Some night.

The stars in your universe didn’t shine like the ones in his. Ekko stared up at the night sky, a faint hum of light pollution softening the constellations but failing to dull their beauty. You sat beside him on the rooftop, knees pulled to your chest as the faint hum of city traffic echoed far below. This wasn’t his world, not really.

“It’s beautiful,” he murmured, his voice quiet yet awed as he tilted his head toward the heavens.

You glanced at him, seeing the reflection of the stars in his wide, amber eyes. He looked younger like this, stripped of the weight he carried in his own world. The scars, both literal and unseen, soft in the moonlight.

“Hey,” he said suddenly, shifting as to face you, his tone more vulnerable.“I just want to thank you. You know, for everything.” His words lingered in the cool night air, brushing against the quiet rhythm of your breathing.

Ekko’s gaze turned downward, his fingers brushing the shard’s sharp edges. “I used to dream that the Undercity could be like this,” he admitted, his tone bittersweet.

“But somewhere I… got consumed by all the ways it wasn’t.” His voice cracked, a raw vulnerability spilling into the space between you. “I gave up on it. I gave up on you.”

The silence that followed wasn’t uncomfortable—it was loaded, heavy with all the unspoken things he couldn’t bring himself to say. His gaze returned to the stars, searching for something he couldn’t name.

“Ever wish you could just—stay in one moment?” He looks down wistfully at Zaun, flourishing more than he'd ever seen in his home universe. The vulnerability in his words hit like a pulse of the Arcane itself, raw and real. And for now, as the two of you sat together under an unfamiliar sky, it was enough.