Blisters and Bedrock
Short one, but the scene is mostly the same. This slight rewrite takes place after Vi and Jinx's sister fight in the tunnel. Vi accidentally smacks Isha and Jinx comforts her. Isha moves on, clapping her hands.
…
"But don't ditch us!" Jinx called, her tone so gentle and jarring for Vi to hear.
Vi shook her head, picking her gauntlets off the ground.
"You don't need my help. You never did…" Vi muttered, shoving them on again.
Jinx sighed, "Actually, I do..." She picked up a rock and threw it down the tunnel, mushrooms glowing toward Isha ahead of them. "You… were always better at talking to him than me."
For the first time, Vi froze for half a moment and stared. She bit her lip and replied, "That's not… He loved you too."
Jinx flashed her a smile. "I know that. Don't be modest. Everyone could tell; you looked up to him. And he looked up to you."
Before Vi could decide how to respond, Jinx looked to the walls, answering to unseen figures with a playful yet tired tone, "Isn't that right, Clagg?"
Jinx continued walking but Vi watched her go ahead. She took in Jinx's tired tone, the mental exhaustion in her body she could now see. The kind that she had always been hiding, especially around Isha.
Even after so long, Vi remembered that feeling too.
After a moment, the darkness of the mushrooms dimmed and Vi pursed her lips, moving forward after Jinx. A bit of space between them again, she had the chance to gather her thoughts and recover and follow a few steps behind.
"Besides," Jinx added for good measure, her voice echoing slightly off the walls, "I know we're not exactly… close, anymore… But I thought you'd want to know. Because… he's your father too."
"Hmph," Vi simply huffed in reply, noncommittally. But her steps where now tandem with Jinx's stride as they delved further into the glowing tunnel.
Yet unbeknownst to them, their echoes traveled further and further beyond the glowing mushrooms, down the dark tunnel walls, twisting and bending deep into the earth, where a restless, slumbering creature growled and reopened his painfully glowing eyes.