[It isn't the same as when they're in person, but Kaz is nothing if not adaptable. Making the best of a situation is one of his mottos, and that includes staying in touch with Inej when she's at sea. The occasional random message at odd hours at least let one another know they were alive and well enough to reach out, and provided unspoken company when shadows brought only solitude. Right now he's in his office, pouring over falsified documents for his latest project as the rest of the Slat is resting, his mind naturally going in many directions at the same time. After some internal debate on it, he sends a message to her.]
New theory. There was a body double before the party, but they were in on the attack.
[The ambassador's demise from years ago, he's going to crack that case one day or never give up trying.]
[ This is what he sends at this ungodly hour? Inej isn't surprised. Kaz's mind never stops even when it should—and he doesn't know when to give up, either. She's long since done so, thinking it better to leave this mystery alone.
But he hasn't, and that's something she admires most about him. ]
Say there was a body double, do you really think no one else would've noticed someone who looked like the deceased walking around the party?
[ As soon as Inej sends it, she thinks better of it. There's drink at parties. When people drink, they have no idea what they see. ]
i think i'd be good at it. better than poetry, which i did try my hand at during university. turns out i'm an abysmal poet, though i wonder less these days about death and the unknown than i did back then.
i imagine some secrets are better held close to the chest, coddled and nurtured like a newborn until it's ready to spread its wings and ruin a life. but you wouldn't know anything about it, being the upstanding kerch citizen you are.
i'm not quite ready to write my memoirs just yet. do you believe the rumors of my parentage?
I am in the moment still waiting for them to finish some of the commissions. I have however gotten to test the rifle, I'm working on shooting it in at the moment. The ammunition is a mixed bag, I've had some success with some types and some spectacular failures with others. Overall, still need time to figure it all out though, I can share of those notes with you if you'd like.
She nodded her head at his words, leaning back thinking this over, she could slip in and out about any place, she has done it countless of times. "I'd like to know who the other buyers were. We both know there was more than one and the top price won." She knew how this world work because she lived in it, thrived in it since a child. One doesn't become the top child assassin by just being alright with the job at hand. "But one thing at a time."
Leaning forward she took a sip of the coffee, than put the cup back down, "If you know there were, I can get in," she said with a nod of her head, "I'd like to know more about the building, at least have an escape routine setup if anything goes awry. We also need to make sure they aren't going to move the location, if they were smart, they would."
I'll be sure to give you copious notes if I find anybody I knew.
Seriously. I think I had to burn that dress, less because of the smell and more like a ritual cleansing. It was cathartic. But I promise to not start any riots at your place.
He’s come to text Max regularly these days, that wall of the screen between them providing a slightly comforting barrier when talks veer towards personal matters. For all of Kaz’s quick thinking, for all his planning ten steps ahead in every heist, feelings somehow blindside him. It’s been easier to simply type onto a phone after taking his time processing matters rather than having a genuine face to face talk. Even then, after Max revealed his true feelings, Kaz still feels his brain stutter. He could simply have continued to leave things on a superficial level, with two phones between them, but he knows he’s failing even in doing that. It’s not conveying enough, not for a topic like this, and Kaz cares enough about Max to try and do this right.
Kaz does care for the other man. He likes him in a way that’s left his thoughts lingering after they parted, even if he never thought anything might come of it. There’s only ever been two other times in his life when he’s felt stirrings, once at fourteen with Imogen, and then years later with Inej. Neither time he’s ever been able to make anything of it, though he has been trying to pull himself into a better version of a man. To not be so broken and twisted inside that he’s doomed to ruin those around him, to never let someone touch him metaphorically if not physically. Max is a good person, a good man, and he deserves someone who’s willing to be open and vulnerable with him. In that respect, Kaz knows he’s fallen short. Perhaps though it’s not entirely too late to start.
Kaz arrives home at the Slat, the converted house not far from the Club, minutes later as promised. It’s relatively quiet even downstairs for once. He takes off his shoes by the door, lining them up neatly, feeling the relief of it from a long day on his feet. Black socks are left on, along with gray pinstripe suit pants, black suit shirt, black and gray vest, and his gloves. It’s contrasted with the pale skin of his face, the shadows beneath his eyes, the sharp angles of his body. A man made of marble he’s been called, smooth enough to slick off the surface until you got cut on a jagged edge. He doesn’t enjoy being that though for his family. Somehow they’ve found small cracks and crevices to nestle against.
Max has, too. Kaz doesn’t often put it into words, but he does use little gestures. Max told him that he’d been drinking, liquid courage, so Kaz has brought over some food in case he needs something to soak up the alcohol. It’s nothing that impressive, just some flatbread, but it’s easy to eat and he carries the takeout box with him. Taking care of someone, that’s the only real way Kaz knows how to show affection. That, and protecting them, although Max is a good fighter in his own right, too.
His hat he gently hangs up, then with his cane limps over to where Max is sitting. His heart is pounding as he slowly lowers himself into a seat beside him on the sofa, not close enough to touch, raising his leg to rest on the coffee table. His gaze falls on the whiskey bottle, and it’s tempting to help numb the edges of his mind, but getting up to get himself a glass is too much effort after he’s sat down. Setting the box on the table, he opens it for Max to take some as he likes. Although if his nerves are like Kaz’s, he might not be hungry right now. Still. It won’t go to waste. He’s quiet for a moment, silence stretching, before he finally speaks. “Congratulations. Not many can catch me off guard.” He gives Max a small, lopsided smile at that, figuring a little teasing couldn’t hurt to kick things off. At least he hopes it shows that he’s not put off by what Max has said.
For all the things that Max had worked through while he was here in Ketterdam, clearing out the cobwebs in his heart hadn't actually been on the list. It hadn't even been on his radar to begin with. It wasn't until he'd settled down one day and had a short talk about relationships with Kaz, his friend and growing mentor that he let himself think of the day he might grow to care for another person once again. He'd been in something that had been dead for quite a while after loving so hard it devistated him in what he thought of as another life.
Heartbreak had been a very real thing for Max once upon a time, and when he ended up back in Roswell, and back with Liz who had been a constant in his life, things never quite seemed like what they should. There was never the passion or desire that Max craved between them. Max was an emotional creature. He thrived by his emotions once upon a time, and his relationships were testaments to this.
That's why it came a true surprise when a subtle flame began to ignite for the man he spent so much time with. It would make sense if he had carried feelings over for the person he had relied on, and spent time with growing back into himself. Max searched himself and had to make sure that it wasn't the only reason that side of him began to flare back to life again. Upon discovering it wasn't. He had to decide what to do about it. Should he even risk the close friendship he'd created by mentioning it at all.
It was a difficult decision, more difficult than he'd come across in ages. This was important. It wasn't like Kaz was like anyone he'd found himself falling for before. He couldn't simply grab the man and press their lips together to seal the deal. Pouring his feelings into a kiss wouldn't work this time. He'd have to use words, and they were often clumsy. So, liquid courage and an anonymous tagline it was. That didn't last long, and neither did his solitude. Although, Max could say that he felt better this way. He felt better knowing that he wasn't alone in all this.
When Kaz finally made it there beside him, Max took a deep breath and set down the bottle he'd been drinking from. He'd foregone the cup he had a short while ago. Max didn't have to look over to know the lithe body that sat next to him, so close to touch and yet not quite. He could sense the strong lines of Kaz's jaw, the dark inset eyes, and thin set of lips. Max had studied the man far more than he realized before this. He'd studied him, thought about him and thought about a lot more than simple things. It made his heart beat fast knowing he was near right now, and knowing what Max had finally admitted to aloud, to himself and to Kaz all at once.
The alien snorted out a short laugh at the quip, he couldn't help it. "Off guard, huh? I would have sworn that my comment about you being fine earlier would have gave it away, that and about how good you smell." Max turned, and grinned softly. "Which you do by the way." He bit his lip softly, and tried not to make it awkward. "Can I get you anything, a glass or you know, my lips on yours?" He teased a little, knowing that the latter is impossible, but Max can play. He's laughed softly as he says it, so that Kaz knows he's kidding when the words fly from his lips. Max doesn't want pressure here. He doesn't want anything between them that might mess any of this up.
I can wait years to see a job done properly, but when it comes to people, I can only take so much of being around them. The amount varies depending on the person and the day, but most days at least once I’ll think ’come on, get on with it’ when dealing with someone.
That’s a very kind thought from you.
I’ve gotten angry at a coffee pot before. It knows what it did.
It is a good combination, it’s usually what we get. I always prefer to balance out the sugar with fried potatoes but apparently, I’m a crazy person for ruining the purity of it all.
[It means quite a bit to hear, more than he can put into words. For many years while living on the streets he was thought anything but rare. He was simply trash, a canal rat, something to be stomped on or overlooked. He knows that Yen has experienced her own share of being discarded and derided. That they each persevered on their own for so long is telling, and perhaps one of the main grounds for finding a kindred spirit in one another. Kaz knows that Yen can handle the world on her own, but he doesn’t want her to have to any longer. Once he finds someone worthy of his loyalty and trust, he never turns his back on them.]
Likewise. I’m afraid you might be stuck with me now, you know.
I started out giving people fair wages and proper housing to undermine those in power. Or at least, that’s what I told myself at the time. That I was investing in people to further my cause.
[It took him a long while to admit that it was never really just about that. That deep inside of him he simply couldn’t let others suffer like he did. He’s no hero, the petty spite part is still strong and present, but he’s come to realize it’s not all of him.]
[ She smiles when she reads that message. And, she thinks, it goes both ways as well. He's stuck with her now too. Much like Kaz, once Yennefer's loyalty and trust has been won; there is nothing she wouldn't do for that person. It can be both a good and a bad thing, for someone who weilds as much power as she does. But that's why she is so careful with giving out her trust and loyalty - she knows Kaz would never ask anything of her that she'd be unwilling to give. ]
I think that is still true. I also think that the full and complex motivations behind our actions are sometimes not always apparent until much later. I can speak for myself on that matter, at least.
[ She'd spent many years seeking to find her place in the world; part of that was her trying to prove to herself that she did belong somewhere, and that she was worthy of being important to others - in spite of the brutal treatment she'd received when younger. There was still plenty of spite within her, but it wasn't the main driving force in her actions; which was progress enough, all things considered. ]
What I’m gathering from this talk is that we really shouldn’t have a night together where we do nothing but drink whiskey. At least not without follicle faux pas likely happening.
I'm big on cherries and kiwi's so if I can have those I'd like that.
Well, either that or I'm going to go into the morning after needing to fully shave it off. I don't mind either way, but, you know. A whiskey night could be good.
You are the sole friend I have that acknowledges the value of salty over sweet, you know. When I dare get fried potatoes alongside waffles and ice cream I’m deemed a demon of impurity.
Which I'm not against being called, but not at the sake of slandering potatoes.
Salty is wonderful, not sure about that combination, but you know, each to ones own.
Potatoes carries so much of Fjerdan cuisine, at least, makes it more filling. Haven't thought about combining sweet with it's salty before, so I might have to try that sometime.
It was a bad joke based on my having ripped out eyeballs in the past, that it’d be easy to always have a pair on hand to look at you.
I can learn, it’s one of my best qualities. Flirting’s new, but I like a challenge. If you’ve been told you have an ass it’s better than mine. Apparently I lack any.
You’ve known them a long time, then. I can imagine how important they are to you.
Now that's one of the sexiest things anyone's ever done for me. You can keep two pair on me whenever you want. ;)
Cowboy jeans are made to give any man a tight ass, and a large... um, package. They can be wonderful, and really annoying all at once. If you've ever had a surprise hard-on, tight jeans are not the way to go. I'd rather enjoy loose pj pants. You look pretty good in yours by the way. I think your ass is fine.
They are. Like I said, they're home and hooked up happily now and if we needed one another, I'd probably feel it somehow. I'm happy where I am.
So I know the topography of areas I haven’t yet visited. What I do while visiting, that depends on the trip. I don’t have any planned to these places yet, but it pays to think ahead.
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