Just a Funny Feeling

"Remember to oil that door, perhaps give the newest of the Bronze a task." Ethan thought, issuing a tiny nod to nobody while carrying a stack of files in his arms, his hood slipped back to reveal his face. He'd been in the file room frequently in the past few months, borrowing and replacing documents as he required them while fulfilling both his own duties and that of his superior at once. Somehow, despite how constant his visits had been, the impressively large room had never stopped feeling impersonal.

The irony of his thoughts was not lost on him as he quickly set about, rifling through folder and file in search of a very particular set of documents. Somehow, a Diamond Summoner of no particular consequence had gotten the idea that there was a conspiracy afoot in Noxus. Something to do with raising the ambient temperature of the world by some number of degrees to flood the Freljord.

It was ludicrous, something he had immediately dismissed but he was still expected to, not unlike a handmaiden for the noble classes of Demacia, fetch what they required. Shipping logs between Zaun and Noxus, any that were on record in the Institute's vaults. Step after quick step brought him to his first destination, sliding open a cabinet to replace a file of reference pertaining to Shyvana. The first of many, his work leaving him willfully ignorant to the fledgling Summoner watching him as he placed one file after the next away.

Perhaps it was something about the choker that always drew people's attention, the gem setting looking fairly ostentatious in contrast to the drab purple and blue of the robes. He didn't bother to dwell. He was fairly well known and having his fellow summoner approach was not in the least bit uncommon. Everyone had a need, it was all but written in his job description to fill them. He wasn't being groomed for command simply because of his seniority, having long since established himself as a capable individual.

The sudden, albeit quiet, call was one Ethan had heard near daily, nudging the sliding drawer closed with his shoulder once the stack of Half-Dragon related texts had been restored to their natural habitat, looking over at his fellow with a polite smile. A swift glance told him the girl's rank, giving him a moment of invisible pause as he questioned what it was she wished of him. Perhaps she'd been sent by a superior to fetch him.

Regardless, he didn't quite recognize her, slight and decidedly unique though she was. Were there fewer people in the rank and file of the many divisions of Bronze, it was likely that he'd have committed her face and name to memory, but there were some things even he could not manage.

"Greetings, summoner. How may I assist you?" came his response, both kind and stiff at once. It sounded almost like a line he had practiced, weariness taking what little skill he had with interpersonal relation and pushing it aside to make room for the wooden, broad strokes approach he'd had fall deaf upon his ears during his years in the Arcanum Majoris.

He never had been amazingly talented with singular interactions, much less with women.

Shyvana's folder, now sitting back where it rightly belonged, drew Ethan's gaze for a moment, before it returned to Vera's own. He passed between the two twice more before breaking into a soft smile and a quiet laughter, closing his eyes and shaking his head slightly. "You're in luck, I happen to know its precise location. I presume the personnel file itself will suffice?"

The rattle of the filing cabinet being opened nearly drowned out his quiet voice, as he pulled it open and began to swiftly leaf through the various folders and files until he slipped the group in question from its place. A quick flick of his wrist presented the hefty file to Vera, a nudge of his shoulder deftly closing the cabinet.

"I apologize if I seem a bit... Intimidating. I've been told that my silence and my gaze tend to unnerve some. I really must work on it, it's hardly becoming of my station." Ethan found himself rambling, something he hadn't remembered catching himself at since long before the Arcanum Majoris. Perhaps it was simply the long hours. The confusion passed, returning the Steward's pleasant demeanor that had broken only for as long as it took for him to question himself.

"While you're here, would you mind perhaps lending me a hand...?" Ethan trailed off, leaving his query unfinished, subtly asking for her name in the same breath.

Watching the Bronze ranked Summoner seem so flustered was odd. He knew he wasn't possibly that terrifying. Eyebrows drawn together, he regarded her, perplexed, up until the very moment she offered up her name. Realization dawned on him, brightening him to the point he clapped his hands together. "Vera Lorian, yes? You were mentioned in a report not long ago- Nothing bad, I assure you, simply a copy of events." A subtle wave of his hand and shake of his head, blonde hair swishing with each movement, "A pleasure to meet you, finally."

"I find myself needing extra hands. It's not glamorous, of course, but if you'd be willing to lend aid, I would very much appreciate it." A note was produced from his robe, detailing his own purpose here. "Though I suppose that's not the entire request, fair company as yours would be appreciated, this labyrinth grows lonesome and oppressive without."

The note turned over in his fingers for him to quickly scan it, it must've been the tenth time this hour. Not for forgetfulness' sake, simply because of how incredulous it left him. The scrap of paper vanished back into his robe while he looked about at the surrounding files, ascertaining his bearings before a wave of his hand in his next direction of travel more formally asked her if she, so timid, wanting nothing more than a moment of his time it seemed, wished to accompany him.

A strange feeling, he concluded, that he'd never truly managed to define and understand, was welled in his throat. Almost like crying, yet pleasant, it was something he'd not felt for long enough to have forgotten what to call it immediately. Enjoyment, ended up being his final answer, these thoughts having lain beneath every other while he had been speaking worked through with no shortage of confusion as to their origin. Certainly it had nothing to do with her endearing mannerisms, nor the way her smile seemed so genuine, soft.

Professionalism, of course.

A silence settled lightly between them as they walked, but it was broken by Vera's polite question. Ethan was breathing in to answer as he stopped, rather abruptly, his brow crinkling together into a look of incredulity. His age, as well as his demeanor typically didn't leave anyone around him waiting to free the word 'sir' from their tongues. It was a foreign sensation, not truly unwelcome, but unexpected.

He turned and, without a thought, placed a hand gently upon the younger summoner's shoulder. A moment of composure brought his smile back. "The formality is appreciated, but Ethan is all I require. Summoner Ramseyt, if you really wish to observe titles." It had sounded less dismissive in his head, the thought of which made his gaze twitch away, awash with an unfamiliar uncertainty.

The hand that rested delicately on her shoulder drew back cautiously as Ethan looked to the floor, then to where they were headed again. "Looking for... Looking for..." His fingers cracked across one another sharply as he snapped his fingers in realization. "Shipping logs. Noxus and Zaun. Viam Malcroft's idea, a bit of investigative research. We're supposed to find a file on anything that's moved between the two for the past three years. I thought it was silly too, but Viam flaunted his colors before I could hope to object."

"I'm not even certain we'll find anything here, though this is but the first of my stops." The momentary lapse of composure left as quickly as it came, his stride once again echoing out among the dusty files.

The familiar rustling, grinding noise of a cabinet being opened came before his reply, quick fingers beginning to rifle through the contents, silver eyes darting across titles, some scrawled in barely legible handwriting. "If there's one thing I've learned since I became a Steward..." Ethan began, each word lingering just a moment too long, speaking of a weariness that few could understand even as he began to compile a stack of folders.

When he'd found everything he'd thought would be of interest from that particular set, he turned and placed them upon the floor. "It's that there is always something going on, Vera." His hand came up and rubbed his face, as if trying to banish the crushing, immutable truth of his words. Fruitless, certainly, but it made him feel a tiny bit better.

"Sometimes, it is nothing more than a small infraction, a champion deciding to tear through the streets of Demacia and wreak havoc. Other times, it is a bloodbath that ends in an otherworldly horror that preys on the sleeping minds of Summoners escaping." He stood as he spoke, turning his gaze to the dainty Ionian girl. It was a cold, dispassionate gaze, the one he so commonly wore, or perhaps that commonly wore upon him.

His tactic shifted somewhat abruptly, a much more genuine smile shooing his frown away as he placed a reassuring hand upon Vera's shoulder, the lightest of squeezes marking his next words. "But that is exactly why we are here, Summoner Lorian. We are a voice of reason in a world that can so easily fall to chaos. From the High Council of Equity down to the newest of the new and everything in between, we all work to give this world a foundation upon which they can live without the fear of war, of great suffering and strife."

"We each are at our most effective when together. Working beside one another, of unified purpose and step, proceeding without fear, confident in the knowledge that should any of us falter, regardless of station, of nation, of yordle, man, or anything beyond or between, that there is someone to catch us." His words stopped there, fiery resolve burning brighter than it had in several long, exhaustive months present in the steel blues that held her brown.

Every muscle in Ethan's body froze, unused to physical contact, regardless of gender. Or course, he also wasn't stupid, nor did he particularly dislike being held by the Ionian woman. One arm wrapped about her back, the hand of his other arm coming to rest against the back of her head. His mind reeled and raced at once, travelling quickly but ending up no closer to a destination than it began.

It was a strange sensation, to be appreciated by someone who had little need to pay any attention to the work he did. It was largely a thankless job, many of his peers having asked him why it was he'd ever thought of joining when he had. For moments as these, he reflected, where I am certain I have made a difference, even if it is simply to reassure one person.

The seconds ticked by as Ethan both contemplated the situation and enjoyed it, making no move to put an end to their embrace. Though he might not admit it, acceptance and appreciation were things he felt were lacking in his life. The gesture, so simple and genuine, warmed him, from the tips of his fingers to the very core of his being.