Grip (Ekko 👀)
Rough fingers clamped around Jinx’s chin in a daringly thin veil of what little remnants of Ekko’s patience were left. This really wasn’t how the big reveal was supposed to go. Trust Ekko to find some reason to be mad. Didn’t he realise how good this was? A giddy smile split Jinx’s features from where she stood, offering no resistance as she rolled the stone between her thumb and forefinger. The looseness in her shoulders dismissed Ekko’s sudden tension and the threat of a fight.
“Sheesh. Would it kill ya to say thanks?”
He still looked angry. A glint of understanding filtered through Jinx’s eyes as she held Ekko’s gaze. Maybe his first assumption was what had him so riled up.
“Oh, calm down. It’s not the one you got squirrelled away.” Her words softened to something smug- an admission of how she’d really come into possession of something so important. The Firelights needed more of the stones. There had been an opening and Ekko’s trust and priorities were elsewhere. Now he had proof that their prisoner was worthy of trust and that she could pull off a job with high stakes.
It wasn’t really about the stones, was it? If Ekko thought she’d intended harm with them, he wouldn’t have stopped short. They wouldn’t be face-to-face like this in a stalemate. The stones were fetched for the Firelights. There would be no reason to reveal them and show such disinterest in a fight if it was any other way. Despite this, Jinx did not relinquish her prize. Not yet. If ever there was a shot at really getting Ekko to listen, it was now.
Making use of their proximity, Jinx’s hand trailed a deliberate path before slipping into one of Ekko’s pockets. The brief contact of the hex stone was accompanied with slim fingers toying with the concept of dropping it.
“I was kinda hoping you’d change your mind. ‘Not enough resources, bad timing’…blah blah blah. But if it’s just me going out there, not being able to trust me with a bucket of water if you were on fire isn’t really a problem anymore.”












