Chapter Text
Kaz limps down the road out of the Barrel. He needs to get to the tailor’s before sunset, but at the rate his leg keeps buckling at, he might have to move up his expected timeframe.
He grits his teeth and forges on.
He finally makes it, sunset hiding around the corner of the horizon.
Steeling himself, he enters, the bell above him tinkling its light turn to alert the owner.
He frowns. It never ceases to make him feel like he's triggering a trap of some kind, but it’s becoming more and more common in the Geldin District, so he might as well just get used to it.
“Mr. Brekker!” The owner says when he catches sight of Kaz in his doorway. “How can we assist you today?”
Kaz walks forward, holding out a receipt to the man – Jerome, he thought his name might be. “I’m picking this suit up,” he said clearly through his usual rasp. “I assume it’s been completed?”
Jerome glances at the receipt but nods before his eyes even finish reading it. “Yes, yes, for your friend?”
Kaz eyes him. “And why would you think such a thing?” he finds himself saying, as if suspicious.
This seems to put Jerome on a bit of a guard. “Well, the pants aren’t…the right length. To be yours. So, I suppose I assumed –”
“– you assumed correct, but to call him a friend would be inaccurate,” he says smoothly, leaving it up to Jerome to interpret what their relationship might actually be. “Would you bring it out?”
Jerome nods, heading back into the storeroom.
Kaz resists the urge to tap his cane with impatience. He isn’t in that much of a hurry, but he still almost calls for Jerome to hurry about three seconds before the older man reappears, holding the suit in its thin carrier.
“How much did it end up being?” Kaz asks absently, unzipping it to inspect the material. It’s perfect – as always with Jerome – but he doesn’t need to tell him that just yet.
“Nine hundred kruge, sir,” Jerome says.
Kaz pays him a thousand – it’s perfect, after all – and leaves, not responding to the hesitant, “Goodbye?” he receives as he passes over the threshold again.
But, then, he never does.
The journey back to the Barrel is slow, but he eventually makes it just as dusk begins to settle.
He makes his way up the stairs, cursing his own reluctance to move offices down to the ground floor. It’s his own damn fault that he’s trekking up these stairs every day, but he can’t bring himself to move locations. He convinces himself that it’s just too much of a hassle, but even he doesn't quite believe that anymore.
Nikolai is in his office now, moving around behind the closed door.
Kaz opens it slowly, watching his boyfriend turn on his heel sharply, his eyes lighting up when he catches sight of Kaz.
A feature Kaz keeps getting from him, but can’t figure out why.
Then his bright eyes latch onto the package Kaz is hauling.
Nikolai sighs. “Ugh. That reminds me, I need to go figure out a damn suit for that damn dinner –” he says, letting Kaz come in and close the door behind him.
“– no need,” Kaz rasps, coming in and letting his guard down enough to sit down heavily with a quick groan that catches Nikolai’s attention.
“‘No need’ because we’re not going to that dinner anymore, or ‘no need’ because –” Nikolai starts.
Kaz finishes for him. “‘– no need’ because I already picked it up. Here,” he hands it over casually, as if it’s Nikolai’s lunch and not a suit that cost Kaz a thousand kruge.
Nikolai doesn’t take it. “What’s this?” he asks, confused.
Kaz shoves it at him even less ceremoniously. “It’s your suit. For that damn dinner,” he echoes, waving the suit around as if that will help entice Nikolai into accepting it. “You can’t just wait until the last second to get these things done. Just because you’re a king on a king’s time frame doesn’t mean anyone else is.” He watches Nikolai’s face.
Nikolai finally takes the suit from him, his surprise not very well hidden at the moment. “And how much do I owe you?” he asks predictably.
Kaz rolls his eyes. “Nothing,” he says, reaching down to slowly massage his knee a little. “I’m saving your wallet, and therefore your entire nation’s economy.” He stares Nikolai down. “I’m doing every Ravkan a favor. You can thank me later.” He turns his back on Nikolai, unsure what to do with the sudden burst of emotions that overtake him.
Nikolai says nothing more about it until the next day, when they’re getting ready for the damn dinner.
“How does this fit so well? How did you know my measurements?” Nikolai asks, inspecting the cuffs and his pant legs.
Kaz shrugs. “You don’t move when you sleep,” he says as if that will end the conversation.
It doesn’t, because this is Nikolai, but Kaz hopes for just a moment that it will.
“You measured me while I slept?” Nikolai asks incredulously.
Kaz rolls his eyes. “Of course not,” he lies. “I’m just a very good judge of measurements.” He comes up to where Nikolai has hopelessly knotted his tie. “Like, for example, your tie isn’t long enough because most of it is in the knot up at the top,” he says conversationally.
He reaches for the tie, taking it off of Nikolai’s neck so he can undo the worst of the mess.
Nikolai is quiet, watching him intently.
Kaz’s nimble fingers untie the huge knot, getting the now slightly creased tie to be back at its starting point.
“Will you…help me?” Nikolai breathes.
Kaz nods as if his stomach isn’t a swarm of butterflies right now. “Of course,” he whispers back, draping the tie over Nikolai’s neck again.
He expertly knots it properly, but when he’s done, he stays close to Nikolai, just breathing in the air Nikolai is also breathing.
“Can I kiss you?” Nikolai asks.
“Not right now,” Kaz responds, the butterflies a storm now.
“Okay. Can I take you to a dinner instead?” Nikolai smirks.
Kaz rolls his eyes again, willing the insects in his gut to subside. “As if I’m not the one taking you to this dinner,” he retorts as they leave for the Geldin District.
The dinner is for appearances only, but they’d need to stay for long enough for everything to get on Kaz’s nerves.
He pretends it’s fine.
They enter together, but they’re not holding hands. Kaz had decided on the way over that that might be inappropriate for the current setting. Nikolai had pouted a little, but ultimately respected the decision, as always.
So they enter, and are immediately approached by a servant who says, “King Nikolai? You’re this way, please. Mr. Brekker, Jon will take you to the left –”
Kaz frowns. “I rather think you’ll be able to find a table with enough space for both of us, don’t you think?” he says in a low voice.
The servant looks apologetic. “I’m…I’m sorry, but the host –”
“– you can tell the host that Dirtyhands has to keep a tight leash on the Ravkan King, and as such, will be seated with him,” Kaz says coldly.
The servant squeaks, nods, and darts off to rearrange some things.
Kaz sighs to himself, turning back to look at where Nikolai is looking at him oddly. “What,” he snaps.
Nikolai’s eyes sparkle when they meet Kaz’s. “Have I ever told you how hot you are when you’re Dirtyhands?” he says casually, and Kaz forces his own face to stay neutral.
“No. You haven’t. And you won’t,” he says curtly as the servant comes back to seat them in a new direction.
Once they’re seated, the servant disappears in much the same way Inej often does, and he turns to see Nikolai has put his chin in his palm to look dreamily at Kaz.
Kaz scowls. “What,” he says again, leaning his cane against the table.
“Nothing. Just admiring the view,” his boyfriend says sappily.
Kaz scoffs, but internally he’s a mess.
Nikolai isn’t scared. He isn’t scared of Dirtyhands. Kaz wants to pretend that that is a bad thing, that that is totally unacceptable, that he cannot work with that.
But…that’s not true. If Nikolai isn’t scared of Dirtyhands, even the softer form of him that he just witnessed…then maybe this relationship could work. Better, he amends internally. Maybe this relationship could work better.
Nikolai is still staring at him even as the dinner itself begins.
“Stop. Staring,” Kaz hisses as the servants begin to lay dishes in front of them.
“Why?” Nikolai shoots back. “Why can’t I stare at my boyfriend?”
“Because,” Kaz says through gritted teeth. “Your boyfriend is Dirtyhands, and no one should be looking at Dirtyhands so…hungrily,” he finishes, shooting Nikolai a quick glance.
Nikolai ignores the glances. “Maybe if you weren't so delicious looking, I wouldn’t be quite so hungry for you,” he purrs in a low enough tone that only Kaz can hear.
Kaz resists the urge to snap at him. He instead narrows his eyes. “Well, lucky for you, we’re having dinner now. So. Your hunger can be satiated,” he says firmly.
Nikolai either ignores his tone or doesn’t notice it. “I know what I’d rather eat right now,” he says smoothly.
Kaz frowns, trying to stop his blush from going any further up his body. It’s already creeping up above his collar.
“Aw, did that embarrass you?” Nikolai teases as a servant leans over his arm to ladle some soup into the bowl she’d just set in front of him.
“Shut up,” Kaz says desperately.
But Nikolai is not one to shut up on command.
“In fact, if Dirtyhands will allow it, I’d like to take the Bastard of the Barrel to a dark corner – there must be one around here somewhere – and –” he begins, but Kaz turns to look at him coolly.
“– if you want anything from Dirtyhands tonight, you need to learn when to shut. Your. Mouth,” he hisses.
Nikolai just wiggles his eyebrows at him. “I’ll shut my mouth now, but I make no promises for later,” he says in a seductive tone.
Kaz tries to get the flurry of butterflies that have returned at full force to die down, but they refuse, keeping him company for the rest of the quiet dinner.
When the dinner comes to a close – and Kaz has eaten just enough to give the impression that he participated without succumbing to the idea that he needs the sustenance like a human would – the majority of visitors stay to mingle.
Kaz doesn’t even realize he’s exhausted until Nikolai leans over to him to ask him, “Need to leave?”
Kaz nods before he can stop himself. Then he steels his expression as the host comes over to inquire about – something, he wasn't paying enough attention.
Nikolai was, though, it seems, because he grins at the host and says, in a little too loud of a voice, “Well, regardless, you’ll have to excuse us. Dirtyhands has some people he needs to torture for information, so if you’ll –”
The host blanches immediately, nodding along nervously and showing them the direction of the front door.
Nikolai gives the host a quick wave and a firm handshake before guiding Kaz to the door by putting a hand low on the small of his back. Kaz finds he’s too tired to protest.
They get outside and Kaz breathes in deeply, like he wasn’t breathing that entire dinner. He grips his cane tightly as he forces himself to return to his body where he’d started to float away.
“Alright, let’s go,” Nikolai says cheerfully. He lets go of Kaz’s back and Kaz, for some reason, wishes he’d keep doing it.
They pass by a small pop up shop that Nikolai buys something from, but Kaz is too lost in his own vague thoughts to pay attention to what it was.
They make it back to the Slat, and Kaz cannot help but collapse into his chair at his desk.
Nikolai gives him a grin as he makes himself at home at Kaz’s feet.
“What’re you doing?” Kaz asks, staring down at where Nikolai is getting comfortable against the legs of the desk.
“Reading,” Nikolai says, opening a book that Kaz could’ve sworn he hadn’t had at the dinner. It must’ve been what he’d bought on the way back here.
“And why are you doing that right now?” Kaz asks, getting out his ledger from one of the drawers to his right opposite to where Nikolai sits.
“Because I want to know how this series ends, and I want to know now,” Nikolai says simply, cracking open what looks like a trashy romance book.
Kaz squints at him but ultimately looks down at his finances to finish where he left off.
They sit together in a silence that Kaz could almost call comfortable, except he isn’t sure if this counts as quality time together as boyfriends, so he’s a little on the edge of his seat.
Finally, Nikolai pipes up. “I know what you’re doing, and it’s working,” he turns a page casually.
Kaz glances down at him. “And what might that be?” he says flatly.
Nikolai glances up at him and gives him a cheeky smile. “You’re trying to say I love you without explicitly saying it out loud,” he says with that insatiable grin.
Kaz frowns. His heist plans aren’t usually picked up so quickly.
Has this all been a heist?
Okay, maybe a little.
“Not in so many words,” Kaz eventually grumbles as quietly as he can.
Nikolai shrugs as if Kaz didn’t just confess his love to him. “Well, whatever you’re doing, it’s making me feel hella loved by you,” he says almost flippantly.
Kaz blinks down at him.
“So, you know, fantastic job with that particular plan,” Nikolai gives him a sly grin again before turning back to his book.
Kaz continues to stare at his boyfriend.
“Something wrong, dear?” Nikolai says without looking up.
Kaz scowls, pretends he’s not actively blushing, and continues his finances next to his goddamn boyfriend.