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Watching the humans on the beach was one of Lamberts many pastimes, he loved watching their faces light up when they found the shells he would hide along the sand during the early hours. There were two particular humans Lambert enjoyed watching. A skinny man with mid length brown hair he often had up in a bun, and a man with long white hair. The two didn't often show up at to the beach at the same time, and it was clear they didn't know one another but he genuinely found them interesting. He wanted to know them, he found them both attractive. He dreamed of a day they would spot him watching them from behind a large rock. He didn't however think about what would happen when they met one another.
He was watching the beach goers from behind his rock, water dripping from his beard. He noticed the white haired man he adored, he always had a young toddler with him. She was toddling around with some of the shells he had hidden when he saw the other young man. He was bent over picking up another seashell, the toddler saw it and made her way towards him. The white haired man picked the young girl up and smiled. Lambert grew slightly closer trying to hear them. "Hi, I'm Jaskier."
Lambert's heart fluttered hearing the younger man speak first. "I'm Geralt."
"Who might this be?" Jaskier asked leaning forward.
Geralt chuckled a bit. "This is my daughter Ciri." He readjusted her in his hands, giggled in hello. "She likes the shells, sorry she wanted yours."
"Hey, I don't need it." Jaskier said holding out the small pink one towards her. Ciri grinned and reached for it dropping the blue shell she had in her hand. Jaskier smiled and placed the pink one in her lap before he bent down to pick up the little blue one. "Where is your stuff I can carry her shells for her."
"I have a little bucket for her, she just doesn't like to carry it." Geralt muttered with a laugh. The two walked together side by side towards the two differently sized beach towels. It was almost comical how large Geralt's was compared to Ciri's. Jaskier placed the shells into the colorful sand bucket and looked over Ciri and Geralt.
He cleared his throat. "Well uhm I guess I should go back to my stuff."
"You can stay, I brought some extra sandwhiches. Stay for some?"
"I'll go get my things if that's okay. I'll come right back."
Geralt nodded and waved him off, Ciri looked up at her dad and then into the ocean. "Fish!" She yelled pointing towards fins that were peaking out from the large rock he was hiding behind. Geralt looked towards the water, he narrowed his eyes spotting a bit of red coloring before Lambert hid himself completely.
"I'm sure there was a fish baby." Geralt smiled picking her up. He got her snuggled up in a second warm towel while he began to pull out the sandwiches. He looked up to see Jaskier making his way back to their spot on the beach. He sat his towel, a beach chair, and a guitar case.
"You play?" Geralt asked as he handed him a sandwich.
Lambert continued to watch them, peaking over the rock with narrowed eyes. He wondered if it was normal for humans to share food with strangers. Ciri lifted her hands up making grabby motions for a juice box that Geralt grabbed out. The man smiled and handed it over to her.
"I actually have a little band for myself, we play in dives and things."
"Whoa thats cool."
Ciri looked back at the water she locked eyes with Lambert but didn't know any better. She saw lots of people in the water. Lambert shot under the water with a soft sigh. He wondered where this would go. He wondered if this was a mistake to want to watch humans.
He certainly knew it was foolish to fall for humans.
He swam back to his home hidden not far from the beach, he knew it would be a while before he felt right enough to return to the beach. A few weeks had passed, he continued to worry he had gone to far over his head. He finally swam up to the surface after a few days, he placed a few shells along the beach while the sun was hardly up. He wanted to watch the children and hopefully Ciri as he came to know her as, would be there too. He took a deep breath and waited watching for the humans to come to the beach.
It was mid afternoon before he spotted the white haired man and the toddler Ciri, but suddenly things clicked into place. Jaskier had gotten out of the same vehicle. He was carrying some of their things but as soon as everything was set up on the beach, Lambert watched as the two kissed.
He gasped.
The two humans he fell for were in love with one another. They didn't even know he was there, they didn't know he fell for them. He dropped his head against the rock, and tears began to roll down his face.
He dove under the water, he didn't care if the splash scared people. He wouldn't put himself through this again. How could he be so stupid, how could he let humans capture his heart like a fish in a net yet he never even let them know he was there. Maybe if he had they wouldn't love each other but one would maybe fall for him.
He was thankful that the ocean water hid his tears, but the pain of his heart breaking was real.
His red and white striped tail twisted side to side as he sat on a rock, he dropped his head into his hands. Tears continued to roll float adding droplets to the sea.
He knew that there would never be a way for him to be with either human, but he never thought they would end up together. He curled his tail around himself as he continued to sob.