timewasting | OPEN POST 2020.

[ she watches him go, pursing her lips slightly -- because his leg had to have hurt, after all of that -- but inej lets it go in favor of tugging a loose sleep shirt over her head and a new pair of underwear. not much else, though, as she collects the clothes tossed aside in their earlier adventure to add to a basket positioned in the corner.

when kaz is done and exits the bathroom, inej is putting away clothes in the closet, unpacking a little bit. but when she hears the door to the bathroom open, inej glances over from smoothing out a shirt on a hanger. ]

Better?

[ After he rinses off, he spends some of the shower zoning out as he flexes the stuff we out of his leg. Thankfully, it doesn't take as long as it can sometimes, the hot water doing him favors. So he's able to step out much sooner than he expected, toweling off and wrapped it around his waist before he comes back into the bedroom.

The exhaustion from walking has been mostly washed down the drain, so he's certainly less pathetic looking when he picks up his bag in search of night clothes. ]

Much. [ He fishes out a pair of pants and changes, momentarily disappearing back into the bathroom to hang his towel up. When he comes back out, he steps over to Inej by the closet, carefully curling an arm around her middle. ]

Leave it. [ Yes, he's being needy!!! ]

[ she's about to hang up another shirt when his arm wraps around her middle, and she tilts her head back against his chest to look up at him, arching her eyebrows a little. ]

I'm almost done.

[ though she does stop fishing out clothes out of respective bags, turning to face him without shaking his arm off of her middle, amused. ]

But if you would rather me do this tomorrow, I can.

Hmm, tomorrow sounds good.

[ She's close to done so he really should just leave her alone. But he's also tired and wants to go to bed with her. Which is selfish, but he's never pretended to be anything else.

There's also the matter that Inej has turned away from what she's doing, which allows him to lean down and kiss her forehead. ]

Tomorrow sounds really good. [ Another kiss and the arm around her middle tightens briefly in a half-hug. ]

[ she’s lost the moment he got an option to distract her. and the kiss to her forehead causes an odd curling feeling in her chest. it’s a purely affectionate gesture, and inej loves the little reminders of love.

so, she loops her arms around his middle, resting her chin on his chest to look up at him. she’s tired, and honestly, sleep sounds phenomenal. ]

Tomorrow it is, then.

[ with a small smile. ]

[ He missed this so much when she was away, the small moments they'd accrue throughout the day. Now she'll be around for a little while—or at least intends to be, he'll see how much they can push the timeline with her role change—without any prying eyes from those in the Slat or on her ship.

It's not as though they'd been keeping their relationship a secret, but perhaps more low key. Neither of them being as comfortable with open affection.

His hand pets down her spine and he lets her go. For now. ]

Inej, darling, treasure of my heart—after you.

[ that earns a roll of her eyes as she removes her arms from his waist, trailing her fingers along the front of his chest before she turns on her heel, moving past him toward the bed. ]

You are going to need a new line.

[ as she tugs at the comforter to slide into bed, extinguishing her bedside lamp as she does so. ]

That one is a little tired.

[ it’s pretty obvious she’s joking but also get a new line boi. ]

Only a little tired?

[ He grins, expression closer to boyish than purely cheeky, as he makes his way over to the other side of the bed. His side of the comforter is turned down and he sets his cane aside as he carefully slips in beside her. There's an immediate relief in being off his feet and he sighs before he turns off the lamp, the room going dark save for the moon shining through part of the windows.

Turning towards her, he reaches out blindly and finds the line of her arm, tracing down it until he curls his fingers around hers. ]

I'll show you how to pick the front and back door locks tomorrow. They're trickier than the one for the DeKappel painting. [ Just in case she forgets a key. Unlikely, but better to be prepared. ]

[ he finds her hand, and inej rolls closer, to stretch an arm across his chest as she makes herself comfortable. and Kaz can feel a laugh, though there’s no noise — a rise and fall of her chest, before she says: ]

That was easy.

[ no, it wasn’t, but inej counts that particular theft under “you would be dead in a jail somewhere” when Kaz asks “what would I do without you?” what a ridiculously stupid job. ]

You should probably find better locks, if that is your standard for difficulty.

[ this house is a fortress, if their front door can’t be broken into by anyone but kaz brekker. ]

[ She rolls closer and he smiles, relaxing as she gets comfortable. He'll never get sick of this, just laying with her tucked in close. It's amusing to think about how touch and go those first times had been, when they'd been figuring out comfort levels.

At least now they don't really worry about it. ]

They aren't that bad, just tricky. It's meant to dissuade someone in a rush. [ Just tricky says the man who's picked every lock under the sun. ]

Your definition of tricky is similar to my definition of gravity.

[ it’s murmured, allowing her eyes to close. ]

Besides, I doubt anyone is going to try and break into our house.

[ whoever does likely has a death wish. ]

But you can show me, if you want to.

Oh.

[ He supposes he might've overlooked that particular facet. Inej so regularly keeps up with him that it had slipped his mind. Also, he realizes in hindsight he'd been using his own measure of what counted as easy and difficult.

Oops. ]

That's probably true. [ It's not as though they were lazy merchers, who were painted as interesting and easy targets. Once word got out they were in the area, it would probably be enough to put off most people from willing to try.

Then again, if there's anyone remotely like himself out there, they wouldn't be deterred. ]

I'll go through it in any case.

[ her lips curve upward, as he connects the dots. for someone so brilliant, he was often four steps behind. on some things, anyway. most things, he’s fifty six steps ahead. at least.

but still: ]

I’ll let you teach me if you let me try it first without your help.

[ she won’t be able to get it but she’ll give it her best go. ]

Alright. No hints.

[ It's not the type jam up if she gets it wrong, so there's no harm in it. That and he knows it's easier to learn by feeling it out for oneself, getting a sense of what it does when you try to push the tumblers out of order.

This one takes a particularly patient hand, pushing the tumblers out of the way in a specific pattern. It had taken him a few tries to get it down. ]

Do you want to have Jes and Wylan over? [ Jesper had seen the house in an earlier stage and Wylan has only seen the outside. Maybe. If he had gotten curious and walked a few blocks. ] Unless you want to wait until everything's finished.

No hints.

[ an agreement that comes in a soft laugh that’s really more of an exhale. but at Kaz’s next words, inej shifts her head slightly against his shoulder to roll just a tiny bit closer, so she can fold her legs a bit over his lap.

she had missed falling asleep with him, desperately. so she as as well get as comfortable as she can. ]

I would like that.

[ and she would, genuinely. but her tone shifts to something a little more dry: ]

I assume they knew about the surprise, too.

[ She curls a bit closer and he loops a familiar arm around her middle, his hand resting on her thigh. It's how they've fallen asleep for a few years now, with her legs draped across his lap and his shoulder serving as a pillow. Eventually, they'll move around in the middle of the night, but it always starts like this. He likes the routine. ]

Jes found out. [ Kaz says, clearly chagrined. ] And definitely told Wylan afterwards. I threatened to dump them both in the harbor if they told you anything.

[ his hand on her thigh is comforting, and she grins into his shoulder, at the news of jesper discovering the secret... and the subsequent unraveling from that. ]

They kept the secret. [ clearly, given how surprised she had been. ] But I don’t think dumping them in the harbor would have been necessary.

[ saints knows inej would’ve fished them out. ]

It was a little extra incentive. [ Kaz please. ]

I was nervous that Jes was going to spill it at dinner. [ It wasn't that he was bad with secrets, just his excitement got ahead of him sometimes. ] He looked like he was ready to vibrate out of his chair.

[ Inej had definitely gotten suspicious, asking some pointed questions after. Somehow, he'd managed to dodge them. It worked out. ]

He always looks like he wants to vibrate out of his chair.

[ in jesper’s defense. sort of.

but she sighs to herself, tilting her head slightly to press her lips against his jaw. a soft motion, gentle. ]

It was a surprise well kept.

That's true.

[ Ever since he started embracing being a Fabrikator, that energy has had somewhere to disperse, but that doesn't mean he's totally calm. Jesper will just always be someone on the move. ]

I'm glad you like it. [ He murmurs, patting her thigh affectionately. There's a part of him that wants to return the kiss (there usually is), but he doesn't want to disturb her comfortable position.

Besides, they'll have time for that in the morning. And tomorrow, in general. The thought makes him smile a bit, relishing their space. ]

[ inej can’t remember such a good sleep. it’s blissfully quiet, in their home, and when she stirs to wakefulness, she can already hear the birds chirping at their window. the curtains are drawn, so the sun doesn’t disturb them ... but inej already knows that she’s slept in.

Kaz is still asleep, arms wrapped around her middle, his face buried in her neck. and she allows him to remain that way for a little bit before she gently shifts, scooting herself down a little bit so she can watch him sleep.

she only lasts a few moments, though, before she brushes her lips against his in a soft kiss, her hands gently cupping his face as she does so. mostly because waking him up is one of her least favorite things to do, but waking him up in a pleasant way is one of her favorites. ]

[ By far, it's the best sleep he's had in a while. Not only from Inej's proximity but from the sheer lack of sound. Once the morning comes, he can usually hear some of the distant sounds on the first floor of the Slat. Or the waking up sounds from on the street.

Here, it's almost entirely residential, set away from the market street and general bustle. So the only thing he hears (briefly) is the chirping of birds. His consciousness floats right back to sleep though, and the next thing he's aware of is the soft press of lips to his and it takes him a second to register that Inej is awake.

He's less bleary than when he'd woken up from the nap yesterday, but there's definitely a delay as he blinks awake. Still half asleep, he leans forward, returning her kiss. ]

[ she grins a little, once she feels him reciprocate the kiss — he’s awake, sort of, and she responds gently, her thumb moving over his cheek. and after a moment, she murmurs:]

Good morning.

[ — against his lips, shifting to press her lips against the corner of his mouth, and then his jaw, before settling back into her pillow, hand still gently caressing his face. ]

[ He's waking up slowly but surely, quirking a smile when she kisses the corner of his mouth. It's tempting to let that be all and drift off again, but he can't ignore the soft brush of her thumb to his cheek.

Or the sight of her so close, long hair fanned out on her pillow. Her grin still lingers in her eyes and he feels the familiar skip of his pulse at the sight.

Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he shifts so he can kiss her again, murmuring a return: ]

Good morning. [ Before he keeps going, kissing her jaw and dipping his head to press another to her neck. ]

[ the movement is lazy, as inej returns his kiss before tilting her head back to allow him room to kiss her neck — and it sort of tickles, just a little, which prompts a chuckle to rise in her throat.

once he’s done pressing a kiss to her neck, she brushes her lips against his jaw, eyes bright. ]

Did you sleep well?

[ as she shifts back to his lips, her kiss soft. ]

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