Wᴇʟʟ, I'ᴠᴇ ɢᴏᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴜɴ ᴛᴏ ᴋᴇᴇᴘ ғʀᴏᴍ ʜɪᴅɪɴ'

[righteously]

Who: Winchester & Co.
When: September
Where: Free Cities, Libertas, & the Horizon
What: Quests, training, or Roadhouse socializing.
Warnings: Suicidal tendencies, alcoholism, other psychological traumas.

Aɴᴅ I ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ᴏᴡɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄʟᴏᴛʜᴇs I'ᴍ ᴡᴇᴀʀɪɴɢ
Aɴᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ʀᴏᴀᴅ ɢᴏᴇs ᴏɴ ғᴏʀᴇᴠᴇʀ
Aɴᴅ I'ᴠᴇ ɢᴏᴛ ᴏɴᴇ ᴍᴏʀᴇ sɪʟᴠᴇʀ ᴅᴏʟʟᴀʀ
Bᴜᴛ I'ᴍ ɴᴏᴛ ɢᴏɴɴᴀ ʟᴇᴛ 'ᴇᴍ ᴄᴀᴛᴄʜ ᴍᴇ, ɴᴏ
Nᴏᴛ ɢᴏɴɴᴀ ʟᴇᴛ 'ᴇᴍ ᴄᴀᴛᴄʜ ᴛʜᴇ ᴍɪᴅɴɪɢʜᴛ ʀɪᴅᴇʀ

Comments

[gynvael]

[ If she does mention the wings later, she'll realize Geralt's aware of those, as well. One's nearly hit him in the face.

He's listening to Jayce speak even while talking to Ciri—habit—but it isn't until he's addressed that he turns around.

Concerning. Geralt's eyes shift to Jayce, then to the sky, as though he's had a very long fucking day and senses it's soon to get longer.

He moves around Dean. If it were up to him, he'd lay Dean on the ground and pinned him down before they started. In the most practical sense, it's simpler than waiting to grab some thrashing limbs. But Jayce is the one who knows what he's doing with his healing magic, and the one who runs the greatest risk of being struck in the face. So Geralt offers no input.

He can hear Dean's heartbeat, at any rate. Which is racing at the moment, uneven. Ciri offers confirmation; Geralt only waits, silent. ]

[hextechhead]

I've done this a lot of times, Dean, you're in good hands.

[ Jayce hopes that even a small amount of reassurance may help here. It's true that this is exactly, or similar to, what he does with Viktor regularly. He normally can be a lot gentler about it so it only feels good, but they don't have the time for that with how tight Dean's chest is. The only reason he told them to wait to see if Dean panics is because sometimes people react without being able to stop themselves to being held down. As soon as Dean starts to struggle, he's going to do everything that will make it worse.

Jayce puts both of his hands on Dean's chest and focuses. The leg had a rush of heat but this is an intense amount of it all at once. He knows the lungs well so his magic pours into Dean's chest and touches not only them but everything connected to them, particularly the two major veins attached to the lungs. It will feel not only hot but actively burning, the pressure intense since he has to go fast and deep.

Dean might not realize until now how weak his breathing had started to get and the convulsion internally. Jayce is first healing the damage to them, repairing the weakness. Luckily he has only been suffering for a short time, if it was hours later, they would be in serious trouble. ]

Okay, what I'm going to do next is give extra strength to your lungs so they can suck down more air. I'm going to need you to take very deep breaths and blow them out. The smoke will come with it but you'll want to breathe too fast and make it a struggle. We're almost there.

[righteously]

( Probably would've been a good idea to go ahead and pin him. There's a brief, flickering glance at Geralt that might bely the fact that he's considering mentioning that too, but ultimately decides not to. Hell, maybe it won't be that bad. He's been through some shit, maybe he'll be fine, how bad could it possibly-

It's bad. Jesus god damn motherfucking Christ on a hotplate, it sucks dick. If he thought his lungs were burning before, now it feels like they're literally on fire. The reaction's entirely physiological, instant, knee-jerk reflex. Instinct drives him to try and throw himself away, backward, down onto the ground, teeth bared into a snarl, flailing as the muscles convulse and protest. As they try to suck in air to yell, but can't. The sensation of drowning as his throat closes, as he tries desperately to drag oxygen in that just won't come.

And then the constriction eases all at once, and he audibly gasps it in like he's breaching the surface after diving too deep. The tension in his muscles eases, the flailing slows to a stop. His eyes go momentarily wide, and when he exhales, it's with a dark curl of ashen smoke on his breath like a friggin' dragon or something.

At the tail end of the exhale, in a whisper-hoarse flurry of rapid fire words: )

Goddamnyouandyourhandsomereassuringfaceyousonuvabitch-

( Deep, deep inhale. )

[gynvael]

[ His expression is wary as he watches the entire thing, eyes flicking to Ciri for a second. He trusts Jayce. He's been subjected to healing through magic and potions alike. That's why he's wary. One never fucking knows how it might go.

Mm. Should've done it from the start. Geralt is lightning quick—grabbing Dean by the arms and holding him down. Keeping him pinned isn't the difficulty; it's doing it without injuring him—and there's a moment where Geralt almost thinks he hears a crack, one he doesn't think is more than a popping joint but he can't be certain. It's impossible to fully temper his grip, though. He doesn't let up until Dean stops struggling and Jayce has moved back.

He peers closely at Dean, a furrow etched into his brows. Looks over at Ciri to make sure she's fine in all of this, too, before he glances back. At least Dean's breathing normally again. Relatively. ]

You're okay?

[wiedzminka]

[ If Jayce thinks he'll need help with Dean, Ciri is prepared to act. She's not as fast as Geralt, of course -- that'd be pretty much impossible -- but she's still quick, and a lot stronger than she looks. In the split second it takes Geralt to grab for Dean's arms, she notices where he's focusing and shifts her weight to press most of it down on Dean's legs instead. Good thing Jayce healed that first, or this would be even more unpleasant, as she's focused more on keeping Dean from thrashing and hurting anyone than she is on not causing him discomfort.

It's not easy. Dean is also fucking strong, even half-dead. She's unable to tear her attention away enough to look at Geralt or notice his look her way, but she does keep her end of the deal, pressing down on Dean's shins with dogged determination. It lasts only a few seconds longer, and then Dean is gasping something that sounds like words, his thrashing dying down.

Ciri eases up on her grip, but doesn't let go until Geralt does. ]

Dean? [ A little breathless. Her heart is beating nearly as fast as his. ]

[hextechhead]

I'm sorry, I know, it's almost over.

[ He sounds genuinely sorry too, he had to act fast and thoroughly to get the smoke out. He doesn't have the benefit of extra oxygen out here, so that was the only option. Jayce watches him carefully though, glad that Geralt and Ciri acted. He can't hold Dean and heal at the same time. ]

Keep breathing slowly in and out. Eventually the smoke will be gone.

[ Jayce touches his chest again but this time it will feel completely different from before. It's that gentle warmth that Dean was used to from before with his leg, healing the strain in the aftermath so he won't have lasting damage. Now that they're out of the woods he remembers to breathe himself, honestly, that was unnerving.

He drops his hand away from Dean's chest but puts a more reassuring one on his shoulder. Just to be supportive.]

You'll feel sore, but you'll be okay.

[ He shoots Ciri a relieved look over his shoulder, since she did the right thing running for him. ]

[righteously]

( Of course he sounds sincere, that god damn earnest son of a bitch and his earnest eyes. Doesn't make it much of a consolation, but hey, he appreciates the effort. Or, you know, he will. Later on, in hindsight, when things are a little less.

He breathes slowly.

Inhale.
Exhale.

Feels his lungs slowly but surely clearing, the smoke fading into soft wisps like breath on a cold morning, until eventually things clear entirely. )

I'm good. I'm fine.

( He says to Ciri with a slow shake of his head, but it's meant for all of them. He shifts his way steadily back to upright again once the grip on him eases. Reaches out to give Jayce a slap on the arm in wordless gratitude, and spends the next minute or two just... catching his breath.

Eventually, he'll haul himself to his feet. Insist again that it's fine, that there's no need to fuss. He'll let the gang disperse — except for Geralt, who he grabs by the shoulder for a discussion off to the side. )

[wiedzminka]

[ She looks to Jayce, watching his expression as if to check if Dean is really actually fine or full of it. When Jayce meets her eyes, she gives a small nod.

Then, Ciri unfolds herself from her place by Dean's knees to stand, looming briefly over him. ]

Don't waste Jayce's effort.

[ Presumably, by getting himself into more trouble right away.

Ciri turns away with a last look at Geralt, who may be the only one actually able to tell how quickly her concern has slipped toward anger. She leaves before it can slip further while Dean is still catching his breath. ]