The mention of sequins makes him laugh. "Goodness, no! No sequins, I promise. Interesting things they are, though. Can they actually be used finely? Do you have a dress with sequins?"
"Your taste is indeed spectacular, dear," he says with a nod. "Well, not counting your exes, of course."
He hasn't met Benjamin, so that plural means he's throwing Lenny in there. Yeah, he's totally counting him, thank you very much.
"New Year and Samhain are the only holidays I've recognized, so I look forward to them. I suppose the red and green thingy before the New Year counts as a winter solstice? But that's quite a stretch."
Jaskier doesn’t like any of the men she’s been with (or hasn’t even been with), just by the nature of their association with her. Prove her wrong!
“Christmas?” Midge asks, laughing at him referring to it as ‘the red and green thingy’. “Yes. It’s to celebrate the birth of Jesus, but it was a pagan holiday before Christians took it over. Can you imagine just co-opting a holiday like that?”
He doesn't like them because they're mean to him!!! The world isn't ready for Jaskier to see Benjamin's test in art.
He curses under his breath when he says the holiday was stolen. "Of course it was," he replies with a sigh. "Yeah, I've seen it before. Our Samhain was taken from the elves." He tilts his head at her. "I take it you don't do Christmas?"
Joel is jealous. Lenny just told Jaskier a truth that he wasn’t ready to face yet.
“No,” she replies. “I’m Jewish and it’s a Christian holiday.” Are they about to have a conversation about religion? How does this keep happening? “The two religions are linked, but they’re very different. Jesus was a Jew, and we regard him as a prophet, but there were people who thought he was the son of God, a savior of the people. Jews don’t believe that. The people that did spun off and created their own religion.”
He just wants to have a chat about the holidays! How does he keep finding himself in these situations?
"Right," he replies with another nod. There was something about this when he tried to do the reading, but it was hard to keep up with the details. He was both bored and annoyed by it. Everyone keeps saying that Christmas is a family thing, but he isn't sure how they're going to tackle it yet.
"Are festivals not a thing in this country? Or is it New York? I couldn't find any on the holiday list."
Christmas is pretty commercial these days. Midge doesn’t celebrate it, but even she can’t escape from all of the traditions that have leaked into secular life. Still, it helps that she lives in a place with a lot of other Jews. It’s not like other cities or small towns where Christmas is everywhere and everything shuts down on Christmas Day.
"I'll take that as a no then," he says with a mix of amusement and disappointment. "You know... festivals! Music, dancing, food booths, game booths, lanterns, handicrafts, archery, jugglers..."
And of course, prayer, but he isn't going to include that.
Edited 2025-12-27 02:54 (UTC)
I have no idea when festivals became a thing so we’re just going with this
“Oh,” she says, after thinking for a moment. “I know what you mean now. Like the spring festival in Central Park? Those are usually put on by local cities and aren’t tied to any one religion, but I guess something like that is technically celebrating the coming of spring, something that would have been celebrated a long time ago.”
"Yes, seasonal festivals work, that's exactly what I'm talking about! Harvest festivals, flower festivals!" Then it hits him. "Wait - there was a spring festival in Central Park? Fuck, I missed it."
At that moment, he sees a bookshop, and a cute, little, excited gasp leaves his lips as he drags Midge inside. A cat is sleeping on the table of new releases, and Jaskier gives her a scratch before checking the titles. "My Family and Other Animals" makes him laugh pretty hard.
“We’ll go next year,” Midge says with a smile. They have a lot to get through before spring comes, but she would like to think that they two of them can make it as a couple of they want to. And Midge really wants to.
As if they could pass a bookstore without Jaskier going in. “Accurate book title,” Midge comments. “I should probably look for a beach read.”
"Sounds like a plan~" It's an automatic response. He isn't even thinking about next year.
He takes a copy of "My Family and Other Animals" for himself before he keeps looking around. The romance section gets a chuckle out of him.
"These covers are insane," he say before picking up a particular one. "Next time we shall ride like this." He tilts his head. "Something tells me that 'a beach read' isn't just something you take to the beach."
Midge takes the book from him so that she can read the description. “Jaskier, I trust you, but that woman is falling off the horse.” Not doing a whole lot for her apprehension about riding. “They’re usually books that aren’t too heavy or serious. This one is perfect, actually.”
She loves a good medieval romance, which might explain her whole relationship with Jaskier.
He's checking out the poetry when she makes her decision, so he immediately comes back to her side when he hears it.
"I was joking! You're truly choosing that one?" He takes the book back and starts reading the description aloud with his best reciting voice, adding a bit of sultriness in there.
"He rode out of the darkness astride a coal-black stallion, appearing from nowhere like a phantom in the night. To the lords and ladies he robbed, he was an unprincipled highwayman, a common thief who deserved to swing from the gallows on Tyburn Hill. But to Lady Bliss Paynter, he was a thrilling enigma, an uncommonly skilled lover who had stolen nothing from her but a breathless kiss. Promised to an influential nobleman, Bliss knew she could have no future with the man who haunted her daydreams. But before she resigned herself to a loveless marriage, she would know one night of ecstasy in those forbidden arms... one night of wild passion in her lonely bed... one night of throbbing intimacy that would change all nights to come."
There's a big, knowing smile on his face as he hands the book back to her. "Oh, geez, I wonder why you would've possibly chosen this one. A reeeeal mystery." He kisses her cheek. "I'll borrow it later."
Midge turns the color of a tomato as Jaskier reads the back of the book aloud. People are starting to look, some of them with shock and mild horror. She snatches the book back when he’s done. “And I’ll bet you dollars to donuts that the supposed highwayman is actually a member of the nobility too.” Yeah. When art imitates life, huh?
She picks up another book. “Maybe I’ll also get this book on indoor plants to restore some of my dignity.”
I've downloaded the novel so he can read it aloud to her later lol
Sorry, Midge, he's laughing. "You always look so cute when you blush. I missed your blushing. I've corrupted you too far."
Jaskier waves at the people staring and winks at a college student. This is enough to make everyone look away - it's easy to judge in secret, but the minute they're noticed, they're cowards.
"You still have your dignity, dear." He returns to the poetry section. "Don't ever let anyone make you think otherwise."
But okay, he makes it up to her by reading from a Lord Byron book, too.
"She walks in beauty, like the night / Of cloudless climes and starry skies; / And all that’s best of dark and bright / Meet in her aspect and her eyes." He winks at her. "I think I'm taking this one too."
It’s true. Most of what he says or suggests no longer makes her blush. She just hates everyone staring at her. It’s not the same sort of attention that she gets onstage.
Taking her plant book, she follows him to the poetry section. The color in her cheeks this time is in response to his flattery.
“You can’t go wrong with Lord Byron,” she tells him.
He takes the Byron book before moving to check out the stationary. When he notices that Midge is blushing again, her cheek gets another kiss.
"You weren't kidding about the plants," he says when he sees that she took that book. "I can't imagine you gardening. What would happen to your pretty nails?"
“He is,” she replies, smiling when he kisses her cheek.
“This book is about indoor plants.” Midge shows it to him. “Not a lot of planting or digging in the dirt. I’ve got nowhere to plant anything anyway.” She’s seen people utilize planters on the roof, but she’s not going to do all that. “I keep a lot of flower arrangements around the apartment, but not any plants.”
"Some nice colorful plants would make the apartment even prettier," he agrees while choosing a bookmark. He's fallen in love with the concept since he arrived in this world and he's been collecting them. "If you need help, just text Geralt. It may get him to say more than one sentence at the time."
“And with this, I can be a domestic goddess,” Midge says jokingly. Or maybe not so jokingly. She’s been struggling trying to run a household as well as have a career all on her own.
He's ready to go to the register, to share stories about Geralt connecting with plants. But the other thing that Midge said is stuck in the front of his mind, and he just can't let go. So he leans against a bookshelf and tilts his head at her.
His hands tighten around the books as he wonders if he should poke at that a little more. She won't be able to run a household if she goes on tour - hell, she's already gone on tour. He wonders what she felt while she was part of Shy's troupe - did she actually miss running a household? Is she still clinging to that part of her previous life because she's still getting used to the change, or does she truly want it?
Jaskier is dying to ask, but he got the feeling that the Shy tour is still a sour subject. (He doesn't want a household.) Definitely not to be brought up in a fucking bookshop. (If she truly feels these things, he'll be right about their relationship not lasting long, won't he.) Of course, it's a little late to think about not being awkward in public, since he already opened his big fucking mouth.
He clears his voice and starts making his way to the register again, always keeping an eye out for any interesting books. "I'm guessing Joel will have the kids this whole weekend? I bet he liked that."
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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The mention of sequins makes him laugh. "Goodness, no! No sequins, I promise. Interesting things they are, though. Can they actually be used finely? Do you have a dress with sequins?"
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“I do!” She replies. “It’s probably best suited for a New Year’s Eve party, but I think it looks nice. You know my taste is impeccable.”
She picked him, after all.
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He hasn't met Benjamin, so that plural means he's throwing Lenny in there. Yeah, he's totally counting him, thank you very much.
"New Year and Samhain are the only holidays I've recognized, so I look forward to them. I suppose the red and green thingy before the New Year counts as a winter solstice? But that's quite a stretch."
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“Christmas?” Midge asks, laughing at him referring to it as ‘the red and green thingy’. “Yes. It’s to celebrate the birth of Jesus, but it was a pagan holiday before Christians took it over. Can you imagine just co-opting a holiday like that?”
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He curses under his breath when he says the holiday was stolen. "Of course it was," he replies with a sigh. "Yeah, I've seen it before. Our Samhain was taken from the elves." He tilts his head at her. "I take it you don't do Christmas?"
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“No,” she replies. “I’m Jewish and it’s a Christian holiday.” Are they about to have a conversation about religion? How does this keep happening? “The two religions are linked, but they’re very different. Jesus was a Jew, and we regard him as a prophet, but there were people who thought he was the son of God, a savior of the people. Jews don’t believe that. The people that did spun off and created their own religion.”
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"Right," he replies with another nod. There was something about this when he tried to do the reading, but it was hard to keep up with the details. He was both bored and annoyed by it. Everyone keeps saying that Christmas is a family thing, but he isn't sure how they're going to tackle it yet.
"Are festivals not a thing in this country? Or is it New York? I couldn't find any on the holiday list."
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“What kind of festivals?” she asks.
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And of course, prayer, but he isn't going to include that.
I have no idea when festivals became a thing so we’re just going with this
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At that moment, he sees a bookshop, and a cute, little, excited gasp leaves his lips as he drags Midge inside. A cat is sleeping on the table of new releases, and Jaskier gives her a scratch before checking the titles. "My Family and Other Animals" makes him laugh pretty hard.
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As if they could pass a bookstore without Jaskier going in. “Accurate book title,” Midge comments. “I should probably look for a beach read.”
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He takes a copy of "My Family and Other Animals" for himself before he keeps looking around. The romance section gets a chuckle out of him.
"These covers are insane," he say before picking up a particular one. "Next time we shall ride like this." He tilts his head. "Something tells me that 'a beach read' isn't just something you take to the beach."
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Midge takes the book from him so that she can read the description. “Jaskier, I trust you, but that woman is falling off the horse.” Not doing a whole lot for her apprehension about riding. “They’re usually books that aren’t too heavy or serious. This one is perfect, actually.”
She loves a good medieval romance, which might explain her whole relationship with Jaskier.
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"I was joking! You're truly choosing that one?" He takes the book back and starts reading the description aloud with his best reciting voice, adding a bit of sultriness in there.
"He rode out of the darkness astride a coal-black stallion, appearing from nowhere like a phantom in the night. To the lords and ladies he robbed, he was an unprincipled highwayman, a common thief who deserved to swing from the gallows on Tyburn Hill. But to Lady Bliss Paynter, he was a thrilling enigma, an uncommonly skilled lover who had stolen nothing from her but a breathless kiss. Promised to an influential nobleman, Bliss knew she could have no future with the man who haunted her daydreams. But before she resigned herself to a loveless marriage, she would know one night of ecstasy in those forbidden arms... one night of wild passion in her lonely bed... one night of throbbing intimacy that would change all nights to come."
There's a big, knowing smile on his face as he hands the book back to her. "Oh, geez, I wonder why you would've possibly chosen this one. A reeeeal mystery." He kisses her cheek. "I'll borrow it later."
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She picks up another book. “Maybe I’ll also get this book on indoor plants to restore some of my dignity.”
I've downloaded the novel so he can read it aloud to her later lol
Jaskier waves at the people staring and winks at a college student. This is enough to make everyone look away - it's easy to judge in secret, but the minute they're noticed, they're cowards.
"You still have your dignity, dear." He returns to the poetry section. "Don't ever let anyone make you think otherwise."
But okay, he makes it up to her by reading from a Lord Byron book, too.
"She walks in beauty, like the night / Of cloudless climes and starry skies; / And all that’s best of dark and bright / Meet in her aspect and her eyes." He winks at her. "I think I'm taking this one too."
omg yaaaassss
Taking her plant book, she follows him to the poetry section. The color in her cheeks this time is in response to his flattery.
“You can’t go wrong with Lord Byron,” she tells him.
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He takes the Byron book before moving to check out the stationary. When he notices that Midge is blushing again, her cheek gets another kiss.
"You weren't kidding about the plants," he says when he sees that she took that book. "I can't imagine you gardening. What would happen to your pretty nails?"
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“This book is about indoor plants.” Midge shows it to him. “Not a lot of planting or digging in the dirt. I’ve got nowhere to plant anything anyway.” She’s seen people utilize planters on the roof, but she’s not going to do all that. “I keep a lot of flower arrangements around the apartment, but not any plants.”
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“Geralt does all the gardening at your house?”
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He's ready to go to the register, to share stories about Geralt connecting with plants. But the other thing that Midge said is stuck in the front of his mind, and he just can't let go. So he leans against a bookshelf and tilts his head at her.
"Do you want to be a 'domestic goddess'?"
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“I don’t know. I want to be able to run a household and take care of my kids.”
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His hands tighten around the books as he wonders if he should poke at that a little more. She won't be able to run a household if she goes on tour - hell, she's already gone on tour. He wonders what she felt while she was part of Shy's troupe - did she actually miss running a household? Is she still clinging to that part of her previous life because she's still getting used to the change, or does she truly want it?
Jaskier is dying to ask, but he got the feeling that the Shy tour is still a sour subject. (He doesn't want a household.) Definitely not to be brought up in a fucking bookshop. (If she truly feels these things, he'll be right about their relationship not lasting long, won't he.) Of course, it's a little late to think about not being awkward in public, since he already opened his big fucking mouth.
He clears his voice and starts making his way to the register again, always keeping an eye out for any interesting books. "I'm guessing Joel will have the kids this whole weekend? I bet he liked that."
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