The Witcher Headcanon (Modern AU) - Petals to Ink
Yennefer and Geralt aren't always all that great at communicating. Jaskier would even go as far as to say that they just downright sucked at it. It was frustrating watching two people who were so in love have such a hard time communicating. The sheer number of misunderstandings that occured between them made Jaskier want to take them and knock their heads togehter.
How could they struggle so much to get their thoughts and feeling across to eachother? Every other day, it seemed like they were fussing about some misunderstanding or other. Jaskier marveled at how two so well educated and intelligent people could, at the same time, be so f***ing thick.
When Yennefer lost her Chaos, it seemed as if she just shut down, and shut out everyone. Jaskier tried to fix things for them in the beginning, unable to stand watching how much they were hurting, and completely mucked things up. He tried not to take it personally when they both lashed out at him. But it hurt. It felt like the Mountain Divorce all over again.
He tried to fix it, to apologize and offer support, but it only made things worse. He just couldn't seem to do anything right! He backed off, giving his friends some space, and turned to his music to cope with his feelings.
Madeleine knew there was a personal hurt involved when she saw the lyrics to what would become Blossoms. She didn't ask, knowing that Jaskier would talk to her about it when he was ready. She gave him his space and after he sat down with her and told her what was going on, she suggested a sound and rythm that would let him strum and belt out his hurt, and helped work out the lyrics to leave him feeling a little more encouraged by the end.
After a few days of practicing Blossoms before recording, Jaskier was in a better mood, and was ready to give helping his friends another go. He went back and spent a few days just being a silent, supportive presence.
He listened to Geralt fret over Yennefer while they sat in Roach and drank. Heard the note of helplessness in his grunts and 'hmm's, the hint of fear. He didn't know what to do. Didn't know what to say. How was he supposed to help her? What could he do to show her he loved her and wanted to help? How could he show her he was there for her? How could he pull her back from the dark place she was falling into? Jaskier suggested that maybe using words other than 'hmm' might help. This was met with a familiar annoyed glower.
He listened to Yen as she cried all her fear and hopelessness into his chest while he cuddled her in his room. She felt bereft, angry, afraid. What was she supposed to do? She'd given up everything! And for what? She had nothing now! No one understood how she felt! She couldn't protect her family like this. She was useless! Why did she always ruin things? Jaskier did his best to comfort her and remind her that she wasn't alone in her struggles. She might not have her Chaos for the moment, but she still had him and Geralt.
Jaskier listened to Geralt and Yennefer as they talked to him over the next week. He watched them interact, if he could call it that. They barely spoke to each other. What they mostly did was awkwardly ignore eachother, then when the one of them wasn't looking, stare at the other with a look of such intense pining and longing.
Jaskier despaired. Morons! Imbeciles! A Himbo and his Bimbo. Possibly the two dumbest people alive. They were idiots! F***ing dumba**es! But they were his f***ing dumba**es. They didn't have a snowball's chance in h*ll if left to their own devices, so Jaskier took all the mental notes he'd made of their interactions. Took all the things they couldn't seem to say, all their worries for each other, all their fears, all their love, and wrote Ruin, and Inkpot Gods.
Jaskier dragged his two idiots to the studio when the songs had been recorded. Geralt and Yennefer expected to sit down and listen to the finished recordings, but Jaskier and Madeleine instead insisted on a live performance.
Ruin had broken them. Yennefer ended up crying silently on Geralt, who had held her tightly like he was never going to let her go again.
And where Ruin had broken them, Inkpot Gods had healed them.
It had been everything that they had been feeling, everything they'd been thinking. Everything they'd been unable say. And somehow, this empathetic, sweet little b**tard had so perfectly put it all into words.
F**k how he could put so much raw emotion into his voice!
F**k how he could lay their hearts bare like that, make them face their pain, say what they couldn't put in words, make them remember how much they loved each other, make them feel, and then so gently put their broken hearts back together!
Jaskier and Madeleline stepped out when they were done, giving Geralt and Yennefer some privacy while they clung to each other and sobbed on the couch. It had taken months and two songs to remind them that they weren't alone, that they were loved, and that they could get through this.
When they shut the door behind them, Madeleine and Jaskier looked at each other and huffed in unison "F***ing dumba**es!"
