Chapter Text
Jaskier and Yenn discuss bringing Triss Marigold to Kaer Morhen with Vesemir and the others, but they decide they want to give her time to abscond with as much lore on dominates as possible first.
“Well that was quite exhausting, but I think it went pretty well.” Eskel kisses Yenn’s cheek lightly.
Aiden is packing a small bag for his scouting trip down to see what’s going on with the soldiers at the bottom of the mountain. “I’ll be back soon puppy, I care for you so much.”
"You haven't done enough sneaking recently." Lambert drawls, laying back by the hearth with his feet up in Jaskier's lap, "Don't forget you promised to help me make our Kit a woodcarving set. That table is going to be done soon."
Jaskier laughs, "And if we can find a way to get that nest of soldiers out it will be easier for the rest of the Wolves to get home. Vesemir is expecting the first to show up in the next week or so."
Aiden leans over to kiss both omegas before heading out to do his little scouting mission. “I’ll miss you. Back in a couple days” the Cat gives Geralt and Eskel a wave as he goes through the gate.
Autumn is well advanced now so the lower slopes of the mountain are covered with a vibrant curtain of variegated colours. It makes being quiet on the ground harder so Aiden takes to the trees. The soldiers have been camped there for months and they are getting more than a bit sloppy. Aiden is surprised to hear some music and when he gets closer he finds that the camp has acquired a bard. She's a small woman with a large, exquisitely trained voice and an experienced traveller. She keeps her bags right next to her and has a couple of knives as well as several instruments.
Aiden slows down and settles on a branch that still has a good amount of leaves to hide him from watching eyes. He’s watching the bard to get a good idea of what she’s doing, to judge if she’s a threat or not.
The bard strums idly, waiting for the soldiers to cough up some coin but a silver gets her onto the next song. To Aiden's surprise, it starts with the message song chord progression. The song itself is about a mystical tree that holds the answer to every question asked and how it's always just out of reach. While they had been recovering Jaskier had explained that message songs were always the opposite in theme to the message being broadcasted. So this song likely means that the bard has so many questions and knows that they can be answered at a certain place.
Aiden perks up as he listens to the song before carefully making a bird song to mimic the message song chords so the soldiers wouldn’t notice. He might not be able to answer everything, but he can give her some.
The Bard's eyes flicker up towards Aiden but that's the only sign she shows that she's heard. The next song with the message chords brings the bard to her feet and she's dancing around the fire singing about a masquerade. Aiden almost misses it when she slips a tiny bag into the fire and brings her scarf around to cover her mouth and nose with a grand gesture suited to the song.
Aiden takes the hint and brings his mask up to cover his face. Knowing she’s aware that he’s there he settles back to rest against the tree trunk until he’s also able to get her to a more private place to talk
It takes another song for all the soldiers to drag themselves off to bed and sleep. They don't pass out where they are, but they do in their drug-induced lethargy forget to set a sentry. The bard then whistles the message intro and sings, "Oh whither shall I roam to find my heart yearning? By mountain or river will my wandering feet go?"
Aiden whistles out and makes a bit of noise as he jumps further into the forest to let the bard track which way he’s headed. Calling out softly, he’s not really a singer but he can kinda carry a tune “Away from the forest into town they’ll go”.
The bard strums a lullaby as she picks up her bag and very quietly makes her way out of the camp following after Aiden. She puts her lute over her shoulder and looks around as she walks, waiting for whoever is in the trees to make the first move.
After a couple of minutes Aiden drops down from the trees in front of her but outside her reach if she tries to stab him. “So, you’re one of the nightingales”
"Where IS he? He was supposed to meet me at the Equinox bardic tournament, instead, suddenly his face is on wanted signs all over the place and I'm hearing absurd stories about him shaking a town and that he's either become a Witcher or getting captured by Witchers or just disappeared off the face of the continent! Where the FUCK is that misbegotten, tin-toned, slack-fingered son of a bitch who delights in scaring me half to death?" she sort of whisper-screams the whole thing and her voice control is impressive, to say the least.
Aiden can’t help but chuckle at the end of her rant, she reminds him of an angry little dog. “Well, he’s safe, and he is wanted because he stopped a Witcher from sacrificing his freedom to be a play toy for Vzimir and his friends. The town is true that he did make it shake, I can also assure you he was not captured by the Witchers, opposite of that actually.”
"He captured Witchers?" she sighs and wipes a hand across her face, "Of course he did.....only Jaskier." she sighs, "He is....alright? Yenn was really worried about his next heat."
“Yep, he’s a dominant omega who’s finally being able to satisfy his needs. He’s completely fine and Yennifer is also fine with us. You can call me Aiden, and you are?”
"Dominant omega?" The bard shakes her head, "I've no idea what any of that means. Oh yeah, hi Aiden, I call myself Callonetta on stage, but my real name is Priscilla. Can I see him please?" She takes off her hat and her long straight chestnut hair flows down her back to her thighs. "You can blindfold me if you want. I don't care."
“Well I’m not a wolf, but you seem to be close to Jask so…alright, blindfolded and I’ll carry you there, too many traps that could kill you if you mess up.” The cat pulls his cloth mask from his neck to cover Priscilla’s eyes and she can see two bites on his neck
Priscilla nods determinedly and holds her hat behind her back so Aiden is free to blindfold her and even tie her hands if he wishes. She smells a little wary but the set of her jaw tells the Cat that if he tries to leave her she just might try to walk up the mountain on her own.
Aiden pauses, steps back and focuses on the bond, nudging at it a little “ Hello? Anyone there? ” he hopes he’s doing it right, he’s never done this before but Eskel said it was pretty easy to do
" Aiden? " Lamberts’ voice rings in his head and he feels every mind in the pack focus on him. They must have been gathered at the hearth.
“Holy shit that worked!” Aiden says aloud by mistake. “Uh sorry bout that little bird. Just give me a moment to try something out.” The cat doesn’t even give her a chance to respond before he’s back up in a tree for safety. He doesn’t notice that Pricilla just sets her jaw and waits with the cloth over her eyes.
“ Yeah! Wow, I wasn’t expecting it to work this far away. But anyway, something happened down here and need to clarify a couple of things with our flower and fox .” Aiden goes back to communicating through the bond.
" Are the soldiers readying an attack? " Jaskier asks and for a moment Aiden can see his mind as he runs through his first five plans for that until it abruptly cuts off.
" Thank you, Geralt, " Yenn says, " What's going on, pretty kitty. "
“ No, no attacks! got a little birdie down here, knocked all the soldiers out with a smoke. Wants to come back with me to make sure you’re alright. Was gonna blindfold and carry the girl but thought I’d check to see if a portal is an option? ” Aiden rubs his head as he’s trying to stave off a headache.
" Priscilla! " both Yenn and Jaskier shout through the pack bond, which does not help with the cat's growing migraine.
" Yes. I got it worked out the day after you left. I can target you if you are next to her. " Yenn is all business now.
“ Fucking ow! No shouting in the mind link, melitele and Moskar that’s gonna hurt for a while. And yes that’s who’s there. I’m above her; climbed a tree so she didn’t stab me or nothin .” Aiden groans as the headache feels like he’s waiting for his blood to detox after taking a few potions.
" Yes. " Yenn says softly into the bond, " Vesemir's getting something from my room for all of us. One minute and I'll open the portal. Be ready.
"Hey, are you okay up there? Feeling a little vulnerable down here, I can't think why." Priscilla says with heavy sarcasm.
“Maybe because I am a dangerous person who is above you. And Yenn is gonna get a portal sorted out for us.” Aiden drops down again to wait next to the young bard and takes in her scent to find her secondary gender under the perfumes. Shrugging upon learning she’s a Beta.
She digs an elbow into Aiden's ribs, "I was referencing being blindfolded, fucknut."
“I didn’t even tie it, you could’ve looked down and it would’ve fallen off idiot.” To prove his point he pushes her head down and the fabric flutters to the ground. “I will give you a point for actually keeping it on, a pretty honest trait of ya.”
"Well, I'd prefer to be seeing my best friend and the mage that saves his ass on the regular sometime this year." Priscilla cuts back and then sighs with relief as the portal opens right in front of them. "Shall we?"
“Certainly.” Aiden takes her hand and pulls her through the portal, groaning when it makes his headache worse. “Fuck, I’m going to go hide in a hole now”.
Yenn slaps a vial into his hand, "Take this when you get there." Then she reaches out for Priscilla and tugs her into a tight embrace which the bard cries into all the toughness melted away like the mask it was.
"Where is that bastard?" she says, "I'm going to detune his lute for this!"
Aiden frowns at the vial but takes it anyway and follows his nose to hopefully find Lambert but the others in the pack would also work well. “Good luck getting to his lute, wolf is very protective of it when Jask isn’t using it.”
"We wanted to get a message song out Pris, but they must have had some Sorcerers spreading bounty on Jaskier's head. We got attacked and had to run for cover." Yenn calms the bard down, "Come on and don't try to beat him with your hat this time; we just all gave ourselves headaches." Yenn winces. "You feel like you need the fire anyway." Yenn looks over Pris' shoulder at Aiden, "Everyone is still at the hearth, Aiden, trying not to move too much at the moment."
“Cool, thanks foxy.” Aiden gives her a slight wave and starts walking down the hallway towards the hearth purring softly as he can smell his pack getting stronger as he gets closer
"Foxy?" he hears behind him as he finds the pack. No one is looking very good but Jaskier is sitting up and looking distinctly green while Geralt rubs his back. Eskel motions for quiet and Aiden notices that Yenn is keeping Pricilla behind to fill her in. Vesemir is nowhere in sight, but he can smell fresh ginger and some other stomach-soothing things from the kitchen.
Aiden lowers himself down to crawl over to curl up at Jaskier’s feet, resting his head on the Omega’s knee. Lambert has somewhat settled himself against Jaskier’s opposite shoulder. Aiden keeps his voice soft, barely audible to keep from making Jaskier feel worse. “I’m home safe Omega.”
"So glad," Jaskier murmured and stroked his face with two fingers to which the whole pack made approving noises.
It's not long before Vesemir brings out a tray of mugs and starts handing them out, the first going to Jaskier, "Sip it slow, pup, don't want it to come right back up. We use it for hangovers but it's human-safe." He stoops and wraps Aiden's hand around a mug, "You too, kit."
Aiden takes the mug from the old wolf and sniffs at the liquid before he takes a small sip as he relaxes against Jaskier’s thigh. The warmth of the hearth and the pack plus the feeling of security has the feline feeling mellow. “Thank you, Ba.”
Vesemir smiles down at him and strokes the side of his head. "I'll help Yenn fill in our new guest. You all rest tonight. Tomorrow we can talk about control and the lack thereof."
Eskel groans softly as Vesemir walks away, "Tomorrow is going to be very long. Think we can bribe Yenn to just port all our blankets down here?"
The touch has Aiden going still for a moment before subconsciously leaning towards it as he sips more of his drink.
“We look pathetic enough that she might take pity” Lambert groans as he hides his face from the light in Jaskier’s shirt.
"Maybe?" Jaskier says hopefully, sipping his drink cautiously, and tightening his hold on his omega.
Eskel sighs, "We will get tomorrow and the day after at most. What if we'd been on the Path and did this? We only get nice treatment tonight because we hadn't a clue this could happen. Jaskier might get an extra day."
“I’ll try to stay with you so you’re not lonely” Aiden mummers as he finishes his mug in another large mouthful and snuggles up across Jaskier’s lap.
“Well that knocked our kitty on his ass, he’s so cute like that.” Eskel can’t help but coo a little as he watches as one of the members from the feared school of Cat is all cuddled up in a human’s lap.
"Feels good," Jaskier says, leaning a bit further into Geralt's chest. "I do want to see Priscilla, but I really don't want to move." The blankets start softly falling on them in response.
"Vesemir heard you," Yenn says, sipping from her mug, "He's taken Pris to a room and said we can sleep here tonight." Yenn slides down by Eskel. "He was also muttering about testing the bond over distance and that sort of thing. You're looking better, flower." she says to Jaskier, "and Pris is going to beat you with her hat again."
"Of course." Jaskier sighs and finishes his mug, "Need to lay down, Wolf." he says to Geralt.
Geralt nods quickly and scoots back so Jaskier can lie down properly and makes a slight noise of displeasure when he hears that someone is going to hurt their Omega. “Do I have to take a hat away and hide it? Don’t want you getting hit.” He mutters.
"Pris loves him like a brother, Geralt." Yenn says wearily, laying down herself, "and she was sure Jaskier was dead for 3 weeks. She deserves to hit him with her very soft felt hat." She grins at Geralt.
“She will hit him like I hit you with my shirt when you do something stupid. Nothing will actually hurt him wolf, promise.” Eskel soothes the poor Alpha and guides him to lie down a bit, sensing that the headache is still bothering him.
“Oh. Ok soft hat, soft hits.” Geralt nods a little and lets Eskel lay him down while the Beta turns to look at Yenn to see if she needs anything. The eldest pack member's headache was not quite as bad as the others so he’s trying to do what he can to help the others before he lays down in the pile.
"Come here and cuddle me, Eskel." Yenn orders him, "Better, can you shift me over towards Lambert? You Witchers generate enough heat to put a humble sorceress on the inside of the pile." she groans, "Just....very carefully please."
“Yeah, I can do that dearest.” Eskel carefully lifts Yenn a little so he can move her closer to Lambert who doesn’t say anything as he’s almost asleep already, yawning as he rests his head over Jaskier's chest while the dominant plays with his hair idly.
"This is so much better than the last time I had a hangover." Jaskier sighs, putting an arm around Lambert's shoulders. "There you go, a happy thought to sleep on.” He jokes, ever the former student. “Set my alarm for three days from now."
“That’s good, glad we could make this more enjoyable for you. If you need anything let us know.” Eskel leans over to give Jaskier a soft kiss, combing his fingers through the Omegas’ hair.
After about twenty minutes Eskel is starting to nod off while everyone else is already asleep. Eventually the Beta falls asleep against a pile of blankets, overlooking the pack.
Vesemir sneaks in to watch his boys and young woman sleep, and moves his eldest a bit so he doesn’t fuck his back from sleeping in such a uncomfortable position. “You’re all safe here my children. Rest easy.”