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Eskel was walking east, his pack high up on his shoulder. His head was down and he did not raise it at the sound of hooves on the path behind him which, more than the lack of steed, worried Gaetan. They had parted ways not far from the base of the blue mountains, the spring air still crisp in their lungs but with no reason to attempt splitting their meager coin longer than a week they separated. It was the first time in a year Gaetan had been by himself, it had been nice- if a sleepless at times.
“Esk!” The Witcher looked up just as Gaetan dismounted. A wide smile was his gift. The cat had half a second before he was dragged into a bone grinding hug. “Yeah yeah. I missed you too, Big guy.”
“You come looking for me or happy accidents?”
“Completely a surprise.”
They caught up on contracts and news they’d come across and found a decent place to camp for the evening. Eskel, who had been walking most of the day, was tasked with setting up camp while Gaetan hunted for them both. It was an easy set up and within the hour they were both settled around a fire with lightly seasoned rabbit stew bubbling away between them.
“So,” Gaetan drawled, stretching his legs out in front of him. “Why are you walking again?” So maybe he never kicked the habit of shoving his foot in his mouth, sue him. Nothing to get outta him in court anyway.
“I didn’t solve a job fast enough. Town took my horse for payment since I couldn’t get the cockatrice before it took more sheep.” Eskel stirred the stew and Gaetan saw it for what it was- a way to avoid looking Gaetan in the eye.
“You kill the damn thing?” Gaetan asked.
“Yeah.”
“Then they should have been paying you, dumbass.” His words were biting and Eskel somehow curled his shoulders further. “Gods Eskel, don’t you get tired of being so fucking nice?” He dropped back onto his elbows and tilted his face to the sky. “I mean, I know I’m not a great role model here but don’t you just want to go feral ?” He’d done so well since Eskel had invited him into Kaer Morhen, but the itch was there. It was always there. He’d once said that he wasn’t the type to confess his sins for forgiveness, but he’d left Lambert at the turn of spring with his latest transgressions and felt lighter. He’d broken a man’s arm in Poviss for the crime of brushing his neck. He’d let his hood down and a drunken farmer went to wide with his gesture and Gaetan snapped. He’d decided that it would be an encounter to take to his grave. But then he’d seen Lambert, who grinned and bought him a drink and asked him if he’d seen Eskel yet and; he couldn’t hold it back. He’d gone soft.
Eskel made a wounded noise across from him and Gaetan’s attention snapped back to his wolf.
“I’m going to check the woods.” Calm, always so fucking calm. Eskel stood and walked away.
“Esk, hey- I just checked them. Sit back down!” But the wolf was two quick paces from running and Gaetan stared after him.
“He’ll be back.” Gaetan muttered to himself, “Nothing to worry about.”
Eskel did come back before the evening turned to night, he sat on his bed roll and acted as though he might sleep but Gaetan cleared his throat at the wolf and gestured to the food. “Come on, big guy. I know you’re hungry.”
The wolf contemplated the aroma and caved quickly. It was only when not a drop of liquid remained that either witcher spoke.
“Yes.” Eskel said.
“Yes?”
“Yes, sometimes I want to lose it and scream myself hoarse at every flea bitten alderman and council that ever cheated me of a coin.” It was deceptively calm, not even a trace of bitterness in the words but Eskel’s face was tight, twisted into something angry and half monstrous.
“But you don’t.”
“I can’t .” Eskel corrected. “Isn’t like I can just throw up a hood and blend in.” Gaetan opened his mouth and promptly closed it once more as Eskel continued. “I walk into some backwater town and half the time I’m lucky if they don’t hide ; or they throw stones before I make it to whatever pisspoor excuse of an alderman they have.”
The bowl in his hands cracked and Eskel tossed it to the ground with a sneer.
“So yeah, I’m tired of it.” Hesitantly, like he might have just walked up on a sleeping chort, Gaetan stood. “I think about just letting them die at the hands of whatever monster is plaguing them and then I take care of it anyway because I’m too fucking st-“
“Good.” Gaetan interjected softly. “You’re good. Which isn’t stupid.” He could listen to the big Witcher rant against humans all evening, he clearly needed to let something out- but Gaetan wouldn’t let him berate himself. “You would hate yourself if you walked out of a town and let people die. Hell, I’m not a good man- couldn’t give half a shit about most people on good days- but Honorton fucking haunts me. Almost more than” he touched his neck and paused, feeling along the ever tender line left in his skin. “Well. You know.” He walked around the campfire and dropped down into the space between Eskel’s knees.
“So no, you’re not stupid. But I think you could get away with a bit more than you let yourself.” Anger rolled off Eskel in waves, his hands shook where they clenched his thighs. “What town took your horse?”
“Gaetan.”
“What town?”
“No.”
He smiled at the Wolf’s vehemence. “See? You’re a good man. Won’t even let me defend your honor.” He coaxed Eskel’s hands to take his own. “I have an idea.”
“Oh no.” Eskel said, but his heart wasn’t in the tease. Gaetan didn’t reply, simply rose up on his toes and pushed at Eskel’s shoulders until he was laying back against the bedrolls.
“I’ve missed you, wolf.” He kneaded the Witcher’s thighs. “How about I show you how much?” He’d get Eskel to relax and then, maybe, get enough information to help him out.
***
Eskel refused to give him the name of the town he had left his horse in but that did not deter Gaetan from his mission. Two months of searching backwater towns in Eskel’s usual territory without a trace of the Witcher’s old stallion did put a damper on his hunt.
Instead he turned his efforts to collecting enough coin for a new one. He was in Aedirn when he saw a familiar horse.
“How much for the stallion.”
“Less than you have, Witcher.” The man spat.
Gaetan bit back a snarl and held up his coin purse, “how much?”
“Like I said. Not enough.” Calm. Eskel wouldn’t want you to kill him.
“Actually got this beat from a witcher, not inclined to sell it back to one.” The tried to bodily stop Gaetan from moving closer to Scorpion and the Cat Witcher snarled.
“Listen here you piece of shit.” He curled his fingers into his palm to avoid grabbing the smarmy human by the front of his shirt. The longer he looked the more the man looked like the blond bastard, the one who’d slid a knife between Gaetan’s ribs just to watch him scream. The same cruelty lurked in his eyes. “My friend might not have slit your throat but I don’t have the same code as him. You’re going to take forty ducats for this horse and then you are going to thank me for my generous payment. If you don’t I will hunt you down and I will geld you. ”
The human’s eyes went wide. “Agreed?”
“I-“
“Yes. Good.” He slammed the payment into the man’s chest. “Pleasure doing business with you.”
He took Scorpion’s reins and began to walk away. The warhorse nudged his shoulder as if to hurry him along but Gaetan refused to run.
“Isn’t a person on the continent that doesn’t know what that mark on your neck means, Witcher!” The man called after him.
He needed to get to Kaedwen by month’s end. He couldn’t do that if he had to avoid main roads.
He kept walking.
Eskel would have been proud of him.
If he screamed himself hoarse as soon as the city was nothing more than a blip on the horizon? Well.
Eskel would probably have been proud of him for that shit too.