It's a Lovely Day in Piltover (Lux/Jinx)

Chapter 10: Under the Skin

Lux shouldn't have been surprised to find there was a book on Fissure Wildlife. Though, in all honesty, it read more like a scrap-journal from an intrepid explorer, some pages sewn in where revisions and addendums were needed. It was also telling that the title of the book - or perhaps notebook, or logbook - was "Wildlife in the Fissures That Tried to Bite Me, a Memoir."

She wasn't entirely certain that the person who wrote it knew what a memoir was, either. But they were, at the very least, an avid note-taker and wildlife enthusiast.

"Say, Vi, where did you find this?" She asked, slowly, carefully turning the pages, Ciara in her lap. The girl was tiny, barely up to Powder's waist, her blonde hair so pale it was almost white, reaching down to the small of her back. Perhaps some children in Zaun simply had an abnormal rate of hair growth.

Vi pushed Bertie away from Delilah and continued adding the sticks she and Riley had collected into the basket they were planning to use to make the nest. "Evidence locker. The guy it belonged to uh... well, he didn't need it anymore and the case washed out, so I brought it home in the hopes of avoiding another repeat of the duck ruining a stakeout."

"The ducks are fowl beasts." Ciara nodded, smiling slyly as Lux couldn't help but giggle at the pun.

"Does the Fissure have its own wildlife naturally? Or is it more... things adapted to living here?"

"Bit of both, if I had to guess. Like, the difference between a duck, and a crag-duck? Crag-ducks don't need to fly long-distance, so they're built like rocks with wings." Vi shrugged, then jerked her hand back as Bertie tried to snap at her wrist. "Oi. Fine, you want in an unfinished nest?"

Bertie flapped and squawked as Vi picked him up and dropped him into the spread out bundle of sticks.

Ahah! Crag-geese. Notable features included the four eyes, the brilliant blue features of their undersides, the feathers that mimicked the appearance of rock along the tops of their wings, and who could forget the inordinate amount of teeth. The beak, the tongue, and even the throat were lined with teeth. Now, differences in genders, differences... females are larger and more aggressive, and lack the 'sky'-blue underside, instead featuring downy fluff to keep the eggs warm.

Lux looked to Bertie and saw no blue, only greys, blacks, and the beady eyes simmering with hatred.

"I think Bertie might be a girl."

"Bertie can be whatever he wants to be!"

"I'm not - I know that, I'm just. Um. Do - do we know if he wants to be a boy or did you just decide that he was named Bertie?"

"... oh." Delilah shrank down a little, then tugged on Vi's hand.

"Hey. It's not like what your parents were trying to do with you, yeah? You made it really clear you wanted to be Delilah. They're the ones who got upset with you for that." Vi didn't exactly glare at Lux but her eyes were firm and cold.

"I know - is just. Don't want Bertie to be sad."

"And he isn't! Look at him, Lux. Doesn't Bertie look happy?"

Lux swallowed, looking away from the angrily hissing Bertie. She hadn't meant - and she knew that that was a - but it was so rare in Demacia, or so hidden that sometimes she - "Yeah. Yeah, I - I'm sorry, Delilah. I didn't mean..."

Honk!

"What should we call Bertie's sister then?" Ciara pointed at the second goose, who was sitting on Riley's back while the girl appeared to be napping.

Lux remembered what Powder said about Zaun and Piltover naming traditions when it came to pets, and the idea was too good not to suggest. And a way to apologise for - for being an idiot bigoted Demacian. "We should name her Pants."