[Geir sidesteps the question about "do you need those things to survive?" he feels like a conversation with gods in it will go better if he doesn't say "I am one." besides, his powers here aren't anything like what he's used to.

with a touch of uncertainty himself:]

You were talking about "the city" surviving, like it's different than all the people and animals and plants in it. Maybe I'm just not used to how humans talk about these things.