The silence hangs in the air. Geralt is watching, unmoved, like he's thinking something over or waiting for Estinien to say more. He isn't even certain what Estinien might've expected out of him. For Geralt to immediately retaliate? Or explain himself?
He's prone toward neither. If Estinien is here to gauge retribution over this incident, he won't find any. Yennefer's fate hangs upon more than one elf. She doesn't need him, besides. Not to step in. He worries about her as much as he doesn't, as much as he's aware she can take care of herself. He is not her protector. And she'll be incredibly pissed off if he interferes on her behalf without reason and fucks up whatever intricate plans she's already begun to lay. He came here for Cirilla. Promised he'd look after the girl, both to Yen and himself, and trusted Yen knows what she's doing back in Thorne. That's where his focus is, where he's trying to keep it. With Ciri and Jaskier. That's something he can do. Because he can't do anything about this, about Thorne, about the fact that he hates that Yennefer has put him in this position, right call or not. Has made him feel this chasm inside him he doesn't know what to do with.
His fingers curl gently where they rest on the table. Being inside his own shaped Kaer Morhen makes him miss the ease of home. Where there's none of this shit in the way. Where there are just his brothers and the snow and the stories they tell by the fire. His desire to remain uninvolved is not for lack of care. It's because he's learned, a long time ago, it changes nothing. The world will shift. If one kingdom does not fall with all of its children inside, another will. And in the end, the humans will carry on, in the ashes they leave behind, until they find something new to turn against. Until they find something different enough they can tell themselves it deserves to burn, too.
"You have your people," he says finally. "Look after them, and I'll look after mine."
He's not here to start a problem. He said all that needed to be said, when he told Estinien not to make it his business; to him, that's all that matters for where he stands. As long as Estinien doesn't start anything more, he's willing to stay out of the elf's way.
no subject
He's prone toward neither. If Estinien is here to gauge retribution over this incident, he won't find any. Yennefer's fate hangs upon more than one elf. She doesn't need him, besides. Not to step in. He worries about her as much as he doesn't, as much as he's aware she can take care of herself. He is not her protector. And she'll be incredibly pissed off if he interferes on her behalf without reason and fucks up whatever intricate plans she's already begun to lay. He came here for Cirilla. Promised he'd look after the girl, both to Yen and himself, and trusted Yen knows what she's doing back in Thorne. That's where his focus is, where he's trying to keep it. With Ciri and Jaskier. That's something he can do. Because he can't do anything about this, about Thorne, about the fact that he hates that Yennefer has put him in this position, right call or not. Has made him feel this chasm inside him he doesn't know what to do with.
His fingers curl gently where they rest on the table. Being inside his own shaped Kaer Morhen makes him miss the ease of home. Where there's none of this shit in the way. Where there are just his brothers and the snow and the stories they tell by the fire. His desire to remain uninvolved is not for lack of care. It's because he's learned, a long time ago, it changes nothing. The world will shift. If one kingdom does not fall with all of its children inside, another will. And in the end, the humans will carry on, in the ashes they leave behind, until they find something new to turn against. Until they find something different enough they can tell themselves it deserves to burn, too.
"You have your people," he says finally. "Look after them, and I'll look after mine."
He's not here to start a problem. He said all that needed to be said, when he told Estinien not to make it his business; to him, that's all that matters for where he stands. As long as Estinien doesn't start anything more, he's willing to stay out of the elf's way.