A/N: I am finished making excuses about why I don't upload. I'm just a massive pile of poo. Because I lied to you about reviews motivating me, what I'm going to do is answer as many of the reviews with questions as possible. Sort of.
Clodiuth-Matrix , your art is AMAZING. I will edit to give it credit ofc, sorry I didn't earlier, I'm a kluts. Please keep on doing what you're doing dude
Sanguis Anima, I will try to include requested characters at some point, but I've already thought up some ideas already, so we'll see man. Look forward to Kalista in the future :)
Xayafate, I was thinking of arcade hecarim too, LOL. Great minds think alike
Gea5s, I will try to explain more background to the story now, I just get a little caught up in writing sometimes, I forget the simple stuff
Everyone else who reviewed, I love youuuuuuuuuuuuu please review me again I can't get enough of it ok? thanks
I haven't written in a while, hopefully this isn't awful. ok byeeeeeeeeeeeee
When designing the vast metallic mansion Mordekaiser liked to call his home, making room to accommodate guests hadn't been one of his priorities. He had been, and still was, a solitary figure. He spent his time alone simply because he had yet to find many people who would not only appreciate his own somewhat warped personality, but also who had a persona he, too, would appreciate. The Master of Metal especially disliked social interactions in large groups, where no one could really be heard and nothing could really be done because of all the chaos.
It was unfortunate for him, then, that he had somehow acquired the strangest collection of house guests known to man. A music-loving mute hostage, a fox-human hybrid accompanied by what he could only begin to describe as a sword wielding emo, along with three heavy metal musicians, two of which were undead. Then again, Mordekaiser thought to himself, I am an undead musician in a suit of armour too.
…
But at least I look damn cool, right?
Eventually, after a mass of shouting and Mordekaiser almost accidentally sitting on a Maven of Strings, everyone had found a place to sit and was ready for… whatever it was they thought was going to happen. Sona appeared to have recovered from her illness rather quickly, the occasional sniffle aside, and was now sitting on the edge of the bed next to the Shadow Isles Lord, swinging her legs to and fro much to Mordekaiser's annoyance.
There was a brief period of silence, before Mordekaiser got some expectant looks around the room. Deciding that meant he was to take over this "meeting", the iron man stood up and cleared his throat as loudly as possible.
"You're probably wondering why I've gathered you all here today." He began, hoping it sounded like he was at all prepared for this. "I think first, introductions are in order." His new companions nodded in agreement, albeit a little hesitantly.
"I, as many of you know, am Lord Mordekaiser." He inwardly smiled, this was the best part. The metal knight loved talking about himself. "I have slain many beasts, defeated countless opponents, indeed there is nothing-"
"Maybe give someone else a turn to speak there, buddy?" Hecarim interrupted him. Had there not been guests present that had some importance to him, Mordekaiser would have slapped the horseman silly. As it was, he settled for a low, rumbling growl instead and went on to introduce everyone else. They didn't get as generous an introduction as he had given himself.
"This here", He said, grabbing Sona's sleeve without permission and waving it in the air above him, "is Sona. She is a recent acquaintance from Demacia and will be staying with me for… The foreseeable future." There was some murmuring going on at this point, the only thing Mordekaiser could pick up was Ahri telling Riven in a not so hushed whisper about how 'cute' he and Sona looked together. Mordekaiser felt rather confused, he couldn't remember a time where he had been called cute. Deciding he didn't like this feeling, the Master of Metal moved swiftly onward.
"Over here", he lazily waved a generously armoured limb to his left, "is Ahri and Riven, who are apparently tied to Demacia somehow." He thought for a while before adding, "They seem ok." Ahri seemed rather pleased with this introduction and gave everyone a cheery wave, whilst Riven flicked her hair up and nodded to the rest of the group.
"Then we have the members of our to-be band. Karthus the vocalist, Olaf the drummer and… Yorick, what is it that you do?"
"I'm the bassist…" He said flatly, a little offended and frowning at Mordekaiser.
"Ah, yes. A difficult task, I'm sure…" The undead lord smiled as he saw Karthus try and restrain a laugh at the comment. Olaf gave him a friendly pat on the back to the grave digger in hopes it would soothe him a little.
"Oh, and I believe we've all had the displeasure of meeting Hecarim already." Hecarim sighed, supposing this was what he got in return for interrupting Mordekaiser's grand speech. Well, two could play at that game.
"Ohhhhh, Mordekaiser, didn't we have an interesting proposition to make concerning your music?" He smiled sweetly. Mordekaiser glared daggers at the horseman, but was stopped before he could do anything about it.
"A proposition?" Karthus asked, almost sounding impressed. " We came here at such short notice and you were already thinking up ideas?" Mordekaiser didn't really know how to respond, so he just nodded sheepishly and looked to Hecarim to at the very least finish what he'd started. Secretly, he told himself there was no need to worry. Getting two Shadow Isles citizens to pair up with ANY Demacian, much less one they had just met, would be a difficult task. Surely things would go his way.
"Well, me and old Morde here were thinking, with the help of our new friend Sona, we could call your music group Pentakill as a reference to the old times we spent fighting together. Sounds good right? Right!?" He pleaded, far too excited for something that didn't even involve him in the slightest. Sona readied her hands on her etwahl to protest, only to find she didn't even know what to say. Her help? What did that mean? Was she going to become the band manager?
"You're not playing the triangle there, Hecarim?" Olaf asked him almost too sincerely.
"Sorry", the centaur waved him off, "My musical skills are going solo."
"I'm not sure skills would be the right word to use." Mordekaiser added helpfully.
"Regardless", Yorick interjected, "If your friend is going to join us, surely we should hear her musical ability?" Olaf and Karthus nodded enthusiastically, both eyeing the etwahl Sona had floating just above her lap.
"Oh you really should hear her play!" Ahri chimed in. Riven stood beside her silently eyeing the maven. She couldn't recall hearing an instrument like that played before.
Sona sat stiff in her seat and stared fixatedly at a point on the wall, feeling nervousness starting to crawl over her skin. She wasn't used to performing to her Demacian friends back home, let alone strangers from the Shadow Isles. Daring to glance around the room, she caught everyone's expressions. Most were expectant stares either at her or her instrument, save Ahri's cheerful wave and a reassuring smile from Hecarim. With shaky fingers, she turned to Mordekaiser, who's expression seemed unreadable. He looked someway between impatient and… excited to see her play. Taking a deep breath and readying herself into a more appropriate position, she laid her fingers on starting notes to her favourite song. It was simple, short, and probably not the type of music Mordekaiser and his friends would be interested in, but then again, she wasn't sure if she knew any of those pieces in the first place.
Another deep breath… And her fingers just started moving on their own. It was strange, really, she felt no such nervousness using the instrument to talk in conversation, but that was because they were listening to her thoughts, not her playing. Gliding across a string, Sona supposed she was rather proud of her musical abilities. She might not be good at fighting, or public speaking, or making friends... But this was something she could do, and do well for that matter.
She had zoned out of where she was, how she was held captive. All that mattered was the soft sound of music that filled her ears when she continued to play. It's always different playing just to speak, and playing to create music, the maven thought to herself as she plucked the final chord.
Sona finished with more confidence than she knew she possessed, and somehow kept it when she was met with a round of applause. At least they liked my music, she thought to herself, even though I have no idea what I'm auditioning for...
"Thank you for playing for us, Maven of Strings." Yorick broke the ice for everyone. "We respect that performing in front of an audience is not everyone's forte." Not knowing how to respond, Sona nodded her head meekly and continued to play distractedly with her instrument.
"Plus it was totally awesome sauce." Olaf added.
"Not the word I would use, but yes, we very much enjoyed your playing." Karthus continued. Sona gave a light smile of appreciation, her grin only widening from Ahri's encouraging thumbs up from her left side.
"However, we're not sure that your style of playing is what we're looking for." Sona nodded slowly, not really knowing whether this was a good or bad thing.
"Your... Wooden thingy" Yorick continued, staring at her etewahl as if he were trying to figure out the name of the thing, "just doesn't produce the right quality of sound for our style of playing. So whilst we do appreciate your talent, I think it would be best if-"
"She is playing with us." Mordekaiser stated firmly. He received some strange looks from around the room, Sona included, but it didn't look like he was bothered by any of them.
"But, err, Morde". Karthus was the first to reply. "Didn't you hear any of what we just said?"
"I did." Karthus gave a visible sigh of relief, perhaps he had just misunderstood.
"So you agree that we would work better if she were to leave out of this one?"
"No."
"You're being unreasonable!" Mordekaiser looked genuinely shocked at the claim.
"No I'm not. If I were being unreasonable, I'd say that if Sona isn't playing, I'm not playing either."
"You're right, that would be unreasonable." Yorick laughed. His laughter slowly faded out as he recognised that the master of metal was giving him a very genuine look.
"You can't be serious..." The gravedigger whispered.
"Do you understand the concept of blackmail?" Mordekaiser asked him genuinely. The gaze he was graced with in reply was not friendly.
"Maybe we should go." Riven whispered to Ahri over the sounds of arguing, tugging on one of her tails to ease her along. She may as well have been talking to a rock, however.
"What? Go now and miss the best part?" She chirped back without turning around, eager eyes set on the increasingly loud debate.
"The best part of what?"
"Oh, honestly Riven, you really are useless. This where all the drama happens!" Riven failed to see how not stirring up trouble in other people's lives made her useless, but decided not to argue with the fox. Either Ahri won the argument or ended up crying and Riven had to pick up the pieces. It didn't help that Hecarim had galloped right up next to Ahri and started chanting "Fight! Fight! Fight!" Together.
"Now hold on just a minute." Karthus tried to control everyone once again. "If she is to play for us, which is still debatable, she will need to have a... Visual rework." The death singer tried to phrase as gently as he could. "How do you think we could arrange that? I doubt she would be able to lift a heavy suit of armour like yourself, Mordekaiser." The iron man was interrupted before he could even respond to that by a rather shrill complaint.
"Oh, if only we knew someone that knew about fashion..." Ahri sighed dramatically, tails swinging idly behind her. "Wouldn't that make things easier? Bummer."
"Yes, if only. It's a shame we got you instead." Mordekaiser grimaced, much to Ahri's annoyance.
"I was talking about me, you big oaf." She glared at him. Mordekaiser glared back and made a mental note to correct the misunderstanding that insults could work both ways between them.
"You would help us?" Yorick inquired.
"Well of course, anything for my dear little Sona!" She turned around, changing in a flash from sour to sweet. Her face was smiling so widely it almost looked unnatural and forced. "What can I say, I'm just such a charitable person, especially when it comes to - Riven, stop laughing!" The fox girl stamped her foot, as the white haired warrior waved her off.
"Well then I... I suppose we could try playing as five?" Olaf glanced awkwardly at Karthus, whose lips were pursed tightly as he seemed to consider Mordekiaser for a while. The Viking almost repeated his question as if Karthus didn't hear before he got an answer.
"It seems like we don't have a choice." He sighed heavily. "Once Mordekaiser is decided on something, it's rather difficult to persuade him otherwise. Still, this is better than nothing." The singer relented, looking over in the metal knight's direction to find him poking at Sona's hair, much to the maven's dismay.
They were certainly an odd pair.
"This way people, come on now!" Ahri called over her shoulder as she skipped ahead, carrying a very unenthusiastic group with her trudging behind. As the others had decided to stay behind and practice, Ahri had somehow convinced everyone else to join her search for a fitting outfit, Sona included. Apparently she could sight read music rather well anyway, and Riven had insisted after a certain bunny themed incident that Sona be there to see what Ahri picked out for her beforehand. Hecarim simply had nothing better to do either as he insisted on joining them in their search.
"Why are there no shops in this place anyway?" The fox girl ranted to herself, kicking a rock along the dirt path before it slowly built into pavement slabs. "We had to walk half an hour just to find the nearest place to even mention the word clothes."
"The Shadow Isles aren't particularly keen on consumer culture." Hecarim informed her. "I think the Ruined King is slowly trying to make the place more tourist friendly though, a few years ago and there'd be nothing but forest and houses here."
"He ought to make the place a little nicer looking first. I get you guys are mostly evil and spooky but a little colour never hurt anyone." Ahri blinked as she took in her surroundings; they really did stick out like a sore thumb with their vibrant colours and cheery group atmosphere, in contrast to the few residents they saw who kept their heads low and clothing dark.
"Perhaps it will look a little less bleak once we are inside." Sona suggested from the back as they strolled through the automatic set of glass doors.
She was right, as it turned out. The store wasn't massive by any means, but it did go up a few floors, and the items on sale weren't bad looking at first glance. The music playing out of the speakers at either end of the store played some very unfitting metal music, Hecarim grinning at Riven as she swore she could recognise the raspy singer from somewhere. The entrance had a ratty red carpet that looked like it might have aged a few years, though the wallpaper looked fresh with a bright floral pattern.
"Well, this isn't so bad." Ahri reasoned with herself aloud, since no one else had been snotty enough to criticise the store in the first place. Sona was too busy gliding her fingers along all the pieces she saw passing by, fascinated by how each one felt a little different on her fingers.
Having never been one to waste time ordering other people about, Ahri sent Riven and Hecarim off to do some dirty work and pick out any accessories they could find, although Hecarim was a bit reluctant to go.
"I don't think Morde would be very happy about leaving you two alone together." He tried to say convincingly, though clearly Ahri wasn't buying it.
"When is he happy about anything?" She scoffed. "Besides, you trust me, don't you? What trouble could I even get into at a clothes store?"
Hecarim nodded, glad that in the case that Mordekaiser found out what had happened, they couldn't say he hadn't tried to stop them. He still didn't find trusting the fox girl easy, though. Granted, they had got along well to start with, but there was something about the way her mood changed so suddenly, and how she smiled when there was nothing to smile about that just threw the horseman off. Hecarim dismissed these thoughts quickly to catch up with Riven anyway, Ahri had already been friends with Sona before they got here, so he doubted the fox would do anything stupid.
Ahri loitered for a little longer around their starting point, pretending to examine a grey skirt whilst really peeking out the corner of her eye to make sure her and Sona were finally alone. She grinned wickedly once they were out of sight, instantly storming off in the opposite direction. Not that she didn't like either of them of course, but she needed some alone time with the maven just to ask a few questions. Plus the outfit she had in mind may have not been entirely... Family friendly, was the best way to put it.
"So, Sona…" She smiled sweetly at the maven, who furrowed her eyebrows in response. That tone of voice never seemed to bode well for anyone except the fox girl herself. "I know I've asked you already, but now no one else is here to eavesdrop, is there anything more… Personal you would like to talk about?"
"I don't understand." Sona said in that soft, innocent way Ahri dreamed of being able to pull off. People didn't quite trust her the way they did Sona, although admittedly they had good reasons for doing so.
"Well, you know." She cooed her, taking out a black dress and matching it against Sona's figure despite her protests. "I just wondered if there was anything more… personal you wanted to talk about without Metalhead and the rest of them listening in." She took one last look at the dress before throwing it onto Sona, who only managed to catch it on her head. She pulled it over with some difficulty, noting the way the fabric felt in her hands. Not cheap, that was for sure.
"I, uh…" She racked her brains for anything she could think of. "I suppose I am a little home sick." She flushed slightly as the maven hastened to add, "N-not that I don't like it here but… It can sometimes be a little gloomy. And I do miss everyone from back home, too. I hope I'll be able to go back sometime soon."
"Mmm, yeah, sure…" Ahri pretended to listen and agree to whatever the maven was talking about, when on the inside she was a little flustered, hiding her face amongst a pair of silver shoes. It would be such a shame for her to go back to those overprotective little toy soldiers she calls friends now, she thought to herself, glancing up from her work to check whether Hecarim and Riven had caught up to them yet; neither was the type to get caught up in shopping for long. Especially when there's a real knight sitting right in front of her. Well, I suppose it's my job to get her to experience what the world has to offer, then, the poor little girl. How lucky she is to have a friend like me.
"And how are you and Mordekaiser getting along, by the way?" She tried to slip in the conversation as casually as she could, pretending to look further for outfits even though someone as talented as herself would take no more than a few good looks in the right place. "He seems to be rather fond of you. Perhaps less hateful would be a better way to phrase it." The fox considered, remembering his not-so-helpful reaction to his mace falling on her. Regardless of whether he had warned her not to touch it, and whether or not she had annoyed him up the wall.
"Ah, do you think so?" She answered. Ahri swore she could see Sona smile out the corner of her eye, but didn't turn around as knew her staring would put the maven off. Still, this was progress. "It's a little strange, though. I feel like the most free hostage in the world. Lord Mordekaiser is… Not what I expected him to be."
"Oh? In what way?"
"In the way that, I suppose, I thought he would have been some big and fearsome character. He still can be sometimes, especially appearance wise." Sona scratched her head, trying to find the right words. "He is also very considerate, though. He still asks me if I'm ever hungry, and he's taken me around to see the Isles, despite his somewhat introverted ways. It's been quite a culture shock moving from Demacia to here, but I really feel-"
"We're back!" Hecarim grinned as he tugged Riven along with one arm, holding a couple of black and silver bracelets with the other. Ahri almost jumped at their entrance, relaxing slightly when she saw the pair.
"Oh, already?" Ahri replied as she shoved the pair of shoes into Sona's arms. Just when we were getting somewhere… "Are you sure you don't want to double check, in case you've missed anything?"
"We did. Twice." Riven told her, narrowing those hawk-like eyes suspiciously. "Why, is there something wrong?"
"No, no, of course not!" Ahri was quick to dismiss the idea, running up to Hecarim to examine the bracelets. "You just returned a little empty handed, but I suppose sometimes less is more, isn't it? Sona, be a lamb and put these on, would you?" The fox hurriedly added to Sona's pile of clothes, steering her by the shoulders into the nearest changing room.
"Wait just a moment!" Hecarim galloped in front of the pair quicker than someone of his size should have been able to. Sona stared quizzically at the box he held in his hands. It displayed a young woman of about her age, looking rather pleased with her abnormally red hair.
"Use this!" He said cheerfully, placing the box on the towering mass Sona struggled to carry.
"I, uhm… How?" Was all she could ask.
"Temporary red hair spray… What a fabulous idea!" Ahri praised, and it would be an understatement to say Hecarim looked extremely pleased with himself. "You know", Ahri continued, "I've always been looking for a new shopping partner. Riven doesn't appear to appreciate the finer things in life, you know."
"Oh bugger, my favourite pass time, down the train." Riven's voice was dripping with sarcasm. "Please, Hecarim. Don't take away my place shopping with Ahri or I'll start to feel so very empty inside."
"Oh shush, you." Ahri whacked her on the arm before she could belittle the fox any longer. "Sona, listen, all you do is just spray the stuff all over your hair, and then let it try for a few minutes. Ohhhh, this is so exciting, you're going to look wonderful!" She pushed the maven past the curtain before she could react, before bouncing back next to Hecarim. Ahri smiled to herself slightly, this was probably the biggest chance to get some answers. There was no way on earth she could ask Mordekaiser directly about this sort of thing, so as usual, she would have to go the sneaky way. Her smile then turned into a frown as she began to realise how difficult this might turn out to be. Did the old rust bucket even like girls? There was only one way to find out.
"So, Hecarim… Mind if I ask you a few things about your metal buddy?"
"This is getting ridiculous now, people." Jarvan informed his friends as they all sat around a small wooden table, having no better way to pass the time than with a game of Uno. The following day, and there was still no word from Ahri, which given her nature wasn't surprising, and yet there was nothing from Riven either. Strange ,considering she was usually the more reliable of the two. Jarvan considered whether Ahri could have rubbed off as a bad influence on the warrior, before dismissing that thought as quickly as it had come. She was made of stronger stuff than that.
"You know what's ridiculous?" Fiora glared across the table above the fifteen and counting cards in her hand. "That plus four card. I never want to see it again, ever."
"Don't be mad just because I outplayed you, dear." Quinn said in a tone with as much patronisation worked in as possible. "I told you, me and Valor are the master of card games. You're welcome to try your luck at anything else."
"Drawing that card is not skill, it's-"
"Everyone just calm down." Lux waved them off from her position slouched over a bean chair. Having already won three turns ago, she spectated the rest of her friends from afar, knowing just how violent a game of Uno could get. "You're all bad, so it doesn't matter who is slightly worse than the other."
"My, how humble you are." Quinn mocked from afar. She slipped in a wink to Lux when she glanced over, who giggled in response.
"It's been a while since we sent them off to go and check on Sona." Garen said quietly, placing down his card as gently as possible. "What if they've done something with them too? What if-"
"What if you just left that bad attitude back at home, Garen?" Quinn poked him. "Riven is a big girl, now, and Ahri… Ahri is with Riven, so I'm sure they'll be fine."
"But-"
"All right, I'll call Ahri again." Lux gave in, whipping her phone out and placing it on the centre of the table over the cards, much to Quinn's dismay who was just about to snatch away second place. They all waited anxiously for three and a half beeps, before hearing a serious of muffled sounds as the phone on the other end was tossed about a few times.
"Hello?" Came a very unfeminine voice from the other end.
"Ahri?" Lux asked with furrowed eyebrows. "You sound a little different. Why's that?"
"Uhhhhh… I got a new haircut?"
"Makes sense." Quinn said, looking rather impressed.
"Who is this, and what have you done with the fox?" Garen leaned in closer, sick of all the nonsense over such a serious matter. They were definitely hiding something, and whether that was because Ahri was getting into something suspicious, or because something dangerous was going on, he didn't know. For once, he hoped it was the former.
"None of your business, nosy rosy." The masculine voice chided him.
"Is Riven there?" Lux asked him with a slight smile.
"She says she's not here." Then, as if to realise his own mistake, the voice added hastily, "I mean, she's not here. And neither is Ahri." Lux and her friends muffled their laughter as they heard an outraged fox yell something along the lines of 'why are you such an absolute putts?!' from a familiar voice. There was another scuffle on the line before Ahri was put on.
"Oh hi, you guys! Fancy you calling, we had no idea-"
"What's going on over there, and why haven't you called back?" Jarvan interrupted her.
"We've been busy." She said in a voice too nonchalant for Jarvan's liking. "I mean, we only have a day or so to make Sona's outfit for the concert, so we're kind of on a tight schedule."
"The… The what?" Jarvan said carefully.
"Ok, so it's a long story, but it's too long so I can't be bothered to tell you. Instead, here's Riven." There was a short and sharp noise as the phone was thrown around before someone picked up again.
"Riven, you're sensible." Garen half told half asked her, not really sure if anyone was to be trusted at this point. "You'll tell us what happened, won't you?"
"I – Alright." She started, albeit hesitantly. "We went around searching for Sona, to start with, and met this guy. Or I suppose, horse. Half horse. Also kind of half demon thing, we're not really sure what he is but his name is Hecarim."
"The guy that was on earlier?" Quinn guessed.
"Yeah, that's him. So, he lead us to talk to Mordekaiser, who-"
"Hey Garen", Lux interjected, "Isn't that the name of the guy that kicked your butt that one time?"
"No…" He said stiffly, staring fixatedly at a point on the wall. "You must be thinking of someone else."
"I'm pretty sure-"
"What happened next?" Garen spoke rather loudly to stop the same story being told again. Lux gave him a knowing smirk, but didn't press any further.
"Well, he's the guyy Sona's with now. He seems… ok. A little scary if I do say so myself, but whatever. Anyway, apparently they have a band or something, because now Sona's going to start playing heavy metal music with them."
"How did that even happen?"
"I… I don't know. It seemed logical at the time, at least. Oh, we have to go, Sona's done changing. We'll catch you all up later." There was a shrill cry of 'Sona you look-' before the phone cut off, and the Demacian group were left to themselves again. A small moment of silence engulfed them as everyone tried to process what had just happened.
"So…" Lux tried to break the ice. "Do you guys want to play another round of Uno, or something?"
"We're going to the Shadow Isles." Garen told them, moving to put his battle shoes. There were a few raised eyebrows amongst them, but only Quinn spoke up.
"What for?" She asked him sarcastically. Garen did his best to ignore it.
"Road trip!" Lux squealed excitedly, bounding out the room before she sang back, "I call shotgun!"
"Not if I get there first!" Quinn sped across the room and sprang after her. Garen looked to Jarvan, who gave him a shrug in response at the behaviour. Fiora walked in silence behind the pair, silently wondering exactly what was going, how they were going to get to the Shadow Isles, and if they even made it, what exactly it was they planned to accomplish.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Jarvan queried, knowing it was a sensitive subject, but that even for someone like Garen this was a little extreme.
"We're going to rescue Sona, one way or another." Garen announced to no one in particular.
"Not if the armoured dude kicks your butt, first!" Lux called back just within earshot.
"That's great, take five, everyone." Karthus told them as practice ended, everyone else dropping their instruments and moving to sit somewhere. Mordekaiser slumped in the same spot he'd been in for the past hour, glaring at everyone as they seemed to make themselves at home at his own place. Despite having his personal space invaded, the metal knight had to admit it did feel great playing his guitar again. He had forgotten the sensation it brought upon him, even just hearing music in real time instead of through a pair of headphones felt magical. And of course, he had been just as good as when he'd left off – better, even.
And catching up with everyone had been… Okay-ish. The iron man sighed, rubbing his helmet tiredly as he mulled over whether he had time to eat or not between their next break. Just as he was about to go and check whether he'd forgotten to eat that pancake or not from the other day when Sona made him breakfast, Olaf practically fell down on top of him as he sat on the far too narrow arm rest of his chair.
"Can I help you?" Mordekaiser glowered to him, to which he was surprised the Viking didn't seem the least bit intimidated. He was either very smart, or very stupid. Stupid, he reasoned with himself as Olaf scratched an itch on his back with his axe instead of using his hands.
"Nah, just wanted to sit here, talk and stuff." He breathed, moving from the arm rest to sit on the floor instead. Mordekaiser twitched as Olaf proceeded to do nothing except sit there and play with his own fingers. He must have been deliberately trying to annoy him, because this was ridiculous. However, when the metal knight made to get up, Olaf tried to tug him back down again.
"I'm guessing this means you've found something to talk about, then?" Mordekaiser huffed, accepting his fate as he reclined back into the steel chair.
"Yeahhhh man, we can just talk about guy stuff."
"And what would that be?" Mordekaiser asked him.
"Y'know, girls, sports, beer. All that stuff, bro, you hear me?" Olaf said a little loudly than he needed to. Mordekaiser stared at him in bewilderment, wondering how he had ever managed to tolerate the Viking to such an extent that they would be considered friends.
"As much as I can hear you clearly, I have no interest in any of those things."
"What?" Olaf gasped as if he'd just given spoilers to the seventh Star Wars movie. "What about the Demacian girl you're always hanging with nowadays?"
"I am not 'hanging' with her, she's merely a guest."
"Guest, huh? I thought she was meant to be a hostage or something." Olaf shrugged it off, beginning to twiddle his thumbs again.
"She was – is." Mordekaiser corrected himself, coughing to try and cover it up. "I believe I misspoke."
"Sure." Was all Olaf said.
The two of them sat in silence.
"…What?" Mordekaiser growled out after a while of Olaf continuing to stare at him without any explanation as to why.
"I didn't say nothing." Olaf held his hands up in defence, despite his apparent relaxed nature still feeling a little alarmed at the glare the metal knight was giving him. The Viking was glared for a few more moments before Mordekaiser nodded.
"Good." Now that he'd sorted that out, the Shadow Isles Lord's thoughts flickered back to the pancake, wondering if it was even worth the effort anymore. Something had caused him to lose his usually burning appetite, but what that something was, he wasn't sure. Maybe if he-
"You two just seemed friendly, is all." He heard Olaf pipe up again. Mordekaiser didn't even try to restrain the threatening rumble of his voice that threatened to rise out of control at any moment.
"I think the word you're looking for is hospitable, not friendly." He corrected the Viking.
"Nah, if I'd meant hospitable, think I would have said it." Mordekaiser figured the best way out of this increasingly strange conversation was to not say anything at all, and eventually Olaf would get bored. Or, that was how he had planned it.
"I mean, it's sorta weird you just invited her to play with us, yeah?" He continued. Mordekaiser tried desperately to imagine himself anywhere else in the world where he didn't have to deal with this harassment. Eyes darting from side to side, he tried to catch Karthus's eye as he floated to adjust the microphone stand he'd brought in, but to no avail.
"It's not strange at all, I simply appreciate her music." He grumbled.
"I'm sure that's not all you appreciate." Olaf laughed, to which Mordekaiser stared blankly at him. It was probably best that he didn't get the joke. Olaf seemed to look at him expectantly, as if the metal knight were meant to say something back.
"Do you… You get what I'm saying, dude?" The Viking asked him. Again, because he didn't want to talk to him anymore, nor did he understand what he was saying, Mordekaiser stayed silent. Olaf sighed, exasperated, and stood up from his uncomfortable position sagged on the cold floor.
"Whatever man, you can lie to yourself, but you can't lie to me."
Mordekaiser decided to put that whole conversation down to a hallucination because he was just so hungry, and went to go get that pancake.
He felt a lot better afterwards.
Pancake wins.
