#deaf!geralt

[fanficideasupforgrabs]

Imagine if the Djinn didn’t take Jaskier’s voice, didn’t do something as cruel as twist peace into violence. The Djinn is smart, after all, and it knows who holds its reigns, who has control over its every move. It does not feel anything for the brightly dressed human, but the one in black, the one who dared attempt to control the entity as glorious, as powerful as itself, has earned its ire.

And, if it is peace the man wants, it shall give it to him. Peace for the man who finds trying to fit in with his mutagens so hard, who even now struggles to communicate with the other man.

So yes, it will give him peace. Painlessly in fact, too.

After all, being deaf and mute isn’t painful, is it? The man in black should just feel fortunate that it didn’t take his other senses as well, with his poorly worded wish.

And Jaskier doesn’t know how he’s supposed to help Geralt. Even when they manage to find Yennefer, promising her the second and third wish if she can just fix this, she discovers her powers aren’t great enough to overcome those of the Djinn.

So, with few options left, the witcher and the bard start traveling the continent looking for another Djinn to counteract the actions of the first Djinn. Which is not as easy as either would like, with Jaskier budgeting as much as he can to make up for Geralt not earning money, no matter how much the witcher tries to insist he can still take contracts even if he can’t hear or yell for help, as if that’s a good idea—

And it’s…it’s hard. Geralt doesn’t want to stay in town, finds himself hiding under his cloak to avoid catching the attention of the townspeople in case there is a contract. What good is a witcher, a mutant, a monster who can’t even help those in need? What’s the point of a broken tool, except to be thrown out and—

So one day, when he wakes up at an inn to find that Jaskier is gone, Geralt doesn’t blame the bard. At least before, he could offer Jaskier protection, but now? He’s a leech eating off of the other man, a useless tag along like he’d always accused the bard of being, and it’s only fair that Jaskier try to get rid of him like—

Geralt flinches harshly at the view of Jaskier in front of him, taking in quickly the bag of supplies and pinched brow as the bard tilts his head in a silent question. And Geralt looks away, not sure how he could communicate that he thought he’d been abandoned, aware that even if he did have his voice he couldn’t have formed the words.

So Geralt closes his eyes, trying to calm his erratic heart, feeling foolish for being so scared of abandonment. He would be fine on his own, he had Roach and could maybe go to Kaer Morhen soon, as winter was approaching—

His eyes snapped open at the tapping on his shoulder, gaze drawn instantly to the ripped out page of Jaskier’s journal the man was handing to him.

He wasn’t sure if he felt more relieved or guilty at the words written there, assuring him that the bard wouldn’t leave him, that they’d keep looking for a solution no matter how long it took.

And if Geralt folded the paper and carefully tucked it into his pocket?

Well, it’s not like he could hear Jaskier tease him about having feelings right now anyways.

[thefishmongersdaughter]

Have some tooth-rotting Kid!Witcher mixed with some deaf!Geralt and ADD!Jaskier:

Geralt hated school. He hated having to ride the bus with Eskel and Lambert, who both immediately abandoned him in the front seats so that they could go and smoke in the back. He hated the way people went out of their way to avoid the "Witcher Kids", like living at the Wiltcher Foster Home was some kind of infectious disease. And he hated the way that everyone talked around him, never to him.

Sure, he couldn't hear a word they were fucking saying, but that wasn't the point. No-one even tried. No-one wrote him notes or bothered to learn ASL so that he could join in on the conversation. He just had to hover on the outside of a group, trying his best to read lips so that he'd catch snippets of the topics and opinions being discussed. Lambert was hard to read, but Eskel was a little better so Geralt tended to stick close to him; which inevitably resulted in Eskel getting pissed and telling him in exagerrated mouth-shapes to 'fuck off'.

Most of all, he hated having to go to the Special Educational Needs building for his lessons, so that a TA could sign along with the teacher and help him to engage with any audio material that might be needed. It was isolating. And it sucked.

At least, it usually sucked. But the atmosphere was different in the classroom today. There was a new kid (Geralt hadn't been given his name and it wasn't like he could hear the register), sitting across the desk and tapping restlessly at the table with his pencil. He was fairly tall for their age, same as Geralt, but had short dark hair where Geralt's was white-blonde. His cornflower blue eyes scittered from worksheet to the board, to the clock, to the window, stayed at the window...and stayed at the window, until the teacher approached and the kid snapped back to attention with an apologetic smile. Geralt couldn't help but wonder what his deal was.

Everyone in this particular class was put here for some reason or another, and Geralt hoped in a desperate and lonely kind of way that this kid was maybe deaf like him. That he might know ASL. But his hopes were dashed when the kid started speaking, his mouth moving quickly and his hands flapping distractedly in nonsensical, accidental phrases. Geralt couldn't understand, couldn't read fast enough. So he flinched and gestured to his ear, then motioned a 'no' gesture by sweeping his flat hand in a small back and for motion near his own throat. The kid stopped, watched him and then looked to the TA for confirmation. The TA said something, then remembered to sign it out so that Geralt could follow.

"Sorry, Geralt can't hear you but he can usually follow along if you speak slowly," the TA explained and Geralt nodded.

The kid pulled a worried expression and said something, and Geralt almost caught it, but had to look to the TA again for a translation.

"Ah, that's a little awkward. They put me in here because I talk too much and too fast. But I'll try my best. Oh."

Oh? Geralt frowned and looked back at the new kid, and realised that he was writing something down. He waited, making the most of this little interaction, knowing that he would likely get frustrated before long and stop talking to him. But, for now, this was nice. When the note was offered over, Geralt took it with a soft smile.

[Hi Geralt,

I'm Julian, but my nickname is Jaskier (it means Buttercup, long story). I'm sorry if I talk too fast or forget to speak clearly, just remind me and I'll do my best. I have ADD so I'm in here to make sure I don't cause disruptions and I can finish the work in a way that suits my attention span. I guess you're in here coz of the hearing impairment?

Can you teach me some signs?]

Geralt read the note over, feeling suprisingly seen and understood. Jaskier had called him 'hearing impaired' rather than 'deaf', which was a refreshing change, and he was keen to learn some ASL. Even if Jaskier lost interest by the end of the week, Geralt couldn't help but hope. He just had to be careful, he didn't want to scare Jaskier away by being over-eager.

Flipping the paper over, he wrote back:

[Hi Jaskier,

Yeah, stuck here so that the TA can translate for me without distracting the other kids. I don't mind if you talk too fast or too often, I'll try to keep up and ask if I get lost. I'll show you how to finger-spell your name, and these phrases:

* Hello

* You ok?

* Want to hang out?

If there's any words you want to know, I can show you.]

When Jaskier finished reading, Geralt took him through the different ASL phrases. He was a smart kid and he learned fast, apparently accustomed to using his hands when he talked but not knowing the right shapes to make until now. When they'd gone through the list a few times, Jaskier smiled and made a few notes in his book before repeating the ASL for 'want to hang out?'. Geralt nodded to signify that'd done it correctly, but Jaskier kept looking at him expectantly, and repeated the phrase.

Oh. He was asking to hang out. With Geralt.

Geralt nodded again, a smile brightening over his features. He signed 'yes' and was pleased to see that Jaskier was sincere, his mouth moving in a careful pace over a stream of words. Some of which Geralt caught as 'after class', 'hang out', 'cool', 'place by... by the back fence'. Wherever Jaskier wanted to hang out, Geralt would happily follow. For as long as Jaskier would tolerate him.

This was the start of something good. Geralt could tell.

"I can't wait," he signed, his words translated by the TA. Jaskier's smile bloomed after the short delay and he laughed.