This chapter may be all over the place but I don't really care. I have no excuse except the "I DON'T GET TO DO SOMETHING SILLY FOR MOST OF IT AND I JUST DRANK A BUNCH OF COCA COLA SO BAH!" one.

I feel obliged to add a note or something like I usually do… so… uh… how are you? Fine? Good… this was nice C:

OH RIGHT YES I ALMOST FORGOT! Uh yeah probably more Nocturne x Morgana stuff in here but I don't know it may happen it may not depends what mood I'm in when I'm writing part of this.

On with the chapter!

It's weird looking back on this a year later and seeing that I actually considered whether I should do silly things or not before doing them. Glad I don't bother with that anymore.


THIS CHAPTER HAS BEEN UPDATED RETROACTIVELY


Chapter 7: The Festival

"I'd just like to put it out there that I am not very happy about this situation."

"Say what you want, doesn't change the fact that I'm certain I know the bit about this that you are enjoying a lot."

"What would that be?"

"This lovely dress you managed to get me in." She answered while motioning to her clothing. Red all over and covering her from feet to chest, it was only hanging up thanks to some string that looped around her neck from the top of the dress. Her back was almost entirely open to see, with the dress only circling around her and covering everything below her tails. Additionally, there was a long slit in the material where her legs were, which only revealed itself from among the folds of the dress when she put her left leg forward. When she did that, you could see pretty much the entire leg.

It was okay I supposed.

"I'm not going to give you any grief over the subject, but you know as well as I do that I had no part in you putting that on."

"Maybe not, but there's nothing stopping you from having a part in taking it off."

"Let me consider it- no."

"Oh come on I was joking! Try to lighten up a bit once we get inside." She suggested while pointing down the hall.

When I saw it I was genuinely surprised by the restaurant. It looked high class and rather out of place in the rather bland League building. Its classical mix of wood and metal stood out quite a lot among the marble walls. Upon entering through the doorway, a snooty man in a suit to our right noted down something on a piece of paper.

"Follow me." He demanded while taking off at a steady pace across the room. We went passed a few tables, most of which were taken, on our way over to a ramp leading down to a lower section of the restaurant. The two sections were separated by a wall made of tons of paintings hung up on chains. Someone had spent a lot of time picking out the perfect set of paintings for them to all fit together perfectly. My favourite features were the incredibly well done lighting that made you feel like you were sat around a campfire no matter where you were, the massive window that entirely replaced where the wall furthest from the door would have been, and the Jazz band was playing quietly in the corner of the room, just loud enough to enjoy.

We were led to a quiet corner, right next to a water feature and the window. Some artistic displays that separated us from the nearest table gave a good amount of privacy from any direction except outside.

The snooty man left as I went over to the table and pulled a chair out for Ahri. After tucking her in, I rounded the table and took a seat opposite her. I got comfortable then picked up the menu and checked it out.

"You really haven't done this kind of thing before, have you Zoh?"

"How do you know?"

"Well first off, you are supposed to comment on my dress. I even led into a conversation that would have been perfect for it. Secondly, you are supposed to make a conversation before looking at the menu. Shows you're more interested in the person you're with than the food. Last but not least you are supposed to hold my hand or have my arm between yours on our journey here."

"I might have even considered doing those things if this was a date."

"Can you give one of them a go? Please?"

"Why?"

"I want to see what it'd be like if our roles were reversed and you were the one trying to woo me."

"Fine." I paused to sigh before explaining: "Since it's astoundingly easy to do this, I'm going to compliment your dress. In every way I've seen, it does an incredible job of pointing out just how perfect your body actually is. The crimson red contrasts perfectly with your creamy white skin, while also symbolising your fiery and passionate personality. I think it is unfair for you to wear it, because you're making me, and probably everyone else in here, feel inadequate. How's that for a compliment?"

She raised an eyebrow and smiled, leaning in to question: "That was lovely, but it doesn't really seem to fit with your 'just friends' thing."

"Actually, it does. Just cause we're not in a relationship, doesn't mean I'm blind to the facts."

"For the sake of my ego, what are those facts?"

I furrowed my brow at her, hoping she wasn't serious. Her insistent smile proved otherwise, so I relented: "If you really need to hear it coming from me this badly, I'll explain. I have travelled to countless worlds, some inhabited, some not. I've visited all the most beautiful constellations in the sky, I have seen every natural wonder from here to the Andromeda galaxy. I've seen millions, if not billions, of people and creatures in my life and I can say without a shadow of a doubt that you are the most strikingly beautiful thing my two eyes have even gazed upon. I'm pretty damn sure I could ask anyone around here and they'd all agree."

She looked at me with need in her eyes while cooing: "Please just take me now!"

"Really? That easy?"

"What can I say? Seeing you in your boxers got me all riled up. I just want to lay on your abs and melt..."

While we were talking it started raining outside. My back was to the window, so I heard the light pattering on the concrete paths before I saw it.

"It always feels weird being on a planet with rain."

"Is there no rain where you're from?"

"Nah, the air is just incredibly humid all the damn time."

"Surely that gets annoying?"

"Yeah, all the time, but it's better than some of the alternatives. I once discovered a planet where clouds would form, float up then all condense at the same time. It was like someone kept picking up all the content of lakes and dropping it from the sky. Scared the shit out of me a few times when I was exploring then, suddenly, underwater."

We got talking about my planet and I quickly lost focus on anything happening around me, far too focused on explaining the intricacies of the planet's ecosystems and geology.

"Yeah the mountains there are a lot smaller than they are here. Interestingly, the way they erode over time means that we occasionally uncover one of the many layers of incredibly flammable material that makes up all of the mountains. It's pretty funny when you're just going about your day when suddenly an entire mountain just sets on fire." I chuckled as a waiter approached from my right, who I utterly failed to notice.

"Good eve-"

"Ah what the fu-" I shouted as I jumped off of my chair and fell onto the ground.

"Are you okay, sir?" The waiter questioned as he leaned over my chair to look at me while Ahri laughed hysterically.

"Apart from my pride, I'm all-right." I smiled as I pulled myself up, managing to find the comedy in the situation.

Ahri managed to stifle her laughing long enough to ask: "How much of a wimp are you that a waiter got that reaction?"

"He snuck up on me." I confessed while standing my chair up and sitting on it. The waiter was standing by and I didn't want to keep him waiting, so I just showed the menu to him and pointed to some things.

"I'll have that, uh… that, and… is that even a dessert? Whatever, I'll have it too."

"And I will have…" Ahri began describing what she'd like to the waiter. I honestly had no clue what she was saying for most of it.

"Would either of you like a drink with your meal?"

I nodded for Ahri to go first, and she proceeded to pick up and search through a wine list.

"The Demacian Chardonnay sounds lovely."

"Oh it is, we've had to pay the vineyard to expand so that we can keep up with demand.

"Perfect. I'll have that."

"And you, sir?"

"I'll just have water, thanks."

He wrote down some things then politely asked: "Sir, did you mean to select two main courses for yourself or was that a mistake?"

"Oh, uh, I didn't realise. Just remove the one you like less then put the most popular starter of the day down for me."

He smiled and scribbled some more down on his notepad before mentioning: "I must say, you have got to be the best looking couple I've ever served. I hope you enjoy your evening."

"Sorry to burst your bubble, but we're not dating."

He glanced between me and Ahri with an eyebrow raised before chuckling: "My mistake. At least, if you ever do, you'll certainly look the part."

The waiter left, leaving me to turn to Ahri and ask: "We don't really look like a couple, do we?"

"A man and a woman sat at a table talking in a fancy restaurant. If I didn't have tails, an extra set of ears and whisker-marks on my face we'd be the stereotypical attractive couple."

"God damn, am I going to have to make some sort of PSA that we are in an entirely platonic relationship?"

"I still see no reason that we have to only be friends in the first place." Ahri commented with a shrug.

"How many times am I going to have to explain this? I really like having you as a friend, even when you make me do stuff like this. Even though we've only known each other for a few days, you're easily my best friend. I don't want to risk that by rushing into something I'm not ready for and can't even be sure will work. It's not like you don't have a lot of options for potential boyfriends if you want one."

"Why would I go settle for second or third best when I've got someone right in front of me who is a genius, gorgeous, occasionally funny, has a great body and did I mention how hot you are? And did I mention how nice your ass is?"

"Thanks for the compliments, but it doesn't change my stance. If I'm really the only person you want to date, then you better get working on a damn good reason for me to agree to bump uglies with you. Or, you can wait until I can decide whether or not I feel the same way about you as you do about me."

"This may seem like a really awkward time to point it out but you are staring again."

"Those don't count as reasons, as lovely as they are."

Fifteen minutes later (18:45):

I found myself once again staring, a confused expression covering my face, at the food in front of me. Not only did I have no idea what it was, I could not for the life of me work out how I was supposed to eat it. It was some sort of soup but with chunks of meat and pasta. Yet for reasons unknown I had not been given a spoon.

"Ahri how the hell am I supposed to eat this stuff?"

"With a fork."

"But what about this soupy stuff?"

"That's just to add flavour to the rest of it. You leave that once you're done."

"Whoever had that idea shouldn't be allowed near my food."

"Just eat it already." She sighed while taking a sip of her wine.

"Hey, don't get mad at me for not knowing this stuff."

"I'm not angry, I just want you to have eaten more than just a starter by the time we get out of here. In the admittedly unlikely scenario where we do 'something' later on, I want you to have some energy for it."

"Don't worry, I'll make sure to have enough to fight off Zed if he decides to go for round two." I assured confidently before taking a few bites of my food. It was surprisingly nice, despite its odd way of being eaten.

"Not exactly what I meant, but I guess that's a valid point."

After we were finished with everything, I suggested: "We might as well get out here now. Nothing we can do here that we won't be able to do more comfortably back at the room."

"Agreed. Let's go."

I got up and helped Ahri out of her seat before putting the money for the bill plus a tip on the table. We made our way out, finding it considerably easier than coming in earlier, as most of the people had gone. I waved to the guy next to the door as I opened it for Ahri and followed her out. The second I left the restaurant, a camera flashed a few feet from my face. For some reason, a scrawny Summoner was standing there with a camera, looking quite pleased with himself.

"Look at this, the newest couple in the league out for dinner! How interesting!" He babbled, instantly making me want to hurt him in various ways.

"If you don't mind my asking, who the hell are you?" I questioned, the irritation clear in my voice.

"Oh, I'm just a lowly summoner doing some reporting for the Journal of Justice. So how is the new couple?"

"Look, we're just friends-"

"Oh just suck it up and smile for the camera Zoh." Ahri demanded while grabbing my arm and wrapping it around her waist.

"I am going to have to explain this to so many damn people…" I mumbled before putting on my usual fake smile. At that point I'd used it so much it was indistinguishable from my genuine one.

"Wow, the camera loves you two almost as much as you love each other! Hold on, I've got to write that down. It'll be perfect for the story!" The summoner exclaimed before hurrying away, frantically writing stuff down on a notepad he pulled from who-knows-where.

Once he had disappeared around a corner, I turned to Ahri.

"Did we really have to do that?"

"Yep. I'll take any chance I can get to put you in more situations where you get flustered trying to explain that we're 'just friends'."

"I swear you hate me sometimes."

"Nah, you're just really easy to mess around with and it's super fun."

Ten minutes later (17:20):

"What kind of drink is this Ahri?"

"Just a beer. I hope that's okay."

"Oh yeah, I've heard of this stuff before. We don't have any of it on my home planet but it seems pretty popular everywhere else."

"That's probably down to the alcohol."

"What's that and what does it do?"

"It's an ingredient in a lot of drinks around here and it does different things to different people."

"What do you think it will do to me?"

"Depends on how much of a lightweight you are. And there's only one way to find that out…"

The next morning (10:00):

Ahri's POV:

I couldn't explain why, but I slept so much better when Zoh was there with me. I couldn't remember exactly why he was there, but alcohol was definitely involved. Even so, it was far easier to sleep and I had such pleasant dreams when he was with me.

When I turned around to look at him, I realised he was in a cocoon of my tails.

"I should probably get him out of these." I thought before carefully un-wrapping my tails.

Getting the last tail from under him took more effort than I thought it would, and the harsh tug that finally got it out also woke him up. His eyes blinked to life, staring around the room for a while before settling on me.

"Why am I in your bed?"

"You got very drunk and said you wanted to so I didn't say no."

"What do you mean I 'got drunk'?"

"Remember how we came back here after dinner and had a bunch of bad-tasting drinks? Those all had alcohol in them and you had a bit of a… reaction to it."

"I remember a little bit… hey, didn't you say there would be after-effects? Something about a, what was it, 'hangover'?"

"Oh yeah that's gonna start in three, two, one…"

"Ahh what the shit happened to my head!? Feels like I got smashed by an oversized hammer!" He exclaimed while gripping his head.

"Probably because that did happen."

"What? When? And why?"

"Well, you said you had some people you wanted to punch so we went out and on the way to one of them that Jayce guy from Piltover showed up. Oddly enough, he was still mad about you knocking him out. Some things happened and I had to explain to multiple people why I was dragging you across the floor."

"I remember none of that."

"Yeah that happens when you have a lot."

"Hmm. Despite that and the headache, I still feel like I had fun. We should do that again some time."

"Oh I'm sure we'll get pissed a lot in this place. Also, I just remembered something."

I lifted the covers up slightly with one of my tails and ogled him. There was absolutely no chance that I was going to take my eyes away, so I only had to stop staring when he noticed and shoved the covers back down.

"May I ask why I am naked?"

"Because you set fire to your clothes. All of them."

"Why would I do that?"

"We thought it was going to be funny. To be honest, it kinda was."

He noticed the smile on my face and the fact I was still holding the covers over myself and queried: "Did we set fire to your clothes too?"

"No I did this because… um… I didn't want you to feel self-conscious?"

He frowned at me and sighed.

"Okay I did it because I liked the idea of sleeping naked with you."

"… Can you make me a promise that you'll never order me to do anything sexual to you, cause you're already making it very difficult to avoid these situations."

"I don't just promise, I consider it a personal challenge to make you ask me for sex and not the other way around."

"Good luck with that. Now if you'd be so kind as to go get me some clothes, I'd appreciate it."

"Okay!" I beamed, jumping out of bed before he had a chance to look away.

"Oh come on that's not fair!" He groaned while using the sheets to cover his head.

Ten minutes later (10:15):

"No, I'm just looking for normal clothes for him. Not a suit."

"I'm sorry miss, but we received a call from him a few minutes before you arrived explicitly stating that you are here to get him suits."

"Fine, I'll get him some damn suits! Now just let me find some on my own, thank you very much."

The assistant walked away with a sneer so I just got back to looking for clothes. While I was searching I heard someone walking up behind me, but ignored it.

"So, what are you looking for?" Came from next to me in an oddly high-pitched voice.

Turning to see Ezreal, who happened to be one of the people Zoh went out to punch the night before, I expected him to be angry. Fairly enough, cause I had punched him too.

"Oh hey Ez. Sorry about punching you last night, we were a bit drunk.

"Don't worry about it, I could never stay angry at a pretty face."

"I can already see where this is going and it's a no."

"Why? Spent too long with a bad guy to know a good one when you see him?"

"Nope. I just see no reason to date an idiotic, scrawny, and overall annoying person like you. Also, I'm pretty damn sure you've not even gone through puberty yet."

"Whatever bitch, the only thing you're good for is your looks anyway. I give it a week before you've fucked everyone and everything here and look worse than a used, dirty dishcloth!"

I don't think there was a person on the planet who would've denied that he deserved the multiple punches I gave him. Not even the Summoners browsing the shop tried to stop me.

Many hours later (15:00):

Finally arriving back at the room I threw everything to the side and flopped onto the sofa. Who would have thought getting clothes would be so exhausting?

"You took your time." Zoh shouted from his room.

"Hey, I had my own stuff I wanted to do and my own stuff to buy."

"Understandable. Hey, can you throw some clothes through my door please?"

"Zoh, I've seen it all already so you might as well come out and get them yourself."

He appeared from his room, using a pillow to cover up the important stuff.

"Just because you've seen it once, doesn't mean I'm any more comfortable with being nude." He muttered as he picked up the clothes.

Peeking over my shoulder for a second, I had to restrain myself from giggling. Just as he was headed back to his room, I set a small fire on the pillow he was using.

"Oh shit!" He shouted while throwing it away. I enjoyed the view while putting out the flame, just as he realised what had happened.

"Do you have any idea how irritating you are Ahri?"

"Love you too honey." I joked as he slammed the door behind him.

While I was sat waiting on him, a knock came from the door. Getting up and hurrying over to the door, I swung it open. Floating in front of me was that thing from my dreams.

"Oh hey Nocturne… whatcha doing in the real world?"

"A whole lot of things that are much more confusing than I thought they'd be. Tell me, is Zoh home at the moment?"

"Yeah, he's just in his room right now getting dressed. Do you want to come in and wait for him?"

"Sure."

As I guided him in I shouted: "Oi Zoh, Nocturne is here for you!"

"One minute!"

I went back to the sofa and dropped onto it before offering: "You can take a seat if you want."

He stared at me blankly before looking down at where his legs were supposed to be. I realised my mistake as he turned his head up to look back at me. My cheeks got a bit red as I mumbled: "Boy, it would be great if Zoh turned up soon."

Thankfully, he appeared from his room in a grey suit a few moments later. He'd decided against using a tie and had his top button undone, meaning he looked slightly less serious than usual.

I had to wonder when he would realise that the suit he was wearing was tailored to him. It was going to be a fun time explaining how I'd got his measurements, though I doubted he'd be happy about it.

"Ah, Nocturne, it's good to see you."

"Likewise."

"So, what's this about then?"

"You know what we talked about while I was showing you the way to the lobby?" Nocturne questioned as I started picking at some grapes on the coffee table.

Zoh's eyes widened in surprise before he asked: "Wait, you did it already?"

"Me and Morgana are going on a date at six."

I nearly choked on a grape when he said that.

"Wait, you are going on a date? With a girl? Is she human or like you?" I butted-in, the conversation now having gained my interest.

"She's mostly human. Except she has wings and is from another planet."

I stared at him in disbelief for a moment, until his unwavering face convinced me he wasn't joking.

"Well now I have to know more. Please, carry on." I insisted while kneeling on the edge of the sofa, listening intently.

"Just ignore her. Do you have any idea what you and her are going to do?"

"I thought that we could go to the Festival of Fire in Ionia. Supposedly, it's quite the celebration."

"The problem I am seeing with that is the 'in Ionia' part."

"Thankfully, not a problem. Summoners can teleport us anywhere we want to go."

"You've already got the when, where, what, and how. What do you need me for?"

"The League doesn't really trust me very much, so they have said I need a 'combat-ready' Champion to accompany me to make sure I don't get into any trouble."

"Hate to break it to you, but they don't exactly like me."

"No, but they didn't specifically say that the person I brought with me had to be in their good books. I thought, who better to bring than the guy who convinced me to go for it in the first place?"

"In that case, I would be more than happy to come along."

I stared at Zoh with a cheesy smile for a few seconds until he added: "And you can come along too."

Three hours later (18:00):

The atmosphere of Ionia was completely different to the last time me and Zoh were there. In a matter of days, it had changed from a country worn down by a war that had ground to a halt on both sides, to one that was drowning in colourful decorations and alive with activity. Everywhere you looked, people had covered themselves in beautifully made, colourful clothing that could pass as works of art if you put them in a gallery. Some of them had grouped together to huge monsters, using themselves as the legs. Others had dressed up as massive flecks of fire, getting together to create huge, helpfully fake, infernos.

We were in the capital of Ionia, so it was understandably very busy. You couldn't take more than one step in any direction without walking into someone, yet there was still a sense of order to it all. The sides of the roads were where you went to stand still, while two distinct flows went through the middle for when you wanted to get moving.

For the first time in forever, I didn't feel like I stood out at all. The themes of the festival were red and white, perfect for my usual get-up. For the occasion, I had tied a bunch of ribbons into my hair and pinned a bunch more of them onto my clothes.

I wasn't the only one, though. We had painted Nocturne's armour and blades in red and white and stuck a bunch of along the length of his blades so that he didn't inadvertently stab anyone. His date, a pale but pretty woman with broken, black wings and purple hair, was wearing a long red skirt that covered her legs completely and an armoured, white bra.

Zoh had been hoping to turn up in a variant of his armour in the colours of the festival, but a last-minute intervention by Shen prevented that. He'd turned up at our door minutes before we were going to leave and handed Zoh a replica of Shen's normal armour, except it was in red and white. It even came with the weird face-mask thing and a pair of swords. While he had decided against the face-mask, he was more than happy to have a pair of swords on his back.

Nocturne gave Zoh the signal to keep his distance, so we held back as he walked off with Morgana. When they were gone, I turned to Zoh.

"You said you'd done some research on this festival, right?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"What are we actually supposed to do?"

"There will be a bunch of stalls around here somewhere for food and souvenirs and all that stuff. Also, in a few minutes Shen and some of his ninjas are going to be performing some sort of play. Other than that, I guess we just have to make our own fun."

"I can think of some things we could do…" I whispered suggestively while getting close to Zoh and putting my hands on his shoulders.

"Hey let's go check out that tree!" He hastily decided while hurrying past me. I smiled before turning to follow him.

Pushing our way through the crowd, I noticed that hundreds of tiny scrolls were hanging from the tree. Multiple tables had been placed around it, holding hundreds of small bits of paper and pencils.

"What do we actually do with these?" I asked as I picked up one of the clear scrolls.

At that moment Shen appeared out of nowhere and stood next to us, wearing the same thing as Zoh, except with a porcelain mask that looked like some sort of demon.

"You write all of your woes on the paper and then hang it on the Great Tree. I can see even without using my abilities that you may both require multiple scrolls."

"Is it really that obvious?" Zoh questioned while I began to think up some ideas for what to put on mine.

"One's expression often betrays the struggle going on within their mind. This is especially evident with you."

"I suppose I better give the tree a try in that case. For its sake I'll only bother it with the big ones."

While they were discussing important stuff, I was coming up with a wonderful idea to entertain myself and likely a fair few onlookers.

"Hey Shen can I talk to you privately for a second?"

"Should I be worried that you cannot say it openly?"

"Of course not!" I assured while putting my hand on his shoulder and taking him a few metres away from Zoh, safely in the bustle of the crowd.

"I need to ask a favour. You are supposed to be entertaining the crowd later right?"

"Indeed, my order is in charge of putting on a classical opera piece. Why do you ask?"

"I had an idea while you were talking. This is the 'Festival of Fire', right?"

"Yes."

"Well then, wouldn't it only make sense to get the guy with completely fireproof armour to do something cool for the crowd?"

"So long as he consents, yes."

"Great! So I was thinking we set him on fire then send him through an obstacle course!"

"I do agree that it would be quite the spectacle, but how do you suppose you are going to get him to agree to it?"

"Didn't Zoh tell you about the deal we made?"

"I have heard nothing of this but I can already tell it was not smart on his part."

"It's a bit more complex than this, but it all boils down to the fact that he has to do whatever I say."

"Why would he ever agree to something like that?"

"Honestly couldn't tell you. I thought he'd argue it down to something a lot more reasonable but he just, sorta… didn't."

"I would think a man of his intellect would have some level of common sense. Apparently I would be wrong."

"So can we get it arranged?"

"Certainly. There is already an obstacle course somewhere in the festival, we need only requisition it."

"Great! Let's go tell Zoh!"

Twenty minutes later (19:00):

"Welcome one and all to the Festival of Fire! This year, we have something really special arranged! For our first act of the night, the joint-newest Champion of the League, a man named Zoh Kihn, shall be completing our legendary obstacle course! The twist is, he shall be on fire for the entire duration of the course! And 'who will be setting this fire' you may ask? None other than the other newest Champion, Ahri!" Shen announced from atop the stage, a hugely surprising level of enthusiasm in his voice. Zoh was stood in-between him and me in full armour. Behind us was an obstacle course that had only been completed by five people in almost a hundred years of use in the yearly festival.

"Zoh, are you prepared to take on this mighty challenge?" Shen questioned, half to Zoh and half to the microphone in his hand.

"I damn well hope I am. Kinda fucked if I'm not." Zoh joked. Shen gave me the hand-gesture to go ahead and we both took a few steps back before I lit a spirit fire on Zoh. It immediately covered every inch of him, but did not spread to the wooden stage.

He calmly stepped over to the start of the course, beginning a moment later. His first obstacle was a twenty-foot high wall that he had to climb using a rope as blades sliced through the air like sideways pendulums, just barely not cutting the rope. He had to pull himself up at precisely the right time to not get sliced by one of the many blades. Zoh did just about manage it, despite many close calls on the way up.

At the top of the wall was a set of quickly spinning monkey-bars, at an angle that led down to the floor of the course. Below the bars was a pit of spikes that Zoh came very close to falling into on multiple occasions. He got about half-way down before using his momentum and the spinning of the bar he was grabbing to throw himself forward, narrowly clearing the final few spikes of the pit and landing with a roll.

Up next was a high-walk, once again above a pit of spikes, across a thin wooden platform with massive blades that continuously dropped, pulled themselves back up, then dropped again. They all dropped at different times and at different intervals, something that made Zoh wait for a moment to assess the challenge before beginning. He got past the first two blades without major problems, however he couldn't even attempt the third before a boulder on a rope swung in from the side. He saw it but had nowhere to go, so he braced and took the hit. I thought I'd have to signal the paramedics standing by, until I noticed that he'd grabbed onto the rock and was swinging with it. After a moment, it settled in the middle of the platform and Zoh let go of it. He cleared the final few metres of the high-walk quickly and went on to the final challenge.

The floor was a grid of quickly-shifting squares that were barely big enough to stand on, each with a single, large spike embedded in them. Normally, the spikes were safely concealed within the squares. However, they occasionally popped out of the squares, ready to impale anything standing on them at the wrong times. A wall was propped-up next to the grid, with dozens of spiked balls on it in a line at chest-height. These balls, like seemingly everything else on the course, were constantly launching themselves out far enough to hit anything on the grid, before pinging back into place just as quickly. Energy pylons were attached to the ceiling of the area, firing bolts of electricity at random things below. As if that wasn't enough already, the floor behind Zoh was dropping down a metre at a time, slowly catching up to him.

Seeing this, he quickly jumped onto the closest floor square. A ball was already headed at him and the spike below him popped up at the same time. Just barely avoiding getting pummelled or impaled, he ducked backwards, grabbing onto the spike to avoid falling on his back. Without wasting a moment, he swung himself up and to the side, going right over the metal bar that held one of the balls. A floor-square moved into place at precisely the right time for him to land on it. He immediately got zapped by a bolt of electricity, causing him to be stuck in place for a moment. Right on time, a spiked ball launched itself right for him. I, and probably everyone else, expected that to be the end of his run.

It was fair to say we were all quite surprised when he turned to the ball and stopped it dead in its tracks by grabbing it. With a roar of exertion, he ripped the ball and its pole from the wall. Using it, he smashed away the final few spiked balls. Throwing it aside, Zoh charged forward. The floor caught up, however, and he was dropped out of sight into the pit below. The next few milliseconds were the longest of my life. I was convinced that I'd got Zoh killed.

Until, just before the sound of the course clattering into the pit dozens of metres below, the head of an axe swung out of the pit and hooked itself onto the side. The second I noticed that a flaming hand was gripping it, I knew he'd done it.

With one final burst of effort, Zoh hauled himself up to the floor at the end of the course. I immediately dispelled the flames and ran over to him as he collapsed onto his back. He pulled off his helmet as I kneeled down beside him and held his head in my hands. Shen joined me on his other side and held the microphone out between them.

"Zoh, you may have cost us a lot of money in repair costs, but that run was truly awe-inspiring. If I had a chair I would have been on the edge of it for the entire duration! Do you have anything to say to your loving adoring audience?"

"Everything hurts and I'm pretty sure my heart is pumping dangerously fast… but that was really damn fun." He admitted between breaths, instantly drawing a huge cheer from the massive crowd.

A moment later Zoh's armour disappeared, allowing me and Shen to pull him to his feet. He refused my offer to help keep him standing as Shen stepped up to the edge of the stage and addressed the crowd: "I think we can all agree that what we just witnessed was something truly amazing! Now, I'm not sure about you, but I think that it would be bordering on a crime to not reward such an effort."

The crowd cheered in agreement before settling down when Shen went to speak again while making his way towards us slowly: "I believe that, all things considered, a kiss from Ahri, our lovely fire-starter, would suffice. Do you not agree?"

Once again, the crowd showed pretty much universal approval of the idea. Shen put his hand on Zoh's shoulder and held the mic up to him. The crowd quieted themselves as began: "I didn't do this for a reward…"

He had to stop half way through, as the crowd started chanting 'kiss, kiss, kiss' over and over. He looked between them and me a few times before continuing: "… but I suppose I can accept it anyway."

Shen stepped away as Zoh turned to me. He grabbed me by the hips and whispered: "Not a word."

I nodded in agreement, prompting him to drop me backwards and lean down, taking my lips into a kiss. The uproar of the crowd faded into the background and the scent of burning was lost from my nose. My eyes were closed and all I could feel were his lips against mine. That, and the utter need in every part of my being to keep him there until the end of time.

He was getting really good at that.

A few hours later (22:40):

The night went on and people started to go home until, though by the sound of it most of them just kept the party going inside. After meeting back up with Nocturne and Morgana, we all decided to head back and hang around in our room to get to know one-another. Despite her not-so-pleasant history, Morgana turned out to be really nice. She had a way with words that made everything she said feel very friendly, even when she was talking about her seething hatred for her sister, Kayle.

We could have talked all night if we wanted to, but both Zoh and I got a sense that they wanted to be alone after a while. When we suggested they go have some time alone, both were eager to agree.

"Have a nice night you two." Zoh called out as Nocturne and Morgana headed down the hall.

"Likewise. Now you two can continue what you started on that stage." Nocturne replied jokingly, getting a laugh from Morg.

Zoh frowned at the creature and stepped back into the room, shoving the door shut behind him.

"I feel like you should just not bother trying to correct people at this point. Everyone seems to agree on what this is except you."

"All that means is everyone is wrong except me." He retorted while walking around the room with no real purpose.

"We just spent hours at a festival about letting your worries go and all you can do is pace around our room trying to think of ways to solve problems that don't even exist yet."

"I'd rather find a way to deal with them now than wait until they become issues and find myself with no answer."

"What does it matter if people think we're dating? If we're not, we're not. They can think whatever they want, it won't change that fact. So please, can we just sit down and have a nice time? I don't want to ruin this night by arguing over stuff that doesn't even matter."

He stopped pacing and looked at me apologetically before sighing and walking over to the sofa, taking a seat next to me.

"I'm sorry Ahri. I don't mean to ruin your time by worrying about this stuff so much."

"That's nice and all, but I think it'd be a much more effective apology if you went to the shops and picked up some drinks. We kinda drank all the complimentary stuff last night."

"I can do that." He agreed cheerfully while getting up and heading to the door.

As he opened the door I advised: "Don't get too much. There are some bits of tonight I'd really like to remember."

"Same here." He began before turning around and stepping out the door, continuing: "And they're probably the same parts."


This one is even later than the last. Yay!

But anyway this will be the last we hear of Morgana and Nocturne for a while because I am going to introduce some more characters into this and also I am going to do some more stuff with Shen and Zed.

But anyways just a little note this one is late because I was writing a list of ideas for future chapters. Not a plan, just some ideas. To give you an idea of the kind of idea's I thought up, one of the chapter ideas is Zed and Zoh having a competition to see who can throw the other to the ground from the highest up. Yeah.

Goodbye!