[ sheesh. johannes's shocked (hah) by how suddenly it ends. but it does end. so abruptly that the only proof that it ever happened is the red seeping through his clothes and the body collapsed in front of him, defenseless and unconscious.

he could end it here. maybe it would fix the wreck the city's been put through, given the timing and the magic nier's in possession of. at the very least, he could put nier out of his misery, as requested.

... he does genuinely weigh the options as he moves to stand over nier's body, a hand pressing on his wounds. just, he doesn't consider for very long. because-- ]

Forgive my selfishness, dear Nier. If I were to cut your life short, some threads of knowledge about this fate of ours would die with you. And that is what I value more than anything else.

[ --he knows what he needs. more than this city, more than his own life, more than nier's wishes. he's a mildly loathsome person, you see, even if his apology is genuine.

give him a second to rest, and then he'll (struggle to) move, hide and restrain nier's body somewhere else. not that he expects it to work. not that he expects nier to remain there when he leaves after that task is done, because he's terrible at standing still. even if that time spent sitting is for the purpose of looking after a body.

a free nier is not a dead nier, at least. and a not-dead nier could answer his questions someday when he's done being a murderer.

ah, he sure has to walk off the adrenaline... ]