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Seraphine's eyes slowly opened, dragging her out of sleep. She was laying under the covers of Ezreal’s bed, but curiously there was no Ezreal next to her. She rubbed her eyes and sat up, her gaze turning to the clock on the wall. 4:28 AM.
Sorting through the various songs that began to trickle through her now conscious brain, Sera kicked off the blanket and got out of bed. Ezreal wasn't asleep, so there was only one other place he could be.
The door of the apartment's study was ajar, letting the soft lighting of the hex lamps inside spill out into the darkened hallways. Seraphine squinted her eyes as they adjusted to the change and she listened for a moment. Within the sea of muted songs of those sleeping and the rowdy songs of those enjoying Piltover’s nightlife, she could hear one lone and somber. It took her a moment to realize it was Ezreal’s soul that she was hearing. It sounded so melancholic, so unlike him.
Sera slowly pushed open the door and said softly, "Ez?"
He was sitting at the desk against the wall, pouring over books and maps filled with drawings of Shuriman runes and ruins. He didn't look up, instead just clearing his throat before saying, "Hey, Sera. Sorry if I woke you up, I was just going over a few things. I think I'm gonna start planning a new expedition. There are a lot of places near Saikhal that don't have records in the Explorer's Guild archives yet. Seeing as that's pretty close to the tomb of Ne'Zuk, I’m thinking that there’s a good chance it may have some secrets hidden away. Planning might take a while but the actual trip will probably only last a month or so, since getting there won't take much time and-"
"Ezreal."
He cleared his throat again. “Yeah?”
She took a step forward and closed the door behind her. “Are you okay?”
He sighed and raised his head up to look at her. His eyes were bloodshot and puffy, dried tear tracks marked his cheeks. Seraphine closed the distance between them and enveloped him in a hug. He placed his head on her chest and listened for the soft beating of her heart as he tried to stifle his sniffling.
“Do you want to talk about it?” She asked after a moment.
"I don't know why I do this anymore.“ Tears began to gather in the corner of his eyes, “I know, I know, no matter what I do they won't come back. I could discover a million things and it still wouldn't bring them back."
He squeezed his eyes shut, his voice trembling, “They left me… why did they leave me?”
Seraphine tightened the hug, “I don't know…”
She sighed and rubbed circles into his back, "But… I know that I love you. I know that your uncle loves you, and your friends love you, and Ekko loves you. And I know that we won't leave you. You are so much more than just your accomplishments and I wish you could see yourself the way I see you. Hear the beauty in you the way I hear it.”
Ezreal buried his face in Sera's neck. She held him close and they stayed like that for a few moments. Seraphine wished with all her heart that she could have the power to make him stop feeling like this. It pained her to see him hurt, to hear him hurt, when the only thing she could do about it was be there to hold him through it.
"It's late, or early I guess, and I think you need some sleep,” Sera pulled away from the embrace and pulled him up from his chair, “Big spoon or little spoon?”
"Little spoon,” he rubbed his face tiredly.
She brought him to the bed and they slipped under the covers. Ezreal placed his head under her chin as she wrapped her arms around him.
"I love you," she pressed a kiss to his forehead.
"..why?” he asked.
"Because you're you.”
He stayed silent, and Seraphine listened as his breathing evened out and he sunk into slumber.