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Lambert didn’t like to go into the still room.
It was Triss’ domain, firstly, and secondly it wasn’t the alchemy room, so Lambert was rather useless in there, though he did know how to make various soaps and such, it was just… Triss was… familiar. Something about her - something not from her hair, or her eyes, though both caused an odd pull in his stomach, but her nose. Her chin; the way she turned, body first and then head, like she was moving faster than she thought; or how she smiled sometimes. Something was familiar about her, but Lambert couldn’t… place it.
And it wasn’t just those weird little details, but also… the way she said things was weirdly familiar too. Sayings Lambert hadn’t heard since he was damn young, but also that wasn’t that weird because Triss was older than him, so her knowing various older sayings wasn’t unexpected. But it- it stuck with Lambert, for some reason. How she said them stuck too. A cadence that… that hurt to hear, for some fucking reason.
So yeah. Lambert avoided the still room. He didn’t need to interact with the mage anyway.
*
"I gave you all one rule!" Triss yelled, throwing out her arms. "One! Do not blow yourselves up!"
Lambert grimaced, looking away. He hadn't done anything, he'd actually told these idiots to go to fucking Crane Valley before they tried to set off the damn thing, but he was technically fuckin' older, and these little shits definitely knew better, but also Lambert could remember being an absolute fuckin' idiot at twenty one…
Fuckin' hell…
"They're fine," Lambert grunted. "Dumbasses, but fine,"
Triss rounded on him, glaring sharply. Lambert stiffened, not at all fuckin' liking how that shit made him feel, and he glare back quickly. "You wouldn't be the one putting their blown-off limbs back on, Lambert. I would. And you should have told them not to do it!"
"They're fuckin' adults!" Lambert argued, "If they want to be dumbasses they are fully within their rights; and I did fuckin' tell them to to the damned valley, they didn't fuckin' listen!"
Triss took a step towards him. "They are adults, but they're also significantly younger than you. You should have doubled down; dragged them by their scruffs if you must!"
"I'm not gonna drag fuckin' full-fledged Witchers by their damned scruffs. I'm not that kind of fuckin' asshole. Stop scolding me like you're my damn Ma'," Lambert growled, taking a step towards Triss in return.
Something flashed in Triss' eyes, and then it hardened and turned angry and hurt, and her scent broke from the angered muddle to something damn near akin to agony. Before Lambert could react, her fists clenched at her sides and her eyes squeezed closed and she brought her fists up by her head, and then, like the words simply could not stay inside, she burst out, "Perhaps I'm not your mother Lambert, but I had a nephew with your name and sometimes-" she cut herself off with a surprised and pained noise, turning from Lambert somewhat as she put a hand over her eyes.
Lambert glared at her. "Oh, so because you had a little shit with the same name as me you get to boss me the fuck around. Alright. Sure. See how far that fuckin' gets you, Merigold," Fuck; he was being an ass, but Triss was poking a damn nerve, and he was poking hers, he should just apologize -
"Potter," Triss snapped.
Lambert froze. "What?" he snarled.
Triss turned to him again, her eyes swimming with unshed tears as her cheeks shined with what had already fallen. "I said Potter. Triss Merigold is a fake name; a name I was told to make to be more respected by the nobility and royalty and a name I threw myself into the seperate myself from that name and sister stealing filth. My name is Potter."
Potter.
Fucking Potter.
Lambert didn't know why it mattered. Potter was a common second name - there were a lot of fuckin' potters in the world to rightfully use the name - but the words fell out of his mouth before he could stop them,"You're lying," She wasn't, Lambert knew she wasn't, she wouldn't and he would be able to tell if she was, but- but-
Triss scowled darkly at him, and oh fucking hell, Lambert- why was that look so- "You know well I'm not; don't you dare insult me like that, Lambert. You know, I should call you what I called my poor nephew: Bee. Bee, because he was such a sweet little boy, the sweetest in the world, and yet he had a such a stinger. He- oh, he had it to protect my sister. He shouldn't have had the damn stinger; she should have left that bastard; Mama tried, we all tried, but she loved that too much -"
"Stop fucking talking," Lambert growled - said. He tried to growl it, but he couldn't. Bee. Bee. He- she- Lambert couldn't- he took a step back.
"No," Triss snapped. "No, and I'm sorry but damn you, Lambert, for making this month already that much harder,"
"What-?" Lambert felt like he couldn't fuckin' breathe, why was she-
"Damn it," Triss said, sounding far older than Lambert had ever heard her. "… I'm sorry. I shouldn't be taking out my anger on you, or them, I just… My sister. My nephew. They died this month - or, it's when I learned that they died. My nephew seventy-four years ago, taken by monsters, and my sister sixty-two years ago, taken by him," she spat.
Lambert, by his best estimate, was eighty-three to eighty-five years old. He came to Kaer Morhen, dragged by his damned scruff, when he was nine - somewhere around seventy-four years ago. His bastard ass sire told Lambert Ma' had died a year before, and he hadn't lied. That would have been- that would have been-
"Triss-" Lambert started, but Triss shook her head.
"Gods, Lambert, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have taken this out on you - any of you," She added to the others, standing there with singed eyebrows and wide eyes. "I- gods… my nephew… My sister said I could take him. She said that I could raise her sweet Bee away from him; she wouldn't leave him herself but she wanted Bee out. But then I had my conduit moment, and I was taken, and by the time I was finally out she- they were gone," A sob bubbled out of Triss, and she wrapped her arms around herself.
Lambert tried to move forward, or maybe he tried to take a step back, he didn't fucking know, but he didn't move either way. He couldn't move. Triss looked- she looked- There was no fucking way. No, no, she didn't have red hair. That- Lambert was pale and had dark hair, there wasn't- it wasn't-
"He called me the cutest name," Triss whispered, agony in her voice and scent both. Shockingly, a wet laugh bubbled out of her. "He hadn't any front teeth last I saw him - he was getting so big - gods but he couldn't pronounce the 's' because of his teeth, it only came out as a 'th' sound, and he refused to sound like a baby, so he called me-"
The words tumbled out of Lambert before he could stop them. "Auntri?"
Triss' words cut off with a choked noise and she whirled to face Lambert, her eyes wide and wild. "What- what did you just call me?" She demanded.
"I-" Lambert started, but the words wouldn't come out.
"Lambert," She said, taking a stumbling step towards him. "Lambert, what did you just call me?"
Her nose. Her chin. The way she moved, the sayings she spoke, the way she laughed, her smile. All of it Lambert knew; knew because he knew- "…Auntri…?" he whispered, something terrifyingly similar to hope growing unbidden in his chest.
Triss gasped like Lambert had damn well punched her. Fresh tears welled in her eyes and spilled over within seconds, and a broken sob escaped her, her hands flying to cover her mouth. "Bee?" She whispered.
"I- this can't-" Lambert tried, taking a unsteady step away from her. There was- this wasn't real. There was no fucking way-
"Your eyes," Triss whispered, a trembling hand reaching for him. "Your eyes. Your ears. Bee. You're my Bee,"
"Shut the fuck up," Lambert snapped, trying desperately to tear apart and burn and bury the swelling emotions in his chest. This wasn't fucking possible, there was no fucking way-
"Cynthia's Little Lamb," Triss whispered. Lambert felt his knees hit the ground more than he realized he'd lost strength in his legs. That- Mama's name was- she- Triss wasn't-
Triss took maybe to two bumbling steps before she fell to her own knees, barely two feet from Lambert. She reached for him, shoulders shaking from her sobs.
"Stop," Lambert said - begged.
"Bee," Triss' voice was broken and shattered, barely louder than a whisper and yet it was obvious the anguished sound came from her damn soul. She lunged forward, wrapping her arms around Lambert's neck and clinging at once. They- it- she-
"Auntri!" The world was big, really big, but Aunt Triss wasn't. She was bigger than Lambert, everyone was, Mama said it's cause he's little and he hated being little, but Aunt Triss never cared that she wasn't as big as everyone else, or that Lambert was little. She dropped to her knees as Lambert ran to her, arms outstretched for him.
"Bee!" Aunt Triss cheered, gleefully scooping him into her arms. She groaned loudly as she lifted him, swinging him back and forth to make him giggle. Lambert tried to look at her face, but all he could see was the highlighted shape of her nose and the very bottom of her chin; the rest of her was a shadow, the sun behind her blinding him.
"Where've you been?" Lambert demanded, squinting against the sun. "Mama mitheded you!"
"Oh, she missed me, huh?" Aunt Triss asked, her laugh nearly as pretty a song as Mama's. "I've been busy, my buzzy little Bee, helping to keep Grandmother healthy and caring for our family's pottery shop, but I'm here now, yes? And I'll stay all week until your Pa' returns,"
Lambert scowled at her. "Can't you th-ay forever?" he demanded. "Pa' don't need to come back,"
Aunt Triss laughed a bit softer that time. "You and I agree on that, sweet little Bee, but this is his home too,"
"Triss!" Mama cried, coming out of the house at a run. Her pretty hair was braided back, showing her even prettier face. Her hair kept changing colors, Lambert couldn't focus on it. Lambert reached for Mama as she got near, as she smiled at him, taking him from Aunt Triss' arms with a happy noise. Lambert knew he was too big to be picked up like this, Pa' would have his ass, but Lambert didn't care.
Ma' leaned over and hugged Aunt Triss, squishing Lambert between them until he shrieked with delight. "Oh, I am so glad you've made it safely. How is Ma'?"
"Tired, as always," Aunt Triss said with a shrug. Ma' pulled back from the hug and put a hand on her face, and Aunt Triss leaned into it with a smile "She's been talking to people in the village,"
Ma' dropped her hand from Aunt Triss' face. "Good things, I hope?"
Aunt Triss waited a second before she nodded. "I… hope so. But let's not talk about that. Let's talk about him! His hair is darkening,"
Ma' sighed sadly, pressing a firm kiss to the side of Lambert's head. Lambert whined and reached up for her face. Why was Mama sad!?
"I know. I wish it would stay red like ours, but… perhaps it'll come back. Perhaps not," Ma' said, catching Lambert's pale hands in her own slightly darker ones. She kissed them gently with a little smile that Lambert didn't like to see because it meant she was sad!
Stay red like ours.
Lambert… Lambert didn't have red hair. Lambert had dark hair, like his Pa', something he'd always hated about himself. He had dark hair and pale skin.
Lambert looked up at his Ma'. Her hair, which he hadn't been able to see the color of for decades, though he was only five years old, was… red. Bright and fiery and familiar. Her skin was darker, warmer, than Lambert's, not by much, but noticeably. Lambert turned, looking at Aunt Triss. She'd moved from the sun, her face pretty and nice and she had these dots across her nose and cheeks, only slightly darker than her warm skin which was only a little darker than Mama's own skin, but her hair was as red as Mama's was, and when Lambert reached out and grabbed a lock it curled around his little hand-
"Aunt Triss," Lambert choked out, the realization undeniable even as his mind tried to scream it was wrong.
"Bee," Triss whispered, cradling Lambert like he were something precious in her arms. "Oh, my sweet little Bee, I found you. I found you. That bastard lied- that bastard said-"
"Said I got damn well dragged off," Lambert said, not sure why it felt so hard to breathe, nor why his face felt weirdly wet. Witcher's didn't - couldn't - cry, so fuckin' why-? "Fucker sold me, and then a damned Witcher dragged me off, I didn't-"
"I should have searched for you," Triss said - Aunt Triss said - pulling back to cup Lambert's face in her hands. Gods she hadn't - she hadn't barely aged since Lambert could last remember her. Adult in features now, Lambert could tell she'd been maybe seventeen in his memory but it was undeniably her.
"Auntri," Lambert had meant to say 'Aunt Triss', but- well fuck, he'd already made a damn fool of himself, and those kids were actually gone, Lambert couldn't hear them anymore, so fuck it. "Auntri,"
Triss leaned forward, pressing her lips firmly to Lambert's forehead. "Bee," She whispered. "Thank every god I've ever cursed for losing you. They brought me to you again,"
Lambert swallowed thickly, "Ma'-" he couldn't finish the words. Ma' was gone. Ma' had been gone, for over sixty damn years. Pointing that out now did nothing, but still...
"I know," Triss said softly against his forehead, pressing another firm and wet kiss against him. "I know, Bee. I left that bastard to die a rotten death, and I'm glad I did because you got what you deserved,"
Auntri. "Where the hell were you?" Lambert demanded, feeling stupid even as he said it.
"Aretuza," Triss said sadly, sighing heavily. "The last night I saw you, your Pa' returned… angry. He did things I won't repeat, and in a panic I healed your mother of the worst of it. My conduit moment. You were asleep, thank the gods, but - after I healed her, Aretuza came for me. By the time I was finally able to leave, you'd already been 'dead' for over a decade and Cynthia had been gone for months." Triss pulled Lambert to her again, hugging him firmly.
"Lambert?" Milena's voice made Lambert flinch, and he stupidly panicked for half a second before Milena dropped to her knees beside him. Triss pulled back, wiping at her own face as Milena took Lambert's in her hands. "Oh, my love…" she looked at Triss, "I- I was told something had happened and to come quickly, but what in the world…?" she trailed off, her scent confused and worried and more.
Triss let out a wet bubble of a giggle. "I… Bee, would you like to explain or should I?"
"Fuck. You." Lambert said, wrapping an arm around Milena's waist to pull her to him properly. She went willingly, curling in his lap with a curious and soothing little noise, her scent still worried but honey was working its way through, and Lambert buried his nose into her hair and breathed in deeply.
Triss smiled - Ma's smile, Lambert could recognize it now - and she reached out and gently ran the back of her fingers over the side of Lambert's face. "Alright. But if I'm telling then she is getting all of the details. Including your adorable lisp,"
"Auntri," Lambert groaned, shifting and dropping his forehead onto Milena's shoulder, mostly to hide the giddy grin that forced its way onto his face. His fuckin' lover was going to hear his stupid ass embarrassing childhood fuckin' stories, and she was going to hear them from his fucking Aunt. What the actual fuck was Lambert's life?
"His lisp?" Milena asked. Lambert pulled back and saw her eyes were wide as saucers and she was looking between Lambert and Triss. "'Auntri?' 'Bee?' I fear I'm very confused,"
Triss laughed delightedly, her scent still pained but a shockingly bright joy was growing to overtake it. Lambert had to chuckle and he kissed Milena simply because it felt right. It always felt right to kiss her, she always reacted so fuckin' beautifully and she did the same this time too.
"Maybe I should reintroduce myself," Triss said softly after he and Milena parted, smiling Ma's smile still, and she gently reached out to take Milena's hand. Milena looked at her curiously, her scent honey and joy and curiosity, the worry finally waning away. Triss took a deep breath. "My name, the name I was given upon birth, is Triss Potter,"
"Potter," Milena repeated.
Lambert sighed slightly. Milena turned her head to him. "My name, which I thought was from my fuckass sire, but I guess it makes sense that he'd steal another damn thing from Ma', was Lambert fuckin' Potter."
Milena gasped softly, looking between Lambert and Triss. "Potter. A lisp. Auntri. Aunt Triss. She- you-!"
Triss laughed, the sound bursting out of her as her scent and Milena's both exploded with an overwhelming joy, so thick that even though they were outside Lambert could taste it. Milena reached out and grabbed Triss' hand, pulling her into their little pile with a delighted sound, hugging her tightly.
Lambert, unable to help himself, wrapped his arms around both of them and squeezed. Milena and Triss both squeaked in surprise and then laughed, and there was a quick tangle of limbs and then they were hugging, laughing, and Lambert's face felt weird from whatever the fuck had happened, and his head felt just a little fuzzy from it, and his chest felt both heavier and lighter than it had in centuries, and -
And fuck. Lambert- he hadn't lost everything. He'd lost so fucking much, he'd thought it was fuckin' everything, but then he gained a lot, and now he was still being given more. He didn't believe in any gods, or if they existed he spent the majority of his life believing they only meant to use him as some sort of sadistic entertainment, but- fuck. He'd go to the damn temple and ask Nenneke to bless him, or whatever the correct course of action fuckin' was, if that's what it took to keep what he'd been given.
He didn't want anymore. Truthfully, Lambert didn't think he could handle anymore. He had what he needed before and then Milena came into it and Lambert thought it'd be the most he'd ever get. He'd counted his damned blessings, counted them again, and when he counted for a third time he somehow, some fucking way, found more than he'd had before.
Well… shit. Lambert'd never been the religious sort, and he definitely wasn't gonna fuckin' start now, but… he could at least be grateful. To whatever or whoever or what fate bullshit caused this, he didn't fuckin' know, but he- he was grateful. He would always be grateful.
"We must tell your brothers!" Milena gasped, pulling back from the group hug with an excited gasp. "Triss, you've been aunting all of the Witchers for years!"
Triss blinked, and then let out a loud laugh. "So I have! Lambert? Shall we tell them?"
Lambert grinned. "Fuck yes. Those fuckin' assholes were jealous that Treyse gets to be an Uncle and Mouse gets to know her 'cool ass Uncle.' Fuck that, Treyse is fuck all compared to this; I get to have the most badass fuckin' Aunt in the world, the greatest damn healer across the fuckin' continent, so I fuckin' win,"
Triss laughed, that same delighted and melodic laugh Lambert thought he'd forgotten, her head tilted back like Ma' always did when she was just happy for a fuckin' minute. Milena laughed as well, and took his face in her hands and pressed their lips together firmly, shaking them both with her mirth.
Yeah. Yeah, Lambert would always be real fuckin' grateful. And he'd work his fuckin' ass off to keep this - them - safe.