III.
"Tell me how it went with Philippa."
Triss grew warm at the question, hoping the flush wasn't apparent on her cheeks. The two women were outside in the gardens whilst the younger of the two picked white myrtle and mandrake. Triss bent down in order to pull the latter by its roots and cleared her throat. "It went… well."
"'Well'," Yennefer repeated as she stood behind her, not willing to dirty herself for the ingredients Triss needed. Not that Triss was expecting otherwise. "I've gotten more detail from a troll."
Alright, perhaps she could spare a bit more than that. "It was… brief," Triss told her, the disappointment evident in her tone. "She had to leave for Redania that night, and Tissaia wouldn't let me accompany her until I finished with my thesis. I feel a little…"
Abandoned, would be the accurate word, but she barely knew Philippa, therefore it just sounded ridiculous. Triss kept her mouth shut and just shrugged before she pulled up the mandrake and placed it into her basket. She rose to stand, and when she turned around Yennefer had her hands on her hips.
"You feel a little what, exactly? What has she done to you?"
"What? Nothing," Triss insisted, even though that wasn't true at all. Philippa certainly did something to her emotionally; Triss felt dependent on her all of a sudden – not unlike a house cat, come to think of. She was independent to a degree, yes, but it made life easier if she just relied on Philippa to feed her the affection that she so desperately needed. In all honesty, she was unsure why she never realized she would benefit from such an arrangement before, but perhaps she had just managed to convince herself that she had been content in her isolation.
Triss pursed her lips, and Yennefer's eyes narrowed.
"Did you sleep with her already?"
"No!" Triss exclaimed, although was surprised to hear the disappointment in Yennefer's tone. "But even if I had, wasn't it you who told me that sleeping with her would give me an advantage?"
"To get the apprenticeship; it would do nothing but make you seem overly compliant and desperate if you do it once you already have it," Yennefer corrected, never one to water down her words. "Besides, I was very proud of you when you said that you deserved the apprenticeship solely based on your talent. I had hoped you wouldn't have to resort to academic prostitution, but I also know how Philippa can be."
"I'm not going to— I mean, even if I wanted… she would never look at me like that," Triss responded, sounding a little dejected by the idea. She might be beautiful now, but Philippa was still on an entirely different level than Triss could ever hope to reach. Regardless of that though, what Yennefer had said was a little insulting, so Triss wrinkled her nose and looked back up at the other woman indignantly. "I would never sleep with anyone out of compliance or desperation though, and I especially wouldn't just to further myself academically. I might not be the most confident sorceress on the Continent, but I do have self-respect."
Sort of. To an extent. Enough not to sleep with someone out of some misguided sense of duty, at any rate!
"And last I checked, who I do or do not choose to share my bed with isn't any of your business," Triss responded brazenly before she realized how that sounded, swallowed hard, and widened her eyes at her own gall. "…Ma'am."
Yennefer didn't look angry with her though. "You're right," she agreed. "It is not."
Triss exhaled the breath that she had held tight in her chest.
"I'm merely trying to warn you," Yennefer continued, her tone softer; more empathetic. Perhaps she realized that practically shaming her wasn't the way to get Triss to listen. "Philippa is good at getting women to fall all over themselves for her, and I don't want to see you get hurt. I'm afraid you are already getting too attached."
"I'm not," Triss insisted as she turned from the other woman, reaching out to take a handful's worth of petals from a white myrtle. They crunched beneath her fist, but as she did not need them intact, it did not matter. "I barely know her. You're being ridiculous."
"Perhaps, but then I wonder why you had an expression similar to an abandoned puppy when you mentioned that she left you here."
Triss said nothing and violently grabbed more petals from another flower. Suddenly, she felt awfully embarrassed by how she reacted to Philippa. Even if she found comfort in their strange arrangement, that probably did not make her any less pathetic for wanting that kind of attention in her life. The young woman's cheeks flared red, a crushing weight in her breast. She refused to look at Yennefer.
Yennefer, however, was not one to just stand there and be ignored. She placed her hand on Triss' shoulder, gently encouraging her to turn and face her. "I just want you to be careful," she told her, the sincerity in her voice surprising the other woman. "I know that this was my idea, but I'm concerned I might have thrown you blindly to a wolf. And I know very well that if you allow her to, Philippa will not hesitate in devouring you whole."
The base of Triss' abdomen tightened. If only.
But she quickly pushed that out of her mind, exhaled a long breath, and stepped away from Yennefer. "Are you ever going to tell me your history with her?" It was more an accusation than a question, and it obviously took the other woman aback for a moment. But Yennefer's insistence that Philippa could end up being emotionally dangerous for her left Triss with more questions than answers.
Mainly, why was she so certain that Philippa would do that to her?
"I… really don't see how that's important. You and I are two very different people, Triss."
Although it was a slight, Triss had heard the hesitation in the other woman's voice when she began talking, and her eyes widened. Triss had never heard Yennefer speak in any other way besides absolute certainty, and that screamed that there was more to this than the other sorceress was letting on. Unfortunately, Yennefer was rather good at deflecting, and she changed the subject to something Triss could not ignore, as it got her one step closer towards where she longed to be right now.
"I had meant for this to be a surprise, but I've sent for a witcher. He should arrive in three days' time."
"Really?" Triss asked, her attention successfully diverted away from the subject Yennefer apparently did not wish her to touch on. "That's… thank you, Yenna; I was so afraid that I would never be able to finish— thank you so much!" Her arms were around the other woman before she knew it, but then she froze, realizing that she and Yennefer had never actually hugged before, and she was a little afraid of how the sorceress would react.
Yennefer didn't pull away from her, but she did pause awkwardly for a moment before giving in to the show of affection and slipping her arms around Triss' waist. "You're very welcome," she responded with a small smile. When she pulled back, she affectionately brushed the hair from the younger girl's shoulder. "Now promise me you'll be careful when you return to Philippa, and I promise I'll stop prying."
Somehow Triss doubted that, but she agreed nonetheless. In the end, perhaps it would be wise to take Yennefer's warning to heart, even though Triss knew that if anything was going to get her hurt, it would be her own desperation to feel needed by someone… and that, along with her slew of other confidence issues brought on by an abusive childhood and her own youthful naivety, was hardly Philippa's fault.
[x]
"Triss, I would like you to meet Geralt of Rivia; the witcher you requested."
Triss looked up from her desk, her jaw slackening at the man in her doorway. Yennefer presented him as though he were a prize she had recently obtained, yet the witcher seemed uncomfortable with the obvious pride in her voice. In fact, he looked as though he would like to be anywhere but here, and it made Triss wonder what it was that Yennefer offered him to get him to agree to this. Although, with the way Yennefer looked at Geralt, perhaps it was foolish for Triss to wonder at all; it was obvious what she'd like to give him in return and frankly, Triss would think him an idiot if he did not accept.
To be fair to Yennefer, Geralt was attractive in that sort of way where you weren't entirely sure whether you were frightened or turned on by his appearance. In the end, it was probably just a mixture of both, which was why he seemed so dangerously appealing. Geralt's hair, stark white against his pale skin, was pushed back in a headband. His eyes resembled those of a cat, his complexion tainted by scars and imperfections. His body was muscular though, and the sheer size of him immediately caused Triss' imagination to run wild with images of him crawling on top of her and crushing her beneath the weight of his passion.
Although by the look in Yennefer's eyes, Triss doubted the man topped at all anymore, if he ever had at all. And while that was an extremely attractive quality of Yennefer's, it left something to be desired in regard to Geralt. Frankly, Triss wouldn't know what to do with not just a man, but anyone who did not immediately take control in bed. She wanted to be pinned down, for her hair to be pulled and her shoulder to be bit. She wanted—
"Triss. Stop gawking and say hello; he has traveled a very long way to help you, after all."
She needed to get a hold of herself, because feeling like this was both distracting and embarrassing. She had known better than to breathe in the mandrake's fumes when she was finishing up her glyphs but, as usual, Triss had been up all night working on the project and in her overtired state it had just slipped her mind. In all honesty, however, the effects of the mandrake probably wouldn't be this bad if she hadn't ignored everything else in her life in favor of her studies, but because she rarely indulged in sex, that build up became rather unbearable when coupled with such an intense aphrodisiac.
While it was nothing that Triss couldn't take care of it with a quick masturbation session or six, with Philippa returning any day now and Triss' desire to have everything prepared for when the witcher arrived so that she could quickly finish her thesis and return to her mistress' side, she didn't have time to indulge in such things. So instead, Triss tried to think of anything but her raging libido as she rose from her desk to greet her guest properly.
"I'm sor—" But Triss swallowed her apology instinctively, knowing Philippa would not like it if she heard her apologizing to anyone, let alone a man. "I— I appreciate you coming here, witcher. Thank you. I promise I won't take up too much of your time."
Geralt merely grunted in response before he began walking around the room, his eyes searching the bookshelves as he took in his surroundings. Yennefer's piercing eyes followed him, her gaze so intense that it made Triss realize she wasn't the only thirsty one in the room. Triss shifted her stance uncomfortably and cleared her throat, drawing her mentor's attention – albeit reluctantly.
"Did you… explain anything to him, or should I…?" Triss wasn't entirely sure where to begin or if she should just jump right into it, and Yennefer's intense staring match with the witcher's ass was not helping matters, especially when it was making Triss wonder how Yennefer would look riding him.
Her.
Anybody.
Triss pinched the bridge of her nose.
"You want to try to enhance witcher signs with runes," Geralt answered for her, finally resting his eyes on the younger woman and, alright, perhaps he was more attractive than frightening after all. Triss pursed her lips and stared.
"…In a sense." There was so much more to it than that, but Triss supposed that was the gist of it, yes.
Okay, she needed to stop staring.
Triss tore her eyes away from him and turned back to her desk to rummage through her drawers. "I, um, have already taken the liberty of converting a few runes into glyphs of varying strengths and materials with the hope that at least one of them will work," she explained as she pulled out a few of the objects. "But as this has never been done before, I cannot guarantee results. If we are successful, however, you will be free to take some with you to use on your travels."
"Let me see what you have," Yennefer instructed, crossing the distance between them. Triss was hunched over her desk as she looked at everything she had spread out across the surface, and notably froze when she felt Yennefer practically press herself up against her as she looked over her shoulder. "Some of these might… hm. Actually, it is rather late; perhaps now is not the time to do this. Besides, I'd like to go through these with you before you attempt to use them on Geralt. Is this made from wine stone?"
Triss swallowed and nodded, hating how she felt in that moment because all it could stand to do was make things awkward between her and Yennefer should the older sorceress realize why she was acting strangely, and that was the last thing she wanted. Thankfully, though, it seemed Yennefer did not notice, or at least chose not to comment on it as she turned back towards the witcher.
"This may take a while. Geralt, I will you meet you back in our room; I trust you remember where it is? We will resume this in the morning."
Their room? Well, that certainly put to rest any lingering doubts that Triss had about whether or not they were sleeping together. Triss was a little jealous, but not because she wanted to sleep with either of them – at least, not really. She was more jealous because they were able to expel their energy in such a way, while she was stuck, well… like this.
She really needed to start being more careful when working with certain materials.
Once Geralt had gone, Yennefer turned back to the desk and picked up the aforementioned stone. "Wine stone will counteract the effects of rebis, which is in quite a few of witcher potions. Get rid of it," she instructed, practically tossing it into the open drawer. "What is this one, hardened beast liver?" she asked, pointing to another glyph that was off-red in shade. "Yes, that may work… and the writing, you made that color from aubergine and mandrake, if I'm not mistaken? No wonder you look like you're about to burst every time someone so much as glances at you. I've warned you about those fumes before."
Triss sucked in a sharp breath, nearly turning purple in embarrassment. She had desperately hoped that Yennefer did not notice how she was acting, but it seemed that she not only noticed, but knew exactly why she was acting this way. That was definitely her worst-case scenario, and it made Triss want nothing more than to just crawl into a hole and die.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but is this not supposed to be an independent research project?"
Triss nearly jumped out of her skin from the unexpected sound of Philippa's voice. She sprang away from Yennefer, feeling guilty for reasons she didn't entirely understand as her stomach clenched and her eyes widened. The other woman was learning against the doorway, her arms crossed over chest. Yennefer's eyes narrowed.
"I was giving a dear friend advice, although considering you do not have any friends to speak of – dear or otherwise – I am not surprised that the concept is lost on you," Yennefer retorted before she shot her a sarcastic smile and inclined her head slightly as she greeted, "Philippa."
"Yennefer."
Triss was fairly certain she had forgotten how to breathe. She was also pretty sure that Yennefer and she had never been considered 'dear friends' until about ten seconds ago, but that didn't really matter right then. All Triss could do was stare at Philippa as the woman pushed herself off the door frame and approached them. She looked…
She looked good, and that was definitely not just the mandrake talking.
"I passed what I assume is your newest pet in the hallway. Your tastes certainly have declined since last we saw one another, haven't they? Pity."
Despite Philippa's intentions, Yennefer looked more amused than upset about the obvious dig at Geralt. "I would remind you that emotional loyalty has a far better value than one's outward appearance, but I know better than to waste my breath on someone so utterly shallow."
"You call it shallow, I call it having standards. But as entertaining as this little reunion has been, I must return to my point – whether you were advising Triss or not, the fact still remains that she is meant to do this on her own," Philippa lectured, apparently not finding Yennefer intimidating in the slightest. Triss could not relate. "Any interference from you or anyone else could force Tissaia to make her choose a different topic, which would put Triss months behind on her thesis and in the meantime rob me of an apprentice. So, if you wouldn't mind, I'd appreciate it if you allowed her to complete this on her own. I'm on a schedule. And, speaking of…"
Philippa beckoned towards Triss, who came to her quickly and obediently. She did not even think twice about it. Philippa smiled, reaching out to smooth the chestnut locks atop the girl's head. A strange warmth invaded Triss' chest… before heading decidedly south of that. Triss' breathing shallowed, and she hoped beyond anything that Philippa would not realize what Yennefer had, because that was the absolute last thing she needed.
"You may finish this later, pet, but now I must borrow you. I acquired a component that I believe to be absolutely essential to what we're trying to achieve, but it has a short shelf-life. That was why I did not wait until the morning to fetch you, despite knowing that you were busy. You must come with me now."
Triss eagerly nodded, no longer caring much about her own project after the warmth of Philippa's palm enveloped her cheek. "Yes, of… of course."
"And what is it that you've acquired, exactly, that demands your immediate attention?" Yennefer quirked an eyebrow, staring down her colleague. She obviously did not believe her claim. "Because any ingredient I can think of that has a short shelf-life would have never made it here from Redania."
Philippa's eyebrow arched in challenge. "Who said I acquired it in Redania?"
But Yennefer just exhaled a disbelieving chuckle, looking at Philippa like she had to be kidding her with this. "Drop the charade. You and I both know why you immediately require her." Perhaps they did, but Triss still did not. "Tell me, do you hope that if you metaphorically measure enough, that you will one day grow one?"
Oh, apparently this was just some kind of power-move on Philippa's part. Although considering how they were acting with one another, Triss wasn't surprised. She had known that they didn't get along, but she hadn't really expected all this simmering animosity either. Whatever their history, it certainly was messy.
Philippa's expression darkened. Finally, it seemed Yennefer had hit a nerve. "I'm sure you would have loved it if I had."
Triss' eyes widened. Wait.
Yennefer clenched her jaw. "…That's not fair, Phil."
"Nothing ever is, is it?" Philippa dismissed, all of her walls slamming right back into place as she acted as though Yennefer no longer mattered to her. "Now, if you wouldn't mind, I require my apprentice's assistance. Considering that it was you who suggested her to me, I would have thought you'd have more sense than to sabotage Triss' chance at continuing her education, but perhaps I was wrong."
"I'm not trying to sabotage this for her," Yennefer denied, looking a little exasperated by Philippa's accusation. "Despite what I may personally think of you, I will not deny that you are talented, and that this is a unique opportunity for Triss that I believe you both will benefit from. However, I am also not an idiot, and I know when someone is trying to dismiss me. Although why you feel the need to is lost on me; I may be a mentor to Triss, but I have no desire to overshadow your authority in regard to her apprenticeship. The only thing that concerns me is her well-being and, quite frankly, as intelligent and as talented as Triss may be, she is still very young and very vulnerable, and that makes a bad combination when coupled with… well, someone like you."
Philippa scoffed, insulted by the insinuation. "You have no idea how I conduct my mentorships, Yennefer, and I'd thank you not to assume again. I have far better uses for Triss than her body, if that's what you're concerned about. So, you may unclench now; she will be perfectly fine in my care." She quirked an eyebrow then, a challenging look in her eye. "Is that all?"
"No. Considering we both know you do not urgently need her, I am going to suggest you resume your mentorship with Triss tomorrow; she is not exactly at her best and needs some rest."
Well, at least she didn't tell Philippa what she had done; that would have made Triss feel awfully stupid. But even though Yennefer was probably right, and that she probably shouldn't try to do anything until she sorted out the repercussions from the mandrake, she had waited two whole weeks and…
And she wanted to go with Philippa.
"If she does not feel well, she can tell me herself; she does not need an absentee note from an overbearing mother-figure."
Yennefer looked indignant at the insinuation, and Triss sucked in a sharp breath once Philippa faced her with an expectant expression. "I…" Triss cleared her throat, realizing it had gone dry. She wanted to tell Philippa that she'd prefer to go with her, but she also could not bear Yennefer's judgmental expression should she do so, and so Triss chickened out as she looked down at the floor and mumbled, "I haven't slept in quite a long time; I don't think I'd be any use to you like this. I wouldn't want to waste your time."
Philippa narrowed her eyes. Her suspicious look dissipated rather quickly, though, and she reached out to gently pinch the younger woman's chin. "You could never waste my time, pet." Triss flushed, her chest tightening. She knew it was probably just a show of affection to irritate Yennefer, but Triss ate it up all the same. "You know where I am, should you change your mind."
Oh, one look like that from Philippa and Triss had already changed it. A small smirk tugged at the sorceress' lips that set a river aflood in Triss' underwear and, God, Yennefer was going to be so disappointed in her, but Triss just didn't know how to say no.
And frankly, she did not wish to learn how to either.
TBC…