It was a cold night in Noxus. So cold, in fact, that Zed found himself wondering when he'd stepped into the Frejlord. He huffed irritably to himself as he stepped out of the alley.
He'd been trying to erase an image from his head - an image that had been burned into his mind the previous week, and one that hadn't left since. No matter how much he meditated, lingered in the cool shadows, or bathed his concerns in blood, he still kept thinking of it.
Those eyes. Two bright amber eyes, staring straight into his soul. As many times as he'd fought Talon before, he'd never looked into his eyes. They weren't cold and detached like he'd expected. No, they were the opposite - burning, passionate, full of a bloodlust that sent shivers down Zed's spine.
He wanted to see the golden orbs again. It was so rare for him to care about anything save his own wellbeing nowadays, but now he had something different on his mind. A curiosity and a thirst that he couldn't quite place, devouring him slowly from the inside.. it was such a strange, tantalizing feeling.
Zed knew where he could find the man. Even though he himself lived in Ionia, he knew Noxus well, and he had seen Talon wandering near its borders. Chances were he had a hideout around there, and very little escaped the shadowmaster's eyes. He had a sense that told him where people were.
Already he was close to the border - it only took an hour or two's walk to get to where he wanted to be. He moved fast in the shadows of night, and dawn had still not yet risen when Zed found the tunnels hidden deep within the trees, where it was rumored the Noxian assassin lived. To most eyes they were invisible, but Zed spotted the entrance quickly, and brushed aside the branches blocking his path.
The tunnels were dark, so dark that it took a moment for even Zed's eyes to adjust. But then his shadow-piercing vision lifted the gloom, allowing him to see deep into the depths of the corridor ahead. There were no light sources, and for a moment the shadow master found himself wondering if the tunnels truly were still occupied. The air felt cold and dead, so deserted that Zed was tempted to leave, but at the same time... He couldn't shake a pervasive feeling that the other man was there. Watching him. Waiting for him, fully aware that he'd entered.
Steeling himself, Zed silently began to move forward. His form was no longer entirely corporeal, phasing in and out of the shadows as he walked, so that every footstep made no more sound than a blink in the darkness. He followed only his sixth sense, weaving his way through the maze of empty corridors, the tunnel seemingly growing smaller and smaller as he went further. Doubts seeped into his mind again - was he really wasting his time searching for a man he barely knew?
And then he heard a sound. It had been so quiet that Zed felt he could detect a breath besides his own within twenty feet. It was the sound of a blade cutting through the air, and it made Zed immediately raise his own blade, pressing back against the wall.
A voice slipped into his ear, low and soft.
"Why has the Master of the Shadows come to visit me?"
Zed jerked to face the sound, but he saw nothing there. Again he heard a voice, this time from behind him.
"I don't take kindly to unannounced visitors."
Suddenly he felt a plethora of sharp tips pressing against him - one to his side, more against his legs, and another at his throat. A warm breath brushed against his neck. "But you're a special guest. How about you come back to my room with me, and we can have a little chat?"
Part of Zed wanted to slip away into the shadows, to fight the man, demonstrating his superiority. But then a flicker of doubt entered his mind - this wasn't his home turf. Without an area to jump to and hide in, Talon had the advantage in the thin hallways, hallways that no doubt held numerous secret passages.
He forced himself to speak. "I can leave."
"No, no... I insist." The hand pressing a blade to his side suddenly grabbed his waist, pulling him back. Suddenly they were going through a passage Zed hadn't noticed before, moving at a speed that made it difficult for him to grasp a sense of direction. He was practically dragged along for several minutes, but finally he heard a door unlock, and as he was bathed in a soft light, his captor pulled him into a large room.
"Take off your blades." It was a command, and one Zed wasn't really in a position to argue with. He unstrapped the twin blades from his hands, letting them fall to the floor. "The shadows won't help you much here... Nowhere to run." The words echoed in Zed's ears and mind, making his stomach tie itself in a knot - an unfamiliar feeling to the usually supremely confident assassin.
At last the hand released him, and Zed turned slowly around. What he saw before him was a man barely taller than himself, his long black hair falling to his shoulders. It framed an angular face, one which held the two objects of Zed's most rapt attention: his bright amber eyes. The two orbs stared unblinkingly at Zed, predatorially examining him, but filled with a magnetic glow that the shadowmaster couldn't tear his own gaze away from.
Talon was wearing his usual bladed cape, but curiously, he wore no shirt beneath it. Instead his only real garment was his usual red leggings, leaving his toned torso on full display. His sharp hipbones formed a deep v-shape that dipped beneath the hem of his pants, one that Zed's eyes followed for a brief moment as they wandered down.
"I bet you're wondering why I came here," Zed suddenly spoke up, a slight grin coming over his features. "You should know I wasn't looking to kill you - if I was, you'd be dead already."
Talon chuckled coldly. "So prideful. But pride is an assassin's downfall... I know that well." He turned away then, walking over towards a desk in the corner of the room. Zed glanced around, noting the plush but unmade bed against the wall, a chest by the door, several overturned dressers, and a number of blades that were stacked on the floor, hanging from the wall, lying on the dressers, and generally everywhere they could possibly fit.
As his eyes fell on Talon again, the muscular assassin's form constricted by the tightness of his leggings, Zed felt a sudden, new sort of urge come over him. His body practically moved forward by itself, his silent footsteps bringing him towards the other man, who had taken a silver blade from the desk and was polishing it with a cloth. But as soon as he'd drawn close, Talon suddenly turned around with the speed of lightning, grabbing him by the shoulders.
"What're you-" The shadow master only had a breath to protest with before he'd been thrown violently in the direction of the bed, where he stumbled with unusual clumsiness, landing on his back. His brown hair lay messily about his face, crimson eyes narrowing at the man who was approaching him. Those amber orbs pinned him down, holding him in place as Talon straddled him, lips peeling back in a sneer.
"You should keep in mind, Ionian, that I've been here longer than you have. I'm a veteran of the League - you're a rookie. You should keep that in mind before you start talking back." Talon's bare hands pressed against Zed's shoulders, grasping at the thin cloth of his shawl. "I know why you came. I saw it in your eyes the moment you let your presence be known. If only the shadows cloaked your emotions as well as your form."
Zed put up a feeble attempt to struggle as Talon began to strip his upper half, peeling off his scarf and tunic. The threat of the blades was still clear - it seemed like Talon always had one within arm's reach. But he found himself lacking a true desire to resist, which served more to numb his limbs than anything else. "This isn't why I came!" he hissed under his breath, but as he spoke, Talon's fingertips drifted across his now-bare chest, causing Zed's words to become flavored with a soft moan that thoroughly betrayed him.
"You're not lying to me, Zed. You're just lying to yourself," the other assassin whispered, his words like poison pouring into Zed's ear. The trapped shadowmaster knew he was outclassed in this domain, and now the only true fight he was having was with his own pride.
He felt cool fingers trace down his side, slipping beneath the hem of his trousers and teasing them over his hips, inch by inch. As he realized that the situation was making him half-hard, an unfamiliar sensation washed over him - shame? Soon his pants were pulled off and thrown across the room, and Zed felt Talon's unwavering gaze drifting over his form, nothing escaping it. His muscles tensed as he strained under the other man's pinning grasp, half-consciously putting on something of a show in the process.
Talon's lips cracked in a cruel smirk, and his head dipped down. Moments later, Zed felt a sharp mix of pain and pleasure bolt through him at the touch of teeth to his chest. He let out a soft cry, his back arching. "You could at least try to pretend you don't want all of this," a teasing, taunting voice breathed into Zed's ear.
"Shut up, or at least use your mouth for something besides - aah!" His retort cut off by a sudden touch between his legs, Zed sucked in a breath, closing his eyes. Two of Talon's fingers were rubbing at his entrance in slow circles, not a thought given to Zed's neglected shaft.
"You'd best hush your own mouth before I decide to use one of these blades to add some extra fun," Talon replied in a purr, his long hair tickling Zed's skin as he leaned over the shadow master, lips pressing to his throat. His teeth grazed along the flesh, pressing down in a rough bite - a well-timed distraction as his fingers suddenly pressed into the other male.
Zed took in a shuddering gasp, a bolt of pain rushing through him, but so hazy were his senses that it was easily mistaken for ecstasy. He tried to squirm away from the invading digits, but there was nowhere to go; in response, Talon only pushed them deeper, adding a third finger moments after, twisting his long digits mercilessly. Zed found himself curling his legs about Talon's waist, and he felt the other man's erection press into his belly from beneath the tight leather of his pants.
"Don't.. do this to me," Zed choked out, his voice high pitched with lust and embarrassment.
"Mm?" came the teasing reply. "Well.. if you really can't stand it, then you should remedy it yourself, no?" Those two amber orbs glittered at Zed, watching him expectantly - waiting.
The shadowmaster hesitated. Was Talon asking him to do what he thought he was? And more importantly, was Zed really about to humiliate himself so thoroughly, simply for the sake of numbing the growing need inside of him? The more he looked into Talon's eyes, the less confident he felt about his pride, and the more he wanted to simply give in.
He swallowed hard. Talon lifted his grasp from one of Zed's hands, watching keenly as the shadowmaster lowered his arm to slowly pull free the other man's cock, pre drooling from the head and down the sides. Talon, showing next to no reaction - save for perhaps a slight twitch of his lips, a flicker of heat showing in his eyes - shifted his hips down, so that he was positioned between Zed's legs. All that was left was for Zed to guide the large shaft inside of him... and for a long moment, the last dregs of his rational thought kept him from doing so.
..Those eyes. Watching him. Waiting for him. He couldn't stand it. Biting down on his lip, Zed pressed the damp tip of Talon's cock against his tight ring, and without letting himself hesitate, shifted his own hips downward to let the invading shaft pierce him. He went slowly, breath catching at the feeling of having to adjust to such fullness, when suddenly Talon pressed down atop him, ramming his hips forward and hilting himself inside the other man. This time Zed's cries echoed in the room, not just a single cry, but a long succession of them as Talon ground his hips deeply against the shadow assassin. It was a visceral pain, one so vivid that it made Zed see crimson for a moment.
He tried to turn his head away, away from that penetrating amber gaze, but Talon roughly grabbed his chin and pulled him back. "I want to see your face.. that expression you have is addicting." Zed helplessly found himself staring back up at the other male, his lips parted with breathy gasps, cheeks burning as Talon started to work in and out of him in a steady rhythm. The burning pain continued, but slowly began to subside as he adjusted to the heavy strokes. Talon moved gradually, as if wanting Zed to have to newly acclimate to the feeling of fullness every time. Now and then, however, he'd abruptly roll his hips forward, forcing in all at once, his actions rewarded with another one of Zed's sweet moans.
The shadowmaster's arms curled tightly about Talon, clinging to him, keeping their bodies melded together. Talon still kept one of Zed's arms pinned above his head, but his other hand entwined with his fellow assassin's, their sweaty palms pressed against each other in a twisted form of intimacy. Zed's mind grew more and more clouded, his breaths becoming more sharper and uneven the longer they rutted. Talon never seemed to tire, his movements as steady as clockwork, but his angular features eventually began to betray a bestial lust. His lips pulled back in a feral sneer as he panted, motions beginning to speed up, rocking the wooden bedframe with each thrust.
Zed saw only white, his mind going blank as Talon suddenly hit a sensitive spot within him, pushing the poor shadowmaster over the edge in an instant. Soon he felt a warmth spread over his chest, which he was dimly aware of as his own seed, shooting out in thin spurts. But he was given no rest, only a continued pounding as Talon grunted, seemingly close to his own peak. Zed weakly grasped the other male's hand, gazing wondrously up into his unblinking golden eyes as Talon's thrusts halted, and a flow of sticky warmth filled his insides. It came in copious amounts, lewdly satisfying, and Zed almost ached for more.
He couldn't remember what happened after that. Did they fall asleep just after? Had he explained himself to Talon? Did they have another session, more intense than even the first? It was a haze, a haze of emotions, of desire, a cloud he couldn't see through...
Zed awoke with a start. His eyes fluttered open, the sleepy red pools blinking several times as they adjusted to the dim light. It had all been... a dream.
At least, that's what he thought, until he glanced to his right.
Two amber eyes stared back at him.