Chapter Eleven

Call Me A Reckless Wrecking Ball

The sight that greeted Kaz as he entered back into the safehouse was baffling, to say the least, and downright unsettling to say the most. Inej sat on the table laughing as Jesper stood over the small dirty stove, attempting to stir an unrecognizable mixture in a pot. The Zemeni boys' forehead was glistening from the steam rising from the pot, he and Inej were bickering light-heartedly.

"No, no turn the heat down, you're going to burn it!" Inej insisted.

"We are still on a job." Kaz reminded them sourly as he walked into the room, his nose wrinkled at the smell coming from the stove. Jesper's many skills clearly didn't extend to the kitchen.

"And we are making sure no one starves during the job, no thanks to you, Kaz," Jesper took the pot off the stove and began to serve it up. "What good is a safehouse with barely any food in it?"

"We only need enough for the night, we'll be gone by morning," Kaz turned his nose up at the bowl Jesper set in front of him. "None for me, I don't enjoy chicken."

Inej snorted as Jesper huffed indignantly, "It's Hutspot!"

"In what country?"

"I'm adding ungrateful to your list of offences," Jesper grumbled, pulling the bowl away.

"You can add 'unpoisoned to that list as well, now that we've established I'm not eating."

Inej ate from her bowl slowly, carefully hiding her facial expression in what Kaz thought was an attempt to spare Jespers' feelings. "We'll be going back to the Slat by the morning?"

Kaz nodded, "The Stadwatch has no more way of connecting this to us than any other gang in the barrel, Radmakker will have his suspicions of course, but what use are suspicions without cause? What cause would the Dregs have for going after Radmakker's merchandise if we are under the impression that we already have access to it in the first place?"

"You didn't see any problems while you took the keys back then?" Jesper questioned.

"Yes Jesper, I saw a wanted sign with your face on it, must have slipped my mind." Kaz drawled with a roll of his eyes.

"Well I hope they did my nose justice," Jesper took a bite of his food and spat it out, "that is disgusting."

"I did warn you." Kaz was in high enough moods that he ignored Jesper flipping him off.

Kaz had never planned this safehouse to be suitable for more than him, it was a miracle he had thought to include a bed at all. He had no plans to sleep tonight so when the first signs of tiredness began to show between the Dregs, he pointedly mentioned it, eyes flicking to Inej and the bags that remained under her eyes. Even Jesper looked like he could benefit from a sleep that wasn't hounded by the sounds of the Slat. The two came to an easy decision to split a few hours between each other.

"We can help to keep watch in case someone comes knocking." Jesper reasoned.

"I don't care what you do as long as you aren't bothering me." This was Kaz's final response before he sat behind the desk and began to go through the list of Radmakker's contacts, double-checking that they had crossed each one off the list. Jesper made his way up the stairs, seeming cross for a reason that Kaz didn't understand. Surely, he hadn't expected to stay up all night gossiping like school chums? The teen always seemed to reach further with Kaz, to push for a friendship Kaz could not provide. Friendships just didn't happen in the slat, Jesper was trustworthy, loyal, he could complete a job and knew not to touch Kaz, why couldn't that be enough?

He wasn't entirely sure where Jesper stayed during the remainder of the night, all Kaz knew was that it was away from him. When the lights of the morning sun began to stream in through the boarded windows, Kaz heard hushed voices from the small bedroom. If they were both awake, it was time to head back to the Slat where Kaz could meet with the other Dregs and complete the inventory. Kaz moved from his desk and made his way up the stairs. He stopped at the entrance to the room, Inej and Jesper were sat cross-legged on the floor, a pile of cards between them. They looked up at him in the doorway, ghosts of smiles still crossing their faces. Kaz felt his stomach twist in that unfamiliar uncomfortable way as he took in the scene.

"I thought you said Inej wouldn't play cards with you?" He kept the accusing tone out of his voice.

"We're playing snap Kaz, the loser has to make the bed."

"Feel like joining this round boss?" Jesper asked.

Kaz Rietveld would cross the threshold and join the two in their game, winning each time and gloating terribly that he was simply the fastest out of them. Dirtyhands' would sneer at the Dregs, mock them for playing such a childish game when there was work to be done.

Kaz Brekker shook his head and took a step back, "Hurry up and finish, we need to get back to the Slat."

It was relatively quiet when the three of them entered the Slat. A few Dregs from last night were hovering near the staircase, clearly waiting for Kaz. Others were standing by the bar, that group included Anika and Roeder, the former of whom seemed to be scolding the latter. Jesper made his way to the bar, ready for a drink. Inej followed him with a nod to Kaz, he wouldn't need them to cross-check with the others. He was making his way to the staircase when he saw Roeder shrug off Anika and approach Inej. The boy leaned forward to mutter something to Inej. Kaz watched Jesper stiffen, he clenched his jaw, cursed the saints. It was far too early, and he had had no sleep. He didn't have time for the Dregs antics.

Before Jesper could move or Kaz could further himself from the situation, Inej had struck, her leg swiped Roeder's out from under him and her fist swung out accompanied with brass knuckles. Roeder fell, clutching his face. Inej leant down and spoke to the Dreg, words that Roeder appeared to be listening to. After a moment, Inej held out her hand to him, Kaz watched as Roeder stared for a moment before grabbing it and allowing her to help him up. Roeder nodded at her before walking back to the bar, rubbing his jaw. A faint smile pulled at the corners of Kazs' mouth as Anika whacked the Dreg over the head.

Inej came to his window later in the day, he had been going through the list of everything they had managed to take, many of it was already sold off, gone from the Stadwatches noses before they could even begin to search. Kaz was trying not to stew over the loss of the Dekapple painting which he was sure was now safe behind Jan Van Eck's walls. Did the painting have any use to him? Not particularly. Did that mean he was any less drawn to it? Also no. He resolved to push the matter away.

"You should give Roeder a second chance, he's alright really."

"You should have hit him harder."

"Kaz."

"You may have fought and made up but that doesn't render Roeder as a saint in my eyes, if I was in the business of giving second chances my hands would have a lot less blood on them." He watched Inej's eyes drift to his gloved hands and away. Dirtyhands indeed. "Haven't you spent enough time with me in the last day?"

"Do you want me to leave Kaz?" She was always quick to say what she meant and didn't dance around with double meanings like so many of the scum in the barrel. He was still tired, lacking more sleep than even he was used to. Despite this, he would attempt to give her the same transparency she showed him.

"I didn't say that." You can stay, Inej, I don't mind your company. Not quite the transparency he had been aiming for but Inej nodded anyway and leant back on the window ledge. Settling herself against the wood as if the window had been made for her and her alone. What a ridiculous thought.

"How many days until we meet Radmakker again?" She asked after some time had passed. Where the only sound had been the scratching of Kaz's pen against paper.

"Seven, and it's me, not 'we'."

"Kaz, that's foolish, what if he suspects?"

"Inej, that's the Barrel, who cares?" He mimicked her tone and she rolled her eyes.

"You're being prideful-"

"The Crows Club will reopen tomorrow, Jesper and yourself have the night to enjoy the benefits of the club. I'll have a tab set up for the both of you."

"That's… not really my idea of fun."

"No, but it is most of the barrels ideas of fun, so you'll play and enjoy yourself. You'll also tell me anything the drunk pigeons choose to divulge over the course of the night." The night would be a windfall of secrets spilling from the mouths of drunk men and women.

"So, not a night off then?"

"Keep an eye on Jesper, he has a habit of making bets he can't fulfil. It will look bad for the Dregs if he makes a fool of himself."

"Babysitting Jesper may make it harder to collect information."

"I have complete faith in your admirable ability to multitask, darling Inej." He didn't think anything of the words, releasing them in a joking lilt. His eyes remained on his papers and he didn't see how her head snapped up to stare at him. When he did look up, Inej was looking out the window, brows furrowed in thought.

"What will you be doing during all of this?"

Making sure things run smoothly, "I'll be in my office in the club, selling the smaller items we've obtained. A businessman always sees his investments through."

"Is that what you believe you are?"

"I'm a businessman Inej, no more, no less."

"You're a thief, Kaz." She laughed.

"Isn't that what I just said?"

AN:

I am so sorry for the late post! Unfortunately, I have a few chronic illnesses and I had a bad flare up this weekend that made it really difficult for me to do much of anything. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, next chapter is the opening of the Crows Club! These chapters will be a bit 'world buildy' but it's needed because if we jumped from one big event to the next it would be a very short story!

We are about five months into Inej's joining of the Dregs, this means we will get to meet Nina in about five more months story-wise. My question this week to you all is should Inej's first kill take place before or after Nina joining?

Replying to Reviews

Thank you GreyHaru for reviewing!

Cat K: I had so much fun writing Kaz play a character it was so different and I didn't realise how much I like writing heists! I love the concept of the painting just being this ridiculous unnecessary thing that Kaz is just obsessed with for no good reason.

Dejede: Thank you so much for your review it made my day and motivated me to write more!

See you all this Sunday!

~ThisMayFlower