Chapter Text
"Dinner is served!" Lux announced cheerfully as she entered the dining room.
Jinx looked up excitedly from working on her monkey bomb as Lux laid a steaming plate of spaghetti on the table in front of her. The tomato sauce was drizzled over the noodles in the shape of a smiley face with two meatballs in place of the eyes. Just as Jinx liked it.
"Thanks, Blondie! This looks great! Mmmmm... I'd take this over Jericho's any night!"
Lux smirked and rolled her eyes. "Liar."
"What? I'm serious!" Jinx insisted earnestly. "On my sister-in-law's grave, I'd rather-"
"Sucking up to me isn't going to make me forget the rule." Lux cut her off as she took her seat across the table.
Jinx blanched momentarily. "Rule? What rule is that?"
Lux raised a brow at her shamelessness. "The rule... no tinkering at the dinner table." She reminded her as she inspected the table space between them. Every square inch from end to end was covered by spare bolts and wires, completely obscuring the mahogany.
Jinx scrunched up her nose as she stared down her partner. "I'm not actually doing anything right now."
Stubborn to the end.
"Yes, well..." Lux persisted, "There isn't any space for me to put my own spaghetti. And I'd hate to have to eat in the kitchen all alone."
Checkmate.
Jinx sighed dramatically, and she rose slowly from her seat and began clearing off the table. "And after I had it all organized." She muttered bitterly.
Lux smiled self-satisfactorily as she took a seat and laid her plate on the now-visible table mat. Over the past year, she'd learned the best techniques of reasoning with her girlfriend, especially when they argued over the most trivial things. But whenever that failed, emotional blackmail worked just as well.
"Thank you, hon." Lux smiled pleasantly as Jinx brushed off the last of the wires onto the floor. Jinx didn't respond as she sat back down and silently began eating. Intentionally keeping her eyes locked on her noodles and straining to keep from looking up at Lux.
Lux couldn't help but smirk at her antics. This was the usual consequence of whenever she resorted to using underhanded tactics in an argument. The infamous silent treatment.
"What do you think?" Lux asked as she picked up her knife and fork. "I sprinkled in some shredded parmesan this time like they do Topside. Pretty sure that qualifies this as fine dining."
No response. Even so, Jinx couldn't fully force down her grin.
Gotcha.
Time to twist the knife. "You know," Lux stared across the table to capture her reaction, "when I was making it earlier, I thought it might be good enough to serve to guests."
Jinx still didn't look up, but her chewing slowed and her brow furrowed at the statement. Lux hadn't ever brought up inviting guests around to the house before.
Lux continued, "I wasn't sure who we'd invite; maybe Ekko, but then I thought maybe it would be a good thing to serve to Vi and her-"
"NO."
Jinx sharply jerked her head up and stared hard at Lux, who stared back in feigned innocence.
"I just thought that it would be nice-"
"Pleeeaassseee tell me you're pulling my leg here." Jinx searched Lux's face for the traces of a joke, completely forgetting about her guilty-tripping mission. "Because if you're being serious, then I'm sorry; you're taking the couch tonight, Blondie."
Before she could think of a convincing follow-up, Lux's composure completely collapsed at Jinx's proclamation, and she broke down into a fit of giggles. The look of horror and betrayal on Jinx's face had proved too much. Really, you would've thought Lux had suggested they invite over the devil and serve him cooked Spam.
She recovered quickly, measuring her breathing and blinking away her tears, only to nearly start again upon seeing Jinx's expression. She didn't seem to know whether to scowl or pout, resulting in a very strange facial amalgamation.
"Sorry... you know... mmmmmmm..." Yikes. So much for recovery. Maybe it would be best if Lux didn't try to speak just yet.
"You find joy in emotionally abusing your girlfriend?" Jinx crossed her arms, apparently having decided on scowling.
Lux shook her head amusedly. "You know you can't avoid her forever; she is your sister now, and you'll have to play nice if you want to keep things civil with Vi."
Jinx maintained her rigid expression as she turned her attention back to her spaghetti. "So long as you're not inviting her to dinner. I'm really not trying to listen to you two bond over fucking fine dining."
Lux grinned as she too continued her meal. "Actually, I think we'd bond more over our similar taste in women."
Jinx's posture loosened as she threw back her head in laughter at that. "Ha! How does that make any sense? Not sure if you've seen us side by side, Blondie, but me and my sis aren't exactly two peas in a pod." She glanced up to see if Lux was sharing in her amusement, only to receive a very concerned, almost scared look in return.
Uh-oh.
"What? Did I say something wrong?"
Lux stood suddenly, never looking away from her as she rounded the table until she stood next to the still-seated Jinx. Had she been imagining it when Jinx was laughing?
"Uhhhhh... Blondie?" Jinx prodded uneasily as Lux stood unmoving above her. "You alright? Something wrong?"
Lux's sudden change in mood was starting to send off alarm bells in Jinx's head as Lux continued to stare at her face- no... her mouth. Jinx started to stand, but Lux placed a hand on her shoulder, keeping her in place as she continued to examine her face.
"Yeah..." Lux said hesitantly, "sorry, I thought I saw... Can you open your mouth?"
Jinx raised her eyebrows questioningly. "What now?"
"It's probably nothing," Lux assured, "but I think I saw something while you were laughing."
Jinx chuckled nervously at her reasoning. "How ominously vague..." She tried joking, "But your wish is my command."
Jinx opened her mouth wide and watched as Lux clamped her hands to her face in shock.
"HOLY SHIT!"
Jinx's entire mouth was coated scarlet with blood. Nowhere did her gums resemble pink, and her tongue more closely resembled a bloody liver than anything else. Only her front teeth were their normal white, the bleeding seemingly thickest along the back molars.
Jinx snapped her mouth closed in alarm at Lux's reaction. "WHAT? WHAT'S WRONG?"
"WHAT?!" Lux hurled back in disbelief. "CAN YOU NOT TASTE THAT?!"
Jinx frowned. "The spaghetti?"
For a moment, that question seemed to genuinely rob Lux of the ability to speak. "TH- N-NO WHAT? NO THE BLOOD!"
"Th- Ohhhhh," Jinx nodded understandingly, "my mouth's bleeding again?"
"AGAIN?!"
Jinx flinched.
Hmmmm.
Usually Lux didn't overreact like this. "Hey now," Jinx raised her hands in a calming gesture, "if you're thinking that I couldn't taste your amazing spaghetti with blood in my mouth, don't worry. I stopped really noticing the taste a couple months ago."
Jinx tried for a reassuring smile. Not her usual specialty, but Lux really did seem worked up.
It kinda worked. Lux stopped yelling. Now she just kinda stared at Jinx in slack-jawed shock. That could be considered an improvement, right?
After almost thirty seconds, Lux snapped her mouth closed and stood up straight.
"Alright..." She picked up Jinx's half-finished bowl of spaghetti. "You're not eating anything else tonight. I'm going to rinse these out and get you a clean cloth. Go rinse out your mouth and meet me outside; we're going to the dentist."
"Sure thing!" Jinx saluted only half jokingly as she stood up to head to the bathroom. "Wait... what's a dentist?"