Yen laughs at the look on Geralt's face as his drunken brain registers that Jaskier is now no longer in his lap. "Aw, is the puppy dog sad that his little birdie left him?"

"Fuck off," Geralt mutters as he helps her up, both of them stumbling after where Jaskier had disappeared. The bard had always been mind-boggingly fast when he was drunk. "I missed him, alright?"

Yen snickers and they lean on each other as Geralt tracks Jaskier's scent through the halls to Coën's room. After a few moments of admiring the stars outside, Geralt actually stops to think about it and grows more and more mystified by Jaskier's behaviour as they walk, curiously wondering what on earth had Jaskier acting like that.

The bard pacing outside the room when they approach, muttering and mumbling to himself under his breath, nervously pulling at his clothes every few seconds.

"COËN!" Geralt shouts, then hiccups. This way Jaskier won't have to worry for much longer. Yen helpfully kicks the door for them. "COËN!"

"Meletile above, Geralt, what the fuck is wrong with you?" Coën snaps as he jerks. open the door. Geralt wrinkles his nose at the smell coming from inside, then wrinkles it further when Remus waves cheerfully at him from the bed, half-naked. "Are you all drunk?"

"You're drunk," Yen shoots back intelligently, and Geralt nods in support. Coën looks at him with an expression seeming to question his choice of companions and also his sanity, then jumps in shock when Jaskier suddenly grabs him by the arms and turns him around.

"Coën! I am so sorry, I really didn't know you existed, promise!" He exclaims, looking beseechingly at the flabbergasted Griffin. "Really, I thought there was no one from your school left, I swear, or else we wouldn't have, wouldn't even have thought about it."

"Wh-what?" Coën says, looking towards the two of them for an explanation and also leaning slightly away from Jaskier. "What is he talking about?"

Geralt and Yen shrug at him- they've started doing things in sync nowadays, which makes him feel sort of gooey inside- and Coën rolls his eyes in exasperation and turns back to the bard. "Jaskier, what?"

Jaskier sighs in distress and pulls a hand down his own face. "Look, I- what do you know of the Aves?"

Geralt frowns. "The branch of the Resistance that helps the non-humans round the Continent?"

"Damn good at what they do, too," Remus says, lazily walking up and plastering himself to Coën's back. "Kind people, them. What about the Aves, bard?"

"Ah, well," Jaskier says, pasting on a smile and bowing to them all. "Sandpiper of the Aves, at your service."

Geralt feels his mouth drop open as he turns to look at Jaskier, even as Yen cheers drunkenly. "What?"

"You're the Sandpiper?" Coën says disbelievingly. Jaskier reaches into his jacket and produces a sandpiper feather with a wink and a smile.

"Fucking hell, Geralt," Remus says, impressed. "What on earth did you do to snag a catch like this?"

Jaskier ducks his head and blushes, pleased, eyes flickering to Geralt to see his reaction.

Geralt is still busy processing this new information that explains so much but also raises a million more questions- but stops everything to smile at Jaskier at the question, as mushily as his face will allow, tipping his head onto Yen's. "I have no fucking clue. I'm still trying every day to be good enough for him."

"How much did you drink?"

"He's amazing!" Yen cheers, which makes Jaskier go from a lip wobble to barely holding back tears, and makes Remus walk up and gently pry the bottles from their hands.

"It's an extremely noble thing that you and your team are doing, yes, but what on earth does that does this have to me being a Griffin, Jaskier?" Coën asks patiently, redirecting the bard's attention back to him.

"Right! Right- Geralt, Yen, I love you but please shut up for a bit now. So, here's the thing- when we first started the Aves, we needed a stronghold for the- well, everything, I guess. Papers, important people, a place to drink. But there isn't really a place that's, uh, free of soldiers or spies, right? So then I remembered that Geralt mentioned that the Griffin's keep was in Korvir, which is the one place far enough from Nilfgaard and Redania and Cintra to be safe. So we-"

Geralt raises his head from Yen's to stare indignantly at Jaskier, "You remember that, but you couldn't remember that I told you to get the peaches I liked from Oxenfurt seven years in a row?"

"Kind of- shut up, Geralt- tracked it down in the mountains- and got it repaired."

Yen opens her eyes to join Geralt in the indignant staring. "You could track down an abandoned Witcher's Keep in the mountains, but you got so lost in the fort today that four separate witchers couldn't find you?"

"Will you please shut up, Yen."

"Wait, wait," Coën interrupts, waving his hands about. He looks adequately like someone who was dragged from his lover's embrace to confront three drunks in the hallway and told his old home had been taken over by his brother's lover, who was also a key member of the Aves. Geralt, personally, has decided that he's going to process it all later. "Are you telling me that you... repaired the Griffin Keep? And people are living there now?"

"Well, yes, we had contacts in the area who owed us a favour," Jaskier says, shifting nervously. "And don't worry! We made sure the remains of the witchers trapped inside got a proper burial, and I made sure we could rescue as much of the place as we could, and-"

"Jaskier, Jaskier, it's fine," Coën says, letting out a laugh of disbelief and holding his hands out. "I'm not- I'm not mad, it's just a lot to take in. Are you serious?"

Jaskier nods.

"Damn. Fucking hell, can I see it?"

Jaskier perks up immediately. "Of course! It's your old home, you don't even need to ask." He scrambles through his pockets until he produces a xenovox from somewhere and flicks it open. "Alessandra! Alessandra, wake up, dear."

The xenovox light flickers on and a scratchy voice comes through, irritated and groggy from sleep. "Jaskier, you dick, it's fucking past midnight, what do you want?"

"I've met a Griffin witcher."

The line goes silent for a while. "Well, fuck," The woman says finally, "Are they mad?"

"No," Coën says, shaking his head and stepping forward to take the xenovox. "But I would like to see my home, if it's all the same to you."

"Of course!" The stranger says, sounding as earnest as Jaskier had, if still half-asleep. There's the sound of bedsheets being thrown aside and a loud crash. "One moment, I'll just track the xenovox and open a portal for you all immediately."

Geralt groans loudly. Jaskier shoots him an unimpressed look. "No one's making you come, you know."

"Shut up. I'm coming with."

"I'm not," Yen announces. "I will throw up if I do. I am gonna- hic- go to bed. Goodnight, assholes."

"Goodnight," They chorus to her as she goes, Remus risking his hand as he ruffles her hair when she passes, an unfortunate habit of his that they've all been violently subjected to.

A portal opens before Yen can kill him, luckily, and Jaskier and Coën slip through immediately. Remus cheerfully claps a hand on his back and dodges a fireball and does the same.

Fuck portals.

Jaskier's there on the other side, though- letting Geralt fall into his arms with a laugh and holding him close until the dizziness passes. Geralt nuzzles into his neck and snuffs, breathing in his scent slowly until he feels like he can stand without embarassing every witcher to ever live.

"Better, love?" Jaskier whispers. Geralt nods and stays in the hug a moment longer before straightening up and looking around.

His eyes widen.

It's a Witcher's Keep- just like Kaer Morhen used to be when he was a child; torches lighting up the grey stones to brown, heavy tapestries and cloth draped over the walls, well-worn tables and armchairs in the centre and books and papers and weapons all scattered across them. There's people running about, children and adults alike, scampering to clean up the mess and staring at the four of them with wide eyes.

It's so different. Unscathed from violence. Geralt hadn't realized how many grief-filled memories the Wolf Keep held in the blood spattered on its stones until he'd walked in here.

Remus seems to be thinking the same, if his awed melancholy is anything to go by. Coën is crying silently beside them, eyes darting around the whole place intently, like it would disappear if he blinked. He's trembling too, and Geralt let's go of Jaskier so he can half-hug his brother in comfort.

A woman walks towards them from the end of the hallway with a determined air around her and holding herself with authority, looking like she was about to charge into battle any second. The people scattered around the room fall into place behind her in a tangled jumble, staring at them and whispering amongst themselves.

"Master Griffin," Alessandra says in a clear, strong voice as she reaches them, meeting Coën's eyes unflinchingly. "If you hold any grudge against us being here, if in any way you think it a slight against your brothers and sisters, then just say the word, and I promise we will leave your Keep immediately."

Coën visibly gathers himself back together and puts his hand on his shoulder with a bark of laughter. "Madam, please. My brothers and sisters would have been honoured to house the members of a noble cause such as your own in our halls. Of course you can stay. You all can."

A huge cheer goes up in the halls, tension visibly breaking, and Jaskier throws himself onto Coën with a whoop, hugging him so tight that Geralt hears his joints crack.

"Why the fuck did we get stuck with the fucking assholes and not Coën's instructors? Fucking unfair," Remus grumbles to him, and Geralt hums in amusement.

"Your maintenance of the place is beautiful," Coën praises enthusiastically. "Better than even when we lived here. You've truly done a spectacular job here, my fair lady. Now, come! Let's see the rest of it!"

Alessandra stares at Coën with wide eyes, looking slightly teary and very overwhelmed. "Dammit, Jaskier," She hisses wetly, smacking the bard without looking away from where Coën is leading the children further into the Keep. "What the fuck? Why did you wake me up to supernaturally beautiful men complimenting me in the middle of the fucking night? I fucking hate you."

Remus laughs and pats her sympathetically on the arm, before pulling her along to where everyone was going. "Trust me, it doesn't get any easier in the daylight. Why don't we get you sent back to bed, sprout, you look like you're about to drop."

"Come on!" Jaskier suddenly pops up in front of Geralt as he goes to follow, and he barely stops himself from backhanding his lover to the ground. "No one's really here apart from the chaos children and the people who can't leave, but let me show you around!"

"You call this no one?" Geralt says amusedly, gesturing to the two-score crowd of people now surrounding Coën and Remus and chattering at them as they walk off.

"Yes, there's usually more when we all meet up- us Aves need a break too, once in a while," Jaskier says, towing him away in the opposite direction. "Let me show you my room!"

Ten minutes later, they are extremely lost.

"Why did I trust you again?" Geralt asks, scrunching up his face. The alcohol is wearing off a bit now, the buzzing in his head less loud, and he has enough of himself back to feel more or less exasperatedly fond of Jaskier's horrible navigation sense.

"Oh, hush, you," Jaskier chides, opening random doors and peeking inside. "I know this hall, it has the unicorn tapestry on the left side, which means- aha! Welcome, Geralt, to my humble abode."

Geralt walks in and is immediately assaulted by the pleasantly musky scent of the warm room, with hints of Jaskier's perfume in the background. "Nice room."

Jaskier preens. "Thank you, darling. I transferred most of my stuff from my Oxenfurt room here when we all jumped ship, and it made it quite homely, if I do say so myself. Ah, don't- be careful with those papers, they're important!"

Geralt skims them, shifting the delicate pages to the side. They're names- rows on rows of people whom the Aves have rescued, persecuted for something or the other, as well as maps and intensive sketches of webs of people allied and at war. "Jaskier."

"Yes?"

Geralt looks him up and down with new eyes, trying to spot the leader of the Aves in his old companion's frame. "You did all of this?"

"Yes, well," Jaskier smiles softer, walking up next to him. "I'm well aware of the privileges I had when I was back at Oxenfurt, as did the others. And we- after the- the Tree-" He swallows hard, visibly fighting back tears. Geralt pulls him close and rubs his fingers gently. "After that, Geralt, I- I had to do something with all that extra leeway. I had to."

"It's amazing," Geralt says, voice full of emotion. He kisses Jaskier. "You're amazing."

Jaskier ducks his head and blushes again, blotchy red high on his cheeks. He's tipsy as well- not going off into fictional grand tales or bragging. "Oh, shut your gab, it wasn't much. All I did was pester my friends into research and help a few families get to where they needed to go. Everyone else did the rest."

"You shut up," Geralt says, kissing his cheeks. "Doesn't look like the Aves would have existed without you, Jaskier. And even your part requires an incredible amount of bravery, that shit isn't as easy as people say it is."

"Don't I know it," Jaskier huffs. "Thank you, Geralt."

Geralt hums, nuzzling into Jaskier's neck. He hesitates as something occurs to him, but the alcohol loosens his tongue before he can stop himself, "... Have I been holding you back, all these years?"

Jaskier snorts. "Did you see a war waging these past years for me to be a part of the Resistance for? Do you think I secretly wanted to be a spy in the courts of the spoiled nobles all these years rather than go on our wonderful, fun adventures? I chose to follow you, you dumb lump of coal. Hell, if anything, the sheer amount of horrors I've seen you take down without breaking a sweat helped harden my nerves enough for me to do this whole thing in the first place."

Geralt sniffs and wraps his hands around Jaskier, mollified.

"And it... hurt, thinking of you," Jaskier admits, and Geralt presses an apologetic kiss under his ear. "But, Meletile, Geralt, you have no idea how many times we had a close call and I would be so fucking scared, because I was responsible for people now and if anything happened it would be on me. And then I'd run my fingers through my midnight scarf and it would feel like you were there next to me, and that I could do it."

Geralt presses in closer and makes a note to dye some more clothing for Jaskier when he gets the time. "I'm here for real now."

"You are," Jaskier says fondly. "And I wasn't expecting it to get this big, you know? But then more and more people joined in, and next thing you know, I'm an urban legend."

Geralt hums happily. "Good. You deserve to be a story too."

Jaskier laughs, loud and delighted. "Geralt! That is the sweetest thing you've ever said to me. Oh, come here, you."

They kiss for a good long while.

"You're the Sandpiper," Geralt says again when they stop for breath. He can see it now, actually- a version of Jaskier made of the little skills he'd picked up through the years; haggling and persuading and running and comforting and hiding and cunning. He tries not to, but ends up pouting a bit, petulantly. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because it's not the easiest thing to confess to without sounding like a lunatic?" Jaskier raises an eyebrow. "Yen only knows because she found me as the Sandpiper while the idiot was on the run. But regardless, I was gearing up to tell you anyway. Probably would have told you in a week. Or three."

Geralt hums and kisses him again. "I have so many fucking questions for you, by the way. About how the fuck you managed to take over a lost Witcher's Keep, for one, when you can't even stitch our clothes well enough after all these years."

"My stitches are perfectly fine, you boor," Jaskier replies heatedly, kissing him back. "Both of us just have extremely active lifestyles that end with them tearing again and again."

Geralt hums mockingly and Jaskier huffs and shoves him onto the bed. He climbs in after, eyes twinkling. "Now. We seem to have gotten ourselves a perfectly empty hallway all to ourselves, with no one around to hear us. Up for some fun, darling?"