FALL FROM GRACE , SILCO

4. brothels

(TW: prostitution!)

Whenever Silco would be stressed, he would visit the brothels. He would walk up to the biggest, fanciest one in Zaun and ask for the newest girl. When they were alone in the room, he'd simply sit and tell them to take a break as well. There was no way for him to get any peace and quiet at the Last Drop. Sevika would always bother him with some trivial issue she could have solved herself or Jinx would always barge in to talk about some new mechanical thing she made. He would never understand what she was explaining, but he nodded along anyway.

He always told the girls to make up something and tell people they did have sex whenever anyone asked. He did not mind if they made up wild stories, for he enjoyed hearing about them. Some of the girls were very creative. It had been a year of going to brothels, sitting in silence with the girls, and giving them a fat tip. After a few months of this practice, Silco had earned the reputation of being a sex-crazed maniac because of this, he did care one bit.

Very rarely did he have conversations with them. When he did, they were always very thought-provoking and highly intelligent ones.

The whole truth was that he had not been with a woman for a very, very long time. He wasn't planning on it either. Unlike the rest of the population, he did not enjoy sex at all. The whole act was far too...intimate. Silco didn't like being touched anywhere in general, Jinx was the only exception, since she was like family to him.

He headed out into the brothel on a rainy night.

"Silco, sir! Welcome back, we have not seen you in a long time, I'd say." The older woman smacked her blue painted lips. She eyed him up and down, "Would you like the newer ones? We got some fresh meat today." She offered. He nodded.

"Girls!" The woman yelled loudly, causing Silco to flinch. The glass on the table shook at her piercing voice. A line of very young looking women walked out, dressed provocatively. Some of them did not even look to be older than Jinx. All of them looked so uncomfortable...so sad. The woman walked past the uglier ones, skipping right to the tall, blonde girl with blue eyes.

"Say, how about this one? She's a dancer, too!" The older woman boasted, grabbing the blonde girl by her hand tightly. The girl held back a yelp of pain.

He nodded again.

"Perfect! I'll get her ready in.." She checked something behind her desk, "Room 3! Just you wait." The older woman dragged the blonde girl in the room.

He sat on a red, velvet armchair to wait. A few minutes later, the older woman came back. "She's ready."

Tossing her a stack of cash, he went into the room without a second thought.

"He-hello, sir." The girl greeted unsurely, she had a very strong accent. Almost the same as the brown-haired girl who he couldn't keep his mind off of.

"Hello." He greeted awkwardly. Silco noticed she was staring at his eye, and raised a hand to it.

"Don't worry," he assured, "It's not contagious." She nodded, still wary and afraid.

"I'm not here to...do anything with you." He sat on a chair far away from the bed she was laying on. The blonde girl tilted her head. "I'm sorry...I don't understand." She replied politely.

"I just wanted some peace and quiet." He said, leaning his head back on the chair.

"So...you will not have me?" She questioned, "Did..did I do something wrong?" He turned to face her after hearing those words.

"No! No, of course not...what is your name?" He asked.

"Angel." She lied, but he could see right through it.

"Your real name."

"Amelié." She muttered quietly, hoping he would not hear.

"Well, Amelié." He took off his shoes, wearing only some black socks underneath. "Do whatever you want here for the next hour. I'm going to take a nap."

"You are...joking, no?" The blonde girl asked, still very confused.

"No, I just want some peace and quiet. Huh, Amelié is quite an exquisite name." He commented. "Beautiful name, no doubt."

She smiled, noticing his sincerity. Amelié reached for the scarf hung on the bed frame and covered her chest. "Well...I'm not from here." She admitted.

The conversation began from there. From what she told him, Amelié was a ballet dancer by day and a prostitute by night. Her old one got busted by the enforcers, as Piltover increased security for the arrest of the woman who burnt down a large, historical building. Silco thought of the brown haired woman who he dubbed as Deer in his head.

Silco was not there to talk about himself, in fact, he was there to listen.

"Mr. Silco you must know, ballet pays nothing!" She complained, champagne flute in hand. "I have been trying to save up for quite a while."

"For what?"

"Ballet shoes." She replied, she too, was now barefoot. They were on the other side of the room, each sat on a comfortable armchair.

"Ballet shoes?"

"Ballet shoes." She repeated with certainty. Silco furrowed his brows, "Surely, they must not be that expensive."

"They aren't, if I don't eat for three weeks." She replied, sighing. "Thankfully, my friend Eliza had given me what I needed to buy them, so I can use the other money for more important things, like my sister." She explained.

"Is she like you, this Eliza?"

She shook her head, "She was supposed to be. Everyone knew she was way too headstrong to be like us. I always wanted her to get out of this life." Amelié smiled at the thought of her cherished friend. "She is a most treasured friend."

"What does she do?"

"She's...ummm...working as a mercenary." She replied. Amelié scolded herself for blurting it out to a complete stranger. But he had not judged her for the past hour, why would he judge her now?

Before Silco could ask anymore questions, a knock on the door halted their talk. "Time's up, sir!" The woman at the desk croaked.

Silco began to loosen his tie and mess up his hair. He plucked out a button from his shirt, leaving the top half exposed.

"Listen, just tell the others whatever you want to say. I would just like for you to keep this our little secret, yes?" He held her shoulders, Amelié nodded along. "Promise?" She nodded. "Of course, Monsieur Silco."

"One more thing." He grabbed her hand before she walked out the door.

"This is for you. For you and your sister only, this should be enough for a long time." He handed her a heavy envelope.

"Goodbye, Amelié." He patted her shoulder lightly, before heading out the door, ignoring the older woman's goodbyes.

Amelié closed the door of Room 3 shut for a moment and ripped the envelope open. Inside was a stack of cash, it was enough for her to buy as many ballet shoes as she wanted.