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

[justmedk]

It all happened so fast! Ciri knew, of course, that this was not a real battle. There was no danger. No one actually died.
But in the heat of the moment, her brain was apparently tricked into forgetting this, and her instincts and Witcher-training kicked in fully.

It was almost like a dance the way she dispatched the guards, and then, finally having gotten the last of them, she heard a cry for help which made her immediately turn her head.
At this moment, it wasn't her dad. It was a guard. And the guard needed dispatching.

So just as Dan was about to give the "klling blow", Ciri sprinted faster than she knew she was able to, and swung her sword as hard as she could against his arm, meaning to do a strike to "cut off his arm" before he could attack Lukas.

As long as that was prevented, she could do the rest afterwards.

And, indeed, after that one initial strike, she took advantage of the surprise and the fact that she was more nimble than him, to almost "dance" around him and let in strike after strike until he was "dead". Then she looked at Lukas, helped him up with a big grin, and then made sure that he an the hostages got away. She let out a great big laugh. This had been her first "real" fight since she arrived here, and while it was of course just a game and not an actual fight, for a few moments it had FELT like one.

Her blood was pumping and adrenaline rushed through her.

Once they were out of range and the hostages had been returned to safety, she looked at Lukas and, suddenly acting on an impulse she'd been having for a while, stepped up to him...and kissed him right on the lips!
Normally she would not have been anywhere near this forthcoming, but damn it if it wasn't something she'd dreamt of doing for a while now....and now that they were alone again, she had the chance!

So once she had done so, she looked at him, and smiled sheepishly, slightly coming to herself again. "Uhm.......soo.....yeah.."

[guesswho]

Everything is going as planned, the boy is on the ground and Dan is raising his hammer for the finishing blow, when he notices out of the corner of his eye incoming Ciri. Over the time, they had a couple sparring matches with wooden swords, of which he only won a few, but it appears in those ones, she was going easy. Now, she's not going easy. He tries to block, but loses that arm immediately. So he tries to punch with the remaining arm with the heavy spiked glove, but she's way too fast to even consider it a near miss. All his attempts at defense or counterattack are completely futile, the only thing keeping him alive is the heavy armor, and even that doesn't last long. With the final blow, he drops to the ground, grinning under his mask as he watches Ciri help the boy up.


Barbora watches from the distance, taking mental notes. The way Ciri is just running circles around Dan like he's just a slow, stupid juggernaut...he's big, sure, but he's certainly not slow, as can be seen in the nightly arena fights. She'd seen the girl move before, but this is something completely new. Dan's movements look like he's underwater, compared to her. She'll need to ask about it later on...


As for Lukas, he just watches his opponent get cut to ribbons while Ciri moves like a...like a witcher is the closest he can tell. Before he manages to react, Ciri is there, reaching out to him. He accepts her hand and then, with no further resistance, they get the prisoners out of there and run.



"Holy shit that was am..." He's silenced by a kiss. His mind screeches to a halt. Shocked by this development, Lukas just stands there and stares for a good couple seconds, as his ears and cheeks take up color. "Did...did that just happen?" He manages through the shock. It's not an unpleasant shock, but certainly didn't expect that. Possibly, in his wildest imagination, at some later date.



"Uuh..." His brain goes between all the possible reactions and then just reboots. The whole process is perfectly visible on his face, his mind being too busy to even attempt a sort of pokerface.


"Let's...let's do that...again...sometime..." He manages a reaction that will probably haunt him by its awkwardness to his dying day. Up until this point, Lukas can at best be described as being aware of existence of girls. This has been an unexpected development, but he's certainly not complaining. Even manages a shy smile.

[justmedk]

Ciri giggled a bit as she saw how flustered he was. And she blushed slightly herself too.

"Come on", she said. "Let's get out of here before more show up, hm? We've a reward to collect", she grinned, and made a deliberate action out of going in front of him slightly so he could follow her as they headed for Barbora to get their reward.


After the scenario was over, when everyone was relaxing and just hanging out, Ciri looked at him and said "Why don't we go join everyone else?", and then took his hand as they headed back to the common area where people talked, laughed, ate and drank. Especially drank, as far as many of the younger participants were concerned, though some tried to hide it from their parents, and the parents tried to pretend they didn't already know, only intervening if something went wrong.
Ciri was only partially aware of the social implications of what she was doing: She had just raised Lukas' street cred massively. She also didn't care all that much. They found a table where some of her friends were sitting at the other end and sat down.

"This was fun!", she grinned to him, deliberately leaving out if she meant the game, or the kiss they'd shared, or both. Soon enough, a couple of cans of beer were slided down the table and Ciri grinned as she took one...though, truth be told, she wasn't sure if she'd like it.
It was plain to see, however, that everyone else drank it, so...well, bottoms up, she guessed!
And then pretended not to get slightly flushed at the idea of what the phrase "Bottoms up" could also refer to. Luckily it had been forever since the last time....that....happened, and by now she'd gotten entirely too old for it.
So she just enjoyed the moment and sat there with Lukas, not realizing that to many of the onlookers it was akin to a beauty and the beast-situation.

[guesswho]

At this point, Lukas isn't really in a state to use own initiative, so he gladly follows. It doesn't take long for the game to end, and then they can finally go and join the others. And Ciri holds his hand? Mind completely blown, Lukas decides to wing it and act like he knows what he's doing, or at least that he knows what's going on. The youngsters drink their beers and wine in...relatively safe distance from parents, so there is some plausible deniability. He really, really doesn't like the beer, even though he knows some people would just straight up exile him for that. But he's got some wine, and when the opening beers are down, he brings that to the table. Yes, some people stare at the new pair - some in shock, some in awe, and Lukas just tries to be an entertaining companion for Ciri, cause he's got no idea what else to do.

Dan stares. First at Ciri, then at Lukas and finally at Barbora, with her scheming smile on. He knows her enough to read her, at least once she's done with her scheme and drops the guard. He absolutely hates playing poker against her, and Diplomacy? Well that's just disaster, always.

"Did I really see that?" He's no fool, if Bara is smiling like this, she knows what's going on and it's been going just as planned.

"Oh yeah." She grins, leans back in her chair and sips her wine. With the lack of white, fluffy, lazy cats to pet while she explains her masterplan, she simply reaches down for a shoe, puts it in her lap and pets the shoe, grinning like crazy. "I just made sure they get spend some time together... they're cute, aren't they?"

"I...I guess?"
"What, can't stand your princess is almost adult and interested in boys?" She knows precisely how much Ciri has him wrapped around her finger. She really needs to fuck up bad for him to take an action...

"I'm fine with that, just... didn't expect that one." He doesn't mind the boy. But clearly this is something that's been in the making for a while, and he had no idea. Dan doesn't know how to feel about it, even though he does approve of her choice. The boy is a fellow nerd. "Still, could be worse." He concludes. "To young love." Dan lifts his glass and Bara joins him. Anyway, it explains it all. Why it was him who had to fight them, why he was instructed to go after the boy first, why was he supposed to lose the fight and indeed, why it was exactly these two... sometimes, he wonders just how much manipulation Bára does behind the scenes, but some things are not for men to know, and so far, it's all been beneficial...if indeed there was any.

The party goes on for a while, and eventually, fists fly. A friendly fight between Dan and one of the guys who is more or less similar size. Lukas watches the anvil size fists fly, with certain amount of apprehension.

"So...your dad's...gonna be okay with this?" He's got a couple glasses jn him, he might be a bit tipsy, but he's not drunk and it wouldn't come as a surprise if her dad doesn't approve. And he'd hate to end up on the business end of one of those fists, if shit hits the fan...

[justmedk]

Ciri was quite oblivious to the play between mom and dad. She was entirely focused on Lukas and found herself giggling at his stories and laughing at his jokes, and only slightly exaggerating her reactions to them. She felt warm on the inside in a different way than simple body heat. She couldn't stop smiling either, and the hours that went by felt like only minutes, until the two of them were the last ones there.


"Yeah, he'll be cool, and mom too", she said, very confident in that response. Neither of them had given her any reason to suspect otherwise. And she had, in fact, gotten the idea that mom had engineered the scenario with the two of them working together to save the prisoner, deliberately to make them spend time together.
A fact for which she was gonna cook mom breakfast in bed sometime soon!



She could listen to him talk about all of the stuff he was talking about forever, even though she didn't really understand most of it - though she made a promise to herself to look into it so she could actually join in - but just...being there with him was enough.


When the evening ended and they were heading home, there was a spring in Ciri's steps that she couldn't hide as much as she tried to play it "cool". This day had been amazing! And she was completely over the moon so that she was stuck in her own little world for much of the walk.
When she realized that they'd been speaking to her, Ciri blushed a bit, but then turned around and said:

"Y...yeah? Sorry, didn't get that?"

_________________________________

A few weeks later, the three of them were in the car heading out to only God knew where, for only God knew what reason. Ciri had of course been told, she was sure, but didn't care nearly enough to remember it now.
She wanted to spend the weekend with Lukas! His parents were away on a business trip or something, and she had had grand plans for that weekend. The fact that she was now stuck here felt like a monstrous injustice, and she was NOT in a good mood.


"Why couldn't you two just go on this trip?", she asked sourly from the backseat. "I can take care of myself for a weekend you know!"

[guesswho]

And here she goes again, complaining for the millionth time they're going for a visit. Daniel just rolls his eyes. Yes, she had different plans. He... didn't have different plans, but would much rather have them. But they can't really acceptably refuse, it's an important family even on Bára's side of the family. Everytime Ciri complains, he quietly thanks whatever might there be above that his family was always very small and he's the last one remaining.

"Ciri, you have to go, because it's a great family celebration. Everyone goes...even Dan and you, despite the technicalities. You're part of the family. Even if my mother would like to see Dan in prison." Barbora says from behind the wheel. "We have been over this many times before. But there'll be a bunch of cousins and stuff, my side of family is wide. My older brothers have some kids around your age or so." Bára tries one last time, but Ciri's getting on her nerves with her shit and Dan's not helping. She can see he agrees with Ciri...which is sort of understandable, the older part of her family really, really dislike him, especially for his colorful mohawk, which he, very noticeably, had upgraded to full rainbow just yesterday. Well, everyone rebels differently. The younger part of her family, people around her age and less, usually like him. And she's sure the sentiment will be more or less similar in regards to Ciri.

"Ciri, it's a long way..." Bára sighs. "Don't make me stop the car." There's a warning tone in her voice that she uses rarely, and even makes Dan look at her a bit surprised, but nod slightly, to show he's on board whatever decision regarding Ciri she makes in the end. He can see Bára's patience is coming to an end. But he knows he can't really say anything to help the situation, and if Ciri doesn't see what's coming her way if she doesn't tone it down, well, she's in for an experience.

[justmedk]

Ciri sulked in the backseat of the car, listening to the answer. She wasn't keen on this. She didn't need to meet these people TODAY of all days. There would be other possibilities, after all. And the way she said "kids" just made Ciri cringe. She wasn't a kid anymore, after all, but a young woman. And this just underlined how massively unfair it all was that she was being dragged along like this.



She was about to answer when she heard "that tone", which instantly made her pause. The last time she had heard it was....
Well, that was a long time ago and she's much too old for that now, but the tone still made her stop.
Instead of answering, she just rolled her eyes and let out a "....whatever..."

Well, if she couldn't SAY anything, she was definitely going to SHOW that she didn't want to be there.
So she took out her phone, demonstrably holding it up in front of her face unlike normally where she'd have it in her lap, so that it was plain that she was NOT there mentally but only physically, tapping slightly harder than she had to, in order to make it audible, as well, that she didn't want to be there. Once she had done that long enough - she'd written a few messages to some of her friends, and to Lukas - she put her phone back in the pocket of her jeans and groaned audibly again as if she was being asked to climb Mount Sněžka with one hand tied around her back, and NOT simply accompanying them to a family visit, before she leaned back in her seat.

"When are we gonna be there?", she said, in a tone that said without saying it "so we can get this overwith". While she didn't say the last part out loud...she definitely thought it.

[guesswho]

Usually, Barbora isn't a fan of using force to achieve compliance, but the way her tone made Ciri shut up instantly brings a certain amount of satisfaction. She makes sure to keep a stone face though. Even though Ciri's getting on her nerves, she understands more than the teenager thinks. So she doesn't comment on her very obvious attempts to show how much she hates being here, annoying though they are.

She shares a well synchronized eye roll with Dan, something they came to practice often around Ciri, even while realizing just how easy is she, as far as teenagers go.

"We'll be there in about an hour and a bit. It's gonna be the small town roads only, unfortunately. Your grandma wanted us to stay with them, but I booked a hotel for us." The house will be full of people and if things start this was, she's pretty sure she'll need a quiet refuge at some point.

"We'll be home tomorrow afternoon." Dan suppreses a groan at this reminder. "But there'll be plenty to do, don't worry, it won't be boring." She tries to get a bit of enthusiasm going, in vain, as she's well aware.

[justmedk]

Ciri rolled her own eyes at the remark about "fun" and how it'll only be until tomorrow afternoon. This was a weekend wasted. Why could she not have stayed home? She was more than capable of looking after herself, especially when it's only for a few days!
And, of course, the fact that Lukas was at the village too DID have something to do with her reluctance to go, she wouldn't deny that.



"Yeah, sure, whatever", she said sourly. She wasn't quite rude enough to point out that it wasn't her family. Partly, she'd guess upon later reflection, because deep down she didn't feel that to be true. She was just bitter at the moment. At least they wouldn't have to stay at some strange house, which, Ciri had to admit, DID help a bit. But not enough.

[guesswho]

That last whatever grates accross Bára's stressed out nerves too much. She's been trying to deal with things as nicely as possible for hours now. Things may have gone differently, if Ciri didn't time it right while they're coming to to a nice spot where she can stop the car and deal with her.

Dan can already see what's gonna happen by Bára's face expression and decides not to interfere, thinking it's probably for the best. If nothing else, they'll both get it out of their systems, even though it different ways.

"Right, that's enough. We're gonna have a talk in a minute." She informs Ciri what awaits her as soon as they reach the place where she can stop, the one they're coming up to right now. Bára stops the car at the side of the road and quickly moves to the back seat and sits in the middle, right next to Ciri.

"I've had enough of your shit." Barbora announces, somewhat uncharacteristically, right before she grabs Ciri and pulls her over her lap. The car isn't exactly practical for this purpose, but there's just about enough space to apply discipline. Barbora reaches under Ciri to under her jeans and pull them down.

"You are lucky the hairbrush is at the bottom of my bag." She says, as she pulls down Ciri's jeans. "But if I hear one more complaint from you, I'll make sure to unpack it in the hotel." It would probably end that way if she didn't do something right now, so knowing that, Bára gets to business. She can't fully swing her hand in the car like she prefers to when spanking Ciri at home, but she makes up for it by raining down an endless flurry of quick slaps on her bare cheeks.