I usually draw bat!Regis as an adorable fluffnugget, but...well, many of those same features that make him cute can also be T E R R I F Y I N G in a...different context. So, enjoy pre-sobriety Regis about to have a drink with his pork dinner, so to speak.
written for the @witchertrickortreat Law of Surprise promt: Found Feral
cw: domestic violence, child abuse
Wham.
“You useless little shit!”
Bang.
“Who do you think you are, huh?”
Thud.
“Try raising your hand to me again, and I’ll kill you and your whore mother both!”
The door slams shut.
Inside, his mother is sobbing, then suddenly screams. Screams for a very long time.
Lambert lies on the cold, hard ground for several minutes, coughing and wheezing. Then, once he’s able to stand up—slowly, carefully—he glares at the door and spits.
Next time, he tells himself. Or the one after that. Eventually, he will be strong enough.
The small puddle of spittle is tinged red.
—
It’s almost a ritual, by this point.
Or maybe a game.
How many times will his mother beg for mercy before Lambert tries to step in? How long before his father has an excuse to turn on him and beat him bloody, then throw him outside?
He always threatens to kill them too, and yet he never delivers.
Lambert figures it’s mainly because he wouldn’t have anyone to abuse.
—
Willem is gone for a very long time, but Lambert is not naive enough to think that he won’t be coming back. They had prayed for it often enough, him and his mother both, and yet Melitele never answered. Lambert had started to doubt she could even hear them at all.
He doesn’t pray anymore.
His mother does, though. Every morning, unfailingly, like clockwork.
Sometimes, he doesn’t mind. Other times, like today, he can’t stand it.
“She’s not listening!” He snaps. “She never listens! Maybe she isn’t even there.”
He gets up to leave as his mother begs him to stop blaspheming—maybe to leave forever, he tells himself, even though he knows that he can’t.
He hates his mother.
He loves his mother.
He could never leave her.
Just as he’s by the door, it swings open and he comes face to face with his father.
They stare at each other for a moment, Willem looking more shocked than Lambert had ever seen him. He doesn’t look good, Lambert notes. He’s scratched up and bloody and on his leg there’s a wound that looks as if a chunk of it was bitten off.
“So that’s what it’ll be,” comes a voice from behind his father, and Lambert’s head swivels towards it. There’s a man he didn’t notice before standing there, armour clad and weary-looking. He has a pair of swords at his back. Lambert stares at him, uncomprehending, as Willem’s shocked expression suddenly turns to rage.
“No!” He growls and suddenly strikes out at Lambert. “You little- Why now, huh? Where the fuck were you going?” The punch to the face sends Lambert to the ground. He curls up defensively, waits for an inevitable second blow to follow, but it doesn’t come. Instead, there’s a sound of a quick scuffle, of a body hitting the ground, and then the mystery man speaks up—and when Lambert looks up, Willem is at his feet, cowering.
“As agreed, the boy belongs to me now. You will not harm him further.”
“Yes, yes, of course, sir Witcher! As you say! The boy is yours.” Willem yelps, scuttling away into the back of the room. The man- The Witcher nods and holds a hand out to Lambert.
“Come, boy.”
Lambert sits up and stares at him, uncomprehending. The Witcher must notice the confusion in the boy's eyes, because he sighs, retracting his hand.
"I saved your father's life, and in return, he promised me the first thing he laid eyes on upon coming home." He gives Lambert a meaningful look. "And that… Would be you."
Lambert immediately breaks out in a cold sweat. No. Fuck, no. This wasn not happening to him.
"Fuck you!" He yells, getting up and balling his hands into fists. "You saved his life, so take him and leave us alone!"
The witcher smiles then. "You have spirit—good." He gestures with one hand and for a moment, Lambert feels a little woozy. Suddenly, going with the man doesn't seem so bad… Surely, he would take care of him, and his parents would be fine-
"No!" The thought is so jarring, it breaks him out of the trance, and Lambert suddenly knows that the Witcher had just tried to put some kind of spell on him. He shakes his head to clear it and glares defiantly at the man, who stares back in surprise.
"Too much spirit, perhaps." He smiles again. Then he moves, so fast Lambert barely registers it. Something hits the back of Lambert's head and everything goes dark.
—
Vesemir sighs in relief when they finally reach Kaer Morhen. They boy must be feral—he had been a handful during the journey, attempting escape no less than five times.
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@witchertrickortreat
Witcher Trick or Treat Prompt: Masquerade
Whumptober 2022 Prompts:
No. 1 - This wasn't supposed to happen
No. 4 - Waking up disoriented
No. 28 - Headache
Chapters: 12/13
Fandom: Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types, The Witcher (TV), Wiedźmin | The Witcher Series - Andrzej Sapkowski
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Fringilla Vigo, Anna Henrietta | Anarietta/Jaskier | Dandelion, Angoulême & Anna Henrietta, Cahir Mawr Dyffryn aep Ceallach & Jaskier | Dandelion, Maria Barring | Milva & Fringilla Vigo, Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia & Emiel Regis Rohellec Terzieff-Godefroy
Characters: Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia, Emiel Regis Rohellec Terzieff-Godefroy, Maria Barring | Milva, Jaskier | Dandelion, Cahir Mawr Dyffryn aep Ceallach, Angoulême (The Witcher), Anna Henrietta | Anarietta, Fringilla Vigo
Additional Tags: Witcher Trick or Treat Halloween Event, Trick Or Treat Prompts Challenge, sfw, Humour, Some Swearing, Too much alcohol, Non-Explicit Sex, breakfast in Beauclair, Hangover, Friendship, light spoilers for The Witcher book series, Geralt/Regis (implied), Jaskier/Cahir (implied), Milva/Fringilla (implied), Witcher trick or treat 2022
Summary:
While Geralt's Hanza is staying in Beauclair, the famous fall event is coming up. An event the Witcher cannot refuse to take part in, even if he has to dress up for it. However, not everything goes as planned and the members of the Hanza are in for some surprises. Blame it on the grape punch. Or is it the bard's fault after all?
His head hurts like seven hells. No, seventeen. At least. Like caught between hammer and anvil with the most powerful Mahakam dwarf wielding the enormous iron tool. Every few seconds causing a crashing boom to explode in his woozy brain. Like the reverberating roll of thunder directly next to his eardrums. Perhaps it is the clap of thunder and not just a figment of his imagination? There were no clouds last he checked but a perfectly clear, dark velvet sky dotted with a million stars and an unusually big and round silver moon. Perfect weather for Toussaint's famous fall masquerade. However, he feels wet. Very wet actually. In between the echoing booms he believes he can hear the patter of water, too. A sudden deluge? Which he was too deeply asleep to even notice? His eyelids are far too heavy to open just yet to check, though. Damn, has he really drunk that much? He remembers a few glasses of freshly made wine and then there was this delicious grape punch ... He must indeed have had a cup too many as he can hardly remember anything else. Or two cups. Three. He moans softly and tries to sit up but immediately lies back down again, this time with a much louder groan, his head spinning and his stomach doing somersaults. Gods, now would be the perfect time for Geralt to kill him ... He groans again. Then, with an effort he forces his sluggish brain to process a few more of the incoming sensory signals from his surroundings. He stiffens. Shit! The perception processed by the few brain cells that are actually working is rather disturbing. Besides feeling cold and wet and - naked??? - he realises that the booming sound is neither in his head nor the roll of thunder but somebody snoring straight into his ear. Darn, there is a hand on his chest, too, that definitely does not belong to him. And another one in a place that is far too indecent to even mention ...
Continue reading on Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/41477553/chapters/106810488