( OPEN ) just a pinch of salt in the wound; you'll be fine

[gynvael]

Who: Geralt + Victims You
When: August // Aguril
Where: Various
What: Full moon feral shenanigans; events/quests later down the line
Warnings: Violence

[ prompts in comments. find me at discontinued for plotting. ]

OPEN: feral wolf | post full moon | basement bonanza curses

CLOSED: feral wolf: jaskier+yennefer | antler fruit: jaskier

Comments

[gynvael]

Mm. [ Geralt confirms both her suggestion and assumption with a noncommittal sound. Jaskier is not just from his world. Jaskier has traveled with him longer than any human has, a fact that Geralt still doesn't know how it happened.

His expression turns curious. The way she's asking, that's all. Like she doesn't actually know why Jaskier walks around with a lute and a song on hand. It doesn't occur to him bards might not exist elsewhere. ]

He's a bard. [ It's, you know. What bards do. They sing. Jaskier's profession is just about the only respectable thing about him. ] A known one. [ A pause. ] Do not tell him I said that.

[ Back home, anyway. Less so here. He has no doubt Jaskier is working on rebuilding his reputation in the city. ]

[sparkstrikes]

What, that he's well-known? [... Actually, yeah. Given what she does know about him, it's probably best that she doesn't talk about that with him, lest she want to be sat down to listen to him sing about his supposed fame. Geralt knows what he's doing.] Your secret's safe with me.

[But Lightning can put two and two together. There may not be bards in her final fantasy world, but they're singers. Floofy performers. Got it.]

Don't take this the wrong way, but that wasn't the answer I was expecting when I asked. [She's having a hard time imagining what that dynamic looks like.] ... But I'm glad you found someone.

[gynvael]

[ Found someone sounds far too much like Geralt's already made the decision to bond with him. Explaining that requires bringing up why things are so complicated between him and Jaskier and Yennefer, and the tangled web that's become their fates or Destiny or whatever the fuck, so he keeps it to himself. ]

Trust me, I wonder the same thing. [ After awhile, he's stopped questioning it, what it is that has resulted in Jaskier being here twenty-some odd years later.

After a second, he shifts the topic. ] What about you?

[sparkstrikes]

[It's a wonder that Jaskier still has his head, but unlikely friendships have been forged here before. Wouldn't be the first or last time that she's been surprised by it.

But when he turns the question around on Lightning, she shifts, suddenly feeling the heat of the hot seat. It's fine to talk about other people's bonds, but hers?]

I've talked about it with someone. Have another in mind.

[The more, the merrier, right? She doesn't know how much more info to divulge, or whether or not Karin would want people to know, but even Lightning had asked that they keep it on the downlow until it was "official."]

Hard part is actually popping the question...

[She lets that comment hang, as if she's seeking some advice on that...]

[gynvael]

[ The comment simply hangs. Geralt realizes she's waiting to see if he has any suggestions. Oh. Personal advice. From him?

Then again, Geralt had decided to ask advice from a reclusive man in the woods, who seems to enjoy prefer company as much as he does. Maybe he shouldn't throw stones. ]

Uh. [ He takes a moment to search. Now they both look like they've been put on the spot. ] Could ask to try it out first.

[ Those temporary bonds. Seems like a good way to broach the topic. Geralt had thought about it, too -- testing a bond -- but given how severe his case had been, he's concerned it won't be enough come the full moon. ]

wrapping :)

[sparkstrikes]

[There's a lingering moment of silence following his answer before Lightning snorts out loud.]

Still gotta commit to asking.

[And therein lies the problem with bonding. It's no longer an issue of whether she wants to or not—none of them have a say in that—but how to bring it up. Temporary or permanent, Lightning has no idea how to ask someone to commit to what is essentially a platonic marriage arrangement.

(Thinking about it that way only makes it harder to do.)]

We'll all figure it out, [she says, defeated but not without a smile. No reason to get her panties in a knot about it now, not when she has half a bottle of beer to finish! She lifts her bottle and raises it to Geralt in offering.] Here's to that.

[gynvael]

[ True. Geralt has half a mind to tell her the most ideal solution is to find a bonded who'll pester about bonding on their own and then it was just a matter of begrudgingly agreeing at some point during said pestering.

Effectively his plan for Jaskier. Also a unique situation. There's only one Jaskier in the world. (He fucking hopes.)

Still. ]

Mm. [ He offers her a quirk of the lips that passes for a smile. She makes for easy drinking company, at least, and for once it isn't to escape a conversation that Geralt eventually calls his drink his last. He leaves enough coins on the table to pay for his part before getting up. ]

See you around.