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[vrdantwind]

"Hey, this is Claude! Pretty sure I'm doing this correctly. You can leave me a message here, and I'll get to it as soon as I can. Talk to you soon~."

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[vrdantwind]

"Adorable, fluffy kittens also have the needliest claws," Claude points out with a chuckle. "It's impossible to know, but maybe he was always going to grow into the ones he has now, one way or another. But a beloved older brother he admires as much as you...of course you'd have always seen the softest, happiest side of him. And I think a lot of those hard edges were only developed after your death...maybe as a direct result of it, even. So we really are talking about two totally different Felixes."

He smiles a little, gazing out at the ocean. "That said...I actually have met the Felix you've seen. This weird weekend has done some playing around with people's ages...or maybe it's brought separate, younger versions of them in. I haven't seen a younger and older version of a person in the same room together, so I'm not sure which it is. All I know is that I got to talk to a younger Felix, one who hadn't lost his big brother yet...and he was absolutely adorable. Anyone - especially a big brother - would be crazy about him. He even decided he liked and trusted me, just from hearing that he and I become friends when he's older."

At the questioning about Sylvain, he glances at Glenn. "It sounds like you might already know some things about his home situation," he says, a touch carefully. "Which isn't really my business to tell any more than yours. But what I will say, because it's public knowledge in my time and I don't know when it happened in your lifetime, that Sylvain's brother Miklan eventually got kicked out on top of being disinherited - I think he'd finally begun causing too much trouble. And in the year we were all at Garreg Mach together, he broke into the Gautier estate and stole the Lance of Ruin. The Blue Lions - which is to say, Dimitri and Felix and Sylvain and Ingrid, and some other students besides - were dispatched by the church to deal with the theft, and Miklan's gang of bandits. And in the process, Miklan was killed. I don't know who struck him down, and there's limits to even my curiosity; I never asked. But Sylvain...wasn't unaffected by that, I know that much. That's probably part of what's changed.

"The other part is just...the war. Toward the end of the year we had at the Officer's Academy, the Adrestian Empire launched an attack on the church, and declared war on it. And, by proxy, both the Kingdom and the Alliance. It's still raging back home, as of when we all came here - and it's been going on for almost six years. Sylvain - and Felix, and pretty much everyone else - have been doing a lot of fighting, being soldiers. The war hit the Kingdom especially hard - Cornelia turned out to have been an Imperial asset, almost certainly planted on purpose. Almost as soon as the war started, she tried to have Dimitri executed, out of sight, under trumped-up charges of having murdered his uncle - which of course there was no proof for. Dimitri escaped, but he spent most of the war in hiding, and...well, mentally, in the roughest place imaginable. He was so betrayed and enraged and traumatized, he was barely sane. Not that Cornelia stopped there - she tried to drag the whole Kingdom and all its nobles over to the Imperial cause, and the whole country's been a hornet's nest of war since. Gautier and Fraldarius have been leading the resistance against her, so...you can imagine Felix and Sylvain have been in the thick of it all that time. And Felix loves fighting, but Sylvain..." He shakes his head. He doesn't really need to elaborate there.

"According to Sylvain, he's seen the end of the war, and a Kingdom victory. Which is good to know, but...well, a lot of the changes you see in him definitely come down to the wringer he's been wrung through over the years."

He looks back out at the ocean. "As for how I know all this...I could say that Felix and I are friends, and leave it at that. But I've been honest with you so far, and I haven't regretted it yet, so...I'll stick with that for now. The fact is that...a lot of us developed feelings for each other. Or maybe always had them. Simultaneously. And we all decided we were fine with exploring those feelings simultaneously." He glances at Glenn again. "So I'm dating your brother. And Sylvain. And Dimitri. And they're all dating each other, too...well, except Sylvain and Felix, who've gone all the way to being married already. You already seem to be aware that Felix was infatuated with more than one person growing up, so maybe hearing he's with more than one person isn't too much of a shock to you. I'm the only big surprise as a relative newcomer, compared to the little knot of Faerghans who've been in love with each other since childhood." He grins. "But I'm told I'm charming."

[blackironspur]

"You've got a point." He shakes his head. "Dammit, Felix...I keep telling him he's got to learn to be more independent. Accept that nothing lasts forever. He knows how dangerous the world is, and he knows that I've pledged to protect the royal family at any cost. Still, from what I've seen here, he's managed to make quite a few friends who think highly of him, so he can't be too far gone."

His brows lift, and then he smirks. "Won him over, did you? That's impressive, you must really have made an impression. Usually he's wary of strangers, although once he decides he likes you, good luck ever getting rid of him."

He sobers again as he listens to Claude talk about Sylvain. He makes a quiet, disgusted noise at the recounting of the events at Conand Tower. "Miklan, that bastard. He's always been a disaster waiting to happen. I'd love to have run him through myself if I'd had the chance. But Sylvain...poor kid."

He looks more and more disbelieving the more Claude says about the war. "The Empire declared war on the church?" He waves a hand. "You know what, I don't need to know the details of why. But Cornelia? Tried to have the crown prince executed? Goddess, Dimitri...it's just one thing after another. I should have been there for him. I met him at about 17, yesterday, that's how I learned about Duscur. And even then he already didn't seem like he was altogether there. How could so much have gone so wrong?"

It seems like more of a rhetorical question than a real one, though, as he thinks over the rest. "At least we were able to mount a resistance. But no, Sylvain has never been nearly so fond of battle as the rest of us, despite his clear talent for it."

When Claude starts talking about more personal things, Glenn eyes him with that same wariness as before, particularly at the comment about how Claude would stick to being honest 'for now.' The rest of it has him staring as he just...processes that for a minute, before he turns fully to look at Claude.

"I see. No, it's not a shock that Felix could end up with more than one person, although I didn't think people did that sort of thing. But Felix is my baby brother and the other two are practically the same, so I think you know what I'm going to say, Claude. Give me a reason to trust you with their feelings. I need to know that all three of them are in good hands. And do make sure that you continue to stick with being honest."

He doesn't seem angry, nor threatening, per se. But he is quite serious.

[nastyboy]

[While Dimitri and his smile freeze in place, Silkie tries not to look too smug even as she gives a nod. Claude's guess is, of course, completely right. She knows he knows, et cetera, et cetera, and that he's still going along with it clearly speaks to his good character... or at least his smarts. She's only here to serve, sure, sure... but also she needs her skills recognized.]

[The pride of a perfectionist.]

[After Silkie bows, gesturing to the blanket so that they can sit down, Dimitri snaps out of it. He is terribly sheepish as he goes onto the blanket, one hand against his face.]

I... forget she can do that.

[It just doesn't come up!]

[lovelybottom]

"Whatever effect you had, I was unaware of it," he says, "so I don't need an apology."

Should he have been aware of it? Probably. He can't guarantee that he'd have been able to solve the problem, since Geralt is not exactly the best man for solving interpersonal issues, but considering the disaster that happened at the park? There really isn't any way that his involvement could've made it worse. And there's another little issue that he will, at some point, have to bring up with Jaskier about that whole debacle-- that Jaskier used Geralt, or at least his relationship with Geralt, as a way to cut at Claude. He doesn't appreciate being used as a weapon.

"You already know my opinion on your meddling, but I can believe that you weren't malicious about it." Annoying, sure, and annoyingly persistent, yes. But it had been because Claude is a busybody and likes gossip and being in other people's business, not out of any particular cruelty. "You ruined nothing, but you didn't help anything either--"

Well. Now that he thinks about it, did Claude's behavior change anything? It certainly didn't have an impact on when their collective bullshit was revealed, because that was a result of the Prom disaster, Felix's interference, and Jaskier's ill-advised intercession. But what nags at the back of his mind is the fact that the key thing that swayed the bard, the thing that revealed Geralt better than his words could-- was the drawing journal.

The thing that Claude had seen, that he had confronted Geralt over. That he had been so meddlesome about.

Geralt's face looks approximately like he'd bitten into a lemon.

"...I showed him the journal."

[vrdantwind]

"I don't know what reason I could give in the course of an evening that'd be so compelling that it'd induce you to trust a relative stranger with the hearts of three men you've known since childhood and love as brothers," Claude says with a slight shrug. "Especially not while being honest. There's things I haven't even said yet that would make you trust me even less than you already do.

"As for things to say in my own defense...well, I don't know if it counts, but I do know that if Felix were here to hear you doubting his own good judgment, thinking he needs you to vet his choice of partners for him, he'd probably challenge you on the spot. Not that he needs much excuse to challenge people to duels, so maybe that's not saying much." He looks up at the sky. "I could say that I helped, to some degree, your brother and your father come to more of an understanding than they've had in awhile today. I could say I helped Dimitri, to some degree, out of the pit his trauma had him in. I could say I helped Sylvain and Felix pick out their wedding rings for each other, and that I helped them get together in the first place. I could say a lot of things about how much I care about all of them, and how much I've done to try to help them be healthy and happy. And I guess, technically, now I have said all of that."

He sighs. "But what I actually want to say is that this is the second time just this weekend that a family member of one of my boyfriends has demanded I prove myself worthy of a man I'm dating to their satisfaction, and that's really only been the start of the things I've had to field this weekend. I guess anyone being pleased that I'm dating someone they care about is too much to ask."

He shrugs. "Not that I don't understand or sympathize with your concern for Felix. Of course you want to look out for your little brother, especially when - to put it mildly - you can't exactly be around full-time to do it. And I can't begin to blame you for that brotherly concern. But...it's coming at my expense. I guess I wish someone cared about that, even a fraction as much as my boyfriends' families care about protecting them from me. Instead, my humiliation is an acceptable price to pay for the peace of mind of my boyfriends' families...because being assumed to be bad for them, and having to prove I'm deserving of them, is humiliating."

He fixes Glenn with a long, level look. "I may as well tell you now that I'm Almyran. Does that make my burden of proof even higher?"

[blackironspur]

Huh.

Glenn watches Claude mostly impassively throughout all of this, though he's clearly listening, not zoning out or just waiting for Claude to finish. It's not until the question is posed that his expression really changes - his brows lift, his gaze becomes a little more knowing.

"No, not at all. Though I know why you ask. Most of Faerghus would say yes."

He shakes his head. "You were the one who told me you'd decided to be honest 'for now.' That didn't fill me with confidence, though I didn't assume you'd be bad for them any more than I assumed you'd be good for them."

He shifts position in the sand to turn and face Claude more directly. "But you've made several good points. Among them that I ought to trust Felix's judgment, and that I ought to be pleased that he's found someone else he wants to be with. Like I said, the Felix I know is slow to warm up to people, and it sure doesn't sound like that much has changed. So if you've gotten close enough to him since coming here that he wanted to court you, you must be doing something right."

He offers Claude a hand for shaking. "So I hope you'll accept my apology for grilling you. And my thanks, for making my brother and the others happy and looking after them. Since, as you pointed out, I can't."

[vrdantwind]

"Honesty is a luxury not everyone can afford," Claude says dryly. "For instance, your brother and the others didn't learn I was Almyran until we ended up here, because you can imagine what the people of Fodlan - it's hardly just Faerghus - would have thought of a half-Almyran Duke Riegan. But my grandfather was desperate for someone to step in for him, and he didn't have a wealth of options...and control of the Alliance probably would have gone to Count Gloucester otherwise. And given that he became an Imperial sympathizer in the war, who wanted to hand the Alliance over to the Empire in exchange for power and favors, which would've definitely meant crushing the Kingdom...well, let's just say that my grandfather had good instincts. And that people who say 'honesty is the best policy' have never actually been at a serious disadvantage before."

He gazes out at the ocean. "Honesty is easy. You don't have to think about it, or try to keep a story straight. When honesty genuinely is the best policy, that's what I stick to. But plenty of people give me reasons not to trust them with the truth. They say the truth hurts, but usually the people who say that mean that they're going to hurt someone else with what they say. In my experience, the truth hurts the person saying it a lot more often than it hurts anyone listening. The truth can be a weapon in the wrong hands, and I don't go out of my way to arm people I don't trust."

He glances at Glenn. "When I said I'd stick to honesty for now, I meant you hadn't yet given me any reason to regret telling you what I know. The fact that my acknowledging I have the option to lie to you making you distrust me more, though...that's kind of hilarious, isn't it? If I was going to try to lie to you, you'd think I wouldn't bring that up.

"And let's face it, I can't believe you needed me to bring up the idea of me being able to lie to consider whether or not you can trust what I'm saying. You have to have been asking yourself that all along, right? And you didn't think I was lying before. What I've been saying matches up with what you already know, and it hangs together logically. I don't have any particular reason to lie to a dead man. I'm sure you thought all that out and settled yourself that you can trust me awhile ago. But I say that my honesty isn't necessarily unconditional or indefinite, and that makes you doubt me? I genuinely have to ask - why?"

Still, he shakes the offered hand of Glenn's. "But apology accepted. Honestly - " Claude's going to get sick of that word soon. " - I just don't know how these talks are supposed to go when people have them with me. I build a relationship with a guy for months, slowly show him sides of myself I don't just trust anyone with, and then a family member of theirs walks up to me and essentially goes 'I don't know you, but summarize for me what he sees in you and make me trust you the way he's come to over the course of actually getting to know you. Oh, yeah, and can you compress it into about fifteen minutes, max?' It's not just humiliating - it's impossible. It feels like a task people set for me to fail. How do I give them enough to judge me on? And why do they think that over the course of one acutely stilted conversation, I'll be able to give them enough evidence to make a better call than the guy I'm dating did? What's the game plan if someone does decide I'm not good enough for their family? Were you going to go tell Felix he should dump me, based on the one conversation you'd had with me?" He shakes his head. "I don't think you would have...but that just means those conversations aren't actually meant to protect the people I'm dating. They're meant to sweat me."

Glenn's apology has been accepted, but that doesn't mean Claude necessarily feels any better. The grilling is over, but the messages sent can't be unsent. And the weekend...it's worn him too thin. He'd been pleased to finally have the chance to meet Glenn, knowing how much so many important men in his life think of him, and Glenn does indeed seem to be all that he's heard of him...but this looks to be what will be Claude's defining experience with him. Glenn using Claude as a source of information about the people he actually cares about, then getting suspicious of how Claude has all that information, and then asking Claude why he should trust him with those people who actually matter.

Claude meant what he said - he can't blame Glenn for any of this. Glenn's got a lot to catch up on, and who knows how much time. The man knows he's dead; developing new relationships isn't exactly going to be a priority for him. He doesn't know Claude, and even if he cared to get to know him, odds are he won't have time for that. Glenn's being practical, not thoughtless.

But even without blame, there's hurt. The lines between the people who matter and the people who don't - the differences in how Glenn thinks and speaks of them - are too stark to ignore. Sylvain is lucky to have married Felix; Claude is lucky Glenn has deferred judgment of him to Felix, and that Glenn trusted evidence he'd demanded Claude provide.

Claude scoops up a handful of sand, letting it run through his gloved fingers. "But in any case...thanks aren't necessary. They're all good men I'd want to help, no matter what, and that inclination didn't start with our dating. I should be thanking you - for being so good to them while you could. I mean, Dimitri wouldn't even be here today if not for you. And it's clear that you passed on a number of your good qualities to Felix. All their lives were better for having you in them. And if there's some way you can stick around here, then I know they'll be better now, too."

He gets to his feet, brushing himself off. "In any case, I think that's most of the news I can offer, so..."

[vrdantwind]

"I have to say, people don't usually mind my meddling that much when it's explicitly to the benefit of something they want to happen," Claude says with a ghost of a smile. "But also, I do know how to stop when I'm obviously going too far. But I never saw any signs that I was, and Jaskier never said anything...though honestly, by his own admission, we hadn't talked about you, or the relationship between you two, for ages by the time this happened. And it only happened a few times that I recall, so I don't know how it ever even had the chance to get as bad as it did..."

After a pause, he sighs. "I have a question, Geralt, if you'd be willing to answer it. I know Jaskier's got a long history of short-lived casual relationships...and that you've known him for a long time. How often does - did - he get in relationships like that where he wasn't actually compatible with the person he was with? Where things fell apart once the novelty wore off, because he latched onto someone he never really liked as a person?"

It is, of course, extremely obvious why Claude is asking this question. Geralt may be surprised to hear that Claude is doubting Jaskier ever liked him, though.

The mention of the journal doesn't get any exultation from Claude. He glances questioningly at Geralt, but there's no laughing amusement, no idle predictions - not even a smile. "What did he think?"

[vrdantwind]

[Claude laughs and pats Dimitri's knee as he settles in beside him.] Relax, it's no big deal. Anyone forget that sort of thing. [Except Claude, who tends to feel horribly exposed around psychic types at the prospect of having his mind read. A guy who likes to carefully curate who knows what about him, being faced with the prospect of not being able to have any secrets around a mind-reader...Claude is always uncomfortably, acutely aware. He's already considered the possibility they could be weaponized against him.

Claude will never understand how Dimitri trusts so easily, especially after having been betrayed several times to extreme cost. He wishes he could learn the trick, though. The stress of constantly trying to anticipate the ways people can use anything you give them (or anything they can steal from you) against you...Jaskier tried to claim Claude made him feel like this, and Claude can only conclude Jaskier's never known what true information warfare looks like, never mind the stakes it's usually played for. Maybe he left the nobility too early in his life to learn.

What must it be like, to trust unreservedly? To not fear other people knowing the same things you do? To not need that little edge over others to feel remotely safe? Claude wishes he knew. His life would be far easier.

But for now, he smiles at Dimitri, and reaches for the flowers.] So where do I start?

[lovelybottom]

A question. Geralt supposes that if one wanted to know something about Jaskier, he would be the person to ask, whether he likes it or not.

"I haven't been around for all of his affairs, but I have known Jaskier to be a little in love with everyone he meets."

To someone like Geralt-- not even entirely convinced that he knows what love would feel like in the first place-- it's an unfathomable idea, being able to fall into it as easily as Jaskier does. If the bard were a little less free with his heart, maybe he'd get into less trouble with fathers and husbands. But something in Jaskier is built that way, he supposes, and there's no changing it.

"So if there's been an instance where he's started one with someone he isn't already fond of, I don't know about it. But you're right in saying that they were all short-lived. I doubt any of them even lasted a season. The only one I've heard him profess any real devotion to was a countess from somewhere, and she dumped him. Twice."

And Geralt got an earful about it both times. The whole story for the first dumping, though Geralt didn't exactly pay much attention to all of the details. The second time around, they were both too busy with the djinn mess to dwell much on why Jaskier's countess left him again. I fear I shall die a heartbroken man, he had said at the time.

He was wrong about that, anyway, or at least about the part where the countess was the cause of the heartbreak. Geralt broke his heart all over again a decade later, after all. And perhaps has a second shot at said heart, in part because of Claude and the godsdamned journal.

"He called me an idiot and a whoreson and threw it at me."

Which certainly is a way to begin a romantic affair.

On Claude's Birthday

[zukeini]

[Claude would get a particular package delivered. In an effort to get it over to him securely and safely, wrapped up well is a bottle of Merlot along with jars of homemade jams and pickles.]

For your cooking adventures. May we make curry together again.

Happy birthday, Claude.

Zuke

[Wait that sounded...OH NO TOO LATE.]

[vrdantwind]

"Well, he was never even a little in love with me," Claude says, with something like wry amusement. "That was something we were always clear on, and that he never wanted to give me any false impressions about - we were friends who fucked, and nothing more. If he's usually at least a little in love with the people he sleeps with...maybe that was a warning sign of its own, huh?"

He shakes his head. "All I know is that I'm the same guy now as I was when I first met him, but I went from someone he wanted to spend time with to someone he can't have in his life anymore. And based on what he said, it's because he thought I'd be different when I trusted him. So all I can think is that he liked some person he imagined I could be if he won me over enough, not the person I've been the whole time." He shrugs, looking away. "I guess I couldn't have done anything but disappoint him."

After a moment, however, he seems to forcibly shake the melancholy off, turning back to Geralt with a softer smile. "I'm glad he's with you now. After so long, he knows exactly what he's getting with you, and he couldn't be more obvious about that being exactly what he wants. And if he were going to change his mind about that, he had years of time to do it in. Don't let my troubles with him make you think you have a single thing to worry about, Geralt - you're on a whole other level. And I'm genuinely happy for the both of you."

Now, finally, his smile does turn amused at the mention of what Jaskier did with the sketchbook. "Not quite the overcome reaction I would have expected. What inspired that?"

[nastyboy]

Considering the name of the typing, I wonder...

[But then again, maybe it's because he simply trusts Silkie so much that he doesn't think twice about it. It's simply 'Silkie' before anything else, not "the Psychic type on his team".]

[Either way, it doesn't matter right now. This place is mostly safe, he thinks, and the more important thing isn't his own feelings or thoughts, but rather those of the man besides him. Leaning gently against him, Dimitri smiles as Silkie comes to stand before them. With a faint glow of her eyes, she lifts up some flowers of her own, and orients them just right for the perfect view so that the two men can see exactly what is being woven into where.]

She did this for me as well... It's quite a unique but clear way of demonstrating the method, isn't it?

[lovelybottom]

Jaskier's small love for everyone he sleeps with is probably better described as an infatuation, but perhaps, at this point, it's irrelevant. If that's true, and that Jaskier thought that Claude would somehow be different once he knew him better and trusted him more, than no amount of infatuation would have saved the relationship. Even Geralt can understand that if the person you want doesn't exist yet, you're starting off wrong.

"Hm."

Exactly what he wants. It's true, Jaskier does always know exactly what he wants-- for a little while, anyway. Then, usually, what he wants changes, fickle as the wind. Who's to say that it won't change again? That he won't find someone who suits him better, who has more to offer him than honestly far too many horses? Though perhaps it doesn't matter; perhaps Geralt should take what he can get for as long as it's given to him.

And Claude still wants to know more about the damned journal. Geralt should've seen this coming, of course he would want to know more about the piece of this that he had a hand in, as any busybody would.

"He asked me why I didn't say anything sooner," he replies, the bitten-lemon expression intensifying. "I told him. He said a few other things that had no bearing. Then he threw the journal at me, and missed."

So, really, he should probably be glad that Jaskier has such a poor throwing arm and can miss a man sitting in a bed from across the room. Being a bard doesn't really require him to have much skill in it, at least, otherwise he'd make for a very poor bard. More importantly, though, this is the kind of bare-bones storytelling that frustrates Jaskier every time the witcher comes back from a hunt, and now Claude knows first-hand why he complained so much about it. Absolutely lacking in detail. Specific about nothing. One might almost think it deliberate, except that Geralt's just Like That.

[vrdantwind]

"He threw it?" Claude looks somewhere between amused and exasperated. Of all the stupid reactions he could have thought of, that one has to be pretty high on the list. It'd take more than a thrown notebook to hurt Geralt, of course, even if it had actually hit, but why throw something at the man you love at all? And why a notebook with sketches of such exquisite beauty, sketches that Jaskier must surely treasure now that he knows about them?

It seems to become more obvious in retrospect to Claude that he understood far less of Jaskier than he thought...and not because Claude was ignorant or inattentive, but because Jaskier's actions - especially when driven by high emotion - simply don't make any kind of coherent sense. Of course, emotional reactions aren't always logical, but Jaskier's often seem to be directly contradictory - if not actively toxic - to what he supposedly wants or values.

And how can anyone understand someone who self-sabotages to that extent? Someone for whom thoughts and desires and actions don't necessarily have any connection to each other?

Aloud, he says, "I wouldn't think he'd be inclined to risk damaging the contents like that. Or you, for that matter...actually, didn't he say it was right after prom? Weren't you injured at the time?"

Honestly, worse and worse. Even if Jaskier's miss was intentional rather than incompetent, the levels on which it was stupid to throw the book at all seem to be multiplying.

[lovelybottom]

It would, really, take far more than a thrown journal to hurt Geralt, or really to hurt the journal, either. As for why he might throw things, well... Geralt can be a frustrating person sometimes. He has, occasionally, seen fit to grab a pillow and pummel the witcher for a little while to vent said frustrations. And while Jaskier's emotional outbursts are annoying, they never seem to veer into anything that's actually harmful.

And if Claude is looking for some kind of enlightenment about Jaskier's moods from Geralt, he's... come to the wrong place.

"No," he replies, because, well. It wasn't right after prom, technically all of that shit was still going down. "It was right after Felix cracked me over the head with his pommel. The evening's entertainment--" sarcasm, that "--wasn't over yet."

Does that count as being injured? It was just a concussion, after all, and that's basically nothing. He's surely fought with concussions before. He's probably fought when he's had all sorts of near-fatal maladies, that's just what witchers do. Worrying about something like that is like... fussing over scraped knees or something. Probably.

"I've been injured worse. A little concussion never killed anybody," he says with the confidence of a man who, up until very recently, had superhuman healing abilities. "And I doubt he could've thrown hard enough to damage the journal, either."

[vrdantwind]

"I'm almost positive that's not true," Claude says dryly, "although I guess for witchers it might be different. Even then, though...well, I'm just surprised his mini tantrum managed to overpower his worry, even briefly. And if it didn't, and throwing the book was just an empty gesture because he never even tried to hit you, then why bother throwing it...?"

He shakes his head. "Honestly, the more distance I have from Jaskier, the more I realize I never actually understood anything about him. Not even because I wasn't trying, but because I'm not sure he understands himself, so probably no one else stands a chance either."

Considering Claude's evolving feelings about Jaskier - none of them good - this is the mildest of grumbling. But he's sensitive to who he's speaking to: someone who loves Jaskier, for all his foibles. Claude wouldn't offend Geralt by harshly criticizing his lover to his face; more than that, Claude has never lied about wanting them to be happy together, and he won't do anything to harm or cast doubt on their relationship. So the complaints Claude is offering are, he thinks, not just restrained, but probably quite relatable to Geralt - the sort of eye-rolling even a lover might do. Felix has certainly talked about Claude like this...possibly even more critically.

Any deeper bitterness Claude has...that's for other times, and other ears.

"Anyway, you don't have to throw any kind of book hard to damage it. All it has to do is fall in a way that crumples or crushes the pages." Claude waves a hand. "I'd hate to think of that happening to your sketches. And I think Jaskier and I should have at least that in common, so I wonder what he was thinking." More specifically, Claude wonders if he was thinking.

[vrdantwind]

[Too bad for Zuke what it sounds like! Claude sends him a text shortly after the arrival of the package.]

Hey, thanks for the gifts! I'd be up for cooking together whenever you're interested - whether it's for a whole crowd again, or just us. Although I guess just us might be better, since then we can drink this bottle together.

[Unlike with Zuke, probably however this sounds is 100% on purpose on Claude's part.]

[zukeini]

[…ah]

I hope it’s soon then. It’s a dinner date then, ahaha.

[Hey Zuke? Shut up.]

Video because fuck you, Claude

[strings_theory]

[Does she look more annoyed than usual? Yes. Absolutely. Also she's very clearly hanging out in the shared houseboat, though it seems empty other than Jolyne perched on the edge of the bed and Demon the sylveon resting his head in her lap and snoozing.]

Alright, wordy motherfucker.

I'm gonna ignore all the rest of the shit for now because I ain't got the time to explain all of that and I can't really explain my reasons without outing people and I'm not a fuckin' snitch, ya feel? Everything about not being one of them is still absolutely 100% true.

[She huffs and shifts a bit, also he might find it odd her usually up and neatly done colored hair is instead down in a... mess of colors. How does that work. Who knows, not her.]

First things first, you nerds got jails and shit out there, right?

Get in line, Jolyne

[vrdantwind]

[Claude, flicking on his screen, waves casually at her.]

Hey, listen, I believe you. I've heard similar things about otherworlders being shanghaied into Team Rocket on arrival from other sources myself. So I don't consider you knowing that suspicious.

Also, I respect not selling out other people's secrets...or getting people in trouble for being part of a criminal organization they had no choice not to be forced into. I'm not going to pry.

[He looks downright amused at her question.]

Yes, we've got jails where we come from.

fl;skdfe not like that

[strings_theory]

[She's immediately flipping him off, because that's just her default state of being at this point.]

Yeah, I've... heard some things 'bout it that I can't say I'm too fond of. But they make the best of it, which I can't really blame 'em for. It's a whole lot of horseshit and the natives seem incompetent at best, y'know?

Snitches got their shit kicked in, so never was fond of it.

[LOOK, SHE DOESN'T KNOW.]

I DON'T KNOW HOW YOUR SHIT WORKS, OKAY. But basically before I ended up here I was kind of, uh, in prison. For basically murder. That I didn't do. Because I was a stupid bitch and trusted the rich prick I was dating to not be a piece of shit and make me take the fall for what he did. That's... said and done at this point and can't hold much of a grudge. But rich fucks don't sit right with me for reasons other than that, but that's probably the large one of 'em. It was kind of cathartic to know we kinda fucked his tongue up for it later... ANYWAY...

Look I couldn't resist

[vrdantwind]

[Claude, for what it's worth, largely lets this roll off his back. He's dealt with way worse hostility, and honestly he's not even sure if she's pissed at him right now. He's getting a faint whiff of something Felixesque off of her right now - like she's gearing up to talk about something she'd rather not, and it's putting her in a foul mood. He's seen it enough in his boyfriend that he wonders if he's seeing that again here.

Or maybe he's just annoyed her. (And, of course, it could always be both.) He doesn't know her well enough to judge too accurately yet.

He listens intently, and the amusement fades into something more somber.] I'm sorry. Being so deeply betrayed by someone so close to you...that's awful.

[It certainly puts his own messy breakup in perspective.]

But you weren't stupid. You seem plenty smart to me. But I've learned even the smartest and most careful people can get played by someone who's good enough at...well, seeming like they're worth trusting.

It seems like it's a little more than that, though. I mean, like I said, Dimitri and I were flashing lots of money around at the auction. You too, for that matter. And, well, Riegfried and Soy...I can understand not wanting to let someone rich so close to you again, especially if you make a connection between rich and ruthless. But there's levels of trust, right? And accepting a general invitation is a much lower level of trust being asked than, say, dating. So...I guess the question is, are you willing to tell me what more there might be?

I'm not trying to argue you out of how you feel, for the record. I mean, no one has to like them, and it's not really my concern whether you like them or not, so I've got better things to do than try to change your mind. I just...like being able to logically follow why people think or do the things they think and do, and I'm not following your logic yet. So I'm curious.

You're gonna kill me

[strings_theory]

[Right, deep breaths. Calm. Demon stirs a bit in her lap, pink and white ribbons gently wrapping around her wrists. It helps, he knows it as well as she does. Her getting as riled up about these things as she tends to.

How does she even explain this shit? It's... a whole mess in the best of times.]

There's a difference between making your own fortune and being born into it. And it seems those two were. Which is far closer than how used I am to those types than I'd care to admit. [Even if her own family was technically loaded, but she never really saw any of that money. For. Reasons. That she's not really mad about anymore.]

I just. I don't know. There's gotta be some kind of ulterior motive there, people don't do "nice" shit or "selfless" shit without some kind of other motive behind it. Even goddamned fucking religion, those who are supposed to be "close to god" or whatever can be just as fucked up as everyone else. [There's clearly something to go to there, but she doesn't seem too keen to bring it up on her own.]

[vrdantwind]

Well, I can't actually speak for how they made their fortunes one way or the other. I don't really know enough about them.

That said...I do take your point. Even the one about religion, which I know some people would think is contentious, but I know there are religious figures who've gotten up to some sketchy things even in my own world. [And Claude had been constantly prying and digging, trying to find out what they'd hidden, what the deal was...he'd never really gotten the chance to crack the mystery wide open before the war broke out, though. And then, well...even if the archbishop hadn't vanished, other things had taken priority.] And some healthy suspicion usually isn't a bad thing.

That said...I do know some genuinely good people who do good for good's own sake. They do exist. So I can't agree with you that there's always some sinister ulterior motive, when that hasn't been my experience. So even for a born skeptic, I think you've got to temper suspicion with reason, or you risk slipping right into paranoia. Suspicion can protect you from being blindsided, but all the false alarms paranoia will give you can actually make it just as hard to see the truth as any amount of naiveté.