The Sixth | Ekko

Chapter Thirty-Five

"...And how do you plan on doing that exactly?" Six asked.

Ekko pulled back slightly, enough so that Momo's face fell from his shoulder and he could look at her again. His grip on her shirt loosened, his hand falling from her back to grasp her elbow instead.

"I'm sure I can figure something out."

Six retracted from him, straightening her back. Even with them sitting in front of one another, she still had to incline her head minutely so their eyes could meet. But just as they did, she noticed scarlet coiling through one of his dreadlocks in the front.

She stared up at it while he stared at her.

Wordlessly, she reached her right hand up to touch it with her fingers.

Ekko remained still, allowing her to examine her ribbon decorating his hair. Even as her hand moved in front of his face, his eyes remained locked to hers. Or at least, the bits he could see from the sides of her hand.

Six dropped her hand into her lap, finally noticing Cheese who had curled up there after being woken up. She looked down at him for a moment before her eyes lifted to meet Ekko's once more. She rested her hand atop Cheese's head, stroking him lightly with her thumb.

They fell into a silence, staring at one another as if communicating through their staring alone.

"Why did you...?" Six asked finally, referring to her ribbon.

He looked away from her, gaze dropping as he fumbled for an answer.

"I—I'm not entirely sure if I'm being honest—" he said, a truth and a lie all at once. "I was just—I was worried about you—and I—well—just—found your ribbon in my pocket and—"

Six's face softened as he flailed with his words, and she felt something within her start to wear down. A shield forged from continuous let downs and trauma. Something put there both on purpose and accidentally to shelter herself from the hurt that somehow always seemed to find her.

But just as the barricade started to lower, her vision reeled, spattering in black just to phase into something else entirely.

The city's lights setting it aglow like a bonfire. Cold, coarse stone underneath her as she sat atop a ledge. Aquamarine half moon. Chain link fence with an overgrowth of leafy vines. Pink lanterns strung overhead on a wire. The floral smell from nearby white flowers. Airships dotting the night sky as they flew above shining architecture.

Laughing from behind, light and cheerful. The scuff against her legs and behind as she slid off the edge.

The wobble of her feet on the bricked sill. The scrape of the wall against her arm, the rivels in her green shawl catching on the rough surface. Crumbling ledge. Lighthearted chatter from above.

Ekko's voice a clumsy weapon as he declared Momo insignificant.

The blunt trauma to her heart. The electric current of dread that traveled over her skin. The rush of air as the ledge gave way.

Her eyes were wide and panicked when she came back to her room. Ekko's face materialized in front of hers. There was a weight on her shoulders again.

His hands.

"Momo? Can you hear me?" he asked for the third time, his fingers tangling in her shirt and scarf.

"Get off me," she said flatly.

Ekko stared at her as if she was malfunctioning and her words were a glitch.

"Please," she added. She sounded exhausted.