#Yennefer because that's her dad and her mum | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

reveniemus · 3 years

Note

hugs 16 for a pairing of your choice 💙

thank you for the ask dear!! i went really fluffy with this so i hope you don't mind 😅

16. ‘not wanting to let go’ hugs

little victories feel big

rating: G warnings: none i think au - modern setting. dadralt my beloved and his girl, cirilla, all grown up(ish)

The thing is that it has just been them for so long and Geralt knows this is for the best, but he doesn’t really want to do it either. It is five in the morning, and he is in the kitchen triple- and quadruple-checking Ciri’s lunchbox to make sure she has plenty of snacks and juice boxes to make it through the day. Maybe it’s overkill, but Geralt knows how much she eats and drinks when it’s just them, and maybe she’ll be busy playing, but maybe she’ll get thirsty and will need a juice box! He hums before turning to grab a water bottle from the fridge to tuck beside her four juice boxes. Just in case.

“Dad?” a sleepy voice asks from the doorway, and Geralt turns to see his daughter standing in her baby goat pajamas and lionhead bedroom slippers, rubbing at her eyes. “Is it time for school?”

“Almost. You have to shower and get dressed first,” he says, kneeling in front of her. “You sleep okay, cub?”

She nods, taking half a step forward before leaning into him. He wraps his arms around her, pulling her close so he can pick her up. “Do you think my teacher will be nice?” she asks sleepily into his shirt, and her voice is muffled, so he knows she’s got her thumb in her mouth, a habit she has mostly kicked except when she’s scared or nervous.

“If they aren’t, you have to tell me so I can yell at them,” he says, kissing her hair.

“You can’t yell at everyone, mum says so,” she mumbles as he deposits her on the stool beside her sink. It was Yennefer’s, once, before they had determined that maybe they were better for each other in smaller doses. Now, it was covered in sparkly pink toothpaste, bright green mouthwash, and various plastic toys, the mirror covered in stars and hearts that Ciri deemed necessary.

“Mum is wrong about that, because I can. It’s just not always the best idea,” he says, helping her squeeze the last of her toothpaste onto her toothbrush. He makes a mental note to buy more toothpaste while she’s at school.

They get ready with ease, a routine they’ve perfected in the last few years. Geralt brushes and braids Ciri’s hair while she brushes her teeth, she swishes her mouthwash while he brushes his teeth, and she brushes his hair out while he ties his work boots on.

Once he’s dressed and his hair is brushed to Ciri’s standards, he starts for her room and she stands in front of the door. “Cirilla…” he says, his tone warning.

“I picked a very special outfit for school! It’s a surprise!” she tells him, her tone very reminiscent of Yennefer’s scolding one and Geralt sighs. Ciri’s face breaks out into a grin knowing she’s won before running into her room and shouting at him not to peek.

Geralt, ever the gentleman, does not. Instead, he grabs his keys, his wallet, and his phone and waits at the door, her lunchbox and backpack in one hand. “Ciri,” he calls after a few minutes, checking his watch because he doesn’t think it’ll look good if they’re late on her first day.

“Almost ready!” she shouts, and he’s about to respond when he hears shuffling and the door closing before her footsteps run towards him. She’s dressed in a dark green dress with a high neck - one of Triss’ purchases, he’s pretty sure - and a bright pink sweater. On her feet are a pair of work boots just like Geralt’s that he’s sure Eskel spent way too much money on, and she’s got a barrette in her hair that’s got a purple pom pom on it that Geralt doesn’t remember buying, but can’t figure out where she could’ve picked it up.

“You look like you’re ready for a very special day, Ciri,” he says, knowing that anything less would devastate her, and he’s not in the market to devastate his daughter on her first day of school.

She beams like he’s awarded her a prize, and runs up to him and turns so he can slide the backpack straps through her arms. “I am verily very ready for a very special day!” she announces, turning and holding her hand up for him to take.

Geralt chuckles and takes her hand, squeezing it lightly as they make their way out the door. Public transportation isn’t ideal for getting his daughter to and from places, but considering his car is in flagrant violation of a few vehicle laws right now, he isn’t trying to take her anywhere in it. Thankfully, her school is at the same stop as his job, so it makes the trip there and back a little easier.

Ciri spends the trip seated in front of Geralt, babbling about how she hopes Roach isn’t lonely without them there to keep her company and how she hopes they can draw during class today, because she’d like to draw “Unkie Lamby” a picture since she drew “Unkie Esky” one last week. Geralt hums at the appropriate places, but is at attention for any potential dangers around them. He doesn’t expect anyone to come crashing into them at eight in the morning, but he also doesn’t want to be taken off guard if someone does.

When they get to their stop, Ciri hops off the seat and holds her hand out for Geralt to take. Normally, he’d scoop her up to make sure they don’t get separated in the rush, but they’d talked about it and Ciri insisted she wanted to walk to her first day of school. Geralt was nothing if not putty in her hands, so walk she would.

They approach the primary school Geralt and Yennefer had painstakingly researched and vetted just before 8:30, and Geralt knows he’s not ready for this, but Ciri is excited to go to school and she needs to socialize and meet kids her age, so he has to pretend. At least for a little bit longer.

A woman with blonde hair checks them in and directs them towards the hallway for Ciri’s age group. Geralt thanks her, but the words are mostly lost to the sound of Ciri’s excited squeals as she tugs him down the hall and towards the open doors, some with teachers standing outside and others with parents milling about. Geralt nods at some parents he recognizes from previous programs Ciri has been in or from the nearby parks, and nearly trips over Ciri when she stops in front of an open classroom door.

“I think that dragon is sitting on pancakes,” Ciri says matter-of-factly, head tilted to the side.

Geralt pauses and studies the window decoration, his head tilting as well. “Yes, it is,” he says, before the door is suddenly occupied by a man with brown hair, bright blue eyes, and … a lute?

There’s a flash of something in his eyes when he looks at Geralt, but then turns his attention to Ciri, kneeling so he’s at eye level with her. “Good morrow, fellow adventurer, are you here for Mr. Pankratz’s class?” he asks brightly.

“Uh, yeah, this is Cirilla Rivia,” Geralt says, squeezing her hand lightly.

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Pan… Pankratz,” Ciri says, brows furrowing as she concentrates on getting all the consonants out correctly.

“Lovely to meet you, Miss Rivia.” He bows as deeply as he can while still kneeling in front of her. “Come inside and claim a cubby and a desk,” he says, standing so he can step aside and let her in.

Ciri beams and runs inside, painstakingly evaluating each and every cubby. She places her lunchbox in a cubby for a few seconds before shaking her head and taking it out and trying a different cubby.

Geralt watches her with fondness, his chest welling up as she finally picks a cubby and puts her lunchbox, backpack, and bright pink sweater away in it, her movements methodical in a way that makes him realize she’s copying what he does when he gets home. He thinks about calling out to her, so he can say a proper goodbye, but then she’s running towards the collection of desks to pick out the one she thinks is best for her.

“First time?” Mr. Pankratz asks, his eyes soft and amused when Geralt turns to him.

His cheeks pinken, but Geralt nods. “The office has all my information and it’s in her bag too, but I’m just down the road if anything happens so I can be here immediately,” he says, knowing that there is a strong likelihood that nothing will happen and he will be back at two o’clock for pick up and they’ll do this all again tomorrow, but he feels like he needs to say it. Just in case.

Mr. Pankratz nods. “I’ll keep an eye on her, I promise,” he says, and Geralt gives him a small smile.

“I should get to work,” he finally says after he watches Ciri pick a desk next to a kid with dark skin and fluffy hair. “See you at two, Mr. Pankratz.”

“See you at two, Mr. Rivia,” he says, and Geralt starts to turn when he hears Ciri call for him.

He’s kneeling on the ground before she gets to him, her arms thrown around his neck and her face buried in his shoulder. Geralt wraps his arms around her, his eyes closed as he presses his cheek against her hair. “You be good, alright, cub? I expect a full report at pick up,” he says, trying to keep his voice light but he can hear the small crack in it. He just hopes Ciri doesn’t notice.

“I love you, Dad,” she mumbles into the fabric of his shirt as her arms loop tighter around his neck, and Geralt squeezes her tight.

“I love you too, Ciri,” he says, rubbing her back with one hand. One of his parenting books had said that an adult should never release a hug until a kid was ready, but he knows if he doesn’t go soon, he’ll just scoop her back up and pretend like school was never a possibility.

Geralt can hear and feel Mr. Pankratz kneel behind Ciri before the teacher speaks. “If you’d like, Miss Rivia, I have a notebook that I think would be perfect for putting all the things that happen during the day so you can remember what to tell your dad when he comes to pick you up,” he says, his fingers featherlight over Ciri’s shoulder. “I think he’d really like that, don’t you?” he continues, his smile widening as Ciri pulls away from Geralt slowly.

She nods and wipes at her eyes. “You have to go, so I have things to tell you!” she tells Geralt, as if this is a fact that she has only just learned. Ciri leans in to kiss his cheek before turning to Mr. Pankratz with a determined set to her jaw. “I like pink notebooks best,” she tells him, and he chuckles.

“Let’s see what we can do, yeah?” he says, offering her his hand. Before the two of them completely turn away, Geralt catches his eye and mouths a silent ‘thank you,’ which he responds to with a shake of his head and a smile.

Geralt watches Ciri for a few more seconds before turning down the hallway towards the exit. Just five and a half hours til he can pick her up.

#geralt of rivia #princess cirilla of cintra #cirilla fiona elen riannon #this is not beta'd so sorry not sorry #the witcher #witcher fic #geralt & ciri #kali writes #i apparently have a thing for teacher!jask and dadralt and y'know what let's not try to unpack that today

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jaskierswolf · 3 years

Text

You Set My Heart Ablaze (19/25)

Previous ________________________

Yennefer pulled up to the school gates in her car. It was two weeks into the summer term at Dol Blathanna and three weeks since she’d last seen Ciri. She rolled her eyes at her own sentimentality. She’d always adored Duny and Pavetta’s daughter. She’d been dating Geralt when Pavetta had announced her pregnancy. It had been a strange moment for Yennefer. She’d never thought of herself as particularly maternal and children had never been something she’d craved in life, but when Pavetta had shown them all the photos of the tiny baby growing inside her womb, something had changed irrevocably.

She wanted that.

She’d always thought her career and financial security would be everything for her, but how could it be everything when she was missing a family.

She scoffed. She’d been naive at the time. She’d thought that her relationship with Geralt would last that time, that it would be the time when they didn’t crash and burn. She’d even considered asking him to marry her. She had loved him and they’d been on and off for years already at that point. Geralt and Yennefer, the romantic saga that would put fairytales to shame. Duny and Pavetta had even asked them both to be godparents.

A month later Geralt and Yennefer had split up… again.

But now, seven year old Ciri was bringing back all those old wants and aches. She’d spent a week with the girl in Cidaris before handing her back to Geralt in Posada, just in time for the girl’s birthday. Yennefer had stuck around long enough to help Geralt wrangle Ciri’s classmates for her party and then she’d made her way back home.

Only it didn’t feel like home anymore.

She hated that she was always the one to leave her family behind. She hated that she had almost become an outsider to the most important people in her life. She was terrified that they would move on without her. Triss seemed to rather taken with Eskel, and Yennefer felt a twinge of regret for not introducing her own friends to the family sooner. Geralt’s family had become her own, but Yennefer had never quite managed to allow Geralt into her own life. The only person he had met had been Istredd, and that was because Is had confronted Geralt just after she’d started dating him at University.

She didn’t want to miss out anymore.

She’d already started looking for flats halfway between Cidaris and Posada, she’d even thought about moving her gallery to Vengerberg. Her family had originated from there generations ago and she’d always thought it would be a little on the nose to move there but there was something poetic about it that intrigued her, that was after all why she had chosen Aedirn out of all the galleries offered to her at a young age. A Vengerberg canvas in Aedirn Gallery. The irony had been too good to resist.

Vengerberg was also much closer to Posada and to Ciri.

For now she had to be contented with ferrying back and forth across the Continent whenever she wanted to see Ciri, the girl she had come to love as a daughter.

She groaned when she noticed Jaskier standing amongst the children. Of course it was his turn on after school duty. Nevertheless she stood tall and glided towards the gaggle of children. She’d texted Coën from the petrol station on the way to Posada to let him know that he didn’t need to pick Ciri up from school tonight. Vesemir would be over after work to look after Ciri this evening. Yennefer and Geralt would have the delight of summer parents’ evening. Yennefer was rather looking forward to being on the other side of it for the first time. Poor Buttercup didn’t stand a chance.

Ciri screamed excitably when she saw Yennefer approach and Yennefer soon had her arms full of her daughter as she knelt down to hug Ciri.

“Auntie Yen!” Ciri laughed. “But I only just saw you!”

“I know, Princess,” Yennefer hugged the girl tightly “but I couldn’t stay away.”

“Are you staying this time?” Ciri asked, looking up at her with wide emerald eyes.

Yennefer sighed with a heavy heart. “Not this time, Ciri, but I’m working on it, alright?”

Ciri pouted and scrunched her nose up. “But…”

Yennefer bopped her nose. “Patience, Ciri.”

“Yennefer, what a delight.” Jaskier drawled sarcastically.

Yennefer looked up at the teacher with a smirk. Oh the things she would say if they weren’t in front of the children.

“Buttercup, pleasure as always.” Yennefer returned his sarcasm.

It wasn’t that she hated the teacher, quite the opposite in fact, she actually admired him in some ways but at this point the scathing remarks and barely concealed loathing was just a part of their routine.

“Mr Rivia didn’t mention that you would be picking up Ciri this evening.” Jaskier tilted his head, tossing his fringe away from his eyes. “It really is common courtesy to let the school know.”

“Geralt doesn’t know, Buttercup. It’s called a surprise which requires subtlety and discretion, neither of which you possess.” Yennefer smiled at the teacher.

He glowered at her with blue fire dancing in his eyes.

“Oh I can be very discreet, I’m more discreet than, than a Redanian spy!” Jaskier huffed with his hands on his hips. “Oh no.” His jaw dropped at some unspoken realisation. “No no. No!” He pointed at her accusingly.

“What’s wrong Mr Jaskier?” Ciri asked.

Jaskier blushed and stammered. “Oh, nothing. Nothing’s wrong, little Buttercup.”

“Mr Jaskier!” Ciri gasped. “Are you lying to me?”

Jaskier froze and Yennefer cackled. “Yes, Jaskier, Are you lying to her?”

He stammered unintelligibly before clearing his throat. “Right. Yes, Sorry Ciri. I meant that there is nothing wrong that you need to worry about, I just remembered something.”

Ciri put her hands on her hips, looking a little too much like Jaskier’s mini-me for Yennefer’s liking. “About Auntie Yen?”

Yennefer smirked. She could see the litany of curses Jaskier was saying in his head. He smiled brightly down at Ciri, though Yennefer could see the anger still dancing in his eyes when he glanced back at her. “I had just forgotten it was parents’ evening tonight. Yennefer reminded me, that’s all Ciri, I promise.”

Ciri scowled up at her teacher, scrutinising his words and then broke into her own dazzling smile. “Ok!”

Jaskier visibly relaxed. “So, Yennefer, will you be looking after Ciri tonight?”

Yennefer shook her head. “Not this time, Buttercup. I will be joining Geralt for parents’ evening.”

Jaskier raised an eyebrow at her. “Oh?”

Ciri squealed. “Are you and dad getting back together?”

Jaskier’s face lost all colour. “An… unexpected development.” His voice cracked.

Yennefer sighed. She didn’t want to get Ciri’s hopes up. She had no intention on getting back together with Geralt, she’d just been trying to get a rise out of the teacher, which had absolutely worked. “We can discuss this in the car, Cirilla. Come now.”

It took a while but Yennefer eventually managed to convince Ciri that she was, in fact, not dating Geralt again. The young girl seemed a little disappointed by this.

“He just gets lonely.” She sniffed. “He tries to hide it but I see it, when he doesn’t realise I’m looking.”

“I know, Princess, but Geralt and I,” Yennefer sighed “We weren’t a good match.”

Ciri scrunched her nose up. “I just thought, if Geralt’s my dad and you were dating then… that would make you my mum.”

Yennefer almost crashed the car. As it was she had to pull over, her hands were shaking too much on the steering wheel.

“Auntie Yen?” Ciri asked quietly.

“I wouldn’t mind if you called me mum’” Yennefer took Ciri’s little hand in hers and squeezed tightly. “I can be that, with or without Geralt.”

Ciri grinned and unbuckled her seatbelt before clambering into Yennefer’s lap.

“Ok, Mum.” Ciri mumbled as she hugged Yennefer tightly. Yennefer felt like she couldn’t breathe, like a single breath would shatter the moment and she’d wake up back in Cidaris and this would have all been a dream.

She settled for holding the girl in her arms in blessed silence, holding onto the feeling for as long as she possibly could and praying to the gods that the moment would last forever.

___________________________________

Yennefer had just about managed to find something edible enough to feed Ciri for dinner. She’d been disgusted at the amount of tins in the cupboards compared to the fresh vegetables in the fridge. Luckily, Geralt seemed to have a better stock of frozen vegetables to make up for the lack of fresh produce. Ciri had grumbled about it and said that Coën and Geralt usually let her have pizza and chips.

Yennefer challenged this proclamation with a stare and eventually Ciri mumbled something about pizza and chips being a Friday or weekend treat.

Ciri was now scowling at the plate of chicken and vegetables in front of her. Yennefer rolled her eyes.

“Ciri, you have got to eat something.” She sighed. “You’ve even got chips.”

“I don’t like spinach.” Ciri pouted.

“You ate it in Cidaris.” Yennefer stated cooly. “What’s changed, Princess?”

Ciri scrunched up her nose. “Slimy, tastes funny.”

Yennefer narrowed her eyes at the greenery on Ciri’s plate. “Let me try.”

Ciri pushed the plate towards her and Yennefer took a forkful, it tasted exactly the same as when she’d made it for Ciri back at her flat in Cidaris. She pursed her lips together and told Ciri to close her eyes.

“Why?” Ciri asked.

“The magic only works if you have your eyes shut, Princess.” Yennefer said calmly, allowing herself a small smile when she noticed Ciri trying to peek from behind her hands. “Eyes shut, Ciri.”

“Fine!” The young girl huffed.

Yennefer moved the spinach around on her plate and whispered a low fake incantation under her breath, just loud enough so the girl could hear. Ciri giggled and wiggled excitably in her seat.

“Now, Ciri. You must understand that Geralt can’t do this and it takes a lot of power so I can’t do it every meal time, alright?” Yennefer stated firmly, her hand hovering over Ciri’s plate.

“Yes, Mum.” Ciri drawled and Yennefer knew if the girl’s eyes were open she’d be rolling them.

“Good, now open your eyes and eat your dinner.” Yennefer said, pulling her hand away just as Ciri opened her eyes.

Ciri wolfed down her dinner without another word and Yennefer let out a small sigh of relief. After dinner, Yennefer plopped Ciri down in front of the TV to watch that pony show that she was so fond of, Geralt’s influence no doubt.

She sat down beside Ciri, scrolling through her social media on her phone. She shared a few posts from upcoming artists that she wanted to promote and tapped out a few biting remarks on replies that were from sensitive assholes who didn’t like that a woman was successful in their industry. She vaguely tried to follow the plot of the episode that Ciri was watching but she’d never understood the talking ponies.

She looked up when she heard keys in the door.

“Dad!” Ciri jumped up and ran to the front door. “Uncle Vesemir!”

Geralt picked Ciri up as she jumped at him. “Hi Princess, good day at school?” He asked before noticing Yennefer lounging on the sofa. “Yen?”

“Geralt.” She smiled and made her way across the room. “Vesemir.”

“Hello Yennefer.” The older man nodded.

Geralt shifted Ciri into one arm and pulled Yennefer in for a hug.

“I didn’t know you were visiting?” He asked gently.

She kissed his cheek and the pulled away to ruffle Ciri’s hair. “I was hoping to join you for parents’ evening. She’s my goddaughter too. I want to be a bigger part of her life, Geralt.”

Geralt scowled and glanced at Vesemir. “Yen.” He sighed with a sad smile. “I don’t think—”

“Not like that.” She swatted his arm. “I’m doing this for Ciri, Geralt. Not for you.”

Geralt visibly relaxed. “Right.”

“Mum can do magic!” Ciri shouted, a little too loudly judging by the way Geralt winced.

He raised an eyebrow at Yennefer. “Mum?”

“Obviously, Dad you never told me Mum was magic!” Ciri pouted.

Geralt hummed and put Ciri down on the floor, kneeling next to her. “Well she never told me, cub.”

Ciri covered her mouth with her hands, her emerald eyes went wide. “Was it meant to be a secret?” She mumbled behind her hands.

Yennefer shook her head. “Not at all, your father just never noticed.”

Geralt grumbled.

“Only the wisest of people realised, little sparrow.” Vesemir chuckled and moved further into the living room. “Ciri, are you going to show me what you’ve learnt on that instrument of yours? Geralt says Priscilla has been very impressed with how quickly you’ve picked it up.”

Ciri grinned and ran to the corner of the room the pick up the small ukulele case. “Mr Jaskier helps me during lunch sometimes! He says that practice makes perfect and even Mr Jaskier needs to keep practicing to learn new things all the time!”

“Does he now?” Yennefer smirked at Geralt who had suddenly gone very still.

“Yup!” Ciri grinned and pulled out a small plastic whistle. “This helps to make sure the strings sound right.” She explained and then started to blow on the whistle, and plucking at the strings of the small instrument.

“That’s very clever, little sparrow. Show me, how do I hold it?” Vesemir asked warmly.

And just like that the old man had Ciri’s full focus.

Geralt leant against the wall with his arms cross. His hair was pulled into a messy bun at the back of his head today, not his usual look but one that was rather handsome. Yennefer felt a pang of regret and yearning at the loss of their relationship but it passed quickly. They’d both moved on for a good reason, and things were going well with Istredd, slowly but well.

“Why are you here, Yen?” Geralt asked quietly.

Yennefer rolled her eyes. “I already told you that, Geralt.”

He shook his head. “Nothing is ever so simple with you.”

“Can’t you just trust me for once?” Yennefer asked, bristling a little at his accusation.

He was right, of course, she did have an ulterior motive for being here. She wanted to watch his interactions with the teacher, perhaps plant a few seeds of jealousy so they’d have to act on their feelings. This was her first plan. Jaskier knew that Yennefer was Geralt’s ex so he would no doubt be envious to see them co-parenting Ciri. She just needed to make sure she didn’t overdo it and put the teacher off.

If this failed then she had another idea. She wondered whether Jaskier knew that Geralt was attracted to men. Geralt didn’t exactly radiate queer vibes and passed very well as a straight man when it suited him. Therefore she’d been in contact with another one of Geralt’s exes, an older man that he’d dated briefly when they’d been broken up. Regis and Geralt’s relationship hadn’t ended badly and the two were still friends. They didn’t see each other very often due to work commitments but they had the kind of friendship that lasted regardless of time and distance. Regis had been delighted to hear about Geralt’s little infatuation with Jaskier and had agreed to help out should it be required.

But that was Plan B. Plan A was tonight.

He narrowed his eyes and then nodded with a low hum.

“We have about an hour before we need to leave. I have the last slot with Jaskier. Vesemir will be here to put Ciri to bed.” Geralt explained.

Yennefer nodded and pulled her friend over to the living room where Ciri was patiently trying to teach Vesemir how to play a nursery rhyme on her ukulele. “Come on, White Wolf, what have I missed?”

______________________

“You don’t have to do this, Yen.” Geralt grumbled as they strode into reception together.

Yennefer rolled her eyes. Geralt had said the same thing at least a dozen times on the drive to the school. At least he’d had the common sense to let her drive instead of going in that disgusting truck. “I want to do this, Geralt, and your whining is not going to change my mind so shut up and try not to look like I’m leading you to the gallows.”

“Feels like it.” He muttered.

At this rate her eyes would be stuck in the back of her head. She linked her arm with his as they entered the foyer. Triss greeted them with a wave.

“Yen!” She called happily. “Geralt.”

“Hi Triss.” Yennefer smiled at her friend, a little envious of her easy going nature. There wasn’t a single person that didn’t adore Triss, she just had this way about her that made you want to be her friend, made you want to be better. Yennefer was not immune to this. It was one of the reasons they had remained friends for so many years.

“Do we need to sign in?” Geralt asked, straight to the point as always.

Triss passed him the register. “Just like before.”

Geralt hummed thoughtfully. “Hopefully not.” He gave Triss a sheepish smile.

“No.” She agreed with a laugh. “I would really prefer it if we didn’t have to call the police.”

Yennefer frowned as she looked between her ex and her best friend. “The police?” She asked haughtily.

“A misunderstanding.” Geralt grumbled. “If you’re staying the night I’ll tell you later.”

“Staying the night?” Triss asked, taking back the register with a raised eyebrow.

“School hall?” Geralt asked, ignoring Triss’s look of surprise.

“Umm. Yes. That’s right.” Triss was still eyeballing them.

“I’ll text you later.” Yennefer murmured and followed Geralt towards the main hall.

There were tables stationed all around the room, just like she remembered from her time as a teachers. Fuck she hated Parents’ Evening. It had been hell on earth. She caught Istredd’s eyes across the room and gave him a small smile. She was grateful that Geralt had book the last slot of the evening, it meant that there was a chance she could see Istredd when he was done. Luckily it was a Friday which meant that even if she didn’t get to see him tonight, there was always the weekend.

“Ah, Geralt!” Jaskier waved them over with a smile as another couple stood up to leave. “Yennefer.” He added more cooly.

Yennefer frowned. Triss and Eskel hadn’t been lying when they’d said that both Geralt and Jaskier had stopped moping around, but she hadn’t been expecting Jaskier to act so friendly towards Geralt, especially after weeks of supposedly avoiding him.

What the fuck was going on?

She glanced over at Geralt to see his reaction.

The man was fucking blushing.

“Mr Pankratz.” He shook Jaskier’s hand, smiling far too fondly for Yennefer’s liking.

Now, many people said that Geralt Rivia was hard to read. He had a habit of not saying much, especially when he was feeling overwhelmed, but Yennefer had always found him to be an open book. His face didn’t hide much and she had learnt to read even the smallest twitch of a smile dancing on his lips. So the way he smiled so openly at Jaskier told Yennefer everything she needed to know.

“Geralt,” She whispered in his ear, gripping his arm tightly. “Tell me, exactly how long have you two been fucking?”

Geralt growled and pulled away from her. “What the fuck, Yen?”

Jaskier laughed nervously. “Geralt? What’s going on?”

Geralt’s face was like thunder. “Nothing. Right Yen?” He asked pointedly, glancing over at Tissaia’s table.

Ah yes. Tissaia was currently headmistress, she’d heard all about that from Triss and Is.

“Oh no one is supposed to know!” She said a little too loudly.

“Shut up, Yen.” Geralt grumbled.

“Know what?” Jaskier asked. Geralt’s eyes flashed to Jaskier dangerously. “Oooh. That. Right. Yes.”

Yennefer smiled sweetly at the two idiots in front of her. “So, how long?”

“How long have I been teaching Ciri?” Jaskier asked pointedly.

Yennefer smirked but decided to it go. They were here to discuss her daughter after all. “Ciri, right yes of course. Since September I assume.”

“That’s right.” Jaskier said firmly. “The whole class has made excellent progress with learning sign language, one of my Buttercups is deaf,” He explained “but young Ciri is leaps and bounds ahead of the rest of them. She has the amazing ability to absorb new information and a wonderful dedication to her class work and friends.”

Yennefer smiled, genuinely for the first time since they’d entered the hall. She knew Ciri was special but hearing Jaskier confirm it warmed her usually icy heart.

“I am concerned that she’s throwing herself into her work instead of learning to process the trauma in her life.” Jaskier added. “Did you think anymore about what I said, Geralt?”

Geralt nodded. “I’ve been looking. I just…” He paused and frowned as he tried to gather his words. “I don’t know how to talk to Ciri about it.” He admitted.

“About what?” Yennefer asked. “Maybe I can help?”

Jaskier looked at Geralt with a tilt of his head. Geralt gave a small nod.

Yennefer scoffed, apparently they were communicating non-verbally now as well. What a fucking delight!

“I suggested that Ciri might benefit from some therapy.” Jaskier said quietly. “She’s been through, gods, she’s been through so much.”

“But she’s fine.” Yennefer interjected.

“On the surface” Jaskier agreed “but we don’t know, we can’t know, how much she’s bottling up underneath.”

“It’s a good idea, Yen.” Geralt said softly.

Yennefer sighed. She hated it but they were right. She remembered her own therapist from her childhood, they weren’t happy memories and the thought of Ciri having to go through the same thing made her want to scream, but in the end it had helped her. It was just a difficult process with no clear step by step journey, some days it felt like the therapy just made it worse before it got better again.

“Yen?” Geralt took her hand and squeezed gently.

“I’ll talk to her” She agreed “but the decision is hers.”

“That’s all we can ask.” Jaskier smiled sadly and then immediately brightened up. “Pris tells me her ukulele lessons are going wonderfully! She might even want to consider getting a guitar soon, it will be a little difficult for her to hold an adult guitar but there are smaller sizes that she can look at, it will be more challenging than the ukulele. There are six strings rather the four on the ukulele. My lute has thirteen so we don’t recommend that one for a while.”

“Not everyone wants to learn every stringed instrument in existence, Buttercup.” Yennefer said dryly.

“Which is a tragedy!” Jaskier laughed. “And I’ll have you know, I bought a flute the other day. I’m branching out.”

Yennefer smirked. “Practicing your blowing skills?”

Jaskier raised an eyebrow at her with a playful smile. “Oh, darling, I don’t need any practice with that.”

Geralt cleared his throat and blushed vividly. “Let’s stay on topic shall we?”

Jaskier and Yennefer, surprisingly, laughed in unison at Geralt’s discomfort.

Well wasn’t that an unexpected development?

Perhaps Jaskier wasn’t as bad as she thought. They shared a smile before Jaskier delved deeper into Ciri’s progress and work at school. _____________________

#the witcher #geraskier #modern au #fireman!geralt #teacher!jaskier #Yennefer of Vengerberg #yennefer #Geralt #Jaskier #you set my heart ablaze #wolfie's witcher writing

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hosts-of-valyria · 2 years

Text

Banishment for Robert Baratheon from Westeros through all Houses and all people

Ciri shows the villain. Ciri Vengerberg-Targaryen vs. Robert Baratheon

Ashara Dayne, Rhaegar Targaryen, Cersei Lannister, Elia Martell, Lyanna Stark, Yennefer Stark-Vengerberg, Cirilla Vengerberg-Targaryen, Sansa Targaryen, Jon Stark-Vengerberg, Geralt Rivia-Targaryen and Daenerys Rivia-Targaryen speak out against Robert Baratheon and pronounce him guilty for high-treason, violence, usurpation, Rebellion, warmongering and war crimes

"Women are not allowed to wield a sword, cruel brood, you have a black heart. You are one of the cruel dragons through legitimation. I kill you", Robert roared drunk at Ciri and grabbed his hammer and went to her. Geralt and Jon laughed out loud and drew their swords and blocked his way with Yennefer and Daenerys.

Tywin looked at Robert, "madness and stupidity in him."

The swords sang metallic and Geralt crossed weapons with Robert and Jon gave Robert a headbutt that he backed away with a broken nose.

Ciri looked at him, "Unfortunately you did the math without my two dads and mums."

Robert backed away from Yennefer, Daenerys, Geralt, Jon and Ciri. Dany and Yennefer grabbed Robert hard by the neck and their fists hit him in the face, "come here mothefucker."

Ciri stood between Jon and Geralt drew Zireael and put it on Robert's neck as Yennefer and Daenerys grabbed him by the neck, "I'll show you how cruel I can be when you call me that again. Then the brood of the tyrant will show you, as you call me, what she is capable of. Then I'll show you Cintra's anger.

The name is Zireael. It means swallow. You just have to say one word and I'll cut you so deep that you never have to shave again and you probably never shaved. Like Jon and Geralt, I'm trained to kill monsters like you.

A blind man sees what a sick wanker he is. I have right about him. He calls me brood of the tyrant. He calls Yennefer cruel witch. He calls Daenerys dragon cunt. He calls Geralt Mutant. He calls Jon Dragonspawn. He calls Jaskier a fagot and not a real man. Robert Baratheon believes he can influence gay men like Renly better than his brother Stannis because gays are not real men in Robert Baratheon's eyes."

Robert roared drunk, "I smash your face! I will kill you all", Jon and Geralt pushed him to the ground.

"My name is Cirilla, you little son of a bitch! Robert Baratheon rebelled when Rickard and Brandon Stark went to Starfall because Ashara Dayne was pregnant, Elia Martell ended her marriage to Rhaegar and Elia and Lyanna fell in love and the two women fell in love with Rhaegar when he destroyed the Iron Throne.

Yennefer and I have been seeing it since we first saw him and he started the feud. Daenerys, Geralt and Jon see it. Robert Baratheon deserves death since Rickard Stark sold his daughter to him.

I do not know where the Problem is Lyanna Stark is right about him, she always was, it's more than obvious what a monster he is she saw it first! He! He! He! Like Lyanna, Elia, Cersei, Daenerys, Triss, Tissaia, Margaery, Rhaenys, Yennefer, Myrcella and Sansa, I demand banishment for Robert Baratheon. I demand that he lose all claim to Storm's End and that the name Baratheon be taken away from him. Banishment from Westeros. The money he spends on whores is given to his children whom he owes maintenance. He attacked and hit me in the face. He said I have to get married politically and he declared war when I refused and he said I have to poop children. Ugly, smelly realms, by the way, Robert Baratheon!"

Catelyn, Olenna, Oberyn, Arya, Gendry, Mya, Tywin, Renly, Stannis, Jaime, Aegon, Myrcella, Joffrey, Lysa, Rhaella, Aerys, Rhaenys, Margaery, Lyanna, Elia, Cersei, Rhaegar, Ashara applauded loudly, "yes girl", Eddard looked at Robert, "I've always followed you without a second thought, I saved your shit several times and you did nothing. Jon Arryn spoke to you and you did nothing. No longer; it's over. We're no longer friends, Robert. You were never a true friend. Do your shit alone! You can go to Asshai, to the other end of the world, there you can work, you will Westeros! Leave us in peace!"

Jon Arryn looked at Robert, "a ship is waiting for you in the harbor. I no longer take responsibility for you. You can leave."

All people looked angrily at Robert.

Jaskier, Triss, Yennefer, Tissaia, Jon, Geralt and Daenerys smiled broadly at Ciri, "Pavetta, Emhyr and Calanthe would be very proud of you when they could see you Lion Cub."

Ciri smiled.

"He hit Cersei Lannister, Lyanna Stark, Ashara Dayne, Elia Martell, Yennefer and me. He broke my jaw.

He's evil through and through. Banishment! Treason. Scandal. Now he will see what he gets out of it. You call Dothraki savages. And you are not one of us, you're not human. Hatred and envy. This beast knows no morals. No empathy or humanity. Erase him from history until there is no trace of him left. Anyone who doesn't look like you is an enemy to you. Crimes against humanity. Nothing excuses this act.

High-treason. He's lying, ice cold and brutal. Hightraitor! Agitator. Aggressor. War criminal. Warmonger. Bastard. Usurper. Misogynist. Monster", said Ciri to Robert Baratheon and pointed at him, "Let him run. Let him live. He is not part of us. Don't believe him a word. Chase him away. We will not forget this crime. There are worse things than death.

Do not forget what we cannot forgive and he is not one of us. He has never been one of us. He is not part of us. Not our kind. Someone once lied to us. Now we're not so blind for we knew he would do what he's done. And we know that he'll never be one of us. He is not one of us. Deception. Disgrace. Banishment."

"Let him Run. Let me live. He is not one of us", said Geralt, Daenerys, Lyanna, Elia, Rhaegar, Tywin and Cersei.

"High-treason", said Yennefer to Robert.

A man who wants war: The justice of the rebellion, Thousands died

Yennefer was standing on a balcony of the Red Keep looking over King's Landing in the evening, "Prince Rhaegar loved his Lady Lyanna and his Princess Elia and they loved him. The dornish Viper loved her She-wolf and she loved her. Thousands died because of the Usurper of Storm's End because he doesn't understand a no, great shit, great story Robert Baratheon a loser in life", thought Yennefer and went to Jon who was looking for swords and Uniforms.

"Thousands of people died. They died. They died. They died because of Robert Baratheon", thought Ciri on Dragonstone as she looked at the big map of Westeros, Myrcella in Casterly Rock as she looked over the Sunset Sea, Rhaenys in Sunspear as she went through the Water Gardens, Sansa in Winterfell as she stood in the Godswood, "Great. Great shit", Ciri, Rhaenys, Sansa and Myrcella angrily tossed china into the corner on Dragonstone, in Sunspear, Winterfell and Casterly Rock.

Daenerys was in a bathtub angrily, when Geralt sat down next to her, "Hi", Dany smiled, "Hi."

•He is not needed•

Lyanna Stark, Jon Stark-Vengerberg and Yennefer Stark-Vengerberg vs. Robert Baratheon

"Oh love is so sweet you little son of a bitch. You saw beauty but not the character. Unfortunately, you are not needed Robert Baratheon", said Yennefer and Lyanna in a heavy northern accent.

Robert Baratheon puked alcohol on the floor, "I kill you all. Dornish bitch, northern whore, dragon cunt, the mutant, Rhaegar's brood, lion cunt, the cruel witch, the brood of the tyrant and everyone else. Starks, Lannisters, Martells, Targaryens. Murder clears my head."

"Have fun to try it you little junk", said Rhaella, Aerys, Daenerys, Sansa, Oberyn, Tywin, Catelyn, Lysa, Rhaenys, Arya, Ashara, Cersei, Jaime, Rhaegar, Lyanna, Elia, Yennefer, Geralt and Jon.

Eddard and Jon Arryn laughed and waved as Robert went away, "farewell Robert Baratheon. We don't want to see you again. Go! You can go; as far away as possible. And never come back. In the port of the capital there is a ship waiting for you. It will take you to Asshai; there you will be for the rest of your life. There you can work."

Rhaella, Sansa, Rhaenys slapped him in the face.

Catelyn, Lysa, Ashara, Ciri, Cersei and Elia spat in Robert's face goodbye as he walked away.

Yennefer and Lyanna shoved wine into Robert's hand, "you want alcohol, there you have it Usurper. Nobody wants to see you again Bastard. A thousand deaths are not enough for what you deserve Monster. Nobody wants you. Go and never come again or you're dead. Die lonely Robert Baratheon", said Lyanna and Yennefer.

The people laughed aloud over Robert as went away.

#yennefer and jon #anya chalotra #kit harington #lyanna stark #robert baratheon #mark addy

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thearvariblues · 4 years

Text

The Bard And The Wolf - Chapter Five

(AKA Geraskier in the Metal Band AU you didn’t know you needed)

AKA me desperately trying to catch up my Tumblr with what’s already been posted to AO3. ;)

The masterpost for this fic can be found HERE.

5 – No Firstborns Needed

Even though the food Geralt had brought him certainly helped, it still took Jaskier a significant amount of time to recover from the hangover. He had to admit it to himself – he wasn’t getting any younger. There used to be times when he would drink all night and be completely alright in the morning…

Nah, that was a lie. His hangovers always used to be hell, but this was worse than ever.

He was mostly alright, though, when his phone rang in the afternoon.

He answered it without even looking at the screen.

“I’m listening,” he said.

“Uhm. Erm. Hi,” a girl’s voice replied. “This is… This is Ciri.”

“Ciri!” Jaskier beamed. “How are you? I was gonna call you, I swear, I wanted to thank you for sharing the video, and also for not telling on me to your dad… Oh, no, I mean, I probably shouldn’t be thanking you for lying to your father...”

“Didn’t lie to him. Just didn’t tell him,” Ciri said.

“That’s not making it any better,” Jaskier murmured. “Anyway! You were calling me for a reason, I guess?”

“Yeah, yeah. I just wanted to ask… Well, since you’re definitely staying, because the fans really love you, I… I mean… Would you like to go shopping with me?”

“Shopping?” Jaskier blinked. “Oh, you mean for some clothes to fit my new metal singer image?”

“Yes. I know all the good places. Mom takes me with her all the time. I know where they have the best T-shirts and pants and–”

“Yeah, sure, I’d love to go! Wait… Does your father know about it?”

“Does he have to?”

“Well, I’d like to stay alive, so yes, he kind of does.”

“Right. So I’ll… ask him and then call you back?”

“Perfect,” Jaskier smiled. “And what about Renfri? Is she coming too?”

“She said she’d rather cut off her right hand with a pocket knife.”

“I’ll take that as a no.”

“That’s definitely a no. Right, I’m gonna go and ask dad. Might take a few minutes, though. He’s working, and when he’s working, it takes him a while to start focusing on anything else.”

“That’ fine. Yeah. Right. See you soon. Well, hear you soon.”

“Bye, Jaskier.”

Geralt didn’t mind Ciri going with Jaskier. He even called Jaskier himself to tell him that. (And also to tell him that Ciri is allowed to buy something, too, within reason, and that he would give her his credit card, in case she wanted something she couldn’t afford to buy with her pocket money… Jaskier couldn’t help but think it was incredibly cute.)

So Jaskier went shopping with Ciri.

Two hours later, he had five large bags of clothes and his credit card was weeping silently in his wallet. Oh, dear, he would have to take some new students. At least two. Maybe even three. He didn’t want to, but he would have to.

Who’d have thought black clothes were so damn expensive?! (Except he absolutely didn’t buy only black clothes, quite the opposite, in fact.)

Right, right. So it might not have been absolutely necessary to buy those black leather pants and that leather jacket… But Jaskier had wanted a real leather jacket for a while, okay?

“So, am I now officially ready to take my place in the band?” he asked Ciri. He’d dropped the bags off at his flat and he and the girl were currently walking to Kaer Morhen’s rehearsal. Ciri was carrying a little bag with a black-and-purple striped dress that Jaskier wasn’t sure Geralt would approve of, but Jaskier definitely approved. It looked so good on the girl. It was stylish, but not revealing, a perfect dress for a kid her age…

“You’re more than ready,” Ciri said. “You look great.”

Oh, yes, so Jaskier had definitely found the time to change while he was at home. He was now wearing tight black pants, a dark purple T-shirt and a black brocade vest that, he had to admit, did wonders for his figure. His waist looked slimmer, his shoulders broader… Yeah, he looked great as hell.

“All thanks to you, mylady,” he grinned.

“Hush. You chose most of the clothes yourself. You just needed someone who would make you actually buy them. Like the coat.”

Oh, yes, the coat. The coat that was currently spread on his bed. The coat that had already managed to become one of Jaskier’s most prized possessions.

The beautiful, steel blue, double breasted, clearly Victorian era-inspired thing cost more than half of Jaskier’s monthly income, and it was love at first sight. He tried to be be strong, tried to resist, tried to remind himself that he was saving money so he could buy his own flat instead of renting it… But then Ciri saw him drooling at the coat and said: “Oh my God, you have to try it on!”

And so he did. And he was lost.

“It’s not exactly… what a metal singer should wear, is it? I mean, the color is so… light? Too light,” he had tried to protest, stroking the fabric lovingly.

“Don’t be silly. Female singers wear light colors all the time. Even mum did!”

“Mum?”

“Yennefer? Hello?”

“Yeah. Of course. Of course. Way to win the fans’ hearts, by pretending to be her.”

“Nobody’s gonna think you’re her, stupid. Buy it. I bet dad’s gonna love it. It’s one of his favorite colors.”

“I’ve never seen him wear anything but black.”

“I didn’t say his favorite to wear. He just… likes it.”

And it shouldn’t have been the last impulse Jaskier needed to buy the fucking thing, but it kind of was.

“I still think you should have bought the golden jacket, too.”

“Sorry, sweetie, but even the coat was a bit too much. The jacket? I could never afford that.”

That beautiful, gorgeous, amazing golden jacket with V-shaped stripes on the front. Oh, yes, he would kill for that beauty, but he wasn’t ready to eat dry rice for the next two months.

“Too bad. You looked beautiful in it.”

“I know, Ciri, I know,” Jaskier sighed.

They were nearly at the door. Nearly at the rehearsal room. But then Jaskier heard fast footsteps behind them and he (stupid, stupid, stupid!) decided to turn his head.

“Oh, hello,” said a voice Jaskier never wanted to hear again. “If it isn’t the useless wannabe singer! And who’s that? She’s a little too young to be your girlfriend, isn’t she?”

“Who the hell is he?” Ciri muttered.

“Valdo Marx,” Jaskier growled. “What do you want?”

“Oh, nothing. I just wanted to say hello!” Valdo grinned a crooked grin. “I saw your video. Man, I’ve never seen something so ridiculous. Have you been kicked out, yet? You’d deserve to be kicked out for that shit!”

“Since there was no bitch around who would be horny for my place in the band… Nope, still in, sorry.”

“And what about that terrible song?” Valdo continued, as if Jaskier didn’t say anything. “Toss a coin to your whatever. I’m not surprised Dandelions had to get rid of you! Ugh, appalling.”

“Excuse me?!” Ciri exclaimed and took a step in Valdo’s direction.

“Ciri. No. He’s not worth it,” Jaskier said, stopping her. “Valdo. May I introduce you to Cirilla, Geralt’s daughter and a former fan of Dandelions, now a devoted fan of Kaer Morhen?”

“And a fan of Jaskier,” Ciri added.

“Geralt? As in the singer of Kaer Morhen?” Valdo snorted. “Oh, dear. You really did suck his cock, didn’t you? Since he’s borrowed you his daughter. Has he fucked you yet? You’ve always said he was a moron, I’m sure you’re really desperate for him to fuck you.”

Jaskier’s eyes went wide, and this time he took a step towards the man.

“What did you say you bitch?!” he growled.

A hand grabbed his shoulder from behind.

Jaskier turned, kind of expecting to see Geralt there, but no. It was Lambert, a smirk on his lips and murder in his eyes.

“Relax, sweetie,” he said. “I’ll take care of it.”

“And you are?” Valdo asked.

“Lambert. Funny you don’t remember me, because you spent weeks trying to get in my pants when you wanted to sleep your way into Kaer Morhen. I ruined it for you by being so annoyingly and boringly heterosexual. Don’t worry, though, even if I was gay, you’d stand no chance.”

“Burn, baby, burn,” Jaskier smirked.

“Now, Valdo,” Lambert continued, his smirk growing a little wider. “My friend Jaskier here might be ready to cut your throat, but I would never let him.”

“Thank… you?” Valdo blinked.

“And if Geralt heard you were mean to his beloved daughter, well… He’s a calm man, I mean, he tries to be. But I don’t think he would remain calm if he heard. You know what they say, demons run when a good man goes to war.”

“Hey. I understood that reference!” Jaskier blinked.

“Shush. I’m in the middle of threatening here,” Lambert said. “Valdo. Valdo, Valdo, Valdo. Trust me. You wouldn’t like what would happen if Geralt heard about this.”

Valdo visibly paled.

“He… he doesn’t need to know, does he?”

“No, no, of course not,” Lambert nodded. “But then again… There’s still me.”

“You?”

“Me,” Lambert grinned. “My dear Valdo. There’s one thing you need to understand about me. I am not a calm man, I am not a good man, but I am also not someone who would just simply cut your throat. No. If you show your ugly face near our rehearsal room again, I am going to rip off your cock, fuck you with it, and then use it to gag you while I cut you open and remove your organs in alphabetical order. Are we clear?”

Valdo’s face was completely void of blood now. All the guy was able to do was a single short nod.

“Good. I’m glad for that,” Lambert said. “Why are you still here, then?”

With all the dignity he had left (which was, well… none), Valdo Marx turned and power-walked away without another word.

“Wow. That was awesome!” Ciri beamed.

“I had it,” Jaskier growled, looking at Lambert.

“I know. You were absolutely ready to cut his throat. Or… throttle him,” Lambert shrugged. “But Geralt doesn’t like that. He always tells me, use your words first, there’s still time for stabbing later. So I do it. I threaten, and then, if it doesn’t help, I stab.”

“And do you… stab a lot?” Jaskier asked, fearing the answer.

“Nah,” Lambert grinned. “But fist fights and bar brawls, well… Those do tend to happen.”

“That’s a relief.”

“I bet. Everything alright, Ciri?”

“Absolutely,” the girl nodded.

“Now, Jaskier. Saw your video. Did you seriously call me a dick?”

“Well,” Jaskier smirked. “You are kind of a dick.”

“Guilty as charged,” Lambert grinned. “Let’s go in. Eskel hates it when we’re late.”

They weren’t late, but someone else was. Twenty minutes late, to be more precise. And that someone was Geralt.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” he said in reply to Eskel’s disapproving glance, closing the door behind him. “I was working, forgot time existed.”

“So… as usual?” Renfri smirked.

“Hush, Renfri,” Geralt glared. “It only happens once a month.”

“More like once a week,” Renfri replied.

“Thrice,” Ciri said.

“Did I ask for your opinions?” Geralt growled.

“I’m… I’m sorry,” Jaskier peeped, raising his hand. “I don’t wanna sound like an idiot, really, but… What is it that you do? I mean… your job?”

“Oh, dad’s a blacksmith, and a jeweler!” Ciri announced. “He makes those cool iron monsters and wrought iron fences and amazing rings and necklaces and earrings. Look, he made me this!”

She showed Jaskier her necklace – a beautiful swallow made of silver.

“It’s lovely,” Jaskier smiled. “Wow. Really… Wow. Geralt, what do you want for making a cool necklace for me, too? I’m kind of broke now, I have to admit, but I could offer you my firstborn, if you wanted.”

“I’m kind of glad you asked,” Geralt said. “Because that’s precisely the work I got so lost in.”

“Excuse me?”

Geralt reached into his jacket pocket and took out a pendant on a silver chain.

“I made this pendant for every member of the band. A common symbol, you might call it. A white wolf. Well, a silver wolf, really.”

“Like in the logo of Kaer Morhen? Seriously?” Jaskier blinked.

“Seriously,” Geralt smiled. “And this one is yours.”

“Mine?!”

“You are the member of the band, aren’t you?” Geralt said, raising his eyebrow. “Consider this a welcome gift. No firstborns needed.”

Jaskier raised his hand to gently touch the pendant.

“You’re kidding, right? You gotta be kidding me. How many hours did you spend making that?!”

“Not as many as you probably think,” Geralt chuckled. “I mean it. Take it. It’s yours.”

“I… Thanks, Geralt,” Jaskier beamed and took the necklace from Geralt’s hand. “It’s beautiful. But now I’m realizing… Cirilla!”

“Wow. You sounded just like dad,” the girl said. “And yeah. I knew. That’s why I wouldn’t let you buy any kind of necklace. Sorry?”

“You should be ashamed for lying to me like that,” Jaskier smirked, fastening the necklace around his neck. “How do I look?”

“Gorgeous as always,” Renfri smiled. “Welcome to the band, Jaskier. Officially.”

Eskel cleared his throat.

“Yeah, welcome. There are a few rules you need to know about before you start. Rule number one – if we say the rehearsal is starting at… let’s say seven...”

“And here we go,” Lambert smirked. “Relax, Eskel, we’ll begin in a minute. Jaskier! Have you, by chance, managed to finish that stupidly catchy song that’s been stuck in my head for… five hours now?”

“Toss A Coin?” Jaskier beamed. “Well, I have, actually! Turns out horrible hangovers are surprisingly inspirational. Would you like to hear?”

“Oh, yes!” Ciri said.

“Sure thing,” Renfri nodded. “Hey! We could even squeeze it into the setlist for the next gig! Try it out. See how people like it!”

“You think Geralt will be able to learn a song in a week?” Lambert smirked. “Ouch! That really hurt, Geralt!”

“I hope it did,” Geralt growled.

“You realize that you’re expecting me to learn several songs during the very same week?” Jaskier asked.

“Yeah, but you’re… clever,” Lambert smirked. “Ouch! Eskel, tell Geralt to stop hitting me!”

Eskel raised his drumstick.

“If you don’t stop talking so we can start, I’m gonna help him!”

“I feel very unloved right now,” Lambert muttered.

“You are very unloved right now, I think,” Renfri chuckled.

“Play us the song, Jask,” Geralt said. “Quick. I think Eskel is about to have a heart attack. Ow. Fuck you, Eskel, I’m on your side!”

“Shut up, then,” Eskel growled. “Jaskier. Take your guitar and fucking play.”

“You know, nobody ever told me playing in a metal band was so risky,” Jaskier said. “If I knew… No, no, no, don’t hit the poor bard! I’m playing, see? See? Now, how did it… Oh, yes. When a humble bard…”

“So unrealistic,” Lambert whispered, and Geralt chuckled.

“Poetic license,” he muttered.

Jaskier winked and kept on singing.

Oh, how he already loved this band of idiots.

Late that night, already in bed, Jaskier opened his Instagram. He knew he probably shouldn’t. Blue light and all that jazz, right? But he was used to browsing his social media before going to sleep, and hey, he never had any trouble sleeping afterwards. So he opened it, only to find out that he had been tagged in a pic… by Renfri?

He looked at the pic. And blinked. And blinked again.

He hadn’t noticed her even taking the photo, but she must have, somehow.

It was of him and Geralt, face to face, both holding their microphones and apparently singing, eyes closed, faces intense with concentration. It must have been in the second half of the rehearsal, because Geralt had already taken off his jacket. He was only in his absolutely inappropriate tight black T-shirt, and it took all of Jaskier’s willpower not to look at those muscular arms. He scrolled to the caption.

Because it seems that everybody wants to see those two morons on a pic together, I give you: the mighty White Wolf and @jaskierthebard working on Toss a Coin To Your Witcher. And let me tell you – they don’t just look good together, they also sound AMAZING. I can’t wait to play this song live!

#kaermorhen #workinghard #rehearsing #thebardandthewolf

Jaskier rolled his eyes.

The Bard and the Wolf? Seriously?

Yeah, that was never going to catch on…

Continue with Chapter Six

#geraskier #geralt x jaskier #jaskier x geralt #the bard and the wolf #the witcher fanfiction #witcher fanfiction #my fics

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ficsandcatsandficsandcats · 4 years

Note

eyyyyo punk!au girl’s night? (i’ll leave it up to you whether this takes place pre or post sam :3)

Fandom: The Witcher Pairing: Punk!AU Friendships Word Count: 1,425 Rating: G Taglist: @heroics-and-heartbreak @whatevermonkey @mycat-is-mylove @mynamesoundslikesherlock @kemmastan @magic-multicolored-miracle @writingstudent @mlleecrivaine @coffee-and-stories @amirahiddleston @ultracolorfulnerdcollection @astouract @your-not-invisible-to-me @daydreamer-in-training @morelikebyesexual a/n: Have some pre (but only barely pre) Sam girls night lady love (non-euphemistic)

Aevryn’s fingers trailed the stack of albums as if sensing the right one. Yennefer and Y/N watched with bemused expressions as she frowned and shook her head.

“No, none of these are right. I wanted to go old school but I guess we’ll go digital instead,” she sighed dramatically as she pulled her phone out. Moments later music began to play and she rejoined her friends, sinking into the couch.

“Pizza is on its way,” you announced.

“The mask I brought is in the fridge firming up a bit,” Yennefer said.

“Looks like girl’s night is officially underway!” Aevryn declared, “Finally time for the four of us to get together without any of our respective spouses mooning over us or getting into fights with each other.

“Four?” Yennefer asked. Aevryn’s eyes widened and she pointed at your stomach. You rested your hands against it, still not used to the feeling of your child shifting around inside of you though before long she’d be out and in the world.

“I don’t know if she counts just yet,” you laughed.

“She didn’t mean it, Aevryn Jr.,” Aevryn whispered conspiratorially to your stomach. You rolled your eyes and the doorbell rang signaling the arrival of the pizza. You tried to heave yourself off the couch but it was getting harder and harder to do. Yennefer silently rose and walked to the door and Aevryn turned to you.

“Do you need anything? A drink? I brought ingredients for mocktails,” she offered.

“It’s boring but I’ve just been drinking water with lemon,” you replied, “But I can get i-”

Aevryn was out of sight before you could finish the sentence, scurrying to the kitchen to prepare your glass. Yennefer reappeared with the stack of pizzas, resting them on the coffee table.

“Where did Aev go?” she asked as she lifted the tops of the pizza boxes open to display one cheese, one mushroom and bacon with white sauce, and one all meat.

“She’s getting me water because apparently if I am pregnant I can’t move,” you replied, a slight note of bitterness in your voice. Yennefer considered you for a moment and you felt the question in her silence and sighed.

“Ok you’re right,” You admitted, “It’s not about Aev. And I guess it’s not really about anyone or anyone’s fault I’m just tired of how differently people treat me. Especially since I started showing. I swear this kid is going to be 20 pounds.”

“What’re we talking about?” Aev asked as she bounded back into a room, a large glass with nearly an entire lemon edged into it in hand. You took it from her and smiled appreciatively.

“Y/N is feeling a bit smothered,” Yennefer answered.

“Oh gods, is Jaskier being totally insufferable?” Aevryn asked, flopping back down on her chair and pulling the cheese pizza towards her.

“No… I mean… are there times I wish he’d back off a little, yes. But I know he means well and it’s silly to complain about it because it would be so much worse if he didn’t give a shit but-”

“But you want to throttle him,” Aevryn said, nodding knowingly.

“Kind of,” you admitted, glancing between your friends, scanning for any traces of judgment. They both were nodding now, Yennefer with a small smile on her face.

“Listen, I get it,” Aevryn said reassuringly, “I mean if I have so much as a cold Valdo practically brings in a unit of doctors. Do you know one time he literally flew in soup from Paris because I mentioned offhand one time when I had a cold that it sounded good? It was somehow still hot. It’s bloody ridiculous and I can only imagine how bad it would be if I were pregnant.”

She shuddered visibly, grateful yet again that they had decided not to bear any children and instead just steal the best parts of parenting from Jaskier and Y/N whenever possible.

“Geralt punched an EMT once,” Yennefer said casually. You and Aevryn both looked at her with stunned expressions.

“He felt awful afterwards. It was when I broke my leg on tour that time and the paramedics came and one of them asked me if this hurt and then prodded it and I screamed and Geralt says he just saw white and swung. He felt awful and I never really bring it up except to say I can relate to having an overzealous partner,” she explained.

“Gods yeah that checks out,” Aevryn murmured, shaking her head.

“It’s only going to get worse when she’s born,” you said, resting a hand on your stomach, “We’ve already had the discussion about ponies. Namely that she won’t have any.”

“Uh you may want to have that discussion with Valdo as well,” Aevryn mumbled through a bite of pizza. You rolled your eyes and shook your head, wincing as you shifted just wrong and your back ached.

“He’ll adapt,” Yennefer said reassuringly, “Right now she’s this fun hypothetical and something to be excited about and celebrate, but as time goes on he will adjust.”

“Oh right,” You said sarcastically, “Because Jaskier is known for calming down and getting less enthusiastic about things all of a sudden.”

“Touche,” Yen replied, taking a dainty sip of a mocktail.

“In any case, tonight isn’t about her – sorry little no name – it’s about us!” Aevryn declared, raising her slice in the air like a goblet for toasting.

“Here here,” you and Yen echoed, raising your own pieces and taking a bite in unison.

“Oh! I brought this!” Aevryn said excitedly, jumping up and running to where she’d stowed her coat and bringing back a bright pink plastic box.

“Holy shit is that a caboodle?” you asked, eyes widening.

“Yes! It’s from when I was a kid! My mum sent it back with me when V and I went up to visit! The nail polish is new, though, don’t worry,” she replied, opening it up to show a myriad of colors of polishes from brands that possibly hadn’t even existed in the 90s. After pizza you each picked your colors with Yennefer opting for black, Aevryn choosing a lime green, and you picking a deep burgundy shade. Ever After played in the background though none of you paid attention except to quote along every now and then, too busy painting your nails with the occasional muttered curse as you or Aevryn accidentally smeared more polish on your fingers than your nails. Yennefer’s, you were unsurprised to see, looked perfect and she helped you both clean up the excess polish with q-tips and acetone before retrieving the face masks she’d put together.

“This is really nice,” You sighed through barely parted lips. The mask smelled of strawberries and Aevryn had insisted you each but cucumber slices on your eyes because while she was almost certain it did nothing, it was what they did in the movies and it would make a great Instagram post.

“Mmhmm,” Yennefer agreed, “This won’t end after she’s born you know. Things will change of course, but you’ll still be you. And we’ll still be us. And our girls nights can either expand to fit in the newest member of the band or it can be a refuge where you get time away from being a mother. Whatever happens, though, there will be girls nights.”

“Shut up I’m going to ruin my mask,” you murmured, sniffing and feeling the tears slide across your face, dragging mask into your hair though you didn’t really mind. Aevryn blindly waved her arm around, feeling for you until she reached your hand and gave it a squeeze.

“She’s right, Y/N. You’re going to have so much support and she is going to be so loved! She already is. Hence the need to discuss pony boundaries with her Uncle,” Aevryn said.

“Geralt will be giving her a knife but I think he can be convinced to wait to gift it to her until she’s, oh, 12 or so instead of as a birth gift,” Yennefer said. She sounded amused but you knew she wasn’t kidding.

“She really is a lucky kid,” you mused.

“She was always going to be a lucky kid. You’re her mum and Jaskier, while doting, will be a brilliant dad,” Aevryn said, squeezing your hand again.

The three of you lay in quiet happiness as you imagined the future, the final lines of the movie breaking through the silence.

“And, while Cinderella and her prince *did* live happily ever after, the point, gentlemen, is that they lived.”

#joz-stankovich #Punk!AU #Vicious Mockery!au #Punk!Aevryn #Punk!Yennefer #Punk!Reader

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viviane-lefay · 2 years

Text

Princess Selena & Prince Orpheus

My OTP's two children, because I really like the thought, tbh (at this point a nod to the post that inspired it).

A reason for that might, of course, be the fact that King Boo & Hellen Gravely are this particular OTP of mine, which I see as having a full-on "Morticia - Gomez" dynamic - so, apart from them being this epic pair of lovers, I was, admittedly, also a little biased towards the scenario of them having their own "Wednesday & Pugsley" (although these two here are hardly identical with the Addams kids in terms of personality - I don't do that).

Plus I love creating new characters, which might be a reason, too - especially when it comes to a potential child of an OTP, it is always interesting to imagine what they would look and be like (and it was great fun to design these two here, not to mention to ponder the narrative potentialities surrouding the whole issue).

That aside, King Boo is portrayed as having quite fatherly qualities already, which also appears to be recognized by fandom, given the number of "Dad" Boo pics I have come across so far (and, honestly, it's really cute).

As for Hellen, I think she'd make a great mum, too - both due to her personality (very caring and protective of loved ones), as well as the fact that this would be a child of her dearly beloved King Boo (of course, the latter reason would also apply to him, as I think their feelings towards each other are absolutely mutual).

As nice as the thought of an OTP having children is ... the thing with this particular one is just - How!?

I mean, they're supernatural creatures, after all - not mortal humans, with a corporeal form able to create life.

They can materialize their form, if they so wish, yes, but it's definitely not the same as an incarnate human, nor has it the same properties.

Their kind can get intimate with each other, like regular humans, and they do, as one expression of their love for each other - but it doesn't result in procreation.

So, they have a bit of a dilemma here, somewhat similar to that of Yennefer and Geralt (from "The Witcher" - who very much would like to have a child, but can't, as both are barren).

---

Before I continue, I wanted to point out that any described scenarios here are built upon my personal headcanon on Hellen, King Boo, as well as their relationship.

---

Anyway, I don't think the desire to have a family is something they had from the get-go, as it is a rather odd thing to have for their kind. In fact, I don't think it has even crossed their minds before - and certainly wouldn't have, if it came to anyone else.

I imagine that this came to be when they were already married for a while (and happily so - they're my "Gomez & Morticia", after all, so that's a given).

It was during a time of change, when they were involved in negotiating treaties between the kingdoms, and necessity often required them to travel outside of their realm (honestly, the way the ghosts were treated never sat well with me, so I at least want that to be recognized in the narrative, have some justice, and them finally getting the respect they deserve).

It was also a time when the two came into contact with mortals, and gained more insight in their ways and culture, and how they lived their lives - something, which they observed with a growing fascination, as it was so different from what they had seen from the odd ones that had lost their way and ended up in their realm. (frankly, I think their kind is more curious and open-minded about mortals, than most mortals are about them).

From then on, they often used to observe them from a distance - and one day, when they regarded a young couple, playing with their infant girl, a longing arose in each of them to have what these two mortals had - a child of their own - something, which they, by nature, couldn't have.

It's actually a rather interesting theme - the ghost king and his queen desiring something that should be impossible for them. Despite being these really, really powerful individuals (KB especially), there are limits to what they, themselves, can do.

However, I thought it would be quite fascinating to imagine a scenario where they somehow managed to have what they want anyway - and, especially, how they'd get there.

I had to rule out any "magical" solutions, of course, as that would be more KB's area of expertise, and it was already established that he couldn't do anything about it.

As the problem seems to be the lack of a corporeal vessel, I thought that a scientific approach might be more fitting here.

Maybe it would be possible to create one (via advanced cloning techniques, or whatever) - which is quite Frankenstein-esque, but it sounded like a rather plausible scenario to me.

Furthermore, I really would like this method to have its limitations as well (being able to uphold this form just temporarily, before it disintegrates again), especially since it had never been done before - but to work well enough to serve its purpose.

As another downside, that would also mean having to work with an old adversary, and ask Prof. E. Gadd, the only expert on paranormal science so far, for his assistance - which should provide some interesting scenarios and confrontations, narrative-wise.

While I'm quite sure Gadd would be fairly excited about the prospect of being able to conduct more reasearch (and having willing participants for a change - not that he cares, though) - it still should prove to be a fairly risky endeavour, given the man's amoral approach to his work, his tendency to objectify his test subjects - let alone his history with KB's people.

But, since I intend his past behaviour having caused quite some outrage (and rightly so) once it became more widely known (Perhaps, Luigi had something to do with it!? Perhaps his conscience did start to prick him, overriding his fear!? He is a good and kind guy after all, so why not...), he should be more cautious in this case. I guess, this might be one chance for him to make amends, and redeem himself ... at least a little bit.

Aside from the prime objective of this endeavour, it would also give KB and Hellen the opportunity to experience what it's like to be in a "mortal" body for a while, and some of the pros, and cons that come along with it - which would, perhaps, lead to a better understanding of the other side - at least to some degree.

Their children would be some sort of hybrid creature - bridging the mortal and paranormal realms - as they would be born into a mortal body, while at the same time having inherited the magical powers of their parents (at least those that don't conflict with them being incarnate beings). They would live the life of a (somewhat) mortal being (with the exception of their more "unusual" appearance, and not aging once full maturity is reached), until a moment of "phase transition", when they turn into the type of being, that their parents are.

Thus, they would grow up with an understanding of both sides, and could even become intermediaries, furthermore contributing to better relations between mortals and ghosts.

~*~

As for the characters themselves ...

---

Selena is the firstborn sibling.

her personality is more on the calm and introverted side, and she has a very inquisitive mind, that loves to observe and learn.

she's very talented in magic and alchemy, and often likes to combine them with mundane scientific methods.

while being a rather bookish person, and being quite good at drawing and painting (like her mother), she also has interests that are more "active" - like supernatural combat, as well as fencing & spear-fighting (Mum & Dad made sure she knows how to protect herself, as she can't just vanish when someone attacks her, being still in a mortal body).

like her mother, she is very fond of beautiful clothes and adornments, and has a rather elegant wardrobe herself, although her staple colours, besides the family's omnipresent shades of violet & purple, are black and white (btw, her bottom half doesn't have a different colour than her upper one, in case someone thought that - she is wearing tights in the pic).

fully grown, she's about the same height as her mother (5'11'')

unlike her Addams counterpart Wednesday (I'm talking about Ricci's edgy 90's Wednesday here - the one I grew up with), she has quite an amiable character and a strong sense of justice, that makes her even win over the more fearful and skeptical of her mortal encounters - again, qualities that make her an ideal ambassador for their kind.

what most don't know, however, is that she also has a bit of a temper - but that will only show itself when she sees something that goes against said sense of justice, and / or when loved ones are hurt.

a close friend of hers is a boo called "Booverness", who first was assigned to look after her during the seldom moments when her parents were otherwise occupied (be it with work or each other).

---

Orpheus is born a few years after his sister.

his personality is also more on the calmer, introverted side, although he still does have a flair for drama (they all do, to some degree), and gets very lively when it comes to the subjects he loves.

while he is also an avid reader, his great passion is music (can't have a character named Orpheus and disregard this subject, now can I !?), and he is very good at playing the piano, as well as the violin. He is also a great fan of famous composer and pianist Amadeus Wolfgeist, whose concerts he regularly attends.

other than that, he is quite a skilled illusionist - taking after his father in that regard.

like Selena, he is also well-trained in spear- and swordfighting, as well as supernatural combat techniques.

another similarity he shares with his sister (maybe due to their upbringing) is that he's very debonair and gentlemanly - and both occasionally help out their parents in performing official duties (regarding their mother's hotel business, as well as representing their people).

his clothing style is usually rather formal, consisting of mostly black garments with white accents, that are inspired by Regency - , Victorian -, and Edwardian - era fashion, but also modern era suits.

fully grown, he's still a bit shorter than his father, while still being quite tall in general (6'4'')

That was about it - at least for now.

#Princess Selena #Prince Orpheus #my OTP's kids #headcanon #personal interpretation #dollmaker #azalea's dolls

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jaskierswolf · 3 years

Text

You Set My Heart Ablaze pt 20/25

Warnings: Wildfires, training scenarios involving mentions of smoke inhalation, and other general firefighter stuff? (probably not accurate)

_______________________

The last week since Parents’ Evening had been relatively peaceful considering.

Yennefer had stayed with them for the weekend in the spare room before heading back to Cidaris. Vesemir had even let Geralt swap his weekends shifts to an on-call one. He couldn’t switch off properly and he wouldn’t be paid as much for the time but it did mean he could stay home with Ciri and Yen unless the team got called out to an incident which was bad enough to require all of them, or there were multiple jobs called in at one time. The majority of their days were spent training and maintaining equipment after all. The calls were hard and somedays it felt like they spent more time in the fire engine than the station but if Geralt really broke down his day, most of the day was spent making sure they were on the top of their game, working as a team and at peak physical fitness.

The only sticky moment had been on Saturday lunchtime when Yen had been out with Istredd. Naturally that had been when Vesemir had called Geralt to assign him to a job. Ciri had spent an hour hanging out in Vesemir’s office whilst Geralt went with Renfri to a block of flats where a small child had locked his parents out of the flat. Luckily there was a window left open and Geralt had climbed up using the fire engine’s ladder and swung though the window. He’d managed to open the door from inside the flat and no permanent damage was done. The parents had been incredibly embarrassed, but Geralt could hardly blame them. Ciri was a handful at the age of seven. This kid’s parents had two children under the age of five, it was like a tornado had hit their house.

By time he’d returned to the fire station Ciri had been running around the yard with Lambert, practising some of the drills Vesemir liked to run. Geralt watched the pair of them run the drills a few times before yelling a few corrections in his best Vesemir voice. Lambert tripped and fell which made Ciri laugh excitably before she ran over to Geralt.

She proudly announced that she would be a firefighter when she was older.

Geralt had felt strangely content in that moment. He’d had a similar moment when he was a little bit older than Ciri with Vesemir. Ciri may not be his biological daughter but in the short few months that she had lived with him she had become his family, there was no denying it. She still had Calanthe’s fierce stubbornness, and Pavetta’s endless love for the world, but now there was something of Geralt and his family in her too.

His phone buzzed in his pocket and he pulled it out whilst stirring the pasta sauce idly. He was making a large pot load so he could freeze some to use during the week for lunch and dinner for the pair of them. Yennefer had scolded him for the lack of fresh food in Ciri’s diet, he decided that a fuck load of tomatoes in the pasta sauce counted. There was even some chopped onion and garlic in there for good luck.

He couldn’t stop himself from smiling fondly when he noticed the string of emojis that Jaskier had changed his name to in Geralt’s phone.

J — Boooooooooooored xxx

Geralt rolled his eyes.

G — I haven’t had my weekly email yet.

They weren’t due out until tomorrow but Geralt knew that Jaskier had a habit of procrastinating and not writing them until the last minute. He smirked as he watched the dots wave at the bottom of the screen.

J— That doesn’t help my boredom dearest xxx

Geralt laughed, he could just picture the adorable pout on Jaskier’s lips.

G — That’s too bad.

J — Geralt!

— You’re no fun!

— We’re breaking up.

Geralt rolled his eyes and dipped a tea spoon into the pasta sauce to taste it. He grimaced. Something wasn’t right, more salt maybe?

G — Ok.

He swiped the salt from the counter and added some to the pot whilst he waited patiently as the dots appeared and disappeared at the bottom of the screen. Eventually Jaskier must have given up because his phone started ringing. He laughed as he swiped to pick up the call.

“Geralt!!” Jaskier whined.

Geralt looked around. Ciri was still upstairs in her room, he could hear the tell tale sound of things crashing about which meant she was probably trying to spar with her soft toys.

“My heart is broken, Jask.” He said sarcastically. “I’m not sure I’ll ever recover.”

“Darling, dearest of hearts, light of my life.” Jaskier cooed.

“Hmm?”

“Will you be my boyfriend?” Jaskier asked sweetly as if they’d never had this discussion before.

Geralt smirked. “I thought you wanted to break up?”

“Bollocks to that.” Jaskier stated firmly. “I am an artist Geralt! We are prone to exaggeration.”

“Hmm.”

“So?” Jaskier asked quietly.

“For the hundredth time, yes.” Geralt chuckled.

They had agreed that they were officially dating by the middle of the first week of the Beltane Holidays. Of course, Jaskier had a tendency to fake break up with him whenever there was a minor inconvenience in his life, such as being bored.

Geralt never believed him. It was hard to believe someone was seriously breaking up with you when they were curled up in your lap and sucking hickeys into your neck.

“I’ll make it up to you!” Jaskier trilled happily.

“I’ll add it to the list of IOUs.” Geralt rolled his eyes as he turned down the heat on the sauce. It was starting to boil too ferociously.

“I miss you.” Jaskier added with a sigh.

“Yeah.” Geralt agreed.

It had been difficult since school had started back. They hadn’t been able to see each since the first week of the holidays, not properly. There had been longing glances across the playground and the occasionally brushing of fingers if Geralt bought Jaskier and Triss a coffee on the way to work. The most they had interacted in person was Parents’ Evening and even then they had been on their best behaviour.

It was hard.

After a week of learning how to be in each other’s space and enjoying the freedom of being able to love each other freely, they were suddenly playing these roles of distant friends, if that.

He’d wanted to reach under the table to take Jaskier’s hand, just to be able to hold him but they were being watched. He noticed a woman at the back of the room surveying the whole event, not to mention Yennefer had been right there. Jaskier had later told him that the woman had been one Philippa Eilhart, one of the board members and one of the prime threats to Jaskier’s job should she discover their relationship.

Luckily Yennefer had sworn not to tell anyone, not even Triss or Istredd. They couldn’t risk it, not with the way rumours spread through the staffroom.

“Not long til summer now.” Jaskier sighed wistfully.

“No.” He agreed with a sigh of his own.

“It’s already half term next week.” Jaskier’s voice audibly brightened up. “I always forget how fast the last term goes. Spring term is fucking long!”

“Longer days, shorter terms.” Geralt hummed thoughtfully.

“And then you can be my boyfriend for real!” He heard a faint clap of hands. “Oh my darling, I cannot wait!”

“DAD!” Ciri bellowed from upstairs and he heard the thundering of feet as she raced from her room.

She would fall at the bottom step running like that. She always did.

“Shit! I have to go.” Geralt hung up on Jaskier and flew from the kitchen just in time to catch Ciri in his arms. Jaskier would no doubt berate him for it later but he didn’t mind, it was just another excuse to talk to Jaskier. “Cirilla, how many times have I told you not to run on the stairs?” He chided his daughter.

She huffed and crossed her arms in front of her. “I’m hungry!”

“It’s almost ready.” He assured her. “That doesn’t matter though if you break something falling down the stairs.”

“I’ll be more careful next time!” She insisted.

She wouldn’t be more careful next time. She never was.

He placed a kiss on top of her head and placed her back on the floor. “Ok, Cub. Can you help set the table?”

She nodded.

“Ten minutes, alright? Don’t forget to wash your hands.”

“Yes, Dad.” Ciri rolled her eyes.

“Watch the attitude, Ciri.” He warned gently and ruffled her hair.

She stuck her tongue out at him so naturally he stuck his tongue out right back at her.

She giggled happily and hugged him tightly before running back into the kitchen. He followed her with a fond smile and grabbed the bag of pasta from the cupboard.

___________________________________

Jaskier had rung Geralt up later that evening just as Geralt was getting ready for bed. They’d stayed on the phone for hours, eventually they had run out of things to say but it didn’t matter, they stayed on the phone just listening to each other as they did their own things. Geralt occasionally read out passages of his book that he thought was interesting, in turn Jaskier would stop scribbling in his notebook and ask Geralt what he thought of a lyric.

Eventually Jaskier had begun to snore like a pig on the other end of the line, which Geralt knew meant he was sleeping on his back. He never snored when he slept on his side, well not in the week they’d spent together.

When Geralt’s alarm went off the next day he was not ready for it. He hit snooze three times before Ciri came bundling into his room already fully dressed. Her hair was still loose around her shoulder and falling in front of her sparkling green eyes.

“Dad! Get up!” She bounced on the bed and he groaned.

“Two minutes.” He grumbled.

“I’ll call Mum!” Ciri sang happily.

“Shit, fuck. I mean. Ciri, no. Not a word to Yen.” Geralt rolled onto his back and Ciri clambered onto his chest to hug him.

“Does that mean I can’t tell her that you swore?” Ciri teased.

“Yes!” He sighed and petted Ciri’s long hair.

“Can I have extra cake for dinner?” She bargained.

“And breakfast tomorrow.” He agreed, knowing that Eskel had offered to take her to the zoo on Saturday.

“Yes!” She cheered and leapt off the bed. “Come on! We’re going to be late!”

“Alright alright. We’re stopping for coffee though.” He muttered.

If he was exhausted then Jaskier surely would be too. The teacher wasn’t good in the mornings on an ordinary day let alone when they’d been up half the night talking.

He got ready for work in record time and then help Ciri braid her hair before they bundled into the truck ready for school. They barely had time for his coffee stop but the queue was short so Geralt took the gamble and ran in to order three drinks, one black coffee for him, Jaskier’s preferred cinnamon covered caramel latte and a chai latte for Triss. Triss didn’t question her sudden inclusion on Geralt’s coffee run, but he’d agreed with Jaskier that he needed to show he wasn’t just favouring Ciri’s teacher and Triss was the best option as a cover.

He had to run with Ciri through the schoolyard, the coffee carrier in one hand and Ciri’s hand in the other. He swore under his breath when he noticed that it wasn’t Jaskier in the playground ushering everyone inside. He hurried Ciri along with the other kids and slipped through the doors to see Triss in reception.

“Geralt?” Triss asked, her hair was loose today, tumbling down past her shoulder in tight dark caramel curls. She was wearing a soft moss green sleeveless dress, and Geralt thought she looked a little like a tree fairy. Triss was undeniably beautiful, no wonder Eskel was so taken by her.

He passed her the chai latte. “Delivery, got one for Mr Pankratz too. Would you mind?”

Triss rolled her eyes. “Thanks Geralt. You’re too sweet.”

“Thought it might help get you through the last day before half term.” He lied with a shrug.

“Thank you.” Triss smiled. “I’ll make sure he gets it. He looked exhausted this morning, you must be psychic.”

Geralt hummed nonchalantly.

“I’m late. See you around Triss.” Geralt grunted before turning back towards the playground.

“Say hi to Esk for me!” She called after him.

He laughed softly. “I will.”

Eskel blushed brighter than the sun when Geralt passed on the message which delighted the wolf pack. Eskel and Triss’s budding romance was the current hot topic of conversation in the fire station which Geralt was relieved by, it meant that there were less eyes and him and Jask, and the less attention they had the better. At least until the school broke up for summer.

Another popular topic was the way Lambert had started insisting on joining the cats whenever they were called up to help or when they came in for training days, in particular he enjoyed to pair up with Aiden, a dashing blond firefighter and one of the more experienced on-call fighters. Aiden was looking to move to a full-time position, he’d quit his day job as an engineer a few months ago and was looking for a change.

Geralt frowned.

How the fuck did he know all that?

He groaned when he realised that it was like a repeat of when Ciri had just started school and all his team mates knew everything about Jaskier.

Fuck.

He should probably buy them all a round of drinks to make up for it.

“Geralt!” Vesemir snapped. “Quit your dawdling and get up the ladder, do you want the dummy to burn to death?”

He swore and checked his breathing apparatus before clambering up the ladder double time to make up for his daydreaming. The training building was filled with fake smoke to simulate a real fire so it was hard to see. He’d wasted too much time on the ground and the building was almost completely full of smoke.

He cursed and squinted around the room until he located the dummy.

He made a dash, minding the gaps in the floor and ducking under low obstacles. If he hadn’t run through this building countless times already he probably would have hit his head due to the bad visibility. He pulled the dummy up over his shoulder and ran back for the window.

But he was too late. Vesemir’s voice crackled in his ear through the radio. “Death by smoke inhalation, White Wolf. What will you tell their family?”

He cursed and made his way back down the ladder.

When his feet touched the ground with a heavy thud he found Lambert and smirking at him. He had his helmet under his arm and braces around his knees.

“Maybe next time we should call the dummy Jaskier.” Lambert teased.

Geralt threw the dummy at Lambert and pulled off his own helmet and mask. “I’ve got a better idea, let’s call him Aiden and send Lambert in.”

“Fuck off.” Lambert growled and lowered into a fighting stance. Geralt mirrored him, they hadn’t sparred in a while and he was looking forward to showing the younger man who was boss.

“Don’t start what you can’t finish, wolf.” Geralt challenged.

“Oh I can finish it!”

Lambert lunged forward and Geralt grinned. He stepped to the side and Lambert went flying to the ground. Lambert made that mistake every time, always too eager, too aggressive. Geralt pulled off his jacket and dumped it on the ground next to his helmet. It was too heavy to spar in, especially when Lambert wasn’t equally laden.

Lambert had pulled himself off the ground ready for a second attack by the time Geralt was finished. He jumped onto Geralt’s back and wrapped his arms around his neck. Geralt growled as he felt the pressure on his throat. It wasn’t enough to cut off his air supply, this was a friendly spar after all, but it was enough to surprise him.

“Get off!” He gasped and tried to shake Lambert off. “You’ve spent too much time with the cats.” He grumbled.

“It’s effective though.” Lambert laughed but his glee was short-lived as Geralt threw him to the ground. Lambert cursed as he rolled to break his fall.

“Not as much as you think.” Geralt shot back.

They tussled back and forth for a few more minutes before Geralt managed to pin Lambert to the floor. The prick refused to yield though and Geralt rolled his eyes as he counted down in his head, waiting for the inevitable holler.

“ENOUGH!” Vesemir roared and they broke apart.

“Sorry Chief.” Geralt smirked and reached out to help pull Lambert up off the floor.

“Sorry Chief.” Lambert echoed as he dusted off his trousers.

“If you want to spar, use the gym. I don’t want any injuries because you decided to wrestle on tarmac. I thought I’d trained you better than that.” Vesemir grumbled. “Geralt you’re on the lunch run. Lambert, laundry.”

Lambert yelled. “Oi! How come he gets lunch and I get laundry!”

Vesemir raised an eyebrow at Lambert and crossed his arms. “Because, wolf, you should have yielded but you are a stubborn ass. It’s your turn up the ladder. Eskel’s finished with the reset. Get your gear on and I’ll start the clock. Hopefully Aiden will have better luck than Jaskier.”

“Vesemir.” Geralt groaned with his head in his hands.

“Should name the fucking dummy Triss and see how my idiot brother likes it.” Lambert grumbled pulling on his jacket and buckling his helmet under his chin.

“Enough of your moaning, wolf.” Vesemir snapped. “Are you ready?”

Lambert wasn’t ready.

Vesemir didn’t care.

“Go!” He clicked the stopwatch and Geralt heard the whirring of the smoke machine click on.

“Fuck!” Lambert shouted and lunged for the ladder.

_________________________

Geralt’s lunch break was cut short. The alarms began to ring out in the station and the wolf pack mobilised with a collective groan. It was always just when they started lunch. Sandwiches were thrown haphazardly back into the fridge and then ran to find out what the job was and who was going.

Vesemir was waiting for them in the few minutes it took for them to get their gear on. His face was sombre which was never a good start to briefing.

“Wild fire out on the heaths.” He grumbled passing Geralt the print out of the details. “The farmland is nearby, if that lights up then it will have devastating results for everyone. Get out fast. All of you. It’s going to be a long evening, the bears will meet you there at the end of your shift and I’ve already called the cats for back up.”

“Yes, Chief.” They chorussed.

“Renfri with me in one engine. Lambert and Eskel, take the other one.” Geralt barked and they were off.

They saw the smoke from a distant and Geralt swore. The pillars of thick black smoke billowing into the sky was never a good sign.

“That’s a lot of smoke.” Renfri murmured as they pulled into the road nearest the fire.

The police were already there, cordoning off the area to keep members of public away from the fire. It always astounded Geralt how many people ran straight to the barrier to try and catch a glimpse of the raging fire. He wondered how many of them would run into the flames if the tape wasn’t there to stop them.

It was a long and tiring shift battling the flames in the heathland. He was dripping with sweat underneath his suit by the time the bears turned up. Both teams worked together for about half an hour as they managed the handover. The cats and the wolves both limped away from the fire as dusk was settling over Posada.

He pulled his helmet off as they approached the cars that the bears had arrived in.

“Geralt!” He heard a familiar voice and he turned around so fast that he almost gave himself whiplash.

Jaskier was standing by the tape with a paper bag in one hand and Geralt’s thermos in another. Geralt had forgotten that he’d given it to the teacher way back in October during their trip to the school.

“Ger-Bear?” Renfri asked with a smirk.

“You go. I’ll be alright.” He nodded and walked over to Jaskier.

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!” Lambert cackled as he slung his arm around Aiden and headed to the cars.

Geralt rolled his eyes and flipped Lambert off. He couldn’t do much else in front of the watching public and journalists.

“Jaskier.” He greeted the teacher with a weary smile. “What are you doing here?”

Jaskier passed him the paper bag and Geralt peered inside. There was a ham and cheese pastry sat at the bottom of the bag. He looked back at Jaskier in shock. The man’s eyes were sparkling blue in the moonlight, he looked beautiful like he was the spirit of the moon that had chosen to walk the Continent.

Jaskier shrugged. “I saw the news. They said you’d been on the scene since lunchtime. I thought you might be hungry, oh and here.” Jaskier passed the thermos. “I’ve been meaning to give this back.” He added sheepishly.

“Bit late for coffee.” Geralt noted.

Jaskier laughed melodically. “Which is why it’s not coffee.” He tossed his fringe out of his eyes with a flick of his head. “Go on, have a taste.”

Geralt flicked the lid and sniffed the drink. “Chamomile?” He asked.

Jaskier put his hands on his hips. “Oh I forgot about your freakish sense of smell.”

Geralt scoffed. “You didn’t have to do this.”

Jaskier squeezed his shoulder. “I wanted to. I was worried about you.”

Geralt smiled fondly at his boyfriend before reaching into the bag and splitting the pastry in half. He handed half to Jaskier who tried to protest.

“Oh no.” He waved his hands and pushed Geralt’s offering back at him. “I bought that for you.”

“You poison it?” Geralt asked with a tired laugh.

Jaskier gaped and grasped his chest with his hand. “Geralt, how dare you insinuate such a thing?”

“How long have you been waiting for me, Jask?” Geralt raised an eyebrow at the brunet who shuffled awkwardly under his gaze.

“An hour, maybe two but that’s not the point!” Jaskier pouted.

Geralt pushed half the pastry into Jaskier’s hands, enjoying the excuse to be close to him again. “Eat, Jaskier.” He insisted.

Jaskier huffed a sigh but took the pastry. “You drive a hard bargain, Geralt.” He noted around mouthfuls of pastry. The crumbs fell over his bright red coat and Geralt rolled his eyes, Jaskier was a messier eater than Ciri.

Geralt laughed. “You have a lift home?”

Jaskier shook his head and bit his lip, looking far too guilty as Geralt watched his own lift drive away behind Jaskier. “I got the bus.”

Geralt sighed heavily. “You could have said something before I let them leave without me.”

“Hey now!” Jaskier pouted. “I never offered you a lift home.”

“No, you just lured me over with food and tea.” Geralt raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah well, couldn’t exactly lure you over with kisses and cuddles now could I.” Jaskier muttered almost unintelligibly under his breath.

Geralt was barely able to resist pulling Jaskier into a hug and resting his chin on his head but there were too many people. It probably looked strange enough if anyone here recognised them from the school. Not many teachers were friends with the parents, but Geralt calmed himself in the knowledge that Jaskier’s friendship group and his were starting to overlap pretty heavily. Geralt was friends with Yennefer, Yennefer was friends with Triss and Is, Jaskier was friends with Triss, Triss was dating Eskel and Eskel obviously worked with Geralt. There was no denying that Jaskier would now be part of his life regardless of how he felt about the teacher.

“Add them to the IOU.” Geralt murmured back.

Jaskier laughed and bumped his shoulder against Geralt’s. “Wonderful plan, my dear.”

“I’ll call Vesemir. See if I can get us a lift.” Geralt suggested.

“He wouldn’t mind?” Jaskier asked with a lick of his lips.

Geralt huffed a laugh. “I never said that but I don’t think the bus runs this late.”

“I could call a taxi?” Jaskier suggested with a twinkle in his eyes and he squeezed Geralt’s arm gently. “I got you stuck here, and I was going to call one anyway so we might as well share?”

Geralt hummed in agreement and decided it was a good time to eat his half of the pastry. His stomach rumbled appreciatively at the first bite. He hadn’t realised how fucking hungry he’d been. Maybe Jaskier was right in trying to refuse his half. He scoffed down the pastry in a couple of bites. It was cold now but the cheese had definitely been melted at some point it tasted like heaven. He’d only managed to eat a couple of energy bars since breakfast after their lunch had been interrupted by the alarms.

Jaskier noticed Geralt’s delight with a smirk and pulled out a second screwed up bag from his pockets. “See I knew it!” He laughed. “Eat up, White Wolf.”

Inside the second bag was a very squished bacon and lettuce roll, homemade by the looks of it.

“Has this been in your pocket the whole time?” Geralt asked as he sniffed the roll. It didn’t smell funny which was a good sign.

“Nope!” Jaskier grinned. “I just knew you would try to be chivalrous so I hid this when I saw you coming over.”

Geralt wanted to kiss him.

Instead he munched happily on the extra food as Jaskier set about calling them a taxi back into town.

Geralt cleared his throat when he was done eating to get the teacher’s attention. They were standing side by side watching the road but not quite touching and he longed to reach across and take Jaskier’s hand. Jaskier, who had been chattering about his day at school, went silent and looked back at him.

Geralt scowled as he tried to find away to put his feelings into words that Jaskier, and only Jaskier would understand, but he didn’t have Jaskier’s poetic talent and skill with words.

He sighed. “Three things.” He mumbled. “You, Ciri, my family.”

Jaskier gasped quietly and brushed their fingers together for barely a second. “Oh dear heart, I know.”

Geralt smiled fondly as he looked up at the stars. It had been a long and exhausting shift but suddenly the world seemed to be alright. _________

#the witcher #you set my heart ablaze #geraskier #wolfie's witcher writing #I do not have energy to tag #so there we go

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jaskierswolf · 4 years

Text

You Set My Heart Ablaze Pt.2/25

Triss Merigold was bloody exhausted. The start of the school term was always the worst. She had barely had a break for the whole of the first two weeks. She flopped onto the sofa in the staffroom with a dramatic sigh. She loved the kids. She hated the parents. Already she’d been caught up on the phone with parents from the younger tutor forms just calling in to check up on their little darlings. No matter how many times she or the other teachers assured them that the school would notify them of any problems. The parents of the older kids were just as bad, blaming the teachers for their bad parenting skills and insisting that all their children should have been top of the class.

“It’s not that bad Triss.” Istredd Gynvael from the Feainnewedd tutor group hummed.

Istredd was the history teacher for the secondary school children and looked after one of the year ten forms. Overall he was well liked by most of the students, he wasn’t a strict teacher but Triss knew the students sometimes found his classes on the dull side. Not that Triss would ever tell him that. No, that little tidbit was between her and Yennefer alone, maybe Tissaia…

She’d never tell the Headmaster, Stregobor, at least.

“You don’t have to talk to the parents until parents’ evening, Is.” Triss moaned. “I have to deal with them all year round. They all think their angels can do no wrong.”

“We become teachers for the children. The parents are an unfortunate side effect.” Istredd sighed.

There was a murmur of agreement from across the staffroom.

“Sabrina’s mum called me a disgrace and failed artist last year.” Tissaia sighed as she turned a page in her book. “Apparently, they weren’t happy that I gave their daughter some constructive criticism on the use of lighting in her portraits. I’m not going to just throw compliments at every student. They’d never learn otherwise.”

Tissaia de Vries was the school’s art teacher. She was also the form teacher of Forget-Me-Nots, one of the year six classes. She’d been the person to encourage Yennefer’s career as an artist ever since she’d been a student at the school. It had been because of Tissaia that Yennefer had started teaching in the first place.

“Oh hang on!” Jaskier perked up from where he was scribbling in his notebook. “I happen to like the parents of my class.”

Triss rolled her eyes. Jaskier had dropped by her desk at reception at the end of the first day to ask for all the parents’ contact details so he could write his weekly emails. He’d been particularly interested in Ciri’s dad. Of course, Ciri was an interest to all the teachers at the school. She’d already been through hell and she was only six years old. The young girl didn’t seem all that bothered on the surface about her sudden change in circumstances. It was all a bit peculiar.

“That’s because you are a bit of a freak, Julian.” Mr Marx drawled from his corner of the staffroom.

Jaskier’s face turned to thunder and slammed his notebook shut.

Jaskier and Valdo Marx had known each other since before Jaskier started at the school. Their rivalry was legendary amongst the staff. No one was entirely sure of the details behind their feud. From what Triss could tell they had been at University together, both studying music at Oxenfurt. They had had some kind of falling out at some point. No one was really sure what about but last Solstice things had flared up when Valdo had had an affair with Jaskier’s partner. It was also Valdo that had told Stregobor and the rest of the staff that Jaskier’s birth name was Julian, something that her friend seemed to despise. Valdo refused to call Jaskier by his chosen name which never ceased to end in an argument between them.

This time was no different as Jaskier coiled up like a spring, ready to pounce on the other teacher.

“Call me that again one more time and I’m putting in a grievance. Wally.” Jaskier sneered. “Some of us actually care about the children we teach, and that means taking an interest in their home life and working out the best way to teach each child individually.”

“Name calling, Julian. How original.” Mr Marx smirked and patted Jaskier on the head as he moved to leave the room.

“Oh fuck you!” Jaskier called after him. “He’s just bitter because all the year twos wish they were Buttercups and not Foxgloves.” He muttered.

“He’s just bitter because he doesn’t get to talk to Mr Rivia at parents evening.” Triss sighed wistfully. “I would climb him like a tree.”

Jaskier’s scowled faded into a blissed out smile. “Oh he is dreamy isn’t he? Those eyes, like molten amber and that voice. Gods, it’s like sex personified.”

Triss giggled. “I knew it!”

Jaskier went wide eyed and slammed his hands over his mouth. “I said that out loud didn’t I?”

“Must you all be so dramatic?” Istredd called over Triss’s squeals of joy. “I’m trying to mark homework.”

“I think we’ve all earned a break, Istredd, if you want to mark in peace go back to your desk.” Tissaia hummed with eye roll.

Istredd sighed. “Just keep it down, maybe try and remain professional.”

“Oh come on, Is. You’ve not seen him. Geralt Rivia is hot!” Triss nudged her friend.

“Geralt? Yen’s ex?” Istredd put down his marking with a sudden scowl.

“No no no!” Jaskier whined. “Please tell me, I’m not competing with Yennefer Vengerberg!”

“Don’t worry Jaskier, that ship has long sailed. Isn’t that right, Is?” Triss winked at the history teacher. Istredd’s fingers gripped tighter around his pen and he muttered something under his breath before burying his nose back into the sheets of paper in front of him.

“Alright!” Jaskier called. “How many people here have had a crush on Yennefer Vengerberg? Hands up!”

“We’re not your kids, Jaskier.” Tissaia rolled her eyes at the younger teacher’s antics.

“True.” He admitted. “But humour me.”

Triss unashamedly put her hand up. Istredd was next. Chireadan was next and a handful of the other staff. Overall, just over half the staff in the room had their hands up.

Jaskier was not one of them.

“Not your type, Jask? I thought everyone was your type?” Triss teased.

Jaskier gasped and put his hand on his heart. “Triss! Just because I’m bisexual does not mean everyone is my type! She’s hot. I can admit that, but she fucking terrifies me.”

“And Geralt doesn’t?” Triss asked with a roll of her eyes, deciding not to point out that she was pansexual and already knew the myths of their sexualities were not true. “He could probably snap you like a twig.”

Jaskier beamed. “Oh I know!”

“Do we need to chaperone parents’ evening, Jaskier?” Tissaia asked cooly but her eyes were twinkling with amusement.

“I’ll have you know I am a professional!” He gasped in mock outrage. “But yes absolutely. I have no idea how I managed to talk to him on the first day. Gods, he looked at me and I wanted to melt. I could write ballads about those eyes.”

“Please don’t” Istredd sighed. “Geralt’s not that great.”

“Oh come on, Is, you just don’t like the fact he used to date Yennefer.”

“Yenna is better than him.” Istredd scowled.

“Oh ho ho!” Jaskier laughed. “Are you going to finally ask her out then?”

“Shut up, Julian.” Istredd hissed.

“Jaskier’s got a point, Is.” Triss gave Istredd a pointed look as Jaskier visibly bristled at the name. “But what about you and Geralt?”

Jaskier grumbled as he moved to retrieve his notebook. “Nothing. There’s nothing about me and Geralt. He’s a parent and I am a professional.”

Istredd sighed loudly and gathered up his belongings and left the room. Tissaia chuckled as she sipped her tea and continued to read her book, but seemed to be content with the gossip that was rife in the staffroom. Other teachers were beginning to file out as the lunch break was ending.

“But you fancy him.” Triss persisted as she checked the time on her phone. She didn’t need to be back at the front desk for another ten minutes and she didn’t have to worry about lesson planning like the other teachers. Her job did have some perks.

“So do you.” Jaskier shot back. “I am simply appreciating that Mr Rivia is a good-looking man but his daughter’s in my class and you know me, I fall in love with everyone I meet.”

“Except Yennefer.” Triss pointed out.

Jaskier paled at the memory. “I have met Yennefer once and I genuinely thought I was going to die a terrible and painful death.”

“Oh it wasn’t that bad.” Triss giggled.

_________

Yennefer didn’t come back to school very often when she was in town but occasionally she would pick Triss up if they were going to the pub after school finished. Sometimes Yennefer would glide through the halls of her old haunt to reminisce over her days as a teacher, popping in to say hello to her old colleagues. The first time she’d visited after Jaskier had started teaching she’d visited her old classroom, the classroom that Jaskier now occupied.

“What the fuck has happened to my door?” Yennefer glared at the bright yellow monstrosity that stood at the entrance to her old classroom. During Yennefer’s time at school the door had been painted lilac with elegant black silhouettes of flowers.

Jaskier had rather a different approach. His door was so bright you almost needed sunglasses to look at it and his class had drawn their own buttercups to cover the door. Their teaching style was completely different too.

Yennefer luckily had been in charge of an older class and mostly taught English Literature and Language to the Secondary school children. Yennefer was firm, and at times strict, she demanded respect from her students and many of them ended up in detention for missing out on homework or mucking about in class. Yennefer’s theory was that by messing about it was both a waste of her time and theirs. Yennefer was not a lover of wasted time. Every action she took was planned down to the letter. She knew what she wanted and how to get there. Her writing was very much the same.

The scripts she wrote for the school plays were intricate and beautiful. Every line, every stage direction, every detail in the costumes had some hidden meaning that would be revealed later on in the play. As a director she was fierce and many of the older students were scared shitless after their time in the theatre but many also went on to attend drama schools. Yennefer could have become an award winning author, actor or director but that wasn’t where her passion lay.

Yennefer Vengerberg loved art.

She always had ever since she’d studied at the school under Ms de Vries. She was a remarkably talented painter but her real skill was in her reviews and critiques of others art. Her analysis was unparalleled and her wit and sarcasm had drawn in a wide audience from all across the Art world.

As soon as she’d been able to earn enough money from her work at a critic she’d flown from the school, much to the delight of her poor students.

Jaskier on the other hand was a ray of sunshine. He was the sun to Yennefer’s moon. The kids adored him and almost everyone on the staff fancied him, not to mention the parents. His charm could have melted the heart of the ice queen herself and had to got him out of many a bad situation in the past, of course it had gotten him into just as many tight spots as well. Where Yennefer was unwaveringly focussed and unrelenting in her teaching, Jaskier was easily distracted and flitted from one topic to another like a whirlwind. He was kindhearted and nurturing to the children, playing his guitar almost every day and encouraging the kids to be the best they could be. He was entertaining and fun, and every child wanted to be in Buttercups.

The layout of the building had changed a lot since Yennefer’s time and this section of the school now housed the primary school classes which was why Jaskier’s class was now in the old English room.

Yennefer burst through the door, Triss trailing behind her. “Seriously! What the fuck?”

Jaskier jumped up from behind his desk, knocking his paper work all over the floor. “Bollocks! Shit! I mean… oh cock!” His travel mug tipped over as he scrambled after the the sheets of maths homework. Coffee poured everywhere, including down his teal floral shirt.

“Triss!” Yennefer snapped. “Why is there a child teaching in my classroom?”

Triss sighed and walked over to help Jaskier save his marking from the coffee that was now leaking onto the floor. “Yen, this is Jaskier Pankratz. Our new year two teacher.”

“What are you, twelve?” Yen asked raising her eyebrow at the young brunet.

“I’m twenty-six!” Jaskier pouted. “I just have good genes and quite frankly a fabulous skincare routine. Did you want a copy?”

“Are you saying I look old?” Yennefer smirked at Jaskier who visibly started to panic.

“Oh no. No no no. You look very radiant, ethereal! Eternally youthful. Please don’t kill me?” He fell backwards in a fluffy of maths homework.

“Oh dear god.” Yennefer covered her face with her hand. “I thought this place couldn’t get any worse. Come on Triss, there’s a couple of bottles of wine with our names on it. See you around, Buttercup.”

“See you on Monday, Jaskier!” Triss passed him a handful of sheets she had managed to salvage from the coffee.

“Holy mother of…” Jaskier breathed as he stared after the hurricane that was Yennefer Vengerberg.

_______________

Triss giggled at the memory. It had been just under three years ago, back when Yennefer and Geralt were still going through their off and on again stage. Jaskier had looked like a deer stuck in headlights in the fierce presence of Yennefer. Triss knew her friend could be quite intimidating but underneath it all was a loyal friend. A lot of her scary demeanour was just a mask to hide her insecurities. Yennefer wanted everything in life, a family, a career, fame, money, power. She wanted it all.

But she was so terrified that she would never be enough, never deserve the things that she desired. Her relationship with Geralt hadn’t help. They burned brighter than the sun on their good days but their fights could have risen the Gods from their slumber. They pulled and pushed at each others souls, tearing each other apart. Triss had never met Geralt before Ciri had started at the school but she’d been there for Yennefer every time he broke her heart.

“It absolutely was that bad.” Jaskier pouted. “I ruined my favourite shirt and made a complete fool of myself. She was looking at me with murder eyes!”

Triss patted his arm sympathetically. “If Yennefer wanted you dead, Jaskier, you and I wouldn’t be having this conversation right now.”

Jaskier staggered back and stomped over to pick up his guitar case and satchel. “Wow. Thanks Triss. That is… so comforting.”

The bell chimed in the corridors, signalling the end of lunch.

“Bollocks!” Jaskier cursed and scampered out of the room. “This is all your fault Triss Merigold.”

Triss smirked after him. “You love it, Buttercup!”

_____________

Triss pulled her thick wooden green coat around her. It was surprisingly cold for the end of September and she’d forgotten to bring gloves. She was on home time duty this week which mostly involved waiting in the playground with the kids for the parents who had yet to learn how to read a damn clock. She stuffed her hands in her pockets in a poor attempt to keep them warm. At least her hair was long and thick enough to keep her ears warm. She daydreamed happily about a warm bath and a hot chocolate with extra marshmallows and whipped cream.

“Ms Merigold?” A small voice broke through her daydream and she felt hands tugging at her coat. She looked down at Ciri who was staring back at her with tears in her eyes. “Where’s Coën?”

Triss glanced down at her watch and bite her tongue to stop herself from swearing. Ciri’s babysitter was over thirty minutes late. It was unheard of. He was normally waiting at the gates as soon as the bells rang to signify the end of the day, but today Ciri was the last kid left.

“I don’t know, sweetheart. Come on, let’s go inside and I’ll give Geralt a call.” Triss took the young girl’s hand in hers and gave it a squeeze. Ciri clung on to her tightly and sniffed, wiping her eyes with her free hand.

“What if he’s hurt?” Ciri asked quietly.

“I’m sure he’ll be alright.” Triss reassured her, wishing that she could believe her own words.

The pair of them hurried back inside and out of the cold. Triss let go of Ciri’s hand so she could search her desk for the file where she kept the emergency contact details.

“Mr Jaskier!!” Ciri cried and flew off down the corridor.

Triss looked up to see a very confused primary school teacher, guitar case slung haphazardly over his shoulder, struggling with an armful of small child. His leather satchel had dropped to the floor, books spilling out with a clatter.

“Ciri?” He stammered before he regained his composure and met Triss’s gaze with a worried look.

“Coën’s in trouble!” Ciri cried. “He’s going to leave me! Everyone always leaves me!”

“Oh Ciri.” Jaskier returned the girl’s clinging hug as she sobbed against his chest. “Ms Merigold is going to call your dad. We’ll figure this out together.”

Ciri sniffed loudly but nodded. “‘Kay.”

Triss found Geralt Rivia’s number with ease and dialled, praying that he would answer. She made a mental note to get Coën’s number too, he picked up Ciri most evenings during the week, depending on Geralt’s shift pattern, it was foolish that the young man hadn’t provided his contact details.

The phone rang three times before Geralt’s gruff voice answered.

“Geralt.” He grunted.

“Geralt, Hi. This is Ms Merigold, from Ciri’s school.” Triss started.

“Fuck. What’s happened?”

“Coën didn’t show at pick up today. Mr Pankratz is here with Ciri but she’s not taking it well.” Triss explained in a rush. She glanced over at Ciri and Jaskier. He’d sat down on the floor with her and seemed to be distracting her with a story. She still looked shaken but had calmed down and appeared to be completely captivated by the stories he was weaving.

“I’m on my way.”

Triss didn’t get a chance to reply as Geralt hung up the phone and the line went dead. She strolled over to Jaskier and Ciri, sitting down beside them. Jaskier glanced up at her without pausing his tale of knights and bards and princesses, and she nodded.

Ciri wasn’t an idiot though. She cut Jaskier off mid-sentence. “Is my dad coming to pick me up?”

“Yeah. We’ll wait here until he arrives yeah?” Triss suggested. “No point staying in the cold.”

“Is Mr Jaskier staying?” Ciri asked with wide eyes.

“As if I would leave you here!” Jaskier gasped and placed a hand over his heart, dramatic as always. “You are one of my Buttercups and we stick together!”

Jaskier pulled out his guitar whilst they waited for Geralt Rivia to arrive. Triss always enjoyed watching Jaskier play. She didn’t often get the chance. She knew he played for his class but her job kept her at her desk for the majority of the school day and they didn’t socialise that much outside of work. Occasionally, a handful of the teachers would head to the pub on a Friday evening but it wasn’t exactly the place to start playing acoustic guitar. Usually she’d only get to see him play quietly in the corner of the staffroom if he was working on a new song, or occasionally at a school event.

This was different though, it was intimate like a lullaby being sang in the dead of night. Triss was completely enchanted by her friend and was really starting to wonder how he wasn’t a famous musician. She’d expected him to play something uplifting to distract the young girl but Jaskier seemed to have other ideas. He played a song about heartbreak that was so full of yearning that even Triss could feel the telltale prick of tears in her eyes, and it seemed to do the trick. Ciri cried too but it wasn’t the chaotic full-bodied sobs from before. Tears rolled down her freckled cheeks quietly and Triss suddenly understood.

Jaskier was allowing the young girl to grieve.

He was telling her, through his music, that it was ok to be scared. It was ok to have these feelings and to cry. The teachers had all been concerned that Ciri didn’t seem to have processed the trauma of her young life very well and here was Jaskier, drawing out those emotions that the young girl had kept tucked away. Coën not turning up had triggered something in Ciri, some fear of abandonment that no one had realised had developed.

Triss smiled as she wiped a tear from her eyes. The young teacher had more depth than she’d realised. She’d underestimated him, perhaps they all had.

“Ciri!” Geralt came rushing through the doors, shattering the moment into a thousand shards of shimmering glass.

The girl in question squealed and flung her tiny body towards Geralt. Jaskier almost dropped his guitar in surprise and even Triss jumped a little at the sudden rush of movement.

“Dad!” Ciri cried as she wrapped her arms around her father.

“I’m here, Princess. I’m here.” Geralt reassured her in a low voice.

“Where’s Coën?” Ciri asked wide-eyed.

“Flu. He text me but it didn’t come through until I left work. I’m sorry.” Geralt explained as he kissed her hair. The silver-haired man then looked up to face Triss and Jaskier. “I am so sorry. What do I owe you?”

“Owe us?” Jaskier spluttered. “Geralt.”

Jaskier said the other man’s name like a prayer, fervently and full of adoration.

“You would have been home over an hour ago if it weren’t for me.” Geralt insisted.

Triss noticed with barely hidden glee that Geralt was focussed almost completely on Jaskier. Triss was certain that she could have slipped away and back to her car, and Geralt wouldn’t have noticed. So it seemed that Jaskier’s little crush wasn’t quite an unrequited as he thought.

“Geralt, it’s our job to ensure the children are safe. It was simply an unfortunate and completely unforeseen event. This is not your fault, nor is it Ciri’s or Coën’s. You owe us nothing.” Jaskier insisted.

“Hmm.” Geralt hummed but continued to watch Jaskier intently as the younger man packed up his guitar. “Thank you.”

“That’s quite alright, Geralt. We’re happy to help, right Triss?” Jaskier blushed and looked towards her.

Triss smirked. “Delighted, Mr Rivia, but try not to let it happen again, or I’ll have to inform Yennefer.” Triss teased.

Geralt scowled but Ciri perked up at the name. “Auntie Yennefer?!” She squealed in delight.

“An old dear friend of mine, Ciri.” Triss nodded, throwing a smile at the young girl.

“Please don’t tell Yen.” Geralt groaned.

“Yeah, Ms Merigold. No need to get Yennefer involved.” Jaskier mumbled, glancing down at his feet and then back up at Geralt.

Geralt peered at the brunet. “I thought you only met her once.”

“A story for another time I think.” Jaskier blushed and sent her a warning glare.

Triss rolled her eyes. “Ask Yen next time you call her.”

“Dad.” Ciri tugged Geralt’s arm. “I’m hungry.”

Geralt growled. “Right. Time to go. Thank you for keeping her safe, Ms Merigold. Jaskier.”

“Anytime!” Jaskier replied brightly. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Ciri! See you, Geralt.”

“Have a good evening you two.” Triss waved them off.

Once they’d left the building, Jaskier sank to his knees and groaned.

“Alright there, Jaskier?” Triss teased with a laugh.

“Fuck me, he’s gorgeous.” Jaskier buried his face in his hands. “This year is going to destroy me.”

“Wouldn’t you rather Geralt destroy you?” Triss giggled as she pulled him to his feet and linked their arms.

“Triss Merigold!” Jaskier gasped. “No, no. You’re right. Oh good lord!”

“Ask him out.” Triss suggested.

Jaskier laughed weakly. “Not gonna happen. Stregobor would have me quartered.”

“Coward.”

“Absolutely! Come on, I think we deserve a drink! To the pub!” Jaskier announced loudly and together they finally left building for the evening.

______

#the witcher #geraskier #geraskier fanfiction #triss merigold #geralt of rivia #jaskier pankratz #yennefer of vengerberg #geralt x jaskier #teacher!jaskier #fireman!geralt #you set my heart ablaze #wolfie's witcher writing

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