A/N:

Happy holidays!


CHAPTER 1:2

"So..."

"Spring water, spinach and cherry tomatoes salad, two toasted sandwiches with cheddar cheese and steamed turkey—skip the onion and the pepper, as well as the pickles—and a fruit salad with no red or green things. The contents of the fruit salad should be chopped into small, about one-inch-one cubes. Thank you."

Their waitress hustled to write down Caitlyn's order, her tiny bull-pen dancing frantically across her hand-sized notepad, then turned to Jayce. He raised his eyebrows at the Sheriff before skimming through the menu.

"Any recommendations?" he asked as he gave the young waitress a small smile. Jayce didn't recognize her face even as a long-time guest at Aurora, and guessed that this was her first week or so at work. Poor girl got Caitlyn, he thought in amusement. "I trust you'll choose something good for me. Don't mind the price." He handed her the menu.

The waitress blushed and scurried away after stammering something inaudible.

"You're much too kind, Jayce. You should have simply given her your regular order."

Jayce shrugged and met Caitlyn's gaze.

"Might just be you who's too harsh on people," he replied and smiled when she snorted lightly. "How was today?" he wondered.

"Fine, just fine." Caitlyn propped her elbows on the table and lowered her heart-shaped face into the cup of her hands. "It's just Vi... we've really been getting at each other recently. She attacked a suspect with a table recently and—"

"Yeah, I heard," Jayce interrupted, his smile broadening. "I actually heard the two of you even from my place."

Caitlyn rolled her beautiful, teal-colored eyes and Jayce felt his heart tighten. If she only knew how I truly feel about her. But I can't tell her since I don't want to lose what little we have. Call me a coward, but I just can't.

"Ha-ha, very funny." She sighed and traced invisible patterns on the table surface with a slender finger. "I don't know what I'm doing wrong. And I hate myself for wanting to fire Vi whenever she does something... something reckless like this. We lost the case and I heard that the man is at a hospital now, his treatment being paid by the government."

Jayce reached for Caitlyn over the table. He took her hand in his and squeezed it reassuringly.

"We all know Vi has a bit of a temper." Jayce gave Caitlyn a pointed look as she opened her mouth to interject. Most likely, in a protest. After a long look, she pursed her lips and he continued. "And there's nothing you can do about it. That's just who she is."

When Caitlyn remained silent, Jayce drew back from her and draped his arm over the back of his chair. "Do you remember what you promised me when we first started doing this?" he asked with an amused quirk of his brow.

"'Keep work and you apart'," she quoted herself and scoffed. "Seems like I'm doing a great job holding onto that promise."

"Right," he agreed sarcastically. She laughed.

"Thanks for making me feel better." As if she just now realized she still wore it, Caitlyn swiftly took off her large hat in a graceful motion and hung it on her chair frame. "You somehow always manage to do that, remarkably enough."

The same waitress as earlier came back with their ordered food and drinks. She carefully put one overflowing tray of greenery and sandwiches in front of Caitlyn and placed a tray stacked with a single plate and a glass of lemonade in front of Jayce.

"Roasted chicken with Demacian walnuts and our chef's signature avocado sauce, served with baked potatoes and steamed vegetables," the girl quickly announced before she fled, her face flushing with color.

"I reckon she took the most expensive thing on the menu just to make more money," Caitlyn said as she scrutinized her fruit salad. "Or perhaps the cheapest dish, fearing you were short on cash." Her forehead smoothened and she pierced a cube with her fork.

"She left a note," Jayce replied and pulled out a folded piece of paper that had been tucked underneath his plate. "'It's on the house'," he read.

The Sheriff's neatly plucked eyebrows rose. "Or she paid it herself," she said before biting into an orange cube. "Ah, perfectly sweet. This is why I love Aurora; they always serve fresh fruit."

Placing the note on the table, Jayce nodded in response to Caitlyn's words. A part of him wanted to track down the waitress and insist on paying for his own meal, but he soon concluded that his action would only prove to make the girl embarrassed and uncomfortable. After a quick glance around him to see whether she was nearby, which she wasn't, he grabbed his cutlery and began eating as well.

"What was it that you wanted to talk about?" Caitlyn asked.

Jayce swallowed a piece of chicken before answering.

"Did you hear about what Ezreal brought home from one of his recent subterranean expeditions down south?"

"That thing they've been secretly working on at the Academy?" Caitlyn frowned. "How do you know about that? That's highly confidential materiel. Civilians aren't supposed to know anything about it."

"Well," he began with a smirk. "I've been assigned to handle the matter privately. I received a letter a week ago from some statesman demanding my presence at a meeting due yesterday." His smile widened into a grin. "Couple of minutes of talking, two paper-signings and boom: I'm now officially an employee for the Government of Piltover."

Eyes rounding, Caitlyn blurted a surprised but happy, "Congratulations!"

Jayce immediately averted his gaze, not at all having anticipated her sudden joy. A simple nod would have sufficed. At least, that was the kind of stern reaction he had learned to anticipate from the Sheriff.

"No, really," she said amiably as she tapped a finger against his knuckles. "This is wonderful news. I knew you needed a new job since the funds you had earned for your last invention were running out. Great going."

He rubbed the nape of his neck and peered about. They were almost the only guests in the small restaurant but Jayce still felt a bit shy. It wasn't usually like Caitlyn to praise anyone, he knew.

I must have really impressed her.

"Thanks," he mumbled.

Caitlyn nodded curtly. There it was, the official nod. He could finally relax.

A yawn ambushed him and Jayce let out a tired moan. His fatigue didn't surprise him since, after all, he'd barely gotten any rest that night. He had dozed off at dawn, too busy reading reports and documents about the mysterious object. Also, his unhealthy habit of drinking four cups of coffee a day hardly lengthened his sleeping hours.

"I'll retrieve the artifact later this afternoon." Jayce hesitated and eyed the Sheriff. "Are you busy tonight?"

Caitlyn lowered her glass and gave him a foxy smirk, her blue-green eyes glinting with knowing. "Now I am. I'll be at your door after eight."

His heart fluttered at her words. "Great," he said.

"Don't forget to buy something sweet."

"Certainly."

While they finished their meals, the two of them continued to talk casually. Jayce soon noticed that Caitlyn carefully chose subject as unrelated to work as possible and smiled for himself; he had always found it amusing to inwardly count how many minutes passed before she stumbled into rantings about the office and Vi again. Time bled past without Caitlyn making a mistake, however, and Jayce stifled several more yawns.

"I think you need some sleep," Caitlyn said dryly, though amusement brightened her tone. She glanced at her wristwatch and frowned. "And I'm going to be late to the office again. Thanks to you."

He shrugged as he waved for the nearest waiter. "Can't blame me for being irresistible," he said with a carefree grin. "Need a ride back?"

"Please."

They headed off after Caitlyn paid for her meal. Jayce suspected her unwillingness to let him pay for her arose from a deeply embedded thought that it would change the status of their regular lunches to dates—and Caitlyn simply didn't "do" dates—although he'd been wise enough never to mention that particular notion out loud. Outside the police station, he managed a peck on Caitlyn's cheek before she glared at him and hurried inside. Jayce glanced after her shrinking shape for a second or two, grimly contemplating his difficult situation with the Sheriff, then left toward the world famous Yordle Academy of Science and Progress—where he himself had attended once.

The students are probably also on summer vacation, Jayce thought with an involuntary smile. He could still remember the five years he had spent pent up in the Academy's maze-like library, nose buried in a dusty old tome or a fat folder brimming with blueprints, and the different classrooms crammed with textbooks, miniature models, tools and often eccentric but always kind teachers. The scent of grease, explosives, acid substances, freshly sawed-through wooden planks and steel bars was as clear in his mind as the name of his mother, and Jayce had always associated those characteristic smells with the fragrance of success.

His smile faded as his reflection of the past led him elsewhere, away from the happiness in the Academy. The thought of his mother brought up the subject of his family and Jayce sighed. His parents, Priscilla and Dean Treston, had lived in Demacia for as long as he could remember, their biggest dream being to be able to establish a science university and teach out techmaturgy for the Demacian citizens. Unfortunately, they'd yet to succeed wooing the Demacian King and Council. Not too surprising, considering how war-hungry and military indoctrinated the city-state was, Jayce thought.

He had a younger sister as well: Annie Treston, an ever-smiling girl with a devilish gambling reputation. She was somewhat of a mild family disgrace, at least according to his parents, since she liked to spend—waste—money and time on life's pleasures; she always sought out new places to visit, hated to stay at one and the same place for longer periods of time and had never had a decent work anywhere. Annie didn't even have a degree in anything, a fact that abhorred their parents—Priscilla in particular. Family dinners were rarely a pleasant experience.

Veering out of the crowded lane, Jayce speedily maneuvered his vehicle through the almost deserted premises of the prestigious college. He didn't slow until he arrived outside the enormous double doors indicating the main entrance of the largest building, where he killed the engine of his bike-like creation.

Jayce grimaced. He really needed to come up with a better name for his invention. "Bike-like creation" held absolutely zero suave.

"Are you Jayce Treston?"

Jayce took off his helmet and instinctively raked a hand through his damp hair. A yordle with shaded, red-rimmed goggles and a deceptively dark voice came strolling down the flight of stone stairs leading up to the entrance. His tiny hands surrounded an even tinier box and Jayce's attention immediately fixed upon the object.

"The one and only," he replied with a casual smile. "Is that...?"

The dark-haired—or was it skinned? Jayce didn't know how the yordles regarded themselves; if he'd ever make good friends with one, he'd have to ask—yordle inspected Jayce's vehicle with apparent interest and nodded several times. More in appreciation for his ride than in response to his question, Jayce surmised.

"I need to see a paper," grunted the yordle as he reached the foot of the stairs. He seemed enchanted by Jayce's bike and couldn't tear his gaze away from the creation. "Very nice," he even muttered under his breath. "The lines, the handling, the material... How absolutely ingenious."

Jayce was too flattered by the yordle's evident admiration for his handiwork to crack an indecent joke about the latter staring at something below his waist, though it was rather tempting. He bit back a smile and merely showed the slight yordle the letter he had had tucked in the inner chest pocket of his jacket.

Having browsed through the sheet twice, the yordle returned the letter as well as handed Jayce the small box. Mystical, asymmetrical runes—etched into the otherwise unmarred material as if by a blunt tool—wound across the dark surface of the object that also gleamed underneath the sunlight. Was it made out of some sort of metal?

The tiny box was much heavier than Jayce had initially presumed and he almost dropped it in surprise. Fortunately, he managed to retain his grip of the detailed, almost black cover—that was when he felt something pulsating against his palms and fingers. It was softer and quieter than the throbbing of a heart, yet firmer and struck the box haphazardly; he could almost imagine something trying to fight its way out of the box.

"Is this the artifact that Ezreal found in the south?" Jayce asked. He wanted to make sure that the yordle wasn't sending him some imprisoned spirit or angry exotic animal.

The yordle nodded eagerly, glad, perhaps, to lose the weight of the strange box. Jayce gently raised it to his ear and shook the object, his focus growing distant as he concentrated.

Something shuffled inside of the box and thudded from wall to wall. The odd, pulsating sensation emanating from the exterior did not seem to have been affected by the box innards being handled roughly. Nothing living stirred.

"I wish you luck," said the yordle after having watched Jayce carefully place the box into a storage compartment beneath his seat. "Every professor in the Academy was given a chance to crack the box's code. Everyone failed, me included." The yordle grunted at this, seemingly disappointed with his failure. "I hope you know what you're doing. A couple of my colleagues were gravely injured when they resorted to... somewhat violent measures in an attempt to open the box."

"I read that in the reports you guys sent me," Jayce said solemnly. "I hope they get well soon."

The yordle nodded once and gave Jayce a reassuring pat on his hip. "As do I. Be careful."

"I appreciate your concern. Thank you." Jayce swung a leg over his vehicle and plopped on his helmet. "I'll take my leave."

The yordle nodded again, then turned around to climb the stairs.

Not much of a talker, Jayce thought as he ignited the engine. But seems a nice guy nonetheless. I really do hope the other professors will be all right.

Before he headed back to his apartment, Jayce stopped at a nearby grocery store to buy a bag of dark chocolate pralines for Caitlyn and the eventful evening that would come. They were her favorite—he wasn't and had never been too fond of sweets—and he tossed them carefully into the empty fruit bowl decorating the wooden kitchen isle as he arrived home.

Letting out a loud, exhausted groan that Claire stated sounded like that of a wounded mountain dire bear, Jayce decided to take a nap. Caitlyn would eventually come waking him if not Claire managed to disturb his sleep first. He was slipping into the realm of dreams already before he lay down in his bed, and peaceful oblivion swallowed him as soon as his head came to rest onto his pillow, the dark, rune-engraved box resting on his desk.