[Closed]

[rollstoseduce]

Who: A metaphorical wolf, an actual wolf, a bard, a swordcat, a rat king, a poison king, a horse with wings, a horse with a bug fish name and a wyvern eta and now a second horse
Where: National Park
When: Some time during 4th wall
Summary: Sparring! Powers! Potions! Animals! Secrets revealed, oh my!
Rating: let's give it an R for naughty jokes and references in narration



So you want to fight a witcher?
>Yes
>No
>Gwent

Comments

[vrdantwind]

[Technically, Claude doesn't want to fight a witcher. But the witcher wants to fight him, and Geralt and Felix have enough similarities that Claude suspects that he might just improve his standing with Geralt if he finally agrees to spar with him. (Really, the things he'll do to forge a friendly relationship...) And with Claude's Crest having returned to him, however temporarily - well, it's probably the most optimal circumstances for a match Claude knows he's going to lose.

Aside from Claude's decided preference for diplomacy over combat, that's the main reason he's been holding out on any sparring opportunities with Geralt. He knows he's going to lose, the same way he knows the sun will come up tomorrow. Felix can't beat Geralt even when fighting with swords, and Felix is one of the most dedicated and accomplished swordsmen probably in their entire world back home. Felix is certainly a far better fighter than Claude. So if Felix can't beat Geralt even when fighting with the weapon he specializes in, how is Claude supposed to beat him in a fistfight when fistfighting is not at all his forte? The answer is that he can't possibly, and it's never been in Claude's nature to walk eyes open into an inevitable failure. Claude's nature has always been to either find a way to stack the odds in his favor, pulling out every stop short of war crimes(unlike Edelgard, he does have some lines he'll draw), or to simply avoid the situation entirely. This is unpleasantly uncharacteristic for him.

There's no one here whose opinion of his competence and infallibility is critical to his life and dreams. Claude has to keep telling himself this, because the terror of knowingly setting himself up to fail - to publicly lose a fight - is palpable enough to taste. Even if anyone present would think less of him for losing to Geralt - which is unlikely already - it's not going to lead to political repercussions. It's not going to invite (more) assassins. It's not going to lose him the critical currency of esteem in the eyes of his people. He's surrounded by friends, not jackals. They won't pounce on seeing weakness.

There's no one here whose opinion of my competence and infallibility is critical to my life and dreams -

And, because presentation is fully half of perception(performance being the other half), Claude can repeat that phrase over and over in his head even as he smiles at Geralt as though nothing is wrong at all.]

I'd appreciate that. I never really got the hang of magic, myself. [He eyes the sword.] But if you don't mind...I'd prefer to fight you using fight club rules. No weapons at all. If I was going to compete with you in weapons, I'd prefer to do it on an archery range.

[At least he could quite possibly beat Geralt in a shooting contest. There aren't many things Claude is confident he could outperform someone in when they have some seventy years' experience at least to draw on(and still youthful muscles to use), but since Geralt's admittedly never had to snipe targets from the back of a flying mount, Claude doesn't see how the man could have gotten the degree of practice needed to match him. Shooting from a horse, Geralt's probably done, and it's tricky, but not so tricky as shooting from the back of something with a full 360 degree range of movement on every axis. That thought is some balm to the bruising his ego's going to take here. The balm for his more physical injuries...well, that'll be the Crest, hopefully.

It does, of course, require him to land hits on Geralt. But if Claude is hoping for anything out of this, it's that he can at least put up a good enough fight while losing to earn some respect from the witcher. Being a complete pushover will only reinforce Geralt's low opinion of him, and render all of this pointless.]

[lovelybottom]

[Claude reeks of fear.]

[He's plastered a smile onto his face, but there's a terror-stench underneath it that practically burns Geralt's sinuses with every breath. The scent of other people's fear has never been a pleasant one, never been something that Geralt enjoyed. The fact that it's coming so strongly from Claude is... strange.]

[Geralt would have initially thought that Claude is afraid of him or what he'll do to him, but that's quickly dismissed-- Claude's never been afraid of him. If he had been, he wouldn't have continued to irritate and prod and press at him at almost every opportunity, he would have avoided him. He certainly wouldn't have walked over and willingly offered himself up as a sparring partner.]

[If it isn't Geralt himself that he's afraid of, than it must be something else about this situation. Something about sparring with the witcher terrifies him, and it can't be fighting itself, not when he's been trained and has been through multiple battles. A simple spar should hold no terror for him. He first considers that it might be the sword, the possibility of using a real edged weapon instead of a dulled practice blade-- but the fear-stench isn't alleviated even when he returns his blade to its sheath and sets it aside.]

Hm. [He's not fighting with Claude, for sport or not, when he's on the verge of panic. Geralt steps within arm's reach of him and gets a hand on his shoulder, turning him to start leading him a short distance away from the group, enough to be out of easy earshot.] Claude. A word.

[He could have asked what the problem was in front of everyone, but Geralt knows from experience that most people react poorly to a witcher dragging up emotions that they thought were well-hidden. That's useful, sometimes, when he's trying to put pressure on a man's guilty conscience, but he wants to put Claude at ease, not make things worse. Fear isn't his goal.]

Breathe with me. [A witcher's heart beats at about a quarter rate of a human's, and his breathing is similarly slow. It's an effective way to start to calm a panicked human; it's worked in the past, when he's needed to get information out of the frightened victims of monster attacks. It's worked when Jaskier woke from nightmares.] Calm yourself.

[vrdantwind]

[If Claude is confused and caught off-guard by Geralt's pulling him aside, he's downright startled by being called out. Under other circumstances, he might have tried to brazen it out - presentation, again, and the importance of it - but these circumstances are so bizarre that they drive the possibility right out of his head. Because, by all rights, Geralt shouldn't be calling him out at all.

Claude's spent too many years polishing his ability to show only what he chooses to show, and no more, to not know his mask was pretty damn good just now. And Geralt is...well, to put it delicately, he's not the most emotionally perceptive person. (And he seems to stubbornly mis-indentify other people's feelings when he does perceive them, too.) So the idea that Geralt, of all people, could see past Claude's mask - that he'd be looking closely enough at Claude to even have a chance of doing so - simply doesn't make any sense. And Claude's too caught up in trying to figure out what went wrong to even consider bluffing it out.

(Besides, if Geralt is that perceptive, somehow, what are the odds Claude could convince him that whatever he's picked up on isn't true?)

He simply stares at Geralt for a moment, speechless.] What - how could you even tell?

[Even his panic is momentarily taking a back seat to his bafflement, which...isn't quite calming down, but at least it's a convenient distraction, however temporary.]

[lovelybottom]

[Claude is a man unused to being called out on his acting, and it's obvious in how gobsmacked he looks when Geralt does so. He doesn't try to maintain the charade, at least-- Geralt doesn't know that it's more out of shock rather than not trying to waste either of their time, but the end result is the same.]

[He smells more confused than afraid at the moment, which is something of an improvement. Confusion doesn't have the kind of astringent sourness of fear; it's a softer, muddled scent. Not pleasant, but not distinctly unpleasant. His heart rate is still high, but that could be attributed to surprise as well as panic. Talk may be the thing that helps to calm him, though, as it does for Jaskier. They do have their similarities, after all.]

I doubt any of the others noticed. You kept it out of your face well.

[The reassurance that he hasn't lost face with the rest of the group may help to put him at ease.]

But I could smell it on you. You reeked of fear, and I prefer my sparring partners not be terrified.

[vrdantwind]

[The reassurance that there's nothing wrong with Claude's mask, and the revelation that Geralt picked up on the truth through a highly specific method not really available to other people, does seem to relax Claude considerably. He's less concerned with the truth being revealed than he is with feeling like he's failing to keep his own secrets, but Geralt having a ridiculously sensitive nose as a witcher is something Claude can't help. A fact of life to be accepted, rather than a personal failing on Claude's part.]

...it's not of you, for the record. [He feels the need to make this clear immediately, not knowing Geralt's already figured that out.] I mean, the worst you're going to do in sparring with fight club rules is punch me, and I've been punched before. Hell, I've pushed you enough to half expect you to have punched me before this. [He runs a hand through his hair.] It's just...I know I'm not going to win this. And I don't go into situations I'm going to lose. [He states this without arrogance, but more as a statement of fact - the same way someone might say "I don't eat meat".] I've never been able to afford to do that, especially not publicly. Almyrans have high expectations from their kings...and extremely low opinions of people with Fodlan blood. Since I'm both, I don't think you need me to point out the problem.

[lovelybottom]

[It's interesting that Claude thought that he would repay his busybody tendencies with violence-- Geralt usually only responds violently after others have resorted to violence first. One of the few exceptions to this, of course, was Jaskier, but that punch had been for his own good, to drive him away after his first encounter with a monster so that he wouldn't die on the second. Claude has had no such experience with him.]

[Claude explains the source of his anxiety in quite simple and straightforward terms, which Geralt can appreciate. Having a problem laid out in plain language makes it easier to address than one explained obtusely.]

I see. [The need to save face when one is expected to be a leader. Geralt does not need to lead, but he can understand that it would be difficult to be in Claude's position, where he is faced with both high expectations and also has the disadvantage of circumstances outside of his control.] Perfection is a high standard to apply only to yourself. I doubt you think less of Felix just because he's lost to me many times, and with his preferred weapon.

[And here Claude is, preparing to fight a man with a weapon that isn't his specialty.]

When you were being taught the bow, I am sure that your tutor outshot you soundly, and there was no shame in that. It may be easier, then, for you to think of me less as an obstacle to be overcome, and more as someone to be learned from. So long as you leave this spar having learned, than you've failed in nothing.

[vrdantwind]

[Let's just say that Claude has been made exquisitely aware of how aggravating he can be, Geralt, even by the people who like him best. So when he aggravates people who don't like him at all, he's prepared to expect just about any kind of backlash.

(He's also very accustomed to people who don't like him leaning towards violence. Geralt is an exception, not the rule.)]

Of course I don't think less of Felix for that. But the standards I apply to other people, and the standards other people apply to me, are very different things. And if Felix had been constantly held to some standard of perfection, and the stakes for having to live up to those standards were high enough...he might have a different view of losing, too.

[Claude shrugs.]

And the problem isn't how I think of myself, Geralt. Of course I can't expect to beat you in a fight that's not exactly my preferred style, and when you have decades more experience than I do in fighting to boot. I know that's not reasonable to expect. And I know I can learn a lot by fighting you, too - that's one of the reasons I'm willing to do it. Having my Crest to make it a little less one-sided is another reason. [He sighs.] The issue is that I'm not used to other people holding me to reasonable standards at all. I'm not used to losing having no greater consequences for me than, say, being knocked on my ass.

What I'm used to is any failure being used as evidence against me in the court of public opinion, which has political and personal consequences. An Almyran king is expected to be the best Almyra has to offer. I already have to fight to be considered Almyran at all. And every unfavorable impression, every shortcoming, is just more proof that I've too unacceptably Fodlan. A king without subjects is nothing; I need to be impressing them, all the time, just to win ground against their prejudices. Any slipping plays into them, and then I'll never change them.

[He glances toward where Mori is currently stretched out, sunbathing.] I told you white wyverns are a status symbol for Almyran kings. Does that suggest anything to you in terms of, say, visibility? Of combat strategy? We're targets by design. Our kings are expected to prove their worth constantly. Only those who overcome the odds long enough to have heirs pass down the crown by bloodline, and if an heir falls short then we find someone who won't. Anyone can challenge the king for the crown, and if the king loses the challenge there's a good chance the crown goes with it. An Almyran king has to beat all the odds, all the time.

And I've spent most of my life surrounded by people just waiting for me to fail. Just because none of them are here doesn't mean it's easy to accept that the stakes aren't that high right now. I'm not...used to it.

[lovelybottom]

[This is not an issue, then, that can be fixed with a change in perspective, or really with anything that Geralt can do in the next five minutes. He hasn't had this same sort of experience with public opinion, anyway-- he only really trained with other witchers, and if he failed in some way that the average person could find out about, it would be on a hunt and he'd probably be dead anyway.]

[That leaves them at a certain sort of impasse.]

Be that as it may, I'm not fighting you while you reek of fear.

[And that's for a number of reasons. For one, if this is to be anything close to a fair match, he shouldn't be fighting against an opponent who is already so emotionally compromised. Nervousness is one thing, but actual fear is a different beast. For another, Geralt doesn't particularly relish the thought of spending the next several minutes with Claude's terror-stench in his nose, because even if he isn't fond of the man himself, that doesn't mean that he wants the man's fear lodged in his sinuses.]

If the audience is the dire issue, we could spar another time, without them.

[That's the best he can do here, Claude. He's trying, but he can't do much about your emotional response stemming from lifelong trauma, okay, he's barely got a grip on his own.]

[vrdantwind]

That's a fair enough restriction. But if it's just a matter of pushing my calm a little further than skin-deep, I can do that - with or without an audience. I usually don't have to worry about people smelling their way past the surface, you know. [His lips quirk.] But I do know how to rein myself in when I really have to. Sometimes just the illusion of composure isn't enough, no matter what kind of nose the people around me have.

It's just harder to fool myself than it is to fool everybody else, so I need a good reason to make the effort.

[He closes his eyes, settling into his breathing. He meditates every morning; he knows how to find stillness. How to find his way to a place where fear and worry and anger can't touch him. In a weird way, Geralt's having called him on this makes it easier - knowing someone has perceived his fear, that touch of self-scorn, is all the more motivation to hide it better. And what better way to hide something than by getting rid of it entirely?

And once again, Claude shrugs off the scent of his emotions like a cloak he's finished wearing.

It's a minute or so, but when he opens his eyes to smile at Geralt, it's rather similar to after their argument. The smile is uncomplicated, his eyes clear.] Better?

[lovelybottom]

[Most people don't expect someone to be able to literally sniff out their weaknesses, and certainly not those who aren't familiar with witchers and their bloodhound noses. It's interesting that Claude says that he has a way to deal with it-- for most, even those in diplomatic roles, being able to keep it out of their face and actions is sufficient, and they don't strive for more.]

[Claude's closed eyes and slowed breathing read like meditation to Geralt, similar to how he does it when he settles into a healing trance. With each breath, the terror-stench dissipates a little; he'll still be able to catch the remnants of it, but it will be an old smell. Detectable in the way that it clings to hair and cloth, but not fresh. When Claude looks up at him again, all that remains are those traces.]

[Geralt leans in slightly. There's a particular manner that his nostrils flare and his lip curls a little when he's drawing in a scent-- not a sneer, though it may read like that to some, but it's just how his face looks.]

Hm. [The living scent on him is controlled, neutral. There's still that cling of fear, but it's dead, just a remnant.] Better.

[vrdantwind]

[Despite everything, Claude has to smile. Watching Geralt sniff him so blatantly...honestly, it's just kind of funny, in a bizarre kind of way. Or is it bizarre in a funny kind of way? Possibly both.

Of course, Geralt drawing the comparison to his own meditations is an apt one. Really, these two could chat about it sometime, if Geralt ever learns how to chat.]

Good enough, then? ['Better' doesn't necessarily mean 'acceptable'.] Because this is about as good as it's getting.