Whoever makes that happen will make me happy.
Say the word, your wish is my command. But I'm giving it an irreverent title.
Jinx was a whirlwind. Passionately and unabashedly herself. And while Lux had known several people like that, some of them direct relatives, Jinx was the first who was also unquestionably a good person. Unwilling to bow or compromise with those she saw as in the wrong, but empathetic and charitable to her core. Beaten down by the world, only to stand back up and start making the world better. Accepting of the good and intolerant of the bad, and smart enough to know the difference.
That kind of honesty was admirable.
Lux often thought she lived her life in that same way, only for that corrupting secret to come bubbling up again and again. Lux was a proud Demacian, but she was a mage. She was a proud daughter of the Crownguard family, but she was a mage. She was loved,
but she was a mage. And all the things that made Lux herself would be violently ripped away in a heartbeat if she was ever, truly, wholly herself.
When Jinx and Seraphine had uncovered that, Lux had been terrified. Not only of her impending discovery and what it would mean for her, but what Lux might be willing to do to keep her secret just that. Secret.
Then Jinx had, as she had and would continue to do, surprised her. Acceptance so casual and immediate Lux wasn't even sure when Jinx had decided to keep the secret that had loomed over Lux's entire life for years, threatening everything she dared to cherish. It was almost as shocking as the literal electrocution. Almost. Jinx was, above all else, terrifyingly good with a welding tool.
That casual acceptance was like fresh cold water, and Lux suddenly realized she hadn't had so much as a lukewarm sip in years. For the rest of the trip, Lux found herself keenly aware of Jinx's presence, and had to mentally berate herself whenever Jinx excused herself to escort her drunk sister home, or catch up with a childhood friend. It was petty, but Lux craved Jinx's continual presence. Even when nothing was said.
It had required a great deal of mental fortitude not to try and find a way to sabotage trade negotiations in a ploy to extend her time in Piltover. Lux wasn't even sure she'd need an excuse to convince Jinx to help, she'd probably just do it for the fun of the challenge.
Still, eventually tariffs were set, grain was agreed to, a joint research venture to the potentials of Hextech was laid out, though only in the preliminary stages, with time to tell if it ever actually happened, and the Demacian diplomats were set to return home come the end of the week. The looming loss made Lux even more keenly aware of what she was leaving behind. Somehow, the imagined future of the present continuing forever vanished. Lux hadn't realized when she saw her future change from Demacia to Piltover. The Crownguards to the Kirammans. The constant terror of the Mageseekers, of Garen, finding out what she was, to the warm embrace of Jinx, who knew and didn't care. Conditional love to unconditional freedom.
And so, with the confidence of someone young, who has only ever had to say her full name to be granted access to whatever she wished, that Luxanna Crownguard set about taking what she wanted. It was probably nowhere near as casual as she thought, but her bodyguards hadn't questioned her innocent request to see off her Piltover counterpart. That the visit was perfectly synched to Jinx's Lab Time™ was no mere coincidence, and her bodyguards were quickly told to "Get outta here before you blow us all sky-high bumbling around in that armor!" and "It is a bit cramped, perhaps waiting outside and enjoying the fresh air would be preferable," in succession.
Which left Lux alone. With Jinx. And the return of the looming dread of imminent discovery. Unlike her secret, Lux forged ahead. Unlike her rejection of her homeland, Jinx's rejection would see her crying into a desert on the trip home instead of drugged and chained in a dungeon for the rest of her life, exile deemed "too lenient".
"You know, there is one more day where you're technically my guide to Piltover. There was something else I wanted to do before I leave." Lux said, hoping she sounded as casual as she wanted to.
"Pft, c'mon. You've seen literally everything and then some. Pretty sure the Council is just waiting 'til you leave to give me an earful about that Zaun trip." Jinx said with an easy smile, reaching a break in her work and setting down the blue crystal she had been working on to give Lux her full attention. "If there's anything else to do, it'll be new for me too. On second thought, that sounds awesome. What else did you want to do? Blow me away."
"I wanted to shoot my shot." Lux said.
Jinx quirked her head. "Shooting? I mean, I guess it's a novel concept to you swordies, and we have a range here, so-" Jinx was cut off by Lux closing the distance, wrapping an arm around her, and smashing their lips together before the courage left her completely and the two of them spent the afternoon shooting targets.
It felt like an eternity before Jinx continued to be the best thing in Lux's life and did what she had done in that broom closet when sparks of magic danced before her. Accepted. The perceived eternity that followed was bliss. Lux resented her lungs when they demands she pull away.
....
Fuck.
Staring into Jinx's eyes in silence, the first time Lux had ever seen her… well, friend probably wasn't accurate anymore, the first time she had seen Jinx at a loss for words, Lux realized she had not thought this through at all. What was she supposed to do next? There were seconds at best before Jinx caught her breath and asked the same thing. In a panic, she wracked her brain, thinking of literally any romantic experience beyond a deep kiss.
The best thing to come to mind was her brother, years ago, causally sharing romantic exploits around the house while Lux eavesdropped on the older kids. In retrospect, they had assuredly been making things up to impress each other, but it was all she had to work with.
Lux put on her best seductive gaze, whatever that meant, and said, "I don't blame whatever chewed on those circus tent pants. I also want to go down there myself and start eating."
"What the fuck?" Lux found herself quickly shoved from the workshop as Jinx alternated between fury and confusion. A confusion that Lux shared, too stunned at the words that had come from her mouth to even mount a verbal defense, let alone try to reclaim some momentum at resetting the mood.
Once the door slammed shut between them, both girls crouched down in defeat and screamed into their hands.
A/N: Look, there's only one circumstance where Lux is thinking about Jinx's pants, and it is not an appropriate one. Also, just like the Catra quest, this is my disclaimer that I have never engaged with the source material, either League or Arcane.
