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1: Here, Have a Wylan

Kaz's day was average. Or, as average as one of his days could be. He sent out a few of the Dregs on missions, talked to Inej, maybe he even bathed in front of her, and then he may or may not have stolen some food from a kid.

Average.

Now, he sat in the Slat, occasionally sipping water while he admired one of the crows that perched on his desk.

"K-Kaz?"

He lifted his gaze to the shivering, orange-haired demolitions expert standing before and raised his eyebrows. "Hello, Wylan."

The boy's hands shook even more intensely and Kaz would have pitied him if he wasn't about ninety percent sure that he had no soul left.

"I-I have something i-important to-to tell you."

"On with it," Kaz growled, impatiently tapping his foot.

Wylan's blue eyes grew wide with worry and his face was red with shame. "I didn't run away. My father... kicked me out."

"Why is that?"

If Van Eck was willing to throw his heir out of his house, there was probably a very good reason for it. And Kaz needed to know that man's every weakness.

Wylan refused to meet Kaz's gaze and Kaz swore that tears glimmered in those sapphire eyes. "I... I can't read."

Kaz didn't know if he was surprised or what but it changed nothing. The boy was brilliant and his work with demo was a big help to the Dregs. Kaz silently admitted that the boy was also kind and caring, and Kaz didn't particularly mind having him around.

"So?"

Wylan's eyes snapped up to meet Kaz's. "So? You aren't going to, you know, hit me or-or call me an idiot?"

"Why would I do that?" Kaz asked incredulously. What had Van Eck done to Wylan?

Wylan just shrugged and mumbled under his breath.

*****

"Kaz?"

He glanced up at Inej as she entered his room. "Yes?"

She gave him a small smile and closed the door, settling on the edge of his desk. "Wylan told me that you were kind to him today."

"I'd hardly call it that," Kaz murmured, brushing the dust off of his desk.

Perhaps it had been kind to Wylan. Kind to not slap him or insult him. Burning hatred tumbled around in his stomach and he wanted to hurt Van Eck for all he had done to him, even if he didn't know the half of it.

Inej shrugged, holding out a hand as a crow flapped in the window. (Kaz's room is definitely a Crow Conservatory. Prove me wrong.) "He's a good kid."

"Yeah. I don't see why Van Eck would just discard him like that."

"Van Eck is cruel," Inej commented, stroking the crow's feathers. Kaz couldn't help but notice how gentle and soothing she was.

"So am I."

"You didn't throw a poor kid out!"

"I feel like I should do something, you know? I'm having this really weird feeling right now."

"Oh, maybe it's pity and sorrow for the poor boy who almost cried in front of me because he thought you were going to kill him!" Inej hissed, anger flashing across her face. Kaz hoped that it wasn't at him.

"What do I do?"

"Perhaps you could start with protecting him, being kind to him, helping him."

"So, basically adopting him?"

Inej nodded. "Practically, yes. It's the right thing to do."

"He's only a year younger than me, though."

"So?" She said, releasing her crow. "You could be like the father he never had."

Kaz supposed it was a decent idea if it would just cure that aching in his chest, make him stop feeling so bad for this poor kid. "Fantastic."

"Kaz!" Inej punched his shoulder lightly. "Don't joke about his situation!"

"Apologies, my darling."

Her neck turned pink and she looked away. "Just, be good to him."

Kaz nodded. It was as if the world had just gone and decided, here you go, Kaz, take a nice child and protect him. Here's a Wylan for you!

And after a heist that dragged Kaz, Wylan, and some of their allies halfway across the world, Kaz generally did care.

He cared enough to one day walk downstairs in the Slat, see Wylan sitting by himself, doodling on a notepad, and sit beside him.

"Nice picture," Kaz said softly as he sat beside the boy. He looked up, as if in a trance and smiled.

"Oh, thanks, Kaz. What's up?"

Kaz took a moment to admire the beautiful drawing Wylan was doing of a sunset on the ocean. "Not much. I was just about to walk around, enjoy the weather, kill some people. Normal activities."

Wylan smiled even wider. "Perfectly normal."

Such calm, almost normal conversation. And Kaz found it in his tired, cruel heart to truly care about this boy who was so nice, yet just as cruel as Kaz, and in so many ways, just like Kaz.

2. Don't cry

It irked Kaz to admit that he worried over why Wylan had stopped sending him letters a week ago. Kaz believed was the right state of mind, he finished his work at the Slat and made his way to Wylan's mansion to make sure the boy was alright.

Upon entering the gorgeous mansion, Kaz felt a pulsing worry at the fact that the house was devoid of people.

Once he found Wylan, his breath caught in his throat and he paused.

"Wylan?" He called out in a quiet tone of voice.

When he got no answer, Kaz knew that something was horribly wrong. He had known when he hadn't received a letter from Wylan at the beginning of the week.

Kneeling beside the boy, Kaz placed his fingers under Wylan's chin, trying not to disturb him, and forced him to look up. Wylan met Kaz's gaze and broke down in tears once more.

"Don't cry," Kaz murmured. "Don't cry."

Wylan sniffled, brushing at those tears, trying to clean his face as if he feared what Kaz thought of him.

"Tell me what's wrong," Kaz murmured, keeping Wylan's gaze trapped in his own.

The boy glanced down, seemingly afraid of seeing what swam in Kaz's eyes.

Maybe Wylan doesn't want my pity or my help, a voice whispered at the edge of Kaz's mind. He probably wants to be rid of me.

"I... I just... I miss Jesper."

"I've heard many lies over the years and that one was pitiful. Try again."

Wylan sniffed, wiping his tears on his shirt sleeve. "I do miss him, but..."

"Well?"

"You'd think I'm ridiculous."

"Seriously, Wylan?" Kaz asked with a soft, yet humorless laugh. "You are the least ridiculous person in the Dregs. And you're probably the sanest."

"Is that a compliment in your eyes?"

"Believe it or not, yes, I do think of it as a compliment. So quit your sobbing and tell me what's wrong."

Wylan took in a gulp of fresh air and waited for a second as if gathering his courage. It was that streak of bravery that made Kaz respect the boy a little more than he already did.

"It's my birthday."

There was a moment of silence in which Kaz pondered over the boy's answer. The best response he could come up with was a measly, "Why is that sad?"

Wylan laughed drily. "Perhaps it was because my father was even angrier on anniversaries like this, or perhaps it's because of every single memory I have while I'm in this horrid house."

Kaz sighed through his nose, overwhelming hate twisting his gut. "Your father was wrong about you in every single way. You are not an idiot because you can not read. You are just as smart as the rest of the Dregs, maybe even smarter. Just because you were denied of being an heir to his empire doesn't mean that you can't inherit something else."

"What does that mean?" He mumbled, his steady flow of tears slowing to a halt.

"Well, somebody has to get the Dregs, the Slat, the Crow Club, and my other areas of business if I would happen to die. I always thought I would gift it to Inej, but she's overseas, and you're the most responsible person I know."

"You put me on your will?"

"Yes, in a way. Is it that much of a surprise?"

Wylan glanced away for a moment before a small smile grew on his face. "Jes was right."

"Is that even possible?" Kaz asked with a snort. When Wylan shot him an angry look, Kaz raised his hands innocently.

"He said that you treated me like I was your child or something."

"Are you going to start calling me 'Dad', then?"

Wylan smirked, wiping off some of his remaining tears. "Only in public."

Kaz rolled his eyes, then patted the boy on the shoulder. "Very well, then. I suppose it makes the most sense that you would repay me by making me regret my very existence."

Wylan stood up and winced as if his limbs were stiff. Kaz stood as well, stretching his bad leg and tripping when he tried to walk.

"Careful," Wylan warned, wrapping a supportive arm around him.

Kaz let out a gasp as the boy's cold hand brushed his side where his shirt had been tugged loose. When nausea didn't threaten to send him crumbling to the ground, Kaz forced himself not to shout at Wylan.

"Why are you afraid?" Wylan murmured, so faint it could have been a whisper of wind.

"Afraid?"

"Yes. Why are you afraid of caring about people, or touching people, or just letting yourself be happy?"

Kaz leaned heavily on Wylan until they reached the couch and glanced away. "Things happened that you would never understand."

"Try me," Wylan grumbled, curling up on the couch beside Kaz.

Was he ready to tell Wylan about what had happened? Was Kaz prepared to open up, to let everybody know his truths?

"I lost my brother."

Wylan laid a gentle, yet tentative hand on his arm in silent comfort. "Go on."

Kaz took in air, letting it ease some broken part of him and told Wylan his story. He poured out every single heart-shattering moment; every word was a song lyric. That song just kept getting darker and darker, pulling Wylan into the mess as he narrated his childhood.

It was more than he'd ever told anyone, more than anyone knew. And by the time he finished, Kaz was sobbing into his hands, every single painful memory lashing out at him, hurting him, torturing him.

"Kaz." Wylan rested his hand on Kaz's shoulder. "Kaz, don't cry."

Kaz tilted his head, gazing blearily up at him. "What's the point of trying, Wy?"

Wylan scooted closer. "It appears that my sadness has rubbed off on you."

Kaz wiped away a tear. "Aren't you going to talk about... what I told you?"

"I'm not going to apologize if that's what you want me to do."

"It's not what I want."

Wylan nodded but didn't smile. "Remember when you asked me if I had been beaten until I couldn't walk?"

"You lied."

"You knew?"

Kaz shouldered the boy. "Of course, I knew."

Surprise washed through Kaz as Wylan rested his head on his shoulder. It was a calm, friendly gesture and Kaz... Kaz liked it. Enjoyed it.

"You suffered," Kaz murmured.

"Yes, I did." Wylan's voice grew tired, exhausted.

"What did he do to you?" The banging in Kaz's skull told him to hunt down Van Eck, to teach the man a lesson for daring to hurt Wylan and Inej.

"When I couldn't do what he asked..." Wylan shuddered. "He would beat me, cut me, starve me, anything. As long as I was desperate for something, he had full power over me. But I still couldn't read."

"If there ever was a chance... I would have tried to teach you," Kaz murmured because saying something like that would mean more to Wylan than apologies or sympathetic phrases.

"I wish I left my father earlier, joined the Dregs, met you."

"Trying to flatter me? What will you do next, compliment my cooking skills?"

"You burn everything."

Kaz snorted, brushing a lock of hair out of his eyes. "Do not."

Wylan pursed his lips and raised his eyebrows in a silent challenge.

"I'm not going to cook right now."

Wylan grinned then, a devious, wicked grin and purred, "I bet you five kruge that I can make a better waffle than you."

Kaz jumped to his feet, gripping his cane. "You're on."