Chapter Text
Kayn isn't sure if all frilly dainty mermen are especially weird, or if it's just an Ezreal thing. He's never met anyone quite like him, but he's willing to bet that there isn't another merman out there with his friend's particular... quirks.
Well, really he's hardly ever met another mer – being a shark tends to deter others from approaching him in general, even if he owns a spectacular section of the reef. That and the whole demonic weapon business means he doesn't have to work very hard to enforce his space.
Frankly he prefers it that way.
But of course Ezreal hadn't gotten that memo. He'd showed up on the sunniest rock in his reef – Kayn's favorite rock – about half a year ago, all bedraggled after a particularly nasty typhoon had swept him into this part of the ocean, far from wherever he comes from.
And then he just never left? Totally unintimidated by Kayn's initial efforts to run him off, like he didn't realize where he stood on the food chain. Utterly blind to the territorial displays meant to keep other sea creatures out. It's like the little idiot had never met another mer in his life – even Kayn knows what it means when someone hangs up bone charms all over the reef.
Stay out, or become lunch and join the boneyard.
But no. Ezreal called them cute. Cute.
Asked if they were chimes to sound nice in the current – or maybe decorations for Kayn's territory, like he's just sprucing up his lair for fun.
Utterly insane.
And yet. Kayn has to admit that, maybe – for all that he's kinda nuts – Ezreal might be pretty good company. He's a chattery thing, that's for sure. Any time they're together he's just talking the whole time – usually about stuff he's seen that Kayn's got absolutely no clue about, but that's alright cause he's got a nice voice. The type of voice that just fills the space in a cheerful way and makes the sunlight that filters through the reef a little brighter and the water a little warmer. Makes the days a little less... empty.
Not that he'd ever admit it, but being the terror of the reef had gotten a bit lonely. Rhaast's ever-present company notwithstanding, there wasn't much conversation to be had besides the occasional scream of 'please don't eat me' in his general direction before he tore a throat out.
It also helps that Ezreal is easy on the eyes, like sunshine through a kelp forest with his ribbony fins flashing green and yellow. He'd been so pretty and colorful that Kayn's first thought was that he must be poisonous to eat – which is probably what saved him from getting a bite taken out of him for the audacity of trying to steal Kayn's favorite rock in the first place.
Well, that and the fact that he'd looked pathetic – a scraggly fish splatter all out of sorts, bruised and tattered from being bashed against the reef. Kayn supposes that's what happens to fish-mer, not half as hardy as he is. Not as fast either, or as deadly, and the silly little thing has the survival skills of a pup.
Needless to say, Kayn felt a little bad for him... so he'd let him stay, just for a little while. Until he could get his head around the currents and his fins healed back up.
But then the pretty little thing had started following him around in earnest... then he'd made a little den right smack in the middle of Kayn's territory.
Honestly, he'd almost admired the audacity – the fact that Ezreal had swam up to him all excited and showed it off to him with all its strange shiny rocks and soft kelp bedding – like he wasn't literally challenging Kayn's claim to the territory in the most aggressive way possible. Like he wasn't a mere flick of the tail away from Kayn's own den, ringed with bones as a warning.
Ridiculous.
And now? The pretty little thing spends almost all his days on Kayn's favorite sunny rock, just luxuriating in the warm current. Playing tag with the silly fish that are too small for Kayn to bother hunting. Trying to teach the crabs and eels how to do tricks. Collecting and hanging up strange trinkets all over Kayn's territory, like he's slowly but surely trying to take it over.
Ridiculous.
Ridiculous but... endearing? Almost... nice?
These days he patrols the edges of his reef and finds his bone markers decorated with sparkly stones and little kelp bows. The deep warning gouges he left in the rock surrounded by lighter scratched in doodles made by Ezreal's own short claws – two little merfolk, one frilly and one sleek, swimming side by side.
A territory for two.
And why not? The reef is certainly big enough for both of them. Big enough for a whole pod if he's being honest... he's just never really had a pod. Not since he'd been abandoned as a pup anyway. He probably had one originally, but he can't remember. Then he'd had Rhaast, and that was good enough. Not that it matters anyway, he doesn't need one – doesn't want one... But a mate?
Well... he might not be opposed to one of those. Not if the right pretty fish was interested. Mates are different than pods. Less... stifling. More his. Like Rhaast, but different than that even. Either way, Kayn likes things that are his.
Kinda wants Ezreal to be his. After all, the pretty mer is in his territory, and has been for quite some time now. He's basically made himself Kayn's already, since everything else in the reef belongs to him, so it only makes sense that Ezreal should too...
If he's amenable to being had.
And if he's not? … at least he's good company. He doesn't take up much space or eat much food anyway, so really the benefits of having him around outweigh having to share his space, regardless of how Ezreal decides he wants to be around.
But he is awfully pretty, in a delicate sort of way.
Like how he is right now, all lounging on Kayn's rock with his fins floating in the current. There's a guppy tucked under his chin, mistakenly thinking that Ezreal could actually protect it from something if need be. His golden eyes are half-closed, seaweed hair floating in a halo around him.
He hasn't done a damn thing all morning, but he sure spruces up the place in his lazing.
Yeah... Kayn thinks he'll keep him.
“Hey,” he grunts out, swimming over to circle around the rock with lazy strokes of his tail – drawing a nice ring of blood through the water as he goes with his offering, of course. “Hungry?”
The guppy darts away in a blink as Ezreal stretches, eyes opening fully and gills fluttering as his lovely mouth curls into a smile.
“What is that?” he asks, pushing onto his hands and scenting the water as Kayn floats the carcass closer to him.
“Lunch.” A lionfish – venomous little bastards. Delicious, but an absolute bitch to catch and clean without getting stung. Kayn had skewered this one with a spear rather than use his claws or totally obliterate it with Rhaast, then spent half the morning plucking out the spines and carefully carving out the venom glands to make sure it was safe to eat. “Ever had one?”
“Oh, one of those pretty spiky guys.” Ezreal catches the carcass and turns it over in his hands, thumbing at the holes. “Where'd his pretty spikes go?”
Kayn can't help but squint at him. “Did you... want to eat the spikes? They kinda hurt...”
They more than kinda hurt – they sting like hellfire, and if he's learned anything about Ezreal it's that he doesn't do well with pain... or minor inconvenience.
“No, I just thought they'd be neat to hang up around the den.”
“Huh.” It's not a bad idea actually – would be a decent warning to other creatures, anyone who would casually pluck apart a lionfish isn't afraid of a little pain, he can see how Ezreal might want to have that sort of implicit protection. “Well, I can go get them if you'd like? I don't think they would have washed away yet.”
It's half true, they probably have, but he can go gather them up again if Ezreal wants them – or go kill another lionfish, whichever.
“Really?” Ezreal beams up at him, short claws squishing into the carcass. “Thanks, Kayn! You're the best.”
He can feel his ear fins and gills flare in pleasure even as he shrugs. “It's nothing.” He swishes his tail hard, circling Ezreal again before nodding toward the carcass. “It tastes better fresh.”
“Oh! Right.” Ezreal blinks down at the lionfish in his hands and takes a delicate nibble, perking up at the flavor.
“Good?” Kayn presses, letting himself drift closer on the current until the feathery tips of Ezreal's fins nearly brush against the skin of his tail.
“Mhmm!” That sweet smile looks lovelier than ever with the smear of blood across it. “S'tasty. Thanks, Kayn.”
“Of course,” Kayn bares his teeth in a smile, a subtle reminder that he would make the strongest and most capable mate Ezreal could want – he'll never know hunger or danger with Kayn around. “I’ll keep you well fed.”
Ezreal's laughter is a bright, bubbling thing – sweet around another nibble of lionfish. “That won't be hard. You know me, eyes bigger than my stomach.” Then he's pushing most of the carcass back toward Kayn, still smiling. “Here, you finish it.”
Which is... not ideal. Maybe he doesn't like lionfish after all? Or maybe Kayn was too slow today and he'd already eaten before he could get back with the carcass...
“Are you sure?” Kayn asks, claws spearing clean through the meat and peeling it open to try to entice him. “There's still liver in there if you want it-”
“I'm pretty full,” Ezreal assures him as he rubs at his flat stomach, then his fins flare as he offers Kayn a smile, “besides, we can share, right?”
“Of course.” Kayn devours the lionfish in two messy bites, watching Ezreal's fins carefully until they flutter back down. He's not quite sure what to make of the territorial display from the pretty fish, but it's been happening more often. It usually comes alongside some sort of care-taking gesture – maybe a display of dominance? An attempt to assert himself as the head of their not-quite-pod? He seems like he comes from a more social species than Kayn does at least.
He'll let the audacious little thing play pretend if he wants to, there's no harm in it.
But still – it doesn't seem like the lionfish has brought him any closer to convincing Ezreal to be his mate. He should have guessed as much, it's awfully small and not very intimidating at all for someone who hasn't experienced their sting. He'll have to find something more impressive.
“What are you doing for food tonight?” Kayn asks him, already thinking of what he can hunt down in the meantime - after he gathers those awful stinging quills back up.
Ezreal shrugs at him, wiping blood from the corner of his lip with his thumb before licking it clean. Kayn feels his vent twitch as he watches him clean his other fingers one by one – ignores it for his own good. There'll be enough time for that later, hopefully.
“Probably shrimp? Maybe some seaweed?” Ezreal hums in thought, a claw caught between his teeth. “Not much for fruit out this way... not even when I looked closer to the island.”
Kayn's not entirely sure what fruit is – probably a type of fish. Maybe he can pester one of their less objectionable neighbors and see if they know what it looks like, then he can bring back a whole school of fruit for Ezreal.
You are... a fool. Rhaast sighs in his mind – which is a bit uncalled for, considering Rhaast's ideas for how to court Ezreal had included taking him into the trench to search creepy wrecks. The brat loves trinkets, those ships are full of them – it's an excellent idea.
Kayn doesn't bother to rehash the argument, Ezreal would probably faint halfway into the trench as soon as the water got dark.
That's why you'd be there to protect him, fool.
“Well. I'll bring something back later too,” Kayn tells him, swirling another quick circle around him with a flick of his powerful tail. Promising to provide for him. To hunt on his behalf. “You can just stay here and look pretty.”
Ezreal's fins flare again as he settles back onto the rock with a smile and a half-lidded gaze, his lovely tail swishing slowly. Doubling down on his claim over Kayn's favorite rock... brat. “That is what I'm best at, isn't it?”
Can't say he doesn't know how to press his advantages.
“Haven't met anyone better,” Kayn assures him with a sharp grin, then tips his head toward the edge of the reef. “I'll be back before nightfall, blow the conch if you need me.”
“Mhmmm, good luck.” Ezreal flaps a lazy hand at him, stretching back out to make the most of the sunlight that filters through the water, as tempting as any siren.
Kayn can hardly look away even as he takes off through the water, captivated by the way the light glimmers on Ezreal's scales, sparkling like the shiny rocks he collects. He's the loveliest treasure in Kayn's territory, and hopefully soon he'll be his.
But first… he's going to need a bigger carcass.