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Inej liked to think she didn't always run directly to the Slat as soon as her ship pulled into berth twenty-two.
She had taken the long way this time, at least. The long way took her past one of her favorite oliebol sellers so she could eat something on her way to the Slat. One could only eat so much dried meat and hard-as-a-rock bread for days on end. She finished her breakfast quickly, crumpled the oil stained paper cone and dropped it into a trash bin as she rounded the corner and a familiar, rickety building came into sight. After dusting her hands off on her pants, she shimmied up the drainpipe that was affixed to the bricks next to Kaz's window.
It was only a few hours after daybreak. She wondered if Kaz was still asleep. Then she snorted. Highly unlikely. He was probably already out prowling the streets of the Barrel. She peered through the window before flicking the latch open and letting herself inside.
Inej heard the floor creek in the attached room. It sounded like Kaz was home and awake after all. She crept towards the room and then came to a quick halt.
She blinked. Kaz stood in the doorway of his side room, shirtless beside a towel draped around his neck. His hair was damp.
“Through staring?” He asked dryly, and edged back into the room.
Inej's cheeks flushed slightly and she followed him. “Am I interrupting?”
“Yes.” Kaz was bent over his wash basin, sweeping a straight razor through the water. He straightened and tilted his head, staring intently in the mirror as he flicked the blade carefully across his skin, evening out his sideburns and the curve of his hairline around his ears.
Inej sat on the edge of the bathtub, observing him silently. Kaz's movements were careful and precise, just the way he was about everything in his life. Practiced. Patient. But the longer she watched, the more he began to fidget under her scrutiny. He nicked the back of his neck and muttered a curse, pushing his towel upwards to catch a tiny bubble of blood.
“You're making a mess,” Inej observed.
Kaz blew out a frustrated breath. “Contrary to popular belief, I don't have eyes in the back of my head.” And I'm not used to an audience.
“No,” Inej agreed, pushing herself off the tub. “That's what the Wraith is for. To be your eyes.”
She came to stand behind him and held out her hand. “I can help.”
Kaz only hesitated for a moment. If there was anyone he'd trust with a knife held that close to his neck, it was Inej. But of course, that wasn't really the problem. Resigned, he passed the blade back over his shoulder to her. He kicked a spare crate from the corner of the room to where he had been standing in front of the mirror and sat down on it. Then he took a deep breath. “Have you ever used one of these before?”
“How different can it be from any other knife?” Inej wondered out loud, sizing up the tool and turning it over in her hands.
A flash of panic passed through Kaz. “Very different.”
Inej snorted and moved closer, sizing up the back of Kaz's head. Just make it match the other sides. Straight lines. Keep the blade at an angle. Hopefully not slice his skin to shreds. No problem. She nodded confidently and looked up, meeting Kaz's eyes in the mirror. “Ready?”
Kaz nodded once.
Inej could see the muscles of his shoulders becoming tense and bracing themselves for what what was coming. His eyes were shut tight. It was like he was preparing himself to take a punch to the jaw. She balanced the straight razor in her hand gently, with the folding half held at an angle. Short, precise stokes. But she knew that in order to do a proper job of it, she'd have to make sure his skin was taut with her other hand. And Kaz had been willing to let her do it. So she would try her best.
She gently touched her fingers to the base of his neck and positioned the razor blade. No, that was too sharp of an angle. She adjusted her grip and tilted the blade again. She pressed her thumb up against his skin and let the blade fall naturally along the curve of his head. A tremor passed beneath her hands, but otherwise, Kaz didn't move an inch. Inej wanted to let out a hah! of accomplishment, but she bit back her exclamation and carried on with a tiny bit more confidence.
“Now comes the part where you tell me about your day,” Inej murmured, concentrating on her task.
“What?” Kaz's eyes blinked open.
“And tell me about your plans for the evening. Or some silly thing that your coworker said. Where your next vacation will be. The weather... It's what people do when they get a haircut.”
“Is it really?” Kaz mused. “I wouldn't know.”
Inej hid a smile. She wasn't surprised. Of course Kaz wouldn't want just anyone this close to him. She had never thought of a haircut as a particularly intimate thing, but she supposed it was. No wonder Kaz was touchy about his hair. He'd probably been cutting it himself since he was a boy.
Kaz gradually relaxed as Inej worked. His shoulders lost their tenseness. He still kept his eyes closed most of the time, but they weren't squeezed shut with anxiety. It was only when he felt Inej's fingers weaving aimlessly through the longer hair at the top of his head that he opened them again and met her gaze in the mirror.
She smiled and dropped her hands back to her sides.
“All finished.”
Kaz was almost sorry for it.
“Well?” Inej asked as he stood up and leaned closer to the mirror, scrutinizing the cut. He tilted his head from side to side and ran his hands over the nape of his neck, brushing aside any stray hairs.
“I guess I'll be wearing my hat pulled down low for a while,” he grimaced in conclusion, finding Inej's eyes in the reflection.
Her heart sank.
“Really?” She asked in a small, defeated voice. “It's that bad?”
Kaz's lips quirked up in a smirk. “No. It looks fine.”
She narrowed her eyes at him, not appreciating the joke.
“You did a better job than I usually do. I should have given you more types of blades to play with a long time ago.”
Inej snorted again. “And what would I have used a straight razor for?”
“Plenty of things, I'm sure.”
“My blades are just fine, thank you.”
“Thank you.”
His response was jarring. Kaz thanked people so rarely (if at all) that it startled Inej into silence. He pretended not to notice her wide-eyed expression as he selected a crisp shirt and jacket, and shrugged them on, leaving Inej in the bathroom.
“Oliebollen?” He called from the next room.
She had eaten already, but Kaz didn't need to know that. She nodded and followed him down the stairs out into the morning street.
It was only when they stepped outside into the chilly air that Inej realized that he wasn't wearing his usual hat.