Accidentally in Love

Inej Ghafa is a famous Dancer and Acrobat, whose former manager, Tante Heleen, got arrested after multiple abuse accusations. Now, Inej has to try and get the press to focus on her current career, instead of her past truama with Heleen.
---
Kaz Brekker is a famous magician and illusionist in a performing group called the Dregs. However, his criminal record from his teenage years (and other bad decisions) have caused quite the smear on his and the Dregs public image.
---
When rumors of a relationship between the two of them start, they notice a positive shift in the press surrounding them. People are talking about them, not their past misfortunes, for the first time in months. That's when their PR agents suggest an arrangement: the two of them fake a relationship. Will the scheme work? Will things be an even bigger mess than before? Or worse, what if they really fall in love?

Notes:

This is basically the modern performers au nobody asked for, but I really wanted to write it so here it is. Also theyre both in therapy because I hate it when they suffer and they need to work out their problems. I've got a lot of it written already, so hopefully the wait between chapters won't be longer than a few days. Hope you enjoy!

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Chapter Text

MARCH

SPOTTED: DANCER INEJ GHAFA AT NEW PERFORMING ARTS CENTER! - March 21, 2023

Her blaring alarm awoke her, the radio springing on for the morning highlights. Inej groaned, rolling to the center of her queen-sized bed and pressing her face into her pillow, just a few more minutes of sleep, she thought.The alarm kept going. Her hand slammed down on the clock.

There was no time to lay around. Nina was coming over in an hour with the planning for the week. She knew she needed to get moving, it had been four months since Heleen’s arrest, it was time to get her life back. She couldn’t let what happened hold her back anymore.

Padding out of her bedroom, she was greeted with pools of sun speckling the ground, the noises of city life outside could be heard throughout her spacious apartment. Chatter, rumbling cars, barking dogs. She made herself a warm suli tea and took a deep breath. Another day of pushing through tabloids. She could do this.

After Heleen got arrested, the world tilted off its axis at the ‘shocking’ news. Why it was shocking to anyone, she didn’t know. The woman was cruel and cold to most people, and the studio she ran had been investigated a number of times before. Alas: paparazzi were fucking piranhas and lived to see blood. And blood they got. Pictures of police tape up around the Menagerie Dance Studio, pictures of Heleen being thrown into the back of a police car, and old photos of Inej and other dancers with scrapes and bruises had been plastered all over the news for weeks. It was like no matter where she went, she couldn’t escape it.

She wished she didn’t think about it like this. She wished her mind didn’t loop the events over and over again till it drove her mad and got her pouring another glass of wine. But how could she move on - how could anyone expect her to - when all she saw when she turned on the radio or when she checked her phone were endless pictures and articles about the woman who subjected her and so many others to years of abuse?

Nina came by. Fresh-faced and hair in a sleek, high ponytail. They had been best friends for years, and somehow she always looked amazing. At this point, it was just plain unfair. Nina had taken up the role as her manager when she left Heleen a month before the arrest. At first, she was worried about hiring a friend for the job, but now, she couldn’t imagine anyone else having that role.

“Hi,” Nina sighed, sitting down at Inej’s small dinner table. The woman held a bouquet of fresh geraniums in one hand and her purse in the other. “Thought you’d like these.”

“Thanks, Neens,” Inej smiled, taking them and looking for a vase in one of the kitchen cabinets. “Any reason…?”

When she hesitated, Inej shot her a look. Nina sighed and slid her iPad to the other side of the table with an email opened on the screen. “A date’s been set, for her trial. You’ve got a few months, but chances are you’ll have to start preparing to testify soon.”

Propping the flowers in a vase she got a few years ago, she sat down and grabbed the device. Her hands were shaking slightly as she read through the email. She took a few deep breaths before sliding the ipad back to Nina.

“More than six months away, that seems like more than enough time,” she said, trying to sound confident, but she wasn’t sure it was working. Nina smiled and pulled the iPad back.

“The press asked for a comment and I said you wouldn’t be giving one.”

“Thanks.”

Her cup slammed down on the wooden surface. Once more, Nina didn’t comment on it. She had seen her at her worst and her best. The darkest nights were shared with her on the phone.

“So, now that is out of the way,” A confident smile pulled on her lips. “Are you planning for the week?”

At Inej’s nod, the woman rattled off all her meetings and events. She’d go to the studio today and hold a small interview with an independent New York paper over the phone. She had to try and repair her public image, even if it only lasted until the trial, she couldn’t keep being seen as the poor, broken dancer. But still, the thought of answering all those interview questions made her uneasy. It frustrated her to no end. Inej Ghafa was a performer - a famous, successful performer that had won countless competitions, performed countless routines and sold out tons of shows.

She was the perfect fucking celebrity. And yet.

All she ever wanted to talk about was her career as a dancer and acrobat. But somehow, even before the Heleen incident, things like her relationships and what she ate to stay in shape were the hot topics interviewers picked.

What’s worse was, she couldn’t blame them. Wasn’t she also intrigued by what her favorite celebs did prior to becoming one? But still, it was agitating. Even if she specifically emailed them beforehand that some questions were off the table, they always found ways to weasel them in. Maybe because they knew Inej was horrible at saying no. Maybe it’s just how this line of work operates.

“You’re ending the week with Kesh for dinner at Martini’s at eight pm,” Nina concluded, clicking her pen. Inej smiled. One step at a time. First, the studio. Her safe haven. Practicing routines and creating some new ones would do her good.

The two women walked out the apartment complex minutes later into Nina’s car. She drove her down to the new performing arts center she practiced at, making sure she was set for the day before driving off. Inej smiled and walked through the doors and into one of the smaller practice studios. It was one of the things she loved about the new location. Her old one had been composed of three large studios, one for acrobatics, and two for dance. There was no chance at practicing alone, ever. This one, though, was much better. Not only was the entire center much larger, but it consisted of multiple different studios, of varying sizes. There were four large studios, two for acrobatics, and two for dance, as well as some smaller studios made for small groups of no more than five people. There were also some medium sized spaces for other performers, like illusionists, magicians, or the occasional traveling theater troupe. Only people with memberships were allowed to use the space, so it was never super crowded. She wasn’t sure why, but it filled her with a sense of safety she hadn’t felt before.

She set her duffle bag onto the floor in the corner and started warming up. She did some stretching and some breathing exercises, as well as some easy skills before turning on the music and letting her body move. She lept and spun and danced for what felt like no time at all, but in reality, was hours of time. She was sweating and panting, hair had fallen out of her ponytail and sticking to her skin. She looked a mess, she knew it, but she felt better than she had in a long time. It was so freeing, being able to perform like this without the fear of messing up.

After her session, Inej caved. Was she an adult? Yes. Was she also just twenty-four with a beating heart? Double yes. She had walked to Nina's house from the performing arts center and was sitting in Nina’s living room waiting for her to get home, and it was all too easy to click on one of the millions of articles and look at what they said. Nina would be proud of her for the few hours of restraint. She was so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn’t hear the keys in the front door.

Peering over her shoulder, Nina clicked her tongue. “It won’t do you any good, Inej.”

“I know, I know. I just-” she sighed “I feel like I owe it to myself to stay strong. Like if I just try and ignore it, I’ll be admitting I’m too weak to handle it.”

“Hey, look at me,” Nina said, grasping her hand. “Heleen is a monster. She took away too much from you. You don’t need to ‘handle’ it anymore. You’ve already handled it for much longer than you should’ve had to. You aren’t weak for taking your life back.” Inej smiled warily, wiping an unshed tear from her eyes.

“Thanks, Neens. I really needed to hear that.”

“Anytime. Besides, I think you’d prefer it if you had a clear mind before this interview.” She nodded at the Zoom logo on her laptop. Right. The article disappeared from her screen as she placed her phone face-down on the table.

When the interviewer began calling, Nina moved out of the frame and wished her good luck. She smiled, checking her hair in the camera before answering. The interview went smoothly, the New York woman was charismatic and witty, every question seemed devoid of a hidden agenda. Finally. It was her mistake of becoming too comfortable, leaning back in her seat as the conversation flowed. She almost forgot she wasn’t just talking about her life with a friend, when it happened-

“I'd like to ask about the news about Tante Heleen, your old manager. I understand there have been a number of accusations regarding her treatment of clients. Were you aware of this? Will you be a part of the criminal trial?”

Inej froze, her reply was cold and clipped. “No comment.”

A loaded pause. Inej felt like ending the call right this second - though then it would probably seem like she was being rude. God, she wanted to scream. The smile of the interviewer returned, but Inej didn’t find any warmth in its sight anymore. It was just a polite smile.

“Well, then I wish you good luck for the new chapter of your career and a wonderful rest of the day, Inej,” she eventually said.

“Thank you, you too,” she replied. The call ended and Inej rolled away from the screen. Maybe she should think of some major diversion, like some stunt, for when the trial starts. An amused snort puffed out. No. That wasn’t her style. She just had to hope that by then, everything would be old news, and people would forget. She was so worked up, she didn’t even notice the tears forming in her eyes.

“Oh, honey,” She heard Nina say, sitting next to her and pulling her into a warm hug.

Tears kept slipping, and she clung to Nina tightly. Nina was so strong. Nothing shook her, ever. Sometimes, she wished her friend was a bit more volatile. When was the last time Inej could help her? Her eyes pressed shut and she thought about all the articles and interviews. She wished she could do something, anything, to get people to talk about something else, just for a little while. Wiping her tears, a brave smile glued itself on her cheeks and stood up.

“I think it's time for me to head out, I need some time to think. Do you mind driving me back to my place?” She asked. Nina smiled and nodded, giving her one last hug before grabbing her keys and walking to her car. She could get through this, she had to.

MAY

ACROBAT INEJ GHAFA TO PERFORM AT GELDRENNER THEATER FOR FIRST TIME SINCE HELEEN VAN HOUDENS ARREST - May 9, 2023

The Bloemen was a small, yet extremely fancy restaurant in Ketterdam. A red-stone frontage with glossy wooden floors and expensive aromas lingering all throughout the establishment. It was expensive as hell and the waiting list was a thing of nightmares. Luckily for Inej, she knew just enough people to pull some strings whenever she was craving their delicious cuisine.

The fact that she got a table at the window overlooking the street was a little unfortunate, but having her best friend here made it better. Nina definitely reaped the benefits of her connections, currently sitting in her chair as she sipped a martini.

“So,” Nina began, “your life has been absolute shit lately.” Inej barked out a laugh, a hand flying to cover her mouth at the sudden outburst. She smiled brightly and sipped some water.

“Do we really have to talk about me? What about you? What’s going on in your life?”

“That’s the thing!” Leaning forward, she dug her fork in her salad. “Somehow, my life is drama-free.”

“For once.”

“Exactly! I’ve become…” she shuddered, “boring.”

Inej gasped. “The horror!”

“I know!” A smile played on her lips. "So, tell me about your fitting with, uh, what’s her name? Kesh? You never told me about it and you love getting new performance costumes.”

“It went great! Kesh is great at costume design. There were a few that I wouldn’t usually approve of, but I wanted to start branching out. You’d probably love them.”

This intrigued her. “Show me right now!”

She opened up her phone to pull up the pictures she took that night and slid the phone over to Nina, watching her face change at each photo. She could tell she made at least a few good calls, because Nina seemed to be eating it up. They talked about the costumes and her upcoming performance for a few more moments while they ate their salads. Before long, Nina’s eyes shifted to something behind her, a smile forming on her face that quickly turned into what Inej had coined the “Trouble Face”. Right as she was about to turn around and see what Nina was eying, her wrist was yanked forward.

“Okay, don’t look,” Nina whispered from across the table. “But there’s a pretty nice guy staring at you right now.”

“You mean the back of my head,” she deadpanned.

Nina smirked. “Then he likes the back.”

“Oh my God, you’re insufferable”

“When’s the last time you’ve been on a date?”

“That’s not important right now.” The truth was, she wasn’t sure. She’d tried dating for a while. But it was so draining that it just felt pointless. At this point, it had been almost a year since she’d been on a proper date with anyone. Not to mention the amount of trust issues she’d gotten from working with Heleen for so long that made dating a thousand times harder. Her friend was observant though; she didn’t even have to tell her. Nina’s mouth fell slack.

“Are you serious? That long?”

“How’s Matthias?” she questioned, trying to change the subject.

“No,” Nina quipped. “Not changing the subject, hun.”

“Are you for-?” Her words stopped short as, all of a sudden, a raging downpour crashed onto the city. She could hear how hard the rain was falling from inside. The sunny weather had disappeared just like that.

Nina groaned. “The car is so far away. No way is my hair gonna survive this”

“Maybe it’ll die down by the time we’re done,” Inej said hopefully, but they both knew that wasn’t happening. When it rained in Ketterdam, it rained a lot. The weather wouldn’t be letting up any significant amount for at least another three hours.

“Let’s hope,” Nina said, smirking “Now back to the real topic of discussion- mystery man’s still looking.”

“Probably because you’re not being subtle.” Before Nina could respond, Inej placed her hands flat on the table and shot her a stern look. “I don’t want to talk about it. I just don’t think I’m ready to date, okay? So, how’s Matty?”

Finally, Nina stopped talking about Inej’s nonexistent love life and instead started babbling about her husband and all the adventures they went on. Being in a relationship with one of the best hockey players definitely had its advantages. More food came and went, though the rain stayed. Bad weather and Ketterdam did not go well together, and unfortunately, neither her nor Nina had the foresight to pack an umbrella. Her new satin shirt likely wouldn’t survive this.

After the dessert, it was still pouring rain, and Nina looked devastated.

“This is a crime, I was having such a good hair day,” Nina said, partly joking as they got ready to head outside into the raid.

Inej let out a chuckle “Who’re you going to talk to? Mother Nature?”

Her friend’s expression morphed from disgruntlement to quiet excitement, bouncing forward to grab Inej’s shoulders. She didn’t have to say anything for her to know it was about the mystery guy a few tables back. Whatever. They were probably going to pass his table and, if he caught her eye, she’d politely smile. A man won’t ruin the good food and girl time she just had. She turned around and walked to the entrance with the coat rack. Her curious eyes traced the tables until she spotted him. She had to admit, the man looked familiar, but she couldn’t quite place him. He was good looking, just not really her type, but at least now she knew why Nina was so excited for her. It was flattering.

He was talking with another guy, a tall man with dark hair and a very… colorful outfit. In comparison to him, Mystery looked rather casual. Jeans and a tee shirt with a black leather jacket. God, his name was on the tip of her tongue. Where did she know him from? Was he a musician? Influencer? Actor?

The coat check girl approached them and snapped Inej out of her reverie. Nina had a thin jacket, but Inej had nothing. There was no way they could make it to the car without getting drenched. They thanked the girl and slowly headed towards the door.

“Ready to run?” Inej asked.

Nina scowled. “I haven’t run since senior year of high school, so no.”

“We’ll be fine.”

“I’m in heels, ‘Nej”

“Nina-”

“Hey,” a raspy voice said suddenly, startling the women out of their discussion and causing them to glance over their shoulders. It was the two guys. The one that had apparently been looking at her inside spoke up. She was looking at him too, now. He was tall and pale, with brown eyes and held a cane in his hand. Odd. How had she not noticed that before?

Nina spoke for her. “Hi.”

A smirk formed on his face and she instantly knew who he was. “You can use my jacket as an umbrella if you want,” he said, moving to take it off.

Kaz Brekker: famous illusionist and head performer of the Dregs. He had gotten his career started from doing shows on street corners and at small local venues. He was good, she had to admit. He mastered tons of tricks, from close up magic, to disappearing acts and crazy escape feats. He worked with a small performing group called the Dregs, and she was fairly sure they used the same studios as she did.

“What?” she asked, eyeing him oddly.

He shrugged, uncaring of her confusion as the smirk on his face remained. “Give it back some other time.” His head tilted. “You’re Inej Ghafa, right?”

“Uh, yeah.” A polite smile formed on her face, reaching to shake his hand. “Sorry, I don’t think we’ve met before. Kaz Brekker, right?”

He straightened up and shook her hand, and the man next to him seemed to be barely withholding a smile. “Yeah, this is Jesper, also from the Dregs.”

“Hey there, ladies” Jesper smiled, shooting a wink in Nina’s direction. “I hate to interrupt, Kaz, but we have to go.”

“Don’t worry, unlike you, I know how to get there on time,” He replied, glancing back at the guy - Jesper. He took off the jacket and handed it to her. It was pretty big, hopefully enough to save Inej and Nina from looking like wet dogs. Nina grabbed it and spread it wide, smiling as she spoke.

“I’m Nina, by the way. Nice to meet you all. Anyway, ‘Nej, let’s go.” A suggestive pause. “Unless-?”

“Nope,” Inej cut off, keeping up her friendly smile. “Let’s go. I’ll, uh- I’ll make sure it gets back to you, okay?” Without waiting for a reply, she stepped beneath his jacket alongside Nina and walked onto the wet pavement, splashing water onto their ankles. Was he flirting with her? Surely not. They finally arrived at the car. Nina dumped the soaked jacket in the backseat as Inej collapsed in the driver’s seat with a puff.

Nina looked up at her. “What’s wrong? Your hair still looks great.”

“No,” she sighed, starting the car, “it’s- it’s nothing.”

A smile grew on her face. “Is it Kaz? I told you he was into you! Honestly, if his haircut wasn't so hideous, I'd say he looked hot.” Inej smiled and shook her head at her friend, turning on the radio as she pulled out into the road. It was one tiny interaction. She’d probably forget about it in a week. Right? It wasn’t that big of a deal.

SPOTTED: Kaz Brekker and Inej Ghafa at Bloemen! A couple? Or just a pair of friends? - May 10, 2023

@TheKazBrekker follows @ItsInejGhafa

Because she was polite, she washed and dried his jacket, as instructed on the label. It was an old H&M piece, much to her surprise. Nina had given it confused glances every time she came over and it hadn’t moved from its spot near the front door. Thankfully, she never voiced the question. For some reason, Inej didn’t explain. She thought she would’ve forgotten about the whole encounter by now, but now she wanted to know why the hell he wore H&M when he had more than enough money to get something nicer. Or why he gave it to her when he had no reason to. Inej wanted to personally give him back his jacket. But then she thought about Nina’s comments about him being “into” her. Was she right? If she was, would it be weird to go find him? What if he thought she was into him? He wasn’t even her type! He had tattoos peeking from his short sleeves, an uneven haircut, and questionable fashion sense. She went for the tender-looking types. Then again, she hadn’t ever been in a serious relationship, so maybe she was just bad at picking people.

The morning of her acrobatics class, her curiosity won and made her thumbs swipe across her phone. A simple DM, asking when and where she could give him the jacket back. It felt so ridiculously high school and it left her feeling embarrassed for all of five minutes, until he replied. He was going to the gym, coincidentally the one just down the street from hers.

Big sunglasses and a purple cap obscured her face, long hair pulled into a loose ponytail at the nape of her neck. The heat was unbearable today, heightened by the fact that she was outside, leaning against his gym complex, waiting on him. Didn’t he say nine? Where was he? She was about to give up and leave when he turned around the corner. He was almost as sweaty as her, wearing a long sleeved shirt with sweats. His cane was gone, but she could see he had a brace on his bad leg. He was limping a bit as he approached. His face was blank, he almost looked like he was scowling, but it was quickly replaced with a small smile as he reached her.

“Hi," he said, slightly out of breath.

“Here. Thank you for letting us borrow it.” She said quickly, holding out the jacket.

“Thanks.” He muttered before his brows furrowed, he brought the jacket closer to his face and shot her a curious look. “Do I smell jasmine?”

“Oh,” Inej laughed. “I washed it. It got all messed up by the rain, sorry.”

“No, it’s fine.” He looked at her, pausing again before adding: “Do all your clothes smell like jasmine?”

She scoffed, who asks a question like that? She rolled her eyes and pointed in the direction of her gym. “My class is starting. Have a good workout.”

Right as she was leaving, he called out for her. “Woah! Hold on,” Doing his best to match her pace, he followed her down the crosswalk. “What was that?”

“What was what?” she asked, not turning to face him.

“What did I say?” He asked, as if he doesn't realize how it sounds to ask someone what their clothes smell like.

“You do realize that if a girl doesn’t react to your flirting, she’s not interested, right?”

He blinked “You thought I was flirting?” and huh. Maybe he really didn't realize how weird that question was. She paused in front of the door to her gym and turned around.

“Weren’t you?” When he didn’t respond, she rolled her eyes and continued. “Look, I’m grateful you let us borrow your jacket, but I need to get going. So, goodbye."

---

SPOTTED: Kaz Brekker and Inej Ghafa taking a romantic walk together after workout! - May 19, 2023

SEEN IN PUBLIC! IS A NEW COUPLE ARISING FROM THE SHADOWS?! - May 18, 2023

Inej Ghafa and Kaz Brekker partnership CONFIRMED? - May 18, 2023

MODERN LOVE STORY: FAMOUS ILLUSIONIST AND RESERVED ACROBAT! HERE'S WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR - May 20, 2023

---

“Nina!” A frantic Inej exclaimed as her friend answered the phone “Nina! What the hell? Why haven’t these rumors been denied?”

For a full week now, news outlets have been flooded with baseless rumors and theories about her and Kaz. After they were photographed at Bloemen and the gym, people have been trying to puzzle the pieces together, despite the fact that there was no puzzle to figure out. Some thought they were working on a performance together, some thought they were friends, and some thought they were dating. It was all a mess.

“I already talked to his PR agent, we're handling it,” Nina assured her. “Just lay low and don't make any official statements until we figure out what to do."

And she did. She hardly went to the studio that week, not wanting to risk anyone coming up and asking her questions about the "breaking news," and if she ever felt like looking up more about Kaz other than a simple swipe across his Instagram, she’d deny it. The less they interacted with each other, the better. But eventually, Inej’s patience ran thin. Enough was enough, she couldn’t keep doing this.

“I know you hate hearing this, but you need to calm down.” Nina said in a calm voice. Inej could hear her searching for her keys in the background. "Im gonna send you an adress, meet me there, okay? We've got a meeting with Brekker and his agent. Haskell thinks he has a solution." Inej sighed and did as she was told. The building was in one of the quieter areas of Ketterdam, a tall building with a brick exterior. It was definitely old, but it didn't look bad. The sign on the door read "the Silver Six Exchange," odd name, she thought. She saw Nina's car park a moment later, and the two women walked into the building and Nina led her up the stairs to what looked like a conference room. It was a spacious room, with a large wooden table with multiple chairs scattered around it. There was a large window on the wall opposite to the door, and a large TV mounted to one of the walls. It felt way more modern than the outside of the building would have suggested. Next to the TV stood an older man who looked to be about fifty years old. His hair and beard both turning gray, and his face littered with wrinkles. He wore a wrinkled white button up with a gray jacket and slacks. In one of the chairs, was the second man from Bloemen, his name was Jesper, if she remembered correctly. His outfit was just as colorful as it was then. He stuck out like a sore thumb, but not in a bad way. Next to him was Kaz. He was wearing a black button up and jeans. One leg was stretched out in front of him while his cane leaned against the table. It was fancier than she remembered, although she hadn't been paying much attention earlier. His face gave away nothing, just a blank expression being displayed as he fiddled with a pen. Great. She's been annoyed for a week trying to deal with the rumors, and he isn't even paying attention.

He caught her eye as she sat in the empty chair next to him. Did he know what they were doing here? Her mouth opened, ready to ask more questions, when the older man motioned for Nina to join him in front of them.

“Thanks for joining us, Inej,” the man said, turning to face her. She gave a polite smile and turned to Nina, who smiled in return.

“I want to thank both of you for not responding to any of the rumors” he began. “I know it must’ve been frustrating.”

Kaz scoffed “The point, Haskell? I didn’t come down here for a thank you speech that could've been an email. This better be a damn good solution if you couldn't fill me in on this before now."So Kaz didn't know what was happening here, either? She didn't know if that should make her feel better or worse.

The man - Haskell- grinned as he spoke “I have an idea. It’s very 2000s, but I think it’ll pay off wonderfully.”

"And, before he says anything-" Nina started, looking at Inej. "I want you to know that, while I know you'll have objections to it at first, I really think it could benefit the both of you. So please, keep an open mind." She finished, and Inej was suddenly overwhelmed with a sense of dread. What the hell were they planning? She was pulled from her thoughts when Haskell spoke again.

“Inej, as you know, your former manager and studio owner's arrest has severely damaged the public's image of you. There's hardly been any talk of your new performances, or any of your new milestones career wise” And then he looked at Kaz. “And you’ve been messing with the Dregs image because of your attitude and very poor decision making skills.”

“Uh,” she stammered, flustered that Haskell just casually aired out the problems both of their careers had. The other thing struck her too. She had no idea the Dregs were doing poorly in the media. Kaz’s face changed. He was definitely scowling now.

“People talked about you two, and it guided them into conversations about your current careers and endeavors, instead of past misfortunes, and it seems to be benefiting both of you so far,” Haskell leaned against the table as he continued. "So, as agents and managers of your public image, we've been thinking and… we want you guys to fake a relationship for the press.”

A moment of silence followed, all of them shocked, and then Jesper broke the silence, a loud laugh coming from him as he leaned over. Inej wanted to join him, this was ridiculous. Haskell was joking, right? Fake dating? But then she noticed no one else was laughing. Her heart stopped short, he was serious. She couldn't believe it! Then, Kaz finally spoke.

“Absolutely not. There's no way in hell I'm doing that." He rasped, a scowl still plastered on his face.

“Besides, there's no way they'd believe that! We’ve spoken twice. Can’t we just deny the rumors and move on with our lives?”

“Agreed,” added Kaz.

“It's not that simple. They already believe it, there's articles and posts circling the internet already. People love a good story. People love love. They don’t care if it’s real or not. They want to see a fairytale come to life.” Nina said, sitting across the table from them. "You know as well as I do, that even if you do deny it, people will still think it's true. You might as well use that to your advantage. People are talking about both of your careers, instead of talking about what's happened in your personal lives"

“That doesn’t make sense,” she said. “How’re they talking about our careers if our supposed ‘relationship’ is what interests them?”

Haskell just shrugged. “Sometimes, you just have lightning in a bottle.”

Her mind was failing to catch up, the urge to yell ‘wait!’ at the tip of her tongue. She didn’t like big decisions like these to be sprung upon her. Fake dating for the sake of promoting one another was absolutely insane and, frankly, a little degrading. Maybe people do love a story, but this wasn’t one. This was her life, not some director's storyboard. And if anyone found out, their image would be even worse than before. But if it worked…

She couldn't believe she was even entertaining the idea, but what Haskell said wasn't totally false. Each time she snooped online, checking what they were saying, it was speculation about their status and their performances. Whether some of his newer shows would feature her, or if one of her dances would be about him. People started digging up older shows, wondering if one of them was there and they met that way. As much as she hated it, Haskell's idea made sense.

“I don’t know…” she muttered. “It sounds… messy.”

“You think?" Kaz snarked "This is fucking ridiculous. I shouldn't have to pretend to date some random performer because reporters can't mind their fucking business."

Haskell remained unfazed at Kaz's outburst, looking at him pointedly. "Well, unfortunately, people don't mind their own business. And neither do you, which, if you recall, is how you got into this mess. You got too confident in your…" He paused, as if trying to figure out the right words. "ethically questionable endeavors, and people are pissed. If you're seen in a healthy relationship with someone with a clean track record, your reputation could be restored."

That shut him up. Inej watched on, surprised, how Kaz’s jaw snapped shut. Before he could retort, Inej spoke up.

“Hypothetically,” she said, all eyes drawn to her. A slow smile crawled on Haskell ’s lips. “What would that mean? For us to fake a relationship?”

Kaz blinked. "You aren't seriously considering this, are you?" He asked. She ignored him. Haskell stood up straight and answered her previous question.

“Me and Mrs.Zenik would set up dates for the two of you. Simple ones. Dinners, walks, movies - anything where you can be spotted. When you’re asked about your relationship, you’ll say you’re together. Most importantly, you’ll support and promote each other’s careers. Kaz would promote Inej whenever she performs, and Inej would do the same for Kaz whenever the Dregs perform.”

“Fucking hell," Kaz groaned, leaning into the table. Jesper was still smiling widely. At least someone is getting a kick out of this. He drummed his hands against the table before speaking for the first time since she got there.

"Well, I personally think this is a fantastic idea! Maybe Kazzie here can learn how to be a sociable human being during this little experiment," Jesper jokes, grinning even more as Kaz shot him a glare. Inej sighed.

"If we do this-"

"What?" Kaz exclaimed, as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"I'm sorry, if you want people to keep talking about some guy you blackmailed as a teen, go ahead. But I'd like my career back."

"Ohh, I'm sensing a bit of bitterness," Jesper jokes, getting met with another glare from both Kaz and Inej.

" If we do this, I want to make sure it's not for nothing. I want my career to be able to sustain itself, even when the public thinks our 'relationship' is over." She said, crossing her arms in front of her. Haskell and Nina smiled, Kaz on the other hand, was looking at her as if she grew three heads and killed his grandma.

"Does this mean you're on board?" Nina asked, sliding an envelope and a pen her way. Inej assumed there was a contract of sorts inside. She sighed and took it.

"I'm in if you are," she said, glancing at Kaz, who was still looking at her with the most confused look on his face. He sputtered before turning towards Haskell, who was already glaring at him.

"Jesus Christ, fine! But if this blows up, I'll be firing you," he said pointedly to him. Haskell held his hands up in mock surrender as Nina gave him an envelope as well. They opened them up and looked through the papers, but Inej was fairly sure she was the only one actually reading anything. Kaz looked like he was just checking to see they had words before moving on. The second he signed his, Jesper leaped to grab it and read through it himself, giggling to himself and making little comments when he got to certain parts. She finished reading her copy before signing it and handing it to Nina. It had all been pretty standard stuff: Don't tell anyone about the arrangement, go on the dates arranged, make at least a small effort to be seen together in public every once in a while. Nothing too terrible. Haskell thanked them and said they were free to go. Thank god. She stood up and quickly left the room, heading down the stairs and to the parking lot. She should go home, but she needed to catch her breath, take a minute to process what just happened. She walked a few feet and turned into an alley behind the building to take a break. Is she really doing this? She's only spoken to this guy three times, and now she's supposed to be dating him? How the hell was she going to pull this off? She was starting to spiral, thinking of all the reasons this was a bad idea, thinking of what could happen if they messed up. She stayed like that for a long while before she was pulled out of her thoughts by a loud thunk . Her head snapped up, and she had to resist the urge to roll her eyes when she saw Kaz standing there, leaning against the wall opposite to her.

"What're you doing here?" She asked, tucking her hair behind her ears.

"I own the building," He said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "What are you doing here? Everyone else left an hour ago." an hour? Has she really been sitting there that long?

"I just needed to take a break, clear my head."

"Yeah, I get it," he scoffed, lighting a cigarette and bringing it to his mouth.

"I can't believe we have to do this."

"You think I like it any more than you do? I don't. I've said a total of, what? 20 words to you? The last thing I wanted was to be stuck in some shitty PR stunt."

"Well we already agreed to it, so there's no use in complaining. We just have to figure out where to go from here," her tone was more annoyed than usual, but who could blame her? Her whole day had just gone to hell. Kaz just shrugged and took another hit of his cigarette.

"Haskell wants us to come up with a list of days we'd be free to go on our first public 'date' and send it to him and Nina by the end of the week."

"Alright, well I'm free pretty much every Tuesday and Thursday, so that's easy."

"Not me, I've got… stuff on Tuesday's," He said, looking away. Was he… embarrassed?

"Really? Like what? You got an Illusions 101 class somewhere?" She joked, trying to lighten the mood.

"Don't be ridiculous, the only thing I'd get out of a class like that is teaching experience," He smiled, and she found herself smiling as well "But no, I just- I've got some doctor's appointments on Tuesday's."

"Oh, like physical therapy? For the leg?" She guessed.

"Not exactly. It's um, a therapist, actually. I've been working on some stuff, you know?" And this time, his voice was quieter, softer, even. It surprised her.

"Really? You don't seem like the mental health type," she said, because honestly, he looked like the kind of guy that just bottles things up and broods 24/7

"What's that supposed to mean?" He asked defensively. Shit. She shouldn't have said that.

"Nothing! I just, you seem- nevermind. I didn't mean anything by it"

"Clearly"

"No, really, I didn't. You're not alone here, you know? I have a therapist, too," she told him. It wasn't a lie, she goes to therapy twice a month. It helped her overcome a lot of her demons.

"I'd take a guess what for, but I think that might be insensitive," He said bitterly. She gave him a tentative smile.

"You can say it. It's been all over the news for a while. I don't expect you to not know about it. She's gone now. The arrest was a good thing. She'll be held accountable for…well, you know," her voice trailed off. She thought she could talk about it without breaking down, stupid, really. She should've known better. She was making a fool of herself.

"You don't- you don't need to tell me. It's not my business," she heard him say softly, putting his cigarette out against the brick of the building. "But, if it helps at all, I haven't read the articles. I've seen parts of reports and headlines, but that's all. I don't know what happened to you, but I don't need to know, either. And if you don't trust me to know, then we can leave it at that, okay?" She smiled and wiped her eyes, not even realizing the tears had begun to well up until she felt the water on her hands.

"Thank you, it's nice to be able to talk to someone without the pity," she said. And from the look that appeared on his face, she guessed he knew how she felt.

"It's not a problem, and um, I feel like maybe I should apologize. About the other day," He started.

"You want to be a little more specific?"

"I'm not great at talking to people, if you haven't noticed by now. I'm working on it, but I'm still not great. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable, I was just trying to make conversation."

"By asking about how my clothes smell?" She asked, a playful look on her face. He rolled his eyes at her.

"It was the first question I thought of, alright? Give me a break," she laughed at that, louder than she probably should have, but it felt nice to be able to relax a little after the day she'd had. He was looking at her fondly as they both searched for the words to say. Finally, she spoke.

"Can we start over? You know, clean slate?" she asked, he made a face.

"If you're wanting me to shake your hand and reintroduce myself like some coming of age movie, I'm going to have to disappoint you."

"Oh, god no. Just, don't let these first few unfortunate interactions shape our opinions of each other, deal?" She asked, before mockingly sticking her hand out to him. He laughed and shook it.

"Deal"

Maybe this whole 'relationship' stunt wouldn't be totally insufferable after all.

Chapter 2 Chapter Text

MAY

TMZ: DREGS HEAD ILLUSIONIST KAZ BREKKER'S PAST CRIMINAL RECORD REVEALED - May 9, 2023

“I can't believe I keep letting you drag me to this place,” Kaz moaned, trailing after Jesper and the waiter leading them to their table, “Breadsticks are shit here.”

“Yes, Kaz. Please drag the restaurant even louder. I don’t think the entire kitchen staff can hear you from over here,” Jesper jokes, taking a seat at the table.

“Come on, Jesper. Just because its fancy doesn't make it good.”

“Not every place can be the Crow Club, Kaz. And the food isn't bad at all! You just hate going out to places you don't own.”

This brought a smile to Kaz's face. It had been a minute since they actually ate at the Crow Club. They'd all been so busy lately, with everything going on. Kaz had bought the club shortly after he started getting big in his career. He purchased it under an alias, so he wouldn't have to deal with people swarming it to see the Dregs. It was a decently sized establishment, with fancy furniture and sleek wooden floors. It had a large bar, along with tables to gamble or eat at. It took a lot of work, but now, it was making him a lot of money.

Once the waiter made off with their order, Jesper leaned forward, hands folded, getting down to business.

“‘Kay, since we missed you this morning because of…?”

“Got caught up at church?” Kaz offered sarcastically.

“‘Church?,” Jesper deadpanned, "C'mon, we both know you're a better liar than that. What's up?" He wanted to talk to Jesper, he really did. But as much as he wanted to, he still sucked at it. Therapy had been going well, sure. His therapist was a nice woman, and she really has tried to help him make some progress, but it was tiring.

“It's not a big deal, just an appointment downtown," Kaz muttered, taking a bite of one of the breadsticks. Jesper looked at him, curiously.

"With Dr.Danglas? Really? How'd it go?" Jesper asked, trying to conceal his smile. It wasn't working, he was grinning like an idiot, but Kaz appreciated the attempt.

"Yes, with Dr.Danglas. It was… good, I guess. I've been going for a few months. She's not bad," he said, avoiding eye contact. Jesper had been the one to recommend therapy to him, all those years ago. And after years of suggesting it, Kaz decided to give it a go. Jesper smiled at him, before throwing a ripped off piece of bread at him from across the table.

"Man, I'm so proud of you! Look at you! This is great! I'm glad you like it so far!" Jesper said. Kaz rolled his eyes, but smiled slightly. He hates talking about himself and his feelings, but it was easier with Jesper, and he was trying to do better.

"Yeah, yeah. Enough about me, please. What about you? What was so important that you couldn't tell me over the phone?"

"Oh! Right! Okay, so I've been thinking and… I think I'm gonna propose to Wylan," Jesper said excitedly. Kaz's eyes widened.

"Holy shit, are you fucking serious?" Kaz asked, a shocked, but happy expression gracing his face. Jesper nodded eagerly, and Kaz nearly launched himself over the table.

"Well congratulations! That's amazing, Jes, really," Kaz said, still smiling. It felt good to let his walls down like this.

“Anika bet me you’d flip the table,” Jesper chuckled, moving back to the basket of breadsticks.

"Well, as long as you don't piss me off before we leave, Anika's going to lose that bet," Kaz jokes with a smile, looking around the restaurant. "Where's the waiter? We should get drinks for this."

“Slow down! I haven’t even popped the question yet! There's no celebration drinks until he says yes.”

“Okay, so when are you asking?" Kaz asked.

“Soon,” Jesper replied. Kaz cocked an eyebrow at him.

"'Soon' as in soon, or 'soon' as it 'I have no idea what I'm doing, but hopefully before I die of old age'" he asked. Jesper groaned.

“Hey! I will. I swear I will. I just have to plan it all out, make sure it's perfect, alright?"

“Alright, alright,” he appeased, noting how serious Jesper was. It was almost unsettling, seeing Jesper so dead set on making this lifelong choice. He couldn’t imagine the Jesper he met in high school being like this. But then again, if anyone told high school Kaz he'd be going to (and enjoying) therapy, he'd probably break their arm. Oh, how they'd grown, he thought.

“Call me when you do, and then, we will celebrate properly.” Kaz scoped the area, ready to flag down the nearest waiter for the biggest bottle of whatever for them to split because this was still an occasion. He marked one coming down the aisle bearing martinis to a table near the window. He looked over, when one of the girls sitting there let out a loud laugh that she quickly muffled by throwing her hand over her mouth. She was wearing a dark purple top, with a pair of black leather pants. Her long, dark hair in a tight braid over her shoulder. He could hear Jesper hum curiously from his seat, obviously catching his friend looking.

"Got something to share with the class, Kazzie?" He joked, raising his brows at him.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Kaz said, taking a drink of his water.

“Uh-huh,” Jesper hummed, “Then why are you still looking?”

"I'm not," He averted his gaze, giving Jesper a pointed look. His friends just smiled more.

"You know you could totally go talk to her, right? Instead of staring at her like a weirdo,"

"This coming from the guy who waited a year before asking Wylan to go on a date?"

"That’s not the point at all!" Jesper exclaimed, not wanting to remember his high school years of pinning again. They dropped that subject as soon as the food arrived, opting to swap ideas on how to propose to Jesper’s demolition expert boyfriend. They came up with a few good ones, along with a few that were, well, not so great. This was definitely going to be an ongoing discussion.

Halfway through dinner, after glancing back to the window table a few times, he was able to recognize the girl as Inej Ghafa, the famed acrobat and dancer. She’d been all over the news these past few months. He wasn't totally sure why. He knew it had something to do with her old manager getting arrested, accusations of abuse, if he remembers correctly. But he never looked into it more than a glance at the headlines that popped up on his phone. It wasn't his business, and he didn't need to know. He knew what that was like, having the worst thing that's happened to you be broadcasted to the world. It happened to him, granted, he was much younger. It got to the point he eventually changed his name to avoid it. Maybe she'll get lucky and the buzz will die down before it gets worse.

Their night came to a close hours later, and he saw Inej and her friend standing at the coat check. He thought about his conversation with Dr.Danglas, about letting himself branch out socially. He thought about Jesper’s comment earlier, about going to talk to her. Maybe he should, it could be nice. Besides, he’s done far more dangerous things than this, surely he could handle it. He glanced to Jesper, who was already looking at him with a knowing look, and he decided to get up.

She sure was something else up close, and again Kaz had been hit with a moment of ‘should I?’. But with both Dr.Danglas' and Jesper’s words echoing in his head, he continued. The two women were trying to figure out how to get to their car when he spoke up.

"Hey," he started, his voice a little quieter than he hoped, but they seemed to hear him fine as they turned to face him. He made eye contact with the girl, she was much shorter than him, with dark brown eyes and smooth skin. The woman next to her was taller, but still not quite his height, with brunette hair falling over her shoulders. She was the first of the two to speak.

"Hi," she greeted, giving him a polite smile.

"You can use my jacket as an umbrella if you want," he said, moving to take it off. The brunette smiled widely while Inej looked at him oddly.

"What?" she asked. He smiled and shrugged. God, he was really bad at this.

"Give it back some other time," he said, before smacking himself internally. How the hell is she supposed to do that? He thought, she doesn't know you . "Inej Ghafa, right? The dancer?" He asked, as if that was supposed to make this interaction less weird.

"Uh, yeah. Sorry, I don’t think we’ve met before. You're Kaz Brekker, right?" She asked, a polite smile on her face as she shook his hand. At least she knows who he is, so he doesn't look like a total weirdo.

"Yeah," he said, before motioning to Jesper behind him. "This is Jesper, also from the Dregs."

"Hey there, ladies," Jesper said, winking before turning to him. "I hate to interrupt, Kaz, but we have to go."

"Don't worry, unlike you, I know how to get there on time," Kaz jokes, shrugging off his jacket and handing it to the girls.

"I'm Nina, by the way," said the friend, taking the jacket from him and spreading it wide. "Nice to meet you all. Anyway, 'Nej, let's go," she said, nodding to the door before adding a quiet "Unless…"

"Nope, let's go" Inej retorted, turning back to face him. "I'll uh- I'll make sure this gets back to you, okay?" And then she turned to leave. The second the two were out the door, he felt a light smack on his arm. He looked back to see Jesper grinning again and rolled his eyes, although he knew he was smiling with him.

They left the restaurant and walked out to Kaz's car, thankfully, it was a short walk thanks to the handicap spots so close to the door. They got in, only moderately damp, and drove to their condo complex.

"So…" Jesper started, kicking his feet up. "Inej was pretty, huh?" Kaz furrowed his brows and glanced at him.

"Get your feet off the dash, I don't want mud on my car," he said, swatting at his feet. "And sure, I guess. Why?"

"Just wondering if that might have anything to do with your sudden act of kindness. I can't even get you to hold a door open for me," he said slyly.

"It's nothing like that, I'm trying to be more sociable. Dr.Danglas said I needed to start trying to have conversations with people I don't know."

"Ah, so that whole exchange was just therapy homework then?"

"Yeah, I guess." Jesper hummed at him, clearly doubting him, but he let it slide. He pulled into his parking spot and they made their way up the stairs. The pair lived a few doors down from each other, along with some other friends and acquaintances like Anika and Rotty. The Slat condos were a decent size, nothing to fancy, but not super small either. The building was only three floors, with Kaz and Jesper living on the third. The stairs could be a pain for his leg sometimes, especially when it gets cold, but he prefers living on the top floor. Less people walk past his home trying to get to theirs.

He said bye to Jesper and unlocked his door, walking into the living room and sitting on his couch. He stretched out his leg as much as he could, slowly pressing on the tired muscles. He waited a while before opting to switch over to his leg brace. He typically used his cane, as it provides much more relief, but it was a pain to try and move around with it in smaller spaces, and sometimes, he liked to have both hands free. He switched on the TV, mindlessly flipping through channels until he found something he deemed acceptable background noise, and pulled out his phone.

He hesitated a second before opening instagram and searching for Inej's page. He scrolled through it for a while, admiring the photos she posted. There were all sorts of pictures, some of her, some of her friends and family, and a lot of promo posts for her shows. There were videos of her performing and rehearsing as well. He scrolled through and watched as she danced gracefully across the stage, then watching as she climbed the aerial silks, twisting and moving so that when she let go and started to fall, she would stop just before hitting the ground, earning her loud cheers from the crowd. There were all sorts of videos, even one of her walking a high wire, which he had to admit, made him feel the need to hold his breath. He hadn't even noticed how much time he'd spent watching her until he heard the intro to the eleven pm news.

He turned off his phone and plugged it in next to his bed. He knew he wouldn't be seeing her again. Hell, if it wasn't for his memory, he'd probably forget about the encounter within the week. But for now, he just wanted to focus on the good. Maybe he could go to her next performance, whenever it is. She definitely intrigued him. His thoughts tampered off and he drifted asleep, he had a good day, maybe he'd start having more.

----------

Maybe he was wrong.

The day started out good, he supposed. He’d woken up to a message from Inej asking when and where she could return his jacket. To be honest, he never expected to get that jacket back, so it was a bit of a surprise. He told her where to meet him and went on his way. The conversation was going decently well, he supposed, but he’s always been bad at small talk. He never understood it. And then she’d told him she wasn’t interested in his ‘flirting’ which definitely took him by surprise. Was that flirting? Can you accidentally flirt with someone? Is that a thing? Is that what he did? He really needed to get better at social interactions. He finished his workout and headed back to his condo. Maybe if Jesper was home, he could ask him about the Inej incident.

---

“Come again?” Jesper said, looking at Kaz like he grew a second head.

“Is it possible to accidentally hit on somebody?” He asked, sitting on the barstool across from Jesper.

“Is this like, a hypothetical? Or did you hit on somebody?”

“Just answer the question.”

“Well, what did you say? Because it really just depends on what you said.”

“So it is possible, then?” He didn't need a lecture, just an answer to the question.

“I mean, yeah, probably.”

“Alright, then. Follow up question: Is asking how someone's clothes smell flirting?” Jesper spit out his drink.

“I’m sorry? Why would you- how did- what?”

“Are you allergic to answering questions today?”

“Yes, that is absolutely flirty. In what universe is that not flirting?”

“Well it's not like I have a lot of experience here, how was I supposed to know?”

“Who were you talking to for that to come up in conversation?”

“Inej from Bloemen,” Kaz shrugged. Jesper nearly spit out his drink again.

“Are you fucking kidding? Why wouldn’t you lead with that?” He exclaimed, shooting Kaz the most exasperated look. Kaz just shrugged again.

“I didn’t think that was relevant.”

“Of course it’s relevant! You- dude! I cannot believe you!”

“If you could try and have a little more faith in my ability to have human interactions, that would be greatly appreciated.”

“Can you blame me? We went to starbucks and you told the barista your name was 'fuck off' when she asked for your name.”

“That was forever ago”

“That was last month”

“Stop holding on to the past.”

“Are you- nevermind, did you at least get the basics covered before the ‘how do you smell’ disaster?”

“What basics?”

“You know, ‘thanks for returning this, it's great to see you again, hope to see you around sometime’? Did any of those words leave your mouth?”

“I mean, I'm sure I said ‘you’ at some point.”

“Oh for the love of god. How did you manage to ask how she smells before saying thank you?”

“Have you met me? Because if you have, you know why that's a ridiculous question.”

“Fair point. But I mean, it's not like you’re gonna see her again, so at least you’ve got that going for you.”

-----

KAZ BREKKER AND INEJ GHAFA? The couple nobody saw coming

New Dregs + Ghafa Collab Performance In the Works?

Kaz Brekker and Inej Ghafa Seen Walking Down Sunny Boulevard

“Haskell what the fuck? Why in the hell have these rumors not been put to bed already?”

“I’m in contact with Miss Ghafa’s agent, we’re discussing possible solutions right now.”

“And why is that? The only ‘possible solution’ is denying them. Why the hell are we having this conversation?”

“Brekker, I hate to break it to you, but you hired me specifically to maintain your image. I’ll let you know what steps we decide to take.”

“Excuse me?”

“Just lay low for a bit, we’ll meet Ghafa and her agent at the Six to discuss next steps.” The phone clicked as Haskell hung up, and Kaz wanted to scream. Where the hell did he get off, telling him to ‘lay low’ while they ‘discuss next steps’? Like he wasn’t the one signing his paychecks. He was about to go to the press himself to dampen the rumors before Jesper opened his door and let himself in.

“I know you’re upset,” Jesper started.

“What the hell are you doing here?” He shouted, Jesper too? Seriously? What is wrong with these people?

“I got a rather urgent text from Haskell. He told me to calm you down and make sure you get to the Six when you’re supposed to be,” he said. Kaz scoffed at him.

“This is ridiculous. We should just call some reporter and tell them to fuck off with all this ‘dating’ nonsense,” he said, sitting down and angrily chucking a pillow across the room.

“I’m sure Haskell has it covered, he hasn’t screwed us over so far,” Jesper said, slowly making his way toward Kaz.

“I don’t care, I should know what the hell he’s planning on doing by now.”

“Look, I’ll come with you, okay? Maybe it’ll all work itself out. What’s the worst that could happen?” Jesper asked, grabbing two beers from the fridge. Kaz took one and nearly downed it in one go. Maybe Jesper was right, it couldn't be too bad, right?

---

“We want you to fake a relationship for the press,” Haskell said. Kaz stared at him, what the hell? This was their grand idea? To have him and some girl pretend to date for publicity? How the hell did they think that would work? It’s the most idiotic idea ever! He was so shocked, he felt like he couldn’t speak. Unfortunately, Jesper did not have that problem. He burst into hysterical laughter, nearly doubling over in his chair.

“I'm sorry, I’m sorry, I can’t. This is fantastic” Jesper said between fits of giggles. Kaz glared at him. How could he find this funny? There’s no way this works. He’d never been in a relationship with anyone, and now he’s supposed to be in one with a stranger he accidentally made a pass at? Seriously? How is this their best option?

“Absolutely not. There’s no way in hell I’m doing that,” he finally said, because really, there’s no way he’s doing this.

“Besides, there's no way they'd believe that! We’ve spoken twice. Can’t we just deny the rumors and move on with our lives?” Inej asked. Kaz agreed with her before turning back to face Haskell. Why were they making this a big production? Just deny everything and move on.

“It's not that simple. They already believe it, there's articles and posts circling the internet already. People love a good story. People love love. They don’t care if it’s real or not. They want to see a fairytale come to life.” Nina said, sitting across the table from them. "You know as well as I do, that even if you do deny it, people will still think it's true. You might as well use that to your advantage. People are talking about both of your careers, instead of talking about what's happened in your personal lives"

“That doesn’t make sense,” Inej said. “How’re they talking about our careers if our supposed ‘relationship’ is what interests them?”

Haskell just shrugged. “Sometimes, you just have lightning in a bottle.” God, Kaz could punch him. He didn’t like big decisions like these to be sprung upon him, especially bullshit like this. Maybe people do love a story, but this wasn’t one. He might be a performer, but that doesn’t mean his whole life should be a performance for other people to watch.

“I don’t know…” Inej mutteres. “It sounds… messy.”

“You think?" Kaz snarked "This is fucking ridiculous. I shouldn't have to pretend to date some random performer because reporters can't mind their fucking business."

Haskell remained unfazed at the outburst, looking at him pointedly. "Well, unfortunately, people don't mind their own business. And neither do you, which, if you recall, is how you got into this mess. You got too confident in your…" He paused, as if trying to figure out the right words. "ethically questionable endeavors, and people are pissed. If you're seen in a healthy relationship with someone with a clean track record, your reputation could be restored."

“Hypothetically,” Inej said, all eyes drawn to her. A slow smile crawled on Haskell ’s lips. “What would that mean? For us to fake a relationship?”

Kaz blinked. "You aren't seriously considering this, are you?" He asked. She ignored him. Haskell stood up straight and answered her previous question.

“Fucking hell," Kaz groaned, leaning into the table. How could she seriously be considering this? This is one of the worst ideas ever!

"If we do this-"

"What?" Kaz exclaimed, was he seriously the only one with any sense left?

"I'm sorry, if you want people to keep talking about some guy you blackmailed as a teen, go ahead. But I'd like my career back."

"Ohh, I'm sensing a bit of bitterness," Jesper jokes, getting met with another glare from both Kaz and Inej.

"If we do this, I want to make sure it's not for nothing. I want my career to be able to sustain itself, even when the public thinks our 'relationship' is over." She said, crossing her arms in front of her. Haskell and Nina smiled, Kaz on the other hand, was glaring at her. How in the hell could she think this is a good idea? This is a terrible idea!

"Does this mean you're on board?" Nina asked, sliding an envelope and a pen her way, probably containing a contract. She sighed and took it.

"I'm in if you are," she said, glancing at Kaz. He sputtered before turning towards Haskell, who was already glaring at him.

"Jesus Christ, fine! But if this blows up, I'll be firing you," he said pointedly to him. Haskell held his hands up in mock surrender as Nina gave him an envelope as well. He flipped through it quickly, thankful for his photographic memory. It made it easy to read through things quickly. He got to the end and signed it, after ensuring nothing too crazy was written. The second he set it down, Jesper leapt at the opportunity to grab it, reading through the whole thing and making sly remarks at what this “relationship” entailed. Unbelievable. He's laughing at this bullshit.

He zoned out for the rest of the meeting, waiting until everyone else left to think about the whole ordeal. How could he have agreed to this? He'd absolutely be discussing this with his therapist. This was all so much, he didn't even know where to begin. God, he needed a cigarette. It was a nasty habit, he knew it was. Jesper was under the impression he'd quit, and he tried to, he did. But sometimes he needed a break. He walked outside and turned down the alley, expecting to find it empty. To his shock, it wasn't. Inej was leaning against the wall lost in thought. He hit his cane against the dumpster, pulling her attention to him.

"What're you doing here?" she asked, tucking stray bits of hair behind her ears.

"I own the building," he answers, pulling out a pack of cigarettes. "What are you doing here? Everyone else left an hour ago."

"I just needed a break, clear my head," she answered.

"Yeah, I get that," he muttered, inhaling some of the cigarette.

"I can't believe we have to do this."

"You think I like it any more than you do? I don't. I've said a total of, what? 20 words to you? The last thing I wanted was to be stuck in some shitty PR stunt." He said, his tone was agitated, he knew it was, and maybe that was unfair to her, but come on. It's not like either of them were having the greatest day so far.

"Well we already agreed to it, so there's no use in complaining. We just have to figure out where to go from here," her tone was more annoyed than it had been previously, so either she felt the same way he did, or he was really being an asshole right now. He took another hit of his cigarette before continuing.

"Haskell wants us to come up with a list of days we'd be free to go on our first public 'date' and send it to him and Nina by the end of the week."

"Alright, well I'm free pretty much every Tuesday and Thursday, so that's easy."

"Not me, I've got… stuff on Tuesday's," He said, looking away. He hadn't told anyone but Jesper about Dr.Danglas. He knew it wasn't anything to be embarrassed about, but emotional vulnerability was still really new to him.

"Really? Like what? You got an Illusions 101 class somewhere?" She joked, trying to lighten the mood. He smiled a bit at that.

"Don't be ridiculous, the only thing I'd get out of a class like that is teaching experience," He joked back, trying to figure out how to say this. "But no, I just- I've got some doctor's appointments on Tuesday's."

"Oh, like physical therapy? For the leg?" She guessed. Fair enough, but he hadn't gone to physical therapy since he broke the damn thing nearly a decade ago.

"Not exactly. It's um, a therapist, actually. I've been working on some stuff, you know?" He said quietly. He wasn't sure if this was normal to talk about with strangers, but if they were going to be 'dating' for the foreseeable future, she should probably know some things about him, right?

"Really? You don't seem like the mental health type," she said, and he felt himself getting defensive. What the hell does that mean?

"What's that supposed to mean?" He asked. It came out rudely, like an accusation. But he found he didn't care. He always operates like this, it's easier, safer.

"Nothing! I just, you seem- nevermind. I didn't mean anything by it"

"Clearly"

"No, really, I didn't. You're not alone here, you know? I have a therapist, too," she told him. He looked at her, a questioning look on his face. Of course she does, it makes sense. But for some reason, he hadn't considered that she would too.

"I'd take a guess what for, but I think that might be insensitive," He said, half joking, half serious. She gave him a tentative smile.

"You can say it. It's been all over the news for a while. I don't expect you to not know about it. She's gone now. The arrest was a good thing. She'll be held accountable for…well, you know," her voice trailed off. She looked smaller than before, like she was scared. It hurt more than he thought it would. Was she okay? Was she uncomfortable? He thought about how Jesper had acted when he was talking to him about his past, and tried to show that same understanding as he spoke.

"You don't- you don't need to tell me. It's not my business," He said, as softly as he could manage, putting his cigarette out against the brick of the building. "But, if it helps at all, I haven't read the articles. I've seen parts of reports and headlines, but that's all," And it was true. He didn't tend to dig into people's past if it didn't benefit him. And frankly, she hadn’t been of much interest to him until now. "I don't know what happened to you, but I don't need to know, either. And if you don't trust me to know, then we can leave it at that, okay?" He said, and he saw her wipe the tears from her eyes and smile at him. Maybe he wasn't awful at emoting, then.

"Thank you, it's nice to be able to talk to someone without the pity," she said. And for the first time in a while, he felt really understanding. He knew what it felt like, to walk down the street and be met with pity from people you didn't even know. He changed his name just to avoid it. When his family died, it felt like everywhere he went, even outside of their small town, he would never escape the stares. People coming up to him and telling him how "sorry" they were, as if they knew him somehow. It drove him mad. After a while, he moved out of Lij, decided to change his name and live a different life. Hopefully, this relationship ruse would work, and Inej could escape the pity before it got to that point.

"It's not a problem, and um, I feel like maybe I should apologize. About the other day," He started. Suddenly remembering his conversation with Jesper about the whole incident.

"You want to be a little more specific?" She said, and yeah, that's fair.

"I'm not great at talking to people, if you haven't noticed by now. I'm working on it, but I'm still not great. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable, I was just trying to make conversation."

"By asking about how my clothes smell?" She asked, a playful look on her face. He rolled his eyes at her. She was going to be the death of him.

"It was the first question I thought of, alright? Give me a break," she laughed at that, loud and bright. It made him smile, she had a gorgeous laugh, he wouldn't mind hearing it more.

"Can we start over? You know, clean slate?" she asked, he made a face.

"If you're wanting me to shake your hand and reintroduce myself like some coming of age movie, I'm going to have to disappoint you." He said. He might be trying new things, but there are limits.

"Oh, god no. Just, don't let these first few unfortunate interactions shape our opinions of each other, deal?" She asked, before mockingly sticking her hand out to him. He laughed and shook it.

"Deal," he said. Maybe this scheme wouldn't be totally insufferable after all.

Chapter 3 Notes:

Not proof read, so sorry. Will most likely be coming back to edit later. I'm running on no sleep and a shit ton of caffeine at this point.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

She was fixing her hair when she heard a knock at her door. She looked at her watch, shit, he's early . She tied off her braid and ran toward the door, opening it with a smile.

"Hey," she sighed. "You're earlier than I expected. Come on in, I'm just finishing getting ready."

"Thanks, and yeah, figured better early than late," Kaz said, walking over to her couch and taking a seat, leaning his cane against the coffee table. Her apartment was nice, it had a very colorful vibe to it. With house plants and pictures all throughout the area. She had a nice setup, even if it was smaller than his condo.

"So, how are we feeling about our first public date?" She asked, slipping on her shoes. He sighed.

"I can't say it's really my style, but I guess that doesn't matter much, does it?" He said, giving her a small smile. She chuckled.

"Yeah, it's not really mine either, but what can we do? People love fancy things." He smiled at that. It's not that he didn't like fancy, he loved fancy. But he wasn't really thrilled at the idea of taking some random girl to a fancy Italian restaurant for the press. It was so extra. He'd been to Martini’s before, and it wasn't that bad. But still, it definitely wasn't his idea of a fun night.

"Alright, let me grab my bag, and I'll be ready to go," she said, heading down the hall to what he assumed was her room. She looked nice, she was wearing a nice knee length purple dress with a black sweater and flats. Her hair in a loose braid over her shoulder. He was wearing a black button-up with slacks and silver cuff links to match his cane. They looked great, he knew. Hopefully the pictures from tonight would be sufficient to cement their public lie.

She emerged from her room with a small Kate Spade purse, throwing her phone and keys inside. She looked up and smiled at him as he rose from his spot on the couch.

"Shall we?" he asked, motioning to the door. She laughed at him as they left the apartment and got into the passenger seat of his car. He got in after her, his cane in the back seat, and started driving to the restaurant.

"So, what's the plan for tonight?" she asked, fiddling with one of her rings.

"Haskell tipped off a local reporter about our reservation, but he gave him a late time. He should get there in time to get a few shots of us leaving together," Kaz said. Inej hummed in response. They sat in silence for a few moments before he pulled into the parking lot.

The dinner started out fine. The restaurant was dimly lit, with beautiful arches and pillars surrounding them. The tables had candles and fine tablecloths draped across them, and there was calming classical music playing softly in the background. They looked over the menu, which was filled with overly fancy dishes that sounded rather obscure. In the end, they both got different variations of a pasta dish, with the most expensive bottle of wine available. If PR was paying for it, they might as well indulge.

"So…" Inej started, fiddling with her napkin as they waited for their food.

"So..?" He continued, waiting for her to finish the sentence.

"I've been thinking, and if we're gonna be dating, we should at least make the effort to tolerate each other, right?" She asked, he gave her a small smile.

"Are you calling me intolerable?" He jokes, earning him a smile.

"Of course not, but maybe we should, I don't know, get to know each other. Talk a bit?"

"What do you want to know?" He asked, leaning back in his chair and hoping she wouldn't ask anything too uncomfortable.

"I don't know, something simple. Like…" she leaned back, smirking a tad. "What's your favorite flower?" she finally asked. He gave her a questioning look.

"My favorite flower?" he asked, incredulously.

"Oh come on, don't tell me you're one of those macho guys that think flowers are for babies," she jokes. He rolls his eyes before moving to answer.

"Pineapples," he says with a smile. She gapes at him.

"Oh come on! That doesn't count!" She says with a laugh. He shrugs and sips his wine.

"Of course it does. Pineapples are botanical flowers. Google it if you want."

"That’s like saying your favorite berry is a pumpkin!"

"Maybe it is, you never know," he smiles. She rolls her eyes at him, but he can see the traces of a smile on her face.

"Okay, fine. Now you ask me one," she takes a sip of her wine as well.

"Alright, fine. What's your credit card number?" he asks, and she snorts before her hand shoots up to cover her mouth. He laughs at that, and the two sit there for a few moments silently trying to contain themselves.

"You're unbelievable," she said, finally composing herself. He shrugs.

Their food comes out after a while, and Kaz switches his wine out for water. He's done a lot of illegal things in his time, but driving drunk wasn't one of them. They sit there in quiet conversation, never getting too personal with their questions. It's all going well for a while, until about halfway through their meal. There's the sound of the door opening, followed by the flashes of cameras coming from somewhere next to them. They barely had time to process what was happening before a small crowd of people was walking towards them.

"God dammit, Haskell. He had one job," Kaz muttered. Inej stiffened in her seat, clutching her fork. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Kaz gripping the top of his cane as well. There were a few members of the wait staff trying to push back the crowd of people, but it didn't stop the flashing of cameras. Eventually, security arrived and ushered the photographers out of the restaurant. The pair sighed in relief, releasing the death grip on their respective crutches.

"I am so sorry about that," said one of the waiters, approaching them slowly. "I don't know how they could've known about this. We assure you, none of us had any part in that," he said. Inej let out a shaky breath as she leaned back. Kaz looked at her before turning to the waiter.

"We'll just have the check," he said coldly, noticing her change in mood. The man nodded and brought it out to them before apologizing once more. They paid before she grabbed her jacket and left for the car.

"Well that was a disaster," she said as she buckled her seat belt. He hummed in agreement before starting the car.

"Are you still hungry? You hardly touched your food," he asked, sparing her a glance. She shrugged.

"Not really, I don't tend to eat much," she said. Her appetite had become almost nonexistent during her years with Heleen. The constant comments about her body and eating habits had done a number on her. She's gotten better since then, but there were still days where she could hardly stomach a full meal.

"You sure? I know a place close by, we can stop there on the way to your place," he said. She shook her head. She just wanted to get home and sleep. He hummed in acknowledgement, pulling out of the parking lot and onto the main road. She’d have to call Nina at some point, probably tomorrow, to let her know how everything went. Something told her they wouldn't be going on many more fancy restaurant dates, which was fine by her. Hopefully the next outing would be more ideal.

---

Their next assigned date - god, were they really calling them that? - was much more simple. They were just supposed to take a long walk around town, stopping at a cafe or whatever to let people get some photos of them together. Easy enough , she thought. They were strolling downtown in one of the streets known for celebrity sightings. She was wearing a nice t-shirt and shorts, him in long sleeves and jeans. She found it rather bizarre, considering the warm weather, but maybe he just ran cold.

"This is much better than the Martini’s date fiasco," she said, walking slowly to allow him to keep up.

"Is that what we're calling it now?" He asked.

"Well, its either that, or 'the Martini’s date where we were swarmed by photographers and left early,' but I figured that was a bit of a mouthful."

"Fair enough," he started, "I'm guessing this date is more your speed, then?" He asked. She rolled her eyes at him.

"A date more my speed would consist of me in my home, snuggled up in a heap of blankets," she smiles. He chuckles at that.

"More of a staying in kind of person, huh?"

"Definitely," she agrees. He laughs at her before turning down the crosswalk. She looked at him confused before following.

"Where are you going?" she asks. He lowers his voice a bit before answering.

"Private photographer, four o'clock," he mutters, motioning across the street to a man in a brown shirt. "Reporters hire them to get 'exclusive' pictures on the person they're reporting on." She nods at this, noting the way the photographer starts following them from across the street. She holds her hand out to him, palm up, and Kaz seems to grasp her meaning as he gently places his hand in hers. She feels him tense a bit as he does, but it disappears as quickly as it came. odd.

"Well, lets give him a show," she said, bumping her side into his briefly before pulling away. He smiles and they see a slight flash come from the photographer's camera.

"What do you think the headline's gonna be?" He asks, lifting his arm and twirling her slightly. She laughs at the motion.

"Hm, I don't know. It's always a fun little surprise," she starts. "Ghafa and Brekker and their touching show of affection downtown," she mocks. He lets out a laugh.

"If I didn't know better, I'd say you were secretly a reporter," he jokes, seeing another flash from the corner of his eye. Their plan seems to be working well, the photographer grabs a few more shots before turning down a different street and walking off. The pair give each other a smile before releasing their hands.

It becomes a fun game between the two of them, messing with the public. When one of them spots a photographer nearby, they give the other a signal before putting on a show. Sometimes, she would loop an arm around his and lean into him a bit while he pretended to laugh at something she said. Other times, he’d lean down next to her ear and mumble to her about nothing in particular. She'd act as if he was being sweet and smile at him, and the next day, photos of their "romantic date" would start circling the internet. Articles and posts speculating what sweet things they must be whispering in each other's ears, when in reality, Kaz would just mutter whatever nonsense came to mind. Sometimes, it was a slew of words like "puppies, back roads, money, sunsets," other times, it was some bad dad joke he read earlier online. Either way, it made her snicker and laugh as the photographer took photos.

-----

“What the hell is that thing?” she asked, pointing towards a hunk of machinery on his kitchen counter. They’ve been fake dating for just over a month, and decided it was time to really go over everything and get to know each other.

“What do you mean? It's a microwave. Surely you’ve seen one before,” He said, shutting the front door behind her.

“Um, no, I know what a microwave looks like, Brekker. That-” she pointed at it again, only more aggressively this time. “That is a heap of scrap metal being held together with duct tape and wishful thinking.”

“Whatever,” he mumbled. “Bathroom’s that way if you need it, and I ordered some pizza a few minutes ago. Drinks are in the fridge, you can help yourself.”

“Alright, sounds nice,” she said, sitting in a chair in the living room. She’d feel weird going into his fridge. He sat on the couch and pulled out a box from a stack under the coffee table.

"Really? Battleship?" She asked. He just shrugged.

"Figured if we have to do this, we can at least try to make it fun," He said. She laughed at that and helped him set up the board.

"Alright, let's get this over with." They placed their pieces on the board and she pulled out a notepad.

"Seriously? You're taking notes?" He asked. She rolled her eyes.

"Yes, I am," she started, a little annoyed at his attitude. "Unlike you, some people like to read through what they have to do."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh please, I saw you flipping through the contract. You hardly glanced at the pages!" She exclaimed. He clearly didn't give two shits about this plan, but he could at least acknowledge the fact that he doesn't.

"I read the contract, Ghafa. I never sign my name to something without knowing the details," he said sternly. She gave him a pointed look.

"What, so you just read that fast, then?"

"Yes, I do. I have a photographic memory," he said flatly. She paused, giving him a shocked look.

"Wait, seriously?" she asked as she placed her last ship.

"Why would I lie about that?" He asked.

"There’s no way! Prove it, right now."

“How am I supposed to do that?” He asked. She looked around, her eyes settling on a few books on a shelf behind him.

“Have you read those?” She asked, pointing at them.

“Of course I have, why?” She smirked and stood up, picking one from the shelf and opening it to a random page.

“Alright, Count of Monte Cristo, page 229. What's the first sentence?” she asked, looking down at the book in her hands. He scoffed.

“You’re serious?” He asked.

“As a heart attack.”

“Alright, fine. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, page 229 reads: ‘Astonished when he searched on to find in the register this note, placed in a bracket against his name: Edmond Dantes’”

“No fucking way,” she said in disbelief.

“Word for word, isn’t it?” he asked

“To the letter,” she said, amazed.

“Believe me now?” he asked. She rolled her eyes at him before taking her seat again. They started playing, and she took the liberty of asking the first question, since he clearly wasn’t the talkative type.

“So, pineapple’s your favorite flower?” she asked, a call back to their first fake date. He smiled at her before placing his shot.

“Yeah, why?” He asked.

“Just wondering how you like it on pizza,” she joked. He laughed at that before shaking his head.

“Fruit should never be cooked, I’ll stand by that until I die,” he said. They kept playing for a while, time passing quickly as they ate their pizza. They exchanged stories about their lives, hers mostly about her parents, and his mostly about his friends.

“Jesper’s dad taught us all how to cook,” he said after hearing one of her stories about the first time she tried to cook by herself. “It was quite a mess.”

“Really? Your parents didn’t teach you?” She asked. She knew it might be a sore subject, seeing as they’d known each other for a month and he hadn’t mentioned them once. But she was curious.

“No, no. They died before I was old enough to be trusted with kitchen equipment,” he said, trying to lighten the sentence with a joke.

“Oh, Kaz, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to-”

“Don’t worry about it, it was a perfectly normal question.”

“How did they die? If you don’t mind me asking,”

“A flood, a few years ago. I was at summer camp when one of the dams in my hometown got busted in a huge storm. It took out a bunch of houses, I didn’t find out until they didn’t pick me up at the end of the week.” He said, now totally avoiding eye contact. She looked at him carefully.

“Kaz, I’m so sorry. I can’t even imagine what that must’ve felt like.”

“It’s not that big of a deal, alright. It's been over a decade.”

“That doesn’t make it hurt less,” she started. “Let's move on from here, shall we? Change topics?”

“Yes please,” he said, finally looking back at her. She gave him a weak smile before returning to the game. They played for a few more silent moments before she spoke up again.

“Alright, we know each other fairly well. Now we need to work on the relationship part.”

“Alright, what do you got?”

“Let's get the hard parts out of the way first. What are your boundaries here?”

“I don’t suppose you could be a tad more specific?”

“You know, things I can and can’t do or say? Topics we should stay away from?” She started. At his confused look, she sighed before clarifying further. “For example, I’m fine with you touching my hands, arms or knees, but I need you to ask before anything else. So no surprise hugs or anything when we’re getting photographed.”

“Alright, I get it. I’m fine with you touching my hands or forearms, but anything else needs to be covered by my clothes. No skin on skin, okay?” He said, looking away from her. It almost looked like he was embarrassed. She wanted to ask, but she knew it was probably a sore subject.

“Got it,” she said, writing it down in her notepad. “Now, how did we meet?”

“What?”

“You know, our fake lovers meet-cute? How did we get together?” she asked. He shrugged.

“Picnic?” he joked. She just rolled her eyes.

“I’m serious, Brekker. How’d we meet?”

“Lets just say we met in the arts studio, we use the same one. It’s an easily confirmed lie.”

“Alright, got it,” she muttered, writing more down in her notebook. The two kept talking for a while, the game long forgotten. They got the rest of the “relationship” planned out, and decided to start meeting at each other's place once every 2 weeks for similar meetings. Overall, it was going way better than either of them had expected.

-----

"So, how long have you been into knife throwing?" He asked, seemingly out of the blue on one of their regular walks around town. She glanced at him, giving him a questioning look.

"What?"

"Knife throwing, how long have you been doing it?" He asked again. She paused and turned to face him fully.

"How do you know I'm into knife throwing?" She asked, pondering how he could know about one of her hidden hobbies. She didn’t tell people about her knives, it was one of those secrets she liked to keep to herself.

"There’s dents in your knife block in your kitchen," he said, like that answered her question. When she continued looking at him like a madman, he continued. "From throwing them into place, I'd assume. And the tips of all the kitchen knives are chipped away from hitting their target. Not to mention every time we walk later in the day, your hand goes to your belt. I assume you've got one there, right?"

"You got all that from dents in my kitchenware?" She asked. It was impressive, honestly, his ability to piece things together like that. It made him a pain to watch murder mysteries with, though.

"I'm very observant."

"I've noticed, and to answer your question: I've been into knives for a few years now."

"Do you know any tricks?" He asked. She smirked as they continued walking.

"Of course I do. You can't be into knives and not know any," She said, pulling a small switchblade out of its place and twirling it expertly around her hand. He stared at her in awe as she did it, before flipping the knife closed and slipping it back into its home behind her belt.

"That- is incredibly impressive," he said. She laughed at that.

"Not really, it's pretty easy once you get the hang of it," she said.

"So is pick pocketing. But that doesn’t mean everyone can pull it off," he said, pulling that same switchblade out of his jacket pocket. She stared at him before reaching back to check her belt, as if she wasn't looking directly at her knife. She snorted and snatched it back from him.

"How did you-?"

"I'm a magician darling, I can't tell you my secrets."

"Well then, I guess I'll have to steal them from you," she jokes. The two laugh together as they round the corner to go back to her apartment.

INEJ GHAFA RUMORED TO BE PARTNERING WITH DREGS IN NEW PERFORMANCE THIS YEAR - June 26, 2023

"Look, it's not a crazy idea! You're all performers, and Inej is great at acrobatics and knife tricks. I'm sure there's a way to incorporate that into one of your shows," Nina said, sitting down at their table. They were at a local cafe, sitting at one of the corner tables away from the counter. They met up to discuss possibilities for this new 'joint performance' they were supposed to be having.

"I'm not saying it's a bad idea! I'm just saying it'll be hard to incorporate my graceful acts with their suspenseful ones," she said, taking a bite of her croissant.

"I'm sure we can think of something!"

"Unless I'm supposed to make her disappear mid-leap, I don't see how we're doing this," Kaz added. Nina rolled her eyes and scrolled through her phone, looking for inspiration.

"What about high wire? That's suspenseful! I'm sure you could do something with that," she said, pulling up an old photo of Inej on a tightrope.

"I could talk to Wylan, see if we can come up with a way to make it fit in with the rest of our show," Kaz relented, before curiously asking her, "how comfortable are you with guns?"

"Like, in a general sense?" She asked, giving him a weird look. Nina was eyeing him questioningly too. He opened his phone and pulled up an old video from what looked like one of the Dregs rehearsals.

"Jesper does a lot of sharp shooting tricks, we could have him try and shoot something in your hand while you're on aerial silks," he said. She nodded briefly. Nina hummed in excitement, eating more of her waffles as she watched the video.

"This is gonna be amazing!" Nina said, wiping powdered sugar off her hands. "and speaking of amazing- Inej! Your birthday gift from me is gonna be here in a few hours!"

"Nina, I already told you, I don’t need anything! You’ve done more than enough this year."

"Wait, your birthday? When?" Kaz interrupted.

"Yeah, on the twenty ninth. But it's not a big deal! I'm just gonna do something small," she said, giving Nina a look.

“I know! Don’t worry, it’s nothing huge,”

“Wait, hold on. The twenty ninth? That’s in three days!” Kaz exclaimed.

“Kaz, it’s not a big deal,” she insisted. Nina gave the two a curious look before interrupting.

“Um, hello? You want to hear what my gift is?” She asked.

“You can give it to me in a few days, Neens,” Inej said. Nina shook her head.

“Ugh, but I’m dying over here! I can’t contain myself!”

“Just a few more days, Neens. I’m excited too!” Inej smiled. The two laughed before a phone call from Nina’s husband broke them apart. She said her goodbyes before exiting to take the call, and Kaz threw his crumpled up napkin at Inej as the door closed.

“Hey!” She exclaimed, picking it up and throwing it back at him.

“Why wouldn’t you tell me about your birthday? Now I’ve only got three days to get you a gift!”

“Kaz! You don’t need to get me anything! Besides, I didn’t think you’d be interested,” she said, sitting back down.

“I’m supposed to be your boyfriend! I should know when your birthday is,” he whisper-yelled, trying to keep anyone from hearing him.

“Um, okay, then when’s your birthday?” She asked. He crossed his arms in front of him.

“This isn’t about me.”

“You know I can just google it later, right?”

“Oh please, google doesn’t know my birthday. I’ve checked. My wiki page just says ‘birth date unknown’ on it.”

“There’s no way that’s true,” she said, pulling out her phone and typing his name into the search bar. She clicked on the first link and scrolled. “No way. It really says that?!”

“Told you. My secrets have secrets. Now back to you,” he said. She rolled her eyes playfully.

“Alright fine, me and some friends are planning on going to some bars to celebrate Friday night.” she said, he nodded at her in acknowledgement.

“Any bar in particular?” He asked. She shook her head.

“No, I haven’t decided yet. I think we’re just gonna go to the karaoke bar off sixth,” she started, before he interrupted.

“No, don’t go there. It’s super crowded and they never pour the drinks properly.”

“Oh really? Where do you think we should go?” She asked.

“Well, if you want-” he started. “I own a club down in the barrel. It’s much nicer than that dump. It’s got some card tables, too. You can use one of the private gambling rooms if you’d like.”

“Wait, are you serious? You own a club?” She asked in disbelief. She could hardly buy a book without people posting about it, and he managed to secretly own a club? “How the hell did I not know that?”

“I put it under a fake name,” he replied, as if that was obvious. “Do you want to use it? I can make plans for it if you’d like.”

“Wow, okay. Yeah, that'd be great.”

"I'll text you the address," he said, gathering his things and standing up. She smiled to herself, who would've thought Kaz Brekker had this many surprises?

Notes:

Hope you enjoyed! Please remember comments are deeply appreciated by the author :)

Chapter 4 Notes:

Hello all! I know it's been a year since I've updated, and I assure you, there is reason for that. In this past year, I finished my senior year of high school (yay) and I am now in my first year of college (double yay!) I finally got some time to write, and when I tell you the writers block did not let up. I started writing at midnight, and wrote until 6 am, and I only had about 2k words. I kept writing all day the next day, and now here we are with another full chapter. I'm really hoping to get back into all my fics, so hopefully I'll be able to do so. I know this chapter isn't quite as long as the others, but hopefully its just as good!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

“Just a second!” Inej shouted from her kitchen, hearing a faint knock on the door. Nina said she’d be sending her gift over, but she wasn't expecting it so soon.

“Hey Neens, I-” she started, before seeing the people at the door. “Mama! Papa! What are you doing here? How did you-”

“Your friend Nina helped arrange it, our flight landed a couple hours ago” her mother said, pulling out of her tight embrace so her father could give her a hug as well.

"Oh, it's been far too long!" Her father said, squeezing her tight. She nodded in agreement as she led them through her apartment. She poured them both some tea and they sat and talked about their lives. She tried her best to keep them informed, but between time differences and lack of cell service when they were traveling, it was incredibly difficult. She wished she could see them more, living so far away from them had been harder than she anticipated.

After a few hours of talking, her father finally asked:

"So, I heard you have a new boyfriend?"

Inej nearly choked on her tea. She had been so caught on fooling the press, she hadn’t even thought about the fact that she's also fooling her parents. It wasn't a surprise that they knew about Kaz, photos of the two of them have been circling the web for months. But she couldn’t tell them it was fake. She signed a contract, and it was very clear about the nondisclosure policy.

"Oh, um, yeah. My boyfriend," she stuttered. Her mother smiled.

"Tell us about him! Will we be seeing him this week?" Her mother asked excitedly. Inej hesitated for a moment before answering.

"His name is Kaz, he's a performer as well. But he's very busy, so I'm not sure if you'll meet him," she said, trying to think of a simple fib to explain why they couldn't meet her fake lover.

"Well, that's too bad," he father said. "I was looking forward to meeting the man." Her mother rolled her eyes at his protectiveness. Inej simply smiled and took another sip of tea. They continued talking, Inej going on about all the places she wanted to show them, before they had to return to their hotel. She sent Nina another lengthy thank you text before drifting off to sleep, excited about the next few days with her family.

------------------

After a couple days, it was officially her birthday. She went to breakfast with her parents that morning, telling them all about her plans for the night. They asked her some more questions about Kaz, if he was “ever going to come meet them.” It was odd, she thinks. She had never been in a serious relationship before, so she had no idea what to expect from her parents, she wasn't sure if she should be happy or upset that the first time she had this conversation, it wasn't even real.

Now she was in her bedroom, in front of her full-length mirror, trying to decide on an appropriate outfit before Kaz showed up to pick her up. She ended up deciding on a knee length, shiny purple dress. Her hair was mostly down, with two small braids right above her temples. She was looking through her jewelry when she heard a familiar knock on the door.

“Come in!” She yells, selecting a nice gold bracelet and a thin ring before smoothing out her dress and putting on a pair of small black heels. She hears the door open and close behind him before she hears his voice.

“Hey, I know I’m early, but I wanted to make sure we had time for traffic. Plus, I-” he paused when she walked out of her room. “Wow, you look great.” He said, a slight blush making its way to his face, and wow. Does she like that? Why does she like that? There were a few moments of silence before he spoke again.

“I um, I got you a gift,” he said, handing her a small box.

“Thank you, Kaz. But you don't have to get me anything, I told you. You're already doing so much letting me use your bar and giving me a ride.” she said, gently taking the box. She opened the box and saw a small, sharp knife. There were etchings all along the hilt, and the handle was a deep purple.

“Saints, Kaz, this is amazing!” she said. “Thank you!”

“Of course, what else are fake boyfriends for?” he joked.

------------------

Inej woke up to the sun shining brightly through the window, her head was pounding, and she could already tell her hair was full of tangles. She had a massive headache, and it took her many moments to realize she was not in her apartment. She looked around curiously, but she didn’t quite recognize where she was. She was in a bedroom, for sure, but it was very plain and impersonal, not at all lived in. Oh saints, she thought, panicked, looking down and seeing her dress from last night on the floor. She was wearing a large cotton shirt and somebodys large sweatpants. Fuck. She took a few deep breaths before walking out into the hall. As she entered the living room though, she felt a wave of relief wash over her. She was in Kaz’s condo, and these were his clothes. She had been sleeping in his guest room. She knew he had one, but she never went in, there was never a reason to.

“Morning,” Kaz greeted her as he made a cup of coffee. She jumped a bit, holding her head. She must have really drank a lot last night, her head was killing her. “Nina left about an hour ago.”

“What?” she asked, taking a seat across from him at the table. Nina? Why was Nina here?

“What, you don’t remember? You two got wasted last night and slept here. I was going to take you to your place, but mine was closer and you got sick in the car.” He said, handing her the coffee.

“What? Oh saints, Kaz, I’m so sorry,” she said, embarrassed by the statement. Slowly, memories of the night before came back. She remembered stumbling into his condo, clinging onto Nina to keep her from falling flat on her face. She remembered Kaz handing her extra clothes and showing her to the guest room while he made up the couch for Nina. She definitely drank too much.

“Don’t worry about it, between Jesper and his friends, I’ve been through this plenty of times.”

“Seriously?”

“Oh yeah, that man drinks like you wouldn’t believe.”

“Yeah? I don’t,” she joked, taking a sip of her coffee, Kaz laughed.

“I had a hunch.” They both laughed at that, followed by a few more moments of comfortable silence before she spoke again.

“So, my parents are in town for the next week,” she said, taking another sip of coffee.

“Yeah, they live in Ravka, right?” He asked.

“Um, yeah, sort of. They move around a lot, but yeah.” She took another breath, nervously fiddling with her hands. “They want to meet you.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, this is, well it's technically my first relationship, actually, so they're kind of really anxious about it, you know? And we’ve been ‘dating’ for a couple months so they're really dying to do all the overprotective parent stuff. I told them I’d ask, I get it if you don’t want to though, like really. We aren't, you know, like actually together, so”

“It's fine, Inej. I’d be happy to meet them.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

------------------

She wasn’t sure why she was so nervous about dinner. It was just Kaz, her fake boyfriend. It's not like her parents' opinion of him really matters in the end. But still, she couldn’t stop shaking. If she was going to fake date someone, they could at least like the guy. She didn't want to have to pretend to be with someone they hated. Her parents were in her tiny kitchen, cooking dinner together. She told them they didn't need to, but they insisted on cooking for her. She sighed as she checked her outfit in the mirror again. It was nothing fancy, just a pair of nice black jeans and a red top. Her hair was braided as it always was, and she was fighting the urge to take it out and run her fingers through her hair. She was about to give in when a knock on the door pulled her back to the present. She walked out of her room and toward the door.

"Hi," Kaz greeted as she stepped aside to let him in. "It smells really nice in here."

"Thanks, it's my mom's cooking, one of my favorites," she said. Her father walked out of the kitchen, shaking Kaz's hand. Inej noticed the tight grip he had on his hand, but decided not to comment. The two exchanged greetings as Kaz sat down and Ahmed went back to the kitchen with her mother.

She looked at Kaz, taking in his appearance. He was dressed casually as well, but much different than he usually did. He was wearing a light pair of jeans, a black jacket, and a colorful purple shirt. She had rarely seen him wear anything other than blacks and grays, so it was kind of surprising to see he owned anything else. She also noticed his cane, the crow head nowhere to be seen, instead, replaced with a plain silver handle.

"I know I don't usually act nice, but try not to look too shocked," he said, startling her out of her thoughts. She laughed and shook her head.

"No, it’s not that. Well- okay, maybe a little," she started. "I just never thought I'd see you wearing color."

"Very funny, Ghafa. I'll have you know, I have tons of color in my wardrobe," he jokes. She snorted at the very obvious lie. She heard a timer go off in the kitchen, followed by her mother and father entering with the food. They set it down on the table and took their seat.

"There we go!" her mother said, before turning to Kaz to shake his hand. "Hi there, Kaz. I'm Inej’s mother. I'm so glad you could make it."

"Hi, glad I could make it, too. It's nice to meet you," he said. Inej remembered what he told her when they first started this arrangement about his lack of conversational skills. He seemed to be doing well so far, but she prepared herself to become a buffer if she needed to.

The conversation flowed well at first, her parents exchanging comments about the city and short stories about Inej as a child. Kaz tried his best to be polite and engage with them, asking questions and making small comments, but he was avidly avoiding talking about himself unless directly prompted to. Eventually, her parents were tired of waiting for him to volunteer information, and started addressing him more directly. For a while, everything was progressing fine, until they started getting a bit more personal.

"So, Kaz," her mother asked. "What do your parents think of your career? I'd imagine they're pretty impressed, yes?" Inej felt him tense beside her.

“Mama-” she started, trying to break the tension, before Kaz stopped her. He took a moment before clearing his throat and averting his eyes.

"My um- my parents passed away, actually," he said, his voice wavering a bit. Her mother frowned.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to-" she started, he waved her off.

"No, it's fine, really. It was a long time ago."

"Well, I'm sure they'd be proud of you," her father said. Kaz gave a weak smile and took another bite of his food. She could see the tension in his face as he moved, and took this as her sign to butt in. She diverted the conversation, waiting for him to ease up and join in. The conversation went well after that, her parents sticking to questions about his present life rather than his childhood, and he seemed much more relaxed than before.

The rest of the dinner went by swimmingly, and by the end, both of her parents seemed to think highly of him. He helped them clear the table before saying goodbye and going home. Her parents smiled and turned to her.

"Well, he seems lovely, dear. Isn't that right, Ahmed?" Her mother said with a tone that radiated I told you so. Her father rolled his eyes.

"Yes dear, he's very nice," he agreed. "A little quiet, but still."

"I'm glad you like him," Inej said with a smile. "He really is great."

------------------

JULY 21: LEAKED POLICE REPORT FROM 2019 GIVES INSIGHT INTO TANTE HELEEN TRIAL

------------------

“Inej, we uh, we have a problem… where are you?” Nina asked, audibly worried over the phone.

“I'm with Kaz, why? What’s happening?”

“Okay, just stay there, alright? Don’t go to your place and for the love of god, don’t check the internet. I’ll be there in a few minutes, okay?”

“What? Why? Nina, what’s wrong?” Inej asked, but Nina had already hung up her phone.

“What was that about?” Kaz asked from his seat at his desk.

“I don’t know, it was Nina. She sounded really worried. Apparently I shouldn’t go home or on the internet. There’s probably just some stupid press rumor going around, she’s gonna come here to tell me what’s happening,” she shrugged, although she wasn’t entirely convinced. She knew Nina, she wouldn’t have been this worried about a stupid rumor, but she couldn’t imagine anything else that would be of importance. Kaz nodded and they resumed their sitcom date until they heard a knock at the door.

“Inej, I am so sorry, I don’t understand how this could’ve happened” Nina said as she pushed past them and started pacing the living room.

“Nina, calm down. What’s wrong?” she asked, giving her friend a worried look.

“Alright, somehow, parts of the original police reports from Heleen’s case got leaked online. Most of the information was relatively vague, but um… well, there were parts of it that…”

“Out with it, Zenik,” Kaz said curtly. Nina groaned at him before continuing.

“The address of the location of the dispute they were responding to was documented in the leaked papers. It was back from 2019, but someone spotted it and started talking about it online.” Inej quickly understood what she was talking about. She remembered that day well. The dispute happened at her home. Heleen had showed up at her apartment, and her neighbors called the police after it got loud. She could feel tears of panic welling up in her eyes.

“Um, okay… what does that mean for me?” she asked after letting out a shaky breath.

“I’m already on the phone with legal, we’re looking into legal options in terms of finding out who released the report. I talked to Matt, you can stay with us until you get a new place. We’re gonna try and put out a few statements to calm people down, but there’s not much we can do right now.” Inej nodded, still shaking as she tried to breathe. Her chest felt heavy and she felt the dread settling over her. Just as she felt like she was about to break down, she heard Kaz speak.

“Why don’t you just move in with me?” He asked. She looked at him, shocked for a second before answering.

“What?” she asked, still confused.

“Yeah, I mean, I’ve got an empty guest room, and you already stay here a couple times a month. I’m the only one not involved in any of the Heleen case, so there’s no chance of this happening again. Plus, it’ll look good for our public relations situation.”

“That… is a great idea,” Nina said, a look of surprise still plastered on her face.

“Are you sure? I don’t want to invade your space.”

“It’s fine. You can always move out if it doesn’t work, but for now it would work fine.”

------------------

“Kaz. What in the hell is this ”

“Woah, hey! Where the hell did you get that?” He asked, all but leaping out of his seat to grab the box out of her hands.

“I’m asking the questions here! Why do you have a box full of city maps?”

“Personal projects take a lot of work.” he replied, stuffing the box into a lower kitchen cabinet.

“Alright, fine, keep your secrets,” she said, taking a seat next to him on the couch. They were in the process of moving her into his condo, and so far, it was much more work than they thought it would be. They were taking a break on the couch when Kaz’s front door swung open, Jesper prancing into the living room.

“Kazimir Brekker, why did I just find out your fake lover is moving in from fucking dickwad Haskell?” He said, hands on his hips. Inej looked at him and held back her laugh.

“Better question, why the fuck are you wearing a tutu?” Kaz asked, pointing at the bright pink skirt he was wearing over his jeans.

“Wylan's little sister is over, we’re babysitting. Now answer the question! Why didn't you tell me?”

“Because we just decided yesterday, and I-” Kaz started, before laughing. “I’m sorry, take off the tiara, please. I cannot have this conversation with you if you're wearing a tiara.” Jesper threw the tiara onto the coffee table and Inej bursted out laughing. Was this something that happened a lot?

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry I just- does this happen a lot?”

“Does what happen a lot?” Jesper asked at the same time Kaz says “Yes, multiple times a week.”

“Look, it doesn't matter how frequently this happens! What matters is that my best friend hates me and didn't tell me about this life altering, huge step in his life!”

“Okay, first of all- I don't hate you. Second, we just decided to move in yesterday. And lastly, this is hardly a ‘life altering’ decision. We have separate rooms. And if you're going to insert yourself into this, you can at least help with the unpacking.”

“Oh… yeah, no can do Kazoo. I've gotta get back to Wy and Plumje. I kind of left mid tea party, so. I'll see you two later!” Jesper said, turning to leave.

“Hey Jes,” Kaz started

“Yes?”

“Take your tiara.”

“Taking the tiara.”

Notes:

Hello again! I hope you liked this chapter, I hope to start giving more regular updates again, because I do really love this fic, and I love writing. So as long as I'm not viciously attacked by writers block again, I should be able to keep chapters coming.
Comments are so appreciated! I love hearing anything you have to say about my fics! :) Love yall!

Notes:

Thank you so much for reading!! You can follow me on tumblr @Anxiety-and-bullshit for updates!
***Remember, comments are greatly appreciated!! I love hearing what you have to say about my work, so please, feel free to leave them!***

Actions

Kudos

Fr3nch_fri3s, Rarely_So_Lazy_A_Universe, Taluvi_does_stupid_things, cygneture, Sassy_Princess, 0kansas, IAmAagni, ea2, Mothball2004, julianhowell18, BubbleBee211, Cute_huge_yacht, Just_Living, yellow_fiish, purpleann, Weatherboo, glam_rock, LittlePhrenic, EyesJustReading, gnome_for_the_holidays, Chickennoo122, couldntthinkofashortenoughusernameso, ellabell07, Toaster_Burrito, Hallo_Stardust, Oliveva, Samg13, and_Peggy_728, wandamaximoffstan, cloudedmamba, Lillipad72, firesflight, Hannnnnnnnnnnnnnah, WiltedAnthurium, ot7biasarmy, Kyle_o27, TifaTifaTifa, Donutfiend, BrilliantOmega, ari_16, rosalie_james, nugget_hater, Bri0128, My_Love_Forever, PaDfOoT_sToLe_MY_gEndEr, Dragonsontherum, Jessifer28, PTPascalou, LetsJustDream, smile_lifegoeson, and 11 more users as well as 60 guests left kudos on this work!

Comments

flimsypresence on Chapter 1 Sat 22 Apr 2023 12:06AM UTC

omg jesper laughing the whole time during the meeting>>>>
SAME THOUGH LMAOOO
really loving the addition of both of them already in therapy! especially with kaz, it'll be so interesting to see him in this point of his life! the part where therapy gets mentioned with him and inej was really nice <333
literally already obsessed with this, can't wait for more!!!!
also kaz as a professional illusionist/magician????? YES

Comment Actions
- Reply
- Thread
AntisocialOctopus on Chapter 1 Fri 25 Aug 2023 12:39AM UTC

Did I know ahead of time that this was a fake dating fic? Yes. Did I still squeal ridiculously when they actually brought it up? Absolutely. I keep forgetting how much I love this trope. Was too excited to even finish reading the other chapters before commenting! Great work, I'm stoked to read the rest of it. 😄

Comment Actions
- Reply
- Thread
cygneture on Chapter 1 Sat 18 Jan 2025 11:11PM UTC

<3333333

Comment Actions
- Reply
- Thread
Dayanna_Cahill_Fray_Chase on Chapter 2 Mon 24 Apr 2023 08:46PM UTC

I am totally in love with this and I cannot wait to read more

Comment Actions
- Reply
- Thread
flimsypresence on Chapter 2 Mon 24 Apr 2023 11:58PM UTC

I'm SO happy we got to see Kaz's pov for what happened last chapter!!!!! (ESPECIALLY with his first interaction with Inej lmfaoo I desperately needed to know what was going on inside his head for that. you completely delivered <3333
also love that little bit here where we see how Kaz indeed looked over the contract properly, unlike the assumption we got from Inej that he hadn't. such a great detail!!! it makes total sense for Inej to not realize since obviously she doesn't know Kaz and wouldn't have known Kaz would never sign a contract blindly. little things like that are so good!!

Comment Actions
- Reply
- Thread
PaDfOoT_sToLe_MY_gEndEr on Chapter 2 Thu 18 May 2023 12:14PM UTC

This is amazing!!

Comment Actions
- Reply
- Thread
flimsypresence on Chapter 3 Tue 20 Jun 2023 10:30PM UTC

omg im literally OBSESSED with this fic you have no idea. getting the email notification for this new chapter,, 10/10. literally going to reread the whole fic again right after this probably haha
the way you write them bonding???? OUTSTANDING
kaz's reaction to realizing he hadn't known that Inej's birthday is coming up,, GOLDEN
having Inej's assumption about kaz not reading the contract corrected in such a natural way,, TERRIFIC
this whole fic,, CHEF'S KISS <3333
(btw, not over kaz's story about his parents BRO I'LL CRY but also I especially love how you wrote inej in that scene, you just write them so unbelievably well <3)

Comment Actions
- Reply
- Thread
ari_16 on Chapter 3 Wed 21 Jun 2023 03:03AM UTC

Now I am reconsidering my position about fake dating, is like how can that be a good option?
But seeing beutiful Kanej in this is lovely, 💕💕

Comment Actions
- Reply
- Thread
ot7biasarmy on Chapter 3 Wed 21 Jun 2023 11:34AM UTC

thank youuuuuuuuuu! I love this so much💜

Comment Actions
- Reply
- Thread
mariettoni on Chapter 3 Wed 21 Jun 2023 05:56PM UTC

This is well-written and enjoyable, and I like the direction it's going in. I'm looking forward to the next chapters!

Comment Actions
- Reply
- Thread
Chickennoo122 on Chapter 3 Mon 14 Aug 2023 09:49PM UTC

I love how Kaz started freaking out after finding out about her birthday, like he is down BAD.

Comment Actions
- Reply
- Thread
EyesJustReading on Chapter 3 Sun 27 Aug 2023 03:31PM UTC

This is so incredibly sweet! I love that you kept Inej's skills with knives and Kaz's keen eye. That exchange was great! I can't wait to see what happens next. :)

Comment Actions
- Reply
- Thread
Just_Living on Chapter 3 Thu 15 Aug 2024 10:48PM UTC

I really enjoyed reading this, great work!

Comment Actions
- Reply
- Thread
Полина (Guest) on Chapter 4 Sun 06 Oct 2024 01:43PM UTC

Оу, это прекрасная работа! Они ходят на терапию!!! Очень хотелось бы прочитать больше

Comment Actions
- Reply
- Thread
BubbleBee211 on Chapter 4 Mon 07 Oct 2024 09:44PM UTC

AHHHH I LOVE THIS SO MUCH OMGGGG

Comment Actions
- Reply
- Thread
flimsypresence on Chapter 4 Sun 13 Oct 2024 03:07AM UTC

thank you so much for updating this fic, I love it so much!!!!! and congrats on graduating and starting college!!

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry I just- does this happen a lot?”
“Does what happen a lot?” Jesper asked at the same time Kaz says “Yes, multiple times a week.”
LMAOOO

Comment Actions
- Reply
- Thread
cygneture on Chapter 4 Sat 18 Jan 2025 11:27PM UTC

<3333333

Comment Actions
- Reply
- Thread
Taluvi_does_stupid_things on Chapter 4 Sun 02 Mar 2025 09:15PM UTC

I just read the whole fic and I gotta say I’m obsessed. Fake relationships are one of my favorite tropes in general, so I am dying to know where this is going. This is so completely and utterly wonderful. Thank you for brightening my day with your writing <3

Comment Actions
- Reply
- Thread
Fr3nch_fri3s on Chapter 4 Sat 21 Jun 2025 09:24PM UTC

This is so cuuute, I'm loving it so far! I really hope you'll continue updating :)

Comment Actions
- Reply
- Thread

Actions

Work Header