Neither feral creature backs out of their defensive natures nor do either of them seem to want for proximity. Joker keeps to his prowl opposite the room that the shadows from those flickering sconces leap away from him in refracted repose. The air is thicker than it once was, even in lieu of the tension so frequently spun between them, but Kaz has no choice but to suck in every gulp he can manage with deliberate care not to shorten his breaths. Any wrong inhale will send him into hyperventilating panic. Nausea’s still creeping up his throat.
All at once, a shadow at the door opens and closes it. Inej permits Joker only a fleeting glance before she is crouched alongside the desk on the other side of the office. At the wrong angle, her back is to him, but somehow she gets him at her profile with a quick shift. She keeps a sizable width of clearance between herself and Kaz as well, and yet still closes in enough that he bares his teeth at her in warning. She’s undeterred. ❝ Kaz, ❞ she says in such a way that conveys both interrogative and gentle insistence.
Kaz rolls onto his side with another low groan. When Inej slides a foot forward still in that low squat, he cuts a glare for her and halts her progression. ❝ Watch him, ❞ he insists, to which she rebukes simply with, ❝ *मूर्ख। ❞
If Joker’s even noticed the third party in the room, neither Kaz or Inej heed his comfort but to snare him in their shared sights. The Wraith is forced to keep vigil as her Crow shifts first onto a forearm, and then, with greater effort, onto the knee that Joker hadn’t attacked. His only yield to the pain singeing his every nerve ending is the sharp exhale he breathes; tears blur his vision and when they do, Kaz ducks his head and entrusts this vulnerability to Inej alone. She rewards him with the turn of her own head to regard Joker now in full.
She watches him warily, furiously, as if she anticipates the Alpha turning on her next and knows just where she will wield one of those many knives tucked against her body. Even this possibility does not caution her to abandon her post in front of Kaz, who forces himself onto some semblance of all fours with his battered knee stretched behind his crumpled form. He’s breathing hard, but steady now, and makes no further move to rise. It’s pronounced trembles that give away his predicament.
With care borne of familiarity, Inej retrieves his cane and leans it upright against the edge of the desk. She’s returned to splitting her attention once more between two wild animals on the defensive, but her priority is clear when next she speaks. ❝ **म अरू के गर्न सक्छु? ❞
Kaz spits something red and viscous onto the floor beneath where his head hangs. His shoulders are level with his ears, shoulder blades pressed sharply into the black fabric bunched across his heaving back. Shame won’t turn him pink right now; pain’s won out and painted him a sickly shade of corpse instead. Sweat beads on his upper lip. His only response is meeting her eyes followed by a brief flicker to Joker across the room. It’s the only response she needs.
Inej rises to her feet and turns. If he wanted, Joker can still see Kaz near enough to the fetal position to shatter every last rumor lending credence to that carefully curated reputation. Inej is a slip of a shadowed woman, but she bars as much access to the sight as best she can. ❝ I believe Nix is waiting for you downstairs, ❞ she offers. The exit is closest to Joker and Inej tilts her head to further convey the merciful dismissal. One of her hands is at her ever - equipped waist in warning though.
