[Geir looks at him sidelong, not avoiding the question, but not quite sure how to answer it either. the times before he had a reason to defy his destiny and after are such different periods of his life that he's not really sure how to compare them.]

. . . it wasn't bad till I met Vern. If he did it now I wouldn't want it. But back then, what else would I have done? Sleeping in the sea was something to do till I got big enough to do what I was supposed to.