#purring headcanon

[omegaverse-seeker]

Headcanon: some omegas involuntarily purr when they're in pain as the body tries to "soothe" it

That's so cute, omg.

[fandom-junk-drawer]

The Witcher Headcanon - Purring

Jaskier's fist few years traveling with Geralt were full of suprises. He learned that so much of what everyone said about Witchers was wrong.

Witchers were supposed to be monsters that were to be feared. Cold-hearted, emotionless, Witchers only cared about coin and had no friends. They supposedly ate raw meat. And small children.

After learning so much about Witchers, and who they truly were, Jaskier worked to change how society viewed them. People slowly started to warm up to Witchers afterwards. Witchers weren't as scary anymore, h*ll they were practically human!

Even after Jaskier thought he'd learned every thing there was to learn about Witchers, Geralt continued to surprise him.

Jaskier found out something about Witchers that no human knew about.

They purred.

The first time Jaskier heard it, they had been at an Inn. Geralt had been boiling himself in the bath after a long hunt, and he'd been so relaxed. He'd started purring quietly. It had only been for a few seconds before he caught himslef, but Jaskier had already noticed.

Geralt had steeled himself for the teasing laughter that was sure to come, but Jaskier had done no such thing.

Is that A Witcher Thing, or is it A Geralt Thing?

The question had caught him off guard. There was no hint of teasing or ridicule in Jaskier's voice, just genuine curiosity.

Geralt had sighed and reluctantly admitted that it was A Witcher Thing. And that Jaskier had better not ever write a song about it, on pain of death.

Jaskier had very sincerely assured him that he would never do such a thing. And just to make certain that Geralt knew he was serious, he performed the most ancient, most absolute and unbreakable ritual of deal-making: he Pinky Swore.

After that, Jaskier began to pay more attention to the sounds Geralt made, and he began to notice the purring. He felt more than touched that Geralt seemed to be relaxing around him more, getting comfortable enough with him to the point where he stopped trying to hide his purring. He got to the point where he felt safe enough around the bard that he wasn't afraid to show him that vulnerablitly.

Geralt's Happy purr was soft and steady, a gentle, quiet percolating hum. It usually occurred when Geralt was relaxed. Jaskier found out he could initiate a Happy purr by scratching Geralt's cheeks or chin. Of course Jaskier was always careful to never do it where anyone else could see. Mostly because Geralt had been p*ssed the first time he'd done it, and threatened to beat his a** if he ever did it in public.

Jaskier discovered that Geralt didn't just purr when he was happy or content, and that the purrs were different, depending on the situation.

He noticed that Geralt would purr as a way to soothe himself, like when he was in a social setting and he started getting uncomfortable.

The Distressed purr was deep and rolling. Before Jaskier had known it was a purr, he, like other humans, had just assumed Geralt was growling in annoyance. Geralt could usually suppress the urge to anxious purr until he got back to camp, or an Inn, where he could purr until he felt better.

Geralt also purred when he was injured, or ill. Many times Geralt had returned from a hunt wounded or with toxicity, purring after Jaskier had done what he could for his wounds or given him the appropriate potions.

The Hurt/Sick purr was louder than his other purrs, and had a frantic, thrumming quality to it, as if here were desperately trying to soothe himself, or distract himself from the pain. Jaskier learned to judge how much pain Geralt was in (or how poorly he felt) from how loud the purr was. He used the volume of the purr to monitor his pain level as he recovered. Jaskier knew when he was starting to feel better when that thrumming purr got less loud.

Jaskier noticed that Geralt had a variation of the Hurt/Sick purr. It was a queiter, steadier purr. It was a purr that Jaskier realized Geralt only used on him. If Jaskier was injured or sick, Geralt would cuddle up to him and use that specific purr.

There was something about the particular vibration and sound that just relaxed Jaskier and made him feel better. He noticed that he seemed to recover faster than he usually did. For that reason, he called it the Healing purr. He often wondered if Geralt's Hurt/Sick purr was a Healing purr tuned to a Witcher's body.

It was an interesting theory that he would jot down many notes and observations about. He eventually became an expert of sorts, on Geralt's purrs. He could determine Geralt's levels of happiness, contentment, distress, etc. as easily as he could interpret his grunts and 'hmm's.

And it annoyed the f**k out of Geralt. But that was okay. If he got too annoyed, all Jaskier had to do was break out the chin and cheek skritches.

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The Witcher Headcanon - Purring Bonus Scene - Part 2

Jaskier grew used to hearing Geralt purr. He purred when they were sitting by the campfire after a good meal. He purred when he had a quiet moment to sit in the sun. He purred when Jaskier was able to convince him to let him rub his back. He purred when he was able to soak in a hot bath after a hunt. And he purred as he lay in bed or on his bedroll, listening to Jaskier quietly work on one of his songs.

He purred when he was happy, so it confused Jaskier when the bard heard him make a sudden, short purr while they were in a crowded market. There were people everywhere, talking, laughing, haggling, and singing. Jaskier was loving all the activity and bustle. There was so much to see, and so many people to talk to.

Geralt started to get uncomfortable. There were too many f***ing people. They were too f***ing close. There was too much f***ing noise. There was just too much going on. He wanted to leave. Now. But they also needed supplies.

A man jostled him by accident, bumped by another market goer, and Geralt made a noise...

Jaskier looked at Geralt when he heard him purr suddenly. The Witcher was glaring at a man who was very quickly stammering appologies and trying to disappear into the crowd.

What the h*ll...?

That purr hadn't sounded like his regular purr. It was deep and rolling. And if Jaskier hadn't had such a good ear for sounds, he would have thought Geralt was growling or 'Hmm' ing threateningly.

Geralt had growled at people before. It was very useful as a warning to stay away, to scare most common folk away, and to express annoyance.

Jaskier had been on the receiving end of a growl several times when his chatter got on Geralt's nerves.

Geralt had been growling at people all morning. They had been bumped and jostled several times already, and Jaskier figured that Geralt was starting to reach the end of his patience.

But that purr concerned him.

He noticed the way Geralt shifted restlessly, pupils dilating slightly as he met his eye, throat working to hold back another purr. Something was wrong. Geralt never purred in public.

Jaskier switched to using Handspeak. He held one hand out, palm up, and shook it horizontally, then curled his fingers into a fist, leaving his thumb and pinky extended, then tapped the sign against his chin.

(What's wrong?)

(I want to leave.) *weird purr with visible effort to cut it off*

(Trouble?)

Geralt's movements were stiff, (No, I just...) *more weird purring* (Let's just go-!)

A man stumbled and bumped into him just then, and Jaskier saw Geralt barely keep himself under control. Geralt ugly growled but managed to keep his arms at his sides when he really wanted to shove the man across the square.

"My apologies, Master Witcher!" The man stammered, clutching his cap and backing away as Geralt gave him a severe scowl. Other people were now giving them wide berth and eyeballing them nervously.

Geralt huffed and twitched his head, signalling for the man to go. The man backed away, bobbing his head in a storm of frantic apologetic bowing that made him look like a nervous pigeon.

Jaskier lightly touched Geralt's arm, feeling him bristle, then relax. He was now looking at every movement, turning at every sound, constantly scenting the air. It clicked: Geralt was overstimmulated. It was time to go.

(Let's go back to the inn.)

*suppressed weird purr and a curt nod*

They had hurried back to the inn, Jaskier leading Geralt through the less crowded parts of the market. Geralt had gone up to their room, closed the curtains and curled up on the bed. He pulled the blanket over himself, then started purring. Geralt closed his eyes and focused on the rythmic sound of it, of the steady vibration, and let it slowly chase away the tightness in his chest.

The sound of Geralt's purring was kind of relaxing. Jaskier found it interesting that this Distressed Purr sounded different than Geralt's Happy Purr. It gave his brain an odd sensation. If he closed his eyes, the sound almost made him feel like he was rocking or swaying.

He realized that this deep, rolling purr was Geralt's way of self-soothing. He wondered if it was the equivalent of an extremely distressed human rocking themselves. The thought bothered him. How many times had Geralt done this in his years on the Path alone? How many times had laid in his bedroll, or in a bed at an inn, alone and Distress purring?

Jaskier sat on the edge of the bed, then hesitantly started rubbing Geralt's shoulder. When Geralt didn't pull away or growl at him, he slowly laid down and cuddled up against his back.

Jaskier heard the purr get a little quieter after a few minutes.

After about an hour Geralt's purr dropped off and he got up to putter around the room. He was looking a little bit better. Less like he was five seconds away from biting someone.

Jaskier let him stay in the room while he returned to the market for the rest of their supplies. Niether one of them ever mentioned the incident.

From then on, Jaskier did his best to keep an eye on Geralt when they went anywhere with crowds. He was good at reading people, and he started paying more attention to Geralt's subtle signs of discomfort. When he noticed the Witcher start getting restless, Jaskier would do whatever he needed to do to give his friend some breathing room.

Or just flat out help him get the f**k out of where ever they were so Geralt could find a quiet place to Distress purr until he felt better. Eventually, Jaskier became very good at helping Geralt completely avoid those situations without him even realizing what was happening.

And Geralt didn't just purr like that when he was overstimmulated. Jaskier heard him purr like that several times when the people of a town had been less than friendly towards him. Oh, he tried to pretend that it didn't bother him, but his purr said otherwise.

Jaskier usually gave him his space, and busied himself on the other side of camp, pretending he couldn't hear him. If Geralt started looking too gloomy, the bard would casually wander over and hand him a mug of tea. Jaskier would then wordlessly drape a blanket around Geralt's shoulders.

He reasoned that since Witchers had several cat-like qualities, that surely they would like to be warm like cats did. He would then sit close beside Geralt, because cats liked to cuddle. It worked most of the time. Geralt would get all warm from the tea, and he would relax. His purr would change from Distressed to Happy as he would start to doze off, leaning on Jaskier...

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The Witcher Headcanon - Purring Bonus Scene - Part 4

Jaskier thought he knew all of Geralt's purrs. He purred when he was happy, when he was anxious, and when he was hurt or sick. And Jaskier had learned that each one had its own unique sound. Now he could read Geralt's moods by his purrs as easily as he could by his 'Hmm's.

It kind of irritated Geralt because he couldn't hide much from him now. Jaskier had always been very talented at reading people, and had very quickly learned to read all Geralt's subtle expressions, grunts, and body language. Geralt sometimes wondered if the bard didn't have some Fae blood in his family line because it sure seemed as if he could read his f***ing mind sometimes.

Geralt was just waiting for the day that Jaskier would predict, probably down to the minute, when Geralt would have to take a sh*t. And he would probably do it in the middle of one of his sets. In a crowded tavern. Or at a banquet.

Yeah, it would be at a banquet. And he would stop right in the middle of his song and yell in full bardic voice, "You might want to go find the privy, Geralt! I can tell by the way your left eyebrow just twitched that you are going to need to take a truly massive sh*t. You better squeeze those cheeks together and get moving. You've got maybe five minutes before that Food Baby gets born!"

And then Yennefer, from where ever she would be lurking in the hall, would add "And don't forget to wipe your a**!"

If that day ever came, Geralt would be the first Witcher in history to die of embarrassment.

Geralt's sardonic thoughts were interrupted by Jaskier's coughing. The bard had picked up a cold in the last town. It didn't sound like it was anything serious, but they were still going to stop in Vengerberg to let him rest before they continued on to Kaer Morhen. Hunting had been bad this year, so Geralt decided there was no reason why he couldn't go home early.

The bard was sitting by the campfire where he had been restringing his lute and was now trying to tune it. Geralt saw him slowly flex the fingers of one hand, and noticed the slight tremor in the digits. He watched him then squeeze the opposite forearm.

Geralt frowned to himself as Jaskier surreptitiously shook his arms and hands out, and forced them back to attending to his lute. He smelled like sickness, and...pain.

Jaskier had broken both his forearms two winters ago at Kaer Morhen, and Geralt knew what this Autumn chill was doing to the old injuries. He rose, rubbing at his own knee for a moment before hobbling over to the fire.

Jaskier blinked in surprise as his lute was lifted away. A hot stone wrapped in rags was placed in his hands, and he was then pulled face first against a warm chest that was vibrating with a rumbly purr.

Jaskier was going to protest, but the heat from the stone was chasing the ache from his forearms, and he suddenly realized that he was a little bit cold. And pretty tired. And his body ached. They had been traveling most of the morning. Oooh, that purring was...niiiice. The vibration felt good in his hands and arms... Wait, was that Geralt's Hurt purr? No, no, this one was different. It was quieter, steadier...

Geralt didn't know how the purr happened. He'd been trying to Hurt purr, because that was what always helped him when he was in pain, but somehow, it came out different. He felt the second when it hit a rhythm and frequency that...felt right. This was how he needed to purr to make Jaskier feel better.

Geralt purred until he heard Jaskier's heartbeat find a steady rhythm that told him the pain was gone, or at least diminished to where it was tolerable.

"Let's get to Vengerberg so you can rest."

They rode the rest of the day until they reached Vengerberg, and they went straight to Yennefer's house. The mage was waiting, looking as usual, as if their presence were an inconvenience. It wavered for a split second as she watched a pale, tired-looking Jaskier slither down from the saddle.

She grumbled as she led them inside and showed them to their rooms.

"Ugh! Now I have to look at you for the next few days!" Yennefer commented as she strode into Jaskier's room a few minutes later with Geralt at her heels.

"Look on the bright side. It's a nice change from looking at the ugly you see in the mirror every day!" Jaskier replied in a half-hearted, nasally grumble from where he was sitting on the edge of the bed, his head in his hands. Yennefer could hear him wheezing slightly with each exhale.

"Ha! Like you look any better right now!" Yennefer quipped as Jaskier started coughing. She made a face as he gagged up a blob of phlegm and leaned over the edge of the bed.

"Don't you dare spit that on my floor, you uncouth savage!"

Jaskier glared at her, then spat the greenish gob into his hand and wiped it on his shirt.

"That's disgust-! You're disgusting!" She snapped. Her tone was sharp, but Geralt saw that her hands were gentle as she pressed them to Jaskier's cheeks, and then the sides of his neck, before slipping her hand down the back of his shirt.

Yennefer ignored Geralt's knowing 'Hm'. She could feel a little bit of fever in the bard's skin and she could tell by the way he kept wincing that his head hurt. At least his breathing wasn't too bad.

"Yeah? Well...your mother." Jaskier mumbled in one last attempt to keep up the Mortal Enemies act as the witch ran a hand tenderly through his hair.

Yennefer saw him cringe.

"Sorry, Yen... I'm not exactly at my best right now."That had definitely not been one of his wittiest comebacks.

Yennefer leaned in and placed a soft kiss to his temple.

"It's alright, dear heart," She said sympathetically as she slipped under his other arm as Geralt helped him up. "Let's get you into the bath and then put you to bed."

Jaskier heaved a wheezy sigh. He was too tired and light-headed to reply, so he let them slowly lead him to the washroom, where a tub of steaming hot water and a roaring fire waited.

Jaskier drank the potion Yennefer handed him after he'd finished with his bath, then curled up in the bed, tucked up against his personal heater, smelling of the herbs Yennefer had dumped into the bath water to help his breathing. He lay there, listening to the rumble of Geralt's purr.

The vibration of it felt nice. It helped take his attention away from the discomfort in his arms. Or was it easing the pain? Is this why Geralt would purr when he was hurt? Is this what it felt like to him? Was it like a painkiller? Was this some kind of, of Healing purr?

Jaskier wanted to ponder that line of thought more, but the rhythmic sound and vibration of Geralt's purring was making it hard to think of much of anything. The thoughts came sluggishly, then flitted away leaving his mind pleasantly empty. There was just the purring and the warmth.

He shifted, summoning the energy to roll over and clumsily resituate himself. He put his arm over Geralt's stomach and rested his head on his chest. That was better...

Geralt continued purring until he felt Jaskier completely relax. His breathing was deep and even, if a little congested. Geralt slowly eased his sleeping friend off him, settling him on his back so he could breathe easier.

He shushed him when he stirred, snuffling and clumsily rubbing the back of his hand over his eyes as he muttered groggily. Geralt pulled the blankets up over him, and laid his hand on his chest so he could feel that he was there. Jaskier settled back down after a few moments, falling back asleep.

Geralt made sure there was enough wood on the fire, then went to help Yennefer.

He spent the following days helping out around the house when he wasn't cuddled up to Jaskier, purring.

Jaskier improved quickly over the next three days. He was recovering from the cold faster than Yennefer expected. His fever had broken the first night, and the congestion was all but gone now. The cough lingered, but Yennefer was not concerned about it. Coughs sometimes didn't clear up for a week or two.

Jaskier had entertained himself while he recovered by discussing his theory about Geralt's purring with Yennefer. The sorceress hadn't dismissed his thoughts as he'd expected her to. Instead, she seemed quite interested in hearing them, and the two of them would discuss and compare theories and observations until Jaskier started drifting off. Geralt was often dragged into their discussions for his personal perspective and experiences.

When Jaskier was finally fit to travel, he left with a thick, warm jacket, a bag full of potions for when his arms ached, and a brand new notebook to start recording his thoughts, ideas, and observations. He promised that when they next saw each other, Yennefer could help him organize his notes.

Geralt had rolled his eyes and braced himself for a long winter.

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The Witcher Headcanon - Purring Bonus Scene - Part 3

Jaskier helped Geralt lie down on his bedroll, trying his best to keep him steady so he wouldn't jostle the shoulder he'd recently dislocated, or tear open the fresh stitches in his belly.

There had only been two bandits, but Geralt had already been exhausted and injured from the fight with the Gryphon, and one of the bandits had gotten lucky. Briefly. Before Jaskier had gone feral and taken him to pieces.

The wounds had been easy enough to take care of. The belly wound hadn't been too deep, and Geralt had spent one winter teaching Jaskier how to do joint adjustments. Jaskier had expertly reduced the dislocated shoulder in a matter of seconds.

Jaskier covered Geralt with the blanket, listening to his I'm Hurt purr to try to guage how much pain he was in. The purr was loud. A frantic, thrumming from deep in the Witcher's chest. It wasn't the loudest Jaskier had ever heard him purr, but it was loud enough to suggest that Geralt was in a significant amount of pain.

Geralt slowly rolled onto his side, curling up as much as he could under the blanket. Jaskier had tucked him back in a quiet corner of the small cave they had made camp in.

Geralt's first instinct, when wounded was to find a safe place to hide while he recovered. The cave was perfect.

Pain radiated in a throbbing burn in his shoulder, and the stab wound in his belly sharply reminded him it was there with every breath. He purred while Jaskier boiled water for some tea to help with the pain. He'd already taken a potion to counteract the toxicity, and the purring was helping to ease some of the pain.

Jaskier spoke quietly sometime later, and lightly touched his leg to get his attention. He helped him drink the bitter-tasting tea, then laid him back down. The bard checked on him periodically throughout the night. He could hear when the painkillers in the tea started to do their job. The Hurt purr became less frantic sounding, and a little quieter.

Jaskier breathed a sigh of relief when the sound trailed off to a normal exhausted snore. He continued the pain management plan as Geralt healed. He knew Geralt was getting better when he started refusing the tea. The belly wound certainly healed faster than it would have had Geralt been human.

Geralt had always pulled through after being injured. Jaskier knew he would be alrght, even if he didn't have any Swallow handy. As long as he was purring, he was healing. But there was one time that he seriously feared that Geralt wouldn't make it.

Vilgefortz had left Geralt crippled and in excruciating pain. Triss had found him and taken him to Brokilon and begged the dryads for their help. She'd gone and brought Jaskier and Yennefer, knowing they would want to be with Geralt.

It had been the most terrifying thing Jaskier had ever been through. The dryads had used their herbs to heal Geralt, but it had taken over a month. 36 days of listening to Geralt rave and scream while the herbs did their work. Jaskier had been a mess by the end.

The raving had gotten to him. Yennefer had tried to keep up her calm demeanor, trying to banter with Jaskier to keep him distracted. Had tried to get him to walk through the woods with her (where he couldn't hear Geralt raving) for a few hours every day, and to take care of Roach.

It had worked at first. The bard's frayed nerves had calmed, and he had even started playing his lute every once in a while. But as the days started to march on with no sign of Geralt coming out of the healing magic, the more distraught Jaskier became.

Yennefer couldn't blame him. She'd never seen Geralt so seriously wounded. And even though he had accelerated healing ability as a Witcher, she had no idea how long it would normally take him to heal from such severe injuries.

Jaskier had looked at Yennefer with fear in his eyes one evening, when Geralt's raving had gotten particularly loud.

"Yen...do you-!" Yennefer knew he was going to spew some nonsense about Geralt dying. He never had trusted healers or magical rememdies, unless Yennefer was the one doing the healing or making the remedy.

"Don't be ridiculous!"

"But...he's not even purring,"

Yennefer rolled her eyes as if exasperated. She knew the bard was worried that Geralt was in too much pain to purr. She had found Jaskier's theory that Geralt purred to heal himslef quite intersting. And there did seem to be some merit to the theory.

"Oh stop your whining! You act as if the dryads don't know their business!" One of Geralt's screams ripped throuh the air, and Jaskier cringed, hugging himself reflexively. He'd looked at Yennefer, his eyes suddenly wet.

Oh, no... Yennefer thought. She had a suspicion of what was coming. Please don't!

Jaskier pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes as Geralt screamed again, and his breath hitched as he whimpered brokenly, "yEn...!"

Ah, F**K! Yennefer thought, D*mned Voice Crack!

"Julian..." Yen began, her tone vague. It could have been a warning, it could have been sympathy. Not even she was certain.

The bard flinched when she used his name, trembling and making a choked off keening sound.

The witch sighed quietly and Soft!Yennefer was there, taking one of Jaskier's wists and tugging him towards her. "Come here, you foolish little thing,"

Jaskier broke down into hiccuping sobs when Yennefer pulled him against her. "Shhhh. Hush now, Songbird. He's going to be alright!" Yennefer murmured, her hand rubbing his back.

"He's hurting, Yen!" Jaskier cried, holding on to the witch tightly.

"But he's healing. The dryads are healing him. Look at me, Lark," Yennefer pulled away, cupping the bard's tear-stained cheeks in her hands, "Do you trust me?"

Jaskier sniffled and nodded, "Of course I trust you, Yen..."

"Then trust me when I say that Geralt will be alright. The dryads know their magic. They know what they are doing. They wouldn't have agreed to help if they didn't think they could heal him."

She wiped the tears off his cheeks and let him put his head back on her shoulder. "I'm worried about that a**hole, too," she admitted, surreptitiously using his shirt to dry the tears that had gathered in her own eyes. "But I've spoken with the dryads, and they assure me that he's healing well. They say he should be fully healed any day now. And then we can both lecture him the whole way back to Vengerberg."

Geralt woke several days later, wounds completely healed, and spent two more days resting before he was allowed to leave Brokilon. Jaskier and Yennefer had been too relieved to even pretend they were angry with him. At least for the first few hours.

After that, Geralt was kind of wishing he could go back to being a motionless, raving plank. Anything would have been better than the nearly two day long lecture that he had to listen to.

Even Roach was mad at him.

The dryads had asked Geralt why his wives were so upset with him. Geralt had been caught off guard by the question, but Yennefer and Jaskier could never let an opportunity for a good joke go to waste. The bard and the witch had played along.

Jaskier was, after all, a performer. And a Drama Kid never half-a**es things.

Had he gone a little overboard? Maybe. Had it been worth it? Absolutely.

Yennefer had been impressed. And had gleefully added fuel to the fire.

On the third day, the dryads hand given them food, wished Geralt luck with his 'wives' (who were now only mildly annoyed with him) and saw them out of the forest.

Yennefer had portaled them to Vengerberg, and a few hours later, Geralt was sitting at the table in Yennefer's house. He shoveled down whatever she put in front of him, eating like a starving wolf, and then stretched out on the bed, Happy purring until he fell asleep to the sound of Jaskier and Yennefer bantering...

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The Witcher Headcanon - Purring Bonus Scene - Part 1

Just a quick note. I've had a few friends politely point out that I don’t need to censor cuss words. I'm glad that y'all are being helpful and looking out for everyone! Good for you for being kind and thoughtful!

I am aware that censoring is unnecessary, but I have a few reasons why I do:

1. I know there are minors on this site, and they might not be comfortable with cuss words, or maybe someone sees cuss words as NSFW.

2. It's a personal preference. I don't use that type of language IRL. I don't have a problem with other people using it, I just never really liked the way those words "tasted"(It's hard to explain 😅 ), but I want the characters to sound like themselves as much as possible, so censoring is a compromise.

3. It's...funny. For some reason reading a censored word makes it funny to me. Maybe because I hear a "beep", or the dolphin noise from that one SpongeBob episode. I don't know. There's just something about asterisks that makes it funny. I know, I'm weird!

Anyway, enjoy the bonus scene!

Jaskier had fancied himself somewhat of an expert on Witchers after those first few years of travelling with Geralt. He had learned so much about them and had used his power as a bard to change things for them. Thanks to his songs, his stories, and his poetry, people were starting to see Witchers as they really were: Friend Shaped.

He thought he knew everything there was to know about Witchers, but he made an interesting discovery one evening. Something about Witchers that had never been mentioned in the lore, and that no one had ever spoken of.

Geralt had been exhausted when he returned to the inn after dealing with a local monster problem. He had come through with only a few minor scrapes and bruises this time.

The innkeeper had happily given him a tankard of ale and a hot meal while Jaskier entertained the other guests with songs, news, and the latest court gossip. When Geralt was finished with his meal, the innkeeper's wife had a bath sent up to his room, along with fresh linens and extra firewood.

Geralt had been boiling himself in the bath, letting the heat draw out the achces and pains of sore muscles and old injuries, when it happened.

The fire was crackling quietly infront of him. Jaskier was scribbling down ideas for a new song and quietly filling Geralt in on the town gossip. He felt so warm and relaxed. He leaned his head back and...

Jaskier looked up from his writing as he heard Geralt start making a noise. At first he thought it was a 'hmm', or an irritated growl. Geralt was tired, after all, and not very social. He was probably getting tired of the chatter.

But the sound didn't stop like he expected a growl or 'hmm' to. It kept going. It was a soft, undulating sound. Like a gentle bubbling hum. It sounded like a...

Holy f**k! Geralt was purring!

Geralt heard Jaskier's heart suddenly start beating a little faster, and smelled the change in his scent. Surprise/interest/curiosity

Geralt realized he was purring, and immediately stopped, sitting up with an irritated grumble to hide his embarrassment. He hoped like h*ll that the bard somehow hadn't heard.

"Geralt, were you...purring?"

Geralt froze. F**k. He'd heard. He was never going to live it down. Geralt growled at him out of reflex.

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. I won't bring it up again."

"I was. What of it, bard?"

"Nothing," Jaskier said almost gently, as if he might scare Geralt away, "I just didn't know you could do that. I didn't mean anything by it. I was just curious if it was a Geralt Thing, or a Witcher Thing."

Geralt side-eyed him suspiciously for a moment, trying to determine if there was any sinister movitves behind the questions. All he could sense was genuine curiosity.

Jaskier knew that Geralt was special. That he had extra mutations that other Witchers didn't have. If he wasn't sure that a behavior, attribute, ability, etc was something all Witchers had, or if it was unique to Geralt, he always asked if it was a Geralt Thing, or a Witcher Thing.

Geralt had sighed quielty and answered that it was a Witcher Thing. All Witchers did it, just not around humans. He could see the bard mentally file the information away. "No songs! I will kill you and dump your carcass in the nearest field!"

"I would never! How dare you even suggest! You wound me, sir! My poor heart is broken! Broken!"

Geralt had rolled his eyes at the drama.

"Listen, I promise I will never, ever write a song about you or any other Witchers purring. Ever."

Geralt didn't seem terribly convinced. Jaskier knew it was going to take something more binding than words to convince Geralt. He was going to have to invoke the most ancient, absolute, and unbreakable ritual of deal-making.

"Geralt, I Pinky Swear!"

The Witcher regarded him silently for a moment, then nodded solemnly. Pinkies were clasped and the deal was made.

Months later, Geralt had long gotten comfortable around Jaskier, and felt safe enough with him that he could allow himself to show his vulnerable side.

Jaskier regularly found himself sitting by their campfire, working on his songs, or falling asleep to the sound of Geralt's purring. He noted that like a cat, when Geralt got comfortable or relaxed enough, he would start to Happy Purr. He'd purr as Jaskier helped work the stiffness out of a sore muscle, or a knot out of his back, or when he'd get all warm and toasty under his blankets when they stayed at an inn.

And when he scratched his chin or cheeks.

Finding out that Witchers loved chin and cheek skritches had been the highlight of Jaskier's day.

Geralt had been grumbling about something or other, like he usually did when he was over-tired and couldn't sleep. Jaskier had sat next to him, and as a joke, started scratching his cheeks.

Geralt had stopped talking, mid-grumble, and his pupils had dilated. He'd visibly relaxed, eyes glazing over, and he'd started purring loudly as Jaskier's fingers scratched through the short stubble on his cheeks. "B**tard..." he'd mumbled almost drunkenly.

Jaskier's fingers faltered in their scratching, He was suddenly worried he'd gone too far with the joke. But Geralt had only leaned into his hands and slurred "I didn' say to stop..." Jaskier smiled to himself and resumed the skritches.

Geralt's eyes had closed and he started purring louder. He started leaning a little harder on Jaskier, starting to fall asleep when the bard started scratching his chin.

Jaskier stopped after a few more moments, not wanting to push his luck, and Geralt had glared at him sleepily. The Witcher looked p*ssed, but Jaskier could tell that he was actually embarrassed that he had almost been put down for a nap by cheek scritches.

"If you ever do that to me in public, or where anyone might see it, I will beat your a**!"

Jaskier had nodded to show that he'd understood. He smiled to himself as Geralt had rolled himself up in his blanket like an angry toddler to hide from Jaskier's knowing smile.

Geralt got a certain amount of smug satisfaction that winter, when Jaskier made it his personal mission to scratch the cheeks and chins of every Witcher at Kaer Morhen. The feral bard somehow survived, and by the end of the first month, Geralt's brothers were arguing over whose turn it was to get cheek or chin scritches.

And once Jaskier started really paying attention to Geralt's purring, he started to notice that he had other types of purrs...

[omegaverse-seeker]

Purring headcanons?

Of course. 😚

ALL of the dynamics know how to and can purr

when a beta purrs it at a lower and at a quiet decibel, but still effective

purring has the ability to heal and calm down the person who the purring is directed too

older generations see purring as a more intimate thing, no matter the setting/reasoning, and probably don't agree with people doing it out in the opening

I think there are different tones for different reasons why people purr

there are different tones of purring between mates, parent and pup, friends, and so on and so forth.

purring usually stays within the family or friends. for example, you won't see a teacher purr for a student

^ in retrospect, maybe you do see instances where people outside of a family do purr for one another. so say that teacher is purring for a student(s), they are probably doing it to calm them down or something.

purring is most effective when the people are pressed against one another

purring is SUPER effective when there is scenting involved

the people who purr the most are omegas

the people who purr the least are betas

pups will purr for anything because they don't know any better

alphas are shyer about purring

(this is just for me and my angsty brain) purring has been so effective that it has brought loved ones back from the brink of death or illness

omegas are the most open about purring

Did this take me a year? Yes, shut up.

[fandom-junk-drawer]

The Witcher Headcanon- Purring Masterpost

Purring Headcaonon

Bonus scenes

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4