Chapter Text
Viktor always knew the world was a cruel place. He wasn’t disillusioned into believing that life played fair, especially not to those living in the Undercity. He’d been well informed of this fact, from the early age of eight when his parents were murdered in front of him, simply for being somewhere they weren’t supposed to.
Viktor also knew the cruelty of Piltover enforcers.
He could remember the red of his parents’ blood as it washed down a drain pipe in the street. He could remember how blue the enforcers uniform looked, even coated in the red blood of his parents.
He knew cruelty when the enforcer stared at Viktor cowering behind some barrels, covered in blood, before walking away. Leaving his parents’ bodies to rot there in the street. Unable to carry them or do anything with his bad leg, Viktor had to flee back down into the Undercity, out of fear more enforcers would show up.
Yes, Viktor was well aware of how cruel the world could really be.
Or at least, he thought he was.
Now, I understand.
“You think we can get the fuckin’ cripple to do our sections again.”
Viktor bristled at the voice that was hissing above him. His grip on his cane tightened and he swallowed past the lump in his throat. The air within the old elevator felt stale, and Viktor suppressed a cough within his chest. He ducked his head lower, avoiding eye contact with the two miners talking about him, hoping to get out of the crowded elevator as quickly as possible.
The newly twelve-year-old knew exactly who was talking. They weren’t trying to be quiet, and yet no one else said anything. Even if several of them were uncomfortable.
“Depends, ya wanna get yelled at again, ‘cause he takes fuckin’ forever.” The man’s companion said in a nasally voice. “Don’t even know how he got hired here. Can’t even pull his own goddamn weight.”
Viktor shifted nervously, eyeing the rocky walls of the elevator.
1,001…1,002…1,003…just twenty two more seconds and we reach the bottom.
“I’ll take the yelling over this work any day.” The first man snorted, hacking a spit that landed beside Viktor’s shoe. “Everyone knows those fuckin’ Pilties need us to keep mining. Ain’t no way I’d get fired.”
1,013…1,014…1,015…1,016…
“Why not.” The companion laughed. “Maybe you can get him to do my section too. He’ll be here all night if he does.” The two shared a laughed that went right to the bottom of Viktor’s stomach. Nervously, he peeked from the corner of his eye to see the two men, looking directly at him. He clenched his cane tighter and anxiously shifted on his feet.
“Hey, crippie!”
Viktor’s heart lurched in his throat when the original man talking called to him.
1,022…1,023!
“Crippie, I’m talking to you.” The man snarled from the back of the elevator. Viktor breathed a small sigh of relief when the elevator dinged and came to a full stop. He barely waited for the door to open before he was hobbling out of the elevator as fast as he could manage. Thankfully, all of the other workers must have felt his unease or were uneasy themselves and didn’t care that Viktor practically bolted past them out the doors first.
Normally he could avoid the two men, but on occasion they had the same shift and would manage to get on the same elevator as Viktor. And normally that meant a hell of a shift for Viktor.
“Get back here! You little fuck!”
Viktor’s breathing picked up and he pushed himself faster down one of the halls towards where his station would be at. He didn’t dare to look back and see if the two men had bothered to chase him down. With any luck, they couldn’t be bothered to chase after Viktor and would leave him alone.
Unfortunately, Viktor was never so lucky.
He could hear footsteps thundering down the cavern and Viktor gasped. Shit, they were going to get him. He tried to quicken his pace, frantically looking anywhere to hide. Just up a head Viktor could see a door with a light on in the cavern, looking to be one of the “offices” workers could go to take a smoke break.
The ten feet from him to the door felt so far away to Viktor.
“When I get a hold of you, I’m gonna strangle you!” One of the men shouted behind Viktor. Viktor reached for the door, only to stumble on a rock he hadn’t see with his bad leg. He cursed silently, heart racing and breathing speeding up even more, when he came crashing to the floor. His cane fell out of his hand and landed a few feet away from Viktor. Pain shot through his chin and his hands when he crashed against the cold, hard floor.
Oh no, they’re going to get me. They’re gonna kill me!
Viktor was paralyzed with fear when he tried to push himself up, only to shout in pain when a hand grabbed onto his head, forcing his neck back. Out of desperate fear, Viktor clawed as hard as he could at the hand, snarling and shouting .
“You fuckin’ brat, you’re gonna regret running away.” The first man sneered down at Viktor, staring at him with dark glaring eyes. Viktor swallowed thickly, staring up at the ugly face in front of him. He caught site of two other men surrounding them.
“You know, maybe we ought to take care of you for your folks.” The man grinned down at Viktor, who continued to fight uselessly. “Yer probably nothing but a burden to them. Would be doing them a favor, throwing you down a well.”
“Right,” The second man from earlier laughed. “No one would come looking. Be a total accident. Poor crippie tripped and fell down the well.” The other two laughed at his suggestion and Viktor’s heart hammered in his chest.
“Pathetic.” Viktor spat at the man, directly into his eye. His heart was racing, and his breathing was becoming heavy gasps at this point, but his eyes were furious. How dare they.
“What’d you say kid?” The man holding his snarled.
“Pathetic.” Viktor hissed again. “How pathetic you must be to pick on a kid. And a crippled one too. Guess you can’t win any fights against dumb thugs like yourself.” The man’s eyes blazed with fury and Viktor had a short moment of satisfaction, at having gotten under the man’s skin. Before the fear overwhelmed him, when the man gripped his hair tighter.
This how I die.
“Do we have a problem here gentlemen?” Viktor gagged when the man jerked his head back at the sound of a new voice. He gasped when the grip on his hair loosened, and he could turn to see who had spoken.
With the door to the “office” now wide open, Viktor could see two men standing there. One was a fairly tall and largely built man. He clearly was one of the deep level miners just based on his arms being the side of Viktor’s head. He had brown hair that was just beginning to grey, but what caught Viktor’s attention the most was the hard look in his eye. It was one of righteous anger that sent a shiver down Viktor’s spine.
Was he mad at Viktor too?
Beside him was man who was tall like the other but much slimmer. He was no doubt a miner with his build, but probably not one of their deeper miners. His hair was dark, practically jet black and slicked back into a low ponytail, except for one section of bangs that trailed down the side of his face. Viktor could see nothing but a cold calculating look in this man’s eyes.
“Nah, we’re just taking this kid back to where he should be working.” The man holding Viktor muttered lowly, far less angry than he had been with Viktor. He must have been imagining things, because this man almost sounded nervous, talking with these new strangers. “Caught him trying to sneak out of doing his work.”
“Yeah, we were just heading back.” The other man beside Viktor mumbled.
The two men from the “office” were silent and Viktor swallowed.
“Now, Silco, maybe I’m getting old, but does this look like they were just helping the lad?” The larger of the two new men said gruffly, crossing his arms over his chest. Beside him, the dark haired man snorted.
“No, it doesn’t look like that Vander. Not at all.” The man, Silco, said darkly. “In fact, it looks like to me that you were chasing down the kid.”
“No, we weren’t.” The man holding Viktor said sharply. This caused Silco to turn an ice cold glare towards the man, that made even Viktor want to look away. Vander snarled to himself.
“That’s what I thought.” He uncrossed his arms and straighter himself to be even taller, which Viktor didn’t even think was possible. “I’ll give you five seconds to let him go and walk away, or else you and I are gonna have a problem.” By now, Viktor noticed the pair of miner gauntlets already on Vander’s hands and he blinked owlishly.
What have I gotten myself into? Perhaps I should have just tried to hide out in the doctor’s lab.
Viktor’s stomach churned at the thought of his old mentor.
No, that would have been a mistake.
“That’s far too generous Vander. I’ll give you to the count of three.” Silco said nonchalantly. Viktor could see the sharp glare he directed at the men harassing him, and instead of feeling scared like before, he felt relieved. He would rather this Silco and Vander terrify Viktor’s tormentors rather than himself. Instead, he felt at ease.
Safe?
“One…”
Viktor felt the breath knock right out of him when he was suddenly dropped to the floor. He groaned against the cold, hard ground and shakily pushed himself upright onto his hands and knees. Viktor heard the sounds of footsteps hurriedly going away from him and Silco and Vander and couldn’t help but snicker.
He quickly sobered up with a pair of boots came into his sight. Blinking back tears, Viktor look up feeling a tremor run through his body when Vander stood before him. He bit his tongue to hold back a whimper when Vander knelt down next to him, lowering his gauntlets.
Immediately, Viktor flinched when Vander raised a hand towards him and closed his eyes.
Here it comes.
Yet, nothing happened.
Silence followed and Viktor kept his eyes squeezed shut, anticipating a hit from Vander, just like he’d endured with everyone else in this horrid mine. But still, nothing happened. Shakily, Viktor opened his eyes and peered at Vander from under messy bangs. He released a breath that he hadn’t realized he was holding in shock at the look on Vander’s face.
While he had been expecting annoyance or anger, Vander was surprised to see a heartbroken look on Vander’s face. The man’s eyebrow was furrowed and his lips were turned into an unmistakable pained frown, that Viktor could not figure out for the life of him. He blinked once, twice, three times and the look were still on Vander’s face. The sound of gauntlets hitting the ground, caused Viktor to flinch again, and this time Vander spoke.
“Sorry, sorry. I just want to – I just…” His hand hovered in the air beside Viktor, who would not take his eyes off Vander’s face out of fear the man would trick him into hurting him. “You’re hurt. Can I take a look?”
Viktor blinked dumbly.
“What?” He winced at the crack in his voice, but Vander only smiled gently.
“He won’t harm you.” Silco said suddenly, from beside Viktor, causing him to jump. With hands far gentler than Viktor thought possible, Vander had steadied him by his shoulders to keep him from falling over again. Viktor glanced over at Silco, noticing the man was kneeling beside him and Vander know, helmet on the floor. But what caught Viktor’s eyes first was the fact that Silco was holding Viktor’s cane.
Carefully, Silco pressed the cane towards Viktor, with the smallest hint of a smile on his face. Viktor could only swallow painfully, hesitant to take his cane back. It would be a pain to have to try and find new wood or metal again to make a new cane, but at least there wasn’t anything valuable to this cane, other than helping aid Viktor when walking.
“Vander, while not the brightest guy in the world, is fairly decent at making sure not to harm others when he doesn’t want to.” Silco continued gently, ignoring Vander’s loud squawk of protest. Viktor gaped, feeling a small delighted bubble in his chest. “Although, between you and me, he’s put more holes in the walls on accident than probably this whole mining crew combined.”
Viktor couldn’t help but giggle just a tiny bit at the thought of Vander going around accidentally punching holes in walls.
Beside him, Silco’s smile grew a bit.
“Oh, fuck off.” Vander mumbled under his breath. “That was one time in your old apartment, and you’re never going to let that go, are you?”
“Nope.” Silco said lightly. He pushed Viktor’s cane even closer to him and waited quietly until Viktor finally found the courage to reach out and grab a hold of his cane. Once it was securely in his hand, Silco pulled away and leaned back on his heels. “Very good now little one. Will you let Vander take a look now? Your chin seems to be bleeding.”
Viktor frowned and ran a hand across his chin. It was still throbbing dully, and when he pulled his hand back it came back red with blood.
Red like his parents.
Viktor’s breath picked up.
However, before he could fall into a cycle of panic and hysteria, he felt large, warm fingers brush against his chin gently and take a hold. Viktor’s eyes snapped over to Vander to see him look at Viktor’s chin and digging into this pocked. Quickly, he pulled out what looked to be a handkerchief and softly dabbed at Viktor’s chin.
“Looks like just a scrap. Probably just cut it on a rock.” Vander said quietly and continued to dab at Viktor’s chin. His eyes stung as the wound burned but he already felt a bit better at not seeing any red anymore. Once Vander finished dabbing his chin, he moved to gently wipe Viktor’s hand. “Was it just the fall? Or did those punks do anything to you?”
Vander wasn’t looking at him when he asked, and Viktor bit his lip. He saw Silco was looking at him expectantly and Viktor couldn’t help but feel like a scolded child. Like when he used to steal treats at shops and his mother would gently scold him for stealing but allow him to eat his prized treats.
“No, um, no.” Viktor cleared his throat with a cough when Vander continued to wipe his hand. “Not – not today.”
Vander’s movements paused and Silco sucked in an air of breath.
Shit, shit. You messed up. You shouldn’t have said that.
“Do they bother you often, little one?” Silco asked quietly. Viktor swallowed numbly, unable to look at either of them and instead focused on Vander cleaning his hand.
“Not – not a lot.” Viktor mumbled, wincing at the lie but neither Vander or Silco said anything. “Sometimes, when we work together.”
“How old are you kid?” Vander finally said after sharing an odd look with Silco. Viktor blinked, frowning in confusing and looked up at him.
“Twelve.” Viktor whispered. As of last Monday. He thought with a snort. In front of him, Vander and Silco shared another look with Vander shaking his head.
“Seriously? You look like you’re nine.” He mumbled.
“Am not!” Viktor couldn’t help but bite back, much to Vander’s surprise and Silco’s amusement. “You look like you’re forty.”
At this Silco snickered out loud and Viktor glared at Vander, who raised his hands up.
“Sheesh, sorry kid. You’re just kinda tiny.” Vander said, causing Viktor to roll his eyes.
“Well not all of us can be a gigantic walking powerhouse, like you.” Viktor replied, causing Silco to laugh even louder. In front of him, Vander's jaw dropped open.
“Shit, I don’t think I’ve seen someone clock you like that in a while Vans.” Silco murmured softly, earning a small smile from Viktor at the praise. “You’ve got a sharp tongue little one.”
“Er, um, sorry.” Viktor mumbled, realizing that insulting the person who helped get rid of his tormentors, and cleaned his wound, was probably the worst idea he had all morning. And he had even tried water in his cornflakes today.
“You’re fine kid.” Vander huffed, ruffling Viktor’s hair with one of his hands. Viktor sqeaked, trying to swipe the large man’s hand away. Gently, he felt Silco helping to pull him to his feet and he quickly adjust his cane. “I guess you deserve a little sass after dealing with those morons today.”
Viktor beamed.
“Do you work here?” Silco asked once Viktor was entirely upright. Viktor nervously rubbed his hand against the handle of his cane and looked over at the other man. He didn’t see and judgement in the other man’s eyes, but rather concern and that threw Viktor for a loop.
“Um yeah.” Viktor mumbled. “Kinda hard to buy food if you don’t have money. This was the only place willing to let me work, cause of, well you know.” He gestured down to his bad leg, and Silco and Vander grimaced.
“Where are your parents kid? Shouldn’t they be working?” Vander asked, immediately noticing Viktor’s rigid posture. Viktor harshly rubbed one of his wrists in an attempt to soothe himself.
They didn’t know.
It’s not their fault.
Viktor didn’t answer for several long minutes. Neither Silco nor Vander spoke either. Finally, Viktor looked up into Vander’s eyes.
Blue. And grey.
Not blue like enforcers. But blue like cotton candy.
“Dead.” Viktor finally whispered and he could feel the tension in the air. It was like someone had zapped all of the energy and replaced it with a heavy weight that was slowly settling on Viktor’s chest. He couldn’t afford for these two to try and get him fired, but something in him felt compelled to tell them the truth.
He looked over at Silco.
Light blue. Like clouds in the sky.
Silco and Vander shared another one of their weird looks. Then Vander clapped Viktor on the back of his neck.
“You’re sticking with us from now on.” Vander finally said, gently pulling Viktor to follow him. He was patient to wait for Viktor to get his footing and didn’t walk ahead of Viktor once they began moving. In fact, he and Silco stayed at Viktor’s pace, despite Viktor knowing they could move faster.
“Huh?” Viktor muttered.
“I believe what this oaf means is, from now on you work with either one of us or both.” Silco said softly. “We’ll get your schedules sorted so don’t worry about that, but you stick with one of us from now on. And never go anywhere alone.”
Viktor was confused.
“But, why?”
“Cause you’re one of us now.” Vander said without hesitation. “And being one of us means we look out for each other.”
Viktor was only slightly embarrassed to realize that when Vander and Silco meant he was one of them, he was one of them, they actually meant it and they weren’t making a joke.
It took weeks of them meeting him at the entrance of the mines and walking with him down to his workstation. He always had one of them with him, and during these few weeks, none of the other workers had bothered Viktor. He caught them sending him dark glares and could feel their hatred against his back, but Viktor couldn’t help but stick his tongue out whenever he walked past one of them with either Silco or Vander at his side, or both.
Eventually it became routine for Silco or Vander to be around Viktor during his time in the mines. The two of them did enough talking for Viktor, who was content to listen and observe for a while. But even Viktor couldn’t help but begin to open up to the two men, as he spent more and more time with them. He hadn’t fully admitted to either of them that he was living in a basic one room apartment, that was probably invested with rust and mold, near the factories that pumped out Grey every day.
But for the first time in years he felt, safe.
Safe enough to begin tinkering with some items whenever he was with Silco or Vander. Such as fixing one of Silco’s sledgehammers when it had broken. Or fixing both of their helmets so they were brighter than normal when going down into the deeper levels. He even managed to fix Vander’s gauntlets so they caused less of an impact against his knuckles when Vander dug against the rock walls.
Unfortunately, the owners of the mine did not appreciate Viktor’s tinkering. Even if they were improvements to their equipment.
Which was how Viktor was fired. Which shocking, considering the men harassing him before wouldn't have been fired, just as the one man said, but instead he was fired for trying to help. Makes sense.
He wasn’t sad. And he’d even stolen one of his upgraded hammers that could be modified into a screwdriver or pick.
He was, however, nervous about what he was going to do about his living quarters. Viktor could barely afford the rent of his apartment (if he could even call it that) on the pay that he made at the mines. There was no way he would be able to keep paying rent without any sort of job.
Most orphaned kids went to halfway houses, where there technically was food and a roof to sleep under, but Viktor had heard the horror stories of those places. Of how the children were treated by the adults, and forced to work anyway with their pay being taken by the caretakers.
But Viktor also knew his options were limited. He wasn’t lying when he told Silco and Vander that this job was one of the few willing to hire Viktor with his limp.
He could always go back to him.
Viktor shuttered at the thought of going back to him. He had left that dark and retched place with no intentions to come back. He couldn’t stand by a man like that without any sort of morals.
Still, he was desperate.
Desperate enough?
“Viktor?” Viktor blinked out of his thoughts and looked up from where he had been staring at the ground. He noticed Silco and Vander covered in dark soot, coming out of the entrance of the mine. Viktor’s throat tightened painfully, when he realized this was probably the last time, he would see either of them. He was surprised that he was fond of the two already. He would certainly miss them.
“What are you doing out here kid?” Vander asked, wiping the sweat off his forehead when he took his helmet off. Viktor frowned, kicking a stone across the ground, wincing at the twinge in his leg.
“Got fired.” Viktor finally muttered after a few minutes of silence. He could feel Vander and Silco’s surprise but refused to look up.
“What?” Silco asked.
Viktor shrugged. “I got fired. Apparently, messing with the machines made someone mad enough.” His palms were sweaty as they held onto his cane tightly.
“Fired?” Vander echoed quietly.
“I said that already, didn’t I?” Viktor snorted and bit his lip. His worries about his living conditions were creeping up again.
“All because you…fixed our stuff?” Silco said without any emotion. Viktor nodded with another shrug. “Unbelievable. Those despicable swines!” Viktor glanced up at Silco in shock, finally looking at his face. Silco’s face was one of dark anger and he was gripping his onto his helmet tightly.
Viktor’s chest tightened.
“Damn. I knew they were fuckin’ stupid here, but I guess I didn’t realize how stupid they were.” Vander sighed dramatically and Viktor cocked his head. “I was hoping they would just change your work to fixing tools and stuff, but sounds like they didn’t appreciate your hard work?”
“Most people don’t find it helpful.” Viktor admitted timidly. “I was only trying to help. I promise.”
At this, Silco’s shoulders slumped, and Vander’s face softened.
“Of course you were.” Silco said with a firm nod. He gently laid a hand on Viktor’s shoulder. “You were helpful. Extraordinarily so, but not everyone appreciates that.”
“It’s really their loss.” Vander agreed with a soft smile. “Guess we should start our plan earlier then.” There was a teasing smirk on Vander’s face, one that Viktor couldn’t place.
“Plan?”
“Well, we were slowly easing into it, but I suppose there’s not point like the present.” Silco agreed with a smile. “Guess we won’t be needing these anymore.” He held up his hammer and helmet, before chucking it over the ledge of the mine they were outside of. Viktor gaped; eyes blown wide at the action.
The owners were going to be so pissed. Those must be expensive.
To Viktor’s utter shock and dismay, Vander also chucked his helmet and gauntlets over the edge of the cliff.
“W – What?” Viktor stammered.
“We quit.” Silco said simply. He glanced back over at Viktor, catching sight of the boy’s horrified look and laughed. “Don’t worry, we have a plan.”
“Yeah, and now it involves you.” Vander said, clapping Viktor on the back and pulling him in closer to him and Silco. Viktor couldn’t help but look back at the edge of the cliff where the two had thrown their tools over just moments ago, but he allowed himself to be pulled along by Vander.
“What do you mean?” Viktor finally asked, catching the mischievous light in Silco’s eyes. The man grinned and brushed his hair back.
“You’ll see.”
“It’s…a bar?” Viktor said quietly when Vander and Silco opened the doors to the building they had taken Viktor to. He was admittedly sort of underwhelmed after he had been dragged into the place after going through the Lanes.
Viktor had heard stories of the Lanes and what life was like there. He had living too far north of the Lanes to ever have a reason to visit. But his mother and father had been there once or twice before Viktor was born.
“Yes.” Vander said and Viktor could hear the pride in the older man’s voice.
“A…dirty bar?” Viktor continued. Beside him, Vander sputtered and tripped over his feet. Silco snorted lightly at the two, walking ahead of them past all the tables and towards the main bar area,
“Yes, well, it does still need some work.” Silco admitted, taking a seat on one of the bar stools. Viktor limped after him, cane clacking loudly against the hardwood floors. Vander, having recovered, followed after the two slowly.
“We’ve been at this for eight years!” Vander protested. Viktor raised an eyebrow at the man, before eyeing the tinkering lights and lop-sided tables throughout the floor.
“Really?” Viktor asked, genuinely curious this time.
“Yeah, but Silco’s right. This has only been a nighttime job and a job we’ve been doing on our off days at the mine.” Vander said, with a heavy sigh as he plopped down on the stool beside Silco. “We’ve been slowly building it up to working conditions. Honestly, we’ve been meaning to leave the mines and do this full-time, and today was the push we needed.”
Viktor paused, finger tracing along the metal of one of the bar stools, admiring the designs etched into the sides. He glanced around the room, eyes widening in realization.
“You two own this place?” He asked softly. Vander smirked and Silco nodded.
“Yep.” Vander said.
“Wow.” Viktor breathed. He looked up at all the…interesting lighting choices in the room. “Wait, so now you’re going to be running this place full-time?”
“Exactly.” Silco said with a wave of his hand. “I’ve been telling this lug for months now we should, and luckily today was just what we needed.” He watched Viktor carefully, as the boy took in all the sights of the bar around him. Gauging everything and analyzing.
“Oh, that’s pretty cool.” Viktor whispered, fingers trailing along the wood of the bar. He hissed when his finger nicked a splintered piece of wood. Immediately drawing back, he watched a bead of red blood pool on his finger.
Viktor didn’t say anything else, as the heaviness in his chest grew.
At least they would be alright.
“You know,” Silco began quietly, reaching over the bar to grab two bottles. “If we’re going to be running this place full-time now, we have to crack down on all the problems in this place and believe me there are plenty.”
“God, don’t even get me started.” Vander muttered, grabbing three glasses. Viktor looked back at the two, finally looking away from the blood on his thumb.
“Which means there’s a lot of work that needs to be going on here and Vander and I will be much too busy with the business to take care of any of it.” Silco continued without looking at Viktor. He uncapped both bottles and began to pour one into two glasses.
Red. Red. Red.
Then Viktor blinked as Silco poured an orange drink into the last glass.
“Silco’s taking care of the important business side of things, and I’m the talent and muscle.” Vander said with a wry grin, picking up one of the glasses with the red drink. “We’ll have too much to take care of, without worrying about the repairs and work that needs to be done.”
Viktor frowned and glanced back at the wobbly table beside them.
“Oh.”
“So, we could use some help. What do you say?” Silco said, bringing his own cup up to his lips and taking a sip. Viktor blinked dumbly several times. Then slowly, Vander pushed the glass with the orange liquid over to Viktor.
“Me?” Viktor whispered quietly.
“Yes you.” Vander laughed softly. Viktor’s hands fiddled against his cane. “Look you’re a smart kid Viktor, I have no doubt you could easily handle all the projects we have – I’m sure you’ve already noticed a few that need to be done. Plus, here we could at least keep an eye on you –”
“I’m not weak. I can take care of myself.” Viktor said sharply, nails digging into his skin. Silco and Vander paused, sharing another one of their weird looks.
“You can. You’ve been for four years.” Silco said with a nod, and Viktor thought the man meant it. He wasn’t just saying it out of pity. “If you would prefer, we can pay you for all your work. Just like an employee.”
Viktor could tell Vander wanted to say something else, but he kept quiet.
That would solve his money problems. Viktor thought of his dirty, decrepit apartment and shuttered. It was still better than living on the actual streets of the Undercity.
Better than going back to him.
“But?” Viktor narrowed his eyes at Vander.
“But we wanted to offer you a place to stay.” Vander admitted quietly, taking a sip of his own drink. Viktor’s throat constricted and he fumbled with his cane in his hand. Heart hammering, Viktor snapped his attention to Silco.
“That is true.” Silco admitted quietly. “You’d have a place here as your own, to sleep and eat. And then you could help us around the bar with all the jobs we need done.” Viktor’s heart felt like it was actually going to beat out of chest.
He couldn’t believe them.
He didn’t want to.
They could be lying.
But why?
“Why?” Viktor finally asked.
“Because we’re worried about you.” Vander said bluntly. Viktor snorted. “It’s true kid. You managed to worm your way under us. You got under our defenses and now we care about you. I know where you live Viktor and I’d rather you never set foot in that shithole again.”
Viktor opened his mouth to protest.
“When you run the Lanes like Vander does, you find out everything.” Silco said quietly, eyes still trained on his drink. “That is our deal Viktor. You come work for us and live here, and we’ll keep you safe.”
“And if I say no?” Viktor countered lightly. To their credit, neither Vander nor Silco moved.
“Then you can walk away.” Vander said quietly. “You don’t have to stay here. We can pay you and you go back home. Or you can just leave entirely. It’s up to you.”
“But even if you do leave today, you are always welcome here. No matter the reason or time.” Silco said, finally looking over at Viktor. Viktor nervously scratched his hand when he noticed Vander looking at him now.
He looked around the bar once more before taking a deep breath. The carefully, he reached over and grabbed the last glass and smiled timidly.
“So, what can I help with?”
The smiles Vander and Silco sent him, made any of the nerves instantly evaporate within Viktor.
Maybe luck was finally turning his way.