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Jaskier hates Christmas. No, scratch that. He loves Christmas. It's just that he is not very good at it. Exhibit A: his entire apartment still littered with gift wrap, stickers, glitter and a few decapitated Santas. Exhibit B: The haunting memories of despairing over what to give people for Christmas until the inevitable epiphany on the 23rd. Every year. Without fail.
This year, though, everything is even more of a mess because it's the 28th and he curses himself all the way to the next decade as he walks up Yennefer's driveway. His hands clammy, his heart beating out of his chest, and if he only stopped to take a deep breath, he would call this whole thing off.
But he can't. He has to do this. He worked so hard, barely slept and lived only on sugar highs of the past few days.
Yennefer will get her gift, no matter how much of a mess Jaskier might be. No matter how much glitter still falls out of his hair as he's running his hand through it - courtesy of an impromptu crafting session with Ciri and Lambert on Christmas Day.
He sighs. "You got this, Jask. You got this. She's only mildly terrifying now that she learned to smile at you. She won't curse you. Even though she probably could. Oh, she definitely could."
It is almost as a side note that Jaskier rings the doorbell, still mumbling to himself. His heart hammers when the door opens and reveals a surprised and quite frankly gorgeous Yennefer in her pajamas. Jaskier stares, shocked, surprised, and so very in love he has to kick himself into motion.
"Jaskier," she says, and already amusement finds its way into her voice, overshadowing the confusion.
Jaskier swallows and tries to find his cool. He's been trying to find that since third grade, though, so he doesn't have high hopes.
"Yen," he says, and almost cringes as she only raises an eyebrow. "I... I have something. For you. It wasn't good on Christmas Eve, and I suck at this, but I also can't really wait to give you this until your birthday or whatever, so let's pretend it's still Christmas and that I'm only half as weird as I am, yeah?" He chuckles in embarrassment, the words tumbling from his lips before he can stop them.
Yennefer's face has turned into a patient smile during his ramblings, and only turns impossibly softer when she finally understands.
"You're bringing me a not-Christmas gift?"
Jaskier shrugs and shuffles his feet. "Well, technically it is a Christmas gift and I'm just chicken."
She chuckles. "Do you wanna come in?"
"No," he hurries to say, almost too loud, but fuck, he's nervous. Yen frowns at him, and he adds, "I would like to have the opportunity to just turn on my heel and hide forever."
She laughs this time, and Jaskier wonders when her reactions turned from annoyed to endeared. "Okay then," she says, quiet and patient and so, so beautiful.
Jaskier swallows. Holds out the gift bag. "I wanted to give you this."
She takes it with expertly manicured fingers and Jaskier notes that she, too, still has tiny particles of glitter on her skin and under her nails. He holds his breath as Yennefer looks inside the bag, and his world stops in those two seconds, only spinning again as she lets out a tiny gasp.
"Oh, Jask," she breathes and reaches into the bag to pull out the lilac scarf.
"It's probably not perfect because I didn't really sleep, and I honestly don't completely remember how I even managed to finish it, but--"
"It's so soft," she interrupts his rambles with such marvel in her voice that Jaskier's shoulders sag in relief.
"Yeah," he breathes. "You... You deserve soft things, Yen. And I know you only wear black clothes, but I remember you told me lilac was your favourite colour, so I really hope this is okay."
She meets his eyes with fondness and stares for a second before she smiles brighter and nods. "It's more than okay. Thank you."
Jaskier nods hastily, his face split into a wide grin, before he remembers that he has something else he wants to give her. The something that he needs to be able to run away for.
He swallows again and breathes deeply before taking a step closer to Yen. Her breath hitches, and he tries not to turn and run before he absolutely has to.
"There's something else," he whispers. "Not really a Christmas present this time, but... Something I've been meaning to give you, but I chickened out several times on Christmas Day alone."
Yen huffs and he can feel her breath on his lips as she steps forward, too. "Is that so?"
Jaskier smiles and hums. "You must know, I'm a coward, Yen," he breathes, his fingers coming forward to meet her own, stroking, playing, asking. The reply comes in the form of Yennefer's thumb lightly running over his palm, and Jaskier can't breathe.
"You don't look like much of a coward right now," she murmurs, their lips almost touching, their noses gently bumping into each other, almost like a caress. Jaskier could lose himself in this if only he dared.
"Oh, I am," he breathes, his other hand coming up to Yen's cheek, his touch as light as the breeze around them. "Should have done this much sooner."
"Done what?" she asks, and it's a dare if he has ever heard one.
Finally, Jaskier's lips meet hers in a gentle and chaste kiss, just a press of lips that is only broken by their smiles. Neither of them moves away as they grin and huff and breathe, leaning their foreheads against each other and bumping their noses.
Gods, he should have done this sooner.
"So," Yennefer says eventually, her thumb still drawing menacingly light circles on his palm that send tingles through his whole body. "Do you wanna turn away and run now, or do you wanna come in?"
"Can I still run later if I come in now?" he asks, breathless.
"See if I'm gonna let you go later," she grins, and Jaskier's breath hitches.
Fuck. He should have done this much, much sooner.