Chapter 11:
I love my life.
Those words were what I thought as Riven hugged the life out of me, not literally of course. That's not the only reason why I feel so elated this time, though, I'm partly glad that my plan worked. I still can't fully believe it but I managed to talk the green-clad ninja from releasing the not-so-damsel with platinum hair. I mean, how many guys out there could boast out there that they just calmed down a ninja, and a ninja from a video game on top of that.
I instinctively grunted as Riven hugged my frail figure tighter. I grinned, also, not many could boast that they are embraced by their favorite video game character.
"Hey, Bunny, I'm scrawny remember?" I said, with the both of us laughing thereafter.
Then I heard somebody clear his/her throat, and I'm sure it was not Riven. My eyes widened as my instincts immediately kicked in, unconsciously breaking me away from Riven's embrace. But it looks like Riven has the same thought as the both of us broke contact at the same time.
I turned around to see Gian looking at me, with a clearly guilty face and a frown, I can't blame him though with what Akali . . .
Wait, where's Akali?!
I'm as surprised as you are . . . came Riven's mental reply.
I must look utterly confused as Gian tilted his head sideways, in what I remembered as his way of showing curiosity, how did I know that? He got that expression from me while we were in college. I'm awesome like that.
"If you're thinking where Akali is, she left moments ago while the two of you're hugging" Gian said, answering our unvoiced question with a mischievous smile.
I saw Riven blush from the corner of my eye, but I paid it no mind. Actually, my mind is more interested in how Akali suddenly vanished.
"Okay, she's gone, but how?" I asked, hoping that my curiosity would be sated.
Gian sighed, then he gave me a tired yet amused smile.
"No, Francis she did not have the ability to become invisible, she simply and silently left the condo, again, while the two of you are hugging" Gian explained.
I simply grunted at that, I let my inner geek take over my mind there for a little bit.
"Well, this night's been long, I'm gonna leave you two, okay?" Gian said tiredly as he tiredly packed his laptop to his bag.
I went over to Gian, and sat at the sofa where his bag was placed.
"Hey, come here tomorrow at 6pm" I said to him with a half-serious and half-mischievous tone. If you ask how that sounds, don't. As I said, I'm awesome like that.
"Yeah, we still have a lot to talk about" Gian said as he slung his bag over his back.
"Bye, dude" he said with a tired wave of his hand.
"Yeah, bye" I replied with the same tired intonation. I relaxed at the sofa I was sitting at, today's quite a day for a scrawny and wimpy geek like me. Today's also an extremely stressful day for me, I groaned at that, looks like migraine's gonna be a bitch sooner or later, though I sincerely hope that no such thing will happen tomorrow.
"You, alright?" Riven said as she sat down beside me, I can tell by just looking at her face that she's extremely worried for my well-being. How cute, but her pity is misplaced as I don't need it.
"If you're thinking about my lung cancer, please don't" I said in a joking manner, then she frowned and proceeded to punch me in the arm. Though I was slightly pissed as to why her punch was significantly weaker than usual.
I frowned at her before I replied;
"Please don't pity me, it is insulting" I said without emotion. There are some people who are easily pissed if they are pitied because of their handicap or sickness, I am not that type of sickly person, I have long ago accepted what my fate is but I do not wish to be reminded by people of my weakness when they show pity.
Riven let out a heavy sigh before she smiled at me and also before she aggressively pushed me, it was aggressive because I was pushed down the sofa with surprising force. Before I could even react, I saw Riven leaning towards me, fast. My eyes widened, and I DID NOT THINK WHAT YOU ARE THINKING BECAUSE RIVEN CAN FREAKIN' READ MY MIND.
Still with a smile on her face, Riven remained in that position for several decades, as I was seriously trying to compose my-FREAKING-self.
"You hate it because people don't treat you like others because you have this sickness, you hate to be treated in a special manner because you think that you don't deserve it, that's why you didn't tell your sickness to anyone else but your closest friends. Francis, to put it simply you hate being weak" she said right before chuckling.
"Wow, who would've guessed that you had the Noxian spirit within you" Riven said with a laugh as she slowly rose from her LEANING position. I, on the other hand, remained at that position for a few minutes longer, and it is because of both what Riven said AND what Riven did. First, what she said was true, it totally makes sense in my kind of situation.
I sighed at that, Noxian eh? Weird.
On the other hand, what Riven did was totally unexpected. My mind was shell-shocked, literally, at what she did. Looks I really need to investigate if she really had been friends with the Nine-Tailed Fox.
"Hey, stop looking so shell-shocked over there" Riven said with a grin, I don't know if she took that world out of her own vocabulary or if she read my mind just now. I don't want to ponder on the latter thought . . .
Quickly composing myself, I stood from the position that Riven left me in and stretched my limbs for a bit.
"I'm surprised that you haven't begged for food, bunny" I teased as I made my way to the kitchen.
"Oh please, I know you want me begging" Riven said in a VERY feminine tone, that sultry tone just sent shivers down my spine.
"Bunny, you're creeping me out" I replied as I opened the fridge.
"I know you like it!" Riven shouted back right before laughing as she stayed in the living room. I decided to not reply on that one, I'm sure that I can't win any argument with her anyway. Turning back to the fridge, I pondered upon the meal I will cook for the two of us tonight. After several minutes of stroking my chin and contemplating if that dish was good I finally decided to keep it simple and cook my favorite spicy chicken. Luckily for me, I have a commercially packed and already marinated chicken on my fridge, hey it's much more convenient than cooking especially in these kinds of situations.
Fifteen minutes full of care and the sound of Riven's impatient footsteps was all it took for me to finish the meal, which smelled awfully good. As approved by the (cute)smiling face of Riven as I brought the meal to the small glass table. The two of us immediately started eating, and I'm proud to share that for once, I ate faster than Riven who took time to adapt to the hot and spicy tinge of the dish.
"Hey, you're not drinking your medicine aren't you?" Riven asked, I raised my head up to meet her eye, she didn't sound nor look pitiful at me, which was kinda good. I don't want her pitying and I also don't want her LEANING again.
I shook my head 'yes' as I continued to eat my spicy wings.
"Huh? I haven't seen you drink anything" Riven said in confusion.
I looked at her face, which was very sweaty, a side effect of the spiciness of the chicken meal.
For starters, you sleep earlier than me, secondly, I thought I made it clear that I don't want to be pitied, if you see me in that scenario- my mental rambling was cut short as Riven spoke to my mind.
-then I would've said those exact words, she concluded herself which was not what I expected before we we're bonded.
The rest of the dinner was uneventful as I noticed that Riven has now taken a liking to spicy meals, it was obvious that she was liking it because her speed on eating the spicy chicken has abnormally increased. After the dinner Riven made way for the bathroom but not before giving me a warning glare, I immediately understood what she meant as I instinctively gulped while I took the plates to the kitchen.
Washing the plates is really a labor I do not like doing, if you want a reason I don't have any. I'm just lazy when it comes to this trivial labor.
By the time I was done washing the plates, I saw Riven at the living room, already washed and was now wiping each fragment of her blade with a white cloth.
"Where did you get that cloth?" I asked her as I took the towel and my pajamas for me to change in.
"Hmm? I always have this with me in case I have to polish this blade or wipe blood of it's edges" she said blood lightly, sometimes I forget that Riven is a veteran in terms of warfare in it's ups and downs. No, rephrase that, there are no 'ups' in war.
I emerged from the bathroom with a wet hair, if you consider my stubble a type of hair, and a fresh set of clothes, Riven was not in the living room so I guess that she maybe sleeping, I hung the wet towel near the shower room and went to the living room as I took my laptop to the bedroom so that I could put it there.
Riven was at the bed, with the covers over her but she's not sleeping yet, instead she was looking at the ceiling. I also looked at the ceiling, maybe there really IS a thing of interest on my wonderful ceiling. Unsurprisingly, there was nothing there except the light bulb.
"Of course your ceiling's empty, idiot" Riven said as she saw me putting the laptop on top of my study desk.
"Francis, could you come here, please?" I heard Riven call me. I immediately sat down at my bed, only for her to forcefully pull me into the bed.
"What was that for?!" I complained as I regained control of my hand that she forcefully pulled but she still held with a vice grip.
"First of all, you are a terminally-ill man-" I frowned at that, not pity again! It was the only thing in my mind that I forgot that the two of us are in bed with our bodies facing, close, but not in contact with each other. If I wasn't thinking of my pride, I would've been blushing. Damn.
"Secondly, you've been sleeping in poor conditions with that frail body of yours, and again, your sickness!" Riven said, by now I was completely bored at what she was talking about, I already explained to her that I don't want people having conversation and doing things about my well-being. I began to turn around and leave the bed when Riven stopped me from going by holding my hand, effectively stopping me from going further.
Then in a soft voice that completely caught me off guard she spoke;
"Thirdly and lastly, I . . . I want company" my eyes widened at what she said, mostly because I didn't expect her to say that on top of her lectures. I glanced back at the platinum-haired woman only to see her amber eyes looking away, with her cheeks in a color reminiscent of the chili that dotted our dinner's texture.
I sighed heavily as I wordlessly reentered the bed and laid down beside her, I didn't think of the fact that she's worried about me because I'm also worried about her, god I'm stupid. I started to fall into fitting and restful sleep, but not before I noticed an arm hug my torso and a head resting on my bony chest shortly thereafter.
xXx
Sunlight was the first thing that greeted me the next day, much to the disapproval of my eyes. My first goal for today would be to close those damn shutters, who left them open last night, anyway? Oh yeah, me.
I was about to stand when I realized that I couldn't, confused I looked at my chest where the primary weight was on, imagine my shock when I saw the platinum-haired champion cuddled at my chest with a serene look on her face. The first reaction that escaped from me was a sigh of contentment and . . . happiness.
Good lord thank you for that faithful night I thought in gladness to what happened over the past few days.
I felt Riven budge for awhile before the beautiful sword-toting food monster woke up, she slowly raised her head, her amber eyes also bothered by the annoying sunlight. With her eyes half open, she looked at me.
"Good morning, Francis" she mumbled, before cutely smiling at me.
"Good morning, Bunny" I replied with a chuckle as I ruffled Riven's platinum morning hair. She smiled before she went back to cuddling me. She's been acting real weird ever since last night.
Then, as if waking up from a nightmare, Riven's eyes open abruptly, those beautiful amber eyes seemed frantic as it saw where she was sleeping. I was watching all this with a smirk as I wondered what's gotten into the champion.
She then quickly dismantled herself from the cuddling position and scuttled to the other part of the bed, curled into a fetal position and wrapped the covers around her body. I wonder what she's thinking, wait a minute, I could also read her mind, well at least her immediate thoughts. That's what I observed on Riven's mental actions, she cannot dig into my memory and can only read what I was thinking.
I decided to give it a try, as I focused on the curled figure of Riven, concentrating my mind and repeating the mantra to 'hear her thoughts' in my own mind. I almost surrendered when I still didn't hear anything in almost a minute now, but then I heard something faint in my mind, surprised and amused I continued focusing on Riven until I finally made out the words that she has been thinking.
Bythegodsbythegodsbythegodsbythegodsbythegods . . . her mind kept repeating it so fast that I barely recognized it as the runeterran form of 'Oh My God'.
"Why are you repeating 'by the gods' over and over" I asked her before I stood and stretched my bones.
I waited for her reply, predicting her to say a witty comeback or a red-faced litany. Surprised that she did not say any of those, I simply shook my head and started to go for the kitchen and for a hopefully good breakfast, I still don't think that I'll be better with this thing called cooking.
"Good lord you're acting pretty weird lately!" I exclaimed before I went to start the day through cooking breakfast.
xXx
What Francis did not know is that the platinum haired champion that was curled up into a ball was profusely blushing from under the covers.
"What the hell did I just do?!" she shouted from under the covers, her voice muffled because her whole blushing face was pushed at the pillow, it is of her own working though, in an obviously futile effort to sort her feelings out.
xXx
The day for me was pretty dreary, lifeless and simple. I was relieved for it though, it is better to be bored yet safe than adrenaline-pumped and dead. As I went inside the condominium building, something in my mind made me look at the stairways. As I am sure that Riven cannot influence me in that kind of way, my stupid mind decided that I should use the stairway instead of the elevator. I grunted as I made for the stairways.
My sister would be crying blood seeing me moving up the stairways, then he would either congratulate me or laugh at my sweating face. I groaned, not good to think about that woman and her antics.
After almost a decade of climbing the steps and the agony of aching bones I finally reached the floor where my room was located. Exhausted because of doing strenuous activity with a scrawny body, I nearly scrambled towards the door, very much looking like a zombie as I opened the room.
It was seven and I knew that I was kinda late in returning home, well I blame the traffic. One of the problems that the 'democratic' republic of the Philippines still hasn't fixed. Still, my memory still went lazy on me, the only thing I remembered for tonight is that I have something in my schedule of utmost importance, but I just can't pinpoint what it was. The answer to that sinking feeling was laid out in front of my bewildered eyes as I saw two, of the most dangerous, of the most scariest women I've seen in my whole life. The untold fact that the two of them they are very dangerous if left alone with the other on the same room increased the state of alarm that's currently ringing in my head at the moment.
Sitting on sofas opposite of each other was Riven and Akali, both having a passive yet stony look(well, that's what I gleaned off Akali's masked face) but the tense atmosphere in my room and the alertness I felt from Riven's mind(I didn't know how I exactly felt it)made me know that they're not exactly on friendly terms.
"Uhh . . . Where's Gian?" I asked cautiously, I deemed the situation very tense and must be tackled and handled with great care, especially if you don't want disaster to happen, or in my case, if you don't want your room to be scrapped.
"He said he's going to take some food and beverages" it was Akali who replied and the way she said it was short and quick, not a good way to talk with other people. And I guess that Riven knew that already, she may have tried speaking to the green-clad ninja. May. I'm usually wrong on my predictions.
"And I guess he left you two so that you can warm up on each other?" I asked, not minding the intense gaze that Akali has nor the raised brow of Riven's as I sat on a sofa placed adjacent to the glass table but not beside Riven's nor Akali's sofas on the contrary my position was in the middle of the two if the glass table wasn't there, which was quite a good place as any as I want to establish a middleman role between these two women.
I let out a heavy sigh as I began to talk;
"As I've said before, this place is not Runeterra, it doesn't hold home to Noxus or Ionia or any other city-state for that matter" I said as I worked on my damnable tie, I can't seem to be at ease in removing this abominable contraption.
"But what about the things they've done?" I was surprised to hear Akali not speaking in a fervent and angry tone but instead in a factual and debatable one. Looks like I left an impression last night.
"I've already told you about it last night didn't I? If you remain unconvinced then think upon this matter, also you Riven. Are all things good and evil?" I asked, wanting them to reflect on this subject and hopefully have a metaphorical glance at what I'm trying to say.
" . . . Of course . . ." Akali said.
"Yes, I suppose so . . ." came Riven's words.
The both of them were awfully unsure about their answers, I would be surprised if they aren't.
"Ladies, in this world there is no such thing as good or evil, white or black, we people call it various shades of gray" I explained, though I'm sure it was a bit grandiose to what they expect. Two heads nod at what I said, which urged me to continue.
"I mean, think of this, people do not have a natural alignment to each case, for example if there was this evil warrior there is also a good part of himself waiting to be aroused, here in our world conscience and the influence of others make turning such characters into more desirable or less desirable depending on the influence around him" I said trying to explain in a manner I thought was the easiest for me to say.
There was a short silence before Akali swerved her head to Riven's direction and said;
"Does he always speak like this?" she asked.
"If you mean being grandiose and sometimes complicatedly annoying, he has his moments, otherwise he's terribly afflicted with idiocy" Riven in a tone that is akin to lamentation.
"Hmph, says the woman who slept on my chest" I muttered.
"What did you say?" there were two voices who asked the same question, the first was Akali but the second was not Riven's, who's face was currently very red, the voice was in fact, Gian's. It seems that I forgot to close the door.
"What? Riven slept on your chest?" Did I mutter it loudly, because the way this guy acts implies so.
"Whatever" I said in reply. I noticed the guy brought a bucket of fries for all of us. I saw Riven's and Akali's hands darting towards the food container at about the same time.
"So, what else do you know about our current predicament?" I asked as my hand darted into the bucket of sliced and salted potatoes.
"Well, Akali told me that she got whisked away from her world to ours in a jiffy, she said that she was just training in the institute of war when suddenly BAM! She's in front of my computer!" Gian explained halfheartedly.
"The same thing happened to me" Riven agreed.
"Wait, she arrived in front of your computer? She didn't literally break the fourth wall?!" I asked incredulously.
"Yeah, she arrived in front of my computer, and the first thing she did was point her blades at me" Gian said, rolling his eyes when Akali gave him a sheepish look.
"Goddammit, why's he so lucky?!" I complained while I dramatically clutched my head and arched my back in frustration, I don't know if I'm faking it or not but I'm sure I was not.
I heard Riven sigh, either at my dramatics or at the obviously confused face of our two visitors. I have a nagging feeling though, that she was sighing for both reasons.
"What this insufferable idiot is trying to say is that you and Akali doesn't have the problems that he suffered to this day" Riven said with a smile.
"By problem she means herself" I said to Akali and Gian as I pointed a thumb at her direction.
"Please explain" Gian said with a big smile.
"Oh it's a common story, stormy night, building shook, injured woman blasting out of my computer, no big deal!" I said with a tone that is waving sarcasm like a national flag for a newly independent country.
"Anyway, speak what you have to speak about our current problem" I said, trying to steer this conversation back on track.
"Yeah, aside from various reports of champions showing around the globe there's also someone, or someones, that delete any information about their presence" Gian said, I groaned, my suspicions are correct and I'm afraid about the motives of this someone/someones, my life may get fucked up for all I know.
"That's not good" Riven commented.
"On the contrary, I think it is" Gian said a-matter-of-factly.
Both Akali and Riven gave him a look of an unasked question.
"You see, if the world knows about the two of you, I think there would be a state of panic, and if that would come to an end there would be paranoia concerning your abilities and mere presence" Gian explained. Which was true, makes me wonder about the identity of those that hide the champions' presence.
"Plus, the sheer number of fanboys and fangirls wanting to meet you!" I added.
The two girls just gave me a bored look, I'm surprised they didn't even ask of the meaning of fanboys and fangirls.
Riven sighed.
"So even here, people would hound us for the sake of a simple signature on their stuff" she said as Akali shook her head in what I thought was disbelief.
"You mean, fans exist in your world?!" Gian asked incredulously, apparently Akali didn't share to him about this certain topic like Riven didn't share this to me.
Both of the women nodded solemnly as reply to Gian's question.
"So you don't know how we're even here?" Akali asked, obviously disliking the topic we're currently talking about.
"I know how you're here but I don't know the method of who got you here and what they exactly did to get you here" Gian replied.
"There are rumors floating around about a bunch of hackers messing up with the game, Riot confirmed that there really were hackers that attempted to do some damage to the game but they said that they have been dealt with even before they did any serious damage to the game" Gian said.
"I'm sensing a 'but' in there somewhere" I commented.
"Yup, the time Riot confirmed the presence of the hackers was the same day a green-clad woman appeared on my room" Gian said.