This is my first LoL story, as in ever, so please be gentle.
Will contain femslash, as all my other stories do.
Part of a series called Clockwork. Enjoy.
(^^^^^^)
Caitlyn was scared.
It was a trivial emotion, one with little meaning and even littler placement; she had faced down plenty of powerful Champions, fought criminals so insane one may become insane by simply staring at them long enough. She had singlehandedly made the city of Piltover- the grand metropolis-style area that she and her only known enforcer, Vi, patrolled- the safest place in all of Runeterra.
She had even survived one of Jinx's oddly demented, yet completely unnecessary, 'raids' on Piltover. Well, the blue haired demon of a barely-woman preferred to call it that, but raiding was the furthest thing on the list of what it could be called.
But right now, fear wormed its way into her chest, burrowing deep within and refusing to leave, simply because of the one thing she was staring at in front of her. Caitlyn's trusty sniper lay on the ground next to her feet, the solid metal and oak of the handle chipped and cracked in places, numerous battles showing, finally, their wear-into the weapon.
Her eyes had slowly descended to the bare chest of the automaton, and then quickly she shot them back up, human eyes meeting soft, aural blue, almost spectral even. She remembered Fiddlesticks, the damned nightmare with legs- Nocturne was a nightmare without legs, so she avoided using that metaphor-, actually shivering because of this simple metallic creature.
She berated herself for thinking that, all the while extremely aware of the metal but soft fingers tracing her thighs, following her not-so-subtle curves, dragging along the hem of her bra before cupping her face.
Creature...couldn't begin to describe this, this...this raw beauty in front of her. Where many saw a metallic heart set in a false humanoid chassis, and looked on with hatred, Caitlyn saw a fragile soul in a beautiful body, and looked on with love.
Metal breasts were rounded perfectly, set upon a lithe figure able to split in two, a soft thrum that hypnotised her when she rested her head on the side of the metal chest, bathing in the after glow after one of their many...trysts; she was happy that they got to spend time together outside of the League's brutal battles, but Caitlyn wished the Lady would attempt to see her more often. She knew of her hectic schedule, as she herself had one, but-
Her thought stopped when she released a small, barely audible moan, and a pleased, soft yet monotonous voice sounded out, the user of said voice clearly putting as much emotion into it as possible.
A gentle hand gripped the arch in Caitlyn's back, her eyes opening to see her Lady staring, obviously attempting- but not failing, for her credit- to put as much conveyance of love, promise of care, and protection in the spectral, aural blue eyes.
"I wish to marry you, Caitlyn."
She broke down at least two times, gently wrapped in her robotic lover's grip, placing her ear against the chest, listening as the hextech heart thudded and thrummed gently. It soothed her fear, gently pulling the little worm of doubt, of absolute terror, from her heart and promptly crushing it, filling the little gap left in its wake with a warmth so hot it threatened to melt her from the inside; she had felt it once before. Pure, unadulterated, uncensored love radiated from her very insides, and she yearned to never again be apart from her mechanical lover; age differences and lifespans never bothered either of them, their job was risky with little life expectancy.
Once the love-filled heat of sex and pleasure vanished, she lay there, sound asleep on her girlfriend's thrumming chest, thinking over and over again about the word she had said, now forcing their roles into something else.
She had said yes.
(^^^^^^)
She walked in, hand on hand with her Lady of Clockwork, before both began quickly disengaging their hands and passing formal greetings to sit in different areas, as to avoid suspicion. Yes, the League didn't care of sexuality, gender, race of even home planet, and yes they enforced any racist or discriminatory acts to other Champions, but that didn't stop the more...well, the more vocal and traditionally raised Champions themselves to voice their 'concerns' and beliefs.
That was the one loophole for the Champions, apparently, and everyone, even the Summoners, knew it. Religious belief could not be stomped on, by anyone, in this Institute; so that can, and does, extend to the belief of sexual orientation. Though, the Champions with said beliefs are not allowed to act, they are allowed to express their beliefs.
But...if they decide to enact their beliefs upon the battlefield of Justice, no one can berate them. It is a battle, after all, and battle is not pretty.
Caitlyn wasn't worried with any of this, though, as she sat, half-listening to Vi and Volibear engage in some sort of question-answer scheme; one would ask questions, the other would answer, and then they would reverse that, and then so on and so forth.
She diverted the other half of her attention, though, as she casually- well, tried to act casual with herself still feeling weak in the knees from the last night- sipped on some Piltover brand tea, eyes flittering across the massive room, landing on an empty table, with only one person there.
Orianna may be an automaton to others, a soulless machine, but even Viktor, hell, Blitzcrank and Viktor, both got to sit with others, laughing, wheezing in an attempt to laugh, or simply smiling at jokes and stories of past battles. Even Nautilus, the hulking mass of darkness beneath a diving suit had friends; Orianna had none.
It pained her that her now-fiancé had found no solace amidst the sea of hatred for her other than Caitlyn herself, but it did not come as a surprise when she witnessed Orianna simply staring at her food; as human-like as she was, food and drink eluded her. Coffee, for some reason though, could be ingested and converted into some other useful mechanical fluid.
Caitlyn blushed when she thought of other fluids Orianna could do that with.
She watched with curiosity as she continued to sip, though, when everyone's eyes suddenly darted- I say everyone, I mean everyone- to Orianna's ring finger...containing the second engagement ring she had bough that matched Caitlyn's.
Caitlyn thanked everything and every other thing that she had not decided to wear hers that day...
Her eyes shifted to a corner where she saw, out of the corner of her eagle-like eyes, a very feint frown being directed at the crowd from none other than Karma.
Karma was a kind soul, an ethereal being with a very much real heart. She really didn't like that old prejudices lingered, but when sound suddenly escaped the room, and all eyes landed on the mechanical Lady of Clockwork- more specifically, her ring- she had enough. they all hated Orianna, but for reasons she could not explain nor fathom, Orianna never paid it mind; the Lady simply continued to sip her coffee, gracefully moving her fingers on the side of the table as if she were playing piano, a delicate piece by the look of it.
Now, karma may not seem it, but a soft spot had developed in her godly heart for the little mechanical lady- who was to say that it was impossible for even machinations with human features to find happiness, a human emotion?- and she utterly despised it that others hated her, and for no reason as well! She knew, though, the seed of doubt had been planted throughout the members of both the Summoners and the Champions, but with Orianna's uncaring attitude to what the denizens thought, she could see the seeds grow already.
She turned, as if making a point to herself, and looked at Fiddlesticks, the scythe-wielding enigma.
Fiddlesticks didn't even know how to feel about this; this girl, this robotic hell-raiser, was someone he feared, the only person he feared, and he was feeling sorry for her. Sorry for the stares, the whispers now travelling throughout the ranks, the sneers and grimaces at the very sight of her. He had no beef with the Lady, but he did hate those that felt themselves to be of the upmost importance: For example...nearly every single Champion here.
Annie Hastur, Caitlyn, Riven and Vi were exceptions, since their jobs either involved becoming a higher-up to protect people- a worthy goal, he noted- or took no role at all, simply protecting those that needed it with sheer willpower; no government to back them up, nothing but will and strength.
Finally, Orianna had finished her coffee, almost painfully slow to most champions, and Caitlyn watched with interest as Orianna stood, her Ball suddenly flying into the room, and placed the empty cup on the top of the floating sphere, before willing it away.
She noted that as the Ball vanished, everyone's shoulders seemed to slump in relief.
Caitlyn knew why; she had heard the stories from other Champions and even Summoners how...brutal fighting Orianna could be. Sion, the undead hulking mass next to Nautilus, seemed scared of her even without the Ball.
Wait...they didn't hate Orianna, they feared her. While Caitlyn was against the use of fear to manipulate, preferring cold hard fists- that was the only thing her and Vi had in common-, she let this be an exception, just this once.
Besides, it was kind of funny watching Cog' Maw and all the other nightmarish demons in the room shake and run with their tales between their legs the next day.