The vigilance is coming to a night.

@detectivesteamo said: “body heat” (from Jackie! >:]) Send “body heat” for your muse to snuggle up to mine for warmth. 

One of the few things that were a positive to being a walking heater was that when the weather got cold, she was of a greater help to people than she was in the summer. That being said, it still startled her when someone moves up to be next to her and the temperature spikes almost immediately.

She quickly turns her attention to Ekko when he continues having a conversation about limits; she doesn’t want him to know what she’s thinking right now. “Of course I can do that; I mean, I fought against crooks and gave them nightmares, whoever I wanted to fight. Okay, it sounds dark, but the point of this talk is that I’ve been cleaning up the mess more than any of the “good” people do.” She quietly groaned in pain and didn’t try to scream again. Something Ekko didn’t change from the past is his great concern for his friends’ well- being. It's sweet and encouraging. Out of respect for their long-term relationship, she'll give him a secret gift when she leaves.

“Well yes… but you know it’s… well, a bird’s leaving the birdhouse every now and then. Like a little robin, right?” She nervously tries to explain to her best friend that her solo adventure is not meant to be hostile to his own life, but rather a reminder of her own personal story. It made her feel a bit weird asking him for help, unless it was for quick medical attention, like this nighttime conversation, which was made easier by using sign language in different ways. “You have massive intelligence that's needed for any situation, so I thought I could handle it on my own time, with less science and more travel-like experiences. You know what I mean, right?”

When he places the washcloth on her chin, she winces and gives herself permission to grip his shoulders, finding it too painful to handle. Although she's tough, she doesn't possess time travel abilities like him, making it difficult to cope with the pain.

   But no, his parents don’t hate Jack, but he also doesn’t want them to walk in on her bleeding.  He would like to keep the more reckless activities of the Firelights unknown to them.  He gives Jack a small smile.  “Yeah, I’ll be glad to avoid the drama show as well.”  He tries to tend to Jack’s wounds more gently, pulling away when he sees her wince so that she won’t cry out again, but he can’t baby her, either.

   When she talks about needing to be off on her own every now and then, like a little bird leaving the nest, he frowns.  He is gripped with the anxiety that he may be suffocating her, as he has been known to do to others.  He knows he ought to let up, but all of his instincts tell him to hold onto her even tighter, to make sure she stays safe.  He feels as though Jack is his responsibility as much as she is his friend, and if anything happened to her, he would blame himself.

   “I know you’re really cool and badass, and you think you don’t need anyone else.”  Vi is like that, Vi and Jinx both.  They would both rather believe they are all alone in the world and they have no choice but to carry their burdens by themselves when Ekko is perfectly willing to help them.  Some weird sense of pride made them both walk away from him, and now he can’t help but resent them a bit, and he does not want his relationship with Jack to come to that as well.

   “But life’s not a solo mission.  You’ve got people who are willing to help you, and you’ve got to let them.  Just ‘cause you can handle your own shit doesn’t mean you have to.”  Even if she doesn’t take him with her on her outings, it would make him feel better to know that she had anyone with her at all instead of going in alone.

   “You got lucky tonight,” he says, his voice low and warning.  “Because of the hour, most of their employees and security are probably asleep or out drinking.”  Even the chembarons know that they cannot keep their factories fully staffed twenty-four hours a day, which is why his parents are home at the moment.  “But that might not be every night or every time you go.  They might start to realize you only show up between certain hours and make sure they have people waiting for you.”

One good look at him put things into perspective, making her realize that their friendship was more important than any choices she thought she could make, and it brought her relief and a smile afterwards. She never doubts he will end this friendship as long as she keeps her hidden troubles to herself, as it will be consequential for both of them. “Yeah, dramas, who would need ’em? Operas do, but us? Nah.” She joked, wincing again when the medicine she hates touched her wounds. Nonetheless, she lets him do the work since she’s no doctor, only a street performer.

Unknown to her, though, her words were not the only wounds showing. She couldn't think of anything more open than her own slight insecurity. When she saw him frown, she began looking around, catching her attention. “Is there something that I said earlier? Cuz people do that outside all the time…. Occasionally.” She genuinely doesn’t think about what she’s going to say, other than trying to be as proud and tough as she was when she was a street performer who kept it to herself. He’s Ekko, the best inventor who travels through time with his favorite work. He's more than she's capable of.

“Oh, that’s so true,” she joked, “thank you.” Deep down, she believes she's not exceptional, just a powerless, crippled girl like him and the others, but she'll let his words slide, knowing it would be a mistake to reveal her insecurities to him. Although Ekko often talks about them, even when he's alone, she never got a chance to meet them in person.

When he mentioned teamwork, it honestly made her frown, and she looked away, gazing outside at the place she had just escaped from. “This place is full of dark and dangerous areas where we fight for freedom and survival. I mean, I don’t even know how many of them get killed out there while I am getting to my treatment; I should at least try to do something and show some courage. It’s suicidal for anyone to be on my side, so I don’t have,” she raised her arms up quicker than the bullet, “to get help from any folks.”

One specific question would be: why would someone see her going to her best friend’s place, and then go back to his place if she wanted to be alone? Her inner thoughts are conflicted. She leaned in close to his face to hear about the things that would benefit her more than anything she had planned. She whispers “Noice!” after smiling, but her enthusiasm is ruined by the smartest person she has befriended for years, and she slumps back in her chair, looking a bit disappointed. “I know a thing or two about stealthily passing them,” she said with a smirk, waving her only arm, “no biggie.”

Just how does he even do that? Being nice to a young thief that causes her to ironically skip the heist upon his home? Maybe it’s coming along with the fact she’s not cut out for being one who stalks the night? No, it’s coming along without her being the one who would stoop this low and who would manipulate the boy with gentleness in his heart and mind equal to top scientists. Maybe he’s got to learn how to communicate with others with charms hidden under her dusty clothes, making him the only youngest mentor she can see yet proud of his hidden powers, helping others in return.

Maybe it has come to this point when she’s told him she’s also known to be Lady of the Night Sea, Hesper, knowing it’s going to change since she’s not going to be on his side often and all she's going to do is... celebrate the birthday party for her longtime friend, who coincidentally was reminded by his other friend.

She almost loses focus on what matters most, which is to talk with Akali and hear her thoughts about planning to celebrate both of their best friend's birthday, as she turns around to pay attention, her brow raising. Oh, is that so? Girl, I haven't a doubt that your own ideas are as great as my own.” She may not be able to talk sense, but it's the way she loves herself

“Oh yeah, now memories are coming back to me. You mentioned it just for a second, and yes, it’s so true – I do know the way to places for the birthday.” She smiled, almost like Akali giving the musician some compliments, maybe it’s not some kind of trick Ekko would pull on her, wasting her night work as Hesper. Finally, giving a new conversation a chance to see what she has. “Ah, but there’s sometimes they can be all night, and they deserve to be paid for their hard work, just like a great night pizza recipe. If we both find the right place, we can find a good birthday dinner for our smarty pants, ehh?” She nudged her arm, thanking her for giving her the idea, which combined with Akali’s own idea.

The words coming from Akali almost bring the same papers as Ekko when they are making little pranks, and the friendship? It made her feel so taken aback that she couldn’t think of anything to say, but then she blurted out, 'Huh, you just made a relevant point there. Should I bring a lightbulb on our heads like our tangled friend there?! Whooo!' She let out a loud shout in the night and laughed a few seconds later, knowing it could be a great way to make a new friend, aside from Ekko.

   That was what Akali liked about him but also what made her worry about him sometimes.  He always beat himself up when things didn’t work out, when a person he put faith in turned out to just be shitty.  But when he was talking about Jack, Akali knew that she wasn’t one of those people, that she had a good heart deep down, just a hunch that she had.  She also tried to see the best in people, but she was just a touch more cynical than he was and could tell by this point when he was hyping someone up who shouldn’t be.  But the way he talked about Jack made her sound like one of the actual good ones, even if he was a thief.  That didn’t matter—so was Ekko, and so had Akali been when she still lived on the streets.

   And now, meeting Jack, seeing how enthusiastic and lively she was, Akali knew that she didn’t have anything to worry about.

   She smiled at Jack, but she didn’t get the opportunity to say much before the girl took off running.  While Akali had planned to go to the scrapyard and look for restaurants later, if Jack could find one now, she wasn’t going to stop her.  The sprint was unexpected, but Akali started after her and was able to keep pretty good pace.  She had to keep in shape for her performances, all the dancing and singing at the same time, so she didn’t have many problems with cardio.  She kind of likes this spontaneity, the likes of which she had not had in a while.  Most of her schedule these days was planned down to the minutest detail, and it was hard to find free time, so just taking off down the street like this was a welcome reminder of times past.

   “This works, too,” she laughed, as she caught up with Jack and fell in beside her.  Akali sniffed the air to see if she could get a reading on what Jack had noticed, and she could certainly detect the smoky smell of something being cooked, although she could not make it out much more than that.  Evidently, Jack has a much better sense of smell than she does.  “What are you thinking about?  Is this a new place for you, or a familiar one?”  Based on Jack’s reaction, she was guessing that it was a new place Jack had never seen before, but it could very well be one she visited often that just now occurred to her because of the smell.  Akali had heard somewhere that scent was one of those senses that always recalled the best, most vivid memories.  It was crazy how people could forget what they saw and heard so often but never what they smelled at different points in their life.

The first lesson of being a little more sociable than previous times she thought is not to try to steal any products, even if it would be a quick way to get to his secret birthday party, since it would be a likely disastrous attempt to follow Ekko’s advice to talk with others, even if he doesn’t mind her quirks. Although she's trying to be different, even if only for a second, her eyes have already opened up to the memory of Akali's appearance, just before she tried to follow the scent that came from the same place she always visits. With her shoulders arched up a bit, she's been training for quite a while; her eyes don't look scornful, genuinely trying to understand this street performer. She's walking with a relaxed pose, taking a break today since it's Ekko's birthday, which is also her own break time. Could it be that she's not so different from Jack, who may not be socially aware? Maybe Ekko really wants her to have friends with others, a boy genius.

Other way to say, it’s possible that they’re both friends despite differences.

Jack swiftly looks in a different direction to track down this unique scent, but she couldn't help but turn her attention to one who would become her friend given time. “Oh, I was thinking of another surprise for our smarty pants friend by looking for a new place that will be as good as place I’ve been visited countless times, will have him to eat it without hesitation! See my fingers?” She wiggles her fingers to make it like sparkly, hoping she’s right about it. Another way to view the birthday is to bring in new experiences from other places, marking a fresh start for him. Even with a good sense of smell, she would rethink it, as things could be a trap for them. Being paranoid, yet cautious about it, keeps them away from random trouble.

“I guess it’s possible,” Jack said, “because it would raise popularity if it comes to that!” However, she thought it would be better to have free samples, which wouldn’t rely on people’s desire to know what they are up against someone with potentially a lot of experience with money.

Then, she caught a whiff of something closer than she had anticipated, which made her mouth water in response.

It appears that the young man is curled up in a field just outside of the city, silently resting among the flowers that have managed to bloom while listening to his own heart steadily thud away in his chest.

Long dreadlocks hair is shown as she didn't try to cut them off as she got used to being messy compared to other teens. One good side is that she's able to see Ekko from a hidden place—one of them anyway, as her purple swollen eye blocks her left sight. "And hopefully, they would like my tomorrow outside dish." She jokingly shrugged; she never ever thought of having this idea of meeting his parents in the future. She doesn't hate them, of course, but life isn't coming up as easy as others thought her Jack alter-ego could say, as dangers always come in every alleyway, so keeping herself from getting to know them is a way to keep him and his parents safe.

   “There is a lot going on,” he says, keeping his voice hushed.  “But that doesn’t mean you go off on your own.”  He is trying not to sound too much like he is admonishing her because he realizes she was just trying to be helpful, but it was a pretty stupid thing to get up to, nonetheless.  He dresses her wounds even more gently to ensure he doesn’t hurt her again.

   “We can plan, we can move some people around, so on.  It might take a little more time to get what you want done, but we can do it.”  Yes, looking after all the Firelights is difficult, and Ekko has been substantially busier than he used to be.  But it needs to be done, and he is not entirely unavailable.  “If you need me, you can ask, you know.  I’ll work something out.”

   He folds the washcloth he’s using over to get to a clean side of it and moves to a cut on her chin.  It looks like she got kicked in the teeth or something like that.

She quickly turns her attention to Ekko when he continues having a conversation about limits; she doesn’t want him to know what she’s thinking right now. “Of course I can do that; I mean, I fought against crooks and gave them nightmares, whoever I wanted to fight. Okay, it sounds dark, but the point of this talk is that I’ve been cleaning up the mess more than any of the “good” people do.” She quietly groaned in pain and didn’t try to scream again. Something Ekko didn’t change from the past is his great concern for his friends’ well- being. It's sweet and encouraging. Out of respect for their long-term relationship, she'll give him a secret gift when she leaves.

“Well yes… but you know it’s… well, a bird’s leaving the birdhouse every now and then. Like a little robin, right?” She nervously tries to explain to her best friend that her solo adventure is not meant to be hostile to his own life, but rather a reminder of her own personal story. It made her feel a bit weird asking him for help, unless it was for quick medical attention, like this nighttime conversation, which was made easier by using sign language in different ways. “You have massive intelligence that's needed for any situation, so I thought I could handle it on my own time, with less science and more travel-like experiences. You know what I mean, right?”

When he places the washcloth on her chin, she winces and gives herself permission to grip his shoulders, finding it too painful to handle. Although she's tough, she doesn't possess time travel abilities like him, making it difficult to cope with the pain.