A/N: This took a little bit longer than usual, I'm trying to shorten my chapters so that they're a little bit more reader-friendly! Anyway, please enjoy, as always, let me know what you think!

It was a new day, the morning sun was bright and warm, a lovely contrast to the frosty air of the winter morning. Syndra forgot to close her curtains the night before, the golden sunlight shone through her room, it was only when she turned around to face the open door that she woke up. It was bright, it may have given her some degree of warmth, but once she stepped out of bed, the cold hit her like a ton of bricks, she forgot to put the heating on the night before. She often got too warm during the night to wear pajamas, she opted to wear shorts and a t-shirt, which was enough underneath a duvet and a blanket, but not enough once she stepped out of bed.
She quickly scrambled for some clothes, just something to cover her legs better. It was a Sunday, so she didn't need her uniform, good thing too, because she hadn't yet collected it from the nurses office, that, and she would have been late for lessons anyway. She looked at the clock on the wall, wondering what time it really was.

9:54.

'Shit.' She thought. Zed was arriving to her room at 10. The plan for the day was to relax, eat more food, and Zed was going to talk through some stuff about the school with her. She hadn't got dressed, she needed a shower, she also needed to cook a breakfast for him, she said she would, as a thank you for yesterday.

She ran to the bathroom, she was sure she had towels in there already, she stripped off as she ran to the bathroom, leaving pieces of clothing in a trail leading to the door.
The door shut behind her, and she turned on the water, testing it every couple of seconds to check the temperature, once it got warm she jumped in, trying to be as quick as she possibly could to wash her hair, she grabbed the brush and worked her way through her hair, then shampoo, conditioner, until making her way onto the bodywash.
Zed, on the other hand, made his way down the corridor, passing two girls as he started to search for Syndra's room, the girls were just leaving their dorms.

"Heeey Zed!" Said one girl, flirtily.

"Hey.." He lifted a hand and gave her a little wave. They looked at each other and giggled.

"Who are you going to see, heeey? Is it Ahri?" The girls continued to giggle.

"No haha, it's not Ahri.." He replied whilst still walking.

"Awhh that's not fair! We want to know who it is!"

"Well, looks like you'll never know.." He turned around to face them and shrugged his shoulders.

"I wanna see!" Said one girl, the other pulled her away.

"Stop being such a pervert and leave him alone." She escorted her friend out of the corridor, their conversation continuing once they had left.

He rolled his eyes and carried on walking, his eyes moving from door to door.

'A25' he thought.

"I thought the rooms only went up to 24.." he murmured.

A23..

A24..

A25.

He stood outside her door, feeling a little bit dazed, dressed in casual clothes, black jeans, a red shirt, and a black jacket. The corridor that Syndra's room was on was a level below Zed's, she wasn't that far away from him. He knocked on the door, but received no answer. So he knocked again.

Still no answer.

'If she's not answering, that means she's asleep, doesn't it?' He reached for the door handle. 'But that doesn't mean I can just walk in on a girl like that..' he took his hand away from the handle.
'But her door may not even be open, she also walked in on me when I was asleep.' He reached for the handle again. 'It's only fair., plus maybe I can play with her hair too.'
Silently, he opened the door, swiftly stepped in, and quietly shut the door behind him. He turned around, and was faced by a completely stark-naked Syndra. He immediately lifted his hands to cover his face.

"I-I'M NOT LOOKING! I DIDN'T MEAN TO!" He turned around and faced the door, leaning his head up against it, it was a clunky and dopey movement.

"Shit, I am so sorry!"

Syndra's face went bright red, she stood there using her hands to cover up what she could, with the shock and embarrassment, she let out a small whimper.

...

"It was mostly my fault but also yours for walking around naked with an unlocked door.." they sat opposite each other at the dining table, making no eye contact. That small amount of energy the shock gave Zed quickly disappeared. She was now fully clothed, wearing the same dress as yesterday, her hair still slightly damp, she had made no attempt to dry it.

"I did debate before I opened the door on whether or not I should actually go in.. Guess I er- misjudged heh.." he felt really bad walking in on her like that. He was resting his head on his hand, looking at the open room, away from Syndra, his mind felt slow, he was unsure of what to do or say next.
She covered her mouth with her hand in an attempt not to burst out laughing. She was so embarrassed, but she couldn't help but think it was funny. Zed slowly turned and looked at her bright red face and also started laughing.

"You're an idiot, you know that?! Haha!" He speech was a little slow.

She nodded in complete and utter laughter, unable to stop herself. She grabbed a notebook from the end of the table and opened it, desperately trying to write whilst still laughing. Her shaky hand was making it even more laughable, Zed really couldn't help himself, he pointed at her hand and laughed harder. Tears began streaming down her face, she really could not stop herself.
She managed to scribble something down, it was messy, a huge difference to her normal handwriting.

'I know I'm an idiot!' It said.

Zed took a breather for a few seconds, trying not to start all over again, he then read what was written in the notebook.

"At least you're aware, haha.." he chuckled a little before trying to calm himself down a little bit more, mis meds already helped, like an automated system. Syndra wiped away her tears and made her way back to the bathroom to get some tissues, still chuckling.

"Hey, considering you don't talk, you're funny Syndra.." He said slowly with a big smile on his face.

She nodded, also smiling.

"So I assume this is the new notebook you said you'd get?" He lifted it and had a quick look inside, there were a few notes about how to use the heating, as well as other electricals, such as the hair dryer and microwave, along with what she had just written.

"It's a very thick book.. should last you a while, right?" He held it up in a gesture.

She shrugged her shoulders, she wasn't sure.

"Well, at least you have a whole book to write with, I guess.."

She nodded, and walked back to the table. She took the book from his hand and started writing.

'I need to dry my hair, I don't want to catch a cold' it said.

"Putting the heating on would help you know.." He stood up and walked slowly towards the front door where the small set of buttons were for the heating, pressed a few of them, and turned it on.

"It's on a timer now. So you don't have to touch it in future.." their eyes met once more, Zed's seemed tired to her. She started to write something else.

'You seem slower than yesterday?' She wrote, neatly.

"Oh yeah.. after two days the medication really slows me down, the first day isn't as bad.." even his use of words had changed slightly, he was like a different person, he was still caring, but his blunt and cheeky demeanour was mostly gone. She was concerned. She wrote down another question.

'What did the nurse say about getting them lowered?' She handed the book to him.

"Not a lot.." he walked over to the sofa and flopped down, leaning his head on the back of the sofa, arms crossed.

".. she said I need to prove that I'm in more control of the shadow, they think gaining control will stop the nightmares, then I won't need medication.." Syndra took a seat next to him, and placed her hand on his knee.

".. But I feel like they don't understand how hard it is to control it.. No one else that has the power of shadows is alive to help me, I'm on my own.."

Syndra stood up and grabbed the notebook from the table. She sat next to him, he looked at what she was writing, he read it out word for word.

"I.. can.. help. You will help me?" She nodded and smiled, she also wrote something else down, this took her a bit longer however.

'Why wouldn't I help? You helped me when I needed someone.'

He felt warmed by her choice of words. He reached his arms out and hugged her.

"You are just.. So nice, you know?" She hugged him back. His hugs were perfect, he was warm and also very gentle, after a few seconds her let her go.

"Dry your hair, I'm hungry.." He patted her on the head, sounding tired, even though he was perfectly awake. She smirked and turned around, walking towards her bedroom. She left the hairdryer out on the side, not wanting to put it away. She was still unsure of how to use it properly, she had a look at the buttons, but there were no pictures or anything. Instead, she put it down and went to grab her notebook, she was instead, greeted by Zed, who stood in the doorway standing weirdly dazed.

"Would you like me to do it for you?" He asked, slowly. She nodded, and sat down on her bed, cross legged and facing away from the doorframe.

"You seem helpless when it comes to technology, I take it your village was very.. Old.." He brushed her hair gently, trying to get the knots out. She nodded slightly.

"Mine was too.. I lived in a type of monastery.. Old fashioned Ionian ways of living.. If I were to choose though, I don't know which life I prefer.."

And with that, Zed turned the hairdryer on, and started to dry her hair. Deep down, he really disliked talking about his past life, his childhood, anything that wasn't the present, or his 'new' life. But to Syndra, he didn't mind telling her, maybe it was because he knew she can't ask a lot of questions at any given time. It was a quality he liked about her, not the fact that she couldn't talk, but because she seemed to listen better than anyone else.

"How's that?" He had turned it off, and gave her hair a last brush. She ran her fingers through her white hair, it was dry. She nodded and signed a thank you.

"You're welcome.." he placed the hair dryer and hair brush beside Syndra and lay down on the bed next to her, with his arms to his side and his eyes closed.

"What shall we do now, Syndra?" He sounded so tired, she wanted to play with his hair again, it was a little bit messy, it would be a good excuse, she also wondered if he meant what he said about not being bothered by her doing it. She moved forward a little bit, and slowly reached for his hair, aiming to move some out of his eyes. Gently, she brushed a piece aside from his eyes, and stroked his cheek with her thumb.

"Is this going to be a regular occurance? You touching my hair and my face when I look asleep?" He mumbled, she giggled and carried on doing it anyway.

"I guess it's only fair.." it felt like forever, but Syndra only did it for a few seconds before Zed opened his eyes again, and looked at Syndra.

"You are.. odd when you think about it." He said, quietly, she stopped stroking his cheek, and instead brushed a piece of hair aside.

"You're strangely comfortable around me, and you hardly know me…" She stood up to go get her notebook, she wanted to say she had no reason to not be comfortable with Zed, but he grabbed her arm, pulled her backwards and pinned her to the bed.

They were face to face.

"You don't know me, Syndra, and I not saying I ever would take advantage of you, but.. There are other boys that would, and boys that have." They were staring into each other's eyes, neither of them wanting to look away. After a few seconds, Zed let go of her and moved over onto his back, he was lying next to her. She stayed lying in the same position, feeling dazed.

"Sorry, it's just.. You need to be careful in this school.. There are people here who aren't just from Ionia, there are people from all across Runeterra.." He stood up and made his way into the living room.

"I just thought you should know.." he mumbled.

...

It was much later in the day, so late that it started to get dark outside. Syndra had cooked the breakfast, and even a little bit of lunch. Herself and Zed were sat at the dining table in her room, drinking some tea. The atmosphere had lightened up a little bit. Zed apologised again, and she accepted the apology, but asked for more details about who would do such lewd topic of conversation had also changed onto Zed's slightly more personal school life, Syndra wanted to know if he had any friends, she had been wondering as he'd spent a lot of time with her.

"You'd like Kou. He's down to earth, calm too.." she was writing in her notebook.

'When can I meet him?' She presented her question with a smile.

"Tomorrow, we're all in the same class.. which reminds me actually, I was asked by the nurse to show you the school, she also asked me to stick around with you.." he had his eyes looking at a different direction, but once he finished, he turned his attention back to her face.

"..I-if you want to, of course.. she just thought it would be nice.." Syndra quickly scribbled on her notebook, taking a few seconds to write it down.

'I'd love to! I want to get to know this place, I feel as if I'll be here a while.'

"You most likely will be here a while.. I've been here nearly 5 years, and I've not made a great amount of progress if I'm honest.." She couldn't help but feel sympathetic towards Zed, it can't be easy trying to control shadows, especially when no one else is alive to help him. Feeling helpful, she started to write down a question. She turned the book around and tapped on the page where her question was.

'What have you tried?'

Zed scoffed and leaned backwards, tilting his head up.

"What haven't I tried is the question you should be asking.. You'd get a much shorter answer.." Annoyed at his rude answer, she snatched the book back and wrote something else down. She forcibly pushed it in Zed's direction.

'I have all day.' Her facial expression painted a picture, she was clearly agitated, she even pouted a little bit. Zed looked at her, trying to think of what she would be saying.

"..Why do I feel like you would be shouting if you could talk?" He asked with a monotone and care-free voice. Syndra flicked her finger and launched a small fist-sized ball of magic at Zeds face, hitting his cheek at an angle, the shock certainly woke him up.

"Huh!? What was that for?!" He rubbed his cheek, trying to alleviate some pain, she just crossed her arms and stood up walking towards the sofa.

"Oh no you aren't getting away that easily!" He stood up and creeped towards her fast pace with his hands out, ready to tickle her. He quickly grabbed her exposed waist, she instantly fell to the floor in a fit of laughter. She was lying on her side, kicking her legs about, trying to escape but really couldn't, Zed was kneeling down next to her, she moved so that she was lying on her back, and tried push Zed away, she had a hold of an arm, and attempted to push it away with both of her free hands whilst still laughing. After a few seconds, she pushed hard enough to get Zed's hand away, he lost his balance and swiftly took his other hand away from her waist to catch his fall, just about stopping his face from meeting hers. She carried on laughing, and wiped her eyes of the tears, Zed too was still laughing and smiling, he moved his other hand placed it on the floor to give him more balance, but once she opened her eyes, she realised how close Zed was to her face again, he briefly moved his sight from her eyes to her lips, and he promptly pushed himself away, making a quick effort to stand up.

"I should go.." he held a hand out towards Syndra, she accepted it and stood up with Zed's help. He let go of her hand and walked towards the door, slowly, he reached for the door handle and turned around to say his final goodbye.

"I'll see you in the morning.. 20 past 8 sound ok to you?" She nodded in agreement, and couldn't help but think Zed was angered at himself.

'Did he.. want to kiss me?' She thought curiously. As he opened the door, Syndra tapped on his shoulder, he turned around but she reached for the top of Zed's t-shirt and pulled him down towards her, she placed a gentle kiss on his cheek, and quickly pushed him out of the door. She smiled, gave a little wave and slammed the door shut.

He stood outside the door with a confused facial expression, thinking about it made his heart flutter. Zed started walking away down the corridor, turning back every few seconds and smiling.

His annoyance had been alleviated.

Thanks for reading! Please leave a review and let me know what you think!