Inej Ghafa

Happy Birthday to my dear friend, Nina!

Inej found her way into @essenceofcrows.bsky.social's small apartment where she lived not far away from the Crow Club.
She walked into the kitchen leaving a small chocolate cake as well as jewelry box. Inside it was a necklace with a oval shaped peridot charm.

Would you feel better if I bought you a double the next time we are at the Crow Club?

Our bad.

I can't even enjoy a drink without it being stolen.. not once but TWICE! Rudeee.

she ate her first bite she let out a soft hum as the soup warmed her from the inside out. Perfect for the cold winter evening.
"Thank you Jesper for getting it." She said sincerely with a thankful smile.

wooden bowls. She got a spoon and walked toward Kaz carefully handing him his bowl of soup.
"There you go. This should make you feel a lot better. And I'm sure you're starving." She said.
Once Kaz was set up with his food, Inej went to serve up her own then sat down in a chair to start eating. As

the leather pouches of soup. She noticed the pouches were still hot and she turned to look at Jesper once more.
"But thank you for at least getting our soup last, so they were still hot by the time you got here." She said as she started pouring the soups from their leather canteens and into some

the bag from him.
"And judging by the fact that your lips a slightly swollen and you have some red marks on your neck, I'm guessing you ran into a Wylan. Which would explain the delay." She teased giving him a light and playful punch to his arm before she walked over to a small counter and took out

knock on the door and watched him come in.
When he asked why she didn't tell him how bad Kaz was Inej scoffed slightly.
"Because I knew if I did you'd lose it." She told him.
"However maybe if I did tell you, perhaps you would have been a little bit quicker with our soups." She said as she took

like you were having another one of your nightmares. You were breathing heavily and your head was going from side to side. So I thought it best to wake you up." She told him.
She also then realized Jesper should have been back a while ago with the soups. Just as she had that thought she heard the

Inej couldn't help but notice how peaceful Kaz looked with his cheek pressed against her palm as he came out of the nightmare. She would have left it there forever if she could. But she knew that couldn't happen. At least not yet.

When Kaz asked what happened Inej thought for a moment.
"It looked

finally woke up then she quickly moved her hands off of him.
"There you are." She said when he opened his eyes and looked at her.
"Are you alright?"
She got off the bed and got him a glass of water handing it to him.

what to do, Inej finally decided she just needed to get him out of that dream.
She hesitated for a moment but she reached her hand out to rest on his cheek while the other gently shook his shoulder.
"Kaz. Hey Kaz wake up. You're having another nightmare." She said softly and shook him until he

she could tell he was having one of his nightmares.
Inej quickly dried her hands and put her gloves back on before going over to Kaz. She leaned one knee on the bed and started to reach out to touch him and try and wake him up. But she froze and pulled back.
After a few seconds of trying to decide

to boil some more water to start washing his clothes and bedding.
Once she was done washing each article she would ring out the excess water before hanging it on a line by the fire to start drying.

Inej heard Kaz let out a soft whimper and looked over at him. The way his breathing had picked up

to change that." She said.

She smiled once more when Kaz thanked her.
"Of course. It's no problem. Crows take care of each other right?" She asked him as she watched him get comfortable.
"Go ahead and rest. I'll wake you up when Jesper gets here with the soup."

As Kaz slept, Inej started

Inej noticed the corners of Kazs mouth curve upwards just a little bit. It was a rare thing when he would smile, but when she was the one to make him do so, it always gave her a bit of a confidence boost.
She smiled when Kaz mentioned Jespers antics and nodded.
"Yeah. We definitely wouldn't want

few seconds to see how he would react, she slowly curved her thumb so it rested on the back of his knuckles.
She gently stroked the back of his hand still watching for his reaction.
"How are you feeling?" She asked him, wanting to make sure he was alright.

his eyes again. "You deserve to feel loved, Kaz. And even if you're not ready to say it back or to kiss me yet, you've shown me how you love me. So I am more than happy to give you the love you deserve."

Inej watched as Kaz hesitated for a moment before he placed his hand in hers. After waiting a

and more to offer than just my body." She explained. She was quiet for a moment before speaking again.
"You gave away the old Crow Club for me. That was everything to you and you traded it for my freedom. The least I can do is help you through this, and show you kindness and love."
Looking back at

now her love her eyes went to his once more. The word 'love' wasn't something she had ever heard him say. It sounded lovely coming from his lips.
She smiled again and shook her head. "You've done so much Kaz. You got me out of The Menagerie. You showed me adventure and made me realize I had purpose

help him as much as possible. With a new determination Inej wiped her tears.

Inej smiled softly when Kaz told her she didn't have to wear the gloves.
"I know. But if it'll make you more comfortable, I want to." She told him.
When he said he didn't know what he did to deserve her kindness and

when he and Jordie were put on rafts and discarded with the rest of the deceased and how Kaz could feel all of the bloated bodies, Inejs eyes filled with tears once more. She closed them and let the tears fall wishing there was a way to take away Kazs pain. But there wasn't. All she could do was

but he never explained how Jordie was killed. At that time she didn't care how he was killed. All she cared about was taking Pekka out to help Kaz with his revenge.
But now to finally hear the whole story, it made her even angrier. Because it could have been prevented.
When Kaz got to the part

As Kaz began to talk about his past, Inej looked at him giving him her full attention. The more he told her the more her heart broke. She remembered Kaz telling her that Pekka Rollins had killed his brother; it was the day they planned on clearing their names when they had been accused of murder,

a match and lighting a small piece of wood on fire and putting it in.
Soon the room, and Inejs face glowed in the flames as she used a fire pick to move some wood around and make sure it stayed lit.

for Jesper to show authority." She said and waited for him to get back into bed before reaching over and putting the blankets over him.
"Speaking of Jesper. I sent him out to get us some soup. It'll help you feel better."
She explained and began putting some wood into the fireplace before striking

doesn't have your intimating glare to keep everyone in line. It's just got Jesper and his.." She dramatically placed the back of her hand on her forehead and tilted her head back slightly, "devastating good looks." She looked back at him letting out a soft laugh.
"And I don't think that be enough

cane once more.
"And it wasn't so bad. Mostly just drunk people getting loud and being obnoxious. But I figured clear them out before it gets worse." She explained as she took his cup of tea so he would have better balance and walked with him back to his bed.
"Besides, with you being sick the club