Lonely souls, party of two.
Recommended listening:
"hope is a dangerous thing for a woman like me" by Lana del Rey
Magnolia woke with a jolt, her heart pounding as she took in the unfamiliar surroundings. Eyes darting around, she tried to figure out where she was and what had woken her. As her gaze landed on the hulking woman in the doorway, it all came back to her in an overwhelming wave. Corrine, the warehouse, Jinx, the man with the glowing eye.
No, she knew his name now. Silco. Silco was at the center of this entire mess.
The woman in the doorway, she also recalled, was called Sevika. Magnolia realized that what must have woken her was the sound of her bedroom door banging against the wall from the force of the other woman opening it.
"Rise and shine, sweet cheeks," she crooned. "Time to earn your keep."
Unceremoniously, she tossed her pink striped suitcase to the foot of the bed.
"Five minutes, toots, and then I'm coming in whether you're ready or not."
Magnolia didn't waste time. Ripping the suitcase open, she sighed in relief. Although there were no more than five dresses and a mish mash of other blouses and skirts inside, it was still a better alternative to the gown she currently wore. Taking Sevika's threat seriously, she all but tore open the lacings of her dress and yanked on a knee length, sheath dress made of a soft blue fabric with some give.
Also in the suitcase, she found a small bag of toiletries. The sight of it made her heart pang. For all her insanity, Corrine had taken the time to pack her some essentials, as if she was just going away for a trip. It was deranged and caring, all in one. Refusing to wallow in her ruminations about her friend, Magnolia grabbed the bag and dashed for the bathroom.
When Sevika banged open the door again, Magnolia was looking refreshed and neat, her hair pulled into a sensible bun at the back of her head. The taller woman looked her over once, looking vaguely impressed, before she jerked her head towards the hallway. Magnolia followed.
Sevika lead her down to the main floor. The space was in quite a state. Tables overturned, broken glass littered on the floor, empty pitchers strewn about. The night before they'd taken a back fire escape, bypassing what looked like a fairly rowdy bar.
Sevika plopped a bucket at Magnolia's feet, the water sloshing over to splatter over her sensible shoes. An old mop was thrust into her hands with more force than necessary.
"Clean it up." Before Magnolia could ask a single question, Sevika turned on her heel and trudged back up the stairs.
For a moment, Magnolia saw a perfect escape opportunity. She'd been left alone within spitting distance of the front door, no one to stop her from bolting out and trying her chances at finding her way back home.
She'd nearly taken a step in that direction when someone clearing their throat brought her attention whipping back to the bar. For such a large man, he was frighteningly good at sneaking up on her. The same man who had grabbed her last night, with the gruesome tattoos on his chin, now lounged at the bar, idly sipping a pint of something. He grinned at her, having caught her staring at the front door and knowing that her hopes were now dashed.
Sniffing indignantly, Magnolia got to work.
Manual labour, she realized, was exactly what she needed. The repetitive motions she went through as she set the room straight allowed her to think. She came to three conclusions.
One – the longer it took her to return home, the less likely anyone was to believe her story. It still sounded outlandish even to her that Corrine had orchestrated such an insane ruse. And how was she to prove it? Lead them down to Silco? As far as Piltover was concerned, he was a successful industrialist buying up most of the Undercity and keeping everyone in check. Very few wanted to look any closer at him than they had to. No, the longer she was absent, the more it would look like a return from a flighty love affair that had soured.
Two – there was a chance that her parents wouldn't buy the story and still search for her. She was, after all, their only child and had always been a perfect example of a good little Piltover girl. She'd never given in to flights of fancy before, so it would be completely out of character for her to do something like this now, regardless of the supposed evidence.
Three – Silco hadn't killed her yet. He hardly seemed like the soft-hearted type, so her staying alive must have held some sort of value for him. She hardly thought he needed the free labour so determining what that was would be the key to potentially bargaining her way out of here.
It was that third point that she focused her attention on as she washed the mountain of dirty glasses behind the bar. All she really knew was that she was deep in the Lanes, without any real sense of how to get back home, even if she did manage to slip her security detail. What did Silco want? More money? Something else that a powerful family like hers could provide? There was no real way to tell without at least speaking with him.
As she worked, Magnolia noted the occasional visitor that would walk in the front doors, all of them heading up the stairs and to the door she knew lead to Silco's office. They all looked like questionable types, but then again, so did most people in the Undercity. His employees, she supposed, or possibly business partners. With her current experience, it was clear that real estate was not Silco's only business. She wondered what else he had his hands in.
At some point, Sevika headed out with Jinx in tow, the latter giving her a cheerful little wave, the former looking incredibly sour. Magnolia smiled and returned her wave. Her only other interaction was with a gruff looking woman who waddled out of the bar kitchen to bring her meals. It was simple food, but filling.
When Magnolia was finished righting the last of the chairs, the sun had begun to sink towards the horizon. She felt exhausted, but better somehow. Thinking through her situation and deciding on what to do next had made her feel more in control, hopeful even. Seeing that she was done, her guard gestured to the stairs. Magnolia's heart jumped at that. Maybe she'd get a chance to speak to Silco.
As they ascended the stairs, Magnolia spoke up.
"I'd like to talk to Silco."
The tattooed man only grunted in response, roughly grabbing her arm when she tried to head towards the office door.
"Big boss don't have time to chit chat with Pilties," he growled at her.
"I just need a minute," she insisted, trying to break free from his grasp. The guard only dragged her along behind him as if she wasn't even fighting him.
Before she knew it, Magnolia was tossed into her room, the door shutting and locking behind her. Huffing, she kicked the door. These people were damn brutes. She refused to be broken down by them though. Tomorrow was a new day and she was certain she'd get her chance to plead for her freedom.
That first day turned into a week, and that week turned into two. Each day followed the same pattern – she'd be woken up early, clean up the mess left by the night before, then tossed back in her room. Her guards rotated and were all equally burly and equally unsympathetic. It was enough to make her want to tear her hair out. When Magnolia had made an absolute racket banging on her door a few nights prior, Sevika had stomped in and cowed her into a corner of the room.
"Keep quiet and do what you're told, sweet cheeks," she told her. "I don't want to bury you out back."
It was probably good advice, considering her situation, but she'd kept quiet and done what she'd been told her whole life. Fat lot of good that had gotten her. And yet, she knew better than to test Sevika's threat, so she listened to the muscular woman and carried on her seemingly endless repetitive pattern.
Magnolia had nearly lost count of the days, miserably scrubbing a particularly stubborn spot that had eaten into the floor, when a little pair of boots appeared in her line of sight. Looking up, she found Jinx gazing down at her curiously.
"You look like you're still having bad thoughts," she informed her thoughtfully.
Magnolia huffed a laugh and rose to stand. "I guess I am."
Jinx nodded, her face very serious. "Dad has a lot of bad thoughts too, although he pretends he doesn't." Jinx plopped herself down on an empty chair. "I think it's because he works so much."
It was so strange to see such a sweet little girl in such a seedy place. It was even harder to imagine that a man like Silco could have raised her. Magnolia wondered who her mother was, if she was around. The only women she'd seen around were Sevika and the cook, neither of whom seemed especially interested in the little girl.
"Will you colour with me?" The sudden question jolted Magnolia out of her thoughts. Jinx was looking up at with an eager, hopeful expression. Magnolia shot her eyes to today's guard, who seemed preoccupied with the paper and offered no objection. Satisfied, she nodded with a smile at Jinx.
Jinx was gone and back so fast that Magnolia got the distinct impression that it was a rare occasion that she got someone to play with.
Magnolia had always loved art, spending much of her free time painting. It was pleasure to be able to indulge in that again, especially with such lovely company. Jinx's drawings were chaotic, colourful, full of jagged teeth and Xs for eyes. Magnolia had no idea what to make of that. She seemed like a happy kid, but her drawings were somewhat alarming.
Jinx looked over at the picture of a plump little cat that Magnolia was working on. It was the cat they'd had when she was a child, always eager to snuggle up or to present them with a trophy from his hunting expeditions in the gardens. Magnolia missed him dearly when he'd passed.
"That's real good," Jinx mused aloud. "Will you draw a picture of me?"
"Not unless you say the magic word," Magnolia teased. Jinx batted her big blue eyes and pouted.
"Pleeeaaseeee," she begged.
Ruffling the girl's hair, Magnolia laughed and got to work. It didn't take long to throw together a little portrait of Jinx, the little girl in question hovering over her shoulder and giving direction. The final product showed her smiling ear to ear, blue hair prettily braided, the sparkly diadem on her head.
Giggling, Jinx snagged the portrait, admiring it. "I love it!" Then with another moment of consideration she proclaimed "I gotta go show Dad!"
Before Magnolia could stop her, the little girl was up the stairs and in SIlco's office. A feeling of unease settled in her gut. While she hadn't done anything wrong, she was supposed to be cleaning the bar, not hanging out with his kid and drawing pictures. There was no way to tell how he would react.
On the other hand, this might actually draw him from his office and give her a chance to speak with him finally. Magnolia waited with bated breath. And waited. And waited. Jinx never re-emerged and Silco didn't make an appearance either.
The heavy feeling returning to her chest, Magnolia turned back to her cleaning.
Spending the rest of the evening in her room by herself, with nothing but her thoughts to occupy herself, was the most difficult part of her day. Most nights, someone would escort her to the bathroom down the hall where she'd be given five minutes to take a frigid shower and then returned to her room with a plate of dinner. After that though? Just her, four walls, and a whole lot of silence.
At first, she'd managed to keep focused on practicing what she'd say to Silco, how she might try to negotiate with him. But soon she'd run through every imaginable scenario. Then, she scoured her brain for possible escape plans. The windows opened and allowed her access to the roof, but she was at least two stories off the ground. The nearest other roof was much too far to even dream of jumping to. The only other way in and out was the perpetually locked door.
Once all that was exhausted, Magnolia found herself stuck in a loop of regrets and sorrows. She'd pointedly tried to avoid thinking about Corrine and the loss of her life as she knew it, but in the dark loneliness of her room, the thoughts crept in. With the sadness also came the anger, which made her want to bang on the door and scream until her lungs gave out. Instead, she crawled under the covers and sobbed into her pillow until sleep finally claimed her.
Tonight, she felt especially claustrophobic, like no matter how much air she breathed in, she couldn't get enough. Her skin felt too tight, itchy, like she couldn't quite fit in it. Magnolia paced back and forth, feeling like she was truly losing her grip on reality. She'd picked up Bunny at some point, anxiously petting his soft fur.
Her life had always been carefully planned, somewhat boring yes, but comforting in its predictability. Now? She had no idea how long she'd be here or what would happen to her next. It made her feel abysmally hopeless to think that her entire future lay in someone else's hands.
She just wanted to get out. Even for a moment, to breathe fresh air and see the sky, instead of the same few rooms she saw everyday.
Magnolia froze in her pacing as her gaze fell on one of the windows. She was sure it wasn't allowed, but it wasn't like anyone would see her on the rooftop. Desperately, she pushed the window open as far as it would go, which was just enough for her to squeeze out onto the sloped roof. Moving carefully to make as little noise as possible, she gingerly shimmied down to her back and laid down, pressing Bunny to her chest with one hand.
Instantly, she felt relief. The air was smoggy in the Undercity, but not unbearably so. She could actually see more stars here, despite the pollution, far from the bright lights of Piltover which drowned them out. She'd always loved being high up, thrilled whenever she got to ride in a blimp. Her problems seemed so insignificant when everything below looked so insignificant.
Magnolia focused on her breathing, counting the little pinpoints of light. The summer air was warm, just the gentlest hint of wind teasing the loose strands of her hair. The noise of the city below was distant up here, a pleasant white noise.
She wasn't sure how long she'd lain there when a voice suddenly came from the window.
"The fall is unlikely to kill you, if that's your plan."
The sudden interruption made Magnolia jump, a single roof tile slipping free and careening to the ground below, shattering into a million pieces. Looking to the window, she found Silco there, leaning a hip against the windowsill. The scarred half of his face was in shadow, his blue eye assessing her calmly. Magnolia sat up.
"I wasn't going to jump," she told him in a clipped tone. "Just needed some fresh air."
Silco huffed a laugh. "You won't find fresh air in Zaun."
Magnolia didn't reply, turning her eyes to the street below. They sat in silence for a while as Magnolia searched for the right words to start trying to persuade him to let her go. All her practicing suddenly useless in face of the man in the flesh.
"You spent time with Jinx today," he remarked suddenly. Magnolia turned to look at him and nodded cautiously. Was he going to be angry about it?
Silco wasn't looking at her though, instead having leaned his palms on the sill and poked his head out to look at the stars. He looked different all of a sudden. Younger but so very tired.
"More than two years she's been with me and it feels like I have less and less time to spend with her everyday," he murmured, almost as if talking to himself.
Been with him? She hadn't considered that Jinx could be adopted. That was an even more interesting development. She wouldn't have expected someone like Silco to take in an orphaned kid.
"She thinks you work too much," she offered quietly. Silco smiled ruefully, the expression giving him an endearing crinkle around his good eye. "But she loves you. Very much."
Magnolia wasn't sure where the words had come from, but something about his quietly dejected demeanour made her want to give him some sort of solace. Her mother had always told her she was too soft-hearted for her own good.
Silco looked over at her, his gaze making her feel like he was staring into her very soul.
After a moment, he extended a hand to her, beckoning her to come back inside. Magnolia hesitated, searching his face, wondering if he was going to seal her windows shut in punishment and trap her in her room forever. Silco's expression softened, just a touch, his hand still extended.
"Sevika tells me that you've been asking to speak with me," he noted.
Magnolia's heart gave a little jump of excitement at that. Shifting closer, she eyed his hand. He had elegant hands, with long pianist fingers.
"I think it's only reasonable that I'd want to know what exactly you plan to do with me."
"That's a bold request from a prisoner, don't you think?" he questioned with a quirked eyebrow.
"What have I got to lose?" she challenged. Silco smirked at that.
"Tomorrow. We can discuss tomorrow," he said, once again offering his hand.
It wasn't perfect, but it was certainly a start. Deciding not to push her small victory, Magnolia grabbed his hand. His grip was warm, his palm slightly calloused. He assisted her through the window, putting a hand on her waist to steady her when she hopped down. They were almost chest to chest, close enough that Magnolia could smell the undoubtedly expensive cologne and cigar smoke that lingered about him. His appearance was even more striking up close, all sharp lines and deep shadows. His injured side should have been grotesque, but instead it gave him an air of danger and mystery. Magnolia found herself fascinated by him, the secrets that she was sure hid behind his mismatched eyes.
Coming back to herself, Magnolia suddenly felt very underdressed in her flimsy nightgown, standing with a near stranger in her bedroom. Her mother would have had a fit if she could see her right now.
Appearing to realize the situation himself, Silco released her and stepped back.
"Tomorrow," he repeated with a nod. As he turned to go, Magnolia realized she was still holding the stuffed rabbit.
"Here." She called, extending Bunny to Silco with a shy smile. "To keep the bad thoughts away. You look like you're having lots of those," she said, echoing Jinx's words from her first night here.
Silco stared at the proffered toy for a moment, an unreadable expression on his face. His eyes flicking up to her face, he took it gently from her grasp. His long fingers brushed over hers and seemed to linger for just a moment longer than necessary.
In the doorway, he paused and looked back at her, that strange expression still on his face.
"Goodnight, Silco," she murmured.
He didn't respond, but Magnolia still went to bed feeling lighter than she had in weeks.
He'd kept the little mouse locked up for too long.
He had intended to sort out how to deal with her quickly, but a large shipment of Shimmer had been completely lost in an airship accident the next morning. It had thrown weeks of work down the drain, making him see red for days. He'd nearly forgotten about Magnolia, burying himself in trying to get things back on track, when Jinx had popped in to excitedly show him the drawing. She never failed to brighten his day with her frenetic energy and was especially thrilled with this prize.
"Can we keep her, just for a little while?" she'd pleaded with him. "She's a lot nicer than Sevika."
When he found her on the roof, she'd looked beautiful laying in the starlight. He'd watched her for a moment, indulging in the way she seemed to be perfectly at peace. Yet when he'd offered his hand, she'd looked so lost, no stubborn fire in her eyes. He felt a deep sympathy for her then. He'd used the pain of Vander's betrayal to brutally reforge himself into something stronger. And yet, in his vulnerable moments, under all the expensive suits and hard-won power, he sometimes still felt like a helpless little boy from the Lanes. Maybe that's all anyone was if you looked close enough.
So, he'd compromised, showed a little give so she wouldn't fade away entirely. It was a pleasure to see her light up again, that quiet determination making her stand a little straighter. It felt good to touch her, to stand in the floral scent of her shampoo.
He'd pulled away before he could do something foolish.
The softness in her smile as she'd offered him the bunny made something small and shriveled wake up inside him. There was a warmth to her, something that lacked so thoroughly in this unforgiving place. He'd justify to himself that it would be good for Jinx to have that light in her life again, but a secret part of him longed for it too. It was a weakness, he knew, but he could turn her into a strength for his cause.
He couldn't keep her locked up forever, so he'd make her want to stay. He needed to be patient, to carefully push her to the realization that Piltover had thrown her away and forgotten her. Break her down just enough that he could help her build back up into something better, something even stronger.
Tomorrow. Tomorrow, he'd begin.
Author's note: Completely forgot to cross post chapter 2! I generally prefer Ao3, so if I haven't updated in a while, check me out there – same username!
Oof, this was a fucking doozy. A whopping 3700 words. I really struggled with setting up and expressing authentic motivations, especially for Silco, without getting too OOC or sappy. Let me know if I got it!
Thank you so much for all your comments and kudos! It's so motivating to see that people are engaging with and enjoying my work!
Next time: some fun stuff! Maybe a little spicy? We'll see ;)