A soft sun beam shone over Garen's face from a direction he was not accustomed to. He moved to sit up and felt weight holding him back. Letting the memories of his previous night flood back into his mind, he gently shifted Katarina's arm off of his stomach, which awoke her with a startle.
She leapt out of bed, clearly confused as well, and Garen shot a smug look her way. Frowning, she slapped him across the face to wipe the grin away, and got herself dressed before she gained more embarrassment.
Once donned in their usual garments, Garen was about to casually stroll out of the room when Katarina snatched his hand away. He looked at her, confused.
"You HONESTLY think that you can just stroll out of my room in the middle of the day, in front of half of the Noxian wing, and not get stabbed to death for doing so? Or get ME stabbed to death?"
"Ummm..." Garen mumbled, seeing the predicament he was in. "So your best alternative is...?"
"Well, seeing as you are about as stealthy as a walrus on gravel..." Garen replied to the comment with a frown and folded his arms. The simple act clanked his armor and created an exceptional amount of noise. His frown turned into a grimace and Katarina shook her head.
"Look," she continued. "You can either slide out that window and hope to make your way back to the Demacian quarters with little attention, or get us both killed by walking out that door. With a shrug, the large man strolled to the window and peered out. The drop was a solid twenty feet. Sizable, but far from lethal. With a heavy sigh he heaved himself through the opening and fell to the ground.
A loud thud resonated out in accompaniment with the metal creaks of his armor, and he sat in a squatted position for a few moments as he allowed himself to recuperate from the fall. Standing upright, he had to shield his eyes from the sun's glare. Luckily, there did not seem to be more than a few birds in the sky, meaning his venture around the perimeter towards the Demacian wing should go relatively unseen.
About ten minutes later, as he neared his destination, he saw a figure approaching him. Knowing that he was already spotted, and being so close to the Demacian quarters already, he found it would be easier to come up with a tale than to run away.
"Garen!" the woman barked.
"Yes?" he inquired.
"What are you doing here? Do you have a pass from the Institute?"
"Who are you to ask? Shant I ask the same of you?" Garen tested.
"Of course you wouldn't know me... My name's Quinn you oaf. I work in the Demacian military and the Institute as an information specialist. I have every right to ask what you are up to, Garen Crownguard." Her look narrowed as she felt she had the man cornered, but his response came without hesitation.
"Oh, so a spy? Not the best idea to proclaim that title so loudly –"
"I am NOT a –" Quinn rejected, but Garen continued his statement.
"So you shall inform Jarvan himself that Garen was going for a stroll around the perimeter of the Institute, still within standard allowable range without a pass or leave of absence, and was confronted head on by Quinn when she boldly announced that she was a spy in hopes of instigating a reasonable answer out of Garen. Is that accurate?" The woman replied with a scowl and Garen pushed forward on his way. She did not say another word to him but it was beyond clear that she was not happy with the response.
He made his way back to the Demacian wing and looked at the League matches posted. Alongside it was a list of Champions who were currently dismissed from games either by request, injury, or emergency. He saw only a few people on the list, one of which was his sister, Luxanna Crownguard. Not remembering mention of her leave, he looked to the reason for the absence and saw the word "request" written next to it. He knew that his relationship with his sister was not the strongest one, but it often seemed that she hardly cared at all to strengthen their bond. He grimaced and went back to his own room, trying to figure out what lie in his day ahead.
Meanwhile, Katarina left her room to check the Noxus boards for League matches taking place. Just outside of her room, she was met by a summoner, who came holding a small scroll, indicating that he was there to deliver a message.
"Katarina Du Couteau? The High Summoners have a message for you."
"What," she spat, clearly not wanting to be interrupted.
"It seems that Talon is currently missing. We are doing our best to locate him, but he was not present in this morning's match."
"Not present? Champions can be summoned no matter where they are. What are you not telling me?" she demanded.
"That is all of the information I have for you. But I must ask... Who were you talking to in your room? I hear voices as I approached." Katarina responded to the question with a sharp glare and walked away. Curious, the summoner put his ear to her door in hopes of listening in on the other side. Moments later he saw a plethora of Katarina's daggers sticking in the door just in front of his eyes, and ran off before he was too terrified to do so.
Annoyed and confused, she proceeded to check the match listing.