Illyana was glad to hear the the others were in line with her tactic of letting Cora decide for herself. She only needed the tools to know what to look for, which it seemed that she and Ivory were more than willing to give her. 

As Aurel began speaking, Illyana locked eyes with him and gave him a small, knowing and reassuring smile. She reached across the table and laid her hand on top of Aurel's briefly. [color=598527]"That's good to remember about your snakes, they act very instinctively. Watching their behavior could be a good way to ward off unsavory situations."[/color] This was good news, as far as she was concerned. The more she was able to anticipate about Geralt's reactions and intentions, the better. If Aurel's snakes were having a negative reaction to him, this was certainly cause for concern. It made her feel a little better about her weariness, even after her conversation with Lucien.

After listening to everyone speak their peace, Cora sat a moment to reflect on all she had heard. She understood now why Ivory and Aurel did not trust Geralt, because they too had experienced situations that lead them to be uneasy about him. Ivory distrusted the Magician's never-ceasing charm and read it as his way of hiding something negative about himself, and Aurel was weary because of things that had happened to him in the past. He knew not to trust people at their word. Of course, Cora was not immune to this type of deception. She had witnessed her share of evil when she first came abovewater...but, to her, the man who had taken and hurt her had always been evil. He had no nice words, soft touches, or an ounce of compassion in his rough and calloused heart. He was angry and envious and proud, and he took that out on everything weaker that he came into contact with. She knew this when she had first laid eyes on him, and knew it now even after he was rotting...but Cora did not feel this way about Geralt. There was something in her that told her that there was a lot of depth to him, layers, and that not all of those layers were necessarily bad.

[color=00a99d]"I understand what you mean, Ivory, Aurel..."[/color] she began, looking to each of them, [color=00a99d]"but...if that's true, isn't the opposite true as well?"[/color] She looked at everyone at the table, unsure if she was right or not, but feeling that she was making sense, to herself at least.

Illyana was surprised to hear this from the mermaid, but it sparked her interest to hear this from Cora. [color=598527]"What do you mean?"[/color] she asked, tilting her head slightly.

Cora looked to Illy and then back at the rest of the group and shrugged, [color=00a99d]"I mean...if people can hide behind their words to make you believe that they are good when they aren't, then cant people who are good do the same thing? Maybe what he's hiding isn't something bad or dangerous...maybe it is something that he just doesn't want us to know."[/color] She looked to Aurel with wide-open eyes and a half-smile, [color=00a99d]"We all have secrets, that doesn't make us bad people."[/color]

Although Illyana wanted desperately to argue with this logic, she could not find the flaw in it. While Cora was not exactly defending Geralt directly, there was no denying that her understanding of him could be true. She opened her mouth as if to respond but could not find the words. She looked to Ivory then, hoping the Dhampir would have something clever to say.

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Geralt arrived at Lucien's trailer with no time to waste. He approached the door, knocked quickly and entered without waiting for a response. Part of him, of course, was hoping to catch Lucien unawares. [color=crimson]"Did you send for me, patron?"[/color] he said, already halfway inside of Lucien's trailer.