Crows of a Feather

Counting Flowers

Erine

The Crow Club was as busy as it always was. Men sitting around gambling tables up to their waist in some sort of alcohol. Women spread about with their shares of winning and wine, needless to say, it was rowdy. And as much comfort as the scene brought her, Erine didn't like the sound of rowdy. She had left her earplugs upstairs, again, leaving her slightly overwhelmed with the loud noises of the club. But the hot chocolate Kaz had promised her was enough motivation to stay.

She ran to Jesper jumping into the seat next to him, Kaz briskly limping after her. Once he reached the bar Kaz took Jesper a shot of whatever alcohol he ordered. Erine didn't understand why people had such a desire for the tonics. Why drink something that burns when there is perfectly delicious Hot Chocolate? Kaz had bought her hot chocolate for the first time after a long job that left her totally drained and on edge, he gave it to her saying she was being unbearable to work with in that state. From then on she would ask for hot chocolate anytime she could.

"You alright boss?" asked the Zemini boy, Kaz just stared down at the table " No." he answered flatly, Jesper looked across to Erine on the other side of Kaz and gave her a questioning look, 'we were paid a visit' she signed to him. " We've been warned off the job" Kaz finished gesturing to Erine. Erine was pleased Kaz saw them as some sort of packaged deal, Yes he did the dirty work and she only ran errands and spied for him. But the Bastard and his Panther had been working together since he had found her three years ago, to her there were no Dirtyhands with no Panther. And there definitely was no Panther without Dirtyhands.

"By who?" Jesper asked, Kaz spared Erine's bandaged hand a glance as she picked up her warm mug of hot chocolate, glaring at his sharpshooter " Who do you think?" Jesper looked at Erine for confirmation, to which the young girl nodded. Kaz hated Pekka, that much any Crow knew. She didn't know why Kaz had an unfillable hatred for the man, she was too scared to ask him, so she had a couple of theories. Some she brought up to Kaz to which he would just scoff and answer 'worse' or 'not even close'. After a while, he snapped telling her to leave it, and like a dog she obeyed.

" Did he recognize you? Or Erine?" Jesper inquired once again, Erine was about to correct him that Pekka didn't really know her at all, but seeing Kaz face the crowd with his pocket watch in hand, she got distracted. " If he had, we'd be dead. Sunrise is in five hours." he said, leading the two other crows into the club's heart. " yeah, but we're off the job now, right?" Erine smacked Jesper for his stupidity "Never make decisions out of fear Jesper. Only out of spite." " Well, greed always worked for me, '' he countered. Erine looked at the boy ' Has it though?' Jesper glared "Why you little-" Erine squealed as she ran to the other side of Kaz to avoid Jesper grabbing hands, which were immediately smacked back by the Boys cane. " Go guard the door." and with that, it was just Erine and Kaz.

" Alright, Erine it's time for a game of Eye Spy," Kaz said as he looked amongst the players and dealers. Erine perked at the mention of a game, " I need you to spot who doesn't belong here, and why" He instructed and gestured for the girl to look out in the crowd. Erine focused her eyes on the dealers first, checking to see if she recognized them from sitting with Jesper, finding nothing out of the ordinary she moved on to the players. She took note of the ones who looked Kerch, how the men held themselves in certain ways, she noted the couple of Zemini who had been playing in the corner. Erine was starting to worry she wouldn't find anything until she set her eyes on the card table. There was a woman, a Ravkan woman. She was dressed in an assortment of rags and kept her head down like she was trying to blend in. To the Panther that only made her stand out, but that wasn't what caught Erine's attention. It was the way she counted that gave away her secret. Casting her cheshire grin as she found what Kaz was looking she ever so gently tugged the sleeve of his coat. ' I spy with my little eye... the lady in rags at the cards table. She counts funny'.

If she wasn't looking for it, Erine would've missed the slight tug at Kaz's lips " Well done, Katje. I just might owe you another Hot Chocolate" he said. Kaz then caught the attention of one of his bouncers and signaled to bring the women to his Office.

Kaz

" I don't understand. I wasn't cheating." The lady said as she sat in front of his desk. Kaz Brekker knew better, after all, one doesn't get banned from playing at every gambling hall in the barrel by not cheating. He paid the lady no mind as he opened the safe behind the painting in his office, grabbing the stack of Kruge that lay on top of Erine's deed. "You've been here every night for a week. You don't play Makker's Wheel or Ratcatcher, only cards. Because you keep track of what's played" he stated, turning to her, "Well, that is not cheating." She was right it wasn't, but Dirtyhands didn't care all that much about cheaters; his real prize had yet to be revealed. " No, but I'll have to add an extra deck to your table to keep things more... balanced"

He slammed the money down in front of her. "An incentive to keep playing. Count it for me." he gestured for Erine to come closer to watch. Kaz's eyes never left the lady's hands as she hesitantly began to count the Kruge, she only was able to count for a few seconds before Kaz stopped her with his cane. 'Got ya' he thought. "Where are you from?" even though he knew the answer. " West Ravka. Os Kervo '' she answered, out of the corner of his eye he saw Erine perk up at the information, finally connecting the pieces. " West Ravkans count their money from one hand to the other. But people out east who work the mines in Sikursk, they count like you do." if there was one thing Kaz loved more than money. It was calling out someone's lie, a way to prove he knew better, he was better. The lady immediately placed down the money " I am from West Ravka" " West Ravkans don't mention the 'west' part." He bested once again " To them, there's just Ravka and the old country. You're lying about where you're from because you've fled. You're hiding." Dirtyhands then saw her resolve break, he had taken away any hope she had of hiding the truth. Something he knew how to do very well.

" My daughter is Grisha." Kaz looked at Erine as he straightened to stand " Neither of us wanted her to fight in the war. You can't make us go back. I know you are young sir, but if you had a child- wouldn't you save them from war" she attempted to gain his empathy. Kaz glared at her, he didn't have time for empathy. He didn't have time to let his brain wander to the thought of Erine being taken from him to fight. He couldn't. " No, I'm not after you, but you need to tell me how you and your daughter got through the Fold unscathed and unnoticed. Now," he demanded, he noticed her hesitation- she wanted empathy from him, and maybe he could get some empathy from her.

Kaz motioned for Erine to come to his side, and she quickly did, putting on her best puppy face. Kaz took a deep breath and placed his hand on the little girl's shoulder. It was time to act, " My sister, lost her voice in a terrible accident- she needs healers only East Ravka has, so I need to get across the fold." he said, doing his best to show enough concern to tug at the woman's heart, it seemed to work. " he just went by a title. The conductor, we paid him in advance and he took us across in some special transport. It was noisy-" he felt Erine shy at the description under his hand " but he had us wear hoods, so we couldn't share how he did it. I'm sorry about your sister- I don't know what else to tell you." she choked back the tears.

Kaz let go of Erine and dropped his head over the desk in thought, time was running out. But at least now he had some semblance of a lead. " Give me something. A name. An address, A contact, someone he worked with." he laced his voice with desperation, playing on emotions was too easy for him. " he left us with a stage performer who took us in for a few nights. Poppy" Kaz groaned in his head, of course, it was Poppy. " Where's Poppy working these days?" he asked Erine 'Emerald palace' she signed. Kaz took a deep breath and sighed, " Go." and the woman left. The bouncer followed her out, only leaving the bastard and the Panther.

" Well Katje, this has to be the most exciting night you've had in a while. Let's go visit our dear friend Poppy" he said as he grabbed his coat and cane, heading for the door. He held it open for the girl to go in front of him " My friend" she said as she walked out the door.