#jailco?

[caspercryptid]

Hi! Are you still taking requests? I would like some Silco/Jayce. Yeah, I know, a really rare ship but I can't find a single fic of them and I'm sad. Something like maybe they make peace without Silco losing Jinx and then after that they work together and with time they get to know each other better.

I'm gonna go ahead and make this a continuation of This just for ease since that'd basically be my premise anyway <3 thank you for the request! always happy to meet your rarepair needs, feel free to send me more requests.

-

It was done.

Jayce didn't quite know how he'd done it, but somewhere in the space in the council room where he'd stood and delivered the words and made an impassioned plea for mercy and understanding, he'd done it. There had been some questions about retribution and he'd- admittedly, kind of blacked out for a second.

When he'd asked Mel, afterwards, exactly what he'd said--- well, first, she'd laughed at him, because she'd asked him to explain and he had. But once she was done laughing at him, she said that he had given a very compelling speech about starting relations with a new city-state on the grounds of mutual respect, of understanding that a civil war had been raging for a long time now, a quiet one, and in a war both sides have acted in ways that were not proportional or right. He'd also said- and Mel had noted this with a certain glint of amusement- that every person in this war had acted to protect their families from the enforcers. That every person they could make an example of was someone's father, someone's daughter, had a family. It wouldn't just punish them. It would salt the ground they were trying to grow a better future in. Mel'd patted him on the shoulder, told him he'd done good, and left it at that.

He suspected he'd said more than he meant to, especially given that Viktor'd seemed similarly amused, but Viktor had been eager to get back to the lab and Jayce had been eager to let him, with promises he'd follow as soon as he could (and Mel had agreed to check on him, Jayce needed Viktor okay, too.)

So he had it all in hand. He just needed to go pay someone a visit.

Zaun seems... quieter. Than the last time he was down here. And of course it was different, his blood wasn't pumping, he wasn't alerted to every single sound, but he walks through the streets in his white coat and- ah.

People were getting out of his way.

He takes a deep breath, reminds himself that he was doing this officially and that was the only way to do it, pushes aside the feeling that he's going to die down here, and continues on.

The last drop is legitimately an impressive building. It looks a little rough- something's clearly come crashing through and he has a certain degree of suspicion about what (who) it was-- but there's a bouncer at the door and he can see that tables have been set to rights again, even through the door, though his view of it is immediately blocked by a man who's built like a brick shithouse.

"Councilman Talis." he says, his voice absolutely dripping disdain. "To what do we owe the pleasure." Jayce tips his chin up. "I'm here to see Silco." "No you're not." Jayce feels eyes on his back and all over him. He's probably surrounded, but he doesn't look back. He draws himself up, ready to retort, when the words are stolen out of his mouth. "Yes he is."

Silco himself pushes the bouncer out of the way, and Jayce... has to admit that the light of the last drop does Silco some favors. He looks completely in his element, radiating a kind of power he hadn't on the bridge. It's half in the way he looks in the neon glow, in the grime of the city, half in the way everyone scatters to get out of his way. The city's like an extension of his hands, the way it responds when he moves.

Jayce inclines his head and follows when Silco gestures him in, not bothering to spare the bouncer a second glance.

He glances around at the destruction, feeling a little pang of guilt in his chest at the mess. If he'd taken the gauntlets---

No. What was between Vi and Silco was between them. He couldn't have taken them back, couldn't have told her she was wrong. He could only choose a different way forward for himself, and he had.

He had.

He follows Silco up to his office, which is empty, and scans the room. There's... a little bit of dried blood on the floor. A glow catches his eye and he looks up. There are... neon paintings all over the ceiling, glowing phosphorescent.

Something-- oddly comforting settles in Jayce's chest. It shouldn't be, he realizes, distantly. But there's something about the scrawled writing on the ceiling of such a formal office that affirms that-- well. At the very least, Silco wasn't lying about how much she meant to him. The little marks of her presence are everywhere. It's not a portrait on the wall the way some of his coworkers would have, but, well. It's Zaun.

He was starting to really appreciate what that means.

Silco sits and just makes a diplomatic gesture at the other chair, and Jayce slides him the papers.

"We're going to have to build you a hexgate." He says, without fanfare. "Rather than giving you full access to Piltover's. Is that an equitable compromise?" Silco raises an eyebrow. "You'd hand over your technology that easily?" He asks, and Jayce snorts. "If you disassemble it, we're going to have problems. I trust that you're aware that what you might gain isn't worth that cost." "An awful lot of trust, Councillor." Silco muses, and it's almost a question. Jayce swallows, hard. "---you trusted me." He says. "Or at the very least, trusted me to- act within what you think of me. I know you're assuming i'm soft. That i'm balking at the first sign of danger. I'm not too prideful to admit I don't have the stomach for a war. I don't want one. I'm a scientist, not a soldier, and certainly not a general." He looks up at Silco, chin up. "I don't trust you either." he says. "Not on any personal level. But you showed your hand. You may be a monster, but you're a man, too. And I can work with that. You don't want a war. You're willing to do what it takes to stop anyone else from starting one." Silco is giving him a look he doesn't quite know how to define, but it makes his pulse do something fast and strange, like a bird trapped in a cage, beating its wings.

"You're uncommonly observant." Silco says, finally. Jayce's lips twitch. "Scientist." he says.

"Must not be easy, being their poster boy." "---It isn't." Jayce admits.

"You're not cut out for this."

"I'm not."

"And yet." Silco muses. "You manage it anyway. I'm finding myself impressed."

"---thank you." Jayce says. He's trying not to look flustered, and he pushes himself up from the chair, offering a hand. "Do you accept the terms?"

Silco stands too.

It happens very fast.

Silco's face is suddenly very close to his, and his heart just about stops, because Silco is holding his chin. His expression is still flat but his eyes are blazing.

"Don't misunderstand." he says. "I'm impressed with this little charade. But if you think for one moment that I trust you enough to let my guard down-" "No." Jayce says, firmly, cutting him off. "I dont--- expect you to. I expect you to distrust and hate me. I expect you to act as a citizen of Zaun. But don't misunderstand me either, Silco, I'm not unaware of the politics. I may not be suited for it, but that doesn't mean I don't know what I'm doing. Despite that-" He pulls back, out of Silco's grip. "-I can't make deals with Zaun." he says. "So I am expecting you to act as a representative of Zaun's interests. And the second you don't, it won't matter that you're a man with a daughter, because there are more people than you who've staked their lives on this. Hold up your end. I'll hold up mine. Now do we have a deal or not?"

Silco is still giving him that look, and before Jayce can question him, his thumb presses against Jayce's lip.

"There's a traditional way to seal a bargain." He says, and before Jayce can question him, he--

It takes a second to process that SIlco is kissing him, and that he's kissing Silco back, on instinct, because his face was close and he was half prepared for it, half thinking about it, even though he was in no way prepared for it, definitely not thinking about it--

Silco pulls back, looking undefinably smug.

"We have a deal."

[withdrawnwitch]

I wrote a Jailco fic! :D

[handsomewrites]

a fist and not a plan ch.1

So maybe Jayce is a bit impulsive, but it's never spiraled like this before. Curiosity killed the cat, but thankfully it only got Jayce's ass kicked.

Modern AU Jailco. They both get a little horny about a fistfight.

TAGLIST: T RATED; Jayce/Silco; Fistfights; light violence; implied crime; idiots to lovers;

part 2 | part 3 | part 4

read on ao3 here

~~~

“Please don’t hover.”

Jayce blinks, surprised, and steps back. He isn't trying to hover, really, but he's a little excited that Viktor has finally taken him up on the offer to be gym buddies.

Well, taken him up on the offer is maybe less accurate than, say, Viktor’s doctor suggested a gym membership to use the equipment as a part of his physical therapy exercises, and Jayce insisted on coming along.

Close enough.

“Sorry,” Jayce answers, shaking his head. “I’ll just, uh. Be over here, if you need anything.”

Viktor inclines his head a fraction in a way he’s come to recognize as a thank you. At least, he’s fairly confident that’s accurate. Viktor’s a hard guy to read. Jayce plucks a pair of decently sized dumbbells from the rack and sits on the bench adjacent to Viktor’s, trying not to watch his friend from the corner of his eye.

It’s not that he doesn’t think Viktor can handle it -- Viktor can handle anything, really. He’s seen Viktor handle a hell of a lot more than anyone ever expected of him. But the gym is one of the places Jayce considers his domain, along with the forge and the lab. And, like the forge and the lab, he’s keenly aware that a lot of people hurt themselves at the gym when they don’t know what they’re doing.

Not that Viktor doesn’t know what he’s doing, of course! He has instructions from his doctor, presumably. But he’s never really seen anyone use free weights the way Viktor is currently, holding a small one in his hands while he does some sort of twisty thing with his back.

He sets the weight down between his legs with a huff of exertion, not looking up at Jayce before he speaks again. “I can feel you staring at me still.”

“Sorry! Sorry. I just... worry.” Jayce sets his own dumbbells down, a little flustered. Viktor smiles a little, in a way that’s tired, but fond.

“I know, Jayce. Can you come take this?”

Jayce hops up, nearly tripping over his own weights to take the metal disk from Viktor’s hands. He gets another head-incline before Viktor stands, using one of his arms for balance until he can retrieve his cane.

“Alright. Fifteen minutes on the bike, and then I can be done with this for a while.”

Jayce isn’t sure why a stationary bike would be recommended for a guy with a bad leg, but it’s low-impact, so maybe it’s a good way to build strength?

“Do you think I can handle that much without supervision?” Viktor’s tone is teasing, and Jayce huffs a little.

“I know you can handle it, I just... want to help.”

“I know, Jayce.” Viktor very kindly does not say you can help by going away. “Can you get me a drink from the front? One of those electrolyte things.”

Part of him knows he’s being given a task so he stops fretting, but he’s grateful for it. “Sure thing, Vik.”

---

Jayce takes his time buying his friend an overpriced purple sports drink from the front desk. This isn’t his usual gym, so he doesn’t know anyone he could stop and chat with. He usually works out at the university’s gym, but Viktor had said it’s for actual athletic people and full of meatheads like you, Jayce, so they’d gotten memberships to the discount gym down the road, instead. It isn’t a bad gym at all. There are people here who clearly know what they’re doing, mixed in about equal parts with middle aged moms, people who made new years’ resolutions to get in shape, and sedentary office workers that need something to get the blood flowing.

He gives the girl behind the counter a polite thanks, turning on his heel to trot back across the gym. His head is in the clouds a bit, and he’s paying more attention to the weird remixed pop song playing in the background than he is to where his big feet are landing. So, of course, he gets one of those big feet caught under a barbell someone had sat on the ground while taking a break. And, of course, because he can never go down without taking one or two casualties with him, he collides headlong into someone stepping down from the treadmills nearby.

“Shit,” is the first thing that comes out of his mouth, somewhere between falling and landing. Then, “shit,” again, once he realizes he’s landed on top of another person. Before he can push himself up, though, they’re shoving at his chest, pushing him off with arguably more force than necessary.

“OAF,” is the first thing the stranger says to him -- or, more accurately, spits at him, bristled like a cat. It’s a man, older than he is and considerably scrawnier, with a patch over one eye. There’s a scar under the patch, partially covered by makeup, but sweat has done a number on that. The other eye is glaring at him as the man scrambles to his feet, huffily brushing off his clothes like Jayce soiled them, somehow. Standing at his full height, the man has a powerful air about him, and he looks down at Jayce like he’s an inch tall.

It’s maybe... a little attractive. To some people. Maybe.

“Sorry,” Jayce says honestly, standing with a wince. He skidded his knee on the rubber flooring, which will be sore, but it didn’t scrape. “Are you alright? I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

“I’m fine,” the man snaps, voice dripping with contempt, and all Jayce’s regret slips away. “I know you may not have many to spare, but please at least attempt to leave a brain cell free to watch where you’re going.” The more he speaks, the more Jayce can feel any desire he has to be polite leak out the soles of his shoes.

“Wow,” he says, eyebrows raised. Then, “okay. Wow.”

“Sorry, was that too many words for you to take in at once?” The man squints at him, lilting his words with a mocking sympathy as if Jayce is a scared child. “I’ll try and keep it simple for you. Move.”

He tries to push past Jayce, but Jayce is considerably bigger, and he uses his size to block the path. “What is your problem, man? It was an accident. I apologized.”

“Oh! You apologized!” His voice gets even more condescending as he claps his hands together, leaning back a bit. “Well that changes everything! Clearly, apologizing has never not fixed everything, right? At least, for you.” His fake smile drops back to the glare it started as, and he thumps a closed fist on Jayce’s left pec. “Now, what part of move wasn’t clear?”

“The part where you didn’t say pretty please with sugar on top.” Jayce crosses his arms over his chest, maybe flexing a little to make himself look bigger. A few people have stopped, now, turning to look at the commotion.

The man’s eyebrow twitches, and Jayce counts it as a victory that he’s gotten under his skin. Then the guy reels back and stomps full-force on Jayce’s foot, with a surprisingly pointy heel, and Jayce flinches out of the way enough for him to push past.

Historically, Jayce has always spoken and acted before thinking. He’s smart, if he lets his brain have a chance to think, but instead of doing that, his hand shoots out to grab the man by whatever he can reach -- which happens to be his hair, due to the angle and how he’s slouching by -- and reel him back.

The fist hits his eye before he realizes it’s coming, and damn, the old man’s stronger than he looks. His grip loosens a bit and the guy slips free, but Jayce hooks a foot under his and sends him back down onto the floor. He twists the man’s arm behind his back, and the man literally snarls over his shoulder, which causes a weird feeling in Jayce’s stomach.

“Bastard,” he hisses through his crooked, chipped teeth, hair falling into his face as he struggles.

“Maybe don’t pick a fight with someone bigger than you,” Jayce suggests, matter-of-fact.

“In a fair fight,” he pants, “I would have you on your back.”

The man thrashes, and between his words setting Jayce off-kilter and the sudden movement, he gets his arm free. Before he can do anything with it, though, there’s a hand on the back of Jayce’s neck, and another pair of hands pulling the man from under him.

---

[Viktor - Tue 6:47]

Your childhood friend slash older brother figure is an idiot.

[Caitlin - Tue 6:47]

i assume you mean jayce

[Caitlin - Tue 6:48]

what did he do this time

[Viktor - Tue 6:50]

He insisted on coming to the gym with me. Got into a fight and got himself kicked out the very first time we set foot in the place.

[Caitlin - Tue 6:50]

lmao

[Caitlin - Tue 6:51]

hes your problem now v

[Viktor - Tue 6:53]

He can sit outside and think about what he’s done until I’m finished. I have his car keys.

[Caitlin - Tue 6:54]

maybe now youll think twice before you pick a lab partner based on hunkiness and puppy dog eyes

[Viktor - Tue 6:59]

I am not dignifying that with a response.

---

He has to sit on the curb outside for ten more minutes before he hears Viktor’s cane tap-tap-tap to a stop next to him. The other guy had stormed off immediately, shortly followed by another woman he’d seen lifting weights inside earlier. He can already feel his eye swelling a bit. He���ll need to come up with some lie to cover the black eye that sounds cooler than it really is.

“Did you have fun bringing me to the gym, Jayce?” Viktor’s dry tone makes it very clear this isn’t a question he wants an answer to, but Jayce gives him one anyway.

“He started it.”

He’s not looking up at Viktor standing over him, but he knows his friend is rolling his eyes. Dramatically. He hears shuffling as Viktor digs to the bottom of his satchel, then Jayce’s car keys are dropped into his lap.

“Come on,” Viktor says, stepping down off the curb into the parking lot. His limp is more pronounced than usual, and he’s leaning heavily on his cane, tired. “You can sulk while you drive.”

---

Jayce is no longer welcome at the discount gym down the road.

That doesn’t stop Viktor from making full use of his membership, though. Well... weekly use of his membership. Usually. Sometimes he’s too busy, of course, and skips it, but he can’t get off schedule, so he just has to wait another week to go, and... so on and so forth.

The first week after Jayce got kicked out, though, someone approaches him.

He thought he was done being hovered over, but he can feel someone standing over his shoulder, so he puts his weight down and turns to look up at them, annoyance written on his face. It’s a woman, and she’s built like -- pardon the term -- a brick shithouse. There really is no other way to describe her. She’s got a light sneer on her face, but something tells him that’s just her default expression.

“Can I help you?”

“Last week,” she starts, voice just as gruff as he expected. “You were here with someone. The guy who--”

“The idiot who got in a fistfight, yes.” Viktor rolls his eyes, habitually. He really hopes this won't become a trend. He’d paid money to use this gym, it would be a shame to have to find another because of Jayce’s impulsiveness. “I really don’t have time for--”

A piece of paper is thrust into his face. He looks at it, then up at her. She looks just as done with this as he is.

“From the idiot he got in a fistight with.”

[fallow4fics]

Chapters: 4/4 Fandom: Arcane: League of Legends (Cartoon 2021) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Jayce (League of Legends)/Silco (Arcane: League of Legends) Characters: Jayce (League of Legends), Silco (Arcane: League of Legends) Additional Tags: Viktor reads like he has a little crush on Jayce bc I can't help myself, honestly how does everyone not have a crush on Jayce, Modern AU, by modern I do mean like not-fantasy-piltover-and-zuan, fistfights, light Violence, implied crime, I dunno yall, its the banter......... Words: 7,242

Look, BaraFrance has a hold on my blorbos. He knows how to write ‘em.

If you are even remotely intrigued by how Silco/Jayce would work, or you just wanted to read about Jayce being a dumb, overeager puppy (metaphorically. there is no puppyplay in this) then this is a good fic for you. It’s hilarious and made me laugh a lot, and also relate to Viktor so, so much. So much.

[clowndensation]

greg getting burned by kendall, tom volunteering to take the fall for logan, logan who is definitely going to continue to obstruct justice, same with kendall, shiv interfering with the messaging of a news station, roman and his whatever the fuck presidential fascism thing, connor not paying taxes... season 4 prison arc real???

[alisha-on-arcane]

Jayce x Silco/ Jailco, but in a significantly fluffier universe where Jayce doesn't know to ask for Jinx as part of the peace treaty. They agree to get married as part of the Zaun-Piltover Independent-But-Allies deal.

Jinx to Vi, leaning against a wall at the wedding: you have to admit, the good thing about him being my dad is that I'm not the craziest person in the room any more.

Sevika *clinks glasses with Caitlyn*: well this wasn't what I expected to happen, but it's worth a try I guess? Anyway I hope your girlfriend stops starting fights with me.

Mel, Viktor and Silco all assume this is a purely political marriage and actually get along really well at the wedding. Viktor's happy someone else will be raising undercity problems on the Council, and maybe Jayce will get to spend more time in the lab. Mel's happy to have another well-informed pragmatist on the Council.

Jayce, interrupting them, flushed with progress: coming to bed, husband?

Jinx: WHAT I did not need to find out that my dad's about to have sex for the first time

Silco:... sweetie what did you think my stories about Vander were about.

Jinx: OH GOD... TMI TMI TMI I am traumatised now.

Viktor, Mel: ....?

Jayce: Mel you are the most beautiful creature in the world, but all the time you KNEW my type was sickly skinny Zaunites.

Viktor: ....?!?!

Jayce:... and political gain

Mel:  ....?!?!

Silco: well, in for a penny, in for a pound I suppose. *smirks* Have a good night sweetie, everyone else!

Hat tip @caspercryptid for the Jailco Manifesto.

I had fun reading the Jayce x Silco ship manifesto and I was about to contradict it.

But I realized that actually the main argument I can see why Jayce x Silco would work is because Vander actually had a decent amount of similarities with Vander (tall, strong, put in a position of leadership he arguably isn't qualified for, beloved by the people, might have a questionable relationship with violence/their temper, both backed away from violence because they didn't have the stomach anymore, protective of others (Jayce -> Viktor, Vander -> the kids), both made a deal with the enemy to prevent future bloodshed (Jayce -> Silco, Vander -> Grayson).

(and Silco at some point liked Vander)

And a decent amount of similarities between Mel and Silco (ostentatiously stylish, at least appear morally dubious, smart and cunning, political beings, arguably the head a council of corrupt dumbasses).

(and Jayce likes Mel/was attracted to Mel)

So I see that as a good argument why they would put up with the other one being around. Because they already put up with a similar person in the past.

[seat-safety-switch]

You might not know this, but your local sports stadium is having a bit of a crisis. It’s practically falling down, the billionaires explain, and we need to fix it. The only way we can fix it is to use public funds, because the banks (which we are on a first-name basis with) know that governments are beholden to public rage, and won’t want to lose their football, baseball, racquetball, jai alai, or hockey teams to a rival city. Without such amusements, they’d have to resort to buying ridiculous public entitlements like a library or intact footbridge.

Regulatory capture is all around us, and I figured it was about time I got a slice of the pie. You see, car racing is still seen as a rich person’s hobby. This is likely because wheel-to-wheel competition driving consists almost entirely of stacking up a bunch of money and then setting fire to it, often literally. And unlike giving millions of dollars to the billionaire ownership of a team of hockey players each getting paid millions of dollars, funding a racetrack is seen as a little tacky. Amongst the cognoscenti who are capable of fogging a mirror for long enough to get elected at your local municipal council, it’s just not good government.

Of course, golf courses are hugely funded by those same governments. They have all the essentials of a good race track: a large amount of open space. Humanity has trained and formed from birth a special race of warriors who are perfect for driving cars extremely quickly on rough terrain while only occasionally killing themselves and spectators. They’re called Finns. And while I’m not a Finn (you may have already been able to tell by my lack of interest in reindeer testicle-flavoured Slurpees) I do like to race shitty cars very quickly offroad. That’s why I asked city council to pony up the big bucks to form my new golf course. It’s a private club, I explain to them, very elite, and I have the perfect site for it: right next to my house, where the low-income apartments currently are.

Things went well on our inaugural race, until the Mayor and his cronies dropped by, bags in tow. Apparently they didn’t get the memo about just how exclusive this country club really was. We bought you a golf course, they explained, while looking confused at the scent of two-stroke oil and the sound of screaming small-displacement turbocharged gasoline engines. We deserve to play on it.

That scam ended awfully abruptly. Once I’m out of prison, though, I’ll be right back at it. These bars can’t hold me forever, mostly because the state only agreed to pay JailCo 30 cents per bar, and the investors didn’t want to blow the budget.

[caspercryptid]

HRGGGGH OK IMAGINE. JAILCO COFFEE SHOP AU JAYCE IS CUTE BARISTA AND SILCO COMES IN LIKE EVERY DAY FOR HIS BITTER ASS COFFEE 🦐

Jayce is pretty friendly, but he has a rule. Mirror the customer’s energy. If they don’t wanna talk, don’t make them talk. Throw out a half a conversational lead, get no reply? Don’t push it. Some people are lonely and desperately wanted to have a conversation over the top of their latte, but a lot of them just want the fucking latte. He understands that! He is very good at understanding that.

Fuck his rule, though, he desperately needs to know this guy’s deal.

“Today I'm gonna do it.” He tells Cait, calling up from where he’s on his knees getting out the register paper. “I’m gonna ask him.”

“No you’re not.” Cait says, distracted herself refilling the cups. “—I swear the closers never remember to—” She cuts off, abrupt, but Jayce just takes the chance to barrel on.

“Yes I am! Seriously, he comes in here every single morning, same time, and this time i’m—”

He pops up with the paper in his hand, and. Well. oops.

His favorite regular is standing in front of the counter. He has his good eyebrow lifted, and the scar and the custom glass eye with the red fiery iris does look extra intimidating today, but Jayce grins, instinctively.

“Hey!” he says. “Your usual?”

“My usual, yes.” He says, casually, and for half a second as Jayce rings him up he thinks he’s gotten away clean, but as the man— Silco, Jayce reminds himself, that was the name he’d been writing down on cups for months— inserts his card, he asks—

“Have a regular you’re curious about?”

“Oh, yeah.” Jayce says, processing the payment. “—It’s always the hot ones with the weird drink orders.”

Silco’s eyebrow inches a little higher, and Jayce just grins wider. Their standoff is unbroken for a moment, but then the terminal beeps at Silco to remove his card, and he complies.

“—What kind of strange?” He asks, and Jayce decides that the receipt printer’s exact mechanisms are fascinating, actually, and really do require his complete attention, and keeps his eyes on Silco’s receipt as it unfurls.

“Well, it’s a really normal order, is the thing.” Jayce says. “Like maybe he could make it at home. Not the kind of thing you’d usually expect a businessman to order every day at a coffee shop. At—” he glances at the clock before he glances up at Silco, “—eight fifteen. Or so. Every day.”

Silco’s eyes travel over Jayce, like he’s considering him in his entirety, before he meets his eyes.

“Perhaps he’s interested in the barista.” He says, tone considering, and Jayce very impressively does not have a heart attack. He’s proud of himself on this one, actually.

“Maybe the barista’s off at noon today.” He says.

“Do you bring a change of clothes to work?” Silco asks, and Jayce blinks.

“—yeah. Don’t wanna wear the uniform longer than I have to.”

“Then you have a lunch date.” Silco says, reaching over the counter and grabbing his receipt off the printer. “Be off on time.”

Jayce opens his mouth to make a joke about getting off, closes it again. “Yeah.” He says, lamely. Silco looks amused at him and just leaves to the pickup counter without another word.

“Smooth.” Caitlyn mutters, under her breath.

“I got the date, didn’t i?” Jayce mutters back.

“Either that or you’re being kidnapped."

“That guy can kidnap me any time.” Jayce says, fervently, and Caitlyn shoves him.

“Go— get more mocha syrup. I can’t with you.”

Jayce complies, and it’s honestly an effort not to skip.

Nailed it.

[caspercryptid]

Fake dating AU ~

🕊️ Twitter — 📖 Ao3 — ☕ Ko-Fi — 📖 Fic Index

8/15 fake dating aus, now, I think?? We're doing musician jayce and actor silco again, and thank you for playing!

CWs: vague references to biphobia.

___

You’ve reached the voicemail box of— well, hopefully you know who you’ve called. If I’m not around call my agent or call Cait or call... back. Later. Just realized there’s no point in being coy since anyone crazy enough to get my phone number knows my voice? So yeah this is Jayce. Actually i’ll probably rerecord this la—

*Beep*

“Hey, Talis. This is Sevika, calling on behalf of Silco. Noticed you’re having a little snafu with the press. As it happens, Silco’s also having a...personal hiccup, and we think you two can help each other. Don’t mention this call to anyone. Call me back.”

“—Okay, so let me get this straight,” Jayce says. He’s standing with his hands on the back of the chair in front of Silco’s desk, because there is no way he’s just sitting down in front of Silco’s desk like they’re having a business meeting. Not about this. He’s not doing this. “You want to— date.”

“For the press.” Silco clarifies, calmly, lounging back in his chair.

“But you need me to move in with you.”

“You have achieved second grade English competence.”

“I have audio processing problems,” Jayce snaps. “It’s the ADHD. Humor me. You want me to date you, move in with you, and in exchange you’re generously offering me the chance to forever put to bed the accusations of faking being bi for attention, and end the attempts to pry a lot further into my dating history. Which, I’ll admit, is tempting. Now. What’s your angle?”

Silco eyes him, but he doesn’t repeat the mockery, blessedly.

“I’m adopting a child.” he says, and that throws Jayce for a loop.

“—What?”

Silco hisses out a breath. “I’ve gotten custody of— a little girl. I’m not concerned about the legal side, but I am... aware. Of my reputation. Playing a villain in movies does not... endear me. To the general population. I would like to soften the press’s reaction, because it seems as though a lot of negative press very quickly could have consequences I wouldn’t care for, and may make it difficult for...her. Later. To make friends.”

“—and you think I—”

“You have one of the softer reputations in music. You produce a lot of vapid pop. You’re well liked. And you would like to clear up the mess around your reputation, and from my glance into your history, you’re intelligent.”

Silco pauses, like he’s considering his next sentence carefully, and Jayce waits him out.

“She’s interested in science,” he says, finally. “Specifically physics. And she’s a fan of yours already. You could be a tolerable co-parent, or at least a passable tutor. You’re the only logical choice.”

Jayce hears co-parent and has to take a breath, but before he can even think about what he’s saying, it’s coming out of his mouth.

“Okay,” He says, “When can I meet her?”

SIlco waves an NDA at him, and he thinks, distantly, as he signs it, that he really should have thought this through.

But, well. It’s a kid. How can he say no to that?

Hopefully this doesn’t go terribly.

[caspercryptid]

Death game au

Did I really need another AU? no. Did the idea for this grab me by the neck and refuse to let go?

....yes.

CW: You know death games. you know the things that happen in the hunger games and squid game and mirai nikki. Yes.

___

Jayce is nearly certain that he’s going to die.

Nearly in this case is 99.9% percent odds. There’s a .1 because he’s hoping for a miracle. It’s a pretty shitty chance, and dropping, rapidly, had been dropping since his mother’s plea for mercy had landed him... here. A slow death instead of a fast one. So, great. He’d had a choice. He’d had a choice between banishment, which was death anyway, and the trials. He’d picked the trials. That was almost certainly a mistake. Three phases. Alpha, Beta, Execution. It’s Alpha. He’s going to die in Alpha. He’s going to die in phase A, a footnote, a name on a screen, a blooper for the highlights real if he managed to die in a way that was funny enough to justify broadcasting. He’d made it through the first maze fast enough to be sure no one else was going to catch up with him— he knows that Phase A is supposed to be before anyone really starts killing each other since the environments do it for you.

He also knows that people usually use it to pick competitors while they’re distracted with the obstacles.

Which is... where he’s found himself.

He’d been stupidly relieved to hear the theme this year was Smoke and Mirrors. Insanely, stupidly relieved. In previous years ice had featured, and anything was better than another storm. He’d had to stay out of public spaces to avoid seeing the big screens broadcasting the blizzards in the arena they’d set.

It’s significantly less reassuring in the house of mirrors.

Jayce’s head is spinning, and he knows that this is... not a place in which he’s going to be able to outclass other people. Memorization’s been more difficult since the accident. He can’t see where he’s going. The last maze had puzzles, and his time on those had meant that his tendency to get lost hadn’t cost him. Thus far, he hasn’t seen puzzles. Just mirrors. Endless, endless mirrors. And he’s going to die, he’s going to die, he’s going to—

The floor gives out.

Jayce has a moment of crystal-sharp clarity: He assumes this is the part where people would normally insert their lives flashing before their eyes, and instead he wastes it tabbing up his mistakes, his footing, he’d been looking up to try to find edges to the walls of mirrors, any way to find openings, he’d taken his eyes off the floor, hadn’t paid attention beyond noting some floors were mirrored and some weren’t, that was so unbelievably stupid—

And then he’s falling, and he snaps his arms up to grab the edge of the platform and hisses as the pain jolts up his arms like electricity. There’s no point, he’s not going to be able to hold on, but he struggles anyway, managing to get his other hand up too— I can’t die, I can’t, not now—

He has his eyes closed, trying to focus all his strength on getting enough of a grip to pull himself back up, and then a shadow falls over his eyelids, pronounced in the harsh white from between the mirrors.

Jayce opens his eyes.

It’s—

He swallows.

“Hi.” He manages.

The crime lord of the undercity, Piltover’s biggest arrest, the most dangerous opponent in the games, and really, Jayce’s personal nightmare, is standing over him. He raises his eyebrows.

“Hi?” he asks, sounding a little amused. Like is that the best you can do. Unfortunately, it is.

“Would you prefer hello? Jayce asks, voice strained. Greetings? Salutations? Hail and well met? Traditional piltover running into a zaunite greeting of a slightly judgmental stare?”

His fingers are slipping. Surely Silco’s just gonna wait and lord it over him, Jayce didn’t think the trap would close again until after he fell. Maybe he’s calculating a way over it. “There’s probably a dead end past this.” Jayce manages. “The mirrors look— oddly. Uniform. That’s what I was paying attention to instead of the floor.”

Silco’s eyebrows stay up. “Why are you telling me that?” he asks, musing.

Jayce squints at him. “So only one of us has to die today?”

“And why do you care about my wellbeing?”

“—Because you’re a person?” Jayce manages. This is stupid. This is a stupid conversation. This is the stupidest possible conversation to be his last conversation. Silco’s just staring at him, assessing.

“If you’re gonna kick me, can you do it fast? The futility is really—”

Jayce cuts off, because Silco is kneeling down, reaching for him, grabs the back of his shirt and pulls, and it’s not much— it’s really not much, but instinct takes over and Jayce pulls too,using the extra traction to get one arm up, and then another, letting Silco help him. It’s still a fight, and too much of one to manage the words until he’s on the ground again, panting, and Silco looks winded too, but is dragging himself up.

“—what—” Jayce starts, and Silco just offers him a hand again.

“Come on.” He says. “We’ve got a maze to finish.”

“—we?” Jayce asks, but he takes the hand.

“You owe me, don’t you?” Silco says, pulls Jayce to his feet and doesn’t wait for an answer, heading off.

Jayce realizes several things in sequence.

Silco is right

His odds for survival just increased

He owes a life debt to the most dangerous man in piltover’s history.

He swallows, breathes, and follows him anyway.

[caspercryptid]

The Jailco Ship Manifesto

Hi, @3lianav , you asked for this a While Back and I only recently got around to actually writing it, but here we are! contains a lot of fandom meta, spoilers for Arcane (Obviously...) and a joke about jayvik because I am a polyamorous disaster. TWs for... the stuff in arcane. We’ve all seen Arcane.

On a meta level, Jayce x Silco appeals to me very much because there’s something poetic about the fandom’s most beloved villain and the most beloathed hero. But! I also have a reasonably extensive canon justification. Let’s get into it!

The thing about shipping Jayce and Silco is that this man’s most iconic line in the series is “Power comes to those who would do anything to achieve it”, and to Silco, death or power is a legitimate choice. To Silco living in the undercity is a constant fight for survival and he believes in turning yourself into a monster rather than living under the thumb of your oppressors is the only option. He thinks that the undercity needs to turn violent in order to free itself from piltover, and any cost to that end is a petty cost. He believes that the death by living in zaun is a death at the hands of piltover anyway because of the pollution and so if you’re going to die then you’d better do it fighting. 

Enter Jayce Talis, who is the antithesis of literally all of this and living proof that Silco is wrong. “Power comes to those who would do anything to achieve it” Silco says, as Jayce Talis literally trips and falls directly up the political ladder and lands his miserable ass a council seat he empirically did not ask for or want. Silco poisons everyone in a room and then offers them gas masks one by one as a symbol that they don't understand the hardships zaun underwent to become independent as, In Piltover, Jayce gets the literal founder of the city kicked off the council because he wouldn’t let Jayce’s boyfriend do insane magic experiments. They are the exact opposite kinds of people. Jayce is living proof that intense power is often thrust into the hands of people who dont know what in the everloving fuck they’re doing with it. 

So we reach their one canon interaction: Silco and Jayce speak on the bridge and Jayce goes “I will give you independence and agree to your terms even though I find you morally reprehensible because I just saw the effects of war and I’m fucking with things I don’t understand and I know that.” Vi offered him something he really wanted: to be a hero. To go solve problems with his hands instead of the political machinations he hates. And it’s only when he loses that he gets sight of the fact that war isn’t heroic. He gets to learn that the hard way. 

So, Silco calls him soft. And he’s right!  Jayce is soft. In a real fundamental way he has big old fucking weaknesses in his character that over the course of the show he starts to learn to cover up but they’re still very much there. If Silco were capable of counting on that softness- of understanding it, in some fundamental way, of using it, they could establish a kind of trust based on understanding who the other is. Not a real trust that someone won’t betray you, but the trust that they won't betray themselves. Because Jayce’s big fucking weakness is that he has no real stomach for violence. He would do just about anything to avoid a war. He doesn’t want this. If Silco could learn to approach that, to appreciate it, then they could reach a tenuous peace.

Silco, for his part, is a man who has a very carefully protected soft side. The person he loved, or if you’re a coward at least trusted more than anyone else in the entire world, killed him in every way that mattered. Made him into a different person when he did, reforged him in violence. He grew up with violence, was molded by violence, fought to maintain the lanes through violence. And then a seven year old he was about fucking stab hugged him around the waist and changed the entire trajectory of his life. Silco is someone who, when shown tenderness, is capable of enormous tenderness. He’s capable of a love that literally destroys him, because he loves Jinx so much he’s willing to give up all of Zaun and all of his goals for her. For his daughter. 

Just think of what he might be willing to do if shown love and tenderness from a partner. It’s that richard siken bullshit of “A tenderness that comes not from the absence of violence, but in spite of it”, it’s the idea that one person who has a soft core even though he’s slowly losing his way and getting increasingly jaded and destroyed by the world around him, still has the softness in him to reach out to someone else. And the idea that A man forged in violence and blood and in the dark still has the softness in him to accept it. 

[caspercryptid]

IDK IF THIS IS THE INBOX BUT FAKE DATING AU???

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Jailco for you. Because I know you. Third of Fifteen Fake Dating requests, and thank you, as always, for playing <3

__

You have reached Silco’s voicemail box. If you’re not supposed to have this number I strongly suggest you hang up and forget you found it. Otherwise, you had better be aware of how phone voicemail boxes work.

*Beep*

“Hey, Silco, it’s Jayce. Remember how we hooked up last week and you— uh. Remember how I had to wear your clothes? Leaving? Well. Turns out that someone did get pictures. So. You probably already know, I imagine someone’s. Told you. About TMZ. Well, can you do me a favor and call me back before you tell the press anything. My agent had an idea. Just. please. Call me back. Bye.”

__

Jayce is still not entirely sure if he’s entered his dream or his nightmare when Silco arrives to their “date”.

Silco is handsome, gorgeous, utterly fucking terrifying. As always. Jayce is smiling, dressed down in a heavy sweater and jeans, leaning casually outside of the aquarium. He’s signed a few autographs for people brave enough to approach him, told them without hesitation he was waiting for a date, and ignored the few pictures people had gotten. Thankfully the demographic of his fans didn’t overlap much with people who come to museums midday during the week.

He asks himself, not for the first time, how he got into this mess. Stupid question. He’d jumped Silco at the party last week.

Well, maybe jumped was a strong word. Silco had been staring at him. Even though he’d probably been staring because Jayce had knocked over a punchbowl and looked like someone had gone full Carrie on him, Jayce had wanted to pretend that it was genuine interest. He’d been pretty... miserable. Since going solo. He couldn’t really deny that one. Fame, acclaim, awards, all of it was getting old and he was lonely, and he’d accidentally knocked over a punchbowl, and Silco had stared at him, so he’d gone over and Said silco could take a picture since it’d last longer, or something, or something about lasting all night, and then they’d made out against the table and the door and the backseat of a cab and Silco’s apartment hallway and he’d had a pretty good night from there. The best night he’d had in a while, if he was honest with himself.

But hey. If there’s one thing Jayce is a expert at. It’s ruining a good thing.

So he just smiles at Silco when he gets there, doesn’t try to touch him until Silco snakes an arm around his waist and drags him closer to his side. “Second thoughts?” Silco murmurs.

“And thirds and forths and fifths.” Jayce mutters, and Silco snorts, guiding him inside.

“This was your plan.” “This was my agent’s plan. Mine was to hide under my bed and never come out again.”

“Well, the world would be deprived of your voice.”

Jayce glances up at Silco, half-surprised. “That sounded like a real compliment.” He says.

“I am capable of those.” Silco deadpans.

“Well, yes. To other people.”

“For a popstar, you’re really lacking in terms of ego.”

“Am not.” Jayce counters. “I know i’m talented. I just wasn’t expecting you to think so.”

“Well now you’re insulting my taste.”

Jayce shrugs. “You seem like you’re above pop music. Classical only. Beethoven or bust.”

“Be honest, is that the only classical musician you can name?”

Jayce rolls his eyes. “I did study music.”

“Ah, so you only play an idiot on television.”

“Sells better.”

“Hm.”

Jayce doesn’t know what to do with that one, and hadn’t entirely meant to answer that honestly, so he readjusts a second and then says—

“Actually only minored in music. I did my thesis on... resonance. So. Discovered I could sing shortly before I blew out the windows of the lab with my speakers during an experiment.”

Silco actually looks a little interested. “Perhaps you can tell me about that sometime you’re not playing an idiot in public.”

“Oh, right, the bit.” Jayce drapes himself into Silco’s side and makes big eyes at him. “Where did you wanna go in the aquarium, baby?” He asks, voice slightly louder than his normal speaking volume.

“I’m going to show you the sharks.” Silco informs him, looking amused as he pulls Jayce along. Jayce blinks, forgetting to play his part as he keeps stride.

“You know the way already?”

“I’ve been here before.”

“—You did suggest it.’ Jayce realizes. “You like fish?”

“They’re interesting creatures.” Silco says, neutrally, and Jayce very carefully keeps his smile only the showman’s grin not to let the real fondness slip through. Nerd.

“Show me the sharks, then.” He says.

He’s looking forward to getting to know Silco. Maybe this will turn out alright after all.

[caspercryptid]

hey hi since u are feelin the jailco vibes i am thinking of maybe a modern au (or not, up to u) where silco finds jayce’s dog and sees missing posters around and calls jayce like “hello i have your very sweet and friendly dog please take it back immediately” asdfghkljx

Sorry this... uh. Took a month? it took a month. That's okay. Self care.

___ It’s.....a puppy.

Silco narrows his eye, rubs his face, looks again. It is still a puppy. It’s still a puppy with a collar tangled on the ornate edge of a park bench, looking filthy and doing it’s clumsy best attempts to free itself. It’s not even crying out, not whining or barking. It looks stupidly and genuinely unaware of the predicament it’s found itself in, doing its best to start running and tugged to a halt by the collar, looking around like it might find an answer somewhere in front of it, and then doing it again.

Silco watches it for a minute, half waiting for it to free itself and run off and render itself not his problem, but no, it seems determined to stay stuck. It isn’t even twisting its head. It just seems determined to repeat the same thrusting little tug like that’s going to work the fiftieth time. As Silco watches, it gives up and just... lies down.

And alright, he’s not entirely coldhearted.

He goes over, bends to free its collar, notes distantly that the little ring that’s supposed to bear the tag seems to have snapped. He’ll have to hope it’s chipped—

The dog licks his hand and affectionately rams his leg, and Silco sighs.

No good deed goes unpunished.

—-

Jayce is putting up the 110th lost dog poster when his phone rings, and he nearly drops the stack of papers in his haste to get to his phone (which, letting the wind get them would certainly be one way of distributing them, but Viktor had already nixed that plan)

He doesn’t manage to get out even the first syllable or sound of his Hello before the voice at the other end snaps—

“Your dog.”

“You found mercury?” Jayce asks, relieved.

“Obviously. You need to come retrieve him.”

Jayce isn’t sure what facial expression he’s making, but Caitlyn looks over from where she’s putting up a poster across the street and raises her eyebrows, and he gives her a thumbs up and points to his phone, which is too much time for his caller, apparently, who goes on—

“If he weren’t potty trained you’d be paying for my dry cleaning. You should take better care of your pets.”

“I’m— sorry.” Jayce says, wincing, meaning it. “The clip on the leash snapped and then I fell trying to go after him. He’s been well behaved, though?”

“Apart from a strong dislike of perfumes, yes.”

Jayce pauses. “—perfumes?”

“He got wiggly about the models. I’m a fashion designer and he attempted to jump out of my arms to escape one of my more.... Fragrant. Employees.”

Jayce squints into the middle distance, picturing the owner of the rough voice carrying around his tiny little puppy. “—Oh.” He says, and then, because he has no impulse control— “Hey what do you look like?”

“I beg your pardon.”

“Just to— sorry, that’s rude. I didn’t think anyone would.... Take him to work.”

“Well I could hardly leave him in my apartment. It’s not puppy-safe.”

Jayce grins a little. “Thank you.”

“Thank me by coming to get the dog.”

“Ah, yes, right—”

Jayce was really looking forward to meeting this guy.

[caspercryptid]

fake dating au

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5/15 fake dating aus!

Jayce plops himself down in front of the man with the red fiery glass eye in the suit.

“Hi.” He says, brightly. “I’m Jayce.”

“And why do I care?” he deadpans, looking at the bar’s menu, which Jayce takes as encouragement.

“You don’t have to.” He says. “But you look bored.”

The man puts the menu down so he can direct the full force of his glare across the booth, but Jayce just meets his eyes, even, ignoring the way his pulse is ratcheting up.

“I’ll indulge you.” The man says, flatly. “What exactly do you think you’re doing to alleviate my boredom.”

“Well, I’ll level with you.” Jayce says. “I’m here with a bunch of my classmates. They’re assholes and I don’t like any of them. So really, betting them that I couldn’t score a date with the scariest guy in here was actually mostly a way to get away from them, and the better this goes the longer I get to stay away from them. But I also noticed that you’ve been glaring at that menu for a while, and I think maybe it might have something to do with the fact that the bartender’s been staring at you.”

The man narrows his eyes, and Jayce hopes that means he’s impressed, so he just continues on-

“So I figure. You don’t want to walk up to the bar and order a drink. You let me order you a drink. We burn a little time, and if I relieve enough of your boredom, you can pretend to leave with me. Or you can leave with me, you’re hot and I’m single. What do you say?”

The man’s lips curl up a little. “What’s your name?”

“Jayce.”

“And, Jayce, since I’m hot and you’re single, how do you feel about making a little bit of a scene?”

Jayce grins. “Positively.”

“Then I think we’re going to get on just fine. Get me a drink.”

Jayce hops up, humming.

His night just took a much more pleasant turn.

[caspercryptid]

viktor and silco fighting over who gets to raise naph: we are literally flirting. this is sooo cute omg. our romantic slash sexual tension is so #goals etc. etc.

naph into the voice recorder: day 7 of my plans to get kidnapped by the chem barons so viktor finally goes scorched-earth on all of zaun. today i am going to televise the enforcers beating me into the earth. wow jayce's hair looks really bad today. the gas pipes have been broken.

you are awesome

“Day 8.” Naph says, into the voice recorder, staring at the ceiling. “Things could be going better.”

They could also be going worse, he reflected. Actually, as far as his actual quality of life went, things were better than they had ever been. If his goal had been to be safe and comfortable, he’d have nailed it. Unfortunately, that was not his goal.

“Silco had another argument with Jayce today.” he continues. “Or– councilor talis. Whatever. He cried. I think he actually cried.”

It had been...weird. Less because Jayce cried. From Viktor’s stories about Jayce, he seemed like the kind of person who did that a lot. Naph had not been surprised by literally anything about meeting Jayce. What had been weird was that Silco had reacted to it. Seemed genuinely concerned by the crying. That was weird. That was not in the plan. The plan was not going well.

"Viktor didn't fight him, either." He says. "They just argued for a bit. Viktor took off his visor at one point and jabbed Silco in the chest with it and I thought he might actually do something but instead Silco just got all weird and then Sevika made me leave the room. I mean, she also took me to rob a Piltover ice cream truck, and that was actually pretty fun."

Naph has to remind himself again that having fun is not the plan.

"—Jinx is cool, too." He says, despite himself. "I mean. Unhinged. But cool. She showed me how to make bombs today and said she'd never been the big sister before."

None of these people knew how to do a proper kidnapping. He'd actually been kind of impressed by the speed with which he'd been stuffed into a bag and dumped in front of Silco after going to try to break the tank at that shimmer factory. This had been off to such a good start. And then Silco had given him a speech about recognizing himself in the ambitions of younger saboteurs, and Naph had mentioned Viktor just to save himself from getting stabbed, and now this was happening. This was happening so much.

The machine herald was supposed to be against the chem barons. Not...doing whatever this was. It had been such a good plan. All he had to do was get Jayce and Viktor to both hate zaun enough to just level the place. Write it all off. Fuck it. Instead, he got... this. This. He didn’t know what genre of hell he was in at this point. He was starting to suspect it was a romantic comedy. He hated those.

He groans, muffling it with a pillow.

“I’m–” he says. “–Going to go sabotage a gas main or something. Naph out.”

Maybe day nine would go better, he reflected, swinging his legs out of bed.

...Or maybe Jinx would take him to the shooting gallery again. That could be fun.

[caspercryptid]

Dresden Files!Anon here! I love your meta about that, but it kind of makes me want to see a Soul Gaze between Jayce and Silco, like how the first thing between Dresden and Marcone was a Soul Gaze. I just love the concept of Soul Gazes in general.

Ooh boy. Alright Lets Fucking Do This Thing.I think the only way I can do this properly is to write it in narrative so... dresden files au, IG? It’s the nature of the thing that this is going to include a little exposition so if you haven’t read the dresden files....give it a try anyway? We’ll see. Wizard detective Jayce Talis. (Shoot me another request if you want Jayce’s POV on this, I couldn’t split it neatly)

-

Jayce didn’t like eye contact. 

He didn’t like eye contact for all the usual reasons- didn’t know how long to maintain it, people got awkward, harder to think about facial expressions when trying not to think about the width of someone’s pupils, but also some. not usual ones. the magic. Also the magic.

Eyes are the window to the soul would be a lot more romantic if it weren’t so literal, and also, if the window were not currently open down the barrel of a Glock 17. Gangsters really had a knack for rocks and hard places, so if it was looking at the gun or looking up at the man who’d pointed it at him- well, Jayce had to take his chances.

There were a lot of reasons to not want to look into people’s eyes, generally. There were more reasons to not want to look into a wizard’s eyes, as much as Silco seemed hell bent and determined. Looking into Jayce’s eyes opened up something- his magic, his sight- and let him look all the way down to the core of a person’s soul. The key, he supposed, distantly, the point of this little exchange- was that they got to look back.

Jayce looks up into Silco’s eyes, and for a second, it’s like he’s still looking down the barrel of the gun. 

There’s a long narrow passage, dark and getting darker, and it’s only when Jayce starts to taste dust that he realizes it’s a mineshaft. It lights, slowly, not like coming out of the darkness at all but like lamps in the dark, only as there are more and more of them they’re neon city lights, flashing signs for bars, the dust turned to acrid smog, and then the air gets thick again, like water, water, water filling up his eyes and lungs and the city washes out--

And then, sinking through it, light again, and it’s like the drain pulls, like all the pain and agony is filtering out- still there, always there, just somewhere deeper now. A soft glow in the dim-- like a lamp in a mine, like a streetlight, only it’s a light on a desk, and there’s a little girl in a chair next to it, singing something tunelessly, 

The light is for her, and she is the light, and the world would be dark without her, and then Jayce is back in his desk chair, and Silco is lowering the gun.  “Well, Detective Talis.” he says, cold, not reacting. “You’ve passed your hiring interview. I need your help.”