Chapter Text
There was a foot kicking her ribs.
Jinx groaned lowly before flopping over and throwing an arm over the squirming girl. It had to be too early for this. Although, she supposed she should be used to this, as it was often the new “normal” of her mornings.
The squirming didn’t stop. She suddenly felt little fingers on her sholder, tapping away. Clearly, the kid was up and going already. Well sucks to suck missy, she was still tired. Who knew that keeping up with a kid took so much energy, even by her standards?
‘Everyone,’ a voice in her head replied.
She heard a small huff and felt the tapping stop. For a moment, Jinx believed that Isha had finally given in and gone back to sleep. She realized she was sorely mistaken when one of her long braids received a harsh yank.
Jinx just huffed her own laugh, opened her eyes, and gave in.
“Alrightttt… I’m alive.” She groaned. All she received was a sharp ‘hmph’. “So needy. Y’know, maybe I’ll take a few extra minutes just for that attitude.” She grinned and made an exaggerated show of flopping on her back and stretching out her arms over the soft array of pillows and blankets.
“Yeah… that sounds nic-HMMP!” She was cut off by all the weight of a 7-year-old Isha crashing down on her stomach. She gasped air in as she laughed internally, opening her eyes to meet the amber gaze of the little girl. Isha was clearly trying to dispaly her annoyance with a fierce glare. Although, it was awfully difficult to be intimidated by it, considering Isha was currently dressed in one of Jinx’s old t-shirts. One of the only pieces of clothing she owned that wasn’t just straps and small pieces of fabric. The old thing practically swalloed her, making her whole intimidation face basically useless. Not like she would tell the kid that.
“Yikes, attitude already?” She snickered. Isha just rolled her eyes, bringing one hand to her chin, signing ‘food’.
“Careful… If you keep rolling your eyes, they will get stuck in the back of your head.” Jinx snickered as she pushed herself up, dramatically yawning. She swept Isha up from under her armpits, causing the little girl to squeal with joy. She just spun her around a few times before making her way over to the cabinets where she stored food.
“Hmmmm. Not gonna lie, kid. We are kind of running low right now. Our current options are almost stale cereal, or….” she patted a fake drumroll on her leg, “Jerichos! What do you think, kid?”
There was no hesitation.
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After getting herself and a very squirmy Isha dressed and braided, they were off into the streets. Jinx made sure to keep her hood up and her eyes scanning the area as they walked, searching for any signs of threats. Although, any level of ambiguity she could hope to achieve with her hood was ruined by the little blue-haired girl beside her. However, she supposed with all of those new ‘Jinxer’ copycats running around, Isha didn’t look too out of the ordinary. The girl seemed to be occupied with trying to walk just like Jinx was. She watched with amusement as the girl’s eyes would scan her before trying to move her little legs into the same long, carefree style strides as the older. Sure it wasn’t exact, but Jinx respected the effort.
After only a few minutes of walking, the duo quickly reached the restaurant. Jinx reached out and pushed the door open, shepherding Isha in before walking inside herself. Jinx glanced up, delivering harsh glares to any person who dared to stare a little too long at the duo. The older placed a hand on Isha’s shoulder, leading her to the front. After helping the little girl onto the tall, wooden stool, Jinx dramatically plopped down onto her own right next to her.
Jericho, who was already more than familiar with the two of them, just glanced at the duo before grunting and already getting to work on their food. She watched his knife begin to chop up meat at unimaginable speeds, as the smell of fried food and grease wafted through the air. Jinx felt a tug on her pants and quickly glanced over.
“Yea, what’s up, squirt?” Was her reply. Isha’s hands began to move, slow, yet more familiar with the sign language than she had been months ago when they first began learning together. It was some old book she had yanked from the depths of Silco’s old book collection. She remembered the dust had been so bad, shimmer tears began to collect in her eyes. Yep. Just because of the dust. Jinx mentally slapped herself and focused on what the girl was trying to say.
Isha brought her hands together and signed ‘game tonight.’
“Ohhh. I see. You want a rematch?” She smirked at the little girl, who was struggling to stay still in her seat. Jinx almost wanted to reach out a hand to ensure she didn’t fall. Gods, when had she become so soft?
Isha continued her happy rocking as she grinned. The little girl suddenly gasped and seemed to stop and think. She looked as though she was racking her brain for something. Probably a hand sign. Finally, she brought her hands together in a cradling position before moving one up. ‘New’, she signed.
“New? I need a little more than that, kiddo.”
Isha huffed and signed ‘new fight’.
“New fight… Oh, I see. No Stinkmaw? You want to test out some new competitors?” She asked. A happy huff and a grin was her reply.
“New chances… an opportunity for fresh talent.. A RIVAL!” she began her theatrics, if only to hear more of the kid’s excited laughter. Sadly, this was cut off as their food was shoved on the counter in front of them. It was only then that Jinx realized just how hungry she was.
“Dig in, kid.”
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The duo lay in bed now. Isha’s head was on her lap; the little girl’s eyes fluttering open and closed every now and then as Jinx worked on rebraiding her hair. While she, of cource, loved her long hair, it was always such a bitch to wash and braid. She used to have Silco help her with the detangling and braiding part but, well..
Isha let out a little noise and began to shift. Jinx tied off the end of her last braid before glancing down. She watched Isha’s face. The little girls eyebrows were furrowed, and her mouth seemed twisted in a grimace. She began to twist around. Jinx paused in confusion. It took only a second for her to recognize it. A nightmare.
Jinx’s hand hovered over Isha’s shoulder. What should she do? Should she shake her awake? Should she wait and see if this is something that will pass? Anxiety and uncertainty began to swirl in her gut. It’s then that the universe decides for her, as Isha’s face twisted into a look of hurt, and she began to cry. She felt her heart break at the sight.
The women wasted no time in softly shaking the girl. She pulled her closer and gently spoke, “Isha? Kiddo? Are you ok?” Jinx mentally smacked herself. Of course, she’s not ok, there are tears running down her face. She just continued gently tapping her, similar to how the little girl had woken her up just this morning. She kept speaking and whispering to her.
After what felt like hours, but was most likely only a few minutes, she watched her eyes begin to flutter open. Bright violet pink met amber, and Isha let out a little whimper as her only warning before throwing herself impossibly closer to the women, burying her head into Jinx’s shoulder. Her shoulders were wet with tears that continued to fall, and all Jinx could do was wrap her arms around the child, letting one hand cradle the back of the girl’s head.
“Hey… It’s ok, I’m here. I’m here, and I’m not leaving.” She steered her voice into the most comforting tone she could. “Shhh, it’s alright. You can cry if you need to. I’m not going anywhere.” She began to rub small circles into Isha’s back.
“Mmph” was the only sound the girl made, as more cries fell from her lips. At least they seemed to be calming down slightly. Jinx tried to pull. If only to gauge just how wrecked the little girl was still feeling, but her actions remained pointless as the girl refused to lift her face from her shoulder. The woman felt little hands dig into her shirt fabric. Okay. That’s fine. She can work with this.
She let her hand brush through Isha’s brown and blue curls. She couldn’t feel any more tears wetting her skin, yet Isha still refused to lift her head. Slowly, with what felt like hesitation, she felt the tiny hands begin to loosen their grip on her clothing. Taking this in stride, Jinx carefully pulled away. There was a wet patch of tears and snot on her now. ‘Gross,’ she thought for only a second before trying to glance at the little girl’s face. Isha seemed to have other plans, as she ducked her head down, blocking Jinx’s view.
“Cmon, kiddo. Let me see those pretty eyes.” She tried to sound comforting as she gently put her hand with the metal finger on the girl’s cheek. Isha shivered slightly as her skin came in contact with the metal. Jinx didn’t waver, however, and tilted the kid’s face up slightly.
Her eyes were slightly swollen, and she seemed to refuse to meet her gaze, little eyes trained on the floor. There was a faint blush tainting the girl’s cheeks. ‘Ah. Embarrassment,’ she realized. Jinx was the exact same way when she first moved in with Silco. Despite being one of the most emotional kids in the Zaun, she was far too hesitant and shy those first few nights.
Jinx began to rack her brain on what Silco would do for her after a nightmare. ‘Ok, I need to comfort her. How?’ Should she try to make her laugh? Or should she just keep reassuring her? Silco would always just let her cry it out and talk about the nightmares. But Isha wasn’t Powder. Isha was quieter and may not have wanted to talk about it.
Jinx pulled herself out of her head and watched as Isha tried to wipe away all her remaining tears. The woman huffed before gently resting a hand on the girl’s hair. She watched the girl bring a hand to her chest, sighing a simple ‘sorry’.
“Heh? Sorry? What for?” Was the only reply she managed.
‘For crying’ she signed. Her head eyes were still wandering anywhere but to Jinx.
“Oh, don’t worry about that. Yknow you’re one of the toughest kids I know. When I was your age, I would cry for hours after a nightmare.” She said with a small chuckle, remembering all of those nights. She would be inconsolable for hours on end. The only thing Vi could do to console her was to pull her close and stroke her hair until she fell asleep once more.
Isha peers up at this, finally meeting her gaze. She pointed at her, asking ‘you‘?
“Oh yeah. I was the biggest crybaby around. My...” she paused, swallowing, “brother… used to pick on me for my ‘tantrums’ all the time.”
Isha’s eyes widened, and her mouth dropped. It was adorable watching her tiny face morph into a look of utter shock. She lifted her hand up and signed ‘no way’.
“Oh yeah. That was me. In fact, one of my nicknames growing up was boo hoo blue.” Jinx admitted. She watched Isha let out a little gasp. “Yep, that was basically my entire childhood. I couldn’t go a week without having a total meltdown.” The woman grinned as she recounted this, leaving out the part where these ‘tantrums’ were egged on by the scribbles, even if they weren’t as loud when she was Powder. Not nearly as ruthless until after that night. Jinx shook her head slightly.
“Point is, it’s all fine to cry, kid. And I want you to come to me if you want to. I won’t think any less of you.” Isha seemed to consider these words before giving her a tiny nod. Jinx smiled at this before tussling the girl’s hair and flopping back onto her back. Isha wasted no time, pushing herself into Jinx’s side like a puzzle piece. The two slept with nothing but pleasant dreams for the rest of the night.