THE TOWN SQUARE.

[atrueheroine]

[Page silently watches the church burn for a little while, once she's emerged safely from it, before turning away and heading to the town square to meet up with everyone else. It makes sense to rest here, as they did last week, after another town with another tragic story to tell.

At least that time, however, they'd all survived it unscathed.

Once she's made it over to the group, she drops her pack onto the ground and collapses next to it, staring at her feet. It's going to take a bit to...process all of that, and while she'd love to get up in front of everyone and make some kind of rousing speech, she just doesn't have it in her at the moment.

Instead, she'll look up from the stone of the square, eventually, casting her eye over everyone and saying (almost to herself)-]

...I hope everyone is all right.

[That is likely far from true, but...well. They're all alive, Wesker is dead, and that's something. She's trying her best not to look at that little tree-sculpture with the key around its neck.


OOC: Second verse, same as the first! Here's our post-event mingle post, to talk about what the hell just happened in there, lick our wounds, and beg forgiveness from...from Flower Girl. Top-level away; Page will have her own up, if you'd like to talk to her.]

Comments

[bornandbread]

[Jean wanders over eventually, even if he doesn't try to go especially close to the fire and he doesn't crowd Krauser in his morbid contemplation of moss boss. It just doesn't seem especially done; that and he's got a lit cigarette with him and thus a healthy respect for bigger fires.

They really have set one here, haven't they? He's not entirely sure if this is a conclusion or something else. He's also not 100% sure of what role Krauser played exactly, but his fellow travelers seem pretty down with him.

And he remembers that he hadn't lifted a hand to help out Wesker at the end there -- the little exchanges they'd all had beforehand. There's a hum as he comes to a stop and watches the firelight flicker for a while. Takes a drag, but there's no way his light is anything in comparison.]

I guess the answer was sooner than expected, wasn't it?

[You know, that one conversation they had about how long Krauser was planning to stick around for boss man. He is totally just picking it up after the firefight like they just stopped for afternoon tea or some shit.]

[armamenta]

[Krauser doesn't react to Jean's presence. He's aware Jean is there, of course, but if Jean has no intention of attacking him, then he doesn't really give a damn what Jean's doing here.

So for awhile there's silence with only the crackling of flames to break it.]

Yeah.

[If he's bothered by picking up the conversation so easily after all of that, it doesn't reflect in his expression or words.]

I was hoping you all would be useful for that.

[Maybe he found his answer long ago and was as cowardly as Wesker said he was. Or maybe that's reading too deeply into things. Does it really matter anymore?]

[bornandbread]

[I mean, the feeling is entirely mutual considering he's still dude with a scythe(??) for an arm all the way out there. There's another reason Jean is giving him a berth, partly for practicality and partly just because it seems prudent to let the flames die down. So to speak.

That doesn't mean he can't make conversation, though.

That's kind of the way he functions, even out here.]

Sounds like we helped each other, then.

[Even though he doesn't know the exact nature of Krauser's help beyond 'didn't do anything, but productively', he's totally willing to give him that anyway. Let it never be said he isn't generous in the wake of firefights.]

You're free now; where will you go from here?

[For a relative value of free, but that might go for most of them now, in some sense. No sense in dwelling on it just yet.]

[armamenta]

[listen "didn't do anything, but productively" is a lot better than his usual attempts at helping. he kidnapped the president's daughter in order to join a cult because wesker wanted him to get something the cult had krauser is not good at helping.]

I'm leaving the Shimmer. There's nothing left for me here.

[Beyond that, though? Hell, he doesn't know. He'll figure it out when he gets there.]

[bornandbread]

[............... Yeah they probably all did the best they could! Including Krauser! Nobody even got kidnapped or held hostage or hammered or anything, and the cult was alarmingly polite, even. In some ways it went about as smoothly as it possibly could.

Even if it doesn't feel like it, after they've just finished up treating the casualties. Maybe that's just his inexperience as a medic talking.

He blows out a long series of thoughts in curls of smoke, lets them drift off.]

You're not from here either. [looking at Krauser, maybe they're seeing a shade of what's waiting for them up the mountain, but Jean isn't one to dwell on these things; at least not at this juncture] And the Shimmer... is it a good idea to leave it?

[armamenta]

I'm not.

[The second part is what gets him to hesitate before he shrugs; it's just a brief lift of his shoulders.]

No idea. That shit never was my area of expertise. [can you imagine this man as a researcher?? absolutely not.] I don't know what will happen, but there's no point in staying in here any longer. Might as well find out.