You can thank your sister and the enforcer for my near sightlessness and spittle-like appearance. Neither of them have the class to at least throw water on me before tossing me at Jerry.

[His fingers tracked through her bangs over and over again, occasionally stroking her scalp. He liked the feel of hair on his digits; it was the kind of soft subtle touch that came easier to him, a reminder of an old comfort and self-soothe behaviour. Aside from himself, Jinx was the only one he shared it with and only on rare occasions.]

[He rested his head back against the couch and shrugged at her single word question. He made a point of closing his blue eye completely, letting the full sight of the bruising very clear.]

I didn't misspeak. They came for me in Rumpitur, and both had a hand in capturing me for deliverance for sentencing to the Council.

[He had not had a good time; his only reprieve was that they were equally as miserable with him as he had been with them. Still, their unspoken and uneasy peace was broken, and he'd repay their abuses twice over.]

[Silco had had plenty of time in his travels to consider what was happening, and it wasn't as if the enforcer and the sister were particularly quiet. He hadn't slept on the trip, and it had been a miserable trip gagged anyway. It seemed to him that the enforcer was able to be whipped easily.

He cracked his eye open and tipped his chin towards his chest at the question, and Jinx's anger was so obvious that he barely earned a reaction out of him. He could already guess which of the two she was most angry with, and her narrative was likely to be rather off base from the truth, whatever that might be.

His fingers stroked through her bangs again.]

Does it matter? They were both involved. [And he expected he should count one blessing that the sister hadn't used the opportunity to kill him.]

[His hand withdrew, and there was a single moment when he regretted saying anything about his adventure back to Aldrip. He was going to miss the brief quiet, and it was too bad that he hadn't taken her up on the knife to the back escort.]

The enforcer wanted to meet to provide me with information about the Council, but it was a ruse to get close to draw me out. Your sister punched me in the face, and the pair of them tied and gagged me before hauling me back to Aldrip.

[He sighed from his nose and lifted an arm to catch on the arm of the couch so he could pull himself up to his feet gingerly.]

I have no reason to hide what happened from you, Jinx. However, now is not the time to go off half-cocked just yet.

[Normally her sudden silence and moving off was a sign of trouble to come, and he wouldn't much much, if any, effort to stop her. He preferred to plan his revenge and take his time with it, but even he had to admit there was certain satisfaction with impulsiveness. Jinx happened to be a master of chaos.

He pushed off the couch and walked to the kitchen table as she retrieved multiple weapons that she had in hiding. He knew she had a stash and would expect nothing else.

He reached down to pick up one of the revolvers and his fingers worked over the mechanisms of the weapon. Enforcers used firearms, but he had come to learn them from the fledgling rebellion and having a daughter who was skilled in their use. The expense was normally prohibitive for those of the Undercity.]

And here I thought that you were saving one for me. You do look better with a firearm than I do.

[He clicked the safety off then on again, an unexpected shudder running down his spine as he remembered the last time he had handled a firearm. His chest provided a stab of pain of reminder of what it was like to die. He set the revolver back on the table.]

I'll leave the enforcer to you.

[It was an instinctual reaction he had only had to certain situations, and this one one of those that he would take time in the very near future to ponder why. Jinx was flashing around guns all the time, and this wasn't the first time that the barrel had aimed his way. It couldn't be intent either, not with the current situation. There had to be something though, but he wasn't in a state to consider it.

The moment was broken when she seemed to catch her own body odor, and it seemed that she would be utilizing the bathroom first. That was probably for the best so he could clean up while she was occupied. He also desperately needed a stiff drink.]

Agreed. I'll have one once you're finished in there.

Unless it is clean when you emerge from bathing.

[It wouldn't be, of course. He was good, but he wasn't that good and soreness would slow him down. Still, he would prefer the distraction than waiting. At the same time, he could nurse that drink.

It wouldn't be the absolute worst.]