Eyes closed as a sign of trust?
So, I've had more thoughts about Jesper's preference to keep his eyes closed most of the time. Or as often as he can.
Originally, it was for aesthetics, and then it was sort of a, preference that ultimately caused light sensitivity---which is still very much true---but I was thinking about the circumstances in which Jesper actually opens his eyes, and realized it also weighs in trust in his environment and the people he's around.
For example, thinking about Jesper in the wild imp's den, those eyes are definitely open more often than not unless he's snoozing---there's a lot going on and to look out for. Upset imps will make themselves big and hold themselves defensively, hiss, bite, scratch, etc., but the signs are all very physical, so it's something that Jesper needs to actively evaluate.
In my writing where he's out playing with the imps, so far anyway, he's his usual bumbling self because 1.) he knows Yarrow is nearby, and 2.) he's outside and a decent distance from their den, so the likelihood of upsetting them is much lower. So, he can get away with keeping his eyes shut except to gather his bearings.
Which made me realize that it's obviously a sign of trust. I like to think when Jesper first arrives at Yarrow's, he waits until night to begin investigating where the hell he is now, but it's probably one eye open, the other closed kinda situation until Yarrow actually gets up to investigate, and then could see both eyes being open, of course until the lights are turned on him (candle? spell?)... But could see him mostly squinting until he actually figures out Yarrow isn't about to kick his ass lol.
I do imagine him with his eyes closed a lot with Sol (in the future when they're closer friends)... Majority of the time with the wild imps, unless they're having a snoozefest or a grooming session, they're outside, so I believe Jesper is a little less on edge and them eyes are closed. I think they're closed the most at home.
Can we have bonus points for the mental imagery of Jesper with Yarrow's glasses? Because I realized they're a semi-similar size and they would be so cute on his big ass bug eyes...
Also, I'm warming up to the idea of Jesper making an attempt to hand-hold and tail-wrap with Yarrow on even smaller trips (provided that's okay lol). I've been thinking about Jesper getting a crumb of affection and immediately turning into a snuggle bug---despite the wild imps sleeping in groups all piled up with each other, I imagine he really likes to hold them and they just find him odd but whatever it's warm so they're down.
Okay but not like an exaggerated amount of affection. Hand/tail holding---not for entire lengths of trips, just like, little stretches of ... Like a quick little quiet acknowledgement or if he ran off and returned lol...