It was early the next morning when Sapphire awoke. She knew the sun would be rising in about an hour, but she didn't feel tired enough to go back to sleep. She sat up slowly and ran her fingers through her hair. Living in the Promenade meant that the access to clean water was better than other areas, but not by much. Sapphire pushed herself up from her bed and headed into the bathroom to take a lukewarm shower. She finished up just as the water was starting to get colder. Everyone shared the same water source in this apartment building so Sapphire was quite glad that she was the first one to shower this morning. It would take about an hour for the water to heat up again, so her neighbors were going to have a chilly start to their morning. She giggled mischievously at that. "I may not be as nice as Jinx thinks I am." She said aloud to herself, before drying off and moving to get dressed. Sapphire peeked out the small window in her apartment and frowned up at the gray clouds. It looked like it was going to rain soon, but at least the sun wasn't trying to cook everyone alive.
Sapphire pulled on a simple light blue blouse and a dark gray skirt that reached her knees. She was aware that most women didn't wear skirts in the Undercity unless they were an escort, but they worked quite well for what Sapphire had hidden on her body. Twice now, Sapphire had been able to walk into The Last Drop and into Silco's office while carrying weapons. A leather harness was wrapped around her right thigh and it housed two daggers. These daggers were from Piltover, and she'd bought them when she was only fourteen.
At that age, Sapphire had been a completely different person, allowing her emotions to control her most of the time. She had taught herself how to use them, and had kept up that training until she was eighteen. Yet, she still couldn't bring herself to go without the daggers. They were a part of her past that she couldn't let go of. Everyone in the Undercity had suffered trauma, no two stories were the same, and yet Sapphire hadn't been as strong as others to move on past it yet.
Sapphire sighed and tightened the strap on her thigh. She hoped she would never have to use those daggers again, but she knew wishing was useless. If it was her life or theirs, she would use them. The only thing that mattered was herself. Jinx flashed into her mind and she clenched her fists. And Jinx, she mattered to Sapphire too. She would protect Jinx too with the daggers if it came down to it. She shook her head to clear her depressing thoughts and moved to her work table to finish the pins.
It took her a few more hours to finish up the pins and then polish them off. Sapphire stood up and smiled at her handiwork. Six golden pins shined up at her showing the Eye of Zaun symbol and one silver pin that held two gem birds, pink and blue colored accordingly. She hoped Jinx would like this pin. She paused, realizing this was the first gift she had made in the past few years. She sighed and grabbed them all up, putting them into a case and putting Jinx's pin into a separate and smaller box.
Sapphire stepped out of her apartment, carrying the boxes in a small bag, and carrying a thin jacket under her other arm as she shut and locked her door behind herself. She knew it was too warm to wear the jacket, but it would provide enough cover in case it did start to rain.
Sapphire had only taken a few steps through the Promenade, stopping to say hello to Frank when she felt the first drop of rain hit her head. With a muttered curse, she quickly tugged the jacket on and pulled the hood over her head. She held the bag inside her jacket as she got moving again towards the Lanes, moving faster as the rain started to fall harder. She knew Silco had given her that free pass so she could deliver the pins while the nightlife filled The Last Drop, but since taking Jinx home yesterday, she had decided to drop the pins off before the partying started.
By the time Sapphire reached the lanes, her shoes were absolutely soaked and her skirt was pretty wet too. She was at least thankful that the bag was still nice and dry tucked against her chest and shielded by the jacket. She came up on The Last Drop and paused at seeing Jinx running and jumping through puddles as it rained. As she got closer, she could see that at least Jinx was wearing a raincoat, with the hood down, and a pair of rain boots. Sapphire could hear Jinx laughing and squealing when the cold water would splash her from bigger jumps. Sevika was leaning against the building under an awning, looking less than impressed to have babysitting duty.
Sevika tensed seeing a person walking closer to The Last Drop, it was far too early for a customer to be showing up, and with that jacket obscuring their face she was getting a bad feeling. Until she heard the figure speak Jinx's name.
Sapphire pulled off her hood and smiled at Jinx and the girl ran to her, throwing her arms around her. "You came back to see me! Can we play in the rain together?! Pretty please?" Jinx begged, tugging at Sapphire's jacket.
"Of course, I'll play with you Jinx, but I need to see your dad first. Are you okay waiting for me?" Sapphire asked, feeling a bit childish about being excited to play in the rain. Whatever, she was an adult and she could play like a kid if she wanted to.
"Silco's in his office." Sevika huffed, jerking her thumb to the door. Jinx pouted at Sapphire than sighed.
"Okay, I can wait. But you have to play with me twice as long now!" She declared, pointing at Sapphire. Sapphire giggled and nodded, feeling the water already dripping down her hair.
"You got it, I'll be right back." She told Jinx, before heading into the club, shivering once the cool air in the building collided with her wet clothing. She headed up the stairs and down the hallway, hoping too much water wasn't dropping off of her clothes as she walked. She knocked on the dark wood door, now assuming it was a type of dark oak in the better lighting.
Silco hadn't been expecting anyone this morning, so when someone knocked on his door, he had been expecting Sevika, or Ran, or any of his people. He definitely hadn't expected for Sapphire to walk in, water dripping from her hair and her clothing now onto his rug. He raised an eyebrow and felt cautious when she reached into her jacket only to relax when she pulled out a bag. "I didn't expect to see you until tonight at the earliest." Silco stated, watching her pull a box out of the bag and hold it out to him.
"I apologize for coming so early in the day, but clubs aren't really my thing. Plus I finished the pins." She pushed her wet hair back from her face. "I think you'll be impressed." She added and he scoffed. Silco was hardly, if ever impressed. He regretted his reaction when he opened the box and examined the six pins. It was hard to believe she had done this by hand. They looked incredibly well made.
He smirked as he pulled one out and held it toward the lamp on the desk, examining it more closely. "I'll admit, I am impressed with their craftsmanship." He remarked, handing her one of the pins to take. She blinked in confusion, looking down at his hand offering her the pin.
"Umm… Why are you giving me one?" She asked, confusion laced into her voice. Silco chuckled softly at her ignorance.
"You are aware that the streets have eyes everywhere, correct? You've been seen entering The Last Drop now three times and people saw us together at your stall in the Promenade. People will assume that you are working for me. And you are." Silco explained, holding a single finger up when she opened her mouth to protest. "This pin needs to be visible on your body from now on. You took good care of Jinx, and I know that I will commission more pieces from you, and I like my people to stay breathing. This pin will show that you are under my protection." He explained, leaving Sapphire no room to object. She was absolutely right, she knew getting involved with Silco was bad fucking idea. She sighed and took the pin from him, attaching it to her jacket. Silco sat back in his chair and smirked.
"Um, I did make another pin." She started speaking slowly, figuring it was better to ask him permission first before just giving Jinx a raised his eyebrow again at her. "I made it as a gift for Jinx, but I wanted to see if it was okay first." Silco nodded at her explanation as he leaned forward in this chair, resting his elbows on the desk as he watched her.
"Show me." His voice didn't exactly sound like an order, but Sapphire treated it as one anyway, pulling the smaller box out the bag and opening it for him to see. Silco smiled softly once he saw the creation before nodding. "Thank you for making that for her. I'm sure she'll like it. Now go, you've been dripping water into my office for the last 5 minutes." Sapphire smiled, grabbing the small box and heading back outside to Jinx to give her the present. Silco stared at the closed door after she left and sighed, looking up toward the ceiling. Sapphire wearing an eye of zaun pin had made Silco feel odd, he had been satisfied seeing it on her, almost like he was marking her as his.