Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Silco and Sevika occupied a curved booth in a dark corner of The Last Drop, and everybody in the Lanes knew better than to disturb them there. 

Everybody but one person, obviously.

Jinx materialized out of the crowd, leapt up onto the bench seat, and clambered over Silco’s lap. She dropped in between the two of them, bouncing a little on the leather cushion. This was a common enough occurrence, and Silco and Sevika both knew to steady their glasses until the girl had settled. Sevika barely even looked annoyed, Silco noted. Later, he would wonder if her calm had spurred Jinx to greater heights of obnoxiousness. 

"Sevika, you fuck women, right?" the girl asked by way of greeting.

Sevika blinked several times, and looked to Silco for direction. He spread his hands as if to say, Up to you . The girl was obviously trying to provoke them with outlandish behavior. To provoke him in particular, he guessed, and his guesses about her were usually right.

"Yes," Sevika replied. "I fuck women." 

"And not men?"

"And not men." 

Jinx tapped her chin for a moment, then asked, "Why?" 

"Because women are beautiful and men are disgusting." Sevika glanced at Silco. "No offense." 

He tilted his head slightly. “None taken.” 

Jinx turned to him, her face the picture of innocence. “What about you, Silco? Do you fuck women or men?”

Sevika choked on her drink. When she’d composed herself, she turned to him, as well, her face pensive and chin on her hand as though she was terribly interested in his answer. 

Silco’s blood had turned cold. Oh, Jinx was going to pay for this.

“Sexual relationships have been very low on my list of priorities,” he replied, sounding as bored as possible. It wasn't even a lie. He hadn't pursued a partner in at least a decade. He had, of course, resolutely not pursued Jinx ... for all that mattered now.

“Well, you’re no help, then.” She turned back to Sevika. “I think women are beautiful, too. Does that mean I should fuck one?”

“It does have certain … advantages,” Sevika began, checking Silco’s reaction from the corner of her eye. He kept his face neutral, which meant she needn’t fear his wrath. She continued, “Can’t get pregnant, for example.”

“Oh, the doctor gave me something so I don’t have to worry about that,” Jinx said brightly. 

Silco sipped his drink, planning the girl’s punishment in detail. 

Sevika shrugged. “Then I guess it comes down to what you want. It’s not just about admiring how women look. Do women make you feel, you know … lust?”

Jinx’s eyes went wide. “Lust?” she asked, turning again to Silco. “What’s that?”

“All right, that’s enough,” he growled over Sevika’s muffled guffaw. “Out of my sight, both of you.” The older woman retreated to the bar, while the younger bounded up the stairs. She cast a glance back over her shoulder, a devious twinkle in her eye. He glared back, and she giggled and disappeared. 

—

That night, in Jinx’s room, Silco used one hand to pin her wrists above her head, and the other to fuck her into the mattress. With two fingers in her cunt and his thumb on her clitoris, he drove her relentlessly toward her orgasm, until she was shaking and gasping and tense as a bowstring – and then he stilled, and withdrew his hand.

Her eyes flew open in shock. “What – what the – why did you – don’t stop! ”

They both still wore most of their clothes. He’d merely opened his trousers to give her access to his cock, which she’d obligingly licked and sucked until he gripped her hair and came in her mouth. Then he’d thrown her back on her bed and shoved her pants down without removing them. 

Looming above her, he lowered his face until their noses brushed, his expression as stony as it had ever been. “You tease me, I tease you.” 

Still panting in frustrated arousal, she struggled, but his grip proved implacable. “That’s not fair! I was just messing with Sevika."

"You were messing with me in front of Sevika." 

Her face turned sullen. "So what if I was?"

His voice was dark and severe. "I know you think Sevika is stupid, but she is not. She's extremely observant and she understands people. Do not play these games in her presence." 

“Because you’re scared she’ll figure out about us?”

“Yes.”

She blew her hair out of her eyes in exasperation. “Fine.”

“Good girl,” he said, releasing her wrists. She winced and rubbed them as he rose to go.

At the door, he turned and held up a finger in warning. “Touch yourself tonight and I will not touch you for a week.”

She’d already had one hand on its way down her pants. She growled in frustration and punched her pillow, but he knew she’d obey. Not without sass, of course. “Maybe I’ll go out and find a woman to take care of this for me,” she sneered.

Calmly, he replied, “You will do no such thing.” He paused in the doorway, considering. “If you’re serious about your interest in that, I will arrange it.” 

Her eyebrows flew up. “You will?”

He sighed in resignation. “If I don’t, you’ll seek it out yourself, and for some unfathomable reason, I don’t trust your discretion.” 

The defiance drained from her face, and instead she looked both uncertain and hopeful. “All right,” she murmured. “I … I am serious. I want to know what it’s like.” She looked up at him through her lashes. “I want to know what it’s like for you when you fuck me.”

A bolt of desire coursed through him at that. She knew how it maddened him when she spoke filth. He actually took a step toward her, fully intending to shove her back, kiss her senseless, and finish what he’d started. But he caught himself. Chuckling, he said, “Nice try.” 

Once he’d closed her door, he heard her throw her pillow across the room and yell, “ God damn it! ” 

Chapter Text

Silco awoke to Jinx’s pussy in his face. She was straddling his head, her knees on his pillow, the tight blue curls of her sex tickling his cheeks. It was not the worst way to wake up, and it suggested that she had in fact obeyed him during the night, which pleased him. So he complied with her wordless demand and lashed his tongue against her and into her again and again until she had to clap her hands over her mouth to muffle her cries. 

She collapsed onto him, and slid down his body until her face was close to his. He loved seeing her like this, the hint of a smile playing on her lips, her eyes soft, her mind quiet. She kissed him gently, and then licked his lips and chin clean. 

"Do all women taste the same?" she asked when she was done. 

He raised an eyebrow. If this was her new idee fixe, the arrangements couldn’t wait. He replied, "There are general similarities, but individual differences."  

"I like how I taste."

"That makes two of us."

She grinned. "I like how you taste."

"That makes me very, very lucky," he sighed, as she kissed her way down his chest and stomach and pulled his pants out of the way. 

---

When he’d finished the day’s business, and sent out the necessary notes to prepare for the evening, Silco escorted Jinx to a private lift. He wore his long coat, and she had actually put on a dress , of all things, a strange concoction of straps and laces that hugged her figure just as tightly as her usual clothes and showed nearly as much skin. She still wore her boots, of course, and a bad attitude. 

“I’m not sure how I feel about doing this with a whore .” The word came out of her mouth like a curse.

"None of that," he warned her. "These are skilled practitioners of an honest trade. Topsiders may sneer and spit at them, but we do not."

She scoffed and looked down at her boots. "How is it honest? Aren't they lying? They pretend to want you but they really just want your money." 

"It's more like acting than lying. You're paying for a fantasy. And you’re paying for them to take a bow and exit stage left when you're done with the show." 

She curled in on herself and hugged her arms. "But they won't really … desire me." 

He turned her toward him and lifted her chin. "Jinx, you are a beautiful young woman. You'll be the loveliest, liveliest client they've had in ages. Any one of them would count themselves lucky to spend an evening with you. Just as I do." 

He could see she wasn’t entirely soothed, but he continued, tightening his grip on her face. "Now remember, these girls are discreet, but even they cannot know about … us."

She rolled her eyes. "Right. Of course. You're just my boss, taking me out for an employee appreciation day. Totally normal."

He wanted to scour the sarcasm from her lips with his tongue and teeth, but the lift jolted to a stop and the doors opened onto the Promenade level.

The Skylight Commercia was as packed as any street in the Lanes, though the crowd had quite a different character. Piltover’s self-styled bohemians mingled with what passed for the Undercity’s upper crust amid restaurants, theaters, and galleries. 

The two of them entered one such gallery, totally empty, with dishwater-dull landscape paintings displayed in the windows. Jinx wrinkled her nose at the art, but Silco breezed past it without a glance. He exchanged nods with a young man in the back, who then opened a nearly unnoticeable door that led into an entirely unremarkable hall. At the end of the hall was another door, this one carved with voluptuous flowers and painted rosy pink. A little on the nose, perhaps. He rapped on it twice.

“Why’s it hidden?” Jinx asked, thinking no doubt of the ubiquitous streetwalkers one saw on the Sump level.

“As I said, this establishment is particularly discreet. I want you to have your privacy.” That was only practical, he thought. The less information people had about Jinx, and, by extension, him, the better. 

The overly literal door opened to reveal a sturdy woman in a suit not unlike Silco’s own. “Welcome,” she said cordially, smiling at each of them. “The girls are ready for you just on the left.” 

Jinx turned to Silco with wide, panicked eyes. “ Girls? More than one?” 

The madam nodded. “The gentleman thought you’d like to meet a few before making a choice.” 

He could feel Jinx’s sharp nails digging into his arm, and he covered her hand with his. 

The room they entered was warmly lit by lamps with stained-glass mosaic shades, and furnished with a tasteful overabundance of chaises and pillows. There was also an overabundance of women. Six girls of varying ages, sizes, skintones, and demeanors lounged around the room, all draped in diaphanous pastels like nymphs from an insipid painting. When they saw Jinx, they leapt to their feet and crowded around her, greeting her and cooing over her braids, her dress, her “darling” figure. Jinx tried to shrink back against Silco, but he nudged her forward. She’d asked for this; it was her job to navigate it. 

One of the girls, wearing yellow, had stayed seated, he noticed. Her dark eyes took in the fawning of her colleagues and Jinx’s shy reaction. They even shifted to Silco, and what she gleaned from his expression and posture, he had no idea. That unsettled him. 

The others took turns courting her. Cornflower grasped her hand and pulled her down to a chaise. Tearose held a pastry to her lips, and licked her own fingertips clean after. Seafoam whispered a compliment in her ear. Lavender offered her champagne, and giggled when the bubbles tickled her nose. Peach struck tempting poses. And all the while, Daffodil watched, and waited. 

Finally, she saw her opening. Catching Jinx’s eye from across the room, the girl in yellow held up a polished wooden box and beckoned. Jinx seized the opportunity to slip away from the throng. 

The girl patted an overstuffed pouf beside her, and Jinx sat. Silco couldn’t catch what she murmured, but Jinx did, and when she looked intrigued rather than bashful, he knew it must be something worth her attention. The smooth box opened, and Jinx looked down into it, tilting her head and focusing her gaze in an expression he knew well: curiosity, analysis, drive. She got that look when they passed a new gadget vendor in the market, and she dragged him over to examine an unfamiliar object and cajole him into buying it for her. 

She reached into the case and, with the girl in yellow’s grinning permission, lifted up a phallus worked in leather and brass and caught in a web of straps. Silco had seen such things before, of course, but even he could still be surprised. The girl twisted a key at the base of the thing and set it trembling and buzzing in Jinx’s hands. Her eyes went wide with delight, and when he heard the girl say “my own design,” he knew it was a fait accompli. 

“Have her meet us at The Last Drop in one hour,” he told the madam, “and pay the other girls for the evening as well.” She nodded, pleased, and began writing up the tab.

Chapter Text

Jinx talked Silco’s ear off all the way back to the Drop. He couldn’t follow most of it, of course, but he gathered the girl’s design was unusual in some way. Something about the vibration lasting much longer than one would expect due to the gauge of the gears and various other technical details she was only too happy to sketch in midair with wild hands. He made interested facial expressions and impressed noises, as he usually did when she went on these flights. 

Sevika was at the bar when they entered. She took in Jinx’s animated excitement and smirked knowingly. “Hey, kid,” she called, and tossed something small and silver into the air. Jinx caught it easily without turning her head. 

She opened her palm and examined the object quizzically. “Nail clippers?”

Silco huffed a laugh. “I’ll explain later.” 

They took some time to freshen up, and, over Jinx’s protestations, Silco pared the clawlike fingernails of her left hand. She frowned at the end result, and he raised an eyebrow and chided, “No woman cares what your fingers look like when they’re inside her .” She blushed and said nothing more about it.

The girl arrived at the appointed time. They received her in one of the private rooms off the main bar. As she shrugged off her heavy cloak, Silco looked over Jinx’s selection more closely. She wasn’t beautiful, exactly, with an over-large chin and square nose; but her olive skin was smooth, her lips full, and her eyes clever. She was built rather like Jinx, lithe and strong, particularly her arms and hands. Her black hair barely curled over the tops of her ears. She still wore the filmy yellow dress and carried the wood case. 

Silco kissed her hand lightly, and, with a minute jerk of his head, indicated that Jinx should follow suit. He guessed she still felt anxious and needed some direction to calm her. But as she was wont to do, she channeled her anxiety into dramatics. She took the girl’s hand just like he had, then shifted suddenly into a formal dancing posture and twirled her like a top.

Taken off guard, the girl laughed, stumbled, and then steadied herself. “You can call me Marigold, if you like,” she said, setting the case down on a nearby table. Not Daffodil, then, but he’d been in the right genre. She gestured to one of the two couches that faced each other on opposite sides of the room. “May I sit? With you, I hope.” 

Jinx flopped down carelessly, and Marigold joined her, sitting close enough that their knees touched. “Is this your first time with a woman, Jinx?”

“Yes, indeedy,” she replied, drumming her fingers on one knee. 

Marigold smiled. “Are you nervous?”

“Of course not,” Jinx scoffed. To prove her point, she laid a hand on Marigold’s thigh. 

Marigold covered Jinx’s hand with her own and intertwined their fingers. “It would be okay if you were … but if you’re not, may I kiss you?”

From where he stood near the door, Silco could see Jinx’s gaze flick over to him. He cleared his throat. “Well, if you ladies are settled, I’ll be on my way.” He turned to go.

“Wait!” Jinx cried. Then she remembered herself, and her defenses came back up, her expression performatively indifferent. “I mean. You could stay. If you wanted to.”

He paused. That was not the plan. Staying would look strange, given the public impression of his relationship with Jinx. “I have work to do, I’m afraid,” he explained. “I’m sure you’re in good hands.”

She frowned, and suddenly had a distracted look in her eyes. He recognized it immediately as the look she got when she heard or saw troubling things that weren’t there. This often happened when he had to leave her. He sighed. It had occurred to him more than once that she might sometimes be pretending, in order to get her way. It didn’t matter. He would always take it seriously. 

“I suppose I have a little time,” he allowed, and took a seat on the other couch. 

Marigold had taken all this in with her sharp, smart eyes, and revealed none of her thoughts. Now she placed a finger under Jinx’s chin and directed her gaze to meet her own. When it did, Jinx’s troubled expression seemed to clear, and she focused on the girl in front of her.

“Shall we begin?” Marigold asked, her voice husky and low. Jinx nodded, and they leaned into each other. 

Silco, of course, had never seen Jinx kiss anyone else. To his knowledge, she never had kissed anyone else (and he refused to contemplate the possibility that this could have occurred without his knowledge – that road led to dark and dangerous places in his mind). He tensed in anticipation, unsure how he’d react to the scene playing out before him. 

The women’s lips met, almost chastely at first; then Marigold tilted her head and deepened the kiss. He knew the moment her tongue slipped into Jinx’s mouth, because Jinx jumped and drew in a sharp breath through her nose, and then whimpered just as she had the first time she’d taken his tongue. 

It was fascinating to watch her like this from across the room. Up close, he could smell her, taste her, feel her sighs against his lips. If he opened his eyes while they kissed, he could see her eyelashes fluttering on her pink cheeks and every strand of hair that fell in her eyes. But now he could see her jaw working and her neck arching as she surged forward to meet the girl with equal intensity, and watch her fingers flex and curl on the girl’s thigh. A beautiful sight, but one that kindled a possessive fury he had to fight to smother. He had arranged this. He would let it proceed.

Chapter Text

After a moment of kissing, Jinx launched herself at Marigold and pressed her back onto the couch. She began laying a trail of reckless kisses down the body beneath her, and licking and biting, as well. Then she stopped and looked up, eyebrows drawn together. “How the hell does this dress work?”

Marigold laughed breathlessly and teased, “You want it off so soon?”

Jinx’s gaze went heated. In one smooth motion, she grabbed the hem of her own dress and pulled it up and over her head. This left her entirely bare, except for her boots. “There,” she purred. “Now it’s only fair.” 

Silco had no idea where he should be looking – what behavior would be expected and appropriate under these unusual circumstances – but it didn’t matter. He couldn’t look away from Jinx’s nude body for anything in the world. Seeing her slim yet muscular frame and smooth skin snapped him to full hardness inside his trousers, and he ached to touch her. 

But it was Marigold who touched her, small hands skating over strong legs, round hips, and narrow waist. Then she sat up and shifted on the couch. “Fair’s fair,” she replied, and tugged off the yellow dress, revealing the sort of lacy undergarments Jinx had no interest in. On herself , at least; she seemed very interested in them as long as they were on Marigold, running her fingers down the straps and settling on the netting that covered the girl’s small breasts. 

Jinx lowered her mouth to one of those breasts and, through the fabric, began circling the nipple with her tongue in a wide spiral. As the spiral tightened, her tongue sped up. When it reached the very tip, she flicked it rapidly, and then dragged her teeth around it. Marigold hissed and threw her head back, and Jinx cut a glance over Silco and grinned. This was exactly how he loved to lick and bite her nipples. She was taunting him. He gritted his teeth and clutched one arm of the sofa, fighting to stop himself from gripping his cock and relieving the building tension.

Then she kneeled between Marigold’s legs, one hand on either thigh. For a moment, uncertainty replaced desire on her face. “Should I …?”

“You're welcome to," the girl replied. "Unless you want me to take care of you ."

Jinx cocked one eyebrow. “I know what that’s like. I don’t know what this is like.” She lowered her head, and then stopped. "Just don't … don't pretend, okay? If it doesn't feel good, you can tell me." 

For the first time, he saw a crack in Marigold's professional facade. It was just a tiny widening of the eyes, a nearly imperceptible drawing together of the eyebrows. But it revealed a moment of tenderness toward Jinx – which made Silco’s jealousy surge hotter than any of the kissing or touching had done. She fanned the flames even more when she said, “Why don’t I give you some instruction?” That was his domain. Jinx was his to teach. 

As Jinx followed Marigold’s directions, trailing kisses on the inside of her thighs, Silco recalled the first time she’d taken him in her mouth. She’d tried to devour him whole right from the start, and he’d had to tug her off by her braids and explain the value of proceeding gradually and patiently . The lesson seemed to have stuck, because she didn’t argue when Marigold told her to drag her lips over the outside of the lacy panties before removing them. She obediently nuzzled and lightly licked instead of diving in face-first. And – using the correct hand, thankfully – she gave Marigold only the fingertip she asked for, and then one slim finger. Good girl , he wanted to murmur while stroking her hair.

“Good girl,” Marigold sighed, letting her head fall back over the arm of the couch. 

Silco drew in a sharp, angry breath. Marigold must have heard it, because she turned to look at him, a smile playing on her lips. He hoped his face was still neutral, but feared she could read his possessive fury with those shrewd eyes. 

"Do you plan to keep watching and only watching?” she asked him. She glanced at his lap and grinned at the tented fabric. “Or do you want something more? I can take care of you both. In fact, I have an idea I suspect all three of us will enjoy."

He was about to refuse, when Jinx’s head popped up. “That sounds fantastic ,” she chirped. "I mean, gosh, Silco, when was the last time you got laid?" As though he hadn't been buried to the hilt in her smart mouth that very morning. 

“I don’t think–” he began, but Marigold was already climbing off her couch and fetching the wooden case she’d brought. 

“Leave it all to me,” she assured him. “You just sit right there.” She opened the case and took the brass and leather phallus in hand, then beckoned Jinx. “I’ve taken a guess at your size,” she explained to her, unwinding the straps. “Here, let me.” She positioned the base of the thing over Jinx’s mound, explaining softly that the vibrations would stimulate them both, and then wrapped and buckled until it was secure in place. 

Silco took in the sight of Jinx experimentally wrapping a hand around the base of the phallus and bit back an unexpected groan. Jinx with a cock was not something he’d pictured before, but the sight was not unwelcome. The dark straps strained against her pale skin and made him want to grasp and bite her hips. 

“Pretty, isn’t it?” Marigold breathed as she dropped to her knees in front of him. “May I?” When he reluctantly nodded, she reached for the buttons on his trousers. Over the girl’s shoulder, Silco saw Jinx narrow her eyes. Good. She could stand a dose of her own medicine. You tease me, I tease you. He made sure to sigh in pleasure when Marigold pulled him out and began stroking him, and noted Jinx’s clenched fist with satisfaction. 

“What about me?” she nearly whined. 

Marigold smiled back at her. "Get the little bottle from the case and come kneel behind me." 

Jinx complied, though she tossed a few glares Silco's way while doing it. He smirked and shrugged as if to say, This was your idea .

"Open it up," the girl purred, "and get two fingers nice and slippery for me. You should slick up the toy, too.” She shifted from kneeling in front of Silco to crouching on her hands and knees, and her plan became clear. 

Jinx looked down at her now-shining fingers. Silco recognized the flash of insecurity in her eyes. “Aren’t you already, you know … wet?” 

“I am,” she explained patiently, “but a little more lubrication never hurt anybody.” Her voice dropped an octave and she raked her eyes over Jinx’s body. “Especially if I’m gonna take that big cock of yours.”

Jinx’s cheeks colored. Emboldened, she lined up behind Marigold and gripped the ass in front of her. Her blunt-tipped fingers slid into the other girl’s cunt with no resistance. She began working them in and out in a rhythm Silco knew all too well, and that inflamed him even more than the kisses being pressed along the underside of his dick. The face in his lap barely existed; all he saw was Jinx. Jinx, on the other hand, seemed keenly aware of the progress of those lips, and when the tongue emerged to lick , she drove her fingers in so sharp that Marigold gasped. “Hope you’re ready for more,” she practically snarled, her eyes locked on Silco’s. 

“I’m sure she is,” he replied smoothly, but Jinx had already turned the key on the toy and was pressing the tip of the buzzing phallus in. In response, he sunk his fingers into the girl’s short hair and brought her open mouth to his tip, and then they were both inside her. 

There was no mistaking Marigold’s mouth for Jinx’s. The perfectly shielded teeth and professionally undulating tongue had little in common with the still-awkward blowjobs he’d become accustomed to. It felt lovely, but he honestly wasn’t sure he’d be able to come from this – if not for the wide-eyed face across from him. 

The toy’s vibrations, he realized, must be centered right on Jinx’s clit, because she looked stunned by the intensity of the sensation. Every thrust pushed the little motor right back against her mound, and she was clearly fucking into Marigold’s cunt with little regard for the other girl’s enjoyment, sucking in great desperate breaths the way she did when he’d been going down on her for an hour without letting her come. 

Jinx’s ragged thrusts rocked Marigold’s body forward and drove her further down on Silco’s cock, which disrupted the smooth rhythm the girl had tried to set. Much better. He began panting in earnest as he felt his orgasm building. “ That’s right ,” he hissed, keeping her face down so she couldn’t see his eyes locked on Jinx’s. “ So good .” 

The two of them didn’t touch each other, but the body between them was a conduit, pleasure rolling back and forth in a feedback loop. He wasn’t sure if he or Jinx came first. His grunts and her cries mingled in midair. 

When he could think once more, he tugged Marigold’s head off his spent cock. As expected, she’d swallowed every drop without complaint. He stroked her lower lip with his thumb and said to Jinx, “I think we’d better show this girl some appreciation.” 

Marigold chuckled, still catching her breath. “If you insist.” 

Silco directed the women: Jinx sitting on the floor, her back against one of the couches; Marigold straddling her lap and lowering herself down onto the still-shaking phallus. Silco knelt behind the girl and wrapped his arms around her. Rigid fingers found her clit while the other hand skated over one breast. Her breath caught in her throat, and she rocked her hips and leaned her head back onto his shoulder.

The vibrations grinding down onto her were driving Jinx toward another peak. He could see she was close, but needed something more. “Her neck,” he whispered into Marigold’s ear. She obliged, bringing her tongue and teeth down to Jinx’s skin. With the girl’s head tilted, Silco and Jinx were now face to face, her round eyes aligned with his lidded ones, their hot breath mingling. He didn’t dare kiss her, but couldn’t stop himself from bringing his mouth close, hovering for a moment, and then flicking his tongue over her lips just once – and that was enough to push her over the edge for a second time. She arched her back and wailed through it. 

“Your turn at last, pretty flower,” he murmured, increasing the pressure on Marigold’s clit. "Won't you come for Jinx? She wants to feel you come around her cock.” The girl moaned in response and moved from Jinx’s neck to her mouth in a devouring kiss. A moment later, she tensed and trembled between the two bodies holding her up, and then slumped like a puppet with its strings cut. 

“H-how do you t-turn this thing off?” Jinx panted when her lips were finally free. Marigold smiled fondly and reached between them to fumble with the mechanism, and finally the buzzing stopped. The women separated and sat side-by-side on the floor, both equally flushed, chests rising and falling in time. 

Fighting the urge to gather Jinx up in his arms and stroke her hair as he usually would, Silco stood and straightened his clothes and hair. He’d have her to himself soon enough. 

Jinx fiddled absent-mindedly with the straps, and then blurted out, “Hey, can I buy this from you?”

Marigold raised her eyebrows as if flattered by the request. “Not for sale,” she said lightly. She caught Jinx’s eye and winked. “But I’m sure you can build something even better.” Jinx smiled shyly at that.

Silco noted the exchange and cleared his throat. “Thank you for a lovely evening,” he told Marigold. “Take as much time as you like, and then we’ll have you escorted back.” She’d understand, of course, that “take as much time as you like” meant “be out of here in five minutes.” She met his eyes knowingly and nodded, and then rose and fished her panties out from the couch cushions. 

As they dressed, Jinx ran some typically incomprehensible design ideas by Marigold, and the girl gave equally inscrutable responses. Silco watched this carefully. Marigold’s demeanor was open and easy, showing no discomfort, disgust, or suspicion. This was good. The night had ended up going in an … unexpected direction, and he wasn’t sure what conclusions, if any, she’d drawn about his relationship with Jinx. Nothing to be done about that now, thanks to Jinx; he’d have to trust to professional discretion. And he hated trusting anyone.

The women lingered at the door, still trading suggestions and critiques, until Silco firmly said, “Have a safe night.” Marigold had the decency to look a little embarrassed. She accepted his kiss on the hand, and then Jinx’s, giving the girl’s fingers an extra squeeze before letting go. 

When they were alone, Silco gestured to the stairs. Instead of heading up, Jinx grinned and threw her arms around him, taking him by surprise and knocking him back a step. “Thank you,” she said into his neck. 

“Don’t thank me yet,” he growled. “You’ve had someone else’s hands all over you; before you sleep tonight, I’m planning to remind you who you belong to.”

She looked up at him sharply. “Well, you’ve had someone else’s mouth all over you , so you need a reminder, too.”

He smirked and nudged her toward the stairs. “No time to waste, then.”

Chapter Text

Jinx was perched on SIlco’s desk, fiddling with some contraption in her lap, when Sevika’s knock rapped on the office door. She never used to knock, and Silco wondered not for the first time how much she suspected, and what she’d do if she knew. He called out for her to enter. 

“Mail,” she grunted, holding up an envelope. Silco extended his hand, but she didn’t give it to him. Instead, she dropped it into Jinx’s lap. 

Jinx stared at it, uncomprehending. “For me?”

The hair on the back of Silco’s neck stood up. Jinx didn’t even know anyone who didn’t work for him. At least, she shouldn’t . A dozen nightmare scenarios flashed through his mind as she tore open the envelope and scanned the letter.

A smile bloomed across her face. “Oh, it’s from Marigold!”

He exchanged glances with Sevika, and kept his tone even. “What did she write?”

“She sent some sketches of a new toy she’s working on, and … asked my advice .” She looked bowled over by this. SIlco regularly praised her creations, of course, but she’d never really interacted with another gadgeteer. That kind of professional respect could affect someone powerfully. Indeed, her eyes lit up and she began jiggling one leg in excitement. “This is so cool! Well, I can already see this alloy isn’t gonna work, and that gauge–”

Silco plucked the pages from her hands. “Jinx,” he chided gently. “We talked about this beforehand.” 

She knitted her eyebrows. “What do you mean?”

“These girls are actors,” he said, shaking his head. “They embody their clients’ fantasies – anticipate them, even – with one goal: Repeat business, and therefore reliable income.” 

“But this isn’t about sex,” she reasoned, gesturing at the letter.

He sighed wearily. “Of course not. Your fantasy is friendship . So that’s what she dangles in front of you, to get you engaged.”

“She … she wouldn’t …” The wheels in her head were turning, her troubled eyes darting back and forth as she no doubt reviewed that night’s events. Finally, her shoulders slumped and her gaze dropped to the floor. “She really seemed to like me.”

He spread his hands. “She’s talented. We wouldn’t have hired her if she weren’t.” He patted her arm. “Don’t blame yourself for getting taken in. It was your first time with a professional. Now you know better.”

Jinx scowled, jerked her arm away, and hopped off the desk. Leaving the letter and her unfinished project behind, she sulked out of the room.

Sevika had watched all this silently, waiting for whatever SIlco wanted from her next.

“Nothing worse than a presumptuous whore,” he muttered, crumpling the pages into his ashtray and picking up his lighter. “Take care of it.”

Sevika’s eyebrows flicked up, but then her face fell into its usual compliant grimace. “Sure thing, boss.” She went for the door, then turned back. “Should I do it quiet, or send a message?”

He tapped one long finger on his lips, thinking. “Quiet. No need to cause a scene.” Protecting Jinx was all that mattered. Once Sevika left, he sparked the lighter, touched it to the corner of the letter, and settled back into his chair, watching the smoke curl like rope.