A/N: Chapter updated (02/02/2023)
She looked to the other side of the bed to find Geralt still sleeping. This was the first time he didn't wake before the alarm.
"Morning," she whispered and reached out for him.
"Mmm... five more minutes," he grunted as she touched his chest.
She couldn't help a smile, seeing him so relaxed around her. It was a breath of fresh air to be able to be herself around someone. Still, her healing magic was only a part of what she could do. By the end of the week, he'd be well enough to train, and then he'd see one of her constructs. Maybe it was rash of her to trust him so much, but she was curious to see him fight. She always had a soft spot for men who could handle themselves in battle, and her instinct told her he was one of those men.
"Mmm, you should know better than to touch a sleeping witcher." His voice was a low purr as he opened his golden eyes and gazed at her.
"I'll keep that in mind for the next witcher I'll let sleep in my bed."
His smile faded for a moment, just like the previous night when she mentioned missing out on prince charming. Perhaps the idea of another taking his place made him jealous, or perhaps it was her wishful thinking.
"And here I thought I was special," he quipped back with a mock sigh.
She just laughed, got out of bed and went to shower like every morning. When she got out of the bathroom, he was still lying in bed, sprawled out on his stomach.
"Are you ok? This is the first time I see you procrastinating in the morning. After therapy, you should have been brimming with energy."
"I am... But I'm just enjoying this mattress too much to move," he answered lazily.
"Fine, enjoy it as much as you want, but I have to get dressed, make breakfast, and pack our lunch. Today is another long day. I have a studio with the third years, but since it's not very formal, at least we don't have to worry about starving. No one will mind us having lunch there."
She searched through her wardrobe, and saw him in the mirror doors, following her movements as she chose what she would be wearing and placed the items on the bed behind her. He eyed the garments for a moment, lingering on her undergarments, then groaned, got out of bed and headed for the bathroom.
"Tomorrow I have a few more lectures and then Friday another studio," she said as they had breakfast together.
"At this rate, by the end of my time here, I'll either learn something new or get a few good naps. My money is on the latter," he joked.
She shook her head at his teasing and moved on to small talk. It felt normal and comfortable, as if they had known each other for years, not merely days.
When they left for work, she passed by the reception desk and the girl on duty handed her two envelopes and a small package. She had ordered these even before Sunday's debacle. Hopefully, he'd take them as they were, further proof that she meant to give him as much freedom as possible.
"These are for you," she said, handing them to him once they were in the car.
He hesitated to take them.
"Who could possibly send me anything?"
"They're a gift from me. A debit card and a phone to use as you like. You're getting better so fast that soon you won't need to be around me this much. Then you'll be able to enjoy everything this world can offer for a few hours, even a day."
"Thank you," he finally said and took the packages. "You didn't need to do this."
"Let's not make a big deal out of it. It's a normal thing considering the circumstances. I'm sure that if the roles were reversed, you wouldn't let me go without the basics, and these are definitely necessities here."
"I don't need a phone." His answer made her roll her eyes.
"For the time being, you can use it to google things if you're bored during my lectures. Or call up that blonde from the store," she said, smiling.
He looked back, unamused.
"Or not. Do what you will. At least now you have more options."
At school, she sunk into work, going over design concepts with her students, trying to steer each one in the direction that suited their personality. This was her favourite thing about teaching, and if she could, she'd do nothing else. Lectures and seminars were all well and good, but this is where they put everything into practice.
"How do you like today?" she asked him with genuine curiosity once they took a lunch break.
"Might have been the least boring day," he joked. "So far, I think you seem the happiest today," he added more seriously.
"I am. I really love doing this. Sorry you found the rest to be so boring."
"You're forgiven." He smirked.
"How magnanimous of you," she retorted jokingly.
"Seriously, they like you, and it's for a good reason. You're very good with them, but I guess it helps that these kids are not as crude as some that attend your lectures."
"What do you mean?"
"Err…" He cleared his throat, flustered. "Nothing, forget I said anything."
"Please tell me or I'll just worry and imagine the worst and it'll be your fault."
He hesitated before speaking.
"They were commenting on how you look and what they'd like to do to you..."
He left his words to trail off but she got the meaning behind them. It wasn't the first time she had heard lewd comments, and most of the female staff had to deal with this kind of attention.
"Oh! That... Umm, well... I guess I should have expected that... Of course, I'd prefer it if they focused more on what I'm teaching than on that, but men will be men."
Once they finished their meal, she returned to the students, happy that Geralt didn't seem as bored as he had been after her lectures. Even if he was probably only half-joking, there was some truth to his words.
She had work to do that afternoon, so she instructed him on using his new phone and left him to deal with the touch interface while she prepared the slides for the presentations she had the next day. From time to time, muttered curses reached her ears, making her smile.
She peppered in some of her healing, noting once more that he was improving at a quicker pace than she originally expected, but it wasn't until the next evening that she told him he was ready to train.
"Training is going to be a welcome change," he said as they took a walk. "So how is it going to work? Should I start moving around furniture in the apartment?"
"I'll take you out of the city to a secluded spot I know. That way, we won't risk anyone seeing us."
"We? Wait... I won't be fighting you, will I?" he asked, stopping in his tracks.
"Not per se. I'm useless with a sword, so I wouldn't be much of a challenge. But I can make something I call constructs," she said turning to him. She kept her voice low so that other passersby wouldn't hear her. "But I'll need details about the monsters you usually fight."
"What kind of details?"
"Anything you think is useful. Appearance, weapons, attack style, behaviour, weaknesses and strengths, smell if that helps, the more you tell me, the more precise I can be."
"You can make them exclusively based on my description?"
"Sort of," she said with a sigh. "When you talk about them I can connect to your memory of them and use it for accuracy. Does that bother you?"
"Not really. As long as you stick to memories of monsters and don't go roaming through my mind while you're there."
"I won't. Promise."
"Alright. Then I might as well start with drowners since those are easiest."
He launched in a detailed description of drowners, followed by ghouls, alghouls, nekkers and arachnomorphs. Sometimes it sounded like he was quoting books, while other times his descriptions were coloured by his own previous encounters. He only stopped when they were back in front of the apartment building.
He shook his head with his eyes fixed on the pavement.
"This would have made Vesemir proud," he said. "Reminded me of answering his quizzes when I was training to be a witcher."
"I'm sure he'd be proud." She put her hand around him and nudged him inside the building.
"There's a lot more. We haven't even gone into cursed beings or vampires yet, not to mention draconids or spectres."
She couldn't help a smile at the enthusiasm in his voice when he spoke about his work.
"Let's take it one step at a time. Leave some for the following weeks."
It was Friday already and even as she woke up she began to worry. She had avoided the Dean all week, but it couldn't last forever. Eventually, he'll send for her and she was out of excuses.
She worried her bottom lip between her teeth and stared at her plate, pushing a piece of toast around with her fork.
"Don't you have studio today? I thought you liked those," Geralt asked, not so subtly trying to pry out the reason for her sullen mood.
"I do."
She didn't feel like talking, but he wasn't giving up easily.
"Is Elly going to be there today?" he asked after a moment's thought.
"No."
He paused to think again.
"It's the last day of the week. You were supposed to do the interview."
It was unsurprising that he had figured it out, considering his intelligence and observational skills.
"Mhm." She nodded and kept playing with her food. Her appetite was nonexistent when she worried so much.
"I could kill him..." he said seriously.
Her eyes snapped to him, with a look of horror.
"Don't hurt anyone, please! It would cause so much more trouble than you can imagine."
"Let's say I was joking but, if you want, I can be... dead serious."
Was he really making puns? Now she was the one who couldn't tell if he was joking or not.
"Relax," he said smiling and shaking his head.
She drove to work slower than usual, wanting to postpone the inevitable, and headed straight for the studio, avoiding all the corridors that led to the administrative area. The students were already waiting for her and everything was going as usual, so she dared to hope that the day would be uneventful after all.
A few hours later, the studio was over and she breathed out in relief as the students packed up their things to leave.
"Criss, there you are! You're a tough woman to find."
She looked at the door and blanched instantly. He had found her.
"You're due for the tenure interview. Just half an hour in my office and you can sign the papers and move up in the ranks," the Dean said needlessly loud, making his way towards her. He was making a show of it, the gratuitous prick. The students were already exchanging knowing glances and she was livid.
This was unacceptable.
She was about to colourfully tell him where he could shove himself for half an hour when Geralt came up behind her and extended a hand to the Dean who unwittingly took it.
"Hi, I'm Geralt," he said with a charming smile that turned menacing as soon as their hands made contact. "That interview you're looking to get, it's not going to happen. I'm sure you're disappointed, but we all know it's just a formality, right?"
Their hands were still clasped and all the blood had drained from the Dean's face until he was uncontrollably shaking his head and stammering.
"Why don't you do everyone a favour and bring the papers over here so she can just sign them? It would save... everyone a lot of unnecessary trouble."
"You're... you're..." the Dean made to protest, but Geralt raised an eyebrow and tightened his grip. "You're right... Of course... She's a wonderful asset to the university. I'll have someone send the papers now."
"Wonderful! We'll be right here waiting!" Geralt replied, finally releasing his hand with a malicious grin.
The Dean scampered away and, after a few minutes, his assistant appeared with papers ready for her to sign.
She was still dumbstruck and in complete disbelief while putting pen to paper. By the time she was done and packing her bag, she was floating on cloud nine. Geralt waited for her, smiling, looking fairly pleased with himself. She was so overwhelmed with joy and relief that she couldn't resist wrapping her arms around his waist and squeezing him tight, her cheek flush against his chest.
"Thank you!" was all she could say. She wanted to say much more, but it all sounded too soppy and "thank you" was the most important part, after all. A thought ran through her mind, and she looked at him quizzically. "You didn't use magic on him, I hope?"
He gazed down at her, still smiling, curling an arm around her shoulders and the other around her waist. The weight felt heavy and comforting at the same time. A delightful sensation of protection came with the embrace.
"I thought of using Axii on him, but there were too many people around. It would have been too conspicuous. Though I might have broken some fingers, I'm sure I heard at least one snap." He grinned again. "I reckon he won't be diddling anyone anytime soon."
She gave him another happy squeeze, only to realize how inappropriate it was before awkwardly releasing him from her grip.
"Oh, I don't want to put makeup on your shirt," she blurted out, trying to excuse herself, but he didn't look like he cared much about the state of his shirt.
On the way back to her car, her mind was still on how good it felt to be in his arms and she was fumbling with her words, unable to formulate complete, coherent sentences.
"Oh, I need to... we need to celebrate... maybe bake something... hmm, but you don't seem to like sweets... I know a recipe that is just the right balance between sweet and sour with a hint of lemon... You might like that. If not, I'll make something else..."
She kept chattering away as they walked, radiating happiness through every pore, and Geralt looked like he was feeling mighty proud to have made that happen.
A quick stop at the store supplied her with everything she needed, including wine and whiskey.
"It's not a celebration if we don't have alcohol," she told him. "But maybe we should save this for tomorrow night. We both need to be rested and have a clear head for training tomorrow."
"Yes, fighting when you're hungover isn't a good time," he agreed.
Later that day, she made sour cherry cake. So far, she hadn't met anyone who didn't like it, and Geralt was no exception. He scarfed down every bite she put in front of him and asked for seconds. She was still in a daze and couldn't believe how quickly the day took a turn.
"I really, really want to thank you, Geralt. I mean it! I was just about to tell him where he could shove his tenure when you intervened," she gushed. "I'm very grateful but, in the spirit of full disclosure, having someone else solve my problems isn't something I'm used to."
"I wasn't going to sit by and watch you lose your job when I could do something about it. Besides, I have a long way to make up for the crap I put you through. I know I haven't exactly made it easy for you, starting with that elbow to the face, and Sunday... and..."
She put her hand over his mouth. "Stop it, Geralt! I'm very happy to help!"
He removed her hand delicately. "So was I today."
His eyes were warm and gentle and his voice so low and soft that it made her melt. He could really put on the charm when he wanted to and she ached for him. Once again she wondered if it would be so bad to give in to her instincts. If things went well the next day, perhaps she'd give him an opportunity to get close and pray it wasn't a mistake.
