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[scythegun]

GUNTHER SCHWARZ

Jaeger. Leviathan's Claw owner. Not particularly pleased to be here.

VOICE | TEXT | VIDEO | ACTION

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[scythegun]

[Huh, this is strange. Jaeger's at work when he gets the text, so he ducks into the back room to answer it.]

Of course, Albert. What is it?

[manufactured]

I would prefer it if you could stay longer than the weekend itself, if possible.

[scythegun]

[That's odd, but it's probably best not to ask why over text.]

I can come on by tonight after work if that's fine with you? I'll stay for as long as you'd like.

[manufactured]

Consider it appreciated.

I can discuss it with you once you've arrived; I would prefer to not discuss things over text.

[scythegun]

No, that makes sense. I'll contact you when I'm done with work!

[He's going to be dying of curiosity all day, so hopefully it isn't a slow day. But he isn't going to ask Wesker to talk about it right now, so he'll be patient and wait.

It turns out that it is a slow day and by the time he's finally ready to close up the shop he's all too anxious to get home and grab his belongings. He fires off a text to let Wesker know he's coming and shows up twenty minutes later on his doorstep, as usual.]

[manufactured]

[The dogs are quiet today, perhaps surprisingly so; they have a moment, as they always do, but they're quick to quiet down, so Wesker is probably with them at the moment. Understandably so, really; it's presumable from the text that he's having something of a rough time, and he tends to seek out their company when he's like that.

But he'll let Jaeger in eventually; he looks reasonably put-together, though he's a bit quiet as he moves to take him back toward the study, because that seems like as good a place as any.]

...I appreciate your willingness to indulge me on this, especially on short notice.

[scythegun]

[Huh. This really must be bad. Wesker wouldn't have called on him like this if it wasn't, but...]

Ja, don't mention it! I'm always here to help!

[He'll take his usual seat in the study, settling in quickly.]

So what happened?

[manufactured]

...I remembered something recently. Something that I'm not certain how much of it I can explain to you.

[Just to put that on the table right away.]

Just the same, you asked me to let you know if the things I remembered ever reached a point where I wasn't certain I could handle them on my own anymore, and I believe things may have reached that point.

[scythegun]

[Jaeger hesitates for a moment while he processes that. He can understand why Wesker wouldn't want to tell him about Excella, so he can only imagine how much worse things have gotten if Wesker's actually taking him up on that offer. Usually Wesker likes to say that he'll be fine, so...]

I'm terribly sorry to hear that. I really hoped it wouldn't happen. But now that it has... I'm here for you, no matter what. Even if you can't tell me what you remembered, maybe I can help just by being here?

[It's more of a question than he'd like it to be.]

[manufactured]

[Ah, that's... There's no real question about it, as far as Wesker is concerned.]

...That's why I asked you to stay here with me.

[scythegun]

Good, I'm glad I can help.

[Even if it's just something as small as being here... well, he can do that.]

I do have work this weekend of course, but if you need anything you can always message me.

[manufactured]

I should be fine here while you're gone. In the event that I'm not, I'll let you know.

[So he's fairly sure that he's not going to do anything immediately stupid; it's just...]

...I told you that I intend to see this through - to continue seeking answers, even if they're unpleasant. My mind hasn't changed, regarding that. But I think...

[Mnngh.]

I think I may have received one of those answers I was looking for. It wasn't particularly pleasant, which I suppose was to be expected, but the magnitude of it was a bit more than I had thought originally.

[scythegun]

[He's slowly dying of curiosity here, but he's not going to press on it.]

It seems like things always manage to get worse for you, somehow.

[The thing with Excella and the old man was bad enough...]

But no matter how bad things get, I'll be here for you.

[manufactured]

[He's quiet for a moment at that.]

They aren't always worse. Some of the memories have been...good, albeit difficult. Things and people that I used to like, for example. Fighting is always a little strange, but generally enjoyable.

I did have some things that I considered good at the time; there weren't many, but they did exist. And things are obviously different now.

[scythegun]

[That gets him to smile.]

I'm very glad to hear it. It's good that you had things you enjoyed in those memories and even better that you have things like that now. Of course, I know I'm one of them!

[...he sounds so pleased with himself...]

[manufactured]

Aren't you confident.

[Jaeger... He sounds amused, at least.]

[scythegun]

Are you going to tell me I'm wrong?

[See, this is what you keep him around for!!]

[manufactured]

If I were, I would have said it directly by now.

[So no, you're certainly one of them; even something simply like this seems to be calming him down a bit. He's decidedly less tense than he was when they came into the room, at any rate.]

[scythegun]

[Just as he'd hoped!!]

Oh, I know. I don't think you'd put up with me for this long otherwise!

[manufactured]

It isn't "putting up with you," you know.

[scythegun]

[Don't do that, you're going to make him insufferable.]

Ja, ja, I know! It's still really nice to hear it!

[manufactured]

I imagine it's deserved well enough, given what you're likely to be dealing with over the next short while.

[...He's probably going to be weird and distant again, in other words.]

[scythegun]

You don't have to worry too much, you know. I'll be here, no matter what.

[He doesn't like it when Wesker's weird and distant, but he'll just be aggressively himself and surely that will help!!]

[manufactured]

I appreciate it, Jaeger.

[And from the sound of it, he does, even if he does need to clarify something that Jaeger...probably isn't going to like very much.]

...You made me promise you that I'll continue to look out for myself. That I'll keep myself safe, as best I can.

I'm not certain how much I can guarantee that right now. Again, I won't do anything to myself while you're away, but as a general precaution, that's a large part of the reason why I would prefer to have you here.

[scythegun]

...I see.

[He doesn't like it, that much is obvious just from those two words alone.]

I'm not sure I can say I understand, but I'll do everything in my power to help you, Albert. Thank you for being honest with me. I really do appreciate it.

[He knows the magnitude of the situation now. He's still not sure how he'll actually approach it if things start going south, but now he knows that's a possibility.]