[Closed] We don't need a holiday, it's time to celebrate

[rollstoseduce]

Who: The bard, the witcher and the bird
Where: All over Sevii, starting at Resort Gorgeous
When: Starting on Feb 16th, all February, likely March as well?
Summary: A little menace bird child joins two dumbasses in their exploring of the islands and avoidance of winter.
Rating: KIRI IS FOUR YOU TELL ME (expect swearing and stabbing practice tho)

[As far as Jaskier's concerned, this year has been fantastic so far. He's in a utopic new world, and thanks to his best friend being here as well, he's found a new home - never going back if possible. He's made up with said best friend, and they've become closer, he'd like to think, with all the cuddling and their confessions. His fame isn't as big as it was in his world yet, but he's getting there, and the fact he's already living off his music so soon is incredible. He won that contest as well! Ego boost to the max!

Oh, and the prize! What a wonderful prize! The week they've spent in the resort has been amazing. Nothing but the shore, cold drinks, people in swimsuits (including Geralt) and a fun Valentine's game that has rubbed Jaskier's ego even more and given him another sweet moment with his crush. What else can a bard ask for?

They check out of the resort on the morning of the 16th, and Jaskier would be sad they have to leave if it wasn't for all the beautiful beaches they're visiting soon and the fact someone is joining them today: Kiri, his dear protegee. The girl is bloody brilliant, and Jaskier loves teaching her things. She also feels like having a little sister around again, which after what happened with his family is a big fucking deal.

As soon as the bird she's flying on appears in the sky, Jaskier raises his arm to wave at her and call out her name. Kiri can notice Jaskier has adapted his fashion to the island climate: his new look consists of shorts, a red shirt and a t-shirt that says "I'm a Luxury Ball you can't afford". Sunglasses hang on the collar of said t-shirt and a fashionable hat rests on top of his head. His skin looks darker, too, thanks to all the sunbathing he's done.

They wait for her at the resort entrance, and as soon as she lands, Jaskier crouches and offers an open hand to receive her.]

My little lady! It's so wonderful to see you. Welcome to the coast! Is this your first time seeing the sea?

Comments

First week of August

[rollstoseduce]

[This isn't the first time Geralt and Jaskier have been to Saffron, but their previous visit had been quick since it was on their way to Sevii and all. Jaskier is happy to be here again, with Kiri this time. It's such a huge city, with so much to offer!

...like adopting mutant dogs, apparently. Oh dear.

Jaskier hadn't planned on adding more Pokémon to his roster, but after seeing Geralt's -very understandable- reaction, his protect-the-himbo instincts kick in and he asks for a form to fill himself. The more he reads the less this is just for Geralt, the information is chilling (to say the least) and he wants to help as well.

Filling the form takes him seconds, paperwork being second nature to him after years in Oxenfurt University. So after he's done with his own, he makes sure to check his companions' - neither of them has the best handwriting in the world, let's be honest, or know how to use big, convincing words. They're incredibly smart people (or witcher and bird) and Jaskier trusts them with his life, but he also wants them to look good on paper.

He doesn't get to check Geralt's. His brain stops working as soon as he notices the words Kiri used on her form.

traveling with dad and dad

dad and dad

dad

The world around him disappears for a moment as panic kicks in. This can't be happening, can it? How did he get here? What does it imply? Does Kiri truly consider them her... her... He can't bring himself to say it, even in his mind. But as soon as the receptionist takes their forms and tells them to wait, Jaskier mumbles a-]

Berightback.

[-before rushing outside, breathing heavily. If Geralt and Kiri decide to follow him, they'll find him pacing in front of the Silph Co building, constantly bumping against people and not even apologizing for it. He's that distracted and distressed.]

[lovelybottom]

[Something spooks Jaskier. It doesn't seem like anything should be amiss-- he's merely helping Kiri with her paperwork to adopt one of Silph's fabricated creatures, and Geralt hasn't seen any question on it that's particularly disturbing. But the look on his face before he bolts for the door is definitely panic. Geralt's seen it on the bard's face enough-- usually when he's staring some nasty thing that the witcher's supposed to deal with right in the teeth-- to recognize it even at just a glimpse.]

[He tells Kiri to keep filling out her forms and then stands to follow after the bard. Something's the matter and he will, apparently, have to figure out what it is.]

[What could have possibly distressed him so much in the past minute?]

Jaskier.

[He keeps bumping into people as though they aren't there at all-- highly unusual behavior. Geralt reaches out and grabs him by the wrist, using it to pull him out of the flow of foot traffic. If you're going to panic, bard, at least do it where you aren't a well-dressed speed bump.]

Jaskier. What is it?

[When does Jaskier ever pass up an excuse to talk?]

[rollstoseduce]

[He squeals when Geralt suddenly grabs him and he's ready to protest, maybe even push the person away... but then he realizes it's not a stranger, it's his beloved, the one he feels safe around. So he clings to Geralt as if his life depended on it, hands tight on Geralt's arms and blue eyes begging for this dream to end. Because that's what this is, right? It has to be a dream. It can't be real.]

DAD! [He suddenly cries out in the same wait he could be alerting Geralt that there's a striga nearby. He's nervous and scared in a way not even Yennefer got out of him.] Kiri, she-- on the paper she wrote-- dad and dad! Me! You! Us! I'm not-- I cannot be--

[He shakes his head, trying to chase away all the thoughts that try to haunt him when the word father appears in his mind, but he can't. It's too much, too overwhelming. A pseudo-uncle he can do, but a father? Wouldn't that change his life completely? How many responsibilities does he have under his belt now? How many has he been failing at already by letting Kiri run loose as she's been doing all this time?

And what kind of father would he even be when his model was-- ugh. He shivers when thinking about him.]

...I can't do that to her.

[It's almost a whisper, and he sounds terrified.]

[lovelybottom]

[Jaskier clutches onto him like a lifeline, and yells one syllable at him in the kind of distressed tone that he usually saves for life-threatening situations.]

[Dad.]

[Right. Okay. That's also probably a reason for his voice to jump a few octaves.]

Hm.

[Geralt also isn't exactly the role model for World's Best Father, nor did he ever have particularly shining examples of fatherhood when he was young. He's a witcher. Boys that come under the care of witchers either leave it as witchers or as a corpse. He has no business being a father to anyone, and certainly not to an innocent child, thrust upon him by the whims of destiny. And with Kiri--]

[Well. To take a truly honest stock of the situation, they've essentially spent the better part of a year being guardians to her. They've kept her safe, fed her, clothed her, treated her kindly. Jaskier has doted on her as an uncle might to a favorite niece, or perhaps as a father might to a favorite child. Geralt has taught her to use her little knife (and far kinder and gentler than he was ever taught to use a blade), and carried her when she was tired, and indulged her whims.]

...Fuck.

[copykiri]

[Jaskier leaves, looking upset, and Kiri doesn't follow right away. It's bad that these people make so the Pokemon can't fight. Of course they need to help them and that's what must be upsetting him. Then Geralt follows, and Kiri makes sure the papers are in order, tells the secretary 'be right back' in Jaskier's voice and starts to follow. She hears Jaskier's voice and he's upset!

And Geralt is holding Jaskier and they both look upset. And the fuck. Something is very, very wrong!!! She runs up to them, worry on her face and tries to hug both of them at once, probably around the knees.]

Dad! Dad!

[It's... not a mimicry. No kind of imitation. In her worry, Kiri's real, natural voice (at least as a human girl) comes out of her throat, because she's too upset by the possibilities chasing themselves around her head to focus on another voice to mimic. So just the voice of a worried little girl calling out to her parental figures.]

[rollstoseduce]

[Geralt may not be as dramatic as Jaskier, but the bard knows how to read him like a book, knows how to decipher the emotion behind such a simple grunt and that little f-word. In short: Geralt feels the same way about this as Jaskier does, which is honestly comforting in a way. Makes him feel less of an asshole.

...that is, until Kiri comes out and says The Word™ with her own bloody voice. While hugging them. Bollocks. Jaskier's heart aches, and he can't help sharing a look with his witcher.]

...fuck indeed, my dear.

[He sighs as he buries his fingers on Kiri's hair, petting her kindly. This still feels all sorts of terrifying, but having her here with them, trusting them with her safety as she's been doing for the last few months, makes it feel a little less wrong. As if it could be an actual thing he could accept in his life.

He is still unsure, though. He isn't dad-material. And, most importantly, he's never wanted kids. Not because he dislikes children, but because of what would mean. Yet... haven't they "had" Kiri since February? What does "having a kid" mean for their life in this realm?

After the disaster with Claude, Jaskier promised Geralt he would be more careful with his communication. This is the kind of situation that should have him talking in detail about what he's feeling - but that's the kind of thing you do with other adults. Saying aloud what he's thinking would break this little girl's heart.

So trying to thread lightly, he chooses a more neutral question, so to speak, to get them started.]

Kiri, my little lady... should you be calling us that? What about your family at home?

[copykiri]

[Kiri wraps her arms around herself and steps back. Her mimicry is cracked and her natural voice seeps out at several points.]

Mama and Dad... left me-- in the swamp. Jester sent message. No answer; they died. Probably.

Mighty Nein left me.

Jaskier stays! Geralt stays!

[And then she hugs them again.]

[lovelybottom]

[Those little arms go around his knee again, Kiri hugging onto Jaskier and then him like a lifeline. It makes... feelings happen in his chest. He doesn't know what those feelings are, exactly, but they're aching and soft and probably not something that witchers are supposed to have.]

[And yet... here they are.]

[Geralt reaches down and lifts her, holding her on his hip as he had many times before-- when she was tired, or wanted to see something that was too tall for her, or simply because she had demanded it. And it's the easiest way to return her little desperate embrace without having to kneel down to do it.]

We aren't going to leave you.

[That's a true enough statement. Even with the... issues around the word father, it's not as though he or Jaskier would just leave Kiri alone somewhere, to completely fend for herself. She's an independent sort of girl, but he couldn't just drop her off somewhere and turn away.]

[rollstoseduce]

[Kiri steps back and Jaskier winces, already knowing he's fucked up. That thought gets confirmed when her natural voice seeps out again to drop some very depressing news - she had told him some of her story in the past, but he never heard about this little detail. Fuck.

He still feels he can't do this, that she deserves better... her hug, her faith in them is both flattering and nerve-breaking. He's being handled something fragile - it fills him with pride and affection, but also fear of breaking it.

There's one thing he and Geralt agree on, though: no matter how this makes them feel, they aren't going to leave her. She's part of their life now. And if when the witcher picks her up and holds her on hip something in Jaskier's chest flutters, well... who is he to deny such warm feelings, regardless of how complex and intimidating they are?

It feels nice. It feels... well, not completely right, but not as wrong as he would've expected it to feel.

Wait. Maybe they can do this? Huh.]

It's true. You have us. [He says as he comes closer to kiss her temple and pet her head some more, since Geralt has the hug covered. He considers adding more, but a promise doesn't sit right with him considering the nature of this realm and its bad habit of sending people home without asking. Rude.] You can count on us, my little lady. We like having you around, teaching you and spoiling you rotten. I just ask you to be patient with us. That word you used for us... we aren't exactly... [He gulps.] Father material. It's hard for us to come to terms with it.

[What is "having a good dad"??? Do you eat it?]

[copykiri]

Good eggs.

[Kiri reaches out and pats both of their faces.] Good... dads.

[That last is in her own voice, this time intentionally. So is the next, as stuttered and hesitating as it is.] Try and learn. Get better. Most important part.