Chapter Text
“You bought him a hat?” Nina said, bemused.
“Yes, I bought him a hat! What else could I get him?” Inej said, “it’s not like he’s easy to shop for. Do you think a bedazzled ugly sweater would work better?”
“Hm,” Nina said, taking a thoughtful sip of her latte, “Now there’s an idea.”
“Ugh, he’s gonna hate it, I know. But, he said he needed a hat and I figured I could pick out a decent one that’d fit his aesthetic.”
At the word ‘aesthetic’ being applied to Kaz Brekker, Nina almost lost it. Coughing from accidentally inhaling her coffee, she said “Good lord, I’m sure if it’s expensive and black, it’ll fit Kaz’s aesthetic. Maybe he even has a Pinterest board labelled ‘dark, broody men’s apparel’ you can refer to just to ensure that it is to his liking.”
Inej chuckled before exclaiming “Still, maybe he’ll think it’s ridiculous!” She started braiding her hair with a little bit of frustrated pizzazz before continuing, “Y’know, we’ve actually been getting closer recently. He’s talking with me about things that aren’t superficial or involving schoolwork. I just… I don’t want to mess up whatever fragile thing we’ve got going.”
Nina gave Inej a Look before saying “Inej, if Kaz manages to find some offense to a freaking HAT, that’s his problem and not yours. Also, I’ll sucker punch his ass if he so much as looks at that hat funny when you give it to him.”
Beginning to laugh a little too hard, Inej tied off the end of her braid. “Okay Okay, you’ve got a point, it’s just…”
“It’s just what?” Nina’s curiosity peaked as she began to realize that Inej was a little too worried for this conversation to just be about a secret santa gift.
“I care about him, Nina.” As she confessed that one simple phrase, Inej fixed her eyes straight to the far end of the path that the two were strolling down. “I care about him and don’t want to mess things up.”
“We all care about Kaz, Inej. He’s like a scary antisocial lone wolf with a spiky personality. Like a cute porcupine. He seems scary. But, really those spikes are just because he’s afraid to be picked up and cuddled.”
Inej smiled and turned towards Nina “That is such an incoherent and strangely accurate comparison, but that’s not what I mean…”
It took a few seconds before Nina clued in and abruptly stopped in the middle of the snow laden path. “Oh.”
“Yeah.”
“You like liiike Kaz,” Nina grinned.
“Nina, we’re not in middle school, we’re in university for God's sake.”
“I know that, but Wow, this is- Wow.”
“I know, but… you know Kaz. The likelihood that he’d ever feel the same way is nonexistent. Even if he did feel the same way, he would never want to act on those feelings.”
Nina sighed, “Inej, Kaz is gone for you. We all know it, anyone with eyes, except apparently you, can see it! You do realize that you’re one of the only people that can make him smile regularly,” catching Inej’s doubtful look, Nina continued, “I don’t mean that weird scheming heartless smile of his, I mean a genuine smile. You make him happy, no one does that.”
“I want to believe that, I do.” Inej cast her eyes to the treetops, “He’s helped me get through so much, yet it seems like I don’t know him, and I don’t think he wants to be known.”
Nina grabbed Inej’s hand as she said in a strangely serious tone, “There is a difference between not wanting to be known and being afraid to be known. Kaz has got history, the people with the highest walls built around themselves always do. Kaz has let you behind some of his defenses since day one. He wants you in his life. So give him the freaking hat and maybe admit your feelings while you're at it.”
Removing her hand from Nina’s, Inej began walking at a faster pace down the forest path, empty coffee cup clutched in her hand. “It’s not as simple as that. If I just admit my feelings for him out of nowhere, he’ll freeze, or ignore me, or outright stop talking to me.”
“Inej,” Nina called out as she jogged to catch up to the taller woman, “What do you think is gonna happen? Do you think you’ll just be chillin at his place eating and you say ‘hey Kaz, I like you as more than a friend,’ and he just replies with ‘pass the salt’?”
“That’s exactly what I mean, Nina! That’s not actually too far fetched of an idea.”
“Okay, I concede, the man is a little cold-hearted. But he wouldn’t ignore you, he’d probably faint or swoon or whatever the swoon equivalent is for Brekker.”
Her laugh turned into a snort as Inej said “Kaz Brekker would not swoon.”
“He would, I’ll start a bet on it. I’ll let Jesper and Wylan know. We’ll put money on whether or not Inej Ghafa can make Kaz Brekker swoon.”
“Oh, shut up Nina!” Inej said before Nina caught up to her.
Linking her arm through Inej’s, Nina began to formulate a plan of how she could get her best friend to finally confess her feelings for Kaz.