Kaz woke up with a wicked headache and the insatiable urge to punch somebody.

But then again, he nearly always had the latter so it was a feeling he was used to.

"Hi," squeaked a dark haired girl in breeches. She was holding a bowl filled with a greasy kind of green pulp. Kaz reached for the cut on his head and sighed as he felt it there.

"I wouldn't touch it," she suggested a little too late. "I mean, there's always that kind of kneejerk reaction when waking up, but I still wouldn't. This pulp feels kind of disgusting."

Kaz nodded warily, studying where he was. He could barely remember anything. It was all a blur.

"What's your name?" he asked after a while.

"Viviana," she said immediately. "Captain told me to watch over you as you slept, and also told me to tell you to direct you to her room when you woke up. I'd be glad - Captain Ghafa is like, the prettiest girl I've ever seen. If I swung that way. Which I do not."

She did.

"Am I on the Wraith?" Kaz asked after a while, recognizing the rocking feeling. He didn't remember much - a bit of being captured and fully shackled, and then pounding footsteps. A burning heat on his wrists, and then a warm breath on his chee- Inej.

"Inej Ghafa," he said suddenly. "I need to see her."

"Yeah, I was told to guide her you to her," she said nodding. Kaz saw a brief flash of jealousy in her eyes, and if he was petty - which he was not - he would have returned it with a smug look of his own. Inej didn't swing her way. Inej didn't like her. Ha.

But he was not petty so he chose not to say it.

"Just guide me to her then," Kaz said irritably. "I need to see her."

Viviana sighed and nodded. Holding out her hand, Kaz ignored it as he got up by himself. The rocking was a lot more steady here - it was much more bearable despite his pounding head, and he found himself wanting to ignore it and just find Inej. His brain wasn't letting him focus on much of anything else.

She held the door open for him and he sighed as he saw more stairs. Climbing up them at a painstaking rate, he reached the deck and Viviana softly called out to unfamiliar faces. Few were injured, and he felt a sweeping sense of pride.

Inej had built a damn strong crew.

"Here," she said as she brought them to yet another area. It included more stairs, and Kaz quietly climbed down them all. Now they were at a door at the beginning of a long hallway, and at the end of it a large room. He could see a couple beds, with more on top of them. "Over there is where all the shipmates sleep, and you will too." She sounded almost smug at that, and Kaz felt the urge to knock her down.

He was not petty, he reminded himself.

"Captain Ghafa," he let the word play out, rolling it out on his tongue. "Told me I was sleeping with her tonight." Hopefully she had actually told him that. Hopefully it wasn't apart of his dream.

Crap, it probably was.

She bit her lip. "You've been hallucinating because of your head wound then," she said calmly, just a hint of smugness in her voice. "Good luck convincing her of that."

The urge to punch somebody was growing, and if Inej wouldn't have punched him, he would have.

"Fine," he said tersely. "I was imagining it right? Find me at the barracks at night then."

The conversation almost took care of the pounding headache, but her stony silence brought it back. Viviana quietly knocked on the door, and there was the briefest of pauses.

It swung open to reveal a tired Inej on the other side, looking exhausted with bags so dark he could get lost in them.

"Hello," she said calmly. "Ka - you're up! How are you?"

"Fine," he said automatically, feeling his lips twitch up. Trying to head inside, Inej moved for him and the last thing he saw before she shut the door was Viviana's shocked face.

He was not petty.

Rather, he responded to the incredulity with an action impossible without his middle finger.

"Lay on the bed," Inej said immediately, lightly holding the cloth on his sleeve. He nodded and paused to look around her room, It was bright, with light flaring in from the sides and a bed in the middle. Papers and a desk had been pushed to the side of it, and a couple of trinkets had been decoratively pinned up. It looked nice.

"On the bed, not around it," she continued. "Unfortunately I don't have any clothes to fit you. Would you like a shirt of mine though?"

Kaz nodded gratefully, slowly sitting down on the bed. He watched her silently as she pulled clothes out from somewhere and handed it to him. He eyed it surreptitiously, realizing it wouldn't fit him in the slightest.

"I can ask my crew…" she trailed off, but he shook his head.

"I'll be fine," he answered calmly. "I'll just ask my own crew. They're still here?"

She nodded. "I've already told you this, but we're dropping you off to Ketterdam in a while. We're a bit of a long ride from there - around the banks of Fjerda -so it will take some time."

He nodded, wondering how long he had actually been captured. It was strange being hit like that - his memory was abysmal and he wondered whether his recollections held even the slightest bit of accuracy.

"You need rest," Inej said after the pause. "Just strip out of the clothes you have now. I'll give it to Hessian to be washed. You should sleep for now."

Kaz nodded, preparing to stand up. Inwardly, he cursed Viviana. There was no way of hiding his lie now.

To his surprise, Inej stopped him. "Why are you standing up?" she asked in a faux-confused tone. "Just give me your clothes and then you can sleep."
In the most level voice he could hope for, he answered. "Surely not in here."

A tiny smile quirked up on her face and she looked almost mischievous. "Why not?"

His heart sped up and a strange sort of joy he'd become to associate with Inej spilled through his veins, spiraling and spreading. "Well, I'd think the crew would talk."

"Let them talk," she responded. "I didn't think Kaz Brekker would have a problem with it."

Sitting back down slowly, he stared her in the eye as he reached for his pants.

The first undone button went loudly, and Inej visibly swallowed at it. The metallic plink almost made him flinch from a the sound. He swallowed as well.

He did it again, and again, and finally pulled the zipper down.

Inej swallowed once more, a strange gaze fixed on him. Careful to keep his own face blank, he watched as the dark brown in her eye almost faded entirely to black.

"Well," Inej said softly, taking a step toward him. "Keep going."

He blinked in disbelief.

"What?" she looked at him teasingly. "You're not planning on sleeping in those clothes are you?"

Kaz swallowed once more, aware of the black boxers he was wearing. Just one slide would…

Inej almost smirked at his hesitation and he immediately felt a surge. He was going to win this game.

Hands reaching for his buttons, he stared Inej in the eye as she took a step closer, almost unconsciously. She took another step forward, and as his breathing quickened he reached the end of the shirt.

"I've got this," Inej said quietly, taking a big step toward him. "Hold out your arms."

He took a deep breath as a soft hand traced up his arm. He sucked in another and tried to think about any time the two of them had been this close.

He felt a breath on the back of his neck and stiffened.

His back was bare, and the hand lightly ghosting up and down it wasn't helping. Almost unwillingly he shot a look to the area between his thighs. They were gradually getting harder.

Finally, it was too much. He snapped.

"I-I-Inej," he gasped. "Please. Please. Just... please Inej!"

And finally, she made her move.

One moment she had been languidly pulling his shirt off of him, the next his shirt had found it's way to the ground. She sank down to her knees until she was at level and put both hands on either side of his boxers.

"Alright?"

He took a deep breath. "Alright," he said.

He saw her hide a smile as she gently tugged off his boxers and finally-

She paused. Recognizing the flow of memories that had happened so often to him, he tugged away almost instantly, letting it pass through her.

She turned away as well, the flood of emotions and memories sinking her. Kaz put an understanding hand on her shoulder, the sweet non-scent of Inej coming up to him but he ignored it. He would not push Inej.

"You sleep without any other clothes. Like me," Kaz said suddenly. "We may not be there yet, but I'm sure as hell making sure we're going to change something."

Inej breathed out a laugh before laying a wistful glance at Kaz. He returned it with another hand, reaching out to grab hers.

She took another breath of relief. And at that moment, Kaz was at peace. They would be alright. Someday, they would be able to get there.

Fin.