Johnny walks into his dressing room after the concert, slamming the door with a bottle of tequila in his hand. He walks over to the mirror and takes a few sips with a satisfying growl. Johnny notices a familiar face sitting on the couch in the reflection and abruptly turns around and asks, "What are you doing here?".
Lilith looks up when she hears a familiar voice. Her gaze turns slightly sad when she sees the bottle in his hand, but she doesn't attach any importance to it. She blows out a cloud of cigarette smoke and with a tired sigh says pointing to the sofa, "Can we talk, Johnny?".
"Hmm?" Silverhand glances over at Lilith before looking back into the mirror. "Talk about what? We haven't exactly seen eye to eye on a lot of things lately." He takes another swig of tequila and looks at her warily. "You really shouldn't be here, you know. Not safe for you."
He turns back around, giving her his profile as he finishes the bottle and starts looking through his pockets, probably searching for something else to drink. His shoulders tense when she reminds him of why she shouldn't be there, but he ignores it. "Look, I'm busy. You should go back where you came from."
Lilith remains sitting on the couch, despite his words, and responds in a soft voice that hides her pain
"I need to talk to you. Please, I can't do this without you."
Tears begin to form in her eyes, but she doesn't let them roll down her cheeks. She takes another drag and exhales slowly. "You're always busy. To me, you're always damn busy. But now I need to talk."
Silverhand doesn't answer right away, just continues searching around in his pockets until he finds another flask. He unscrews the cap and takes a swig before looking back at her. "Okay," he says finally, sitting down on the floor across from her. "What do you want to talk about?" His tone is gruff and unyielding, but there's a small spark of curiosity in his gaze.
He glances over at the flask before offering it to her with a shrug. "You want some? It'll probably make this more pleasant."
Lilith looks at the flask for a moment, considering his offer before shaking her head slowly. "No thanks." She wipes away some tears that had fallen silently on her cheeks. "I need to talk about us. About what happened."
Silverhand raises an eyebrow at her words, but he doesn't look entirely surprised. "And what exactly is it that you think happened?" he asks with a hint of challenge in his voice. His gaze flicks down to the flask for a moment before returning to meet hers. "Because I thought we were just two people who got caught up in something neither of us wanted."
He takes another drink from the flask, swallowing audibly as he prepares himself for whatever she might say next. It's not like it matters anyway; nothing she could tell him now would change anything. He already knows what he is, and what he's become.
Lilith takes a deep breath, gathering her thoughts before answering. "I know that nothing can happen between us. I've already come to terms with it," she says a little sharply and continues in a slightly trembling voice, "But there is one thing..." She pauses, studying his reaction, knowing that the dialogue will be difficult.
Silverhand lets out a humorless laugh, shaking his head slightly. "One thing," he repeats bitterly. "That'll be the day." His gaze drops back down to the flask in his hand, and for a moment it looks like he's debating whether or not to take another swig. Instead, he passes it over to her. "Go ahead," he says gruffly. "If you want to make me feel bad about something, might as well get drunk first."
Her words don't really sink in; he's more focused on the pain and anger that still simmer beneath the surface. He crosses his arms over his chest, feeling restless now that she's brought up memories he thought were best left buried.
Lilith takes the flask, but does not immediately drink from it. Instead, she stares at him resolutely.
"You know I don't like to pull a cat's tail."
She looks away for a moment, and further words get stuck in her throat, and it even seems to her that she came in vain
"I just thought you had a right to know." She gathers her thoughts and forces and with a deep sigh says, "I'm pregnant, Silverhand, and I'm terrified."
Silverhand jerks upright at her words, almost dropping the flask in surprise. For a long moment he says nothing; his eyes narrowed and his expression unreadable. "How far along are you?" he finally asks in a harsh voice.
He doesn't meet her gaze as she responds, instead looking away and taking another drink from the flask. The news throws him off balance; it was a possibility they both knew about, but had never really discussed. And now here it was, staring them in the face. He knows he should feel something, anything besides this numbness, but he can't seem to make himself care.
"So," he says eventually, his tone sharp and bitter, "what do you want me to do about it?"
Lilith watches him carefully as she responds, "I don't know... What I want is not important. I was just hoping we could figure it out together." Her voice trails off and her lower lip trembles slightly. Tears threaten to spill over once more.
Silverhand takes another drink from the flask, considering her words carefully before looking up at her again. "I told you, I don't know if I can help you with this. It's not like we're in any kind of... relationship," he says, his voice heavy with sarcasm. He gets to his feet, pacing back and forth across the room as he tries to think about what she just said.
"You want me to be part of this? Part of your life?" He snorts derisively. "I'm thirty-two, damn it. I'm not ready for any of this, and you know it. So what do you expect from me? That I will abandon the stage, abandon my rebellion and sit next to you like an obedient dog?"
Lilith glances away, shame and pain etched into her features as she responds with quiet desperation. "It doesn't have to be like that." She takes a deep breath before continuing. "I would understand if you want nothing to do with it. But maybe..." Her voice trails off again. "Maybe we could find some other way for us both? Not everything has to change just because of this baby."
Silverhand stops pacing and turns to face her, his expression hardening. "You don't get it," he says harshly. "This is who I am. This is what I do. You can't expect me to just give that up." He takes another drink from the flask before adding bitterly, "I'm not built for that kind of life. And even if I was... why would you want me to? Look at me. I'm a mess."
He pauses, studying her face for a moment, looking for any sign that she might understand. But there's only pity in her eyes, and he knows it's not enough. He shrugs helplessly and reaches out to take the flask back from her. "I can give you some money," he says grudgingly, feeling like an asshole for even offering so little. "You could go somewhere safe and start over."
With every word he says, Lilith's heart bleeds and contracts to the point of pain. She knew that this dialogue would be exactly like that, but hearing it all live is still unpleasant. "I don't need your fucking money," she replies coldly, trying not to let her anger get out, "I just wanted to talk the hell out. You are not a stranger to me. So stop acting like a brute."
Silverhand curses under his breath, anger rising in him like bile. He takes another drink from the flask before setting it down on the floor beside him. "I don't know what you want me to say," he growls. "You show up here unannounced, drop this bombshell, and expect me to just fall in line? Fuck that."
He crosses his arms over his chest, trying to control the anger twisting through him. He looks away from her for a moment, thinking back on all the things they've been through together. It's not like he hasn't considered the possibility of fatherhood before, but it always seemed so distant and impossible. Now here she was, staring at him with accusation in her eyes.
"Look," he says finally, "I'm sorry if I seem harsh, all right? It's just... this isn't what I expected from my life. Not this." He looks back at her, offering a small, pained smile that doesn't quite reach his eyes. "Just give me some time to think about it, okay?"