helloooo I am here for mermay prompts! 👀
how about "lost" for Geraskier (bonus points if Geralt is the mer) 💜💜
ALEX YESSSSS, look, this was finished two days ago, and then it was finished again yesterday, and now again this morning. Did I add 1k to the story just to add a kiss? Maybe.
Please enjoy <3
Send me a pairing and a word and I will make you some words? ❤️
On Ao3 here
Bardic inspiration be damned, Jaskier decides, slipping once again on the pebbled ground as he climbs the rocky coast line of Skellige.
He had wanted to see the whales, but did not listen to the advice given by the locals to go to one of the cliffs beyond the village. No, Jaskier really thought it would be better to experience it up close and all that.
He didn’t even see a fucking whale.
Maybe whale watching is done better from up high, but Jaskier had seen this perfect spot down by the rocks and now he is full of sweaty regrets.
Because he can’t find the path he took to get down here and the high tide is sweeping in, making his path treacherous and slippery.
Swearing profusely, Jaskier manages to at least get above the waterline. His shoes are wet, as are his breeches to the knee, but at least his leather satchel is fine.
Good thing he didn’t bring the lute.
Jaskier settles down to wait it out. It’s a fine day after all, even if the sun is slowly setting, and the sea is as calm as it can be around here.
Despite being so frustrated with himself, Jaskier finds himself relaxing. The sun shimmers on the surface of the sea, and gulls cry above, accompanied by the lapping of waves.
There are some rock formations further out, some of them almost shaped like giant, crooked pillars.
This view is why he was drawn to Skellige after all, so far away from his homelands. The stone he sits on is hard, yes, but warmed from sitting in the sun all day.
Out of the corner of his eye, to the left, Jaskier notices movement.
When he turns his head, there is nothing there.
Strange.
He knows Skellige is not the safest of places. The coast is riddled with harpies and sirens, the latter especially dangerous this close to the water.
Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all.
Then he spots something again, but this time straight ahead. It is directly in the bright reflection, so Jaskier has to squint but isn’t that… it looks like…?
The back of a whale!
Jaskier scrambles up to his feet, trying to shield his eyes to get a better look. Yes, that really is a whale out there! A big one, looks like, and far out!
He can only see the top of it, and the strange huffing sound travels across the surface when it blows water high, high up into the air.
The droplets are glistening like diamonds, like rain on a sunny day, as they fall back down.
The whale stays there for another minute or two, breathing deeply, and then the surface ripples as she dives.
Her tail comes up, rivulets of water falling down her fin, and then gives a giant splash as she pushes herself further down.
Jaskier realizes his mouth is hanging open.
He truly didn’t expect to see one, and not this close to the shore. Alright, it was not that close to the shore, but still visible to the naked eye, and he is thrilled.
He scans the surface once more, hungry for another sighting, but once the water has calmed there is nothing else.
Immediately, Jaskier starts going through his satchel to bring out the precious paper and pencil to write this down. When he finds it, he plops back down on the rock, legs crossed, and everything else forgotten.
The words come easily, filling the page with poetry and observation.
So lost in it, he doesn’t even notice he isn’t alone anymore until there is a soft splash right in front of him.
Jaskier startles, a long black line scratching across the page.
He could swear there is the upper half of a face sticking up out of the water, just a few feet away from him.
Pale skin, yellow eyes, even paler hair slicked back over what seems to be a surprisingly human-shaped head.
Jaskier’s heart is beating so hard he can feel it in his throat. Is this a siren? No, he would be dead by now, wouldn’t he?
Is it a dead person? No, the eyes are watching him very intently, blinking slowly, so it couldn’t be. It could be a drowner, though, but aren't they blue?
When nothing happens, Jaskier forces himself to relax his posture. His entire body is fighting him, that knee-jerk fight or flight response trying to decide which is best to do, but Jaskier decides on neither.
“Hello?” he ventures, and the eyes look back at him. “Who might you be?”
There is no response, which, fair, nose and mouth both seem to be submerged. But the being comes just a little bit closer, and Jaskier fights to keep his breathing even.
Just to be safe, Jaskier puts his papers to the side, pinned in place by the satchel. It wouldn’t do for them to become wet, even if this is where he meets his end. Maybe the skalds can sing about him, were they to find his notes. The bard who got too close, or whatever.
Fear is great inspiration, it would seem.
With a soft sound, the top of a head becomes an entire head, a neck, shoulders, and arms. Pale, glistening, well muscled, and surprisingly human looking, were it not for the gills on his neck, the long fins along the outside of the under arms, and smatterings of scales.
The white hair is longer than he thought, slightly curly now that it is out of the water, and sticking to the sides of the person’s face.
Jaskier blinks hard, taking it all in.
“Are you a mer?” Jaskier asks breathlessly, as the person pulls themself up on a rock. The lower half of the body is still hidden, but he can see hints of scales on their sides and down over the hips. Pale grey, like pale silver, he thinks.
The person, who looks very much like a man, tilts his head, and seems to scent the air.
“Afraid?” The person asks, his voice raspy and low. Yeah, it absolutely sounds like a he, but Jaskier is not very well versed in Mer anatomy.
“You surprised me,” Jaskier says carefully. “I thought I was alone.”
“You are never alone in the sea,” the mer says between sharp teeth.
As if that wasn’t a terrifying statement.
But the Mer speaks the language of Skellige, and Jaskier desperately wants to know more.
“Who are you?” Jaskier asks. “Do you live here?”
“This is my territory,” the Mer says, straightening up a little, revealing just a hint of a powerful tail below the surface. “Mine to keep.”
Jaskier smiles at the little display, finding it a little endearing despite the hint of aggression. Like a hissy kitten, trying out its claws.
“Then I am your guest. Forgive me, but I am lost, and I can’t find my way back.”
The mer watches, expression giving nothing away. Then again, expressions just might be different for Mer, Jaskier muses.
“Forgive? Do you need forgiveness for being lost?”
“Maybe not, but for imposing on your territory. I did not know it was yours. I only wanted to see a whale.”
The mer looks over his shoulder when Jaskier motions with his hand out to the open sea. His profile in the fading light is stunning, and Jaskier feels like he is in some kind of fairy tale.
“And did you see her?” The Mer turns back towards Jaskier.
“I did. She was beautiful.”
The Mer seems satisfied with this answer, and does an odd little hum. It rumbles along his sides, and Jaskier notices another set of thin fins along his ribs. He also notices scars, some new and some old.
“You may call me Geralt,” The Mer suddenly decides, pulling Jaskier out of a daydream where he considers what else is out there.
“Geralt,” Jaskier repeats. Not what he expected a Mer to be named, but again, who is he to tell? “You may call me Jaskier.”
“Jaskier.” Geralt says it like he is tasting the name, and with a slight lisp. “Is this land your territory?”
“I am but a guest here as well. I am a wanderer.” Jaskier smiles again, and Geralt’s eyes dip down to it, as if he doesn’t understand.
“So no territory?” Geralt asks, seemingly confused about the prospect.
“None. Well, none but this one.” And Jaskier pats his satchel. “It holds my treasures, and the stories I collect.”
“How does one collect stories?” Geralt asks, sinking into the water again and swimming closer, eyes all the while trained on Jaskier.
He stops when he is about an arm’s length away from the rock where Jaskier is sitting, making Jaskier’s adrenaline run again.
“Afraid?” Geralt asks again with a frown, tilting his head back as if he is smelling the air. Huh.
“A little,” Jaskier admits, seeing no point in lying. “I have never met your kind before, and I don’t know if you would wish to drown me.”
“If I had wanted that, you’d already be dead,” Geralt says with a cold expression, probably meant as a reassurance, but it doesn’t feel like one.
The Mer props himself up on a rock hidden under water and Jaskier now sees the tail, sleek, strong and silver.
“I collect stories by writing them down, and sometimes singing them,” Jaskier explains, deciding he does not want to remain on the subject of drowning while stuck where he is. “Would you like to hear one?”
When Geralt nods his assent, Jaskier thinks about the skellige songs he knows. Most are bawdy tavern songs, to be honest, but he recalls a ballad of the Maid and the Moon.
He sings it with the lapping of the waves and the cry of gulls, slapping his hand to the rock to keep the beat. It sounds better with a drum, but it will do.
Geralt keeps watching him, keeps doing that weird blink of his. Jaskier starts another one, one of war and fire. And then another one about returning home, which aches just a little.
When the songs are done, Geralt doesn’t say anything, just dives beneath the waves.
The sun is getting really low, and Jaskier is a bit worried he will have to stay here all eve. He isn’t wearing much more than his white tunic and a thin pair of trousers, courtesy of the Skelligan summer heat, but the temperature is dropping along with the setting sun.
Geralt returns with less of a splash than Jaskier expects.
His hair sticks to his forehead, and this close Jaskier notices a scar over his left eye. It looks old, and deep, and Jaskier can’t help but wonder if Geralt’s skin would be cool to the touch, if he were to reach out.
With some strain, Geralt reaches up to the rock where Jaskier is sitting, and Jaskier shifts to accept what Geralt is offering. Their fingers touch, and Jaskier learns that no, Geralt is not cold. The ring that he is handed, however, is.
“Does this one have a story too?” the Mer asks, and Jaskier is immediately flattered for being trusted with Geralt’s treasure.
“I’m sure it does, but it seems it is not mine to tell. Is it yours?”
Jaskier attempts to give the ring back, but Geralt sinks further into the water, shaking his head.
“I do not know it. The ring is yours to keep, Jaskier, as a thanks for sharing your collection of stories with me.”
Jaskier senses this is goodbye, as the Mer swims backwards, back out towards the deep. Despite their short time together, the thought of parting stings. It feels unlikely they will meet again.
“Come back again, Jaskier the wanderer. It was good to have you as a guest. Your path to land is clear.”
Jaskier blinks in surprise, and then frowns at this statement. When he turns to look towards the rocks around and behind him, he realizes that the tide has pulled back enough for him to climb up towards the safety of land. When Jaskier looks back, Geralt is gone.
The waves lap against the stones as if nothing happened. Before the sun can disappear beyond the horizon, Jaskier gathers his things and carefully makes his way up.
When he’s ascended to safety, he turns once more, looking out over the ocean. The sky is a myriad of colors, birds a dark outline against its splendor, but not a hint of his new friend is to be seen.
-----
The day after brings a storm and Jaskier is unable to go back to the shore for another two days. It’s strange, but Jaskier feels an itch under his skin, he wants to go back, learn more, see Geralt again.
On the third day the sky clears, the clouds finally finishing with their weeping and the wind its howling.
Jaskier is better prepared this time. He sits down on the same rock as before, and he sings while he waits.
Geralt finds him again on that rock, this time swimming close without any hesitation.
“Lost again?” Geralt asks. There is a new set of gashes on his arm, looking like claw marks, too big to be anything Jaskier would ever want to meet.
“No. Looking for a friend.” Jaskier smiles. “If you will have me as a guest once more.”
Geralt smiles back at him then, stiff though it may be, but Jaskier sees it as the gift it is anyway.
“It would be my honor.”
------
Since Jaskier came to Skellige, he has seen at least three whales, climbed a number of beautiful and treacherous mountain passes, and tasted alcohol strong enough to give women chest hair. He has made friends with skalds and fishermen and errand boys and lords, and his time is coming to a close.
He will miss it. Them. This sharp country and its inhabitants, the living myths found hidden everywhere.
There is one he will miss a lot, Jaskier thinks, as he makes the now familiar climb down the rocky shore.
Saying goodbye is a part of being a wanderer, but it doesn’t make it any easier. His mother always liked to remind him, a goodbye is not a farewell, but still, Jaskier doesn’t have much hope for that.
Geralt is already there waiting for him, and Jaskier plops down on a rock further down so he can dip his feet into the water.
The Mer had expressed great interest in the concept of shoes, struggling with understanding their function. That first time Jaskier had joined him for a swim, Geralt had made one of his unreadable faces when Jaskier took off everything but his underclothes before getting in.
Technically the cove not a safe place to swim as the currents are strong and had threatened to pull Jaskier under more than once, but Geralt was always there to catch him.
Now, Geralt is sunbathing, propped up in a way to let his bare chest soak up as much sunlight as possible, his tail lazily moving side to side in the shallow water.
He is achingly beautiful, and Jaskier is suddenly struck by melancholy.
Jaskier doesn’t say anything when he sits, only removes his shoes and socks to dip his toes in water that doesn’t get warm, even in summer.
The Mer opens his eyes, gazing directly at him, eyes as bright as rays of sunlight.
“Sad?” Geralt asks in that direct way of his.
“Yes,” Jaskier admits, splashing his feet and scaring off the shrimp that were brave enough to approach him.
Geralt sits up enough to lean back on his elbow and watches Jaskier intently.
“Why?”
“I am leaving soon, my friend. A ship arrives within the week to take me home. To my territory.”
Geralt opens and closes his mouth, then looks out over the sea.
“Hm,” he says, confirming that he understood but doesn’t know how to reply.
Were Geralt a human, Jaskier would have asked him to come with, but he is not. Geralt’s territory is here, his life is here, and even with a boat, the travel across the seas is dangerous.
He will not ask it.
They sit in silence for a long while, Jaskier humming under his breath when a story, this story, starts to take form.
When it is time to leave, Geralt swims close, gently taking hold around Jaskier’s calves to stay afloat.
“You have been a good friend,” Geralt says, deep in thought.
“As have you,” Jaskier says, aching with the sadness of parting, of leaving Geralt behind.
To soothe himself, he reaches out a hand and cups Geralt’s cheek. Something he has not done before, something he did not think welcome, but Geralt leans into it.
“I will miss you,” Jaskier says quietly, and the Mer looks up at him through thick lashes.
Then he pushes himself out of the water, heaving himself up on the rock and leaning over Jaskier, into his personal space.
There is water everywhere, soaking Jaskier’s breeches and shirt, but Geralt has leaned forward, and Jaskier meets him halfway.
The kiss tastes like salt and sunlight. Geralt is careful not to hurt him, his teeth hidden behind gentle lips.
“I will miss you, too,” Geralt murmurs against his lips, and then he sinks back down into the water and is gone.
----
Lettenhove in spring is beautiful. The trees are full of buds ready to bloom any day now, bumblebees waking up and doing their confused dance around the flowers in the courtyard.
It is now late enough in the year that summer threatens to overtake the land, waking a wanderer from his slumber.
Jaskier makes his way down past the docks, to the rocky parts where the river meets the ocean.
It’s a habit he can’t shake, and he dips his feet in the cold water, just like he did last summer. He sits there for a good long while, thinking of a kiss and a ring.
There is a ripple in the water to his left, and for a moment, Jaskier thinks he only imagines the familiar face peeking up just over the surface.
But their eyes lock, and half a face becomes a full head and shoulders, as Geralt swims closer.
It is impossible, or, well, improbable. Jaskier feels a giant smile form on his lips and something heavy that’s been on his heart finally lifts.
“Are you lost, wanderer?” he asks, when Geralt swims ever closer, reaching for Jaskier’s calf to hold himself steady.
“No, I'm here to see a friend.” Geralt returns the smile tentatively. “I crossed the sea to find you.”
“Then you are welcome as my guest, friend,” Jaskier says warmly, reaching down to touch Geralt’s cheek, just like the last time they saw each other.
And just like last time, when Jaskier leans forward and down to meet him, their kiss tastes like salt and sunlight.
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