[ CLOSED ] the feeling never dies in your eyes

[gynvael]

Who: Geralt + Various
When: September
Where: Cadens; Horizon; Libertas
What: thisisfine.jpg
Warnings: Blanket for Witcher canon, destruction/war imagery and related topics, etc., references to child death, NSFW marked



(( starters in the comments below. find me at discontinued or at Noa#1979 to plot stuff! ))

Comments

[gynvael]

That, [ Geralt props himself up on one elbow, ] is as believable as a blue sky.

[ Perhaps it's so that he allows himself to be aggravated. He takes Jaskier's hand in his. Rolls his thumb over the reddened marks that are beginning to bruise. Is it not too much?

No. Jaskier seems content. In return, Geralt is satisfied. With the marks, the night, that Jaskier is home again at last. Definitely with the fact that he can hear the guards just outside grumbling about the...

Disturbance. Within.

The black of his eyes are already starting to recede. A hell of a fucking time they've found themselves in these days.

He grows quiet, then lays down beside Jaskier. He slept next to him often in the days following those memories, those nightmares. Only feels right to do so again given what's happened. ]

I'll be staying in the city.

[ For the month. Maybe longer. He doesn't want to leave them. Jaskier, Ciri, Julie. His people. He wants to be near where he can protect them. ]

[cointosser]

[A little bit of a shame, he thinks, that it goes away so fast. It's as much a part of Geralt as his white hair or cheerful disposition. Fascinating, he thinks, that if this is one of those "gifts" from the Singularity, that it reflects something that was already part of Geralt.

Nothing like becoming a bird. Growing a plant.

Again, somehow. It suits.]

I thought as much. [Geralt need not say why. He can guess. They have been friends for a very long time, and Geralt's heart may as well be bleeding, in some ways.] You know I'm not asking you to. [It needn't be said.] You know, I've been thinking, if I leave Cadens in the future, I might hire Gideon. What do you think? Have you seen her skills yet?

[gynvael]

[ Yeah. He knows. That's not why he's staying. If he's being frank, it's as much for himself. If something were to happen while he was a week's ride away or more—

Things are precarious at the moment. He won't risk it. He has them now. People. (Family.) After everything he's lost, despite knowing what he's yet to lose—because what is waiting for those like him if not more loss?—he can't bear the thought of it. Not right now.

He swallows.

Right. Wait—Gideon? Hm. ] Handy with a sword. I don't know how well she cuts down men.

[ Men, specifically. There's a difference. Some hesitate when faced with another human when they otherwise wouldn't with a monster. And Jaskier is not in danger from monsters. Still. If she's willing—he'd trust her more than the guards. ]

[cointosser]

She certainly seems eager for it.

[Not in any way that strikes Jaskier as strange. Plenty of mercenaries on the Continent just as intent. Even the queens have their guards. And Gideon shall surely be better than anyone under Marlo's control.

Jaskier releases a little breath, laying onto his back. The scars no longer hurt, but sometimes he recalls the ache when he goes a little too still, or catches the sight of them at the corner of his eye.

And still merely papercuts compared to Geralt's.]

I'm glad you are. [He doesn't look at the Witcher as he says it, closing his eyes.] So I can have a bit more of your cock up my ass, of course.

[And then he smiles into the dark -- the relative dark, except the glow of the lantern Geralt gifted him by the bedside.]

[gynvael]

[ He hums. He's met Gideon. If nothing else, she's sincere. No ulterior motives. On that alone, he can approve. A straightforward mercenary there to earn coin is as simple as it gets.

With Jaskier's eyes closed, a small smile touches his lips. ]

Go the fuck to sleep, Jaskier.

[ He'll keep watch in the meantime. As always, sleep does not come easy to him and it's one of those nights he won't be getting any rest. It's all right. He wants to ride out at sunrise with Roach, anyhow. Stretch her legs before the day's scorching heat comes. ]