Chapter Text
“Morning.” You looked up from your desk to see Sevika coming out of the corridor to Silco’s office. Huh. You had thought you were the first one here.
“Morning! Boss here already?” You stood and grabbed some letters for him, but the dark-haired woman shook her head. She was a little pale around the nose, eye-makeup smudged over one temple.
“I slept here. He’ll be in soon.” She stopped in front of your desk and pulled the elastic from her hair, letting the smooth black strands fall into her face as she loomed over you. You swallowed. Her broad frame near you always made something in your stomach clench.
“Anything important?” She redid her half-up hairstyle and pinched the bridge of her nose with thumb and middle finger.
“Not really, just some shipping troubles and an ownership dispute over a house at the docs.”
Sevika huffed, shaking her head.
“Can’t believe people treat this place like city hall now.” She rubbed her nose and sniffed. You smiled at her. This progression of Silco's dealings was the reason you were here - he had employed you to run a reception desk and sift through everything that flew in before bringing him the important tasks and visitors.
“I think it’s good to already prepare people for our independence," you said. "They’re not going to Piltover with this stuff anymore.”
Sevika pursed her lips and nodded.
“I guess that’s true.” She stretched heartily, the muscles in her upper body flexing as she lifted her hands and let her head fall back for a second. Her shirt rode up, exposing copper skin. Your mouth was suddenly dry. She groaned and let her arms thump against her sides, rolling her neck. “Alright, I’m off. Tell Silco I’m dealing with the Dr. Mundo incident, I probably won’t be back until late this evening.”
“I will. Have a nice day.” You gave her another small smile. She just raised an eyebrow. Both of you knew nothing nice was likely to happen today.
“You too.”
-
Everyone else had already left, only you and Silco were still at the office. Jinx had sauntered past you with a gigantic lollipop a while ago, apparently on a mission to ruin someone else's day. She and Silco had been yelling at each other for half an hour before that.
“Y/N?” Silco’s voice came from inside his office, sounding exhausted. You rushed down the corridor and knocked once before sticking your head through the door.
“Sir?”
“Stop that.” He swiveled in his chair. A bit of Shimmer was smeared on his bad cheek. He was even paler than usual, his skin grey and sickly. “Silco is fine. Come over here.”
“Yes, Si-ilco.” You could see an amused glint flash in his eye. “What can I do for you?”
He ran a hand through his hair and handed you a pack of letters. “Can you bring these to the post office tomorrow morning?”
You took them from him. There was no post down here, everything was delivered by messengers; mostly hungry children who would run fast for a few coins. These were all addressed to Piltover and would have to be posted from the bottom of the carriage train going up there thrice a day. You’d have to get up early to get them on the first train.
“Sure. Anything else?”
Silco sighed and you suddenly noticed his hands were shaking on the tabletop.
“Yes. My… device.” He pointed over to the gadget he used to inject his eye with Shimmer. You had seen him do it twice before; it was an eerie sight. “It broke today.”
You took another look at it and saw that the attachment that kept the needle from the perfect distance to his eye had broken off. A memory of things crashing against the wall during Silco’s and Jinx’s fight earlier told you the rest.
“Should I take a look at it?” You felt stupid. You knew way less about mechanics than he did.
“No, I’ll fix it tomorrow. But I can’t -” He held up his violently shaking hands. “I can’t right now. Could you…”
“Oh, of course. Yes.” You forced yourself not to think about it too long - if both your hands shook, you wouldn’t get anywhere.
“Good. Just keep the top pressed to the body so the distance is right. And then press the button at the back for the syringe to come out.”
You took a deep breath, then you grabbed the metal device and wrapped your hand around the broken junction between both parts. Without much ceremony, you placed the top around Silco’s eye.
“Ready?”
His hands grabbed the leather armrests on his chair, then he hissed: “Yes.”
You pressed the button and the needle jumped out, jabbing his eye. Silco’s scars flashed silvery-purple for a moment and he threw his head back, a choked gasp escaping him. You jumped back and he slumped forward in his chair, breathing heavily. Careful not to break anything else, you put the device back on the table.
“Are you okay?”
He just grunted. You crouched down in front of him to get a look at his face. His healthy eye was squeezed shut, the other empty and glowing like embers among coal. You reached out to wipe the Shimmer from his cheek and he flinched, but then he let you proceed.
A knock on the open door made you look up. Sevika stood in the doorway, looking confused and angry. You got up and grabbed the stack of letters.
“Hey.” Careful to keep your voice level, you walked toward her. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah… Hard day.” She sounded far away, her eyes still fixed on Silco at his desk.
“Thank you, Y/N,” Silco said behind you, “that’s all for today.” He sounded unbearably tired.
You passed Sevika without managing to catch her gaze. She smelled like leather and cigars, and you found yourself inhaling instinctively. You closed the door softly behind you.
As you packed your bag and cleaned up your desk, you wondered what had made Sevika look at you like that. Had anything happened to her today? Was she okay? Or had Silco said something about you? You couldn’t make sense of it.
Suddenly, you could hear raised voices for the second time today. You strained your ears, but there was no chance of distinguishing any words. The office door flew open, crashing against the wall, and Silco stormed out. He lifted two fingers at you in parting and muttered something sounding close to stubborn cow before yanking open the entrance door and vanishing into the night.
You blew out a long breath and bent to pick up your bag. It was time to get out of here. When you straightened up again, Sevika was standing on the other side of your desk. You jumped, bag clattering as it fell to the floor.
“For fuck’s -” Pressing your hand to your chest, you tried to slow down your racing heart. “Are you trying to kill me?”
“Sorry.” Sevika crossed her arms in front of her chest. She didn’t look sorry at all. Her eyes were dark, and for a moment you could envision steam blowing out of her ears. You bit your lip to keep from smiling, but she saw right through you. “Something funny?”
“Something wrong?” You crossed your arms and lifted your chin. You had been so close to avoiding the general hostility emanating from everyone today.
Sevika put her hands on the desk, leaning forward. “Did I miss something here? What was that with Silco earlier?”
You blinked rapidly. “Excuse me? What the hell are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about you two,” she waved a hand through the air, “having a tender moment over there.” A muscle in her jaw twitched and the azure scars on her cheek shimmered. Was she jealous? Of you and Silco? You had never noticed her acting anything but platonic toward him. How had you missed this? It suddenly felt like something vile was slowly eating through your stomach.
“Well, first of all, that’s none of your business, so I don’t know what you’re all upset about.” Sevika opened her mouth to speak, but you held up a hand. Her eyes flashed, but she let you continue. “And second of all, I was helping him with his injection because Jinx broke the damn syringe. That wasn’t a tender moment, that was a fucking painful situation both of us would have rather avoided.”
You grabbed your bag and made for the door, but Sevika placed a hand on your shoulder, stopping you.
You scoffed. “What?!” It was hard to meet her gaze.
“I’m sorry.” Her voice was suddenly soft. “I didn’t mean to assume -”
“Well, you did!”
You stepped to the side and away from her hand. She ran it over her face and sighed, then she stared at a point right next to your shoe.
”I have been thinking about you all day,” she said quietly. Her eyes finally met yours. “I wanted to ask you… I was planning on asking you out for a drink when I came back. I had a shitty day and I just wanted to see your face, to talk to you. And when I saw you with Silco, I just…”
She shrugged and her lips twitched into a pained smile. “I’m really sorry, Y/N.”
You hadn’t expected this.
“Me?” was all you got out. Not Silco? You?
Sevika frowned for a moment, then she stepped closer. “Yes, you.”
“Uh…” You straightened up. “For a drink?”
“Yes, for a drink,” she said. She looked so nervous you had to smile.
“I’d like that, yeah.” You watched her shoulders relax as her face lit up. “But you’re paying. I probably make a quarter of your salary.”
Sevika flashed a crooked smile at you and held the door open. “Of course. I’ll talk to Silco about a raise if you want.”
You stepped out into the damp evening air and waited as she locked up behind you. This day surely had taken a turn at the last moment.
“Where are you taking me?” you asked as Sevika fell into step with you.
“The Last Drop.” She moved closer to make room for someone passing in the other direction and your knuckles brushed against each other. In the corner of your eye, you could see her bite down a smile.
You couldn’t wait to see what else this night had in store for you.