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Silco regards the injector on his desk grimly. He’s been using it, or something like it, for a while now. He keeps to a schedule, sitting down every day at the same time and bracing himself for the familiar sting of the needle. The pain doesn’t even bother him anymore. But today . . .
There had been a fight this morning. He and Sevika had been on their way to inspect one of the new Shimmer plants when they had been ambushed; a group of Vander’s old thugs, Silco was certain. He recognized some of their voices. It was a small scuffle, easily dealt with after one of his nameless goons managed to raise the alarm. Sevika had walked away from the fight with a broken nose, grinning through her missing teeth. Silco managed to get off with a long slice to his forearm.
He doesn’t think the cut is deep, but it did require several stitches. The doctor had wrapped it in bandages when he was done, rasping something about being careful not to remove the sutures for the next few days. Silco wasn’t paying much attention. He’d stared at the gauze, considering the wound beneath, a gross mimicry of the injury he gave Vander all those years ago. There’s something almost poetic about it that Silco doesn’t think he can properly voice.
Now, Silco stares at his injector, already five minutes past due for his next dose. He plucks it from the table with a sigh, raising it haltingly towards his face. He tries to position himself normally, but the stitches tug painfully tight against his skin as he leans back against the chair. Frowning, he switches the injector to his other hand, but this feels so awkward he stops before he even gets near his face. When he tries to place the device one-handed, he’s so clumsy he almost jabs himself with the base of the applicator. Silco throws the injector back on the desk with a frustrated hiss.
“Whatcha up to?”
“Jinx,” Silco murmurs, turning to face his daughter’s voice.
Jinx has blossomed into a precocious, lively child, but she can be stealthy when she wants to. Silco is no longer startled by her sudden appearances; he rarely wakes anymore when she decides to slip into his bed at night, and he’s accustomed to her turning up in odd places. It’s a dangerous thing to get used to in his line of work, but he really can’t bring himself to mind.
Jinx is sitting cross-legged on his couch, tinkering with one of her machines. Her blue hair, much longer than when he first took her in, hangs in messy strands around her face. She looks up at him from beneath her eyelashes.
“Heard you got into a fight,” she says conversationally.
“Yes,” Silco admits, leaning back in his chair to regard her, “Sevika was with me. It’s been handled.”
Jinx hops off the couch and skips towards him. Silco knows her well enough by now to know what she wants; he pushes his chair away from the desk to give her more access. When she’s close enough, Jinx practically leaps into his lap. He wraps his arms around her in a tight hug.
“I can’t lose you, too,” she whispers, hiding her face in his shoulder.
Silco rests his cheek against the birds-nest of her hair. “You won’t. I promise,” he murmurs back.
Jinx squeezes him tightly for a moment, before leaning back on his knees. She swipes the injector from the desk, squinting down at it curiously.
“Isn’t it time for your eye thing?” She asks, turning the device over with her fingers.
Silco sighs, glancing down at his bandaged forearm. “Yes. I’m having some difficulty with it, today.”
“Can I help?”
Silco considers the child before him. To allow anyone else to give him the dose would mean extending a level of trust he’s not sure he’s capable of. In addition, the position required to administer it would give her a lot of power over him, and he feels himself tense up at the thought.
Jinx wiggles the injector in his face, raising her eyebrows. Silco forces himself to relax. It has to be done. They’ve known each other for almost a year, but the amount of faith he’s willing to put in this girl still terrifies him . . .
“Fine,” Silco bites out, “but you must follow my instructions exactly. Make sure the applicator lines up – “
“I know how to do it,” Jinx huffs, twirling the injector, “I’ve watched you give it to yourself plenty.”
Jinx leans forward in his lap, her tongue poking out the side of her mouth as she positions the applicator. Silco clutches at the armrests, trying to control his breathing. He closes his good eye when the device settles in place.
Suddenly, there’s a familiar stab of pain in his ruined eye. It spreads down his face and back into his skull with a sickly throb. Silco chokes down an agonized groan. His hands grip the chair tighter as he struggles not to buck Jinx off his lap. Once the pain has faded to a manageable level, he reopens his eye.
“Thank you,” he forces out, breathing hard.
Jinx taps the injector against the table lightly. “Yup,” she agrees with a shrug.
Silco smooths his hair back with a shaking hand, clearing his throat. “And what have you been up to today?”
Jinx freezes, her expressive face shutting down. “Nothing,” she mutters, tossing his injector over her shoulder and onto the couch.
“Jinx,” Silco sighs.
“Silco,” Jinx mimics.
“Tell me what happened,” Silco demands.
Jinx pouts, refusing to look at him. “I may have – accidently – set one of my bombs off in the basement.”
“Jinx!”
“It just broke some pipes!” Jinx whines, “I didn’t mean to, I promise!” She looks up at Silco with big eyes. “Are you mad at me?” she asks, voice quavering.
Silco knows she’s manipulating him; knows he should put his foot down and make her suffer the consequences of her mistake. But he’ll be damned if his resolve doesn’t soften just a little.
Silco rubs a hand over his face. “I am upset about the damage, but I’m also proud of you. You’ve had a lot of success with your inventions lately; it appears they have become highly effective tools of destruction. Perhaps this is a sign that you have outgrown the basement, and we need to look for a more appropriate space for your lab.”
“A place with lots of room and space for testing?” Jinx chirps, vibrating with excitement.
“Certainly. Somewhere with less potential collateral damage, at the very least,” Silco mutters in reply.
Jinx presses a quick kiss to his forehead and taps him on the nose. She jumps down from his lap, skipping around the room.
“You’re the best, Silco!” She squeals, pausing to retrieve her tinkering project from the couch. “I know a cool place; I’m going to check it out. See you same time tomorrow for more stabbing?”
“I’ll see you at dinner, Jinx,” Silco reminds her, exasperated.
“See ya!” Jinx calls. She waves two fingers at him before slipping out of his office.
“Dinner, Jinx!” Silco shouts again before the door closes.
Silco rubs a hand over his forehead. He can already see the outline of the troublesome, ingenious woman Jinx will become. His heart swells again with pride at the thought of what they will accomplish together. He touches the scarred skin beneath his eye gently. It’s been a long time since he trusted someone this much, and he doesn’t feel as exposed by it as he would have thought. With a small smile, Silco retrieves a stack of reports and gets to work.