Who: yennefer + others When: july Where: nott + nocwich What: after the events of the coup and yennefer's escape to nott, she is making due in what she suspects will be her new normal. Warnings: will update if needed.
[ their meeting in nott was too short. it was necessary, after a week spent trapped beneath the castle, unsure of what the world might look like once they were free. it helped to know that yennefer made it out okay, that she was ( relatively ) safe, even if they had to skulk about to avoid prying eyes.
but then the coronation happened and istredd was taken and bombs were dropped on their heads. you're all in danger and none of us are safe, she had told her before yennefer fled from the castle. they both knew it was true, but none of them could've predicted it playing out with such startling clarity.
it's too much. too much violence and fear and death. so many dead, in and out of the castle; their ghosts linger in river's mind, the bloodstains washed away but the echoes of swords and thunder and flames have been scoured into the stones, soaked into the soil, seared into her memories. the continent is on the brink of war and the people she loves are being hurt or taken away.
it's too much for river to cope with. so the moment she knows they're free to visit nocwich, the first thing she thinks of is yennefer. geralt said it would be safe and river is clinging to that belief as she looks for her in oleuni square. outside of thorne, away from the castle or the tensions in nott, there's no need for disguises or sneaking around. the moment she sees her, she will simply bodyslam right into her with a tight, shaky, desperate hug.
nowhere in this world is truly safe, but maybe she can at least be here in this moment with yennefer for as long as possible. ]
[ the visit in nott was too short, but considering how much had changed and how much was uncertain, it wasn't safe to linger. yennefer was relatively safe in nott, is relatively safe in nott, as it's a place that's easy to disappear in. she keeps her head down and doesn't make a scene and the people who live in the city are happy to let it all slide.
but that doesn't mean she is safe. that doesn't mean any of them are. her meeting with river in nott had been short by necessity, a release of tension, a confirmation they were both still breathing, and very little more. yennefer put in a lot of effort to make sure that they met in private, somewhere that whispers would not spread, would not find them.
it had been brief, it had not been enough, but it had felt a bit like yennefer could slip a rib back into place and take a full breath. when river had returned to the castle, when all of the following events occurred, it felt like nothing would be safe again. not really, not completely - and it's a feeling she is familiar enough with. one that, somehow, she can carry more easily than she had the image she wore in the castle walls.
the lives lived after a coup are always right on the edge of uncertainty - everything ready to be set off, kindling prepared for the flame. each day is a question of when the next step will be taken, when the next pillar will fall. they survived the attack on the castle, but what is next? what do they do, next? yennefer doesn't know, but the difference now is that it feels like she can do something about it. feels like maybe she can be herself, in it.
when they found that they were going to be given a portal to nocwich, yennefer had all but thrown herself through. she's found geralt, and all that followed after, but now she searches the square for faces - people, her people.
she catches sight of river only moments before the girl's body makes contact with yennefer's own. the force has yennefer stepping back to keep them both upright, but her arms are just as tight around river as river's are around her. ] Hello my darling girl. [ she presses kisses to the top of river's head, shifting around just so she can tuck some of rivers hair back off her face. ]
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gently sets this down...
but then the coronation happened and istredd was taken and bombs were dropped on their heads. you're all in danger and none of us are safe, she had told her before yennefer fled from the castle. they both knew it was true, but none of them could've predicted it playing out with such startling clarity.
it's too much. too much violence and fear and death. so many dead, in and out of the castle; their ghosts linger in river's mind, the bloodstains washed away but the echoes of swords and thunder and flames have been scoured into the stones, soaked into the soil, seared into her memories. the continent is on the brink of war and the people she loves are being hurt or taken away.
it's too much for river to cope with. so the moment she knows they're free to visit nocwich, the first thing she thinks of is yennefer. geralt said it would be safe and river is clinging to that belief as she looks for her in oleuni square. outside of thorne, away from the castle or the tensions in nott, there's no need for disguises or sneaking around. the moment she sees her, she will simply bodyslam right into her with a tight, shaky, desperate hug.
nowhere in this world is truly safe, but maybe she can at least be here in this moment with yennefer for as long as possible. ]
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but that doesn't mean she is safe. that doesn't mean any of them are. her meeting with river in nott had been short by necessity, a release of tension, a confirmation they were both still breathing, and very little more. yennefer put in a lot of effort to make sure that they met in private, somewhere that whispers would not spread, would not find them.
it had been brief, it had not been enough, but it had felt a bit like yennefer could slip a rib back into place and take a full breath. when river had returned to the castle, when all of the following events occurred, it felt like nothing would be safe again. not really, not completely - and it's a feeling she is familiar enough with. one that, somehow, she can carry more easily than she had the image she wore in the castle walls.
the lives lived after a coup are always right on the edge of uncertainty - everything ready to be set off, kindling prepared for the flame. each day is a question of when the next step will be taken, when the next pillar will fall. they survived the attack on the castle, but what is next? what do they do, next? yennefer doesn't know, but the difference now is that it feels like she can do something about it. feels like maybe she can be herself, in it.
when they found that they were going to be given a portal to nocwich, yennefer had all but thrown herself through. she's found geralt, and all that followed after, but now she searches the square for faces - people, her people.
she catches sight of river only moments before the girl's body makes contact with yennefer's own. the force has yennefer stepping back to keep them both upright, but her arms are just as tight around river as river's are around her. ] Hello my darling girl. [ she presses kisses to the top of river's head, shifting around just so she can tuck some of rivers hair back off her face. ]