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“Where you headed, merchling?”
Wylan shoulders jumped and he whirled. Jesper had nothing near the stealth the Inej possessed, but he could be quiet when he needed to be. If he could stay still for long enough.
When Wylan registered that it was Jesper, he crossed his arms and tilted his head. “I don’t look much like a merchling anymore.”
“Eh, the blond’s coming back,” Jesper said, reaching out and ruffling Wylan’s hair. It was true. His hair was several shades lighter now than it was on the ship back from Fjerda. His cheekbones sat different than they had, with a freckle or two showing now on his skin. Wylan no longer looked like Van Eck’s son, but he didn’t quite resemble the son of a Shu scientist either.
Wylan turned back and continued his path down the alley. Jesper fell into step beside him and asked again. “Where you headed?”
“Nowhere.”
Jesper grinned. The kid was still new enough at Criminal Activity and he hadn’t mastered the art of subtle subterfuge. Only blunt subterfuge. Jesper looked around. Judging by where they were and the direction they were going, Wylan was headed out of the Barrel. Possibly in the direction of his father’s house. Definitely not nowhere. Definitely somewhere interesting. “Alright, we can go nowhere together.”
Wylan groaned, but made no effort to lose Jesper in the crowd. He probably wouldn’t have been able to, but he didn’t try. Jesper followed. At least the kid was smart enough to check if anyone had eyes on him when they ducked down the final alley out of the barrel. He even caught the two Dime Lions watching them a half block back. Wylan backtracked before surging out of the land run by gangs.
Jesper followed him easily. Nina hadn’t taken any height from him when she disguised him, but it hadn’t made much of a difference. He and Kuwei had been of similar height, and Jesper was at least three inches taller than both of them. Jesper’s leisurely stroll was enough to keep pace with Wylan until they arrived at the Van Eck estates.
They approached from the back garden. Wylan sighed as he looked up and down the long wall. His pursed his lips in frustration. Jesper rolled his eyes and grabbed him by the waist.
Wylan squeaked as Jesper picked him up. Jesper hoisted him up onto his shoulders and said, “Stop whining. Reach up and get on the ledge.”
Wylan kicked his heel into Jespers stomach, but he did it. He pulled himself up onto the garden wall and sat atop it.
“Now pull me up.” Jesper held up his hand and wiggled his fingertips.
“What!?”
Jesper just waved his hand again. He could see Wylan roll his eyes in the dark but he reached down and grabbed Jesper’s wrist anyway. After some scrambling and maybe a few ripped stitches in his second favorite jacket, Jesper found his way up onto the ledge as well.
“Nice view,” Jesper commented. They were sitting shoulder to shoulder.
“Yeah, yeah. Very romantic.” Wylan said, sliding off the wall into the garden. Jesper followed.
They ducked behind bushes and an elaborately trimmed topiary to avoid a set of guards patrolling the gardens. When they reached the door to the house, Wylan produced a familiar set of lock picking tools. Jesper coughed and raised an eyebrow when Wylan turned to him.
“What? I asked him first.” Wylan said and turned back to the door. His brow furrowed and hesitated before selecting two instruments. He picked them up and turned them over in his long fingers, longer than the real Kuwei, then shoved the ends indelicately into the keyhole.
“Oh, Saints.” Jesper mumbled. Wylan’s face was scrunched up in concentration. His tongue was poking out between his lips. He dropped one of the tools a few moments in but he quickly swept it off the ground and got back to work. When he fumbled again, the tool hit the ground with a light clatter and Wylan cursed under his breath.
Jesper crouched down next to him. “Move.” He said. Wylan rolled his eyes but leaned out of the light. Jesper laid one hand on the door and peered inside the mechanism. After a calculating moment, Jesper leaned back. He pressed one fingertip against the opening and turned to wink at Wylan. The kid blushed crimson across his cheeks and the lock clicked open.
“After you.” Jesper said, standing and opening the door. Wylan frowned and pushed past him, bumping their shoulders. Wylan looked up and down the hall. There were distant voices down to the right so they ducked left and around the corner. Jesper ran into Wylan’s back as they whipped around into the next corridor. At the end of the hall two guards were just rounding the corner. Wylan grabbed Jesper by the waistcoat and tugged him into a storage closet at the end of the hallway.
“Wait, stop.” Wylan whispered as Jesper closed the closet door behind him. Wylan groaned and pushed past him, putting his ear to the door. Once the guards’ footsteps past them Wylan began tugging at the door handle. He planted one foot on the wall and pulled with his whole weight, groaning. He let it go and stumbled backwards. “All the supply closets lock automatically and only open from the outside.”
Jesper waited. Waited for Wylan to laugh and say ‘got ya, just joking. let’s go.’ But the silence stretched on and Wylan continued looking at the door worryingly. “Well,” Jesper finally said, “That’s incredibly inconvenient.”
Wylan slumped against a stack of crates, “Many things about this place are.”
“What me to try the-?” Jesper flipped his hands over and wiggled his fingers. Wylan stepped out of the way. Jesper knew it was a long shot, plus he was already feeling sore from using his Grisha abilities earlier. It wasn’t a muscle he flexed often. And it probably wasn’t going to work. Jesper tried, but the keyhole was on the other side so he couldn’t even get a good look at what he was supposed to be moving. After a minute of struggling, he leaned away, “Well, looks like we’ll be trapped for a while.”
“Saints.” Wylan groaned and laid his head back against the crates
“It could be worse?” Jesper said and Wylan tilted his head in his direction, “You could be stuck in here with Matthias.”
Wylan smirked, “You’re right. I don’t think Matthias would fit in here.”
“What? That’s the only plus I bring to the table? ‘Fits in a closet well with company’? Not my charming wit?”
“Nope, It’s mostly the space thing.” Wylan was fully grinning now. Even lit only by the dim light sliding under the door, it was wide and unfairly adorable. Jesper leaned against the door and slid down to the floor. He lightly kicked at
Wylan’s shoe. Wylan frowned and nudged back, a little firmer. After a brief scuffle they ended up next to each other, Jesper could feel the gentle pressure from their touching shoulders.
Wylan sighed. Resigned.
“Wait, what are we even doing here?” Jesper asked, steeling his heart to hear about another mission from Kaz he wasn’t privy to. Wylan mumbled his response. “Huh?”
“My flute.” Wylan said again, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Ah, yes the flute of gold.”
“Shut up.” Wylan shrugged up his shoulders.
Jesper nudged him, “So.” He leaned against him again until Wylan looked up. “So. Where would this elusive flute be hiding?”
Wylan shook his head but he relaxed his arms, letting them flop back down onto his legs. “I don’t know. I’m hoping it’s still in my study. If it’s not then I don’t know where it would have been moved to.”
“And what? You want it back?”
“It’s mine.” It should have sounded bratty. Something Wylan the mercher’s son would’ve said to defend himself. But that boy was gone. Wylan’s eyes were mischievous and the words dripped with a cool, fierce intensity.
“Alright,” Jesper said, rising, “You’re getting it.”
Wylan quickly scrambled to his feet. In his haste, he grabbed a crate and yanked on it to pull himself up. The crate toppled over, spilling its contents. They both looked down at the pile of grey servant’s clothes that had spilled. Jesper and Wylan grinned at each other.
They quickly changed into the uniforms they had found, slipping the simple tunics on. Once dressed, Jesper got down on his hands and knees and put his cheek as low to the floor as he could without touching it. He looked around with his limited span of vision for any sign of people walking down the hall. Jesper glanced up at Wylan, who was standing over him, taking time to let his eyes rake over Jesper’s body. Wylan winked, but he also flushed. Good to know some things don’t change, thought Jesper.
Footsteps echoed on the other side of the door. Jesper crouched down again and when he saw shadows pass he nodded to Wylan. At the signal, Wylan began pounding on the closet door. Jesper wasn’t a fan of the new trend for Kaz’s crew that involved getting caught at some point in the plan, but he’d ride it until the luck ran out.
The door was opened by two guards. Jesper pressed himself into the wall, pinned and hidden behind the open door.
“Sorry, I’m new,” Wylan smiled sheepishly at the guards, “I knew the door locked but it happened so fast!” One guard rolled his eyes but they stepped back, letting him out. They didn’t even ask his name or check his ID before moving on down the hall.
Saints, thought Jesper, they really don’t recognize him. The idea thrilled Jesper. Wylan reappeared a moment later and pulled him out of the supply closet. Wylan took off down the hall at a quick pace but Jesper grabbed his shoulder, slowing him down.
“Don’t rush.” Jesper told him, “You gotta move quickly without looking like you’re moving fast. Too fast draws attention.”
They settled into a more leisurely pace. Another set of guards and a servant passed them on their way but none of them spared Wylan or Jesper a second glance. A right turn down down the next hallway. Lefts down the next two. Then Wylan stopped short at a large ornate door. He took at deep breath and Jesper touched his shoulder, trying to be reassuring.
Wylan turned and said, “If it’s in here, I’ll kiss you.”
Jesper smirked, “Making wagers, are you?”
Wylan simply nodded once, turned back around, and pushed on the double doors. Jesper looked across to the huge floor to ceiling windows, scanning the room, and gave a low whistle, “Well this certainly isn’t anything like your room at the slats.”
Wylan inhaled sharply and darted over to a desk on the far side of the room. He laughed wildly as he snatched a metal stick off a stand and held it aloft.
“You got it?” Jesper asked. Wylan crossed the room again, grabbed Jesper’s face with both hands, the metal of the flute cold against his cheek, and kissed him hard in the mouth. Jesper closed his eyes and slid his hands up to the back of Wylan’s neck. He grinned when Wylan pulled back after a minute.
“Alright.” Wylan said slowly, “Let’s get out of here.”
Leaving wasn’t the easiest task. They tried simply walking out the front door, but that sort of thing was apparently frowned upon for servants to do. And different members of the house staff kept sending them on errands and jobs around the estate. Eventually they made their way up into a bedroom on the second floor. Jesper and Wylan began pulling the bedding and sheets off the bed and tying them together.
As they worked Jesper’s eyes landed on a bronze statue on a table. A bust of some woman. He looked closer. Not bronze, gold. It was pretty big. It would get rid of a lot of debts.
“Grab it,” Wylan said. Jesper whirled around. He was tying the bedding to a pipe on the wall, watching Jesper stare at the bust. “Have it. Let’s go”
Jesper grabbed it and jogged back to the window. “If we make it out of here, I’ll kiss you.”
“The deal’s the deal.” Wylan said, shimmying out the window. The bust meant Jesper could use only one hand to slide down the make-shift rope. But Jesper wasn’t going to not take the thing. He landed a little awkwardly, harder than he would have liked, and took off after Wylan into the night.