"I'm tired of bullshitting around, Silco.", with a grim expression on your face you dropped into your own chair and rested the legs on the surface. "You're being a pain in the ass and I'd be delighted if it stops."

With a disgusted expression on his face, he eyed you, his arms crossed in front of his narrow chest.

The cost that hugged his tall and slender body shimmered in the golden sun light, red mixed with black and gold.

The way he was standing made it obvious that he was expecting something great from you, something that he couldn't say no to.

Instead, all he had gotten till now was an insult straight to the face.

But even he had to admit that it took some balls. Usually people were neither brave nor insane enough to dare insult him. And if so, they didn't live for long afterwards.

"Get to the point.", Silco hissed while his gaze wandered through the room. "I don't have an eternity. Especially not when it's a waste of time."

"You don't have to look for it. You won't find it anyways.", you shrugged, giving him the best indifferent expression you had ever managed to put on.

Truth be told, your heart was beating like crazy. He was standing right on top of the box, he just didn't know it yet.

One wrong move, one quick gaze and you'd be fucked.

Sighing, you tried to calm your nerves without being too obvious and opened the drawer to pull out some blueprints and plans that you had created over the past.

With a harsh gesture you threw them on the table for him to see.

"Take a look if you must.", you looked at him. "That's what you're here for, isn't it? This is the only reason why the hospital is still standing. And why you didn't kill me yet."

Before answering, Silco grabbed one of the blueprints and let his eyes wander over the paper. His eyebrows moved, he seemed to be impressed for a moment, before putting it down again and fixing his tie.

"A bold move to show me your research.", he raised an eyebrow, arms crossed behind his back. "Care to explain? I assume you still have something up your sleeve. Otherwise this move wouldn't be bold, it would be stupid."

Agreeing, you hummed.

"What a smart man you are. I wouldn't have expected anything less. But yes, I do still have something. But it's the last option. But before I offer you anything, I must know what you want with this. It's... useless to you."

Curling his lips, he thought for a moment. The way he had his chin raised and looked down on you was strange, as if he was looking at an insect.

But there was still this hint of respect in his eyes. He couldn't deny that you were not just one of many.

But he didn't have to tell you that.

"It's not for the use on anybody.", Silco admitted after a few moments of considering what to tell you.

Unsatisfied, you shook your head.

"Not good enough. But I think it's quite easy to tell what you want it for. If you know about it's effects, that is."

Expectingly, you tilted your head and looked at him.

A low hum made his chest tremble. He had to fight back a smirk.

"Smarter than I expected you to be. You seem to know a lot."

"And you seem to be unaware of what I am actually working on."

"Shimmer. My shimmer."

"It's not working. Not the way you want it to."

Now you had sparked his interest. The corner of his lips twitched, it seemed like he was seriously amused. Taking a step towards you, Silco leaned forward to look you in the eyes.

He was mocking you.

"What do you know about what I want?", he asked, gifting you an evil grin.

A shiver crawled down your spine. Your heart skipped a beat. It was hard to tell of you were afraid or if this sight gave you an adrenaline rush.

You sat up straight and leaned towards him. Your eyes met his, hard as steel.

You refused to give him the satisfaction of thinking you were backing away now.

"You want the healing effect without turning into a monster or an addict. Or both.", you brushed a loose strand of black hair out of his face. "Judging by the scarring, your eye is getting worse. The infection can't be dealt with, at least I wouldn't have a clue. If it stays untreated the infection will attack more of your nerves, ultimately the brain. The colour of your skin proves that you're slowly dying from the inside. Shimmer is your only option at this point."

He swallowed thickly.

"Can you fix this?", he asked, biting his teeth together.

Lowering your eyes, you looked at the blueprints and then back to him again.

"I'm not sure.", you admitted. "The prototype is useful but not without risks. I never tested it on anything else except animals."

"It's better than the original, isn't it? I've heard the rumours. You used it on a patient and he got well again."

"He was a severed addict. His body was already used to the side effects. The mild side effects that my shimmer has were overpowered by his addiction. But you don't take shimmer. You'd still get addicted."

"So this is the deal?", taking a deep breath in, Silco straightened his back and fixed his hair. "I'll leave you and your little shimmer addicts alone and you'll fix this?"

He pointed at his eye.

Immediately, you raised your hands in defence and shook your head.

"This is beyond fixing.", for a second you took another look at his left side of the face again. "I might be able to slow the process down. Or eliminate it entirely. But the scars won't change."

He shrugged.

"Sounds promising enough. Come and work for me and we have a deal."

"I can't leave the hospital. I'm still a doctor."

"I'll tell my men to help out."

"Fuck no! Not a single one of your little brainless shits will set foot in here. I'll pay you a few visits a week. Deal?"

You offered him a hand.

"It'll be enough for now.", he hissed and accepted. "But I'll make the rules."