#tldr: eskel was in love with lambert all along

[jaskiersvalley]

Hiiiii I'm not very good with prompts but I wanted to send you one to congratulate you on all your milestones on AO3! How fantastic and how well earned! For the prompt, maybe some Eskel/Lambert/Cahir friends to lovers? That OH moment of realization? Any verse is fine, you come up with the most lovely scenarios!

Bready! My partner in crimes and best of enablers. This prompt sings to my heart so much! Thank you for sending such a wonderful prompt to help celebrate 1,000,000 words posted to AO3!

Love was nothing like the films depicted. There was no dramatic music, no red hearts or special lighting. Eskel already knew that with Cahir, the two of them had met at the post office of all places. Eskel had been hoping to send a parcel for Ciri’s birthday and Cahir had been in front of him in the line. He had a whole stack of letters to send by the looks of it, only to fumble them and drop them with a soft exclamation of annoyance. Naturally, Eskel moved to help, only to freeze when he spotted the name and address on the envelope.

“You know her too?” He asked and put the letter next to his parcel to show the matching names.

Cahir stared, looking a little panicked. “How do you know her?”

“Uncle, kind of. Geralt and I grew up together. You?”

After a moment, Cahir didn’t relax but he looked less ready to run or fight. “I was her social worker through the adoption process. We kept in touch.”

Eskel looked at all the letters Cahir was posting and wondered just how many of them were to families that he’d helped and then stayed in touch with. It made Eskel wonder just how big Cahir’s heart was.

Pretty big, as it turned out. And Eskel slowly slipped into love. It was the small things really, the way Cahir would without hesitation shove Eskel out of the way to pay for a date. The way Cahir would happily tuck strands of hair out of Eskel’s face to kiss him but would get flustered if Eskel returned the gesture. Not to mention the sweet, shy way Cahir would ask about trying something new in the bedroom but once they were in the moment he would absolutely lose himself to their pleasure. It was nice. More than nice but Eskel wasn’t the kind to have many words to describe things. All he cared about was that he and Cahir made each other happy.

Even better, Cahir got along with Lambert like a house on fire. They bitched and griped, even arm wrestled for the honour of sitting next to Eskel one evening when they went out. Somehow, it never felt like Lambert was a third wheel on their nights out. It made Eskel love Cahir that little bit more that he didn’t get jealous of the close friendship Eskel had with Lambert. In fact, he seemed to encourage it.

It was Lambert’s turn to get drinks and Eskel watched him leaning against the bar, hips stuck out to one side. He had to wonder why Lambert was still single, he looked good, was a genuinely great man and had a wicked sense of humour. Anyone would be lucky to call him theirs.

“You love him, don’t you?” Cahir asked. He was sitting next to Eskel for a change rather than opposite and playing footsie.

Flustered, Eskel looked to his boyfriend. It was such a non-sequitur question and so out of the blue, he needed a moment to parse it. The time it took only made Cahir press on.

“It’s okay, if you can love both of us, and he can love both of us, I can love both of you.”

Rather intelligently, Eskel blinked. “You what now?”

“The way you look at him, it’s obvious. You look at me like that too.”

There was so much patience in Cahir’s voice, it made Eskel feel a little stupid and foolish. That was rapidly overtaken by the most astounding realisation; he loved Lambert. Which was followed up by a wave of terror because oh shit he loved Lambert.

Taking a leaf from Geralt’s book, Eskel said the most obvious thing, “Fuck.”

At least it made Cahir chuckle and he leaned into Eskel’s shoulder. “You really had no clue, did you?” When Eskel shook his head, he continued, “I thought I was just a time filler while you and Lambert sorted all your shit out. But it stretched for months, now it’s been three years. I had to say something.”

Both of them watched as Lambert picked up the three pint glasses with ease, weaving his way between tables and back towards them. He set them down and looked at the other two.

“What? Did I miss a phone call from Vesemir to say he was finally marrying Guxart?” He snorted. “There’s more chance of him talking about alien abductions than that. So go on, what did I miss?”

“I love you,” Eskel blurted out. He’d never had secrets from Lambert so he had no filter.

It drew a bright laugh as Lambert threw his head back. “I knew that already. But seriously, what did I miss.”

“I love you,” Eskel repeated and watched as Lambert’s bravado slipped for a moment and hurt flashed through his eyes.

“Let’s not do this, Esk,” he pleaded. “You’ve got Cahir. He’s the only one you need to love.”

Which made things a thousand times worse because Eskel was suddenly seeing everything he had missed. The time spent together, the desperate way Lambert welcomed Cahir into his life because if he couldn’t make Eskel happy, he could very well befriend the one who did. Truly, Eskel had been an idiot.

Standing up, Cahir gestured to the spot he had vacated. “Sit.”

Swallowing thickly, Lambert sat down next to Eskel and then squawked when he was pushed closer as Cahir settled down, squeezing them all into one side of the booth.

“So,” Cahir said, voice all business. “Here’s the situation. Eskel’s just realised he loves you. But he loves me too. And I love him. The question is, where do you stand with us? You love Eskel, right?”

Mute, Lambert nodded, staring at the table in front of him.

“Excellent. Question then is, do we stay friends and paramours? Or do you want to try something more?”

Finally Lambert snapped out of whatever daze he’d sunk into, whipping his head to look between Eskel and Cahir who were looking at him expectantly.

“Kiss Eskel,” Cahir suggested, “and have a think about what you want.”

Hesitantly, Lambert looked to Eskel, shy and blushing all of a sudden. Their first kiss was dry, scared and tentative. It was quickly followed up by a second after wetting their lips and pressing together more enthusiastically. When they broke apart, Eskel turned Lambert’s head with fingers on his chin, helping him face Cahir. There was a moment of looking at each other before Lambert was leaning in and kissing Cahir too, mind made up. He already loved them both, even if he’d never dared to say it. Now that nothing was holding him back, he would tell them as often and as loudly as he could. Lambert was in love and, even better, it was returned by both Eskel and Cahir.

[jaskiersvalley]

I absolutely adore your work! HE and the illiterate witchers and just everything in general! You have such a gentle and kind way of writing! When Geralt overheard the conversation at the hospital and finally understood what Jaskier was saying?? It hit me in the heart! We often come to realisations well after from something unconnected! It's extremely relatable! I also really appreciate your TDLRS! If I feel worried or think something might be triggering I can always check it and know what's up!

So I may have sat on this ask for close to a year. Oops. Did I get very self-conscious about feeling like I talked too much about Heart Exchange at some point? You bet. So now I'm shuffling in, head bowed in apology and offer you some Geraskier. TLDRs, as usual, are in the tags but, if there is ever anything that needs a tag or I can do differently to help avoid triggers/things you just don't want to read then do let me know (and I won't take a year to respond this time, I promise!).

Blaviken was a clusterfuck to say the least. To top off an already nightmarish situation, Geralt had to go and get cursed as a final insult to injury. If he understood the words correctly, he was forever cursed to seem like a monster to his one true love. On one hand, Geralt didn't much care. He didn't believe in one true love bullshit and nobody actually went around falling in love with a Witcher. On the other hand, he couldn't help but wonder whether the person who flinched away from him or turned and hurried away might have seen him more beast than man. Maybe it was the person who could have given him a speck of hope and warmth in an otherwise cold and hard world.

The years trickled by, Geralt found himself with a bard tagging along. He had looked intrigued by Geralt, even when he realised he was a Witcher. Slowly but surely he found himself warming up to Jaskier.

"You're the first Witcher I met," Jaskier prattled on, heedless of Geralt's grunts. It seemed that he was content to take the silence, the hums and terse words, and spin them into a conversation by himself.

Really, Jaskier was an odd one. He had taken it on himself to help turn the tide on the opinion the Continent held about Witchers. One village, one tavern at a time, he sang, he cajoled, he smiled and, as they left the settlements behind, there was a lingering sense of contentment.

There was just one issue. As loud and proud Jaskier was, he made no secret of loving Geralt. It was nice, in a way but Geralt couldn't help feel a pang of disappointment. Jaskier loved him, declared it often enough. But that meant they weren't destined to be a couple. And, if Geralt ever hoped that it might change, he rapidly reeled his emotions back in. If he went and fell in love with Jaskier then the spell might activate. And Gerlat didn't think the fragments of his heart that remained could survive the disgust and horror when he turned into a monster in front of Jaskier. So he kept his distance, didn't allow his heart to flutter in his chest each time Jaskier touched him. It was forbidden and it was for the best.

"Come to Kaer Morhen with me," Geralt rumbled late one night when Jaskier was already half asleep after performing for a considerable crowd.

"Alright."

Somehow, Geralt half hoped Jaskier wouldn't remember his request. But, the next morning, Jaskier was already making a list of things he'd need to survive winter in a cold castle. In Geralt's opinion he needed far too much lube but that was just his stingy opinion.

The trek up the mountain was oddly peaceful. Occasionally he caught Jaskier squinting at him in the half light of dusk but he assumed that his human eyes were tired or the light was bothering him. Finally, they made it to Kaer Morhen, last to get back for the season. As the others came to greet them, Jaskier gasped.

"You're all Witchers?"

The question made no sense and Geralt ushered Jaskier off to bed, assuming he needed a bit of sleep. Not that the following morning was much better, Jaskier woke, marched down into the kitchen and lined the Witchers up, looking over them.

"I don't understand. What happened?"

"I went through two bouts of the trials and mutations," Geralt offered sullenly. "It changed me."

The stare from Jaskier was scrutinising and puzzled. It was only Eskel's hesitant, "What do you actually see, bard?" that helped solve the puzzle.

"All the stories I'd heard about Witchers made them out to be monsters who had once been men. Meeting Geralt, I could well believe that. But you lot-" he gestured at the others, "-you're nothing of the sort."

"But what do you see?" Eskel pushed.

"I see," Jaskier trailed off as he looked at Geralt and glanced away with a frown. "I don't know. Something huge, monstrous and terrifying. It's just Geralt but I couldn't tell you what he looks like. Yet I'll recognise him when I see him."

"The curse!" Lambert crowed in delight, not that Jaskier understood.

"Sometimes, when the light was low in the evening, I thought I could catch a glimpse of what Geralt had been before the transformation. Silver hair, scarred but built like a wet dream. His eyes were the same though, a beautiful amber-yellow."

Lambert was full on cackling while even Eskel grinned. His next question was one that had Geralt and Jaskier blushing.

"Yet you still travelled with him, shared a bedroll with him, heck, you even kissed him. Why?"

"Because I love him."

There was a grunt from Geralt and he stared at the ground. "Then why didn't the curse break?"

"Curse?"

It took a few minutes to explain and Jaskier hung onto every word of the story with large eyes. He was the one who ended up chuckling by the end, turning to Geralt to cup a grotesque cheek. "My darling, I love you as you are. I fell in love with my monstrous Witcher, not some very handsome man. I wouldn't want to change you for the world."

He kissed Geralt gently then, no hesitation. "Plus, I find you incredibly sexy like this. Anyone can fuck a human, Witcher or otherwise. But you? You're exquisite. I'd gladly bed you, scars, gnarls and all. You're unique and I can't get enough of you."

Blinking dumbly, Geralt took a moment before he wrapped a hand and Jaskier's wrist and started tugging him back towards their bed.