Forge of worlds - League of legends fanfic

Chapter 12 - City of trades

Ezreal waited outside at the docks, staring at the seagulls departing into the sky, lost behind the deck of clouds. Taking the moment to enjoy the atmosphere and the scent of home, the mountains, chimneys, ahh... it was as if Ezreal was taking a bite out of a fresh grown salad, after living off of leftovers. He never stood long at one place, he wanted to see every bit of Runeterra, the more he saw the more he could dream of discovering, the more he could win for himself to store in his uncle's museum, that would surely piss him off even more if he knew that he had retrieved the long lost artefact: the tear of the goddess. Arrogantly he balanced the gem on his elbow and flicked it into his hand, for the sunlight to shine on it and expose it's beauty within. There was nothing more precious than this moment, he was home, he had another item to rub in his uncle's face and a bathtub waiting for him in his mansion. Leaning back to one of the wooden pillars he inhaled the fresh air of the sea.
'Piltover is truly beautiful.' Ezreal opened his eyes when the familiar, soothing voice of Kai'Sa would conquer the silence and he stared point blank at the girl taking in the ocean wind. He didn't know what dropped, the cold he felt before or his jaw. If she didn't say anything he would not have recognised her. Wearing a denim dress, that looked much like an overall, was hooked up, wearing a wide set white sweater underneath. The longer he stared at her, the more he thought that this is what she could have been if the void had not corrupted her.
'Yeah,' He said, his voice cracking as if he were a teenager again. 'She is.'
Kai'Sa placed her hand on her shoulder and raised her face so the wind blew in her neck. 'A cold breeze, it reminds me of home.' Following every movement her fingers made, pinching softly into the skin of her neck Ezreal felt himself getting a lot more warm and gestured at the bridge. 'Come on, there is a lot more to see than some water.' He stored the tear in his pocket and took the lead as he followed the stairs. The concrete path led out to the open storage where crates and boxes of leverage would be gathered, from one side were a group of sailors unpacking a crate, handing over rolls of what seemed like Ionian silk. From afar he heard merchants shouting their sales and deals, he could already imagine the baker, the road shops, shopkeepers cutting your path to show their goods.
Ezreal turned around to Kai'Sa, who looked at the sailor unloading their salvages. 'Now, I usually don't share my gold, but since this is a special occasion,' He reached for his pocket and held out his hand to her, handing her a handful of gold. Savouring the moment she trembled lightly at the touch of cold coins resting in her hands, shining their initials and crest of Piltover. 'Now you can get ANYTHING that you like, but if you're uncertain about something just ask me, I know the way around here and can tell when something is fake or not.'
Kai'Sa looked observingly at the coins in her hand and picked one out of it, handing it to Ezreal. 'I'd like a tour guide please.'
Ezreal laughed and closed his fingers around her hand. 'You're my guest here, I would be a rude host if I'd let you pay for my services.' Kai'Sa tilted her head, even the sudden move of her hair falling from her shoulder set Ezreal off for some reason. What was wrong with him? He probably was just hungry that everything he spot with his eye triggered something in him.
'Come on, I'll show you one of the best bakers in town. This time I'll actually pay him.' He grinned deviously.

Kai'Sa wandered the town with so much wonder and curiosity. Every salesman that cut her path to offer a gem or a jewel, that tried to smooth talk her into buying an item was chased away by Ezreal, explaining that most people that smeared their articles to you, only wanted to get rid of their trash. She frowned at the thought that humans would play each other like that, but at the same time she'd understand, though humans were nothing like the void, they too had their devious plays to trick someone into something. Oddly, it made her feel only more fit into the crowd, knowing that even humans held greed with them.
Ezreal guided her through an alley, where a baker kept his shop. The place was isolated from the rest and that somehow made Kai'Sa nervous, until the smiling faces of other humans walked out of the restaurant. They did not even bat an eye to her, no one had done so far aside from some questionable looking men that almost looked like they were trying to undress her with their eyes. There was one thing that Kai'Sa was familiar with and that were lust and it were not on top of her list. It drove voidlings to madness and kill their own kind if they had to, so whenever a man had their eyes out on her she gave looks as if it were sharp enough to behead a man with a clean cut. Even the strongest men in town apologised the moment her eyes caught them staring. To the outside, even with likewise humans, it seemed that the only one she were comfortable enough with to share her quirky side was Ezreal, but it had taken them a few days to even reach that point. Ezreal pushed the door open, a bell that rang from the ceiling to greet them in. Nervously, she stepped inside, the scent of fresh baked goods and molten butter almost blessed her nostrils, walking in as she sniffed around she looked around at every inch of the store. From the looks of it there were only options here that they could chose from, they or bought their goods and left the store, or sit down and enjoy a meal and she really longed for the latter, but it was not for her to decide.
'I really missed their apple pie.' Ezreal groaned, resting his hand on his stomach as he walked towards the counter. Kai'Sa followed up, looking at the trays filled with baked goods. Everything was different, came in multiple shapes and to the looks of how everyone was enjoying their bit, they held a present inside. It was a bit menacing when it reminded her of a voidling when bursting open after a perfect shot. She shook her head and let go of the thought, there were hopefully no voidlings here and she would simply enjoy her time until they would go back. A wave of saddened emotions pained her chest when she realised that the moment she would be back in Shurima, she and Ezreal had to part again. Pressing her lips onto each other she gently held his arm and looked around, trying to savour any moment she could get with him, not really aware of the eyes that were capturing them together, thinking more of them as simple friends.
Ezreal looked over his shoulder to Kai'Sa, who did not look as excited as she did before. He looked around and then leaned into her to ask what was wrong, but she simply gave him a bitter smile and shook her head. He patted the hand on his arm and looked at the baker, who was familiar with Ezreal, but had never seen the woman before. He could not even imagine the boy holding onto a girl longer than a few minutes before he would get bored of her and went out to travel again. With his eyes locked onto the girl with the purple stripes on her cheeks and forehead he observed every bit of her, but aside from her lavender eyes she seemed like anyone else that had entered his bakery. He handed over the two plates of apple pie that he had asked for, still glancing at the couple who walked to an empty table. Kai'Sa's fingers shook when she realised she had to let go, she already envisioned their goodbye and assumed that he would not be as saddened as her, because he had met so many other people that she was just someone in the moment. No worries, Kai'Sa, you are here with him right now, be proud that you are one to have actually befriended a human after a decade of being your own prisoner. Picking up her fork she pricked into the triangle shaped "pie" that was served in front of her. She had never tasted apples before, something like that was probably too frail to grow in the farm desert of Shurima, so she could only wonder. Slicing a tiny piece the inside had shown itself, pieces of white blocks, covered in what smelled like cinnamon and sugar welcomed her. With just a single taste Kai'Sa raised one of her hands at the sugary taste, giving her a sweet tooth. Closing her eyes, she could almost envision the taste into colours, hints of green, pink and blue circled in a peaceful whirlwind. For once she felt like she had to share it, that what she enjoyed right now would be greedy of her not to taste and she scooped another fork full.
'Ezreal, you seriously have to taste this.' And she leaned over the table to feed him a bit of her apple piece.
He laughed and pointed at the pie set in front of him. 'Kai'Sa I already have a piece, I'm eating the same thing as you.'
She lifted one of her eyebrows and almost challenged him to eat it. 'It's impossible that every bit tastes the exact same. I've tasted cactus fruits that tasted better where the sun shines brightest.'
With both eyebrows raised he agreed with her and opened his mouth for her to feed him the piece. She did not notice that while he was taking a bite he was staring at her for a few seconds before chewing and had the same response as she did. 'Wait why does yours taste better.'
Kai'Sa had a smile of victory brightening her face and she held scooped another piece of pie to taste from. 'I guess I got the treasure this time.'
Ezreal bit on his lip for a split second and quickly switched their plates. 'The difference between us is that I'm good at stealing and you're good at winning.'
Savouring this very moment she almost forgot that perhaps in a week or two it would all be over. 'I guess I hit the jackpot.' She said with a haze in her eyes.
Ezreal smiled and reached out his hand, gesturing for hers to hold onto his to form a ball.  'Let's promise to do this more often, I'd happily take you back here once we're going back.'
Her eyes widened and her grip became tighter, almost a loving squeeze on his and she smiled hopefully, maybe their friendship would not last just for a few weeks. 'Yes, definitely.'
Lost in that very moment she made the mistake to look from their hands into his eyes and felt the same weird heat coursing through her veins, warming her cheeks and chest. She quickly looked away and drew her hand back, to hold it against her forehead to check for her temperature. 'I think I've caught a cold.' She mumbled softly, looking concerned to her other hand as it was trembling slightly. What was going on with her? It was as if her encounter with the voidling was anew and she had no control over it.
'We travelled overseas and the window was open when we got the voidling off of you, you probably got under cooled.' Pressing her lips onto each other she felt her cheeks getting even warmer when he reached his hand out to feel for her forehead. 'Let's go to my place, there's a dorm for guests where you can rest. I'm sure you'll feel better in the morning.'
She nodded and got up with him, her hands still resting on her cheeks as if she needed something to hold on.

'What is going on, Kai'Sa?' She whispered to herself.