The black coffee isn't a lie, exactly-- he'll drink coffee however he can get it, and sometimes it's easier to just ask for it black rather than to rattle off his preferred order. People take one look at him and make assumptions, because his big, brutish looks imply certain things about him. He doesn't always have the energy or desire to go against people's expectations of him-- and, really, what's one black coffee or one whiskey when he'd rather have a cocktail? He doesn't want the attention, the looks, the shit from Lambert if he orders something more complicated than a Jack and coke.
Jaskier has a moment of histrionics about the supposed betrayal of having to be coerced into trying his cookies-- which, really, he didn't, he ate them just fine. Especially after that weed had kicked in and he'd gotten hungry.
"Jaskier has better things to do than mess with my hair," Geralt says. The musician isn't a hairdresser, anyway, it's not his job to go around and make sure that Geralt looks presentable. He has music to write and... other things to do, presumably.
At least Jaskier finds it amusing.
"It wouldn't be a bad thing, Geralt, if you showed up to one of these meetings at least looking a bit presentable," Yen says. "That means wearing a shirt that has never been sullied by horse shit."
Geralt grunts in response and looks to see if the waitress is coming back with that drink yet. He could really use it, even if he couldn't drink very many of them because he'd driven.
"What were you here to talk to Mom about, Jaskier?"
Bless Ciri's little fangirl heart, for being willing to carry the conversation where Geralt wouldn't. She's over the moon right now, finally getting the chance to talk to one of her favorite music artists after weeks of being denied.
He thinks the whole deal is just a teen being a teen, but then Yennefer jumps in and approves of the idea. Jaskier worries his lower lip for a second, trying to get a good read of Geralt's reaction and how much Cirilla truly means it. Teasing your dad is one thing, having one of your favorite singers being all buddy with him and even become his personal stylist is another one - he doesn't want her to feel weird, uncomfortable. Then again, it's a little late for that, isn't it? They've fucking cuddled. She just doesn't know about it.
...or knows at least part of the story, apparently. She's unfazed by her dad being friends with him, if anything, she seems to be eager to take advantage of it. Well then, Jaskier thinks as he takes a sip of his drink for some liquid courage, here goes nothing.
"I actually wouldn't mind - I like playing stylist. And Yennefer is right, you need a better wardrobe! A shopping trip is in order, Geralt."
He slips into his gotta-push-Geralt-into-doing-things bossy side without meaning to, but it seems the ladies don't mind. In fact, judging by Ciri's grin and Yen's knowing look, they both approve. Big time. The waitress arrives then with Geralt's drink and menus for everyone, Jaskier waits until he's gone to answer Cirilla's question.
"As you probably already know from all my retweets, Pride is next weekend, and your mother and I will be helping out. Both of us are involved with many organizations, and we've confirmed I'll even get to perform!" He explains as he glances at the menu he takes from the pile. But soon blue eyes are quickly moving from face to face around the table, his whole body vibrating with excitement. "It would mean a lot to me if you'd come! Because it shows support for the cause AND my art, aaaaand it's also my--"
Cirilla gasps. "Right! It is your birthday!"
Jaskier has to laugh - it's flattering, honestly. "You'd be correct, little lady." She perks up at that, liking the nickname. "It's my birthday, so you'd be celebrating with me. It'll be lots of fun." He pauses as his eyes stay on Geralt this time. "My buddies will take me to a bar afterward, all friends of mine are invited."
It takes him a second to realize he's staring, so he clears his voice and nods at Yennefer to show she's included in that invitation as well. But it's pretty damn clear who is the person he wants to show up the most...
A shopping trip. Jaskier might as well have put a gun to his head, he'd handle that stress better. A shopping trip meant getting marched around from shop to shop and put into uncomfortable clothing that would be itchy and pinch in strange places and restrict his freedom of movement, and then having someone else pay absurd amounts of money for said uncomfortable clothing that he wouldn't even want to wear. If they were going to spend so much cash on something like shirts and pants, shouldn't they at least be comfortable? And he understands having clothes that he mucks out stalls in and clothes that he goes to nice places in and that these wardrobes should be kept separate, but do all of the nice clothes have to be so awful?
Thankfully, they all move on from the idea of putting Geralt into clothes, and into the reason that Jaskier's sitting at this table to begin with.
Aside from the fact that it'll soon be his birthday, apparently-- and Geralt is briefly concerned at the fact that Ciri knows Jaskier's birthday before he remembers that it's on his Twitter profile and he's a semi-famous musician-- and that Pride weekend coincides with it. It makes complete sense that Jaskier would want to be at Pride, considering that he's part of that community, and even more sense that he'd want to perform at it. The fact that Yen's involved with organizations that are a part of the celebrations makes sense, too, so there's no reason for the two of them not to collaborate.
All friends of mine are invited.
Ciri seems to take that as an invitation extended to her, because she perks up again.
"Oh, could we go, Dad? It'll be fun, and we can see Jaskier play! On his birthday!"
Geralt is thankful for the drink-- it buys him time while he takes a sip. "We'll see, Ciri."
As quickly as he usually concedes to his daughter's whims, Pride is, well, Pride. It's for the people of that community to celebrate, and he doesn't want to be another straight man bursting into a place that isn't for him. It would be breaking the schedule a bit, since he's supposed to have Ciri with him that day, but maybe he could arrange for Yen to take her. She's always been strict about keeping to the agreed-upon schedule, but in light of all this, she might bend a little.
"If you're waiting on my blessing, I see no reason for her not to go, assuming you don't have something else lined up. That's your weekend, if I recall."
He frowns. He really didn't want to get into the details of this right now, but apparently Yen's opening up the conversation. "We could make an adjustment."
"Is there some reason that you wouldn't be able to go? You know how I feel about last minute changes." The way she's looking at him is... more amused than anything, as though she knows what's going on in his head and thinks it's endearingly stupid.
"I'm a straight man, Yen," he says, since they're apparently being blunt today. "I don't want to overstep."
Yen snorts, right at the same time that Ciri says Daaaad! in a voice that's half whine, half secondhand embarrassment. "You do realize that they aren't going to check your sexuality at the door, don't you, Geralt? No one's going to mind if you're there to show support."
Like it happened with the idea of a shopping trip and hairstyling, Jaskier should be taking this chance to do a bit more of pushing-Geralt-into-doing-fun things. Cirilla is involved in this, however, and Jaskier knows that's where the line is drawn. He shouldn't meddle - at least, not in front of her. Usually he doesn't give a fuck, he will call out parents for being assholes in public spaces... but he promised Geralt, and he doesn't want to fuck up.
Maybe he could text him later, try to convince him privately? But it seems Yen is doing the job right now, and perhaps Jaskier could--
I'm a straight man, Yen.
Somewhere in England, Elizabeth Petra Pankratz is laughing her ass off.
Jaskier removes the straw from his glass and downs his drink in one go. Fuck, fuck, fuck. How could he be so stupid? Isn't he always talking about destroying gender roles? Well, here is Geralt, being so comfortable with his sexuality that he doesn't mind platonic cuddling another dude. Or perhaps it's just all the being a hermit deal that makes him awkward at socializing and desperate for a gentle touch...
It doesn't matter. He's always known this could happen. His sister is right, he's an idiot for having allowed this interest to develop into a genuine crush. Now he has something clutching at his heart that alcohol won't be able to kill today. And the worst part is, he finds himself finding his old idea of still want to be friends continuing to be true. He doesn't want to lose Geralt's company for some damn reason, no matter how it's going to pain him for a while.
"Yen is right, Geralt," he chimes in after clearing his voice. He can do this! He's gotta treat the situation as if Geralt was any other friend. This is fine (it isn't). "We don't check. And even if we did, we'd let you in-" He gestures the quotation marks. "-anyway. We want support. Support is important. A father teaching his daughter about equality from a young age? That's a powerful message. As long as you don't speak over us, you're welcome to come. We have ally merch for you to wear, rainbow not required!" He tries to sound teasing, but he isn't sure he achieves it. He's tense, and he knows it.
"See, dad, they need us!" Cirilla adds next, having learned from her mother some techniques in order to convince her dad to do things. "And Jaskier is your FRIEND! Goods friends go to each other's birthday parties!"
"Geralt's is November 1st, by the way, since I'm sure he hasn't provided that information freely," Yennefer comments with a smirk. Her plan works, Jaskier gasps and hurries to add the date on his phone calendar so he doesn't forget. It's obvious that Jaskier will do something for Geralt when the time comes - if that doesn't add on the ranch DILF guilt, nothing will.
Geralt has no idea what kind of crisis he just inspired in Jaskier with five short words.
Between his daughter's pleas and both Yen and Jaskier's assurances, though, there's no good argument for him not to attend the parade. Which is fine, he doesn't have a problem with going, so long as he's not going to be overstepping any boundaries, that it's open for anyone to attend regardless of whether they belong to the group or not.
Something about Jaskier still seems... off, though. Forced, maybe. There's tension in his shoulders where there wasn't any a few minutes ago, and he keeps doing this odd little fidget with his fingers, rubbing the tips of them against his thumb. He had been just as vocal as Yen in his insistence that it would be fine if Geralt was there, but... maybe he wasn't as all right with it as he said. It's a large event, at least, so they could avoid each other if Jaskier really didn't want to see him there, right?
"No reason not to go, then," he says, and Ciri beams at him in response.
Yen meddles a little more, as she's wont to do, and tells Jaskier when his birthday is, but otherwise brunch passes relatively easily. After food and drinks, he and Yen and Ciri hash out her schedule for the next few months, making sure that there's time for her both at the ranch and going on Yen's trips with her. She has overseas clients that she sometimes has to go and meet in-person, and it's easy to take a few more days to spend with her daughter and sightsee.
The time leading up to Pride is, undoubtedly, far more hectic for Jaskier than it is for Geralt. Aside from Ciri claiming that they needed to have face paint, all Geralt really needed to do was figure out where the fuck he was going to park when they got into the city that day. And while that is a logistical concern, since a number of roads were going to be shut down for the parade, it's a relatively small one.
The day of, Ciri asks him to paint a flag on her cheek-- pink, purple and blue. He sits down with her at the table with the face paints and puts careful stripes on her face, as big as she wants it, trying to keep them as neat and even as he could. When it was done to her satisfaction, he put the lids back on the paints and cleaned up a little smear of blue on her chin with a tissue.
"Something you want to talk about?" he asks, and she shakes her head and says maybe tonight. He presses a kiss to her forehead and tries not to think about how quickly she's growing up.
When they get to the parade, after at least twenty minutes of Geralt trying in vain to find a decent parking spot and having to settle for a several-block walk, it's packed-- throngs of people in the streets, dressed riotously in rainbow colors and waving all manner of flags around. Geralt can identify most of them by now, after he'd done a little research so that he wouldn't make a complete ass of himself at this thing.
He carries Ciri's bag for her while they move through the crowd, his hand in hers so that they don't get separated. There's time until Jaskier's show, and Ciri already read through the events planned for the day and marked off the things that she wants to go to, some speakers and some other DJ that she wants to catch and such. Everywhere she goes, people are friendly and celebrating like it's Mardi Gras, and she collects an impressive collection of pins and stickers that are being handed out. She tucks the stickers into the bag to put on notebooks later, and latches the pins onto the straps of the horse backpack that Geralt has slung over his shoulder, until there's no more room for them.
When it gets close to the start time for the show, the two of them make their way over to the venue where he's playing, with enough time to squeeze in before the place hits its occupancy limit.
Hectic doesn't even start to describe Jaskier's week. There's so much to do! Rehearsal, organizing and planning, promotion, choosing the right songs, the right clothes, the decorations for the stage, keeping up with social media, uploading a new video, blocking bigots, communication with organizations and sponsors... It's crazy, and Jaskier almost drives himself mad with all the work. Luckily for him, he gets help in the form of a surprise visit in the middle of the week.
And that surprise visit is now approaching father and daughter to stand next to them in the venue, a grin on her face that Geralt may find familiar.
"But if it isn't the famous Geralt Rivia," an English accent comments. "I've been wondering if I'd get to meet you today. Jas is going to be ecstatic."
Elizabeth Petra Pankratz shows up a lot in Jaskier's social media, so most fans easily recognize her from there - or in Geralt's case, from Jaskier's phone wallpaper. She's a couple of inches shorter than her brother, and while most of her facial features don't make her look very alike to him, two things definitely are the same: the smile, and the bright blue Pankratz eyes. Another thing they have in common is a good sense of style: for Pride, she's wearing a rainbow skirt with a white blouse plus comfortable sandals to walk in. Her long blond hair is up in braids, a purse hangs on her shoulder, and in her hands she's carrying a sign. On one side of it, there's a rainbow heart that says "free sister hugs". On the other side, some simple words in black: As Jesus said about gay people: " ". Yes, the blank is on purpose.
One perfectly manicured hand lets go of said sign, though, to be extended towards Geralt for shaking.
"My name is Elizabeth. I'm--"
"You're Jaskier's sister!" Ciri cuts in, excited to show more of her famous singer knowledge.
"Correct!" Lizzie replies with a laugh. "And you must be Cirilla. I've heard a lot about you two." The glint in those blue eyes Geralt perhaps also may recognize: it's the one that says this Pankratz is being nice and friendly for now as a way to lure you in under a sense of security, but soon she'll strike. "Having fun so far? Jas said this is your first Pride."
Geralt recognizes the woman who approaches them before she even introduces herself; he'd seen her face in Jaskier's Instagram pictures and on his phone background. His sister. In person, the Pankratz resemblance is even more pronounced. They have the same wide blue eyes, delicate pink lips. She is, as everyone else, dressed fantastically in Pride colors, and holds out a hand for Geralt to shake. He takes it briefly-- best not to be rude to Jaskier's sister, or else he'd hear no end of it. The last thing that he wants is to get thirty texts in a row about how he's the rudest, most boorish brute to ever exist because he didn't shake Jaskier's sister's hand.
As can only be expected, Jaskier's chatted with his sister quite a lot about his horse ranch acquaintance and said horse rancher's daughter. This could be either good or bad, considering the musician's gossipy tendencies, and Geralt isn't sure which yet. She's like Yen in that regard, waiting for the perfect moment to drop whatever information she has. Geralt will simply have to wait and see what she plans on doing, and then mitigate the damage when it comes.
"Been fine," Geralt says, and thankfully he doesn't have to carry the conversation far past that, because Ciri is more than happy to take over for him. She excitedly tells Elizabeth about the things they've gone to see today, and about how much she's looking forward to Jaskier's show, and probably goes off on a bit of a tangent about the musician's discography. Probably a longer one than Elizabeth needs to hear, considering that she's his sister and knows all of this stuff already. But Geralt lets her talk, because it's good to see her excited about something and he doesn't see the harm in letting Ciri tug the backpack off of his shoulder so that she can show Elizabeth all of the buttons and stickers that she'd gotten.
And there's also that part about not having to carry the conversation. The less that Geralt's forced to talk, the better for everyone.
Things continue in this vein for a bit, until the lights dim, signaling that the show is about to start. Geralt taps Ciri's elbow to get her attention, and she stops in the middle of whatever she was talking about.
"Jaskier's about to go on."
Which is a good distraction from talking Elizabeth's ear off. You're welcome, lady.
While Elizabeth has definitely been annoyed in the past by people approaching her only out of interest, it isn't the case with Cirilla. She's a genuine fan and sure, many of the things she's saying Lizzie has already heard a thousand times, but it's fine - because it's not the words themselves that matter, it's the adoration she puts in them. It makes her so happy to see her brother's passion reach hearts and build a legacy, she couldn't be any prouder.
So Lizzie chats along, occasionally throwing questions at Geralt as well and not getting much in return. How is her brother crushing on this bloke again? He's obviously not a bad guy, don't get her wrong, but they seem to be polar opposites. The kind of man Jaskier would want for a fuck or two, not for... whatever is going through his mind right now. It worries her, she must admit.
Their chat is interrupted when Jaskier finally appears on the stage, and his looks today sure kill Lambert's Braveheart joke. The celtic cape and the tight pants are still there, but his make-up, instead of being traditional, comes in the way of a rainbow to go with the date. The pride motif doesn't stop there, though, under his cape he's wearing very specific colors as well. His guitar though... he leaves it against a speaker, surprising everyone except Lizzie, who already knows what's going on. Jaskier takes the mic off the stand and as recorded music starts playing behind him (another anomaly) he starts a rendition of Don't rain on my parade.
"He's aware it's mostly young people that know him," Lizzie explains to Geralt and Ciri. "And today it's about inclusion. So he'll do a mix of his own songs and classic 'gay anthems' so everyone feels welcome."
Don't rain on my parade fades away into Love Run, and when his song is done, then he finally talks to the public with the most excited of grins on his face.
"I've been going to Pride since I started college." A nicer, sneaky way to say since I left my family. And the tone of his voice carries that weight in it: it's not a performer saying hi, it's a queer person sharing his experience. "But this is the first year I'm attending Pride -AND spending my birthday too!- away from my hometown. Ah!" He puts a finger up. "That doesn't equal spending it away from family, however! Because I'd like to think of us as a big family that takes care of each other. We've got each other's backs, isn't that right?" Everyone goes aww, and suddenly Jaskier smirks. "Also because my sister is here. Say hi, sis!"
While everyone laughs at Jaskier's trick, Lizzie puts up her arm and waves, making it easy for her brother to find her in the crowd... next to his crush and the daughter. Jaskier's eyes widen for a moment before his face softens with genuine delight, and he thanks all the gods he doesn't believe in that people will think he's reacting to Elizabeth.
"Make sure not to corrupt her with your bacon ways, alright?" More laughter from the public. "I'm Jaskier, I'm proudly bisexual, I'm here to tell all of you that you matter... and this is Defying Gravity."
Folk music rarely allows him to show how high his voice can go, so Jaskier has fun with this one. Just like Elizabeth explained before, he alternates his own songs with covers, trying to attract a public as varied as possible. When the show ends and he's about to say his goodbyes, the crowd starts singing happy birthday for him, making him feel more emotional than he already is. Lizzie sings along, obviously, while she searches for something in her purse: a black marker that she hands to Ciri.
"The fans have prepared a surprise for him," she explains when the singing is done and points behind them where a bunch of fans are crouching next to a huge pride flag that has a buttercup painted on the center. "Why don't you write something for him too?"
Cirilla jumps at the opportunity and once she's out of sight, Lizzie turns to Geralt, determined to get a word or two nailed to this man's brain. It won't be long before Jaskier is done taking pictures with all his fans, so she's gotta be fast.
"This probably isn't news for you, but my brother is a very social person. He needs people, and he likes being needed in return. That's why he gets attached to friends and acquaintances rather quickly." She sounds fond but also a bit exasperated by Jaskier's antics. "He likes it here, I can tell. He likes the city, he likes his new apartment, he likes Priscilla and Essi... and he likes you, for whatever reason. No offense." She shrugs with one shoulder - she doesn't think it would be fair to sugarcoat it. Geralt seems to be a smart man, he must know how different he and Jaskier are. "He's put his trust in you, regardless if you asked for it or not. I know Jas can be a bit of a nuisance sometimes, but he's also loyal to a fault. I won't ask you to take care of him - he can take care of himself. But I will ask you not to play games with him, alright?"
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Jaskier has a moment of histrionics about the supposed betrayal of having to be coerced into trying his cookies-- which, really, he didn't, he ate them just fine. Especially after that weed had kicked in and he'd gotten hungry.
"Jaskier has better things to do than mess with my hair," Geralt says. The musician isn't a hairdresser, anyway, it's not his job to go around and make sure that Geralt looks presentable. He has music to write and... other things to do, presumably.
At least Jaskier finds it amusing.
"It wouldn't be a bad thing, Geralt, if you showed up to one of these meetings at least looking a bit presentable," Yen says. "That means wearing a shirt that has never been sullied by horse shit."
Geralt grunts in response and looks to see if the waitress is coming back with that drink yet. He could really use it, even if he couldn't drink very many of them because he'd driven.
"What were you here to talk to Mom about, Jaskier?"
Bless Ciri's little fangirl heart, for being willing to carry the conversation where Geralt wouldn't. She's over the moon right now, finally getting the chance to talk to one of her favorite music artists after weeks of being denied.
no subject
...or knows at least part of the story, apparently. She's unfazed by her dad being friends with him, if anything, she seems to be eager to take advantage of it. Well then, Jaskier thinks as he takes a sip of his drink for some liquid courage, here goes nothing.
"I actually wouldn't mind - I like playing stylist. And Yennefer is right, you need a better wardrobe! A shopping trip is in order, Geralt."
He slips into his gotta-push-Geralt-into-doing-things bossy side without meaning to, but it seems the ladies don't mind. In fact, judging by Ciri's grin and Yen's knowing look, they both approve. Big time. The waitress arrives then with Geralt's drink and menus for everyone, Jaskier waits until he's gone to answer Cirilla's question.
"As you probably already know from all my retweets, Pride is next weekend, and your mother and I will be helping out. Both of us are involved with many organizations, and we've confirmed I'll even get to perform!" He explains as he glances at the menu he takes from the pile. But soon blue eyes are quickly moving from face to face around the table, his whole body vibrating with excitement. "It would mean a lot to me if you'd come! Because it shows support for the cause AND my art, aaaaand it's also my--"
Cirilla gasps. "Right! It is your birthday!"
Jaskier has to laugh - it's flattering, honestly. "You'd be correct, little lady." She perks up at that, liking the nickname. "It's my birthday, so you'd be celebrating with me. It'll be lots of fun." He pauses as his eyes stay on Geralt this time. "My buddies will take me to a bar afterward, all friends of mine are invited."
It takes him a second to realize he's staring, so he clears his voice and nods at Yennefer to show she's included in that invitation as well. But it's pretty damn clear who is the person he wants to show up the most...
no subject
Thankfully, they all move on from the idea of putting Geralt into clothes, and into the reason that Jaskier's sitting at this table to begin with.
Aside from the fact that it'll soon be his birthday, apparently-- and Geralt is briefly concerned at the fact that Ciri knows Jaskier's birthday before he remembers that it's on his Twitter profile and he's a semi-famous musician-- and that Pride weekend coincides with it. It makes complete sense that Jaskier would want to be at Pride, considering that he's part of that community, and even more sense that he'd want to perform at it. The fact that Yen's involved with organizations that are a part of the celebrations makes sense, too, so there's no reason for the two of them not to collaborate.
All friends of mine are invited.
Ciri seems to take that as an invitation extended to her, because she perks up again.
"Oh, could we go, Dad? It'll be fun, and we can see Jaskier play! On his birthday!"
Geralt is thankful for the drink-- it buys him time while he takes a sip. "We'll see, Ciri."
As quickly as he usually concedes to his daughter's whims, Pride is, well, Pride. It's for the people of that community to celebrate, and he doesn't want to be another straight man bursting into a place that isn't for him. It would be breaking the schedule a bit, since he's supposed to have Ciri with him that day, but maybe he could arrange for Yen to take her. She's always been strict about keeping to the agreed-upon schedule, but in light of all this, she might bend a little.
"If you're waiting on my blessing, I see no reason for her not to go, assuming you don't have something else lined up. That's your weekend, if I recall."
He frowns. He really didn't want to get into the details of this right now, but apparently Yen's opening up the conversation. "We could make an adjustment."
"Is there some reason that you wouldn't be able to go? You know how I feel about last minute changes." The way she's looking at him is... more amused than anything, as though she knows what's going on in his head and thinks it's endearingly stupid.
"I'm a straight man, Yen," he says, since they're apparently being blunt today. "I don't want to overstep."
Yen snorts, right at the same time that Ciri says Daaaad! in a voice that's half whine, half secondhand embarrassment. "You do realize that they aren't going to check your sexuality at the door, don't you, Geralt? No one's going to mind if you're there to show support."
no subject
Maybe he could text him later, try to convince him privately? But it seems Yen is doing the job right now, and perhaps Jaskier could--
I'm a straight man, Yen.
Somewhere in England, Elizabeth Petra Pankratz is laughing her ass off.
Jaskier removes the straw from his glass and downs his drink in one go. Fuck, fuck, fuck. How could he be so stupid? Isn't he always talking about destroying gender roles? Well, here is Geralt, being so comfortable with his sexuality that he doesn't mind platonic cuddling another dude. Or perhaps it's just all the being a hermit deal that makes him awkward at socializing and desperate for a gentle touch...
It doesn't matter. He's always known this could happen. His sister is right, he's an idiot for having allowed this interest to develop into a genuine crush. Now he has something clutching at his heart that alcohol won't be able to kill today. And the worst part is, he finds himself finding his old idea of still want to be friends continuing to be true. He doesn't want to lose Geralt's company for some damn reason, no matter how it's going to pain him for a while.
"Yen is right, Geralt," he chimes in after clearing his voice. He can do this! He's gotta treat the situation as if Geralt was any other friend. This is fine (it isn't). "We don't check. And even if we did, we'd let you in-" He gestures the quotation marks. "-anyway. We want support. Support is important. A father teaching his daughter about equality from a young age? That's a powerful message. As long as you don't speak over us, you're welcome to come. We have ally merch for you to wear, rainbow not required!" He tries to sound teasing, but he isn't sure he achieves it. He's tense, and he knows it.
"See, dad, they need us!" Cirilla adds next, having learned from her mother some techniques in order to convince her dad to do things. "And Jaskier is your FRIEND! Goods friends go to each other's birthday parties!"
"Geralt's is November 1st, by the way, since I'm sure he hasn't provided that information freely," Yennefer comments with a smirk. Her plan works, Jaskier gasps and hurries to add the date on his phone calendar so he doesn't forget. It's obvious that Jaskier will do something for Geralt when the time comes - if that doesn't add on the ranch DILF guilt, nothing will.
no subject
Between his daughter's pleas and both Yen and Jaskier's assurances, though, there's no good argument for him not to attend the parade. Which is fine, he doesn't have a problem with going, so long as he's not going to be overstepping any boundaries, that it's open for anyone to attend regardless of whether they belong to the group or not.
Something about Jaskier still seems... off, though. Forced, maybe. There's tension in his shoulders where there wasn't any a few minutes ago, and he keeps doing this odd little fidget with his fingers, rubbing the tips of them against his thumb. He had been just as vocal as Yen in his insistence that it would be fine if Geralt was there, but... maybe he wasn't as all right with it as he said. It's a large event, at least, so they could avoid each other if Jaskier really didn't want to see him there, right?
"No reason not to go, then," he says, and Ciri beams at him in response.
Yen meddles a little more, as she's wont to do, and tells Jaskier when his birthday is, but otherwise brunch passes relatively easily. After food and drinks, he and Yen and Ciri hash out her schedule for the next few months, making sure that there's time for her both at the ranch and going on Yen's trips with her. She has overseas clients that she sometimes has to go and meet in-person, and it's easy to take a few more days to spend with her daughter and sightsee.
The time leading up to Pride is, undoubtedly, far more hectic for Jaskier than it is for Geralt. Aside from Ciri claiming that they needed to have face paint, all Geralt really needed to do was figure out where the fuck he was going to park when they got into the city that day. And while that is a logistical concern, since a number of roads were going to be shut down for the parade, it's a relatively small one.
The day of, Ciri asks him to paint a flag on her cheek-- pink, purple and blue. He sits down with her at the table with the face paints and puts careful stripes on her face, as big as she wants it, trying to keep them as neat and even as he could. When it was done to her satisfaction, he put the lids back on the paints and cleaned up a little smear of blue on her chin with a tissue.
"Something you want to talk about?" he asks, and she shakes her head and says maybe tonight. He presses a kiss to her forehead and tries not to think about how quickly she's growing up.
When they get to the parade, after at least twenty minutes of Geralt trying in vain to find a decent parking spot and having to settle for a several-block walk, it's packed-- throngs of people in the streets, dressed riotously in rainbow colors and waving all manner of flags around. Geralt can identify most of them by now, after he'd done a little research so that he wouldn't make a complete ass of himself at this thing.
He carries Ciri's bag for her while they move through the crowd, his hand in hers so that they don't get separated. There's time until Jaskier's show, and Ciri already read through the events planned for the day and marked off the things that she wants to go to, some speakers and some other DJ that she wants to catch and such. Everywhere she goes, people are friendly and celebrating like it's Mardi Gras, and she collects an impressive collection of pins and stickers that are being handed out. She tucks the stickers into the bag to put on notebooks later, and latches the pins onto the straps of the horse backpack that Geralt has slung over his shoulder, until there's no more room for them.
When it gets close to the start time for the show, the two of them make their way over to the venue where he's playing, with enough time to squeeze in before the place hits its occupancy limit.
no subject
And that surprise visit is now approaching father and daughter to stand next to them in the venue, a grin on her face that Geralt may find familiar.
"But if it isn't the famous Geralt Rivia," an English accent comments. "I've been wondering if I'd get to meet you today. Jas is going to be ecstatic."
Elizabeth Petra Pankratz shows up a lot in Jaskier's social media, so most fans easily recognize her from there - or in Geralt's case, from Jaskier's phone wallpaper. She's a couple of inches shorter than her brother, and while most of her facial features don't make her look very alike to him, two things definitely are the same: the smile, and the bright blue Pankratz eyes. Another thing they have in common is a good sense of style: for Pride, she's wearing a rainbow skirt with a white blouse plus comfortable sandals to walk in. Her long blond hair is up in braids, a purse hangs on her shoulder, and in her hands she's carrying a sign. On one side of it, there's a rainbow heart that says "free sister hugs". On the other side, some simple words in black: As Jesus said about gay people: " ". Yes, the blank is on purpose.
One perfectly manicured hand lets go of said sign, though, to be extended towards Geralt for shaking.
"My name is Elizabeth. I'm--"
"You're Jaskier's sister!" Ciri cuts in, excited to show more of her famous singer knowledge.
"Correct!" Lizzie replies with a laugh. "And you must be Cirilla. I've heard a lot about you two." The glint in those blue eyes Geralt perhaps also may recognize: it's the one that says this Pankratz is being nice and friendly for now as a way to lure you in under a sense of security, but soon she'll strike. "Having fun so far? Jas said this is your first Pride."
no subject
As can only be expected, Jaskier's chatted with his sister quite a lot about his horse ranch acquaintance and said horse rancher's daughter. This could be either good or bad, considering the musician's gossipy tendencies, and Geralt isn't sure which yet. She's like Yen in that regard, waiting for the perfect moment to drop whatever information she has. Geralt will simply have to wait and see what she plans on doing, and then mitigate the damage when it comes.
"Been fine," Geralt says, and thankfully he doesn't have to carry the conversation far past that, because Ciri is more than happy to take over for him. She excitedly tells Elizabeth about the things they've gone to see today, and about how much she's looking forward to Jaskier's show, and probably goes off on a bit of a tangent about the musician's discography. Probably a longer one than Elizabeth needs to hear, considering that she's his sister and knows all of this stuff already. But Geralt lets her talk, because it's good to see her excited about something and he doesn't see the harm in letting Ciri tug the backpack off of his shoulder so that she can show Elizabeth all of the buttons and stickers that she'd gotten.
And there's also that part about not having to carry the conversation. The less that Geralt's forced to talk, the better for everyone.
Things continue in this vein for a bit, until the lights dim, signaling that the show is about to start. Geralt taps Ciri's elbow to get her attention, and she stops in the middle of whatever she was talking about.
"Jaskier's about to go on."
Which is a good distraction from talking Elizabeth's ear off. You're welcome, lady.
no subject
So Lizzie chats along, occasionally throwing questions at Geralt as well and not getting much in return. How is her brother crushing on this bloke again? He's obviously not a bad guy, don't get her wrong, but they seem to be polar opposites. The kind of man Jaskier would want for a fuck or two, not for... whatever is going through his mind right now. It worries her, she must admit.
Their chat is interrupted when Jaskier finally appears on the stage, and his looks today sure kill Lambert's Braveheart joke. The celtic cape and the tight pants are still there, but his make-up, instead of being traditional, comes in the way of a rainbow to go with the date. The pride motif doesn't stop there, though, under his cape he's wearing very specific colors as well. His guitar though... he leaves it against a speaker, surprising everyone except Lizzie, who already knows what's going on. Jaskier takes the mic off the stand and as recorded music starts playing behind him (another anomaly) he starts a rendition of Don't rain on my parade.
"He's aware it's mostly young people that know him," Lizzie explains to Geralt and Ciri. "And today it's about inclusion. So he'll do a mix of his own songs and classic 'gay anthems' so everyone feels welcome."
Don't rain on my parade fades away into Love Run, and when his song is done, then he finally talks to the public with the most excited of grins on his face.
"I've been going to Pride since I started college." A nicer, sneaky way to say since I left my family. And the tone of his voice carries that weight in it: it's not a performer saying hi, it's a queer person sharing his experience. "But this is the first year I'm attending Pride -AND spending my birthday too!- away from my hometown. Ah!" He puts a finger up. "That doesn't equal spending it away from family, however! Because I'd like to think of us as a big family that takes care of each other. We've got each other's backs, isn't that right?" Everyone goes aww, and suddenly Jaskier smirks. "Also because my sister is here. Say hi, sis!"
While everyone laughs at Jaskier's trick, Lizzie puts up her arm and waves, making it easy for her brother to find her in the crowd... next to his crush and the daughter. Jaskier's eyes widen for a moment before his face softens with genuine delight, and he thanks all the gods he doesn't believe in that people will think he's reacting to Elizabeth.
"Make sure not to corrupt her with your bacon ways, alright?" More laughter from the public. "I'm Jaskier, I'm proudly bisexual, I'm here to tell all of you that you matter... and this is Defying Gravity."
Folk music rarely allows him to show how high his voice can go, so Jaskier has fun with this one. Just like Elizabeth explained before, he alternates his own songs with covers, trying to attract a public as varied as possible. When the show ends and he's about to say his goodbyes, the crowd starts singing happy birthday for him, making him feel more emotional than he already is. Lizzie sings along, obviously, while she searches for something in her purse: a black marker that she hands to Ciri.
"The fans have prepared a surprise for him," she explains when the singing is done and points behind them where a bunch of fans are crouching next to a huge pride flag that has a buttercup painted on the center. "Why don't you write something for him too?"
Cirilla jumps at the opportunity and once she's out of sight, Lizzie turns to Geralt, determined to get a word or two nailed to this man's brain. It won't be long before Jaskier is done taking pictures with all his fans, so she's gotta be fast.
"This probably isn't news for you, but my brother is a very social person. He needs people, and he likes being needed in return. That's why he gets attached to friends and acquaintances rather quickly." She sounds fond but also a bit exasperated by Jaskier's antics. "He likes it here, I can tell. He likes the city, he likes his new apartment, he likes Priscilla and Essi... and he likes you, for whatever reason. No offense." She shrugs with one shoulder - she doesn't think it would be fair to sugarcoat it. Geralt seems to be a smart man, he must know how different he and Jaskier are. "He's put his trust in you, regardless if you asked for it or not. I know Jas can be a bit of a nuisance sometimes, but he's also loyal to a fault. I won't ask you to take care of him - he can take care of himself. But I will ask you not to play games with him, alright?"