Chapter Text
Kaz Brekker was that kid.
The one that teachers talked about on their lunch breaks. The one that did nothing in class, but got top grades. Sarcastic, somehow popular with the student body even though he was an ass to anyone that wasn’t his friend. Not an insecure teenage boy type asshole, but a “I don’t like you, go away or I’ll make you” type asshole. He pulled pranks, or for better use of the word, “heists”, constantly, and never got caught.
He was notorious, not just for the pranks, or the pieces of unknown gossip that he pulls out when some idiot tries to push their luck with him, but for the fact that he hated being touched. He’d never came out and said it, but it was deduced pretty quickly when, in the first week of his freshman year, three blackeyes were given out, two from claps on the back, and one from a special kind of idiot, that yanked him by the arm to get his attention.
That’s why everyone was shocked when one day, he walked in, hand in hand with Inej Ghafa, star student, gymnast and well known “nice girl”
“Hmm. I swear, someone might be looking at us.”
Inej laughed, “By someone do you mean the thousands of vultures that attend this school? Because then yes, I’d say that someone is looking at us.”
Now it was Kaz’s turn to laugh and Inej turned her head up to look at him. His lips were pressed together in an attempt to stifle the grin that was forming on his face. One of his eyebrows was slightly quirked, which she’d only seen happen around her, though she couldn’t place exactly why.
“I’m not sure why they’re so surprised. We’ve been friends for over three years, together for a month. And we didn’t even try to hide it!”
“Aw,” Inej turned to him with a devilish smirk on her face, one that indicated that sarcasm was about to be on full display, “I didn’t know you were keeping track of relationship lengths, Brekker. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were getting soft.”
Kaz grimaced. “Figured you’d catch that. Only for you Ghafa.”
“Oh wow, you are getting soft! Quick, you better scowl, or the vultures will catch on.” Inej elbowed him slightly, causing the playful scowl on his face to once again turn to a grin. She swore she heard a gasp when she did so. She had to give it to Kaz, his rep was good. His own girlfriend couldn’t elbow him without people thinking she was about to get punched.
The “school” bell, which sounded more like a prison alarm, sounded as they pushed themselves through the crowd. Kaz’s head shot up, and he turned to Inej with a somewhat lazy grin on his face. “As wonderful as your company is, Physics is calling me, and I need to leave now if I want to get there on time”
Inej looked up at him, her brow furrowed in questioning, “are you even paying attention to where we’re going?”
He was not. His attention was mainly fixed on the fact that he was with Inej, holding her hand, and able to experience the wonder that was her. He looked up, and was surprised to see that they were just outside his AP Physics classroom.
“Geography is on the other side of this school,” he looked down at her, confusion still prominent on his face.
She smirked. “Yes Kaz, it is on the other side of the building, but I wanted to walk with you. I’ll make it back in time” she added, when Kaz looked like he wanted to protest. “Quick and agile, remember?”
Kaz groaned, catching on to the memory she was referring to. Three weeks ago, not long after they started dating, Kaz had protested loudly to her being his opponent in a game of Twister saying that it wasn’t fair for a “cripple” to go up against someone so “quick and agile.” Their whole group, Inej included, had made fun of him for it, and three weeks later they continued on with the joke. Nina had been the first to ask how he knew that, and was quickly joined in with a chorus of lewd jokes from their friends.
“Again, you’re a gymnast! What gymnast isn’t quick and agile?!”
“A bad one.”
“Exactly! I was just stating a fact.” Kaz’s face wasn’t exactly red, but there was a light dusting of pink spreading from cheekbone to cheekbone, across his nose. Inej doubted Kaz ever fully blushed, but this was pretty close.
“Whatever you say, Kazzie.” She winked and chuckled at the scowl forming on Kaz’s face. He’d once let slip about the childhood nickname, and she liked to dangle it over his head whenever she could. There weren't many things that brought Inej as much joy as teasing Kaz did, other than the man himself. “Anyway, I better leave now, otherwise I’m going to be late.”
Kaz squeezed her hand, “thank you for walking me to class.” She got a bit closer to him and kinda bumped against him, like she was going for a hug, without either of them giving one. Neither of them were big on PDA, and agreed to keep it to hand-holding, and hugs that did not take place in a crowded hallway.
“Anytime, Brekker.”
And with that Inej Ghafa was gone, disappearing into the crowd.