manufactured | INBOX

That's good.

[ And this is a lot easier than addressing whatever she feels about Jaeger and Albert seeing each other and that she didn't really know until recently. It's not technically her business... or no, was it? Well, even if it was, it's nothing neither man needed her permission for, at the very least, and she's far too old to feel anything but grateful that Albert has someone important to him like that, for real.

If anything, that part is a relief.

She hasn't really realized that her finger is on the bridge of her nose until it is. ... Ah, she was pushing up the sunglasses that aren't there, isn't she? She feels her cheeks burn and she looks down, exhaling again. ]

But yes, it'll just be the six of us. Some of the cats too, I suppose... unless you have anyone else to invite?

No, six sounds fine.

[And it does, really - besides, it's not like there's anyone else he would even consider.

That said, he's just...quiet for a moment, in that way that he tends to be when he isn't certain there's much else to say; he's aware that the conversation has gone strange and awkward, but he doesn't particularly regret telling her about this, either - better that she find out now than because Silver decided to open his mouth across the dinner table, because that child has less tact than both Wesker and Jaeger combined.]

...You are all right...?

[It's far more of a question than something desiring confirmation; there are a lot of things they aren't discussing here and he's entirely aware of it.]

I am.

[ She answers a bit too quickly, perhaps a smidge too forcefully. The fact of the matter is she won't sort out all of her feelings about all this - about Silver knowing Wesker, about Albert and Jaeger being in a relationship to the point Albert feels he can be sincere and forward, or about all of that bioterrorism stuff. ... She won't work out how she feels about any of that or what it means for her until she's home, talked to Toushiro, pet a cat, and possibly had a little wine.

Right now, she's going to tap her hands on her knees. ]

I'm just feeling that familiar ennui I feel every time around the holidays, [ That she's still single at forty-one. That Silver caused all of that right around Christmas... all of it. That's not the core of it, but it's a good excuse and frankly some of that has made that crater feel deeper ] that's all. Honestly, I think the work to cook things will help.

[ ... She can't leave it at that, though- ]

... I'm in your corner, Albert. If you hit some other rocky thing you need to tell someone, I'll hear it. But I am sincerely glad you have other people you feel you can too.

[...That's...]

I do trust you with it, you know. You're the only other person I've told; this isn't something that I can be open about, with almost anyone.

[...]

It was likely unfair to do so to you, but you're the only person I contacted with any honesty at all back in August.

[ "but I genuinely do enjoy your company and want to keep you close. That isn't something that I really experience toward most people." ... "It seems strange to say that I appreciate doing things that don't have any particular purpose behind them with you"

Honestly, those words, and the dozens and dozens of others, that little diary she got - she hadn't read it the day it arrived. Toushiro's, Silver's, Jaegers all arrived at the same time and all of them were shorter and there was a lot going on. But she'd read it the next day, and in the afterglow of the conflict, it made her feel warm, despite the implication they were breaking up, mirroring the message that she sent him.

That they could make that understanding happen was... honestly it was nice.

And she nods. ]

I'd figured... that it was the sort of sincerity you wouldn't have afforded other people back then, I mean. I have always worried about your ability to make friends, but I know I'm one to talk and there's no need to be overbearing.

[ ... ]

I appreciated them, though. I did.

[...]

You've been good to me, Elda. I'm aware that I'm not the most charming of people, and I'm not what you wanted in a person that you were with for so long. But I really have appreciated everything, even if I'm not terribly demonstrative about it.

[ At that... she actually laughs. A trill of a thing, perhaps releasing a little tension. ]

For how much everyone praises me these days you'd think I was some great catch either! [ She shakes her head. ] No, Albert, I've appreciated all of it, and for how muted you can come off, I don't think it's hard hard to read your intent into things. We've both benefited from the arrangement we had, and friendship... well, that's a whole other matter, and it's nice.

It is, certainly.

[And that much does seem genuine; he's appreciated it, how things have been since all of that.]

Good.

[ . . . ]

I'll be counting on you, I'm sure, in December. That's... it's not been a pleasant month for me in some time.

...Anything you need, then. Of course.

Good!

... I hope Retrospec doesn't blow up the city or something on top of it all then. Or maybe have reindeer run over peoples' grandmothers.

[ Not that hers is alive... ]

Well, it seems to have avoided making an utter disaster of things this month, at least...

[HIS HOPES AREN'T HIGH but you know what, let's try to stay optimistic for the time being.]

If anything the biggest oddity has been the mayor's doing.

[ Which like..... is he in on it? she's genuinely not sure. ]

Which really just raises more questions than it answers, doesn't it.

[it's not precisely a question.]

...No, it does. At this point, I'm merely not sure if the office is in on it or he is or... what. It's honestly quaint-feeling at this point that I discovered that connection in the planetarium all those months ago, or that there's a hidden library under the university.

INBOX | RECOLLE

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