This is the third time I've started this fic and the fourth idea I've had. Hopefully you all like it.
This is set the winter before most of the SoC stuff I've been posting recently (still approximately six years after CK). Jesper and Kaz are both twenty-three (ish).
Temperatures are in Fahrenheit because I'm a clueless American who doesn't actually know "how cold is really cold?" in Celsius.
The medical stuff in this is probably pretty dubious, but Ketterdam is loosely set in the 17/18th century so that probably gives me some leeway.
If you want to prompt me my Tumblr url is emjenenla. Also if you're interested in seeing more of this timeline, follow me not the story because I will probably be posting fics separate from one another.
When Jesper arrived at the Slat, Kaz was standing behind his desk in what had once been Per Haskell's office preparing to go out.
He wasn't sure why he was surprised.
"You want to explain why you're going to go out into the negative twenty-five degree cold when you almost died of pneumonia a week and a half ago?" Jesper asked folding his arms and leaning against the door to Kaz's office pseudo-casually.
"You're exaggerating," Kaz said leaning over to look at the papers spread across the desk. "It's not that cold. Negative fifteen, maybe."
"No, it's actually negative twenty-five, Wylan made a thermometer for the house," Jesper said. "What's your next excuse?"
"If that's true," Kaz said, then paused to cough into the crook of his elbow. Jesper winced. The medik who'd treated Kaz said the cough would linger, but it still sounded bad. "It that's true," Kaz repeated once he'd regained his breath, acting like the fit had never happened, "then why are you here? Especially since Saturday is your and Wylan's date night."
"I'm not even going to let myself wonder how and why you know our schedule," Jesper said. "And I'm here because we heard about that kvas shipment coming into Third Harbor tonight and we wanted to make sure you weren't going to do something idiotic like, hmm, I don't know, hiding outside all night waiting to snatch a shipment of alcohol when its twenty-five below and the wind blowing off the harbor's just going to make it colder and you should be inside recovering."
"I need this job to go smoothly," Kaz said, "and I have underlings that I can't trust to do their jobs without acting in their own self-interest without my direct supervision. I'm going."
Jesper heaved a sigh and raised his eyes to the ceiling. "Honestly, Kaz, you're acting like a child. It's cold. You were sick and you don't want to get sick again; do the sensible thing and stay inside tonight. Or better yet come back with me and spend the night somewhere that actually has insulation keeping all the heat from escaping through the walls!"
Kaz was across the room and up in Jesper's face almost before he realized it. "Despite what you think, I am completely capable of taking care of myself," Kaz snarled then immediately contradicted himself by bursting into another coughing fit.
Jesper waited for him to finish, then said, "See: my point."
Kaz growled and stalked back across the room. "I'm going tonight," he said picking up the long black coat hanging over the back of his desk chair. "Nothing you say can change my mind, and we both know you're not capable of stopping me."
He was right; there wasn't a person in Ketterdam capable of stopping Kaz, especially not these days. The level of influence Kaz has wrangled over the city in the last six years was a little terrifying. Inej was the only one who could reliably talk him out of things and even she had trouble when he got this obstinate. Plus, she had left with her crew in chase of a slaver too notorious to pass up a few days earlier.
Jesper sighed, knowing he was beaten. "At least wear a different coat," he said. "That one looks like you've had it since you were seventeen."
"This is my coat," Kaz said, as good as confirming he'd been wearing the same coat for the last six years. He'd grown since then, but the coat's sleeves still fit him so he must have let them out. Jesper wondered if at any point it had ever crossed Kaz's mind that he was a multi-millionaire and could afford to buy a new coat. Probably not: that was probably too close to self-care to penetrate Kaz's brain. Most Barrel Bosses became extravagant after coming into power, but if anything Kaz had become more austere.
"Wear mine then," Jesper said, starting to undo the buttons. "It's new and warm."
"It's also lime green. I'm not wearing it, Jes," Kaz sounded a little fond, which was a hard emotion to squeeze out of him. He buttoned his old coat up with a certain finality. Now that Jesper knew to look it was obvious that Kaz's coat only barely fit in the arms and was overall big for him. That made too much sense. Kaz was taller than he had been at seventeen, but he was much thinner and he'd gotten that way so gradually Jesper hadn't noticed until the damage was done.
"Please, Kaz," he said, aware that he was begging and would never get anywhere. "Just come back to the house with me."
"Ketterdam stops for no one," Kaz said. He snatched up his cane and a scarf and mittens, Jesper figured he should be glad his friend was even thinking that far ahead.
Kaz crossed the room and stopped in front of Jesper. "Have a nice night, Jes," he said, then stepped around him and out the office door, shouting for his gang as his went.