AN : Song : Mad Hatter (Melanie Martinez)
Landon had said she would be consumed by love and desire.
And in that instant, she finally understood what he meant.
It wasn’t as if those feelings had appeared out of nowhere.
No—it was like someone who had been away from home for a century had finally returned.
She loved her; it was a fact, inseparably woven into her very being.
She desired her to the point that a single whisper in her ear felt like it could send her over the edge.
For Hope, it was as though she had been remade at a cellular level.
This was a disaster.
A very beautiful disaster.
No, no, shut up, brain.
She was compromised.
Completely compromised.
“Nice fangs,” she heard.
She likes my fangs…
No, no, focus, Mikaelson.
“Thanks,” she replied, her voice rougher than intended.
“So, are you gonna eat me?” the young woman joked.
But the words exploded in Hope’s mind like a bomb.
Shit.
Shit, Hope thought hysterically as desire crashed over her like a rogue wave.
She needed to change the subject.
Change the subject now.
“I only chased you for an hour.
We’re not that intimate yet.”
The young woman raised an eyebrow and gave her a small, satisfied smile.
” Yet ?
”
Oh my God, what is wrong with me?!
Where’s a good stake when you need one?
“I mean, I don’t even know your name.”
“Jinx.”
“What?”
“That’s my name.
Jinx.”
“I’m Hope.
Hope Mikaelson.”
“Oh, a last name.
Very snobby.
Very topsider,” Jinx said, a note of suspicion in her voice.
“Ah, so that’s not common here.
No, I’m not from Piltover,” Hope assured her.
“I should hope so.
The only topsider I enjoy talking to is one with a bullet hole between the eyes,” she said with a smile that reminded Hope of her family at their very worst.
She’s worse than Lizzie, Hope thought with concern.
She remembered now where she had heard the name Jinx before.
Silco’s unhinged daughter—the mad girl of the Shimmer king.
But in Hope’s eyes, she didn’t see someone dangerous.
She saw a broken girl.
“You shouldn’t threaten a friend,” Hope said lightly.
Jinx stared at her in astonishment.
“Uh, I don’t have friends.”
“Well, we played together like a couple of kids, we shared beignets, we sympathized with each other’s sadness, and now you know my name.
According to the friendship handbook, that makes us best friends,” Hope said without missing a beat.
Internally, however, she was wondering since when making friends had become so easy.
It had taken her a very long time to make friends at school.
But at that moment, Jinx’s expression closed off.
“You shouldn’t want to be friends with me.
People who get close to me tend to die very quickly,” she said.
Hope shivered when she heard those words.
They sounded far too much like something she would say herself.
Before she had time to respond, she realized that Jinx had vanished.
And for the first time since realizing that Jinx was her soulmate, she was actually able to think.
Should she chase after her?
Jinx’s scent was growing fainter and fainter.
But Hope had sworn never to become attached to someone the way she had with Landon.
Looking back, she had realized how thoroughly her feelings had blinded her, and the consequences had shattered her.
Jinx might be just as broken as she was.
Hope knew that if she went down this road, there would be no turning back.
She knew herself.
She was a Mikaelson.
Moderation was not in her nature.
She might become even more obsessed than she had been with Landon.
After losing so many of the people she loved, she was certain her possessiveness had reached frightening heights.
Sometimes, she worried she was becoming more and more like her father in that regard.
She could also choose to leave.
She could walk away from Zaun, explore the beauty and mysteries of Runeterra.
She would be alone and unattached.
Free from the constant fear of losing the people she loved.
What a joke, she thought.
Then she used her vampire speed to catch up with her soulmate.
This woman was going to drive her insane.
Maybe she already had.
Let’s be honest—when had her life ever been normal?
Hope kept her distance so she wouldn’t alert Jinx.
Since when had she started following people around?
She sighed.
Jinx stopped in front of a door.
She looked around carefully before opening it and slipping inside.
A few minutes later, Hope followed.
But she hadn’t expected to find a staircase leading deep underground.
The farther she descended, the more graffiti she saw covering the walls.
When she finally reached the bottom of the staircase, she was surprised by the enormous fan that dominated the space.
The area had been transformed into a living space—a couch, a workshop strategically built around the giant machinery.
It was the lair of both an artist and an inventor.
“Are you a stalker?
Because I’m starting to have some strong suspicions.”
Hope jumped before meeting Jinx’s gaze.
The blue-haired woman was sprawled across her couch.
“I’m not a stalker,” Hope said, without much conviction.
Jinx seemed to notice and raised an eyebrow.
“What are you doing here, Hope?”
Hope lost herself in those blue eyes and sighed.
“I don’t know.
I just wanted to stay close to you,” she admitted honestly.
She hadn’t expected Jinx to blush.
A soft smile tugged at Hope’s lips.
“You…
you should go home,” Jinx said.
At those words, Hope felt the vast emptiness of her loneliness.
“I don’t have a home anymore,” she confessed.
She felt a hand settle against her cheek and realized she was crying.
For comfort, she focused on the softness of the hand wiping away her tears.
“You can take the couch.
I’m not a morning person, so don’t wake me up too early or I’ll kill you.
Just until you find somewhere to stay and—”
The rest of the sentence was cut off as Hope wrapped her arms around her.
She pulled Jinx into a hug.
She didn’t see the surprise on Jinx’s face, nor the melancholy, nor the tenderness hidden in her eyes.
She didn’t see Jinx clench her fists before finally returning the embrace.
But Hope knew one thing.
Normality was overrated.