The Leaves Always Turn Red.

Chapter 1: Leaf Fall

You nod your head before speaking
"Mhm. It's been pretty nice having nobody complain that my wrench was too loud."

Jayce chuckled as he shook his head
"That was one time."
He then looked at you with a puppyish glance
"Can't you just let it go?"
He added a little whine in his voice

You glanced at him as you raised a brow
"Aren't you a councilor-? Save that look for your girlfriend."
You chuckled at his futile attempts.

He sighed before putting his hands up in defeat and hanging his head, but making sure to glance up at you ever so slightly
"Alright, alright. You got me."

You gave him a playful punch to the shoulder before ruffling his hair

"Hey! I just fixed that!"
He complained in a protest, which only caused you to laugh a little more.

You shook your head before looking around to see everyone else getting to know each other. In the crowd of people you make eye contact with someone through the sea of people. He had been watching you it seemed. His hair was brown and slightly outgrown, he wore a steel mask with details that were too hard to see from the distance that hid his face. He wore a tattered at the ends red cape. His eyes seemed to glow a piercing yellow inferno that was in no way natural. You felt the small hairs on the back of your neck stand as a tingle raced down your spine. The smile you had from messing with Jayce seemed to wipe from your lips the longer you stared. Your heart felt like it dropped into your stomach.. Something was off. You couldn't tell what.. He was just able to fill you with a subconscious fear. Your mind screamed at you to look away, yet you found yourself unable to. You felt completely frozen in place. He was captivating in his own right. Jayce looked over to see where you were looking at, the man with the steel mask's shifted towards him, you felt a small relief. Jayce's body seemed to tense up.. and so did the other man. They stared at each other as the air seemed to thicken with tension. Something tells you these two should not be near each other.

Jayce leaned towards you without breaking eye contact with the other man.

He whispered in your ear.
"And that'd be Viktor. Or as he likes to call himself, " 'The Machine Herald' "."
Jayce spoke in a mocking manner, making sure he said his words nice and slow so Viktor could read Jayce's lips from afar.

Viktor seemed to almost narrow his eyes, but it was hard to tell from not only how far he was, but also the mask he wore. You gave a soft elbow to Jayce, silently telling him to knock off the mocking.
Viktor glanced at you again and seemed to tilt his head slightly.
Jayce looked at you and you looked at Jayce

"What was that for?"
He asked in a whiny tone as he rubbed the spot where you hit him

"It's not nice to mock others Jayce, you should know that by now."
You scolded him slightly, which caused Jayce to just roll his eyes

"You wouldn't get it"
He said sharply.

You gave a sigh before shaking your head slightly.
He shrugged before changing the topic

"Well I'm going to go see where Mel is.."

"Course you are"
You retorted. God sometimes you hated the man and his girlfriend. You always thought the maturity gap was odd.. but you never said anything about it.

Jayce rolled his eyes before smirking
"You're just jealous."
Jayce shrugged before walking away

You sighed again before thinking to yourself
"Some things never change I suppose."

You hear a slightly distorted breath come from behind you, when you whipped your head around, you saw Viktor; You startled him with your reaction as he had startled you. Viktor put his hands up to show he meant no harm. You relaxed slightly, raising a brow towards him though.

Viktor held out his hand towards you. You stared at his hand for a moment. It was metallic.. It was a piece of marvelous handiwork.. You slowly brought up your own hand and shook Viktor's. The steel was cold against your skin... but in a nice way. When you let go of each other Viktor stared at you for a long moment before speaking. His accent was thick, and his tone a little unfeeling, yet it held curiosity.

"Why did you stand up for me?"
He asked, seemingly trying to read any and every facial expression you make

"I wasn't going to let him bully you when you weren't there to stand up for yourself."
You replied in a honest tone.

He slightly tilted his head
"You don't even know me though.."

"So? What does that matter?"
You asked genuinely

"I.. never mind.."
his voice trailed off before speaking again
"Thank you..?"

"Y/n"
You gave a small smile as you gave him your name

"Thank you Y/n."
He seemed to take a moment, even muttering your own name under his breath as he stared at your face.. as if to match the two to make sure he committed it to memory.

You stared at him with curious eyes.. You wanted to remember him too.. You weren't sure why.. considering you haven't cared about anyone else in a long time... but it felt wrong to forget him.

Viktor began to walk around you, memorizing every feature he could notice. From every color of strand of your fair, down right to the tiny skid marks on the ends of your shoes.

You watched him closely as he circled you. He was a tall man, you're pretty sure "6'2". He has a lean frame that seemed rather defined due to the steel that makes up his body.

Eventually he stopped and leaned a little close to you.
"From where do you hail, Y/n?"
He asked with a hint of curiosity biting his voice.

"I hail from Piltover."
You said with honesty.

You see his eyes flicker, almost as if he was slightly disappointed. He then spoke

"Ah. I see.. Did you work to get here, or was it handed to you on a silver spoon?"
There was a sharp bitter spark in his tone as he stared you dead in the eyes.. waiting for a reply.

"I worked hard to earn my spot here. I wouldn't have done it any other way."
You said a little sternly

He took a step back before speaking again, the disappointment in his glance now replaced with a slight admiration
"That's good.. This god forsaken world could use more like you."
He said with a slight hint of fondness.

He thought for a moment before deciding to ask a question.
"What do you think of Zaunites, or Zaun itself?"
He asked with the same curiosity from earlier.

"I think Zaunites are simply trying to get by in an unforgiving land that seems to hate them. Zaun's nice, wouldn't have it on the vacation list though."
You said with a shrug.

Viktor gave a dry chuckle before slowly circling you again; You gave him slight glances. When he got behind you, you felt him lean over and slightly exhale against your ear.
"That so? Well.. What do you think of people who augment themselves, hmm? Are you so lenient towards us too? Or do we scare you?"
There was a snake-ish feel to his voice especially with his breath on your ear. You felt him lean closer, his body pressing against your back, his hands grasping onto your shoulders, his metal mask pressing against the side of your face.

"Answer me Y/n~"
He said in a soft yet slightly playful (more so mocking) voice.. yet you knew better than to think of this as 'playing'.

You glanced at him before answering
"It's not my place to decide what other people do with themselves, even if it's dangerous. It is our job as the people to progress mankind and help others do it safely."
You decided to play the safe route and slightly dodge the question.
Viktor held strong eye contact with you. The grasp he had on your shoulders felt as if an iron grip; or in his case steel. The grip was almost bruising against your soft skin.

He then let go with a slight mocking laugh...
"I'll be seeing you around, Y/n."
His tone felt... oddly sweet... you couldn't help but feel swooned... yet you knew better. There was more than meets the eye with him.