Six of Crows Oneshots

They/Them

Words: 1316

Jesper sat on the edge of Kaz' bed. He had been watching him for about an hour, trying to find the right words. Kaz had noticed that Jesper wanted to tell him something, but he didn't want to push him, so he just waited.

"Kaz?" "Mmh?" Kaz growled and only lifted his eyes to look at Jesper a few seconds later. "What are you doing?" Jesper played restlessly with the buttons of his jacket. Kaz sighed, "What do you want to tell me? You know I'm taking care of the finances and I know you don't care one bit." Jesper scratched the back of his neck. Why did Kaz know him so well? 

When Jesper said nothing, Kaz got up and limped to the bed. "What's wrong, Jes?" he asked, sitting down next to him. He stretched out the broken leg and put the other one up. His hands were clasped on the crow's head of his cane.

Jesper looked at Kaz indecisively. "I don't know how to tell you." Kaz took a deep breath. He had never been a particularly patient person, but he knew he had to be. It was important. "You can trust me, Jes. You always can. And you can talk to me about anything. You know I'll always be on your side, even if I bleed out for it." Jesper's grey eyes settled on Kaz and he smiled. "Bleeding out then, huh?" he laughed. "Come on now, spit it out!" sighed Kaz.

Jesper rubbed the back of his neck. The fingernails of his other hand drummed against the bed frame. Kaz knew Jesper and he would go through hell for him - presumably their end was to actually go through hell together - which is why he knew Jesper always drummed his fingernails when he was nervous or scared. Whatever he wanted to say to Kaz scared him. 

"Jes, calm down. It's all right, you can talk to me." "You... You are trans, right?" the Zemeni asked cautiously. Kaz nodded quietly. "I... So... What I mean... I am too." "Trans?" Jesper nodded. "So you're a woman and only biologically a man?" Jesper shook his head, "No. I... I don't feel like I belong to any gender. I am biologically male, but I don't feel like a man." Kaz was silent for a few seconds, memorising everything Jesper had said.

"Okay." he said then."Okay? It's okay with you?" "Of course, Jes! Do you want me to keep using he/him or do you have other pronouns?" Jesper smiled. "Actually I use they/them." he replied and couldn't stop grinning.

It should have been clear that Kaz would accept Jesper, yet they had been afraid to tell Kaz. Kaz and Jesper had been best friends for so long and Kaz had confided in Jesper long ago that he was born in a woman's body. Jesper had accepted him immediately, why shouldn't they? Still, they were worried that Kaz would not accept it so easily. 

What if Kaz had found that there could only be man and woman? And could also only be trans as a man or a woman. But Kaz didn't care. He just wanted Jesper to be happy. They deserved all the happiness in the world. Jesper looked at Kaz and smiled, "I love you." "I love you too, you maniac." "Said the psychopath." Kaz laughed and put an arm around Jesper. 

He pulled them closer. The Zemeni rested their head on Kaz's shoulder. Kaz leaned his head against the other. "Okay, because you seem to trust me right now.... You'd really die for me, huh?" "I prefer to kill someone for you. But I could die for worse people than you." Jesper laughed and raised their head, "Don't be scared." 

Kaz didn't like the sound of that at all and literally froze. Jesper carefully leaned closer to Kaz and kissed him on the hair. Kaz relaxed at the touch. He hated skin contact and closeness was generally abhorrent to him, but he loved Jesper and he had become used to closeness from them. Jesper didn't know the story and Kaz wasn't sure he would ever tell it. But Jesper had understood that Kaz did not want his skin touched, so they did not. It was rare, careful kisses on the hair, a pat on the shoulder or a hug on the arm. On good days, maybe even a real hug - with Kaz actually hugging back.

~*~*~

Kaz sat at the table and went about his business. Jesper sat next to him and built a house of cards. "I picked up a grocer's boy," Kaz said after a while. "Is he cute?" grinned Jesper. "Yes, but that's not the point. If I keep letting him run around the Barrel by himself, he'll be dead before Monday. Get him to the Crow Club for me and keep an eye on him. If you get him laid, I'll beat you up. He's practically a baby." "Noted." replied Jesper and rose.

Kaz let a card with an address on it appear between his fingers. He handed it to his best friend and Jesper reached for it. "Make out?" "Jesper, hands off the kid!" "Fine!" Jesper raised their hands in surrender and left the club. 

They walked through the streets looking for the hostel Kaz had sent them to. As a description of the boy, they only had "I know your taste - the little one you would title cute" in Kaz's scrawly handwriting on the back of the card. Jesper wasn't sure if that was a good description, but knowing the characters who lived in hostels in the Barrel, finding a boy they would call cute shouldn't be that hard. 

They entered the hostel. It smelled strongly of beer and Jesper would rather be in a filthy alley than here. Jesper put their fingers in their mouth and whistled loudly: "Shut up and listen! All the people who live in the hostel down here! Now!" The manager of the hostel looked at Jesper intimidated. He knew they belonged to Dirty Hands. Then he sent someone up the stairs and a few minutes later more people came down into the room. 

Jesper stood on a table. They looked around and smiled when they saw a boy. He squeezed himself into a corner and looked like he wanted to disappear. And he was really cute. "You!" Jesper shouted and jumped off the table. They went up to the little boy and pulled up their sleeve to show their tattoo. "Dirty Hands sent me. I'm supposed to take you to the club." 

The boy's blue eyes looked at him worriedly and then he nodded slowly. "M-My things are upstairs." "Then go get them." He nodded and ran up the stairs. Jesper looked around in time. There was a lot to steal here. Money, at least. Jesper hoped the little boy could run fast. 

~*~*~

"Run, run, run, run!" Jesper shouted and grabbed the boy by the collar of his jacket. They pulled him along until they arrived in a dark alley. Laughing, Jesper leaned against the wall. "What the hell?" the boy gasped and dropped his bag on the floor. Jesper immediately picked it up again: "What you let out of your hands gets stolen! Remember that!" "Like you stole the money?" Jesper grinned. They liked the sweetie's quick wit. 

"Jesper." they introduced themselves and held out their hand to their counterpart. "Wylan." "What are your pronouns?" The boy smiled overjoyed, "He/him." "Mine are they/them. And that was a trans smile just now." "What?" asked Wylan, confused. Jesper smiled knowingly, "You're trans. I've never seen a cis person smile like that when you ask them what their pronouns are." Wylan turned bright red. 

"Come on, let's get you home, sweetie." They put their arm around the little one's slender shoulders and gently pulled him along towards the crows' club.