Kanej one shots

Goodbye

(The day before Inej leaves on her ship)

Inej's POV

Inej walked over the rooftops of Ketterdam, the city which had made her suffer, but also given her a destiny, made her the wraith. And as it turned out, she wasn't ready to leave the canals, chapels, streets and the Barrel behind. But she had to. Her ship left the harbor the next day, and the slavers awaited. 

She had already said her goodbyes to Jesper and Wylan, whose house she had been living in for the past two weeks. Nina had already left Kerch, and taken Matthias with her. Now she walked towards the Slat, to meet her friends and colleagues, whom she had fought with and bled with, the Dregs. She also had to see another, very.... important person for what might be the last time.

Her mind a riot of emotions, she entered the Slat through Kaz's new office, the one which belonged to Per Haskell before. It was empty. Good. She made her way to the bar and gambling floor, where everyone would be. She consciously tried to make herself visible, or no one would ever notice her. 

She said goodbye to those who had been her friends. Rotty and Anika forced her to take a drink. She couldn't believe the tears in her eyes. She was really going to miss these people and this place.

Knowing that Kaz was  in his room up the stairs, she stayed downstairs for a couple of hours, till the sun's rays started to slant, indicating evening. She almost snorted at herself. Since when was she the type to avoid things? That was Kaz's job.

She walked up the stairs and opened the door, without bothering to knock. He would know it was her. He always knew. There he was, sitting at his desk. She could only see his back. Dark hair tousled, wearing a tailored white shirt. Writing something, but his black leather gloves were nowhere to be seen.

He didn't even spare her a glance, just continued writing. She closed the door and made her way across the room to the big window, perching on it. She tilted her head back and closed her eyes, feeling the chilly breeze and the sunlight on her face. It brought back memories. Kaz, doing something or the other, droning on about his plans and heists and targets and kruge. She would listen. At other times there was complete silence, just sharing each other's company. Inej wondered if they could ever sit like this again. 

She glanced at him, but he was already looking at her, looking at her like he had never seen her before. The sun brought out the brown in his eyes, making them look like pools of honey. They held each other's gaze for a few moments. Kaz finally took a deep breath and looked away, breaking the silence with his raspy voice.

"Crew's all set to leave?"

"Mhm."

"Good."

There was another moment of silence.

"How are your parents liking Ketterdam?"

"They love the enthusiasm of the crowds. They might stay here to perform for a while before returning to Ravka. They don't like the crows though. Crows don't have manners."

Kaz looked down and released  a breath of laughter. He stood up, walked over to bed, and sat down, stretching out his bad leg. 

Inej's head was beginning to ache. She let down her hair which was in a coil at the base of her head and slowly began to unbraid it. She didn't have to look to know that Kaz was observing her. She could feel his dark gaze.

The silence was deafening. The sun had begun to set. There were so many things she desired to say, so many things she wanted him to say, but they didn't know how or where to start.

Inej got up because the room was getting way too dark and lit a lamp. She walked back to the window and stared outside, at the people walking by. She wanted to spend as much time as she could with Kaz before leaving, even if it was in silence.