Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters of the witcher. Those are property of Mr Sapkowski and I using Netflix series canon mixed with the books and my twisted version of the lore.

Warnings : blood, wounds. Geralt whump. Implied sex scene.

Notes : After the action, comes the resting moments and some new steps for Geralt.

A little sacrifice - part 5

Acceptance

###

With the help of Jaskier, Geralt slowly got back on his feet. He was feeling bad. The near death experience was what it was, and even his mutant body needed rest. He didn't quit because he was wounded and weak though. He was going away because this was not his fight anymore. He would pass the information to Agloval who was the one in charge here and who would have to make the good decisions.

Leaning heavily on his friend, he asked.

- "Tell me Sh'eenaz." She smiled at the use of her name. "Are the Dragon Fangs a nest ?".

- "More than a nest, it is a special place between the worlds. A powerful magic is creating a gate to the ocean and the dry lands but to other spaces too. There are few places like that in this world since the Conjunction of the Spheres. Some more stable than others."

- "What do you mean by other spaces too ?"

- "I don't know what your experience was down there but you have seen only what your eyes could. The swarm of Vodyanois that attacked you was from somewhere on the other side of the ocean. Maybe you didn't notice that the species and vegetation weren't really the same when you got out."

- "There seemed to be more life when I was watching through the water wall indeed. But how does it work ?" His throat was burning.

- "The wall is one see through but the gate opens on a multitude. Vodyanois knows how to travel through that expertly from there. The Dragon Fangs is one of many destinations and one of many nests they have. And they are all connected. The real realm of the Vodyanois is the same as ours, Mermaids and Nixas. These are whole civilizations connected by complexe relationships, as much as your dry land species."

- "I see…" Geralt looked back at the immobile army in the surf. "I hope Agloval will understand that."

- "I will explain to him."

He nodded and moved toward the group of humans. Jaskier and he went directly to Agloval and Essi who were waiting nervously near the van. In his blurry mind, Geralt noticed her more than everyone else. She was wearing a light red dress that was dancing with the ocean breeze and sticking a bit to her frame in a nice way. Her golden hair was floating around, revealing more of her face that she used to hide a bit. With this combination of the bright red and the yellow, she was a real wild poppy bursting out the monochromatic people of Bermervoord and its landscape. She reminded him how bright his friend was too when they met on the beach two days ago.

Jaskier explained the current situation to them and the duke seemed to take his responsibilities quite seriously. He went to his mermaid right away. Essi stayed with them. She seemed shaken.

- "What is going to happen now ?" She asked.

- "I don't know, but we need to get Geralt out of here now." Replied Jaskier, deadly serious. "I have to tend to his wounds. The second metabolization might begin at an inappropriate moment. We need to get back to our hotel."

Geralt agreed silently but he was feeling weird that Essi had to know all this. This was like a private thing Jaskier and he shared.

They helped him to move forward and they reached Roach which was a little bit further on a parking lot. The driver side had the glass broken and some cover under the wheel was damaged with the wires apparent. He understood that Jaskier had broken in and manually started the engine to drive back to the city as he didn't have the key.

- "Maybe I could make a double for the next time." He said with a raspy voice.

- "I am surprised that we never needed it before." Said Jaskier smirking.

Essi and his friend helped him to get on the platform. This was the safer option if the metabolization began before they reached the hotel. Jaskier could still help him outside.

- "Poppy, stay with him please."

And the woman did. She looked kinda horrified though. He could understand. He probably looked like shit, and the wounds and the blood were bearly hidden by his torn shirt. He wanted to reassure her, but he was really not well this time. He couldn't speak much as his lungs were still burning from the drowning. He just smiled. She did too.

She was pretty, and her shyness was cute somehow. She was observing him but was a bit intimidated to look him in the eyes. She was staying a bit sideways and only looked at him with a partial corner stare. Her golden locks hid half of her face, like a soft protection from something invisible.

The funny thing was that she wasn't that shy the first time they met. Something had changed. Well. Jaskier told him. She likes you. And yeah he liked her too. But this was the first time he met someone whose attraction toward him was making them more incertain.

###

Jaskier drove fast but quite smoothly. They arrived at their hotel in no time, or it seemed. He was beginning to drift in and out. He was helped out of the car by the singer who almost carried him all the way to the bathroom. They didn't have a bathtub in their room so he laid him down directly in the shower.

Geralt could barely move now. The second metabolization was beginning any second, so he had to let his friend undress him. This was not the first time either but not under other curious eyes.

- "What is happening ?" Was the strangled cry from Essi when the first seizure began.

- "Poison metabolization. His mutant body is assimilating the toxic results of the potions he took. I am guessing killer whale. This would pass but this is hard to see. I know."

His muscles spammed painfully and he moaned as his belly wound reopened badly with his shaking body. Jaskier was using the shower head to remove the salt sea and the dirt from his skin and washing the blood off, old and new. He was used to that but the new eyes of Essi on the process was difficult for him. The problem was not being naked but more of the way she looked at him.

She was clearly trying to figure out some things about him. He couldn't hold onto that though, the seizure was taking too much of him. Jaskier understood and had the good reflex.

- "Essi, in the car, there is a package in the glove box. I need you to bring it back to me please." She nodded and dashed out of the room. "You are a mess, buddy." He said quietly while the seizure decreased.

Geralt smiled tiredly. There won't be a third metabolization fortunately but he was so worn out.

- "I need to stitch you. Those cuts are deep. Do you think you can manage without a healer ?" He nodded. "Ok. But that's gonna hurt." He blinked. He knew that of course.

Jaskier went for the medical kit they have in the room and returned to him with gauze, alcohol and things to make the stitches.

Essi came back with the package and seemed reassured that he wasn't spasming anymore. Jaskier took the box, and searched in it for the good potions. Golden Oriole to counter poisoning and Kiss for the blood regeneration. In his case, it would help him to clean his blood stream faster and overcome the blood loss, so his metabolism would fight better the rest. There would be a second metabolization to that in a few hours but this was not as draining and demanding as the other potions he took for the fight. And hopefully he would be in better shape already.

Jaskier helped him to drink the potions and didn't lose time to clean the wounds deep and begin to stitch him up. The belly one was the deepest and the nastiest. Geralt clenched his teeth while his friend was doing what he had to. Essi was sitting against the wall outside of the bathroom. She didn't feel comfortable sharing that much intimacy on the get go, but she was curious too. From time to time she was leaning and looking inside. Geralt didn't speak but looked at her back. Jaskier noticed them.

- "Don't worry Poppy. He will be ok." He said trying to focus on making some good stitches.

- "Are you doing this often ?" She asked, fear making her voice shake a little.

- "No." Jaskier smiled. "Fortunately."

- "But it has happened often enough for you to become a nurse…"

- "Well you know perfectly why I know to do this." He said.

Geralt met Jaskier's eyes for a second and he connected two dots he wished he never had. Why was there that constant reminder of Julian's horrible past, flashing back to that unwanted future closing itself around the singer's shoulder ? Jaskier clearly didn't want to go down this way and found new arguments to explain his nursing abilities.

- "Also we have been traveling together for something like twenty years. Of course I have learned Poppy." He said more lightly. "And you know… Hospitals don't take witchers because they are not humans. So we have to find temples or healers. There aren't always temples and the traditional healers aren't easy to find. So yeah. I have learned the ways of the witchers so I can be helpful during the hunts."

- "Do you like the hunts ?" She leaned back inside again.

- "I like being… out there… with my best friend."

Geralt looked at Jaskier who was still not telling all the truth to his sister. Out there for free. Best friend for muse. Why did he want to make it less when usually he was a big mouth, even exaggerating sometimes? The answer came from Essi this time.

- "You are holding back, brother." She said with an emotional smile. "You can tell me the words. I can handle things. Don't over protect me from feelings."

Jaskier's hands shook a little bit on the next stitch.

- "This is my life as I love it, this is all there is to know, my dear Poppy. I know this is hard to imagine. I know you feel strange about all this. But don't judge me."

- "And you find your inspiration in all this ?"

She was not aggressive, she was not dismissive, but she was clearly a little bit shocked. Geralt was spectator of this conversation that he was the subject in a way and it felt weird.

- "Don't say it. Don't be that person, Poppy. Not you. You are just seeing the worst of it, right now. You can't imagine how good I feel, when we are out there, free, discovering things, connected to the world everyone ignores…"

- "I guess I can a little bit. I mean… Everything that happened with that mermaid since yesterday was extraordinary. But now…" There was a knock at the door. That cut the conversation. Jaskier sighed.

- "What now ? Poppy, can you check please ? I have my hands full." He said, adding on more suture.

Essi nodded, but she seemed not satisfied. She got up and disappeared into the room. Geralt listened. She opened the door and spoke to someone outside.

- "They are coming for you." Half whispered, half growled Geralt forcing the words out of his throat. Jaskier didn't say a thing but looked at him concerned.

Essi came back a minute later with a man that was clearly from Agloval services. He grimaced. Of course… there was blood and there was probably an unpleasant odor too.

- "We are sorry to interrupt you in… such a moment but Sir Agloval is requesting your services, mister Jaskier."

- "What for ?" He was clearly not enthusiastic. He finished the last stitch on his belly and turned toward the intruder.

- "Translation. The fishmen are not willing to negotiate with the Mermaid as the sole interpreter."

- "Why ? That seemed the logical choice."

- "She is one of them and not one of us. Humanity has to prove itself worthy to them, on its own. This is what they said apparently."

- "My friend needs help here. I…"

- "Jaskier… just do it." Growled Geralt trying to find a better position in the shower, pushing on his good arm.

- "But…"

- "I will be fine."

- "I need to do your arm first. This is not negotiable."

Agloval's handyman didn't even try to protest and Jaskier pushed the witcher on his side with less care than he was used to. Geralt understood that his friend was not happy at all with how things were turning out. He didn't protest either, even if the two people looking at them from the room were making him really uncomfortable now.

The cuts on his arms weren't as deep but they ran over a long portion. Jaskier didn't do it slowly but he didn't rush to finish either, so it took quite some time. The man outside was growing nervous.

- "You should not leave them waiting like that." Geralt whispered.

- "Shut up. I won't leave you with open wounds, you idiot."

Jaskier cleaned him up one last time with warm water and gave him the shower head so he could keep himself to an acceptable temperature and wash himself up as soon as he would be strong enough.

He took some more minutes to wash his hands of the blood but this was when he was about to leave that Geralt noticed the red patches on his friend's clothes. He wasn't fully aware of his current state but, if all this blood was his, he betted that he was quite miserable, and he needed indeed to be patched up properly.

Jaskier went to the room, removed his bloody shirt and disappeared from his view for a minute. From the noise he could tell that his friend was searching in the cupboard. When he reappeared in the door frame, he was buttoning his pink and yellow shirt up to the lowest point of socially acceptable conventions for an open shirt.

- "Can you believe that I am going to negotiate for human kind in that ?" He said posing for him.

Jaskier was smiling but it didn't reach his eyes. Geralt knew all the irony of the situation, how important that was and how much his friend was trying his best right now.

- "You look… spectacular." He forced out of his lungs.

- "As expected." Jaskier turned to his left. "Poppy, can you stay with him and prevent him from going anywhere ? When he would feel better he would probably want to find me. Just don't let him. I will come back." She nodded but seemed a bit afraid. "Don't worry. He is as kind as you already know." He smirked. "And you, buddy, just obey. You're in no shape to wander around and to go into scrapes. Also I prefer to know that you are with my sister in case things turn bad."

- "New rule, buddy." Said Geralt, fighting the pain. "You come back. Always. Even with this eye-burning outfit."

Jaskier smiled and winked at him before leaving for good this time.

###

Geralt spent a lot of time in the shower. He was slowly feeling better. When he began to be strong enough, he washed himself some more. The salty sea water made his skin sticky. He needed to get rid of it the best he could before he would try to apply any salve to accelerate the regeneration of the tissues.

Essi was staying in the room, sitting nervously on Jaskier's bed. Geralt got on his feet, dried himself and put a towel around his waist, took two others, before he joined her.

The woman was staring at him but trying to resist speaking. He could see the curiosity and the lingering attraction underneath, in her eye.

- "I am sorry for my lack of clothing. My wounds need the fresh air to heal faster." He forced out of his still burning lungs.

- "It's ok." She blushed a little bit and looked away.

- "I need to sleep a bit. I won't be an annoyance." He added, smiling tiredly.

- "Do you need help ?" She asked standing up while he was sitting on his own bed.

- "No. I am aware that this is not a comfortable situation for you either."

He put one of his extra towels on the pillow, to absorb the water of his wet hair. Then he laid, trying to keep his waist towel and the other extra one covering his intimacy. She sat down again.

- "I am gonna drift in and out. I might have strong reactions when waking up." He warned her. "My body will push out everything that needs to be out and this is sometimes worrisome. Don't be. I will be fine." This long sentence was painful.

- "Are you sure ?"

- "Jaskier, wouldn't have left me if not."

He smiled again. And she responded the same way. She was pretty, he thought before he almost passed out from fatigue.

###

As he told Essi, Geralt drifted in and out, and every short wakeups were not smooth at the beginning. His drowning had damaged a bit his lungs and his fast healing factor was playing a number on him.

So Geralt woke up two or three times with a stabbing pain in the chest and just had the time to roll over and take the bin near his bed before vomiting some mucus. He was expectoring sheds of the dead tissues with everything that could have stayed in him. It hurt on the moment but then he breathed way more easily, until he was ok.

Essi panicked a bit at first but understood quickly she couldn't do much for him and decided to distract herself from the disturbing context, by using Jaskier's harp she found in the cupboard with his belongings.

And magic happened somehow. She was doing naturally what his friend was doing while he was recovering from potion metabolization. She sang softly. And that brought peace to him just as much.

He dreamed shortly while he was out and connected with shattered moments and songs when he woke up briefly. He made the weirdest dream that way. Essi was there with him all the time, taking the place of Yennefer in some memories. Not the intimate one, like their carnal pleasure or private conversations. Just in some day to day things. She was reading a book in Yennefer's armchair. She was cooking breakfast. She was combing her hair. She was writing a letter.

Everything was different. Softer. More colourful. It was the life that was further from his. But he could see himself doing that with Essi. Why ?

He finally woke up and discreetly looked at that woman in his room, plucking Jaskier's strings, singing like an angel and soothing the beast in him. She was the perfect combination of his two loves. A woman he was attracted to in many ways, but not in a passionate one, and the man you could touch his inner self to the deepest with voice only. Wasn't she perfect ?

The song ended.

- "This was beautiful." He said softly. Essi looked back at him and smiled.

- "Do you feel better ?"

- "Yeah, much more. Thank you."

He slowly raised himself in a sitting position. He looked at the stitches. They held well and the skin was beginning to wrap around them already. Jaskier did a good job.

- "What time is it ?"

- "Nine o'clock. You've been out for a long time."

Geralt was surprised but mostly worried.

- "Jaskier isn't back." Essi shook her head but took her phone.

- "He sent me a message a few hours ago." She searched for it and pushed the play button.

- "Hey Poppy. I am fine. You would love the Vodyanois language. It is so weird and musical in an unorthodox way. I am working with Agloval and his men to build a basic common vocabulary that we can use in and out of the water. I hope the big man is ok. Sweet kiss to both of you."

Geralt smiled. Yeah, Jaskier's capacity to hear and define languages, especially monster's ones, was spectacular. His brain was wired quite differently than most. He was perfect for this situation. But he wished he was with him right now.

- "Are you hungry ?" Asked Essi.

- "Yeah actually. I need my strength back."

- "What do you want to eat ?"

- "Anything but it has to be quite rich. I need the fat, the proteins and a lot of vitamins."

She put Jaskier's harp on the bed table and went to the door. Outside, there were her bodyguards. She asked for meals. He smiled when she commanded for him. This was a almost the cliché of the hunter.

- "Aren't they your protection ?" He asked when she closed the door.

- "I didn't know what to do in Jaskier's absence, so I asked my security men for help." She explained coming back in. "They are not supposed to do room service but they are ok with some extra tasks as long as they can assure my security. With everything rolling down an unexpected hill today, I slipped away from their surveillance and put myself in danger to help Jaskier and Agloval free the Mermaid. So this is a compromise."

- "I see."

Geralt stood up and went for his belongings. He needed to put some trousers on and begin to apply some salve on his wounds. Essi was observing him. He could feel her stare on his back. He went to the bathroom to dress a bit, just enough not to feel vulnerable. When he got out, she was still looking but she didn't hide the attraction. This was making him nervous.

- "You are as discreet as Jaskier." He joked, but he wanted to make her understand that he was not at ease.

- "I am sorry. I thought…" She seemed confused.

- "I am just not good with this kind of thing." He clarified.

- "Am I stepping in at the wrong time ? Maybe you are not…"

- "Well, technically I am free, but I am not the one who chose to free me, if I can put it that way."

- "This is too fresh. I am sorry. I don't want to…"

- "It's ok." He cut again. "This is not what you think. I am just awkward with this. I am… You are really… I… Forget it please."

He took the salve out of his bag and sat on his bed, defeated. Essi was open and she was inviting but he was a ball of nerves stumbling over his own words like a shy teenager. He had affairs with women before. He knew attraction. Why was his brain made of muss suddenly ?

She laughed discreetly.

- "You are charming, Geralt."

He smiled and then focus on the task of applying the salve.

- "What happened while I was at the Dragon Fangs ?" He asked to cut an awkward silence that was building up.

- "Jaskier called me and asked me to contact Agloval urgently while he was coming back to the city. We had to negotiate with the duke to release the Mermaid for help. The footage of the inside of the Dragon Fangs was what convinced him that he had to do something and that he had to let go of his own desires to protect his people. That little sacrifice was all Sh'eenaz needed to accept to help us. The extraction from the aquarium took a lot more time than we anticipated but we released the Mermaid to the sea. I guess the timing was clutch in the end, but she could save you and, doing so, stop the Vodyanois' attack. This was an incredible moment for me to witness."

- "A monster saving another one from a lot of more, pausing an impending war between two dominant civilizations."

- "Or simply people driven by love no matter what species they are. Inconceivable love dressing a wall against hate and giving time to consider the other perspective and communicate."

Geralt's heart twisted. She was talking about Agloval and Sh'eenaz of course, but also, Jaskier and him. Of course she could see. She smiled.

- "This is obvious to me. I have known him for so long. He never says the words but his words say it for him. And I understand why." She was tearing up a little bit. "You are magnetic, White Wolf."

###

They spent a lot of time in that room. Four days and three nights in total. Essi asks her security for some of her stuff from her hotel so she could change. They provided the food too. Geralt found it very amusing the way she distorted their initial mission. They took a room in the same hotel to stay near.

He was healing well and wanted badly to find Jaskier. But he kept his promise, obeying that new temporary rule he established. The fact that he was sending messages from time to time, giving some news, was participating in calming his anxiety. Spending his time with Essi was the second main reason.

Things were quite clear between them. She had a crush on him. He was attracted to her and this attraction grew more and more as they discovered each other more. They talked a lot. They laughed. Geralt never came to the sad part of his story. Essi never dug much of her past either. They just spoke about everything else. She was a very interesting person, with wit and humour.

They approached each other physically too. He helped her with her hair when she asked. She helped him apply the salves on his healing wounds. These little moments were electric. They were solidifying that they desired each other to the point that they wanted to try the next step.

This came naturally. A simple shared meal. A lovely conversation. Some inviting looks. An approach and a kiss.

It was soft and trembling. This was discovery and plays. He let her choose the way. She unbuttoned his shirt and invited him to do the same with her. She was wearing that red dress from the first day.

Geralt's hand slid over the fabric and slowly peeled the flower off her petals. She was beautiful and so delicate. He was afraid to touch her. He was afraid to hurt her. But she guided him to the bed, freeing him from the rest of his clothes, and he discovered a new way to experience pleasure with someone. This was soft and building up slowly. This was so different from Yennefer's fire and somehow… wrong.

###

She curled herself against him. Her skin against his was pleasant.

- "This is not working for you either." She said softly.

- "No." He replied honestly.

- "It's ok. We had to try. Nothing is lost. I guess that we would only exist in the moment before."

The phrasing was correct. He was deeply attracted to her in the anticipation of the act. The goal achieved was not bad but not fulfilling, for both of them. They were not made for each other, it seems, even though every stars were aligned. This was as simple as that, but there was something more, at least for Essi.

- "Are you falling in love with me ?" He asked.

- "I feel like my dear Dandelion." She replied, smiling sadly.

She sat up. Geralt couldn't help but admire her. She gracefully took her bra from the ground and put it back. Then she took her dress and stood up before sliding inside. She didn't need anything else. She was stunning, even slightly disheveled as she was.

- "I am sorry." He said knowing that deep down she was hurt. "I am a…"

A knock at the door cut his sentence, surprising them both. Geralt got up and put his trousers on quickly. He looked at Essi before opening. She had collected herself and had made her hair a bit.

This was Jaskier. Geralt felt a huge wave of happiness hitting him. Before the bard could react or say a thing, he was hugging him strongly. His friend hugged him back with the same intensity.

- "I am happy to see you too, buddy." They separated. "Hi there Poppy, how was the… cohabitation." The pause wasn't long but Geralt knew that Jaskier had read everything on his heart' sister's face.

- "Nice." She smiled. Jaskier looked at Geralt quizzically but asked no question. "What happened then ? We are so curious about the Vodyanois case. And what about Sh'eenaz and Agloval."

And Jaskier spoke. He talked about the hidden music and the new alliances between the land and the sea. That the Dragon Fangs were to become a sanctuary and that the Vodyanois would offer some aquamarine in exchange.

Essi decided to leave them early, for the rest of the day, and Geralt felt a bit sad.

For a long time, there was an awkward silence that led Jaskier to the shower. During this time, Geralt was just waiting, his head full of soft memories.

Jaskier returned half naked, and still quite wet, then sat quite provocatively on his bed.

- "I don't want to know what you did together. This is quite obvious." He said. "I just want to know why she was upset."

- "Us. It didn't work and I think she has more feelings for me than I have for her."

- "I see…"

- "This was a shared experience. I didn't mean to hurt her."

- "I know. I am not mad at you."

- "Hmmm."

- "Well yeah a little bit. But I am responsible for the two of you meeting and staying with each other that long. So I guess I am mad at myself, over all."

- "You know I think I have learned something important from this experience though." Geralt said.

- "And what's that ?"

- "Love is not a weakness at all."

Jaskier smiled genuinely and Geralt felt good.

###

Essi left the city two days later. Jaskier and Geralt stayed a bit longer as Agloval told them they would be rewarded for their actions. They were contacted indeed and welcomed to the duke's place by Agloval himself and a woman with a strange bluish complexion and a robe made of lace that reminded them of the surf.

- "Are you Sh'eenaz ?" Asked Jaskier astonished by her new appearance.

- "Yes I am."

- "But how… ?"

- "I took the potion Agloval made for me. This is a small sacrifice for the man I love." Geralt smiled.

Agloval gave them honorific status in the city for what they accomplished and some substantial cash prizes. Jaskier got an aquamarine gem in bonus. This was a present for his heart sister, Essi Daven that wasn't there.

###

They left the city together after some repairs for Roach and they headed to the North, to where they would have to part ways. The goodbyes were emotional, even for him.

Geralt watched Jaskier pass the gates of Oxenfurt, with his bag on his shoulder and his harp at his side. He stayed a long time there watching him moving forward, until he and his terrible pink and yellow shirt disappeared to a corner.

There would be months till the next time they could travel together. So he drove back to the wild, trying to find new missions, anything that could fill the void. This could be a nice return to the basics. But destiny had other plans for him… for them… all.

Note: I threw some stuff in for other stories to come, in this chapter. I hope Essi relation with Geralt didn't feel rushed.

I am working on the next story so it could take some times. And this will be the mountain and the dragon, just to brace yourself for what to come ^^.