FAVOURITE CRIME, kaz brekker.

02. HELL TO THE LIARS

trigger warnings:
descriptions of violence, injury's,
a loss of blood, violent flashbacks.

Darya had swiftly changed in to her usually Ketterdam attire, it was an outfit similar to Inej's. Minus the hood and the knives. And replacing her waistcoat with a corset. So it wasn't totally like Inej's, but she had swapped out her usual revealing dresses for the sake of her friend.

    "This way."

It wasn't the Crow Club, that much was true. Like most buildings in the Barrel, it was built without foundations on swampy land where the canals were haphazardly dug. As a result, the buildings leant against each other, tilting at drowsy angles, which didn't help with Darya's nerves to say the least.

Inside are cramped rooms and crooked hallways. It was confusing but she stayed close to Inej.

She was pulled into yet another dimly lit room, and when she spun back around she was faced with a maroon coloured, shirt covered chest.

"Who are you?"

"Wha— who are you?"

Darya frowned.

"Jesper. Oh! You're Inej's little friend." He hummed to himself, a smile etching across his face as he popped a, lollipop? — into his mouth and stepped aside.

Darya turned to Inej. "Little?"

"You are quite short." She shrugged.

"It's true. Is that a medical thing or—?"

"Jesper!" Inej gasped. "You can't ask people that."

"No," She replied. "Not a medical thing. Have you ever considered that you're just unreasonably tall, Jesper?"

He chuckled. "I have actually. Did you know short people are closer to hell?"

"I can take you for a visit, if you'd like." She retorted, titling her head at him.

"Are you two done?" A fourth voice.

Darya's eyes darted forwards. Kaz Brekker.

She sent Inej a glare, one that said 'you didn't tell me Kaz Brekker was the person who's life I'd be saving on this fine Saturday evening'. Nevertheless, she managed to keep the rest of her worries to herself, she never hesitated. That was her 'thing' in Galina's words.

"Are you the healer?" He asked, his voice rough.

Darya noticed the way he flinched, he inhaled sharply as he took off his coat.

    "Kaz, this is Darya. I trust her."

Kaz looked up, for a moment she was almost certain his eyes had searched every visible part of her body before they met her own.

    "It's me helping you or you bleeding to death." She grew more annoyed and she knew it was obvious in her voice, but she didn't care.

He muttered something under his breath, something Darya couldn't hear. She turned to Inej who sent her a small smile and nodded towards Kaz.

    She could almost smell his uncertainty.

"You know, I never really gave healers a second thought until now." Jesper piped up, prompting both Darya and Kaz to turn to the sharpshooter with a confused look on their faces. "Right. Shutting up."

    "That's quite the wound, Mr Brekker." She said quietly as Jesper and Inej returned to their conversation.

Kaz smiled, not in the kind way or the endearing way, in the way where if you blinked you would've missed it.

    "It's not the first, Miss Belova, and it certainly won't be the last."

She contemplated humouring him, but instead smiled to herself as she pulled off her gloves.

"Let's hope it is," She looked up to see his gaze was already on her. "For both our sakes."

The look on his face didn't go unnoticed by her, or by his crows, but the room quickly grew silent as Darya closed her eyes, focusing on what it was she wanted to heal.

Kaz was thankful she could fix it through his clothing, he would've rather bled to death than have had someone lay their hands on him. Skin to skin. The thought itself stirred an uneasy feeling in his stomach.

He shifted uncomfortably, but as quick as the feeling came it passed. His eyes flickered up and he saw her smiling at him. "Voila." Darya turned back around. "Can I go now?"

"That's probably not the best idea."

Darya turned around, glaring at Kaz. If looks could kill.... well, if looks could kill Kaz Brekker would've been dead a long time ago.

    "If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were threatening me." She spoke with a kind of humour that wasn't intended to be funny, it was bitter, like the look in her eyes.

"You wish to walk the streets of Ketterdam after saving Dirtyhands?" Kaz asked, shrugging as he spoke.

"So you admit that I saved your life?" She eyed him suspiciously, and she saw how he swallowed whatever response he had intended on giving her.

    "We can protect you, Miss Belova, whether you like it or not." Kaz didn't look up, instead he stood up, both his hands gripping the head of his cane.

Darya scoffed.

    "I've survived long enough without your protection. And I've dealt with far worse than you." She looked him up and down as she finished her sentence.

Ignoring Inej's gaze, Darya walked past Kaz, but before she could make it to the door the latter had nodded to Jesper.

    He didn't want to do it, he never did.

He slung his gun around his finger and hit her with the back of it, and just like that, everything faded to black.

AUTHORS NOTE!
nobody:
indigo reading this: sleeping beauty x