Ahri stepped out of the shower and pulled the towel over herself,drying herself off. On a night like this,she didn't mind availing herself of the quarters of the institute of war. Sona needed her space,and Emilia was attending to "very important Black Rose business in Bilgewater".

For someone of her power,drying out her thick,furry tails would be less of an effort than one might expect. As she rinsed off her face in the sink,she ran a light electrical current through her fur,instantly poofing out the fur and removing all excess moisture in a burst of steam. But her grooming routine was interrupted the moment she straightened up,by the sight of a certain explorer in the mirror.

Whirling around,the startled scream forming in her mouth was muffled by a musty leather glove. Ezreal shushed her urgently,doing his best to remain inconspicuous to anyone that might pass by this time of night.

"Ahri,calm down! I just- I just need to talk to you about something!"

She answered with a wide-eyed,subdued nod,mimicking a shushing motion with her own hand,or as close as she could get with his (surprisingly broad) hand on her face. Relief washed over his face as he backed away,still staring intently at her.

"But,can it at LEAST wait until I have my clothes on? You're gonna be married in-"

Her elaboration was interrupted by another round of shushing.

"Shh!"

"But-"

"Shh!"

"Don't-"

"Shh!"

"Fine! I won't mention...the event that's coming up!"

Ten minutes later,Ezreal was standing at the door of Ahri's room,listening as she made a big show of rummaging through her dressers,looking for something properly decent to wear in the presence of a man about to face the biggest day,and the biggest commitment of his life. He was beginning to get the feeling she was enjoying his anxiety.

Finally,the door opened to reveal Ahri in a...surprisingly subdued,tasteful nightgown,just wide and billowy enough for her to stuff her tails under them.

"So...what's the big idea,that you needed to come all the way over here? At this time of night?"

"Could we please go in at least? It's...sensitive."

"Sensitive." Ahri rolled her eyes. "Sure..."

Regardless,she stepped back and locked the (hopefully soundproof) door behind him as he entered,sitting on the edge of the bed and kicking her legs as he leaned back on a small,untouched bookshelf.

"So...are you gonna talk? Or are you gonna keep me in suspense all night?" The light innuendo totally just slipped out. Ahri was always one for gossip. And for poking her muzzle into everyone's business. It'd been a good,long while since a wedding had taken place within the League itself. And the last one was more or less political,a consolidation of power. This was...very different. At least,that's the way Ahri heard it.

The news of Ezreal,of all people,getting engaged came as a pleasant surprise to much of the League. The other half of the engagement? That was more of a shock. Ahri wasn't one to turn down an invitation to anything that came with a dinner,even if it involved one of her least favourite people.

But right now,there was either more juicy gossip to be unearthed,or a whole load of relationship drama to be dumped into her lap. Though in this kind of scenario,those two always turned out to be the exact same thing.

"I..." Ezreal began,before resting his face in his palms. "I don't...I can't..."

Seeing the look of irritation on Ahri's face,he sighed. "I'm...not really...in love with Ryze."

Ahri paused a moment,letting the words sink in as she rolled them around in her mouth,like a particularly hard piece of candy. "You're not...really...in love...with Ryze."

The next moment,she'd bolted up to her feet,the fur of her tails crackling and sparking with unnatural fire.

"YOU'RE NOT IN LOVE WITH RYZE?!" Her voice seemed like it could blow a nexus apart,or at least wake everyone in the institute.

Ezreal sighed,still more fazed by his situation than Ahri's reaction to it.

"I mean- He was alone,we were travelling together,I helped him,he saved me...promises were made,okay? I...kind of rushed into things!"

With a few breaths,Ahri calmed down considerably,idly picking up a decorative glow crystal from the windowsill and staring into it. "Okay..."

The fox in her whined,thankfully only in her head. "Does that mean there's not gonna be dinner?"

"So..." She began again,considerably more subdued this time. "You,on the eve of your wedding,decided to come to me,someone completely unrelated to either of you...to tell me that you don't really love your fiance. Knowing,full well,that I would either tell literally everyone in the League by sunrise...or make a total mess of things trying to work out a solution between the two of you. Is that right?"

"Right!" Ezreal beamed,raising his arms towards her. "I mean- What I meant was,you know all about this stuff,you got girlfriends,you know everything that goes on in the League...there has to be a way I can work this out!"

Ahri sighed,her ears flapping in annoyance as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "Look,this here is...my first relationship,okay? There are three things I do. One,play with Sona. Two, 'play' with Sona and Emilia. Three,dispose of the...waste the Black Rose has no use for. Literally every...relationship I've had before now lasted until I got hungry. Which,as you know,doesn't take long."

Her face softened,trying to be at least a little reassuring. "Look...I know it's hard. But...I can't help you with this. It's still...not too late. You gotta head down to the library or wherever he is,you gotta talk to him,instead of me,and you gotta work this out. Yourself. You and him."

Ezreal looked like all the breath had been squeezed out of his body. When he opened his mouth,he sounded like it,too. "O-okay. I gotcha. I'll...just be going now. To talk it out...like a man."

As he turned to leave,Ahri moved to at least give an encouraging tap on his shoulder. "Not a man. Like Ezreal." She paused. "Or at least,the Ezreal that he knows you can be."

She could have sworn she saw his face light up. "Thanks Ahri. I...really mean it."

He lingered for a second more,before stepping out,and walking down the hall without a word more.

Pushing the door shut,it was Ahri's turn to groan. "God-dammit!"

Resisting the urge to hurl the crystal onto the floor,she rested it back on the windowsill,and flopped onto the bed,her thoughts filled with the possibility of more delicious relationship drama as dawn struck tomorrow...or the possibility of little,blonde-purple,snaring,skillshotting babies of death in two or three years' time.