[ CLOSED ] so hold your fire

[gynvael]

Who: Geralt + Various
When: August
Where: Cadens, Horizon
What: Catch-all for the month
Warnings: Drawing blood, medical talk, talk of experiments, headbanging, moglad



(( starters in the comments below. find me at discontinued or at Noa#1979 to plot stuff! ))

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[thunders]

[ Thor had come to the tower by way of the hanger, and though he was disappointed to find it deserted, it was to be expected. It wasn't as it had been all those years ago, when he could sometimes find one of the Avengers in the common room at any odd hour. Maybe the next time, he would send a message to Tony or Steve, but his restlessness had not seemed an important enough reason to bother. It was fine. If Tony didn't want Thor to drink his fancy whisky directly out of the bottle, he wouldn't keep it in the lounge.

It's Jarvis who informs him of other visitors, offering up a name and location without prompting, though Thor can hear the slightly strained note in Jarvis' voice.

Instead of trying to take the elevator, he grabs Mjolnir from the coffee table and walks back out to the hanger so he can drop to the ground floor.

It's not hard to find the pair of visitors, a large man and an only slightly smaller wolf. ]

Hail, Geralt of Rivia! [ Thor lands heavily in front of them, Mjolnir in one hand and a bottle of whisky in the other. ] Are you and your furry companion looking for Stark?

[gynvael]

[ The man lands so abruptly in his path, Geralt nearly drops the damn wolf. Where the fuck—

Wait. He knows that face. Somewhat. Geralt only vaguely recalls the shit dream they shared. The man, on the other hand—hard to forget. It's rare Geralt meets anyone noticeably larger than him. He squints over the wolf covering most of his vision.

This is not how he imagined his peaceful Horizon walk would go. (Why is he surprised?)

Stark. Right. He should've guessed this tower belonged to the...inventor? Researcher? Sam's friend. Seems, mm. Fitting. ]

No. I— [ How does one explain they lost control of their imaginary wolf. Geralt hasn't any fucking idea, so he simply does not. ] —was leaving. [ A beat. ] You share this with Tony Stark?

[thunders]

[ Now that he can see the man's face, Thor recognizes him as well. He had thought nothing of it in the dream they had shared, but looking at him now, he would fit in easily among Asgardians with his leather armor and broad shoulders... and apparent affiliation with wolves. His eyes are certainly striking even outside of the dream. ]

I was visiting. And availing myself of Stark's hospitality. [ He raises the not insubstantial bottle of whiskey. ] Tony and I have been friends for some years now... as trying as it can be at times.

[ If Jarvis knows the man, Tony certainly does, so Thor doesn't think he needs to elaborate on that point. Anyone who's met Tony even one time will understand.

He shakes his head and steps forward. ] Forgive me, we haven't properly met — I am Thor, son of Odin. [ He fastens the hammer to his belt and reaches out to shake the wolf's paw, since Geralt has his hands full. It's easy to guess at the string of events that led him to hauling the creature bodily out of the tower, even if he himself had no interest in entering. ] If you and your companion have no business to attend, perhaps a drink is in order? I feel I owe you one but... [ He inclines his head toward the tower with a smile. ] It will be his treat.

[ It's true that he could summon whatever he desired, but when it comes to this particular taste, even Thor would admit that Tony has a particularly good palette. He certainly won't care that the drink was taken. ]

[gynvael]

[ A long moment passes where Geralt regards the man named Thor. Somehow, he'd not expected them to be of the same world. Is it the man's dress? Mannerisms? Pattern of speech? All of that, perhaps. Little of it matches the others that he knows are from that sphere. Those etchings, the war hammer itself—it could easily belong in the hands of a Skelligan warrior. He's been friends with Sam long enough to understand one thing: if it appears at home on the Continent, then it is almost assuredly out of place in Sam's world.

Thor shakes the wolf's paw. It looks throughly unimpressed. Geralt pauses, tips his head, then finally sets the animal down. This, along with Geralt turning back towards the inside of the building, serves to accept Thor's invitation. Does he want to know why the fuck the building was speaking to him? He does. Will he ask? No. Something tells him the answer will only raise more questions.

If Thor says Tony won't mind, that'll do. Geralt operates under the assumption that if anyone truly wanted him out of their space, it would be locked to him.

He falls into step beside Thor. The wolf trots alongside, behaving again. ]

You don't sound as they do. [ There's curiosity in that observation. Geralt does not clarify his meaning—but maybe Thor can guess. ]

[thunders]

[ Jarvis opens the doors for them without prompting and Thor looks up at one of the nearby cameras to give Jarvis a little nod of thanks as they walk. He heads toward the elevator at the other end of the lobby.

You don't sound as they do. Not just Tony, but most of the team. He isn't that surprised that Geralt knows of them — but his way of asking is certainly more polite than most. Thor makes a soft sound at the back of his throat, taking a moment to think of how to explain it. It's a little different every time he tells it, but he gives Geralt the version that is the easiest to parse, and the most true. ]

I am not of Earth. I was banished there in years long passed, but even after the banishment was lifted, these people have always welcomed me. I have lived and loved and fought alongside them — and in turn, they have taught me much.

[ The elevator makes a polite little ding to announce its arrival ahead of them. Thor stops, holding the door so that Geralt and the wolf can enter ahead of him. ]

You aren't of their world either. How do you know them?

[gynvael]

[ Geralt blinks once. The implications of that admission are multiple. He takes a moment, turning the information over in his head. There are a dozen gaps to fill, none of which he asks after just yet. ]

Most don't travel freely as you. [ Between spheres, that is. That's unusual. He's met a bare handful since his arrival. Back home, Ciri was an anomaly that was unheard of in the Continent's entire history.

His gaze at the lift is less apprehensive than the first time he encountered one of these things. Geralt steps inside after only a second of hesitation. He remains not fond of climbing into confined boxes that slide up and down, but he's accepted they're a common feature in others' homes. ]

Sam. [ Is this box made of solid glass? He frowns out of one of the clear walls. ] We were one of the first pulled. He wouldn't stop showing up outside my cell.

[thunders]

[ He doesn't know what to make of Geralt's brief hesitation; it isn't even long enough that Thor has time to consider other options, and once he boards the elevator he regards the walls with a suspicion Thor himself would reserve for his brother.

He considers saying something about it, but it doesn't seem polite. Were it his own domain, he might have had an opaque floor at least, but Tony is... Tony. Thor clasps his hands in front of him and waits. ]

Most are not princes of Asgard, or good friends with the keeper of the way. I used a sort of magical bridge — we called it the Bifrost. As you can imagine, I haven't any means of reaching it from here. [ Or even reaching Heimdall, which is in many ways more concerning. The Bifrost is gone. Heimdall should not be.

He nods at the mention of Sam, happy to turn his attention back to the conversation at hand. ] Captain Wilson is a good man. I don't know him as well as the others, but all whom I've spoken to have had only kind things to say. [ A pause. ] Why were you in a cell?

[gynvael]

[ Geralt is undeniably distracted by the glass rising through the building. It's a rare thing to distract him to this degree, but it's. Strange. Enough that it takes him a second or two before he draws his attention away and back to Thor.

Every time Thor says something, he opens the path to a dozen more questions. But it is the mention of the magical bridge in which Geralt is caught—not because he's never heard of such a thing, but because it almost rings familiar. Old writings, scholars who talk of the Spiral that was once traversed in a time before the Conjunction.

He makes a thoughtful noise. The lift bumps gently to a stop; the doors slide open. Geralt steps out with the confidence of a man who is used to knowing where he is going, and then stops abruptly when he realizes he. Does not. He looks to the left, to the right. (How big is this damn place?) ]

Thorne didn't like how I looked. [ Dryly. There's a real, more complicated, answer to this, but it isn't an important one. Didn't like him at first glance about sums it up. Speaking of: ] Where are you? Castle for the prince?