Now in a perfect field of view, his eyes wandered over the lad’s form, studying the way he so chaotically entered the room, and the way he’d taken on his first words so confidently particularly piqued his interest. And on top of it all, that grin of his was utterly contagious.
Geralt now sat up with intention, but not in a rushed manner, he still kept his book in hand, but his legs bent appropriately for balance with the way he sat.
“Jaskier…” he mused, “-at least you don’t seem the type to make bad trouble.” he drawled out, perhaps a little flirtatiously.
“I’m Geralt,” he gestured with his free hand, his eyes never leaving Jaskier for a single moment as he watched on. Geralt found it somewhat endearing that Jaskier seemed to postpone his unpacking to talk to him, even if it would be for a minute or so. Even more so, his chest felt warm by the fact that at their first interaction it was as if they’d known each other for years.
“So-” Geralt started, shuffling on the spot, “what brings you to the hellscape that is college?”
Jaskier felt pinned by the other’s intense gaze. It made his pulse jump in his throat, but his expression remained bright and open. Gods, he was going to make a mess of this, wasn’t he?
“The allure of learning, of course!” he declared in response, exaggeratedly laying his hand on his chest. He quickly dropped the act with a huff, his posture relaxing slightly for the first time since he entered the room. Yes, he did actually quite enjoy academia, but that wasn’t all. “That, and as long as I’m in school I don’t have to have the Big Fight with my parents about what it is I’m going to do with my life. I haven’t yet decided what that is, but it sure as hell isn’t real estate,” he spat out, glaring at a blank space of wall to Geralt’s right as he remembered the arguments they’d had just to allow Jaskier to have a second major of his own choosing. It wasn’t exactly his first choice; it was going to be a metric fuckton of work, but he was going to get that music degree if it killed him. He’d rather die than go into the family business, anyways. Shouldn’t have hedged all your bets on one kid.
Shaking himself out of it, he let the smile return as he leaned back on his hands. “What about you? Why college if it’s such a hellscape?” he teased, no heat behind his words. Jaskier was sure it would be hell if he hadn’t managed to swing his parents on the music major. A solo business major? Yeah, he’ll pass. He’d managed to game their system this far, though, and he was going to keep doing that as long as he could, or until he had the resources to make his escape, whichever came first.