[ heine recognizes that shudder. it's exactly how he felt when he first got here, too—even if the city wasn't dangerous, there was something unnerving and hollow about it, the emptiness of the stores and the quiet of the streets. the city back home had so much bustle, so many people, and even in the church there could sometimes be heard the sounds of traffic or conversation outside.

here... not so much. the first week he'd been here heine had barely slept for the quiet, unused to falling asleep to anything other than the dulcet tones of some drunk assholes arguing on the sidewalk. ]

I don't know. [ heine reads the question in nill's face and shakes his head in response. he wishes he had a better explanation, wishes he'd managed to dredge up anything useful at all. ] That's what everyone is trying to figure out.

[ heine's walked almost the entire limits of the city and hasn't found anything; badou has poked around everywhere he can get his nose into and come up with zilch. it's a little demoralizing, if heine's honest. ]

But there's nowhere that's dangerous [ ...outright, anyway ] and the people here are decent.