Chapter Text
If there were any gods truly watching the world and all its residents from above, then they had a very horrid sense of responsibility for the millions of children they supposedly created from nothing.
At least, Aegean thought so.
The air around him smelled like smoke and street food. His stomach was still empty from yesterday morning but with nothing appealing to him or his wallet, Aegean kept walking.
Another beautiful night spent on the streets just to keep his feet and mind in motion so the last few months wouldn’t gnaw the last shred of his burned out nerves and leave him a blubbering mess like before. Oh, his father would get a kick out of that. It was a shame he wasn’t around anymore.
Well…not too much of a shame.
Fingers gripped the inside of his pockets and dug in deep ‘till he felt his palms itch uncomfortably. He didn’t want to process that thought right now. His old man wasn't a concern anymore. There was plenty of other shit to keep him awake as it was. His eyes felt as if they had lead attached to the undersides of them. A combo of frayed anxiety coupled with the knowledge he was more alone than ever now.
It had been easier to sleep before with a partner by his side.
—
“Nothing will hurt you, I promise. I just need you to believe me.”
—
Why? Why did he trust that man!?
That was Aegean’s problem from the beginning as a son and as a human being in general. The heir who would never be what was needed to master the underground kingdom being built since his great-grandfather had settled in the dirty streets of Zaun City. The reins of control had been passed from son to son. A furtive but stone-cold criminal organization in charge of smuggling, bribery, and pleasure dens. His father had set up his main shop in a den dubbed ‘The Garden.’
Aegean had allowed a serpent to slither right into the heart of it.
He didn’t want to believe what he witnessed. How could his first true love commit to such carnage? How could he leave him in that mess with no direction and nowhere to turn to?
Maybe, in the end, that had been some sort of twisted punishment for what Aegean allowed to happen.
—
“For your own sake, just leave now.”
‘Please….please tell me it wasn’t you.”
—
Maybe the gods liked to pick a random schmuck every now and then and just go nuts with their bad luck. Yeah, that sounded about right.
At least the night was peaceful. Smelly but peaceful.
Three miles from his apartment and he still kept his steps in tune with the music from his disc-player. Something slow with melancholic lyrics that was most likely from some indie band he couldn’t remember the name of. The song spoke of having no real direction and the woman who sang it poured her all into it. Thankfully, the singer sounded nothing like another beautiful voice he once knew. Losing his father, his first love, and his whole life had been terrible enough but if he had to think about what came after…
Just keep walking.
Go to the sorry-excuse for a lily pond in the sorry-excuse for a park and hope that nothing was waiting under the benches to make his sleepless night worse than it already was. A place to stop and clear his head was all he wanted.
The faces that were left behind (or left HIM behind) make his chest ache horribly but the main reason for his midnight stroll had more to do with financial stress than anything else right now. Most, if not all of his life had been spent relying on his father’s dime. Naturally there had been a hefty inheritance in Aegean’s name he would have full access to when the time came. Sadly, when the time did came it came in the form of hellfire to apparently destroy as much evidence as possible. So much had been destroyed following that night, including legal will stipulations and more than a few stacks of cash that hadn’t been straight up pilfered. No doubt thanks to the surviving members of his father’s old crew helping themselves before jumping ship.
Snakes may work fast but scavengers work even faster.
Nature can’t help but be cruel but the gods above could get fucked.
As horrible as his circumstances were, he could not deny the weight he carried since he was 12 no longer bore a suffocating burden on his shoulders. He was the last son of a fallen underworld kingdom and there was no one to hold him on a pedestal. No expectations. No hard and fast rules or brutality he was supposed to embrace like the clothes on his back. No more paltry excuses to keep his hands clean as he could. Blood and tears wouldn’t stain his shoes or his consciousness anymore.
Things happened in the universe for a reason, didn’t they? He just wished having his heart break TWICE wasn’t required for his freedom.
Nevertheless, Aegean wished no ill will on anyone.
Not even Hugo or Star.
~0~
To say this was awkward would be the understatement of the freaking decade…
“Heeeeyyy, Silly!” Jinx waved her painted nails at the slack-jawed man sitting across the large desk from her. The old nickname she used to call him was all she could think of as an ice-breaker. Her own voice betrayed her nerves.
It had only been what, 7…8 years? One day she was playing with her sister and the neighbor kids, Mylo and Claggor, and the next she was off to Uni to get her degrees. Now she was sitting in the office of a strip club and staring straight into the one eye of her former (step?)father.
Welp, she had already made it through the door and up the stairs so she may as well shoot her shot! All she could really hope for was that Silco recognized her. Hell, she was amazed she remembered him! He definitely had some big changes. Age caught up with him for one thing. One, clearly scarred, eye was covered by a dark leather patch but the silver in his hair suited him fine and dandy! Though the taste in coats was still questionable. Not that she would say anything right now.
Slowly, Silco stood up, chair scraping the long-damaged wood, and leaned forward to get a closer look at the blue-haired girl who just walked in and plopped herself in like she owned the place. It had taken him a good minute to recognize her but that sky blue hair and equally colored eyes were unmistakable.
Last time he saw them, they were nestled with her sister on a twin-sized mattress in the middle of the night.
Now they belonged to a grown woman who still seemed so young in his eyes.
“Powder?” Was it really her?
She frowned, “It’s Jinx now. I go by Jinx.” Hopefully he would be cooler about the name change than her sister had been. Even now Vi would still slip and call her ‘Powder.’ Jinx could live with being called ‘Pow’ once in a blue moon but if anyone other than Vi did it, there would be problems. And blood.
“Ah. I’m sorry, my dear.” 8 years since he had seen her or her older sister. It has been so long! Everything about her had changed yet he could still spot traces of that little girl that would sit in his lap while drawing on his papers.
Not so little anymore though. She had gotten taller but still looked lanky as ever. No doubt she kept up her gymnastic training. She is 19 now, right? “How are you? How did you find me?”
How did she find him? The girl was smarter than she was given credit for but the odds of her locating him in this part of the city wasn’t high. He certainly didn’t send any postcards either.
Silco would have kept in touch if Vandar had allowed him to.
Jinx clapped her hands. “Well! I’d love to catch up and all that good junk but we can do plenty of that later, trust me. I have a favor to ask.” She twirled a finger dramatically.
Silco tilted his head at her, confused, before a hint of realization entered his eyes and his face went to stoic firmness immediately. “No.”
“Wha- You don’t even know what I was going to ask!”
“You were going to ask to work here on stage. The answer is no.”
The young girl blew out a puff of air and slumped her shoulders forward at him. Irritation was clear on her face. “Give me one good reason why I can’t work here! I’m old enough and so what if I’ve never climbed up a pole before-” She stopped when Silco held up a hand. The look on his face did not look at all convinced.
If anything he looked downright sick.
Silco did indeed feel quite sick. He had practically raised this girl and the idea of her going out onto the floor was making him uncomfortable and disgusted in ways he didn’t think were possible. In no way did he think lowly of the other dancers for their chosen profession. They did their jobs and they did them well. He kept them well compensated and protected while on the clock. For their services to his clients and anyone else who visited the dive.
But none of them the girl he had cared for since she was 5 years old.
He had seen how disrespectful some of the customers could get, especially after a few glasses. There were bodyguards and bouncers aplenty across the floor and none would hesitate to toss someone out if they couldn’t respect the rules of the club or the dancers.
Any pig that laid a hand on Jinx would find themselves missing that whole hand.
“Jinx, the dancers here have been doing their job for quite some time. It can get harrowing when a client gets belligerent or too handsy for their own good. I’d rather not send anyone out in a body-bag because they didn’t respect your boundaries.” His explanation was perfectly reasonable to his ears even if Jinx didn’t think so, judging by the roll of her eyes and how tightly she folded her arms. It occurred to him that this might have been one of the few times he told her no.
Then she gave him a look that made his chest hurt, “I just need to do something. I need to be somewhere different.” Jinx waved a hand towards the door behind her. “Working at a strip club didn’t seem like a bad idea when I woke up this morning.”
The conversation couldn’t end quickly enough. He was just forever grateful it was his club she came to first and not any other club or dive that would have snatched her up in an instant.
Silo took a moment to take in the sight of her. Jinx was still small and skinny. Was she eating enough? That hair was so long it reached the floor when she sat down in the chair! It was done up in a single braid that looked rather heavy. Hmm. Maybe he could separate it later if she allowed him. It definitely looked like she could use a good meal or two but other than that she appeared to be in good health and had no noticeable bruises or scars. It was a huge relief. A few too many of his employees had shown up for interviews with a horrible story written all over their body.
“Do you need a place to stay?” He asked her, no noticeable concern but still calmly presented when he questioned her. “Is that why you need a job? You wouldn’t have to work here, I’d gladly let you stay with me as long as you need.” He meant every word of it. He had cared for Jinx and her sister very much when he lived with them but there was no denying that the blue haired youngest had been his favorite.
Vi had been more attached to Vandar and in turn the gruff bear of a man had spent more time teaching Vi than her little sister. Not from lack of love or care, mind you. Vandar had adored them both. Vi had just been more like him and they connected more naturally. That left little Powder wandering over to Silco for attention and teachings of his own. She had been so smart but so quiet as a child. He did his best to build her confidence and let her know she could do anything she set her mind to.
Until the final night when he had been cast from the home and not even been given a chance to tell them goodbye…
“It’s not about needing a place to stay.” Not per se anyway… “I just-” The words didn’t come as easily as she thought they would. Before showing up to the Undercity club she had an entire speech planned out on how to convince the head honcho to let her stick around.
That was before she found out the bossman was her former adoptive dad who disappeared when she was 11.
“When I finished up Uni I couldn’t find a job in the field that I was able to stick around for long. Nothing worked out for me.” It had not been a matter of her being incompetant, on the contrary she had outperformed many of the employees when given a task. Tech engineering and hands-on projects were her specialty! She could take apart a device and reassemble it back, no issue. The trouble was that if she didn’t have something in her hands then she could get antsy and mess with things she shouldn’t even be touching.
That or the boneheads in charge of the place gave her boring paperwork to do instead and let anyone else but her, even the morons, take over jobs she had way more talent in!
Her last boss had his office filled with multiple alarm clock-turned-paint bombs that went off at individually selected minutes and painted the whole area blue and black. She considered it her resignation.
Silco frowned and interlaced his fingers together in front of his chin, resting it on them. “It’s their loss to not realize the potential of such a sharp mind like yours. If they can't meet your standards, that’s their problem.” As unpleasant as it was, he couldn’t help but feel a little glad the string of unemployment had led her back to him.
The pop and click of his lowest locked drawer opening to reveal his stash of rather expensive cigars. He had an idea but he would still need some smoky repose after this. No way was he budging on making her a dancer but he wasn’t about to let her slip out the door and out of his life again. “My girl, under no circumstances will I hire you as a dancer, but…”
Jinx perked up and gave him a cheeky grin, “Buuuut?”
Silco sighed, “I am in need of a DJ for the dance floor and the dancer stages. I didn’t forget how much you liked picking out the road trip music as well as messing with the wiring in the house.” Oh that had been a very fun week when she decided that the bathroom light should turn on the microwave. How she crawled in between the walls like that he’ll never know.
“I’ll also grant you full control over the strobe and overhead lights. I’ll give you a full list of tasks and safety protocols-don’t scoff-for you to look over before you start. Essentially you’ll be the club’s technician as well as its music artist. That’s more than enough to do with your hands isn't it?” It could work out so well for everyone if she agreed. He wouldn’t have to drag one of his other employees off the floor and set them up at the DJ booth or worry about calling an electrician because one of the lights wouldn’t change color.
Dustin had been covering the booth for the past couple of weeks and while he wasn’t terrible at it, his tastes were questionable.
He was more useful with Ran by the billiards tables.
Jinx took no less than 5 seconds to nod her head. The grin on her face lit up by ten watts. Just like that Silco’s mood lifted up by the minute as well.
Jinx was right, they had plenty of time to catch up later. She more than deserved an explanation for his sudden exodus and he wanted to know 8 years worth of lost time on her side. Perhaps he could meet Vi again as well.
He would be a liar if he said he wasn’t a bit curious to know how Vandar was doing as well.
“Wait, wait, wait.” Jinx waved her hands at him and raised a brow incredulously, “You’re telling me you don’t mind if I spend all night surrounded by erotic dancers so long as I just man the DJ booth” -she threw up her hands again- “but I’m not allowed to be one?”
Silco gave a chuckle,“My dear, you’ll find out most of the workers here regard their job the same way I do: Just a job. They don’t care who watches them so long as they get their dues. Focus on your tasks and they’ll do theirs.”
By the gods…
It was great to see her old man again, it really was.
But it was clear some things about him, like his habit of talking like he was an 80s underground gang overlord, hadn’t gone away.
His chair scraped the floor yet again when he got up and came around the desk to her side, “I hope you’ll also accept my offer to stay with me, unless you prefer where you live now.” He offered. His one good eye fixed on her.
Living with Ekko and Ezreal wasn’t horrible, her childhood friend and his roommate were a blast at the best of times. They let her crash at their place when she jumped from job to job and assured her that she could take all the time she needed to find her footing. As kind as they were, Jinx knew that she couldn’t depend on them forever. They deserved better than a girl who had such erratic moods living under their roof. Jinx ended up here because she figured with her looks and former gymnast training she could land a spot pretty easily.
This was a much better deal.
Jinx got up and wrapped two skinny arms onto Silco in a surprised hug. Caught off guard he stumbled back a bit before enveloping the girl just as tightly.
He would take that as a yes.