A Study in Music Theory (Wesper AU)

Ten: The Intervention

Wylan's smile was the reason Jesper could get through that last job with Kaz Brekker. Wylan's ridiculous hair and how it looked after he ran his fingers through it was how he fought quickly and quietly in that damn abandoned warehouse. Wylan's laugh was what made shooting that one person bearable. All of this gave him a reason to work quickly, just so he could get to his music lessons.

It had been a terrible job and damn near the edge of failure if Inej hadn't swept in at the last minute. Jesper felt sore and the sharp smell of blood refused to leave his nose. And here Kaz was now with the nerve to ask Jesper to finish the job with him at noon. Jesper audibly scoffed.

"As great as that sounds," Jesper said, "I'm going to have to refuse."

"This isn't something you can simply walk out of, Jesper," Kaz warned. He pursed his lips in what might have been impatience or annoyance. Jesper couldn't entirely tell with Kaz. "It was your fault Jokker got away; you didn't secure the perimeter like I told you to, and now we have to—"

"Securing the perimeter wasn't my job," said Jesper. "And I didn't see you coming up with any bright ideas when they nearly cornered us. There was nothing we could do but let them go! Would you rather they shoot one of us instead?"

"If he had any brains he would have shot your jaw off. I'd say that would shut you up, but you always seem to find a way to talk back to me."

Jesper didn't respond. He wouldn't let Kaz win something as petty as this. Not today. Not when he knew there were people out there who didn't treat him so horribly all the time.

He took a step back from a fuming Kaz. He still couldn't imagine leaving him, as much as Jesper wanted to. He looked in Kaz's eyes for any sign that a human being was still in there. Unsurprisingly, there was none. There was just the Bastard of the Barrel: future king of this hell hole. Well, Kaz deserved every bit of this horrible place.

"I'll see you tonight, Kaz," Jesper said as he began to walk out the door. "I hope your job goes smoothly without me there to mess it up."

He hated leaving Kaz like that. Part of him knew it was immature, but it was five in the morning and he needed some rest before he met with Wylan for their class. Jesper hobbled his way back to the Slat, his left leg stiffening up with every step he took. He nearly passed out from exhaustion when he got to the entrance of the building; it took everything in him to crawl up the stairs and find his room on the second floor.

Jesper stumbled onto his bed, falling face flat into the itchy blankets. And just as his head hit the pillow, he fell asleep.

Four hours of sleep. That was all Jesper could get before he was running out of the Slat. He was still grimy, and smelled of someone else's sweat and blood in his lavender and sage outfit. Never would he choose to meet with Wylan like this willingly, but he feared being late would cost him his job. He tried to think of a reasonable excuse for his appearance as he ran. Wrong place wrong time? Messy breakup?

He managed to get to the Van Eck house only three minutes late, leaping up the stairs two steps at a time before barging into the study.

"Sorry I'm late," Jesper said through heavy breathing. "Foot traffic was—" Jesper's stomach dropped when he finally looked up from the floor at the person at the table. "Mr. Van Eck."

"Good morning, Mr. Fahey." Jan Van Eck set his newspaper down and leaned back in his chair. He seemed just as happy to be there as Jesper was. "What were you going to say?"

"Oh, it's nothing, really," Jesper said awkwardly. "Just a... just a weird day and I'm not doing my... I'm sorry, but is Wylan okay?"

"He's perfectly fine," Van Eck said coolly. "Just off in his room studying for his next class."