Look both ways before crossing
Geralt let Jaskier sleep. The Witcher often forgot how much sleep humans needed to recover from injury or illness. Besides, letting Jaskier sleep allowed Geralt more time to battle with his newly found feelings. Though, something in him told him "newly found" wasn't the right phrase.
Newly named, then.
The Witcher's mind continued to race. Why was he attracted to a human? He was a Witcher and Jaskier was so fragile. Geralt was the one to tell him why the kiss woke him up. He could stop himself. How stupid could he be? Honestly.
Shaking his head, Geralt decided he needed to do something else with his racing mind. He wouldn't be able to fall back asleep. He wanted to stay nearby, should the archer need something. Geralt did the only thing he could think of. He picked up the lute--delicately--and laid it in his lap, his left hand holding the neck like he's seen Jaskier do a thousand and one times before they parted ways.
Reluctantly, the Witcher plucked one of the strings before lowering a finger over a fret and hearing how the note changes. Geralt had gotten the gist of how to make music with a lute, but he was lost besides this. How do you move your fingers fast enough to get a song out? Let alone Jaskier's faster songs like Fishmonger's Daughter or Old Nan the Hag .
As horrid as it probably sounded, maybe it's a good thing the two got split to rejoin the way they did. Geralt was learning things about Jaskier he never would have considered without the kick in the ass he got. He hoped Jaskier felt the same way.
One of the things Geralt was learning was respect. Jaskier was a talented archer and a talented bard. Being a bard took practice and being an archer took a sharp eye and steady hands. Jaskier having steady enough hands to put an arrow through a man's temple meant Jaskier wasn't the coward Geralt had thought he was for years. Not at heart, anyway.
Geralt placed the lute back down before he snapped a strong and took to meditating.
Jaskier startled awake the second Geralt's hand touched his shoulder, his eyes wide.
"Just me," Geralt assured. "We should get some dinner before they stop serving it." He held his hand out to help Jaskier sit up. The archer took it and yawned, rubbing the sleep from his blue eyes.
"How long was I out?" Jaskier stood from the bed.
"Most of the afternoo-"
"You found one," Jaskier breathed.
"You can freshen your mind after you eat something. Come on." Geralt jerked his head to the door.
"Very well." Jaskier relented and followed Geralt out of their room.
The pair walked to the main room of the inn, got a bowl of stew each, and went to a table in the back by the door. Jaskier blew on the steaming spoonful before eating it. Geralt, on the other hand, seemed perfectly content to swallow the stew without so much as a grimace.
"Where did you find the lute and bow?" Jaskier looked up from his stew.
"The trader from down the way. The owner knew me from your song and insisted the lute be free."
Jaskier smiled. "And you paid for it anyway because you're you."
"I paid double for the bow."
