Author's note: The talented vykeee drew a fanart of Magnolia helping Silco with his tie. You can find it here! /vykeee/status/1480934483763539969?s=21
I am endlessly flattered and grateful that you drew this for this fic! Thank you! :D
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Magnolia woke with a gut feeling that today would be a shitty fucking day.
It was very possible that was because she was busy hurling her guts out into the toilet, but nevertheless the feeling persisted.
As she introduced the meager contents of her stomach to the porcelain, the prior night came back in flashes.
Sevika feeding her liquor. Dancing in the middle of a sweaty crowd. Being carried home. Barging into Silco's office.
Oh Gods.
She remembered the details of what happened in his office – on his desk – with alarming clarity.
Magnolia was no virgin, but her sexual experiences were few and far in between. She'd gotten so little time away from the watchful eye of her parents or the judgemental surveillance of their circles in general. A quick, sweaty romp in a back room with an especially handsome suitor here and there, but never something like this. She felt warm just thinking about it. The heat of SIlco's hands, the sounds he made, the way he looked down at her like he wanted to devour her. She had been mindless, lustful jelly in his hands and she couldn't bring herself to regret a single second of it.
And yet, he had turned her away - scooped her up and sent her to bed. It was strange and entirely unexpected, this gentleman hiding under the gangster.
Leaning her aching head back against the cool tiled wall, Magnolia tried to think about what to do. It would be foolish, surely, to entangle herself with Silco any further. It was bad enough that she was semi-willingly working for him. It would only be worse if she began a personal relationship with him too.
But wait, a sinful little voice whispered in her mind, don't you deserve this? No one has to know.
An affair with Silco would undoubtedly be mind blowing, if the prior night was anything to judge by. And it could be purely physical. There didn't need to be any emotions involved. She could get hers and then be out of here in a few months, forgetting him and anything that went on between them.
Unfortunately, if she did want to pursue things, Silco made it abundantly clear that she would be expected to make the next move. That would take some serious courage.
A snorted laugh at the door pulled her from her thoughts. Sevika leaned a shoulder against the door jamb, peering at her over the cigarette between her teeth.
"You look like shit."
"And whose fault is that?"
Sevika boomed a laugh and Magnolia peered at her with a hint of smile.
"You look like you had a good night," Magnolia pried. Sevika grinned, looking remarkably well rested for a woman who probably got very little sleep, and waggled her eyebrows suggestively.
"That doesn't even begin to cover it," she purred. Magnolia rolled her eyes good naturedly.
"Are you hiding a breakfast sandwich under that poncho or did you just come here to gloat?"
"Feeling a little touchy this morning?" Sevika mocked, ignoring the tongue Magnolia stuck out at her. "Get yourself cleaned up. I'll take you out for the best hangover cure this side of the bridge."
Magnolia perked up at once, already imagining filling her thoroughly empty stomach with something greasy and delicious.
"Be there in ten!" she chirped, gathering herself from the floor and wasting no time.
Jinx ended up weaseling her way into joining them, already up and energetic as ever. Silco was nowhere to be seen as they left The Last Drop and Magnolia was grateful. She was far from ready to face him after her less than ladylike behaviour.
The place Sevika took them was a simple stall, with mouth watering smells coming from the grill. Magnolia and Jinx occupied themselves doodling on napkins while they waited for their food to be prepared. Sevika sat opposite, glaring down anyone who looked a little too long.
There was a scuffle from further up the road, the crowd parting to reveal a group of Enforcers. They seemed to be doing random spot checks, roughing up stall owners and scattering merchandise, seemingly for no reason other than to be jerks. Magnolia balked at their behaviour. In her experience, Enforcers were polite and helpful, there to keep the citizens safe.
As they approached their table, Magnolia's heart thudded in her chest. She wondered if they would recognize her if she were to burst up and demand their help. Would they believe her? It would be a singular opportunity, horrible things undoubtedly awaiting her if her attempt failed.
Magnolia snuck a glance at Sevika to find the other woman already watching her, her expression promising a slow, painful death. The words died in Magnolia's mouth, her limbs locked and uncooperative even as the Enforcers stalked right by them.
Sevika's shoulders relaxed a touch as the sounds of their harassment faded down the street and Magnolia brought a shaking hand to her forehead. She felt ashamed of her cowardice and even more so of her complacency. She wondered when she'd lost the burning desire to try something stupid to achieve her freedom. She wondered if there was something wrong with her.
"Shouldn't someone complain about that?" she asked to distract herself from her anxious spiralling, indicating the shop keepers tidying up the mess.
Sevika snorted derisively. "Complain to who?"
Magnolia sputtered. "The sheriff? The council? Someone! Those men were completely out of line."
"Such a privileged, naïve little Piltie," Sevika spat. "No one gives a damn what happens down here and no one is going to help. We handle our own shit down here."
"That can't be true," Magnolia argued.
Sevika only shook her head and got up to retrieve their food.
"Enforcers suck," Jinx's voice came from her elbow. "One day I'm going to make a big bomb and blow them all up." The little girl spread her arms wide like she was demonstrating a large explosion, much to Magnolia's horror.
"Goodness, Jinx, don't say things like that," she admonished. Jinx only shrugged and went back to her drawing, unbothered by the correction.
Despite her dismay, Magnolia could see why the girl would have such a negative attitude. If all she knew of the enforcers was that they were intimidating bullies that came around to cause trouble, it was no wonder she wanted them gone. But the violence of her fantasy alarmed Magnolia all the same.
They were halfway through their meal – something that looked strange but tasted delicious – when Magnolia felt a warm, fluffy body rubbing against her ankles. Peering under the table, she was met with a pair of huge, green eyes. The kitten, as it turned out to be, placed its fuzzy little feet up on her shin, meowing in a request for some of her mystery meal.
"Jinx, look," she nudged the girl, "we've got a little hungry visitor."
Jinx leaned over her lap to admire the kitten, its white fur somewhat gray from living on the street. They both cooed over it, offering rubs and scratches behind its ears. When they finally dropped some meat, the little creature grabbed it up and bolted for the nearby alley, gone before something bigger could deprive it of its meal.
"I had a wonderful little cat when I was about your age," Magnolia told Jinx. "He was all black, with four little white paws."
Jinx looked thoughtful for a moment. "Do you miss him?" she asked.
"Oh sure, but he lived a good and long life. It was time to let him go."
"Do cats live a long time?"
Magnolia thought about it for a moment. "I suppose for an animal yes, for a good while."
"And you can't leave them, you have to stay with them their whole lives, right?" The little girl questioned, her tone intense. Jinx was taking a weird turn and Magnolia was unsure of what she was getting at.
"Yes, I suppose that's one way of putting it. Why do you ask?" she inquired cautiously.
Jinx gave a singular nod, looking very serious as she followed where the kitten had vanished into the darkness. A flicker of determination crossed her features, before she turned back to her meal. "No reason."
There was definitely something traumatic that had happened in the little girl's life, possibly before she came to be with Silco. But it was too early and too delicate to broach just yet. Surely, with time, and trust, Magnolia would sort out the mystery.
The next several weeks found a pattern of their own. Sevika would pull her away more often during the day to train. Despite the soreness, Magnolia took pleasure in seeing the muscle appearing all over her body. The bruises on her ribs and the callouses on her hands felt like badges of honour, evidence of the hard work she was putting in.
Jinx spent more and more time with her, telling her stories and sharing her creations. She was bright, curious, and so driven to solve puzzles. But she was also strangely fixated on explosives, sometimes muttering to herself angrily. Often, she seemed to be determined to prove something to someone, the names Mylo and Claggor often catching Magnolia's ear. When Magnolia brought it up, Jinx would get evasive and change the topic, resistant to discussing it at all.
Magnolia kept meaning to ask Silco about it, but the man was making himself scarce. At first, she worried he was avoiding her, maybe turned off by her behaviour that drunken night. But with time she came to a different realization.
He was giving her space to decide. The time and distance to make a decision without any pressure from his end. It was surprisingly sweet, a very chivalrous gesture. If she didn't want anything more with him, he'd leave her alone and act like that night hadn't even happened. She didn't miss the way his eyes sometimes lingered on her, scanning her with more than a little interest, but he never treated her with anything but polite distance.
Evidentially, if she wanted any information from him she would have to seek him out herself.
Finally mustering the guts to face him, she knocked on his office door. It was the middle of the day, Magnolia having just finished cleaning up the downstairs. He was often cooped up in there at this time, working through a seemingly endless pile of paperwork.
At his muffled response, she popped her head around the door, peeking in.
"Do you have a minute to chat?" Silco regarded her with surprise but waved her in.
Taking a seat at her usual wooden chair across from his desk, she began talking as he pulled a fresh cigar from the box on his desk.
"I wanted to talk about Jinx." Magnolia didn't miss the way his face tightened just slightly at the mention of his daughter.
"What of her?" he drawled.
"I'm worried about her education." Silco threw her a narrow eyed glare, snipping off the end of his cigar with more force than necessary. "She doesn't go to school and she doesn't seem to have a consistent tutor."
"All of the funding goes to the schools topside," Silco grumbled. "There's no school down here worth going to and I will not subject my daughter to being the only Zaunite in a classroom full of Pilties."
As a Piltie herself, Magnolia tried not to take offense. He had a point though. Children could be relentless and cruel, especially to anyone they considered different.
"Alright, what about private tutors then?"
Silco smiled in a mischievous way. "We've tried a number of tutors. Some…survive a few days, but most-" he paused to light his cigar and take in a mouthful of smoke. "Most fail to return to work as scheduled."
Magnolia decided she didn't need to find out exactly what that meant.
"Who looks after her education then?" she asked.
"I do," Silco replied bluntly. "When I have time."
This was tricky territory. She was dancing on thin ice, needing to find a way to discuss this without questioning his parenting capabilities.
She could try flattery. She was good at flattery.
"Surely, a man as intelligent and successful as yourself can-"
"Don't waste my time with pretty words," he interrupted her tersely.
Okay, so maybe not flattery then. Honesty then. He seemed to like that. Maybe.
"Jinx is a very bright girl," she told him beseechingly. "She is so clever and so curious. But curious, clever kids need to be stimulated. Pushed to challenge themselves." He was watching her silently, but the fact that he was listening at all was a good sign. "When they don't get that, they find other ways to push themselves, and those ways usually get them in trouble."
Silco's good eye narrowed.
"So what exactly do you propose?" he asked.
"I thinks she needs to go to school-" Silco opened his mouth, undoubtedly to argue, so Magnolia rushed to finish, "- and if not that, then she needs a full time tutor. Maybe even a governess. Someone who can make her education their main focus."
Silco did not respond immediately. Instead, he took another long drag of his cigar, continuing to look her in the eyes. Magnolia kept her expression neutral and refused to look away, despite the fact that she could feel her cheeks redden from her less than proper line of thought. The sight of him lounging in his throne-like chair, leisurely smoking his cigar, just did things to her. He looked exactly as wicked as he was rumoured to be. Arrogant. Suave. Like a man who had nothing to compensate for.
He finally broke eye contact to tap the ashes of his cigar into the tray, pulling his paperwork to his attention again.
"You'll be her governess," he said, his tone allowing no room for argument.
Magnolia sputtered.
"I-, I- wasn't fishing for a job."
"Good. You won't be getting paid." He looked up at her with a smirk and shrugged. "So it's not a job."
"But what about my other duties?"
Silco waved his cigar in an exasperated way.
"You'll work with Jinx during the day and work in the bar in the evening." He tilted his head and raised an eyebrow in challenge. "Unless you don't think you can handle it?"
Magnolia saw the game he was playing, the way he was pushing all her buttons, but couldn't stop the pride that made her spine straighten.
"I can handle it," she told him stiffly. Silco smiled smugly.
"We'll see."
He went back to his work, effectively dismissing her, but Magnolia wasn't done. There was another conversation she wanted to have.
"There is one other thing." Silco looked up at her with a raised eyebrow and Magnolia fought the urge to wring her hands in her lap.
"I am, uh," she fumbled for the words, "interested. I am interested."
Silco's brow furrowed in confusion. "Interested in what?"
"In you," Magnolia replied, too fast, awkwardly. "Sexually, that is." If she dropped dead in that very moment, she'd be fine with it. She had never had to put herself out there like this, never had to have such an embarrassing conversation. It took everything to keep her expression neutral and her shoulders straight, keeping his eye contact.
Silco smiled lazily and leaned back in his chair, idly tapping the butt of his cigar to his lips.
"I was beginning to think you weren't," he mused.
"I had to think about it."
"And now you've thought about it?"
"Yes. Thoroughly."
"What about your dashing fiancé?" The sneer was audible in his voice.
"I sincerely doubt I have a fiancé anymore."
Silco hummed and leaned his elbows on the desk, his gaze a little more heated as it travelled over her body.
"And what, pray tell, made you come to your decision?" His tone was low, intimate, like he was asking her to tell him a secret. Magnolia shifted in her seat, enjoying the turn of conversation but feeling entirely out of her depth.
"I think it would be foolish of me to pass up the opportunity to indulge in such pleasant diversions, if I am to be here anyway." Silco snorted an inelegant laugh. "I've spent a lifetime resisting temptation. I think I deserve to give in, just a little bit."
Silco considered her with that heavy gaze for a moment longer, before stubbing out his cigar.
"Come here," he murmured.
On unsteady legs that she desperately tried to conceal, Magnolia walked over to him. Silco rose from his seat, meeting her at the corner of his desk. She squeezed her hands in front her, unsure how to proceed. She hadn't necessarily meant right now, but she supposed there was no time like the present.
Magnolia watched with bated breath as Silco raised one hand to push her hair behind her ear. He trailed his fingers over her ear and across her jaw, before stroking down the side of her neck. Resting his hand at the junction of her neck and shoulder, he caressed his thumb against the center of her throat. Silco leaned in, his lips barely an inch away from hers.
"And are you," he purred, "tempted?"
Magnolia's breath hitched. "Very."
As if to prove her claim, she closed the distance between them, pressing her mouth to his. With a satisfied grunt, Silco returned the kiss. The hand on her neck drifted up into her hair, the other one pulling her close by her waist. Magnolia clung to his vest, pulling him down to her height.
Silco fisted the hand in her hair, the slight tug making her gasp against him. He took the opportunity to explore into her mouth, bringing the smokey taste of his cigar with him. He kissed her languidly, thoroughly, like he had all the time in the world to learn what she liked. His careful ministrations made heat pool low in her belly, thoughts of his clever tongue all over her body making her heart pound.
Magnolia's hands drifted up to his shoulders, squeezing, imagining the lean muscle she'd seen underneath. Playfully, she licked against the edge of his front teeth, their unevenness creating a ticklish sensation on her tongue. Silco groaned and angled her head to gain access to her neck, using the hand on her waist to press her flush against him. He was all hard, angled planes against the softness of her body. She shivered as he pressed warm, open-mouthed kisses down her neck, unable to contain a moan when he nibbled on the juncture of neck and shoulder. He continued his delicious, torturous assault across her collar bone before tracking lower, lower, lower -
The door bursting open sent Magnolia almost leaping away, a hand flying up to press to her chest. Sevika stood in the doorway, looking as grim as death.
"We've got a situation boss," she announced, looking only at Silco.
He groaned and waved her off. "I'll be there in a second." Nodding once, Sevika took her leave, shutting the door behind her.
Feeling like she'd just been dunked in ice water, Magnolia straightened her dress.
"Do you think she saw us?" she asked, feeling mortified. She'd just barely started earning the older woman's respect. She didn't want to imagine what Sevika would think of her if she found out about her plans to sleep with Silco.
He made a dismissive motion with his hand. "Even if she did, Sevika knows better than to run her mouth," he reassured.
Magnolia watched with carnal interest as he reached down to unsubtly adjust the crotch of his pants around the unmistakable swell there. She felt a disconcerting wash of pride at the thought that she had that strong an effect on him.
He was smirking when she looked back up at his face. "As enjoyable as this has been, I am afraid business calls."
Pressing a kiss to her knuckles, Silco looked at her flushed face with hungry eyes.
"Until next time," he whispered. Magnolia shivered, the look on his face promising all sorts of devious possibilities.
She didn't get to see Silco the rest of the day. He and Sevika were in and out, doing goodness knows what, looking pissed off. No one obstructed their path as they marched through the club. Either one was frightening on their own, but together? Only a real idiot would even think to oppose them.
By the time she'd stumbled into her room on tired feet at the end of the night, she'd almost forgotten about the whole ordeal. Which is why it was a surprise to find a single red rose on her bedside table, a note written in elegant script tied to it.
To temptations – may we savour indulging in them. S.
Silco must have snuck in here while she was working, leaving her with this in lieu of being available himself. It was seductive and romantic and everything she shouldn't feel about him, but couldn't stop now that she'd started.
Magnolia dropped into bed, eyes on the rose. Dreams of hot, rough hands and sharp, uneven teeth haunted her until morning.
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Author's Note: Sorry this took so long! Work is utter chaos right now, it is dark out at 5pm, and cold as a witch's bewb. Yay Canaydah!
Anyhow, I think a lot of you are going to be happy that good ole Maggs went and committed to getting dicked down by Silco lol. You get it girl. You also might notice that I've identified that this fic is going to be 16 chapters. This might change as I actually write things out, but that's where I've landed with my outline!
Next time - spicey times, fluffy times, general good times. Can't wait! See you soon!