#but better than never

[green-fifteen]

Day 8: Slow Blink

Prompt: Smile Fandom: The Witcher (TV) Pairing: Geralt & Jaskier Summary: Jaskier discovers something interesting about his companion. Word count: 1,404 read on ao3 instead

written for @fluffyfebruary

Jaskier had been traveling with Geralt for four years when he finally learned something absolutely fundamental about his friend. The witcher might disagree, but to Jaskier this was the most important discovery he'd made since he'd found the man himself.

It was a hot day and they were stuck in mud up to their ankles, trudging through some hovel right at the edge of a wide river.

"Why are we here, Geralt?" Jaskier had whined, lifting his hat to wipe the sweat from his brow. His companion had only grunted and walked on. "Geralt. Geralt! You know, I'm sure Roach would have a thing or two to say about you dragging her through this mire. We could catch a disease! What if we all get a parasite! And for what!"

He looked over at the horse in question to see what she thought of the situation, but Geralt moved in front of him to feed her a treat from the saddlebag.

"Roach is fine," he said. She did look fine-- crunching down on the hard, rooty end of a carrot and somehow making it through the mud like it was water instead of awful sludge that was trying to take Jaskier's shoes off his feet every time he took a step. He stopped walking, overheated and annoyed.

"That's it!" he cried. "I'm finding an inn--" he looked around at the sad little huts and gardens. "--or a tree stump, or somewhere I can go and wait for you to come back. This is ridiculous."

Geralt looked at him and said, "Okay," and gave him a look that clearly meant, Why should I care? It would be hurtful if Jaskier hadn't spent so much time with him. Geralt never wanted him to come with him on Witcher business. By now the bard was good at convincing himself it was solely because Geralt cared so much for his health and well-being.

Rolling his eyes, Jaskier made to turn around and stride away, forgetting for a moment that his shoes were firmly stuck in mud. He felt his bag drop first as he flailed his arms to steady his balance, and then he was tipping backwards as if in slow motion, gazing up at the unfairly blue sky as he finally landed on the ground. His lovely linen shirt squelched into the ground as his legs bent at the knee, his shoes still planted.

Roach stepped away, alarmed. Geralt patted her side reassuringly while his gaze was on Jaskier, who blearily noted how fetching his yellow eyes looked against the summer sky. As he watched, the witcher closed his eyes and opened them again, too long to be a blink but too short to be anything else.

Furrowing his brow, Jaskier stuck out an arm to Geralt, who sighed but heaved him out of the mud. His clothes and shoes left the ground with an awful sucking noise.

Subtly, he watched the witcher's face as he dragged himself back into order, wiping mud from his elbows and the backside of his satchel. After a few seconds, Geralt blinked, short and unremarkable. Jaskier was tempted to call it a fluke-- after all, blinking slightly longer than usual could mean anything, or nothing at all. On top of that, the bard was frustrated with Geralt, covered in mud, and wanted nothing more than to strip all his clothes off and plunge into a cold bath.

He simply said, "Right, well. I'll see you when you're finished, I assume." He tried to be subtle as he took Roach's sack of treats from the saddlebag, but it didn't work. The horse nosed at him and the witcher tilted his head and frowned even deeper.

"So you both come back," he quipped, trying to sound like he was joking even though he wasn't. "I'll just be taking this with me on my quest to find suitable lodgings. Don't be out too late, dear." He stuffed the sack into his own bag and carefully marched away.

Two days later, Geralt came back to the little riverside town, smelling truly awful and with the head of some hideous swamp-thing strapped to his saddle. Jaskier had been fortunate enough to find an old, unused stable and made himself a nice little bed out of smelly hay. He hadn't felt inspired to play (he wasn't sure anyone there would be able to pay him for the privilege) so he worked on composing new songs instead as he waited for the witcher to return.

When he did, Jaskier didn't notice at first, too busy staring into the distance and counting off lines of metered verse. He was sitting on a boulder on the riverbank with one foot on the ground and the other propped up on his seat. He had nothing with him but his lute and his leather-bound notebook.

He jumped when he felt something shove his shoulder. Roach was behind him, Geralt looming above on her back. He sprang to his feet.

"Geralt! The Lady Roach!" he said, then stopped. "What is that smell?"

Before Geralt could answer (or, more likely, not answer), Roach pushed him again with her nose. Then she pushed him again and he stumbled to keep his balance.

Geralt made a noise that might have been a sigh. "Where are her carrots, bard?"

Jaskier was trying to pet the horse into submission but she wasn't interested in being mollified and began to nose her way into his jacket.

"Is that what this is about? I have her little bag in the stable just there--," his voice cut off with a warble as Roach took a step forward, shoving Jaskier along with her, and he lost his battle to stay upright. For the second time in three days, Jaskier watched the earth turn to sky in front of his eyes as he fell backward, this time directly into the river.

When he came up spluttering, he saw Roach pawing the ground and the witcher standing next to her and staring at him. When their eyes met, Jaskier glaring in disbelief, Geralt closed his eyes again in that same long blink as before. Then he turned his head to look at Roach and did it again at her.

Jaskier stood up and dripped, looking around at the river. The water was cool and relatively clear. "There isn't an inn here, Geralt," he said. "This is probably the best place to bathe for several miles." He did want to grumble a bit at the hair plastered to his face and the soaked feathers in his hat, but the water felt like heaven in the summer humidity.

"Also, I can smell you from here."

Geralt huffed and looked away, but he tied Roach to a log and undressed. As he waded into the water and felt the grime and sweat wash away from him, he did it again. One moment his face was hard as the steel of his sword and the next his whole expression seemed to soften and his eyes fell closed, then opened again.

Jaskier felt epiphany close over him. Oh. He was reminded of the cats his sister had kept growing up. Their nurse had told them to watch and listen whenever they could because not every creature used words like they could. Pay attention to everything else, she'd said, and you'll get the message anyway.

Jaskier was paying attention. He was paying the most attention. He thought he might have just made the discovery of his lifetime. Namely, that the witcher Geralt, White Wolf and the Butcher of Blaviken, smiled. Not only that, but he did it often.

After that, Jaskier was on the lookout for Geralt's peculiar little smile. Unfortunately, he saw it most often directed toward Roach or whenever Jaskier managed to embarrass himself somehow. It wasn't until they'd been traveling together nearly ten years that he started to see it more regularly even when he hadn't just fallen over a tree stump or ripped his trousers.

When they met that spring, Jaskier spotted him at the stables before Geralt had turned around.

"Geralt!" he shouted, joy making his limbs feel light. He had stopped resisting the urge to hug Geralt somewhere around their seventh year, so he didn't hesitate before throwing his arms around the witcher, who simply looked down at Jaskier and blinked, long and slow.

He couldn't wipe the beam from his face for days.

[lesbonym]

Nyyyyyyymmmmmm I’m suddenly and severely horny.

Pretty please take me and just use me. I don’t care how rough you need to get, how long you need to do it for, or how you do it, please just fuck me until my brain leaks away.

Show me how much of a mistake it was to be bratty, cement your claim back into my mind until all I can think about is you and your touch. Use the strap on me until I can’t walk for the next few days. Mark every inch of me as yours and only yours.

You have a god complex kink? Then make me worship you until it’s all I know

Please

-🐦‍⬛

Mm, I'm so happy to finally see you being good, baby. Though that won't stop me from still using you for being such a brat the other day. Trying to make me jealous with 🕷? I thought I've made it clear that you are mine so many times but it's clear that you still need the reminder.

I haven't decided if I wanna just bend you over or tie you down just yet. But I'll have you under me in some way, using you for my own pleasure. Shove my fingers in your mouth any time you get bratty so that mouth has a better use. Pound away with my strap inside you until you are shaking from overstimulation but this is about me.

You wanna serve your god? Only good girls get used by their god.

[zoeloveconvers99]

I honestly forgot to post this one year old school project about character design where i should've create these creature characters based on the genre requested and fruits and flowers: Fantasy-dragon fruit bird of paradise dragon

Pirate-maracuja kraken

Sci-fi-peach sakura robot

[quawe]

Tilins return

I'm just keeping up back with the lore of qsmp, and Elquackity brought such sad idea to me..

Tilin opened their eyes, they could swear that a moment ago everything looked white, they were happily making flower crowns with their best friend juanaflippa but that didn't matter anymore, they were back, on quesadilla island. There was a new goal for them, to find Quackity, the father of theirs.

They ran around the server, surprised and mesmerised by so many new buildings around her, they could recognise that there were new people around and they were excited to meet new uncles, and maybe if they were lucky enough new aunties as well. But for now they didn't meet anyone and maybe that was for the best.

Their legs were tired but not giving up, all they could think about was seeing their father one more time, hugging them and living like nothing happened. Driving off that energy it seemed like Tilin could run for their whole life, stopping only when they see their father figure.

Suddenly they saw a person, his outfit was a little bit different, blue long shirt with black overalls. Tilin could feel tears in their eyes, it was so long, so long that they forgot how much they missed them, the hole in their heart after missing him was now more present than ever, their little heart was beating fast, faster than it should be. They were happy, happy to see him again but also nervous, nervous of the reaction their father would show once they'll meet.

The world stopped when their eyes met, with tears streaming down on Tilins egg shell they runned towards the smiley man. The closer they got the more adrenaline was pumping through their body, finally being reunited. So close and they could feel their father's warmth again, the smell of cologne their parents wore. Tilin closed their eyes waiting for the impact when they collided with Quackity's body. But it never came, in the last second quackity moved.

When tilin looked at him, they wanted to hide. The hatred in their eyes made tilin shiver, they could swear they saw Quackity pull a sword out for a moment but acting like nothing happened when somebody passed through. His aura was so ominous, so different from the Quackity they used to know.

And for a second they thought it was their fault, they realised how much pain their father went through when they were ripped out of his hands, maybe he was already over them, moved on and forgot about their child. And not even for a second was Tilin able to feel hate towards their father for forgetting them, they only felt sadness.

Quackity eyes showed no reaction towards tilin, not even after a while. Even having the attitude to leave while tillin was breaking down, feeling hated and unloved, not accepted back by her own father. They knew they were done for, their father didn't want them anymore, leave them on their own; and what sent the most sorrow through tillins body was the fact that he didn't say even a word, nothing to them, like they didn't even exist.

..Nobody knows how long the poor soul sat there alone, their body felt so cold under bads touch, leaned into his warmth tilin opened their eyes, writing down a sign " he didn't even recognize me, was i away for too long or does he just not love me anymore?" Bad felt the sadness from tilin, bringing them even closer. Hugging them so tight while he answered "he is not our quackity tilin, and i promise when he comes back he will love you just like the first day quackity met you"..

[morebird]

Gale of Waterdeep

[kvtnisseverdeen]

THE WORLD STANDS WITH PALESTINE 🇵🇸

[sheepgirlmaidtummy]

man. this whole thing pisses me off because like. even when people talk about staff having a history of hating trans women, that this isnt the first time, without fail black trans women are forgotten to be included again and again. im not surprised this caused such an uproar when the popular white woman gets deleted. nobody should be, its been that way like forever. some cunt in my inbox got annoyed i called rita a sex worker (lol? okay)

but i mentioned that in my post because so many black trans women have gotten removed from this site for their sex work alone, regardless of if it "broke community guidelines" or not, especially when tumblr live and the ads on this website are so fucking horny. idek what to say rn because like. this wont get as many notes as the posts talking about her will. the exploding car thing is gonna get more attention than the trans women on this site you dont actually care about listening to. ive been talking about how unfair it is to be a black tgirl on this site for years and nobody cares.

i love rita, we talked abit the other day and she's doing fine, dont get it twisted and think i hate her or some bs, she's a big fucking reason im not fucking homeless.

but part of why her deletion got to #1 trending on tumblr for multiple days in a row is that she's white

[trainwreckgenerator]

top ten polycules most likely to destroy all life on earth

[ironinkpen]

there's something so poetic about kipperlilly copperkettle—who hated one of her classmates for daring to be better than her and having a dead dad, who refused to improve herself and instead chose to be bitter and entitled, who was so obsessed with being Special and Important like she felt she deserved that she willingly worked with a rage god, betrayed her party, and killed her friend—getting killed by fucking. Hold Person. her fancy optimal build IMMEDIATELY folding in the face of riz's cleverness and experience and applied knowledge. she spends years fixated solely on racking up EXP and getting the Best Abilities, and then when she dies, she's killed not in glorious combat but by a clever, practical application of a 2nd level spell that she NEVER would have ever thought of using because she has no creativity or adventurers' spirit, cast by the same classmate she always hated with a watch his dead dad gave him.

[sweetmapple]

Act 1 Astarion

[hellspawnmotel]

I can't think of a nutcracker pun

[chloesimaginationthings]

The tragedy of being William Afton’s daughter in FNAF..

[puppyofthetrees]

Woo! Gonna start progesterone!

[pbnmj]

also by the way i am always obsessed with how spider-people just click and can work together without anything being said in spiderverse . mcu spiderman being like "omg ive never worked in a team” “how are we going to work together” “well im on a team so i’ll lead us" like that was the most boring way to do it . spiderverse instead saying "we just know how to work together because our histories and lives are so linked, its like knowing someone your whole life. seeing the self in the other. our lives rhyme.” LIKE I LOVE YOU GUYS

[inkskinned]

"don't make it political!" .... what proportion of death and suffering must occur before politics are involved. if this isn't political, what is even the point of any politics, ever. of democracy. the words are "by the people for the people." if i am going to be left alone by my elected representatives to "figure it out" - to undergo damage, hardship, fear. what the fuck did i elect them for. what was their job. the entire point is that they handle this shit. this is why we were supposed to be electing leaders.

poverty is political. misogyny is political. gun control is political. climate change is political. how much aid a community gets is political. what the fuck are you talking about. it's been political this whole fucking time.

[syneester]

Nights in the desert, hm?

[@isjasz 's DTIYS!]