No matter what he tried, C just couldn't get himself to sleep. It had been two days since his last run-in with Sarah, and he hadn't slept a wink the night before either. He hadn't seen her, they had both kept themselves to themselves. C had only ventured up to the deck once, to cast an eye over the view from the side of the boat. He had spent the rest of the time below deck, either meditating in his cabin or accustoming himself to the layout of the lower decks. He still entertained the idea that he may still rob the ship once it returned to Piltover. Sighing, he opened his eyes once more, and stared at the ceiling.
"I give up…" he sighed under his breath, admitting defeat. He pulled the duvet back, and swung his legs to the floor. He pulled on some casual clothing that he had picked up from Noxus, a pair of soft black bottoms with an elasticated waist, and a blue sports jersey. He leaves his cabin, walking along the corridor of the lower deck, towards the stairs. He ascends the stairs and pushes the hatch open at the top, climbing out on to the deck. It was almost pitch black, only mildly illuminated by the shine from the moon, and he had no idea what time it was. His trusty pocket watch was still in the inside pocket of his overalls in the cabin. He assumed that it must have been about 3am. He strode across the deck to the edge, and grasped the railings at the side of the ship. As he stared out across the dark waters, yet again he noticed how beautiful and serene it was. He even questioned himself as to whether he could get used to it. He had traditionally always preferred the City setting, it was perfect for his profession. Many alleyways and crevices to hide in, and of course, no shortage of customers that needed things 'taking care of'.
He began to walk up the side of the ship, his right hand sliding along the rail as he made his way to the bow. He ascended the stairs and arrived at the very point of the ship. He stared out over the waters again, seeing ripples in the water where the ship churned it up. He had no idea how long he had been out there, gazing over the sea as they made their way round to Bandle City.
His gaze, almost trance-like state, was broken all of a sudden by another pair of hands slapping on to the side of the bow next to him. He jumped slightly, before looking to his left. He knew who he wanted it to be. He had hoped with all of his strength that it would be Sarah, having the same issues as him. Unable to sleep, forced to remain awake by the thought of the other. He himself had been tossing and turning, every other thought the past two nights had been of her. He was, however, bitterly disappointed when he turned his head to find Arlan, not Sarah, who had arrived next to him.
"Jeez… it's like you're stalking me or something, Arlan." C said, a hint of disappointment escaping his thoughts and making their way into his words.
Arlan simply gave a wry smile back, chuckling once to himself before looking to the side towards C.
"Oh matey… I just be lookin' out fer yer, is all!" Arlan responded, almost gleefully.
"Can't sleep eh? Sufferin' with a bit of stray thoughts over the Cap'n?" he followed.
C recoiled slightly, attempting to portray a confused look on his face. What actually came out, was a foolish look reminiscent of a teenager.
"Sarah? I'm not sure I quite follow you." He replied, trying his best to salvage some plausibility to his defense. He looked straight into Arlan's eyes, making sure that he didn't blink or break eye contact.
"Who would have thunk it eh… I imagine yer the emotionless, nerves o' steel type. It suits ye' well fer yer job matey. But I never would have imagined that my Cap'n would turn ye' into such a mess now." Arlan said, the smirk on his face persisting. He knew that C was lying, trying to cover up the one weakness, the one chink in his armour that had suddenly developed against his will. Thankfully, the darkness of the night covered the pink tinge that was growing in C's cheeks. That would have been one too many giveaways.
"If there is one thing that I am not, then it is a mess. You would do well to remember that. I am always in full control of my emotions." C retorted, trying to dig deep into his reserves of arrogance and confidence to try and salvage the situation in any way he possibly could.
Arlan was having none of it, however. He turned to face C, taking a step towards him, bringing their faces ever closer together. He opened his eyes wider, staring into C's with conviction. To C's surprise, Arlan's voice completely changed.
"You really think you can fool me, Christophorus?" he said, all of a sudden taking the accent of a middle class statesman from the mainland. It was shocking enough that C's eyes widened suddenly, a look of pure terror within them.
How did he know that name? Who was he? Just what on the planet was going on?
C clenched his fists by his sides, not breaking his eye contact with Arlan.
"How… Do you know that name?" C finally said, half in disbelief. Things had all of a sudden taken a very serious turn for him. This could prove to be a major, major problem.
"Just who the hell are you, old man…" C continued, scowling. His demeanor changed from one of awkwardness and embarrassment, to one of firmness and balance. Now that the thought of Sarah had left his mind, he was free of the giddiness that her image imbued in him. He had to focus fully on the problem at hand.
"Dun' you worry yer head about it, laddy." Arlan said, his familiar voice returning.
"I ain't here ta cause you any grief. I just thought I'd let ye know that… I know who ye really are. Not tha' it's a problem to me. I jus' know."
To C, this wasn't an acceptable answer. He grabbed Arlan forcefully by the scruff of his collar, standing at his full height in order to tower over Arlan. His grip tightened, and he instinctively reached to his side with his free hand, as if to draw a blade. Fortunately for Arlan, all of C's steel was in his cabin still.
"Ye don't scare me, laddy. I know that yer not gonna do anything. I'm yer mate, jus' because I know things from yer past, doesn't mean I'm yer enemy now does it." Arlan said calmly. He knew he held all of the chips. If C killed Arlan, he knew he wouldn't make it off of the boat alive. There was nowhere for him to go, all around them was just the ocean. Knowing this, C released his grip and let Arlan regain his feet.
"That name hasn't meant anything to me for a long time, Arlan." C said, restlessly. He turned back to face the waters in front of the ship, placing his hands on to the railings again.
"But I would prefer it if you didn't use it. It serves no purpose anymore. That person died a long time ago."
Arlan too turned to face forwards again.
"I know I probably giv' ye a bit of a fright, laddy. That wasn't me intentions. I ain't gonna dog ye' into the authorities or nothin'." He reassured C.
"This after all, started out as a discussion about my dear ol' Cap'n. Believe me, you go to her window now and look in. She'll be wide awake as well. Jus' like ye. She did the exact same thing tha' yer doin', last night."
C was taken aback by the revelation. The conflict in his emotions was enormous. He had never had feelings for a female before, and he didn't want them. Was this something that he could really suppress? Or would he just have to accept it?
He turned to look back at Arlan, but to his surprise, he was gone. He hadn't heard him leave. He had just slipped out of C's peripheral vision as he was gazing across the water. Surely C would have heard him or noticed him leave. This filled him with intrigue. He knew that something was different about Arlan compared to the other sailors on the boat with him. At first he had just uncertainly put it down to Arlan simply being more travelled and experienced than them. But no, there was definitely something odd going on with Arlan. Just how did he know C's real name? The name from behind the moniker. And why was he so unbothered? C knew that he would likely be imprisoned in Ionia if he was ever found by their authorities. And there was likely a handsome reward on his head. Surely that would appeal to Arlan. But as it went, things seemed fairly safe.
C gazed out to sea for another half an hour, before deciding that he'd try once more to sleep. Maybe after a small glass of whiskey to help him off. He turned and walked back down the stairs of the bow, towards the hatch on the deck. His idea to try and collect his thoughts in the open air had only made things more complicated. His feelings for Sarah beginning to manifest a little more, and now he had this new problem with Arlan to deal with. If indeed, it was a problem. Just maybe, it wouldn't be. He reached the hatch to the lower deck, and pulled it open. No sooner had he done this, however, had he heard the sound of a door opening. He looked up, and this time, his hopes had come to reality. One of the doors to Sarah's cabin was slightly ajar, and there she was. She was in her pajamas, peering out into the darkness on the deck. As she looked at C, she sighed, closing her eyes, angling her face away from his. C simply looking at her face, unable to make eye contact due to her eyes being shut.
"Sarah?" he said quizzically, looking her up and down.
"Keep the fucking noise down…" she said, half asleep, before retreating back into her cabin, the door clicking shut behind her. C had never felt so disappointed in his life. He simply chose to continue on his path back down to his cabin. Whether he'd be able to sleep or not, was another question.
As the sun rose the next morning, the boat now found itself nearing land. C stirred, the boat becoming more choppy as they approached land. He had fallen asleep not long after returning to bed the night before, and he groggily sat up in his bed. He rubbed his eyes stood up from his bed, before his thoughts were interrupted by a sharp knock on his door.
"Bandle City in an hour laddy, make sure yer ready for shore leave!" he heard Arlan shout.
This would be an interested excursion for C. He had a deep dislike for Yordles. He couldn't take them seriously at all. Luckily he didn't have to interact with them all too often in Piltover. But for now he would have to deal with it.
He walked to the chest of drawers in his cabin and pulled on his assassin's gear. Time to get back to business. He knew that he had to put all of the previous few nights behind him now.
C joined the others on the deck, where the sailors were lined up in front of Sarah, who was standing facing them.
"Can you ever be on time? To anything?" she barked to him, irritatedly.
C chose to say nothing, and moved to the side of the boat, obviously and deliberately away from the line of sailors. He wasn't her subordinate like they were, and he wanted to make that point. He wouldn't answer to her and allow himself to be subdued. He rested on the side of the boat, whilst Sarah simply didn't rise to him this time, knowing that it was a task without any return.
"Scour the city. Anyone with any information about that ship, you get it out of them, by any means necessary. I mean it." Were her instructions. Just what she thought she would find in Bandle City was a mystery to C, but she wanted to leave no stone unturned.
"Be back at the dock by sundown. Everyone got that?" she called out, looking across all of her crew.
"AYE AYE!" came a unified voice from all of the crew.
C waited until the rest of the crew had departed before making his own way to the shore. He had no intention of running a full scale assault on the City for information. His plan was to go to a local bar and eavesdrop. Honestly, he was more in the market for a couple of drinks and to source out a job for himself. He walked down the path to the exit of the dock, and was immediately surrounded by Yordles. Non of them engaged him directly, but he could hear their voices. Everywhere. He picked up his pace, and exited the dock, fortunately into a more wide open space. There was a caravan stand, taking passengers out to the suburbs, and a main road going in to the City. He strode down the main road, and it quickly began to build up into an urban area around him. The people here were more diverse than he thought, Yordles made up about two thirds of the people he saw, much less than he thought. But the voices were still like nails on a chalkboard to him. To his left, he saw the first sign of a bar. 'The Flying Coconut', it was called.
"What a stupid name for a bar…" C muttered to himself under his breath. But still, this is what he had come here for. He entered the bar, which was bright and vibrant, unlike the one he had been in in Noxus. He approached the bar, which was being tended to by a human. It seemed fairly obvious for the bartender to be a human once he thought about it. It was a full sized bar, a Yordle would hardly reach the counter to serve.
"Just a beer, thank you." C said to the barman, offering no emotion whatsoever.
"Right you are." Was the reply, and the barman turned away to pour his drink. C looked around, and the bar was about half full. The barman slid him a pint of beer down the bar, and C handed him a small pile of gold coins in return. Taking a sip on his drink, C couldn't help but overhear a conversation at a booth nearby. Two humans, talking in hushed tones, both of them with stern looks on their faces. Both of them were mail, one of them wearing a smart business suit, the other wearing plain clothes that you would expect someone to exercise in.
"So they'll be here, tomorrow, at midday? And they'll have it?" the man in the suit said, as sweat began to form on his forehead.
"That's right. It's all setup. You can relax now," the other man replied.
"Now if you'll excuse me, I need to leave." He abruptly stood up walked swiftly out of the bar, straight past C.
'Now what on Earth might that be, I wonder…' C thought to himself. The man in the suit relaxed into his chair, wiping the sweat from his brow, letting out a deep sigh of relief.
'Must be pretty important if he's getting that worked up about it…'.
C decided that he was going to 'investigate' that little transaction tomorrow, if the time permitted him. If the ship left tonight, then he would just have to make do without.
As the light began to shine a little more dimly, C made the decision to head back to the dock. He had spent the rest of the day at the bar, hearing nothing as enticing as his first eavesdrop however. He arrived at the ship, and walked up the ramp, finding it near empty. A couple of the sailors were out on the deck, but it must have been a bit early for everyone else. He made his way towards the stern of the ship, which was facing towards the sea.
Within the hour, the rest of the crew had returned to the ship, last of all was Sarah herself. She rounded everyone up on the deck to speak to them all.
"Oi, you as well." She shouted loudly, referring to C, who was still stood on the stern of the ship.
C simply chose to ignore her, as always. Knowing that she wouldn't get anywhere, Sarah simply frowned and proceeded to address her crew.
"So we have a lead. One of the patrons in the marketplace said that they have a contact in the docks. And that we should meet them in the marketplace tomorrow. So we'll be anchoring up here and continuing the investigation in the morning. Dismissed." She informed them, sounding more than a little bit irritated. After all of her crew had dispersed and headed back below deck, she made her way to the stern of the boat.
"A word. In my cabin." She said forcefully to C, before turning and walking into said cabin.
C grinned whilst looking away from her, before turning around and following her in.
"Tomorrow I want you to come with us to this meeting." Sarah said to him, standing at her desk in the middle of the room. C stood by the door, making eye contact with her.
"I already have prior commitments tomorrow. You'll have to make do without me." C replied bluntly.
"That wasn't a request. You're on my ship, you take my orders." Sarah said back, equally as bluntly.
C walked towards the desk, looking her up and down.
"I don't take orders from you. You know that."
Sarah moved from around her desk and stood right in front of him. C could see that she was struggling to control her anger already. She just couldn't stand being played like this. She had to assert some authority.
"If you don't come with us tomorrow, clone, we'll just leave you here. You can make your own way back to Piltover, how about that?" she quipped.
C grinned, knowing that it was both a very weak threat, and also a hollow one.
"You wouldn't do that, you need me. You know deep down that you won't find what you're looking for without me, tits." he said to her.
She was beginning to become incensed by him. But at the same time, she remembered how she felt last time they had spoken to each other inside her cabin. She took a moment to think about how she was really reacting to the situation, and again she found herself with a peculiar, unfamiliar feeling in her stomach. A strange warmth was spreading through her body.
"Tomorrow. Marketplace. You're coming." She said firmly, yet again trying to stamp her authority on the situation.
"No." was C's simple response.
Sarah bared her teeth slightly, and banged her fist onto C's chest.
"You're just impossible! Why did you come on to the ship just to be difficult?" she asked, exasperatedly.
"You said you wanted to come and help, that you felt guilty," she continued, her voice trembling somewhat with despondency.
"You said you'd help me get my guns back! Why are you doing this?" she said this whilst at the same time, banging her fists into his chest, taking a step forwards.
C's autopilot was taking over now. He had sensed the sexual tension between them the entire time he'd been on the ship, and he grabbed her by the waist. Sarah jumped slightly, not expecting the suddenness of his actions, her face becoming vacant and confused for a split second, before C pulled her into him and kissed her roughly on the lips. His tongue slipped between her lips, wrestling forcefully with hers, and to his surprise, she reciprocated. She snaked her hands around his back, digging her nails into his skin, biting his lower lip playfully. C pushed her backwards towards her bed, moving on top of her as she fell on to the mattress. She looped her arms around his neck and shoulders, pulling him further over him, kissing him furiously again. She bit his lower lip harder this time, hard enough to split the skin and draw blood. This served to spur him on more, and he moved his lips away from hers, before beginning to kiss down her cheek, moving on to her neck. He kissed and caressed her neck with his lips, biting her roughly every now and then. Sarah gasped with pleasure, arching her back upwards off of the mattress as pleasure shot through her nerves, beginning at the point where his lips touched her skin.
"Oh my…" she gasped through deep breaths, her hands running through the back of his hair, digging her nails into his skin.
C could see perspiration glistening from each of her breasts, and in between them. He lowered one of his hands, and slid it up her inside thigh slowly, eventually placing his palm over her crotch, hesitating for a moment, before beginning to rub her vulva through her trousers.
Sarah's eyes opened wide as she felt him massaging her most private of areas, her pupils rolling back into her eyelids. Her breathing began to pick up in pace, and before she had time to think, it was her hands that were now on autopilot. She hastily moved her hands down and quickly undid her trousers, undoing the button and sliding down the zipper, pulling the whole garment down and kicking her feet to allow the trousers to drop to the floor. Her underwear was a plain white pair of cotton briefs, nothing fancy at all.
C placed his hand back over her crotch, feeling a slight warmth emanating from her orifice, her moistness soaking right the way through the material of her knickers. He began to rub again, his fingers now able to trace the outline of her lips.
Sarah let out another, this time more audible moan of pleasure, and began to aggressively lift up his shirt, pulling it over his head and tossing it to one side. C kissed her neck playfully once more, before sliding his entire body down hers. He kissed her tummy gently as his upper body moved down her waist, his face eventually arriving at her knickers. He placed his hands on her hips, pulling each side of her knickers down, sliding them off of her feet. He hadn't a clue what to expect when it came to her naked body, although her crotch was rather more unruly than he had thought it would be. It was covered for the most part with similar dense crimson hair to that on her head. He could just about make out her lips through it. He was pleasantly surprised, he was quite glad that she didn't conform to the perceived norms of the fashionable women in Piltover, who generally endorsed the Brazilian. Not deterred in the slightest, C plunged his face in between her legs, burying his tongue in between her lips. She was far wetter than he had ever imagined she would be, the sexual tension between them had obviously taken a far greater toll on her. He moved his tongue graciously up and down between her lips, tasting her slightly acidic taste on his tongue as he did so. The hairs surrounding her vulva made for a surprisingly nice sensation on his face as they brushed against his cheeks. She had a slightly musky, partly sweaty scent between her legs, no doubt a result of being on her feet all day in Bandle City. As his tongue slipped and slid between her lips, Sarah was in pure ecstasy. Her back was fully arched, her body subconsciously pushing her crotch further into his face. C continued to pleasure her with his tongue for what seemed like an age to them both, Sarah having a purely euphoric experience, and C enjoying what he was doing to her as well. C didn't even realize when Sarah took her blouse over her head and tossed it aside, unhooking her bra and exposing her magnificently sized breasts. Still on autopilot, Sarah eventually got to the point where she was tugging at C's shoulders, guiding his face up to meet hers again. C withdrew his face from between her legs, his face glistening from the copious amounts of wetness she had produced. He moved up to face her as she was demanding, his crotch resting over hers. Sarah's hands found themselves sliding C's trousers and boxers down in one go revealing his fully erect member. C gently rubbed the head of his penis up and down her labia, parting her lips, before sliding himself fully inside of her. She was tight, the walls of her vagina hugging his shaft forcefully. He placed his hands on to her hips, gripping her tightly, tightly enough to break the skin with his nails. He began to rhythmically thrust in and out of her, looking upon her face as she gasped and moaned in pleasure beyond her comprehension. C continued making love to her, eventually nearing a climax.
"I won't last much longer…" he gasped, struggling for breath in between thrusts.
"M-me neither- oh god here it is!" she stammered, her body shuddering, muscles contracting as she came to orgasm.
C felt the walls of her vagina contract suddenly around his shaft, and the sensation caused pushed him over the edge. He pushed himself as deep inside he as he could get, and simultaneously climaxed with her, releasing his seed inside her.
He collapsed on to the bed besides her, trying to catch his breath.
"Where the hell did that come from…" C managed to expel between breaths, staring at the ceiling.
Sarah was still on her back, recovering from her climax, running a hand through her sweaty hair.
"So my first time will go down as a hateful but passionate and incredible experience…" she gasped, revealing a secret about her in the process.
C was slightly taken aback by this revelation, turning his head to look at her.
"Sarah, you were a virgin?" he said, almost in disbelief.
She smiled and looked back at him.
"Is that really so hard to believe?" she answered.
C looked into her wide, beautiful eyes, stunned.
"I… I'm honoured I guess… And here was me thinking I'd finish up here and go back to my bed… I can't exactly let you sleep alone after taking your virginity though…"
She simply pulled the covers over her, leaving enough room for him on one side of her.
"I guess you had better stay then…" she said, satisfied.