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Geralt stood on the front porch of Yennefer’s house, flowers in hand. Neither of them were big on gifts, but he didn’t want to show up empty handed. The real gift was his presence—the fact that he’d gotten Eskel to house-sit for him so he could come stay with Ciri and Yen at her house in town for once, rather than making Yen come and stay with him in the country.
He rang the doorbell.
It was easy to hear Ciri’s excitement from the other side of the door, even though she’d seen him only a few days before, but she wasn’t allowed to let him in according to Yennefer’s strict, “only adults are allowed to answer the door,” policy. They both would have to wait for Yennefer.
It was another minute before she appeared, bedraggled, on the other side of the door.
“Happy Valentine’s Day.”
Instead of accepting Geralt’s offering of flowers, she shut her eyes and put a hand over her face.
“Fuck, Geralt, I’m so sorry. I forgot.”
He handed the flowers instead to a gleeful Ciri, and stepped inside.
“Is everything okay?” he asked, shutting the door behind him.
“Yeah, no, everything is fine. I’ve just been so busy with work,” she explained. “I’m so sorry, Geralt.”
“Don’t be sorry,” he told her. “Today is about love, not stress. We don’t have to do anything if you aren’t feeling up to it.”
“But you came all this way, and you asked Eskel to house-sit. I feel like we should at least get dinner.”
“Do you want to get dinner? Or do you feel obligated?”
She walked over to the couch, resting her elbows on her knees and head in her hands.
“Gods, I don’t know. I have so much work to do,” she said. “But Ciri will be disappointed if we don’t do something.”
“Then Ciri and I can do something,” he offered. “I’ll take her to dinner and you can stay here and get work done, or rest, or whatever you need to do.”
“You’d do that?” she looked up at him, relief evident on her face.
“It would be an honor.”
***
Ciri was ecstatic.
Nearly all of her time alone with Geralt was spent out at his little farm in the country, which they both found immensely enjoyable, but the thought of getting dressed in fancy clothes and going out to a special dinner just with him was especially exciting.
She put on her favorite sparkly blue dress, and Yennefer curled her hair and even let her wear some of her lip gloss. By the time they were ready to leave she was practically shaking with excitement.
“Thank you,” Yennefer whispered, standing on her toes to kiss him on the cheek.
“Of course,” he said. “I’m happy to do it. Do you want me to bring you back some dinner?”
She shook her head. “I’ll figure something out.”
“Alright. Well let me know if you change your mind.”
“I will,” she told him. “And when you get back I promise I’ll be ready to celebrate.” At this she gave him a mischievous smile, and Geralt couldn’t help but return the expression.
“I can’t wait.”
***
The evening was idyllic.
Geralt drove them out of the suburbs and into the city. He took Ciri to one of the few nice restaurants he was familiar with—one where he and Yen had spent many birthdays and anniversaries—and did his best to make everything perfect for her.
After dinner they both decided they didn’t want to return home just yet, instead choosing to explore a bit more of the city.
The night was unseasonably warm, so they set out on foot, no destination in mind. They ended up in a park where a big flower show had been set up for the holiday.
Ciri’s eyes went wide, taking in the masses of flowers, spread out on tables, gathered into big bouquets, and arranged into a whole host of different shapes, mostly hearts. Ciri took Geralt’s hand and they began their wandering.
At first she was too mesmerized to say anything, but after a few minutes she began pointing at specific flowers and asking him questions. Geralt had a vast knowledge of plants, and he was more than happy to tell her the different names and purposes of each of them. And Ciri’s favorite, which ones were poisonous.
The sun had long since gone down by the time they finished at the flower show, but Geralt made sure to take a picture of Ciri in front of one of the flower arrangements to send to Yennefer.
They needed to leave now if Geralt was going to get Ciri home before her bedtime had passed, but they still made one more stop before heading back to the car, getting ice cream and eating it during the last leg of their walk. It was a holiday after all and a Friday night.
Yen would forgive their lateness, and Geralt had the feeling that Ciri would look back on this night fondly for a long while to come.
***
By the time they arrived back at Yennefer’s house, Ciri was out cold in the back seat.
Geralt unbuckled her and carried her into the house. As he brought her inside and into her room, he kept expecting her to wake, but she remained fast asleep even as he slipped her out of her dress and shoes and tucked her into bed. It had been a very long and very exciting day for her.
She would surely sleep well tonight.
After Ciri was safely tucked in bed, Geralt went to find Yennefer.
He’d expected her to emerge from her office when he and Ciri came in, but the house was quiet. He knocked lightly on her bedroom door, and when there was no response he entered.
He found Yennefer on the bed in a lacy black lingerie set, fast asleep on top of the covers. There was a lit candle and a bottle of wine alongside a bottle of massage oil on the bedside table. If he’d known this had been waiting for him at home he would have driven faster.
“Geralt.” Her eyes fluttered open when the door clicked shut. She sat up. “Fuck. I wanted to have something special for you when you got home. I didn’t mean to fall asleep.”
“There’s no need to apologize, Yen,” he assured her. “I don’t want you stretching yourself too thin for me when there’s other things on your plate. It’s not worth it.” He came and sat next to her on the bed.
“You are worth it,” she told him. “And I wanted to do this, really I did. I’ve just been so tired, and work has been awful. I haven’t had a day off in almost two weeks, and I’m exhausted all of the time.”
Geralt reached out for the bottle of massage oil and started warming it in his hands.
“You don’t need to do that, Geralt. That was supposed to be for you.”
“I want to,” he told her without a hint of insincerity in his voice. “Please let me do this for you.”
She didn’t protest when he started rubbing her feet.
“You’re too sweet,” she told him. “It’s not natural.”
“Do you want me to stop?”
“No.” She laid back on the pillows. “It’s heavenly.”
They stayed like this for a little while. Geralt had just about decided Yennefer had fallen asleep when she spoke again.
“How was dinner with Ciri?” she asked. “Did she have a nice time?”
“We had a wonderful time,” Geralt answered. “I sent you the picture with the flowers, right?”
“Oh, that was so cute. We don’t take enough pictures of her,” Yennefer said. “I just wish I could have joined you.”
“You didn’t enjoy your relaxing evening alone?”
“No, I did. I just feel bad for missing out.”
“There’s no reason to feel guilty. This gives you an excuse to take Ciri out for a nice dinner another night. And anyway, I think we’ve been together long enough that missing one Valentine’s Day won’t spell disaster for us,” he said.
“Gods, are we getting old? Is that what's happening?”
“I don’t think so. We’re just comfortable. It’s a good thing. We don’t have to worry so much about impressing each other anymore,” he countered. “Here, turn over and I’ll do your back.”
“No.” She reached out and took the massage oil from him. “This was supposed to be for you.”
Geralt chuckled. “Yen, I really don’t mind.”
“You’ve already done everything today,” she argued. “I didn’t even get you a card. I have to do at least one thing for you.”
She gently pushed him on the shoulder so he was laying on his back. She sat up, getting positioned to give him a massage, but she didn’t resist when he pulled her down on top of him and into a kiss.
“If we’re doing something for me,” he said, a playful smile on his face, “I can think of something a little bit more exciting than a massage.”
He remembered a moment too late how tired she was, and was worried he might be out of line.
“Only if you’re up for it though. No pressure.”
Now it was her turn to give him a playful look. “It has been far too long, Geralt.” She reached for the top button of his dress shirt, sitting up so she was straddling his waist.
“And it is Valentine’s Day after all,” she continued, undoing the next button. “I’m up for anything.”