A/N: Writing has been so difficult for me lately as you can probably tell by my lack of posting lmao but this is the first thing in a while I’ve been able to actually complete! And that’s all because @writingmysanity !! Thank you so so much for all of your help, for always letting me bounce ideas off of you, and for helping me through this :)
Note: This is not related to the fic where it’s mentioned that Eskel and reader want to adopt! This is just a stand alone (for now lmao)
Warnings: none, pure fluff
Word Count: 1.0k
Summary: As Eskel is working around the house, Maks is his little shadow.
***
“Why do you always have to fix the fences?”
“Because Lil Bleater likes to be rotten and bust through them.”
“Why don’t you build the fences to be stronger?”
You grinned, lifting your head from the book you were reading to look across the yard. Your husband and your son were examining a broken section in the fence. As always, Maks was right beside Eskel to ask any question that popped into his head.
Maks was a very curious five-year-old boy that you and Eskel had taken in. It was unclear what had happened to him before your paths crossed, but you found him walking alone in the middle of nowhere. When asked about his family, the boy would burst into tears.
In the three months that he had been with you, he grew attached to the witcher.
Eskel loved to answer any and all questions Maks had. But his favorite thing to do was pass his knowledge along to Maks.
Eskel paused for a moment to make sure he had heard Maks correctly, then he chuckled a little and looked over in your direction. You brought your book up to cover your mouth as you giggled yourself.
“I suppose that’s, um, that’s what I need to do, isn’t it?”
“Yeah.” Maks put his hand on one of the fence boards and wiggled it. “I could probably break through this just as easy as Bleater.”
“You’re a strong fella. I’m sure you could. Come on. Let’s go grab a few things from the barn.”
Just like usual, Maks was Eskel’s shadow. He followed right behind the witcher.
“What kind of things?”
“Well, we need new pieces of wood for the fence. And we need a hammer and some nails.”
Maks skipped right over to where the spare wood was kept and waited patiently for Eskel to catch up.
“Can I hold the wood, Eskel?”
“I reckon so. You’ve got plenty of muscles, don’t you?”
Maks flexed his arms and squeezed his bicep.
“Feel those, Eskel.”
Eskel smiled at the boy and gently squeezed his upper arm.
“Wow! You’ve got big muscles!”
“Yeah, I do!”
“Hold your hands out so I can put two boards on your arms, okay?”
Maks did as he was asked, and Eskel very carefully put the wood in his arms.
“You got it, Maks?”
“Yeah!” He grunted a little and turned to leave the barn.
Eskel quickly gathered the rest of the supplies he would need and then followed Maks out of the barn.
Once they got to where the broken place in the fence was, Eskel got down on his knees. Maks followed every move he did, which included sitting on his knees as well.
“Can I try to hammer a nail in, Eskel?”
“I don’t know, Maks. I don’t want you to hurt yourself.”
“But I’ve watched you plenty of times.” Maks frowned. “I could help you.”
Eskel thought about it for a moment before nodding his head.
“Alright. I’ll get the nail started for you, okay? That way you don’t have to have your fingers in the way.”
“Okay!”
Maks watched carefully as Eskel hammered a nail in just a little bit. The biggest grin came to his face as he was handed the hammer.
“Make sure you always watch where the hammer is going, okay?”
“Okay, Eskel.”
While Eskel still held the board in place, Maks put all of his focus into using the hammer as correctly as possible. He held it with two hands and swung quickly until he was just about to reach the nail, then he slowed down and basically firmly tapped it.
This went on for quite a while until the nail was finally in the wood and Maks sat back to examine his work.
“Good job, little man!” Eskel cheered him on. “That was really good.”
“How come you can get it in in less swings than me?”
“Well…. I think it’s just because I’ve done it so many times. Once you’ve done it a few more times, you’ll be a professional. Are you ready to try again?”
“Yeah!
***
Once the fence was completely fixed, Eskel and Maks began to make their way towards you.
“Y/N! Y/N! Guess what I did!”
You closed your book and brought your eyes up to watch Maks.
“What did you do?”
“Fixed the fence!”
“Good job, darling!” You clapped your hands. “I’ll have to go look at it afterbit when we go to the garden. Was it hard work?”
“No, it wasn’t hard.” Maks shook his head. “But the hammer was a bit heavy, and my arms are sore.”
“How about we go inside and get some lunch?” You suggested.
“I’ll race you inside!”
Before you even had a chance to get to your feet, Maks was taking off towards the cottage.
Eskel chuckled, holding his hand out for you.
“He has so much energy.”
“If only he could share some of it.” You brushed off your skirt. “I’m glad he had fun helping you.”
“He did really good.” Eskel smiled, golden eyes lingering on the door to the cottage. Maks had already made his way inside. “He, um, he bent the nails quite a bit as he was hammering them in. There’s no way they’ll last even something like a strong breeze.”
The smile fell from your lips.
“Oh, no.”
“No, no. It’s okay.” Eskel assured you. The both of you began to walk together towards the cottage. “I’ll go back here in a little bit and fix it…. I’ll just add a couple nails where he won’t be able to see them.”
“Why where he can’t see them?”
“‘Cause I…. I just can’t bring myself to tell him what he did isn’t going to work.” Eskel shook his head. “He was just so excited and happy and-and eager to help, Y/N. He didn’t have the strength to really get the nails in there but…. But I don’t know. I just didn’t want to break his heart.”
You stopped walking and turned to face your husband.
“Oh, my love.” You brought your hand up to cup his cheek. “You’re such a sweet man. But I don’t think it would’ve broken his heart.”
“It might’ve broken mine.” He muttered. “I didn’t want to see him disappointed.”
You leaned up to kiss his cheek.
“I’ll keep Maks occupied inside after lunch while you come outside to fix it.”
Eskel squeezed your hand as a silent thank you as the both of you began to walk to the cottage once again.
Taglist will be reblogged because tumblr hates me :)
