oofdlfveb

[consularmain]

HELP THEY'RE TRYING TO KILL ME

[the-winter-witcher]

Dying Embers

Pairings: Geralt x fem!reader x Jaskier

Summary: When you and the boys get drunk at a feast, things take a turn for the better

Warnings: implied smut

Word Count: 1593

A/N: I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it! Gif is not mine, found on Pinterest.

It starts off slow, the feelings between the three of you, and nobody can pinpoint exactly when it began.

Maybe it’s when you convince the two of them that you should all share a bed when you stop over at a tavern for the evening, we need to save money, you tell them, besides it’s cold and I don’t want to freeze. They hesitantly agree and the tavern owner eyes you warily as you pay for your shared room.

Nothing happens that night but you’re happy to be snuggled between the two men you care about most in the world- the bed is too small especially with Geralt’s hulking figure, but gods if it isn’t the most comfortable you’ve ever been in your life.

This carries on each time you stop somewhere, all of you justifying it as money saving, good finances, whatever you can to avoid the obvious underlying feelings that are there. 

Eventually it spreads to when you’re camping as well, I don’t know I’m just more comfortable when we’re next to each other is Jaskier’s reasoning, Geralt doesn’t say anything but wraps a strong arm round you and pulls you closer during the night.

The tipping point comes when you all have too much to drink one night, your at one of the fancy feasts that Jaskier loves so much and Geralt hates so much and you’re babysitting them both, making sure that neither of them get into too much trouble. 

Neither of them are able to keep their eyes off you for long through the night, you’d bought a new dress for the occasion and they had a hard time concentrating on anything else. They were both so used to seeing you in your worn leather armour that it was a shock to them. The dress was a beautiful deep teal colour that clung to you in just the right places, showing off the curves you normally hid beneath layers of clothing. Jaskier had nearly swallowed his own tongue when he saw you in it and Geralt had to pat the bard hard on the back to help him recover. He masked his shock a lot better, but you still saw his eyes widen and his pupil’s dilate when he took in your figure, almost as though he was devouring you with his eyes.

As the night progressed they started to get a lot bolder around you- you played it off as the alcohol influencing them when Jaskier leant over to plant a kiss on your cheek, and again when Geralt of all people places a hand on your rear as you pass him to get a drink. You try not to read too much into it, after all with you around all the time it had been such a long time since either of them had been with anyone, that combined with the alcohol you tell yourself it’s just them letting off some steam on the only person they feel comfortable enough around to do so.

You try to ignore the way the heat creeps up your cheek at their touch, try to ignore the way your heart hammers so hard in your chest you swear it could explode, and most of all you try to ignore the small nagging voice in your head that tells you that maybe, just maybe, they might return the feelings that you have for them. You refuse to to let yourself entertain the idea for even a minute, knowing that if you did and you were wrong it would break your heart. So instead you smiled at them, laughing at their touch and trying to enjoy yourself and live in the moment.

As the night wears on and the festivities start to die out you notice that the numbers in the grand hall are dwindling, much like the fire in the centre of the room, and you decide it is time to retire for the evening. Geralt and Jaskier are sat opposite each other at one of the large wooden tables, a tankard of mead in one hand and a round of cards in the other. You smiled as you looked at them, the dying firelight illuminated their features and they both looked so incredibly handsome; the blue of Jaskier’s eyes glittered in the dancing flames, and the shadows cast by the fire crept along Geralt’s jaw, defining it even more than you thought was possible. 

You knew better than to interrupt them during a game of Gwent and you definitely didn’t want to interfere when they looked so content, so instead you decided to head to bed alone. It was an odd feeling for you, one you weren’t used after spending so many of your evenings cuddled between the both of them, and you weren’t looking forward to it. 

As soon as you’re through the door to your shared room the tiredness hits you like a brick wall, settling deep in your bones and your heart. You undress slowly, changing into a new nightgown that you had also purchased due to the boy’s insistence that you could afford it now thanks to all the money you’d saved on lodgings, and settled down in bed. 

As you laid down to sleep you found it difficult to drift off, despite the alcohol that was coursing through you and the fatigue that had settled. The bed felt too big with just you in it and you longed for the feeling of Geralt’s hard body behind yours and Jaskier’s hand in yours. You didn’t know how it had come to this, how you’d ended up hopelessly in love with not one but two of your best friends. You tried not to dwell on the way they’d both touched you tonight, on the way Geralt’s hand had felt on you or the way Jaskier’s lips had felt. You knew it would only add to your sadness, after all they were both drunk, it meant nothing. As you started to fall asleep you replayed both moments in your head, trying to memorise the details as much as you could, knowing that it would never happen again.

You didn’t know what time it was when you awoke to the bed next to you dipping under the weight of it’s new occupier, but you let out of hum of appreciation at the movement, glad to finally have company. A large hand came to rest on your stomach as the man beside you reached over to hold you close, your body instinctively shuffling backwards to meet his as he did so. 

“Geralt?” your voice was low and laced with sleep as you muttered his name, and in response he greeted you with a soft sigh of acknowledgement. 

“Where’s Jaskier?”

“Hmm?” he breathes deeply for a minute before responding again, “Oh he left his lute somewhere, said he couldn’t sleep until he found it” Geralt’s breath fans along your neck as he speaks and you feel a shiver run along your spine, goosebumps raising where his breath had been. 

You let out an involuntary whimper at the feeling, the thought of his hands on you earlier in the night still fresh on your mind, and you realise too late that the noise has left your lips. 

You freeze up, all of the air sucked from your lungs as you realise the mistake, and you wait to see if he says anything. Instead you hear a deep chuckle come from the man behind you, you feel the vibrations of it in your chest as he pulls you even closer towards him.

“Hmm, what was that noise for?” his voice is low in your ear and his hand starts to make its way up from your stomach towards your chest, “was it something I said or have you just missed having me in bed with you?” His directness causes heat to flood through your body, straight to your core.

“Geralt... what, what are you doing?” your heart rate is through the roof and you know he can hear it, you swear it could burst through your ribs it was thumping so hard.

“C’mon Y/N, don’t play coy with me now, we’ve been dancing around this for so long…” his voice trails off as he begins to undo your nightdress, “but if you want me to stop, just tell me” his lips are against your ear as he keeps undressing you. 

“No… Please, please don’t stop” your voice is full of need for him as his hands graze your body, your nightdress fully undone and laying on the bed beneath you.

Geralt pulls away to look at you, his eyes usually a gorgeous amber tone, are blown wide and dilated with lust as he drinks in your now naked body.

“Beautiful…” he murmurs, “Jaskier sure is missing out on this, I wonder how long it will take him to realise he left his lute here...”

As if on cue Jaskier bursts through the door, smelling even more strongly of alcohol than the man at your side. “Geralt! Geralt I left my lute in here!” he announces as he strolls in, “why did you not…” his voice trails off as he takes in the scene in front of him and his eyes widen.

“Took you long enough” Geralt laughs, “now why don’t you join us? There’s plenty of room in the bed” 

Jaskier doesn't need any further invitation, and though his cheeks flush the same shade as yours surely are, he immediately undresses and makes his way to bed. 

“Now then, where were we?”

[urbanteeth]

Novel Prep

Thanks to @dimawriting and @maple-writes for tagging me!!

WIP: The Inbetween

Tagging: @drist-n-dither @theforgottencoolkid @minny-santa and uhh anyone else who sees this!

This gets pretty long so I’ll put it under a read more.

First Look

1. Describe your novel in 1-2 sentences (elevator pitch)

The crew members abroad the Perseus Space Station were tasked with investigating the first signs of early human-like civilization on an exoplanet. The truth behind the ruins scattered across the dying planet, however, is stranger, darker, older than anything they ever expected. 

2. How long do you plan for your novel to be? (Is it a novella, single book, book series, etc.)

As of right now, The Inbetween is a single book divided into 5ish parts. The POV will be third person. Still not sure if I want to switch between characters for each chapter or if I want each of the 5 parts told through the perspective of one of the main characters. I am playing with the idea of a sequel. I also want to write about the before and after the events of The Inbetween. There are also at least two AUs running around my mind so I might explore those too.

3. What is your novel’s aesthetic?

Dark skies full of stars, floating weightlessly, lonely planets, geometry, singularity, the smallness of existence, amorphous shadows on the wall, empty corridors, static, flickering lights, hearts racing from adrenaline, the taste of blood in your mouth as you run for your life

4. What other stories inspire your novel?

The Inbetween originated from me wanting to take some of my unused characters beyond them just being characters. The earliest drafts of The Inbetween were short stories inspired by Wolfgun’s music. The story eventually grew into what it is now thanks to a few episodes of Star Trek and Welcome to Nightvale. Lots of the scenes I currently have written were born from daydreaming to Carbon Based Lifeforms’s music. I would say CBL has had the biggest influence on the story.

5. Share 3+ images that give a feel for your novel

This one is for the last part of the book.

Main Character

6. Who is your protagonist?

There are five protagonists:

Emmett Reyes: Mexican-American, 19 (at the beginning of the story), aro/ace, trans, biologist

Johann Herschel: British-German, 20 (at the beginning of the story), bi, nonbinary, pilot and navigator

Neveen Jalal: Egyptian-American, 19 (at the beginning of the story), lesbian, chemist, starship medic, lowkey inspired by my high school chem teacher

Oliver West: Korean-Canadian, 20 (at the beginning of the story), gay, mechanic

Alternis: A.I., years active unknown, primarily used for security and scouting 

7. Who is their closest ally?

Their closest allies would be each other. Here’s some specific friendships:

Overall: they grow as close as family. Nothing like a near death experience out in the middle of the cold, indifferent void to make five kids bond for life. 

Neveen + Emmett: Nerd friends! With him being a biologist and her becoming a medic, they share a love for the subject. They bond over their love for their cultures. They teach each other words in their native tongues. 

 Johann + Emmett + Oliver: Partners in crime!! These three are as ride or die as you can get with a group of friends. While Johann isn’t always keen on the chaos, he still goes along with it because “who’s going to serve as your guys’s impulse control???” Secretly, he loves it. 

Oliver + Johann: Oliver becomes pretty supportive of all his friends and his relationship with Johann is no different. Oliver makes for a pretty good listener and he doesn’t mind hearing about his friend’s worries. He’ll offer some pretty good advice as well. 

Neveen + Oliver: Oliver is, without a doubt, the most social of all the crew members. Unlike him, however, Neveen is the exact opposite. He will respect her space if she needs it, but he is also there to make sure she doesn’t lose herself in it. In a lot of ways, he reminds Neveen of her own sister.

Emmett + Alternis: These two form a pretty close bond. Both share feelings of becoming static in life. Both struggle with insecurity and general feelings of anxiety that they are not good enough. However, they both also share a deep curiosity for the world around them. She likes to ask him questions knowing he won’t brush them off and he feels comfortable enough to ramble on about whatever subject is most interesting to him knowing that she is willing to listen with interest herself.

Bonus: 

Commander Mitch Connor + his crew: At first, Mitch was pretty hesitant to be this mission’s commander. They’re all kids, two of them fresh out of high school almost. However, he quickly learns that this crew is more than capable. They’re adaptable and fiercely resilient. They know how to use their strengths to their advantage and do so creatively. Most importantly, though, they genuinely care about each other.

8. Who is their enemy?

The story’s main antagonist is a weird hivemind entity that is partially made from various alien life forms and part alien tech. It’s main purpose is to find creatures its programming deems perfect specimens and then merge with (eat???) them to take on their abilities. The creature was once a technologically advanced alien race from a different dimension who sought to create the “perfect being”. No one’s really sure what “perfect being” meant for them, but eventually they, and most of their old universe, were all consumed by their creation. The entity then traveled across many other dimensions still seeking specimens to consume. While it has no definite shape or can even be considered a single animal, it’s still very much sapient. It’s hard to tell the age or if it was supposed to be machine or animal or even what species it originally was. However, the minds and voices of its creators live on with it. 

If you want an idea as to how it sounds, it’s a little like the Warpers from Subnautica but with multiple voices. Here’s a clip. 

9. What do they want more than anything?

They all have different dreams that they are pursuing, but they basically all want a life where they can be happy and have closure.

Emmett wants to be at peace with himself.

Johann wants to find a place that he can call home.

Oliver wants to protect the little he already has.

Neveen wants to achieve her dreams.

Alternis wants to belong.

10. Why can’t they have it?

Emmett is, first of all, much too doubting in himself. He worries so much that he can’t appreciate the things he has done right or the things he can do. He isn’t very kind to himself.

Johann misses the life he had on Earth. He and his family moved to a new planet because they don’t really like Earth and want to experience something new. But Johann never feels the same sense of “home” as he did on Earth. 

Oliver’s job is helping out his mother with their repair shop. So, when the shop is threatened with closure, he is desperate to find another job, but since he dropped out and never finished school, he’s having a really hard time coming up with something that will provide enough. This is why he ends up joining the space program. 

Neveen is in a somewhat similar boat. She has dreams of working as a doctor and all of her time and effort goes into studying for that. She, however, ends up getting rejected from three different schools in her area. She starts to feel like time is somehow running out for her.

Alternis has had a hard time. When she didn’t fit the expectations her creators set, she quickly discovered that her differences were seen as something flawed. She spent a lot of her early days either alone and she grew to be resentful towards people. But she wants to be accepted, so when they told her she was to be assigned to the Perseus Station, she had a lot of mixed feelings about the situation. 

11. What do they wrongly believe about themselves?

Emmett: not smart/good enough, not allowed to make mistakes

Neveen: her success determines her worth, has to do things just right or Else

Oliver: dumb for dropping out of college, is not much other than the comic relief in his friend group

Johann: thinks he can run from facing what’s really bothering him

Alternis: needs to have a purpose to be worth something to others, needs to change to be accepted

12. Draw your protagonist! (Or share a description)

Emmett: 5′2, curly brown hair, brown eyes, tan skin, a scar running from jaw to cheek, there’s a picture @auroradrawing made here!

Neveen: 5′5, long black hair, brown eyes, dark skin, red hijab

Johann: 6′2. dark blond hair, blue eyes, pale skin

Oliver West: 5′10, black hair, brown eyes, pale skin

Alternis:  i made a post on her appearance here

Plot Points

13. What is the internal conflict?

I would say that the overall internal conflict for all the characters is them struggling to understand that they are human which means that they are allowed to be wrong, make bad decisions, have emotions, and fail and none of this undermines their value in any way.

14. What is the external conflict?

The main external conflict is survival. They come into contact with a powerful interdimensional creature who is possibly hundred of thousands of years old or more and they have no idea how to stop it. After their station and only way home gets destroyed and they find themselves stranded with no way to let anyone know what’s happening, they realize that they have to find a way to at least repel the creature as it’s not just their survival at stake, but also that of their friends and family back on Earth.

15. What is the worst thing that could happen to your protagonist?

Death, probably. There’s a lot of things that would be left undone and unsaid and also literally no one else knows what is going on, so it could be a while before anyone back home realizes they’re never coming back. And that thought is one of the scariest things they can imagine.

16. What secret will be revealed that changes the course of the story?

Basically the purpose of the entity and them figuring out what it is and what it wants changes everything they were led to believe at first about the planet and the origin of the ruins.

17. Do you know how it ends?

Yes. They all get a happy ending because I’m done with the sad shit. Also happy endings are good?? Like give me more happy endings dammit! They go through so much shit and get tested so much, like, they deserve their happy ending. 

Bits and Bobs

18. What is the theme? 

You are stronger than you think. Let yourself be flawed. Things might not be okay, but they will work out. You have a place in the universe, no matter how small. Tomorrow is a new day.

19. What is a reoccurring symbol?

Darkness, geometry/symmetry, fire (?),static, lots of the names of things have meaning behind them

20. Where is the story set? (Share a description!)

There are two made up planets on which this story takes place. The first planet is Thesan-4. This planet is a desert-like planet. It’s in the Milky Way for sure, but I haven’t exactly figured out where yet. This planet is primarily used for military/astronaut training. At least 40% of the story will take place here. The other planet is an icy, Earth-like planet. I call this planet the Mirror World in my head but the actual name is pending. Here is where the remains of early civilization are found and this is where the Perseus crew is assign for their mission. At least 60% of the story will take place here.

21. Do you have any images or scenes in your mind already?

Hell yeah! Scenes and a general outline are all I have right now. A lot of the little details are still pretty vague though.

22. What excited you about this story?

Oh man, is “everything” an answer? I always wanted to write a story set in space, but my biggest issue was finding a good plot. Like, I had the characters and I had some vague idea of a setting, but no actual plot or conflict. This story spent a lot of time on the back burner and I honestly thought about abandoning it a few times. However, it has come to grow so much and I’m really happy I didn’t abandon it. I love the lore behind the antagonist and the character interactions and uhhh well damn. Everything!

23. Tell us about your usual writing method!

I think the very first thing I come up with is either the setting or the characters. Then, I make the characters that I feel would go best with the setting or vice versa. Other details like names and stuff come way later. 99% of my writing process is music. If I need a certain mood for a scene, I’ll put on some music that fits and I’ll listen to it a few times before actually writing. I find that this helps me come up with scenes so I don’t really struggle at that. Putting them down on paper is harder lol, especially when I can see at least three different ways to write the opening. But once I start writing, everything flows much easier.