HOME IS THE TWO OF US
jesper fahey x female! reader
A/N: this is my fic for @magpiencrow's 1.2k writing challenge - i chose to combine 'you and i' by queen and 'two of us' by the beatles. and yeah this is more than two weeks later than when i said i would post this what about it
Summary: jesper and y/n have a wonderful night on ghezen's day
Warnings: swearing, i think that's it? its literally just pure indulgent fluff
"You do realize someone probably worked very hard to earn kruge like this, right?" Y/N L/N grinned, holding up a thick wad of money they had stolen from someone's pockets. She was seemingly unperturbed by the fact, her tone light and teasing as she bumped playfully into Jesper.
"And we, my dear, are working very hard on spending it," Jesper winked, wrapping one of his long arms around her shoulders. He snatched the kruge from her hand, immediately spending a portion of it on the first thing he laid eyes on, which was a ridiculously bright orange hat that burned Y/N’s eyes just looking at.
Jesper plopped it on her head, adjusting it so it was crooked, laughing.
Y/N would have done anything to hear that laugh.
The streets were loud and boisterous and carefree, and for the first time in a very long while, the two of them felt the same way. For today, at least, there were no chores or errands or jobs to do.
It was Ghezen's Day - the holiday that signified the starting of spring, where everything was sunny and bright. It was the one day where even the lowest of the Barrel thugs were out enjoying this tiny sliver of happiness, where there was only whistling vendors and cheery parades and star-gazing at night.
But for Y/N and Jesper, it was something more. It was a day where they weren't con artists or thieves or sharpshooters. They weren't thugs or gamblers or criminals.
They were teenagers.
Kaz, of course, pretended like he didn't care. He rolled his eyes and told them that were just trying to get away from chores they despised or any actual work. But everyone knew, even if they didn't admit it, that today was a day where they could pretend.
Pretend to be normal, pretend to be regular, pretend that they had loving families and good homes. Pretend that the weight of being hated and criminalized and addicted didn't make their shoulders slump and their heads hang. Pretend that they didn't muffle their sobs behind closed doors or shake in bed as they tried to rid their minds of all the horrible, treacherous, necessary things they had done.
Pretend that they were just a pair of inseparable best friends having a good holiday.
"C'mon, we need to find a good spot to see the sky," Jesper needled, taking Y/N by the arm and dragging her toward a carriage, elbowing a small, old lady out of the way and almost running them over a few small children on the way.
On Ghezen's Day, an hour after the sun set, the city mandated that all lights be shut off - the sky was clearer than it ever was in the hours that followed, and nearly everyone over the age of twelve stayed up until dawn, watching the sky. However, there was still pollution in the city, remainders of the gas and oil and muck churned up from the sea and the homes of the wealthy, and many preferred to ride to the outskirts of town, if not all the way into the country, where the sky was more visible.
Those towns that bordered between rural and urban, which never saw much tourism or profit, were the most popular places to be, full of tents for dancing outside and vendors selling foreign delicacies and musicians standing in the streets.
And as such, it was almost impossible to get a carriage out of the city without deploying either bony knees, steel-capped boots, or vicious elbows.
And that was exactly what was happening as people shoved and hassled people out of the way, even occasionally pulling out thick wads of kruge, trying to bribe other people in getting out of the limited selection of carriages going out of the city.
"The woman with the black shawl," Y/N whispered (though she needn't have bothered - the city was loud enough to mask any noise), leaning in and brushing her lips against Jesper's ear so he could hear her.
She could’ve sworn she felt him shudder.
"Ten minutes. No less."
"Twenty kruge.”
"Done."
Y/N grinned, slipping out of Jesper's hold and sauntering over to the woman in question, a pretty red-head. The woman was obviously rich (Y/N took a moment to appreciate the elegant dark blue dress she was wearing, paired with pretty gold earring and a matching necklace) and was about to step into a black carriage - one that Y/N was about to charm her out of.
"Hey there, miss," Y/N called out, putting on the face of an entitled, flirtatious mercher. "You wouldn't mind sharing the carriage, would you? I can’t seem to find an available one, and I’d rather share one with a beautiful lady such as yourself instead of some of those Barrel barbarians.”
The woman stopped halfway into her seat, looking back at Y/N.
If Y/N hadn’t been wearing the obviously expensive clothes she was, with the even more expensive diamond necklace around her throat (that Jesper had given her last Ghezen’s Day, as a present), the woman would have simply shut the carriage door in Y/N’s face.
Then there was the fact that she was gorgeous, and nobody in their right mind would refuse a two hour carriage ride alone with her.
That was Jesper’s opinion, at least.
“I could say the same about you,” the mercher grinned, opening the door wider.
Y/N smiled back, stepping into the carriage and placing her hand delicately on the other woman’s arm-
And swiftly shoved her into the streets, slamming the door behind her. Jesper climbed in from the other side, shaking his head in mock disappointment. “Cruel.”
“Please, I slipped fifty kruge in her sleeve, she’ll be fine.”
“Ah. In that case, proceed. I don’t like anyone flirting with my Y/N, anyway.”
Y/N smirked at him, handing the driver a wad of kruge and telling him to step on it.
“Criminals,” he muttered, snapping the reins.
~
"Heels down, Y/N, love," Jesper shouted, grinning.
Y/N, switching the reins to one hand, flipped him off, scowling, but adjusted her feet in the stirrups anyways, forcing her heels downward and huffing when her calves ached. “I hate you.”
“We both know you love me,” Jesper shouted back, easing back into a trot - Y/N did the same, easing her weight further into the balls of her feet and gripping the saddle tighter between her knees. Beside her, Jesper had already done the same, posting in time with his horse’s gait.
“Where are we going again?” Y/N asked, panting as she slowed her horse down to a full stop.
“Absolutely nowhere.”
“Do we’re going nowhere, and basically getting nowhere and you want me to be happy about all this work?”
“Yes? You’re being blessed with my presence.” Mock indignation filled the words and Y/N rolled her eyes.
“Fine,” Jesper huffed, “let’s go back home.”
But home wasn’t always a place, was it?
~
”Come on, I’m hungry,” Y/N whined, pulling Jesper’s wrist with her as she power-walked through the crowded, small town in search of some sweets.
”Ooh, cinnamon honey cakes,” Jesper said dryly, almost smacking into Y/N when she came to a full, screeching halt.
”Don’t you dare joke about honey cakes,” she hissed, poking him in the chest.
”I wasn’t,“ Jesper chuckle, nodding toward the vendor selling the sweets in question.
Y/N gasped audibly, dragging him along with her as she practically sprinted for the cart.
”After this, we’re going straight to the pond. We don’t want anyone to steal our spot.”
~
Y/N flopped down on her bed, staring at her wall of paper in boredom.
Each scrap of parchment, every napkin with hastily scribbled writing in the back, was a letter from Jesper.
Every week, no matter where Jesper was at the moment, he would write her a letter - describe where he was in detail, and then every thought that came to mind. It was a strange tradition (that nobody remembered how it came about) that Nina liked to tease them about.
You two have separation anxiety, she would giggle. Like an overprotective mother and her baby.
Two best friends, actually, Y/N would respond, stuffing her face with waffles.
Um, no. Would ‘best friends’ write, and I quote, “I’ll be home soon” on every letter they write?
Yes, they would, Y/N would sigh, snatching whichever letter Nina had gotten ahold of that time, and stare at the phrase in question.
Because home wasn’t a place.
~
“Stop doing that,” Jesper whined, plucking the lit match from Y/N’s fingers and tossing it into the pond.
She huffed, sticking out her tongue and lighting another one, waiting until it had burned down to her fingers before flinging it into the lake. “It’s a habit, Jes.”
They could’ve been there bickering playfully, enjoying each other’s company in silence for three days or three hours or a mere three minutes. Time didn’t exist, didn’t matter when they were alone together.
Laughter rang through the darkness, lanterns only bobbing pinpricks of light behind them - drunk giggles and cheerful music echoed back to them, but it didn’t really register to either of the two.
Moonlight bathed the two of them in a white glow as they both stood up as the stars gradually came out, twinkling, tiny lights covering the marbled, dusky blue-purple-black night sky, exposing nebulae and swirls and whorls of colors.
~
“Y/N, love, you’re gonna catch a cold.”
“I don’t care in the slightest.”
Jesper sighed, a grudging smile overtaking his face as he watched Y/N. She was soaked to the bone, hair and clothes sticking to her skin, nose ruddy from the cold.
“Dance with me,” she pleaded, holding out a hand to him.
She looked beautiful.
Jesper finally relented, picking Y/N up and twirling her around. She squeaked, closing her eyes, gripping onto his arms for dear life as the rain came down in silver sheets around them.
When he set her back down, the world seemed to stop spinning, the carriages stopped moving, it was just him and her and the rain.
“Let’s go home,” Y/N said eventually, quiet and peaceful, smiling up at Jesper.
But they were already home.
~
She turned to Jesper, about to remark on how pretty the whole thing was, but stopped in her tracks. He was staring at her, a small, happy smile on his face, an unreadable emotion in his silver eyes.
“Wha-“
He closed the three feet of space between them, grabbing her face between his hands, gently, like she was as precious as the diamonds around her neck. Not like she was breakable - like she was valuable, and he never wanted to lose her.
He gave her time to pull away, to laugh and make a joke, but she only stared back at him, the quizzical expression gone, on its place one of fear and hope and happiness.
And then his mouth was on hers and her hands were messing up his hair and she couldn’t feel the grass on her feet anymore or the wind on her neck or her heart, jittering in her chest like it wanted to burst out and fly into the night, only him, him, him.
And then he pulled away and kissed her nose, her eyelids, her forehead. He was laughing, hands going to her waist to twirl her around and around and then she was laughing too, too many emotions to count bubbling up in her chest. Elation, hope, almost hysterical happiness, and-
Absolute certainty.
That was the feeling, that was the one thought filling her head - that there weren’t any questions anymore, because this was where she was supposed to be, this is what she was supposed to be doing, and for once, she was letting herself.
For once, she wasn’t thinking about the next day or the next job or the next week.
It was just the two of them.
Because she could never predict where life was going to lead her next, or foresee the future years, or know what horrible thing was going to happen to her next. Hell, she didn’t know what was going to happen in the next couple hours, let alone what type of sandwich she was going to eat tomorrow.
But she knew, with absolute and utter certainty, that she wanted to do it with him.
That whatever happened, she would be alright, because home wasn’t a place - and it wasn’t Jesper, either.
It was the two of them, together.
~
Music floated gently in the darkness, down to were Y/N and Jesper were laying in the grass. Her head was on his chest, and they were both staring at the stars.
Home is the two of us.