recolle | (open) rough seas will be calm

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(open) rough seas will be calm

WHO: Jaeger (eventually) and you!
WHERE: Dreamscapes.
WHEN: 8/25.
WHAT: Dreamdives!
WARNINGS: Suicidal implications, threads are warned accordingly.

[You find yourself on a grassy plain. It's nighttime, and while this whole thing is probably incredibly surreal, the scenery is at least peaceful. You can see a dark building ahead of you.

If you look behind you, you'll notice that there's a large, thick forest. Listening for a moment will tell you that there's plenty of wildlife there, and it doesn't sound happy to see you. It's probably not a good idea to head that direction. But hey, if you really want to, there's nothing stopping you.

If you choose to approach the building, you'll hear the distant sound of waves crashing, but otherwise all is silent. It would almost be serene, if not for the ominous look of the building. It appears to be a very large manor. There are plenty of lights on inside despite the late hour, which gives you a little more light to see the building itself. For some reason there are massive chains decorating the left side of the building that don't actually seem to be there for any specific purpose, and above that are flags for... some reason. The whole thing is kind of an experience, and the gloomy atmosphere and isolated nature of the house probably aren't doing much to make you feel at ease.

Since the manor is most likely where you're headed, you might want to get a bit closer to the front door to check it out. Be careful, though - you won't be able to get too close without two guards spotting you. They're dressed in yellow uniforms complete with masks that hide the upper halves of their faces. They don't exactly look friendly; one of them has a crossbow in hand and the other has some kind of large daggers that look like they're attached to the back of his hands.

You'll find that there's a solid wall around the perimeter of the manor; you can hide here for a moment if you'd like. Climbing over the wall seems to be out of the question given the height of it and the spikes on top.

How do you want to proceed?]

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I've gotta be outta here by the time the sun rises so no, it can't.

[If you look over toward the window, you'll note that it's definitely starting to get lighter outside.]

Stay outta the way and I won't hurt you.

[He readies the sword again.]

...Well, don't say I didn't try to solve this the nonviolent way.

[Shuji readies his scythe.]

[The giant's exceptionally strong, but he is slow. He'll swing that sword down at you, aiming to remove you from the picture so he can focus on the (in his opinion) bigger threat.

You'll hear the mechanical click of Jaeger's weapon shifting behind you, but he's not actually doing anything to help right now, so uh. Have fun??]

[What is Jaeger's thing about fighting alone-

Shuji is fairly fast, and stronger than he looks (thanks Retrospec!) so it's not too hard to duck out of the way of that sword and take a swing at the guy. This time he's definitely not going for the back of the head, because he... kind of would have difficulty reaching his head... So instead it's torso.]

[He takes the attack in full, but if you think a massive, bleeding scythe-wound would slow him down then you are absolutely mistaken. The guy's readying his sword for another swing, aiming at your side this time—

And suddenly a flash of white light hits the man square in the chest and drops him hard. The bang that comes with it is loud enough to shake the weapons still on the wall.]

Honestly... I didn't think I'd have to kill him personally...

[Jaeger sounds unconcerned as he approaches, rifle in hand. He taps the giant in the side with his foot before leaning over and inspecting the damage. The shot has left a nasty-looking energy burn, but thankfully there's no more blood. The giant is definitely dead, however.]

Oh well. I suppose it doesn't really matter much.

Now then! [He turns to you with the same bright smile as usual.] What is it you wanted to talk about, Shuji?

[You'll immediately notice two things that are definitely off. The first is that the smile doesn't reach Jaeger's eyes and while the expression is a familiar one, it feels even more insincere than usual. The second is that Jaeger hasn't lowered his weapon.

It seems like you've found Yeager.]

[The expression is most definitely recognizable. Shuji sighs heavily - he had a feeling this might be the case.

Even so, he can't say allowing Yeager to die would have had a better ending.]

Do you know where I can find my friend, Yeager? He's overslept.

[shuji does not deserve]

He certainly has. Don't worry though, he's right here.

[Yeager rests his free hand on his chest.]

[Shuji did not cry at teenage girls for this.]

Mind letting me talk to him?

[...gauche and droite did not deserve this either...]

I don't think so. I have no intention of giving him control.

I am a bit surprised you bothered coming all this way, but I suppose you had to if you want to leave, ja?

He's my friend. I'd do a lot of things for him. Talking to you isn't the hardest by far.

[...even if Yeager is super irritating. He can at least try to be civil?]

Really, you consider someone like him a friend?

[Oh, that's amused him. The expression still doesn't reach his eyes, but he looks interested now.]

He's not exactly an easy person to befriend, ja? He doesn't trust anyone - why do you think you had to go through all of this just to get here? He certainly does try to guard himself...

Tell me, what do you know about him? What do you know about me? I'm curious to hear what he's told you.

I know his quote-unquote "real name" is Gunther, but he prefers to go by Jaeger and that's the name people should call him. I know he has issues with you being a warmonger and not wanting to turn into that, and I know he's grateful for what I said in that dream with you I know he got something over his chest that he had to buy new clothes for, and I know he was too guarded about it to tell me until I backed him into a corner. I know he hates your suits.

I know he's in love with Wesker, even though they're both kind of bad at this 'relationships' thing. I know Wesker's in love with him.

I know he treats his employees kindly and looks out for them whenever he can. I know he offered to let me vent at him even when we were just starting to be friends. I know he's rescued me from monsters. I know when he was in my heart, he saved me, and I want to be able to do the same for him.

I know he cares about people, even when he doesn't trust them.

Not bad. Most of that is just surface-level traits, but that's about what I expected.

Did he ever tell you what happened to him before he came to Recollé?

No.

He didn't show me his baby pictures, either. That doesn't mean we're not friends.

[No one can share every single event of their life with someone.]

Oh, I have no doubt that you consider him a friend. He even considers you a friend! But he's really not the sort of person you want as a friend.

You see, we're not really all that different. He's hurt a lot of people, and his actions have even lead to people getting killed. Maybe not intentionally, but he was certainly aware that was a possibility. He likes to act like he could never be anything like me, but in reality? We're already quite similar.

I'm not saying he's going to kill you, or even that he'll get you killed. But he's nowhere near as trustworthy as you seem to believe he is.

[Shuji listens... and doesn't even bat an eyelash.]

The last time someone made this kind of confession to me it was that they had actually directly killed somebody. You're going to have to step up your game a little if you want me to change my mind about him.

[Can't you do any better than that??]

Don't tell me you're still friends with that person...? You're either very stubborn, or very stupid.

[He shrugs a bit at that, though.]

I'm not trying to turn this into a competition. I just think it's fair to warn you, so you know what you're getting into. He certainly hasn't been very upfront about it, ja? Can you really trust someone who won't open themselves up, even a little bit?

[More than friends, but Shuji doesn't really want to tell anyone that it's Mista, so he just nods with a smile.]

Well, you've warned me, and I still trust him. Can I talk to him now?

Nope! Again, I'm not really fond of the idea of giving him control. It can be a bit frustrating, to have to deal with someone like him. Someone who has your name and appearance, but who doesn't have the courage to embrace who he's supposed to be...

Ah, but you'd know all about that, wouldn't you?

[He very much does know.]

Well, that's unfortunate.

I'm not going to fight you. You're part of Jaeger, like it or not. You're not the same, but you're part of my friend, and I won't hurt you.

You'd have a difficult time killing us anyway. We're not exactly... normal anymore.

I wouldn't try to kill you no matter how tough you were??

[Horrified at the very thought. Even if he were okay with killing people, he couldn't kill somebody with Jaeger's face.]

[That gets him to laugh.]

You're lucky I have no interest in fighting you, then. You really should be careful, though; that sort of thing could easily get you killed.

I know.

[He hadn't even really wanted to fight the guards whose names and faces he didn't know.]

But a life where I could kill someone who's important to me, or even part of someone important to me, isn't a life I want to live.

I could argue that it makes you soft, but there's some merit in that.

[He glances toward the door for a moment before looking back at Shuji.]

If you aren't going to fight me, then how do you plan on getting home? I am standing in the way of that, ja?

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