The regular hustle and bustle was back. It felt a little different- like the Firelight base and everyone inside it had been scooped up, rattled around, then set back down.
Since returning, Jinx had neglected her regular people-watching. She didn’t need to watch to know they were scurrying around doing their little jobs again.
That was good. That was what she had wanted.
No more blubber parties and eulogies.
Everything back to normal.
So why didn't it feel ‘normal’?
Jinx sat alone in her room, chewing on her lip as she mulled over the celebration party for what felt like the millionth time. Music, food, celebration- people celebrating the return of Scar. Celebrating the successful mission- her successful mission.
The big hero stuff had actually paid off, and for a bizarre moment, real life seemed to have merged with those strange little make-believe pantomimes in her head of how things were supposed to go. People had praised her skills. They had recognised her as a valued member of the team. They liked having her around. Ekko liked having her around. The restless discomfort swirling in Jinx’s chest stilled at the thought.
It had been pretty easy to slip away and get lost in the hubbub that followed Scar’s return. Everyone was so busy. But after napping off the worst of her sleep debt, Jinx found herself….uncertain about just how to step back into ‘normal’ firelight life. Because the new normal was different. In the new normal everyone seemed to like her. They wanted to talk to her. Exist around her. Ugh. What was she supposed to do with that? Ekko made it look so easy.
For Jinx, it was easier to remain absent from the shift in dynamic altogether.
It didn’t last long. Ekko was always around the corner with one of his little updates. The latest of which, seemed decidedly… pointed. Was this his idea of being subtle? Scar had made some remark of her mysterious absence. Was the Big Guy really that bored of bed rest that he was requesting playdates?
The idea niggled uncomfortably in the back of Jinx’s head as she mulled it over. How was Scar going to act now his life didn’t depend on being nice to her? He’d just started to become fun. The vastaya hadn’t been all bad when he’d dropped the gruff alley cat impression and acted like a person. He’d eaten paper and listened to her ideas. What would he be like now?
Whatever their enjoyable truce had been, it felt hard to believe the camaraderie would be quite the same. Scar had other options for company. Less awful ones. He didn’t have to pretend to like her just because he owed her.
So what? Would he be back to Mr. Surly No-Sense-of-Humour again? Were they gonna pretend the whole thing hadn’t happened? Or was ‘normal’ with Scar about to change too?
Only one way to find out.
Jinx waited until the camp was sleepy and dark before nonchalantly wandering to where Ekko’s deputy (was he still Deputy?) was holed up. Admittedly, he still didn’t look great. She’d expected him to have more visitors. A whole line of them! Where were they?
For a long moment, Jinx simply watched the shape of her fellow Firelight (friend?), her expression carefully blank. Only after a long, punctuated silence, did she speak (because, in a game of tense silences, Scar always liked to win).
“And you called me a cockroach.”
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