keepitgoing | etraya Inbox.

Most stuff you do for fun is kinda frivolous… but fun is also good for your mental health, you know? To make you feel better… even if I never had any money to get fancy gifts, there was always something I could make, anyway.

[He certainly wasn’t Zaun poor, but he knew a thing or two about living on a painfully tight budget; dumpster diving for parts was honestly a fun pastime, as long as nobody caught you doing it.

He looks between the two, unsure if he’s intruding on something more personal. If her dad had some kind of health issue — no, Peter, bite your tongue. Don’t get involved. Jinx is practically waving red flags for a reason.

Ehem.]

I’d totally show you my chemistry set, but it kinda… vanished after I left Etraya the first time? I’ll definitely get it back, though.

…

Um. What stuff did you guys get? From Aurora.

Edited 2025-04-05 21:11 (UTC)

Jinx —

[ He warns, as if he's going to stop her (he isn't) from speaking up, but he's at least going to level his disappointment about it. His eyes swivel to the boy, and his head tipped in a way that said, very clearly: 'what the hell is mental health', before he rolled his eyes slightly. ]

Right. Well, I do hope you have fun making these bath bombs. [ A tip of his head, towards Jinx. ] Don't even think about it.

[ Because. He knows. Jinx will try. It'll be something explosive and filled with glitter and color and he isn't having that in his bath. He won't be able to leave for a week. ]

I asked for a place for us.

[ He says. Blithely.

Also true.

He also excludes the vial of shimmer he's keeping for just the right moment. Or reproduction. ]

... ? What?

(Mental health?)

He's kinda right, though, Silco, it is pretty fun to make stuff. I used to make stuff for you all the time.

(Well, actually, take the stuff he already had and make art on it and call it a day... But also, her face turns a little because. Yeah. She was definitely going to make a glitter bomb. How did he know.

... And she also doesn't want to know Peter to know where she stays, doesn't want him to stroll accidentally into plans that he should not know, or who the fuck knows, step into a shimmer-production-super-operation.

She knows his dad.)

Look at the time, I have to. Help. Sevika with a thing with a guy with a threat with a small-scale large arson, and he... He should be getting ready for the lame nerd science convention.

(SHE'S SORRY, PETER.)

Oh. Yeah, that's good. Totally good to have places for yourself.

[TO MAKE VILLAIN THINGS?!?! Peter's mind screams. But he decidedly does not scream it out loud. Instead, his eyebrow twitches, and his smile remains steadfast, if not absolutely looking intimidated by the company kept.]

... And a perfect place to experiment with bath bombs. As long as you're aware that they don't actually explode when they make contact with water...

[His gaze shifts toward Jinx, then towards their half-eaten french fries, then towards Silco, then back at Jinx. Every fiber of his hero being is trying not to take Jinx's words as 100% gospel. Isn't she a total nerd, too? Uncool, man.]

Yeah, that seems — bad? But I... yeah, I do have stuff to do. Actually, I was totally gonna hit up the junkyard, so I should probably do that before the sun sets.

[Which is kinda true? He's been due for a scrap collecting sesh.]

[ None of these things exist. What are they causing arson over? He hasn't tasked Sevika with anything, and his head tipped, and he eyed Jinx suspiciously, his single good eye narrowing and his lips pulling into a flat line. ]

You're the one who wanted me to sit down.

[ He points out. Hey, if Jinx is looking for an excuse, that makes him more suspicious, but more than that, it makes his eyes swivel to the boy across the table again. His lip curls up in an odd microexpression, as if the unmarred side of his face contorts only slightly, before it returns to neutrality. ]

But very well. I would hate to hold you back from helping Sevika with her work, after all.

[ he says. Pointedly. The words "bullshit" are in his voice, even if he doesn't say the word. ]

... Don't be a square. That'd actually be fun, it doesn't even have to be a big boom, just, you know. Glitter. Who doesn't love glitter?

(She's very sensitive about lying, and wanna know one thing she sucks at doing, if she's not on full-villain mode? Lying. But at least that first part is true, because she is going to order a full round of food for Silco. She was serious that he needed to eat.)

Yep, and now you have no choice but to eat—great of me, super genius. I'll know if you don't. I'll let you know how the job goes, easy-peezy.

(Because she's coming here tomorrow to ask the bots if he actually has. Listen, someone has to caretaker, and it usually is her. This is part of her job, after all, and probably the one part she doesn't mess up.

But she knows she's super cooked when she gets home. The usual one-hour monologue is going to be a whole three, which, well, all things considered is not a punishment in any way, because Silco is literally, emotionally, and physically unable to dole out those to her.

Still. It is super annoying.

Peter says junkyard and she points, because that's, wow, right on the way for her too. So, she comes close to Silco to press a kiss to his head, and she takes her leave. Don't be stupid, Peter. Follow her, get out, save thyself.)

Edited 2025-04-06 05:13 (UTC)

[Peter is already mourning the fact that he didn't get to finish his fries. But there are more important things to focus on! Like not getting stuck at a booth by himself with Jinx's dad.]

Yeah, you gotta try the fries; those are a delicacy where I'm from. [He moves to wander after her, trying and failing not to look totally guilty and awkward as she shuffles out of there and gives her adoptive dad a kind of lame salute.] It was really nice meeting you, Mr. Silco!

[MISTER SILCO...]

[ Silco?

He narrows his eye. He gives Jinx the look that says, in no uncertain terms, that yes he knows what she is doing. No, he isn't eating, and absolutely she is going to have some sort of screed when the time comes.

There is no getting around that one. In no uncertain terms.

She's going to hear it.

What did he just fucking say!!! Literally just in the last world???

Lamely, he says: ]

It's just Silco.

[ Because he doesn't actually want to talk to Peter. No offense, kid, but you're so...

Wholesome??

Then again, hadn't his tough crimelord... everything just melted immediately as soon as his daughter gave him a kiss on the head? He just let that happen???? ]

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