"And what are you supposed to be?" He asked, looking over at his younger sister as she approached with a grin on her face. She wore cargo pants and a black top, topped off with a beige helmet with a flashlight attached; he could make no sense of it. He had thought her plan was to go as a lighter.
She looked indignant. "I'm an explorer. Explorer Lux. See?"
He looked her over, taking in her outfit. He supposed she could look like an explorer, though he'd never considered his sister actually wearing anything other than her uniform. Maybe that was why it had surprised him so much to see her in a dress before.
"I see. I'm sure he'll be blown away."
"You bet. I'll make sure of it. However, I can't discern what you are supposed to be. Caveman?"
"You're so funny. I'm a king. Jarvan borrowed me his crown for the occasion."
She laughed; it was a good sound to hear as they made their way through the otherwise empty halls. The Institute was a grand complex, but fairly straight-forward when it came to navigation, with halls always straight. In addition to the champion accommodation on the second level, the first level consisted of several smaller training rooms, along with a few larger ones. The dining hall and the great hall was also on the first level, close to the diplomatic meeting rooms. Those rooms had a spectacular view of the forests.
He wore a black tunic and tight black trousers, a heavy leather belt and his blue cape from his uniform, along with Jarvan's gold crown. He had put on a few of his heavy gold rings, ones he usually never wore, to complete the look. King Crownguard. He thought it had a nice ring to it, though he suspected that if he ever had to be king for real, he would go mad. He was a soldier, with no desire to be king, but he did have a good costume for the Harrowing.
Lux left him by the entrance to the great hall to go look for Ezreal. He lingered in the entrance hall, not quite ready to go in.
"Hello, handsome."
He turned to the voice, seeing Fiora come from the demacian wing. She must have walked behind them for quite some time to be this close. He could not quite wrap his head around her outfit. Instead of wearing her usual clothes, she had put on a short pinstriped dress, replacing her swords with a long ruler. He'd never seen anything like it.
"What are you wearing?" It was the only thing he could manage to push out of his mouth.
She smirked. "What, don't you like it?"
He frowned at her. "Did you borrow the mayor's suit to make it? He'll be furious." Obviously not the response she wanted, she glared at him and strode into the hall without answering.
With a sigh, he eventually followed her inside, since Katarina had not yet arrived. He supposed maybe this was not her scene, but he had to admit he had still hoped to see her there. The dances were coming to be something of a regular ting at the institute in peacetimes, and he thought most of them ridiculous. What was up with suddenly so many parties?
The amount of people who had showed up was stunning. He spotted the yordles running around chasing each other, and even a few of the more monstrous creatures, who usually preferred to stay in the forest, standing together in the corner.
The music was loud in his ears as he stood at the edge of what appeared to be a dance floor, though only a few people were actually dancing. From all the small orbs of fire surrounding them, he thought at least one of them had to be Ahri.
"Won't you come dance with me, Garen?" The voice sounded so small coming from his right, that he had a hard time imagining who it might be before he finally spotted the source of the question. Fiora, standing in her striped dress, stood there, her eyes big. He had never seen her look so vulnerable before; it got the better of him, and so he agreed.
Dancing with Fiora was odd. They had danced together plenty times before back in Demacia, but it seemed different this time. Now she clung to his arms whenever the dance allowed it, and seemed always reluctant to let go of him when the occasion called for it. She was as graceful as he remembered, though each of her moves was flowing as if she was about to cut into him with a saber.
"Isn't your Katarina here to dance with you today?" She asked, trying to sound innocent. Fiora never did good at innocent. The question was a poised dagger, looking for a flaw to cut into.
His mouth in a thin line, he asked, "Do you wish to talk, or do you want to dance?" It was a good thing that she decided to remain silent. Thinking of Katarina sent his blood boiling in so many ways, some good, and some bad, though he was never sure which of his impulses was the good ones and which were bad. She had him twisted into little knots, and he both despised and liked the way it made him feel. The assassin was a very curious creature.
She stood observing Garen with Fiora. It was very clear that the duelist had a crush on him, judging by the way she looked at him in the dim lighting. It was a wonder how Garen could not see it, but then again, men had the most amazing ability to stay oblivious, especially if it was something they did not want to see.
"You look amazing." Turning with a smirk on her face, she saw Akali and Shen standing next to her. She spotted Talon making his way across the room towards them as well.
Akali and Shen was matching in their nurse and doctor outfits, and by the way his eyes were glowing, it was clear that he was extremely appreciative of the assassin from the Shadow Isles' choice of outfit. She suppressed a laugh when she realized Shen had not even looked at her own costume, as he was so busy staring at Akali, whatever they called themselves now. Boyfriend and girlfriend seemed such trivial terms when applied to them; they were both too serious about everything, always so somber. Katarina did not think she had ever seen Shen laugh, though he sometimes seemed to smile.
"So do you, as always." Akali raised an eyebrow, but did not comment.
They both turned to watch the dancers. Katarina spotted Ahri working her charms around Graves, who seemed helpless to do anything but follow her lead. The fox giggled, and each time she did Graves dropped his serious demeanor to smile, if only for a moment.
"Oh, Kat, look at your commander, all busy with the second-rate duelist. What have you allowed him to do?"
"Always dramatic. He is not my commander," she said dryly. "Where did you leave Riven? Oh, and by the way, did you appreciate her costume?"
She looked over to see Talon's eyes darken with a dangerous gleam; a slow smirk spread on his so-often-impassive face. "I was most appreciative." His voice came deeper than she was used to, and the corner of her lip lifted slightly.
"Did you know she actually wore it once, on a mission? Undercover, of course. We were on it together, you know, a bar in Piltover. It was excellent." She had worn a similar one to Riven's bunny, but hers had consisted of a black leotard with black tights and heels instead. It was what she herself had worn to the Harrowing, including her black cat ears.
"I do not think she mentioned it. As you can imagine, we were busy doing other things."
"I'm surprised you made it here at all tonight."
"I wouldn't miss a chance to see you tormenting the commander for anything. After all, the Harrowing last the entire weekend. There will be plenty of time to get her out of it."
"Again."
He gave her a wicked grin, one she had rarely seen since he had been adopted by her father and forced into decency in public. "Again," he agreed, and left the other assassins to again find his bunny.
She spotted Explorer Lux dancing with what seemed to be Ezreal, though she had no idea what he was supposed to be. Akali stood silent next to her, as she usually did whenever she was bored. True, the celebration had not yet properly started, but it was a bit tame. She hoped it would liven up a bit when someone started brawling, as was inevitable at the Harrowing. Over the years she had attended several functions at the Harrowing, and whenever people from different cities mingled with alcohol and the feel of Harrowing, it ended badly.
Might be fun.
"Oh, Crownguard, what are you supposed to be?" He had to smile when he heard her voice coming from behind him. It had a silken, dangerous quality to it that made his blood churn, but he ignored the rush and kept filling up the glass with punch. When he was done, he held it out to her. Their fingers touched briefly as she took it, and he dutifully ignored the electrical current that seemed to run between them. He had just spent an hour defending to Ashe and Tryndamere his supposed involvement with the assassin, and was in no mood to confirm it in front of all the champions. Apparently most of them suspected, as the gossip flew wildly in the halls, but they needn't know. The Institute was its own bubble, adhering to no rules but its own, but the outside world still existed, and if word got back that he had become involved with a noxian, it would not be received well.
"Does Jarvan know you have his crown?"
When he had finished pouring himself a glass of punch as well, he turned around to face her. It was the first time he had seen her that evening, and he had no idea what to say to her. He could hardly believe what she was wearing. It looked like a long-sleeved bathing suit, skin tight and black, accompanied by black stockings and high heels. Her porcelain skin stood out between all the black and her vivid red hair, her green eyes framed in black. Atop her head sat a pair of cat ears.
It was a bit much to take in; although she was fully clothed, she might as well have been naked to his eyes. Her stretched outfit revealed every contour of her body, even if it also somehow covered everything. He had seen her without her clothes, but this was somehow just as alluring of a sight. He groaned internally when he saw the look in her eyes, and the mischief shining there.
"Yes." It had taken all his will to form that word and keep his eyes on hers. He cleared his throat, and continued. "It was his idea, actually. He figured he did not need it tonight."
"Can I try it?" Without waiting for his reply, she sat down the glass of punch and reached up to take it off his head. Looking into a mirror a few feet away, she carefully placed it on her own head, avoiding the cat ears that poked up from a headband of some sort. When she turned around to look at herself, he spotted the thin black tail attatched to her ass. Her outfit reminded him strangely of Riven's, but he did not dwell on it as she studied herself in the mirror for a moment. The combination of the black-clad assassin and the bright gold crown was a strange sight.
"Give me that," he said, not wanting Jarvan to notice that the assassin had taken his crown. He took it off her red mass of hair and placed it back on his own, looking at himself in the mirror as he did so. He was extremely pleased with his costume, and noticed with a smirk Katarina looking him over in the mirror. When she saw he had noticed, she rolled her eyes.
"You are concieted, Crownguard."
"Not without reason, my dear." He winked at her and drained his glass.
Rolling her eyes at him, she looked around the room. Various champions had attended, and she saw Lux and Ezreal off snogging in a corner. Lulu and Teemo was embroiled in a very colorful contest of some sort, while Ashe was discussing what appeared to be politics with Caitlyn. It was rare for the Queen of Freljord to be present at these events, as she usually stayed in her castle of ice. Katarina had been there once, though it had not been a friendly visit. The barbarian king who had married her for political reasons weeks before her visit, had been fond of the queen already back then.
When the commander next to her wasn't looking at her, she snuck glanced at him in his dress uniform, wearing several heavy rings and the crown. He looked dashing in the blue and gold, though she had never before seen him wearing anything close to jewlery. It looked odd to see the thick rings on his large fingers, and she suddenly blushed with the memory of what his fingers could do if given the opportunity.
Catching her uncharacteristic blush out of the corner of his eye, he smirked widely as he leant down to whisper in her ear.
"Dear Katarina, what are you thinking about?"
She tried to snort, but instead had to do a quick intake of breath as his hit her neck. Oh, how she hated him, the demacian commander, for what he was and what he could do to her. And oh how she adored him for all of it. The conflicting emotions was also a thing that was uncharacteristic for her, but she had spent too much time in the slums of humanity, and knew that the moral high ground was taken by none. Even the demacian commander next to her had slipped into his more human reactions whenever she was around, instead of pretending she did not affect him, as they had both done for years.
However, two could play at that game.
"Oh, I was just thinking of Draven."
It was his turn to cock an eyebrow. "Were you now?"
"I was. What do you think, would he and Fiora make a nice couple?"
He chuckled. "Draven and Fiora have nothing on us, don't you think, dear kitty Kat?"
Her hand stung suddenly from the slap she had placed across his cheek. He looked astounded for just a moment, before he roared with laughter, and placed his own hand across his cheek to comfort it.
His reaction took her by surprise. She had hoped to start a brawl right then and there, to diffuse the sudden tension between them. Whatever they were, they were not a couple. They couldn't be. It wasn't possible, for either of them.
Looking at him with cold calculation, she weighed the man's soul as he stood grinning at her. He was a good man, of that there could be no doubt, and she definitly felt something for him, but exactly what she wasn't sure.
"Touchy, are you?"
"Not touchy at all, Crownguard. I just have a very hands-on approach to things."
His eyes darkened at her words, and his lips tugged up at the corners. "Oh, I know."
"As a matter of fact," she said, calming her suddenly flaring temper into a slick purr. "I think we should dance."
A/N: I'm terribly sorry this has taken so long. It's not even a complete chapter. I'm afraid I'm just out of ideas for this one. Initially, this was meant to be a rather short story, the main event being the after-party, but it almost seems it grew on its own. However, this means that I'm now having trouble finding plotpoints to actually drive the story forwards, so it won't just be Kat and Garen interactions, but some actual action. I would like to thank you for all of your support and reviews, I'm thrilled that you like it, but I feel like I should now (after ages of not publishing) just give you the rest of what I have. I won't be closing the story, as I might come up with some ideas for it in the future, but for now I will no longer be actively writing on it unless an idea comes to mind. I hope that I will one day get the proper ideas to finish it, and hope you'll 'follow' it so you will get an update when I do. I hope you've enjoyed it, and that I will eventually find the proper plot points to at the very least finish it properly. I hope it won't take too long! :)