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By the time Ekko made it back from Topside, the stillness of midnight had fallen over the base. To absolutely no one’s surprise, Piltover’s interest—and investment funds—had mostly dried up less than a year after the war with Noxus. But the council still seemed to take perverse pleasure in making him draft detailed proposals, only to turn them down with some bullshit excuse or another.
Addressing the councilors in their hall was grating enough, but having to make side deals in private boxes at the opera house—to play their stupid fucking mind games and drink their nasty wine, all to the soundtrack of the most soulless music imaginable—took every ounce of patience and tact he had at his disposal.
As he climbed up to his dwelling, Ekko wracked his brain for ways to soften the bad news when he filled in the other Firelights the next morning. There were only so many versions of “no” they could hear before they started to lose faith—in the peace, in the plan, in him. Before fighting a revolution started sounding like a good idea again. And while Ekko knew he should put in a few hours at his workshop, come up with some invention to help them do more with less, his heavy limbs and throbbing head sent him in the direction of his bedroom instead.
He undressed in the dark, leaving the Piltie suit in a pile by the nightstand, and when he pulled back the covers to finally rest, Jinx was sleeping on her side of the bed.
A good dream, then. His first in a while.
As Ekko got into bed beside the beautiful apparition, surely the result of his exhaustion or the Piltie wine being stronger than he accounted for, he hoped she would last the night.
Ekko knew that he shouldn’t try his luck—dreams like this often ended with him losing her and losing her in an infinite loop, until he woke up sweat-drenched and screaming—but he couldn't help but reach out and caress her cheek. Instead of disappearing or pulling a pin or falling from a ledge, this Jinx left a sleepy kiss on the side of his hand and snuggled closer.
The scent of her—like gunpowder, scrap metal, and some fruit that didn't grow on this side of the world—made Ekko's chest ache with longing. He could already tell that waking up without her would be an even greater battle than usual in the morning. He knew he should get up and set an alarm, but the fear of her slipping away again kept him frozen in place.
How many times did he have to lose her before he finally learned that she was never his to keep?
A hand reached out and started rubbing small, comforting circles on his chest, and it was like he remembered how to draw a full breath for the first time since those weeks before the war.
“You gonna sleep or just stare at me all night?” she murmured, magenta eyes warm with affection as she gazed up at him.
“Jinx?” he said softly, still not quite trusting his senses. “You're really here?”
“I’m here,” she purred into the side of his neck, “at least I think so. The time zones have me all fucked up.”
Ekko allowed himself a moment to truly feel her—the sleepy flutter of her eyelashes tickling his skin, the firm press of her body as it moved against his, seeking to get closer and closer still, as though she meant to hide him beneath her ribcage. The sweet, fruity smell of her—like summertime in some land by the sea—and the heated puff of her breath against his neck drew him even deeper into her embrace.
“Where have you been?” he asked, more hurt coming out with the words than he’d intended, more need.
“Ionia, most recently,” Jinx said after a beat, her fingertips drawing lazy patterns on the back of his neck. “Just finished a job with a pretty sweet payout. Before that, Shurima, Demacia. But I get the sense that's not what you're really asking.”
Ekko took a deep, steadying breath, willing his voice not to shake. “I thought I'd never see you again.”
“I said I'd be back in my letter.”
“One letter in two years, Jinx?” he said. “Then radio silence? You could have been anywhere. Anything could have happened to you. And all of us here had no way of knowing. Do you have any idea what that's like?”
At this, Jinx withdrew a bit so she could look him in the face. “Would it have been easier on you if I never sent it?” Her eyes darted from side to side, tracking shadows that he couldn't see. “If I had just…stayed gone, would you be able to move on?”
Ekko reached over to caress her cheek, and she leaned into it. “There is no moving on from you, Jinx. Not for me,” he said. “I just…wish you would communicate a little more. Nothing excessive, just…send a sign that you're alright every now and then, and don't leave without saying goodbye.”
“You should ask for more, you know,” she said. “You were a better negotiator when we were kids. Benzo would be disappointed.”
“I don't want to negotiate. I'm tired of fucking negotiating—with the Pilties, with the chem-barons, with my own team. I just…I just want to be with you.”
“Then come here, my needy boy savior,” Jinx said as she wrapped her arms around him again. “This Zaun shit’s got you exhausted, huh?”
“It…it's been an interesting two years.”
“Yeah, I bet,” she replied, rubbing a hand up and down his back. “You're so fucking tense. Stop letting those topsiders stress you out. Just say the word and I'll start blowing their shit up again.”
“Let’s maybe avoid that scenario,” he said. “There are technically still warrants out for your arrest.”
“As if Stillwater could hold me.” Jinx rolled her eyes. “Janna forbid a girl try and make a romantic gesture.”
“How about we start small?”
Jinx sighed but tilted her head up and pressed a kiss against his lips. “Fine,” she said. “Boring, but fine.”