Chapter 31: Responsibility

'We're so going to have a very long talk about this…' Mikki thought bitterly as cleaned up her apartment of raven feathers and dropping, while the bird in question cawed in laughter as she sat on the bed post. It was morning of the day she was to pick up Swain from the Institute and she was already feeling annoyed about the whole thing. With a slightly clearer mind, the librarian slowly recovered from her depressed mood that she held onto the past couple months and even started eating a bit more to regain her energy to how it use to be. With the floor cleaned once more, she took a quick bath and got dressed into clean robes and fished out an dark green travel cloak. A quick glance at the glove on her hand made her sigh a bit as she found she couldn't remove it at all, but found it was water proof at least and pocketed the ring that was also inside the box her glove was in.

Beatrice cawed and flew onto Mikki's left shoulder once more after the cloak was put on. The last couple days has always been a bit routine with this, seeing as how the raven enjoys irritating the librarian with her occasional squawks while the girl was working. "Breakfast time, then." Mikki muttered as she stepped out of her apartment and watched the small groups of students and summoners shuffle around the many shelves of the library as she briskly walked to the west wing kitchen. It was crowded with the usual sleepy patrons looking for their coffee or hot chocolate fix as the librarian slowly made her way to the counter to pour herself a mug as well. "Today's the day, isn't it?" Asked Jean as he, too, made his way to the counter for a mug full of coffee, glancing curiously at his recovering employer.

Mikki nodded a bit as she slowly moved to the fridge and pulled a small ham steak for Beatrice. "Yes. I've already told you and the girls I'll be out today, so I expect all chores to be done before you lock up for tonight." She was preparing to be in Swain's presence all day and night away from the library and was taking no chances this time around. The Zaunite chuckled as he sipped at his coffee. "Of course. I'll go ahead and just remind Saline and Rosaley after you leave." He said and watched as the raven picked at the meat that was given to her. "If anything else comes up, I'll send word." With a quick nod, he agreed and followed her out to the front of the library, watching her wave good bye to Rose and Saline before stepping outside and preparing a very familiar purple rune underneath her and Beatrice. "Be safe, Mikki." Jean said as he watched her disappear from sight.

The Institute looked as imposing as ever as she looked up the building before her. Though the librarian had visited this place a couple times before, each time had a different reason for her arrival. With a deep inhale, Mikki soon strolled up the steps and into the Institute and felt her left shoulder become lighter as Beatrice started flying ahead of her to the point of leaving her in the dust. 'She must miss Swain.' She mused to herself as she continued to hold her casual pace through the halls till she reached the familiar garden area that sat in the middle of the place. Same as last time, the area was filled with summoners just relaxing and chatting with one another and even the sight of a couple champions caught her attention as she watched them speak with their fans and admirers. A small smile graced her face for a moment as she basked in the calm of the place before moving on to where the champions would be if they did something the League wouldn't allow.

Her footsteps echoed as she bobbed and weaved through the purple robed summoners till she reached the area most would avoid at all cost in fear of getting in trouble with the higher ups. All the energy she was feeling from the large crowd of people soon gave way to the dampening feeling of dread and anger as she slowed down her decent to the holding rooms below. Mikki quickly turned another corner and abruptly collided with someone much taller than herself and fell backwards to the stone ground. She groaned for a moment before speaking. "I'm so sorry about…." Looking up, the librarian saw Prince Jarven standing before her, looking slightly confused at her presence here in the Institute. "About that…" She managed to finish as she scrabbled to stand upright and brushed herself off from the musty stains she gained from the floor.

A spear was quickly pointed to her throat when she looked back up again. Her eyes traveled up the long pole to find a soldier with ornate looking armor wielding the spear at her. "What's a Noxian girl doing down here?" He questioned her and was about to take a step forward, but was stopped by the Prince. "That's enough Xin, she's no threat to us." He told the man as he pulled back his weapon, but still glared at the librarian. With Xin Zhao pacified for the time being, Jarven turned to face her himself. "Though, I must ask what you are doing here, librarian?" He asked her a bit more gently than his companion.

Mikki took a deep breath and sighed in relief as she stared up at the Demacian Prince. "I'm just here to pick up a certain someone from here." She told him slowly as she straightened her cloak and pulled it tighter around herself. He narrowed his eyes at her before looking a bit behind him. "You're here for Swain, aren't you?" This pulled a slight gasp of disbelief from the girl as lowered her shoulders in response and nodded. "Yes. I won't deny it." She murmured quietly and sighed. Jarven huffed at her as he stepped up to her. "I'm surprised you'd still listen to him after what he's done to you already." He was pointing at the scars that lined the left side of her face. She frowned a bit and looked off to the side in embarrassment. "It's…difficult to explain why." She managed to say after a moment of silence before turning her eyes back to him.

"I would assume so since you're here now." It was quite clear Jarven didn't approve of her reason for being down in the dungeon area of this place. He gave the girl a glance over and tilted his head a bit. "Though, I must admit, you look better than the last time we spoke." A complement that both made her glance away again and Xin confused at what he was saying. "Prince, you mean to say you've spoken to this Noxian before?" The fact that he didn't know her name in the first place held back the need to tell him to stop calling her by her nationality. "As unlikely as it is, this girl isn't a complete Noxian." This pulled her attention back to the two men before her as she raised an eye brow at Jarven before speaking. "Ezreal told you about that?"

"He did or else I wouldn't of visited the other night." Jarven explained to her as she nodded her head. "Yes, that makes sense." This interaction was proving to be a bit confusing to Xin because not all the details were being said about the how and why. Mikki smiled a bit before something came up as she fished around in her pockets and pulled out the ring that she pocketed earlier and held it out to Jarven with her left hand. "I have a favor to ask of you, since we're on the subject of my Demacian heritage." This took both the Demanians for a loop as the Prince looked to the ring in her hand. "A sigil ring?" He muttered and watched the librarian nodded in conformation.

"I'm assuming it belongs to my father, since the initials inside the band don't match anyone else's that I know of. I was hoping you or someone one else with access to Demacian military archives could look up the name of who this ring belonged to and possibly return this to any living family members he might have left behind." The look on her face alone was stern even though her voice was soft and gentle. Jarven looked a bit shocked at the request as he stared at the ring that still sat in her open hand. "I…I'm surprised you want to return it." He stuttered a bit as he picked up the ring gently and looked it over, staring at the one wing dove that was engraved on it. "I don't deserve it and I'm sure he'd rather have his true family to be in possession of it over his bastard child with a Noxian woman." She said softly. The Prince and Xin Zhao both were speechless over her selflessness to return the sigil ring to it's rightful family.

"I'll see what I can find out for you and let you know when I can." Jarven soon told her after a minute passed in silence between the trio. A small smile appeared on the librarian's face at the news and bowed to him. "Thank you so much." The Prince tucked the white ring away as he placed a hand on the shoulder of the librarian. "You're doing a service that I would never expect and, for that, I'll see to getting you the news once I get the time to look." This made Mikki quite happy as she placed a hand on his, patting it gently. "Take your time, you're a busy man and I have another busy body that requires my services." She said to him lightly as they both said their good byes and parted ways down the hall.

Another couple of corners later, Mikki soon reached the room indicated in the letter Swain sent and found the door slightly ajar and voices were coming from inside. Cautiously, she stepped as quietly as she could to the edge of the door and started to listen in on the conversation inside. "You were being foolish! Attacking an Adjudicator and a summoner over what? A librarian?" A woman muttered loudly at the man in front of her. Mikki heard the familiar dark chuckle coming from Swain as she continued to stay out of sight of the pair inside the room. "She a bit more than just a librarian, Kolminye." Was all he said to the woman's rant as silence hung in the air. "It doesn't matter. You realize this could have been seen as an attack to the League itself, but here you are waiting for your escort to take you back to Noxus." It was quite clear she was upset with him, but her voice also hinted that she was worried about him as well.

"Of course, she should be here any moment now. It's almost noon." He mused to Kolminye as he started to pace around the room with Beatrice now back on his left shoulder. The High Councilor watch him with careful eyes. "She? Now is it LeBlanc that's going to see you arriving back in Noxus in a timely fashion?" The Tactician looked to the woman, grinning a bit underneath his mask. "No, I've called on someone who's much more efficient in transporting others around." This peaked the interest of the woman as Mikki stilled outside of the door, wondering if it was safe to interrupt their conversation at this point. "Isn't that right, Mikki?" Swain said a bit louder, causing the librarian to jump at the sudden questioned aimed right at her as she slowly reached out and pushed the door open, revealing herself to the two people inside.

"O-of course." Mikki replied as she faced both Swain and Kolminye in the room before her. The woman raised an eye brow at the girl that stood in the doorway before turning to Swain. "Jericho, isn't she the Noxian Librarian?" He nodded as he stepped up to the librarian motioning for her to move out of the room as he followed. "If you don't mind, I'll take my leave with the dear librarian now." Before the Councilor could protest the thought, Swain already strolled past Mikki and slowly headed for the exit to the dungeon area, leaving the librarian to follow in his wake, taking long strides to keep up with his pace. He stopped short of the exit and let the girl catch up to him, listening to her heavy breathing as she leaned forward a bit, placing her hands on her knees.

"Enjoyed listening in on that little conversation?" He asked her as she slowed her breathing down and looked up at him. "I didn't get to hear very much of it." Mikki told him honestly as she straightened up and looked out to the garden area before them. Swain held out his left arm, offering it like he did months before when he took her to the nightly social. The girl eyed him warily before slipping her gloved right hand into the crook of his elbow and walked beside him like an item to adorn the champion next to her. She noticed the summoners and some of the champions staring at them as they walked down the pathway to the front of the Institute, including Prince Jarven and Xin Zhao who looked very displeased with the sight they were seeing.

Mikki frowned at the thought as they continued to move into the next part of the structure to the front of the Institute and down the steps to the purple rune that was waiting for them to arrive. No words were spoken as they stepped onto the rune and quickly zipped off to the front of the library where Mikki started from. She slowly pulled her hand away from Swain as she looked up at him as he glanced around their surroundings. "We'll talk later tonight. For now, I want you continue to do what you normally do here till later. I have much to discuss with you." He murmured to her as he started for what she could only imagine was his estate as she stood there on the front steps of the library.

All throughout that afternoon, Mikki made sure everything was running smoothly before letting her employees get off early tonight, letting her take some time to herself before Swain shows up at the front door. She may have been given some warning to his arrival this time around, but the thought of being alone with him once more put her on edge as she placed the last of the returned books to the shelves. The librarian was eating a small pastry when a familiar knock sounded from the front door. With a heavy sigh, she moved through the halls back to the front and unlocked the door and opened it to see Swain in his usual outfit as opposed to the Grand General outfit he was wearing earlier. She stepped aside and let him inside, noting that Beatrice was not on his shoulder and figured that he wanted the raven to keep watch around the outside.

After Mikki locked up the front door once more, Swain turned to face the librarian with his narrowed red eyes that made her shudder lightly before looking off to the side. "I'm not going anywhere. Not this time." She murmured at him as she stepped away from the door and placed herself a good five feet from him. "That's good because we have quite a few things to discuss, such as the glove I gave you." He said calmly as he stared down at her right hand as she pulled it up to look at the silver plate on the back of her hand. "I know what this glove is, Swain. It was Mother's, but I didn't realize she took it off…" The girl told him as he nodded to her words. "That's right, it was once Arabeth's, now passed down to you as her only successor to the Halsnight name." His voice seemed a bit saddened when he mentioned her mother's name.

"So we got that sorted out then…" She started to say, but stopped abruptly as Swain glared at her. "No, we're not done with that subject. There's more to that glove that she didn't tell you about." He growled as he stepped up to her to grip the gloved hand to look at it closely. "This glove was the reason your mother fell ill." Mikki tried to pull out of Swain's grasp but stopped when he mentioned the unknown disease that claimed her mother's life. "What?" Was all she could muster as her arm fell lax in his grip. The Tactician slowly released her hand and watched it fall to the girl's side as his eyes softened as he gazed at her. "It's the curse of the binding that the glove holds. Having it on is fine, but when you are able to take it off after a couple decades, it'll slowly drain the life force of the former wearer till they die once it's removed." The information made the librarian pale and slump to the ground in horror.

"Sh-she told you this, didn't she?" Mikki stuttered softly as she looked up at him from the ground. He only nodded as she looked back down to the wooden floor beneath her, almost on the verge of tears. So she'll die shortly after removing the glove that gives her a concentrated power boast, but it won't happen till at least twenty years later. A hand was felt on her head as she realized Swain was stroking at the loose hair, smoothing the stray strands across her head while it was still bowed to him. "You still have quite a while before that times comes." He assured her quietly as she looked up and felt his hand moved to her face and touch at the scars just above the brow. "I-I know, but still…" Her words trailed off as she slowly pushed off the ground to stand upright again.

Swain's hand moved from the tip of her scars to her cheek as the thumb slowly stroked along one of the scars gently, making her blush lightly at the gesture. "There's still the matter from the other night before I was whisked away to the Institute." Mikki gave a bit of a breathy huff before frowning at him. "The ultimatum?" She vaguely remembered what he asked of her before the rest became a very blurry haze. "In the end, you did decide to stay by my side. You coming to escort me home was proof enough for that." This pulled another huff from the girl as she glanced towards his hand on her cheek, feeling him lightly claw just behind her ear with the middle finger. "You knew I couldn't betray you, but you asked to throw the boys off guard for just that moment." She mused darkly to him as he smirked under his bandana. "Not only that, but told them only a partial truth…" He knew what she was talking about as he gave her a deep chuckle. "You honestly think I would have told him the full truth?"

Mikki shook her head as she glanced into his eyes. "No, you never do." Her eyes narrowed slightly at him as another stroke of his thumb on her scars kept the red flush on her face. "But my intentions still stand with you." He murmured as reached with his left hand and placed it on her side, pulling her closer to him. The librarian made a small noise but he ignored it as he placed his chin just above her head as he wrapped his right hand behind her head. "I wasn't lying about wanting you." The statement made the girl shiver in his grasp as he felt her nose bump his neck lightly. "Only as a mistress to your children." She whispered back before nosing into his shoulder. "Perhaps so, but this arrangement works to both our favors." He countered back at her, listening to her sigh in defeat.

The hand that held her head to his shoulder moved away for a moment as she felt Swain tug down the bandana from his nose and mouth and soon moved the same hand under the librarian's chin to lift it up so that he could lean in to kiss her slightly parted lips. A small whine of protest hummed between them but she didn't pull away or stop him from deepening the kiss further as he slipped his tongue into her mouth, tasting the tangy sweetness from the pastry she was eating earlier. Her tongue weakly pushed against his as he assaulted her mouth, his hands pulling the rest of the girl against his body, holding tightly to her small frame.

Mikki's own hands reached up between them and gripped at Swain's robes tightly as she started to moan weakly into the kiss. Something inside of her craved this attention and now it was being satisfied as she closed her eyes in contentment. The change in body language made Swain chuckle once more as he gripped her waist and sat her on top of the Information and Checkout counter next to them. He broke the heated kiss as he looked at the librarian, watching her pant softly. She was staring back at him with narrowed eyes, but what they were telling him wasn't that she didn't enjoy it, but the fact he ended it annoyed her more. "Tell me something. Did you miss being treated like this?" He whispered into her ear and felt the grip she had on his robes tighten.

She didn't want to answer him as she placed her forehead onto his shoulder, still clutching to his clothes. Yes, she missed the affection he was showing her, but the reason behind the affection left her a bit disheartened. All those years he spent gaining her trust was so he could just claim her as his in the future. Now. "Swain…" She muttered through her teeth as she felt him nuzzle into the side of her neck slowly, feeling the warm breath on the sensitive skin. His hands were slowly making their way up her sides till they moved to the front of her robe and slowly undid the collar portion and pushed aside the fabric to expose the rest of her neck. The Tactician slowly planted light kisses down the neck till he nipped at the tender spot from last time, causing her to gasp loudly.

Swain pulled back once more to look at the librarian's face as it was now flushed a deep red and chuckled softly under his breath. "Shall we move to a more personal space?" He suggested to her as she glanced off to the side at the library around them before nodding slowly. Despite the fact no one else was around, the openness of the main room left her a bit discouraged over anything they were about to do to each other. The librarian slid off the counter and practically fell into the champion before her, clutching at his robes once more as he wrapped his arms around the girl possessively. Slowly turning around in his grasp, Mikki slowly lead him up the stairs to her apartment and closed that door behind them as well.

Gently, Swain nudged Mikki forward to the center of her room and gripped at the sides of her robe. "Raise your arms." He commanded her as she did as she was told and felt the robe being pulled over her head and tossed aside, leaving her in the black dress pants and thin cotton undershirt. The cold air made her shiver a bit as she watched the Tactician remove his own robe, eyeing once more at the scars that lined his lean body. "Didn't think it would still interest you, but if you want…" He stepped in front of her, watching her reach slowly to touch the old wounds on his body once more as he returned the gesture by stroking at the scars on her left shoulder. Now they shared a common feature.

A small pleasure, she realized, that he allowed of her as she leaned into him, still gently fingering the light colored scars on his sides as she rested her head against his chest. Mikki gasped a bit when a nail ran down on of her own scars, making her shudder and look up at him. Swain smirked at the reaction he received and gripped the thin fabric that still clung to her upper body and pulled it off as well, leaving her bare top side. With a slight shove, he managed to tilt the librarian onto the bed, watching her fall onto her back, leaving her legs dangling over the edge still as he leaned over her. Her eyes widened as she looked up at him with some of the fear from earlier as she laid defenseless under him. "Swain, please…"

With his right hand, he traced the scars down over her shoulder all the way to her collarbone, watching her squirm at the touch. "It won't hurt like last time." He told her as he kept caressing her shoulder lightly. A small groan sounded from the girl below as she reached to grip at his forearms, feeling the nails she had claw at his skin. She was warm to the touch as Swain leaned down to gently lick at the shoulder scars now. Small moans issued from the librarian's mouth as he tongued along the tender lines of the claw marks he made. "T-take it…easy." She manage to say to him as he reach her collar bone and nipped at the flesh on it, making her gasp loudly again.

His teeth were sharp and with each nibble he made on her skin made Mikki shudder in response to each one. Her breath caught in her throat as she felt his mouth reach her left breast and gently took it into his mouth, suckling gently. She reached to grasp at his head with her hands, only grasping at his hair with one as she tried to nudge him off her breast, but it only lead to him suckling harder and felt his left hand tweak her right nipple between his fingers. Her back arced up into him from the teasing he was doing and it made him grin into her skin.

Swain's free hand slid down between them and slowly undid the button on the girl's pants and slowly slid them off with her underwear, leaving her fully bare for him to see. Mikki breathed his name softly as he lowered to himself further, him mouth planting small kisses over her stomach. He soon was knelling at the edge of the bed in between her leg as she propped herself up to her elbows to watch him slowly lick at the folds of her entrance that were presented to him. 'Already slick.' The champion thoughtfully mused as he worked his tongue up her pussy, his hands gripping her legs to keep them from clenching around his head. The tip of his tongue flicked the girl's sensitive clit and felt her try to pull her legs together to force him away, but to no avail.

"Swain!" Mikki cried at him as she wanted to move her hands to push him away, but that would take away the support she had to stay upright as he continued to tease her clit with his mouth. Her breath was becoming heavy and her body shook from each suckle he made. His red eyes glanced up at her, gauging her reaction to the heavy teasing he was doing. "S-swain…I…" She felt like she was going to peak, but the Tactician pulled himself away at the last second as she dropped her arms out from behind her and laid there, panting heavily and shaking with the need for release. "Not yet…" He murmured as he rose from the floor and started undoing his own pants and moved them with the rest of his clothes as he adjusted himself back over the librarian once more.

With a bit more effort, Swain pulled up the girl's hips to align his hardened member with her slick entrance and slowly pushed against the tight hole, making her wince and moan as he pushed every inch into her. "Still just as tight as before." He murmured as he hilted himself and held it inside of her for a few moments to let her adjust to his size once more. Mikki looked up at him, small tears forming at the edges as she reached up to grasp at his upper arms with her small hands. With a practiced motion, the champion began to move his hips, thrusting slowly at first as he leaned down to kiss her roughly once more. Their teeth clashed as they each tried to nip at the other's lips, pulling moans from each other.

Swain picked up the pace as the nails on his arms started to dig into his skin, drawing a bit of blood. He could feel the walls of her pussy tighten even more around his cock as she neared her orgasm, which made it easier to slid deeper into her as he pushed up onto the bed to get a better angle. He groaned as he pounded into her, growling her name as he gave one last thrust and released his seed into her. Mikki moaned from the feeling of his warm cum being shot inside of her as she desperately clung to Swain's arms tightly, not noticing the thin line of blood she drew with her nails.

With a deep growl, the champion leaned in, wrapped his arms around the librarian and rolled them around till they were on their side. Mikki was also moaning softly as she buried her face into the side of his shoulder as she moved her arms to hold him tightly. No more words were spoken the rest of the night as they laid in bed, now covered with the girl's comforter as they stayed joined at the hips. She was shaking from the intercourse as the Tactician kept a tight hold on the small frame of the young woman who will mother his future children as they each slowly drifted off to a restful sleep.