Chapter Text
Ezreal, for the first time, stared at himself in a mirror.
Normally, he’d avoid doing so. He knew how to take care of himself without one and would rather not look at himself most times, anyways. But this time, it was important.
He pinched at the fabrics of his suit and nitpicked the loose strands of his hair, worried about whether or not he looked presentable. That day, he’d be visiting the rest of his family for the first time in several years at a family reunion. He hadn’t seen them since he was a child, struggling to remember them despite his perfect photographic memory that helped him through school.
He wondered if they’d welcome him with open arms. He wondered if they even remembered if he existed.
He shook his head lightly, shaking off those questions from his head. No, don’t overthink it. He’s sure it’ll go alright. They’re his family. This is home. Piltover is home.
Nowhere else would take him, after all.
“Ezreal? Are you finally ready yet?”
He heard his uncle’s voice calling through the door of his room. He let out a groan.
“Yeah, I’m just about done,” Ezreal answered. He opened the door and looked up at his uncle as he examined Ezreal’s attire.
“You know, I’m surprised you wanted to join us. After all, you do love to keep yourself busy on your... adventures and all,” Uncle Lymere mused. “What made you want to come home?”
“I don’t know, I just felt like visiting. Haven’t seen anyone else in so long, I’ve practically forgotten them and what they look like. I figured I could just swing by and chat.”
“I see, I see…”
“So, are we gonna head out now?” Ezreal asked with a grin.
For a moment, Ezreal thought he saw hesitance, maybe even malice, in his uncle’s eyes. He ignored the subtle twisted feeling in his gut, reassuring himself that surely, there was nothing there.
Lymere nodded. “I’ll show you the way.”
---
As soon as they arrived, Ezreal realized how out of place he felt. He hadn’t dressed too flashy, expecting his family to appear as humble as his uncle. Instead, he was met with his cousins showing off their prestige. Compared to them, he was actually quite drab. Self-consciously, he rubbed his palms with his thumbs.
“Oh, who’s this you’ve brought along, Uncle Lymere?” one cousin acquired. Ezreal looked up, spotting a young woman with dirty blond hair tucked into a neat bun. Her face appeared blurry to him. He really had forgotten what all of them looked like.
“Oh, him? That’s Ezreal. He’s all grown up now.”
“Ezreal? As in that kid who keeps causing trouble in Piltover nowadays??”
“...Yes.”
Ezreal’s heart sank.
“Really? I barely remember him anymore. Well, let’s hope he’s well behaved.”
Ezreal, voice shaky, spoke up. “D-Don’t worry. I’m not gonna cause trouble.”
He could’ve sworn that she was going to laugh at him.
---
Barely anyone spoke of or to Ezreal throughout the evening. He had grown used to being ignored at this point in his life, simply listening in on the conversations his cousins held without him.
“Did you see the new hextech contraption I made yesterday?”
“No, what does it do?”
“I can levitate stuff with it! I’m surprised no one has even come up with this sort of use for magic yet. I’m gonna be making a patent for it soon.”
“Really? That’s great! I’m gonna be patenting another hextech device myself.”
A familiar but blurry memory peaked into his mind. He hid away from his cousins during the last reunion he was at, just barely a young adult and trying to hide his new arcane markings on his cheeks desperately.
He scoffed. Artificial magic. He was nothing like them.
He didn’t even know why he bothered coming.
---
Dinnertime came. Only Uncle Lymere remembered that he existed, coming to invite him to his seat at the far end of the table. He caught sight of a cousin sitting close by, clearly upset that he couldn’t have that seat as the cousin was uncomfortably seated close to another.
He sat down, hoping that food would help settle him down and cheer him up a bit.
For a few moments, he was right. The food was delicious, and everything seemed peaceful for the time being. Well, until the rest of his family opened their mouths to speak. This time, they made sure to include him in the conversation.
“So Ezreal, what have you been up to nowadays?”
“Oh y’know… exploring other countries, snatching stuff for Uncle Lymere to stash away in his museum… usual things an explorer does. Also publishing studies and books I guess.”
“Oh, I remember one of your books!” one cousin piped up. “It barely sold any copies!”
The explorer winced. Okay! Low blow. That’s okay. Just ignore him.
“Haha… um… yeah. Anyways, I’ve also been working on trying to get into the Explorers’ Guild.”
“You think they’re gonna let you in with all the trouble you’ve caused for them? Haha, you never told me you’re a comedian, Ezreal! I mean seriously, we already heard all about you!”
“Oh… um. Well-”
“You never told me how funny he was, Uncle Lymere! Seriously, I already heard about him dropping out from you, but wow! ”
Ezreal grit his teeth together as violent laughter echoed through the dining room. Thoughts viciously swarmed together, mixing in his mind as he forced himself to reflect on everything his family had ever done for him. As his cousins heckled him, he grinded the tip of his knife into the plate of cold food sitting in front of him, no longer able to resist the thoughts he had been suppressing the entire day for the sake of himself and his family.
"What else have you done this year, Ezreal? Well, other than coming close to getting arrested over and over, of course."
"I wouldn't put it past him. Wonder if he'll ever accomplish some sort of progress."
"You think he’ll ever try to go back to college and make some of his own progress instead of wasting his life out there?"
Progress.
He was starting to hate hearing that word.
He slammed his hands on the table, pushing himself upright, fuming and face red. There was a clatter of plates and china as his family looked up, startled by the sudden noise.
"Oh, so the one day I want to come back to where I thought home was, this whole 'reunion' turns out to be a way to make ME the lead role of a fucking clown show. I wanted to spend some time with people I thought would at least care about me, but I can't even have one thing, now can I!?"
His aunt opened her mouth. He shot his glare at her, interrupting her before she even spoke.
"And don't you DARE say another word! You may be the big shots in Piltover, but you've barely been through the shit that I'VE been through! I RISK my spine just getting Uncle Lymere his money that I worked for! No one has even spoken a WORD to me after my parents disappeared! I've nearly DIED yet none of you even bother to think that I even exist! "
Uncle Lymere raised his voice. Ezreal's face twisted at the audacity his Uncle had to even say anything.
"Ezreal, my boy, you're being unreasonable here… sit down, I'm sure that-"
Ezreal pointed directly at him, beyond pissed that he of all people would try to calm him down. He began screaming at the top of his lungs, tears forming in the corners of his eyes.
"YOU'RE ONE TO FUCKING TALK! YOU COULDN'T EVEN RAISE ME PROPERLY WHEN MY PARENTS TRUSTED YOU TO TAKE CARE OF ME! YOU WOULDN'T EVEN LOOK AT ME! YOU JUST SENT ME OFF TO SCHOOL AND CALLED IT A DAY BECAUSE YOU HATED ME! YOU HEAR ME!? SO DON'T YOU EVER CALL ME 'YOUR BOY' AGAIN, YOU PIECE OF SHIT!"
Professor Lymere stood straight up, now just as angry.
“So I sent you off to the highest education possible so that you can forge your own success, and you come back to us as a school drop-out saying it was too easy and speaking to your family with a mouthful of sass! What a waste of time and money.”
The explorer slammed his fist into the table, some cousins flinching at the motion.
“YOU DIDN’T EVEN LISTEN TO A WORD I SAID! YOU CARED ABOUT MY PARENTS’ DEATHS MORE THAN THE IDEA OF CARING FOR ME! WHAT WOULD MOM AND DAD SAY IF HE SAW YOU NOW, HUH!? I MADE YOUR MONEY FOR YOU WHEN I LEFT TO ADVENTURE ON MY OWN, ASSHOLE!”
Ezreal, hair ruined, coat wrinkled and chest heaving, was now full on crying. Tears streamed down his cheeks as he slammed the knife that he was still holding down onto the table. Lymere, still furious, sat down, unable to retort.
"...heh, he can't even keep his cool, huh?"
He was done.
Ezreal stormed to the youngest cousin who had muttered the remark out loud, raised his fist, and decked him across the face as hard as he could.
The cousin screamed and clutched his face, the rest of his cousins gathering around him to comfort him. One glared at Ezreal.
He simply gazed back with malice.
"Y'know… I'm starting to think I didn't just become an explorer to find my parents," Ezreal mused. "Maybe I became one to get away from here, too."
He stormed to the door, looking back at his disorganized 'family'.
"All of you. You're everything that I hate about Piltover. Fuck all of you. And you, especially, Professor Lymere. "
He spat his uncle’s name with venom on his tongue.
And with that, he slammed the door behind him, leaving behind a family that he knew he should’ve kept forgotten.