Silco (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
conflictresolution) wrote2023-08-09 07:54 pm
conflictresolution) wrote2023-08-09 07:54 pm
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"Leave a missive, but be brief about it."
[Text | Voice | Video | In-Person]
"Leave a missive, but be brief about it."
[Text | Voice | Video | In-Person]
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... 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? )
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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.]
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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. )
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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.
action; cw: self-inflecting injury
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. )
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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.]
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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. )
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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.
action;
the shimmer within her bloodstream settles, and jinx carefully unravels herself. her vision, while still a bit hazy, is returning, and she is able to move around with the discomfort being mild. as promised, jinx leaps down from her perch and lands rather clumsily on his desk -- some of his papers spilling or crumbling underneath her weight. the teenager blinks rapidly while trying to center her eyesight, seeing a somewhat blurry version of her father just a few feet away. )
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Once she came down from the rafters to his desk, he moved closer to her to be certain that she wasn't going to pitch off of the furniture. He ignored the papers and instead set his hands on either side of her legs and put himself right into her radar in hopes that her vision would clear.]
Are you alright, Jinx?
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she feels as if she can just leap to her feet and do laps around their home about fifty times, and her body is screaming for her to stop resting and burn off all of this adrenaline that's festering. however the contrast is her expression, she looks a little emotionally drained from the intense ache she had to endure. and to think there's still so much day left to go through. steadily, she leans forward and a little side way -- letting her head rest against his arm as her foot rub against her other ankle to soothe yet another itch. )
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He reached down and pulled open one of his desk drawers, pulling out some cotton material and a small canteen of water which he wet the cotton with. Then he grasped one wrist to extend her arm and began to wash the blood from her wounds with a gentleness he only showed to her.]
I'm going to bandage these to give you something else to pick at. These will heal quickly once the Shimmer fully takes hold, but until then, they are a distraction.
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with how long it took this time, she had a scary predication her vision would delay for another hour or two. but thankfully, this wasn't the case. so jinx remain to sit obediently as she witnesses her father work with such delicate and kindness. )
This doesn't hurt.
( if it wasn't obvious enough with the fact she isn't jerking away with every brush of the silk. but she figured she should make it clear verbally too. )
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[He wasn't interested in argument on the matter. He knew that rags and bandages and whatnot could be used as a distraction to the picking, scratching or twitching of fingers with the effects of Shimmer in certain forms. It was a short-lived tactic, but that didn't mean it wouldn't be relevant here. Anything to make her feel better as far as he was concerned.
He continued to wash her self-inflected wounds gently, as if they did hurt her. That completed, he began to wrap her forearms with strips of cloth. He left them slightly messy on purpose that would entice picking here and there if she decided to have another go at her arms.]
The effects should be short-lived, maybe an hour at most.
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jinx hopes her own voice will gain that much strength some day, she likes to believe it expanded somewhat ... but with the council on the throne, her voice feels nothing but a squeak. her gaze slants to his hands and the bandages, patiently waiting for him to finish, with her feet rocking back and forth like a child would. )
... I've been thinkin' about getting another couch in here.
( she idly mentions, now looking off at a space in his office where the furniture should be able to fit nicely in. )
So sometimes I can sleep down here than up there.
action;
His fingers worked at the wrapping of her forearms, and he nodded his head to the sudden change of subject. He turned his head to observe the room and estimated the space that could be allotted for a couch.]
Are you planning on inviting guests over where we will need another spot to sit?
[He didn't particularly care one way or another. Furniture made a room, but it also set a scene and provided a power dynamic when one was needed.]
You don't like to sleep down low, though.
action; nsfw: sex briefly mentioned in narrative
she misses having another human body lying next to her during the night, and although quentin wasn't exactly the cuddle type (except after sex), just being near someone was enough for her. it helped with her nightmares. and while they never vanished entirely, but it did diminish to every once in a while than every night. ... except now, they're on a rampage again. his daughter wants that intimacy again, but who will she get it from? she tried with silco and that led into a dead end. and vi is too busy with romancing the stupid enforcer to even notice her sister these days.
so the possible solution she came up with is to pay someone to spend their time with her. it won't be exactly like how madam babette ran her brothel, but... maybe something similar? exclude the sexual stuff and just have someone to keep her company in bed until the next morning. but would that make her look pathetic?
....
ugh. if only she can go back to feeling emotionless. )
Y-Yeeah... I... I don't.
( she answers finally, stammering over her words as she tiptoes over his previous question. maybe her father won't notice it was left without a reply. )
But you'll be nearby, so... it's no sweat.
action;
However, this place was not the Undercity, and people didn't know or understand either of their history. They were all a bit odd, so thus people seemed to far more welcoming to many of Jinx's normal antics. She had friends her own age, not people who gave ground to her because they all worked for him. She had connected with (argh) boys, and that was trouble.
Still, she had always been an affectionate person with those who had earned her trust. It was how she wormed into his heart, of course. He had limitations to his own physical affection, but she also was the only person to regularly shove him out of his comfort zone. He disliked seeing her in pain, especially if it was something he could help her with.
The fact that that sister was here was a constant threat in the back of his mind. It forced him to reassess how he operated sometimes.]
If you aren't planning on an open invitation for friends, we can forego the couch. The other one is big enough for the both of us if we move the back cushions off.
[He began to put away the medical supplies.]
More blankets may be necessary though.
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...
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but jinx swallows down the brief embarrassment and steadily guides his hand to rest on her right cheek. still keeping her silence, she holds her gaze to him -- eyes large and doe-like as ever, then shutting them close. jinx takes the moment to feel the familiarity of his palm, and the temperature against her slight chilled skin. he really does love her, even though he never says it with words. )
... Okay.
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Also not having an actual bedroom with a bed in it tended to throw a lot of people off when it came to looking for easy ways to kill him. Bodyguards or no, the undercity was not one to suffer fools long. That was that.
He rose, stopping when he felt Jinx's hand grasping his wrist. He turned back to regard her, raising his eyebrow at the look on her face. She should know that there were many situations that he would give up his own comforts for her, and if she didn't know that willingness yet, he clearly had to explain it better in future. He didn't resist when she pressed his palm to her cheek, and he even went so far as to use his thumb to stroke the soft cooler skin under it.]
You're going to be alright, child. I will never forsake you. We're in this mess together.
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I know, I know.
( she mumbles with her fingers toying and picking through her messy bedhead locks. jinx says nothing for a few seconds, learning now that there's no point in denying her struggles and what's been eating at her. especially when silco had been by her side all the way... even if some of his advice or suggestions are things she doesn't agree on. like letting him handle quentin, or she should ditch her sister for good. those thoughts had passed her mind and she entertained them every now and again, but... her heart would interfere each time and she'd pull back. )
It's just... — I don't know how to deal with things that I can't... shoot away or blow up. Not when they can just come back.
action;
He waited patiently for her to come out with whatever was bothering her; she usually needed time and a gentle prodding now and again. The way that she was moving indicated to him that she would speak without him having to prompt her for her reasons.
He made a noise of understanding in his throat. Since she had been young and discovered how to make chem-tech work with her bombs, she had gain confidence and began a path of inventions of various levels of destruction. She had seemed so pleased with herself, even if parts of it haunted her from the past. He had encouraged her building and her destructive nature as it seemed those times when she was happy.]
Perhaps we haven't found the right place to put your explosives. Consider this an experimentation to having the most effect, though you will have to endure the paltry punishments by the Council. I can't protect you as I could in the Undercity at the moment.
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I dunno if I can deal with another punishment like that.
( jinx hates to confess to that, but her latest penalty was painful. it was difficult for her to function every minute of the day, and again, she can't just blow the place up to smithereens. who knows what kind of devious thing they have up their sleeves. for all they know, her next sentence might be a death one. )
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He put the medical supplies away and then he returned to stand in front of her again. He returned his hands to cupping her cheeks lightly in order to try to focus her on him.]
Then don't. Build them as you like, and I will do what is necessary for us.
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