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retvenkos · 3 years

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grishaverse fics

“i am not ruined. i am ruination.”

[ inej ghafa ]

bottled and held close [ slight angst, slight fluff ] [ 2021 ] guilt was acidic. it ate away at all reasoning until all that was left were hollow claims that rattled you to the bone.

[ jesper fahey ]

rest [ fluff ] [ 2021 ] jesper has to coax you into going to sleep.

pistols blazing [ fluff ] [ 2021 ] it was supposed to be simple - gather intel, don’t die. things never go as planned.

[ kaz brekker ]

like rabbits and poets (they’re born to be killed) [ series: angst, dark ] [ 2022 ] it’s a dark night in Ketterdam when the con begins. come light, something will be dead and someone will be broken in two. but who can say how? and who can say who? Only ghezen knows, and all that gleams in the god’s minds eye are diamonds.

i have no desire to burn [ angst, slight fluff ] [ 2021 ] the job was supposed to be simple - but when the dime lions show, things go south, and (y/n) is caught in the crossfire.

all its full glory (and all its sinful nooks and crannies) [ slight angst, fluff ] [ 2021 ] three and a half years ago, you had left ketterdam behind, for your first love - the volatile ocean. when he sees you again, you ask him what he wants, and despite himself, kaz has an answer.

in the end [ dark, angst ] [ 2021 ] “ketterdam is sin, and if you want to survive, you will become her servant.”

hope in the jar [ slight fluff, slight angst ] [ 2021 ] kaz brekker is far from just being anyone. and maybe, so are you.

[ kuwei yul-bo ]

nhaban (rising phoenix) [ angst ] [ 2021 ] kuwei was always a phoenix - burning from the inside out, choking on all that ash.

[ malyen oretsev ]

i won’t linger on these things; [ angst ] [ 2021 ] and there was an orchestra of life playing the strings of sacrifice before there was death.

etched deep in the souls of your being [ slight angst, fluff ] [ 2021 ] there had been a time for fighting, and there would be another, still, but this home was for rest.

[ matthias helvar ]

deserving [ light angst, light fluff ] [ 2021 ] a mission goes south; matthias nurses you back to health.

no funerals [ angst ] [ 2021 ] matthias couldn’t save a friend; you’re there to mourn with him.

like a dream, or a memory almost gone [ fluff ] [ 2021 ] matthias is lost in ketterdam, but somehow, he finds you.

running with you [ slight angst, slight fluff ] [ 2021 ] matthias is always running. he doesn’t mind it, though, when he’s running with you.

blanching [ angst, slight fluff ] [ 2021 ] fear and uncertainty didn’t belong here. not in novyi zem. not with matthias.

[ nikolai lantsov ]

come sunrise [ fluff ] [ 2022 ] you wanted so badly to stay, but you couldn’t.

bargained for [ fluff ] [ 2021 ] it’s a day for sparring, aboard the volkvolny.

[ nina zenik ]

blanching [ angst, slight fluff ] [ 2021 ] fear and uncertainty didn’t belong here. not in novyi zem. not with matthias.

bottled and held close [ slight angst, slight fluff ] [ 2021 ] guilt was acidic. it ate away at all reasoning until all that was left were hollow claims that rattled you to the bone.

#one shots

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peachnserenity · 4 years

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today i offer you renjun kuwei. tomorrow? who knows.

i know a lot of people recommended winwin as kuwei (and even leigh bardugo mentioned it) but kuwei’s character is more on the younger side than the rest of the crows and renjun has an acting history so i thought why not? :]

#huang renjun #kuwei yul bo #renjun #nhaban #six of crows #nct #kaz brekker #inej ghafa #nina zenik #matthias helvar #wylan van eck #jesper fahey #grishaverse #nct dream #nct 127 #nct u #wayv #crooked kingdom

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lilisouless · 2 years

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Genya: Aren't you supposed to be training?

Kuwei eating on a chair : This is way too good to miss out , The king and Brekker are figthing over who´s team would win on a fight and Brekker refuses to concede even one win over Nikolai.

Nikolai: No offense Brekker, but your leg...

Kaz: I had a harder training in the screets that made me tougher than either of you put together

Nikolai: Alright! But what about Tamar? Sure your wraith is terrific but-

Kaz: "But?" You better not follow up on that-

Nikolai: Tamar is a heartrender and axes win over knifes

Kaz: Please, you can't sneak on someone with axes.

Nikolai: Sneaking is not everything! But i asume you would never admit anyone could beat Inej (even if it´s true) ...

Kaz: Don't make me call her for telling lies

Nikolai: But you have to give this on to me: David and Van Eck has no question

Kaz: Of course not

Nikolai: Well, at least-

Kaz: Wylan could clean the floor with Kostyk if he wanted

Nikolai: You are insane, David is a grisha and taller than him

Kaz: Wylan can do anything without powers, and he is a ruthless bitch who knows what to say to destroy you. While Kostyk , i could wack him with my cane and he would apologize.

David: I mean, i know the paintwork may be damaged

Nikolai: Alright , i didn't want to use this card but you left me no choice; Zoya! no one on your team would last against her. And don't tell me "Nina" , Dragon beats zombies , everyone knows that.

Kaz: Oh really, what about: A zombie dragon? Thats two points on Nina

Nikolai: You don't even know if she can do that! Just admit the defeat this time

Kaz: I will when you trow me an actual decent figther , i will allow it

Nikolai: i got one, if we put Tolya and Helvar in a fight, are you willing to give Helvar a compliment in order to win the argument?

Kaz: Oh no, he would beat up Helvar

Matthias: Hey!

Kaz: I mean, forget Yul Bataar. Even the pipsqueak Starkov with her bare hands or her brainless pet could take Matthias-

Matthias: HEY!

Kaz: Oh calm down, they are not here. They can't feel insulted

Matthias: I AM!

Kaz: But i am not dumb enought to pit your big tree against Matthias. If thats your player, mine would be Jesper.

Nikolai: Now you are just bluffing . He is smaller and only uses those guns while Tolya is a powefull grisha (why is Nhaban laugthing?).

Kaz: This is more about your man´s weakness. He is terrified of Jesper, he almost fainted when we intorduced them

Nikolai: No way, is that true?

Tolya: The yellow pants, Sir "cringes" the yellow pants

#six of crows shitpost #grishaverse shitpost #six of crows #netflix shadow and bone #kaz brekker #nikolai lantsov #jesper fahey #wylan van eck #nina zenik #matthias helvar #kuwei yul bo #genya safin #zoya nazyalensky #tamar kir bataar #tolya yul bataar #david kostyk #leigh bardugo #grishaverse incorrect quotes

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wafflesandkruge · 4 years

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Fireworks

Summary: Food. Friends. Family. Those are the three things required for Lunar New Year. But in his new life in Ravka, Kuwei doesn't have any of them. So of course, he resolves to at least blow some things up. Because fireworks are also an essential part of the festival. Or at least that's what he tells Leoni and Adrik when he ropes them into his scheme.

A/N: My second commission for @zemenipearls!

Ao3

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Kuwei crept through the halls of the Little Palace, his boots nearly soundless against the marble floors. What he wanted to do today required absolute stealth, and if he was caught, there would be hell to pay. He reached a corridor, turned his heads both ways to make sure there weren’t passing grisha, then swiftly moved on.

His first target was a Durast workshop, which was blessedly empty. They hated having Inferni in there (gee, he wondered why) and would have pushed him out as soon as he took a step over the threshold. Kuwei stopped in front of a shelf of blasting powders and inspected them critically. While he was perfectly fine at mixing explosives, the Ravkan labels were tripping him up. There weren’t any chemical formulas, just a name scrawled onto each container. That would somewhat complicate things.

He deliberated for a few more seconds, then finally just grabbed a basket from the shelf and took a jar of everything. Best case scenario, he’d figure it out once he had time to open them and inspect the contents. Worst case scenario, he’d make a dud firecracker. Or blow up the Little Palace, but that was a little closer to a best case scenario than a worst case scenario.

Weighed down by all his chemical components, he was reminded of working with his father in his labs. It wasn’t exactly fun, per se, being held hostage never was, but he missed his comforting presence. Even more so because today was the Lunar New Year, a time meant to be spent with family. Even now, he could hear his father’s gruff voice.

“Kuwei, there are three things that are vital for a Lunar New Year. Food. Friends. Family. Understand?”

He maybe had the first one down. But the Little Palace’s porridge and fish was a far cry from the dumplings and noodles they’d make every year. Friends? He had a few, sure. But every time they laughed together, Kuwei couldn’t help but feel like they were only friends with Nhaban, not his real self. Being a political refugee was lonely work. And family was out of the question. He hoped the Fjerdans had at least given his father an honorable burial.

Kuwei shook his unfortunate past from his head as he made his way down the hallway to the Alkemi labs. Since David was in a day-long meeting with the rest of the Triumvirate, he should have had free reign of the place. He slipped through the rather unassuming door and made his ways to an empty work desk. Then froze and ducked behind a shelf.

Female laughter drifted over from a desk that had been blocked from his view at the door. “You have a very skewed view of Nina, Adrik.”

Her comment was met with low grumbling. Kuwei peeked out from his hiding spot a bit and his suspicions were confirmed. Leoni Hilli was working at her desk and chattering animatedly while Adrik Zhabin grouched and spun around on the next desk’s swivel chair. They were a little older and had been deployed to Fjerda shortly after he’d arrived from Ketterdam. He didn’t know them very well, but their exploits had become legends with the whispers of the other students. They took down an entire squadron by themselves. They blew up the Fjerdan royal palace. They’re saints.

Kuwei quickly weighed the risks in his head. Saints or not, they could help him. Leoni was an Alkemi and could help with the chemical components. And Adrik was a talented squaller who could launch the rockets. Without them, the probability of a catastrophe happening was fairly high. He squared his shoulders and sprang up.

“Hi.”

Leoni whirled around, arms outstretched, the model of a Grisha soldier faced with a surprise attack. Adrik startled, fell off his swivel chair, and landed in a heap. Though to his credit, a breeze flitted about the room.

There was a moment of awkward silence, then Leoni lowered her hands and smiled. “You’re Nhaban, right? The Inferni?”

Kuwei blinked, surprised. He hadn’t expected them to know about him. But her smile was warm and genuine. He nodded hesitatingly. “Yeah.”

Adrik finally hauled himself off the floor and dusted his kefta off. “What do you want?”

Leoni glared at him for his brusqueness, but Kuwei didn’t mind. He launched into his spiel, and soon Leoni was on board as soon as he mentioned “festival” and “annoying the Triumvirate.” Adrik was a harder sell, but as soon as Leoni batted her eyelashes at him, he caved. Kuwei almost snorted at that. He’d thought Tamar and Nadia were infuriating together, but at least they didn’t dance around each other like magnets and pretend they weren’t in love when the opposite was clearly true. He had a feeling he would regret asking for their help a few hours in.

The whole day passed by in a blur as they put the fireworks together. Leoni filled the room with bright chatter, Kuwei occasionally butting with a clever comment, and Adrik giving dry commentary but periodically getting up to bring them food from the kitchens. It was comfortable falling back into the old rhythms of working in a lab with a partner, the memory of his father as his partner becoming more nostalgic than painful. When they asked about his background, he stuck as close to the truth as possible.

“I’m from Shu Han. My father and I were suspected of being Grisha, so we fled and tried to cross into Ravka through the mountains.” He forced his hands to be steady as he poured a vial of blasting powder into a cannister. “He didn’t make it.”

“I’m sorry,” Leoni said as she laid a hand on his arm after he put the canister down. “That must have been difficult.”

Kuwei bobbed his head in acknowledgement. He didn’t deal with sympathy very well. People tended to focus on his own survival, the fact he’d somehow made it out alive from two countries that wanted him worse than dead. They often overlooked what he had to do to survive. And who he had to leave behind.

His answer left a wake of silence until Adrik cleared his throat awkwardly and steered their conversation towards Kuwei’s academic career at the Little Palace. Kuwei could tell they genuinely cared and he found himself laughing along with Leoni at Adrik’s poor impression of Zoya.

Maybe if he couldn’t have the family, or even the food, he could at least have friends.

---

By the time night fell, their fireworks were all finished and carefully packed into a small wagon. Kuwei poked his head out the door and looked both ways. David and the others should be done with their meeting soon and he didn’t want to risk being caught before they had a chance to blow anything up. He waved Leoni and Adrik forwards and together they wheeled the heavily loaded wagon out to the lake.

“By the way, I still think this is a horrible idea,” Adrik said. He managed to give off the impression of crossing his arms with just his one.

Kuwei grunted as he lifted a heavier firework from the wagon and positioned it in the grass. “We’re only in danger if you don’t launch them fast or far enough.”

Leoni positioned another firework. “You wouldn’t kill us on purpose, would you?”

“I’m thinking about it.”

A few minutes of manual labor later, the wagon was emptied and the fireworks were lined up in the grass. Kuwei fiddled with the sparker at his wrist. “Ready?”

Leoni nodded and gave him a thumbs-up. Adrik just frowned. Kuwei clapped his hands together and lit the fuse. Adrik propelled it skywards with a sharp movement of his arm and in the dark night, Kuwei soon lost sight of the explosive.

A few seconds later, red exploded across the sky with a resounding boom. Kuwei focused on each spark, feeling every one in his bones. He waved an arm and the sparks rearranged themselves into a rude word in Shu before fizzling away.

“What did that say?” Leoni asked curiously as she prepped the next firework. Kuwei’s brain suddenly stopped working.

“Sh- Uh...Shark. It meant shark.”

He prayed desperately that the Shu delegation hadn’t been around. But when he looked towards the Grand Palace, instead of scandalized Shu officials, he spotted David practically jogging down the hill towards them.

Adrik instantly snapped to attention. “Sir.”

David seemed a bit too out of breath to respond, but after a moment, he straightened up and peered at all of them from behind his wire-rim glasses. He looked annoyed. “Are you being safe?”

Did Adrik’s eyes dart towards Leoni? Kuwei looked towards the ground and smirked. If he was wrong and they weren’t actually a thing, he’d throw himself into the lake.

Despite their assurances they were using the utmost precautions, David continued to lecture them about pyrokinetic safety. It was all stuff Kuwei had heard before from his father, so he tuned it out and instead admired the blades of grass by his feet.

“...What are your limits?”

Kuwei blinked, then looked back up. David was looking directly at him, a distinct look of curiosity on his face.

“Sir?”

“Can you only form static images? How much control do you have over the images? If I gave you a message, would you be able to recreate it?”

“I...I’m not sure yet,” Kuwei admitted, shooting a glance at Leoni. She seemed to understand.

“I can control them too since they’re just blasting powders,” she explained, taking David’s attention off Kuwei. He nodded at her gratefully.

The three of them conversed for a bit longer, Adrik shuffling his feet and muttering about tailwinds behind them. David wanted to know everything about their process, from their proportions of powders to which minerals they used for pigmentation. He even pulled out a little notebook from his kefta and started taking notes on what they were saying. From Kuwei’s perspective, his “notes” looked little more than illegible scribbles, but he supposed David had a way of deciphering them.

David took a seat on the grass a few paces away, notebook at the ready again. “Go on, then,” he urged.

Kuwei exchanged a look with Leoni, who shrugged. If David was just going to watch instead of stopping them, they could still go on as planned. Kuwei lit another firework, and with Leoni helping, they pulled the sparks into a resemblance of Adrik’s frowning face. If possible, the real Adrik’s scowl deepened.

“You got the nose wrong.”

Leoni patted his cheek. “Don’t be cross. I’ll get it right the next time if I just study your face a bit more.”

Adrik turned red. Kuwei coughed loudly into his elbow.

The next few they did gradually increased in difficulty, from an orange jurda blossom to a cawing crow. Shu Han’s horse moved across the sky next, its hooves leaving a trail of golden sparks that could have been mistaken for stars until they winked out of existence. Novyi Zem’s leopard appeared next, chasing a rabbit that burst into a spray of white sparks. The three fish of Kerch splashed,, their tails spraying shimmering drops of water.

They had saved the double eagle of Ravka as a finale of sorts. Kuwei lit the fuse, and Adrik sent it straight up. Over the Grand Palace, the bird spread its wings wide, illuminating the grounds below for a brief moment before the light faded.

There was a moment of silence, then scattered applause from small clusters of shadowed figures. Kuwei realized they’d drawn an audience, mostly political officials finishing up a long day of business at the palace. Warm skin brushed his as Leoni took his and Adrik’s hand and led them into a hasty bow. She was glowing from her use of Grisha power. All three of them were.

“Let’s get this cleaned up,” Adrik hissed. Kuwei summoned a ball of fire into his palm so they’d be able to see, and sure enough, Adrik looked flustered from all the attention they were getting. He ran his hand through his fair hair. “I don’t want any trace of our little...project to remain by the time the learners are out here tomorrow.”

“Are you scared to lose your reputation as the perpetual ‘wet towel’?” Leoni teased as she tugged up her sleeves and started drawing spilled powders from the ground. Kuwei started tossing their tools back into the wagon. There wasn’t much left that hadn’t been blown away in the skies, so it didn’t take them long to finish up. David had already disappeared without another word to them, no doubt heading to his labs for a bit of experimentation of his own.

The three of them started heading back to the Little Palace to return their supplies. Kuwei pulled the wagon while Leoni and Adrik walked ahead of him, their heads bent together in conversation. He could still feel the buzz in his veins from using his powers for such a long period of time.

Belatedly, he realized he hadn’t thought of what- or who- he’d been missing the whole time they were setting off fireworks. He still felt the pang of loss acutely, but the day hadn’t been as bad as he’d expected. If anything, he had enjoyed himself. Was that wrong?

“-Nhaban?” Leoni’s concerned voice cut through his spiralling thoughts. “Are you alright?”

Nhaban. That’s right, he was Nhaban now. Kuwei forced a smile.

“Fine. Just a bit tired.”

“Oh! Well Adrik and I were wondering if you’d like to try this again. Maybe next week?” Leoni looked at him hopefully. Kuwei’s gaze flickered to Adrik who looked slightly less hopeful but he supposed that was to be expected. He liked them- they weren’t the imposing saints the stories had made them out to be. Instead, they were warm. Genuine. Even when he was sure they suspected something was off about his story. It felt like family.

“I- I think I would like that,” he admitted. Leoni smiled again, and the corner of Adrik’s mouth moved upwards a fraction of an inch.

“We’ll see you around, then.”

Strangely, Kuwei felt himself looking forward to it. They made an odd trio- two saints and a boy that didn’t exist- but they fit, somehow. He felt the jagged cracks in his heart slowly being patched over.

#soc #six of crows #soc writing #kos #king of scars #kos writing #leoni #adrik #adreoni #kuwei #david #grishaverse #leigh bardugo #my writing

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grishaversebigbang · 4 years

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#33 - big bang energy drink crime family

Project Info

Gang name: big bang energy drink crime family

Title: The World Will End in Fire

Synopsis: Three years after the Ravkan Civil War, Harshaw is still reeling from the battle. With his friends either dead, faking their death, or away on missions, the Inferni finds himself often alone with no one but Oncat and his flames for company. Then one day Zoya demands he help control the new Inferni Nhaban. Both orphans from countries that wanted to use them for parts, the two bond and bring a little (okay a lot) of chaos to Os Alta.

Gang Introduction

@legolasofmirkwoodforest

Role: etherealki

Short introduction/fun fact: my favorite celestial body is the moon

@makotonomonogatari

Role: Materialki/Artist

Short introduction/fun fact: Mixed-race British-Japanese, and studying 3D Animation at uni ^^ I want to go into storyboarding when I graduate!!

@niecity

Role: Materialki/Artist

Short introduction/fun fact: last year I lost my glasses on a roller coaster because I forgot to take them off

@bdhead

Role: Materialki/Artist

Short introduction/fun fact: friendship ended with relevant grishaverse characters my new best friend is kuwei yul-bo

@notbynary

Role: Materialki/Artist

Short introduction/fun fact: I probably wasn’t created as a genetic experiment

@reapersbarge

Role: Corporalnik

Fun fact: When Laura marries the moon, I’m going to be her maid of honor so I can hit on the sun.

#gvbbgangintro #grishabigbang20

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zemenipearls · 5 years

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Advent Writing Challenge Day 4 - Cure

Requested by @6crowgang

Nhaban was not who everyone thought he was. But the key to not being found out, he discovered, was easy. Hide it behind something else. His arrogance hid something much more dangerous - Ravka's secrets. Some knew who he was. A Shu boy with passable language skills and an incredible gift for fire. The King knew about his father. Nina even knew him from Ketterdam.

But Ravkan arrogance was worse than most. The arrogance in assuming all grisha wanted to be there. That they were the best the world had to offer. The last stronghold. Even General Nazyalenskaya thought so.

They didn't realize he thought about a Zemeni boy. That Nhaban valued life, and freedom. Ravka didn't offer him real freedom. Not what he wanted. Novyi Zem, better known as Nyota Heri, had open skies, wealth, and true equality for his kind. And he craved it so deeply.

Ravka thought they could find a cure for parem. They never would. Not when they were going to betray their allies, the Zemenis. The only place in the world where jurda could grow and flourish. And Atiena, that beautiful Zemeni woman with a self assured voice and compassionate aura, offered him a glimpse of what he wanted. To help. To be powerful. To grab ahold of his own fate. Not through colonizers, not through Kings and the relation to his father.

Nhaban was Kuwei, and he would control his own fate.

#advent writing challenge #kuwei yul bo #zeu #my writing #six of crows #fan fic #nhaban #ravka #grishaverse

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kindness-ricochets · 5 years

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Prompt: “Let’s get wasted and then go piss on his grave.”

Fic-a-day February, day 11! I’d like to preface this by saying that I assume in 10 years’ time, Nina Zenik will be very busy indeed, but I can’t imagine at what because, well, Leigh Bardugo is freaking brilliant. So I just kinda... had Nina visit.

Warning - Character death (but it’s Jan Van Eck so it’s good news, everyone!)

Technically this is in my House of Van Eck series ‘verse, but only because Jesper and Wylan are raising his half-sister. Because I am soft for ‘characters learn to be parents’ fics.

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A flawed man, that was what they said. He had been a flawed man. Still, such a brilliant one. He had a mind for business, unmatched, truly. Few held fond memories of Jan Van Eck as a man, so they reminisced about his trade deals. He had such a sharp mind. “Yes,” Wylan agreed, “and I do understand. Though for all his flaws, he was my father.” “Of course.” The parlor at the Van Eck mansion had seen more traffic these past days than in years prior. There were flowers strategically but liberally placed, kept fresh through Fabrikator craft. Tulips, mostly. Such a man of Kerch was Jan Van Eck, what other flower would rightly honor him? A portrait of the man himself sat on the mantle, wreathed in black ribbon. It was a much younger portrait, from his better days. How Jan would have surely wanted to be remembered, according to Hiram Schenck.

“I won’t impose,” said Schenck, rising to leave, “I’m sure you want to be with your family, but for all our differences, I hope you know I respect you as a peer. Should you need anything in this painful time, you are welcome to reach out.” “Thank you,” Wylan said. “I appreciate your visit and I know my father would as well.” Actually, he did not appreciate it. The pained smile Wylan gave as a maid showed Schenck to the door was the most he could manage. Schenck had said horrible things about Wylan. Called him an imbecile, a dreamer, a stain on his father’s reputation… and Wylan still might have overlooked that, but for what he said about Jesper. About their relationship. Wylan held himself together as the footsteps faded. It had been a terribly trying time. After his father’s passing, he did all he was meant to do, showed the respect any father deserved of his firstborn. The front door shut audibly. Wylan threw himself onto the settee with a sigh. Ignoring the tea and cups that had been brought out for his visitor—propriety and all that—he grabbed a cookie and stuffed it in his mouth. “Mmf. At least this farce is delicious!” He couldn’t exactly tell Hiram Schenck to get stuffed, so Wylan simply accepted his good intentions. Wylan had always harbored his suspicions about Schenck—the man had been close with Jan and if anyone knew the truth, any part of the truth, it was him. But Schenck had shown no signs of it and Wylan didn’t ask. He reached for another cookie. They were delicious. Unfortunately he had opened his eyes to retrieve one and caught sight of the portrait. Wylan couldn’t help it: he winced. Then he glared. How dare he! How dare Jan, after all Wylan had done, after Jan had finally had the decency to die—how dare he look with such judgment? Wylan raised his middle finger to the portrait and held it there while he ate his cookie, eyes closed. “Wylan Lodewijk Fahey!” Wylan scrambled to sit up, dropping his salute to his father, eyes snapping open. Apparently while he had bid his father a fond farewell (said fondness applying exclusively to the farewell, not to the father), Jesper had returned from work, their little sister in tow. Both stood in the doorway, Jesper’s hand over her eyes. “My middle name is not Lodewijk, as you well know.” “Sure, sure. Go on.” The last was to Neely, who climbed onto the settee beside her brother. “We played a game at school,” she announced. She did not like most games. “I’m sorry, sweetpea. Can I hug you?” She nodded. “Plus it was okay, because I said I didn’t want to play because I was too upset, and then I pretended to cry about my papa who died. I was very convincing, the miss let me go inside and sit quietly, so I did the maths work like you showed me. I was very convincing, Wylan.” “I believe you.” He hugged her. “And I know this hasn’t been easy.” She hated lying even more than he did. Besides, she had never even met Jan Van Eck—Wylan had seen to that! Alys thought of taking her once, when Neely was an infant. For Jan’s birthday, Alys had said. Wouldn’t that be nice for Jan’s birthday? Wylan hadn’t the heart to tell Alys it was a horrible idea, she was so sweet, so excited. Instead, after two days of fretting, he had paid Kaz to create a “firepox outbreak”. Then gone back later to, as Jesper put it, kick up a mighty little fuss because he assumed the outbreak would be faked. Wylan still didn’t know or want to know what nefarious deeds Kaz executed with that little plague as his cover. Turning to Jesper, Wylan asked, “And how was your d—what in Ghezen’s name are you wearing?” Jesper’s shirt was… was… white! He huffed indignantly. “It’s almost the same as yours, Mister Complainy-Trousers.” “Exactly!” “Yeah, one of the kids vomited on me.” “You still love it, though, don’t you?” “I do. Almost as much as I love you.” -------- After a few days of receiving visitors, Wylan and Jesper left Ketterdam, bringing with them a couple of packages that looked suspiciously like a painting and a preserved body. Wylan had spoken privately with Mister Radmakker and explained that he would very much like for his father to be interred at the lake house, as he believed it was what Jan would have wanted. Luckily Radmakker hadn’t known Jan well. He found the younger man’s devotion to his deceased father truly touching. Jan, he had said, was lucky to have had a son like Wylan. They had brought more than a body and a painting to the lake house, of course. “I never thought it would happen,” Jesper said. “I was starting to think all that evil had pickled him.” Wylan laughed. They sat in front of a fire they only borderline needed, but it was nice. It was soothing and beautiful, and made the room smell delightfully of woodsmoke. “But now he’s gone,” Jesper added. He just liked saying that. “Hear, hear.” Wylan raised his glass and took a sip of wine. “Never thought I’d learn to like wine.” “You’re just a stubborn bastard who likes learning things,” Jesper said, mock derisive. Wylan laughed and leaned against Jesper. “Thank you for loving me anyway.” “Thank you for being easy to love, sunshine.” “You two are ridiculous,” Inej announced, seating herself beside them with a glass of wine. “Inej!” Jesper set down his drink and hugged her. “It’s so good to see you, darling. I missed you.” She reached up to kiss his cheek. “I missed you, too. And you.” She offered her hand to Wylan, who squeezed it in greeting. Perhaps it should have bothered them that someone had come into their home and poured a glass of wine without either of them noticing, and had it been anyone else, they would have been bothered. But this was Inej, the best and most trustworthy friend they had. Both were just happy to see her. She tipped her glass. “Congratulations on the death of your father.” “Amen,” Jesper said. “I’ll drink to that,” Wylan agreed. And he did. The following day, they built the pyre. All three of them collected wood. They built a pile with it and laid Jan Van Eck’s preserved, wrapped body on top of it, then built it up higher, burying him in flammable materials. Only at the very end did Wylan place the portrait on the sticks. He used great care, choosing the optimal placement for it. “You’re so weird,” Jesper said. “I love it.” “I’m glorious.” “You are.”

“I learned from the best.”

“You did.” The Grisha brigade arrived not long after. They had caught a ride up from the river and looked mildly disheveled—or well-jogged, however one chose to see it! “Zenik!” Jesper shouted. “You made it!” “Wouldn’t miss it, Fahey!” “That’s also my name now,” Wylan reminded her. Legally, it was not. For the business, for the Council, Wylan had kept his name. It was professional. Instead, he had legally changed his middle name. “Whatever, baby merch,” Nina retorted, pulling him into a hug. “I’m so glad you could make it.” Jesper had moved on from hugging Nina to hugging Hanne, who was still getting used to his exuberance. Wylan wasn’t sure why—Jesper was only a bit more exuberant than Nina. Perhaps he was simply more stubborn about it. “I am forgetting all my Kerch,” said the third of the new arrivals. Wylan rolled his eyes. “No, you haven’t, Nhaban.” “Maybe I have.” “How do you put up with him, Aude?” Aude shook their head. “Thank you for inviting us, Wylan.” “Oh, you’re quite welcome.” “But… I think… maybe Nhaban and Nina were playing a joke?” “No, no, this is a party to celebrate my father’s death.” “Oh. I see.”

“He was a very bad man.” Nhaban’s partner was Suli. They were the newest addition to the group, less comfortable with the others than Hanne, probably because Hanne and Nina had been together for almost a decade now, just like Jesper and Wylan. Aude had only been with Nhaban for a little over two years. Still, they had officially become his longest-ever relationship. Looping his arm through Aude’s, Nhaban said, “I’ll be very useful here! I am an Inferni, after all!” It had taken him a long time to be proud of that, even after he reached the Little Palace. He had wanted to be a Fabrikator, like his father, and how could anyone fault him for that? They were all happy for their friend that he had come to appreciate his gifts. As afternoon wore into evening, the gathering became a proper party. Drinks were passed around. Snacks were consumed. Nina goaded Jesper into starting a round of filthy songs, then got herself drunk enough to join in. Even Inej wasn’t kind enough to pretend to like Nina’s singing. They started the fire with the branches. Although he wanted to see the portrait go up, Wylan wanted it to feel natural. He couldn’t explain why, but found it very satisfying when it happened. Kaz had arrived sometime, as subtle as Inej—helped by a rowdy group of revelers—but with less desire to announce himself. He was just there to watch a corpse burn. Wylan’s memories were vague by the next morning, flashes of incident. There had definitely been kissing. Fjerda was slow to change. So was Kerch, but they were fairly isolated and any criticism was likelier to land on Wylan, who genuinely did not care. So Hanne and Nina had enjoyed one another to the point Wylan was actually surprised they bothered to take it someplace a little more private. Nhaban had indeed enjoyed playing with the fire that consumed Jan Van Eck. He was fairly certain Aude had gotten extremely drunk. Jan had burned. Jan had burned and burned and burned, the pyre blazing well into the night. And he… “Ghezen,” Wylan whimpered. He had been drinking. “Mercy.” He head Jesper chuckling beside him. Their bedroom at the lake house wasn’t as lavish as the one in Ketterdam, but it had plenty of space and a soft bed. A smaller bed… secretly Wylan preferred that. He knew the trappings of wealth still appealed to Jesper, but a part of Wylan couldn’t help imagining sometimes having to share space with Jesper, but a smaller space, like the narrow cots that passed for beds in the Barrel. They would have been practically on top of one another! But this morning he wasn’t worried about that. He was too busy trying to understand why the sunlight sliced into his brain like a scalpel. “Did I… Ghezen. The whiskey.” “Indeed you did, merchling,” Jesper confirmed, making no effort to hide how this amused him. Villain. “Indeed you did.” Light through the window blurred, or his eyes did, and he remembered the pyre… he remembered… “Oh, no. Did I… shout at him?” Still amused, Jesper confirmed, “You did.” Wylan nodded. Okay. That was embarrassing, but not the worst thing. Nodding, though—nodding was a bad idea. He made a note to do no more of that silly thing. It made his brain rattle. “Oh—oh, Jes—did I—I kept my trousers on, didn’t I?” Wylan asked, turning quickly to face Jesper and just as quickly regretting it as the world spun around him. He had never felt this way before and he hated it. Wylan moaned and pressed his face into his hands. “You kept your trousers on,” Jesper confirmed. Thank you, Wylan thought to the Saints, to Ghezen, to whoever kept him from humiliating himself last night. At least until Jesper continued, “You got your lad out, though.” “No!” Wylan whimpered. Jesper laughed. “Wy, it was hilarious! Oh, come on, no one looked. Kaz, Inej, and Hanne don’t want to see that, Nina probably would have looked but Hanne had her busy, and Aude was giggling at the stars. And I didn’t need to look.” That didn’t exactly make Wylan feel better about exposing himself in front of all their friends. What had he been thinking…. But he knew. He knew what he had been thinking. This is why they came out to the countryside. They were scarcely going to desecrate a corpse in the middle of Ketterdam. He needed to know, though. “Did I piss on him?” “You pissed on him,” Jesper confirmed. Then he broke. He cracked up, laughing so hard he actually fell back onto the pillows. Wylan still had his face in his hands, his blush all but blistering his palms, but he felt the jolt of Jesper hitting the bed. “It was beautiful. Bottle in one hand raised in a toast, other hand at your crotch, pissing on the smoldering ashes of your father. Trust me. It was amazing. The send-off Jan Van Eck deserved. Now, come on! Get dressed and we’ll ask Hanne to take care of your head.” “Yes,” Wylan agreed. Yes, having the Healer banish this seemed very appealing indeed! “If she’ll forgive you for whipping it out.” Wylan yelped in outrage and hurled at pillow at Jesper, who laughed himself silly at how badly Wylan missed. If it hadn’t sounded painful for his bruised brain, Wylan would’ve laughed, too.

#six of crows #soc fanfic #wylan van eck #jesper fahey #wesper #inej ghafa #nina zenik #hanne brum #kuwei yul bo #technically Kaz is also there #character death #death of Jan Van Eck though #DING DONG THE WICKED WITCH IS DEAD #my writing

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