"I feel better. Lighter, I guess. It's hard to carry it all inside and SHIELD just acted like I was this thing they'd discovered and wanted to study. I talked about it but they just made me feel worse. You... you never treat me like that. Not even now." He manages to uncurl enough to look at Dolemeck, feeling lighter inside and yet immensely tired. His eyes are teary, but the shaking subsides as he moves his hands against Dolemeck's side, moving up to his shoulders. This is real. This is the present. The past is in the past.

"You help just by being here. I know there's a lot in the future to look forward to, I just... I don't know if I could face it alone. Would it be stupid, if I asked you to just... hold me?" He's clearly embarrassed by that last part. It's hard to shake the old-fashioned values that a man has to be strong, but if they're both men, can he be allowed to break down, just for a bit?