#vi coming back made jinx unravel

[brionysea]

i didn't expect ekko and jinx's relationship to be what stays so strongly in my mind after watching arcane but here we are. it just goes to show how incredibly impactful THAT SCENE is

[skiitter]

Silco is a man of patience. His goals are long term, his plans careful and deliberate. He makes no move without first considering a dozen potential outcomes. It's taken him over a decade of meticulous, often bloody work to sit atop the rusted throne of Zaun and, in one ugly, black moment it's all fallen apart. His empire, the legacy of his entire life, undone by two women.

Jinx is unraveling at the seams and no amount of reassurance on his part can stop it. Her cursed sister come back from the dead has completely destroyed the 9 years he'd worked with her, helping her, healing her. All at once every single decision Vander ever made since rescuing the two orphans shifts into perfect focus. A daughter, of all things, at so late a time in his life. Vile, really, how weak she made him; how banal.

He waits for her, his unfocused stare half settling on the colored ashtray he'd let permanently live on his desk. More than a few guests to his office had sneered a condescending word and more than a few had met an ugly, bitter end. Sevika was right, as much as such an admission burned him. Jinx was the proverbial chink in his armor and there was nothing he'd deny her, no matter the cost.

Never in his life had he felt so close to his dead brother, slain by his own treacherous hand. How undoing it truly is to love a daughter.

"She'll come back." The soft lilt of the voice that lived perpetually in his shadow broke the silence.

"Rin." It's not a question, it's hardly an acknowledgement at all. Her name is an exhalation, a single syllable cradled in exhaustion.

"Silco."

She's the other half of his destruction, another something unexpected, and fragile. He's too old, too black-hearted, too tired for this, for her. And yet. "Where've you been?"

"Out." Rin steps out of the darkness, the harsh neon light cutting across her features. "Looking for Jinx. You should have told her about Vi."

"I didn't know she was alive."

"Yes," she says, "you did."

Silco runs a trembling hand through his hair. "I suspected, which is hardly the same thing."

"Semantics will mean little to her, and you know it."

"Do you have anything to report, then, or are you just here to waste my time?" He snaps at her, the bubbling tide of worry building within him demanding release.

Rin leans against the desk, her back turned to him. "I'm here to check on you."

"I'm alive."

"I'm not worried about that."

He turns his head to her, but she stares forward, her face hidden from view. "You should be worried about Jinx." It's no secret, the devotion they both share for her. Nine years is a long time to care for someone, to watch them grow. It goes unspoken, but they're every bit the parents to her that they could possibly be.

"Jinx is a strong girl, Silco. You've raised her well."

"Her sister--"

"Has been gone for nine years."

He sighs, bending back in his chair to stare at the ceiling, eyes automatically settling upon the rafter Jinx usually occupies. String from the trap she'd caught Sevika in still dangles in the pink glow. "She thinks I betrayed her."

Rin says nothing and they sit still for a moment in the cold silence. He feels the weight of his violent life suddenly press down upon him and the anxiety of it all makes the void of his eye burn. Of this he gives no outward indication, but his quiet bodyguard rises to the task all the same.

Needle in hand, she looms over him from behind the chair, her features still obscured by the dark curtain of her hair. One hand curls beneath his chin, tilting his head until they are perfect mirrors of one another. Strong fingers hold him in place as she expertly places the apparatus to his eye and pulls the trigger.

Electricity shoots through him, and his body jerks involuntarily, letting a hiss slip past his closed mouth. Rin sets the needle down but, as she goes to pull away, Silco stops her. He clutches at her fingers, leaning into them, stealing the warmth from the palm of her hand.

"What do I do?" he whispers.

Rin runs the pad of her finger across the sharp angle of his cheekbone. "Talk to her. Listen to her. It's what you've always done. It's why she loves you."

He turns his mouth into the cradle of her hand and presses his lips lightly to the calloused skin. "Is that why you love me?"

"No." The light shifts and he catches the heat of her gaze, reverent in the bright neon. "It's not." She pulls away and the absence of her skin leaves him cold. He's too frayed to watch her slip back out the window, choosing instead to stare down at the faded, colorful ashtray.

"Rin--"

"Why now?" The fragile tone of her voice comes as too sudden a shock and he spins around, stepping out of the chair. They face off, half draped in shadow. Despite the space she occupies in his life, she is so small a thing he forgets the way he dwarfs her. "Don't--" she falters. "I won't do this with you."

"Do what?"

"I won't play the martyr to your broken heart, Silco. I'm a simple woman, and I'm happy with the role I get to play in your life. I've accepted it. I'm fucking great at it. So don't do this. Don't spoil what I've spent nine years building."

He flinches, something he's sure he'd forgotten how to do. "What?"

"Don't weaponize my feelings against me just because you're hurt. I love Jinx just as much as you, you know that. Toying with me because--"

"This isn't about Jinx."

"Everything is about Jinx!" She snaps. "That's the point. There is no room in your life for more, there can't be. One weakness is dangerous enough already." The defiance in her posture wilts and she closes her eyes. "I've done too many terrible things to keep you alive just for you to throw it away."

Silco takes her face in his hands, turning it up to face him. Despite her demand, she leans into him just as carelessly as he'd done to her. "It's not my life to throw away. Not any longer."

"This can only end in sorrow," she confesses. He tilts his face down to hers, staring until her eyes open to meet his. "There is no happy ending for us."

"There's no such thing as a happy ending, not here." He lets go of her face to wrap himself around the jut of her hips. "And this isn't an ending."

"You cannot undo this," she whispers into the warmth of his mouth as it hovers precarious over her own. "There will be no going back, not for me, not anymore."

"I know." It's a careful collision, more a pressing of skin to skin than a proper kiss. Still, he takes it, holds it, keeps it all to himself.

Rin tangles her fingers into the collar of his shirt, the mess of his hair. She pushes the length of her body into his, silently demanding contact wherever possible. He relents, indulging in a fantasy held in private for years. She tastes like everything he's wanted and yet nothing at all.

In the distance haze of his mind, he knows there is no time for this, that his daughter is out prowling the Lanes, seeking vengeance and violence. This spurs him on, makes him feverish. Rin bites ruthlessly at his lip and he digs his nails into the skin beneath her shirt. Blood runs hot and the lack of space between them is dizzying.

All at once, she pulls her mouth from his and runs her tongue through the hollow of his throat. Despite himself he groans, wicked body suddenly a live wire of need. The sound breaks the spell, though, and she detangles herself from him enough to meet his heavy-lidded gaze.

"We have to stop," he says.

"I know."

"I need to find Jinx." With every cell screaming in revolt, he removes himself completely from the space she occupies. "I have to fix this."

Rin once more runs her finger gently down his face, this time dragging the tip of it over the roughened skin of his wretched scar. "I know," she says again. "And that," her hand falls away, "is why I love you."

[skiitter]

Silco

im assuming this is a prompt? either way:

Silco is a man of patience. His goals are long term, his plans careful and deliberate. He makes no move without first considering a dozen potential outcomes. It's taken him over a decade of meticulous, often bloody work to sit atop the rusted throne of Zaun and, in one ugly, black moment it's all fallen apart. His empire, the legacy of his entire life, undone by two women.

Jinx is unraveling at the seams and no amount of reassurance on his part can stop it. Her cursed sister come back from the dead has completely destroyed the 9 years he'd worked with her, helping her, healing her. All at once every single decision Vander ever made since rescuing the two orphans shifts into perfect focus. A daughter, of all things, at so late a time in his life. Vile, really, how weak she made him; how banal.

He waits for her, his unfocused stare half settling on the colored ashtray he'd let permanently live on his desk. More than a few guests to his office had sneered a condescending word and more than a few had met an ugly, bitter end. Sevika was right, as much as such an admission burned him. Jinx was the proverbial chink in his armor and there was nothing he'd deny her, no matter the cost.

Never in his life had he felt so close to his dead brother, slain by his own treacherous hand. How undoing it truly is to love a daughter.

"She'll come back." The soft lilt of the voice that lived perpetually in his shadow broke the silence.

"Rin." It's not a question, it's hardly an acknowledgement at all. Her name is an exhalation, a single syllable cradled in exhaustion.

"Silco."

She's the other half of his destruction, another something unexpected, and fragile. He's too old, too black-hearted, too tired for this, for her. And yet. "Where've you been?"

"Out." Rin steps out of the darkness, the harsh neon light cutting across her features. "Looking for Jinx. You should have told her about Vi."

"I didn't know she was alive."

"Yes," she says, "you did."

Silco runs a trembling hand through his hair. "I suspected, which is hardly the same thing."

"Semantics will mean little to her, and you know it."

"Do you have anything to report, then, or are you just here to waste my time?" He snaps at her, the bubbling tide of worry building within him demanding release.

Rin leans against the desk, her back turned to him. "I'm here to check on you."

"I'm alive."

"I'm not worried about that."

He turns his head to her, but she stares forward, her face hidden from view. "You should be worried about Jinx." It's no secret, the devotion they both share for her. Nine years is a long time to care for someone, to watch them grow. It goes unspoken, but they're every bit the parents to her that they could possibly be.

"Jinx is a strong girl, Silco. You've raised her well."

"Her sister--"

"Has been gone for nine years."

He sighs, bending back in his chair to stare at the ceiling, eyes automatically settling upon the rafter Jinx usually occupies. String from the trap she'd caught Sevika in still dangles in the pink glow. "She thinks I betrayed her."

Rin says nothing and they sit still for a moment in the cold silence. He feels the weight of his violent life suddenly press down upon him and the anxiety of it all makes the void of his eye burn. Of this he gives no outward indication, but his quiet bodyguard rises to the task all the same.

Needle in hand, she looms over him from behind the chair, her features still obscured by the dark curtain of her hair. One hand curls beneath his chin, tilting his head until they are perfect mirrors of one another. Strong fingers hold him in place as she expertly places the apparatus to his eye and pulls the trigger.

Electricity shoots through him, and his body jerks involuntarily, letting a hiss slip past his closed mouth. Rin sets the needle down but, as she goes to pull away, Silco stops her. He clutches at her fingers, leaning into them, stealing the warmth from the palm of her hand.

"What do I do?" he whispers.

Rin runs the pad of her finger across the sharp angle of his cheekbone. "Talk to her. Listen to her. It's what you've always done. It's why she loves you."

He turns his mouth into the cradle of her hand and presses his lips lightly to the calloused skin. "Is that why you love me?"

"No." The light shifts and he catches the heat of her gaze, reverent in the bright neon. "It's not." She pulls away and the absence of her skin leaves him cold. He's too frayed to watch her slip back out the window, choosing instead to stare down at the faded, colorful ashtray.

"Rin--"

"Why now?" The fragile tone of her voice comes as too sudden a shock and he spins around, stepping out of the chair. They face off, half draped in shadow. Despite the space she occupies in his life, she is so small a thing he forgets the way he dwarfs her. "Don't--" she falters. "I won't do this with you."

"Do what?"

"I won't play the martyr to your broken heart, Silco. I'm a simple woman, and I'm happy with the role I get to play in your life. I've accepted it. I'm fucking great at it. So don't do this. Don't spoil what I've spent nine years building."

He flinches, something he's sure he'd forgotten how to do. "What?"

"Don't weaponize my feelings against me just because you're hurt. I love Jinx just as much as you, you know that. Toying with me because--"

"This isn't about Jinx."

"Everything is about Jinx!" She snaps. "That's the point. There is no room in your life for more, there can't be. One weakness is dangerous enough already." The defiance in her posture wilts and she closes her eyes. "I've done too many terrible things to keep you alive just for you to throw it away."

Silco takes her face in his hands, turning it up to face him. Despite her demand, she leans into him just as carelessly as he'd done to her. "It's not my life to throw away. Not any longer."

"This can only end in sorrow," she confesses. He tilts his face down to hers, staring until her eyes open to meet his. "There is no happy ending for us."

"There's no such thing as a happy ending, not here." He lets go of her face to wrap himself around the jut of her hips. "And this isn't an ending."

"You cannot undo this," she whispers into the warmth of his mouth as it hovers precarious over her own. "There will be no going back, not for me, not anymore."

"I know." It's a careful collision, more a pressing of skin to skin than a proper kiss. Still, he takes it, holds it, keeps it all to himself.

Rin tangles her fingers into the collar of his shirt, the mess of his hair. She pushes the length of her body into his, silently demanding contact wherever possible. He relents, indulging in a fantasy held in private for years. She tastes like everything he's wanted and yet nothing at all.

In the distance haze of his mind, he knows there is no time for this, that his daughter is out prowling the Lanes, seeking vengeance and violence. This spurs him on, makes him feverish. Rin bites ruthlessly at his lip and he digs his nails into the skin beneath her shirt. Blood runs hot and the lack of space between them is dizzying.

All at once, she pulls her mouth from his and runs her tongue through the hollow of his throat. Despite himself he groans, wicked body suddenly a live wire of need. The sound breaks the spell, though, and she detangles herself from him enough to meet his heavy-lidded gaze.

"We have to stop," he says.

"I know."

"I need to find Jinx." With every cell screaming in revolt, he removes himself completely from the space she occupies. "I have to fix this."

Rin once more runs her finger gently down his face, this time dragging the tip of it over the roughened skin of his wretched scar. "I know," she says again. "And that," her hand falls away, "is why I love you."