Geralt hears the tray clatter to the floor and the bard's outraged voice and practically jumps up from his seat. He should have been paying closer attention, but he had been focused on what Vesemir was saying to him and is unused to a humans at Kaer Morhen. Lambert or Eskel would've known not to eavesdrop, would've stayed out of earshot once they knew the kitchen was occupied.
Vesemir has not gone deaf in his old age. Why had he not--
He walks quickly down the short hall separating the kitchen from the common areas, able to clearly hear every word of Jaskier's tirade. And past him there is Eskel and Lambert, drawn to the sound of the commotion, and the small, quick heartbeat of his child surprise. He shouldn't be surprised at the bard rallying to his defense; there had been more than one evening where Geralt had had to pull Jaskier away before he started a bar fight over some stray comments from drunk townsfolk. He had been willing then to launch himself into an altercation over insults that Geralt had weathered for decades, and apparently he's just as willing to do so against an old witcher. Stubborn and headstrong to a fault, this bard.
He stinks of anger and indignation and... sadness? Geralt doesn't dwell on it-- emotions are high right now, and Jaskier's a bard. They feel so many things all the time and it's hard to keep up. Jaskier defends himself, his intentions towards his witcher companion, because of course Vesemir doesn't know all of the ways that Jaskier has helped him on the Path-- Geralt is, as always, stingy with the details. And even if he does, even knowing that Jaskier has held in his guts and sewn up his wounds and brought him potions when he was too weak to get them himself, he may still not look favorably on it. He may only see the weakness of this lack of self-sufficiency. A witcher, after all, is to be independent, needing nothing and no one but themselves and the skills they have learned. The Path is traveled alone.
(This does not account for that fact that, even if witchers were not meant to be solitary, Geralt would not have deserved Jaskier's devotion. Still does not deserve it and probably never will.)
The mention of Jaskier's imprisonment makes Geralt's guts clench, then go cold at Ciri's sharp gasp. This isn't how he would have had her find out about this, and she is too intelligent by half to not know why Nilfgaard would want a humble bard-- she doesn't need the burden of guilt along with everything else.
"Eskel," Vesemir's voice is even and measured, calm as though he hadn't just been on the receiving end of Jaskier's yelling.
Geralt hears Eskel say softly, "Hey, Ciri, let's go check on the horses, okay? Come on,", and the sound of a pair of footsteps retreating. He counts it a blessing that he can't smell the bitter-sour scent of her guilt from here.
"I don't doubt that you are as loyal as any man can be, bard." Vesemir speaks again once Ciri is gone and out of earshot. "But it means little in a torture cell. If Geralt had not rescued you, Nilfgaard would have used a mage to pull the knowledge out of your skull, loyalty be damned. You know more about witchers than anyone who is not among our number, and it is to your detriment. Now the burden of protecting you--" Vesemir turns his head, looking into the corridor where Geralt stands. Geralt reads the message between the lines, that this is the result of his indiscretion, "--falls to all of us."
It isn't just Geralt and Ciri who would be jeopardized if Jaskier's knowledge got into Nilfgaard's hands. So would every other witcher, in particular the wolves, and there are so few of them left. Their home is already in ruins, deteriorating further year by year.
"Geralt, do something with your bard," Vesemir says, then turns and continues his path across the room, leaving. As he nears Lambert, his tone turns sharper, the voice of someone issuing commands. "If you have time to stand there, Lambert, you have time to start repairs on the western wall. Take Coën with you. Geralt will join you later."
Lambert curses under his breath once the old wolf is gone, but still goes to obey him. Geralt emerges from the corridor, stoops to pick up the tray that Jaskier had dropped and the scattered cutlery and crockery. He brings them back to the kitchen to be cleaned, then returns to, as Vesemir had said, do something with his bard-- he just doesn't know quite what to do with him yet.
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Vesemir has not gone deaf in his old age. Why had he not--
He walks quickly down the short hall separating the kitchen from the common areas, able to clearly hear every word of Jaskier's tirade. And past him there is Eskel and Lambert, drawn to the sound of the commotion, and the small, quick heartbeat of his child surprise. He shouldn't be surprised at the bard rallying to his defense; there had been more than one evening where Geralt had had to pull Jaskier away before he started a bar fight over some stray comments from drunk townsfolk. He had been willing then to launch himself into an altercation over insults that Geralt had weathered for decades, and apparently he's just as willing to do so against an old witcher. Stubborn and headstrong to a fault, this bard.
He stinks of anger and indignation and... sadness? Geralt doesn't dwell on it-- emotions are high right now, and Jaskier's a bard. They feel so many things all the time and it's hard to keep up. Jaskier defends himself, his intentions towards his witcher companion, because of course Vesemir doesn't know all of the ways that Jaskier has helped him on the Path-- Geralt is, as always, stingy with the details. And even if he does, even knowing that Jaskier has held in his guts and sewn up his wounds and brought him potions when he was too weak to get them himself, he may still not look favorably on it. He may only see the weakness of this lack of self-sufficiency. A witcher, after all, is to be independent, needing nothing and no one but themselves and the skills they have learned. The Path is traveled alone.
(This does not account for that fact that, even if witchers were not meant to be solitary, Geralt would not have deserved Jaskier's devotion. Still does not deserve it and probably never will.)
The mention of Jaskier's imprisonment makes Geralt's guts clench, then go cold at Ciri's sharp gasp. This isn't how he would have had her find out about this, and she is too intelligent by half to not know why Nilfgaard would want a humble bard-- she doesn't need the burden of guilt along with everything else.
"Eskel," Vesemir's voice is even and measured, calm as though he hadn't just been on the receiving end of Jaskier's yelling.
Geralt hears Eskel say softly, "Hey, Ciri, let's go check on the horses, okay? Come on,", and the sound of a pair of footsteps retreating. He counts it a blessing that he can't smell the bitter-sour scent of her guilt from here.
"I don't doubt that you are as loyal as any man can be, bard." Vesemir speaks again once Ciri is gone and out of earshot. "But it means little in a torture cell. If Geralt had not rescued you, Nilfgaard would have used a mage to pull the knowledge out of your skull, loyalty be damned. You know more about witchers than anyone who is not among our number, and it is to your detriment. Now the burden of protecting you--" Vesemir turns his head, looking into the corridor where Geralt stands. Geralt reads the message between the lines, that this is the result of his indiscretion, "--falls to all of us."
It isn't just Geralt and Ciri who would be jeopardized if Jaskier's knowledge got into Nilfgaard's hands. So would every other witcher, in particular the wolves, and there are so few of them left. Their home is already in ruins, deteriorating further year by year.
"Geralt, do something with your bard," Vesemir says, then turns and continues his path across the room, leaving. As he nears Lambert, his tone turns sharper, the voice of someone issuing commands. "If you have time to stand there, Lambert, you have time to start repairs on the western wall. Take Coën with you. Geralt will join you later."
Lambert curses under his breath once the old wolf is gone, but still goes to obey him. Geralt emerges from the corridor, stoops to pick up the tray that Jaskier had dropped and the scattered cutlery and crockery. He brings them back to the kitchen to be cleaned, then returns to, as Vesemir had said, do something with his bard-- he just doesn't know quite what to do with him yet.