[ CLOSED ] eyes black, big paws

[gynvael]

Who: Geralt + Various
When: March
Where: Cadens, Horizon
What: Catch-all
Warnings: Standard Witcher canon; nsfw marked.


and it's poison in his blood;
we took you right from your mother's womb;

discontinued | quantifies | starters below.

Comments

[righteously]

( He remembers Geralt's less than awesome personal experience with Summoned experimentation, but his mind had been thinking earlier than their group — it didn't occur to him to be tactful about the question until too late. It's Geralt, at least, who he knows isn't particularly sensitive about his traumas, but Dean still flashes him an apologetic grimace anyway, on principal.

It's an only slightly reassuring answer. If just Thorne did the whole Summoning shtick before, it's highly unlikely those dehydrated clockwork zombies are somebody like them, probably, right? Don't get him wrong, it's still absolutely freaking horrible, but there's a very personal difference. If it were a possibility, he'd have to be much more on his guard on behalf of the people he considers his own.

He's quiet for a few minutes as he finishes tightening things into place, quiet as he rounds the bike, quiet as he shuts the Impala's hood and perches atop it. )

Part of me thinks... if I found out they did something like- that- ( What they did to those monsters, those poor bastards. ) To... Jo, to Cas, to you — or, God forbid, Sam, I would burn this entire city to the ground.

( His voice is low, and dark, and intently serious. If he's exaggerating his wrath, it's only barely. The principal is entirely honest; he would raze in wrath, and he's fully capable of it. He doesn't need to be a demon to hurt people. )

And then I think... if I'd do that for somebody I know, why wouldn't I do it for a stranger? What kind of selfish dick keeps something like this to themselves, what kind of person-- knows something like that's going on, and doesn't do anything about it? I mean, should we- shouldn't we do something about it? They're torturing people. You saw that thing. The way it- the way it was welded to iron, and-

( He has to stop, to lick his lips. To cut himself off, to keep his voice from raising or getting too hoarse. )

Geralt, it looked like Hell. It looked like something that stumbled straight out of Hell. I don't know if I can just sit on this.

( But what's the alternative? Challenging the entire god damn military? )

[gynvael]

[ As Dean stands, so does Geralt. He joins him on the hood of the car, the metal cool to the touch.

He had the same thoughts. When he first found the limb, he went to see Sam at once. What if it was a sign of active experimentation? (What if they had taken children?) When they realized the facility was abandoned, Geralt let it be. At the time, he was especially unwillingly to put Ciri at risk or awaken something best left untouched.

That was before they found a full specimen wandering the desert.

He sighs at the dusty ground and folds his arms across his chest. It strikes close to home. Experiments and mutations. ]

Back on the Continent, I stumbled across something. Young girls chosen for their resemblance to Ciri, disfigured into grotesque horrors. Their minds toyed with. I had the choice to leave it alone. Stay in hiding with Ciri. I couldn't. So I went to stop it.

[ Deep into the belly of the beast. ]

I lost Ciri that night. Nearly lost myself. But I don't regret saving more of those girls from the same fate.

[ There's a lot he'd have done differently, but not that. No matter how often he reflects on what happened, he can't imagine a scenario where he'd have turned his back on what he saw at Vuilpanne.

He glances over. A year ago, his advice may have been otherwise. Things have changed. So has he. ] You already know your answer. Just be careful.

[righteously]

( He's respected Geralt for a long time. Even despite his initial wariness, knowing the guy was a hunter initiated him with a certain level that's only grown with time. His regard now is extremely high, but even despite it, part of him expected Geralt to warn him off of this path. He expected caution, or to be guided to abstain — the dude's got a habit of keeping his head down, keeping his business close to the vest, and for a minute he really thought that's the same brand of advisement he'd get from this.

But it isn't... and that respect only grows higher as a result. It feels like the right answer, on a base and foundational level.

He meets Geralt's eye as the other man looks over and, after a lengthy beat, he nods. Just the once.

Okay, then.

Okay.

Good.

To be careful he says nothing; they both know he'll be as careful as he can be, but with this kind of thing... caution can only guarantee you so much safety. There's a very real risk that he pokes into something he shouldn't, that it brings heat down from on high, and the only true way to mitigate that would be to not poke around at all.

He'll handle the monsters he's been tasked to end. He'll get the military off their backs, and let their attention wander.

And then he's gonna start poking.

In the meantime, the two of them sit in contemplative silence, and drink. )