Work Text:
Ezreal loved the idea of soulmates. What could he say, he was a romantic at heart and the concept of having one person out there that was made for you just seemed so romantic, that love at first sight connection between two souls that couldn’t be rivaled by anything else.
It was why he was searching all over Runeterra for his soulmate. It was a well known fact that a good number of people never found their soulmates and just settled for finding good friends to be one partners with knowing that they may not ever find their other half.
Ezreal couldn’t stand that thought. If there was someone out there that was made for him then he would find them. He had to.
***
Kayn hated the idea of soulmates. Fuck destiny. How could someone else even some divine cosmic being know if someone would just fall in love with him. He thought the whole idea stupid.
Besides, what even was the point of his soulmate could be anywhere in Runeterra? They could go their whole lives without meeting. Better not to long for something completely unattainable.
And then there were the soul pains. Phantom pains of whatever your soulmate experienced, both emotional and physical. Kayn hated when he felt like he stubbed his toe when really he didn’t, or felt the impact of hitting the ground or random rushes of adrenaline—seriously what was his soulmate doing?
It made it hard to tell what pains, what feelings were his and which weren’t. Especially with Rhaast living in his head. He couldn’t imagine anyone, soulmate or otherwise accepting that he was the host of a darkin.
***
“Well, scary shadow assassin guy, I think we’re stuck here,” Ezreal said.
He had been looking around for a nearby ruin when he’d run into this unfairly hot shirtless guy and had somehow landed them both getting stuck in a netted hunting trap.
Now they were both suspended five feet up off the ground deep in the forests of Ionia with no way out.
In an unlucky turn of events Ezreals gauntlet had fallen off when the trap sprang, otherwise he would have just teleported out. The assassin had a gigantic scythe almost as big as he was talk but with the odd way they were tangled up he couldn’t manage to cut the rope.
“No fucking shit,” the assassin said.
Kayn never should have come here in the first place. He’d been out on a walk when he’d heard someone being especially loud deep in the forest and had gone to go investigate, only to find an unfairly attractive twink and immediately get stuck with him.
“Do you know anyone around here that might come looking for you?” Ezreal asked.
Kayn thought of Zed, and shook his head.
“Sooooo got any plans?”
Kayn scowled. “Maybe if you were a little smarter then you wouldn’t have tripped the trap in the first place.”
“How was I supposed to know there was a trap right there? We’re in the middle of nowhere!” Ezreal wined.
His voice was already grating on Kayn’s nerves.
Oh don’t be so harsh, I know you think he’s pretty, Rhaast said, voice a low unsettling rumble in Kayn’s head.
“Shut up,” Kayn mumbled.
“Sorry, I was just kind of—hey is that an artifact?” Ezreal asked gesturing to the man’s scythe.
Kayn tried to pull the scythe away but only managed to get himself more tangled up. “None of your business.”
“I’m an archeologist. My specialty is ancient artifacts. Could you let me take a look at it? Maybe after we get ourselves out of here?”
Kayn scowled. “No.”
Oh come on he can touch me all he wants.
Kayn thrashed in the net, trying to slash through net. He only managed to poke Ezreal in the leg.
“Ow!” Both boys exclaimed at the same time.
Ezreal looked at Kayn in confusion. “Ow? You hit me not yourself!”
Kayn put his hand on his leg mirroring where he’d cut Ezreal by mistake. He had felt a sharp pain, a soul pain.
“Fucking hell,” Kayn muttered.
“What?”
“Nothing. Let’s just get the fuck out of here.” Kayn focused and turned his scythe, making a precise strike at the rope and the two fell down to the ground in a heap.
Ezreal got up and picked up his gauntlet. He gave it a kiss and put it back on his hand. “I missed you buddy,” Ezreal said.
Kayn quickly fell into a fighting stance. “Leave this place,” he said.
Ezreal put his hands up in surrender. “We can talk this out.”
“Nothing to talk about.”
“There’s plenty to talk about! Like. . . Uh. . . Sorry I just can’t stop thinking about your scythe.”
Kayn took a menacing step forward. His hands were shaking. Why were his hands shaking? Kayn let out a frustrated grunt and fell out of his fighting stance. “There’s a town not far away. I’ll take you there.”
Ezreal let out a relaxed breath. He’d been charging up magic to make his getaway but he was perfectly happy to not have to do that.
Ezreal tried to make small talk as they walked to the town but Kayn wasn’t having any of it. Ezreal couldn’t tell if Kayn was just lost in thought or if he was actively ignoring him.
He’s not my soulmate, Kayn kept repeating in his head. He’s not. He can’t be. People don’t just meet their soulmates. And besides, isn’t it supposed to a love at first sight kind of thing?
You thought he was pretty when you first saw him, Rhaast said.
Kayn takes Ezreal into town and to a bar. He’s not even exactly sure why, but quickly he finds himself sitting next Ezreal both boys with drinks in hand.
“So,” Ezreal finally asked. “What do you think about soulmates?”
Kayn bristles. “What? Soulmates? Why do you ask?”
Ezreal smiles, a little tipsy. “Just making conversation. You however, that’s the first response you’ve given me.”
“So what?”
“You’re being touchy about it! That’s what!”
Kayn just scowled.
“So. . . Do you know your soulmate then?”
Kayn didn’t say anything.
“Oh come on! Don’t be boring!”
Kayn glanced at Ezreal and then stared down at his cup. He really was quite pretty, and that pouty look when he was trying to get Kayn to do something. But. . .
“It doesn’t matter.”
Ezre rolled his eyes. “You know, if I found my soulmate I’d be thrilled. I’ve been searching all of Runeterra for the past few years. Well that and looking at ancient archeological dig sites. But if I found them I would be happy. I would shout it from the rooftops. Not everyone finds their soulmate so if I found mine that would be kinda special you know?”
Kayn sighed. “Hit me.”
“What? Are you drunk or something?”
“No I’m not. Hit me.”
“I’m not going to hit you Kayn!”
Kayn downed the rest of his drink. “Fine.” He took the blade of his scythe and cut a slit across his palm.
Ezreal inhaled sharply as if hurt.
Suspicion confirmed.
“You. . .” Ezreal looked between Kayn’s face and his cut palm. Then his face lit up. “You’re my soulmate!”
He other patrons of the bar turn to look at them and Kayn clamps a hand over Ezreals mouth.
“I’m not your soulmate,” Kayn stood up and walked out of the bar.
Ezreal scrambled after him. “What do you mean? You just proved it!”
Kayn kept walking.
“I’ve spent years looking for you!”
“Well now you can stop looking.”
“No! You can’t just walk away from this!”
“Watch me.”
Ezreal ran forward to grab onto Kayn’s hand but Kayn’s form melted into the shadows. He was gone.
Ezreal sighed and went to go get a room at the inn in town.
He could still hardly believe it. He’d met his soulmate. His actual soulmate. And he’d just. . . Left.
***
Kayn wandered around in the forest.
He’d met his soulmate. His actual soulmate. And he’d just left him.
But he couldn’t be someone’s soulmate. He was half possessed by a darken. He wasn’t exactly soulmate material.
He didn’t owe Ezreal anything. So what if they were soulmates? All that had to mean was they they sometimes felt each other’s Phantom pains. Nothing more.
Kayn grabbed his wrist, feeling a sharp pain there.
“Jesus Christ he’s not seriously gonna—” Kayn’s breath caught as another pain took him, sharper this time, agonizing, like someone was digging around a fresh cut with a spoon.
Kayn waited, thinking Ezreal would stop. The pain for him must be excruciating. The pain Kayn felt through the soulpain was only a fraction of the pain experienced by the other person.
Kayn scowled and slipped into the shadows. It was easy to find Ezreal. Alarmingly easy. He’d gotten good with his shadow magic over the years but usually it took longer to sense specific people through the shadows.
“Fucking hell,” Kayn muttered, rushing to Ezreals side. He’d managed to scrape a deep gash in his arm with a rusted screw. Kayn grabbed the screw from Ezreals hands and threw it across the room.
There was blood everywhere. Ezreals eyes were glassy and unfocused and gods there was just so much blood.
“I knew you’d come,” Ezreal said. His voice was weak and he could barely keep his eyes open.
“Are you suicidal. Why?”
Ezreal smiles weakly. “Not suicidal, just. . . Lonely.”
Kayn quickly got water to wash out the wound and tore a strip of fabric from the sheets and wrapped it around Ezreals wrist. Then Kayn helped Ezreal into bed. Ezreal hardly had the energy to protest, and Kayn was actually worried now. He’d seen people die from blood loss. The bandage was already bushing red.
“You’ll stay won’t you?” Ezreal asked.
“Rest,” Kayn said.
“Please stay. I don’t want to do that again.” Ezreal closed his eyes and quickly fell asleep.
Kayn stayed up for much longer after, pacing at the foot of Ezreals bed.
He did all that for you ya know, Rhaast said.
“Yeah, almost bleeding to death, so romantic.”
I’m just saying maybe you could give him a chance.
“Chance at what?”
“Who are you talking to?” Ezreal muttered, sitting up.
It was almost morning. Kayn hadn’t even realized.
“No one. Go back to bed.”
Ezreal yawned and got out of bed. The bandage was red with blood and needed to be changed. Ezreal started doing it himself but winced as he pulled the wet bandage off his skin.
Kayn sighed and took over, cleaning the wound again. It didn’t look infected and wrapping it again.
“Did you seriously have nothing better than a rusty screw? You could have gotten it infected,” Kayn said. “Well, now that I know you’re ok, I guess I’ll be going.”
“Like hell you are!” Ezreal said.
Kayn didn’t move further away, but he didn’t move closer either.
“Just. . . Can we talk? I’ve spent years looking for my soulmate, and well, that turns out to be you, so can you please not run away?”
“What do you want from me? I don’t owe you anything. I didn’t ask for you to come looking for me. I didn’t ask you to hurt yourself.”
“I want. . . I want to have a soulmate. I want to get to know you, talk to you, become friends with you,” Ezreal said.
“I can’t be your soulmate,” Kayn said.
“Why not?”
“Because I don’t have a soul!”
Ezreal stared at Kayn confused. “What?”
Kayn hated telling people about Rhaast. They always looked at him with a sad potty in their eyes. Oh you had to go to a darkin for power instead of getting strong on your own. This is a problem of your own making.
Kayn sighed. He didn’t believe in the whole soulmates are made for eachother crap. He believed that Ezreal would hate him, want nothing to do with him after. But if that’s what he wanted, then this was the perfect way to do it.
“My soul is inhabited by a darkin, and sooner or later. . . He’ll overtake me, unless I get strong enough to overtake him first.”
Like that will ever happen Kayn baby, Rhaast purred.
Ezreal recoiled. Darkin? He’d heard of them of course, seen scripture of them in the ancient Shiriman temples he’d visited, but he’d ever actually seen any in real life.
Kayn felt self conscious all of a sudden he wanted to hide his corrupted arm but Ezreal was already staring.
Ezreal had thought Kayn’s arm some sort of magical gauntlet. He’d seen stranger things before, but the more he looked at it the more biological it was. It wasn’t a gauntlet, it was Kayn’s arm.
Ezreal reached out and ran his fingers against it. It was ridged like armor but moved like muscle.
Kayn shivered.
“Does it hurt?” Ezreal asked.
Kayn shook his head.
“Will you let me look at your scythe now?” Ezreal asked with a stupid grin on his face.
Kayn felt his face heat. “What—I mean it’s dangerous.” Was he really not concerned?
“Oh I’ll be careful,” Ezreal said, reaching for Kayn’s scythe but Kayn caught his hand.
“Are you really not concerned about this? At all?” Kayn asked.
“What do you mean?”
“I’m dying.”
Ezreals face fell. “But I thought you said you could beat it.”
“Do you know anything about darkin Ezreal?”
Right. Darken we’re all powerful brings. Even the aspects couldn’t completely kill them, just trap them in weapons.
“That’s why I can’t be your soulmate,” Kayn said. His heart ached to reach out but he knew he couldn’t. Ezreal was too nice, too pure for him to burden him with his problems, and for the first time ever he regretted picking up the scythe.
Ezreal sat back down next to Kayn and went back to examining his demonic hand. “Do you really want me to leave?”
“Gods no,” Kayn blurted before he could keep his tongue in check.
Ezreal smiled, laying his head on Kayn’s shoulder. “Ok. Then I’ll stay, and I’ll help you figure out how to fight that darkin.”
Kayn felt tears prick his eyes but they didn’t fall. He was going to stay, really stay.
“Maybe this is the purpose of soulmates,” Ezreal said after a little while. “To connect people that wouldn’t have otherwise met. Maybe we’re not always going to be perfectly made for each other, but right now this feels pretty alright.”
Kayn nodded. He felt like he could get used to having Ezreal around.