ᴡʜɪᴄʜ ᴡɪᴛᴄʜ (Geralt of Rivia)

xᴠɪ.

ᴡʜɪᴄʜ ᴡɪᴛᴄʜ

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ: xᴠɪ.

Darkness had settled over the camp. Thazina sat awake in her tent, shivering as mountain wind rocked the shelter slightly.

The tent was enchanted bigger on the inside. She had a comfortable enough bed, a table with a pitcher of wine, and a soft, cushioned chair. It was simple, but that was how she preferred it.

She turned at the sound of the tent being swept open. "Geralt," she said, managing a smile that didn't quite meet her blue eyes.

"Thaz," he said. "Feeling better?"

She nodded faintly. "I suppose I'm feeling as good as I can be, given the circumstances." She reached for the pitcher. "Want a drink? I'm desperately in need of one."

He nodded, watching her pour two glasses full with the crimson liquid.

She sighed as she handed his over. "He was just a boy," she said. "A foolish little boy."

Geralt had no reply. He took a deep drink from his glass, and Thazina followed suit. 

"You could come back to Cintra with me," she said, smiling softly. "Meet Cirilla. Perhaps settle, even if it's just for a little while."

"I'm a witcher," he said. "Settling isn't part of the deal."

"Don't you wish it could be?" The question left her lips before she could stop it, and so she just kept speaking. "Cintra is the first place I called home. When I was a child, my mother sent me away to Aretuza. That's no home. At Aretuza, I trained and I lost a part of myself that I can never get back. That's not home, either. But at Cintra... I have friends, and I have a warm bed that I don't have to be afraid of losing at any moment. It's home." She took a deep breath, drinking heavily from her cup. "What's home mean to you?"

He shrugged at that.

"Inns?" Thazina offered. "Or is that too close to containment?" She thought over her next guest. "The forest? You could survive out there for as long as you'd like. Any monsters that came after you- -"

"I don't have home," he stated. "I have inns if I can afford them and I have the forest if I can't. I hardly have a warm bed and the only friends I seem to have at this point are whores and mages." He considered for a moment. "And the bard."

Thazina swallowed hard. He considered her a friend?

"I'm sorry," she said.

"What for?" Geralt asked.

"It sounds like a sad life, I have to admit. And I can assure you, I'm a good judge on sad stories. Being forced away by your own mother will give you that ability."

Geralt raised an eyebrow, draining the rest of his glass in one. "Seems we have that in common."

Thazina managed a chuckle. "I knew you had a sad story. How much wine do I have to give you to get it out of you?"

"More than you have," he replied, but he let her refill his glass all the same.

"Sometimes I wish I wasn't a mage," she said. She took a drink, sitting at the edge of her bed. "I suppose you wish you weren't a witcher."

He shrugged, shaking his head. "I can't think of many men who would wish for this life."

"Do you know the curse of divination?" she asked, a smile playing at her lips. "Tissaia told me it when I was still at Aretuza. It was terrifying to hear."

"What is it?" he asked. He moved closer to the bed, scanning her up and down.

"One day, I'll see my own death. I don't know when it will be, I just know it will happen. Most mages who see the future drive themselves mad when they've seen. They wait for it to happen and they let life pass them by because they're too afraid."

Geralt was nodding along, moving closer and closer.

Thazina hesitated before she rose to her feet, taking him by the hand. "I don't want to be like them," she said, voice wavering slightly. "I want to live as much as I can, and I want to enjoy myself doing it."

That was enough.

Geralt kissed her.

The wine was forgotten, set aside on the table as he kissed her again and again and again, untying the laces at the back of her dress, letting the dark fabric fall in a pool at her feet.

Pale arms wrapped around his neck, fingers tangling through silver hair as she drew him into another kiss, leading him toward the bed.

Desire washed over them like a tidal wave.

They gave in.

And when they were done they were a tangle of limbs in Thazina's bed.

"Do you know what I think?" she asked in a soft voice, head resting on his bare chest.

"Hm?" he answered.

"We met for a reason," she replied, fingertips trailing across his chest, along the curve of his muscles. "Fate wanted it. And I know better than to argue with fate."

"Smart girl," he said, making her laugh and shove him slightly.

"Come back to Cintra with me," she said, pleading now. "You can have something more. Something good."

He let out a sigh, reaching up to brush her red hair out of her eyes. "I think that this might be the greatest good I'll ever get," he admitted. 

"It doesn't have to be." 

He had no answer. She let out a breath, leaning close, kissing him gently. "Fine, then," she murmured as she closed her eyes and let her head rest on his shoulder. "Then at least allow yourself a good night's sleep."

Still no words. His arms wrapping around her waist was answer enough.