[ he is right, the matter is closed. and sam almost seems to physically relax at the concept of it - not that he'd really built it up to such a stressful, life-changing point, but it was a weight that he'd been carrying. a weight that wasn't going to disappear on its own. and now they've talked it out, and sam does feel better: with the exchange, with where geralt sits, with where they are after it all.

which also means that his focus can fully shift - to the way geralt turns his mug, the way he exhales. to the exhaustion that nearly seeps off of him. no geralt says, and sam watches him and waits. and the follow-up that comes has sam nodding once. ]

So what's holding you back? [ it's a curiosity of sam's rather than anything teachy. he isn't quite sure where geralt's emotions have led him. ] Because you're not blaming him, or at least that's how it seems. Do you need someone, or something, to blame?