Clean

[Phillis Von Christ]

Phillis walked through the center of town. It was the first time he'd been there since the incident. Everything had been cleaned up. There were no more corpses or any blood around. The air smelt fresh again. Almost as if nothing had ever happened in the first place.

There were significantly less people around. Whether it be because they were killed, or were just to afraid to leave their homes now, nobody could be sure. It almost seemed more at peace than before.

Phillis sighed, he sat down on a bench. He had to avoid certain parts of the town, or he'd probably have a meltdown. He didn't want to do that again.

[Walter Grace]

Walter looked around the town. He was suprised with how little people were there. He frowned, desiding to sit down at the fountain. He continued to look around, to see a sad-looking man sitting on a bench. Walter frowned again, staring at the man without meaning to.

[Phillis Von Christ]

Phillis looked up a moment, and caught a glimpse of Walter. He noticed him staring, and very quickly and awkwardly looked away.

[Walter Grace]

Walter blushed, but chuckled to himself. How rude of me... He quickly got up, and walked over to the man. "I apologize, I did not mean to stare...It seems I am attracted to emotions most do not favor." Walter chuckled, embarrassed.

[Phillis Von Christ]

"Uh, okay. That's fine." Phillis said to the man. He seemed nice and polite, at least.

[Walter Grace]

"Oh! I havent introduced myself! My name is Walter. And yours?" he smiled, holding out a hand to shake.

[Phillis Von Christ]

Phillis stared at the mans hand a moment before shaking it. "Phillis."

[Walter Grace]

Walter nodded. "A pleasure to meet you."

"I have a question, if you don't mind me asking. Why are there barely any people here?" he looked around puzzled.

[Phillis Von Christ]

"I'm assuming because of the massacre." Phillis said, looking around as well. "This is where it happened, people are scared it'll happen again."

[Walter Grace]

Walter raised an eyebrow. "I don't think it will happen again. The girl who did it seems to be able to control herself now," he smiled. "That is terrible, though...so, I was also wondering, is the massacre the reason why you seem upset?"

[Phillis Von Christ]

Phillis was surprised at the sudden question. "Uh, yeah. It is." he said, scratching the back of his head.

[Walter Grace]

"Oh...did you know someone who died?" Walter asked. He knew he was going further than he should have, but he found these people interesting.

[Phillis Von Christ]

Phillis avoided eye contact. " Uh, y-yeah." he said, after a moment's hesitation. He didn't want to go too far into details, he felt as if he couldn't emotionally handle it quite yet.

[Walter Grace]

"Who were they?" then, Walter added, "How close were you? What did they mean to you?"

[Phillis Von Christ]

"Uh, uh.. my, uhm, my.." Phillis couldn't finish his sentence as he burst into tears. " S-Stop asking such personal questions!"

He was surprised by how easily it took to make him cry, he still more sensitive about the incident than he thought he was.

[Walter Grace]

Walter was alarmed, eyes widening a bit, before frowning sadly. "I'm...terribly sorry...I find it hard to not ask questions..." Walter sat down beside Phillis, reaching a hand out to pat his back. He thought against it, and pulled his hand back.

"Death is...nothing to cry about. Would the person you're crying for right now appreciate it if they saw you right now?" Walter smiled lightly, his eyebrows curving up. He ran a hand through his hair, sighing.

[Phillis Von Christ]

"Probably not.." Phillis sniffled. "But I can't help it. It's terrible.."

What was it about Walter that seemed familiar? He couldn't quite figure it out.

[Walter Grace]

"I know it is...but you will move on...most people do." Walter smiled. On instinct, Walter rubbed his left arm. He had been doing that since he surfaced. Are the rumors true? he wondered. It even hurts a tad...

[Phillis Von Christ]

"Yeah, I guess so." Phillis said, wiping his eyes as he looked at Walter, he noticed him rubbing his arm. He was instantly reminded of Dante. " Is something wrong with your arm?"

[Walter Grace]

Walter looked at his arm, then looked at Phillis. He chuckled, "Yes, actually...It's been hurting ever since I surfaced here. As if it were burned."