Chapter Text
Kayn should have known from the start that his night was doomed.
His day had immediately started off wrong, with him waking up to several more articles of his ex-bandmates disparaging him to the media. They weren't lying about anything, but he still had a right to be annoyed at them airing all their grievances so publicly. It wasn't his fault they were all talentless hacks who could never measure up to him. Him demanding more out of them and frequently explaining to them why they were so mediocre had apparently been reason enough to kick him from the band. Ridiculous.
Now that his name was already so tarnished, he couldn't even give his side of the story. With every single one of his ex-bandmates constantly going on about how egotistical, toxic, and tyrannical he was, how traumatizing and how much of a nightmare he was to work with, no one in the industry wanted to have anything to do with him—effectively barring even the trashiest media outlets from contacting him. Some had dared to, but he had swiftly turned them down. As if he would stoop so low as to defend himself to some C-grade journalist who was going to twist his words anyway.
And so, when K'Sante had invited him over for drinks, he'd had no reason to turn him down. He was quite curious about this project him and Sett had apparently been working on for a while. Something about building a band together and maintaining total creative freedom over every aspect of it. Although neither K'Sante or Sett could quite match up to Kayn's sheer talent and genius, he had to admit they were both capable enough for him to feel somewhat confident in this little project of theirs. K'Sante's ambition and drive easily matched his own and Sett was a hard worker with experience. It was easy enough to put some level of trust in their ideas.
The walk up creaky stairs to K'Sante's loft apartment was familiar by now, the distant drone of music seeping through the entire stairwell already easing some of his tension. Oddly, there was no booming laughter coming from inside like usual, and yet Kayn knocked as he always did: by kicking at the door with his boot, some of the paint chipping off from the wood.
Soon, the door swung open to reveal K'Sante's broad frame, a large, warm hand immediately coming down on Kayn's shoulder to both greet him and pull him inside. For once, he didn't scold Kayn for damaging his door.
"Kayn! Come in, come in."
K'Sante was oddly quiet as he closed the door behind Kayn. A little caught off guard by the seemingly somber mood that he was stepping into, Kayn scanned the apartment. Unsurprisingly, despite K'Sante not mentioning anything about it, he could see Sett sitting in the kitchen, beer can in hand. At this point, it was more common to see Sett wherever K'Sante was than not. When their eyes met, Sett wordlessly gave him a nod in greeting instead of the usual loud shout. It was only when Kayn stepped further into the apartment that he finally found the anomaly most likely responsible for the odd atmosphere: some stranger sleeping on K'Sante's living room couch.
Blond hair disheveled, face ashen, whoever this was looked like he'd been through it. Even from this far away Kayn could see his red-rimmed and puffy eyes and it was in that exact moment his brain lit up with recognition. "Is that fucking Ezreal?" He was immediately shushed by both K'Sante and Sett.
"We just got him to fall asleep, don't wake him," Sett warned frantically.
Kayn scoffed, but relented and lowered his voice. "What? Princess needs his beauty sleep? Why is he here?"
K'Sante and Sett exchanged knowing looks, seemingly considering whether to reveal the truth or not. Eventually, they silently came to some kind of agreement.
"My bad," K'Sante sighed. "I should've told you before you showed up that something suddenly came up. Sett just showed up here with Ezreal."
Sett hesitated briefly in the following silence, eyes resting on Ezreal's motionless form on the couch, before he began to explain. "I've known Ezreal for a while now. We weren't super close or anything before this, but we were both in a not so great mood today, so we just went for drinks. Ended up pouring our hearts out to each other, all that. Ezreal's kinda bad with alcohol and I couldn't really just leave him there, you know. Especially now that his label kicked him and there's no one to take keep an eye on hi– Oh…"
Judging by the regret flashing across Sett's face, apparently he wasn't supposed to reveal that bit of information. Kayn simply hummed to himself as he processed the information, the puzzle pieces slowly falling into place.
"Well, it's gonna be all over the media soon anyway," K'Sante tried to defuse the tension hanging in the air.
Unbothered by the sudden awkwardness, Kayn let his eyes trail back to the couch. He had never seen Ezreal in the flesh. It was a bit surreal, especially so out of nowhere. Admittedly, it made something in him immediately writhe with heat.
You're fanboying, Kayn, Rhaast's voice suddenly chimed in, rumbling through his brain like thunder. Watch out, you're drooling.
Immediately frowning at the accusation, Kayn snapped back. Shut the fuck up. I'm not. He's just some washed up little pop prince. Why would I care?
All he received in response was a mocking chuckle.
Ezreal's rapid rise to international fame and just as quick fall from grace was almost impossible not to know about. The public had loved his song "You're My Museum," absolutely adored it, despite how obviously manufactured it had been. An instant hit, not a single day went by without hearing that song pop up somewhere. In ads, the radio, on TV, in stores, as the background music in videos and streams. Ezreal's allure as a performer was undeniable but the song didn't do him any favors. It had almost been too popular, setting expectations for his first ever album impossibly high. Perhaps a more established artist with an actual say in their music could have met those expectations. But not a newbie singer under the thumb of a greedy, soulless company. Not even his dedicated and downright rabid fanbase of tween girls could have saved that wreck of an album.
Then, unable to recover from how universally panned that album had been, Ezreal had gradually disappeared from the minds of the general public. Although he continued to keep his name somewhat relevant by being active on social media, people cared about his music less and less. Over time, he had simply returned to his origins and become more of an influencer than a singer. It was no wonder his label had axed him.
Just admit you secretly liked his music. Helps that he's exactly your type too.
Before Kayn could shoot off some kind of retort at Rhaast, Sett suddenly stood up from the kitchen chair with his phone to his ear, expression alert.
"Already?" Sett's eyes briefly jumped to K'Sante, before returning to a random spot on the kitchen table. "Alright, I'll come by. See you." He hung up the phone and abruptly made his way towards the front door. "That was Alune. Said their plane is landing soon. Gotta go pick her and Phel up."
"Who's picking them up?" K'Sante immediately questioned, suspicion ringing in his voice.
"Uh… I am? I'll just call a taxi or something." Seeing the disapproving scowl immediately forming on K'Sante's face, Sett groaned exasperatedly. "I'm not gonna get lost! I'm not that drunk."
"Past experiences say otherwise."
Frustrated, Sett let his face fall into his hands, an annoyed whine coming out of him. "What then? I gotta go pick 'em up, dude!"
Shoulders sagging as he seemingly relented somewhat, K'Sante mulled things over. His eyes trailed towards Ezreal on the couch, expression pensive. Sett glanced towards Ezreal as well, concern suddenly filling his face. Almost simultaneously, their eyes shifted to Kayn, who was still just standing there watching the situation unfold.
K'Sante and Sett shared a look, apparently coming to some kind of silent agreement once again.
"Can you watch him for a bit?" Sett asked him earnestly, nodding his head towards Ezreal. "Keep an eye on him and make sure he's okay and all that."
The thought of someone, anyone, entrusting him, Shieda Kayn, with any kind of responsibility over another person was mind-boggling enough. But Ezreal, of all people?! Kayn couldn't quite hide the devious smirk that immediately took over his face. "Sure, I'll take gooood care of him." He mostly meant it as a joke, something to unsettle K'Sante a bit as revenge for upturning his night like this. Too bad K'Sante by this point knew him a little too well.
"Yeah, yeah, we know you won't actually do anything too bad. Just don't burn the place down please." With that, K'Sante hastily pulled on his sneakers and jacket and quickly left ahead of Sett, who threw a last worried glance towards Ezreal.
"Take care of him for me, yeah?" he pleaded, tone unusually vulnerable. "Him and I have both had pretty shit days." Sett, being weirdly perceptive as he was, apparently deciphered something from Kayn's demeanor. "You too, right?" With a lopsided smile that didn't quite reach his eyes, Sett then finally took off after K'Sante, the door falling shut behind him with a soft click.
That left Kayn in sudden silence, the only noise in the apartment the soft hum of the fridge and the distant sound of cars passing by outside. He let out a long, suffering sigh, reluctantly making his way towards the couch area. It was a large L-shaped couch, definitely enough for two or three more people to sit on despite Ezreal lying across half of it. And yet Kayn chose to settle on the lounge chair that sat opposite from where Ezreal was. Paying the sleeping prince no further mind, he began scrolling through his phone to pass the time. Searching through social media to read people's depraved thirst posts about him never failed to put him in a good mood.
Kayn managed to wile away quite a lot of time that way, to the point he nearly forgot there was even anyone else in the apartment with him. That is, until Ezreal stirred a little, something like a whine or moan coming from him. That certainly made Kayn perk up—not enough to make him leave his comfy spot in the lounge chair though. He merely glanced over at the blond, checking to see if he was close to vomiting or something. He didn't feel like cleaning up after anyone and he certainly wasn't in the mood for a lecture from K'Sante. When the coast seemed relatively clear and Ezreal remained peacefully settled on the couch, Kayn continued with what he had been doing.
Soon after, his focus wandered and he found himself looking up videos of Ezreal. Unsurprisingly, countless old videos of him performing and singing his one successful song on stage came up. Nothing that really piqued Kayn's interest, but entertaining enough to watch in the moment. Comparing the bright and vibrant person on those stages to the drunken, passed out mess right in front of him was quite the contrast, to say the least. But soon enough, he came across more recent videos. In particular, clips from Ezreal's streams, some of his selfies thrown in here and there as well. Looking at them, Kayn couldn't help but feel like a big chunk of Ezreal's current fanbase were there simply to look at him. Kayn was met with countless clips of Ezreal wearing incredibly loose and oversized shirts that exposed a lot of skin, shorts that would ride up and leave barely anything to the imagination, turtlenecks with suggestive cutouts that made it damn near impossible to focus on his face. No wonder he still had so many fans despite his album tanking so hard.
Suddenly curious about whether dancing around on stream in slutty little outfits was just Ezreal's style or an intentional marketing strategy, Kayn finally left the lounge chair to instead settle on top of the couch table right in front of Ezreal's face. It put him close enough to finally get a good look at the disgraced pop prince.
Putting aside his sickly pallor, Ezreal's skin was smooth and clear. His blond hair was unruly but shiny and healthy-looking. Every part of his face was immaculate. His nose, his cheekbones, his eyebrows. His lips… Even dry and chapped as they were, there was an undeniable allure to them. Plump and parted slightly. Almost invitingly… Despite his drunken state, Ezreal still radiated some kind of unexplainable glow or aura. Something that pulled you in just by looking.
The echo of Rhaast's raucous laughter finally pulled Kayn out of his thoughts. He immediately had the impulse to poke at his eyepatch and Rhaast's monstrous eye underneath it, but knew it wouldn't really do anything to stop the Darkin.
Write him a little love song while you're at it, why don't you? Rhaast mocked, chuckling again.
"I'm just looking. Nothing wrong with that."
And you could do so much more.
The clear innuendo in Rhaast's words caused Kayn's eyes to wander. From Ezreal's face to his neck and the sliver of skin peaking out from the collar of his hoodie. His eyes lingered there for a bit before trailing further, over Ezreal's slim shoulders, his arms… and to his hips. His hoodie had ridden up enough to put those maddeningly short gym shorts on full display. The way they perfectly hugged every curve and dip of Ezreal's hips and ass, getting looser around his thighs to reveal milky skin. Unmarred, perfect skin, as if asking to be littered with marks. Inevitably, Kayn's gaze was led further down those slim but toned thighs, to knees that looked strangely grabable. He could almost imagine his hands around them. Same with those thin ankles. Something about those gray socks breaking up what was otherwise a long expanse of exposed skin was maddening. Ezreal's legs were positively sinful.
They would look better wrapped around you, wouldn't they?
Kayn finally did slap a hand over his eye-patched eye this time, willing the voice in his head to quiet down for once. "Just looking," he repeated, voice coming out as a hiss. It didn't help that sitting on the couch table like he was, his crotch was exactly level with Ezreal's face.
Before Rhaast could further fan the flames of whatever feeling was already beginning to sizzle hotly deep in his gut, Kayn forced his eyes back up to Ezreal's face. Which didn't help matters, because that put his attention back on those way too inviting lips. They were parted enough to get a glance at perhaps the one thing that wasn't perfect about Ezreal: his teeth. They were ever so slightly crooked. None of them quite lined up with each other, with his fangs noticeably longer than his other teeth. Although imperfect, something about his teeth all seemingly having a mind of their own added to the boyish charm. In his time, Kayn had walked by many a poster and ad with a beaming Ezreal flashing that trademark toothy smile. It was a little doofy, a small reminder that even pop stars had flaws.
By the time Kayn became aware of his own actions, his hand was already taking hold of Ezreal's jaw.
Look at him, all defenseless and open. It would be too easy to simply slide inside and take what you want.
"I'm fucked up, Rhaast, but not that fucked up." Despite his words, Kayn was fighting a battle with himself. Already, his hand was getting dangerously close to those lips he oh so wanted to press a finger against. Only briefly, just to see how they would feel.
Slick, warm heat suddenly wrapped around Kayn's thumb. Owlishly he stared down, needing several long seconds to process what the fuck was even happening.
His thumb was inside Ezreal's mouth. His thumb was inside Ezreal's mouth. And his lips were closed around it. And not even a second after coming to that realization, Kayn could feel Ezreal's tongue moving against him, licking across his thumb, wrapping around it like it was a popsicle. When he heard a pleased little moan, the vibration of which travelled all the way from his hand up his arm, into his chest and straight to his gut like a shot of red hot lava, Kayn's brain damn near shut down.
Cheeky, Rhaast commented, voice deep and strangely calm, like it hadn't been in a long while. Like an eerily still volcano moments before eruption.
With a start, Kayn noticed the piercing amber eyes suddenly directed at him. Gaze drowsily half-lidded, Ezreal was staring back at him with an unreadable look in his eyes. He didn't seem fully there, as if mentally he was off in some mystical la la land.
At the slightest twitch of Kayn attempting to pull his hand away, he found his wrist in a surprisingly strong grip. Kayn knew he was stronger physically, knew he could easily shrug out of the hold if he wanted to.
But you don't want to.
Ezreal had him trapped. Like a mouse that had followed the irresistible fragrance of cheese right into the cold hard snap of a trap. Kayn could only watch as Ezreal eventually released his thumb with a pop, only to lick his way across his palm, lips wrapping around his middle finger next. The sight of it was obscene, the sensations overwhelming. He continued on like that, moaning as he bit at Kayn's knuckles, tongue slipping into the spaces between his fingers, each slow, mesmerizing lick electrifying and sending shock waves down his arm. The noises now filling the room were filthy.
You're just gonna let him take from you like this?
The words snapped Kayn back into himself, out of whatever stupor he had been in. Immediately, he pulled his hand away, watching with delight as Ezreal's face morphed into a frustrated pout. Unable to keep his hands away, Kayn grabbed Ezreal by the jaw again to force their eyes to meet—perhaps a little harder than necessary. "You want something in your mouth that bad, sweetheart?" Seeing the way Ezreal stared back at him hazily, he almost thought he wouldn't even answer, barely having processed his words. But eventually, Kayn was rewarded with an affirmative hum and a dopey smile. "Do you even know who I am?"
Again, it took Ezreal a while to answer, head cocking slightly as he raked his eyes across Kayn's face. "Does it matter?" was all he said eventually. He chuckled slightly at the annoyed frown that elicited. "You're hot."
Normally, anyone having the gall to not know who Kayn was would be an unforgivable sin. Who dare! But Ezreal's voice was like honey. Suffocatingly sweet, wrapping around Kayn's ears like a siren's song. He didn't recognize this tone from the few times he had heard Ezreal speak. The thought of it belonging strictly to him made even Rhaast let out a pleased rumble.
Just when Kayn began entertaining the thought of letting himself give in, the front door swung open. More shocking than the sudden entrance of people was the fact that Kayn hadn't heard them approaching. Had he really been that captivated by Ezreal?
"Ah!" Sett cheered as soon as he saw them. "Nice, you two are getting along already, huh?"
Absentmindedly, Kayn let go of Ezreal's face. Briefly, he saw the pout appear again, before it quickly melted away. Ezreal was too busy trying to get to his feet and to Sett.
"Seeeett," he called, wobbling in place as soon as he was standing, making it a mere step before stumbling.
Grumbling to himself like a disgruntled father annoyed at their toddler, Sett caught Ezreal mid stumble and turned towards K'Sante, who was still hanging up his jacket in the hallway. "Hey, can I put this guy in your guest room? I don't think he's making it back to his place tonight."
"Sure, go ahead," came K'Sante's immediate answer.
Kayn could see some kind of debate go on in Sett's head, before he apparently decided that Ezreal was incapable of walking on his own—he could barely even stand. And so, with the ease of someone that could deadlift 200 pounds like it was nothing, he picked Ezreal up and slung him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Seeing Sett's hand on Ezreal's lower back like that as he balanced him on his shoulder made something unpleasant spark in Kayn's mind.
Possessive already? Wrapped around his little finger so easily?
All Kayn managed in response was an annoyed huff. He didn't have the energy to argue the obvious. He was still half hard just from Ezreal sucking on his fingers, for fuck's sake.
K'Sante finally entered the room and seemed to pick up on Kayn's foul mood. "Sorry for dumping him on you like that," he said quietly, an apologetic hunch to his posture when he sat down on the other end of the couch. "Yone wanted someone to escort Lune and Phel to their hotel. Can't really say no to him, you know?"
Another person Kayn was apparently supposed to know but didn't. He vaguely recalled K'Sante bringing up Yone before, but aside from him being a DJ, he didn't really know the guy. Sounded like a real hard-ass though, judging by how both K'Sante and Sett had jumped to abide by his request.
"I hope Ezreal wasn't too uh… difficult to deal with."
The uncertainty in K'Sante's tone caught Kayn's attention. He chose that moment to finally get up from the table and sit on the couch instead. "Is he always like that when he's drunk? You know… touchy and shit." He tried to sound casual about it, unwilling to let on how much of an effect Ezreal's advances had had on him.
"Yeah…" An awkward grin took over K'Sante's face. "Based on some of Sett's stories, he gets really… affectionate. Forgot to warn you, sorry."
Oh, how badly Kayn wanted to hear these stories. He could only imagine what was going on in that damn guest room right now. As if on cue, Sett appeared in the doorway in that moment.
"Sorry to keep you waiting!" he apologized as he jogged into the room, quickly grabbing two fresh beers from the fridge. "K'Sante, you're still on your no carbs thing?"
"Yeah, until next week, at least."
"More for us." Sett chuckled almost mischievously as he sat down between Kayn and K'Sante, thrusting one of the beers into Kayn's waiting hand. K'Sante, now shooting a pointed little glare at his friend, was already nursing a half empty glass of dark red wine.
At last, Kayn was getting what he had come for: some downtime with two of the only people in this forsaken world he could actually stand being around. Soon enough, the heat still sizzling somewhere deep in his core was replaced with the slow drawling warmth of alcohol. Ezreal with his devilish mouth and tempting thighs were pushed to the back of his mind eventually. Even Rhaast seemed to run out of reasons to mock Kayn for one thing or another.
Perhaps he could simply forget about his encounter with Ezreal and just move on with his life like nothing had happened.
Kayn's hopes were immediately dashed the next day when Sett revealed to him that he was actually considering inviting Ezreal to the band. Ezreal was a free agent now and although his music had flopped grandiosely, he was still a decently famous singer with a sizable fanbase. It would be stupid not to invite him… and yet Kayn couldn't find it in himself to agree with Sett. Somehow, the thought of even more people joining, more people he'd have to split the spotlight with, didn't sit right with him.
"Just how many people are you planning to invite to this thing?" he asked Sett, in slight disbelief that the member count of this band project had seemingly doubled overnight, with one more addition already on the way apparently. Simply imagining it made his black coffee taste a tad more bitter than usual.
Sett hummed to himself as he pondered the question, his chair creaking as if in pain underneath him as he leaned back. A waiter whipped his head around at the sound, looking hilariously concerned. "I mean, twelve seems like a nice round number, huh?"
It took all of Kayn's restraint and patience not to immediately throw curses at the guy. "You're not serious…"
"I'm not, but suddenly six people in a band doesn't sound too bad, right?"
Rolling his eyes slightly at Sett's way too gleeful grin, Kayn shrugged. "Whatever. I'm just here out of curiosity. If things go south, I'll be the first one out."
"Yeah, yeah, I know."
Sighing and willing some of the tension to leave his body, Kayn let his uncovered eye wander. He'd already spotted the nosy vultures sneakily snapping pictures of him and Sett long ago. It was no wonder people were watching them so intently. The fallen pop rock singer so vile his own band had kicked him out and the notorious rapper that had punched a paparazzo, what a duo.
Sett seemed to lose his patience slightly once more and more people seemed to recognize them, now even more cameras pointing at their faces. "Probably should've gone somewhere quieter," he grumbled, more to himself than to Kayn.
Scoffing, Kayn made a point of striking an especially dashing figure as he sat in his chair, running a hand through his hair back with a calculated smirk. "Hey, any press is good press, you know that. Why not drum up some buzz around us while we get the band together?"
Sett responded with a rare look of exasperation. "Dude, isn't bad press the whole reason you're even with us to begin with?"
Smile widening, Kayn simply shrugged. Something about even the most negative, hate-fueled headlines written about him at the very least gave him a reason to keep going as he had been. If people cared enough to write entire essays about him, dedicate endlessly long social media threads to his transgressions, spend actual time out of their oh so precious lives trying to decipher his thought process, then he must be doing something right.
Him meeting up with another "controversial" personality would be a trending headline in another few minutes. There were already similar articles about Sett being spotted with K'Sante, meeting Yone, Alune, and Aphelios at the airport, all just in the past day or so. The guy was strangely well connected in the industry. All of these people were genius musicians, lyricists, singers, rappers, DJs. Successful and talented in their own right, albeit unlucky in their careers. The one thing they all needed was another go, another chance to show the world what it was missing out on. And then there was Ezreal…
"What do we need Ezreal for exactly?" Kayn questioned, watching the last dark remains of his coffee swirling at the bottom of the cup. "He's not that great of a singer and he seems just fine doing his little streams and dance videos instead. Besides, his follower count is multiple times that of both of us combined. Why would he even need to join us?"
For the first time in a while, a loud belly laugh shook Sett's heavy frame, even slightly shaking the table he was leaning on. "Oh man, you don't even know how wrong you are."
Confused and annoyed at being laughed at so blatantly, Kayn ground his teeth together. "What is it?"
"You'll see," was Sett's cryptic answer, along with a knowing smile. "Well, you'll figure out why we need him at some point. As for why he would join us… uh…" His smile suddenly slipped away, something like trepidation entering his eyes. "Let's just say Ezreal… needs people. To help him out with certain things, you know."
Still puzzled, Kayn simply shrugged. Whatever Ezreal's motives were, he would find out sooner or later.
Meeting Yone, Alune, and Aphelios had been interesting, to say the least. All three of them were quiet and reserved, with Yone downright putting Kayn on edge. He was so hard to read, his silence sometimes unsettling. He had a strange aura to him that was difficult to place. Likable guy overall, if a bit hard to talk to. Meanwhile Alune and Aphelios kept to themselves for the most part. They almost seemed liked ghosts or phantoms, blending into dark corners, places away from people. Polar opposites of someone like Kayn, who reveled in having as many eyes on him as possible. And yet, there was resilience and drive in their eyes. He liked that.
Ezreal was an entirely different story.
The fallen pop superstar had officially joined the group shortly after that night in K'Sante's apartment. But none of them had seen even a hair of him since—apparently due to some unfinished business with his old label. Legal stuff concerning the cancelation of his contract and other bureaucracy nonsense, most likely. Kayn was beginning to think Ezreal would pull out after all, deciding that staying solo would be the better move. Too bad, because he was missing out on living in this fancy shared apartment Yone was financing for the band. The guy had seemingly bottomless pockets after years of being a successful DJ.
"Guys!" came Sett's loud, booming voice all of a sudden, just when everyone had settled into their own rooms for the day. "Come out for a sec! I've got a surprise."
Reluctantly, Kayn shut his laptop and made his way towards the first floor. It was largely made up of an open loft-like room that combined the front door hallway to the kitchen and living room, making it the perfect place to hang out and convene for meetings. Kayn expected all kinds of things, Sett bringing it yet another new member—despite swearing it would stop at six—or perhaps those stupid matching band shirts he had been swearing he would get printed. The last thing he had expected was Ezreal. In the flesh. Sitting on the kitchen counter like he had already been living in the place since the beginning.
At the very least, he looked less haggard and messed up than the last time Kayn had seen him. Not so much like a pretty silk handkerchief dumped into a pool of dirty rain water and more like an actually stable and functional human. Which was setting the bar incredibly low, of course, but it was something.
Being the first to arrive to the room, Kayn got a chance to observe everyone's reactions to seeing Ezreal. Unsurprisingly, K'Sante was relatively unaffected and merely nodded at him in greeting with an inviting smile. And aside from a small eyebrow raise, there wasn't much of a reaction from Yone either. Now, Aphelios on the other hand had an entirely unexpected reaction. His sister was walking ahead of him and as soon as she saw Ezreal, her eyes widened and her pace slowed slightly. Behind her, Aphelios completely froze in place like a deer in headlights as soon as he saw the pop star sitting there on the counter, swinging his legs back and forth and seemingly enjoying the attention. Even with a mask covering half his face, the shock was evident on Aphelios' face.
"Surprise!" Sett then shouted, gesturing widely towards Ezreal like he was the grand prize in a game show. "Ezreal's finally moving in with us too!"
Next to him, Ezreal was clearly drinking up all the attention, the curious looks, the hesitant glances. His gaze seemed particularly focused on Aphelios, who was still rooted in place but slowly returning to his usual impassive demeanor. "Glad I get to finally meet everyone for real! We've only been talking over chat so far."
Slowly but surely, everyone seemed to recover from the initial shock enough to actually approach Ezreal and properly greet him and exchange a few words.
Not going to introduce yourself? came Rhaast's haughty voice when Kayn remained where he was and simply observed, arms crossed.
No need. Kayn watched as Aphelios sheepishly introduced himself to Ezreal, albeit Alune was the one doing the actual talking for him. It was almost cute to watch someone as stoic and closed off as Aphelios this flustered. Considering the various posters of Ezreal he had hung up in his room, it was no surprise, frankly.
You have posters of him too, you know.
Yes, and? He's my type. Nothing wrong with having pictures of attractive people.
Rhaast merely scoffed mockingly in response, prompting Kayn to roll his eyes.
Suddenly, Ezreal seemed to notice him staring, golden eyes drifting towards where Kayn was leaning against a wall. Now that he finally had his attention, Kayn made a point of holding his gaze, before slowly raking his uncovered eye down Ezreal's body. He took special note of how those damn shorts were riding up delicious thighs, making his imagination go absolutely wild. With Ezreal still sitting on the counter, Kayn couldn't quite resist tilting his head slightly for perhaps a small glimpse of more. He couldn't actually see anything, of course, but his blatant staring still had the desired effect. When Kayn let his gaze trail back up to Ezreal's face, he found that same easy smile from earlier, but something else as well.
A change. A small shift. The look in Ezreal's eyes was something pleasantly familiar. Electrifying and tempting. Kayn had seen it before.
Things continued on like that for some time, with Kayn staring and Ezreal not acknowledging it aside from the occasional pointed glances. He simply continued chatting with the other bandmates, who seemed too busy talking to notice anything off. Sett was regaling everyone with the tale of how the two had met—by chance, apparently, at a random party hosted by a mutual friend—while Yone seemed oddly interested in Ezreal's background in music before debuting as a singer. Kayn didn't care about any of it in particular, so he largely tuned out the conversation. Staring at Ezreal's face as he spoke was far more interesting.
Ezreal was incredibly expressive, his face able to shift through a multitude of emotions in the space of a mere sentence or two. Sometimes it felt like his slender body was not enough to hold that much energy. Kayn could tell some of his demeanor was calculated and put on, whether intentionally or not, but some of it did seem genuine. The guy was brimming with confidence, knew his own worth well and liked to show it off, that much was obvious. Ezreal seemed like the type of guy that was destined to be famous and successful. Someone with ego and a single-minded drive.
So exactly like you?
Kayn mentally shushed Rhaast, refusing to play into the obvious taunt. Am I wrong? You need be pretty egotistical to be truly successful, you know that.
When no response came, Kayn returned his attention back to the situation at hand with a quiet sigh. It took some patience, but eventually everyone gradually left. K'Sante and Sett hastily jogged out of the front door to go to the gym, the remaining introvert trio trailing back to their rooms. And as soon he heard the last door shut, Kayn moved. With a smirk, he sauntered over to where Ezreal was sitting. Purposefully, each step nonchalant yet deliberate. At first, Ezreal's passive expression didn't give anything away. But soon enough, his eyes narrowed tellingly and Kayn knew he had him hooked. As if anticipating his next move, Ezreal leaned back on the counter and made room for Kayn to comfortably settle himself between his legs. Kayn had to resist the urge to immediately run his hands over the thighs wrapping around his hips, instead crowding Ezreal in even further by resting his hands on the counter, caging him in with his arms. Like this, he could see every minute shift in Ezreal's face, feel small puffs of breath hitting his neck, relish in the intoxicating heat radiating from the singer.
Clearly, Ezreal wasn't the type to forget about his drunken escapades.
Their faces were close enough that a small shift would easily bring their lips together. The anticipation was making Kayn fidget, hands clenching and unclenching into fists. "I'm Kayn, by the way," he eventually murmured into the heated air between them.
"Ezreal. But you can call me Ez." The singer's breath hitched slightly when Kayn shifted just slightly and pushed himself even further between his legs. The friction was maddening for both of them, clearly. Ezreal then lowered his head slightly to look down at where Kayn's burgundy shirt was unbuttoned all the way to his stomach, sculpted chest on full display. "Not a fan of buttons, huh?"
The chuckle Kayn let out in response was a little strained, his brain already reeling from all the other noises he wanted to make but had to hold in. "If it was more socially acceptable, I wouldn't bother with them at all." He intentionally breathed the words right into Ezreal's ear, watching with delight as it immediately flushed red.
Ezreal soon returned the favor, pressing his lips against Kayn's ear and making him dig his fingers into the unrelenting surface of the counter. "There's a looot of things I would do for everyone to see if it was more socially acceptable."
When Ezreal pulled back to stare at him, Kayn saw something in that enticing gold that made a horrifying realization dawn on him.
As much as Kayn was a massive tease, Ezreal apparently was as well. They had been going at this, seconds away from outright fucking on the kitchen counter, for some time now and neither had made any moves to take things any further than this. Kayn wanted nothing more than to see Ezreal give in, beg him for more, plead to be ruined by him. Unlucky for him, it looked like Ezreal wanted that out of him as well.
And so, they were at a stalemate. Both with feverish skin, breaths labored, and both unwilling to make the first move. Pressed together as closely as they were, they could both clearly feel how hard they already were. With every fiber of his being telling to him just move, Kayn had to weigh his options here. Either he holds out and eventually gets what he truly wants in the end, or he gives in now but gets to fuck his new bandmate. Both seemed incredibly frustrating in their own ways.
Fingers running across his bare chest abruptly pulled Kayn out of his musings. Gaze snapping downwards, he found Ezreal's slim fingers going down further and further his chest, quickly reaching his abs. They left behind a trail of tingly heat across his skin that shot straight to his groin. Before those devilish fingers could get to whatever target they were aiming for, Kayn grabbed Ezreal's wrist and pulled his hand out of his shirt. "Impatient, are we?"
Ezreal laughed quietly, the sound of it oddly melodic. "Just trying to get things moving along. I didn't think you were the type that needed all that much convincing."
Something about those words instantly pissed Kayn off. Ezreal clearly knew about his own draw, how easily he could get someone all hot and bothered, to fall over themselves desperately trying to abide by his every command. His was truly the all-encompassing ego of a pop prince. Too bad for him Kayn's own ego was unmatched.
If you don't put him in his place soon, I will.
For once, Rhaast's words sounded like a true threat instead of a joke.
After quietly taking a single steadying breath, Kayn fought his every instinct and took a step away from the counter, away from the warmth of Ezreal's thighs around him. A smirk immediately widened on his face when he took in the confusion that then entered those amber eyes. With surprising gentleness, Kayn reached up to take a hold of Ezreal's jaw. Reminiscent of that night and yet the sensation was so different. "If you want me to do anything… you'll have to beg for it."
Kayn delighted in the way Ezreal's eyes widened slightly in shock. It was the first time Ezreal's composure was visibly slipping, that something outside his expectations was happening. Clearly, he wasn't usually the one made to beg for anything.
"What? Cat got your tongue?" Kayn asked mockingly when Ezreal only stared at him without answering.
A breathless chuckle escaped Ezreal, his earlier attitude quickly returning, before he jerked his head out of Kayn's hold. "Nah. Just surprised you're not as easy as I thought you were, I guess." With Kayn having distanced himself, it was easy for him to push himself off the counter and onto his feet. "I need a nap. Let me know if you ever feel like loosening up a little."
"Same to you," Kayn said easily, watching as Ezreal sauntered off towards the second floor stairs. His eyes stayed glued to the singer's body, his every move, thoughts of what was hidden underneath that baggy hoodie coursing through his mind. Until Ezreal was out of sight.
There was no way Kayn was ever loosening up even a little, especially if it meant crawling to someone and begging them for a fuck. It wasn't worth his pride, no matter how hot the other person was.
You should break him.
"That's the plan." Smirking to himself, Kayn was already formulating various ways to break down that massive ego of Ezreal's, to get him to submit and just admit that he wanted Kayn to fuck him silly. These thoughts did absolutely nothing to dampen the arousal still coursing through Kayn's system like a fever, but that only meant the pay-off would be that much more worth it in the end. The sight of Ezreal's composure shattering even slightly was burned into Kayn's mind, made something in him hunger for more.
It would probably take some time and a lot of effort, but Kayn already knew there was nothing he wanted more than to see Ezreal writhing underneath him with any and all composure lost. And he would stop at nothing to see it happen.
It only took two days of living with Ezreal to figure out what exactly Sett had meant when he had said the guy "needed people". And how much of a blatant lie that had been. Ezreal didn't just need people, he needed handlers.
"EZREAL!"
K'Sante's shouting was accompanied by the sound of a small explosion and all the electronics in Kayn's room instantly turning off. Suddenly sitting in semi-darkness, a confused Kayn cursed to himself, before getting up to check out what the fuck was going on. But as soon as he opened his door and glanced into the hallway dimly lit by sunlight streaming in from outside, something zipped past him into his room like a bright bolt of lightning. Before he could even react, a shock of blond hair disappeared through his suddenly open window. Immediately after, heavy footfalls approached and Kayn turned back around to the hallway to find K'Sante marching his way, fury in every step.
As soon as K'Sante saw the state of Kayn's room, a realization seemed to hit him. "Did he escape through the window?"
"Uh… I think so?" Kayn was still processing everything that had happened in just the last thirty seconds. "What happened?"
Face buried in his hand as he shock his head, K'Sante sighed before answering. With Ezreal out of sight, his anger seemed to drain away gradually. "Ezreal somehow managed to explode the toaster and caused a blackout in the entire apartment. He took off running as soon as he saw me."
"Wait…" Kayn threw a quick glance back towards his window and suddenly remembered the location of his room. "This is the second floor! You're telling me he just jumped out of a second floor window?!"
K'Sante was massaging the bridge of his nose at this point, an irritated quirk to his eyebrows. "That or he went to the roof. Either way, it's too late to catch him."
"What is he, Spiderman?"
That finally coaxed a curt, dry laugh out of K'Sante. "If he was, he would use his escape artist powers for good instead of evil." With another, much longer sigh, K'Sante seemed to finally let go of his last remnants of anger and eased up. "I've heard about chaos following wherever Ezreal goes but I didn't expect it to be this bad. How did he cause a full blackout trying to toast a single slice of bread of all things?"
Right as he spoke the words, electricity seemed to return to the apartment and the lights turned back on. Wiping a hand over his face, K'Sante clapped Kayn on the shoulder silently, before turning to leave again.
Left behind was Kayn, still standing in the doorway trying to make sense of the situation.
Why don't you check for yourself?
"Huh?"
The window.
Rolling his eyes at the bossiness, Kayn relented regardless. He was curious after all. And so he somewhat reluctantly wandered over to his still open window and stuck his head out. Staring down towards the ground, he saw nothing but the badly maintained bushes and trees that surrounded the apartment. No sign of Ezreal. Not expecting to find anything, he glanced upwards next. And found golden eyes staring back at him.
"Oh," was all Ezreal said when their eyes met.
"Why the fuck are you on the roof?" Kayn immediately spat. "Also how?" There was no stairs or ladders to climb up, only straight facade walls and windows.
"I'm good at climbing."
Narrowing his eyes at the cocky tone, Kayn simply shook his head. "Alright. Have fun up there, I guess."
"You're not telling on me?"
Kayn interrupted his retreat back into his room to huff out a laugh, almost in disbelief. "What would I get out of that? Right, nothing. Anyway, bye."
Picked an interesting one to dominate, did you?
Despite his outward exasperation with Ezreal, Kayn had to agree, finally shutting his window for good. Ezreal surprised him at every turn, defied his expectations with every new day. Kayn had thought of him simply as a failed pop star without much talent. And yet, already there seemed to be countless twists and turns to his personality that Kayn could not foresee. One moment he was a charismatic smooth-talker, the next a master seducer, then he would suddenly be unbelievably clumsy, almost ditzy. Now Kayn was finding out Ezreal was some kind of agent of chaos who could scale walls like a damn monkey on top of all that. Kayn could not suppress a chuckle at the thought of what the future held.
Making someone like him submit will be difficult.
"But fun, right?"
Rhaast's answering rumble of a laugh was all Kayn needed to hear as a response.
He knew thinking of his bandmate—a coworker, essentially—in such a way was dangerous territory. At the same time, he would be remiss to pass up on such an opportunity when presented to him on a silver platter like this. Ultimately, Ezreal had come on to him first. And even more importantly, his advances had not stopped. Oh no, not at all. In the two days since moving in, Ezreal had wasted no time throwing all kinds of veiled advances at Kayn. The sneaky looks, the lingering touches, the way his shorts somehow got even shorter, they were all clear signs of Ezreal participating in this little game of theirs. To see who would give in first, whose restraint would run out sooner.
And Kayn always answered in kind. Lightly manhandling him here and there, blatantly staring at Ezreal's ass any time he could, walking around the shared apartment shirtless and still wet after showering. The shirtless and wet bit did earn him lectures from Yone, but it was worth catching Ezreal's hungry eyes following his every move whenever he did it. Only two days in and already Kayn knew the final result of all this back and forth teasing would be mind-blowing.