A Little Extra Flair

“Wait!!”

Ekko’s day could not have been any worse. He returned home to realize that even if he had only been gone for a few weeks, he had lost six months here. Six months of war between Piltover and Noxus, six months of Caitlyn Kiramman and Ambessa Medarda parading around killing Zaunites just to get to Pow- Jinx. There was no Powder here.

Are you sure about that?

Ekko knew Jinx, about as well as he knew Powder. Very different people, but after the weeks he spent in that inverted place, he realized that the line between Powder and Jinx didn’t truly exist. The line was a seesaw; Powder on one end, Jinx on the other. Fully influenced by external forces, yet still the same genius spitfire no matter who you got. He knew Jinx because he knew Powder. And knew Powder because he knew Jinx.

He was so damn confused.

He knew her though, he knew that when things were hard, when she was overwhelmed or just needed to stop and breathe, she made her way to the same place every time. Maybe it was the fan that loomed over Silco’s office, maybe it was the fan that offered cool comfort to the patrons of the Last Drop. Always the same. And after hearing through the grapevine of his rogue firelights that a beast had killed a little girl, a beast that was once her father, who killed the very same girl who’d followed Jinx around like a lost puppy and become a child to her.

Yeah, he’d be pretty fucked in the head after that too. And everyone already knew Jinx was well beyond fucked. So he knew there was no stopping his mind from running in circles as he cranked his hoverboard to full speed towards the body double of the girl he had just danced with mere minutes ago. Hoping that maybe, just this once, something could work in his favor.

He realized very quickly that things could not be more out of his favor than they were right now.

“Wait!” He said again. He thanked the Arcane in that moment, which had allowed him to build the Z drive with Heimerdinger and Powder. The blue glow of the canister was all that remained, and Ekko found that he greatly preferred that to the blue glow of the bomb that Jinx had used to blow herself the hell up. “I just wanna talk to you.”

Jinx didn’t spare a second to think about this. “Get out of here Ekko.” A click, an explosion of blue, skin peeling from Jinx’s face, reattaching itself, a condensation of blue into the small pod in Jinx’s hand as it clicked back into place. As if it had never happened.

Ekko had expected fucked, but this was a new level of absolute absurdity. He wanted nothing more than to be able to offer his childhood friend some comfort. But how twisted was this—barely ninety minutes ago they were dancing with one another, sharing kisses under the night sky, experiencing the life that could’ve been if not for hextech. And here he stood now, trying desperately to use one piece of this monstrous technology to repeatedly stop the broken shell of his lover from using the same technology to end her own life. He wanted to sob. He wanted to curl up on the floor and just give in to the unrelenting evil of the world he lived in. But now was not the time. Jinx still held that damning bomb in her hand, she still wasn’t safe from herself. And after the many, many mistakes Ekko has made, he would not be making any more. He promised Powder that he would never forget the time he spent with her. And even if she didn’t know the true weight those words had carried, he did. Ekko would never give up on Jinx again. Because now, the seesaw had tipped, and all he could see was the agonied face of his Powder, the Powder of this world, who died with Vander that cold night.

“I just wanna talk to you Pow—” wrong move. Even if he could see Powder in this moment, it didn’t change reality. Didn’t change the fact that Jinx had taken on her alias for a reason, and that reminding her of that may not be the best move when she held her death in her hands, even if it was accidental. “Jinx.”

She didn’t even attempt to respond this time. Boom, blue, shattered glass to Ekko’s brow, and backwards again exactly one second, no more, no less.

Blood dripped down Ekko’s brow, his cheek, onto the floor below him. It appeared purple in the blue light that emanated from his z drive. He had barely lifted his hand to wipe it away when the bomb detonated yet again.

“You’re too late, Ekko.”

Ekko was good at that. Always too late. Too late the night Vander died, too late when he and Jinx fought, the loose cannon who was too far gone to save. But now he held Time in his hands. He would not be too late. Never again. Boom, blue, blood, and back.

“Always a dance with you.” He sighed. The effects of the repeated jumps were beginning to wear on him. He had never jumped so many times at once, and hadn’t realized the kind of toll it would take on his body. The repeated explosions may not have helped either. He wished this were a literal dance, like the one he had with her so recently. But this was a different dance. A dance between Time and Death, who worked so well together, until they suddenly found themselves at odds, and Ekko’s body took the brunt of the fallout. “I think I’m just gonna…sit here a minute. Catch my breath. See if I can talk an old friend out of blowing us up.”

Ekko did as he said, lowering himself to the ground, trying to avoid the spilled blood beside him. He kept an eye on Jinx, praying that she wouldn’t do it again, wouldn’t pull that damn trigger again and end herself again. He didn’t think he could bear to see that beautiful smile melting off in a burst of flame. Relief came when he watched the twitch of her thumb as it released the pin. Relief was short lived, of course.

“I’m tired of talking.”

Ekko didn’t think he’d ever moved so fast in his life before that moment, one hand back to the z drive and the other reaching out as Jinx leaned forward, free falling from the ledge she stood on. Blue, and back up she was, thumb back in the pin of her magic grenade. He supposed it was time to try a different approach. Ekko was hesitant to mention the Other World to anyone, especially to her, but he had done this five times. He had nothing left, and he feared if she were to try again, he wouldn’t be able to save her. He didn’t know how else to get through to her, to make her listen.

“You know…I learned from someone. Very special. That no matter what happened in the past, it’s never too late to build something new. For someone worth building it for.” 

Jinx seemed to consider this. Ekko watched her carefully, watched her magenta eyes as they moved from his face to his z drive, to Jinx’s monkeys that danced inside, and back to his face again. Her hold on the bomb slackened, and Ekko couldn’t stop the relieved sigh that left his lips.

“I’m not worth it, Ekko.” Her voice was so broken, so flat, so unlike the carefree joy of Powder or the manic glee of Jinx. It was void. “I’m a curse. Everyone who loves me dies. And now, for some stupid reason, Vi wants to be close, you want to be close, even that Piltie bitch seems like she’s starting to warm up to me. I’m just doing you all a favor. I need to be alone, for everyone’s sake. And if you all can’t see that, then I guess I’ll just have to do it myself.”

“No, Jinx. I hate that you named yourself that because you aren’t a curse. You’ve never been a curse. You don’t deserve to be alone. And if I have any say in it—if I ever had a say in anything as long as I’ve been alive—you’ll never be alone again. I’ll never stop being here for you. Because I’ve seen what’s possible for us. I know who you can be when the trauma goes away. And I know that no matter what, Powder or Jinx, genius or madness, I know I’ve always cared about you. So please, just take a step back and put the bomb down. We can talk about this.”

Jinx looked down towards Ekko’s z drive again. He knew how smart she was, he knew she was starting to realize that this new gadget might have something to do with the weirdness happening around her. She slowly lowered her hands and fully released the pin, and Ekko took that opportunity to grab it and her, pulling her in for a hug as he carefully guided her away from the ledge. He could feel her then as she turned her head away from him, staring at the ground where the discarded bomb lay beside the remains of her long braids. His heart just would not stop its jackrabbiting in his chest. Ekko could say with confidence that he had never been so terrified in his life, and he hoped he would never feel a fear like that again.

The two of them moved back to the little steps by the center of the fan. Ekko made sure to discreetly pick up the bomb on their way, not liking the way he knew she was eyeing it. He lowered the two of them down to sit, and held Jinx close. Ekko realized then that she was starting to see how severe this was, that she, for all the hatred of touch, not only allowed the contact but embraced it, moving in closer to lean a weary head on his shoulder.

“I’m just…so tired, Ekko.” She whispered. “I’m so tired. I can’t watch anyone else die. I never got to say it, because for so long, I thought you all were gone, but I love you. I love Vi. For as evil as he was, I loved Silco. I can’t watch you all die. I’m so tired of being scared all the time.”

Ekko didn’t look her way, just continued to stare out towards the wall before him, the ledge where he and Jinx had just stood. She was pouring her heart out to him, and he would let her. He wouldn’t stare, wouldn’t give her a reason to feel judged.

“I know it’s scary. I’ve been scared too, for so many years. I can say it gets easier, but I would be lying.”

Jinx moved away, turning her head towards him. Some of her mascara had rubbed off on his shoulder, and her eyes were pooled with tears that seemed to never stop flowing, but even now she was beautiful. No matter how terrible she looked, she was Jinx and that meant she was the most beautiful woman in Ekko’s life.

“Man, I must really be fucked up, Mylo’s been awfully quiet today. Haven’t seen him once.” She smiled ruefully, some small joy behind it, coated with pain.

Ekko’s heart sank. He had spoken to Vi once or twice in the months since the attack on the council, and she had mentioned something about Jinx seeing or hearing things that weren’t real, but to hear Jinx confirm their fears made Ekko’s soul ache. And for it to be her own family, heck, Mylo might’ve been one of the nastiest people in her life, and she was seeing him constantly? He had really messed up. He should’ve never left her that day, no matter how much she screamed at him to. 

“Mylo is wrong. I don’t know what he’s said to you, but he’s wrong.” He set the bomb down on his other side, allowing himself to give the girl beside him his full attention. “I hate myself every day for leaving you. Whatever’s going on in that head of yours, you can tell me. I’m here.”

Ekko knew there was a battle to fight. And he had planed on asking her to join him at some point. But that was before he had to stop her from taking her own life. Now was not the time for anything that wasn’t comforting Jinx. Instead of opening up, though, she pointed to the z drive.

“That thing…it’s got mouser in it. It stopped me from jumping. How?”

Ekko smiled. He was surprised that it was a happy, genuine smile. He hadn’t done that much besides his time in the Other World. “Mouser is just for looks. But this thing has a rune in it, it lets me go back in time. Only a couple seconds though, so nothing too fantastic.”

Jinx’s eyes lit up. Ekko would love nothing more than to pull the trigger on his z drive, over and over, just to keep seeing that look on her. He had no energy left, and he knew that when they two of them eventually made their way to the battlefield, he would need it. So he just took in the sight when he had it only this one time. “How’d you do that? And you designed mouser perfectly. It looks just like her. This isn’t nothing too fantastic Ekko this is amazing!” Ekko watched the joy on her face even as something sour twisted into it. “So this thing is how you stopped me?” Oddly, she didn’t sound too angry about that.

“Yes. I couldn’t just let you go. But to answer your first question, I had some help. I think you’d like to hear this.”

Jinx stood up, extending a shaking hand out to Ekko. “I know why you came here. There’s a battle to fight. You can tell me all about it while we get ready.”

———————————

“I was with Jayce six months ago. We were at the hexgates trying to find some anomaly. A wild rune. It was all hypothetical until we actually found one. And Jayce, for such a genius he’s a huge fucking idiot, he went and tried to touch it. Made reality start collapsing on itself. I felt nauseous, blinked a few times, and woke up in Benzo’s workshop.”

Ekko babbled on about anything and everything while he cut Jinx’s hair. It was already short, cut to her shoulders in a haphazard fit of pain, but she wanted more. So the first thing she did upon getting up from the steps was walk over to the little blanket fort beside them and take out a pair of safety scissors. The whole corner looked like a kid’s dream play place, but Ekko knew better than to point that out. So he just took the scissors and had Jinx sit while he knelt behind her and took off what was left of her gorgeous hair.

“So when Sevika told me you and that furry councilman disappeared a few months ago, she meant that quite literally?”

Ekko laughed. “She wouldn’t have known that, but yes. And the furry one is Heimerdinger. He’s a yordle. Jayce is human, a very stuck up one but a human.” Ekko made his way to the top of Jinx’s head, nearly finished his work. He wiped some of the loose blue strands off his hands and continued. “But the first person I saw when I woke up…it was you. But also not you. It was Powder, all grown up.”

Jinx sucked in a sharp breath. “So she was your help? You found the stupid, naive version of me and she helped you build your Mouser Time Machine?”

Ekko nodded, before he remembered he was behind her. Moron. “Yes. I’d hardly call her stupid or naive though. She was such a genius. Could’ve rivaled any of us here. Give her a problem and it was solved before you could finish speaking. Just like you, but also…not.”

Jinx was silent. Ekko knew this would be a lot to process. He wouldn’t have believed it had he not seen it for himself. He made the last cut when she spoke.

“Was she…was I happy?”

Ekko could’ve sobbed. The pain in her voice was like nothing he had ever felt before. “Yes. She had everything. Mylo and Claggor were alive and they loved her. Silco and Vander were brothers again and both her fathers. Piltover and Zaun were allied, and the undercity was thriving. Powder was a genius inventor, she and her Ekko were science partners. She was always smiling. And she was beautiful.”

Jinx smiled warmly, though the pain in her eyes didn’t fade. “And Vi? Were they sisters again?”

Ekko hesitated then. He knew that if he were to tell her now what had happened, that it would break her. Even as kids, Powder had never cared about anyone or anything except for Vi and anything she said or did. To hear that she had died would kill her. To know that a universe where she was happy was a universe without the most important person in her life would send her right back to the edge of the ledge. But Ekko remembered how often Powder sat at her sister’s shrine. How often they spoke, how Ekko had only seen her truly vulnerable in those moments. “Yes,” he said finally, trying his damn hardest not to break down right then and there. “They were more than sisters. Best friends. They were inseparable.”

Jinx was silent for a long time. Ekko busied himself with cleaning up the loose hair in the meantime. “Why’d you come back?”

Ekko walked back over to her. Sat down and took her hand in his. “Because this place…these people needed me more. I was happy there, but everyone else would’ve been happy whether I was there or not. I came back here so I could try and make this place look like that one. Looks like I made the right decision.”

“I’m glad you came back.” Jinx ran a cold hand through her choppy hair. “Thanks for leaving the bangs. I didn’t even think about that but…I kind of like it.”

Ekko grinned. “The Powder in the Other World had a pink stripe in her hair.” Ekko reached behind him, into the play fort that he had snuck a peek into while he was cleaning, and pulled out the little tube of magenta fabric dye that he had found laying in it. “What do you say we bring some of Powder back here to you?”

Jinx grinned. “I’d like that.”

———————————

“If we’re bringing alternative Jinx over here, I say we bring alternative Ekko over too.”

The dye was still wet in Jinx’s hair. It had only taken a minute to put it on, but according to the bottle it came in, would need to sit for about thirty minutes. Jinx had already taken to pulling out more hidden jugs of paint and taken to decorating the fan they sat on. “If we can get this thing operational, we can ride it into battle later. And who would I be if I didn’t create a spectacle everywhere I went?” she had said.

Just like her to make an entrance, no matter which world this was. He had told her so. The statement brought a genuine smile to her face, the first one he had seen in a decade.

“Now why is that?”

“If I get to look like Powder the genius, I think you should look like her spiffy best friend. You haven’t told me once how you looked while you were there. I have to know! Were you taller? Did your clothes actually match? Did you wear that stupid hourglass on your face everywhere you went?”

Ekko grinned. “Hell yeah I was taller! You were too. I wore a white suit and green pants everywhere. A little too stylish for me. No hourglass on my face. Wore my hair in a dreaded little pigtail. And I think you’ll like this: I had earrings. Both ears.”

Jinx cackled. Ekko wanted to bathe in that sound. “I see why Powder liked you so much, you actually had style.”

“I have style!” Ekko retaliated.

“Ekko, have you looked in a mirror?” Ekko frowned. He knew she was teasing, but he couldn’t look that bad, right? “Relax, Boy Savior. You’re hot no matter what you wear. Come here, I have some ideas.”

Ekko blushed furiously. From the looks of it, Jinx wasn’t aware of what she had said in the slightest. But this girl in front of him was looking more and more like Powder by the minute, like the little girl she used to be. He was glad he wasn’t pale the way she was, or she’d be all over his flushed face by now. He couldn’t help it, especially when she all but ordered him to remove his shirt.

“I have one for you. Used to be Silco’s. I highly doubt he’ll need it anytime soon. All I gotta do is cut it to size.” She rummaged around in a few boxes on the fan blade opposite the blanket fort. A minute later, the blue haired girl returned with a black leather shirt, cut cleanly at the bottom. Ekko slid it on over his head instantly, feeling awkward as he stood in front of Jinx so exposed. Once it was over his head, he tugged on the bottom to pull it the rest of the way down. It didn’t budge. Ekko tried again, fumbling for the bottom hem of the shirt. It was gone. The shirt fell to his lower chest, and that was as far down as it was going.

“Jinx. Where is the rest of the shirt?”

He looked up to see her now shirtless as well. She held a pale strip of fabric in her hand, the top lined with a thin dark stripe. “You can’t have all that muscle and not show it off. You look good like that. Besides, we aren’t exactly the same clothing size anymore. How else are we supposed to share clothes?” She tore the strip length-wise, and bound the first section around the slight swell of her chest. “Well? Can you hold this for me while I safety pin it?”

Ekko sighed. His dark skin couldn’t possibly be enough to hide his blush anymore. And if he wasn’t mistaken, he noticed a matching one on Jinx’s face and ears. He walked the few short steps over to her and took the fabric in his fingers, pinching it in place until she was able to secure it. She then did the same with the second strip. It left little to the imagination, though he could say the same about her previous top as well. The top that was now a single strap laid diagonally across her shoulder and chest.

“Don’t look so moody. You look great. And again, we’re supposed to be making a statement. And a little extra flair is a great way to start.”

Those words were meant to offer comfort, but instead he only grew more worried. “What do you mean to start? What are you planning?” 

“Oh please, quit being a little bitch boy. I’m letting you wear normal pants, stop crying before I cut those too.”

Ekko sighed, for probably the millionth time in the past half hour. Curse his heart for falling in love with this woman, how could he ever say no to her? “If you have the time, would you want to retwist my hair for me? Haven’t washed it in six months, after all. I’m a little past due for one. Then we’ll be even. I did yours.”

Jinx laughed. “Of course, Big Man. You’re putting these pants on first.” Ekko was slightly worried, though lessened by the use of his childhood nickname which belonged to her and only her. He was Little Man, but to her, the only friend he had similar in age, he wasn’t so little. So, to her, he had always been Big Man. 

When Jinx pulled out a relatively normal pair of slacks, he felt a bit better. Until she used what was left of her magenta fabric dye to paint a big, neon X on the leg of it. “There’s plenty more where that came from, so don’t get too cozy. We need to go all out.”

“You keep saying that, and every time you do, I get more and more worried.”

Jinx put the dye bottles down and walked over to Ekko. Staring down, she took a broad hand in hers. “I know I’ve done some bad things. And yes, the last time I went all out, people died. The first time I did it all those years ago, I killed my entire family. But I promise, Ekko. I’m not that person anymore. I’m not Powder. I’ll never be Powder again. But I’m not Jinx anymore either. Am I still irreversibly fucked? Yes. Will I always be irreversibly fucked? Seems so. But I mean it. I don’t want violence. I want flashy. Isn’t that Powder’s style? Flashy and harmless? I want to give myself a taste of what I could be. Like you said earlier. You saw what we could be without our traumas. I’m tired of being in pain. I want to let it all go. And I know I’m not strong enough to do it alone. I need you to help. Just play along, smile and nod, do what you want but I just want to change for the better this time. My Vi thinks I can, and surely Powder’s Vi played a part in making her who she was. I want to make it happen.”

“Jinx…” Ekko bit his tongue. How the hell could he tell her? He couldn’t. But he had to. But fuck, he couldn’t be the reason she stopped smiling. “Of course I’ll help you make it happen. That’s what Powder’s Ekko did for her, and I know that I’d do it for you a million times in a heartbeat. And your Vi…I’m so glad you have her. She loves you so much.”

“Why do I not like where this conversation is going?” Jinx asked, frowning. Ekko saw the gleam of shimmer in her eyes. He braced himself for the inevitable breakdown. He had to say it. He knew Jinx. If there was one thing she hated, it was being coddled, like she couldn’t handle her own. Vi’s coddling is what led her down this path. She hated people tiptoeing around her just to make her feel better, especially when they lied.

“Jinx… Powder didn’t have a Vi. Her Vi died when the four of you raided councilman Talis’s workshop. She had everyone else, but Vi was gone.”

Jinx was silent. Not a blink, not a breath left her. She shook her head slowly, then faster. “No. No, she wouldn’t.”

“Jinx I’m sorry, I know it’s hard to think about, but—”

“Shut up! Shut the fuck up! I didn’t ask you for your fucking commentary, Vander!”

Shit. Ekko knew he should’ve never spoken. Should’ve just kept his foot in his mouth and put the painted pants on as requested. But of course he didn’t, because when did he ever do anything right? And now Jinx, who attempted suicide mere minutes ago, who was surrounded by lethal weapons, just paid secondhand witness to the most devastating tragedy imaginable and was facing probably her first psychotic break in months. The seesaw had made its next move, Jinx.

Well fucking done, Ekko.

He’d passed the four second mark probably ten seconds ago. There was no rewinding this. He just had to make do. Jinx’s mouser bomb was already in his pocket, and he made way around the massive ceiling fan collecting anything vaguely dangerous while Jinx continued cursing at the apparitions of her dead family. And now Vi. Vi had told her that Jinx only ever heard the voices of those she’d killed.

FUCK.

Ekko took the weapons he had found and discarded them in one of the boxes hidden in the mess of the other fan blade. He was confident that Jinx had plenty more hiding, but he hoped that in her current state of mind, she wouldn’t stop and think too hard about where they all are. He couldn’t do much about the ledge. She had already jumped once. He just had to pray that he could get her calm.

“Jinx.” Ekko laid his hands out in front of him, palms up. “Just look at me.”

“I’m not a jinx! I didn’t mean to!” Jinx stared towards Ekko, which he chose to count as a hint of progress, but rather than look at him, she stared straight through him. As if he wasn’t there at all. “It was a mistake! I’m not a jinx, don’t leave me please!” A tip of the seesaw, back to Powder again.

“I’m not leaving you. I told you, I’ll never leave you again. Vi is here. She’s alive and she loves you. I need you to look at me, Pow.”

“And why should I do that?” She spat. Down went Powder, up came Jinx. “The Boy Savior wants to play hero again? You’re just a scared little boy who wants to feel like he’s worth something so you try and make friends with the local freak. Well guess what, she isn’t interested!” She walked over to where her twin braids waited on the floor. Kicked them around a bit and looked back to Ekko. “Where the hell is it?”

Ekko was glad he thought ahead. “Where is what?”

“Don’t play fucking stupid with me. You have mouser. Give her back. I’m tired of this.”

“I’m not giving it to you. You’re upset, I get it. But you’re not getting her. Vi is waiting for you, you can’t go to her if you die here.” 

“I thought we went over this, asshole. I killed her. It’s what I do. I can’t go to her if you don’t LET ME DIE!”

She ran for the edge of the fan, and Ekko had to drag up whatever remains of energy he had left. He cranked the z drive back three seconds and pulled the cord. When the blue dissipated, Jinx was back in front of him. He didn’t waste a moment this time. He reached a hand out to take her arm and pull her in. She thrashed and tugged at him, but he could tell that her breakdown had left her exhausted. She had no fight left, and neither did he. He was naive to think earlier that she would’ve given up on death that easily. 

“Why do you care so much?” She whispered, burying her head into his chest. “You said it. Vi died in the Other World. The one person I didn’t kill in this one, I killed in another. Everyone who loves me, I end up killing them. You shouldn’t care. I’ll hurt you.”

“You’re worried about hurting me, and that’s what tells me that you wouldn’t do it. Not at all, and definitely not intentionally.” Ekko cupped a hand around her near shaved head. “It wasn’t your fault Vi died. It was Jayce’s. He was told not to mess with magic, but he did. Here, all it did was cause some property damage. There, his illegal use of magic is what killed her. Not you. If anything, it was my fault. I gave Vi the tip. I was the reason you all were there. But at the end of the day, it wasn’t on you. It will never be on you.”

Jinx opened her mouth, likely to refute his words, but instead, only a silent sob escaped her. Ekko wrapped his other arm around her, and just allowed her to cry. He knew she hadn’t allowed herself that opportunity nearly enough. She hugged him as well. They stood like that for several minutes as Jinx’s heart poured out through her tears. She was buried in years of grief, and Ekko would allow her all the time she needed to release it. Eventually, when Jinx lost the strength to stand, the two of them knelt on the ground, Jinx seated nearly in Ekko’s lap.

“There was…one other detail I haven’t told you. About the Other World,” Ekko whispered to her when her crying had slowed down.

“What is it? Who else did I kill? What else did I destroy?”

Ekko sighed. “I’d hardly say you destroyed anything. You and I… we were more than just science partners. More than just friends.” He swept the bangs out of Jinx’s face. Her magenta stripe was still sticky. They would need to wash it out soon. “I loved you even before I woke up there. But when I landed in his body, I realized that my love for you didn’t even hold a candle to his. And every minute I spent there, I found another reason why. When I came back home, I made sure to bring that love with me. But I realized that I already had it, I just didn’t recognize it before. That love… reminded me that I should’ve never given up on you. Even if you insist that Powder is dead, you still look just like her.”

Jinx backed up and stared at him. He could see the moment when the voices ran away, when the fog over her eyes lifted, when the seesaw hit its equilibrium. She blinked, and maybe it was just the lighting, but he swore he could see the cobalt blue return to her eyes, just for an instant. “You… you’re full of shit.”

Ekko had to admit, those words stung. Did she think he was lying? Was she not interested, did he get the wrong idea? The girl he had loved his whole life, that he hadn’t realized he loved until he got a glimpse of what could’ve been.

“You’re so full of shit,” Jinx continued. “You didn’t need Powder to tell you that you loved me. You’re a terrible liar, anyone could tell. Except maybe you, apparently. Only you could look at someone this crazy and fall in love with her.” She laughed, her voice was still thick from crying. She curled back into his lap. “Don’t look so down, Big Man. This crazy bitch loves you too.”

Ekko would’ve thought he was dreaming if not for the events that had just transpired. He’d never have a dream like that. This was real. He loved Jinx. Jinx loved him.

“You told me five minutes ago that I shouldn’t care about you! If you knew I loved you then why’d you bother?” He was shocked, and so confused. 

“Vi loved me too. I had to make her go away. Isha loved me. I couldn’t make her go away, and she died. I figured if you could just…love me from farther away, you’d be safer.”

“Hmm. I think I’m perfectly happy right here. And if we go down, we can go together.”

Jinx sighed. “There’s no getting rid of you, is there?” 

“Absolutely not.” Ekko was feeling bold. He leaned down and pressed his lips to Jinx’s forehead. She was still tense, he noticed, but the action seemed to ease her some. “Let’s get that hair rinsed before the dye dries out and makes a huge pain for both of us.”

“Where are we going to get water? I kinda… burned down the entire place.”

Ekko was so taken aback by the statement that he couldn’t help the laughter that ensued. It started and it wouldn’t stop, and he and Jinx both found themselves doubled over on the ground, laughing until they cried.

———————————

“You had to find the most disgusting water in all of Zaun, didn’t you?”

Jinx groaned as Ekko knelt beside her, cupping water in his hands to rinse the magenta out of her hair. The water in question? A pothole full of runoff he found in an alley a couple blocks from the Last Drop, which Ekko was only about 80% sure was actually water. The stripe in Jinx’s hair came out to more of a violet shade, which made sense he supposed. He put pink overtop of blue without whitening it first.

“You had to burn down one of the few places in all of Zaun that had a shower, didn’t you?” He retaliated.

Jinx sighed, but there was no malice behind it. “Yeah, ya got me there.”

Ekko and Jinx spotted the cluster of enforcers at about the same time. They weren’t out on patrol. Their weapons were holstered, their helmets were off, and they chatted idly amongst themselves as they walked down the street. They didn’t even have their gas masks with them.

“This war thing must really be serious,” Jinx whispered. He could understand why she would want to stay silent, to avoid drawing their attention. The walls of the undercity were still copiously decorated with her wanted posters. “I recognize that one. That’s Hira. I’ve seen her before at Zaunite rallies. Even had the guts to find me and ask if she could work with me individually.” She pointed to a stocky young woman with red hair that was poorly dipped in blue. One of the jinxers he had seen parading the streets. Now wearing an enforcer uniform.

“We should head back to the Last Drop. Finish getting ready for this fight.”

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I agree. If the enforcers had to resort to recruiting Zaunites, they must be really desperate. They’ll need all the help they can get.”

“We should probably wait until they get a good distance away. The last thing we need now is you getting arrested.”

Jinx snorted. “Yeah, definitely not a fun use of my time. Zero out of ten, would not recommend.”

“You’ve been arrested?!”

Jinx grinned. “You’re the one that disappeared for six months. You’ve got a lot to catch up on, Big Man.”

As soon as Hira and the enforcers rounded the corner down the block, Ekko and Jinx made their way out of the alley they crouched in and back towards the Last Drop. Ekko couldn’t get over how odd the two of them looked in that moment. He in his crop top (that was forced on him against his will) and baggy Firelight pants, and Jinx in her poorly bound chest and striped slacks. He had to say that he liked it, as strange as it was. Anything looked good on her. And now he could say that nothing looked good on her too. But that was a rabbit trail for another time.

“You mentioned someone named Isha earlier?” Ekko couldn’t help but be curious. “What was she like?”

Jinx smiled, and this time, she didn’t try to hide the pain behind it. “She was perfect. She was just some little kid that landed on me—literally fell on top of me. I was still running from the enforcers back then. So was she, I guess. I saved her from some muggers and I kept trying to make her shoo but she just kept coming back. So I let her stick with me. I didn’t even realize it until the night she died, that she made the voices go away. She let me be Powder again for a while. She didn’t speak, not out loud, but she was so expressive. Everything made her happy. She even died with a smile on her face.”

“She sounds wonderful.” Ekko meant that. Anyone who could soften even the hardest of hearts had to be amazing. He wished he could’ve met her. But he supposed he had, in a way. This girl had left a mark on Jinx, made her into someone less of a monster from legend and more of a gentle hero. He knew that if Isha were here now, he would see her in Jinx, and Jinx in her.

“She would’ve loved you,” Jinx whispered as she stopped walking. The Last Drop stood before them, mostly reduced to ashes aside from the upper half. Janna’s breath had come and spared it. She turned her body to Ekko. “She reminded me a lot of us as kids. Always wanted to play. Always wanting to be something bigger than herself. Wherever I went, she went too. Whatever I did, she did. I even told her about you once. I’ve never seen her so excited.”

“You told stories about me, huh?” Ekko grinned. “I’m feeling famous already.”

“Oh, hush. But enough about her. She’s gone now, and she’s not coming back. Let’s get inside and finish up our work. I still have to get you in those pants.”

“That sounds very threatening.”

———————————

“Honestly, those aren’t actually too bad.”

The pants Jinx offered to Ekko were pretty simple. Much more fitted than the pair he currently wore, but they couldn’t have been Silco’s. He was slender. Ekko…wasn’t. He decided not to ask where they came from. Especially since she was generous enough to allow him to keep his belt. He slid them on while Jinx pulled out a pair of leather leggings that must’ve belonged to Sevika at one point. She was the only other woman Jinx spent any amount of time with. The leggings sat low on her waist, same as the last pair, and they hugged her figure beautifully. The cuts down the sides showed off the rest of her swirling tattoos. Ekko never knew that at their base, some of the smoke had been pink. Anything she allowed to be visible was blue. He supposed she did that on purpose. She would’ve never admitted how much she had missed Vi while she was in prison. 

“Come here,” Jinx said to him as he finished fastening his belt around his waist.

“What are you planning now?” He whined, but he couldn’t help his grin. He was enjoying this more than he thought he would. And as the minutes dragged on, it got more and more exciting to him.

“You liked those piercings Ekko had in the Other World. You’re getting some to match.”

“Jinx I’m going to get an infection,” he groaned.

“You’ll be fine. I made sure to sterilize the needle first. And before you ask, I got sterilizer from Silco’s stash. I had to stab his stupid eyeball all the time, and he would’ve needed a sterile needle for that long before he’d ever need it for a piercing.”

Ekko couldn’t argue with that. He took the cotton band by Jinx’s blanket fort—probably once Isha’s—and put it in his hair to keep his dreads back from his face. His hair must not have been as long as alternate Ekko’s, since his bangs still fell over his forehead, but it would work. He sat in front of Jinx as she held Silco’s needle gun in one hand and a pair of silver earrings in the other. She barely gave Ekko the chance to brace himself before she drove the needle through his earlobe, and then the other. It was surprisingly not as painful as he expected, though he couldn’t say the act of sliding the jewelry in was pleasant. Jinx was right, he did enjoy having a set of earrings of his own.

“Now will you let me paint your clothes?” She asked, a hand on her cocked hip. “If you can trust me to stab you, I don’t see why letting me paint on you is so hard.”

“Fine,” Ekko mumbled. “Only if I get to paint you too. Plus, you still need to twist my hair. I did my part, I put those mysteriously acquired pants on.”

“Yes! You can lay down while I work. I can tell you’re exhausted and I’ll need a little bit. It’s been a minute since I’ve done your hair though so don’t be surprised if they turn out wonky.”

Ekko did as he was told. He leaned down to lay on his side, head in Jinx’s lap. He was shocked with himself, he wasn’t sure it was the best idea to trust Jinx enough to sleep while she stayed up unwatched. Though he could say there was no concern about her committing a violent crime anymore, so there was some progress being made. But was this her way of getting him occupied while she did something to herself, or—more likely—was she going to twist some shitty design into his hair? She was right though, he was bone tired. He fell asleep almost immediately when he felt her fingers working at his hair, untwisting his locs. He would just have to hope that he wasn’t making a mistake right now.

———————————

Ekko woke up when he felt Jinx poking at his face with a long, chipped fingernail. It had felt like mere moments since he fell asleep, and it took him an embarrassing few seconds to get a hold of his surroundings, but he was noticeably more rested than before.

“All done. Only took two hours this time too. I had to wash it once I got the locs out but you were out cold, you were not waking up, so I just had to use some skin wash for now and you can get it cleaned up later.” Jinx beamed, seemingly proud of her work. “That’ll have to be our first couple’s project when this whole war thing is said and done.”

Ekko smirked. “Couples project? Is that what we’re calling this?”

Jinx blushed this time. It was nice to see the roles reversed, to see her flushed and embarrassed because of him. “Vi told me that it’s a thing she and that Piltie did once or twice. Those topsiders actually get showers in their homes. Vi told me that Caitlyn wouldn’t stop complaining about her stink and washed her hair for her. The Piltie keeps insisting she wasn’t that mean, but I can see it.”

“So your elaborate plan was to get me to sleep so you could be a mushy girlfriend without getting caught? My lips are zipped, don’t worry.” Ekko was enjoying his position way too much. Even as kids, she was always making him blush in some way or another. He had years of time to make up for.

“Is that what I am, your girlfriend? Gotta say, I like it.”

“Well you did compare me to your sister and her girlfriend, and I figured all the flirting we’ve been doing was hint enough that I think you’re the most wonderful person on Runeterra. So if you wanna be my girlfriend, I’m absolutely down for that.”

“You’re definitely down, that’s for sure. You’re down pretty fucking bad, Big Man. I can’t believe I didn’t see it when we were kids. I’d love to be your girlfriend. After all, we can’t let my sister and her councilwoman be the only heroic couple to ride into battle together.”

Ekko laughed. “Doesn’t matter what world this is, you’re always competing for something.”

“Someone has to do it. Also now that you’re finally awake, we need to get back to painting.”

Ekko already felt ridiculous. He absolutely loved it, but he felt ridiculous. So when Jinx presented him with a hefty armful of paints that she’d accumulated over the years, he went straight for the neons. Hot pink, lime green, electric blue. And the first thing he did was stroke a large, pink X on Jinx’s chest.

“Going right for it huh?” She teased. “Could’ve painted me anywhere and you didn’t even hesitate?”

Ekko could’ve combusted right there. It was just the focal point of her outfit, or so he convinced himself.

“Here, let me see that,” Jinx said, taking the green paint from beside him. She opened the tube and smeared paint straight onto Ekko’s arm, using her fingers to spread it. He flinched when the cold of one of them grazed over his inner elbow. He grabbed her hand and noticed her middle finger had been replaced with bronze.

“When did this happen?” He asked. “I’m half tempted to laugh, but it also couldn’t have felt great.”

Jinx did the laughing for him. “Caitlyn shot it off. I keep hearing she’s an excellent shot but she was aiming for my head and hit my favorite finger instead, so she can’t be all great.”

Ekko felt his jaw drop. He really wished he hadn’t been gone so long. “And why was Caitlyn pointing a gun at you? It’s starting to sound like her and I are going to be having a long talk next time I see her.”

“Relax, oh heroic one. I was beating Vi’s ass and Caitlyn was grieving over her mom. Can’t say I blame her, I would be a hypocrite to get angry considering I did go and kill the man who was responsible for Vander’s death. Also, I get a cool new finger. Makes it even more satisfying when I can flip people off in style.”

“Of course.” Ekko groaned. “Only you could get shot and laugh about it.”

He allowed Jinx to continue painting all over his body while he laid back on the ground. She was on his lap now, practically straddling him as she worked, and he was far from complaining. He felt a warm tug in his core as Jinx returned his favor, leaning in close to paint a big pink X on his chest. When his face heated up, he saw her smirk.

“Now you’re just doing this on purpose.” He grinned. While Jinx beamed, clearly proud of herself for leaving Ekko so flustered, he surprised both of them by leaning forward and closing the small distance between them, leaving a chaste kiss on her dry lips. They tasted like gunsmoke, likely the remains of her bomb earlier and definitely not something Ekko thought he would enjoy the taste of. But when it was her, it was perfect.

Jinx stopped painting. Dropped the paint tube and tossed the paint brush to the side, then leaned down to meet him. “Do that again.”

Ekko was more than happy to oblige. The minutes they spent tangled in each other’s embrace were full of giggling and smeared paint, and when all was said and done, they realized they would need to restart their work. The paint hadn’t dried, and now the two of them were covered in meshed smears of neons.

Yeah, maybe Jinx had a point. After the war was over, the two of them could definitely use a shower. It would be the best shower of their lives, that much he knew.

———————————

It had taken them most of the night, and Jinx had paused halfway through to squeeze in a nap of her own, but Ekko felt like it was finally safe to say they were ready for battle. He had reengineered the ceiling fan to be independently operational and attached an engine so that it could become, and stay, airborne. Even the giant balloon attached to its top was painted in X’s and hourglasses, the trademarks of the two young adults. And upon Jinx’s insistence, Ekko had even outfitted the contraption with speakers. She had told him of the day she gave Sevika her new arm, and snuck a small speaker onto the shoulder so that when Sevika had pulled the cord to activate the weapons, her favorite pop cassette would play. She and Isha seemed to find it hilarious, she couldn’t say the same for Sevika. Suffice it to say, Jinx got her wish; the two really had gone crazy with their grand plan.

Ekko hadn’t realized the fighting was as imminent as it was until he felt the ground shake with explosions. He and Jinx stood side by side, holding each other’s hands as Jinx signed off on the scrapbook she had put together. She hadn’t told anyone until Ekko about an hour ago, she hadn’t been putting this little project together for a few months now and included all kinds of stories and photos and various drawings. In her words, it was something to commemorate her grand existence, but Ekko thought it was sweet. There were plenty of little tidbits scattered throughout, input from Isha as Jinx had worked, or the other way around, and the last few pages even detailed quite a bit about her and Ekko. He was suddenly very grateful that she had given him the outfit she did; the one she had drawn out beforehand was even worse. For him at least. He knew for sure that if Jinx had worn that into battle, he would’ve been killed on the spot, too distracted to keep focused. The ground shook again, and debris fell from the ceiling, denting the ceiling fan they stood on.

“I’d say it’s our time to shine, Big Man.” Jinx leaned to the side and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek, where his signature hourglass had been repainted. “Let me just put this little thing away and we can get on going!”

Jinx ran over to the center of the fan where a small cubby lay behind a locked trapdoor. Ekko grabbed his z drive and his firelight given hoverboard and stood on the deck below the fan blades while Jinx opened the cubby and placed her booklet in it. The cubby only held a few things; a few of Isha’s favorite knickknacks, some old photos from the days before everything went wrong, and now her booklet. Ekko also noticed when she slipped his old scarf in there, even though she was clearly trying to hide it. The rest of the items that littered the place had been swept over the ledge and onto the burnt ground below. The less they carried with them, the better. When all was said and done, Jinx met him on the deck below.

“You ready for this?” Ekko asked. He took her hands in his. They were cold. She was nervous.

“Are any of us really ready?” She asked in reply. She leaned forward into Ekko’s chest, hands still clasped between them, head tucked into the crook of his neck. “It’s what Isha would do. She saw battle and threw herself in head first. The least I can do is finish this fight. Make a world worthy of her sacrifice.”

She hadn’t told Ekko the full story of what happened to her child, but between her words and the firelights rumors, he could gather enough. Isha had seen danger, it’s likely Jinx herself was in trouble, and Isha had happily given her life to save hers. His heart ached for the girl in his arms. The girl hadn’t died because of Jinx, despite what the latter had repeatedly said. She died for Jinx. Ekko knew for a fact now, that he would have loved this little girl if he had ever met her.

Another boom shook the building. They were running out of time. “Well then, let’s make today a day worth remembering.”

Ekko could feel Jinx smiling into his neck. He ran a hand through her bangs, over her head. He didn’t want to let go. Part of him knew that today had the potential to end really well, but he also knew it could end in devastation. He was terrified to let go of Jinx, because not even the gods could change the path carved out before them now. He woke up last night in Jinx’s arms. Would he fall asleep this night in an empty bed?

“Hell yeah!”

Ekko made his way to his stand where sat his hoverboard. He sighed deeply. “Jinx, in case I don’t get the chance to tell you later…I’m so glad you’re still here and I love you. So, so much. I can’t wait to celebrate the end of this war with you.”

Jinx faced him from where she sat at the steering wheel. She stuck a tongue out at him, which sported a glimmering stud in its tip. Ekko really shouldn’t have been surprised, he should’ve known she’d be up to no good while he slept earlier. “Call me Pow. I’ll be doing a whole lotta that, and honestly, I miss the days where you used to call me that.”

“Well then, Pow, let’s get this shitshow started!”

Ekko held on to the guardrail as the engine rumbled to life, and the craft became airborne. It was time to play.