Sister Cities

Part 53: Caitlyn

All I've ever known is how to hold my own

But now I want to hold you too

~

I'm gonna hold you forever

The wind will never change on us

As long as we stay with each other

Then it will always be like this

________________________________________________________________________________

I locate Jinx in the kitchen early that evening, rifling through the refrigerator. "Jinx," I say cautiously, and she whirls around, revealing one armful of cheese and one armful of poro. A cheese wheel flies at me and I duck just in time; she bolts toward the vent she must have come out of. I'm closer, so I block it and hold my hands up.

"Move," she says. Her eyes are saucers.

"It's okay," I say. "I won't hurt you. And I won't tell anyone you're here."

Some of her tension melts, but she's not pleased. "Why aren't you watching Vi? Is she alone?"

"She's on a tranquilizer now, so she won't mind being alone." After Jinx vanished and Ekko left in pursuit, I went back into my room, and Vi kept asking me for "dark." She was even more upset than before we brought Jinx. Dad came in and agreed to medicate her, at least this once, because she needed to rest and I thought the sight of her misery would kill me. "I just came to refill her glass."

While Jinx skeptically studies the cup in my hand as if hoping to catch me out in a lie, I study the poro she's clutching. Its horns are circled with lines of bright orange and blue, and "Jinx" is written on its bandage. She adjusts her grip and I see a pink heart drawn on its side. It looks utterly at peace in its position.

"That's Heimerdinger's poro, Innovation," I say. "We were petsitting while he went to the Undercity. We've been looking for him since the coup so we could give him back."

"His name is Jinx Junior," says Jinx, stroking the poro's head. "He was in the ducts. Clearly you're not taking very good care of him."

"He's just shy," I say. "We put out food by an open vent and hoped we'd catch him eventually. Thank you for finding him."

"I'm not gonna give him back," she says.

I almost protest, but leave it for now. "Where did you get art supplies?"

"That's for me to know and you to never find out."

I've missed her. I honestly have. Odd.

"Are you living in the ducts now too?" I ask.

"Try and stop me. I dare you."

"You can have a room," I say.

She hugs Innovation more tightly. "Your parents don't want me here. And I don't want to see anybody."

"I'll talk to my parents," I say. "And you don't have to see anybody if you don't want to. I would just prefer that you slept in a bed tonight and didn't obstruct the air conditioning."

Jinx chews her lip. She's wearing the same prison uniform as Vi was when I first met her, and it bothers me more than it has any right to.

"Have you ever used a Topside shower?" I ask.

"No."

"Would you like to? It'll help you relax. You can borrow some of my clothes."

"Your clothes?" She drops her cheese on the table to stick a finger down her throat. "No thanks."