#I took a break with Ezreal | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

redtsundere-writes · 3 months

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Out Of My League | Heartsteel!Kayn Shieda

heartsteel!kayn shieda x f!reader

Part 4: Valentine's Day Special!

Part 1. Part 2. Part 3.

Sypnosis: A chronically online girl doesn't know how to deal with his famous boyfriend lifestyle. Contents: Modern AU, Kayn is a nice boyfriend, High School AU, a verbal fight, fake dating vibes but not really. Word Count: 6871 words. Author's Note: So I tried posting this on Valentine's but my date with my boyfriend ended up being longer than I expected. Sowwy, but here it is, lol

Part 4: Valentine's Day Special “For the love of God, do something!” You screamed desperately into the microphone of your headphones.

You were playing a match of League of Legends with your online friends. Your fingers moved quickly on the keyboard, your eyes didn’t take off of the screen, and the offenses of your friends bombed your ears. You were playing as Qiyana, sometimes you missed playing with Kayn as Zed.

"This was so winnable, and you fucked it up, man!" You exclaimed in frustration as you saw the “Defeat” sign flash on your screen.

Winter break was about to end. It's been six months since Kayn asked you to be his girlfriend. Once he graduated from high school, he signed a contract with Riot Records to become a star alongside Heartsteel. You hadn't seen him in over two months, but he always made sure to send you gifts so you wouldn't miss him so much. His gifts ranged from official Heartsteel merchandise to video games and jewelry. Your favorite gift so far was one of his silver earrings so you could match despite not being physically together.

“Nah, but how good is this Qiyana?” Your friend matched your energy, to which your other friends laughed. You wanted to keep a serious posture, but you couldn't.

"Hey, where’s Rhaast?" Your friend with his favorite waifu on his profile picture asked.

"I don't know, he hasn't reached out in a while," you lied.

You knew exactly where he was. He was in another country preparing for his last concert of his world tour with Heartsteel. After he graduated, Kayn quickly adapted to the rock star life. Spending all day writing music, meeting fans and traveling to many places with his guitar. He always sent you photos of the places he visited, the new foods he tried, and the talented people he worked with. Every day, he promised you that he would show you the world once you graduated from high school.

You had a good relationship where you were in constant communication, there was just one small problem. Your relationship was a secret. When Kayn signed his contract with Riot Records to become a star, his manager found out that he had a girlfriend. He only asked him to keep the relationship as private as possible. If he was going to be part of a boy band, the group's popularity might decrease if fans found out that a girl is the owner of his heart.

Kayn thought you would be upset with him for wanting to keep the relationship a secret, but he was surprised to find that you had no problem doing so. As an introvert, you don't like to be the center of attention. If everyone knew that you were a celebrity's girlfriend, you would lose your privacy and not feel comfortable.

Keeping the relationship private was the best for both, although it took Kayn longer to adjust to the idea. When he went on his first tour, he called you every night to remind you how much he loved you and missed you. He often told you how much he missed your hugs, kisses, and caresses. You missed him too, but it wasn't such a drastic change because you were already used to spending your nights alone playing video games or watching live streams.

You heard the sound that announced that you had received a message via Discord, and you didn't hesitate to see what it was about. It was nothing more and nobody less than Kayn. He had sent you a selfie of him with Ezreal before going on stage. He had taken it before giving his phone to his personal assistant to keep while he got busy.

“Is your girlfriend going to watch the show?” Ezreal asked him as he stretched backstage.

The loud music, the screams of the excited fans and the Heartsteel’s team running back and forth to make sure everything was okay. Kayn warmed up his muscles before going on stage. It was the last concert of the tour, and he didn’t want to ruin it. He was nervous, not as nervous as at his first concert, where he almost peed himself. Kayn still remembers that day when he saw his beautiful girlfriend in the audience for a split second and almost lost his balance. He wasn't as nervous as that time, but his hands didn't stop sweating.

“Yes, I sent him the ticket code,” Kayn answered, visibly excited.

The alarm on your phone went off. The legend “Heartsteel Concert ” shined on the screen in white letters. You smiled at the phone and closed the League tab to search the page where the event will be broadcast live.

"Hey, I'm leaving," you notified your friends as you reopened the Discord to leave the call.

“Where are you going? It's barely 7 PM,” your friend asked, confused.

You had gotten them used to the fact that you could play with them until 1 in the morning. Plus, they knew you didn't have many friends other than Rhaast and some classmates from your music class. After your confession was a success, the music class teacher asked you to help your classmates often, forcing you to make some friends.

“I'm going to watch Heartsteel’s concert,” you answered.

"Don’t tell me you're one of those crazy Heartbeats," he mocked.

“Yesterday I saw that some Heartbeats attacked another one who had gotten tickets to the last show,” another member of the group commented.

The fandom of Heartsteel grew rapidly every day. The larger the community, the percentage of aggressive fans increases. You saw every day on Twitter how the Heartbeats were fighting with other fandoms, especially with the K/DA fans. The amount of +18 fan art you had seen of your boyfriend fucking Ezreal was surprising. Although you saved a couple to bother him later.

“Well, their music is addictive,” you answered with part of the truth. “But anyway, the concert is almost starting. Bye,” and with that, you left the call.

You typed in the code Kayn had sent you so you could access the livestream. While it started, you went to the kitchen to make yourself some popcorn and grabbed your favorite chips from the pantry. You pulled a blanket off your bed and got comfortable in your chair as the screen announced the countdown.

When the timer reached zero, Paranoia's extended intro began to play. The audience screamed and applauded with excitement that the concert would finally begin after a day full of expectations. Yellow and purple lights flashed on the stage. The main screen showed the music video they had recorded for that song, while the side screens showed the spectacular entrance of the members. Yone and Aphelios were at the mixing console, they looked so focused on doing their job. Then Kayn came in, rapping the first verse.

Two sides to the story, but they never tell my side.

You kicked your feet in your seat when you saw him. He looked as cool as ever. Her pink hair with purple tips swayed against the air. He held the microphone in such a way that he could easily maneuver the change of hand. His navy blue leather jacket gleamed against the light, his crop top hugged his pecs perfectly, and the pants were as tight as they needed to highlight his figure.

"Kayn looks good!" You squealed with excitement without taking your eyes off the screen.

The concert went off normally. Ezreal singing his heart out, K'Sante interacting with fans and Sett rhyming with Kayn. You ate, sang and screamed from the comfort of your room. Kayn would sometimes fix her hair in front of the broadcast camera to proudly show off the earring you shared. You couldn't help but touch the earring in your ear proudly with a smile on your face.

It was the show’s halftime, where the band answered some questions to interact with the audience and let their bodies rest for a couple of minutes. They showed the livestream chat on the main screen behind Yone and Aphelios so they could read what the fans were saying.

“Say hello to our beautiful chat!” Ezreal asked the fans in the auditorium. The fans screamed and raised their lightsticks to the sky. You rushed to write something nice in the chat so that it would appear in the broadcast.

You: Hello! Kayn looks as handsome as ever!

Kayn quickly recognized your user among the hundreds of comments that cascaded across the screen. His cheeks flushed red, and he smiled widely at the compliment. That day he had asked the stylists to fix him as best as possible because he wanted to impress you. The effort was noticeable.

“How about we answer some questions from the chat?” Sett offered.

“That seems fine to me. EzrealLover69 asks: Who would you dedicated this concert to?” Yone announced the question, while Aphelios played a song that sounded like something that would reproduce in TV quiz shows.

“I want to dedicate this concert to my mom. Hello mom, I'm on television!” Sett responded as he waved at one of the cameras.The fans were touched.

“I want to dedicate it to Ernest, our pup,” K'Sante answered as they posted a photo of the beautiful Doberman they had adopted last month. The fans were crazy about the boys' cute comments.

"What about you, Kayn? Who do you want to dedicate this concert to?” Ezreal asked him, since it was his turn to answer.

“This tour has been very important for me because I always loved music and wanted it to be part of my life,” Kayn began while looking at the livestream camera. He paused briefly for the fans to get excited by his response. “I want to dedicate this concert to my haters. This is for those who didn't believe in me, bitches,” he said while flipping off the camera.

“I didn't expect anything less from him,” you thought as you shook your head. The members of Heartsteel laughed at the comment, while the audience went crazy because of his savageness. Kayn was drunk with the praise from his fandom. He felt good in his cloud 9, and no one could bring him down from there.

“Although I also want to dedicate it to someone very important to me… This concert is for my girlfriend,”

You choked on the popcorn you were eating. The band and the audience remained silent before the unexpected comment. A collective “what?!" resounded through the auditorium. Kayn was so comfortable in his cloud that he didn't even realize the mistake he made.

“My girlfriends! All of you! Heartbeats are my girlfriends!” Kayn clarified in an attempt to correct his mistake. Given that, there were two reactions: the fans who did not believe at all and a confused audience by the apparent mistake.

"Kayn, you idiot!" You exclaimed as you stood up from your seat. Your popcorn fell to the ground, as the chances of still being his girlfriend after that.

You walked from side to side across your room to calm your anxiety while Heartsteel featured the next song. “This isn't happening,” you thought in panic. You returned to your desktop to open Twitter and see the reactions of the fans. The clip of Kayn saying “This concert is for my girlfriend” was spreading like wildfire.

Kaynchokeme: MY SWEET BEAN HAS A GIRLFRIEND?!

Ezkaynisreal: If Kayn has a girlfriend, I'm going kms.

Daddyyone: Kayn biased be like: ☠️

ApheliosLover69: Kayn really made a mistake? 🤔

SettMeUp: KAYN IS FUCKING CHEATING ON US 😭

"They're not buying it." You thought out loud as you watched the endless threads of tweets while Kayn sang in your ear on the other tab.

The concert ended with fireworks, screams from the audience, and a shirtless Kayn. When the livestream ended, you sent your boyfriend a message telling him that you needed to talk. You had spent the rest of the concert reading Twitter threads where many fans began to expose theories of who could be the Kayn girlfriend’s and the vast majority were aiming at you.

Several fans found the newspaper reporting the first concert of Heartsteel, which was at your school when the talent show was. The students at your school, who were fans of Kayn since before he became a star, rumored that sometimes they saw him with you. But there was never enough evidence that proved there was something more than a friendship between you.

The only thing that made you look like a couple was a photo that Kayn had uploaded to his Instagram of you and the other members of the production team in the studio. There was nothing wrong with that photo. He had taken the photo of you while listening to Ezreal sing, making you look like you were part of the production. The only thing wrong with that photo was that you could see the earring that you shared, implying that their relationship is important to him, but it did not confirm anything.

Kayn called you on Discord after he showered in his hotel room. It was a video call, so you could see him shirtless and in all his glory. The window was open behind him, so you could see the lights of a darkened city.

“You saw me? It was a great concert!” He said, excited while drying his hair with a white towel. Some of his pink dye was lingering on the towel.

“Yes, it was a great concert… And a great confession! How did it occur to you to say that you have a girlfriend?!” You exclaimed in panic. He sighed and rolled his eyes.

“It was a mistake, okay? I really wanted to say “my girlfriends”, but I saw you in the chat, I thought about you and fuck up. I'm sorry,” Kayn apologized as he put the towel aside. "Just calm down."

“Calm down? There are Twitter threads where they describe how they are going to kidnap me so that you no longer have a girlfriend!” You screamed while you massage your temple to prevent a headache.

“You know how the internet is like, they're just exaggerating. You'll see that it will go away in a few days,” he tried another shot to calm you down.

“Kayn, I'm going back to school tomorrow. I'm not ready for this,” you explained your concern.

You already had problems communicating appropriately with your classmates because of how introverted you were. This was only going to make things worse. You didn't want Kayn's fame, you didn't want to be recognized, you just wanted to play video games and play guitar in the quietness of your room.

“Tomorrow, the crisis department will release an announcement where I officially say that I don't have a girlfriend and that's it, problem solved. You will have your normal life back,” Kayn explained in a calm voice.

"You promise?" You asked with a small voice.

“I promise,” Kayn responded. You could only let out a sigh that relieved your mind.

After a long video call with your boyfriend where you talked about the concert and his plans for when he returned home, you went to sleep with your head full of anxiety. The morning came too quickly. You got ready to go back to school and headed out. You decided to leave the official Heartsteel’s pins and keychains that Kayn had given you in your backpack so that people wouldn't suspect the change.

After some walking, you arrived at school and almost fainted when you saw the scene that was waiting for you. A gaggle of photographers was waiting patiently for you to show up at school. Now you not only have to anticipate your gossiping classmates, but also a bunch of reporters who care too much about the relationship of some teenagers,

You began to debate in your mind whether you should really attend on the first day. “If I enter, I will be bombarded with questions, and they are going to take many photos of me. If I don’t come in, they’re going to be more suspicious that I’m Kayn’s girlfriend.” You took too long to debate, so a paparazzo recognized you immediately.

“There she is!” He exclaimed as he ran towards you while taking photos of you. The others followed suit and quickly cornered you.

“Are you Kayn's girlfriend?!” “When did you start dating?!” “How big is he?!” It was the kind of questions that they bombed while they fired their flashes at you. You tried to cover your face from the cameras, but there were too many of them.

“No comment,” you repeated over and over again with a trembling voice while you were trying to get to the door of your school.

Not only did the paparazzi take photos of you, now your classmates were taking photos and recorded videos of what was happening. This was a nightmare. You wanted to wake up, but guess what? You were already wide awake. One way or another, you made it to the door. Two teachers kept the paparazzi away from you while you entered the building, leaving everything behind… or that's what you thought.

As soon as you stepped foot into the main building, all eyes were on you. You swallowed and just continued on your way to your living room. Several classmates from other classes approached you to ask you the same thing as the paparazzi. You avoided them as best you could, not being able to believe that everything was happening. Yesterday you were a normal girl with interaction problems, and now you were still a normal girl with interaction problems, but now you had a famous boyfriend.

You got to your classroom and everything got worse. Almost your entire class pounced on you to ask about your relationship with Kayn. You couldn’t resist it anymore. This was too much for you. Your body did the only thing your brain could think to do: run away.

Your legs were running as fast as possible to get to the music room. You went inside and locked yourself to prevent anyone else from entering. You threw yourself onto the bench there and took a deep breath in an attempt to calm your breathing. You received a text message and didn't hesitate to see who it was.

Rhaast: Have you arrived at school yet? Are you OK?

“Everything is your fault,” you thought out loud before turning off the phone to ignore the message, but you forgot that Kayn hates it when you leave him on read. Not even a minute passed by when he was already calling you.

“Hello?” You answered reluctantly as you continued to monitor your breathing.

“What happened? Why didn't you answer me?” He asked worriedly on the other end of the line.

“There are not only gossiping classmates. There are paparazzi outside the school.” You heard Kayn sigh in your ear.

“The airport was also full of them when I arrived this morning,” he said. “This is worse than I imagined. I'll pick you up.”

“No! If you come, everyone will think that we are dating,” you warned as you sat properly on the bench to pay attention to the conversation.

“You're right. I'll send someone for you to drive you to the studio. We must talk to the crisis department,” Kayn proposed. You accepted and hung up the call.

After being locked in the music room for half an hour, you saw through the window, hidden behind a curtain, that the paparazzi were still there. They were waiting for you like scavenger birds waiting for you to die so they could tear off your skin. After a while, a luxurious black car arrived and parked in front of the school. “That must be my ride,” you thought, relieved.

After receiving confirmation from Kayn that this car was your escape, you left the school and ran towards the car that was patiently waiting for you. The paparazzi caught up with you to take photos, but they didn't ask any questions. As you closed the door and asked the driver to drive off, you realized that you were not alone in the back seat. There was someone in a gray sweatshirt with the hood up, sunglasses, and a black cap. He was incognito, but what gave him away was that familiar cologne that you knew perfectly well.

"I told you not to come, you idiot!" You hit Kayn’s arm as he took off his costume as they left the paparazzi behind.

“I'm sorry! Is it a sin to make sure my girlfriend is okay?!” He exclaimed before grabbing your wrists to make you stop. You tried to move away from his body, but he wouldn't allow it. “Is this how you receive your handsome boyfriend after 2 months without seeing him?” He asked, offended.

“What are you doing here?” You asked him, tired of fighting.

“No one hurt you?” He ignored your question to inspect you from head to toe. Kayn missed seeing you in the adorable school uniform. He didn't like to wear it when he went to school, but it looked pretty good on you.

“No,” you answered in surrender.

“I missed you,” he whispered before pulling you closer to his lips.

Kissing Kayn was an indescribable experience. Having more years of practice than you, each kiss for you was better than the last one. The only bad thing is that Kayn is not one for simple, short kisses. He gives his all and this would be no exception. You could feel his passion, energy, and focus on you. His hands ran along the curvature of your waist to get more attached to you. Kayn might be the celebrity, but you were the star of the show.

His lips devoured you without remedy. He felt free and happy to have you in his arms again after months of abstinence. He liked to knead your body like he was a baker preparing dough. The softness of your lips and the warmth of your tongue provoked Kayn to want to spend the whole day kissing you.

He grabbed you by your thighs and forced you to get on his lap. His hands adapted to your butt to hold you against it. Kayn is like the tingling in your legs, the gasp that comes from a touch of static energy, or the cold in your mouth when you drink ice water after having a mint. He is the reaction to a radical change. He was rebellious, disastrous, and spontaneous. Kayn never had a plan, he likes to act on instinct. The beast inside him was in control when it came to that kind of thing. Kayn was ready to take off his clothes, but someone stopped him.

“We're here, Mr. Shieda.” The driver said dryly. Colors came to your face when you remembered that someone had been driving this entire time.

“Thank you, Kevin. Let me tip you,” Kayn cleared his throat to forget the awkward moment and took out his wallet.

Riot Records, the largest record label in the country. The reason your friends can't play cool music on their Twitch streams. Riot Records' headquarters were in the heart of the city. It was a modern and vibrant building, with contemporary design and creative spaces such as recording studios, composition areas and equipped offices. It also includes common spaces for socializing, meeting rooms and an art and design studio. The environment influences creativity, the relationships between artists and the process of music production and promotion.

Kayn led you to a conference room where there were two women. A sophisticated blonde in a suit who was in charge of the crisis department at Riot Records and a pink-haired girl, who looked familiar to you, who was in charge of the marketing department for Heartsteel. They sat face to face. You were very nervous and Kayn noticed it right away, so he took your hand lovingly.

“It's a pleasure to finally meet you. My name is Alune, I am Aphelios' sister,” The younger girl introduced herself with a friendly smile. You introduced yourself in the same way but with a weak smile due to your nervousness. "Well, since we already introduced ourselves, I'm afraid to tell you that you should break up." Alune gave them the bad news with a sad expression of being the messenger.

“What?!” You and Kayn exclaimed at the same time in shock, but then Alune laughed.

“You are so cute, obviously you don’t need to break up,” Alune said between laughs. They both relaxed upon hearing that she was just joking. "In fact, we need you to date a little more time together in the public eye."

“Why? Isn't it going to affect Heartsteel’s popularity?” You asked confused.

“Yes and no. It's true that we will lose a few fans, but it's a small investment we're willing to make,” the blonde explained with great precision and elegance.

“Really?” Kayn asked, just as confused as his girlfriend.

“Yes, the fact that you have accepted that you have a girlfriend now is the best thing that could have happened to Heartsteel. Alune opened her laptop, revealing a PowerPoint presentation about what they would talk about at the meeting.

This was the situation. Heartsteel was about to release a new single on February 15, after Valentine's Day, which will be titled: Heartbreaker. The Marketing department's plan is to take advantage of the current relationship of the most rebellious member of Heartsteel with his girlfriend, who came out of nowhere to promote it in the long run.

The plan was as follows: Step 1. Spread the tea of the relationship with the help of the paparazzi. Step 2. Send them on a date from Riot Records on Valentine's Day in a public place. Step 3. Pretend to break up in said public place, creating a total spectacle in front of the cameras and making it obvious that you were over. Step 4: Kayn announces on social media that Heartsteel will release a heartbreak song, hinting that it is about his ex. They were willing to lose some fans in the month that their public relationship lasted because they knew that they would get them back as soon as they break up.

“What do you think? Brilliant, right?” Alune asked after finishing her presentation.

“I don't know…” you commented while you were playing with your fingers as you thought at the situation

If you decided to do all of that, it would mean having to give up your precious privacy for a while. You wanted to do everything you could to help Kayn, but you didn't know if it was the right way to do it. Your boyfriend squeezed your hand gently to get your attention.

"It's okay if you refuse," Kayn whispered to you.

"I'm just scared, that's all…" you confessed, insecure.

“This is a foolproof plan. Many celebrity relationships are like this. They have fake relationships that help the two celebrities become better known,” the blonde explained with a wise air.

“Everything will be fine, you will do well. Valentine's Day will be in a month. You will return to your private life soon,” Kayn assured you as his thumb stroked the torso of your hand softly.

“Also, you can take advantage of this month to go out as much as you want. The more you guys go out, the better. You can go grab some coffee, go to the movies, maybe a motel…” Alune hinted, but the blonde nudged her to keep her quiet.

You smiled at that. The couple exchanged a knowing look at the idea. “Well, it wouldn't hurt to have a month of normal dating without repercussions,” you thought. If you were going to have to live your life in the public eye for a while anyway, what's better than to make the most of it?

“That sounds good.” You agreed to participate in this advertising stunt.

Kayn and you hang out together the entire month, like lovey doves in their nest. Kayn picked you up at school almost every day. His extravagant car caught the attention of your classmates and killed your friend with envy. He always kissed you, opened the door for you, and took you to eat at your favorite restaurants.

The paparazzi did all the work of announcing to the world that Kayn did have a girlfriend, and it was you. The Internet was filled with photos of you kissing in different places, walking down the street hand in hand, trying to avoid cameras, and sharing desserts in public. It was strange to see yourself on Twitter Trends. You enjoyed spending time with Kayn, but every date meant sacrificing a part of yourself for the entertainment of the public eye. The only thing that allowed you to kiss Kayn in broad daylight with paparazzi hovering around you was that it was one of the few ways you could support his career.

Valentine's Day was quickly approaching. Alune planned the last date. Kayn would pick you up, take you to a fancy restaurant, fight over dessert, and then you would throw the cake they ordered in his face. You wouldn't know if you could do it, but you had to try to do your best. You were not a person who gets angry easily, so you were afraid of not knowing how to act accordingly.

Alune sent you a red dress with pearl accessories. They looked expensive, so you were very careful not to ruin them. Watched some tutorials on YouTube to do your hair and makeup. It took you all morning to prepare, but you managed to highlight your best version. At dinner time, Kayn picked you up as always.

“Hi gorgeous. I hadn't seen you around here before, what's your name?” He asked you as he looked at you from head to toe, pretending you were another girl. You blushed as he took your hand to kiss your knuckles.

“I thought you had a girlfriend,” you played along.

“Yes, I have a girlfriend and I respect her a lot,” he responded with a playful smile as he pulled you closer by the waist.

“If you respected her, you wouldn't be flirting with me,” you frowned.

“Believe me, I respect her so much that I will do everything to you that I can't do to her, beautiful,” he purred into your ear before placing a kiss on your cheek.

You were shocked at his response. You didn't have anything clever you could top it off with. Kayn moved down to your neck to kiss it and gently nibble on your skin. Your body reacted to the tickling. Your boyfriend smiled as he saw you smile at the feeling.

“You always look beautiful, but today you are showing it off,” Kayn said with a smile plastered on his face.

Kayn drove without discretion, as always, while you watched the landscape pass in front of you. The nerves were consuming you inside, but you pretended everything was fine as you hummed some songs Kayn had on his playlist. You were happy and sad that this would be his last date in the public eye. He quickly noticed that you seemed to be a bit upset.

“Is something wrong?” he asked you, holding my thigh with his right hand while maneuvering the steering wheel with his left hand.

“I'm nervous. I don't know if I can do it,” you said before sighing in an attempt to relax.

“It will be like a normal date. Only this time, instead of saying goodbye with kisses, it will be with a bang. It will be fun!” Kayn explained, trying to cheer you up.

"I don't want to end our date with a bang,” you whined.

“C’mon! How many times have you threatened my mom for sucking at League?” He asked.

“But that's different. It's in the privacy of my room, no one can see me there,” you responded.

"Just think about all the times I've made you angry, and you'll see that the madness will come out on its own," Kayn said before patting your head.

You rolled your eyes and returned your gaze to the window. Kayn made it sound so simple, but it was because he was already used to that lifestyle. You wished you could adapt like him. Be as outgoing as him. That you didn't care about anything like him. But you weren't him, you were just you, and that's okay. You would get out of this your way, for your sake and Kayn's.

As soon as you arrived at the restaurant that the marketing department had chosen for you, the fierce pack of gossip-hungry paparazzi surrounded you mercilessly. Kayn completely ignored them and took you out of the car like a true gentleman. The reporters shouted questions that you couldn’t understand among all the noise. They were both instructed not to say anything, so that’s what they did.

The restaurant was illuminated by soft golden light that reflected off the ivory walls and crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. The tables were elegantly dressed with white tablecloths and covered with delicate china and sparkling crystal stemware. The soft hum of live music filled the air, complementing the lively conversation of the diners.

The date started well. They talked about their future plans, drank luxurious drinks, and the appetizer was delicious. If it weren't for the paparazzi and the publicity stunt, this would have been the best date in the world. They had started well, but they knew it would end very badly. Anxiety-filled thoughts invaded your mind again. You tried to push them away to enjoy the good things of the date, but time was passing, and you had to ruin it soon.

During the conversation, Kayn noticed that you remained somewhat distant. He reached for your hand that was subtly resting on the table to get your attention. You snapped out of your thoughts to focus on him. I smile at you and ask you how much you were thinking about.

"I was just thinking how sad it is that we're going to break up on our first Valentine's Day together," you whispered so only he could hear you.

“There will be more in the future. I promise. For now, let's focus on fixing this situation,” he said before kissing your knuckles with delight.

Since this was an Italian restaurant, they both ordered two different types of pasta that they decided to share. Kayn was trying to distract you with the pleasant conversation and caresses under the table so that you would stop thinking about the inevitable that was about to happen.

After finishing eating, the inevitable happened: the dessert they didn't order arrived at their table. It was a small cake for two decorated with strawberries and lots of cream, the perfect cake to make a mess of. You felt something brush against your legs. You looked under the tablecloth, it was a note from Kayn on a napkin. “Scold me for pretending to go on a date with another girl to make you jealous. I deserve the punishment,” you read in your mind.

You still remembered it. The reason you almost gave up on confessing to Kayn at the time. Since you thought about it, you never scold him about it. You were so happy that he was yours that you forgot to be upset with him.

“Who is Rachel?” You asked him. Starting with the performance.

“A friend,” he answered without further ado.

“Don’t lie to me! Do you think I am stupid?!” You exclaimed as you slammed the table so that all the other diners could see it.

The audience watched the scene carefully, some were recording it and others wondered where the employees were to pick them apart in case things escalated. What they didn't know is that Alune had paid the restaurant to let them do their little scene without interruptions. You were drawing out anger from a deep place in your stomach that you didn't even know existed. Kayn's eyes widened. He didn't expect you to get violent.

“What the hell is wrong with you?! You are crazy!” Kayn screamed with a frown.

“Kayn Shieda! Did you sleep with her, yes or no?!” You shouted so everyone could hear their conversation.

“She is just a friend…” he said while rubbing his temple to avoid a migraine.

"Yes or no, asshole?!" You exclaimed as if you were playing League with your friends in the privacy of your room. Kayn remained silent, he did not know what to answer. By this point, the other diners were wondering what was going on. You leaned back in the chair and pretended to cry. "Is she better than me?" You whispered between fake sobs.

"Hey, if I tell you the truth, you won’t get angry?" Kayn asked quietly. You nodded as you wiped away your non-existent tears. “Yes, I slept with her, but it was only once!” he confessed with shame.

The diners gasped in surprise in unison at the great revelation. You smiled weakly. You couldn't believe you were doing what you were going to do. You took the strawberry and cream cake and smashed it on his face. The cream shot everywhere, and you ruined your boyfriend's thin black shirt.

"Fuck you, Kayn! Lose my number! We are so done!” You exclaimed hysterically.

You ran away from the restaurant. The paparazzi rushed at you again to explain what had just happened. The only response you gave them was the middle finger. You hoped you wouldn't have to deal with them again for a long time. You got into the “taxi” that Alune had sent so that you could escape from there and return home safely.

A satisfying smile appeared on your face. Finally, everything was about to end soon. You would return to your normal life and Kayn will be able to continue feeding his fans' bad boy illusion. Your cell phone was ringing like crazy from messages from your friends, who had also inevitably found out that you were dating Kayn, asking how you were doing. You turned off your phone to recharge your social battery. Tomorrow, you would tell them everything.

When the driver turned onto the wrong street, you started to worry. You approached his seat to find out where exactly he was taking you, but he only said that he was following Kayn's orders. You didn't want to doubt his work, and you returned to your seat.

"Kayn told you to bring me to school?" You asked confused.

"Yes, he told me you would know where to go," he answered kindly.

“Thank you, Kevin. Have a good night,” you said goodbye as you got out of the vehicle.

Your heels clicked against the clean floor of the empty hallways. The front door was open, so you had no problem getting in. You felt strange being the only person there during the night. You were like a ghost in pain, wandering around the place until you reached your favorite destination. You were surprised to see a light on in the music room. You opened the door.

“Happy Valentine's Day, beautiful,” Kayn congratulated you with a large bouquet of red roses.

You blushed at the unexpected surprise. You gladly received the beautiful flowers and admired the place. It still looked like the music room, the only difference was that now there was a table with candles and a plate with your favorite sweets. It was intimate, private and romantic. It was better than the date at the restaurant. This was the best date in the world.

“How did you get here before me? When did you plan this?” You asked, not being able to believe the effort he had made for you.

“I ran off like four traffic lights to get here so I could change,” Kayn responded as he guided you to the table to sit down. He pulled out the chair for your comfort and, once seated, gently pushed you towards the table. “I had planned to do something else for Valentine's Day, but my big mouth ruined everything. Although, I wasn't going to let myself ruin another important thing for both of us, so I thought about this,” he explained as he sat down at the table.

“You're crazy,” you joked.

“Crazy for you,” he took the matter seriously.

Kayn looked deep into your eyes. He wanted to make sure you understood that he would do anything for you and that there was no one like you. You were his world, his muse, his girl and his greatest desire. They didn't need words to express their feelings for each other in a moment of complicity and infinite love.

Even though there were delicious sweets on the table, Kayn only wanted your sweet lips against his. He kept you close to his body, his hands molded to your cheeks so you wouldn't run away, and his fragrance intoxicated your nose. You couldn't imagine yourself with anyone else but him, and your kisses made it clear to him.

“I love you,” Kayn whispered between kisses.

“I love you too,” you smiled against his lips.

---

Masterlist.

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duckchu · 6 months

Note

Hiii :3 I'll just copy paste the ask for you.

If I may, can I request something with Phel and a male lhotlan partner? Perhaps a first date or introducing to the heartsteel gang? Thanks in advance~

Aphelios x make Ihotlan reader

Reader kinda has crow tendencies in one part, but that doesn't mean he is one :3

Hope you're happy with it

I seriously love this gif

You and Aphelios were a thing for half a year already, he introduced you to Alune some time ago and while the rest of his band knew about you, they didn't meet you yet. And that was about to change.

You two approached the groups apartment, Aphelios fixing up your feathers, which made you blush a little

You were pretty stressed, while it was only his band and his sister really likes you, so where's the issue?

You two finally entered the flat, surprisingly most of the band already in the living room.

You looked around, he told you about the half vastayan guy, Sett. But there was also a pink-purple haired guy, looking bored already. There was also the green haired one, who looked at you excited. The last one, who just entered, was Yone, the stoic producer.

- Um...Hi...- you said, voice shacking

The pink haired one laughed. He laughed in your face

- Jeez, Aphelios where do you find those cute ones?~- You felt your boyfriend sneak a hand onto your waist, playing with your feather

Yo didn't expect your boyfriends bandmates to start flirting with you the moment you arrived...You and Aphelios sat down on the couch and you tried to get to know the other guys better

Honestly, you really took a liking to Ezreal, not because he wore shiny things, but because he wore a lot of shiny things

But then finally the last person arrived.

- K'Sante- the big man introduced himself to you, almost breaking your hand when shaking it

- Hey, Phel, maybe bring your boyfriend to the shooting next week? - Kayn joked around but everyone seemed to found the idea good

You were worried you were gonna bother them, but why not? You wanted to support Aphelios, maybe even bring something for the band?

Later on you all decided to watch a movie. You went into the kitchen with Aphelios to make popcorn. While it was microwaving, he wrote you a note in the notebook you always carried with you so he could 'talk' to you that way

"I'm glad they like you"

You looked at him and smiled

- I'm glad too-

#league of legends #heartsteel #league of legends x reader #heartsteel x reader #lol #lol x reader #heartsteel kayn #aphelios #heartsteel k'sante #heartsteel aphelios #heartsteel ezreal #heartsteel yone #heartsteel sett #aphelios x reader

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goldnhourwrites · 5 months

Text

Combined Headcanons (just for fun!)

continuation of my Heartsteel College AU headcanons post!! feel free to use this for shipping purposes or whatever, I tried to put them in some kind of order by person!

Sett and Yone had to take a physiology class together once and Sett brought a bunch of homemade cookies at the end of the term. Ever since Sett learned Yone was a permanently exhausted pre-med student he has made an effort to bring food to office hours/study groups to share with him

K'Sante and Yone took an 8AM lecture together once and bonded because they were the only two people who were ever both on time and fully awake for it

Ezreal shows Yone the coolest places to take walks on campus when Yone needs a break from work, like cool public artwork and parks he’s found nearby

Yone enjoys reading the poetry Aphelios publishes under his pseudonym, even though Aphelios doesn’t know it

Yone longs to be more involved in the music side of campus and Aphelios encourages him to pick up an instrument again. Yone goes to every orchestra, jazz band, and choir performance he can

Yone has gone to one of Kayn's band’s shows and occasionally listens while Kayn practices guitar

Alune works at the café where Yone gets his coffee most mornings

Yone and Alune also study together occasionally since Alune’s bio classes sometimes overlap with Yone’s pre-med ones, and they share notes when they take the same class

Sett and K'Sante met by always being at the gym at the weirdest times (like 6AM before a practice meet) until they each went "hey, I should learn this guy's name since I see him 3 times a week"

Once they’ve become friends, Sett and K'Sante start going to each other's home competitions and hyping each other up

Ezreal has gone to a party at Sett's fraternity where Sett practically had to carry him out at midnight for being too drunk (he didn't drink a lot, he's just a lightweight)

Sett and Aphelios didn't really "meet" before Heartsteel, but Aphelios goes to Alune's a capella performances and sometimes he sees Sett there during crossover/multi-group events

Sett and Kayn spar for fun sometimes because Kayn used to do martial arts before college, and they occasionally trade fighting techniques from different disciplines

Sett will model for Alune's fashion projects. He knows a bit about how to sew, so he'll occasionally help her with tailoring things

Ezreal and K'Sante will act for Alune if she needs someone for a video or photoshoot

K'Sante met Ezreal by asking him for help with a source for an anthropology project while Ezreal was working as a librarian, and Ezreal kept offering him more and more books to use

K'Sante and Aphelios have crossed paths in the music department while practicing after classes. K’Sante learned a bit of sign language so he could talk with Aphelios more easily

Kayn doesn't dance with a group, but he likes going to the dance shows and finds out that some of his favorite dances were K'Sante's choreography. Eventually, after Heartsteel forms, K’Sante teaches Kayn how to dance hip-hop (they both love it)

Aphelios has had to help Ezreal find his way out when he got lost in the computer science building while he was looking for a cool new study spot

In return, Ezreal has had to wake Aphelios up because it was midnight and he’d fallen asleep in the library and Ezreal needed everyone to leave so he could close

Ezreal and Kayn both joined the parliamentary debate club their freshman year and immediately hated each other's guts. They often sided against each other for the sake of getting to argue with each other and not because they actually supported the positions they were debating

Ezreal and Kayn have become partners in crime by repeatedly seeing each other in places they're not allowed to go ("You're not supposed to be in here!" "Neither are you!"). They occasionally cross paths in places neither of them should reasonably be able to get to (like the rooftops of a tall building) via Ezreal’s teleportation and Kayn’s wall-phasing and have agreed to not tell on each other

Alune and Ezreal were in a play together once. They’re both the right amount dramatic to get along with each other, and Aphelios met Ezreal when Alune was hanging out with him after a rehearsal

Kayn and Aphelios have both made things in the jewelry studio - Kayn making spiky silver earrings and rings and Aphelios making delicate necklaces

Aphelios and Kayn took a painting class together one term and saw each other in the studio often. They still occasionally see each other at figure drawing sessions

Kayn plays a bunch of video games and will always playtest Aphelios's game projects and give him feedback

Aphelios and Alune live in the same area of campus and are often seen walking home together. Alune is trying to teach Phel how to skateboard, but he’s committed to biking everywhere

Aphelios and Alune always go to each other’s performances (with permission), since they both have a bit of social anxiety and it helps to know someone is in the crowd supporting them

Alune and Kayn have been to a skate park together and Kayn is teaching Alune how to skateboard

#heartsteel #heartsteel headcanons #heartsteel yone #heartsteel sett #heartsteel k'sante #heartsteel ezreal #heartsteel aphelios #heartsteel kayn #heartsteel alune #not even gonna try to tag every ship #use these for whatever u want #i love them A Lot!!

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writerblue275 · 25 days

Text

Current WIPs (updating list)

Requested WiPs (will generally work on in order they’re sent in):

Heartsteel members with a Vastayan partner Headcanons: I’ve been doing research so I have a better understanding of the Vastaya!

NSFW A-Z with True Damage!Yasuo Headcanon: 😲😲 What’s this? Me stepping into other parts of the LoL Musicverse??? (Lol I know I do like almost all Heartsteel stuff but I am a fan of the other musicverse groups!) I’m gonna do my best to do this request justice for the younger sword DJ brother. (Funny that I haven’t even done one of these yet for Heartsteel!Yone.)

Heartsteel with Reader!Partner that has an obsessive habit Headcanons: So this is super relatable to me as someone with severe anxiety that causes me to have such habits. That being said, I’m going to take a bit to write this one since I know this can be a very sensitive topic. While I wholeheartedly think mental health is something that must be talked about, I want to cover this topic in a way that still allows for people to find my writing to be somewhat of a safe space.

Dad!Heartsteel Yone Headcanon: Specifically GIRL DAD!YONE!!!! Oh I am SO EXCITED FOR THIS ONE. I initially saw Yone as a boy dad, but the more I thought about it I was just like….. “Nah this Anon is totally right. I NEED to write Yone with at least one daughter! That’s too cute of a thought.”

Dad!Heartsteel Aphelios Headcanon: This I’m changing up from the pregnant!reader format I’ve been doing for the others. @milksuu (who I’m a big fan of) has such an EXCELLENT one of these for Aphelios already and I really don’t think I could/would add or change much of anything. So for this we’re doing Aphelios with a partner (reader) who is already a single parent!

NSFW Reader distracting Heartsteel!Yone to get attention when it’s fucking late and he’s working.

Heartsteel comforting reader when upset/frustrated. (Both requested and not)

Non-requested WiPs (will work on as inspired):

Base-lore!Aphelios and Lunari Healer!Reader: I have the concept written down but I need to make an outline and such. I think this might be my next multi-chapter fic?

Something with Base-lore!Yone: This is just a brewing concept at the moment. A little angsty?

NSFW One-shot sequel to The One That Can Break My Heart (My FWB/Base-lore!Ezreal multi-chapter fic): 👀 Like I said in one of the chapters, I enjoy this universe and want to go back to it. Maybe my first attempt at writing smut. Lord help us all.

Kisses with Heartsteel Headcanons: I’m keeping the requested first kiss headcanon to just first kisses. This is more kisses in general.

Heartsteel with a fellow musically-gifted partner Headcanons: Listen as someone who was professionally trained in singing (pro choir and voice lessons), as well as took piano and viola lessons, I’m so excited to write this??

Heartsteel cuddle Headcanons

What it’s like to sleep with Heartsteel Headcanons: As in literally sleep in a bed with each member. SFW!

Some Headcanons for Arcane!Viktor: I haven’t written for him NEARLY enough.

I hope you’re looking forward to what is coming. I know I am! ☺️💙

#writerblue275 works in progress #my writing #requests #original stuff #will update

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infinite-xerath · 2 years

Text

Xeraths Taunts for Every Champion (Updated)

Aatrox: “You seek oblivion? I shall grant it to you!”

Ahri: “Your empathy holds you back.”

Akali: “Your petty tricks will not hide you from me!”

Akshan: “You toy with powers well beyond your understanding, thief.”

Alistar: “Do you seek Noxus’s destruction? Then join me, minotaur!”

Amumu: “Let your sorrow give way to rage, cursed child!”

Anivia: “Death and rebirth… A hollow eternity.”

Annie: “You have much potential, child; allow me to temper your flames.”

Aphelios: “Two souls, both bound by a lifetime of pain…”

Ashe: “Unite the Freljord? I shall unite ALL RUNETERRA under my heel!”

Aurelion Sol: “I have surpassed the sun you forged; now I shall surpass you!”

Bard: “You witnessed my Ascension; now, witness my triumph!”

Bel’Veth: “The world will be remade... In MY image.”

Blitzcrank: “So this is what passes for a golem? How primitive…”

Brand: “Before me, you are but a spark!”

Braum: “I will shatter your shield, body, AND spirit.”

Caitlyn: “You would challenge me with a mere toy? How amusing.”

Camille: “The most efficient way to kill? Any method that sends a strong warning…”

Cassiopeia: “You came to the tomb in search of power. Congratulations, you have found me.”

Cho’Gath: “I will teach the Void the true meaning of terror.”

Corki: “The skies offer you no protection from ME, yordle!”

Darius: “Noxus values strength, but you know nothing of TRUE power!”

Diana: “The sun, the moon… I shall usurp both!”

Dr. Mundo: “A swift death is the only cure for your insanity.”

Draven: “You are just a man; there is NOTHING remarkable about you.”

Ekko: “Try as many times as you like, child; you will NEVER overcome me!”

Elise: “You are just another insect to be crushed beneath my heel!”

Evelynn: “I am above such petty temptations.”

Ezreal: “Ne’Zuk’s gauntlet? How kind of you to bring it to me, boy.”

Fiddlesticks: “Now, even fear itself shall tremble before me!”

Fiora: “A sword? Hahahahaha! You would challenge me with nothing but a sword?”

Fizz: “Your tricks are an annoyance, nothing more.”

Galio: “Magic gives you life, yet it can also be your undoing!”

Gangplank: “You are but another warlord to be brought to heel.”

Garen: “Demacia’s fear and ignorance of magic shall be its undoing.”

Gnar: “You would make for an interesting pet…”

Gragas: “I rose above mortality; you sank into the depths of depravity.”

Graves: “Foreign weapons are laughably mundane.”

Gwen: “A child’s fantasy brought to life, yet to be tainted by the world’s cruelty…”

Hecarim: “Bring your legions, and I shall put them all to rest!”

Heimerdinger: “Science reveals only a fraction of reality’s true nature.”

Illaoi: “I shall lay waste to all false idols, and any that would worship them!”

Irelia: “Your technique BARELY counts as magic.”

Ivern: “I do not adhere to the laws of nature; I am above them!”

Janna: “They call you ‘guardian,’ but you cannot protect them from ME.”

Jarvan IV: “Another golden monarch to dethrone…”

Jax: “Icathia, Shurima, both long-dead… Yet your folly remains.”

Jayce: “They call you the greatest mind of this era… I am unimpressed.”

Jhin: “Your ‘art’ is as fleeting as your life.”

Jinx: “Tear it all down, girl, so I may build my empire atop the rubble!”

Kai’Sa: “The Void is a parasite; one I shall rid from this world!”

Kalista: “Azir is the betrayer; I took only what I was owed!”

Karma: “Your think yourself enlightened? You are deluded.”

Karthus: “I will silence your chorus, Deathsinger!”

Kassadin: “It is but a matter of time before your will breaks, Void Walker…”

Katarina: “Your sister proved her worth. Can you do the same?”

Kayle: “I alone am fit to render judgement!”

Kayn: “To think the mighty Rhaast could be suppressed by a mere boy…”

Kennen: “You may call the lightning, but I am the coming storm!”

Kha’Zix: “You change and shift your form, but I have Ascended mine!”

Kindred: “What have I to fear from death, if Azir so easily escaped your grasp?”

Kled: “A rodent on a drakalops? Is this some manner of jest?”

Kog’Maw: “Let your father come; I will crush it as well!“

LeBlanc: “I once relied on petty deceptions as well, but no longer.”

Lee Sin: “Blind and ignorant, just like all mortals…”

Leona: “I will fell the Sun as many times as it takes!”

Lissandra: “Tell me more of these ‘Watchers,’ witch.”

Lucian: “The Sentinels played their part. They are no longer needed.”

Lulu: “Your magic is potent, but it will not be enough to stop me!”

Lux: “Your light will fade, as will Demacia’s.”

Malphite: “Not even the grandest mountain can stand against me!”

Malzahar: “You are not the Void’s prophet; you are its puppet.”

Maokai: “You seek liberation, spirit? I can grant it to you…”

Master Yi: “Look upon me with those eyes, swordsman, and your mind will shatter!”

Miss Fortune: “You seek the power to crush your rival? I can grant it to you, captain…”

Mordekaiser: “Yet another dead emperor, clinging to the remnants of his reign!”

Morgana: “If you do not desire the power given to you, I will gladly take it!”

Nami: “You are FAR from your element…”

Nautilus: “I shall send you back to the depths from which you came, titan!”

Neeko: “You cannot grasp even a FRACTION of my essence!”

Nidalee: “Neither human nor beast can stand against me!”

Nihla: “You are but a demon’s slave. How can you hope to challenge me?”

Nocturne: “I am a man made a god; you are nothing more than a fleeting dream!”

Nunu and Willump: “The power to shape dreams, wasted on a mere child…”

Olaf: “It is the right of gods to be remembered forever; you are but a man.”

Orianna: “You escaped death, in exchange for a hollow life.”

Ornn: “They say you forged the world, but now, I shall reforge it!”

Pantheon: “You challenge me again, warrior? This time, I will finish what I began!”

Poppy: “I will create a world with no need for heroes.”

Pyke: “You are but a puppet. Where is your master hiding?”

Qiyana: “Naive child, I alone have the power to conquer this world!”

Quinn: “A mere mortal has no place among the heavens!”

Rakan: “Love is but a fool’s delusion…”

Rammus: “The fabled protector of the desert… Let us put your legend to the test!”

Rek’Sai: “Slaying the Burrower will only further solidify my rule…”

Renata: “Wealth is nothing more than the ILLUSION of power!”

Rengar: “Your form resembles the Sunborn… But that is your only commonground.”

Riven: “Your will is as fragile as your blade.”

Rumble: “What manner of absurdity is this!?”

Ryze: “I alone am fit wield the World Runes!”

Sejuani: “Ride against me, northerner, and ride to your demise!”

Senna: “Neither alive, nor dead… Is there even a word for one such as you?”

Sett: “Perhaps you might entertain me in Nerimazeth’s amphitheater…”

Shaco: “You have run amok too long; now, I shall pull your strings…”

Shen: “I am neither mortal nor spirit; I am so much more!”

Shyvana: “Where others see an abomination, I see potential…”

Singed: “Alchemy is but a crude imitation of magic.”

Sion: “I tamed the Butcher’s fury; you are no threat to me!”

Sivir: “I shall finish what I began so long ago, and erase all traces of your bloodline!”

Skarner: “So the legends of the Brackern are true… Where are your kin hiding?”

Sona: “Magic to bolster music? How amusing…”

Soraka: “Whatever destiny is written in the stars, I shall carve out my own!”

Swain: “I have heard tales of your brilliance, but any man who stands against ME is a fool.”

Sylas: “We have much in common…”

Tahm Kench: “All that I desire, I shall take for myself!”

Taliyah: “You are gifted, child, but you cannot evade me forever!”

Talon: “So you are the Serpent’s brother? Your sister has served me well…”

Taric: “Your elegance only masks your fragility.”

Teemo: “Run and hide, yordle, as your kind have always done!”

Tristana: “If you would imitate mortal soldiers, then you may die like one!”

Trundle: “So there are trolls in the north as well? You are not so different from your desert kin…”

Tryndamere: “The rage of man is nothing before the rage of a god!”

Twisted Fate: “You are a mockery of a mage!”

Twitch: “Begone from my sight, vermin!”

Udyr: “Bring as many spirits as you desire; it will not be enough!”

Urgot: “I have become power incarnate; you merely became a pest!”

Varus: “The fearsome Varus, reduced to tainted flesh… Pathetic.”

Vayne: “Do you truly hunt the shadows, or merely hide in them?”

Veigar: “You think yourself a rival? How amusing…”

Vel’Koz: “Even your mind would shatter with the knowledge I possess!”

Vi: “You are a simpleton, in the truest sense of the word!”

Viego: “You are no king. You are nothing more than a petulant child!”

Viktor: “I alone am the height of evolution, metal man!”

Vladimir: “Your blood magics are fruitless against ME, fool.”

Volibear: “In that past, I conjured the storm; now, I shall tame it!”

Warwick: “Such a lowly existence… I shall put your out of your misery, beast!”

Wukong: “Training alone will not overcome the weaknesses of flesh.”

Xayah: “All peoples are equal before a god.”

Xin Zhao: “If you would die for your king, then I shall oblige you!”

Yasuo: “You are but a breeze before a storm!”

Yorick: “Do you, too, know of the Oasis…?”

Yuumi: “Such a powerful relic, wielded by a mere cat? This will not stand.”

ZAC: “You are the result of mere mortals playing at being gods!”

Zed: “I am no stranger to darkness; I do not fear your magic.”

Zeri: “You have much to learn, child, but I could unlock your true potential…”

Ziggs: “Come, yordle. Let us see who can reap the most destruction!”

Zilean: “I shall pry the secrets of time from you, and Ascend even higher!”

Zoe: “The power of a god, in the hands of a child!? The Aspects are truly fools!”

Zyra: “So you are the source of the infestation? Then I shall burn your corruption at the roots.”

#Taunts

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tealbeats-archived · 3 months

Text

@deadn30n | cont.

It took a lot of self induced pressure for him to admit something like this—his personal fears boiling within his core and pumping through his veins—the fear of abandonment & rejection something he struggled to over come. In situations like this, Ezreal too would keep a distance; break away before he got too close; analyze the other to see if they would stay or if he had to break it off before they could to keep the damage to himself minimal.

But Yone was different.

Everything felt so natural. Sure, Ezreal had a little bit of a hard time when it we to Yone’s consistent working—but over all, he was comfortable. He felt as though he didn’t have to walk on eggshells all the time; that Yone actually cared about him—maybe even loved him too. That was what made Ezreal take that leap; that’s what gave him the courage to admit something to the producer that he wanted to for what felt like a long time, now.

What a mistake that was.

His head tilts ever so slightly as he analyzes Yone’s expression, his own smile from his spoken revelation on how he felt now faltering as the dread started to creep up from the back of his mind, like tendrils slithering across his brain and threatening to wrap around and squeeze—whispering the words of self doubt that always plagued Ezreal in these sort of situations. Yone looked…disgusted, at Ezreal’s words; that’s what the smaller thought anyway, and he he could feel something grip at his lungs in tandem; causing the air to leave past his lips shake and tremble.

Yone can’t even look at him and the smaller can feel a weight on himself that threatens him to collapse. It’s hard to breathe—it just keeps getting more difficult. He can hear his own heartbeat in his ears in a way that strikes fear through him—like something was going to kill him right then and there. A primal fear, but fear all the same.

The tone of voice that Yone uses with him is something he had never felt before. Icy; cold—has he ever talked to him this way before? Ezreal couldn’t recall. Though he was more focused on the words that were said which felt like a blade had pierced right through his heart; causing citrine gaze to widen and water. He felt as though if he had brought his hand to his chest, he could really feel blood ooze from a wound that didn’t exist.

“Is…That all I’ve been to you?” Words are murmured as his head tips forward to hang for a moment; droplets hitting the ground, though the fear and the pain that had started to consume him had ignited into a fire; which could have possibly been worse as it battled ferociously with his other emotions. “…An easy lay? That’s it?”

He’d never felt so used in his life. Sure, he didn’t know about the horrors that plagued Yone—but perhaps that was part of the problem. If he knew, he would understand,—maybe he wouldn’t feel so used—or so thrown away.

“What the hell is wrong with you, man!? You—you lead me on! Who DOES that!? I thought you were—You were better then that!” He’s yelling—not uncommon for such a loud one like him, but Ezreal wasn’t one to yell out of anger very often. It was different from his usual boisterous behaviour. His voice had cracked and wavered; his feet took him steps back; his breathing ragged in a way of panic—of fear.

Abandoned, again. It was a vicious cycle.

‘They left you because they didn’t care about you.’

‘He doesn’t care about you either.’

It’s a bitter taste in his mouth—Ezreal felt like he was going to throw up. How could Yone do this to him? Ezreal’s feelings were always so obvious, he thought, without having to say the words outright. Ezreal trusted him...

What a mistake, mistake, mistake—

“H—how could you DO this to me!?”

#deadn30n #𝐏𝐎𝐏⭑𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑 𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐂𝐄! — | in character.#𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐀 𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐇𝐈𝐓 𝐖𝐎𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑! — | v.main ( heartsteel )#literally crying rn

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villains4hire · 4 months

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☠ ― Send '🗣' + a Briar to hear the mun's opinion about that character.

//While I did quit League recently because Vanguard is coming soon, I've played the game since near S2 to S3, taking a year break here and there to return to the game. As there were some states of the game where it was pretty unplayable. So I'll be giving both ingame, lore, and aesthetic along with community reception.

Regarding their kit:

//I think it was overtuned toward lethality once overbuffed and fair that people thought it was broken, they gave no real scaling toward building hp or resistances until recently to Briar with patch 14.2 other than on her E for max health. I think overall it's balanced other than maybe nerfing either the range of her ult or the concept taken as mostly just of running faster rather for an ult with stat roids with an unbreakable berserk when someone in a certain radius is low, than say giving a global gap-closer with dmg and stats roids- more akin to a mix of Mundo and Warwick. As I feel as the champ can be balanced since you can kite her and break her out of berserk fairly easy outside her ult, but I question the longevity of her kit, as it was a good move to make such a strong concept have tons of counterplay, as Briar as shown in higher levels of play such as Challenger or Masters does get shutdown by players who know what they're doing. So it avoids the Olaf Scenario of her being able to rundown anyone at least, but she is a low elo terror. But I think overall the problems to Briar lays in the current meta and items rather than the champ itself as anti-heal doesn't do that much to her along with champs like Vlad. So maybe make anti-heal a bit more effective and incentivize her to build less damage/tone down the items as it's League of one-shots or never die currently with the new season before I quit.

I think overall though if I was to just go off of things, the kit is fine considering the powercreep of the game. She feels like the Warwick rework I wanted instead in a few ways, though WW was a good rework, I just like this better.

Regarding their lore:

//I have no real complaints, the cinematic was good. The voice lines are great, people like her a lot and she's developed a strong following already. Simple, but effective. It overall didn't add too much to the world, but it was a nice breath of fresh air, as essentially they took old Jinx and kind of reworked it as a concept to be more gremlin/gobliny I think. I would say it added more lore to The Black Rose than there was actually of Briar if I'm gonna be honest.

Regarding their aesthetic:

//Overall great, cute and fun though the pillory is a bit goofy and her looks were almost a little TOO anime for me. Which on the topic, addressing some concerns to be fair, while I see where some people are coming from for her splash art. It's pretty clear that she's nowhere comparable to say Annie, Zoe, Milo or Ekko and Ezreal even in terms of body-type, face and build and I doubt Riot would expose her feet like that considering their community without making her an adult, even confirming as much themselves. I think I was bit a surprised at some peoples' reactions to her considering her ingame model is more built or taller most of the time- even compared to commonly accepted adult women champs. I think it might just be the angle and then face on the splash art but I think Riot just wanted a new goblin-energy esque girl than something weird, but there are grown women and men in the real world who have softer faces. As not to be mean, but I feel like a lot of League players irl don't see other grown adults for a good chunk of them to begin with and how people are built and how varied we can be. Then combo'd with the angle and anime feel of the character with the larger eyes and being goblin-esque is why there's some saying what they are. I think people are fair in feeling as they do, but when she's taller than say Evelynn ingame, the biggest thot in the game and thicker than her model wise? There's some p unfair things being slung around I've seen, but that's just part of the community being terrible imo.

#ooc #anon #answered #//I waited a while to answer this one since I do have a lot of thoughts on her #save

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blackrosesmatron · 6 months

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❝ What's our relationship , exactly ? ❞

LeBlanc had a bad feeling that it would happen sooner or later. Still, there she was annoyed when the moment arrived.

LeBlanc dropped her phone and turned her entire body to his direction, eyes locked on his while she took a deep breath prior to start shattering the boy's heart. "You know exactly what we are, Ezreal. I never pretended that we were anything more than this. If you prefer, you can even call us 'friends with benefits,' but there is nothing else." He was a nice boy, it did hurt her a bit to break down his dreams. Still, if she didn't cut it right then and there, things would only get worse for him.

"I asked if you were okay with it, and you agreed. You have every right to change your mind, and if you do, we don't have to be anything at all. I will leave you be and follow my own way, and I wish you the best and that you can find a girl with whom you can have the relationship you yearn for." What a messy situation she got herself into. Not her first rodeo, nor would it be the last. "Perhaps it would actually be for the best." She got out of the bed they were sharing, gathering her clothes from the floor and starting to put them on right away, hiding her every curve from his gaze.

#V: “Places to go. people to be.” (Modern Verse)#“Would I lie?” (Answered)#tealsteel

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pinewoodpipit · 1 year

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Mozzfic Fic Meta

Finally the project I’ve been working on for MONTHS is done! I’m so, so fond of this fic. I worked hard on it and I really love how it came out. I’ve got quite a bit to say about this fic, so I’ll break it into sections!

General Thoughts

First, some general thoughts which were going to go into my end notes but they were getting much too long, so they’re going in here.

I was originally going to call this fic "Brie Mine" as a cheese pun, but I eventually decided I wanted to take it more seriously.

I had this idea while tipsy and having some mozzarella sticks while on call with my partner. My thought process was somewhere caught between “I love my partner / I love mozzarella sticks / I love KaiKali” and somehow my wires got crossed. Not complaining, I love this silly little fic and its silly little origins. I will never cringe for loving someone, even when I’m being an embarrassing slightly drunk person about it.

The quotes before each "chapter" are translations from Sappho. Because of that, I want to note that while most people associate Sappho with lesbianism, in my headcanon these characters are bi and I am not writing them as lesbians. While lesbians are valid whether they've dated men in the past or not, I still see these guys as being attracted to all genders in the present. This is the case for all of my headcanons regarding the K/D/A group; they're all bi in my heacanons, and I usually headcanon them all in a very happy, loving polycule (just not in this particular fic, as this isn't specifically the K/D/A-verse and is only inspired by it). This headcanon of mine is kind of referenced by Ahri and Evelynn's open relationship and Kai'sa having slept with them (platonically) in the past, but it's not 100% canon to this fic. Maybe in the future they all take that step, who knows? Not particularly important information here, I just wanted to clear this up in case anyone was wondering.

One more lighter note is that I chose Nashramae as a place for them to live because I felt Kai'sa wouldn't be so willing to just leave Shurima after being torn away from it so long, and Ezreal has been noted to have visited here, giving them a chance to meet. I felt Akali might be more likely to leave Ionia with her family given how wartorn Ionia is from its fight with Noxus, although I was torn since it wasn't particularly likely for her to leave, either; just slightly more likely than how I felt about Kai'sa leaving Shurima. It was a hard choice and there wasn't particularly a city which felt right, but Ezreal's visit was the excuse I needed to pick this one as a final city. It's a modern day AU, though, so there are buses, public transport, and other general modern conveniences alongside the lovely silk markets and trading harbour. It being in Shurima also added more reason for Kai'sa to underestimate how badly it was going to rain in that first section, lmao.

One last thing; this fic took me many months to write, and it ended up a lot longer than I expected. I don’t know why it took me so long, really? I was very passionate about it that entire time (so it’s not like I lost interest), but there were a lot of things happening in my personal life and I guess I found it easier to grab onto smaller projects and finish them for the little happiness boosts I needed to get by. It’s here, though, finally as good as I wanted to make sure it could be, and I couldn’t be happier with it.

Comphet, relationship trauma, and internalised homophobia

On the topic of comphet, internalised homophobia was a large part of Kai’sa’s struggle in this fic. It’s something a lot of queer folks struggle with tremendously when they first figure themselves out, but it’s not something I see talked about very often. Kai’sa in this fic wasn’t homophobic by any means when she worked out her identity, she was a large ally, but it wasn’t something she ever thought would apply to her. She grew up in a very turbulent, rapidly changing environment, without much of any support system, and so she’s fragile about things which might hurt her.

If you go through enough school changes and meet just the wrong people, you can get trained into believing some awful things about yourself. Kai’sa was now faced with the realisation that people had ammo to throw at her now, and she also struggled with feeling predatory for liking women. It was something she had to unlearn, and she did so without a support system. Ezreal’s lack of communication was the nail in the coffin, and it meant she went through that unlearning process, and the process of coming to terms with herself and growing, alone. When she found Ahri and Evelynn, she was already significantly far along her healing journey.

Akali renewed that fear because she signified a step she hadn’t taken in actually dating a woman - she’d slept with Ahri and Evelynn by this point. It would mean making herself vulnerable to another potential catastrophic breakup which almost shattered her the first time. It was less about being gay at that point (although that was definitely part of it, as it was still new to her), and more about the fact that taking that step and entering a relationship with Akali meant she was throwing open the doors and letting Akali aim a crossbow directly at her heart. Kai’sa just had to trust that Akali knew to talk rather than shoot.

NSFW Thoughts and Headcanons

NSFW hcs for these guys… I have a few. I’ll list them out in bullet points here with a simple explanation.

In my headcanons, especially in relation to her regular/canon LoL story, Kai’sa does not enjoy penetration. In my view of her character, she has been through far too much over the course of her life and had enough outside forces have violating say over her body that I imagine anything like that would be a very uncomfortable concept for her. This is very much me projecting my own issues onto her and using the symbiotic as a metaphor for trauma, but it’s a headcanon I feel strongly about. It’s not a complete rule for her, as in my headcanon she’s sometimes okay being strapped by the occasional person and ofc she did sleep with Ezreal, but it’s not something she wants to have happen every time she sleeps with someone.

Akali’s a total switch. I like to imagine she’s capable of and happy with being both a top and a brat bottom. In this fic, given Kai’sa’s distaste for penetration, I had her take the brat bottom route - the “I’m going to be a little shit and annoy my loved ones until they fuck me about it” kind of bottom. She knows Kai’sa and she knows how to push her buttons, and she likes gently bullying her lovers until they kiss her just so she’ll shut up. For real, this is one of the best parts of being in a relationship. Annoying your partner (of course making sure that it’s teasing annoyance and not actual upset or discomfort) is great fun. As good at she is at bottoming, though, you KNOW this girl has incredible strap game. She probably gives incredible head, too. Nobody’s that confident and smug without being able to back it up.

In terms of the wider KDA polycule:

I like to imagine that Evelynn’s happy doing whatever. She enjoys being fucked, but she also likes to top and take people apart. It makes her feel powerful to see someone come undone under her hands. She knows what she’s doing and she just enjoys making her partners feel that good.

Ahri in my mind is a total bottom, by choice. She totally could top and I imagine with her charm she could give someone an incredible orgasm, but this girl can absolutely get away with lying back and taking it, so that’s what she does most of the time. I like to imagine that she’s also dating Yasuo while the rest of the polycule isn’t, and he’s equally as much of a simp for her as the rest of them. This isn’t to say she’s a selfish lover and she’ll gladly reciprocate - she’d never refuse a chance to fuck her partners into the mattress - but she very much enjoys having her lovers take good care of her and prefers that over topping.

Fanfic playlist:

I have a Spotify playlist for this fic, which normally I’d share, but I don’t think there’s a way to make the creator of a playlist anonymous, and I want to retain my privacy (if there is a way, I’d love to know!). Instead, I’ll just share the individual songs on it.

She - dodie

Everything Goes On - Porter Robinson, League of Legends

Stray Italian Greyhound - Vienna Teng

Would You Be So Kind - Jodie

ICARUS - STARSET (this one is less relevant to this fic but it has always reminded me of Kaikali for whatever reason)

The Messenger - Linkin Park

Ghost - Mystery Skulls

I Am Not A Robot - MARINA

U.N.I - Ed Sheeran

Wasteland, Baby! - Hozier (this one is where the official title of the fic came from, even if I mostly just call it “mozzfic”!)

Pluto - Sleeping At Last

Heather - Conan Grey

Raw - Sigrid

Turning Page - Sleeping At Last

Thus Always To Tyrants - The Oh Hellos

Born2Run - Penelope Scott

Tongues & Teeth - The Crane Wives

Home - Bruno Major

Curses - The Crane Wives

Forest Fires - Lauren Aquilina

Boats & Birds - Gregory and the Hawk

These songs all encompass the main emotions of this fic, at least to me, which are feelings of self doubt, pain over past losses and traumas leaving scars on your current psyche, feeling like you’re destined to end up alone and don’t deserve your loved ones, and on the other side, the utter softness and warmth of love. Finding someone and just instantly connecting with them after so long, after so many years of loneliness and being in pain, being left behind, you can finally take a breath and know that it’s them. After it all, after everything, it’s finally them. You try to resist it, feeling those past patterns touching on your fears and making you want to push them away to protect yourself, but in the end, you give in and open your heart to them, because they’re worth it. The songs word their themes much better than I could, but I found they all shared a strong identity with what I wanted from mozzfic.

#pipit writes #mozzfic #fic meta #own post

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lobster-tales · 1 year

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Beat the Daylight

Sequel to Face the Noise, an Arcane Rock Band AU

Rating: M

Chapter 12: The Second Round

Summary: Battle of the Bands Round Two

CW: Violence, a little blood

This work is available here on AO3. Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11

The next few days blurred together, and soon, it was time for the next round of the contest.

Vi and Lux were back in the women’s dressing room, their makeup artists hard at work. Caitlyn had asked the beauticians to go for more dramatic looks, but Vi could tell already that the finished product wouldn’t be intense enough.

Above them, a feed played. Seraphine had pre-recorded conversations with both Mel and Silco, and now the interviews were being broadcast. Vi’s mouth twitched into a smirk as Mel spoke. She looked so composed now compared to the last time Vi had seen her, bent over one of the Kirammans’ many porcelain toilets and vomiting violently while Vi held back her dreads. She wondered how long after Girls’ Night this interview took place: definitely not the next day, since Mel didn’t look in pain enough.

As soon as the makeup artists left, Vi fished something out of her jacket pocket: an eyeliner pencil and a tube of cheap, red lipstick.

Lux gasped as Vi examined her eyes. “What are you-”

“Hold still,” Vi commanded, lifting the pencil. She was glad Lux trusted her enough to obey.

Vi worked for a few minutes, then pulled back. “There. What do you think?”

“Oh!” Lux said, seeing herself in the mirror. “Wow!” She smiled brightly at the heavy accents, but caught herself, uncertain. “You don’t think it’s too much?”

“Nah.” Vi stood behind her, resting her hands on Lux’s shoulders. “It just seems like a lot because you’re up close. The crowd will be farther away.”

A knock sounded at the door, followed by Ezreal entering. “Hey, Caitlyn said we’re watching Fissurefolk from the guys’ dressing room. You both ready?” He stopped in his tracks at the sight of Lux. “Whoah. Babe.”

“Do you like it?” she asked shyly.

“... Not really,” he said. “You kind of look like a raccoon.”

Lux deflated. Vi squeezed her shoulders, scowling at Ezreal, “Dude, what is your problem? She looks like a rock star. And you’re not one to talk anyway, like would it kill you to wear some guyliner?”

Ezreal scoffed. “I’m not doing that. Look, it’s just my opinion, but babe, I think you should tone it down a little.”

“No.”

He blinked, surprised. “What?”

Lux stood, slowly, squaring her shoulders as she faced her reflection. “No. I’m not going to tone it down. I like it.”

Ezreal shifted at the door, ignoring Vi’s smug grin. “I… Well, that’s good, I guess, but I just don’t know how it’s gonna look onstage.”

“Then we’ll find out together.” She breezed past him. “Hurry up. I don’t want to miss Zeri’s performance.”

☆ ☆ ☆

“Let’s hear it one more time for Zeri and the Sparks!” Seraphine’s voice echoed in the concert space, backdropped by cheers. As the opening band cleared the stage, Seraphine covered the inbetween, the recap of the first round performances. After a commercial break, she called out, “Per the contest rules, the band that wins the previous round will go first in the next! So let’s welcome to the stage, your first round winner, Fissurefolk!”

As Jinx stepped out onto the dark stage, her eyes darted towards the backstage rafters. No Progress Day. No Lux. Disappointment sank its teeth into her. Her fingers fidgeted with the mic. She just had to hope Lux was watching the live feed in the dressing room.

Jinx stood center stage, her back to the audience, facing Viktor in his DJ booth. He lifted his mask briefly, nodding to her, mouthing the words, “You good?”

She returned the nod, preparing her stance. Jinx had been so looking forward to seeing Lux’s expressions when she sang these songs. Especially this first one.

Finn clawed the guitar, the sound lashing out from the muted green stage lights. Jinx held up the mic and said,

I’m shyyy I’m so shy

She whipped around to the screams of fans, illuminated by the spotlight.

I'm not shy, I'll say it I've been thinking 'bout you, baby I'm a little faded You look like Renaissance paintings

Dancing came so easy now: it was hard to believe Jinx had ever been shy about it. Her hips moved in time with the music, hands raking sinfully up her own body.

Big doe eyes, amazin' She's everything I've been prayin' My heart palpitations She looks like the type to break it

With each line of the chorus, Jinx struck a different pose, the rest of the band only playing one note while she sang each measure.

Me and your girlfriend playin' dress up in my house I gave your girlfriend tongue kisses on my couch She cute, kawaii, oh her body, that excites me I think she really likes me, ask politely, can I ooh-ooh-ooh

Fuck, she wished she could see Lux’s face right now.

☆ ☆ ☆

“Um, Lux?” Vi asked. “You good?”

Lux’s jaw had dropped to the floor, and had stayed there for nearly the entirety of Fissurefolk’s first song. Her cheeks were flushed, eyes wide. She gulped and crossed her legs, hands folded in her lap. “I-I’m good.”

Vi wrote it off as nerves and turned back to the performance.

☆ ☆ ☆

Before the last chorus, Jinx got an idea. As she finished the song’s bridge, she leaned down and seized the edge of one of the cameras, singing directly into the lens. She pretended that her reflection was Ezreal, smirking as she sang,

Me and your girlfriend playin' dress up in my house I gave your girlfriend tongue kisses on my couch She cute, kawaii, oh her body, that excites me I think she really likes me, ask politely, can I

She licked her lips and pushed the lens away, the cameraman stumbling back as she did so. All the women in the crowd were screaming at the top of their lungs, and she even caught a glimpse of a bra flying towards the stage. Those poor security guards would be working overtime tonight, she thought in satisfaction.

Finn pierced her with a glare. She had taken some liberties from his precious script. But Jinx didn’t care. She got what she wanted.

No way did Ezreal know it was meant for him. But she could pretend.

☆ ☆ ☆

“Ugh,” Ezreal scoffed, crossing his arms. “That’s vile.”

The band shot confused looks towards him. Ekko said, “That’s showbiz. It’s just for entertainment.”

“Well, I don’t think it’s very entertaining,” he said sourly. “I wouldn’t like someone saying that about Lux.”

Lux was staring at the floor in dead silence, her knuckles white as she clenched her fists.

Vi and everyone else elected to ignore Ezreal, watching as the next song started.

☆ ☆ ☆

Jinx played nice for the rest of the set. She sang her songs, she went to her marks. But she noticed the crowd didn’t cheer as loud as they did for her first song. Finn was getting too cozy, relying on his experience. If they wanted to win this round, they had to try something different.

As the second to last song ended, she made eye contact with Viktor. She nodded, mouthing the word, “Remix.”

She couldn’t see his face under the mask, but he held up a fist in acknowledgment.

When they first practiced this song, Jinx had an idea for a track to go with it. She worked on the beat alone, showing it to Viktor when it was ready. He added a few small adjustments but otherwise approved it, and tried playing it during practice. And Finn had been furious.

“No remixes!” he snapped. “We play this one straight.”

But both Jinx and Viktor agreed the song lacked something. If it was going to be their ending song, it needed to be bigger.

As the song began and Jinx sang the high background vocals, Finn now took the lead.

Still, I retain the being Born of a gift but fragile Always two of ourselves are seeing One blinded by denial

Finn prepared to go into the chorus, but Viktor switched up the track, playing Jinx’s beat before it.

The audience loved it, pulsing in time with the music. But Finn did not.

His face was so contorted in anger that he was barely able to sing the chorus.

Are we going far away? I'll fall forever to you Are you gonna fall away? I'll fall forever to you

Somehow, he kept it together. Somehow, they finished the song. And as soon as they were done waving to the crowd and were out of sight in the backstage shadows, Finn charged Viktor and pressed his forearm against his collarbone, pinning him to the wall. “What the hell are you playing at!” he growled.

“Finn, stop!” Jinx tried to pull him away, but he shoved her off. “Let him go!”

Sevika just stood there, not sure what to do. Her job was to protect Jinx, and only Jinx.

Viktor coughed under the pressure. He tried to keep his voice calm, but they could all hear the shudder in his words. “The crowd seemed to like it.”

“I am in charge here! I make the decisions, you understand?!” He dug his elbow into Viktor’s shoulder, eliciting a pained cry.

Jinx yelled, “Finn, it was my idea! I was the one who made that track, I told him to play it!”

He glared at her over his shoulder. “You.” He released Viktor, who fell to the floor like a sack of potatoes. “You,” he snarled, stalking towards her.

Now Sevika stepped in, but Jinx was already gone. She bolted backstage, the guilt eating at her for abandoning Viktor. But he wasn’t helpless, he would be okay until she returned.

She ducked into a hiding spot, nestled among stage equipment, catching her breath. Jinx poked her head out to see if he was pursuing her.

And there was Lux. Only a few feet away.

Jinx didn’t think, she just acted. She seized Lux’s wrist, pulling her into the hiding spot, and couldn’t deny the pleasure she took at Lux’s startled gasp. “Did you mean it?” Jinx asked, still panting. “You want to go out tonight? Afterwards?”

“Oh!” Lux was so close that Jinx could smell her floral perfume. She was wearing a different dress than the first performance, still that shade of baby blue, but shorter, a satin material that glistened. White fishnets criss crossed over her long legs, and she had this vivid stage makeup. The whole ensemble was gorgeous, and if they had the time, Jinx would have showered her with compliments. “Oh…” Lux’s starry eyes dimmed, and she pressed her red lips together. “I- I don’t know, Jinx. I’m not sure what the rest of the band is doing-”

Jinx tried to keep the disappointment down, but it bubbled up to her throat. “You mean what Ezreal is doing.”

“Wh- no. I mean-”

“I thought you were going to break up with him.” Jinx had never spoken to her so harshly before. She regretted the words as soon as she said them, but she was tired of beating around the bush. Lux had been going back and forth in their phone calls, debating when and how and if she would go through with it. Jinx was getting impatient, and scared: scared of being led along.

Lux didn’t seem offended though. In fact, her voice had a tinge of guilt to it. “I tried! I- he talked me out of it. It’s just so hard, you know, with the band, and- and what will my parents think-”

“Listen to me.” Jinx wrapped her fingers around the back of Lux’s neck, thumbs resting gently on her glittery cheeks. She pressed their foreheads together, and said in a quiet voice, “Fuck them. What do you want?”

Lux looked like she wanted to lean in, close the gap between their lips. But something tugged her back: a stagehand. Lux’s arm stretched out towards her as she was led away. Jinx called, “I’ll be at the hotel!” and desperately hoped she heard her.

Another stagehand came for Jinx, but she snapped at their gloved fingers and kicked at their ribcage. She reached up and scaled the backstage scaffolding, hauling herself higher and higher until she was above the stage. She perched on one of the rafters, watching as Progress Day began their performance.

☆ ☆ ☆

Progress Day was better prepared this time. Ekko had spent more time on their choreography: entrances and stage blocking. As Seraphine announced them to the stage, the lights came up. And Vi was alone.

She strummed a simple bass hook, spotlight on her. She felt the eyes of the metroplex, taking in her spiked hair, her ruby lips, her tattooed muscles. The nerves were gone this time, replaced with a quiet command of the stage.

A cheer went up, and she knew Jayce had taken his seat at the drums behind her. He joined in the beat, matching her tempo.

Then a dark, searing guitar sound. Out of the corner of her eye, Vi wouldn’t have recognized Lux. Not because of the way she looked, but because of her new confidence, the ease of her movement. Her shoulders were low and relaxed, and as she launched into the main hook, her fingers picked the strings with little effort.

Ekko sauntered forward as the first verse began, and Vi knew without looking that Ezreal had made it to the keys. Ekko led the crowd in a clap, hyping them up, then sang,

Whatever happened to the young, young lovers? One got shot and the other got lost in Drugs and punks and blood on the street Blood, blood on her knees Bloody history

Vi and Lux took over the chorus.

My baby's got a gun My baby's got a gun My baby's got a gun I better run My baby's got a gun It goes Boom boom crack Ga-ga-ga-ga boom boom

Then all three sang the next verse:

An eye for an eye, a leg for a leg A shot in the heart doesn't make it un-break She really didn't wanna make it messy She really, really didn't but the girl gone cray

The energy was high and stayed that way for the rest of the song, and when they finished, Vi could have sworn that the audience was cheering much louder than they had during their first round performance.

☆ ☆ ☆

Jinx had accepted that she wouldn’t get a good view from the rafters. But it was still as close as she could get without being bothered.

Despite the severity of the situation with Finn, she felt weirdly content when Progress Day started their first song. They improved a lot, not in skill necessarily, but in presence. Especially Lux.

Jinx rode that swell of pride. Even in their phone conversations, Lux had become so much less uncertain when she talked about band practice. She had been so worried about matching up to everyone at first, but now, she knew her place. She knew she belonged.

Belonging. Something Jinx wished she felt. Especially now.

She didn’t want to think about Finn, but her brain wouldn’t let her ignore it. While he had only been an inconvenient asshole before, now he was dangerous. Jinx had known everyone in Silco’s circle was dangerous, of course: even Margot had done her fair share of mayhem. And she had heard stories of Finn’s violent exploits, though she didn’t quite believe them. Not until now.

Progress Day went to their next song. And the next. They were better. A lot better. And while Jinx couldn’t be one hundred percent sure, she thought the crowd was louder for them.

She wanted them to win, she realized. She wanted Lux especially to taste that victory. But there was fear in the corner of her mind.

Finn was a perfectionist to a fault. If he lashed out like this after such a minor change, how much worse would it be if they lost?

Jinx’s thoughts were interrupted when Lux took the microphone.

☆ ☆ ☆

After a few more songs, it was finally time for Lux’s solo. Vi set down her bass, accepting Lux’s guitar from her. Lux took a deep breath, facing the crowd with the microphone in hand. She nodded to Ezreal, who played the gentle piano intro. Lux closed her eyes, and sang in a dulcet tone,

How can you see into my eyes like open doors? Leading you down into my core where I've become so numb

Vi and Jayce joined in, the guitar grinding along with the drumbeat.

Without a soul, my spirit's sleeping somewhere cold Until you find it there and lead It back Home

Ekko leapt forward, joining her at the edge of the stage as he belted,

Wake me up!

Then Lux:

Wake me up inside

They continued, trading off the lines from the chorus:

I can't wake up! Wake me up inside Save me! Call my name and save me from the dark Wake me up! Bid my blood to run I can't wake up! Before I come undone Save me! Save me from the nothing I've become

Even though Vi had heard Lux sing the song over and over again in practice, her voice still gave her chills. There was just the slightest tremor of nerves in her tone, but as the song went on, Lux became more comfortable, and even began to experiment with some of the notes, creating new vocal runs.

And the crowd loved it.

☆ ☆ ☆

Jinx didn’t realize how far she was leaning off the rafters, and regained her balance just in time. She had no idea Lux could sing, much less like this. Her voice was so delicate, but powerful, hitting the high notes without strain.

She was too far back to see Lux’s face, her expressions as she belted the notes. As Lux gained confidence, she began to move across the stage, even lifted her hands to the crowd. She actually brushed fingers with one audience member, and Jinx felt that itch of possession crawling along her spine.

She wanted her. In every sense of the word, she wanted her. Her desire was so intense, so deep that it tugged at her stomach.

It was different from her initial impulses, though. Her new money instinct had been to own Lux, to claim her as a shiny new toy, and that was the impulse she shied from, the one she knew was too wrong to indulge in. But this desire was different.

Still, that want, that need for ownership. Not of Lux’s body, though, or her mind or her heart. It was so much more than that.

She wanted to own Lux, because Lux owned her. Lux owned every thought that crossed Jinx’s mind, every blink, every heartbeat. She had never staked a claim, and it wasn’t even her fault, but it was true. Jinx belonged to her. And all she wanted, more than anything, was for Lux to belong to her the same way. To be possessed by Jinx in the way that she was possessed.

Unfortunately, her angle in the rafters gave her a perfect view of Ezreal’s face. His stupid, beaming, proud face.

This is where the doubt came in. If Lux felt the same way, wouldn’t she have already done it? If Lux really felt like Jinx owned her too, then why would she be willing to share?

Her neck hurt too much from stretching, so Jinx gave up and just lay on her back. She was tired of seeing Ezreal’s face anyway. At least these performances would be recorded, and she could watch them over and over again, memorize Lux’s expressions and movements. But for now, she would just listen.

☆ ☆ ☆

As Progress Day’s last song faded out, Ekko yelled into the mic, “We are Progress Day! Thank you and good night!”

Jinx lingered above the stage, even after the band was long gone. She knew she couldn’t hide forever, though, and made the descent down. A stagehand led her back to the dressing room, where the rest of Fissurefolk sulked in silence.

She went straight to Viktor, who leaned back in a chair. “Are you okay?” she asked, squeezing his hand.

“Eh,” he shrugged. “I’ve had worse.” But she could tell in his grin how relieved he was to see her.

Finn cleared his throat obnoxiously, jerking his head towards the live feed as Seraphine took the stage.

“Well, folks, the results are in! This one was close, but ultimately, only one band can walk away as champions! And the winning band is…

“Progress Day!”

Finn’s chair crashed against the side of the room, and he spun on Jinx. “This is all your fault, you- you demon!”

Sevika had already risen, but Jinx wove in front of her, fists lifted. She could fight her own battles: she’d been doing it all her life. And Finn was just another bully.

He launched a fist at her, but Jinx ducked, delivering three swift blows to his midsection before pulling back to land a solid kick. Finn staggered away, and she saw him assessing her. He never thought she could fight. How could he? He never asked where she came from, what she came from. But she knew him, and she knew she could beat him.

Finn held up his own arms, realizing he would have to have some strategy here. “This has always been your fault,” he growled. “Silco’s little pet.” He went for her right and she dodged, only to catch his fist from the left.

Stars bloomed in her eyes as she took the hit, cursing herself for falling for the fake out. She leapt back, avoiding the series of blows he threw her way. He accented each one with a word: “It’s always! Been! About! You!”

She saw an opening and kicked. His arms blocked it, but he hissed in pain as her boot scraped against the bare, tattooed skin of his wrists. She spun on her heel and kicked with the other leg, lower this time, and caught him in the stomach. Jinx panted through her sly grin. “You’re just mad because everyone likes me more than you.”

“No,” he huffed. “I’m mad because you don’t deserve it!” His fists flew at her, rapidly, so rapid she couldn’t dodge every blow. She tried escaping, but the wall met her back. He pinned her, the same way he had pinned Viktor, forearm pressed against her collarbone.

Jinx gasped for air, trying to kick him with her legs but unable to at this close of a distance. She tasted blood in her mouth, metallic and warm.

He hissed into her ear, “You don’t deserve any of this. You’re just a street rat who got lucky. You will never be anything more than a jinx.”

Something seized his shoulder: a mechanical hand. Finn cried out as Sevika yanked him back. As soon as she was free, Jinx kicked him square in the chest, sending him flying across the room and landing hard on the floor. She leapt on top of him, hands around his throat as she let out an animalistic scream.

“Powder,” said a soft voice, barely above a whisper.

Jinx froze, meeting Viktor’s steady gaze. Stop, his eyes said. It’s over.

She didn’t want it to be over. She wanted to make Finn suffer, watch him gasp and struggle. But she knew she had to stop.

Jinx stormed towards the door. She spat blood on the floor, not looking back as she growled, “Fuck this. Let’s go home.”

☆ ☆ ☆

The members of Progress Day were gathered in their dressing room when they got the news. Their collective cheer seemed to make the walls shake. Even Ezreal joined in, sandwiched between Ekko and Jayce, their arms around each others’ shoulders as they shared a “Let’s go!!!”.

Vi left a sloppy lipstick mark on Caitlyn’s cheek, fist high in the air. “C’mon, everyone. Vander said if we won, he’d shut down the pub for the night so we could celebrate. We’re going to The Lanes!”

Ekko, Jayce, and Caitlyn were all in, but Lux shifted uncomfortably. “Um, actually,” she said. “I think Ezreal and I might… stay in.”

His expression was hopeful, and Vi winced at the sight. Lux had been building up her courage for days now. Sooner or later, she was going to follow through with the break up. Tonight could be the night. “You sure, Lux?” she asked.

Lux nodded. “Yeah, we’ll… take a car back to his place. You all have fun, though! You deserve to cut loose.”

So do you, Vi wanted to say, but she respected Lux and her wishes. “Thanks, man. You guys have a good night.”

Once they were gone, Vi pumped her fist into the air again, whooping. “We fucking won!”

☆ ☆ ☆ ��

This time, Viktor came to Jinx’s room after the show. He examined her large space, scoffing playfully. “Sure, they put me in a closet while you get the palace.”

But she wasn’t in the mood to joke. She sank onto the edge of her bed, ice pack pressed to her aching head.

Viktor left the first aid kit beside her and went to the bathroom, returning with a wet washcloth. One of Finn’s rings had left a nasty cut on her temple. He dabbed at it gently. “You’re quite the fighter.”

“Kinda had to be.” She winced as he pressed down too hard on the cut, and he mumbled an apology.

“I’m surprised a pop star would run into that much trouble,” he said.

“No, from school.” She sifted through the memories, the different times her classmates had come after her. The unexplainable bruises. Her fingers began to shake at the thought, and Viktor rested his free hand over hers.

“Right,” he murmured. “I forgot.”

“I wish I could.” Her tone was sharp, too sharp. She shouldn’t snap at him, not when he just wanted to help. “... Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just been… a while. I’m out of practice.”

He pulled out some strips of tape, muttering about how it was good she didn’t need stitches. He laid them over the cut, his touch delicate but firm. Jinx thought he would have made a good surgeon.

He washed the blood from the cloth and brought her a glass of water. While she drank, Viktor said in a low voice, “You know, I’ve never thought about it that way before.”

“Thought about what?”

“Why you did it.”

She froze. This was something they had only very lightly discussed, something she had left unspoken and wanted to keep that way.

He continued though, past the point of diplomacy. “When Jayce and I first heard of your… disappearance, and then saw your virality, we talked about it at length. He was so confused, never understanding why you would turn away from a family that loves you. But it always made sense to me. I know what it’s like to be an outcast, to be so brutally humbled all of your life. If I had a chance to touch glory at your age, I would have seized it, too. In a heartbeat.

“But I never even considered… that this life was, in many ways, safer. Of course, Silco giving you drugs and alcohol wasn’t exactly A+ parenting, but at least you never had to be afraid. I know how much you dislike Sevika, but she did very much save your ass today. And I’m sure she’s done it before, perhaps without you even knowing.”

He was right. She hated it, but he was right. Jinx couldn’t even count the number of times where fans had tried to swarm her, and Sevika held them off. As much as they didn’t get along, at least Sevika had done her job.

Viktor said, “I had my own fair share of bullies growing up. Sky was my protector.” He hesitated, unsure if he was crossing a line. “Did… did Vi not protect you?”

The words were… painful. But Jinx was already in pain. What was a little more? “She did. The times I told her about it.”

“Ah. You stopped telling her.”

He didn’t ask why, but Jinx told him anyway. “I was just so sick of always being the problem. Always hiding behind her. At some point, I had to grow up, fight my own battles.”

“... We would have taken you at the university, you know.” Was that a hint of betrayal in his tone? “We would have protected you there. Jayce and I, and Sky, Heimerdinger.”

She hadn’t thought about the whole early college thing in years. It always seemed so daunting, so much more so than Silco’s promise of fame and power. She knew why she had turned away from that path. And she imagined that Viktor knew, too. But it was still so difficult to say out loud. So difficult that she had to spit the words out. “It never would have lasted.”

He was gentle. “You don’t know that-”

“I do, Viktor!” She stood now, spinning on him. “I know, because that’s what has always happened, every single time! My entire life, it doesn’t matter what choice I make, it will always be the wrong one. No matter what, someone I care about will get hurt. Just like today, I mean fuck, Viktor, he could have…” Her fingers itched towards him, but she restrained herself. “...really hurt you. And it would have been all my fault.”

He surprised her with a light scoff. “Well, don’t flatter yourself too much. I took that risk too, I knew there would be consequences. Don’t let your guilt take away my agency.”

The words hung heavy in the air. Behind him, in the shadows of the room, two ghosts moved: one with big, round goggles, the other with spiky hair. Her mind filled in the bright lights of police sirens.

Noticing her disassociation, Viktor took her hand, grounding her. He pulled her back onto the couch beside him, putting an arm around her shoulders, muttering, “Come here, pupsik.”

She didn’t reach for him, just leaned her head on his bony shoulder, refocused. Her eyes traced the pattern in the rug, analyzing the shapes.

“You know,” he said. “Science consists of about… 99% ‘wrong choices’. Too much of this ingredient, too little of that one. Incorrect methods, disproved hypotheses. The mistakes build up, you end up creating more problems than you solve.”

“Are you trying to make me feel better?” she said, unable to keep the sourness out of her tone. “Because it’s really not working.”

“Shh. Let me finish.” He cleared his throat. “But there is still that 1% success rate. Success cannot exist without failure. But if you’re too afraid to fail, then you will never succeed. And you don’t realize that you have succeeded, pupsik.” He waved his hand at the large room. “You didn’t make the wrong choice here, you got everything you wanted.”

She should have felt a sense of accomplishment. She should have felt reassured. But what she wanted had changed so much in the last few months. Celebration felt hollow.

“Besides,” he said. “I didn’t get hurt. You protected me. And I’m very grateful.” His nose twitched as he thought about it more. “Because if you weren’t there, he would have flattened my ass like a blini.”

Jinx couldn’t keep herself from giggling. “He would have crushed you like a soda can.”

“Peeled me like a banana,” Viktor said solemnly, but grinned when she laughed.

“He would have-”

The hotel room phone rang, interrupting her. Jinx had rewired it long ago so that it made a cartoonish carnival sound. Only the staff ever used it, and that was a rare occurrence. Viktor answered for her. “Yes? Oh. Ohhh. Interesting. Sure. Thank you.” He glanced at Jinx. “You have a delivery.”

Weird. Usually Silco’s goons vetted all her packages, just in case. Minutes later, a knock came at the door. Viktor insisted she accept the delivery by hand.

She was met with a baby blue baseball cap. And blonde hair. The face lifted, and she saw beneath the hat: glittery cheeks, stark eyeliner, and a joyous smile.

“Lux? What are you-”

Lux threw the baseball cap aside and launched herself at Jinx, crashing her lips against hers. Jinx staggered back, shocked. Lux broke from her, peppering her with kisses in between words. “I did it, Jinx. I did it. I’m so happy. I can’t wait for tonight-”

“Wait, Lux, slow down.” Jinx stared at her, hardly believing it. “You did what?”

Her eyes sparkled. “I broke up with him.”

“You- you did?”

Lux pressed her forehead against Jinx’s, murmuring, “I figured out what I want.”

The realization, the full weight of her words began dawning on Jinx. “Oh yeah? What’s that?”

“I want to be your girl.”

This time, Jinx kissed her. Her hands secured on either side of Lux’s head, pulling her in, crushing their lips together. Lux didn’t mind the intensity, just linked her arms around Jinx’s waist, hummed with pleasure.

Jinx savored her, held her, memorized the feel of her. Lux’s body was so warm against hers.

When they broke apart, Jinx didn’t back away. Just held her. And let herself indulge. “My girl,” she muttered.

Viktor cleared his throat. Jinx had completely forgotten he was there. “I’m going to just-” and he sidled by them.

“Wait,” Jinx said, feeling obligated. “You want to come out with us, Vik?”

“No thank you.” There was a twinkle in his eye. “I get the sense I’d be eh, third-wheeling. But you two have fun.” He gave her one last meaningful look, then left.

Jinx kissed her again, over and over. Lux giggled at the onslaught, asking, “You still want to go out?”

“Hell yeah I do,” Jinx said hungrily. “I want to show off my girl.”

#arcane #lightcannon #vicait #jinx #lux #vi #rock band au #my fic #battle of the bands au #face the noise #beat the daylight #okay I PROMISE I'll get caught up #AO3 is updated to chapter 16 #this chapter is long but it's amazing

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