The school of the Cats famously used mutagens to enhance young recruits' emotions. The emotions that the mages targeted were anger, fear, the fight or flight response, in short any emotion that would yield the greatest amount of adrenaline and send witchers into a frenzy which the mages called "blood rage". The experiments didn't always pan out as the mages expected, of course. For most recruits, it turned them into emotionally volatile witchers, bordering on psychopathic. But a small minority of cat witchers developed an entire different skill set during the mutation process. The experiments turned a minority of Cat witchers into empaths.
Aiden was one of them.
When he first met Lambert on the path, the two hit it off straight away. Lambert had saved his ass from a water hag. Aiden, who had taken the habit of hiding his medallion under his armour, decided to take his chance on Lambert who unbeknownst to him was fraternising with a Cat witcher. The Wolf was boisterous, a bit dickish but all in good humour, but most importantly Lambert was a bragger. He wouldn't stop gloating on the way back into town how he had saved Aiden's ass. Aiden indulged Lambert. He could tell that the Wolf witcher was much younger than him by how much energy he displayed, despite it being chaotic energy bordering on aggressive. Lambert insisted Aiden joined him for a drink. All the time they spent together, Aiden made a point not to touch Lambert and kept his gloves on so even when their fingers grazed each other he didn't sense anything emanating from Lambert.
Later that night, Lambert invited Aiden into bed with him. Aiden wished he had the willpower to refuse, but Lambert was admittedly attractive and, well, it had been a while for Aiden too. He could ignore the feelings for one night. He was used to it after nearly a century of dealing with his unusual 'powers'.
Years of practice keeping a schooled expression when sensing people's emotions could not have prepared Aiden for the sheer hurt and anger he felt when he touched Lambert. Aiden absorbed every single emotion which then became his own as soon as his fingers touched Lambert's bare skin. Hurt, anger, pain, so much pain. They had to stop before the fun could even begin because of Aiden curling up into a ball in the corner of the room.
The conversation that followed was painful and awkward. When Lambert realised that he had invited a Cat into his bed, he had instantly become defensive. But seeing Aiden so shaken... Lambert couldn't help it. He wanted to help this strange witcher through whatever twisted episode he was having. That's what witchers did, right, helped each other out when needed?
"How do you do it?" Aiden mumbled, "How the fuck do you keep all that pain locked away and just pretend it's not there?"
Lambert didn't know how to respond. He didn't understand what Aiden was getting at.
"The mutations strip us-"
"Bullshit! I felt it!" Aiden snapped, his voice tight as he fought the tears welling up in his eyes, "I felt all of it. The hurt. The anger. How do you do it? It was so intense, it twisted my insides. Lambert..."
"Hey, shhh, it's okay. Can I... Is there anything I can do? Shit, I want to touch you but..."
Aiden shook his head. He couldn't take it, not straight away. Lambert spent the rest of the night just talking to Aiden. Telling him everything, from his shitty childhood to his experience at Kaer Morhen, losing friends to the trials then to the path, the loneliness. Aiden in turn told him that he was one of the rare cat witchers turned into an empath by the mutations. He told Lambert how his own school cast him out for being difference. Soft. Weak. Broken.
Lambert didn't leave when morning came. In fact, he never left Aiden at all. After taking several days off for Aiden to recover, the two decided to travel together. As the months and years rolled in, Aiden was able to touch Lambert and feel an overwhelming happiness emanating from the wolf witcher which outshone all the other dark emotions looming in the depths of Lambert's mind.
The first winter Aiden spends at Kaer Morhen is difficult. He forgets himself and shakes Eskel's bare hand, and is instantly hit with a wave of self-loathing and loneliness, made even more bitter by an undertone of nostalgia. It knocks the air out of him. The next time it happens, Geralt's fingers grazed his at dinner while they both reached for the bread on the table. He senses emotional pining and a deep-rooted anxiety of the mind. Aiden goes to bed exhausted that night.
The next day though, Aiden runs into Geralt and Eskel's bard. Jaskier corners him and smiles sweetly at him.
"Lambert told me that you're sensitive to people's energies. He also mentioned that being surrounded by witchers has drained you, and he asked me to help. May I?"
Jaskier extends his hand and waits. Aiden eyes it suspiciously. What exactly had Lambert been thinking telling the bard his secret? But then Aiden's mistrustful eyes meet Jaskier's radiant blue ones, the soft smile illuminating the handsome face, and suddenly all of Aiden's worries wash away. He takes off his glove and slides his hand into Jaskier's. He's instantly drowning in warm feelings of love, happiness, excitement, pure and unbridled joy. It leaves Aiden breathless in all the right ways and has the witcher pulling Jaskier closer and melting into the bard's embrace. Aiden basks in Jaskier's positive energy, closing his eyes and seeing bursts of colours appear behind shut eyelids. Jaskier is an explosion of warmth and peace. Aiden had rarely met people so cheerful and whose presence calmed him.
From that day forward, Aiden would occasionally seek out Jaskier during winter to feel that same peace of mind all over again. And truly Aiden thanked his lucky stars every night that he crossed paths with Lambert and had been accepted into his family. A cat in a pack of wolves... If only his brothers could see him now.
