Mae govannen!
A big thank you to Rangerluvn for commenting on this story. I hope your heart is alright because there is more to come!
again: WARNING: do not read if you don't ship Geralt and Jaskier- you have been cautioned ;)
Disclaimer: I own nothing of the WitcherVerse, all of it is the work of the amazing Andrejzi Sapkowski
And please reveiw!
Namarïe!
"Checkmate. Again."
"Fuck," growled the witcher, lying back on the sofa, rubbing his face. "Damn you, you cheat."
"How can a body cheat at chess?" demanded Jaskier. "I think you're just a sore looser."
"I am not."
"Ohhh, I think you are."
Jaskier laughed at the look of exasperation on Geralt's face. He was giddy with delight and drunk on the memory of the kiss they had shared. His heart raced now, just thinking of it. None of his wildest imaginings could ever have come close to the feeling of certainty he had been overcome with. It was, would be, and always had been Geralt. Never was there any doubting destiny on that matter. It seemed that the white-haired bastard had found that out too.
After Geralt's heartfelt confession, Jaskier had drawn the coffee table over to the sofa and then followed with his favourite armchair. The poor little table had then been heaped with a great bounty of various boardgames.
They had never gotten past the chess set.
Four games and counting...and four-nil to yours truly...
Geralt shook his head. "I give up. What's next?"
"Ice cream," said Jaskier, in a tone that brooked no argument. "Chocolate or Cherry? Take your pick."
"You eat Cherry flavoured ice cream?" Geralt looked disgusted.
"I'm partial to Saffron and Apple, but it was sold out. Pick one."
"I'll pass, thank you."
Jaskier folded his arms. "Pick one."
"Bloody hell, Jaskier," said Geralt, sounding amused. "Chocolate then. But I don't want any."
"You don't get a choice in the matter. Pick a game while I get the sugar."
A Witcher...mused Jaskier as he struggled to get the ice cream tubs out of the freezer whilst preventing a frozen lasagna from delivering a killing blow to his head. A hunter of monsters that normal folk didn't even know existed. God, that was a lot to get his head around. And yet, the sword had seemed so natural in Geralt's hand. The silver studded leather made more sense now. As did the golden eyes that shone in the darkness.
Jaskier entered the living room laden with ice cream and spoons, to find Geralt shuffling a deck of cards. He had put his shirt back on, but Jaskier could still see the bandages around his middle from where the black garment rode up. No new blood on them. That was good.
"Here." Jaskier tossed the chocolate one to Geralt before digging into the cherry. His friend chuckled, expertly halving the deck and shuffling it again. Jaskier knew a good card player when he saw one.
Damn. He was doomed.
"You pay cards a lot?"
"Sometimes Lambert plays against me." Geralt split the deck in four. "You know King and Castle?"
"Yup. I stink at it though."
Geralt smirked. "I was counting on that."
They played slowly at first, but after Geralt had taken the first six campaigns for himself, Jaskier began to fight back. It fast became a heated struggle, and Jaskier soon discovered, to his delight, that he was nowhere near as bad as he had thought.
"Kingdom of Swords." He laid the set down, hoping he had finally managed to claim a campaign for himself.
"Not bad," said Geralt around the spoon sticking out of his mouth. A little frown line had formed between his dark eyebrows. "But it so happens that I have the prince of thieves here..."
"Ugh." Jaskier groaned as Geralt laid the card down, thereby nullifying the singer's whole set. "Damn you."
Geralt smirked. Before setting down the last of his hand.
Empire of Roses.
"Fuck!"
The witcher roared with laughter as Jaskier, grumbling, turned to his ice cream. "You can't be good at everything, Jaskier."
"You've trumped me seven damn times!"
"How many times did you beat me at chess?"
Jaskier had to concede that was fair. But he wasn't ready to give up. Not yet. "Rematch."
"As you wish."
The cards were shuffled and dealt. The campaign started slow, though quick became a furious battle of fire and brimstone. Twice, Geralt had victory within his grasp, and twice Jaskier foiled him with various thieves and robbers.
At last, however, Jaskier put down his set, the Realm of Spears. It had taken him the better part of an hour to collect them all. He knew that only an Empire of Towers could beat his hand. He was feeling pretty smug, trying not to laugh at the surprise on Geralt's face. "I think this one is mine."
"Oh?" Geralt gave him an indulgent smile before setting down his hand.
"Oh my God, Geralt!" exploded Jaskier. "You're fucking impossible!"
Not only did the white-haired devil have the Empire of Towers; he had a bloody Alliance! The Royal cards from the Kingdom of Swords lay alongside the entire set of Towers
"Give up?"
Jaskier nodded, laughing at the absurdity of it. "I do." He noticed the wince as Geralt shifted on the pillows. "How are you feeling?"
"Fine. You've done a good job with the bandages, i must say."
"First aid classes. They were mandatory at my school."
Geralt nodded, then groaned as Jaskier drew another box from the heap. "Oh no. Not this one...Ciri always picks it back home."
"Ciri?" Jaskier had never heard the name before. Geralt didn't often speak of his surrogate family. He wasn't a big sharer.
"My sister," was all Geralt said.
"Ahhh, a fellow StormLords fan. I like her already."
Jaskier set out the game as Geralt sifted through the playing pieces. To Jaskier's surprise, he chose the Silver Pearl as his flag ship. When he asked why, the witcher grinned.
"I always use it when I play against Filavandrel." He gingerly erected his tower on the board in Shipwreck Bay. Interesting choice of base... "Always annoys him, because it's the elven ship."
Jaskier paused in his building of his own tower. He preferred to have it by the Port of Pebbles. It was closer to trade and the harbour. "Why would that annoy him?"
"Elves are touchy."
Jaskier stared at Geralt. "Elves? As in small, pointy ears, and Christmas hats with bells?"
Geralt laughed. "Ha! No. I'll introduce you to him one day. If he agrees- he's not fond of humans."
"And you're...not human..."
"No."
Jaskier shuffled the cards before dealing out seven to each of them. "May the best man win."
"Jaskier, can you do something for me?"
The singer looked up from his coffee, instantly picking up on the slur in Geralt's voice. Concerned, he shifted his chair over and felt at the witcher's brow. It was dry, but Geralt seemed to be struggling to keep those golden eyes open. "Of course."
"My phone broke when I was fighting the Harpy..." Ohhh, his voice was definitely throwing in the towel. It was hoarse in place of husky now. Geralt shook his head as though he were trying to stay awake. "If I give you the number...could you make a call for me?"
Jaskier fished his phone up off the heap of discarded games. "Sure. Who am I calling."
A small smile curled the corner of Geralt's mouth. "Another witcher."
"Ah. I'm assuming i'm supposed to tell him what happened?"
"Yes."
"Number?"
The phone rang for a while, the ringtone drumming into Jaskier's ear. He chanced a look at Geralt, but the witcher was curled on the sofa, seemingly asleep. Good. He needed rest. He'd lost a lot of blood.
The line was picked up.
"Hello? Who's this?"
"Hi. Are you Vesemir of Kaer Morhen?"
Silence. Then suspicion. "I am. What do you want?"
"Geralt told me to call you."
"What?" Now the voice sounded concerned. "Who...what's going on?"
"I'm Jaskier-"
"Ah." Amusement. "The singer. Go on."
"Geralt was over here at a party...and, well...he faught something he's calling a harpy."
Vesimir's voice transformed into a bladed whip. "Was he seen?"
"As in seen doing Witcher stuff? No. Only by me, and I swear, I won't say anything."
"Is he alright?"
"He lost quite a bit of blood, but yes. He's sleeping now."
A sigh. "Good. Thank you for not leaving him."
"It's nothing. I stand by my friends."
"Geralt doesn't have many friends, Jaskier. Including you he has four of them."
Am i still a friend though? As he hung up on the call, Jaskier's mind spun back to the kiss. The fire that had been in it. Geralt didn't seem to want to be friends any more...and the thought brought a rush of warmth to the singer.
I guess that means Geralt is gay...god, that makes the coffee cups even funnier!
Jaskier had to hold in a laugh, gently brushing a lock of white hair back off the sleeping witcher's brow. His hand lingered, thumb brushing Geralt's cheek.
"Wha're you doing?" mumbled the witcher without opening his eyes.
"Go to sleep," said the singer, biting his lip to hold back a smile. "I spoke to Vesemir. All is fine."
"Hmmmm..." rumbled Geralt softly, as Jaskier brushed a kiss to his cheek.
Jaskier let out a soft laugh. "Go to sleep, witcher."
It was then that a line of lyrics came to him. Realising that this night held no sleep for yours truly, Jaskier picked himself up off the chair and wondered down the hall to his music room. As he tuned his guitar he sang softly,
"Toss a coin to your Witcher...
oh, valley of plenty...valley of plenty,
...oh, oh, oh..."
It was to be one of the greatest hits of that year, but of course, Jaskier didn't know that. And as he played and wrote, plucking gently on the strings, the witcher dreamed, mouth curled into a smile as he heard the music in a faint, far off place.
This is for anyone who wanted to know more about my made up card game ;)
To play, you'll need to tap into artist mode, and make yourself some cards!
--
King and Crown:
--
Cards:
In a deck of King and Crown you gave as follows:
x12 cards each of:
Soldier. (Worth 1)
Knave. (Worth 2)
Baron. (Worth 4)
Priest. (Worth 6)
Lord. (Worth 7)
Lady. (Worth 7)
Prince. (Royal Card- Worth 10)
Princess. (Royal Card- Worth 10)
Queen. (Royal Card- Worth 12)
King. (Royal Card- Worth 13)
-(All four Royal Cards together make up the Royal House and can be used in an Alliance)
and x4 cards each of:
Thief. (Nullifying Card)
Robber. (Nullifying Card)
Prince of Thieves. (Nullifying Card)
King of Robbers. (Nullifying Card)
--
Sets:
(A set includes one card of each as follows: Soldier, Knave, Baron, Priest, Lord, Lady, Prince, Princess, Queen, King.)
The Sets are as follows:
Realm of Unicorns. (Worth 4)
Kingdom of Fires. (Worth 4)
Kingdom of Blood. (Worth 5)
Kingdom of Swords. (Worth 7)
Realm of Stars. (Worth 8)
Empire of Roses. (Worth 9)
Empire of Lies. (Worth 10)
Kingdom of Bones. (Worth 10)
Empire of Thorns. (Worth 11)
Realm of Dragons. (Worth 13)
Realm of Spears. (Worth 15)
Empire of Towers. (Worth 17)
(In the case that you and your opponent hold Sets of the same Worth- refer to this table. The Set placed nearer the higher number is the winner. So Fires beats Unicorns, and Bones beats Lies.)
--
Rules:
-1) Pickup starts and continues until both players hold a full set, with discarded cards being passed to your left, or put in a discard heap in the centre of the table.
-2) Once both players hold a Set, the Campaign is engaged, and Nullifying Cards can be played.
- A Nullifying Card can also be played during your opponent's turn to draw a new card, rendering that card useless.
-In the case of both players setting down Nullifying Cards, the player with the highest placed Nullifying Card takes the Campaign. (Refer to the Cards Table for clarification)
-3) The player with the most powerful Set takes the Campaign.
--
Alliances:
- You must hold an entire Set along with the full Royal house of a second Set.
- An Alliance trumps any other Set played, save an Alliance of even more powerful Sets.