Oooh, this one turned cute, actually! I just keep imagening all the pranks that young Geralt and Lambert would get up to while carrying some adult knowledge and none of the adult self restraint. Ish.
Please enjoy <3
On Ao3 Hand holding collection
Things are always more interesting with sorceresses around. Eskel both admires them, and fears them. Just don’t tell them that.
Sometimes it's a squabble, sometimes it's an experiment, sometimes it is just petty rage.
Eskel has no idea which it was this time, but Geralt has been deaged— according to Lambert who saw it all, and now he has hidden somewhere in the keep.
It's been a while since there were children around. With Lambert being their youngest and Ciri out and about in the world, they are a bit out of practice.
Eskel does have an advantage, however. He has known Geralt through all the years, knows where he goes to seek comfort.
The latest Roach is roaming the hillside with the other horses, so her stall is empty, but there is a big stack of hay rustling suspiciously in the corner.
Sitting down in the straw next to it, Eskel makes himself comfortable against the stone wall. It's a bit chilly still, the spring has yet to make an appearance, but Eskel doesn't mind.
"I hear there is cake in the kitchen," Eskel tells the suspicious stack of hay. It doesn't reply.
"And I hear Lambert has a secret stash of caramels in his rooms. Very tempting."
The stack of hay rustles a little, and a pair of brown eyes looks out at him. A stab of something, possibly pain or regret, runs through him. It's been decades since he saw those eyes.
"Hmm," a child's voice says from the stack and Eskel can't fight his smile. Ever the same, always. Geralt is Geralt, no matter the age.
"No?" Eskel muses. "No, you are right. Lambert might have booby-trapped them, made them all bitter and hidden the good ones."
Geralt just keeps looking at him, his cheeks round with soft baby fat, his brown hair curling around his ears.
"Do you want to help me look?" Eskel offers when Geralt keeps being quiet. "We could put candy crackers in there instead."
This time, Geralt nods eagerly, a mischievous grin in place.
The haystack rustlesde once more when Geralt crawls out of it.
He looks very young, seven at most. He is dressed in the same clothes Ciri had when she came here. They are a bit big on him, but a belt keeps trousers and tunic in place.
Eskel offers his hand when they walk but Geralt glares and shakes his head. In the distance, Eskel can hear Lambert argue with Yennefer, and considering just how eager Geralt is to steal from Lambert, this was probably all on him.
As soon as they approach Lambert's room, Geralt runs ahead, his small steps echoing around the corridor.
They both have been in Lambert's room enough times not to trust the open drawers and shelves. The caramels are easy to find, and with one lick and scrunched noses they confirm that these are, indeed, the bitter caramels.
They scoop them into a small bag and make their way to Lambert's lab.
The stash of candy they find in a small bag marked with “onions.” As if that ever fooled anyone. They replace the good candy with the bitter ones, and put some onion powder on top just because they can.
As they leave, Geralt's tiny hand finds Eskel, grabbing his fingers. When Eskel looks down, Geralt looks stubbornly ahead. They make their way back to the stables, Geralt once again burrowing down into the haystack, as they feast on their price.
"Don't tell Jaskier about this," Geralt admits after a while.
"You remember Jaskier?" Eskel asks surprised and Geralt nods his small head sagely.
"He would squish my face if he saw me and write a dozen songs about it." Eskel barks out a laugh, remembering too late he was eating a caramel.
He almost chokes on it, and Geralt gives a small smile, finally.
They both startle as the door to the stable opens, and a small figure stumbles in through the snow.
"Move over," a very young Lambert grumbles, also in what seems to be Ciri's old clothes, and crawls into the hay to hide.
"Not a word," Lambert threatens when Geralt gives a smirk.
They stay in the stables until it's time for the horses to come in for the night. Then Lambert and Geralt hide in the hayloft, as they refuse to grovel to Yennefer in order to become adults again.
They might just have to stay there for a while.
The keep is much calmer the first two days.
Then it gets reacquainted with what it is like to have children about.
Geralt and Lambert are back to adults within hours.
