#geralt unravelling more of the yarn as he goes

[joinmeinjoy]

Jaskier sews and Geralt crochets. I don't make the rules that's just how it is :/

But think about it- baby Jaskier, still wet behind the ears, arriving at Oxenfurt with nothing but the clothes on his back, a small sack of belongings, and an acceptance letter he reads every night. Maybe he had to persuade his parents to let him go, maybe they begrudgingly wrote his enrolment letter with mumbles about him throwing his life away, shaming him with this phase he was going through. Or maybe they didn't know at all; maybe Jaskier had stolen some of his father's thick letter paper and smooth ink, had penned his own enrolment, mimicking the short blunt writing of his dad. Maybe he scanned each and every letter when they arrived, snagging the one that proudly read ‘OXENFURT ACADEMY’ before anyone else could see it or grab it. Maybe that night he grabbed all he could carry, letter tight in his grip, and left with naught but the scrape of boots on a stone window sill.

He has to learn to sew because he can’t afford to pay someone else for it. He cant make a shirt for shit, or cut some fancy pants out of fabric he doesn’t have, but he can hem. He can take his pants up when it’s in fashion, or add more inches to the legs in scrap fabric and say its a trend from somewhere far in the south. Of course the contrasting colours and textures were intentional, its fashion darling. It’s all the craze.

Jaskier can patch his shirts, his underclothes, can take them in and out. He saves his money to buy more clothes, but in the meantime he teaches himself the basics of using a needle and thread. Eventually, when he’s won various prizes in competitions, he can afford to buy a few new shirts and can sometimes even afford to get them properly fixed...but he does it himself more often than not. He’s been doing it for years now- it may not be done by a professional, but its a near thing. What once were uneven and uncertain stitches, made by hesitant and learning hands, have now become smooth patterns on the inside of his clothes, over holes and tears and ripped seams. Pushing a needle though fabric feels as natural as holding a lute- his hands are steadier now, certain and strong.

He still pricks himself with the needle, gets frustrated when what hes sewing doesn’t work out...but he always picks the needle back up after putting it down. His little box of sewing things never gathers dust.

And when he starts travelling with Geralt, he’s suddenly very grateful for all the years hes spent patching his own clothes. It worked as good practice for fixing the much larger, much harder tears and holes Geralt acquires on his hunts. Its a challenge sometimes, and more often than not Jaskier scraps shirts and pants entirely because honestly Geralt its ripped to ribbons, how can you still call that a shirt? the poor thing....look what you’ve done to it. But he uses those scraps patching other things, so they don’t go entirely to waste.

And Geralt...it’s not like he had much free time in the keep, when he was growing up. But the time he did have was mostly spent alone in a room reading books, sparring with the other boys, or doing (possibly mischievous) things with Eskel. In fact Eskel was the one who taught him how to crochet- the other boy didn’t remember much about his mother or his home, but he was old enough to remember some of the things he had been taught. They unravelled an old pair of knitted jumpers and used the yarn from that- its not like witchers kept balls of yarn lying around the keep, and neither boy wanted to risk the ridicule of asking for some. So they pulled the shirts apart and Eskel whittled two little crochet hooks from some sticks they’d found.

Eskel had sat for hours trying to let his muscle memory take over, trying to remember how to do the stitches properly, before showing Geralt how to do it. He couldn’t remember how to do all the stitches- he knew what they looked like, but he couldn’t remember how to recreate them. That was ok, Geralt had thought, because he was thrilled to be doing even this- making terrible little...he didn’t even know what they were meant to be, they were just squares made with a stitch Eskel called the ‘Granny Stripe’.

They sat crocheting squares for as long as they could, before unravelling them and doing it all over again.

As they grew they discovered more ways to make new stitches, how to make small items, and they shared everything they discovered. Geralt took these skills with him on the path- he bought yarn where he could find it and made his own socks, his own gloves, because sometimes it was cheaper than buying them from people who spat at him. He got a notebook eventually and started writing instructions for himself on how to make things- how many chains to make, where to double crochet and where to treble crochet. He started small and made gloves, socks, even some leg warmers for roach. A scarf or two. Then he made a cardigan over winter, and proudly showed it off. Lambert gave him shit for it but asked when Geralt was going to make one for him because sharing is caring, dumbass. Eskel demanded to know how Geralt made it. Geralt copied the notes for him later.

When Jaskier starts travelling with him he doesn’t pick up his crochet hook for a while. He’s too busy trying to lose this new human to crochet, and he doesn’t have any yarn, and its not like he needs to make anything so-

He carefully pulls out the new yarn he had secretly bought and his trusty metal hook, shiftily eyeing Jaskier across the campsite. The bard seems wrapped up in his own world, staring into the fire, so quietly Geralt starts the chain for his new creation. It isn’t until 20 minutes later that he feels Jaskier watching him. He tenses, expecting a comment about it (because when he’s in town the only people crocheting are old women and he knows that he’s nearly as old as them but that doesn’t matter-), but he continues looping the yarn over the hook and pulling it through spaces, repeating the process stitch after stitch. Jaskier says nothing, just watches in fascination.

Maybe its something they bond over- what they do is different, of course, but its also so similar. Jaskier expands into making actual clothes alongside patching and hemming, he starts making shirts and pants for himself and Geralt. One spring when he meets up with Geralt again, he hands him a parcel and says its for roach. The bard had made a new saddle blanket for roach, had hand-sewn a diamond pattern onto it and made it out of the softest, most durable fabric he could find. It was thick but soft, and Geralt knew each stitch was made with care. It’s one of the first times Geralt actually begins to see Jaskier for the person he’s become, rather than the boy he was.

That year, Geralt spends the month leading up to winter making Jaskier a long, colourful cardigan. He gives it to him right before they part ways, so he doesn’t have to explain himself or the cardigan beyond a gruff “Here. For you.”.

It’s Jaskiers most prized possession- tied only with his lute.

...I will end it here but i haven’t even gotten STARTED on what they make for Ciri......