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Inej leaped from rooftop to rooftop effortlessly, as if the gravity around her disappeared. It was sunset in Ketterdam, and she honestly missed the smell of the barrel. Gliding on pipes while not making a sound, she landed on the Slat’s roof. She stopped, stood for a moment while catching her breath. She adjusted her captain’s hat, the crow feather dipping in the wind. She walked to the edge and in one single fluid motion, leaped down while using her legs to swing her in an arc so she landed inside Kaz’s room, landing without a sound.
Empty. She noted, she stood straight and looked around at the empty room, tucking the new hat she had gotten him under her arm. She saw the various maps and papers littering his desk. A lantern was still lit at his desk. She took off her hat and brushed away the hairs that had fallen out of her braid. She took off her coat and draped it over the chair, so now she stood in a simple white bishop sleeve shirt and black waistcoat, and black pants, she set his new hat on his desk chair backing.
She sat on his bed, not knowing what to do next. She sighed and looked at her shirt sleeves, they were slightly dirty from her getting from 5th harbor to here. She stood up again and looked around his room for something.
Her eyes landed on his dresser. She could picture Kaz in her head. You should have brought a spare shirt. He’d say. But she figured he wouldn’t stop her either. She pulled open the drawer to reveal various neatly folded shirts, some were off white, grey, and even some greyish blue, and a lot of white. She grabbed a white one and closed it. She removed her waistcoat and shirt and slipped on his. She took her clothes and set them in a small pile by the window, before sitting back down on his bed. The material was soft and quite big on her. But she really didn’t mind, it reminded her of being a child again and being wrapped up in a blanket at her parents caravan. It didn’t smell like him, more of the wooden drawer it had been kept in. She sat on the edge for several minutes, her eyes drifting across the room, not much had changed in the few months she had been gone, but it still felt so different.
She walked herself backwards so she could lean against the wall and pillows. Saints, where are you Kaz? She felt her eyes getting heavy and while she tried to fight the yawn- it won. She yawned and felt even more tired, and the bed beneath her felt so comforting, all she had on the ship was a hammock that often lurched and swung from the sea, and by itself, it wasn’t very comfortable.
She smoothed her hand over the sheets, they were soft and warm, welcoming. She laid down, her head resting on a pillow, it smelled like how the rest of the room had smelled, like coffee, ink, the only difference was it also smelled like whatever he used to smooth back his hair. It smelled like him. She inhaled deeply, a calm wave passed over her, she felt safe for the first time in awhile. Then she hadn’t realized that she had fallen asleep.
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Kaz marched through the Slat’s door, fuming. His night has not gone well. The mission went sour, Wylan was injured, nothing more than a scrape, “He won’t lose an arm, he’ll be fine.” Kaz had said to a panicked Jesper. The Reapers decided to cause more damage to the Crow Club, and to top it off, Inej’s letters had been off schedule for a week now, he told himself she wouldn’t be a distraction to him anymore once she left Ketterdam, but she had occupied more space than he had thought, he missed her, and hated that he did.
Inej’s letters to Kaz, Jesper, Wylan and Nina were everything to them, everything to him. She had sent them pins, trinkets, small pieces of jewelry, music sheets, and Kaz seemed to get nothing. Nina teased him, but he just kept the various hats she had acquired him a secret, keeping them in a safe storage cabinet hidden behind a false plank behind several of his suits.
Kaz marched up the stairs, his bad leg feeling even worse than when he left the club. His gloved hand gripped the railing so tight the leather squeaked and the wooden rail groaned as if it had actually been hurt by Kaz. He walked the several flights, cursing at how high his room was. All he wanted now was to sink into his chair and drink. He’ll deal with the Reapers after he has had several shots of whiskey.
He opened the door to his room to find a sleeping Suli girl on his bed, in his shirt. It was Inej. He looked at her dumbfounded, she was asleep peacefully, her head on his pillow, a small smile on her face. How could he be so stupid to not realize the whole room now smells like sea water, it was faint, but enough for him to notice the difference. He looked at his desk, her coat was draped over his chair, a dark grey fedora sat on the chair backing. He smiled, all anger suddenly slipped away from him. She acquired me a new hat. He thought.
Looking at Inej again he felt angry, part of him was mad at himself for not realising the difference in smell, he could have been ambushed if he wasn’t careful. The other part he was mad at her, anyone could have walked through that door, and she would have been caught off guard here, He sighed loudly. He couldn’t also help but feel so much better knowing she was here, he wanted to walk up to her, run his fingers through her hair, that small part of him even wanted to kiss her, but also knew if he tried she would have woken up and probably kill him if he wasn’t fast enough to see a knife he knew she hid somewhere on her body. He resorted to setting his cane down on the wooden floor loudly enough to make her stir.
She woke up with a slight flinch, she could see a blurred shape, it was dark, but she made out the golden crow headed cane. She shot up and her eyes met Kaz’s dark bitter coffee eyes.
“Kaz!” She yelped. She then tried to compose herself better. “What took you so long?”
“A job.” His rough voice spoke. She missed hearing it. “You know you should be more vigilant, anyone could have walked through that door looking for me and finding you would have not ended well.” After the couple years she has been gone, he hasn’t changed a bit.
“For me? Or them?” She said, a smug smile tugging at her lips, You know me better than that Kaz. She thought. His brow raised ever so slightly.
“Depends, do you have your knives?”
“Not all of them, but a few.” She reached for her boot, and pulled out a golden knife. A small crow's head on the end of the handle. She watched as a glimpse of a smile tugged at his lips.
“Besides-” She started, sliding the knife back into her boot and swinging her legs over and got up without a sound, so light the floorboards never creaked under her weight like they had with Kaz. She walked up to his desk, and Kaz tracked her every movement. She opened the first drawer, without looking, she pulled out a sharpened letter opener.
“If I didn’t, I would trust you to have means of defense on your desk.” She closed the drawer and set the letter opener down on the desk. She was only a foot away from him now. His eyes glinted, and she knew he was secretly proud that she had a plan, and knew where to look. He leaned his head an inch forward.
“Then It would not have ended well for anyone who dared to wake you in such close proximity.” He said. She took a step closer. Eyes scanning over his face, the bitter coffee black had watered down to a dark tea brown, he still was hard around the edges, and looked far older than the 20 year old she was facing. She cleared her throat softly.
“I- your darling Inej, treasure of your heart,” She swiftly pulled the hat from behind her back and held it out to him, her hands on its brim. “Have acquired you a new hat.” She finished, her eyelashes fanned over her face, a slight purr to her voice. He grabbed the hat with one hand- a hand without a glove, he brushed her fingers while grabbing the hat gently. A small shiver ran through them both. He pulled it close, eyes examining the hat. His eyes moved to meet Inej’s.
“How long will you stay?” A thank you would have been nice. She thought.
“No more than a few days.” She just remembered that she was wearing his shirt and felt a wave of hot embarrassment wash over her briefly. “I need to get to my ship, I need to get the other gifts for Jesper, Nina and Wylan.” She turned and gathered her shirt and waistcoat, before grabbing her hat off the chair. She put a hand on the railing.
“I trust you will return my shirt?” He asked, his voice gave nothing away, but the small smug smile on his lips said otherwise. She pulled her hat low, so it was hiding her eyes.
“I suppose I should.” Then in a blink, she was gone in the wind.