Geralt was sent to the guest bedroom to sleep as Jaskier stayed up the rest of the night to begin reworking his stage play. As soon as Geralt had hit the sheets, he was out like a light. Jaskier sat alone in his room with him writing at the desk. As the morning sun crest in the distance and began to light the sky, Geralt easily awoke the moment the birds started to chirp. Geralt groaned as he rolled onto his back and sat up a yawn. The worn torn blue shirt he wore was a little small, so the top two buttons were open exposing his scarred chest. Geralt scratched at the itchy fabric and looked out to the window. Up in the highest room of the Chameleon Geralt could see Jaskier through the window. He was asleep at his desk with a quill in hand hunched over scattered papers. Geralt got up quietly and went up stairs, Geralt tried to open the door as quietly as he could but the old hinges let out a squeak. The squeak was enough to wake Jaskier briefly. "Fight for your freedom!" Jaskier shouted as he stared blearily as Geralt froze in place and stared back.
"and know that destiny… means nothing to a king." Jaskier said with a weak groan and fell back onto the deck. Asleep once again. Geralt sighed and silently approached Jaskier, picked him up and brought him over to the bed so he could nap. Geralt knew there was a lot to be done, Doctor Callaghan was coming. He knew he had to do something. He grabbed the script and headed downstairs in search of Pricilla.
Pricilla sat on the chaise in the lounge dressed in a robe with a beaten looking book in hand. The room was clean and everything had been put back in its place. The smell of fresh-cut flowers wafted through the air. "I'm surprised you're awake this early. There is tea on the table if you would like some." She spoke marking the page in her book and looked to the Witcher. "Geralt, good morning!" She smiled at him. "Good morning Pricilla," Geralt said with a hard knot in his throat. Pricilla moved over to create a space for him next to her, "sit down, did you sleep well?" "Yes, listen, we have a problem. A big problem." Geralt said and joined her. "What do you know about King La'Croix?" Geralt asked, perhaps a third-person perspective could enlighten the situation.
"King La'Croix was here a month ago with his entourage," Geralt was handed a fresh cup of tea in a paisley cup."There is a famous Doctor here named Jezebel Callaghan they use sign language to communicate. Jaskier knows it too and he told me that they had been insulting during the entire play in full view of everyone. I honestly saw it myself, can you believe it! Just rudely mocking him while sitting at his private table." Pricilla quickly spoke and roughly pulled apart her breakfast sandwich. "So that's what he meant by heckling." Geralt stated. Pricilla stopped and took a sip of her tea before continuing. "About a week after there was a mysterious review on the bulletin board saying the performances at the Chameleon were so blase even the king found it to be boorish," Despite her best efforts, she had made a mess of the front of her silk robe. "Was the play boorish?" Geralt asked and looked at the script in his hand. "Yes and no, he makes cute little stories that the kids adore and knows how to make a crowd smile. Though he lacks a certain depth to his characters and they feel empty. Poor backstories, so a lot falls kinda flat." Pricilla was savage in her subtle critiques, and Geralt couldn't help but crack a smile. "So you're saying what? The characters need an hour-long monologue?" Geralt asked somewhat lost to the world of fiction. "I think it is more important to show and not tell. It's a stage play, not a ballad," Pricilla schooled him. "The notes of the music should evoke the feeling, but the dancers should paint the picture." She pointed to some scribble on the paper in Geralt's hand showing him the bars of music. He stared at the sheets blankly, not being a music theorist or storyteller it was all just doodles. "Perhaps I am not the one who should be helping him… wait." Geralt had an idea and pursed his lips. "Who was the man who posted the notice on the boards?"
That evening Geralt stood back stage dressed in noble robes of black and gold. He tunic was fit snug to his frame and the beaded details accentuated the v of his neck but did nothing to mask his black eye and split lip. He was watching Jaskier on stage puppeteering a stuffed frog made from green felt. Pricilla sang to him wearing a princess gown with her hair braided into a golden crown. "My dearest princess, I have retrieved your golden trinket from the bottom of the well. I will give it back, but first, ye must bless me with a kiss." Jaskier bellowed out to the small audience that gathered for the dress rehearsal. Doctor Callaghan included and was sitting in view of the Witcher watching from the private table.
"Ick! I would not dare disgrace my beauty but touching your slimy skin. No trinket is worth that." Pricilla faints as she quickly scurries off the stage. Jaskier was left alone with the armoured frog taking center stage. "Oh, woe. If the Princess only knew what lay behind this green exterior. If only she could see what is truly hidden beneath this slim and scum!" Jaskier emoted through the puppet making the frog dance dramatically. "Though I can not speak my curse aloud, know this. Appearances can be deceiving." He said with a smirk as the music went grim. The curtains closed signifying the end of the first act.
Jaskier walked off stage to a blur of people trying to get in position for the next act, Geralt standing clear of the chaos as he watched them all flutter about nervously. Glancing at his note card where his few lines were written down, one of which was very long. "It is a shame you did not take me at my word, your scorn your… shit." Geralt tried to rehearse the line but had to quickly glance back at the card. "Mockery. Will not be met with… Jaskier!" Geralt snapped out of it as Jaskier came up to him and slumped over dramatically. "This rehearsal is more stressful than playing a broken bagpipe in front of Queen Calanthe may she rest her soul," he lamented. "You've been missing all day you disappeared this morning and now come home with a black eye a bottle of La'Croix Vineyard Estate wine and a new Gwent deck. Have you even tried to memorize your lines?" Jaskier heaved in one breath, the frog puppet in hand still acting next to him. "Put that thing away," Geralt remarked, pointing to the puppet.
They were not needed on stage till the final act of the play. Geralt did not address any of Jaskier's questions and went back to reading his lines. Pricilla was centre stage for her solo, and started to sing. Jaskier couldn't get distracted by a conversation and Geralt really needed to remember his lines. "No, I'm in character, and I need to stay in character so I will keep my puppet for the character of my play which will go wrong because you forgot your lines. Thank you very much, but you need to tell me where you went right now." Jaskier rambled in a single frazzled breath. Geralt sighed and put his note cards away. "I was out. Why are you pressuring me for details I thought you needed to focus on the show. If you are persistent about the details. I was tying up loose ends, and I have lines memorized, let me read them in silence a few more times." He glared at Jaskier while the frog puppet flailed angrily. It's face scrunched in a scowl being very emotive for a sock with eyes. "Did you talk to Pricilla?" Geralt asked to change the subject. "Of course I talked to Pricilla... we were working on our lines all day unlike you. What was so important that you had to leave, did you go to see King La'Croix? What happened? Don't tell me you…" Jaskier looked at the frog prince which three back his cape and slit its own throat and died horrifically in his arms. The crown falling off from the performance. "I wouldn't be trying to memorize lines if I did," Geralt caught the crown before it hit the ground and put it back on puppet. "And what I mean, is did you talk to Pricilla about... what happened last night." He kept his head down nervous to look him in the eye..
Jaskier swallowed a lump in his throat. "I did… she wanted me to ask you why. After all this time, why would you be trying to confuse me." he stared at the puppet while making a few faces with it to make sure the crown was secured. "I want to know if your serious or if last night was a mistake." Suddenly the puppet had lost life and went still in Jaskier arm as he looked out to Pricilla singing on stage. Her beautiful voice filled the theatre with an Aria.
"And I am scared to think,
That this close to home
We are on the brink
The prince was cursed
For each of his excursions
And people think I'm crazy
Something in my heart burns
With passion I long
To see him free of his bonds
'But why? Is this not
A will of my own desires
Who knows what's there."Pricilla walked about the stage in an elegant green flowing gown. There were golden butterflies stitched into the draped skirt as she walked around the dancers who brought the castle garden to life with animal props and flowers being tossed about.
"She's been at it for months, trying to get her voice back. Hearing you are bidding for my affection isn't helping her, and I can't just leave her. Geralt, she changed my life." Jaskier sighed. Geralt looked annoyed. "Do you consider it a mistake then?" He asked. "Geralt why don't you think what it is like in my shoes for a second, you walked away from me into the arms of so many women who have done nothing but take advantage. You left me! How do I know you won't just abandon me again." Jaskier shuddered. "I want it to be real, but I…" Jaskier trailed off not knowing what to say next. "Jaskier…" Geralt sighed and shifted his weight. "You seemed happy. I didn't want to drag you into a life-like mine," he paused, thinking of what to say next. "I'm confused too… but last night, I felt…" Geralt stopped again in fear of saying too much. "Geralt all I ever wanted was for you to talk to me," Jaskier said as he walked up to the Witcher. Their faces close as he started to whisper as the stage went quiet for the violin solo. Jaskier put his hand upon Geralt's chest over his heart. "You have saved my life over and over again, and I would do whatever it took to repay that debt, but you never ask for anything. So ask me now, or else I will leave you right here, and we can both save ourselves a lot of heartbreak." Jaskier was stern, but he couldn't look Geralt in the eye. His hand shook gently against Geralt's chest while gripping the chain of the Witcher pendant. The lights from the stage candles reflecting off the teardrops welled in Jaskier's eyes. A mournful violin singing with Pricilla in perfect harmony. "I felt happy," Geralt replied quietly. Before the bard could respond, he leaned over to kiss Jaskier, but he pushed the witcher back using his own necklace. "No! I want to hear you say it!" Jaskier said raising his voice as the audience started to applaud. "Jaskier… I want to have you around. I mi—" Geralt couldn't finish. It was awkward and difficult. Jaskier let him go and stepped back away, bringing the puppet back to life in his hands and the small crowd got loud. "I can't do this Geralt. I have to go on stage." Jaskier said and quickly left to get to his mark at the curtain, leaving Geralt alone to wait for his only scene, watching as Jaskier shook his hair with a flourish as he amped himself up before pouncing onto the stage.