easy ʚ✩ɞ arcane

1

easy

It felt like every other average day in the undercity, besides the news, of course.

"Vander," you called to him. "it's your kids everyone is talkin' about around here, right?"

He simply sighed, not wanting to deal with this shit at the moment. He knew all he had to do was have a talk with them and keep them hidden, then hopefully there could be silence again.

You quickly chugged the rest of your drink before slamming the glass down. Hard. The other folks in the bar didn't dare turn to look at you. "That building belonged to one of the members of the council. Do you have any idea what they have done, man?"

   Your voice spit venom into his face. You weren't mad at him because of what the kids had done. You were worried for what was to come for your home. Vander looked into your eyes with shame.

   There was a sudden commotion at one side of the bar. He quickly took off without a word to help whoever was in need of it.

   Some folks stared at you, some in fascination as they had only heard of you in stories, but never seen you.

   When you first came to the undercity, you were Powder's present age. 10 years old. You were kicked out of your home in Piltover, such a progressive city it was. You had been training with Officer Grayson— whom had been given a raise to be a sheriff nowadays. You were good with guns, fist fights, whatever was most common and came to use.

   Now, you were 19. Nobody cared if you were too young to drink, it's Vaun for god's sake. And yes, you were there when the massacre went on at the bridge. It was a sad day, but it didn't affect you greatly.

The doors of the bar could be heard amongst the crowd. Vi, Powder, Claggor and Mylo walked in. Empty handed. Vi caught your eye, unfortunately, and she received a disappointed glare.

It was a few minutes before you left the payment on the table and followed the children to their lounge, Vander following shortly after. Walking in, the kids jumped before snapping their head towards you, but then looked away in shame when they saw the old man with you.

"Did any of you get hurt? Scrapes, scratches, broken bones?" They had blood on their faces, it was obvious they were in a fight. Even if they had just tried to hide it.

"Uh— no..." Vi covered her bandaged fist with the other. "Nothing too bad. Thanks for asking, I guess."

"Right... I'll leave them to you Vander." You left after giving the man a pat on his shoulder. Rather than walking off to no where, you waited outside of the door.

   You already knew the kind of talk Vander would give the oldest child. It was one you had already received back when you were at Piltover. You're the oldest, meaning you hold responsibility for everyone else's actions.

   Everyone but Vi and Vander came out of the room. They were about to start some awkward chatting before you left straight back to the bar. Kids are just... not the best to interact with at all these days.

   They're reckless,

   untrustworthy,

   irresponsible,

  
       just annoying in general, really.

   But then, you can't be mad at them. Everyone was the same at some point in their lives. They wanted to achieve something impossible until they woke up to reality. Some realities are different.

   You were a disgrace to Piltover, and they bashed you down until ran away from their streets.

   But you were also a nuisance to Vaun. The people of Piltover were terrifying to them, but they weren't in fear. They were raged.

   And now that you've been one of  Vander's closest friends for years, they slowly built their trust in you. They've all seen you fight. They've all seen you win.

   Piltover, including your parents, have heard of your new reputation in the undercity. They know of your new strength and training with the old man, and they don't know what to expect. Especially with the leading events.

   Piltover...

  This city will respect us.

  

  

  

   VANDER IS A DILF.