To Heal A Lonely Heart

Home

I woke up to light shuffling, and opened my eyes to see Geralt roll off me carefully. It was dark outside, deep night.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you," he whispered through the darkness.

"It's alright, minne. Actually, I'm a little hungry, we only had breakfast today, remember?" I chuckled, climbing out of the bed and slipped on the first piece of clothing I could find – my husband's tunic, for me a short dress, "I'll go make dinner. Can you check up on the horses?"

Humming in agreement, Geralt got up and went to search for his trousers, which I had carelessly thrown into the room earlier. He cursed under his breath when he bumped his head against the sloping of the roof. I pressed my lips together to stifle a giggle, and with a snap of my fingers, lit all the candles we had sat up all over the house earlier.

A soft golden glow illuminated the room. Geralt finally found his trousers – in the far corner of the room.

"Next time just drop them," he chuckled as he pulled them on.

"Then I ask for you to do the same," I giggled, trying to retrieve my underwear from where he had thrown it – my panties were dangling from a wooden beam supporting the roof.

I stood on my tip toes, struggling to reach them. Chuckling, my husband walked over to where I was standing, his hand resting against the beam.

"I won't," he smirked down at me, watching me struggle. "This is just too adorable." He finally gave the fabric a little push, letting it fall right into my hands.

I pouted. "Arse," I muttered, slipping into my panties.

From in front of me, Geralt chuckled and pressed a kiss to my forehead. "I'll go see after the horses," he mumbled, pecked my lips quickly and walked down the stairs.

I followed after him, going into the kitchen. I wasn't really going to cook, though – we didn't have any groceries – so I only got out bowls and conjured some bread and stew, and a pitcher of ale.

He came back in, just as I finished setting up the table and was cutting the bread. He was smiling softly to himself.

"I think Roach and Shadow like it here as well. They are sleeping, cuddled together," he mumbled as he came up behind me, grabbed my waist softly and turned me around to plant a soft kiss to my lips. Smiling into the kiss, I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him in closer. Our lips melted together, moving in complete sync.

He pulled back after a while, resting his forehead against mine. Carefully, I peered up at him. His eyes were closed and he had a soft smile on his face.

"I love you so much," I whispered, moving my hands to cup his cheeks. He opened his eyes, nuzzling into my touch.

"I love you more," he muttered.

"More than Roach?" I teased, playfully smiling at him.

"Not a chance. I may have married you, but that horse is my soulmate," he teased back.

Playing offended, I pulled back, walking past him to sit down at the table. "Fine, then go, be happy together," I huffed out, exaggerating, but failing miserably at hiding my giggles. "Now, come on, before it gets cold," I added in my normal voice.

Letting out an amused huff, he sat down and we dug in.

"We need to go to town tomorrow. We need a lot of stuff," I mentioned casually, as if I've done it many times before.

Geralt hummed for me to continue.

"Vegetables and seeds I can plant. Also herbs... Livestock; a few chickens and maybe a goat or sheep, or two. I doubt we could keep a cow here."

When no answer came, I looked up at him. Geralt was staring at me, still smiling.

"What?" I chirped.

"Nothing... it's just... this is perfect. I wish we'd never have to leave this place," he marvelled.

"We don't have to. Not for a while. This is our home now. Even if we leave for a hunt, we'll always return. That is what home means, minne."

We finished our dinner in comfortable silence. When we were done, I just waved my hand over the bowls, and they were clean.

Now that I didn't have to save my energy for a possible fight, I could use magic more often. Thank the gods! Otherwise, I would be completely overwhelmed throwing the household alone - in times when Geralt left for hunts, of course. I had no doubt he'd help a lot around the house, seeing how excited he'd been all these weeks since I had revealed my wish to him.

It was late, way past midnight, when we put out all candles downstairs and returned to our bedroom. I sat down at the small dressing table, brushing out my tousled sex-hair till it flowed down my back like silk again, and put it in a braid. Geralt was leaning against a pole of our bed, watching me.

"Come here," I ordered gently, turning around to face him as he walked over. I motioned for him to sit on the ground in front of me, his shoulders resting between my knees. I combed my fingers through his tangled locks, massaged his scalp. He closed his eyes and let a deep content hum escape his lungs. When all of the big knots were out of his hair, I picked up the brush again, letting it run through his hair – or at least I tried. There were still an awful lot of small knots in his hair. At first, he only hissed at the ripping sensation, but soon enough, he tried to yank his head away.

I must confess, I snorted.

"Stop moving, it'll only hurt more," I chided. "Gods, one could think you've never brushed your hair!"

"I did! With my fingers. That's enough. All you're doing is ripping out my hair!" he grumbled.

"Ohh, minne. Only brushing through it with your fingers obviously isn't enough. Look at all these knots!"

"They're only there because you like to bury your hands in them," he argued back. It may all sounds serious, but I could barely hold back a laugh, and he couldn't keep his smile from sounding into his voice.

"You love it when I do that," I said matter-of-factly, letting my hands run through his, tugging slightly for emphasis. It elicited a small groan from him. Then he went silent in defeat. I smiled a little in victory and picked up the brush again.

"Now hold still, and I promise, I'll be careful."

"Hmm."

"No reason to be grumpy, now," I chuckled.

With a change of approach, the brushing went on peacefully. Instead of combing from the top, I brushed little strokes downward, starting close to the tips of his hair and worked my way towards the roots slowly. After about five minutes, Geralt's hair was silky, and almost shiny in the dim candle light. Leaning over him, I pressed a kiss to his forehead.

"Are you done, now?" Geralt grumbled tiredly.

"Yeah," I sighed.

"Good." He got up and turned, pulling me up as well.

"Wait. What are y-" I yelped as he threw me over his shoulder and carried me over to the bed, laying me down and then climbing in next to me. Geralt lay on his back and pulled me close for me to rest my head on his massive chest, right above his insanely slow heartbeat. It was even slower now than ever before - but not dangerously slow. He was, for the first time in all these years we've been together, completely calm, feeling entirely safe.

"Goodnight, my love," his whisper rumbled through his chest.

I closed my eyes and smiled softly, turning my head slightly to kiss his chest gently.

"Goodnight, me minne."