Hah! A fun theory, but not likely. He's totally gone on Sylvain, remember? I doubt he cares what I get up to. [And is there just the tiniest whiff of wistfulness in the way Claude words that? Maybe. His tone's light enough, so Jaskier may have to do some reading into things if he wants to catch it. Of course, being a bard of a romantic bent, it's just the sort of thing Jaskier might indeed read into...especially after Claude's defending Felix in a manner similar to Jaskier's defending Geralt. Jaskier may see the parallels between more than just Felix and Geralt here.
And surely he'd love to have a little counter-ammunition against Claude.
Claude hums thoughtfully at Jaskier's questions while the other man potentially chews that matter over, however.] I wouldn't say intentionally fake - certainly not with you. Shall we say...curated? I don't think you're trying to trick people, or be false - I think you, as a performer and a romantic, naturally want to present a certain image. The most polished, attractive side of yourself. Most people do that, of course, but I think a performer is going to be even more inclined than most. As for myself... [He smiles.] I won't say I try to be fake, either, but as someone with quite a few secrets, I definitely pick and choose what to reveal, what to let people see. I let as much of my real self through as I can without compromising anything, of course, because - well, why wouldn't I? It's easier and a lot more pleasant to be able to be genuine when I can. But even that comes through a filter of calculation, of risk/reward assessments. So both of us - to some degree we pick, choose, polish what we show the world. And sometimes that may mean outright lies and concealment - whether it's to deceive others, protect ourselves, or both. The two aren't exactly mutually exclusive things.
But Felix...he hardly ever does that. A lot of times what he shows or what comes out of his mouth, he doesn't even think about first, and then sometimes he gets to regret it later. Not exactly on the same spectrum as people like us.
[He pauses, then laughs.] Well, I guess he does do some dissembling of his own. He'll often get prickly or angry to hide the softer parts of him - because he wants to protect himself, too. Though I'm not sure I'd call that anything less than genuine, since irritation and anger are his go-to response for most things...including feeling vulnerable.
[He waves a hand, though, as if to casually dismiss Felix as a subject of conversation. (Whether or not Jaskier allows this if he smells something juicy is up for debate.)] Really, it sounds as there's not a single aspect of life, however minor, that being a witcher doesn't impact in some way. I'd never treat them as any different - certainly not any less - than human, but considering that it seems like every aspect of their lives is altered from how non-witchers experience it, I can almost understand why people think of them as something other. It sounds like there's barely any similarities between how witchers and non-witchers perceive the world...even something as simple as the way they taste things is totally foreign to us, and vice versa. It must be an incredibly difficult life...
[There's nothing but thoughtfulness and sympathy in Claude's words. He's speculating, but observing the massive gulf of difference between witchers and non-witchers doesn't seem to bring out any divisiveness in him. Not surprising, really, since Claude has made no secret of embracing differences between people.]
Unfortunately, I think s'mores are probably overly sweet for a witcher, between the chocolate and the marshmallow, so we may not be able to share this treat with him. But you can be the judge, if you have an idea as to his tastes. [He smiles at Jaskier.] And I suppose we could try them over something not a campfire, but they can be a little messy. The marshmallows here undergo some amazing transformations when you apply heat. We'd have to be careful.
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Date: 2021-01-23 04:35 am (UTC)And surely he'd love to have a little counter-ammunition against Claude.
Claude hums thoughtfully at Jaskier's questions while the other man potentially chews that matter over, however.] I wouldn't say intentionally fake - certainly not with you. Shall we say...curated? I don't think you're trying to trick people, or be false - I think you, as a performer and a romantic, naturally want to present a certain image. The most polished, attractive side of yourself. Most people do that, of course, but I think a performer is going to be even more inclined than most. As for myself... [He smiles.] I won't say I try to be fake, either, but as someone with quite a few secrets, I definitely pick and choose what to reveal, what to let people see. I let as much of my real self through as I can without compromising anything, of course, because - well, why wouldn't I? It's easier and a lot more pleasant to be able to be genuine when I can. But even that comes through a filter of calculation, of risk/reward assessments. So both of us - to some degree we pick, choose, polish what we show the world. And sometimes that may mean outright lies and concealment - whether it's to deceive others, protect ourselves, or both. The two aren't exactly mutually exclusive things.
But Felix...he hardly ever does that. A lot of times what he shows or what comes out of his mouth, he doesn't even think about first, and then sometimes he gets to regret it later. Not exactly on the same spectrum as people like us.
[He pauses, then laughs.] Well, I guess he does do some dissembling of his own. He'll often get prickly or angry to hide the softer parts of him - because he wants to protect himself, too. Though I'm not sure I'd call that anything less than genuine, since irritation and anger are his go-to response for most things...including feeling vulnerable.
[He waves a hand, though, as if to casually dismiss Felix as a subject of conversation. (Whether or not Jaskier allows this if he smells something juicy is up for debate.)] Really, it sounds as there's not a single aspect of life, however minor, that being a witcher doesn't impact in some way. I'd never treat them as any different - certainly not any less - than human, but considering that it seems like every aspect of their lives is altered from how non-witchers experience it, I can almost understand why people think of them as something other. It sounds like there's barely any similarities between how witchers and non-witchers perceive the world...even something as simple as the way they taste things is totally foreign to us, and vice versa. It must be an incredibly difficult life...
[There's nothing but thoughtfulness and sympathy in Claude's words. He's speculating, but observing the massive gulf of difference between witchers and non-witchers doesn't seem to bring out any divisiveness in him. Not surprising, really, since Claude has made no secret of embracing differences between people.]
Unfortunately, I think s'mores are probably overly sweet for a witcher, between the chocolate and the marshmallow, so we may not be able to share this treat with him. But you can be the judge, if you have an idea as to his tastes. [He smiles at Jaskier.] And I suppose we could try them over something not a campfire, but they can be a little messy. The marshmallows here undergo some amazing transformations when you apply heat. We'd have to be careful.