Kaz Brekker Imagines

Saints in the Barrel

Kaz Brekker is not used to being surprised in his city. He's made it a trademark to know everything, to recognize everyone who dares step foot on the curving cobblestones or make a living behind crumbling brick facades. He's pretty good at it, too, thanks to a combination of his own wit and his Wraith's penchant for happening upon secrets.

This is why his frown deepens slightly on one rainy afternoon, when he's just finished running through the Crow Club numbers for the night and he happens to look outside his window. Kaz's eyes fall upon the usual assortment of hangers-on who frequent this area of the Barrel at this hour: tired businessmen coming back from early meetings, wired con artists heading to the beginning of their meetings, and the usual ragtag assortment of pickpockets and gamblers all starting to disperse throughout Ketterdam for the night.

However, Kaz sees one figure among them that he doesn't recognize. This in itself isn't entirely peculiar; thanks to the regular arrival of money-spending hordes from Fifth Harbor, strangers are welcomed with open arms and itching fingers. However, the usual details he'd expect to see in a pigeon fresh from brighter shores aren't there- no glint of a watch chain or ill-concealed purse, no wide eyes taking in the sights, no inconsistent steps as they struggle to find their way through the labyrinth of alleyways and back corners that makes up the Barrel.

No, whoever this is, they're used to the disorder and chaos of the streets. In fact, they move with such quiet grace, hand resting somewhere above the place where a knife or gun should be, that Kaz believes they're a regular here. But, if they were a regular, and someone who moves like they have a secret to keep, Kaz should know them. Yet he doesn't. It's strange.

Kaz Brekker has little time for mysteries. People who don't act exactly as they should tend to upset his customers, or ruin his meticulously plotted heists. So, when presented with a mystery such as the hooded figure currently making their way through the shadows of his sector of the city, Kaz has to understand it. He reaches for his cane, standing up to pace closer to the window for a better look. He hangs back just inside the room so that no one will see him peering out, but there he stands nonetheless. Kaz watches, and waits, and at last, he turns away.

No one expresses surprise that Kaz is leaving the Slat at this time of night. In Barrel terms, it's still relatively early, despite the fact that the moon hangs as solidly in the sky as if it were a part of a giant mobile. Kaz's cane thunks rhythmically against the cobblestoned streets, but despite the sound, few people turn to look at him. They're either used to the noise or it fades away entirely into the din of Ketterdam.

Kaz finds the newcomer soon enough, although he does not approach just yet. Instead, he waits, silently tailing them as they walk briskly throughout the city. At last, the figure stops, and Kaz has to move quickly to avoid losing them in the crowd. The figure has disappeared into an alleyway; it takes Kaz a moment to realize why they stopped there, and then his eyes widen slightly as he realizes what's happening.

There are two figures at the far side of the alleyway: a man and a woman. The guy's a banker, Kaz has seen him around the city. Right now, though, he's not exactly involved in the typical behavior of an upstanding citizen- he's cornered some girl, and is breathing drunkenly down her front as he tries to convince her to leave with him. The girl looks panicked, but she doesn't have to worry about the man for too much longer- Kaz's mysterious stranger has already leapt into action.

The stranger moves efficiently, pulling the banker off of the girl before anything happens and forcing him to the ground. When he tries to resist, the stranger slams her fist into his head and he stops moving, unconscious for the time being. The stranger jerks her head towards the opening of the alleyway and the girl takes off. Kaz sidesteps into the shadows to avoid being seen, but the girl barely glances in his direction.