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"Wylan, Jesper, I need you two to go distract the Fjerdan guards so we have a clear exit spot. Think you can handle it without killing each other?" Kaz said as the rest of the team walked away from the group for their own respective jobs. Wylan and Jesper eyed each other, Wylan scowling and Jesper rolling his eyes.
"Fine." Wylan huffed, stomping away. Like the child he is, Jesper thought to himself.
"Kaz, please, anyone else. You know he's been an annoying little shit to me ever since the Ferolind! And now you want to pair us up for an important stealth job together? You'd be lucky if he doesn't blow me up before we're through!" Jesper said, glancing over to where Wylan was kneeling in the snow, mixing together small vials of chemicals. "Come on, we've been paired up for every task this whole job, give me a fucking break!"
"You really are dense sometimes aren't you Jesper?" Kaz knocked Jesper's head lightly with his cane. "Whatever's going on between you two, figure it out. As much as it pains me to admit it, I hate seeing you like this. Not to mention, your little rift is hurting the team. So, fix it, Jesper."
"But I-" Jesper tried to protest, but Kaz immediately interrupted him.
"Fine. Maybe Wylan shouldn't have hidden stuff from us, from you in particular. But have you actually stopped and wondered why he did?"
Jesper paused and thought back to when Kaz revealed Wylan's secrets. He had looked like a broken man. Jesper had found him in their room crying and instead of comforting him, he let his anger get the better of him and started a screaming match which neither of them won. Wylan ended up going back to the tannery and Jesper slept alone. He had just never felt any kind of betrayal like that before. Wylan, the first person he had ever - oh who was he kidding - the first person he'd ever loved and opened his heart to had been lying to him the whole time they'd known each other, something he had been mad about Jesper himself doing. He had seen red and lashed out when really, all Wylan needed was someone to be there for him. Jesper still didn't know why he'd kept any of it hidden.
"Fine." Jesper mumbled, walking away to join Wylan in the snow. He hated it when Kaz was right.
Wylan was hunched over his satchel, pulling out vial after vial of powders, scanning over the music notes he'd written on the labels and throwing the ones he didn't need back in with care to not smash anything and blow the two of them up unintentionally. Jesper had always loved watching him work and now it had become second nature. He was absolutely in his zone, his tongue slightly poking out the corner of his mouth as he focused on making whatever explosive he was making, completely correct and no doubt dangerous. Jesper missed sitting in the workshop with him, resting on his hands as he watched Wylan hum a tune and fly around the shelves, writing formulas and equations and making new mixtures as if it was a beautiful dance. He missed a lot of things.
"What's this one?" Jesper said kneeling down in the snow next to Wylan, not too loud so as to interrupt his flow however. Wylan still flinched a little, but didn't look away from his work.
"Your old friend." He muttered.
Jesper took a closer look and saw a red powder inside. He smiled a little.
"Ah, red phosphorous. The surprisingly strong contact explosion." Jesper remembered from Shu Han. Another time when he was trying desperately to win back Wylan's affections after a fuck up. He prayed to the Saints it didn't keep happening like this. Wylan simply hummed in response, still not looking at Jesper. "So, what's the plan, demo man?"
Wylan suddenly coughed and covered his mouth, but he wasn't fast enough to stop Jesper from seeing the small smile that he hadn't been able to control from forming on his face.
"Um, create an explosive, set it off in the opposite direction to us and hope that it's strong enough to draw the guards away for long enough for the rest of the team. And if the guards get hurt by the bomb and therefore can't shoot at us anymore I suppose that's an added bonus."
"Genius as usual." Jesper was nodding with a smile. Wylan then laughed with no humour.
"Genius? So I guess I'm not useless anymore? No longer just a hostage, or a waste of space, or a spoilt little merchling, or a dirty lying hypocrite?" Wylan looked suddenly to Jesper, his gaze seething. "I've been upgraded back up to genius hm?"
Jesper shut his eyes and took a deep breath. Wylan glare was burning through him as he repeated Jesper's own insults back to him. All things he'd said during their argument. He could feel anger bubbling in his stomach again, reminding him that Wylan technically was a lying hypocrite, but he desperately pushed it down.
"I'm sorry Wylan. I shouldn't have said any of that, I know. But I was just so-" Jesper waved his hands around helplessly, struggling to find words that could explain all of his emotions. "I was just so angry Wylan. I opened up everything to you, you were mad at me for hiding who I was so how did you expect me to react when I find out that you've been lying about your entire life story?"
"Ghezen Jesper, I expected you to care!" Wylan shouted, his voice cracking with emotion. He took a deep shaky breath and put down his work. He ran his hands up and down his face, trying to slow his breathing. Jesper put his hand on Wylan's shoulder and he flinched for a moment at the contact before accepting it. "I expected you, to care for me. Ask me what was wrong and why I did what I did. Find me crying and hold me tight until I stopped. I expected you to love me, Jesper."
Jesper simply stared at him. His wide eyes looked dejected, red with unspilled tears and dark circles underneath. He looked exhausted, probably similar to how Jesper felt. Jesper hated himself for ever making Wylan feel this way.
"Wylan, I-"
That's when gunshots started raining down on them. Wylan cursed and tied up the bag he had been mixing the chemicals in, and chucked everything else in his satchel, losing the care he had before. He hauled a shocked Jesper off the ground and started running towards the tree line to the left of them. Jesper heard a bullet whiz past his ear and he looked behind him to see three Fjerdan guards holding rifles. He stopped suddenly and held his hands out, stopping the bullets and bending the ends of their guns, something he'd practised hard ever since Sankta Neyar had used the trick on him. It was successful but not before one of the guards managed to get one last shot out, the bullet going directly for Wylan's chest. Jesper shouted and held out a furious hand at the bullet, ripping it to shreds just before it pierced through Wylan's heart. He panted, slightly exhausted from the use of his powers.
Wylan then pulled out a smaller explosive from the one he had made earlier and threw it in the direction of the guards. A thick gas quickly billowed out of it, encompassing the three men and immediately making them fall unconscious. Wylan then looked at Jesper with wide frantic eyes, also panting, no doubt from the realisation that if Jesper hadn't used his powers in that moment, he would be dead where he stood.
"You- I almost- But you-"
"Stop talking." Jesper said through a heavy breath, grabbing Wylan by the waist and kissing him hard. Wylan reciprocated immediately, looping his arms loosely around Jesper's neck. Maybe it was just the thrill of the fight or the fact that he hadn't felt Wylan's touch in weeks but Jesper had never had a kiss like this before.
Wylan desperately grasped at the back of Jesper's shirt, somehow pressing his lips against him harder, humming into the kiss. Jesper pulled him flush against his body and Wylan's lips fell away with a gasp. Despite the freezing temperatures, Jesper was felt boiling hot.
"Saints." Wylan gasped.
"If we weren't here Wylan... shit." Jesper muttered against Wylan's cheek. Wylan sighed leaning his head back and looking up at the dark sky.
"Fuck Kaz." He whispered.
"Please don't say that when we're making out." Jesper groaned, kissing him again.Wylan happily obliged and pulled Jesper impossibly closer. Jesper was seriously considering doing all the things he wanted to do to Wylan even though they were in the snowy forest - he doubted Wylan would mind in the slightest - when someone cleared their throat behind them. Jesper dragged his lips away from Wylan's, trying desperately to ignore the fact that Wylan chased after him with a small whine, and turned to see Kaz standing with a scowl.
"I told you to fix it, not do this." He said. "No wonder you were taking far too long."
Wylan looked over Jesper's shoulder with dazed, glassy eyes and a dopey smile. Kaz rolled his eyes at the state of Wylan, who tried to regain his composure as soon as possible once he saw who it was behind Jesper.
"We got the guards." Jesper gestured to the Fjerdans who were still lying unconscious in the snow. Wylan still said nothing and didn't move to come out from behind Jesper, who had a sneaking suspicion why.
"At least that's something." Kaz sighed. "Come on. We're ready now."
Kaz turned and started walking away, gesturing for them to follow and they knew better not to do so. However, Jesper couldn't stop himself from yanking Wylan's hand and pulling him in for just one last kiss, much gentler than the last one.
"I promise I'll tell you everything soon. I'm sorry I kept this from you." Wylan said softly against Jesper's lips.
"It's okay. I'm sorry I reacted the way I did." Jesper leaned his forehead against Wylan's and smiled. "We'll fix this properly when we get home. Okay? Then we can finish what we started."
Wylan bit his lip and laughed a little before a shout from Kaz made them jump apart and grin at each other. Jesper took Wylan's hand and they trudged through the snow together. Jesper glanced up at the sky, seeing so many more stars than he was used to seeing back in Ketterdam. Like a whole universe. He looked at Wylan, who was still wearing a small smile.
My universe.