Love As You Are

Chapter 1

Notes: This is a retelling, in its way, of familiar scenes we saw in the show, but with my own creative license exercised in places. So you'll definitely be seeing dialogue/scenes from the show, but they might be tweaked in cases. Expected to be ~4-5 chapters.

There will be mentions of Geralt/Yennefer's canonical sex/romance scenes, and I intend to dive into what's been presented to us in canon even though in this story Jaskier and Geralt are soulmates and meant to be (OF COURSE). But, ya know, love and sex can be complicated. I had initially intended to write a simple soulmates fic, but here we are now. Maybe that simple one will spark in me next time.

~

"Love freely, Jaskier," his mother had told him. "Your greatest gift is not your beautiful voice but your heart."

And love freely he did. He gave his heart away, full and fresh and beating only to have it handed it back tattered and beaten. His heart always recovered as fast as it had fallen and broken in the first place, the cycle repeating frequently though not unimportantly. His love was real and it was a gift he did not regret giving.

His mother's capacity for love had been her greatest gift, too. Though Jaskier had always known his parents did not bear one another's mark, her love for Jaskier's father had been steadfast and true. They would stay at the dinner table, long after the servants had cleared the plates and the candles were burning low, his mother listening with rapt attention as his father gave her the details of his day, his business. If the day had been particularly difficult, she'd rest her hand atop his and nod sympathetically, soothingly.

"A mark isn't everything," she'd told Jaskier. "Love is built from more than magic."

What his parents had was beautiful, but as always Jaskier wanted rebellious things. He didn't want to walk his father's path, he wanted adventure and music. He didn't want to marry just any noblewoman--no matter how comely she may be--he wanted adventure and many loves, but most importantly his biggest, greatest love of all.

He is not expecting that love to be in the form of a brooding stranger sitting at the back of a tavern.

In one instant his breath catches in his throat at the beauty of the man before him and in the next, there's a burning sensation on the bottom of his heel as his mark makes itself known. It's pain and pleasure knotted together, roses surrounded by thorns.

The tavern around him smells like piss and ale, he's got rotting vegetables in his pockets, he can still hear the jeers of the crowd, and yet this is still the best moment of his life. The one he's longed for since he was a child, the one he longs for every time a beautiful woman or man catches his eye and he thinks this might be the one.

He'd always thought it would have taken a little longer for his mark to appear. His partner would praise his music or tell him how beautiful his eyes were and then it would happen, maybe even for both of them at the exact same moment.

"It needs a trigger," his mother had warned repeatedly. "You can't expect to know straight away."

But apparently, she'd been utterly and completely wrong. He merely had to look across the room and his heart and body had known what destiny itself had planned all along. This was the sort of thing she would have been deeply amused by. And in his head, he hears her laugh, hears her say go.

So he goes, making his way through the crowded tavern towards his destiny.

"What did you think of my singing?" It's hard to keep his whole face from splitting into one giant, ridiculous grin. Surely, his soulmate will have been enraptured by his voice. Perhaps his own mark had even appeared the moment Jaskier's voice had reached his ears. "You're the only one who hasn't given me a review."