Chapter Text
Four years later
It was Sunday. Family dinner.
Of course, the family, such as it was, didn"t fit around Geralt and Jaskier"s kitchen table on this particular night. They"d set up two long tables in the backyard and strung lights through the trees to give the space a warm glow in the evening light. Jaskier had taken to growing flowers in their garden among the herbs and vegetables, and so tonight there was an eclectic mix of bowls and vases on the tables filled with fresh flowers of all kinds.
Geralt had asked Jaskier, repeatedly over the course of months, if he was sure he didn"t want a big fancy wedding.
"We can afford it, sweetheart. I know how much you like a big party."
Jaskier brushed a fond hand over Geralt"s cheek. "You hate parties."
"But I love you. I want you to have what you want."
"I want to get married surrounded by the people we love. The people who love us. I don"t want to have to make space for two hundred people I barely know, extended family and work friends and anyone else we might feel obligated to invite. I certainly don"t want to have to invite my parents."
"We can keep it small and still do the whole thing, with the church and the reception and all that. If that"s what you want."
Jaskier shook his head. "Wouldn"t feel right. Wouldn"t feel like us."
So instead, they had family dinner. It had turned into something of a potluck, with the need to feed the roughly two-dozen guests outstripping Geralt"s ability to cook. He"d made potato soup, though. Vesemir had tackled the main course, pushing Geralt out of the kitchen a few hours before the meal to braise lamb shanks. Eskel had baked several loaves of fresh bread, a skill he"d picked up when he"d decided to quit travelling from one end of the state to the other every week picking up jobs. When Coën, the physical therapist who was the reason Eskel was staying home more and more, had heard the planned menu, he"d insisted on providing two vegetable sides along with a lecture on the importance of eating fiber.
Lambert and Aiden hadn"t offered to cook, and Geralt and Jaskier wouldn"t have accepted if they had. It only took one disastrous pasta meal for everyone to decide they were better off contributing in other ways. They"d wrangled the set-up and decoration in the yard instead. Jaskier had been skeptical, but Lambert in particular seemed overwhelmingly determined to make things nice, and after the third call Jaskier had fielded about tablecloths he"d told Lambert to just go ahead and do whatever he thought was best. The result had shocked Geralt and Jaskier both; a casual-rustic scene that looked right out of a magazine. Even the strange mix of sunflowers, daffodils, and hydrangeas from Jaskier"s garden worked.
Dessert had been made the night before, Ciri and Jaskier staying up late together and giggling as they drank wine and frosted cupcakes. Ciri had protested that having cupcakes at a wedding was basic, but Jaskier had won her over with a description of the flavor varieties he"d been working on—salted-caramel pecan, blueberry lemon, and dark chocolate raspberry. It had been an all-day project getting them baked, but with Ciri"s help Jaskier had gotten them all finished and even looking quite pretty in time to get a good night"s sleep before the big day.
All together, they"d put together a beautiful wedding and it hadn"t even been that stressful. Jaskier found that every time he offered to help that day he"d been shooed away. The soup had been done early since it could be set aside and re-heated, and so he"d been able to spend the few hours before their guests started to arrive in Geralt"s company.
Jaskier found himself wondering if the real reason two people weren"t supposed to see each other before their wedding nowadays was so they could manage to get ready in a timely manner without getting distracted. First, Geralt had joined him in the shower, which turned what should have been a quick rinse into an hour-long indulgence in each other"s bodies. Then they kept getting sidetracked while getting dressed, teasing and flirting turning into making out against the nearest surface.
They were in the bed, Jaskier was straddling Geralt and had his wrists pinned against the mattress to pull down his shirt collar and suck a hickey into his throat, when they heard the doorbell ring and Roach started to bark.
Jaskier pulled free with a smack. "Oh, fuck." Geralt laughed, and then Jaskier was laughing too. "Come on, let"s actually get dressed. If any of our guests ask where we are, Lambert will definitely tell them we"re fucking. We"ll never hear the end of it."
They scrambled off the bed. They were both almost completely dressed, and not too rumpled, all things considered. Geralt pulled on his jacket, having elected to skip a tie for the sake of comfort. Jaskier was wearing a fashionably trim vest over his shirt and tie, but no jacket. They gave each other a once-over, and Geralt reached up to adjust the knot in Jaskier"s tie fondly. With a mischievous glint, Jaskier also reached up and popped Geralt"s top button, arranging his collar so that the hickey was just slightly visible.
"Ready?" Geralt asked.
Jaskier leaned forward for a quick kiss, heart beating with love, with excitement, but without a trace of nerves. "Ready."
Hosting didn"t come naturally to Geralt, but it did to Jaskier. He moved between their guests as they arrived, accepting their congratulations with grace and directing them to the kitchen for a drink, and then out to the backyard. Aiden had taken over making cocktails behind the kitchen island, as it gave him an excuse not to mingle, and it also gave him space to help set up the surprise once everyone was in the yard.
Geralt sipped his bourbon and stood a little ways away from everyone else. He was content to watch fondly as his husband-to-be social-butterflied his way through the crowd. Jaskier was deliberately going about introducing people he knew would have things to talk about—Kiera, Geralt"s closest work friend (really his only work friend) he introduced to Triss, the family lawyer, and soon Vesemir and Yennefer were pulled into the conversation too as they talked about fostering and adoption. Essi and Priscilla talked tattoos with Lambert (who had, between Jaskier and Aiden"s influences, gotten several more in the last few years), while Coën bonded with Shani, Jaskier"s oldest friend and the only person here who"d known him before he changed his name, over complaints about patients. There were a few other pockets of guests—some friends of Jaskier"s, some of Geralt"s cousins he didn"t see much but enjoyed the company of. Everyone seemed to be having a nice time.
It was Ellen that ended up finding Geralt brooding in the corner of his own wedding. He"d gotten to know her fairly well in recent months, and he got the impression she wasn"t much for socializing with big groups either. Ellen was an older black woman, rail-thin and dark-skinned, and she had been Jaskier"s mentor at Oxenfurt, the woman who taught him to tattoo. She was also the closest thing Jaskier had to a parental figure.
She nudged him with an elbow, warm light shining on the geometric patterns covering her arms. "Doing alright?"
"Fine." He smiled at her. "Great, honestly. Just not one for crowds is all."
She nodded, and at that moment Jaskier made his way over and hugged Ellen tightly around the middle. "Hey Ellen. Thank you for coming."
"Of course, baby. How are you doing?"
Jaskier"s smile was blinding. "Wonderful. I just love how my fiancé sits in the corner and broods." And the thing was, he wasn"t even being sarcastic. He really did like it.
Ellen prodded Geralt. "Have you told him yet?"
Jaskier looked between the two of them with interest. "Told me what?"
"Um." Geralt rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. "Well. I was waiting for the right time, but I guess this is it. You know how I told you I"d take care of the rings? Well... Ellen"s been teaching me how to tattoo. I"ve been driving up to Oxenfurt every Saturday while you"re at work. I can"t do anything but draw lines, really, but I thought, instead of normal rings, we could tattoo rings on each other? Ellen brought everything we need to do it. Vesemir"s worked it into his speech and everything." There was a pause where Jaskier blinked wide eyes at him. "I got us rings too, if you wanted to just do things normally, but I thought-"
He was cut off by Jaskier seizing him and kissing him speechless. "Is that a yes?" he asked when Jaskier let him go.
"Yes. Yes, thank you, Geralt. This is so thoughtful, I can"t believe you- I love it, sweetheart."
Geralt smiled softly. "I"m glad." He looked around, spotted Aiden coming out of the house and shooting him a thumbs-up before weaving through the crowd to attach himself to Lambert. "I think it"s time to do this, what do you think?"
~*~
As weddings went, it was a simple one. There was no aisle. No ushers, flower girls, or groomsmen. No priests or readings. Just Geralt and Jaskier, standing in front of their family, sharing the love between the two of them with everyone else they loved. Vesemir was a man of few words, but he made them beautiful words, about how love was a choice, and it was work, but the best work of one"s life.
He explained that Geralt and Jaskier had elected to forego rings as material symbols of their bond, and would instead be giving each other permanent marks that reflected the mark they had each made on the other"s soul. They would be doing this privately, while everyone else started dinner, so that they could enjoy a quiet moment of intimacy as they began their life as a married couple.
Jaskier and Geralt exchanged vows they had written together. They were sweet and simple, and they ended with the words they"d shared all those years ago.
"I"ll do the work."
Because you never know what is coming in life. You can"t know how you, or your spouse, will grow and change. There aren"t many promises you can be sure to keep. But you can promise to do the work. To make the choice. Every day. To love each other.
~*~
After the kissing, the cheers, the many hugs and claps on the back, Geralt pulled Jaskier excitedly into the kitchen. While everyone else grabbed plate of food from the set up on the porch, Ellen and Aiden followed them to the little portable tattoo station they"d set up. Ellen explained what tools she"d brought to Jaskier, and Aiden showed them how he"d arranged things for them at the kitchen table.
Geralt and Jaskier both rolled up their sleeves and washed their hands thoroughly, then sat across from each other in the same seats they ate dinner in every night. Jaskier looked over the rotary, the two sets of needles, the cups of ink and wipes, and made sure everything passed inspection. Of course it would, it was Ellen who"d impressed the importance of safety and cleanliness onto Jaskier in the first place, but he would still always check his tools over before he used them.
Aiden handed them both a sterilizing wipe, while Ellen assembled the rotary with the first set of needles for him. Then they both stepped away, going to stand in the hall leading to the back door, out of earshot but still there if they were needed.
Jaskier took Geralt"s hand. "I know this was your idea, but I just want to check that you"re sure."
""Course I"m sure. Do you want to go first?"
"Yeah, probably better if you do me first, it will be easier for me to match what you do than the other way around. Are you planning on just one solid ring?"
"Yeah, I told you I can"t do anything fancy."
"Sure. And you"re aware that the skin here is really thin, especially on the palm side?"
Geralt nodded. "Ellen made me practice on tomatoes." Jaskier shuddered. He remembered the dreaded tomato practice. It was normal for artists to practice on fruits when they were just starting out, but that normally meant bananas or oranges. Ellen made all of her apprentices practice on tomatoes, so thin-skinned and watery that a hairsbreadth too much pressure resulted in full blow-out. It was frustrating, but it meant everyone who made it through Ellen"s training came out of it with excellent technique.
"Alright, then," Jaskier said, and held his left hand out to Geralt. "I"m all yours."
Geralt took his hand carefully and turned on the rotary, dipping it into the ink. He looked up at Jaskier quickly. "Ready?" Jaskier nodded and Geralt began. Jaskier didn"t even look at his hand, content to have whatever happened there happen. No matter what it looked like, he would love it, because it was done by Geralt. Instead he studied his new husband"s face, feeling an overwhelming a swell of love as he watched Geralt concentrate, a little wrinkle appearing between his eyebrows.
It didn"t take long, only about five minutes. When Jaskier finally looked at his hand, he was surprised to see that Geralt had done a great job—the outline of the ring was straight, and the black was packed fairly evenly. Geralt had clearly applied himself to his lessons. He was waiting for Jaskier"s verdict a little nervously, so Jaskier broke into a wide smile.
"Perfect, my love. You did a wonderful job. Ready for me to do yours?" Geralt nodded.
He let Geralt bandage his finger carefully, then switched the needles out for a fresh set and took Geralt"s hand in his. He looked up into warm amber eyes. "I love you," he said softly. "I love you more than I ever knew to be possible." Geralt squeezed his hand.
"I love you too. More every day."
Jaskier was quick about doing Geralt"s ring, not having to think about it the same way Geralt did.
"Did Ellen tell you this skin doesn"t always take tattoos well?" Jaskier asked as he worked.
"Yes. She told me we could do everything right and it still might fall out."
Jaskier nodded. "It will probably also fade faster, especially here on the sides. We"ll just need to plan on regular touch-ups."
"Oh no," Geralt said sarcastically. "More reasons to let you tattoo me?"
Jaskier had made good on his promise to give Geralt a sleeve, his left arm and chest were now covered in Jaskier"s art. They were making plans for his right arm, but wedding planning had sidetracked them.
In short order Jaskier had Geralt"s ring finished and was bandaging him up. They sat there for several minutes, just holding hands.
"This was nice," Jaskier said softly. "Not just the tattoos, but getting a little time to ourselves. Dinner will probably take hours, and while I"m looking forward to spending time with our family- it was nice to have this moment just for us."
Geralt nodded. "Are you ready to get back out there?"
"I"m ready to eat, I"m starving."
They stood, and stepped out of the kitchen to meet Aiden and Ellen, who were discussing some of the finer points of tattooing dark skin tones, but broke off when the newlyweds approached.
"How did it go?"
Jaskier held his hand out for Ellen to inspect. "Oh, he did a good job."
Geralt blushed. "I had a good teacher. Thank you, Ellen."
"Yes," added Jaskier warmly. "Thank you both. This was a wonderful surprise; I"m so grateful to you both for helping set it up."
Aiden nodded and stepped out the door, slightly uncomfortable with the direct expression of emotion. Ellen lingered a moment and looked at Jaskier seriously. "You hang on to this one, alright, baby? Anyone that would spend a hundred hours learning a new skill just to surprise you is worth keeping."
Jaskier smiled while Geralt blushed all the harder. "I mean, I just got a wedding ring permanently etched onto my finger, I don"t know what else I could do to more thoroughly communicate my intent to keep him," Jaskier responded with humor. "If you think of something let me know."
Well, if nothing else, it"s the best night of Roach"s life, Geralt thought to himself while he ate. She had never seen so many people in the house before, Geralt never having been one for entertaining. Everywhere she went she found people to pet her, hands to lick, little scraps of food, and everyone had quickly learned to stay out of the way of her tail as it wagged relentlessly.
Dinner was excellent, and afterward they brought out the cupcakes. Geralt fed Jaskier a bite of the chocolate raspberry, and then with a twinkle Jaskier dabbed frosting onto the tip of Geralt"s nose before feeding him a bite of the salted caramel. He then swooped in to lick the frosting and capture Geralt"s lips in a kiss, setting off a round of cheers. Geralt blushed yet again; the attention was a lot for him, not something he normally enjoyed, but Jaskier seemed so rapturously happy that it didn"t matter.
As each guest came up to fetch a cupcake they shared a few words with the happy couple. Ciri was first, bounding up and dragging Jaskier into a tight hug.
"Step-dad," she said impishly, then she and Geralt both laughed at the face Jaskier made. "Yeah, no, that"ll be the last time I call you that."
"Please," Jaskier nodded.
Geralt reached out to pull his daughter into a hug of his own. "Love you, sweetheart."
"Love you too, Dad. I"m really happy for you."
The guests cycled through, Jaskier and Geralt getting caught up in separate conversations. Geralt chatted with his cousins, Aubry and Gweld, but monitored Jaskier out of the corner of his eye all the same. He was talking to Yennefer, which still made Geralt a little nervous after all these years. Jaskier and Yennefer had warmed up to each other eventually, and Geralt knew he mainly had Ciri to thank for that. She had convinced her mother that Jaskier was going to be around long-term, and after a few times when they were all four together Yen had been able to see that Jaskier treated Ciri well. They would always be a bit cool, but then Yennefer was cool with almost everyone. It still made Geralt nervous to see them talking though. What could they possibly be talking about?
Geralt made his excuses to Aubry and Gweld and edged over to them.
"Yeah, definitely, I can send some designs along later this week," Jaskier was saying.
"What"s this?" Geralt interjected.
Yennefer lifted an eyebrow. "I"ve decided to get a tattoo."
"Oh? What of?"
"It"s really none of your business," she said, but Geralt could read her tone as amused.
"Then you should probably find someone else to do it."
Jaskier shook his head. "Nah, I won"t tell," he said to Yen with a broad smile. "I"ll keep your secrets. But only because it amuses me."
Geralt turned Jaskier to him and gave him a playful growl. "Not s"posed to keep secrets from your husband."
"Oh wait, really? Shit, I didn"t know what I was signing up for, hang on." He made a show of licking his finger and trying to rub off the ring tattoo, causing Geralt to grab both his hands and pull him against his own body for a kiss.
"Yes, yes, adorable," Yennefer said, rolling her eyes. "Sickening, really."
"Like you"re any better," came Triss"s voice as she stepped up behind Yen and slipped arms around her waist. Yennefer softened immediately. She turned to face Triss, who kissed her.
"Rude," Yennefer said when they pulled apart. "I was being scathing, you ruined it." But the words didn"t pack much punch given how she was smiling. "I"ll be in touch, Jaskier," she called back as Triss pulled her away.
It was late, and Geralt was happy, but tired. The day had been a lot, and despite everyone here being someone he loved, the socializing was starting to take it out of him. He couldn"t wait until he had Jaskier to himself again.
Over the heads of the people milling about, he caught Eskel"s eye. They exchanged a few looks, and then Eskel nodded. He started moving among the guests, making pointed motions toward the door, suggesting that it was late and time to be getting home. There was one last round of goodbyes and congratulations from everyone. Yennefer came up to kiss Geralt on the cheek and squeeze Jaskier"s shoulder before she left.
Even with all that, it was only about fifteen minutes until everyone but Geralt"s immediate family was gone. While his brothers and their partners worked on putting food away and tidying up, Vesemir and Ciri had one more thing to help with.
As their officiant, Vesemir had handled getting their license for them, and would file it for them tomorrow. Ciri was here as their witness while they signed.
They"d actually done things slightly out of order—Jaskier had been staunchly against putting his birth name on his marriage certificate, and when Vesemir said it was important that he signed his actual legal name, he"d just shrugged and gone to the courts to change it. He"d been Jaskier Rivia for almost three weeks now, and that was the name he signed. Julian Pankratz, heir to the Pankratz estate and a legacy senate seat, no longer existed. As Jaskier had whispered to Geralt in the dark one night, he hadn"t for years.
All four of them signed the paper, and then it was done. Just like that, they were married. Vesemir pulled each of them in for a hug in turn. When he released Jaskier he kept a hand on his shoulder.
"Thank you," he said softly. "For everything you"ve done for my son."
Jaskier blushed. "He"s done more for me, I promise."
"I don"t think that"s true," Geralt murmured.
Jaskier opened his mouth to argue, but Vesemir interrupted. "As long as you both keep thinking like that, you"ll have a good marriage. Don"t ever start taking each other for granted."
Jaskier closed his mouth, and looked at Geralt. He nodded.
"Okay," Vesemir rumbled. "It"s late, time to turn in. Congratulations to the both of you. Ciri?" He offered her his arm, inviting her to walk out with him, which she graciously accepted.
And then Jaskier and Geralt were alone. Married. Geralt grabbed his husband"s (his husband"s) hand and pulled him into the house, into their bedroom, then pushed him up against the door.
"That took far too long," he groaned, diving in for a kiss while his fingers loosened Jaskier"s tie. His jacket was pushed from his shoulders by Jask"s similarly occupied hands. It was something of a challenge, stripping each other without ever separating their lips, but they managed eventually. When they were standing in only their underwear, Jaskier rotated them to push Geralt up against the wall and go back to work on the hickey he"d given Geralt earlier.
Geralt"s head thumped against the wall and he whined, "Please, sir." But then he felt a tiny, almost indiscernible shift in Jaskier"s demeanor. Geralt put hands on his shoulders, pulling him up until they were face to face. He looked carefully over his husband"s expression, noting the slight tightness around his eyes.
"Not tonight, huh?"
Jaskier bit his lip and trailed his hands up Geralt"s chest. "It"s our wedding night." Which wasn"t a no.
"Exactly. It"s our wedding night, it"s been a long, exhausting day. Come on." Geralt pulled Jaskier over to the bed, turning out the overhead light as they went, so that they were only lit by the lamp on Geralt"s nightstand.
They settled into bed together, lying on their sides facing each other, Jaskier"s head pillowed on Geralt"s bicep. "I have a whole scene planned," Jaskier sighed. "Just give me a mi-"
"Hey, hush, it"s alright. We"ve already had sex twice today. And you"re tired. After all, you"re the one who did all the work with our guests all night, I was certainly no help."
"But you still want to," Jaskier protested.
"You already know what I"m going to say to that." It was a conversation they"d had repeatedly over the years, that Geralt didn"t want a Dom, he wanted Jaskier, whatever that meant.
There was a long, quiet moment where Jaskier drew his fingers over Geralt"s chest, over the oak tree he"d drawn to cover a long scar running the length of Geralt"s sternum. It was modeled on the huge tree that was in the front yard of the ranch, Geralt"s childhood home, and it shaded the wolves that represented Geralt"s family. On a branch very near Geralt-wolf"s head perched a lark, singing its heart out.
"Tomorrow," Jaskier finally said. "I"m going to keep you in this bed all damn day. I"ll tie you down and tease you until you"re fucking incoherent. I"ll hand-feed you all your meals and spend the rest of the time fucking you, edging you, doing whatever I damn please while you"re helpless to do anything but take it."
"Yes, sir," Geralt said huskily and pulled Jaskier in for a kiss. He wasn"t disappointed, in truth he was proud of Jaskier. Four years ago, hell, even two years ago, Jaskier would have swallowed his own feelings and done what he thought Geralt wanted. It had taken work and quite a bit of therapy on his part to get to a place where he felt safe expressing his own needs and desires even when they conflicted with Geralt"s, where he knew that Geralt wouldn"t drop him the minute he was no longer being of service.
In the same way, it had taken Geralt work and therapy to get to a point where he believed himself worthy of the way Jaskier loved him. The passion, the exuberance was overwhelming sometimes, not because Jaskier was too much (and Geralt would love to do violence to the people in his past who"d made him feel that he was), but because the way Jaskier saw him conflicted so radically with Geralt"s self-image that the cognitive dissonance made Geralt uncomfortable sometimes.
It didn"t work perfectly all the time; sometimes Jaskier still supressed his desires until they burst out uncontrollably, sometimes Geralt still retreated into a shell of self-hatred. But it happened less and less, and every time they worked through it with love and understanding.
They were doing the work.