closed to lambert

[anti_nonsense]

Who: Rita and Lambert
When: Day 89, Eden's aftermath
Where: Healer's temple, Eden
What: Rita and Lambert touch base after the climactic battle.

It's been a few hours since Rita saw Lambert get dragged into the healing temple after his heroic(?) efforts in battle. The healers seem to be leaving him alone for now, so it would appear they've finished with their emergency treatments.

...Well, she might as well go see him. Rita walks over to where the witcher rests, stopping at the side of his cot and looking him over with one hand on her hip. Towards her opposite hip are some signs of injury; her tunic is torn and singed, and the skin beneath it appears to be bandaged. Doesn't seem nearly as bad as what must be under the bandages running all over Lambert's arms and chest, though.

"Hey, old man," she greets him, watching his face to see if he's conscious. "You alive?"

Comments

[whattaprick]

At a familiar voice, Lambert lets his eyes crack open, tufted ears twitchy lazily. Whatever the Honorables have that passes as pain relief doesn't have the more disorienting effects some drugs do, so his gaze is alert, if exhausted.

"And so are you." He grunts, attempting to lever himself to a sitting position -- something that draws the attention of an attending hen, who comes over to quite literally cluck at him until he grumbles and lays down again. He'll have to wait for a more opportune moment to wake up, but until then...

"How's it looking out there?"

[anti_nonsense]

"Messy," Rita replies at first, casting a glance back at the temple entrance. "But it looks like the worst is over. Lilith retreated, her followers gave up on fighting, and now everybody's busy dealing with the aftermath."

She turns back to face Lambert with a wry look and a half-shrug. "All in all, it could've gone worse."

[whattaprick]

"It could have gone better," Lambert points out, just to be contrary, since Rita stole his line. "Any casualties?"

The last few minutes of the fight are a jumble, what with his helter-skelter descent, but he almost certainly remembers ...

"Wait ... did the Ringmaster break the Mirror?" Surely he's not recalling that right. She didn't just break the Mirror with Strange in it ... did she?

[anti_nonsense]

At that, apprehension creeps into Rita's expression. "...Yeah," she confirms, grimly. "She did."

The implications of that aren't lost on Rita. After all, she was pushing for a chance to try and get him out of there as soon as possible... not because she thought this could happen, but...

"It looked like she was going after the shards, so we don't know if..." if he's dead, or... "...Other than that, I haven't heard of any casualties. Lots of injured, though." Present company included.

[whattaprick]

Lambert settles back into his pillow, grimacing.

“Well, better hope no one caught a shard of mirror in their eye. That’d be a bitch to get out.” To say the least. Besides the immediate rising panic though, rationality takes hold and Lambert shakes his head.

“She’s made a lot of mistakes, but I don’t think she’d deliberately break something she didn’t at least think could be fixed.” Case in point: Lambert getting smashed into the side of a coliseum. If she’s wrong about that, well, that’s another story, but Lambert decides choosing to believe in the Ringmaster is the best to conserve his energy at the moment. There’s plenty else to worry about.

“Lilith left... just like that?” Seems a ridiculously straightforward victory, in the end.

[anti_nonsense]

Rita nods. For all the distrust she once showed the Ringmaster, Rita doesn't think she's that careless. And an artifact that powerful shouldn't be easily destroyed... It has to be possible to reassemble it. She just hopes its contents will still be intact.

As for Lilith...

"Yeah... it almost seems too easy, but I doubt the Ringmaster would agree with that." Considering how long she'd been fighting before they reached that point. "With the Serpent joining the fight, and more and more Honorables turning against her... I guess she was outnumbered. Probably wasn't much for her to gain from fighting us all."

[whattaprick]

The Serpent ... yeah, Lambert only has a dim recollection of that part, but it left an impression.

“I wasn’t expecting that,” he admits, frowning slightly. “I thought she’d be too feral to have much idea what was even happening.”

[anti_nonsense]

"You'd be right, if it wasn't for Samyaza," Rita tells him. "While everyone was fighting, me and Peridot went looking for that rabbit. She has some kind of ability to communicate feelings to others through song, so we thought she might be able to get through to the Serpent. I guess it worked."

Saving the day through the power of feelings and music isn't exactly Rita's style, but she can't argue with the results.

[whattaprick]

Lambert can't help smirking at that.

"Another problem solved by song, huh...? Can't complain about the results." He unknowingly echoes her thoughts, though he can't help but scowl at the ceiling.

"Would have made things a damn sight easier if we'd known which of the Architects were on our side to start," he grumbles.

[anti_nonsense]

"True. I don't blame them for not trusting us completely, though. A mistake on our part could've gotten any number of them killed or cursed." Rita folds her arms and shifts on her feet.

"If anything, it's a miracle that they cooperated with us as much as they did. I don't know if I'd be able to do that, if I were the one whose society got infiltrated by a bunch of magic carnival freaks."

[whattaprick]

At that, Lambert can’t help but snicker, even if it’s around a wince as the motion pulls at stitches.

“Would you even notice if they did? Something tells me you’d be busy with your head in a book...”

[anti_nonsense]

"Of course I'd--" Rita begins, indignant, then seems to actually think about it. "I mean... probably. Aspio's a quiet place, so any influx of people would stand out... If I bothered going out into town to see them."

As it turns out, 'keeping up with the community' and 'being a literal hermit' are two things that tend to be at odds with each other.

[whattaprick]

"See?" Lambert points out, smugly. That's short-lived, however, as he winces and shifts.

"Shouldn't be too surprised they agreed to work together. When do you think the last time someone came to Eden who wasn't brought here by Lilith? They were desperate enough to take a chance ... just not desperate enough to risk everything they had. Though they didn't have much of a choice, in the end."

He has to pause for breath, huffing softly. Saying that much at once, it seems, is taxing his current capabilities.

[anti_nonsense]

Well, he's not wrong. Also, he sounds terrible. Rita watches him struggle, her eyes narrowing slightly.

“Looks like they did a real number on you,” she comments plainly. “Maybe I'll just let you rest. Need anything in the meantime?” Seeing the Nightrider put out of commission like this is almost a routine at this point.

[whattaprick]

There’s a pause for a moment or two as Lambert struggles both with sleep and decision making.

“Childermass is hurt worse I am,” is what he settles on, finally. “Could you check in on him? If anything changes... wake me up.”

[anti_nonsense]

"How sweet," Rita teases, her tone dry. Well, the request isn't too unexpected, all things considered.

"He's going to be fine," she tells him, though it's hard to say if it comes off reassuring or dismissive. "But... sure. I'll go see how he's doing." Rita doesn't expect Lambert to be satisfied unless he knows she'll actually go and check, so she might as well give him what he wants. Besides, as convinced as she is that they'll all pull through, she'd kind of like to see for herself anyway.

[whattaprick]

Predictably, Lambert scowls at being called 'sweet,' but he doesn't have much energy for it.

"Good," he says, satisfied. And then, after he settles back against the pillows, he adds, "You can give me back my necklace when we're back at the Carnival."

For obvious reasons, wearing something around his neck right now isn't the greatest of ideas.