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toosharkinternet · 2 years

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ｈｅａｌｉｎｇｈａｎｄｓ

Pairing: Ekko x GN!Black!Reader

Genre: 3-Part Short Story ;; Part 1 ;; Part 2 ;; Part 3

Synopsis: A night terror rips you from your bed. You head to the mural seeking solace in the faces of those who were lost. Someone is already there, having the same idea as you.

Warnings: Arcane Spoilers Ep 7 - Boy Savior. Mentions of death, blood, drug usage (shimmer), night terrors, guns

A/N: Second Part! It's kinda long so just a heads up!!

There was a loud ringing that made everything else sound muffled.The bodies of your comrades laid strewn all over the city bridge. Blood coated the pavement, leaking into the river below. How could you let this happen?

Ekko's motionless body laid at your feet, his mask nowhere to be seen. White hair mixed with dirt and blood, face paint smeared off. Face battered and bruised, clothing torn to shreds from what seemed to be an explosion.

You tried to shake him, to wake him up. No matter how many muffled screams and choked sobs you let out, Ekko wouldn't move. He…he was gone.

A figure approached, blocking out the moonlight that graced your leader's body. This silhouetted figure, with long braids and a devious giggle, gained amusement from your suffering.

"Looks like you couldn't save him, toots," said their voice, high with the tone of a teenage girl, but raspy with the intent of a killer. Only one person could have a voice like that. "Don't worry, you'll be seeing him soon,"

She raised her hand to your head, in it, a gun, finger on the trigger. She smiled, pulling the trigger as you screamed into it-

Your body shot straight up, jolted awake. Skin cold with sweat and lungs heaving for air, you hunched over, unconsciously grabbing at your chest and abdomen.

It was one of those nights again.

Those nights where you could never find sleep. Too many images flashing behind your closed eyelids. Images you wanted to bury deep, but always managed to resurface.

Your childhood, as innocent as one could be in the Lanes, ripped away from you with the death of your parents, the start of Silco's reign, and every downhill spiral afterwards. The screams of that fateful night still haunt you to this very day.

Streets filled with fire. Bloodshed. Blood curdling screams of agony. The night Silco became the leader of the undercity, all hell broke loose. His shimmer supply was released into the streets, causing people to turn into monstrous forms only found in books. Yet, it was real. Too real.

Night terrors had plagued your sleep ever since. Sometimes they would show mercy, other times you'd be too traumatized of what the next night would bring. With the blanket of darkness covering the world, came those monsters from that night all over again.

You took a deep breath, and got up from your bed. You pulled on a sort of cardigan and made your way over to your work desk, pulling out whatever your heart compelled you to put into this late night cup of tea. Anything to ease your nerves after reliving that nightmare.

Getting the hot water brewing with some hot stones, your eyes caught your old mask that sat on your desk. It was made of ivory and carved into the face of a wolf, with a cloth hood attached so that it could hide your hair and any other identifying features when you put it on. You picked it up, letting your hands run along the aged wood. Your fingers traced every dip, every curve, every crevice, as you were reminded of the time you were among the Fire Light ranks. The last of the people fighting against Silco's devastating rule.

One of your hands finds its way to your chest again, pawing at the area with tenderness and guilt. You suck in a tight breath, as flashes of your last mission played in your head like a reel of film. It was a night, amongst many others, you would never forget.

It's not every day you're at the end of a gun held by someone who used to be your friend, after all.

Your kettle whistled, telling you the water was ready. You poured the piping liquid into a metal tin cup, watching the loose tea swirl around. After letting it steep for a few minutes, you pour the brown-ish purple liquid into a wooden cup for drinking, leaving the used tea leaves to the side to be used for compost for the tree in the morning. Cup in hand, you set out to the one place you could reminisce about the old times - the mural.

On the side of the tree was a large mural, and painted on it was everyone who had been lost along the way, either due to Silco's reign or due to topsider ambushes. Approaching it, you took in the faces of your friends and family: Vander, the father you never had, who did everything to protect his children; Vi, who disappeared at the scene of Vanders death, who many assume to be dead; and Powder, who now went by Jinx, who lives in the high ranks of Silco's empire.

Jinx, who used to be a sweet girl obsessed with tinkering, now a psychotic manic out for blood, at Silco's beck and call. You clutched your chest again.

Your eyes caught sight of another figure sitting on the wooden pavement beneath the mural, back turned to you. From the mess of white locs and dark skin, you gathered that it was Ekko.

"Late night tinkering?" You mused, approaching the platform. Ekko looked over his shoulder, greeting you with a nod. You peered over said shoulder to get a glimpse of what was in his lap he was tinkering with. It looked to be a processor of sorts - yet, you could hardly tell that from a pile of compressed metal anyway.

"Yeah, working on a new accelerator. To help the hoverboards run faster but stay stable while in the air." He replies. There were a bunch of papers with scribbles and drawings, very detailed ones, that confirmed his statement. You took a seat next to him, shifting so that your back laid against the dried painted wood. Silence fell between you two. It was a comfortable silence, save the light clinking of metal.

"What're you out here for?" Ekko asks out of curiosity.

"I, uh, had that nightmare again…" You mumble in reply, taking a sip of the tea you held in your hands that had since cooled down a bit. Ekko's movements paused.

"Which one?" Because yes, there were, unfortunately, several.

"My last mission."

It was around a year ago, when you had your last FireLight assignment. It was supposed to be a simple job - crash the shimmer shipment Silco was trying to get into Piltover. You had done many raids like that before with no casualties, but that time something was different. Very different.

Jinx was there, which had thrown everything off course. Her presence caused catastrophe - she was so calm, yet so unhinged. With her massive machine gun and those sophisticatedly immature bombs of hers, many comrades fell, and Ekko was hit hard. You found yourself at the other end of the barrel of Jinx's gun. If Ekko hadn't managed to step in, you wouldn't have made it out alive. But of course, Jinx always got the last laugh. The memory of her maniacal laughter as she chucked a bomb your way would be emblazoned in your mind forevermore.

You wrapped your arm around yourself.

"I just can't get that image out of my head; being at the other end of that barrel…" Your eyes bore deep into the liquid in your cup, your mind on the cusp of memory lane one more. Ekko straightened from his hunched over position, leaning back on his elbows to get a better look at you. "No one expects you to, (Y/N)," he said.

You looked up from your cup to meet eyes with the white haired boy savior. He had a look on his face that seemed lost in thought, troubled, even. "Why're you looking at me like that?"

"Riddle me this," he says, taking a pause and shifting his body to lean more towards you, shifting more weight onto one of his shoulders. "You care for everyone and everything here. You make sure the kids are alright. Take on the burden of mending everyone's wounds after each raid. You even care for the Tree, and that can't be an easy task no matter how much you say 'I got it' or 'I can handle it', none of it is. But (Y/N), who's taking care of you?"

His questions take you aback for a moment. What he says is true - you're virtually the only healer in the hideout, the only person knowledgeable of the medicinal properties of various herbs, weeds and teas that can be found in Piltover and whatever grows in Zaun. You tend to the children, who look up to you as an elder sibling, and look after the Tree, the very thing this hideaway is built around. You admit, you have a lot on your plate, but to you, it's nothing compared to what Ekko has to go through.

You care for everyone. You never truly thought about having to be cared for.

"I….never thought of it like that…" You reply, honestly. "I admit I take on a lot of the burdens of the hideaway, but that's only to be expected of a second in command, right?”

After your last mission, you invested a lot of time into the hideaway. Taking care of the children, tending to the Tree, providing medical care to the inhabitants and the injured Firelight combatants, within no time people came to see you as just as much of a leader as Ekko was. When Ekko was gone, people looked to you for answers. The kids, most importantly, looked to you for guidance. “Honestly, as long as I can see the smiles on these kids’ faces, I’m content…”

Ekko understood that feeling, as it was his drive as well. To provide for the youth what he could only dream of at their age - that was his life's goal. In truth, he wasn’t one to talk, as he had his own demons; most dormant, many that hadn’t been addressed, as he was too busy being a leader to truly sit and heal his own trauma.

For him though, it was different for you. He’s seen you at your best, and at your worst, and you him. Last year’s encounter with Jinx had held a tight grip on your mind, bringing up memories that should’ve stayed buried, in his opinion. It hurt him to see you in pain. He wanted to care for you.

Something in his eyes flickered. In a split second, Ekko was on his feet, his hand reaching out for yours. You were confused, complied anyway, allowing the white haired leader to pull you up to your feet. You watched as he scurried to pick up his blueprints and his prototype accelerator. With a raised eyebrow you asked, “What’re you doing, Ekko?”

“You’re about to be taken care of- hold this real quick,” without warning, he shoves his blueprints and accelerator into your arms, almost knocking out the cup of half-drunken tea from your hands. Ekko hops down onto the soft grass, getting in his knees to fish something from underneath the wooden platform. Curiously, you peered over the edge to see what he was fishing for. After a moment, Ekko pulls out his hoverboard, and it finally clicks in your head.

“Ekko, both of us won’t fit on your hoverboard.”

“If I carry you, we will.”

“If you what now?”

Ekko may have been an expert on the hoverboard, hell, he was the very creator of them, but you had your doubts on the weight they could endure. And would it even be stable enough in the air with the way he was talking about riding it? It may have been just a few yards up to his room, that just so happened to be near the highest point of the Tree, but-

“(Y/N), get out of your head,” coaxed the boy savior, “when have I ever let you fall?”

“Do you really want me to answer that question?” You retort with another raised eyebrow, half teasing, half serious.

“You know what I mean, just c’mere,” Ekko gestures for you to come, both arms out waiting to pick you up. After a moment of hesitation, and a bit of anxious foot bouncing, you obliged in his request. Ekko placed one arm on your back, the other snaking under the back of your knees, and lifted you up with little effort. He didn’t have those muscles for show, afterall. Placing his feet onto the hoverboard, the metal contraption hummed to life, lifting the both of you into the air slowly but surely.

After Ekko was a generous few feet off the ground, he used his dominant foot to steer the two of you upwards. The entire time, you clung to the front of his shirt, praying to whatever gods there were that the hoverboard would hold at least till you got to his makeshift balcony. The high pitched squeal you released during take-off was something you could be embarrassed about later, right now you were praying this boy didn’t loosen his grip on you.

Your eyes were closed, so you couldn’t see your surroundings, but you could feel the hoverboard's motions come to a halt. Hesitantly, you peeked open one eye to scan the area around you. It seemed you had indeed made it to Ekko’s humble abode safely. He hopped off of his hoverboard with ease after setting it to autopilot with his foot.

“Never. Do that. Again.” You said, heaving a sigh of relief that that catastrophe-waiting-to-happen was finally over.

“Oh, please, you know you enjoyed it,” Ekko retorted, taking the small board of flight under his arm, gesturing for you to enter his room. “After you, m’lady.”

You proceeded to mock him with an exaggerated face to show your disapproval, but followed his gesture into his space. You had only been up here a couple of time, so you took the opportunity to take it all in. It wasn’t the biggest room - just big enough to hold a bed made of various materials, tucked into a corner, a chest that was propped next to the head of the bed, a bench which you assumed was his work bench considering the amount of doodles that were pinned to the wall and scrap metal surrounding the area, amongst other nicks and nacks that you assumed made him feel at home.

It was simple and cozy, just like him.

Ekko set his hoverboard against the wall for easy access. “You can set those blueprints and stuff over there,” he told you, as he went to his chest to fish something out. You did as told, placing the items carefully on the workbench. You couldn’t help but notice the many different blueprints, sketches, and ideas that littered his work area. There were also maps of the city, of certain facilities owned by Silco, and papers that looked to depict battle strategies and escape routes. You sat your cup of tea down to sift through the papers, intrigued. “I thought you had someone specifically for making maps and strats?”

“Ah, well, you could say I just do it, uh, for fun?” Ekko says over his shoulder, which causes you to look over your own with a raised eyebrow. For fun, he says? Is this truly what Ekko’s become? A battle strategist for fun?

“What’re you even looking for- what the hell is that?”

Your question was answered when the white haired boy proceeded to pull out this big, fluffy, white thing that you had never seen before. It looked like a long stretch of a cloud one could hold in their hands.

“The Pilties call it a ‘comforter’? Seems a bit excessive if you ask me,” Ekko replies, “Never had a use for it, till now.”

He takes the now named comforter, spreading it out along his arm span, and falls back into his nest-like bed, the blanket fluttering down on top of his body. Save a couple of spots of dust and grime, it looked like a thick layer of snow fell on top of the other, leaving a few locs of his hair visible. The imagery made you chuckle.

Ekko poked his head out from underneath the comforter, gesturing for you to join him. “C’mon, it feels nice under here.” he coaxes in a sing-song voice.

Leaving behind your forgotten cup of tea and his piles of papers, you made your way over to Ekko’s bed. His words were the truth; after you slipped under the comforter, you were enveloped in a warmth like no other. And with the size and material of the blanket, the weight applied to your body made you drowsy almost immediately.

It was here that you noticed the close proximity you were in with him. You felt an intense heat creep up your neck, and shifted your eyes to find something to take your mind off of how incredibly close Ekko was to you. As if the universe had heard your mind, you caught sight of a little window directly above Ekko’s bed, which gave a perfect view of the moon and stars, save a couple of leaves and branches in the way.

“I didn’t know you had this window right here,” You remark, still struggling to keep the heat of your bashfulness down below your chin.

“Ah, yeah, it’s a perk of being this high up, I guess,” he says, “When I can’t sleep, normally looking up there helps. The moon and stars are oddly peaceful, y’know?”

“Never knew you to be such a sentimental guy, Ek,” you tease, causing the other to roll his eyes in a playful manner. “Oh, shut up,” he retorts with a scoff.

There was a moment of silence between you two. Ekko’s eyes soon caught yours, and for what felt like forever, his warm brown eyes, full of comfort and care, bore into your own. The heat from before that dared to make its way further than your neck was replaced with another feeling - one you weren’t quite sure what to call - but it was so warm and soothing, you welcomed it, letting it spread throughout your body. You finally allowed the weight of your body to relax into his bed, allowing a sigh to escape your lips.

“Comfortable?” Ekko asks softly.

“Yeah. Didn’t know I needed this,” you reply to him, “and I could definitely get used to it.”

Ekko hesitated slightly before replying, “Well, I don’t mind taking care of you…so I don’t mind you getting used to this,” for a moment, his words trail off, but he takes a short breath to encourage himself a little bit more, “if we get used to this.”

You take in more than just his words. With the moonlight shining in from above, you took the time to drink in Ekko’s features. His brown eyes that filled you with warmth whenever you looked into them; the bridge of his nose which normally would be painted over with a white hourglass shape; the way that his mocha-toned skin shone under the moonlight…

…and his lips, how they looked so delicate and kissable in this moment.

“I…think I’d like that,” You mutter, pushing your previous thought aside with little effort. Your drowsiness was taking over your body, thanks to the added weight of the comforter and the warmth it provided. It became hard to keep your eyes open, and before you were aware, sleep overtook you.

Before your consciousness slipped, you could’ve sworn you heard Ekko say he would love that as well, before pulling you into his chest.

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Tags: @ellixiot @jacuzziwaters @somberess @tobi-momo @todorkihoee @katsdni

#arcane #arcane netflix #arcane x reader #arcane league of legends #ekko x reader #arcane ekko x reader #arcane fic #arcane ekko #i dont watch this but this is really good

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