[ william feels it, the sharp spike of fear, so openly reverberating in their connection. he shifts, instinctively, wordlessly reacting to albert's honesty -- what a strange place this world is, that it would lay bare their deepest feelings and destroy any semblance of masks. william both hates and appreciates it.

his eyes widen briefly, before he presses up close to him, drawn back to his turmoil. william can never turn away from albert, not like this, not when he calls to him so, and william's heart, what's left of it, responds to him. ]

Then I will stay by your side here.

[ he says softly, finally, absorbing the weight of such words, the way albert has found new ways to survive. how new, how it echoes sherlock's plaintive cries for william to find another way. first sherlock, and now albert. william's way had lived out its use, fulfilled what they needed it to, and it's with a bittersweet, eventual acquiescence that he reaches to him. ]

After all, I cannot deny you what you want. We will do it your way, according to your rules and standards. [ he leans up, pressing a soft kiss to the side of his mouth in a bid to quell albert's emotional upheaval, to soothe him as best as he can. after all, had he not been seeing to albert's requests since they had been children? his hand comes to rest over albert's heart now, his gaze flickering down.

wounds of his own making, is it...? if this person can heal albert, then...

he steps closer, fingers curling briefly in the front of his shirt. oh, how he doesn't want to let him go, and yet. ]