Chapter Text
He was losing coherency quickly, and Lambert knew he had to act fast.
Fuck, he’d been hoping to avoid this-
He wrenched his thumb from its socket, gritting his teeth at the pain and tugging his arms out of their bindings. Even with his thumb dislocated, it still took a few minutes to get himself free, wrenching his thumb back into place as he pushed himself up, only stopping to grab a single dagger before making it over to where Jaskier was curled up on his side, unable to keep Lambert prisoner anymore.
Unable to lift his head.
Fuck.
“Hey, hey Jaskier,” Lambert muttered as he drew close, but Jaskier just grabbed his own dagger, holding it out towards Lambert in warning even as his eyes clouded over with heat.
Lambert stopped, crouching down next to him, his hands raised in a sign of peace. “Not gonna hurt you,” he promised. “Fuck, not even gonna touch you if you don’t want it. But you need help.”
Jaskier tried to growl, but it came out as more of a whimper than anything else, and Lambert swallowed, before carefully taking off his shirt and handing it over. “Here. Scent’s supposed to help, right?” When Jaskier made no more to take it, Lambert tossed it over to him, relieved when Jaskier seemed to relax at the scent. “Ah… fuck- I’m so out of my depth here- do you… have… tools?” he tried, and Jaskier snorted, shaking his head, the dagger slipping from his fingers and clattering to the floor of the cave.
“…Blankets, in the… pack at the back…” he managed, and Lambert nodded, running to the back, being careful this time not to trigger any more traps.
The pack was against the far wall, and at the top of it-
Oh, of fucking course.
Suppressants. That’s why he’d targeted so many travelers with Omegas in their groups- he needed to steal their suppressants-
“Not the time dumbass,” he muttered, carefully setting the vials to the side and pulling out the blankets, ratty things nearly falling apart, and ran them back to Jaskier, passing them over as Jaskier curled around them, burying his face in the fabric.
No tools.
“…Don’t suppose there’s someone else out here too, that you can spend the heat with?” Lambert asked, scrambling for answers, but Jaskier shook his head again.
Fuck.
He couldn’t do anything, even if he liked the Omega like that- which, alright he was cute when he wasn’t threatening Lambert- oh fuck it he was downright hot then, he’d learned from Aiden about his thing for knives but that wasn’t the point- if he was going to be spending a heat with an Omega, there needed to be a long conversation before it started-
“Go,” Jaskier rasped, tears slipping down his face. “I can’t… stop you… just… just go… tell the bastards where to find me…”
Lambert grimaced. “Stop trying to tell me what to do,” he snapped, sitting down next to Jaskier, and letting his hand rest near the Omega’s head, so his scent could bring some comfort. “…I… could carve a wooden prick?” he offered, completely out of his depth, but Jaskier shook his head. “Well what do you usually do to deal with heat?”
Jaskier snorted. “Ride out the misery?”
“Yeah I’m not letting you ride me-“
“Ew,” Jaskier complained. “I mean I just… manage.”
“…Manage.”
“There’s… a strong push… for virginity, where I’m from,” he gasped, and Lambert stared at him.
“…So you just suffer?” Jaskier nodded, the scent of heat getting stronger, and Lambert swore. “…I’m not gonna fuck you. Can I hold you?”
Jaskier didn’t say anything, his face scrunched up, but after a moment he nodded and Lambert tugged him into his arms.
He was shockingly heavy for an Omega, and Lambert wrapped his arms around him, holding him close so Jaskier’s face was pressed against Lambert’s neck.
Angling his hips so there was no way his cock could accidentally press against Jaskier, Lambert closed his eyes and began slipping into meditation.
…He couldn’t meditate.
Everything about the last two days kept playing through his mind.
Everything made sense now.
Jaskier’s rage at Lambert using an Alpha command on him. The way his scent would evaporate almost immediately- as if a scent blocker were being used. The way he didn’t trust anyone-
The ropes.
The ropes used by Omega catchers. Jaskier had those ropes. And knew how long it would take to saw his way through them.
He’d insisted that being a bandit was the only choice he’d had.
…Fuck.
When Jaskier finally drifted off to sleep, Lambert made his way out of the cave, debating what to do.
He couldn’t leave Jaskier alone. Not completely. An Omega in heat, alone in the woods… Anything could happen to him.
And anyone could find him.
Lambert… fuck it, he couldn’t let that happen. As much as the bandit had been pissing him off the last few days, Lambert wasn’t a total asshole.
So. He was looking out for the Omega till his heat ended.
Which meant food.
He’d managed to bring down a deer before making his way back to the cave, setting it to cook before crossing back over to where Jaskier was starting to wake up again, scent heavy with heat.
“I’m here,” he muttered as he crouched down next to Jaskier, pulling him into his arms again as the Omega shook. “Just making sure we don’t starve while you’re struggling.”
Jaskier relaxed as Lambert directed the Omega’s head towards his neck, letting his scent calm him.
He didn’t comment on the slick he could feel dripping down the Omega’s thighs, and Jaskier didn’t comment on how stiff Lambert’s cock had gotten. Some things didn’t need remarked on.
Eventually Lambert had to go deal with the deer, making sure it was cooking evenly.
“Spices,” Jaskier rasped, and Lambert looked over to see Jaskier pointing at one of his packs.
“Stolen,” he guessed, but got up anyway. There was no point in arguing over it, the stuff was already stolen.
He was surprised when he found that most of the herbs seemed to still be in various stages of drying. The bandit had harvested them himself.
Another piece of the puzzle that didn’t make any sense.
After finishing with the deer, he returned to Jaskier’s side, letting the Omega cling to him as he stared up at the cave ceiling. “Well. I think I can safely say this is the weirdest contract I’ve ever taken at this point.” Jaskier snorted, and Lambert grimaced. “Mind not doing that on my neck?”
“You’re the one that put me here,” Jaskier complained groggily. “I’m trying not to die of mortification, if you don’t mind.”
“Yeah, yeah, you’re not dying on my watch. Last I checked heat can’t kill an Omega. Not unless there’s some serious fuckery happening.”
Jaskier nodded, whimpering a bit as he clutched his stomach, and that scent of heat grew stronger, and Lambert just tugged him closer, wrapping Jaskier’s blankets tighter around him.
“Just try to sleep,” Lambert muttered. “It should pass in a few days.”
Having to eat what Jaskier had fed him might have been embarrassing, but hand feeding an Omega in heat was probably one of the most sensual things he’d ever done, and as soon as Jaskier had finished eating, Lambert had to slip out of the cave to deal with his pent up feelings, taking a moment to calm himself before slipping back into the cave, and resuming his place as Jaskier’s own personal source of Alpha pheromones.
…He was running late. It would be hard to get back to the other side of Kaedwen before the Killer closed over. He’d have to hurry… or send a letter ahead that he wouldn’t make it in time.
No. He’d still try. He needed a long rest with Geralt and Eskel after this shit show. A good long time spent in their large bed-
Maybe this wasn’t the best time to be thinking about his lovers.
He couldn’t keep slipping away from Jaskier to go deal with his issues in the woods.
Taking a deep breath, he settled in once more to try and meditate, holding the Omega close.
This was going to be a long few days.