Shadow and Bone - One shots!

Inej - Caught Reading

The winds outside had kept up and forced the crows to stay inside. A nasty hurricane ruined the plans of a mission; Kaz was severely disappointed in his office; Jesper was happy to shine his guns; Wylan was in a different room mixing chemicals; and Inej.. had stuck beside you. She hadn't said a thing while sitting beside you while you read your book. But you did notice her looking over your shoulder to read, so you moved to show the book to her too. Creating a system where she would nod when she finished the page for you to turn it, Inej leaned her head on your shoulder to read better. You felt flustered and forgot what you last read. She must have noticed, pulling her head off your shoulder to make sure you were alright.

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"Forgot your place? You haven't turned the page." She looked up at me, but I blinked a couple of times and found my spot.

"Forgive me; give me a second to catch up." I quickly scanned the page, not really reading; however, I valued her time and wanted to not keep her waiting. Inej gently placed her head where it was before, moved her body closer to mine, and rested her hand on my arm, which held the book. She changed her indication when she finished reading, squeezing my arm instead. I felt her breath on my arm, and it made my hair stand up with goosebumps.

We sat in silence, the only sound being me turning the page and fixing it under my thumb to hold it in place. Regardless of how comforting the silence was, it gave me butterflies when she giggled at something a character did, furrowed her eyebrows when a displeasing action arose, or gave a quiet gasp to a shocking scene. Her reactions always made me chuckle, and her face always gave away when she tried to politely not spoil the book for me. Little did she know I finished it a few minutes before her just to see how she would react to the words on the page.

When we were reaching the end of a particularly interesting chapter, I felt her move beside me. I looked over at her—she was yawning. How cute.

"Are you tired?" I asked, looking down at her. Inej's eyes fluttered, possibly to keep her awake, and she moved to look up at me.

"Not at all; let us finish this chapter." The rest of her sentence finished with a yawn, and she put her head back on my shoulder.

"Are you sure? We could always start this back up in the morning." I asked, concerned, and she immediately looked back at me and nodded her head enthusiastically.

"Just to the end of the chapter!" She pleaded, and I giggled and smiled at her.

"You say that now, but when it ends, you'll be begging to start the next," I said snarkily. Inej rolled her eyes at me and tried to grab the book from me. I pulled it away from her.

"Untrue! Let me read what happens next; curiosity is killing me!" She said she was still trying to reach for the book. I laughed.

"We'll continue tomorrow." I stooped up from my seat, walking to my bedroom, when I heard her footsteps behind me. I didn't turn around.

"Just let me borrow it; I shall return it when I'm done!" I giggled at her persistence.

"Tomorrow!" I shouted back to her as I shut my bedroom door and got undressed to go to bed. Minutes passed as I lay down, and I was thinking about the book. I grabbed it from my bedside table and opened it up, leaving the bookmark in its spot to not forget where we were.

"How dare you!" I heard her gasp. I sat up and saw her in my doorway. She marched toward me and grabbed the book. "You've continued without me."

"I needed to know what happened next!" I explained, but she crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes.

"Hypocrite!" She pouted; I rolled my eyes, moved over, and patted the spot beside me.

"Join me then," I said, holding out my hand for the book. She refused to get it back but did move to lay beside me. "Fine, you hold it." I shrugged and scooted closer to read over her shoulder.

"I will!" She countered and held the book open.

We yet again sat in comfortable silence as we read together. Her same cute reactions came about when she read to herself, and I giggled at her behavior. As time passed, I noticed the book slowly draining from her hands, and she blinked frantically to keep herself awake. Inej moved closer to me and leaned on me. I gently held one side of the book to help her read.

"Tired?" I softly asked her; she shook her head, and I smiled. "You can sleep in my bed tonight."

"I cannot intrude on your space; I refuse to allow myself." She yawned, trying to read on.

"I assure you, I do not mind." I slowly removed the book from her hand as she drifted off. I moved her to lie down on the pillows, I put the book on the bedside table, and I laid down myself.

"Can we read tomorrow?" She quietly asked me, and I smiled at her concern.

"Of course, I could read it to you as you eat," I reassured her; she placed a hand on my cheek while I slithered my hand around her waist to pull her closer to me.

"No words," She yawned, "can show my excitement." She gradually got quieter as she spoke, falling asleep.

"Good night, Inej," I whispered.

                                                              "Good night, Y/N."