Chapter Text
"Do you really have everything with you? I don't want to have to run after you or drive to catch up with you." commented his friend Valdo, who had made himself comfortable on the big leather couch that they had bought.
"Yes, I have everything. Guitar and amplifier, that's all I really need. Unlike you, I know all the songs by heart." Jaskier muttered back, still figuring out what outfit to wear for the Christmas party he had been arranged to attend.
"The blue with the tight jeans or the burgundy suitable for Christmas?" he asked Valdo for the tenth time.
"What does your ass always look best in?" Valdo growled back annoyed and grabbed the chips to eat some of them.
"The blue... but Christmas..." he mumbled under his breath and he heard Valdo sigh, got up and simply took off both of his outfits from his hands and wandered into Jaskier's room with them.
Jaskier followed him and watched as Valdo rummaged around in his wardrobe until he found something that satisfied him. Skinny dark jeans, a dark red dress shirt and a sleeveless black vest to pull over.
"Here and now leave me alone." Valdo grumbled and stomped back to the couch.
Jaskier looked at the clothes and decided to really wear them. It was getting slowly late and he definitely didn't want to be late. So he hurried, locked himself in the bathroom for a moment to line his eyes with dark kajal until he was satisfied. Dressed, styled, his hair in order, he now rushed to his guitar case to grab it, the amp was already in the car.
"Don't wait for me, I think it's getting late." he called quickly to Valdo as he hurried out of the shared apartment.
Luckily, he had worked out beforehand how he had to drive, so he was there on time and didn't have to look long for a parking space. With his guitar case on his shoulders and the amplifier in one hand, he pulled his coat a little tighter, as he walked to the right street number. There he spied two tall men dressed in all black, clearly security guards Jaskier would guess.
"Stop. Where are you going?" asked the tallest one with a bald head and some scars on his face. How tall was the man? Two meters if not more?
"Ehm. Julian Pankratz, Jaskier, I've been booked for the Christmas party today." he introduced himself, straightening up to look a little taller and not so intimidated by the guys in front of him.
"Hmm. I hope at least you can't just play the boring Christmas carols. I don't think anyone else will like that today, unless they have enough beers." murmured the other guard, a redhead with beard, who moments later slapped the other guard on the shoulder. Before he mumbled something into his microphone on his collar and then probably listened to the answer. Jaskeir himself shivered a little, maybe he should have put on something more, a sweater or something, but it was too late for that now.
"Okay, with you we're complete. The rest know their way up. Follow us." the redhead murmured a bit later and went ahead, the giant of man held the door open for him before he followed unusually quietly.
Arriving on the top floor, Jaskier was amazed at the view. Everywhere almost a clear view of the city, hardly any walls, at most to separate a few rooms.
"Come." the redhead mumbled in amusement and led him on before he arrived in a large conference room. All the chairs were pushed to the edge with tables, a large buffet was set up on one side and next to it was a counter with a bartender.
"If you want something later, it's on the house." the giant mumbled behind Jaskier and he turned to him, nodding his thanks. After a lot of singing later, a cold beer was certainly nice and something to eat.
For now he just kept following the redhead until he stopped in front of a small stage and indicated to Jaskier that it would probably be his kingdom today.
"Get one of the bosses, wait here." he ordered him too, before disappearing without saying another word, leaving Jaskier alone. A little queasy, he looked around from where he was now, looked at all the guests. They didn't really look like office people at second glance, many wore leather, black, tattoos and piercings and he could see scars on almost everyone. Maybe he should have found out a little more about where exactly he would be working today…
"Jaskier?" He heard a familiar voice and looked in the direction and saw Eskel, next to him the redhead from just now.
"Eskel? Why are you here?" he babbled on without thinking until he remembered the redhead's words. ‘one of the bosses’ was probably Eskel in this case.
"I own this with Geralt and this idiot here." With that he elbowed the redhead in the side, who only grumbled and looked at Jaskier extensively before he looked at Eskel again.
"Is that the flirt from this afternoon? When you and Geralt were too stupid to ask for the number?" asked the bearded one and grinned when he saw Eskel blush.
"Lambert, the youngest of the three idiots." Lambert also introduced himself with a grin before he ran off shortly afterwards when he spotted a certain dark-haired person in the crowd and even jumped at the person with verve.
Jaskier looked at Eskel and eyed him, dark jeans, a simple turtleneck that fitted Eskel perfectly. The man still looked as hot as he had at noon in the mall, Jaskier closed his inspection and rubbed the back of his neck slightly nervously.
"Maybe I should have paid more attention to where I'm playing today." he murmured, hearing Eskel chuckle.
"Maybe. You look good by the way." Eskel murmured back and also rubbed the back of his neck a bit embarrassed before examining Jaskier's guitar case.
"Would you like me to help you set it up? Know something about it, or I'll get Serrit, or someone else. Aiden should know his way around too, or Letho..." Eskel said, sounding a bit nervous and it was now Jaskier's turn to giggle softly.
"I'll manage it, but thanks." After the words had been said, he finally took care of setting up his equipment.
At the same time, he felt Eskel's curious gaze on him. He also saw twice out of the corner of his eye how Eskel opened his mouth to say something, but then let it go. Until he did it a third time, only this time Jaskier didn't ignore it.
"If you still want my number, I'll give it to you, dear." his words and he looked over his shoulder at Eskel and smiled at him. Maybe that would be a very interesting evening after all, maybe he wouldn't find this Christmas time as annoying as in the last few years. Who knows.
"With pleasure." he heard softly and Jaskier nodded, looked again at the cables in front of him and bent to finish everything, deliberately posing something in front of Eskel's eyes with his backside. It's good that Valdo picked out the skinny jeans, together with the blue one they fit him perfectly.
"Eskel, what are you staring at?" Jaskier heard another deep voice that seemed somehow familiar to him and when he turned around after plugging in the last cable, he saw Geralt standing next to Eskel.
"Hmm. That's why Lamb laughed like crazy, when I asked if the musician was there." added Geralt with a little smile at Jaskier. He adjusted his vest and smiled back.
"Hi, so all the cables are in the right place, I have to do a soundcheck then I can get started. Do you have any special requests? Lambert said he hopes I can't just play the standard boring Christmas carols." Jaskier said and looked around again, it had become fuller or was he wrong?
"Play what you want, think Lamb doesn't mind, neither does the rest." friendly words from Eskel and Geralt nodded and seemed to agree.
"Lambert likes to tease people, he's just jealous that he can't play by himself. But believe me, nobody wants to hear that." murmured Geralt and turned around briefly, looking at Lambert who was deep in conversation with someone.
"Have fun, people will come of their own accord and ask if they have any requests." added Geralt.
Jaskier nodded and dug out a small pad of paper and a pen which he just laid out ready, that would be for the wishes as he didn't think he'd be able to remember them all if there actually were a few more.
"Okay, then I'll just start playing, make a mix of Christmas carols and other songs, hopefully everyone should be happy with that. If not, they should make a wish." Jaskier words and he looked around again.
"What is this exactly? Can someone enlighten me while I check if my guitar is in tune?" What it was actually supposed to be. He was curious and he also wanted to get a better picture for when he was actually supposed to play exactly.
Geralt and Eskel exchange a long look between each other before Eskel nodded.
"We're a security company. By and large." Eskel explained and Jaskier pouted, he had expected a bit more information. Eskel also seemed to notice this when the corners of his mouth lifted slightly when he saw Jaskier sulking.
"Well, whether it's personal security or something else. We're deployed across the country. Geralt and I got to know some in the military back then and some in operations like Letho, for example. He led a mercenary unit with his people back then." Eskel added graciously for him, pointing to the giant that Jaskier had already met.
"The one Lambert is sticking to is his boyfriend Aiden, they were both on the same mission just with different goals. That's how Aiden's people got on board over time and it became more and more." added Geralt before crossing his arms in front of his chest. Jaskier probably wouldn't get any more information, but it was enough to get a better idea of the situation and what kind of music he might be playing. It was his own fault that he hadn't checked beforehand and simply assumed that they were just boring office guys who wanted some music.
"Thank you. I'll make sure it's a nice evening for everyone." he promised and Eskel and Geralt both started to smirk briefly, or was he imagining it? He wasn't sure when they both said goodbye shortly afterwards and left him to his task.
After over an hour of playing, Jaskier took a break after letting Hallelujah fade away in the final chords without his guitar. Just his voice. He hadn't sung and played it in the typical well-known version, more rock and less so calm only in certain passages. Apparently everyone seemed to like it though when he saw some whistling and clapping happily at him. A satisfied smile spread across his features as he put his guitar aside and headed over to the bar to grab a beer and look out for something to eat.
"Well sung elf." he heard a low murmur behind him and Jaskier almost dropped the beer he was holding.
"Sorry." added Eskel and smiled at him visibly amused.
"If I can recommend anything, all the snacks are great." Eskel said and Jaskier heard an amused growl next to him and suddenly Geralt was standing there. Somehow the two had never been very far away, he had always seen at least one when he played for everyone.
"Everything is good so far, not just the snacks." added Geralt and Jaskier somehow felt a little surrounded, but not negatively. It was pleasant to feel the attention of both men on him and this subliminal flirting of both of them and that they moved a little closer so that he could literally feel their heat they radiated, their hunger for him.
Jaskier bit his lower lip briefly and then licked it and felt both men staring at him like predators.
"Well I think a main course would be good.. only maybe a different dessert than here is not bad... if you can recommend something." he flirted back and looked intensely at one and then at the other.
"My office." a grunt from Geralt and Jaskier chuckled softly, nodding in agreement.
"But I think I need two desserts... I'm gluttonous." an intense look at Eskel, so that he understood what he meant.
"Yes." was the only thing he heard from Eskel before he glanced at Geralt, who was just about to fill a plate with food. But he seemed to sense the look, a barely noticeable nod from Geralt and Eskel led Jaskier away from the bar.