Dandelion heaved the single bag up the stairs to the room. He placed it down with a 'thunk!'. She was about to say something but was stopped by the sweet smile of the bard, and completely forgot about the abuse of her items.

"There we go!" He walked over to Lydia, a proud smile plastered on his face.

"Thank you Dandelion, I appreciate it" she smiled back, allowing herself to finally relax in a place like this.

She walks around the room, going to the balcony and looking out at the mountains.

"Wow... why would anyone want to leave this place?" She turned around, her hair waving around with her.

"It's beautiful!"

"It - It sure is" Dandelion replies.

"I'm sorry but-" he walked over and took a lock of her hair in his hands and softly twirled it.

"How is your hair this colour?"

Lydia looks at her hair in his hands, the sun shining on it to reflect a light purple. She looks at him, the blue of her eyes turning into pools of water as if trying to drown the bard.

"I was born with it" she said simply.

Dandelion's mouth dropped

"Purple hair? Wow! That's not normal! How can that be?" He exclaimed, but Lydia just laughed.

"Oh my goodness I'm just fucking with you - if you use certain flowers you can use it as a dye for your hair - as if you where using dye for fabric" she explained to the bard with a smile.

Lydia stepped away and turned her back too Dandelion and approaches the wooden tub. She stopped and turned her head, catching his eyes with a giggle.

"You can leave now, I'm going to bathe" she said softly with a smile.

Dandelion blushed and opened his mouth to say something but just nodded.

"Right I shall leave you to it!" He said and walked off quickly and flustered.

The water in the tub was cold but clean and she sighed at the fact she would have to heat it. She didn't like using magic but in private or desperate situations she knew she could get away with it. With a flick of her hand a small flame appeared on her palm, which she then submerged into the water.

After a bit - longer than she wanted, the water started bubbling and steaming.

"Perfect"

Lydia placed her small hip pouch on a bench before removing her dress which was dark with dirt and days of travel. It was a shame as it was once a light red, now looking brown. She removed her rings and underwear, sighing at the relief. She threw them into a pile and slowly got herself into the water.

"Ah finally! A bath!" She was excited. She reached for a bar of soap and started to wash her hair and body. Bruises, cuts and scrapes where found after the layer of mud and dirt where peeled away. Her feet, at closer expedition where raw and bloody.

"Maybe I should get new boots if I get the chance..."

Lydia allowed herself to relax, slowly dozing off. She was so tired from the trip that this was the most relaxed she felt for days. And she was enjoying every moment, too much.

Her eyes where heavy and she shut them, just for a moment but then found herself asleep.

It had been long. Too long. Dandelion found himself worrying about Lydia. But was it wrong to go up to a woman who he knew was bathing? But what if she had fell over and cracked her head? But what if he ended up walking in on her dressing and ends up being the one with the cracked head? He was going to take that chance. He stood up from the table and excused himself from the other men before going up the stairs. He reached the door and knocked on it.

"Lydia? Sorry to disturb you, I know you should never disturb a lady but you've been gone awhile... Lydia?" He knocked again, nothing. Dandelion opened the door slightly and looked in. He saw the pile of clothing and the untouched bag. He stepped into the room with hesitance.

"Lydia?" He asked again before her droopy arm was seen over the bath.

"Oh god!" He rushes over to her - stopping suddenly at the sight of her naked body.

"Ok you are not doing anything weird just helping a lady not die" he place his hands under her arms and turned his head, trying not to look at her body. He raised her out and tried to get her on to the bed. Dandelion was weak. He was not going to deny it. So getting Lydia on the bed as well as trying not to look at her naked body was a lot more difficult than if one of the Witcher's had to do it.

Dandelion got her on the bed, grabbing a blanket and covering her.

He turned around quickly.

"There was nothing wrong with that - stop thinking about the sexy unconscious lady in the bed!" He breathed deeply.

Dandelion went to the pale of water and dipped in a cloth and placed it on her head. His eyes slowly looking down the curves of her body.

You could tell she had been on the road for while. She was skinny, but still was able to be highly feminine with her curves. Her legs where bruised and scrapped, probably from rocks and sticks. Her back which he only had a glance at had what seemed to be markings, tattoos if you will. But his eyes couldn't look away from her feet. Her raw, cracked, bleeding feet.

Dandelion knew he couldn't leave them like that. He quickly dashed out of the room and returned with a small vile of oil. He poured it into his hands, the smell of lavender and chamomile filling the room. He started to rub and massage the oil into her feet, and tried to avoid looking up the blanket.

Dandelion stayed in the room with Lydia until she woke up, in the mean time he took it upon himself to practice his lute.

Lydia opened her eyes and the cloth fell off her head, along with the blanket upon her torso as she sat up.

"How did I..." she looked around, how did she get from the bath to the bed? Her eyes and ears set on Dandelion and she let out a scream, grabbing the blanket to cover herself.

Dandelion stood up and turned around, screaming as well.

"What the fuck are you doing here?!"

"I-I swear I didn't do anything funny! I swear I didn't look at your perfect naked body-Ah my face!" He was quieted by a wooden cup hitting him.

"Fuck! I was just trying to help!" He quickly walked to the door.

Lydia blushed at the thought of a strange man seeing her naked.

"Get out! Get out you pervert!" She screamed.

"Ah I'm sorry!" He ran out the room and down the stairs, lute covering his face as a shield.

Lydia sat there, holding the blanket around her body. She breathed softly, calming down. She touched her face, then her shoulders. Lydia rubbered her feet together and felt the oil on them. She moved her face down and sniffed them, lavender and chamomile. Dandelion rubbed oil on her feet to help them heal.

Lydia swung her body off the bed and stood up, shaking a bit from her painful feet and light headedness. She walked in front of the mirror and stood there, looking. Her body had lost weight - eating on the road was hard. And bruises from fights and falls showed vibrantly. She turned around, elvish symbols sitting promotionally on her skin. God, she hoped Dandelion took more notice of her breasts than her back. She sighed and grabbed a long, black dress from her bag. Reb fabric tied around her waist and sleeves coming down to her wrist and flaring out. With a heavy throw over on her shoulders and clean cloth on her newly oiled feet she decided to go down stairs.

Dandelion ran down the stairs with his lute covering his body and returned to the hall. The Witchers looked at him with confusion.

"So how did you piss off a woman this time?" Asked Lambert.

"Nope! I didn't do anything! I am innocent!" He said as he sat down at the table and took a big swig of his ale, letting out a noise of disgust as his preferred drink was wine.

"What happened up there? She sounded angry. I don't need her running out of here" Asked Geralt with, surprisingly some concern.

"She fell asleep in the water and I tried to help her not drown! She should be thanking me!" He crossed his legs gayly.

Eskel shook his head and looked at the bard.

"You may have helped her but you saw a woman at her most vulnerable and without her consent" he said and took a sip of his drink. Dandelion looked down, his cheeks flushing.

"I realised that, but I tried really hard to not look at her..." Dandelion took a sip to cover his face. He felt ashamed that he had to put Lydia in such an embarrassing situation but he just couldn't keep her like that.

"You looked didn't you!" Lambert grinned.

"And don't deny it! We all would have - OOF! My Ale!" Lambert was shoved by Eskel, spilling his drink.

"Some of us are gentleman Lambert! I respect woman" Dandelion sat up straight, his head held high at the fact he wasn't as much as a pig as the men around him.

Lydia cleared her throat, the men's attention and gazes fell on her as she approached them.

"Sounds like you are having a nice conversation..." she sat down next too Dandelion, not allowing any form of redness take over her face. She pulled her throw over tighter around her body and poured a cup of ale for herself. She took a sip and smiled at the men.

"So what's for dinner?"

The night went on, belly's where fulled, ale was drunk and laughs where shared. The Witcher boys all deep in a conversation about monsters and Dandelion had headed off to his room to rest. Lydia was left out, she didn't wanna intrude in the mens conversation, so she stood up and told the wolf's goodnight before slowly walking off. Lydia found herself outside Dandelion's door. She could hear the soft chords of his lute and his voice.

"A woman of dreams, or so that it seems

a lady of fire taking over me,

she'll burn every thorn, and then blow on her horn-

No, that's stupid, horn, Really?"

Dandelion went quiet for a moment before the starts strumming again, but Lydia knocked on the door, stopping the music.

"I swear to god Geralt if I open this door and you are in a dress I will smash my mighty lute across your - oh Lydia its-its you!" Dandelion straightened his shirt and put on a shy smile.

"May I come in?" She asked and tilted her head.

Dandelion stepped to one side.

"Why yes! Of course! I apologise my room is not at a living standard. Geralt made me choose one of the… lesser rooms" he explained as she walked in.

It was a smaller room than the others, but it was full of treasures. The walls layered with tapestries, the floor covered with a large, royal rug, two large windows looking out at the forests and trunks full of items obtained over the years of the Witcher's journeys. The bed was large and had silk covers - probably brought by Dandelion, but looked just as comfortable as her own. She sat down on the end on the bed, enjoying the room.

"I wonder how these guys managed to get all this junk" she laughed, her eyes darting from item to item, colour to colour. Dandelion poured two cups wine and sat next to Lydia, offering her the cup which she gladly accepted. Taking a sip, she smiled.

"So much better ale" she hummed and looked at the bard, her cheeks flushing from the amount of drink she had had that night.

"I've always enjoyed wine more than anything, nothing bets a fine wine and pretty woman" he said and took a sip himself. More like half the cup. Lydia placed the cup down and stood up, her back turned too Dandelion.

"I wanted to apologise" she spun around and looked at him. His face turned dumb.

"I soon realised that you where trying to help, you got me out of the water, which would not have been easy and you also tried to help my feet" She gripped her throw over tighter and broke eye contact.

Dandelion stood up and approached Lydia and placed his cup down.

"And I want to apologise, I never meant to make you uncomfortable and I swear I did nothing weird to you!" he raised both hands in the air, the sincerity in this voice strong.

Lydia calmed and returned her eyes to him and bit her bottom lip.

"How much did you… look at?" She asked shyly, a bad idea as Dandelions face turned redder, and not just from the wine.

"Well, It was hard NOT to look, but-but I tried to not look at your perfect-I mean your body in such a state and I swear I did not touch ANYTHING on you-" his flustered fumbling of words caused Lydia to laughed. She couldn't be angry in this situation. Dandelion was too kind hearted to take advantage of such a situation.

"Calm down, I'm not angry" she laughed and placed a hand on his cheek.

"Thank you for helping me Dandelion, but I hope all you saw was a breast or two" she smirked and gave his cheek a soft pat and turned towards the door. Dandelion was left with nothing smart today. This woman had taken the breath out of him. She waved behind her,

"Goodnight" she walked out and shut the door behind her.

Dandelion just realised he had lied to Lydia, yes he had seen her breasts on accident but he had also saw parts of her back, and what was ever on there. Maybe it was for the best he didn't bring it up with her. Maybe that was something highly privet that she would share in the future.

Lydia's smile and bubbly attitude quickly washed away when the door closed behind her. She let out a long, shaky breath before walking to her room.

"Thank god, he didn't take notice" she whispered, placing a hand over her shoulder and softly touching her back where elvish burned her everyday.

She reached her room and quickly replaced her dress for her nightgown. She got herself under the sheets of her bed and laid on her back, the weight off her feet giving her instant relief. Lydia wanted to sleep right away but her ecstatic mind kept her thinking. The events of the day kept playing through her head, meeting everyone and trying to get use to such a new place created a huge pit of anxiety in her.

Eskel was a calm man, not too quick to say much. He gave off the 'big brother' vibes, the one who looks after the others. But he was intimidating, the scars on his face would scare anyone but Lydia had no right to be judgmental of the man just because of a few scars. But he was just so much more stern than the other two, almost as if he was on edge for something to happen. She could tell he had a kind heart under all this Witcherness.

Lambert scared her. She had no denying of that. He was intense and mischievous and knew that he would get in trouble often. The fact this room was dirtier then a pigs pen didn't help his case. He was ignorant, dirty and a smart ass. But that smile, this mischievous smile drew her in for some unknown reason. She was going to keep her distance from him, at lest for a while.

Dandelion, well he was just a delight. She felt safe around the bard, maybe because she could defend herself against him if she needed too. But he had something the Witchers didn't. A warmth from a smile, a kind tone of voice or a jump in his step. He was easy to let your guard down around and she liked that about him. Dandelion was the perfect breath of fresh air in a place like this. Bringing colour and gayness, happiness and lovely melodies. He could lighten any mood with music or laughter.

Geralt was Geralt. He was a quiet man but was never too late to say something smart. He was a good travel companion. He knew where to get water, he would hunt for food and stop if she needed too, even if he could carry on. They had a silent respect for each other that was created after fighting side by side. When he came to her for help with a contract she was hesitant but agreed upon reasoning. But to help she needed to collect herbs which was only found in the forest. But this brought upon packs of wolves which she fended off with him. And since then and along the travel she respected and trusted Geralt and wanted to help him how ever she can.

With all the thinking she managed to tire herself out into a sleep. Her dreams where null. As a child her dreams where highly vibrant and lively but one night it just stopped. Apart of her was thankful for that, because who knows that tortures would arrive to hurt her at night but apart of her missed the sweetness of dreams and waking up with weird and random ideas to ramble about.

The morning came around, greeting her with a kiss of sun on her face. She didn't want to leave the comfort of a bed. A luxury she had missed out on her trip to Kaer Morhan. But as the comforts swept her away the sun moved, indicating it was going to be midday soon and she didn't want to make a bad impression of laziness.

Dressing in a simple light blue dress that showed patterns of flowers with white fabric tied around her waist, rectangle sleeves that flared and flowed around her upper arms and a plunging v-neck showing her pale chest and allowing her necklace of a single blue gem to be perfectly centred. But she was still covered up enough of her breasts to be a prude.

Placing her trusty little pouch on her hip she ran her fingers through her hair as she walked down the steps to the main hall.

No one was there, but the sounds of grunts and swords told her the boys where outside practicing. She was relived that her morning wasn't going to be run over with three intense Witchers. She went to the kitchen and helped herself to bread and cheese with pleasure, having to hold back so she didn't eat the whole loaf. When she was satisfied she walked outside, the sun hitting her happily from the contrast of the cool air of the halls.

She walked around, taking in the surroundings so she wouldn't get lost. She stumbled upon the Witchers training with each other, using weapons with ease and laughing as if they weren't just about to shove swords into each others abdomen.

"Its rather entertaining when you're not the one having a blade thrown at you" Dandelion stood next to Lydia, lute at his side.

She smiled

"Good morning Dandelion, I hope you slept well, care for a walk?" she asked

Dandelion looked at her and nodded, holding his arm out which she gladly took.

"So Lydia how did you end up with grumpy Geralt?" he asked, glancing down at her as he led them through the grounds of Kaer Morhan.

"Well, he came to me about a contract, he needed some potations made as he had run out of supplies. But I needed to go gather some and he tagged along. We where attacked by wolves which we both fought off. We got back I made his potions and then after his contract he comes back and said: 'I need you to come with me, I need your help with some research.'" she explained, imitating Geralt's voice. Dandelion sat down on a stone in the sun and gestured Lydia to sit as well. He let go of her arm and turned to her.

"So you're telling me you consensually went with Geralt?" he asked, in shock. Lydia shrugged her shoulders and tucked her hair behind her ear.

"Yea, he needed my help and I couldn't live in that village forever. The people where planning to burn me anyway" She said softly. Dandelion looked at the ground, his feet playing with the dirt.

"So it was either agree to the Witcher or be burnt, honestly a hard choice" he joked and stood up.

"Ah! Excuse me a moment my lady" he winked and walked off quickly. Lydia watched him go and felt confused at what the bard had planed.

He returned with his left hand behind his back and a grin that said: 'I am an idiot'.

Lydia couldn't help but smile when he came around all excited.

"Close your eyes! I promise its nothing weird"

"I swear if you do try anything funny I will make sure you will never play that god damn lute again" she joked as she did what he said. A few seconds pasted until a strong, sweet scent fulled her nose. She retched up and opened her eyes, a flower right in her face being held by the grinning bard. Lydia laughed and held it, a big happy rose.

"I didn't realise Witchers had gardens here"

"Oh they don't, but because no one cares for the place, a rose bush that one of the Witchers where gifted was allowed to just grow, and grow and grow, thus the beautiful flower you have now" he smiled softly and sat back next to Lydia.

She was happy that someone would even think of giving her one.

"Thank you Dandelion I love it" Lydia leaned over and placed a friendly kiss on the bard's cheek. He blushed and grinned dumbly.

"Anything to make a lady happy" he said with a flirty tone. Lydia could tell he had done this before. He was bit of a love bug, always charming and wooing woman. She turned her attention back to the flower and spun it around. The realisation that Dandelion was a womaniser almost tainted the friendly gesture but she tried her hardest to not let any from of bitterness take over her.

Silence came over the two as they sat next to each other in the sun. Dandelion quickly stood up.

"I must go talk to Geralt, I forgot to tell him something important, I will see you later pretty lady" he said with one last smiled before waltzing away.

Lydia sat there alone, pressing the rose to her nose and smelling it. She smiled, feeling warm and happy at the sweet gesture Dandelion did. Even though he was an obvious romantic towards multiple people, she had to admit, the gesture made her feel good.

Lydia made a mental note to not allow herself to fall into Dandelions tricks.