It's Written in the Stars (Jesper and Wylan)

[just_ask]

Ever since he was a kid, Jesper's been confused by his soulmate.
Whoever they were, they seemed sweet, and smart, if the cute doodles and complicated math equations were anything to go by, but no matter what Jesper tried to get them talking - jokes, questions, statements, deep dark secrets - they never replied. He didn't even know their name.

He thought, maybe, that he was annoying them - but then he'd get a cute little drawing or a smiley face on the back of his hand and surely that meant they didn't hate him, right?

Then he wondered if maybe they just didn't speak the same language, but he'd looked up how to write 'what's your name' in so many languages the words were scrawled across his skin from wrist to elbow and he never got a response.

When he moved to Ketterdam and got mixed up with the Dregs and started getting regular injuries that he knew his soulmate had to see, he tried writing apologies. He had no idea if they were accepted or not, because no matter what he wrote his soulmate still responded with the same things - drawings and maths.

(Once, when he was a little drunk and feeling sorry for himself, he wrote a long angry rant about how he just wanted a name and surely they could give him that much and why didn't they want to talk to him. That hadn't gotten a reply either)

In his darker moments, he thought maybe it was for the best. His soulmate was clearly intelligent, and not nearly as inclined towards danger and risk as he was (he couldn't remember the last time he'd seen a scar that wasn't his own on his body), maybe they'd be better off without him... but, well, weren't they soulmates for a reason?

And then Wylan had shown up, and Jesper thought maybe if his soulmate had to be soft and well-educated maybe that wouldn't be so bad, as long as they were something like Wylan - because as much as the merchling rubbed him up the wrong way sometimes, he was so much fun to tease, and Jesper found himself drawn to him more often than not.

Which is why he gave only minimal grumbling when Kaz told him to go and collect Wylan for a job, and why there's a jauntiness to his knock when he raps on Wylan's door.

He hasn't even looked at his arms all day today.

Comments

[badathostage]

Wylan knows two things about his soulmate. One is that in the past few years especially they have a fairly dangerous life, producing scars that sometimes could be quite alarming in their frequency and severity. He was sure at one point he even recognised a gunshot wound, and it made Wylan wonder that maybe he should find a surgeon to learn from, if his soulmate was going to get into that sort of trouble.

But the other thing Wylan knows is his soulmate is smart, if verbosity is anything to go by. A philosopher, maybe. Or a poet. For years Wylan would see letters swim across his arm, talking in depth about things he could only imagine, sometimes short and carefully printed, sometimes small and cramped and with so much to say. And once, the writing was so deep and red and jagged and dense that at first Wylan wondered if they were letters at all - maybe he was looking at scars from a new type of injury. It wouldn't be the weirdest scarring he'd seen.

Or maybe they were just chatty as all hell. Either way, they were clearly too clever and too articulate for a simpleton like Wylan. They never seemed to want to communicate in any of the other ways he tried: his simple maths problems were ignored, his attempts at sketches received nothing in kind.

All his soulmate wanted to do, it seemed, was mock him in exactly the same way that his father did.

So he'd try to ignore the writing. But then, he'd try to remind himself that not everyone was as cruel as his father, and maybe if this person really didn't want him, they wouldn't write at all. So Wylan would reach out again - a simple drawing, a copy of a problem he was working on - just to feel that human contact, even if he couldn't understand a thing they were saying.

And once, a couple of years ago now, he composed a piece of music: nothing outstanding, not a symphony or anything, just a few bars of something sweet and cheerful that he quite liked. And instead of playing it for his tutor, or his father, he carefully drew the musical notation on his arm, wondering if - even if his soulmate didn't care for art or numbers, they might like music. Who didn't, right?

He got nothing but words in return.

And then Wylan had left his father's house, and moved into the Barrel, and had so much more to worry about. Including someone who was not exactly a poet, but was definitely too chatty for his own good.



Wylan is in the middle of measuring out a particularly volatile powder when Jesper arrives; so engrossed is he in getting just the right amount on his spatula that he's hardly aware there is a door behind him. So when the knock sounds, it startles him far more than it should; makes him jump, and jerk the vial in his hands.

Which is why the response to the friendly knock is a loud bang, a flurry of coughs, and an embarrassingly sooty face that appears when the door is finally opened.

[just_ask]

The sound of the bang has Jepser leaping back almost on instinct, hands already straying to the revolvers at his hips. He has half a mind to kick the door open and go running in, just in case, but luckily for the door it gets opened before he makes his mind up, and all of Jesper's sudden flash of concern evaporates in the face of, well, the fact that greets him.

He does make some effort to keep from laughing, he really does - but it only lasts for a few seconds before he cracks, hand lifting from his gun to press over his mouth instead as he stifles the chuckles.

"Still got all your fingers?" He asks after a moment - it's a tease, but it's one that means 'are you okay?'

[badathostage]

Wylan's embarassment fades - slightly, only slightly - on seeing that it's Jesper. He expects the teasing, of course, and doesn't particularly like being seen making a mistake. But he trust the gunslinger, at least trusts that his teasing is light hearted.

He pushes the door open, for Jesper to come in, and in doing so holds his hands up, fingers spread, and bends each at the knuckle in a Mexican wave of a finger wriggle, counting each one down silently.

"You made me jump," he says accusingly.

[just_ask]

Another, softer chuckle at the way Wylan counts off his fingers to prove they're all still there, and Jesper nods in apparent satisfaction - it doesn't fade at the accusation, in fact he only looks more smug, his smile almost becoming a smirk.

"Nobody likes a jumpy demo man." He admonishes, more amusement than actual recrimination, and steps forward into Wylan's personal space. If the merchling doesn't jump away immediately he lingers, just for a moment, and then presses a hand to Wylan's chest, pushing him back slightly.

"Go get washed up. Kaz asked me to fetch you but it's no rush and I'm not taking you anywhere looking like that."

[badathostage]

Wylan does not jump away immediately. He stays righht where he is as Jesper comes locse, wondering how close Jesper's going to get, how close he can get him to come simply by standing still. Just to se what Jesper will do if he doesn't move.

And then he has a hand on his chest so he'll call that a win, smiling quickly like he's somehow won a tiny game.

"Right," he says, finally turning away to grab a cloth to wipe his face on the way to a basin to wash himself off properly. He doesn't reply to the intitial comment, still aware that he needs to prove himself to the Dregs and not wanting to dwell on it.

"What's the job?"

[just_ask]

"Oh, of course, just let me fill you in on the briefing Kaz gave me about every detail." Jesper replies, cheerfully sarcastic and firmly ignoring the way that little smile made his heart jump in his chest. It's stupid. He has a soulmate, he shouldn't be feeling like this around Wylan.

Wylan has a soulmate too. Probably somebody who isn't a horrible criminal with a gambling problem. Good. He deserves that. Jesper isn't jealous at all.

Despite constantly being told not to mess with things in Wylan's workshop, he can't help but poke at the sooty mess on the table. It's probably not dangerous if Wylan is covered in it, right?

"He just said to fetch you, doesn't need you to bring anything in particular right now, he'll tell you what you need to make when he tells us all what's going on." He explains further while Wylan washes his face.

[badathostage]

"Oh good," says Wylan drily. "I love not knowing what kind of life and limb I'll be risking and for what. Don't touch that."

He hardly even breaks his sentense, just hnds Jesper a wet cloth to wipe the soot off on to. "If you fire a gun with that on your hands you won't be happy and somehow it will be my fault."

It takes another few minutes for him to clear everything away, then opens the door for Jesper to lead the way - locking it up carefully afterwards of course."

[just_ask]

"That's Kaz for you." Jesper shrugs, a vaguely guilty look crossing his face when he's caught, yet again, poking things he shouldn't be. He accepts the cloth with a sheepish smile and wipes the soot from his fingers. Wipes more judiciously when Wylan indicates it won't play well with his guns.

He tosses the cloth back to him when he's done and retreats to wait near the door, away from temptation, though it doesn't stop him from shuffling, tapping his fingers against his revolvers and trying not to start whistling. He's not being impatient, he's just.. he's being impatient.

There's no frustration to it, though, no tension in him as they step out into the street and he waits for Wylan to lock the door.

"We're going to the slat." He explains, leading the shorter boy through the streets towards the place. Kaz wanted to have this meeting in his own office, for once.

[badathostage]

Wylan doesn't mind Jesper's fidgeting by the door. He knows it's nothing personal it's just... it's Jesper, he's a fidgeter.

But he nods and rewards the gunslinger with a smile for being so patient as they head out, and he takes the first breath of - well, not fresh, because it's Ketterdam, but outside air that he's had for a couple of days while working on his current project.

"His office?" he repeats for clarification. "Is that a good thing, or a bad thing, that we're meeting there?"

Is it serious, or did Kaz decide to make a change? Jesper knows Kaz better than Wylan - better than anyone, perhaps - he might have an inkling.

[just_ask]

Jesper shrugs. Who can tell, with Kaz? Maybe his leg was bothering him and he just didn't want to walk... except Kaz would never make a choice like that.

"My guess is he wants somewhere private, but not so private the other dregs can't hear if they choose to snoop." He shrugs - which probably means the job is from Per Heskell, not Kaz himself, though that doesn't tell him much either.

"Don't think it's a bad thing." At least not by Wylan's definitions - Per Heskell's jobs were probably less risky than Kaz's, at least.

[badathostage]

"Oh well, if you don't think it's a bad thing, I'll be sure to expect lots of chaos and risk to life and limb," Wylan says. He's pretty sure Jesper was talking about Wylan's definition rather than his own, but it's worth faking the misunderstanding to get a jibe in.

As they walk, he tucks his hands under his arms to keep warm, and keeps his head up - he's still getting used to the Barrell and there's still things worth learning, but he's not so new as to let himself be obvious about his newness.

After a while he finds himself humming quietly - he's not sure why that song has spring to his mind recently, but maybe it's because his arm has been quiet all day, and that is sometimes more noticeable than the constant stream of letters.

[just_ask]

"Hey!" Jesper looks offended, but amusement plays in his eyes despite himself. The marching has some bite, and Jeaper always enjoys when he manages to annoy it out of him.

"Isn't it your job to cause the chaos?" He points out with a smirk - explosions are not subtle, after all. Though admittedly Wylan has plenty of tricks up his sleeve that don't go boom, but acknowledging that would ruin the joke.

The humming catches his attention and he smiles a little.

"What's that? It sounds good."

[badathostage]

"Nothing much," Wylan says, instantly clamming up. He's beginning to feel a little more comfortable around Jesper, but he's still a bit self conscious of his privileged background, his history as a soft music lover. That's not as useful as his skills with chemistry.

So he doesn't want to admit he wrote it - even though it makes him smile to think that Jesper likes it, even if it wasn't written for him,.

"Just a little reminder that not everything has to be chaos."

[just_ask]

Jesper feels bad that he caused Wylan to stop, he was enjoying it, but he feels like saying so will just fluster the merchling even more. That's fun, of course, but he doesn't want to do it too much.

It makes him think of the music his soulmate sometimes wrote, though Jesper didn't know it well enough to know any of the tunes that got scrawled across his arm, and it felt too personal to ask anybody else about it. Sometimes he thinks about trying to learn, but he doesn't know where to start. Maybe he could ask Wylan for some lessons.. or maybe not.

"It doesn't?" He says, feigning a pout "but the chaos is what makes it fun!"

[badathostage]

Maybe he could - Wylan would probably oblige, but he'd be very surprised that anyone other than him would be interested in a skill with no practical use.

"For you," he observes. "I like to cause the chaos from a distance."

[just_ask]

"Well then it's lucky you have a skill suited to doing just that, isn't it?" Jesper asks cheerfully, leaning over to nudge Wylan with his shoulder.

"Don't worry merchling, Kaz probably doesn't want you in the thick of it."

Mostly because he's green and likely to be a liability, but Jesper, at least, is nice enough not to say that out loud.

[badathostage]

Luckily or not, Wylan can fill in that bit for himself. It's okay, though. He doesn't want to be in the thick of it.

He weathers the nudge, and without thinking nudges Jesper back.

It's nice, he thinks, that Jesper's warming to him. Likes that they can joke and be close even though they both have soulmates - Wylan almost gave up on ever finding his since he moved out of his father's house where they would start sending letters out, if he was able to read his arm. But in the Barrel, it doesn't seem to matter. No one asks and no one cares.

[just_ask]

There's too many people in the barrel with bad stories, too many people who have lost their soulmates or been separated from them, nobody asks because it's a dangerous question, and that's before you even consider just how personal a question it is.

Jesper wished that Kaz was his soulmate, for a while, but despite the lack of words there was always something sort of friendly about the images his soulmate shared, it could never have been Kaz.

(Besides, he's seen enough of Kaz's injuries not reflected on himself to know it wasn't him)

These days, his feelings for Kaz fading from childish crush to slightly more grown up respect, he thinks whoever Kaz's soulmate is, they've got their work cut out for them.

Mostly, he doesn't talk about his own soulmate because he thinks they might have their work cut out for them, too. It's clear they're educated, more sheltered than he is, he's almost afraid to find them, afraid to see the disappointment and rejection when they find out who and what he is.

Asking about anybody else's just invites questions, so he doesn't ask.

It doesn't take them long to get to the slat, to climb the rickety stairs to Kaz's office, where Kaz lays out the plan for the next job. It's technically correct that Kaz doesn't want Wylan in the thick of it, but neither does he just want Wylan's only involvement to be making things for them; with the numbers they have, he doesn't have anybody to spare to set the charges after Wylan's made them, so he's going to need Wylan to be there to do it himself.

[badathostage]

That's not great, but it doesn't sound too dangerous, either. Not with Jesper there to do the actual fighting, anyway. Wylan listens carefully to the plan, and then nods.

"I'll need to get some things before we go," he says.

And that's how Jesper ends up having to escort him shopping.

[just_ask]

Jesper gives a cursory grumble to the idea of having to trail after Wylan while he shops, but it's mostly because he's also been given funds to restock his ammo and Wylan is keeping him from gambling it just as much as he's playing escort, and of course he's going to object to that.

Even if it is necessary.

He saunters after Wylan, eyeing up the shops and stalls as they pass.

"What is it you need to get, then?"

[badathostage]

Wylan gives a few names of the things he wants, not expecting Jesper to really know the words, but at least the sharpshooters eyes might be able to pick them up from labels. Maybe.

Not that he needs to. Wylan knows exactly where he's going and exactly what he wants looks like. He doesn't stop at any stalls on the way, just heads towards the first place.

They know him here, are used to the way he looks at each vial personally rather than the labels, and when he asks one stallkeeper if they have any saltpetre she doesn't even point out the 'sold out' sign behind her.

"I kept some aside for you, Wylan," she says instead. It's not a lot but it will be enough for this.

[just_ask]

Jesper nods, and he does look out for the labels as they go, but he realises quickly that his help isn't really required since Wylan obviously knows where to get what he wants.

His gaze flicks to the sign when he asks, thinking Wylan is being a little demanding to ask when they don't, only it turns out they do so maybe he just knows to ignore the sign... He's probably charmed all of the stallholders around here, he's sweet like that.

"Why don't any shops give me special treatment?" he complains jokingly as they move away.

[badathostage]

"You're not as pretty as me," Wylan says sweetly, thinking that Jesper is perfctely pretty and that that's part of the problem: He oozes too much charm to be trustworthy.

"Also I always pay upfront and never ask for credit."

[just_ask]

Jesper looks dramatically affronted because he is very pretty thank you very much.

"No I think it's that second one." He says with a disdainful sniff - and, well, it's true, because that's pretty much exactly why.

(Except, actually, he thinks it's because Wylan is way too cute. In some parts of the barrel that makes him a target, but not here)

"You are very pretty though." he adds with a wink

[badathostage]

There's no answer to that coming easily. Wylan ducks his head, and tries not to be too obviously flustered.

It's not really fair. Jesper wields that charm like a weapon, sometimes, andd he keeps trying to poke Wylan with it and then... never does anything about it.

"We need to get your ammo as well," he mutters.