A/N: I'm aware that Yennefer may seem a little too soft here but I think she's more than capable of it and Jaskier is incredibly cute so...

Ch.2. Bright Blue

Yennefer was not heartless.

She was not, as many people assumed, immune to emotions, to love.

It was just that she'd experienced far too much pain and she'd forged herself with chaos and it all meant she often found herself exasperated at the human desire to take risks with one's heart.

(She knew those risks all too well.)

But children.

She could rarely resist the cries of children.

The screams of the small were loud and powerful and tragic.

And there was something truly awful about hearing, feeling the tears of such young lives.

(She was haunted by them.)

Sighing to herself, she walks over to the front door, pulling it open and glancing around only to have something - someone - fall against her legs.

The child gasps as they topple over, clearly having been leaning on the door, and scrambles backwards, looking up at her with impossibly blue eyes, bright eyes filled with a deep sorrow.

She looks over the child, a boy who seems too fragile to remain on her property despite the wards, and takes in his messy hair, his spotless jacket, his bare feet.

(She wonders how his skin is still unbroken.)

"Who are you?" she asks, wincing internally as the boy shrinks away at her tone.

He doesn't offer her a reply but quietens down, waiting for her to do something. She notices with slight confusion that he struggles to look away from her eyes, nothing but curiosity burning in his eyes.

After a minute of silence, she kneels down to his eye-level, asking again: "Who are you?"

The boy frowns at her, shaking his head.

(She can tell he's trying hard not to cry again.)

Before she can say anything else, the boy jumps to his feet, opens his mouth only to close it again, and sprints.

Surprised, she watches as he twists between the trees, disappearing far too quickly for her to determine where he's going or why he'd left so suddenly.

(She could track him but she doesn't want to scare him.)

He doesn't seem to be returning even once she's recovered from her surprise so she shuts the door, making a note to reinforce her wards once she's had enough time to recharge - the boy is no threat but he really shouldn't have been able to see her house at all.

Back to her normal routine, Yennefer takes her time bathing and freshening up. She all but forgets about the strange blue-eyed child at her doorstep by the time she sits down to eat.

And then she feels it.

(Feels him.)

He's back.

"Really?" she asks nobody in particular, going back to the door and pulling it open with a wave of her hand, not sure what to expect this time.

The boy is standing there with a shy smile and a bunch of flowers in his hands, blues and purples and whites impressively mixed together.

"I'm sorry," he whispers.

(Yennefer's heart melts.)

He holds them forwards, making no move himself, keeping his gaze locked onto her eyes.

She's not sure what to say but she takes the flowers from him and kneels again, her muscles moving without her permission and offering the boy a small smile in return.

Instantly, he beams.

And throws himself at her, his tiny arms looping around her neck as he giggles, his relief radiating from him like rays of sunlight.

He doesn't even seem to mind that she's unsure what to do, her arms awkwardly frozen in place, he just steps back once he's satisfied and continues to beam - that is, until he spots the flowers he'd accidentally crushed.

(She doesn't know why the sadness on his face hurts her.)

"It's okay," she whispers, blowing on the flowers and smiling as she watches him brighten up when they magically repair themselves.

(She'll never let them die.)

He looks up at her with awe in his eyes. "Thank you."

Usually, people's awe is directed at her alongside fear or distrust, the lack of which in his eyes is refreshing, strangely pleasant.

Yennefer doesn't want to get attached, she really doesn't, but the boy makes no move to disappear again and she finds herself asking: "Would you like some food?"

She might as well have offered him the whole world if his smile is bright enough to go by, his entire being becoming happier, more confident, more comfortable.

"Please," he replies, and reaches for her hand.

(That reaches her heart.)

Slightly out of her depth but unwilling to make him cry again, she lets him take her hand and stands up, guiding him into her dining room, into a seat at her very small table.

When she summons another bowl of soup from the kitchen, his expression shifts from awe to confusion to panic. He looks up at her with tears half-formed in his eyes, "I don't know how to eat your food."

She would be insulted if not for the sincere guilt she can sense he feels.

"It's just soup," she tells him, holding out a spoon.

He shakes his head. "I don't… I'm sorry, we never-"

Curiosity stirs inside her as he cuts himself off but Yennefer doesn't herself dwell on it, instead taking her own spoon and lifting it up. "Here, copy me."

To his credit, he nods, watching her carefully as she eats a few spoonfuls and then picking up his own spoon. She thinks he's figured it out until he stabs the spoon into the bowl and jumps at himself.

(It makes her smile for some reason.)

"Like this," she says, wrapping his hand around the spoon and guiding it to his mouth.

His eyes widen, brighten when he finally swallows it and a ridiculously large grin breaks out on his face. "I love it!"

Even she doesn't appreciate her soup that much. But his enthusiasm is infectious and, although she has to practically feed him at regular intervals because he struggles to understand the concept of a spoon, she finds that she's enjoying herself.

(The realisation hits her like a bucket of ice.)

The boy goes still once they finish eating, biting his lip as he frowns up at her. "Can I stay here?"

She wants to ask him why he thinks he can't but the deep sorrow from earlier has taken over his expression again and all she can do is bite back her sarcasm and nod slowly.

Within the blink of an eye, that sorrow has been replaced by joy and the boy almost tumbles from the chair in his rush to throw his arms around her - the way he ends up hugging both her stomach and her chair is a strange sort of ridiculous.

(It's endearing.)

He lets go of her and runs back to the front door, where he turns back and gives her a sheepish grin. "How does this work?"

"The door?"

He nods quickly. "The door. How does the door work?"

Yennefer raises an eyebrow. "Why do you need the door to work?"

"You said I can stay," he replies, sounding confused.

"That I did," Yennefer agrees, walking over to him and kneeling down again, "but I meant you can stay inside the house."

(Inside her heart.)

It takes him a long moment to think that over before he smiles, stepping towards her, hope shining in his eyes. "With you?"

She doesn't want to say yes, she doesn't want to commit to something like this. She's not even sure if the boy will want to stay for long and it's probably safer for her to avoid that risk at all instead of-

"Of course."

Blue eyes brighten and that's all the warning she has before there are small arms draped around her neck again and giggles filling the air.

(Destiny smiles over them.)

Don't think many people will be reading this on this site but if you are, look forward to more because I'm still obsessed with these characters :)

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