Chapter Text
Talon watched the streetlights blur past, his head resting against the cool glass of the car window. The familiar landmarks outside signaled that his school was just around the corner.
He’d been at the doctor’s earlier that morning, missing the first hour of school—just registration and part of the first lesson. That was fine by him; the less time spent in math, the better.
As a familiar row of shops slid past, Talon sighed, his breath fogging the glass. “Can’t I just skip today?” he mumbled, absently tracing little frowning faces into the fog. “That injection hurt.”
“You’re fine,” Marcus replied, eyes fixed on the road as they neared the drop-off point. “Besides, would you rather sit through five hours of The Renata Glasc Show at home with your mother?”
Talon scrunched his nose at the thought, silently conceding the point. “Still hurts,” he muttered, leaning back into his seat.
“I don’t blame you,” Marcus said, his brows lifting. “That thing was huge.”
“I know and I need to do more now.” Talon grumbled, leaning his head back against the seat.
The switch to shots hadn’t exactly been his idea; he’d been fine with the gel, even if it was annoying to use every day. But the doctor had said the shots were more effective now that he was getting older—“better results,” they’d promised.
Talon wasn’t so sure about that. All he’d noticed so far was that his arm hurt like hell, and he still felt just as out of sync as always. Maybe he was just being impatient. It had been his first one, after all.
His phone buzzed in his trouser pocket, breaking his thoughts. Talon fished it out and saw Quinn had managed to sneak him a Discord message in their group chat.
“On your way yet? How did the doctor’s go??” she’d typed, adding two bird emojis, as usual.
Talon thumbed out a reply, wincing at the dull ache in his arm. “Yeah. Almost there. Arm’s killing me.”
“Avoid draven, he likes to punch when he knows people have had shots.” she replied back.
“Alright we’re here,” Marcus’s voice broke through Talon’s thoughts as the car eased to a stop at the curb. “Off you go.”
Talon stepped out and waved his dad goodbye. He took a deep sigh and began to walk towards the office building and where he’d have to announce he was now present in school.
Once the receptionist registered him as present, Talon shoved his hands into his pockets and began the inevitable walk of shame toward the science block.
The heat hit him like a wall as he stepped back outside. It was boiling—stuffy and unbearable. Talon huffed, already feeling the sticky warmth building under the hoodie he wore over his uniform.
Still, no matter how hot it got, there wasn’t a chance he’d take the hood off. The sun could burn him alive for all he cared; it wasn’t happening.
Cassiopeia had once commented that he stank in summer because of it, which led to Katarina lovingly dubbing him ‘Stinky’ . Talon detested the nickname and wanted to bite her every time she used it.
He was not stinky. He never stank. Ever.
As Talon crossed the courtyard, his phone buzzed again in his pocket. He pulled it out, glancing down to see another message from Quinn: “kayn is asking when are you coming in he apparently has something huge to tell you”
“ Tell him my arm fell off and i died from blood loss. I’ll be there soon, ” he typed back, tucking the phone away.
He finally hit the science classroom door. Talon took in a deep breath and knocked, waiting to be called in and do his second walk of shame to his seat.
Thankfully, nobody really cared when Talon walked into the class.
Well, nobody except for the entire room , who all turned to stare as he made his way to his seat beside Vi. Because, of course, being late was apparently a headline-worthy event.
Talon resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he slid into his chair. What was the big deal? He was still the same Talon they’d seen yesterday. It wasn’t like showing up late had magically transformed him into someone else.
Maybe the class would prefer somebody else. Somebody more interesting, not a plain, weird person like Talon. And he wished he could be that interesting person some days.
The class itself went by without anything eventful. Talon sketched some terrible drawings of microbes and viruses, labeled all their parts, and managed to snag decent marks for it. By the time the bell rang, he’d already tuned out half the lesson, eagerly packing up his things to head toward the English block.
This would be the last class before the fifteen-minute break and finally, he’d get to see Sett.
Sett had been hinting all week about doing something together this weekend, but he still hadn’t committed to an actual time or plan. Talon felt like giving him a good shake some days. It was Wednesday already—if they were hanging out Saturday, he needed to know.
His thoughts were disturbed when he heard somebody almost running up the stairs behind him.
“Talon! Wait up!” The voice swiftly catching him up called.
Talon stopped and let out a very loud sigh.
“Kayn,” he greeted flatly, watching as the other boy caught up, looking smug as always.
Kayn fell into step beside him as they climbed to the final floor, the grin on his face making Talon’s skin crawl. He wasn’t even trying to hide that he was up to something.
Talon stopped walking, deciding to rip the band-aid off before Kayn could waste any more of his time. “What do you want now?”
“Well, Talon, I’ve come to show you a new project I’ve been working on!” Kayn announced, his grin somehow managing to grow even wider.
Talon groaned. “I’m going to be late for class.”
You really didn’t want to be late for Mr. Aatrox’s lessons. Talon was already in his bad books after the fainting fiasco last term. The man had punished him by moving him to the back of the class, away from Hwei and Viego. Honestly, it felt more like a blessing than a punishment. Briar had moved with him, though, so he hadn’t ended up completely alone.
“It’ll only take five seconds, Talon!” Kayn said, already fishing his phone out of his pocket. “Okay, get ready to witness true literary greatness! My new creative writing project!”
“Fantastic. Show it off in your English class.” Talon groaned, trying to shuffle past him. But Kayn blocked his way again, still grinning ear to ear.
“But you’re in my story, Talon! I need your opinion!”
That made Talon freeze. His hand was outstretched, just shy of the door handle. “Excuse me?” he asked flatly, turning to glare at Kayn.
“Yeah! You’re the prince of a rival nation who kidnaps the wonderful and beloved princess. But there’s a twist—you're her bitter ex!”
Talon just blinked at him, stunned into silence. He wasn’t sure what was worse: the premise or the fact that Kayn genuinely thought he’d be interested.
Kayn, of course, barreled on, completely unbothered by Talon’s lack of enthusiasm. Pulling out his phone, he cleared his throat with all the drama of an actor on stage.
“ Tales of Wingdoria! Author's note: it’s called this because everyone is born with beautiful wings! In the beginning, there were two warring nations —”
“Kayn, I’m already late. Can this wait, please?” Talon pleaded, his patience wearing thin.
“One more paragraph!” Kayn hissed, scowling for a brief moment before snapping back to his theatrics. “ The brave and noble ninja warrior knight, Kayn, had just conquered a great evil!”
“Amazing story. Thank you for sharing,” Talon wheezed, still trying to wrestle the door handle free from Kayn’s grip.
“That was the first sentence ,” Kayn replied, frowning as though personally offended. “ Continuing on! Kayn, the brave and noble ninja warrior knight, had come home to his beautiful bride-to-be, Akali. But to his horror—she had been kidnapped by her evil ex, Talon, who was the smallest man in the land! He was so small and everyone laughed at him! He was a wretched, virtueless parasite! A vile blight on the face that is… society… ”
Kayn held his hand out as he finished that last sentence. He did not speak again for another moment, just staring with his hand stretched out dramatically.
“Why am I so horrible?!” Talon cried.
“Relax, dude. You get a redemption arc,” Kayn said, as if that excused everything. “ So Kayn traveled to Talon’s lands, which were decrepit and dying because he was not kind to his subjects. Talon neglected them because he was so hung up over Akali leaving him for Kayn—the noble, brave, warrior nin -”
“You don’t need to repeat the title,” Talon interrupted flatly. “You established it three sentences ago.”
Kayn froze mid-sentence, his mouth slightly open as if Talon had just stabbed him. Slowly, he lowered his phone, narrowing his eyes. “Excuse me? I don’t need to repeat it?” he repeated mockingly, his tone ripe with offense.
Talon raised an eyebrow, already regretting his comment. “It’s just… you already said it. It's repetitive.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, literary expert Talon!” Kayn shot back, his voice rising dramatically. “Did Shakespeare’s ghost hire you as an editor while I wasn’t looking?!”
“Kayn—”
“No, no, please, continue! Maybe I should remove every descriptive detail and just write ‘Kayn wins’ on a piece of paper and call it a day!” Kayn crossed his arms, glaring at Talon as though he’d personally insulted his ancestors. “You hate anything creative, Talon Du Couteau! You just can't appreciate my talent! When it comes to music, art and now writing!”
Talon said nothing. It really didn’t take much to bruise Kayn’s ego, and frankly, he didn’t have the energy for this argument.
“You know what?” Kayn’s tone darkened, and he squared up to Talon, trying to look as menacing as possible. It might’ve worked if this didn't happen once a week with Kayn. “As punishment for this slight, I’m removing your redemption arc! Instead, you’ll be a massive asshole who Kayn the Hero slays!”
“Oh, for gods’—fine!” Talon snapped, his frustration boiling over. “Make me the villain. I don’t care, because nobody will read this crap!”
Kayn gasped as though Talon had just spat a slur at him. “ Zed read it, and he liked it!” he shot back, his voice brimming with righteous indignation. “He even liked my art of Akali! Look!”
Before Talon could protest, Kayn scrolled through his photos and thrust his phone in Talon’s face. The screen displayed a drawing of Akali wearing a dress… made entirely of blades and weapons.
Talon blinked. “What is that supposed to be?”
“A metaphor ,” Kayn said smugly. “She’s strong, beautiful, and deadly! By the way, she was only kidnapped because you fought dirty, and she actually left you because you have no honor.”
Talon clenched his fists, his patience nearing its limit. “I don’t even like women! Make your villain someone else—”
“You’re right…” Kayn interrupted, his eyes narrowing in mock contemplation as his thumbs flew across his phone screen. “I’m going to write you as a raging misogynist too!”
Talon froze, his jaw tightening. “That’s not what I meant!!---”
He lunged for the phone, but Kayn danced back with a cackle, holding it out of reach. “Too late! It’s written! Forever to be canon to my world building!”
“Your story sucks!” Talon screamed. It was slightly drowned out by the second bell sounding, which indicated he'd missed class registration so he was now extra late.
He tried to wrestle Kayn’s phone from his grip again. It ended with him pinned to the floor, Kayn’s palm pressing into his face and using his entire body weight to keep Talon down. Undeterred, Kayn continued typing with one hand, gleefully narrating aloud. “ And then, Prince Talon the Villain grovels at the feet of Kayn the Hero, begging for forgiveness —”
“You suck! Akali is a loser and I'd never want to date her even if I was straight!” Talon exploded. He was panting heavily at this point, exhausted from the effort of trying to get Kayn off of him.
Someone cleared their throat at the top of the stairs behind them.. Both boys froze, mid-squabble, as Akali leaned casually against the railing.
“I knew I’d find you two idiots here,” she said. She crossed her arms, tapping a marker pen against her palm. “Kayn, you’re late. Mr. Shen sent me to drag your ass back to class.”
Kayn opened his mouth to retort, but Akali’s sharp eyes cut to Talon, narrowing like a blade finding its mark. “But first, I wanna circle back to something. Did you, of all people, just call me a loser ?”
Talon stiffened, his earlier fury evaporating in a flash. “It was– Kayn he–!”
“Wrong answer,” Akali interrupted, twirling the marker pen between her fingers with alarming precision. “Kayn, babe, hold him down.”
“What are you doing?” Talon whined, helpless as he felt Kayn's weight press against his head and neck holding him in place. He watched her pop the cap off the pen with her thumb and approach him.
Talon’s eyes widened in horror when he realised what was a out to happen to him.
“Wait–No, no, no!!”
Mr.Aatrox was not happy when Talon finally trudged into the classroom afterwards. A massive penis was drawn on his left cheek and the word ‘LOSER’ was printed across his forehead. Talon was seething, his cheeks burning with embarrassment as he took to his seat.
He was pretty sure Mr.Aatrox wanted to throw him out the window, for turning up to his lesson with crass graffiti all over his face. Talon kind of welcomed that right about now, as his teeth grinded together tightly, as he tried to tune out people turning to snicker at him from their seats.
Not even his hood, yanked as low as it could go, had been enough to cover the damage. The snickers from his classmates. By the time the lesson ended, he’d bolted for the boys’ bathroom the moment the bell rang, already tugging at his hood as if that could erase the humiliation.
Now he stood by the sink, grimacing as Sett scrubbed at his face with a damp, soapy wad of paper towels.
“What kinda pen is this written with?” Sett grunted as he unsuccessfully tried to rub the giant dick off of Talon's face. “She really went hard with the anatomy.”
Talon groaned, “I'm stuck with this on my face for the next four hours!”
“I’ve got it.” Sett held up another damp towel, scrubbing harder. “Just gonna take some elbow grease, that’s all.”
“It’s permanent marker!” Talon snapped, swatting Sett’s hand away. “Not going to come off with water!”
He sighed heavily realising he'd made Sett back up a bit. Talon ran his hands down his face with a long groan. “I'm sorry, today has just been…awful.”
“All good,” he replied, giving a little snaggle-toothed smile. “I don't blame you feelin’ a bit miserable. You get a jab in your ass and now you've got a dick on your face.”
“The nurse did not inject my ass .” Talon grumbled, but there was no frustration in his tone now.
Sett’s ears flicked as he began to think. Looking at the crude, stubborn drawings on his boyfriend's face. “Does Cassie have any make-up wipes? Like real good ones?”
Talon nodded. Cassiopeia always had wipes on her, usually to fix up her own or Samira's make up. That or when the teachers wanted her to wipe her own off, Cassi refused to use their ‘cheap’ wipes that apparently gave her spots. Talon didn't think that was true, she was just being dramatic.
“Let's go find her,” Sett suggested. “If them wipes can remove five pounds of foundation, it can remove a bit of marker pen.”
Talon nodded and pulled his hood back over his face. He followed Sett towards where he suspected his sister and her friends would be mingling right about now. There was only five minutes of break left, so Talon was praying this would work.
Navigating the school grounds meant dodging stray footballs and ignoring shouted invitations to play. As they passed one group of boys, already snickering at him, Talon braced himself. He knew it was coming.
For one hopeful moment, it seemed like he might escape unscathed. Then—
“Nice dick on your face!” One boy jeered, earning muffled snickers from his friends. They were careful to hold back, clearly wanting to avoid stirring Talon’s wrath themselves.
Talon flinched but kept his eyes forward, rising above the taunt. Sett, on the other hand, whirled around like a shot.
“Yeah? He modeled it after yours! All four of your pubes and everything, you twat!” Sett shouted.
The effect was immediate. Heads turned, and laughter erupted—at the other boy's expense this time. Sett didn’t wait for a reply, steering Talon firmly away with a triumphant sneer.
“Thanks,” Talon muttered, his voice low.
“You got it, love,” Sett replied with a wink.
Flopping into his gaming chair, Talon finally felt the frustration of the day fade. The ache in his arm was finally subsiding, and Cassi’s wipes had worked on the marker.
She’d given him a few stern words about letting himself get bullied by a girl but hadn’t pressed the issue—probably sensing he was miserable enough already. That, and Sett had been standing right there, which likely saved him from a lecture. Talon sighed, opening Discord and shooting a quick message to the group chat.
Talon:
I'm going to stream my attempt at speed running half life later, mightve discovered a new glitch to shave off 1 second. Anyone wanna watch?
Quinn:
Sick. i'm down, what's the glitch?
Sett:
Is that when you go really fast in the video game
Talon:
…yes sett that is exactly what a speed run is
When Talon began to stream, things just didn’t play out how he wanted. No matter how hard he tried, the new glitch refused to work. His timing was always just a little off and it infuriated Talon. He was executing the move exactly how the streamer did it, but he couldn’t glitch through the wall.
By the fifth attempt, his frustration boiled over, and he slammed his mouse onto the desk.
After a final, botched attempt, Talon gave up, ending his stream with a muttered “Thanks for watching, I guess. Sorry that I suck.”
Talon closed his game and opened Reddit, scrolling aimlessly while Sett kept messaging him. He was trying to comfort Talon, saying maybe the guy lied about the glitch and they were just a big cheat? Talon knew Sett was just trying to make him feel better about being a failure, nobody would be stupid enough to lie about a speedrun.
In fact, Talon clicked onto the speed running subreddit to try and pull up the video. He wanted to show it to Sett and explain, in detail, how it could not be faked and how he needed to just be better at the game!
As always, Sett did not understand why he couldn’t just play the game as intended.
Sett:
If its not letting you skip a puzzle just do the puzzle fast? Idgi
Talon made an annoyed, throaty grunt. He’d explained five times now, if anyone was still keeping track, why speedrunning means you don’t do the puzzles. But rather than take his frustration and lack of skill out of Sett, Talon continued to delve into reading reddit threads.
When he saw one post actually have the same insane theory Sett had suggested, that the original poster of the glitch was just a ‘splicer’, Talon decided he’d had enough of thinking about it for tonight.
The rest of his evening was spent lazily browsing reddit threads. His clicks took him jumping from fan art posts to meme subs, and finally landing on r/TrueOffMyChest . A post caught his eye:
"I hate my birth mother, and I don’t feel guilty about it."
Curious, Talon opened it and began to read. The writer described how their birth mother had left them alone constantly as a young child. They had ended up in the foster care system, passed around for years and eventually aged out with little prospects and falling into a life of crime.
Talon leaned back in his chair, staring at the screen. His own birth mother was something of a sore topic. According to his dad, she’d left him at the orphanage with a note saying ‘sorry ’. A note Talon had never seen.
His arm ached again as he reached up to rub it absently. Talon then sent another message to Sett and asked if he had decided what they wanted to do this weekend yet.