#It wouldn't surprise me that she's projecting and repeating the rhetoric she's been told herself | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

photogirl894 · 2 years ago

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"The Flower of the Lanes"

Chapter 4

"A Jinx In the Plan"

An "Arcane" fanfic!

Pairing: Silco x fem OC, Viktor (friendship/platonic)

A/N: Good grief, I am so sorry, everyone for taking so long to get back to this fic! I had a bit of block with this one for a while and I also ended up concentrating more on my other bigger Star Wars fic, so my apologies!

There's a new player in Azaela's game of back and forth! 😜 This one will be interesting, for sure!

Taglist: @darthzero22 , @oneshot-one-kill , @ilikemymendarkandfictional , @tech-deck , @crazytookalady , @ladykatakuri

《 Chapter 3

》 Coming soon!

All chapters

Explanation: After an alluring first encounter with the Eye of Zaun, Azaela can't seem to get him off her mind and returns to the Undercity once more...only to find herself in the company of a young, blue-haired girl instead.

That damn Silco just would not leave her mind!

Since meeting him for the first time, Azaela found her thoughts drifted to him constantly over the following couple days. She was spacing out at the dinner table with her parents to where her mother finally asked if she was paying any attention. Naturally, her excuse was just that she was tired and having trouble focusing.

She'd also received a message from Viktor asking for her to look over some of his notes for another upcoming Hextech project, so she met with him on the bridge between the two cities, where she found him sitting on a bench. He greeted her warmly like always and she sat down beside him as he handed her his notebook. She started to glance at his notes...when the orange and black void of Silco's deformed eye came to the forefront of her mind again. His smooth voice sounded in her ear, repeating the words he had whispered into it:

"It's going to get you into trouble one day."

Why was that haunting her? The man was just so beguiling and she couldn't understand why. After all the signs she'd been given or told, she should be scared of him, but she wasn't. She was fascinated by him and she couldn't fathom why. He was just unlike anyone she'd ever seen or met. He was dangerous yet exciting, scary yet enticing, trouble yet a challenge and fierce yet charming. He was a mystery that she was more than determined to solve.

"Azaela?"

Viktor's voice saying her name broke Azaela's thoughts and her head snapped back into reality as she looked back up at him. He had a puzzled but also concerned look on his face.

"Are you okay?" he asked. "I asked you a question and you were...quite out of it."

"I--I'm sorry, I was...distracted," she responded.

"Coin for your thoughts?" he inquired.

Azaela really debated on whether or not she should tell Viktor about her recent ventures to the Undercity. More than likely, he wouldn't react well, but at the same time, he was her friend and she trusted him. It would be hard to keep something like this from him for long.

Clearing her throat, she then said to him, "I...I went back to Zaun a few days ago...and I met Silco."

Viktor closed his eyes and sighed quietly. "Why am I not surprised?" he asked rhetorically, shaking his head. Then he followed that up with, "So what happened?"

"It went all right...I think," she answered with uncertainty. "He remembered me and let me speak to him alone. I did something stupid near the end and I left after irritating him, but before that...he seemed almost intrigued. He was surprised at how open I was with my thoughts."

Viktor snickered. "Everyone is usually surprised by that," he countered.

She gave him a small, teasing sneer back. "I know you warned me against him, Vik, but I honestly didn't feel in any danger around him. He didn't want to hurt me. In fact, he gave me a replacement canister for the breathing mask and told me to keep it."

"Does he know you're from Piltover?" he asked.

"Uh...no," she admitted sheepishly. "I'm pretty certain he thinks I'm from the upper levels of Zaun...and I gave him a different name."

Viktor seemed to contemplate that briefly before saying, "Well, that won't matter because you're not going back again, right?"

Azaela averted her eyes and chuckled nervously. "Um...actually...I was hoping to go back and...maybe see him again."

"Z, that's only going to get you into more trouble," he warned.

"I know and yes, I lied to him, but if he knew my real name, then my cover would've been blown immediately and things would've gone differently."

"And how do you expect things to go when he learns the truth?"

"I...I haven't thought that far ahead."

"You never do."

That struck a nerve in her. "Viktor, I know what I'm doing," she spat.

He replied, "You don't know what you're getting yourself into."

"You didn't know what you were getting into either when you trusted Jayce and his Hextech, but that didn't stop you." she fired back. "You still took the risk, even though you didn't know him or if you could trust him."

Shaking his head, Viktor refuted, "That is not the same thing, Azaela. Jayce, I could tell was a brilliant scientist whose ideas were revolutionary to me. Silco is also a brilliant scientist whose ideas are dangerous and he is a violent criminal. The risk I took with Jayce is far different than any risk you take with Silco because they could all result in you getting hurt or worse."

"I don't doubt he's dangerous," she said, "but I get the feeling he's only dangerous when necessary. I wasn’t in fear for my life when I was in his office. There were a couple times I thought he'd be angry, at least, but he wasn't. I'm just...fascinated by him."

He groaned and put his fingertips to his forehead. "Why couldn't you have been fascinated by Hextech like me?"

Azaela snickered. "My mind works differently than yours, Viktor," she said. She glanced back down at his notes in her lap, skimming back over them. "Though not that much differently to where I can't tell you that your notes look well in order to me." She closed the book and held it out to him. "I think your next project is looking promising. Keep me informed of the progress."

Taking the notebook back begrudgingly, Viktor said back, "Only if you keep me informed of things with Silco. If there is even the slightest hint that you could be in any danger, I want to know."

"I will," she said.

After that, Viktor took up his cane, stood up from the bench, slipped his notebook into a satchel and declared, "I'd best be getting back to the lab. Jayce is expecting me Please, take care, okay?"

She nodded. "You too."

He started to walk forward, but then stopped to lay a hand on her shoulder. They exchanged smiles between good friends and then Viktor went ahead and moved along, leaving Azaela alone on the bridge.

For a moment, she watched him hobble away. One of these days, she hoped that maybe his Hextech would be able to cure his disability and he could walk again. He didn't seem to mind, but she had a feeling that it was still something he thought about in the back of his mind.

Her gaze shifted to the other side of the bridge that led to Zaun. Despite Viktor's warnings, she just couldn't help but feel drawn back to that place.

Back to Silco.

It had already been a couple of days since she'd been back and the pull was getting stronger. She wanted to see more and learn more about the Underground...and Silco, too. No amount of research or technology had ever bewitched her as much as he had.

Though, would he even want to see her again after how their first meeting had ended? He hadn't seemed too happy with her. She could always try apologizing, but would he even care?

"Well...guess there's only one way to find out," she thought to herself.

With a turn on her heel, she walked back in the direction of the Undercity.

Even though she didn't have her cloak with her to conceal her normal attire--which she knew Viktor would be frustrated with her about--she'd at least had a mind to bring the breathing mask with her, knowing she was bound to return to Zaun eventually. She was following Silco's advice and using it as sparingly as possible so she could get acclimated to the Underground atmosphere, though it was a very difficult thing to do. The air quality was incredibly bad, it was a miracle that people lived in it.

Azaela continued winding her way down into Zaun, keeping her head low so as to avoid eye contact with any unsavory characters and to take quick breaths from the breathing mask. It amazed her how quickly the sunlight faded the further down she went, even though it was mid-afternoon. She could tell people were watching her as she walked by, but so far, no one was really paying any mind to her.

Surprisingly, she got down to the Lanes without anything happening. It seemed too easy and she even kept stopping and checking over shoulder, paranoid that maybe she was being followed, but every time she looked, there was no one that could see following her. Eventually, she came around a corner and found a small courtyard in the middle of part of the city block and saw a statue was in the process of being built out of scraps of metal. It looked almost finished, from what she could tell. It was a large man holding a pipe that had embers inside of it standing on top of what looked like a wagon in pieces. Whoever this man was, he had to have been important to Zaun to be memorialized like this. He looked intimidating, but he he had a kind face. A very curious thing. Not wanting to get in the way of the builders, she continued on her way.

"Maybe I should head to the Last Drop now...," she thought on her way out.

However, she'd only been walking a few more minutes when she heard yelling nearby and it seemed to be coming from an alley up ahead. Just as she came to the entrance of the alley, someone slammed right into her with a loud "Oof!" and they both went sprawling to the ground.

"Watch it!" she heard a younger voice say.

When Azaela looked up to see the other person getting to their feet and putting their back to her, she saw it was a young teenage girl, probably around thirteen or fourteen, with two long, blue braids running down her back, ending just below her hips. She was in a black crop top, striped purple pants cut off below the knees, loose boots and long leather gloves on her hands. There was a leather bag slung over her shoulder that was clearly filled to the brim with a few things. On her belt, she had what looked like weird metal contraptions as well as a gold pistol.

"Good luck finding me!" she jeered at the people Azaela could now see coming up the aisle. Then all of a sudden, she pulled one of the contraptions off her belt, pulled something out of it and threw it into the alley. A few seconds later, it exploded in a cloud of pink smoke.

The girl then whipped around and looked down at Azaela. "Come on, let's go!" she said, grabbing Azaela's arm and pulling her up off the ground.

Before Azaela could protest, the girl was pulling her along down a few winding streets before ducking back in another small alley. The girl shoved her into the wall and covered her mouth, shushing her. It was then Azaela realized the girl had big, bright blue doe eyes outlined in heavy black eyeliner, dark painted lips, long bangs that fell over her face as well as blue cloud tattoos along her arms and exposed sides. The two of them stayed pressed up against the wall quietly as they heard voices approaching.

"Where did she go?" one voice demanded.

"Damn it, I think we lost her!" cried another.

There was a frustrated groan. "Can't believe she got away with our stuff! We'll get her eventually."

A minute later, they heard footsteps running off. Whoever was chasing them was gone.

The girl removed her hand and stepped back, snickering and grinning to herself.

"Ha, those suckers!" she said with triumph. Then she glanced at Azaela, looked her up and down and stated, "Sorry I had to drag you along for that. Those guys were the biggest jerks."

Still taken aback by everything that had suddenly happened, Azaela stuttered out, "Uh...n--no, no problem. Why...were you running from them?"

"Oh!" The girl revealed the inside of her bag, showing a bunch of different metal parts, and giggled. "I stole all of these from them. Pretty neat, huh?"

"I suppose so," Azaela replied. "Though, it's also pretty dangerous, too."

The young girl got a mischievous look on her face as she flashed a toothy grin and stated excitedly, "I know. That's what makes it so fun!"

To Azaela, this girl was incredibly peculiar. Though, knowing where she was, she wasn't all that surprised to have come across someone who found stealing fun.

The girl looked her over, put a hand on her hip and said, "Don't think I've seen you before. What's your name?"

"Zaeli," she responded. "Who are you?"

Gesturing to herself with her thumb, the girl said back, "The name's Jinx."

"And what are you doing with all of those parts you stole, Jinx?"

"I make things with them. I'm pretty big into gadgetry and stuff like that."

"Is that so? How interesting."

Jinx gave her a grin and inquired, "You wanna come with me and see what I'm working on?"

Zaeli was a bit taken aback at such an offer from this young girl that she'd only just met. Jinx certainly seemed very open and friendly, which was a change from just about everyone else she'd seen in the Undercity, sort of apart from Silco.

"Uh...sure," she answered hesitantly. "Though, why, may I ask? You only just met me."

With a shrug, Jinx just said, "I don't know. You seem cool and you're the first person who didn't yell at me for running into them."

As she listened to Jinx's answer, Zaeli took notice of the young teen's eyes. There was a sadness in them that it seemed that she was trying to hide with her words. Zaeli figured out the meaning behind it almost right away. While she believed Jinx's answer was truthful, there was more to it.

The young girl was lonely.

Something about this realization made Zaeli suspect that Jinx probably didn't have many friends, which tugged at her heartstrings. While there was a bit of an age difference between them, it appeared as though Jinx didn't care. She just wanted some company and wanted to share her gadgetry with someone. Zaeli didn't think she could say "no" to that.

"I think you're cool, too, Jinx, and I'd love to see your projects," she told her.

Jinx's eyes lit up in response and she clapped her hands with glee. "Oh my gosh, nobody ever wants to see what I work on! This is the best day ever!"

Zaeli chuckled at Jinx's reaction, pleased that she was able to make her smile.

Jinx grabbed her by the wrist and cried out, "Come on, let's get going!" Then she proceeded to pull Zaeli along behind her excitedly.

It didn't take terribly long before Zaeli found herself in what seemed to be an abandoned mining shaft in one of the lower parts of Zaun. Not only that, but the area Jinx led her to was one giant set of flat propellers suspended over a deep chasm, which made her incredibly nervous. Though, Jinx didn't seem to mind as her entire set up was on these propellers. She had a work station near the center and other furniture and decorations spread out on the rest. It seemed as though the girl lived here. Personally, Zaeli couldn't imagine ever living in a space like this, but then again, there were plenty in Zaun that she was sure weren't lucky enough to even have a small apartment or house. There were still many that lived on the streets or in improvised spaces like this. If Jinx seemed comfortable here, then she supposed that was all that mattered.

As they were walking in, Jinx informed her, "Just a heads up: my old man's also probably coming by here soon. Hope you don't mind."

"Not at all. I can get out of your hair before he shows up," Zaeli replied.

With a dismissive wave, Jinx said, "No, you don't need to do that!" Then she got excited again as she added, "You should stay and you can meet him!"

Zaeli chuckled. "Sure, all right."

That being said, Jinx jogged over to her work station and gestured to a large metal contraption laying on the ground that had a couple metal tubes sticking out of it.

"I'm making my own rotary cannon," she told Zaeli. "It isn't done yet, but that's what I needed the parts for."

That was definitely not what Zaeli was expecting to hear was one is Jinx's projects. "Wow...that's quite an undertaking," she commented.

"Oh, I know," she groaned. "You won't believe how long I've been working on it."

Out of curiosity, Zaeli started walking around the work station to the other side of the giant propeller, wanting to see the rest of Jinx's area, as Jinx was explaining how she was building her cannon. It was such a peculiar place with a bit of a chaotic aesthetic. Seemed to fit the young girl well.

A few seconds later, she then heard Jinx call out, "Hey, old man! You got here quicker than I thought."

"Hello, Jinx."

The voice that responded to Jinx on the other side of the propeller was one that made Zaeli freeze up. She recognized it and it was the last voice she thought she would hear there.

"Oh shit...!" she thought in a panic.

Then Jinx exclaimed, "I have a new friend I want you to meet!" Before Zaeli could protest, Jinx came around from the other side, grabbed her arm and yanked her forward excitedly. They moved around the propeller and Zaeli found herself once again face to face with Silco. He didn't have as shocked of a reaction as she expected. His eyes widened ever so slightly, but he kept a still demeanor in his face.

"Zaeli," he simply said in greeting.

She bowed her head nervously. "Silco," she replied.

Puzzled, Jinx looked between them. "What? You didn't tell me you already knew each other!" she stated.

"I didn't know he was your dad," Zaeli said in defense.

"That and we only just met a couple of days ago," Silco added.

"Well, at least we can skip the introductions, then. Those are always so awkward," droned Jinx. Then all of a sudden, her eyes went huge and she cried out, "Ooh, I need to get some drinks! Don't you guys go anywhere! Be right back!"

Before either Silco or Zaeli could say anything, Jinx darted off somewhere, they weren't sure where, leaving the two of them alone. Zaeli was unsure of what to say and just stood there, awkwardly holding her arm.

Finally, Silco broke the silence, stating "What a surprise to find you here."

"You're surprised? I just found out you have a kid and it's that blue-haired spitfire who I just came across on the street!" she said back in disbelief.

He hummed in agreement. "An apt description of Jinx," he said, looking back in the direction Jinx had run off.

Feeling as though she was now intruding, she suggested, "I can leave if you'd rather not have me here."

Turning back to her, he asked in response, "Did I give any indication that I wanted you to leave?"

"Well, no, but...this is time I'm sure you want with your daughter and our last meeting didn't exactly end on the best note, so I thought--"

"It was an unfortunate misunderstanding, one we can both leave behind us. Do you agree?"

That wasn't the response she was anticipating. She thought after how she'd left things in his office before that he wouldn't want her around, but he didn't seem to think too badly of her because of that incident. That at least brought her a sense of relief.

"I guess I do," she said back, a small hint of a smile on her face.

Silco simply nodded in return.

"Now that I know he has a kid, this would explain the chalk drawings I saw in his office," she thought in her head. Then she spoke out loud, moving back to the previous conversation, "Jinx is quite the character. Probably the most charismatic and outgoing person I've ever met."

"That, she is," he agreed.

"With her firecracker attitude, I assume she takes after her mother," she said, starting to feel more comfortable with the situation.

However, he said back to her, "There is no mother."

"Oh damn it!" she inwardly cursed, now thinking she'd messed up yet again.

Though, he went on to explain, "She isn't my daughter by birth. I found her and adopted her a few years ago."

"I see. Ugh, I'm sorry. Me and my big mouth again," she said, embarrassed once again.

"You're not the first to make that assumption," he simply assured her, seemingly unbothered.

She slightly shrugged her shoulders. "That makes me feel a bit better, I suppose."

All of a sudden, Jinx reappeared between the two of them, having dropped from somewhere above them and making them jump back. "What makes you feel better?" she questioned, handing the two of them cups of something.

Taking the cup from Jinx, Silco lightly chided her, "A conversation between two adults is not any of your business, Jinx."

The young teen scrunched her face at him and whined, "I'm almost an adult!"

Unfazed by her whining, he just took a sip and said in reply, "You still have a few years."

"Ah, whatever. You're no fun," she droned. Then she whipped around to Zaeli and asked with begging puppy eyes, "Zaeli, will you tell me?"

"Nope. Not if your dad says otherwise," she countered, not even taking a chance at going against Silco.

Jinx rolled her eyes and let her head fall back, frustrated. "Ugh, you’re supposed to be my friend!"

After taking a drink, Zaeli replied to her, "Who says I can't be both your friend and his?"

Zaeli glanced at Silco and saw he had a bit of a taken aback look on his face. She supposed he hadn't expected her to refer to him as a "friend".

Jinx bobbed her head back and forth in contemplation before rambling off, "I guess I can live with that. Though, most of my dad's friends don't like me. Then again, a lot of them aren't girls. I mean, there's Sevika, but she's a miserable troll and she definitely doesn't like me, so she doesn't count. It's nice to meet another girl who isn't incompetent."

"Jinx...!" Silco scolded her with a warning tone of voice.

Hoping to move past that little snag, Zaeli told Jinx, "I don't have a lot of girl friends either."

"Well then, you and me, Zaeli! We gotta stick together!" declared Jinx, nudging Zaeli with her shoulder.

Chuckling, Zaeli told her, "Sure thing, kid. Though, I really should go. I don't want to impose on your guys' time and I should get home."

"Oh, all right...! Promise you'll come visit me soon?" Jinx held up her pinky to Zaeli, a serious look in her face.

Zaeli hooked her pinky with Jinx's and said, "I promise."

Then she was surprised by Silco stepping forward and stating, "I'll walk you out."

Though she hadn't expected such a gentlemanly move from him, she wasn't going to refuse, so she gave him a bow of her head, waved one last time to Jinx and then walked out of Jinx's hideout with Silco in tow.

As they made their way down the tunnel back to the lift that brought them to Jinx's hideout, Zaeli commented to Silco, "I suppose I should make sure it's all right with you first if I can spend any time with Jinx."

He answered nonchalantly, "She is free to do whatever she wants as long as it doesn't interfere with my work or involve me getting her out of trouble."

"And how often does that happen?" she asked.

With a small groan, he told her, shaking his head, "More than I care to admit."

She snickered. "I would imagine."

Almost a minute later, they could see the lift up ahead and Silco said to her, "I had wondered if you would return to the Last Drop after last time."

Zaeli looked down as they walked, a nervous pit forming in her stomach. "I won't deny, I certainly thought about it," she admitted to him. "I figured I might make a better impression this time instead of coming in and immediately passing out in the doorway. I was considering going there before I ran into Jinx." As she said this, they reached the lift and she pulled the gate to it open.

"Do you still wish to?" he inquired.

She shrugged. "Maybe." Then she stepped inside the lift, but then halted when she heard him say behind her:

"Then come back to the club tonight."

Her heart pounded in her chest, threatening to burst it open at the Eye of Zaun's statement. He wanted her to come back to the Last Drop, even after last time. She supposed that maybe their last encounter hadn't really irked him as much as she thought after all. As anxious as she was, though, she had to play it cool in her response.

Turning back to face him, she smirked at him and asked in reply, "Is the infamous Eye of Zaun extending me an invitation?"

He frowned slightly. "With that attitude, I may just withdraw it."

"Oh, what a pity," she said, feigning disappointment. Then she grinned and stated, "I'll be there. Give me about four hours."

Silco folded his arms across his chest. "Three," he countered.

Zaeli raised her eyebrows challengingly. "Three and a half."

His nose turned up at her and his eyes narrowed, seemingly weighing his options as he surveyed her, before he finally responded, "Very well. Until then."

Satisfied, she closed the gate in front of her, pressed the button to activate the lift, gave a small wave to the Eye of Zaun and said, peeking at him through the bars, "See you soon, Silco."

He watched as the lift raised up until it disappeared from view with the peculiar lavender-haired woman inside. There was something about her that he still couldn't quite place. Any other time, he would've never invited a random woman he barely met to his office. He wasn't that quick to trust. Then this woman...Zaeli...something about her was different and somehow, it intrigued him. That and he couldn't deny, he was moved by how much Jinx seemed to like her, even after barely meeting her. That was definitely a contributing factor to it all.

Soon, he made it back to Jinx's room in the cavern and she was sitting cross-legged on her desk, her head propped in her hands and grinning deviously from ear to ear.

"Ooh, did you just ask Zaeli on a date?" she asked eagerly.

Supposing Jinx had followed them somehow and overheard the conversation, Silco cast her a warning look and clarified, "It is not a date, Jinx."

However, Jinx wasn't convinced and she let out a laugh. "You invited her back to the club and I assume you're both just going to be alone in your office. Sure sounds like a date to me," she teased.

"It'll just be two acquaintances having drinks and conversation. Nothing more," he told her.

She narrowed her eyes and smirked, still not buying it. "Mmm-hmm, sure, whatever you say." She pushed off of her desk, put her hand behind her back and said as she walked up to him, rocking back and forth, "She is pretty, though."

"Enough of that," he stated sternly.

Jinx simply giggled, wagged a finger at him and replied in a sing-song voice, "You didn't deny it!"

Silco rolled his eyes and was about to lecture her, but she quickly changed the subject by taking his hand, pulling her to her desk and stating that she wanted to show him her newest project. He relented easily enough and paid close attention to what she said as she went on. Jinx held a lot of influence over him that sometimes he feared it would end up being his own undoing.

He would spend a little time with Jinx and then return to the Last Drop to prepare for his rendezvous with Zaeli...which, deep down, he had to admit he was actually looking forward to.

#arcane #silco #silco arcane #silco fanfic #silco x oc fic #flower of the lanes fanfic

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