Trans Arcane Week - Day 2: Family

A late submission for Day 2 and a preview of day 3: self-expression:

Silco’s always supported Jinx expressing herself. He shouldn’t have been surprised when she wanted to return the favor.

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“One layer is enough right?” Jinx asks from her perch on the couch, boots and socks off and toes splayed wide so the freshly-multicolored nails don’t touch.

“No.” Silco answers from his permanent post at his desk, not looking up from a shipping manifest. “Let the base set, then build up, layer by layer.”

“Layers? What am I, a cake? How many? Two?”

“With a sealant on top, to preserve it.”

Jinx groans and kicks her feet into the air. 

“Patience, child. These things take time.”

“I’ve been patient. Ugh, I need to create a formula that dries faster.” Jinx jumps to her feet and wobbles across the office to throw herself across the desk in an exaggerated swoon.  “This is the WORST. I’m so BORED.  Let me paint yours.”

Silco signs a looping ‘S’ on a dotted line. “No.”

Jinx grabs his hand anyways. He smoothly transitions his pen to the left hand and keeps working (the showoff). She nibbles her thumb and rubs at his fingers with her other hand, admiring the sheen of his nail bed.  “Wow, you have really nice nails.”

“Because I don’t chew them.”

Jinx scowls and retracts the digit from her mouth. "GOOD. Then the nail polish will last longer."

A few seconds later, a colorful assortment of pilfered nail polishes are strewn across Silco’s desk. The full gamut of neons, pastels, and even some boring ones thrown in for CONTRAST. 

“Hmm, what to pick, what to pick.” Jinx examines each bottle in turn: winners get a comfy spot on top of a pile of receipts while losers get chucked in the general direction of the couch. The temptation to pick pink or lime is almost overpowering but Jinx tamps it down. She’d have to ease her dad into those. Better to start with something he’d be only a little uncomfortable with, something already in his existing palette maybe–

“Ooooo, this one! Black. Bold. Fits the whole vampire goth thing you got going on.”

Silco lips quirk up at that. “Good guess.”

“What?”

“That was my preference, a long time ago. When I was around your age.” When Silco talks about the past, he either overflows with zealous passion (which means its BIG speech time ugh) or sinks into a wistful nostalgia. This time, Silco’s face softens. “Black or blue. It did look good.”

“Oooh, were you exploring the joys of adulthood? Finding yourself through creative self-expression?” Jinx rolls her eyes and gesturing at his stuffy attire. “Shame it didn’t pan out” 

Silco sighs and leans back into his chair, carding fingers through his hair though it was already perfectly styled. “I put that part of myself away.”

Jinx furrows her brow, she’s been hoping he’d rise to her bait, not get…sad or whatever. “Like…you didn’t like it?”

Silco hums. “Not quite. It simply didn’t serve me.”

“Serve you? What happened to ‘wear what makes you happy, Jinx’?”

“Nothing. You should wear what makes you happy.” Silco leans forward and levels a steady gaze on his ward. “And I wear what gets me results.”

“Oh no,” Jinx groans, “I feel a lecture coming on and I’ve already hit my lecture quota for this week sooo–”

“I had to become what they fear, Child. That took some forms of self-expression off the table.”

“Hahahah, so that”–Jinx waves at his chest–“is what people are afraid of? Fancy vests with gold trim?”

Silco huffs a laugh. “Oddly enough, yes. People are strange. The structure, the materials, it sends a message.”

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Trans Arcane Week - Day 5: Memories

“That day, I let a weak man die.”

Prompts:

Day 1: Body Worship | Community | Fear | Sunlight/Rain

Day 2: Fantasy | Family | Boundaries | Transition

Day 3: Dom/sub | Self-expression | Affection | Hair/Fashion

Day 4: Intimacy | Friendship | Euphoria/Dysphoria | Scars

Day 5: Kink Exploration | Memories | Hextech/Shimmer | Monster

Day 6: Touch | Mentorship | Childhood | Laughter

Day 7: Gender-focused Sex | Home | Pride | Names

Check out the announcement post!

Rules and Guidelines under the cut.

Trans Arcane Week Day 4 — Scars

“That day, I let a weak man die.”

(Final version of this piece I started for Trans Arcane Week. Bonus materials below the cut!)