#protege!au

[insomniiyac]

Starting to draw AU versions of the boys! (Only draw Ekko because Jayce is more or less the same here in the canon version!) Some information about the AU under the cut if you're curious!

Protege!Ekko was caught by Enforcers while attempting another raid on a shipment of Shimmer. He was sought after for a while and was recognized for his intellect and talents. Councilman Talis decided to strike up a deal- he was to work in his lab with him and Viktor for a lesser sentence, which he accepted. Jayce begins to develop feelings for the firecracker while Ekko’s feelings are slower to come, but he pushes it down (much like how it is in my vanilla HammerTime stories).

Ekko is highly intelligent and often treats Jayce and Viktor like “geriatric morons”, yet he’s grown to appreciate them both for their talents. (Viktor and him have a higher understanding due to them both being from the Undercity.)

In this AU, P!Ekko’s personality is nearly identical to his Arcane counterpart. However, he’s a lot more bitter about his predicament, only providing the bare minimum of involvement in the labs until Viktor and Jayce slowly win over his trust.

Jayce’s personality here is identical to his Arcane counterpart. (There isn't much change canon-wise, just a what-if kinda thing here!)

His relationship with Jayce is very much “mentor x mentee”, but they try to keep it under wraps. Jayce does harbor some guilt, battling his feelings of the power dynamics between the two. Ekko pretty much made peace with it and does what he wants, knowing when to come around and when to pull back for publicity’s sake. Ekko isn’t above using the Councilman’s feelings for him to his advantage.

The artstyle direction when drawing this AU is a colored sketch style.

[insomniiyac]

I actually adore the fact that his face paint is part of his expression and personal symbol- hence why I took it away for the protege au. 📚

Part of Protege!Ekko’s misery isn’t just because he’s forced to work with his opps, but also lack of expression. The clothes that he wears was given and tailored to him by Jayce, but it’s uncomfortable and it isn’t loose-fitting.

Ekko’s Topcity clothes are things that Jayce thinks fits him. And it does to an extent- he wears it well! But with the face paint being frowned upon (and outright banned due to “gang affiliation” during his probation)- he feels like just another NPC.

It’s uncomfortable for him, but he puts up with it for the sake of getting released on time.

[insomniiyac]

[protege au 🔨⏳] He drank too much at the mixer 🥴

[insomniiyac]

The closest Ima get to my little Protege!Ekko AU being real 😘 //delusional

(Full pic below the cut)