Chapter Text
Triss awoke when she felt someone land on the bottom of her bed. Without even needing to open her eyes, she knew exactly who was there.
"Goodmorning, Jaskier." She didn't even so much as open her eyes.
There was only one person that would ever greet her in such a way. Even Ciri wouldn't do it on most days. The girl would most likely poke Triss' shoulder until she woke up.
Waking someone up by jumping on the bed, however, could only really be one person. No one else she knew was quite as immature as the bard.
He swatted at her legs, "I'm very offended. I wasted so much time and energy to get here on such short notice, and this is how you treat me? Disgraceful, truly."
She smiled, slowly opening her eyes as she sat up, "How did you get here so fast? We talked just last night, and you were across the continent."
"I'm a powerful mage, dear Triss, and a bard." He answered, raising a hand, "I can always find a way. Besides, watching you and Yen dance around this all has become quite tiring. Although, it is going to make the perfect pining ballad."
A mage, he said. Jaskier was known around the continent for many things. A bard, a poet, a professor, the witcher's companion, but a mage was not one of them.
Triss had known from the moment she first met him, and she supposed Yennefer knew as well. Geralt, however, seemed to be the opposite. Yennefer once told Triss of how the witcher didn't find out about the bard's true identity until well after the djinn.
"Idiots, both of them." Yennefer told her.
"Is that the whole reason you came?"
Jaskier shook his head, "No, well, maybe. Only a little bit, though. I'm also here to perform. I've heard you have a magnificent tavern."
"And you couldn't go to any other tavern because..." She tailed off, leaving it as a question.
Her words held no bite. Jaskier was one of the people Triss felt most comfortable around. She did ever since that night they bonded over their unrequited loves. They shared a bottle of wine as they laid on the floor of an inn.
Jaskier, to lighten the mood, had played ridiculous songs and ballads, some of which he made up on the spot. Triss never quite felt so comfortable around someone so fast. She thought of him as family ever since that night.
For Jaskier, fortunately, the love was requited. A few short months after that night, she received a letter from Jaskier saying so. It gave Triss hope that maybe hers was requited as well.
"This one just happens to have my two best friends in the whole world. Apart from Geralt, of course. Although, he doesn't quite count." He paused, "Don't tell dear Roach I said that. She just started to like me again."
Again seemed like a strange keyword that Triss didn't dwell on.
"As I was saying, I thought maybe you could bring Yennefer to the tavern." Jaskier suggested, "The problem might be that you two have fallen into a routine with this whole confession through flowers thing."
Jaskier tilted his head to the side, remaining silent, for once, while Triss considered it.
"Maybe you're right." Triss answered, "I'll ask Yennefer."
"Eh, no need." He waved a hand at her, "I already asked her."
Triss made a disapproving face to him, an eyebrow raised.
He put his hands up in defense, "What? I needed to step in at some point."
She responded with a light laugh.
"So, what do you have planned for tonight?"
Triss' gaze wandered to her bag where a small necklace was, looking similar to a choker. It was of a small camellia. It wasn't generally Yennefer's style, but Triss had seen her eyeing similar jewelry.
Love, affection, and admiration the flower meant. While they all came from a similar plant, each had their own unique design. This one in particular was clearly based off of a red camellia, meaning deep desire and love.
"You'll see." Triss smiled.
And then for what seemed like hours, they sat on her bed, swapping stories. Jaskier would make make big, dramatic gestures as he would talk, almost smacking Triss in the face several times.
He told her of the hunts and adventures he and Geralt have recently had, and she in exchange would tell him stories of her days with Yennefer and Ciri. Jaskier always joked that it was nice to hear someone tell a good story for once, so used to hearing Geralt's poor attempt at stories.
Finally, they went out into the main area of the cottage. Yennefer, Geralt, and Ciri were all sitting around the table.
Yennefer was holding a cup of tea. Her hair was put up in a messy manner. It was so rare to see her relaxed in such a way. A warmth and fondness flooded Triss at the sight.
The two of them joined the other three at the table, them all falling into a comfortable conversation. Geralt started to tell them of the recent incident where Jaskier stumbled into a lake, Jaskier getting ever so red at the story
____
Yennefer and Triss were sat in near the front of the tavern, right by where Jaskier was planning on performing. They had decided on leaving Ciri with their nearby neighbor Guinevere and her partner.
Geralt, however, was sat in the far corner. When asked about it, he said how he preferred observing the whole tavern. The look he shared with Yennefer in the moment made Triss question if something else had a part in his choice of seating.
"How has Ciri's training going?" Triss took a sip of her drink.
"She's improving." A light smile, full of pride, appeared on Yennefer's face, "She reminds me a bit of me, stubborn, determined to prove everyone wrong."
"Incredibly strong." Triss added.
Yennefer turned to her, opening her mouth before closing it again. She looked back to Jaskier, who was getting ready for his performance.
Even though the other sorceress may not ever admit it, she considered the bard family. After Triss would talk to Jaskier through the xenovox, Yennefer would always ask how he was, appearing concerned when she'd hear he'd been injured.
Yennefer cared so deeply for those around her, but she would rarely say it. After Sodden, she became more open with her emotions, starting to see them as a strength rather than a weakness. Triss, however, still knew that Yennefer was afraid people would see it as a one.
A light smiled appeared on Yennefer's face as Jaskier's voice started to carry throughout the tavern.
"The fairer sex they often call it,
But her love's as unfair as a crook."
The song, it was clear, was about her and Geralt. And yet, here they were, Yennefer with no hint of venom in her expression. When they first heard of the song, Yennefer had made a threat to him, but everyone involved knew that it held no real weight.
Yennefer truly liked Jaskier's music, but, as well as Geralt, she would never admit it to his face. It was clear to Triss, though, with the way the corner of Yennefer's lips curled up ever so slightly when she would hear it.
No one else really noticed this detail, but that's because no one else paid such close attention to Yennefer like Triss did. Over the years, Triss learned how to read Yennefer like a book, knowing every little detail about her.
The crowd of people applauded him loudly after each song. Jaskier announced that he was to play a knew ballad, a slow one, saying it was for all the lovers in the tavern. He looked to the back of the tavern where Geralt sat, a smile bright on his face. He quickly sent Triss a wink before he started playing.
"It's what my heart just yearns to say
In ways that can't be said.
It's what my rotting bones will sing,
When the rest of me is dead."
Now is as good as ever, Triss thought. She slowly reached down to her small pack, the small necklace still inside. She took it out, holding it in her hand as she contemplated going through with her final attempt.
"Yennefer," Triss said leaning into Yennefer.
"And she'll say,
Oh how, oh how unreasonable,
How unreasonably in love I am with everything you do."
Yennefer looked down to Triss' hands, seeing what she was holding. The other woman took a deep breath as if all of the air had been knocked out of her.
"Triss." She breathed out.
She reached to take the necklace from Triss' hands, but she just let her hand rest upon the other woman's, slowly intertwining them.
"I'll spend my days so close to you,
'Cos if I'm stood here,"
Yennefer was the first to start leaning in, Triss following her movements. They were painfully flow. She felt her heart beating fast in her chest.
"Then I'm stood here.
And I'll stand here,
I'll stand here with you."
As the song ended, the crowd erupted with applause once more, the two sorceresses pulling apart at the sudden loud noise. A wave of disappointment and hurt washed through Triss.
Yennefer was planning to embrace, Triss thought to herself, nothing more.
She smiled to Jaskier and joined in on the applause, ignoring her emotions that were threatening to overflow.
Triss, in all honesty, wasn't sure if Yennefer understood the meaning. As the night passed, she didn't bring it up once, only really speaking to throw insults back and forth with Jaskier.
She marked this as the last ever night she would try confessing. She could handle her love being unrequited, as long as she had Yennefer in her life as at least a friend.
And yet, here she was, still holding out hope that Yennefer felt the same.