Midnight Thoughts ~ Shadow & Bone

3

A/N: please please please read the note at the end, it's for you guys to decide how I go about this cause I'm struggling

I couldn't hide the giddy smile on my face as I followed Kaz down Rozenstraat. Almost as if he could see out of the back of his head, he sighed deeply.

"Please calm down, Karlin," he muttered. "I know you're excited, but we are still wanted for murder so please do try to blend in." I rolled my eyes and shook my head, jogging to keep up with him. How the boy with the limp could move so fast, I would never know, but my legs being a good deal shorter than his, I always had trouble matching his pace.

"If anyone recognizes me, good on them," I joked. "Those wanted posters did a shit job at capturing my likeness and anyone that manages I can take out easily enough." Upon reaching the end of the street, I caught sight of a familiar figure slumped against the wall down the street, a light tune emitting from the flute against his lips. My grin widened, and I nearly went to move towards him before Kaz's cane blocked my path.

"We can't approach him here without drawing attention," he said. "We'll catch him in the workshop." I sighed but nodded, and within minutes we had snuck inside the workshop in the back of the building and found a secluded corner to wait in. It was silent for mere minutes before Kaz spoke up.

"After we work something out and I get what I need, I'll head out to set it up," he said, making me look up at him. "You can stay here. I know you want to talk to him." I smiled a bit and nodded, and he looked down at me with a nearly imperceptible smirk. "Just don't be too hard on him. We do still need his help." I sighed dramatically and nodded, but before either of us could say another word, the door opened, and the small boy walked inside with a sigh. As he dropped his bag beside the stairs, Kaz walked out from behind the shelf.

"Wylan," he called, making the boy spin around quickly. He gasped quietly as I stepped out and looked between the two of us.

"You're alive," he said quietly. Kaz nodded, stepping around the side of the work bench.

"Thanks in part to you," he admitted.

"Stadwatch are after you."

"How much phosphorus did you pack into that flash bomb? The escape option against the Darkling." The messy-haired boy furrowed his brows.

"Did you need it?" he asked. "Was it enough?" Kaz sighed.

"Not for that, but yes, it was enough." He stepped closer to the boy as I stepped around the side of the bench closer to Wylan. "I need you to make a new package for me." The boy chuckled nervously and shook his head.

"You said that was a one-time thing," he said, "not a real step into your world. I was strapped at the time." I furrowed my brows.

"And now?" I asked. "Wylan, when was the last time you ate?" At my words, Kaz set down the bottle he had been fiddling with and reached for another.

"Don't- Don't touch that specific bottle," Wylan said quickly, making the dark-clad boy halt his motions and look up at him. "You'll be itching for days." I chuckled under my breath and shook my head, stepping away from the pair and looking around the familiar workshop. Not much had changed since I had been there last, with the exception of a few new ingredients I remembered him telling me he was looking for. It was in my wandering that I realized just how long it had been since I had last seen the boy.

I met Wylan not long after arriving in Ketterdam, before I met any of the Crows or even Levi. He wasn't much of a fighter then, just as he wasn't now, and I had been picking up a few things for Castiel and Tryne (I hadn't yet found Marten but would in the next few months) when I saw him being pushed around by a couple mere street thugs. A few well-placed shadows and cuts to the back of their knees were enough to scare the men off, and Wylan soon became an honorary Rat.