[ CLOSED ] death is no man, death is no wraith

[gynvael]

Who: Geralt + Various
When: October, pre-event
Where: Cadens
What: October catch-all
Warnings: Standard Witcher canon


(( starters below. plot with me discontinued. ))

Comments

— ◈ ciri.

[gynvael]

[ When Jaskier tells him he's found them a new home, Geralt asks no questions. Knowing his friend, he'd seen it coming. The place has been feeling cramped for some time now, and it isn't as if they haven't got the coin to rent a larger space. It'll be nice to have a bit more room.

He has little to pack. What isn't already in his bags fits into a single crate. His room does not yet have a bed, but he intends to get one. Seeing as he has a room of his own for the first time since setting foot in Cadens. Perhaps he'll even build it just to have something to do.

It isn't his room that he's currently in. It's Ciri's—cozy but empty. As has become tradition, Geralt's brought some shelving and furniture to piece together.

He peers around the doorframe, eyeing the shells and other trinkets she's begun to unpack. ] Those are new.

[ The pieces of coral, he means. ]

— ◈ alucard.

[gynvael]

— ◈ nero.

[gynvael]

— ◈ himeka.

[gynvael]

[ Mm. This is unexpected.

Not the basket. Himeka occasionally leaves him food with the wolf. Last month, it was a crusty bacon bread. This time, it's—

Geralt pulls the strange creature out by the scruff of its neck. A row of jagged teeth greets him in what appears to be a. Smile. He thinks. Stuck between its sharp pearly whites are bits of spinach. Crumbs are trapped on its fuzzy belly.

So that's where his food went.

With a sigh, he puts the creature back in the basket. Suppose he may as well return the damn thing. He'd say Himeka must be missing it, but if he knows anything about her, she's probably not noticed it's disappeared.

Tracking her and her crystal down is simple enough. If the food has only arrived, she must be inside the Horizon. Sure enough, he finds her halfway around the crater. ]

You, uh— [ He holds up the basket. The creature's head peeks out from under the cloth. ] —misplaced a friend.

[ It belches, satisfied. ]

— ◈ steve harrington.

[gynvael]

[ Kaer Morhen is the natural space to train in. Steve arrives for his regular lessons, and that's where they talk. Geralt's had little reason to visit Steve's domain in return—aside from when he came across Steve's gigantic monster before they promptly fell through a crack in the Horizon.

He can't say what finally brings him to the boy's side of the crater. Perhaps it's to do with his extended memories. Absent of the people he's come to know and care for in this world, they make him feel as if he hasn't seen them in far longer than a handful of weeks.

The long stretch of road hasn't changed. Geralt leaves behind Roach in favour of his motorbike. Just seems to better suit the smooth grey stone. The bike could almost belong to the same era with its vaguely vintage design, and it rumbles as he pulls up next to a lit sign that proclaims, in bold yellow letters, SCOOPS AHOY.

No snarling monsters. Always a good sign.

Curious and assuming the shop must be open to anybody, Geralt pushes open the door. The bell chimes. He can hear the hum of lights and machinery, and the smell that fills the air is thick with sugar. ]

— ◈ nadine.

[gynvael]

[ Several weeks pass before Geralt finally seeks out Nadine. He'd wanted to...wait. To see if the pains were mere ghosts that would soon fade.

They do not. Denying it any longer edges into bullshitting himself. Though he does feel better than that first night—steadier, more himself—his leg in particular remains bothersome when he rides for too long, trains too hard, sleeps too awkwardly. More healing is not the answer. Between Triss, the dryads, Yennefer—he knows all the magic in the world has been expended to fix him.

It isn't a cure he's after. Just relief. And Nadine will have it, if no one else.

The door to her clinic is open. Geralt steps inside, letting it shut quietly behind him. He seldom comes for much other than to restock before he rides out, but this time, he looks for her inside. ]