IGNORANTIA (Dark Academia!Wesper AU)

eenentwintig pt. 1

A/N: This chapter has been split into two parts for editing reasons, so while each part may seem "short" it's because they're meant to be read together. Part two will be out tomorrow no later than 5:30 Pacific Time. Cheers x.

Though the Slat isn't nearly as nice as the Crow Club, it somehow manages to feel more welcoming. Perhaps it's because it's less pristine, or perhaps it's because each and every member greets Jesper with a hug and a slap on the back. When he's not greeting his old friends, he has his hand on the small of my back as he introduces me to his friends.

"Samijah here is a fantastic cook," he tells me, "and Lei is the funniest person you will ever meet. Just don't trust them with your money."

Jesper winks at who I can only assume is Lei. They roll their eyes and wave Jesper away, though not without failing to hide their bashful smile. Every one of them are barbarians and thieves, and yet here Jesper regards them as family. Even the woman with a buzzed head and a jagged pink scar across her face spins Jesper around in circles with her hug. I watch a man practically drop his skull-shattering hammer to shake Jes's hand.

"Are they usually this friendly?" I ask Jes after he introduces me to Andi the Skull-Shatterer.

"It depends on the weather." Jesper howls as he runs towards a man at the bar. "ZARA! How the hell have you been, you bastard?!"

Zoya nudges me with her elbow. "Come on. We need to meet Brekker."

We follow Inej towards the back where the more private meetings are instigated. This can be anything from business exchanges to birthdays, though it's never that exciting a celebration with Kaz Brekker. He sits at a chair in the backroom waiting patiently for all of us to make it inside. I wonder how long we've kept him waiting. Really, I think it's rather dramatic of him to keep up this type of presentation. We're on the same side, aren't we? So why the facade?

Jesper is the last to join us. Kaz tells him to shut the door behind him, and soon the meeting begins. Nikolai sits opposite of Kaz across the table, Zoya and Genya on his left and right, Inej and Jesper by Kaz's side, and me and Nina sitting in the middle like a peaceful liaison between the two hierarchies. Tea is passed around as well as biscuits that do nothing but dry the mouth out. Nina and Jesper both scarf them down like they're nothing, the silence as thick as the very molasses used in the biscuits.

"Would you mind passing the sugar?" Inej asks Zoya, who politely slides the glass bowl across the table. Metal spoons clink against dish-ware in the heavy quiet.

"Do you have the money?" Kaz asks.

Nikolai hoists a heavy suitcase onto the table with a loud clunk. He's disguised as Sturmhond again; the part of a Pirate more suitable for this kind of work than a king. "I don't carry money by the millions for obvious reasons, so let's call this a down payment."

Inej grabs the handle of the suitcase and moves it to her side of the table. The silver latches flip open with a neat click, revealing stacks upon stacks of red paper slips. Inej takes one of the thick-lipped stacks out and fans the bills with her thumb. Kaz watches with solemn eyes.

"There's around five hundred thousand in there, and another five hundred thousand in here," says Nikolai as he hoists yet another suitcase onto the table. "Once we're finished here, you can take the others two million on my ship, and the rest will get to you by the end of next month."

"This is Ravkan money," Kaz points out. "It may be five hundred thousand vlachki to you, but it only surmounts to two hundred thousand kruge here. This better not be a trick, Pirate."

"I promise you it's not," Nikolai says. "I swear it on my dear mother's grave."

"Isn't she super evil though?" Jesper asks. "I read about it in the papers somewh—"