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[When Wesker didn't contact him a day ago he was worried, but worry has quickly turned to fear and Jaeger's never been good at dealing with fear. Repeated attempts to reach Wesker have failed, so Jaeger's taken it on himself to go looking for his boyfriend.

Thankfully Wesker cuts a distinctive figure and Jaeger's able to trace his location to the outskirts of the city. He's worried that he's going to find that something's happened to Wesker, that he'll be injured or dying, or maybe even already dead—

But that isn't the case, and when he finds Wesker the man looks perfectly fine.]

Albert!

[He'll approach immediately; the worry and concern is probably obvious just from that exclamation alone, but once he gets close he speaks up again.]

Are you okay? What are you doing out here?

[If Wesker will let him get close enough, he'll reach out to touch Wesker's arm, as he usually does.]

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Jaeger...

[His voice is even when he responds, though it takes him a moment to find the words he wants.]

I asked you to take care of yourself. To not let me hurt you, and to stay safe if you felt threatened.

I'm not going to be upset with you for doing exactly as I asked.

...I'm so glad you've remembered everything. I was doing my best, but I didn't know how to handle it.

[To be honest, he's not sure how long he could have tried. He certainly didn't want to leave again and he would have resisted for as long as he could, but...

The thought bothers him immensely.]

I love you so much... I'm so happy you remember.

[He doesn't try to pry his hand out of Jaeger's grip; at the same time, he does pull Jaeger a little closer, indicating that he doesn't mind the proximity and the contact. Lean into him, latch onto him, he doesn't mind either way.]

You did well, you know. I don't think most people would know how to handle that.

[Oh, that's... that's really nice... He's quick to lean into Wesker, and after a moment he'll free one of his hands so he can latch on and pull himself closer. He still doesn't want to overwhelm Wesker any, but he really needs this right now.]

It felt like there wasn't anything I could do.

[He evaluates that for a moment, then amends it.]

There wasn't anything I could do. You had already suffered so much and you didn't want sympathy. I didn't know what else I could offer you.

[Eye contact is going to continue to be very, very difficult.]

...By the time I died back then, I needed to be put out of my misery. There was nothing else that could be done - I didn't want anything from anyone, outside of watching them die. There was nothing left for me.

[Jaeger still doesn't want to believe that. But he saw it first-hand, didn't he? He really did try his hardest for Wesker, but it wasn't enough. Would anything have ever been enough, even back then?

...He really doesn't think so.]

I'm so sorry. I really wish things had turned out differently. I... I understand now, though.

[...]

It would be better if you still didn't. I don't like the idea that you had to see that, much less for so long.

It's okay. I'm fine! It was a bit much, but you didn't hurt me or anything. I'll admit some of the things you said frightened me, but I wasn't hurt.

[That's the most important thing to clarify, as far as he's concerned.]

I was very worried about you. You weren't terrible to me, though.

[He'll just keep playing with Jaeger's hair; having him so close right now is...it's nice, really.]

What were you worried about...? Talk to me.

[This is comforting, which makes it a little easier to talk about it.]

You mentioned your plans several times, with the intention of acting on them again. It... scared me, but it also worried me. I thought maybe something would convince you otherwise, but you were dead-set on it. Even with a life like this, nothing was going to change your mind. You'd already suffered through so much, so there wasn't anything anyone could do to help you now.

[It's... really depressing, honestly...]

...It wasn't enough.

[It's quiet, and it's deliberately blank and even, but it's still firm, particularly as he continues.]

There's nothing you could have done differently. You did all you could, and I knew that.

But it wasn't enough. Nothing ever could have been enough; as far as I was concerned humanity needed to pay a price. For what they had done, and what they were capable of doing.

You did your best to help me. I know you did. And it did matter to me in some ways. But there was nothing else you could have done for me. If anything, living like this - having a normal life, being safe from everything that had happened - only made it worse.

...I'm sorry. I wish you didn't have to go through that. It must have been incredibly difficult for you to deal with this life on top of everything else.

[Nothing could have helped, so it's not like he did anything wrong. Still, he feels like there should have been something else he could have done to help.]

You don't have to keep apologizing.

[He holds Jaeger a little tighter at that.]

It wasn't your fault. None of it was your fault; if anything, you managed more than I thought anyone would.

[Jaeger leans into the touch at that.]

I did everything I could think to do. It's just... it's really unfortunate that there wasn't anything anyone could do to help you.

You were good to me.

[So much hair-playing, okay.]

You were good to me in ways that most people weren't back then. It doesn't justify anything I tried to do or change what I deserve as a result, but life wasn't kind to me.

No, it really wasn't. You suffered so much, and even when you managed to break away from Umbrella, it was too late. You'd been hurt by so much, I'm not surprised you hated all of humanity.

[He leans into the hair-playing; he's settling a little bit now.]

I wanted to do everything I could for you, even without your memories of me.

You did well.

[...]

I'm sorry for scaring you like that.

It's okay. You remember now, and it's... it's going to be okay. I'm... I'm so happy, Albert...

[His grip tightens on Wesker's hand.]

[...Let him nuzzle you a bit, okay; the gesture is about as awkward as it always is, but it's there.]

I love you, you know.

[The nuzzling is always nice, even if it is a little awkward. He'll return it immediately, of course.]

I've really missed hearing that. I love you too, so much...

I know it was difficult, and it probably doesn't feel like it, but you really did do well for me.

[This feels nice, all right.]

...I'm glad you think so. It... it really does mean so much to me to hear that.

[Wesker's right though, it doesn't feel like he did anything.]

I didn't trust or care about anyone; I couldn't be close to them, because I couldn't afford to.

But I knew you wouldn't hurt me, and that I could talk to you about difficult things and you would listen to me. That...it was more than I had with anyone else. It was important.

I'm glad you were able to trust me at least somewhat. I wanted you to believe me, that I cared about you and wanted to help, but I don't think there was any way for me to convince you of that. But at least you knew you could talk to me; that really does mean a lot to me.

I wanted to talk to you. Perhaps because I understood that by the end I had no one; I really can't say. But I did want to talk to you, and I understood that you were important to me in this life.

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