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August Kohler Sanary's pig farm has a rather distinct smell to it. It's a combination of natural pig odors, old grease usd for frying up the sources of said pig odors, and a lot of artificial orange smell. The pigs are easily visible from the wooden fence surrounding the farm, looking rather content in the wide open spaces and well-kept pens they've likely spent their entire lives in.

The house nearby, meanwhile, looks pretty standard for a farmer from the outside. It's painted red, there's a simple slanted roof, and the only thing hinting at any sort of technology is a small battery and generator hooked up outside. The inside of the home is considerably fancier and more comfortable, having been outfitted with loads of modern conveniences like air fryers, computers (loaded with viruses, of course), and even a projector aimed at the ceiling above a sofa.

The front door is open. There's a red truck outside, being loaded with living supplies and necessary items, as well as August's most important possessions. He's currently outside, fitting a computer into the back of the truck and securing it, when Janine would arrive. As he does so, he shouts to Sanary. "Hey, Sanary! I think we're almost done!"

Janine would have seen the reports. Heard everything. She's a Watchman, after all. Nameless died. August, immediately after his death, quit the Watch and didn't look back. He's spent the last day preparing to leave. But, at the least, he wasn't a jerk about it. Janine got a text.

'if you need to see me, i'm at sanary's'
Sanary Rondel Sanary's helping August get his stuff into the truck, going for the biggest and heaviest things because of course she'd take any opportunity to show off how big and strong she is. She's not moving quite as quickly as she usually does, though, trying not to put too much pressure on her side or bandaged-up neck.

"Alright! Yeah, I think it's just a bunch of loose things after... Uf. This one." Setting that box down, she takes a breather to lean against the side of the truck, counting off some things mentally while pointing at a few random spots on the house. "Probably... Yeah, that one's light... Mid... Mid. Light... Sure there's enough snacks packed for the ride? I could get another one chopped up and prepped in... Like. An hour tops."

She may be going a little overboard.
Janine Liberi     Janine arrives silently, descending from the air with Catherine behind her. Given how wind-tussled her hair is, there's no doubt that she flew here at full speed. The Persona dissolves as she approaches the truck, wearing a grim expression on her face. "So, you'll ask Sanary for help but not me?" is what she opens with. "A pig farmer over a rich girl? At the very least, I could have hooked you up with some chocolate for the road."

    She looks at said pig-farmer and says, "No, I think you should stay out here, for the moment." Her hand is fingering the hilt of her sabre as she muses on her next question, long and hard.

    "What the hell are you doing?" It's not really directed at anyone, but more at everyone. Herself included.
August Kohler Janine arrives. August stops, and when she has that grim expression and starts kind of aggressively, he looks guilty. "I didn't want to burden you." He grimaces, as he shakes his head to Sanary. "No, it's fine, we have...enough food."

August leans against the side of the truck, sighing. His hands go against his cheeks, sweeping down, as he looks towards the air, before looking towards Janine. "I'm leaving. I can't do this kind of life anymore."

"Not after everything's that happened. Too much has happened." August stretches his arms back and forth, clearly uncomfortable in his skin. "If it helps, you're the only one I messaged tonight. I couldn't leave without saying goodbye."
Sanary Rondel That's a familiar voice and sight right there. Wiping some sweat off her brow, Sanary turns to Janine with a snicker as she flexes to show off her BIG GAINS that aren't really visible with the light jacket she has on. They're totally there, though! "Hey, it's just askin' the right person for the right job. Wouldn't be askin' for me over you if he needed someone to get somewhere fast, yeah?"

Chuckling to herself, she notices August's discomfort and coughs quietly before rubbing her neck. "Yeah, he's... He might have the right idea, honestly. Gettin' in over our heads and all with... Yesterday's business." There's another awkward shift as she pushes off the truck, looking down the road briefly before turning to the two once more.

She does't actually say anything after that. It looks like she's about to and just fizzles out there, potentially leaving an awkward silence hanging if anyone's expecting her to speak at that moment. Perfect.
Janine Liberi     Janine stands there for a long moment staring hard at the two. Eventually though, she can't keep the face up, and turns around to lean against the truck too. "It's not fair," she says, "That you're leaving before me." She looks to the ground and takes a slow breath. "I'm the one who cares about her family over everything else, so how are you allowed to use yours as your reason to leave? That's bullshit. And that just leaves only me to deal with this Forest bullshit. We were nearly done! We..."

    She's actually crying now, bringing up her her arm to wipe her face. "And you!" she barks at Sanary. "I was gonna drop you in deep shit one day as payback for kidnapping my family, and now you're carrying on like you want to leave too! Idiots like you are supposed to keep going until you die, why are you acting like you're so goddamn tired?!"
August Kohler August just...as Janine starts crying, he looks guiltier. But he can't change his mind. "You're right. I'm leaving you alone with this. I should be there to meet Wotan, to fight off whatever comes next, to save the day. But..."

August turns towards her, breathing in the cold air. "I almost became like /him/. I could feel it. I picked up one of his weapons, and...because of how similar we are, how much I /admired/ him, I could use it to its full potential. And it disgusted me. To realize that I admired that man, that gunner. That I was on that path."

August looks up into the sky. "I killed Sascha. I put everyone in jeopardy. Then I killed Hugo. He didn't deserve it. Yuuki Kuran was right about me, in some aspects. It was all about my ego. So while I still can..."

August's words falter, for a second. He's not sure how to say it, with how upset she is. But, quietly, he speaks. "I just want to try and become a better person, without the fighting."
Sanary Rondel Sanary looks genuinely surprised and even more awkward when Janine starts crying. She keeps as still as she can, only shifting her eye back and forth between her and August right until Janine addresses her directly. She doesn't even respond right away, still shifting her feet arund while trying to come up with what to say with Janine in such a state.

August answering first certainly helps to buy her some time. "It's... It's not like I'm leavin' for good or anything. I'm just hangin' up my axe outside of invaders or whatever." She attempts a weak chuckle. It's really weak. "I'll be comin' back once August gets settled down. Not like I can really move all this out here even if I wanted to." Sanary jerks a thumb towards the pigpen.

"... But no, I.. I've been out of my league for a while now. All the power chasin', all the experiments, and that hasn't really gotten me anywhere since..." Sanary half-whistles, counting off on her fingers. "It'll be... About five years since I left my old home."

She hesitates for a moment, then reaches to place a hand on Janine's shoulder. Her hand's rough, but the grip is oddly gentle considering it's her. "You still got my axe if you need it, though. And I still owe ya for... That fuck up way back."
Janine Liberi     Janine coughs a little and sniffs before looking at August. "What?... no, I'm not trying to convince you to stay," she says, before coughing again. "You're leaving forever. That means you get to catch this motherfucking hand before you go. I said I would yell at you, didn't I?" She climbs up onto the truck's bed and grabs August by the collar and begins to shake.

    "You fucking live with it, got it?! You fucking go out there and settle down, meet a nice girl, have kids, die old and happy. But you carry what you did. As long as you know you did wrong, that'll hurt you more than I ever could. You do that, and we're square."

    She ceases her shaking, and pulls August into a hug with her one arm. "I was so worried I had rubbed off on you... you were a decent guy at first, but you just kept getting worse and worse, and I thought that was my influence... but if you can just walk away, I guess I didn't need to worry."

    She lets go, and jumps from the truck to advance on Sanary. "You on the other hand, I never fucking once saw you actually try to grab at power like you claimed. You didn't even get anything from the Queen back then huh? No, you're an idiot, I can't trust you to remember the bad, so I gotta beat it into you!"

    She pivots on her heel at high speed, spinning herself with the wind to wind up the biggest, meatiest slap she can and tries to give Sanary one across the cheek!
August Kohler Janine tells August that, and he nods. And then she climbs up there, grabs him by the collar, starts shaking, and shouts at him. At first, he kinda expects something about Hugo with how guilty he is, but...no, she says something pretty nice. As she comes down and moves for a hug, August allows it, and softly smiles.

"Yeah. But I can get better now. You, you make the most of your life, alright? I'm not going to forget what I did...and you don't forget what you can do."

As she pulls away and goes to Sanary, he just watches. Sanary can take a slap, and honestly, she'd accept it. He knows Sanary well enough.

After she's done, though, he just remarks. "We're all a bunch of fools, aren't we? But, we're young. We still have our lives ahead of us."
Sanary Rondel Janine's friendly yelling at August draws a grin across Sanary's face, and she turns away briefly to hide her snickering. She's calmed down by the time Janine comes towards her, at least, clearing her throat to try and look like she was't just amusd by that interaction.

And then she gets reminded of how little she actually accomplished working the Queen that time. "I-it sounded like a good idea at the time! And I've totally done power grabs before! I killed that other forest with the...!" She starts to protest, then stops moments later. "You know what maybe I should just-"

For someone her size, Janine sure hits hard. The pig farmer's head tilts a bit from the slap, but she knows she deserved it. She doesn't move from that spot for a few more moments, then chuckles softly while tilting her head slowly in the other direction.

And also wincing a bit from moving her neck. That's still pretty sore. "Yeah... Yeah, I am. Dunno if that'll ever change, but you'll get plenty of opportunities to do that once I come back here in..." She glances over at August, then laughs and nods. "Couple o' days, maybe. Week at most. Can't leave these porkers alone for too long or they might start eating each other."

Sanary laughs again. It's a very hollow laugh. She's seen some shit.

"... Yeah, we got plenty of time to keep bein' dumbasses in other ways. I ain't gonna get rich just expandin' the farm forever." A beat, and then she smirks while rubbing her cheek lightly. "But you know... If you two ever wanna get into the business, I've got taught plenty o' people these past few years. Might not hurt to bulk up, right?" Janine gets a closer look at that last bit.
Janine Liberi     Janine is breathing hard after slapping Sanary, and shaking her hand. "Jesus Christ, were you carved out of marble?" she asks, an actual laugh in her voice. "Yeah, we do have our whole lives. As long or as short as that might be." She raises an eyebrow at him, but she's grinning. "It's fine though. If my life is destined to be short, it may as well be interesting. I'll kick enough ass for both of us."

    She looks at Sanary and shakes her head. "Nah, I'm not gonna be on the farming end of things. I've decided; I'm gonna learn to cook and open a restaurant. It's gonna be hard with just this," she says, wiggling the fingers on her good hand. "But I like food, and I like cooking. I'll make it work."

    She turns to August. "I don't know what you're going to do though. But if you ever find yourself out of work..." she produces a business card. Not her own. The name on it is 'Adalberto Liberi.' "Call my dad. I told him that if anyone called Kohler asks for help, that he should grant it, as a favour to me."

    She's smiling, but still crying. "Good luck August, Sanary. I'll miss you both, believe it or not."
August Kohler "Yeah!" August says as Janine says she'll kick enough ass for the both of them, and then smiles as she says she's going to open a restaurant. "I'll come dine there one day, then, far in the future. Make sure to open a Yelp." He's kinda cheering up, able to joke. He has friends, still, even if he's leaving. That's important.

And then the business card is given to him. August stares at it, and nods, clasping it in his hands briefly before putting it in his pocket. "My parents are engineers, and I know enough. I could work in a factory with my sheer strength, and out in the Multiverse, I can actually use my Persona to do things. Someday, gonna try and make a video game or something, maybe. Or a giant robot. Who knows! Potential's limitless."

Janine says goodbye. August nods, and then turns. "I'm going to go get my parents. Thank you, Janine. You're my oldest friend out here, and definitely my closest. Don't you dare forget about me, alright?"

Allowing time for any replies, he then heads off.
Sanary Rondel "Heh... What can I say? My brain might be soft, but the rest of me is built like a rock!" Sanary smiles fondly when Janine speaks of her plans to get into the food business and August into the engineering/robotics work. "Ah, you'll find ways. If nothin' else, you could always cheat with Catherine to do shit people ain't even dreamt about."

August gets a clap on the shoulder after that, followed by a light tap on the forehead with a knuckle. "Thatk inda power'll get you a lotta places. Just don't get dumb like you or me in the past, alright? and tell your folks they're always welcome to drop by, too. I didn't work with 'em long, but it was fun havin' them around."

It's that last bit from Janine, though, that really hits deep. The grin wavers, and Sanary takes a moment cough and clear her throat while adjusting her eyepatch so it's covering her actual eye. It's gonna be a little soggy soon. "Y.. Yeah, whatever. It's not like we're gonna be completly outta touch. You two better not forget to drop by, dammit!"