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triptuckers · 3 years

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Fix her - Kaz Brekker

Request: nope Pairing: kaz brekker x reader Summary: kaz sent you out to gather information, and you always return on time with the intel he needs. well, maybe not always. Warnings: angst, language, mentions of BLOOD, BRUISES, INJURIES, typical soc stuff, slight six of crows and crooked kingdom spoilers Word count: 2.2K A/N: hello my darlings it is I and I have read almost every book leigh bardugo has written in the past month. I am now hopelessly in love with jesper, kaz and nikolai. I'll be updating my character list soon! I still have a few wips but I don’t have any motivation / inspiration for those. so have my first kaz brekker x reader instead! enjoy reading :)

It was a rather easy job, really. Kaz had received word that the Dime Lions had an important meeting coming up. Because he always wanted to know what exactly was going on in the Barrel and with its gangs, he wanted someone to listen in on said meeting.

Normally, he would send Inej. She was the obvious choice when it came to gathering information. But she was still recovering from a rather nasty cut in her side, and so you had offered to go.

Inej insisted she could go. But all it took was you raising your eyebrows when she moved to sit up, only to wince and flop back down onto the bed. Though he didn’t quite like it, Kaz had assigned you to the job.

No one said it out loud, but everyone knew there was something between you and Kaz. Neither of you had spoken about it. There were just a lot of lingering glances, smiles from you and what you think was almost a smile from Kaz, and you even had stolen his coat once when you had lost your own. He didn’t seem to mind though.

When you had left that evening to listen to the Dime Lions meeting from the shadows, Kaz had sent you a look that you knew all too well. He reserved it only for you. It was him telling you to be safe. You’d respond with a wink that basically meant always am.

The rest of the crows started a card game to pass the time as they waited for you to come back. They didn’t worry, you were always careful and are considered one of the most dangerous criminals in Ketterdam. They knew whatever happened, you could handle yourself.

But after Jesper had lost four rounds of card games, the tension began to rise between them. Most meetings typically didn’t last this long. Still, no one said anything as they started their fifth game. You would show up eventually, probably bringing valuable insight with you.

After two more games, there was still no sign of you. Nina was the first one to speak up.

‘She should have been back by now.’ she says, absently looking out the window into the dark street.

‘Have a little faith, Zenik.’ says Kaz, though on the inside he was filled with worry. He shook it off and focused on the game again.

More than once he’d scolded himself for allowing you to get this close to him. For putting so much trust in you, especially after what happened the last time he’d really trusted someone. But he couldn’t help it. It was like he was drawn to you like Jespers trigger finger was to his revolvers. He couldn’t help it.

Still, he knew your skills. He knew you were smart, and a fighter. Whatever was going on with you out there, he had no doubt you’d show up at the door in a few moments, cheerfully announcing what good intel you’d gathered and wondering how many card games you’d missed.

But you still didn’t show. And one by one, they all lost their interest in the card game. They fell silent and looked out the window or fiddled with their empty glasses. The tension in the room grew. Until Kaz suddenly stood.

‘Finish the game.’ he says. ‘I’ll go and look for her.’

‘I’ll come with you.’ says Jesper, getting up as well.

‘No.’ says Kaz, earning a frown from Jesper. ‘Just me.’ he says. And with that, he pulled on his coat, grabbed his cane and was out the door.

‘Right.’ says Jesper, sitting back down. ‘Anyone fancy another game? I have a feeling I’m gonna win this one.’

They played three more games. They were tired, and it was well past midnight. Still, none of them went upstairs to their rooms. Too anxious to play any more cards or to even have a normal conversation, they settled for silence and more drinks.

Jesper was fiddling with his rings and bouncing his leg. Nina had her elbows on the table and her chin in her hands. Matthias was trying to not look at Nina. And Wylan was attempting to build a house out of the cards.

Finally, they heard the sound of the door opening. All of their heads shot up and turned to look who it was.

Kaz stumbles awkwardly through the door, carrying you in his arms. Nina gasps softly and Jesper murmurs ‘Saints’ as their eyes land on your body.

It’s bruised and bloody, and your eyes are shut. Was Kaz too late?

‘Clear the table!’ says Kaz loudly, limping toward it with you in his arms.

Instantly, Matthias and Jesper seize the glasses and cards off the table as Wylan pulls some of the chairs back to make room. Kaz lays your beaten up body on the table and turns to Nina.

‘Help her.’ says Kaz.

But Nina is looking at you body, bruised and bloodied, nothing like the cheerful girl that buys her waffles and laughs as she teases Matthias. It’s almost impossible to find a spot on your body that doesn’t have a wound on it. There’s slashes from knives everywhere, bruising around your neck and the side of your face, and to top it off, blood is slowly leaking out of a bullet wound in your leg.

An expression of horror is written across Nina’s face, her hands pressed against her mouth.

‘Nina.’ Kaz presses on. ‘I said help her.’

‘Kaz, I don’t think-’ stammers Nina. ‘Come on, fix her!’ says Kaz loudly, surprised of how much anxiety can be heard in his voice. Fix her, he thinks, because I need her to fix me.

‘I can try but-’ ‘Do it.’ says Kaz and then he turns away, he can’t bear to look at you any longer. Memories of Jordie flood over him, mingled with memories of you. Your laugh, how he fights his own smile every time you wink at him or send a flirty comment his way, the way you smell. How you look at him when he catches your eyes.

Kaz shuts his eyes, attempting to drown the memories out. Taking deep breaths, he tries to focus on the voices behind him.

‘Jesper get the bullet out of her leg.’ says Nina.

‘Just pull it out?’ questions Jesper.

‘Saints, you’re Grisha, Jesper, pull the fucking bullet out!’ says Nina in a loud voice laced with fear.

After a while of listening to Nina’s murmuring and instructions to others, Kaz finally turns back around to look at you. A wave of nausea hits him unexpectedly and he swallows hard.

Nina had treated most of the wounds, with Jesper’s help. But your entire body is still covered in bruises, and now bandages as well. Nina’s cleaned the dried blood off of your face, but your arms and legs are still covered with it.

They’re all nervously looking at Kaz.

‘I don’t know if she’s going to-’

‘Don’t.’ says Kaz, interrupting her. He needed to think straight. He needed someone to help him focus. Normally, you’d be the one to do so. But you’re in no condition to softly talk to him to reassure him everything is going to be alright. He needed to be his own soothing voice tonight.

‘Matthias.’ he says. ‘Bring her up to my room. Nina, go with him, see if there’s anything else you can do for her. Jesper, get Inej up to speed. Wylan, clean this mess up before someone notices.’

Without waiting for their reactions, Kaz walks up the stairs to his floor. Several moments later, followed by Matthias, who is carrying you, and Nina and Jesper. Jesper disappears into Inej’ room, while Matthias and Nina continue to walk the stairs to get to Kaz’ floor.

When they arrive, Matthias carefully places you on Kaz’ bed as he was instructed. For a while, the three of them look at you. Until Matthias and Nina go to their rooms as well, leaving Kaz alone with you.

None of them had questioned why he insisted Matthias brought you to his room and not your own. Of course, they were dying to find out exactly what was going on between you and Kaz, but they all knew tonight was not the night to push him.

As he looks at you, Kaz feels the strong urge to touch you. Lay his hand on your cheek, to see if it’s still warm. But he can’t. Instead, he merely pulls out a chair and sits down next to the bed. He lets his eyes travel over your body, wondering how much pain you’re in, and who the hell was responsible for it.

He needed you to wake up. He needed you to tell him who did this so he could send his biggest most muscular members of the Dregs to them. Kaz wanted them to hurt the way they had hurt you.

His mind is running at an alarming speed. But eventually, even Kaz can’t fight his tired body anymore, and he falls asleep in an uncomfortable position in his chair.

From that night on, he instructed that you shouldn’t be left alone. He doesn’t want you to wake up and realise you’re on your own. The next day, it’s business as usual. The members of the Dregs are coming and going like they always do. The familiar flow of people helps to take everyone’s mind off things, but as soon as they’re by your side, they remember.

Nina had tried her best to heal you, but it still took you almost a week to wake up.

When you wake up, your first thought is that your entire body feels way heavier than it’s supposed to. You try to open your eyes but it’s like your eyelids are made of lead. After a couple more tries, you finally open them.

You take in the room, and realise it’s not your own. Kaz.

Why would you be in Kaz’ room? Why aren’t you in your own room? And why does your body feel so damn heavy?

And then all of the memories flood back. Like a tsunami, they catch your breath in your throat, making it hard to breathe. You try to inhale deeply, but it’s like your throat is sealed shut. You start to panic when you notice you can’t breathe.

Then a pair of hands land on your shoulders and gently push you back onto the bed. Whoever it is, is talking softly to you. You close your eyes and try to steady your breathing.

Then the voice yells out, but from much farther away, like they’re standing in the doorway, and not next to the bed.

‘Kaz! Nina! Get up here!’

It’s Jesper.

You try to ask him what’s going on, but it’s still hard to breath normally. You try to focus on something else. Jesper’s voice trying to calm you down, his eyes looking into yours, but nothing’s helping.

Then you hear a sound you know all too well. A familiar stumbling, of someone walking up the stairs with a cane.

Seconds later, Kaz rushes into the room and roughly shoves Jesper away, taking his place next to the bed.

‘Who did this to you?’ he says.

His voice is that familiar rasp, and normally you love it. But now it just makes your head hurt. You shut your eyes and softly shake your head, trying to drown the sound out.

‘Y/N, who did this to you?’ says Kaz, more firmly this time.

‘Kaz.’ says Nina’s voice. ‘Let her rest. You can talk later.’ Nina’s voice is softer, more gentle than Kaz’. You try to focus on it as you open your eyes again.

Kaz is close. He looks down at you and you’re surprised by the look in his eyes. Was that a hint of worry you detected? You open your mouth to say something, but Kaz is faster.

‘Y/N, tell me who did this to you.’ says Kaz.

‘Couldn’t see their faces.’ you manage to say in a hoarse voice. Your throat feels dry and you start to cough. Immediately, Nina moves to get you a glass of water and helps you to drink it.

‘Did you notice the way they moved? How they walked? Were they Dime Lions? Could you see any tattoos? What about scars? Clothing? Voices?’

Kaz keeps on firing questions at you, but you can’t focus on his words. Your head feels heavy and you feel your eyelids slowly closing again.

‘Kaz.’ you say softly. ‘Tomorrow.’

You expect him to press on, to find out who did this to you. But instead, he looks at you and holds your gaze. He doesn’t say anything, he merely nods at you. You know what it means. Despite his harsh voice and the million questions, he’s glad you’re safe. And the ones who did this to you will pay for it. He’ll make sure of it.

You offer a weak smile before closing your eyes, already drifting off. You hear two pairs of footsteps leave the room, and assume Nina stayed behind to check on you.

The chair next to you gets moved back and you hear how someone sits down in it. When you feel something brush against your fingers, you assume it’s Nina checking your pulse.

But then you feel a gloved thumb on the back of your hand. It slowly rubs over your skin. To most people it wouldn’t mean anything. But to you, it meant the world. A tiny smile reaches the corners of your mouth, as you fall asleep.

A/N: If you want to request something, make sure to read my house rules Here’s the list of characters I write for. Everything that I have written can be found on my masterlist. Please don’t repost my work, as I spend much time and effort on it!! Thank you for reading! Much love, Jo

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madeyoumyvillain · 3 years

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You were baited and fooled by Bardugo. How did she do that exactly? I want to hear the rant you probably have for it

There is no rant,I've gotten past it at this point. Shadow and Bone was marketed as an enemies to lovers story and we all know how that ended. If Leigh wanted us to NOT ship Darklina and root for the friends to lovers fighting for the greater good and defeating evil,I wouldn't have said anything. I don't think many people would ship Darklina if that was the case. But it's not. Yes,yk what,there is a rant.

And not just Leigh,many authors know that ETL arc is widely popular and loved so they start off their books or market them as ETL to grab the attention of the vast majority of its lovers,but it ends up being either friends to lovers or something entirely different. If she didn't want us to ship it,maybe she shouldn't have baited us? Why would you use "a dark heart,a pure soul,a love that will last forever" as a tag line when you plan on ending that ship and completely changing it? Maybe try promoting your actual hero and ship if you want the readers to NOT ship the wrong couple? Why would you talk about The Darkling and NOT about Malyen if he's the actual love interest,the good guy,the hero?

Leigh Bardugo hates The Darkling,hates us for liking him and has mentioned in KoS how we're a cult of crazy people for liking Aleksander. If she didn't want us to like him then maybe she shouldn't have written him as someone with ACTUAL motives while th good guys are fighting only because it's The Right Thing ™ to do while doing NOTHING about the actual problem and fucking off into the sunset to fulfill cottagecore dreams?

Picking sides in YOUR OWN fandom is the worst,most immature thing you can do. She recently opened up about how The Darkling embodies her abusive ex. Therefore,Darklina is abusive and we're abuse apologists for shipping it. Let me remind you that Bardugo herself forgets that Darklina isn't the main relationship,Malina is. And Malina is the exact kind of toxic relationship you find in real life. Malyen embodies toxic masculinity. So maybe while trying to make Darklina toxic,she forgot she was making Malina toxic too? It's not a competition for less or more,if you're abusive,you're abusive. Less or more doesn't matter,there's no better alternative of being abused. If she wanted us to believe that Alina is a strong,fierce and independent woman who makes her own decisions and doesn't need anyone, if she really wanted us young girls who are stupid and naive to never let a man hold us back then letting Alina end up alone would be the best thing she could do. Because neither of those men deserved Alina.

She has openly called Darkling stans disturbed and said that she wrote him as a lesson for younger girls to not excuse evil men just because they have slick hair and sharp jawline haha. I shouldn't be angry at her for shoving a FTL down my throat when she advertised a Light/Dark romance because she it did for ME so a hot and evil and charismatic man doesn't end up taking advantage of the stupid and naive girl I am. I should thank her for teaching me that I'm a young and dumb girl ready to be taken advantage of by evil, hot,dark, centuries old shadow summoners. Too bad I haven't found one yet:/

Look at these pictures and tell me where the fuck did she talk about her main,endgame ship and tell me if this isn't bait or not.

But no,I'm an absolute fool. A villain romanticizer. An abuse apologist. A pedophile and war criminal enabler in her eyes. I'm someone who hasn't been through anything traumatic in my entire life according to the antis when it's actually LB and them who can't differentiate between fiction and reality. It's LB who is one of the antis and shames fans of her own characters.

So yes,she is a baiter. She did fool us. And she keeps on dragging Aleksander's bloody corpse through the mud to milk money because she knows that alot of people in the GV fandom love him and expected a redemption arc for him. She uses him time and time again to hurt us. She's always treated Darkling Stans like shit. Always tried to make us feel wrong or morally corrupt for liking him. Tell me,how am I supposed to like this behaviour and why exactly should I respect someone who shames me for liking something that doesn't exist?

#shadow and bone #the darkling #ben barnes #the grishaverse #alina starkov #jessie mei li #darklina #aleksander morozova #general kirigan #anti leigh bardugo #grishaverse spoilers #shadow and bone spoilers #sab

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thedelusionreaderbitch · 3 years

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Kaz Brekker x fem! Reader - Talent

(Gif not mine)

A/n: So this shit randomly come up into my head... You know that scene in episode four of shadow and bone, where Inej and Jesper are showing off their talents? I was like we're going to add the reader into this one! Requests are open!

Warnings: It's short, fluff, languag, mentions of gore, trauma, mentions of abuse/sexual abuse, I think that's it? You have been warned!

Summary: You need to get into the little palace and a talent you thought was useless may come into handy

All rights go to leigh Bardugo, you, netflix and James arthur! I just own the plot!

I silently watch Jesper do his performance, with Inej already done hers. He shots the card perfectly dead center and everyone gives a round of hoops and applause.

That card that was in Inej's mouth mind you.

Kaz's face is emotionless or more so to anyone but me, looks emotionless. There's this spark in his eyes that says he's enjoying this, but also a worry because he doesn't like that their being shown like caged animals at the zoo to show off.

I suppress a shiver that runs up my spine as I remember my childhood. When I was six I was sold to a very high end circus and it wasn't pretty.

Maybe, you would think that they would treat their employees better, but you would be wrong. They would beat you to so much that you looked purple, they would be beat for... Anything really. Sometimes their punishments were worse and they would sell you off to men for one to even a couple of nights.

I still have nightmares.

No one cared what you looked like, as long if you could your job then it was fine. Even if you looked like a freak with all the purple bruise's and hand marks across you everywhere, it would bring people in. The more people got brought in each performance the better.

I must have not hid my fear good enough, or Kaz can just read me better then anyone else can because a concerned look flash's across his face and he brush's his gloved hand against my own for a split second.

"What about you." The man comes over and points at me. I freeze. No, I could just gut you right on the spot how about that! My mind screams at me.

But there something else you could do.

Something that wouldn't come with bad memories, something that my mother and father used to do, something I thought was useless.

Till now.

"Do you have a piano?"

Kaz Pov!

Y/n sits down on the piano bench and shallows tightly like she's nervous and Kaz has no fucking idea what she's doing.

Honestly, Kaz could have been fine with just Inej and Jesper taking the performing path to the little palace but having Y/n go with them would be better, more operable.

But he had no idea what she was doing.

He knows about her past after a job gone wrong, that lead to a panic attack, and they slowly came together after that.

Slowly.

Y/n place's her shaking hands over the keys and she plays a bit of a beautiful intro but then...

She sings.

Laying in the silence

Waiting for the sirens

Her voice lifts into the air above the crowd, hanging like silhouettes in the air. Kaz nearly gasps at the sound of her voice. But he is not nearly quick enough to school his expression because wonder splays across it.

Signs, any signs I'm alive still

I don't wanna lose it

I'm not getting through this

Hey, should I pray? should I pray

To myself? To a saint?

To a savior who can

Her voice must have been one of the saints, and Kaz didn't believe in the saints. Not until now.

Unbreak the broken

Unsay these spoken words

Find hope in the hopeless

Pull me out of the train wreck

Y/n starts to belt her heart into the song and Kaz's breath catches in his throat. She had full control, if she told him to burn the world for her,

He would.

Unburn the ash's

Unchain the reactions, I'm not ready to die, not yet

Pull me out of the train wreck

Pull me out, pull me out, pull me out

Pull me out, pull me out

Her eyes full of unshed tears connect with his as she sings the next verse. Watching her though, sing with such force and emotion he could feel the pull towards her stronger than ever before.

Underneath our bad blood

We still got a sanctum, home

Still a home, still a home here

It's not too late to build it back

'Cause a one-in-a-million chance

Is still a chance, still a chance

And I would take those odds.

The audience is flowing in tears, even Jesper and Inej have tears in their eyes. Kaz can only hide half of what he's feeling, pain and love course through him knowing exactly what Y/n meant. Tears are flowing freely from her eyes now as you go on with just as much strength and emotion that she started it with. If not more.

Unbreak the broken

Unsay these spoken words

Find hope in the hopeless

Pull me out of the train wreck

Unburn the ash's

Unchain the reactions, I'm not ready to die, not yet

Pull me out of the train wreck

Pull me out, pull me out, pull me out

His eyes find her's again and this time he can't bear to look away.c

Not when she looked like a saint.

She had some heist clothes on, her hair was flowing freely, and her bruised and cut up skin looked like satin. Not even all the stars in the world could compare to her eyes. Fuck. He shouldn't think of her like this, not while on a mission.

You can say what you like 'cause see, I would die for you

I, I'm down on my knees and I need you to be my Saint

Be my help, be a savior who can

Her voice was at her height now, it was powerful grabbing at her very being and putting it into lyrics. He wondered how such a beautiful creature like her had ever become a dangerous member of a gang. Helplessness was not something that Y/n was though, she was dangerous and everyone new it too.

Unbreak the broken

Unsay these reckless words (find hope in the hopeless)

Pull me out of the train wreck

Unburn the ashes

Unchain the reactions, I'm not ready to die, not yet

Pull me out of the train wreck

Pull me out, pull me out, pull me out

Finishing the song the girl herself looks surprised at her abilities to seduce the occupants with her saint-like voice. Chuckling she smiles and the man shakes her hand very eagerly and talks to her for a few minutes before she walks over too him.

Kaz study the woman before him, the song seemed to free her in ways being dangerous never could. She looks up to him and he gives her a flash of a smile only she could catch. She experimentally takes his hand even if it was gloved. He rolls his eyes and lace their fingers together as they wait for Jesper and Inej.

So together they wait.

Words 1150

-thedelusionreaderbitch

#six of crows #kaz brekker x reader #kaz brekker #kaz fucking brekker #inej ghafa #x reader #jesper fahey #crooked kingdom #fanfiction #fanfic #one shot #lyrics #james arthur #leigh bardugo #shadow and bone #grishaverse

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stromuprisahat · 3 years

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Over Kaz’s shoulder, Wylan saw a little girl standing on the landing, leaning on the neck of one of the massive gray dogs. She had to be about five, her toes barely visible beneath the hem of her flannel nightgown. “Oh Ghezen,” Wylan whispered. Kaz stepped out into the hall, pulling the door nearly shut behind him. Wylan hesitated in the darkened office, unsure of what he should do, terrified of what Kaz might do. The girl looked up at Kaz with big eyes, then removed her thumb from her mouth. “Do you work for my da?” “No.” ... Wylan shuddered. Through the crack in the door, he saw Kaz squat down so he could look the little girl in the eye. “What’s this big fellow’s name?” Kaz said, laying a hand on the dog’s wrinkled neck. “This is Maestro Spots.” “Is that so?” “He has a very fine howl. Da lets me name all the puppies.” “Is Maestro Spots your favorite?” asked Kaz. She appeared to think, then shook her head. “I like Duke Addam Von Silverhaunch best, then Fuzzmuzzle, then Maestro Spots.” “That’s good to know, Hanna.” Her mouth opened into a little O. “How do you know my name?” “I know all children’s names.” “You do?” “Oh, yes. Albert who lives next door and Gertrude on Ammberstraat. I live under their beds and in the backs of the closets.” “I knew it,” the girl breathed, fear and triumph in her voice. “Mama said there was nothing there, but I knew it.” She cocked her head to one side. “You don’t look like a monster.” “I’ll tell you a secret, Hanna. The really bad monsters never look like monsters.” Now the little girl’s lip trembled. “Did you come to eat me? Da says monsters eat children who don’t go to bed when they’re told.” “They do. But I won’t. Not tonight. If you do two things for me.” His voice was calm, almost hypnotic. It had the coarse rasp of an over-rosined bow. “First, you must crawl into bed. And second, you must never tell anyone you’ve seen us, especially your da.” He leaned forward and gave Hanna’s braid a playful tug. “Because if you do, I’ll slit your mother’s throat and then your father’s, and then I’ll cut out the hearts of all these sweet slobbering hounds. I shall save Duke Silverhaunch for last so that you will know it’s all your fault.” The little girl’s face was as white as the lace on the neck of her nightgown, her eyes wide and bright as new moons. “Do you understand?” She nodded frantically, chin wobbling. “Now, now, no tears. Monsters see tears and it only whets their appetites. Off to bed with you, and take that useless Maestro Spots along too.” She skittered backward over the landing and up the stairs. When she was halfway up, she cast a terrified glance back at Kaz. He raised one gloved finger to his lips.

Crooked Kingdom (Leigh Bardugo)

#Crooked Kingdom #Six of Crows duology #Grishaverse #Leigh Bardugo #books #quotes #V #favourite scene #damn #Wylan van Eck #Kaz Brekker #The Crows

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elriell · 4 years

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Book Rec’s

Going to try and add a lot of less known books that are amazing and not enough people talk about, this would be too long if I talked about each one in depth, so I am going to leave my fav quotes as that tends to give me a feel for books and whether I will like them and I will link the GR page for more info! Happy reading:)

Fantasy Vibes

From Blood And Ash by Jennifer L Armentrout (CLICK THIS TOO)

“Death is like an old friend who pays a visit, sometimes when it’s least expected and other times when you’re waiting for her. It’s neither the first nor the last time she’ll pay a visit, but that doesn’t make any death less harsh or unforgiving.”

“Fear and bravery are often one and the same. It either makes you a warrior or a coward. The only difference is the person it resides inside.”

“You're an absolutely stunning, murderous little creature.”

Storm And Fury by Jennifer L Armentrout

“What are you going to do if it does get worse?” he asked. “Maybe I’ll get myself a seeing-eye gargoyle.”

(HONESTLY BADASS GARGOYLES. SO UNIQUE AND AWESOME)

Demons At Deadnight by A&E Kirk

“I launched into a graceful ninja-like front roll, then stood my ground to face the monstrous heathen, fearless in my determination to vanquish the deadly foe.

Nah, just kidding. I bolted, discretion being the better part of not getting dead.”

“We are killers,�� Matthias said. Bad news.

“Not girls. We don’t kill girls.” Good news.

“She’s no girl.” Insulting news?

“What? Of course she’s a girl.”

“Want me to check?”

“Shut up, Blake,” the rest of them chorused.”

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

“If I cannot be better than them, I will become so much worse.”

“If you hurt me, I wouldn't cry. I would hurt you back.”

“I am going to keep on defying you. I am going to shame you with my defiance. You remind me that I am a mere mortal and you are a prince of Faerie. Well, let me remind you that means you have much to lose and I have nothing. You may win in the end, you may ensorcell me and hurt me and humiliate me, but I will make sure you lose everything I can take from you on the way down. I promise you this is the least of what I can do.”

MM Romance

Him by Sabrina Bowen & Elle Kennedy

“Our mouths fit together so perfectly. Every time we kiss, I fall even more in love with him, and it has nothing to do with sex or lust. It's him. His closeness and his scent and the way he soothes me.”

“I…” He clears his throat. “I’d let you do it, though.” My hand freezes in his hair. “You would?” Wes nods. “I’d let you do anything to me, Canning.”

Misfits by Garrett Leigh (Poly romance, its just so perfect ala herongraystairs!)

“Learn something. Read a book. Explore someone. Anger is just a hole where your life could be.”

In The Absence Of Light by Adrienne Wilder

“The light is a funny thing, Grant. We think it shows us what we need to see, but in reality, it blinds us. That’s why I brought you here. I wanted you to see me.”

“Morgan may be autistic, but he is a normal man with a mental condition, not a mental condition who is a man.”

HOneStly JUST READ IT

The Foxhole Court by Nora Sakavic

“It’s not the world that’s cruel. It’s the people in it.”

“I'm not a math problem." "But I'll still solve you."

“Is your learning curve a horizontal line?”

“Who said 'please' that made you hate the word so much?" Andrew gazed at him in silence for a minute. "I did.”

“I didn't think I was a personal problem. You hate me, remember?" "Every inch of you," Andrew said. "That doesn't mean I wouldn't blow you."

EVERY QOUTE IS ICONIC TBH

Vampires, Angels & Greek Mythology

Bloodlines by Michelle Read

“The greatest changes in history have come when people were able to shake off what others told them to do.”

“Takes a lot of tries before you hit perfection." He paused to reconsider that. "Well, except for my parents. They got it on the first try."

“No, thank you," said Adrian. "These hands don't sully themselves with fighting.”

“Everything's about my personal entertainment. The world is my stage. Keep it up- you're becoming a star performer in the show.”

Angels Blood by Nalini Singh

“Some things were worth the dance with danger.”

“You do realize this makes your wings even more unique." "Are you saying you shot me as a cosmetic procedure?”

“You ask a lot of questions for a dead woman.” “What can I say? I prefer to die well-informed.”

“You don't fear me," he said now. She wasn't stupid enough to lie. "I'm petrified. But I figure you didn't make me come all this way just so you could push me off the roof.”

Dark Lover by J.R Ward (warning OTT vamps if thats not your jazz either skip)

“Some bridges you crossed on your own, no matter who drove you to the edge”

“Vengeance was one hell of a roommate.”

Half-Blood by Jennifer L Armentrout

“Two people see each other across a room or their skin brushes. Their souls recognize the person as their own. It doesn’t need time to figure it. The soul always knows… whether it’s right or wrong.”

“It’s just words and words mean nothing. Only action does.”

“People do the damndest things when they’re in love.”

“There is a difference between love and need. Sometimes, what you feel is immediate and without rhyme or reason.”

Assasin-y Goodness

Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers

“When one consorts with assassins, one must expect to dance along the edge of a knife once or twice.”

“I comfort myself with the knowledge that if Duval ever feels smothered by me, it will be because I am holding a pillow over his face.”

“Surely He does not give us hearts so we may spend our lives ignoring them.”

“There is no shame in scars, Ismae.”

Daughter Of The Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller

“I am me because I choose to be me. I am what I want. Some people say you have to find yourself. Not I. I believe we create ourselves to be what we want.”

“Lass, you've the face of an angel but the tongue of a snake.”

“Everyone has something dark in their past. I suppose it's our job to overcome it. And if we can’t overcome it, then all we can do is make the most of it.”

“Waiting. Not waiting. One lover. A hundred lovers. There should be no judgement either way. A woman is not defined by what she does or doesn‘t do in the bedroom.”

“Even a man who’s spent his whole life at sea has reason to fear her when she’s angry. But not I. I sleep soundly. Listening to her music. The sea watches over me. She protects her own.”

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

“No mourners. No funerals. Among them, it passed for 'good luck.”

“It's not natural for women to fight." "It's not natural for someone to be as stupid as he is tall, and yet there you stand.”

“I will have you without armor, Kaz Brekker. Or I will not have you at all.

“The heart is an arrow. It demands aim to land true.”

“Kaz leaned back. "What's the easiest way to steal a man's wallet?" "Knife to the throat?" asked Inej. "Gun to the back?" said Jesper. "Poison in his cup?" suggested Nina. "You're all horrible," said Matthias.”

The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson

“It can take years to mold a dream. It takes only a fraction of a second for it to be shattered.”

“Taking another life, she had whispered, even a guilty one, should never be easy. If it were, we'd be little more than animals.”

“Maybe there was no one way to define it. Maybe there were as many shades of love as the blues of the sky,”

“We all have our different skills. You’re patient to a fault, which sometimes doesn’t work to your advantage. I, on the other hand, have the patience of a wet cat. Only on rare occasions does that come in handy.”

“Maybe there were a hundred different ways to fall in love.”

Circus Vibes

Caraval by Stephanie Garber

“Every person has the power to change their fate if they are brave enough to fight for what they desire more than anything.”

“She imagined loving him would feel like falling in love with darkness, frightening and consuming yet utterly beautiful when the stars came out.”

“Some things are worth pursuit regardless of the cost.”

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

“You may tell a tale that takes up residence in someone's soul, becomes their blood and self and purpose. That tale will move them and drive them and who knows that they might do because of it, because of your words. That is your role, your gift.”

“Secrets have power. And that power diminishes when they are shared, so they are best kept and kept well. Sharing secrets, real secrets, important ones, with even one other person, will change them. Writing them down is worse, because who can tell how many eyes might see them inscribed on paper, no matter how careful you might be with it. So it's really best to keep your secrets when you have them, for their own good, as well as yours.”

Six of Hearts by L.H Cosway

“Note to self: Never try to out-trick a trickster.”

“So why not live with the magic? Be a kid again and believe in the fantastical. Life is more fun with a little smoke and mirrors.”

“We all have thoughts that we would never, ever vocalise. And people who say they don’t are liars.”

“I once read that people who have imaginary friends never reach out to touch them. There’s some part of their brain that subconsciously knows it will break the spell. That’s what it feels like with Jay.”

Amour Amour by Krista & Becca Richie

“We all traverse in and out of people’s worlds, leaving footprints. Some larger, some smaller, but there is always a mark. We can’t sweep it away.”

“Life is a rollercoaster with no volunteers. We’re all forced to take a seat and ride it out.

“I’m average. I’ve been average most of my life, but there are moments where I feel extraordinary. Invincible. Able to conquer any fear and step outside any box. There is no illusion, no fantasy. I can climb a forty-foot pole. I can fly eighty-feet in the air. I can be taller than tall. It’s a dream that I’m living. Every day. With him.”

More M/M Romance

The Song Of Achilles by Madeline Miller

“I could recognize him by touch alone, by smell; I would know him blind, by the way his breaths came and his feet struck the earth. I would know him in death, at the end of the world.”

“And perhaps it is the greater grief, after all, to be left on earth when another is gone.”

“He is a weapon, a killer. Do not forget it. You can use a spear as a walking stick, but that will not change its nature.”

“He is half of my soul, as the poets say.”

Axel’s Pup by Kim Dare (Shifter Romance & BDSM FYI if thats not your jazz)

"I want to screw you, and tie you up, and make you writhe from-you know all that. But I want so much more. I want the whole thing, not just a quick scene. I want twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. I want you to be mine. I won't take anything less."

Aristotle And Dante Discover The Secrets Of The Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

“In your dream. You were looking for me.""I'm always looking for you,"

“He was funny and focused and fierce. I mean the guy could be fierce. And there wasn’t anything mean about him. I didn’t understand how you could live in a mean world and not have any of that meanness rub off on you.”

“He looked like an angel. And all I wanted to do was put my fist through his jaw. I couldn't stand my own cruelty.”

“One of the secrets of the universe was that our instincts were sometimes stronger than our minds. Another secret of the universe: Sometimes pain was like a storm that came out of nowhere.”

Shattered Glass by Dani Alexander

"Tell me something good about your life," I whispered, needing to hear that he wasn't as broken as I thought him to be.[...]"You." It was so quiet I almost didn't hear it.”

“Is he my competition?” I asked. “Everyone is your competition.” Peter lifted his hand to his eyes and began lowering it incrementally. “It goes normal human beings, crazies, republicans, my hand, imaginary characters, corpses and then, in a moment of lustful psychosis, you.” By the time he was done, his hand was below the table.

Romance

Kiss The Sky by Krista & Becca Richie

“You’re not a pit stop. You’re my finish line. There’s no one after you.”

“People hope to touch the sky. I dream of kissing it.”

“I love the way he’s staring at me. It makes me feel more than just beautiful. I feel like I’m his. Like no one else could possibly compare to me. He doesn’t even have to say the words. I see it in his eyes. I can practically read it in his mind.”

“I’ve wanted so many things in life,” he says softly, “but you’re the one that has meant the most to me.”

Translation: I love you.”

Wallbanger by Alice Clayton

“You know those moments when everything is exactly the way it was meant to be? When you find yourself and your entire universe aligning in perfect synchronization, and you know you couldn’t possibly be more content? I was inside that very moment, and fully conscious of it.”

“The right woman for you wouldn't want you to change anything about your life. She wouldn't rock your boat, she'd jump right in and sail it with you.”

“It breaks my heart the way young girls pick themselves over, never thinking they're good enough. You make sure you always remember, you're exactly the way you're supposed to be. Exactly. And anyone who says otherwise, well, poppycock.”

Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover

“Ugly love becomes you. Consumes you. Makes you hate it all. Makes you realize that all the beautiful parts aren't even worth it. Without the beautiful, you'll never risk feeling the ugly. So you give it all up. You give it all up. You never want love again, no matter what kind it is, because no type of love will ever be worth living through the ugly love again.”

“Some people they grow wiser as they grow older. Unfortunately, most people just grow older.”

“Sometimes the spirit of a man isn't strong enough to survive the ghosts of his past”

“My grandfather used to say the placement of a birthmark was the story of how a person lost the battle in their past life. I guess you got stabbed in the neck. Bet it was a quick death, though.”

On Dublin Street by Samantha Young

“Gentlemen are gentlemen in bed. They make sure you're having a good time." "I'll make sure you're having a good time, and that you're okay with everything. I just won't be well mannered about it.”

“In truth it’s difficult to describe a broken heart.”

“Sometimes words aren’t needed for you to know a change has come upon you.”

Romance Series

Paper Princess by Erin Watt

“My skill, if I have one, isn’t dancing. It’s my ability to believe that tomorrow can be a better day.”

“My life is mine. I live it. I control it.”

“but a clean knife still makes a painful wound.”

“Fate is for the weak--those people who don't have enough power or will to shape life into what they need it to be.”

Foreplay by Sophie Jordan

“I’m not going to lie to you and convince you that I’m someone good and shiny like your guy that’s going to be a doctor.”

“You can’t even see it. I’m the safest thing you’ll ever find”

“That's what I wanted. Something to enrich me, to make me feel better about the things in my life that I could never change."

Wait for You by J.Lynn. (AKA Jennifer L Armentrout)

“You are really…” “Amazing? Awesome?” He paused, brows raised. “Astonishing?” “I was going to go with bizarre.” “Well, hell, if I had feelings that might actually hurt.”

“As long as the sun’s shining, shit can’t be that bad.”

The Deal by Elle Kennedy

“Sometimes people sneak up on you and suddenly you don’t know how you ever lived without them.”

“I want to murder him in his sleep, A. No, I want to murder him when he’s awake so he can see the joy on my face when I do it.”

“And the most important lesson I learned is that I’m not a victim—I’m a survivor.”

Romance w/ Epic Plots

The Unbecoming Of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

“This was the boy I loved. A little bit messy. A little bit ruined. A beautiful disaster. Just like me.”

“You could start a fire with the heat between you two.""You're mistaking bitter animosity for heartfelt affection.”

“You're supposed to say, 'All I want is your happiness. I'll do whatever it takes, even if it means being without you.'""Sorry," Noah said. "I'm just not that big of a person.”

“I’ll walk forever with stories inside me that the people I love the most can never hear.”

“We are far too screwed up for a goddamned love triangle.”

“You will love him to ruins.”

The Winners Curse by Marie Rutkoski

“He knew the law of such things: people in brightly lit places cannot see into the dark.”

“Isn’t that what stories do, make real things fake, and fake things real?”

“The Winner’s Curse is when you come out on top of the bid, but only by paying a steep price.”

“The god of lies must love you, you see things so clearly.”

Obsidian by Jennifer L Armentrout (are you getting the idea I love everything she writes? because I do!)

“I've always found that the most beautiful people, truly beautiful inside and out, are the ones who are quietly unaware of their effect."

“More books." His eyes went wide. "You have, like, them books you just said you haven't read." "Doesn't mean I won't get more books."

Angelfall by Susan Ee

“I never thought about it before, but I'm proud to be human. We're ever so flawed. We're frail, confused, violent, and we struggle with so many issues. But all in all, I'm proud to be a Daughter of Man.”

“Sometimes, as we're stumbling along in the dark, we hit something good.”

“I knew from the start that your loyalty would get you killed. I just never thought it would be your loyalty to me that would do it.”

Unique Reads

Dont Look Back by Jennifer L Armentrout

“I was stuck in a life I didn't remember, squeezed into the shell of this girl - this Samantha Joe Franco - and the more I learned about her, the more I was starting to hate her.”

“Things aren’t perfect. They are far, far from it,but they are getting there, and I wasn’t looking back. Not when there were so many good things in the future.”

Verity by Colleen Hoover

“I wasn’t heroic. I wasn’t simple. I was difficult. An emotionally challenging puzzle he wasn’t up for solving.”

“A writer should never have the audacity to write about themselves unless they’re willing to separate every layer of protection between the author’s soul and their book. The words should come directly from the center of the gut, tearing through flesh and bone as they break free. Ugly and honest and bloody and a little bit terrifying, but completely exposed.”

“No one is likable from the inside out.”

“Find what you love and let it kill you.”

Painted Faces by L.H Cosway

“We all paint on a face to show the world," Nicholas replies philosophically. "For some of us, that's quite literal.”

“I love him because he makes me laugh when I don't feel like laughing. I love him because he challenges my view of what a man is. I love him because I know I shouldn't love him and that he'll break my heart. I love him because he's a complete and total anomaly. I love him because I want to kill the sadness inside him more than I want anything else in the world.”

“You saw me, changed my life, made it better, and I’m completely fucking in love with you.”

Sorcery of Thorns by Margret Rogerson

“It was always wise to be polite to books, whether or not they could hear you.”

“Knowledge always has the potential to be dangerous. It is a more powerful weapon than any sword or spell.”

“When terrible things have happened to you, sometimes the promise of something good can be just as frightening.”

“You belonged in the library, as much as any book.”

“You unmanageable, contrary creature. You have made me believe in something at last. It feels as wretched as I imagined.”

Obviously not every book is going to suit everyone, everyone has pet peeves, and things that they won’t enjoy but hopefully this gives you some variety and I personally loved them all at some point! Pls feel free to come to my ask/chats to discuss any of them that would make me so happy <3 this took 4 hours damn

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pergaias · 4 years

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jupiter’s chosen ; a short story

a lot of people forget that i’m a writer before i’m a shitposter ( me included )

this was written in thirty to forty-five minutes based off of a paraphrased quote from ninth house by leigh bardugo, so it’s kinda short kinda boring, but the end is a whirl -

also this is kinda like a villain’s backstory and i’m here for it lmao

Della couldn’t feel it anymore.

The little strings that had connected her to the world of magic had snapped, broken, worn away, one by one. The wet denim of her jeans were rough and abrasive, clinging and cold. Her cheeks wet with tears, her lips salty with them.

The one thing she had been good at, the one thing that made her special, gone. And it was her fault - her misstep, her shadow, her mistake that had brought it here in the first place.

Her breathing was shakier than quaking aspens, her chest heaving in shallow pants like an animal’s. Her eyes were probably red-rimmed and swollen as the gaping wound in her side.

The sword. It had taken everything away - some poison in the blade that had eaten away at her magic, cut the invisible strings tying her to her other life. The gash in her side was long and deep, her arms held shakily over the wound, as if the gesture, the act of it, would hold her together.

But still, Della lay curled on the park bench in the pouring rain, her tears indistinguishable from the downpour, her once-white cardigan wet through with blood. If she still had her magic, if she still had Ty, she might have been able to heal the gash.

Ty. Her best friend, her confidante, in another lifetime her boyfriend. Was it really a few hours ago that he had abandoned her? Addie, Addie, I’m sorry. We’re not children anymore.

Della cried harder. It was dark out - she could hardly see the stars, and all she could feel was the coldness of her wet sweater and jeans, pressing on her skin. The fire of the sword wound was gone, as was her magic. She had felt the magic - it was a hum in her fingers, a song in her head, a forgotten whisper on her lips.

It was like she was missing a limb.

Addie, Addie, I’m sorry. We’re not children anymore.

When had Della stopped being a child? Was it the moment when she had started thinking about what parts of her body jiggled and how she looked? Was it the moment she discovered her first period, or the day she had to first fend for herself? Was it the day that she had kissed Ty?

Was it when she became Adelaide Lovis, Jupiter’s Chosen?

No. She had ceased to be a child years before all those occasions, on the day that she had realized what a horrible world she lived in. Demons on the streets, wreaking small havocs on people who couldn’t see them. Imps curled up on her mother’s shoulder, whispering poison into her ears. The day she had seen the shadow behind the Prime Minister on TV and screamed, because it had beady, bright eyes. The ghosts in her apartment building, opening doors for her because they saw she was Chosen.

The shadows of other people, given flesh and blood. Della had foolishly thought she was above it.

The irony of it was that Della Lovis was supposed to fix it. The Chosen One, who was to rid the world of evil. She would set things right, they said, she would fix all their past mistakes. She would banish all the shadows past the Otherlands, hold her sword high with auburn hair streaming behind her and tawny wings unfolded.

Della’s eyes burned, and she held her side tighter as a cab whizzed past her seat, splashing her with muddy, oily water. She barely felt it - her skin burned with a fever that the blade had given her, the fever that had driven the magic out of her.

She couldn’t have moved if she wanted to. There was no knight in shining armor to save her, white-gold wings bursting from his shoulder blades, dark hair curling across his forehead. She lay curled on the park bench, rain pummeling her, her side throbbing, burning with unseen fire.

Had Ty ever loved her? She remembered it in paralyzing clarity, his hand wrapped around hers, lashes long and thick and lowered. If she could paint, she would have painted him in white and gold and chocolate brown, an avenging angel.

Love is a shared delusion, Addie, he had teased, when her head had been curled in his side, fingers tangled with his. Two people reciting the same spell.

Della wanted to close her eyes, to let this terrible world fade, a world that had taken from her and never gave. Everyone she loved was gone - her mother, with her red-gold hair and sad smile, her father with his crooked nose and expressive hands. Ty, with his gold wings and long lashes.

Jupiter’s Chosen. She had been thirteen when they told her, when she had first held a Stone and seen beyond the world she lived in.

Strings, Della had breathed. Strings, tying everything together, tying everything to me. She had reached out to touch one - it had made a note like a guitar, leaving her fingers covered in humming, glowing dust.

They had all been cut. There was nothing holding Della to this world anymore but stubbornness, sheer force of will, and the overwhelming urge to punch Ty in the face.

Rain clung to Della’s lashes like fat pearls, and the throbbing of the gash on her side seemed to slow. The world seemed to slow, the colors coming into sharper focus, like it did every morning when the sun’s rays hit the horizon.

The rain was warm and soft, like a warm summer shower. The gash on her side seemed to glow, light filtering through her fingers.

Her heart was slowing, too, she could feel it. Della’s thoughts flashed to the sword fight, Adelaide Lovis all bluster and auburn curls, gray eyes and stubborn chins. She had hefted her own sword, and the black-winged creature lifted hers, and they clanged together.

My shadow, Della had realized, halfway through the fight. The girl she was fighting was her but not her, everything Della was but with less to lose.

Every action has an equal opposite reaction, and this was the accumulation of all Della’s failures, every negative thought, every fear, each tear she shed. Was it fear of success or fear of failure that had held Della back?

But her eyelids were so heavy, and the Beyond was welcoming her.

No. The thought burned through her, stronger than any warmth the Beyond could offer. I am Jupiter’s Chosen, and I will go down fighting.

Della painstakingly lifted her head, feeling dizzy as soon as she did. Rain darkened her hair, weighed her cardigan down - her movements were sluggish and anything but graceful, but she shakingly stripped it off and pressed it to her side, tears still rolling down her cheeks.

She had no magic. She would never be welcome in the Otherlands after her failure.

One step. Another. Her shoulder blades felt terrifyingly light without the wings, the wings that had slowly dissipated when her shadow had sunk the golden blade into her side. Della’s scream, ringing through the arena. Ty in the audience, his eyes turned away.

They had left her to die, and Della Lovis was going to live if only to rub it in their faces.

She wasn’t a child anymore. She wasn’t Chosen. She wasn’t loved, wanted, waited for by the people she had failed to protect.

But she staggered across the street, cardigan held against her side, freckled arms shaking. She would live. She had to.

Della couldn’t feel the magic anymore. She couldn’t feel her fingers or the pain in her side.

She only felt the slow press of tears choking her throat.

There would be no happy ending for Adelaide Lovis, once Jupiter’s Chosen, but she sure as hell would make it a memorable one.

#cece writes #here's my original bullshit :DD #jupiter's chosen #why did i write this #what is this #why tho #short story #original #writing #rAnDoM tAgs

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brekkerisbae · 4 years

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King of Scars

[ SPOILERS AHEAD ]

I'm a huge fan of the Six of Crows Duology, I think it was beautifully written- Kaz Brekker owns my heart, yada yada yada, it's a rant for another post. Since King of Scars was the very next book in line, and also a duology, a lot of people unsurprisingly compare the two books. But to understand them, it's imperative to realise that they have varied themes and go in completely different directions. SoC had a heist centred plot dealing with the found family trope, while KoS is a character study woven in the subplots- it thrives on court politics and the survival of Ravka thrown in the middle of a brewing civil war.

I'm late to the Grishaverse, and I started reading the trilogy only because I had lots of time to kill during the lockdown and also the Netflix series is soon to hit the screens. Since I read all these books one after the other, I'm pretty emotionally attached to these characters. As a reader, I also prefer my stories to be character driven rather than plot driven (because I'm a soft bitch who just wants to cry over fictional characters). The plot is still important, but fleshed out characters are just..*chef's kiss*

1. Nikolai- my main bone of contention while reading his chapters was the lack of sass and charm that drew me in initially when I read the grisha trilogy. He is a more flawed and humane character here, daddy issues and inner demons, imposter syndrome and depression included. While Sturmhound was reduced to a comic relief side character next to Alina, Nikolai is the centre of attraction here. He is a multifaceted King, struggling with the remnants of the Darkling's power and trying to maintain peace in his country. His character has more edge and depth, gone is the fun frivolous flirtatious young prince who was in control of every situation. This development was necessary and it just took me a while to come to terms with.

2. Zoya was phenomenal thru and thru. She was shown as a petty, immature badass soldier changing sides for some mysterious reason in the grisha trilogy. But here, we get an in-depth peek into her past, which explains so much of who she is and what she had at stake. She's a strong character, loyal and trustworthy. I'm glad that Leigh Bardugo didn't try to push a love story down our throats already because clearly Nikolai and Zoya's dynamic was just established and the kind of characters they are, they need time to build upon any romance. There were several hints dropped along the story, so the next book will hopefully deliver some steam.

3. Nina- oh god, the chirpy bubbly waffle queen Nina is nowhere to be seen post Matthias' death. Instead we have a hollow broken wounded puppy lashing out at anyone and everyone, scrambling to latch on to her remaining inner strength, and looking for a new purpose in life. I feel that her arc gets the most development, as we find her tutoring a young Fjerdan Grisha girl, at the same time risking herself to protect pregnant women from jurda parem experiments by the Fjerdan government. While most of her interactions and actions were centred around her relationship with Matthias in SoC, it's refreshing and empowering to see Nina struggle through the troubled waters all alone, relying on her powers to get shit done. I'm living for this growth!!

4. Isaak's subplot had a lot of potential to be something better, but idk why it got lost between the other important action stuff going on in the other subplots. In a way, the three POVs (Nina, Nikolai/Zoya, Isaak) sort of gave us crumbs of each development, but Nina's and Nikolai's stories just felt too different to exist in one narrative. Except for that one tiny glitch, this book has a very odd pacing- it's initially very slow and drags till the first 200 pages or so and then bam! lots of action and a sucker punch climax.

BUT, I'd say that I really enjoyed the book- the characters grew immensely and the plot is going in a very interesting direction. I low-key expected that ending so I'm not exactly suprised, and I'm excited to see what Bardugo has planned for the Darkling in the sequel. I mean, he can rot in hell for all I care, but seriously tho, he doesn't deserve a redemption arc. I just don't trust him anymore. If Alina comes back in the next book, ugh, I'll just- let's not even go there.

#ya fantasy #king of scars #six of crows #leigh bardugo #bookblr #book review #bookblogger #booksofinstagram #ravka #nikolai lantsov #zoya nazyalensky #nina zenik

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nostalgic-pancakes · 4 years

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Room 73- Chapter 3/8

The ghost is spoken to, but we also see more character trauma. (at least Virgil and Logan are having an okay time)

Pairings: Implied Thomas/OC, implied sibling-y c!Terrence and c!Valerie, sibling-y Analogical, Creativitwins and Moceit, platonic DLAMPR (soon to have a T in it!), and Romantic husbands Remile! (Also married parents but they don’t have names yet)

Read on AO3!

Word count: 2217

Warnings: References to shifty parenting, unhealthy relationships with food, depression, and of course, the general angst that comes with being yanno... dead for about a century with implications of period-typical sexism and the fallout that death has on your loved ones. Stay safe!

Other notes: Hi! I know this is sooner than usual (and also a bit shorter than usual) but I really wanted to get this out early, because there's two other things I'm working on! A c!Thomas-centric number+1 with friends and side interactions, and a Cartoon Therapy oneshot collection (with only cartoon therapy characters! no sides!) that has found family, Dot and Larry VS the internet, and everyone punting mitchell in the face because he deserves it. You can vote for which one you'd like to see posted FIRST on here!

Now, sorry for that wall of text- here’s the chapter!

——————————————————————————–

Thomas didn’t have anything even remotely resembling a clue as to how he just did that. He hasn’t been able to so much as move for decades, now. Almost a century!

(The only reason he still knows the time is because classrooms date the boards. Everett is 96, Val 95, Terrence 87. )

But somehow, somehow these highschool kids around Thomas’s (? do ghost years count?) age managed to hear him hiss, and now he can talk to them.

In the words of that one kid here in the fifties who was usually half seas over, “ fucking shit!”

The one with the glasses (Logan? Or was it Nico? Naw, Logan.) is still tapping on the funny small glowing box. A phone, or something. (It looks too small to be a telephone, and it has no wires, but the future is pretty crazy!) and the other one, Janus is looking at the space that he inhabits like it’s on fire. Whatever else is happening today is happening, but the corner that Thomas lives in is definitely not on fire, that’s for sure.

Janus begins to step forward a bit, towards Thomas (!!!), and attempts to touch him. His hand goes through, like most things do (bar the occasional stray acid droplet, but they don’t burn anymore) and he pulls it back slowly.

Logan clears his throat, looking up from his ‘phone’ and at Thomas.

“Hello.” he says cautiously, not daring to hope. But Thomas can’t get the words out anymore, it’s like the single work took too much out of him to say it back. So he tries hissing in the morse code that Daddy taught him and (and he taught Val, because she’s amazing, woman or not) hoping, hoping they’d figure it out.

.... .. (hi)

Janus looks confused, but Logan lights up immediately, tapping frantically on his ‘phone’, until it shows something with morse code translations written on it.

“Could you possibly repeat that?” asks Logan, and he’s beaming, and that face is now one of the nicest faces he’s seen since he died. So Thomas tries again. It saps a little energy out of him, but not enough to really be an issue. Not like talking.

“Hello there, uh… do you have a name?”

- .... --- -- .- ... (Thomas)

“Thomas. That’s a nice name. Is it alright if we ask what year you ar- were from?” That question was unexpected, but one Thomas was willing to answer.

.---- ----. ..--- --... (1927)

“Nineteen twenty-seven”. Huh. Wasn’t this part of town a boy’s military school at some point back then?” asks Logan, and Thomas hisses again to signify the yes. He was a student there, under Pop’s behest, while Val stayed home to get ready for being married, even though she was all of eight years old and barely old enough to start her midwife training with basic first aid.

He wonders if she ever got to join the Red Cross like she’d dreamed to do. He hopes so.

Logan’s still asking questions, but Thomas is getting tired again, and the extra clarity letting him reminisce about his family is not helping at all. He makes a series of somewhat weaker clicks, trying to convey he’s tired, and Janus seems to pick up on it, patting Logan on the shoulder and motioning at the door for them to leave, citing a ‘Virgil and Patton’ (brothers?) as a reason to go soon, anyways. Logan huffs a bit, though clearly as a jest, and they say their goodbyes, probaby, based on their hand movements, but by now, Thomas has faded enough to lose a bit of track.

…

“Hey, Val.”

'___'

“Yeah, this is a gravestone. Didn’t expect you to reply. Well, I was always the talkative one before,a dn I can do it again.”

'___'

“So uh, Hey! It’s me again, Terrence, coming with the daisies as usual. I can’t believe that it’s me doing this, ya doof. It was supposed to be you, Val.”

'___'

“Yeah, I guess I should go back soon. Everett’s cold isn’t getting better, nor worse. I wonder what you’d do.”

'___'

“Yes, love you too. I hope you, Barry and Linda are doing alright up there. We’ll… probably see you soon anyways.”

'___'

“Hey- tell Thomas we said hello, and that we still miss him. All the time. Eighty years should be long enough, but it really isn’t, is it?”

(Tommy isn’t here.) …

“Okay, so you’re saying that the ghost, a literal ass ghost--”

“Language!” chirped Patton. It was starting to become routine. “Sorry Pat but okay, so a ghost talked to you over morse code??!!” Exclaimed Virgil, his tone getting more and more excited by the syllable.

“Yes, I literally just said that Virgil.” huffs Logan, pressing his knuckles to his temple. He loves his twin, but times like this really test his (already dwindling) patience with shenanigans.

“Okay, so what did he tell you??” asks Virgil, looking almost starry-eyes with the sheer level of excitement. It’s been a while since Virgil was this excited about something.

Logan clears his throat and taps Janus’s shoulder, taking him away from something he was talking about with Patton, which was involving hushed voices of some sort. Janus extracts the notebook from one of the many, many button-up pockets in his cloak (Patton is good at economical design, whie Janus handles the drama), after scrambling around for a few seconds trying to locate first the book, then the page, handing it to him very quickly before jumping right back into his conversation with Patton. Logan is mildly perturbed by this action, but tries to ‘roll with it’, as Roman would say if he took the bus.

“His name is Thomas, or at least we’re relatively sure that he’s a he, and he died in nineteen-twenty-seven. He was a student here back when the plot of land that is now Haley-Dove lower and upper secondary was a boy’s military school. He began to exhaust himself around here, so we dropped the questions.” Virgil nods, perusing the notes, scribbly as they are that Logan’s made as if they were a short story written by an author he really respects, like Leigh Bardugo, possibly. It makes Logan oddly happy to think about it that way. Virgil’s eyes keep widening over the course of his reading, to levels that are almost comical. Janus and Patton’s conversation has gotten a bit louder, but not enough to hear, still. At the moment, he can’t really bring himself to care. In the end, the bus stops before Virgil can finish reading, so Logan gives him the navy-covered notebook to keep for now and return for dinner, with the instruction to add in his own commentary and ideas on a different page.

Patton and Janus leave the bus last out of everyone, looking rather perturbed and avoiding each other’s gaze, though they’re still clutching each other’s hands tightly. Logan will likely ask what happened on Monday. For now, Amma is at the bus stop, waving at them. She’s the only Indian woman on the stop, so, decently easy to see. Amma picks up Logan’s bag, even though he’s insisted for years that he’s “adjusted accordingly for years, and does not require any assistance!”. Amma usually just retaliates that he shouldn’t need to get used to something with a rather strange expression, but he’s digressing now.

(She started saying it after middle school, and everything that happened there.)

“Hi!” she exclaims, while taking Logan’s bag. Virgil just has his laptop bag and notebook, with his headphones around his neck. They both smile the same.

“Hey, Amma. How’re you doing?” Practiced. Synced. It works every time, as Amma’s grin gets even wider, causing Virgil to start stimming with his ring and Logan to start flapping his own hands.

“Sooo- how’s your day? I see Logan’s notebook with you, V!”

“It’s for a…” Virgil looks at Logan, quietly betraying the fact that he has no clue what to say. Logan indicates to the lizard along the cobblestone path, and his twin’s expression changes into dawning comprehension, as he quickly finishes his sentence.

“It’s for a report on Lizards, Amma, that I’m doing with Remus. You know, Roman’s brother?” she nods, and then smirks.

“Oh, you mean the boy you have a cruuuuuusssshhhh on?” she teases, and Virgil goes red immediately, batting her hand away from his hair, where she was ruffling it.

Wait- how did Virgil have a crush on Roman? They had been friends for all of two weeks, and did not display any crush-like symptoms such as reddening of face, gushing about the crush for hours or purposely trying to get into more situations with the crush, or even doing simple things like taking an obnoxiously long time on singular texts. To his relief, Virgil shakes his head.

“No, it’s not a crush. He’s a good friend, but no.” he says, a bit more seriously, but not dismissively. To Logan, because Logan can hear those things, he says “Not yet.” Logan does not bring it up yet, because it feels like Virgil might need some process time for that, and besides, they share a room. Logan can grill him later, when Virgil is willing to be teased lightly. Or well, he hopes he’s light enough.

…

Mom and Dad are fighting again.

It’s not like the walls are soundproof, no matter what they seem to think. The argument is pretty typical. Small issue begins with civil conversation, becomes slight aggression as two very different people are unable to see eye to eye, and then someone in the middle of a bout of particularly aggressive mood makes an attack on personality, and then it’s all ‘fuck off’’s and crying.

Yeah. it’s a thing. But Remus and Roman know what to do- it’s the fight law. Headphones on, loud playlist on, door shut and internet in full use to avoid the fact that their parents are incapable of shutting the fuck up. This is fine.

Actually no, that’s what Roman says, but Remus knows it isn’t. Roman’s just too scared of conflict by now to bring it up. And who’s fault might that be, huh? (okay, so maybe Remus is a bit resentful.)

Whatever. It’s not like they’ll stop if he and Roman tell them. They’ve tried before.

The problem is that they’re good people. And parents. They definitely try to be the best parents possible. But Remus (unlike Roman) has never had the illusion that his parents are gods, only to have that slowly broken down over time to see his parents as people. They’ve always been people to him- people who try their hardest, but also fall flat in other areas, areas that also happen to be important.

But he should probably make his way to the kitchen to make some fruit salad. Roman probably isn’t going to eat anything else tonight, with how he seems to be doing. Otherwise, those stomach acids are going to gargle and gurgle till they consume his stomach whole! (it doesn’t feel fun to imagine that, so he stops)

(he’s so angry that those idiots thought it was a fucking joke. It’s something he and Virgil agree on, for sure.)

And if Remus tears the granola packet wrapper a little too harshly? Well, it’s not like anyone’s going to hear it at this rate.

…

Patton and Janus aren’t talking to each other, which is probably the one thing he never expected from them.

But they aren’t, and it’s becoming more concerning by the hour. They’re still hanging out together, currently working on one of their sewing projects- embroidering a hoodie in protection sigils as a paid commission for the witch’s girl, and they seem okay in each other’s presence, but they aren’t talking to each other. Just making overly meaningful eye contact, and looking away as quickly as they met eyes.

Patton in particular seems to be pretty upset, as a marked difference from his usual demeanor. He’s pricking his fingers left and right, something that never usually happens, choosing to hand stitch rather than go ahead with the sewing machine that he got for christmas, which was being used by Janus for the moment. In fact, Emile was about to get him some bandaids when he overheard them speak to each other for the first time since they got back.

“Pat, you can’t keep it in forever. You can't. It’ll kill you.”

Patton isn’t replying.

“It almost killed me, Pat please, please just… say something.” Patton does say something after that, but Emile can’t hear it, and he doesn’t feel like it’s something he’s meant to hear anyway. Janus lightens up after that, and Patton starts talking again, monosyllabically and softly, but Janus seems so relieved, that that must be a good thing.

Emile goes, heart heavy, and decides to speak with Remy about the best ways to show that they’re there for Janus and Patton. They’ve only been living with him for a few months, but they feel like their kids, and Emile (and definitely Remy- he’s the ultimate parent-friend) wants the best for them, and for them to be happy. They didn’t deserve the lot they got.

Hopefully, he and Remy can prove that yes, some things are

#sanders sides #sanders sides fanfiction #ts logan #ts remus #character thomas #ts emile #ct emile #tw foster care #tw food #tw eating disorders #tw grief #tw sexism #tw implied bullying #vee's writing #series: room 73 #do NOT repost i will come and stab you #or just send tumblr after you

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sasorikigai · 4 years

Note

“ i want you to stay. i want you to … i want you. ” (( Hanzo from Marzena uwu ))

rp sentence starters using lines from leigh bardugo’s work , six of crows || @drecmcrcfters || accepting

▬▬ι═══════ﺤ 🔥 || He had spent seemingly eons of time, reveling in the feeling of his throat burning. For Scorpion was done running from refusing and denying to believe who he truly was and who he really wants to be. But can those ever be the same? Will he always want to be someone else, a significant portion of Hanzo Hasashi that he had lost? At least that’s what he owes to the Shirai Ryu, and towards his family. To constantly strive to be better is to never know peace, as he would take the incessant moral headache and never relinquish beneath the spiraling descent towards his inevitable corruption and damnation. Choosing his own discomfort comes from him as easily as breathing, and Hanzo Hasashi will always choose to suffer. He will always wonder what if he decides to give all up? Be happy? Perhaps happiness will sempiternally be something unknown that can never truly be known, as long as there still remained a distinguishable divide between the two worlds Hanzo still embodied. The separation between self-actualization and self-accountability.

How he knows he is, and how he wants to be perceived; the unmasking of the monster, only to find that it was him all along beneath the Janus-faced weakness and vulnerability, to the inherited trait of assumed evil emerging from the depths of Netherrealm’s desolateness. But if he is not evil by nature, what is he? Self-criminalization or self-defense? He wants to be saved and redeemed by the touch of his lost humanity’s flood, by ichor of magnanimous goodness rising higher. caressed by the flames of his impassioned hope, without the liquid blue of salt and bruise burning into a halo of crimson dark by the scorching flames that he had to endure. And in this precise moment, he wants to become a reflection of love in its purest form.

His pink and ivy veins stretch, as his destructive, all-consuming flames would no longer become the dreaded heat, melting the imperviousness of his hardness as his stone wall is easing at Marzena’s touch, breaking down stone by stone. Soon, he will be furthermore vulnerable, and sooner than that, he will come to life. His chest heaves, air floods his once-full lungs and burns with it the breath of live. The air stretches and cracks his lungs, making them flex each time he takes in air. How he longs to exquisitely and ravenously devour her, as he would take in the light and colors of this new world as two iridescent moons of his eyes flutter open. In them, dwell wanton desire as her gentle kisses send tingles down his spine. “You need not inquire me, for we can plan out our future and mesh our worlds together, for I want all of your love and attention. You have been the only one allowed between me and my afflicted sorrows, ever since my desperate message had been sent out as a last resort. Even when I feel like nothing good lasts for very long in my life, for it seems like the universe dangles good things in front of me only to rip them away in the most harsh manner, and loving you may bring whole another universe of risk, but obsessive thoughts of you leaving encircle my mind, and it constricts me the more I think about them.”

His gaze drops, as these thoughts haunt and torment him. Even when he tries to make them stop, they persist and Hanzo Hasashi is terrified. Deep down, he is terrified of letting himself enjoy what he has, because he is too scared of it being taken away from him in this unfortunate manner. “And I know now that such unnecessarily absurd thought of ever doubting our love doesn’t have to rupture my heart as an open vessel, without pouring in and exsanguinating out. I was made for love and all I want is to be saturated in the rushing heat of our reciprocated love.” ▬▬ι═══════ﺤ 🔥 ||

#✗ the ineffable testimony of spawned hellfire (scorpion)#✗ seeking reconciliation with his own humanity (iii)#drecmcrcfters

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abitoflit · 5 years

Text

Siege and Storm

“Soldier. Summoner. Saint. Alina Starkov’s power has grown, but not without a price. She is the Sun Summoner—hunted across the True Sea, haunted by the lives she took on the Shadow Fold. But she and Mal can’t outrun their enemies for long.

The Darkling is more determined than ever to claim Alina’s magic and use it to take the Ravkan throne. With nowhere else to turn, Alina enlists the help of an infamous privateer and sets out to lead the Grisha army.

But as the truth of Alina's destiny unfolds, she slips deeper into the Darkling’s deadly game of forbidden magic, and further away from her humanity. To save her country, Alina will have to choose between her power and the love she thought would always be her shelter. No victory can come without sacrifice—and only she can face the oncoming storm,” (Leigh Bardugo).

Siege & Storm definitely wasn’t as strong as Shadow & Bone—I felt like Bardugo undid all of her hard work, everything that made the first novel in her series strong. First, the novel remained fast-paced, but the plot did not unravel as rapidly as in Shadow & Bone. Second, Alina’s whiny nature continued to dominate the novel’s pages. She complained about the taste of food, her appearance, etc. With that being said, Alina’s character developed throughout the course of the novel, but not in a good way. She developed an unpleasant “damsel in distress” complex in which she complained constantly about the fact that she had insufficient support to attain her goals, stood no chance against the Darkling, and should have been allowed to die so she wouldn’t have to suffer the pain of living. She also became unpleasantly greedy. In the first quarter of the novel, Alina relates how she “felt the collar at [her] throat, the pressure of the fetter at [her] wrist. [While her] other arm felt naked. [She] was incomplete,” (Bardugo 105). She becomes obsessed with the idea of obtaining another amplifier and is willing to make great sacrifices in order to obtain what she wants. This stands in sharp contrast to her previous position, in which she worried about having a second amplifier. (Her opinion changes within the span of 40 pages). She also becomes convinced that she should lead the grisha, wants more power, and feels more and more intoxicated by the use of her powers—like she’s a teenaged, hormonal, mini-Darkling… who summons light. It really bothers me that Alina is the main character—why do we have such an unlikeable, whiny, self-absorbed bitch for a protagonist? She fails to set a good example for Bardugo’s readers, (she’s suicidal and depressed), and doesn’t seem to make much of an effort to overcome these feelings. It would have been better to see her make more of an effort instead of making a weak promise in the novel’s final line.

Furthermore, Mal and Alina’s relationship took a nose dive—it became positively unbearable. Mal becomes exceedingly jealous of anyone who is even remotely interested in Alina and hates having to share her. Alina, as I mentioned previously, has become selfish and self-absorbed—she expects Mal to follow her and go along with her agenda without giving his interests any consideration. She completely disregards his feelings and places unnecessary strain on their relationship because she’s convinced the world should revolve around her and her needs because she’s the “Chosen One.” Ultimately, the amount of drama surrounding these two was beyond ridiculous and getting through their chapters was a slog at times—I couldn’t wait for them to kiss and make up and go back to the awesomeness that was their relationship in the first novel.

The novel also became redundant—often repeating ideas and phrases over and over again. An example would be that “the age of Grisha power is coming to an end,” (Bardugo 296). Furthermore, there were more grammatical and spelling errors in this novel than the previous. Finally, I didn’t feel as though Bardugo spent enough time expanding upon the world she had created in Shadow & Bone and would have liked to see it developed further.

With that being said, there were a few things, which I liked about this novel. First, I enjoyed many of the new characters that Bardugo introduced in this novel, like the twins Tamar and Tolya—I appreciated how they provided a balance for one another. I also enjoyed Nikolai’s playful personality and his ability to become what he needed at will, like a chameleon. They honestly saved the novel from disaster. Second, I felt as though the novel contained a lot of interesting twists and turns, which kept me invested in its pages.

Rating: 3/5 stars

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kingjesperfahey · 5 years

Text

Title: The Zemeni-Shu Prank Olympics

Author: @kingjesperfahey

Rating: General Audiences

Fandom: Six of Crows Series - Leigh Bardugo

Pairing: Jesper Fahey & Kuwei Yul-Bo; Jesper Fahey/Kuwei Yul-Bo

Characters: Jesper Fahey; Kuwei Yul-Bo; Inej Ghafa; Kaz Brekker; Nina Zenik

Additional Tags: Canon Divergence; Comedy; Kuwei Centric; Just Guys Being Dudes

Word Count: 6.8k

Summary:

“You got me!” The bed springs squeak with the shift in weight as Jesper climbs back on. “You really got me!” He looks at Kuwei with a newfound light in his rich brown eyes. “I didn’t know you were into pranks - ok, Yul-Bo, you don’t even know what you just started.”

“Wait!” Kuwei says, trying to reign himself in. “I really didn’t do that on purpose! I just-”

“Uh huh. Just wait until the sun comes up, I’ve been holding these pranks back for years.” Jesper says, burrowing himself into the mattress.

As he turns off his lamp and settles into bed, Kuwei wonders just what exactly he got himself into.

Or, alternatively - Jesper and Kuwei have a prank war. Hilarity ensues.

Read Below:

The smell of jurda and summer rain mingles in the night air, warm and sweet. Kuwei sits next to the window, the summer breeze brushing against his warm skin. He furrows his brows and concentrates once more. From his hands a single flame appears, fluttering slightly with the breeze. Then, as he concentrates, he makes the flame grow and shift, until the flame extends into a vaguely log-like shape. Then, carefully, Kuwei takes a breath and smoothens the shape until it vaguely resembles-

“Careful not to burn the curtains.”

The flame goes out, and Kuwei jumps at the sound. When his eyes land on Inej casually perched on the windowsill, he takes a relieved breath. “Has anybody ever told you you’re really good at sneaking up on people?” he asks.

“Once or twice,” she says with a shrug. Her smile widens at the disbelieving look he throws her, and she nods towards his hands. “You’re getting better at that.”

Kuwei looks down. “Thanks,” he says. “Those tips from the zowa we met have really helped.” He looks back up at her. “Is it your turn to patrol?”

Inej nods, looking back out the window at the dark. Staring back at her is nothing but jurda crops and the twinkle of the nearest town some kilometers in the distance. “I just finished. It’s been silent the last couple of nights, but it doesn’t hurt to make sure.”

Kuwei hums understandingly. The past couple of nights they’ve decided to lay low in one of the various Van Eck properties. He knows that the show they put on at the auction was certainly convincing - for a terrifying moment, the charade had even managed to convince him. But still, while there’s still no cure for jurda parem, and while there’s still those who hunt grisha, and while Kaz Brekker still lives to get them all on the target list for the next big bad, and while there’s still a million other bad things that unforeseen forces choose to swing at them for their own entertainment - Kuwei knows that any kind of peace is temporary at best. And so he hums, and he prays that at least for one night the universe decides to give him a break.

“You sure that Wylan’s ok with us using one of his family’s properties?” Kuwei asks, leaning against the windowsill.

“Yeah,” Inej says. “He’s got too much work to do in Ketterdam, what with his mom and everything.”

Kuwei hums. “It’s good that he has some family left.”

Inej nods, a strange look in her eye that Kuwei just can’t place. He likes to think that he and Inej have gotten somewhat close over the past several weeks, both of them liking the comfort of shadows. But he knows there are some things that can’t be rushed, and finding out what haunts each other’s eyes is one of those things.

He clears his throat. “I can take the rest of your shift if you want.”

Inej shakes her head. “No it’s ok, Nina’s on it for the next couple hours. I was on my way back when I saw the light on,” she says.

Kuwei shrugs. “Yeah, I couldn’t sleep.”

Inej makes an amused face. “Huh, I wonder why.”

Kuwei follows her gaze towards the other end of the room. There, on the bed closest to the door lies a bundled up figure, swaddled in a thick blanket despite the summer heat. Peeking out from underneath the mass is a thin brown arm thrown against the mattress, and from the opening comes the loudest snore Kuwei has ever heard in his life. He had almost managed to drown out the sound when Inej arrived, but now that she drew attention back to it, he winces.

“I never would’ve thought that someone that skinny could make that kind of sound,” Kuwei mock whispers. Jesper’s snoring continues, just as loud as it had been last night, and the several nights prior.

“This is why he always got his own room over at the Crow Club,” Inej says, voice low. “Nobody could ever put up with more than a week.”

“I just might have to set up camp on the bathroom floor.”

Inej laughs, covering her mouth quickly so as not to wake Jesper.

“Don’t worry,” Kuwei says back in a normal tone of voice. “When he’s this loud he doesn’t get up for anything.”

As if on cue, Jesper lets out a snore loud enough to wake the dead.

“I’ll leave you to that,” Inej says, getting up from her perch.

“Wait,” Kuwei says, sitting up. “Before you go, I need your opinion on something.”

Inej folds back into her previous perch. The movement briefly reminds Kuwei of a dance troupe he’d seen on the streets of Nanjing. Her voice draws him away from the memory. “Sure, what?”

“Ok so I’ve been trying out something - watch.” Kuwei puts his hands in front of him and concentrates. A flame emerges, and then slowly he starts smoothing out the edges until it’s in the shape of a ball. Then slowly he expands his arms, stretching the flame bigger and into different shapes: a circle becomes an oval, then a diamond, then a hexagon, and then a six pointed star.

“That’s beautiful.”

Kuwei risks a glance. At the look on Inej’s face, his face can’t help but shift into a proud smile. “I’m trying to make a more controlled flame,” he explains, shifting the flame into a pyramid. “That way I can be more precise and form a kind of shield or barrier without tiring myself out, or shoot a direct stream without risking that I might burn anything I don’t want to hit, or-”

POP!

Kuwei loses his concentration, the flame destabilizes and then vanishes in a plume of smoke and a loud explosion of pressurized air and gas.

“GUGH!” Jesper yelps from the other end of the room. Kuwei and Inej turn, and they watch as the mass of blankets shoots up in the air and disappears off the edge of the bed. “Kuwei - Kuwei get down!” Jesper yells, voice still groggy with the last remnants of sleep. “I’ve just been shot!”

Kuwei and Inej burst into laughter. Kuwei slaps a hand over his mouth in a late attempt to stifle the sound, his muffled giggles mingling with Inej’s in the warm summer air. Jesper pokes his rumpled head out from the other side of the bed, bleary eyes landing immediately on them. Inej snorts at the look he shoots them and falls into a fit of laughter.

“Kuwei,” Jesper says, realization quickly dawning on him.

“I’m sorry!” Kuwei gasps, trying to get a hold of himself. “I didn’t mean to wake you up I just-” he catches sight of Jesper’s hands and can’t help the laugh that punches it’s way out of his chest.

In Jesper’s hand is one of his favored pearl-handled revolvers, which he had grabbed on the way down and is now in the process of putting back on his nightstand. As he stands and unwraps himself from the mess of blankets he’d accumulated, Jesper’s face splits into a huge grin and he releases a full-bellied laugh at the situation.

“You-you flew up three feet in the air,” Inej splutters, leaning onto Kuwei’s shoulder for support.

Kuwei snorts, his whole body shaking uncontrollably now.

“Wait!” Kuwei says, trying to reign himself in. “I really didn’t do that on purpose! I just-”

“Uh huh,” Jesper says with a grin. “Just wait until the sun comes up, I’ve been holding these pranks back for years.”

Inej straightens and wipes a tear from her eye. “I’m going to tell everyone about the false alarm,” she tells Kuwei. “Goodnight!” she says to them both.

“Goodnight Inej!” Jesper says, burrowing himself into the mattress.

Kuwei waves, and as he turns off his lamp and settles into bed, he wonders just what exactly he got himself into.

Kuwei’s brows knit in concentration as he presses the end of the pencil against his bottom lip. After a moment, he presses the pencil back onto the surface of his sketchpad, darkening the edges of his sketch. Sweat beads at his brow beneath the heat and he swipes at it, taking another look at his source material: the interior garden of the Van Eck estate.

He leans back in his chair, taking a moment just to take in the view. The foliage of the garden has grown untamed ever since the crows had moved in, though if anyone were to ask Kuwei his opinion, he’d say that it looks better like this. Just a little bit wild. Natural. Unrestricted. Kuwei isn’t a big fan of manicured uniformity as a general rule. But then again, it’s not like he’s had much time to think about interior decoration what with - well, everything.

Kuwei draws himself out of his thoughts. He’ll have time to think about imaginary drapes and equally imaginary futures later.

With that in mind, Kuwei takes a breath and picks up his sketchpad again. Strange, he thinks as he looks at the page. I could’ve sworn I drew that branch already.

Nevertheless, he draws the branch back on, careful to outline the particular shape of the leaves.

Kuwei glances up again and studies them for a moment as he takes a sip of his water. When he turns back to the page, the same branch has disappeared again - or rather, shifted. The branch he had just drawn on the background was now in the foreground of the image. Kuwei frowns down at the paper. “Huh?” he mutters to himself. He sketches the branch again, this time pressing harder on his pencil.

Confusion and suspicion start to swirl in his brain.

When he glances back up, Kuwei keeps track of the page out of the corner of his eye. Just as he thought - Kuwei swirls his head back to the page, fast enough to see the graphite on the paper moving to form the words “JESPER FAHEY IS THE MOST HANDSOME GU”

“Jesper!” Kuwei turns around to survey the room.

Sure enough, Jesper turns the corner from the hall and steps into the room. He manages to keep a straight face for all of two seconds before he starts laughing.

Kuwei tries to keep the grin off his face but ultimately fails as well.

“Wow Kuwei, I wouldn’t say I’m the most handsome guy ever,” Jesper says, pressing a hand on his chest and striking a pose. “But I can’t blame a guy for recognizing beauty when he sees it.”

Kuwei snorts and throws a pencil at him.

Jesper easily steps out of the way and shoots him a shit-eating grin.

“If this is your form of payback for yesterday, I already told you that it wasn’t on purpose right?” Kuwei says, leaning back in his chair.

Jesper places both his hands on the back of a nearby chair and leans on it. “Right, because making gunshot sounds while your gorgeous roommate is sleeping is just what ex-convicts-turned-chemists do for fun, right?”

“Hmm I wouldn’t go as far as to say gorgeous-” Kuwei teases.

“Oh?” Jesper nods his head towards Kuwei’s lap. “But that’s not what your journal says.”

Kuwei looks back down and sees the words “JESPER FAHEY IS THE MOST HANDSOME AND GORGEOUS ROOMMATE IN THE WORLD” followed by a tall stick figure winking at him.

Kuwei throws his head back and laughs.

The next day, Kuwei manages to get up just a little earlier than Jesper, rubbing his eyes and yawning so hard his jaw hurts as he stumbles into their shared bathroom. Getting up before Jesper is a completely unplanned act, because Kuwei is a night owl and he refuses to be up before 10 if he can avoid it. Being Jesper’s roommate for the last couple of days has taught him that unfortunately Jesper’s one of those people who just naturally get up at godless hours of the morning even when he had only a handful of hours of sleep the night before. In fact -

The muffled sounds of Jesper’s movements confirms Kuwei’s earlier assessment. As Kuwei blinks away the last dredges of sleep, a thought slowly begins to take form in his head.

Kuwei stumbles out of the bathroom some minutes later, making a show of yawning to appear like he’s still half asleep. In reality, the nerves under his skin are humming with anticipation.

Jesper shuffles past him into the bathroom none the wiser, shutting the door with a decisive click.

Only two moments pass before Jesper comes out of the bathroom, a disgusted look on his face. “Why is the toilet seat so warm?” he demands.

That was exactly the reaction Kuwei was expecting. He chuckles and plops back down on his bed. “I dunno.”

Jesper’s face goes through the five stages of grief. “Did you just-” his voice breaks. “Just how long were you sitting on that toilet seat, Kuwei?”

“Who said I was sitting?” he snaps his fingers and makes a small flame appear at his fingertips. Kuwei grins. “I don’t just set stuff on fire, you know.”

The tension leaves Jesper’s shoulders in one fell swoop. He turns back towards the bathroom. “‘I already told you that it wasn’t on purpose, right?’” Jesper mocks in a high pitched voice.

“How long were you sitting on that toilet seat, Kuwei?” he mocks right back.

His only answer is the click of the bathroom door closing shut.

“Can someone pass the sugar?” Inej asks. Both Nina and Jesper reach for the bowl in the middle of the table, only to find that Kaz had already grabbed it and was pouring some into Inej’s tea cup.

Kuwei smiles to himself at the sight. The four of them are seated around the dining table in the center of the room, all in varying states of animation. Gathered now, as a group, they don’t look like a group of criminals on the run. As a group, they all almost look ordinary.

Nina spots him lingering by the kitchen doorway and waves him over. “Hey,” she says with a grin. “Look who finally showed up.”

“Sorry, got distracted,” Kuwei says mildly.

Kaz clears his throat. Just like that, he straightens, and it’s like that flash of humanity from earlier vanishes into thin air like it never existed.

Kuwei definitely doesn’t imagine the way Inej rolls her eyes two seconds after the sudden shift in Kaz’ demeanor.

“What’s the best way to approach a mark?” Kaz begins in dramatic fashion. Chair legs scrape quietly against the floor as Kuwei settles in.

“Put a-”

CRASH!

The chair crumbles beneath Kuwei’s weight, sending him crashing straight to the floor and landing hard on his behind. Jesper’s laugh tumbles right after him, though he tries valiantly to try and hide it behind a sip of water.

Nina shoots Jesper a bewildered look. “Jes.”

“He started it!”

Kuwei laughs, cutting off Nina’s response. He quickly stands back up, making a show of dusting off his clothes after the fall. He glances back down at the slabs of wood on the floor, some of the pieces which have scattered while others remained in a heap. “The screws?” Kuwei puzzles together, looking back at Jesper for confirmation.

Right on cue, Jesper smugly pulls out a handful of the chair’s iron screws from his pocket.

Kuwei nods to himself, and a newfound resolution settles into his stomach. If he wants a prank war, he’ll get a prank war.

From the other end of the table, Nina towards Inej for an explanation.

“Kuwei accidentally pranked Jesper, so now they’re pranking each other,” she surmises quickly.

“Was that what that bang was a couple nights ago?”

Inej grins at the memory. “Yep.”

Nina hums and looks back at the two bickering at the other end of the table. “I feel bad for Kuwei. You remember the last time he started a prank war with someone?”

Inej remembers the event clearly. The guy had admitted defeat after only two days. “I dunno,” she muses. “I love Jesper, but I think Kuwei’s gonna win this one.” She doesn’t need to look at Nina to picture the surprise on her face.

“You know something about what Kuwei’s got planned?”

“More like a feeling.”

“. . . Wanna put some money on it?” Kaz asks.

Both Inej and Nina turn to him, twin looks of bewilderment on their faces.

Back at the other end of the table, Kuwei nods at the former chair on the floor. “Do you know how to put this back together?”

Jesper peers over the table to look and grimaces.

“You took out the screws without remembering how to put it back together?” Kuwei confirms.

“In my defense, it was a split-second decision to take the screws out. My mind - it just amazes me sometimes.”

Kuwei scoffs. “Ok, I’ll look for another chair.”

“Here, let me make it up to you.” Jesper leans back in his chair and pats his lap exaggeratedly. “I insist.”

Kuwei decides to do just that. Shock colors Jesper’s features as Kuwei sits down on his lap, a smug grin on his face. “You insisted.”

Kaz clears his throat, drawing their attention back. “As I was saying-”

The Zemeni-Shu Prank Olympics officially begins.

Kuwei checks his watch for the fifth time in as many minutes. It’s already noon; they should’ve been back already. He sighs and sits back on his heels, tapping a restless tune with ink and oil stained fingers.

He’s spent most of the morning in his makeshift lab, pouring himself into both jurda stems and his next prank in equal measure. The jurda flowers outside the estate have proven infinitely useful in his attempts to find a cure, though until he gets his hands on a safe testing method there’s not much he can do now other than theorize. It was as he was theorizing that his next prank idea hit him - now he just wishes that Jesper would hurry up and come back from the nearby town.

Just as he straightens, Kuwei hears a voice again: Jesper’s. The tension that had curled in his gut looses. He gets into position behind the corner of the hallway, waiting as the voice is followed by footsteps, and then -

Kuwei shoots a small spark up at the ceiling. The hallway sprinklers spring into life, sending heavy rain down towards their heads. Kuwei turns the corner just in time to see Jesper squawk and try to dive for cover. He grins from ear to ear, careful not to get in the water’s spray. Stopping the hallway sprinkler’s alarm from setting off the rest of the sprinklers in the estate was a little easier than he had expected, which would’ve been a little concerning had it not been particularly useful.

It’s only a split second after he laughs that he realizes his error - Jesper was not alone.

Inej stands on the other end of the hallway, the top of her head and shoulders partially soaked.

Oh no.

“I’m sorry!” Kuwei says, stepping closer to the edge of the sprinkler’s range. “I thought he was alone!”

“It’s fine!” Inej replies. “I’m just gonna-” and with that, she leaves, not even a trail of water drops shadowing her.

Jesper throws his head back and laughs. “She’s gonna get you back for that later!”

Kuwei groans and makes a mental note to be more courteous to her in the next couple of days. He turns back to Jesper. “Having fun?”

“You know it’s actually quite refreshing.”

Kuwei looks closely. In just a matter of seconds, Jesper’s managed to look like he just emerged from beneath a pool of water. His clothes have completely soaked through, the cloth darkening with the water and plastering to his skin, with small rivers flowing from the top of his head all the way down his face and running down to the tips of his fingers to the floor.

“Uh huh,” Kuwei hums dubiously.

Making his point, Jesper opens his arms and starts twirling under the sprinklers. Kuwei laughs but doesn’t join him. As he turns to leave he says, “Oh by the way, Kaz said he needed to see you as soon as you got back. Based on that, I think you might be running late.”

Jesper swears behind him. The sound is followed by the schlup schlup schlup of Jesper’s shoes as he waddles towards Kaz’ room.

Kuwei awakens feeling warm. It’s the kind of warmth that follows a midday nap, with his limbs a little stiff from their awkward position and the afternoon sun dragging him back to wakefulness.

As Kuwei wakes, he takes a moment to collect himself, to assess the stiffness of his neck from being slumped over his work desk and the familiar feeling of a page being stuck to his face. He breathes in deep, and the familiar smells of ink and paper and sterilizing fluid fills his nostrils. For a moment, the smell reminds him of home. He takes a minute to revel in it, to pretend that he’s back home as a little kid and he just fell asleep in his dad’s study again while he did his homework. Slowly, with that memory in mind, he blinks awake.

And screams bloody murder.

Kuwei scrambles off the chair and into a standing position. His heart pounds in his chest and he pushes his arms forwards to get away from -

A very realistic-looking bronze bust of Jesper’s head.

Slow claps draw his attention away from the bust, and he doesn’t even have to look to imagine the look on Jesper’s face. Kuwei looks anyways, and he realizes with a dulled sense of satisfaction that his estimation was pretty spot-on: all the way down to the the wide grin and the particular way his eyes light up with mirth.

“So this is what you’re up to in this lab of yours,” Jesper says, gesturing at the head. He saunters into the room and sits down on the corner of Kuwei’s desk, just a handspan away from the bust. He grins at him. “Well I’ve got to say, you’ve got the likeness down pat.”

Kuwei rubs the last traces of sleep from his eyes. A paper falls away from where it had been stuck to his face, and he glances down to see if it had been something important - nope, just a sketch. “I dunno,” he says, glancing between the two in faux-seriousness. “I wasn’t able to recognize that as you without water dripping down the face.”

Jesper groans. “You ruined my favorite waistcoat.”

Kuwei’s jaw aches with the strength of his yawn, cutting his reply short. He steps around the stack of books he’d miraculously managed not to knock over and plops back down on his chair next to the bust. Now that he looks at it more closely, the bust’s detailing becomes even more prominent. The structure really does capture Jesper’s likeness, from the texture in the hair all the way to the particular curve in his mouth. How the hell did he make this that fast?

“I’ve been practicing.” Jesper replies proudly.

Oh. Well he certainly hadn’t meant to mutter that out loud. Oh well. Kuwei picks up the bust. It’s surprisingly light given the material. He clears his throat. “I’m Jesper, I wear lime green suits and snore like the dead,” he mocks.

“Give me that!” Jesper counters. He pulls the bust away and holds it between his hands for a moment, brows pinching in concentration. When he turns the bust back at Kuwei, he sees his own crafted face staring back at him. “I’m Kuwei, I stay inside a lab practicing science all day, and I think that ranch should go on pizza-”

“-Ranch does go on pizza.”

Jesper puts the bust on his lap. “No it doesn’t you heathen!”

Kuwei laughs and he taps at Jesper’s thigh. “Hey, can you do Kaz next?”

Jesper shoots him a manic smile. “Give me a minute.”

The next day, Kuwei walks into the interior garden to find Jesper already there, a book in his hand. He looks up as Kuwei enters. Their eyes meet, and the air seems to thicken with the tense silence that follows.

Slowly, Kuwei takes note of the room, scanning for anything out of place. Jesper’s proven himself to be creative, so he knows that the next attack could come from anywhere. They stand frozen like this for several moments, Jesper’s gaze tracking his movements.

The silence is broken when Jesper sits up, making Kuwei take in a sharp breath. His heart thunders in his chest and his powers hum beneath his skin, ready.

Jesper notes this and shoots him a pointed look, setting his book down. “I don’t have anything planned for right now. Temporary truce?”

Kuwei nods stiffly. “Truce.”

Instantly, Jesper’s shoulders relax, and he picks up his book again.

The coil in his stomach loosens. Kuwei steps further into the room and sits, taking a relieved breath. He clears his throat. “So, what’re you reading?” Kuwei asks, opening his notebook.

“Just some research,” Jesper says, his voice straining in it’s forced casualty.

He hums. “I’ve heard it’s good to talk to someone while you’re researching. You know, to get the ideas flowing.” he feels Jesper’s gaze rather than sees it. Kuwei turns his head to meet Jesper’s narrowed eyes and quirked mouth.

“Nice try,” Jesper says. “But my lips are sealed.”

“Your reputation is full of lies I see.” Kuwei says.

At this, Jesper raises a brow. “You’ve been looking into me?”

He shrugs. “I’m just good at paying attention.”

“What else does my reputation mention?” The book is set down on the table between them, forgotten for the second time. Jesper wiggles his brows. “My wit? My dashing looks?”

“Your humility.”

A full-belly laugh erupts from Jesper’s mouth, the sound loud and infectious.

This is nice, Kuwei thinks, looking at the other boy beside him. It’s nice, to forget for a little while. To exchange barbs with a friend - that’s what they are now, Kuwei realizes. Friends. It’s been a while since he’s felt that kind of feeling. At least in the last few years. He grabs onto that feeling with both hands, and decides to ride it out and see where it goes.

The soda slides refreshingly down Kuwei’s throat. The day has been particularly hot, and despite his best attempts he hasn’t really been able to fix the air cooling system ever since it broke in the middle of the night. He pours himself another glass, dropping some ice cubes in.

Jesper enters the kitchen then, making a beeline towards the fridge.

“Hey, do you want some?” Kuwei asks, gesturing towards the bottle of soda.

The look on Jesper’s face is like Kuwei had offered him the kiss of eternal life. He serves Jesper some in a separate glass, dropping some more ice cubes in and handing it over to him.

Jesper’s hand reaches over to grab it before he stills. Suspicion glosses over his face. “You drink it first.”

Kuwei’s brows shoot up. “Are you serious?”

“You could’ve put something in it.” Jesper says.

“Isn’t poison Nina’s thing?”

Jesper’s silence and nod at the cup is all the answer Kuwei needs.

Kuwei sighs and takes a pointed sip from the glass and swallows. “Mmm, tastes just like soda.” he offers the glass to Jesper again with an unamused look. “Trust it now?”

“Yes,” Jesper says with a satisfied smile. He takes the glass from Kuwei’s hand.

As the glass leaves his hand, Kuwei heats the tips of his fingertips to warm up the drink. Just as planned, the ice cubes melt less than a moment later, releasing the mint solution he’d frozen in the cubes. Jesper eyes widen into saucers and he realizes his mistake a moment too late when the first spurt of soda comes flying at his face.

Kuwei jumps out of the way as the soda sprays everywhere, bubbling much higher and faster than he’d anticipated.

He cackles at the look on Jesper’s face. But Jesper is a fast thinker, and before Kuwei can dodge out of the way Jesper’s pointing the bottle towards him, spraying his shirt and pants with the bubbly concoction.

“No!” Kuwei jumps away from the spray, running towards the entrance of the kitchen. Jesper chases after him, the glass discarded in exchange for the soda container Kuwei had left on the counter. Kuwei is breathless from laughter which is why he’s not even able to cry a warning when Nina turns the corner and Jesper accidentally swings soda into her face.

Nina stalks up to Inej in the library. She doesn’t even give Inej time to greet her before she says, “How long is this prank war gonna go on?”

Inej smiles as she spots the soda stains on Nina’s clothes. “They got you too huh?”

She nods and plops down dejectedly into the nearest chair. “I just can’t take it anymore, Inej!” Nina cries dramatically.

Inej takes a deep breath. “Yeah.” The knives in her hands twirl absentmindedly. “Yesterday I got hosed down with sprinklers.”

“Seriously?”

“Yep.”

Nina tries to keep a straight face, but fails. Her giggle is contagious, and soon Inej can’t help but laugh too. Nina coughs to try and gather herself together. “Ok but seriously, those two need to be stopped.”

“Absolutely not.”

Nina jumps at the sound of Kaz’ voice. “Just who is supposed to be the Wraith again?” she groans.

Kaz ignores her. “Money was placed on that bet. We can’t stop unless you want to give up your payment.”

Nina might not be Kerch by birth, but the suggestion that she just part with that kind of money is just as bad as if he had asked her to dive naked into the canal during the dead of winter. It just was not done. “Can’t you just make them stop?”

Kaz raps his cane twice. “There’s money to be made, Zenik.”

Inej raises a brow. Her saints have a way of warning her when things are going to happen, and if they’re right this time - which she has a feeling they are - then she’s sure that Kaz’ enthusiasm will end soon.

Kuwei groans as he leans against the sink, his back aching from washing for so long. Jesper stands beside him, practically lounging on the counter as he dries the dishes with a spare towel. The hot pink gloves had been something he’d fought for, and looking at him now, Kuwei begrudgingly admits that the color really does suit him like Jesper had said.

The kitchen is clean now after the whole soda debacle, even though the task had taken him and Jesper the better half of the afternoon. His whole body feels sore and sticky. Looking down at the soap bubbles, Kuwei fantasizes of how nice the shower is going to feel after the dishes are done.

“You know some people would call this karma,” Jesper says beside him, hand outstretched for the next dish to dry.

Kuwei groans. “In my defense, I didn’t know just how much the soda would bubble up.”

Jesper hums disbelievingly. “Right, because you’ve never done the soda geyser prank before.”

“I actually haven’t,” he admits.

He can almost hear the emotional journey occurring on Jesper’s face. Disbelief, followed by shock, followed by - “How could you never do the soda geyser prank before?”

Kuwei shrugs and scrubs faster. Self-consciousness threatens to creep in, but he decides to beat it down with a stick. “I didn’t really get the chance when I was little. Then my dad and I hit the road, and then, well-” he makes a vague gesture in the air. “The opportunity just didn’t come up until now.”

“So does that make me your first?” Jesper teases with a cheshire grin.

Kuwei flicks some soap bubbles at him. “Definitely not my best,” he says.

Jesper slaps a pink rubber glove over his chest. “You wound me.”

Kuwei laughs and looks back down at his hands. It wouldn’t be wise to look too closely at that grin, for a plethora of reasons he just doesn’t seem to remember now. Two moments pass before he feels Jesper step closer, the space between them reduced to less than a handspan. Kuwei ignores him, scrubbing dutifully at the plate in his hand. Heat spreads over his body at their proximity, though he keeps his face carefully composed.

In the next moment Jesper leans against the sink counter, his arm blocking Kuwei from looking at the dishes. He looks up to find Jesper looking at him with a smile that could light up the galaxy. “Don’t get all shy now,” Jesper teases. “You’re a lot more fun to be around when you’re actually talking.”

Kuwei snorts, though internally he is more than a little flattered. “Come on,” he says, shoving lightly at Jesper’s shoulder. “You can flirt later. I’m tired and really want to take a shower.” He reaches over to the water handle as a case in point.

Jesper side-steps away. “Whatever you say,” he says with a familiar twinkle in his eye.

The water turns on, and the fabrikated faucet splashes water directly at Kuwei’s face. He quickly moves to turn it off and tosses soap bubbles at where Jesper had just been.

Jesper tosses his gloves on the counter and saunters away. “You said you wanted a shower!”

The next day is spent in blissful ceasefire. There are no pranks, no jump scares, no interrupting him while he works in his lab or on his sketches. In fact, the only time Kuwei’s seen Jesper that day was in the library when Jesper asked him about the Shu dove-tree market. Botany and local economics are subjects that Kuwei really does enjoy, and the ability to talk about them with someone informed enough about the topic to have some meaningful insight is actually a really nice breath of fresh air. Later on, he and Inej talked on the rooftop and he got some work done on his inferni attempts. Overall, it was a pleasant day.

And Kuwei hated every moment of it.

The constant threat of a new prank looming behind every seemingly innocuous corner wore down on his nerves like a string coming undone. He’s been on guard the entire day, just waiting for the second shoe to drop only for the tension to keep building until he’s all but ready to snap. Peace is agony.

Though slowly, the anxiety manages to cool down just an hour before his usual bedtime.

Kuwei stumbles into his and Jesper’s shared bedroom. Jesper looks up and nods at him. “Hey,” he says, turning his nose back to his book. It’s the botany one Kuwei had been looking for earlier in his lab. He pays it no mind.

“Hey,” Kuwei answers after a moment too long. He makes a beeline towards the bathroom, too tired from being on edge all day to even properly worry any more. Kuwei is so tired that he’s already half-asleep by the time he exits the shower. Standing in front of the mirror, Kuwei absentmindedly pokes at the bags under his eyes and sticks his toothbrush into his mouth.

His mirror image twists his face in disgust and he spits out the toothbrush from his mouth. With his newfound alertness, Kuwei groans and looks at the offending toothpaste he’d used.

Kuwei storms out of the bathroom. “Jesper!”

To his benefit, Jesper makes a valiant attempt at appearing completely innocent. But one long look at Kuwei’s face sends him into a fit of laughter and he tosses the book aside.

“What even was that?”

“Mayonnaise,” Jesper chokes out mid-laugh.

Kuwei scrubs furiously at his tongue, which only serves to send Jesper even more into hysterics.

Neither of them even notice Kaz step into the room, toothbrush in hand. He takes one look at them before deciding to head directly into their bathroom. “I ran out, so,” he mutters as he grabs the toothpaste off he counter.

Kaz emerges from the bathroom with the toothbrush in his mouth and he just freezes.

Kuwei slaps a hand over his mouth. He and Jesper sit motionless as they see Kaz’ face shifts from entitlement, to confusion, to realization, to nausea, and then completely disappears as he runs back into the bathroom.

Kuwei and Jesper look at each other and then both of them howl with laughter.

The next morning, they are all gathered for an early-breakfast-slash-emergency-meeting in the dining room. Kuwei and Jesper didn’t even need to ask Inej what it was about when she told them to come, the memory of the night before was loud and clear.

They all sit in the dining room, Kuwei in the chair that he and Jesper had finally managed to figure out how to fix a couple of hours after the initial incident. He had been the first to arrive, quickly joined by Inej, Jesper, and then Nina. They all sit around the table, waiting for their esteemed leader, Kaz’, grand entrance.

Right on schedule, Kaz enters the dining room, the tap of his crow-headed cane announcing his arrival. He sits down at the head of the table, steeples his fingers together, and takes a breath. “The prank war will stop.”

From across the table, Inej and Nina glance at each other with an amused expression.

Kuwei leans back in his chair and crosses his arms. “Ok but he started it!” he says. “And, in case you haven’t noticed-”

“-Oh, I’ve noticed.” Jesper says, meeting Kuwei’s gaze with a wink.

Kuwei rolls his eyes. “Laying it on a little thick, don’t you think?”

“I’m not the one that sat on my lap.”

“Ok but you offered.”

“And you both put mayonnaise in my toothpaste,” Kaz cuts in.

“You probably shouldn’t have been using somebody else’s toothpaste in the first place,” Inej mutters under her breath.

Kaz glares at her.

Kuwei and Nina cackle while Jesper shoots Inej finger guns in a show of support. Kaz shifts his attention back to them after a moment, and the nausea curving his mouth reminds Kuwei of the memory of the night before. The look of complete disgust on Kaz’ face as he ran into the bathroom is probably - no, definitely - the most human he’s ever seen their resident edge lord. And he can’t help the snort that escapes him then, though he tries to cover it up as a cough at the look that Kaz gives him.

“Ok, but the mayonnaise thing aside,” Nina says, extending her arms placatingly, “Inej got sprayed with water, I got soda in my hair, and there’s this weird smell coming from the garden-”

Jesper’s brows shoot up and he looks at Kuwei.

“That wasn’t me!” Kuwei sniffs indignantly.

Nina sighs. “Can we please just call a truce?”

Kuwei looks at Jesper to find the Zemeni boy already looking at him. He raises a single brow in question, to which Jesper shrugs and flashes a brilliant grin. “No winner?” Jesper offers.

Part of him wants to deny the offer, but Kuwei realizes that the reasonable thing to do would be to put a pause. He shoves the flammable pistol replica deeper into his pocket. “No winner,” he echoes.

Kaz releases a breath and taps his crow-headed cane. “Good.” With that, he stands and leaves in a swish of black cloth.

Kuwei remains seated in his chair, briefly wondering whether to expect an equally melodramatic entrance in a few minutes. “ . . . So is the meeting over?” he asks.

“Yeah,” Jesper says, bouncing up. “The dramatic exit is our cue to leave.”

Both Inej and Nina leave to their respective rooms, leaving Jesper and Kuwei to talk as they head to their respective points in the rest of the estate.

“Hold on, I forgot something in the room,” Kuwei says as they pass by the hall. He enters the room and completely freezes in his tracks.

His whole half of the room - his bed, his curtains, his nightstand, his lamp, his pillow, his books, his floor, his wall, his ceiling, even a discarded sock he’d accidentally left on the floor - all of it is completely wrapped in aluminum foil.

Kuwei whirls around. “I thought we had a truce, Jesper!”

“Ok but to be fair I did this before the truce happened so it doesn’t count!”

THE END.

#jesper fahey #kuwei yul bo #inej ghafa #kaz brekker #nina zenik #six of crows #crooked kingdom

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