set aflame, kb [disc]

03. nina dearest

ELARA AND KAZ made their way to the White Rose. Their walk there had been mostly silent, except for Elara's shameless attempts at flirting with Kaz. She had tried making conversation, and even telling jokes, yet he had no reaction to them. So what better way to get a reaction than trying to flirt right?

Unfortunately for her, that didn't work out for her. Her attempts at flirting only gained her a whack across her ankle from Kaz.

Elara was extremely talkative, and Kaz found her extremely annoying. Yet, he couldn't deny that any time she was around, any sort of tension or bad feeling in the air simply vanished just by her mere presence.

It completely terrified Kaz how she could tell a simple story, and all his worries seemed to fade away just for that moment.

Kaz had told Elara that they were at the White Rose to collect Nina Zenik. To say that Elara was excited was an understatement.

She knew Nina from her days at the Little Palace and missed her dearly.

The House of the White Rose was one of the more luxurious establishments on West Stave. It had its own dock, and its gleaming white stone facade looked less like a pleasure house than a mercher mansion. Its window boxes were always bursting with climbing white roses, and their sweet scent clung dense and sweet over this portion of the canal.

The boy at the desk was dressed in a creamy velvet suit, a white rose in his buttonhole.

"Mister Brekker, Miss Vianov," the boy said. "Nina is with a client."

Kaz nodded and they both slipped down a hallway behind a potted rose tree, resisting the urge to bury their noses in their shirt collars.

Nina's room was on the third floor, so after climbing a staircase that was only used for staff, they had arrived at a door.

Kaz knocked on Nina's door, as she opened it cautiously.

"Elara!" Elara was then attacked by a tight hug from Nina Zenik. Nina tightly wrapped her arms around Elara's waist, as Elara returned the embrace.

"You have no idea how much I missed you-," Nina then looked next to Elara and noticed Kaz. "Oh, you."

"I'm really touched by this reunion, really dear, but now's not the time." Kaz told Elara as he walked into the room.

The three walked further into the room as Nina shut the door and shrugged off her kefta.

"What is this monstrosity?" Elara asked, picking up the red kefta Nina was just wearing.

"What's wrong with it?" Kaz asked.

"It isn't made right, and it itches." Nina said, throwing herself in a chair and wriggled her feet out of her jeweled slippers. "So much better." Elara took a wrapped pastry from the inside of her jacket, and handed it to Nina.

"Saints, I love you," Nina replied before taking a bite of the pastry.

"You have crumbs on your cleavage."

Only Kaz would be able to say this without any sexual meaning, Elara thought as she watched the scene play out with amusement.

"Don't care," she said, taking another bite of cake. "So hungry."

Saints, Elara missed her best friend.

Elara softly smiled at her friend, before taking a glance at Kaz. Kaz shook his head, slightly amused and impressed at how quickly Nina dropped the wise Grisha priestess act. "Was that Van Aakster, the merch?" Kaz asked.

"Yes."

"His wife died a month ago, and his business had been a wreck since. Now that he's visiting you, can we expect a turn around?" Nina didn't need a bed because she specialized in emotions. She dealt in joy, calm, confidence.