[ Inej squeezes herself right against his side when she settles in next to him on the bench and he feels even more of the tension he'd been holding onto slough off. How they're positioned isn't as effective of a cure as the two of them curled around each other in his bed, but, it'll have to do for now. Unworried about prying eyes, he drapes his arm along the bench back behind her, effectively encouraging her closeness as well as ensuring he didn't impede her eagerly digging into her sugary dinner.
For a few moments, there's a comfortable silence between them as Inej takes her first bite and he continues to eat his dinner. She's already given him a chiding look once, he's not risking another one. He knows, the longer her stay, he'll fall back into being more of a pest with some of his habits. Right now though, even her (perfectly reasonable) nagging is received without any kind of argument.
The silence continues, though he can feel her eyes on him. Kaz isn't...ignoring her, but he doesn't meet her gaze just yet, giving her the space to work through whatever she's thinking. He hasn't been completely honest and he knows she sensed it. Knows she's puzzling over it now, her dark eyes keen on all the small details he's sure are written all over his face without him knowing. As usual, he doesn't broach it, the words locking up in his throat.
Instead, they finish dinner to the quiet burble of the fountain behind them, the far off screech of gulls in the harbor, and the low rumble of Ketterdam's factories that echoed across this part of the city.
Her small hand on his thigh shakes him from his pensive thoughts, and he sets his hand atop hers, thumb sweeping along the ridge of her knuckles. ]
I missed you, too.
[ Nina had teased him once, years ago, after she'd been in the Dregs for a handful on months, that no one was as painfully and desperately aware of Inej as he apparently was. Kaz, still in denial and filled with enough self-loathing to drown in, had told her to fuck off. She'd been right, of course. But, what he's been grappling with is that his awareness of Inej meant it stung that much more when she was absent.
Her being back and smiling at him as she is now is almost too much. Like a starving man being presented a feast. ]
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Date: 2024-09-13 11:00 pm (UTC)For a few moments, there's a comfortable silence between them as Inej takes her first bite and he continues to eat his dinner. She's already given him a chiding look once, he's not risking another one. He knows, the longer her stay, he'll fall back into being more of a pest with some of his habits. Right now though, even her (perfectly reasonable) nagging is received without any kind of argument.
The silence continues, though he can feel her eyes on him. Kaz isn't...ignoring her, but he doesn't meet her gaze just yet, giving her the space to work through whatever she's thinking. He hasn't been completely honest and he knows she sensed it. Knows she's puzzling over it now, her dark eyes keen on all the small details he's sure are written all over his face without him knowing. As usual, he doesn't broach it, the words locking up in his throat.
Instead, they finish dinner to the quiet burble of the fountain behind them, the far off screech of gulls in the harbor, and the low rumble of Ketterdam's factories that echoed across this part of the city.
Her small hand on his thigh shakes him from his pensive thoughts, and he sets his hand atop hers, thumb sweeping along the ridge of her knuckles. ]
I missed you, too.
[ Nina had teased him once, years ago, after she'd been in the Dregs for a handful on months, that no one was as painfully and desperately aware of Inej as he apparently was. Kaz, still in denial and filled with enough self-loathing to drown in, had told her to fuck off. She'd been right, of course. But, what he's been grappling with is that his awareness of Inej meant it stung that much more when she was absent.
Her being back and smiling at him as she is now is almost too much. Like a starving man being presented a feast. ]
What kind of break?