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If anyone asks—and often even if no one has asked—Jaskier will tell them that his reason for travelling with a witcher is the sense of adventure and all the inspiration for heroic songs that comes with it.
That is only partially true.
Privately, he can admit to himself that he took one look at Geralt—alone and exuding 'don't bother me, don't talk to me, don't even look at me' energy—and saw a challenge he just could not resist.
The challenge, of course, is to not merely travel with the witcher, but to befriend him. To dig in beneath his standoffish exterior and actually get to know him. Jaskier likes to feel special, and being one of the select few Geralt counts as a friend—maybe even someone he trusts—would surely make him feel very special indeed.
He would also very much like to see what's underneath those leathers, and find out what Geralt is like when that stoic mask cracks. Jaskier has bedded many a lady and lord; there is no challenge in that for a poet like him. But Geralt can't be won with charm and pretty words.
It takes a bit of time for Jaskier to figure out how Geralt can be won. Sure, Geralt is letting him tag along—which Jaskier sees as a tiny victory even if Geralt is constantly signalling his displeasure at this turn of events. The witcher could just ride off without him, after all, but as it is he keeps Roach walking at a pace Jaskier can keep up with. And yet, Geralt keeps shutting down all his attempts at a proper, two-way conversation, and also acts completely oblivious to Jaskier's flirtations.
It's not until one night several weeks in when Jaskier is watching Geralt talk quietly with Roach—he is feeling suitably offended by the fact that Geralt apparently prefers to have a conversation with his horse over Jaskier—that it hits him. He has been going about this all wrong. If he wants to befriend the witcher, he first has to befriend the horse.
Roach is a lot easier to charm than her witcher. All Jaskier has to do is slip her treats, and he can easily get vegetables, fruit and bread (in fact, tavern audiences tend to throw them at him for free). He soon learns that Roach's favourite treat is strawberries, so he makes sure to save any he gets his hands on for her.
Jaskier can feel Geralt's eyes on them any time Roach comes up to him to look for treats in the evenings, and he's sure he's not imagining the witcher's gaze softening as Jaskier pets her and talks softly to her. It's slow going—he has to be careful as he works on breaking down the walls Geralt has been reinforcing for years—but it's definitely working.
A few more weeks and Jaskier has managed to progress from Geralt sometimes offering up a tidbit or two relevant to Jaskier's ongoing conversation, to Geralt actually telling him stories by the fire at night. They are short and perfunctory, and Jaskier suspects the witcher purposefully leaves out a lot of details, but it's progress. He even smiles sometimes when Jaskier talks about something particularly amusing. Jaskier desperately wants to make him smile at least once every day.
Even as Geralt opens up and starts talking to Jaskier, he still guards his personal space carefully. He deflects casual touches, and he refuses Jaskier's offers to help care for aches and wounds. And he still insists on Jaskier walking beside Roach, even though they would be able to travel quicker if he just let Jaskier ride with him.
It's frustrating, and it's also the most thrilling experience Jaskier has had in a long while. Suddenly, a fond look is enough to set his heart aflutter, and an accidental brush of Geralt's hand against his own makes him want and want and want.
His patience pays off when events line up to ensure his victory. More specifically, some fools try to steal Roach. They might have succeeded, too, if it wasn't for the fact that Jaskier has taken to sneaking treats out to the horse in the small hours. He'd never admit it, but his attempts to win Roach over have led to him finding comfort in the warmth and peace the stables offer, and he's starting to see the charm in telling his woes to a companion who will keep his secrets without judgement.
Either way, the horse thieves obviously hadn't counted on anyone being in the stables, and Jaskier has already made sure the would-be-thieves were caught and is calming Roach down by the time a rumpled-looking Geralt makes it outside to find out what the ruckus is about. He actually claps Jaskier on the shoulder when he thanks him, and Jaskier doesn't miss his considering look when someone asks Jaskier what he was doing outside and Jaskier admits he was checking on the horse.
When they leave the following morning, Geralt holds out his hand to help Jaskier onto Roach, and Jaskier tries not to let his giddiness show. He wraps his arms around Geralt and spends the next while making plans for the evening. (He doesn't get to put those plans into action until several nights later, however, because it turns out getting used to spending all day on horseback is painful.)