[ 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! ))

Comments

[gynvael]

[ 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_he_loves]

[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?

[gynvael]

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. ]

[nadine_he_loves]

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.

[gynvael]

[ 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.

[nadine_he_loves]

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?

[gynvael]

[ 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_he_loves]

[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.]

[gynvael]

[ 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. ]

[nadine_he_loves]

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.

[gynvael]

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.