[ What a hypocrite he is, as he's compelled to turn away from the sight of the man's head being severed from his body. While nothing might have ultimately spared him from the blade, his suffering had been...cruelly prolonged by the Doctor's own hand, and yet — here and now — the swift act of execution unsettles him. He knows why, though — it's the finality he doesn't like, the thought that maybe he could have done anything at all differently and the brutal ending for so many here could have gone another way. But that would mean turning the light on in every heart that's already gone to a darkness from which they can't be saved.
He can acknowledge that he's seen people and creatures beyond mercy, beyond second chances, while not entirely accepting it and wanting to believe in just one more time. His eyes return to Geralt, nodding in silence before he passes the man purposefully, sparing a glance now only when the deed is done. His more immediate focus and his greater concern is for the children here.
Cid, yes. They'll be safe there, thankfully. He only wishes there weren't need to shelter quite so many these days. Far too many.
As he nears the children, it's to be expected when they huddle closer and recoil from the Doctor. Hands of waning starlight cautiously reach for them as he kneels a bit in an attempt to seem less imposing. ]
If you'll take my hand, we'll bring you somewhere safe. Promise.
[ Ultimately, they won't be left here regardless, of course, but after the harrowing ordeal that's transpired, he'd prefer to allow them a moment to consider him and to grant them some measure of personal choice and autonomy here. So, letting that settle for a second, to Geralt, briefly — ] Were there many other children?
no subject
He can acknowledge that he's seen people and creatures beyond mercy, beyond second chances, while not entirely accepting it and wanting to believe in just one more time. His eyes return to Geralt, nodding in silence before he passes the man purposefully, sparing a glance now only when the deed is done. His more immediate focus and his greater concern is for the children here.
Cid, yes. They'll be safe there, thankfully. He only wishes there weren't need to shelter quite so many these days. Far too many.
As he nears the children, it's to be expected when they huddle closer and recoil from the Doctor. Hands of waning starlight cautiously reach for them as he kneels a bit in an attempt to seem less imposing. ]
If you'll take my hand, we'll bring you somewhere safe. Promise.
[ Ultimately, they won't be left here regardless, of course, but after the harrowing ordeal that's transpired, he'd prefer to allow them a moment to consider him and to grant them some measure of personal choice and autonomy here. So, letting that settle for a second, to Geralt, briefly — ] Were there many other children?