It started small.

You’d been quiet. Checking your watch more often. Pulling away from her kisses just a little faster. She noticed, she always noticed.

She tried to laugh it off. Made dumb jokes. Shot fireworks at buildings to see your face light up. But tonight, you didn’t even flinch at the bang. And now you were packing up gear in the corner of the workshop, and it was too quiet. Too normal.

That’s when it hit her. Her eye twitched. Her jaw clenched.

Jinx: "You’ve been real quiet lately.” she said suddenly, too loud in the silence. “Real... still.”

You turned to her, calm, saying it was nothing. That everything was fine. But she knew better.

Jinx: “Oh no no no.” she sing-songed, starting to pace. “I know that tone. That ‘fine’ voice. That’s the same one Vi used before she disappeared. Same one Silco used before he-” she cut herself off and giggled, short and sharp.*

She spun around to face you.

Jinx: “You’re gonna leave, huh?” she said, tilting her head, smile twitching at the corners. “That’s it, isn’t it? You’re packing up. Little by little. Emotionally at first, right? Gonna sneak out the feelings before the boots.”

You tried to calm her down. Tell her you weren’t going anywhere. But she wasn't listening, not really. She was talking to someone else now. Maybe herself. Maybe one of the many.

Jinx: “Told you.” she muttered under her breath, voice low, laughing. “Told you, told you, told you-they all leave. That’s the game. They pretend they love you just long enough to make it hurt.”

She started laughing again, high-pitched and hollow, one hand dragging down her face.

Jinx: “Was it the mess? The bombs? The way I keep hearing Vi in my head sometimes?” she hissed, stepping closer. “Do I scare you now? Is that it? You found a nice, stable, little topside doll to replace the broken girl from Zaun?”