From Marson to the Black Alleys, Jinx asked Leo many things, and Leo answered them one by one. What surprised Leo was that Jinx… didn't seem so insane. She was coherent, and her emotions were surprisingly stable.
This was different from Leo's "imagined Jinx."
He looked at Jinx, thought for a moment, and simply sat down on the bed too.
Jinx didn't resist Leo's actions. Instead, she stretched out her long legs, rested her hands on the bed, tilted her head, and asked with slightly parted lips:
"Leo, why do you seem so afraid of me?"
Leo paused. "Am I?"
"Of course, I can tell," Jinx replied.
She reached out, and Leo instinctively raised his hand to block her. Then, Jinx stopped her movement, shrugged, and leaned her slender body backward. With a half-smile, Jinx said, "See? Aren't you afraid of me right now?"
"..."
"This afternoon at the restaurant, I saw a group of people looking for you. They were from the gang."
Jinx listened, then enlightened, she casually waved her hand upward with disdain. "Ah, those are Silco's people. I ran away from home, so of course he'd send people to look for me. Is that strange? Are you afraid of me because of that?"
Leo silently looked at Jinx.
Jinx sighed, her small face creased, and she said indifferently, "I know what you want to say, but what can I do?"
"Vander's dead, Vi doesn't want me anymore. Where else can I go? They were the ones who abandoned me first, what could I do?"
"Silco is annoying, but he's really good to me. I help him with things, and he takes care of me. Is that strange?"
Leo shook his head.
It wasn't strange, because it had already been said: one couldn't look at her from a normal person's perspective. Besides... given the current situation in Zaun, there weren't many normal people left in the whole city, but Jinx was certainly more unhinged.
Silco was the one who killed Vander, who, logically speaking, should have been Jinx's enemy. Yet, she now recognized her enemy as a father. However, the relationship between Silco and Vander couldn't be explained in just a few words.
In short, trying to apply adult logic to this girl would only result in anger for oneself and a bullet from her—nothing more would be gained.
Leo looked at Jinx, took a deep breath, and seriously asked, "So, should I call you Jinx now, or your old name, Powder?"
Pow—
No, Jinx.
She was startled at first, then burst into laughter.
One hand covering her stomach, the other wiping her eyes, Jinx laughed with wild abandon.
"Hahahahahahaha!"
"You even know that? Well, you should, since you and Little Man are good friends too. But I'm curious, why didn't you go to the Firelights gang? Did his gang not want you? Isn't he creating a new home?"
After her burst of laughter, she continued to giggle, tears welling in her eyes as she looked at Leo.
With an almost joyful tone, tearfully yet laughing, she said, "Call me Jinx, Leo."
"..."
"Another question: can I still stay here?" Seeing Leo silent, Jinx asked.
"What would happen if I refused you?" Leo asked her, his meaning clear.
Jinx's mouth dropped open, and she said with cute surprise, "What kind of talk is that? I'm not that crazy. We've been friends since childhood; I wouldn't kill you."
Twirling her small pistol, her small feet kicked the bed frame, swinging her long legs. Casually, as if it were as natural as drinking water when thirsty, she continued, "But I would move next door to you. It's just a matter of going in and saying hello to that family."
"Bang~ Boom~ And then they'll agree."
"I have nowhere to live right now. Sevika, that big dummy, is too annoying. You remember Sevika, right? That big dummy is just too annoying!"
Jinx prattled on to Leo, complaining.
Sevika?
Leo certainly remembered her.
A woman who embodied the will of Zaun. He remembered watching Arcane for the first time, how Sevika betrayed Vander and joined Silco, and Leo used to find her quite annoying. But as he continued watching, Leo found the character quite captivating.
She wasn't loyal to an individual; she was loyal to Zaun.
Whoever could lead Zaun to resist Piltover and bring dignity to Zaun, Sevika would work for them. Who could dislike someone so purely devoted?
Well, Jinx would dislike her.
"I really want to shoot her dead, but I know I can't do that. Silco would get angry." Jinx faced Leo, her two small hands placed in front of her, index and middle fingers extended and hooked downwards, looking very cute. But what she said was anything but cute.
"So, what will you choose?"
"Do you want to live with me, or do you want me to live next door to you?" Jinx asked Leo.
She wasn't going to let Leo get away.
It had been so long, and besides Little Man Ekko, Leo was the only familiar person she could really talk to.
Jinx, having run away from home with no destination, would naturally latch onto Leo.
She was sick, truly sick.
Lacking a sense of security, she would naturally cling to familiar people, though... the person who could truly cure her wasn't Leo.
But why not?
Hehe.
Leo sighed, touched by the fact that his unlucky neighbor had such a self-sacrificing good neighbor in him.
Damn it, he should have just given him some money!
He had saved his life!
"Just stay here," Leo said. "However, I only have one bed."
"It's fine, we can sleep together. I'll sleep on the inside, you sleep on the outside. I'm a restless sleeper, and I'm afraid I'll fall off," Jinx said, giggling, completely unconcerned that Leo was a man.
Leo rubbed his cheek, a little speechless, but then he found an indescribable, subtle excitement stirring within him.
Jinx was a madwoman, but it had to be said, she was a very beautiful madwoman.
Aside from her thin frame, she had an extremely slender body, and her legs were so fair they seemed to glow. Most Zaunites, except those with genetically darker skin, had very pale skin due to the lack of sunlight, and Jinx was a standout among them.
"What if Silco comes looking for you?" Leo asked.
"He hasn't come yet, has he?" Jinx said casually, lying on the bed, her braids spread out on either side.
She rolled once on the small wooden bed, pressed down the pillow stuffed with rags, and then rested her head on it. She patted the bed, signaling Leo to lie down as well.
Just like in the past, when they used to lie on the open-air rooftop, leaning against chem-tanks and looking at the "sky" together.
Yes, Leo and Jinx were, in a sense, childhood sweethearts.
Though Vi often beat up Marson and Leo back then.
Leo hesitated for a moment, then lay down, but half of his body hung off the bed.
"Don't be so scared. I told you, I won't hurt you," Jinx said, winking at Leo, her pupils bright.
"You know everything now, but... it wasn't like that. I didn't mean to hurt Mylo and Claggor. That... that wasn't what I wanted. It was an accident, Leo, it really was an accident."
Jinx said.
She continued speaking, as if afraid Leo wouldn't believe her, pouring out a torrent of words.
"I know. I believe you."
Jinx paused, blinking. "Really?"
"Yes, I believe you. It was an accident," Leo said.
"You're the first one... to believe me," Jinx suddenly said, her expression a little strange. But soon, she giggled, her eyes wide with madness again, and she babbled a whole lot to Leo.
It wasn't until the latter half of the night that Jinx's voice gradually faded. Then, under the small, graffitied lamp, Leo saw Jinx curled up at the very back of the bed, her back to him, pressed against the wall, sleeping like a small cat.
Completely different from her waking self, like a cat with no sense of security.
Actually... if Leo had to choose who to interact with in Zaun, it would naturally be Ekko.
Leo did have a lot of fondness for the character of Jinx and found her very captivating. But no matter how strong Leo's adaptability was, having a lunatic who killed as easily as drinking water lying next to him still made him feel uncomfortable, uneasy, and conflicted.
No matter how many excuses he made for Jinx, no matter how much he argued that her environment and the people around her made her this way, wrong was still wrong.
Ekko had also gone through so much, but wasn't Ekko still as warm as sunlight?
Ekko... was the true seed of Zaun.
I, Leo, will cast my vote for Ekko, officially! Ekko is the future leader of Zaun!
But in reality, Jinx was lying on his bed, and Ekko was God-knows-where.
"Sigh—"
Looking at the sleeping Jinx, Leo hesitated, then chose to move further onto the bed because having half his body hanging off was just too uncomfortable. How could he possibly sleep like that?
As for the pillow...
Never mind, he'd use his hands.
With his head resting on his hands, Leo closed his eyes.
But just as he was starting to drift off, feeling himself falling asleep, Leo was nudged by something.
Opening his eyes, Leo saw Jinx curled up beside him, her head resting close to his elbow. One small hand was tightly clutching the fabric over his chest, and the other was at her lips, her mouth gently biting her blue-painted thumb.
"Vi... I'm sorry, don't leave me."
"I really do know I was wrong, I didn't mean to..."
"Please, Vi, Vi..."
"Vi, I don't hate you anymore, please come back..."
"..."
Listening to Jinx's voice, Leo lay back down and closed his eyes.
Perhaps...
Everything was still salvageable.