Work Text:
Warm water traced her body as Jinx closed her eyes beneath the shower. Her ever-present braids were reduced to long mops of matted blue locks that trailed behind her feet as she shivered. The water was slowly turning cold as they began to run out of heated water.
Clumps of bubbles pooled by her toes as she hurriedly tried to rinse out the last of the suds stuck within her hair. She snatched the towel to her right and stepped out in a rush as droplets splattered against the walls. Her hair soaked the mat underneath her as she haphazardly tried to push it over her shoulder. Her usual metallic hair bands were strewn on the floor and she cursed as she stepped on the sharp edge of one. She hadn’t truly taken a shower in months and the grime pooling near the drain of the bath only further incriminated her.
Jinx bit down on her bottom lip as she plopped down onto the toilet to try and untangle some of the knots in her bangs. Silco used to help her comb through her hair once a month and she’d usually only wash her body if she ever found a reason to do so. Most of the time motivation just seemed to abandon her when it came to personal hygiene. Silco used to scold her about it, just like he would when she forgot to eat, or fell asleep on the desk in her workshop. He’d gradually stopped checking in on her as often as she’d grown up and now he was gone.
Jinx sighed as she looked into the mirror, little streams of pink water pooled in the corners of her eyes. She pressed her index finger to the mirror and hurriedly etched out a monkey in the dew before pulling on a pair of shorts and a sports bra.
“Ekko! I need your help, get your butt over here!” She called as she leaned out the door with a wide grin. Ekko glanced over at her from his spot on the couch and eyed the matted hair warily, “When’d you grow a rat's nest on your head?”
Jinx let out a snort before pouncing on him from behind. Ekko jolted upright as a small rainshower of water soaked his clothes, “Hey! Cut that out!”
Jinx laughed and hugged him tighter, “Come onnnn, help me out~”
Ekko turned away in embarrassment as he took in her clothes. Jinx couldn’t help pull him in closer so that his head touched her chest, she loved seeing him all flustered.
“You’re my boy savior, now come save my hair!” She insisted playfully until Ekko finally let out a deep sigh and closed the book he’d been reading, “Fine, but only cuz it’s you.”
Jinx pointed a finger gun at him and mimicked a gunshot, “Pew! Pew!”
Ekko rolled his eyes as they made their way back to the bathroom. He made an indistinct remark about how Jinx would be the one cleaning up the puddles she’d helped to create.
Jinx quickly positioned herself on a stool so that Ekko could kneel behind her. His hands wrapped around the hilt of her favorite hairbrush as he moved to tackle the first monstrous knot at the nape of her neck. A shiver went down her spine as the brush miraculously went through the knot like butter thanks to the new conditioner Vi’s prissy girlfriend had gifted her. It was sweet enough, but everyone knew Caitlyn only tolerated Jinx to please Vi.
Another wave of satisfying tingles rippled through her as Ekko’s warm fingers brushed against her spine. The gentle rush of the combs plastic bristles sounded like ocean waves lapping against coarse sand.
The tension in her body melted away and she let out a content murmur. Ekko gave her a kiss on the head as he continued to comb through the matted mess, “So, what made you decide to clean the braids today?”
Jinx tilted her head back and shot him a wide grin, “You promised you’d let me try your hoverboard if I washed everything!”
Ekko looked at her incredulously, “Did I?” He glanced over at his precious hoverboard as if preparing to seal it in a coffin.
Jinx hummed to herself as Ekko continued on for the next hour, when he'd finally combed through the entirety of it they continued on with a heavy duty hair dryer before he helped her braid twin pigtails. Every touch was filled with care as Ekko admired his work, “All done!”
Jinx turned to the mirror to see Ekko’s meticulous braids, her bangs however, were a jumbled mess, as if he’d suddenly forgotten how to style hair. She quickly snatched the hair gel from the cabinet and molded the hair the way Silco had taught her too. Once she was satisfied with her appearance she hopped over to Ekko to give him a hug and kiss on the lips.
“Was that my reward?” Ekko whispered breathlessly as she looked up at him with her big eyes.
“Yep! Now it’s your turn to give me mine~” Jinx grinned as she pointed to the hoverboard like an excited child.
Ekko’s face turned down for a moment, “What if your braids get stuck in the propellers?”
Jinx hopped off towards the board and picked it up deftly as her hair swung back with animated enthusiasm, “You’re such a worrywart! It’ll be fineee, don’t worry about it! I won’t hurt your baby.”
“You better not!” Ekko warned playfully as he reluctantly followed Jinx out the door. They made their way to a field nearby the bridge of progress where the only thing in sight was rolling hills covered in tiny white wildflowers.
Ekko turned the hoverboard on and helped Jinx board it. Her arms splayed out on either side of her as she struggled to stay upright. All the while she made irritated noises as she bit down on her lip in concentration, “So, technically this model works best in the fissures, but knowing you're gonna fall off this thing and crash I’d rather you fall into some flowers than a building”
Jinx nodded as Ekko let go of her, “Tilt yourself forwards, It’ll track your movement.”
She quickly did as commanded and sure enough the machine began to whir as it gently slid to the right, “Try leaning back.”
Jinx nearly fell over as the hoverboard shot upwards and Ekko felt himself panic as she descended just as fast as she’d flown up, “Gentle! Don’t hurt yourself!”
Jinx crawled back into position and nearly teetered off the board once more. Even after multiple hours she couldn’t quite stay upright. By the end of the day she was covered in bruises and scratches, but when they began to pack up to head home she just skipped off excitedly as if she’d mastered the device in a day, “Thanks Ekko! Hehe, I enjoyed that—I totally suck at it though!” Her braids puffed out behind her as she spun around in a circle and fell backwards. Her hair was already looking worse for wear, especially after the left braid had, (as predicted), gotten caught in the boards propellers.
Ekko quietly joined her on the plush grass as they watched the sunset for a long moment. As soon as he sat down beside her Jinx was up in a flash as she moved to lean her head against his shoulder. She eagerly made a swooshing noise as she let her hand glide through the air haphazardly. The last streaks of light filtered through her elegant fingers.
“Don’t worry, I’ll be a master in no time!” Jinx assured.
Ekko laughed as her fake airplane landed in his palm so that their hands would intertwine. Jinx’s fingers were ice cold as her long acrylics lightly scratched Ekko’s skin, “Love you~” She whispered as they sat in the bed of wildflowers for a long moment.
Ekko nudged her in the ribs as he looked into her gorgeous magenta eyes, “Love you too, when’d you get so sappy?”
Jinx nuzzled in closer to him as she picked at her fingernails, “I don’t know, guess you’re rubbing off on me, little man.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ekko grinned as the sun crept beyond the horizon. Jinx shrugged, “Whatever you want it to mean, I guess.”
She moved once more to form finger guns and took aim at the sun, pew!