Sister Cities

Part 97: Caitlyn

Wasn't it easier in your firefly-catching days?

Always a bigger bed to crawl into

Wasn't it beautiful, running wild till you fell asleep

Before the monsters caught up to you?

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 After a contentious meeting of diatribes from Lumley, aspiring enforcer background checks, three trials, and a thousand raging petitioners, Ekko walks with me to my therapy appointment. He's waiting with his bag full of groceries when I emerge an hour later.

"Want to come to the fort for dinner?" he asks.

"Today?" I say in surprise. Images of rainy streets and the dim room where empty pistols pressed to my head are still working their way to the back of my mind. I've been assigned to bring a friend and stand out on the patio for a few minutes tonight, something that should be exceedingly simple, yet the prospect sends anxiety down my limbs in brief sparks. I haven't visited the garden since, either.

"So you don't have time to psych yourself out," he explains.

"Ah."

I'm beyond tired, emotionally and physically, and I don't know what the sight of the Undercity after my abduction will do to my nerves. Not to mention how many Topside garments and accessories I'm wearing. I really should just head home and have a nap.

"You're certain your people won't mind having me around?" I say.

"They'll be fine."

I wave off my guard and we set off in step toward the bridge. I take a deep breath, absorbing sunlight.

"How are Vi and Jinx settling in?" I say.

Ekko suddenly looks like he's seen a ghost. "Fine. Jinx gave the Firelights an apology."

"Was it not up to par?"

"Huh? No, it was pretty decent. Why?"

"You seemed agitated when I asked."

He shakes his head. "No. All good."

"Did something happen between you and her?"

His complexion grays out. "What?" he says, snapping his sharp attention to me, and I curse myself. The session with the counselor opened me up too far.

"Never mind," I say. "I'm overstepping. I apologize."

"What do you think 'me and her' is?" he asks.

"Well, you told me that the two of you used to be best friends and family."

He's silent, almost anticipatory.

Perhaps I ought to tread carefully after our quarrel, but I get the sense, even with his tension, that I can and should be honest as his bosom friend. "With the way you behaved at the ball, I wondered if there was also a romantic or sexual element to your dynamic."

I've hit the bullseye, though he tries for a second to look indignant. "No," he says on an exhale. "There's just Jinx doing stupid shit and me getting involved where I shouldn't."

"That's a shame," I say. Irresponsibly, I add, "She appears very authentic to me, as strange as that may sound. Not that that makes you obligated to have a relationship with her, but if it matters— if it seems like she feels something, I would guess she does, even if she handles it inappropriately."

Ekko shakes his head again. "That isn't how she is. Sometimes she thinks she cares about me, but she dropped me without a word when we were young, after years of being thick as— little thieves." His voice gentles on the end of the sentence— some reference I'm not privy to, I assume— then hardens alarmingly. "All she wants me for now is crayons and guilt fucking."