For certain? No. But I can look at storm clouds gather on the horizon and hear the rumble of thunder, enabling me to make a few good guesses. If I'm wrong, I'll never bother you again.
[He isn't wrong, Alucard is confident in that much. Geralt would not have gone through the extremes he did in order to prove a point, and Alucard would not be here if he was not genuinely worried about his friend. Even if there's no squishy human bits in him, this sort of refusal? That is so very, very human.
There's a quiet, sobering breath from Alucard at the question.]
Because it isn't a battle I want to fight, Viktor. I'm going back to a time and place where memories of assault and attempts to murder me by people I thought were lovers and confidants are fresh in my mind and continue to deal with how that limits me. The fact that in my terror and grief I impaled them on my front lawn and then took to drink. I'm returning to memories of my father's death that are much too clear. The resentments I feel about certain territories are going to be rawer. Those are what I need to focus on. My denial of the situation removes the energy and capabilities I require to do so. I'm not happy about any of this, and frankly I think there's reasons to start to undermine all of the territories for doing this to us, but again: that requires energy and dedication. I only have so much, and I intend to distribute it where I believe it matters the most.
no subject
[He isn't wrong, Alucard is confident in that much. Geralt would not have gone through the extremes he did in order to prove a point, and Alucard would not be here if he was not genuinely worried about his friend. Even if there's no squishy human bits in him, this sort of refusal? That is so very, very human.
There's a quiet, sobering breath from Alucard at the question.]
Because it isn't a battle I want to fight, Viktor. I'm going back to a time and place where memories of assault and attempts to murder me by people I thought were lovers and confidants are fresh in my mind and continue to deal with how that limits me. The fact that in my terror and grief I impaled them on my front lawn and then took to drink. I'm returning to memories of my father's death that are much too clear. The resentments I feel about certain territories are going to be rawer. Those are what I need to focus on. My denial of the situation removes the energy and capabilities I require to do so. I'm not happy about any of this, and frankly I think there's reasons to start to undermine all of the territories for doing this to us, but again: that requires energy and dedication. I only have so much, and I intend to distribute it where I believe it matters the most.