It was warm as Lux woke, warm and comfortable, even though her breathing was restricted due to something firm and heavy on her. Talon's familiar scent permeated her cushion and the arm on her side added to the feeling of being tucked away safely. A steady, silent tickle against her crown indicated were his mouth rested.
Safe to say Talon was still fast asleep.
They must have turned during the night, for she remembered curling against his back before falling asleep. Now his slow, steady heart beat tapped against her back soothingly, his warmth and steadiness surrounded her, more comfortable than a blanket.
In this position she might be able to wiggle her toes without disturbing him, but not much more.
So she didn't.
Lux half-closed her eyes, relishing the peacefulness of the moment as she watched the bright rays of sunlight wander over her wall. Finding the right mindset to mediate was easy like this. Very slowly she reached out with her light, feeling for the outlines of Talon's fabric-hidden body first to see if he would wake.
He didn't, so Lux continued her exploration until she felt the spark just underneath his skin, like a constant, calm source of energy. Lux didn't dare to delve deeper, she remembered how he had reacted every time she had made contact, so she just observed the surface.
Watching him sleep was mesmerizing and lulled her into a pleasant dozing.
He woke silent and subtle, like someone used to do so under less than ideal circumstances.
Not even a change in breathing, just the barest acceleration of his still slow heartbeat, a ripple of consciousness at which Lux retreated. He stayed still for two seconds longer, feigning sleep while he orientated himself.
Then his arms around her tightened and the firm body behind her felt just right.
"Good morning." Lux muttered as he stretched, pulling her even tighter to him in the process, the ripple of muscles directly on her skin. "Were you able to rest?"
A low grumble provided no real answer as a nose pushed aside the hair over her neck. An endeavor not really crowned by success, so he pressed his lips to the hollow of her neck and the blond strands still covering it as his fingers started roaming. Smaller kisses were placed along her neck to her throat before he rubbed over it with his nose, inhaling deeply.
As he pressed his hip against her bottom she was able to feel another part of his physique that also rose to attention. She responded with pressing her body against his.
Lux grasped for his hands and guided them to her breasts. He complied with a content sigh, palming before squeezing the soft flesh. Lux also sighed, she had missed this, and she undulated against him until one of his calloused hands abandoned her chest to slide lower, in lazy, zig-zaggy lines down her abdomen, following the outline of her hipbone and down her inner thighs. She could feel his lazy smirk forming at her sharp intake of breath and the expectant twitch of her hips.
Playful mood? This early in the morning?
She laughed breathlessly and turned in his arms. He gave her enough room to do so, his fingers bending so blunt nails dragged over her skin while she moved before he enclosed her in his arm again. Her hands rose to his sides and to his back she still found so tantalizing, moving from light strokes to light scratches until his hand followed the curve of her waist to press their hips together. Lux lifted her face to meet his lips and before he could shove her on her back she twined her leg around his waist and pushed until he was the one on his back and she above him, his face between her hands. She bathed in the warmth of his golden eyes while she wrapped her hands around his to pin them above his head. The motion made her stretch her torso into just the right position for Talon to lift his head and enclose the tip of one breast in his mouth. Lux followed his movement as his head fell back onto the cushion, the sensitive bud still between his lips, and a sigh wound its way up from deep within her as he gently started sucking. His tongue soon joined the pressure of his lips and the combined ministrations resonated much lower within the mage's body.
She slowly writhed against him and he let go of her breast. "You are quite controlling today." He perceived, murmuring lowly against her cleavage, following the path she indicated with her movements.
The vibrations sent goosebumps over her body. "You mind?" She asked breathlessly, rubbing against him while she kept the hold on his hands.
"Not at all." He answered before his tongue drew a slick path along her collarbone.
The first time Lux tried to dress she was interrupted by a warm hand around her midsection and soft lips at that point just below her ear where she couldn't help but sigh and postpone her start in the day a bit longer.
After that Talon seemed halfway satisfied, but as he wriggled himself in his pants Lux decided he looked much too good shirtless to not appreciate the physical perfection of his body a bit more intensely.
After that it was so late already that a bit more cuddling wouldn't disturb her plans for the day any more than it already had. Talon didn't seem to mind.
Somewhere in the middle of discriminating where Talon's body ended and her own began (not an easy feat, despite how sore most of her body felt by now) Talon, now much more awake than he had been, decided to begin a conversation.
"So tell me again. What are your plans with that Varn-boy?" He asked, still with that intimate low, whispering voice.
Lux laughed lightly, senses too tingly to be in anything but an exceptionally good mood.
She had pried yesterday, so it was his turn now. "It actually took some effort to dig his name up." Her eyes sparkled like they did when she was proud of something.
He laid on his back and she turned so she was able to curl into his side, draping one leg over his for comfort.
One arm snaked around Lux' waist and he pulled her even closer, turning slightly in her direction. "Want to share your brilliancy with me?" His hands wandered aimlessly over her body. Not to arouse, but to connect and to touch.
She pursed her lips while pretending she had to think about it. He didn't catch on but waited, eyes half closed with contentment.
"I am on that Darius-guy's heels." She outlined vaguely, testing if he really wanted to know.
"As in General Darius?" He replied, tracing ever-new patterns on her skin.
Lux nodded.
"Like two meters tall, two meters wide, axe-swinging, red cape…"
"Don't you think it's more a cloak than a cape?"
"I'll have to ask Cassiopeia." Talon shrugged and from the expression on his face Lux wasn't entirely sure he wouldn't go asking as the first thing after they got out of bed.
"As in that Darius, yes." She confirmed before her teasing stretched too long.
He made an approving noise. "You are stepping up your marks."
"Actually", she said gleefully, "I am."
He was much calmer than at the beginning of their relationship, letting her talk and accepting the occasional jabs in between.
Some time ago his stillness and short pauses in between his answers had shown Lux that he wasn't used to conversation with people just to exchange random things, but by now he had adjusted to the diversions, even creating some by himself (albeit seldom). He didn't seem to mind how it prolonged their banter-by now he knew he would get what he asked for, it only took more time than a formal debriefing and far less clothing.
"So Darius' heels. As far as I am concerned he is in Ionia now." Talon pointed out.
Lux turned in his hold and picked a pillow to cushion the harder parts on his body before she snuggled herself against him again. He shrugged to move her into a more comfortable position.
"He is", she confirmed, "but he comes from a small town called Basilich, seized by Noxus about eighteen years ago. He has a little brother who works besides Urgot in the arena, have you met him?"
Talon shook his head.
Lux was eager to continue. "I heard Draven, Darius' brother, makes an even greater show of executing criminals than Urgot does. But a woman also belonged to Darius' group, I heard she was always by his side at that time. For three years at least. It is not much of a secret that they were lovers, a long time ago."
He lifted an eyebrow and she adjusted her position to be able to meet his gaze.
She continued as if he had voiced the question out loud. "It seems that roughly fifteen years ago… if the military archives are correct…"
The corners of his lips tugged upwards in amusement. "You peeked into the military archives? What else did I expect from a sneaky little spy."
She giggled warmly and turned into him. "Hopefully nothing less." She said while caressing his cheek.
He stretched out his hand and let his thumb glide over her side. "Nothing less." He confirmed.
"So, like I said, the military archives state that they were assigned to different parts of the empire about fifteen years ago. I found a medical document describing that roughly seven months after their redeployment a soldier gave birth to twins, complication free." She looked at him expectantly.
"Darius' lover?"
Lux nodded. "It seems that she asked to be sent to assignments as far away from him as possible after that. His career route tells me they didn't meet again until a few years later when her children, a daughter named Invetia and a son…" she raised her eyebrows expectantly.
"Decius?" Talon concluded with a roll of his eyes.
"You are as sharp as one of your blades." She praised and he poked the side where he knew she was ticklish. As expected she started to giggle before she caught his hand in her much smaller ones. He pulled and she moved to him so he was able to place a deep kiss on her lips.
"As I said", she continued a bit breathlessly, "for Darius has not acknowledged the two children…I'm fairly sure he doesn't know they are his."
"And now you are planning to do something with his son."
"It took quite some time to locate him and I think Darius lover, Quiletta, was in Ionia until about two weeks ago." She stretched in his arms and the interested gaze over his torso told Talon that she might not be too aversed to stop talking and start moving. Something in her words had him intrigued, though.
"Ionia?" He asked, trying to continue the conversation against the distraction of her bare skin.
"Yes, together with Darius. That terrible chemsmog festered in her arm and nearly killed her." The line of her forehead became a frown, indicating she didn't think highly of that kind of warfare. "A nurse who talks and drinks too much announced that it was Darius who saved her life by letting her arm be cut off against her declared will. She wanted to die. He didn't. And now she has lost her right arm."
Talon scoffed. "That makes a fighter pretty much useless and her life devoid of meaning."
Something in her face twitched. "The point is, we all heard stories about General Darius. About how merciless he is. He culls the weak and the useless. He butchers every commander in his way but he left that woman alive. A fighter without her right arm. And why?"
"Okay, I'll bite. Why?" Talon urged on, not wanting to dwell in Darius' reasoning too deeply, if he had any to begin with.
"I don't know yet but she is my best opening to Darius."
"And you are posing as a scribe."
She nodded.
"To effectively replace her right arm."
Now a smile sparked over her face and Talon pulled her even closer to him, even though that made her huff out her breath.
"And you are moving in over her son because he cares?"
She nodded again.
"And her daughter?"
Lux shrugged. "She doesn't care as much. I observed them for quite some time now."
"You are better than a truffle dragon." said Talon and nodded in approval.
"That might be the nicest compliment I've ever gotten." She wiped fake tears out of her face and he shoved her with his shoulder.
"Complicated, but it could work." He adjusted his words.
"I hope so!" Lux cheered. "I'm not sure if it'll work, but researching and scheming it out was a lot of fun." She smiled at him broadly.
Lux had underestimated just how much contentment sharing ideas and thoughts brought. The assignment from his father had been another thing, even though that had also felt great personally. But that was her moving and acting alone, and having someone to share the fruits of her labor was very, very pleasant.
He pondered over her words. And then his gaze flickered like a spark snuffed out, discarding a certain thought as unimportant because he wasn't able to voice it properly enough to give it credibility.
"Tell me." Lux invited and intertwined her fingers with his before she kissed the scarred knuckles of his hand. "You found a flaw in my plan?"
His gaze shot away to the windows and over the door. "No, no actually…not. Directly. Uncertainties, possibilities, but that is a matter of fact." He said, a frown rising to his face.
"Then what is it?" She released his hand and he continued the stroking motion on her side.
His gaze flickered away once more, then to her eyes.
"Is there…any chance…" He started, but stopped.
Now she turned to him fully, his hesitation startling. Her attention seemingly startled him in turn. He looked like he had really big problems in finding the right tune.
Lux smile died to a frown. "What?" She asked softly and moved closer to thread her hand through his hair before she kissed his forehead. "Tell me." She repeated silently, placing her hands on the back of his neck.
"You are not breeding something, right?" He finally forced out of his mouth.
Lux blinked in confusion. "Breeding something?"
He nodded in the direction of her midsection.
She blinked one more time before it hit her. Blood shot into her face.
Lux felt blindsided. He had never expressed any care about that specific issue.
"No." She said flatly, regaining control over her flaming face. Where had this gone wrong?
"So you are taking care of it?" He didn't blush up like she did, but his uneasiness converted through the flicker of his gaze.
"Sure, like I did the last couple years we've been together. There is no need to worry." She muttered and looked to the ceiling before she huddled her face into his chest.
"Not exactly worrying." He tried to differentiate his concern and started stroking her hair. "Just never thought about that before. You'd…tell me if something happened, right?"
"Is this important to you?" Lux spoke into his messy hair, not really able to look him into the eyes.
"If it sent you running again, yes." His grip around her tightened.
Oh, Quiletta's actions had set him off. She hadn't anticipated that.
Warmth rose in her belly, and this time not of the uncomfortable kind. "Okay. If a…problem should arise I'll inform you." Lux promised while his hands moved down to her back. "But like I said, there is no need to worry."
He nodded and pulled on her hair until she tilted her head upwards.
"Good." He said and kissed her. Lux circled her arms around his neck and pressed her front to his. It was a nice contrast, her soft curves against his firm chest and as he pushed her on his back every other thought left mind.
In the end Lux felt the pleasant, dull ache between her legs that would remind her of their activities for at least three days to come and she wasn't exactly sure if Talon would get up at all. Her own legs felt wobbly, muscles sore at places she hadn't trained in weeks. She loved it.
"Want to stay?" She asked, only half in mocking while she picked her outfit for the day. She had spent longer in bed than planned and Decius would arrive shortly.
He sighed and rose to start dressing by putting his pants back on. He still looked good shirtless though. Lux bit her lower lip, the dull ache between her legs flaring up with each step convincing her to let him dress and arm completely.
She looked in the mirror, the only thing of value in this room, taking in the few bruises, imprints of fingers and marks of nails on her body, luckily far enough down to be covered by her clothes completely. Talon hardly ever left anything that pointed to his visits, but this time a variety of marks bloomed on Lux' skin. Bruises from his fingertips on her hips to bite marks on her chest, a red line from a nail across her back and a few hickeys at her thighs.
He also looked over the colorful marks he had imprinted temporarily on her skin, expression dimmed to indifference. His eyes said something entirely different though.
"Very thoroughly." She commented with a smile as she turned to look at her back.
He shrugged wordlessly while closing his cloak around his shoulders.
Talon observed her as she dressed for work, changing her face as carefully as her clothes.
"Something amiss?" She turned to him with an unobtrusive smile, hands fiddling as if she missed something between the fingers, different from the twitch she normally presented only when stressed. Most likely the nervous gesture Mitsuko had.
He stood wordlessly and strode to the small table, picking up the ring that was abandoned there yesterday and held it out for her.
"Oh, I almost forgot." Her eyebrows creased before she took it and threaded it on a light chain she fished from a pocket. Lux leveraged the proximity to press another kiss on Talon's lips, a movement he reciprocated.
He stroked over her hair before pulling at it lightly. "I'll be on my way." He murmured softly and kissed her cheek.
They let go of each other and he turned to the door.
"Have a safe trip." Lux wished and turned back to her mirror. She noticed something laying on her desk. Something that hadn't been there moments before.
"Talon?" She called him back.
The assassin turned with a questioning 'hm' and his usual, stoic expression.
Lux strode to the table and regarded the little booklet, taking it into her hands. "Traveler's Breviary" she read aloud and crooked her head at the dark man still hovering at her door. He nodded and lifted an eyebrow.
"Is that for me?" Lux asked as it didn't seem like he'd say anything else.
He nodded again and the movement of his brow asked if that wasn't obvious.
Her eyes lit up. "What is it?" She mused and opened it.
"A book." His answer was so dry that she was sure he was joking. If not-who cared, she chuckled in amusement anyway.
"Glad this is no brambleback in disguise" She smiled again and looked at him as if she expected him to say more.
"You like reading. And poetry. I don't know how you feel about pets." He said, as if that would explain everything.
Her expectant gaze told him it did not.
"Well..." He desperately tried to remember what his family told him while handing over presents. Damn, that was easier with Cass and Kat. Couldn't she just read the book? Or let him get away and notice later? "It is a collection of local poetry from Ionia. Found it in Zaun. I didn't know you would be posing as an Ionian in the near future, but…" He finally said with a shrug, not really sure how to end the sentence.
Her smile lit up even more as she bounced into his arms. His sisters had never reacted that way.
Well, Cassiopeia had one time, as he had brought her the skin of that crocodile-like walking reptile from the Kumungu. She had nearly chewed his ears off about it for weeks until he hadn't been able to take her constant whining anymore, but that was a completely different thing.
He had hoped the book was to Lux' liking, but this reaction surpassed his expectations by far.
"Thank you!" She beamed before she pulled his face down for a kiss. "It is wonderful. I love it."
He needed a moment to place the unfamiliar word, not noticing the telltale twitch of his brow as he did so. "You didn't even check if it strikes your fancy." He mumbled, uncomfortable by her unabashed glee as well as the unconversant words.
"Oh, it will. You picked it for me." She declared and kissed him again.
Maybe he could stall his return home a little longer. Besides, the cape or cloak debate could wait.
The appointed time came and Decius was punctual, knocking at her door. Mitsuko opened it with a friendly smile. Decius' gaze twitched to her throat where the ring hung on a filigree chain. Nothing that fitted the too big, tasteless thing, obviously something picked for her by someone else.
The trip through the city was rather unexciting, but the young man made an effort to show off the most beautiful places of Noxus Prime.
A visit to Sion's monument revealed that it was closed for the time being, something out of the ordinary.
Otherwise the boy tried to be sneaky in asking about her former profession, but he simply wasn't trained in that area. Lux noticed something like hope creeping into Decius' expression.
At the end of the day Decius asked if it was okay for him to take her up on a stroll tomorrow, too.
Mitsuko smiled happily but Lux was grinning wider on the inside.
Decius felt the familiar uneasiness as he entered the house of his mother. It was dark, shutters in front of the windows closed. He sighed deeply and made his way through the house, opening the shutters he crossed during his walk.
Since she came back from Ionia the dark wooden door to Quiletta's bedroom was closed, and he hesitated before he knocked.
Leaving her alone had proven not to work, it had neither gotten her out of the room nor made her do anything else besides lying in the bed, looking at the closed shutters while she grew thinner and thinner, her eyes and hair duller by the day. The only thing she managed to look at was that thrice-damned medallion she brought back from her trip, the only thing she glanced at nearly all the time. He had tried to take it away from her one time, but she had fought for it and Decius had feared he would break the now almost frail body and will of his mother.
Decius swallowed roughly. His strong, loving, caring mother who had provided him with safety for all of his life looked, and worse, felt, like she was dying. No, that wasn't right. She looked like she died back in Ionia and only an empty shell made it back over the sea.
She had told him what happened in Ionia, told him of gruesome deeds he could hardly believe the mighty Noxus could do-strength was something he believed in, but slaughtering children with poison was hardly proof of that. And using toxic gas to annihilate allies and enemies alike was nothing to his taste-it was cowardly.
Still, he couldn't understand why she voiced the wish to stay away from her fellow Noxians.
When giving her time to recover hadn't worked he had tried to drag her out of her bed. She was so thin already that she could hardly resist, but her resigned surrender to his strength had also not proven to help her.
Invetia, his sister, hadn't been of any help either. She had asked if he couldn't deliver their mother from her pain and end her suffering, something that had resulted in a very short, very violent fight which ended with Invetia, bruised and bleeding, leaving the house.
But that Ionian woman had stirred another hope inside of him: that maybe someone who wasn't Noxian could break through the hollowness that clouded Quiletta's eyes. She had always harbored as well as hidden a streak for romances, too, and at this point he was willing to take any chance that presented itself.
As expected she didn't answer at his knock, so he repeated the process and opened the door, stepping through it.
"Good evening, mother." He greeted and walked to the windows, opening the shutters to let the red-tinged sunlight into the room.
A movement made the silky sheets of the bed whisper and he could see dull strands of blonde hair show beneath the covers.
"I have news for you." He announced, knowing full well that bantering before cutting to the subject proved to be ineffective with her these days.
At least, he saw her blue eyes, too big for her small, soft face, turning to him. Maybe she would actually listen.
"Mother, you need to fulfill your duties. Invetia and I can't do everything for you while we are assigned elsewhere."
"Then just don't." Her voice was hoarse, as brittle as breaking twig, a world apart to the melodious sounds she used to make.
"You will be executed if you don't. Darius didn't save your life to…"
Her face hardened and Decius knew it was the wrong approach to mention him.
"He should have let me die." Quiletta said, voice seeping with hatred and poison, the same of which took her arm.
He took a deep breath. He had never been good at subtleties and couldn't bring himself to care about them now. "I found a scribe for you. She could take over some of your writing duties so you can train your left arm." The words sputtered out of his mouth and in spite of his mother's current condition he couldn't help the tiny hope tinging his words.
Quiletta turned away. "I don't want any person besides you and Invetia in my house."
"But… but she is no Noxian." Decius stuttered. It should have come out more confidently, a well-timed surprise even, but the sight of his broken mother disturbed him profoundly enough to make it come out as a weak plea instead.
Quiletta quietened before she looked at him again, a question in her eyes.
"She is from Ionia and arrived here in Noxus Prime two weeks ago."
"Ionia?" Quiletta shot up, suddenly sparked with life. "Why would an Ionian ever come to Noxus Prime?" She asked and Decius saw the dull veil over her eyes lifting. His legs almost gave out. He saw the opportunity and took it.
"She said she followed a man. He gave her a ring and asked her to come over…"
"Someone lured her here?" She suddenly sounded sharp and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. Decius couldn't believe what he saw. His mouth opened and closed.
"Yes, and he didn't show his face…" He tried to kindle the flame that rose in her, a romantic at heart.
To his great wonder Quiletta stood up-only to fall back down. She gasped at the effort the small movement took and the feverous gleam in her eyes calmed down as she swiped her hand over her face as if to clear the cobwebs of misuse.
She took in a deep breath and Decius could see the fire dying. Despair flared up inside of him. "Mama…" He pleaded, but his voice broke, unable to say another word.
Quiletta cast her eyes to the ground, took a breath and looked through the window for the first time in weeks, blinking at the red rays that bled through it. Her lips tightened. "I want to meet that girl. Help me up now."
Decius' eyes widened before a smile spread to his lips. He practically jumped to his mother's side and reached for her arm. Hope, for once there was hope and he wasn't going to let her fall when she reached for it.
Hi!
The first twenty chapters you had to bear with me alone, and out of nowhere two people decided to make my story better by proof-reading.
They make many things better, not only grammatical mistakes and misspellings. Thank you very much for your help, Adonna2424 and Canwewrite.
Seems that I don't need to explain my altered timeline for Blood of Noxus, Lux does that for me. Well.
Happy holidays to you and as always thanks for favs and follows!
Generalblood1: Thanks as always :)
Guest: thank you too, glad you like it :)
Love4Marcus: Oh, keep on gushing- I'm really glad you like that part. I wish Marcus would get a greater part in the official lore, right now he is characterized solely by his absence- the only one who beat Talon, biological father of two league-champions and something like a warden for a third. I mean, how awesome must he be? Sadly we all know where his part of the story will be going. Embarrassing how I flip my shit about every hint I get for the potential "new noxian lore" (like the one quote from new Urgot to Katarina). I yearn for new quotes for every noxian champ.