timewasting | OPEN POST 2020.

Filling her pockets and her time.

[ The name is vaguely familiar. The face that floats up in his memory is a younger looking woman, with dark hair and light eyes. And a very pronounced pout. Someone used to being spoiled who doesn't seem to be making that much of an impression on her husband. ]

I wonder if he even knows where the extra is coming from. Or if he cares. [ That might be the way to unravel it all. He'll have to do some listening and poking around. ] I imagine our councilman's wife would be devastated.

She seems to be clueless.

[ thoughtfully, as she watches Kaz, and the thoughts running through his mind flicker through on his face. ]

He’s horrifically boring. [ as she glances toward the oven, to make sure their dinner isn’t burning. ] All he has is money... she would be better off taking his coin and leaving.

Most of the time, they are. A pity too, she seems nice.

[ Isn't that usually the way? Granted, he's met enough shitty women to know they aren't absolved of being horrible. It's just in these specific situations, it seems to work out in a very certain way.

Frankly, while he understands why someone might cheat—discontent, pride, generally not giving a shit—he can't sympathize with it at all. The mere word kicking around in his head alongside looking at Inej makes him feel vaguely ill. There's no one else and will never be, that he's absolutely certain of.

(Especially as his mind keeps going down that track, bringing up the possibility of a strange woman touching him and he definitely goes a bit green around the gills for a minute). ]

She could, as long as the divorce papers go in her favor.

[ oh, something is off. and she watches him, eyes scanning his face in a moment, brow furrowing as she tries to figure out what it is. what has him suddenly bothered?

she can usually read him like a book, but certain things are difficult. and whatever has him pale around the face is a mystery to her.

so she reaches out to gently take his hand, curling her fingers around his fingers, tugging gently. so he can focus on the present. or get away from whatever seems to be haunting his thoughts. ]

What is wrong?

[ with a tilt of her head, her brow furrowed. ]

[ Her fingers curl around his and he exhales, giving them a small squeeze in return. He doesn't let go though, using her grip as an anchor to help wash away the imagined feeling of someone strange touching him. ]

Imagination took a bad turn. [ Because as much as he can handle shaking hands with people or generally dealing with a more day to day touch, what Inej does is clearly different. And they've spent years working at it.

He has no desire to repeat that particular song and dance just for a fling. Why would he want to, anyway? The only person that has ever mattered that much to him is standing less than a foot away, her head tilted in a question. His queasiness dissipates and he picks up her hand, kissing the back of it. ]

So how are we getting the councilman's wife every drop of his money?

[ imagination took a bad turn both answers everything and nothing, and she considers him for a moment, weighing out whether or not to pry more detail out of him when he lifts her hand to kiss the back of it.

whatever seems to have seized his thoughts is gone, and inej decides to let it go. he's back in the present and focused on her, so he seems to have worked past it without much more difficulty. ]

I imagine he'd have to admit to the affair, because she would have no proof other than my word.

[ with a shrug, as she moves closer to loop her arms around his waist, resting her chin against his chest as she looks up at him. ]

It would be a shame if someone threatened him with outing his debauchery to the mercher's council, especially after their reputation is still rebuilding from what Van Eck did to it.

[ She comes closer and as soon as she wraps her arms around his middle, whatever vestiges of that imaginary creeping feeling goes away. Replaced by the familiar warm line of her pressed close. As usual, he feels that desire to pull her into bed and curl up.

But. They'll get there. A little later. ]

Hm, that would be a shame, wouldn't it? [ Would that straighten him out quickly? Hard to say, but it seems likely. Visser doesn't have as strong a foothold as he likes to think he does. And as much as the council likes to pretend Kaz doesn't hold anything over them, he does. ]

Too bad he's council and I can't just dangle him over a bridge.

Dangling someone over a bridge should probably be the last resort.

[ a bit dryly; no one is being dangled over a bridge for no reason, honestly!! but she pushes herself up onto her toes to kiss his cheek, relieved that whatever was haunting him seems to be gone, now, before letting go of him to check on the pies. ]

I could get more information about Visser's girlfriend out of the women at the White Rose, but I doubt the owner will let me in the front door anymore.

[ inej has a different reputation, now. which is good, in some ways, and annoying, in others. being kaz brekker's wraith usually meant she had free license to wander through the seedier parts of the city. and to most people, she is still kaz brekker's wraith . . . but word of her exploits of late have spread through west stave like wildfire, and the brothel owners are less inclined to speak freely to her anymore.

good riddance, for the most part. besides, she can just go in through a window. ]

Mila de Jong's husband likely has a regular, there. And I'm sure he doesn't keep his mouth shut about his wife.

[ men who are cheating on their wives rarely do, to the working girls in west stave. no one would believe the sex workers anyway. ]

It would be a strong start.

[ He's done it before!!! Granted the person he'd done it to hadn't been a council member, which invited more scrutiny. Also he'd admitted to blackmailing one of the brothel workers. If that wasn't cause to be dangled over a bridge, he didn't know what was. ]

Too bad for them that you don't need a front door. [ Seriously, since when has she been daunted by having to go through a window? These people have such arbitrary blockades, as if barring the door meant she would give up and go away. ]

Do they ever?

[ Almost never. The truth comes out eventually. Usually from a working girl ready to get back at someone truly foul. ]

[ the pies are nearly done, so inej closes the oven again, turning to lean her hip against the countertop, arching her eyebrows a little. ]

No.

[ men used to talk about their personal lives to her constantly. she never understood why. maybe to humanize the experience of rape, or something else. Inej remembered some of it, to use for later. and to this day, she knows the men in ketterdam who frequented the menagerie. filthy humans that they are.

but she moves past that, tilting her head at Kaz, curious. ]

The council turns a blind eye to anything in this city that doesn’t suit them. They could give a damn about the brothels, but they won’t so long as their members and friends still associate with them. Or make coin off of them.

[ and inej shrugs a shoulder. ]

If they don’t want to continue to be embarrassed, maybe they can give us something in return. Visser’s wife gets her money and silence. And they can actually do something to clean up West Stave.

It's been a slow process. There's two sitting on the council who seem to care, but they're outnumbered.

[ The shitty part of Kerch politics. Even with him throwing his weight behind certain policies, there's a careful balancing act on how much he can push without putting the Dregs at risk.

This, though, is tangible. Some place he can apply pressure. ] It's possible we can get Visser to straighten out over this. If he does, Teuling is likely to follow suit. He's practically attached to his heels.

[ That would swing the council into more favorable numbers. Four of seven. ]

[ politics is frustrating, particularly when things should change now. and inej isn't entirely convinced that anyone on the council really cares. if they cared, they would throw more of a fit to change it.

but kaz has the patience for things like this. politics, that is. whereas inej does not. she supposes that's why he's got an iron grip on the barrel and she's the ghost in the dark, and not the other way around. so she listens to him explain, humming to herself in thought before she glances toward the window.

thinking. thinking . . . ]

So I'll keep tabs on his outings on my way home, from now on.

[ to see what, exactly, what other dirt she can find. and a visit to the white rose is in order, to figure out how to get mila de jong to spill details on councilman visser. that part would probably be more fruitful. ]

Something will spill, eventually.

[ He knows she's frustrated by that answer. Because things should have been better. Should be better, in general. Especially with how long they've been making their own contributions behind the scenes to clean up the city.

The problem is they've had to work up from the very bottom. And there'd been a lot of corruption to work through. There still is, but it's a different game now. The council cannot ignore either of them, now that their power structure has made its way out of the Barrel. Kaz has eyes and ears basically everywhere and that has expanded with Inej staying in town.

And since the council can't ignore them, the larger portion of them are doing their best to curtail his operations where they can. ]

I'll visit the madames to see if I can get any information that way.

[ For some reason, they let him in the front. ] It always spills. Just might take some time.

[ her lips curve upward a bit, at the news of kaz visiting west stave, and she turns her attention back to the oven, to remove the now finished pies. they smell good . . . so perhaps the chef in the market wasn't lying after all, about the best pies in ketterdam.

but as she sets them on the countertop to cool, she says, amused: ]

They love seeing you.

[ wryly, as she folds up the towel she used to remove the pan from the oven, laying it on the countertop. ]

They talk about Kaz Brekker for days, after you pay a visit.

[ mostly positive! mostly. a bit of complaining that he doesn't spend any money there. and inej knows for a fact that some of the girls at the white rose find kaz handsome (albeit frightening). which is par for the course, for most men in the barrel.

the best part is that inej doesn't even need to ask, to invite such conversation. they're just eager to tell her when he visits. men who visit the pleasure houses without partaking are whispered about easily, and honestly, the bar is pretty low, for gentlemen in the barrel. kaz brekker is probably the closest thing to it. saints help them all. ]

What?

[ Well, he supposes he's mostly someone good to see, in the houses. He's never there as a customer and he's helped more than a few of them out of bad situations.

Still, he has a specific reputation. One that usually has people crossing the other side of the street. Or trying not to meet his eyes, their steps speeding up. ]

Why? [ What in Kerch would they have to say? ]

Well, the madames hope you’re there to spend money. And you’re a good person to know in the city, obviously, but they want you as a customer.

[ mildly, as she opens a drawer to pull out a few forks and knives, along with fetching some plates to put the pies on. ]

But you have a small following of girls at the White Rose who think you are absolutely handsome. [ and she sounds downright amused at this part, putting the plates on a tray to bring to the dining room. ] They ask me about you every time I’m within earshot of their rooms.

[ inej doesn’t necessarily discourage them but also gently lets them know to leave him alone when he visits the white rose. ]

[ Her first point just makes sense. Well, mostly. Any madame is going to expect that if a man visits the establishment, they're there to spend money. What doesn't match up is the lack of apparent logic. Or perhaps there's some wishful thinking– Kaz has never visited the houses for any other reason than for business.

And he's been visiting for a number of years now. He would've figured they'd given up on the possibility that he'd ever come for another reason.

That next point, though: ] What?

[ His brow furrows, clearly not sure what to make of this news. Walking down the streets, he's had the compliment called out to him, but usually from one of the callers sitting outside of the houses, attempting to tempt him to come in. A sales pitch.

It's a very different thing to hear it spoken so plainly.

He follows her into the dining room, pulling her chair out. A habit, at this point. ]

[ she sets down the tray to divvy up food, and takes the seat that Kaz pulls out for her, sitting cross legged in the chair, tucking her feet underneath her as she grins, at Kaz’s reaction. and she waits until he sits down before she says: ]

They ask when you are visiting next.

[ as she carefully prods the piping hot pie, letting the steam out. ]

I think they’re very charmed by your exploits.

[ running Pekka Rollins out of business meant another slaver out of the west stave and the barrel, which made some of the girls very happy. And while no one knows what causes that random plague, they do know Kaz seized power after Pekka left. And Kaz brekker is a far better friend to them than Pekka ever was. ]

[ Kaz takes a seat after she's all settled, mirroring her motion and poking at the food to let some of the heat out. ]

Charmed. [ He says, still baffled by this entire conversation. None of his activities could be considered in the realm of charming. At least, not in the traditional sense. The only skill he has that comes close is probably his sleight of hand; he'd gotten the hang of the trick of pulling a coin from behind someone's ear.

Everything else was more of the violent persuasion. Though, he had eradicated Pekka from the picture, as well as Heleen– for the most part– which had been a relief to a great many of the girls who ever had to deal with either of them. ]

I suppose as long as it doesn't get in the way of information...

You got rid of two of the biggest slavers in West Stave.

[ as she carefully extracts a piece of her pie, letting it cool on her fork. now that heleen and pekka are gone, the girls have a much better choice in what they do for work. the white rose has its problems, but their employment contracts are fair. nothing like the "indenture" (read: slavery) that pekka and heleen employed. ]

They would tell you everything that happened in the White Rose from top to bottom if you asked.

[ and they volunteer. frequently.

inej just has them tell her and she promises to pass it on to kaz (which she typically does, if kaz asks what she did that day). ]

Alright, that makes a bit more sense.

[ At least he can understand that reasoning. Though it's still strange, to be thought of in such a way. He doesn't have any personal experience to compare it to—Per Haskell had welcomed him into the Dregs, but he'd only done it after he had proven himself in some way. And then every single step on the ladder up had been a result of hard work, outwitting the rest and trying to stay three paces ahead.

He also supposes if someone had taken out Pekka before he got to him, he would've been upset rather than grateful. But his revenge had been based on a very different set of circumstances. Someone like Inej wouldn't have suffered nearly as long if someone had done the West Stave a favor and gotten rid of Heleen earlier on. ]

Think it would cause too much commotion if I asked? [ Because now he's just curious, as he cuts through a piece of the pie with the side of his fork, letting it cool for a second. ]

Do not break their hearts.

[ as she pops the first piece of the pie into her mouth, savoring the taste for a moment before swallowing, settling back into her chair as she eyes him.

kaz is always nothing but kind to the workers in the pleasure houses. which says a lot, considering kaz brekker really isn't kind to a lot of people, aside from the handful of people he's deemed friends (and even then, kindness really isn't something that you expect on the day-to-day, with kaz) or . . . well, herself.

in fact, inej is pretty sure she is the only person in all of ketterdam who gets to experience kaz's kindness on a daily basis.

the problem is that the sex workers of ketterdam really don't meet a lot of kind men, so the kind ones tend to stick out. and the kind ones are the ones that they need to ensnare, because that is usually their ticket out of the pleasure houses into something a bit more bearable.

(inej had to correct, very quickly, that that was not the case with herself and kaz. even if it sort of was. but not like that.) ]

But I'm certain they would tell you whatever you wanted to know, if you asked.

I won't do it on purpose.

[ No guarantees on anything accidental. It's not like he can read their minds. Most of the time he barely even recognizes when someone is actively attempting to flirt with him. Much to Inej's amusement over the last few years.

He takes a bite of his food, thinking about the last such time. They'd gone for lunch and apparently the waitress had spent a better part of it trying for his attention. His mind had gone immediately to her wanting something—business related, most likely. At the end, she'd left him her work schedule on a folded slip of paper, a lipstick mark on the outside of it. That was about the point it sunk in.

It's entirely possible visiting the girls would garner a similar action. But surely they know he's with Inej? Perhaps it's too hopeful to think they do, it's not like him and Inej are very open about their relationship, even if they've been together for a while. ]

Don't they do the same for you?

[ watching that poor waitress try her best to catch his attention had been both hilarious and sad. mostly because inej had been sitting right there, and clearly the waitress had no idea they were together. inej herself hadn't been bothered, but kaz had spent the better part of their walk home (mildly) indignant that people don't see them as together while they're . . . well, together.

inej had simply nodded along while they walked, which didn't really help.

at any rate: ]

They do, but I ask different questions than you would.

[ with a shrug. inej is less interested in money and sway, in the barrel, than where the slavers sell their stock. and the girls tell inej about difficult johns or when new girls come in the door, but inej doesn't ask about political whereabouts or high-powered men. that's more kaz's area of interest, than hers.

the men who use the pleasure houses are all the same, to inej. trash and scum, most of them. where they work is hardly of interest . . . unless it has the potential to ruin the mercher's council, anyway. ]

You also have a different reputation, than I do.

[ kaz, by far, commands more respect in ketterdam than inej. most people still recognize her as his favorite weapon. inej is fairly certain most of the barrel thinks the wraith is really kaz's ship and inej is his puppet, and inej isn't too concerned to correct them. it doesn't really matter, to her, whether she gets credit for her work. it just matters that it gets done. ]

[ That much is certainly true– Inej has a different focus, even if their goals occasionally line up. She's out to eradicate the slavers from existence. Or at the very least, winnow down how many were out there and still operational.

Meanwhile, he's approaching a similar goal but from a more political side. Because that's what he's good at, knowing the ins and outs of Kerch's messy system. All the contracts, how to exploit a loophole, when to apply pressure to someone on the fence.

His questions would definitely be a different sort, looking for any bit of leverage on the politically powerful. ]

Is it so different? You still frighten people when you walk down the street.

[ He's aware there's a distinction: she's the Wraith, a long time extension of his own machinations in the Barrel. But she's been on her own for enough years that some of that association has to have shaken off, right?

Or maybe he'd adjusted the fastest, despite the difficulty in doing so. Once he'd bought her contract, he'd known she wasn't going to stay. That she was going to forge her own path, chase the dream she'd mentioned a handful of times– her own ship, an open ocean, and no one standing between her and the people that brought her to Ketterdam. ]

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