location: the last drop
event: the firelights breakfast program
❝ you play god, you gon' get what you asked for, ❞ ekko said, his voice clipped, yet not too far from the border of irritation. he was talking at her, not to her, so the comment wasn't directed at sevika. the grave glint in his eyes goes past the taller woman's broad shoulders, eying the featureless uniformed swine standing just outside the last drop. their soulless gold eyes seemingly stared back at his, almost as if they expected trouble. even from where ekko stood, he could see their grips tightening around their weapons. everybody in the establishment around the two war-weary veterans was too busy to notice the odd tension in the early morning. they were too stuffing their faces in their breakfast bowls and or returning to the line to get seconds. ekko crossed his arms over his chest, readjusting his line of vision up at the face of the zaunite councilwoman. he scoffs at the thought of her presence requiring an escort, just to be home, and shook his head in disbelief.
lately, there has been a proliferation of robust interrogative procedures in the lanes. enforcers disrupting the livelihood of the zaunite communities, with their brutish inquiries about rumors and conspiracies concerning the firelights because of the "harassment" they've been enduring from them. he assumed this behavior was born out of paranoia from the bombing of the old council. ekko was close to his guess, but he didn't quite hit the mark.
after the noxian invasion was thwarted, and the world was literally saved, the grieving period for the affected sister cities was long, and some people may have thought that piltover-zaun was moving towards long-lasting unity.
in a perfect world, if that existed, certainly. no matter how you dissect the human heart, love serves no purpose in the plot of insecurities in man.
unbeknownst to ekko, resentment toward the undercity had grown exponentially, but this time around, it had particular targets worthy of being on its radar: the enigmatic uniters of zaun. two individuals that weren't that far off from a teenhood they barely survived, and who managed to convince zaunites to come out in large numbers to form a formidable defense against one of the most powerful armies in runeterra, when the majority refused to fight in the war. these were the people who turned their backs on piltover, after centuries of piltover having their backs happily turned on them. the cold response didn't come from out of nowhere—it was piltover reaping what they have sown.
but jinx, and ekko changed everything. together, they accomplished the impossible: saving their homeland and its sibling city from annihilation, securing free will for millions of souls, and ensuring that mankind had a future. yet, even those monumental acts weren't enough to earn them lasting goodwill for too long. with the kind of influential power they wielded and their rapid succession of exercising it, it was almost inevitable that piltover's dangerously curious gaze would turn toward them.
one was a wanted domestic terrorist—a volatile, blue-haired deviant who had worked under a notorious zaun separatist and inspired an anarchist movement fueled by her political assassinations. the other was suspected of leading an elusive zaun nationalist terrorist group, one that had been reported for destroying government property, and assaulting and even killing enforcers. jinx was presumed dead, but even that wasn't enough to quell assuage piltover's growing paranoia.
whatever the bullshit reason piltover had for increasing pig presence, even if it was possibly stemming from the loss of their 'illustrious finest', ekko couldn't be bothered enough to give up an arm and leg to express empathy for their losses. any 'harassment' the enforcers faced was rightfully earned treatment. all the shadowy firelights were doing was surveilling the hypervigilant fist of the system.
❝ i don't know why the council thinks you need to bring around a portable pig pen down here. you're good. what, the pilties get done dirty by one zaunite, and now we're all terrorists? ❞ there was no hiding the accusatory edge, but he kept the volume steady, keeping the conversation stayed between two pairs of ears.
❝ besides... the girl they're looking for is—❞ ekko pauses, and softly squeezes his face in pained frustration. while he was done being a pretender, acting as though his emotions didn't matter and he was an impenetrable shield, he still refused to show vulnerability in the face of his enemies. ❝—ah... sevika, this is stupid. i'm just a guy who has to make sure all these kids are fed, alright? that's my business. i'm somebody that shouldn't be of any piltie's concern, unless i have to be concerned. on that note, you want some eggs? ❞
@gambl4r | sc liked, lyric-inspired. | main canon stamped.
