Chapter Text
Ahri takes a seat on the couch, crossing her legs underneath her. She leans forward, hunching her back - only a bit - now that no one is looking. Her eyes are on the black screen in front of her, past the short, yet large, wooden table.
‘With the young ones out of the house, and with Syndra doing,’ she squinted her eyes ever so slightly, at nothing in particular, ‘whatever it is that Syndra does, I could take this evening for myself.’
The sound of footsteps makes her look to her right, seeing Sarah walk into the living room after having put the last of the plates on their respective shelves. She insisted, even though they had made a different deal. Ahri smiles as she corrects her thoughts.
‘For myself and Sarah.’
“That’s done!” The redhead stretches her arms over her head, her shirt pulled up just enough to reveal her lower stomach. Ahri’s eyes fall on the scar that runs parallel to the line her pants create around her waist. ‘That was a nasty one.’
Sarah seems to have noticed her inner conflict, her head tilted to the side as she approaches.
“What? Did I get fat or something?” She jokes, but the way Ahri’s brows furrow when she looks up at her and the way she, so sincerely, says, “What- No, you’re perfect.”, makes her heart skip a beat. Still, she pushes past that feeling and pats her own stomach. “Whatever you say, princess.”
Then the lieutenant sits by the captain’s side, one leg tucked under her while the other hangs off the edge of the couch.
They sit in silence for a few comfortable minutes, before Ahri decides to speak her mind.
“You haven’t called me that in a while.”
Sarah doesn’t look up from her hands, playing with her fingers while she nods with a chuckle.
“Yeah, which is a crime.”
Another long moment of silence.
“Sarah?”
“Hm?”
“I miss them.”
A sigh escapes the redhead.
“Me too. Did you really sleep well?”
The concern in those emerald orbs makes the gumiho’s heart melt, her frown giving way to a small, yet truthful, smile.
“I did,” A long yawn stands in the way of completing her sentence, which makes Sarah mirror her. The latter chuckles and Ahri giggles. “I might still be a little tired.”
“Good thing that all you’ll do today is watch cheesy movies with me!” the redhead laughs and puts her knuckles against Ahri’s shoulder, pushing her away playfully.
The blonde’s fangs show when she smiles, and she smiles big, but shakes her head.
“You know I can’t do that-”
“Can’t, or don’t want to?”
“It doesn’t matter, Sarah, I-”
“Well,” Sarah silences Ahri by resting her hand on the other’s knee, “As your second in command, I am to make decisions in case you are incapable. Look, I know you have to study, but, honestly, we’re in the same class. If I can do it all tomorrow with no stress, so can you. As for the house chores… Ezreal lost a bet a couple of days ago. He owes me.”
“I can’t make Ez deal with something that’s my responsibility.”
Sarah shrugs, mirth visible on her features. “Well, I can.”
At Ahri’s expression of utter disapproval she sighs. “I will assist him, just, don’t you worry about it.”
“Asking me not to worry is like asking me to change my nature, Sarah.”
She scratches the back of her neck. She knows that Ahri is right, but still. Nevertheless, she knows there’s no winning an argument against her captain.
“What do you wanna watch?” She continues instead, hoping her foolish smile is enough to dissuade Ahri from arguing any more about the subject.
Ahri’s shoulders fall, the tension that crept there dissipating as she allows herself to fall into the back of the couch. Perhaps Sarah’s right. She looks at the redhead and exhales slowly, letting her legs also hang off the couch.
“Let’s watch something silly.”
The red gem grins and jumps up - an idea already in mind.
“You got it, captain!”
“What do you think?”
Soraka pirouettes, allowing Ezreal to take a good look at the outfit. She is wearing an emerald-green dress, reaching just below the knee. It has an open back, but her hair covers most of the exposed skin. A couple of golden bracelets on one wrist, a golden ring on the other hand, the usual, minimalist earrings and her gem, hidden in her necklace.
Ezreal’s hand holds his chin, thinking as he does. “I mean, it’s not bad for a nerd-”
He has to duck, Soraka’s familiar just barely missing his head before it settles into her gem, like an orb of starlight.
“Hah,” He chuckles, “I’m learning your moveset- OW!”
He did not expect Syndra, of all people, to smack him. When he turns around, Syndra finds two young guardians staring at her, dumbfounded.
“What? Is comedic timing not a thing in our day and age?”
“I- uh, well, no, but- uh,” Ezreal tries to find the right words, or words in general, when Soraka jumps in for the rescue.
“We simply did not expect you would indulge in…” The green gem’s hands move, trying to convey the meaning of the word-
“Fun, frankly.” The blue gem completes the sentence, making the dark-haired Guardian roll her eye.
“Why, I can be fun! It is simply that you haven’t had the honour to witness such a spectacle.”
“A spectacle it would be, for sure.” Ezreal whispers into Soraka’s ear - the healer trying her hardest not to smile, though she has a feeling that the older Guardian heard what the boy said.
“You could join us, if you’d like.” Soraka offers and - as a response - Syndra raises a perfect eyebrow.
“I could. But do I want to? Mmmm…”
“Unless you’re scared we’ll find out you’re just a young-looking grandma, with no actual fun side!”
The death stare that the blond receives might actually be worth it, as the purple gem replies.
“Fine. I will be by the door in fifteen minutes.”
“This jacket looks stupid on me!”
“It looks formal, Ezreal, as we should be dressing for such an event.”
The blond rolls his eyes with a sigh, fixing his bowtie with one hand and helping Soraka with the other as they walk down the stairs. He chuckles as a thought crosses his mind.
“Do you think Poppy is wearing a dress or a suit? I can’t decide which one would look more hilarious-”
“Ezreal!”
“Silence, children!”
They both flinch at Syndra’s hushed command, but remain quiet.
Soraka observes the dark living room, save for the light of the TV, still playing a movie that apparently no one is currently watching. Sticking out from the couch’s silhouette are two arms, each from a different person judging by the look of it. Ahri and Sarah. She tries to grab Ezreal’s arm as he moves closer, but fails to reach him.
Hovering over the two, Ezreal confirms that they are - in fact - asleep.
“No wonder, they’ve been rotting in front of the screen all day. Also, this is hella gay and-”
His eyes fall on a large bowl, its inside sprayed with oregano and paprika. He turns to Soraka and he looks like he is this close to bawling his eyes out as he brings his hands up.
“My snacks!” He hisses, causing Syndra to scoff and Soraka to regard him with a bored expression.
“Ahri didn’t eat much this morning, she probably needed it.”
“I needed it!”
“Ezreal, for the love of the First Star!”
“Fine, I guess it’s fine. Her ears look so fluffy-”
“You wake her up and I will shoot you.”
The groggy voice scares the Light out of the blue gem, as he teleports behind Soraka the instant he hears it.
“Apologies for waking you up.” Soraka mumbles in shame.
“She’s been awake for a bit.”
The young duo turn around to stare at Syndra, who is inspecting her nails. Ezreal decides to address Sarah.
“I thought you were sleeping.”
“Mhm,” The redhead hums, quiet, in an attempt not to wake the woman in her arms. “I was. But I smelled trouble and woke up.”
“Buzzkill.”
“Loser.”
It’s the blond’s turn to scoff as he turns toward the door.
“Fine, I’ll leave you to rot there.”
“Thank you, it’s been quite fun actually.”
“Oh f*ck off.” Ezreal mumbles as he makes his way to the door, where an amused Syndra is already holding the door open.
“Have fun, kids.”
“f*ck off, Sarah.” Replies Syndra with a smile and after that, the three are gone, leaving the redhead alone with Ahri and her thoughts.
“So,” Ezreal walks ahead of the two women, “Last one there does the chores tomorrow?”
“We are most certainly not-”
He turns to the green gem. “Soraka?”
She shrugs in return and changes into her guardian uniform.
“Soraka, you must be-”
“See you there grandma!”
Before the eldest guardian can protest any more, Soraka and Ezreal are soaring the night sky, a line of green and blue, the colours intertwined as if dancing. Syndra takes a deep breath and summons her uniform.
“Very well.”
A small smirk appears on her usually straight lips as she launches into the air, her purple line mixing with green and blue, surpassing them within seconds.
