CHAPTER 00: Getting Settled

"I'm sure you'll love it here, Luxanna."

Lux stared at the empty, barely-furnished room in front of her: a spring bed with no sheets, a scratched wooden desk and matching cushioned chair (whose "cushion" was ripped right down the center, showing off its unattractive yellow stuffings), and a small wooden cabinet shoved in the tiny space between the foot of the bed and the wall. Dull, hardwood floors, scraped and scratched from years of use and abuse, were offset by faded royal blue walls, pockmarked with holes and sticky tack, the remnants of banners and pictures hung by students who lived here before. The blinds covering the window were bent out of shape along the edges, so sunlight crept through the spaces between in uneven streaks of morning white light, highlighting the thick layers of dust covering pretty much everything.

The whole place was almost as big as an average-sized bedroom, and Luxanna Crownguard was unused to anything average.

"It's quaint," she managed to get out. She did her best not to sniff up dust, but her nose was already starting to tickle and... Oh, God, there were, like, a thousand stains on the mattresses. She didn't want to know... "Kinda small for two people to share, though."

"You'll enjoy the company." Her brother's tone was matter-of-fact. "It's actually really comfortable once you get used to it."

"I sure hope so," she answered. She wasn't exactly convinced by her brother's dismissive tone. Her suitcase rolled behind her as she stepped further into the room. "Since I'm stuck with my roommate for the rest of the semester."

Not that she planned on being in this dusty, beat-up room very often. Oh, perish the thought. No, Lux intended to spend nearly every free moment she'd have in the campus library. As a magical arts major, Lux planned on pouring through as many of the advanced (read: restricted) books as possible, with or without permission.

Not that her brother Garen needed to know about that bit of it. He was a stickler for rules.

"Anyways," Lux said, turning around with a smile plastered to her lips, "I can't wait to see you out on the fields next week!"

Garen grinned, puffing out his broad chest in pride. "Yeah, we'll beat the pulp out of those Noxians for sure!"

Her brother was part of the football team, on a full athletic scholarship. They had a game scheduled for next week, and after a summer spent practicing, Garen was beefed up and pumped up, full of team spirit and buzzing with energy for the start of the semester. Dressed in a bright blue jersey and white basketball shorts, a white baseball cap, calf-length socks, and brown flip-flops, Garen practically oozed frat boy quarterback vibes, with the burly figure and bright baby blue eyes to match.

Lux was almost embarrassed to be seen with him, except for the fact that his outfit had somehow not hurt the school population's opinion of Garen as he'd helped his sister unload her luggage this morning: he'd gotten plenty of high-fives and well-wishes from the other students moving in, most of whom were wearing the same shade of royal blue as Garen. The sea of blues and whites made Lux feel a bit out of place in her plain gray tee shirt, khaki shorts and beige cardigan. Even her hair was pulled back by a black scrunchy. She felt... prude-ish, like a librarian or something.

But she refused to be intimidated by something like colors. Lux had no remarkable physical skills like her brother, but she was smart, and she had magic. She'd studied hard all through high school, managing a pristine 4.0 and scoring a perfect 1,000 on the Ability exams. She'd gotten here with hard work, pure and simple, and she knew that out of all the students meandering around today, she'd earned her place here.

Lux carefully reached out to a drawer and pulled it open, holding her breath as dust wafted into her face. "I think we should clean the room a bit," she said, "Once we've gotten all my luggage upstairs."

"Sure," Garen said, nodding. "If I have time after practice, I'll drop by to help." He placed a large box holding Luxanna's laptop and other tech on top of the drawer, sending more dust particles wafting into the air.

Lux held back a sigh. He had practice in about 30 minutes, so basically, he had time to help her move her luggage, and then he had to leave. Meaning she was on her own to clean and unbox, at least until her roommate arrived. Which would hopefully be soon; check-ins ended at 11, and it was already 10.

"Right," she said nonetheless, and Garen held the door as she headed back into the hallway. White walls and dull blue carpeting led them back to the elevator. "So how many of the guys out there were teammates, and how many were your frat brothers?"

Garen laughed. "Believe it or not, I have friends from classes here, too." The elevator opened, and a blue-haired yordle with a cart full of boxes passed them, quick steps sending her down the hallway. Lux and her brother stepped into the elevator, and Garen pressed the button for the ground floor.

"And from the gym, I'm sure," Lux replied. Garen chuckled.

"I've been found out."

"Not hard to find when I know all your habits."

"Ah, the downsides of having a sibling," Garen lamented jokingly. "At least I have all the dirt on you, too."

Lux rolled her eyes. "What dirt? I'm a straight-A student."

"Yeah. And a straight-A nerd, which I will point out to any guys that want to get you into trouble."

The elevator pinged open, and Lux and her brother stepped out.

"There won't be any trouble," she assured him. Students passed by them, dragging their belongings as they went. "I just want to focus on studying."

"Even so," Garen said, "I'm here if you need me."

Like you were here for me in middle school, Lux thought bitterly. Then she mentally recoiled. No, you can't blame him. And it doesn't matter. She glanced over at Garen, who greeted everyone they passed with a smile and a wave. He's here now. And so am I. It'll be okay.

"Thank you," she said instead.

After a few trips to the car and back, dodging other hurried students with cartloads of belongings, Lux dropped her last box onto the floor, letting out a puff of air. She found herself surrounded by cardboard boxes and bags stuffed to the brim, placeholders for the furnishings she'd soon set about adding to this worn, drab room. She'd carefully picked a few choice items from home, but mostly she'd bought entirely new things, keeping to a color scheme and idea in her mind for what the room should be like.

Garen, with a blinding grin and a dramatic salute, took off in a hurry to make it to football practice on time, leaving Lux alone to unpack her belongings. And she had a lot of them: toiletries, clothes, knick-knacks and posters and chargers and bedsheets. Everything she possibly might need, and more, all crammed into her tiny room... And she had to find space for it all, somehow. She had thought she had brought just enough, but now that she had seen the room, she wondered if she might have a bit too much...

But of course, that would have to wait. There were more pressing matters to deal with. She rolled up the sleeves of her cardigan and swept bubblegum pink bangs out of her eyes.

First, Lux had to banish all of this dust from existence. Its mere presence was just offensive. There were spells for dealing with messes like this one, of course, simple ones to wish away the dust and more complex ones to manipulate her space. But the dorms at Demacia had a strict "No Magic" policy, so she would have to do all the grunt work by hand.

There was just no way around it. Well, there was: she could break the rules. But Lux already planned to do that plenty in her time here. No need to start with something mundane. Besides, this room was a fresh start, and she wanted it to grow from her own hard work, her own two hands.

Lux pulled her phone from her pocket to check the time. It was 10:22, and she was alone. She allowed herself to glare half-heartedly at the door before she grabbed a dustpan from one of her boxes.

She didn't know who she shared the room with yet. The dorms at the Valorant Institute matched students up based on graduating year and answers to a painfully short questionnaire, so Lux had no clue who her roommate was. But check-ins ended in less than an hour. Barring some sort of crisis, what freshman in their right mind would miss something as important as claiming their room key?

Where was her roommate even at?

Focus on the task at hand, she told herself. Clean first, worry later. So she pushed thoughts of her MIA roommate out of her mind to brush dust into a pan instead.

By the time Garen returned, Lux had tidied the place up to her liking. The horrible layers of dust were gone, the floors were swept squeaky clean, and the tiles of the shower had been thoroughly scrubbed. (Which was not an easy task - Lux shuddered to think of the germs that had been left to fester in there all summer before she'd bleached the surfaces spotless. Now a fan was running in the bathroom, blow-drying the walls and dissipating the strong smell of cleaning chemicals.)

She had made her bed, organized her desk, and was in the process of hanging posters on the walls when she heard her brother knock. She hopped off the small blue stool she'd been using and walked the short distance to the door to let him in.

"How was practice?" she asked by way of greeting. Garen must have showered after, because his hair was wet, his skin dewy and refreshed, he wore fresh clothes, and - most importantly - he smelled nice, like rosewood and citrus and not sweat and grass. He'd thankfully traded in his awful socks-and-sandals duo for a much more sensible pair of sneakers.

"Wonderful!" he replied. "Jarvan's already making strides as team captain. And the new guys are really pumped, they want to start the season off with a win." His blue eyes, the same shade as her own, flickered with excitement. "We've got a really great team this year."

Lux, who'd been standing in the doorway up 'til now, moved to stand aside, ushering her brother in.

"That's great," she said. "I can't wait to see you guys play." Garen had promised her front-row seats if she came to watch the first game they played, and while she wasn't exactly a sports person, per se, she had every intention of supporting her brother.

Now, as he ambled in behind her, she couldn't help the bit of pride that flitted through her veins as he did a double-take, brows raised as he looked around. Then he whistled, clearly impressed.

"You were busy while I was gone."

"Of course I was." Lux stepped back onto her step stool and finished sticky-tacking a poster (Mt. Targon at sunrise, a beautiful view of her favorite landmark) to her wall. "I couldn't just sit here and wait for you to come back and help me, it was absolutely filthy."

"Well, it's certainly not now." He nodded to the remaining boxes. "Need a hand with anything?"

Lux caught herself from saying, "No, I'm fine" - a task in and of itself, one she was very much unused to - and instead motioned for him to take her place. "I have the sticky tack on the walls already, just line the rest of my posters up with it." She met her brothers eyes and felt compelled to tack on a "Please" at the end of her statement.

Garen set to work with a nod, though he pushed her step stool aside, having no need for it himself. Meanwhile, Lux rolled her luggage into the closet. She and her (still absent) roommate would have to share the space, so Lux took the right side as her own and set about hanging up her clothes. She had a collection of mostly the basics: plain tees, simple tanks, neutral camis, and casual blue jeans, with a few shorts thrown in for a bit of added variety. There were a few simple dresses and skirts and jackets, too, but Lux had chosen to keep her wardrobe fairly simplistic for college.

Basic, regular, normal. When she'd been packing back at her house, that was what she'd repeated to herself while sifting through elegant fabrics and fine textures. It wasn't easy, to find anything plain in a sea of exuberance, but it had made it all the more worthwhile.

Even her collection of shoes was modest. Considering the fact that she'd left everything designer and expensive at home, anyways. This - a college campus, a dorm, a teeny tiny bedroom closet - was no place for fancy handbags and silk scarves, and not just because they would be likely to only collect dust in the back corner of the closet.

Lux didn't want any reminders of home, didn't want brand names littering her closet or jewels hanging from her neck. She had painstakingly sifted through every aspect of her life at home to ensure she brought only what she absolutely needed. Everything else could sit in her room back home and look pretty. But pretty didn't get her to where she was: her own hard work had. What she was innately good at had.

She didn't need the wealth or luxuries she'd grown up surrounded by. All she needed was this space, this tiny, tiny room, to call her own from now on. This was her home now, and it was thoroughly hers, cleaned and polished and assembled entirely by her own hands, and she loved it already, dust-covered cabinets and all.

Her brother might be right, she conceded. The place was growing on her.

Once she was done with the closet, Lux set about helping Garen finish up with the walls. Mostly, she had scenic pictures, simple ones that could go with any room decor, as well as a football banner to support her brother's team and a string of waterfall lights to add a touch more warmth than the overhead fluorescents provided.

Finally, Lux stepped back to admire their work. The walls were full of calming scenery, and the waterfall lights hung like morning glory vines, curling and vibrant and lovely. Her bedsheets, girly and pink, were offset by tasteful throws. (Tucked behind her pillows were her two favorite stuffed animals, Susan and Rengu, though she wasn't about to show them to Garen, or her roommate, whenever she showed.) And her desk was nice and neat, pens and pencils tucked into a white mug beside her laptop and textbooks. A grey messenger bag hung from the back of her chair, with notebooks and supplies tucked inside for classes.

Overall, the room looked much more welcoming than it had when she'd first walked in.

It wasn't perfect; Lux still wanted to hang some (preferably pink) curtains to block the sight of the bent blinds, and she needed to find a (preferably pink) rug big enough to hide the more noticeable scratches on the floor, but what she'd done with the place would suffice, for now.

Smiling, she wheeled around to face her brother.

"I'm starving," she announced. "Let's grab lunch!"

A/N: hi this has been sitting in my drafts for literal years now. enough is enough lmao. Hope u like this. I've got the whole story planned out (like, I actually wrote an outline and everything – I never write outlines lol) and it should be around 15-20 chapters. Probably. Hopefully. I don't wanna do more than 20… But we'll see where the story takes us!

In the meantime, let me know what you think. :) I'll be posting the next chapter in a week or so. It's already written but I just… uhh… want a schedule for this stuff, if that makes sense. Also gives me time to proofread and write ahead.

Yes, this is cross-posted on ffnet, and no, I will not be recommending u read it there, bc that account is embarrassing lol. An ancient relic that belongs in a museum. Ha. Ok laters.