abraxaslogs | There is a swelling storm and I'm caught up in the middle of it all

Jesper did expect to get a date out of his precious pigeon sooner or later, especially with Nocwich opening up, but he thought it likely he would have to do the asking. Perhaps it was their lustful affair that made Wilhelm more comfortable asking, and Jesper was delighted by it. He is more than happy to spend time with his lovers outside of the bedroom and it will be fun to get to know this sweet-faced boy a little better.

It takes longer for the Free Cities to get to the Nocwich gates so he leaves early to wander around a bit before they are set to meet, but he ends up by the Thorne gate waiting patienty. And as promised, the question about the color is answered, because Jesper's signature long coat is a bright blue today, contrasting nicely with the darker blue of his shirt. Why not dress to impress when on their first official date? Jesper's coat has a permanent dye ability to be whatever color he chooses, so it's easy for him to swap it from his typical green. Bright colors go very well with his complexion, or at least he always manages to pull it off.

He has with him a little box that he's fiddling with as he waits, gray eyes curiously glancing around at all the people coming in and out. Jesper is still excited by the newness of being able to go to Nocwich and see so many new people, the Square a lively addition. He isn't nervous in the slightest, but that's Jesper. Nothing ever worries him much, especially not a cute fellow he's looking forward to seeing.

Edited 2022-11-19 22:13 (UTC)

Wilhelm's nerves spike only when he thinks of it as a date. That's half because Jesper is too charming for anybody else's good, and half because his brain has worked itself into such a complicated knot that he himself doesn't know how to untangle it all. It begins at the realization that nothing he'd ever done with Simon counted as a date, not really. Everything between them had to be a secret. The simple act of occupying a public space hand in hand, without having to worry about who sees them, who suspects them, is a luxury for which he would have traded anything. And somehow, it ends with anxiety pushing on his chest.

So Wilhelm tells himself that they're just...hanging out. Only, he implied that kissing would be involved. No big deal. It's fun to be casual. Jesper's words, repeated like a mantra ad nauseum.

He appears in the square wrapped in a dark grey jacket and woven purple scarf. Though he still prefers when he can wear normal clothes in the Horizon, he feels less ridiculous now in Thornean fashions after nearly half a year. When he spots Jesper, everything in him falls still and quiet. His expression pulls into a smile.

"Hey!" he calls, closing the distance. "You weren't waiting for too long, were you?"

Jesper glances up when he hears the hey and his smile is instant and wide, meeting him halfway. With Mat, Jesper always swept him up in an immediate kiss, but they have been lovers for over half a year so that was normal and lovely. The two of them are new and he knows his pigeon is a little shy, so he tones down his natural PDA instinct.

"No, I got here early to do a bit of business. You look lovely, pigeon."

Toning down his PDA means that instead of kissing him, he playfully reaches out to caress the scarf against his neck, the flirtation blatant otherwise. He can't very well stop doing that. He flirts as easily as he breathes. Jesper resists the urge to step closer and make him blush, and instead he lifts the box and offers it to him.

"I made this for you. We got this new metal from Luna in Cadens, it absorbs magic. It's fireproof and protective against elementals or any kind of magic."

It is a simple black bracelet with a silver clasp and it is made of very pretty metal called braerium. Jesper figures if he can't actually run into Thorne to protect the people he cares for, there's no harm in giving them a few things now.

Jesper's skills as a crafter are mostly only well known to other people from Free Cities who often gets items from him, because he rarely gets to offer them to anyone else. He finds himself maybe a little nervous now, as opposed to usual, since gestures are sometimes unwelcome.

His fidgeting hands, knotting together in front of him only to swing back to his sides, suggest that he isn't sure how to greet Jesper. They're on a date, but it's casual. They'd fooled around, but they're not together. Luckily, Jesper makes the situation easier to navigate by reaching out to play with his scarf. Laughing, Wilhelm slides his hand over his, gives him a small squeeze.

Surprise pops his expression as Jesper presents the box to him. Fumbling it open, he takes out the bracelet to inspect it.

"You made this?"

It's not disbelief that colors the question, but admiration. He had no idea that...magical-jewelry-crafting was among Jesper's myriad talents. Something to add to his growing knowledge of the other boy. He tugs his glove off to make the bracelet easier to put on. Once it's clasped, he holds his wrist up for Jesper to see.

"Thanks... How does it look?"

Jesper on the other hand is in his element here. A casual expert. There is that knowing glint in his eyes or in the curve of his smile, the suggestion that they're more than friends in the way he looks at him, but otherwise he follows Wilhelm's body language. It's all about adapting.

"Yes, I forget people outside of Cadens don't know this. I'm a master crafter, supernaturally gifted, you might say."

And he means that quite literally, considering his dry tone. Jesper is known within the Summoned as having powers, but he tries really hard not to make it public knowledge, especially in Cadens. Where they might want to snatch someone with his skills. He's very paranoid about that, given where he comes from.

"It looks great, obviously, it's my skill combined with your body, what could be better?"

Jesper winks at him and reaches out to grab said wrist, running his thumb along the inside of Wilhelm's wrist in a very familiar way.

"It'll help take care of you, love."

Jesper's flirting earns an awkward laugh, Wilhelm shaking his head like it must be a joke. He has no idea how to handle such naked compliments — but that doesn't mean he hates it. Touch comes more naturally to him, the native tongue of his affections. Tugging his glove back on, he takes Jesper's hand in his, so that their interlaced fingers hang between them like a tether.

"Thank you, Jesper," he says again, his grin bright. "It's awesome."

The thoughtfulness behind the gift warms him — almost overwhelms him. Now he wishes he had thought to bring something for Jesper, not that he has any particular skill in...anything. Or enough money to cover more than the occasional meal outside the castle or evening at a tavern. Even Jesper's choice of outfit demonstrates his attentiveness. All that blue doesn't escape Wilhelm's notice. So that's what that question about his favorite color had been about.

"You look great, by the way."

Jesper deserves his fair share of compliments, though Wilhelm can't pull it off with the same smooth confidence.

Jesper will continue to give those compliments because he loves Wilhelm's reactions, and he never fails to be adorable in those moments. But he does know that actions speak louder for him so when he laces their fingers together, Jesper's smile goes softer. He squeezes Wilhelm's hand to show that he's glad he did it.

"Oh me? I just rolled out of bed looking like this."

He's teasing since he can't help it but Wilhelm already knows that he picked the look specifically for him. Jesper is good about details. He is thoughtful and has a sharp memory, qualities that made him a good second-in-command and also works for him here. He does love the compliment though and runs his free hand over his blue shirt, looking very pleased.

"Okay let's get moving before I kiss you right here in public for being too cute." Not that Jesper's against it, but his pigeon's the shy sort. Besides, he still has his hand and tugs gently toward the rest of the square.

"What do you want to do on our date? We could have a drink, or take in a show, go to the market, or relax in the hot springs. Any and all."

Jesper is unsurprisingly very adaptable and could have a great time doing just about anything. They could walk around doing nothing but flirt and he'd call that a good date. He also could sneak Wilhelm somewhere to kiss for awhile, but that is the long-term plan.

Truthfully, Jesper's playful "threat" is tempting. The thought of kissing him, shiny and ripe, dangles at the fore of Wilhelm's mind, but the crowd shifting around them holds him back from reaching out. It's not that he's ashamed. It's not that anybody here cares who he is either. Back home this innocuous scene would constitute a scandal, but here he's allowed to be just a boy holding another boy's hand. This is a freedom that lifts a weight from him and bites him with bittersweetness at once.

Still, he has a hard time shaking the imagined weight of so many eyes measuring his every move. So he appreciates that Jesper, despite all his teasing, listens to his body language and respects his boundaries. Being with him is as comfortable as it is exciting.

"Let's check out the market," Wilhelm decides, already heading in the direction he recalls from his first visit to the square, tugging Jesper along with him. "We could find something to eat that's easy to walk around with."

Eventually they may reach a point where Jesper just kisses him as a greeting, but for now this is sweet and easy. They are still learning the boundaries with each other, but that is exciting to Jesper. He loves when things are new and interesting. He likes getting to know people. There's comfort in being comfortable with someone enough to sweep them off their feet in a romantic gesture in front of everyone, but that's a future them, if he has anything to say about it.

Jesper lets Wilhelm lead him just as he's encouraging him to make the choices. It's fun to see him take control a little bit, since Jesper tends to be the confident and forward one usually. "Alright, let's just make sure it wasn't dish number three from our tasting test. Fairly certain it was a body part of an animal that I wasn't eager to try."

It was a blind react food test and while Jesper happily eats everything people put in front of him, that one was a bit complex. Although it didn't stop him from just going through to the next one. He has a stomach of steel. He'd much rather be eating waffles than anything else, but savory really does go over well too. And yet he's skinny as a rail, always.

"I hope we get to hang out with that group again, they were fun. They put on a good party and I liked the atmosphere." Trust Jesper to have fun in a laidback party with a lot of booze and strange foods. "The ball wasn't really my type of thing, although I'm sure I would've enjoyed it." He can enjoy just about anything.

He pulls a face as Jesper invokes the specter of the horrifying courses they'd tried at the Lunar Pond shindig. Despite the questionable things he'd put in his mouth that night, Wilhelm had had fun. Most of the credit belongs to Jesper, who can make almost anything funny.

"Absolutely no mystery meat this time," he agrees. Grinning, he playfully knocks his shoulder into Jesper's. "You could probably make anything fun. Even a stuffy ball."

The way he says it, it's clearly not his sort of thing either. He's already suffered more meticulously orchestrated formal events than anyone his age should. All it amounted to was endless hours of hoping he says nothing stupid and waiting for it to be over.

As they reach the edge of the sprawling market, Wilhelm searches the painted wooden signs for something good to eat. Discerning a promising stall up ahead, he points it out to Jesper. The savory smell of roasting meat permeates the air here.

Jesper will eat just about anything, but that night definitely tested his ability to do it with some of the courses. He still refused to tap out and they did manage to react to a lot of it with laughter, the bad ones even more so than the good ones. It was a really good first date, even if it wasn't an official one. Now they'll have this one to add to the Wilhelm-Jesper budding romance.

"That's my meaning in life, Wille. Making the world a more fun place." Jesper is delighted that Wilhelm thinks he could make anything fun though. He takes in compliments like a sponge. "Also a sexier place." He bumps his shoulder back too with a laugh.

He follows Wilhelm to the stall and flips the seller some coins. Sometimes that can be annoying more than charming, but Jesper's warm smile gets him out of so many things, it's obnoxious. Also it helps that he automatically adds a tip, always. "Anything you want, pet, go for it."

Jesper isn't rich anymore, or well, not well-off anymore, he sort of depleted their huge stash of cash, but he never fails to make money when he wants to. He's a wheeler and dealer. It's his brand.

"So believe it or not, we actually know very little about each other." He laughs, because it doesn't actually bother him. He takes the meat. He is not a stranger to being naked with someone before knowing details about them. "You know I can make things, tell me something about yourself I don't already know."

Thanking both the proprietor and Jesper, he accepts his skewer of roast meat. It's nice, being taken care of.

"Yeah, you thought I was straight," Wilhelm retorts. Believe it or not. While he's still mapping out his sexuality, he's comfortable enough to make jokes like this. Not that long ago, it was hard to even talk about it out loud. Not because of any shame, but because of all the expectations surrounding him. He supposes everyone assumes he's straight. Tradition, which his family is supposed to uphold — of which they're supposed to be goddamn symbols — wouldn't have it any other way.

Well, fuck tradition.

As they start walking again, he takes a bite from his skewer. This gives him a moment to chew over a good answer for Jesper.

"I don't really have any special talents. I'm a decent rower. Um...I can play the piano, but I like just listening to music better than actually playing it."

Jesper laughs, capturing Wilhelm's hand again and bringing it to his mouth for a kiss on his knuckles affectionately. He drops them back down after. "I'm used to men who like men reacting when I flirt with them, even in subtle ways." Jesper is an expert at body language as part of being a fighter, but also from hooking up with a lot of people.

"I thought I caught a little warming up at the werewolf party, but you also wouldn't have been the first confused straight boy to give me signals." It shouldn't be surprising that Jesper is an excellent person for anyone unsure of their orientation to flirt around with. It's the lack of judgment. "I'm very glad you like men, believe me. The memories of our time together kept me warm on the cold nights on the supply run."

Just shamelessly referring to their hook up out loud, don't mind him. He chews on his meat after saying that, and oh, it is good. The food here is great, as long as it's not a blind testing. He looks over at him while he gives an answer.

"Rowing like on the water?" Strange, he doesn't look like a fisher or anything like that. Rowing for fun isn't really something done in Ketterdam, everyone's too busy working and scheming. "I have a music room in my side of the Horizon, you should come play for me. I've been trying to learn how to play the guitar."

Wilhelm catches Jesper's laughter, smiling shyly as he presses that kiss to his knuckles. Studying the trinkets for sale in the next stall, chewing on his skewer, his expression shifts subtly like the weather. Sheepish as Jesper waltzes him back through his early attempts at flirting — which only failed because Wilhelm wasn't sure how to answer. Pleased as he alludes to a certain afternoon spent tangled up together. Playfully scandalized, he gives Jesper a light shove.

"As long as they didn't distract you."

He doesn't know how to explain that his slow warming to Jesper's charms had nothing to do with him and everything to do with another boy who broke his heart. Or that he'd stared at his perfect lips and radiant smile that first night and missed Simon. He still misses Simon. It's just that Jesper makes it easier to smile; he's good at pulling him out of his thoughts and into the present. Wilhelm needs that.

"I can play for you sometime, sure. But only if you show me what you're learning." He points his eyebrows at Jesper like this is a threat. "And yeah, rowing like in a boat. You have a team you row with, and you race the other team."

"They may have distracted me a time or two. It was a long journey."

He laughs at the shove. Jesper also did some things with his abilities that are weighing on him now, in terms of being caught, but honestly, it's so easy to not worry about any of that when he's with Wilhelm. He is a very sweet distraction, the type of sweet that he knows can get spicy at the right times.

"Oh is that another date you're planning for us? I accept."

Jesper smiles very smugly and he can't help it, snagging Wilhelm's hand and tugging him close. To his side, rather than his front, because then he will absolutely kiss him, but instead he puts an arm around his shoulder and walks that way with them side by side.

"Never heard of rowing as an activity. I'm from a port town, you row 'cause you need to. To want to do that, you'd be a sailor or a pirate." Both are acceptable in his opinion. Inej is one of the latter, after all. "You should definitely visit my part of the Horizon though, not just so we can play together, also so you can help me add things to my television. I made one after seeing it at Dean and Wanda's, but I've only copied a few things I watched there."

Jesper had never seen a television before and he's limited to what he's seen. So sue him for wanting to deepen his collection!

Wilhelm can't hide his grin as Jesper pulls him close and corrals him there with an arm curled around his shoulder. Enthralled by Jesper's easy company, he's already forgotten to glance around him. The crowd filling the marketplace just fades away from his consideration, like fog evaporating in the sun. Even when Jesper throws out the word date, which had tied his nerves into knots as he got ready this morning, he feels only a little jolt of excitement.

This casual stuff isn't as hard as he thought it would be.

"I'll have to think of some good movies to show you." Wilhelm tilts a curious look up at him. "What about video games? Have you played any?"

From everything Jesper has said about his home world, Wilhelm gathers that it's not what he would consider modern. The way he describes "his television" just solidifies this impression.

The next stall they pass houses an array of toys: animals carved from wood, cloth dolls, puppets. Nothing he would give a second look. What catches his interest is a row of snow globes, old-fashioned things made of pewter and glass instead of plastic. In each one lies a different miniature landscape. Pausing, he runs a finger over the curved glass.

Jesper was excited about this date too, it's always a thrill to see how things go with someone new. Sex is easy, sex is beautiful, and their time together was invigorating. But he likes when he gets to have this too, when the thrill in their veins is about stealing glances and touches as well as kisses. Casual dating should always be fun, and he plans on giving his pigeon exactly that.

They hooked up in the Crow Club section of his Horizon which is why he keeps referring to his side. Kaz and Inej share the Crow Club too, it's all of their home, but his little cabin in the back is all his. He recently changed it and he feels pretty proud of how it turned out. He likes the idea of Wille being in it.k

"No idea what a video game is, but I like games." He has seen televisions and computers, those were mindblowing enough. Jesper's time he would say is closer to Cadens than anything else, they are about the same tech wise. Although he has yet to see a tank!

Jesper is always curious in things that are for sale. Sometimes because he can just make it himself later if he wants to be inspired by something. It's nice to wander around Nocwich without much of an agenda, a handsome lad under his arm. He notices Wilhelm's attention though and glances at it.

"You want one, love? Which one? I'll get it for you." Hey, he never gets to be the rich one, although he isn't really rich anymore. But money enough.

He looks up at Jesper, surprise splashed across his face. Although Wilhelm is pretty well used to getting whatever he wants, at least materially, he's not used to gorgeous boys offering to buy anything for him.

"Oh, it's..." Eyes drifting back down to the snow globes, he shakes his head. "It just reminds me of something my brother once gave me. That's all."

Though, as he tears the last bit of meat off of his skewer, he picks one up to study it more closely. A tiny pond is encapsulated inside, surrounded by delicate trees. He gives it a shake, sending the glittery stuff suspended inside into a swirling flurry.

"I'll teach you how to play video games too. It'll be fun."

Jesper finishes off his meat and tilts his head curiously at Wilhelm. A brother. Intriguing. See, this is why dating is fun, you learn things about someone else. Sometimes he has sexual partners where they don't know anything else about each other, and that's fine depending on the vibe, but it's not his natural state of being. He finds people interesting.

"A brother, huh? Being an only child, I'm always a little envious of siblings." Not entirely, he liked all the attention, but it would have been helpful to have someone else to lean on after his mother died. His father was a mess and Jesper had to take over some of his mother's duties as a child. Another sibling would have been nice.

"Pick one, I'll buy it for you. Consider it a down payment on your video game teaching sessions." Jesper runs his fingers playfully up Wilhelm's back and then ruffles his hair.

Even as he shakes his head, he can't help but grin as Jesper ruffles his hair. Well, if he insists...

"Okay. Thanks, Jesper."

Wilhelm wonders if it's lonelier to grow up without any brothers at all, or to grow up with one only to lose him. He has a hard time imagining Jesper, who connects with people like a puzzle piece that fits anywhere, lonely. But it must happen sometimes.

"The other members of your gang are kind of like brothers and sisters, right?" he asks, as he deliberates over the row of snow globes. After a moment, he selects the one featuring the tiny pond and holds it up for Jesper to see.

"This one."

Jesper made the life he wanted for himself when he went to Ketterdam, but he was lonely growing up. He lived on a farm and had to support his father, and while he always got along very well with other people, most of them knew about his mother and suspected he was a Grisha. There wasn't hate thrown his way but wariness was expected even in safer areas. He got to remake himself and never have to be lonely again.

"I would say we're family, but the kind of family that shares no blood so it's not strange that we sometimes hook up." It's a gang full of hot young people on the whole. These things happen. Not to mention the Crows all paired off into their little couples, so they can be family and also together. "I think of much of the Cadens group as my family too." They're very tight knit.

Jesper looks at the snowglobe and it's sweet that Wille went with something casual like a pond. Most people would want dramatic buildings or cities in theirs. He smiles and nods, turning to offer the merchant the coin needed for it.

"What's your brother like?"

Wilhelm snorts a surprised laugh at the comment on hooking up, though he shouldn't be surprised anymore. He balances it with a thoughtful hum as Jesper describes the other Summoned as a sort of family.

He would be surprised to learn that Jesper's childhood echoes his own. He was different, too, in a way that nobody can see but everybody knows — not because of any power coursing through his veins, but because of his royal blood. His title was like a wall that isolated him from other kids. He had friends, but how many really knew him? How many really understood him? How many cared about him for who he was, and not what he was?

Erik was the only one on his side of the wall.

As Jesper passes coins to the proprietor, Wilhelm peers at the snow globe again. He likes the little pond because it reminds him of the frog in the one his brother had passed down to him. It reminds him of the lake at Hillerska, his school, too.

"Kind. Thoughtful," he answers.

Once the exchange is made, the snow globe gets wrapped in thick paper and tied with a string. Wilhelm takes it, cradling it carefully. They begin to walk again.

"Erik has always been the person I look up to the most. He was always on my side, and I could talk to him about anything."

Jesper hid his abilities and his past even from his closest friends for quite some time, Kaz being the only one who really knew from the start. That is no doubt why he recruited him, but there was a part of him he hid. Being a Grisha was not a source of joy, not for him, until here, and even then it's not shared with everyone. It's hard for anyone to truly know someone else, in his opinion, but if they know enough, that counts.

With Wilhelm needing to hold the globe he lets him have his hand back, although he keeps an arm slung around his shoulders because he can. Jesper glances down at him when he catches the 'was' and 'could.' He pays close attention to people when they talk and reads through them. He knows what that means. No wonder he was feeling wistful about the globes.

"That sounds lovely. Everyone should have one of those if they're lucky." He hopes that even if the brother is lost, the things he'll remember about him will eventually be only the good parts. That's how he has been about Matthias and his mother lately. "We may not be blood, but that's been Inej for me."

He nods. In one measure, at least, he was lucky. He can't imagine what his life would be like if there had never been an Erik, what he would be like absent Erik's influence, beyond the blurriest outline. He'd be much lonelier, he supposes. His thumb brushes over the packaging cradling his new snow globe, contemplating its contents. That's two gifts Jesper has gotten for him now; he would have to find a way to repay his generosity.

As they resume their walk through the market, Wilhelm settles into his place tucked into Jesper's side, bracketed by his arm. He likes it there. At the dropping of Inej's name, his expression brightens with recognition.

"I know Inej, she's cool," comes his glowing review. "So she's a part of your Cadens family?"

As Jesper had called it. It's a nice concept. In Thorne, they feel less like a family and more like a hostage situation these days.

"She's a part of my gang, we're from the same world." Jesper doesn't know if that's come up if he knows Inej. The two of them are inseparable in Cadens so everyone there knows the two are locked at the hip, they live together, but outside of Cadens it may not be as obvious.

"We've been best friends for years. When I got here, she was in Solvunn, she was able to move to Free Cities during the peace summit to join me." The two of them couldn't bear the idea of staying a faction apart so when the option came up, they had to take it. But Inej knew that staying in Solvunn would probably have driven Jesper insane. He doesn't want to ever go back to a farmland, Cadens is far more his scene, and so she moved without question. Now with Kaz there it feels like it was the best move.

"She is very cool. Did you know she's an incredible acrobat? A tight rope walker."

There is a swelling storm and I'm caught up in the middle of it all

For Wilhelm

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Maybe start to wrap on this one?

sounds good