powerhungry | SALTBURNT

[hm.]

She wasn't especially detailed, aside from mentioning you and Jinx.

[ Even that's enough to paint a picture clear enough for Silco to gauge what's going on — if whatever Caitlyn said was enough to change Koby's mind about him (about Jinx), then he wouldn't have reached out. That he's here is a hand partially extended, so— ]

Ask the questions you want to ask, Koby.

[there's no waffling about or hemming and hawing -- koby doesn't know much about the world they come from, but he's beginning to put things together. if caitlyn had been an ally of silco or jinx, she would've been mentioned by now, but thus far he's only heard about vander and jinx's pink-haired sister.

therefore: she's not.]

Should I be concerned about her being here? Is she going to cause problems? Is she capable of causing them?

[and about a thousand more, but those are the most important ones: what is the immediate threat and does it need to be neutralized?]

[ It is, above anything else, useful. A declaration of loyalty as much as it is curiosity. Maybe still just to Jinx, considering Silco's still nascent relationship with the other Straw Hats, but better than nothing. The question that follows is what that's worth — just how much Silco's willing to give away. ]

Duly. Potentially. Yes.

[ A pause. ]

She wants Jinx's head.

[ In the end, he leaves two things out. The first, that Jinx can take care of herself. Because she can — she's strong, capable, quick — but being able to handle a threat doesn't negate its presence. The second, why Caitlyn would want Jinx at all. ]

[noted, noted, noted. koby has a great void of curiosity for exactly the omissions silco makes: the why, the what happened, the reason why a commander would want a known force of chaos and havoc neutralized. because the fact is that he's pretty sure he already knows why, because it's obvious -- and because, if he had met caitlyn first, he knows damn well he'd likely be on her side.

though -- would he? the koby of a year and a half ago, marine uniform and staunch black-and-white view of the world, definitely would've been. but that was before, before the village, before saltburnt. before jinx.

eventually, instead:] I see. Thank you. Like I said, she wasn't particularly forthcoming, but I made where I stand fairly clear to her, just in case. Please tell me if you need any back-up, Mr. Silco. I know you two can handle yourselves just fine, but The offer's there.

Thank you, Koby.
For the clarification, and for the offer.

If you'll allow the change in subject, I had something else I wanted to discuss with you.
The guest Set. What do you know about him?

[oh. well.]

As much as anyone can, I suppose? It depends on what you mean.

Whatever you'd be willing to share. I suppose you could call it a childish fascination, to know we have a god in our midst — not a surprise for some, I assume, but certainly for me.

[koby doesn't believe that for a moment, that it's just curiosity motivating the question. not from silco. still:]

You believe he's a god, then? A lot of people don't, but I do. I can feel it. There are some books on what he's capable of, in the library, but I don't think that's what you're wanting to know, is it?

If I wanted to know what a book could tell me, I hardly would have asked you.

But to answer your other question: [ lest being so not-straightforward is hurting his chances ] I believe he could be.
What does he feel like, to you?

I suppose so, yes. Personally, I believe that he's a very powerful, potentially very dangerous force. I've never met a god, but Set doesn't feel like most of the people here, so it's a definite possibility. He feels MORE. Most people feel complex, nuanced, but contained. Set doesn't. Or -- if he's contained, it's not by choice. And I've seen firsthand what he can do. What his powers are. But if nothing else, he's very close to someone very important to me. And I consider him a friend. [granted, koby's on good terms with most, if not all of the manor by this point, so that could mean nothing to silco, not aware of the deeper nuance present.]

How fascinating. Man longs for kinship with its supposed makers, but perhaps such a thing is more distant than we'd like to admit.

[ As for the oblique warning, it doesn't really seem to give Silco pause one way or the other, not the way he had when they'd spoken of Jinx and Koby's crew. The fact of the matter is that he can say that he doesn't mean Set any harm or really have much vested interest in him without lying — it's not for his own sake that he's asking. ]

What can he do?

Perhaps? I think we have a few people here claiming to be gods -- Tim doesn't believe any of it, but I believe Set at least. Sailors tend to be more superstitious about omens and signs and stuff. Sea gods, sometimes, but that's more apocryphal than religious. He's a god of the desert. There's a lot of sand involved. He's had a few millennia to perfect it, too. He's definitely better at fighting than I am, but that isn't saying much.

You don't believe the others?

I suppose that's to be expected.
The sand, I mean, not your capabilities.

I haven't spent enough time around them to be sure. And I don't like poking around in people's minds without permission. That's a very kind allowance, Mr. Silco, especially having seen me. I know I'm not impressive, it's okay. But yes, sand. Sandstorms, too.

Naturally.
And strength alone isn't enough to impress me, Koby, though there are days I wish it were that simple.

I think it's admirable that it's not that simple. It means you're discerning. What DOES impress you?

Conviction. Strength, cleverness — they're all tools, and no tool can accomplish anything without a clear force to drive it.
And what of you?

Conviction, too, I suppose. Confidence. Decisiveness. A purpose. Even if someone does something I don't agree with [piracy, anarchy, some light war crimes] I can't help but respect someone who does it wholeheartedly. For a reason. It's senseless cruelty I can't respect.

[ He wonders — in an idle, purposeless kind of way — what Koby would make of the way he'd exerted control over Zaun. Hardly senseless, he'd have said, but still not the kind of thing that gained him many friends, and certainly no admirers in Piltover. ]

And do you see that, here?

[its hard to say -- would koby hold a hard line and condemn silco's acts, or make excuses, clouded by his emotions? probably the latter.

...definitely the latter.]

I see it everywhere. Here it's a bit harder to find the source, but I see the effects.

The parties, you mean. The ones that go wrong.

Sometimes. Sometimes it's just Day to day things. I can feel it, spreading through the house like I don't know. Blood in the water, maybe. It's in all of us, by now. The parties are just a symptom of whatever's in control, I think.

[ Well, he doesn't love to hear that. ]

I see.
Better the devil you know, I suppose.

Thank you, Koby.

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