I believe you wish you could be more like your sister, but that's not who you are.
[If the maze had taught him anything, it was a reminder of how difficult and worthwhile it had been taking Jinx in as a child and raising her to be a young adult. He had watched her struggle to the point where she was at, where she could grow attached and then fight down the continual paranoia that it might not last or it would be turned against her.
He turned and watched her move to the kitchen, easing himself to half sit against the back of the couch. He had no reason to interfere with her progress, even going so far as he shrug his way out of his jacket and leave it on the back of the couch for the time being.]
I know. You're young, and part of youth is experiencing heart-break and the flutter of infatuation. You are free to live a life where you can make mistakes to learn from them.
[As she approached with the knife, he lifted his hands and began to roll his shirt sleeves up towards his elbows casually. It wasn't a look he bothered much with these days, but a few years ago, it was a far more exclusive look. Her show of damaging the furniture was not unusual, and he didn't even flinch.]
Will you? I'll assist you in such an endeavor should he return.
( while she has a complicated relationship with self-love, he is right that she wishes to be like vi some days. because (in her twisted prospective) the whole stinking town adores her older sister. she's caring, helpful, a hero, has a girlfriend, and her own little "powder" as much she doesn't want to see the truth of it.
she has everything she could ever want while jinx continuously gets "jinxed" whenever she tried to follow her sister's footsteps. it often led for her to believe she wasn't meant to be like her sister -- she is different after all. but just once in her life, can't she have something sweet? just a little taste of victory? jinx had her share, sure, but not as much as she craves for.
yanking the knife out of its slot, she drags the blade across its surface to carve little zig-zags and lines. the boring table is in need of some better decor anyway. )
One wing for each of us.
( jinx says this now and her words are most likely true to some degree. she wants to shoot him down or at least kick him in the stomach if he shows up again and she very may well do that. but to put an end to him? with a fickle heart like hers, who knows if death will come to the boy savior in the long run. )
[Silco made an amused sound as she agrees. It had seemed like she might protect the boy and want to keep it personal, and he was prepared to make an argument that he had as much experience with the disruptions of the Firelights as she did. The only place his argument might have fallen flat was that he kept to the shadows rather than in direct conflict.
After all, he paid other people to be hands on. That's where he thrived, and that's where he preferred to be.]
So you are willing to share. [He made his usual hmm noise.] I wasn't certain with how the maze set up your mindscape. The door on the boy shut rather rapidly.
( and it's that right there that stills everything -- her unhinged demeanor, the knife, maybe even her breathing. jinx is quiet for possibly a second or two before saying simply: )
I don't know any door.
( except she knows which door he is talking about because she wandered in there herself when it got created. somehow. maybe it just manifested because he was on her mind the weekend before. )
[His fingers stilled at her own inactivity, watching her to see what she would do. He knew better than anyone that pushing her could sometimes earn a fitful even violent response. It wouldn't be the first time she had stabbed him when her mental state deteriorated.]
No? I could tell you about it if you so desired to know about it.
[He had no issue calling her bluff, even if a small sliver of himself did wonder if she wasn't aware of it. It was hard to tell given that their guide in the whole affair had been a doll of Jinx.]
( she bluntly reminds him as she chisels one last little thing upon the table before looking at his direction. is this her way of evading this conversation? oh definitely. because while her words are true on her belief of romance being a temporary sensation, her bolting out of ekko's place that morning, and currently carrying a lot of anger over him, that room is filled with all the good qualities she sees in ekko.
the raw moments of him smiling when she use to spy on him and his gang, him working on whatever invention and how... nice his muscles would twitch, the two of them lying on the beach together when he arrived in aldrip, the casino, their kiss, him holding her during the night... — all of that is stored inside.
hence why it shut so quickly when they approached. the funhouse worked in an unusual way that not even jinx could explain it if asked. because while she was her own person and ducking around to avoid a deformed looking doctor alone, the doll version of her was also her in some fashion. she was with vi and silco during their search but not with them at the same time. )
[That's all he would say about that at present, knowing she was avoiding the conversation. It was far less dramatic than when he had called her out in the woods and she had had all manner of girlish antics about dodging his questions. He supposed that he should, as this point, let it go given that the boy was gone. If he was fortunate, the boy wouldn't return either.
However, it was clearly still on her mind no matter how much she ducked and dodging his questioning about the subject, which might have been why he wasn't yet ready to put it aside. Distraction was one thing, but blowing up a building and having a mindscape that closed off to hind details was quite another.]
Are we going to have a repeat of bringing down a building in the near future? We should have you take it to the forest or the caves.
[Even on the walk home, he'd seen how the locals had stared at Jinx.]
( her eyebrow quicks then, leaving the knife on the table as she returns back to the couch -- energy leaving her again. )
You heard about that?
( possibly a silly question since the building structure was in the village. it's almost impossible to not hear the destruction when it could had happen right outside someone's window or doorstep. but the fact he was able to link the incident to her is what surprises her somewhat. because jinx isn't the only chosen around with mystical powers that could bring a home or whatever down to rubble. but maybe silco had seen so much of her explosions that he can point out her craft just by seeing or hearing it. )
Heard, saw the aftermath and discussed it with curious onlookers.
[It wasn't that he knew exactly that it was Jinx, but the timing was suspicious and her habit of blowing up things when upset was well-known. There was a reason he had dedicated previously abandoned part of the Undercity to her ticker area. It was one of the few places he had investigated that could withstand the experimentation of explosives.
Plus, Silco knew what her explosions tended to look like. Parts had graffiti on them and if one knew where to look, it wasn't difficult to put two-and-two together.]
We will find you a place where you can let loose then. It seems you need a good workshop sooner than we need anything else.
( slouching in her seat, her arm droops over her forehead as she takes a small breather. she probably shouldn't had acted out the way she did under her current condition. now she's more drained than ever!
jinx shuts her eyes behind her forearm to take in the somewhat soothing pressure she has with her arm to the head, while inhaling and exhaling steadily. mentally, she counts to herself with each given breath. one....two...three....hold. then out....two... three. )
[He knew the answer to that, and he knew that it was a work in progress. They were in a city with meager supplies, which complicated the usual activities that they would both undertake. He was going to have to take drastic measures soon by either opening a business of his own or start paying kids to spy for him.
There were resources, but most of them he didn't find particularly useful compared to what he was used to. Perhaps he should lower his standards and find a big simpleton to be his muscle for a little while.
He finally pushed off of the couch, walking over to a part of the kitchen near the wall and nudged the floor until one of the boards squeaked, and he could lean over and pry it up from the floor. He pulled out a sack, though the purple glow of Shimmer could be seen through the material.]
I was more thinking the cave for you, assuming we stay here.
( how will it hold up against a wooden platform? not at all and although her face is covered, her lips are still visible -- frowning over her silent answer. she hears her father shifting off the sofa and uses this opportunity to lie flat on the couch again. )
Cave could be good. I guess...
( his daughter trails off in a mumble with a light sigh escaping her lips. ) — It's gotta be high up.
[Silco returned to stand at the back of the couch again, setting his sack of materials there. He opened it and pulled out a vial of Shimmer and a reusable needle and syringe set. With experienced hands, he drew up a measured amount of Shimmer into the syringe and tapped the side to remove any air bubbles.]
Or we will find you a city where there is a workshop space more fitting nearby. I will see you have your freedom to ticker as you please.
[He nodded his head. Her previous set up had been perfect for her needs, but that simply meant they had to build her somewhere just as useful.]
( she should had probably kept her eyes shut or her face covered. because when she removes her arm to peek over, her muscles tighten slightly. the good news is the funhouse taught her to be a lot braver about needles and having something in or out her veins. but the spook of it still lingers just a smidge. shrinking a little, his daughter covers her eyes again -- doing her best to not think about what's about to come. the teen knows he won't do it as rough or sharp like singed did in the surgery, so she takes a deep breath to swallow down her slight fear. )
Nothing's happening... Nothing's happening...
( maybe if she says this enough, she won't notice the shimmer pain that will course through her in the next few seconds. )
[As he had been sedated to unconsciousness when the Doctor had saved Jinx's life, he had not endured his daughter's reaction towards needles. He could assume, of course, as he had been present when Singed had had to heal grievously injured Zaunites. Progress had to come when someone had nothing to lose after all.
Still, he was keenly aware of Jinx's reaction, but he dared not ask if she had been conscious at all for the procedure. He knew based on what he was seeing in front of him, and he sighed from his nose as he capped the needle and set aside the vial of Shimmer. He moved around to the front of the couch and seated himself on the arm, reaching out to set a hand on the top of her head.]
Nothing is happening, Jinx. However, this will help you and the withdrawal symptoms that you're experiencing.
[He would likely need her to sit up, though Shimmer was very very versatile and could enter the body almost any different way.]
( the gentle touch is comforting and it sets her heartrate to lower its frantic speed, a slow breath leaves her again through her lips while giving him a faint nod. )
See? He said so himself. It's to help. It'll make me feel better. Did ya hear that? It's not gonna be like before and not like... that place in the maze. It's fine.
( so very carefully, she sits up right then drops her arm. but still, she keeps her eyes shut as she continues to ramble on to... whoever she's talking to. )
— If I was a kid, I'd be crying, Numbskull. You'd probably cry if you had to go through this.
[He was very used to the voices in her head, though since the maze, he supposed he had a better idea about who they were and how they were defined in her mental state. There was the soft spoken boy and the loud insulting one for the most part. He already suspected he knew who the voices belonged to, given that tragedy that brought her into his care in the first place.]
It won't be like before. You inject my eye almost every day, so I know what it's like.
[He uncapped the needle and gently took her arm, tightening his grip just above the crook of her elbow to raise the vein with his thumb. He listened to her rambling and gently but firmly slipped the needle into her skin and into the vein. There was a flash of blood in the syringe, he released his thumb and inject the meager amount of Shimmer into her vein.]
( it feels like a spark of electricity getting shot in her vein, her eyes widen quickly as her pupils, once dull, now sparkle rapidly between pink and purple. she doesn't scream at the feeling, but jinx yelps halfway before biting back the rest.
then somehow, the teen sinks into a low giggling fit as her head droops -- her entire body feeling fuzzy and warm as the serum tickles through her bloodstream. the pain of it subsides and her mind feels afloat, thoughts a little clouded but not so much she can't comprehend everything.
a long and low sigh escapes her lips, wanting to sink further on the couch but doesn't since silco still has a hold of her arm. but she leans her head back over the sofa -- taking in the feeling of "invincibility". )
[It was enough to provide a reprieve from the withdrawal symptoms but not enough to get a real high from. It would, of course, heal damage that she might have sustained, even bruises and scrapes. He remained calm and remained holding off the vein a few more seconds after her yelp.
He released his grip and recapped the needle to sterilize later. He patted her wrist as he rose from his seat next to her to hide the items back under the floor boards, not willing to risk anyone seeing his miniature stash. He was going to have to allocate each dosage carefully to get Jinx through until he could gain a new supply.
( it's like she had forgotten what it's like to feel normal. and to think her sister suggested how she didn't need shimmer at all. come to think of it, what's so bad about this stuff again anyway? from what she's experiencing right now for one, is her mind drifting in a nice and smooth wave with no voices (that won't last).
and if she wasn't so mentally drained from the maze, jinx would instantly jump sky high or jog. maybe tomorrow she'll go out for a run first thing to get her legs back in shape along with her daily workout. and speaking of bruises and scrapes, there's no pain from them either as they gradually heal up. )
Mm-hmm...
( jinx hums an answer, suddenly overcome to just relax on this couch and curl up for a bit. but she still needs to eat and bathe. )
[Silco hadn't been working in the Doctor for years on end without knowing what Shimmer did to a person and the weening process. After all, it was bad for business to kill off those who were providing him the funding to rise to the top and drag the other Chem-Barons with him. Addiction was powerful, and even when weaned off, he knew that the hunger would gnaw at a person the rest of their life normally. The alternative was losing Jinx, and he couldn't face that.
As she relaxed into the couch, he returned to set a hand to the back of her head lightly. It was best she ride the sensation of normalcy on her own.]
When you feel up to it, go and have a bath. I'll prepare a meal for us.
[With that, he left to head to their small kitchen to put together a meal. Practice made perfect with that.]
( this time she doesn't answer, but she soaks in his gentle touch of her head even if it's brief. the sweet ambience of her father moving onto their kitchen, opening and close cabinets, and the clanking of silverware or tools to prep to cook is simply to die for. it's an odd and a rare satisfaction to her really. jinx's love of chaos and mayhem will always be the number one thing, but... sometimes. sometimes something lulled like this can be smoothing for her. it's definitely something she can live with long term, but every once in awhile it isn't so bad.
two minutes passes or so, and jinx finally yanks herself off the couch in a lazy fashion. the girl still says nothing, although makes her way to their bathroom -- arms moving in a see saw notion in a listless manner then disappears inside. )
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
branchandroot
action;
Date: 2023-09-30 07:31 pm (UTC)[If the maze had taught him anything, it was a reminder of how difficult and worthwhile it had been taking Jinx in as a child and raising her to be a young adult. He had watched her struggle to the point where she was at, where she could grow attached and then fight down the continual paranoia that it might not last or it would be turned against her.
He turned and watched her move to the kitchen, easing himself to half sit against the back of the couch. He had no reason to interfere with her progress, even going so far as he shrug his way out of his jacket and leave it on the back of the couch for the time being.]
I know. You're young, and part of youth is experiencing heart-break and the flutter of infatuation. You are free to live a life where you can make mistakes to learn from them.
[As she approached with the knife, he lifted his hands and began to roll his shirt sleeves up towards his elbows casually. It wasn't a look he bothered much with these days, but a few years ago, it was a far more exclusive look. Her show of damaging the furniture was not unusual, and he didn't even flinch.]
Will you? I'll assist you in such an endeavor should he return.
action;
Date: 2023-09-30 07:50 pm (UTC)she has everything she could ever want while jinx continuously gets "jinxed" whenever she tried to follow her sister's footsteps. it often led for her to believe she wasn't meant to be like her sister -- she is different after all. but just once in her life, can't she have something sweet? just a little taste of victory? jinx had her share, sure, but not as much as she craves for.
yanking the knife out of its slot, she drags the blade across its surface to carve little zig-zags and lines. the boring table is in need of some better decor anyway. )
One wing for each of us.
( jinx says this now and her words are most likely true to some degree. she wants to shoot him down or at least kick him in the stomach if he shows up again and she very may well do that. but to put an end to him? with a fickle heart like hers, who knows if death will come to the boy savior in the long run. )
action;
Date: 2023-09-30 07:57 pm (UTC)After all, he paid other people to be hands on. That's where he thrived, and that's where he preferred to be.]
So you are willing to share. [He made his usual hmm noise.] I wasn't certain with how the maze set up your mindscape. The door on the boy shut rather rapidly.
action;
Date: 2023-09-30 08:11 pm (UTC)I don't know any door.
( except she knows which door he is talking about because she wandered in there herself when it got created. somehow. maybe it just manifested because he was on her mind the weekend before. )
action;
Date: 2023-09-30 08:16 pm (UTC)No? I could tell you about it if you so desired to know about it.
[He had no issue calling her bluff, even if a small sliver of himself did wonder if she wasn't aware of it. It was hard to tell given that their guide in the whole affair had been a doll of Jinx.]
action;
Date: 2023-09-30 08:39 pm (UTC)( she bluntly reminds him as she chisels one last little thing upon the table before looking at his direction. is this her way of evading this conversation? oh definitely. because while her words are true on her belief of romance being a temporary sensation, her bolting out of ekko's place that morning, and currently carrying a lot of anger over him, that room is filled with all the good qualities she sees in ekko.
the raw moments of him smiling when she use to spy on him and his gang, him working on whatever invention and how... nice his muscles would twitch, the two of them lying on the beach together when he arrived in aldrip, the casino, their kiss, him holding her during the night... — all of that is stored inside.
hence why it shut so quickly when they approached. the funhouse worked in an unusual way that not even jinx could explain it if asked. because while she was her own person and ducking around to avoid a deformed looking doctor alone, the doll version of her was also her in some fashion. she was with vi and silco during their search but not with them at the same time. )
action;
Date: 2023-09-30 09:34 pm (UTC)[That's all he would say about that at present, knowing she was avoiding the conversation. It was far less dramatic than when he had called her out in the woods and she had had all manner of girlish antics about dodging his questions. He supposed that he should, as this point, let it go given that the boy was gone. If he was fortunate, the boy wouldn't return either.
However, it was clearly still on her mind no matter how much she ducked and dodging his questioning about the subject, which might have been why he wasn't yet ready to put it aside. Distraction was one thing, but blowing up a building and having a mindscape that closed off to hind details was quite another.]
Are we going to have a repeat of bringing down a building in the near future? We should have you take it to the forest or the caves.
[Even on the walk home, he'd seen how the locals had stared at Jinx.]
action;
Date: 2023-09-30 09:49 pm (UTC)You heard about that?
( possibly a silly question since the building structure was in the village. it's almost impossible to not hear the destruction when it could had happen right outside someone's window or doorstep. but the fact he was able to link the incident to her is what surprises her somewhat. because jinx isn't the only chosen around with mystical powers that could bring a home or whatever down to rubble. but maybe silco had seen so much of her explosions that he can point out her craft just by seeing or hearing it. )
action;
Date: 2023-09-30 11:47 pm (UTC)[It wasn't that he knew exactly that it was Jinx, but the timing was suspicious and her habit of blowing up things when upset was well-known. There was a reason he had dedicated previously abandoned part of the Undercity to her ticker area. It was one of the few places he had investigated that could withstand the experimentation of explosives.
Plus, Silco knew what her explosions tended to look like. Parts had graffiti on them and if one knew where to look, it wasn't difficult to put two-and-two together.]
We will find you a place where you can let loose then. It seems you need a good workshop sooner than we need anything else.
action;
Date: 2023-10-01 01:36 am (UTC)( slouching in her seat, her arm droops over her forehead as she takes a small breather. she probably shouldn't had acted out the way she did under her current condition. now she's more drained than ever!
jinx shuts her eyes behind her forearm to take in the somewhat soothing pressure she has with her arm to the head, while inhaling and exhaling steadily. mentally, she counts to herself with each given breath. one....two...three....hold. then out....two... three. )
— My hideout, remember? I'm still building it.
action;
Date: 2023-10-01 02:07 am (UTC)[He knew the answer to that, and he knew that it was a work in progress. They were in a city with meager supplies, which complicated the usual activities that they would both undertake. He was going to have to take drastic measures soon by either opening a business of his own or start paying kids to spy for him.
There were resources, but most of them he didn't find particularly useful compared to what he was used to. Perhaps he should lower his standards and find a big simpleton to be his muscle for a little while.
He finally pushed off of the couch, walking over to a part of the kitchen near the wall and nudged the floor until one of the boards squeaked, and he could lean over and pry it up from the floor. He pulled out a sack, though the purple glow of Shimmer could be seen through the material.]
I was more thinking the cave for you, assuming we stay here.
action;
Date: 2023-10-01 02:33 am (UTC)Cave could be good. I guess...
( his daughter trails off in a mumble with a light sigh escaping her lips. ) — It's gotta be high up.
action;
Date: 2023-10-01 04:50 pm (UTC)Or we will find you a city where there is a workshop space more fitting nearby. I will see you have your freedom to ticker as you please.
[He nodded his head. Her previous set up had been perfect for her needs, but that simply meant they had to build her somewhere just as useful.]
I know.
action;
Date: 2023-10-01 11:18 pm (UTC)Nothing's happening... Nothing's happening...
( maybe if she says this enough, she won't notice the shimmer pain that will course through her in the next few seconds. )
action;
Date: 2023-10-03 01:15 pm (UTC)Still, he was keenly aware of Jinx's reaction, but he dared not ask if she had been conscious at all for the procedure. He knew based on what he was seeing in front of him, and he sighed from his nose as he capped the needle and set aside the vial of Shimmer. He moved around to the front of the couch and seated himself on the arm, reaching out to set a hand on the top of her head.]
Nothing is happening, Jinx. However, this will help you and the withdrawal symptoms that you're experiencing.
[He would likely need her to sit up, though Shimmer was very very versatile and could enter the body almost any different way.]
action; cw: voices
Date: 2023-10-03 05:30 pm (UTC)See? He said so himself. It's to help. It'll make me feel better. Did ya hear that? It's not gonna be like before and not like... that place in the maze. It's fine.
( so very carefully, she sits up right then drops her arm. but still, she keeps her eyes shut as she continues to ramble on to... whoever she's talking to. )
— If I was a kid, I'd be crying, Numbskull. You'd probably cry if you had to go through this.
action; cw: needles
Date: 2023-10-05 01:42 pm (UTC)It won't be like before. You inject my eye almost every day, so I know what it's like.
[He uncapped the needle and gently took her arm, tightening his grip just above the crook of her elbow to raise the vein with his thumb. He listened to her rambling and gently but firmly slipped the needle into her skin and into the vein. There was a flash of blood in the syringe, he released his thumb and inject the meager amount of Shimmer into her vein.]
action; cw: needles + under the influence after effects
Date: 2023-10-05 02:24 pm (UTC)then somehow, the teen sinks into a low giggling fit as her head droops -- her entire body feeling fuzzy and warm as the serum tickles through her bloodstream. the pain of it subsides and her mind feels afloat, thoughts a little clouded but not so much she can't comprehend everything.
a long and low sigh escapes her lips, wanting to sink further on the couch but doesn't since silco still has a hold of her arm. but she leans her head back over the sofa -- taking in the feeling of "invincibility". )
action;
Date: 2023-10-06 04:24 am (UTC)He released his grip and recapped the needle to sterilize later. He patted her wrist as he rose from his seat next to her to hide the items back under the floor boards, not willing to risk anyone seeing his miniature stash. He was going to have to allocate each dosage carefully to get Jinx through until he could gain a new supply.
He returned to the couch and watched her.]
The skin itch has subsided for now?
action;
Date: 2023-10-06 05:02 am (UTC)and if she wasn't so mentally drained from the maze, jinx would instantly jump sky high or jog. maybe tomorrow she'll go out for a run first thing to get her legs back in shape along with her daily workout. and speaking of bruises and scrapes, there's no pain from them either as they gradually heal up. )
Mm-hmm...
( jinx hums an answer, suddenly overcome to just relax on this couch and curl up for a bit. but she still needs to eat and bathe. )
action;
Date: 2023-10-09 02:05 am (UTC)As she relaxed into the couch, he returned to set a hand to the back of her head lightly. It was best she ride the sensation of normalcy on her own.]
When you feel up to it, go and have a bath. I'll prepare a meal for us.
[With that, he left to head to their small kitchen to put together a meal. Practice made perfect with that.]
action;
Date: 2023-10-09 03:44 am (UTC)two minutes passes or so, and jinx finally yanks herself off the couch in a lazy fashion. the girl still says nothing, although makes her way to their bathroom -- arms moving in a see saw notion in a listless manner then disappears inside. )