Six of Crows One-shots

Scars and Strays

The slippery dog twisted away, bearing it's glimmering white fangs at Kaz, gums pulled back, black eyes twinkling back undying insanity. Its fur was sticky with dried blood and mud and looked more like a rat than a dog as the grease and general muck of canals and sewage created a greasy film over its coat. Despite it all, Kaz still felt guilty when it cried out when his cane connected to its shoulder when it lunged, it looked up at him so pitifully, slumped over in the wall. It huffed, forced itself onto its leg with another yelp and whine, which slowly drained into a determined growl, launching at Kaz and snatching onto his wrist which held the cane, slicing incisors blinding Kaz with pain. Grabbing onto fur and powerful legs, trying to find some pressure point, something to make it let go of his wrist. Managing to grab its injured leg and jerk it howled, moving backward. Kaz squared again, gritting his teeth against the pain. Blood dribbled from its lips and spewed from the rather large and ghastly wound on his wrist under a gloved hand.

 Food had bought out its loyalty to the Blacktips and turned it against the world as they had only a certain place where they got food, and everywhere else beaten. Cruel, but effective. It was lurching heavily, as crippled as Kaz himself. Snarling and spitting, it leaped again, this time it's searching teeth finding his shoulder, this dog was seriously determined. Kaz finally finding it's wide head grabbed onto its neck and with a great gust of force twisted to the side, it twitched and howled but was cut short. Kaz sucked in a breath, he had done the job, but it was his luck to be attacked on the way back from a simple scouting. Huffing, he detoured into the nicer neighborhoods, knowing Inej would most likely be there with Nina. He grimaced, he was so going to get chewed out for this one... Despite the looks most of the passing merch gave him, he was ignored. Bringing out his lockpicks, the Van Eck door swung open easily. Limping heavily in, Kaz closed the door and leaned against it with a heavy wince, doing his best not to get blood everywhere. "Kaz? Is that you?" Inej's voice called from a room in the house, warily. "Yeah, where's Nina?" Kaz rasped out, trying his best to sound indifferent as he shrugged off his coat with a grunt. He set the bloody garment down gently with his good hand, unfortunately having to lift his injured shoulder to do so. 

"Kaz!" He sent a guilty smile to Inej, who was standing before him, with a look of fear and agitation, clearly deciding whether to help him or to hit him. "I know, I know... Just- help me?" Inej huffed. "Please?" Kaz gruffly tried, she decided by nodding him over to the kitchen to the left. With the tilt of her head, she gestured to the chair nearby. "Wouldn't it be easier if I was on the counter?" Kaz inquired but nonetheless sat where told. "Maybe if you were an average height," Inej grumbled. "You mean if you weren't quite so short?" Kaz challenged with a quick flashing smug grin. "I can leave you to sew yourself up if you'd like." She bit back sharply, Kaz's crooked grin widened despite himself. "No, you won't." She turned to him with a glare meant to kill, "You want to test me?" Kaz leaned back, eyes wary to that fiery anger in her usually soft eyes. "Not really..." His broken voice was still smug, but submissive. It was good enough for Inej, nodding, she turned back around.  "But we both know you wouldn't." He told her gently with a playful smile when she turned around to face him. "You know, it's this attitude that gets you into situations like this." "Maybe... but dogs don't care."

Inej looked up out of shock. "A dog did this to you?" "Yeah..." Inej's eyes softened. "Did you have to kill it?" She said it gently and Kaz sighed and nodded. Inej walked back over to him, lightly brushing a hand down his arm, to where his wrist was still dripping blood, she pulled back the sleeve and Kaz winced. "Nina?" He asked softly, Inej shook her head. "Took Jesper and Wylan out for waffles." "And not you?" Kaz retorted, an undertone of broken glass anger. Inej smiled at that, meeting his eyes. "No. I was waiting for you to come back." Kaz winced, Inej went back to examining his shredded wrist. "How could you leave without me?" She let his wrist drop and walked back to the cabinet. "You weren't needed?" "Clearly I was." Inej snapped back and Kaz sighed deeply. "Nej, I don't want to fight..." "Well, clearly you do. Because you left without me." "I didn't want to endanger you needlessly." Inej scoffed at that, turning around but her eyes were kind.