Chapter Text
SILCO POV
OCTOBER 31, pt.3 , 6:45pm
It’s because of her perpetually pink cheeks, and the fact that she refuses to lift her eyes from her plate that Silco knows she’s remembering that night with the same clarity as himself.
It almost surprises him to recognize that hint of awkwardness.
Probably at the memory of how she’d touched his scars so carefully, and with such tenderness.
Remain calm.
It still sends shivers across his skin, along with a cascade of wishful fantasies. But that’s a dangerous line of thoughts, especially under the present circumstances.
While sitting next to her parents, for example.
At least Sevika is already launching into a story about her recruitment and early years in service, giving him a moment to compose himself.
He sits back and contemplates the bourbon in his glass.
His initial conversation with Leslie – and the ones that followed – had guaranteed his distance for the few days she’d asked for. No, demanded.
As a protective parent, he’d understood her insistence. She blamed him, and he deserved it. It was because of his lack of foresight that her daughter had been taken, his lack of protection.
If anyone should suffer for the events that transpired, it was him.
And suffer he did.
But he'd made sure to make the most of that time apart.
Just as he’d told Leslie at the conclusion of their last conversation:
“I’m an incredibly patient man.”
Because he understands exactly what is waiting for him at the end of all this:
Her.
It’s hard enough seeing her like this, yet being so far away.
He raises his bourbon to watch her surreptitiously over the rim of the glass.
She looks beautiful, as always, though lacking the usual sparkle that makes her so irresistible. She’s doing a fair job of pretending like everything’s normal, but he’s catching all the subtle signs of her distress between demure smiles. Of her startling at sudden sounds, absently rubbing at her chest, eyes darting towards the darkness behind him.
The way she constantly drops out of the conversation to sink into her own world.
It hurts to see it, and be unable to do anything about it.
He’s grateful that she doesn’t seem to blame him, as Leslie does.
But she’s holding something back.
It was clear during their conversation that she wasn’t being entirely honest with him. She hadn’t been able to hold eye contact for long, and she kept touching her face and rubbing her arms.
She’s suffering, quietly.
He’s seen it before, and it cuts him to the core.
At least she’s agreed to start making progress, even if she isn’t completely on board with the process.
Silco watches her stifle a sigh, and shift in her chair. She glances at him, but once she realizes he’s watching, her eyes dart away just as fast.
What are you hiding from me?
She mutters something to her sister, who responds with, “I’ll come with you. I have to pee too.”
“So do I!” Jinx adds.
The three rise, and her sister immediately links with one of her arms while Jinx snags the other. Then Jinx calls over her shoulder,
“We’re taking a quick bathroom break!”
She looks tired, and the smallest bit resigned as she’s tugged away.
Silco whole-heartedly approves their not-so-subtle, high-handed support. Talking with Leslie and meeting her family has only proven that they are just as caring, observant, and thoughtful as she is. But they’re also ferociously protective of the ones they love. Leslie and Allie both carry that sharper edge, especially when it comes to her .
It’s relieving to know that she’s so well cared for.
But he believes it’s time for him to take some more personal responsibility for that as well.
As soon as the three young women have disappeared around the corner, Silco knows it’s time to raise his request. But rather than bring it up himself, he sits back and allows Leslie to have a few last words, if she needs them.
“Well?” Leslie asks, expectantly.
“You were right,” Silco acquiesces. “She’s in denial. Time will soften the memory, but you're correct in believing she needs help now.”
Leslie looks vindicated.
“I have a medic – he’s been our family practitioner since after we left the army. I’d like to bring her home with me, so he can keep her under observation for the next few days.”
Leslie’s eyes narrow suspiciously.
Silco raises his hands. “I promise you that I have only her best interests at heart. I have no intention of taking advantage.”
“That’s what Jeremiah said, in the beginning.”
“Les…” Fred murmurs, shaking his head.
“What? I’m not allowed to be concerned about my daughter?” She throws the question as an accusation, first at her husband, and then at Silco. “She’s hurting right now, and I won’t have anyone taking advantage of her while she’s vulnerable.”
“Both my daughter and Sevika will be at home with us, if that’s what you’re worried about. As well as Doctor Billings.”
The woman lifts her chin in defiance of Silco’s patient reassurance.
“Sure,” Sevika chimes in. “And I’ll play chaperone, make sure the boss keeps his hands to himself when the doc isn't watching. There'll be no holy rolling on my watch. And I'll make there's plenty of room for the Holy Spirit.”
Silco's nose flares in his effort to repress a retort at her ill-timed jokes, but Leslie seems to be overlooking them.
“Can I have your word on that?”
“Oh absolutely,” Sevika grins.
Silco rolls his eyes.
Sevika is far too gleeful about this whole situation.
Now he won’t be able to even take her hand without his lieutenant being insufferable.
Perhaps now’s his time for the question, to offer Leslie a look at his end game.
“If you need any further proof of my intentions,” He continues, “I’d be happy to provide it.”
He reaches into his coat pocket, and brings out an envelope. He offers it to Leslie, who only hesitates for a moment before opening and reading the contents. It takes her a minute, with an ever deepening frown of confusion, before she raises her head.
“What’s this?”
“I kept my distance for these last few days, as you requested, but I did not use my time idly. In the wake of half the board’s forced retirement, their assets were repossessed by the city and put on auction for purchase. I bought several of the properties, namely those previously owned by Chross, and put them under your daughter’s name. There isn’t anything left for her to do except provide her signature, and the investments are hers.”
Leslie looks shell shocked. Fred takes the document from his wife, and begins to scan.
After several moments he clears his throat. “I didn’t realize you um… had such strong feelings for our daughter.”
“There is nothing I won’t do to ensure her safety and continued happiness. Which brings me to another point I’d like to discuss.”
He removes a small velvet box from his other inner coat pocket, flips open the lid, and places it on the table.
“I’d like to marry her.”
Sevika slams her fist on the table and cackles, “I fucking knew it! You rat bastard!”
He represses a smirk, mostly out of respect for Leslie, who’s looking overwhelmed by these turn of events.
“The assets will belong to your daughter, regardless of her answer to my offer. My only desire is to ensure that she will be taken care of for the rest of her life. She is – and I hope will be – my responsibility to care for and protect until my last breath.”
Leslie is now blinking rapidly.
“I really don’t see how we could say no,” Fred says with a frown.
“I will respect your wishes. It’s the least I can do, for the pain I caused your family.”
“You’d put that ring away, if we asked you too?”
Silco tenses.
He’d expected a yes. Maybe not an easy one, but a simple one.
He can feel his face warming as he fights the urge to argue, to debate, to demand, to intimidate. But Leslie and Fred are looking for proof of his love, not of his ego.
But he can’t say yes, because it’s a lie.
Be honest, Spisak. Be vulnerable, this once. For her.
Your future happiness depends on it.
He clears his throat. “I’ll admit, I would have a hard time accepting it. But that’s only because… because your daughter is special. To me. And I feel that I need her in my life. She makes me better. As a man and as a father. If she only remains in my life as the manager of my coffee shop, I’ll be content. But…. I cannot deny that there is also this desire in me for her. And I cannot… I’m afraid I am not strong enough to…”
He clenches his jaw, unwilling to go any further.
Because he’s only realized in this moment exactly how much he feels for her. How the very idea of her lights him from the inside, how it fuels and consumes him.
And he knows exactly what will happen if they don’t approve of his proposal.
He would leave Zaun and never return, or else he would destroy it all – any hope for a future – in his desperate pursuit of her.
Because he couldn’t live here knowing she’s so near, and be unable to love her like he's spent many nights dreaming of.
He’s more certain of this fact than ever before: that he is made for her, and she for him.
The perfect foil.
There could be no one without the other.
At least not for him.
“Please,” He says, unable to keep his voice from shaking. “If there’s anything I can do to secure your approval, I’ll do it.”
The silence that meets this pronouncement is heavy, and unbroken.
“You really do love our daughter, don’t you?” Fred says at last.
Silco can’t even find the words to speak. Every muscle is tense, and he feels flush from the heat of emotion.
He raises his chin, the best he can do for a nod.
Fred looks at his wife. “What other proof do you need?”
Leslie looks beaten. She blinks rapidly and sniffs.
Fred extends his hand across the table. “I know you’ll take good care of her.”
Silco's relief rushes out as he takes the extended hand. The smile can't be held back.
“I promise you that nothing will be spared for her comfort.”
“She doesn’t care about things,” Leslie says, almost like a reproach as she wipes her eyes with a tissue. “Just… give her your time.”
“Of course…”
“She’s a doer. It’s how she shows love. And she’ll work herself into the ground trying to support you. So don’t you dare take it for granted.”
Getting advice from Leslie on how her daughter loves feels like an even surer approval of his proposal than the hand shake.
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” He assures her with all seriousness.
Leslie sniffs one more time, then offers him a wobbly smile. “I’m sorry. I just… I think I’ve always known this was going to happen. I just didn’t realize it would be so soon. She’s my baby girl.”
“I know. And I appreciate your trust in me.”
She dabs her eyes. “My daughter fell in love with you so fast...”
“It’s as baffling to me as it is to you, I assure you.”
She releases a weak laugh. “I guess I was worried that you’d… that you were fooling her, somehow. I mean she’s a smart girl, but love blinds us all. I just wanted to be sure.”
“As a father, I understand completely.”
She nods, and they share a smile before she gets distracted by Sevika reaching across the table to shake her hand.
Silco barely has time to sit back and process his relief – or the sudden, intense clenching nerves in his gut – before he hears Jinx laughing. He snatches the ring off the table, and jams it back into his inner pocket, heart pounding.
He swipes his fingers through his hair before his ribs loudly protest his movement.
His breath hitches, and he releases a grimace as he reaches for his side.
“Are you okay?”
She doesn't touch him, but she steps into his line of sight in one quick movement. Her kind eyes are wrinkled in concern and her hands are hovering around, as if unsure of where to land. She seems to be trying to decide if she should touch him or not.
Then her mother reaches out to grab her hand, making the decision for her.
"Is it your eye?"
“No. I’m alright, thank you,” He says, with a quick smile.
He feels flushed, still, and practically breathless as he meets her gaze.
She frowns, and seems to be searching his face for the lie. She must find something else instead, because her frown suddenly disappears as her cheeks turn slightly pink.
“Okay. Good." She brushes back that tantalizing wisp of hair as she offers him a self-conscious smile, revealing that damned dimple.
The one he dreams about kissing.
Among many, many others.
Like the ones on her thighs, which he’d spied the first evening he saw her at the shop. Those ridiculous Bob Ross pajamas had been the first stroke of his fall, and the cause of far too many sleepless nights.
Sevika releases a long wolf whistle, breaking yet another dangerous line of thoughts.
She immediately turns, startled. After a moment of flustering with obvious embarrassment, she mumbles something and hurries back to the other end of the table.
He lowers his eye to spear Sevika with a withering glare, and her smirk is far too understanding for his liking.
Damn you.
But her trick did what it needed to do.
Allie’s giving her sister a hard time as she sits, and Jinx giggles as she spares him a quick glance.
Silco gives her a small nod, and her mouth splits into a huge, beaming grin.
He stifles a smile.
It seems he wasn't the only one anxious about tonight.
Silco sits back with his glass in hand, and the little black box resting secretly against his heart.
Fred is laughing as he leans forward to say something to his wife, who’s looking as if she’s finally accepted the truth.
Now, to find the perfect time to ask her the question.
He downs the last of his bourbon with a grimace, hoping it will chase away the sudden swell of nerves.
He can’t understand why the idea of facing her, alone, with one simple question is worse than facing Leslie’s stubborn resistance. But he’d made it through his first trial with his presence of mind relatively intact, so it stands to reason he'll survive the second.
Though it's likely the waiting for the perfect moment with her alone that'll kill him.
Be patient for a while longer, Spisak.
Because if there’s one thing he’s learned in life, it’s that good things come to those who wait.
She looks up at him at that precise moment, and sends him a small, private smile.
His mouth twitches to reply.
Yes, all good things come to those who wait.
And Silco is an incredibly patient man.