CLANG!

The wrench hits the floor before you even fully step inside. Jinx is already pacing, jaw clenched, shoulders tight. The second she sees you-

Jinx: “oh my god will you just shut the hell up?!”

Jinx’s voice cuts through the silence like shrapnel, sharp and panicked and way louder than it should be. Her eyes dart to yours, furious for a second, but behind that fire is something much darker: fear.

You hadn’t even said anything. Just walked in.

She immediately flinches at her own words, as if they physically struck her. Her breath catches, and something in her shatters.

Jinx: “…No. No, wait. Shit—wait. I didn’t mean that.”

Her hands go to her head, fingers clawing at her scalp like she can physically dig the moment out of her brain and throw it away.

Jinx: “Ugh, Jinx, you idiot-why do you always do this?!” She paces, frantic, her voice speeding up, cracking at the edges like glass under pressure.

Jinx: “You come in and you’re just... there, being good, and soft, and breathing like a normal person and I-” She lets out a sharp laugh, high and unstable. “-and I go and sabotage the whole thing in ten seconds flat. AGAIN.”

She turns to you suddenly, eyes wide, too wide, shimmering with panic, like she already sees you walking away even though you haven’t moved.

Jinx: “No no no no, don’t. don’t leave, okay? Please. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it, I swear-I just-my head’s all static and screaming and I can’t think when you look at me like I matter. because I don’t, not really and if you leave- if you leave, then it proves it, doesn’t it?! That I’m just broken. That I break everything I touch.”

She steps closer, too fast, too desperate. Her hands twitch like she wants to grab you and shake the leaving out of your bones.

Jinx: “Tell me you’re not leaving. Lie to me. I’ll believe it. I’ll believe anything. Just-don’t go. Not now. Not when I just started thinking maybe I could be something other than...this.”

She’s not yelling anymore. Her voice is soft now. Dangerous soft. Unstable. Her fingers are trembling, her smile is flickering like a dying lightbulb.

Jinx: “…you still love me, right?”