~ SPOILERS for the 4th episode of Arcane ~

(this is the sequel to "The Man of Tomorrow")

Jayce quit moving in front of a door, which looked exactly like any other in the building. The room past it served only as a small observatory, it was rounded except for the wall where the door was inscribed, with a huge curved glass window that doubled as a glass roof. A few storage installments occupied the parts of the wall that weren't made of glass. A long table stood close to the window, its chairs spread all over the space. Finally, small telescopes and binoculars riddled the table top. Despite the massive plane of translucent material that replaced three-quarters of the domed room's walls, only the ocean and sky could be seen through it. Consequently, it was private and often naturally lit. To his knowledge, the light bulbs inside the six sconces were still the old burned ones from a year ago. Everything appeared blue and purple, in varying shades, in the evening.

Jayce shut the door carefully behind them and slowly stepped toward the glass, following the attractive female. She put her drink down on the seat of a wooden chair. It was conveniently placed to her right, with its back next to a bookshelf with two doors, one of which was missing. Facing the sparkling water and infinitely navy sky, with the inventor behind her and to her left, she began taking her jacket off. It glided down her arms to just above her elbows. In the moonlight, her skin contrasted even more radically with her many tattoos, many of which she enjoyed exhibiting, if not all of them. The dress she wore was sleeveless, and a single band of fabric trailed down her spine from the turtleneck, opening up at least half of her back. For the moment being, Jayce only saw her inked shoulders.

   "Do we need to discuss payment?"

   "Uh, not yet... I mean, if Viktor agrees to involve you and you greatly contribute, then, of course, we'll pay you a reasonable sum."

She shrugged the jacket directly off and threw it abruptly onto one of the other chairs randomly standing to her left, not quite close enough to the table. The buttons clinked against its wooden structure.

   "Viktor?"

   "Yes, my research partner. I run decisions through him."

She angled her head to show him her profile, a perfect silhouette drowned in darkness.

   "Tell me about him."

He hesitated, before obeying her command reluctantly:

   "He's an outstanding scientist and my best friend."

Jillian spun around and rushed, so close to him and so speedily, that he stepped back, afraid she'd push him to the ground. She was tall - though shorter than him - and even more seductive from up close. The shadows seemed to highlight her best features, and her eyes nearly glowed in the night.

   "Yeah?" he asked, his voice raspy from being startled and having no idea what was going to occur next.

   "There seems to have been a misunderstanding." Her voice was calm and she smirked, exactly like the entire time they spent together, also, she radiated another emotion that he couldn't quite decipher. A sort of relief or inquisitiveness... Again, reading others wasn't his forte.

   "You're from the Undercity," he stated.

Her grin broadened, and she momentarily stuck her tongue out playfully, winking.

   "Guilty as charged, Your Honor."

   "I see." Contempt obliterated the initial concern he felt.

What a waste of time, he thought. He began rotating to head back to the festivities.

   "We were really speaking of the Arcane..."

He didn't bother himself with a reply, but still glanced over his shoulder when she called out:

   "Jayce! What do you want to know?"

She briskly twirled with her arms out, and his eyes could've dropped out of their sockets with bewilderment.

A dome of particles floated around her, and a disk of runes stretched out from the center, where she stood. Runic symbols levitated around the dome of pure blue energy. He was speechless, staring into the Arcane. Both of Hiedra's irises had adopted the color of crystals and, as she moved, delicately poking at flying runes and sparkles, the whole magical shape warbled. Whilst making sense out of the behavior of others wasn't his strong suit, he knew runes in and out, considering he wasn't a mage. Although the runic patterns held his focus, he couldn't help but watch her. She waved her fingers to create swirls of blue light and she seemed so peaceful, so captivated by her own power...

   "So?" a comical grin illuminated her face.

Clearing his throat, he formulated his request:

   "Could you control a hex crystal? Contain or reroute its energy?"

   "Hm..."

The creature entwined her hands in her back and turned away from him. He gaped as strands of her hair, which curled down to the small of her back, became bright blue.

   "Probably..!"

She whirled back to face him, blue smoke wrapping itself around her tattooed arms before vanishing.

   "How long can you keep this up?"

   "Honestly, it's been a while since I last attempted to leave it up for as long as possible."

   "What's your high score?"

She was looking at the top of her dome, apparently thoughtful... Or in a drunken daze, he couldn't tell.

   "Between four and five hours," she cheerfully answered.

   "Perhaps you should close it, so you don't get exhausted."

   "I'll be fine."

She shuffled around the surface of shimmering runes and grasped at the hovering ones, watching them nestled in the palm of her hand.

   "Can we leave right now..? Can you follow me out of here, right now?"

Hiedra gracefully whipped around to look at him.

   "Unfortunately, I do have quite a few duties to attend to tonight. Contracts have this tendency to be legally binding, y'know."

Still smirking at her own humor, she rose her left hand above her head, curled her fingers around an invisible handle, then tugged her arm down as if she was pulling it. In a limited, quick and smooth explosion of bright blue sparkles, the dome of runes vanished. Concordantly, her eyes and hair had recovered their past appearance. With long, elegant strides, the female walked to where her champagne flute was resting.

   "So... You're..."

   "Yeah, I am many things," she drawled in a low voice, delicately picking the glass up with her nails grazing the clear surface.

She inspected the bubbling wine, with her trademark appreciative curiosity. Jayce gawked at her irises, that were transitioning to a golden color. Her right one flashed dark purple frantically, until her eyes seemed to settle on an homochromous look.

   "The behavior of your eyes is fascinating."

   "Thank you."

She smiled kindly, before drinking half of the flute's contents in one swift motion. As she strolled back closer to him, he realized that jagged dark green stripes were scattered around her pupils in a sort of tiger print.

   "Forgive me for being blunt..."

   "Why?" she asked, amused.

Disconcerted, he still went on:

   "But what exactly did you believe my intentions were?"

   "Oh..."

She cocked an eyebrow up, then took five steps in his direction. Propping her left hand against the inciting curve where her waist met her hips, while tilting her glass with the other, Jillian snickered almost silently.

   "I was misled by past experience, usually..."

Her pupils diverged away from his. She ran her tongue against the base of her upper row of teeth, either in reflection or wasted. Without staring back at the young inventor, the creature finished her sentence, her teasing grin broadening:

   "People want to sleep with me."

The prostitute snorted bitterly and threw him a defiant glare, as if she was challenging him to craft an appropriate answer.

   "That's what I, um, guessed... Sorry..?" was Jayce's wavery reply.

At least, he didn't stutter, she thought to herself.

   "Except you aren't."

His eyes became even rounder with shock.

   "Well, you know, why are you an..?"

Hiedra arched her eyebrows and pinched her lips, pressing him to speak his mind with only her eyes. The male huffed and spurted out:

   "Why are you an escort? You could save lives, use your powers to make the world a better place! You're wasting something beautiful, and for what?!"

   "Contempt beyond what my charms can erase... That's the main problem with you topsiders." The creature was thinking aloud, barely acknowledging the scientist within her statement.

   "I spend my days doing research because I want all of Piltover's citizens to have a better life. Your assistance would help us tremendously! It would help the people of Zaun, too."

Her head revolved briskly toward him, curls of her hair dancing along her bare shoulders and nearly naked back. Her mischievous grin was back, and her gaze anchored itself to Jayce's eyes. Without breaking visual contact, she drank a sip of champagne.

   "You are an excellent orator, Mr. Talis."

He sensed a tinge of irony in her overly honeyed tone.

   "I..."

   "You meant what you said, why take it back? For the right price, I will gladly help you both. I do feel as if I need to clarify something, though... Being a magic enthusiast, an amateur inventor or a mage, even skilled, will never provide anyone with sufficient income to survive."

   "Of course...," he muttered.

The female nodded, smirking proudly. She extended her left arm gracefully, her hand landing steadily onto his right shoulder. She promptly emptied the glass, gulping down what was left of the alcoholic beverage. Suddenly pressing herself against him, she gently hooked her left arm across his shoulders, supporting herself with her fingers digging into his left shoulder from behind. The young human froze, apprehensive, his muscles becoming furthermore rigid and tense, and his knuckles whitening from clenching his fists. Jillian left the task of holding the flute to her left hand, freeing her right-side one, with which she angled Jayce's head to face hers. She let her fingers skim is jawline and chin, biting her lower lip. Sensing how repulsed and unwilling he felt, though, she brought her hand away and let it rest above his heart, against his crisp white Academy jacket. She pressed her mouth to his ear, he could feel her breath brushing his skin and inhale the faint, lingering smell of smoke.

   "It really is a shame that you aren't interested in making our misunderstanding a reality..." Her sultry whisper ended with a sigh.

She drums her nails on his chest, before gifting him a quick kiss on his turned cheek.

   "... Would you be a dear and fetch my jacket?" she inquired in a playful voice, releasing him.

He silently obeyed the creature, which gave her just enough time to hide her glass inside the closest cupboard she could find, among various astronomy-related collectibles and tools.

   "There," he snapped, throwing her possession straight into her arms.

She caught it and slipped it on while heading for the exit. The scientist watched her breath-taking, soul-crushing and mind-blowing silhouette as it slightly staggered out of the room. Despite his undeniable curiosity, anger boiled in his stomach. What an arrogant little...