Chapter Eleven

Lulu grinned even as Veigar's team took down her nexus. It was hard to not be excited! Melo. Meeelo. Such an adorable little name for her adorable little friend.

Recognizing the boy in the photograph had been quite the shock. It had taken an immense amount of effort to keep herself from dropping the photo though, and even more to not tell Nema that her son was still alive. The secret bubbled upward, wanting to burst from her mouth, but Lulu knew better. This was the sort of news that should come from Veigar himself. Melo himself. That same boy hopped now with a cackle around her Nexus, giddy with victory. She could picture his grin under the hat as he celebrated his win, wide as it had been when he had conquered the forest slope. It matched perfectly the carefully hidden photograph in her shoulder bag.

"Veigar!" Lulu leapt from the platform, clinging onto the mage's arm. Pix, still in the form of a fluffy flying poro, landed gently on her hat to rest from the match.

Clearing his throat, Veigar shook her off before taking a step away. "You never answered my question. What trouble did you get into at…" he paused, looking around to see if anyone was listening before continuing in a quieter voice, "…my house?"

She grinned, content that he hadn't brushed off her presence as usual. He even wanted to talk to her! Lulu paused to think. "Trouble?" She hadn't remembered anything particularly dangerous happening. "Well… I played with some of your toys and tried to read some boring backwards book. Does that count? Oh and your room was a mess and there was a hole in your top sheet and a broken mirror so I cleaned some of it up but the hole is going to be back by now because I can't sew and keeping it transmogulated is too much work. Oh, and," she added with a devious grin, "Pix dropped that priceless star globe of yours out the window."

Veigar, who seemed to be struggling to keep up with her list of activities, did not look happy at the mention of his globe. Glowing eyes sharpened on to her hat where Pix was suddenly standing.

"I did not!" Pix shouted, defending himself as he turned back into his usual form. Landing on her staff, he looked back to her with a slight scowl. "Don't you bring me into this game, Lulu!"

"Don't get cranky," Lulu shook her staff as Pix hung on tightly. "I'm just teasing him."

"That globe," Veigar seemed to be at the edge of his patience, "is a family heirloom and if either of you-"

"Broke it? No. It's safe! Never left the stand, actually," she giggled. Veigar was so easy to trick. "Oh, though he did start a kitchen fire with your jar of spiders."

Now he just looked exhausted. Hesitating for a moment, he asked "… You are attempting to make a joke, correct?"

"Yup!"

There was another brief silence where he simply stared.

"So… are you going home now?" Lulu took it upon herself to fill in that quiet, following Veigar as he turned towards the platform. "Or another trip somewhere for your secret evil plan? Maybe Demacia this time? Or are you going home to work on your evil plan?"

"Wherever I'm going," he turned towards her where he stood ready to teleport out, "I'll be busy."

"Okay!" Lulu stopped beside him and opened her bag, retrieving her crystal. "See you in…um… four days with my not-question!"

"Four days?" Veigar questioned as he began to fade, "what's in four-" then disappeared altogether.

Tutting, Lulu slowly shook her head. "Tuesday, of course. Veigar really should start paying attention to the colors, don't you think, Pix? He just can't keep track of the date."

Lulu was not able to wait for Tuesday. With the photo in her possession she could hardly think of anything else. Far too many questions had hatched in her curious mind and she simply had to have them answered.

Despite the blinding yellow that was Saturday, Lulu set off for their meeting spot to wait. She arrived early, unable to wait for the taste of celery before beginning the hike. Anxious and full of energy, she was dying to confront Veigar.

…Within minutes she was bored. Looking to Pix, who was lounging lazily on her staff, a slow grin surfaced. "Tag, you're it!" was all the warning she gave before transmogulating herself into a chipmunk and scurrying away with unnatural speed. The two spent the next sixteen minutes chasing each other back and forth, Lulu changing form with every turn.

Letting out a fit of giggles upon successfully reaching Pix as a flying squirrel, the girl returned herself to her yordle form as she lay on the ground. "P-Pix, you almost got away that time!" she continued to laugh. The game was a welcome respite from her anxiety. "I'm going to take a break now though so-" her laughter ended abruptly at a cold stillness filled her. She'd been stunned. It was brief, but already a dark cloud was forming above her, ready to fall.

"Zippy!" the moment the stun released her Lulu was off, Pix shielding her just in case she wouldn't make it out in time. It would turn out to be an unneeded drain on her already low mana pool from all her games with the fairy before. Veigar had caught her off guard, a true shame as she had meant to be the one to ambush him.

"Whatever happened to Tuesday! You said-" a predictably high-pitched screech could be heard across the way and she turned, zeroing in on his location.

"Nope!" a cheery reply was all she gave him. She was proud. Veigar had figured it out. It was only too bad she had messed up their schedule just as he was beginning to catch on.

Unamused, he continued, "I expressly remember you saying four-"

"Didn't say I couldn't visit sooner!~"

Veigar scowled. "I never said you could show at all!"

"But I did! So I came here and played with Pix. Then you stunned me. So now it's time for another game!" Lulu laughed, loving this already. The familiar thrill of being near him, sparing her friend. Teasing him. She almost forgot why the date had been moved up in the first place.

"I don't play games," he hissed, ignoring her antics as usual. A moment later his stun reappeared. Lulu side-stepped it, predictable Veigar was predictable, but moved the wrong direction so was trapped inside. Audible maniacal glee proved him to be enjoying this. The cloud again was forming…

Lulu just grinned, ready for the fight. "C'mon, you. Let's dance!" Following the direction of her staff, Pix zoomed over to Veigar, damaging him while giving him a slight visible glow. A moment later, just as the cloud of dark matter collapsed just where Lulu had been, a purple shot of glitter slowed the male, allowing her to get close enough to turn him into a squirrel. She wouldn't be able to hold it long, not with such little of her mana remaining, but it was enough for her to approach him. Leaning down, she picked up the very feral-looking purple squirrel. "Tut, tut," she whispered, shaking her head. "Haven't we been through this before? I just wanted to play."

With a poof of color, Veigar returned. The sudden weight on her hands pulling her down with him in the fall. "… ow."

Veigar wasted no time. Dark Matter. Baleful strike. "Ow!" The Event horizon came only after she rolled away, catching her easily this time. As usual, Lulu didn't really mind. Even without Pix to shield her from the final blow, she knew her friend would never be able to follow through. And so she grinned, waiting for Veigar to make the same realization as he raised his staff.

Predictably, Veigar hesitated, staring her down all the while. Finally, "Ugh," the event horizon released.

Lulu sat up, laughter resuming.

"Stop laughing!" he demanded shrilly. She only laughed more. "Stop it, I say!"

Lulu bounced up, spinning as Pix settled in at his usual place on her hat. "I kneeeew you wouldn't do it," she grinned.

Poor Veigar looked as frustrated by this as she was pleased. "You're fortunate that you happen to be a champion for the League," he stated, standing still as she danced around.

"Sure, of course that," she nodded before grasping his arm. "But also we're friends! Friends don't hurt each other, silly."

There was a heavy sigh as he glanced at her from the corner of his eye. "Right. Friends. I had forgotten."

It had only been a few days… Had he really? No, he must have been playing still. "Oh, did you have another reason then?" She decided to play along, too.

He continued to stand quite still, not even bothering to shake her off. "I already told you, the Institute of War punishes all those who-"

Lulu laughed loudly, interrupting him. "Aren't you going to take over the world or something? With all your power? You could just punish them yourself!"

Veigar's response was to finally free his arm, yanking it in one sharp motion. One of his gauntlet's many spikes scratched against her arm, stinging.

"Ouch!" She really needed to do something about his silly spikes. Turning him into a squirrel every time she wanted to hug him wasn't really the most practical option.

He glancing down at the cut, hesitating before turning away. "I am evil. I will do it… and… it's no laughing matter." Something about the way he said it sounded grumpier than usual.

"I never said otherwise," Lulu pouted. She hadn't meant to offend him. Pix fluttered down to fuss over her, healing the minor wound from its chocolate to magic state. "… thanks," she mumbled before sighing. "Anyway, I just meant that you're really strong! You're not afraid of anything. So I knoooow that's not why you wouldn't just, you know… kill me."

"It's a waste of time to, okay?" he answered with almost as much of a pout as she had. Whatever he said, she knew the truth. He wasn't that evil. Lulu smiled, taking his arm once more, though this time more gently. Again he didn't even try to step away. "Doesn't matter. I have important things to do." While Lulu didn't doubt that, she couldn't let him go that easily. Besides… there was still the important matter to discuss about the photo. About his name! Her soft smile suddenly widened, excitement filling her body as she yanked on his arm. "What?!"

"You can't go yet!"

"Watch me." He made to pull his arm again… but stopped himself in time to prevent another scratch.

Shaking her head, Lulu let go, rolling her eyes as she smiled knowingly. "Okay, go. Shoo shoo." Her thanks for his consideration would to give him a slight head start before pulling him back.

He looked doubtful, but side-stepped down the path once, twice, then-

"But you'll never ever ever ever find out what my not-question is and I know you're going to want to know if you knew what it was because it's something I know you wouldn't want anyone to know but I know it~" she giggled gleefully, dropping to the ground. She knew he wouldn't be able to resist that. The laugh continued even as he tried to walk away and after just three seconds he stopped, turning back. Just as she'd predicted.

"Fine. Just… fine! You win! What is it that you know?" He hissed, marching towards her.

It was time. Without warning, Lulu jumped to her feet. One hop later she landed directly in front of Veigar, expression perfectly serious as she prepared herself to tell him. But first… "I want to see under your hat."

an: Melo is pronounced like Meilo would be in Japanese. If you don't know Japanese pronunciation, try to decipher this instead: Mālō. Not that it matters… I can't stop you from pronouncing his name however you'd like ;)

Also I have the next chapter half finished already. Hmm… I wonder how to motivate me to finish it.