wraithes: (010.)
unarmored. ([personal profile] wraithes) wrote in [community profile] timewasting2020-09-27 05:30 pm

modern au kanej.

a cute gif will go here eventually.
ketterdamn: (leather)

[personal profile] ketterdamn 2020-09-30 07:38 pm (UTC)(link)
You're free.

[ He gives her a faint smile, another try at being reassuring, though he has no idea if it's coming across. The shock is still settling in, it seems like. Similar to when he'd gotten the ruling in court, Tomassen standing next to him with a hand on one shoulder, steadying. That day feels like a fever dream, sometimes. ]

There is a catch. [ Kaz puts his phone away, thinking over his words. ] I'm filing a suit against her operations. Right now there's enough evidence to get her heavily fined or jailed—but that depends on whether you'll want to stand in the trial. I can dig deeper if you're on board.

[ Since she likely isn't the only person who's suffered from Heleen's awfulness. ]
ketterdamn: (think about it)

[personal profile] ketterdamn 2020-09-30 10:18 pm (UTC)(link)
Thirteen?

[ He echoes it softly, in disbelief. Not that he imagines she's lying, but just the sheer horror of what happened is a struggle to come to to terms with. No one should have to go through what she has and especially not so young. Kaz thought he'd been jaded enough to expect the worst but somehow this makes his stomach turn.

Maybe, he thinks, it's the idea of the touching. Disgusting.

Shaking his head, he focuses back on the fierce expression on her face. It won't be easy, this case, but she knows that. Knows how truly awful Heleen Van Houden is. She won't hesitate, he thinks, despite the potential danger. ]


There's more research to do. I passed along records I dug up to my lawyer's office this morning. He's fairly sure we'll be able to pin her, though he asked for a copy of your contract.
ketterdamn: (Default)

[personal profile] ketterdamn 2020-10-01 12:36 am (UTC)(link)
[ He can tell she's ruminating. Not necessarily in a bad way. More in a sense that everything was catching up all at once. The paid off contract, the court case, her freedom.

She looks about as stunned as he felt when he'd woken up the day after the verdict. Not quite sure that this was reality but not wanting it to be anything else. There's another layer to the ordeal for her– no longer will she have to go back to the Menagerie to be at the mercy of the hands of rich and disgusting men. She won't have to work two jobs just to try and pay her rent. Every dream she'd wanted and had to put aside were now back as a possibility.

Kaz wouldn't consider him a nice person, but this feels worth it. His gaze tracks from her face to the light touch on his arm, though he doesn't pull away. ]


Shouldn't I be asking you that? First evening of freedom and all.
ketterdamn: (triumph)

[personal profile] ketterdamn 2020-10-01 01:17 am (UTC)(link)
[ Her touch doesn't linger and he's–well, he's a mix of relieved with a strange niggle of disappointment. He's not nearly as bad as he used to be with touch but it's still so precarious, especially with people he doesn't know very well. But somehow, there's a vague sense of longing.

Which is compounded by the delight in the sound of her laugh, full and warm. He can't help the flicker of a smile that curls the corner of his mouth. ]


Bossy, aren't we? [ He isn't bothered. She is, after all, relishing in the chance to flex this particular freedom of choice. ] There's a Zemeni place around the corner called Zoma. The spicy beef stew.
ketterdamn: (Default)

[personal profile] ketterdamn 2020-10-01 01:19 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Inej walks back over to the couch to put in the order, concentrated in her scrolling through the menu. It's a reasonable place and something of a comfort, reminding him of dinners over at the Fahey-Hilli residence. He clearly remembers his eyes watering up the first time he had Aditi's spicier cooking, with Jesper laughing and Colm taking pity to hand him a glass of milk.

His food tolerance has greatly improved since then.

As Inej orders, he goes into the kitchen to heat up water for tea, feeling like the chill from outside is lingering. His apartment is fairly well insulated but it's cold enough outside to make the living room feel breezy.

He limps back over when she settles down with Lizabeta, taking a seat in the armchair he favors. Well, it's not like he dislikes the couch. But it feels like it would be too close with the two of them. ]


Think you're safe, most dreams aren't so logical. [ He leans back in his seat, stretching his bad leg out with a sigh. ] If a group of sharks started swimming by, though, that's a good indicator it's time to wake up.
ketterdamn: (huddle)

[personal profile] ketterdamn 2020-10-01 04:09 pm (UTC)(link)
[ He can tell she's thinking but he leaves her to her thoughts, instead checking his phone for the text from Jes. How does he want to answer this? Because simply saying he spent tens of thousands today to bail Inej out of her contract seems—strange. In text, at least. He'd rather tell him in person.

So he settles for saying just enough:

Fine. And no, she isn't. It's complicated.

Frankly, that's not too far off. ]


She can try. [ He sends his text and looks up to meet her glance, steady and confident. ] I dealt with Pekka Rollins for almost a decade; bad contract, in and out of courts.

[ If he can stop someone from having to do the same thing, that's worth it. ]
ketterdamn: (huddle)

[personal profile] ketterdamn 2020-10-01 08:11 pm (UTC)(link)
[ They do have to be relatively close in age. It's either that or she has a very convincing fake ID, to be able to work and drink at the bar that Jesper had initially met her in. ]

Twenty, this year. [ So strange to acknowledge. He remembers being fifteen and feeling like he would never make it this far, not under the weight of the case and simply trying to survive. ]

I was nine. [ Jordie had recently turned twelve and neither of them had any sense. That part still aches, always wishing his brother could've seen it all work out. ]
ketterdamn: (think about it)

[personal profile] ketterdamn 2020-10-02 12:35 pm (UTC)(link)
[ She's only a little younger than he is, which is about right to his guess. It does make it worse, that she's been stuck with Heleen for so long. Years of adolescence chewed up by awfulness and a future that could've been much the same.

He wonders what she'll do now. After she celebrates, of course.

Lizabeta flutters the short distance from Inej's shoulder to the top of her head, small beak arranging her hair. It's an amusing picture, one he can't help a slight smile for. ]


January twelfth. [ Recently passed. He'd gone over to Jesper's place and been fussed at by his boyfriend, Wylan. ]

When's yours, then?

[ If it hasn't gone by already, maybe she'll soon be having a first birthday free of Heleen. ]
ketterdamn: (leather)

[personal profile] ketterdamn 2020-10-02 03:25 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Born in the summer. Somehow, that seems fitting. Her personality is certainly very positive and sunny, despite the absolutely shitty circumstances she's been living with. ]

Too bad, it was the talk of the town. Chocolate fountains, champagne, the works.

[ Ugh. He would never. It's an egregious amount of money for no reason. Sure he can be glad he's made it another year but that's less about celebrating a birth and more about the survival aspect. Inej seems to understand he doesn't care for the extravagance, at least. ]

Maybe so. [ He takes a seat in the chair nearby, stretching his legs out, the toe of one shoe close to her feet. Technically, it's easier to stretch out on the other side of the couch, where he wouldn't be almost touching her, but that would also put him closer, generally. It's easier to talk to her this way anyway. ]

It's early to ask— what will you do now?
ketterdamn: (leather)

[personal profile] ketterdamn 2020-10-02 08:28 pm (UTC)(link)
[ It is a bit early to ask, after all, so it's hardly a surprise when she says she doesn't know what she'll do. Being in Heleen's employ meant surviving and thinking of nothing else but getting through to the next day. At least, that is how it'd felt for him when he was up against Rollins.

Now she has so much choice it's likely to be overwhelming. Especially as she still processes the whole situation.

Though, she does start with the practical end: where she'll stay. ]


If you want to stay here in the meantime. [ Kaz gives her a half-shrug from where he's practically slouched down in his seat. ]

Technically, it's not long enough.

[ There's a way to make it work. But really, he doesn't want to kick her off the couch out of a probably stupid sense of pride. ]
ketterdamn: (rare)

[personal profile] ketterdamn 2020-10-03 12:34 am (UTC)(link)
[ He's going to argue that she isn't in the way. It's not like she's preventing him from sitting down or something. But, she takes it upon herself to move and he huffs out a sigh.

Bullied in his own home. Tragic. Though his leg will thank him later for stretching it out properly before he goes to bed. He's gone to sleep several times before thinking it would be fine but moving around in his sleep just made it worse.

Then again, he has a tendency to tuck up his legs when he sleeps, especially when it's cold out. ]


Fine, fine. [ He straightens and pushes himself up out of the chair, folding her blanket nest back so he isn't laying all over it. Carefully, he stretches out on the couch; that first bend of his knee the trickiest part. But, like this, it takes the pressure off his thigh and knee, letting him relax a little better. ]

Are you always this stubborn?

[ Says the guy who'd been suffering in an armchair less than a minute ago. ]
ketterdamn: (Default)

[personal profile] ketterdamn 2020-10-03 05:30 pm (UTC)(link)
I think it still counts as stubborn. [ He does, after all, know stubborn very well.

Hearing Lizabeta's peeps, he stretches his arm out, providing her with two fingers to climb up onto. She marches her tiny feet straight onto them, tilting slightly to and fro when he picks her up from the table. Her journey continues as she flutters up to his shoulder, tucking herself close to his neck. ]


Does she think I'm a nest? [ It's not like he's annoyed over it. Something about the little bird is very comforting. ]

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