Jaskier was given to stupid choices even when he was well-rested and had all his wits about him--he was an impulsive thing by nature and that often meant that he would let the full force of his reaction carry him through a poor decision without stopping and thinking it over. When he was tired, well, there was no hope for him. Jaskier watched Geralt and--okay, the objection to his piss-poor excuse? That was normal, that fit the mold of the narrative--but then--then the Witcher took the blame.
Jaskier knew Geralt's penchant for negativity, he'd always been this way, and it didn't help that random fuckoff people tended to encourage the Witcher's self-image problems. All it took was one or two people calling him Butcher or Monster and (despite being a model Witcher, immune to human emotion, etc,) Geralt would be pissy for a week. Jaskier's natural response had become aggression, at least when Geralt wasn't around to overhear it, and for some insane reason, that was what Jaskier's mind defaulted to when Geralt took the blame for the loss of his sword.
Geralt was clinging to the tub and looked ready to pass back out, which would be catastrophic, frankly, and he gritted his teeth and took the blame and Jaskier went from terrified to furious in a single breath.
"Oh--oh, no, no, no--I know that look," Jaskier said and leaned back in, his supplicant pose shifting as one hand gripped the tub rim and the other started wagging a warning finger at the Witcher. "Of the two of us, Geralt," he continued, angry and emphatic, "one was out fighting that damned nightmare beast and the other was talking to a horse all night--
"The loss of that sword is absolutely not on you," Jaskier defended with all the vehemence of a man who would get into a fight with the person who had done the deed, even if it was himself. "I'll go look for it and if it's not there, so be it, I'll pay for the replacement myself! But I'll not have you going all grim around the edges when we've still got to get you cleaned and sewn up.
"There's plenty to brood about without resorting to taking blame that belongs to me!"
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Jaskier knew Geralt's penchant for negativity, he'd always been this way, and it didn't help that random fuckoff people tended to encourage the Witcher's self-image problems. All it took was one or two people calling him Butcher or Monster and (despite being a model Witcher, immune to human emotion, etc,) Geralt would be pissy for a week. Jaskier's natural response had become aggression, at least when Geralt wasn't around to overhear it, and for some insane reason, that was what Jaskier's mind defaulted to when Geralt took the blame for the loss of his sword.
Geralt was clinging to the tub and looked ready to pass back out, which would be catastrophic, frankly, and he gritted his teeth and took the blame and Jaskier went from terrified to furious in a single breath.
"Oh--oh, no, no, no--I know that look," Jaskier said and leaned back in, his supplicant pose shifting as one hand gripped the tub rim and the other started wagging a warning finger at the Witcher. "Of the two of us, Geralt," he continued, angry and emphatic, "one was out fighting that damned nightmare beast and the other was talking to a horse all night--
"The loss of that sword is absolutely not on you," Jaskier defended with all the vehemence of a man who would get into a fight with the person who had done the deed, even if it was himself. "I'll go look for it and if it's not there, so be it, I'll pay for the replacement myself! But I'll not have you going all grim around the edges when we've still got to get you cleaned and sewn up.
"There's plenty to brood about without resorting to taking blame that belongs to me!"