Work Text:
A Valentine’s Date With You
“Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day?” Ekko cried out, jumping back up to his feet to get a closer look at his calendar.
He frantically pulled out his stopwatch to see if today’s date was indeed the thirteenth. “You have got to be kidding me” he whispered to himself as his shoulders slumped with the confirmation. He had been hoping to get a few hours of sleep tonight, but with the revelation of tomorrow being Valentine’s Day, he knew sleep wouldn’t come easily.
The door suddenly burst open, slamming the heavy wooden frame into Ekko and sending him flying across the room.
“Boss, are you alright?! I heard you yelling - Is it that blue-haired woman again?” Scar yelled, eyes frantically scanning the room as he hefted his spear to the ready.
“Ow - Dammit, Scar. How many times do I have to tell you to knock?” Ekko replied, rubbing his arm. “No it’s not her. Well, at least not yet.“ He pointed to the calendar, “Look at what day tomorrow is.”
Scar’s eyes followed to where Ekko was pointing. His eyes widened in horror as he took in the realization.
“TOMORROW IS VALENTINE’S DAY?” Scar roared, rushing to the calendar.
He grabbed his reading glasses out of his pocket before rereading it to make sure he wasn’t mistaken. He slammed his fist into the wall before taking off his glasses and nervously pacing around Ekko’s room. “We’ll double the guards outside your door - No, we’ll triple them. She won’t get you this year, Ekko. I promise.” He slammed a fist into his own chest, “I, Scar, will personally guard you tonight.”
“Thanks Scar…” Ekko replied with a sigh. He ran a hand through his hair, they had tried increasing the guards last year. Nearly half the Firelights were posted by his room, and it didn’t make a shred of a difference.
Ekko got to his feet and began taking off his coat, still determined to make the most of his precious freetime. He hung up his coat on the rack and noticed Scar still lingering in his room.
He turned to face him, “Scar, uh, what are you doing?”
Scar’s face contorted in confusion, “Keeping watch, of course.”
“You’re gonna stand here all night?” Ekko replied as he sat down on the bed.
“Indeed,” Scar smirked, putting a hand on his chin. “With this genius plan, she could never take you.”
Scar stood there for a second, eagerly awaiting Ekko’s praise for his master plan.
Several uncomfortable seconds passed yet Scar pressed on, undeterred. “She wouldn’t be able to grab you because I would be watching you, Ekko. Are you understanding this because I can explain furthe-.”
Ekko sighed, hiding his face in his hands. “Yes, Scar. I understand the damn plan.” He lifted his head and desperately looked up at Scar, praying to see that he wasn’t serious about this course of action.
Scar met his eyes with a steely gaze composed of pure unwavering conviction.
Ekko groaned, “No, Scar, we are not gonna do this. How can I sleep if you’re just watching me from the corner?”
The light went out of Scar’s eyes and his grip on his spear loosened ever so slightly. “Very well, Ekko. Your wish is my command. I only wished to be of use to you,” Scar sniffed, turning around to hide the tears starting to stream down his face.
Scar put his hand on the door.
“Scar, wait…”
He turned around to face Ekko, desperately trying to wipe away the tears.
Ekko sighed upon seeing tears freely flowing down Scar’s face. “How about you search my room and then you can stand guard right outside? Does that work?”
Scar’s face immediately lit up, “Yes! I’ll make you proud!”
He wasted no time and immediately began searching the room, making sure to look under the bed and opening every drawer or cabinet.
Scar opened up a particular drawer and pulled out a pair of underwear that had several monkey-heads on them. Scar turned to look at Ekko, “Monkey heads? Isn’t this what the blue-haired woman draws everywhere?
Ekko blushed and couldn’t meet his eyes, “Ah, she must’ve snuck them in there sometime. I’ll get around to throwing them out eventually.” Ekko cleared his throat, “Wait, why the hell are you going through my underwear drawer?”
Scar scoffed as if the answer was completely obvious, “She could’ve placed flame chompers anywhere, Ekko. She hid a paint flame chomper in my pants once, the paint never washed out. Shame, really. It was my favorite pair.”
Ekko shook his head and grabbed a book off his nightstand and began idly flipping through its pages. He made it through half of his book before putting it down.
“Scar?”
Scar didn’t reply, he seemingly had lost interest in searching his room and was now focused on repeatedly flexing his bicep in Ekko’s mirror and nodding to himself.
“Scar!”
He finally jumped and hefted his spear at the direction of the voice. Upon seeing the source of the voice was Ekko, he cleared his throat, “I’ve finished my sweep and have determined that your room is clear.”
Ekko pinched the bridge of his nose, and lazily waved Scar away. “Alright. Thank you. You’re dismissed.”
Scar nodded then turned to leave. He paused at the door, “I’ll be right outside if you need anything. Yell if, well…. when the blue-haired woman comes.”
Upon the door shutting, Ekko sank down into his bed. He knew what was coming was inevitable, no matter what Scar said or searched. He gave a final sigh then rolled over to turn off the light.
Might as well be well-rested for the kidnapping , he thought as he drifted away to sleep.
Ekko slowly opened his eyes to the scene of a dinner table dimly lit by a few red candles. He wished he could say he was surprised, but he wasn't.
A voice suddenly called out,“You’re awake! Right on time! You’ve always had an affinity for being on time, haven’t you?”
He didn’t see who said it, but if there’s one voice he could never forget - it was hers.
“Jinx, can’t you just ask me out like a normal person would?”
He heard a scoff before Jinx bounded into his view, “Well hello oooo ~ to you too, Ekko.” She glared at him before suddenly giggling and tracing the outline of the hourglass on his face, “Wow, you even sleep with this on? And you call me crazy.”
He bit back a retort and tried to ignore her comment, “Is Scar okay?”
Jinx withdrew her hand from his face and scrunched her face as she thought about it “Scar? You mean the bat ear guy?” She giggled and slapped Ekko’s shoulder. “Yeah, he was sound asleep outside your door, I didn’t even have to use your window this year.”
Ekko could only shake his head in disbelief. “Some lieutenant I have. You should’ve heard his plan about how he was gonna stop you this year for sure.”
Jinx snorted, “Right. For how large his ears are you would think he would be able to hear me coming.”
Ekko found himself laughing before suddenly stopping himself. I shouldn’t be laughing, not with her.
He saw Jinx smile at him, but it seemed off from her usual smiles. Although, he couldn’t quite place it, maybe there was a tinge of…. sadness ?
Before Ekko could fully place it, she suddenly broke off from his gaze and skipped out into the darkness surrounding the tables.
“Jinx, where are you going?”
Her voice rang out, “Still scared of the dark, Ekko? I never told anyone else, you know? Your secrets are safe with me.” She suddenly sprang back into view, arms full of covered trays. “Dinner time ~ ” she announced with a sing-song voice.
"We're having dinner?" Ekko asked as he watched her placed her own tray at the seat beside him before setting another tray down in front of him.
She bit her lip, “Duh, it's Valentine's Day. I spent all day cooking this, so you better eat it all.” She uncovered the tray and squinted at him to gauge his reaction.
Ekko was prepared to fake his astonishment to spare himself from her anger, but what sat in front of him was legitimately breathtaking.
“Wow, Jinx… did you actually cook all of this?”
Jinx smiled upon seeing his face light up at the sight of the food. “Duh, silly. You think I’d skimp out on our Valentine’s day date?”
Ekko blushed in response. For some reason, that comment took him off guard. Usually her playful flirting wasn’t too hard to ignore, but seeing that she invested that much time and effort into this… it was something that Powder would’ve done.
Ekko cleared his throat, “Well I would dig in but…” He nodded down towards his restraints.
“Oh, hehe. Right.” Jinx pulled out a knife from his belt and was about to cut his restraints then stopped. “You’re not going to run off and leave me again, right?”
“Again…?” Ekko thought to himself. “ When did I leave her? She’s the one who left me.” He knew better than to bring that point up, particularly when she had a knife on him, so he just shook his head no.
Jinx squinted at him in suspicion but begrudgingly cut his restraints.
“Thanks,” he said, rubbing his wrists. “Really though, if you insist on kidnapping me for every special occasion, can we just skip the restraints?”
Jinx didn’t reply, instead focusing on lighting the remaining candles with a particularly large flamethrower that had a dragon on its barrel. Ekko raised an eyebrow, but he wasn’t really surprised by anything at this point. He instead chose to pick up his fork and began picking at his food.
“Wait,” Jinx exclaimed, tossing away the flamethrower. “I haven’t even sat down yet. Didn’t Benzo teach you any manners?”
“Oh, right,” Ekko replied, setting down his fork as he watched Jinx disappear into the darkness for the umpteenth time. “Well, what are you doing now?”
“Getting dressed, dummy. Maybe you want to wear those smelly old rags for our date, but I care enough to get changed.”
Ekko began massaging his temples, “Jinx, you literally kidnapped me from my home. How was I supposed to get dressed? Honestly, you always expe- Oh. Uh, wow.”
Jinx had emerged from the shadows again, only this time she was wearing a firelight-green dress.
“You like it? ”She asked, giving him a twirl. “It’s your favorite color.”
“Yeah, I do. You look…” beautiful, is what he wanted to say, but how could he say that to her of all people? He cleared his throat and gave her a nod, “You look good, Jinx.”
Her smile quickly transformed into a look of anger. Ekko flinched and was about to change the topic to avoid her wrath but she suddenly disappeared again.
“Jinx…?” He said, standing up and turning his head around to see if he could find her. The darkness didn’t give her up easily, she always seemed to wear it like a cloak.
Ekko sighed and sat down again, “Might as well finish the food at least,” he tried to joke to himself. But, as much as he didn’t want to admit it, her sudden absence left him feeling hurt.
Just as he was about to pick up his fork again, Jinx’s face popped out of the darkness.
“Why do you always hold yourself back around me?”
Ekko jumped, “Gods, Jinx! You scared me. I thought you left.“
He met her piercing eyes and an awkward silence passed between them. Ekko didn’t want to answer the question, but the silence was becoming heavy. “What do you mean I hold myself back?”
“Sometimes, when I say something or flirt with you,” Jinx sat on the table and idly began kicking her legs, “You clam up and I can see the pain in your eyes.”
Ekko looked away from her and stared at the ground, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Oh? You don’t?” Jinx pushed herself off the table and began pacing around his chair while tapping her fingers on the wood. “Maybe I should show you then.”
“What? How are you gonna do tha-”
He was cut off as Jinx suddenly jumped into his lap. “Like this, maybe? Now watch, you’re gonna go all quiet on me.” She flicked his forehead and frowned at him. “What happened to your usual bravado?
Ekko looked away from her. “Get off me,” he managed to mumble.
“See?” Jinx replied, jabbing a finger repeatedly into his chest, “This is exactly what I meant. What is it about me that makes you act like this?”
He didn’t reply, continuing to refuse to meet her eyes. Another awkward silence began to stew between them.
Suddenly, he felt hands on his cheek as Jinx pulled him to face her.
“What am I to you, Ekko?” She asked with a hurt look on her face.
What was she to him? Hundreds of answers flew through his mind. Friend? Enemy,? Someone who betrayed me? Someone I’ve failed? My first love….?
“I don’t know,” he finally admitted.
His answer prompted Jinx’s hands to fall away from his cheek and tears began to flow down her face.
Ekko finally looked at her and felt his heart break. Seeing her cry brought a memory he had long locked away; Powder was in tears after she had tripped while trying to chase after him in one of their various games. He had tried everything to calm her down, from offering her anything from Benzo’s shop to promising to beat up Mylo, yet nothing had managed to stop the flow of tears. He was out of ideas, so he tried the last thing he could think of. He closed his eyes and kissed the cut on her knee. The sobbing suddenly stopped and Ekko cautiously opened one eye.
Powder looked down at him with an inquisitive look, “What are you doing?”
Ekko quickly sat up and nonchalantly rubbed his head, “I kissed it better.”
Powder looked at him for a second in surprise before her face lit up and she began to giggle.
Ekko grumbled and put his hands in his pockets, “Come on, Pow. I was just trying to help you. Let's go back.”
Powder smiled at him,“I know, I know. Thank you, Ekko.” She stood up and brushed herself off before running to catch up to him. She caught up and took his hand in hers. Ekko raised an eyebrow, but didn’t say anything, the smile on his face said enough.
Ekko looked at Jinx and he could still see the same girl who was crying all those years back. If this really was the same girl, even if there was no physical wound this time, he knew one way to comfort her.
He lifted Jinx’s chin up with his hand, and kissed her.
Time had always seemed to be on Ekko’s side, and he was thankful that this situation was no exception as this moment seemed to last forever. Warmth finally blossomed again in Ekko’s chest as their lips brushed together, tentatively, for the first time. She was the only one who ever had that effect on him, setting off little firelights dancing in his stomach and he couldn’t help but smile into their kiss.
He gingerly broke away and tenderly looked at Jinx. A single tear remained still falling down her cheek, “That’s who you are to me,” he finally answered as he wiped away her last tear.
Jinx grinned and leaned into his touch “Does this mean you love me?”
Despite him being the one to kiss her, Ekko was still taken aback by this and only managed to stutter, “Uh, I mean -”
“I’m just teasing you, you don’t have to answer that,” she quickly followed up. She said it casually, but Ekko could tell that she was scared of his possible answer.
Ekko chewed on his lip as he mulled over her question. Did he love her? He did, once, he knew that for sure. He was inseparable from her and the one time he wasn’t there for her was when…. everything happened. But after that? After everything she’s done? Scar had asked him once if he still was in love with her, and Ekko called him crazy in response. Yet, that kiss had made him feel things he thought he would never feel again.
He grabbed her hand, “Actually, you know what? Yeah, I do love you, Jinx.”
Now it was her turn to be taken aback, but her surprise quickly turned into a smug grin before embracing Ekko. “See, now there’s that bravado you’re famous for,” Jinx exclaimed as she rubbed her cheek against his.
They both laughed into each other’s arms and they stayed like that for a while before Jinx announced candidly “This is a lot better than last Valentine’s Day.”
Ekko smirked, “Probably ‘cause last time you hid a flame chomper in my food.”
Jinx laughed, “Yeahhhhh, I did do that, didn’t I?”
“I missed this, Jinx.” Ekko said, interlocking his fingers with hers. “It’s like how it was back then, before….well, everything.”
At the mention of the past, he felt Jinx’s arm stiffen and she quickly withdrew her hand. “You should probably head back, I’m sure Scar is looking for you.”
Ekko watched her as she left his lap to sit in the chair beside him. He silently cursed himself for ruining the moment and forgetting that any mention of the past always upset her. He put his arm on the table and rested his head on his hand, “Nah, I won’t leave you again.” He picked up his fork and started picking at the food on his plate again. “Scar’s probably still asleep anyway, I think I’ll stay here a while.”
Jinx perked up at this, and a slight smile came back to her face as she watched him finally eat her cooking. “Well, while I have you here then, I’ve been working on my latest invention and I’ve been having some trouble with the capacitor, do you think it’s - “
Ekko smiled as he listened to her talk energetically about her latest inventions while she gestured wildly and made explosion sounds. He wasn’t sure how he managed to convince himself that this was a different girl from back then. As he watched her excitedly outline her schematics on the table with a pink marker, one thought came to his mind:
He couldn’t have asked for a better Valentine.