Work Text:
Inej stood in the kitchen, staring down at the pan in front of her. She squinted at the paper just off to the side, eyeing the amount of flour that was written. Either she had no idea how to cook an actual waffle, or Nina had given her a wrong number.
“Mama, i’m hungry,” Aleid complained behind her. The sound of the crayon scratching against the wood of the table filled the silence that followed.
“I know,” she sighed. “How about we have some fruit while I try and figure this out?”
She twisted to look back at their daughter, watching her nod furiously without once looking up at her. Inej smiled as she grabbed onto the handle. She moved the pan into the sink for what she could assume was the third time that morning. The stairs just past the opening to the kitchen creaked and metal jingled on it’s way down from the second story.
“Papa!” Aleid called, turning around.
The creaking stopped and Inej could imagine Kaz standing on one of the lower steps of the staircase, eyes closed, trying his best not to sigh too audibly. After a moment, he appeared in the doorframe, their borzoi standing at attention next to his legs. He offered her a smile.
“Good morning, Aleid,” Kaz responded. “You seem to be having a productive morning.”
“Look!”
She turned back in her chair. Scooping up the drawing she’d been working on for the past two hours, she reached up to hand it to him. Kaz moved to stand next to her, holding it up to look over it.
“See it’s you and mama,” Aleid pushed herself to stand on the chair, pointing at the figures respectively.
From where Inej stood, she could make out the fact that it was just two stick figures except one had a stick in its hands and one didn’t. She watched him smirk for a second with a satisfied nod.
“It looks good,” Kaz mumbles, setting it down again as he ruffles Aleid’s hair. “Pretty accurate. If you work on that some more I’m certain your uncle Matthias would hang it in his front foyer next to the other one you worked on.”
Aleid smiled, going back to work on the second image she’d been working on. Whatever it was, it certainly wasn’t two stick figures again. Inej leaned against the counters. She eyed Kaz for a moment. He was dressed as if he was going out, jacket already on and buttoned together. He must’ve sensed she was staring as he quickly made eye contact with her.
“Going out?” She turned back to the apple in front of her. “Thought you said you weren’t busy today.”
“Jesper needed help with something. I promised that I’d help him so we wouldn’t have to worry about it.”
The floor behind her creaked as he stood at her side, watching her work. He was lingering and she could assume he’d realized he’d made some sort of mistake. Kaz placed a hand against her elbow.
“I promise I’ll be back before the sun starts to go down,” he whispered.
“Kaz-” She set down the knife, half turning to face him. “You promised you’d be here today to spend time with her.”
“I know but-”
“But?” She glanced at Aleid who seemed to be engrossed in the drawing more so than the argument unfurling infront of her. “Kaz, say you forgot and go take care of your business.” She grabbed hold of the knife again, turning her attention back to the fruit. “But don’t you forget who you come home to at night.”
He dropped his hand momentarily, shifting between his feet. He sighed quietly before pressing a kiss against her temple.
“I promise I’ll be back before the sun’s beginning to set,” he repeated. “And we can move breakfast to tomorrow.”
Inej snorted, shaking her head. She knew that meant “it would happen eventually, but it’s not a priority.” He’d made promises before. Promises to run to the store before she’d arrived home, promises to swing by and check on Aleid before going off to do Saints knows what, and he’d only been able to achieve those promises maybe a handful of times.
“Inej,” he started, stepping closer.
“Just go,” she glanced at him, moving everything to a plate. “Jesper’s probably waiting for you.”
Kaz stared. He looked like he wanted to say something but he nodded, turning to leave. He patted Aleid on the shoulder and disappeared back into the foyer. The locks squeaked and the door opened, slamming shut quickly.
Inej picked up the bowl with the apple slices, staring down into it for a moment. He’d be back, she nodded to herself. He always showed up.
“Mama?”
She looked over at Aleid, smiling. “Yeah?”
“Is papa coming to breakfast?”
Inej paused as she took her seat. Aleid stared back at her with wide, confused eyes.
“Maybe another day, kiddo.”