Chapter Text
Jaskier braces himself as the air in front of him shimmers and shifts, and then, with a loud pop, a portal appears.
A stranger steps through: white hair, amber cat eyes, a striking scar, and an unfamiliar wolf medallion around his neck.
Jaskier stares. “Who are you?”
“I’m Geralt of Rivia.”
“No you’re not.”
The stranger actually laughs at that. “I assure you I am. I think I would know.”
“And I assure you, I am personally acquainted with Geralt, so I think I would know as well.”
The stranger peers closely at him and then turns, looking around at the scenery. He sighs. “Dammit, Ciri. She was supposed to send me to Skellige. This isn’t Skellige, is it?”
Jaskier shakes his head, growing only more confused.
The stranger lets out a long huff of air. “I hate portals.”
.
Jaskier takes… Geralt, he supposes, because it seems he really is Geralt, just a different one, to the nearest tavern for a drink they’re both sorely in need of. They compare notes about their respective homes, and Geralt isn’t the least skeptical when Jaskier floats the idea he could be from a parallel universe.
“Yeah, Ciri mentioned that possibility. Even visited a few other universes myself, although only briefly.”
Jaskier blinks. Well then.
As they talk, Geralt occasionally slips and calls him Dandelion. From anyone else, being called the silly nickname he was given as a child would make him furious, but from Geralt he finds it almost cute.
It doesn’t hurt that this Geralt is shockingly, horrendously good-looking. The Geralt he knows is handsome, obviously, but this Geralt has an undercut and a goatee and Jaskier desperately wants to run his fingers through both. He sits on his hands and resists the urge.
.
“He said what?”
They have reached the part of the conversation Jaskier has been dreading, where he has to explain why this universe’s Geralt is no longer with him - because he dumped his clingy arse at the top of a freezing mountain.
He’s expecting Geralt to look pitying or contemptful. Instead he looks incensed.
“What a dick.”
“He was going through a lot.” Jaskier feels the need to defend his Geralt, some old loyalty that’s never faded. “It was a very hard time for him.”
Geralt raises an eyebrow. “Hmm. At least you have Priscilla though, right?”
“Who’s Priscilla?”
“Oh. Maybe she has another name here? My Dandelion, he has a very dear friend who’s also a bard. Lovely lady. Lovely voice.”
Jaskier shakes his head, feeling strangely embarrassed that he has failed to attract a companion in the same way as his counterpart. “There’s just me, I’m afraid.“
Geralt pats his hand. Jaskier tries to hide his shock at any version of Geralt willingly initiating physical contact.
“I see.” A devilish grin crosses Geralt’s face. “So you’re single?”
.
Word travels fast in these parts, and a mysterious Witcher dropping through a portal attracts plenty of attention. So Jaskier isn’t surprised when, a few days later, a familiar white-haired figure stomps up to them in a tavern while he’s making himself comfortable in Geralt’s lap.
“Jaskier, who the fuck is this and what the fuck is going on?” Geralt, this universe’s Geralt, the original Geralt, however you want to put it, growls, gesturing at the Geralt Jaskier is perched on. He looks angry - even more so than usual.
Other Geralt huffs out a laugh. “This is him, I take it?” he says to Jaskier, nuzzling sweetly and more than a little possessively into his neck.
“Ahh, well, that’s rather a long story. This is also Geralt, as it turns out. Sit down and we’ll explain. Come on, don’t be shy. He’s really rather charming.”
Geralt narrows his eyes and his lips form a tight line as he takes in the beard burn all over Jaskier’s neck.
You think that’s bad, you should see the state of my thighs, Jaskier thinks but doesn’t say.
Still, after glaring for interminable seconds, he does take a seat opposite them, arms crossed, expression still thunderous. “Let’s hear it then.”
"We’ll explain everything,” other Geralt says evenly. “But first, a question for you: What, you idiotic Witcher, the absolute fuck have you been doing?”
Geralt opens his mouth indignantly but other Geralt barrels on.
“First we’re going to have a conversation about parallel universes and alternate realities. And then we’re going to have a much longer conversation about how we treat our friends.”