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[ right as she opens her mouth to speak, the barkeep returns to them with their requested drinks. and as promised, a glass of whiskey for him and a big fishbowl-like glass of some fruity drink for her. at the sight, jinx slams both of her palms onto the bar counter, then gasps with exaggeration. the poor man startles at her sudden excitement and even stumbles back a bit before regaining his footing again. ]

This... looks... amazing!!

[ with a high pitch squeal, she does a small jig in her seat in celebration while reaching something in her back pocket. is she going to give him a tip? at least, that's what he is hoping for. the night's been pretty rough on his end, and he could use some good fortune. but luck won't be on his side tonight as she fishes out some lint and drops it onto the table. the bartender blinks once, twice, then peers up at the girl in extreme confusion. and jinx holds the gaze back, meeting the same expression. ]

What? You can do a lot with cotton lint. Like making fire when you're out of matches. Trust me, you'll thank me when you're stranded.

[ and with that, the teenager dives in her drink -- sipping the juice so fast through the straw. as for the man, he looks extremely depressed as he stretches over to take the offer... ]

[Hilariously, Silco had thrived just fine in the toxic miasma, mostly because it was a reflection of where he grew up. It was nothing if not bit of home that reminded him of why he did what he did.]

It's been some time, Miller. You have survived Dara's curse, I see. To what do I owe the pleasure?

[Silco's reaction was the usual sedate one, though he watched his daughter put on overly enthusiatic show for the barkeep. He would have to keep an eye on her for the night on how she interacted with them man and perhaps make a job offer in the future if Jinx taken a keen liking to tormenting him in her usual way. She needed a barkeep to make her drinks and be absolutely obtuse about how to handle her antics.

He picked up his drink and swirled the amber liquid unnecessarily as he watched Jinx hand over some pocket lint. The corner of his lip twitched in amusement, and he left it for the barkeep to take the lint as if it was some kind of offering.

In true dichotomy fashion, he set down enough currency to pay for both of their drinks and a healthy tip for the man.]

An order of calamari as well. [He turned to Jinx sucking away at her massive drink.] Come, Jinx, pick a game tables and we shall enjoy ourselves.

[ her gaze shift to the clean ashpan with her mental gears already spinning over what designs to choose from to make it look more festive. after she finishes with her dinner, jinx should gather all of her markers from her room upstairs, and start right on it. maybe start with that first, and then his coffee mug next.

and would he be okay with her garnishing his entire desk, too? that could be going overboard, but when has her father ever stopped her from doing anything? shoveling her meal with her silverware and thrusting it in her mouth to chew, jinx's brows fly high at the mention of the last drop -- then holds back a snort over the idea. ]

The Last Drop? Here? [ his daughter smirks doubtfully at his direction while she reaches for her glass. ] Heh, c'mon, Dad. Like that place would just fall from the sky or whatever. — And I don't think Santa can carry an entire building in his bag, either.

[ she's not trying to crush his thought, so she tries again. ]

If you can pull it off, sure. It's gonna need a cleanup, though. Vi and Sevika reeeaally did a number on it. A lotta broken everything and magic-y blade slices.

[ the man's spirit lifts at the currency on the table, looking over at silco with gratitude twinkling in his eye. maybe when it's just the two of them, he will express how much this amount actually means to him during his tiring times. but for now, he nods to him obediently and hurries off to put in the order.

meanwhile with jinx, the hastily sips immediately sting to her temples -- a new spark wave of alcoholic buzz to recloud her already hazy mind. her good influence friends would advise her to slow down, and to take it easy. but this is a "i want to forget" kind of night, to dull all of her heartaches and insecurities until she can't recall why she was so upset in the first place. when silco regains her attention again, jinx nods in agreement and scoops the enormous drinking glass with both hands. there's no way she is leaving this baby behind. the girl skids off the stool in a light fumble before cocking her head to one side at the empty pool table nearby. ]

Mmm, that one!

[ and without any delay, jinx scurries on over -- nearly bumping into a stranger in which she rudely blares out,"hey, move it!!" then continues on. the man eyes the teenager, but says nothing -- returning to converse with his other drinking buddies. so far, so good with the "no causing trouble" department. ]

[Silco knew that look, and he was not above capitalizing on it either. It wasn't stealing the competition if he could just plain offer better and seal that loyalty to remain with him in the future as well. This was just the start, and he would see what this one was really made of if nothing better came his way once he 'prayed' to the 'gods' about getting his own little taste of home back. He'd been thinking about it for a month or so, and now that he was established, he could consider expansion.

For now though, he pushed off of leaning on the bar to follow his daughter away to one of the games tables of her choice. He had promised to school her in the ways of games, even though she too had been raised in a bar and probably had many exposures to such things. Her drunkenness would either make it easier or harder for him, and that remained to be seen once she had decided on a table.

He moved pass the one that Jinx had ordered to move it and said nothing as he followed his daughter over to a pool table. He examined it like it might be rigged before setting down his drink on the side of it and shrugging out of his coat. That's when one knew he was going to take things seriously.]

This is your choice? Set the table then, and pick your pole, Jinx.

[He and Vander had played a lot of pool in their youth during the off hours. It was fitting he reframed such memories with those of his daughter. After all, he didn't spend a lot of time on games when there was an Undercity to force together, so this was even a novelty for him after working so many hours in Aldrip.]

[It was basically a dereliction of duty that he missed in his own way. He had given up years ago being annoyed with her scribbles moving from paper to various items of his; some had come in the forms of gifts and others had just been decorated because she was bored. The rafters were also usually decorated with knick-knacks, bombs and mechanical parts as a sort of ambiance that put people ill at ease as they didn't know where to look.

He would be accepting if she started small - items that he owned and used often - if she didn't feel like endeavouring to decorating more than that. He would like at least something of hers that she had made for him.

He lifted his glass to his lips to drink, raising his only eyebrow at her doubt. He had observed what people had managed to bring to this place. Mounts, items, and extremely large things. Why not their old business?] Are you so certain its impossible? This place is determined to keep us 'happy' and on track when it comes to crimes, so it is reasonable that with the right kind of request, we could have whatever we want as long as we put in the work.

[He growled in annoyance to think that the beacon of Zaun had been trashed. It made sense; Vi was stupid enough to make a direct attempt against him.]

I have no issues renovating for damages. You may convert the basement to a tinker space as well if you so choose.

[ The extent to which it was familiar to him was unfortunately not so nostalgic. Anyway, the sentiment here is half the reason he called. ]

I wanted to make sure you and your daughter were still in one piece. The last time I spoke to her, she seemed like she was dangling on the edge of doing something outlandish...

[ What something, he doesn't know. Just that the teetering between trusting him and then threatening to hurt him was a bit uncomfortable to observe. ]

I take it you've managed to avoid that so far.

[Excellent, so Miller and Jinx had met. That made things far less complicated.]

Ah, you have met my daughter, Jinx. Yes, we both had no issues with the air quality or snakes, and Jinx on the verge of outlandish is her normal state of being.

[Said like a father who didn't care if anyone agreed or not.]

Yes, we have become acquainted...

[ There is clearly some unsaid type of feeling for him in saying so, as though perhaps he is thinking about if he should be expressing more concern. But far be it for him to question what's normal for her more than her own father, so he'll take that unperturbed response as a good thing and leave it at that. ]

But glad to hear it! What have you been keeping yourself busy with, my friend?

I expect you know where some of my concerns over her choices come from.

[He would have to ask Jinx how that meeting went on her end and know what they had talked about. It would be interesting if they would be able to get along, though he recognized that Jinx was a lot when it came to the long term.]

Formulating seeing if I can bring a fond memory from home here. And you?

[What was this friend title?]

I didn't want to say it, but yes... though I heard that her boyfriend has gone missing.

[ Maybe that part wasn't the worst news for Silco...

As for "friend," there is little meaning behind it. He would refer to nearly anyone he saw as his peer in the same casual way. Though admittedly there are few others here he can view that way simply due to their respective ages. ]

I am still trying to gather intel. It is more difficult than it should be to organize any concerted efforts. Too many here fall prey to their frustration and make big, sweeping moves, and then I am forced to deal only with the matter at hand. [ The miasma was one, but that came just on the tail end of a month of forgetting who he was. ] What do you mean by bring a memory?

He has, thankfully. If we are fortunate, he will not return and she will find someone who treats her with respect.

[Silco had known very quickly, mostly because he was ground zero when Jinx was upset and tended to be her emotional support. He simply had to hide his pleasure of Quentin being gone for the most part.

That was not a term he was used to being applied to him, and he found it confusing. One game of darts and they had built an association? For him, friends were... dangerous. His last one had threatened to murder him and the one before that had actually tried to murder him. He supposed the doctor was someone he could call a friend, but he more considered them allies who supported one another's larger goals.]

Oh, you've noticed that, have you? Yes, for all the 'detectives' that we have here, there is a rather dubious lack of public information about our situation. Simply tidbits and breadcrumbs on occasion. However, the last youthful outburst caused a reset of the city. [There was a lot of explosive tempers, which he had no issue using.] One can wish for something from home and if we are lucky, that wish will be granted and it will appear the next day. I am going to see if I can request a business from my home.

[ she sing-songs a hum as a reply, and places the beverage on a nearby table. her gaze drifts off to the pole selection, with her head cock curiously to one side. are they all the same, or does a stick make a difference in a game? maybe so, but with her mind being as sloshed as it is, there's no telling so she'll stick to choosing one at random. the girl tucks the pole underneath her arm and makes her way back to the table, grabbing what she needs to set all the balls in its trangler rack. however when she glances down at the set, her expression warps into confusion. ]

Wait, does the order matter? Like... the colors and numbers and stuff?

[ like father, like daughter, jinx too takes a sip of her drink almost identically at the same time he swigs his. except the difference between them is she makes an exaggerating gasp of satisfaction over the lovely taste. ]

But a whole building? [ she asks and emphasizing that they are talking about a structure and not something that can be carried within their hands. ] — How in the heck are they going to whip that up? Go inside your mind and look for a memory of how the place looks?

[ at her theory, she pauses as if something just dawn on her. ]

Whoa, do you think that's what they do? Just jam in our brains to get what they need from us?

[ it would make sense, given they have control her and her abilities more than just one occasion. ]

Edited 2024-05-11 19:37 (UTC)

[He waited and took another sip from his tumbler as he waited for Jinx to select the pole that she would initially play with. Hopefully neither of them decided to break one or two over the course of the game. He wasn’t expecting that this game would be anything more than a laugh for them while everyone else might just have to endure watching the pain of it.

He approached and picked his own cue, touching the tip to see how rounded it was and making certain it wasn’t angled much on any one side. He returned to the table and regarded her puzzlement.]

Black eight-ball in the middle of the set. White ball remains out as that is the cue ball that we hit. The first person to knock in a ball will have to sink all of those – stripes or solids. The last ball to sink is the eight ball, as that decides the game winner.

[Silco shrugged his shoulders to her question. Why not? For him, he had brought in a whole crate of supplies, so why not escalate to a building? If it was a no, he could invest his time in recreating the Last Drop here, though it would never been the same without its unique scars and history. It would be an acceptable substitute.]

If they can create an entire town, why not a whole building? This will be a good test on if there are limitations to what we can bring to make this place more like home.

[He snorted at her question about how it would come to be, and he shrugged his shoulders. He already expected that they somehow managed to use their minds, their habits and their location to determine what it was that they could be punished with. Knowing and preventing was different.]

It’s not a completely unrealistic theory. After all, the brute blew up city hall and within a month, we had a whole new city with expanded borders, features, and a new city hall. If this is prison, and they want us to buy in to it, it makes sense to try to make us comfortable so we emotionally invest and perhaps destroy it less.

Eight-ball in the middle....

[ she mumbles out the instructions to herself as she rearranges the set. and once she believes she has it correctly, jinx peers up at her father with a slight doe-like twinkle in her eyes — waiting for an approval or dissatisfaction over how she laid out their game.

if she wasn't intoxicated, the rules of the game would be extremely easy to grasp, especially when she had seen it being played a few times during her youth. but the memories on how the game is meant to be played is a haze to her now, and she'll be looking for father in hope he will guide her halfway there. ]

It is probably for the best.

[ Normally, he would be completely gung-ho to agree with him on that just because of his personal familiarity with keeping his own daughter safe from untrustworthy men. That is harder to do though after he heard how Jinx felt about it personally. ]

I didn't know that was a regular occurrence here before. People disappearing. I don't know if it's a good idea to get ourselves too attached.

[ Of course, he is more referring to Jinx getting attached to someone else, not himself personally. He has lost so many people in his life that the notion is more of another hurdle than it is a fear. Regarding the detective work, for one. Add it to the list of things that might get in the way.

In any case. ]

This is new to me as well. Is it supposed to be a reward for good behavior or something? The thought of kissing their asses like that really makes me sick... but I still can't say it's wrong to take advantage of that if we are able. What type of business is this?

Indeed, people come and go fairly regularly. Still, the Chosen population tends to grow rather than contract since I arrived here. Attachments always come with risks.

[On that front, he and Miller were the same. He limited the attachments that he formed since he was a young man, and he had no reason to start changing that tactic even being in a new place. After all, everyone wanted something from someone else, and it was a matter of deciding if the price was worth the product that was received.]

I am coming to believe it might be a reward for integrating into their prison system. If you have something from home, perhaps you'll be better behaved in the long run. If you have something you value, maybe you won't break everything. [People with something to lose would find ways to keep it after all, or if they couldn't have it, they'd burn everything around them.] It's a bar where I'm from. It's been in my city since before I was a boy.

[Silco nodded when she had rearranged the eight ball where it should be, resting the butt of his pool cue on the floor. He gestured with a hand at her from the opposite end of the table where she was standing.]

Now roll the set to the middle dot at your end of the table. We will shoot from where I am down the table at it after you remove the triangle. We will use the cue ball from one of the points at my side of the table to start the game officially.

[He waited for her to remove the triangle so that the balls could move when struck. It had been some time for him, but he made certain to keep up with many of the games of his youth but also that could be used for gambling outlets.]

Also, if you sink the eight ball before all of your colours have been sunk, you will remove it from one of the net pouches along with one of your balls to put back into play.

[ still following his instructions, jinx rolls the set and centered it where it needed to be. but somewhere during the middle of her father's explanation of the game, an uncomfortable shiver prickles at the back of her neck. suddenly, she feels as if the entire bar is glued to them and her movements, evaluating her closely just to see how well she can grasp the game's rules with her plastered mind. anxiously, she peeks over her shoulder — seeing mylo, claggor, and several orphans from the undercity standing with folded arms and impatient stares. a giggle chimes to her left ear, and she snaps her attention to it — not seeing anyone there, but... the ridicule is thickening their atmosphere by the second.

outside of her hallucination episode, though, the patrons are paying no mind to the pair — maybe a glance or two, but nothing that screamed of judgmental behavior or trouble. jinx steadily gazes back to the set on the table and her trembling fingers, carefully removing the triangle barrier to reveal the nicely shaped set. and once she puts it away, she makes her way to her father with the stick still underneath her armpit. ]

Uhm, you wanna do the honors?

[ she offers apprehensively, and doing all but look to the direction of the dead and the orphans on the other side of the table. ]

[Silco knew that look when it overcame her expression, the little glances to images that didn't exist and likely voices to follow. He continued to explain the rules anyway, keeping things calm and on track as he knew she would never want a scene in the middle of a public bar like this. She despised the idea of being seen as weak after all, so he wouldn't put her in the position to do so. However, he was watching in case the episode became overwhelming and he did have to intervene.

Her trembling fingers lifting the triangle and then she was coming over to him. He watched her even as he reached for the blue chalk and rubbed it over the cue tip. He offered it to her as a distraction.]

This is just for fun, Jinx. No stakes. Besides, you learn most subjects quickly.

[Then he stepped away from her to set the cue ball in the middle and leaned over the table to line up his shot. A quick snap of the cue shot the white ball forward and into triangle of them, breaking the formation and sending balls everywhere around the table. None of them entered the pockets this round, and he didn't mind in the least. He rose and returned to his daughter and his drink, taking a moment to survey the table as he sipped his whiskey. Then he gestured with the tumbler.]

It's all about angles. I would suggest sinking a ball in close proximity to the cue to get a feel for the table and the strength needed. Trick shots come later.

Just... for fun.

[ she repeats his words more to herself than to him out loud. he is right, this is just a carefree game between father and daughter where no one dies at the end, or the results conclude to humiliation. but she still tightens her lips when her deadly onlookers refuse to leave the premises so she can focus clearly. jinx's pinks dart away again, and uses all of her concentration solely on silco to study his form.

when it's her turn, she swells her lungs with air and takes a step forward — examining the table before her, and for which ball to strike first given the cue's position. his daughter parrots him by rubbing the chalk at the tip of her stick, and then arranging herself over the table. the teenager teeths on her lower lip with concentration, her eyes squinting as she takes the shot. like his previous move, the ball didn't go in and bounces off to the opposite side... but now edging dangerously at a hole nearby. ]

[Silco stood nearby as Jinx set herself up for a shot, resting the butt of the pool cue on the floor with both of his hands holding onto it. He made certain to exude an air of patient calmness, and he had no skin in this game in the least. He was a man who liked to win in set circumstances, but he wasn't above admitting where he didn't have strengths either and then surrounded himself with people who could do the things that he couldn't.

Evolution was learning, was loyalty to the idea that they all had something to give (even if it was their deaths).

He made a noise when she knocked around the balls around the table, and he only then moved around the table to have a good angle to the cue ball. He might not be competitive in this instance, but neither was he going to throw the game to cheapen her own efforts. That's not how he operated, especially with Jinx.

He bent over the table, lining up a shot and knocking in a solid orange ball into the corner basket. He stood and gestured at the table.]

I will be aiming for solid colours, which means you will have to knock in all the ones with stripes. For every ball that you knock into a basket on a turn, you get another shot until you either knock them all in or you don't sink one then the turn passes back to you. Understand?

[He was already moving around the table and line up a second shot, and he knocked the cue ball into a cluster of three balls, none of which entered the baskets but separated them for easier shots in the future.]

Your turn.

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cw: light voices and hallucinations

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