#everyone who writes silco fics watch out | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

somedaylazysomeday · 6 months

Text

Good Intentions Part Seventeen

A surprise visit in the middle of the night isn't what you had assumed it would be...

Rating: Mature

Word Count: 5,900

Warnings: ongoing references to sex as a form of payment, implied violence, non-consensual drug use, paranoia, cuddling, threats

That's right - no sexual contact in this chapter! Sorry if that's not what you're looking for here. But enjoy the knowledge that this is the first time I've ever had to write a warning about a lack of sex in a fic!

Previous | Next | Masterlist

---

It was never a good sign when you were awoken in the dark hours of the morning by a frantic tapping on your bedroom door.

Granted, the situation wasn’t as rare as you would have preferred. You ran an outreach, after all. The Haven’s patients struggled, relapsed, went through withdrawal, and even needed medical attention on occasion. Everyone had strict orders to tell you when things like that happened, no matter what time of day it was or what else you were doing.

Everything and everyone had seemed stable when you went to bed, though, so it took you a moment of blearily blinking at the door before you rolled out of bed and went to answer it. When you peered out into the hallway, you were expecting to see Arunn. Perhaps Steel or Yi, both of whom had been on night watch.

Nothing had prepared you to see Sevika.

“What-?” It was all you had time to croak out before she had shoved the door open with a strong arm, sending you stumbling backward until you finally lost your balance. You fell directly onto your ass, staring up with all the grace of a newborn bird as Sevika hustled over to your bed.

It wasn’t until she carefully spread Silco’s limp body across it that you even registered she had been carrying him over one broad shoulder.

“Silco?” you demanded, voice harsh and shaking as you struggled to your feet and rushed across the room. “Silco?!”

Silco didn’t respond to you. He didn’t even move. His stillness let you focus on him with the intensity you were feeling. He looked paler than usual, his scars standing out in stark contrast against his hollow cheek and the blankly staring darkness of his eye. His clothing was rumpled and spattered with dark stains that you knew would be blood in full light. The same shadow marked his neck and chin, but turned from a fine spray to a dense coating on his hands.

You unbuttoned his shirt, worried about the way that blood trailed from his neck downward into the darkness of his clothing. If he was wounded, you were just wasting time that could be used getting a doctor to the Haven…

“He’s alive,” Sevika assured you, looking grim. “But he’ll need some time to recover. The biggest problem is that they drugged him.”

“They?” you asked. “Who is ‘they’?”

“That’s none of your business.”

The harshness of Sevika’s answer did nothing to reassure you. In fact, your worry and fear flipped to anger in a moment. You gestured sharply at the unconscious chem baron sprawled in your bed. “Really? Because this seems like you’re making it my business!”

Sevika’s lip curled and you braced yourself - either for some harsh words or a physical blow, you weren’t sure which - but you both pulled up short at the small, pained sound that came from the direction of your bed.

“Sev-” His voice faded out, the tension slowly easing from his body only to return in full force a moment later. “You must find him. You must- Do not allow him to-”

“I know, boss,” Sevika told him, and Silco’s body went lax with the reassurance. It seemed to be the truth. Silco’s mutterings were just gibberish to you, but Sevika looked resolute as she turned to you. “I have to go take care of that. I need to know that you’ll keep an eye on him.”

“What was he drugged with?” you asked - not avoiding the question, but side-stepping it for the moment. “Shimmer?”

Sevika scoffed at you. “Do you really think Silco wouldn’t know how to avoid being dosed with Shimmer? Or that it would take him out this badly? No, princess, it’s not Shimmer. Now, are you gonna take care of him or not?”

“Why here?” you asked nervously. “Is he safe? I can’t do much against whoever is trying to hurt him-”

“Most of them are dead,” she told you, the short explanation cutting through your worries in an instant. “He wouldn’t go back to the Drop. Said it was safest here. I agree - most people wouldn’t think to look for him here, but there’s plenty of his guards around if they do.”

You nodded. “What do I do about the drugging? Does he need something to help it?”

“Only time.” Sevika’s metal hand settled heavily on your shoulder. “Just keep him in here, away from people and away from the windows. The best thing for him is if no one knows he’s here.”

It seemed uncharitable to point out that would be the best thing for you, too, but Sevika didn’t give you time to consider saying it. With a short nod, she left your room. When you hurried to the window, you could see her leaving the Haven only moments later, giving a list of instructions to Raka.

When Raka had returned to the Haven, you shut the curtains tightly and went back to the bed. Silco still wasn’t conscious, but he looked uneasy rather than completely relaxed. His natural eye moved behind its lid and his long limbs were stirring. You winced at the blood smearing across your tangled sheets. If he truly wasn’t in danger, there was nothing for it but to get to work.

You soothed Silco with gentle words and gentler touches, smoothing hair back from his face and loosening his tie. When he was lying still once more, you unbuttoned his vest and removed his tie completely.

Stripping the bloodstained fabric away helped minimize the continued damage to your sheets, but you couldn’t help a wince at the fast-forming bruises on his pale skin. A particularly nasty one spreading across his sternum looked like it might end up as a sprain, if not broken bones.

You risked leaving the room for a few moments, retrieving a new set of sheets, a loose pair of pajama pants, and a few old towels before you darted back to your room.

No one had seem you, of course. No one would be awake in the Haven for hours yet, with the exception of the staff members watching over the Haven’s patients. You took a moment to be grateful that the treatment floors of the Haven were all on the upper levels of the building.

Removing the rest of Silco’s clothes was a surprisingly simple task. Apparently, you had absorbed more than you thought from watching him undress during all of your meetings. When his clothing, shoes, and accessories were in a neat but bloodstained pile next to the door of your room, you wet a towel with warm water and set to wiping the blood from Silco’s skin.

That was the most difficult part of your task by far. The blood on Silco’s hands, arms, neck, and face had been there long enough to grow tacky but not long enough to begin flaking off. He woke several times as you worked to clean him up, but you were able to calm him back to sleep easily enough.

He was dressed in comfortable pajama pants and quietly resting as you stripped the sheets from the bed. There was no way for you to change the fitted sheet beneath Silco, not without calling someone who could lift his weight. Since that was a rather incendiary idea, you contented yourself with propping pillows behind Silco’s head and using an old towel to cover his bare torso. You hated the idea of him being cold or uncomfortable.

It was ludicrous, an assessment Silco would probably share if he were awake… but he wasn’t. He was lying injured and drugged in your bed, and you found yourself close to tears for some reason you couldn’t quite identify.

Maybe it was because he was so still. Silco wasn’t a large man. His height paired with the scars and menacing personality made him seem so much bigger, but he was slender and graceful - far more like a thief’s dagger than a soldier’s club.

But laying flat on his back with a towel draped over his chest, Silco looked more delicate than ever. His scars were still fearsome and that eye glowed like an ember in the dimness of your room, but without the personality to back it up, there was no denying that he had lost his imposing nature.

Temporarily.

You hoped.

A knock at the door made you jump and glance over. When you saw it begin to open, you hurled yourself against it with every ounce of energy you could muster. Who would come in without knocking? Was it someone trying to hurt Silco? Had whoever attacked him managed to track him down here? Where were the guards?

“Is everything okay?” Arunn called through the door. You relaxed slightly at his familiar voice. “Fletcher said you haven’t come out of your room today.”

Your eyes jerked toward the covered window. Sure enough, you could see sickly sunlight seeping around the corners of your curtains. “It’s fine, Arunn. Everything is okay.”

There was a pause that managed to sound skeptical. “Are you sure about that?”

With as much hoarseness as you could pack into your voice, you told him, “I don’t feel well today. I’m trying to rest and work on paperwork when I’m not sleeping. I’m probably going to be in here all day. Can you manage things without me?”

“Yeah, we’ll be okay.” Arunn seemed concerned and you felt bad about that, but at least he believed you. “I’ll bring you something to eat later.”

“Thank you. Please just leave it outside the door and I’ll bring it in myself.”

“And you’re sure you can get it?”

You nodded, knowing he couldn’t see it, and faked a cough. “Yes, I can. Thank you again.”

“No problem, boss.” Arunn sighed. “Rest up today - we need you back as soon as you’re feeling better.”

“I will,” you promised weakly.

When Arunn’s footsteps faded, you locked the door before you pushed away from it. There were good odds that no one would disturb you in your room, but it wouldn’t hurt to be certain.

If this were any other business, you would probably need to worry that someone would come to check up on you. However, one of the most difficult parts of treating Shimmer withdrawal was that it often left the ex-user immunocompromised for a few weeks. With a constantly rotating roster of people who couldn’t be exposed to sickness, you could nearly guarantee that your “rest” wouldn’t be interrupted.

As you approached the bed, you noticed that Silco’s natural eye was open slightly. You would have assumed it was a trick of the light, or a slackening of his facial muscles, but his mouth was also moving.

“Silco?” you asked. The movements of his lips didn’t falter or change, and you suspected that he couldn’t hear you. You spoke anyway, just in case he could: “Silco, if you can hear me, you’re safe. You’re at the Haven with me. No one knows you’re here except me and the guards. You’re safe.”

The inaudible murmuring slowed to a near halt, but Silco’s mismatched eyes stayed fixed on you. You risked reaching out to smooth a strand of hair back from his forehead. “The only reason Sevika isn’t here is because she went to hunt someone down.”

Silco’s face tightened, and he struggled to sit up. It was a mark of how bad he was feeling that you could keep him lying flat with only a hand braced against his shoulder.

“You need to rest,” you informed him. “Everything is fine, you’re safe.”

You had hoped repeating that he was safe would soothe him, but Silco seemed unconvinced. “Threat- Need- go…”

Chills danced up your spine and teased at the back of your neck. You fought a shudder, trying to look serene instead of concerned as you slowly shook your head. “No, Silco. You’re safest here. Sevika went to go take care of the threat. No one is going to hurt you as long as you’re here-”

Silco caught at the front of your sleep shirt, pulling you down toward him as he hissed urgently, “Not- hurt me. Hurt you.”

That made your stomach tighten with foreboding. Before you started following the demands of a drugged man, you needed to check some things. “Silco, did you tell them about me?”

“No,” he denied, hands shaking as they released your shirt.

You nodded. “Good. Did you tell them about the Haven?”

“Never,” he spat.

“Even better.” Your look of serenity was finally legitimate as you said, “It seems like we don’t need to worry. Between Sevika and the guards we have at the Haven, the people chasing you won’t be able to find us here.”

“Not people,” Silco said, shaking his head. At least, you assumed that had been his intention. The muscles of his neck didn’t seem to work properly at the moment, and his head rolled languidly across the pillow. “Person.”

“You’re this worried about one person?” you asked, bewildered. “Wait, a single person did all of this to you?”

“No,” Silco said again, baring his teeth. “More. I… all- Killed them all.”

“Except one,” you concluded.

“Coward.” Silco may have been drugged and injured, dressed in borrowed clothes with a towel as a blanket, but the one-word insult made his disdain clear. “Hid while-”

He cut off mid-sentence, seeming transfixed by something behind you. You stood from the edge of the bed, where you had sat to hear Silco better, and whipped around. Your hands came up, ready to defend Silco from who or whatever had snuck into the room.

There was nothing behind you.

When you turned back to the bed, Silco had fallen asleep once more.

Since you were stuck in your room for the foreseeable future, you started working on the paperwork you had mentioned to Arunn. A lot of it consisted of reports for various parties who had a stake in the Haven and the way it was run. Once that was done, you had payroll to do, accounts to track, and appointments to make for the patients. While you had a doctor on staff, you liked to bring in a psychologist every month to speak with anyone who wanted to talk.

As you set aside the last piece of paperwork, several hours had passed without a sound or movement from Silco. You approached the side of the bed, nervously noting that his chest was either rising and falling so evenly that you couldn’t see it… or it wasn’t moving at all.

You checked his pulse. It beat strong and steady against your fingertips and you felt ridiculous for thinking the worst. But before you could pull your hand away, Silco nuzzled against it, brushing your touch over the angles of his cheekbones. It was lucky his eyes didn’t open, because you couldn’t help the softness of your smile.

As if that had been the final straw toward convincing you, you decided to get back into bed as well. After all, if you were going to take today off as a rest day, you should actually look rested. Sevika and Silco had interrupted your sleep and, despite the worthiness of the cause, you were starting to feel tired as the adrenaline finally ebbed.

And since the sheets were stained with blood from Silco’s clothes, you pulled an extra blanket from your closet, covering yourself with it. If part of it covered Silco as well, you weren’t responsible for that.

Your sleep was shockingly sound considering the strangeness of the situation. Silco was in your bedroom, Sevika was planning to come back as soon as she killed whoever Silco hadn’t managed to, and you were keeping all of it from everyone else who called the Haven a home.

The counter arguments were that Silco was warm and his steady breathing provided the perfect metronome to time your descent into slumber. Your blanket was soft and the blood on the mattress cover hadn’t quite reached your side of the bed yet. The shades were still drawn, turning your room into a shadowed cavern, and the noises from the rest of the Haven were muted by the earliness of the hour and the knowledge that you weren’t feeling well.

The conscientiousness made you smile, but it also made you sleep easier.

You didn’t wake until a pair of hands clasped roughly around your shoulders. Jolted unpleasantly out of your sleep, you could only stare around the room to find the cause.

Silco was apparently in the grips of a nightmare. His natural eye was half-open, the lids parted but slack. His lips were parted as well, as if he could not get enough air except through gasping. Most directly important to you, his hands were locked on your arms, keeping you from trying to touch him to bring him out of the nightmare.

“Silco-” you tried, shimmying your shoulders as much as you could in his hold. “Silco, it’s fine. You’re safe. You’re at the Haven. No one knows-”

“Quiet,” he hissed, shaking you roughly.

You fell silent.

Silco’s eyes were wider then, the lids almost fully open over his natural eye as he stared around the room. He was lying on his side, facing you, so his view was limited to what he could see past you.

Even with the frantic visual search of your room, Silco apparently couldn’t stay awake. His face slackened slightly, grip loosening before his hands and his expression tightened again… only to fall slowly slack. This cycle repeated a few more times as you watched, fascinated by Silco’s struggle against whatever had been used to drug him.

At last, he slumped back against the mattress, hands falling away from you. You relaxed, too, though you kept your gaze trained on his face. Whatever he had been dosed with, it was bad. For Silco to be knocked off-balance so thoroughly… Well, you were grateful Sevika had been there to get him out. If Silco had been in this state surrounded by enemies, you were certain he wouldn’t have stayed alive for long.

You had been thinking through the situation, wondering about how long Sevika would be gone and how you would smuggle Silco out of the Haven without anyone seeing him. You had intended to stay awake, to keep watch over Silco and soothe him when he got restless again, but you must have fallen asleep. Or so you assumed, because Silco was on top of you in the span of a blink.

The jerk you gave was reflexive and worthless. Silco had planted himself on top of you, a hand pressed over your lips. “Stay quiet.”

You nodded in response to his order. His position on top of you trapped your hands by your sides, but you tried tapping his hip to signal that he didn’t need to gag you. He didn’t even seem to notice your touch.

“Someone is outside,” Silco breathed. His eyes were wide, no signs of the involuntary laxness that had marked them since he arrived, but the pupil of his natural eye was blown wide. “They’ve found me.”

You listened intently, focusing your attention so strongly that you started to hear the faint whine of a totally silent room. The words you had been repeating all morning seemed trite, so you opted for something different: “You’ve been hearing things all morning…”

Your explanation - thoroughly muffled by Silco’s palm - cut off abruptly as you heard a scraping shuffle from the hallway outside your door. You froze.

Silco nodded, eyes focused on your face. “We need to be ready. If they know I’m in here-”

There was no sign he had heard your first explanation, but you tried to speak again, to tell him that he needed to let you up if you were going to be ready. You hadn’t said more than a handful of words when the shuffle came closer and Silco sprang into action.

In a single move, he had rolled you to the other side of the bed. You were further from the door then, with him planted firmly between you and any possible intruders.

Silco had been lying in bed all morning, wracked with illness and poison, but he looked utterly capable as he crouched facing the door. He was just in front of the bed and you had to take a second look to verify that there was a knife in his hand. You weren’t sure where he had gotten in from, but you guessed it was one of his. He was clearly used to handling the weapon, holding it like it was an extension of his arm.

You tried to stand up, to move past and protect him, but a firm shove from Silco’s shoulder sent you tumbling back onto the surface of your bed. It didn’t hurt, obviously, but you were left with the options of sitting back and letting a drugged and injured Silco handle whoever was at the door or doing something stupid…

“Who is it?” you called loudly.

Silco’s body didn’t move, staying poised between the bed and the door with the knife held ready in his hand. But his head swiveled, glancing back at you over his own shoulder with a hiss through bared teeth.

To your unending relief, Arunn’s voice came through the door. “Sorry, just leaving some food and water out here. I also brought a hot drink. It might make you feel better. The steam, you know. Sorry to wake you up. Try to eat and drink when you can, but I’m glad you’re getting some rest. You work too hard… Anyway, let me know if you need anything.”

And then you heard the unmistakable sounds of Arunn walking back down the hallway. You relaxed so much that you flopped to your back and sank into the bed. All that tension returned in an instant when you felt someone looming over you.

When you cracked your eyes open, you found Silco glaring down at you. “You are a stupid, reckless little fool. You had no way of knowing who was outside.”

“And neither did you,” you pointed out. Silco didn’t seem to appreciate your reasoning. “I could probably defend us better than you could right now.”

“Ridiculous,” he sniffed. A moment later, his face turned an interesting shade of gray and his green eye rolled upward. He swayed - hard - but caught his balance. “You are not capable-”

“You need to lay back down,” you interrupted. He was going to refuse, you could see it, but you grabbed his arm and gave a light tug. He crumpled instantly to the mattress, looking startled. Then he went grayish again and his face slackened once more.

Your first reaction was, understandably, panic. But when you collected yourself enough to check things out, you felt far more confident that Silco was going to be okay. His breathing was easy and regular, his heart beating steadily. His muscles were relaxed and his fingers were warm. Even as you watched, his face slowly started gaining color again.

Calling a doctor was your first instinct, but that would inarguably put Silco in danger, and you weren’t willing to do that. You had to trust that Sevika knew what she was talking about when she said he would recover from the drugging. So you chalked the reaction up to overexertion and did your best to move on from it.

Of course, you also weren’t willing to be woken up that unpleasantly a second time. Instead, you retrieved the tray Arunn had left and set the glass of water by the bed for Silco. Then you retreated to the small makeshift desk you had set up in your room. After you ate the food Arunn had brought, you began filtering through paperwork.

Every few minutes, you studied Silco, but he continued to rest easy, so you left him alone. If he was anywhere near as busy as you suspected he was, he probably could use the chance to sleep. He certainly seemed to need it.

You didn’t really know how much time had passed when Silco began to get restless. He tossed one way, then the other. He twitched and frowned, scowling without waking up. And then he began to talk.

They weren’t full sentences, even when you got close enough to hear them. There were bits and pieces of muttered warnings sprinkled with threats. It made you smile despite yourself. Even in drugged sleep during a weak moment, Silco was still trying to be in command of the situation.

“Leave… You will walk away. No. No. …an error… She will not… If you even attempt…”

The mention of a nameless ‘she’ made your heart skip a beat. But you were too pragmatic to misinterpret that fierce, protective tone. That, more than anything else, helped you fill in the gaps of what had happened: someone had threatened Jinx. One of the other chem barons, most likely. That was why he had come here and not to The Last Drop. Jinx presumably lived at the Drop while Silco didn’t mind if anyone at the Haven was in danger from him being here.

The tightening in your stomach at that must be irritation that he had callously disregarded the safety of your patients. That was the only explanation. The only one that made sense, anyway.

Had Silco been ousted as the head chem baron? Were you hiding the recently deposed leader of Zaun in the Haven? What would they try to do to him? Silco kept a tight lid on the violence in the Undercity - public violence, that was - but if he wasn’t in charge, anarchy could reign. It wasn’t terribly long ago in the Undercity’s history that public beatings and executions had taken place…

But if Silco was really being overthrown, the coup hadn’t been entirely successful. You could vividly recall the way Sevika had said most of the people who had attacked Silco were dead. If you had interpreted their little exchange correctly, she was currently hunting down the last antagonistic survivor of the attack.

With any luck, she would be finished before Silco recovered from his drugging.

You returned to your paperwork, working steadily through the pile until you had a neat stack of completed forms, applications, and grant requests sitting on the corner of your desk. You flexed your fingers around the pen, trying to ease the cramping in your overworked muscles. As you gave it a final shake, your eyes drifted over to the bed.

Silco was watching you.

The sight of him awake and looking back at you made you startle, and the pen clattered loudly onto the desk.

“Are you awake?” you asked softly.

He didn’t respond immediately, but when he did, it was with a wry expression. “Do I make a habit of sleeping with both eyes open?”

That certainly sounded more cognizant than anything else he had said since he’d arrived. “I don’t know, I don’t spend a lot of time around you when you’re sleeping. Do you?”

“I do not,” he informed you. He gave a sharp wince as he rolled onto his back.

“There is a glass of water on the bedside table for you,” you told him. “How much do you remember?”

“More than I care to.” Silco stared up at the ceiling, a slight frown crossing his face. “But nothing since the attack itself. How did I come to be here?”

“Sevika brought you.” The explanation seemed insufficient, so you pressed on. “Apparently, you told her to bring you here. Neither of you ever said if there was a reason for that.”

“Where is Sevika now?”

You frowned. “I’m not really sure. She brought you here and then left to go finish the last one off.”

Silco’s head turned slowly toward you. “The last one.”

“Whoever it was who attacked you,” you said with a shrug. “I never really caught who that was.”

“Ah.” He left it at that, letting you both simmer in the silence for long enough that you thought of a dozen things to say and discarded them all. He slowly sat up, movements ginger, then took a deep draw from the glass of water on the bedside table. “Do you have a shower I can use? I feel the need to rinse the blood off.”

You opened your mouth to tell him you had already taken care of it, but decided it seemed too intimate. More intimate, somehow, than having cleaned the blood from him in the first place. “Through there.”

As Silco made his way shakily to the shower, you vowed that you would never again feel guilty for having a private bathroom attached to your bedroom. It was worth every bit of second-guessing you had done while choosing your room.

There was a strange sort of serenity in the moment, you decided eventually. The sound of water raining down from the showerhead was muted by the door and the Haven was quiet. The shades were drawn and the light from your desk lamp spilled gold over the room. With Silco out of the way, you finished making the bed with fresh sheets. It was homey and warm, private and peaceful.

Certainly not what you would have expected from having an injured drug lord in your rehabilitation clinic.

A short, sharp knock on the door made you jump. You moved toward it quietly. “Who is it?”

“Raka.”

You pulled the door open slightly, leaving only a small gap between the door itself and the frame. If this was some sort of trap, you could hopefully close it before anyone could force their way inside.

But Raka was alone, holding a scrap of paper. “Is he awake?”

“Yes.”

Raka nodded. “Sevika sent this.”

He handed the note to you before disappearing back down the hall. The abruptness left you staring after him, but you closed the door when you heard the water shut off in the bathroom.

When you smoothed out the wrinkled paper under the light of your lamp, a few terse words met you: Send him out when it’s dark. - S

You glanced at a clock, surprised to find that it was far later than you had expected. It would be dark in half an hour, maybe a little less.

Silco stepped out of the bathroom with no warning. You averted your eyes when you realized that he was naked. “Where are my clothes?”

“By the door,” you told him. “They’re still very bloody.”

“Good.”

You decided not to look too deeply into that. Silco shook them out, presumably in an attempt to dislodge any wrinkles, but you winced as the blood crackled and fell in flakes to your floor.

He dressed in a series of efficient motions. He looked very comfortable when he was finished, though you couldn’t imagine feeling at ease in clothes that were crusted with blood and other fluids.

You cleared your throat. “Sevika is outside. When it gets dark, I’ll escort you out.”

“How long?” he asked, checking his cuffs.

“About fifteen minutes now.”

Silco nodded. He stepped toward your freshly made bed, then seemed to think better about sitting down in his bloody clothes. You appreciated his restraint, but you appreciated it a bit less when he began pacing around your bedroom.

Every item not hidden away was paid special scrutiny. Silco examined every picture on your wall, every knick knack, the books on your bedside table, the pile of clean laundry you had yet to put away. It made you nervous, enough so that you were counting the minutes until you could safely urge Silco out of your private space.

“It’s time,” you announced, peeking through the shades to double-check. The haze of twilight hung heavy over the Undercity, the neon signs only just beginning to be lit. The streets had cleared of anyone who had been doing business in the light hours of the day, but the nighttime bustle hadn’t truly begun yet.

You slid your feet into a pair of shoes, gesturing toward Silco. “Follow me.”

The hallway was empty, and you led Silco to a little-used staircase without any risk of being seen. The stairs took longer to navigate than you had anticipated with Silco’s injuries.

“You may count this as our next meeting,” Silco told you abruptly, his voice clearly strained as he lowered himself down another step. One hand gripped the railing so hard his knuckles were white while the other clutched protectively at his injured ribs.

You shook your head, arms outstretched to catch him if he stumbled. “I appreciate that, but I can’t count the meeting if we don’t do anything more than sleep and talk. Not without feeling like you’ve been cheated.”

Silco smirked, and there was only a little pain in it. “I don’t mind having Sevika wait, but I doubt I have the energy for anything more at the moment.”

“Not what I meant.” You did your best not to smile at his teasing. It wouldn’t do to encourage him.

Silco didn’t have time to respond before you reached the bottom of the staircase. He leaned against the wall and let out a trembling breath. “Finally.”

“Is Sevika bringing a vehicle of some kind?” you asked. “I don’t know if you can walk back to The Last Drop. Not in this condition.”

“I must. To do anything else would be to show weakness. Weakness is death in Zaun.” Silco’s jaw tautened and he pushed away from the wall. There was a moment in which he swayed and you reached out, but he caught himself. He stood straight, let out a single noise of pain, and strode confidently forward.

It wasn’t his usual strut, but it was close. Certainly close enough to fool those who didn’t see him on a regular basis.

“Are you sure you don’t need anything else?” you asked, pushing out of the door and following him onto the near-deserted street.

Silco glanced back as if surprised to find you behind him. “You shouldn’t be out here. You do not want to be seen with me.”

You gave him a stubborn look. “I’m not going anywhere until we see Sevika.”

“Very well,” he agreed, inclining his head graciously. “This way.”

Carefully, Silco worked his way toward the front of the Haven, adjusting course along the way to stay as deep in the shadows as possible.

“There you are, boss.”

Sevika’s low greeting made you jump. Silco’s reaction was less obvious, but he must have reacted somehow, and he hissed as his hand lifted back to his ribs.

“Will you be able to get him back to The Last Drop safely?” you asked Sevika.

She scoffed at you, but you kept your gaze steady. Eventually, she nodded. “I’ve got some trustworthy people keeping a lookout on the way. We’ll get him there in one piece. Preferably without any more bruises than he’s already got.”

“Thank you.”

You started to turn away, but Silco caught at your shoulder. “Thank you, pet. I won’t forget this.”

You just smiled and returned to the Haven.

---

Author's Note - Thanks for reading and I hope you weren't too disappointed in the lack of spice in this part!

I don't offer a taglist on this account, but you can find other works on my masterlist!

#arcane netflix #arcane 2021 #arcane silco #arcane reader insert #silco #silco x reader #silco x reader fic #silco x you #reader insert #reader insert fic #reader insert fanfiction

65 notes · View notes

ace-of-zaun · 1 year

Note

pregnancy fic was just perfect! Oh maybe now something with angst and HEA ? "Sil...is it true? Vander saw you with her! After all this time? After everything I've done for you ?!"

A/N: Thank you!! Ooo, my first young silco request (I have more plans for young silco but haven’t had a chance to write them all out yet). Thank you for requesting and apologies this took so long! <3 -el x

young!silco x f!reader, 2.5k words, SFW

Warnings: angst, cheating worries, miscommunication / misunderstandings, established relationship, fluff, happy ending, love confessions

Growing up in the Undercity, you’d always found yourself inadvertently searching for one simple thing to ease the pain of living.

Passion.

Something that lit a fire in your bones, sparked your desire to live, not just survive, as it had been prescribed by the above.

As a young adult, you’d joined the Children of Zaun in search of that passion, helping out in the bar of The Last Drop every evening.

Early on, you’d recognised that whilst fighting the enforcers that kicked down your brothers and sisters wasn’t your particular forte, it didn’t mean you couldn’t fight for Zaun’s freedom in your own way.

And in joining the group of rag-tag revolutionaries, it would appear that the Fates certainly had that long-awaited passion lined up in your cards, namely in the form of a thin, dark-haired, young man named Silco.

Infamous for keeping out of everyone’s way (or rather, they kept out of his way), the co-leader of the revolution kept his strict schedule of completing missions at night and silently keeping the blackmarket ledgers in the afternoon. A schedule that he rarely deviated from.

That is, until he met you.

It all began during the early hours of one morning, when he’d stumbled into the empty bar as you were cleaning glasses and finishing putting chairs on tables. Horrified by his bruised and bloody state, you’d helped to patch him up and sent him on his way with a strong shot of liquor to dull the pain.

After that first encounter, he then began to stay most nights whilst you cleaned up the mess left by the patrons, chatting with comfortable ease like you’d known each other for years instead of mere months.

And more often than not, he would stay in the bar up until you left, always missing the way he’d watch the door long after you’d disappeared into the night.

It wasn’t long until Silco had started to walk you home, insisting that the harsh streets of Zaun weren’t safe for a lady such as yourself, like you hadn’t been walking them your whole life.

But you didn’t mention it. You were simply glad you got to spend just that little extra bit of time with him. It was just another few minutes where you could quietly admire his sharp features and his careful way of speaking.

And then everything had changed on one fateful night where Silco had stumbled into the empty bar from an exhausting mission, marched straight over to you, and pulled you into the most thrilling kiss you’d ever experienced.

You’d both been practically inseparable ever since.

He had a way of making you feel like you were the only person in the whole of Runeterra, and you had a way of bringing him down from his passion-filled anger at every little injustice you were both forced to endure.

Hidden deep under that harsh facade was a full-hearted man, who desperately wanted to make you happy, almost like his life depended on it.

If you were being honest, even after less than a year together, you’d probably say that you and Silco were made for each other. Which of course made the pain you were experiencing right at this moment infinitely worse.

Hiding out on a rooftop high above the streets, you allow yourself to sob, your body unsure of how else to deal with the grief that was spreading through your blood like a dull fire.

Moments after arriving at the bar, early for your shift as always, Vander had pulled you aside and quietly informed you that he’d caught Silco kissing his ex-girlfriend outside The Drop, only a few minutes before you’d gotten there.

Your heart felt like it had been broken in two.

Vander had been very sympathetic and had tried to comfort you as you stood in the bar struggling to catch your breath, but you wouldn’t let him. Instead, you’d ignored his pleas to sit on the sofa downstairs, and had stumbled away from the stifling noises of the regulars.

You couldn’t be anywhere near the place. You couldn’t be anywhere near him.

Without really knowing for sure how you’d gotten there, you’d ended up at the one place you always go to when you’re feeling upset. A place where no-one could find you whilst you took the time to process whatever was plaguing your mind.

That is, all except one person, who is no doubt the cause of the scuffling noise you can hear behind you, as you sit with your knees hugged to your chest, hiding behind the large ventilator shaft.

You struggle not to sigh loudly in frustration as the tell-tale sound of him climbing the pipes and onto the roof interrupts your miserable ruminations.

Really, it was your own fault. You should have picked a different place to wallow in your misery, because the one person who knew of your secret sanctuary was the one person you just couldn’t stand to see right now.

The noises stop and you keep your back flush against the cool metal, spotting a tall figure peering around it from the corner of your eye. There’s a noticeable drop in his shoulders when he discovers you, but you continue staring straight ahead at the glow of the city.

From sheer stubbornness alone, you refuse to look at him because if you do, you know that you’ll start to cry again. And right now, he doesn’t deserve your tears.

“There you are, sweetheart,” Silco says, relief seeping through his words, “I was worried about you.”

You fight the urge to scoff.

Completely unaware of your bitter heartbreak, Silco takes a seat on the floor next to you, pushing back the longer strands of hair that frame his face with one hand.

“Vander said you were upset but wouldn’t tell me why,” he continues, his tone of voice terribly gentle and full of concern, “What happened?”

His fingers begin to idly draw patterns on your knee and you hate the way it automatically relaxes your body.

Still unable to speak in a web of hurt and betrayal, you stay silent, closing your eyes as if it would erase all the pain.

To his credit, Silco waits patiently and you can just feel his concerned stare on you as you focus on trying to find those impossible words.

There’s a moment where you debate lying to him, but when you crack open your sore eyelids and finally take a look at him, your chest is filled with an indescribable heaviness, like you’re drowning just from the sight of him.

You can’t stop the words from tumbling out of your mouth.

“Sil…is it true?”

A stunned pause while Silco visibly processes your words before he frowns, and you loath how endearing he looks as his brow scrunches in confusion.

“Is what true?” he asks gently.

He sounds genuinely confused and you feel sick suddenly thinking about how he’s always been a good actor, especially when it got him out of something.

It almost feels like a slap to the face. How dare he act dumb after betraying you like that.

“Silco, don’t make it worse by treating me like I’m stupid,” you snap, pulling your knees even closer to your chest.

“What are you talking about, my dove?”

The combination of his worried tone and the endearments he always uses to address you make you feel so unsteady, you’re practically shaking. Silco tries to take your hand but you snatch it away from him, blinking away tears as you glare back out towards the city.

“Vander saw you with her,” you spit out.

And Silco does the very worst thing he could do at that moment.

He inhales sharply.

Your heart leaps in your chest as you interpret the sound as the one emotion you’d dreaded finding in him.

Guilt.

Silco says your name shakily and it’s like the dam has burst.

You fight back a sob as you begin to cry again, which makes speaking almost painful, but you carry on regardless.

“After all this time? After everything I’ve done for you? I sat awake night after night worrying about you when you went on all those stupid missions, I patched you up when you came home from a fight with the enforcers, I-”

“Darling, look at me.”

Your jaw hurts from how tightly it's clenched shut and Silco must notice because he slowly reaches out to hold your cheeks, his thumbs absentmindedly wiping away your tears as he gently turns your head to face him.

Nothing could prepare you for the look of pure heartbreak that is etched upon his face, a deep hurt dancing in his eyes that you’ve never seen before in those pools of green.

For a moment, you’re almost pulled into it, ready to forgive him for all his transgressions and for any he might make in the future, right up until he speaks again.

“It’s not what you think-”

And there it is. The spell is broken and you jerk your head away from his grasp.

You’ve heard this kind of denial before, of course you have, but you’d never expected it to come from Silco.

“Let me guess, it’s not me, it’s you?” you interrupt sarcastically. You’re being spiteful on purpose now, a blatant defence mechanism that you refuse to acknowledge.

“No,” he stresses impatiently, “Will you just let me explain?”

You can tell by the little wobble in his voice that he’s holding back, that hotheadedness just itching to break free. But he’s holding back; for you.

Taking a moment to consider his request, you come to the decision that after everything you’ve been through together, you at least owe him a chance to tell you his side of the story.

You nod glumly and he relaxes marginally in response.

“She kissed me and I pushed her away the second I realised what she was doing,” he explains carefully, running his hands through his hair again now that he isn’t allowed to trace constellations on your skin.

The confession makes you pause. Vander didn’t mention anything about Silco pushing her away, but then again, perhaps he didn’t stick around to watch.

“Why would she do that?” you ask, your brow furrowed.

“She came to ask me to run away with her,” he tells you, “Said she has a job in Piltover and still has feelings for me and that she wanted me to leave Zaun to be with her.”

Like you’ve just been smacked in the back of the head, you begin to feel dizzy at the prospect of Silco leaving you to live in Piltover. At the prospect of never seeing him again, of being alone without him, of-

Silco delicately places a finger under your chin and lifts your head to meet his worried gaze.

“I said no.”

Relief immediately sweeps through you.

“Why?” you ask him soberly.

“Because I don’t have feelings for her, never did really,” he tells you nonchalantly. Completely candid, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.

You tilt your head and are just about to ask him why his ex-girlfriend would think that he did have feelings for her, when he continues speaking.

“And because I love you.”

You think your heart might have stopped for a brief moment. He’s never said that before.

In the wake of his series of confessions, you can only gawp at him, feeling positively overwhelmed by the rollercoaster of emotions you’d found yourself on.

“Look, I’ll prove it to you,” he says, taking advantage of your stunned silence.

Silco reaches into his pocket and pulls out an envelope that is clearly unopened.

He twists and turns it between his fingers, letting you see his name written in pretty cursive on the front, and the unbroken seal on the back.

“This is her new address. I haven’t opened it, so I don’t know where she’s going, and I don’t want to know,” Silco stresses, looking you dead in the eye as he does.

His expression still holds that hint of softness that seems to be reserved only for you, despite the lines of seriousness currently framing it.

Then, Silco brings out his lighter and sets the corner of the envelope alight.

You watch in bewilderment as the paper burns to ashes in seconds, fizzling out in a puddle on the roof when Silco drops it to avoid getting burned.

Staring at the now ashen puddle, you think you believe him.

He wasn’t cheating on you. It was all just a terrible misunderstanding.

But in spite of your relief, you still find yourself needing more clarification.

“Why didn’t you get rid of it straight away?” you ask, wiping the remaining tears from your face with the backs of your hands.

“Because I went to look for you as soon as she left. I thought you’d still be at your apartment, but you must have already set off,” he replies.

You must have just missed each other, which would explain why it took so long for Silco to find you. He must have traipsed back and forth across the city a few times before he got to you.

Silco inches closer to you, slowly reaching out for your hand.

“I would never leave you for her. I wouldn’t leave you for anyone,” he says earnestly. “You’re everything to me.”

Looking up at his face, you allow him to take your hand in his as it all finally clicks for you.

Of course he’d never hurt you like that.

“Oh, Sil. I’m sorry I ever doubted you,” you sigh, resting your head back on the cool metal behind you, “It’s just when Vander told me, I didn’t know what to think.”

At your obvious emotional exhaustion, Silco puts his arms around you, pulling you into his warm embrace. He always knew how to make you feel better.

“I know, sweetheart. I just wish you could have heard it from me first,” he tells you with his own sigh.

You both sit for a quiet few moments, your head resting against his chest as he gently cards his hand through your hair.

Honestly, you’re just glad it was only a misunderstanding. That it was over now and you could go back to normal.

As you’re running through everything that had just happened in your head, trying to figure out what to do now you’re missing your shift at work, you remember something Silco had said that you didn’t get a chance to respond to.

Something you’d been trying to find the courage to say to him for a long time.

You pull back slightly in his grasp and look up at him, watching his face as he tucks a strand of hair behind your ear.

“Silco?” you ask, in a whisper.

“Yes, my sweet?” he says gently.

“I love you too.”

And you do. Now, as he’s looking at you like you single-handedly created the skies and the oceans, more than ever.

Silco’s lips curl into the most beautiful, perfectly imperfect smile and he leans forwards to press them against yours in an ardent kiss.

Yes, you’d certainly found that long-awaited passion in your life, and it had come in the most wonderful form possible.

Taglist: @pinkrose1422 @steponmesilco

#silco #silco x reader #silco x f!reader #silco x you #silco arcane #silco fic #silco request

104 notes · View notes

cassifictional · 2 years

Note

If you're taking requests, because I truly adore how you write, could you ever do something for Sevika and her ex-girlfriend? Maybe they really haven't gotten over each other after a few years and they still bicker and get jealous over each other, maybe something nsfw happens too. If you don't like the request, feel completely free to ignore it ♡

It’s so nice to hear that you like the way I write! 💕 And a perfect way to get me to write your request lol, compliments work really well on me. I’m not sure whether you wanted an Sevika x OC fic or Sevika x reader so I’m gonna go with x reader because that’s what I’m used to writing!

Sorry if it’s not as good as my other works, it’s really hot where I live rn and my brain is a bit foggy. Also somehow I wrote 1.9k instead of the 500 words I was going for. Lucky you.

My request are semi-open, if you have any fun ideas feel free to leave me an ask and I might write something for it if I have the time and inspiration. I'm gonna assume requests are sfw unless specified otherwise!

Tags: nsfw: mdni please. mean Sevika, jealousy, angry sex, fingering (reader receiving).

Infuriating

It’s one of those days again: cocktail night with all of Silco’s associates. Every once in a while, he rents out a place to invite everyone he wants to keep on his good side. A necessary evil, or so he says. On the surface it seems fun, but look a little closer and it’s all just one big, corrupt power game. If he didn’t insist you’d be there every time, you probably wouldn’t even bother to show up.

The air in the room felt thick with cigarette and cigar smoke, making you feel overwhelmed and disoriented. People surround you as you tried to locate a corner in the room where it was a little less crowded.

“Hey, having a good time? Can I get you a drink?” you suddenly hear a woman’s voice say as you noticed someone had walked up beside you. She had long, black hair, was wearing a tight blue dress and was adorned from tip to toe in fancy jewelry. Her dark brown eyes fixated on yours, she was waiting for a response from you.

Feeling flattered, you smiled and nodded at her.

“I’ll get you something nice. Save a spot at that table for me, would you?” she said flirtingly as she pointed to a table behind you. She winked at you before you watched her make her way to the bar. Like she had asked, you stood at the table and waited for her.

“She is so not your type.” you heard another voice say to your left. One a lot more familiar.

“I think I can decide that for myself, Sev.” you replied, annoyed at the sudden intrusion of the one person you really didn’t feel like chatting with tonight.

“Figures. Being decisive was never your strongest suit.” she taunted. Was she trying to pick a fight?

Sure, your breakup years ago had been messy. No, it wasn’t all her fault. Yes, you lost a good thing you had together, but you always figured you two had never really been meant to last. And yet, it seemed like as long you were in the undercity, you just couldn’t get away from her. In one way or another, you always found her again in the most random of places and situations, often resulting in bickering and petty arguments. Tonight seemed to be no different.

The woman from earlier returned with two drinks, one for herself and one for you. But when she noticed Sevika looming in the corner beside you, she seemed to hesitate.

“Oh.. I’m sorry.. am I interrupt- I think I’ll just..” she said nervously as she glanced back between you and Sevika, who was obviously scaring her off with her death stare.

“No, it’s fine, we’re not together.” you tried to diffuse, but the woman didn’t seem convinced.

“I really don’t want to intrude. Sorry..” she said before quickly making her way to the other side of the room, depriving you of the drink you were actually really looking forward to.

“Great. Thanks.” you said as you turned around and glared at Sevika. “There goes my once chance of having a nice evening. Happy now?”

“Just saving you the trouble. Like I said, she’s not your type.” she scoffed before lighting a cigarillo and blowing a few puffs of smoke your way, which you angrily fanned away.

“Like, what, maybe she’s yours? As far as I’m concerned, you don’t really have a type. It’s always been quantity over quality at the brothel with you.” you grumbled.

“Jealous?” she mocked. “I’ll talk to Babette, see if she’s hiring.”

So fucking annoying. She always knew how to get right under your skin. Eager to get some kind of revenge on her for scaring your flirt away, you considered your options. Empty her drink over her head? No, that’s uncivilized. Violence wasn’t your style either. Instead, in a move that was a whole lot more friendly, you reached your hand out and gestured for Sevika to hand you her cigarillo.

“Fuck you too. Let me have some.” you said as you angrily stared at her.

With surprisingly little hesitation, Sevika took the cigarillo out of her mouth and handed it to you, but not before making you reach for it a bit first. You took a few puffs, maintaining eye contact with her as you did. Even though you were still angry with her, you couldn’t help but feel some of your old feelings for her bubble up to the surface again as you looked at her. Things between you two had been amazing and intense while you were still together. A feeling you really missed from time to time. A feeling that made you doubt whether or not you had tried hard enough to fix it at the time. The constant bickering you went through together now didn’t motivate you to really try and patch things up, though. She was irritating, infuriating even. And yet. You wondered. What if it had worked out?

You took the cigarillo out of your mouth again, twirling it between your fingers for a second before you reached out to hand it back to Sevika again. But instead of handing it to her, you intentionally dropped it right into the drink she was holding.

"Oh. Oops."

Shocked, she dropped the glass right on the floor, shattering the thing into a million pieces and spilling liquor everywhere. And now, Sevika looked fucking furious.

“Alright, you little fucking-“ she growled, but she was cut off by Silco, who had noticed the rising tension and had made his way over to you both.

“That’s enough.” he hissed. “I told you to stay professional.”

Sevika gave him a death glare but didn’t reply, now realizing that she may have fucked up a bit. Silco pointed to a door nearby.

“Outside, now. Come back when you’ve cooled off.” he then turned to face you as well. “You too. Out.”

Not eager to challenge your boss and risk getting on his bad side, you complied and made your way over to the door. Sevika followed closely behind you, heavy footsteps revealing her anger.

“Like fucking schoolkids getting detention.” you grumbled as you pushed open the door. “You’re sure as hell as immature as one, Sev. And you’re- wait, this isn’t..”

“Move.” Sevika groaned as she pushed you forward into the room, almost knocking you over in the process. She quickly realized as well that this door didn’t lead outside.

“Side room.” she ascertained. “Not the exit. Dumbass.”

“No shit, sherlock. And cut it out with the insults.” you snapped.

“That last one was for Silco, not you.”

“For once.”

“So quit assuming everything is about you all the time.”

You sighed in frustration. It wasn’t uncommon for her to be mean to you, but tonight felt a little different from her usual verbal attacks. As if you had really struck a nerve with her.

“Why do you hate me so much?” you asked.

“I could give you a list.” she grumbled as she looked around the room for another exit, to no avail.

“I’m serious, Sev. What the hell happened?”

She sighed. “We’ve been over this. We didn’t work, end of story.”

“You used to like me.” you muttered. “I used to like you. Love you, even. Then it all went to shit and for what? Why?”

You watched Sevika as she was stood with her back towards you. Her shoulders were tense, her whole body looked stiff. The shimmer in her metal arm briefly started to kick in, but went away before it could send her into a frenzy. Then all of a sudden, she turned around and stormed towards you, only stopping when she was right in front of you. She loomed over you like a tower.

“You want me back so bad, is that it?” she hissed.

“I want to know why.” you said quietly, trying desperately to keep back your tears. “You never.. we never talked about why it went to shit. I want to understand.”

“I liked you better when you listened to me.”

“Sev, please, I just..”

She grabbed you by the jaw with her metal hand, squeezing forcefully but not hard enough to really hurt.

“Shut up. You want it to be like the ‘good old days’ again?” she growled, bringing her face close to yours.

Even though you were still angry, the urge to kiss her was greater. But once she noticed you leaning in, she moved her hand from your jaw to the back of your head to grab a fistful of your hair. She pushed you back into the now closed door behind you, effectively immobilizing your head to where her hand was.

“So fucking desperate.” she muttered under her breath as her other hand made it’s way to one of your thighs. “I remember you used to beg for it.”

“Then.. please?”

The look in her eyes still screamed fury, but behind the angry façade you could see that there was more to it. You had gotten to know her well during your time together. You could see something you didn’t quite recognize, not just yet. Lust? Jealousy? Regret?

Her grip on your hair forced you to keep eye contact with her. Without any further hesitation, Sevika moved her hand up from your thigh, straight into your underwear. Knowing there were probably people behind the door Sevika had forced you against, you struggled to keep yourself from moaning out loud.

She effortlessly found your sweet spot like she always did when you were still together. As if you had never broken up in the first place. Her movements were rough but precise, keeping you exactly where she wanted you, touching you exactly where she wanted to.

“Oh, god..” you gasped as you felt one of her fingers brush over your entrance before she roughly shoved it inside you.

“Try not to let the whole room hear you.” she sneered, pushing a second finger inside of you. “Or do. See if I care.”

“Fuck you, Sev.”

“You wish.”

“Oh, you- ah! Fuck.. fuck me.” you moaned as Sevika curled her fingers inside of you, continuing to roughly move in and out of you. Your pleas seemed to motivate her as much as they seemed to be pissing her off.

You gripped her arm tightly as she continued to fuck you against the door, surely making enough noise by now that people on the other side of it could hear something was going on. She kept her eyes on you the whole time, the look of anger mixed with unknown, messy feelings in her eyes unwavering. Maybe it had been the lack of intimacy in your life lately, maybe you had just really missed her despite all the harsh words spoken between you, but she knew exactly how you liked to be touched and she could definitely feel you were getting close. As she slowly but steadily pushed you over the edge, she moved her metal hand from the back of your head to your mouth to muffle your increasingly loud moans as you came.

You felt your legs turn to jelly but Sevika’s hand was still underneath you, keeping you upright. She briefly let you ride it out before she removed her hand from your underwear as quickly as it had found its way in. She leaned back in close you your face, your mouth still covered by her metal hand.

“Whore.” she hissed before removing her metal hand from your face.

She pushed you aside, opened the door and walked out. The door fell shut behind her. Still trying to catch your breath and compose yourself, you rested your back against the closed door again and slowly slid down onto the floor. Your eyes filled with tears as you processed what just happened. You finally got the courage to ask and she didn’t even tell you. Tell you why you ended up like this.

Notes: angry sex, sure! But I do need to sprinkle some explicit ✨consent✨ in to feel comfortable with it. I feel like this could use a continuation. Anyone interested in that? Let me know. Poor y/n’s having a hard time.

#arcane #sevika #arcane sevika #sevika x reader #sevika x female reader #sevika x y/n #sevika x you #arcane x reader #arcane imagine #arcane imagines #cat writes

187 notes · View notes

tripleyeeet · 5 months

Text

10 CHARACTERS!

rules: pick 10 characters from 10 different fandoms and tag 10 people!

thanks @imgoingtofreakoutnow for the tag!

1. cybersix/adrian seidleman — aka my first impression of gender fluidity. this show came out when i was 4 and to this day i still mourn that it wasn’t longer. it was so insanely influential for its time in terms of gender rep (the main character’s disguise was a male school teacher who pretty much everyone had a crush on) and i remember genuinely crying to my mom when this show stopped airing at its regular time slot.

2. eris — at the ripe age of 8 this woman was my bisexual awakening. and honestly, more than likely the introduction to my obsession with villains. to this day i would literally let this woman do whatever she wanted to me.

3. loki laufeyson — the man, the myth, the legend. truly the one that started it all. the og summer blorbo. i’ve literally been obsessed with this man since i was a kid reading my uncle’s comic book collection past bedtime. so many iterations have come and gone (some better than others) but regardless this mother fucker has rotted my brain.

4. dr. spencer reid — probably the most influential character in regards to my writing. he was the first character that i wrote an entire fic about (along with an even longer sequel) which really helped me develop as a writer. also, now that i’m older i realize his neurodivergent rep was very affirming to witness!

5. fleabag — god, i could go on and on about how this character and phoebe’s writing makes me feel for a century so i’ll just say no other character has made me feel the way this one does.

6. silco — he’s everything i love in a character. from his overall design to his motivations and traits, silco is perfect and i thank arcane every day for creating him.

7. nick miller — watching this character is like looking in a mirror and i hate it. everything he does or says is so ridiculously specific to my psyche that i sometimes have to cover my face out of sheer secondhand embarrassment. i love him dearly.

8. ash — this is baby. my darling. my sweet cheese. despite her kit in game being very mid i will never main another character simply because she is the moment! her backstory is compelling. her and horizon’s relationship prior to the games is so interesting that i think about writing a 33737 page fic of it every day. i just love her and her broken little simulacrum brain.

9. mizu — she is everything i want in strong, female character. blood thirsty motivations that lead to unwavering goals, complicated relationships, the external hotness of a thousand suns. mizu is incredible and i am so happy that blue eye samurai got picked up for season two!!

10. astarion — wow, what a surprise! the vampire is here! who would’ve guessed? seriously though, i know i post about him pretty much every day and make jokes about how hot he is and blah, blah, blah but he truly means so much to me. all of the writers involved in creating him (and neil obvs) did such an incredible and sincere job. you can tell they put so much care into crafting his (and so many other characters’) story and i’ll forever be thankful.

tagging: @infinitystoner @use-your-telescope @the-lake-is-calling @the-lady-amphitrite @novarunestone @sunserenade @justporo @leighsartworks216 @aphrogeneias @lipstickghoulie (and whoever else wants to participate!)

#tag game

11 notes · View notes

bexbaxx · 2 years

Note

What you think about a Christmas or like holiday fic w viktor or silco? 👀 just imagining them despising the holidays (each for their own reasons, like viktor because he has to do more research because of of other researchers taking holiday breaks. And silco because hes just salty and idk hates holidays but secretly loved the presents he receives bec if jinx or reader) like just JDJJSJD IMAGINE READER (not dating viktor yet) STAYING BEHIND AND SPENDING THE HOLIDAYS W HIM IM THE LAB AND MAYBE CONFESSING IN THE PROCESS 👀 or just simply stating they care for him. DIAKDJDJ IM JUST OMF sorry if that was a lot i just oh god Christmas viktor in stress and reader just being there for him w their support and making him something so that he can eat.. im soft oh god 😭😭

(I'm going to focus this request on Viktor, since I thought that was a cute idea! Thank you for this ask it was a lot of fun to write out!)

You entered the lab, completely unsurprised to see Viktor sat at his workbench, quickly scribbling down something in a book laid out in front of him.

You almost rolled your eyes, but not at Viktor, at Jayce, who currently wasn't present. He had told you he was going to decorate the lab last week, to try to get Viktor in the "holiday spirit", but the lab looked the exact same as it always did.

It was a week into the holidays, and so far he hadn't taken a single day off from his work. You had at first hoped that maybe the holidays would push him to take a break, seeing as everyone else had done exactly that, but it seemed not even that would keep him from this lab.

So, you decided to be a bit bolder than you usually were.

"Hey, Viktor." You called out to him, moving towards where he sat. He startled from his writing, looking towards you with clear confusion written on his face.

"I didn't expect to see you today. You're not off celebrating?"

You set down the container you carried in your arms onto the bench beside him. "Nope! I was kind of thinking... That I'd spend today with you."

"With me?" He almost asked himself, now leaning back on his chair. You were silently hoping he wasn't about to reject your offer, as you found he often did in pursuit of his work.

"I even made some ginger bread cookies!" You announced, moving to open the lid of the plastic container. He rolled his chair towards you, leaning in to get a look.

You gestured for him to take one, and he did so, albeit hesitantly. The cookie itself was crudely decorated in white frosting, and was still warm to the touch.

"Cute." He said simply, before biting off the head. His response was almost immediate. "And delicious! I've never tried these before."

You hadn't seen him smile like that in quite a while.

"Well, I was thinking we could do something today, as a small celebration..." You confessed, now awkwardly averting your gaze in preparation for rejection. "I know you're busy, so I get it if you say no."

He took another bite and a moment to respond, which only made your nerves worsen. Maybe he really didn't want to celebrate with you at all, and you had overstepped.

Finally, he turned to you with a smile, and gently replied. "I'd like that."

You swear your heart actually skipped a beat. Before you could say anything else, he spoke again.

"Ah, also, I've been meaning to ask you. What is that?"

He gestured up to the shelves that hung above the workstation, and you quickly noticed the small, plastic elf dressed in red sat up there, seemingly watching the two of you.

Damn Jayce.

#viktor x reader #arcane viktor x reader #arcane viktor #arcane x reader #arcane series #league of legends #arcane imagines #arcane

353 notes · View notes

goddessofroyalty · 2 years

Text

A Hand Guiding You Towards Damnation

I figured out the Arcane omegaverse fic I wanted to write. Don’t know if that is a good thing.

This fic is basically just the older generation trying to push their unexamined biases onto the younger one. I am tempted to write a second part where the younger generation figure out they don't have to think the same but I have yet to figure out how I want to tackle it.

Warnings: unexamined biases that some people are working through and others have doubled-down on, irresponsible youths, fantasy racism, social prejudices

Pairings you’re meant to read into this: bitter exes Vander/Silco; friends with benefits Jayce/Viktor.

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/36288745

Summary: Everyone has their biases and mistaken beliefs. Unfortunately everyone likes to share them with those that might listen.

“Ow!” Vi says when Vander shoves her into the back room of the bar, having dragged her there by the scruff. She had let him despite being too old to be scruffed partially out of respect and partially because she wouldn’t stand a chance against the old alpha. “What was that for?”

Vander gives her a look.

“Yeah, alright, I know why.” She had been showing off to a pair of young omegas whose parents had been drinking. Possibly with tales of crimes a little grander than had actually been committed. “It was just harmless talk.”

"I knew that – their parents wouldn’t have cared if it was only meant to be ‘harmless’,” Vander says.

“That’s stupid, but fine, I won’t do it again.” She got it that the Undercity was dangerous for omegas and that parents were protective as a result. But everyone knew she was one of Vander’s kids and Vander had been right there! Surely that gave her some credibility of not trying to take advantage. “Can I go now?”

“No,” Vander says with a sigh and Vi just knows this is going to be a serious conversation. “We need to talk.”

“About what?” Vi asks, watching Vander sit down.

“Your sister – you know she’s going to be an omega right?”

“Yeah.” Vi had caught the new edge to Powder’s scent. Only noticeable because she knew her sister’s scent. They should still have months at least until Powder presents proper and everyone will know what she is as soon as they catch her scent like how they know Vi and Vander are alphas and Mylo and Claggor are betas.

“You will need to keep an eye on her.”

“Of course.” The Undercity was a dangerous place to be an omega. And it was Vi’s job to watch out for her sister.

“Not just because of the reason’s your thinking,” Vander says, his voice serious.

“Huh?”

“Powder’s smart, always tinkering with those toys of hers. She’s going to be a dangerous one once she figures them out.”

“That’s a good thing isn’t it?” Once Powder is able to defend herself they will be able to worry a little less about someone hurting her.

“In a way,” Vander says. “The omegas tonight were trying to get you into trouble. They kept looking over to see if their parents were watching.”

“What!?” They had seemed to be enjoying Vi’s stories and kept asking for more details.

“Omegas can be more dangerous when they seem. Especially ones that are clever. They can be the ones causing the trouble just as much as their existence seems to attract it,” Vander says, clearly talking from experience although Vi doesn’t know if it’s something specific or just things he has seen living in the Undercity his whole life. “You need to be watching carefully or else they can easily fool you.”

“You think Powder will try and cause trouble?” Powder, who just wants to be helpful and part of the group? Sure, Vi could see her sister being able to raise hell once she gets good with her little bombs. But only against those that deserved it. Those who started it.

“Your sister has been through a lot. You both have. Things like that affect people. It changes them. I can only protect you so much from it. As the alpha you need to be the responsible one and watch out for them all, but especially Powder.”

“Of course I will.” Vi knew that was her job as alpha and eldest to watch out for the others and protect them. Vander had always made sure she understood that from the day she presented.

“Good. I know it’s hard but it’s the price of being an alpha. We’re the leaders and have to make sure we lead the others well. Even when they are the ones causing the problems.”

“I understand.” It doesn’t feel right to not trust Powder just because of her designation. But Vi wants to make sure her sister is safe and if this is part of what she has to do to ensure that she will.

--------------

“Those guys were jerks,” Jinx says, coming down to sit on Silco’s desk after his important meeting. She had been good and hadn’t interrupted. Instead just listening as they made mean comments the whole time. She had glared back at the one who had started watching her until he returned his attention back to Silco but he had been being rude first.

Silco laughs.

“They were being alphas,” he says.

“What and all alphas are jerks?” Jinx could believe it. But then again, most everyone she knew were jerks. Jerks that didn’t have time for her.

“They can be,” Silco says with a twist of his head and Jinx catches a glimpse at his scared over neck gland. She knows he isn’t ashamed of it but it still often ends up hidden beneath the collar of his shirt, only his scent being fainter than the average omega cluing people in about it. “Alphas want to think they are in control.”

“Why work with them then?” Everyone knew Silco was the one in control and didn’t tolerate those that didn’t acknowledge it.

“Alphas have their uses.”

“Like what?”

“They’re strong.”

“I’m strong!” Jinx protests because she had worked hard to ensure it. “We’re strong!”

“Not in the way alphas are,” Silco says, reaching over to cup Jinx’s jaw. “Alphas have a brute strength we will never match.”

“I could beat them.” Jinx had beaten alphas before. They looked the same as everyone else when dead on the floor.

Silco sighs.

“Because you can outsmart them,” he says, suddenly pulling away, leaving Jinx to catch herself on the table. “But if they manage to actually get a grip on you-”

“They’ll try and drown me. You’ve told me this before you know!” Told her how Vander had held him down in the waters. How Silco had become a new person in that moment. A transformation he wanted her to follow without the brutal trigger.

“I only tell you these things because I care about you. I didn’t want you to end up a victim like so many of our designation do.”

“Okay - so teach me how to handle alphas,” Jinx says, sitting up on the table in attention like a good student. “I mean you seem to do it so well.”

“You let them think they are in control but never hand any actual power to them,” Silco says.

“Huh?”

“Take those alphas before. They think they got a good pay off for the amount of cargo they are hauling just to keep it off the books. However, we have another means of getting what we need top side. And on the off chance their cargo is inspected? Well, it isn’t easily going to be traced back to us. Especially not when their wounded pride will have them lash out at whoever discovers what they are carrying.”

“Alright. And what if they do come back here after?” Jinx asks. Not that she’s actually worried of course. But she knows Silco will have already thought of that possibility.

“I have ways to protect us don’t worry,” Silco says, picking up a vial of shimmer and twisting it in his hand. “For all of an alphas strength they are just slaves to their instincts. Their brains so easy to overpower if you have the right stimulant. It makes them predicable and controllable.”

“Alright,” Jinx says, leaning back against the table. “We don’t have to worry about them then.”

“You must always remain vigilant though Jinx. Alphas will always try and control you. Letting them think they have gives you power but never actually give them control. They will ruin you for it.”

“Sure,” Jinx says with a shrug. “I wouldn’t worry though – nobody controls me.”

Other than Silco but that’s because she lets him because he cares about her. That’s probably what an alpha would say as well now that she thinks about it.

“Good girl,” Silco says, “I’m glad you understand.”

--------------

“I see you’re still posted here then?”

Caitlyn doesn’t turn to acknowledge Jayce. Because she’s on the lookout for any criminal activity in the middle of the Academy grounds where she isn’t even sure a guard has ever been posted before because of the frankly pointlessness of there being one here.

“Apparently there is no availability anywhere else.” Despite Caitlyn knowing of at least three teams near the gates who currently have openings. “Is there something you need of me?”

Jayce shrugs.

“I thought you could use some company. Just standing here seems kind of... boring.”

“It’s better than sitting behind a desk filing paperwork.” At least here she only has to field two questions a day of why someone of her standing and designation decided to go into this career path and all the unasked for life advice that comes with it. “If my parents would just stop calling my boss-”

“They care about you,” Jayce says.

“Some way to show it.”

“You’re their only child. Their only omega child.”

Caitlyn shoots him a glare for that.

“I mean my mother interfered to keep me safe and I’m an alpha.” If that was meant to make what Jayce had said better he failed.

“And what does our designations have to do with it?” Caitlyn has spent her whole life painfully aware of her designation – the omega daughter of two betas. How blessed they were to be given that. She’s getting sick of having it pointed out to her if she’s being honest.

“It’s just people expect alphas to take care of themselves. To lead. Omegas aren’t. Expected to I mean. They’re mean to be taken care of.”

“I don’t see you going out of your way to take care of your omega,” Caitlyn says. Trying to point out the hypocrisy of the statement. Like how she wasn’t the only omega in the force but she was the only one being coddled and kept from their real work.

“What omega?” Jayce asks.

“Viktor.” Was he really trying to feign ignorance? It was only the worst kept of all the secrets of the Academy. The two often apparently stinking of each other in a way only possible by one thing.

“Viktor - wait – what are people saying?” Jayce asks suddenly in front of Caitlyn his face sober.

“That the only reason he doesn’t have a bite is because it would be social suicide for your family.” Viktor’s scientific talent was enough to allow him access to their community but he would never actually be seen as one of them and no socially-conscious family would allow him as a member.

“You don’t think that as well do you?” Jayce asks.

“What? No!” It didn’t matter to Caitlyn that Victor was from the Undercity and she didn't think it mattered to Jayce either. Just Friends or Mates weren’t the only relationship options even between alphas and omegas. “But you have to admit you are a little more than just work partners.”

And while Jayce Talis tends to be the face of their creations Caitlyn knows his omega partner doesn’t only deal with the safe theoretic side of their work.

“Look it’s not that simple. Viktor and you are in very different positions. You’ve lived completely different lives!”

“So because I’m an omega of my family I should just be content being locked up my whole life!” She’s sure if her mother could Caitlyn would have never been allowed outside her own house.

“No but you could do great things without putting yourself in unnecessary danger,” Jayce says.

“Maybe I want to protect people. I don’t care if that’s an alpha trait. I know you don’t like being looked at to always have the right answers. Unless you suddenly do?” The Jayce she knew enjoyed the process of discovery and creation more than anything else. Caitlyn’s mother had once remarked how very beta he was about it.

“No. And you’re right – I'm not exactly the gold standard of alphadom,” Jayce says and the easy admission takes some of the defensiveness out of Caitlyn. Jayce hadn’t suddenly become so stupid to think their designations were molds they were destined to fill.

“Glad all the talk of you being prime mate material hasn’t gone to your head.” She’s had to listen to too many omega and beta’s gossiping how it was important to try and pin the Talis alpha down now and before his social position became high enough that he would become inaccessible to them.

“Wait - people are saying that about me?” Jayce says, his expression apparently undecided about whether to be proud or shocked about it.

“None of them would be able to put up with you for a day,” Caitlyn assures. Because in some ways her mother is right – for all Jayce is a great inventor he is a terrible alpha. And actually putting him I charge of anything that isn’t a project would only lead to ruin.

#arcane #Arcane omegaverse #Omegaverse #Vander #Silco #vi arcane #Jinx #jinx arcane #caitlyn arcane #jayce arcane

39 notes · View notes

guileheroine · 2 years

Text

arcane thoughts

as usual, putting things down for posterity so i dont forget my fresh impressions! [spoilers]

i’ve watched the show twice in the last ~week and i love it!

didn’t rly know anything going in (apart from hearing it was good) but what i didn’t expect is that it would fulfil one of my deepest narrative kinks: the intense, fucked up, tragic (found)family stuff here is my bread, butter, juice & jam!! vi & jinx, vi & vander (😖😖 i found them the immediate emotional core pre-timeskip), jinx & silco (😖😖😖!!!!!), vander & silco, it’s a LOT. the angst, the difficult loyalties, the being each other’s achilles heels of it all. front-and-center family dynamics in spec-fic are always a lance to my heart and few things have scratched this itch so good. out of a strong ensemble cast where i like everyone i’d prob pick those characters as my fav for this reason

jinx shouldn’t work as well as she does bc girl!joker isn’t usually my vibe wrt character types but the groundwork is solid, there’s much more going on than those aesthetics & her being ~teehee crazy! vi was my early fave (kids who act like adults are just ugh… the responsibility she felt not just for the siblings but also vander like. i cant think about it tbh), and maybe i’m still dean winchester-pilled but the eldest child x bruiser combo is simply elite, stacking that temperament over that backstory. kinda love how woobifiable they both are yes i will put them in a jar. the contrast between their trauma is compelling—jinx is erratic & indulgent, and frayed by silco’s influence, while vi clearly represses out of a sense of guilt/responsibility and prison survival mode. and then with all these divergences theyre just talking over each other, even tho they sort of want the same thing they dont know how to get there! irreparable (?) sibling drama! abandonment drama! knife and fork please!! (sidenote after wading into fandom a bit, im truly ecstatic they made complicated & mutually raw family dynamics the show’s centre, even tho it’s predictably not that legible to Fandom and its ‘ship/stan or bust’ orientation)

i think part 1 was the strongest — the whole show is tight but the later parts, as more of a setup for the future, don’t have a bow around them in the same way

ep 3 specifically was where i became thoroughly engaged, it’s like this masterful Greek Tragedy conga, definitely sth i’ll return to when i want to be emotionally hollowed out. just writing this makes me wanna go back

mel is STUNNING, maybe the most aesthetically pleasing character design i’ve ever seen. saw a pic of her before i knew the show and i was like 😩😩😩. the gold accents, arm/thigh braces, goooorgeous. i didn’t find her as interesting until the stuff with her mum came in, but rewatching in that light rly endeared me. looking forward to how she squares what happens at the end of s1 with her anti-war convictions (if she survives). also would like to know more about what her brother was like?

deeply intrigued by what viktor’s Final Form will look like, he feels like a little gnaw on my heart when i think about the show. a quietly magnetic understated character. viktor and mel doing a lot of legwork in dragging jayce into relevance for me. solid ot3 potential there, but i also dig the two jayce pairings (the fact that i think he and mel have basically no chemistry but it’s still cute lol) jayce is cute tbh! and there’s that dash of overreach to all three that i adore, good foils

he talks shit but heimerdinger getting kicked off the council and scurrying off destroyed me, whyyy did they make him look like the devastating combo of old man + babie

plotwise, much to consider & my thoughts congealed better on rewatch- the class warfare plotline could go well, fingers are crossed. it’d be cool to see the piltover charas that are being positioned as heroes like jayce and caitlyn have their moral frameworks blown open and excavated more (bc there’s a point where the good cop naivete becomes odd/grating in smart grownup characters no matter how well intentioned). ensure the inequality, corruption etc is a character motive rather than an overly accentuated but ultimately incidental detail (im looking darkly at lok s1). basically ig i hope the show knows it hasnt set up a both-sides situation in its deep, sustained worldbuilding even if a few enforcers got blown up. likewise really hope they don’t file off the chip on vi’s shoulder just bc she’s working with piltover and jinx made a mess

one thing i had a little trouble with was silco’s motivations—if he wanted justice for the undercity then why the drug kingpin stuff that laid it low? i guess he’s pretty fucked up and the profit + power motive can definitely coexist with high ideals esp in a brutal survival context but now he’s gone i’m excited to see how the undercity charas negotiate their future, amongst themselves even more so than with piltover. also when he went to vander’s statue after the parley w jayce and drew that dad/daughter parallel hurgleee

sevika. she could be such a good anti-hero! im not usually a villain person but tbh no one really read as a villain. i wonder what underlied her striking loyalty and how she’ll configure her place w/o silco, and yeah better articulation of the zaunites’ motivations🙏🏽

caitlyn/vi: good!! a normally paced gay ship comfortably nestled between ship tease and canon. the class dynamic they keep gesturing to is very tasty (the scene in the rain?? bollywood!) hope there’s more angst before it goes Canon canon— the ship has a lovely crackle to it and would be well served by a fuller contention w their differences (which are big + interesting even if theyve become close in a war-bond/chemistry way. otherwise yeah might feel like a disservice to the charas if swept under for ship preservation)

i neeeeed more ekko (and the firelights) loved their whole setup! no punk like solarpunk. wish we saw him with jinx more—would have made their charged reunion mega effective if we saw him with her as a kid the way we saw him with vi

the quality and density of the writing for such a short show bodes well. they’re juggling a lot very deftly so happy to give the benefit of the doubt wrt any nitpicks/worries. the characters all feel like dimensional and nuanced manifestations of their archetypes, in a way that makes me wanna keep a permanent distance from fanon bc i know how it goes there

the two vi/sevika fights 🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽. the first time in my life that ive felt like an action fan. (also is there #content of them?? asking for a whore)

the pov shot of mel leaning in to kiss jayce is theee funniest thing ever, idk why i find them so funny (affectionate). that pov shot of vi when caitlyn strokes her cheek makes me want to kiss the animators’ feeeeet

whole show makes me wanna kiss the artists’ feet tbh. you can tell they got to express themselves, and all the stylistic stuff is super cool—rly works and the visual intensity didn’t put me off even tho it’s something i can find very overstimulating in the wrong show. it recalls spiderverse very strongly. i want to watch it on like a home cinema screen (rich people hmu). the gestures are so expressive and subtle in a way i often miss when watching animation (coming to cartoons from live action, i admit that ive never rly been convinced that cartoon charas can have a physical- not just textual- chemistry). this feels like the best of both worlds but it’s actually only animation. masterful

soundtrack slaps. the songs are used to great tonal effect. that sequence to ‘our love’ when the enforcers are coming in and vi’s going to give herself up was excellent and caused stirrings even when i had barely any attachment to the charas. the show is so cinematic. also i highly dont recommend carefully listening to the sting song in ep9 and thinking about the abandonment drama.

grateful that it has really lit my fire as a fan!! it’s been a few years since i felt so engaged with sth that actually feels like a world, and not just for one or two aspects of it. i was honestly almost certain that i had just aged out of that kind of hyperfixation-excitement. very happy :D

in conclusion:

#arcane #*

14 notes · View notes

goddessofroyalty · 2 years

Text

Old Griefs and Children's Faiths

Summary: The omega!Silco supports/parents omega!Jinx through her first heat except it's before Act One so somehow even more messy because Silco and Vander were (and still technically are) mates fic.

A/N:

I feel like I should be writing a fic where Vander is just a good dad to make up for these where he’s a complicated one. I swear I do think he’s a good person. Silco just brings out the worst in him.

Also just a reminder that the POVs here are – a person that actually feels guilty about what he did, two kids who have no idea what went down, and a person that canonically doesn’t admit any fault until the 11th hour. The situation was… not black and white (although like… don’t try and kill your partner) and we have unreliable POVs all over the place.

Pairings: past!Vander/Silco

Tags: omegaverse, mates for life, vague talk of dangers to omegas, underage character in heat (but like baby’s first heat – it basically behaves like a headcold here), Vander and Silcos very unhealthy past

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/36762769

--------------

Vander had thought the day couldn’t get any worse.

Powder had vanished in the night. And the fact her scent had picked up the faint edge of omega for the last few months meant there was a firm deadline they had to find her before.

It had been two days of searching the Lanes with still no sign of her. She had always been good at hiding but Vander would be a fool not to be starting to worry that someone had taken her or that she had managed to make her way topside.

He’s organizing another search starting from the bar when the doors open and everyone there goes quite.

Vander’s nose tells him who their guest is even before he pushes through the crowd to see. He will never forget that scent.

Nobody ever forgets the scent of their mate.

“You have some nerve showing up here Silco,” Benzo’s says.

Silco’s gaze meets Benzo’s but quickly moves to Vander once he is at the front of the crowd.

He looks different to how Vander had last seen him. Obviously. It had been years and their final confrontation bloody. Time had definitively aged him but he was still clearly Silco. Granted with an addition of scars down the side of his face and an amber-red glowing eye that Vander has a feeling he knows the cause of.

He forces himself to swallow down his guilt at it.

“I don’t have time for whatever you are here for Silco,” Vander says. He isn’t interested in playing games or his past catching up to him right now. Only finding Powder.

“I am aware of the pressing matter of your little runaway,” Silco says. “And it is why I am here.”

So someone had taken Powder. Silco had taken Powder.

It’s easy to cross the distance to where Silco is. Easy to wrap a hand around the omega’s throat – not pressing down but there as a warning of what Vander could easily do.

“Where is she?”

“Safe,” Silco promises, his tone unreadable as he stares right back at Vander. “We should talk. Privately.”

Vander glances around to everyone gathered. All watching to see what he is going to do. To follow his cue. It is his daughter that is missing. His mate clearly involved.

“Don’t act like you are afraid of being alone with me,” Silco says, bringing Vander’s attention back onto him. “You have proven more than able to subdue me if you wish.”

The words make Vander pull away and shame flood through him.

He glances to the side and sure enough Vi is there watching. And everyone in the bar would have smelt that he and Silco are mates.

Gods, what kind of example is he setting?

Silco’s gaze follows his.

“I suppose the sister can come too if you want,” he says before shoving past and heading out the back of the bar like he knows the layout. Concerning considering the place was brought and built after he was gone.

Vander doesn’t have time for that though. Right now Powder’s safety is much more important.

“Vi,” he says with a nod for the young alpha to follow. It is her sister after all.

Her eyes are wide but she scrambles after him into the back room Silco leads them to. Silco glances at her but doesn’t say anything.

“Private enough for you?” Vander asks.

“Yes.”

“Where is she then?”

“Like I said – safe,” Silco says, walking over. “I found the darling thing wondering the streets in pre-heat. I almost didn’t believe who she was until I smelt you all over her. You know as well as I do how dangerous the Lanes are for omegas in heat. Even one as young as she is.”

Vander glances over to Vi to check on her. Silco had never been one to be delicate about his words preferring brutal blunt honesty. And he clearly hadn’t grown out of it over the years. Vander supposes that there is some tact behind the words chosen this time – Silco hadn’t fully spelt out the threat to Powder but they all know what it is.

Vi looks uncomfortable. Of course she does. Vander should have left her in the bar.

“You made your point – I fucked up.” Vander hadn’t wanted to be the kind of parent that locked their kid up as soon as they smelt they were going to present omega until the first heat. But he should have done something other than just wait it out and Powder was paying the price for it. “What do you want in exchange for bringing her back.”

“I’m not going to just bring her back,” Silco says. Because of course he wasn’t actually here out of goodness but to torture Vander with the fact he has one of his children. Powder’s continued safety entirely in his hands.

“Silco-”

“She’s in heat Vander,” Silco spits before he can get a full threat out. “And currently on the other side of town. Trying to move her would just put her in unnecessary risk.”

“She should be with her family.” Vander hates to think how Powder must be feeling right now, uncomfortable from the first heat, craving the safety of her home and family and instead being in a strange place.

“When then her family shouldn’t have let her get out,” Silco says like he’s talking about the family pet and not a child. “But I’m not so cruel to make the situation worse for the girl than it has to be. To calm your nerves that she is safe and looked after I will take her sister to her.”

“You must really think I’m a fool if you think I’m going to let another of my children to go with you without anyone else.” Silco is right that moving Powder before her heat is up is only adding more danger and stress for her. But there is no assurance that Silco will return her after. Vander not keen to give him a second potential hostage.

“Then she won’t have any family to be with her,” Silco says. “I don’t exactly have omega dens around me so I put her in my room. And you are never to step foot there again.”

Vi’s eyes go wide and Silco glances over to her.

“He doesn’t talk about me does he?” Silco asks. “Did you ever wonder what had happened to his mate? Did you think I was dead?”

“I-” Vi starts but it’s clear she doesn’t know what to say. Probably afraid of what will happen is she confirms that Vander had never mentioned his mate to them previously. He should have known he would come to regret his choice to avoid the painful conversation.

“Don’t worry, I’m sure Vander would prefer it if I was dead. It would make things neater for him,” Silco says, his gaze returning to Vander. “I’ll be outside when you decide.”

“I’ll go,” Vi says once Silco has left. She looks determined but Vander can see the anxiety under the bravado. How he’s responded to Silco likely not helping it.

“I know.” They don’t have any option. This way at least Powder will have her sister for comfort. “Silco can’t be trusted though.”

“He’s your mate,” Vi says, her tone more questioning than accusatory.

Vander sighs. He supposes she does deserve some explanation.

“We were both young.” And fearless – the problems of the then feeling so much more important that any future consequences. The trust between them feeling as if it would last forever. “We are very different people now. And Silco, he’s dangerous.”

“I can protect myself,” Vi says. Full of the youthful bravado that is exactly how Vander ended up with an estranged mate. He hopes she doesn’t have to learn the lessons he did anywhere near as violently.

“I know.” He still goes rummaging through the storage boxes shoved in the corner of the room to find a flare to give her. “But if it looks like it’s going bad, I’ll come get you both.”

Vi nods and hides the flare in her clothes. Vander hates putting this weight onto her shoulders. The weight of his mistakes.

He knows Silco too well to think the omega will budge on his terms.

Silco had never been one for compromise.

Vander walks her out of the bar that Benzo’s had apparently cleared for him. He tries not to think of the gossip that will be going around now. Nor the questions he will be fielding tomorrow.

“You better look after my girls Silco,” Vander says once they meet back up with him outside.

“Of course,” Silco says. “When have I given you reason to distrust me?”

Vander wonders if the omega would like the list alphabetically or chronologically. All of it pales in comparison to the fact Vander had given Silco ample reason to want to take revenge against him.

Hopefully his daughters won’t pay the price for it.

-------------

Vi’s world had been black for way too long.

Almost as soon as they were out of sight of Vander Silco had produced a blindfold and made Vi put it on.

Nothing personal. I just don’t want Vander to know where I am and it would be expensive to move all my work Silco had said.

Vi had wanted to say no. She hated the idea. But she knew if she did he would send her back to Vander and then Powder would still be alone with him.

Vi still hates it. Silco’s hands on her shoulders forcing her to maintain a brisk pace. She’s trying to count her steps like Vander had taught her but she’s just ending up with circles.

“Are we nearly there?” she asks because she’s starting to run out of patience.

“For a man who seems happy to let his life pass in his current role his children are rather impatient,” Silco says and Vi can’t help but bristle. What does Silco know of Vander? The omega hadn’t been around the whole time she had lived with Vander. “But, yes, you can take it off.”

Silco’s hands are barely off her before Vi is shoving the blindfold up. Blinking from even the dim lighting. It’s the kind of lighting often found in buildings nears the docks, which lines up with the dampness she had been smelling.

They are deep in the building though. No windows anywhere along the hallway. Two other doors along it in addition to the one they are standing in front of.

“Powder’s in there?” Vi asks, nodding at the door in front of her.

“Yes,” Silco says.

Vi immediately goes to open the door only to find it locked. She spins to face Silco and he pulls a set of keys from his pocket.

“So she is a prisoner.” Vander had been right not to trust Silco.

“Locks can be as much to keep others out as they can be to keep someone in,” Silco says. Vi supposes that is true. “I told Vander you would both be returned once your sister’s heat is finished and I will. But I won’t make the same mistake he did letting her get out and possible into trouble until then.”

Vi likes the idea of being locked in a room in Silco’s territory even less than she did the blindfold. She reminds herself that she is doing this for Powder.

Silco unlocks and opens the door and Vi immediately looks around the room for Powder. She settles on the bed with a pile of blankets on it similar to how Powder had started bunching them on her own. She’s proven right when her sister’s head peaks out of it.

“Mr Silco, you’re back ag- Vi!”

Powder hits Vi with all the force in her and Vi immediately wraps her arms around her sister. She buries her face into Powder’s hair and breathes in deep. She can definitely smell the heat in her sister’s scent – a strong bitter edge to it – but nothing to indicate her sister might be hurt.

“How are you here?” Powder asks.

“I went and got her for you,” Silco says.

“Vander knows I’m here,” Vi adds. A promise that Vander is okay with it and knows where Powder is. Even if not the exact location.

“I’m not in trouble am I?” Powder asks, glancing up. She looks scared. She suddenly smells scared.

And it is impossible for Vi to stay mad at her for running off like that on them when faced with it. The last thing she needs is to add more fear to her sister right now.

“No of course not,” Vi promises. “We were just worried about you.”

“Okay,” Powder says, her head resting back down onto Vi’s shoulder. “I want to go back to the bed if that’s okay?”

“Yeah, of course,” Vi says, picking her sister up to carry her over to it.

Powder nuzzles into the pillows once Vi puts her down. The whole bed smells of Powder and Silco and the very faintest hint of Vander – Vi realizes it is there because of Silco’s scent as much as it is because of Powder’s.

“Now I have proven your sister is safe I have pressing work that requires my attention,” Silco says from the doorway. “There are painkillers on the bedside table if she needs them. She hasn’t taken any yet. Make sure she keeps her fluids up – it will stop her getting a headache.”

“Understood,” Vi says but that doesn’t feel like enough. “Thank you.”

That seems to surprise Silco. But he doesn’t say anything. Just shuts the door on them, and Vi can hear it being locked.

They can’t get out now.

But nobody else can get it.

Right now she needs to not think about it – Powder’s comfort more important.

“How are you feeling?” Vi asks, dragging one of the chairs from the small table over to next to the bed to sit on.

Powder shrugs.

“Gross. My tummy kind of hurts though.”

“Right, uh, do you want some painkillers?” Vi picks up the packet that’s on the side table to examine.

They’re the good stuff. Vander has some of the brand but they were only able to use it for really serious injuries. Expensive, especially in the Lanes.

Vi feels bad using it for this – it’s not like Powder was screaming in agony or anything.

But Silco had said they were there to use and there wasn’t any signs of tampering on the packaging to suggest it was poisoned. And if it was why would Silco wait until after Vi had gotten there to use it? He could have forced them down Powder’s throat if he wanted to. It should be fine right?

Powder nods and Vi flips the packet over to check the dosage before popping one pill out and grabbing the glass of water next to the bed.

“Here,” she says, holding them out for Powder to take.

Powder shakes her head and sticks out her tongue after swallowing it.

“Ew! Gross!”

“Does it taste bad?”

“It doesn’t taste good,” Powder says, collapsing back onto the sheets.

“Sorry,” Vid doesn’t know what she can do about it. Maybe ask Silco is they can have juice for Powder to drink it with next time.

Juice could mask things though so she probably shouldn’t.

“Hey Powder, you’ve been okay here right? I mean Silco’s been looking after you alright?” Sure Powder seems fine but Vi has to be sure. Not that she knows what she will do if the answer is no. There’s no way she could win a fight against Silco here.

She supposes she would have to find somewhere to let the flare off that is visible to the outside world and hope Vander sees it.

“Yeah,” Powder says. Likely not realizing just how relieved Vi is to hear it. “I mean I hardly see him – he brings food and makes me drink water but he’s nice enough when he is here.”

“That’s good – that he’s taking care of you. Do you know who he is?”

“Yes,” Powder says, with an expression like she just found out a secret. “He’s Vander’s mate.”

She looks hopeful about it. Vi supposes it is because she didn’t see Vander’s hand around Silco’s throat. Or how nobody at the bar had seemed at all surprised about it.

To be honest Vi doesn’t know what to think about it.

------------------

Silco supposes he could send someone else with the food now.

Vander’s littlest now had her big alpha sister with her. The older girl seeming to be almost looking for a fight. Full of that young alpha need to prove to the world that they are strong and able to protect what they have.

She reminds Silco of what Vander had been like when he was young.

Its better he remains the only one that enters his room until the situation is resolved and the girls shipped back off to Vander. It will prevent allegations from either side.

The two girls are both curled up in the bed when he enters. The little omega nestled in the nest she had built on top of his bed. Her alpha sister curled around her on the outside of the blankets – an arm wrapped protectively around the bundle and eyes watching the door.

She watches as he puts the tray on the table. Watches as he walks over to them damp cloth in hand.

It seems Vander did well in instilling an understanding of alpha responsibility into her.

The little one nuzzles gently against his hand when he rests it against her forehead as if his scent is familiar and wanted.

He knows it isn’t his scent she is responding to but the echoes of Vander’s that can still be found in it. Apparently not even the filth and pollution of the river can wash off a mate-bond. He and Vander forever tied because of the choice they made while young and believing all the foolish things of youth.

“You feel less warm,” he says, pulling his hand away to replace it with the cloth.

“She took some painkillers,” the alpha says, now sitting up on the bed crossed leg. It is a better position to act from if her sister needs quick defending. It would be more effective as a threat if she didn’t look slightly nervous. “Why did you give us those ones?”

“They are all I had that would be suitable.” He knows from experience they the best with heat of any he had around. He realizes she likely means why did he give them over at all? Good painkillers are expensive in the Lanes despite the greater number of people who are in need of them. “They are a lot less expensive if you know where to get them.”

“Let me guess – if you get them from topside?” the young alpha says, her voice filled with disgust.

He gets the feeling it isn’t aimed at him, she’s proven good at showing when it is.

Maybe she isn’t as content with their lot in life like Vander apparently was. Maybe she was as mad about their position under Piltover’s boot as they all should be.

“That doesn’t matter right now.” Silco doesn’t need it getting back to Vander that he had connections topside. The alpha would likely only think Silco is causing problems and that would only cause more problems for Silco than he already was dealing with thanks to being forced to reveal himself sooner than planned. “I brought food for you both.”

“We’re not eating that,” the little alpha says.

Silco raises an eyebrow at it.

“I am surprised Vander would raise such ungrateful guests,” he says, because it’s clear this one is Vander’s child through and through and wants to make the alpha proud. “I am not getting you something else and I am not sending you home starved. So you will eat it.”

“You can’t make us.”

“I could.” Likely without even needing to get help. They might be presented but they are both still children and he is still bigger.

Still he would rather not have to deal with screeching traumatized children for the next few days.

The little alpha’s gaze is unwavering in its distrust and Silco decides to try another play before resorting to force.

He walks to the table and takes a bit of the sandwich prepared for the alpha, following it down with a mouthful of the watery broth for the omega.

“It isn’t poisoned. If I was trying to harm you there are a lot more effective means at my disposal than poisoned food,” he says, staring the girl down. “To think a day ago you knew nothing of me and yet you are so fast to think me evil.”

He wonders what Vander told her before letting her go with him. Maybe Silco should set the record straight.

“Nobody at the bar trusted you,” the girl says in defense of the position.

“Yes, well, those were Vander’s people there. Of course they would take his side.”

“What happened between you?” the little alpha asks quietly.

Silco isn’t terrible surprised by the question. It is what everyone wonders about Mates who are no longer together.

“Do you really want to know?”

“Yes.”

The little one is watching as well from her make-shift nest on his bed. Curious, innocent eyes that are only just starting to learn how cruel the world really is.

It’s clear they both adore Vander. Silco wonders if they would even believe him if he told them the full truth. Would they believe their father capable of holding his Mate beneath the river’s waters as he tried to choke the life out of him?

“Vander made it clear he didn’t want me around anymore and left me a reminder so I would never forget it,” Silco says, pointing at his ruined eye. It’s enough of the truth that they might actually believe it.

The little one gasps at it and the older one’s eyes widen.

“Vander did that do you?”

“And more. He’s not the mild-tempered alpha he likes to play.” He hides it well but push the right buttons and you can easily uncover the alpha’s true rage under the act.

Silco had loved it when it was aimed at their enemies.

It had been years since he had thought about the time before that day. Much easier to just focus on the rage and betrayal of it.

“That’s enough questions,” he says when the alpha goes to open her mouth, no doubt with another one. He would love to spend the day breaking down their faith in Vander but timelines need to be adjusted in response to what had happened. “You both need to eat so I can return to my work.”

“You don’t have to wait for us to eat,” the little alpha says.

“You’re sister is especially sensitive to smells right now. She’ll know as soon as it starts going off. It’s better I take it away before then.” Rotting anything was always bad when in heat. Overpowering all other scents and making one’s stomach turn.

There had been a dead body two streets over once when Silco had been younger – some poor bastard that had died in the night. He had sent Vander and Benzo’s out to find and deal with it and then still couldn’t stand Vander in his bed for the rest of his heat without retching from where the smell still hung around the alpha.

He realizes it might have been the stink of the bar that had triggered the little one to want to get away from her home and found her in his path. That was Vander’s problem to deal with.

The explanation seems enough to satisfy the alpha sister though. She finally leaves her sister’s side to get the food, bringing it to the bedside table before coaching her sister out of the nest enough to eat. Moving the damp cloth from her head to over her shoulders.

“I’m not hungry,” the little one protests.

“You gotta’ eat Pow,” her sister says, only to be met with the little omega squeezing her mouth shut like a brat.

“If you don’t let your sister feed you I will hold your nose and pour it down your throat,” Silco threatened. He hadn’t actually had to – the threat of it enough to overcome the suppression of her appetite from the heat.

“You don’t have to be so mean about it,” the little alpha says even as her sister starts drinking down the broth.

“It worked,” Silco says watching as the alpha makes sure her sister is fed before eating herself. “Didn’t Vander tell you I was mean?”

“Whatever,” the girl says. So full of childish attitude.

Silco will never understand why Vander had wanted four of them.

He refuses to think about the fact he is currently caring for two of those four. It was only because of a necessity of the situation Vander’s failure as an alpha had caused.

Silco will be glad when the whole mess is resolved.

----------------

Silco had dropped them off two streets from home, letting them take their blindfolds off and telling them they could make the rest of the way there by themselves.

Vi had asked if it would be safe for them to travel the last bit alone which Powder didn’t get. She felt fine now, all the grossness of the heat gone and just leaving her just wanting to get home.

Her sister still looked worried despite Silco’s assurances they would be so Powder got to be carried the rest of the way.

Not that she minded. She loved when her sister carried her.

She just wished Vi wasn’t glaring at everyone they passed as they did.

“We’re home,” Vi says and Powder twists to see the bar.

And Mylo, suddenly standing up from the entrance.

“Your home!” He says, before running inside calling for Vander.

Powder doesn’t get it, Mylo doesn’t even like her. Why does he look so worried about her?

“Hey Mylo, wait up!” Vi calls, her footsteps speeding up to catch up to their brother. But she doesn’t put Powder down to get let her move faster.

Vander makes it do the door before they reach it and they are immediately pulled into a hug. Powder’s face stuck between Vander’s chest and Vi’s face and she would squirm to get out but is enjoying this too much.

All Powder can smell is Vander’s scent. She thinks she understands it better now. And not just because her nose is better now she’s an omega proper. What had previously been an unknown element of it she now recognizes as Silco’s scent that is forever a part of Vander’s because they’re Mates.

That extra knowledge feels very important to understand. And well worth the fear of being with Silco at first before Vi had been brought to join her.

She had missed Vander while she was away though. Missed them all. More than she had ever missed then before in her life.

Silco had said it was just instincts. Something about family and protection that Powder had only been half paying attention to at the time.

“Are you both okay?” Vander asks, finally pulling away.

“Yeah, we’re fine,” Vi says.

“Powder?” Vander asks.

“I mean I’m kind of sleepy,” Powder admits. Heats were exhausting – Silco had laughed and said you have no idea when she had told him that. Vander just looks worried. “I’m fine though!”

“Alright, let’s get you to bed then,” he says, and he picks her up out of Vi’s arms to carry inside himself.

Mylo and Claggor are there when they do get inside, both asking the same question Vander did, plus more – Are they okay? Do they need anything? Does someone need to go beat up Silco for them?

Vi answers for them because Powder is already starting to drift to sleep.

Vander lays her down in her bed, and, as fancy and nice as Silco’s bed had been it wasn’t as good as Powder’s own.

Vander sits next to her and runs his hand through her hair.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” he asks again, “Silco was nice to you?”

“Nice enough.” He had been mean at times but Vander and Vi could be mean at times, and Mylo was basically mean all the time to her.

“That’s good,” Vander says and she hopes that’s all the questions he has for her because she really is starting to fall asleep.

The last thing she hears before drifting off is Vi telling Vander she needs to talk to him. Which, yeah, hopefully her sister will help the two Mates figure out whatever it is that went wrong between them so they can be nice to each other again. That would be good.

-----------------

If you want an interesting way to re-read this just imagine Vi feeling like everything she knows about Vander is being deconstructed around her and meanwhile Powder is planning how she’s going to drag the plot away from the violent-tragedy it’s heading towards and into… the Parent Trap.

#Arcane #Arcane omegaverse #vander/silco #Vanco #silco/vander #Silco #silco arcane #jinx arcane #Vander #vi arcane #silco and jinx #vander arcane #Yes I did spent my weekend writing 5000 words worth of arcane omegaverse

25 notes · View notes