Chapter Text
1 month together
***
It started out as a sprinkle. Little droplets rolling off of grimy roofs and pattering on the pavement. Jinx thought they would get home in time before it really started to pour. Getting caught up in rain wasn’t ideal in the undercity. The water would spill out of dirty pipes, soaking whatever unlucky bastard happened to be walking under them. Muddy liquid would build up along curbs and in sewers, making the whole city smell. Typically, trenchers only owned one, maybe two outfits, so if you got soaked you would have to wait for your clothes to dry, wearing nothing but your underwear while the chill of the rain breezed through the scrappy wood paneling of your shelter. It's incredibly inconvenient. And unfortunately, the rain came quickly and hard today.
Jinx leaps from one rooftop to the next, skidding on some water once she lands. Raindrops tap on the metal roof, and the air is getting muggy and thick with rain. Isha is on the last roof they had jumped too. She looks a little wary at the water, but sees Jinx had safely made it to the other side and takes a determined stance, adjusting her hat and leaping off the structure. She makes it to the other side, but her foot slips out from under her and she goes tumbling back, desperately trying to grab onto the edge of the roof. Jinx’s heart almost leaps out of her throat- almost, because she knows when she uses her shimmer she can practically teleport. In half a second she’s there, grabbing Isha by the forearm and yanking her back from a five story drop, clutching the kid against her front to stabilize her. Isha gasps, clutching her little fists onto Jinx’s pants, seeming a bit shaken.
“Y’alright there, kid?” Isha nods against Jinx’s stomach, pulling away and looking up at her. Her eyes are wide, and she glances back at the drop. She shakes her shoulders and lets go of Jinx, shaking off the fear. Ish, never failing to be brave.
“Don’cha worry! I’m as quick as my Zapper can shoot! I’ll be there to catch ya when ya need it,” Jinx says, smirking down at the girl. Jinx has a teasing tone, meaning to lighten the mood, but Isha's eyes sparkle at the words, gazing at Jinx like she was Janna herself, swooping in to rescue her from any danger.
At that moment, there’s a gust of wind and rain starts pouring , pelting down from exposed areas of the sky and cascading over roofs and walkways and pipes. Jinx covers her eyes with her hand and Isha pulls her miner’s hat farther over her forehead. Jinx’s bangs blow in her face and she spits hair out of her mouth. A little hand grasps Jinx’s, tugging on the now-soaked fingerless glove.
“Yeah, this is a little much, even for the unconquerable Jinx! Fastest in all of Zaun!” she swings her hand out dramatically, water misting against her skin. Isha grunts and Jinx rolls her eyes, “AND Isha, second fastest in all of Zaun,” the kid grins, satisfied, and nods her head. Jinx shoves her hat down playfully before taking her hand back and leading them to some piping to slide down. They make it to the street, which is definitely a worse place to be as the sewage smell gets stronger and brown water soaks their shoes, but at least they wouldn’t slip to their deaths.
When they make it back to the base they are filthy. Clothes completely soaked, shoes and socks muddy, and Isha’s frontside soiled from slipping and falling on her face during their treacherous walk home.
“Eugh, the timing couldn’t have been fuckin’ worse!” Jinx exclaims as she shucks off her cloak and starts unbuckling the various belts and accessories from her person.
“I’ve got some extra clothes, we can dunk these ones in a bucket and hang ‘em up to dry.” Isha gets most of her outfit off, being left in her tan undershirt and some shorts, which are pretty much just as wet as the rest of her clothes. She holds her arms out, looking at the grime coating them.
“Jeez kid, you're filthy! You can use the tub, I think I’ve got some soap around her somewhere…” Jinx starts rummaging through organized chaos, finding a bottle of soap she had got(stolen) not long after Isha had moved in. She turns back and Isha is gone, now having wandered over to the slightly mucky, graffiti covered tub on one of the propeller blades. Isha waves her hand across Jinx's form from the distance, gesturing to the filth on her body.
“Yeah, I'm gross too. S’okay, I can take one after ya.” Isha just keeps looking at her, as if trying to communicate something she doesn’t have a sign for. Then Jinx notices the way her entire tiny body is trembling. Her knobby knees shaking beneath her and teeth chattering together. The poor kid looks freezing, would probably get a cold too. Jinx feels bad that there isn't any real plumbing in her hideout. When she needed to bathe she would always just go to Silco’s. But he’s gone, and The Last Drop isn’t home anymore, and she’s got a kid who calls this dingy place home now. She’ll have to install some plumbing soon, with warm water- as warm as water can be in the undercity. She mentally puts that on the top of her to-do list.
Isha scurries over to her, taking her hand and rubbing at the dirt in concern. Jinx can feel her little hands trembling with cold. Isha looks up at her with those big, golden puppy eyes and tugs her towards the tub. Jinx relents.
“Alright Ish, we can take one together, yeah? Save water that way. And I can wash that thick, greasy hair of yours,” she rustles Isha’s hair and the kid giggles, looking happier now.
Jinx fills a few buckets of warm water from a tap on one of the walls of the base. She fills the tub and pours a generous amount of soap into the water, running her hand through it to make it bubble up. Isha is attempting to take her shirt off, but it's wet and stuck to her body. As she’s bending her arm unnaturally and grunting as she struggles to get it through the hole, Jinx kneels in front of her and helps her arms through, tugging the shirt over her head.
Little kids and their awful dexterity. Really, how do they do anything by themselves? Can’t even move their arms right. Was I like this when I was seven? Probably. Probably even worse at it than Isha is.
As Isha finishes undressing and hops into the tub, Jinx finally peels away the last wet layers of her clothing. She feels a little weird, it's been so long since she had been naked around someone, let alone bathed with someone. Bathing in families or groups was commonplace in Zaun. There wasn’t enough water or private areas for everyone to get nice tubs to themselves like they do in Piltover. Fissure folk didn’t have the luxury of being prudish. She can remember sitting in the alleyway outside of The Last Drop, Vi hosing down her and Ekko after they had fought a harrowing battle, throwing balloons full of paint at each other from behind barricades of metal scrap. She can remember sitting in the bathroom with Vi, Mylo and Claggor after they had to use the sewer as an escape route again, passing around a bar of soap and scrubbing off the scent of garbage and human waste. Mylo had dunked some soapy water on her head when she wasn’t looking and it got in her eyes. She had meant to only threaten him with bodily harm, but through stinging, blurry vision she had accidentally punched him right in the face, and then it had turned into all four of them trying to fling soap in each other's eyes, yelling and laughing as they slid around on the soapy floor.
It had been different with Silco though. She had her own space, her own bathroom even. She had hot water and enough soap for her admirably long hair. There had been two times where he had washed her, though. When he first took her in, when she was still Powder. He had wiped tears and blood and ash off of her face and arms while she cried all the way through it. He must have thought her pathetic, and he wasn’t gentle in the way Vi was, but it had been enough affection to make Jinx want to stay like that forever. The second time was a couple years later during a particularly severe mental episode. She hadn’t bathed in two weeks, hadn’t slept in days, was barely coherent through jumbled thoughts and voices screaming in her ears. She doesn’t remember it all that well, but Silco had gotten her to calm down for a bit, had washed her and ran his fingers through her hair and shushed her with comforting words.
“The voices, you will overcome them, Jinx. you are strong, stronger than you know. You will fight them and you will come out victorious. Everything will be alright my child. Don’t weep any longer. I’m here, I’m here.”
That was the first time she had called him dad.
Did it count when he had dunked her head in the ocean, washing away Powder and fully christening her Jinx? Being dipped in the water and washing away an old self, becoming a new person clean of the things you had done or seen in that past life- it was an old undercity tradition. Silco had done it himself, and many before him. Water- it is rebirth.
Shedding the last of her clothes, she slips into the bath behind Isha, sighing as her muscles relax in the warm water. Isha looks tense for a moment, but quickly eases, leaning back a bit.
“D’ya remember the last time someone washed you?” Isha shakes her head. Jinx imagines small, tiny Isha on the streets of Zaun, cold and dirty with not a person in the world to care about her. It makes Jinx’s heart constrict in a horrible way she’s never felt before and she would like to never feel again.
“Hm, y’know me and my siblings used to bathe together a lot when we were little,” she collects some soap in her hand, massaging it into Isha’s hair, “there was one time I was pretty sick with a fever or something, and I uh-I threw up on my brother. He was sooooo grossed out that he threw up on me too! Now that bath was pretty horrendous.” Isha makes a face like she’s disgusted, but can’t suppress the giggle in her throat. Jinx begins massaging the soap into her scalp, running her fingers through Isha’s chestnut hair and lathering it back. The kid sags, closing her eyes and leaning into the touch. Jinx’s chest warms. Knowing that there is someone who trusts her like this, who feels her touch as soft and inviting and not sharp and violent- it makes her feel like there’s a little stitch in her soul, sewing it back together.
Isha has never felt so safe and relaxed. She trusts Jinx. Jinx didn’t hesitate to kill to protect her. She gave her a secluded place to sleep. She fed her as much as she wanted. She helped her learn signs and letters to communicate better. JInx taught her how to deactivate her bombs so Isha could safely doodle on them. She doesn’t talk to her like she’s stupid, but she also helps Isha when she needs it. Jinx had become safety and security, which is why Isha trusted her enough to ask her to bathe together today.
She felt bad seeing Jinx wet and dirty, she didn’t want to make her wait until she was done bathing. It’s her tub after all. Isha had been a little nervous at first, she can barely remember her papa bathing her so long ago. But Jinx had slipped into the tub and kept a little distance, rubbing the soap into her hair so gently and speaking to her in the way she had only ever heard Jinx speak when they were alone in the hideout together. Isha had clung to her so tightly when they had first met. Followed her around for days. She couldn’t bear the thought of being alone again. Jinx was a wanted criminal, she was violent and mean. But she saved Isha from those bad men, no one had ever done that before. No one had ever spared a glance at a quiet, unremarkable orphan on the street. It was enough for Isha to get attached for good, seeking out that protection. Despite the way Jinx had tried to make her leave, had threatened her even, there was something about the blue haired criminal that pulled Isha in. a sense of wonder, someone who is powerful and larger than life. Someone capable who Isha could depend on. That's why she didn’t give up. And fortunately, Jinx had quickly given in.
Jinx grabs a rag from the side of the tub and dunks it in the water, beginning to scrub Isha’s shoulders, arms, and back of the dirt, sweat, and soot built up there. No one bathed very often in the undercity. Jinx especially, she’s always caught up in something or the other and she rarely remembers to clean herself.
I should probably start getting into the habit of it. Isha deserves to be clean. I’m being a pretty bad role model, huh? Letting us get all gross like this. I’ll install some pipes- yeah. And we’ll take baths more often. That's good for kids right? Cleanliness? Routine? I never had much of that, but that's how they do things in Piltover, isn’t it? That's how you make kids turn out better, not like this, not like me, never like me. Never like me.
Getting lost in her thoughts, she shakes her head, trying to focus on the task at hand. She motions for Isha to turn around and begins scrubbing her face and the front of her body. Jinx holds her face and Isha wrinkles her nose as Jinx scrubs on the side of her nostril roughly, trying to clean off a stubborn splotch of oil.
jeez, this kid is cute. Jinx almost doesn't recognize herself when the thought pops into her head. when did I get so soft and sappy?
When the rag nears Isha’s armpits, she wiggles subtly, a small titter escaping her.
“What, ya ticklish or something?” Jinx teases, and Isha suppresses a grin, tensing her shoulders up to her ears and shaking her head.
“Ya sureeee? Seems like ya might be ticklish, just a hunch.” Jinx tickles the inside of Isha’s elbow, making her giggle and wiggle her arm away. At that moment, a deep, deep memory resurfaces in Jinx’s mind. Something her mom used to do when Powder was just a little thing.
“I almost forgot! I’ve gotta get behind your ears, mousy. Y’know, sometimes bugs hide behind there and ya don’t even notice! There might be some kind of grotesque creature in there!” she laments dramatically, making claws with her hands. Isha looks at her disbelieving, but still grinning to herself at the silliness of it. Jinx reaches behind Isha’s ear with the rag, “oh yeah, there's definitely something here, gasp, and it's big too! With hairy, spindly legs! And teeth like daggers!” she tickles her fingers behind Isha’s ear, making her fully laugh and scrunch up her face, signing gross!
“AH!! It bit me! Okay, we're gonna have to wrangle this little fucker out and kill it before it crawls into your ear and lays eggs in there!” Jinx tickles behind her ear, pretending like she’s battling a great big beast and struggling to pull it out. Isha yelps, high and joyful, bursting out into giggles. it's probably the loudest noise Jinx has ever heard her make- and instantly Jinx knows she’s hooked. She’s absolutely done for. She would do anything in the world to make her adorable kid laugh like that again.
The kid, she means.
Her kid. Huh. she had never really thought that way. Never thought anybody could be hers, let alone a kid. Isha. A baby.
a kid. a sister. a baby. a......
Her kid.
…
“THERE! Whew, I got the sucker!” she rears her hand back, acting like she’s squashing the creature in her fist.
“Let's check the other ear. Hmmm,” she cleans behind Isha’s ear with the rag, “I think you’re all good here kiddo! No monsters as far as I can tell!” Isha is grinning so wide her cheeks hurt. She giggles again and splashes some water at Jinx, who acts like she is incredibly offended at the action and splashes water right back. The hideout is filled with sounds of laughter and splashing water. They probably end up making a bigger, wetter mess, but oh well.
Isha insists on helping Jinx get clean too. Jinx lets her unbraid her hair, and with great care Isha undoes the long, long strands, and with Jinx’s help untangles the knots. There isn't enough shampoo to cover the sheer amount of hair Jinx has, but they get it clean enough. Isha is enamored with the bright blue locks, running her hands through the tresses, thinking about how Jinx is SO cool to have awesome, beautiful hair like that.
Maybe I could have hair just like this one day too. I would look just like Jinx!
Isha helps Jinx with scrubbing her face and arms the way Jinx did for her. That was something Jinx had noticed about Isha- she always wanted to return every action. When Jinx gives Isha food, the kid shoves a piece of it right back in her face, insisting she eats too. When Jinx wipes Isha's tears after a nightmare, Isha wipes hers after the Scribbles get too intense. When Jinx bandages little scrapes on the girls knees, Isha bandages cuts on Jinx’s legs that didn’t even need bandaging because of how quickly she healed now. But Isha did it anyway, because she’s just so good. It baffles her, how could someone so good idolize her so much? She wanted to do everything Jinx did. It makes her a little nervous- okay, it makes her really fucking nervous. she isn’t exactly the greatest person to look up to. But against her will, against all logic, against absolutely everything Jinx had even been told and ever believed about herself- Isha had chosen her, and it didn’t look like she would ever stop.
maybe Jinx would have to accept her fate and start being better. y'know, for her.
When the water has turned cold and brown (nearly black, eugh), they get out of the tub and Jinx wraps the kid in a towel, getting a second cloth to dry her hair with, ruffling it until her head looks like a big fuzzy puffball, which makes Jinx cackle and Isha grunt irritably. They put on their extra clothes, softer and lighter. A too-big, worn blue shirt and some jaggedly trimmed grey pants for Isha. For Jinx, a paint-smeared black tank top and baggy purple pants that are probably the softest out of all of Jinx’s clothes.
Jinx scrounges up a can of noodles and tomato sauce for dinner. While Isha eats at Jinx’s workspace, said engineer gathers their dirty clothes and dunks them in a bucket with some soap, wringing them out and then hanging them up on a line overlooking the ventilation shaft. Isha grunts to get her attention, and gestures at the food. Jinx is never really hungry anymore, but she eats when Isha insists. Good example thing and all that. So she makes her own bowl and sits to eat with her.
Isha still eats like the food would be stolen from her any second, but she’s slowly been becoming comfortable with eating more carefully. Knowing Jinx would never take food from her, and getting to actually enjoy the flavors of what she’s eating. Jinx had told her people in the undercity did that a lot; ate like they would never eat again. Ate even if they weren’t hungry, just for the sake of eating while they could.
“I’ve got money that my uh- my dad left after he….died. So don’t worry mousy, we won’t be running out of food anytime soon, okay? Your belly will always be full when you’re with me.”
When Isha would eat whatever she could find, or would ask for seconds, Jinx would ask her if she was really hungry, or just eating because she was worried.
“You can always have more food, kid, but don’t make yourself sick, okay?”
Now that she knows what it feels like to have a full belly, she realizes she would eat too much just because she was nervous. She didn’t need to shove fistfuls of food in her mouth when Jinx was here to give her more whenever she needed it.
It had made Isha cry once. She had never been full when she was living on the streets. She thinks she had been at one point, when her papa was still here, but it was hard to remember the feeling. She was hungry everyday, eating whatever she could get her hands on, no matter how old or rotten. Her and the other orphans would get into scraps over food, punching and biting each other for morsels of bread. Isha wasn’t very strong, bigger kids could easily push her around, but she had a nasty bite, and that's how she got by.
Getting to have warm food, being cared about, it made Isha’s chest well up with love and contentment. It was all she had ever wanted. When she realized for the first time that was what she finally had, overwhelmed by the feeling and letting tears spill softly down her cheeks, Jinx had frantically looked her over, asking what was wrong. Isha could only hug her in response.
When they finished eating, bowls licked clean, they were both pretty tuckered out. It was a long day, and though the shimmer coursing through her veins usually gave Jinx an endless supply of restless energy, she just wanted to rest her bones tonight. Isha tugs on Jinx’s hand, leading her to their fort over the couch.
When she had first moved in, Isha had slept on the couch and Jinx had her own crappy "sort-of bed" on one of the fan blades, but after a particularly bad nightmare which ended in Jinx laying beside Isha to comfort her, they had started sleeping together on the couch more often. Then, they had built the blanket fort for fun, playing pretend and acting like fire-breathing dragons in their cave, guarding their glimmering treasure from thieving knights. Then, they had set up a nest of pillows and blankets on the floor, something more spacious than the couch. Tonight felt like one of those nights where Jinx would lay in the makeshift nest with her, telling her stories until they would drift off into sleep together.
Isha plops down, snuggling into the pillows giddily. Jinx lays down next to her, her curtain of unbraided hair spilling over the both of them. she tugs a blanket over her and Isha once the kid calms and her eyes droop sleepily.
I should get us a real bed soon, something more permanent than just some cushions. If Isha’s…staying here. Permanently. She said she would, after all. So she probably isn’t leaving. Isn’t leaving. Is gonna stay. definitely. Should get her a real bed then. I’ll do that, before or after the plumbing? Probably before. Yeah.
Story!! Isha signs, and Jinx grins, acting exasperated.
“A story? Alright alright, I think I’ve got one for you.” Jinx lets out a sigh, finally letting her body truly relax for the first time today. The blankets smell a little musty, but they’re warm and comfortable. the sound of rain pattering on the metal roof of the hideout is a calming sound. There’s a little sparrow-shaped nightlight in the corner illuminating the fort in a gentle glow.
“Well, you’ve heard the one about the sparrow, but do you know the one about the bunny?” Isha shakes her head, flapping her hands with excitement despite the sleepiness.
“Well, once upon a time there was this little brown bunny, with white spots, who was small but mighty! She packed a pretty powerful kick! If you stole one of her carrots she’d knock you out in a second, wham bam boom! And she was from the streets too- the rough and tumble rabbit streets, where fluffy little bunnies were slinging guns and taking names!” Isha giggles at the imagery, shuffling closer. Jinx thinks, well, they had already cuddled before, and they had just bathed together, so why not? So the superhuman terrorist brings her arm around the brave hearted little girl and moves closer, resting her chin on top of the child's head. Isha sighs happily, burrowing her face into Jinx’s neck, acting like she was exactly where she was always meant to be. Jinx continues the story, and Isha is lulled by the vibrations coming from Jinx’s throat as she speaks, and Jinx is soothed by Isha’s steady heartbeat against her chest.
“Well, get this, one day the brave little bunny finds herself cornered by a big, hideous snake, dripping venom from its fangs, a dangerous threat the bunny wasn’t used to. But she wouldn’t back down, no no no, not now! She knew if she used all the strength in her little legs- and a nice big bomb! She could take this dastardly snake down. So, as the snake slithered side to side and launched at her with its mouth wide open, long fangs ready to pierce- the bunny dodged at the last second! Preparing to use one of those bombs she had hidden away beneath her hat…..........."
and if Jinx wakes up the next morning holding Isha close against her chest, feeling washed of something, feeling new, then that would be fine. she would be fine. maybe it means the start of something better. maybe it means there's a new version of her that could be better, if that's even possible. she'll figure it out, because for the first time in as long as she can remember, she wakes up already happy, and closes her eyes without a second thought and goes back to sleep against her kid, just because she can.