A/N- Hi! I won my diamond promos over the weekend with Lux AND got my level 5 mastery with her, and I was in such a good mood that I basically rewrote this chapter because it was considerably more boring before, and we couldn't have that.

Just thought I'd share!

Ulcaasi- Well it's definitely a word now. Honestly I've never like Garen until I started writing him, so I kind of get what you're saying.

Guest- That's actually a huge relief, because I liked writing Talon this way ;-; Thank you so much! Your review really made a crappy day a lot better, and I thank you for it.

Runty Grunty- Just Lux/Talon, sorry :p

A fan- Once a week is the plan! Ahhh, I understand.

Naovan- I'm glad you found the fic, and thank you so much! I'm definitely going to finish this, so no worries ^-^

TheMixKage- Thank you, and wow :o I'm glad you're enjoying it so far!

Enjoy!

Lux had a lot of free time at the Institute.

And free time, for her, was usually a dangerous thing; when left alone with her thoughts, Lux had a way of convincing herself that something she had previously decided was stupid to do was actually now brilliant, and the longer she put off actually doing whatever it was, the more it bothered her.

Still, there was a difference between what Lux should do and what she wanted to do, a difference that she couldn't really ignore, which was why she was sitting in Quinn's room and not oh, say, tracking down an assassin.

Quinn was usually someone who didn't miss much, especially things like Lux's moods, but she was distracted today, and her inattention helped feed Lux's growing desire to do something dumb. Quinn was sitting in the middle of the bed in her apartment, one arm upraised and encumbered with Valor, the other hand gently lifting Valor's left wing.

"He gets in to stuff when I'm not around- look, he broke a feather."

Almost as if Valor could tell that Quinn was pointing out a flaw in his otherwise immaculate appearance, he gently tugged his wing from the loose hold Quinn had on it, hiding the aforementioned feather. It didn't look serious or especially concerning to Lux, but then again, Valor wasn't her bird, and she didn't know much about his specific breed of eagle.

"You could camp outside, you know- there's plenty of room in the gardens."

Lux wasn't kidding; she hadn't been through them herself, but the gardens around the Institute were needlessly extensive, enough so that Lux felt more comfortable calling it a very small forest. She knew Quinn hated being separated from Valor, and she also knew that she felt a lot more at home in the field, not cooped up in a strange apartment that was basically next door to Noxians. Quinn only gave her a small smile, trying to coax Valor into extending his wing again.

"Don't tempt me."

Lux shrugged -she really hadn't been kidding- and laid flat on her back on the bed, behind where Quinn was sitting. Her thumb rubbed a line across her baton, back and forth, and she spoke quietly.

"Did you sign up for the first League match?"

It was the main subject of conversation for every champion, or so Lux assumed; the first ever match in the Institute of War. Nobody knew what to expect, only that they definitely wanted to be a part of it, and due to demand the match had a waiting list of people who wanted to prove themselves, or honor their country or something.

"I did yesterday. Are you going to?"

Lux still wasn't sure she wanted to; she knew that Jarvan and Garen had signed up almost immediately, because they were the type of people who relished that sort of exhibition- to prove publicly that you were stronger than everyone else was a hard-to-resist power trip, and none of that really appealed to Lux. Besides, she wasn't even sure what she was allowed to do in these matches. Lux felt that most of the magic she knew was Demacian Intelligence secrets; she was, in a way, trademarked by her own country, and she was nervous about going too far in a match and facing repercussions back in Demacia.

"I don't know… I probably should, right?"

She glanced over to see Quinn shrug with her free arm, but she was still mainly focused on Valor.

"I think you're expected to, but there's no one who can force you to do it. Vessaria said it was optional, and the King can't tell you what to do here."

Quinn said the words so casually, but it was something that had occurred to Lux a few times over the past three days and always resonated with her in the strangest of ways- the king can't tell you what to do here. Lux wasn't free from Demacia's hold, not by far, but she had a degree of freedom now that she hadn't had since she was almost too young to remember.

So, if she didn't want to, Lux didn't have to participate in that first League match.

She wasn't especially eager to prove herself, because no one expected anything from her; she told them she was a scholar and a mage, and they believed her, because they were not amazing things that needed to be proved. They were not impressive.

Lux, the way people were made to see her, was not impressive.

And she had no immediate wish to change anyone's impression of her. The fact that people so often took her at face value and disregarded her thereafter, and then subsequently underestimated her, used to make a spiteful Lux all the more angry, because she knew she was being sold short and there was nothing she could do to prove otherwise. As time wore on and Lux was forced to accept the fact that she was always going to be some bright success story to be spread around Demacia for moral and that she was never going to be the bitter spy that was just as dark as the very bravest solider that Demacia had in its army, she realized that, miserable as living that way was, it came with an advantage.

It was hard to be afraid of someone that looked like Lux.

She was small and pretty, and everything everyone knew about her was that she was a smart, nice girl who loved everything and everyone. People felt comfortable around her, and when people were complacent, they made mistakes. It was just one reason of many that Lux was so good at her job.

The more she thought about it, the less she wanted to go anywhere near that match.

She felt a little bit better when she answered Quinn this time, and the words didn't stick in her mouth like they might have in the past.

"I don't think I'm going to."

Quinn gave her a pointed look from the corner of her eye, but Lux got the impression she was proud of her, not disappointed.

"It's up to you."

It was up to her. It was just as strange as hearing that the King didn't have a hold on her here; Lux was someone who had been told what to do and how to do it since she was ten. Even coming to the League had been because she was asked to.

It was all very… strange, to say the least.

"I'm going to take Valor outside. Are you coming?"

Lux didn't really want to tramp through the gardens with Quinn, so she shook her head, sitting upright.

"No, I think I want to stay in today."

Quinn nodded, shifting Valor to her shoulder, frowning at the large bird when he fluttered his wings in what looked a lot like irritation.

"Okay. You should see Garen today, since you have the time. You haven't spent a lot of time with him since we got here."

Quinn had a way of saying things like that so that they didn't come out chiding or hurtful, but more of a gentle reminder- and she was right. Lux wasn't easily adjusting to her new life, and she'd spent most of the past three days alone in her room or sitting quietly with Quinn. She had wanted to see Garen so badly before they left Demacia, and she was excited at being a champion with him, but now that she was actually there, it was hard for her to retain her earlier excitement.

Lux got off of Quinn's bed, smoothing out her shirt and holding her baton loosely in her right hand.

"I think I'll go find him now, actually. I'll see you later."

Quinn waved and even Valor dipped his head, and Lux walked out of the apartment and into the hallway outside. It was empty, like usual, and unsettlingly quiet, just like most of the Institute was. She had a pretty good idea of where Garen and Jarvan were; there was a training room between the Demacian and Ionian wings that was frequented by champions of both nations, and it was the second largest inside the Institute itself. The biggest was naturally inhabited by the Noxians who'd taken to it almost immediately, and it was avoided by everyone else for obvious reasons.

She wouldn't really have anything to do there. Garen would be happy to see her, that's for sure, but Lux had never picked up a sword in her life, and besides exchanging pleasantries she and Garen would have nothing else to do or say. But it was probably better than slowly turning into a recluse, which Lux felt was imminent if she kept choosing alone time over socializing, so she trudged onward, making an effort to ignore her more negative thoughts and holding her baton maybe a little bit tighter than before.

The training room itself was very wide and filled with countless racks of different weapons that went largely ignored by the people inside, since they all had their own; Jarvan and Garen were off to themselves, like she expected, and Lux noted with a degree of interest one Ionian at the opposite end of the room who was exercising with blades she wasn't actually touching. Irelia, she remembered- she'd met her once, years ago.

Lux walked slowly to where her brother was, thinking idly that a room this large was mostly wasted and wondering why there were so many training rooms, until she was standing in front of where Garen and Jarvan were leaning against a wall. Garen didn't look especially surprised to see her, but he did look happy, offering her a wide grin.

"Hey, Lux."

He was still pretty breathless from whatever he'd been doing before she entered the room, and both he and Jarvan were red-faced and sweating. Lux wrinkled her nose, waving her hand in front of her face good-naturedly.

"You guys stink."

Jarvan laughed and Garen rolled his eyes, and even Lux gave a small smile.

"It's just because Garen is determined to work us both to death. If I wasn't here, he'd never stop."

Garen waved a hand at the hyperbole, but he seemed almost flattered by Jarvan's words. Jarvan nodded at where Lux was standing, and she realized that both he and Garen were on their way out, and not still training.

"We were about to get lunch- after a shower, of course. Do you want to come?"

Lux had already eaten with Quinn, and she certainly wasn't hungry again. She could eat lunch with them anyway; it wasn't just an invitation to eat, but to spend time with them both, and it would be easy for Lux to just say yes and accompany them.

But she remembered how breakfast had gone last week.

It had been painfully uncomfortable for her, and she just didn't like to talk about the same things that Jarvan and Garen did; the prospect of spending the meal with them without Quinn there was quite daunting.

"No, thank you- I ate with Quinn already, and there was something I wanted to get from the library. I just wanted to come say hi before I headed over, since Quinn said you were here."'

The lie fell easily from her mouth (she had no previous intentions of going to the library that day) but Garen and Jarvan both seemed to buy it, and they stepped away from the wall, hands raised in farewell.

"We'll see you later, right?"

Lux nodded, raising her hand in turn, and gave them a wide smile.

"Of course!"

She kept the smile in place until she was sure they couldn't see her anymore, and when the training room doors closed behind them it dropped completely. She left the room when she was sure she wouldn't run into them outside, frowning at her baton as she walked aimlessly through the halls.

Now what was she supposed to do?

She thought of actually going to the library, but that was in the opposite direction of where she was going, and she didn't really feel like making the walk. She could go back to her apartment, of course; that was what she had planned on doing today anyway.

She could find Quinn, if she was really determined to occupy herself.

None of those things particularly appealed to her, and Lux kept walking, not realizing where she was until she spotted someone else in the hallway. Katarina was just leaving a room on the right side of the hallway, striding down the way Lux was headed so that the redhead's back was to her. She was walking quickly and she didn't turn around, so she was down the hallway and turning onto another without ever realizing that Lux was there. She was alone- something Lux noted with more interest than maybe she should have.

She resumed moving until she was in front of the room Katarina had left, and although the doors had no windows for her to see inside, there was a nameplate above them.

'Training Room 001'

Well, she found something to do.

She'd been avoiding actually hunting Talon down (assuming he was inside, and she was sure he was) because when she was around Quinn, it was easier for her to remember how stupid the idea actually was. She also wasn't eager to wander around the Institute alone, and the thought of doing so had kept her in her room and the library for three days.

But she was here already.

The burning desire to know was eating at her again; it was the same feeling that had prompted Lux to approach Talon in the mess hall last week. She had wanted to know if she could overcome her fear of Talon, and if he was hostile.

She could, and he wasn't.

But she wanted to know why he was in the library that day; was it coincidence, like Quinn said? Or was it more, like Lux suspected? She couldn't help moving forward, couldn't help putting her free hand on the handle of the training room doors.

She had to know.

The week leading up to the first League match was very, very long.

There wasn't actually a lot to do at the Institute, if you weren't on friendly terms with the rest of the group from your city. Since Talon and Katarina definitely were not, this meant they ended up spending most of the beginning of the week together, and Talon quickly realized why they didn't usually do that.

Because two bored, sort of angry, sarcastic assassins didn't really get on well.

They'd taken to spending their days in one of the training rooms the Institute had to offer, a large one that dwarfed Katarina's at the Du Couteau mansion and had only been visited by them so far. It released a lot of pent up energy and frustration to throw a knife or two, but there was always the slight feeling that Katarina's indirect annoyance would suddenly attach itself to Talon himself, and every time steel flashed in her hands, it caused Talon to pause.

They really needed to find something else to do.

There were a few other things that Talon would rather be spending his time on, honestly; sleeping was one of them, naturally, but there was also the nagging curiosity of a certain blonde and two inoffensive packets of sugar.

The younger Crownguard was the main reason he was spending his time with Kat; there was just something about how all the little things he knew about her added up, like there was permanently something off about the girl. He was so sure she was hiding something, but she wasn't the type of person you would expect to have a plethora of secrets. And, Talon thought, most people probably didn't think she did; she was an expert at looking and acting the way people thought she should, even from what little he'd seen of her.

Jarvan, her brother- at the breakfast last week, neither of them looked like they expected Luxanna was anything but the happy face she put on.

It bothered Talon in a way that he hadn't really experienced before, but it wasn't like he could readily indulge his curiosity; he wasn't about to just stroll up to her with all of his questions, even if he wanted to be so direct, and after weeks of warning Katarina away from Garen, he couldn't even consider doing it. There was no point, anyway; anything he found out about the mage would be useless, since Demacia and Noxus were technically no longer at war.

So he avoided being anywhere in the Institute she might be, resorting to trailing Katarina.

Currently she was standing across from him, her two favorite daggers in her hands, her knees slightly bent as she considered her best method of attack. Talon was likewise situated, his fingers twitching beneath his own blade as his eyes tracked every movement of Kat's, no matter how small.

Against Katarina in particular, offense was usually the right answer.

Keeping her on the defensive was a good way to wear her down, and Talon darted forward, brandishing his blade at Kat's exposed midriff. He expected her to lift a dagger in time to block it, and he used his left arm to deflect her answering strike, the bracer on his left wrist catching the metal of her other dagger.

It went on like that for a few minutes- Talon would think of a new way to strike at her, Kat would block it in the nick of time, and he would move away from all of her relatively predictable counters. They were evenly matched, as they always have been, and this duel ended like almost all of their others- in a frustrated draw, with no clear victor.

Katarina panted as she lowered her weapons and stepped away, and Talon followed, his breathing similarly impaired. There was a small part of the training room with a water fountain and cups, and they headed there, both grateful for the chance to refresh themselves. Kat fixed her ponytail when she was finished drinking, eyeing Talon while he filled his cup for the second time.

"If we keep this up, one of us might actually win."

Talon smiled behind his cup, then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

"It's an eventuality."

Kat rolled her eyes, but her expression took on a degree of seriousness.

"If I don't get into that League match, I'll probably cry."

Although a touch less dramatic than Kat was, Talon agreed; there wouldn't be a lot to do if you weren't picked for the match, and he didn't really think spending his days with Kat all the time would end well.

"I'd pick you for the match."

Kat snorted, a very unladylike noise that suited her quite perfectly.

"And why is that?"

Talon shrugged, all nonchalance.

"Because I wouldn't want a knife in my back for picking someone else."

He was rewarded with a quiet laugh, and Kat adjusted the position of the daggers strapped to her back.

"I'm done for today. See you later- probably."

Talon watched her stride from the room, fixing the cuffs of her jacket and reaching up to adjust her hair again. With Kat otherwise occupied, he had the room to himself, and he left the water fountain to head over to the part of the room lined with cloth dummies, and a small array of throwing knives. He picked through the selection, unsatisfied with most of them, and eventually settled for three that were close enough to ones he owned himself. He positioned himself a good distance away from one dummy, and paused to take a deep breath and brush his hair out of his eyes.

On second thought, he was a little too close.

He moved a more suitable distance away and readied his hand, and when he was comfortable, threw the knife.

The knife was weighted differently than he was used to, but it hit damn near the center of the target on the left side of the dummy's chest. He didn't move to retrieve it, instead readying another knife in his hand and throwing it like the previous one. This one hit even nearer to the mark, and Talon noted the improvement with a small bit of satisfaction. He was lifting the last knife when he heard the training room doors open, and since he was reluctant to move immediately, he simply greeted Kat as she walked to where he was standing, his back still to the door.

"I thought you were done?"

The footsteps stopped a respectable distance away from someone that had a knife in their hands, and Kat spoke.

"What?"

Not Kat.

Talon had never dropped a knife he intended to throw at something, but he almost did now, the cold metal slipping an inch out of his hand. He'd never actually heard the voice before (very high, he noted, but strange in a way he couldn't place) but there was no doubt in his mind about who it came from. He turned slowly, and he was so sure his guess was correct that he almost wasn't surprised when he saw who was standing there.

Almost.

Crownguard herself. She was standing with her arms crossed over her chest, that weird baton in one hand, and she had a frown on her face like what Talon had said was the strangest thing about the situation. He slowly lowered his arm, facing her completely.

"You're not Kat."

It was certainly not the most tactful thing to say, but Talon was surprised; he didn't think he was going to see the blonde again (up close, anyway), let alone speak to her.

Or that she was going to be the one who eventually sought him out.

She raised one eyebrow out of her frown, pursing her lips like she was about to laugh.

"You're observant."

It was Talon's turn to frown now, and even though he couldn't deny he was curious about why she was there at all, he wasn't especially enthusiastic about being interrupted.

"You're a little far from home, aren't you? Does your brother know you're here?"

He succeeded in sounding insultingly condescending, and he'd hit a nerve apparently; fury clouded her expression, and she shifted the hand clutching her baton, causing Talon to unconsciously grip the knife in his hand a little tighter. He wondered if seeing such intense anger on such a seemingly innocent face would ever not be so disturbing.

"I wanted to know something."

She completely ignored his jibe, and Talon wondered what she could possibly want to know from him, enough that she came here to actually ask. She looked so uncomfortable standing there, and Talon was sure to wait an annoying amount of time before answering.

"I don't think I have anything to tell you, Crownguard."

He honestly didn't, but he noticed the way her mouth twitched when he called her Crownguard, and she looked like she was barely controlling herself from reaching over to slap him. Aside from the obvious reasons, Luxanna was so strange to him; she still had that aged anger on her face, coupled with the voice that sounded like it belonged to a teenager, and despite her diminutive figure and overall unintimidating appearance, Talon got the feeling from her that she was confident in the fact that if she did actually want to slap him, that she could.

She didn't match.

Her voice, her appearance, her expressions and body language- none of them looked like they belonged on the same person. It was hard to take someone so outwardly sunny and bright seriously, but the way she spoke and carried herself made you feel (instinctually, almost) that you should be careful around her.

Disturbing.

"I want to know why you were in the library last week."

Talon blinked a few times in the silence that stretched after the question, repeating the words over in his mind until he was sure he hadn't misheard her.

What.

"The library?"

He sounded painfully simple, but he was undeniably very, very confused.

"You know, the big room with the books? Why were you there?"

Talon had a feeling that no matter what Luxanna was saying, it would inevitably be sarcastic, and it was a personality trait that was already grating on him even though he'd been speaking to her for all of five minutes. He remembered how scared she'd been that night in the library, but here she was, no trace of that fear on her face and demanding answers from him, when she'd done more questionable things that night and since then than him by far. If anything, he should be asking the questions.

Talon could almost believe that he was imagining the whole thing, but he didn't think he had the creativity to portray Luxanna the way that she was, and he certainly couldn't make up the things she was saying.

"I could be wrong, but isn't the library open to all champions? Not just you."

She didn't seem to be a fan of his sarcasm, either; her dark expression got darker, and Talon noted the change almost with a sense of accomplishment.

He liked making her angry- it made her look a little less superior.

"I wasn't debating whether or not you were allowed; I was asking why."

It wasn't a distinction he had missed, but since he was quickly finding that the more flustered she became the more enjoyable for him the conversation was, he purposely avoided answering her- not that he had intended to, anyway.

"Were you now?"

From the change in her expression, she could tell that she wasn't going to get answers she wanted from him; she spun on her heel quite suddenly, walking away with her gold hair fanning out behind her. She twirled her baton between her fingers with a practiced ease a few times while she walked, but she said nothing else over her shoulder, and when she was finally out of the room Talon relaxed muscles he didn't know were tensed.

What the hell.

Useless Noxian.

The further she walked away from Talon, the dumber Lux felt, and by the time she was back in her room her face was burning with an angry sort of embarrassment. Why did she do that? He obviously wasn't going to answer anything she asked seriously; he was so infuriatingly sarcastic, and arrogance was written into his every word and movement.

Lux really regretted not slapping him when she had the chance.

It'd been tempting for sure, but Lux remembered the first time she taunted Talon when he had a knife in his hand, and she remembered very clearly how that ended. So, she kept her hands to herself.

But oh, how she regretted it.

She doubted anyone had tried to wipe that smug smile off his face before, especially considering you couldn't actually see it most of the time, and Lux realized she wanted more than anything to be the first.

And she could.

There was no doubt in her mind that Talon signed up for that first League match. Lux had never been a violent person before, but such was her anger that she left her room, going to sign up for that match with every intention of absolutely destroying that sarcastic annoyance. As she walked, she thought back to how she felt earlier- that she didn't have anything to prove to anyone at the Institute.

But she wanted nothing more than to prove to Talon Du Couteau that she was not to be brushed off.