( OPEN ) february catch-all

[gynvael]

Who: Geralt + Jaskier; Yennefer; You
When: February // Feoveuer
Where: Aefenglom
What: A rescue. Not quite from who you'd expect. + other things as they come.
Warnings: Violence, CW related to the current event.

[ starters in comments. plot with me at discontinued! ]

OPEN: post-kidnapping

CLOSED: Jaskier | Yennefer | Jaskier pt. ii | yennefer + myr

Comments

[gynvael]

Didn't think it came from your mother.

[ Human, wasn't she? If he recalled their conversation. It suits him, the wolf. He can imagine how the loss of it feels: Geralt is, in some ways, lucky that his transformation doesn't strip him too heavily of how he once was. The loss of his Signs is inconvenient, as is his reaction to silver—but at least he's no less quick nor sturdy than he's always been.

He follows Alucard along a winding river. His mind is still elsewhere, and the sound he makes is at once distracted and faintly amused. ]

A vampire hunter befriending a vampire. Poetic.

[cryptsleeper]

[The flow of water along the riverbank is terribly slow, and it trickles with the occasional crack of thin ice. Alucard's eyes move, studying the clearer portions of the ice itself, curious if anything is swimming at the moment.]

Business at first.

[It's a fairly ambiguous statement, and one Alucard's careful to let land as casually as possible.]

Any hangover?

[gynvael]

Always is.

[ It'd been no different between him and Jaskier; him and Yennefer. Business. Now here they are, years later. Business, of a far less professional sort.

He's not watching the ice as closely as Alucard. His gaze is on the horizon. Is it possible to get a hangover while one is still drinking? (It is. He's had it happen before.)

Geralt shakes his head. It's less that he's certain he doesn't have one and more that he feels like shit in general. Has been for a few days now. He can't even remember the last time he got a full night of sleep. Maybe...mm. No. He can't recall.

He takes another sip. ] Considering throwing me into the ice water as a cure?

[cryptsleeper]

[A soft laugh responds, and it is a credit to Geralt that he doesn't ask what kind of business.] True enough.

[At this point, Geralt's probably the only person Alucard could imagine sharing the details of what happened before he arrived here and not getting much of a reaction. Patricide to save an entire country would probably get little more than a nod, maybe one more question, and then moving on.

Alucard's eyes move over to Geralt, hearing that bottle's contents sloshing around.]

Pretty sure that'd just make you wet and irritated. Hardly an improvement. [There's a pause, and then Alucard's gaze returns to the scenery around them.]

That bad?

[gynvael]

Some might say otherwise. [ He appreciates the forethought, though. The sun has drifted up into the sky now, too damn bright against the white snow. He squints in it until they step under some shaded trees.

A quiet huff comes from him. He doesn't look over. ] I can't be celebrating?

[ Alone in the woods, as one does. Time hasn't untangled his thoughts much. It'd be simple to say that it's concern for Jaskier, for Yen. For his other...(friends). It isn't. There are shades of what happened that digs up old wounds he's long kept pushed aside. Things he hasn't explained out loud to anyone, not even Yennefer.

His fingers tap along the side of the bottle. It's clear there are several things he wants to say. In the end, he finds himself falling back into the silence that's become second nature to him—though at least he doesn't insist he's doing fine. ]

It'll pass.

[cryptsleeper]

You're not though.

[Under the trees, Alucard finds a spot to lean, folding his arms over his chest. His eyes move up, and there. The tiniest hint of spring in all the wet and snow and dourness. A few buds on a young branch, premature but no less welcome for it.

It'll pass. Alucard breathes out at that. Acknowledgement, not judgement.]

This happened last year, you know. Different sort of kidnapping, but still the same sort of panic.

[His voice is gentle, but moreover, impersonal.]

My partner and I were bonded but not romantic yet. And we were shit at talking about what happened.

[gynvael]

[ Observant, Geralt thinks dryly. He sits on a snow-covered log next to Alucard's chosen tree. Right. He'd heard, largely because his former...presence had been involved. Liberating an entire city. There's a reason he's avoided those who once knew him well from that time. They see him in a certain way—and he's not interested in being a man who no longer exists. ]

I'm sorry. [ Alucard might sound impersonal, but he knows it isn't, that the man has shared it at all.

It's not the fear, though. He had been afraid, he'll admit that. Of course he had. But it's more than that. It's everything else, once the fear was over and it sits in front of him every day, how haunted Jaskier looks. That he hardly leaves the house anymore.

Geralt sets the bottle in the snow with an exhale. A cloud puffs into the air. ]

He wasn't a target until he jumped in to save me.

[ That's as close as he'll come to saying it should've been him—a statement that sounds too much like martyrdom to his ears. It isn't. It's simply the truth. ]

[cryptsleeper]

We've had worse. [There's a joking lilt to it, but the dhampir is deadly serious. Both himself and Trevor have gone through far, far worse than a stupid little kidnapping.] It just hit at an angle that compounded other matters.

[It's Alucard's way of asking it isn't just about this, is it? Careful, making all of it a simple statement of fact rather than prodding for information.

But ah. There is information, although Alucard doesn't pounce on it. The most he does is look over the Geralt, more approving at the bottle as it is set down in the snow.]

And if things had taken a different path, would you still be out here in a similar frame of mind?

[gynvael]

[ Compounded other matters is a delicate way of saying it fucked everything else up along the way. He gets what Alucard is implying. A small part of him considers saying what it is that's bothering him, but the truth is he wouldn't know where to start even if he were inclined to share.

So he doesn't. He's silent until Alucard finally asks a direct question. ]

I don't know. [ He traces a line in the snow with a single claw. Any approval might be short-lived; Geralt pretty quickly picks up the bottle again. He's probably admitting too much; the whisky makes his tongue looser. ] It'd be simpler. More of the same. I'd know what the fuck to do.

[ He'd have been wounded; Jaskier would fuss and Yennefer would force him to submit to bed rest. He'd deal with the effects of what happened, quietly, in his own way, and if he didn't sleep for some time after, that was nothing new, either. All things he'd managed before.

Yeah. It would've made things a hell of a lot simpler between the three of them. ]

[cryptsleeper]

[Alucard nods, understanding as much as he can with so little said. The wrong person got hurt, and now the whole dynamic is off. That makes sense to him. Hell, he can see it happening back home to his little trio.]

Shift one little thing and everything goes off balance.

[That's probably only a part of it, but it seems a key component.]

How long do you intend to stay out here then? [Another direct question, because there's no side stepping some points.] Presence helps as much as it hurts in these moments.

[gynvael]

[ Something like that. Geralt glances up at the sun. Still early in the morning. Whether or not Jaskier has actually slept through the night is another matter, but he knows he won't be missed for some time yet. Besides. Yennefer is there. She'd let him know if anything happened. ]

Mm. A bit. It doesn't hurt. [ Not the most explicit of invitations -- partly because he assumes the man has other things to do sooner or later -- but if Alucard wants to kill the morning hours by lingering around a drinking Witcher...at least Alucard tends not to press.

Though there's not a lot left to drink. Unfortunate.

He gets up to continue their walk, if only to have something to do other than stare at a snow covered log. ]

I suppose this is as thrilling company as you'll get out of me. [ His ear flicks as a clump of snow tumbles onto it from a branch. ] There was a time I was accused of talking too damn much.

[cryptsleeper]

I meant being back with yours.

[It's a mistake that could be on purpose or could be happy accident. The dhampir doesn't press on that particular point, he only watches as Geralt gets up. There is plenty more to see, but Alucard sticks close to the winding water. There's something about it that he enjoys.

Snow crunches under his boot, the sound terribly satisfying.]

I'd pay to witness that moment. [He's almost certain that this is the longest conversation they've ever had.]

Can you get through the rest of this without drink?

[The situation at hand he means, not the walk.]

[gynvael]

[ Ah. That's what he means. Geralt leaves it unanswered, letting the crunch of snow fill the silence instead. ]

You'd have to travel back some decades.

[ Hm. He's curious how old Alucard is. Most vampires are ancient, but he's never met a half vampire before. Does he age? Like a human? Or simply slower, as a Witcher might?

He grunts in reply. There's not much he feels like doing sober at the moment. ] Does it matter?

[cryptsleeper]

Ah. Well, that wouldn't be the person I know now either. Not sure if witnessing such a thing is worth the loss.

[If asked, Alucard would have to be honest. he's like, a baby He's only on his first lifetime.

There's a nod in response to the question.]

It will, in the end. Because whatever else you're drinking to not deal with is going to eventually come up to the surface and have to be dealt with. At least, that's been my experience.

[gynvael]

[ "A loss" is not the first term that comes to people's minds when describing the absence of his current personality. Geralt makes a noise that suggests being told so is a new experience. ]

I dealt with it in the past. Rather not do it a second time.

[ Well. It's what he believes, in any case; the reality is Geralt has not, in fact, dealt with a single damn thing that's happened to him since childhood and onward. He's only buried it, and maybe that's why this whole thing digging into old wounds feels so fresh. ]

Is that what you eventually did? Sit and talk it out? Or is it just what you wished you'd done?

[ Advice granted from a place of personal regret is not something Geralt is unfamiliar with. ]

[cryptsleeper]

[Alucard raises a eyebrow at the noise, but lets the whole thing go by. Not something else he can harp on, and quite frankly, the other matter is a bit more pressing.

The water bends up ahead, and Alucard's careful as he moves along with it. There's more melt here, and--

--ah. The squelch of mud hiding under a thin layer of snow. Lovely.]

Yes.

[The dhampir sighs, venturing a little further into the personal.] Back home, they left after a particular tragedy. I thought I wanted space at the time, but I was wrong. Not talking was stupid then. Being forced to talk while here helped underscore that particular fact.

[gynvael]

[ What an incredibly reasonable take. Geralt finds himself not in the mood for reason, and it needles him in a way it normally might not have. ]

I've rarely been fond of being forced to do anything.

[ Besides, it's not up to him, anyway. This is not some shit that affected him; if it were, it'd be easier. Jaskier has never been reluctant to talk before, but he is now, and Geralt's not one to push for a conversation neither of them want to have in the first place. The matter of Yennefer complicates things further. It's never been easy between them, whether they talk or not.

So here they are. Here he is. ]

[cryptsleeper]

No one is.

[Alucard knows better than to offer a statement he considers trite but true all the same - that the only way out is through. It's something Geralt already knows, and they rarely waste words with each other.

He pauses, then tilts his head slightly.]

Do you think coming out here might help? Being out in a wider expanse, where there can be a more natural silence?

[gynvael]

[ For a few moments, Geralt doesn't respond. His boots leave muddy prints in the melted snow as they stroll further towards where the weather turns warmer. ]

I've never lived amongst people. [ He lives with them, where he must, but not among them. ] Townsfolk don't want my kind. The woods are simpler.

[ If not for Jaskier and Yennefer, he'd rarely return to Aefenglom, even if...it's not a bad thing, to have what feels like a home and a city that doesn't distrust him on sight. But this world remains a variable. The last thing he wants is to grow comfortable when he knows the life that awaits him once this city is little more than a distant memory. Which it will be eventually, whether that's a season from now or decades later. ]

[cryptsleeper]

[The question had been would bringing Jaskier out here help but well, never mind. There is instead a very soft, sympathetic noise from Alucard.]

They are. It's how I grew up. Safer, away from people and far, far from mobs of absolute idiots.

[A hint of heat threatens in Alucard's voice. He's no intent of bringing the full of his mother's murder into this, but the point remains: he gets it far better than most.]

[gynvael]

Mm. [ Geralt doesn't question it; he assumes a man who's part vampire doesn't find much reason to fit in with the rest of the world, either.

Though between Alucard's brief mentions here and there—of a tragedy and a war and now mobs—he thinks it's not too difficult to piece together what might have happened.

Either way, he's carefully sidestepping any further discussion of talking to Jaskier. Doing so means bringing up a past not even Jaskier has been so careless as to ask him about. Not once they'd become...friends.

Maybe he should. He doesn't know. ]

Are you going to tell me you learned otherwise from your partners?

[cryptsleeper]

Am I becoming predictable?

[At least that tone is light. The laugh that follows is likewise, but with bitterness threaded through.]

Not at all. Trevor lost his family and lived a rough life apart from others since he was barely a teenager. Sypha's people are regularly understood as heretics or otherwise bringers of ill-omens, in spite of their ethos of doing good and bringing healing. We've all lived apart from the rest of humanity, and I think there will always be lingering preferences for being apart from large gatherings of people.

[gynvael]

You have been. [ There's simplicity in how predictable, though. It's half the reason why he finds Alucard's company unobtrusive. He's rarely surprised by the conversations they have.

He absorbs that information silently, filing it away amongst the handful of pieces he's picked from Alucard over time. He winds around the path, making a turn that brings him back towards the city skyline. Jaskier might be awake by now. He should probably start home before they wonder where he got to. ]

Jaskier's lived a carefree life. [ It feels especially like something has been irrevocably changed because of that. This is the first time he's seen Jaskier mistrustful of people, quietly avoiding them instead of seeking them out. ]

[cryptsleeper]

That's a comfort, truthfully. [Predictable means stable. To be stable? That means Alucard's come further than he ever expected to when he arrived here, and that means a lot.

Moreover, a part of the dhampir quietly knows something else: if he ever had to admit to the worst of his own actions, there'd be precious little judgement for them. That is a greater comfort.

Geralt's change in direction is something that Alucard doesn't acknowledge. He just keeps moving.]

So he has no past experience in processing these things. [Trauma's survivable, but coping skills (even bad ones) make the greatest difference.] I'm sorry.

[gynvael]

[ That response is predictable, too. It brings the faintest twitch to his lips as they trek over roots and half-melted snow.

He appreciates stability, too. He's missed it. Maybe a funny thing for a Witcher to say, one might think, but there's nothing more predictable than going from contract to contract, unattached. People are what make things complicated. ]

I suppose we all start somewhere. [ The edge of bitterness, he doesn't bother to hide. He doesn't know if it's better to have learned from an early age or not. Does going through some shit at boyhood give one a leg up? He'd wager some might tell him that's the case. (He assumes his mother would -- that it's part of his fucking destiny.) ]

Your people were safe, though. [ A question is in the statement. Alucard hasn't mentioned anything about his Bonded or someone he knows being taken—so either they weren't or Alucard doesn't want to talk about it. ]