Geralt is always reachable by the network. Unless it's an emergency, expect not to hear back for a few hours, if not a few days.
To talk to him in person, you'll need to be in Cadens or go to his domain, a snowy mountain fortress. Yard is open; doors are locked. If he isn't around, leave a delivery with the white wolf.
[ perhaps she shouldn't have said it - yennefer realizes that a moment too late. that maybe it would have been better to keep that all separate, to keep everything separate - she has created the thousands and miles between them, is it really fair of her to try and bridge them now?
except she doesn't regret it. they are small details, things that geralt probably already knows, but she says them anyway. feels like perhaps there isn't much else for her to offer.
i know he says, and she doesn't want that ugly curl in her chest. doesn't like how angry the feeling makes her - of being a step behind. of being reminded that even the things she thinks she knows, she is the last to know them at all. it floods through her in an instant, her eyes turning to the cup, before she blinks and lets the feeling (hopefully) pass her by.
yennefer would rather focus on the noise, on the look, on the brief, fragile thing that almost feels like something. and yes, when he says she saw you in a dream, yennefer doesn't find that surprising. her understanding of ciri's abilities are still rocky, but ciri does know these things, and that's not exactly what she meant, either.
it is not yennefer's turn to make a soft noise, for her lips to turn up in a small smile, to nod. ]
That is perhaps best. I will tell her those myself.
[ in the moments that follow, yennefer feels herself searching for a reason - to remain sitting, to stay, to hold onto this for just a few seconds more. but in realizing that is what she's doing, it feels forced, and in the end she does push herself to her feet.
if she appears unsteady, it has more to do with the exhaustion from her actual body than anything - pain that filters through, despite the meditation. she sets her hands down on the table and pushes herself up to stand. ]
Istredd knows, by the way. Of my chaos, and of Ciri. I assume you know that, considering your prior meeting. But I did not tell him she is here.
[ He can feel himself searching for the same. A reason to stay. It carries echoes of their first few meetings. Together, lingering, looking for an excuse not to leave because staying simply to stay was too much. It was more than what they had been willing to extend to each other at the start.
And by the time he decided he wanted to stay, just because, it was her turn to leave every time. Perhaps that's how it's always fated to go for them. Those small, missed moments.
(What if he had insisted she come with him to the Free Cities? What if he had stayed with her in Thorne? Would anything change?
No. The answer to that, he already understands. Not with the choice she will make, that she does not yet remember. It is not like him, anyhow, to wish for what-ifs. But where Yennefer is concerned, he so often falls into thoughts, feelings, that are not like him at all.) ]
Keep an eye on him. [ Istredd is not yet a threat, but he has the potentially to rapidly become one. Of course, Yennefer already knows that, but it is not why he says it. It's the first time since they felt the memories return, that he has asked her to do anything where protecting Ciri is concerned. He wants to trust her again. He does. And he is still angry, some part of him, still hurt, but—
—he'd told her once he will not wait for her while she lives in the past. And in a sense, he realizes he cannot demand she let go of what is lost, of what can no longer be changed, when he will not move on, either.
He rises, then pauses. ] I know you do not need my help. But you do have it, Yen. Should you ever want it.
[ maybe it is their fate - to want something so much, and yet to continue to fight it, only to find that the exact moment they relent the other is already gone. maybe it wasn't ever really a wish after all, but a curse to always, always keep them off track. yennefer feels it now, and it is a familiar feeling - that hole, that lack, the small spark somewhere deep down that she loses hope she'll ever be able to let it grow back to a flame.
and just as it is like her to do, she misses it, but does not let her reach for it. she offers the only things she can, the information to keep ciri safe, and swallows back all the rest. she is on her feet when geralt tells her to keep an eye on her, and she huffs, once, trying to bring that height back to her spine. that edge to her tone that is so her, and yet also unlike her when she's around geralt. ] Obviously.
[ it does not dawn on her at first, but instead in the moments following - of what has just been offered. of what geralt has done. whatever tone she'd been attempting to build back up drops as she blinks and turns back to him, realizing, and letting it settle.
it lasts all of a portion of a tick, until the look on her face passes and geralt is also standing - and perhaps that is just one more missed moment between them. before now yennefer is straightening the fabric of her blouse, is pressing against the front of her trousers, is about to begin to turn to the stairs when geralt speaks again and the words cause her to still.
it feels like another kind of offering, whether or not geralt means it as such. yennefer catches his eyes and does hold them, and he can probably see the way she wrestles with more than one reaction to what he says. how she doesn't need the help (as he stated), how much she'll never admit that a part of her is surprised that he would give it at all. what wins, in the end, is a small, tired, somewhat broken upturn to her lips. ]
And whether or not you believe me- you have mine, too.
[ yennefer does not wait for his answer, instead turning to the stairs and disappearing from the horizon, just as her foot would have made contact with the first step. ]
no subject
except she doesn't regret it. they are small details, things that geralt probably already knows, but she says them anyway. feels like perhaps there isn't much else for her to offer.
i know he says, and she doesn't want that ugly curl in her chest. doesn't like how angry the feeling makes her - of being a step behind. of being reminded that even the things she thinks she knows, she is the last to know them at all. it floods through her in an instant, her eyes turning to the cup, before she blinks and lets the feeling (hopefully) pass her by.
yennefer would rather focus on the noise, on the look, on the brief, fragile thing that almost feels like something. and yes, when he says she saw you in a dream, yennefer doesn't find that surprising. her understanding of ciri's abilities are still rocky, but ciri does know these things, and that's not exactly what she meant, either.
it is not yennefer's turn to make a soft noise, for her lips to turn up in a small smile, to nod. ]
That is perhaps best. I will tell her those myself.
[ in the moments that follow, yennefer feels herself searching for a reason - to remain sitting, to stay, to hold onto this for just a few seconds more. but in realizing that is what she's doing, it feels forced, and in the end she does push herself to her feet.
if she appears unsteady, it has more to do with the exhaustion from her actual body than anything - pain that filters through, despite the meditation. she sets her hands down on the table and pushes herself up to stand. ]
Istredd knows, by the way. Of my chaos, and of Ciri. I assume you know that, considering your prior meeting. But I did not tell him she is here.
no subject
And by the time he decided he wanted to stay, just because, it was her turn to leave every time. Perhaps that's how it's always fated to go for them. Those small, missed moments.
(What if he had insisted she come with him to the Free Cities? What if he had stayed with her in Thorne? Would anything change?
No. The answer to that, he already understands. Not with the choice she will make, that she does not yet remember. It is not like him, anyhow, to wish for what-ifs. But where Yennefer is concerned, he so often falls into thoughts, feelings, that are not like him at all.) ]
Keep an eye on him. [ Istredd is not yet a threat, but he has the potentially to rapidly become one. Of course, Yennefer already knows that, but it is not why he says it. It's the first time since they felt the memories return, that he has asked her to do anything where protecting Ciri is concerned. He wants to trust her again. He does. And he is still angry, some part of him, still hurt, but—
—he'd told her once he will not wait for her while she lives in the past. And in a sense, he realizes he cannot demand she let go of what is lost, of what can no longer be changed, when he will not move on, either.
He rises, then pauses. ] I know you do not need my help. But you do have it, Yen. Should you ever want it.
wrapping!
and just as it is like her to do, she misses it, but does not let her reach for it. she offers the only things she can, the information to keep ciri safe, and swallows back all the rest. she is on her feet when geralt tells her to keep an eye on her, and she huffs, once, trying to bring that height back to her spine. that edge to her tone that is so her, and yet also unlike her when she's around geralt. ] Obviously.
[ it does not dawn on her at first, but instead in the moments following - of what has just been offered. of what geralt has done. whatever tone she'd been attempting to build back up drops as she blinks and turns back to him, realizing, and letting it settle.
it lasts all of a portion of a tick, until the look on her face passes and geralt is also standing - and perhaps that is just one more missed moment between them. before now yennefer is straightening the fabric of her blouse, is pressing against the front of her trousers, is about to begin to turn to the stairs when geralt speaks again and the words cause her to still.
it feels like another kind of offering, whether or not geralt means it as such. yennefer catches his eyes and does hold them, and he can probably see the way she wrestles with more than one reaction to what he says. how she doesn't need the help (as he stated), how much she'll never admit that a part of her is surprised that he would give it at all. what wins, in the end, is a small, tired, somewhat broken upturn to her lips. ]
And whether or not you believe me- you have mine, too.
[ yennefer does not wait for his answer, instead turning to the stairs and disappearing from the horizon, just as her foot would have made contact with the first step. ]