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.
[ Cassian can't begin to understand court life - or any kind of high profile life where someone has willingly put themselves in that position. But he knows the peace that anonymity brings. It must be nice not to be noticed, to feel less paranoia that someone watching your every move and dissecting your every word. He hasn't felt that feeling in some time, even upon arriving here.
Being a Summoned meant that they would naturally be regarded with a sense of curiosity but that's where he had chosen to let it begin and end. He resolved not to be a spectacle for anyone. To keep his head down and focus on himself. In some ways he was reverting back to his old ways. But then that time had come and gone and now he finds himself caring more and more for those around him with a growing lack of disregard for his own wellbeing. So long as those around him were safe, that's all that matters. Which is why a moment like this is so precious.
Seeing Yennefer without the polish of court life, healthy, alive, well even with the signs of mud, dirt and the faint smell of sea clinging to them reassures him. ]
Good. I thought they might not be as welcoming, all things considered. [ He hadn't forgotten being cornered in the alleyway his first week here. As for her question, he offers his own slight shrug. ]
Like the coup didn't happen. Things are less grand, there's less frivolous spending. But otherwise, everyone just wants to get back to a sense of normal.
[ There's another pause as he straightens up to look at her. ]
[ yennefer has not been anonymous for some time, now. decades. lifetimes. beyond her genuinely changing her appearance, changing who she is. she does not know what it means to be truly anonymous, barely even being able to handle as much before she was a mage, she wasn't lucky enough to escape gazes, instead drawing the distaste. the disgust. the hatred.
now, instead, she controls that gaze. she controls that attention. she puts herself in center stage and directs where it is they look, what they see, and what it is they do with that. court life is always a little different, the illusion of control and the reality of it, but she knows that isn't the same for others. isn't the same for people like cassian.
but what she does understand is this, this growing feeling of unease. this knowledge that as time goes on, what had once been a small, controllable circle continues to grow. she can tell in the way he watches her now, is checking beyond the dirt, beyond the smell. how he doesn't seem too worried by what he finds. ]
Normal? [ she doesn't snort, but there's an air of it. ] There's nothing normal about that please. You feel it. Even before the coup.
[ but he does straighten, is serious when he answers her, and yennefer nods - there isn't anything else he can really say that would make her relax about it all, but she does trust what he says. does trust him, where river is concerned. ]
That's good. [ a beat, and then a small smile. ] And you?
[ Her dry observation earns a laugh from him. A real one, one that is not so unlike a dying fire that just needed a little nudge to wake up the embers that still lay beneath the ash. ]
You aren't wrong.
[ It's a brief one because truthfully a part of him has forgotten how to laugh without abandon about things that are truly funny and not just tinged with the heavy weight of reality. But he can't help himself. What she had said hadn't been intended to be a joke but for some reason her delivery, the situation that they find themselves in is enough to make him laugh.
But while the laugh she manages to coax from him without trying is gone as soon as it comes, she surprises him again. Cassian had always been good at hiding his emotions on his face. Or rather, he's had to as a means of survival. There's no hiding how she disarms him with that smile and that question though and it takes him a moment to respond despite how easy of a question it is. ]
I'm good. All things considered. [ Though that feels like a blanket statement, meant for niceties and people that he doesn't share some sort of inexplicable bond with. ] Truthfully most of the time I feel frustrated that there isn't much I can do.
[ The word 'trapped' lingers in the air but he doesn't say as much though she can probably guess. ]
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Being a Summoned meant that they would naturally be regarded with a sense of curiosity but that's where he had chosen to let it begin and end. He resolved not to be a spectacle for anyone. To keep his head down and focus on himself. In some ways he was reverting back to his old ways. But then that time had come and gone and now he finds himself caring more and more for those around him with a growing lack of disregard for his own wellbeing. So long as those around him were safe, that's all that matters. Which is why a moment like this is so precious.
Seeing Yennefer without the polish of court life, healthy, alive, well even with the signs of mud, dirt and the faint smell of sea clinging to them reassures him. ]
Good. I thought they might not be as welcoming, all things considered. [ He hadn't forgotten being cornered in the alleyway his first week here. As for her question, he offers his own slight shrug. ]
Like the coup didn't happen. Things are less grand, there's less frivolous spending. But otherwise, everyone just wants to get back to a sense of normal.
[ There's another pause as he straightens up to look at her. ]
River is okay.
no subject
now, instead, she controls that gaze. she controls that attention. she puts herself in center stage and directs where it is they look, what they see, and what it is they do with that. court life is always a little different, the illusion of control and the reality of it, but she knows that isn't the same for others. isn't the same for people like cassian.
but what she does understand is this, this growing feeling of unease. this knowledge that as time goes on, what had once been a small, controllable circle continues to grow. she can tell in the way he watches her now, is checking beyond the dirt, beyond the smell. how he doesn't seem too worried by what he finds. ]
Normal? [ she doesn't snort, but there's an air of it. ] There's nothing normal about that please. You feel it. Even before the coup.
[ but he does straighten, is serious when he answers her, and yennefer nods - there isn't anything else he can really say that would make her relax about it all, but she does trust what he says. does trust him, where river is concerned. ]
That's good. [ a beat, and then a small smile. ] And you?
no subject
You aren't wrong.
[ It's a brief one because truthfully a part of him has forgotten how to laugh without abandon about things that are truly funny and not just tinged with the heavy weight of reality. But he can't help himself. What she had said hadn't been intended to be a joke but for some reason her delivery, the situation that they find themselves in is enough to make him laugh.
But while the laugh she manages to coax from him without trying is gone as soon as it comes, she surprises him again. Cassian had always been good at hiding his emotions on his face. Or rather, he's had to as a means of survival. There's no hiding how she disarms him with that smile and that question though and it takes him a moment to respond despite how easy of a question it is. ]
I'm good. All things considered. [ Though that feels like a blanket statement, meant for niceties and people that he doesn't share some sort of inexplicable bond with. ] Truthfully most of the time I feel frustrated that there isn't much I can do.
[ The word 'trapped' lingers in the air but he doesn't say as much though she can probably guess. ]
But I'm trying to do what I can.