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Vin walked down the stairs of Club's shop, careful to avoid the creaking steps. Her ability to move near silently, unnoticed, was so ingrained in her that even after months with Kelsier's crew, she hadn't shed the habit.
Several members of the aforementioned crew sat around a round table. She burned tin reflectively and was glad she did.
Usually, she could hear the crew's conversations easily. There were few things they spoke of publicly that they cared about people overhearing, so they didn't bother quieting themselves. Today seemed to be different. She could hear Breeze and Ham but neither Kelsier nor Dockson. It made her frown, her stomach twisting in anxiety.
Dockson often had morning tasks, but Kelsier rarely missed their gatherings, even when he was out late, causing trouble as a Mistborn. He felt that the mornings were a good time to catch up casually with the crew. Night meetings were for planning, but mornings and evenings were for morale. So it was mildly concerning to know he had missed yesterday evening and this morning. As far as Vin knew, he hadn't gone out last night either, so he had no reason to not be down there with the rest of them.
Was he sick? Could Mistborn even get sick? Probably. They weren't immortal, but Vin couldn't remember the last time she'd been ill.
"Have you seen Kell this morning?" Ham asked, and Vin froze where she stood.
"No," Breeze replied, "but Dockson just went to check on him. I imagine he'll return shortly."
"Kell will be pissed if we make a move without him."
"Kelsier will be pissed either way," Breeze said, sighing. "He's always horrid when he's like this-- now, don't give me that look, Hammond. I know it isn't his fault, but still. Even my Soothing can only do so much for him when he insists on pushing himself beyond his capacities. I mean, really, how long has it been since he slept the whole night? He over-relies on tin and pewter to keep going. It's no wonder it's caught up with him."
Ham grunted but didn't disagree. "I just wish there was more we could do for him."
"That's what Dockson is for, I suppose. He has better luck getting Kelsier to listen than the rest of us."
As if heralded by the mention of his name, Vin's enhanced hearing picked up the sound of Dox on the stairs above her. She had gotten quite adept at telling apart the crew's footsteps.
A flash of panic spread through her. She didn't want to be caught eavesdropping, but there was something wrong with Kelsier. Vin knew that they wouldn't tell her anything if she asked. Despite being a member of Kelsier's crew for months, the rest still viewed her as a child. They spoke to her about matters concerning the job, but anything beyond that was kept quiet unless Kelsier himself told her. It was aggravating.
So Vin did what she had long since learned. She hid, letting the shadows fall around her as she stepped back into a small gap between the stairs and the wall. It was large enough for a few storage boxes to be piled there, and Vin had little trouble melding in with them.
A moment later, Dockson appeared on the final landing. He was almost as quiet as she had been, but it wasn't enough to fool Vin's tin-enhanced hearing.
Dockson didn't notice her. He stepped into the kitchen without a glance at her hiding place and was met with a subdued greeting from Ham and Breeze.
"Well?" Breeze asked after a moment of tense silence, "How is he?"
Clothing rustled. Dox must have shrugged.
"Bad," he said. "I've seen it worse, but not by much. He took it without arguing too."
"Shit," Breeze said.
Vin frowned deeply. What was 'it' ?
"Think he'll be up again later?"
The scrape of a chair was followed by a creak of wood. "Probably not today. Maybe tomorrow, though. It wouldn't be so bad if he let himself rest before it got to this point."
"Yeah, well, it's Kelsier," Ham said. "When has he ever known what rest is?"
Vin shifted her weight, and the floor creaked beneath her. She cursed silently as the conversation in the kitchen died. They would come to investigate if she stayed silent-- the group was far too paranoid not to.
She reluctantly left her hiding place and moved toward the kitchen.
The three men sat around the table with their breakfasts. An assortment of hot drinks were set in front of them.
"Good morning, Vin," Dockson greeted her, smiling as if they hadn't just been talking about Kelsier.
"Morning." She walked toward the pile of wraps left out for them. "Where's Kelsier?"
Would they tell her? Did they have any reason to? She wasn't really part of the crew, not like they were, but she was worried. If something happened to Kelsier, Vin would have nowhere to go. She couldn't return to the life she had before, living on scraps that crew leaders left her and hiding in the shadows.
The rest of the crew shared meaningful glances with each other.
"He's still asleep," Dox said. "He was out late last night."
He's lying.
Vin wanted to accuse him of it, but she restrained herself. It wouldn't do her any good to get into an argument with the rest of the crew-- there were other ways of gathering information. She nodded and picked up one of the wraps.
"I think I'll go back to my room then," she said. "I'm feeling pretty tired myself."
She burned copper and brass and Soothed away Dockson and Ham's suspicion-- she left Breeze be; he'd notice if she tried to affect his emotions.
They called farewells to her, and Vin lingered out of sight long enough for their conversations to move ro other topics. Kelsier wasn't brought up again, however, and she quietly crept up the stairs.
She ignored her bedroom, walking further down the hall instead. Kelsier's room was near the end of the hall, and the door was closed. She hesitated as she stood outside it, the wrap in her hand. It gave her an excuse to bother him if the others saw her or if Kelsier truly wanted to be left alone. There was a chance everything was fine, and Kelsier would be annoyed at the disturbance, but Vin had to make sure.
Before she did anything else, Vin burned tin again. She stood still in the hallway, listening for footsteps coming from either direction. Nobody came. Distantly she could hear the others still speaking in the kitchen, although it was difficult to discern what they were saying.
She pressed her ear against the door, listening through the wood. There were no sounds of movement on the other side, and Vin flared her tin. She could just barely hear deep, steady breathing.
It seemed Kelsier was truly asleep, but why? It was uncharacteristic of him.
She knocked on the wood and winced at the sound but didn't extinguish her tin. Instead, she kept listening. There was no sound of wakefulness.
Vin frowned. Kelsier was a light sleeper-- almost as much as she was. Somebody at his door should have woken him. It certainly had on past occasions.
Her hand hesitated on the doorknob. Would the others be angry at her? Would Kelsier be angry at her? But if something was wrong, she had to know. It was Kelsier who always preached about trust, yet the rest of the crew didn't bother to tell her anything.
She opened it, the door silent on its hinges. The room beyond would have been dark if not for her tin-enhanced vision. Instead, it was illuminated by the slight sunlight that managed to filter through the thick curtains.
Kelsier was a silent lump on the bed. The blankets were bundled around him, and Vin hesitated in the doorway. She could hear his breath easier now, along with the quiet thumping of his heart. That meant he was fine, didn't it? She could close the door and sneak away without disturbing him.
But what if he wasn't?
When she entered the room, Vin didn't know what she was expecting. Maybe some explanation as to what was wrong.
She crept forward, her feet silent on the wooden floor. When she was closer, she noticed Kelsier's expression. Even asleep, his face was pinched in a grimace. His arms were wrapped in white bandages as if injured.
A cup of water and an empty vial rested on his nightstand. Vin put down the wrap so she could inspect the vial closer. There were a few amber-coloured droplets left inside. She recognized it well enough. A common street painkiller. Vin had seen many people fall into this addiction before. Was Kelsier...?
"Vin?" Kelsier asked groggily.
She jumped and turned. Kelsier lay in the same position, but his hazel eyes were cracked open.
"Kelsier!" She managed to keep her voice low even as she spoke.
He eyed her wearily but made no motion to move.
"Is everything okay?" he asked.
Guilt crashed over Vin. It was wrong to bother him about something that was apparently nothing, but-
"Are you hurt?" she asked.
Kelsier stared at her.
"I overheard the others talking. They're worried, and you're covered in bandages, and this too." She showed him the vial.
He sighed and closed his eyes. After a moment, he sat up. His pained wince didn't go unnoticed by Vin.
"Kelsier-" she started, but he cut her off.
"Sit down, Vin; I'm okay," he told her, nodding to the edge of his bed.
He looked exhausted, his hair a mess and deep bags beneath his eyes. Dockson was right to let him rest. Still, Kelsier watched her until Vin broke down beneath his gaze and did as he asked. She bit the inside of her cheek as she sat on the edge of his bed.
"I'm fine, Vin," he told her. "It's nothing to worry about, which is probably why the others didn't say anything. They didn't want to worry you over nothing. If this was unusual or unexpected, they would have told you."
Vin frowned. She reached up to fiddle with her earring.
"Then what is wrong?" she asked.
The smile Kelsier gave her didn't reach his eyes. If anything, it just made him seem more tired.
"You know I spent time in the Pits of Hathsin?" he asked.
She nodded-- Kelsier's survival of the Pits was integral to his reputation.
Kelsier raised one arm and carefully undid the bandage with the other. It loosened, revealing his familiar scarred skin beneath.
"I don't know how much you know about Hathsin," he said, "but when they sent us to mine atium, they made us crawl into deep cracks in the ground. The geodes grow in holes in the side of these fractures, surrounded by razor-sharp crystals. It tears at our skin when we reach in, cutting through skin and muscle, day after day. If the taskmasters didn't kill us for failing to find atium, the ensuing infections often did. Men lay sick and dying, but they get up and keep going until they die in the caverns or until the taskmasters beat them to death."
Vin knew most of that; Kelsier had told her of it before. Why did it matter now?
He turned his arm over, letting her see the extent of his scars. They were deep and rope-like, the skin having been sliced open on top of old scars and left to heal again. His hands were shaking.
"I don't have much feeling left in my arms or hands. The crystals damaged my nerves, so most of the time, my arms just feel numb or itchy. Other times, like today, they hurt."
Kelsier stared at them. He tried to tighten his hand into a fist and failed.
"They burn, Vin. Like fire or molten rock. All the way down my arms and into my hands. It feels like my nerves are screaming.
"I could ignore it by burning pewter, and I often do. I can even fight if I have to, but Dox complains when I push myself like that. The others do, too, particularly Sazed, but Dox is the most forceful of the bunch. So I rest when I can afford to. Dox bandages them because the pressure helps ease the pain. Then he practically forces a painkiller down my throat." Kelsier smirked at that. "I tend to sleep it off. You've been to Fellise, so you haven't seen it before, that's all. It isn't dangerous. It's just how my body is now."
"Oh," Vin said, staring at his arms.
"I always told you that we aren't invincible."
She thought of the scar on her side from an Inquisitor's axe. He was right.
"I'm sorry I bothered you," she said. She fiddled with the empty vial. It made sense that Dox kept medicine on hand for Kelsier if these pain flares were commonplace.
"It's fine. I don't mind. Like I said, if it weren't for Dox and the others, I'd be up and about anyway." He laughed a little, shaking his head. "Hard to say no to a united front like that."
"I can see why they don't want you running around and fighting," Vin told him.
"We're Mistborn, Vin; it's what we do," Kelsier said, shrugging, "although I have to admit that sometimes I do need a reminder to rest."
Vin nodded absently, thinking. They were Mistborn, and Vin knew she already tended to push herself. Was she as bad as Kelsier? She didn't know.
Her eyes were drawn to the wrap on his nightstand.
"Are you hungry?" she asked, "do you want to eat something?"
He followed her gaze and raised an eyebrow. "Did you bring that for me?" he asked.
Vin blushed, looking away. "It was sort of my excuse for being here."
Kelsier laughed, but he picked up the wrap. "I should be alright to eat. The painkillers have mostly kicked in by now, so that helps. Thanks."
It seemed easy enough for him to eat, even while in pain. Had he been nauseous? Vin had been in pain like that before-- she hadn't wanted to eat, the agony churning her stomach with each breath.
She sat with Kelsier while he ate and took the wrapping when he was finished.
"Do you want me to get Dockson to rebandage your arm?" she asked, still sitting on the edge of his bed.
Kelsier shook his head. "Nah, I can manage. It's annoying, but I've done it before. I did this on my own for a year before returning to Luthadel. Contrary to Dox's beliefs, I am capable of taking care of myself."
Vin eyed him dubiously but didn't disagree. Kelsier was the Survivor for a reason.
"You can stick around if you want, kid, but I'm afraid I won't be good company for much longer," Kelsier said as he finished rebandaging his arm. It wasn't as neat or tight as the other, but it seemed to do its job. "Dox usually mixes the painkillers with something for sleep if he thinks I've been pushing myself too hard. Even I can't fight it for long."
He wasn't concerned about being asleep around the others, around her. Vin always hated sleeping in her crew's dens. They felt unsafe with so many others nearby. It was better in Kelsier's crew, with her own bedroom both in Club's shop and in Fellise, but she couldn't imagine sleeping well around the others-- except maybe Kelsier.
Seeing him lie down again, uncaring of whether or not she was in the room, was a level of trust Vin wasn't sure how to deal with.
Later, when Dockson came up the stairs and popped his head into the bedroom, he found Vin curled in a chair by Kelsier's window. She peeked outside the curtains to watch the skaa workers pass by with slumped shoulders and listened to the steady beat of Kelsier's heart.
Dox glanced between them and raised an eyebrow. Vin shrugged in response.
She expected Dox to say something about her presence, but he didn't.
"Has he eaten?" he asked.
Vin nodded. "I brought him a wrap earlier."
"Good, he tends to forget," Dockson replied. "Make sure he drinks more water when he wakes up, okay? And come grab me if you need anything."
"I will."
Dockson nodded and didn't linger. Vin listened as he went back downstairs, apparently unconcerned that she was sitting with Kelsier as he slept.
In her previous thieving crews, any good second in command would be wary of somebody near their leader. Of course, it was also often the seconds who stabbed their crew leader in the back and left them bleeding out on the floor.
She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she almost didn't notice when her tin-enhanced ears picked up somebody crossing Dockson's path.
"Kelsier still asleep?" Clubs asked.
"Yeah, Vin's with him, though, so we shouldn't need to worry," Dox replied. "She'll keep Kell from being an idiot."
"Lord Ruler bless that girl," Clubs said. "Somebody has to do it."
Dockson laughed and continued onward, leaving Vin in the dim room. She smiled a little, feeling warm. They did trust her.