Geralt knows when men are lying to him, and the pain and hurt in Jaskier's scent rings true as anything. What he describes to Geralt is a terrible betrayal, a man taking two decades of loyalty and care and friendship, all for lies about how the bard has caused all of his troubles. That has never been true-- even if he had gotten into trouble at times and needed Geralt's help getting back out of it, the witcher never begrudged him for it. Never blamed him for the things that went wrong in his life, because Geralt's life is his own godsdamned responsibility. Not Jaskier's, not Yen's, not even fucking Destiny's.
So hearing that this betrayal came at his hands is a shock. Nearly incomprehensible, really-- how could someone who's supposed to be him act in a way that's so diametrically opposed? How could there be a world where Geralt of Rivia doesn't love his bard-- whether he goes by the name Dandelion or Jaskier, a rose by any other name-- and cherish him as his truest friend?
"I don't understand," he says, and he'll weather having a bottle thrown at him if it will end with him getting some clarity. "I never sent Dandelion away. I never said anything like that to him. Why would I lie? And why would he ever believe it?"
Not only could he not imagine saying those things to his friend, he couldn't imagine Dandelion standing there and taking it and believing him. If he had told him that he was responsible for all the shit in his life, Dandelion would've told him that he was full of it and then immediately gone on to list all the ways that he had been the instrument of his own misery, probably in iambic pentameter or something. By the end of it, Geralt would've been the one apologizing and would've probably been talked into going to another banquet with the bard, to keep him out of trouble-- for free, of course.
"Dandelion has always been a friend to me. Is it... isn't that the same, for you?"
no subject
Geralt knows when men are lying to him, and the pain and hurt in Jaskier's scent rings true as anything. What he describes to Geralt is a terrible betrayal, a man taking two decades of loyalty and care and friendship, all for lies about how the bard has caused all of his troubles. That has never been true-- even if he had gotten into trouble at times and needed Geralt's help getting back out of it, the witcher never begrudged him for it. Never blamed him for the things that went wrong in his life, because Geralt's life is his own godsdamned responsibility. Not Jaskier's, not Yen's, not even fucking Destiny's.
So hearing that this betrayal came at his hands is a shock. Nearly incomprehensible, really-- how could someone who's supposed to be him act in a way that's so diametrically opposed? How could there be a world where Geralt of Rivia doesn't love his bard-- whether he goes by the name Dandelion or Jaskier, a rose by any other name-- and cherish him as his truest friend?
"I don't understand," he says, and he'll weather having a bottle thrown at him if it will end with him getting some clarity. "I never sent Dandelion away. I never said anything like that to him. Why would I lie? And why would he ever believe it?"
Not only could he not imagine saying those things to his friend, he couldn't imagine Dandelion standing there and taking it and believing him. If he had told him that he was responsible for all the shit in his life, Dandelion would've told him that he was full of it and then immediately gone on to list all the ways that he had been the instrument of his own misery, probably in iambic pentameter or something. By the end of it, Geralt would've been the one apologizing and would've probably been talked into going to another banquet with the bard, to keep him out of trouble-- for free, of course.
"Dandelion has always been a friend to me. Is it... isn't that the same, for you?"