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The mornings at the Slat were always different from those at your apartment. There was a lot of noise and an occasional stench of drainage, but unfortunately being seen in your circles with your boyfriend wasn’t really desirable either. The man was known to work for a criminal gang after all, while you were supposed to be at the “better” side of society. Tea parties and meaningless banter, looking at posh men and women around you in fancy suits and dresses. So, the Barrel and the Slat were your place to be when you wanted to be together. No one here didn’t look twice, especially when you dressed modestly when you made your way there.
That said, you would have never believed you’d ever grow fond of that place. You wouldn’t move there, you didn’t bear a death wish, but the Barrel was… charming, for a lack of a better word. Even when it was charming just because of one thing.
And you had to admit, despite that building being creaky, stinky and noisy, it had its certain (and only) charm to wake up next to your boyfriend, his arm draped around you, his breath tickling your neck.
And this morning was among the others. Waking up next to your favourite Crow, opening your eyes to find him already looking at you with half-lidded eyes.
“Morning,” he murmured, before leaning in to kiss your neck, your forehead, your cheek and finally your lips. You laughed, returning the sentiment.
And then it proceeded like usual, you lying there together, him hovering over you as he peppered you with kisses.
“Saints,” he murmured against your lips, “how did I get so lucky?”
“Jes,” you laughed, lightly trying to nudge him to get off you, but you both knew it wasn’t done seriously. “You know I have to get going soon.”
He hummed, burying his face into your neck and mumbled, “What if I won’t let you leave today?”
You sighed. “People will notice if I’m missing.”
He groaned, pulling back slightly. “So tell them you took a day off.”
You rolled your eyes, but couldn’t deny the offer sounded tempting. Your friends often did wonder why you were always working when you could afford a day or two off once in a while. Your colleagues had insisted you take a day off every now and then, you were the most hard-working in your department after all. But on the other hand, at daytime, there was a small risk of being seen and recognised by someone who wasn’t a Dreg.
When you had first told Jesper that, he told you that if someone sees you and threatens to sing about it, he’s grabbing Kaz along and they will go talk to that person together.
“You really think Kaz would agree to do something like that for someone who’s not Inej?” you had asked him, and he had shook his head after a moment.
“Good point. Inej could help us though,” he had suggested and looked over to the woman browsing through a newspaper.
“Inej isn’t a type of person who threatens people,” you had reminded him and the topic had dropped after that.
But even with all that swirling in your mind, looking into Jesper’s eyes always managed to make you melt, so you couldn’t help but give in. “Alright, alright. You win.”
“Yessss,” he celebrated and leaned down to kiss you again, pulling you closer. You leaned back on your forearms when his arm snaked around your waist, and your kisses deepened.
“Are you trying to keep me in bed all day?” you teased as you pulled back, and he shrugged.
“Maybe. Not a bad idea.”
You huffed, but didn’t argue about it. “Only if you bring me breakfast after this.”
“Whatever for you if I get to have you here for a while longer.”
You leaned back on the many pillows Jesper had hoarded in his bed, and surrendered to Jesper’s kisses once again.
This was going to be a lengthy morning, but also a perfect one.