#hereeeee

He missed him when he was away. Ezreal. It was almost impossible not to, or so he imagined- the boy was glowing, beautiful, and he lit up a room in a way that seemed impossible in any other context. Of course, Ekko knew that he left for very important reasons- he was a very important person. He didn’t mind. He just had to find good ways to fill up his time.

It was four AM. His parents were sound asleep at home, but not knowing if his boyfriend was safe had coincidentally made the time-traveller restless. He had snuck out the window to go for a walk. He knew that the guardian would be okay, in the end- but it was hard not to worry. The blonde carried a responsibility past what the Zaunite could ever feel or know on his own.

Zaun was far from the safest place to take a night stroll. You never knew who you would meet, what you would come across- what you would see, particularly things that you didn’t want to get mixed up in. Thankfully Ekko knew where he wanted to go, and he knew what he wanted to do. He guided himself through the streets by memory, avoiding the neighbourhoods which got darker as dusk fell, sticking to the shadows of corners and bridges, not looking through windows lest he be accused. No, he knew what he was doing. Ekko made it to the clock tower without difficulty.

The trek to the top was swift, the boy had done it a thousand times. He let the light from his bat illuminate the space, and held it up in front of the clock’s face, where he’d stolen it from- to his great amusement. He’d reclaimed this place, and he walked around contently, whistling lowly, happy to have reached one of his workshops, at least. It was strangely relaxing, here, even when he wasn’t working. A secret place.

He walked over to one of the walls, where photos of his friends were stuck to it, grouped messily by younger hands than his- smiling faces all around, nonetheless. When they couldn’t afford real photos, they painted them. They weren’t perfect pieces of artistry, but they were recognizable, at the very least.

Ekko’s eyes drifted over the pages and drawings, falling to rest again on one of the most important. Ezreal. Of course, he was always on his mind. He needed to be present in this space, too. The boy could get spurred on in his work by the smallest of things- the people he loved was an easy option.

Taking the photo down from the wall, he paced over to the clock face, sticking the picture up against the glass, facing outwards. If Ezreal was going to be anywhere in this run-down place, it needed to at least be facing the outside. He would like that better. Somewhere he could see the sky.

The sky. Ekko criss-crossed his legs, sitting facing the town of Zaun through the clear, cracked glass, only obstruction of his view being iron spindles and the one clock hand that no longer spun with time. This spot was serene. He came here often. And, lifting his gaze. He could see the stars.

The boy’s eyes drifted across the night sky, barely visible through the walls of the canyon, though the height of the clock tower definitely helped. He pressed his face against the glass, cautious not to fall through it, and looked up at them, sighing contently, searching.

His eyes found them. He knew the names of some, from what Ez had taught him, but he always seemed to forget. His mind simply wasn’t geared towards space. Perhaps it was expected, coming from a boy who lived close to underground- but he tried his best, and a smile drifted to his lips as he was able to identify a constellation or two.

‘How did I end up with him?,’ a common question coming from Ekko, referring to Ezreal, of course. Not that the teenager didn’t want him, because he did, with every fiber of his being. But it all seemed so rare. He never thought he’d fall in love. Much less with him. And he never thought it would work, much less with someone so perfect, so good. But clearly it had. And his heart yearned for it more with each passing moment under the distant suns.

If Ekko had been asked a year ago, never would he have even said that he enjoyed being in Ezreal’s company. The two didn’t get along. The other was from Piltover. But the Zaunite’s mind had been changed, lately. At least a little. The guardian had taken some of his precious time to show him his life, his city, what he loved. And even if Ekko still held bitterness against the city of progress, he could never hold any against Ezreal, not in a million years. And for that change, he was beyond grateful.

He sighed out a breath of cool city air, contently, considering what his life had come to. He had never wanted to be with anyone, because of who he was, it was perhaps too dangerous for them- but of course, he’d gotten lucky, again, and he knew that out of anyone, a star guardian could handle himself in times of crisis. 

He knew too, somewhere, that Ezreal wouldn’t let anything happen to him. And while Ekko was normally stubborn, self-righteous, and independent- he found himself not minding this, not in the slightest. His boyfriend seemed to be turning into his personal guardian angel with each passing day.

The boy’s eyes slipped closed momentarily, the exhaustion of the night catching him. But his gaze focused again, just long enough to see streaks of colour gracing the sky- unseen by the sleeping town of Zaun, but spotted by him. Pink, orange, green, purple- and his eyes settled to blue. He sighed, unspoken words filled with affection and love, radiating through his chest like a current of warm electricity.