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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~."

Comments

[rollstoseduce]

He hated me from the moment he saw me, so excuse me for doubting my personality or his preemptive defense have anything to do with it. [A snort.] You? Refusing to read into people's actions? Well, color me surprised.

[He wants to say more - he should say more, but again, he's aware he's playing with fire. Anything else he may say has the potential to be used against him.

And now it's Jaskier's turn to cock an eyebrow at Claude for that comment.] As much as I appreciate the sentiment, my dear, please also don't offend any witcher that may show up and isn't so important to me. They deserve better.

[Well, perhaps not all of them, he's heard some nasty stuff about the Cats... but the point still stands.

Claude's question is a difficult one, a question that has spawned more than one argument. Jaskier sighs as he stares at the empty mug in his hands, lost in thought for a moment. So much to say about it, where to begin? What would count as breaking Geralt's trust? As much as he sings about the witcher, Jaskier still hasn't actually put any secrets in his songs. But some things should be well understood by the people, he thinks, in order for Geralt to have a better life.]

Because he thinks it's what he deserves. He may not be a human but I promise you, there's more humanity in him than in both of us combined.

[The thing about Jaskier is that he's very prone to emotional whiplash - he can go from one mood to the other in seconds. And he does exactly that right now, serious face beaming as it looks up at the mention of--] A gift? For me?

[He grabs the Pokéball and releases... a cute little red guy that now stands in the middle of the table, showing off his sparkly color for them as his antennae hit each other to produce the music Claude mentioned. Jaskier laughs and claps his hands together, delighted as he can be.]

Oh, listen to him! A little living percussion box! And he sparkles, too! Don't think I don't know how rare those are. We shall make lots of music together, my new friend. [The Kricketot nods with a happy chirp before Jaskier sends him back to his Pokéball, followed by leaning over the table again to peck Claude's cheek.] Thank you, darling. I must say, such a gift deserves proper compensation. [Wink~] I think you should get extra pickings at the store.

[vrdantwind]

Oh, come on. [Claude gives him a faint smile.] Do you think I'd want to offend other witchers just because they aren't special to you? I just meant I especially don't want to upset someone you care about, not that that's the only reason I care to avoid it.

As for thinking he doesn't deserve to be considered human...he sounds a lot like Dimitri in that. I don't know what brought on that level of self-loathing in him, but I haven't seen anything to suggest he deserves any less than anyone else. He's on the surly, unsociable side, but so what? So is Felix. As was Dimitri, for a time. That doesn't mean he's not a good man who deserves as much kindness as he'll sit still for.

[Still, they can't talk about Geralt all day, and Claude is happy enough to shift to lighter topics. He grins with clear pleasure at Jaskier's delight with his gift.] Well, I certainly won't complain about being able to get more fun things to play with today, but I do wonder if that isn't you just treating yourself as much as me. [He winks.] After all, I think we'll both get use out of whatever haul we come away with, won't we?

[rollstoseduce]

Please, let's not compare Felix to Geralt. [He says as he wrinkles his nose. A bit hypocritical of him, considering his brain has done the same comparison already... but he's been working on shutting those down, okay!!!] And indeed, that's the gist of it. You can try telling him so next time you see him, but I'm afraid he won't take you seriously. He still doesn't even believe me.

[Which frustrates him a bit sometimes. He knows you can't heal trauma overnight, but after 22 years? Jaskier thinks Geralt could at least show some trust in his compliments for the witcher.

But yes, Jaskier is happy to shift topics as well. And he brightly laughs at Claude's comment - which is absolutely right.]

Of course we will! But that doesn't mean we can't favour some preferences over others, does it? [He winks as well as he stands up and proceeds to put on his cloak and grab his bag. His order was paid when it was made, so he's ready to go.] Have you looked around in the "internet" or are you going in completely blind? We visited one of these shops soon after we arrived merely to satisfy our curiosity and I must say, it's impressive how this technology allows so many different things to vibrate.

[There's one macaron left on the plate so before leaving, Jaskier grabs it, snaps it in half and offers one half to Claude... by putting it on his lips.

Look. This world is open about relationships, Jaskier wants to bask in that feeling, alright?]

[vrdantwind]

Well, maybe it's not how believable any one person is, but how much he needs to hear it and from how many people. [Claude taps his chin thoughtfully with a finger.] Or it could be that he thinks you're biased from being so close to him, and therefore he doesn't trust your judgment to be objective? Or for you to tell him the truth. So maybe it'll be easier to believe coming from someone with no particular reason to lie to him...

[He laughs as he follows Jaskier to his feet.] I admit, I haven't looked into it much. I could have, I suppose, but after such a long dry spell back home...well, I got in the habit of gently avoiding things that could get me too worked up when I couldn't afford the distraction. And then, once I found you... [He winks.] Well, I prefer to preserve my interest for our meetings. The wait makes the release all the more intense, I find. So getting to sate my curiosity on the advances in this field alongside you, and then explore those advances together afterwards...I have to say, that's the perfect arrangement.

[He readily takes that half a macaron from Jaskier's fingers, and if he gives the man a coy look between his lashes as he does and brushes his lips against Jaskier's fingers...well, it just goes to show that Claude knows exactly how to work with what he's got, and also that he knows his audience.]