inbox;

[jinxs]

(will be prettier soon!)

Comments

action

[zauneyete]

[ Sometime vaguely after the train. After he's given Jinx a few days to be mad, he's knocking on her door.

He could barge in, but Silco is hesitant about that. He doesn't want another encounter with... her other father.

So it's actually polite. He has something to show her (it's a new lair) but also... there's the elephant in the room, too. ]

Re: action

[jinxs]

(no one really knocks, so that's strange. maybe it's just that weirdness of actually having a door, instead of being out in the open as much as one can be with her choice of living quarters at home.

it makes her frown, but she just yells from the bed she's resting on.)

Come in!

[zauneyete]

[ Or maybe it's the fact that your dad knows that if he just barged in, that this would be another fight — and that's if she isn't with someone else. In Zaun, he would have just walked in, taken it as his right to do so, but Jinx is... different. Her shape is bigger than the one he'd always put her in. The edges of her don't align with what he thinks of as his daughter.

It leaves him aimless, and scrambling to find a ways for her to fit back in the box he'd always had for her.

It's like she's becoming bigger than what he'd ever expected of her. ]

Jinx.

[ He says, door already opened, slipping in. ]

You know we need to talk.

[ An understatement. ]

[jinxs]

(there will be a fight, whether he wants one or not, because her eyes roll immediately upon hearing his voice. she's hurt, and she's been hurt by him, over, and over again. why did she expect anything different? of course he couldn't let it go, even if it were not his own people to free.

so, she jumps from her bed, arms crossed with her chest puffed and her chin high.)

We need to talk? You need to talk. I've talked! I talk to you all the time. Even when you're not... There, I'm talking to you. Thing is, Silco, you don't listen. So, what is it this time? Vander made you do it? You were working on finding the King on the backstage? Or, let me guess, the knife just happened to go through his arm.

[zauneyete]

Of course it didn't just end up there.

[ He's trying. Very hard to treat this like it is normal. Very, very hard. See, he's making light. He stays out of immediate range but only just so, to give her the ability to lash out, if she wants to, but not so close that she feels threatened.

Silco knows very well how to hold back. He's spent half of her life doing so. He ran a hand through his hair, to settle it back into place. She says she's been talking to him. Even when he's not there, and there's something that coils in his chest, like pain, like disappointment, like lead in his belly. That he wasn't there. ]

I saw something I knew how to do, Jinx. [ He doesn't excuse it. She's right. He wasn't looking for the king. Vander, well. He has his reasons for that. Jinx can hear that later. She's more mad about this, he knows. ]

They put me in the right position, they gave me the keys to do it. [ So yeah, he hadn't really gotten involved with the King. Would anyone had ever wanted him there anyway? Absolutely not. ]

I'm adapting. [ Being out of his comfort zone, he means. ]

[jinxs]

'Course it's never you, is it, Silco? He provoked you. Marcus hid Vi. Never you. You don't lie to me, you just hide it. You wouldn't tell me about it if I hadn't walked in, because of course you wouldn't. You saw something you knew how to do.

(she's too weary for energetic displays of anger. it's not unlike when he was gone, that she was just too

overwhelmed.

it's sadness instead of mania this time, luckily for both of them. it could change in a moment's notice, but it doesn't so far. right now, she just wants to make herself small, hug her legs against her chest so she can feel some sense of protection.)

... If we fuck up, everything you two fought for, that I fought for, is for nothing. It's gone, like smoke from a barrel in the cosmic wind. Adapt. Better.

(she's not being forthcoming, naturally. it is hardly for zaun that she is fighting, but instead, about the hope that she has blossoming in a child.

she can't tell silco. if anything, she can take a page from his book.

omit.)

[zauneyete]

[ Isn't it fitting, that his child would learn the worst of his lessons from him, and subject him to this very thing? Silco doesn't know. He doesn't know a lot of things that are being withheld from him. Isha. Zaun's future. He's been given enough pieces and parts of the future that he knows where it goes, and he knows that without him it all falls apart.

Fitting, maybe. Were it not his life's work, he would feel pride in that. That some know-nothing little thing had been smarter, better, more witty that it could fall apart without him. If it weren't for the fact that it sounds like Zaun is falling apart without him... Everything he'd worked to erect falling apart...

He was angry about it instead.

But he doesn't voice that to Jinx. Not right now. Not with all of this. With his failure in his face. ]

I don't lie to you. [ But she's right. He doesn't say it, either. ]

So I will tell you the truth, Jinx. I do not tell you these things, because they are petty. Because I know you talk to him.

[ But he is in the right. He knows he is. ]

He has jumped me more times than then. I have refrained from violence, which is why you don't know about it.

[ Of course, the one time he does not, she walks in. ]

I know what is at stake. [ He steps closer and crouches down to her level. ] I gave everything for Zaun. I no more want to see it destroyed than you do.

[ But, But. If he had to choose... He knows what he would choose. Right now they coincide, and in fact, Jinx is showing more drive to fix this than he thought she ever would. Maybe she really is stepping up now that he's gone. (SILCO NO...) ]

I'm not going to let it be set adrift. I put too much into it, to let it go now.

[ Even though Jinx is here.

If she stayed here, then he would look away from Zaun. Always. Because his entire world is in this room. No matter what he tells himself, no matter what he thinks. There is a reason Silco doesn't consider Jinx killing him, because it would torch the only thing he has. ]

[jinxs]

(If only telling him didn't make it reek of betrayal. To tell him that, now that she is sole, she can see things in a way that she couldn't before. She has something that she truly cares about, a life that depends on her much like Jinx once did on Silco.

Once.

Perhaps that's the part that might hurt him the most. Things she won't tell him, lessons learned from the man himself, and she doesn't enjoy them. She's too loud for secrets, too explosive to keep them safe in her throat without bursting out, and for all their sakes, she's trying.

Doing her best.)

Then you two have to try harder, Silco.

(The secrecy of this place. On what criteria are they being evaluated? Will their squabbles and "petty" arguments cost them a mission? Could have, as it were the last one.

As far as she knows, well. This might as well be their demise. If they can't keep it together, she hardly can, and it's no secret what can happen when she's too agitated. Once more, doing her best, but much of her best is needed? Is it enough?

All things that cross her mind as she stares at their feet for a moment before she looks back on him.)

Tell me instead. Call me when you feel it happening. Call... Ugh, Sevika, too. Don't just--... Make me go through this.

Please.

[zauneyete]

I wouldn't have to, if he actually listened to you, would I?

[ It's petty, maybe, the way he says it. What he says. The angry little spiteful part of him that wants to remind her that he's not the one inciting this. It isn't that he wouldn't, but Silco's plans are more artful, and controlled. If he was actually going to make a move, he wouldn't do it like Vander has. It would have a dual purpose, be orchestrated, and then, yes. It would involve revenge. Remind him of the monster — he knew it was there in him.

Every time he approached Silco, he reminded him of that. Lashing out.

He might have even respected it, had it not jeopardized he and Jinx.

Instead, it just made him mad. ]

I won't promise — [ he held up a finger, to try and stifle any protest. ] — but I will follow and not make him bleed.

Last time I was in the open, before we left, he jumped me from behind. He could have snapped my neck. That doesn't exactly leave room to call either of you, does it?

[ It was close enough that it had gotten into those receptors of his that spoke of panic.

They both knew the significance. ]

I will not promise only because I don't want to break it. I will, however, promise to try, if I can.

[ It would be easier. If he stayed out of Silco's way.

Unfortunately, that does not seem to be happening, does it? ]

[jinxs]

I asked you both.

(He doesn't get to do this anymore. Too much had transpired between them when Vi came back from Stillwater. The half-lies, the sneaky way he put things, she realizes it all in hindsight.

At times, they become whispers in her ear, and sometimes they win. Right now, however, they backfire as more spite. It's a push and pull, hot and cold, and his presence exacerbates it - not that she notices that part.

He does win her when he doesn't promise it. It feels honest, a promise to try that she can hold him accountable, even if she isn't really seeing that trying is a subjective matter.

A promise that he can very easily break, under many grounds, but that she hardly things of because she feels...

Safe. Push and pull, hot and cold.)

Fine. Fine!

[zauneyete]

You did ask us both.

[ He confirms, because she had. Silco thinks he's in the right, believes it, because he's not been starting the fights. Perhaps he should have, but then again, would it have soothed anything? Or would it have driven her right back to Vander's family, where he'd comfort his daughter, tell her that it couldn't be helped, that Silco was poison, and always had been.

She would leave, she would leave, she would leave —

No, this is better. He let Vander's anger get the better of him. He let him do the lashing out. It was safer, and it continued to keep him in her good graces. Partially. Kind of. As best he could. ]

I don't want to be forced to leave you. [ he says. Pull, pull, pull. With him. It would always be just them. Even death couldn't separate them. He'd always be there for her. His mind circles around it, making it reality, forcing it into reality. ] I'll do anything to make sure I don't. I promise, I'll keep trying.

[jinxs]

... You can't leave me.

(He is incapable, and so is she. All the times she spoke to him when he wasn't there, the way she continues to seek something out of him that isn't tangible when he isn't alive to give it to her.

... But the way she is, as of now? The things she experienced, the short-lived idea of what his dream had been for her... The hero of Zaun. She hates it. She wants to live, and it's so hard to think of it when he's around.

They can fix it. So, with a sigh, she moves to wrap his arms around her, one arm at a time before she can do it to him, too.)

Good.

[zauneyete]

You're right, I can't.

[ That's the rub, isn't it? He can't even be angry with her. Not for killing him, not for wanting to have a relationship with her other father; the one Silco would bury six feet under over and over and over if he could. It's a jealous thing, this father's love, but it is love for her, even if it's stained like toxic water from the Pilt.

He holds her tight, lets her guide it. Jinx always got what she wanted in the end from him. Everybody knew it in the Undercity, that if Jinx wanted something, she got it. He would make it happen.

So if she wants Silco to keep from fighting Vander? He would do his best. Mind, it would be avoiding him, but he would.

Then if he didn't comply... well. He would have the high ground, wouldn't he?

But at least for one moment, it's just them, like it always has been. There's never been anybody else, they're the only ones that won't leave. All they have is each other. A stifling sort of arrangement, is it actually what she needs? Or is it, as always, what he actually wants for her? ]

[jinxs]

(Living without him has been... Strange, and yet, rewarding. To make her own path away from the footprints he left her, not having the certainty of what tomorrow may hold as he does not hold it for her. To see all that Zaun has become when there is no Silco to pick up the slack, and she? Jinx is no Silco.

Too emotional. Too exhausted.

The streets demand for her, and she can't put her mind to do it. Divided between trying to honor what they've done for her, and wanting to live. Breathing in right now does put some comfort and some security back in her even if it had been broken last she saw him alive.

Family is complicated, and she just sighs into his chest for a second before she lets go.)

un: sv; text

[ascarylady]

[ On her way from point A to point B (point B being the hospital), Sevika will be doling out a warning to all her fellow Runeterrans: ]

Etraya has been compromised. Do not trust anyone who got pulled in after the train mission.

See network for further details.

[ Look, she's busy. She'll chat if she can, but expect it to be brief... only she DOES have an extra message specifically for Jinx: ]

And do NOT do anything without talking to me first, for once in your damn life.

[jinxs]

freaking use your words lady

im not gonna read that

tell me what's up.

[ascarylady]

[ Jinx, why are you like this? ]

We have people from outside Etraya on the inside.

Best I can figure currently is one of them decided to shoot the others up and go after Aurora's tech.

[jinxs]

doy we are all from outside etraya sevika

oh? name? address?

[ascarylady]

People who aren't supposed to be here, Jinx.

Connor. No address. Still working on finding him.

[jinxs]

and you're not
taking me?

why?
sevika what's wrong with you
ugh, i'll find him.

[ascarylady]

I said I was WORKING on it.

Guy who snitched is holed up with him. We're convincing him to let us all have a chat.

I want you to do something else. Apartment building. Check it for bombs. I'm sweeping the hospital.

[jinxs]

yeah and how are you gonna do that? with your charm? with one arm punches? you lack convincing skills sevika it's all in the brain not in the fist!

again, i should go.

ugh, fine. where. and do i get to put bombs in

[ascarylady]

I want answers, not him shot full of holes.

All floors. Main apartment building near the hospital. Only remove bombs if you find any.

You can keep them if you do.

[jinxs]

i'm gonna do it

but because i want to

not because you're bossing me around or anything like that

[ascarylady]

Fine.

You do that.

[ She just has to hope Jinx doesn't decide to add bombs anyway. The complete opposite of what they want! Although a little while later, she'll get another message from Sevika: ]

Hospital's clear.

[jinxs]

USELESS mission

it's clear too.

can we shoot now

[ascarylady]

I wish.

Aurora wants to give them time, which means she isn't going to tell me where they are.

[jinxs]

lure them out? doy?

[ascarylady]

I'm going to give Aurora the benefit of the doubt this one time.

So no. We wait.

But I do appreciate you checking the apartment building, for whatever that's worth.

[jinxs]

... yeah.

hate to say it sevika
but as sad as it is
i got your back.

[ascarylady]

[ Wow, gross. ]

I know you do.
When it comes down to it.

I owe you one.

[jinxs]

shut up.

[ascarylady]

You first.

[jinxs]

HAH you wish.

video

[hexcope]

[Predictably, he's in her inbox now. Congrats, you get the first "video" message he's ever sent someone. He does, in fact, look desperate.]

Jinx. It's not about me, it's not about you. It's about the gemstone's stability in this world. It's tied to ancient, crystalized Runeterran magic from the Shuriman deserts.

You know what kind of damage it can do when it's at it's peak potential. We need to know it's safe to use here. If you want to conduct the studies on your own, fine. Get a partner, do it together. But it needs to be researched before you use it further. Please.

Re: video

[jinxs]

Ah-ah-ah. I'm not talking to you anymore. Peeeeh, you lost. Get Viktor and I'll talk to him.

(Just a voice message.)

[hexcope]

[He covers his mouth with his hand because he wants to yell so bad right now, but he swallows it down.]

Fine! I'll get Viktor.

[jinxs]

Good. I like him best, anyway.

(Does she? Who knows. Not even her. She just wants Jayce to explode from within.)

[hexcorized]

[ Viktor is doing his best right now to remain civil between giving Jayce so many looks and then now having to talk to Jinx of whom he's talked to a whopping 3 whole times?? He was not prepared to play mediator today. In fact, he is probably the worst person to have this role forced upon them??

He will...do his best, okay? Okay. ]

I've been informed by Jayce that you wished to speak with me? [ A pause. ]

So. What is it you'd like to discuss? [ He voice sounds even and calm as ever at least. If she does have a gemstone there is a fine line he's going to have to play here. ]

[jinxs]

First question, is he always like that? If I were you, I'd have shaken the jitters out of him long ago.

How do you deal with him and not hit him with your cane hourly?

[hexcorized]

We all handle our stress in different ways. It's never been something that, eh, made much of a difference especially when it came to our work. [ Like Viktor gets so nervous he throws up?? So you know. He's also giving Jayce a side-eye because what did you do to mess up things so badly like this? ]

Mm. A good question. [ Amused. ]

Who says I haven't done so, especially in the past? [ He definitely has done it in the past!! ] But this is not what you wanted to speak to me about, is it?

[jinxs]

How not?

(It feels nearly impossible to believe that Viktor doesn't want to smack him at least twice a day.)

Should have kept at it. Don't think he got it from the past examples. Anyway, I currently don't like him. He's a little lap dog, but since he's soooooo worried, and because I owe you one, I'll do you a solid. I'll send you whatever research results and I'll talk to you alone about it.

He's out on the grounds of being a bitch.

[hexcorized]

Working together with someone for almost ten years, you do get used to their...ah, quirks.

[ You know as normal lab partners do. Which, Jayce, might not like this next bit, but this is a rather important matter. And he has now been forced to do damage control against his will, so, he's going to run with it because he is just very annoyed about this whole situation! ]

Might I suggest something? Doing this research, together, might prove more beneficial for the whole of Etraya and Runeterra. Since you are already sending me the results and willing to speak to me about it, I don't see why this wouldn't be easier. A collaboration, if anything.

[ Does he want to do this, not really, but when has he been in control of anything in his life up to this point, right? But his interests are solely in helping the people here with the gemstone with hextech. He's trying to see what he can get away with here. But since she's the one with the gemstone, Viktor is loathed to say that she has the upper hand and he feels himself once again having little control of a situation that is potentially dangerous. He is so very annoyed about this. ]

As long as this research is not for the creation of weapons, that is. I do not think that the gemstone should be used for such things here.

[jinxs]

(She was listening.

Then he says that last bit.

And she hangs up. :) )

text;

[hexcope]

[Continued from here.]

You didn't always go by the name Jinx. Your sister is Vi, and you were raised by both Vander and Silco. Your birth parents are dead. You have a... friendship with Sevika, where you both respect each other but won't say you care about each other. You're a brilliant scientist, but won't work on anything except weapons. You're, somehow, a symbol Zaun has decided to rally behind.

How am I doing so far?

[jinxs]

all that tells me is that you actually listened to what we told you and you got buddy buddy with vander. trust me there you are not special he goes buddy buddy really quick, golden boy.

is it my turn?

[hexcope]

Be my guest.

[jinxs]

i'll just transcribe your dumb diary from memory and ship it a new fortune.

(Send to Viktor.)

[hexcope]

And what would that prove?

[jinxs]

are you reading my diaries?

[hexcope]

All it proves is you read my journal and learned what you did without any observation skills. No more skilled at "knowing" me than a typesetter at a newspaper.

[jinxs]

HAH what observation skills does it take to talk to my dads

[hexcope]

I didn't get most of what I know from them. Do you really think Silco would tell me anything about you?

[jinxs]

i think silco would drown you.

but i think you have eyes, that's all. go back to being fun, jayce

[hexcope]

You know what's wrong with you?

You don't know how people work. You don't try to. There's you, and there's the people you like, and there's everyone else as cheap baubles you poke at for fun. We're not people with complex minds or actions- we're toys. "Wind up Jayce and watch him run around." Our reactions are your entertainment.

And if I'm not "fun" anymore? Now you're mad. I'm not doing the thing you want me to do. A loss of control.

I'm pretty good at knowing how people work. You didn't have to care about what people thought of you to get where you are. I did. A lot. You don't get anywhere in Piltover without being able to predict the thoughts of whomever is sponsoring your next project and make yourself as appealing as you can to them.

So no. I'm not going to "go back to being fun." I don't need to appeal to you.

[jinxs]

thank you, always wanted to know exactly where i went wrong
very enlightening.

this was fun! bye, jayce.

Action;

[zauneyete]

[ Knock knock daughter knocking on your train car he knows you're home but hey! at least he isn't barging in.

Because there's a door now. ]

[jinxs]

(Oh. She wasn't expecting company, her head almost buried in the stack of papers and calculus she was busy working on. Gadgetry will always be in her blood, and that junkyard is a treasure land for her.)

Come in!

[zauneyete]

[ He's almost surprised that there's no traps, or explosions, but seeing Jinx more focused on papers than gadgets certainly leaves a... confused, sour taste in his mouth. Was there something she was researching, or was it —

Hm. ]

Did you know what time it is?

[ He asks. His hands are behind his back. ]

cw injections/needles in this thread

[jinxs]

... Did you really talk to Aurora?

(Fucking finally. His eye looks horrible, and she might have to sneak in a few more drops to help it heal. There's relief in her eyes as she moves to the bed, patting the space next to her so she can get to it.)

[zauneyete]

I did.

[ He says, with all of the annoyance of a parent that was told that he wasn't taking care of himself. ]

She may still take this as an opportunity to undo what I expect she considers a mistake. [ Bringing him back, obviously. ]

[jinxs]

Undo what? Bringing angry trenchers and rabid topsiders to hold hands and save the world? Pffft, I'm pretty sure she is enjoying it, like a sadist holo--whatever she is.

(No hesitation in standing and pulling Silco further into her room so he can sit. If he had been taking care of himself, well, he wouldn't have to get annoyed, but noooo. Jinx tries, okay. She puts food in her daily rotation for him, tries her best to see if he has eaten, keeps track if he is sleeping, etc.

MAYBE take better care of yourself, old man.)

Give me.

[zauneyete]

She certainly had her pick of the options. Yet she chose us.

[ He thinks it says something. Perhaps that Aurora didn't actually want them to succeed.

It's something he thinks about often. Winds around it, turns it this way and that in his head. It would answer many questions he had. Why him. Why Jinx. Why Vander, or Sevika, or the topsiders?

He hates it. He hates being here. With every distraction, every person, everything that wasn't Jinx, that was trying to pull her away from him just as assuredly as everything else. He was dead. He liked being alive, but the price was still due. He still had to live in this place to survive.

Perhaps death hadn't been the worst fate. ]

Alright, alright. Here.

[ He hands it over, letting her drag him along. He'd lost weight, muscle mass (was there any left to lose?) in the past weeks. He even looks tired.

It's difficult, without something driving him. ]

[jinxs]

You think she rigged us? Huh! Great minds do think alike.

(She thinks exactly that, actually. An illusion of choice, considering the fact they all have to work together, and if she knows who they are, the uphill battle is going to be for all of them to band together for anything at all. There's just too much involved, personally, politically, morally in the group they chose to save the damn world that it feels almost impossible.

But she has to try, as much as she thinks it's a worthless exercise. She's got something going, and she can't just let it go and ignore all she's been building on the off-chance she can't do it.

She can fix it. She has to.)

Silco, you look like crap, and that's rich coming from a Trencher. You sick?

('Course not. But, it's easier to think he is than that he is taking shit care of himself. This is her dad. She can't leave him like that. She climbs to his lap, crossing her legs in a crooked lotus position as she spins the injector on her index finger, the other hand checking his temperature.)

[zauneyete]

Of course I do. Look at who they've brought here.

[ It's either random, or it's directed. He cannot imagine random producing this particular group of people, which means directed. It means that she wants them to fail.

To be fair, for Silco, it's warped his motivations. The world is in danger? Well, everything is here. Jinx is here. That's all that matters. Sevika is also here, a secondary, a thorn in his side, a reminder of what he cannot be. It's all here. Why would he even bother with Runeterra? What good is there? An ailing city that will apparently be re-swallowed into Piltover? Despite his every effort?

What good is that?

He does it for Jinx, because she so desperately wants it to survive.

He doesn't understand it. He doesn't get it. What good is there? ]

I don't look that bad.

[ Stubbornly. She's on his lap, injector spinning. His head tipped back slightly. ]

I just haven't had my mediation. That's all. I've been working otherwise.

[ On what? It's difficult to say. There's no economy here. No struggle. No desperation. What is there to work on?

Then again, what was Silco without something to work on? ]

[jinxs]

(Seems like the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree. She had been thinking about leaving Zaun, taking flight somewhere far and unfamiliar. Without Silco, there was no reason to stay there anymore, and yet, she kept being pulled to his legacy even so. Perhaps, if he had just talked to her, she might tell him she gets it.

But he doesn't. All she sees is him withering, and is there something so undoing as a father slipping away? She's giving her usual signs that she's about to inject him, so he braces for the impact of shimmer.

It sucks big time.)

Right. Right, because that's why you're a skeleton. Can't fool me, Silco.

[zauneyete]

[ Wasn't it a parent's job to not talk about their worries? The little things (or big, in Silco's case) that kept them up. All the things that made him feel like his skin was itching in all the wrong places, the things that left him pacing. Thinking. Winding his brain in little circles, trying to figure them out. All the things that made him angry, because being angry is what keeps him from that pit always in the edge of his vision.

No. Being Angry. Being Driven. That's how one avoided it. That burgeoning despair. It was always there, but so much smaller. Now it's large. Now it threatens to swallow him whole, if he even dares look at it. Dares address it. ]

I've always been thin, Jinx.

[ He remarks. He waits for it, he'd waited for her to give it. It's... both familiar and not. He waits for it to come.

The anticipation is worse than the sting. ]

I even ate yesterday. I'm fine.

[ he's trying to distract himself from the incoming sting. ]

[jinxs]

(The thing is, his daughter has grown a lot last he saw her. She's always taken care of him, the medicine, his business, his office even with her little gifts. Now that she has someone to really look after, she sees things differently. Jinx is, strangely enough, the responsible one. Sounds bad, kinda is, sorta, but it opened her eyes to a lot of things.

She knows he's always been thin. There's a difference between what is normal for him and 'eating yesterday as a parameter for good health', and it's not like he can't afford it. There's no money, there's no excuse. She tries to do it quick, a two punctures where it looks the worst, and she holds him so he can ride it with support.)

Nooooooooot conviced.

[zauneyete]

[ Two punctures. More than usual, but he jerks anyway, leaning into her while his fingers and toes wind, muscles tensed, everything all off-kilter while the shimmer (oh, sweet shimmer) does its work on him to finally soothe the pain, and the haziness in his eye. It'll take days of treatments to repair the loss, but...

He breathed out as a single tear gathered at the edge of his eye.

He breathed in. Breathed out. ]

Jinx, I'm alive. I'm not exactly going to throw away this opportunity.

[ See, the thing is, Silco had always been bout the cause. Without it, he's aimless. The cracks show. The fact that he was a dead man walking, barely living as it was before shows. He had been motivated by the mission, the need to fix it all, a promise that still settled low in his chest next to his heart, where it pounded over and over again.

He doesn't have that anymore, so what does he have? It's just Jinx. And what a position that puts his daughter into, doesn't it? ]

Text; un: hound

[cantilevers]

I've volunteered for the Solmara mission, and it sounds like a desolate infiltration job. In case things hit the fan, I just wanted to say that I love you and I'm proud of you. These couple of weeks working the bar with you has been a highlight of my stay here. Maybe hold off gunpowder in drinks though.

Take care of yourself and have fun at camp. Think of it like when we used to make blanket forts when you and Vi were little. Take care of the old man too; I expect he'll be more miserable than usual.

See you later. Lots of love.
- V.

[jinxs]

i
DON'T like this vander
stop talking like you're about to eat dust
i don't want to HEAR THAT
you're coming back FINE
OK??????

i am taking care of everything.

love you too.

DON'T SAY STUFF LIKE THAT AGAIN

[cantilevers]

It is a desolate wasteland, so I do expect to be chewing on some dust while we're there. I wanted to make sure you were aware that I was going and it is dangerous. I want to know you're being provided for, that's all.

You're such a special person. Love you.

[jinxs]

you won't. i left stuff with sevika, dad. she's not
she is
horrible
but she is not gonna

(She won't let Jinx go through this again.)

you'll be OKAY. PROMISE ME

[cantilevers]

I'll see that she makes it back safely then, or as best I can.

I can't make that promise; we both know you don't like untruths. I don't know what is going to happen, but I do promise I'll do my best to see the mission through and return.

[jinxs]

what no sevika can take care of herself

it's you that i

do you HAVE to go

[cantilevers]

I'm capable of taking care of myself, her and Caitlyn.

I volunteered, so yes, I intend to go. I'm doing this for you and Vi to give you both a future if I can.

[And there were a few selfish reasons in there.]

[jinxs]

... don't go.

[cantilevers]

Jinx, I never mean to upset you. You're my priority here, I promise. I love you very much.

However, I have to go. I've been chosen.

[jinxs]

i'll talk to aurora. i'll go instead

you just sit your humongous self! i'll fix it.

[cantilevers]

Jinx, I'm going.

[jinxs]

you don't come back, i'm bombing the hospital.

you are warned.

[cantilevers]

I'll consider myself warned.

I would prefer that you didn't though. We might need that for you all to go back to Runeterra.

[jinxs]

then dont be late

[cantilevers]

I consider myself warned about punctuality.

text » un: robin

[brat]

Tell me about your gun.

[jinxs]

fat chance

[brat]

Have it your way.
But remember, I did ask first.

[jinxs]

HaVe It YoUr wAy

remember i told you to bug off

[brat]

Noted.
I'll be seeing you shortly.

[jinxs]

cool

Text; un: hound

[cantilevers]

[After this conversation, Vander reaches out.]

A kid going by the alias Robin is looking for you regarding your gun. What's that about?

[jinxs]

no clue what everyone is babbling about 💣
some weirdo asked me about it
i didnt even DO anything

[cantilevers]

I think it might be the gemstone. We may wish to organize a ruse.
He doesn't seem the type to easily let something go.

[jinxs]

who ran their FAT MOUTH
ruse haha no vander
i don't DO ruses
where is he

[cantilevers]

We both know who.

Fine but keep the stone hidden until we can think this through. Implications for retaliation could be fairly intense given the people involved.

[jinxs]

three people know my place and that i live in it
you aren't talking and silco? HAH
the third is a babblermouth but knows better
... i guess

think it's okay.

imma go bother someone.

[cantilevers]

Your place should be well hidden. Most people don't consider the underground the first place to look for someone.

If you're talking talking to Jayce, maybe leave it be. That's a delicate situation as it is. I plan on talking to him again soon. We can't fight on two fronts, Jinx.

[jinxs]

too late.

(Listen, weirdly enough? Jayce probably is used to her at this point.)

[cantilevers]

Explain.

[If he has to go to war for his kid, he will. He just wishes they would have an ounce of patience to work things out before steamrolling ahead. Shit. He was going to have to work with Silco, wasn't he?

He needed a drink.]

[jinxs]

what's there to explain
pretty clear
i'm having a frieendly chat with our councilman
ill let you know.

1/2

[cantilevers]

He's not going to assist us. Stirring him up will escalate things and reaffirm the belief we can't be trusted.

2/2

[cantilevers]

Grab the atlas gauntlet while you're there. I'm retrieving the other stone from Cait.

video; un: piltoversfinest (backdated to before the gemstone stituation)

[clavesregni]

[Caitlyn's using video for this because it'll tell her a lot more than text. At least, it will if Jinx responds with video.]

Are you the one who suggested Peter Parker speak to me about my mother?

[She's clearly trying to look and sound detached and professional, but there's a distinct undercurrent of 'might go and have some kind of emotional breakdown once this conversation is over.']

text; un: shadowheart

[tocastashadow]

You're the one who once called Sevika on ogre, aren't you? You're from the same world as she is?