#d. torsten

location: post diving course

note: uwu

He'd finally collected his money and gotten his invitation to the Primus. Njal was never going to say he was surprised that he outlasted everyone else to actually find that damn treasure. The odds had seemed stacked against him considering he was a witcher. Anything magical in nature was going to reject him. Everyone had their little rocks and he had...nothing. Well, he had something, but he hadn't really expected the devil to actually help him. Maybe he had judged Kalamar too harshly. Actually, no he didn't. If the damage to his psyche was anything to look back on, the requests for help weren't exactly without repercussions. Still, the point was that he had won and now he had a lot of money and a reputation that would have these Lysarans putting some respect on most Iskarans that had found their way here. He would call that a win.

location: lostlands note: ay fellas is it gay to help your friend if he has 1 arm

To say the least, Njal had not thought that any of them would make it back. After what they had endured, he was entirely convinced that they would all perish on the battlefield. It was what he had always expected for himself. It was what he had hoped for really. If he was to go, he would have at least hoped he would have went down fighting. Thankfully, he lived to fight another day. He was in better condition than Torsten was, that was for sure. His natural instinct was to let his dear friend acclimate on his own. If he were to check on the other witcher now, he felt like it would seem like he thought the other was fragile and that just wasn't the case. However, he had stayed away from some time now. It felt only fitting that he visit now in hopes that Torsten was maybe in better spirits. Not that he would know if the man was in bad spirits in the slightest.

Maybe when he was younger, Njal would have felt a different way about the difficulties they seemed to be facing at every turn. Back then, he would have been concerned about the loss of so many Iskarans. He would have been jumping at any chance to fight even more darkspawn. Actually, he didn't need a reason to want to do that. Nowadays at least. Now Njal couldn't care less than he did about the casualties or the people that had been taken. Well, maybe he did. The princess was down there along with a witcher like himself and the jarl. Did he want to save any of them out of the goodness of his heart? No, absolutely not. It would make him look good though. And then there would be the jarl living to fight another Holmgang one day. It would be good if they lived for those reasons alone though.

A trip around the Queenset Isles didn't sound all that bad. Really, it felt like the kind of thing he had done back home. Throw a party. Show off Iskaldrik's many...wonders? Honestly, Lysara was so far from what he was used to that he wasn't even sure he could consider this something he had done before in any capacity. Seeing their innovations sounded intriguing, but magic still felt so foreign to him. Sure, he had the other side of him that could do more than what he had grown up believing in, but that wasn't what he himself could do. Then again, he still wasn't even sure about that. This place was so damn confusing and so damn...odd. Regardless of it all, he was positive that the only thing keeping him from wanting to go on this ship was Torsten.

It had felt like forever since the two of them had spent time together. Honestly, the last time they had spoken, things hadn't been left on a good note. Njal could never blame Torsten for the way he felt and...well, he wished he could give a compliment without feeling like it was pulling teeth. But the truth of the matter was that he was always proud of the man he called his best friend, his brother. He wanted the Kingsguard to get everything he wanted in the world. Now that he had gotten some form of what he wanted, he wished to help Torsten do the same. It was possible in this time. It had to be.

Every time he did anything, there was a voice in his head that was telling his best friend to look away. If Torsten knew everything he had been up to, he wasn’t sure if their friendship would’ve lasted. There was still a part of him that was thinking about the question that he had been asked. Was he a darkfriend? No. He feared what he was might have been worse. Loyal to Lolth, a knot that was so tightly bound that there was no escaping now. Njal didn’t mind what he had chosen. He wanted to say he didn’t care what it would cost him, but that would have been so far from the truth that he couldn’t even formulate the words in a thought. When he looked at Torsten, he was reminded of what he cared about losing.

Eldar had been…nicer. Afshin couldn’t figure out why that was or what had happened, but he was okay with the new development. Whenever they used to talk in mirrors or dreams, it had been a one-sided berating. Or that was what Afshin considered it. What Eldar considered it was an entirely different thing. Alas, it was something he was going to take with a grain of salt. Niceties from someone that had never shown himself to be nice was quite suspicious. All he knew for sure was that something had happened to cause it that the elvhen could not speak of. Afshin would worry about talking about it later. If that was even possible.

A hand strummed across his lute as he looked around the room. It had been a gift to him. A gift. The last time he had gotten one, he had been twelve years old. His father had gifted him the Horn of the Skald on his birthday then. He’d never forget the words that had been said then. Just like he wouldn’t forget the words that had come with this lute.

Proud of you.

Remorse towards a place where a woman who couldn't shut up came from did not exist. He'd never understand why Torsten went and he'd also never understand why Eldar did either. As much as he didn't care what happened to any place that wasn't Iskaldrik, he had been concerned about both of them. If something had happened to Torsten while he was there, then what? If something had happened to Eldar? Well, he wouldn't be there right now to even be having a conversation with the other part of his soul right now. Afshin never had these conversations when Torsten was around because he already knew how his Kingsguard felt about the elvhen. There was also the fact that he was fully concerned about Eldar's intentions if he didn't keep the guy in check. If that was even possible. Torsten could obviously defend himself though so he wasn't even sure why he was thinking about that right now.

"Can you just fuck off for two seconds? I can't even look in a mirror without you bothering me."

"Bothering you? I'm protecting you, Afshin. You'd do well to remember that. If you don't survive, I don't survive."

"Thank you for your love and care, asshole."