f1shbonez

[f1shbonez]

But I got something going now. A friend. And I don't wanna mess it up. Maybe that's what I was like for you.

[f1shbonez]

It matters where you are

[f1shbonez]

My roman empire…(Read More)

[f1shbonez]

jinx arcane season 2 𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָ ☁️་༘

[f1shbonez]

Ekko was standing there, the biggest stick in the mud EVER, amongst the music and colourful flashing lights. What gives? He’d given her choice of hangout area, she’d chosen, and now he was holding out on her? C’mon, after all the things she’d wasted her time doing for him this week, the least he could do was play along and have a little fun. 

Impatiently, Jinx waited for Ekko to get over whatever the fun-hating voices in his head were saying, as she danced along to the beat of the music from the shooting gallery. Ah, what the heck, he could stand there like a sump-fish as long as he liked, she’d have fun with or without him! Besides, dancing with the silly wooden cut-outs was kinda fun. Twirling around one as though they were partners in a dance, Jinx poked her head up, eyeing Ekko for any sign he was ready to join in. 

Please say yes, he had to! 

"You just wanna sucker me into a game so you can get to swap out and shoot at me," 

A wounded gasp sounded from the gallery, far too exaggerated to be genuine. 

Who, ME???

“What, you scared of fun, or are you just scared you’ll lose?” Jinx asked, snatching up a stray ball from the ground and inspecting it in her hand. 

"...What prize do I get if I win?"

A slow, deliberate grin settled back across Jinx’s lips. Oh, that was all the confirmation she needed. It was game on. A gleeful sound tumbled from her throat as she tossed the ball over to Ekko to add to his ammunition. Okay…OKAY! Time to do things properly. 

Just as quickly as she’d stood in the open, bathed in pockets of coloured light, Jinx vanished towards the back of the cutouts- melting into shadow and glints of neon paint. 

“WELCOME WOOD-BUGS AND DUST-BUNNIES, SINNERS AND SUMP-SNIPES, GET READY TO BE BLOWN AWAY BY THE SHOWDOWN OF THE CENTURY!” Jinx’s voice boomed along with the music as she sprang into the centre of the range, flinging both arms above her head to exaggerate the grand entrance. 

“IN THE BENCHES - OUR HANDSOME HERO! CAN HE FIRE A GUN? HE’S NOT SURE! LET’S GIVE IT UP FOR THE EXPLOSIVE… EKKO!”

The music crescendoed and with it, Jinx dove behind another target before popping out once more. 

“AND IN THE RANGE IS OUR TARGET. SHE’S QUICK. SHE’S AGILE. A STREAK OF BLUE LIGHTNING. HER ULTIMATE WEAKNESS- WHATEVER’S IN THE GUN! THE WEIRD. THE WHIMSICAL. YOUR JITTERY JINX!”

She paused, flashing Ekko a brilliant smile under a pool of green light. Now, to the good stuff! Ekko had raised a very good point. This was to be a competition. She loved competitions! That only left one thing…

With another deep breath, she filled her lungs for the final announcement. 

“FOR THE WINNER: THEIR NAME, IMMORTALISED AMONG THE BEST. THEIR CHOICE OF THE NEXT GAME. AND, THE FABLED SHAME-SPEECH FROM THE LOSER, ACKNOWLEDGING THEIR LEGENDARY SKILL!” 

With a twirl, Jinx stopped short, planting her boots onto the slick wooden floor. 

“AND FINALLY, THE LOSER: EMBARRASSMENT DEEPER THAN THEY COULD EVER IMAGINE! THE LOSER HAS TO– uhhh…– THE LOSER HAS TO PRETEND TO BE THE WINNER FOR 5 MINUTES. AND WEAR A STUPID HAT OF THE WINNER’S CHOICE!” 

Blue eyes narrowed, smug and bursting with excitement as she watched Ekko for his reaction. 

There, how’s that?

With a final wink, she bounded behind a target for cover, sticking out a thumbs-up to open play. 

You had to start slow with stuff like this. A single boot dangling out from cover. A single hand flipping off the opposition from above a target’s head. She was toying with him. It wasn’t fair unless Ekko had a few chances to warm up and get to grips with his weapon, after all. 

After a few generous attempts to draw Ekko’s attention, Jinx twirled between a set of targets, continuing to dance along to the music. She could afford to play while he was busy being clumsy, no problem!

❛ no one's here. we can be as loud as we want.❜ (Ekko)

Things hadn’t been going too badly. 

At least, that was the impression Jinx was starting to get from the way her world was changing around her. The Firelight leash had gotten a little more slack over the past few weeks. Hoverboard lessons, a fixed place on the rota, hell, they’d even invited her along to one of their stupid game nights. Not that she cared, or anything. So what, if the voices of cheering and competitive play were somehow less abrasive when she was a part of it. It didn’t matter. They didn’t matter. 

The more interesting development came with Ekko. Hard-won moments of respite were seemingly easier to win these days. No more awkward dinners in her prison-room where nobody knew what to say. No more bashing someone in the face just to remind him that she existed. Sure, Ekko was just as busy as ever (being Bug-King made it that way), but more than ever it felt like he had carved out a little more time to do more than chastise his troublesome guest. Prisoner? Guest? Jinx still wasn’t entirely sure. 

Was Ekko?

Ekko’s hoverboard lessons weren’t the only thing that had taken them outside the winding tunnels of the Firelight base. Playing nice, it seemed, brought new opportunities to light- ones that even Jinx found herself unwilling to risk losing. Every now and then, a trip on a hoverboard would lead them somewhere private- away from all the buzz and hum of the stupid Firelights. Sure, the Zaun grey was thicker out here than it was in Ekko’s little corner of sunshine, but for Jinx, it felt as though she could finally breathe. 

It was easier to talk when your company didn’t have his mob waiting (and eavesdropping) outside. They were equals out here… in a way. That had to mean something. Ekko never would have started the little ritual if he didn’t at least trust her a little, right? 

What was even weirder, was that he had agreed to let Jinx select today’s hangout spot. Sure, there had been a few perfunctory rules to adhere to: not too far from the base, not in enemy territory, something else she’d already forgotten…blah blah blah. She could handle that! Totally. 

A wall of glass, shattered long-ago, opened its toothed maw onto the street. She’d been here before, countless times, Powder too. Even under Silco’s reign, the deserted building had been a favourite haunt. Nobody came here anymore. The memory of the brutality in the streets, the empty husks of surrounding buildings, the intermittent flooding…nobody had a reason to. Well, unless their name was Jinx. 

Pale fingers trailed an absent, faintly reverent touch through the dust of the guardrail that surrounded a series of pads and targets. Above, the scoreboard loomed, awash with Vi’s name, save for Claggor, still at the very bottom and ‘POW’ sitting second from the top. It was bittersweet. She couldn’t beat Vi’s old score even now, but even if she did, what good would it do? It wasn’t like Vi was around anymore to see or feel the punches or kicks. Besides, one more high score would knock Claggor’s name clean off the board. Forever. Jinx wasn’t sure how that made her feel. Abruptly, Jinx forced her gaze to gloss over it, stuffing the way the names made her feel somewhere deep down. 

Even now, years later, the crude images of Mylo’s face remained where Powder had etched them a lifetime ago. Jinx paused, taking a moment to drink in the sight. The slightest quirk tugged at the corners of her lips. Funny. Had Mylo always looked like a monster? If Powder’s drawings were anything to go by, maybe the answer was yes. 

A dissatisfied growl babbled behind Jinx’s ear. Swatting at it, she spun on her heels, gesturing to the crumbling shell of the arcade for Ekko. 

“Ta-da!” 

Pretty cool, right? 

Or, well, it would be. In a sec. Once she got the whole place working again. 

Blue eyes searched Ekko’s face for some shred of reward. Was he impressed? He recognised the gravity of this, right? This was HER space! Jinx’s! She didn’t have to share it with anyone, but she was sharing it with him. Just like the days he was so darn sappy about. There was so much to do here, they could stay here all night! This totally trumped all of Ekko’s other dumb hangout spots. 

“Betcha wish you’d let me choose sooner, huh?” Jinx teased, swinging her arms as she skipped over to a battered looking fuse box. Juuuuuust as she’d left it! It didn’t take long before the click of power came, followed by a flood of multi-coloured fluorescent lights from all corners. Arcade units beeped to life, followed by the loud bell of the boxing set-up, and more importantly, the music. A broad grin settled on Jinx’s lips at the noise.

“No one's here. We can be as loud as we want.”

Great.

Taking Ekko’s words as further permission, Jinx cranked up the volume. 

Did Ekko know that he got 90% more fun whenever he left the base?

Well, at least he was onboard. Heh. Like she’d have listened anyway! Where to start first? Bouncing on the balls of her feet to the music, Jinx hopped over to the shooting range, waving a tattooed arm for Ekko to follow. Oooooh she was the BEST at this game! There was no way Ekko could beat her. Only, the targets weren’t moving. Pouting, Jinx jumped over the barrier, looking for the trusty cable she’d connected countless times. The floorboards were slick with the residue of floodwater, eating into the mechanical gears- the part that made the whole game interesting. Oh. It was hard to hide the disappointment brewing on her face. This wasn’t exactly a ‘plug it in and you’re good to go’ situation. No fair! 

Talk about spoiling the grand reveal! Maybe she should have snuck out before this stupid trip to get everything ready. It was too late now. For a moment, Jinx’s brow furrowed before an idea that was just stupid enough made her smile again. From behind the shooting range, Jinx stood amongst the stationary sea of dummies, smirking. 

“Wanna play target practice?”

[f1shbonez]

That name - Vander - struck its mark like an old knife. 

Jinx only caught half of how Ekko’s face contorted- a turbulent mixture of hurt and rage- from where she was sat side-on from him. She knew the flare of temper well. Maybe not from Ekko, but it had always been a language Vi expressed difficult emotions through. If Ekko didn’t believe her he wouldn’t have wasted his time giving her this kind of reaction. He wouldn’t be looking at her like she didn’t deserve to utter the man’s name. He wouldn’t still be so close. 

Some things couldn’t be fixed. Fixing stuff was a hell of a lot harder than breaking it. You couldn’t un-blow up a council building. Dead people were pretty hard to un-kill. Whatever was going on with Vander seemed pretty….permanent. Same with the whole situation with Vi. Was today going to be the day Jinx could add Ekko onto the list of things that were broken for good too? Granted this was the most direct attempt she’d made at fixing that old wound, but was it too late? It had been, when she’d last encountered Vi. 

She was tired. So, so tired. It was funny, in a way, that the girl painted on wanted posters as a monster or memorialised in colourful murals was neither of those things. Pallid, gaunt and with dark shadows beneath her eyes, Zaun’s so-called symbol was barely recognisable. Even to enforcers. Most enforcers, anyway. 

Jinx’s focus lifted back to Ekko, softened with unspoken empathy. It was hard not to feel sorry for the surge of grief she’d wrenched from the depths. It was an old wound they both shared- one of the dwindling things they could both still care about. 

I’m sorry. 

I know I’m messed up, but I’m not messed up enough to lie about this. 

There was nothing left to do but wait for Ekko to make his choice. Isha had inched closer and closer to Ekko, working her way around the hem of his coat to inspect the dashes of colour. Only when his head bowed did she pause in place and begin to retreat back towards Jinx. 

The pause was thick with emotion. With anger. Whatever emotion Ekko was feeling felt oddly private. Jinx could understand it. Hell, why was it making her feel all misty-eyed? Ugh, she really needed a break from all this hero stuff. Some sleep wouldn’t hurt, either. A certain amount of time awake was a sure-fire way to make your emotions all jumbled. 

As though tied by an invisible string, Isha was back as a welcome distraction from the weird fluttering feeling in Jinx’s chest. Small hands clasped at the fabric of Jinx’s cloak, offering a hug. The kid was annoyingly perceptive at times. Exhaling, Jinx shifted an arm, offering a half-hug while keeping an eye on Ekko above. 

Yeah yeah, I’m fine. See? 

"...Did you kill her too?"

Ekko’s voice interrupted. 

A surge of wounded rage bristled beneath Jinx’s skin. Somewhere under the surface, somewhere deep deep down it felt like a knife had stuck its mark, filling her belly with blood from an invisible wound. The unnatural pink within her eyes blossomed, feeding from the burst of horrible adrenaline that made her yearn to lurch forward in a flash to break the jaw spewing the hurtful accusation. 

…

A bitter huff of breath sounded as Jinx dipped her head, it wasn’t quite a laugh, but it was near enough. Yeah, okay, she’d let him get a free hit in. 

“Funny you should say that.” Jinx muttered, watching her mechanical finger flex alongside its neighbours. 

Steady pink eyes turned to Isha. Aghast, the kid was caught somewhere between shock and indignant anger at the barbed accusation thrown at her hero. She’d seen Vi for what she really was, after all. 

“Well, he’s not gonna be any happier if we tell him.” Jinx protested as Isha tugged at her wrist. Apparently that answer wasn’t good enough, Isha was making that much clear from her indignant grunt. A wordless demand - Tell him you didn’t!

“Ugh fine,” Jinx groaned, fighting the ache in her muscles as she turned to face Ekko properly again. “Tellin’ me what to do, you only just met the guy…” She grumbled under her breath. Now she had to figure out how to say even more tricky words before Mr. Thirty-Seconds bolted. 

“She’s doing great. Never better, actually.” Jinx’s tone was laden with thinly veiled resentment.

“Good food, clean air, girlfriend, nine-’til-five job…all the trimmings. ‘Guess those are the perks when you start wearing a shiny new uniform.” 

Her gaze dipped, eyeing her mechanical finger again. 

“The killing is definitely new. A little rusty, but she’s getting the hang of it.” 

💧 Water Under The Bridge 💧

So far the hero shtick was busier and less glamorous than Jinx had imagined. 

Save half of Zaun, nearly die (again), fight off the Big Bad hurting captives and enforcers… One good thing just snowballed to another, then another, until people were looking at you funny for taking a second to catch your breath. To think, under twenty-four measly hours ago she’d almost been dog-chow. It wasn’t like she’d planned to die, clawed to pieces in the deepest depths of Stillwater Hold…but walking free coming home to Isha felt surreal in its aftermath. Like she’d died without knowing and gone someplace else, just for a moment. 

…Maybe it was a good thing she hadn’t died, Jinx found herself thinking in the aftermath of their reunion. Something about the force the kid had collided into her, the gross snivelling- hell, even the way Sevika was keeping her stony gaze averted…would her sacrifice have even been worth it, to them? To anyone? 

Jinx wasn’t supposed to die in the belly of Stillwater. 

Not while The Lanes needed their symbol. 

Not while Vander needed her.

Not while Isha needed her. 

Some issues were bigger than yesterday’s ghosts. Helping people…it hadn’t been so bad, even when she hadn’t cared- or meant to. Gentle fingers teased through Isha’s freshly coloured hair, weaving strands into a neat braid- bringing order to chaos. It felt strange, almost undeserved, seeing how upset the kid had been at the prospect of losing her. 

It was nothing that a morning of nail polish and paint couldn’t stir a little life back into. Was this how Vander had felt, muddling through with a bite-sized Powder all those years ago? A fond smile settled across Jinx’s lips as she worked, seeing every hint of life and security flood back into the child with every hair tie and brush of colour. 

“There,” Jinx murmured, propping a hand on her hip as she stood back to admire the transformation. She’d humoured the requests for blue hair, a little face paint…the basics. But the full Jinxer look? Well, truthfully, before today it had felt a little over the top. 

But it made the kid happy. 

Adorned with her own body paint (tattoos and all), mini blue braids, Jinx-inspired clothes cobbled together from scraps and a couple of smoke bombs, Isha was grinning again. 

It was like looking at Powder. But happier. 

A Powder that believed in herself. 

A Powder that everyone else could believe in, too. 

Sevika’s plan to palm her off to the Firelights had done a number on the kid’s spirits. But the New Plan- the killing two bugs with one boot plan- was one that Isha was quick to jump onboard with. She was keen to be busy again. Keen to be helpful. Jinx could understand that.

The drop point was simple, two blocks west of the lower markets- not far from the very street Isha had plummeted into her life for the very first time. This was where Sevika had planned to hand her over? Hmph. Jinx tasted the irony for a moment as she settled into place, removed from sight in a large shattered ventilation pipe above. This wasn’t the way their jobs usually went. Usually, Isha was the one who played stealth. Not today. Fondly, Jinx watched as the kid came face to face with the familiar shape trudging to the drop point. Mask off. No buddies. Wow, Ekko really was whipped when it came to kids, huh? With a soundless huff, Jinx shook her head, picking at some of the blue paint from around her fingers, blind to the irony. 

“And here I was thinking you weren’t gonna show up.” Jinx’s tell-tale voice drawled lazily from the pipe above, just at the point where Isha had started to look uncomfortable at the prospect of going anywhere with their visitor. Sure, they’d gotten here early to allow time to get into position, but Ekko had been late. Heh. Some things never changed.

Wow. The acoustics in here were great. Very dramatic.

As though the echo of her voice above would be difficult to triangulate, Jinx popped her head out from the mouth of the pipe- a carefree signal to mark her cross-legged vantage point. 

Look- it’s me- hi! Here I am!

“Long time no see, Ekko.”

[f1shbonez]

mess is a bit of an understatement

[f1shbonez]

[f1shbonez]

[f1shbonez]

Movement. 

The precious promise of consciousness stole the entirety of Jinx’s attention, drawing her back to Ekko’s side. Another delicate touch settled on his arm.

I’m here.

Wake up again.

Please. 

As his head lolled to one side, a visible ripple of pain twisted Ekko’s face into a grimace. Jinx’s gaze flitted to the door anxiously before returning to Ekko, wondering when Z was next going to check in. 

"...What? Wh...wh'appened?"

It was a good question. It probably didn’t have the easiest answer to digest after being in snooze-town for so long. With a huff, Jinx brushed a lazy path down Ekko’s arms to lace her fingers between his. 

“You took a pretty big tumble.” She hadn’t managed to undo that part, that was for sure. 

Ekko was looking up at her. Relief and a desperate protective warmth pooled in Jinx’s eyes. He was awake. He was back. He was looking at her like he was just as worried, for some reason. Typical Ekko, always trying to fix everyone else’s problems first. 

"...Did'you take drugs?"

Oh. 

That’s why he’d looked at her like that. 

“I might have done that.” Jinx confessed.

Better her than someone else, right?

“But in my defence, we’d both be dead if I hadn’t.” Jinx shrugged. 

 “Scar too, so…” She tacked on, ignoring the restless itch to drift away from Ekko now that he was finally awake. It didn’t matter if he was mad. He could be as mad as he liked, she could handle it.

It wasn’t exactly like there had been time to consider the consequences in the heat of things; the risk of overdosing, of liking the taste too much, or of what the Firelights would think. In that moment, winning had been the only thing that mattered. It wasn’t like Ekko was above forgiving people who chose to dabble with shimmer, regardless of their reason. And her reason had been a really, really good one. 

❛ promise me you’ll still be here when i wake up. ❜

Wrong. Wrong. Wrong wrong wrong. 

Everything felt like a series of closing doors. The busted job. The shimmer. Ekko. Everything that could have gone wrong was going wrong and the entire pack of Firelights was reeling in the aftermath. Suddenly it felt like Jinx’s days were numbered. The dream was over, wasn’t it? Dreams never lasted. It was time to wake up. 

Ekko’s room felt tiny with all the Firelights that came and went. Jinx knew Scar well enough to see that he hadn’t been happy about her pitching up camp, but he’d known better than to push the matter. Not right now. Not when they were all worrying in their own ways. Not when she had enough shimmer in her system to tear him to pieces. 

Since when was staying put such a foreign concept to these guys? The other Firelights that came and went had other people. If the job had gone off without a hitch she’d have been with Ekko right now, anyway. Scar had Z and Ahri, Eve had Ray… Everyone had someone else to slink off to. They had someone to listen and offer some kind of assurance in the aftermath of everything.

Besides, Jinx hadn’t made any move to stop the bugs from coming in and tending to their gravely wounded leader. They moved differently around her now, as though a wolf had seated itself in a field of lambs. Jinx ignored the way it stung. The discomfort paled in comparison to the desperate caged fear she felt seeing Ekko on his bunk, unconscious and scuffed up to hell. The way they were looking at her distorted with every subtle movement. Was it blame, disgust, fear, or plain sadness? Jinx couldn’t tell.  

Was breaking a cardinal rule okay if it meant Ekko survived? So far, it seemed like nobody wanted to tell her. Perhaps her recklessness deserved their disdain, or the ugly feeling attached to their fear. Someone had to make her feel bad about it in Ekko’s absence, she supposed. 

Jinx’s presence was deadly silent as the others did their checks, only melting back to something more human once the door was closed and they were alone. 

You were supposed to talk to people when they were unconscious. Jinx was certain of it. It was supposed to help them wake up. It was supposed to tether them a little closer to the land of the living. All the other bugs had been so busy talking to each other, none of them had even bothered to ask unconscious Ekko what he thought.

“-And that’s when I found out that if it’s oil-based you’re kindaaaa screwed.” Jinx recounted, resting her cheek in the crook of her arm from where she lounged with a deceptively steady demeanour.

“‘Course I never told him that at the time- It was kind of a fake-it-’til-ya-make-it phase I was going through. Turns out that’s not just a me thing, but I was in too deep by that point. And once you’re committed, well…that’s kinda just the way things have gotta go.” 

Shimmer-laced eyes lifted to Ekko’s face, as though expecting some form of response. Ignoring the plummeting feeling in her chest, Jinx redirected her focus to the workbench at the other side of the room. It was just a silly bump on the head, that was all. They just didn’t have magic strong enough to patch him up faster. No shimmer, either. Sure, Z had come to take a look, but Jinx hadn’t liked the concern riddling the lines on her face. Not one bit. 

The memory of the bullet tearing through Ekko’s skull ripped back into Jinx’s mind again. The sound. The sudden weight of him collapsing in her arms. The stomach-churning dread as they began to plummet together.   

No. It wasn’t real. 

It wasn’t.

She’d managed to make it stop. She’d helped…hadn’t she? Unable to shake the feeling of guilt, Jinx pulled herself to her feet and drifted closer to Ekko. Sure, she’d circumvented the bullet with his name on it, but had she just found a slower, more painful way to kill him? 

The ferocious rush of shimmer through her veins sharpened everything. But there was nothing left to fight now. The only danger left was one that she couldn’t tear apart. It was something delicate. Precarious. She’d never been good with that.

But she wanted to try. 

The steady rise and fall of Ekko’s chest soothed the monstrous fear within Jinx. An unspoken weight of grief and tenderness lingered in unnaturally pink eyes. Did he know she was still here, could he feel it? Pale fingers feathered a reverent path towards his cheek. Gentle. She could be gentle. 

“Promise me you’ll still be here when I wake up.” 

The words he’d spoken hours ago swam through her mind. 

Silly Ekko asking silly questions. She’d loathed the weakness in his voice. Hearing him speak was supposed to make her feel better, so why had the handful of stupid words he managed to croak make her feel even worse?!

“Where else would I be?” She’d murmured back, wondering if he’d been awake long enough to hear her. 

Ekko had been so out of it that he hadn’t looked at her differently like the others. Was that because he saw her through the shimmer, or because he was so out of it he hadn’t noticed? From how Z was talking, it sounded like the more he slept, the worse it could be. He’d been sleeping a lot. 

If Ekko pulled through, what was he going to say? Would he be upset, or would he understand? She’d done what none of the others could have done. The Firelights had needed a weapon. If Jinx could be anything, she could be that. 

None of them knew that the closeness between their leader and his old flame was a little …closer these days. Things had been good. Too good. Good enough to lose yourself in the haze before it all came crashing down. It was like the universe’s sickest joke to offer a taste of something better- for Jinx to become more of a skeleton in a closet than a daily appearance. She’d learned what it was like to fix things- to be a part of something. To heal. To love.

“...You’re gonna hafta wake up soon.” A steady stream of morning light was trickling through the window. From the foot of the bed, Jinx’s words rose with an air of steadiness she didn’t remotely feel. She couldn’t crumble now. She couldn’t. Ekko needed her to be strong. 

“‘Cause I told you all the gossip and stories I can think of–and I know we got interrupted halfway through the swimming one, but there’s no chance I’m risking a re-telling when breakfast could appear.”

[f1shbonez]

As Ekko lowered his weapon, Isha’s eyes widened before snapping back to Jinx. Although this time, the flash of mute surprise on her face seemed positive, rather than afraid. It was a wordless celebration, albeit a little hasty. Jinx tempered the smirk at her hip with a steady glance. 

Yeah yeah, don’t count your scraps ‘til the gizmo’s built, kid. 

It wasn’t like Ekko had agreed to anything yet. Getting his attention was the easy part. Now came the real challenge- driving the bargain (and swallowing a little pride along the way).

"...Are you seriously trying to ask me to help you?"

“That was the plan.” Jinx affirmed simply, managing a loose shrug. Clearly Ekko had his reservations about the whole thing. That was…pretty fair. If the boot was on the other foot she’d have probably been looking at him pretty funny too. 

Jinx didn’t shift as Ekko began to approach. There was no charged tension in her frame, both hands (shiny new finger included) remained open-palmed and empty as the distance between them shrank. Isha, emboldened by the lack of weapon, was standing her ground too now, taking the opportunity to get a closer look at Ekko and the colourful scribbles adorning his coat.

"...You get thirty seconds.That's it. So start talking."

If she’d had more than thirty seconds, Jinx would have had something to say about it. But Ekko wasn’t planning on wasting a single moment, because before she’d even decided how to begin broaching the topic, the timer was running. 

Shit. She was too tired to be doing this neat. She didn’t do neat! Thirty seconds wasn’t going to be enough to explain everything. The only thing thirty seconds was good for, was making sure Ekko stayed interested- that he could believe or suspend his disbelief for just long enough for it to count. 

“It’s Vander.” Might as well rip the band-aid clean off. 

“He’s not dead. I saw him- when I was in Stillwater. But something…happened to him.” Boy, was that an understatement, but best to ease Ekko in steadily, right? They’d both believed Vi to be dead, once upon a time. Was Vander too far a leap? It wasn’t like Ekko had been there that night to see who fell and who never got back up. 

“I don’t know what’s going on with him, but he needs help.” Jinx paused, giving up on Ekko’s timer entirely to trudge over to a half-broken crate, sinking down on top of it. It was pretty lousy luck for Vander to survive everything, only to be lumped with Jinx as his final hope. Talk about a lot of pressure. Ekko, on the other hand, had a track record of saving people instead of getting them killed. Hell, he was even better than Vi in that field. 

Even if Ekko humoured her, where did you even begin to fix a problem like Vander’s? What if he didn’t recognise Ekko? Jinx hesitated, wringing pale hands together.

“I can’t go to Vi about this.” Hell, Ekko would probably have a hard time, too, if Vi’s psycho girlfriend had anything to say about it. If Vi was still in The Lanes, it would have been worth the risk, but ever since she’d taken up the uniform- and approved a bullet in Jinx’s head- all bets were off. Their last fight festered in Jinx’s mind, nurturing an old wound. So much for family. Nobody was helping Vander if they were dead.

💧 Water Under The Bridge 💧

So far the hero shtick was busier and less glamorous than Jinx had imagined. 

Save half of Zaun, nearly die (again), fight off the Big Bad hurting captives and enforcers… One good thing just snowballed to another, then another, until people were looking at you funny for taking a second to catch your breath. To think, under twenty-four measly hours ago she’d almost been dog-chow. It wasn’t like she’d planned to die, clawed to pieces in the deepest depths of Stillwater Hold…but walking free coming home to Isha felt surreal in its aftermath. Like she’d died without knowing and gone someplace else, just for a moment. 

…Maybe it was a good thing she hadn’t died, Jinx found herself thinking in the aftermath of their reunion. Something about the force the kid had collided into her, the gross snivelling- hell, even the way Sevika was keeping her stony gaze averted…would her sacrifice have even been worth it, to them? To anyone? 

Jinx wasn’t supposed to die in the belly of Stillwater. 

Not while The Lanes needed their symbol. 

Not while Vander needed her.

Not while Isha needed her. 

Some issues were bigger than yesterday’s ghosts. Helping people…it hadn’t been so bad, even when she hadn’t cared- or meant to. Gentle fingers teased through Isha’s freshly coloured hair, weaving strands into a neat braid- bringing order to chaos. It felt strange, almost undeserved, seeing how upset the kid had been at the prospect of losing her. 

It was nothing that a morning of nail polish and paint couldn’t stir a little life back into. Was this how Vander had felt, muddling through with a bite-sized Powder all those years ago? A fond smile settled across Jinx’s lips as she worked, seeing every hint of life and security flood back into the child with every hair tie and brush of colour. 

“There,” Jinx murmured, propping a hand on her hip as she stood back to admire the transformation. She’d humoured the requests for blue hair, a little face paint…the basics. But the full Jinxer look? Well, truthfully, before today it had felt a little over the top. 

But it made the kid happy. 

Adorned with her own body paint (tattoos and all), mini blue braids, Jinx-inspired clothes cobbled together from scraps and a couple of smoke bombs, Isha was grinning again. 

It was like looking at Powder. But happier. 

A Powder that believed in herself. 

A Powder that everyone else could believe in, too. 

Sevika’s plan to palm her off to the Firelights had done a number on the kid’s spirits. But the New Plan- the killing two bugs with one boot plan- was one that Isha was quick to jump onboard with. She was keen to be busy again. Keen to be helpful. Jinx could understand that.

The drop point was simple, two blocks west of the lower markets- not far from the very street Isha had plummeted into her life for the very first time. This was where Sevika had planned to hand her over? Hmph. Jinx tasted the irony for a moment as she settled into place, removed from sight in a large shattered ventilation pipe above. This wasn’t the way their jobs usually went. Usually, Isha was the one who played stealth. Not today. Fondly, Jinx watched as the kid came face to face with the familiar shape trudging to the drop point. Mask off. No buddies. Wow, Ekko really was whipped when it came to kids, huh? With a soundless huff, Jinx shook her head, picking at some of the blue paint from around her fingers, blind to the irony. 

“And here I was thinking you weren’t gonna show up.” Jinx’s tell-tale voice drawled lazily from the pipe above, just at the point where Isha had started to look uncomfortable at the prospect of going anywhere with their visitor. Sure, they’d gotten here early to allow time to get into position, but Ekko had been late. Heh. Some things never changed.

Wow. The acoustics in here were great. Very dramatic.

As though the echo of her voice above would be difficult to triangulate, Jinx popped her head out from the mouth of the pipe- a carefree signal to mark her cross-legged vantage point. 

Look- it’s me- hi! Here I am!

“Long time no see, Ekko.”

[f1shbonez]

tattoos!!! ☁️

[f1shbonez]

blue, like the rooftops of the city over yonder blue, like the ghosts of brothers long gone

blue, like the crystalized hope of tomorrow blue, like my hair he'd braid gently when long

blue, like the ocean that drowned all my sorrows blue, like the smoke of my sister's last song

Day 8: Blue

[f1shbonez]

New painting, or new old painting...

[f1shbonez]

❛ promise me you’ll still be here when i wake up. ❜

Wrong. Wrong. Wrong wrong wrong. 

Everything felt like a series of closing doors. The busted job. The shimmer. Ekko. Everything that could have gone wrong was going wrong and the entire pack of Firelights was reeling in the aftermath. Suddenly it felt like Jinx’s days were numbered. The dream was over, wasn’t it? Dreams never lasted. It was time to wake up. 

Ekko’s room felt tiny with all the Firelights that came and went. Jinx knew Scar well enough to see that he hadn’t been happy about her pitching up camp, but he’d known better than to push the matter. Not right now. Not when they were all worrying in their own ways. Not when she had enough shimmer in her system to tear him to pieces. 

Since when was staying put such a foreign concept to these guys? The other Firelights that came and went had other people. If the job had gone off without a hitch she’d have been with Ekko right now, anyway. Scar had Z and Ahri, Eve had Ray… Everyone had someone else to slink off to. They had someone to listen and offer some kind of assurance in the aftermath of everything.

Besides, Jinx hadn’t made any move to stop the bugs from coming in and tending to their gravely wounded leader. They moved differently around her now, as though a wolf had seated itself in a field of lambs. Jinx ignored the way it stung. The discomfort paled in comparison to the desperate caged fear she felt seeing Ekko on his bunk, unconscious and scuffed up to hell. The way they were looking at her distorted with every subtle movement. Was it blame, disgust, fear, or plain sadness? Jinx couldn’t tell.  

Was breaking a cardinal rule okay if it meant Ekko survived? So far, it seemed like nobody wanted to tell her. Perhaps her recklessness deserved their disdain, or the ugly feeling attached to their fear. Someone had to make her feel bad about it in Ekko’s absence, she supposed. 

Jinx’s presence was deadly silent as the others did their checks, only melting back to something more human once the door was closed and they were alone. 

You were supposed to talk to people when they were unconscious. Jinx was certain of it. It was supposed to help them wake up. It was supposed to tether them a little closer to the land of the living. All the other bugs had been so busy talking to each other, none of them had even bothered to ask unconscious Ekko what he thought.

“-And that’s when I found out that if it’s oil-based you’re kindaaaa screwed.” Jinx recounted, resting her cheek in the crook of her arm from where she lounged with a deceptively steady demeanour.

“‘Course I never told him that at the time- It was kind of a fake-it-’til-ya-make-it phase I was going through. Turns out that’s not just a me thing, but I was in too deep by that point. And once you’re committed, well…that’s kinda just the way things have gotta go.” 

Shimmer-laced eyes lifted to Ekko’s face, as though expecting some form of response. Ignoring the plummeting feeling in her chest, Jinx redirected her focus to the workbench at the other side of the room. It was just a silly bump on the head, that was all. They just didn’t have magic strong enough to patch him up faster. No shimmer, either. Sure, Z had come to take a look, but Jinx hadn’t liked the concern riddling the lines on her face. Not one bit. 

The memory of the bullet tearing through Ekko’s skull ripped back into Jinx’s mind again. The sound. The sudden weight of him collapsing in her arms. The stomach-churning dread as they began to plummet together.   

No. It wasn’t real. 

It wasn’t.

She’d managed to make it stop. She’d helped…hadn’t she? Unable to shake the feeling of guilt, Jinx pulled herself to her feet and drifted closer to Ekko. Sure, she’d circumvented the bullet with his name on it, but had she just found a slower, more painful way to kill him? 

The ferocious rush of shimmer through her veins sharpened everything. But there was nothing left to fight now. The only danger left was one that she couldn’t tear apart. It was something delicate. Precarious. She’d never been good with that.

But she wanted to try. 

The steady rise and fall of Ekko’s chest soothed the monstrous fear within Jinx. An unspoken weight of grief and tenderness lingered in unnaturally pink eyes. Did he know she was still here, could he feel it? Pale fingers feathered a reverent path towards his cheek. Gentle. She could be gentle. 

“Promise me you’ll still be here when I wake up.” 

The words he’d spoken hours ago swam through her mind. 

Silly Ekko asking silly questions. She’d loathed the weakness in his voice. Hearing him speak was supposed to make her feel better, so why had the handful of stupid words he managed to croak make her feel even worse?!

“Where else would I be?” She’d murmured back, wondering if he’d been awake long enough to hear her. 

Ekko had been so out of it that he hadn’t looked at her differently like the others. Was that because he saw her through the shimmer, or because he was so out of it he hadn’t noticed? From how Z was talking, it sounded like the more he slept, the worse it could be. He’d been sleeping a lot. 

If Ekko pulled through, what was he going to say? Would he be upset, or would he understand? She’d done what none of the others could have done. The Firelights had needed a weapon. If Jinx could be anything, she could be that. 

None of them knew that the closeness between their leader and his old flame was a little …closer these days. Things had been good. Too good. Good enough to lose yourself in the haze before it all came crashing down. It was like the universe’s sickest joke to offer a taste of something better- for Jinx to become more of a skeleton in a closet than a daily appearance. She’d learned what it was like to fix things- to be a part of something. To heal. To love.

“...You’re gonna hafta wake up soon.” A steady stream of morning light was trickling through the window. From the foot of the bed, Jinx’s words rose with an air of steadiness she didn’t remotely feel. She couldn’t crumble now. She couldn’t. Ekko needed her to be strong. 

“‘Cause I told you all the gossip and stories I can think of–and I know we got interrupted halfway through the swimming one, but there’s no chance I’m risking a re-telling when breakfast could appear.”

[f1shbonez]

Anaïs Nin, Henry and June [originally published 1986]

[f1shbonez]

Rewatched the finale today. Kill me please