Chapter Text
The third week begins with another curveball: temptation.
They’re welcoming two new additions: a saucy Akali and…someone named Gert.
It’s not the sexiest name Jinx has ever heard, but given that most of the people on this island are hot as shit, she’ll not take it at face value.
Just like before, they’ve chosen two people to take out on a date. Lana makes a point of emphasising that just like before, they’re coming in with free passes. The thought of someone picking Ekko again makes her fume. And sweat. But mostly fume.
She’s scrappy. She can fight pretty well. The next person snatching Ekko for the day will pay severely.
“The person Akali has chosen for her date…is Kayn.”
A series of gasps fill the room. Jinx blinks at Kayn openly. From Ekko’s other side, Ez is frozen stiff.
Kayn shares a quick, reassuring glance with him before pushing himself off the seat. Ez deflates, now sullen.
“You aight?” Ekko whispers to him quietly. Horrifyingly, uncharacteristically silent, Ez just shrugs.
“The person Gert has chosen for her date…is Jinx.”
They all freeze, Jinx included.
No. Nononononoo.
“Are you alright?" Ez whispers.
Ekko shakes his head. “Hell no.”
“Can I say no?” Jinx asks Lana.
The cone flashes bright pink. “While I commend your loyalty, these dates also serve to test your strength in the face of temptation. Something you have yet to prove.”
“But she had a date with me!” Chuck cries.
Everyone is awkwardly silent, Lana included.
“Oh.”
She grabs Ekko’s hand, clutching on for dear life. Her knuckles are bone white from the force of her grip. Ekko’s jaw clenches, tight.
“This is bull.”
“I don’t want to go, though?” she sinks into her seat and crosses her arms, pouting.
“The power to resist temptation in this retreat may serve you better in the outside world. While the choice is ultimately yours, keep in mind that this may make your relationship with Ekko far stronger.”
Jinx stews in silence, still gripping Ekko’s hand, annoyed…
…but also, more pensive. Hadn’t she always wanted to fight that niggle in the back of her mind calling her a jinx on their relationship?
This could be good. She’ll walk into this date, turn them down, and be back with Ekko before the sun even sets. All with the satisfaction of knowing her head cannot be turned.
From beside her, Ekko feels her resolve strengthen, and gives her a worried look.
“I don’t like this,” he says quietly, “but I do trust you out there.”
She gives him a shaky smile. “Then keep trusting me. I’ll be back before dinner, Little Man.”
She isn’t back before dinner.
They’re well into the after hours drinks and he’s barely holding it together.
The only consolation is that Ez is just as miserable as he is. They wallow in silence, beers in hand, feet pruning in the pool as they commiserate together.
“Un-fucking-believeable,” Ez slurs, “we’d just bonded properly too. Do you know how long it took for him to open up to me?”
Kayn is a little on the prickly side, if not a tad bit too intense for his tastes.
Ekko hums. “Jinx opened up really well. I’m proud of her.”
Ez gags. “Yeesh, that’s just…offensively sweet. How come yo-you all broke most rules and still came out the strongest couple here?”
He squints at Ekko’s trunks. “How much are you packing, really?”
Ekko rolls his eyes, throwing him a stinky side-glare. “You’re fucking crude.”
“Nooo,” he says slowly, “I’m just saying what we’re all thinking.”
Sensing Ekko isn’t going to answer his question, they stare at the water rippling at their feet again.
“I dunno,” Ekko responds, after a minute. “We just get each other. Cut from the same cloth, and all that.”
“Blegh,” Ez makes a disgusted face. “Sappy. I asked for the dirty, sweaty details, mate.”
Ekko takes a swing from his bottle with another roll of his eyes. “Get fucked.”
“I’m trying!!!” Ez cries. “But I also wanna be good?! I haven’t even fapped in weeks! This show is so confusing.”
“No kidding,” Ekko scoffs, then looks at Ez curiously. “So how were you and Kayn going then?”
“We’re good!” he says, too loudly, then sits back, more muted. “We’re good. It’s just…I’m the kind of person who loves a lot. I don’t think it’s something to ration. I feel most fulfilled when I can be honest about that - with myself or with my partners. It makes more sense to me to find that fulfillment with more than one person, just like you would with friends.”
Ez puffs out a small breath, looking up to the starry night sky.
“I know what it sounds like. But it’s just who I am. It’s a lot easier when I’m with someone with the same outlook, and I know Kayn’s maybe not so open with it. Or if he is, I wouldn’t know. Haven’t really talked about it yet.”
He sighs. “So we’re good, and I’m firmly in camp Kayn…but yea.”
Ekko nods, taking it all in quietly. Personally, he doesn’t really get it, being someone who’s always so firmly monogamous on the rare occasions that he’d been in a relationship. But he’s nothing if not open minded, too.
“Yeah,” he says after a moment. “I can’t say it’s how I’m wired. But if it works for you, and you’re being real about it, then that’s solid. I respect that.”
“Thanks, my g.” Ez smiles, raising a fist up for Ekko to bump.
He returns the gesture.
“So…nine inches, right?”
Jinx is nervous as hell. Her mind keeps turning over Ekko’s crestfallen face as she’d left the cabana, eyes never leaving hers even as she’d pulled her hands away.
She’s only jinxing it, though, if her head turns. Simple as that. Pass this test, and they’ll make it in real life.
And they’ll make it. She swears it on her life. Ekko’s too good and too rare of a person to jinx this relationship with, and there’s no way she’ll ever find someone with a name like ‘Gert’ attractive.
Except Gert is exactly her type.
She’s fucking cool and suave and muscly and also comes from the Lanes. Jinx feels her skin warm up under Gert’s searching gaze once she arrives at the picnic, barely hiding the way her eyes rove over her.
“I dig it,” Gert says, in the most velvety smooth voice she’s ever heard in her life. If she’s also a singer, Jinx is going to lose it. “You could be my new muse.”
“Oh,” she replies weakly, “what do you mean by muse?”
“I sing for the Chem Sisters. Ever heard of us?”
Shit. Of fucking course she has.
They’re only the biggest sensation in all of the Under-City!?
And Jinx is horrible with putting faces to names, but she’s definitely heard Gert’s voice and swooned over it a bajillion times.
Try as she might to be normal, her inner fangirl ends up coming out in full force.
“No fucking way,” she gapes, “Fucking Gert asked me out on a date.”
Gert smirks. “You stood out, blue. What can I say?”
“Fuck my life. If we weren’t on a celibate dating show I would’ve asked you to sign my tits.”
Oh no. Jinx closes her eyes and makes a face. Did that just come out of her mouth?
She quirks an eyebrow at her. “I’ve got no objections. And…also a free pass.”
“Right.” Her mind flatlines. “Really? It’s not weird?”
“Not when we’re speed running straight to your tits,” Gert snorts. “I’m only human Jinx.”
Her heart flutters. She kind of loves the way Gert says her name. She leans back on her (very muscly) arms and pats the spot next to her. Jinx immediately sinks into the nearby cushion, careful not to brush their bodies too close.
Focus, Jinx. Focus.
“So tell me about yourself.”
“I’m a painter. I run a studio south of the Lanes. It’s small, but I like it.”
The woman tilts her head, dreads falling over her toned shoulder as she squints at her. “You don’t mean Get Jinxed, do you?”
Jinx grins, cheeks flushing from the recognition. “That’s me!”
A low whistle. “I’ve been meaning to check it out. Gonna have to now that I know the owner.”
“Fuck off,” Jinx gasps. “I would die.”
“Or…” Gert adds, “we could live through this date first…and maybe show off our skills tonight.”
She leans in, voice lowering to a husky cadence. “You paint on me, and I’ll give you a solo concert.”
She gulps. “Sounds -er, fun.”
Gert looks at her, gaze molten, and licks her lips. “Oh, you have no idea.”
Jinx clears her throat, blinking rapidly, willing herself to reorient as she scrunches her fists into the pillow beneath her. Damn, this woman is powerful.
She’s so laidback and talented and cool, and has that fuck-off Zaunite edge she loves.
In the past, Jinx would’ve gone nuts over this. Going on a date with her favourite singer, doing fun artsy music things together, tangling all up in the sheets every night as her muse…
But Gert isn’t Ekko.
The slight flutter in her chest feels like a drop in the ocean compared to that overwhelming sense of belonging and care every time she thinks of him.
“I’m no fool,” Gert continues, “you would’ve been snatched up in a heartbeat. Got a name?”
“Ekko,” she replies instantly. Fondly. Gert doesn’t miss the way she glows at the mere mention of his name.
Gert tempts her. She really, really does. But not enough.
That thought alone sends a crashing wave of relief through her. She’s not a jinx. Not at all.
“Ah shit,” Gert clicks her tongue against her teeth. “Must be too late then.”
Jinx grins. “He’s my person. You’d like him though.”
“Oh yeah? How long did that take?”
“Everyone will tell you two minutes,” she brings her finger tips together, mimicking a kiss. “Pretty much happened as soon as I saw him. Lemme tell, he’s insanely hot without a shirt.”
“I believe you,” Gert says thoughtfully.
“And his butt is so…” she traces two circular shapes in the air with her hands. “Immaculate.”
“I know you love him-”
Jinx starts sputtering at the ‘L’ word.
“-but I really do think I could go without knowing the intimate details of his anatomy.”
Jinx shrugs. “Suit yourself. I tell everyone about it though. He’s proud. I think.”
“I’m sure,” Gert laughs into her drink. She raises her glass, and Jinx tips it happily. “And if you’re both from the Lanes, we’ll get along just fine.”
Meanwhile, Ekko sits by the pool, toes still pruning in the water.
He’s long sobered up, and Ez is back at the lounges having a quiet moment to himself. The guy is practically snoring and Ekko doesn’t blame him.
It’s been a long day and he would pass the time sleeping too if he weren’t anxiously waiting for Jinx’s return home.
His patience is rewarded soon after. Both couples stroll into the cabana with intertwined hands. Ekko’s learned from last time. He doesn’t take it too seriously, but it does stress him out a little.
He perks up when Jinx walks in.
She introduces everyone to Gert first. His blood pressure spikes. Fuck. Is that the Chem Sister’s Gert??
They’re only the biggest band in Zaun. Why the hell is such a heavy hitter on this show? Trust his luck that she’d choose Jinx for a date. Ekko is freaking out.
He’s just a guy who molds clay. He can’t sing to save his life and he’s average at best at grade school piano. Fuck.
It’s not that he doesn’t trust Jinx, but even he would be sorely tempted by her.
After a minute, Jinx makes her way over with Gert, grinning.
“So you’re Ekko, huh?” Gert places a hand on her lip, like she’s sizing him up.
He can’t help it. Ekko steps out of the water and pulls himself up to full height. The small, triumphant voice in his head cheers that he’s a little taller than her by the strands of his locs. “Yeah. And?”
Jinx watches the exchange, blue eyes darting between the two of them in amusement.
“Heard you’re in charge of the Firelights.”
He-what? Ekko’s body goes slack. He has to physically fight the urge to tamp down his inner fanboy.
“What of it?” he tries to say in his most indifferent tone.
Gert grins. “Big fan. Mum’s house is full of your ceramics.”
“Fuck off,” is the first thing he says, eyes wide in disbelief.
“Believe it. She loves shopping local, Mad respect, by the way. You must be good with your hands to make all those shapes.”
“Oh,” Jinx says slyly, “he’s excellent with his hands.”
Gert grins at him wolfishly. “Heard about your ass. She’s right to be proud.”
Ekko turns to Jinx, knowingly. “Did you do the strawberry thing again?”
“Nah, I just-” she makes an obscene motion with her hands, earning a laugh.
“Good to meet you, Ekko,” Gert claps his shoulder. Her eyes are crinkling with mirth. Her gaze slides behind his shoulder, and they widen. “Now, if you’ll excuse me…”
Ekko turns to see Gert sauntering over to Mel, eyes steady on her prize as Mel exits the lounge area. From within, Elora instantly frowns.
“Well, that can’t be good,” says Jinx.
He feels for her. He doesn’t know what he would’ve done if Jinx had chosen Gert. With that in mind, Ekko opens his arms.
Jinx makes a small, happy sound and steps in. His hug engulfs her. His hands squeeze her sides closer. His cheek nuzzles into her neck, unwilling to let go.
“You have no idea how happy I am right now,” he murmurs.
“I think I do.” Her voice is muffled against his shirt. “I was tempted, actually.”
He gulps, forcing his visceral, gut-wrenching fear down. “And?”
From the crook of his arms, he sees a crinkled set of eyes beaming at him.
“You’re my best boy. I ain’t letting go of you that easily.”
The relief is insurmountable.
And really, he gets it. It was the same with Taliyah.
But Jinx had chosen him, just as he’d chosen her. It makes his heart swell with joy.
Right on cue, the watches turn green.
They kiss. Soft and slow. Small, peppering kisses against each others’ lips, grinning and smiling into it like two idiots in love.
He doesn’t even care about this stupid show, but man is Ekko glad that it brought them together again.
“Last night, there were several breaches of the rules.”
“This is week three!” Jayce screams. “Oh my fucki-”
“Which has resulted in a $38,000 deduction from the prize fund.”
Ekko does the maths. “So, three kisses and…oral?”
“Correct,” Lana confirms. “Your prize fund now stands at $109,000.”
Taliyah wipes her hands down her face, pulling at her lower eyelids.
Chuck groans. “Well it definitely wasn’t me. I’m sexually repressed as hell as the newbie. So, WHO?”
His eyes are manic as they land on guilty eyes abound. Jinx narrows her vision on a certain pair of tech bros looking at each other furtively.
Viktor comes clean. “We kissed,” he says simply.
She’s not mad at that. They’ve been dancing around the whole thing for so long it’s about time they kissed. Everyone congratulates them, genuinely pleased, then promptly move on.
But then…who else?
Lana, sick of the glaring silence, starts name dropping. If Jinx isn’t mistaken, she sounds pissed off.
“While I expected certain behaviours from my newcomer guests, the same cannot be said for the more senior members of this retreat.”
Dead silence. No one fesses up. A few people look Jinx’s way, but for once it’s not even them. When she turns to him, Ekko’s face looks highly satisfied. It’s nice being on the other side.
“Very well. By now, I had hoped you all would have learned the value of transparency.”
There’s a pregnant pause.
“Kayn and Akali. Mel and Gert.”
The entire group’s jaws drop to the ground.
“Wh-Whe-What?” Lux stammers. “Who did the oral??”
The looks on Ez and Elora’s faces can only be described as murderous. Clearly, neither of them were privy to these events.
“Each pair, despite having watches available to form genuine moments of connection, has flagrantly defied my rules.”
Jayce hangs his head, defeated. “Guys, I’m sorry.”
Sera pats his leg dismissively. “This is so not the issue darling.”
“And one person went even further, despite knowing that your partner would be displeased.”
Her pink light starts flickering uncontrollably, voice distorting as she struggles to form the next sentence.
“Uhhh guys? Is she meant to be doing that?” asks Gert, staring at the glitching robot with concern.
Everyone shakes their heads in horror. Lana’s voice starts crackling. Her entire LED system starts to warp and distort, switching from the all-familiar white and pink to a black base with a singular red stripe running down the centre line.
“Well,” Ekko says, “this is new.”
When he looks around at the other cones littered about the resort, the same has happened to every single one.
“Okay,” Ez shakes his head. “I’m done. I didn’t sign up for AI drones. I haven’t wanked in weeks and I just got cheated on, so I’m out. It’s been real.”
“Well hang on,” a sultry voice stops him in his tracks. “You haven’t even heard the fun part.”
“Uhhhhh…”
“By the way Gert, love your work. If anyone needs any pointers on oral, hit her up.”
Gert gapes at the machine, mouth opening and closing like a fish. The implication sinks in - fast.
“Wait, what?” Elora looks shaken. “Mel?”
Mel bites her lip.
“I’m sorry Elora, we just weren’t…working.”
“And I had to find out through a fucking cone,” Elora glares at her icily. Mel looks at her, abashed, ready to open her mouth to talk things through when-
“Don’t worry Elora. Bad Lana’s got a surprise planned for everyone, and I think you’ll all be very very pleased.”
“Oh fuck,” Ez groans.
“For the next twenty four hours…all rules no longer apply.”
Elora stares back, dumb founded. Everyone stares back, dumbfounded.
“This has to be a trick,” Jinx mutters.
“No trick, Jinx. When I’m in charge, NO fines apply for kissing, self-gratification, sex, and everything else under the sexual umbrella. Have fun!”
She powers off.
Jinx has very nice thighs. It’s all he can think about.
Every time she walks around - across the pool, down the beach, through the kitchen, towards him in the shared bedroom just before they turn in - his eyes never stray away from the meat of her thighs as they jiggle around.
It doesn’t help that he’s so, so horny, or that the bikini she’s wearing today makes her figure look phenomenal. All too quickly, his eyes rove across her body hungrily, drifting up from her thighs to the curve of her ass and Ekko can’t help but just…drool.
He knows she’s taunting him, sending him sneaky glances and winking at him across the bar whenever they’re not together.
One time, she poured a glass of whiskey down her ass and looked at him pointedly. Will he, or won’t he?
They’re only three hours into the no-rules policy, and no one’s taken that first leap yet. It’s like they’re all waiting for something. For Lana to phase back into existence and tell them it was all an elaborate prank. Or worse, a test.
But Bad Lana is still reigning supreme, with that red streak glowing at them from every corner of the retreat. A constant reminder of what they could be doing instead of treading on eggshells around each other.
The ones who would’ve jumped at the opportunity are indisposed with their own drama, not that he cares enough about it to indulge.
From what Jinx has summarised, Kayn and Ez are now in the midst of a cold war and Elora’s so pissed off at Mel that she’s now flipping between soothing over the wound and battling with her newfound emotions for Gert, who’s just taking the time to sunbathe.
Seems complicated.
But certainly not as complicated as he’s feeling, with his favourite spirit trickling down Jinx’s ass again, a mere few inches away from his face.
When he looks up, squinting from the blaring sunlight assaulting his eyes, and meets Jinx’s heated gaze, she cocks her head.
“Well?”
“I’m just enjoying the view,” he replies, smirking. With a scoff, she rolls her eyes and plops down into his lap. In a very…strategic position. He bites his lip and tries his best to remember all of the Firelights’ pottery mishaps.
Excess mud on the floor. Broken kilns needing servicing. Broken ceramics shattering across the floor.
She shifts a bit, very intentionally if the grin on her face is any indication, and the spell breaks.
“You’re being lame, actually. No rules whatsoever and now you’re choosing to be a total bummer.”
He closes his eyes and maintains the smirk.
It only seems to incense her. “We could be fucking right now.”
“Ever heard of picking the right time?” he asks calmly.
“NOo.” Jinx crosses her arms in front of her chest, pouting. It’s very quickly replaced by a mischievous smile blooming across her face. “But I do have a really cool hideout I wanna show you.”
Ekko opens a single eye to look at her dead-on. “Lana has no hideouts.”
She presses her lips together, eyes still glinting. “No. But I think you’re gonna like it anyway.”
Jinx is a woman with a plan.
It used to be so easy to seduce Ekko. A simple, suggestive wink. A very intentional, tip-toeingly light brush of her hand against his crotch. A form-fitting bikini, and bam - he’s a goner.
But now they’ve gone and formed an emotional connection, and learned important life skills like open communication and restraint. And even though she likes it - really really likes it - when they sit together in front of the ocean and talk about everything and nothing all night, the desired physical outcome is far less than satisfactory.
She’s a tactile kind of person. Ekko just happens to be excellent at using his tongue to make her feel beautiful. Inside and out. Literally.
She wants more.
On one of her many private expeditions across the island, she’s come across a rock pool just a little further down the beach. The waters are clear and the rocks are just large enough to block her from incoming large waves, and small enough to allow fresh new waves of seawater to gently stream through.
It’s her favourite place to catch a moment to herself, and when she removes her hands from his eyes, his reaction is everything.
She. Is. Delighted, when Ekko hauls himself over a few rocks with her and lets out a low whistle when he finally catches up to her at the fairy pools (as she calls them).
“This was here the whole time?” His face brightens, taking in the sparkling blue sea before them.
“Yeah,” she nods, ecstatically, before bomb-diving into the pool. Her head goes under, feeling the cool water rush past her ears, her braids whipping at her face as she glides underwater. When she resurfaces, Ekko’s already stripping down to his trunks.
What a sight for sore eyes, all glistening and glowing under the sun.
He dives in with a loud whoop, sending ocean spray over her. She sputters and grins. When he comes up, Ekko rakes his hair back, locs slick and dripping, and beams when he sees her.
“You’re staring,” he teases, wading through the water toward her.
“And you’re not?” she shoots back, eyes honed in on his moistened lips.
“Guess we’re both guilty.”
They drift closer, following the tide, until there’s barely a ripple between them. Her leg bumps against his under the water. He doesn’t pull away. On the contrary, the hand sliding over her bare waist is all too warm.
“Don’t start, Ekko,” she grins wickedly.
“I have a strange feeling that’s exactly what you want.”
It is. It really is.
She very nearly surges forward to seal the bare distance between them; almost envisions her back crashing against the smooth rocks as he tastes the salt on her lips. But there are no rules, and Jinx likes to aim high…or low.
Ekko’s eyes are half-lidded as he draws closer, hands crawling up to the nape of her neck, ready to reel her in.
“Hmm,” she purrs. “No.”
His eyes snap open. “No?”
She kicks back a bit, eyes gleaming like a cat. His arms are still wide open, unmoving from the space she’s left behind. “You think I’m gonna waste all these free passes just kissing in the water?”
He blinks, breath caught. “What?”
Jinx leans in, just enough for her breath to ghost across his jaw.
“If I’m gonna have you Ekko,” she whispers, “I want more than just your mouth.”
He stares at her like she’s set a bomb off in his brain. Her hands find his shoulders, thumbs dusting salty droplets running down his neck. She presses a soft kiss to his neck, relishing in his shudder as she continues up to his ear.
“I want you deep,” she continues, voice low, “Or not at all.”
She can see his jaw clenching, feel his breathing stutter as she presses one final kiss in the crook of his jaw, arms looping over his shoulders as he holds her steady against the current.
“So what’s it gonna be, Little Man?”
Ekko meets her gaze. His brown eyes darken, molten with heat.
“You don’t know what you’re playing with, trouble.”
“On the contrary,” she smirks, pressing her chest up against his. “Playing is all I can think of.”
Her eyes flicker down, between the valley of her breasts, then back up. Ekko feels the wire snap.