[ If Yennefer was good at a single thing, it was cleaning up other people’s messes. It was just a matter of whether it was her choice or not. And this had been her choice at the end of the day. She could have left him in the woods or taken him back to his apartment to recover, but she’d invited him back into her home, thereby taking on whatever that meant.
He doesn’t waste time dropping bombs on her and she just stares for a long moment, almost frozen in time. She isn’t sure if she should laugh or gods, anything else. ]
So you recognize that bonding would be complicated by the wish and still move forward with bonding knowing full well you could be endangering Jaskier.
[ It’s not a question. She chuckles, the sound hollow as she brings the cup to her lips. The sweet wine is bitter on her tongue, her mood soured further than it had been at the beginning of her day. ]
I would say I suppose congratulations might be in order, but I guess I need to try and make a miracle happen so the bard doesn’t potentially suffer any ill effects should I fail.
[ The air practically freezes between them. Is he surprised? No. But the suggestion that he's done it with no regard to Jaskier needles him more than it should. His friendship with the bard isn't one he speaks of often. To most, he hardly acknowledges it even exists. It doesn't mean he doesn't give a shit about him. ]
As does Jaskier. [ The implication is there: Jaskier knows the danger. And the reason for why that danger exists. As much as Geralt shares Yennefer's desire to have no one else involved in this thing between them, Jaskier became involved the moment Geralt sank his teeth into his arm and nearly tore it off. ] Do you think I didn't endanger him that night? Or you? Half the fucking city? [ He's quiet. He didn't come here to burden her with Jaskier's fate nor to debate the decision he's made. The wish is a potential risk. His turning is a certainty. Beyond the danger he poses to others, the way he'd lost himself entirely --
Few things scare him. But that does. He doesn't quite admit it out loud, but the closest he'll come is here, right now, with her. ] The full moon returns in two weeks. I'd prefer to see it through with my mind intact.
[ Given Geralt’s reaction to Jaskier’s injury, she recognizes that Jaskier holds some significance -- even unsaid. And because he’s important to Geralt, whether he says it out loud or not, is why she’s not thrilled with the idea of dragging the bard deeper into their mess. It feels like Geralt just put Jaskier’s life in her hands and she couldn’t find a quick fix. She barely holds back a verbal barb about him at least surviving going feral, but she’s upset. Even if she doesn’t fully show it. ]
Then I wish you both the best. I’ll continue to work on finding a solution to the wish so I don’t take both you and now Jaskier down with me should I fail.
[ Because, truly, what is running through her mind is Geralt’s priorities. He put himself first and she’d stupidly been trying to help both of them when really, she also needed to be selfish. It was at least the Bard’s assumption about her, even if things had changed due to Sodden -- images and emotions always lingering in the back of her mind. It might be more self-serving to find a way to sever, at least temporarily, anything akin to a bond. Check with the Coven and see if there’s anything they offer to someone suffering ill effects of bonds when one part dies or leaves. Yennefer drains what’s left in her glass, already over this conversation. She has work to do, now with a much tighter timeline. ]
Anything else you wish to tell me while we’re in such a sharing mood?
[ She must know how he feels about the reminder that she's on borrowed time. Whether or not this is true, Geralt can't help but feel like that's why she keeps bringing it up at the most opportune times. It's an unfair accusation, if he stops to deeply consider it, but his mood is not particularly forgiving at the moment. He'd come here to tell her not to upset her but because she deserves to know and because he wants her to know that despite his reservations for reasons that both include and go beyond the wish -- despite the fact that it's her he had thought of bonding with -- he has chosen Jaskier to prevent what happened that night from fucking happening again.
Of course, her mind is entrenched on the complications of the wish. He can't blame her. Not really. And yet it digs under his skin, what feels like her suggestion that she's the only one who gives a fuck about their fates. As if the wish is the only meddling force he should be thinking about. Between this land's imposed curse and prophecies and Destiny, he should only be so lucky to have one damn wish weighing on him.
Besides. He's aware that no matter what he does, whether bonding, going feral, the wish, returning for his Child Surprise, the fault of it will always fall on him. He won't deny his mistakes. But he's learned not to leave difficult choices in others' hands, too. ]
No. [ He answers simply. It's a good thing he hasn't made himself comfortable, already one foot out the door as it is. ] Do as you will. You always have.
[ On the off chance she has more to say, Geralt doesn't linger to hear it. He leaves, letting the door shut behind him. ]
[ She doesn't say anything as he leaves, knowing he most likely needs to have the last word right now. Besides, there's nothing constructive she could add that wouldn't pull them deeper into an argument. She wasn't in the mood to get nasty right now, not when he'd already given her so much to process. Besides, the fight was just going to be about one of a few rotating topics that always come up between them.
Yennefer would rather save her breath and energy for something that wasn't a complete waste of her energy. And maybe right now Geralt as a whole fell into the waste of energy category. She didn't want to fight every time they saw each other and she had no interest in seeing him freshly bonded with his bard. So it was time to avoid him until the Wish was resolved one way or another.
And if this was a goodbye, even temporarily... Then so be it. ]
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He doesn’t waste time dropping bombs on her and she just stares for a long moment, almost frozen in time. She isn’t sure if she should laugh or gods, anything else. ]
So you recognize that bonding would be complicated by the wish and still move forward with bonding knowing full well you could be endangering Jaskier.
[ It’s not a question. She chuckles, the sound hollow as she brings the cup to her lips. The sweet wine is bitter on her tongue, her mood soured further than it had been at the beginning of her day. ]
I would say I suppose congratulations might be in order, but I guess I need to try and make a miracle happen so the bard doesn’t potentially suffer any ill effects should I fail.
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As does Jaskier. [ The implication is there: Jaskier knows the danger. And the reason for why that danger exists. As much as Geralt shares Yennefer's desire to have no one else involved in this thing between them, Jaskier became involved the moment Geralt sank his teeth into his arm and nearly tore it off. ] Do you think I didn't endanger him that night? Or you? Half the fucking city? [ He's quiet. He didn't come here to burden her with Jaskier's fate nor to debate the decision he's made. The wish is a potential risk. His turning is a certainty. Beyond the danger he poses to others, the way he'd lost himself entirely --
Few things scare him. But that does. He doesn't quite admit it out loud, but the closest he'll come is here, right now, with her. ] The full moon returns in two weeks. I'd prefer to see it through with my mind intact.
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Then I wish you both the best. I’ll continue to work on finding a solution to the wish so I don’t take both you and now Jaskier down with me should I fail.
[ Because, truly, what is running through her mind is Geralt’s priorities. He put himself first and she’d stupidly been trying to help both of them when really, she also needed to be selfish. It was at least the Bard’s assumption about her, even if things had changed due to Sodden -- images and emotions always lingering in the back of her mind. It might be more self-serving to find a way to sever, at least temporarily, anything akin to a bond. Check with the Coven and see if there’s anything they offer to someone suffering ill effects of bonds when one part dies or leaves. Yennefer drains what’s left in her glass, already over this conversation. She has work to do, now with a much tighter timeline. ]
Anything else you wish to tell me while we’re in such a sharing mood?
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Of course, her mind is entrenched on the complications of the wish. He can't blame her. Not really. And yet it digs under his skin, what feels like her suggestion that she's the only one who gives a fuck about their fates. As if the wish is the only meddling force he should be thinking about. Between this land's imposed curse and prophecies and Destiny, he should only be so lucky to have one damn wish weighing on him.
Besides. He's aware that no matter what he does, whether bonding, going feral, the wish, returning for his Child Surprise, the fault of it will always fall on him. He won't deny his mistakes. But he's learned not to leave difficult choices in others' hands, too. ]
No. [ He answers simply. It's a good thing he hasn't made himself comfortable, already one foot out the door as it is. ] Do as you will. You always have.
[ On the off chance she has more to say, Geralt doesn't linger to hear it. He leaves, letting the door shut behind him. ]
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Yennefer would rather save her breath and energy for something that wasn't a complete waste of her energy. And maybe right now Geralt as a whole fell into the waste of energy category. She didn't want to fight every time they saw each other and she had no interest in seeing him freshly bonded with his bard. So it was time to avoid him until the Wish was resolved one way or another.
And if this was a goodbye, even temporarily... Then so be it. ]