abraxaslogs | [ CLOSED ] so hold your fire

Just a vial. You'll barely even notice it's gone.

[Deftly, she sweeps the crushed ingredients into a jar and screws on the top to be labeled and stored properly later.]

Follow me.

[Nadine stands and briskly heads to the exam and surgery room, where there's a medical table with leather padding and an anatomy skeleton and the large cabinets with all of her supplies. Which she intends to upgrade soon. Most of her tools are second hand.]

That and a few questions is all you have to go through. I'm assuming all your organs and whatnot are in the normal places and shaped like a normal human's?

[ He's certainly lost more than a vial before.

The smallest pause, and then he follows. He eyes the molded skeleton (or are those real bones?), only turning back to Nadine when she speaks. He raises an eyebrow. Considering the people in this city, that's. A fair question, he supposes. ]

Mm-hmm. [ It's a little hard not to default to sarcasm, but he's trying. He plants his palms on the table. ] We have a slower heartbeat.

[ Since they're on the subject of organs. A good amount of information exists on the Witchers despite all that's lost. A couple dozen of them survived for a century after the massacre. But he is different. Among his kind, he's still different. ]

And those are the sort of questions I'm going to be asking.

[Nadine offers a distracted smile as she retrieves a fresh pocket journal and a pencil to begin with. This will be one of the journals she keeps locked, containing Geralt's information and treatment records. She may not have taken any oaths, but confidentiality is important.

Next is her stethoscope, which only resembles the ones she's familiar with in shape and function.]

Just hop up on the exam table there and I'm going to start with taking your vitals. This way I have all your 'normals' on record - heartbeat, breathing rate, just the basics. But...anything you could tell me about how your system works would be great.

[ He is incredibly not fond of lab tables, and even less fond of being on them while someone makes notes. It is also not a point he wishes to explain, so after a second of hesitation past what's typical for him, he lifts himself onto it. There are details she already knows: his healing, his immunity, his long lifespan. ]

What works on humans will work on us. But we use more potent ingredients that would kill you.

[ It's the reason he's taken Nadine's potions without much problem. Their effects are milder than what a Witcher would brew, but they serve their purpose. He's accepted the elixirs he once used are no longer possible in this sphere. Though lately—he's started to wonder.

Especially with what he's discovered of his newfound...ability. ]

More potent as in higher doses, or made from more potent ingredients?

[It's an important distinction. If it's the former, Nadine can work with that. But if it relies on specific ingredients...they may well be out of luck.

She sets about her tasks quickly and easily, setting out all she needs and turning her attention to Geralt. This will be, at least, her easiest of these sorts of sessions. He's practically human, in a physiology sense. There's no vastly new biology or anatomy to learn, just a few...unique quirks.]

Give me your wrist? I'm just taking your pulse. All of this really shouldn't take long.

Both. [ Some specific ingredients, he thinks Jaskier can grow. They're not uncommon plants, if what's available in this world is anything to go by. They've the same herbs, fruits, vegetables. It's only that the climate means some things don't sprout wild for foraging as he's used to. But other ingredients...

He offers her his hand while he considers how to explain. ]

The elixirs we use are toxic to us. But their effects can heal at the same time. Offer other benefits. We were created to withstand them enough to take advantage.

[ To milder poisons and other ill effects, he may as well be immune. To anything deadly, he can often recover in a few hours. ]

[Nadine takes Geralt's hand and lays two fingers on his wrist, pressing slightly to get his pulse.]

Okay. Uh...ignoring how crazy that sounds...you've said 'created' before. Was this something done by a magic spell or something more tangible? Or do you mean your people as a whole?

[Pulse rate ascertained, she makes a little note of it in the journal. Understanding exactly what Geralt is - or as close as she can manage - is going to go a long way to help her understand how to treat him.]

[ His expression flickers. It is not the first time he's explained. It isn't even uncommon knowledge. That's the thing, though: he's spent most of his life never explaining, never describing. He lets the whispers and rumours do it for him.

Only in this sphere has he found those who genuinely want to understand. And he knows what he promised Nadine; they've been...friends. For awhile. She's confessed a lot to him. ]

Alchemy. The process can only be done on boys. [ Specifically boys. Not men. He takes his hand back when she's finished. ] It would take...a week or so. If you survived.

[Nadine is quiet as she goes about her work, which is quickly completed. Just the essentials, really. Pulse, rate of breath, the general points for quick diagnosis.

But she's going by rote, thinking not about what she's doing but what he's said. It was some process. A dangerous process. Done to children. There's no excuse for that and if she were more prone to speaking her mind, she'd have a great deal to say.]

So it's not something natural.

[Her voice is tight as she sets aside her journal and reaches for her blood drawing kit.]

It's...what, some sort of magic genetic experimentation?

No. [ He's quiet, too. Matter-of-fact at the same time. Nadine doesn't need to say it. Most people here have the same thoughts. And the truth is, he doesn't really need to hear it. It doesn't change anything. ] They'd refined the process. As much as they cared to.

[ Witchers were being created for centuries before he came along. The deaths were deemed an acceptable statistical outcome. He cannot say if the mages were incapable of making the mutations any safer or if they decided it wasn't worth the effort. If he had to guess, though, he knows which option he'd choose.

Rare alchemical ingredients are costly. Magic is a finite resource. And these mages were not exactly sanctioned. But there will never be a shortage of unwanted boys. ]

I'm guessing your world doesn't have a concept of standards of ethics.

[Nadine's voice is tight as she holds back everything she'd like to say. Nothing ever good comes of playing God. The sort of thing that was done to Geralt, what had happened to her world, these were things that man should not do. What was wrong with human beings? How could they justify the things they did? The gain couldn't possibly be worth it. To inflict something like that on a child...

She takes a deep breath, tramping the feelings down. Her mind needs to be calm right now. The last thing she wants to do is handle a needle when she's distracted. The assembly of the instrument at least gives her time to settle her thoughts.]

Alright, we've come to the least fun part of this visit.

[ Geralt tilts his head. Mm. ] Sure. In writing.

[ Laws have never stopped many. Least of all the mages. He imagines his sphere is not alone in that. There will always be those willing to pay too high a cost.

He doesn't add there's more to it. As to what was done to him. It's not important for her to know. As far as she's concerned, he's the only Witcher she will ever examine.

He flicks his gaze up to Nadine. His lips quirk. Is he keen on this? No. But he didn't come here to make Nadine fuss. Even if she's prone to it now and again. ]

I'll survive. [ He offers his arm. ] Promise.

It's still not fun.

[One thing she wishes she had access to - some slightly more modern equipment.

But Nadine screws the vial onto the three handled syringe and checks to make sure each bit is connected properly. This, at least, she's well experienced with. Two weeks of one of her classes had been devoted to drawing blood.]

Okay, hold out your arm, palm up. I'm just going to swab the spot with a little topical painkiller first. Hey, do you have knock-knock jokes in your world?

[ He refrains from telling Nadine he'd rather slice his hand and fill a cup and be some with it. It's the lab equipment he isn't fond of. Specifically syringes. He eyes it for a moment before looking away.

He also makes no mention that he doesn't require a painkiller. She apparently has a process and he's willing to go along without disrupting it. The ointment tingles, leaves his skin vaguely numb in a way that's mostly annoying.

His eyebrow goes up. His reply is deadpan, with the smallest edge of a tease. ]

You know Witchers are incapable of jokes.

[Nadine snorts at that.]

Oh that's bullshit.

[She finishes her preparations and looks up.]

Knock-knock jokes are big in my world. They always have the same set up, with one person asking and one person answering. And the answers are always the same, 'who's there?' and then repeating the answer followed by 'who?'.

[While she talks, Nadine is getting her syringe in position. Her tone stays light but engaging, trying to keep Geralt's attention on what she's saying, not what she's doing.]

Like this. Knock knock? Who's there. Cow says. Cow says who? No! Cow says moo!

[She jabs him on the 'no' and by 'moo' is withdrawing it just as swiftly.]

[ It doesn't quite work, though it's not for a lack of trying. He's certain it's effective on others. Small children in particular. He simply, you know. Has been trained to pay attention to everything at once. There's a vague squint as the vial fills with blood. Nadine will find it isn't much different than anyone else's blood beyond the way it reacts to certain substances.

And maybe how quickly it clots.

He huffs, faintly amused—less by the joke, and more by Nadine's sincerity when she tells it. ] How many of those have you memorized?

[ Jaskier would probably like them. ]

Way too many of them. Call and response is a tried and true trick to get kids to focus and shift their attention to me.

[She's already unscrewing the vial of blood to lock it away with a careful and coded label. Nadine knows Geralt doesn't need any gauze over the injection point.]

And that's it, you're all done. I have everything I need to be able to diagnose you if I ever have to. I'd offer you a piece of candy for your trouble, but I know you're not the biggest fan of candy.

Vesemir could've used that.

[ He slides off the lab table, unwilling to linger on it for too long. Hopes she never needs to have to diagnose him, to be frank. That would mean he encountered something that truly fucked him up.

He's escaped the worst of much so far. Other than a near-death scenario or two. That isn't too many. ]

Keep the vodka around. [ He retrieves his cloak. Dust storms out there today. ] I'll let you prod me with more needles.

[ CLOSED ] so hold your fire

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