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Jaskier sighed as they took a long swig of their glass of water, peering out at their audience; two brutish thugs playing darts, and a pretty young blonde who had been trying to get their attention all evening. It wasn’t exactly what they’d had in mind when they’d agreed to play a gig at the pub. They had imagined they would at least be able to sell some CDs to earn some additional cash on top of the meager salary Calanthe had promised them, but that was looking highly unlikely.
If they’d still been single they could have at least gone home with the blonde, a silver lining to the whole shit show. As it was, Dandelion was waiting for them at home, having gotten home from a long day at the coffee shop, and there was the promise of takeaway and netflix, they just had to get through the rest of their allotted playing slot.
They sighed again, glancing at their watch, the bees ticking slowly around Winnie the Pooh’s face with every second that passed. There was still another hour before Jaskier would be allowed to leave. It was bullshit. They clearly weren’t bringing in the business that Calanthe had anticipated, and Jaskier was itching to get home. It was safer at home. No one made assumptions about them at home, but instead, they tapped the microphone and smiled seductively out at their tiny audience of three. It might not be much but they were still going to give their best performance.
“This one goes out to all the beautiful people in the audience tonight,” they purred into the mic, “and yes I’m talking about the handsome beauty over by the dart board.”
The thug turned to face Jaskier, snarling and for a moment Jaskier thought they might end up with a dart in their chest, so they winked at the blonde instead, before taking a deep breath as they prepared to sing. Jaskier closed their eyes, strumming the opening chords lazily and leaning into the beat, jazzing it up a little until they began to sing.
Their eyes fluttered open and they almost immediately stumbled over the words as their gaze met Dandelion’s across the room. Jaskier beamed at their partner, settling into the love song with newfound joy, never taking their eyes off Dandelion as they made their way across the pub. As Dandelion sat down, he waved a quick two fingered salute in Jaskier’s direction, displaying the cornflower blue wristband that had been green just that morning. Jaskier winked at their boyfriend, pulling the mic from the stand as they moved the stall to the edge of the shitty makeshift stage.
The rest of the song was performed from there, an intimate and private affair, much to the dismay of the young blonde at the bar. Jaskier only had eyes for Dandelion, they only ever had eyes for Dandelion when he was in the room, and oh how utterly ethereal his boyfriend looked today. He was wearing a long summery dress that cut off just above his ankles, pale blue and covered in buttercups, paired with his favourite denim jacket and combat boots. his long golden hair cascading down past his shoulders in effortless curls. He was beautiful, and Jaskier couldn’t help but feel envious of how confident his boyfriend looked, no matter how he presented or what gender he was. Dandelion’s fluidity in both his gender and presentation had Jaskier’s poor enby heart fluttering in their chest.
They could only hope to be as at ease with their gender and identity as Dandelion was. Someday, they hoped, but for now they jumped off the stage and into their boyfriend’s waiting embrace.
“What are you doing here, dear heart?” Jaskier sang, pressing their lips to Dandelion’s cheek.
Dandelion cocked his head, a soft warm smile on his lips. “I just needed to see you, darling.”
“God, I fucking love you.”
“I should hope so. I came all the way to this dump just to watch you play,” Dandelion laughed, his hands wrapping around Jaskier’s waist pulling them closer.
They would have to get back on stage soon, especially with Eist watching them so carefully, but for just a brief moment they were happy to remain in their boyfriend’s loving arms.