[ kaz brekker hasn't slept. not since returning to ketterdam, not since coming back to kirsch. no matter the familiarity to the city, to the unforgiving nature of his country, he hadn't found the peace or the quiet. hadn't quite found the state of not-safety that he usually required to close his eyes and set down his guard.
( and that was wholly because of what he saw when he closed his eyes - inej, falling. inej's limp body, carried away. )
he had been presented with another impossible task, another impossible quest, but this time it was different. this time, there was more than money on the line. kaz brekker had invented a new trick, kaz brekker had done the impossible (again). dirtyhands did what he had to do, and if it had pulled apart half of ketterdam, well. no one truly from ketterdam would miss that half too too much. the details of the process were complicated, moments and favors and fears all falling into place in the exact right way, at the exact right time. it worked, van eckt was dead, and inej.
inej was safe.
they were in a safehouse, outside of ketterdam but not so far that kaz couldn't keep an ear to the ground. truthfully, he shouldn't have left the city, but he wasn't about to let any more harm come to inej, and by ensuring that, they needed to get out. to leave. to disappear, before anyone else got any ideas. it was small, a room at the top of a halfway decent inn, right along the coact but much further south, much much further. getting there had been difficult, but mattias had been just as eager to get nina somewhere safe for her to continue to fight off her withdrawl. they were on the first floor, tucked into a room that had been meant for the four of them, but kaz hadn't wanted inej near anyone, that possessive, angry, dark part of him just wanting her to be safe, and for kaz, safe usually meant alone.
( alone, and with his wraith. the wraith. inej. )
now, she was sleeping - set up in the corner of this attic room, on a small bed that was still larger than her lithe frame, blankets tucked around her and under kaz's coat. he, on the other hand, had been near the door, sitting on the first step of a set that led down to the only entrance to the room, elbows on his knees and fingers darting against each other. his mind wouldn't slow, couldn't slow, but all that was left to do now was wait.
the sound of her voice had almost made him jump, barely above a whisper but as loud as church bells. kaz turned, his cane clattering against the top step as he knocked it from where it had been resting on his knees, his eyes wide. ]
Don't move. [ he says, moving himself into a standing position and making his way over to her. his leg ached, a kind of pain he hadn't felt in years, but he limped over in spite of it. ] I haven't found a grisha, yet, I haven't had you looked at. You could- [ he pressed his lips together, realizing he was babbling a bit too late to stop it, coming to a pause a few feet from her - awkward, and tense, but so incredibly relieved he didn't quite know what to do.
there is an uncomfortable silence that follows, while kaz struggled to find the words - to find any words. ]
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casually comes up with an au-ish future???
Date: 2018-09-20 03:14 pm (UTC)( and that was wholly because of what he saw when he closed his eyes - inej, falling. inej's limp body, carried away. )
he had been presented with another impossible task, another impossible quest, but this time it was different. this time, there was more than money on the line. kaz brekker had invented a new trick, kaz brekker had done the impossible (again). dirtyhands did what he had to do, and if it had pulled apart half of ketterdam, well. no one truly from ketterdam would miss that half too too much. the details of the process were complicated, moments and favors and fears all falling into place in the exact right way, at the exact right time. it worked, van eckt was dead, and inej.
inej was safe.
they were in a safehouse, outside of ketterdam but not so far that kaz couldn't keep an ear to the ground. truthfully, he shouldn't have left the city, but he wasn't about to let any more harm come to inej, and by ensuring that, they needed to get out. to leave. to disappear, before anyone else got any ideas. it was small, a room at the top of a halfway decent inn, right along the coact but much further south, much much further. getting there had been difficult, but mattias had been just as eager to get nina somewhere safe for her to continue to fight off her withdrawl. they were on the first floor, tucked into a room that had been meant for the four of them, but kaz hadn't wanted inej near anyone, that possessive, angry, dark part of him just wanting her to be safe, and for kaz, safe usually meant alone.
( alone, and with his wraith. the wraith. inej. )
now, she was sleeping - set up in the corner of this attic room, on a small bed that was still larger than her lithe frame, blankets tucked around her and under kaz's coat. he, on the other hand, had been near the door, sitting on the first step of a set that led down to the only entrance to the room, elbows on his knees and fingers darting against each other. his mind wouldn't slow, couldn't slow, but all that was left to do now was wait.
the sound of her voice had almost made him jump, barely above a whisper but as loud as church bells. kaz turned, his cane clattering against the top step as he knocked it from where it had been resting on his knees, his eyes wide. ]
Don't move. [ he says, moving himself into a standing position and making his way over to her. his leg ached, a kind of pain he hadn't felt in years, but he limped over in spite of it. ] I haven't found a grisha, yet, I haven't had you looked at. You could- [ he pressed his lips together, realizing he was babbling a bit too late to stop it, coming to a pause a few feet from her - awkward, and tense, but so incredibly relieved he didn't quite know what to do.
there is an uncomfortable silence that follows, while kaz struggled to find the words - to find any words. ]