Halfway House

Chapter 3

I know that people would enjoy reading longer chapters, but they also take time, and I don't want to delay it… We have quite the conundrum.

For most of the morning, Akali laid low. She always did. She loved everyone in the house, but they could definitely be too much to handle. She had asked for one of the bedrooms that wasn't on the top floor for that exact reason. She and Ekko had two of the four rooms on the lower floor, even if her friend crept up to the top floor on most nights. After being woken up by the sound of Vi and Darius' typical morning routine, Akali yawned, rolled out of bed, and went to the bathroom. She never got breakfast first thing in the morning. It was easier when everyone was busy. After hearing the shower, she almost pitied the new kid having the room across from Jinx, because of her loud music, but that wasn't her problem.

It was an hour of Akali laying in bed, listening to music and sketching out new graffiti designs in her notepad before the house fell silent. She gave it a little more time, but shrugged the blanket off of her shoulders and sat up in her bed, hunching over the notepad in her lap to draw a few more delicate lines. The time slipped away, and another hour after that, with the entire page in the notepad covered in a delicate design of a dragon that coiled around a pillar of smoke, there was a gentle knock on the door.

"Who is it?" Akali called, taking her headphones off and hanging them around her neck.

"It's Karma."

"Door's open." The teen, being the second youngest, at fourteen, -Ekko hated being the youngest at twelve-, and being from the same place as Karma, meant that she was checked up on most of all. Her foster mother opened the door and stepped inside as Akali was stretching, lifting her arms over her head and exposing her toned stomach.

"I'm about to head to the temple. Are you going out today?"

"For a little bit." Akali's room was darker than the others, by her request, with black paint covering the walls, and luminescent stars dotted on the places that didn't have posters or drawings taped to them. There were two beds in the room, like every room, but the second had been laid on its side against the wall, disassembled. The second desk was covered in numerous cans of spray-paint, most of them being provided by the financial support that her foster father, who had stayed in Ionia, gave to her. Her own desk had a small laptop, a drawing tablet, and numerous notepads and pens strewn across it.

"I can't stop you from spray painting, but…" Karma sighed and shook her head with a slight smile. "Please don't get caught."

"Do I ever?" A smug grin was thrown at the older woman. "Where's Ekko? I was going to ask him to come with me."

"He and Jinx are accompanying Riven into Piltover. She arrived with not much more than the clothes on her back." Despite herself and Karma being in the same position when they first arrived, Akali rolled her eyes. "Vi and Darius are going to help me in the temple, and Draven is going to stay home, so please tell him if you're leaving."

"I will." She mumbled back, taking her headphones off and walking across the room to open her wardrobe. "I'll also come by later to worship." Before she left, Karma walked across the room and pressed a kiss against the top of the teen's head. She would never do it in the view of everyone else, just in case they got jealous. Akali and Karma had come from Ionia together, to spread their religion to more parts of the world, as well as help as many people as they could. They had a close relationship.

"Stay safe out there." Karma smiled again and left the room, quietly closing the door behind her. Everyone in the house knew how to avoid the Wardens. It took only a few moments for Akali to change, pulling blue jean shorts, a white t-shirt with grey cuffs on both sleeves and the hem, and the Kanji symbol for 'fire' on the back, and loose, black skate shoes. As she was tying her hair back into the usual bushy style as she walked across the house to the kitchen.

"Mornin'..." Draven grumbled, barely looking up from the slice of toast that he was slowly gnawing on.

"Good morning, zombie Draven." Akali grinned back, walking to the cupboard above the kettle and reaching up to grab one of her instant noodle cups.

"You'd be just as tired if your brother woke you up at six am with his…" A half-zombie hand was lifted and waved in circles. The kettle switch was flipped, and Akali turned to lean against the counter, watching Draven try and function as more than a corpse.

"I'm always woken up at six." Akali replied with a shrug. "My room is under the weights room. I always hear it when those two meatheads have an argument." Akali turned to the counter again.

"Sometimes, they should just fuck and get it over with…" He groaned and pushed himself up from the table, brushing his back back over his head. "I need to go get ready for the day… Are you gonna go out soon?"

"Yeah, I've got my eyes on a certain wall in the city center." She watched Draven bend in half and hold his feet, grunting with the strain as she stirred her noodles. "Oh, by the way, I finished drawing that tattoo idea for you."

"Fuckin' A!" Draven straightened up, grinning so widely, most of his pointed teeth were showing. "I'm gonna look even hotter!"

"Where are you even getting it done?" As the cup was lifted off the table, Akali stuck her chopsticks into it and walked out of the kitchen with Draven right behind her.

"Bottom of my back." Even though she wasn't watching, he turned around and pointed his thumb downwards for a moment, and then almost tripped over as he turned back around. "Work with the best fucking Noxian symbols from the best fucking artist!"

"The best fucking Ionian artist." Akali mumbled through a mouthful of food. "We weren't part of that war, but your city still sucks."

"Yeah, yeah, you don't have to like Noxus." As the door to her room opened, and Akali stepped inside, Draven waited in the doorway, leaning against the frame with his shoulder. One thing he respected was his friends' personal space in their rooms. "You know how to draw in that style, and that's the best part."

"Just don't expect me to draw the flag, or sing the city anthem."

"City anthem is a Demacian thing." Rolling her eyes, Akali picked up a notebook and flipped through it, putting it back down when she didn't see the design. "I owe you one, by the way."

"If you want to get that out of the way, you can do my makeup." The third notebook that she picked up had the design, and Akali tore the page out, holding it up to Draven as he walked into the room. He grinned widely again as he took it.

"Looks awesome! Can't wait to get it inked!" There was a smug smile on Akali's face as she picked her breakfast up again and ate about a quarter of it in one bite. "If you're going to be running from the Wardens, you'll probably want light makeup, won't you?"

"Yeah, I don't want to look like I've been crying blood." Akali nudged a few things on her desk aside and perched herself on the edge, lifting more noodles into her mouth. The two of them were definitely unlikely friends, but they also didn't care about what other people thought. Draven rummaged through the makeup on Akali's desk for a moment before finding the correct eyeliner pen. After giving him a wink, Akali closed both eyes and let her friend gently brush her makeup on.

"There you go." She picked up the mirror on the desk, looked at Draven's job, and nodded.

"Looks awesome, thanks!" Akali jumped down from the desk, drank the sauce from her noodles, and picked up her backpack. "I better pack up and run before the Wardens stop being lazy."

"Yeah, like that'll happen…" The Moxian laughed and picked up the design again. "Thanks again." As he left the room, Akali waved him off and flipped her main notebook closed, gently placing it into the front pocket of her backpack before scooping her spraypaints into the main part. She picked up her favourite hat; purple, symbol of fire, and a yellow trim, worn down from being worn nearly every day, and a length of rope with a loop for her belt. She took off into a run through the house, grabbing the purple skateboard next to the door and throwing it ahead of her down the path. She didn't even flinch as she ran after it and jumped on, pushing her foot against the ground for more speed.

Most people were in work, or in school by this time of the day, so the streets were mostly empty. It drastically reduced the amount of people that Akali had to dodge as she skated. Her backpack rattled as she leaned to turn corners, and when she pushed off against the floor again to pick up more speed. There were a few Wardens around, but none of them stopped her. Skating around was one of the least destructive things that the teenagers in this city did. If only they knew what Akali was actually planning.

The Enestrol level of Piltover was where the markets were, and she stopped at the level above that. The wall on the side of the bank was perfect.

Akali turned her board and skidded to a halt to look it over. It was clean, large, and made of the smoothest stone. For once, the building wasn't covered in moving gears and cogs, and it made it the perfect canvas. She stepped on the edge of her board and grabbed the truck, leaning it against the building. If anyone even touched it, they would get a can of paint thrown at their head.

The only problem with smooth walls was that there wasn't much to climb on. Akali took a deep breath and stepped around to the alley behind the blank, finding the pipes that she needed. The ledge that she needed was at least fifty feet above the ground. Easy. Nobody even walked by as she climbed, snagging the shoulder of her shirt on a broken pipe, but thankfully not tearing it. Then her hat was knocked off her head, but she caught it and pulled it back on. The view of Piltover was amazing from here. It was only admired for a few moments, though.

Akali adjusted her hat to make it tighter, dropped her backpack onto the floor, and looked through it for the rope she had packed. Both the rope and her backpack was looped around her belt, and the rope was tied to something sturdy. The mechanism was something of Jinx and Ekko's design; a locking handle that allowed her to climb, descend, and lock herself in place. Living with three engineering geniuses was amazing. As she lowered herself down the wall slightly, one hand dug into the backpack, searching for one can of paint. When the black was in hand, Akali popped the cap off, shook the can, and planted both feet on the wall to get to work.

Like always when Akali was drawing, she completely lost track of time. Within the hour, the outline of the dragon that had been drawn that morning was sprayed onto the wall. She was resting her feet against the wall where the outline of the tip of its tail was, looking over the sketchbook in her hand. There had to be some way to blend those colours together for the smoke…

"I told you it was her!" As the sketchbook was being put away, and a can of purple paint was being searched for, Akali looked behind her at the voices, grinning at the sight of blue and white hair.

"Hey Akali!" Ekko grinned and waved, Jinx close behind him, and Riven, laden with paper bags, trailing slower behind them. "This wall is already looking better!"

"Yeah? Watch this!" She shook the can of purple paint, held onto the rope with her free hand, and sprinted across the wall, lowering herself with the mechanism to paint a long line along the dragon's body. Both JInx and Ekko cheered, and a few people who had stopped to see what the shouting was about had stopped to take pictures of the graffiti. Even with just the outline, the dragon was detailed; claws wrapped around its own body, and coiled around as if it was a snake that was about to lunge. The underbelly of the dragon had been outlined too. The colour would come later. It was a wonder that none of the Wardens had seen what was going on.

"Isn't that just going to get cleaned?" Riven asked, looking around. She already hated the Wardens from her first encounter with them, and didn't want another one.

"Probably." Came the reply, as Akali started to colour the dragon's head, adding extra paint to cover up a slight slip of the hand. "But I love doing this. Art is awesome."

"And your dad gives you enough spraypaint to cover the whole fucking city." The comment from Jinx gave Riven pause. Akali had a father? Why was she in a foster home if she-

"Not my real dad." That's why. "Shen didn't do a good job of parenting when I was in Ionia. There's a few reasons why Karma brought me with her." There was a tug on Riven's sleeve, and she leaned down to listen to Ekko.

"Don't ask about her real mom." He mumbled into her ear. "That'll just get messy." The Noxian just nodded.

"What time is it?" Akali called down, turning her shoulders to look at her friends again. Jinx pulled her phone out and groaned.

"Four-thirty. Guess Karma's gonna want us back soon."

"Fuck me, we spent a while shopping." Ekko chuckled. They had only gotten Riven three new outfits in all that time. "Do you need a hand getting down, 'kali?"

"It's like you don't even know me." She threw a fake glare at him and climbed back up onto the rooftop to untie the rope. It was easier to climb down than it was to climb up, because Akali could jump down onto the larger pipes, and grabbed her skateboard as she walked out of the alley. "C'mon, let's go before the Wardens come and blame us."

"I mean, you did do it."

"It's a favour!" She jabbed Jinx's shoulder. "Piltover needs some nice art in it! The place is clean, but it's a shithole!"

"I think it's more the natives." Riven huffed, then looked at the others. "You two aren't natives, are you?"

"We're from Zaun. The shithole below this shithole." Ekko patted his mohawk back into place. "Me, Jinx, and Vi are Zaunites. Darius and Draven are Noxian, Akali's Ionian, and you're… Noxian?" Riven nodded and smiled at the fistpump of victory.

"We need some more diversity in the house." Akali chuckled. "Maybe get a Demacian in there."

"A Demacian in a house with three Noxians… yeah, that's gonna go down well." As the four of them walked, Riven looked a little nervous, constantly checking around herself, and flicking her head back to the others to make sure that they hadn't abandoned her. She had no way to know how to get back to the house without them.

"Hold it." A warden stepped into the path, blocking the four of them from going any further. Riven stepped back, ready to bolt. Jinx noticed as she flicked her eyes back, and took her hand. For comfort. Even just thought she was stopping her from running, but she didn't complain either way. "Aren't you kids supposed to be in school?"

"We're homeschooled." Ekko shrugged, as cool as possible. "We're just heading back home." The Warden narrowed his eyes. There was only one kind of child in this city that got homeschooled. "Can you move?" The man huffed and stepped forward. The only person who moved was Riven, and even then, it wasn't much because of Jinx's vice grip.

"C'mon, we just wanna go home." Akali said this time, motioning with her skateboard. "What the fuck kinda trouble are we gonna get in if we're just going home?"

"A lot, if you keep that mouth of yours open." She just rolled her eyes and walked past the Warden. The others followed quickly, including the Warden. He went mostly ignored, though. Ekko and Akali continued joking with each other, ignoring the fact that they were being followed, and Jinx was doing her best to comfort Riven, which involved hugging her arm with her free hand. It was a tense few minutes before they got to their home, and Ekko was the first to shout.

"Karma!" She looked up, along with Darius, as they were both knelt in the garden. She smiled, at the sight of some of her children coming home, but then frowned at the sight of the Warden.

"What happened?" Karma stood up and pulled her gloves off, walking to the gate as Akali shut the Warden out.

"Nothing." Jinx huffed, finally letting go of Riven's hand. "This jackass just decided that since we're your kids, we did something wrong."

"Inside!" The teen's back was gently pushed. "All of you, inside! Roven, you go and put your clothes away. The rest of you, you have school work to do." There was a chorus of groans as they left. "My apologies, Warden."

"Just keep those brats in line." He warned. His head tilted back, and he glared again. "And you're too young to be smoking!" Darius had made his way over at this point, and he looked up there with Karma. Vi was leaning out of her bedroom window, a cigarette in hand. She continued staring at the Warden, took a drag of the cigarette, and flipped him off.

"Suck my ass." The Warden just grunted and left, ignoring Darius' laughter.

"Both of you! School work!" Most of the worshippers had left for the day, but Karma made a point of staying there to assist anyone who came to worship. "I'll be checking on you soon!"

It definitely wasn't easy to raise teenagers.

I'm not sure who to focus on for the next chapter...