"As Silco stares at his reflection, he thinks of Vander. He thinks of their nights at the Last Drop, long after closing; of Vander running his massive hands through Silco's inky hair; of Vander telling him how lovely he looked with long hair. The thought leads him to another - of just moments ago, where Vander's hands gripped his hair as he held him under the water.

my fun little headcanon is that the guy was smart enough to eventually work his way away from the seams, and could keep his cool long enough to talk his way into better jobs for, yknow. underfed but intelligent sump rats

the guy can read and do math? cool, he can take care of the overseer’s books. balances the sheets in his free time. saves the overseer time AND money

now he’s in the overseer’s good graces. he can read, knows the dangers of firedamp, and can calculate the square yardage of canvas needed to vent shaft three, plus labor costs? sweet. overseer tells him to get his ass over to the timbermen and tell em they’ve got a new bratticer. get those fans running and airflow started, stat

meanwhile van came up as a dogger (hence the “Hound” nickname) and is presently a ripper: a more fitting name silco’s never heard, and van’s helmet nearly brushes the ceilings so he’s the perfect specimen of man for grading ceilings and floors