living or risk joining the others. She won’t say this in such harsh words to the Overboss, especially if they already seem particularly upset, but she will hint that she used to feel that way herself and that once she was able to turn that part of herself off she did a lot better.

Scribe Haylen would pull Sole aside, no matter if they were taking a break on the field or hanging out elsewhere, to make sure they have a moment to get it all out at once. Haylen will admit that the stories still get to her even after that time of hearing them, but she takes personal comfort in knowing that even if they aren’t already together yet, they will be soon in one way or another. She hopes that Sole can see it that way as well, and that it will bring her some comfort in the end.

Debby is sobbing right beside Sole, offering comfort in whatever way she can so long as she gets some back. Even after the initial break-downs, her hugs seem to linger just a little longer, and her smiles are a little more knowing. It seems that whatever she and Sole had faced while talking about the broken families they know of had helped her a lot, and she had hopes that they had helped Sole, too.