The room Yennefer had claimed during her stay was, by Kaer Morhen's modest standards, something close to luxurious and it was occupied by Seb before her arrival, a proper hearth already crackling with fresh logs, a wide bed, shelving still lined with a few of her books she hadn't bothered taking with her, and in the corner, resting on a small stand draped in dark cloth, the megascope itself, its surface smooth and faintly reflective even unlit.
"She said you'd know how to work it," Ciri said, watching Seb approach it, arms crossed loosely over her chest.
"She taught me, a while back," Seb said, crouching to examine the device properly, fingers tracing the cool metal rim. "Figured I should let her know what happened here tonight, for one. And I've got a few questions I want her looking into, whether Emhyr actually hired Bonhart, and whether he's been told to call off the hunt for you entirely, the way Yen mentioned he might."
"Fine by me," Ciri said, settling onto the edge of the bed to watch.
Seb pressed his palm flat against the scope's center and murmured the activation phrase Yennefer had drilled into him years ago, feeling the device hum faintly to life beneath his hand. Light gathered, resolved, and then Yennefer's projected image flickered into solid focus before them and the moment her eyes found Seb standing there, whole and clearly conscious, something in her composed expression simply broke open.
"Seb!" Her voice cracked slightly, joy bleeding unguarded through every syllable. "You're ... you're awake, you're actually standing there... I knew you would overcome that."
"Thanks to you," Seb said, managing a tired, genuine smile.
"Nonsense." Yennefer shook her head firmly, though her eyes stayed bright, suspiciously so. "Your own will carried you through that, not mine. I merely provided the tools. I've seen stronger men than you fold under lesser curses with all the proper treatment in the world. You overcame it yourself. I was little more than an instrument in all of that."
"I'll let you have that one," Seb said, "but only because arguing with you never ends well for me."
"Wise boy." Something in her expression sharpened, turning practical again. "Now tell me everything. I can tell what that look means, did something else happen?"
"That's actually why I called," Seb said, sobering. "There's a man named Leo Bonhart. Bounty hunter. He attacked the keep tonight and even brought a full swarm of lesser vampires with him, and a higher vampire besides, leading the whole thing. We killed all of them, the vampires included, so there's nothing left to worry about on that front. But I need to know who actually sent him. I want to know if it was Emhyr, and if he's genuinely called off the rest of the hunters looking for Ciri like you said he might be considering."
Yennefer's projected image went very still. "My... all of that happened after I left. You've already survived a cursed heart and a siege by a higher vampire." She shook her head slowly, "Of course. I'll look into it immediately. Give me time to reach the proper channels, I'll contact you the moment I know anything solid. Be ready for my call when it comes."
"Of course," Seb said. "And thank you. For everything, Yen. Truly."
"Don't," Yennefer said with a smile. "You know I'd do anything for both of you."
"Thank you, Yen," Ciri added from the bed, quiet but sincere.
Yennefer's gaze flicked briefly to her, warm despite the exhaustion visible even through the projection. "Take care of each other. I mean that." And with that, the light collapsed inward, and the image winked out, leaving the room dim and quiet save for the fire's low crackle.
"Now we wait," Seb said, straightening and rolling the stiffness out of his shoulders.
"Yeah," Ciri said. She rose from the bed a moment later, and instead of settling anywhere, began drifting around the room in slow, aimless circles, trailing her fingers along the edge of a bookshelf, pausing at the window, circling back toward the hearth without any particular destination in mind.
Seb, left to his own thoughts for the moment, closed his eyes briefly and called up the familiar, half-forgotten interface he hadn't checked properly in longer than he cared to admit.
" SYSTEM STATUS WINDOW "
Race: (Mutant)
Class: (Witcher, Monster Hunter.)
Special Powers:
Flame Flame Fruit.
Devil Fruit Awakening. 'New'
???
Level: 70
" CORE ATTRIBUTES "
Strength (STR): 70
Agility (AGI): 70
Endurance (END): 70
Vitality (VIT): 120
Perception (PER): 80
Willpower (WIL): ??
" COMBAT PROFICIENCIES "
Swordsmanship: Lv. 60
Archery: Lv. 5
Dual-Wielding: Lv. 45
Unarmed Combat: Lv. 40
Alchemy Usage: Lv. 30
Sign Magic: Lv. 40
Advanced Magic
White Frost Immunity. 'New'
Locked (Unlocks under certain conditions)
He turned the "Awakening" line over mentally, unsurprised to see it finally confirmed there in black and white after everything that had happened tonight but the White Frost Immunity entry gave him pause. Filed under Advanced Magic rather than sitting among his usual passives and traits, and another one locked besides, pending some condition he had no clue how to even begin satisfying.
'Why there, specifically,' he thought, brow furrowing slightly at the strange placement.'And locked. Locked behind what?'
"Seb?"
He blinked, the interface dissolving from his vision, and found Ciri watching him from across the room, head tilted, something faintly amused and faintly worried both crossing her face. "You've been staring at absolutely nothing for the last minute, muttering to yourself like a madman."
"Oh.. nothing, really," Seb said, waving it off, the system thoughts filed away for later consideration. He studied her properly now, noting the restless way she'd drifted around the room this whole time, never quite settling. "Is something wrong? You've said barely a word all night, and now you're pacing circles around a room like you're looking for an exit that isn't there. So what's going on?"
Ciri let out a long breath, something caught between frustration and nerves crossing her face. She crossed the room toward him without answering directly, closing the last of the distance between them in a few strides and then she kissed him, properly, fiercely, her hands sliding up into his hair as though she'd been holding the impulse back all evening and finally let it loose entirely.
When she finally pulled back, breathless, she looked at him with something exasperated and fond in equal measure. "You really are clueless sometimes, you know that?"
She kissed him again and this time it lingered in the air between them, charged and electric, and for a heartbeat, Seb's mind went completely blank. When he finally found his voice, it came out lower, rougher than he'd intended.
"Well," he managed, a faint, incredulous smile tugging at the corner of his mouth, "aren't we supposed to be resting after such a battle?"
Ciri pulled back just enough to look at him properly, her green eyes dark in the firelight and utterly unapologetic. Her hand was still fisted in his shirt, holding him exactly where she wanted him.
"Trust me," she said, her voice low and completely certain, "this will give me back the energy I spent." She tilted her head, and the ghost of a smirk crossed her face, sharp and familiar and entirely her own. "Now shut up and screw me good, I spent months in that world thinking about you, so don't you dare refuse this.."
Seb's brows rose slightly, and the last of his hesitation crumbled into something warmer, hungrier, a low laugh escaping him against his better judgment. "You really don't leave room for argument, do you."
"Never have." She was already closing the distance again, rising onto her toes, her fingers tightening in the fabric of his shirt. "I've waited long enough for this. Don't make me wait any longer."
That was all the permission he needed.
His hands found her waist and pulled her flush against him in one motion, her breath catching audibly as he lifted her slightly, walking her backward until her back met the wall beside the hearth. The firelight threw both their shadows huge across the ceiling, and the books on the shelf shuddered softly when her hands shot out to brace herself against it.
She kissed him like she fought, no hesitation, no half measures and he met her with the same intensity, one hand sliding up into her ashen hair, the other splayed flat against the small of her back, holding her steady. When he finally broke the kiss to drag his mouth down along the line of her jaw to her throat, she let her head fall back against the stone with a soft, satisfied hum, eyes half-closed, fingers twisting in the collar of his shirt.
"Finally," she breathed. "Took you long enough to catch up."
"You're the one who spent all evening pacing circles around the room instead of just saying something," Seb murmured against her skin, and she laughed, breathless and warm.
"Shut up," she said again, but it came out soft and fond, her fingers working at the buttons of his shirt now with haste. "You're ruining it."
"I thought I was following orders."
"Then follow better."
/-\
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