Chapter Text
Lambert had been right, Jaskier broods as he follows Geralt towards the front doors of the restaurant. Geralt isn’t his Caregiver yet, just a prospective adopter, and Jaskier's probably dashed all of those prospects to the stones. He finds his muscles are tight with anxiety as they step out to the sidewalk in front of the restaurant where it’s, thankfully, deserted for the moment. He’s never given Geralt trouble like this before, been actively naughty on purpose, and it makes him wilt. Geralt may not even want him now that he knows Jaskier can’t handle sharing him with Lambert, which is something he’d have to do if he adopted Jaskier officially. It makes his heart hurt to think about, so he tries not to dwell on it too hard as he looks down at his shoes as they toe at the concrete.
“Jaskier, can you look at me?” Geralt asks quietly, and Jaskier can feel tears prickle at the corners of his eyes. He sounds so sad, and Jaskier made him feel that way. He shakes his head, scared he’ll lose what composure he has left if he sees the displeasure in Geralt’s eyes.
There’s a sigh, and then Geralt’s kneeling in front of him, looking up at Jaskier with a worried expression that's much softer than what Jaskier predicted or probably deserves. As expected, it makes him hiccup on a quiet sob and tears begin to drip from his eyes and down his cheeks.
“I’m sorry.” Is the first thing that Geralt says, and Jaskier nearly jolts in surprise. Geralt’s sorry? He wasn’t the one yelling, or making a fuss. Jaskier whines in confusion.
“I’m…I’m not used to having to watch two Littles at once and Lambert, typically, needs all eyes on him if we have to keep him out of trouble.” Geralt gives him a rueful smile, “I suppose old habits die hard, and I’m sorry I didn’t give you the time you deserved today, or realized sooner that you were upset. But, I need you to know you can talk to me when you are, alright?”
Jaskier nods desperately. Of course he knows he can tell Geralt anything, today had just been a bit of a misstep, jealousy clouding his decision making. Geralt takes his hands and squeezes them once before standing up, and Jaskier has the courage now to look up at him.
“Now, you know what you did was wrong,” Geralt says, blunt as ever. Oddly enough, it brings Jaskier a strange sense of calm, that Geralt is steady and consistent, even when he feels so off kilter. “I think I know what has you upset, but can you tell me with your own words?”
Jaskier sniffs and rubs his runny nose on his sweater, thankful for the nip in the air as it helps him clear his head and sort his thoughts from the jumbled mess they’ve been in all day. He’s not sure where to start, but figures the straightforward way Geralt started the conversation is a good strategy to continue it. “I…I’m not used to having to share you,” he mumbles, looking away from Geralt’s eyes once more. “Lambert‘s loud, and got all of your attention, and I didn’t like it.” His lip trembles and he knots his hands in the hem of his sweater, scared to get out the crux of the matter, but knows there’s no better time to say it than now. Geralt’s always honest with him, so he needs to be honest, too.
“Lambert’s your brother, he’s had lots of time with you and I’ve only had a few months. It made me mad that you still gave him so much attention, and I was…” he doesn’t end the sentence, crying in earnest now.
“Jealous?” Geralt finished for him, and all Jaskier can do is nod in response. Geralt hums low in his chest, an understanding sound. “I figured. I’m sorry again that I didn’t give you equal attention today.”
“It’s not your fault,” Jaskier mumbles, wiping his cheek on his shoulder roughly to get rid of his tears, “I was stupid because I couldn’t share, and-“
“You weren’t stupid, everyone feels jealous every once in a while,” Geralt gives that soft smile he gets when he thinks Jaskier’s being silly and gently caresses Jaskier’s face. Jaskier leans into the touch. It’s very warm, and smells faintly of chlorine.
“Lambert is loud, and a bit prickly, but he didn’t mean to upset you. He just has a habit of saying what’s on his mind, just like you do.” And, yes, Jaskier does suppose that’s true. He can’t count the amount of times he’s gotten in trouble because of his outspokenness.
“I’m sorry,” Jaskier mumbles, chewing at his lip. “I’ve made a mess of our day.”
“And I welcome your messes, remember?” Geralt reminds him, enfolding him in a hug so encompassing Jaskier thinks he’ll happily drown in it. He melts into the embrace, hooking his chin over Geralt’s shoulder and sighing. “I forgive you, pup. And I love you, don’t doubt that.” Geralt mumbles in Jaskier’s hair and his heart sings. Geralt always surprises him, though he should expect this kind gentleness by now every time he muddles things up. As they stand there, embarrassment floods him as the last few hours finally settle on his shoulders and he gulps at the thought of facing Lambert again.
“I love you, too,” Jaskier whispers around the lump in his throat, and Geralt squeezes him gently.
“Now,” Geralt starts, rubbing Jaskier’s back soothingly, “I’d like you to apologize to Lambert and give him a chance. It may be hard to believe, but he has been on his best behavior today. I don’t think you’re the only one worried about proving themself.”
Jaskier thinks he can do that, if not just for Geralt’s sake but his as well. He feels bad about being so distant now that he realizes that Lambert wasn’t being malicious on purpose. It’s with his obedient nod and another hug that they walk back into the restaurant.
Lambert’s grumpily coloring on one of the Littles’ menus when they come back to their table, the pirate’s eyepatch a vibrant red and his vest a dark green. It looks pretty cool, actually.
“Lambert, do you have something to say?” Eskel says quietly, nudging Lambert and nodding towards Geralt and Jaskier standing next to the table. Lambert grumbles and looks up, his lips pressed into a thin line, before he sighs and slumps in his seat, spinning his green crayon between his fingers. Jaskier stands there confused. Why does Lambert have to apologize? Jaskier was the rude one today.
“I’m sorry I said those mean things,” he says quietly, his eyes on the table. “I didn’t mean them. I was just sad that you don’t like me very much and it came out as anger.” That sounds like something that’s been said many times before, like sadness coming as anger is a recurring problem for Lambert, but as rehearsed as it is, it sounds sincere.
“I forgive you,” Jaskier starts, because that’s always important to say. “I’m sorry, too. I didn’t know how to share Geralt and Eskel and it made me mad at you, even when you didn’t do anything wrong.” Geralt places an approving hand on his shoulder and he relaxes under its warmth.
Lambert shrugs, which surprises Jaskier. “It’s okay, Geralt was the same way when Aiden started coming by.”
“What?” Jaskier asks, astonished, and glances up at Geralt. He’s got a downward crook to the corner of his mouth which means he’s embarrassed. “Geralt got jealous?”
Lambert’s got that wicked glint back in his eye, sitting back up confidently as he grins and nods. “Oh, yeah. He gave Aiden a curfew because he didn’t like him coming over to play with me at all.”
“No way!” Jaskier giggles, sliding into what had been Geralt’s seat so he’s across from Lambert, chin sitting on the heels of his hands. Geralt had been jealous, too? He almost can’t believe it. Geralt seems so calm all of the time, if not a bit grumpy.
“You wanted them to bond, wolf,” Eskel chuckles, grinning at Geralt across the table and Geralt huffs grouchily, but when Jaskier leans into his side and cuddles in, he hums.
“Whatever it takes, I suppose.”
~~~
Dinner is very yummy, and Jaskier and Lambert are astonished to find that they have the same type of sippy cups, Jaskier’s in blue and Lambert’s in red. They also tend to make messes when they eat, and Geralt and Eskel had to help clean them of their respective pasta sauce and burger juice.
They sit in the backseat of Geralt’s truck once more, discussing which is cooler: space, or the ocean.
“But there are whales and octopus in the ocean,” Lambert argues, accidentally kicking Geralt’s seat as he moves to punctuate his point.
“Careful back there, Lamb.”
“Okay, Geralt. And dolphins!”
“But stars are so pretty!” Jaskier says back, pointing up at the darkened sky where a few twinkle above them. “And planets!”
“But you can’t touch a star,” Lambert rolls his eyes, as if that point alone should sway Jaskier. “You can touch a fish, and eat them, too! Have you ever had octopus?” Jaskier wrinkles his nose and shakes his head. No, why would he eat an octopus? Wouldn’t the suckers get stuck to his tongue? The thought makes his cringe.
“It’s good, you should try it. Ciri took me to some fancy place one time and we ate it.”
“No, thank you,” Jaskier sticks out his tongue with a ‘bleh’ and Lambert laughs, pushing at his arm.
“You can’t say it’s bad if you haven’t eaten it! That’s what Vesemir says. Besides, I bet a star would taste worse.”
“I don’t wanna eat a star!” Jaskier exclaims, putting his head in his hands. Arguing with Lambert is odd, and he’s not sure he can exactly win this one with the leaps Lambert’s taking, but that’s alright. He’s actually…having fun, much to his surprise.
“That’s quite the conversation you two have going on back there,” Eskel laughs, looking over the shoulder of his seat and raising an eyebrow. “I have to say I’m with Jaskier, though. Space is much bigger than the ocean, so it has an infinite amount of cool things that we don’t even know about yet.”
“Well, that’s because you’re a nerd, Eskel.” Lambert huffs, crossing his arms, “Tell me how much you love space when you go up there and there isn’t any life.”
“Aliens,” Geralt grunts from the driver’s seat and Jaskier laughs, clapping his hands.
“You believe in aliens?” Lambert says incredulously. “That’s dumb. You’ve never seen one in person.”
“Have you seen a whale in person?” Geralt responds, eyes on Lambert from the mirror. It doesn’t bother Jaskier as much anymore, especially since Geralt’s on his side.
“…No.”
Geralt gives an amused hum and Eskel laughs, patting Lambert’s knee. “Better luck next time, pup.”
They talk about a few other things before the truck slows to a stop in front of the center and Jaskier, surprisingly, is dreading leaving the truck. He’s enjoying his time with Lambert, now, and isn’t ready to say goodbye. He’s still got to make up for the time he wasn’t being particularly nice earlier in the day.
“It’s time for Jask to go back to the center,” Geralt says, parking the truck and turning around to the both of them in the backseat.
Both Jaskier and Lambert whine. “But I’m not done talking to him!” Lambert says, grabbing Jaskier’s sweater in a tight fist. It makes Jaskier feel warm, that Lambert wants him to stay longer.
“We can’t take him in late, Lamb. You’ll see him soon, anyhow, remember? He’s coming by later this week.”
Lambert frowns, looking between Geralt and Jaskier before sighing and releasing his sweater. “Fine,” he grumbles. “But he’s playing with me first when he gets to the ranch.”
Jaskier squeaks when Lambert launches himself across the seat and brings his arms around Jaskier’s neck in a tight embrace. “I really like you, Jaskier. Even if you were a bit of a shit today.”
Jaskier laughs and blushes, but can’t deny that, yeah, he was a shit. He hugs Lambert tightly back. “I like you, too, Lambert. Even if you hogged all of the attention today.”
Lambert barks a laugh into his ear and pulls away. “He’s fun, Geralt. You gotta keep him.”
Jaskier’s feels his face go beet red as Geralt chuckles, “I plan to," and gives Jaskier a wink.
Eskel, kind as ever, gets out and gives him a hug once Geralt pulls him from his seat. “I had fun with you today, pup.”
“I did with you too, Eskel. Can I be on your shoulders next time?”
This surprises a laugh from Eskel and he pat Jaskier on the back heartily. “I’ll take you to victory next time, Jask, I can promise you that.”
Geralt rolls his eyes at Eskel’s eyebrow waggle and gathers Jaskier up into his arms. As it always happens at the end of a day with Geralt, being in his arms makes Jaskier aware of just how sleepy he is. He gives a final wave to Eskel and leans his head against Geralt’s shoulder, popping his thumb into his mouth.
“I’m proud of you for telling me what was wrong today, Jaskier,” Geralt mumbles as he carries him towards the front doors of the adoption center, Jaskier's bag over his shoulder.
Jaskier yawns and snuggles in as much as he can before he’s inevitably put down into Miss Priscilla’s waiting arms through the doors. “It was hard. And Lambert’s fun, but you’re gonna visit me alone on Saturday, right?”
Geralt laughs quietly, giving Jaskier a squeeze and a kiss to his hair, “Yes. I need some time alone with my Jaskier, too, I think.”
Jaskier giggles and smiles into Geralt’s shoulder, fondly thumbing at the coloring page of the pirate with the red eye patch that sits in his jacket pocket as he’s carried through the adoption center’s doors.