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This was it. All their hard work and preparations had been for this moment. Jaskier took a deep steadying breath as he peeked from behind the curtains, just a bit. The auditorium had filled up quickly, and he caught sight of the large clock on the wall above one of the exits. Excellent. It was five minutes passed, which meant…
"Showtime!" He called softly with a grin as he shut the curtains and turned, looking out at the sea of faces lined up behind him. Melitele's tears but they were so young, Jaskier couldn't help but coo in his head. "Everybody ready?" He asked, standing on his tiptoes to see over the front row of his students. At moments like these he missed how he used to be counted as 'unusually tall' compared to the general population on the Continent. The soft smiles that returned his question were answer enough.
Jaskier stepped around the edge of the curtain and waved over to his assistant, a lovely young lass he'd had the pleasure of teaching some decade ago. She smiled back at him and started flipping the lights in the auditorium down. The crowd fell silent, slowly as the lights dimmed. Jaskier rolled his shoulders back, straightened up his posture and stepped out onto the stage.
His tailcoat fluttered softly as he stepped forward briskly; his shoes clicking loudly across the wooden floor. He smiled brightly into the spotlights, eyes sweeping across the crowd even though he could no longer see them against the glare. His band followed after him, like a string of ducklings after their mother. He stepped up next to the conductor's platform and stayed there, hands clasped behind his back to keep them still, letting the students fall into their rows behind him.
"Welcome one and all," Jaskier spoke as he heard the last of the students getting to their spots. He spoke loudly, head held high and voice projected outward so that he didn't have to bother with setting up a mic that would just be off for a majority of the night. "I am very glad you have chosen to join us for the evening's festivities." He threw out a hand and gave a large performative bow that wouldn't have been out of place in front of royalty. "Welcome to Oxenfurt Academy's Halloween Concert."
Jaskier glanced back over his shoulder and gave a wave behind his hand, and the students all sat, and there was a general flurry of papers shuffling as they opened their music up.
"Halloween has always been a rather unique holiday to me," Jaskier paced a little as he talked to the audience, letting the kids get prepared. "It stems from the old Elven holiday Saovine. Now, the tradition goes, you weren't supposed to play anything from sundown on Savoine until Imbolc." His hands stilled for a moment for effect. "But what kind of musician would I be if I didn't play for a whole season?" He asked, voice lilting perfectly at the practiced joke, and the burst of laughter from the audience made his smile widen.
His pacing had brought him back next to his podium. He turned his back to the audience, catching his students' eyes. The nervous smiles that greeted him in return was confirmation enough. He was so proud of them. They had come so far in just the few months they'd been practicing together. This was their first performance together.
"Ready?" He asked in a whisper. "Everyone watching?" The small nods he got back were enough. He stepped up on the podium, and the instruments went up on their knees. He picked up his baton and opened up the score to their first song. It was fitting to kick off their performance with. And the kids loved it.
His hands went up and the instruments followed. He smiled wide, the thrill of performing settling under his skin, lighting his soul on fire. His hands went up; there was a collective inhale. Then came the downbeat.
The music started softly, his baton barely moving in pattern. Down on one, left for two, wide right for three. Up for four and there came the timpani, conducted in with his left.
"One, two, three, four. Soft soft. Not so fast." He was mouthing the words, hidden from the audience. He caught little Gregor's eyes with a stern look. That boy liked to rush this opening bit still. It was soft and slow for a reason!
Strong downbeat as the woodwinds came in.
"That's it. That's it." Brass next, and there! Large downbeat.
"Stay on beat!" He glared back at Gregor again, conducting in the xylophone because otherwise they forgot their cues. Oh, but this song was so fun!
"This is Halloween. This is Halloween." He sang along a few lyrics as they got into the melody parts. Tricky bits here as every section got different bits. Cues for everyone now, catching eyes as they played their short little snippets. Jaskier was smiling again, head bobbing in time. Oh, bollocks, that was the page turn.
"One and, two and, three and, four and." He exaggerated the beats during what he knew was a difficult part. Cynthia caught his eye from the front row. She knew that was his page turn. He stuck his tongue out at her as he flipped two pages, catching up easily. She smiled at him as she lay her flute down to pick up her piccolo for the tiny solo. He was so very proud of her, for making second chair straight out of high school. She deserved it. Tiny solo, small tiny flicks of the baton, into YES. Loud!
"Perfect." Jaskier whispered, a smile on his face as he scanned the kids. They nailed it as he swept his hands up into a finish. "Hold it." He had frozen and so had the kids as the last few notes fell away. Hands came down with a slight flourish and so did instruments, and he stepped down to a loud round of applause.
Jaskier faced the audience again. He couldn't help it. It was in his nature. He smiled, ever the performer even now, basking in the praise.
The performance went on, and Jaskier was so proud of these kids. Well, they weren't really kids, but they were so young. Admittedly, they were much older than he was when he came through Oxenfurt. But times had changed. Oh boy how they had changed.
The performance only lasted a little over two hours, but that was still a long time for the older teens and young twenty-somethings.
"Professor Pankratz!" It was Cynthia who was calling for him. Even though Oxenfurt was the oldest and most esteemed college, it was much smaller than the newer colleges that had sprung up in Toussaint and Vico Varo. Even the ones in Vizima and Ban Ard were bigger than Oxenfurt now, but the academy still held his heart.
"Hello, Cynthia." Jaskier greeted as he gazed out over the crowd. The main lights had been brought up, and the stage lights dimmed so that he could see over the crowds. "You did wonderful during your solo." She beamed up at him.
"You think so, Professor?"
"Without a doubt! I knew you could do it. We'll review the performance tapes on Monday if you'd like?" She nodded up at him vigorously, and he turned back to scanning the crowds. There was a time where he actually would have stayed over after a show to go back over the tapes, but that was a long time ago.
"We were wondering if you had any plans for tonight?" She asked. Jaskier caught sight of a small group of the woodwinds idling by the door, Cynthia's girlfriend among them. "We were hoping to get a small band together in the quads…" And at that moment, Jaskier stopped paying attention to one of his favorite students.
A man stepped up to the edge of the stage, a small soft smile tugging at the edge of his lips. He had a viscous-looking scar across his left eye, and another above his right eyebrow. Pure white hair was pulled back into a bun at the nape of his neck, and he wore what could only be described as 'rancher' to the girl. But Jaskier beamed at the man and jumped off the stage, getting twirled into a hug as the imposing man caught him like it was nothing.
"Geralt! There you are!" Jaskier exclaimed as the man stood him on the floor after a long hug. "You worried me. I didn't spot you in the crowd beforehand, you know." Jaskier swatted at the man's arm before turning and looking up at the shocked Cynthia, who was still standing at the edge of the stage. "Sorry, I've already made plans for the evening with my family. But I'll be sure to bring my instruments to lunch on Monday." He winked up at her before turning back to his friend. "Did everyone make it in time?"
"Of course, Jask." Geralt grumbled, voice low and growly. Cynthia just smiled and shook her head. She knew first hand how odd the Professor was sometimes.
"And let me guess, everyone quietly snuck out the back during the last song?" Jaskier said with an eye roll as he stepped away, tossing a wave back at Cynthia as the pair left through the side door out of the auditorium. Geralt chuckled just a bit as Jaskier pulled at his bow tie, as they made their way through the much cleared out hallways. They stepped out of the building finally and into the soft mid-afternoon sunshine. Jaskier stopped to breathe in the crisp autumn air as he loosened the top few buttons on his pinstriped suit, as well.
"Jaskier!" A female voice called out, and Jaskier looked around to see a large gathering of people nearby. They were huddled together at the edge of the sidewalk, underneath a tree. Jaskier waved as he and Geralt approached them.
"It's been too long!" Jaskier called as he not-too-subtly looked over his family. Ciri, with her hair cut short for a change and in a lovely sweater that Jaskier had gifted her ages ago. It must have come back in fashion, recently. Lambert, still the most fashionable of his brothers, and Eskel looked like he just left his studio. Yennefer, at least, was still at the height of fashion in her luxury brand clothes that actually looked good, sleek black and white still her preferred colors. And… "Uncle Regis!"
"Hullo, Julian." Regis said with a soft little smile. He still looked a little uncomfortable in his slacks and sweater-vest. Jaskier tackled him with the same ferocity that he had Geralt. "I daresay you look more like a professor than I do, Uncle." He said with a grin, pulling back slightly.
"Aw, I liked the beard." Lambert teased and Jaskier just stuck his tongue out in response.
"I know this isn't really exactly how you all planned tonight to go, but I appreciate it. And there was no way I could disappoint the kids."
"It was nothing, Jaskier."
"You owe us big time, Buttercup." Lambert and Ciri both said at the same time, earning a laugh from the professor.
"Shall we be off then?" Yennefer asked as she held up a hand, magic subtly sparking off her fingertips.
"Nonsense!" Jaskier said, offended by the very idea. "There is a perfectly fine festival of activities going on around us for the next several hours, and we so rarely are able to all get together like this. I say we enjoy ourselves together here!"
"Won't the rest of the faculty take offense to us being here?" Eskel asked somewhat guardedly. Jaskier flapped a hand up, discarding the notion.
"Of course not. It's not just a festival for the students." He said, stepping up to Eskel to poke him in the chest. "Besides, they let me teach here and I wasn't exactly subtle on my resume." Geralt huffed a sigh from somewhere next to Ciri.
"He'll be impossible the rest of the night unless we go along with him." He admitted, and Jaskier turned to beam at his best and oldest friend.
"Too right!" He stepped up next to Ciri and took her arm as he led the little group back towards the rest of the festival. "Well then, what did you think? Honest opinions!" Jaskier asked, excited. "We'll no doubt run across some of my students around campus. They are all just so small and precious, not a one of them will wait till Monday for reviews. I must let them know something unbiased."
"They were in tune." A muttered grumble from Geralt somewhere behind made the entire group snicker and giggle.
"Of course they were. They are my students after all."
They wandered away from the music building eventually. Jaskier called out greetings to his students, but the majority of them didn't bother trying to approach the large group. They made a rather intimidating group all together. This had been the first time everyone had managed to get away from their various jobs in… two decades now?
There were all kinds of silly carnival games, which really weren't fair for any of them to compete in, but that did not stop them.
"Oh, that's not fair, Yenna." Jaskier called. The agriculture club had set up a pumpkin carving area, which they had descended upon. Yennefer had painted her pumpkin solid black and carved a wicked looking face into it. He watched her take the top off, blow on the inside, and turn it toward him. It was now glowing ethereally, almost like there was magma flowing around inside it.
"Like you're any better, bard." The insult came back naturally to her lips as she watched him carve delicate little bits out with his sharpened claws. It was a bouquet of buttercups, because of course it was. Geralt had carved his medallion, a fierce wolf snarling while Lambert had just grabbed a random offered template and hacked away at his pumpkin. Ciri and Regis were working on one together, a generic scary face, but with a flickering rainbow flame inside it. Eskel had yet to start a pumpkin, getting distracted by talking to some of the agriculture club students; apparently he had worked with them several times over the years getting products for his goats. They had a great supply chain, apparently.
Jaskier had all their pumpkins sat together once they were done, safe and secure out of the way as they walked around campus some more.
"I want some of those candied apples!" Lambert had insisted. "I can smell them from here." So they went towards the food vendors, loading up on too many sweets.
"I must say, I didn't expect you to be so settled here." Regis said softly as they piled onto a small grouping of benches together to eat. He was eyeing the huge stick of cotton candy that Jaskier was holding warily.
"Eh." He shrugged, taking a large bite, thinking over his answer as Lambert crowded against him on the other side. "Humans have changed. They know there are still elves and mages, sorceresses and conjunction creatures out there. They don't really care anymore."
"Damn right." Lambert chimed in, mouth full of candy apple chunks. Jaskier wrinkled his nose at the witcher.
"Ugh! Manners!" He shoved a hand in Lambert's face, pushing him away with a laugh before turning back to Regis. "Really, though, Uncle. You've been away for far too long. You'd enjoy Oxenfurt. They have a team that are working with a whole garden full of extinct plants, trying to keep them alive and restore them."
"Oh yeah. They were from Nenneke's greenhouses." Ciri piped up from across the other bench where she, Geralt and Yennefer had settled. "I heard that Ellander finally allowed some of the sprouts to be sent out and see if any other places could have luck with them."
"Really?" Regis asked, intrigued.
"Really. They'd love to have someone with your knowledge on plants on hand, I'm sure." Jaskier agreed.
"I'll think about it, Julian." Regis' smile was soft and unsure, but hopeful.
"Isn't that one of yours?" Eskel asked, pointing across to where a small group of students were walking by. They all had instrument cases in their arms or slung over their shoulders.
"Oh jeez, I wonder how you could tell." Jaskier rolled his eyes before leaning over and snatching up a handful of kettle corn from Eskel's relaxed grip. "Yes, they're mine. Cynthia, the charming little blonde juggling three cases, was tonight's soloist."
"She looks familiar." Ciri commented, eyebrows furrowing a little as she stared at the girl a little. Jaskier felt his heart skip a small little beat.
"Amazing that six generations later, you still recognize her." Jaskier said as a non-sequitur. At Ciri's curious look, he smiled softly and a little sadly. "Priscilla. She's Priscilla's descendant."
"Oh, Jask. I'm sorry." Ciri's face was immediately filled with regret. Jaskier waved a hand at her and bit into his cotton candy.
"It's fine, Ciri." His voice was only slightly strained, and Lambert nudged his shoulder with his own gently, getting a small smile out of the bard.
"It's getting late." Yennefer, ever courtly and proper, decided to take pity on the poor old bard. "We should head to Corvo Bianco if we all want to get settled properly."
"Fine, fine." It was actually getting late. Even though it was still about an hour away from sunset, it would be almost dark by now in Toussaint. There was a large flurry of activity as the three witchers, two sorceresses, and two higher vampires traded food stuff and tossed their trash ("Into the recycling, Yennefer! We worked hard to get those separate bins everywhere and by Melitele's sweet bosom you will use them!"). Then they picked back up their pumpkins from their hiding spot, and Yennefer and Ciri built them a small portal behind one of the smaller out-of-the-way buildings.
Jaskier breathed a deep cleansing breath as he stepped out of the portal into the gloom of twilight in Toussaint. They were in the courtyard of Corvo Bianco, in a little out of the way area that Yennefer always used for her portals. It was almost like stepping back in time, Jaskier couldn't help but think, as he took in the familiar little home.
Of course, there had been improvements over the centuries, but they were little things, unobtrusive things. Things that preserved the look of the historic buildings without letting them fall into disrepair. Toussaint had been very thorough on keeping the look and feel of the duchy, even now. Oh sure, there were paved roads for vehicles now where there used to be just dirt footpaths, and new little towns had popped up at the edges of places, but for the most part, Toussaint just continued on. But now with electricity and indoor plumbing and wifi.
"Fucking portals…" Geralt grumbled as he stepped up beside Jaskier, the small little frown on his face letting everyone here know that Geralt still got nauseous travelling by portal. Jaskier couldn't help but laugh as he headed off on his own.
There were small little houses set up on the outskirts of the main buildings now, and Jaskier had claimed the brightest painted one. The gardeners kept the little window boxes full of flowers all year round thanks to the lovely climate here.
He changed out of his stuffy suit and bow tie quickly, shrugging into a lovely soft cream chemise that was the softest cotton he'd ever found. His students laughed at him when he arrived at school one day wearing it, calling it a pirate shirt, what with its frilled loose sleeves and string tie neckline. Jeans and tall boots because dammit he felt nostalgic, alright? complemented the shirt.
He paused at his doorway even as he heard Lambert calling for him to hurry his ass up so they could eat already, glancing back over his shoulder to the small fireplace in the little sitting room. There, sitting atop a custom-made stand, was his lute. It had been ages since he'd played her and his fingers twitched at the thought. Well, tonight was all about remembrance. A quick few steps had him back across the room, lifting the lute reverently from its honored place.
He plucked at the strings before he quickly adjusted a couple of pegs, bringing it back into tune easily with a smile. He quickly slung the strap over his shoulder, slinging her around to his back in the well-practiced move he'd honed centuries ago, before he slipped out his little house and up to the big manor.
"There you are!"
"Fucking finally!" Lambert called out, lifting his glass of what was probably the good imported Skelligan mead. Jaskier smiled and shot him a rude gesture back, getting a bark of laughter from the youngest witcher. Geralt caught his eye and gave a small questioning look at the lute before he shook his head.
"Play us something nostalgic?" He asked, voice soft and filled with understanding. Today had been about celebrating the new, the current, the modern. Tonight would be about honoring the past, the ancient, and their history.