sylus's little crow

Sylus plans your birthday out down to the very last detail. And I mean the very last.

Your day was filled with all of your favorite things, from the arcade to your favorite stores, cafes for sweet treats, and your favorite restaurant for dinner.

Sylus bought you more gifts on top of the things he had already purchased for you, just happy to see you smile. Plus, he was finding it oddly cute that you’d get shy asking him for certain things. As if he’d ever say no.

“It’s your birthday, kitten. Pick whatever you want.”

Still, it took two more stores for you to finally stop giving him a little glance each time you dropped something in the basket. Sylus could tell you were being mindful not to over consume but still treating yourself how he intended you to.

Sylus would drain his bank account — it would take a damn long time but still — if it meant seeing you smile the way you were smiling, that little sparkle in your eye as you uttered little thank yous with a skip in your step.

What Sylus couldn’t wait for was what came later.

He kicked the twins out for the night. He got your favorite desert for your birthday celebration, and he had every intention of eating that damn dessert off of your body.

It wouldn’t be your birthday if he didn’t take hours to worship every single inch of you. To sing you the praises you so throughly deserve, and make you feel as good as you make him feel every goddamn day.

when doing his little tasks, crafts or mischiefs, he’ll always know it kyros behind it. because during each and every set up, there’s a distinct string of mindless “hmm, hmm hmms” in a small heavenly voice he can listen to all day.

his first song was “twinkle twinkle”, and sylus would always press his ear to the wall of the nursery just to hear the “hmm hmm ‘taw, hmm hmm a’we” of his baby lulling himself to sleep.

then he’d hum your own songs—the ones that get stuck in your head, but its just the one line over and over— then he’d hum cartoon credits, the bubble pals themes, a warbled but his best rendition of sylus’s classic records. he even hums lines of dialogue if it’s said in a pretty enough tune (his favorite is luke’s joking “but mooom!” turning into “hhmmaam!”)

anyway, sylus loves it. but kyros never does it on command, so he has to sneak around to tune in.

around the corner, as kyros stacks a bunch of very expensive blocks up to a tower, sylus hears a particular melody. always one to pause for a second and listen, he does.

his skin prickles. in terrified, nostalgic horror. memories of being undercover; chains and lights, a sweeping choreographed dance and—

“hmm hmm twiggur, hmm hm hmm kan!”

“kyros!” sylus exclaims before he can stop himself.

“i here, papa!” kyros yells back. just then sylus rounds the corner, footsteps heavy and quick as he makes a beeline for him.

kyros giggles when sylus lifts him to eye level, arms corcling around his neck instantly to a little embrace.

sylus nudges his cheek, hiding the anxiety. “are you okay? how was your day?”

“mm, okay,” he says leaning onto sylus’s shoulder. his humming long gone now.

“watch any movies?”

“no.”

“listen to songs?”

“hmm… no, papa.”

sylus grinds his teeth. “right… okay. what were you humming, angel?”

kyros grins a little. always shy when asked that. “what hum?”

“humming, that song— you, you were singing a little too.” sylus breathes through his nose, keeping himself steady. “let me hear it again?”

kyros hides his face in his papa’s neck, smiling in embarrassment. “no, thank you.”

“no, c’mon.” sylus sounds eager. but he isnt. not really. oh, if kyros could understand how consumed he is by this unbelievable humiliation, maybe he’d do his dear old papa a solid and be more compliant now.

he knew exactly who the culprit was, infiltrating his son’s precious humming playlist— his favorite artist’s setlist— but needed confirmation. “please, angel? for papa?”

“no!” kyros laughs, unused to seeing sylus this way.

sylus groans. “where did you hear the song?”

kyros is almost giddy to admit. “mama phone.”

clocked it.

setting his giggling, absolutely hysterical son down on the carpet, he barely makes it a few steps before he phases away with his evol to capture the convict.

he can hear you, running down the halls and giggling yourself.

I have absolutely loved seeing even the few black MC edits people have done and decided to do my own because I’ve been in some major art block and needed something creative to do and those just inspired me tbh.

a/n: another one i’m writing for me. but i tried to touch on different symptoms so others can feel included 😊

Xavier

He’s been asked if he’s on the spectrum more than once so he’s aware of what autism is but not much else.

That quickly changes when Xavier finds out you’re autistic. He does as much research as he can, both through books and online articles, and then subtly does his own study with you.

If he’s on his phone, you can bet he’s noting your preferences (food, texture, smells) and your interests for future reference.

Pleasantly surprised by how you start to change as you become more comfortable around him. He’s very glad to be allowed into your inner world.

Xavier never wants you to feel like a burden or you’re broken somehow. You are simply you. And he wouldn’t change a thing about his beloved partner.

Zayne

Autistic!MC 🤝 Autistic!Zayne

Zayne was diagnosed before you but didn’t pay it much attention until you got the same diagnosis in your teenage years. He added autism to his studies for medical school, learning how to care for you and himself at the same time.

When you come back into his life, he surprises you by remembering all the strategies and signals you made to support each other when you were young.

Masking has always been difficult for him. Hiding aspects of himself exhausts him so he makes sure you know you never, ever have to pretend with him. You can be yourself around him.

Zayne is in no rush when it comes to how your relationship evolves. You can both take your time in figuring this out and he’ll always be there.

Rafayel

“Yeah, I knew you were a weirdo from the day we met.”

Rude! But if you were worried telling him would change how Rafayel sees you, you have nothing to worry about. He’s loved you for so long, it’s just something new about you he gets to discover.

He loves how radiant your smile is when you talk about your interests. He could listen to you for hours, just basking in your light.

Rafayel also loves the opportunity to play hero.

“What’s wrong, cutie? You’re anxious and wanna leave early? Eh, this party was boring, anyway. Come on, I’ll get you something sweet on the way home. Don’t worry about offending anyone, I’ll take care of everything — you just breathe, okay?”

Sylus

With how rocky the beginning of your relationship was, it’s not unreasonable to think he would get frustrated with you the same way he did when you couldn’t resonate with him.

But no. Sylus is actually your most fierce and loyal advocate and very protective of your peace of mind.

He takes care of potential issues before you can even think of them and is slowly turning his home into a place of comfort for you — while keeping his aesthetic, of course.

Sylus happily allows you to cling to him in public, taking pride in how you go to him for protection. And if you have to go somewhere alone, you’ll hear Mephisto’s cry following you.

Never touches you without warning and always stops at the first sign of discomfort. Anyone who doesn’t do the same is swiftly handled by Luke and Kieran.

i am completely one for ragebaiter sylus propaganda

Sylus asked to use your phone to search for something while you were at his place. His phone was charging and yours was within reach, so you agreed. He spent a few minutes tapping and swiping away at the screen. At the time, you didn’t think much of it and eventually fell asleep.

You should’ve known something was up when he handed you back your device with a smirk that was forty percent higher in its level of smugness than normal 

Now you were left to explore the aftermath of Sylus’s tinkering with your cellular device. At first, it started with your wallpaper. He changed it to a selfie of him taken from a low angle (not that you were complaining), and you laughed a short, disbelieving huff through your nose. 

You didn’t really need to check anything on your phone until after returning to your apartment. When you did, you noticed that all your widgets were even more selfies of him taken from various angles. When did he even have all the time to take these? 

Later, you scrolled through your camera roll and found a staggering number of frustratingly well-taken shots from the day. One shot showed you mixing coffee to drink, another was of you poking Mephisto while he wasn’t looking, and the other one you noticed showed Sylus and the twins posing next to you as you snoozed away on the leather couch. 

You chuckled and saved them to your favourites before sending Sylus a fake angry text with some of the shots attached. A few seconds later, Sylus sent a smirking crow emoji, which you snorted at and liked. A thought bubble appeared next to Sylus’s icon, indicating he was typing a response. 

Toothless: Did you like my other gift?

You: ??

You: What other gift? 

Toothless: Can’t tell you, I wouldn’t want to ruin the surprise. 

You: Wait stop cuz now I’m scared 

You: Did you forward my under chin selfies to all my contacts? 

Toothless: Heavens, no. Those are for only me to see. 

You: lol weirdo

After a few minutes of playful back and forth, you placed your phone down to charge and drifted off to sleep. 

Work. Jobs. Very professional things that adults did. You were sitting very professionally in the dimly-lit meeting room, listening intently to a mission briefing from Jenna. Suddenly, your phone buzzed in your pocket, heralding the arrival of your rather loud ringtone. It should’ve been the silly little tune that you set when you first purchased the item, but to your horror, the sound emanating from the glass and metal rectangle in your pocket was the furthest thing from that. 

At the low, subtly staticky rumble of a familiar voice, your heart dropped. 

“What’s this? Someone’s calling you, darling. Are you not going to get that?” 

Sylus. 

You frantically scrambled to fish the phone from your pocket. The longer you took for your shaky fingers to find the mute button, the more times the recording looped. At some point, you dropped the phone from pure panic and almost whammed your head on the table when trying to pick it up. You were sure sweat was pouring down your back from pure dread as Jenna paused mid-sentence and gave you a pointed look. 

Sylus’s voice continued to play on full blast for a few seconds until you finally managed to turn the thing off. He surely intended to catch you off guard, with the way his already low voice was a tingling few notes deeper and the slight rasp he added just to make you sweat. 

You smiled awkwardly when you finally managed to turn off the annoyingly addictive sound and shove your phone deep into your pocket, hoping the leather trousers of your uniform would muffle out the sound of your ego crumbling. Despite the source of your mortification being quenched, the damage was already done. The other hunters around the round table had witnessed your entire display. 

Jenna cleared her throat. “Please remember to turn off mobile devices before meetings.” 

You nodded meekly, cheeks so hot that you were sure you could roast marshmallows on them. 

It was going to take a few days of bringing treats to the office to make everyone forget.

After the meeting, you bolted to a secluded corner outside the conference room to call the individual who dragged you into that painful mess. You monologued for around 5 minutes about how you were never letting Sylus use your phone again for any reason whatsoever, and the man dared to chuckle the entire time like you were sharing news of the stock market rising. 

Eventually, you sighed and ended the call, while Sylus continued to be infected with a case of shits and giggles. You made sure to change your ringtone before you returned to work. You also definitely did not save Sylus’s recording in a special folder to listen to on loop later. That would be absolutely ridiculous. 

Ambessa Medarda x Female!Reader

Warnings: Fluff, Soft!Ambessa, mentions of being homesick, non-sexual intimacy, etc.

Word Count:  1,154 words

The evenings in Piltover were too quiet for Ambessa’s liking.

Noxus was never silent—there was always the clang of steel, the bark of orders, the hum of fires and the distant roar of people celebrating victories or drowning defeats in strong drink. Even in her private chambers back home, the sounds of her empire seeped into her walls. Here, though? Here, she heard nothing but the ticking of those blasted Piltie clocks and the faint hiss of the ocean below.

She was sprawled across the cushions of your shared cabin aboard her vessel, one thick arm thrown over her eyes. You were at her side, curled close with your head resting against her chest, content in the silence. But Ambessa’s body was taut, her breathing heavy with something unspoken.

You tilted your chin up to study her. “You’re restless.”

She grunted, not moving her arm. “Am I that obvious?”

“You’ve been sighing like a storm through the windows for the past ten minutes,” you teased, earning a faint rumble of amusement from her chest.

Finally, she pulled her arm away, her dark eyes gleaming in the dim lantern light. “It’s this city,” she admitted, voice softer than usual, though still deep and commanding. “Their food, their ways… it is all so delicate. Too polished. Not meant to nourish warriors.”

You shifted, propping yourself up on one elbow. “You mean you miss Noxian cooking.”

Ambessa gave a humorless chuckle. “I miss Noxus, in its entirety. Its fire. Its spice. Here everything tastes like boiled water and looks like it was prepared for a porcelain doll.” She frowned, lines tugging at the corners of her mouth. “I should not complain. I am here for duty. But—” She hesitated, a rare moment of vulnerability flashing across her face. “Yes. I am homesick.”

The admission landed heavy between you. Ambessa was not a woman prone to weakness—or to admitting such things aloud. She was The Lion of Noxus, a woman bred to command and to conquer. Yet in this moment, you saw her as she truly was: a woman far from home, surrounded by enemies who called themselves allies, sitting in a city that would never understand her as a whole.

You kissed her cheek gently, murmuring, “Then maybe I’ll just have to remind you of home.”

Her gaze slid to you, curious, but she didn’t press. Instead she let out another low chuckle, pulling you back against her chest. “Good luck finding anything resembling home in this city of tea drinkers.”

You chuckled and didn’t answer, already planning how best to surprise her.

---

The following evening, Ambessa returned from yet another endless council dinner, her broad shoulders slumped with weariness. Her armor clinked as she stripped off her breastplate and set it aside, stretching her arms with a groan.

She froze halfway through unlacing her gauntlets when she caught a scent.

Spices. Rich, warm, familiar. The tang of lamb slow-cooked with cumin and coriander. The heat of pepper and chili. The buttery sweetness of freshly baked bread. And—her nose twitched—a faint, unmistakable whiff of spiced rum.

Her head snapped toward the small dining table in the cabin.

You stood there with your hands on your hips, grinning like a cat caught in cream. The table was laid out with two heaping plates of lamb and white rice, steam curling from the food. Beside them, a basket of round, golden loaves, still warm enough to make the linen beneath them damp. And at the center, a bottle of rum, its glass beaded with condensation.

“Surprise,” you said.

Ambessa blinked, dumbstruck for the first time in years. “…What is this?”

“It’s dinner,” you said, stepping forward to tug her gauntlet free and set it aside. “Or, more specifically, the dinner I used to sell from my street stall back in Noxus. Thought you might be tired of Piltover’s boiled cabbages and flavorless meats.”

Her eyes flicked from you to the table, wide and unguarded. “You cooked this?”

“Every bite.” You leaned up on tiptoe, kissing her cheek. “Go wash up. I’ll pour the rum.”

---

Ambessa ate like a starved soldier, though you noticed she slowed after the first few bites, savoring each mouthful as though she couldn’t quite believe it was real. She tore chunks of bread with her hands, dipping them into the spiced sauce, groaning low in her throat with every swallow.

“This,” she declared between mouthfuls, “is the first real meal I have had since I set foot in this cursed city.”

You laughed, sipping your own rum. “I’ll pretend you didn’t say that about the dinner Mel hosted two nights ago that I had to practically drag you to.”

She smirked, eyes glinting. “That was fine. This is home.”

Her words warmed you deeper than the drink did.

By the time the plates were nearly empty, Ambessa sat back in her chair, one hand splayed over her stomach. She looked years younger, her usual tension softened by the satisfaction of a good meal.

You reached over and filled her glass again. “Better?”

She took the rum in one hand, her other reaching across the table to clasp yours. Her thumb stroked your knuckles, a surprisingly gentle gesture for hands that had broken men in half. “Better,” she rumbled. Her voice dropped lower, almost tender. “You spoil me.”

You squeezed her hand. “Maybe I just like reminding you that there’s more to life than war and politics.”

Ambessa chuckled, leaning across the table to press a kiss to your lips. It was slow and warm, flavored with rum and spice. “Sugar and spices,” she murmured against your mouth. “That’s what you are.”

You smiled into the kiss. “Good thing you like both.”

---

The two of you ended up curled together on the couch, Ambessa stretched long and heavy, her head tipped back in rare relaxation. You were tucked into her side, her arm draped around you, both of you smelling faintly of lamb and rum.

For once, the silence didn’t feel so empty.

Ambessa pressed her nose to your hair, breathing deeply. “If the Council drags me here for longer than I planned,” she said, “I may have to insist you cook for me every night.”

You laughed softly, tracing the faint, raised skin of her scars beneath her collarbone. “I’ll consider it. But only if you promise to stop calling Piltover cursed at every opportunity. It’s not very diplomatic.”

Her grin was wicked. “I am not here to be diplomatic. But—” She nipped at your ear, making you giggle and squirm. “For you, I will try.”

Your chest ached with affection as you nestled closer to her warmth. Ambessa Medarda, The Lion of Noxus, conqueror, strategist, warrior—brought to heel by lamb, rice, rum, and a woman who knew just how to soften the sharp edges.

The clock ticked quietly in the corner, but for once, Ambessa didn’t mind the sound.

Like the point is that he's both, like he is essentially a mob boss and is rough around the edges and he is pretty chill with murder and is introduced to you by turning a man to gore in front of you, the man who forced you to shoot him to prove a point, the man who had a wanderer set upon you to try to force you to resonate and maybe just maybe remember him

And he is also the man who plays video games with you and his adopted sons/employees and lets you put ponytails in his hair as punishment when he loses. The man who's eager for an at home spa day to tell you how pretty you are. The man who'd take care of a dove just because you asked real nice. The man who's way too eager to sing karaoke with you despite being a shit singer.

He is all of these things and thats the point. Over and over the world has tried to shape him into a monster, the need to survive the only way he knows how has pushed him to make violent choices and he accepts that as his reality. But even now, so many years and possibly lives later, he hasn't let go of the tenderness that was once let into his life. He hasn't let go of the softness he learned he could show to just the right person, he has held on to the fact that he can be both because so many lives ago in his isolated dragon hoarde/nest someone showed him he could be both.