“So Talon, who do you like???” LeBlanc teased.

The group of them sat in the Noxian lobby in the League of Legends’ dorms. Talon sat by himself in an armchair while LeBlanc and Katarina sat across the table on the couch. The two girls giggled and Talon knew that nothing good ever came the happiness of both LeBlanc and Katarina. Swain sat to Talon’s left and couldn’t really give a fuck about what was going on. He didn’t really care for people’s love lives. To his right, the two blood brothers were too caught up in comparing blades and looking through this month’s executioner’s magazine issue to notice. The six of them had been chilling out since none of them had any pressing matters to attend to. The slightest tint of pink graced Talon’s cheeks.

“W-Why do you want to know..?” Talon stammered back.

Sometimes it’s so easy to throw him off. LeBlanc chuckled to herself; it’s not like she even needed to answer the question. Everyone knew that LeBlanc knew everyone’s business, and if she didn’t, it wouldn’t stay secret for long. Unfortunately for Talon, the question gave her all the information she needed. The slight blush was even more resounding evidence. Now she knew he liked someone, finding out whom was the easy part.

“Oh never mind, you’re so cute when you’re nervous.”

Talon growled.

“What?” LeBlanc cooed, “Got something to hide?”

Talon frowned and immediately shot up from his chair. “You may know about everyone else,” - everyone’s heads snapped up at his words - “but this doesn’t concern you.”

This wiped the smirk off LeBlanc’s face. Even she knew that there was always a point, especially with the assassin, where she should back off. She was surprised that that point had been reached so easily.

Talon quickly realized that he had just made his secret much more valuable and before anything else could be said, he fled from the lobby.

Everyone turned his or her head back to LeBlanc, not in anger, but in curiosity. What was she going to do now? If she pushed more, they definitely wanted to be let in on the information - come on, who wouldn’t want to know whom Talon liked if it freaked him out that much.

“FUCK” Talon yelled after slamming his dorm room door closed.

He threw his purple cloak on the floor and then fell onto his bed. His face burned. Why does LeBlanc have to focus on me?!? He thought to himself. She could have so much more fun messing with Katarina and Garen or maybe even Swain. It wasn’t fair! Besides, could it even be called a crush? He had only interacted with him once...





It had happened a week ago. Talon was just walking around in the forest surrounding the league. He didn’t really feel at home amongst other people; he had even killed his sole friend because he was too big of an “inconvenience.” Lost in thought, Talon didn’t look where he was going and...

~bump~

Of course he had totally failed to notice the boy who was standing precariously at the edge of cliff that descended into pure darkness. With killer instincts, Talon reached out and grabbed the boy’s arm. Everything was silent except for the sound of a stone falling, bouncing into the darkness below. Talon was still holding onto the boy’s arm. He felt fragile, almost delicate; and Talon thought he would break him. His skin was pale and smooth, not scarred by harmful rays of the sun. Talon looked up at the boy’s face to apologize and was surprised. The boy was blushing and looking nervously at Talon’s hand. He had bright blond hair and two little triangle marks on his cheeks. At that moment, Talon felt something he had vowed to never feel. He thought he could hold, care, lo--, this boy forever.

“Oh sorry, wasn’t watching...” Talon muttered as he let go of the other boy.

“Thanks for saving my life,” the boy replied. Then with a cute smile and a wave, he disappeared in a blink of soft light.

Talon didn’t really know what just had happened or who that kid was, but he did know that he didn’t want to run into anyone else on the way back to his room. So, Talon disappeared back into the shadows and the cave entrance was empty once more.

In the Piltover lobby, the usual was happening. Caitlyn and Vi were complaining how Jinx was such a nuisance, Jayce was too busy with himself in the mirror, and Heimerdinger was being weird over in a corner. Ezreal sat in the armchair, resting his headon his elbow, bored out of his mind. Just then Sona came in and went over to Ezreal.

“Oh thank god, I need to talk to you!” Ezreal sighed with relief.

Sona smiled and nodded; together, they left the lobby and walked off in silence to “their” secret fountain in the League’s huge courtyard. Once they arrived, Ezreal jumped up and sat on the edge of the fountain and Sona sat on the bench next to him, waiting expectantly.

“OMG, Sona, I don’t think you understand. Like I literally can’t even”

Sona silently chuckled to herself. Let me guess, she plucked to him, you met someone, most likely a guy.

“Well that’s not very nice,” Ezreal sulked, “and this one’s different! First off, He bumped into ME, so I didn’t just stalk him”

Ok, ok. She sighed, what’s his name?

“Talon, I believe.”

TALON!!

LeBlanc sat in her room, plotting. Well, I guess the only way to figure out the identity of the girl is to look in his room, she thought. LeBlanc left her room and silent tiptoed down the hall over to Talon’s room. She distorted through his door and surveyed the scene. Now, in rules and in morals, this act was highly illegal: but then again, LeBlanc gave no shits.

First thing she noticed was that his room was unnaturally neat; besides the cloak on the floor and the fully clothed male haphazardly asleep on the bed, the room was spotless. LeBlanc felt kind of envious, like even her room was not as clean as his; his was basically clean enough to perform surgery. The next thing she noticed was the magazine in the man’s hand.

Damn. She thought to herself. I must of really thrown him off if he’s being careless.

From afar, LeBlanc thought that maybe it was a porn magazine and that’s why Talon was so shaken, but as she approached, she realized that it was so much sweeter. The magazine was actually the booklet of all the champions in the league. She tiptoed over to the bed, saw the page Talon was on, gasped and then disappeared back outside the room. She then sprinted back to the lobby and then shouted in a whisper, “Talon likes …!”

Ezreal sat in his room, fuming over what had just happened. After he had revealed Talon, Sona set off with barrage of harassing sounds.

TALON!!! WHAT!!! You KNOW Talon is an enemy of Demarcia! What am I supposed to do now?? You know I am probably going to have to warn Garen if things get too serious. And he’s like what, 100 years older than you. Is that even legal? Ezreal, what are you doing???

Ezreal had heard enough and he jumped off the edge of the fountain and ran back to his room. A few tears of anger and sadness started to form at the edge of his eyes. He ran past everyone in the Piltover lobby (making a much bigger scene than he should have) and slammed his door room close. His face was red with hurt and rage. Sona was the one person who knew the real truth and he fully trusted her. Now he felt as bad as when everyone in the league would joke about “Ezreal/Lux,” which resulted in Lux being led along a path that, Ezreal knew, didn’t end well. He slid down the side of his bed, back against the mattress and curled up into the fetal position. “It’s just not fair.” Ezreal mumbled to himself, taking a gasp for air. “I’m not even technically tied to Demarcia…” Then he cried himself to sleep.

Sona stood outside Ezreal’s door, not exactly sure what to do. She felt that she should apologize, but also she felt her concerns were valid. Talon was like 30 (actually 27) and Ezreal was barely 20 (actually 22) and Talon was an enemy of Demarcia. How could she still hang out with Ezreal if he was dating Talon? Sona held her relationship with Ezreal in high esteem and didn’t want to have to break it.

Head down in defeat, she left his door. After exiting the Piltover lobby, the sight of LeBlanc "coincidentally" hanging around the lobby door made Sona suspicious. Seeing LeBlanc, in general, is not the most comforting sight, but due to recent events Sona was even less at ease.

"Sona sweety, wanna sing me a song, a chorus, maybe?" LeBlanc mocked.

Sona frowned. Why are you here LeBlanc?

"Touchy, Touchy." LeBlanc sassed back. "I'm here just to check up on someone for a friend. I'm…‛giving back’, as they say."

Who are you seeing...?

"Ooooo, is someone interested in learning some gossip?"

No...And I just wanted to let you know that you should probably come back later. There are some personal...issues going on in there right now and they need their privacy.

"Shh, don't worry Sona. I already saw who I needed to see. You have a nice day now." LeBlanc winked and then walked away.

When LeBlanc had appeared, Ezreal was lying on the floor and by the looks of it, had “cried” himself to sleep. She didn’t really know what to do, but she had to act fast for her clone wouldn’t keep Sona busy forever. She thought that maybe she should just leave, as she wouldn’t get anything out of this relationship. They can figure it out themselves right? She thought to herself, but the two passed out figures and the over-protective mute in the hallway weren’t too convincing.

At that moment, LeBlanc decided that she was going to be the boys’ matchmaker and because of that split-second decision, LeBlanc was now complaining how annoying gay boys and an overprotective best friend can be.

It had been two weeks since the boys had bumped into each other (literally) and LeBlanc was hopelessly lost on what to do to bring them together again. She couldn't even approach Ezreal after LeBlanc's showdown with Sona. Sona seemed to have put up some protective aura around her captive so whenever LeBlanc tried to approach the boy, Sona would already be there with a death glare waiting.

Talon was no easier. He must have woken up and noticed he had left the League booklet open, and has avoided LeBlanc at all costs ever since. As annoying as that was, LeBlanc was slightly touched inside that Talon held LeBlanc’s spying skills at such high value.

"Ugh Kattt, what do I dooooooooo?" LeBlanc moaned.

"Maybe you should just let it die. Like, since when have you tried to do something positive and constructive for others...since, like, never." Katarina replied.

LeBlanc knew Kat's statement was right and she didn't have a problem with that, but right now she couldn't bring herself to drop her clients.

"But how can you not at least care a little! Talon is like a brother to us and what would your dad say?" LeBlanc pleaded.

Katarina froze mid magazine page turn. Her family did basically adopt Talon from the gutters and Katarina grew to treat and protect him as her own blood. So she did always have a soft stop for the quiet assassin. Her dad wasn’t one to show much compassion, but the act of bringing Talon home was not just for his skill. If her father had brought home every skilled sword wielder he defeated, she would have many more relatives than a sister and brother. Kat didn't know what exactly had flipped in her father's mind, but displays of affection from her father were rarer than peace treaties between Demacia and Noxus.

Knowing how Kat felt about Talon, LeBlanc sat there with the slightest smirk on her face. After a few more moments in silence, Kat sighed and put her magazine on the side table. Then she leaned forward and say, "So what's the plan, mastermind?" With evil grins, the girls went to work.

Plan A: The objective was the simple and cliche "(fake) note confession-meeting." Kat and LeBlanc each wrote a note, one for Talon and one for Ezreal. A week later, during midday meal time, they went to work. Since it had been a little less than a month after any related encounter, Sona had slightly lowered her guard. Her aura was now solely around Ezreal. As LeBlanc distorted through the door she thought, Who needs to actually get to him when you can get to his room?

Meanwhile, Kat got to work on obtaining access to Talon's room. To assure that he couldn’t interrupt the operation, Katarina had to plead with Darius for him to ask Talon to spar together. Darius had responded with a few disgusting slurs about Talon to which Kat returned with a hard punch to the stomach and a slap to his face. After that, he caved in and was now reluctantly sparring Talon in the practice area, watched closely by a trusted spy to make sure he wouldn’t do anything dirty. Then, with a satisfying <click>, the door swung open. Kat put down her blowtorch and large assortment of picks and thought, Damn, these doors are a bitch to open.

LeBlanc took a quick scan of Ezreal's room. His room actually looked like a 22 year old lived there, not a hospital like Talon's. There was a pile of clothes off in a corner and the bed was haphazardly made. LeBlanc turned to her left and was face-to-face with a wall completely dedicated to a collection of hand-made maps. The compartments closer to the top were empty (LeBlanc thought due to Ezreal's height, he had limited access to these), but the lower ones were filled with rolled up scrolls that seem to vary widely in size and age. Ezreal’s description was the “Prodigal Explorer,” but LeBlanc had always been skeptical of how much someone could really love maps; however, this was evidence that someone can really love maps. She placed the forged note on Ezreal’s gauntlet, right on top of the gem that gave off a soft blue vignette around the note. Satisfied with her work, LeBlanc left the room in a puff of smoke and went to go check up on Katarina’s progress.

When LeBlanc returned, she saw Katarina just flop onto the couch, exhausted. She sat down next to her and started to stroke Katarina’s hair. Katarina yawned and stretched then closed her eyes.

“So how was it?” LeBlanc asked.

Katarina mumbled something into the couch cushion.

“What was that?”

“Fine….” Katarina retorted with a little more clarity.

“Why so tired?”

“Have you even tried to break into one of these dorms! I would of rather just tape it to the door and call it cuts. How was the explorer?”

“Maps, many maps.”

“Haha” Kat chuckled, “I don’t know what Talon fell so hard for.”

~Time~

“Shouldn’t Talon be back by now..?” Katarina whispered to LeBlanc. LeBlanc nodded with an expression of concern. According to her master plan, he was supposed to be leaving to meet with Ezreal soon. Talon’s lack of appearance was basically the self destruct button in her plan.

“Kat, go to the meeting place and watch and see if Ezreal shows up.”

“No you go, I’m tired.” Kat complained

“Fine, watch for Talon.” And then LeBlanc was gone.

Wearing what he would consider nice-casual clothes, Ezreal weaved his way through the dorms toward the meeting place. After reading the note 5 times over and pinching himself to make sure it wasn’t a dream, he had spent the next 45 minutes planning his outfit. He wasn’t the best at clothes and most of his clothes were for explorations, not something suitable for a meeting as special as this. He eventually settled on a pair of pants that had the least number of stains, a casual light brown t-shirt and his trustee jacket. He ran his hand through his wet blonde hair. Maybe the shower was a bit much? Ezreal thought to himself. He opened the door to a small secluded meeting courtyard Talon’s note had listed. There was a small fountain, with a few flowering plants dotting the perimeter and a lone bench. There were a lot of these small courtyards throughout the dorm, it was similar to the one he went to with Sona. Ezreal walked over and took a lone seat on the marble bench waiting hopefully for when Talon would arrive.

Talon was content with himself. He had just had a very active practice session with Darius. They had a quick dinner and then spared for hours. Talon didn’t realize how much time had passed until Darius had called it for a day because it was reaching midnight. After complimenting him for the session, Darius left but Talon stayed a little longer in the arena. It was one of the outdoor ones so Talon sat and looked up at the stars. His thoughts drifted back to first meeting Ezreal. Talon wished that he could just have a conversation with him. He didn’t know how many words he would actually be able to muster, but in his ideal world, it would go great.

Cleaning up his weapons and towel, he made his way back to his room to shower and clean up before going to bed. When Talon stepped into the Noxus lobby, he immediately noticed the passed out figure of his adopted sister Katarina. He stopped to put a light blanket over her and a pillow under her head, then moved on down the hallway towards his dorm room. Upon reaching his door, immediately, he knew something was off. The door knob looked slightly morphed as if someone had tried to soften the lock to open it.....and Kat didn't usually sleep in the lobby. Cautiously, Talon nudged the door open to see that nothing had been tampered with (thank god), expected there being a piece of paper folded on his bed. With the edge of his blade, Talon unfolded the note, then suddenly dropped his weapons and towel, picked up the note and went back to the lobby and the sleeping Katarina.

Gently poking her cheek, he whispered, "Hey Kitten, do you know anything about this?"

"Mhummmmm......" Kat mumbled.

"What?" Talon pressed.

"LeBlanc...match...Ezreal ...blowtorch...."

That's all that Talon needed to hear. Assuming Kat wasn't completely delirious, LeBlanc had obviously found out (as he guessed) and then tried to set them up and by the time stamp on the note, he was already hour and a half late. Talon rushed out of the lobby hoping that he hadn't ruined every chance he had with him.

Talon swung open the courtyard door and found Ezreal, curled up and asleep on the stone bench. He walked over to the boy and kneeled down next to him. He went to brush some of Ezreal's hair out of his face but then hesitated. Too many conflicting thoughts were running his head. A cute little sneeze interrupted his confused. Talon hadn't realized the chill in the air yet nor the fact that Ezreal's hair was freezing cold. Talon's protective instincts took over and soon he had a freezing Ezreal in his arms and was carrying him back to his room. Luckily, since it was so late at night, no one saw them and soon Talon was quietly closing his dorm room behind him.

Ezreal lay, curled up on top of his bed. His nose had a light rose pink hue and his body was shivering from the cold. First, Talon took a clean towel and dried Ezreal's hair as much as possible. Ezreal started to rise slightly but was still deep within his subconscious. He then, somehow, was able to coax Ezreal's damp jacket and t-shirt off him and then hung them up to dry. Talon returned with one of his purple cloaks and covered Ezreal with it. Now he had to get Ezreal out of his damp jeans but he felt extremely uncomfortable in undressing Ezreal down there compared to the rest of his body. He ended up wrapping a clean towel around Ezreal's waste and pulling his jeans off underneath it. Hanging those up to dry as well, Talon started rummaging through his own clothes, looking for something for the younger boy to wear. Finally stumbling upon a pair of athletic shorts that were on the smaller side, Talon put them on Ezreal, respecting his privacy and personal space as much as possible. After getting Ezreal out of all his damp clothes, he wrapped him up in blankets and made sure he was nice and warm. Once Ezreal had a nice little cocoon, Talon took a quick shower to rinse off the sweat and grime from sparring. Too tired to get ready for bed properly, Talon collapsed on his bed next to Ezreal, in shorts and a purple hoodie, hair all over the place, and room left a mess. The moon slowly faded away from the window, fading the sleeping couple into darkness.

Ezreal awoke to the warm glow of sunlight that filtered through the forest trees and dorm room window. He rubbed sleep out of his eyes as he tried to remember what happened last night. All that he could bring up was waiting for Talon in the courtyard and then a faint memory of the smell of sand and sweat. He turned over in bed, just wanting to go back to sleep and was met face-to-face with a shirtless Talon. Ezreal took a small gasp of air and held his breath, feeling that if he made one movement everything would disappear. He tried to reach out and touch Talon, just to confirm the reality of the situation when he realized that he was tightly cacooned in layers of blankets. As slowly started to release himself, taking one off at a time, treating each as the most delicate piece of gold leaf. Upon removing the last layer and dropping it on the floor, Ezreal realized he wasn't even dressed in his own clothes. In his mind he thought, I'm in different clothes...Talon is barely dressed...did we?!?...no, we couldn't have. It doesn't FEEL like we did unless Talon...nah there is no way he would agree to be uke in this arrangement..so hopefully we didn't. By now, Ezreal had conjured up enough courage to reach out and poke his sleeping god. When Ezreal’s finger touched Talon's skin and felt his rock hard pectoral muscles Ezreal thought he was in heaven. And when Talon's breath warmed Ezreal's wrist, he knew it was real.





Talon felt something curl up next to him and a cold nose poke his chest. Taking a peak, Talon saw a mess of bright gold blond hair leaning on his chest. Attached to the hair was a boy who was curling up next to him for what he assumed to be a mixture of comfort and warmth. Closing his eyes to go back to sleep, Talon wrapped his hand around Ezreal, pulled the boy closer and gave him a small kiss on the top of his head. Then as he made himself comfortable with Ezreal by his side, he whispered to the boy, “I love you.” In response, Talon felt a small kiss on his chest meaning Ezreal felt the same and the new couple lay together peacefully, preparing to reenter the league together.