Having a that's not what happened moment is inevitable, Jaskier actually expects it to be the first thing Geralt says. The witcher doesn't disappoint, and Jaskier huffs and nudges him in protest - it's more performative than anything. Some things never change.
What does get a bigger, real reaction out of him is Lambert's question. His eyes open instantly, wide and shocked, and Jaskier pulls away from Geralt to turn and look directly at his face.
"What lie about the coin?"
It's the one thing he didn't lie about!
...but it seems it's not entirely true, either.
"...oh. I thought--"
Jaskier worries his lower lip and looks away, not knowing what to say, and isn't that something? It's not easy to embarrass Jaskier - in fact, the bard is quite shameless. Many people have mocked him in the past and he's always replied with wordplay, allowing his silver tongue to come in his defense. He's always been sure of his decisions: it doesn't matter how foolish others think they are, he doesn't agree. He sees his own logic and passion behind them, they're perfectly valid.
This time, though. This time he does feel as much of a fool as Lambert's laughter implies.
So what can a performer do in an awkward situation such as this? The show must go, gotta distract the audience with something else, even if said audience is probably smelling the shift in his scent.
"Oh well, it matters not!" His laughter is kinda awkward as well, pretty forced to say the least. He decides to go back to searching for his soap, needing to look away from those intense yellow eyes for at least a moment. "The rest is true, and that's what is important! I may've followed, but Geralt let me do so - my ego isn't so big to think a witcher wouldn't be able to leave me behind if he so wished."
Aha!, he mumbles to himself when he finds his target, which he proceeds to take back to his grooming bag in exchange for Geralt's shaving kit. Keeping himself busy means not having to think about how Toss a coin just lost that little extra meaning it had behind it, right? Riiiiight.
"Dunk, my dear, we need to rinse the soap off your head before it hardens into a griffin nest," he lowly tells Geralt as he taps his shoulder before turning to the witchers in the other spring. "Any other questions before I ask for a story in return? Cöen, my good man, you still look confussed as hell," he says with a chuckle. Cöen shrugs. "You and Eskel are my friends now too. So the quicker you accept there's one human out there that cares, the better for your stress levels. Oh! Two, two humans, we should count the princess as well."
Yeah, he left Lambert out on purpose. They'll get there eventually. Maybe? Hopefully.
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What does get a bigger, real reaction out of him is Lambert's question. His eyes open instantly, wide and shocked, and Jaskier pulls away from Geralt to turn and look directly at his face.
"What lie about the coin?"
It's the one thing he didn't lie about!
...but it seems it's not entirely true, either.
"...oh. I thought--"
Jaskier worries his lower lip and looks away, not knowing what to say, and isn't that something? It's not easy to embarrass Jaskier - in fact, the bard is quite shameless. Many people have mocked him in the past and he's always replied with wordplay, allowing his silver tongue to come in his defense. He's always been sure of his decisions: it doesn't matter how foolish others think they are, he doesn't agree. He sees his own logic and passion behind them, they're perfectly valid.
This time, though. This time he does feel as much of a fool as Lambert's laughter implies.
So what can a performer do in an awkward situation such as this? The show must go, gotta distract the audience with something else, even if said audience is probably smelling the shift in his scent.
"Oh well, it matters not!" His laughter is kinda awkward as well, pretty forced to say the least. He decides to go back to searching for his soap, needing to look away from those intense yellow eyes for at least a moment. "The rest is true, and that's what is important! I may've followed, but Geralt let me do so - my ego isn't so big to think a witcher wouldn't be able to leave me behind if he so wished."
Aha!, he mumbles to himself when he finds his target, which he proceeds to take back to his grooming bag in exchange for Geralt's shaving kit. Keeping himself busy means not having to think about how Toss a coin just lost that little extra meaning it had behind it, right? Riiiiight.
"Dunk, my dear, we need to rinse the soap off your head before it hardens into a griffin nest," he lowly tells Geralt as he taps his shoulder before turning to the witchers in the other spring. "Any other questions before I ask for a story in return? Cöen, my good man, you still look confussed as hell," he says with a chuckle. Cöen shrugs. "You and Eskel are my friends now too. So the quicker you accept there's one human out there that cares, the better for your stress levels. Oh! Two, two humans, we should count the princess as well."
Yeah, he left Lambert out on purpose. They'll get there eventually. Maybe? Hopefully.