The New Conjunction (a Witcher->Real World crossover)

[justmedk]

Ciri answered his "good morning" with the same, giving him a light hug before she carefully sat down. Then came the inevitable question she'd known would come since she'd made the yowl. What happened.
She took the plate gratefully and started eating. She was definitely hungry, and taking a few bites first would give her a couple of extra seconds to try to think of how to explain what happened.

"Uhm....", she said after she'd swallowed, "Like....had a...talk...with mom last night", and she didn't even notice how she'd called Barbora "mom" there - it had come naturally. It was only after the words had come out of her mouth that she noticed, and then she blushed a bit. Luckily, she could hide that embarassment behind the subject of the discussion, and when she realized that the explanation might not be entirely satisfactory, she cleared her throat.

"Uhm...like....", she began, "Just....yeah, I was gaming a bit late that's all...", she tried, before she finally sighed and told the complete story about the bedtime issue and what happened next.

"So...yeah....that", she said, and then took another couple of bites of food to have some precious few seconds in which she wouldn't be expected to speak, her face being as red as her behind had been the night before.

[guesswho]

He listens with great interest, and doesn't fail to notice Ciri calling Barbora mom. Apparently, it required this final step, and he doesn't complain. It could have gone way worse. The utter lack of surprise at the reason for her spanking must be visible on his face. He should have made a bet with Barbora.



"Ah. Well deserved, then. I guess it was just a matter of time." Daniel says with no anger or disappointment whatsoever, merely stating a fact he's not particularly bothered about. It has always been his stance that teenagers doing something stupid is merely a matter of time, and that it's natural and desirable, within certain parameters. Best time to get it out of their system, really.



"So try and stick to your bedtime, okay? We extended it exactly to avoid this kind of situation, don't abuse it. You will just need to do with sixteen hours of gaming a day, I'm so very sorry." Daniel finally finds his habit of lightly teasing Ciri with that last sentence.


"Anyway, what are you planning today? Preferably try not to get in trouble, but I understand sometimes it can't be helped."

[justmedk]

Ciri nodded a bit sheepishly as he underlined the point about sticking to bedtimes once more. Not as if he had to rub it in, she thought, and then chuckled a bit at the way her scumbag brain had elected to phrase that: RUB....it in.
She also chuckled at this comment about making do with 16 hours of gaming.

"Well, not 16", she said, electing to play along, knowing him well enough by now to know that she could do that. "There's showers....meals....so like...it's more like 12 or 13, really!", she said, and the look on her face told him that she was not serious, but playing along on his joke. Then she sighed.

"Nothing much", she said. "I had planned to go to the mall with Renata, but...well", she shrugged with a blush, "No way I'm taking the bus or sitting at McDonalds now", she said with a bit of a pout before she continued:

"Might just...you know....read...game...this new Hogwarts-game is really cool!", she grinned, having already pumped something like 20 hours into it. "Hang out with Renata on Snapchat maybe", she said, "once I've come up with an excuse for why I'm not going", she finished, taking a bite, and then looked at him:

"What about you? Can you even function alone anymore?", she teased him back.

[guesswho]

He nods solemnly. "Indeed, the cruel time flies like a horse galloping, leaving you with merely twelve hours. As soon as I'll find out how to fit more hours into a day, I'll be sure to let you know." Not that he wouldn't like it, more time for gaming would always be nice. Alas, he now has a family - something he couldn't even imagine two years ago. It always feels so weird when he thinks about it. Listening to Ciri, it turns out she's been planning a shopping session. Well, it's not as though they couldn't go any other day, so no disaster there, probably.



"You can always use me as an excuse. Just say I didn't let you, you think Renca is gonna turn up here and interrogate me about it?" Actually, knowing that one, she might. "That's what parents are for, after all." He doesn't mind playing the villain every once in a while, even though in his case it's not very believable. Still, he can always retreat to tried and true 'because I said so.' But the real important question drops. What is he going to do with this externally pleasant, internally not so much, day?



"Nah, I'm probably not. You can get me some water before I die of thirst." The faucet sitting entire two meters away... "Dunno, really. We didn't think it through yesterday...I suppose I'll just rest." The was slivovica...and wine. A combination that sent younger men than him under the table. He's just glad he had enough sense to leave while he was still able to walk.


"Or maybe I'll get the Hogwarts game for myself as well...enjoyed the books quite a bit, back in the day."

[justmedk]

She couldn't help but giggle at his joke about fitting more hours into the day. THAT would be a neat trick.


Yennefer might find some way to do some time-magic her inner dialogue told her, which she dismissed. This world did not have magic at all. And she also wondered if even Yennefer would have done that - mess with time so fundamentally, even if she knew how.
Adults were boring, she'd come to find out. At least most of the time. But she'd managed to wind up with two of the least-boring ones. And...well, when she searched her heart, she loved him in the way she had loved Calanthe, her grandmother. She found that she'd zoned out as she looked at him with a smile, then shook her head, and hugged him close for a moment, before she smiled and nodded at his request for some water. She didn't catch his joke about dying of thirst entirely. Of course she knew that he wouldn't die of thirst if she didn't get him water, but at the moment she wasn't feeling "cheeky" enough to tease on about it. Instead, she quickly grabbed a glass and filled it with water after having let the tab run for a little bit to make sure it was actually cold, before handing it to him.

"It's really fun", she said, in response to the comment about Legacy. "I took that test on that website for the whole thing", she said, referring to the Wizarding World-website where it tells you what house you are, "And I came out Gryffindor. So like...that's what I've started. But I'm probably gonna pick another house once I finish this one", she said, and then grinned. "Shame there's no multiplayer.", she finished, then looked at him for a moment, before she went over to grab her phone and text Renata:

"Sorry, can't go today Dad says no."

[guesswho]

It was almost unimaginable, until it happened, Daniel muses, while fixing a sword of a wounded warrior. With duct tape and some padding. His hammer is resting now, but considerable stock of duct tape has already been used up and paid for in currency consisting mostly of beer, mead and in some fringe cases, actual ingame currency. The wounded warrior in question is Ciri's classmate, a total nerd who's, nevertheless, not entirely useless with a sword...if hitting opponent's sword as hard as possible was the discipline in which they're running.



The unimaginable part was him being here with the family. Barbora is scheming somewhere around and working on overthrowing the current government consisting mostly of teenagers that took over last year, while Ciri is...somewhere, doing something and it's probably best he doesn't know what. He'll talk to her in the evening, if she doesn't get drunk with other teenagers having a rare moment of freedom from their parents.


A kid of maybe nineteen wearing a pompous noble costume works in, so Dan jumps back in the character and deals with soon-to-be-overthrown politician, while secretly working for the resistance.



Barbora, aka Esmerelda, is indeed scheming, but not just in the way Dan thinks. Her current scheme involves Lukas, the nice young man from Ciri's class actually meeting Ciri here, and oh what a chance, they'll have an opportunity to spend some time together while working on a task for her.


Lukas has zero idea any of this is going on. He's got his merc band wiped out couple hours earlier by a single girl, and all he can say for his character Grimnir the Strong is that he's lucky he was currently wounded by bandits and recovering in the town, while mr. Jezek is fixing his gear. He's vaguely aware of him being adoptive dad of that strange girl that's been going to his class, but he never even considered actually talking to her, because what can he tell her that she'd be interested in? She'd never be interested in this...even though she does own a sword. Lukas quickly tosses this thought out before he daydreams himself into thinking he'd have a chance with most athletic girl the entire school has ever seen.



Soon, it'll be time to meet up with Esmerelda...who appears to be hiring mercs for some special thing. Probably shady, he considers, but pays well and apparently requires someone calling himself the Strong. But first he'll need to get his sword from the blacksmith. Funny how he still plays a blacksmith and just spends all day talking with people, fixing their stuff and just having a good time, without ever fighting anyone...except there are stories. And there's that huge two handed hammer leaning against the wall in the corner. Best to stay on his good side. And maybe find out what Ciri's up to, recently?

[justmedk]

Ciri was having the time of her life!
This "Live Action Roleplaying" was a bit of nostalgia. Well, strike that, not a bit...a WAVE of nostalgia.
As much as she loved the comforts of life in this place to which she had by now grown thoroughly accustomed, there was also something about being back in a world she knew instinctively how worked. That it was all pretend mattered little. That the other people in it could not possibly understand the significance mattered less.

She was "home" again for a time, and it was glorious!

Of course she had chosen the role of a mercenary, and not a "noblewoman" or "barmaid" or anything of the kind. She wanted to show what she could do. And that was more than just look pretty.

She'd proven that much when she had single-handedly taken down that entire group of bandits. What she'd heard from the other kids who were making their way back to the base once she'd defeated them, however, had soured the experience a little.


"Man, Lukas is going to be laughing his ass off that we got beaten by a girl!"


Her heart had sunk, and her triumph temporarily turned to ash. Would Lukas think she wasn't feminine enough now? She was relatively sure that he'd liked her before, but...would he still now? That thought stuck with her as she made her way "Esmerelda"'s hut where she'd picked up that an important task needed doing.
She WAS genuinely having the time of her life here, even though the thoughts of Lukas' possible disapproval lingered. And the fact that both mom and dad were here as well was....well, yes, a slight embarassment, true. No young woman was overly enthusiastic about her parents, after all, and the two - Daniel more so obviously - had definitely become that to her. But in another way it was also something that made her feel good. Something they were doing as a family.

Once she got to Esmerelda's hut, however, her face turned pale, and she flustered. Lukas was here! She saw him before he saw her, so she ducked behind a nearby bush for concealment to take a few moments to try to regain her composure.

"Just play it cool, Ciri" she said to herself. "Just...pretend nothing's wrong. Pretend. You can do this. Maybe if you try to play the damsel in distress when he's around you can still salvage this."


Geralt-of-her-mind huffed in disapproval, but she shoved him aside. She still remembered Geralt very fondly, of course, but he was not here, and this was not her original world. This was her new life now, and Lukas was so cute! She didn't want to be "butch", which she'd picked up from some of the other girls was very bad for a girl to be. Her being a gymnast was apparently completely fine! That was considered feminine! Being good at fighting was, apparently, not.

And while she DID definitely resent that fact, she was also not about to be the rebel to try to challenge conventional wisdom.

She would practice with Daniel and the other swordfighters she'd met, in private. But that was a different matter.
She might still have to fight throughout this scenario, well, definitely would, but she could try to mitigate the disaster.


After a few moments, she appeared again and with as much confidence as she could muster with Lukas right in front of her, she strode up towards the hut.
The look in her eye betrayed her, though, as she definitely still was flustered as she spoke up.


"Where's Esmerelda? I was informed that she had an important job that needed doing."

[guesswho]

Unaware of what's in store for him, Lukas walks in the designed building and waits for the rest to turn up. Ciri is here first. Ciri is HERE first...at first he just stares. Okay he knew her dad is here, that's a pretty common occurence and he's met the guy before, but what's Ciri doing here? Apparently something dangerous, that's what.



"Oh...yes...I...I'm here for that too..." He manages, pretty sure his ears are calling Rohan for help.



"Ah, welcome to my humble abode..." Barbora walks out of the back room slowly and acting all mysterious. "I've called you here because I have a task suited for your special skills. Please, take a seat, have a drink." She's not gonna pour booze down thier throats, the mysterious drink is merely cola and besides, they're teenagers, they'll manage to obtain booze on their own.



"Thank you. Wha...ehm...what can we do for you?" Lukas rallies somewhat and manages the awkward question.



"It is a matter of utmost importance. This evening, there will be an execution. I need you to make sure there will NOT be an execution. It's a risky job, but pays well, even though you will need to lay low for a while...but I know for a fact you both need to lay low for a while anyway...I heard whoever wiped out your band is after you as well, Grimnir..." And she managed to say it with a straight face. "I will make sure the guards won't be there in sufficient numbers, and there will be chaos and distraction. You two will swoop in, grab the convict and get him out of there. If someone stands in your way, well, you know what to do. As a reward..." She drops two bags of coins and two bottles. "Money is obvious...the elixir will change your looks for a while, in case you need to blend in." She sits down and smiles at them both. "Any questions? If not, be in place in two hours."


Barbora finishes, still keeping straight face, ignoring both Ciri and the young man with flaming ears. This should give them both plenty of time to get to know each other, plan and execute something together. If nothing else, it'll be a memory for upcoming school years.


"I think I understand...and you? Oh, my apologies. Name's Grimnir." He bows awkwardly towards Ciri, expecting her to come up with her ingame name.

[justmedk]

Ciri tried to put on an air of quiet confidence, but was not sure at all how successful she was at that. She did, after all, have Lukas sitting right next to her. She listened to the quest. Stop an execution. Simple enough. She doubted too that there would be many guards, and she was certain that she could take them all if she wanted to....and then her own face turned a shade of red when she remembered the plan she'd laid out so well. She had to try to be a bit more of a damsel in distress.

But without it becoming too obvious, because she knew very well that Lukas knew that she was a good athlete, so she couldn't just pretend to be useless either.
It was a mental/social version of the narrow beam she was walking at Kaer Morhen's obstacle course.



And one just as likely to result in you getting flung off by the pendulum and bloodying your nose Geralt-of-her-mind told her, to which she shoved the thought away with some annoyance.
It took a moment before she realized that he'd just introduced himself, and she paled a bit with embarassment, but then curtsied

"Adalia", she said with the best smile her suddenly shy self could muster.

"So...uhmm", she began, "I mean...where is this? Are there bushes or other things we can use hide nearby? I....I think that speed and the element of surprise is our best chance", she began, and then again forgot herself, mentally kicking her own shin before Geralt-of-her-mind retorted


Don't dumb yourself down for this boy!

A thought which she, once again, shoved aside as quickly as she could. She looked at Lukas


"But...what do you think?"

[guesswho]

"It's here in the city." The city being a couple of tents, simple wooden building and palisade made mostly out of string and agreement to see the string as a wall. But there is a gate and guards there. "The execution will be on main square." As if there was another square. The place is visible from here and there's already some preparations in place. When they stick their head out of Barbora's building, they can actually see Dan helping build the gallows.



"There'll be many people watching, but not a lot of them approve of what's happening." She explains and then leaves the two to their own devices.


"Okay, that...sounds good. Yeah. You...you seem quick on your feet, so I'll cover you and you get the victim out of there and then we fight out way out?" Lukas tries to measure the distance to the gate with his mind. It's not that far. He's nowhere near as athletic as Ciri, but even he can run it easily, possibly even while fending off the guards.


"I...I just hope whoever wiped the guys doesn't find me before I change my look." He says somewhat nervously. Yes, he's supposed to be a big strong fighter, but even those can respect powerful adversaries. "Must be some magic involved there. Let's...get out of here and get ready." He says as they walk towards the gate.


When they come out, the first thing he sees is his former group, walking out of the local temple, after being resurrected by town's cleric. They got hired by city authorities and they can afford the spell.


"Oh, hey, Grim...what the fuck are you doing with her!" The leader points a sword at Ciri. "Traitor! He betrayed us!" Say another. Swords and axes appear in considerable number.


"Wait wait wait what the hell are you talking about!" But they don't seem to be in a mood to talk, yet, they're also not attacking. There's five of them, they could deal with him easily. But maybe they don't want to attack him in the city?



"You sold us out! I'll have your head for that!" Lukas is slowly retreating towards the gate, sword drawn, expecting them to attack any second.


"Leg it!" He yells and starts running. The gate is open, the forest is within reach. He'll make it. Ciri will surely as well...