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Yennefer finds him somewhere in Kaer Morhen, approaching hastily and purposefully in a whirlwind of black skirts and crackling chaos. It's something urgent, he knows. He knows her better now. And her neat work is still visible in the image of the white cloth wrapped around his palms and fingers from last night. But she is still scary.
Jaskier asks her what happened and Yennefer replies that she needs his help. "Come quickly. You'll see." She hustles.
Of course the bard follows her.
As they approach Ciri's room, Jaskier is worried. But this is not for long, because when the door opens, he sees an excited and uncertainly smiling princess.
Behind her, on the table, there is a mirror, combs, hairpins, some bottles and boxes, several plates with treats. Jaskier is now confused, but Yennefer doesn't give him time to ask the question and pushes him into the room, closing the door.
"Girly Night!" Ciri happily announces and carefully takes him by the arm, heading towards the table and stool.
"Oh, but I'm afraid, my dear, I'm not quite a girl. Moreover, I am quite a Very Impressive man. Am I right witchiwife?" He thinks he can almost hear them both roll their eyes.
“This is not for you, Jaskier. Yennefer told me that you must be good at these things. I mean.. You've been in the courts, you know how the girls there must look. I mean.. Of course I'm going to be a witcher.. But looking at Yennefer and Triss.. I think I have the right to do both things. I want to do both things. Will you help me please?”
Ah, so that's what it's all about. Of course he can't say no to this white-haired girl who tries so hard to fight to be herself no matter what.
And so begins their "Girls Night".
Jaskier does Yennefer and Ciri's hair, they both do makeup for each other, periodically arguing with Jaskier that "this is too provocative for a young girl, she is not a thousand-year-old witch, witch", "but why shouldn't she learn for the future", "Agh Okay, do whatever you want!"
At the end, Ciri ended up painting Jaskier's eyes with coal and they both even worked on his hair so that now it is soft and shiny, despite all his protests, and constantly creeps into his eyes. He liked it better when the strands were stuck together and didn't get in the way, but what wouldn't you do for these two furies. Although, to be honest, in his heart he liked it all. For a moment he felt like himself.
By the time it got pretty late they were all tired of talking, telling stupid stories and having too much fun that hadn't been in their lives for too long. Jaskier sat on Ciri's bed with Yennefer, who seemed to be dozing off with her head resting on his lap, while Ciri herself cleaned up all the mess they had made, chewing on the dried fruit in the process.
“I didn't think it would work, but she seemed to be enjoying the evening. Who would have thought.” She spoke softly, trying not to disturb Yenn.
“We all need normalcy from time to time, whether you're a powerful witch or just a human.” Jaskier replied, looking at the dark sky outside the window.
“I had a lot of fun too, to be honest. Though I didn't think you were on such good terms that you'd come up with this whole plan for Yennefer.”
“Hmm. I wanted to thank her somehow. And I thought.. It seemed to me that maybe she never had this kind of "normalcy." She does not seem like someone who had an easy childhood and adolescence. I don't think she had many friends and the opportunity to have fun like that. I wanted to give it to her, even if only for one evening. Who knows what tomorrow will bring us.”
“You seem to know her quite well already.” Ciri muttered as she laid a spare mattress on the floor by the fireplace and got ready for bed.
“No. Not really. I don't know her yet. What I do know is that Yennefer is more than her chaos. More than her skills and talents. It is the personality that lies behind them that is really important. This is who she is. And you, too, Ciri. You are doing the right thing by fighting for yourself. Don't let anything or anyone affect who you are and who you really want to be. It is not your profession or abilities that define you, but who you are inside.”
The way Jaskier said it, for a second it seemed to Ciri that he was referring to himself too. But she did not comment on it, she simply nodded in agreement and climbed under the covers.
“Could you sing something, please?” She asked instead, after a moment of silence.
He smiled at her almost imperceptibly. He didn't sing for a long time. But maybe he can do it now.
Jaskier gently touched the black curls of the one who slept on his lap and took a quiet breath of air.
He sings for her tonight.
Quiet and soft.
And she smiled, invisible to him. She heard him.
She sleeps peacefully tonight.