Archive of Our Own

“I’m sorry, but yer gonna do what where?” asked Graves, using his pinky to clear out his ear as if to make sure he had heard Nilah correctly.

“I am starting a quest to the Freljords to strike down Volibear, the Thousand Pierced Bear. A monster masquerading as a God. A challenge worthy of my ability. Not to mention all the other monstrosities on my path to him,” said Nilah sunnily.

“I was afraid you’d said that,” Graves sighed.

“So I ask you: will you two join me on my quest to bring down Volibear, the Thousand Pierced Bear?” asked Nilah with a worrisome large grin.

“Yeah, I’m gonna sit this one out,” Graves said, setting his mug of ale back on the table. “I remember you complainin’ about gettin’ me out of trouble and fightin’ a god sounds waaaaay out of my ballpark. Don’t even think there’s anything worth stealin’ in the Freljords.” That last one he muttered to himself.

“Is it a god or a demon posing as god?” Vayne mused. She wove the question away. “Actually it doesn’t really matter. The Sentinels are sending me and a small group of others out on a hunt in Demacia the day after tomorrow. A human turned griffon is terrorizing the countryside. We’re going to… put it out of it’s misery.”

Vayne hadn’t even meant to sound threatening. It just happened every once in a while when she talked. Same went for the manic grin gracing her face. She settled in her regular neutral look quickly enough.

Nilah her smile lost a bit of it’s intensity. “Ah, a pity. Ah well, I am not going alone either way. I shall regale you two the tales afterwards. So I will not be able to join on the following ‘girls nights’.”

“Wait, T.F. didn’t answer,” said Graves with a frown.

“She didn’t ask me,” T.F. deadpanned.

“I didn’t ask him,” confirmed Nilah cheerfully. It was the first time they’d ever agreed on something. They shared a smile that clearly said ‘I hate that I agree with you on something, let us never mention this again’.

None of them were quite certain how the girls night started. Vayne was relatively certain that it was Graves’ fault. She wasn’t certain how, but it felt like the kind of thing he’d come up with.

First it was just her and Graves, with him insisting she needed a drink to unwind. Which had been a foolish endeavor considering she hadn’t relaxed a single day in her life.

Later he’d dragged Nilah along, insisting that she and Vayne needed to talk considering they had so much in common. He probably had regretted it a bit when they had talked about nothing but monster slaying – interspersed with Nilah making some passive-aggressive comments about where the Sentinels had left Viego – that entire evening. But it had gone well enough that they’d agreed to meet up again later.

For the longest time it had been just the three of them.

This was the first time that Twisted Fate had joined. Vayne wasn’t quite certain how she felt over the inclusion. On one hand, it meant that Graves had stopped lamenting over how badly he’d wanted to date the man, how he didn’t understand how it’d taken him so long to get that and how he would even achieve that feat. Nilah’s answer of: ‘Just don’t.’ had been funny but hadn’t helped the situation.

On the other hand.

Nilah had never been this vicious before. Well, at least not aimed at someone at the table. And even though Vayne didn’t know Twisted Fate that well – having only exchanged letters with him about Graves – it was easy to pick up how tense he was through all the layers of charming politeness.

Vayne had a feeling he wouldn’t be joining them often when drinking.

She surmised that Graves had begged and pleaded to get him to come. Same as he had pleaded to them to please be polite. He’d really wanted to introduce them to each other. While Vayne didn’t really care either way, Fate obviously tried his best for Graves’ sake. It was almost sweet.

Didn’t change a thing about the fact that Nilah was clearly itching for a fight. Even more so than usual. Whether it was with Fate or anyone else didn’t seem to matter. Vayne wasn’t nearly drunk enough to deal with that.

“I probably shouldn’t drink too much,” sighed Vayne mournfully. “It will be an early morning and I have to represent the Sentinels when talking to Fiora.”

“Wait, are you talkin’ about that fencin’ lady you mentioned? Good for you! You could use a date,” said Graves cheerily.

“I’m. Not. Going. There. to. Date. Her,” said Vayne through gritted teeth. “I’m going as a representative of the Sentinels to help with the slaying of a griffon.”

“Suuure. And it ain’t that at the end of the hunt she’s gonna be so impressed by your skills that she ain’t gonna… reward you,” said Graves in a tone lewder than it had any right to be. He wriggled his eyebrows.

Vayne mused she probably should let Graves gently know what she thought of his interjections.

“I have stabbed you once and I am not afraid to do it again Graves,” Vayne hissed back. There. Point made perfectly clear.

“T.F. would never let that happen to me, right T.F.?”

“To be honest, sometimes you do deserve to be stabbed,” mused T.F.

“Oh you traitor,” Graves muttered grumpily.

“Anyway, I ain’t certain why you’re offerin’ her datin’ advice. I’ve seen the way you flirt.”

“Hey, it works! I’ll have you know that I’ve had more boyfriends than you!” yelled Graves poking T.F. in the chest.

T.F. rolled his eyes at that one. “I’ve seen the quality of your previous boyfriends. It resembles your flirtin’.”

“Do I even want to know?” deadpanned Vayne.

“He swaggers up to whoever he’s interested in, looks them up and down and then asks if they wanna fuck,” sighed Fate long-suffering.

“And that honestly works?!” asked Nilah amused.

“Consistently?” shrieked Vayne.

“Yeah? Why wouldn’t it?” asked Graves at the exact same time. When the rest of the table kept staring at him he went on: “Ah screw you guys. None of youse would recognize decent flirtin’ if it jumped up and bit you in the ass.”

“Sure, let’s go with that,” said Fate flatly, as if he hadn’t actively ignored every attempt of anyone who wasn’t Graves who tried to flirt with him for years if not decades. Vayne shook her head and drank her glass empty. Nilah huffed out a laugh. She had better things to do with her time than to spend it on romance.

“How exactly did you two start dating again? With the amount of bickering between you two I’m genuinely surprised it’s working,” said Vayne, massaging her temples.

Graves and T.F. shared a look. The real story involved a job gone way out of hand with both of them stuck on a sinking ship. There had been the sudden realization that this might’ve been it. The end of the line. Graves had made his peace. In all honesty he’d expected to have gone out years ago. And then T.F. had admitted that Graves had been the best thing that ever happened to him in his whole life.

The only thing Graves had been capable of doing was dragging T.F. in a kiss as a desperate way to explain the whole he felt for him. The kiss had been flitting between vicious and tender, pressing way too hard and teeth nicking lips. T.F. had sunk in it without restraint.

A wall exploding had been sheer dumb luck and they were both big enough opportunists to run at the sight of it, no matter how deep they’d been in a life-changing kiss.

The moment they’d gotten to safety things had been awkward for a bit. At least until Graves had hesitantly asked if this meant they could have “Holy shit we’re alive”-sex with each other. T.F. had tackled him in the rescue sloop, knocking him down.

In hindsight it was a miracle they hadn’t tipped the boat over.

For some reason neither of them wanted to admit this out loud. The way everything had gone, from the desperate kiss to the tender life-affirming sex afterwards, felt private.

Still they were among friends and they deserved something of an answer so Graves said: “He simply couldn’t resist me. He saw me shirtless for a job and he jumped me.”

“Now there is knowledge I could’ve done without,” mused Nilah.

“Oh please,” scoffed T.F., ignoring Nilah’s interjection. “I only did that because the night before that you’d gotten black-out drunk, only to start to cry when you saw me flirtin’ with a target for info. And then you kissed me without warnin’ and fell out of a window while I was still tryin’ to figure out what the hell just happened.”

Vayne threw a flat look. For all that she had left behind that background at 16, she had been raised in a noble house in a state where political games were the standard. She could recognize a liar damn well if she needed to. “The two of you are lying, aren’t you?”

“Yes,” they shamelessly said in unison.

“And I assume you will be telling a different tale every time someone asks?”

“Absolutely,” they chorused.

“Good to know,” said Vayne, topping off her glass of wine again and knocking it back.

“Of course you two evade the truth. While I am not surprised of you doing that Tobias Felix, I am disappointed in you Malcolm Graves. You are normally much braver than this,” sniped Nilah calmly.

“Nilah…” hissed Graves in warning.

Nilah brightly ignored this and went on, “Out of everyone on this table, you are the only one I do not recall facing a substantial challenge. Malcolm Graves and Shauna Vayne have faced the Ruined King, even if I am still not pleased with where the Sentinels have left him. You are aware of what I do here in Bilgewater. And yet all you seem to do is play cards. You never seem to risk anything.”

"I just want to say that if I’d had it my way I would've been playin' cards with T.F." interrupted Graves, his eyes shooting towards T.F. The man remained frozen. Graves could only guess at what was going through his head. Could be one of those times they’d almost gotten blown up, or eaten by sea beastsies while he’d been trying to regain Graves’ trust. Could just as well be the time he failed to break out Graves from the Locker. Or even something else entirely.

"Intent doesn't change that you did a brave thing fighting the Ruined King Malcolm Graves," said Nilah, attention focused firmly on Fate.

Graves and Vayne shared a look that they both damn well knew that Graves joined the Sentinels under duress and that he had been more concerned with lining his own pockets than saving the world. He had only incidentally saved the world so that he had somewhere to spend his ill-gotten gains and to make some more afterwards.

Neither of them decided to bring this up.

“I just want to know if you are going to run again the moment troubles show themselves at the horizon. Your record is not the best Tobias Felix,” said Nilah with a dangerous glint in her eyes.

T.F. his spine stiffened in a way that had Graves subconsciously reaching to prevent him from grabbing his cards. Graves liked this bar, he would like to come back here. But instead T.F. laid his hands flat on the table, keeping them still. With a voice as sharp as his smile he said, “Of course not, at least not without Malcolm. I prefer to pick my battles wisely. A concept you seem unfamiliar with.”

Nilah her eyes flashed. The corner of her mouth pulled up. She slowly started to rise from her chair.

Twisted Fate met her stare head-on, clearly wanting to be somewhere else but refusing to move. His fingers twitched towards the box-shaped pouch hanging on his belt.

They both startled when Graves slammed his hand down on the table. “Alright, that’s enough from both of you! Honestly. I dun’ expect y’all to be best buddies, but at least be polite. That’s all I’m askin’,” he grumbled.

“We’re here for drinks, not fights. There are better avenues for that,” added Vayne dryly.

Nilah gently sat down again, curling her hands around her drink. “There are worthier fights,” she conceded.

Fate slunk back in his chair, tilting his hat so his eyes weren’t visible. Softly he muttered, “I’ll do my best.” He knocked his boot apologetically against Graves’. He got an accepting tap back.

For a moment the atmosphere remained tense. Graves forced the conversation going again, asking Nilah how the hell she was even going to get to the Freljords. For a while they simply talked, while carefully trying to find where the lines were.

It had been a slow night in the bar. But the latest person entering had T.F.’s head snapping up in recognition. Which was kind of odd behavior for him.

Graves frowned, unsure why a shirtless guy – seriously, was it the new fashion these days? - with a ridiculous ponytail had pulled T.F.’s attention. But before he could ask what was wrong T.F. yelled across the bar: “Yasuo!”

The man stiffened, eyes flying across the room until they landed on T.F. “Twisted Fate,” he answered, relaxing noticeably.

“Still alive?”

“Still alive,” he confirmed. He glanced at the table they were sitting at and pointed at Graves. “Malcolm Graves?”

“Malcolm Graves!” answered T.F. cheerier than he’d been the entire evening, moving his hands towards Graves as if showcasing a priceless artifact. “Yone?”

Yasuo shrugged at this and wiggled his hand in a so-so motion. T.F. winced in empathy.

Graves had absolutely no idea what was going on, but he didn’t like it. Vayne and Nilah were even more confused. (Well, Vayne was. Nilah had turned around and was ordering a new round.)

For a moment Graves wondered if the guy was going to join them at their table. Instead he nodded curtly at their table and claimed a table of his own somewhere in the back of the bar. Graves couldn’t help but notice that the man kept a wall against his back and made sure he could see everyone in the building.

A jab in his side broke him out of his observation of the man.

“You can relax. He ain’t a threat,” soothed T.F.

“I didn’t even know you hung around with other people long enough to get along with them,” deflected Graves. “How come you never told me you had friends in bars?”

Fate shrugged. “He’s just a familiar face in the crowd hotshot. Every once in a while we talk for like ten minutes. It honestly slipped my mind to mention him. Last time I saw him was when you were gone with that whole ruination business and by the time you’d came back I’d forgotten.”

"How do you even know him?" inquired Vayne, before Graves could get really pouty.

It had gone something like this:

After losing Graves to the Locker taking up a new crew and doing bigger heists again felt like… a betrayal. Or even more running than he was already doing. And after how everything had gone, Fate simply couldn’t anymore. So he drank alone, cheated at cards alone and did only solo heists. It was lonely but better than the alternative in his opinion.

It had started during one of the solo bar crawls.

The man entering the bar had caught Fate's attention immediately. Not in an "I can easily grift this man" way, but more a " what's up with his hair? " way. The man had noticed him looking. He’d thrown an almost confused look at Fate's hat. Some people really didn't have no taste Fate had mused. Or a shirt in this case. They had nodded at each other, both deciding to not engage. And at the time that had been that.

And for the longest time it had remained just that. Every once in a while Fate would enter a bar and see the man sitting there or the man would enter while Fate was at the card table. They'd exchange a nod and went on to their business.

It had been a bar brawl that changed the status quo. Fate had just been ordering drinks when it broke out, leaving him standing there with a glass in his hands and nowhere to sit. The table Yasuo had been sitting at was an isle of calm in the middle of the chaos. A calm enforced by Yasuo glaring and very pointedly flashing his blade at anyone coming near.

Fate had swanned up all charming like ignoring the other’s scowl. He had pointed questioningly at the free chair lifting his drink. Yasuo had glared a bit harder and then he had conceded. Fate had tipped his hat and had sat down. The only words that had been shared that day were their names and an “ Ugh.” when looking at the brawl.

The next few times they had stumbled over each other had kept going like that. An exchange of names, an hour our more drinking at the same table and then they’d leave.

The dynamic changed once again when Yasuo had found Fate not too long after Graves had broken out of the Locker.

To say Fate hadn’t been dealing well with the situation was an understatement. He was staring blankly at a wall, drinking every once in a while from a bottle of grog. The fact that he didn’t even bother with a glass had for Yasuo been a clear sign something was very wrong.

“What happened to you?” he’d asked without any preamble.

“Malcolm Graves has broken out of the Locker and is now out for vengeance. Word on the street is he’s going to murder the man who left him there.”

Huh.

That hadn’t been what Yasuo had been expecting. He had taken a closer look to the defeated looking Fate. He’d decided to take a shot in the dark. “So did you?”

“Did I what?”

“Leave him there?”

The answering laugh had been bitter. “Might as well. Even if it was his damn fault that he’d gotten caught in the first place. Fucker never knew when to let something go. And I’d told him we had to go,” Fate’s lower lip had wobbled.

In an uncharacteristic show of emotion he’d slumped forward on the table. With eyes squeezed shut and his fingers pinched around the bridge of his nose, he’d said, “Lost the entire crew tryin’ to break him out. All of them. Dead. Except for lucky little me,” he’d laughed bitterly. “And now he’s probably going to set that record straight. As he should.” That last one had been barely audible, muttered underneath Fate’s breath.

Yasuo had hesitated. He hadn’t wanted to offer it. And yet. “Do you want me to kill him for you?”

Twisted Fate had snapped on him, eyes blazing blue. “Don’t you dare. Don’t you fucking dare touch him! This is between him and me!”

The outburst had gotten Yasuo to relax back in his chair. He had been surprised even if he hadn’t shown it. Fate had never been one for big emotions. “What’s your plan then?”

Fate had collapsed like a marionette who’s strings had been cut. “I don’t- I can’t just… I don’t know,” he’d admitted.

“You don’t want to kill him.”

“I don’t.” The statement had been final.

“Good. I would have to dissuade you otherwise. It’s not worth it. I’d know.” At Fate’s questioning look he’d elaborated. “I killed my brother.”

Yasuo had waited for the disgust. He’d only gotten an unreadable look.

“Why?”

“Does it matter?”

“I showed you my hand. Only fair you show me yours.” It hadn’t been an explanation. But Yasuo had found himself talking nonetheless.

“I was accused of murdering my master. Never did, but I ran nonetheless. My brother, Yone, took that as a confession. He caught up to me. I like to believe neither of us wanted to, but honor demanded that my master would be avenged. Yone and I fought. I won.”

“Shit,” had Fate muttered, unable to say anything else. If nothing else it had enforced his feelings on acting honorable. Namely: let’s not do that.

“That does sum it pretty nicely,” had Yasuo acknowledged. “Still, it’s a difficult one. Fleeing my responsibilities only brought me more grief. Would facing him-?”

“If I face him I’m dead,” interrupted Fate bluntly. “Graves is too stubborn to listen even if I could make a great point. Not that running is going to do me much better. Might only keep me around a bit longer. And that’s better than nothing. Ain’t ready to throw in the towel just yet.”

Yasuo had hummed at that. They’d continued drinking in silence. After a while they had shared some other small expositions about their pasts but nothing all too intrusive. They’d both kept their cards to their chests.

Eventually Fate had left. He’d surmised that it probably wasn’t the best idea to remain in the same spot for a long time. Graves had always had a talent of knowing exactly where to find Fate.

So he’d ran.

And for the longest time Yasuo had wondered whether he’d lost a drinking buddy or not. He’d gotten his answer not too long after a presumed dead person returned to his life.

Yasuo had been well underway with drinking up half the bar when Fate had dropped in. The man clearly hadn’t planned to stay long. He’d just needed some info, but had stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of the bedraggled swordsman.

“Yasuo? The hell is up with you?”

The look he’d received in answer was bleary and maniacally at the same time. “Yone is alive.”

And Fate had gotten it. Last time he’d been in Yasuo’s current position. Only less drunk. “How did that go?”

Yasuo had shrugged. “He wasn’t even looking for me. He was hunting an azakana that happened to be trailing me. I thought he’d been trying to kill me. We did kill the azakana together the moment I found out what was actually going on. We parted on reasonably good terms. But I have no idea how to…” he’d trailed off staring in the distance. He shook his head. “I will manage.”

Fate had dithered for a moment. With a sigh he had said: “Look I can’t stay around too long. Graves and I have… talked it out a bit. No idea how we’ve done that. Nearly half of Bilgewater had burned down before we even could. But he doesn’t fully trust me again. So I can’t-”

“AY! Good for you,” cheered Yasuo, still drunk out of his mind. “Do not worry for me. I’ve got this perfectly under control.” And then he had taken another swig from his bottle.

“Stay alive will you?” was the last thing Fate had said to him that night before moving towards the bar.

Later in the night the bartender had dropped another bottle of booze in front of him, courtesy of ‘That guy with the big hat’. And later still he’d found out that Fate had arranged a room for him to sleep his hangover away.

The few times the saw each other after that the companionable drinking had been interspersed with a feeling of ‘Ah. You. You get it.’

And for as far they had been concerned, that had been that.

“We kept stumbling over each other in various bars and eventually started talking,” Fate summarized, deciding he didn’t want to do the whole exposition. “Nothing deeper than that. Just ‘Oh hey, that guy is still alive, good on him’ you know what I’m saying?”

“Not really,” deadpanned Vayne.

Graves was clearly gearing up for another question when out of nowhere Yasuo stood at their table. “Sorry to interrupt,” he said, while sounding not sorry at all, “But if you have time. Fate, I was wondering if the rumors about a certain expertise of yours were true.”

Beside him Graves straightened in his chair, his hand resting at the back of Fate’s chair. T.F. leaned back, letting his leg rest against Graves’. He subtly tried to nudge Graves into relaxing again. “I assume you ain’t talkin’ about gamblin’?”

“Cards are involved. Word is you’re something of an oracle as we’d in Ionia would call it. Do you know the rumors call you the Twist of Fate?”

Fate stared incredulously. “They call me what?”

“The Twist of Fate,” repeated Yasuo, amusement still oozing from him.

“I’ve got wanted posters with my actual name on everywhere! How do they get it that wrong?” complained T.F. He elbowed Graves in the side when he could hear him going ‘Well actually, your name is-’. This wasn’t the time to focus on semantics.

Graves grumbled balefully and cradled the sore spot.

“Damned if I know, but thank you for confirming they are talking about you.” smirked Yasuo.

Fate really had walked right into that one. He let out a defeated sigh. “Why are you askin’?”

“If it is true, then I was wondering if you could be persuaded to do a reading for an old friend?” Yasuo implored.

Fate let his head fall back with an annoyed groan. “Fine, fine. But you tell the captain she’s payin’ double. She knows what she did,” groused T.F.

“I meant for me,” clarified Yasuo amused. “Do I even want to know what Sarah did?”

“Who the hell is Sarah?” interjected Graves confused.

“Captain Fortune,” said T.F. in a quick aside.

“Missy Fortune’s first name is Sarah?!”

“Anyway, I’m guessin’ yer askin’ for a reason,” said T.F. ignoring Graves’ outburst. “Is it serious?”

“I could manage on my own. But it would make things easier.”

T.F. clicked his tongue in deep thought and glanced at the rest of the table. “Would you guys mind if I-?”

“Take all the time you need,” interrupted Nilah, the ‘please stay away as long as possible’ clearly audible in her voice.

Vayne shrugged, not caring either way.

Graves on the other hand leaned closer. “Tobias, are you sure?” he asked, his voice uncharacteristically soft with concern.

“He’s already had ample opportunity to claim my bounty if he really wanted to. I’ll be fine Malcolm,” said Fate, already rising from his chair. He gave Graves a quick reassuring squeeze and followed Yasuo back to his table.

“So, what do you need my help for?” asked Fate, while sitting down at the little table Yasuo had claimed for himself.

“Information, mostly.” At an inquiring noise from Fate he went on. “I’m going towards Noxus. There is somebody who needs my help there. Sarah already arranged a spot on a ship going there.”

“It remains so odd to keep hearing you calling her Sarah,” T.F. mused. "Right. So where is this person?”

“Noxus,” Yasuo repeated.

“Ah. I’m startin’ to see the problem. I’m going to need more details than that. Who are you lookin’ for?”

“A woman called Riven.”

Fate frowned at that. “Never heard of her. And that does put a snag on things, because it gives me nothing to do a reading on,” He sighed. “I’m gonna be honest with you. In normal circumstances I would do a general reading, give you some vague directions and believe-in-yourself bullshit or you know, straight up lie. But I’m willing to put in more actual effort for an old drinkin’ buddy. I do expect a bottle of top-shelf booze for this.” And in an easy movement he held out his deck of cards.

Yasuo on his part looked as if the cards might bite him at any second. Which was a reasonable concern considering what Fate could do with them. Barely audible over the din of the bar Graves made a sound resembling a boiling teakettle. Yasuo took note of this and filed it away for now.

“I don’t have the info I need for a decent reading,” Twisted Fate went on, “but you have. I need you to shuffle the cards while keepin’ the person you want to find in mind.”

“That’s everything?” he asked, cautiously taking the deck.

“That’s all. Focus, shuffle them and give them back to me.”

At the other side of the bar Graves was gaping at Yasuo shuffling the cards as if they were made of razor blades. “He gets to touch T.F.’s cards?!” he hissed into his beer. “What the- Do you have any idea how long it took be to be allowed to touch his cards?!” he asked.

The question was rhetorical. And Graves had also conveniently forgotten that the answer was a week, give or take. He often forgot how little time it had taken Tobias to get at ease with him in comparison to the rest of the world.

Vayne rolled her eyes, not in the mood to indulge in Graves’ jealous fit. “What do you care? You get to go home with him at the end of the day and you get to keep one of his cards permanently. You have bragged about this. Extensively.” And Vayne had been there to hear every single second of it.

“I- well- That ain’t the point!” Graves sputtered.

“I’m genuinely surprised somebody else actually gets along with him,” interjected Nilah.

“He’s plenty likable.”

“Could’ve fooled me,” said Nilah drolly. “If he breaks your heart, do you want me to kill him?”

“First off, ‘ppreciate the offer, but if it ever comes to the point that he’s actin’ out so much that he has to be put down I’ll do it myself. Second: are ya offerin’ ‘cause I’m yer friend or because you just want to strangle T.F.?” asked Graves suspiciously.

“Both!” was the remorseless response.

Unaware of the quibbling happening at the other table, Fate was scribbling down a city name and a crude map. “This would’ve been so much easier if you’d actually bought a map. Were you plannin’ on just roamin’ around until you found her?”

“Something like that,” Yasuo admitted.

Fate rolled his eyes to the sky. “Luck preserve me. None of you know how ta decently plan anything. How all of y’all managed to survive that long I’ll never get.”

“Do I have to recount some of your exploits back to you? Facing an old friend turned enemy without a single plan for survival besides running?”

Fate winced, very well aware that saying he actually hadn’t really planned on surviving said encounter at all wasn’t going to help his case.

“Point taken,” he admitted.

Yasuo hummed silently. “Thought so. But again, I do appreciate your assistance.”

“No problem at all. I can’t guarantee she’s still there by the time you get there, but it’ll give you a solid foundation to start lookin’. Anything else you need to know?”

"Not really."

“In that case, I’m gonna rejoin my table. I have a slight feelin’ Graves is gonna start poutin’ if I stay away too long. And I did promise I would at least try to get along with his buddies,” sighed Fate.

“I won’t keep you any longer. I’ll settle my debt later. On that note, I am aware it’s out of our norm, but I want to repay the knowledge you gave me with some of my own,” said Yasuo, rising from his seat.

Fate mirrored the movement with a frown. “Yer gonna hafta be a bit more clearer.”

“From your position you can see Graves in the mirror behind the bar, right?”

“Yeah? What does that hafta-”

“Keep your eyes on him,” said Yasuo, suddenly clutching Fate’s lower arm and dragging him into a hug.

Fate went bug-eyed and only very narrowly managed not to flail like a complete idiot. In the mirror he could see Graves’ expression go from slightly annoyed to shocked to absolutely livid. His eyes bored into Yasuo, who calmly lifted an eyebrow back. Something somewhere in the bar broke.

The hug didn’t last that long. Yasuo released Fate with ease and asked: “You’ve seen it right?”

Fate could only nod a bit dazed while still looking in the mirror. Eventually he managed to say: “I hate to be that person, but I do know. He and I have been dating for around six months now.”

“Really? Good on you. Glad to see you finally found some sense,” said Yasuo patting him on the upper arm. “Don’t know why you were so worried about the whole thing. You two clearly have always been part of the same package. I could tell that and this is the first time meeting the man. But you should go back to your table. Before your partner moves into action.”

“Afraid?” asked Fate distracted, Graves expression still running through his head. Through the years T.F. had figured out that Graves didn’t get so much jealous as that he got possessive. And here was Yasuo, casually poking the bear – which Graves was, literally and figuratively – with a stick. With a little bit of luck T.F. was gonna get it tonight so good that he would be walking funny for a week.

He wasn’t about to tell Yasuo that. Bastard was already too smug on a regular basis.

Yasuo snorted. “No. But he does seem to be the type of man you need to kill to stop. I will not be carrying that weight. Nor will I have you upset with me. I’ll settle the rest of my debt next time. Drinks on me. Mid-shelf,” he added while drifting towards the bar to buy another round.

That snapped Fate out of his daze. “Top-shelf, you cheap bastard!”

Yasuo waved this off. With a severe eye-roll Fate stomped back to his table.

“Honestly, that guy,” Fate grumbled while joining the others again. He did a double-take when he saw Graves’ hand. “Malcolm, why do you have glass shards in your hand?”

“Do I now? Dearie me, I hadn’t noticed,” gritted Graves out from between clenched teeth. His hand was clenched in a fist and still bleeding. Nilah muttered something against Vayne about being unable to break a glass with your bare hands without bleeding was a clear ‘skill issue’. Vayne snorted.

“I can’t leave you alone for five minutes,” complained Fate, gently grabbing Graves' hand. “Try not to move too much while I get these out.”

Vayne had to admit that it was obvious Fate cared just from the way he was tenderly removing the glass. The same could be said about Graves, what with the way he was softly looking at his partner.

She craned her head, trying to catch Nilah’s eyes. The smile she got when she did could best be described as ‘reluctantly indulgent’, as if Nilah was trying to say ‘Oh fine, if he’s that hung up on him. I’ll behave for real this time’. Vayne nodded in commiseration.

“So what did he want?” she eventually asked to break to silence.

“Directions mostly. He’s goin’ to Noxus to get some lady named Riven out of trouble. I gave him the village name where she’s currently,” Fate answered distracted. He had just pulled the last glass shard out and was wrapping Graves’ hand up.

“Wait, he’s looking for Riven? Why didn’t he ask while he was at the table? I could’ve told him where she went after the whole Harrowing deal,” frowned Vayne.

“He could’ve gotten that info without havin’ to touch T.F.’s cards?” asked Graves scandalized, ignoring T.F.’s question of ‘Why are you so fixated on that?’ “Wait, which one was Riven again?”

“In your words: war crime lady.”

“Oooh right.”

“War crimes?” Fate asked incredulously.

“She’s Noxian. Of course she committed war crimes. But she felt bad about them and is now trying to redeem herself,” Vayne explained.

“Ah. That does explain a few things,” said T.F. with a waxen smile on his face. Expression stuck he turned towards Graves and hissed under his breath, “Malcolm, where do you keep finding these people?!”

“Oh, I met her during my stint with the Sentinels. I dunno how I do it, but I have clearly a talent for meeting very interesting people,” beamed Graves, unaware of how T.F.’s eye had started to twitch.

Nilah stared with interest, vaguely hoping Fate’s head would explode out of sheer frustration. It was because of that attention that she was the first one to see a man sneaking up on Graves. She shot up, her hand going to her weapon, in sync with the click of a gun. T.F. had also jumped to his feet, clearly startled by her sudden movement. Credit where credit was due, he did notice the gun pretty fast and a sense of focus snapped over him.

“Nah-ah-hah! I suggest nobody makes any sudden movements or Malcolm Graves here is about to become very open minded,” said the bounty hunter, smiling smugly.

Vayne had halfway turned. Graves had made an attempt to rise but had frozen at the click. A quick, wordless communication seemed to happen between him and Fate. Graves slunk back into his chair, seemingly unworried.

“So uh, who am I dealin’ with? Anyone in particular?” asked Graves calmly.

“No one in particular. I’m but a simple opportunist,” answered the bounty hunter. “I noticed you two all distracted and considering the size of your bounties I would be stupid to not to take the chance.”

“Wait, bounty?” Vayne turned appalled towards Graves. “Are you telling me I could’ve been paid for stabbing you?! You never mentioned that!”

“Aw c’mon Vayne, we’re buddies! You wouldn’t do that,” whined Graves, seemingly unconcerned about the gun still resting against his head. “Except for that one time, but you like me hangin’ around too much.”

“The warrant poster for him and Twisted Fate does mention ‘Dead or alive’ if that’s relevant,” said the bounty hunter very helpfully.

“You ain’t helpin’,” complained Graves.

“I’m not trying to,” said the bounty hunter amused.

“Tempting. Extremely tempting,” muttered Vayne darkly. Graves did ask for it every once in a while. She wasn’t quite certain how the justice system in Bilgewater worked, but with some luck she could shoot him, knock him out, cash in the money and then let T.F. break him out afterwards.

Which was probably some form of fraud… She’d been hanging around with Graves too often.

“What is the bounty on Tobias Felix?” asked Nilah, ignoring Graves’ disapproving look. She was just asking. It wasn’t like she was going to act on it. Unless Malcolm Graves gave her to go ahead, but he did say he would want to do that himself if it ever came to it. No reason why she wouldn’t be able to lend a hand.

“Who’s Tobias Felix?” was the confused response.

“Alright, that’s it. Let’s all focus before everyone starts betrayin’ everyone,” interrupted Fate. “I’m sure we can talk this out like adults.” said Fate, stalling for time. The usual blue card in his sleeve already turning red. Out of the corner of his eyes he could see Yasuo straightening to attention. The swordsman sighed deeply and finished his drink before he wrapped his hand around the hilt of his blade.

The atmosphere in the bar went tense. Fate swore he could see Vayne’s crossbow lighting up. He was reasonably certain she wasn’t going to go for Graves’ bounty, unless he really started to aggravate her. Which was always a coin flip.

Next to him he could barely hear the soft trickling of water starting to form Nilah’s blade and the way she whispered, “Oh, this is going to be fun.”

Something was going to give. The bar was all of sudden a lot more empty.

And yet all he could focus on was the gun resting against Graves head.

Graves’ eyes flashed at him and T.F.’s muscles started to tense in anticipation. With a dramatic sigh Graves said: “Aight, you got me. Good job, I surrender.” He raised his arms towards the sky.

“Lemme just…” The gun followed him while he stood up. He rolled his shoulders loose. The bar had gone fully silent when he’d started to move. Which is why everyone had heard the soft ‘tink’ of something metal falling near Graves’ feet.

The bounty hunter frowned. “What’s tha-?”

The smoke grenade went off, covering the entire bar in noxious smoke. And then everything erupted.

They stared at the burning bar. The wooden walls crackled in the fire. Vayne coughed awkwardly and shot a wharf rat that came a bit too close for her liking.

“Goddammit, I liked that bar,” Graves whined, breaking the silence.

“I had not expected that the wind would rouse the flames that much,” admitted Yasuo, still staring wide-eyed at a wall collapsing in on itself.

“I hadn’t expected everything explodin’ when I flung that card. I know at some places have weapons underneath the bar, but that amount of gunpowder seems excessive,” said Fate.

“Prolly one of them bars that are a front for weapon smugglin’. And alcohol smugglin’. And some other flammable stuff,” mused Graves.

“Nilah? Isn’t water your thing? Maybe you could extinguish the flames?” asked Vayne.

“Why would I want to do that?” countered Nilah, smiling bright and staring into the fire. With some luck a few of their attackers had survived and would crawl out of the wreckage. Her hand twitched towards the hilt of her weapon in anticipation.

“Right. I’m sorry I asked,” muttered Vayne.

“How upset is Sarah going to be when she hears that I helped burn down a bar on her territory?” mused Yasuo idly.

“Don’t worry. I ain’t tellin’ her of yer involvement in this mess. Not like she’d believe me. She’s prolly goin’ to blame Graves and me,” said Fate.

“Which is bullshit. We burned down like one, maybe two, bars and suddenly it’s always our fault,” interjected Graves. “I don’t blame her for every ship that explodes while we’re on it even if the first time was damn well her fault.” Graves kept giving Yasuo some serious side-eye. But considering the guy had jumped in to help with the whole mess… Fine, fine. He was willing to give him some grace.

He still didn’t like him. A more self-aware part of Graves wondered if this was how Tobias felt about Vayne and even more so about Nilah. Which absolutely didn’t make any sense considering he wasn’t attracted to women unlike Tobias. He would never get the intricacies of what was running through that man’s head.

“She is projectin’ pretty hard on us, considerin’ how often she’s gotten us in trouble,” Fate added. He did a double-take take at Yasuo. “Did you steal booze?” he asked gleefully.

“It would be a waste to just leave it laying there,” said Yasuo primly, shoving the battle away in some hidden pocket.

The bar placidly burned on. Eventually Nilah stretched herself, coming to the conclusion that nothing was going to attack them further. “Well, it seems like there won’t be much challenge here. I’m not ready to be done with the night. Who is willing to join me to the Slaughter Docks?”

“What do they slaughter there?” asked Vayne, genuinely curious.

“Sea serpents," grinned Nilah.

“Oh. Now that does sound like fun,” said Vayne, the worrisome smirk growing again on her face.

“You know… I should probably go towards that ship Sarah chartered for me. I wouldn’t do that I would miss it. Best not to hang around and all,” said Yasuo, eyes worriedly flicking between Nilah and Vayne. He threw a questioning look at Fate, eyes wide and brows raised.

The answering flat look of T.F. told him: “Yes, they absolutely are like that. No, I don’t know what’s wrong with them. Graves keeps finding simultaneously the weirdest and most dangerous women to hang around with and I have to fucking deal with it.”

Yasuo opened his mouth to reply, only to mentally reconsider the relationship he and Ahri had. He winced and returned Fate a look of: “Turns out it would be very hypocritical of myself to comment considering the women in my vicinity.”

Fate glanced at the group again and mumbled to himself, “None of you fuckers are gonna survive ‘till 50.” At loud he said, “We probably should move. Give it a few minutes and people are going to turn and see if there’s anything left to steal. And while some of us look like they’ve got nothing of worth, I ain’t hangin’ around for that.”

“I’m just going to take that in the spirit it was probably meant,” Yasuo answered, slightly amused by Fate’s grump despite everything. “I’m sure we’ll stumble over each other again. Take care.”

“Don’t fall overboard.”

Yasuo nodded once and like a breeze passing by he disappeared in the streets of Bilgewater.

“We should probably tarry not too long either. The sun is setting and if we leave now, we might hitch a ride with the night fishermen,” said Nilah.

“You ladies have fun. I need to polish New Destiny back up. She’s gotten all smudged up from the fire. Not to mention the blood splatters,” said Graves, waving his gun around.

Fate nodded and casually took a step aside when Graves unwittingly pointed the muzzle at him. “I’m stickin’ with Graves, not that I presume you ladies would mind that. Still, it has been an interestin’ experience to say the least.”

“So yeah, no fish slayin’ for us. Make sure the two of you have enough fun for all of us! I expect some crazy tales next time we meet or when you write,” Graves grinned.

“That can be arranged. I’ll let you know how the griffon hunt went. And only that,” emphasized Vayne, seeing Graves’ expression.

The twinkle in Graves’ eye ought to be illegal (and was recorded as a clear warning sign in several cities). “Sure thing. But before you two leave...” He opened his arms wide. “C’mon Nilah! Let’s reel it in!” he yelled gleefully, drawing an indulgent Nilah in a bear hug.

Nilah answered the gesture easy enough. “Take care, Malcolm Graves. I will see you later and I will have many tales to tell you.”

“Can’t wait to hear them,” said Graves. He turned towards Vayne, arms open. “Vayne! Your turn!”

“Oh no, you don’t,” hissed Vayne, already backing off. “Graves, don’t you fucking dare!” She took off in a sprint when Graves rushed at her.

While they were circling each other – Graves giggling and Vayne cursing while trying to charge her crossbow – Nilah approached T.F.

“You are aware that Malcolm Graves deserves better than you, yes?” Nilah asked him while Vayne was actively shooting at Graves who was laughing like a maniac. The man might have a few issues.

The smirk Fate gave was sardonic. “Oh absolutely. But I’m also selfish enough to take what he gives me.”

Nilah let out a soft laugh. “Two things we agree on. Maybe there is hope for you yet Tobias Felix. But probably not.”

“Probably not,” T.F. agreed. “Have fun lookin’ at the big sea snakes,” he waved her off

“Looking? HAH!” she laughed, tossing her head back. “You mean slaying.”

Fate was spared from giving an answer to that by the approach of a primly Vayne and a limping Graves.

“You know I was fuckin’ jokin’ right?” Graves complained.

“That’s what you get. Deal with the consequences.”

“Vayne, my entire career goal is tryin’ not to deal with the consequences.”

“You’re not very successful,” was Vayne’s dry response. “It was ridiculously easy to force you to join the Sentinels.”

Graves’ gasp of outrage sounded almost theatrically over the top.

“Did she shoot you in the thigh?” asked T.F. mildly.

“I’d wish. She got me right in the ass T.F.”

“That’s what you get for antagonizing her. I ain’t kissin’ it better.”

The snort Vayne let out went unheard thanks to Graves’ whining. She firmly ignored Graves’ continued pouting and asked Nilah, “We’d best be off then? I was promised dead sea serpents and I hate to miss out. And I want to go sleep at a somewhat decent hour. It’s going to be early for me tomorrow.”

“Don’t worry Shauna Vayne. The sea serpents won’t last long the moment we arrive. I’ll put some effort in.”

Even Graves felt a bit sorry for the sea serpents all of a sudden. Vayne and Nilah started towards the Slaughter Docks, only turning to bid their goodbyes.

“Stay safe you two. And Fate, good luck keeping Graves out of trouble. God knows that’s a full-time job,” said Vayne with a slight smile on her face.

Fate tossed a tiny salute back. “Can do. Good luck with the hunt.”

“Everyone’s gangin’ up on me,” complained Graves underneath his breath. Out loud he yelled, “Good luck with killin’ all them beasties!”

Nilah wove back. “Keep yourself out of trouble Malcolm Graves! And Tobias Felix? Until next time,” she smiled as a promise you didn’t want to see kept.

T.F. smiled placidly as they left. He suppressed a shudder. That last smile had been worryingly bright. Graves drifted next to him, gently bumping shoulders.

“Malcolm, I gotta be honest. That woman still terrifies the hell out of me.” He was smart enough to wait until they had been out of hearing range to say that. Fate had some sense of self-preservation.

“Yeah, Nilah can be intense. But she ain’t that bad. Dunno why the two of you have so much trouble getting along,” Graves wondered.

T.F. didn’t know how to tell him that she reminded him of the Serpentine river. Peaceful on the surface, but with vicious undercurrents. And Fate never had learned to swim, being deemed still too young and inexperienced when everything had gone down. He knew better than to come too close to her. Graves could have the friendship, he’d rather just be a polite acquaintance.

And what he absolutely wouldn’t mention was this: whatever happened to her that made her the monster-slaying legend she was now.... It tripped every internal alarm he had. His cards panicked with her nearby. Every instinct he had screeched danger. And yet this huge sense of loss hung over her. As if she was missing something. And was liable to lose even more in the future.

Fate knew of backroom deals. The ones that ought to be made on a crossroads.

He hoped for Nilah’s sake that whatever deal she’d taken that it had been worth it. Call him a coward all you like, but he was staying far away from that kind of mess.

The river and the waters had never done him much good.

“Just a bit too intense for me, I’m afraid,” he smiled genially. “I’m a much more placid person.”

“That’s bullshit and you know it. Remember the bank heist?”

“That’s a whole different kind of chaos. One that I vastly prefer over monsters, ghosts and Luck knows what else trying to eat me.”

“We’ve had jobs that ended with us almost being eaten,” Graves pointed out.

“Point. But we never actively sought out those jobs.”

“Also true,” Graves admitted. “So, now what? Another bar?”

T.F. shook his head. “Rather not. I kinda wanna go home. Today has been busy enough.”

“What? Don’t wanna hang around longer with your drinkin’ buddy?” asked Graves petulantly.

“He already left, what more hangin’ around is there to do?” Fate’s attention riveted itself on Graves’ pout. “Wait. Are you genuinely upset that I get along with other people than you? Malcolm, you got Vayne and Nilah.”

“Yeah, well… but have you seen the guy?”

“He was a sad miserable drunk that I spent time with when I was a sad miserable drunk. We get along. I can talk to him about certain things because he gets it. That’s all.” At Graves’ doubtful look he went on. “And if it’s the shirtless thing you’re focused on: I’m not his type. And more importantly, he ain’t mine. Mine is sittin’ right here,” he said, smiling softly. His hand rose to cradle Graves’ cheek.

“That is a great argument,” hushed Graves red-cheeked, nuzzling closer.

“I have those often, if you bothered to listen. Now, c’mon. Let’s go.”

“Sure you didn't wanna hang longer with him?” Graves pressed.

“Not our style. We’ll probably stumble over him again soon enough.”

“We’ll see. Still, you joinin’ us again next time?”

T.F. let out a tired sigh. “While it was amusing, I don’t think I'm going to join you guys often. Not my thing.”

“Nilah creepin’ you out?” smirked Graves.

“And not even a little bit. I have no idea how you got used to that,” T.F. confessed

“Dun’ ask me. I ain’t certain how I did it. But still, thanks fer comin’.”

“For you, always,” Fate winked. “Let’s go. I can think of a few ways we can spend the rest of the evening.”

Graves’ answering grin was wolfish. “Why Tobias, I find myself intrigued with what’s going through your mind. Care ta share?”

In a quick movement Fate wrapped his arms around Graves’ shoulders and pressed a quick kiss to his lips. “Take me home and I’ll show you. Extensively.”

To Graves this was officially the best evening ever. He pressed his lips to T.F.’s temple, squeezed him close and started to move towards their nearest hideout. The night was still relatively young and he was about to take advantage of that.

He grinned broadly to himself. Organizing Girls Night really was one of the better ideas he’d had.