Chapter 1:
Riven isn't quite sure how Irelia managed to convince her to come back with her to Ionia for some sort of festival, but here she was, sitting on a boat. She was drenched in anxiety; she hadn't been back to Ionia in almost a year now since she joined the League. She sat propped up against one edge of the boat, arms stretched out and resting along it, Irelia had her head resting on Riven's shoulder. Riven figured that there was more in store with this trip than what Irelia had cared to share with her several days ago when she asked. Out of the corner of Riven's eye, Ionia appeared on the horizon, the boat very slowly heading towards the dock. She pressed her lips to the top of Irelia's head, getting the Ionian's attention.
"We're here." Irelia sat up, lifting her head off Riven's shoulder. She stood up, giving her uniform a once over before turning to Riven, smiling.
"This will be fun, I promise. Don't look so sullen." Riven smiled back to please the Ionian.
Once the boat reached the dock, Riven stepped out and turned back to Irelia, holding her hand out to her to help her onto the platform. Irelia took her hand, leading her down the platform and to the main ferry building. Eyes followed the pair who were hand in hand; everyone here recognised Captain Irelia Lito and were surprised to see her hand in hand with Riven, a Noxian exile.
"Don't worry about it." Irelia murmured so only Riven could hear her, reassuring her after Riven had stiffened at the attention on them. Irelia's hand withdrew from Riven's when they were greeted by Karma, who smiled warmly at them. Riven had met Karma a few times in league matches and once when Irelia wanted to introduce her to Karma and inform her of their relationship. Next to her stood a few different Ionian's who she didn't recognise.
Riven watched Irelia greet the other Ionian's who seemed to be Elders by Irelia's formality before Riven was surprised by a tight hug started by Karma. She tensed first at the contact but seeing Irelia's warm smile from the corner of her eye caused her to soften into Karma and return the hug.
"Have you two eaten?" Riven shook her head in response to Karma's question, "Come with us to lunch then." Karma turned and Irelia grabbed Riven's hand, pulling her along after the group of Elders.
At the restaurant, Riven sat beside Irelia, the Ionian's hand on her knee under the table, her thumb rubbing gently. Riven squinted at the menu in front of her, while her ability to read had improved steadily by receiving help from Irelia, she still couldn't read Ionian. She pushed her menu towards her girlfriend, signalling that she needed help. Irelia looked up from her own menu and smiled towards Riven who looked sheepish and lost.
"Don't worry, I'll order something for you." She responded to Riven. Riven picked up her glass of water and took a sip when she felt Irelia's hand travel quickly up her thigh to her crotch before darting back down to her knee. She choked slightly on the water, causing everyone at the table to look at her. "You alright?" Irelia asked, eyebrow raised and a slight smirk on the corner of her lips. Fucking tease.
"Yeah, I'm fine." She said, coughing slightly still.
A waitress appeared beside Riven, who was still mentally focused on Irelia's hand on her leg, causing the exile to jump slightly. Karma eyed her suspiciously from across the table. Everyone exchanged words with the waitress in Ionian, while Riven looked away and hid the slight show of embarrassment on her face.
"What'd you get me?" Riven asked, looking at her girlfriend who finally withdrew her hand from the exile's leg.
"You'll see, it's a surprise. I know you'll like it, don't worry." Riven decided to trust her, Irelia made Ionian food for them all the time because she couldn't cook. Riven stared off into the distance, thinking about other things while Irelia conversed with some of the Elders at the table in Ionian. She didn't mind not being able to speak to them; she wasn't very good at speaking to strangers anyway, though she did feel like she should ask Irelia to teach her Ionian at some point.
Riven was brought back from her deep thoughts when food was being placed in front of her, causing her to smile. She hadn't realised how hungry she was until she got the sight of one of her favourite dishes that Irelia makes all the time sitting right in front of her. Riven reached for a fork before realising there wasn't one, only chop sticks, causing her to groan. Irelia constantly tried to force her to use them at home but she wasn't very good at it so she used a fork, here it didn't seem like she would be able to cut corners.
She sighed as she grabbed a pair of chopsticks, trying to remember how to hold them like Irelia had attempted to show her. Riven spent the next several minutes making only mildly successful attempts to eat the noodle dish in front of her before Karma chuckled slightly.
"Has Irelia not taught you how to use those?" Irelia threw her hands up in response.
"I tried." Riven scowled slightly before going back to attempting to eat her food. She could see Irelia roll her eyes and smile playfully from the corner of her eye before taking Riven's hand and adjusting how she held the chopsticks. "Try now."
Riven went back to eating her food, being more successful now that she was holding the chopsticks correctly. The rest of the meal was largely uneventful, Irelia said her goodbyes to Karma and the other Elders before leading Riven back to her place that she had for when she returned to Ionia. It was much larger than she expected, it was a family home, meant for several occupants. She frowned when she entered and saw most of the photo frames around the house were face down. Riven figured they were pictures of Irelia's brother and father, Irelia didn't talk much about them as it hurt her and Riven refused to pry.
Riven undid the clasps that held her rune sword to her back and rested it against the wall next to the front door. She watched Irelia remove her shoes and then she did the same, following the captain to the living room.
"You're such a tease, you know that?"
"Whatever do you mean?" Irelia had a fake puzzled look on her face.
"You very well know what I mean." Irelia smirked back in response.
"You love it." She earned a chuckle from Riven.
"I do."
"You were just so tense at the restaurant; I figured it might help loosen you up a bit. I think I just made you more nervous, sorry." Irelia offered, she shrugged slightly with an apologetic look on her face.
"Yeah, the Elders make me really nervous. I'm worried that they're going to want to arrest me at any time. I'm surprised that they haven't to be honest."
"Why would they?" Riven gave Irelia a knowing look, "This isn't Noxus Riven; we don't do that sort of thing. There's no point in arresting or executing military soldiers when it isn't in our own self defence, especially when they're reformed." Irelia closed the gap between them, rubbing her thumb over the war paint on Riven's cheek.
"I know. This is stuff I'm just not used to." Irelia nodded before kissing Riven gently.
After several minutes of just holding Riven, comforting her, Irelia pulled away slightly and grabbed Riven's hand instead, leading her towards the master bedroom.
"Come on, I have some new underwear that I think you might like to see." Irelia purred, causing Riven to smirk.