#so im spinning my own headcanons here of course hope you enjoy! 😅

[krwioholik]

Geralt smiled weakly. Although he realized that a witcher taking care of a baby bruxa was a strange sight, he had managed to get used to the fact that he was not alone all the time. After observing his little charge for a long time, he had to admit that Lizzie was special in a way. At all times she behaved like a normal human baby, only her heightened senses and reactions to certain stimuli distinguished her from human babies.

"She's still a baby, Regis." Geralt replied, gently stroking Lizzie's soft black curls. Lizzie cooed softly, then relaxed and rested her little head on the witcher's chest. "I know I'm not her mother, and she seems to know it too, but she doesn't scream, she doesn't cry. Lizzie is a quiet child, but I think she feels that something in her life is about to change." Geralt sighed heavily, then glanced at Lizzie, who was looking at Regis. "Yes, I think she likes me."

Staring into the flames of the campfire, he pondered answers to Regis' questions. It was best to answer all of them in turn. "Yes. This is exactly the contract you are talking about, Regis. If I had known then what I know now, I would have taken it completely differently." The witcher replied, for once in his life feeling like talking in front of his vampire friend without having to drink the infamous mandrake brew.

"Now I wonder if that bruxa over there, was she only so fierce because she was protecting her child?" Geralt now asked the question, realizing that he actually knows so little about vampires, especially intelligent ones. "How is it with you vampires really, Regis? Have you ever known any bruxa who had a child? You're right in saying that I know nothing about young bruxae. I feel that I will have to find out, because I can't leave her. She won't survive without care." Geralt whispered quietly as Lizzie yawned softly and began to drift off to sleep. The witcher hoped that whatever he came to do, he would manage to help his little charge as best he could.

As gently as he could, Geralt placed Lizzie on his shoulder and wrapped her tightly in his cloak. He let her sleep so that she was comfortable. "Eh, Regis…I always have to put myself and others in trouble." Although Geralt felt like complaining, looking at the sleeping Lizzie, he forgot about it and even smiled. "At least she doesn't feel like wasting her energy worrying."

"A toddler, perhaps, but she has her infant years past her already." Regis pointed out as he observed the way Geralt took care of the girl, a distinction made out of his compulsion for stating truths and facts but also to make sure Geralt was aware of the kind of undertaking he would face, were he to remain the child's caretaker. "She is fast and strong in a way that might not be instinctual for you to expect given her small stature."

He listened to Geralt's admission of ignorance in terms of raising a bruxa child but he didn't reply immediately, instead falling into deep thought for a moment, as he was prone to when discussing important and difficult matters.

"I have known bruxae and their children, and I do know, in the general terms, what caring for one entails." He begun his answer, calm and collected as usual but serious too. A frown remained upon his brow. "And you are right in your assumption: she still requires care to survive. But not for as long as you may think... Though it may seem counterintuitive to you, vampires gain independence far quicker than humans. Young Lizzie will grow to her full strength and maturity in two, maybe three years." He explained.

"But before she reaches the threshold of independence, she requires regular feeding and a lot of supervision. Especially if we are to prevent her from attacking humans. Unfortunately... blood is not only a delicacy but a valuable source of nutrients for a growing vampire." He admitted, lips wrung in a bitter smile. "And a reason why many bruxae will hunt humans while rearing children... it is easier to satisfy their relentless hunger with potent blood... and to satisfy the mother's own needs after she's fed the child her own blood, too." He continued to explain.

"As you are perhaps beginning to see, the task you have taken upon yourself is not an easy one. Nor one I've ever heard to be completed by any human or witcher." He said but as he looked into Geralt's eyes his serious gaze softened.

"Then again, it would hardly surprise me if you were to be the first to manage such a feat. You're are no common witcher, after all... and you'd have the full extent of my help as well." He smiled.