[[ OOC: Apologies for the delay! Real life responsibilities cropped up... but I think we're closing in on a wrap either way? I've had a blast with this. ]]

Dead enough, Chris thinks and does not say. They had already said the Tristitia re-forms, but the damage dealt tonight -- and fear of more of it, at her hands and theirs -- should keep it from pursuing either.

Instead, Chris smiles faintly at her thanks and dips their head a moment. "I'm glad I was able to change things. You're very welcome."

It's a quiet that curls around them now, with the soft sound of night birds making a landing, or the wind stirring amid the trees. Not the silence of before, tense and awaiting a predator.

The stars shine above, and the town's lights shine ahead, and their two paths of footprints leave shadowed spots in the snow.