conflictresolution

[He shook his head, trying and failing to force calm for Jinx's sake. She had only just returned to him, and he was not going to lose control right now on a dead phantom which he had spent the last decade trying to overcome. If Vander was alive, it changed everything. He couldn't let it stand, wouldn't.

His hands paused in her hair when he felt her wet hands on his cheeks, and his mismatched eyes dropped to stare into her purple ones. His lips pulled into a thin angry line.]

I will go with you to keep you safe from him.

[He wasn't willing to risk losing her to anyone, least of all him. He cupped the side of her face with a hand.]

Okay... okay, we'll go together. I promise.

[maybe if she keeps reassuring him they will look for vander together, his fury will die down to a low buzz. and jinx slants forward to plant a gentle kiss between his brows before settling back in the tub again, not daring to yank away her hold on his face.]

But if I can't stop him from getting riled up, you have to run away, okay? I'll have to upgrade my gun like I did back home before we go looking. It's the only thing that will kinda stall him for a few seconds. But he's fast, and his claws are not fun.

[She had clearly met this Vander, though the circumstances and the changes would never discount the sins that the man had made. How had he missed this? It wasn't as if a missing leader of the underground could easily be hidden away, not from rumors or whispers. Yes, there were places that people could disappear even in the undercity, but someone would have seen.

In the sweep of the undercity to put it under his control, he should have picked it up. People bought and sold information readily, and Vander had been an all too trusted prominent member of the city for so long.]

You and I are still family, yes? That will never change, Jinx?

[After everything that Vander had done, all the pain and twisted anguish he had suffered had to mean something. He would kill him. He would hurt him. He would never allow Vander the opportunity to take away what he had fought so hard for, and yet... who had it been whom he had sat below and considered the dream that they had shared together? Bile rose to the back of his throat, but he breathed out heavily at the feel of Jinx's lips on his brow.]

What do you mean 'riled up'? Is he on Shimmer again?

[her eyes search his mix-matched ones, and the look that showers over her face screams as if what he is asking is something outrageous.]

Of course we're still family, Silco. Just because Vi is in my life, or Ragna, or even Vander, you are still gonna be my dad. And I'll still be your daughter, no matter what happens.

[with one final caress of his cheek, jinx draws back her hands and then shakes her head at his question.]

No, no, Shimmer's been long gone in the Lanes after you left. If there are leftovers, it's not a very big supply. He just...

[how does she explain it? his daughter bites the inside of her bottom lip to think quickly.]

Loud clanking noises bother him, and he has those... weird tubes on his back that I think irritates him too. Maybe. I-I dunno what they do, actually. I just know that he can snap out of his beast mindset and be himself. Nnnnot a big chatterbox, but. He communicates well with his body language.

[He didn't allow his skepticism show. A part of him would never want her to associate with her sister or Vander for that matter, but he knew when to choose his battles in that front. The sister was a lost cause, but if he could steer her well clear of Vander...]

No matter what happens, yes. I'll never forsake you.

[He moved one hand to cup and stroke the side of her face again, assuring himself that she was here and present with him. He blinked his blue eye, considering the information. Shimmer had been dismantled on his orders, but there would always be a war for it in the Lanes. It made all the Chem-Barons very, very rich.]

Is it? Renni was supposed to keep supply running normally, if at a downturn due to the previous attack on the refinery.

[He dropped his hand and returned to her hair, picking out a twig and tossing it in the bin. Then he began to comb it out, working through more knots and tangles, listening to her words. He considered each one. Loud noises. Tubes. The beast? No doubt body modifications, but Smeech wouldn't dare, least of all on a mostly dead man.]

He doesn't talk then.... what's this beast?

Like I've written to you, a lot of Chem-Barons kicked the bucket, there weren't many left after you went away.

[just thinking back on vander and how he looked pains her. and jinx does her best to keep her voice leveled, but the words come out in wavers.]

I dunno. Like a wolf. He didn't... look like that when he died. I dunno what happened to him, or... who did that to him. But... it looked painful to him, to be like that with... whatever those tubes would do to him to make him go crazy.

[Of course she had written that to him, hadn't she? He reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose between this thumb and forefinger. His empire fallen, his daughter an icon, and his old friend somehow still alive in some form or fashion.]

I see. Those sound like... extensive body modifications. Someone had to be capable and well resourced.

[And how many of the brilliant ones were well funded? Especially if the Chem-Barons fell. There were some that fit that bill, some that would struggle to rise to fill the void.]

Someone who knew him then. Hound of the underground...

[jinx wouldn't have the slightest idea, vander was well-known to many from her knowledge. it could really be anyone, but maybe her father can peice it better together than she can. noticing the water beginning to chill, she bends over to uncork the plug to allow some of the cool water to drain. after a few seconds, she seals it again and twists on the dials.]

I think he was looking for you. When I tried to catch up with him, he went straight to the mines.

[Of course. There was a job to finish, so it made sense that Vander would come to complete it. That had always been the goal, right? After all that they had been through, all the betrayals, all the furious anger at each other, it would always return to Vander finishing the one job that seemed to override all others. Like Silco was this filthy creature to once more discard.

He'd kill him. For good this time.]

Of course he was. [He twitched at the sound of running water again, and he swallowed hard as if he could feel the phantom of those fingers around his throat, squeezing, cutting off his air, choking the life out of him. It had always been personal.] There are plenty of places to hide in the mines, to disappear for a time. He knows this.

[her brows knit together for a moment, thinking back when she, vi, and isha were venturing in the mines on the search for him. her toes wiggle underneath the waters again, and her tongue trail slowly along her slightly cracked lips.]

I wonder if... that's what got him so upset. He wanted to go to the room you two had, but... couldn't fit. To see if you were there waiting for him.

[it's not at all the reason, but it's not like jinx is aware that blood is what triggers vander's wrath. although, it is a good theory, maybe.]

Edited 2025-01-03 17:50 (UTC)

[His context for the situation that Jinx was alluding to was flawed, and he assumed she meant something about his office at the Last Drop. The idea that Vander couldn't fit through the door was absurd of course, and he just shook his head mutely as he continued to work on her hair. He was making real progress now, and with the tub filling, he would even consider putting some of this mess in the water soon.]

Any room that we associated with each other in is long gone. Just the Last Drop.

[The orphanage remained of course, but the house in the slums, the apartment in the Lanes. The only thing that actually remained was the Last Drop which they had built up together.]

[the last drop? that... that can't be right. there was the room in the mines, and she definitely didn't fabricate their jackets and all of their belongings. maybe her father is excluding it due to how much pain it carries in his heart.]

Oh.

[— is all she can muster to say while turning her attention back down to her toes. maybe it would be better to not mention it, or at least right now.]

I can... comb the rest if your hands are getting tired.

[Silco hadn't returned to that space since before the incident that left him scarred and mutilated, abandoning the shared spaces for the revolution. Too many memories. It had indeed passed out of his consciousness, buried deep enough to not be able to bother him despite the fact that he could vividly remember every aspect of that place in the mines. It had been... a long time ago.

He turned his head at her single word, wondering if it were her simply capping the end of the conversation or if there was something more that he was missing. While he didn't restrict her going to the mines, that place was well out of the way, long abandoned and dismissed from the minds of the people who were alive to remember it.]

You were talking about the Last Drop, were you not?

[His fingers tightened on the brush. No, he wouldn't relinquish the opportunity, unless she decided to insist.]

It's fine. Your hair is quite the mess, and it's better that you warm in the bath and rest.

No, I —

[she stalls, continuing to muse if this is a topic to dig deeper in or to just leave it be. if she knows silco (and she does), he would want her to clarify, and he does appear to be hungry for answers. and why wouldn't he? he (and viktor) are the only two who hadn't seen zaun/runeterra for a time, and it's only natural for a mind to waddle in curiosity.]

— I was talking about... the room. In the mines. That, uh... you two had together. I guess? Your jacket is still in good condition, eh heh.

[her way of trying to make her discovery less, well, gut-wrenching. that is if it's hurtful to him at all. jinx supposes she'll learn in a next couple of seconds.]

Edited 2025-01-08 00:55 (UTC)

[His hands paused as she clarified, and his mind filled with questions. How had she found it? Why was she there? Had she found what she was looking for? Was it the same as it had been years earlier? He hadn't thought of that place in a long time, shed it like a second skin when he had left behind the weakling who had drowned. There was no going back, nothing of value. He was better off building anew, and he had found new spaces in the deep dark forgotten underground.

Slowly, he convinced himself to move the brush and comb through her hair again, clearing his throat a little. Like an old broken bone, his chest ached dully at the memories trying to rise through the depths, and he simply had to push them back down, suppress them as he drew in a deep breath and held it.]

It was a meeting room far out of the way of prying eyes. [No, it was so much more than that. His voice gave him away, the way it deepened and softened as if he didn't want to apply himself too much talking about it in case some other noise emerged with it.] Yes, I left it there once I bought my way out of the mines.

[When the smuggling business had been good, when the Lanes had began to be founded, when, when, when...]

I don't imagine there was anything but dust, maps and abandoned mining gear.

For the most part.

[well, except for one significant thing, but something tells her it's better for her to have a discussion with vi about it first, before... unveiling the letter. some say things are better left unsaid, but how would one know what say is for better or for worse?]

I should have taken it with me. — The jackets, I mean. To have something to remember you two by, but... [she breathes out a chuckle.] I also didn't want to, I dunno, disturb the dead or something.

[There was something in her tone, the way that she was acting which was a tell that she was hiding something from him. He considered nudging her to tell him, but he was still processing the information about Vander currently. How had he allowed this to go on under his nose and not realize it. He owned the undercity, and yet... there would always be spaces where people could carry out their own destructive behaviours.]

Hmmm, sometimes its best to leave the ghosts of the past where they are...

[But the past never stayed dead, as she had once said. It seemed that she spoke the truth on that matter without even knowing it.]

That place was... a long time ago. Nothing but old memories, and everyone who was there is likely dead or should be.

That's not true.

[the protest speeds pass her lips before she could have a chance to reel it back in, and tuck in a casket somewhere. but with that out, jinx has no choice but to finish that statement, and she peers at her father with a doleful gleam in her eyes.]

You and Vander... shouldn't have died. The two of you were brothers and...— and families should stick together. Even when things go to steeping shit.

[such a gross imagery, yet it best describes how terrible things went for her fathers. a fate that was worse than ordinary shit. the bluenette shifts in the bathtub again to get a better look at silco, and to rest a gentle hand over his.]

He's not here to apologize... or maybe he is. Somewhere out there. But if he's not, then I wanna apologize for him. ... I'm sorry for what he's done to you, and how he lost his cool. He took my mom's death pretty hard and... just.

[jinx can't pretend to know what vander was thinking during that time and can only vaguely recite what was written in the letter. nevertheless, she squeezes her father's hand with her wet one before slanting over to plant a light kiss on it.]

Not gonna ask for forgiveness, it won't make much of a difference... especially after how long ago this was. But. I'm really sorry, Silco.

Edited 2025-01-16 16:21 (UTC)

[His lips twitched at her outburst, but they twisted once she began down the path that he had long ago wished to never relive. He had shed the last holds of that relationship (or he deluded himself in that) when Vander had died outside the cannery, body morphed and twisted with Shimmer. He'd won. He'd proven his point; the monster was always still in there and only required the right motivation, though it was unfortunate the children had died.

However, Vander was no his family. Jinx was his family, the only family he needed now. The other man had lost that right that day at the river, though he shivered where he sat as he remembered sitting at the statue without anywhere else to go. Who else was there to talk to but the ghost of the past on the realization that they had been the same? He didn't want to acknowledge it even here; they were brothers, had been for a long time.

Yet, his eyes sharply turned to Jinx, and he inhaled audibly when she apologized on Vander's behalf.] Don't... [The word emerged before he could lock his jaw around it. The only person that still lived and breathed that could not be faulted for this intent was Jinx, but it ripped open old badly healed scars.

She didn't know. She thought she knew, but she didn't understand the full impact of that day. Oh, he ranted and raved, spat and cursed, pretended he had made himself whole again, but the history leading up to that point was complicated and twisted. He had never reflected well on it all, the good memories experienced like a hot poker to the guts and best to be avoided. Felicia... she had deserved better, deserved to not have died that day in the way that she had. Vander taking her death hard was a fucking understatement.

And after it all, Vander had settled in, erasing every part that he had once played. He resented that the kids were the most important aspect of his life, a memory of her, a memory of that day coveted and protected while he rotted in the mines fighting to survival, fighting to save his vision in the left eye regardless of the necessary sacrifices. Building from nothing alone and realizing it was better that way, that there would never be a time and place where they would meet and see eye-to-eye again.

For him to rise, Vander had to fall. He had and hadn't enjoyed it.

Forgiveness? No, that wasn't possible. Those wounds would never heal, and she was ripping them open, unearthing all the old hurts, especially with the knowledge that Vander survived. He had died and Vander lived on like a fucking cockroach. Why hadn't the Doctor saved him? Why Vander?

His expression had gone from tight to lax, his breathing rapid and harsh to his own ears. He pulled his hand away, unaware he dropped the brush to clatter on the floor. He wanted to be angry, to scream, to throw something, but he felt a deep well of dark emptiness that filled with old bitterness. She's sorry for what he did to him? She didn't know the half of it, the little details, the person he had been before that day.

A weak man had to die. A man who relied on anyone with his heart. And then he had... with her. And he died for it. He would sacrifice everything for, but never again for....

Suddenly he rose to his feet, pushing his hand through his hair several times, leaving it a touch wild-looking. He swallowed hard and turned away.] I need... a comb. [He had a comb.] No, a drink. I need a drink. Stay here and be warm.

[He walked out hurriedly, nearly tripping on his own feet in his haste to escape the narrowing walls of the bathroom. He made it to the kitchen and promptly vomited. Vander couldn't be here.]

[the sudden movement of her father marginally startles her, and she watches him with perplexity as he shoves his hand through his locks. and with each second passing, the confusion look coils more into concern and worry. maybe she should have kept her mouth shut, because after all, some say,"always go with your gut feeling or your first intuition".

and this seems to be one of those times. her eyes larges the more silco becomes undone, and regardless of him instructing her to stay put, jinx doesn't heed his words. so when he scurries off, his daughter scrambles to climb out of the tub.]

Shit. Shitshitshit!!

[she's so stupid, how could she easily jinx this up? it hadn't even been a full day, and things are already going into turmoil. out of the tub, she snatches the nearest towel she can spot, then hastily wrap it around her physique — giving chase. jinx can thank janna (or herself now, technically?) that her father didn't rush out into the night or barricade himself in his office.

there's a very light relief to see him in the kitchen, but not so much with him retching. the bluenette stands still for a moment or two with her mind racing in maximum speed; thinking as quickly she possibly can. okay, okay. what did isha used to do for her? would it even work for silco? they're the same, but different in so many ways. and yet, his daughter doesn't want to waste too much time with standing stiff, and she zooms swiftly by his side.]

Hey, hey...hey. [ she announces herself, doing her best to keep her voice leveled, and smooth as she rests a hand on silco's back, slouching forward — not at all bothered by the stench of his spew or the sight of it.] — I got you. Shhh, take a deep breath... I'm right here with you, there's no one else but me.

[Leaned over the sink, Silco heaved until his stomach was empty. There wasn't much to speak of, mostly liquid and he spat twice to remove some of the acrid taste in his mouth. He flipped on the water, keenly aware of Jinx closing the distance between them and turning his head just a touch to his right so he could see her approach.

He cupped water in a hand and brought it to his mouth, washing the taste out and spitting into the sink. He repeated that twice more before shutting the water off, his mind buzzing with the information, the apology, the knowledge Vander was out there and nothing would change the past hurts and sacrifices.

Yet, oddly, he was uncomfortable with Jinx's attempt at comfort; it was a rare thing, especially as she had gotten older. He was the adult after all; it was his job to comfort and guide her, not the other way around. She hadn't even called him silly, which all added up to a bizarre situation that he wasn't used to being put in. Her return was supposed to solve everything, but it felt complicated and jarring. Empty nest syndrome was such a strange concept.

Slowly, he pushed himself up from leaning on the sink, patting her arm as he abandoned his post to go in search of his liquor cabinet. Within a few steps, he had compartmentalized the raging emotions, compressing them where he could safely explode on his own at a later time. He exuded a calmness as he leaned down and poured himself some whiskey. Uncharacteristically, he took the first finger as a shot, refilled the glass far above what he normally would and didn't bother with ice this time.

He turned back to his daughter.] When you go in search of him, I will go with you. Unfinished business and all.

[she watches the man closely, and frowns only slightly when he goes to the cabinet to retrieve a glass and whiskey. jinx won't protest, however, the girl scurries to the fridge to seek for freshly bottle of water then sets it on the counter — scooting it closer to his radius than hers.

it's a muted suggestion that he should drink some water so to prevent dehydration, and she clutches on a rag to drop to the floor, then uses her foot to mop away any traces of bath water she trailed from one room to the next.]

Will you be okay out here, Pops? I can finish up my bath on my own.

[He fell back into a sense of routine, willing it to bring him calm and to compartmentalize the complex emotions that came with the bombardment of information that he had received tonight. He took another large gulp of whiskey, letting it burn its way down his throat and warm his stomach as he closed his eye and inhaled a deep breath, held it and then slowly released it.

He opened his eye and noted the water bottle that Jinx had nudged in his direction. He had already washed his mouth out, so that was purely unnecessary. He turned his gaze to her half untangled hair and simply set his tumbler aside on the coffee table.]

Don't be ridiculous. Your hair requires more attention. I'll assist.

[her expression plunges to a typical teenager snark, and she says nothing for a second or two before gesturing a wave of her hand towards the basin.]

... You just blew chunks all into the sink.

[in case he forgot, and the tone she uses is dry, but there's care in it, honest!]

I think you oughta sit for a second just in case you wanna go for round two. And bathing in puke is NOT exactly good for the skin. Despite what some nut job scientist might say.

There were no chucks, simply liquid.

[He decided to correct her on principle because chunks made an indication that he had eaten something in the last few hours, which he had clearly not. Instead, he was fighting to compartmentalize, to compose himself completely, to push down the wild rush of emotions for her sake (definitely not his own). He put the idea of Vander in a neat little box to deal with later internally.]

The moment of nausea has passed, and you're being quite dramatic. We need to finish your hair given the mess you've made of it on the travel back.

[He abandoned his tumbler and made a point of walking back to the bathroom as if he had not shown some of the strain or vomited in the sink or had his world crack all around him or experienced a whole new scenario of revisiting traumas. No, he focused on her because it was easier and better and what he had been doing for years.]

I'll refresh the water. [Be normal. Act normal. He unbuttoned the cuff of his shirt sleeve so he could roll it up and then reached it to pull the plug, replaced it immediately and turned the water back on.] You should drink that water you brought out.

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