Work Text:
Geralt's hands were shaking a bit, the keys in his hand clinking against each other. Today had been overwhelming.
He had woken up with a slight headache, nothing he couldn't ignore, but it had immediately soured his mood. He couldn't even cuddle up to Jaskier before having to go to work, because his boyfriend had already left the house. Geralt could faintly remember Jaskier getting ready and giving him a kiss to the head, but when he woke up the bed had been cold and empty.
The traffic to work had been awful. Everyone seemed stressed and angry, honking their air horns constantly, which just had made Geralt's headache worse.
At work it got even worse. The usually quiet lab had been buzzing with activity, people chattering with each other, the constant noise grating on his nerves and disturbing his peaceful environment. He had noticed how his mind began to fog up, rendering him unable to focus and making him forget where he had put his instruments and what his next steps were supposed to be. It had gotten so bad, that his supervisor sent him to take an early break.
Geralt remembered staring down at his lunch with apprehension. Jaskier had cooked it the evening prior. He had danced through the kitchen, singing along to the music. When Geralt had poked his head in, he had gotten swept up in Jaskier's arms and twirled around the kitchen. Geralt loved to dance with Jaskier and they had laughed and kissed and nearly had let the food burn. It had been such a comfortable evening.
Seeing the food in the little break room with the flickering lights, he couldn't imagine getting any of it down. He felt awful for it, Jaskier putting so much effort into providing him with home cooked meals and he couldn't eat it. After hyping himself up for it, he had tried to eat some of it, but it all had turned to ash in his mouth. He had felt a bit like crying. It had been a meal he usually enjoyed, but today the texture was all wrong. After trying two more bites, he had given up. Geralt had closed his eyes for a bit, trying not to throw it all up again.
Eventually, after nearly fucking up an experiment, his supervisor had sent him home early. The drive home had been nerve wracking and Geralt was just happy to finally be home. If he could only calm down his anxiety again, that would be great.
Instead his hands were shaking more and more. He couldn’t even fit the key in the lock. Tears started to form, when suddenly the door opened. Jaskier stood behind it, grinning at him.
“Geralt! I did not expect you home so early, is everything alright?”
Geralt winced a bit at Jaskier’s volume. He just wanted to hide in bed and let the day be over.
“Oh,” Jaskier nearly whispered, “was that too loud? Oh dear, look at you, you must have had an awful day.”
Carefully, Jaskier pulled Geralt inside, guiding him to the couch.
“Do you want something to drink or something to eat? Anything I can do right now for you?”
Jaskier’s soft voice washed over Geralt. Hearing how Jaskier worried about him made him go all soft inside, but with that his grip on his emotions got lost. He shook his head as the first tears began to fall.
Jaskier didn’t say anything and quickly kissed him on both cheeks. The tears were falling now faster and faster and Geralt let himself be maneuvered so that Jaskier was lying beneath him on the couch. He buried his face in Jaskier’s neck as sobs tore through his chest.
Like in a distant dream, he could faintly hear Jaskier humming. Geralt tried to focus on the vibrations it caused, on Jaskier’s hands petting over his back, the way their bodies pressed together. It took longer than he would have liked, but eventually he calmed down.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“Hm.” No. He didn’t feel ready yet to talk or even stand up. Here in Jaskier’s arms it was warm and safe.
“Okay.”
Jaskier continued petting him, pressing soft kisses to his head from time to time. Geralt felt himself sink under. His mind was slowing down, but this time it felt good. It wasn’t numbing like before, it was comfortable and peaceful. Where he had his nose pressed in Jaskier’s neck, his hair tickled Geralt’s nose, but he couldn’t be bothered to care. Under Jaskier’s administrations he fell asleep.
Slowly Geralt woke up again. He was pressed between the backrest and Jaskier, one arm and leg trapping his boyfriend beneath him. Jaskier was playing on his phone and didn’t yet notice Geralt had woken up. That was fine by him. He was okay with enjoying a few more minutes in this peaceful quiet, before he had to go back to his regular life.
Geralt looked up at Jaskier. Beautiful, strong and kind Jaskier. He still sometimes couldn’t believe that he had managed to snatch this man all for himself. He nuzzled his nose into Jaskier’s hair.
Jaskier giggled.
“Have you returned to the living again?” he said while putting his phone away.
Geralt grumbled a little for show and pressed little kisses to his boyfriend's temple. Jaskier turned his head and caught Geralt’s lips in a soft kiss. Geralt melted into it, deepening the kiss despite the sour taste in his mouth from sleep. With his hand he could feel a little bit of soft skin and he tried to explore further under Jaskier’s shirt, but he only laughed. He pulled Geralt’s hand up and pressed a kiss to the palm.
“Not now my dear, first I need to get some food into you.”
Geralt suddenly remembered the food he hadn’t eaten at work. Jaskier of course immediately noticed him tense up and raised an eyebrow at him.
“I…I didn’t eat the food you made for me yesterday. It was all wrong. I’m sorry.”
Jaskier only smiled back.
“That’s okay. You had an overwhelming day, didn’t you?” Geralt nodded. “Then let's see if you can eat it now and if not I will eat it tomorrow and make you something else now. How does that sound?”
Geralt’s heart felt so full. He really didn’t know how he deserved Jaskier. Jaskier was already standing and about to go to the kitchen, when Geralt caught his hand. Curiously Jaskier looked back.
All the words left Geralt. How was he supposed to even begin to express what Jaskier meant to him and how grateful he was for everything Jaskier did? But maybe he didn’t need big speeches. Maybe it was enough to just show his gratitude.
“Thank you, Jaskier. For everything.”
A soft smile spread across Jaskier’s face. He leaned down and pressed another kiss to Geralt’s lips.
“For you, my dear? Always.”