Another chapter as an early Christmas present (If it gets released when I tell it to)

Hints at future events inside so keep your eyes peeled (not in the "AGH MY EYES WHY DID I PEEL THEM WITH THIS CARROT PEELER" way)

Anyways enjoy as much as it is possible to enjoy reading stuff like this…. Yeah….


THIS CHAPTER HAS BEEN UPDATED RETROACTIVELY


Chapter 4: Trouble at sea

Ahri's POV:

"Okay, well, maybe we can just go back into the forest, you take your armour off, we walk out looking frightened then go tell the nearest soldiers that we saw a scary man in armour."

"That won't work now. They have seen you with me."

"Even so, we should probably go back to the forest anyway, cause some very angry looking soldiers are running at us from that guard tower."

Zoh turned his attention from me and to the fast-approaching soldiers before agreeing: "Ehh, could be a good idea."

With that we ran to the forest and soon lost the guards who stopped at the edge, probably fearing the stuff that lived within.

From where we were laying I could see that the guards had left, so I signalled for Zoh to stand up while I did the same.

As he began the process of removing his armour, I sighed and whispered: "We really need to make your armour less threatening. Or at the very least let the guards know that we are friendly."

"I have no idea how we are supposed to make it friendlier. From my point of view it couldn't look more positive, even if I taped hundreds of pictures of puppies to it." Zoh paused as he stepped out of the quickly disappearing armour. He continued when it was fully gone: "Although that is still a good idea."

"Can I ask, is red and grey a friendly looking colour back on your planet?"

"Yes."

"Well here on Runeterra those are not very positive. Colours like blue and green are much more inviting." I explained, hoping that he would not come up with a stupid retort.

"Look, I'm out of it now, we can sort the issue out later. For now, we should think up some way of getting into the port without getting attacked by the Ionians."

After a few minutes of planning we came up with the idea that Zoh could go up to the tower and report a sighting of "a man in large armour" while I snuck around behind the guard tower and get into town. From there we would meet up and get on a boat once we were both in the town. We would have to do it at night so that I could sneak around the tower more effectively.

Multiple hours later (20:00):

The sun was already under the horizon and the moon was beginning its ascent to the top of the night sky.

I watched as Zoh casually strolled up to the guard tower on the outskirts of the port. When he reached the bottom of the wooden tower, one of the guards came down and soon they were in what looked like an engaging conversation so I took that as a signal for me to start moving. I got as low to the ground as I could while still standing up. I walked out of the forest and circled around behind the tower. In order to keep out of the sight of the nearby houses I had to stay in the shadow of the tower. As I snuck around behind the tower I overheard the conversation that Zoh was having with the soldier: "I had the same problem with my dog actually. Little arsehole tried to take my dinner while I was talking with a friend."

Whatever that conversation was, it didn't sound interesting enough for me to stick around. So, I headed into the town, still clinging to darkness as much as I could.

"Not exactly what we planned but whatever. Still worked I suppose." I thought to myself as I walked through the un-guarded gate and into the town. As soon as I entered I was greeted by a smell so terrible that I nearly passed out right then and there. Realising that it was coming from a nearby restaurant, I decided that it couldn't hurt too much to wait a while longer for food.

After a few minutes of waiting by the gate Zoh walked through. He almost immediately noticed me and smiled: "I just got us on a boat that is headed for Piltover. It leaves in a few minutes so we better get going."

"Not even a 'hello Ahri, good job sneaking by the guard tower! You were so sneaky and cool'."

"It wasn't really that great considering they saw you." He grinned.

"Surely if that was true I'd have been questioned for acting suspicious?"

"You would have been had I not told them a very convincing lie about you being slightly wonky in the head and me being your carer."

I scowled at him and grumbled: "Let's just get out of here before you embarrass me anymore."

Zoh agreed cheerfully and we headed down the main street towards the docks. Along the way I began to seriously wonder if he was worth all the effort I was putting into it.

Zoh's POV

As we boarded the boat I noticed that Ahri seemed to be very distracted from the world around her. She barely even reacted when a guy with the face of an eighty-year-old and the body of a bodybuilder shoved past her. Whatever it was, I seriously doubted I could help. She'd just have to work it out herself.

We walked to the front of the boat as it set off and I took the time as a chance to take a final look at Ionia. From where I was I could see the small town which looked almost dead at this time of night. Behind the small town stood the dense forest perched atop a small hill. On one side of the forest stood a mountain range with snow-topped peaks while the other side was flanked by a river that appeared perfectly still, reflecting the crescent moon above perfectly.

It all seemed very distant from where I was standing. Speaking of which, that boat was really something else. It was as long as some of the streets in the village while still being as wide as two of them put together. Two massive sails were needed just to get the thing moving. The main deck of the ship was flat from the bow to the stairs leading to a raised rear section where the captain sat, dozing off after a long day. Down below, the ship had three lower decks. The upper-most was for passengers, the middle was for crew, and the bottom was for cargo. Considering the entire thing was made of wood, I was very impressed. How they managed to have it all hold together and still move was beyond me.

Luckily for me, I could admire it all I wanted. The deck was almost completely clear, save for a few crates, some packed-away tables and chairs, and all the supplies needed in case something broke up here.

The way I saw it, there was nothing that could take my attention away from the beautiful scenery.

"Hey Zoh do you think I am attractive?"

"Wha- You can't just go around asking people… and I'm not exactly a leading authority on the subject and I just don't think that… I… uhh… do I get multiple guesses?"

"Just answer the question Zoh."

"It's not exactly an easy thing to say so I'm gonna need a while to explain."

"We've got time."

I took a deep breath and made some expressions to buy myself time to think up an answer that wouldn't sound dumb.

"Okay so, when we first met my first thought was 'oh my damn that lady is hot'. Well, that's a lie, my first thought was 'I hope she doesn't murder me' but I've had some bad experiences in my time so that's reasonable. Anyway, off topic. After a while of travelling with you I've sort of come to the realisation that you're generally just pleasant to be around. You put up with my bullshit way better than anyone else and so far you've been pretty consistently positive. That's kinda why I'm confident that someday you'll find someone who can make you truly happy."

"Why can't you be that person?" Ahri asked in a seductive tone while leaning closer to me.

"Because I'm not the kind of person who can be in a relationship. I can assure you that in mere hours I'd have done something which would make you sick of me. That's why we should just be friends and leave it at that."

"We can be friends and do other things." Ahri asserted while grabbing my jacket and pulling me closer.

"What would 'other things' consist o-" I began before being cut off by her pulling me into a kiss. My eyes shot wide open and, despite really wanting to, I couldn't pull away. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt the feelings of the person I'd be travelling with for who-knows how long. I felt incredibly awkward, knowing that anyone could have walked up and seen.

When we finally separated she looked at me, expecting something. I couldn't think up anything witty, so I just sighed: "Is that what people have been talking about when they say 'friends with benefits'?"

"Not quite, but I think I could show you what they meant by that pretty happily."

"Riiiiiight… I still don't get it… how about we go check out the room?"

As we headed down below the decks the shoreline of Ionia slowly fell out of view, followed by the star-filled sky.

Ahri POV

When we reached the room Zoh opened the door and we discovered that, like before, we had one bed to share.

"Does this planet have a shortage of 1-person beds or something?" Zoh questioned as I eagerly dived onto the bed and enjoyed the softness.

"I hope so. I could get used to sharing a bed with you." I smiled while jumping up onto all fours, facing Zoh, and patted the bed. He got the idea and approached cautiously.

"Please don't try anything." Zoh implored as he sat down on the bed next to me.

"Oh stop whining. You can't exactly say you don't enjoy the idea five minutes after we kissed." I smirked while getting off my hands and knees, sitting down next to Zoh on the end of the bed.

"Ahri I met you yesterday and today we kissed. Doesn't that say to you that this is moving way too quickly?"

"Oh come on now Zoh, it was just a little kiss. It's not exactly anything serious."

"It was serious to me. That was my first ever time."

I stared at him speculatively before shaking my head: "Bullshit."

"Hey, I wouldn't lie about something like this."

"Obviously you would. You just did."

"Hey!"

"Oh come on Zoh, do you really expect me to believe that a guy like you has not got with anyone? Just look at you!"

"While I appreciate the compliment, I was being serious. I've been close a few times but I've always said or done something to stop it. Plus, I haven't always looked like this."

I stared at him straight in the eyes for a few seconds and, when his focus didn't falter, I realised he actually was telling the truth.

"You know, it was my first time as well. And I chose to share it with you."

"That means a lot more to me than you think it does Ahri. While I'm pretty sure it's just because I'm the first person you met, I'm still happy that you think that I deserve the honour."

"I'm glad that I was your first kiss as well. Even if it may have not been your choice." I joked while laying back and spread my arms across the bed.

"Considering we're sharing the bed, how about giving up a bit of space?"

After a minute getting comfy and another joking about sleeping nude, we both dozed off.

The next day (08:00):

I woke up to see Zoh sleeping calmly in front of me. He had a cute little smile on his face that I really hoped was from a dream about me. Who would've thought it would be so easy?

Instead of dwelling on my own professionalism I decided to get on with my day. We would be spending another day at sea before we reached Piltover so me and Zoh would have to find something to do.

I got up from bed and went to the bathroom very carefully and quietly so that I did not wake up Zoh. After slipping out of my clothes and halfway closing the door, I stepped into the shower. I wasn't sure how he managed to get us an en suite, but damn was I happy about it. Not only was I getting a nice, hot shower, but it was all in view of Zoh.

As I washed my hair I heard movement coming from the bedroom. Just in case, I made sure to turn to the door to give the best view I could. When I opened an eye to check, I was disappointed to see that he'd just moved around in his sleep and was facing away from me.

I frowned before quickly finishing up and stepping out. Leaving my clothes flopped over the sink, I wrapped a towel around myself and stepped out. He was still sleeping, so I slammed the bathroom door. He immediately shot up and glared at the source of the noise, shifting his focus to me when he realised.

"Isn't it a bit early to be starting this?"

"Don't say you're not enjoying this." I asserted while strutting across the front of the bed. My tails stopped the towel from covering my butt, so he definitely got a good look.

"Wow, okay, now I'm getting uncomfortable."

I smiled while crawling onto the bed and whispering: "I bet I can make a guess where you are feeling 'uncomfortable'."

I approached him slowly as the towel struggled to keep my chest contained. It was losing the battle and we both knew it.

Zoh actually started to move away from me when I flashed a look at his waist and put a hand near it. Every time he shuffled away, I would crawl closer until he ran out of bed and fell off, hitting his head on the bedside table on the way down. At the same time, my towel slipped away and, seeking to tease him further, I laid down on the end of the bed. The edge of it just barely managed to keep me decent from down below.

After a few moments of cradling his head, Zoh stared up at me and sighed: "This is going to go on all day, isn't it?"

"Yep. So far, I'd say it's been very funny."

"Can you wait to start until after breakfast?"

I pretended to consider it for a second before joyfully deciding: "Nope!" and throwing the towel on him.

"URGH!" He exclaimed while trying to throw it off.

It was going to be a fun day.


Slightly shorter but heck to it it's Christmas Eve when I'm writing this so I have an excuse.

So… uhh… bye…