#jgts

Your sleep is a dreamless one, like an endless drifting. Time passes slowly, every hour taking its sweet time instead of rushing past like any other night. You only wake up when the sound of heavy footsteps rings out nearby.

Without thinking, you know it’s the staircase, just by the subtle creak. Then the office door opens and the heavy footsteps continue for a few seconds, followed by muffled voices.

“Here’s their clothes. How are they?” It’s Sevika.

“Alive,” Silco responds. “Shaken and bruised, but alive.”

A few seconds of silence pass and you’re entirely awake now, propped up on your elbows and listening closely, the darkness of the room around you growing brighter as your eyes adjust.

“Any idea what happened?”

“Attacked at their apartment.”

You wince at the reminder.

“You think it’s related to why they had to crash here in the first place?”

“It is.” Even past the door you can hear the rumble in Silco’s voice, the agitation that’s seeping into his words.

He continues. “I will get detailed descriptions for you at a later date but all I know is there were two men.”

“I’ll keep an ear open then.” Sevika’s heavy footsteps begin once again and the door opens, closes, and she recedes down the stairs.

You swing your legs over the edge of the bed, listening closely as Silco rolls his chair back and his footsteps come closer. The door opens softly under his hand, and he peeks inside.

“What time is it?” you ask, and Silco’s body follows his head through the doorway.

“Almost noon.”

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to sleep for that long.” You’re a little embarrassed now, not sure when you even went to sleep yesterday. Just adding onto the pile of stress, you had hoped to sleep off whatever Silco Fever you had last night, from fantasizing about him to kissing him. But your temperature is still rather high in that department.

“No apologies needed,” Silco says, waving you off as he wanders over, “you needed the rest.” He drops some clothes on the bed next to you before veering off to the closet.

You pick them up, and quickly recognize them as spare threads from your locker downstairs.

“Thanks, I forgot about these,” you say, looking up at Silco who’s grabbing his coat from the closet.

He’s going somewhere, you think to yourself, and ignore the pang in your chest. He feels distant, and this is making it worse.

“Are you going out?” you ask, almost scared of the answer you might get.

Yes, I’m leaving you because you’ve crossed a line. Be gone by the time I’m back.

“We’re going to get food. I’d think you’re rather hungry now,” Silco says, shrugging on his coat.

Oh finally!

You’re so hungry by now you can’t be bothered to worry about your feelings and complications with Silco. Without thinking, you jump up and grab your clothes, running to the bathroom to change. It feels good to be in your own stuff, no offense to Silco. He has provided you with a lot so far, but his old clothes are sort of scratchy, and big on you.

You emerge from the bathroom to find Silco has already left, so you quickly rush out to meet him. He’s not in the office, the hall, or the bar; he’s somehow made it all the way outside.

“How did you get down here so fast?” you say, a little breathless from your hurry.

“How did you take so long to get dressed?” he quips back. If it weren’t for the hint of a smile on his lips you would be more offended by his comment, but you're instead pleasantly reminded of your banter the night you hit him with a pillow. You brush it off with a shake of your head and follow when Silco starts off down the street.

“Where to?” You’re inwardly hoping it’s Jericho’s that you’re headed to.

“Anywhere you’d like,” Silco answers passively.

“Jericho’s,” you say quickly, and Silco smiles.

“I was hoping you would say that.”

Silco digging into the greasy, messy delicacies of Jericho’s Seafood and Snacks is a funny image, but you’re not surprised. Silco’s rather old, so he’s probably eaten at every place in the undercity by now.

Usually traveling with Silco includes backroads and hidden alleyways, but you must have caught him in a good mood because you’re treated with a stroll through the main streets of the Lanes. The walk feels longer than it really is, with your growling stomach and all, but it is very amusing. The amount of room allotted to you and Silco by other passersby is comical, the sight of so many cowering from him sort of empowering.

I could get used to this, you think to yourself.

Upon making it to Jericho’s, you promptly order and Silco pays, not getting anything for himself but instead striking up conversation with the large, Fish-looking chef known as Jericho. When your food is ready, Silco sits down next to you and watches, amused, as you begin to scarf down your meal.

The food takes away from the awkwardness eating away at you, but it still weighs heavy. The worst part is you thought kissing Silco, or feeling the need to, was just some part of your emotional and exhausted delirium. It wasn’t. The only thing you regret is what he said after–how uncomfortable he looked.

“About last night,” you start, watching the grease dripping from your sandwich as you find it incredibly hard to look Silco in the eye. You take a breath to say something else, another apology, some half-assed excuse, but he stops you.

“It’s okay, we don’t have to talk about it.” When you look up there’s a gentle smile on his face, and all of the breath leaves your lungs at once.

Thank Janna.

You continue to eat your sandwich, savoring every bite. The pauses you have to take to swallow and breathe are as quick as you can make them, trying to fill the bottomless pit that has become your stomach.

“Can I ask you a question?” Silco says, and you look up at him. “About what happened at your apartment.” 

You nod, not sure you can rely on your voice to keep steady if you speak.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” His voice is soft, gentle. “I would have handled it quietly–I will handle it quietly–and it bothers me that those men are still out somewhere.”

He’s irritated, angry, but not at you. His anger is justified and it makes you feel justified. It’s validating. But, he is asking a good question. You never told him what was happening until it was too late. Despite his power, his influence, the means and will to hunt down a man. You’ve seen all of these things, witnessed them first-hand, but still you didn’t say anything. Why?

“I was just hoping it would blow over,” you answer meekly.

“Don’t take that risk again,” Silco says, looking at you now with those earnest red and green eyes. “I will be here to help and assist in any way I can. I will not judge, ridicule, or reject you. I would prefer, for your sake, that you tell me if something even feels wrong.”

You nod, a little taken aback by the genuine look in Silco’s eyes, the one you thought you would only see last night, especially after your actions. But he bears his trust and his heart to you again.

Warmth blossoms in your chest as those words sink in, the reality that you can really trust Silco and that he trusts you in return bringing a fluttering sensation to your chest.

“Thank you,” you say, before picking up your sandwich again. That’s all you can manage to say without choking up with tears.

You continue eating in silence until Silco pipes up again.

“There’s an assembly with the barons I must attend today,” he sighs. “You are welcome to join me. I would rather not leave you by yourself, but it is ultimately your choice.”

You swallow and reply. “I’ll stick with you.”

“Very well then,” he says with a nod. “We’ll go once you’re done. We’ll be early.”

You nod back and, after polishing off your sandwich, head off with Silco. You quickly realize food was an excellent idea, as you feel more energized and stable–mentally and physically–now that you’re working on a full stomach.

In all the years you’ve worked for Silco, you have gone to one other chembaron assembly, and it was not a good experience. Boring, long, very redundant, and full of horrible people. Killers, old farts, and wannabe tyrants. Worst of them all was Finn, with a loud mouth in place of his brain. You had the displeasure of holding a small conversation with him, which turned into him getting very much in your face and hitting on you. Nothing more than an annoyance really, but you do hope he won’t try that again. Or, even better, you hope he won’t be at this meeting at all.

You take the elevator up with Silco and it’s all vaguely familiar, with a few things changed since you were last there a few weeks ago. Upon getting to the assembly hall, you find that you and Silco are not the only ones early, even though you are a good twenty minutes ahead of most of the other attendees. Much to your dismay, you’re immediately greeted by Finn, who throws a sharp comment that you ignore entirely. Silco ignores him as well and the two of you stand off to the side.

“How he’s managed to not be killed yet is beyond me,” Silco huffs, obviously talking about Finn. “I’ve come close to doing the favor myself.”

You smile at his quip, and are about to say something yourself when you look over at Finn in his yellow jacket. He’s in the opposite corner of you, and your words die before they reach your tongue as you see the two men he’s standing next to.