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Jaskier would be ten years old in a few weeks. Eskel wanted to make it special for him and he knew exactly what to get for Jaskier that would really please the child: a lute. Eskel had been scrimping and putting money back for Jaskier’s college fund, but he had also been putting money back for an instrument for the boy to actually learn to play. You can’t be a bard without an instrument, right? And Jaskier still talked about wanting to be a bard. Jaskier was always fascinated by the bards they saw in taverns as they walked the Path together. It was more than a passing fancy. It was something that was a part of Jaskier from the day they met and Eskel doubted that it would ever stop being part of Jaskier. So, Eskel would encourage him and support him in his interests.
It was midsummer, but Eskel had already made arrangements with Vesemir to make a trip up to Kaer Morhen for a birthday party for Jaskier. The older witcher hadn’t seemed overly excited about the idea, but Eskel knew that Vesemir had fallen for Jaskier just as hard as he and Lambert had. The witchers would all meet up at Kaer Morhen in a few weeks to celebrate Jaskier’s birthday. But Eskel couldn’t keep a lute a secret for three weeks, so he had to get away from the child until he could procure the instrument and get it up to Kaer Morhen without Jaskier suspecting a thing.
So, after talking it out with the other witchers via letters, Eskel decided that Geralt would take Jaskier for a couple of weeks. The witcher’s reasoning was this: Lambert was on the opposite side of the continent and Geralt just so happened to also be in Cintra. Eskel had to travel to the city of Cintra to purchase a high quality lute.
Geralt reluctantly agreed to meet with him in a small village near Ortagor. Eskel hadn’t told Jaskier about their plans when they checked into the inn and settled down for the night. Jaskier loved Geralt, though, so he didn’t think Jaskier would really mind going with him for a few weeks.
Jaskier stripped into his smallclothes and crawled into bed, hugging Dandelion against his chest. He might have been getting a little old for sleeping with a stuffed animal, but Eskel didn’t see how sleeping with a stuffed animal did anyone any harm and if Jaskier wanted to do it, he wouldn’t say anything about it.
Eskel sat down on the side of the bed and opened the storybook they had been reading together for the past couple of weeks. Jaskier listened eagerly as Eskel read from the pages. Once the story was finished, Eskel kissed Jaskier on the forehead and Jaskier kissed him on the cheek. The witcher carefully tucked the blankets around the child and his stuffed animal.
“I’m going out for a little while tonight, Jaskier,” Eskel informed the yawning child. “Don’t worry about it, though, because I’m just meeting up with a friend for a drink tonight. I’ll be in the tavern downstairs if you need me, okay? Good night, kid.”
Jaskier nodded. “Good night, Eskel. I love you!”
Eskel smiled at him warmly. “I love you, Jaskier. Get some sleep.”
Jaskier closed his eyes and Eskel tidied up a bit before moving to the door. He glanced back at the child for a moment and then left, careful not to make noise. The tavern was boisterous and loud as he went down the stairs and he ignored the loudest patrons who were shouting in the middle of the room when he reached the bottom of the stairs. It was easy to find Geralt, who was brooding in a corner as per usual. Eskel ordered some drinks and made his way to Geralt’s booth.
“Hey,” Eskel greeted his brother.
“Hey,” Geralt grunted in reply.
“You know, you used to be happier to see me, Geralt.”
“That was before you picked up a kid and asked me to babysit for almost a month.” Geralt answered; Eskel felt a twinge of worry sprout in his chest.
Eskel sighed heavily into the mug of ale that the maid handed him. “You’re going to keep an eye on him while he’s with you, right? If you don’t want to take him for a while, then I can figure something else out. We can meet up with Lambert and just do the party thing late. I don’t think Jaskier will mind.”
“I didn’t say that,” Geralt answered. “I’ll keep him for you and I won’t let anything happen to him. And we will be in Kaer Morhen in three weeks.”
Eskel sighed with relief. Geralt’s lips twitched into a smile before he schooled his expression into his resting grump face. Geralt wanted to help. They were brothers, so it was only natural for them to care for each others’ well-being. And Geralt knew how important Jaskier was to Eskel.
“We’ll tell him what the plan is in the morning, then. He has his own pack and it will have everything he needs for the journey. He knows how to start a campfire and set up camp, too, so he won’t just be watching you get things ready while you travel. He is eager to learn and he likes to help out, so if it’s safe, let him. He can do more than you probably think he can.”
“Hmm.” Geralt confirmed that he was listening.
Jaskier was going to talk Geralt’s head off. They would probably make it to Kaer Morhen in one piece, but Geralt would probably be ready to pull his hair out by the time they arrived. Even so, Geralt would get Jaskier to Kaer Morhen safe and Jaskier wouldn’t be dead weight. They would be fine. Probably.
“He likes bedtime stories. I don’t expect you to go all paternal on him, but please be nice about it? He really likes you, Geralt.”
“He barely knows me,” Geralt grunted.
“We wintered together this past year. He would know you better if you hadn’t tried to avoid him like the plague.”
“... Humans are fragile, Eskel. Human children more so. They die easily. I don’t want to get attached.”
There it was, the truth. Eskel knew Geralt didn’t dislike Jaskier, even if he tried to push the kid away and keep his distance. There was truly no one that Eskel would trust more with Jaskier’s life than Geralt of Rivia.
“You’ll feel better if you don’t fight it. Witchers aren’t supposed to feel things, but that doesn’t mean we don’t. We feel just like humans do and fighting those emotions only hurts us in the long run.”
Geralt didn’t look convinced, but he didn’t argue with him. The pair of witchers drank their ale and slowly their conversation drifted to recent hunts, recent interactions with humans, sexual activities (or the lack thereof), and the fun times they had had in the keep over the years.
“I got a room with two beds, by the way,” Eskel said when they finished their third mugs of ale. “If you haven’t already spent coin on a room, you can share ours. I’ll sleep with Jaskier.”
“Thanks,” Geralt answered.
The following morning, Geralt and Eskel awoke before Jaskier. Eskel took advantage of the opportunity to explain some of Jaskier’s likes and dislikes, some allergies they had discovered, and some of the boy’s fears. Geralt listened intently, but he looked a little stressed about all the information. Eskel considered maybe writing it all down in a list for Geralt’s reference, just to make them both feel better about the situation.
When Jaskier woke up, he got up to wash his face without acknowledging Eskel or Geralt. Once he was finished, he grabbed his brush and carefully smoothed out his hair with it, untangling it carefully. Once satisfied, he turned around to greet Eskel and froze when he saw Eskel sitting across from Geralt at the little table by the window.
A huge grin spread across Jaskier’s face and he ran across the room to them. He jumped on Geralt and wrapped his arms around the witcher tightly. Geralt stiffened beneath the child, but wrapped his arms around him anyway. Eskel nodded approvingly.
“Geralt! I missed you!”
“Good morning, Jaskier,” Geralt dodged.
“Good morning, Jaskier,” Eskel added. “Geralt and I have a surprise for you.”
“A surprise?!” Jaskier was delighted.
Eskel chuckled at him. “Yes, a surprise. I have something I need to do, but you can’t come with me for it.” Jaskier’s face fell and Eskel quickly continued. “So, you’re going to travel with Geralt for a few weeks. I’ll meet up with you again before you know it. And you’re going to have so much fun with Geralt that you won’t even miss me.”
“Geralt! I get to go with you for a while? Where are we going? Why can’t I come? Is it really okay for me to go with you, Geralt?”
Jaskier’s questions came like a waterfall of curiosity, excitement, and anxiety all bundled into one small package. Eskel fielded most of the questions, careful to avoid the real explanation for why they were separating for now. He didn’t want to ruin the surprise! Geralt’s answers were shorter, naturally, but Jaskier seemed satisfied with them. All-in-all, it didn’t seem as if things would be too terribly different for Jaskier when he traveled with Geralt, so the child appeared to feel safe enough to travel alone with the white-haired witcher. He expressed some mild concern about being away from Eskel for such a long time after traveling together for two years now, but Eskel did everything he could to ease the child’s fears.
After breakfast, they bid each other farewell with lots of hugs and kisses. Jaskier shouldered his little pack and wore his dagger on his hip as he followed Geralt to the stables where Roach and Scorpion were waiting. They mounted up and rode in opposite directions out of the small village.
A few days passed without incident. Geralt answered Jaskier’s questions as monosyllabically as possible and Jaskier was having a blast with his new travel companion. He slipped Roach sugar cubes and pieces of his apples when they camped. Geralt hunted for food and Jaskier helped him set up camp and cook the animals he caught.
Geralt was relieved to see that Jaskier was largely independent and knew what to do when they were camping and listened to the witcher closely. Jaskier was also very efficiently burrowing his way deeper into Geralt’s heart. The witcher caught himself smiling at the child’s antics and questions more and more often and he found himself indulging the boy’s curiosities more often than he liked. It was fine, though. It was just for a few weeks and it wasn’t like Geralt was letting himself get too attached. He was doing a good enough job, he thought, at keeping his distance. There were certain things he did not indulge the child in and he made sure to come across as grumpier than he really was as often as possible. But none of that deterred Jaskier, who seemed to take Geralt’s reticence and curt responses as an invitation to shower the witcher with affection.