If Time Would Permit

2) Little Man

"So the point of this game is, what?" Ekko was genuinely confused at the rules. He had seen it played a couple of times by now, but it was still unclear where the fun was in it. Vi towered over him with an arm around his shoulder and just chuckled, as she was prone to do with him.

"Look, Little Man, it's simple. All you have to do is get to Powder over there without getting hit and whack her,

, and you win. It's not that complicated"

"But how am I supposed to get to her if she has a shooter, and I have—" Ekko looked at the crude stick he held that was supposed to be a wooden sword, "

!"

Vi smirked and patted him firmly on the back, "That, my friend, is for you to figure out". She counted down from five and then the game began. Powder fired off a shot and immediately Ekko felt a sting in his shoulder from where the paintball hit.

"Damn!"

Vi was next to him immediately holding out a hand. Ekko begrudgingly took it, this whole game was stupid to him.

"You'll get her next time, Little Man" Ekko just sucked his teeth and sat on the sideline. Powder sat beside him and nudged his shoulder with hers.

"You know, my first time was scary too. And I hated going up against Milo and Claggor. They scared me so much, but when I got my first shot on Milo I couldn't stop laughing. It felt great. You'll get there too"

Ekko looked at Powder and felt his ears get hot with how close she was to him. He pretended to cough so he could look away and felt her get up and leave to go talk to Vi.

It wasn't that Ekko was afraid, that wasn't even close to it. It was that he didn't want to hurt Powder. When he stood across from her, all he could see was the fun kid. The girl that stood up to the bigger kids because she wanted to prove herself. The girl he admired. How could he raise a weapon to her? She was so amazing to him, almost perfect.

"You comin?" Vi and Powder were heading back to the Last Drop. Ekko got up and followed. He had been hanging out with them more lately, and he really felt a sense of belonging when he was with them. They never made him feel like an outsider, not even Milo when he made up stories to pick on him. They felt like family, and that's something Ekko felt he had been missing. His parents were always busy either in the mines or doing maid work for the Piltovians, and Ekko was alone more than he would care to admit. Having a group to be with was such a better pace for him, and he wished he could tell his parents all about it.

"Ekko!" Vander was looking directly at him. "Benzo is looking for you. Says he needs a helping hand in the shop today. Be a good lad, and go to the shop"

Ekko didn't really want to work today, but Vander was the one who had gotten him the job. It had made his parents overjoyed that he would be able to get out of the house, and be productive. He didn't want to let any of them down, so he summoned up a half hearted smile and ran out of the Last Drop towards Benzo's.

"Ah, there ya are, Ekko. Be a lad, and help me with those boxes in the back. We have a customer comin in shortly, and I want to have this place looking respectable"

Ekko rolled up his sleeves and started hoisting the heavy boxes of knick knacks upstairs so they could be out of sight. When he was finally done, Benzo paid him 4 cogs and told him to be on standby over at the Last Drop just in case he was needed. Ekko ran back only to find Claggor. He was eating a crab sandwich and flipping through a magazine. He hadn't noticed Ekko yet.

With a devious smile, Ekko snuck up ever so quietly on Claggor, and then pounced on him.

"Dammit, Ekko! You gave me a heart attack!"