( CLOSED )

[gynvael]

Who: Geralt + Jaskier; Sam Wilson; Belle
When: July 25-31; Aug 5-13
Where: The castle // dungeons
What: The aftermath of the Horizon, and questions Geralt would rather not answer.
Warnings: Talk of death; possibly other similarly dark topics


(( closed starters below. if you'd like a starter following up on the Horizon or anything else in between the July event and August arrivals, hit me up at discontinued! ))

sam wilson | jaskier | belle | sam wilson (ii)

Comments

[gynvael]

[ Geralt looks back, waiting for her to finish drawing what conclusions she might. When she finally says Jaskier's name, the confirmation sends a flicker of knowing across his face. ]

I am. [ He leans against the wall behind him. He studies her a little more closely. Not someone he met in the Horizon. That's a relief, in all honesty. More than enough saw him as he was in that place. ] You're Belle. He mentioned.

[ Jaskier makes friends easily, but few he would send Geralt's way or tell him to keep an eye out for. Few that he knows Geralt would care to speak to. That Belle left a certain impression on the bard has his interest. ]

[dreamtofheroics]

Yes, I'm one of his roommates. [ a word that still feels strange to her (she's never had a roommate until now, never even a cellmate), especially down here. she's tried to sort out what this kingdom could be thinking, leaving so many of the summoned in the dungeon, but in the end, it's not the kind of decision that Belle wants to be able understand.

but while she empathized at first, it's quickly escalated into all of their choices being questionable.]

I wish you weren't down here, but I am glad to finally meet you. [ if she can't change the circumstances, she'll just take all of this one moment at a time. the more they learn about each other, the easier it'll be for them to look out for their little group.

and yes, that means she thinks she ought to look out for Jaskier and Geralt, too. protecting someone isn't always a matter of size and strength.]

[gynvael]

[ Ah. They share a room. So that's where Jaskier met her. He isn't entirely certain what to think of her yet, but he's willing to take her at face value -- in part because Jaskier seems to trust her. He can see it, maybe. A sincerity not everyone has. ]

Could be worse. Free roof. [ He stretches out his other leg. Despite the dryness in his words, it's not as easy as it'd been before to pretend like he isn't damn tired. It feels like all the sleep in the world won't cure him.

The word finally, though, catches his attention. A flicker of both curiosity and amusement crosses his features. ] He's been telling that many stories of me already?

[dreamtofheroics]

[ a roof under these circumstances isn't anything more than a cage, but she keeps that thought to herself. it takes strength to reach some kind of tolerance for all of this. if he's found it, she doesn't want to make things worse.]

Well I had hoped to come see you after we spoke about you, but that was just before our time in the Horizon. [ forgetting who she was had prevented her from making a trip down to see him. not to mention how their time there had complicated things for all of them, Belle included.] Jaskier did seem hesitant to talk about you at first.

[ she adds that because she thinks she ought to, since Geralt seems used to Jaskier and his stories, and she did initiate the original conversation hoping that having someone to talk to would be a comfort to him at the time.]

Once he found out I've been trying to help people down here, he told me about you.

[she shrugs, though her gaze doesn't leave him.]

I was imprisoned by an evil queen back in the Enchanted Forest. I don't want any of you to think that you're in this alone.

[gynvael]

[ Before our time in the Horizon sends a shuttered expression flickering across his face. Whatever experiences others may have had with that place, it's clear his own leaves him ambivalent about it at best. He shoves it aside. It's not important, here and now, and what happened there -- he knows it won't happen again.

His eyebrow lifts instead. That's not the confession he expected to hear out of their first conversation. ]

Don't tell me you're a princess. [ It's said lightly, but there's a sense that he's not entirely joking, either. It sounds like a fairytale, the way she phrases it. An enchanted forest. An evil queen. But he knows, stripped of that, it's hardly the most unusual occurrence. Queens lock plenty away at their whims.

He studies her for a moment before another question leaves him. ] Have you felt imprisoned even up there?

[dreamtofheroics]

Not officially, no. Though I've found my title changes based on who's telling the story. [ he won't understand what that means, but it's said in a way that suggests Belle has some degree of amusement for the question. she's not a princess, but it is a fairytale. it just also happens to be her life, too.

she considers his question for a moment before she nods her agreement. it doesn't seem fair to say she feels like she's being imprisoned when others are being kept in a dungeon, but it is an accurate understanding of their situation.] We're all prisoners here. I think it's important for us to remember that.

[ they might make it sound more pleasant by calling them honored guests and letting them stay upstairs, but that's not what they are. they were all dragged out of their worlds and forced to cooperate here.]

[gynvael]

[ A curious answer. Not quite one he was anticipating. He eyes her. ] And what is it when you're telling it?

[ He stretches both legs out in front of him. He's always been interested, in who feels the same. Which one of the guests are buying into it, that they're honoured for a reason, and which ones feel just as trapped. Jaskier has mentioned, how Thorne has seemed resistant to anyone leaving the city borders. That tells him all he needs to know. ]

I'd be careful. Now that they have what they want.

[ That link to the Singularity -- he's never been fond of when plans go well for the other side. ]

[dreamtofheroics]

I'm the same as everyone else. [ especially here, where she's not the woman who married the Dark One. how many times had she ended up in danger because she was in love with Rumplestiltskin? she spent thirty years in a cell just because someone cared for her.

she's spent a lot of time wondering why they chose her. but if they're hoping to draw Rumple here, they're too late. he wouldn't care to save her, and she made him powerless so he couldn't if he wanted to.]

I'm always careful, but I'm not convinced it's all they want.

[ though she won't deny it is going well for them. she reaches into a cloth bag she's fashioned at her side, holding out a generous piece of baguette for Geralt.]

All of us must have been chosen for specific reasons. Nothing like this ever happens by chance.