Chapter Text
Jaskier, to the surprise of no one, is nervous. He fidgets a bit, looking at Eskel and Geralt in the front seats of the truck as he twists his pacifier clip between his fingers. His bag sits next to him, opened to reveal his coloring book, crayons, sippy cup, and the bandages Miss Priscilla hastily packed away before he climbed into Geralt’s truck.
He isn’t sure if he’s dreading the day or excited for it. They’ve just left the center and are on the road that leads to the ranch, but he knows they’ll be driving past it to pick up Lambert for an outing together.
Aiden, Lambert’s Caregiver, is being called out of town for some kind of business trip and, instead of bringing Lambert along (Jaskier was told it would be horribly boring), Lambert will be staying at the ranch with Geralt and Eskel. When Geralt had first heard about it he’d hastily arranged an excursion, both for Lambert and Jaskier to meet and to keep Lambert distracted from Aiden having to leave. Of course, when he told Jaskier this last week in the Blended Room, he had been delighted. He’s waited so long to meet Lambert, has heard many wonderful (and perhaps not so wonderful) things about him. He’s also Geralt’s adopted brother, so besides Eskel and Vesemir, the latter of whom Jaskier probably won’t meet until Christmas in a month, he’s the person that knows Geralt best. He's aware that Geralt holds Lambert in high regard, so he has to be on his best behavior today.
“Why so quiet back there?” Geralt asks, looking at Jaskier in the rear view mirror with an eyebrow raised.
“Yeah, I was pretty interested in which flowers are your favorites,” Eskel pipes in, turning to give Jaskier a grin, his scar pulling at his lips.
Jaskier shrugs, biting at his pacifier.
“I think someone’s nervous to meet Lambert.” Eskel muses.
Geralt glances up at him again in the mirror, brow now furrowed. “I thought you were excited. He’s definitely eager to see you.”
But he has nothing to prove, Jaskier thinks, not bothering to say that and instead giving a shrug as an answer instead.
“Lambert can be a bit much, but he grows on you like a pretty little weed,” Eskel chuckles, reaching back and ruffling Jaskier’s hair. “You have nothing to worry about, I can assure you he’ll mind his p’s and q’s.”
Jaskier huffs a giggle and pulls away from Eskel’s hand, nodding. “Okay,” he mumbles from behind his pacifier.
It’s not Lambert he’s worried about, though. But instead of dwelling on that he shakes his head a bit to clear it and goes back into why tulips are way better than orchids.
~~~
Lambert and Aiden’s house is nice, big, and blue, with two floors and a fenced backyard. When Jaskier asks if they have a fence because they have a pet, Geralt laughs and tells him it’s to keep Lambert from running off.
Geralt honks the horn once he parks in the driveway before twisting in his seat, looking at Jaskier with caring brown eyes. “Just be yourself, Jaskier, that’s all I ask. You’re still my sweet Little, no matter what happens today, and I want you to have fun and not worry about showing you’re worthy of anything. Can you try to do that for me?”
Jaskier closes his eyes and sighs. Geralt always knows exactly what to say, especially after his first overnight visit to the ranch two months ago. And he knows that he’s right, that he should worry about having fun instead of impressing anyone. It’s something they’ve talked about a lot, how Jaskier’s worth lies in himself and not in what others think of him, but it’s hard not to think that way when he’s been turned away time and time again by visitors at the center. Surely, he'd thought at the time, there had to be something wrong with him to be denied so many times?
He doesn’t get to follow that train of thought for long before the front door to the house is thrown open and a dark haired man runs out, his coat haphazardly sitting on his arms over his green sweater. He’s grinning wickedly, giving an excited wave to the truck. Jaskier knows this is Lambert from the pictures on the walls of the ranch house. There’s yelling coming from behind him and another man steps out carrying a knit cap in one hand and dragging a suitcase and duffel bag in the other.
“It’s cold, Lambert! Take your hat!” The man, Aiden, yells before grabbing Lambert around the waist and pulling him back, easily holding him as he squirms and pulling the hat onto Lambert’s head. He follows that up with a kiss to Lambert’s cheek that is promptly followed by loud whining.
“Never a dull moment,” Geralt sighs under his breath, but his smile belies any exasperation. Something strange happens in Jaskier’s belly at the sight of that smile directed out the window and he furrows his brow, trying to ignore it.
After a lot more scuffling, Lambert has finally made his way to the truck, out of breath and cheeks pink. Jaskier shivers as cold air drifts in when Lambert throws his door open, grinning wide at Jaskier. “Hi, I’m Lambert.”
Jaskier opens his mouth to introduce himself but is quickly interrupted by Lambert climbing up on the seat next to him, holding out his hand. “Geralt says you’re gonna be his Little, so that means we’re gonna be like cousins. Or, you’ll be my nephew, I guess. It’s weird.”
Jaskier looks between Lambert’s hand and his face in surprise before shaking it with his own, surprised by the firmness behind it. Lambert’s hands are warm. He gives Lambert a tentative smile.
“I don’t suck pacis anymore, unless I’m really tired. They’re kinda baby-ish,” Lambert states, “But it’s cool that you use them all of the time, I guess.”
Jaskier frowns.
Before he can respond, Aiden's face comes into view behind Lambert, giving Jaskier a harried grin as he hoists the duffel bag up and sets it down at Lambert’s feet, the suitcase already in the covered bed of the truck. “Hello, Jaskier. I’m Aiden. It’s very nice to meet you.” He looks down at the watch on his wrist and sucks at his teeth, looking back to Lambert with a sad smile. “I’ve got to get packed if I’m going to make the plane on time, little man.”
Lambert turns back towards him with a pout, brown eyes big. “Why can’t I come?”
Aiden gives him a look like they’ve talked about this many times before. “Because it’s boring, you know that. You’ll have plenty of fun with Geralt and them at the ranch. Besides, you have a great day planned with Jaskier. You can’t very well do that strapped to a plane seat for five hours.”
That seems to be enough explanation for Lambert because he grumbles but nods, hugging Aiden tightly around the neck. “Don’t die in a plane crash,” Lambert says quietly, making Aiden laugh.
“I’ll do my best not to. I’ll see you in a few days, alright? Be good, and be nice.” He ends with a pointed look and Lambert rolls his eyes but nods. Aiden pulls back and fixes Lambert’s hat one more time before giving a small salute to Geralt and Eskel, who tell him to have a good trip. Before he closes Lambert’s door he looks to Jaskier again, green eyes piercing. “I hope we have more time to spend together next time we see each other, Jaskier. Have fun today, okay? Don’t let Lambert push you around.” At that he gets a shove to his shoulder from Lambert and he laughs, giving Lambert a sloppy kiss to his cheek before closing his door.
Lambert grumbles some more, wiping at his cheek but waving through his window as the truck begins to pull out of the driveway, Aiden waving to all of them for a moment before the chill pushes him back inside of the house.
Opposed to what Geralt had said about having to distract Lambert, it doesn’t seem like it will be hard. Lambert starts talking as soon as they’re back out on the road, pulling off the hat Aiden had meticulously fixed on his head and going a mile a minute about how Aiden took him to a museum and how boring it was, but the dinosaur bones were cool and he liked the wooly mammoth, and he really wanted to touch it because the fur looked really soft, but it was behind some glass so he couldn’t, but that was okay because he got to touch some other cool looking things-
Jaskier listens quietly next to him, watching him animatedly talk with his hands, bouncing in his seat in his rush to get all of his thoughts out. He has Geralt and Eskel’s full attention, both humming and nodding in response and asking him which mummy sarcophagus was his favorite to see. That strange feeling comes back, squirmy and uncomfortable, and Jaskier takes his pacifier from his mouth.
“I’ve been to that museum before, the cavemen were really cool,” he interrupts, looking forward and relaxing once Geralt’s eyes fall back on him in the mirror.
“Oh,” Lambert says, looking at him now, “did Geralt take you there?”
“No, I went with the center. We stayed there for the whole day.” He’s not quite sure why he feels the need to say that last part, but it makes him feel a little better. Lambert looks impressed and Jaskier has to keep himself from preening.
“The whole day? That’s kickass.”
“Lambert, you know better than to say that,” Geralt sighs. This also sounds like it’s been discussed at length before.
“Ciri says it all the time,” Lambert chirps, sticking out his tongue until Eskel acts like he’s gonna pull it out of Lambert’s mouth, making Lambert giggle and sit back out of reach.
Jaskier frowns as Lambert launches back into his story, Eskel now turned back to talk with him. Jaskier’s chest hurts and he leans back in his seat, looking out the window petulantly. He’s not sure he’s very excited for the day anymore.