Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

One million kruge . The Dregs were one million kruge richer, and Kaz would be lying if he said he wasn’t immensely pleased by the sum. Gang business has been extremely lacklustre recently, with the only substantial pay into Kaz’s pockets being that of the clubs. Not that they weren’t thriving, but they always were. Plus, Inej has been at sea for months by now, and he’s been in desperate need of a good thrill. This job was just that.

But if there was one thing he didn’t appreciate about a big haul like this, it was the intense celebration the Dregs insisted on in the aftermath. So it was no wonder, really, that he ended up migrating to the corner after a while — and equally as unsurprising that Damian followed him there almost immediately.

“Feelin’ good, boss?” Damian grinned up at him, his fingers tapping against the wood of the table he was sitting atop. “Even youse gotta admit, it wasn’t our cleanest gig. We’s got reason to celibate.” 

Kaz didn’t look up from the glass in his hand, but Damian could feel the mild amusement rolling off him. “It was fine,” he said, his voice flat in an attempt to hide his triumph. 

“Youse shouldn’t smirk so much, then,” Damian commented. So clearly Kaz was doing a shit job at hiding it. “Ya might actually smile for once. I think you’re happier than you wanna say. Youse had fun, just admit it.”

Kaz swirled the liquid in his glass. “We got in, we got out. No casualties. No loose ends. So it was fine.” He finally met Damian’s gaze. “Fun wasn’t the objective, might I add.”

“But you had fun anywhoozle!” Dame pointed out, his grin widening. Kaz scoffed, shaking his head as he took a slow sip of his drink. If the drink doesn’t kill me by tomorrow morning, Damian will, that’s for sure. Damian, undeterred, continued, “And we’s all barely got a scratch! Did youse even see the looks on those stads'  faces?”

He had, and he’d secretly loved it. There was always a sense of satisfaction when Kaz managed to outsmart or outrun the stadwatch — which, in all fairness, wasn’t hard, but it always felt like some kind of win against the braindead officers that had locked him in a cell so many times, even if it was long ago. 

In response to Damian, however, he muttered, “It’s easy to get one over the stadwatch, Dame. They haven’t changed their training regime in decades — I imagine they could only just stop the likes of old Per Haskell in his prime. On a good day. Of course we beat them.”

Damian hummed in reply, and Kaz could tell the kid wasn’t convinced by his cover-up. He allowed a brief huff of amusement slip past his lips as his eyes scanned the room to observe the ongoing celebrations. Damian clearly seized this opportunity, snatching the glass from Kaz’s hand before he could object and downing the rest. “Whatever youse sayin’, boss man. Sure. That totally wasn’t the best action we’s got since who-knows-when.” 

Kaz gave an unimpressed glare, ignoring that remark. “You’re not supposed to have that,” He commented drily.

“Piss off.” Was Damian’s reply, waving his hand dismissively. Kaz nearly smiled. “It’s a big night! After all your schemin’ and shit, your pockets are full and the Council is clue-ly. Score, like, thirty for us, at this point. How long were youse plannin’ this thing for anyway?”

In response, Kaz grumbled something unintelligible under his breath, then admitted slowly, “Two months.” Damian whistled, and the sound reminded Kaz a bit too much of Jesper. He resisted the urge to sigh. 

“Wow, youse really got no life. That’s impressive in its own way, ‘suppose.” He did end up smirking at that, silently cursing Damian for swiping his glass; he’d like nothing more than to hide his expression behind it right now.

“We did well,” Kaz mumbled offhandedly, to which Damian stretched his arms wide and exclaimed, “Damn straight we did well! More like I did well. After all, if it wasn’t for me, you’d have been shot dead. Like, twice.”

“You pushed me into a hedge. I think I would’ve preferred to be shot.” The words were only half-genuine, but Kaz hadn’t meant for it to be a joke. Which was why he went quiet when Damian laughed — more so cackled — at what he said. He turned his head, watching the amusement paint Dame’s expression. “Like I’d ever let that happen,” Damian refuted emphatically.

Without thinking, Kaz’s arm was around Damian’s shoulders — a light, brief squeeze before returning back to his own side. He said something quietly, but didn’t even register the words himself. Damian was frozen, and Kaz followed swiftly afterward. Did that seriously just happen? He mused internally, blinking swiftly in bewilderment. Did I really do that? 

In his shock, Kaz’s eyes had fallen to the floor. But now, he risked raising his gaze back up to Damian’s face. He found a true, genuine smile blooming on the boy’s face. 

“You hugged me,” Damian said, sounding incredulous, more laughter slipping through his voice as he met Kaz’s gaze. “What was that even for?”

Kaz’s expression didn’t shift. “You’re imagining things.”

Chapter Text

Damian loved his job. But, he’d be lying if he said the “after” part of the job wasn’t pretty great. If you asked him, he couldn’t tell you what was so important about tonight’s job in particular. Kaz had simply told him where to be and when. They’d gotten into the mercher’s house and then out again, no one was the wiser. And the Dregs were all the richer. 

Everyone was rowdy in the Slat, for once. Usually, the place was rife with a low-ish, ‘down-the-drain’ kind of energy. They’d started celebrating the minute he, Kaz, Anika, and Rotty had come through the door. The lesser two were busy recounting their latest adventure to the others over a pretty violent card game. Damian wanted to play, but no one ever let him because he could never keep the rules straight. 

So, he perched himself on a table Kaz was standing by in the corner. He knew tonight was pretty important, even for Kaz. One million kruge was a serious haul, and he’d seen all the planning his boss had been pouring over for weeks now. 

Damian couldn’t help but grin. “Feelin’ good, boss?” He tapped his fingers rapidly along the table. “Even youse gotta admit, it wasn’t our cleanest gig. We’s got reason to celibate.” 

“It was fine,” Kaz replied dryly, staring into his drink rather intently. But Damian knew better by now, though he couldn't place how, he knew this win meant something to his boss. 

“Youse shouldn’t smirk so much, then,” he commented, watching Kaz. “Ya might actually smile for once. I think you’re happier than you wanna say. Youse had fun, just admit it.”

Kaz gave the barest lift of his shoulders. He still seemed oddly focused on that glass of his. “We got in, we got out. No casualties. No loose ends. So it was fine.” Finally, he looked up at Damian again. It only made him smile more. “Fun wasn’t the objective, might I add.” 

“But you had fun anywhoozle,” he chuckled. Kaz merely scoffed, shaking his head and sipping on his drink. He couldn’t help but eye the liquid curiously. “And we’s all barely got a scratch! Did youse even see the looks on those stads’ faces?” He almost laughed just thinking about it. They’d seemed both mad and terrified, like they’d shit themselves then and there. Serves them right! 

“It’s easy to get one over the stadwatch , Dame,” Kaz said in his familiar rasp. “They haven’t changed their training regime in decades – I imagine they could only just stop the likes of old Per Haskell in his prime. On a good day. Of course we won.” 

Damian hummed in reply, since he knew Kaz was right, but it still felt like a sorry attempt at avoiding the matter at hand. He waited until Kaz had looked elsewhere in his boredom, then swiped Kaz’s drink from his hand and downed the rest of it. Even though he was on strict alcohol probation, like, all the fucking time. “Whatever youse sayin’, boss man. Sure. That totally wasn’t the best action we’s got since who-knows-when.”

Kaz gave that little flat glare of his. “You’re not supposed to have that.” So it seems tonight’s high spirits weren’t exactly loosening Kaz’s tight ass. But when did that ever happen? Especially now with the Wraith gone this way and that. 

“Piss off,” Damian muttered with a dismissive wave of his hand. “It’s a big night! After all your schemin’ and shit, your pockets are full and the Council is clue-ly. Score, like, thirty for us, at this point. How long were youse plannin’ this thing for anyway?” 

Kaz just made one of his usual grumpy noises, but he was still able to make out the slow reply; “Two months.” 

He let out a low whistle in response. “Wow, youse really got no life. That’s impressive in its own way, ‘suppose.” He didn’t actually understand how long that time frame was, but he knew Kaz had no life outside the gang. Neither of them did. But it was only cool when he did it, not Kaz.

Besides, making Kaz almost smile like that was too fun to ever pass up on. “We did well,” Kaz murmured, clearly trying to sound casual. 

“Damn straight we did well!” Damian slipped off the table and gestured wide with his arms. “More like I did well. After all, if it wasn’t for me, you’d have been shot dead. Like, twice.” 

Kaz rolled his eyes. “You pushed me into a hedge. I think I would’ve preferred to be shot.” 

Damian just had to laugh at that, since it was undeniably true. He had shoved Kaz out of the way, and the fuzzy memory of his boss stumbling into a pile of branches and leaves was beyond hilarious.  “Like I’d ever let that happen.” 

It happened so fast, Damian almost didn’t register it at all. There was a loose arm thrown around his shoulders. A quick pull, a gentle squeeze. He briefly wondered if feeling things that weren’t real was even possible, because it’s not like Kaz couldn’t be hugging him. 

But, he was. Or at least, he had been. The touch was gone as quickly as it had come. Kaz had said something else but Damian barely heard it. He couldn’t even attempt to stop the smile forming on his face as he fully realized what had happened. For a moment, they both just stood there like a couple of nubs. 

“You hugged me,” he giggled stupidly as he met Kaz’s gaze. He knew he shouldn't draw attention to it, but he just had to! “What was that even for?” 

Kaz’s eyes were just a little too wide, as if he too were in some blissful daze. “You’re imagining things.”