#inhej

❝   I’M AN EXCELLENT NAVIGATOR,  BETTER THAN ANYONE YOU’VE EVER MET.   ❞      there was no denying the charms of ketterdam,  if only one knew where to look  &  where not to look.     she had learnt the ropes of the city,  so different from the stillness of keramzin  &  the harrowing nature of the first army,  but it remained just that   ─   something to be studied,  never mastered.     perhaps she would have been a better student if only the true sea wasn’t calling her name,  her heart yearning for the comforting swell of the waves.      ❝   you would be lucky to have me aboard your ship.   ❞

wiping  his  brow,  kaz  waves  a  dismissive  hand  at  the  boy  restrained  to  the  chair  before  him.  his  steady  gaze  he  gives  to  inej  in  silent  conversation.  a  moment  of  quick  decision,  then,  and  he  takes  in  a  breath  quietly,  releasing  it  with  the  drop  of  his  shoulders.  folding  his  jacket  over  his  arm,  he  concedes,  ❛   let  him  go   ━━━━   ❜  and  swiftly  exits  the  room. that  isn’t  the  last  of  it,  though.  kaz  brekker  is  a  smart  man,  knows  a  scared  little  boy  is  more  likely  to  take  comfort  in  inej’s  kind  gaze,  the  delicacy  of  her  words  as  she  releases  him.   maybe  even  comfort  enough  to  talk   ━━━━    something  kaz  himself  had  scarcely  been  able  to  make  him  do.   he  waits,  removes  his  gloves  to  wash  his  hands  and  splash  his  face  with  cold  water.  the  minutes  tick  on  until  he  hears  her  light  footsteps  entering  the  room.

GENTLE.  ( not accepting! )

@inhej​ said:   [ WRAP ]  for your muse to gently drape a blanket / coat over my muse’s shoulders.

     SHE’S NOT SO incorporeal in moments like this, even if he hadn’t realised she was near.  inej had crept up silently, the tread of her foot light enough to leave fresh fallen snow undisturbed, and in the next moment — there was warmth over jesper’s shoulders that he hadn’t expected.  he would have startled, if he hadn’t known and trusted that nothing in this world moved as stealthily as his most trusted friend.

     “ hello, captain, ”  he says quietly, not turning to look at her just yet; the view of the ocean in evening light held him in a trance, almost.  it was soothing, and a view he hadn’t properly appreciated back when they had been on the ferolind together.  “ i can’t believe this is your life now, ”

QUESTIONING MINDS.  ( selectively accepting! )

@inhej​ said:   ❛  what  aren’t  you  telling  me ?  ❜

     KEEPING SECRETS FROM the wraith was about as easy as boiling water in a sieve.  jesper is alarmed to find that — actually, time and distance away from a loved one made it easier to hide things.  he doesn’t want to hide things from inej.  never.  he takes solace in knowing she had sensed something was amiss, and his smile turns from surprised, to affectionate as he takes her hands in his.

@inhej​​​​​     ❊    bandage  +  reversed,  receiver helps bandage up sender’s wounds. ›      loud  &  deafening silence   ─   nonverbal prompts,  accepting.

thank the saints the first army did not shelter her from the bloodshed of warfare before she was whisked away to the little palace,    for there was a fair bit of blood covering the length of inej’s back,  slipping down the planes of muscle like a waterfall over a rocky mountainside,  &  the scent was overwhelming her senses.      ❝   what happened  ─  ?!   ❞      her hands moved on their own accord,  tearing her shirt to fashion a makeshift cloth to dunk in the bucket of water jesper had placed at her feet before swiping it carefully across her back,  wiping away the scarlet ichor with a tender hand.      ❝   don’t tell me you ran into your own knife ...   ❞      she tried her hand at cracking a joke,  but her delivery faltered,  the teasing tone slipping away towards the end as worry painted her features,  furrowed her brows and laced her voice.     in a kinder world the fondness alina held for the wraith would have been only a good thing,  but now her chest stung with the pain of panic.     had she been smart,  she would have cornered off her heart  &  built up walls of shadow around it,  protecting herself from the inevitable pains of a life on the run.     her gaze flickered up to meet inej’s dark eyes,  frown softening all at once,  the need to comfort her friend engulfing the flames of panic.      ❝   you’ll be fine,  i promise.   you wouldn’t doubt the words of a saint,  would you?   ❞

(   @inhej​   )     —     you think you are the monster at the end of this story ?

THE  HOUSES  IN  KETTERDAM  ARE  NOT  HOUSES,     NO,     BUT  NETTLE  GRASS  AND  SEDGE     growing too close together,     too cramped,     festering away at each other’s roots,     a kind of devouring.        it is not a city so far removed from its own bones and excavations,     it revels in the soot that it comes from.        in the distance,     out the window of the room they stand in,     the  night  glows  in  laughter  and  teeth.        he would say,     you know this place has a mouth better than anyone,     ghost - thing.        he would say,     you are a little nimble thing sneaking between its alleyways until you feel you are invisible as a footfall.        this house is   a  house  of  birds,     of chattering things beneath the floorboards in the first floor,     where the revelry is a mask for hands exchanging kruge and deeds.

WHAT VIBE DO I GIVE YOU?