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I guess you weren't joking about taking risks.

So tell me about it, oh brave and handsome hero.

[Haha jk except not jk.]

I'm both always joking and completely serious at the same time.

Are you flirting with me, Pigeon?

[A yes or no question shouldn't require so much deliberation. But as the latter is untrue, and the former is too nakedly bold, here he is. It's not even serious, it's...fun. A little exciting, a little nerve-wracking. Very nearly a distraction from everything burning around them.

After a long pause:]

Only because you started it.

I'm always flirting. And here I thought you were straight.

Guess not.

Damn, you should have told me at the party! I could have kissed you in person. Rude.

[Oh. Preoccupied with missing Simon — and brooding over the way they'd burned down — he hasn't given much thought to kissing anyone else. But now he is.]

You know, I thought you'd hang around longer that night.

I got distracted by them telling us to use those bugs to protect Jaskier.

[ And everything that went wrong after that. Jesper himself is not that close to Jaskier, but he's still one of the Cadens family, and he's close to Geralt and Nadine. Jesper's very protective over people.]

Would you be interested in kissing me? Because we can do that in the Horizon any time we want.

[Right, that was a stupid thing to say. Think. Whatever.]

I just meant

I had a good time with you.

[Although now every memory of that night is left charred by what followed, in the way fire catches hold of everything around it, the hour spent with Jesper stays one he wishes he could go back to.]

Really? Like right now?

[Or...something less embarrassingly eager. Fuck, his brain seriously needs a backspace key.]

I mean, if you're not busy.

You're probably busy.

I had a good time with you too, love.

[ He's laughing. So eager! His favorite. ]

I'm not busy. A pleasant distraction would be greatly appreciated right now. If you're interested, come to the Crow Club. Hard to miss, it's a seedy-looking club with a giant crow symbol over the door. Meet me there?

[ooc: going away on Sat but we can start something here if you want!]

See you soon.

Wilhelm spends a good minute wondering what he's doing. Until a minute ago he'd never considered kissing Jesper. Well, maybe not never — he's got nice lips, and that's not a conclusion one can arrive at without some measure of imaginary kissing. But never seriously.

Because it's fun to be casual, pigeon, you should try it, Jesper's voice teases from some corner of his memory.

A little fun couldn't hurt. He could definitely use a pleasant distraction these days, which he watches pass by from the disheveled mess of his bed, hardly able to stand up under the weight of everything.

Another minute — this one for smoothing out his nerves enough to reach the appropriate state of concentration — and Wilhelm slips into the Horizon. Passing underneath the giant crow that marks the club's entrance, he glances around for Jesper. He works hard at assembling a casual air with his hands in his pockets.

Jesper's temper has been high, his reaction to all of this was fear (for others) and fury, the first inflaming the second. It's not a good time for him to have people he cares about somewhere he can't protect them. One of Jesper's defining characteristics is his loyalty and drive to take care of his loved ones, which was easier when it was all the Crows and they lived in the same city. The sudden violence and threat of it hanging over everyone made him want to fight, which is why he signed up for the supply run.

But he can be just as happy to move those feelings in a different direction. They both need a distraction. Jesper's definitely thought about kissing Wilhelm, but to be fair, he thinks that about every pretty person he comes across. He likes him though, sweet and soft and interesting, and it was adorable of him to so eagerly respond to the flirting. Not at all as straight as he thought!

The Crow Club is darkly lit and seedy, even here, because Jesper had no intention of changing the ambiance when creating it. Now Kaz shares it since it's his. But the Crow Club also has this energy within it, powerful and intriguing, dark and engaging. It's empty at the moment outside of Jesper himself, sitting in the back booth area.

He looks his usual dashing self in greens, his long jacket slung over the back of the booth so he's less formal. Jesper can tell when someone is in his space, it's his after all, and he whistles from where he's casually lounging at the moment. His smile is instant and cheerful.

"Oi, Pigeon. Come back here. You want a drink?" There is a bar but he can make drinks wherever he wants.

Scoping out the scene, he remembers that Jesper is supposed to belong to a gang. Extracted from the context of their homeworlds, it's easy to forget those kinds of details — whoever you were there, it doesn't matter much here. Wilhelm wonders if this club is Jesper's gang's turf. (Is turf the actual term people use?) If his mom knew that he was slinking around some club sucking face with a boy of questionable background, she'd probably have an aneurysm. Strangely, this thought only makes him more sure of what he's about to do.

Jesper's smile gets one out of him in turn, in the same way the sun spreads warmth. He does hesitate for a snap, pulled by habit toward the seat across from Jesper — but wedging a table between them wouldn't be conducive to the whole kissing thing. Correcting his course, Wilhelm slides in next to him.

"Sure," he answers, tucking a strand of hair behind his ear. "That would be great."

Now, to remember how to be a functioning person, which he's never really had a firm grasp of in the first place. He's not dressed as sharply as Jesper, but the sweater indicates some effort. He's also not nearly as relaxed, hands knotted in his lap, shoulders straight and stiff.

This is the Dregs' turf, yes. Their beloved club. He never feels more at home than when he's in here. He watches Wilhelm curiously, wondering how he is going to play this. If he sat across from him, it means he needs to unwind more before they get anywhere, but he decides to sit next to him instead, which means he hasn't lost his nerve. Jesper would be fine with either option, he's very good at seducing people who are a little nervous and need a softer hand.

He snaps a finger and a drink appears before him. It's a nice bourbon, a specialty here, and what Jesper himself is drinking. It may be a little deeper than what Wilhelm is used to. "You can change it to whatever you prefer, just need to think about it." This is the Horizon. They can change anything they want, and Jesper doesn't have tight control over it.

He puts an arm around Wilhelm and smiles, gray eyes warm as they look over his pretty face and tight shoulders. Jesper is fine with soothing this sweet pigeon of his and he reaches down to take one of his hands from his lap. He lifts the hand to his mouth and kisses his knuckles gently.

"You don't need to be nervous, love. We aren't going to do anything you don't want." He turns the hand to brush his lips against his palm next, sweet and soothing.

Before he can try his drink, Jesper is plucking his hand up and pressing kisses against it. The gesture might lack the depth it would possess in Simon's hands and lips — everything he did to Wilhelm seemed to have the weight of the ocean behind it — but he won't deny that it feels good. He didn't come here to brood over the boy who wrung his heart out, or to feel guilty for enjoying himself while the world burns. He didn't come here to think at all.

Curling his fingers, he traces Jesper's cheek and jaw as those kisses warm his palm.

"I'm not nervous."

His heart, thudding clumsily in his chest, would argue otherwise, but it's the good kind of nervous. After so many days of raw anxiety flaying him open, crushing his lungs and clattering around in his head, the fluttering feeling filling him now is a breath of fresh air.

To prove his point, Wilhelm cranes his neck — he's not used to doing this with someone so damn tall — to press his lips to Jesper's.

Jesper often needs an outlet when things get too big for him, and his anger has been sustained since it happened. His fear too, for those he cares for in Thorne, even more so than Cadens where the violence already happened. But he can't do violence, not yet, the supply run may end up peaceful, although it will get him out and doing something. Desire though, that's been as much of a comforting outlet as anything else.

It seems his sweet pigeon does indeed know what he wants and Jesper gives a sultry smile when he leans toward him. There are no nerves in him, nothing but a growing warmth and adrenaline that he seeks desperately. This is familiar and good, always. Well, except with Kuwei. That was just weird. He is well past missing Wylan every time a pretty person kisses him. His merchling is long gone now. Jesper focuses on the people he's with, like now.

He kisses him back with confidence, releasing his hand to dive long fingers into Wilhelm's hair. He caresses through the strands but holds the back of his head to keep him firmly where he is. The first kiss is chaste but lingering, and as soon as it breaks, Jesper leans in for more and this one is anything but chase. It is warm and direct, his heart racing, his tongue running aginst Wilhelm's lips in a request to be let in. He wants to explore his mouth, taste him to see if he is as sweet as he suspects.

Wilhelm is still in that state of heartbreak where he thinks he'll always compare everyone he kisses to Simon, and autumn will always be an ache because falling leaves remind him of falling in love. He still has to keep up the caution tape in his mind to keep himself from trespassing into memories of him. But Jesper, warm and so sure of himself that it's infectious, is easy to sink into. As their lips move together and Jesper's fingers weave in his hair, Wilhelm lets everything else shrink away. He lets himself be suspended in now.

There's a moment, in that initial break, where his eyes flutter open and he's almost thrown off by the not-yet-familiar landscape of Jesper's face. Just as fast, he dives back in. His fingers trail down the side of Jesper's neck, trace his shirt collar and buttons. His lips part for him, welcoming the warm glide of his tongue, goading him with a flick of his own. A soft sigh curls in the back of his throat.

Funny, how even ten minutes ago he couldn't have predicted that this was where the day would lead him.

Jesper felt like that in the start, although it was easier because the lovers he took were so vastly different from Wylan. Mat is far more like him, Rhy reminds him of Nina, and while Wilhelm does remind him of Wylan a great deal, he's known him long enough to separate the two easily. When he kisses Wilhelm, he isn't thinking about anyone else but him, although he also is pretty easy-going about being a warm body when someone is in need. At times, that's all he needs himself.

Jesper likes the touch of Wilhelm's fingers against his skin, his sweet lips, the eager way he invites him into his mouth. And Jesper doesn't hesitate to deepen the kiss, to expertly explore him, his free hand dropping down to his knee, caressing a thumb against his lower thigh comfortably. He keeps kissing him until they're both out of breath and when he comes up for air, his lips just travel across Wilhelm's cheek. His hand in Wilhelm's hair tilts his head to the side and he kisses his neck gently.

He realizes where they are though and only then does he lift his head, gray eyes soft and bright. "There's a room over there." He nods his head toward Kaz's room, which is currently empty, and he will just have to gamble on it continuing to be. "Just to be clear, I'm happy to kiss you, love, but anyone can walk in on us here looking for me." Jesper is popular, there's a high chance of that.

He smirks though. "Unless you like that sort of thing." Hey, some people are into being watched. He doesn't judge.

With Simon, they'd stumbled through all of this for the first time together. It was a sort of unchartered territory they were trying to map, and he'd loved every second of it, every little discovery. But those stubborn memories make it that much more obvious that Jesper knows exactly what he's doing. His tongue slipping into his mouth smooth as silk, thumb soothing the hinge of his thigh, loosening him; his hand directing the angle of his head to expose the slope of his neck, lips melting against the skin there. Wilhelm gets lost in it.

By the time Jesper pulls away, he's half-forgotten how to speak. He tinges pink as he realizes that the room, although empty at the moment, isn't exactly private. Of course Mr. Popularity over here must receive visitors all the time.

"No," he answers emphatically, poking Jesper's chest with both pointer fingers. That's for the exhibitionism comment, of course. Wilhelm can honestly think of next to nothing that's less appealing. His gaze flicks to the room Jesper indicated, and his lips curl into a shy grin. "Yeah, let's...let's do that."

Standing, he remembers the drink he never tried. Might as well take a sip now — it's not that he has any doubts to chase away, but a little extra confidence never hurts.

Jesper does have visitors regularly, he is friendly and outgoing and the Crow Club can be entertaining for new people. He also goes out and about and sees other people. This is also the space that Kaz and Inej are often in, so there's that. He laughs when Wilhelm pokes him in the chest, he would have been shocked if Wilhelm was into that honestly, but he is being playful.

He waits for Wilhelm to take a bit of liquid courage. The drink is heavy but also tastes good, he made sure to get something he thought Wilhelm would like. He's a good host! He was just more focused on kissing him than drinking. Jesper smiles and curls his fingers in the front of Wilhelm's shirt, dragging him in the direction of Kaz's room. It's a simple and dark room and Jesper wisely creates a little sign for the door. Busy, go away it says, with a little smiley face on it. If Kaz sees it and yells at him later, oh well. It wouldn't be the first time.

Jesper pulls Wilhelm toward him the moment the door is closed. If it was anyone else he might be a little more aggressive, but he is still being gentle with this sweet boy, and sometimes that is exactly what he wants. Jesper is almost half a foot taller than Wilhelm so when he sits on the side of the bed and tugs him closer, it makes them more on the same level.

"You are in so much trouble, I can't believe you didn't come onto me at the party, I could have snuck us behind a tree to kiss." Jesper's being playful and he leans up to kiss him again, smiling against his lips.

The bourbon burns down his throat, slowly blurs his edges. He supposes he lets it — everything in the Horizon is a state of mind. It would be nice if everything could be less sharp. Happy to let Jesper take the lead, Wilhelm lets himself get pulled along, fixing his hair with a quick pass of his hand. The sign that appears on the door as they push past it gets a laugh out of him. Nice touch.

Now, when Jesper said room, he assumed he meant a storage room, or a parlor, or something like that. The bed — which immediately draws his attention, due as much to its prominent position as to the proclivities of the teenage mind — is a surprise. But not a deal-breaker for this little rendezvous. His gaze settles warmly on Jesper, who's shorter than him now that he's seated. Corralled between his knees, Wilhelm find balance by holding onto his shoulders. The kiss relaxes him, burying his busy mind in sweet nothingness.

"I..." His eyes slide sheepishly aside as he flounders for something to say that isn't about missing somebody else. "...Just thought you had plenty of other people to kiss."

Realizing how that might sound, he cringes. Compensates with a little laugh.

"I'm making it up to you now, aren't I?"

Jesper knows that bringing him to the bedroom can be suggestive although he trusts that he's been clear he has no intention of being pushy. He likes Wilhelm and they're both looking for a nice distraction, it is as simple as they want it to be. Kissing and flirting are wonderful things. He laughs when Wilhelm looks like he's suggesting something insulting about his many partner options because Jesper has no shame and it's sweet Wilhelm doesn't want to offend him. One hand settles on the small of Wilhelm's back and the other is long enough to curl to the back of his neck. Both keeping him close and in kissing mode.

"And yet you're the one I ended up on a date with that night. Which I don't regret. I like being around you, Wilhelm."

In their time together, Jesper has always teased him with endearments or with his pigeon nickname, but now he says his name like a caress. They're kissing, it is only fitting he actually use it for once. And it's an acknowledgement that they more or less were on a date that night, even if neither of them put it into words at the time. And Jesper still thought he might have been straight at that point. Not that it would stop him. He took advantage of any sign of flirting quickly after all.

Jesper cups his face, brushing his thumb along his cheekbone, gazing up at Wilhelm. He usually can only do so at an angle like this with most people, so it's rather nice. He runs a tongue over his lips, smirking.

"Make it up to me then."

Jesper's hands, cradling the small of his back and the back of his neck, draw his attention closer. Gently pry him from the tight crush of everything that's made it hard to get out of bed lately. It's a simple thing, being touched, and right now simplicity is exactly what Wilhelm needs. He can almost ignore the quiet ache that wishes it were someone else's hands on him, someone else's lips seeking his.

As Jesper dubs the evening they'd spent together at the party a date, soft surprise stumbles across his expression, settling into a shy smile. His name sounds good on Jesper's tongue. Though he knows the other boy has probably pronounced dozens of names with the same golden warmth, he doesn't doubt that it's genuine. Having lived in the upper class world of facades and flattery, Wilhelm has a sense for these things.

"You can call me Wille," he breathes.

Except he doesn't give Jesper a chance to try out the nickname, as he tilts into another kiss. Apparently answering his challenge — make it up to me then — he doesn't waste much time on chasteness. His tongue slides across Jesper's lower lip; he tries a playful nip. His hands go from tracing gentle patterns into Jesper's shoulders and down the front of his shirt, to nudging at him to scoot back so that he can settle into his lap, knees bracketing thighs to slot them closer together.

Edited (whoops grammar) 2022-11-06 19:53 (UTC)

Jesper always means it. He is a very genuine person. He might get around a lot, but he's never callous about it, he likes people, and people like him. He chases sensation wherever he can get it, and lust has always been the safest of his greater impulses. Gambling and adrenaline give him a rush like nothing else, but this warm flush between them and the taste of Wilhelm on his lips can feed that part of him. Perhaps months ago he might have compared Wilhelm to Wylan, it would have been easy, they have some superficial qualities in common. But now Jesper's just here for him and the distraction they can give each other.

He notes the nickname and is about to repeat it when Wilhelm instead steals his breath away entirely. Jesper makes a pleased noise at the nip and kisses him deeply, leaning back to let Wilhelm settle onto his lap. He is slightly surprised by the forwardness but in the best possible way. Maybe he doesn't have to be so careful after all. Jesper puts an arm around his back to pull him close, right up against his body, and he surges up into him.

His hand slips under Wilhelm's shirt to run up his bare back and he uses his vantage point to let his mouth wander off Wilhelm's mouth to his cheek and then presses a hot string of kisses along the length of his slender neck. "Wille," he murmurs sweetly into his skin and nips at the curve of his neck right when it hits his shoulder.

He sucks very lightly on Wilhelm's neck, he can't leave a mark in the real world so this is harmless. Briefly he pulls his head up to look at Wilhelm's face, framing it with both of his hands affectionately.

"What do I have permission for, love?" Jesper is down for anything so he feels like communication is key when using gentle handling with someone else. He wants to be certain Wilhelm feels safe and wanted in this room. "Can I take your shirt off?"

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ignore me boomeranging