The fact that this chapter was successfully completed is due solely to @stinastar who reminded me that compliments are a thing and I was making things way more difficult than they needed to be. Thanks darling, you’re the best <3
“A Melody” is the sequel to this one-shot, you should read it first.
Previous chapter
Summary: After saving Eskel from certain death, Jaskier travels alongside the witcher to Kaer Morhen.
Warning: nightmare aftermath, memories of poison and torture, and things get kinda spicy this chapter; future instances of canon typical violence and sexual situations
Eskel didn’t realize immediately he was shaking as he listened to his surroundings, it wasn’t until he determined there was no movement nearby that he realized his sword was unsteady in his hand. He slowly sheathed the blade and sat back down on his bed roll, heart pounding, feeling dizzy.
It had been a nightmare.
Flashbacks, really.
He was feeling sluggish, confused. His hands and feet were becoming numbing, his movements becoming more difficult with every passing step when suddenly, he was surrounded.
Normally, he would have noticed the ambush well ahead of time, been able to disappear or even fight them off, but his body wasn’t cooperating. Poison.
As men surrounded him, he felt his stomach drop.
Everything had been blurry after that. The only other clear memory he had was the pain he felt from his naked knees hitting the ground as he collapsed, the bonds around his wrists keeping him upright even as his body sagged.
He wasn’t sure how long he had been there, unable to move, strung up for the disgusting pleasures of the twisted village, before Jaskier had freed him.
Jaskier.
Eskel looked over to the sleeping bard, not sure how he hadn’t registered the man’s presence.
Unwilling to dull his senses with sleep again, fearing another nightmare, Eskel rested on his knees on his bed roll, attempting to settle into a light meditative state. After a distressing amount of time, Eskel found his mind wouldn’t calm enough to meditate.
Looking around the campsite, he noticed a tree just at the edge of the clearing with low, strong branches, and he decided that working his body might help his mind rest.
-
Jaskier woke slowly, rolling on his back and stretching, trying to relieve some of the tension he always got in his lower back after sleeping outside for a while. He sat, rolling his shoulders and cracking his neck, finally looking over to Eskel’s empty bedroll.
Frowning, Jaskier quickly looked around the campsite, noting the witchers belongings all where he had left them the night before. Just as he opened his mouth to call out for Eskel, he finally noticed the witcher.
Doing pull ups.
On a tree limb.
Shirtless.
Jaskier couldn’t look away, the witcher’s muscular torso damp with sweat and his arms flexing. When Eskel finally released the branch and dropped to the ground, landing in a low crouch, Jaskier was still sitting on his bedroll, open mouthed.
Eskel looked at Jaskier, sitting dumbstruck, and raised an eyebrow, “Everything alright?”
Jaskier let out an embarrassing squeak, his cheeks turning red, “Yeah, everything’s fine.”
Eskel slowly approached Jaskier, towering over the bard with smile on his face, “If you say so. Ready to get a move on?” Jaskier nodded and moved to stand.
They were quiet as they packed their things and got dressed for the day. Jaskier grabbed his lute and slung it over his shoulder, “Alright, I’m ready when you are.” Eskel nodded at the bard and grabbed Scorpion’s reigns, leading the two toward the road.
-
Travelling was slower today, with Eskel tired and Jaskier distracted.
Jaskier had been uncharacteristically quiet, occasionally strumming his lute or playing a short tune, but his mind was occupied elsewise. He had spent nearly his entire adult life hung up on a witcher, and he finally meets another witcher, and bam! Now he’s hung up on two.
And maybe it wasn’t quite the same, Jaskier knew he was in love with Geralt, had been for an embarrassingly long time, but he didn’t know Eskel nearly as well, certainly not well enough to be in love with him.
But the little smiles Eskel sent his way and his comments on Jaskier’s playing and his friendly banter and his body certainly had Jaskier wanting.
It was around midday when Eskel decided to walk next to Jaskier, claiming Scorpion would tire of his weight soon enough. Their banter carried on as before but now with the added bonus of Eskel gesticulating nearly as wildly as Jaskier and proving to be very tactile. He was quick to rest his hand on Jaskier’s shoulder or to clap him on the back when Jaskier made a particularly good joke.
And it was a lovely time.
But Jaskier didn’t know what to do with himself. The camaraderie was wonderful, they were getting along splendidly, but he didn’t have the slightest clue what to do with the attraction he was feeling to the witcher.
Ignoring his attraction to Geralt hadn’t failed him yet in the past decade, though. Jaskier mentally nodded to himself, pleased he’d come up with a solution to his problem.
A few miles down the road, Jaskier decided that maybe just ignoring his attraction to Eskel wouldn’t quite work. With Geralt it was easy, the man mostly kept himself at arm’s length, he wasn’t particularly talkative, and he didn’t often initiate contact.
Eskel was proving to be very different from Geralt.
Eskel was happy to chat back with Jaskier, sharing anecdotes and stories of contracts and all the things he’d experienced, telling Jaskier of all his favorite places to travel to. And he did all of this talking while keeping in near constant physical contact with the bard.
And every single touch was making Jaskier go mad.
-
Eskel wasn’t sure exactly what his plan was, but he wanted to be certain that he was reading Jaskier correctly.
That morning, Eskel had only noticed Jaskier when he picked up on the bard’s scent changing. His natural scent reminded Eskel of the ocean, light and fresh, but suddenly it had changed, deeper and almost spicy.
A change that Eskel had always associated with lust.
But Jaskier hadn’t done or said anything to indicate he was attracted to Eskel. The bard was continuing on, business as normal.
Maybe he just wasn’t interested in men.
Eskel looked over to the three travelers passing by the opposite direction and let out a hum, leaning over to Jaskier to whisper in his ear, “Can’t say I’m overly fond of humans at the moment but that one is awful tempting, don’t you think?” Eskel indicated the man walking slightly behind the other two, he was fairly tall and decently well built, most likely a farmer by the looks of him.
Jaskier stumbled.
Eskel reached out and put a hand on Jaskier’s shoulder, “You alright?”
Nodding, Jaskier stuttered, “Yeah I’m fine. He… uhh… yeah, he was attractive. I suppose. Yeah.”
Eskel smiled.
-
When the pair stop for lunch, Eskel decided to push Jaskier a little farther. The more time he spent with the bard, the more interested in him Eskel felt.
He looked over at Jaskier, taking in the man’s appearance. He was wearing an incredibly detailed doublet, unbuttoned, and matching trousers. The set looked very nice and extremely expensive, clearly tailored to Jaskier’s measurements.
Eskel cleared his throat, “That doublet looks very good on you.”
Looking up at Eskel, surprise furrowing his brow, Jaskier responded “Ahhh, thank you? It’s the best work you can find in Novigrad. It’s out of season though.”
“Well,” Eskel started, “I don’t know much about what is and isn’t in season, but I do know that it fits you well, you really do look good in it.”
Jaskier blushed, ducking his head, “Thanks.”
-
The two finally found a good place to make camp for the night and Eskel started setting everything up while Jaskier walked down to the small stream to clean up from the last couple days of travel.
Through the rest of their travels, Jaskier had seemed more receptive to Eskel’s continued flirting, leaning into his touches, smiling more at his compliments, but the bard never reciprocated. Eskel decided he would try one last time, before the two laid down to sleep, and if the bard didn’t seem enthusiastic with the attention, he would drop the whole matter.
Jaskier came back to camp and sat upon a log, watching Eskel as he finished lighting the campfire. Eskel stood and swiftly walked to Jaskier, settling beside him on the log.
Jaskier had just opened his mouth to say something when Eskel leaned in close, his face close to the crook of Jaskier’s neck. Eskel inhaled and then said lowly, “You smell nice.”
“Ahh… thanks?” Jaskier squeaked out as Eskel pulled back slightly, meeting the bard’s eyes. Jaskier’s pupils were blown, the blue of his irises just a thin ring, and his gaze was fliting down to Eskel’s lips.
Eskel smiled, he had been right all along. He put his hand under Jaskier’s chin and leaned forward, pressing their lips together.
Jaskier froze under him and he quickly made to pull back, worried he had misread the situation after all, but Jaskier grabbed Eskel by the neck, pulling him further into the kiss. Eskel deepened the kiss, running his tongue across the seam of the other man’s lips, eliciting a moan from Jaskier.
Not pausing the kiss, Jaskier moved to straddle Eskel, settling on his lap. Eskel set his hands on Jaskier’s hips, drawing the man even closer, startling another moan from the bard.
Jaskier let out a gasp when he felt Eskel’s erection grind into his own, rocking his hips down to get more friction. Eskel slid Jaskier’s doublet off of his shoulders and then traced his hands down Jaskier’s chest slowly, finally gripping his waist.
Jaskier broke the kiss, gasping for air, still grinding their hips together. Eskel continued kissing down Jaskier’s neck, making sure to nip at the spot just behind the bard’s ear, making him whimper. Jaskier let out a breathy moan and moved his hands into Eskel’s hair just as he felt the witcher freeze below him.
“Jask,” Eskel whispered calmly, “when I say, I need you to your right as quickly as possible, okay?”
Jaskier’s eyes met Eskel’s and the bard nodded.
“Now!”
Jaskier launched himself out of Eskel’s lap just as Eskel threw himself forward, grabbing his silver sword and clashing with the creature in front of him.
Thank you all for reading, I hope you enjoyed it (and it was worth the wait), this chapter gave me a fair bit of trouble. At one point it contained the sentence “Eskel had spent the day with Jaskier not his mind on his nightmares and that was good.” so I think it’s a miracle I ever finished it.
Tag list: @fandommagpie @caffeinatedcorvids @elliestormfound @birds-of-forgiveness @bastardofmothman @jaciespoonlovesdrwho @tookarma @geraskier-trashh @justalittletomfoolery @batfam16 (idk why this tag won’t work, im sorry), and @jaskierswolf (idk if you’re interested in this but this is my current project so if you like it im happy to add you to the tag list :D)
