They were only half a day away from the capital, but with the powerful night quickly bringing the day to its knees, they had decided to sleep another day in the forest instead of trying to reach it in one go.

The small group had once again stopped next to one of the many small rivers in Ionia to use as a temporary place of residence. But since it wasn't entirely dark yet, everyone was doing their own thing to pass the time.

Yasuo and Yone were not too far away, sparring with each other much fiercer than before, and for a good reason too. Both had become stronger. Much stronger.

The first thing Riven had done the next day after their awakening was teaching them wind magic, which they had learned in less than an hour. The addition of the magic had made their sword techniques so much more powerful that it wasn't even funny. Ever since then, they had been sparring as much as possible to get used to it.

Riven still trained with them from time to time, though she now did so much less than before. This, in turn meant that she had much more time to battle Narlou. And battling they did.

After his breakdown the previous night, Narlou felt a new kind of connection binding them, and it had not just impacted their friendship. Their fights had suddenly become even more exciting than before, and he tried to use every opportunity he had to cross blades with the Warlord.

Thought he was still getting his ass kicked every time.

With the new arrangement, Narlou had increased his stats by 23, not even counting in the 5 points he got in Mind due to his mana control exercises in the evenings, which brought the stat up to a beautiful 200.

This made him very happy for one specific reason. He had already known it subconsciously, but he had only finally realized it after the new milestone.

He could become significantly stronger without having to kill people.

Killing had been all he knew during the war, and that had made him extremely strong. There was no denying that leveling up was much more efficient than simple training, and when he had first started working out after his battle against the spirit, he had been pretty anxious that his progress was going to become much slower without the killing part. But now that he had been sparring with Riven over the last week and had become much stronger without killing anyone, that particularly annoying worry had finally left him.

He should probably thank Riven for that.

Thinking of Riven, she was currently tapping him on the shoulder, successfully pulling him out of his thoughts.

"Hmm? What's up?" He asked as he focused his eyes on the smaller woman, tilting his head slightly.

"Can you get Yasuo and Yone? There is something I need to tell you."

Immediately picking up on the tone of her voice, Narlou briefly nodded. A quick minute later, he was back with two confused children who were glancing between a frowning Riven and him.

"Sit down and stop looking so goddamn anxious. I'm not going to tell you that I'll die tomorrow or something like that."

He couldn't help but snort, relaxing slightly as he sat down along with the kids. They formed the usual circle that they always sat in whenever they had something to discuss, and without wasting another second, Riven broke the silence.

"So, I've been thinking…"

"So, what you are saying is, you not only want to stay in Ionia but also fight for them to reclaim what they have lost during the war." Yasuo summarized, making Riven shift slightly, throwing a quick glance at Narlou.

"Well, I don't necessarily want to stay in Ionia," Her eyes darted to Narlou once more," but I do want to help them to make amends for what I've done."

Despite trying her best not to, she couldn't help but to throw another glance at Narlou, blushing slightly when their eyes met for a moment.

"But that's not the whole reason." Yone said with a matter-of-fact tone, making Yasuo and Narlou turning their eyes to Riven in surprise.

The poor woman squirmed under their gazes.

"No, it's not…" She trailed off, her blush darkening as she desperately tried to find a way out of this situation.

Why did Yone have to be so damn perceptive anyways?

"I w-want to shift the blame away from N-Narlou as much as possible."

She kept her eyes firmly on the ground despite practically feeling said man's intense stare on her.

"No, absolutely not. I cannot allow that."

"But I will get punished either way, so if I can shift the blame away from you by taking up all of their attention, they maybe won't realize that you also fought in the war!" All of the embarrassment was gone as she matched Narlou's eyes with a fiery stare of her own.

She was serious about this. Narlou meant a lot to her, and she would rather receive ten times the punishment than him receiving even half of hers. She didn't care what he said. This was her decision, her chance to finally make up for at least some part of what she owed to him.

"As much as I hate the idea, it makes a lot of sense. What happens when they also recognize you? Do you think that they would still be willing to trade the general for Katarina?" Yone said just as seriously, making Narlou flinch slightly.

"But-"

"Please, Narlou. You saved my life for fucks sake. Let me do this for you, just this time."

He sighed, his shoulders sagging in defeat, and Riven felt a stream of happiness wash through her stomach before he even said a word.

"Fine. Alright."

Still, she felt her excitement diminish a bit as she watched his face scrunch up in frustration.

"Don't worry, it'll be alright." Yasuo said with his trademark grin, patting his shoulder in an attempt to cheer him up.

To her confusion, she noticed Yone shooting Yasuo a short glance, after which they both shortly looked at her. Suddenly, they stood up with a sigh.

"But if there is nothing else to discuss, me and Yone will go back to our training."

Riven nodded, glancing at Narlou who appeared to have fallen into deep thought.

"That was everything."

No other words were needed as the two ran back to their sparring place, the sound of blades clashing filling the forest a moment later.

A moment of silence fell between Narlou and Riven, but she didn't dare to interrupt his thoughts.

'He must be feeling awful.'

She couldn't even begin to imagine how she would feel in his position, with no other choice than to throw him under the wagon to save her own skin. She tried to rack her brain for something to make him cheer up, but she was pulled out of her thoughts as he suddenly started speaking.

"Let me do something for you as well."

It took only the small part of a second for her brain to comprehend the words, but the split second that followed was more than enough for Riven's head to be filled with thoughts that she would never, ever dare to even speak out loud.

From some lewd but harmless requests to downright depraved, humiliating fantasies, Riven's head was full to the brim with ideas that were just begging to be released into the world.

She didn't need a mirror to know that her face was bright red, and in an effort to get rid of those weirdly exciting thoughts, she quickly coughed into her fist.

"You don't nee…"

"Shush. I don't accept a 'no' for an answer. Tell me what you want, and I'll do it." Narlou cut her off with a finality that she could not – didn't want to - argue with.

She stayed quiet for a minute as she tried to come up with something, anything that was not overflowing with lewdness. It took some effort to squeeze some comparably normal thoughts to the forefront of her mind, but she eventually came up with something that was both not anything sexual and not too difficult for Narlou.

"I w-want a massage."

She missed the way Narlou's face flushed ever so slightly.

"R-really? You can ask for anything, you know? If you're going to, well, sacrifice yourself for me, let me do something big for you in return."

A few silent seconds went by, though they seemed more like minutes to her as she silently struggled with herself. Eventually, she took a deep breath.

"N-no, a massage is all I want."

She almost expected him to argue with her about that not being enough again, but to her pleasant surprise, he just sighed and shook his head.

"If that's everything you want, then I'll try my best."

Her smile reached from ear to ear as a wave of excitement made her flush slightly. Just imagining his fingers all over her back was enough to make her giddy with eagerness. A look at said man in front of her revealed him also blushing, but it might've just been the descending sun casting a red hue onto his face for all she knew.

With neither of them knowing how to continue though, silence descended onto them once more. The only sound besides the rustling leaves was the occasional high-pitched clash of metal against metal some distance away from them.

Riven coughed, opening her mouth only to quickly shut it close again as Narlou glanced at her.

'Say something you idiot!' Her inner voice shouted at herself with a growing sense of frustration.

She was this close to receiving a massage by none other than Narlou! How difficult could it be to just say that she wanted it now?!

Really difficult apparently, because no matter how many times she opened her mouth, nothing came out of it. Her throat was as dry as Shurima's Desert and her heart was pumping faster than a trained Warhorse could run. It was a feeling she had experienced more often ever since she began traveling with Narlou, but this was the first time it had been so strong! Even when she had asked about his past, she hadn't been this… Whatever this was!

"So, uhm… Y-you want it now?"

Riven silently thanked whichever god had heard her pleas.

"YES! I m-mean, yes I would like that."

The corners of her mouth turned up as the sound of a snort reached her ears.

Hurrying to keep Narlou from waiting, Riven quickly shrugged of her coat, only to come face to face with yet another problem.

'Should I also take off my shirt?'

Riven was pretty damn certain that Narlou's hands would feel significantly better on her naked skin than on her clothed back. Plus, with her laying on her stomach, there should be no danger of accidentally flashing Narlou.

'Not that I'm particularly opposed to that idea.'

She shook her head, unsuccessfully trying to stop her cheeks from reddening, and glanced at Narlou. Said man was fiddling with the hem of his shirt, clearly trying his best to appear uninterested, but she didn't need to be a master of body language to know that he very much aware of her every move.

'If I want to seduce this guy, wouldn't now be the perfect chance?'

She licked her suddenly dry lips, her mind battling over what she should do. It was during moments like these where she wished that she would be just a little more confident. Narlou would've probably already fallen for her if she was more aggressive. If she tried just a bit harder. But just like she was a fearless leader in battle, she was an insecure mess around him.

What if he didn't like her body? What if he preferred dominant woman? What if he preferred men?!

These and many more similar thoughts were fueling her insecure side like dry wood fueled a flame.

"Everything alright?"

Even though her emotions suddenly flared up like an uncontrolled forest fire, the stiffness in her body lessened notably as his melodic voice echoed through her head. And just like his voice affected her body, it also tipped the balance of her inner battle.

Eventually, after what seemed like hours but was just a few seconds, Riven took a deep breath.

'Fuck it.'

Turning away from him, Riven pulled off her shirt, exposing her naked upper body to the world. The evening winds were fresh and cool, sending a tiny wave of goosebumps down her arms. Her hair, which was normally tied into a ponytail, was now tickling a spot between her shoulders as she stiffly shifted her weight from leg to leg.

Even so, overshadowing everything else like the Noxian walls was the sensation of his gaze on her, analyzing her, judging her, devouring her. For a short second, she considered just putting the piece of clothing back on and pretending that this never happened, but she liked to think of herself as someone who never did things half-assed, so she threw that thought out of the window as soon as it appeared.

Still, the thought of whatever Narlou might be thinking right now, the uncertainty of not seeing his expression was beginning to drive her crazy and she quickly spread her clothes on the ground before laying down onto them.

"Y-you can begin whenever you're r-ready."

Her heart slammed against her chest like a war drum as the exposed Warlord not-so-patiently waited for Narlou to make the next move. But as the seconds came and went and her heartrate kept increasing, she realized something that she'd failed to consider with her request.

When she'd suggested a massage, she thought that it should be easy enough for Narlou, but thinking back on it, she had never given or received something like that, ever, and she imagined it to be the same for Narlou. As a Champion and an ex-General of an entire army, there had of course been made some attempts to get closer to her by offering such services, but she had of course declined every time.

'Which shows even more how much I want this man, since I was the one to ask for that.' She thought with no small amount of embarrassment.

'But then again, how can anyone not fall for someone as perfect as-!'

"-HIM!"

She shrieked in surprise as two rough, yet warm hands pushed against her bare back, spreading a pleasantly tingling sensation all over it. No, just describing it as a pleasant sensation was doing it no justice. It was like a warm campfire in the coldest forest, like the moonshine in the darkest night. It was like a god had just personally laid their hands upon her back. But instead of a god, those were the hands of Narlou. Though as far as Riven was concerned, he already was a god with how perfect he was.

"Sorry! D-did I hurt you?"

A short, awkward chuckle reached her ears.

"I've, Uhm, never done anything like this before, so I'm sorry if I've done anything wrong."

Riven let his words hang in the air for a few seconds. Not because she wanted to, but because she couldn't. Her brain had yet to adjust to the absolutely incredible feeling of Narlou simply touching her back, and her imagination was already running wild with how it would feel with his hands on other parts of her body.

'Thank Targon that he can't see my face right now.'

Suddenly remembering that she should say something, Riven cleared her throat loudly.

"Don't w-worry about it. You just surprised me."

She heard some shuffling behind her, and her body tensed in absolute anticipation.

"A-alright, I'm going to start now."

Her heart once again pounded against her chest and breathing quietly became increasingly difficult as she impatiently waited for Narlou's hands to touch her again. Now that she knew what to expect, her excitement was reaching a whole new level to the point that she was already subconsciously rubbing her thighs together.

And then it started.

Once more did those two magical hands place themselves onto her back, and they immediately went to work. Rubbing between the bones to perfectly reach each individual muscle, roughly pushing skin aside only to gently caress it a second later, it was perfection.

No, it was beyond that. It was pure and utter bliss. The pressure, the spots and even the technique was impeccable. Describing it would never be enough to bring across just how amazingly good it felt.

But where there was bliss, there was also horror.

"Nghh~"

The Champion's eyes shot wide open, her face inventing new shades of red as she tensed all her muscles, already making up excuses for the silent noise she'd just made. But to her infinite relief, the fingers just kept going as if they were brought into existence purely for the purpose of massaging her.

It only took a few seconds for her to relax again, the fear already forgotten as she practically melted under the ministration. She felt oddly safe as the fingers kept doing their magic, like a child in the arms of her father. The thought brought her back to when she hugged Narlou after his breakdown. It had been her who had calmed him down, but the feeling of his arms around her had made her feel extremely secure. Now was no different.

She felt save around him. She trusted him.

His fingers massaging a particularly pleasant place carried her out of her thoughts and back into the current situation, where her mind attentively followed the path that his fingers traveled.

They went from drawing circles between her shoulder blades to firmly pushing into the muscles along her spine. The sides of her back were not left out either as his precise fingers kneaded every muscle they could find with astounding accuracy. Finally, she followed them gently caress her skin as they smoothly descended to the bottom of her spine, where they pushed into her skin with just enough strength to make her writhe beneath him in pleasure.

Never in her life had she felt th-

"Mhhn~"

Even her rapidly paling face couldn't keep the pleasure of Narlou's fingers hitting an exceptionally sensitive spot from running through her body like a lightning spell, sneaking into every nook and cranny of her suddenly oversensitive body. She paled even further when his finger stopped moving.

'He heard me. He heard me moan.'

Her life flashed before her eyes. This was it. He must think that she was a disgusting pervert that got off of being touched by him. He must be thinking that she was a weirdo with no control over her desires. Any second now, he was going to open his mouth and tell her that she couldn't travel with them anymore, that she should be ashamed of herself and that she wa-

She bit her tongue to stop herself from moaning again as the fingers suddenly continued to move, though Riven wasn't sure if it was a blessing or a curse. A curse because he might just be playing with her at this point, or a blessing because his fingers felt so fucking good!

She held back another moan, her face rapidly reddening as she felt a certain heat accumulate between her legs as a result of rubbing her thighs together like a depraved animal. It was overwhelming for a sexually inexperienced woman like her. The goldy pleasure his fingers brought her, the stress of holding back her moans not to mention the fact that she was half naked and less than a meter away from the man of her dreams. Just one of these facts would've been too much for her, and right now she was forced to endure all this and so much more at the same time.

It was torture. It was ecstasy.

"Ahhnnn~"

She couldn't even bring herself to try and stop the moan. It was just too much.

"Haaaa~"

Shrouded in pleasure, Riven neither noticed the now audible heavy breathing from Narlou, nor the increase in his fingers' speed as yet another moan fled her throat.

"Hnnggg!~"

How could a simple massage feel this good?!

This wasn't fair! What was he doing with h-

"MHHH!~"

Self-control was all but forgotten as the pleasure reached a new peak yet again. She squirmed and writhed under his hands, surrendering her body to the pleasure of the massage. In that moment, she wasn't Riven anymore. She was a slave to Narlou's every whim. A puppet that followed his every command. A brainwashed being chained to this man's decisions.

And she felt perfect. She felt amazing. She felt complete.

"HAAAHHH!~"

And then she came.

With a moan so sexual that even lust-demons would have blushed dark red, her back arched, her muscles spasmed and her mind almost fried itself with overstimulation. Every limb on her body, every little seemingly insignificant spot, from her fingertips to the bottom of her heels drowned in pure pleasure.

It was the most humiliating and simultaneously satisfying mix of feelings she had ever experienced.

As she laid there, exhausted and confused, her eyes half-lidded and her body still tingling with tiny shocks of post-orgasmic pleasure, there were only one question on her mind.

'What the Fuck just happened.'