"Nasus, you will die by my hand!"
"Renekton, channel that anger into something positive, can't you say anything nice to Nasus? He's dressed rather well today, isn't he?"
"Nasus... Your armor... is well polished, on this day."
"See, isn't that bett-"
"I CAN'T WAIT TO STAIN IT RED WITH YOUR BLOOD!"
"Well, it was a good try, Summoner Badger."
League counsellor Jay Badger was sitting with the sand siblings, in what was his fifteenth meeting with Renekton.
The Crocodile man had only gotten angrier with each meeting, and Nasus himself was very unhelpful, due to his cold exterior.
"Alright guys, let's try this again, same time next week," Badger sighed.
Nasus nodded and left, Renekton struggled against the chains that held him.
Badger placed his chin on his hands, and stared directly into the Butcher's eyes.
"Alright Renekton, Nasus is gone, can you calm down for a minute and talk to me?"
Renekton growled and returned the glare, "What is it, Summoner?"
"You like to fight and hurt people, right?"
"I believe that's obvious."
"Do you feel better when you hurt people, Renekton, do you feel less angry?"
"I suppose."
Badger stood up and moved to his desk. Opening a drawer, he pulled out a scroll.
"This is a summoning scroll. Champions must sign these contracts for individual summoners to use them. I believe you've signed a few for Zaun and Noxus, correct?"
Renekton nodded, and gave the summoner and intrigued look.
"Are you asking me, to allow you to summon me to battle?" He asked.
Badger nodded, "While I am not normally called to handle political battles, I do, on occasion, engage in the training and work out routines. From what I understand, you are almost solely used for the political conflicts, which happen months apart. These training exercises happen almost everyday, this would allow you much more time out of that containment cell that you so loathe."
Renekton narrowed his eyes, "What kind of, 'exercises' are these?"
Badger smiled, "In them, you fight against enemy champions, but they are not actually there. They are magical conjurations that resemble them in looks, fighting style, and even in personality. You can kill them over, and over, and over again."
Renekton smiled giddily, "You mean I have an endless supply of meatsacks to shred?!"
Badger nodded, "Yep. I wonder if I'll be able to talk to you better, when you're on your favorite kind of territory."
Renekton let loose a wicked grin, and laughed heartily. The sound was terrifying.
"Fine, I accept. Bring me your contract, I will sign it."
Badger smiled and moved the parchment (along with an ink pad) so that it was under Renekton's restrained hand. The crocodile man then dabbed his claw into it, and immediately scratched out a rune.
"There, it is done. Send me back to my confinement now. I wish to be alone."
Badger nodded and snapped his fingers, Renekton disappeared in a flash of light, leaving Badger by himself.
Taking a seat on his couch, he moved so that he could lie down straight.
"Great, managed to leave that one without a headache, and I've still got an hour before my next appointment. I think I'll take a nap."
"How dare she!"
Badger's eyes opened lazily, someone was screaming from outside the hall.
"That self-righteous, arrogant, stuck up, sword sucking bitch!"
Badger sat up and rubbed his eyes, looking at the clock on his wall, he saw that he'd only been asleep for fifteen minutes.
Just as he was about to lay back down, his door exploded. Badger quickly ducked behind his couch to protect himself from the massive shards of wood.
"Summoner Badger!"
He peered above the edge of the sofa, terrified.
An ash cloud had filled the room, obscuring his vision. What he could see, however, were two bright, purple, eye-like lights.
Badger coughed, and waved his hand. A small breeze entered the room, and took the dust outside, revealing his attacker.
"There you are!" Syndra hissed, furiously.
"Yes, Syndra, I'm here. Is something wrong?"
He let out another yelp when he felt himself being levitated off the ground, and thrown. He landed in his chair, hard, while Syndra took a seat where he had been laying.
"I cannot believe this! Can you believe this? I was in the cafeteria, minding my own business, eating lunch, when Irelia came to me! She started going on and on about what a monster I was, how I didn't belong here, that she knew what I was, blah blah blah! I didn't even talk to her! She confronted me! Then, when I tried to retort, a League Summoner tried to have me detained! What the hell did I do?!"
Badger blinked in surprise, and opened his mouth to speak.
"To add insult to injury, I then had to deal with Karma giving us both a lecture about fighting, and how Ionians need to work together to be harmonious. Irelia continued to yell insults at me, and the Summoner kept going on and on about how much trouble I'd be in!"
"Syndra."
"Blah blah fuckity blah! Peace this, tranquility that!"
"Syndra."
"I should've leveled the building on those bastards!"
"Syndra!"
The Dark Sovereign paused, and looked at him.
"What?!"
"First of all, Hello. Welcome back. Second, You're talking very fast and very loudly, please settle down."
Syndra twitched, the room shook.
"So from what I understand, Irelia attacked you verbally, a Summoner didn't hear your side of the story, and Karma attempted to diffuse the situation, but only made it worse?"
Syndra nodded.
"Okay. How does that make you feel?"
The Dark Sovereign's eyes glowed again and the room began to tremble.
"How does it make me feel?! It makes me angry! I should've killed them all! I should destroy this entire place! She wants to call me a monster?! I'll show her a monster! I'll crush Ionia in my palm and save her pathetic body for last! I'll-"
She stopped when she felt something warm on her shoulder. Badger had teleported next to her, and put his arm around her.
Syndra looked at him, shocked. She had expected him to run in terror of her.
"You're not angry. You're offended. You're offended because you've been treated unjustly and you weren't given a chance to defend yourself."
What was this Summoner's deal? Why was he taking her side? Why was he caring?
"We all get offended and upset when people make unfair assumptions, but these assumptions come from impressions. Tell me, why would Irelia randomly come up to you and insult you? What reasons have you given her for doing this?"
Syndra averted his stare and looked at her lap. Her hands curled into fists above her knees.
"I've given her no reasons. She's heard stories from elders and Summoners. She has seen examples of my power, both outside and inside the fields of Justice. Before this day, however, we have never spoken to one another. I..."
She paused, her words came out painfully.
"I'm tired of people hating me, Summoner Badger. I've tried doing good things, too. I've levitated cats out of trees, I've helped construction workers move heavy objects, I've helped around the institute, but everyone still hates and fears me."
She leaned over and put her face in her hands. She was shaking uncontrollably now.
"I don't want to be feared anymore. I don't want to be hated anymore, but it's the only thing that I'm able to get people to do. At least when they fear me, they obey me."
"And give you the attention you desperately need?"
She glared at him, "Stop treating me like I'm some sort of child. I'm not here to be analyzed."
He nodded, "My apologies, that's a bad habit of mine. I tend to read into things unintentionally, making it seem like I'm studying you or something. I'm not analyzing you, I'm just trying to figure out what I can say or do to make you feel better."
She sighed, "I suppose that comes with your job."
She blushed for a moment, before she looked at him.
"Could I have one of those... 'hugs'? As you called them."
Badger blinked in surprise, but nodded.
Syndra, in turn, moved her legs on the couch, and put herself on top of him, so that her rear was on his lap, her back was against his left arm, and her shoulder was against his chest.
Badger, utterly confused and not quite sure what to do, merely did as he was requested, and hugged her tight.
"Summoner Badger, do you like me?" She asked, quietly.
Before he could reply, she stopped him.
"Answer honestly. Don't do your counselor bullshit. If you dislike me, say it. Honesty will earn you my mercy, lying will lead to a cruel and miserable death."
He shrugged, and adjusted her so that she was sitting more comfortably on him.
"Sure I like you. Then again, I've taken the time to talk to you. I know you're not bad, you're just misunderstood. You want to do the right thing, and you're willing to take massive steps towards doing it. Like coming here. I think you're extraordinarily talented with your magical abilities, and the fact that you've got so much anger, but barely show it, is pretty special."
He paused as she yawned, and adjusted herself so that her head was against his chest instead. She closed her eyes and rubbed her head against his chest.
"I'm tired. I will be taking a nap here. You may continue your compliments."
Badger blinked in confusion, this was awkward, even for him.
She relaxed in his arms, her breaths became slow and steady. Her cheek rested heavily against his breast.
"Well Syndra, you are very adept at using complicated magic. You are very smart and talented, and your moral compass is on track. You also seem to be the type of person who follows their intuition, so I find that worthy of applause."
She let out a soft huff, then inhaled deeply again. Her jaw relaxed, and her entire frame went limp.
"Did she seriously fall asleep on me?" He asked himself, amazed.
Syndra was easily one of his hardest cases. She had met with him four times since the first night she had come to his office. Each time, she would let out some of her immense anger, destroy furniture, and swear vengeance on those she hated. Then, she'd swap completely. She'd sob, cry, apologize, beat herself up, and ask for some form of comfort or affection. She'd then always end their encounters with a sexual flaunt or flirt, leaving him completely clueless as to what had happened.
He looked at her closed eyes, while asleep, Syndra looked so... peaceful, innocent. He couldn't help but stare at her flowing silver hair, her perfectly symmetrical face, nor her soft, pink lips. She didn't deserve the anger she had, she didn't deserve the pain she had been given.
"And, on a personal note, I believe you are also quite beautiful" He whispered.
He didn't mean to say it, the words merely escaped his lips.
Syndra's eyes snapped open, "Did you just call me beautiful?" she asked, looking at him.
Badger blinked in surprise, his jaw dropped.
"Uhh... Uhh..." He stammered.
She smiled, "Thank you, Summoner Badger."
Syndra then resumed her position of laying on his chest, nuzzling her face against the base of his neck.
Badger, still shocked, merely blinked repeatedly, before finally resting his chin on her head.