#my interpretation of the kiss with not wylan

[ruins-and-rewritez]

Kuwei: Dear diary, it's been weeks since the bird cult saved me from the Druskelle and I have finally managed to seduce the tall one with my complete silence. Fake me was NOT happy. More tomorrow

XOXO

[sleepyzenpanda]

Posting some of my favorite lighthearted wesper moments from Crooked Kingdom Chapter 14 Wylan’s chapter

Jesper trying to lighten the mood by flirting and making Wylan blush! He still hasn’t gotten over the tailoring thing. We know, Jesper, you miss Wylan’s reddish gold curls

“Terrible taste in women,” asdfghjk

If I were Wylan I might consider shoving Jesper off the wagon for that joke too

I think the “I’m going to tell Matthias you tried to kiss Nina. With tongue,” / “He’ll never believe you,” lines can be interpreted one of two ways

Matthias views Wylan as young and shy. He sees Wylan blush at Jesper’s teasing so he doesn’t think he’d have the courage to kiss Nina, as she’s just as much as a flirt as Jesper, if not more so

He seen Wylan blush at Jesper’s teasing and sees it for what it is, that Wylan blushes when Jesper flirts with him because he has a crush on Jesper. So he wouldn’t believe that Wylan would kiss Nina

While Fjerda is stated to be more conservative than the other countries, it’s canon that homophobia doesn’t exist in the grishaverse, which would imply same-sex relationships are seen as completely normal in universe, so I think 2 is more likely

Matthias may not be accustomed to such blatant flirting, but he 100% picked up on the fact that Wylan blushes like mad when Jesper flirts with him. Honestly, I think I remember a line where Matthias said he understood how flustered Wylan got around Jesper because he felt the same way around Nina. So yes, Matthias knows Wylan is gay (or at least that he like men) and that he has feelings for Jesper

If Jesper told Matthias Wylan had kissed Nina with tongue Matthias would probably laugh heartily and slap him on the back telling him he made a good joke

And that’s exactly what Jesper intended it to be! He was making a joke to lighten the mood because Wylan was self-deprecating again. Jesper was trying to get Wylan to smile because of everything that happened in this chapter, and it worked!

Part 2 | Part 3

[thebadgerclan]

Touch Me

Pairing: Jesper Fahey x reader

Summary: Your fiance comes home after a long week...

Smut!

Steam filled the bathroom, clinging to the mirror and making the air hazy.  Jesper had been pulling long hours at the Exchange: working under Wylan to earn back the money he’d gambled away as well as serving as his interpreter.  The new merch had to force Jesper to leave the office, seeing how exhausted he was, and send him home to you.  With the money the Crows had pulled on after Van Eck’s downfall, your fiance had purchased a mansion on the Zelverstraat, fully staffed to boot.

When Jesper arrived home, you’d been waiting in the foyer for him, and when he saw you, he’d nearly melted.  “You have no idea how happy I am to see your pretty face,” your fiance had said, falling into your arms.  You’d then taken him upstairs where you had a steaming bath waiting for him.  Jesper had undressed and submerged himself, but paused when he saw you still fully clothed.

“Aren’t you getting in?”  You shook your head as you rolled up your sleeves, kneeling on the floor by the tub’s side.  “No.  Tonight’s all about you, baby.  Just relax.”  You lathered a washcloth and began to bathe your fiance, pressing your lips to his temples, cheeks, nose, lips, and forehead as you did.  “You work too hard, Jes,” you said.  “You need to make more time for yourself.”  “Mmm, and for you too.”  You smirked, wringing out the washcloth and hanging it on the lip of the tub.  “Yeah, me too.  Can you get your hair wet for me, baby?”

Your fiance slid beneath the water, emerging an instant later, blinking water from his eyes.  You moved around the side of the tub, wetting your hands and squeezing Jesper’s shampoo into your hands.  When your palms met his scalp, your nails scratching gently, your fiance moaned softly, his head lolling back against the lip of the tub.  As you lathered your fiance’s hair, soft whimpers began leaving his mouth, and beneath the water, Jesper felt himself harden.

It was supposed to be relaxing, but your touch only served to turn him on, and soon, Jesper was whimpering with every exhale, shifting his hips beneath the water.  “Baby,” he sighed.  “Y/N, fuck, please.”  You smirked, pressing a kiss just below his ear, the place you knew never failed to make him hard.  “Please what, my love?  What do you need?”  Jesper let out a moan when you ran your nails over his scalp, tugging on his hair just so.  “Touch me, please.”

“But I am touching you, Jes,” you refuted, drawing a frustrated whine from your fiance.  “Y/N, babygirl, please.  Please touch me.  Anywhere, please touch me, I’m so fucking hard for you.”  For a few moments longer, you continued to massage his head, letting Jesper beg and plead for your touch.  Jesper so seldom begged, and it was a beautiful sound indeed.  “Y/N, fuck, please.  Please, please, please, babygirl, please touch me.”

It was only after you’d rinsed his hair and teased him a bit more that you caved, slowly trailing your hand down Jesper’s chest and abdomen, pausing to tweak his nipples, to find his cock hard and straining for your touch.  Your fiance whimpered, which turned into a long moan when you wrapped your hand around his cock and started stroking.  Slowly, gently, you worked his cock, drawing the sweetest whines and whimpers from his mouth.

“Y/N, yes, baby,” Jesper blubbered.  “Please don’t stop, keep touching me, yes.”  You pressed your lips to Jesper’s temple, and he let his head fall back onto your shoulder.  Seizing the opportunity, you began kissing and nipping at his neck.  At the same time, you began twisting your wrist, rubbing your thumb over the head of Jesper’s cock on every upstroke, which had him moaning loudly.

“Does that feel good, honey?” you asked, sucking a hickey on your fiance’s throat, in such a place where he’d be unable to hide it.  “S-so good, Y/N, please.  Please keep touching me.”  You hummed, moving your hand a bit faster, flicking your tongue out, licking the hickey you’d just left.  “Such a beautiful boy, Jesper,” you sighed, wrapping your other arm around your fiance’s chest, ignoring the water that soaked your shirt.  “My beautiful, strong, smart boy.  Fuck, do you know how wet you make me?  How much I always want to push you onto the bed and ride you?  Oh Jesper, my perfect boy, you’re so big in my hand.”

Your fiance shuddered, moaning your name along with several obscenities.  “I love you, my handsome, perfect boy.  So beautiful, Jesper, such a pretty face, such a pretty cock.  And you’re all mine, Jesper.  My sexy, beautiful man.”  Jesper shuddered again, and with a whimper of your name, he turned his face into your chest and came.  You stroked him through his orgasm, relishing in the soft moans and whines that left your fiance’s mouth.

“Y/N,” Jesper managed.  “No more, please.”  You withdrew your hand, drying it on the towel you had set nearby.  On shaky legs, your fiance rose from the tub and nearly toppled into your arms and the towel you held out for him.  You kissed him hard, sighing against his lips.  “Y/N,” he whispered, and you nodded, smiling against his lips.  “I know, baby.  C’mon, let’s get you dry and dressed.”

Jesper let you towel him dry and get him into a clean pair of pajamas before leading him to the bedroom, where he snuggled into your chest, wrapping his arms around your middle like a vice.  A few moments later, you managed to convince your fiance to release you long enough for you to change into your own pajamas.  It was then that Jesper saw the arousal glistening on your thighs, and he frowned.

“Y/N, baby, let me take care of you,” Jesper said.  “Let me touch you.”  But he was barely keeping his eyes open, nodding off even as he spoke, and you smiled softly.  “No, sweetheart.  You need to sleep.”  “But–”  “Shhh.  You’re not going into work until Monday.”  “But Wylan–”  “Wylan already okayed it.  Baby, you’re gonna burn yourself out at this rate.  So you’re staying in this house all weekend and letting me have my wicked way with you.

Jesper flushed, but nodded, snuggling into your embrace once more.  “Well, when you put it like that, how can I refuse my pretty girl?”  You laughed, pressing a kiss to your fiance’s lips.  “You can’t,” you said, tugging the sheets over his body.  “Sleep now, my love.  I promise you can ravish me in the morning.”

[crowpricorn]

What do you think of demisexual jesper?:)

I think that, even if he didn't label himself as demisexual, he wouldn't have the relationship with sex and dating that the series and part of the fandom peg him to have. This is just my personal opinion and interpretation, but I believe Jesper to be the goofy boy who flirts all the time but is inherently a romantic at heart. he cares about his first kiss but mostly about his first time: I think he would fuck up (because when doesn't he?) and perhaps drunk-kiss people, and then being the massive people pleaser that he is he would just go with the flow of the rumors about him.

I personally don't give much weight to labels, I just wholeheartedly think that Jesper is not a slut, that he is loyal, a romantic, that he doesn't want to have sex with whoever he meets and that, on the contrary, he just wants to have sex with the person he loves. the vision of jesper that I see around feeds into harmful-ish bisexual stereotypes in my opinion, and it shocks me because I didn't read him like that: I read him like those 17 years old boys I knew from high school that would joke about sex all the time, say they went on countless dates and that they had the biggest dicks, and they were just... virgin boys who joke-flirted and joke talked about sex. that's closer to jesper in my vision than accomplished town slut who, at 17, fucked the whole of ketterdam into submission (and yes, matthias was obviously not serious there, he was just stressing how flirty Nina and jesper are, not claiming their body count // since we also know that Nina, although working in a pleasure house, surely doesn't sell her body).

so yeah I do love demisexual jesper, I think jesper would fit into the demisexual community rather than the whore community (again, I know it's a different world and age but! he is 17!). from how I read it: yes, there's a couple hinted rumors about slut jesper (mostly from kaz's perspective), but they could just be rumors, especially because most of the time... yes, he flirts. but he flirts like a loser! and he had a waffle date with a girl he even forgot to cancel. and he kissed wylan before certain death only for the kiss to be tasteless and meaningless and to find out that that was not wylan. and he had a crush-idealization on his best friend / boss (and who doesn't have crush-idealizations at 15? I did! most (queer) people I know did, mostly on close friends they admired and felt safe with). yes, there's these things in the books but... the way he interacts with wylan, talks about the kiss(es) with wylan... that's very demisexual to me! and even if it wasn't, that's very far away from the town slut idea of him that runs around lately. that's a very human thing (to want to have sex with someone you trust and love, and not casually): he could be a boy who loves sex and has a good relationship with sex, because that's also very much part of the human experience but 1. if he had sex around it wouldn't be healthy, it would be self-destructive because jesper in the Barrel is self-destructive but 2. he doesn't talk and think like a person who even had sex once, let alone countless times, so I genuinely don't understand where slut jesper comes from

also, if you want to deepen the demisexual jesper thing, there's a fic by Randomcat1832 that is all based on jesper's relationship with sex (ace / demi jesper) [I still have to read it but it's been recommended to me as a very good fic] and a couple other fics by nura (@americanbeautiies) that mention / hint demi jesper (here and here) and that I really enjoyed!

[wield-the-mighty-pen]

The Crows and their love languages

I Don’t know if this has already been done, but this is my interpretation of the love languages of the Crows, feel free to disagree but this is what I felt best fit the characters based on what I’ve read/seen.

Nina

Without a question as both a giver and a receiver, Nina’s love language is physical contact. Though she is seen displaying every other love language, it is through touch that Nina appears to benefit the most. She is offended and subsequently worried about her relationship with Matthias when he avoids touching her and still hadn’t kissed her. Through Inej’s POV, we see a lot of hugs and touches given by Nina. She even uses touch as a heartrender. For her job at the White Rose she is required to touch people to improve their mood and change their appearance. But to focus on the first one, she literally uses touch to make people happy. It makes the most sense to associate Nina with physical contact, which also might be the reason that she and Kaz don’t get along.

Matthias

I found Matthias to actually be the hardest to figure out, he doesn’t really display any specific patterns when it comes to displaying affection. I would say that it is physical contact but he seems to avoid a lot of physical contact with Nina to stay in accordance with the Fjerdan tradition. I guess the love language I see the most with Matthias as both a giver and receiver is acts of service. When he recalls his mother, he remembers aiding her when she was pregnant, he offers on several occasions to do things for Nina, he considers Jarl Brum, a man he was in service as a soldier to, as a father figure. As a receiver, his reaction to Inej’s sacrifice on the first boat indicates that he values acts of service. Additionally, he begins to like Nina (in flashbacks) after she had helped save his life and worked to keep him alive. There are other examples of acts of service being his love language, but I think this suffices.

Wylan

 100% he is in need of some words of affirmation. Though we don’t really see his interactions with the other crows as much since he doesn’t have his own perspective in SOC, in Crooked Kingdom and in the times we see Wylan in Six of Crows, his usage of words of affirmation is evident. As a receiver, he is seen to want approval desperately from his father, to take offense easily at teasing from the other crows, he seems to tie a lot to words. As a giver, his preference for words of affirmation is even more abundant in example. He is always seen giving pep talks to Jesper and is mystified when Kaz refuses to admit the importance of Inej, he becomes angry at the lack of acknowledgement of her merit, of her significance to Kaz. Wylan appears to gather strength from words of affirmation, in fact, after he shares his inability to read with Kaz, it is Kaz’s response that gives him the strength to share with others and even embrace his disability. As a child who so rarely got words of encouragement and affirmation, it makes sense that he places such importance on this particular love language.

Jesper 

Jesper is an interesting case, he, like Nina, likes to utilize all of the love languages. However there are two that he really hones in on. As a giver he is seen to use physical touch and occasionally words of affirmation, as a receiver he requires words of affirmation. Focusing on Jesper as a receiver, the beginning of SOC establishes words of affirmation as his primary love language. He is hurt when Kaz doesn’t acknowledge his trust in Jesper and is seen multiple times throughout the book with hurt feelings when he is excluded from the secrets Kaz shares with Inej, he wants the affirmation of his close relationship with Kaz through the sharing of secrets. As a giver, Jesper uses two different languages. In regards to physical contact, he is shown using this love language a lot with others, there are a plethora of examples within both books, it is shown that he relies on this mode a lot. However, he also employs words of affirmation, the best example of which I can think of is when he lies to Inej about Kaz visiting her to spare her feelings. Though the effort didn’t work, Jesper’s nature is exposed here for being one of comforting words regardless of their accuracy. The other example I think of is from the beginning of Six of Crows, where Kaz remarks that Jesper would pacify the dregs and make Kaz’s victory belong to them all and would boost them up. He is evidently known for his use in this love language, and therefore is still relatively evenly between the two methods of affection.

Inej

Inej uses two different love languages, one as a giver and one as a receiver. As a giver, Inej employs words of affirmation. This can be seen through her various pep-talks given out to the other crows, in her kind words to her hurting friends, and in her exchanges with Kaz. She is good at encouragement and her words are shown to have an impact, specifically seen with exchanges she has with Jesper and Kaz (they both think about and mull over her words in their inner monologues). It is through words she connects with others, however she has relationships and important connections that more often than not do not supply her with words of affirmation back. This leads into her receiver love language, this being quality time. This is not the most intuitive love language for Inej, but through analyzing her character it is plain to see that it is this love language that she responds to the most. The way that Inej recalls her family and her father is through her fond memories of them, is through the good times she spent with them. She does not simply remember her family through traits or through objects or even through words but through scenes, and through the memories that contain the words she remembers. Additionally, when injured on the Ferolind, she requests that Nina stay and spend time with her, she values her presence. With Kaz this love language is a little harder to scope out, after all their relationship also contains acts of service, gift giving, and little bursts of words of affirmation, but Inej seems to appreciate and respond the most to the quality time she spends with Kaz. She is hurt when she learns that he didn’t visit while she was unconscious, there are countless examples of wordless communication as they spend time together, Kaz even points out that he “is here” with Inej, he is present and there to help her, something that she subsequently responds to. In a way, Inej’s relationship with Kaz is unique from her other relationship in that it requires every love language (even physical contact) but quality time is in many ways a significant one.

Kaz

Now that I’ve gone on a tangent for Inej, we finally reach our most complex character when it comes to love languages (I’m sorry please prepare for another tangent). To be clear, Kaz’s love languages are not difficult to decipher from the vantage point of a reader but the way he expresses himself to other characters is in a complex manner that was formed from his upbringing and past trauma. As a giver it is plain and obvious that Kaz is a gift giver, he is constantly seen practicing this love language. He gifts Jesper his guns back after he loses them in Crooked Kingdom, He gifts Wylan his family fortune back. He even yearns to gift his dead brother his avengeance in the form of taking down Pekka Rollins. Of course, this love language can be viewed the most in his interactions with Inej. He notoriously gifts her a ship “The Wraith”, he gifts her her parents, he even gifts her freedom by buying her contract from Per Haskell, each gift allowing her the future she so desires. Although these gifts pain him, although he wants her to stay with him, he still gives and provides her with these tools, because he loves her, because he wants to express to her how much she means to him. Kaz is not a character who outwardly expresses his feelings very often, but through his gift giving it is shown that he does appreciate those around him, that he does care about others. As a receiver however, Kaz appears to appreciate the love language of Acts of Service the most. Though this analysis is about the books I did want to touch upon a scene in the TV show. The scene in question is when Inej kills the inferni. Inej commits her first kill in order to help Kaz and the look he gives her pretty much sums up his feelings on the matter.

 In the books he says in his narration how him making Jesper his only second, shows that he trusts him. He gradually warms up to both Matthias and Wylan as they progress in the mission and continue to aid him. He trusts Nina enough to be a part of the six going to the Ice Court, after using her services as a heart render multiple times. Now, it is possible that he only brought her along because of her powers and her connections to Matthias, but knowing Kaz he could make do without a heartrender and her addition only made things more complicated with Matthias at the beginning. Kaz agrees to free Inej after her words “I can help you”, he responds to that, it is with those words, with that offer to assist that their relationship begins. Inej is portrayed doing acts of service for Kaz nearly every night since her buyout, and Kaz has responded in kind making her his right hand woman. In summation, the way to earn Kaz’s respect, trust, and admiration is through acts of service.

[cadcnce-archived]

@psychcdelica​ sent:  To say Sae seems to be distracted lately would be an understatement, whatever her thoughts are seem to keep her preoccupied lately. When Wylan returns home one night, a candlelit meal awaits him with Sae dressed up nicer than usual, fingertips play and fidget as she invites him to join her. Her heart races as her mind works a mile a minute as she wills herself to calm down for this moment. Her nerves are shot and frayed and simple questions seem to fall on mostly deaf ears. It takes her a moment, and a hard drink of the red wine before she finds the courage to the next part of the evening. Her gaze falls on his handsome features, and then a blush burns her cheeks, but that moment of pure and blissful happiness helps her find her way before him, kneeling down in the traditional American way. 

"I love you Wylan, and I can't imagine my life without you. You, who makes me a better person, who drives me to be better. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, and I hope you feel the same way. Please, will you do the honour of marrying me?" Whilst her english is far from fluent, she has practiced long and hard just for this moment, just for him, and her hands draw forth a small box with a precious diamond ring cushioned in the middle, presented to him as she awaits his response.

Wylan will be looking back on this day as one of the more embarrassing ones in his life. Which is not something said lightly. The man has an arguable amount of shame contained in his body, with most experts agreeing that any traces to be found are ephemeral and inconsequential in the bigger picture of Wylan Rechtur. Despite all of his experiences and skills that he has gained and fostered as an infiltrator and assassin nothing could have prepared him for this evening. For he is, and ever shall be, a fool.

This man, this stupid idiot of a male example, had been under the itching paranoia that Sae was upset with him. Or the suspicion at the very least. Her apprehension at preparing for and eventually dropping the question over the previous several days had been interpreted as frustration. Distance. Disappointment. But why? Was it because he’d spent more time with coworkers? While he certainly had not been neglecting his girlfriend the growing notion that maybe he was(?) had begun to fester. Was he not doing enough?

The next stage was going to be panic or fall back into some very unhealthy forms of coping. Resisting that drive to follow his lover and track her like some criminal was frustratingly difficult in its own way. Did this mean that in response to her not trusting him… he wasn’t going to trust her? What would this solve? Why would this spring up after years of what had been a good relationship? Sae had been nothing but good for him. Saved his life at that, even if technically his objective could be summarized as an elaborate suicide back then. It was still something she pulled him from, woke him from, healed him from.

Thinking about life without her in it wasn’t something he wanted to consider. Apparently, Sae had a similar thought. Isn’t that ironic? And he didn’t see any of it coming.

A candlelit dinner can be one of two things. It can be romantic and classy, a humble way to bring ambience to a meal enjoyed with a romantic atmosphere with a small natural warmth to compliment that which thrummed in the respective chests of those attending. It could also be ominous? Well maybe if you’ve seen enough movies, horror or otherwise. The room is darker than normal. Especially with the shades drawn over the large windows that typically allowed the city lights of Tokyo to twinkle in like a manmade night sky. Imagine the mental hurdles Wylan is throwing himself through out of manufactured paranoia to even think about interpreting this with concern.

I’m so bad with relationships, aren’t I? He thinks to himself as he smiles to his lover, kissing her on the cheek before they set down for dinner. His questions receive vague or dismissive answers, only stoking the fire under the worm slinking its way through his gut.

“So what’s all this about? Didn’t realize it was gonna be a date night. Nice.” Laugh.

“Oh, yes. It’s a surprise.”

???

“Alright, ha, well thanks. It all looks great.”

“Thank you.”

…

“Yeah, sure babe. Good day at work? You must have gotten off pretty early to get all this ready for us.”

“Mm.”

Hhhhhh???

How does he interpret the expression on her features right now? The candlelight offers plenty of view, it’s not that she’s shrouded by a veil. So why is he so damn lost, what was going on? If this was a way to open into the we need to talk sort of situation it was new to him. Fuck. All of this was pretty damn new to him! Loving Sae was still relatively new to him, but it was something he for sure damn hell did not want to stop doing, for any reason whatsoever. He’s confused and nervous, and so is she. The question to him wasn’t the what but the why. Wylan is just setting down his own glass of wine when she takes the large drink of hers.

“Uh, Sae? Are you—” The answer he gets for any question that could have followed is her getting up from her spot opposite him. His words are on deaf ears as she makes her way around the table while Wylan’s heart makes its way around his intestines. Sinking. Sinking. What the fuck what the fuck what is going on? No cameras, no scripts, and not a single clue even as the woman who had his heart drops to one knee. No, it’s not until she starts speaking (in her lovely, accented English) that time can finally start moving again, first at a crawl, then speeding up beat by beat as realization melts through those stubborn layers and masks and seeps down into the broken glass inside his soul. Like molten lava into a mold, the empty space inside of him is suddenly refilled and locked together.

“…Huh?” Stupefied is a way to put it, the bewilderment on his features in response to the additional confession and subsequent proposal. He’s doubting his sanity and the reality of this moment, so directly contrasted it was with his apprehensions and fears. “You want to… with me?” A beat. “Really?” The ring is a beauty, diamonds in a handsome band that catches the candlelight like a firestorm. But that doesn’t even matter to him. Jewelry is jewelry. The real storm is the sentiment of it being offered, her desire to have him. Well. What else could she have wanted? What else did he want? Did he not just have that argument in himself that was fueled by the fear of not having Sae in his life? There shouldn’t be hesitation here. This is what he wanted more than anything else, the fact he hadn’t even thought about marriage is yet another instance of stupidity in a ridiculous card game where each hand feels like a joke.

Figures that Sae had all the cards ready. And now she was giving him the winnings. No, not that. She was going to share all of that with him. God damnit. This was really happening, wasn’t it? Sae Niijima had just proposed to the fool and charlatan of a former assassin. He doesn’t deserve this, but he’s not stupid enough to pass up an opportunity to do something he never thought possible.

His vision is blurred, and it isn’t until the first tear rolls down his cheek that he realizes he’s crying and that his chest is starting to shudder with encroaching convulsions as his lungs fight for air as his heart fights its way up through his gut and up his throat. A blazing race physically and mentally that culminates into a sobbed reply.

“What the fuck- Get off the—come- come here!” Sae’s hand is gripped as Wylan pulls her up into his arms, lips crashing into hers and kissing greedily over and over again. He’s not sure whether he’s laughing, crying, or something else in between presses and breaths. Finally after a moment he stops, his forehead resting against hers, eyes closed, heart full and seamless. 

“Yes, I’ll marry you.”

[morethanaprincess-a]

@cadcnce​ said:  💏

50 ways to kiss someone

17. ...to distract (with a side of 9. ...in public)

In general, Sonia embraced new experiences. But if she had any more surprises that day, she wasn't sure if her poor heart, or nerves, could withstand them.

Dinner had been delicious, and their time at the Sahara would have been quite perfect if their server hadn't happened to be a Novosonian who nearly fell over backwards when they realized whom they were waiting on that evening. Promises, begging, and, hopefully kept discreet from Wylan, outright bribes had to be taken to keep her face and name (and his) off of social media. It brought her enough anxiety that, with little regard to her heels and how impractical it was to walk in them for long periods of time, she'd insisted taking the taxi only as far as the Venetian and that, at least for part of the way, they'd walk through the hotels for a suitable distraction.

"That was quite a coincidence,", She finally said, just as they'd arrived at the myriad of shops that lined the man-made canal made to resemble the real one back in Italy. One she'd traveled plenty of times before, but never in the comfort of air conditioning and tourists, plenty of them more than intoxicated, taking selfies with the hotel's employed gondoliers. "My country isn't terribly big and besides Japan and areas of Europe, the people do not often immigrate elsewhere, at least not permanently. So it's a bit shocking that at the Sahara, of all places, we met a Novoselic citizen. But I'm sorry about how it unfolded: It could have been made very inconvenient for the both of us, to be publicly recognized there."

She'd had a sense of curiosity about the Italian-themed hotel anyway. Rather like the French one, she wondered how much it compared to the place that inspired it. It was the sort of thing that would interest her mother (or at least lead her to remark about how its European counterpart was better. Everything, according to Queen Valentina, was better in Europe and Japan). Eventually, when the time was right, she'd share her thoughts on America's interpretation of Italy with her: her mother's family hailed from southern Novoselic, close to the Novosonian and Italian border, and thus her upbringing was far more akin to upper class Italian lifestyles.

But just as she'd paused to examine one of the artists in residence, like plenty of other passersby on the fake Venetian streets, Sonia froze. Her face went pale, even more than what her copious usage of sunblock and hats gave her when facing the Vegas sun and heat. "Jesus. Shit. Son of a bitch." She hissed, her eyes locked on the slender figure of a young woman, with bouncy, wavy chestnut hair, hazel eyes, clad in a cocktail dress and surrounded by half a dozen other elegantly-dressed cohorts. They weren't like the other tourists that swarmed the shops, restaurants, and performers: they had an air of importance about them and the fine clothes and black credit cards to prove it.

"Princess Madeline of Norway...of all people, is there nowhere I can go that's entirely anonymous!?" She muttered. The Norwegian Princess had yet to forgive Sonia from a social slight from six years ago and was terribly proficient in getting the right gossip to the right people. If she saw them, their holiday, an escape from her world and his to something that was uniquely, strangely theirs would be all over. There would be so much to explain she wouldn't know where to start, with whom and what: her choice of attire, her choice of city to run away to, her choice of man by her side. But the media would treat it as Christmas coming early and her family would treat it as the arrival of the apocalypse. Of those two things, Sonia was sure.

This wouldn't just be a Royal Collision, it would be a Royal Catastrophe. She had to act. And fast.

A dash through the growing crowds would make too much of a scene. Politely it would take too long and impolitely, there was the risk of tripping over someone or herself and it would give Madeline enough time to grab a picture of her face.

Her face. She needed to hide her most identifiable feature: her attire was completely different than the norm but her face was a dead giveaway for those who recognized it. Glancing quickly around them, taking in the various excited revelers eager to indulge in the Vegas nightlife, Sonia swallowed and took a deep breath. Placing herself between Wylan and the approaching Royal Problem, Sonia had no time to hesitate as she reached up to cup his face in her hands, forcing him to meet her eyes.

"Please don't ask questions. Not here," She whispered quickly before doing something she'd only, embarrassingly and if asked directly she'd deny it, dreamed of: Sonia Nevermind, Princess of Novoselic, closed her eyes and kissed him squarely on the lips. In the crowd, she now just looked like another young woman swept away in the glitz and glam of Las Vegas, taking a risk: not at a slot machine or a card table, but with her friendship, her heart. Just like the gambling the town was known for, there was the possibility of losing everything if she wasn't careful.

And there was nothing quick nor brief about how she kissed him: Sonia had kissed Wylan with purpose, with enough passion that to anyone around them they just looked like any other couple creating memories that would never be spoken of once they left the city limits.

God help her: liquor aside, she'd not only had a change of a dress but an entire set of principles, her entire fucking mind. Sin City, indeed.

[droo216]

mid year book freakout tag

@wormwoodandhoney tagged me in this, inspired by booktube and book took! (tag created by earl grey books and chami)

1. Best book you’ve read so far in 2021: Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo. This book fully lived up to its hype. I enjoyed Crooked Kingdom as well, though mostly for the Wylan POV chapters and not nearly as much as the first book in the duology.

2. Best sequel you’ve read so far in 2021: Kingdom of the Blazing Phoenix by Julie C. Dao. Everyone in the reviews on Goodreads and other websites seem to love Forest of a Thousand Lanterns, the first book in the Rise of the Empress duology, but it took me three tries to get through that one, it just dragged for me, though admittedly the second half picked up the pace and I enjoyed it much more. These reviewers tend to be down on the second book so maybe I just had lower expectations or maybe I just enjoyed it more since it was more of the actual Snow White retelling, but I enjoyed Kingdom way more than Forest!

3. New release you haven’t read yet, but want to: Darling by K. Ancrum and Sisters of the Neversea by Cynthia Leitich Smith. I have both of these Peter Pan reimaginings on my shelf but haven’t read them yet!

4. Most anticipated release for the second half of the year: Gilded by Marissa Meyer - though I must admit I’ve actually already read the ARC, and it is so good. Everything Marissa Meyer touches turns to gold (pun intended).

5. Biggest disappointment: The Seafarer’s Kiss by Julia Ember. Just didn’t really do it for me.

6. Biggest surprise: Grump by Liesl Shurtliff. I was a little reluctant to approach this middle grade retelling of Snow White, but I was delighted with some of the ways in interpreted the story and I ended up really liking it! I’ve also read Rump and Jack by Shurtliff this year and didn’t enjoy them quite as much, though Jack does some fun things with the story. The author has one more in this series called Red, and my sister says it’s very good so I do want to get that one in this year too!

7. Favorite new author (debut or new to you): Hmmm, I don’t know if I could pick one. For the sake of not repeating anyone who has already appeared on this list, I’ll say C.J. Redwine. I’ve been wanting to read her Ravenspire series for a while now and I was surprised by how I felt about the books. I found that the one I was most anticipating, The Shadow Queen, fell a little flat for me, and the one I enjoyed the most, The Wish Granter, was one I wasn’t especially excited about going in.

8. Newest fictional crush: I don’t really get fictional crushes, but the closest character I’ve encountered to “my type” this year is Simon Snow from the Simon Snow trilogy by Rainbow Rowell.

9. Newest favorite character: Nina Zenik from Six of Crows! I love her, she’s such a refreshing character!

10. Book that made you cry: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz. I started crying for no real reason about a quarter of the way through this book and then just continued to weep continuously through the rest of it. It was so beautiful, and I can’t wait for the sequel to destroy me later this year.

11. Book that made you happy: Heartless by Marissa Meyer. I thought I knew how it would go, and I was delightfully surprised. Meyer’s characters are so enchanting, and her Wonderland feels like an extension of Carroll’s original world, instead of reinventing it like most people do these days.

12. Most beautiful book you’ve bought (or received) so far this year: Lost in the Never Woods by Aiden Turner. I enjoyed this Peter Pan retelling, but there were some things I wish had been explored more. But the cover is so beautiful, it’s worth having on my shelf no matter what! I’d also add The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune, that cover is gorgeous too.

13. What books do you need to read by the end of the year? In addition to Darling and Sisters of the Neversea, I want to read Cemetery Boys by Aiden Turner, Red by Liesl Shurtliff, Circe by Madeline Miller, The Wrath and the Dawn duology by Renee Ahdieh, and Dark Shimmer by Donna Jo Napoli. I have a long list of other books, but those are my priorities!

I tag anyone who wants to do it!

[kindness-ricochets]

Prompt: “You’re getting a vasectomy. That’s final.”

Fic-a-day February, day 7! Unedited & unpolished as ever, but undeniably written.

This one was an... interesting prompt. As cursory research informed me vasectomies were not considered a form of contraception until the 1940s, I took the spirit of this prompt more than the letter. I also could think of only two couples for whom this was really applicable, so it would either be Zoya teasing Nikolai or a more serious fic with Inej and Kaz. As I can do justice to none of those characters, I decided to do my best with Kanej. To that end: I know a lot of people read them as having a non-physical relationship. I personally don’t. Though I understand and respect that interpretation, it will not be reflected in this fic. It’s not smut, but it’s clear Kaz and Inej share some physical intimacy. If you don’t like that, consider yourself forewarned.

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There had been a time Inej would have considered it a slight or a dare to enter Kaz Brekker's bedroom uninvited. There had been a time this room was his, distinctively his, his alone. Over the years, that distance between them had melted. They still respected one another's kingdoms. She still came into the Slat as a second home, but not a home of which she was any mistress. He asked permission to come aboard before his cane touched the deck of her ship. But in his bedroom, in her bunk, there were no spaces to close, no separations of propriety.

She let herself into his bedroom, still damp from the miserable Ketterdam weather. She had cast off her coat, but her fingers were cold and wet, her hair was jeweled with raindrops.

Kaz was at his "desk". He had earned and lost in the nearly ten years since the Van Eck job, but that was no reason to change anything, not to Kaz Brekker. He wore his Mercher black as a joke. It was only funny if he kept a strict separation from the merchants themselves. Oh, any bed of hers was a bed of his, even the one in the beautiful blue room on the Geldstraat, and though he would visit Jesper and Wylan even when Inej was out of town, she knew he did not stay the night. He kept no bed in a Merch mansion. He called no Merchers his closest friends, his family. Not out loud, anyway. And while he could have a fine desk and a comfortable chair, a throne if he wanted it, Kaz maintained a board balanced across crates.

She perched on the edge of his narrow bed and watched him. He looked up and his eyes met hers--coffee dark, without a hint of softening at the corners. Then he returned to his work, nib scratching against paper as his pen cast long shadows in the lamplight. He worked for several minutes while Inej waited. Normally she might remove her boots, make herself at home. Today she just waited.

Finally Kaz finished his work, gave the last page the necessary seconds to dry, and stashed everything away in his safe. He hadn't maintained his authority over the Dregs by being sloppy. Only when his work was fully complete and safely away did he come to sit beside her on the bed.

He methodically removed his gloves and set them to the side. Almost hesitant, he set his hand over hers and let his cold fingers slip between hers. He had cold fingers from his poor circulation, not like the cold Inej had borrowed from the air outside. Her cold was already mostly melted.

"Kaz," Inej said.

They would never have what their friends had, she knew that.

She had seen the way would Nina would squeeze Hanne's hand, quick and easy, the way they could move right into kissing each other. She did that sometimes, still caught herself at it, sneaking. Spying. She was... curious. Fascinated. It was their easy, physical way with each other. Hanne's fingers combing Nina's hair, idly weaving braids for the Corpsewitch whose name raised shivers on either side of the True Sea. Jesper and Wylan and kisses pressed to knuckles, shoulders, noses, freckles. Any excuse. Their... more. The easy more shared between Hanne and Nina, Jesper and Wylan.

Kaz and Inej would never have that. Those flames would burn them. But they shared a trust with one another, not an easy way, but neither of them was made for the easy way. They shared a different intensity, a fierceness, as though not only their fingers but their ribs were bound together, their lives and strengths and passions intertwined. It was why she felt his cold fingers, but they poured a molten heat into her.

They were Dirtyhands and the Wraith, but when they were alone, they took up the mantles of Kaz Brekker and Inej Ghafa instead.

Inej Ghafa said, "Kaz," again.

Kaz Brekker said, "I know."

He knew? She couldn't help a flinch of indignation. How dare he know when she had yet to tell him! Then she simply gave a single shake of her head. Kaz Brekker. Of course he knew.

She swallowed. "Well. It's hardly practical." She had been thinking the same thing over and over for weeks. It was not practical. It did not fit, not with her life on the ship, not with his life in the Barrel. Somehow, this was a part of her life Inej always thought herself simply not addressing. Why would she, when she had more important things to attend to.

"You're not practical," Kaz replied, like a reminder.

"It's not practical," Inej repeated.

If she had any choice...

Ever since she realized it, her mind had rushed with the possibilities, with the practical ends to an inconvenient situation she did not hate as much as she perhaps ought to. Did she ask her mother's help? Or, accepting that Kaz meant her foolish heart was soundly tied to Ketterdam, did she ask Jesper and Wylan? Because she couldn't. She simply could not do this. A pirate could not, practically. If Inej wanted... but how could she? There was a whisper inside her that insisted not only she could but she must, she wanted to, but she could never live with herself if she weighed one life against the hundreds she could save as the Wraith.

"Are you staying the night?" Kaz asked.

"Kaz."

"I'm tired, Inej. I'm an old man now."

She had no desire to give into his wretched charm, but felt herself melting, anyway. He wasn't even that old.

"Of course I'm staying the night, you old fool," she said. "Can I kiss you?"

"I've been waiting for you to ask."

"You've been trying to goad me into asking," Inej retorted, kissing him.

"And how have I goaded you?"

By existing. By being him. She didn't know, she would think of something!

"Can I kiss you?" Kaz asked.

"Yes."

He kissed her shoulder.

They didn't talk about their situation. They shed extra layers, shed their boots, turned down the lantern. It had taken years for Kaz to lie beside Inej in his narrow bed. Years of attempting, years of maybe, years of his panicked breath and teeth-gritted insistence that he was fine. When he put his arm around her, to Inej, it was the whole world shaking, it was the moment she leapt when gravity reached but had yet to catch her and for half a heartbeat she felt wings at her back. This was the truth of Kaz Brekker giving her everything. It was small touches and simple things and the intimacy of their mingling desires to fight, to eke out a small corner of this world that was theirs to mold as they wished.

When they were past words and lying comfortably together in the night, he rested his palm on her belly. She didn't know if this meant they would discuss it in the morning or not at all, but he knew. Whatever else he might pretend, she knew both that he knew and that he cared.

A fine mess they had worked themselves into.