Chapter Text
Immediately the halls erupted into panic. Or what would be panic if Jaskier weren’t standing in front of 50 battle hardened warriors. Instead, all the witchers leap up almost in unison and, with barely any words, they all start busying themselves with tasks - which were probably preassigned now that Jaskier considers it.
A hand grabs at his elbow and tugs gently. Eskel has a wry apologetic smile on his face, “Bard, I’m going to need you to head with the children,” it's almost as if he knows Jaskier is itching to argue because he follows up the gentle order with: “Geralt has an assigned task to do, but from the look on his face and the fact he keeps glancing back to you as he tries to complete that task… I think you going with them might be the best thing for all of us. It might also make the kids feel better.”
“For having known me only a couple of months, you’ve figured out how to manipulate me disturbingly quickly.” It’s the only response Jaskier can think to give because they both know that it worked.
Eskel’s grin turns slightly smug, but in a way that only makes him look even more ruggedly attractive, “Yes, well, when you pay enough attention to someone, you learn what makes them tick…” Eskel then looks at him up and down quickly, winks at him, and walks away.
It takes a few moments for Jaskier to gather himself and go about finding the older witcher trying to herd the young ones to their dormitories, which are set deep in the keep, so as to keep them furthest away from outside dangers. And though he has gathered himself enough to be able to shepherd some of the trainees who wanted to go and see all the fuss, internally he is still stunned - as far as he can remember, no witcher has ever flirted with him in so obvious a manner, if at all. At times he has considered that perhaps Geralt was trying, but it was never so distinct and he always asked himself if perhaps it was his imagination or wishful thinking. But this time, there was very little other way to interpret it, and he finds that coming from Eskel… perhaps he doesn’t mind it. It may be because he knows that they both share an affection for their White Wolf so it doesn’t come from a place of trying to hurt him. He won’t try to consider how to respond to this development, if at all, and certainly not now, and certainly not in these circumstances, and certainly not when…
“Mr. Bard?” a young voice pipes out.
Jaskier comes back to himself to notice that a young boy with bright green eyes is staring at him from his arms. He doesn’t remember when he picked up the lad, but seeing as he looks to be about 6, he has likely done so in the panic. He’d been so in his head he had not realised what his body was doing and now they were in the dormitory.
“Yes child?”
“Is something dangerous happening?”
“I don’t think we know what’s happening.”
“I’m scared. The elders say I must be brave to be a witcher, but I’m scared.”
“Oh love, don’t worry, you have some years before you before you need to be brave and before you’re to be a witcher. If you think it would help, I can sing for you all.”
From the cheer emanating from the other children, it is obvious they had heard him. With their approval, he now considers what he could sing for them, until he remembers he had written a song about overcoming fear, perhaps even before meeting Geralt. It seems appropriate now.
I'm being followed by the rain clouds
My clothes are soaking up the pain that keeps pouring down
Too much more and I may drown
I'm being followed by the night sky
It stole away my sight, it seems I have lost my way
I need someone to be my guide
Listen to my voice
Close your frightened eyes
Hide behind my love for you
Fear's only a choice
One that we all must make someday
So know you're not alone in this
His aim was to remind them they were not alone, and as he sings the chorus, he feels the young boy cuddle closer and tap out the rhythm against his side.
I'm being frightened by the people
They look at me like I'm a scar upon their perfect skin
Perfect to only them
I'm being shadowed by my past
Reminding me of what I was and what I could become
My sins should stay where they belong
Listen to my voice
Close your frightened eyes
Hide behind my love for you
Fear's only a choice
One that we all must make someday
So know you're not alone in this
Now that he thinks about it, the lyrics are relevant to their lives as witchers. To survive, they must remember that they are not alone. Sometimes, he briefly considers the fact that Geralt might have died had he not been there. It isn’t something he likes to think of often as any possibility of a world without Geralt in it isn’t a place he wants to think of. But when he looks at the door of the dormitory, he sees Geralt and Eskel looking at him. Geralt has been so happy since they’ve been here, despite all the stress of their situation, and it's only more proof that even though he avoids community outside of the keep, he is not actually a solitary creature. Of course, Jaskier already knew that, it’s why he’s at times forced his company on Geralt even when he seemingly didn’t want it. It hasn’t blown up in his face yet.
I'm sick and tired of these rain clouds
That cover up the morning sun I so desperately seek
Just one tiny glimpse is all I need
A spark of hope is what I'm after
A single day with cloudless skies would surely make a change
A friend whispering, "It'll be alright"
Listen to my voice
Close your frightened eyes
Hide behind my love for you
Fear's only a choice
One that we all must make someday
Oh, listen to my voice
Close your frightened eyes
Hide behind my love for you
'Cause fear's only a choice
One that we all must make someday
So know you're not alone in this
By now, the children had noticed the two adult witchers at the door, and the room erupts into chaos as soon as the song is finished. Still with that disarming good humour in his voice, Eskel quiets them, “Alright lads, we need to take our bard back, but you’re safe to wander around the keep again - but it is time for bed, so you’d best be off to sleep. Lessons are off tomorrow as we are welcoming guests, but be sure to stay out of their paws, will you?”
Jaskier now has to find what to do with the sleepy boy in his arms but he is saved from having to deposit him onto a random bed when Daffyd appears next to him and says, “Don’t worry, I’ll take Jeremy, you have important adult things to do now,” so he thanks the young man with a pat on the head and manoeuvres around the throngs of children readying for bed to join Geralt and Eskel in the corridor.
“So, what’s happened, since I had to be kept out of trouble and couldn’t participate.”
Geralt’s face does what it always does when Jaskier’s said or done something to annoy him, often involving (or suggesting) danger. He growls, “Bard, there’s a reason…”
Jaskier knows this argument, he’s heard quite a few times in the past the almost decade they’ve travelled together, “You know dear, if you stopped making that face everytime I almost put myself in danger, I wouldn’t do it quite so often, it’s too cute.”
Geralt’s expression shifts to one of astonishment as Eskel splutters in the background. Jaskier decides that he won’t be giving either of them the time to recover from their reactions, “So, Eskel, what’s happened and how can I help.”
Being addressed seems to snap Eskel out of his surprised laughter, though not entirely as his amusement is still very obvious in his voice, “Well, to our surprise, at least one of the other witcher schools has decided to heed our summons. The Cats have decided to grace us with their presence, but forwent actually telling us they were coming.”
“Hence the kerfuffle this evening. I get it.”
Geralt is now exhibiting clear annoyance. From the little Jaskier has heard from him about the other witcher schools he understands that the annoyance comes partially from some of the Cats taking human contracts, but the last time they had discussed it, Jaskier had pointed out that perhaps now that they’d agreed that humans could be monsters, the line may not be that black and white - of course, some contracts had more to do with money than monsters, so some annoyance may still understandable.
“Anyway, now we are gathering all the Wolves who were doing other things so we may greet the other school properly,” Eskel continued as though Jaskier hadn’t gotten lost in his ponderance of Geralt’s face.
As they arrive in the great hall, a commotion is going on, and they see a lithe body leap high above everyone’s heads, soar towards them, and ultimately pounce onto Lambert who had entered alongside them. The witcher showing such athletic prowess is a handsome young man with short wavy brown hair that looked like it hadn’t just flown through the air at great speed. He is quite short, definitely shorter than any of the wolves, but still his clothing does nothing to conceal the strength he carries. His eyes, a bright, unnatural green, do not currently have the slit pupil witchers normally have, instead, his pupils are round like a cat who is playing with his favourite toy - which Jaskier supposes is exactly what they way he is holding on to Lambert. The new witcher breathes out an excited “Hi,” and Lambert responds in a slightly exhausted way that suggests this entire greeting is customary, “Hello Aiden.”