closed starter for @yieldingdreams
˖ 𝐃𝐢𝐦 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐡𝐮𝐞 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤, 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐦 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐩, 𝐒𝐢𝐥𝐜𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐤, 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞.
Tracing the scarring beneath in habitual motions, his gaze remained unseeing, directed somewhere far away. In his mind’s eye he recalled the blue orb, a small and unassuming thing, much like the girl who chanced upon it had been some years ago.
A time that felt like forever, stretched too thin between his ambitions and whatever it was that connected them by a thread now.
He would never have dreamed of finding a way to contest the Hex-Tech developments of Piltover with something of his own, but Jinx had, once again, surprised him.
Now all he had to do was concoct a plan to utilize it to their advantage.
He was close. So unbelievably close.
In the years prior, he had taken over the Lanes to the best of his abilities. Naturally, a share had to go to each of the Barons working for his cause, lest they’d turn against him even quicker than some of them already planned to do, he was sure.
Along with dividing the place up between them came what Vander and his sort once would have called unsavoury establishments; a red-light district, various black markets and fighting pits. A turn for the worse, one could say.
And yet, all of it had been necessary. If not for the Barons’ support, he would not have the resources ― money, material, people ― to execute his plan of founding a nation of Zaun for themselves.
Sacrifices had to be made…
Another moment passed, his good eye lid over, and he found himself wondering ― despite himself ― if this moment was the one they all had dreamed of in what felt like another life away from here. If they were somewhere looking on, proud, despite it all.
Exhaling sharply through his nose in an effort to banish unwelcome memories as a headache arose behind his bad eye, Silco rose to his feet, moving a set of cabinets lining one side of the room, navigating past a variety of Jinx’s trinkets strewn about with practised ease and no need to look for them.
A delicate key was nestled in the lock of the compartment he intended to open, allowing so with a soft click after a twist, revealing a stack of syringes and a vial of shimmer.
Little doubt was held as to what the long-term effects of his year-long usage might come down to, but there was little else to be done about it.
For a while, Silco had tried to spread out the dosages, pushing past the debilitating pain and an assortment of other, unpleasant side-effects clearly brought on by both withdrawal and his actual ailment. He eventually gave up and had to admit to himself that this was his life now.
Teeth grinding briefly at the thought of water engulfing him, hands wrapped around his throat in a vicious attempt to hold him down, toxins flooding his bloodstream, he swiftly pulled out both the vial and one of the syringes, drawing some of the glowing substance into the receptacle ― enough to last him for today and likely tomorrow.
Just when he moved to lock the cabinet again, a knock on his door halted his movements.
There was no need to turn around, for only one person let herself in before awaiting his response, and only one who’d get away with it to boot.
“You’ll want to see this”, the woman uttered, voice grave and hushed as she remained in the door, giving a slight nod down the hallway leading to the Last Drop’s public interior.
Brow furrowing, Silco carefully stashed away the syringe and made to move past Sevika, reaching for his coat hanging near the door in passing and slipping into it before he steered his steps toward the booming noise of the music coming from behind closed double-doors. A much-needed barrier between him and the chaos within.
Steeling himself, he let the woman push open one of the doors to let him pass, engulfing them both in noise, smoke and the smell of alcohol and sweat, frowning as he slowly scanned the area for whatever it was that Sevika deemed was worthy of his attention.
