Bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce.
Orion's hand clamped down on Isha's head. "Stop moving."
"Nn!" Isha protested, signing, 'Why again? I've already done it!'
"Once isn't enough. If you fail to control it, you'll end up like my outbursts," Orion explained patiently. "Trust me, it's very painful."
She couldn't stop moving, though, not with Orion holding her wrist and gently channeling magic through her. He envisioned her body as an extension of his own, the magic acting as sensors, flowing through her, circling back to him, and then dispersing in a soft shimmer of blue dust from his open palm.
For Isha, it felt like a small stream weaving through her, strange and foreign, yet something she could nudge and influence with her mind.
The first time she felt it, she'd frozen completely, stunned by the sensation. Orion had smiled then and said, "Congrats, you have some innate ability to circulate magic. Otherwise, we would've had to find runes if you wanted to control it. And you seem to have an affinity toward the wind element."
'Makes sense, I suppose, with Janna and this being Piltover,' Orion had mused back then. Now, it was just practice, getting her used to the ebb and flow of magic.
What he hadn't expected was for her to come running down the alleyway earlier, circulating magic on her own. That had been a surprise.
Air compression beneath her for little skips. She was lucky she didn't get hurt.
Unlike Orion, she didn't have a wide variety of magic to draw from. She was stuck with only the wind element, and even then, it was weak. Similar to how Orion had started out.
"You know it just looks like you're holding her wrist and making firework sparkles with your other hand?" Powder commented flatly, watching with an unimpressed expression.
"It's as exciting as you make it out to be. Isha, is it exciting?"
"Nn!"
"See?" Orion smirked.
Rolling her eyes, Powder crossed her arms before sighing. "Whatever," she muttered, but when he turned to her with an amused look, she already knew what was coming.
"Fine. Go ahead," she grumbled, extending her wrist toward him.
Orion took her hand, and the moment his magic flowed outward, Powder felt herself hyper-aware of everything around her.
Of the magic? No, that wasn't something she could sense yet. It was the vulnerability in the moment.
Her wrist was exposed. Her focus was shifting constantly. She was letting someone touch her, someone other than Vi or Vander.
Powder's eyes flicked to the alley corners, to the rooftops, to Orion's face- watching and waiting. The thought of an ambush from other gangs also lingered in her mind.
Isha's mind when she did this, while still giddy with excitement, was solely focused on the search and trying to find the magic.
"Nothing?" Orion asked after roughly fifteen minutes, snapping her from her thoughts.
She flinched slightly before huffing. "No."
"Well, it took Isha a few tries," Orion reassured, releasing her wrist. "Allegedly, it's easier if you start younger, since the body and mind are still growing. Don't feel too bad if you can't sense it."
He glanced at Isha, smirking. "She just got lucky."
Powder scowled, crossing her arms. "Pfft. Whatever. This whole magic thing is overrated anyway."
Orion chuckled, and Isha, bouncing with excitement, signed, 'Don't worry! I'll teach you when I get better!'
Powder rolled her eyes but found herself smiling despite herself. "Yeah, yeah, sure, kid."
Pausing, Orion's eyes settled on Isha, a frown beginning to form.
He had been avoiding the thought, pushing it aside whenever it crept up, but every time he reflected on that meeting, he mentally linked Chembaron Chross to her.
The man who potentially knew where her parents were. Dead or alive.
Nowadays, Orion stood in the heart of Zaun among its most notorious Chembarons. People he could have wiped out if he truly wanted to. Yet, he hadn't.
'Perhaps attempting to negotiate with Chross and finding out what happened to Isha's parents might be a good start,' Orion mused.
"Hey, pretty boy. You gonna stand there and stare, or are we gonna keep practicing?"
Blinking, Orion's gaze snapped back to them. Powder was giving him her usual deadpan look, while Isha tilted her head, puzzled.
"Pretty boy?"
With an arched eyebrow, Isha gestured upward with a 'Really?' expression.
"Come on already, I gotta head back soon."
'Why so soon?' Isha signed, her expression slightly dejected.
"Work. Fighting crime," Powder answered before glancing sideways at Orion. "Cleaning up messes this doofus here won't."
Isha's head snapped to Orion, her hands flying up in exasperation. 'What the heck?'
"I'll think about it after I've dealt with a few issues topside."
"Won't that-" Powder started but quickly shut her mouth, her gaze flickering with hesitation.
"Won't that stir more problems? Make me wanted?" Orion finished for her. His voice was flat. "Yeah. Can't be any worse than being imprisoned for six years in the dark. Worst case, I leave Piltover and don't return."
"Leave?"
"Nn?"
Nodding, Orion turned his gaze toward the alley entrance. He didn't have to see their faces to know the weight of his words.
And another part of him couldn't bring himself to look at them.
-------------------------
Silco leaned back in his chair, swirling the whiskey in his glass as he studied the Noxian envoy. The dim, flickering light of the room cast long shadows across his scarred face, accentuating the cold amusement behind his gaze.
"You want to help us?" he repeated, voice carrying a mocking edge. "How... 'charitable' of Noxus."
The man before him, a towering figure clad in reinforced leather and plated armor, did not flinch. His expression remained firm, carved from years of war and discipline. Behind him, several Noxian soldiers stood at attention, their posture unwavering, their eyes trained on every movement in the room.
"Ambessa, our war maiden, desires your Syntixi and Shimmer," the envoy stated bluntly, his accent thick with the rough Noxian dialect. "We have... problems in our homeland. Problems that require solutions only you can provide."
Silco exhaled slowly, tapping the edge of his glass as he listened.
"So, in exchange for helping us free our brethren in Stillwater Hold," he mused, voice smooth and calculated, "you want discounted access to Syntixi gemstones."
"Yes. That is correct."
A long silence settled between them. The air, already thick with tension, seemed to grow heavier as the two men locked eyes. Behind Silco, his own men stiffened, poised and ready to act at the slightest provocation.
And yet, beneath it all, there was something else. Something deeper than posturing. An understanding.
A game being played by two men who both knew the rules well.
Silco hummed a low, ominous note of consideration. Then, tilting his glass slightly, he smirked.
"What an unusual opportunity."