âI dare you toâŚâ Triss chewed her lip and peered at Jaskier thoughtfully ââŚget up on the bar and dance!â She had to shout the dare over the pounding bass line and whooping crowd.Â
Jaskier shook his head and laughed. âThatâs hardly a dare! I did that last weekend!âÂ
Sabrina smirked. âItâs true, I was there.âÂ
Triss laughed. âFine then⌠with your shirt off!âÂ
They were celebrating the end of the term, and somehow a game of Truth or Dare had broken out. Jaskier always had to go first. He sighed. âYou just want to ogle me, donât you, you little minx. Anyway, theyâll kick me out. I know this because I also did that last weekend.âÂ
âFine!â Triss looked around the crowded bar until her eyes settled on something behind Jaskier. A mischievous look crossed her features. âI dare you to go over there and hit on one of those witchers.âÂ
âWhat?â Sabrinaâs face screwed up in a disgusted grimace. âA witcher? Gross.âÂ
Jaskierâs head whipped around, searching for whoever Triss had been looking at.Â
Triss cackled, the effects of their finished bottle of bubbly taking hold. âNo, not just hit on! You have to get one of them to kiss you!âÂ
âEw, Triss, donât make him do that,â Sabrina said, still frowning. Â
âWhatâs wrong with witchers?â Jaskier wondered, and then he saw them.Â
âTheyâre not even human! Theyâre just, like, killing machines. They donât want anything to do with you, anyway.âÂ
He barely heard her. There were three of them, leaning against a high table, the crowd giving them a generous buffer of space. Their telltale swords were strapped across their backs, making them instantly recognizable, but even without the swords, Jaskier would have been able to tell. Thick, muscly, scarred, and those cat-like eyes. It was odd to see three of them together, and especially in a place like this. They usually kept to themselvesâin, then out, monster safely put down.Â
Two of them were facing him, one with black hair, one redheaded, and, quite frankly, heâd be happy to kiss either. The third one had his back to them, but he had long silver hair, half pulled back, and his shoulders were about as wide as Jaskier was tall.Â
Then suddenly the third one turned and Jaskier was⌠well, he was in love. His breath left him in a whoosh as glowing yellow eyes locked onto his. The witcherâs face remained blank, and after a long moment he turned back to his friends.Â
âChallenge accepted,â Jaskier wheezed, sucking air back into his lungs. He chugged the rest of his glass of champagne. Sabrina babbled something irrelevant as he stood up and smoothed his hair back.Â
He marched over. The other two saw him coming.Â
The redhead grinned. âThink youâve got the wrong table, blue-eyes.âÂ
Jaskier smiled back, sliding his gaze over to the black-haired witcher, and then landing it on the most beautiful creature heâd ever seen. âOh, this is the right table.âÂ
âNeed help with a monster?â the black-haired one asked, with a deep, scratchy voice.Â
âWell, I need help.â Jaskier pointed back at his table. âSee, my friend there,â he waved at Triss, who waved back, sheepishly, âhas dared me to come over here and kiss one of you.âÂ
The first two chuckled, but the silver-haired oneâs jaw tightened before he spoke. âWeâre not here to be a box on your checklist.â Jaskier felt the rumble of his voice deep inside. âFuck off.âÂ
âAh, give him a break, Geralt,â the redhead cackled. âLike you donât love the attention.âÂ
âGeralt, is it?â Jaskier stuck out his hand. âJaskier.âÂ
Geralt stared at him, unmoving.Â
âEskel,â offered the black-haired one, kindly reaching for Jaskierâs dangling hand. âThis is Lambert.â He shook both hands but turned nervously back to Geralt.Â
âIâm very sorry,â Jaskier faltered. âI didnât mean to treat you like a box on a checklistââÂ
âHmm,â Geralt grumbled at him. âAnd yet, you did.âÂ
âHeâs just having fun, Geralt.â Eskel rolled his eyes and turned to Jaskier. âSorry about him. Heâs mad at the world. But I guarantee he thinks youâre cute.âÂ
Geralt narrowed his eyes at Eskel while Lambert laughed again. Then he looked back at Jaskier.Â
Jaskierâs insides turned to jelly. But not in an âOh, shitâ sort of way. Jaskier knew he should be afraid with two hundred fifty pounds of trained killer glowering at him, but instead he was just⌠enraptured.Â
âAlright, then. If youâre sorryâŚâ Geralt nodded his head in the direction of the bar ââŚletâs see you hop up on that counter and dance.âÂ
âYou want me toââ Jaskier paused, confused.Â
Eskel covered a snicker with his hand. Lambert threw back his head and laughed.Â
The corner of Geraltâs mouth lifted up. âShirtless.âÂ
There was a glimmer of amusement in those glowing eyes. A tingle swept over Jaskier. He peeled his shirt off without a second thought and pressed it against Geraltâs chest. âHold this.âÂ
He turned and marched towards the bar, giving Triss and Sabrina a wave. The bartenderâs eyes were already narrowing at him as he approached. He hopped up on the sticky counterâdespite a few yelps of protest from the patronsâand turned to see the witchers watching him. The quirk of Geraltâs lips had grown into a tiny grin.Â
The bartender grabbed his ankle.Â
@oxbridge-quality-fanfiction-co @lottelorelei @chaotic-bard @fangirleaconmigo