Of Crows and Eagles // Grishaverse

Regrouping

Jesper

"Don't answer it," Wylan said, glancing up from his work for the first time in hours.

Jesper sighed. They both knew without a doubt who was waiting on their doorstep. "I don't see how it matters," he grumbled, "Considering he can and will just let himself in."

"But," Wylan argued, "If he does that, we can just call the stadwatch on him and still get away with not having to talk to him."

Jesper reached across the table and ruffled Wylan's hair. He ducked out of the way, but not before Jesper had managed to muss up more than a few of his ruddy gold curls. "I hate to break it to you, Wy, but we'd probably end up in jail with him."

"Don't call me that," Wylan said, but he was grinning.

Just then, a loud, aggressive knock sounded from the door. "My lock picks are at the Slat," a familiar, rasping voice called, "Please just make this easy on me for once."

Jesper used his hands to push himself away from the table. "His lock picks are definitely not at the Slat," he said, sauntering toward the door.

Wylan sighed. "Just know that you aren't required to agree to whatever he's going to ask you to do."

"If you say so, Wy," Jesper called back with a wink. He chose to ignore whatever Wylan muttered in response to the nickname.

Jesper reached the door and flung it open. On the porch stood not one, but two familiar figures. No surprise, Kaz Brekker was one of them, one hand curved around his crow's head cane. Beside him, stood Inej, his free hand clutched in hers.

Jesper blinked. Kaz and Inej caught him staring and immediately let go of each other, though he thought he caught a flash of disappointment in both of their eyes.

"I didn't know Inej was here," Jesper said stupidly.

Wylan's voice rose from the other room. "Inej is what?"

There was a shuffling of papers, the clatter of footsteps, and what might've been a crash as Wylan appeared in the doorway beside Jesper. "You're back!" he exclaimed. Jesper watched as Wylan's grin slowly morphed into a confused frown. "Why didn't you tell us you were coming?"

"Unimportant," Kaz said, waving the question away. "Let us in."

Jesper turned to Wylan, an unspoken question in his eyes. In response, Wylan just shrugged, his blue eyes twinkling. "If he brought Inej, it can't be anything too terrible."

Jesper didn't miss the death stare that both Kaz and Inej cast at them.

Wylan

Wylan hastily shuffled his papers into a disorganized pile as Kaz, Inej, and Jesper settled themselves down at the table. Kaz leaned back in his chair and tented his fingers, while Wylan just sighed. He really wasn't in the mood for breaking the law.

"Pour me some whiskey," Kaz said to Jesper, who gave an irritated huff that Wylan found rather endearing, and rose from the table. A moment later, he returned, carrying a half-empty bottle of Kerch whiskey in one hand and four precariously stacked glasses in the other.

Jesper set the items on the table. Turning to Wylan, he said, "Don't tell your mother I'm drinking again."

Wylan laughed. "Don't give me a reason to." He leaned over and poured them each a generous serving, draining the bottle down to the dregs. They each grabbed a glass, Jesper, to Wylan's annoyance, taking the most full.

"So," Kaz began, "How would you like to go to a wedding?"

Wylan spit out his whiskey. Whatever he had been expecting, it wasn't this. Jesper looked equally surprised. His mouth had fallen into a perfectly round O, and his gray eyes were flicking frantically between Kaz and Inej.