Chapter Text
Jinx soared above the clouds, above the world. Nothing beneath her mattered; all that existed was the wind in her shorn hair. She breathed it in, standing at the edge, stretching out her hand toward the emptiness. There was nothing but her, this blimp, and—
A brown hand, reaching for hers. A shock of white hair, a pair of warm, brown eyes gazing up at her. Jinx grasped Ekko’s hand and pulled him up beside her. She looked up at him, but he wasn’t looking at her. His face was dark, his eyes staring into nothing. He fell backward, falling through the air, disappearing beneath the clouds. Jinx leapt after him. The ground rushed toward her, coming at her a million miles a minute, rapid as gravity and slowly as a worm inching across a sidewalk. There was no Ekko anymore. Just falling, rushing, dying—
Her landing was soft when her eyes snapped open— Jinx found herself on a soft mattress, warm, with a heavy arm draped over her middle. Jinx twitched, resisting the urge to throw the arm off of her and run. Her eyes darted around the room— she forced herself to calm down, remembering how she got here.
She’d busted her teleporter, paced for hours near that stupid tree, heart anxiously pounding and hoping for some relief, some conclusion; a way to close this chapter of her life and move on from it forever. She wasn’t supposed to wind up here, trapped underneath someone’s arm, in his bed, intertwined deeper into his life than she ever thought she could be.
You wanted this, stupid, she thought, you asked for it, you wouldn’t leave him alone, you wore him down until he said yes because you wanted to ruin his life and now look what you’ve done. What a selfish prick she was, but what else was new?
Behind her, she felt Ekko breathe. In, out. Up, down. Jinx slowed her breathing until it was in rhythm with his, moving her hand to rest on top of the one draped over her. She sighed deeply, wondering why she couldn’t just live in the moment and enjoy being next to someone for once. The past year had been so lonely. And last night, she hadn’t thought about it at all for a short while.
She felt uncomfortably tingly somewhere very... uncomfortable, and wondered if that was her body remembering everything that had happened. Then she realized it was her bladder that was about to burst. This sucks, Jinx thought— she was comfortable here and now she had to move.
Carefully, she crawled out from underneath Ekko’s arm, moving as delicately as diffusing a bomb, doing her best not to wake him up. She successfully slithered out and gave herself a moment to cheer her success in her head as she stood. She turned back, gazing down at him; Ekko, her oldest friend, her deadly foe, her... lover? She leaned over him to make sure he was still asleep. He was perfectly still, lying on his side, breathing evenly, rhythmically, almost robotically. The sight of him lying so peacefully did funny things to Jinx’s chest, similar to what Isha did to her. Jinx reached down to ruffle his hair, paused an inch above him, then decided against it.
She turned from him and swayed across the room, unsteady on her feet. Ekko hadn’t had a chance to show her around the place, so she had no idea where the bathroom was. If she had to walk down the hall, she’d probably have to throw something on to make herself decent. But she quickly found a door, threw it open, and was relieved to find a toilet in it. She shut the door behind her, inwardly thanking Ekko for having the sense to give himself his own private bathroom.
Long after her business had been finished, she stayed seated on the toilet, trying to think, but her mind was going in circles. What was she supposed to do now? She couldn’t get out of here until her device was fixed, so there was no slipping out now. Besides...
“Jinx?”
Someone was calling her name... or was it just her batshit imagination eating her?
“Jinx!”
Jinx ignored the call, sinking down further, staring at the wall in front of her.
“Fuck you, you promised!” the same voice half shouted, half whined.
Jinx snorted. She got off the toilet, threw open the door, and burst out laughing as Ekko’s head snapped to face her. His eyes widened.
“I was takin’ a piss, you sap!” she cackled. “Man, did you hear yourself?” She lowered her voice, frowning sarcastically, and huffed out, “Fuck you, you promised!”
She doubled over, slapping her knee. When she came up for air, she found Ekko staring at her with a flat, unamused look. Jinx wiped a tear from her eye as she let the laughter die from her chest. “Sorry,” she said, still smiling, “not for taking a piss—” she specified, “just for being... a dick. Hang on.”
Jinx dipped back into the bathroom to wash her hands, hastily dried them on a hanging towel, then jumped back out into the bedroom. “Tada, I’m still here!”
Ekko still fixed her with the same look, until his face betrayed a slight smile. “I guess I’m sorry, too,” he said.
“For what?”
“For doubting you.”
“I’m a lot of things, but I’m also a woman of my word. I don’t make promises I don’t plan to keep.” As she said that, Jinx wondered if it was true. She definitely didn’t like people lying to her. But did that mean she was honest?
Ekko started to push the blankets off, preparing to get up. “Nah, stay there,” Jinx said. Ekko leaned back, looking at her curiously. Jinx sat back down on the bed, crawling back under the blankets beside him. She pulled him down next to her until they were both lying on the pillows. Jinx wrapped her arms around him and rested her head in the crook of his neck. She felt Ekko’s arms wrap back around her.
Jinx wanted to stay this way— skin pressed against skin, warm, their entire bodies free of anything that could come between them.
“Sorry I freaked you out,” Jinx murmured. “If it was me... I know I woulda had a panic attack.”
“Don’t worry about it.” Ekko’s lips pressed against her forehead. “Glad you’re still here.”
Jinx closed her eyes. “I had a dream about you.”
“Yeah?”
“You died,” said Jinx. “But... I don’t know if I ever had a dream where someone didn’t die.”
“It’s worse when you dream that they live,” Ekko said softly. “And then you wake up to find it all gone.”
“Yeah,” Jinx agreed. She could only guess that was what the other world was like for him. Except he didn’t wake up, he willingly walked away. Jinx still didn’t understand it. But she was glad he came back. She might have never seen him again, then she would have blown herself up and never seen the world, then never would have come back and felt his bare warmth pressed into her so closely. She could feel his heart beneath her; it was steady and grounding.
They were quiet for a while, still in the perfect silence, until Ekko broke it. “How are you feeling?” he asked.
“Better after pissing.”
Ekko’s chest heaved as he laughed at that. “I mean after last night.”
“I ‘unno,” Jinx mumbled, “I guess a little different? Like I’ve been around the block now, but... I’m glad my first time was with someone I actually know. How about you? Bet you feel like a big boy now, huh?”
“Can’t believe my first time was with you. Still trying to believe this is real.”
“I know what that’s like,” sighed Jinx. She found Ekko’s hand and intertwined their fingers. “But... I guess I should be outta your hair soon.” Before I make things worse, she thought.
“Now that you got what you wanted, huh?”
Jinx pulled away, scoffing. She grabbed Ekko by the wrists, rolling on top of him. “You know I broke that shitty device!” she yelled. “You think I blew it up just for... for that?”
She didn’t expect Ekko to smile. “Even after last night, you still can’t say it?”
Jinx’s face burned. She was on top, pinning him down, but he was the one who had her. Blushing like some pure, virginal, innocent damsel. Jinx pushed him down harder and roughly kissed his neck, daring him to keep thinking of her like that. She spotted a bruise there and took it between her teeth, not quite biting, just holding him there and listening to his breathing quicken.
Then she clamped her teeth down.
“Hey—!” Ekko gasped. He pushed her and Jinx released him, snickering. “You gotta warn me before you do shit like that,” he said, sitting up and rubbing his neck.
“So it’s fine if I warn you?” Jinx asked playfully.
Ekko raised his eyebrows, then laughed, and Jinx found herself laughing, too. They met each other’s eyes. The laughter left Jinx’s chest, and she leaned forward, pressing her forehead against his. She tried not to think about the future, but her stupid machine was lying somewhere in this room. What choice did she have? She didn’t belong here.
Her heartbeat quickened until Ekko’s hand closed around hers. She relaxed, allowing herself to stay in the moment until she was calm enough to pull away, straightening up.
“Uhh,” Ekko said, glancing away, “you look like, um.”
“Yeah?”
“Like you’ve skipped a few meals. I could go down and get you something to eat. Anything you’re in the mood for?”
“I could take a look at what you got.”
“Uhh, kitchen here’s communal, so you might wanna...”
“Cover up?”
“I was thinking hide, if you really don’t want anyone to know you’re here.”
Jinx blew a frustrated raspberry.
“And I could grab you something to wear,” Ekko added. “Thought you might wanna wash your clothes before you head out.”
Jinx’s heart sank. Ekko was growing more and more okay with the thought of her leaving. He stood up, leaving Jinx cold and alone. She hugged herself for warmth in his absence as he dug through his clothes. He grabbed a clean pair of pants, slipped them on, then tossed Jinx a shirt. Jinx threw it on— it slipped loosely off her shoulder.
Ekko threw on a sleeveless shirt and jabbed his thumb at the door. “I’m gonna—” he started, but Jinx interrupted him, half to stop him from leaving.
“I went to Piltover first.”
Ekko stopped in his tracks, puzzled.
“I was gonna check on Vi, just to see how she was doing, but... I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t stand to see Vi with her, all happy and sappy together...” Her chest tightened. “Are they happy together?”
“Yeah,” Ekko answered, but he didn’t look pleased. “I wouldn’t say they’re happy, but they’re happy to be together.”
“What do you think of her?” Jinx asked. “That Caitlyn chick...”
“Everything about her pisses me off, but I can’t speak for Vi. If that’s what she’s into...” He paused. “Guess she did come through in the end.”
“Glad I’m not the only one who hates her guts.”
Her stomach growled loudly, betraying her.
“I’ll be right back,” Ekko promised her.
After his door shut, Jinx left the comfort of his bed. She padded over to where her teleportation device lay innocently in a mess of garbage. Jinx sighed and dropped down to fiddle with it. She’d really busted it up bad. She opened it back up, screwed with it, and cursed as she grew more and more frustrated. What’d she have to mess it up so bad for? Just to make herself believable? Could she even fix this?
Minutes later, when Ekko returned bearing a plate full of food, Jinx glared at him. “Good news for you, Mister,” she said, “I’m stuck here.”
Ekko approached, resting the plate down between them. It was stacked with sandwiches. Jinx grabbed one, took an angry bite, and said with her mouth full, “I really fucked this up bad.”
“I didn’t sabotage you, I swear.”
“I never said you did!” Jinx snapped. “Damn it, how long am I gonna have to spend holed up here in your room?”
“We’ll figure this out,” Ekko said. “Last night, we didn’t really try.”
“Yeah,” Jinx grumbled in agreement.
“I’ll help you later.”
Jinx frowned. “Later?”
“I gotta show my face, or else my folks are gonna wonder where I am. We don’t need them breaking my door down.”
“They’d really do that for you?” Jinx looked down. “Must be nice to have friends.”
“Trust me, they’re a pain sometimes. But I kinda run this place, so I—”
“I get it,” said Jinx. “Fine. Get outta here.”
“Are you gonna be here when I get back?” Ekko asked, brows drawn together.
“Don’t really have a choice,” Jinx answered. “I mean... yeah, I’ll be here. I promise you I won’t leave this room.”
“You can come with me.”
Now he sounded like he didn’t want to let her go. He was confusing her. “If one of your guys sees me, Vi’s gonna hear about it up there,” Jinx reasoned. “‘Sides, I don’t think they wanna see me.”
“You’re their hero.”
“Still?”
“I’ll... let you think about it.” Ekko cupped her cheek, then kissed her. He started to pull away when Jinx grabbed his hand. He looked at her with those big, wide eyes, and Jinx released him, turning away.
“Go,” she whispered.
Ekko did. He stood up, crossed the room, taking one last look at her before softly shutting his door. Jinx went back to her device, knowing she had to fix it, and quick.
But she couldn’t get herself to move. All she could do was stare. She had to fix it. But...
She didn’t really want to.
At least not alone.
