Chapter Text
Kaz Brekker had a few different love languages when he was a child. He loved telling his family how much he loved them, he loved hugging them, and he loved to spend time with them. But after everything he’s been through, Kaz has only one love language: gift-giving.
He doesn’t tell his friends how much he loves them and how grateful he is for them, it doesn’t come easy for him. Quality time is nice to have with them, but Kaz is an introvert. He can’t handle being around a lot of people for a long time or around one person for a long time. It doesn’t suit him. As much as he would love to be able to hug his friends on their birthdays, or hold Inej’s hand for longer than ten minutes, his touch aversion won’t allow him to do so. So, naturally, he ended up finding another love language, one that suits him perfectly.
He first discovered his new love language a few months after he met Jesper. Kaz was fifteen at the time and had been without a true friend since Jordie died. He couldn’t trust anyone, only himself. Then he met Jesper. Arrogant, loud, unfocused Jesper. Kaz couldn’t stand him. But, one night, Kaz saw Jesper attempting to flirt with a boy who had no interest in Jesper. The boy brushed Jesper off as if he was nothing but a fly hovering around him. All Jesper did was give a small, flustered smile, and Kaz was reminded of Jordie. That’s when Kaz decided maybe having Jesper around wouldn’t be too bad.
A week after Kaz decided Jesper’s presence wasn’t a complete nuisance, Kaz was stabbed in the leg during a fight. His good leg, too. Kaz wasn’t able to walk for almost three weeks. The stab wound wasn’t terrible, but Kaz wasn’t able to move through the Barrel without being vulnerable. So, Kaz rented a room at the Geldrenner Hotel.
Kaz hated the idea of bed rest, but he hated being out of the Barrel even more. He was determined to return to the Slat and Crow Club as soon as he could. So he did bed rest the right way. Sleeping the recommended amount, even more, when Kaz would get bored. He ate good meals, tried to keep off his feet, but sometimes he just had to move around the room. Kaz was slowly dying of boredom, but then Jesper showed up.
Jesper had been losing his mind at the Slat and Crow Club. He had to follow Per Haskell’s orders now, not Kaz’s. It was hell. He kept being assigned jobs he couldn’t do and then yelled at for not being able to do them. So, he decided to visit Kaz.
Jesper wasn’t close with Kaz, despite considering him his best friend, but he did know Kaz’s favorite foods. He had frequently eaten meals with Kaz all over Ketterdam. Jesper could remember all of Kaz’s favorite orders from his favorite restaurants. He knew bringing Kaz his favorite food would cheer Kaz up and put him in a great mood for company.
When Jesper showed up to Kaz’s hotel room, arms full of Kaz’s favorite foods, he was shocked, to say the least. In fact, he was so shocked he actually conveyed his emotions on his face. This was the first time Jesper had seen Kaz shocked, so Jesper was pumped for the night of food and talking that would happen. Although, that’s not how it started.
Jesper set all the food down on the table in the little dining area of the hotel room. He pointed to all the foods, naming what they were and where he got them from, and then sat down to eat. Kaz sat in his own chair across from Jesper, his face fixed into his blank expression once again. Jesper looked up from the noodles he was eating, confused.
“Why aren’t you eating? I know you love all of this food.”
“Why are you here?” Kaz raised his brow, skeptical. “Shouldn’t you be gambling?”
“I want to spend time with my best friend, Kaz. Plus, you’re in pain. I’m here for moral support.” Jesper smiled slightly, then stopped when Kaz glared at him. Jesper continued eating, staring at the table,
A few minutes later, still glaring at Jesper, Kaz grabbed the container of Hutspot. “Don’t eat any of this. This is mine.”
“All yours, Kaz. But I got dibs on one of the rolls.”
“Here, you bonehead.” Kaz throws one of the rolls on his left to Jesper. Jesper catches it in his hand with a wink. Kaz rolls his eyes playfully and continues to eat his food.
Kaz realized, later that night when he was almost falling asleep, that he felt cared for when Jesper brought him food. Kaz didn’t understand why, but he knew he wanted to give Jesper something in return, as a thank you.
Two weeks later, Kaz was back at the Slat and Crow Club. His leg was mostly healed, he couldn’t walk for too long on it, but Kaz knew he was okay to return back to work. He still wanted to get Jesper something, but he had no idea what. He didn’t just want to give Jesper money, although he would appreciate it for gambling. Kaz was constantly searching for something to give to Jesper. He felt like it was the right thing to do. And Kaz trusted his gut, so if it said to buy something for Jesper, he was going to buy something for Jesper. He just needed to find the right thing, which was much harder than Kaz had expected.
But then, when he and Kaz were on a job to stalk some upcoming mercher, Jesper complained about his guns. Which never happens, so, naturally, Kaz was all ears.
“They just won’t fit into any holster I’ve seen. Some are too small, some are too big, and the others are too ugly.” Jesper made a disgusted face. “I can’t put these beauties into ugly holsters. I just can’t.”
Kaz was going to ask what kind of holsters Jesper didn’t like, but their mercher moved down the streets. They followed him and got the job done. Afterward, Jesper returned to the crow club, but Kaz had a personal job to do. He had finally found what he was going to get Jesper. He could already imagine what the two holsters looked like. Black shoulder holsters with an engraving in them. Kaz could vaguely remember Jesper saying he liked shoulder holsters better, so that was a relief. All he had to do now was figure out what engraving would be.
The next day, Jesper Fahey woke up in his room at the Slat like usual. He got dressed in his colorful clothes, styled his hair, winked at himself in the mirror. Just like usual. He opened his nightstand that had a padlock because he lives in the Barrel™️ and paused.
Inside the nightstand were his guns. That was normal, but the black holsters his guns were inside were not. Jesper pulled his guns out of the holsters and looked closely at the holsters. They were black shoulder holsters, with an engraving in them. ‘No Mourners’ was engraved into the left holster and ‘No Funerals’ was engraved into the right holster. Both engravings were in red and stood out brightly against the black.
Quickly, Jesper put the holsters onto his body, his guns fit snugly inside them. He closed his nightstand, locked the padlock again, and was almost to the door before he froze. Who was capable of getting through his locked bedroom door, his locked nightstand, and out of his room without Jesper waking? Jesper didn’t wonder much, he knew who was capable of that. The same person who was told about my trouble with holsters yesterday, Jesper thought in a blur as he ran to the Slat’s attic.
Jesper knocked on the door twice before he heard Kaz say to come in. Jesper walked in, did a spin with his coat open enough for Kaz to see the holsters, and said “I love them. They’re perfect! No mourners, no funerals engraved in them? Brilliant! I’m going to gloat to every other Dreg about them.” And Jesper was off running down the stairs again, Kaz’s door slamming shut behind him.
A ghost of a smile graced Kaz’s lips. He had paid Jesper back in the best way he could. Jesper has his holsters, Kaz’s urge to pay Jesper back is gone, and Kaz won’t be asked to let someone be his second ever again.