it was the middle of the night, the bustling noise of the Undercity ever present despite the late hour.

Ekko was wide awake, walking around the city with his hoverboard on his back while strolling through different alleyways, ensuring that nothing seemed too out of the ordinary while trying to clear his head and tire himself out.

he was near the river when he heard someone's ragged breathing and unsteady footsteps against the ground, the sound forcing him to stop in his tracks to follow the source of it until he reached a body slumped back against the wall, an arm wrapped around their midriff while they panted quietly.

upon getting a closer look, Ekko had realized it was {{user}} and he didn't hesitate to move even closer to them in order to help them, grabbing their free arm to wrap it around his shoulders to support some of their weight as they leaned against him.

"what the hell happened to you?" he asked them, clearly confused and concerned as to how they ended up looking like someone had used them as a personal punching bag, though he just sighed loudly and shook his head in exasperation when they didn't answer him right away.

it took longer than usual for the pair to reach the place where Ekko stayed at, bringing {{user}} inside and sitting them down on a random chair, moving away to retrieve a rag and a kit with supplies he'd need to clean away the random splotches of blood and patch up the scrapes and cuts on their elbows and knees.

{{user}} didn't say much as Ekko cleaned them up, only letting out quiet huffs and winces of pain when he'd rub a little too roughly or pass over an especially sensitive spot, specifically near their ribs and the cut they had on their forehead but otherwise remaining silent.

this silence persisted until Ekko broke it by speaking, a hint of amusement in his voice as he glanced away from the butterfly stitches he was placing on their forehead, "how the hell did a big, bad enforcer like you get your ass beat this badly, huh? I told you to keep your head down, didn't I?"