Stupid Sickness

Loss

Inej padded silently down the hall of the Fahey house, rubbing her tired eyes after her barely two hours of real sleep. Her nightmares were troubling her again, and only in the company of her friends did she find them in any way diminished.

Pushing open the door, she looked in at where Wylan was watching Kaz destroy a sweating Jesper at cards on the floor.

"Inej!" cried Jesper. "Kaz is bullying me."

Kaz levelled his cold gaze on Jesper, unamused.

"This was your idea."

"I thought it would be fun! This is not fun! You're cheating!"

"Proof?"

"I don't need to prove it! I don't think you even know how to not cheat. Wylan, you're supposed to be watching him." Jesper whined. The boy watching from the couch gave him an amused look.

"I am, but the whole point of cheating is get away with it. I can't catch him. I don't know how he does it." Wylan was shaking his head and laughing as he spoke, clearly entertained by this game. "Maybe Inej can do it."

Inej raised her brows at the merchling, settling beside him on the couch.

"I don't know about that." She gave him a wry smile, but Wylan did not smile back. He cocked his head to one side, watching her.

"Did you sleep at all last night?"

"That's not very nice."

Wylan pinked slightly but did not look away. "Sorry, I only meant... you look exhausted."

"Is it that obvious?" Kaz and Jesper were both looking at her now, and she shifted uncomfortably under their gazes. "I'm fine. I did sleep." She looked between the three of their unimpressed faces. "Okay, barely. Two hours is something, though."

"Nightmares?" Jesper asked, and she nodded.

Kaz placed a card down, turning back to the game. Inej noticed that this particular card had not been in Kaz's hand since she had walked in.

"I saw that." She said to him, and he looked up at her from the floor, a confused expression on his face. "Well I didn't actually see you pull it out of your sleeve but you didn't have it a minute ago."

"AHA!" Jesper exclaimed, shooting up from his cross-legged position on the carpet. "Caught in the act! This is all I wanted! I may have lost the war but I won the battle!"

"That doesn't even make sense in this context." Inej told him.

Jesper grinned at her. "You're missing the point, love."

"Just one vital issue, Jes. You don't have any proof. Inej could be lying." Kaz spoke up.

"Inej wouldn't lie to me." Jesper said confidently. Then his expression wilted. "But you're right, there is no evidence. Does the Wraith's honor count for nothing?"

"Not in any real card game."

Jesper sat back down, crossing his legs and uncrossing them again, constantly in motion. "Ah, but this isn't a real card game, meaning I have, in fact, won!"