Chapter Text
Silco, mid briefing Sevika on her latest dealings at the shimmer refinery, paused his lecturing when he heard a timid knock at the door of his office. He glanced up from the paperwork he'd been reviewing to check his right hand woman. She must have heard the knock as well, as her attention had turned to the door. Judging by the softness of the knock, both were quite sure they knew who stood on the other side.
"Want me to let her in?" Sevika asked, turning back to her boss with a grimace, a sign she likely hoped he'd say no, even though she knew that wasn't about to happen.
Silco simply nodded, setting his paperwork down on his desk and turning his attention to the door as Sevika sauntered over to open it.
Sevika turned the handle and stepped aside, revealing Powder, or Jinx as she recently decided to call herself. Jinx stood nervously in the doorway, fiddling with her shirt hem.
"Come in dear," Silco waved her in.
Jinx peered around the open door to Sevika, who stood with a scowl, clearly not happy about the interruption or the visitor in general.
"I can come back later if you're busy," Jinx offered to Silco.
Silco slowly shook his head. "There's always time for you."
A small smile graced the girl's face, but she entered the room slowly, still apprehensive.
"What is it you need?" Silco asked in as sweet of a tone a murderous drug lord could possibly produce. Sevika's face contorted in disgust, which she managed to hide from her boss as she turned away to exit through the door Jinx had just entered.
"We're not finished. Wait here," Silco demanded in much more his typical irritated manner.
Sevika, while just out of earshot, cursed under her breath before turning back around and closing the door behind her. She stood stoic against the wall by the door as she was forced to simply watch and wait for whatever dreadful thing was about to unfold.
Jinx stopped just in front of Silco's desk and nervously tucked a loose strand of blue hair behind her ear. With her now standing close enough, Silco could make out the trail of dried tears that had streamed down her plump cheeks. His expression softened, his concern evident.
“What is it Jinx?” he repeated.
“I… I…” Jinx began, clearly afraid to say whatever it was she needed. She looked up into Silco’s mismatched eyes, and he leaned forward as if to ensure she had his undivided attention, and the soft smile on his otherwise scarred face provided enough reassurance for her to continue. “I need help with my… hair. I… I can’t braid it myself,” she admitted, looking disheartened.
Silco sat back in his chair, his good eye widened, clearly not prepared for that. Now it was his chance to stammer in an attempt to formulate a response. “I…” he turned to Sevika, whose eyes widened just enough to indicate the horror she felt in anticipation of what this situation would lead to, likely involving her. Silco continued, returning his gaze to the small girl before him, “I do not know how to braid. Can you not simply tie it in some other fashion?” He took a moment to glance at the hair in question. It had grown a considerable amount in the many months since he had adopted her impromptu after finishing off her previous male guardian, his “brother”, Vander. He could see she had attempted to braid it herself, as there were a considerable number of her lovely blue strands falling from what he assumed was supposed to be a braid.
“No. I really want it braided,” Jinx sniffled.
Forgetting to keep his emotions, or at least his reactions, in check, Silco closed his good eye, pinching the bridge of his pointed nose in frustration and exhaustion. This was clearly out of his league. Styling hair was understandably not one of his skill sets.
“I’m sorry,” Jinx said quickly, “I can just leave it like this.” Before she could spin around to leave, Silco removed his fingers from his nose and waved her over while trying to offer her another reassuring smile. “No. If you’re going to be practicing fighting, you need that hair properly tied back.”
Obeying Silco’s come hither motion, Jinx sauntered around the desk, as Silco spun in his chair to face her. She stopped just as her small boots met the pointed tips of Silco’s own boots. Silco reached out a hand to examine Jinx’s hair. It truly was a mess and there was no simply tucking the loose stands back into her failed attempt at a braid. His eyes moved back to Sevika across the room.
“Fuck,” Sevika muttered, and if Silco had heard, he chose to ignore it.
“Sevika, have you…” Silco gave pause, as if trying to decide if he truly wished to finish his question. “...braided hair before?”
Sevika appeared to have an inner battle with herself whether to risk lying to her boss, and suffer those consequences, or admit that she had in fact braided hair before, thus leading to suffer the very consequences she’d been fearing since Jinx mentioned needing help. “I have,” she grumbled. She remained rooted in her spot against the wall, perhaps in some hope that Silco would choose not to involve her regardless.
“Show me,” Silco demanded, his tone low and dangerous.
Sevika reluctantly pushed herself off the wall and slowly plodded over to join the pair at Silco’s desk. She stood just inches behind Jinx, staring down at the top of her head in undisguised disgust.
“We’ll make two braids so that I can follow Sevika’s steps. How does that sound?” Silco asked Jinx. When Jinx gave a quick nod, Sevika sighed and reached for the second chair that sat along the wall just behind them. Dragging it next to Silco’s chair, she plopped down and spun her finger around in the air, motioning for Jinx to turn around.
Jinx, clearly hesitant to allow Sevika’s involvement, looked to her adoptive father for reassurance. He gave her a little nod and she turned, allowing both Silco and Sevika access to her long blue locks. Sevika leaned forward and grasped Jinx’s hair, ripping out the multiple ties that had been used to hold Jinx’s attempted braid. Jinx released a startled squeak. Silco leaned forward, catching Sevika’s attention just inside her peripheral view, giving her a threatening glare.
With a bit more care, Sevika divided Jinx’s hair into two equal sections, handing one to Silco’s outstretched hands, the other remaining in her own. Likely to all three participants' relief, braiding hair was pretty simple, and didn’t really require one to speak the steps.
Silco watched tentatively as Sevika divided her half of the long blue hair into 3 more equal sections. He followed suit, dividing his own section. Apparently satisfied with his attempt, Sevika continued in silence to slowly demonstrate the alternating over-and-under pattern to create the braid. Silco’s thin, long fingers proved to be quite useful in this task, and he seemed to complete his braid with such expertise one might think he’d already known how if not for his strained expression. It took likely no more than ten minutes for them to create a matching pair of long blue braids. Once finished, Silco quietly inspected both his work and Sevika’s. Apparently pleased with the results, he released the braid he’d created, as did Sevika with hers.
Taking that as indication she was not needed anymore, at least not in the immediate vicinity, Sevika stood quickly, returning her chair to it’s spot at the wall behind them and wandered over to Silco’s couch where she unceremoniously plopped down. She pulled a cigar and lighter out from under the shawl that covered her mechanical, shimmer-fueled arm. With a quick flick of her wrist, she lit her cigar and tucked the lighter back away, taking a deep, long drag on the cigar while looking at anything besides her boss and his adopted daughter.
Silco reached into his desk to pull out a small compact and a hand-held mirror. Reaching around Jinx, he handed her the small mirror, while he opened the compact to position it’s mirror behind her head. “What do you think?” he asked.
Jinx held up her mirror, turning her head from side to side and playing with each braid as she eyed her reflection through the two mirrors. She did not notice, but Silco sat behind looking almost worried as he waited for her answer, as if he truly and wholly did care what she thought of something so silly as a couple of braids. Finally, after giving each braid a quick toss over her little shoulders, Jinx spun around with a great big grin plastered across her face. “I love it!” she exclaimed, and threw her arms around Silco with enough force to push him and his chair back several inches across the floor.
An ever-so-small smile graced Silco’s hardened features, and he gently wrapped his arms around Jinx to return the hug. “I’m glad you like it,” he whispered, “Next time, we can do it without Sevika.”
Jinx slowly released Silco from her vice-grip of a hug and stood straight up, giving him a curt nod. “Thank you!” And with that, she spun around and bolted out of the room, a trail of long blue braids spiraling behind her.
As the door nearly slammed shut, Silco released a long sigh, his shoulders slumped, and he reached back into his desk drawer to return the mirror and compact in exchange for his own cigar and lighter, as well as the ornate cutter that had recently been covered in tiny neon doodles. After cutting and lighting his cigar, he took a long drag, letting the smoke simmer inside him for just a moment before slowly releasing it into the air to mix with Sevika’s smoke.
“Please tell me that won’t happen again,” Sevika grumbled, breaking their silence. She’d apparently not heard Silco’s whisper to Jinx before she left.
“I will assure no such thing,” came Silco’s drawl before picking up the paperwork he had set aside earlier. “Now, where were we?”