Chapter Text
Jesper didn't know when him and Kuwei got the official title of ‘friends with benefits’, it felt like it had been going on for years yet also for only a few weeks. They had actually been fucking for a whole year, but he wasnt quite sure if thats when it had gained the title of friends with benefits. After all, there was a 3 month gap between that time and the time after, which wasnt really consistent. Actually, the whole consistency thing had only been going on for about 2 months.
So, two months?
Two months sounded about right.
These were his thoughts as he sat staring into the eyes of his so called, friend with benefit, trying to think of something sort of sexy yet also sort of casual to say to him as he fiddled with his pint of ale.
They did this almost every time they had sex, it had become sort of their thing. Like how Kaz and Inejs thing was giving eachother side eye at exactly the same time, and how Nina and Matthias thing was waffle dates. His and Kuweis thing was meeting up at the crumby old bar in the poor part of Ketterdam -the Crow Club -, drinking two pints of pale ale and then going back to Kuweis place to have incredible sex.
What a life Jesper Llewellyn Fahey leads! Incredible sex with a very attractive man twice a week.
And he was very attractive, Kuwei. He had these sort of dark inquisitive eyes, like he just knew what you were thinking, or that he wanted to know what you were thinking. And he had incredible bone structure, like weirdly impeccable. And not in a cosmetic surgery sort of way, but in an i was born with a perfect jawline kind of way.
“Your jawline is sort of crazy y’know that Kuwei?” Jesper said to him over the table, their usual table, off in a corner but where they could still see the old wood of the pub's main bar. “It's so- naturally sharp.”
Kuwei raised an eyebrow at him, (he definitely plucked them, not that he ever let Jesper see him do it.) “Naturally sharp?”
“Yeah, yeah like, it's perfect. Weirdly perfect.” (In Jespers brain, this conversation was going well.)
Kuwei shrugged. “Well I haven't had anything done, I think it's always been like this.” He touched his fingers from his chin all the way up to the bottom of his ear. Jesper imagined that it was his hand doing that to him later while Kuwei was laying on his back, that mid sex Jesper could lean in and just trace his fingers there, just to know that it wasn't a cosmetic jawline and that it was actually real.
But Kuwei would probably give him the weird look he did whenever Jesper did something weird mid sex, like that time he tried calling Kuwei a pet name and he looked at him as if he’d ordered his family to be executed.
Pro tip, don’t call Kuwei baby or sweetums, because he will not like it.
“Are you done with your IPA?” Jesper asked him. “I’ll go grab us another one and then we can head out?”
Kuwei nodded with a smile, “That would be great, thank you Jesper.” He handed him his empty glass and then proceeded to go on tiktok, while Jesper made his way to the crumby old bar to order another two camden IPAs.
The crumby old bar and everything around it was actually owned by his best friend Kaz Brekker, and his business partner slash reluctant friend Nina Zenik. They’d had it for years, since they were 20, and they treated it like any parent would treat their four year old child. With love and care, yet also as if it was the most irritating bane of their life.
The place was old, probably 19th century, the ceiling had almost caved in about three times since they’d bought it. The whole place was ugly, with a dirty carpet and old beams lining the walls like it was some sort of cheap tudor relic, but they still loved it.
Kaz had served him earlier, (in a full suit and tie no less.) and had looked at Kuwei in the corner table as if his presence had personally hurt him.
“Not this again Jesper.” He’d scowled, pouring them two pints regardless.
“He’s a good person!” He argued.
“He’s a freaky little weirdo, and we all tell you that you’re no good together.” He’d handed him the two pints. “You should listen to us, especially to Inej.”
“It's not like we’re dating.” He’d said. And it wasn't like they were dating, it was just sex. It was someone to make granola for in the morning, and an excuse to use his fancy tea bags. It was contact, it was interesting, it filled up his dark nights with intense feelings and orgasms and he enjoyed it. His friends were all just incredibly sappy romantics who thought that to be happy you needed to be dating your soulmate.
But as he approached the bar, he was relieved to see that Kaz wasn't going to stand there and stare him down as he ordered another pint for Kuwei. Instead there stood a boy that Jesper had never seen before. It was the hair first, long at the back and short at the front, and red. Coppery red curls that framed his small face as if it was a delicate painting on display at the Louvre. It certainly looked as though his face could have been framed at the Louvre, he looked almost angelic, like he was something Jesper would find on a church wall. And his freckles-
Who the fuck is this? He thought.
“Who the fuck are you?” He said to the angel boy, and angel boy opened his blue eyes in shock.
Shit.
“I didn't mean that.” Jesper said, immediately regretting opening his mouth. “I really didn't mean that.”
Angel boy raised an unplucked eyebrow at him.
“No seriously.” Jesper sounded pleading now, and was gripping the edge of the bar as if he could transport his embarrassment into it. “My friends all work here, you just startled me. I didn't know they’d hired someone new.”
Angel boy narrowed his eyes at him, as if he was figuring him out. “You know Kaz?” His voice was light, feathery, but it had a bitterness to it too.
“Kaz stressaholic Brekker? Yes. I know him well.” He said. “He’s unfortunately my best friend.”
Angel boy smiled a bit, though he still looked at him like he was some sort of maths equation. “If all your friends work here, then how come you don't?”
Jesper brought his hand to his neck. “I work here sometimes, but I'm part time at the arts college down the street so I don't always have the time.” Also because Kaz gave him the worst working hours ever in the name of ‘self-care.’ as if needed to work until 3am for his own sanity. (Honestly.)
“Arts college?” Angel boy asked, pouring a drink while he talked. “And here I thought you were a science guy.”
Jesper scoffed, “A science guy? What makes you think that?”
“Your shirt.” He resurfaced to point at Kuweis shirt that he had borrowed. “It has the periodic table on it.”
He looked down, and his shirt did indeed have the periodic table in sprawling colourful boxes on it.
Ah. Kuwei didn't usually let him borrow his clothes, but someone had spilled beer on him last time they were at the pub so he’d begrudgingly allowed it. Jesper was only wearing it then so he could give it back to Kuwei after their rondevu.
“Well, that doesn't mean I like science.” He began his bullshitting, “Maybe I just have a lot of respect for Albert Einstein.”
Angel boy barked out a laugh (loud. A loud loud laugh. A laugh that makes people turn and look. Really an incredible one as far as laughs go.), and Jesper felt something inside of him lift slightly. He placed two IPAs in front of him and said, “I’m assuming this is going on your tab?”
Jesper stared at him, and then at the IPAs in front of him. “I didn't order anything.” He said uselessly.
He raised an eyebrow, “Kaz said that if a man with bad taste in fashion and box braids comes to the bar to get him two camden IPAs.” He crossed his arms, “And to stick it on the tab that everyone here calls ‘the Sharp Shotters tab’, and im assuming that its you?”
“Hey!” He began, “I have great taste in fashion for a start,” Damn you Kaz Brekker. “-and yes, fine, i'm the sharp shotter, local celebrity.” He put his hands up and smirked. “Take a picture if you want.”
Angel boy looked completely unimpressed. “No thanks, the memory of this interaction is enough.” He said. “Why sharp shotter? Are you that good at ordering shots?”
Jesper looked away. “Something like that.” Or absolutely awful at doing them and great at buying them. “But my real name is Jesper.”
Angel boy smiled at him, it was a nice smile that made the skin below his eyes crinkle a bit. “Nice to meet you Jesper, Sharp shotter.”
Jesper laughed, “Just Jesper is fine, no need for theatrics.” He should probably ask him why he was working at Kaz and Ninas bar, where he came from, how he met them, but instead he found himself asking. “What about you?”
Angel boy whos name was apparently not angel boy said, “Wylan.” Wylan. “No nickname. I haven't gotten that kind of reputation yet.”
“You’ll eat those words, maybe soon we’ll start calling you pint guzzler, or women stealer.”
Wylan laughed again, but this time it was lighter. “I can't imagine that happening, but thanks.”
“Table dancer? Three gulp Wylan?” The vision of Wylan dancing on a table with a pint in his hands just felt wrong. But he could imagine him drinking coffee out of a fancy mug and dancing around a vinyl player.
Is that weird? He asked himself.
Before he could answer himself back, Wylan said. “You’d better not call me three gulp Wylan in front of your boyfriend.” He nodded to where Kuwei was looking at the bar, probably wondering why the two ipas were taking over 5 minutes to order. Or he’d just gotten bored of watching tik tok try not to cringe videos.
“Ah,” Jesper began, grabbing the two pints. “Not my boyfriend, but a friend who wants his pint.”
Wylan nodded, “Well it was nice to meet you Jesper. I’m sure I'll see you again.”
Jesper smiled. “I’m sure I will. Bye Wylan.” He turned and started walking toward Kuwei, but before he could take another step,-
“Oh and Jesper.” Wylan shouted to him, which made him turn. Wylan pointed at his periodic table shirt and said “Dmitri Mendeleev made the periodic table, not Albert Einstein.” There was a challenging look to his eye, as if he was holding up Jespers comeback and scrutinising it. He shrugged, “Just so you know.”
Jespers eyes widened, “Oh.” Oh. “Right, I'll keep that in mind.” And nodded to him. Wylan nodded back with the grace of a dancer beginning their performance.
When he did get back to the table, Kuwei was staring at him inquisitively, his phone face down in front of him. “Who was that then?”
Jesper put the pale ale in front of him and shrugged. “Someone new Kaz hired. And he didn't even tell me he was hiring anyone new.” He let out an annoyed breath through his teeth. “Honestly he never tells me anything.”
And that was true. He seemed to tell his girlfriend everything ever, while he leaves Jesper to fill in details himself. And of course Jesper loved Inej, and he would never want Kaz to be without her, but he missed when it was him and Kaz Brekker making big plans together, telling each other everything that they ever knew, even if it was just about a pigeon they saw in the street. Now it seemed that Jesper had to play a game of 20 questions before Kaz even began to consider telling him something.
He missed it. He missed having that sort of connection with someone and just knowing you can tell them anything.
Kuwei gave him a sympathetic look, but said nothing. Maybe there wasn’t anything to say, or maybe Kuwei didn't want to hear about Kaz Brekker. So they finished their pale ales in mostly silence, with the occasional comment from Jesper about how they changed the pale ale recipe, or Kuwei showing Jesper a tweet he saw earlier that day.
And then they went back to Kuweis and they had incredible sex. Jesper didnt touch his jaw, and Kuwei didn't make a face at him. But Jesper did spend a sizable chunk afterwards, laying amongst the white sheets, wondering about why Wylan from the crow club knew about Dmitri Mendeleev.
And whether he smiled that beautifully for everyone.