[There's a fondness for her that has nothing to do with Istredd. He had a fondness for her long before they ascended, much longer before he even knew she shared a thread with Istredd. That fondness offered her protection. It meant that when he regenerated his grace, he didn't find a use for her like he tried Jack.

(And if he had, both Istredd likely would've assisted Yennefer in making sure Lucifer never came back out of the Singularity.)

Watching on, he thinks of just how useless and frail humans are still to him. So easy to manipulate and change and make them something new.

And yet...] They surprise me, too. They shouldn't. Across worlds they share a predictability. But they shift the axis out from under you without ever noticing it happened. [He hmmmms softly. A quiet rumble.] Do they often like what version of themselves stand again?