Celeste || The Witcher ||

Chapter Five - Dreams

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Geralt woke up in a jump, somewhat frightened. He couldn't remember the last time he had been able to sleep so heavily, he rarely slept, so just the feeling of drowsiness, his eyes still heavy and even the ringing in his eyes was a bit strange.

"You seemed to be having a really good dream, so I didn't even think to wake you up, I didn't even know how to wake you up either, I never see you sleeping" Jaskier commented, writing something in his small notebook "what were you dreaming about?"

"None of your business" Geralt said in a grumble, sitting up as he stared at the forest around him.

"Oh, if I had a coin for every one of your grumbles or rude answers I would be a millionaire" Jaskier replied, closing his small notebook and putting it in his bag "are you going to stand there with that sleepy face? Get up, get up, apparently there is a Selkiemore not far from here, I think it can generate a fascinating story in which I will tell it so well that everyone will be jaw-dropped and think god! How amazing this bard is" Jaskier said daydreaming, making Geralt want to roll his eyes "and you'll earn your coins, of course" he shrugged, fixing his things for the long walk "are you just going to stand there or are we going to go?"

"I never should have let you come with me" Geralt complained, getting to his feet and putting his swords in the pouch on his back "well I didn't let you, you just came, don't let go of my fucking foot".

"As much as I love your morning caress, with the kindest words intended for me, it's time to go, go, get on the roach and let's go" Jaskier said excitedly, stopping beside the horse that always seemed to dislike him, which made Geralt smile faintly.

The pair then headed for Selkiemore. It was funny to Geralt to see Jaskier memorizing the names of the monsters, wanting to learn about them and their details so he could tell their stories better. He thought it was rather stupid, he was passing his knowledge on to a bard, not so that he could help with anything, but just to create songs, songs that Geralt found boring. But still, he could not omit the fact that Toss a Coin to your Witcher had helped him somewhat, bringing more renown to his name and more money to his pocket. Of course, he would never admit that Jaskier had any role in the rise of White Wolf.

Jaskier was annoying, of course, Geralt felt like punching him every five minutes and sometimes he did, just so that Jaskier would remember his place and that he followed Geralt, not that they were companions, no matter how much Geralt knew it wasn't true.

But it wasn't Jaskier that bothered his mind at that moment, it wasn't the bard's songs or his annoying voice like a mosquito buzzing, it was actually his dream.

Geralt rarely dreamed, and when he did it was nightmares of monsters, but this time he dreamed of her, Celeste.

Geralt didn't want to wake up, he could spend days in hibernation if he was allowed, just to see her in his dreams. He often wondered where the girl was, what she was doing. Sometimes he felt a chill go up the back of his neck when he thought that she might be married with several children living in God knows where, for he knew that this was not a future that Celeste would desire. But his greatest dread was to think that she wasn't even alive or even worse, that she was living a miserable life. He wondered so much about her and dreamed of someday meeting her again, but dreaming was often not compatible with his reality.

So he put it aside, tried to forget her and get the idea of meeting her again out of his head, because the truth is that Celeste disappeared one day and never came back or even gave news. Obviously he still had a grudge for this, but longing spoke louder than any hurt and he didn't mind admitting this, at least not to himself.

Jaskier had no idea who Celeste was, because Geralt had made sure that he didn't know about her past, especially the part that had marked him so much, because he was sure that Jaskier would turn it into music and his life would become even more hellish.

Walking with Roach to the job site, Geralt couldn't stop thinking about Celeste. He wanted so badly to go back to sleep, but he knew that was practically impossible, and he had a job to do. But it had been such a real dream, he could feel the texture of her soft skin and her hands, slightly calloused from handling the sword, but becoming softer and softer, because she used some kind of orange-scented oil that made her skin soften and the calluses diminish. 

He could smell the citrus scent of the product she had created herself and used to clean her hair after hours of training, that smell was intoxicating, addictive, and if he closed her eyes, it was like biting into her own fruit. As much as she trained as a witcher and was always surrounded by men, Celeste always made it a point to take care of herself. She liked to apply creams and oils to her skin and hair and the smell was wonderful, especially in a place that reeked of men and death, it was Celeste who made Kaer Morhen come alive.

And her lips...god, her lips tasted like a peach and had the texture of one, when he kissed her he could feel the taste of peach dripping like a warm wet liquid down his throat, satisfying all his craving for the lust he had for her. He still remembered perfectly Celeste's lips brushing against his own, almost as a tease, so soft and delicious, so addictive that he could spend hours just with his lips pressed against hers. The way Celeste ran her hand through his hair...he loved it when she caressed him and only then he could truly sleep. And her eyes...he remembered when he first saw them, the bluest eyes he had ever seen in his life, then with that golden touch, like the sun rising over the sea, the sparkle in them when the sun hit his irises...it was breathtaking.

Celeste was breathtaking.

In the dream the two were in Kaer Morhen, Celeste was dancing in the snow, barefoot, and Geralt was watching her, sipping his drink. She then called him to dance and then he did, Celeste was the only person who could get Geralt to dance. At some point they both fell into the snow and Celeste's hair formed the sun, spilling out into the snow and they sparkled. When Geralt went to touch the girl's hair, she simply disappeared. And that's when he woke up.

"Geralt? Are you daydreaming? Are you okay? Okay, I'm definitely worried about you and your mental health, I don't know who's in that little head of yours but it's definitely not the Geralt I know and it's freaking me out".

Geralt mumbled what sounded like a yes and then walked towards the man, leaving Roach in Jaskier's care, which only made the horse more irritated.

They agreed on a price and then Geralt went to get his swords, he wanted to get this job over with as quickly as possible, until the man called him.

"We didn't intend to call you, don't take this the wrong way, but we kind of have our own witcher around here,  lives near Blaviken, but the last few years the witcher has been more distant" the man from the village said "but when we heard your music...we knew it would be a good idea".

Geralt said nothing, just nodded and then set off toward the frozen lake, hearing Jaskier comment about something like going to the village people for information and god knows what, Geralt honestly didn't care. He just needed to work, he needed to get Celeste out of his head, and the best way was to kill some monsters.