Of Women and Wolves

Old Friends and New Ones

'Gods I hate swamps' she thought to herself, rather aggressively. The air surrounding her was thick with misty rain and fog. The small hairs that had escaped her mess of braids were now sticking to her face uncomfortably with sweat. One of the things she detested most in her line of work was swamps and bogs. 'Yet here I am... In a bog...again'. She had read the flyer for a contract on a Kikimore and would have ignored it due to its location if she wasn't in desperate need of a new pair of gloves having lost hers to a fight with a Basilisk four days prior.

"Fuckin Draconid piece of shit" she mumbled and continued following the track through the swamp.

After spending hours tracking the beast through mist and marshlands she was about ready to give up on account of her foul humour when she caught an oh-so familiar scent of the air.

"Mint, pine and sword oil... hmm" she murmured to herself and with a wicked glint in her eye, she dismounted and set out on silent feet towards where the scent originated from. A few minutes later she could see the glowing embers of a campfire and his head of white hair contrasted against the thick darkness of the bog. In complete silence she unsheathed one of the daggers strapped to her thigh and snuck up behind him. So deep in his meditative state he failed to hear the whisper of her footsteps on the grass so when her blade kissed his throat, he stiffened.

"My oh my, what big teeth you have" she whispered in his ear. He let out a rare bark of laughter, grabbed the wrist holding the dagger to his neck and flipped her over his shoulder and onto her back but before he could celebrate her defeat, she twisted her waist, wrapped her thighs around his head and rolled. When his head stopped spinning he looked up to see a pair of golden eyes so like his own, twinkling at him from where she sat astride his chest. With a wicked smile on her lips she moved her ass down to sit on his legs.

"Sixty-five years we have known each other, one would think you'd know by now that you cannot beat me Wolf." she teased. He raised himself up to his elbows and rolled his eyes at her triumphant expression. A short while later they were both sitting by the fire, sharing an unfortunate deer in content silence.

"What brings you near Blaviken Lya? I thought you hated swamps?" Geralt asked in his gravelly tone of voice.

"First job I came across, Winter is nearing and I lost another pair of gloves to a Basilisk in Aedirn about a week ago. Figured I would finish the job, get the coin and start towards home before the heavy snows hit Kaedwen" she explained while picking venison from the bone.

"Home? You're actually spending Winter in Kaer Morhen this year? Haven't seen you back there in two? Three years maybe?" she could hear the shock in his voice and she didn't blame him. She hadn't made the journey back for winter in a while.

"Spent the last two winters on Undvik with Clan Tordarroch in their forges, learning"

"Hmm"

"Oh come on Wolf, you couldn't have missed me that much?" she joked. He kept silent and she realised that he must have actually missed her during the Winters more than she expected. She was about to say something in her defense when he cut her off with a small smirk.

"You know Vesemir's rules, we can't bring whores for the winter. You weren't there and my bed got cold." he said in complete deadpan but his eyes held a glint of mischief. She barked a laugh and slapped his chest.

"Words hurt Geralt! Tell me, is that all you missed about me?"

"Well it wasn't your sparkling personality" he snarked while setting up his whetstone and oils.