~spoilers for Arcane Season 1~

(this is the sequel to "Beautiful")

The sublime creature jumped up on her feet, her heels thudding against the flooring decidedly. She instinctively lay her palms on either of Jinx's frail shoulders. Her tattooed fingers, with glossy nails at their tips, pressed tenderly into the girl's pale skin.

The kid shuddered at the uninvited touch, but merely lifted her wide blue eyes to stare at the sex worker. At this bewitching woman. At the one who might have been her chosen mother if fate had dealt them a different hand.

   "You are absolutely beautiful."

Hiedra's words were unequivocal, they sounded like a universal truth in the instant when she uttered them. The stranger made Jinx's long bangs bounce momentarily with an outstretched thumb, before promptly removing her inked hands from the adolescent's shoulders.

The latter's thoughtful expression was timely replaced by a mischievous smirk. She stepped backwards, opening her arms and pointing at the shooting game.

   "Your turn," she sneakily declared.

The blue-haired girl would have proposed the challenge no matter the hooker's aptitude. As it so happened, she knew that Hiedra was a skilled markswoman, more adept with range weapons. The par had discussed their preference for these during the walk leading to the arcade.

The youngest dropped her gun into its holster, wondering if her old acquaintance would accept.

The prostitute's roguish smile was self-explanatory. "Alright, but remember that you asked for this." 

The hooker deftly threw back the flaps of her dark cloak, exhibiting her alluring figure, which was molded by a red dress shirt, a black corset, leather pants and innumerable belts. Whilst gravity was tasked with slowly bringing down her cape, she gracefully armed and brandished a glimmering wooden bow. Her quiver bumped slightly against the side of her right thigh, before disappearing under the darkness of her cloak again.

The courtesan aimed at the first target.

   "Care to make this even more interesting? Loser has to carry your bag, Deal?" Full of excited anticipation, the archer tugged on the string.

   "Deal!" Jinx agreed, snickering self-assuredly.

The tantalizing burn of Hiedra's new Mark ignited her body as she released the first arrow.

Thack!

The projectile embedded itself in the wall behind the game, having flown exactly through the bullet hole in the metallic plate. The prostitute accomplished this feat thanks to her unique prowess with every following target.

The teenager laughed victoriously, crossing her arms and skipping back and forth to review the game.

   "Woah! All misses? You're even worse than I thought, lady!"

   "Hey, they went through your bullet holes! That should be worth double the points!" the hooker playfully countered.

   "No, no, no... How are you gonna prove that?! I win!"

The older female clicked her tongue in amused disapproval.

   "Not so fast, kiddo!"

She concurrently raised her boots to step into the shooting area, before tapping her polished nails on the first metallic target.

She added, "You look through the holes and tell me what you see."

The blue-haired girl rolled her eyes at Hiedra's use of the childish nickname, but was easily convinced to play along. When she rested her face against the lukewarm metal shape and her blue iris moved around the curve of the bullet hole at its middle, she was fascinated to perceive that the arrow was, indeed, centered with her puncturation in the target.

It appeared as though Jinx had lost this round.

~

The two Zaunites ceased walking a handful of blocks away from the arcade, level with an isolated alleyway. The adolescent sighed, grumbling a disappointed explanation:

   "I have to go, or my... He'll worry if I'm not back soon."

The sex worker paid no heed to the secrecy and hesitation in her old friend's speech. The female propped her hands onto her hips, smiling gently.

   "That's all right, Jinx. Will you see me again, tomorrow, if I ask?"

The child shrugged, frowning as if she doubted her own reply. "Why not? Same place?"

   "Are you ready to talk?"

   "I'll need some time to think, but... Yeah."

   "That works for me! Same time?"

   "Yeah! See ya tomorrow, Hiedra!"

   "Take care of yourself, Jinx."

~

Jinx's emotions were far too raw and incongruous for a self-destructive empath to resist.

Every one of the girl's even slightest mood swings were unpredictable enough to yield the intensity of a lightning strike. Her emotional unstability was equivalent to a powerful stimulant for Hiedra. Inexplicably, every one of Jinx's unforeseen surges of emotions was more thrilling than the last.

Against her minimal amount of better judgement, Hiedra quickly allowed her delight of the teen's irregular feelings to turn into an obsession. Soon, her initial fondness for Jinx became caustic and devoured her.

Merely being around the blue-haired young female electrified all her senses. Jinx's jagged emotions were a potent drug to Hiedra, who could not solely feel them, but amplify them within her own tormented mind.

Jinx's presence was addictive, and it was not long before Hiedra yearned for it unnaturally.

Within weeks, Hiedra was more than willing to endanger her Deals to frequent her. Usually heedful of pointless ventures, she was ready to play any of Jinx's games if it meant another hit of her serrated and wild emotions.

The prostitute refused to remember the last time she had been so dependent of someone's emotional range to bear her existence.