[ He should be offended by that, but he understands how it is. Jaskier, like all humans, is not immune to seeing a Witcher in a certain light, even now. That's how they prefer it. There are parts of themselves they keep between each other, behind heavy closed doors, too aware of how easily it can be twisted. How easily their care and grief and lessons forged in blood over decades can be turned against them.
The shattered remnants of the keep he now remembers are stark reminders of that.
He decides not to tell Jaskier that optimism implies brighter expectations. He does not have those expectations. He does not move forward believing the pain will lessen, that old wounds can fully heal, that there will not be more darkness ahead. The only expectation he holds is that if he claws hard enough, he will crawl through with the pieces of himself that are most important. That's what matters.
He doesn't say it, because he isn't sure it's what Jaskier needs to hear. Now or ever. It's a feeling that can only be truly grasped after a depth of loss and despair that he would never wish on his friend. If optimism is what Jaskier can still hope to believe in, then he wants him to have that.
So Jaskier leans against him, and Geralt simply folds him up. Later, he will begin to look back on the way Jaskier keeps turning his hands, curling them. For the moment, he isn't thinking of anything much beyond being here. ]
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The shattered remnants of the keep he now remembers are stark reminders of that.
He decides not to tell Jaskier that optimism implies brighter expectations. He does not have those expectations. He does not move forward believing the pain will lessen, that old wounds can fully heal, that there will not be more darkness ahead. The only expectation he holds is that if he claws hard enough, he will crawl through with the pieces of himself that are most important. That's what matters.
He doesn't say it, because he isn't sure it's what Jaskier needs to hear. Now or ever. It's a feeling that can only be truly grasped after a depth of loss and despair that he would never wish on his friend. If optimism is what Jaskier can still hope to believe in, then he wants him to have that.
So Jaskier leans against him, and Geralt simply folds him up. Later, he will begin to look back on the way Jaskier keeps turning his hands, curling them. For the moment, he isn't thinking of anything much beyond being here. ]