Work Text:
Ezreal stands under the roof of the bus stop drenched to the core from the sudden downpour of rain despite the lack of precipitation predicted today.
He just missed the last bus as he was held up along with his assigned team members by their accompanying professional Huntsman, deciding to debrief them about his assessment of the Huntsmen-in-training instead of putting it off for another day.
It’s Ezreal’s last semester in the Huntsman academy that he has chosen, and they’ve arrived back home from a month-long mission outside of the country early this afternoon. But of course, their assessment took far longer than they'd anticipated. The Huntsman has a very keen eye when it comes to supervising them, and they’ve pointed out more flaws than praising their team for a job well done.
Can they really be blamed? This is their first mission, their first time out in the field as aspiring Huntsmen. Of course they lack the experience that the four walls of their classroom could never provide. They were accepted to participate in their mission in order to gain experience, to observe how professional Huntsmen operate in the real world. They weren’t expected to perform at a professional level, but they were encouraged to participate nonetheless. Ezreal stepped off the train with high spirits and countless stories to tell the others once he’s back home, but now he’s sulking, his spirit dampened by their asshole of a mentor.
And him missing the bus and the sudden downpour is not helping his mood one bit.
He should’ve informed Sett or Yone to pick him up earlier that day, but he wanted to surprise them. Initially, Ezreal was supposed to be back home in three days time, but the speed in which their mission was completed had pushed their departure ahead, giving him more than a week of down time before he is required to return to the academy, submit his papers, and await his new assignment.
And his phone is dead.
He got carried away playing LAN games on his phone with his peers on the train ride back home that he forgot to charge his device. And the next bus wouldn’t be here in the next thirty minutes.
He’s cold, tired, and hungry. The worst combination to have while he’s soaking wet.
Ten minutes passed. The rain shows no signs of stopping. He’s starting to get chills from the strong winds that accompany the downpour.
Fifteen minutes. He moves both his luggages from the ground and places them on top of the wet bench, before perching himself on top of the luggage that contains his clothes. His stomach is now grumbling.
Twenty two minutes. Ezreal is now shaking from the cold just as he hears the distant panicked shouts of people coming from the train station, followed by the familiar sound of sirens indicating that there are Grimm nearby.
Which is not great news.
The Grimm are known to be creatures attracted to fear and other negative emotions. They are usually located in packs outside of the cities, their population being closely monitored and quelled by Reapers, but there are instances where a Grimm, or a group of Grimm, can materialize out of thin air inside a protected location. No one knows exactly how that is possible, as researching the origins of creatures that instantly evaporate into nothingness after being killed is nearly impossible.
But there’s one universal fact that everyone knows: if there’s a dense crowd of people in one location, there’s a high chance that a Grimm will appear.
And it would seem that Ezreal’s in the right place at the wrong time, because the roof of the bus stop is suddenly ripped off its hinges, making Ezreal jump in fear. He looks up at the towering Grimm, and although his knowledge about these vile creatures are not as good as Aphelios’ or Kayn’s, he does know that this particular Grimm is called an Ursa—a bear-like creature with pitch black fur and bony spikes on its backs and arms, white bone-like masks with red detailing, and menacing glowing red eyes.
Ezreal is glued to his spot, his mind racing with all the possibilities of what could happen next. But before he can come up with his next course of action, the Ursa opens its maw and roars at him.
Ezreal’s instincts kick in before he can process what is happening. He grabs the smaller briefcase and jumps out of the way towards the road, just in time as the Ursa swipes its claws at his previous location. His fingers pop the briefcase open, and in one flawless movement, he equips his gauntlet and fires an attack towards the Grimm, hitting it square in the head.
Which did nothing but agitate the Grimm even further.
“Uh, hey, Grimmy! We’re cool, right?”
The Ursa roars and the chase begins.
It would seem that the distress call is unnecessary, brother, says Alune, who’s currently in her chakram form, projecting her thoughts to Aphelios through their meister-weapon connection. There are more than enough Reapers to deal with the situation here.
Aphelios hums in agreement as he takes in the damage caused by the attacking Grimm. They just arrived at the train station. There’s minimal damage as far as he can discern, given that in areas where there are a lot of travelers like these, there are always a handful of Reapers and Huntsmen hiding amongst the crowd.
The train station is fairly deserted save for a few Reapers and Huntsmen. Kayn is somewhere in the establishment doing god-knows-what, but overall, Aphelios is glad that they found an excuse to get out of the downpour.
The rain had been unexpected. Neither he nor Kayn had brought an umbrella with them, and they were stuck for a good while under the canopy of a nearby restaurant. Their patrol route this afternoon happens to be in the area around the train station, and the moment they received a distress call, the two Reapers didn’t hesitate to brave the rain.
“Phel,” comes Kayn’s voice. Aphelios turns, finds his teammate approaching him with Rhaast in his scythe form held in his left hand. “Find anything?”
Aphelios shakes his head, points a thumb towards the upturned benches and destroyed potted plants. ‘You?’
Kayn shakes his head, slightly frowning. “They counted at least thirty Ursai this time. No civilians injured.”
Aphelios raises a brow, then points towards the ceiling, motioning to the still-wailing sirens, indicating that there is, in fact, a Grimm still at large.
“Must be a faulty connection?” Kayn suggests with a shrug. “You know how in dire need of maintenance these things do. I swear these sensors are going to be the cause of Grimm spawning out of nowhere someday.”
But Aphelios is not convinced. He hangs Alune to his side to sign with both hands. ‘Did you get confirmation that they dispatched all the Grimm?’
“I mean, yeah. Why would the Reapers be turning in their reports if they haven’t?”
Aphelios rolls his eyes. Despite neither man being the ‘leader’ of their two-man squad, the taller man decides to take matters into his own hands. It’s better to be safe than sorry. ‘We should do a perimeter check just in case.’
Rhaast’s upper body pops out of the blade of the scythe sideways, his neon purple and pink horns glowing brightly in the light of day, the yellow hood of his jacket hanging from his head loosely, the drawn smile on his mask parting open, revealing a deep neon purple as he says, “Check outside.”
Both of the men’s faces fall.
“It’s raining, you buffoon!”
“Do you think the Grimm will care if it’s raining? Oh, wait. Let’s just ask the Grimm if it can come inside the station before we slaughter it! I bet it’ll be happy to oblige.”
Aphelios hears Alune giggle through their connection. He’s right, brother. There’s a possibility that a Grimm has spawned outside.
‘But we would have caught the Grimm earlier—’ Aphelios halts his motions, realizing the fact that the train station is massive, and that the visibility outside in the rain is very low. And although there’s only one entrance, there are multiple bus stops located outside the station. A place where multiple people can congregate. And that means there’s a high possibility that a Grimm had spawned at one of those bus stops.
But before Aphelios can relay his thoughts, the unmistakable roar of an Ursa rips through the air, followed by a familiar voice shouting for help.
Ezreal manages to evade the Ursa for a good while now, but despite his best efforts, the Grimm manages to keep up with him.
Firing blasts of energy towards the Grimm does nothing to deter it, only agitating it further.
As he ran the Grimm around in circles, he was searching for any signs of Reapers in the area. Surely, there would be a few of them responding to the disturbance, right? But as Ezreal makes his third round around the statue, he fails to see a single Reaper in sight. Not a single professional Huntsman as well.
He’s more than happy to play with the Grimm if it were not for the fatigue that’s starting to settle in his bones. It didn’t help that he’s thoroughly drenched at this point, his wet clothes weighing him down and hindering his movements.
But then he sees them through heavy rain.
Kayn and Aphelios are running towards the entrance of the train station. He was about to call for them, but he somehow manages to trip, his foot landing on an uneven surface, his ankle twisting in a painful manner before he collapses to the ground.
He lets out a huff before he lifts his head up to look behind him, only to find the Ursa slamming its massive claws down on him. Ezreal barely manages to roll away, his heart pounding against his chest as adrenaline shot through his veins. He quickly pushes himself to his feet, limping his way towards the entrance of the station as fast as he can. His ankle is burning with pain, but it’s the least of his concerns at the moment.
The Ursa is hot on his trail. Ezreal swallows down the fear and panic festering in the back of his throat, and in the last moment, he activates his gauntlet. He disappears from his previous spot just as the Ursa jumps at him with its jaws wide open and reappears just outside of the entrance to the station. He hears the Ursa roar, and a cry tears from Ezreal’s throat.
“Somebody help!!”
Another roar comes from behind Ezreal, this time much closer, and the green-haired man drops to the floor, expecting sharp claws to swipe at his head and hoping he’d avoid getting turned into shreds by doing so. But just as his body makes contact with the cold and wet floor, he sees a familiar weapon fly through the air, slicing the Grimm’s arm off like a hot knife against butter, before flying back to her point of origin.
Before the name of the meister can register in his head, a familiar fuschia-haired man appears between him and the Grimm, swinging his Darkin weapon through the Ursa’s neck in one single motion. The head falls to the ground, followed by its body, before disappearing into nothingness.
Ezreal didn’t notice that the sirens were still wailing until everything around them had turned dead silent, with nothing but the sound of falling rain and his heavy breathing remaining.
“Ezreal!” comes Alune’s voice, now in her human form and appearing next to him. “Are you alright? Are you hurt?”
Ezreal shakes his head. He feels himself trembling, unsure if it’s due to the cold or to the adrenaline still pumping in his veins. “I’m fine. I just had a bad trip and—”
“You idiot,” Kayn kneels to him and Ezreal’s gaze immediately goes to him. His brows are furrowed, his worried lone green eye betraying the scowl on his features. He raises a hand to cup his cheek, thumb gently grazing his skin, making Ezreal hiss at the sting.
Kayn doesn’t break his eye contact and says to Alune. “Give me your med kit.”
Alune does so, doesn’t question his tone.
“Sir! Is everything alright here?”
Alune looks up to Aphelios, who silently gives her a nod before motioning to the approaching woman. She nods back. She turns to the two and says, “We’ll handle the rest.”
The twins leave before Ezreal can say a word.
“C’mon. Let’s get you patched up,” Says Kayn, and the scythe in his hand glows for a quick second before Rhaast becomes one with his host.
Kayn helps Ezreal to his feet, guiding one arm around his shoulder before wrapping an arm around Ezreal's waist. Despite not being as drenched as Ezreal is, Kayn is radiating warmth like a walking fireplace, and Ezreal melts into his embrace, basically resting his entire weight on the man as he leads them to a nearby bench.
Once Ezreal is sitting down, Kayn goes to work. They don’t exchange any words as Kayn tended to his injuries. He later learns that he had scratched his cheek after he tripped, the adrenaline dulling his senses from the pain.
“Are you mad?” Ezreal asks once Kayn is done with his cheek, his voice small and timid.
Kayn scoffs. “Oh, I’m mad alright.”
Ezreal’s face falls.
“I’m mad you didn’t tell us you’re arriving home earlier.”
Ezreal snaps his gaze to the man, eyes wide with surprise. Kayn is staring at him with a small, genuine smile on his face. A rare occurrence. The Shieda Kayn is smiling. A once in a lifetime opportunity, and if Ezreal’s phone is still working, he would’ve stolen multiple photos.
Ezreal finds himself smiling, too. “It’s supposed to be a surprise,” He chuckles, nervously scratching the back of his neck. “But I guess it didn’t go the way I wanted it to.”
“Yeah, well, you suck at planning surprises,” Kayn comments before motioning to his legs, and Ezreal lifts his injured ankle and rests it on Kayn’s lap. “Remember that time when you went to plan a surprise for K’Sante for his birthday? You spoiled it halfway through the day!”
“Hey! It wasn’t my fault you and Sett couldn’t keep his attention away!”
“Why did you even ask us when you could’ve asked his husband?”
“Mom was busy that day!”
“No, he’s not?”
“Yes, he was—YEOUCH!!!!”
Kayn had abruptly removed his shoe, which, by the way, hurts like a motherfucker. And Ezreal didn’t bother to hide his cries of pain as he withers on top of the bench.
“Stop acting like a drama queen and sit still!”
“No! I’m dying! My foot is getting chopped off! And I’m going to be one foot shorter for the rest of my liiifeeee!”
Kayn barks out a laugh at the joke as he carefully peels his socks off, exposing the tender flesh around his ankle. It’s not swollen just yet, but Kayn knows the strained muscles will bloat up in a few hours.
Kayn can feel Rhaast’s curiosity in the back of his mind, knowing that he told the Darkin not to show himself in a public setting unless he’s in his scythe form. So, Kayn satisfies his curiosity by gently poking at the joint, to which Ezreal almost kicks at his ribs at the unwelcome intrusion.
“Don’t do that! That hurts!”
Rhaast, satisfied with the reaction, retreats back into their shared mindspace.
“It’s Rhaast,” Kayn supplies and Ezreal rolls his eyes.
“Of course it’s always Rhaast.”
“Hey! I’m telling the truth!”
Ezreal mimics his mouth with his hand. “I’m telling the truth!”
Kayn has half the mind to push his leg off his lap and hoping that it lands on the floor painfully. He almost does it, by the way, if it weren’t for Aphelios and Alune rejoining them.
“Hey Phel! Hey Lunie!”
Aphelios smiles at him and waves his greetings. ‘I see you’re back early.’
Ezreal scoffs. “I would’ve been back at home earlier if our mentor hadn’t talked our ears off with his assessment of us. Gods, why can’t he wait until we meet up with him next week? Was our performance really that bad that he couldn’t hold his tongue back?”
While Ezreal is distracted by the twins, Kayn works on stabilizing his ankle with a makeshift brace using the popsicle sticks that Alune somehow has on her med kit. When all that is said and done, Kayn gently taps his leg, and Ezreal carefully sits up on the bench. Leg still resting on his thigh.
“So, what are you guys up to after this?” Ezreal asks as he removes his whacky gauntlet from his arm.
Kayn’s eye lands on a digital clock, its number reading 4:43 PM. They still have approximately forty five minutes before their shift ends, but with how soaked they are from the rain, Kayn is down to call it early. He looks to his teammate, Aphelios already raising a brow at him as if he’s asking the same question.
“We could call it a day.”
‘I’ll inform Sett to pick us up, then.’
The rain finally lets up by the time Sett arrives. They help Ezreal into the car so that he doesn’t strain his ankle any further, and they make a quick stop at the destroyed bus stop to grab his belongings—thank gods it’s still in one piece.
When they arrive at their shared home, Ezreal is warmed by the hastily put together welcome home party K’Sante and Yone managed to do in under an hour. Ezreal would have hugged them if he wasn’t dripping wet and shivering from the cold.
So he takes a quick warm shower and change into warm house clothes; allows Yone to dote over his minor injuries as if he’ll never be able to walk properly again once he’s back in the living room limping; allows their resident doctor K’Sante to do his protocol physical and mental health check on him like he does with Sett, Kayn, Aphelios and Alune everytime they return home after a lengthy mission. He retells the story of his mission as they eat their dinner, thanks Sett for bringing his belongings to his room, fights over the last piece of dumpling against Kayn, tries the new drink Aphelios has come to like, and promises to go out shopping with Alune once their days off align with each other.
Ezreal forgets all the troubles the day had caused him; all the harsh words from that stuckass of a Huntsman—Kayn’s words, not his—, the pain from his injuries, the fatigue leaving his body the moment he shares a laugh with his chosen family.
If anyone would ask Ezreal if he regrets running away from a life of luxury, he would have hesitated before answering once.
But now, looking around the table and seeing the joy on everyone’s faces, with personalities clashing more often than not, bright smiles that hold untold stories, and unconditional love underneath dirty hands…
Ezreal finds himself silently thanking a younger and smaller version of himself—with empty eyes and a hollow soul, a younger boy who’s too scared of the world yet wanting to make a name for himself without being held down by his family name—for steeling his heart and making that jump.
If that young boy hadn’t taken that opportunity, then maybe, Ezreal would have been bathing in riches, partying in the most expensive clubs and traveling around the world. He could be driving expensive cars instead of taking the bus or waiting for one of the older men to take him to his destination. He could be eating expensive food instead of eating what Sett had cooked after he tried to replicate Ma’s recipe to the best of his abilities (they met up with Sett’s Ma once, and the lovely lady insists they call her Ma as well), or drink exquisite wine instead of ordering his favorite drink at their typical boba place with Aphelios. He could be dressing up fancy all the time instead of thrift shopping with Alune.
Kayn turns to him, as if sensing that he’s deep in thought, catching his gaze and giving Ezreal a small yet barely there smile. He finds his hand on his lap and gives it a gentle squeeze. He turns back to the conversation, but his hand never leaves his.
Ezreal finds himself smiling at the gesture, and he shifts his hand so that he can thread their fingers together. Almost instantly, Kayn’s grip tightens around him, grounding him, reminding him that he’s home. That he’s safe.
That he’s loved.
And maybe, just maybe, he wouldn’t have met the eye sore of a menace to society known as Shieda Kayn.
Oh, and Rhaast. He can never forget about Rhaast. Gods know that the Darkin is always hungry for his attention.
He giggles at the thought.
“What?” Kayn asks when he finds a break in their conversation.
Nothing, he mouths with a smile, reaching his free hand to poke at his left cheek, just under his corrupted eye. His left eye morphs into a smile and he mouths, Hi Rhaast.
Rhaast suddenly pops out from Kayn’s left shoulder, his crudely drawn smile wide yet menacing, earning a yelp of surprise from Alune. “What the—!”
“Hi Ezzie! Did you miss me? Did you miss me?!”