Autumn Open Post

[callmeles]

Autumn Open Post As we know, I love my AUs and PSLs! I love exploring worlds and discovering how little changes can tumble and create big changes. My characters are top-leveled but feel free to add your own and let me know if there's someone you'd like! ♥

C

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[noreasonneeded]

"Also, the sky is gray," Kaz teases her when she announces that he brought breakfast. Somehow, that's easier than stating out loud that he did, indeed, bring breakfast to his crew. "I was out in the area of the pastry shop, anyway." That much was true, Kaz had been feeling good after his meeting as he passed by it and allowed himself to seize the opportunity. The smells of fresh bread and sugar had been hard to pass and reminded him he hadn't eaten the night before.

He limps into Inej's small room, the yellow walls the promise of a sunshine that Ketterdam rarely sees. He sets the pastry on her desk as he confirms, "It's a cheese Danish. Best to eat it here unless you want crumbs on your bed." He notes she's doing her usual ritual of cleaning her knives. They're an extension of her, much like his suit is for him. A piece of her armor that helps keep her safe, that sends a message not to get too close unless she allows it. Leaning against the wall, he takes a bite of his fruit Danish. "If I didn't bring you one, there wouldn't be any left by the time you got downstairs."

[withoutanet]

"And you couldn't resist stopping in," she says with a little smile. It was hard to pass by the pastry shop and not stop in sometimes. She was grateful that he'd thought to bring one up to her before the rest of the Dregs got their hands on them.

She sets Sankt Vladimir down on the bed reverently before standing and walking the short distance over to the desk to pick up the Danish. It was only after the first bite that she realized it had been a little bit since her last meal. "You meeting go well then, I take it?"

[noreasonneeded]

"I chose to stop in, Inej. It's always a conscious choice." Kaz will die on his hill of self-control, even if she's not wrong that the temptation played a large part in his choice. At the end of the day he's a man and not a machine, and there's a simple joy in passing by a bakery early in the morning when the bread is just done. He doesn't often take the time to spare for such things, and she's right this is a rare moment that likely means he's in a good mood.

Kaz doesn't nibble his food, he takes a hardy bite and chews with the purpose of a man who doesn't trust his next bite is guaranteed to happen. Chewing on the bite of flaky pastry, he pulls out a piece of fruit from the center and pops it into his mouth, not at all bothered that such actions are poor manners. "Did you get some rest? I see you dried off well enough."

[withoutanet]

Inej snorts and cocks her hip against the desk, taking another bite from her Danish. She's glad though he seems to be in a decent and good mood. It would be a much different situation if he wasn't. She enjoyed seeing this side of him and the easy atmosphere between them.

"Slept for a couple of hours. It's a wonder what dry clothes and a towel can do for you," she says with a little smile. "I made sure not to leave wet puddles behind me when I left your room this morning." Not that they wouldn't have dried by now but still.

[noreasonneeded]

"A good thing that happened. You wouldn't want it on your gleaming conscience to fell a poor man with a cane," he deadpans back to her when she mentions that she cleaned his floor already. There's a part of him that naturally gravitates towards teasing and ribbing, especially when she does something kind and caring towards him.

Even as she comes nearer to him to lean against her desk, he feels safe enough to not shift away or glare until she does. He trusts Inej to keep that physical distance between them rather than push him past his boundaries. His gaze instead scans her knives, meticulously cleaned and cared for in a process he suspects she knows by heart now. One she invented, to wipe away whatever blood coats them and her by proxy. Traditions she's created, to replace ones that got lost, rather than doing what Kaz has done and tossing out the concept of tradition altogether.

"Does it help?" His gaze shifts to meet hers, a neutral look on his face. "Your cleaning ritual."

[withoutanet]

"A poor man," she says dryly but can't resist the urge to crack a grin. "That's exactly why I did it." She doesn't mind that he naturally goes toward the teasing and ribbing. Inej isn't sure what she would do if he ever acted any differently, though secretly (one that only Nina knows) there are times when she wants to know what that would be like.

Her eyes shift to the knives laying on the bed and studies them silently. The ritual helped her focus, helped her feel closer to her Saints in some way or fashion and in a way had allowed her to 'wipe' away the blood that stains her hands.

"It does, it's meditative and gives me the time to focus." And it's for her. Not for anyone else. It's the one thing she had and took time for her.

[noreasonneeded]

Traditions, rituals. It's one of many ways that he and Inej differ. To be fair, most people he knows find comfort in the familiarity of routines, of knowing what to expect and embracing boundaries that bring them joy. Kaz had that as well once upon a time, but rather than risk losing it again he's eschewed such things. There are no holidays he celebrates, no spiritual figures he embraces, no act he performs daily that would leave him feeling unsettled if he missed it.

Nothing, except perhaps her very presence in his life. His shadow that he's gotten so used to relying upon, without even realizing it. It terrifies him when he acknowledges it, yet he still finds himself wanting to draw near to the anchoring stillness she provides him.

Of course, he makes a sour face at the mention of meditation, nose wrinkling. "Are you sure meditation isn't really just an excuse to take a nap without anyone noticing?" The thought of remaining still to center himself is utterly baffling, even though he knows it's a serious practice for many. "The rest though, I get. Not doing it, but I get why you do it."