im fully convinced that after her first year with the dregs, inej made kaz and jesper bracelets for friendship day and while jesper immediately wore it, kaz stuffed it in his pocket, thinking he was too tough for fRiEndShiP bRaCelEtS but secretly, he wore it every night to sleep.
when he was stressed or anxious and needed some sort of comfort, his fingers would fiddle with the bracelet and even when he lost it during a fight, he would, by instinct, rest his hand in the very spot the bracelet was.
in his worst times, the bracelet gave him comfort. inej gave him comfort.
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kaz and inej, years later
it's been 7 years since inej took off from ketterdam
kaz is barely ever available when she stops by occasionally only to stock up and to say brief hello's
he watches her on her ship, from afar and walks away before anyone can see him
she seems happy and he knows he'll never be able to compare to that
out of the corner of her eye, inej notices him standing next to the farthest port
she tries to talk to him, but he leaves as soon as she moves towards him
he hates it but he can't let down someone else he cares about
he won't let himself
so he does what kaz brekker does best
he distances himself from them
jesper tries to convince him to come with him to meet inej
but kaz always has an excuse
"give her my best and tell her i look forward to meeting her soon." he says, but he knows he can't
she doesn't believe him but she knows she has to give him time
but just how much time?
finally she can't take it anymore
inej walks up to the slat and barges into brekkers office
his back is turned away from the door.
"hello wraith"
his voice is shaky, unsure, scared.
"look at me." her anger is rising
he hesitates but doesn't turn around
"look at me kaz brekker."
he turns and his eyes linger on hers for just a second before dropping down
"you look well."
"don't bullshit me kaz, what wrong? anytime i try to talk to you, you walk away. i know you dont-"
"im sorry"
that was probably the first time she'd ever heard him say those words
surprised was an understatement
"tell me why and if you want i'll leave."
"you deserve better than me, heck i don't deserve you. i saw how happy you were and i knew i couldn't give you that. it was better i didn't give you anything than give you something lesser than what you deserve."
"kaz-"
she slid her fingers into his bare hands and clasper it, bringing it closer to her heart
a tremor shot through him but he kept it low. he couldn't fuck this up, not again.
"i might not know what i deserve but ie do know what you do. you deserve happiness. you've been broken far too long and if there's anyone who deserves to heal, it's you. if you just let yourself."
kaz looked into her rich brown eyes unable to form words
inej felt his hands tighten around hers
"i'll do it."
"do what?"
"allow myself to heal."
inej smiled, her eyes glinting in the dim light of the kaz's slat bedroom
"i'll do it for the things i want" he said, his eyes looking directly into hers
"and what is it that you want?"
money, vengance, jordie's voice my head silenced forever
"to die buried under the weight of your own gold?" she laughed
"you, inej, you."
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