To Estinien's credit, while he may not be the best at inferring people's intentions, if he is provided with actual data he is capable of taking it in and using it to adjust his thinking. That's what he'd wanted from Geralt, isn't it? To talk, to understand. Yet when Geralt had forbid him his attempt, he was left to go off of so little, his mind filled in the blanks in the least flattering ways.
He was one to assume the worst, after all - or at the very least, he was unwilling to give people credit they hadn't earned. So why not think Geralt was a coward, that he was self-righteous, that he would sway his companions to fall in line? He had so little to work with, he had no reason to think he wouldn't.
But here it is. However stern Jaskier is being, Estinien doesn't seem to balk on it. Instead, he watches, and listens, his eyes slightly wide as if doing his best to absorb all that he's hearing. Suddenly, the image of a man that had eluded him makes sense, all because he trusts Jaskier enough to give him the right evidence.
Even beyond the mechanical level that he can put together motivation and calculate the results, he understands. On a gut, emotional level he understands. Estinien himself is that friend, isn't he? Or, at least, he was. Not exactly, not in all the ways that matter, but there is taste enough of something he has felt before that he can extrapolate it into something bigger.
There are still some surprises, of course. He and Himeka have been so goal-orientated for most of their relationship that it's hard to imagine what it would be like if they didn't have some common cause and purpose that they all believed in. Himeka and the Scions both. They've always been on the same page, at heart.
Maybe it says something that he can barely imagine what his relationships would be like if it wasn't for the common bond of duty.
But he can't stand here and think on that forever! No, Jaskier deserves an answer in turn. He contemplates what he's going to say, wanting to get it correct the first time.
"...Thank you, for telling me as much," he says, first and foremost. "'Tis... far from my experience. The way that you are." And he means that on a few levels. His personal tidbit for the day. "I had sought him out hoping to understand his perspective, but he gave me little." He's about to say something else, but he leaves it at that.
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He was one to assume the worst, after all - or at the very least, he was unwilling to give people credit they hadn't earned. So why not think Geralt was a coward, that he was self-righteous, that he would sway his companions to fall in line? He had so little to work with, he had no reason to think he wouldn't.
But here it is. However stern Jaskier is being, Estinien doesn't seem to balk on it. Instead, he watches, and listens, his eyes slightly wide as if doing his best to absorb all that he's hearing. Suddenly, the image of a man that had eluded him makes sense, all because he trusts Jaskier enough to give him the right evidence.
Even beyond the mechanical level that he can put together motivation and calculate the results, he understands. On a gut, emotional level he understands. Estinien himself is that friend, isn't he? Or, at least, he was. Not exactly, not in all the ways that matter, but there is taste enough of something he has felt before that he can extrapolate it into something bigger.
There are still some surprises, of course. He and Himeka have been so goal-orientated for most of their relationship that it's hard to imagine what it would be like if they didn't have some common cause and purpose that they all believed in. Himeka and the Scions both. They've always been on the same page, at heart.
Maybe it says something that he can barely imagine what his relationships would be like if it wasn't for the common bond of duty.
But he can't stand here and think on that forever! No, Jaskier deserves an answer in turn. He contemplates what he's going to say, wanting to get it correct the first time.
"...Thank you, for telling me as much," he says, first and foremost. "'Tis... far from my experience. The way that you are." And he means that on a few levels. His personal tidbit for the day. "I had sought him out hoping to understand his perspective, but he gave me little." He's about to say something else, but he leaves it at that.