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a-hams-art · 9 months

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Visions of You

Read on AO3

Rating:Teen and Up Audiences

Relationship:Ekko/Jinx(Timebomb)

Tags:Mutual Pining, Angst, Slight Fluff, Bittersweet

Word count:2,065

Summary:Ekko has never been so happy! His former childhood best friend is back in his life and they finally reunited! Jinx is happy too! She has something to show her appreciation to him.

Authors Note: Big thanks to my friend @a-hams-art for beta-reading! Go check out their art! It's fucking adorable and amazing!🥺💖

Ekko was in his private study; his desk sat behind a window, and the afternoon sunlight shone in the room.

He could hear the usual commotion of his base: People chatting, and kids were laughing as they played together. Others were hollering as they rode their hoverboards.

Him and his group were going to be headed out to the markets today.

He was writing down supplies everyone needed when the door swung open and banged against the wall.

"Hey-o, Ekko!" Jinx exclaimed.

Ekko flinched and accidentally scribbled on the list, "Jinx! Why didn't you knock?"

She shrugged, "Because I didn't want to." She kicked the door closed.

"You're supposed to knock before you enter."He chided lightly.

She scoffed, "You may be the leader of The Firelights but you don't tell me what to do."

Ekko rolled his eyes while shaking his head, "What did you come in here for, anyway?"

"To annoy and bother."

Ekko huffed, "You definitely got those two parts down."

She giggled happily. "Thanks. I'll make sure to come by more often.” She smirked.

Ekko rolled his eyes again with a small smile.

It's been nearly a week since Jinx joined the Firelight Base.

His announcement to keep her in their base camp was met with resounding pushback.

His best friend, Scar, was hesitant to vote for her to stay but he eventually-maybe begrudgingly- agreed.

Ultimately, they trusted their leader. If anything did happen, they knew he and Scar wouldn't hesitate to protect their community.

He didn't miss the glares Scar gave the woman whenever he spotted her; Jinx would return the look with just as much malice.

Most of his people kept their distance away from her. He understood their wariness and expected it.

To Heimerdinger's credit, he was polite to her when she arrived. He would try to start a friendly conversation with her but his efforts were met with blank stares.

Even if nobody wanted to involve themselves with her, he wanted her. He was happy to finally be able to reunite with his childhood friend.

He noticed that she was holding two sheets of paper. "What you got there?"

She followed to where his gaze was, and her eyes momentarily widened. "Oh! It's-" She held the papers behind her.

She cleared her throat, "I need to ask you something first before I do."

"Okay," He shrugged nonchalantly. "What is it?"

"You said you would be happy that I stayed," She stroked her braid. "And you like me for me. Right?"

"Of course, you're my friend." He answered.

She raised an eyebrow, she slightly narrowed her eyes at him, "And you still wanna be my friend?"

"Of course, I do. I'll always be."He assured.

She dimly nodded with a small smile. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I made you something," she said softly.

A smile peeked from his mouth, "Really?"

"Yeah, you know. Since we're friends now or whatever." She muttered, she placed the two sheets on his desk.

It was a crayon drawing. The tree in their base stood in the background and Firelights surrounded the base in the night.

Ekko was drawn as a stick figure. He was on his hoverboard and holding his stopwatch with his signature smug grin.

What else could he do but show her a wide grin? She made something just for him and it happened to be a cute little drawing of himself.

"This is great, I really like it! Thank you!" He chirped.

Jinx hummed quietly, "It's a picture of you. I knew you would." She smiled weakly in return.

His features contorted into a frown and his eyebrows furrowed.

Something didn't feel right.

Why is she acting so sullen?

He moved the drawing behind the second sheet of paper.

Dead enforcers and Sevika lay in a pool of their blood. They all had Xs drawn over their eyes. Their heads were bashed in,had crooked necks, or were filled with bullet holes.

The drawing that caught his attention the most was Caitlyn's dead body lying in front of them.

There was blood splattered across them.

Jinx and Ekko smiling and high-fiving each other with Pow-Pow strapped to her chest and Ekko holding his bloody bat.

Horns were sticking out from Caitlyn's head, fangs and a forked tongue stuck out of her mouth. Jinx was holding her hair, it was raised proudly like a trophy she won.

He didn't care about the enforcers of Sevika being depicted in the pile of corpses. It was Caitlyn that surprised him.

He didn't know her that well. She was a Piltie and an Enforcer.

Of course, she was stupid to believe that Enforcers were benevolent beings that uphold the law and treated everyone fairly.

They already harassed or killed Zaunites.The money Silco paid them simply gave them more incentive to do so.

But she seemed nice enough and she was Vi's friend. He wouldn't have wanted her killed.

A chill had settled into the room. The hairs on his neck raised and goosebumps appeared on his arms.

She was sitting on top of his desk. Her searing pink eyes observed his, gauging and calculating, she was cornering him without even needing to touch him.

She tilted her head to the side. She spoke to him low and slowly, "I thought you would like it,"

She placed her boots on the side of his armrest and the wheels on his chair brought him closer to her.

"Or, you can give me that one," She held out her hand for the second drawing. "That's your choice, really."

In other circumstances, he would have found this amusing. But Jinx was being very strange.

There were no hints of playfulness, her cold stare was dead set on him. She was being entirely serious.

What the hell?

This is ridiculous. She wants me to make a decision. Over drawings of all things.

So, I have to choose. One or the other.

Which one did I like more?

Which one do I favor?

Recognition flashed in his eyes.

Where should she sit?

He re-examined the drawings.

'-JINX' was written in the bottom corner of the second drawing.

'Powder' was written in the same place on the other one.

She's really doing this.This is a test.

Her expression had remained neutral throughout the ordeal but her eye and mouth twitched. Her pink eyes blazed as an indication of her growing anger.

Ekko was the one to unleash this prolonged silence. It was ripping her flesh with its claws and teeth yet he was doing nothing about it.

It shouldn't have to take this long. If he meant what he said then the decision should have been obvious.

"Well," She snarled. "What's it going to be,sunny?" She flicked his forehead as hard as she can.

Ekko clenched his jaw and shot her a glare.

She thought she was intimidating him but really? He already knew his answer. He was trying to come up with the right way to phrase his words.

He momentarily closed his eyes and breathed evenly to temper his irritation before he talked.

He didn't want to lose her again. He couldn't.

He couldn't bare having her return only for him to fuck everything up with her.

He was sure that would have made him snapped; punching a wall until his knuckles were bloody and broken and screaming until he lost his voice.

He was fucking sick and tired of repeatedly failing her.

He regained his patience and quickly licked his lips.

"So you think that I have a favorite? That I'm just going to throw it away?" He was able to speak to her calmly. "But honestly? They're both amazing and unique. I love both."

The sincerity and conviction in his voice rattled her entire body.

What did he say? He didn't just- no. He did though. I heard him. He said it.

"You-" She swallowed an enormous lump in her throat. "You seriously mean that?" She asked softly.

He nodded firmly, "You thought about me and took time and effort to make me something. I really appreciate it. One isn't better than the other, you know?

Sure, they're different but they were made by the same person. And I happen to like that person very much. " His smile was genuinely happy.

"But there's one thing you did wrong."

Her hold on his chair slackened with her shoulders easing from their tension. "And what's that?"

He grabbed his pen and made a quick correction. He held it up to show her.

She gingerly took the drawing and stared in disbelief at the bottom corner. He crossed out Powder and had written Jinx instead.

She met Ekko's kind and gentle smile when she looked at him. "It's Jinx. J-I-N-X."

He stood up. His warm gaze fixed on her. He placed his hand on top of her head and then cradled the back of it.

The soft rays of sunlight through the window seemed to glow brightly around him. The dust particles in the air looked like glitter at that moment.

It was nearly angelic. All Jinx could do was marvel in awe at the sight she was beholding.

The words he wanted to directly say were transferred into how tenderly he held her.

He used to just want Powder back.

That night on the bridge, he finally realized that Jinx was Powder. Powder was Jinx. They were both one in the same.

It was sad that she hated her old self so much that she disassociated with being Powder. She was one of his best friends and they had so much fun together.

But he didn't bring her to the Firelight base in hopes of changing or fixing her.

He just missed her. He'll take the good and the bad all in stride. He wanted every last bit of her. They had all the time in the world to create new memories together.

His words put a strange spell on her that left her transfixed in a trance. Her hands dangled uselessly at her sides as she processed everything.

She didn't know how she was able to breathe with the number of Cupid's arrows Ekko impaled into her heart.

Her eyes sparkled with the emotion she didn't dare to speak of aloud.

He reignited a fuse in her. It electrocuted her like being struck by lightning. She was surprised she didn't die from her injuries.

She felt it. She felt it so fucking much.

After they finished, she was going to write his name in her diary and write so many Xs and Os and hearts.

Love.

That's a strong word.

What's he trying to say to me?

Does that mean something? Should I say something back? What would I even say?

Love.

He says he loves both.

Did he just say he-

She minutely shook her head and rapidly blinked out of her stupor.

She needed to get in touch with reality again. She was eighteen. She knew better than to believe such childish things.

No. Don't be fucking stupid. Ekko is just a genuinely good guy.

You're thinking too deeply about this. Gods, you're so desperate. It's disgusting how pathetic you are.

He's not talking about you, you fucking idiot. He's talking about the drawings.

Tears pooled in her eyes and slid down her face.

She was incredibly selfish.

She knew her presence will inevitably cause him more problems yet she came back to him to stay.

But she missed him. And he told her he missed her too.

She wanted him more than anything. She wanted to be happy with him.

He still liked her.

He valued her as his friend who still cared for her after everything she's done. But that was good enough for her.

She threw her arms around him and clutched him tightly. He leaned into the hug, his strength matching hers.

Jinx leaned forward, her hand rubbing his back. His thumb stroked the back of her hair.

Even though I'm not worthy of his love, Ekko is still perfect. He is absolutely and utterly perfect.

If hugs healed, she’d clasped onto him until their bodies withered and their rotting corpses remained.

He was too good for her. She'll never be good enough for him.

She'll only taint him. She'll ruin this one good thing just like everything else in her life.

#READ MY FRIENDS FIC #LOOK AT IT #I WANT U TO LOOK AT IT #(pls)#arcane

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