💜Ro💜

"The poor boy's parents were fuming when they caught him with his face covered in frosting," you cackled and Nikolai threw a pillow from your sofa, which you were both sitting on, at you, which only made you laugh harder.

"I believe they banned him from any social events for a month because of that incident." Nikolai took a small sip of his whiskey.

"I still think he deserved it."

"Oh, of course."

You settled in a comfortable silence, sipping your drinks, chuckling every few seconds. Nikolai scooted closer to you on the couch, moving the pillow he had thrown at you off your lap and next to him.

You leaned your head on his shoulder. He took a deep inhale before wrapping his arm around your waist and pulling you a little closer to him as he took a final sip of his whiskey. Noticing that you had also finished your drink, he took your glass and placed both yours and his on the table in front of you before settling back into you.

"For the record, I would do the same thing for you," Nikolai said, breaking the silence.

You snorted. "You have done the same thing. Remember when we were sixteen? We had just enlisted and that stupid asshole-"

You were interrupted by Nikolai's lips crashing onto yours, pulling you into a kiss. You tensed up for just a few seconds, but before you could return the kiss, he pulled away and turned his body away from you.

"Nik."

Nikolai gathered his coat from your couch and stood up, leaving your room without another word.

Your jaw dropped at the shock that he just left right after kissing you without even giving you a chance to say anything.

Nikolai avoided you for two weeks. Anytime you tried to speak to him he would walk away as if he had somewhere to be. Which, with him being a king, he very well may have had somewhere to be, but it was still rude.

Since he wouldn't come to you, you would go to him. No matter if it was the middle of the night.

You banged on his door, aggressively knocking until he finally opened the door.

"What the hell are you doing here?" he hissed. "It's late. You should be sleeping."

"So should you, but you're not even dressed for bed," you slipped past him and entered his room, stopping at a small table covered in piles of documents of work and you picked one up, "and you're working."

Nikolai closed his door behind you and leaned his back against the wall. "Well, you're dressed for bed." He gestured to the robe that was wrapped around you, covering your nightgown. "Why are you here?"

You dropped the paper back on the table. "I'm here because you kissed me two weeks ago and you have been avoiding me since." He lowered his head to avoid your gaze. "I deserve an explanation."

"I shouldn't have kissed you."

You stomped over to Nikolai. "Says who?"

"Me!" He pointed to his chest. "I shouldn't have put you in that position!"

"If you had waited one more second I would have kissed you back! I was just shocked because I didn't think you returned my feelings for you!"

Nikolai shook his head. "We're not doing this."

"Why?"

He gripped your arms, not nearly enough to hurt you, and pulled your body closer to his. He lowered his lips to your ear. "Because if we start, I won't want to stop," he whispered.

"And what if I don't want you to stop?"

He pulled back from you a little, looking into your eyes. E/C eyes that showed your love for him, your desire for him, and your anger toward him for ignoring you for two weeks.

He swallowed and moved his hands from gripping your upper arms to your lower back, covered by that damn silk robe. He had seen you in it many times before and he considered each moment a blessing. It was your favorite color and it suited your body perfectly.

"Are you sure?"

You nodded. "Yes."

Now having your permission, he spun the two of you, you now pinned against the wall he was previously leaning on. He captured your lips against his, pushing you even closer to the wall while one of your hands landed on the nape of his neck, curling into the short hair there, and the other went to his upper back, pushing him closer to your body.

He obliged your hand's desire, pressing himself against you. His lips wandered from yours to your jaw, then down to your neck. You let out a sigh as you moved your head to the side to give him more access. In appreciation, he sucked a hickey into your neck.

As Nikolai kissed down your body, your hand gripped his hair. Once he was fully kneeling in front of you, he looked up into your eyes as he untied the tie of your robe. He opened the silk fabric, giving him full view of your nightgown-covered body. He pressed a kiss to your clothed hip bone and looked up at you again. "Can you please take your robe off, darling?"

You pushed the robe off your shoulders and let it fall down your arms, dropping it into a pool of silk at your feet. Taking advantage of the robe on the floor, Nikolai placed it under his knees to protect himself from kneeling on the hard floors.

Nikolai dragged his fingers up your leg into your nightgown, pushing it up to your waist. You took the nightgown off and threw it off to the side.

You were left in only your underwear that blocked the one thing Nikolai had on his mind in that moment.

"Can I take these off?" he asked.

"Yes," you whispered.

He dragged the small garment down your legs, lifting your feet to completely remove them from your body.

He took a moment to drink in the visual of your completely naked body. You were perfect. You were the only Saint that he would ever worship, and he intended to do just that.

He nudged your right leg a little bit away from your left, giving you the hint to spread your legs. Once you were where he wanted you, his hands went to your hips and he gave them little massages as he moved his face closer to you.

You took deep breaths as you watched him move closer until he finally placed a kiss on your clit. You gasped, one hand returning to his hair and the other holding onto the doorframe next to you for support.

Nikolai kissed wet, open-mouthed kisses around your pussy, leaving you gasping and moaning while he kept looking up at your face. He kissed and licked and sucked at your entrance and your grip tightened on his messy blond curls.

He licked from your entrance to your clit, closing his eyes as he sucked at it. Your hand moved from his hair to the back of his head to push his face closer into you. After a little fluttering of his tongue on your pussy, then your clit, a high overcame you, making you lean your head back on the wall. One of Nikolai's hands came up to your side to massage it as he worked you through the orgasm, greedily licking at all of your wetness until you pushed his head away.

He smiled as he fell to the floor before he stood back up, holding you against him as he kissed your cheek, whispering praises into your ear while you recovered.

"I've got you, sweetheart. I've got you."

You pulled him into a kiss, tasting yourself on his lips. Slowly, you began making your way to Nikolai's bed until you hit his mattress. You fell down onto the bed, Nikolai following, placing himself on top of you.

You broke the kiss and scrambled to unbutton Nikolai's shirt. Your hands were still shaking, making it difficult to undo the buttons. Noticing your shaking hands, Nikolai took hold of your hands, stopping you. He pressed light kisses on your fingertips.

"Go ahead and lay on the pillows. I'll be right there."

You scooted yourself up his mattress, laying your head comfortably on his pillows as he had asked you to. Only a moment later, Nikolai was crawling above you, completely bare. You looked down his body from his chest, and lower, and lower.

Nikolai gently lifted your chin, forcing you to look him in the eye. He pressed a soft kiss in between your eyebrows. "Have you done this before?" he asked.

You nodded. You had had a few flings in your lifetime, as you were sure Nikolai did too, especially during his time as Sturmhond. He had his own flings on the Volkvolny, as did you.

"Good. I'll give you as much time as you need to adjust and if you ever need me to stop, you let me know. I don't want to hurt you."

You gave him a quick kiss. "You could never hurt me. Except for when you avoided me for two weeks, but- Saints."

His cock entering you interrupted you, though it was quite the pleasant interruption. He filled you slowly and perfectly. Nikolai kissed your cheek as his hips met yours. You took some deep breaths as you got used to the feeling of his cock inside of you. Finally, you gave him a ready nod.

Nikolai started off slowly and it wasn't until you asked him to go faster that he sped up. He kissed you deeply as he fucked you. You moaned into those kisses, the feeling of his cock sending you into euphoria.

"Fuck!" you cursed. "A little harder please?"

He obeyed, going just a bit harder, but enough to have you seeing stars. Your hand started moving down your body to rub at your clit, but Nikolai swatted your hand away and rubbed your clit in small circles himself.

Your hands returned to his hair for the millionth time that night, gripping the blond tufts. He gasped.

"Shit, can you pull it harder?"

You tugged on his hair, making him moan loudly. You smiled as you continued pulling on his hair, loving the sounds that escaped him at the feeling.

He began thrusting into you rougher, bringing you closer and closer to the edge of orgasm.

"Nik, fuck! I'm so close!"

Nikolai rubbed at your clit harder. "Me too. Where do you want it?"

"In me! Just-" You groaned, your orgasm overcoming you.

Nikolai wasn't far behind you. It was only a few seconds after your orgasm when you felt his cum shoot into you. He stilled, peppering kisses on your forehead and cheeks.

After you recovered, he slowly pulled out of you, rolling off you and onto the bed to your right. He opened a drawer in his nightstand, grabbed something, and closed it before rolling back to face you and handing you the Alkemi contraceptive. You drank it and he took the empty bottle, placing it on top of the nightstand.

He pulled you closer to him, where your side was tucked close to his torso. The both of you rested in this position for a few moments, you laying on your back, him on his side.

"I'm an idiot," Nikolai said quietly.

You smiled. "Congratulations, you've finally caught up with the rest of us."

He gently pinched your side before lightly laughing.

"What I mean is I shouldn't have avoided you. I shouldn't have left your room that night without letting you say or do anything. I'm sorry."

Your thumb rubbed his cheek. "Apology accepted. On one condition. You tell me how long you've been in love with me."

Nikolai groaned. "My eighth birthday party is when it started. When I saw how determined you were to ruin that idiot's life over him being mean to me."

You laughed. "Wow. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn't that."

"Now it's your turn."

You shook your head. "I'm not the one who owed an apology."

Nikolai raised his brows. "Fine. Since you don't want to tell me..."

He moved his hand from your side to your clit, rubbing small circles again. You threw your head back on the pillows, cursing.

"Shit, Nik."

He didn't stop. He kept rubbing your clit, occasionally dipping into your pussy for more moisture. He sped up his motions until you came once again. He gathered all of the wetness on his fingers and licked it all off.

"When we were 16 and had just enlisted. That asshole Novikov was harassing me. You punched him in the face one day. Three times. You broke his nose. That's when I fell in love with you."

"Awww. We both fell in love with each other when we harmed other people." He kissed your forehead. "Should we be concerned about that?"

"Probably, but right now, I want to sleep."

Nikolai hummed in response, pulling the blankets over the two of you. You turned to lay on your side as he got up to blow out all of the candles. When he finally got back in bed, he pulled you into him, your back against his chest, and he wrapped his arms around you.

"I love you," Nikolai whispered.

You closed your eyes. "I love you, too."

"Good night."

After finishing a chapter, you marked your spot in your book and set on your nightstand as your hand slipped into Jesper's hair. Jesper gave a groan of approval while his eyes slipped close. He looked up at you when he opened his eyes once again.

"I don't know why you insist on looking at me from there. This isn't my best angle."

Jesper chuckled. He took the hand that wasn't in his hair and he kissed your knuckles. "Darling, you're perfect from every angle."

You smiled down at him. "That was disgustingly cheesy."

He hummed. "You love me for it."

You kissed his forehead. "Yes, I do."

Jesper closed his eyes again and you did the same, relaxing once again. You continued carding your fingers through his curls while he lay in your lap.

Any worries that had plagued you throughout the day left you in that moment. There was nothing else but Jesper. And really, that's all you needed. All you needed was Jesper with his cheesy romantic lines, and his jokes, and his ability to make you just be in moments like this.

Your window was open, letting in the outside breeze and light and sounds. You could hear soft music the whole night, though you didn't pay much attention to it. But now, a slow song played and voices singing the song could be distantly heard.

You cracked a smile, your eyes still closed. "Do you hear the music?" Jesper hummed in reply. "This song sounds nice."

"Would you say it sounds like the perfect song to dance to?"

"Yes, I would."

You felt Jesper shift in your lap and shortly leave. Your eyes opened to see your lover standing up next to the bed. He held out his hand. "Well, since I have no clue how long the song will last, I believe we should take this opportunity while we have it."

Grinning, you took his hand and allowed him to guide you up and to a clear spot in the room near the window. His right hand settled on your waist and his left held your right hand. Your left hand rested on his shoulder. Jesper pulled you close to him, pressing your bodies against one another.

Slowly, he swayed along to the music, leading you in a slow dance. You could feel his breath hit your skin when you rested your head on his chest. He pulled you in closer.

After only a couple of moments, the song ended, but neither of you stopped dancing. Instead, Jesper hummed a song you didn't recognize, but you continued to sway with Jesper.

Your eyes closed as he led the dance, letting him take full control over you. He just swayed and hummed.

Eventually, you both stopped moving, him still humming in your ear until the song ended. He kissed your temple.

"Come on, love. You're tired. Let's go to bed."

You held onto him tighter. "Can we just stay like this for one more moment?"

In response, he kissed the shell of your ear, allowing one more moment of your pure bliss. You kissed his jawline as your eyes opened. "I love you."

Jesper smiled before picking you up, holding your torso in one arm and your legs in the other. "I love you too, my very tired Y/N."

Taking a deep inhale of breath, he positioned the key in the lock and turned it before slightly opening the door with utmost caution. He took the key out of the lock and he went inside the room, making sure to keep his cane quiet. He closed the door behind him.

Too scared to look in the room behind him, he faced the door as he set the key down on a desk, leaned his cane on the wall, and removed his shoes. He stared at the door in front of him, debating whether or not he should just leave and pretend he never came here.

When he made the mistake of looking behind him, he knew he had to stay.

You lay in your bed on your right side, hugging a pillow in front of you. From what Kaz could see, three blankets covered you up to your neck. Poor thing, you must have been cold. Your eyes were closed and you looked peaceful, as if nothing in this world worried you or bothered you.

Kaz immediately forgot that he considered going back to his room. His motivation for what he came in here to do grew as his gaze wandered over your sleeping form.

He wanted this, but what if you didn't?

But if you didn't, then why else did you give him the key?

He quietly made his way over to your bed, finding the empty side of the mattress. In favor of his bad leg, he sat on the edge before pulling his whole body onto the bed and under the blankets. He settled in, though he was farther from you than he would have liked.

His front faced your back, but he kept his distance for a bit. To prevent becoming overwhelmed, he figured he should do this one tiny step at a time. He watched as you inhaled and exhaled slowly.

He moved a little closer to you.

He wasn't entirely sure if you were awake or still sleeping. If he had woken you up, you didn't make it known to him.

The moonlight coming in from your window hit your hair just right so he could see the messy strands. He wanted to touch it, run his fingers through it.

He moved closer.

From here, he could hear you softly snoring. He smiled at the sounds. It was cute.

He moved closer.

Your back was just nearly touching his chest now. Cautiously, he brought his left arm up and he set it over your side, relaxing. Your breathing changed slightly, but he still couldn't tell whether he woke you.

He pulled you into him.

You woke up.

You didn't push him away or yell at him. You took his left hand that was barely brushing against your stomach and you brought it up to your chest, holding it like a child's stuffed toy.

He could feel your heartbeat like this. It forced him to remember that you were alive. You were alive, alive, alive. His eyes closed while he subconciously counted the beats of your heart.

You shifted just a bit to push yourself closer to him, keeping his hand against your chest.

"Can I kiss your hand?" you whispered.

A small smile crept onto Kaz's face. "Yes."

You brought his hand up to your lips, kissing the back of it, which had just been feeling your heartbeat. After a few seconds, you put it back against your chest. "Don't push yourself too hard, okay? If you need to leave, then leave. Promise me."

He nodded, his eyes still closed. "I promise," he mumbled.

He could feel sleep starting to take over him; it always seemed to do so faster when he was with you. On those nights when he would stand outside your door for a few moments, key in his hand, one side wanting him to go back to his room and pretend nothing happened and the other wanting to go inside and be close to you.

The mass majority of those nights, he went inside and simply slept in the same bed as you. Tonight was different than the others. Tonight he came here with the intent to hold you. He wasn't sure if he would actually be able to do it, but here he was. Your body pressed against his, his hand in yours, resting against your chest, feeling the beating of your heart.

Kaz knew you were asleep again when your snoring resumed. He let the sound be his lullaby, pushing him to sleep.

You were interrupted by the door opening and giggles disrupting the silence. The source of the laughing was Kaz and Alyx, who was receiving a piggyback ride from Kaz.

"She's supposed to be in bed!" Although you were slightly mad; Alyx should have been in bed by now, you couldn't help the loving smile that took over your face.

You never expected Kaz to get along with your daughter so well. Even before you and Kaz were together, he gave Alyx nothing but kindness and care. Alyx had adored Kaz since they met when she was just a few months old. When your relationship with Kaz grew, he swiftly stepped into the role of Alyx's father figure.

Kaz turned his back to face you and let Alyx fall onto the bed in front of you. The small girl erupted into more giggles. "Someone wanted to say good night to the most beautiful girl in the world."

"Hey!" Alyx exclaimed.

Kaz kissed Alyx's forehead. "Sorry. The second most beautiful girl in the world. Right after Alyx."

You pulled Alyx into your arms, cradling her. "Although I am very happy that you wanted to say good night, you need to be asleep." Your gaze went back to Kaz. "I swear to the Saints, if she's grumpy tomorrow, you'll be taking care of her."

Kaz rolled his eyes; he would gladly take care of your daughter any day, no matter what mood she was in. He scooped Alyx back up and placed a kiss on the top of your head. "I'll put her to bed now."

"Thank you."

As Kaz moved to leave the room, Alyx shouted out "good night!" to you.

"Good night, darling!" The door closed behind the two people you loved most in the world.

Shortly after they left and you continued working, Kaz came back and settled down at his desk. He removed his leather gloves, which despite making huge progress on overcoming his touch aversion, he still often wore around Alyx. Alyx was a very touchy, somewhat clingy child. Sometimes overwhelmingly so. Kaz refused to ask her to be more careful with him, or even let you ask her, so he wore the gloves.

The two of you worked in comfortable silence, occasionally asking for the other's help every once in a while until the early morning hours. As more and more time passed, you felt the exhaustion hit you harder each hour. The words on the page blended together, though you could barely focus on understanding the combinations of letters. Your eyes grew heavy as you tried to work through the tiredness.

You must have fallen asleep at some point because you woke up to Kaz shaking you and frantically saying something about Alyx. You couldn't comprehend the words coming out of his mouth.

"Slow down," you said once you were mostly lucid. "What's going on?"

"Alyx is missing."

You sighed. "She's probably just wandering around in the kitchen or something."

Kaz put a stuffed lion toy in your lap. "This was in her bed."

You picked the toy up and inspected it. As your fingers ran around the plush fabric, your breathing shook. Alyx had a stuffed crow, which she loved to death, but she never had a stuffed lion.

You started to take some deeper inhales, attempting to get into a mindspace to think rationally.

Alyx wasn't in her bed.

There was a stuffed lion toy in her place.

You had no idea where she was or when she was taken.

That's all you knew.

Kaz took the toy from your hands and tossed it on the floor to deal with later. He took your hands in his gloved ones, running his thumbs over your knuckles. You knew he was trying to calm you or ease your mind with gentleness, but it wasn't working.

He pulled you into him, resting your head on his chest. He lowered his mouth to your ear and whispered, "I will find whoever did this, and I will make them regret it."

Kaz limped into the bedroom late the next day. After carefully leaning his cane against the wall, he took his coat off and hung it up. His gaze navigated to the bed, where, thankfully, you were sleeping.

You hadn't slept the night before; you were worrying and trying to find Alyx. Before he had left earlier, he asked you to get some sleep, though at the time, you didn't seem happy at the request.

Kaz made his way to the bathroom, quickly finding the washbasin. He removed his gloves, as he stared at his reflection in the mirror. Spots of dried blood decorated his right cheek. He set his gloves aside on the counter, more blood from the gloves smearing on the surface.

Hours and hours of interrogating Dime Lions and torturing Dime Lions and none of them gave any information. They all claimed ignorance. He'd sent Inej on multiple sweeps of Dime Lion territory and nothing.

Alyx was nowhere.

Kaz gripped the edge of the counter, his hands wet from washing the blood from his face. He stared into the water in the washbasin.

She had to be somewhere. Someone had to know something. He didn't care how many people got hurt in the process, he would find Alyx for you. For him.

He knew that Alyx saw him as a father figure and he knew that he cared for the girl, but her being gone made him realize the true paternal love he felt for her. Alyx had a presence that brightened up every room she stumbled into. Kaz missed her smile, her hugs, her laughter, her tears, her curiosity, her light that hadn't been killed by Ketterdam yet.

She was his daughter, blood be damned.

And he was going to find her and bring her home.

He wiped the tears from his cheeks before he went back into the bedroom and changed into clean clothes. From behind him, he heard blankets shifting around. He turned, and there you were. Eyes open, hair tangled; you still looked half asleep. You looked up at him.

He shook his head. Your eyes closed as your hand rubbed your face. "I've sent Inej on another sweep, this time of all of Ketterdam." He sat on the bed as he buttoned up his white shirt. You moved closer to him. "Knowing her, she'll find or intercept something and we'll find Alyx and bring her home to you-"

"Kaz, stop."

He turned his upper body to face you, confusion etched on his features. He removed his hands from the undone top button of his shirt and he placed one on your blanket-covered side. He silently waited for you to continue.

"Please stop sugar-coating this and giving me false hope."

"It's not false hope. Inej may actually find something."

"Kaz, it's been well over a day-"

"Don't you dare tell me what I think you're about to."

You sat up and took his face in your hands, eyes flooding with tears. His hand stayed on your side. "It kills me to even think about it, but we need to be realistic. We're in Ketterdam, for Saints sake. This place isn't known for rainbows and sunshine." Your voice cracked and wavered as you spoke.

Kaz remained silent as tears trickled down both your cheeks and his cheeks.

"Y/N, I have no idea where she is." His other hand went to her other side. "We don't deserve this. Alyx doesn't deserve this."

You pulled him into you as sobs racked the both of you.

You watched Kaz as he slept next to you. You were sitting up in your bed as Kaz's head lay on the pillow next to your lap. Despite his roughed up hair and messy appearance, you admired his peaceful beauty. Your fingers ran through his dark hair, calming you.

He had fallen asleep in your arms, which had only proved to you how deprived he was of sleep. You had to briefly wake him to move into this position, which was much more comfortable for the both of you.

Five quick taps at your window made you zone back into the world outside of Kaz. You removed your hands from his hair and you quickly got out of bed, finding Inej crouching outside the bedroom window. You opened it, letting her in.

Inej held out an opened letter to you. "What is it?" you asked as you took the letter out of the envelope.

"I intercepted it before it got to the recipient. It's a communication from within the Razorgulls."

You skimmed the letter, finding mentions of a toddler girl and Kaz, though he was addressed as "Dirtyhands". The toddler girl must be Alyx, who the letter said was "Dirtyhands' daughter". Whoever sent the letter had Alyx.

"The Razorgulls took her. But they left a stuffed lion."

"Most likely to throw us off their trail and onto the Dime Lions'. And it worked."

"Do you know where this came from?"

Inej nodded. "I wrote the address." She handed you a slip of paper.

"Thank you so much," you whispered before kissing her cheek and pulling her into a hug. "I owe you everything."

"Just focus on getting your daughter back." Eventually, Inej broke the hug and left the room through the window. You ran to the bed and woke Kaz.

He woke up, slightly delirious, but once you told him that you knew Alyx's location, he snapped into full attention.

It was a simple two-person job, with you and Kaz being the two people. When Inej scoped out Alyx's location, she found there was only ever two people guarding the building, which you could very easily take out. The Razorgulls were careless.

You and Kaz studied the building from behind the side of a wall. In front, you saw the two guards Inej had told you about. They would be very easy to take care of. The guards paced around the front of the building, chatting with each other.

Kaz turned to you. "You take the right guard, I'll take the left. Once we get in, I'll focus on finding Alyx while you deliver our message. I'll find you once I have her." He took your hand in his gloved one.

Your other hand played with the strap of the satchel that crossed your body as you nodded. "Let's go."

You and Kaz snuck around in opposite directions, making your way for a sneak attack on the guards. On the way, you picked up a decent-sized rock. You hid behind the wall of the building, watching Kaz on the other side. At his nod, you ran toward the guard on the right.

You brought the rock down on the guard's head, knocking him out fairly quickly. When you looked back up, Kaz had knocked out his guard. The both of you bolted to the front door, swiftly opening it and running inside. You ran up the staircase as Kaz searched the first floor for Alyx.

You eventually found what appeared to be the office room in the building. You stopped at the wooden desk and opened your satchel. You lined up the five stuffed gull toys on the desk. After taking your knife out of your pocket, you carefully made a slice on the throats of each toy bird. Satisfied with your work, you placed the knife back in your pocket.

Not long after you finished, you heard quick footsteps behind you. You turned, and there she was. Alyx ran to you and you scooped her up in your arms, holding her tight as your eyes slipped close.

The tears falling down your face didn't matter. The world didn't matter. Nothing else mattered in that moment.

The sound of a cane clicking against the wooden floor made your eyes open again. Kaz stood awkwardly in the doorway, watching you hold Alyx. After making your way to him, you kissed his cheek.

Now, you were reading a book in your bed, wearing one of Kaz's shirts. Though, you had trouble focusing on the words in the book. You had a long day, and you were exhausted.

You put the book down on your nightstand, deciding it was about time to sleep for the night. Before you completely settled in, you heard a cane softly hitting the floor outside your room, followed by knocking on your door.

Laying down on your bed on your back, you sighed. "Kaz, how many times have I told you that you don't need to knock before coming in?"

The door opened, and there he was. The love of your life. Your smile grew a bit as he came closer to you, then sat on the bed. You quickly noticed that he had something in his left arm, but you couldn't see it clearly enough to determine what it was.

Kaz cleared his throat. "I hope I didn't interrupt your sleep."

You shook your head. "No, I actually just settled in." He nodded in a way that appeared nervous. You sat up, concern taking over your face. "Is everything okay?"

Silently, Kaz showed you the object he was holding in his left arm. Just from seeing the color, you knew was it was.

Your missing sleep shirt, perfectly folded in Kaz's gloved hand.

You laughed. "You stole it?"

"I felt bad after I realized how much you loved the shirt, but I didn't want to give it back."

Slowly, you moved your hand to rest on his arm, giving him plenty of time to push you away, shake his head, or tell you to stop. He did none; in fact, he nodded, welcoming your touch.

"Can I ask why you took it?"

Kaz sighed. "I took it while you were on that job with Inej. You were gone for days, and... I missed you." He held up the shirt. "It smelled like you and it fit me, so I stole it." He looked a little ashamed, but somehow you knew he had no regrets in stealing your favorite sleep shirt. "Plus, seeing you in my shirts didn't make me want to give it back any more."

You laughed again, looking down at his shirt you were wearing. "Okay, I get that."

Kaz smiled as he held the shirt out towards you. "It doesn't smell like you anymore."

You took the shirt from his hands. "I can fix that." You set the shirt in you lap before grabbing the collar of the shirt you were wearing. "However, if you're going to keep that one, I think it's only fair I get to keep this one."

He nodded. "The deal is the deal."