Summary:Â "Well it's coming onto 13 years together, babe
I pray that it's the luck... a lucky, lucky number
And although I know I've brought you joy and happiness, babe
I've also been a fec... a fecund resource for anger
'Cause it's all a part of the game
Yeah, it's all a part of the symphony
And I pray that your face is the last I see
On a peaceful afternoon"
- Peaceful Afternoon - Rufus WainwrightÂ
Also this fic is set in a nebulous future that is about 13 years after my fic The Art Teacher (Never Have I Loved Any Other Man). Geralt and Jaskier are in their early 40s in this fic.
Thank you to the lovely @trickstermoose67 for betaing for me!!!!
Read it on AO3
Geralt was greeted by the twang of a guitar being played when he came inside through the back door after tending to the garden. It was a common occurrence living with a musician. Jaskierâs newest album had been in the works for months now, which meant that he was working on songs whenever inspiration struck.
Walking further into the kitchen, Geralt placed the small bouquet of flowers he had picked on the table and shucked off his gardening gloves. He then rifled through the cabinets to find a suitable vase to put the flowers in.
Once the flowers were placed in the vase, he went about making tea. He grabbed two mugs, one for him and one for Jaskier. His husband was sure to have let his last mug of tea turn cold while composing.
After the water had boiled and the tea had had some time to steep, Geralt left his own mug to cool on the counter and grabbed Jaskierâs to bring it to the other man. He remembered the flowers, so he grabbed the vase as well.
With a mug in one hand and the vase of flowers in the other, Geralt made his way into the living room. Jaskier had switched from plucking his guitar to playing the piano in the time it took Geralt to make the tea. He was seated on the bench still wearing his silky floral patterned robe as he played a melody on the keys. Geralt wouldnât be surprised if he wasnât wearing anything else under it.
Geralt gracefully made his way around the various papers and notebooks that littered the floor. He placed the mug of hot tea down on the end table that was out of the way of any potential flailing limbs. He then stood behind Jaskier and placed the vase of flowers on top of the piano within his eye line.
Jaskierâs elegant fingers stilled on the keys. âYou picked flowers for me?â Jaskier asked. He tilted his head backwards, leaning it against Geraltâs torso as he looked up at him.
âThe wild roses bloomed,â Geralt said in response.
âThank you, darling. Theyâre lovely, just like you.â
Geralt hummed and leaned closer. He wrapped his arms around Jaskier and slid a hand down the deep V of his tied robe to rub his chest. âOnly for you,â Geralt rumbled.
Jaskier brought his left hand up and placed it on top of Geraltâs. Jaskier then brought Geraltâs hand to his lips and placed a kiss on his knuckles.
âDid you paint anything today?â Jaskier asked.
âNo, just tended to the garden. Maybe Iâll have to paint the wild roses.â
âJust donât actually paint on them, this isnât Alice in Wonderland,â Jaskier joked.
âVery funny,â Geralt huffed. âWild roses arenât even the same as roses.â He kissed Jaskierâs head and stepped back. âWhat are you working on?â
âOh, just your song.â
âMy song?â
âYes, the song about you for this album.â
âNot every album needs to have a song about me, Jask.â
âYes it does. You made that request over ten years agoââ
âI was just teasing you,â Geralt interrupted, âYou know I donât need songs to know you love me.â
âAnd that is exactly why you deserve songs written about you, even if it is just one per album.â
âOne per album is quite a lot with how many albums youâve made,â Geralt said bashfully.
âAnd again, you deserve them all. And itâs only fair, if you paint paintings for me, I can write songs for you,â Jaskier said as he turned around on the piano bench so he was facing Geralt.
âHmm. Howâs this one coming?â Geralt asked.
âI canât decide if it should be for piano or guitar. Iâm leaning towards guitar. There is already a lot of piano in the other songs and the guitar feels a bit more lively which feels fitting.â
âI didnât know I gave off lively vibes,â Geralt said as he backed away and took a seat on the nearby sofa.
âOf course you do, you are alive arenât you?â Jaskier asked.
âAnd youâre just being semantic.â
âWell words are my liveliâheh, heh, my livelihood. The same way paints and colors are yours. Anyway we both know I am a fecund resource for angerâoh that is a good lyric, I have to write that one down,â Jaskier said as he scrambled for a pen to write it down on one of his numerous pieces of scrap paper. Geralt didnât know how he kept track of  them, then again he did once write an entire song on paper napkins. âAnyway,â Jaskier said once he wrote down the lyric so he wouldnât forget it, âHopefully we donât need to add my semanticsm to the list.â
âWhat does fecund even mean?â Geralt asked.
âOh you know,â Jaskier waved a hand around, â....fecund?â
Geralt laughed. âYou canât define a word with itself.â
âUgh, fine, whereâd my phone run off to?â Jaskier asked rhetorically  as he shifted papers around and bent over to peer under the piano bench. Geralt watched in amusement. There was an âahahâ when he pulled his phone out from under a stack of papers that were under the piano bench.
âFecund: âproducing or capable of producing an abundance of offspring or new growth,â eh, I guess maybe not the most appropriate of words for the situation.â
âI mean, you are good at inciting anger when you want to. Or when you forget to do the dishes.â
âExcuse you, I have gotten a lot better at not forgetting and oh, oh new lyric,â Jaskier said as he grabbed his guitar from its stand within armâs reach of the piano bench. He shifted so he was straddling the bench, Geralt was surprised he didnât flash him, not that Geralt would have complained if he did.
Jaskier played a melody and jauntily sang, âBut between sex and death and tryinâ to keep the kitchen clean, remember wild roses bloom best in ruins forever after, something something, I havenât thought of the other lyrics yet.â Jaksier winked at Geralt as he set the guitar to the side again.
Geralt huffed a laugh and rolled his eyes. âHow you can think of things like that on the spot Iâll never understand.â
âAww, youâre impressed with me. Say more things like that with that look of wonder on your face and youâll surely make me blush.â
âMaybe even enough that the blush will reach that deep V of your robe, hm?â
âAre you flirting with me Geralt Rivia?â
âNever,â Geralt teased. He leaned back against the couch cushions and just kept looking at Jaskier. He wanted to look at his face all the time.
Jaskier finally stood up from the piano bench then. His knees popped and he stretched out his back before walking towards Geralt on the sofa. Geralt watched him, admired him.
Jaskier sauntered over, Geralt wasnât sure if he was trying to be seductive or if his leg fell asleep. Either way, it was endearing.
Geralt sat up a little bit as Jaskier got closer and grabbed his hand. He pulled Jaskier down to straddle his lap. The robe stretched out over his knees and the belt threatened to come undone. Geralt rested his  hands on Jaskierâs silk-covered thighs while Jaskier cradled Geraltâs face in his hands.
Geralt looked up and Jaskier traced his cheekbones with his thumbs.
âI hope your face is the last thing I see,â Jaskier said to Geralt, looking directly into his eyes, blue meeting amber. It was as if Jaskier had read his mind.
âWhen?â Geralt breathed out.
âEver. I hope itâs the last thing I ever see.â
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Thank you @handwrittenhello and @ghostinthelibrarywrites for tagging me!!
How many stories did you complete?Â
11Â
What is your total word count for the year?
100,045 words according to AO3 (this doesnât count any wips)
What fandoms did you write in this year?
Just the WitcherÂ
Did you write more, less, or roughly about what you expected?
Way way more than I expected, I wrote about as much in 2021 alone as I did all the other years I have being posting fic
Whatâs your favorite story of the year?Â
I am the most indecisive person who is bad at picking favorites so this is a very hard question. I think Iâm gonna choose both my Geraskier Big Bang fic and my Witcher Big Bang fic. So Dandylion Designs and Dragonâs Heart Tea Shop which were both excuses to turn some of my favorite things into aus and I was paired with awesome artists for both of them. Honorable mention to my Eskralt fic Honey, Youâre Familiar Like My Mirror Years Ago because I think it is just in general one of my favorite things I have written.Â
What's your most underappreciated story of the year?
Follow Your Arrow (or Youâll Never Know What Youâre Missing) which is my Geralt & Renfri fic that has a whopping 13 kudos.Â
Biggest fanfic-related disappointment of 2021?
I donât really know. Probably just some writerâs block here and there and how having an existential crisis seems to be a part of my writing process for every fic I write
Biggest fanfic-related surprise of 2021?Â
Maybe that I stuck with the same fandom for over a year and started branching out into writing a bunch of different ships.Â
Something you look forward to working on in 2022?
Any and all of my wips! I hope my inspiration and motivation to write return in the new year.Â