𝕬𝖗𝖘𝖔𝖓𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖘 𝕷𝖚𝖑𝖑𝖆𝖇𝖞 - [𝗞𝗮𝘇 𝗕𝗿𝗲𝗸𝗸𝗲𝗿]

𝐥𝐯𝐢𝐢𝐢. 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘵

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐈𝐅𝐓𝐘- 𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 — into the ice court

━━━━━━━

 𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐊𝐒𝐀 𝐇𝐀𝐃 𝐌𝐀𝐃𝐄 a routine of gently knocking her boot against Kaz's ankle. She couldn't be certain just how long he'd been out, leaning his cold cheek against her shoulder as the wagon jilted and jostled, but they'd already made it past two checkpoints.

 She wanted to move, like second nature Aleksa had tried to pull away from him even if the touch of him alone sent her stomach into a tizzy... but the moment she tried, Aleksa knew the collar around Kaz's neck would have deprived him of air.

 Still, she shifted against Inej, pushing ever so carefully into her Wraith. Her head was cocked, hair tumbling over her right side while Kaz's breath shuddered against her left; she did all she could do for him — leaning away, tipping into Inej... She kicked him again and gone were the niceties she afforded him, her swift and sharp boot to the leg had Kaz jolting awake at last.

 "Kaz?" She whispered as low as she possibly could, her voice muffled by the hood covering her head but she knew Kaz would hear, he'd always been capable of hearing her whispers through the dark as though her shadows carried them straight to his ears.

 He moved away, and that was enough to know that Kaz was back. His breathing was still loud, a wheezing drone clawing unwillingly from his throat.

 Kaz tipped his head, his neck ached from the awkward position he'd slumped in, the skin at his bobbing throat was sore and likely red from the rubbing of the metal collar... and yet neither bothered him much — whoever was pressed against his back was making his stomach curl. Ocean waves were clouding him, a rippling surface he could scarcely reach for with his pale and shaking fingers.

 He even backed away from Aleksa's touch, even despite that silly part of him that craved it, that seemed to beg for more. Even now as the smell of bodies and salted water flooded his nose, he could still smell that sweet tangle of rose and jasmine that seemed embedded within her skin. He could smell the aftermath of the cherry pastries she'd guzzled, he could feel the slightest touch of her warmth clawing through frozen waters.

 But it wasn't enough to save him from drowning.

 The whisper she'd gifted him broke through the surface, and while muffled like the gasp of a breath beneath the waves, Kaz had heard her. It brought him back for a moment, "Keep talking," He said, voice foreign to his own ears.

 Gone was the grit that sent people running, all he and Aleksa could hear was a pitiful wheeze.

 Aleksa bobbed her head, even despite the fact that he wouldn't be able to see, "Well, while I have a lovely assortment of pretty words I could bestow upon you, dear Brekker, I should probably let you know that we're just now passing through the prison gate; we've managed to get ourselves through two checkpoints already."