conflictresolution

"Leave a missive, but be brief about it."

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From:

conflictresolution

But you didn't.

From:

conflictresolution

[This black-out was inconvenient to say the least. It was hard to maintain businesses without electricity, and once daylight was gone, it was even worse. It reminded him how much he missed the simplicity of chem-tech lights and other augmented technology from their world. He wasn't actually bothered by the darkness itself as he had grown up in the dark and learned to read in those small pockets of dimness. He navigated just fine.

The cold of night on the other hand was far more of a problem. He was thankful for the more heavy duty jackets that he and Jinx had acquired in their stay here as they were coming in handy. He disliked having to wear them inside just to make sleep bearable, and despite Jinx's suggestions of cuddling to conserve body heat, he had been resistant to the idea. That wasn't unusual.

He shifted his head from where it rested on his chair and shivered as he stretched from where he had slept, looking up at the ceiling where Jinx's hammock was amid the rafters. He spent some time just watching her up there, letting his thoughts drift to the day and week ahead, his plans and everything else. It was as close to his 'quiet' time as he ever allowed himself anyway.

Still, he couldn't stay here long as there were things to do. His daughter slept and that was odd but not bad at all.]

From:

opheliac

( the room remains extremely still as he spends his little moments to watch her from where he is. and by the looks of things, maybe this morning will be a decent one and calming like yesterday and the day before.

... until she grunts. the noise she makes isn't a sound of someone waking up, but something disturbing her. like a person is prodding another or there's a lot of noise going on. but given how silent everything is, it's definitely not the latter. and jinx stirs slowly, again grunting but with a small hint of discomfort this time. is she having a nightmare after all? is she thinking about violence in her sleep? )

Edited Date: 2024-03-10 11:15 pm (UTC)

From:

conflictresolution

[He steepled his finger tips together as he considered getting up and marking the day with activity. It would obviously be dark again, so a plan was necessary to insert himself in on the situation to proactively put himself and Jinx in a better position. They had to move quickly to capitalize on this new opportunity.

Yet, his thoughts ground to a halt at the sound of a grunt and his mismatched eyes lifted to peer through the dark at where his daughter was sleeping. He waited, listening for signs that she was having bad dreams again. It was rare for her to sleep long hours even if it was good for her. A second grunt and he pushed the blanket off of his legs so he could rise from his chair even if his eyes remained fixed on the rafters.]

From:

opheliac

( it's very sudden when she jolts up, she gasps and yelps at the abruptness of electricity twisting at the middle of her back. jinx blinks rapidly, trying to get her sight intact, yet everything is in such a blur and double vision mess. but she recognizes all of this, it resembles the very first time the council "turned off" her shimmer abilities and then unexpectedly "switched them back on". although, it doesn't make the experience any less scary. as a matter of fact, when she calls out to her father -- her voice wavers in a panic: )

S-Silco?!

( when she hunches over the hammock, the pinks of her eyes are flickering and vivid. jinx stretches out her arm to blindly search for father... who is somewhere. he is still in the room, right? she can't tell with her hazy eyesight, and it's steadily causing her to feel queasy with all the binocular vision on top of the shockwave pain. the veins in her arms are beaming through her pale skin -- a purple glow that's similar to when deckard consumed the serum many, many months ago. but at least there is no transformation in this. she just needs to let the shimmer course through her body again, and that will take minutes. maybe even longer if she doesn't react with her natural instincts to fight it off. )

Edited Date: 2024-03-11 04:30 am (UTC)

From:

conflictresolution

[Alarm initially had him stiffening where he stood when she came awake, and from his position, it was difficult to determine what had upset her. However, the remaining darkness held over from the night allowed the illumination of purple in her eyes stand out brightly. Yet, it was moments like these where he cursed how far up off the ground she slept.]

Jinx.

[He called up to her, making certain to keep his voice calm as he stood staring up at her. It was clear that the Council had returned the effects of Shimmer to her and it was taking hold. As he had been told on many occasions, the electric-like burst of it as the high set in could be terrifying for some. He'd been told it was similar to feeling one's body come alive one cell at a time rapidly.]

Just breathe. Everything will settle in just a few moments.

From:

opheliac

( her breathing calms slightly and her heart beats slower in light relief. she still can't see him clearly, but he is in the room, and that alone... gives her a peace of mind. jinx pulls back from her dangling (before she falls out of her hammock) and puts in the effort to unruffle herself. his daughter hugs her knees close and waits restlessly, feeling every little bit of the shimmer flowing through her shoulder blades, to her back, and to her chest.

she bites hard on her lip in order to shush herself from groaning too loudly over the process, but that doesn't stop her fingers from grazing over her skin intuitively. jinx had only experienced her shimmer returning to her this way only once, and while it's a painful procedure, it's an itchy one too. it's vastly different from inhaling the fumes through a mask (which she prefers), and she wishes she had some say on what method to partake in the serum. but as if the council would ever listen to her suggestions or reasoning of things. jerry wouldn't even lend her an ear to explain what exactly happened during the ketsora incident. not that he would believe her or take her side, she knew, but it's the principle of the matter. she might be dangerous, a menace, and sometimes icy, but she's human too. well. a chemically alternated human.

it doesn't take long for her fingertips to be coated wet of her own blood from all the fierce scratching, her arms and now her legs leave trails of where her nails have been. but on the brighter side, the shimmer is seeping in nicely, because the freshly scars aren't painful nor does she notice their sting as she sits up in the rafters. and while silco can't see how his daughter is faring so far, he can tell the difference by listening to her whimpers. it's not as audible compared to the start, but it's becoming more subdued at each given second. )

Edited Date: 2024-03-12 03:35 pm (UTC)

From:

murderingjustice

[The fingers curl tighter, pulling harder on the short hair strands. Then, loosens his grip, allowing the man to move and pull back -- but only to use it as a chance to slam the man's cheek back on the table's surface. He really is pummeling it down that he is A Bitch.]

You know nothing of me.

[He scoffs, taking a step back from the man. To be fair, Silco had hit right on the nail. Akechi was not better than any of them. He was good at playing the games with the others. Making them believe in the pristine illusion with the charming smiles, learned mannerism and knowledge he hammered into his head by staying up all nights, going through any book he could find just so that he could be prepared for any possible question. Such desperate measures, but it had paid off.

Though, once looked past the shiny cover one will see quickly what he truly is. A little piece of shit, a bastard son who's existence was nothing but a scandal. He's someone who was supposed to disappear between the cracks of the system, never to be heard or seen. And he would have. If it wasn't for his ultimate weapon: The Will of Rebellion.

It's time to let Silco see what he's really up against if he decides to cross him.

Akechi brings his left hand over his face, the palm pressing against his forehead as the ruthless red eyes looked down at the man.]

To me, Loki. [He grunts and then, a shadow covers his face like a mask and there is a vivid red aura surrounding him, swirling around his body like flames. Then a big figure manifests behind him. A body of angles covered in dazzle camouflage, inviting all eyes on him. But the more he is looked the more distorted he seems. Horns for eyes, an ugly red grin sewn to shut, silently laughing down at the mortals beneath him as he sits on top of the blade.]

If you'll do even as much as think of going against me. I will crush you. [Akechi growls, sounding animalistic as the words slip past his lips.] I'll destroy you. Tear your limbs off one by one. Carve the skull out of your head.. I'll drive you into the madness you can't begin fathom.

Edited (lmao how could i not notice that typo) Date: 2024-03-12 05:36 pm (UTC)

From:

conflictresolution

Don't I? You share the same traits of many of those I know.

[He cautiously lifted his head from where it had been smashed to his desk, only to have it smashed back where it had been. He made a soft grunt as his cheek met with the flat hard surface for a second time, and his knife remained posed to strike a vital vein or artery. His fingers flexed around the hilt of the knife, unwilling to release it knowing that this situation could very well end with his death.

Jinx would handle things if that would be the case.

His blue eyes stared balefully at Akechi, and that eye narrowed at the change in the air and the scene above him. A tendril of fear slithered through him at the strange figure, having never seen something like that before in his life. What was it exactly? He had no idea, but it seemed like some kind of magic. History had taught him the potential devastation of magic but also that it could free them all too. This entity was dangerous to be certain.

Yet, he knew better than to quake. He didn't master his fear, but he didn't let it control him. He had lived a life of being continually threatened with maiming or death. This was all nothing that unusual even if the ability to summon... whatever that was happened to be different.]

Is that so? Will it be in that order? [He hissed with a sort of amusement.] Because carving out my skull from the flesh surrounding it and driving me to madness perhaps should be in reverse order.

From:

conflictresolution

[It wasn't supposed to be like this; there was always some Shimmer in the body that gradually subsided and provided that little itch. The itch drove the user to seek more and the cycle would continue. Slow and gradual absence was necessary to allow the body to adjust, and it was never an easy proceed, but having Shimmer returned at a quick and high dose was equally as dangerous. He wasn't so removed from the effects of Shimmer to not learn intimately what it did and how it worked.

He knew. For the first time in several months, he experienced a wave of helplessness to watch Jinx suffer. There was no need to see to understand the sounds that came from above. He could close his eye and imagine what she was doing.]

Jinx, I need you to concentrate on my voice. It will be over soon as your body is flooded with Shimmer again. Once it does, I need you to come down from your perch. I can't come up there to be with you, but I am here.

[If he absolutely needed to, he could scramble up to her. It would be ungraceful, but he remained committed to being a fissure-folk and those skills did not atrophy completely. He shifted to walk around under where her hammock was, letting her hear the gentleness of his footfalls.]

From:

opheliac

( this isn't forever, she tells herself. this is just temporary, just like the other time. and silco is very knowledgeable when it comes to shimmer, so he would know... and she should believe him, right? he wouldn't lie to her about something as serious as this. so jinx swallows down the lump in her throat and focuses on his voice and his footsteps. )

Do... Do you know any short stories?

( it might be an odd time to ask for a story that could lead into a lesson of some kind, but it could be enough to distract her from her prickly and burning skin. )

Edited Date: 2024-03-14 05:43 am (UTC)

From:

grappler

yeah because your dog kidnapped me. do you even know what it's like to watch your family die right in front of your eyes? not once, but twice? and you lash out at the person who matters most to you?

i was fucking scared. i was a kid. i ran because i needed a goddamn breath and then i was coming back to her. don't you think i fucking kicked myself enough while i was in jail? i know i should've never left her.

all you wanna do is twist it all into your favor. whatever in your warped little brain helps you and Jinx sleep better at night.

[she said she wasn't going to waste her breath, but Silco always makes her feel some sort of way.]

From:

conflictresolution

Oh no, how could I ever know what such loss looks like?

[It wasn't as if she would believe him even if he did regale her with the stories, of the mines, of listening to those last breaths in the dark and fumbling around to find them in the utter silence that followed their passing.

They were all children when the first deaths happened. That was the way of the Undercity. One grows up fast, learns harsh lessons or dies to them.]

Keep telling yourself that, girl. Your opinion of me doesn't matter, just as I expect my opinion of you holds no bearing on how you operate.

From:

conflictresolution

[He watched Jinx and continued to move around so that his footfalls remained a constant beat on the floor below. This was not his first situation dealing with those experiencing Shimmer to this level; after all, he was present for all the variations to determine how best to utilize it.

Did he know short stories? Of course he did, but most of those weren't grounded in a kind of reality that he liked to live in. They were wild and pathetic now that he was the age that he was.]

Of course. [He thought for a moment before deciding on one.] Some time ago, there was a boy who grew up in darkness where his only thoughts were of the Kindred and when they would come. One day, the boy was exploring the noxious mines of Zaun because that was his home and everyone explores their home. The boy found himself lost the deeper he went and the air grew thick and difficult to breathe like some fogs. In the dark with only touch and sound, he struggled to find his way in the stagnant air. The boy thought in that darkness, may Kindred embrace me.

[He paused in his walking, folding his hands behind his back. It was a tale many Fissurefolk endured from his time. The mines were unforgiving and surely no place to raise a family, but for generations, that's exactly how it was to live... and die.]

The boy continued to struggle and prayed for a clean breath of air as he faltered choking on his own weakness. Then there was a faint soft breeze, stirring the air, bringing a single fresh breath. The breeze rose from a tinkle across the skin to a push of wind that lead the way. The boy followed that push and danced through the dark poisonous tunnel with the wind that showed him the way. Up, up, up he went and it wasn't Kindred that found him in the dark but Janna who pointed the way towards a better life.

[Silco turned his mismatched gaze up to the rafters again, fingers twitching behind his back as he considered the tale. A lesson.]

Janna cautioned him that all hope comes with a cost. That is what it is to be of the Fissures, of the nation of Zaun. Freedom and imprisonment intersecting. With a churn of the wind, she left the boy safe with a lungful of fresh air, the breath of a renewed life.

[He then hummed and began to walk again.]

...or so the old Fissure tale goes.