Slowly you approached the door, which was hidden in the shadows in the left corner next to Silco's desk. The voices grew louder with each step, words formed.

"Ouch! That hurts!", that was the voice of Jinx, tired yet still awake enough to nag.

A sigh filled the air.

That had to be Silco.

"Keep your head still.", he instructed her in a tone that made it unmistakably clear that his patience was running out and he was actually already far too tired for this nonsense.

"But it hurts!"

"It wouldn't hurt if you kept your head still."

"But-!"

"Jinx!"

The sudden volume of his voice made him wince in surprise.

Actually, this wasn't your business, and Jinx didn't seem to be a girl who couldn't handle Silco. But you couldn't help but think what if someone gave him a hand.

Silco was obviously not a man for children. If you thought about it very cynically, you couldn't even think of a rumor that he had a relationship.

Of course, that didn't mean that he had never had anyone.

Perhaps he also found this kind of companionship annoying, after all, his goals were ambitious and his time limited. The fact that his own eye was slowly eating away at him didn't buy him any more either.

Gritting your teeth, you closed your eyes and had to stifle a sigh before your hand slowly rose and knocked on the door.

Immediately Jinx's nagging stopped and Silco paused as well.

For a moment nobody moved.

His footsteps approached, slow and deliberate. The long shadow of his slender figure danced in the light that fell through the narrow crack in the door.

You could still see that he was hiding something behind his back, when the door opened wider and the normal half of his face appeared.

Grimly he looked at you, his eye skipping over your body, making sure that no one was with you.

"Samaritan...", he sounded anything but thrilled as he opened the door wider to reveal the rest of his body dressed in red silk pajamas. "It's late."

That statement alone was a clear indication that he did not want to be disturbed. On the other hand, he couldn't send you away until he was sure it wasn't about the shimmer.

With a forced smile, you tried to remain polite.

"A fancy pyjamas for a place like Zaun.", you noted with a raised eyebrow. "Which council member was it stolen from?"

Rolling his eyes, Silco shook his head and wanted to slam the door in your face.

But you pushed yourself between the door and the frame. Embarrassed, you smiled as he looked at you with a questioning expression.

At that moment you realized how close you were to him, barely an arm's length apart. His narrow chest was turned towards you, you could have let your fingers wander over his pale skin if you had wanted to.

Embarrassed, you lowered your gaze to avoid looking conspicuously into his half-unbuttoned top.

"What are you doing?", he asked, but didn't move a bit. "I suppose you did not come here to insult my choice of sleepwear?"

He was aware of how close you two were. Close enough for a hug.

Your scent rose to his nose, hospital and disinfectant, and he had to remind himself how much he had disliked that smell just a few hours ago.

Panic-stricken, you shrugged your shoulders and tried to avoid his gaze at all costs.

"I overheard your conversation.", you began, trying to find the right words so that he wouldn't think you had spied on him. "May I help?"

For a moment he looked at you. The orange of his eye seemed to pulse as if his own heart were beating inside the black orb. With a quick glance over his shoulder, he checked Jinx.

Eyebrows drawn together and looking like she was going to pull all the hair off her head at any moment, she looked at him with her big puppy dog eyes while her short legs dangled from the dressing table she was placed on so he could better comb her hair.

A long, exhausted sigh left his thin lips. With a gesture of his hand, he held out the comb with some of Jinx's blue hair still hanging in its teeth.

"You have children, don't you?", he asked, raising his hand in invitation. "Her hair is hard to tame, but she doesn't want to cut it off either."

With an amused smirk, you took the comb and took a look at the situation yourself.

"Looks awful...", you muttered as Jinx willingly held her head out to you, hoping that your skills were better than his.

Silco frowned. He almost looked offended.

"So you can do better?", he cut himself a cigar, but didn't light it.

You shrugged.

"Lots of kids means lots of opportunities to practice."

"I can't argue with that logic."

His eyes jumped curiously over your shoulder as you began to loosen individual knots in her braids with the teeth of the comb.

"Her hair is knotted and dirty. Do you only let her wash it once a month?", out of the corner of your eye you looked at him questioningly.

His eyebrows drew together.

"She's out a lot.", he said, but it sounded like he was trying to defend himself from criticism.

Jinx nodded in agreement. It was easy to tell that she was too tired to join the conversation. Her eyes were already half closed and every now and then her head tilted forward for a few moments.

"If she wants to have long hair, she has to wash it. At least once a week.", you explained and continued to undo the uneven braids. "And she has to comb it every day. After waking up and at bedtime."

Exhausted, he sighed, rubbing his forehead.

"As you can see, that's not her favourite part of the day.", he wanted to make a point by showing how much Jimx hated this moment right now but stopped in surprised as he noticed that she had fallen asleep. "Why is she so calm all of a sudden?"

Amused, you had to chuckle.