[GP] Check-in Day: Lurking Out of Habit

[st_ingofthehundred]

The first of the month arrived and Kash took up his usual station at the edge of the Cafe with his eyes on the door. It had been his habit since he first arrived and learned that arrivals had a pattern, and he had kept to it when he realized that a lot of people showed up injured. It had nothing to do with expecting Zahra to come for him any day now. Nothing to do with wanting to be right here should she arrive. He was just doing his work as a healer.

From the new library, he had acquired a text on modern medicine. It sat in front of him, a cup of coffee by his hand that Kitty kept full of fresh, steaming brew, and a plate of chocolate chip cookies by his other hand. He wore the symbol that he refused to consider holy, his dark spear rested against the thigh closer to the wall, and he had prepared all of his healing spells, and a few damage and area of effect spells in case anything came through that posed a threat.

Kitty was on-shift, which used to mean covering the bar, the cafe, and the pool bar. Out of habit, she still watched all of them, but these days, she had plenty of help. Ignis or Emma were almost always in the kitchen and someone usually tended the bakery counter.

In short, there was absolutely nothing unusual about the day, Kitty or Kash. It was exactly like every other arrival day. The only exception, if it was one, was that Kash was almost as interested in his book as Kitty was her research.

Comments

[st_eelremains]

He glanced downwards; the leg was the worst of it, he thought, and there was no gushing or spurting of blood noticeable, so the answer was probably--"Yes," he said, forcing himself to straighten and focus back on her. His voice was still gravelly as he went on. "Not going to pass out. Just... disoriented. I was fighting, and then I was here. "

[st_everybodylives]

"Were you winning?" She stepped up next to him and offered herself more with body language than with words as an assist if he needed it as they walked.

"I only ask because I'd hate to see the other guy if you were. Disorientation is understandable though. I was.. well I wasn't planning on arriving here when I did either, none of us were. But it has been a bit more sudden for some."

[st_eelremains]

"It wasn't a fight I was going to win," Geralt said after a moment, distantly. Not one that he'd intended to win, to be more precise, but he wasn't going to say that aloud to a stranger. "My--I have friends, who could have pulled me out of there magically. I thought that was what had happened, at first."

[st_everybodylives]

"Fights you aren't going to win are the worst." She been in more than one of those herself.

"It's possible one of your friends accidentally misplaced you, it's also possible fate decided you weren't meant to end where you thought you were. I don't have any answers about this place or how people arrive and I've been here more than a year. You'll have a room waiting, the food is plentiful if unimaginative and there's a regular supply of liquor."

[st_eelremains]

Fate decided he hadn't been meant to end in Crookback Bog? He didn't know whether to laugh or put his fist through the wall they were approaching. None of it showed on his face. "Fate has a shitty sense of humour sometimes," he said, more wearily than anything else. "Although I've never trusted magical transportation, either... maybe that's it. A portal finally got me."

[st_everybodylives]

"Remind me to tell you about my parents, and you'll understand why I agree that fate is indeed a bit of a bitch."

When they got to the doors she pulled one open and gestured him inside, "The clinic or the bar. Your choice."

[st_eelremains]

'Bar' seemed as obscure as 'clinic', as word went, but given that he didn't want anyone poking or prodding at him and commenting on his less-than-human qualities, any alternative seemed preferable. "Bar," he said, a bit recklessly. The sight of the inside of the building struck him silent, however, his golden eyes going more wary and puzzled than they had been already.

[st_everybodylives]

"The pink becomes less obnoxious, eventually. I hope." She gestured at the front desk, "Thy will have your room key if you want to get it, the bar is through here."

And she started toward the arch that led to the copper cafe.

[st_eelremains]

He followed her, for lack of any desire to confront the being at the front desk. One thing at a time. He just needed to catch his breath.

[st_everybodylives]

At the bar River waved off whoever was tending at the moment and made he way behind the mahogany to find glasses.

"Whiskey, ale, wine?" She inquired when the man was close enough to hear her.

[st_eelremains]

"Ale?" He sank down on one of the odd, backless chairs, only then realizing how good it was to be off his feet. Hopefully he wasn't going to wind up bleeding on the floor. Then again, that might make this all feel a little more... real. His golden gaze flickered around the confines of the strange tavern restlessly, somehow taking in everything and nothing at the same time.

[st_everybodylives]

She let him take in his surroundings and found a decent IPA to pour him a glass, which she sent in front of him before making herself a cup of tea from a nearby 'arrival day' tea service tray.

She returned with it to lean on the bar across from him, "My name is River. I don't have all the answers, as you no doubt have grasped but if you have any questions..."

[st_eelremains]

"Geralt," he said after a moment, and forced himself to reach out and take the odd-looking glass. The ale itself tasted familiar enough. Real enough. His hand was a little unsteady as he set the glass back down. "A pocket outside space and time," he said, remembering her words from earlier. "Does time run normally here, then?"

[st_everybodylives]

"It does seem to," Time was also not something she considered had a normal.

"Time and I have a complicated relationship though, there are people here from all over time and as far as I can tell from different planets or realities. Not everyone considers that normal."

She on the other hand considered that a regular Tuesday.

[st_eelremains]

"This is ironic," he said, feeling a bit dazed again. "I'm not the one who's supposed to be meeting people from other worlds. My--" The words caught in his throat, and it was only by a sheer act of will that he kept his expression blank.

[st_everybodylives]

"Shall I fill in the blank?" She asked eyeing him carefully before continuing.

"I think Rory, felt the same way at first. Meeting people from other worlds was not the job for a bloke from Leadworth. But it was rewarding in its own way." She didn't define her relationship with Rory, because it was quite a bit more complicated than she thought Geralt needed to know right now, if ever.

[st_eelremains]

Geralt wondered dimly where Leadworth was. "This is going to take some getting used to," he said, and then wondered at himself. An hour ago he'd wanted it all to end.

[st_everybodylives]

It hadn't for her, but well her life was sort of full of things like this.

"It does for most people." She soothed gently. "I personally think a bit less pink and velvet would make things far less of a shock."