i will always do kanej prompts. please send them my way, distract me from my modern heist au.

With tears streaming down Inej’s face and her hands clasped over her mouth, Kaz worries that she may break down again in sobs. Instead, her voice raw and brimming with a sort of happiness he hasn’t seen in her before, she asks him to come with her, to meet her family.

“Wait.” He flexes his uncovered fingers, steels himself for the potential of… what? “Is my tie straight?”

And then her hood falls back from her hair when she laughs, a sort of unbridled mirth that could find a place among the stars, bright and enrapturing. He wants to bottle it up, to set the darkest of nights aflame with the twinkle that escapes from in between her lips.

Before he can say anything else, Inej starts sprinting down the pier towards the newly-docked ship. She could be flying—gliding—across the wooden slats, with the weightlessness and alacrity her steps possess. He follows, albeit much more slowly, in hopes of letting her reunion to be as private as possible, just as she deserves.

In truth, Kaz hadn’t expected the privateer to find her parents, especially not as quickly as he did. Ravka is a large nation, and the Ghafas a family of travelers, drifting throughout the northwestern portion of the country. And, practically, the caravans could have very well moved hundreds of miles from its original spot on the coast in the past two years, lost in the wild expanse. When the letter with the pale blue wax and the eagle of gold arrived, he briefly considered believing in Inej’s saints (and then immediately dismissed that idea).

He hasn’t allowed himself to be so lost in thought in a very long time, so much so that he nearly stumbles on a rotted spot on the wood that he knows like the back of his hand. As he approaches the Wraith, he sees a small pile of bodies on the ground and for a moment, he internally panics, until he realizes that it’s the Suli acrobats and their long-lost daughter, clutching at each other after years apart. And so he waits silently, with no intention of interrupting before they’re ready to detach.

In the time it takes them to do so, to slowly stand, he catalogues their features to the best of his ability: her mother, small and lithe similar to her daughter, but her pitch hair cropped short, brushing against her collarbone; her father, tall and willowy, with the same wondrous laugh as his kin. Once they’re upright, he can see Inej’s face again—a wide, watery grin split across her face and a buzz about her that he can only describe as a slight tremor, one that stems from unadulterated joy. Her mother is whispering so quietly in her ear, but he can’t make out the words (though he might have picked up on a Suli proverb he’d heard over the past year), and her father is turning to him, although hesitantly.

Kaz isn’t going to pretend that he looks… not creepy, but for her sake, he attempts as much of a smile as he can. It’s then that Inej pulls away from her mother, and begins to acquaint them, eyes glistening. “Mama, Papa, this is my friend—”

“Kaz,” he interrupts, holding out his right hand after moving his cane to his left. For a second, Inej’s eyes flash towards it, until she recognizes the black leather that had returned to the appendage. “Kaz Brekker.”

Her father takes it, shakes it with fervor (Kaz is glad he’d prepared himself for the contact), introduces himself and then his wife. The other man takes the opportunity to move in closer just as Kaz makes to pull away, and he stifles at the increased proximity. But the man speaks so earnestly, Kaz doesn’t doubt this trait was passed down to his daughter. “Thank you, Mister Brekker. Thank you, for bringing our Inej back to us.”

Kaz lets go then, looks down at his boots. If he could blush, he’s sure the tips of his ears would be stained red at this point. He doesn’t respond, but nods in acknowledgement. When he glances back up, Inej’s gaze is fixed upon him, worry furrowing her brow slightly. But he shakes his head again, almost imperceptible, and that seems to assuage her, and she turns back to her parents.

“Where are the rest of them?”

Her mother smiles. “The scouting ship was too small for everyone to board, so they sent for another larger vessel. They should arrive by the end of the week.”

Inej bites her lip, but he recognizes the relief flooding her features. “That is good. Have you eaten yet today?” They shake their head. “We could visit a restaurant in town, it’ll be a bit of a walk but—”

“I sent word to Wylan to have his staff arrange for guests,” Kaz says coolly. “That is, unless you’d rather go to Sten’s, and spend your first few days in Ketterdam with a nasty stomach virus.”

And Inej smiles again, then she’s whisking her parents towards the Van Eck estate. That is, until she’s halfway across the pier and she slows, looks over her shoulder.

He doesn’t need to say it, and she doesn’t need him to.

I’ll meet you there.