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Her target was in sight.
His arrival was a surprise for sure but a welcome one all the same.
Several feet in front of her lay a lone Ekko. Passed out on the raggedy faux leather couch situated in the middle of their dimly lit break room.
The room was usually well lit. She imagined Vi probably turned it down once they noticed the man passed out in their midst.
If Powder was being hones. She was so preoccupied with her own thoughts that she hadn’t even noticed Ekko asleep on the couch.
Various fruit cups and empty packets of sour Heimerdittles littered the plywood table in front of her.
Now, there wasn’t REALLY any bad blood between the two of them.
There was just something about Ekko that pissed her off. All things considered one would think them fast friends.
After-all, they hail from the same city. Are from similar means. Both hate her older sister’s fiancées accent. It was all there.
And yet, they couldn’t help but pester one another.
A month prior, Ekko had done something unforgivable. He hugged her from behind in front of Vi.
Now, on the surface that may not seem like that big of a deal. But most people do not have the displeasure of having Vi as an older sister.
For weeks now, the older woman has pestered her about it. And to make matters worse, he did it while they were doing promo for the current season of their show.
There’d already been a shit ton of rumors about the two of them possibly dating since the first season of their show. And their characters hadn’t even held a single conversation. It was bonkers.
But Ekko doing that, was like throwing cooking grease on a house fire. Why the fuck would you do that.
Now, she couldn’t put all the blame on him. The real killer, was what she did after.
Powder had watched the footage over and over again. It’s not like she had any choice. Her time line completely fucking exploded with the video.
And like that, hundreds of thousands of people got to watch her be all smiles, beat red in the face. Answering questions at a press junket while she completely leaned back into him. Like it was the most natural thing in the world. Completely dashing all the pr spin they've done to avoid the dating scandals.
All the while the sleeping shit-head in front of her was busy cheesing for the camera.
Honestly, this wouldn’t have been so bad if Vi wasn’t physically present. She invaded Ekko’s personal space all the time whether in public or not. But NEVER in front of Vi, and especially not in reverse.
At least if Vi had just experienced it like everyone else via social media she’d have a leg on. Some plausible deniability here.
But no, soon as the cameras cut, her sister pulled her aside instantly. Bombarding her with the most ridiculous of questions.
How long had they been dating?
When was she gonna tell her about them?
When’s the wedding?
Were they being safe?
The last one almost had Powder ready to off herself on the spot.
And while. If the look on Ekko’s face during their carpool back home was anything to go by. Vi definitely chewed into him as well, she needed to get right with him on her own terms.
He made her look like some kind of sappy, head over heels dumb ass on live television. Oh yes he had a big storm coming.
And he knew it too, these past few weeks she’s spent plotting on his downfall. He’s been avoiding her!
It seems like whenever she enters a room he seems to be exiting.
Powder was no fool, she was gonna hound his ass to the ends of the Earth too, surely he knew that.
And that’s what brought her here. Circling the raggedy couch. While she contemplated how to repay him for fucking her over like this.
As Powder watched him, a wild invader intruded her mind. ‘He’s kind of cute like this.’ Someone, not her, thought.
The way she was able to catch peaks of his well built abdomen. As the edges of his t-shirt rode up weren’t influencing such thoughts either.
Or how the boy’s long lashes seemed to entrance her. She could just write that off as envy, surely.
Or how her eyes would drift down to his ajar mouth, how his tongue would peak out to wet his lips and-
After her third or fifth rotation, who knows, she didn’t, she’s been observing his sleeping form for awhile now. Her phone dinged.
Now. Powder hasn’t been checking her phone all month thanks to Ekko’s little stunt. So, normally she would’ve just ignored this. But something in her told her to read this damn message.
And she did, and she regretted it.
You know, when ya get to know someone as well as she knew Ekko. Ya sometimes forget that they’re kind of a big deal outside of how you know them.
And what greater reminder than to have Seraphine. A colossally famous pop star, dm-ing her a picture of two pugs in wedding garb with a caption that read ‘Congrats! Take care of Ekko he’s very sweet!’
No one could ever say Powder couldn’t control herself. Because the way she had to resist chucking her phone at the back of Ekko’s head right now- It was praiseworthy.
Sighing, Powder returned her phone to her pocket and made sure to mute it this time. Rookie mistake honestly, ‘mute till shit blows over’ is like the first thing ya learn in PR class.
Powder’s face suddenly lit up.
“That’s it.” She whispered, not trying to wake Ekko up during her revelation.
If Ekko was gonna hang her out to dry, then she might as well make shit difficult for him too.
A mischievous smile soon adorned Powder’s features.
She retrieved her phone from her pocket and opened up Hextagram.
Not wasting anytime, she went straight to camera mode. Soon Ekko’s form entered her vision.
“There you are you little shit…” she muttered. Something she picked up from watching Ekko play Valorant with Sona every other night.
Quickly, she angled herself in a way, so that the picture would look like the two of them were laying in bed together.
Powder laughed quietly as she was ready to go scorched earth on his ass.
“Oh shit.” She whispered, she almost forgot to turn the flash off.
But as soon as her finger went up to turn it off, Ekko moved.
Alarms were fucking blaring in her mind at this point. And before she could turn tail, Ekko’s hand jut out and captured her own. Her phone clattered to the floor as his touch made her jolt in shock.
“Ekko this ain’t what it loooooo-“ her excuse interrupted. She now found herself flush against his chest and pressed up against the raggedy couch.
Powder angled her head up to get a clear look at him and he was still asleep. Mumbling shit as he scratched at the peach fuzz along his jaw.
“Fuck.” Powder said, almost muffled by the boy’s big t-shirt threatening to smother her.
“Goodnight… Pow-Pow…” Ekko responded lazily.
Powder was sure she resembled a can of tomatoes right now. Only Vi's allowed to call her that, and maybe him on occasion. In the confines of his apartment, after they get into a huge argument about something stupid.
Before she could scold him for it, she felt his lips brush against her forehead. He lingered there for a second. This was new, sure they had no concept of personal space between them, but this softness. She wasn’t prepared for this.
The slight wetness of his lips made it a little weird she wasn’t gonna lie but her brain was too fried at this point to care.
Like a declawed cat, Powder nuzzled further to him and accepted her fate.
Had Powder been paying attention though. She would’ve noticed they were not the only people in the break room currently.
She’d been so in her own head she hadn’t noticed until now, thanks to her older sister’s habit of chewing with her mouth open.
She peaked over Ekko’s shoulder, and there sat Vi, staring right back at her, with those most smug look she’d ever seen. Chomping away at a bag of barbecue potato chips.
Vi’s smile only grew as Powder felt her face get hotter. The older woman gave her a mock salute and wink before speaking.
“Enjoying your stay Pow-Pow?” she mocked.
Powder wanted to scream. But burying herself into Ekko’s shoulder for the next seven winters would have to suffice.