Chapter Text
I’m really passionate abt this cause and I will give you this flier if I have to shove it down your throat
Kaz frowned.
His arm ached almost as much as his leg, and that was saying something, considering the “epic rainstorm” last night, as Nina had so eloquently put it.
Why was he doing this again? He tried to regret agreeing to doing this in the first place, but then he glanced over at where Inej stood with her own stack of fliers, talking to another student enthusiastically enough that the student accepted her flier almost immediately. His heart clenched as she threw a grin his way, along with a questioning eyebrow raise.
He shook his head. He’d managed to give away one (1) flier in the two hours he’d alternated between sitting and standing in the center of the quad. And it had been to his roommate, Wylan, who’d apparently taken immense pity on him and retrieved one Kaz knew would be shoved somewhere and never looked at again. Kaz wasn’t altogether certain Inej hadn’t texted the other man to get him to come down to the quad, but he shrugged the thought again. He’d managed one, at least.
A tall, lanky man sauntered by him.
No, he was going to get at least two fliers handed out by the next hour. It was a pitiful goal, to be sure; especially when Inej so effortlessly beamed and handed them out like candy. But it was potentially achievable, which was all that really mattered.
He stuck out his cane in front of the man, who didn’t notice it until he’d totally tripped over it.
“What the hell?” he shouted from the ground, getting up in a windmill of limbs, dusting his pants off.
“Take one,” Kaz said smoothly.
The man glared at him. “What? No!” he protested, voice raising.
Kaz caught the amused look Inej passed him before being distracted by a curious passerby. “Yes,” he said flatly. “Take the flier. Now.”
The man looked more confused than anything. “Why would I take a flier from a man who just tripped me with his cane?”
“It’s not my or my cane’s fault you’re not looking where you’re going,” Kaz argued immediately, shoving the flier into the man’s face.
“Yes, it is,” the man insisted, folding his arms petulantly.
Kaz sighed inwardly, grinding his teeth. “Listen. I need you to just take the flier and leave.”
The man narrowed his eyes. “Why? So you, the rudest person I’ve ever met, can fill a quota? I think not,” he spat.
Kaz scowled, huffing at the insult. “I swear to God, if you don’t take the damn flier, I’m going to shove it down your throat. Take. It,” he snarled.
The man’s eyebrows jumped. “You’re threatening me,” he said incredulously. “You’re threatening assault over a flier.”
Kaz ground his teeth harder. “No. I’m persuading you using my impeccable diplomacy skills. Are you going to take it or not?”
“What are you actually gonna do if I don’t?” the man challenged.
Kaz blinked before steeling his expression. “I’m going to find out which dorm you live in, and sicc my roommate on you.”
“Who’s your roommate?” the man asked, sounding genuinely curious.
“A Music major. You’d think that would mean he’s good at it, but I’m not so sure. All screeching pretty much sounds the same to me,” Kaz shrugged, hoping Wylan wasn’t nearby enough to call him out on it. He actually rather liked some of the pieces Wylan practiced as quietly as he could around dinnertime, but he wasn't about to threaten assault again.
Well, not yet.
The man frowned. “How would you even be able to find my dorm?”
Kaz smiled thinly. “I work in the IT center. You could say I’m good with computers, but that would be the understatement of the century.”
The man frowned deeper. “I’m not sure if I should be accepting a flier or calling the cops. Or at least an RA.”
Kaz almost rolled his eyes. The campus cops were, by and large, useless, and the RAs didn’t have the authority to do much of anything about any of his vague threats thus far. “I’d accept the flier, if I were you,” he said instead.
The man huffed and accepted a flier. “You don’t mind if I immediately throw this away?” he said snidely.
Kaz shrugged. “I wouldn’t mind, but she might,” he gestured at Inej, who chatted to someone he thought he vaguely recognized.
The man looked over at Inej briefly. “I might care about her opinion more than yours,” he admitted, shoved the flier into his backpack awkwardly, probably crumpling it anyway.
“I do too,” Kaz answered wearily, sitting down as his knee screamed.
The man looked down at him, and Kaz distinctly did not appreciate the subtle power shift in the slightest. “What, she’s your girlfriend or something?”
“Or something,” he mumbled, not willing to get into it with him.
“What’s her name?” the man pestered.
“Why don’t you ask her?” Kaz snapped, annoyed.
“But I’m asking you,” he returned with a grin Kaz couldn’t decide how much he hated.
“Her name is Inej, and she’s insanely out of my league,” Kaz said shortly.
“Hey, Inej!” the man called out to Inej, who swung her head around wildly looking for the source of her name. Her sharp eyes landed on the man quickly. “He’s got a huge crush on you,” he gushed, batting his eyelashes.
Kaz narrowed his eyes at the blatant mocking.
Inej laughed, and Kaz’s gut flipped at the sound even from so far away. “I would hope so,” she said cheerfully. “Considering we’re dating,” she said smoothly; not for once, but certainly for the first time in a long time, surprising Kaz.
The man laughed as if they were sharing a delightful joke. “Well, maybe there’s some hope for him after all,” he said with a wiggle of his eyebrows as he left the scene.
Inej came over to him. “How many?”
“An entire two,” he said distractedly. “Did you just upgrade our relationship without consulting me?”
Inej laughed again. His stomach flip flopped happily. “Why, something wrong with it?”
“Of course not,” he said with a curt nod, holding out his gloved hand for her.
She took it with a smile, and handed out another flier effortlessly.
Kaz half smiled and tuned out Inej’s newest conversation in favor of focusing on how her hand felt so perfect in his.