INTRO LOG #2

[abraxasmods]

Intro Log #2

It has been two months now since the initial group of summonings first took place. Castle Thorne, or at least the part above ground, is buzzing with a vibrant air of hope following the 'success' at the Singularity. Eager smiles and excited chattering are to be found in nearly every corner of the castle and surrounding town. The honored guests may find grateful looks turned their way more often than not. A new and brighter day seems to be dawning on the kingdom.

In the dungeons it's a different story entirely. The mood is somber and uneasy. The prisoner taken for trial has yet to return, and no word has come regarding her or her fate. There has been no mention of any further trials as of yet and guards seem to have little patience for unruly behavior or even conversation. Some seem to not even look at or acknowledge the prisoners at all.

[ Feel free to continue threads from the TDM here or start your own! As cell and room assignments will be short-lived due to this month's event, you're free to assume whichever cellmates and roommates you like instead of officially signing up as long as there are ICly no more than four people in a cell or room at once. ]

Comments

yennefer of vengerberg { the witcher } chariot

[vixening]

C E L L M A T E S

[ the first day or so of yennefer's time in her cell had been a bit of an explosive force. she had been furious, and that anger had been hard to avoid for anyone staying in the same cell as she had. but with time, and with the unavoidable truth that her anger had yielded her no change or adjustment to her situation, yennefer had calmed. she is not calm, necessarily, and the frustration still buzzing under her skin can most likely be felt even down the hallways from her own cell, but she is not a lit canon anymore.

at times, she may even seem pensive - her attention solely on her hands, as they open and then close, over and over, as if she were reaching for something unseen. other times, she can be found pacing back and forth nearest to the bars, her eyes on the doors, the guards, anyone who she might be able to use as leverage to get herself out of here. there is a good chance that those who share her cell will also find her clutching her side, from time to time, though she will not be easy to read when it comes to the source or what happened. and honestly, no matter the reason, if eyes linger for a bit too long yennefer will speak, seemingly out of nowhere. ]

If there is something you wish to say, say it.

[ her tone isn't nearly as biting, this time around, either. though it's hard to tell if that is due to exhaustion, or an undercurrent of curiosity. violet eyes will glance over to whoever it is she's speaking to, one brow arched. ]

Well?

T D M / W I L D C A R D

[ feel free to use the prompts from the tdm or shoot me a wildcard option. i am v flexible. c: also chat me up on discord or disarmingly for plotting/questions/ideas. additionally happy to skip over initial meetings if you'd rather! ]

{ geralt.

[vixening]

continued from here.

[ there is no reason, yet, for her to be concerned with her answer. the last image she has before coming through that well had been of the dark stretch of countryside, of fire, burning through suits of armor. of the screams, her own and those of others. the memory of the feeling just nearly has her shaking again, the pure chaos of it, the fire itself. but she is still watching him, as she answers, which means that she sees the barest hint of reaction cross over his golden eyes. she can't quite read what it is, can't quite understand what geralt is hiding, but it's odd. perhaps misplaced.

except that it is then that geralt turns his eyes away, and the furrow in her brow deepens. his answer does nothing to help clear the expression - if anything, she feels herself become more confused by it. cintra? he'd been at cintra? making his way to sodden? smoke? her eyes widen a bit as the implications settle, thinking back to just minutes before, nine weeks. ]

No, that's not possible. [ a simple statement, though she knows it to be wrong even as she says it. not possible. who is she to say what isn't possible? she's spent so much of her recent life fighting that very concept, hasn't she? ] Sodden did not burn before. And if you have been here weeks... [ before the battle. it was the last stronghold, it was their attempt to cut nilfgaard's forces before they continue inward. her mind is spinning, now, with the ideas of it. geralt, who has been in this bloody prison for nine weeks but who had asked about her, who had been concerned, because of the state of the north. because nilfgaard was marching. nine weeks ago she had been considering istredd. she'd been on an entirely different path. nine weeks prior...

she steps more in front of him, now, knowing that he is avoiding looking at her, but deciding that she doesn't care. she can't bring herself to his eye level, not with his height, but she steps in to close the distance between them again, the pull between them returning. ] What aren't you saying, Geralt?

[gynvael]

[ While she pieces it together, Geralt remains silent. No reason for him to fill in the gaps she'll find on her own. No reason for him to offer more than what he's already said. Because he has offered her more than he should: where he was then. At Cintra. Near Sodden. The last place he should've been, if he were staying out of Nilfgaard's way as he normally would've. He's rode around dozens of battles, of wars, in his lifetime. Conflicts of men are not his concern. He comes in afterwards, when folk are picking up the pieces. When they're too few in number, too few in weapons and resources, to take care of the monsters that plague their fields themselves. Desperate not to lose what's left of their livestock to hungry creatures. That is where a Witcher follows the path of war. Not otherwise.

And yet. There he was. For all the good it did, being there. Trying to bring the princess to safety.

She steps in front of him. Geralt's eyes darken, but they meet hers: not quite challenging, not backing down, either. There's a lot he isn't saying. Only one of it is he willing to grant. ]

Jaskier recalls nothing past the dragon hunt. [ Whatever might be between them, Geralt has no desire to withhold real information from her. His frustrations over Yennefer have nothing to do with Ambrose. With this entire fucking mess here in Thorne. ] The magic they use comes from this land especially. Seems it's powerful enough to tear us through a place in time.

[ How likely this is, whether they previously knew this to be an absurd concept or not—it doesn't matter. It's the only explanation he has. And if he discards all his past conceptions of what should and shouldn't be possible, it's also the one that makes the most sense. Perhaps the only one that can make sense. ]

[vixening]

[ there is a part of her that picks up on that, whether or not that information is her focus. cintra. he'd been at cintra, he'd been there, when? during the attack? right before? and for what reason? questions spin through her mind like branches in a harsh wind but she can't find it in herself to focus on any of them specifically. none before the simple fact that he says dragon hunt and time and smoke. nine weeks, he says. nine weeks in this hell, and he what - hasn't actually been gone a day?

he does turn his eyes to her, when she steps up to him. does watch her as he continues. her own violet eyes scan every inch of his face she can see, this time looking for something she can't quite name, but needs to know is there. he would not lie to her. this is not something he would lie about, even if he did. nothing to be gained from this at all, which is partially why it confuses her so. what geralt tells her he believes to be the truth, and in turn, yennefer finds she believes him, too. believes that there is something else at work.

( a very small thought comes to her, unbidden and unprompted. if the singularity truly is that powerful, think of what you can do with it. she tucks it away, for now. ) ]

You mean the Singularity. [ he says 'magic', but yennefer thinks back to what she remembers of her arrival. fevered and partially unconscious, she hadn't picked up on most of what they had told her, but bits and pieces still ring true. the singularity, a failed ritual, the well.

abruptly, she lets out a breath - the tension she'd been building pushing out with it. ]

Did you tell him? [ she means jaskier, and the question comes with little bite to it. geralt had built this conversation between them in part off of jaskier's presence as well, letting her know the bard was here, that somehow all three of them had once again found their journeys intertwined. ] About Nilfgaard? And Cintra? [ there is little logic as to why she asks that, and in the moments after yennefer has to wonder if it's simply because that is an easier ground to walk. geralt - and she supposes jaskir as well - have been here for weeks. weeks. and yet somehow, it is also no time at all. time has always been a complicated matter for her, and she supposes for geralt as well, their longer lives making weeks much less important, years that run together. but it's not the same for jaskier. ]

[gynvael]

[ The Singularity. Magic. It's all the same to him; all the same sort of power that will always exist, in some form or another, because there will always be those who seek it. Who crave it. And for a second, he thinks he glimpses a flicker, a shadow, in her eyes that sends a spark through his veins. It slips away quickly -- lost in the tidal wave of everything else on his mind.

At least she believes him. A small, thin thread unwinds in his knowledge of this. ]

Mm. [ He lets out a quiet huff. Yeah. That conversation? Feels like a lifetime ago. Yen might look at him and think, as many as nine fucking weeks?, but to Geralt, all he can think is, how the fuck has it only been nine weeks. ] He screamed into a cushion and hasn't brought it up since.

[ He suspects Jaskier, in what is rare form for the bard, has been suppressing that piece of information so that he doesn't have to confront it. It's fair enough. Speaking of Jaskier and magic, however. He tilts his head. They might both be trapped down here, but Jaskier is not. Jaskier can learn. Has been learning. And while Geralt knows he can't rely solely on his friend -- on any one person but himself -- he also knows it's the sharpest edge he has at the moment: the fact that Jaskier, unassuming and unthreatening as he is, has the potential the wield the same magic the mages do here. ]

There's something else you need to know. [ A beat passes. He folds his arms loosely across his chest. ] This sphere's proximity to the Singularity means magic is available to anyone willing to grasp it. Even a bard.

[vixening]

[ of course he would see that spark in her, the momentary hunger, the wish for more. it may not be as all consuming as it might have been years ago, or even months, but under yennefer's skin will always be that thirst for it. whether or not she'd been willing to meet her end on those fields around sodden, this - right now - is something else.

and then geralt lets out a small huff, and yennefer feels her end of that thread unwind just a fragment as well. and when he supplies the image of jaskier, screaming into a cushion, yennefer feels the corner of her mouth twitch upward ever so slightly. complicated conversations, complicated responses. the concept of time, and whether it out be beneficial to say what has happened, what will happen, what might not - now - is not on her to decide, now. jaskier knows, geralt knows, and therefore yennefer can focus back on her task at hand. at returning, perhaps with different magic, with new power.

or at least, that is the process her mind originally starts down, if not for what geralt continues on to say. for what causes him to cross his arms over his chest. he talks about magic and grasping and then, at those last few words, the small hint of a smile drops from her face. ]

A bard. [ even a bard, he says, and yennefer starts to place it together. what ambrose had said, when they arrived. the feeling of the block, around her always, pressing her down. the singularity is available to anyone? the magic here is available? even a bard? anger flares in her again, or maybe it's not anger, necessarily, but she will not name the jealousy that curls away at her, because she is not jealous. not of him ] You mean to tell me Jaskier has magic, here?

[ it does not dawn on her just then, that being down in the dungeon could have something to do with it. that if she was honored, rather than locked away, the block may not be here. she hasn't learned about that bit yet. honestly, it doesn't much matter to her that anyone could have access to it, either. not really. because now she is focused solely on two things - on the feeling of the block, here, how something that she has always had and the thing between her, and that the bard has access to magic ]

[gynvael]

[ Something about the faint curl of her lips almost makes him let his guard down. Almost. (He hates how easy it is to slip into what he should've left behind long ago.) It's almost a relief when her expression changes into what he's far more used to seeing on her face. Or. Perhaps with an edge of something else there. Hmm.

He watches her closely, considering what else to say—not because he's trying to hide anything, but because they only have so much time together to get her filled in. It worries him, some, there's a possibility they may not get to talk again. He hasn't any notion what might happen day to day. ]

Apparently. Aptitude is far less limited it seems. [ He doesn't quite shrug, but he may as well have with his tone; what else is there to add? If it makes sense or not, it doesn't matter. He's seen it with his own eyes, the illusory birds Jaskier has crafted with his hands. And the gentle healing magic he's begun to learn. He knows Jaskier hasn't had any kind of instructor, either. ] Though those who arrived with their own magic seem to prefer wielding what they already know.

[ Which suggests the Singularity is not a different source of magic. It's just a source, the source: something that can be pulled upon and used in whatever way one finds most familiar. What that means, he isn't certain. His grasp of magic is not lacking, but nor has he especially studied it closely. Not a priority, for a Witcher.

In the same way, though, it doesn't occur to him Yennefer hasn't realized that what suppresses her magic is merely an enchantment. A powerful one, but one he knows can be lifted if he were free. So he doesn't clarify as he lets her respond or ask what she will. ]

{ some.

[vixening]

continued from here

Dangerous? Yennefer's mouth tightens. If that is what their point of view is, then she's going to need to shift her plans slightly. They're not wrong, to find her dangerous, but she needs to get out.

She tilts her head to the side, after a moment. "Do you think I'm dangerous?"

Re: { some.

[gruesome]

He shrugs. It's a complicated gesture with four shoulders, but it at least looks more natural than the smiles.

"I don't know. I've never known humans before. I don't think so." He looks down at her hands - humans don't even have claws.

[vixening]

The movement may be complicated, but Yennefer is getting used to the fact that just about every aspect of this new creature she's speaking with is complicated. And knowing to expect that keeps her from getting too hung up on each new thing.

She purses her lips. "You've never known humans before?" Because that's...the first thing she can ask about. "What have you known?"

{ zelda.

[vixening]

continued from here.

[ yen frowns a bit at that. ]

Have you spoken to him? This Ambrose? What does he say?

[ the list of questions she has is growing, but yennefer shifts down the path that she thinks will be more beneficial to her immediate needs. ambrose. ]

{ alucard.

[vixening]

continued from here.

[ yennefer glances to him briefly at the reply he gives, considering whether she appreciates the honesty or if something in his words leans more into an acknowledgment that he might agree with her.

still, she gives a small, considering hum, casting her eyes back to the budding chaos. to the violence of the guards. it comes as no surprise, to her, but it does give her a place to start from. an idea of the type of people those guards are. ]

I take it you did not just arrive? [ she says it casually, with her eyes still on the crowd. she makes no motion that she plans to sit, or even wants to, but depending on the wound at her side that can always change. ]

[cryptsleeper]

[Alucard only means it as an honest statement of fact. It's less exciting, but he isn't in the mood to craft more subtle meanings these days. There's a bad tension in the air now, and he can feel that it might snap at any moment.

He keeps his eyes ahead as well, looking off just slightly to the side, should anyone approach.]

Two months. [A glance to the other side, and at that point, he notices the way Yen carries herself. Hm.]

I can sit with my back against the wall, if you'd like to make it take some of the tension.

[vixening]

[ the longer yennefer stays, the more she may be able to recognize that. for now, the entire place feels to have a strange tension, but she can't be certain yet if that is just the normal or something else. it's something she is keeping herself aware of, certainly, but what else is new when you arrive to a new kingdom? ]

And you've been imprisoned all that time? [ she doesn't mean anything particularly scathing or judgemental by her question, necessarily, but that doesn't mean the tone in which she asks isn't tinged with it. two months in this hole?

her attention comes back to him, at the offering. she glances to the bench, then back to him, before shaking her head once. ] I'm alright to stand. [ is it pride? is it survival instinct? yennefer isn't sure which is louder, these days, but she lets her eyes fall to alucard, turning to face him a bit more fully. ]

What is your understanding of all this, then? [ yennefer gestures to the rest of the yard with the hand not currently at her gut. ] Thre must certainly be more than whatever drivel they hand us all upon arrival.

[cryptsleeper]

Save for the occasional prison labor excursion, yes. [There's no hiding the distaste in Alucard's voice at the explanation, or how he shifts just a little at the memory. Every part of that trip, physical and mental, was exhausting, and to be shoved into a hole right after did little to make things better. He's had few nightmares about the things his own mind created, but others--

--well, the badgers that Kay summoned make the occasional surreal appearance in dreams, and Alucard absolutely hates them.

He nods once at the insistence that standing is fine, not inclined to push the point. That doesn't stop the dhampir from extending backwards a bit, if only to stretch his back.]

They took someone a few days ago. Circumstances being as unclear as they are, there's no good purpose and there's to be an execution in a few days. My understanding is that there's no purpose save ones that end in our deaths for the sake of that well or else there's a way to break the spell that restrains everyone's natural abilities and allows for an escape.

[That last part is the one he's been thinking about.] Death being on the horizon, it's probably the best time to make an attempt - even if it might be anticipated.

[vixening]

[ her brows lift a bit at that. prison labor excursion? alright, well. that is something to take into account. with the added, obvious distaste in alucard's tone. part of yennefer wonders if there isn't something more to the concept of this prison labor that alucard isn't telling her, but she doesn't find she cares enough to press the subject, her full attention going - instead - to the next bit of information that he chooses to share.

she frowns at the new knowledge, but also if she considers the tension she's felt just in this yard, it all sounds entirely believable. ] So they're already picking off the mistakes, I see. Why would they make one a public execution while just taking others without warning? [ jailbreak or no, yennefer wants her connection to chaos back. and if alucard is paying close enough attention, he could probably see her react to that idea. ]

Is that all it will take? To access our abilities? [ she glances back to the now dissipating crowd, watching other prisoners get dragged out. the mood of the group at large is certainly leaning towards something akin to escape. ]

And do you think it's possible? Escaping from here, I mean.

wildcard babeyyy

[wiedzminka]

[ It's unclear whether there was a mistake on the guards' part, if she's done something wrong or maybe one of her previous cellmates has, or if they simply like to rotate prisoners around every once in a while -- but not long after her initial arrival, Ciri is pulled out of her shared cell and manacled again for the trip down a hallway or two. By now, she's learned there's no point in arguing, and instead takes the time to observe the other cells, trying to peer into them as they pass and figure out how many people are in here and where they're located.

And that's when Ciri sees her. It's just a glimpse through the bars, but it's enough. There's no mistaking that raven hair, the way she holds herself even in shapeless clothes in a dank dungeon. That brief flash of violet when she looks up, perhaps at the guards' and Ciri's footsteps in the hall.

Ciri's mouth falls open in a silent gasp, eyes widening, locking on Yennefer's with a rush of shock, joy, confusion, apprehension and relief all at once.

They step closer, but then-- She can feel the guard holding her upper arm start to steer her away, around the corner. His partner is ahead of them, leading the way down the hall.

Ciri's mind races, fast as her heartbeat. No, no-- They can't lead her away.

But if she fights back, she'll earn solitary confinement or worse. If she argues or pleads with them, what reason do the guards have to listen? She doesn't know yet which ones are cruel and which ones can be reasoned with. She has no idea if the ones escorting her now would care where she's placed, or where they're even taking her. But she has to take a chance, and she has to do it now.

Without warning, Ciri suddenly sags in the guard's grip, going boneless so her weight and gravity will drag her down to crumple right in front of Yennefer's cell before they fully turn. It takes effort not to instinctively try to break her fall, and with her wrists bound in front of her, Ciri lands hard on her shoulder and hip when the surprised guard lightly holding her upper arm fails to tighten his grip fast enough to catch her. It takes even more effort to close her eyes and lie limp, resisting the urge to shift or curl up in reaction to the discomfort, controlling her breathing and allowing her jaw to relax, head lolling back.

She can only hope it's not worth it to them to keep dragging an unconscious prisoner further down the hall when there's a perfectly suitable cell to shove her in within arms' reach. ]

[vixening]

[ yennefer hears the guards before anything else, the loud footsteps they make coming down the hall. there has been a great deal of movements, she's noticed, and while she's only been here for a couple of days now, it's enough for her to understand is unnatural. or at least, different from what the longer-standing prisoners have come to expect. the shuffling between the cells, the amount of visitors from above, the growing tension that something is about to change. something is about to break. it hasn't been difficult to see the guards grow more and more tightly strung, though she may not have a point to reference back to. it has her on guard as well - if only for she knows what people in power do when they're on the edge and surrounded by too many others that they view themselves above.

she's not yet sure what she's going to make of her next move, but as the footsteps grow nearer, yennefer feels her back get a bit straighter, her jaw set a bit more tightly. she feels herself reach for her chaos, even now when she knows she'll get nothing in response. the lack of anything coming to her in response shoots another wave of frustration through her, but that's nothing new to her, now.

that is when the feeling comes to her, the feeling of being watched. she looks up expecting one of the guards to be staring at her - hungry, expecting, she hasn't dealt with any of that before but it wouldn't be the first time unwanted advances had happened in situations like this - except that the eyes she finds on her when she looks aren't from a guard, but instead the girl they're transporting. green eyes and ashen hair. white hair. her eyes flash a bit further down the hall, if only because the white hair reminds her of the witcher and she knows that geralt's cell is not far. and when her yes return back to the girl, she finds her still watching, staring. yennefer frowns, suddenly on edge for an entirely different reason, and that is when the girl's body goes limp. the suddenness of it brings yennefer to her feet, her eyes still on the girl, and the way the guards hesitate.

she is concerned, inherently, but something about the entire exchange feels off. still, as yennefer sees the crumbled body of the prisoner on the floor and the ways the guards inefficiently mutter something back and forth about what to do, she lets out a breath. ]

Leave her in here. [ one of the guards looks up at her, questioning and annoyed. yennefer does her best not to look too invested in this, if only so the guards don't pick up on it to act in the other direction. ] There's no reason to how you place us in these cells, and there is room in this one. Leave her here. [ a beat, and then yennefer's brow is arching. ] Unless you want to carry her down the hall?

[ the guard looks back to their companion, considering. yennefer, meanwhile, shifts her attention back to the girl - still limp on the floor. this was something of an effort to go through to try and get placed in her particular cell, and something about the way those green eyes stared at her, yen can't quite shake. she waits for the guards to share a few words before one of them shrugs and stands, moving to unlock the cell and drag the girl's body inside. yennefer takes a step back from the door to let it happen, waiting for the guards to finish unlocking the shackles and stepping back outside of the cell, locking them inside once more, and walking away. yennefer waits for them to be out of earshot - she'd been warned of the guards' short temper where it comes to noise - before her eyes turn back to her new cellmate. ]

That was some show. [ she says just loud enough for only those inside the cell to hear. yennefer's brow furrows, more in curiosity than anything else, as she waits for the girl to stir. ] Quite a bit of effort to make sure you could speak to me.

[wiedzminka]

[ Ciri's act holds up; she's just limp weight in the guards' hands when they drag her into the cell, uncomfortable as it is, and flops over like a dead fish when she's dropped. The shackles are removed, chains clanking. The door rattles and thump-clicks shut. With the sound of the retreating footsteps, Ciri opens her eyes the tiniest sliver to get a little light through her lashes, just enough to see Yennefer's silhouette nearby.

It's not until Yennefer speaks to her, though, that Ciri actually drops the pretense. She lifts her head, glancing momentarily through the bars to double-check, then pushes herself up with a faint groan to sit up, rubbing her sore shoulder.

Seeing Yennefer beside her, Ciri can't help but break into a relieved, if tentative, smile. Her heart beats faster in her throat, excited and scared all at once, already suspecting--

After all, Yennefer hadn't called her by name. She hadn't seen any spark of recognition in the sorceress's eyes when their gazes met through the bars. She hears no equal joy or relief in her voice.

But it's still worth it. It hurts, but they're together. Even if it's painful, it's better than being alone another night. ]

You do not know who I am, do you?

[ There's no good place to start, so she just asks. Ciri won't make the same mistake she did with Geralt. Her heart can't handle the idea of trying to hug Yennefer only to be pushed her away. ]

[vixening]

[ yen sees the tentative smile and she frowns, briefly, in return. there is a whole host of expressions going across this girls face as she meets eyes with yennefer, and she's not entirely sure what she's supposed to feel in return. despite the urge to cross her arms over her chest, yennefer remains still as she watches the girl get settled, sit up, rub at her shoulder.

there is a brief moment there that she searches the girl's face, trying to find anything remotely familiar about it. yennefer has traveled kingdoms, spent decades in courts only to find herself somewhere else. she has crossed paths with enough people who have aged when she hasn't who she might have known another time, but something here feels a bit different.

you don't know who I am, do you?

yennefer could usually find something in the faces oof those she'd crossed paths with before. something about their clothing, or the company they kept, if nothing else. but as she looks at this girls face, there is something, but not enough for her to grasp. after a brief moment, yennefer eventually gives up trying to place where and instead lets out a breath. while a part of her wants to push back, act defensive, on guard, she can't quite seem to bring herself to bring something biting to the table. ]

I have lived a long life. If I did, it was so long ago I no longer remember. [ a beat, and then she moves across the cell to sit on one of the lower bunks, across from the girl. perhaps she's a child who yennefer had crossed paths with, years before. but even that explanation doesn't fit well enough for her liking.

she thinks, briefly, about what geralt said about the magic tearing them through time. about how jaskier doesn't remember anything beyond the dragon hunt. the look in the girl's eyes when she saw yennefer tightens something in her chest once more. what if she...? ] So you could either think I am someone I am not, or it is because I have not met you yet.

[wiedzminka]

[ Ciri remains where she is on the floor.

Her arms want to reach forward; her legs want to leap; she wants to unfold herself and spring upon Yennefer with a crushing hug and bury her face in her bosom and weep and laugh. It's been so long.

But instead, Ciri carefully rearranges herself on the dusty floor of their shared prison cell worlds and years away from where they should be, and folds her legs to the side and her hands in her lap. When she looks up at Yennefer again, the sadness is unmistakable, but there are no tears. ]

I'm not mistaken. You are Yennefer of Vengerberg, a sorceress of great renown. Sharp-witted as ever.

[ A faint smile tugs at Ciri's lips again, a sound between a laugh and a sigh escaping between her teeth. Oh, she figured it out much faster than Geralt. Ciri isn't even surprised. ]

You're right. We've yet to meet.

{ wildcard-ish, a visitor!

[piqure]

[ to say that peter has been on an undeniable edge since he arrived would be a sweeping understatement.

he's high-strung energy incarnate, between speaking to sam and promptly ignoring everything that's brought with it. he's busied himself thricefold after that, because of the disquieting fact that if he let himself sit still, he'll just think too much about it. so it's easier to focus on everything else here.

he's only dipped into the library for a short while, read just enough to leave himself with a hundred more questions than he's started with before he started wandering again.

walking and walking and peering into rooms, needle-point senses finally sharpening since the haze of arrival.

and, eventually, he finds himself in the hallway of a row of cells, shooting a rather uncertain glance at the guards. tries to ask what everyone here is in for, because that's exactly what you ask the fantasy equivalent of a cop, who just shoos him along. peter's no stranger to wrangling a criminal or two, but this felt kind of different?

maybe it was the fact that people just got dumped here, without much explanation. which didn't sit right.

he ends up lingering around the hall regardless, a little unsure of where to go from here. but his gut instinct makes the hairs rise on the back of his neck and he doesn't realize he's staring at the woman across from where he's standing, behind bars, until she asks and he almost jumps. her hand going to her side pings his neighborly concern, but he very purposely doesn't call attention to it. ] Hmm, what? No - I mean -

[ okay no he did have something to say, of course and he steps towards the cell. ] Alright, maybe - are you okay? Did they just put you in here right as you got here?

[vixening]

[ yennefer had been keeping an eye on anyone who found their way into the dungeon - visitors and guards alike. she's not certain yet of what she plans to do with the information, of who frequents the cells and who doesn't, who comes down for specific people and who comes to wander. she plans to use the information to possible get her out, because with each person will add a possible connection, a piece on the board. she's worked her way through tougher moments in her life and with or without her magic, she doesn't plan on letting a dungeon like this stop her from her goals.

so she watches, keeping eyes and ears open for whoever chooses to bring themselves down amongst the cells. generally, people come with specific goals - people they have come down to meet, some times she has seen those from above come down and seemingly check out prisoners like you would a book. the concept, in many ways, disgusts her. but at the same time, there is very little yennefer wouldn't do for a bath at this point.

it also means, though, that when a younger man - she wants to call him a boy, somehow, but she thinks that has more to do with the inherent nervousness that seems to roll off of him in waves - comes down the hall with seemingly no real direction or idea, yennefer calls to him.

his answer causes one of her brows to arch, waiting for him to work through whatever answer he does actually want to give, before the question is finally asked. he seems to be just as new as she is, or at least around the same time, because he seems just as in the dark. yennefer sighs, equal parts because she is somehow already tired by this conversation, but also just. the dungeons in general. ]

I was dumped here when I first came through the well, yes. [ and then, because she doesn't exactly want to scare him away yet... ] But I am alright. As much as one could be. [ she gestures to the frankly depressing surroundings. they are in a dungeon, peter. the question seems a bit ridiculous to ask. ]

YEARS LATER I AM SO SORRY

[piqure]

[ he'd been unsure if he'd crossed some unseen boundary by even being here, let alone asking, because for all the people he'd seen and met, he's gotten a good sense in approximating which ones you wouldn't want to piss off and the woman in the cell certainly sent the spidey-senses rising at the steadiness of her look.

but it isn't a ridiculous question to ask someone if they are okay, yennefer! he frowns, shakes his head. ] Yeah that’s - fair enough. It's so messed up though. [ he blurts out, because it’s the first thing that comes to his mind as he steps forward, a bit more confident in engaging in this conversation now that she’s responded. ] Do they even tell you why?

Wait - do they still give you the same sales pitch? About the Singularity stuff, and the whole reason why we all got pulled from different universes?

[ you know, no one can be blamed for being tired of this conversation already, because while this isn't an interrogation, peter wears his curiosity on his sleeve. because he's out of his depths and maybe he should be thinking about things a little more pragmatically, but in his defense, this is still information gathering! doctor strange had mentioned that he and ambrose disagree on the treatment of some arrivals here, which already means that there's more than one side to this and it's important to hear it all first hand instead of taking everything at face value. ]

ADDS ON MORE YEARS.....

[vixening]

[ unfortunately, those spidey senses will probably always be going off around yennefer, whether or not she's going to be in a pleasant mood, or otherwise. anyone with good survival instincts would know to always be on guard around her, peter's might just be a little more in tuned.

she snorts at his question, if only because he is very apparently unused to this sort of ordeal. part of her almost feels bad, that he's been sheltered to a point that this could still bother him, but she's certain he's going to learn very quickly. ]

Yes, it is 'messed up', and no, they did not tell us why. Not anything more than Ambrose's apparently failure in bringing through the right person. So they bring us here. Can't have the mistakes of the high mage in places that might be seen by the court.

[ normally, and she reserves the right to feel this way over the course of this conversation too, yennefer would shrug this off and leave this curious child to his own devices. she is not a teacher, and does not have time to educate someone of a conversation she has had many times before. but there is something about this one's curiosity that catches her, a kind of almost genuine charm that doesn't (for whatever reason) annoy her. yet.

so yennefer decides not to send him off to the next cell or to find someone who might be more willing to entertain him. for now, she chooses to do it herself. ]

Somewhat similar, I expect. He claims that the Singularity is unsteady and that he and the other mages are unable to get close enough to investigate. Did he tell you something else?