Sister Cities

Part 42: Ekko

I've got a pain in my neck

Because I keep looking up

I'm searching what's coming next

But it won't come from above

And there's a hole in my chest

And I'll make it my own

________________________________________________________________________________

 Caitlyn's tentative voice comes through my comm just as we're getting our shoes on. "Ekko? She's asking for you. She's really upset."

Goddamn it.

I look at my Firelights. "Um—"

"It's fine," says Tei, rolling his eyes. "Home'll still be there tomorrow."

I hug them all, give my comm to Quartz, and run back upstairs.

Caitlyn stands several feet back from the bed, arms crossed uncomfortably, while Vi is half-sitting with a feral glower that eases as soon as she sees me. I go over and sit next to her.

"Are you okay?" she asks, just as I'm about to ask the same thing.

"Yes...?" I say. "Why?"

"She thinks you're the one who's sick," Caitlyn says. "Apparently you have a fever."

I laugh. "No, Vi, that's you."

"You wish," Vi says indistinctly, aiming an uncoordinated hand at my forehead. "Does it hurt? Do you want juice?"

There was a time I actually did have a pretty bad fever when I was about ten. Since Benzo and Vander both had to work and Vi was the one who never got sick, she came over to watch me. I wasn't as out of it as she is now, but I was a bit confused, so she spent a lot of time re-explaining my position to me every time I woke from a nap and got all worked up. I don't remember many specifics, but I remember being comforted by her voice and her hugs. And I remember repeatedly demanding juice.

I take her hand and hold it against my head. "See?" I say. "You're the one who's sick. I'm okay."

"Little man." She relaxes and looks like she'll lie back down, but Caitlyn darts over to put an arm behind her back, keeping her upright. Vi turns to squint at her.

"She needs a drink," Caitlyn tells me. I trade places with her, and she picks up the glass from the table and pretends to let Vi take it, her shaky hands tightly cupped in Caitlyn's as she gulps all of the water. She scowls at the glass, offended that it's empty.

"Do you want more?" Caitlyn asks.

"No." Vi scowls at me now, so I move my arm from behind her and she flops down, sighs, and rolls onto her side. I shift my weight, meaning to get up. She swings her hand at me again. "Don't. Keeping an eye on you."

"All right."

She's quiet for a second, then snickers. "Councilor."

I should've thought about her more closely when I agreed to the role. I'm never gonna hear the end of it.

Caitlyn leans past me to unbend one of Vi's wrists, her posture cautious and her hair wrecked from how she pulled the pins out. "Do you want to go back to sleep? Ekko can stay here."

Vi grumbles something unintelligible and shuts her eyes. We watch her for a few minutes before Caitlyn turns to me with a faint smile and says, "How do you like it? Being a councilor?"

Our conference today lasted seven hours, argument-ridden but effective: we covered everything we planned to cover and more. She was a marvel. Since none of the Undercity recruits have last names, and since there's already a Councilor Kiramman, she's chosen to use her first name— it aligns her with us in a way that no one can criticize without sounding paranoid. She went on four separate tirades about the state of the fissures and even got Lumley, her mother's recruit, backed into a couple corners and agreeing with her. We were holding the meeting in his sitting room, since the Council room was vaporized, which just added insult to injury.