Azuro. The sign was flickering with bright neon lights above his head.
Ezreal inhaled the familiar scent of cold air in the night. He hadn't been here in a year yet everything around this place seemed the same. Almost as if it was frozen in time.
The place itself wasn't anything remotely outstanding. In fact, it was the exact opposite and that was precisely what made it appealing to him. The only people who were frequenting this joint were either lost and impressionable tourists, fifty-year old bikers with beer bellies hanging off their belts or drunk uni students like himself. Or to be more clear, what he used to be like when he was a first year.
He was standing near the entrance with Lux by his side. He was wearing a long black coat with big pockets, black pants, a black vest and a white shirt underneath. He couldn't help but notice how Lux kept biting on her lower lip completely unaware of how nervous she looked. Ezreal half smiled but didn't say anything to risk making his roommate any more uncomfortable than she already was. After all, he didn't want to ruin her "tough girl" act.
He inspected her from head to toe. She had chosen a stylish trench coat along with a purple spangled dress and black elegant shoes with short heels. A little bit of an overdo if you ask me but who am I to say no when she gives me those damn puppy eyes!?
"What are we waiting for?" Lux asked with her arms folded on her chest. She was shivering and her breaths were forming small white clouds into the atmosphere.
"Ekko." Ezreal shook his head disappointed. "He was supposed to be here like ten minutes ago. He's the one with the table to his name".
"But I thought that you used to come here all the time." Lux gestured over to the man who was guarding the entrance. It was a buff bald guy like the ones you see posted outside almost every club, with a silver cord hanging from his ear. Designed to scare off the weird looking people and.. only let the girls inside.. in most cases. But at least this one seemed intelligent enough not to wear shades at night. Such pretentious people. They get the minimum wage and act they're the CIA.
"They should know who you are. Right? I'm sure they'll let us in", Lux lamented.
"Well yeah. They know me. That's for sure." Ezreal chuckled. But the truth was he didn't want to greet the owner. And if avoiding it was out of the question he might as well just somewhat delay the inevitable for as long as he possibly could.
And it wasn't the fact that he didn't like the guy. Felix was a truly likeable yet sassy character that always got along with him. He just prefered to always keep this man at bay. He wasn't stupid. He could tell that he was definitely involved in some shady business and he always dealt in cash.
Coming in every Saturday night with Ekko to essentially entertain the dead crowd of people that were sitting in front of the stage for free was profitable for him to say the least. The owner needed them there. But an official job offer was never made. Because as my late grand-ma would say, TF was exactly that type of guy who "knows more ways to take your money than a roomful of lawyers". So he just "paid" them in booze. And the cheap kind of booze to be precise.
Ezreal hadn't realized he was lost in thought when he felt Luxanna nudging him on the ribs with her elbow. Ekko was already standing in front of him and calling his name.
"Where have you been man? We've been waiting for you for forever!" he lightly pushed the guy on his chest once he got close enough.
In response Ekko let out a heartfelt chuckle before he came up with a plausible excuse, making the blond roll his eyes in return.
"You must be Lux!" Ekko reached out and shook her outstretched hand. He was staring at the girl for what felt like an abnormal amount of seconds. Never letting go of her delcate hand that was clutched between his fingers. Even his lips had slightly parted. "I'm a big fan", he said using that tone he always uses when he thinks the girl in front of him is looking like a snack.
"Hey." Ezreal blocked his vision by waving his hand in front him. Lux was simply left with an absent smile on her face, unsure of what to do. "Quit that. You look like a creep", he scolded him. No I'm not jealous, he chanted in his head then stretched his neck to look at the girl beside Ekko. "Who's your friend over there?" he asked perplexed.
She had silver hair that she had up in a bun with bangs over her forehead. She looked very short but her presence was intense. He couldn't tell much else about her since she was covered in an expensive-looking coat but her abnormaly long, polished fingernails frightened him a bit if he was being honest.
"This is Qiqi", Ekko gestured towards her. The girl wasn't even looking towards their general direction but the sound of her own name seemed to trigger something inside of her, gaining her attention.
"It's Qiyana to you", she spoke in a sour tone referring to both Ezreal and Luxanna and raised an eyebrow as if she had just adressed two lesser beings.
The two roommates gave eachother a knowing look. He didn't have to talk aloud to tell that Lux had the same, exact thought. "Yep. That girl is a bitch alright".
"Boom. Headshot." Who knew that the feeling of something cold on the back of his head could make one's blood boil so fast..
"You fuckin traitor." Ezreal told Lux. He didn't even have to turn around to see who it was that was pointing to his skull with what he was certain was a finger gun. With her cold ass fingers too! That is not why I gave you a phone Lux! "Long time no see friend", he said aloud as his blonde roommate gave him a clearly guilty smile and a naughty wink.
"Try being nice sometimes. You might fix that god awful karma you have there", Caitlyn rolled her eyes as she strolled around him and toook Lux by her hand despite not ever being officially invited over. "Oh. Ekko. I didn't realize we were having a reunion tonight", she said when she noticed his mohawk shining under the lamp posts.
"Uh. Hey.. Cait.", the boy responded awkwardly as he scratched his white hair.
"How have you been? It's been quite a while, no"?
Lux couldn't read her facial expression as it betrayed no emotion whatsoever. But the whole situation gave her a weird.. what was the word that Ezreal told me? A weird.. vibe! Yes! Weird vibe. The blonde mage was sure she was not wrong. Is this what I think it is? She looked over to Ezreal to search for a hint in his face but the boy simply shook his head. Promptly she got his message. "It is what you think it is but not now".
"Oh yeah it's cool. Everything's cool", he swallowed hard and huffed a fake laugh. The tension in the atmosphere was heavy and nearly tangible.
The sound of someone clearing their throat was ultimately what broke through the awkwardness as everyone's attention shifted over to Qiyana. She offered her hand with her lips puckered in an expression that betrayed her disdain towards everyone and Caitlyn especially for some reason. But the latter paid her no mind and kept trying to have smalltalk with Ekko making Qiyana cough louder.
"Why don't we all go inside?", Cait suggested. "It seems like your friend over there could use some water, you know", she raised an eyebrow at Qiyana's clearly pissed face. "For that throat", she whispered that last phrase with a finger over her own larynx while the other was glaring daggers.
People tend to use than one metaphor for many situations in life. You know the one I'm talking about. You know it cause I'm pretty sure you've heard of it like a gazillion times already: Just like riding a bike. It's a pretentious thing to say if you ask me. "Oh. You haven't driven a car in while? Don't worry! It's just like riding a bike! You haven't had sex in months? Same thing! Riding a fucking bike"! But how about doing a damn karaoke in front of a crowd? "Just like riding a fucking bike" is what Ekko says and it annoys the hell out of me.
Ezreal scrunched his nose irritated as soon as he heard that dreadful sentence coming out of his mouth.
The club had a big stage ready to satisfy every karaoke singer's wet dream. Those fifteen minutes of fame. More like three but you get my drift. The set was completed with a pretty talented live band. Each of those guys could play more than two instruments as they had to have a rich repertoire in order to be able to play whatever songs the drunkards asked them to.
The guitarists, a male and a female, also doubled as back up singers to every guy that wandered up on that stage. But let's be honest.. since autotune was not an option, the poor guys had to try and salvage whatever they could to make every performance at least audible.
The crew they had gathered for tonight wasn't ideal either. Ekko and him weren't on the best of terms ever since they had that falling out. Things with Caitlyn were -for lack of a better word- complicated. And so the group was created: An aspiring rapper, a CSI Miami fangirl, a horndog archaeologist, a discount version of Cardi B (if that was even possible) and a videogame character. Neat.
At least Qiyana wasn't that fake to try and chat with the rest of them. She had taken a seat on the leather couch next to Ekko and was probably scrolling through Twitter the whole night. Ezreal could imagine her tweeting out something along the lines of "these guys are so laaame #lemmeout". The only time she diverted her eyes from her screen was to take a boomerang of herself smoking that hookah they had ordered. Which was on the house ofcourse. Yeah. That smoke coming out of her wide nostrils would make such a cool instagram story.. Ezreal rolled his eyes dramatically but chose not to comment on anything. After that the entire area around their table smelled like mint and peaches and a thick cloud of artificial fog was hovering over their heads.
"Can I try some of that?", Lux asked timidly pointing over towards the hookah.
"Sure thing", replied Ekko with a smile as he was handing over the device to her.
"So.. how do I..?"
Ekko simply chuckled but later he began to explain how it all worked. Lux started coughing the moment she inhaled that smoke causing a series of laughter and playful banter among the rest of them. It was enough to diffuse some of the tension that was present at all times. Ezreal could tell that this was Luxanna's strategy all along. Well played Lux.. he smiled to himself.
With just the first round of drinks he could tell that all the girls -apart from Qiyana ofcourse- were feeling tipsy.
"Maybe you should put that down", Ezreal offered with a flash of his teeth as Lux was picking up the bottle of gin to pour another drink in her glass.
"But Cait says it's fine!", she shouted to make herself heard through the loud music but faltered with the bottle in her hands. Her cheeks were already red on that pale skin of hers. The fact that they were sitting right next to a huge, black speaker didn't do them any favors either.
"Don't listen to him!", Caitlyn urged her to pour some more and offered her own glass which Luxanna filled up to the rim spilling some in the process. The blue-haired girl completely ignored that as she chugged the whole thing down in a single sip then swiped her mouth with the back of her hand, smearing her lipstick in the process. "Oh shoot!", she gasped when she realized what she had done then searched for something deep inside her purse. "I have to go the bathroom", she yelled to Lux. "Care to join me"?
"Sure", Lux said and both girls disappeared further into the club.
"You are in deep shit", Ekko stood up and came over to sit down next to him, leaving the entire couch to Qiyana. The girl hadn't even noticed his absence.
"What?", Ezreal asked back unsure if he'd heard the whole sentence with all that music blasting in his ears. It didn't help that the girl singing on stage was completely tone-deaf.
"At first I didn't believe you but it really is her! Lux I mean!", as he spoke he gestured over to a waiter. Three shots of tequilla magically landed on their table a few seconds later. "Lemme ask you a question..", Ekko raised a short glass and Ezreal mimicked his actions, "are you into her or.. into her"? He raised both eyebrows simultaneously.
Ezreal blinked then took the shot. It burned the back of his throat but the feeling was welcome. He hadn't gone out drinking in ages.
"You know me..", he started trying to sound all smooth-like.
"Oh I know you and too damn well. You can pretend to be Casanova reincarnated to the others but I know you're not all that good at seperating the physical stuff from the emotional stuff", Ekko laughed then gestured to the same waiter for another round of shots. "That's why I'm asking", he shrugged then leaned in closer. "So how far have you guys gone? First base? Second base? Or the entire homerun?", his eyes were twinkling, filled with curiosity.
Ezreal took his time to down another shot before he replied.
"We're still in the locker rooms and I don't see us going any further into the court any time soon", the blonde laughed genuinely.
"But you live together!", Ekko shouted with his arms up in the air.
"That's exactly why it would be weird", he nodded sarcastically.
"But you want things to get.. into court don't you?", he responded in a cheeky manner. Ezreal had already opened his mouth to reply when a deep, raspy voice interrupted the two of them.
"Haven't seen you in some time Ezzy boy", he tipped his cowboy hat and offered his hand in what was a really firm handshake.
"Likewise Mr Felix", Ezreal retorted without recoiling. Their gazes crossed eachother.
By that time, the two girls had come back from the bathroom giggling and sat on the couch next to a digruntled Qiyana. It was obvious to him that Cait had spent some time putting make up on Luxanna's face. Her lashes looked longer and the dark shades on her eyelids gave her a more mysterious and sexy look.
"Look at these talentless fools", Mr Felix gestured over to the stage. At the time, a short guy was singing his heart out to Celine Dion. "I bet you this guy wouldn't find his butt with a flashlight in each hand". When he let out a boisterous laugh his nose crinkled.
"Oh I wouldn't wanna bet against you", Ezreal cackled. For a second there, he saw the glint of excitement in the man's brown eyes.
"Why don't you do that bit you used to do son?" Tobias asked with a crooked grin spread across his long face.
"What bit?" Lux wondered out loud and Ekko immediately started to answer her question despite Ezreal's vocal and physical protests.
"It's just a song he used to sing here like every other week" he managed to say in between laughs. "He looked ridiculous if you ask me but hey! Apparently people loved it. Or it was more like they liked to make fun of him" he said that last sentence with a hand over his lips just to make sure that Ezreal wouldn't hear it.
"Do. The. Bit! Do. The. Bit!" Caitlyn started to chant with the clap of her hands, in an effort to encourage him to go up on that stage.
"Cut it out! I'm not doing the bit!" Ezreal huffed irritated.
"Why not?" Lux asked in an innocent voice.
Ezreal sighed heavily. "Because I can't! It's.. too embarassing and I'm not that wasted yet". He rubbed his eyes frustrated.
"Too bad.. I really REALLY wanted to see you sing.." Lux pouted her lips and stared at Ezreal with her big puppy eyes. "Please?" She crouched and put her hands together in prayer in a dramatically Oscar-worthy performance. "For me"?
"She's already got you wrapped around her finger", Ekko leaned into his ear.
Ezreal scanned the table with his blue eyes. Just as he'd imagined, the two shots meant for Qiyana were still left untouched. He grabbed the tequillas with both hands and took the shots one after the other before he stood up and looked over to the stage.
TF was the first one to get up and pace towards the microphone stand. It was only fair to give him a proper introduction after he agreed to go through with this charade in the end.
The blonde walked to the musicians and greeted them with a short hug.
"Where have you been man?", Mike asked when he saw him.
Ezreal simply shook his head as Tobias was done trying to hype up the crowd for him.
"Lemme guess", Christina winked. "The classic one"?
"You know it", Ezreal laughed as he reached for the mic. He almost lost his footing on his way there. Did I overdo it with the tequillas? he wondered but he didn't have much time to think.
He was trying to scan through the crowd for his friends' faces but those light projectors blinded him. He blinked several times then his gaze landed on the screen on the floor that showed him the lyrics to the song he'd chosen. Not that he would ever need it. That song was etched in his brain since his teens.
He smiled to the audience knowing full well that he was being watched by everyone. It didn't take long for the bass to start playing that riff that was always stuck in his head for days on end.
"This song is dedicated to my very stubborn roommate who convinced me to come up here and make a fool of myself", he said with his infectious smile then he picked up the mic from its stand and began the first verse.
Christina's electric guitar was shredding through the speakers as Ezreal kept tapping his foot rhythmicaly on the floor and singing on tempo. The knots he'd felt in his stomach in the beginning of the song had already started to desipate. The silver buttons on his vest were shining underneath the colourful lights. He even began raising up his shirt-sleeves till he got to the hook.
Mike gave him a knowing look before he started to jump around the stage with his guitar and Ezreal raised his hands and started to clap making most of the audience follow his lead.
All through his performance the young archaeologist hadn't wiped that obnoxious smirk that Lux hated, off his face. But for some reason she couldn't take her eyes away from his face and his intense movements. He kept wearing these borderline comical expressions his face. Nevertheless not once did he look ridiculous. Instead, he was dragging you in. Making you want more. It was like he was transformed.
His voice wasn't anything she hadn't heard before but he was belting the right notes at the right time. That in combination with the overconfidence that was oozing out of him like ocean waves was enough to capture her undivided attention. By the time he'd reached the bridge of the song everyone around her was clapping along, with some people even singing the lyrics alongside him.
Admittedly, it was an easy, catchy chorus that anyone could pick up on the spot. Even she had memorized it and the song wasn't even over yet.
"Let's fucking go Ez!", Cait shouted as she flung a chip in her mouth, followed by Ekko's loud whistles with his fingers in his mouth.
"Now listen up everyone!", he tried to hype the audience up. "And Lux!", he winked towards her general direction.
The girl wasn't sure whether he could actually see her from up there or not but the heat that had reached her cheeks was making her feel uncomfortable. She turned to Ekko confused but the boy just lifted his glass and took a big sip. She decided to do the same as Ezreal had crouched over the mic's base and sang the lyrics. There was no question about it. He was provoking her.
"I said I don't care just what you think.. As long as it's about me.."
She gulped feeling the tension low in her belly. Her heart started to beat fast. The whole situation had caused so much nervousness inside of her that she simply didn't know what to do with her hands. So she filled them with glasses and kept downing the tequillas like water.
Cait was lost in her own world as she was headbanging vicariously. Hookah in her mouth and puffs of smoke leaving her plump lips.
"All you get off your asses and repeat after me!", Ezreal demanded from the crowd. Lux did it just because everyone around her had already obliged to the singer's request.
"I said I don't care!", he shouted then pointed the microphone towards the customers.
"I don't care!", she heard Cait's deep voice shout back out of tune.
She hadn't noticed at first but even this Qiyana girl had stood up and started to yell her "I don't cares" back at him.
"One more time!", Ezreal repeated the same sequence once again. The crowd seemed even louder and more vigorous than the first time and Lux decided she wouldn't disappoint this time as she shouted her heart out.
"Thank you so much have a good night!", Ezreal took a dramatic bow and blew a kiss to the audience once he was done with his final chorus. He congratulated the band members before he reached their table.
"Phew", he said wiping some sweat from his forehead. "That was a tough crowd", he giggled, "now pour me some vodka honey", he told Lux with a smug grin. His whole face was beaming. His adrenaline high was more than obvious. "I think I deserve it".
"Pour it yourself", Lux said with an equally pretentious smile then flicked his forehead with her fingers.
Ezreal didn't say anything back. He only picked up the bottle of Serkova and poured one for him and one for his roommate before filling the rest with lemonade.
"Cheers to you my lady", he winked mischievously.
"Cheers", Lux smiled as their glasses clunked together.
"Why haven't you recruited him for TD yet?", Qiyana asked Ekko privately. "He's a natural up there".
"Nah..", he shook his head negatively. "I've got some others in mind".
It was the sun's annoying rays over her eyelids that woke her up in the end. Lux rolled to the other side of the bed hoping to go back to sleep but it was no use. Her conscience was alert and what's more her brain felt like it was about to explode. She hesitantly opened her eyes to find herself in her bed. She took a deep breath and stretched her arms way above her head.
When she turned to look out the window a loud gasp escaped her lips. It was her roommate. No. It can't have been.. Ezreal..?
The blonde was sleeping soundly with a hand over his chest and his mouth slightly open. Her head hurt too much but she did notice that he wasn't wearing a shirt.
Feelings of inherent panic began to resonate within her. She took a deep breath as she took a peek beneath the sheets. With horror she realized she had been wearing nothing but a pair of underwear and no bra. She clutched the bedsheets even more tightly around her chest area. What the hell happened? She wondered in terror.
Ezreal looked too peaceful as he slept in comparison. We need to talk!
She leaned towards him with her hand outstretched. She wanted to wake him but she hesitated for a moment. Did we..? She was just there staring at his sleeping face for a good minute before she realized her eyes had locked onto his blue ones that were now staring back at her.
Once reality had kicked in she let out a scream and fell off the bed taking the entire bedsheet with her.
"What the hell?", Ezreal got up and covered his lower body with the first thing he could get his hands on. In which case.. a pillow.
"That's MY line!", Lux growled as she tried to get back up on her feet.
"What did you do to me"?
"Me? I did nothing! ..I think. " he said grabbing his head. It seemed like he was being plagued by the same headache as she was.
"You think?!", she carried on in an accusing tone.
"Y-yeah", he stuttered. "I don't know. I don't remember.." his words seemed genuine. "Did we have sex"?
Lux swallowed hard when he so casually addressed the elephant in the room.
"I.. I don't.." she was forming incoherent sentences. Her memory had betrayed her. "Last thing I remember is walking out the club with Caitlyn"..
"Right!", Ezreal said like he had just experienced a moment of clarity. "And then Ekko brought us back home in his van and then-" He suddenly stopped talking.
"Then what?", she asked fiercely.
"I don't think you're going to like that next part", he chewed on his lower lip nervously.
"Tell me", she demanded with her back against the closet. It was hard enough to take him seriously with a pillow over his groin.
"You kissed me in the elevator", he looked dead serious.
The wheezing sound the left Lux's lips was definitely non-human.
"Me? Kissing you?", she laughed. "Well now I'm sure nothing happened between us last night. Thank God".
"Well then how do you explain that we're both buck naked in my bed"?!
"You're naked?", Lux asked genuinely surprised.
"You're.. not?", Ezreal blinked more confused than ever. The girl shook her head in response. "I need some coffee", he decided in the end and shooed Lux away from his closet to search for some clothes.
When he was finally out of the room Lux was still holding onto the white sheets over her body. Did I really..? She remembered how he looked on that stage. Like a magnet to all sources of light.
Lux sat back on the bed and looked over to where his warm body was moments before. Did we.. really..?
Hello, hello! And happy new year to everyone! First of all, I'm sorry for not being able to post as many chapters and as often as I used to but unfortunately real life has actual resposibities sometimes. Who knew? Right? Anyways.. to the people who always follow these stories I just want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart and I really appreciate every review, every comment and every suggestion that I get. You may not realize but you really do help me to try and be a better writer.
The song that Ezreal is singing in the Karaoke is I don't care by Fall Out boy just in case anyone's wondering.
So what did you think? Please let me now and have a good night!