after the fall festival

[every_blossom_blooming]

Nina couldn't remember the last time she had fun like this. She'd had fun, happy moments, but all of them against the backdrop of something moving beyond her control. Maybe Darrow was no different, in the end, but at least here she wasn't coerced into debt, she wasn't constantly waiting for the next thing she would have to do for the gang that offered her protection. She still worried: she worried about Ravka, about the moment she left behind, about her friends.

But all day today she had not let a single one of those things bother her. She'd danced until she felt like she would drop and only then did she let Geralt guide her away from the square and the music, and she happily pressed against his side, her arm draped around his waist.

"Thank you," she said warmly; in the dying sunlight her eyes had become a deep green. The gratitude was heartfelt, the feeling infused each simple word. Her cheeks were still flush from their joyous exertion. "It's been a long, long time since I danced like that."

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[every_blossom_blooming]

"If you start letting go, we're going down together," she cooed against him. The sound of Geralt's laugh, so close to her ear, sent another pleasant shiver through her. She could feel his excitement, too. "And if you think I'll stop doing what I'm doing just because we're in the middle of a sidewalk..."

Nina trailed off, her mouth curving into a wicked little grin. She bit his earlobe.

Thankfully they weren't far, now. She recognized the view, even if she was seeing it from a different angle. They weren't more than a block or two from her building, at most.

[worstsin]

Geralt managed to keep his face plain, to only make little more than a soft sigh. But his witcher heart betrayed him, the usual eep, slow beat of it jumping at the pleasure, the arousal that rolled warmly across his face and down his shoulders. He cursed, softly but colorfully, as he jogged them both up the stairs and toward the elevator of the building at the side of the lobby.

"If I ever thought such a thing, you've definitely disabused me of the notion."

[every_blossom_blooming]

"Smart man," she purred. The way they jostled together when Geralt took the stairs, she was certain it was two at at time, made her laugh. She held tighter to him, relented her teasing until they were safely in the elevator.

Nina dared to lean back then - there were plenty of walls to rest against and she trusted the witcher's sense of balance - and she grinned at Geralt.

"That was impressive," she breathed. She knew her cheeks were getting warm, could feel the way her pulse had picked up with arousal and excitement.

[worstsin]

"Which part?"

Geralt slapped the button for Nina's floor before leaning them both against one of the elevator's walls. He peered down at her with a wolfish look, brows low and flat.

"Me managing not to drop you, even though you were trying your best?"

The car lurched and started to move upward. Geralt took advantage of their momentary privacy, biting gently into the side of Nina's neck.

[every_blossom_blooming]

"Exactly that," she breathed, tipping her head back to give Geralt's mouth room. Nina grinned and her fingers curled tighter in his pale hair. The bite made her shiver and her thighs tightened against his sides.

"Especially up the stairs."

Her hands slid free, down between them to find the buttons of Geralt's shirt. She supposed she should try to wait until they'd gotten a blanket, until they were up on the roof, but--

The elevator dinged, announcing their arrival on her floor.

[worstsin]

Geralt rushed them out of the elevator and past a startled neighbor. He set Nina down only when they reached her door. He turned her around nd left her to find her key, busying himself with burying his nose in her dark hair, breathing it in with closed eyes. He thought he might actually be content just to stand like that for an hour, but the roof sounded better.

[every_blossom_blooming]

"Oh you are a nuisance," she breathed, but she was grinning the whole time as she found her key. Geralt was warm against her back, his breath against her neck; it made the ribbons in her hair flutter, and she was starting to think she would be happy to make the damn roof wait.

But, there was something to be said for continuing this under the stars.

Nina managed to get the door open with a breathless laugh and she spun to grab Geralt by his shirt, just in case he needed encouragement to follow her. She leaned up to kiss him.

"Find us a nice, thick blanket or two? And I'll grab snacks."

Because like hell she was going up there without some food and a bottle or two of wine.

[worstsin]

"Me?"

Geralt allowed himself to be tugged into the apartment. Reluctant as he was to part from Nina, the sooner he rustled up what she wanted, the sooner they could get settled in.

He went in search of blankets, opening her linen cupboard without preamble. He chose two that were soft and thick, and smelled the most like Nina.

Geralt found her in the kitchen, blankets slung over his shoulder. He chased after her, nosily, while she found food.

[every_blossom_blooming]

"Yes, you, sir. Saints, Geralt," she laughed, trying to stay out of his grip as she filled a picnic basket. She'd found it in a thrift shop and it was about time she got some use out of it.

"We'll never get out of here if you keep this up."

She danced out of reach and passed him a bottle of wine; Nina didn't sound remotely put off by the idea, and the grin on her face betrayed her delight.

When she was satisfied that she had enough snacks to tide them both over, and enough alcohol, she pushed Geralt back towards the front door. And she kissed him again, smiling against his mouth. "Come on, up to the roof with us."

[worstsin]

Geralt took the bottle and gave a false stumble away from Nina's push, before stalking to the door and holding it open for her. When they were outside of the apartment again, he shut the door and grabbed her back up, heading for the stairs to the roof access.

The very tall buildings were about the only benefit Geralt saw in the architecture of Darrow. Overall, he missed the narrow streets and sloping clay rooftops of Novigrad and Oxenfurt.

But from the roof, they might even be able to see the stars.

[every_blossom_blooming]

"If you hurt yourself, I'm not fixing it," she insisted as he swept her up again, as if she wasn't delighted; as if she actually meant it. She wriggled free only when they were out on the roof. It gave her a chance to set the basket down, and to give Geralt a hand with the blankets.

There was more of a breeze up there, but she liked it the way it made her dress move around her legs, the way it tugged at the ribbons tied to the flowers in her hair. Between the blankets, Geralt, and her own Grisha power, she wasn't exactly concerned about getting cold.

As soon as the blankets were spread out, Nina happily sank down.

"I do believe I promised you that you could pull all the flowers out of my hair and set it free," she said, trying to sound prim despite the warmth in her green eyes, despite the playful smile tugging at her mouth.

[worstsin]

"Yeah. You did."

Geralt was on top of her in moments, stretched, long and lean, above her. His face was a brief smile, before he pressed their mouths together and rolled them over, pulling Nina on top of him. He didn't let the kiss go.

When he finally pulled away, it was only to sit them up and pull Nina into a seat on his lap. Now that they were settled, he let himself lounge, loose-boned, on the blanket, satching Nina's face.

[every_blossom_blooming]

Nina made a sound between a laugh and something more breathless as Geralt leaned over her, kissed her. She leaned into it, managed not to break it as Geralt rolled them. Her knees pressed into the blankets, balancing herself until they were finally settled with her comfortable in his lap.

The way Geralt looked at her just then coaxed a blush into her cheeks, despite her better attempts to keep it from happening. She tried not to smile too brightly and lifted an eyebrow at him.

"Oh, is this a show now? Am I doing all the work?"

As she asked, she took off the flower crown she'd made, setting herself free of all the ribbons. Beneath it, her hair was still braided in a crown around her head, little flowers on pins tucked into the plaits.

[worstsin]

"What?" His mouth quirked up at the corner, expression gentle. "You're nice to look at."

Geralt reached out to pluck one of the pins from Nina's hair. He tucked it into his mouth to hold into it, before reaching for another and working it slowly out. The second joined the first.

"Sun's almost finished going down," he said, around the pins.

[every_blossom_blooming]

Nina rolled her eyes, but she couldn't hide how much the compliment delighted her. She plucked the pins out of Geralt's mouth, holding them in an odd little bouquet; she collected them as he took each out.

"You're pretty fine to look at yourself," she said as she let her fingers brush over his beard. She looked up at the sky, aware that doing so probably didn't make Geralt's job easier.

"It is." The sky was fading from brilliant shades of red and purple and pink to a deeper blue and grey.

[worstsin]

Geralt gave Nina a dubious look. For as often as Lambert and Eskel had called him pretty boy, he had never considered himself good-looking. He was neither the dark, hulking, boisterously masculine man favored by the Kaedweni women and the girls of Skellige, nor the unblemished, self-assured, confident handsomeness of Dandelion, which was favored by the girls in the south. He could only imagine himself as a mangy, yellow-eyed mutt.

Though Yennefer had never complained; he had other skills.

"It'll start getting chilly soon."

He worked out another few pins. They were getting sparse now.

"Might want to break into those wine bottles you thought to have us bring."

[every_blossom_blooming]

"Oh don't look at me like that. I think you're handsome, and I'm a difficult person to argue with."

At least she knew her flaws. Thanks to Zoya, she could enumerate every single one of them. She traced her fingertips down the straight bridge of his nose and gave him a light kiss.

Nina felt the braid start to loosen as Geralt ran out of pins. She leaned away from him to pull the basket closer, and the bottle of wine Geralt had carried out. There was a second one inside the basket itself, but that wasn't why she wanted it.

She put the pins in the basket, not wanting to lose them, and retrieved a cork screw.

"I wasn't sure how uncivilized we wanted to be up here. There's two cups in there, but we could always abandon all etiquette and drink straight from the bottle," she said as she worked the cork out.

[worstsin]

"I usually don't even bother with the cork screw," Geralt admitted. His teeth were always more than capable of removing a cork -- and nearly any other thing. But, he supposed he could drink out of the glasses, if Nina wanted it. He could be acquiescent, when he wanted.

He leaned forward while she worked, kissing along the back of her neck, which was pale and enticing with her hair still pulled up. As he pressed his lips against her hairline, the braid began to unwind, sliding heavily off the crown of Nina's head.

He stopped where he was, caught by the sudden overwhelming scent of her hair as it slowly slipped down against the side of his face. His heart gave a fumbling skip.

[every_blossom_blooming]

Nina's efforts stilled as Geralt's lips brushed down her neck. Goosebumps rose and faded across her skin in answer to the shiver that rushed through her. Her eyes closed, just for a moment.

She almost apologized for the way her braid just sort of fell, except she felt the skip in Geralt's chest and the catch in his breath. And that sent a pleasant heat spreading through her cheeks.

The cork popped out and set it and the screw inside the basket again. Nina tried not to dislodge Geralt from where he was as she lifted the bottle and drank right from it.

"I think you underestimate how much time I spent around soldiers and Barrel thugs," she quipped. "That I've been both of those."

[worstsin]

Geralt only murmured against Nina's skin. He kissed her neck again, before resting against it. He lifted his hands to smooth across her shoulders. He only broke apart to start working her hair out of the braid, breathing her in.

His fingers were gentle, slowly working out any tight weaves in the plait. For a few moments, everything was sandalwood and wild roses, and the smell of Nina's sweat from earlier, trapped since they'd been dancing. Geralt, though he usually had immense control over himself, let it go for just a moment. He gave a very low, very tight groan.

"You're a gorgeous Barrel thug, if that's what you are."

[every_blossom_blooming]

Nina closed her eyes as his breath, his voice, teased across her neck. His fingers were gentle in her hair as the braid came apart in loose waves.

She heard the sound that escaped him and it made heat coil low inside her. Her breath caught.

"I don't think I'm going to need this wine to keep warm if you keep this up," she said, her own voice quieter than she meant it to be, like she was afraid of breaking whatever spell held this moment.

"Geralt." She said his name like a plea, or like a promise, and Nina dared to peer over her shoulder at him.

[worstsin]

"Mm." Geralt looked up at her slowly, deep-set yellow eyes heavy-lidded, black pupils fat diamonds from the fading daylight, and arousal.

He reached around Nina for the bottle of wine and poured a mouthful between his lips, before leaning forward to kiss Nina, sharing the taste of it between them.

[every_blossom_blooming]

She leaned to meet the kiss, eager to taste him, to taste the wine on his tongue. Nina twisted in his lap as much as she could without compromising their balance.

It wasn't fair how quickly she felt lightheaded when they got started like this, dizzy and eager and aroused. She turned more toward him, careful, and wrapped the horsetail he wore his hair in around her hand.

[worstsin]

Geralt laughed, and gave a tug away from her, pulling against her grip, playful. It only barely hurt, and even then, only enough to feel pleasant.

"Careful," he said, pressed two fingers against her lips. His eyes wrinkled at the corners.

"We're out on a rooftop where anybody could just walk up on us. Not that the stars will care."

[every_blossom_blooming]

Nina smirked beneath his fingers. She liked the subtlety of his expressions, the way his smiles hid in his eyes and at the very corners of his mouth. She liked the feel of his callouses against her lips.

"Anyone that interrupts us out here is going to suffer a sudden fainting spell, and a headache when they wake up some hours later."

She'd never actually tried to use her power on someone else while in the throes of passion, but she was almost sure she could manage it.

"Or they'll just get a really good show."

Nina kissed his fingertips, holding Geralt's gaze as she did.