zauneyete | KENOS IC CONTACT

KENOS IC CONTACT

SILCO

CONTACT

WRITTEN ◦ ACTION ◦ COMMUNION

[ Communion with Silco is like being doused in cold, polluted water. It feels like taking a breath is difficult, like there's fingers around your throat, pain all over. The water is too-slick like it's almost more pollutants than water, and the water crashes against you, inescapable, even if you were to somehow find the ability to breathe, there is still no escape from the sickening undertow. Somewhere, perhaps deeper in the water, or something else, is a simmering, vile hatred, resentment, and it feels like it should be hot enough to make the water around you boil, even if it's almost too-placid, and too cold. Like all of this hatred is buried deep. Then again, the fact that it feels so close means it must burn so hot. ]

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[ Pressing against the sides of the cocoon, the pieces started to give way, and the sap was slowly starting to seep out in thick rivulets from the cracks that increased the more he pushed, and the more he had help from the two of them. Silco could feel Jinx's worry, feelings of abandonment, and even hope (?) as close as they were his own.

He doesn't push them out -- he isn't competent enough with his own empathic powers, but he does try to nudge them aside, to concentrate on the work in front of him, on peeling more and more of the cocoon away, and for his clumsy fingers to slide against the sides only to have the shell of this thing crumple under his fingers. The two of them hovered in front of him, even though his vision was hazy -- two black eyes instead of one looked out, blinked rapidly against the new sun like it hurt. He tried to lunge forward -- only for the vines of the cocoon to pull him back -- wrapped around his neck.

He reached up, to tug them off, frantically, peel them away, his breathing shaking -- hard -- before he finally reached out and found Jinx's hand, and his other found Kaeya's, and for once in Silco's horrible, long life, he accepted help, and his weakened body stumbled out of the cocoon, sap dripping from his clothes and in his shoes, but he didn't even care.

He was still alive -- and he crumpled to his knees in front of them, a shaky breath. ]

How long?

[ He asked, his tone rough, from five days of rebirth and misuse. ]

[ there are a lot of Feelings happening between the three of them, and it's really sad that the most dominant among them is the distinct and permeating sensation of anger. Kaeya's; Jinx's; Silco's. maybe their reasons are different, but that thread binds them.

but something seems to click into place as Jinx and Kaeya both manage to grab hold of Silco's arms, helping to heft him out of the enormous (and gross) cocoon, dripping and sticky with sap, and in front of them.

far as the way answers go, nothing helpful is coming from Jinx's end; she's staring at her father in a wide-eyed disbelief. her expression is complicated, unreadable save for the glaze of too many thoughts and feelings jumbled together to make something clouded and chaotic. but she is momentarily paralyzed save for the heightened pace of her breathing as she looks at him.

and teeters between two instincts - one to childishly cling to him like she was that small girl in the alleyway all those years ago, or... to wrap her hands around his neck and strangle him herself for daring to leave her. he promised.

he promised.

uh... yeah, seems Kaeya might have to help with the whole communication thing, here, she's having a Moment. sorry big bro 😬 ]

[ If Jinx is having a Moment, then Kaeya is happy to do all the talking. That just means he'll be distracted enough from the myriad of emotions he's experiencing — besides the anger, there's a whole lot more he's trying to keep at bay. Fear, probably, is one of the more prominent ones, but it ebbs and flows, gradually diminishing the more Silco feels real in his grip. ]

Five days. [ Casually said, as if those five days weren't the most agonizing ones. It also felt like time passed slower than usual. ] You made Jinx wait the entire time.

[ Technically, he was here too, waiting alongside her, but he doesn't think he's important enough for that to matter. ]

Feel like sharing what happened, Silco?

[ All he received from Jinx were haphazard images of what went down. It's not enough to paint the full story, but— he wants confirmation on who did it, at least. ]

[ Five days. Silco is caught, between the vortex of emotions from his daughter -- unyielding and overwhelming all at once, a torrent of anger and fear and everything in between, and Silco who is usually so controlled with his emotions finds it's difficult to manage it -- and then there's his own emotions, which was mostly blinding anger and hatred -- directed toward one man. It's enough that Silco forgets Kaeya is there, at least long enough to reach out, and place his hand on his daughter's cheek -- an unspoken reminder that he was here, and he wasn't going anywhere. That they were still here, and that Silco would be back every single time. He'd promised, after all.

Kaeya spoke then, and Silco swallowed, before he answered. Realizing that the boy had clearly seen him reach out and touch his daughter's face -- when he'd shied away from any contact before. He remembered that day, when Kaeya had tried to reach out, and lean on him, and he'd pulled away, instinctively. ]

What happened? [ He asked, and although his hand had been gentle on his daughter's cheek, his tone was anything but. It was rough, deeper from the rebirth and lack of use. He looked from Jinx, to Kaeya, and his lips twitched. He'd always told her that Vander hadn't been the kind of person he'd deceived everyone into thinking he was, but... ]

Vander tried to finish the job he'd failed at all those years ago. [ Well, he didn't expect Kaeya to know who that is, so he paused, and said: ] A ghost from my past, that was apparently resurrected, in this new world.

[ the feedback from their forced empathic bond is really making this more complicated than it has to be. it also has the (likely) unintended consequence of making Jinx feel that rage as her own, simmering the already-stoked flames of her fear-fueled anger - at Silco leaving her, at Vander showing his true colors, at Vi disappearing with the Enforcer girl, at--

at everyone for their sure parts in this. she's just blaming everyone for everything that's gotten under her skin, right now.

but then Silco goes and touches her cheek, and that rapid spiral into a Bad Place that would just cause him - and Kaeya - more undue trouble begins to ebb, abate. like a tempermental storm, the rains of her cloudy, jumbled rage slowly becomes eclipsed by the grief. the protective feeling of longing. the terrible, crushing fear of being left all alone again, of having what's meaningful to her taken away.

Silco spells out what she already knew. Vander. Vander.

traitor. liar.

once more her ire flares - but this time its focus is on Vander rather than any of the parties present here. Jinx, lifting her hand to tangle her fingers with Silco's and squeeze, looks over her shoulder to Kaeya.

and she says the one thing she can say - the only thing that makes sense to say, right now. ]

I want him dead. I want him dead, dead. So dead he'll wish he was gone for good, but we'll bring him back and make him dead all over again, and again, and again.

[ they are going to kill him, because Kaeya isn't like Sevika. she may not fully understand his relationship with Silco, but Jinx understands enough. Silco means something to him.

so this is the only recourse left to them, isn't it?

to make Vander pay. ]

[ Something clicks inside Kaeya's head, like pieces of a puzzle falling into place. He doesn't belong here. Never has, and likely never will. Watching Silco reach out to Jinx without hesitation is a stark reminder of that, something of a realization that he should have come to much earlier on, but — well, he's always been a tiny bit foolish.

When Silco explains what happened, what Kaeya didn't expect is to hear Vander be named as the culrpit. This is the man he shared a drink with at one of the local bars, a man who claimed he was dead in a timeline further along than what he remembers. At the time, Kaeya wondered which world he belonged to, mostly curious about how those who knew him could be feeling now that he was granted a second chance.

He's got his answer: it's anger. Hatred. Pure and intense. Now it all makes sense why Silco stayed after he drowned him in that icy lake. Why the man said that betrayal makes strange bedfellows.

He looks at the scar on Silco's face. He wonders if Vander was responsible for it, just as Diluc was responsible for his.

This isn't any of his business. Whatever Vander's reasons were, he doesn't care. He shouldn't get involved. He knows that.

And yet— ]

... Killing Vander over and over again isn't going to be enough if you want to send a message, especially now that he's a Shard-bearer. Sometimes, you'll have to go after what will hurt him the most.

[ Or rather, who will hurt Vander the most.

Silco means something to him, that much is undeniable at this point, but he wonders just how far he'll go for a man who'd always wanted him to be Jinx instead of who he is when she wasn't here.

But he does owe him. Twice, now. Maybe this is how that debt will be repaid. ]

Edited 2022-11-15 05:05 (UTC)

[ Silco's lips twitched. He wouldn't ask Kaeya how he felt about being here, with Silco and Jinx, when Silco had reached out for his daughter, and he had denied even the most bare of touch from anyone else. Then again, one does not raise someone like Jinx without being used to being hugged, or leaned on, or anything else. But he knows -- understands -- perhaps better than most, how it must feel, for...

Everything to change, in such a way.

Silco's life had been upended more than once, and so he doesn't even have to ask.

But his idea, while...good, and right -- that was... complicated. So Complicated. His eyes looked toward Jinx, and then Kaeya, his mouth in a hard line. He wanted to. Oh, how he wanted to, and if his suspicions from Vander's own information were true -- about who else was here -- he couldn't just say that in front of Jinx.

Not that he thought Kaeya was wrong, of course. Not in the slightest. ]

We'll find a way to take care of him. [ He said, but his hands dropped now, because he would need something more powerful than anything the three of them had, and that meant...

Sebastian had prompted an offer, after all. He'd said he'd think about it, but recent events would end up forcing his hand. ]

Whether it's killing him over and over again, or it's finding a way to truly hurt him...

I won't let him get away with finally killing me.

[ this line of conversation is definitely dangerous, especially since Jinx isn't especially Hinged, right now. she's a~~n un~~healthy dosage of Unhinged, actually, but not so lost in the cacophony of rampant emotions, whispering voices, and oppressive noise in her head that she misses the implication.

so her eyes snap up to Kaeya - and then Silco, moving with a jerky, unnatural quickness. ]

V... Vi?

[ that would be their first choice, wouldn't it. that would be the natural choice. hurting Vi to take down Vander--

...it isn't an option, and her expression should say as much, warning she's ready to go off the deep end on this topic if her fears aren't allayed quickly. ]

[ Vi—?

One look at Jinx is all it takes for Kaeya to realize that he might have almost stepped on a landmine. He knows what Silco is trying to do too, and that just confirms his first assumptions. Vander does have someone who can count as a liability, and messing this person — Vi — might be complicated because of Jinx.

Right, then. He can only shrug his shoulders. ]

Whatever you say, Silco. You know Vander better than I do, so I'm sure you'll make him pay one way or another.

[ The topic of "Vi" is dropped, just like that. Whether or not it's enough to assuage Jinx's fears remains to be seen.

Even though he says nothing, he knows the boundaries now: Vi is off-limits, and that's that. ]

No, we wouldn't.

[ Silco said. ] Neither of us will lay a hand on Vi, it's fine Jinx.

[ Silco had already made this calculation. He flicked his eyes to Kaeya, an implied, unspoken moment, where he tried to convey through only a look, and a slight nod of his head, that it was the right play. Jinx wouldn't want him to touch Vi -- of course she wouldn't -- but that's what made Vi dangerous.

Kaeya might drop it, but the gears in Silco's mind were grinding, churning. How to make this promise, but still fulfill what they needed to destroy Vander? He would need to deal with Vi, one way or the other. Jinx could never know, of course... And therefore it needed the scaffolding for plausible deniability -- a way for him to deal with her without going after her.

Hm. ]

We'll take care of him. [ He would need -- there's a thought burning a hole in his pocket. Something that would work, he knew it would. ]

But first -- we can't do anything sitting... [ He turned two blackened eyes upward, to look around. ] here.

[ Heaven forbid the damn dryad would try to show up again. ]

[ luckily for both of them, it seems like she's buying this affirmation for how quickly it comes from Kaeya and then Silco both. that's right; Vi is off-limits. Vi isn't a pawn to be used against Vander. Vi, is--

...

she's pulling herself up to her feet, giving her eyes a hasty swipe. this has been a shitty week, but Silco's back and she is going to make sure he never leaves her again, because she sure as hell isn't going to forgive him the next time she has to do this. she hasn't really forgiven him for this time, honestly - but it's raw and the outburst that's been brewing ever since she'd run into Vander might end up blowing down the line. something fun to look forward to! ]

I... I want to go. We're going.

[ she wants off this island, away from the Tree. her and Kaeya have spent long enough in this place - and maybe that's the real reason she relented; he stayed when he didn't have any reason to - and is already turning away to begin to walk in the direction of the Cornerstone.

but she won't stray far, expecting both of them to be right behind her. ]

[ Kaeya stayed, because the last time someone else's father died, he was nowhere to be found. He was hiding away from the one who needed him the most because he couldn't handle the guilt any longer. It doesn't make things any better, because Jinx isn't Diluc, and Diluc isn't even here, but if he can avoid making the same mistakes, then— ]

We'll be right behind you, Jinx.

[ He doesn't follow her. Not yet.

One glance is sent down Silco's way, followed by a gesture for him to go first. Silco needs to be the one to follow after Jinx first, and then once he can see that the man is able to walk away just fine, he'll trail behind them both.

Just in case the Dryad tries to play a dirty trick when they least expect it. ]

Alright.

[ He says it, but Silco struggles to move quickly. He's still unsteady on his feet, given that he's spent so much time breaking through the membrane cocoon, and how much time he's spent regenerating from just his shard. He's lucky, of course, that he came out at all. He knows that. It had been foolish, to not back down, bide his time, and wait to destroy Vander. Not make his presence known at all, but...

Perhaps he couldn't help it. To rub the man's face in the dirt, or to force him to confront the fact that time had moved on. Jinx had obviously gotten his shard, but he wondered if she'd encountered Vander after the fact. She must have, but... He didn't speak of it. No, he needed time to consider what he was going to do, and how this was going to work out.

Plus, he had a deal to make. ]

Let's go. I want to get back to safety sooner rather than later.

[ Silco could feel it, that needling sense at the back of his neck. Irrational, yes, but he couldn't help but watch his back. After all, he could just get killed in the streets now, if he wasn't careful. ]

[ there's a (likely uncomfortable) amount of tumultuous and chaotic feelings leaking from Jinx like a sieve; one second she's furious, the next second she's terrified, and the next she's overwhelmed with grief and sadness and sending a look behind her to make sure Silco and Kaeya are really still there.

inevitably, this whole song and dance results in her slowing her pace, one thought whiplashing and colliding nonsensically into another, and leaving her to reach out and grasp Silco's sleeve at his forearm. it's childish and bitterly vulnerable - but she isn't thinking about that now. he died and he left her and he swore to her he wouldn't.

--Vander is going to suffer for this.

she is so... so angry she feels like she can't take it and will surely explode - and then, it turns into a very familiar and unwelcome feeling, the one that had overtaken her that night in an alleyway what feels like someone else's lifetime ago. after Vander died, after Vi abandoned her, after Mylo and Claggor and--

Jinx sends a look at Kaeya from her periphery as if to make sure he, too, is still coming with them. like it or not, he's solidly become Important; he helped her bring Silco back. he stayed the whole time, made sure she wasn't alone. she even felt it, she thinks... it was real, wasn't it? that feeling of distress that wasn't quite her own? Communion was a confusing and uneasy thing, but she knows it wasn't hers, that sensation she'd felt.

she trusts him. much as she can trust anyone, really, outside of Silco (who, even then, she only can trust so much and--),

...well, let's just say she's feeling a little possessive. ]

[ There's a split-second where it looks like Kaeya is about to reach out and help steady Silco, but the last time he tried initiating contact, the man froze on the spot. This time, it's Kaeya who remains rooted in place, watching as Silco moves away from the cocoon. No words are said as the man follows after Jinx, leaving Kaeya to glance back at the now-empty shell on the ground.

It only lasts for a brief moment, but a flash of Diluc and Master Crepus' bloodied form replaces the empty space. This isn't the same scenario, he knows that, and yet a part of him wonders what would have happened then if he'd stayed with Diluc just like he did with Jinx just now. For five agonizing days, it was just the two of them while they waited for Silco to come back.

... Well, it's not like it'll change anything even if he did have the chance to rewrite the past.

When he looks ahead, he catches Jinx looking back at both him and Silco, as if waiting. He offers her a reassuring smile, a small one, but it's there nonetheless. She should be able to see that he's going the same way they're headed so she doesn't have to worry.

(For the time being, they're the closest thing he has to a family. He'll do whatever it takes to keep them safe.) ]

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