The Witcher moral conundrums discussed with the Trolley Problem
Everyone loves the Trolley Problem, so this here is Emhyr's situation: not even the biblical atrocity of "kill your child because you think a supernatural thing said so" but "only" kinda "torture your child and yourself or the whole world dies". Who would not consider it. I'd say most people would DO it.
Well, Emhyr didn't. He couldn't. He said "well then we'll all die I guess", and left.
And this is Blaviken.
And Geralt indeed did what we all see as the actual solution to the trolley problem: stop the fucking trolley.
He didn't kill Renfri because she was "born evil" (which was bullshit) but because he had to stop her from going to kill off village kids one by one. Just because using Geralt as a weapon and Blaviken as pressure sounded better to her than waiting a bit longer to get to Stregobor another way.
We all get emotional about that scene in which Jaskier asks Geralt to go to the coast with him. Like everyone else, my heart aches when Geralt rejects Jaskier without a word, because Jaskier just bared his heart to him!
But I just looked at the map for probably the first time and found another place that's at the coast and -
Oh.
Oh no.
Idk but now Geralt's rejection makes more sense and is also so much more heartbreaking. Just,, the potential for miscommunication in that scene!
Jaskier is asking Geralt to get away from everything. To go to a place where they don't have to deal with destiny and loss and it can be just the two of them. (maybe he even means Oxenfurt, so basically his home where he was safe and happy?)
But maybe what Geralt hears is a reminder of the place where it all started. The place where he became the Butcher. The place of his biggest failure, where he lost someone he could have loved
I haven’t been able to stop thinking about this little series I made almost a year ago. Jaskier asking for permission to touch Geralt just... melts me. I don’t know. And I wanted to give Geralt the same opportunity.
Thank you darling @kuripon for being my beta, as always, you are wonderful and I love you! <3
Is a part of a series but can be read as a stand alone. Please enjoy <3
part one: Taste of apples part two: Touch of home
On Ao3
Hushed voices whisper around them in anticipation. The sun hangs high in the sky, a warm breeze gently playing with the ribbons hanging around the marketplace.
It is a special day. Today the village comes together to celebrate the birth of a nearby lord's firstborn. Jugglers, bards, storytellers and acrobats mingle around the crowd, waiting for their turn on the stage. Jaskier is about to go up, and Geralt stands by his side, feeling rather useless.
“Seriously Geralt, go stand in the crowd. It’s gonna be fine,” Jaskier tells him with a half smirk. Geralt refuses to meet his eyes and shoves at the gravel on the ground with the tip of his shoe.
“They are not going to throw things at us, I promise.”
“That’s not it,” Geralt mutters, but he doesn’t want to explain himself further. The feeling of unease doesn’t let him go, and he finds it hard to leave Jaskier's side.
Jaskier must read it on him, so he steadies his lute with his left hand and reaches out to Geralt with the other. His hand is warm and soft against Geralt's, his fingers slipping over his palm and then lacing their fingers together.
Geralt's heart lightens and tightens at the same time. It is a strange feeling. He gets a little squeeze before Jaskier lets him go.
“Go stand at the back of the crowd. Nobody will care anymore. Blaviken has come a long way since you were here last.”
So Jaskier noticed.
It really seems to have changed, but Geralt still feels like he sticks out like a sore thumb. And he is a bit worried that he might drag Jaskier into it, just by having him close. He sighs, but does as he is told as Jaskier is called upon stage.
Usually towns aren’t that bad. At least not for short periods of time. Yes, he is eye-catching with his yellow eyes and tall form, but it is easy to get lost in the crowd. In a town, you can be invisible, even if it’s just for a little while. He had never expected this to be true in Blaviken.
Geralt is a good head taller than most of the men present, but they pay him very little mind. Their eyes, like his, are locked on the stage.
Jaskier dominates the stage. He doesn’t need accompaniment, doesn’t need any backup. Up there, he shines. Geralt has seen him perform many times, and he never tires of it. The bard is already so full of himself, so Geralt only voices it on special occasions, but still. The truth is, Jaskier fills every space he enters brightly and effortlessly. His every move and word evokes feelings, both good and bad depending on who you ask.
And Geralt can’t get enough.
Having had a taste of it, a taste of what Jaskier promises in his songs, it does something to him. Something he can’t put his finger on, but wants more of. That single squeeze of his hands pushed the unease away, if just for a little while.
Geralt watches Jaskier move about, winking as his long fingers pluck at the strings and shape the sound. He realizes he is fixated on Jaskier's hands, and that he can feel the ghost of it against his palm.
He flexes his hand to shake it off, and when he looks up again, Jaskier is watching him. Geralt's breath catches in his throat, and he is suddenly glad to have some space between them.
When the last song is sung, Jaskier bows deeply and accepts the generous applause and cheers from the crowd. Geralt gets lost in thought, lost in the ghost sensations of Jaskier's hand around his, and next thing he knows, Jaskier is standing right in front of him.
“There,” he says, smiling brightly. He is just a little sweaty, his hair sticking to his forehead. “Shall we take a stroll? I am pretty sure I saw plum pastries somewhere, and I haven’t had them since I was a child.”
Geralt files that information away, and nods. They visit two stalls right next to the town square where the stage is set up, the crowd not letting up in the least. Geralt can’t stop thinking about Jaskier's hand in his.
Maybe he should just ask. Jaskier asks for things all the time.
He could.
“Jaskier?”
Jaskier stands bent over a table lined with rings and trinkets, scratching his chin with one hand and the other perched on his hip.
“Mhm?”
The stall owner gives Geralt a long look, and maybe now is not the time. Geralt turns away before any comments can be made, deciding that maybe this was a bad idea after all.
“What’s wrong, my dear friend?” Jaskier asks, standing up and walking over to bump his shoulder against Geralt's. Somehow, Geralt is grateful that Jaskier isn’t using his name.
Unease pushes its way into his chest again and makes him tense up.
He just wants it to go away.
“Can I ask you something?” Geralt manages, and Jaskier smirks.
“Isn't it usually me asking that?” he says, and oh. Yeah, maybe he does. “And always.”
Geralt takes a deep breath, steeling himself.
“May I hold your hand?” he asks.
Jaskier doesn’t ask any questions, doesn’t tease. He just slips his hand into Geralt's.
He looks up at Geralt, his eyes seeing so much more than Geralt thought he showed. His arm is a warm, comforting presence against his side, his fingers a little damp and hot, but it fights that unease, it pushes it away and replaces it with something else.
They start walking again, slowly. Jaskier sticks close, and Geralt fights the urge to lace their fingers together. But why should he fight it?
He readjusts the grip, Jaskier looking up at him when he lets go for a moment. When his fingers intertwine with Jaskier's, he feels like his heart is beating out of his chest.
Jaskier just smiles and squeezes his hand tighter. They find the stall with the plum pastries, and Jaskier's laugh when Geralt gets a bit of cream on his nose is the dorkiest, most wonderful sound Geralt has ever heard.
Maybe he can ask... for more…
They end up at the outskirts of town, where the decorations are fewer and the shadows longer from the setting sun.
“Can I ask you something else?” Geralt ventures, coming to a halt between two houses. The street is empty and quiet, most people still in the town center, enjoying the entertainment.
“Yes.” Jaskier smiles, still standing just as close as when they were in the crowd.
“May I kiss you?”
Jaskier's eyes widen, and he sucks in a breath as color climbs his cheeks.
“Yes, please,” he breathes, leaning forward.
Geralt tightens his grip around their fingers and tucks his other hand under Jaskier's chin, tilting it upwards.
The kiss is tender, much like the first time, and it doesn’t take much for them to fall deeper. Geralt's hand cradles Jaskier's cheeks, and Jaskier brings up his own hand to hold it. There are words at the tip of his tongue.
They haven’t talked about it, but the feeling that replaces the unease is big. Important. Heavy. When they part, Geralt wonders if Jaskier can read it in his eyes, like he read almost everything else today.
“Thank you,” he murmurs, and Jaskier smiles again.
“Anytime,” he whispers back, pulling at Geralt's hand so that it rests over Jaskier's heart. “Anytime.”
So was anyone going to tell me that Geralt keeps Renfri’s brooch on the hilt of his sword as a reminder of Blaviken, or was I supposed to find out from an interview with Henry Cavill myself. (Y’all, I’m super oblivious.)
