( open + closed ) this world is gonna end

[diametrically]

Who: Cassian & Various!
When: Mid-July to August
Where: Castle Thorne (stables), Nocwich, the Horizon
What: Catch-all for August
Warnings: n/a!

🌌 💫 🌃

Comments

[gynvael]

[ Hm. Geralt had planned to take his leave, but he's a simple man who is easily bribed by food and ale. ]

True. We don't work for free.

[ He follows Cassian's gaze. The tavern is not one he frequents, but he doesn't frequent much in Nocwich except the springs and the Hunting Woods. (And, as of late, the inn where he meets John.)

It'll do.

He falls into step beside the man. The doors open into a smoky room filled with the smell of stale beer and old tobacco. Geralt settles into a table by a corner, and makes sure there's room for the basket of kitten. ]

How did you come to possess such a ferocious beast?

[diametrically]

[ If Geralt had turned Cassian down it wouldn’t have been any skin off his back. He’d done more than enough and from the brief interaction they’d had in the forest as gods the Witcher didn’t quite strike him as the chatty sort. That and he didn’t trust the occasional yowl of discontent from the basket to contain the kitten for that long. 

Cassian’s taste for ale hadn’t grown during his time in Abraxas, but becoming familiar enough with the various taverns and hole in the wall bars came part in parcel for the work he’d landed himself here. This was a little too close to the main streets for any illicit dealings, but it was nice to people watch if you were in the mood for it.
He settles in motioning for the waiter when they have a moment. ] 

A friend gave them to me. [ There’s a beat as a sharp hiss comes from the basket. ] Although I’m not sure they’re a friend after this. I’ve never had a pet before. 

[gynvael]

[ Recognition flits across Geralt's expression. ] Happened to me, too.

[ Now he has a small leosylph wandering underfoot at all times when he's home. Though the leosylph actually likes him. He is not certain why Cassian's friend gave him such a spitfire creature.

He accepts the mug of ale when it comes. ]

It's not difficult. Just keep it fed.

[ He glances down at the hissing basket. Hm. If you ask him, this is probably a poorly planned prank, but he supposes it's Cassian's problem now. ]

[diametrically]

[ Ironically enough the kitten had been totally calm in the presence of Dan Heng. In fact the boy had said that he'd picked out the calmest of the bunch for him. Cassian is starting to think that he'd gotten duped. Which would honestly be just his luck. ]

Spoken like a someone with other pet experience.

[ He can't help but sound mildly amused. ]

If you don't have a cat then what do you have?

[gynvael]

I prefer horses. But someone decided to foist a creature onto me, too.

[ A fondness belies the dismissiveness of his words. Will he admit to building Coram a bed? Or that it follows him around when he's downstairs in his workshop? Feeding it rabbit hearts? He will not.

But he doesn't mind the leosylph's company. It doesn't do much except sleep, anyhow. ]

The Free Cities healers decided we should have them while recovering after...the abductions.

[ He probably says abductions far too casually. ]

[diametrically]

[ Cassian may not know him well enough to be able to pick out the fondness hidden behind those words, but he can probably assume that he's still got the creature under his charge whether he likes it or not.

And maybe, from what he's gathering, it might be akin to a therapy companion. Those weren't unheard of. Any number of those he'd known who had fought in skirmishes sometimes had animal or droid companions for company. ]

I heard about those. The abductions, not the creatures. From what I understand it made the recent safe room experience unpleasant. [ And there's more he wishes he could have done for them. There's a brief pause. ] You were one of the ones taken?

[gynvael]

[ Geralt shrugs, noncommittal. For some, he's sure. It's possibly not accurate to say Geralt has moved past it so much as he's buried the experience along with his other multitude of unpleasant ones and simply not addressed it again unless necessary. ]

Mm-hm. [ It all feels like lifetimes ago after venturing nearly a thousand years into the uncertain future. ] When did you arrive?

[ Later, certainly, but how much later? Geralt had not encountered Cassian until those visions; he's also far less familiar with those in Thorne and Solvunn than he is with the Free Cities. He doesn't particularly go out of his way to speak to many. Mostly happenstance that puts him in contact with them...or they come to him first. ]

noa tell me why i missed this i'm so sorry pls drop if this is too old

[diametrically]

[ A many of few words, apparently. Then again, so is Cassian depending on the subject or if you catch him in any sort of particular mood. And considering the subject matter, it doesn't sound like something that he would be particularly inclined to expand upon either.

In fact, from what little he's managed to piece together, revisiting it wouldn't be his first choice. So it stands to reason that he moves right on from the subject. ]

Ten months ago give or take a few days. If you asked me then I would have thought I'd be back in my galaxy by now.