It felt terribly weird to walk out of an extended match on the rift; forty to fifty minutes of intense fighting on the side of someone that either you liked a lot or you synced enough to make sparks around your fingers, and today was no different.
Even though the illusionary, magical speaker yelled a defeat capable of deafening someone's ears, the rush pumping through the veins of a certain summoner didn't let it deter him from his never ending adrenaline.
The fight had been a good one, both for him and his chosen champion, and even though they went separate ways after the harsh defeat, he knew they'd left on good terms, no matter how Noxian the red hair assassin was and how damned Demacian the summoner remained at heart.
"Good fight today, Cor." Fenrus, one of the few people that actually acknowledged him as a midlaner, spoke as he walked back with his blond-ish locks smoking hot...quite literally.
The guy was admittedly a slight pyromaniac, a very proud one at that. At any moments notice he'd have a cigarette-, or something of that sort, in his mouth. Always pick explosive champions, always try explosive plays; overall, a two sided blade, but his friend nonetheless.
"Thank you, it was rather intense." The raven haired summoner replied with a hasty mood in his voice.
Even though it had been intense, they had lost, and he'd later berate himself for the fact.
"You're again attacking yourself, huh?" As if reading his thoughts, the blond haired tower of a pyromaniac threw his entire arm over the shoulders of the shorter raven haired boy, immediately pulling him close to his own body and messing with him the way close friends did, "Don't be so harsh over your own self, Cor."
The shorter one fought half heartedly to free himself off his friend's grasp to no avail, and sighed into the blonde's head lock.
"I know…I just want us to get out of this damned division" And he was right.
Divisions, all over the entirety of runaterra, represented the level of economy, of heariarchy and ultimately the quality of life one had the right to.
It by no means meant that being as low as a bronze equalized dead poverty, but it did mean having to work normal jobs, living in gray-ish conditions, and overall having to stray yourself further away from the initial goal, which was ranking up.
"And you'll get us there, cap'tn" Fenrus, in his own cheerful persona, laughed as he shuffled the shorter's hair with affection, "We're almost out of the bronzos, a few more matches and things will start looking pretty for us" He finally let the raven haired boy breath as he parted ways with him, walking towards the contrary direction.
"Pantheon's?" Cor asked the blonde as he watched him walk away, and smiled fondly at the bubbly walk of his cheerful mate.
"Yup! Two for one on the majestic croissants, you should drop by!" The summoner chuckled and nodded even though he knew Fenrus wasn't looking his way anymore.
The blonde worked at Pantheon's 'The Untamable' bakery, famous around the Demacian quarters. Prices were low, people were warm and the quality was flawless, as expected of a champion of such a level, as pantheon.
Fenrus himself was a great baker, reaching a level in which the gladiator would gladly let him take over whenever he was summoned on the rift. In the mass of muscles of a man's words:
'Your friend is one with the flame, gracing every prepared mass with the perfect intensity. Beautiful art, if I do say so myself' but in all honesty, he couldn't explain himself how Pantheon nor Fenrus knew so much about art, food or overall delicacy.
They were both addicted to their own adrenaline rushers, after all.
Savagery and explosion, one of a kind combination.
With quick feet and mindless thoughts, he dragged his body to the next destination.
Terra's Bird.
Nothing close to resembling a feathered creature, an incredibly large train and an equally busy and well built station laid before his eyes, forcing him to sigh at the thought of traveling short of an hour to reach his place of work.
The machine was a wonder delivered by Piltover as a gift to the entirety of Runaterra, a means to travel between allied territories without needing to have higher ranked status, which would be the only way one would be allowed to use teleportation freely as a summoner. Champions got to use it whenever and however, they were the ones fighting after all, but for a summoner, one needed permission, and most of all, mama.
You could very well teleport however you wanted as a bronze player, but chances are you'd pass out on large distances, thanks to the use of mana.
Higher ranks didn't mean larger reserves, but it meant entry to ascending zones, and if you were good enough, ascending would then indeed expand your capacity of magic withholding.
"One round ticket for Ionia, please"
The pay was minimal, and the agents already knew the summoner well enough to not ask many questions.
In a moment, he was already sitting on one of the many empty seats. It was four in the afternoon, and people were obviously either still working or fighting matches.
And he'd kill for it to be him that was fighting matches, instead of having to travel all the way to Ionia, to serve as a tea seller at Karma's Latrianomia herb store.
It offered good coin, what with the owner being one of Ionia's counselors, but it was after all, not fighting inside the rift.
And therefore, not part of his goal.
A familiar sound brought him out of his thoughts, and immediately, he waved his hand in the air for a second and waited for a tickling feeling of magic surf through his entire arm, prompting a levitating illusion in front of him.
You have (1) New Message.
He smiled before tapping on the screen, immediately prompting up text.
Corryn, as always, it was a pleasure to fight today by your side, your tactics might be stranger than what most summoners do when they choose me, but nevertheless, once you and I both master the synergy required to pull it off, I sincerely believe great things would come to happen.
It was, after all, the Noxian assassin.
Nobody else would text in such an uptight manner and still consider him a friend, never mind a champion.
He'd talk with different champions on the daily, but it was definitely not always on friendly manners, less so if they were champions of already a higher status, both in wealth or acknowledgement.
Another message popped him right out of his thoughts.
On a lighter note, I'm diplomatically forced to wander by Demacia as I accompany my brother-in law and my snake of a sister; after the fall of Swain's extreme regimen, we still need to set out boundaries, apologies, man-help and much more to the nations we tried overcoming-
Cor chuckled as he continued reading, not once noticing how this could be a lighter note.
And I don't really wanna miss the chance to drop by and say hello-, you really are one of the few people I'm able to communicate without them puddling their pants at the mere sight of my face, and lately we've been having less and less time to exchange words for the sole reason of concentrating on the match itself. Now, I do have my thoughts on that matter as well, but I'd rather discuss them face to face, if it's not too much of a problem, of course.
The raven haired summoner couldn't help but feel excited at the thought of finally meeting Katarina. All this time he had communicated only through mind connections, and even though he knew what she looked like, it would be great for them to meet in a real stance, as well as showing her his own persona.
With a side smile, he started out his short message.
8:30 p.m works for you?
She apparently was either traveling, or listening to boring nobles around a round table in Demacia, because her reply came as soon as he sent out the message.
That's perfect, would you mind sending me an address?
He again wondered when she would finally drop the formalities before typing again.
Just give me a second and I'll send you a Tinder.
Tinder's were small bouts of mana that withheld information, and served as a means to send out memories, images, thoughts, worded phrases or in this case, knowledge.
He channeled the thought of his own path home, name and all included, before tunneling it all into the small illusion in front of him, immediately sending it towards the Noxian Assassin in a small ball that resembled a flame.
The flame was absorbed immediately, meaning that the red haired princess was still staring at their text without a care in the world.
Can't wait to finally meet you!
He left one last message before he closed the entire thing as he noticed that the train was finally stopping.
Stepping outside, he was greeted by the immense flow of natural mana that travelled through the entirety of Ionia, as well as a deepening breath filled with pure oxygen.
Ionia, at its very core, was meant for those that wanted to start healing, or help others heal, and he enjoyed it just as much as his home place, the place of justice, Demacia.
He started channeling teleport as soon as he walked out of the train.
The feeling of energy surrounding his entire being was one that captivated Cor, just as much as a good match inside the rift; he was made for this, made for magic, made for competing.
He flashed an image of his desired destination, and soon enough, he blinked through time and space, appearing in front of pearly brown eyes staring at him with a calmed expression.
"Just in time, as always." The soft voice belonged to one of the counselors of Ionia itself.
How she even managed to snatch out time to handle her beloved tea store he'd never know, but she was always there with him, for the entire work shift. They were both on good terms, although he wasn't sure whether he would be able to call her his friend just yet.
"Good to see you, Ma'am." The soul filled, brown haired counselor chuckled with that formal, elevated tone that she always wore while shaking her head left and right in a disapproving way.
"I've told you plenty of times to refrain yourself from calling me ma'am." Her eyes shone a green-ish aura all the time, indicating her incredible aura and mana that always surrounded her, "You've been here for almost a year now, helping this new project of mine, we should at the very least treat each other as good acquaintances, Correy."
The raven haired boy smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his head as he tried squirming away from those intense eyes of hers. Karma was anything but subtle, she was always blunt and to the point, and even though sometimes it caught him off guard, he still liked the way she was either way.
"Well, if you wanna start talking like pals, you should then call me Cor." Her eyes shone up with bright emotion and she nodded twice, "I don't really like the name Correy...sounds kinda strange to me." She chuckled once again and disapproved of him with her eyes.
"Your name has nothing wrong within it, but if that's what you'd like, so be it." She made a waving motion, inviting him into the store as per routine, and he bowed before following, "In exchange, you may call me Karma." He swallowed silently.
It would feel strange to call a champion and a counselor of an entire nation, by her first name. But it was her that had requested that, and being entirely honest, he felt happy knowing he could be a little more relaxed around her.
Usually, champions were stock up people, filled with pride and honor and some only allowed themselves to communicate with those of higher ranks-, like, extremely higher ranks, or one that used them the way they were meant to be used. Strange cases like Pantheon or Katarina, or champions that were known for being kind, were the only ones that would dare talk to lower ranks or normal people around Runaterra.
It was, in a way, saddening, and it displayed very well how the current system was corrupted to its core.
In another way, it showed him who was worthy of his friendship and who wasn't.
"I'll leave the store to you for a quick second, a new shipment came over and I'd like to help the carriers bring all the stuff to the store" Karma called Cor out while he waited in front of a small desk as he managed the daily earnings; hours had gone by and even though not many customers dropped by on a hasty monday, those that did always ordered plenty of supplies, herbs, herb-made essences and the such. It was a pretty business, and he felt happy that Karma actually had this as her initial life goal, as well as keeping Ionia safe from dangers.
To sell and cultivate peace on its many forms, was something extremely noble.
Cor sighed as he detected the sun running away from them-, noon was almost over and it'd be an hour before he'd finally be able to return home, tiddy the place up a little, and get ready for a Noxian Princess Assassin.
As he stared at the golden coins inside the cashier, he noticed a small giggle that faded away as soon as he lifted his eyes.
Turning around to search for the source of noise, he yelped at the sight of golden eyes all over him, as a certain nine-tailed semi human invaded his personal space and stared right into him.
"It's Coco!" Her soft, playful voice resounded through the silent store as she greeted the summoner with a wink, giggling cutely when he blushed at their proximity.
"I-I told you not to call me Coco" The raven haired boy crossed his arms as he feigned indignation, "And please, don't sneak up on me like that, Miss Ahri, it's gonna give me a heart attack one of this days." He smirked internally, knowing full well that the nine-tailed mage hated whenever he'd call her Miss, or ma'am, or treat her with any higher respect, almost ignoring their friendship.
One of her fluffy tails lightly smacked him on the face playfully, while Ahri pouted as if she was some sort of young child.
"And I told you not to use honoratives!" She stated with a serious voice, "Seriously, we're already good friends! I've been dropping by every other day to give you some company in this boring ass establishment, and this is how you repay me?" Her golden eyes were all on top of his own dark ones, and he had to place his hands on her shoulders and lightly push her away in order to regain some of his personal space.
"You mean dropped by to be an annoying fox?" As her tails rose up one more time, Cor lifted his hands in front of him and waved them in surrender, "I'm kidding, Ahri!" Her tails still attacked his body, tickling him as much as they could while the wizard merely smirked at the sight of it all, "S-Stop! I can't...breath!" Cor managed between tickles and Ahri giggled at his helpless state before letting him go, satisfied with her revenge.
"Hm! That's what you get." She walked around until she was on the other side of the counter, and prompted her elbows on top of it to rest her chin on her hands.
Her eyes ate him whole as they always did, judging him openly as he stared back with a confused expression.
"...What?" She smirked devilishly, forcing a ticklish feeling down his spine.
"Why haven't you picked me for any matches yet?" Her words came out swiftly as water, and even though there was a faint trait of pain inside her tone, he could tell she was merely faking it.
"I-uh, well…" Again, catching him off guard, he stammer through his words as Ahri's golden orbs dug holes into him, "Truth is, my team and I have been going at it with competitive matches lately...I haven't had any time to try you out around solo matches yet." Teams were required to reach higher ranks around the rift.
Ahri merely hummed, contemplating his words.
"Wanna try me out right now?" Her voice lowered down a few pitches, and his heart almost stopped at the sound of it.
Immediately, he lifted up his alerts for any charming magic, but when he detected none, he realized that she was merely playing.
"I...don't know how to reply to that." One of her white tails reached for his shirt and pulled him over the counter, forcing him to almost bump noses with the foxy champion.
Her eyes were staring down his soul.
"You don't need to." She was smirking through their interaction and Cor's extremely reddened face, and even though her hands were already on his cheeks, softly caressing them with her long nails, she knew not to overextend her already extended boundaries.
After a heavy second or two of expecting him to move or do anything in their close proximity, she giggled, let his shirt free and twirled around her own spot.
"I'm just kidding, kiddo" Her giggles echoed through the entire place again, but seeing his troubled expression, she continued, "Hey! Stop staring at the stars and say something...it's getting awkward here." His double blinking indicated his limbo escape and he shook his head twice to clear out his thoughts.
Ahri would one day be the death of him.
"You can't just get all close and personal with me and then twirl around like a circus character." His retort finally got her gears going, and she laughed cutely, raising her hands in a clear sign of surrender.
"Alright, alright, my bad, cute stuff." Her smirk gave off something new.
Maybe she had been planning this assault for some time?
She did skip her usual visit last Friday.
"Next time I won't be twirling around." She winked at him, crossing her arms below her chest and prompting it up a little, before ultimately dropping her low tone and sighing, "I'd stay and bother you a little longer, but I got a stupid match with an equally stupid challenger player." His eyes lit up at the sound of his goal, and she smiled knowingly, "I know, I know, that's you, but I'd rather your bronzy self picked me that some egocentric monkey head" Her pout for once reached him, and Cor smiled at her before nodding.
"I'll make sure to choose you next time, foxy one" She threw him a middle finger at her nickname and turned around.
"You better" She finished before stepping outside, finally returning the sweet silence she'd kidnapped away with her entry.
After he could no longer hear her sandals flapping as she walked lazily, Cor let out a huge sigh, not quite out of annoyance, but one of tiredness. Ahri was a full blown force that always brought something new to the table of tortures she used to tease him with.
He had to be wary and keep his walls high or he'd otherwise fall for her playful attitude, which most of the time even though he was prepared, managed to affect his emotions more than he'd like to admit.
He had made her promise that she'd never charm him in the magical way, but it was still hard not to get charmed in the natural way.
Ahri was probably one of the few people that constantly looked for him, as well as being one of the even fewer girls that actually spoke to him on almost a daily basis, and for that he'd have to be careful around her.
Falling for a rift champion...was definitely not a good idea.
His eyes lifted up at the sound of footsteps, and in a second Karma entered the store with some big wooden boxes floating behind her, and some other men grinning sheepishly following her too.
Cor's eyes stared with awe at the display of magic, the only other thing that brought fire into him other than fighting in the rift, and Karma didn't let that get past her.
With utmost care she let the wooden boxes drop down on the floor, before turning around and thanking the carriers for the work prior to reaching them.
"Oh no, ma'am, you honestly did all of the work, we merely lowered down the cargo" They were already in awe by interacting with Karma herself, Cor couldn't blame them, and when she paid the full sum of what they were meant to be paid, they left with a happy smile on their faces.
Yup, that's the counselor of Ionia for you.
"These traces of magic in the air...and this annoying smell-, that nine tailed fox was around here, wasn't she?" It wasn't as if Karma really disliked the wizard fox, but oftentimes she never decided to buy or try out anything that had to do with tea, and more often than not she'd refer to her tea shop as a boring, dead place, which was definitely not.
With a nervous smile Cor nodded, flinching as the high wizard breathed in deeply and exhaling.
"Don't make that face, Cor. It's not like you, or anyone for that matters, has control over that lustful spirit." She shook her head in disapproval., "I just wish she'd voice that fixation she has over you and stops harassing you at working hours." Cor laughed shyly, mainly because she was right, but also because it's extremely rare to have a champion be fixated on someone that is neither a high ranker nor a champion themselves.
"I wouldn't say...fixation, ma-Karma." He corrected himself, remembering their agreement, and Karma made a noise of humorous disbelief.
"Oh trust me, you have no idea of how many times I've caught that sneaky fox hiding at a corner, staring at you while you talked with customers, all only to pounce on your once you're done with the public." She laughed hard, a rare occurrence within her persona, "Be wary, young one. It appears to me that Ahri is onto something with you, and may the spirits know what that could actually be." Correy was left bit red on the face, prompting more laughter out of Karma.
"Can't believe I've been let wordless two times in one day." Karma raised an eyebrow, inquiring and asking for him to further elaborate, "O-Oh, no, y'know, just usual... foxy behaviour."
"So long you both don't mark my place with the smell of your lovemaking." Cor exploded into a red ball of shyness, making Karma laugh one more time, "Ah…you're too easy, Cor."
"You know I'd never!" The wise counselor hummed pensively.
"You really wouldn't?" Cor frowned at her weird question, as if she was pushing him over.
"I mean...not in your tea store." He replied with honesty, "Aaaand either way, we're not like that." Although with the latest occurrence, he wasn't so sure anymore.
"Don't underestimate that fox, Cor." She smirked, "It's always like that for her." She waved her hand in the air, "But enough of that cursed animal, it's already beyond seven forty, you don't wanna miss your train now do you?" Her mischievous smile revealed that she somehow knew something Cor hadn't precisely taught her, but at the look of the two big big boxes filled with new tea bags and such, he deflated.
As well as an opportunity to feel mana surrounding him like a waterfall.
"There's still some inventory that needs to be put in place, though…" Karma smiled at his kindness, "Maybe if you could do that, I'd in exchange stay and help you finish this?" Karma stared at his hopeful eyes, and eventually agreed.
Wasn't this boy something else, indeed.
8:15 Afternoon, Justice Street, Farsight Complex, Demacia.
In a small apartment room, with merely a small living room, kitchen, a toilet and a bedroom, mana started to gather around a specific area.
In a small blink of blinding light, a raven haired summoner materialized into the room, with a green, bright shield surrounding his entire being as it infused him with extra mana capabilities.
"I love doing that." Cor let out to the air as he stepped around, mentally thanking Karma for lending him some of her mana reserves in order to perform such a huge teleportation spell, "Now to fix this trash hole up" He clapped his hands together, and searched for a cleaning apron.
The place itself was not a trash hole, with things already in neat places, but it was, to Cor's like, dusty, smelly and slightly out of place.
He moved the small drawer he got on the side of a wall so it wouldn't obstruct the only window available, cleaned off the sofa, the main table and the two chairs that fitted. He closed the door to his bedroom and toilet room, and prepared some sweet chicken inside a pot for dinner.
It's not like he was trying to create a nice mood for the Noxian Princess, but he really did want to leave a good impression on her first champion that he could consider his friend.
She was first before Karma and Ahri, and he'd always be grateful because of that.
Even if she was indeed a professional Noxian Assassin…
After a few minutes of idle chit chat with his own self, finally, there were some knocks on the door.
Feeling his heart pumping out of his chest at the anticipation, he took a second or two of slow walking before yelling coming to let the knocker know that he was about to open the door.
Opening the door, he was instead greeted by a familiar face.
"Hey there, doofus!" Fenrus, blonde locks no longer sending out smoke signals, greeted him m with a small box in his hands, "You forgot to drop by in the end!" Cor stepped outside and checked both ways before going back to Fenrus, who looked at him with confusion.
"I'm sorry about that, Fenry" Cor checked his wall clock.
8:31.
"I just had my mind busy the entire time-, what's that you got there?" The pyromaniac brushed away his accusations and smiled at his friend.
"I brought you Fighter Muffins!" He shoved the box in Cor's hands and continued, "Honestly, they're just normal muffins, but Pantheon figured out an awesome name for them"
How was that name awesome?
"I noticed your downer mood and thought maybe some delicious bakery would cheer you up?" The blonde confessed at the very end and Cor smiled, his chest tightening at the thought of someone actually caring that much for him
"It really did, dude" He grinned at his tall friend, "This is a great choice as well, I happen to love muffins" Fenrus nodded twice with pride.
"Of course I'd know what's my cap's favorite" Cor laughed with him, "Now I'd love to stay and share, I can see you're waiting for someone; finally landed a date huh?" At his words Cor's eyes widened.
"It's nothing like that!" But Fenrus was already nodding his head in a way that told him that he didn't really believe that very much.
"They grow up so fast" The blonde mocked him and turned around, walking away and towards his own apartment, which was next door, "Just don't be too loud, alright?"
"Shut the hell up, I'll see you tomorrow morning" Fernus threw him a tongue out mock before closing the door entirely.
At his departure, Cor sighed, turned around, and walked towards his sofa again.
"Where could Kat be, I wonder…" He lifted his eyes up to recheck his apartment, and screamed at the sight.
Katarina was sitting on his sofa, already drinking a cup of wine.
He didn't even have wine, nor cups.
"Hello there, Cor." Her voice was subtle, formal and yet friendly.
"Oh god-, uh, how,- you, when-?" Her laughter silenced his stammering, standing up to greet him with her hand.
"I was walking towards your location when I found that tall blondie also heading that way, and since I'd rather not let many people now Noxians are roaming around Demacia, I hid behind him" She shrugged, smiling once Correy actually managed to shake her hand with dismay, "When you opened the door, I jumped instantly...I hope I'm not being too scary? Old habits tend to be hard to remove" He was still trying to find his voice, and she couldn't blame him; instead she continued talking, "I had a different picture of you when I could only hear your voice, but now that I see you in person…" Her smile turned into a smirk, "Well, I can only say that I'm not complaining."
Her words made him blush, and with the entire rollercoaster of emotions she brought over him in less than forty seconds, Cor had to sit down, and the Noxian Princess followed through without much care.
"I...didn't expect you to be my height, but other than that, I can say you're much brighter in person than as an illusion" Katarina served him a cup that, by now, he guessed she had brought over herself, and he took it gratefully. He'd expected her to be taller than him, like almost all other champions he'd seen or met in real life, but apparently not.
Even though he had never tried wine, and overall couldn't handle much alcohol, he figured a glass of red wine wouldn't be that much of a problem.
Katarina kept on smiling as he took the wine, and chuckled once he coughed out the sourness of it.
"I see you're not much of a wine taster?" She poured herself another glass, wondering whether or not Cor would be able to at least finish up the first one.
"I don't really drink much alcohol, if at all" He had a sheepish look on his face, "But for this occasion, I'll allow myself a little bit" The red haired assassin nodded in understanding as she took big gulps of wine from her cup, "So, how was the whole demacian talk with the higher ups?" At the mention of the dreaded conversation/negotiation, she groaned and Cor chuckled.
"Terrible" She deemed in one single word, "Absolutely terrible" She added more emphasis, "That idiot of a guy, what, Jarvan? He cannot stop talking about himself even for a damned second!" Cor laughed even though she was bad mouthing the current head of the entirety of Demacia, "And don't get me started on the entire discussion; it went something like 'Demacia this, Demacia that', fuck is wrong inside your brains? I think I'll have a nightmare about someone brainwashing into needing to say Demacia every damn minute" She huffed, disgusted at the memory of it all.
After a second, Cor delivered the nuke.
"And what about your ex, Garen?" In the blink of an eye, Katarina was already in front of him with a dagger aimed at his throat, pressed softly and drawing a little line of blood.
His heart almost stopped and he swore he passed out on the spot for a second.
—
"I'm so sorry!" The princess of Noxus was bowing down hard in front of a pale summoner, who was still sweating cold as he pressed down a little tissue on his neck.
"Uhm...it's okay." But it wasn't, his heart was pounding hard, his eyes were wide open and he wasn't blinking.
Kat swore she'd make it up to him, somehow, someway.
"I-uh, I shouldn't have mentioned that...it's- it's my bad" He was stammering like a rabbit, and she pondered for a second what she could even do to help ease things out.
She hadn't meant this night to turn out like this when she brought such expensive wine over.
Silently, she shook her head before kneeling and reaching into her many pockets.
Daggers started dropping on the floor in front of the wary raven haired boy.
At first, his eyes would almost snap at the sight of her reaching onto her pockets, but then as time went on, he finally understood what was happening.
"For what's worth...if my words are even worth something to you now." Cor gulped and nodded, troubled but still not seeing her in any wrong light, "I've done plenty of bad things, and I've never regretted doing them as much as I regret cutting you" Her facial features were serious, and the remorse in her eyes and her eyebrows arched up were honest.
Cor frowned and, for once, straightened himself.
"Look, I know I may look traumatized and whatnot, and yeah, probably I am a little…" The red haired assassin grimaced, "But that doesn't mean I don't trust you or like you anymore; you're a Noxian, the top professional Noxian assassin at that, and I still let you in my home, didn't I?" She rose up from her position and nodded hesitantly, "I'll just be more careful with my-"
"I don't want you to be more careful...I want this to be the way it was meant to be" She took a seat back on the sofa next to him, and even though she was glad he didn't even flinch anymore, she still let out a defeated sigh, "If I were one of those idiot young girls like Luxanna, I'd probably be crying right now" She chuckled dryly, "I went through hell to manage escaping Noxian security and Demacian alike, went through hell to convince my damned snake of a sister to not tell on me, through hell to not be seen absolutely anywhere at this busy hour of the night, and all of that…" She ran out of breath and Cor instinctively continued.
"While carrying two cups and a bottle of wine?" She smiled sadly at Cor and his chest tightened up, immediately making him forget about the already closed small cut on his neck.
"I...was excited to finally meet a friendly face." The talk turned into a serious one, and Cor leaned up closer to Katarina to let her know he was listening with care, "I did't think my anger issues would mess anything regarding you and our reunion..."
The Noxian red hair inadvertently shifted her hips and got a little closer; not too close for Cor to freak out again, but she silently needed the closure.
"My life has been...sort of a wreck. I guess more so than ever before" She started retelling with a heavy tone on her voice, "My king and sorta father figure..After the fall of Swain he-, uh, he fell into madness, killing soldiers and subordinates left and right without a care in the world, and thus was incarcerated" Cor frowned; he never really did like Darius even a little bit, but he guesses he still meant something to Katarina, "My uncle, my brother, all exiled by my cold sister, who took the throne-, of course, we're talking about Noxus actually getting rid of all the toxicity within its own nation, and it's not like I felt something close to fraternal love with any of them, but nevertheless I was left...alone." She munched her inner cheek, "I never knew past the pride of killing, never knew what was beyond competition and missions, and suddenly, I wasn't meant to kill anymore" Her emerald eyes rose to stare at his one, "I was instead meant to live a life" She managed a small smile, softening her features, "That's precisely when you came into it, choosing me at those solo matches so we could grow out our synergy" She sighed once again, this time reminiscing, "Before you there was Garen, but our relationship was never a friendly or healthy one-, one would even argue it was the epitome of that damned saying 'There's a thin line between love and hate.'" Her eyes turned distant, "That may be why we broke everything up after I had such an extreme change of life...that, and also his stupid, Demacian brain." She scoffed and Cor laughed.
"Quick reminder that I am also Demacian." She laughed.
"I know, I know, but you're different." Her emerald eyes were all on top of him, "You've always had something to say in my matches, you always try to get a word or two with me, you, uh, I guess I just felt like you really cared, even though for you I was still a Noxian Assassin" Cor just shrugged.
"Maybe I like dangerous women like that" He joked and blushed, realizing that wasn't' something he'd usually say.
He'd blame it on the damn alcohol.
"You almost peed your pants at the mere sight of danger though" She snickered, ready to apologize if needed one more time, but Cor just pffted in response.
"Look, I like danger, not imminent, helpless death" The red haired princess hummed in response, "Gotta admit though, it's sort of cool that you can hide that many daggers in your casual attire" He noticed his lack of manners, "W-Which, by the way, you still look very good on them!" Katarina laughed.
It was true, usually she'd wear her battle clothes or something of that sort, but for now she was wearing a plain red shirt and tight pants.
"If you like this, you should've seen the dress I was forced to wear to that damned meeting." She winked at him playfully, and, finishing the cup of wine he had in his hand, he followed through.
"Oh I would've loved to see that." Katarina's eyebrow lifted for a quick moment, sensing something there, and smirking, she took his cup and filled it up with more wine.
"Maybe another time, then." She offered back his cup and he gratefully took it, his cheeks already showing a slight and familiar pink.
Cor on the other hand felt relaxed, ready to let go, and happy to be conversing with one of the few champions that actually dared talking to him.
"Y'know, this wine is starting to taste real good." She held in a giggle at his slightly slurred accent and nodded nonetheless; Indeed, this was one expensive wine, but the situation called for it.
She was about to start another conversation, when a certain smell caught her nostrils.
"Correy, were you cooking something before I got here?" At her words, his eyes almost bulged out of his skull.
He immediately stood up, silently asked her to take hold of his cup of wine, and took a run towards what seemed to be his small kitchen.
Katarina, being the ever curious child, placed the cups on the small table, and followed through.
"Oh man, oh man." Cor was in distress as he took out the slightly burned out chicken out of the pot, "This is not okay." In her eyes the chicken still looked pretty edible, but knowing how much of a perfectionist Cor was, this was probably already failure in his own eyes.
"Now our perfect date can't be no more." Cor literally let out a loud yelp and only maintained his balance because Katarina held out the pot for him as he stumbled.
Maybe spooking him every time wasn't that much of a good idea.
"O-Oh jeez, you heard Fenrus…" The Noxian assassin placed the pot on the small counter and nodded towards him, "I never said-, I mean, I didn't really take this as a-'' He started waving his hands in the air, attempting to apologize.
"It's fine...it would be a cute date." She smiled and his cheeks burned, and this time not precisely because of the alcohol. "Omitting the neck cutting part, of course." She chuckled sheepishly and offered an apologetic smile once again.
"I thought you'd like extreme dates that involved, who knows, whatever Noxian Assassins get off to." She liked the way he would still try to be as humorous as he could, even if he was dying out of embarrassment.
"Well, let's just say this is a good change of breath, but..." Without hesitating, she trapped the slightly shorter boy between the counter and her own body, placing her arm right next to him so he wouldn't squirm away, "I can always turn it extreme, if you'd like." She teased Cor with a smirk all over her face, silently loving the feeling of having him so easily on the palm of her hand.
His breath filled with alcohol invaded her nostrils, and a tight feeling that she had been missing for quite a while made its way to her chest, quickening her heartbeats and dilating her pupils a little.
She had expected him to blurt out stammered nonsense or shy away, but in the blink of an eye, he lifted off one of his hands, taking hold of her chin even though it was her that was looking down on him.
"You're too tempting...is this okay?" He asked, obviously ready and eager to kiss her.
She guessed the wine did have a good effect on him then, after all.
She pondered her options and consequences for a mere second or two, and after finding no real excuses, she just dropped down onto his own lips, deciding a little making out wouldn't do either of them anything bad.
She could taste the wine on his tongue as she battled with it, and even though it was clear he was new to this, he wasn't half bad at it. His hand was still on her chin, frozen in place and in a hasty way she took it off her face, dragged it down and placed it on her waist.
"That's where your hand belongs, k'?" She ordered with a superior tone, and loved the way he only nodded in between kisses, not really caring being the one getting ordered around.
The feeling of his hand shyly exploring her lower back, gripping her side to test her flat stomach, brought electricity up into her spine. His touches were inexperienced, but that only fueled her to want more out of him.
She bit his lip once and drew a little blood out of it.
"Ouch...feisty" Cor managed to say before the red haired Noxian started invading his mouth once again, this time sucking out his lip and cleaning his slight cut.
"I just like the taste of blood" She kissed him one more time and guided his hand a little lower, forcing him to grab her ass.
At his exhale of surprise, she smirked before lifting her eyes to look at the clock.
9:45 P.M
There was still time.
"Let's move somewhere else" She stopped her affections on him and walked out of the kitchen.
Cor, being the extreme dork that he's always been, decided to store the chicken in the fridge before following behind her.
"If you'd like, we can also have that dinner you made for us too" Katarina was waiting for him with her legs crossed on top of the sofa, "Though I'd rather eat something else…" Her voice lowered down again and he gulped down hard.
The situation was so shocking that his drunken state quickly vanished, and he was back to being the same Cor as always, careful and shy.
"I...uh, are you sure? I know this isn't the first time we've met but technically..." Cor was blushing, forcing that feral part of the red head to ignite itself and run tenfold, but she understood where he was going from. Still, she could only laugh.
"You saying that after we ate each other out right next to a pot full of chicken?" She teased him, enjoying how easy it was to get a reaction out, "Or are you getting second thoughts?" Voicing a concern, she was happy to see Cor didn't share that sentiment.
"No! No, it's just...out of the blue?" He took a sit next to her on the sofa, not really putting distance between them, but Kat wished he'd gotten even closer, "I've never...y'know, ah, you know me, Kat, jeez. I don't have to explain it" And yes she knew, and it was part of the reason why she was loving this. Because they'd messaged each other for almost a year and battled just as much, and she knew Cor was anything but a playboy.
Still, she decidedly took her chance and jumped on top of him, straddling him with her legs to keep him in place. Unlike Cor, she had no doubts, and had planned this to be one of the many turn of events of their timely meeting.
"So what, do you hate this?" She placed her hands on his chest and leaned into him, pressing her whole body on his own.
"N-no, I don't hate it"
"Do you want us to stop? I wouldn't take offense, Cor" The raven haired summoner barely managed shaking his head in denial, and Kat laughed at his mannerism, "Don't be so nervous, don't overthink things...obviously I planned this to happen, so...enjoy?"
"You did? With me?" He asked, innocent and incredulous, and Kat had to drown away a sound of endearment from coming out of her mouth, because it was just too cute to miss it, "Then..." Bringing his hand up to her waist, with a little bit of hesitation, he pulled the Noxian Assassin close to him once again.
She didn't waste a second and started eating him out again, running her hands through his arms and chest as she savored his lips and mouth. he was inexperienced at this type of stuff, but it was good nonetheless.
She took hold of his wandering hand and dragged it down to her legs and bum, letting him grab it or feel it however he wanted.
Gasping for air, she noticed the time and grimaced.
"How..did I end up making out with the Noxian Princess?" He joked between kisses and she smacked his arm, hating that nickname.
"Don't call me that, I hate it..." She bit his lip again and forced a yelp out of him, "I barely turned into one, and it was by force so don't" She kissed his neck, leaving hickeys as she sucked in his tender skin. She ran her hands under his shirt and the coldness from her skin made him shiver, "Mm, not bad, but you could use a little muscle" It was Correy's turn to laugh.
"Can't really compare myself to-" He tried, but the deadly glare Katarina sent his way stopped him from finishing his sentence, "Okay, no more talking about-,hmph" She slammed her lips on his to shut him up.
"No more talking whatsoever, 'kay?" Her tone was low and seductive, and Cor could only nod in agreement once before she continued.
The kisses and touches didn't stop until a ringing sound coming from Katarina's pants stopped them, and it was to clear she wasn't pleased by it if her sighs and growls were anything to go by.
"Ugh, my curfew is over" She lamented, removing herself off from the red-faced summoner so she could adjust her clothes and hair, "My sister wants me back before anything gets out of hand...I wish I could stay longer, teach you some more stuff you might like" Her tone was cautiously calculated and Correy only gulped in return, his senses still too overwhelmed from what just happened.
"I...don't know what to say, it was a pretty wild night, but I enjoyed it" Kat took a quick view at him, and laughed. His eyes were wide open, his shirt messed up and his hair all around the place, leaving him like a scared kitten. Maybe in his terms, she had gone a little overboard. But for her own taste, she'd have wanted to get a bit further...
It'll have to be until next time.
"I expected my first official meeting with a champion to be crazy but...not this type of crazy" Cor added, laughing awkwardly.
"Are you complaining?" Kat had her eyebrow up, interrogating him with a mean look. Good fun, nothing more than that.
"No! Not at all, thanks for the...yeah" She couldn't help but laugh again. Cor was putting a lot of effort on making this really awkward, but she kinda knew that was going to happen, and was not bothered by it, "Say, this must've been a special occasion...when am I gonna be able to even see you again?" Katarina munched her inner cheek with a troubled expression, and sighed.
"You? Tomorrow when you most definitely summon me" She tried joking with a half smile, "But me, well, who knows-, We've just started negotiations with this damned nation, as well as some others...I wouldn't say too long, nor too soon" She shrugged, "I'll try offering myself to every visit that leaves me closer to you than Noxus, even if they start getting suspicious of me" It was his turn to smile.
"Ionia is pretty close to here" A thought popped into his mind, "Wait, can't you just use teleport to get here and go back whenever you'd like?" She let out another defeated sigh and chuckled sarcastically.
"Noxians aren't allowed to use teleportation for the time being, Institute rules" He hummed in response, "Yup, makes sense, it's fair, but at the same time, it's a hassle"
"And the train isn't connected to Noxus nor do I believe they'll connect it anytime soon" She nodded twice, agreeing with him.
"We're not exactly in the best terms with everyone...or anyone, for that matter" They shared a laugh, Kat enjoying her last minutes before she was forced to leave.
Cor picked up a small box he had left forgotten on the floor, and walked closer to her.
"So...Fenrus brought some muffins to cheer me up, but since someone else already cheered me up quite plenty...maybe you'd like one?" She laughed once again and winked at him before nodding.
"Got any with strawberries in it?"
Hello! Welcome to this new fanfic of mine that I've decided to write as I've been getting into League of legends once again as of late.
So, just some side notes, I'm well aware of Katarina's lore, as well as many other's lore, but now that Swain has fallen (in my fanfic) Cassiopeia has taken the throne thanks to some clever political movements, plus the fall into madness of Darius, and some other in-fanfic lore that I'll let you know later on concerning LeBlanc, and therefore Katarina's turned into a Noxian Princess. Not that that makes her any less badass.
This also isn't just a OC/Katarina pairing, but some love triangles may cover it correctly, or whatnot-, I know from this chapter it may not look like it, buy there's more to this story than just some porn for plot, I swear, haha!
Anyway, this is the end of pilot 1, episode 1. I hope you enjoyed it, do leave a review if you'd like, and have a good day!