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Ketterdam. When you left, you thought you wouldn’t be coming back, but looking for a job did a lot of things. Also, having lived in Ketterdam from birth until you were nine held a certain emotional bond to the city, something your friends in Ravka had found ridiculous of you to say.
And even though the smell at the Barrel was disgusting, you had to admit - it also felt like home. You had left Ketterdam with your parents when your father had gotten his dream job from Ravka, but now, almost a decade later, you were back.
You had scheduled a meeting with a bar owner of some gambling club, you had almost immediately basically got the job once you put the application in. You figured that most people wouldn’t want to work in Ketterdam, the city full of criminals and dangerous lifestyle. But you had an emotional bond to it, even with all its massive faults.
You ventured the streets, trying to follow the guidelines the bartender had given you in his letter, and eventually seeing the sign of a Crow at one of the alleys. But you were stopped by a sight of someone. Someone who was the last person you thought you would recognize after all these years, but something in him told you that it was him.
It was someone you once knew - you thought that he and his brother would have left Ketterdam ages ago. Last time you saw them, they had been taken in by that nice merchant who had promised to help them to start their merchant career, and Jordie had said that he and Kaz would be one of the most notorious merchants in Ketterdam in a few years, and that you’d see it when you would get an invitation to one of the grand parties they’d host.
You never got the invitation, so you figured that it didn’t work out and they had left Ketterdam, maybe even Kerch as a whole to find better luck elsewhere. But you had figured wrong, they had stayed in Ketterdam.
“Kaz?” you gasped and his gaze slowly turned to you. His eyes didn’t show any kind of recognition, but you were too eager to take it into account and took a quick step towards him, extending your arms for a hug. But before you made contact with him, he flinched back and you felt someone yanking you back and you felt a blade against your throat. The person behind you pulled you to an alleyway and pressed you against the wall, and after a moment you could see a Suli woman standing in front of you, Kaz came to stand beside her. You stared at the two in horror.
“Who are you?” the woman asked and your eyes jumped between her and Kaz.
You choked out your name, and Kaz’s eyes widened slightly. You continued, “I’m… I knew Kaz when we were kids, we were best friends.”
The Suli woman glanced at Kaz, he nodded at her and she let you go. He looked at her again and she took it as a silent signal to let you two speak alone. You let out a long breath of relief when the blade didn’t press on your throat anymore before you took in Kaz’s form and chuckled.
“Well, you definitely scared me there. But that’s understandable, you probably got to be a notorious merchant. Fancy clothes and a bodyguard-”
“Not exactly.” Kaz cut you off, leaning on his cane. His voice didn’t hold any kind of joy or even warmth from seeing you, actually it was rather cold. But you figured that he was just confused of seeing you again after all these years.
“Ah. That explains why Jordie never sent me that party invitation he promised to send. Speaking of him, is Jordie here? How is he? I would love to talk with him too,” you asked, a wide smile plastered on your face. Kaz’s breath hitched for a moment, and your smile dropped a little. Kaz didn’t answer your question, averting his eyes from yours and you could read it between the lines. You nodded slowly, suddenly the light had gone out. “Oh.”
Kaz changed the subject quickly, silently telling you that he doesn’t want to talk about it. “What are you doing here?”
You showed him the letter and he took it from you. “I came looking for a job from The Crow Club. Are you familiar with it?”
Kaz’s eyes skimmed through the letter before answering, “Yes. I own the place.”
You took the letter back again, looking at the signature. “But… your surname isn’t Brekker.”
“Yes it is,” Kaz snapped.
“I’m pretty sure that last time we met, it was Riet-”
Kaz laid a death glare on you and you went silent before frowning. “What happened?”
Kaz’s nostrils flared and he laid his gaze on the cobblestones. “That boy who was your friend is dead. I don’t have nor do I need friends. If you want to come to work for me, you’ll be just another one of my employees. Is that clear?”
You frowned and had a temptation to question him further, but something told you that it was the very last thing you’d want to do. So you just nodded at him.
Kaz looked satisfied, slowly extending his hand to you. “Then you got the job.”
You looked at the hand, then at Kaz’s face, then again at his hand before you took it and shook it briefly. You didn’t know what had happened or if Kaz would ever tell you, but even if he wouldn’t, you were happy to see him being alive and well. Even when he wasn’t that boy you had ran around with and played all day long, who loved hugs and who you had fallen to sleep with so many times after a long day of playing, who your parents loved like their own son, as they loved Jordie too.
Maybe someday you would find out the truth about it all. It was something Kaz didn’t want to talk about and which was painful, and you wanted to respect his boundaries with it. You could only hope that someday… you would get your best friend back you had missed so much.