textbookz-n-sketchbookz

[textbookz-n-sketchbookz]

Textbooks and Sketchbooks - CHAPTER TWO

Awesome Sauce Chapter Recap: Marly is tasked with touring a new student around the Academy. The Lorax (Heimerdinger) makes an appearance, and Viktor is here too!

Word Count: 3197

Warnings: None!

Ah yes, the astounding  cello. With its wide range and powerful sound, it's often impossible to find the right words to describe it. Able to catch all emotions, it's a luxury to listen to. The cello was something Marly listened to everyday. Bach Cello Suite 1, to be precise. Every morning, to wake herself up. This morning was no different, and the music rang through her dorm, waking Marly from her slumber. Mumbling incoherently, Marly sat up throwing the blanket off her. She set her pink plush lamb, subsequently named Lambie, aside against the pillows gently. 

Attempting to get out of bed, Marly lazily rolled off with a small “Oof!” as she fell on the carpeted ground. She quickly got up, blindly grabbing her glasses and putting them on. She had set her alarm so she had about an hour to get ready. Since she was quick, she usually had extra time. With this, Marly quickly chugged a glass of chocolate milk, afterwards shoving cereal into her mouth. She was never one for a big breakfast, preferring to bring snacks to eat throughout the day. 

She’s about to go grab her uniform and head to the bathroom to change, but was stopped with a knock at her door. Marly turned her head sharply to the door, “Coming!” She exclaimed loudly, rushing to the bathroom to quickly brush her hair, before opening the door. 

Standing there is a student, most likely of a higher year. Marly has never seen her before, dark hair and large earrings. Looking her over, Marly spots a messenger bag, before looking back up at the student’s face.

“Marly Divata?” The messenger spoke, to which Marly nodded her head.

“Yes that’s me, good morning!” She smiled, tilting her head slightly. Marly hid the embarrassment of still being in her pajamas, but the other girl didn’t seem to mind, smiling back.

“Good morning to you, too,” The messenger replied, before holding out a metal cylinder, decorated with blue and gold details. Piltover’s symbol is carved out in the center. It’s a carrying container for important messages, usually the high ups. “A message, from Professor Heimerdinger,”

Marly tilted her head, “Oh! Thank you,” she said politely, taking the unnecessarily large letter container. She was just able to fully wrap her fingers around the whole thing awkwardly. What did the Professor, the dean of the Academy and head of the Council nonetheless, need in messaging her? Yes, she did have him for Advanced Biology, and they were well acquainted with one another, but it wasn’t like she was failing or did something wrong. Despite her energetic and loud demeanor, she tended to follow the majority of school rules by the book.

“You’re welcome,” The messenger smiled, adjusting her bag before walking away. 

“Thank you again, and have a good day!” Marly called out as she left, smiling as the wave she got before closing her door. Sitting on her bed, Marly decided to brush her teeth first, before opening the letter. When she finished that, she went back and gently opened the metal container. Professor Heimerdinger’s handwriting was made of small, slanted letters.

Dear Marly,

Hello! I hope you do not mind the letter so forward into the morning. What’s that saying you kids always mention? Ah, that’s right. ‘The early wolf gets the lamb.’ A bit harsh, but good to be early, yes? 

Now, as strange as this may be, me and the other Councilors have decided that you shall be chosen in quite a simple task. We will require you to meet a new student and tour him around the Academy. As much as I would like to do this myself, oh you know how things are! Always busy now! I’m aware that you’ve never formally done anything like this before, but it’s quite noticeable how open you are to new students.

Please meet me at my office as soon as possible, so we can discuss more. You’ve been exempted from your classes today, and will be filled in later, no worries. You also don’t have to wear the uniform today, but please dress decently, you want to get a good first impression!

Looking forward to seeing you soon, 

Professor Heimerdinger 

“Yes!” Marly grinned, throwing her arms into the air. This letter was the bearer of good news for her. No classes? She’s free! No uniform? She finally gets to show off her amazing style! Showing a new student around? She would get to talk a lot, and possibly get a new friend!

Dashing to her closet, Marly sifted through her clothing, past the Academy uniforms, and towards her personal stuff. She immediately knew what she was going to wear, no doubt. Marly grabbed a colorful short sleeve button up, consisting of mainly red, blue, orange, pink, and yellow. The design of those colors were fun little doodles. Dogs and creatures and other miscellaneous things, all flowing into each other. There was even one of a figure holding a book with the word ‘sketchbook’ on it, which always made her giggle as an artist. It was from her family’s native land, the Philippines. She had gotten it when she visited one time. Marly grabbed a pair of mahogany pants, which she had gotten on the same trip. She changed into her clothing, giddy with the look.

Making her way to a small table in her dorm, Marly grinned at the sight of it. She used this tiny table to display all her Kandi, colorful beaded bracelets. She made all of them herself, excluding a small few that had been gifted to her, or bought. With the lack of long sleeves in today’s outfit, she would be able to wear her bracelets to her heart’s desire, without them being hidden under fabric. She grabbed a bunch of Kandi, paired with a few rubber bracelets. Marly swiftly slipped them one by one at surprising speed. In total, they leveled out to sixteen bracelets on her left, and thirteen on her right. They almost reached all the way to her elbow, but she found it comforting. Her bracelets rattled whenever she moved her arms, plastic beads colliding with other plastic beads.

Moving to stare at herself in the mirror, Marly grinned. She would definitely stand out. With no uniform, she now looked like a walking crayon box. She would most certainly be the most colorful person into any room she entered. But Marly didn’t mind. When she dressed outside of her uniform, she wanted people to remember her. It didn’t matter if the people were thinking ‘Oh she’s so weird.’ or ‘Oh she’s so cool.’, any thoughts were the other person sticking her into their mind.

Marly then put on her shoes at her door, lacing them up. Her shoes themselves were also colorful, a splatter of red-orange, pink, golden yellow, white, and black. The lacing in the front had beads to match her arms, but only at the bottom. Beads near the top made it hard for Marly to slip her feet into. 

An accessorized bag awaited her on a chair, decorated in keychains and pins. Marly grabbed her purse, her essentials packed inside, those being a pencil case, pocket mirror, student I.D., a marble she found on the ground, and a small gift her best friend gave her. She slipped it on, before snatching the other things she always carried with her. The two notebooks, one for sketching, the other for writing things down. Her stoplight red water bottle she walk.d forget to drink if she didn’t have it on her. And she also grabbed Lambie, as she was a constant companion, and thankfully no one seemed to mind. 

Marly folded the letter into her writing notebook, and shoved the metal container into her purse. She locked her door as she went outside, walking quickly to Professor Heimerdinger’s office. It was quite a bit away, on the upper floors of the Academy. Thankfully, she had some time before class started. 

There were a few staff members who eyed Marly warily as she passed, confused as to why a student was rushing through empty halls outside of uniform. In response to this, Marly took out the metal cylinder container, shaking it slightly. If these professional message holders only came from people of high power, she hoped they would understand.

They all nodded their heads with a slightly confused expression, but didn’t question Marly further. She would smile, and give a quick “Have a good day!” as she passed. 

Besides these instances, Marly’s journey was unbothered, if not for the way the halls seemed too quiet was a bit unsettling, and how some areas were completely in the dark, not needing light as class hadn’t started yet. Marly shivered softly, not even daring to look into these dim hallways, dashing past instead. 

Her footsteps echoed as Marly made her way up the last staircase, carefully watching her feet as she climbed up. With the large metal doors in sight, Marly took a moment to catch her breath from all the floors, hallways, stairs, and wrong turns she went through. She adjusted the things she was holding, preventing anything from slipping out of her arms. Approaching the talk doors, the words ‘PR. HEIMERDINGER’ engraved in a metal plate above them, an enforcer standing guard walked up to her. 

“Halt,” he stated, “What are your intentions of being here?” He asked, staring down at Marly. She tilted her head, looking back. The menacing enforcer helmet lay on the ground, unneeded during school hours. Marly smiled politely, taking out the metal letter holder once more.

“Good morning,” Marly started, “I’ve got a letter from Professor Heimerdinger, saying he wants to meet with me about touring a new student around the campus,” she spoke professionally, anyone who only heard this side of her would never guess that she’s usually loud and bouncing off walls.

The enforcer nodded his head slowly. Professor Heimerdinger most likely told him about this beforehand. “Alright, go ahead,” he told her, offering a subtle smile as he returned back to his post. 

“Thank you!” Marly smiled back, nodding her head in return. She knocked firmly on the doors with bent index and middle fingers, an odd habit of hers. The sound of tiny feet scuffling along the hard floor could be heard, and with a few clicks, the doors swung open. 

“Marly! Come in, come in,” Heimerdinger said, ushering her inside with welcome arms. Marly smiled down at the Yordle, she was pretty sure he was one of the only people she was taller than at this Academy, before looking around. His office could also be definitely described as a lab, Marly just thought him calling it an office would be more professional. Metal trinkets and inventions lay about on high shelves, a chalkboard with equations and notes was pushed to a corner for more room, papers with words scrawled on laying about. 

Heimerdinger even had a mini library, mostly filled with science textbooks and older history books. Today, Marly spotted a student standing there, leaning against a cane. His face peeked out at her from the top of the book, brown hair and amber eyes studying her. Marly smiled kindly, perhaps this was the new student.

“Of course! Happy to help,” Marly chirped, smiling down at the fluffy orange professor. Heimerdinger smiled back, chuckling as he beckoned the person who was buried in a book with a wave of his small hand. 

“Here’s who you will be helping out,” Heimerdinger told her, nodding his head.

Putting the book down, the student walked to stand next to the professor, the clank clank clank of his cane against the floor echoing slightly. Upon closer inspection, he was around her age, though taller than her, but the second part wasn’t surprising. He wore the Academy uniform, which was well pressed and ironed. His hair was a deep brown, neatly combed and parted, trimmed above the ears, with soft small curls at the nape of his neck. He had sharp features and high cheekbones, and a sharp face. His skin was pale, with two moles dotting his face. He was lanky and a bit thin, leaning against a cane Marly could only describe as ‘elegant’. Slightly wide amber eyes stared at her, taking all of her in as he stared at her, mouth parted slightly. Marly would say he was well composed, and most likely spent a bit of time on his appearance.

“My name is Marly, nice to meet ya!” Marly exclaimed, smiling widely. 

Nodding his head, the student spoke, “Nice to meet you too,” he started, a soft accent to his voice that Marly hasn’t heard before, making her tilt her head, “I’m Viktor,” he introduced himself, still staring curiously. 

“Nice to meet you, Viktor!” Marly grinned, thinking before adding, “Is that with a ‘C’ or a ‘K’?” The last thing she wanted was to make a bad impression by misspelling his name. After all, she experienced enough people spelling her name as ‘Marley’ for her.

“Uh, it’s with a ‘K’,” Viktor informed her, tilting his head. He hadn’t expected the question so forwardly, but appreciated it. The Professor spelled his name ‘Victor’ for the first time they met, so he was glad Marly wouldn’t spell it wrong.

With her question, he quickly inferred something, “Is ‘Marly’ without the ‘E’?” He inquired, looking down at her. There was most certainly a reason behind her thoughtfulness.

Marly blinked, clearly surprised, “Yes!” She exclaimed, loud as usual, “It’s Marly with no ‘E’, yes! You have no idea how often I have to remind people, it’s simple!” She told him, the words flowing out her mouth with insane speed. This earned an amused smile from Viktor. He watched as Professor Heimerdinder called Marly over, most likely handing her his schedule and rules for touring someone around. Marly set her items down on a desk to grab the papers Heimeridnger was handing her. Marly quickly read over the papers rather quickly. He stepped closer, glancing at Marly and her possessions. Everything seemed pretty colorful, with her two notebooks and bright red water bottle. Viktor looked back to her, listening as she spoke to the professor. 

Marly was quite the short woman, and dressed in such colorful clothing, she could be mistaken for a child from behind. Viktor, in all honesty, had expected Professor Heimgerdiner to choose someone who looked more professional for this job. But Marly seemed quite kind, so he didn’t think about complaining. As she discussed further inquiries with Heimerdinger, Viktor believed that her voice sounded quite familiar. He couldn’t name it just yet, but he squinted slightly continuing to listen. 

“Have your recent art projects been going well, Marly?” Professor Heimerdinger asked, looking up at Marly. She nodded her head excitedly, happy to discuss.

“Yeah!” Marly exclaimed loudly, throwing her arms into the air. When she did this, her bracelets rattled softly. Viktor stared at her bracelets, impressed with the wild abundance of them and all the colors. With her loud exclamation, and the rattling of her bracelets, Viktor’s eyes widened slightly. He stepped closer to her, looking down at her curiously. She seemed to be going off on a tangent giving Viktor a smile for acknowledgement. 

Gears were slowly turning in Viktor’s head, quick realization hitting him. This was the voice of the girl, the one from yesterday! The one that he would always see, that talked to him just a day ago. Flashing lights were going off in his mind when he figured this out. He continued to watch as Marly spoke, intrigued by her energy. 

When Marly finished, she inhaled deeply, “Sorry,” She grinned, “I believe class starts soon. Perhaps I should start the tour?”

“How lovely, glad to see you haven’t lost your spark since the last time I saw you,” Heimerdinger chuckled, and Marly laughed along, grabbing her things as the professor ushered her and Viktor to the doors. “Go along you two, explore the Academy!” He told them, “Marly I already notified the school staff that you should be excused, if anyone bothers you just let me know, have fun!”

Marly said her goodbye and thanks, quickly walking out with her things in hand. Viktor quickly followed, staring at her as she looked over his new official schedule. She muttered softly to herself, eyes narrowed as she took in all the classes. Viktor watched her from his side, eyes wide in fascination. He couldn’t believe that out of all the people in this huge Academy, his tour guide would be the only other person that seemed to know of the little abandoned place with the stream, making her a reoccurring face. Everything was happening at such fast speeds, many things happening at once. The day had barely started, and yet Viktor managed to get accepted into the Academy under the care of the literal dean of the school, and was getting a tour from the loud girl who seemed to be a bit more prominent to him than any student yet.

Viktor was staring at her. Marly noticed this as she examined his schedule. There were mostly technical classes, in parts of the building she rarely went to. After a while, Marly lowered the paper, raising an eyebrow at Viktor. 

“You good?” She asked, unfazed with him observing her. Marly found it amusing, and he seemed nice, so she paid no mind to it. 

Viktor paused, eyes widening further when she spoke. He gave her a meek, quick nod. It was clear he hadn’t expected her to notice, despite how he hadn’t tried to hide it at all. Marly hummed softly, nodding her head. “Come along now, let's go!” She grinned, “The closest class you nave is thankfully nearby,” she smiled. By ‘closest’ she meant on the same floor as them. The rest seemed to be on different floors from the professor’s office. Marly waved her hand for him to follow her, walking slowly to make sure he went with her. Viktor followed quickly, seeming surprised she didn’t chastise him for staring. The majority of students at the Academy would have glared if he stared. 

Marly, if anything, was excited. She’s never given a tour of the school before, that was usually left for the student government, which she found too time consuming to be a part of. To her, Viktor seemed quite nice, and was very polite when seeing her for the first time. She found it interesting how he looked at her with fascination in every glance, no one had ever seemed so curious with her before. She looked forward to showing him around, her excitable nature showing through with a new person around. She hoped they could become friends, as that was something both she and new students often looked for. 

“There will be quite a bit of walking, this school is massive!” Marly told him, throwing her hands into the air as she grinned back at him.

Viktor smiled softly, “Eh, it’ll be both of us that have to endure the walk,” he told her, ready to endure this day full of walking and talking alongside one another.

(A/N: Academy uniform and Marly'z outfit!! Me reveal...)

[textbookz-n-sketchbookz]

Textbooks and Sketchbooks - CHAPTER ONE

Awsome Sauce Chapter Recap: Marly goes to her secret spot, falls, and excitedly yells at a random person she sees (extra cool).

Word Count: 3048

Warnings: None!

The grace of a school holiday settled upon Piltover’s Academy, students and staff free for a day to do as they please. While the young scholars socialized and caught up with friends, lounged in their homes, or met up with family, a young artist roamed the streets. Colorful as can be, Marly could be seen walking around. She still had her purse, notebooks, and stoplight red water bottle on her, as usual. Tilting her head as she looked around, the city of Piltover was busy as ever. All around there were merchants selling trinkets and items, elites gossiping as they trotted along, and the citizens of the city living at their finest. 

Glancing at all the people, she quickly jogged away from the mainland, away from all the noise and busy crowded areas. As much as the business was fine with her, and as much as she was often as loud as the city itself, it wasn’t what she was looking for today. Marly hummed softly as she moved around the terrain, diverting from the pristine cut grass and evenly painted buildings towards the more untouched, unkempt sides of Piltover. 

Noise and chatter slowly subsided, now Marly’s ears filled with the sound of rushing water. This place was where the citizens of Piltover rarely went. Not because this area of the city was dangerous, simply because it didn’t reflect the perfecality of Piltover. At this point Marly wasn’t even sure if it was considered a part of the city anymore. Geographically, yes it was part of Piltover. But by now, when people say ‘Piltover’, they think of the City of Progress, where art and science come together hand in hand. A place fit for only the most elite, and the brightest of minds. Such an immaculate city wouldn’t see an area so ragged as something fit and worthy to claim. After all, it was an old, practically abandoned land. Something one finds in a science textbook about how erosion affects the earth, not in a city that’s the pinnacle for progress.

Marly walked along the land, looking over the edge of a rusty staircase. She glanced around, seeing if she had any witnesses. It wouldn’t matter, despite all of Piltover’s laws, there wasn’t one for going into this area. As usual in the areas further away from the big city, there was no one around, everyone being too enthralled with the day to day flawlessness of the main area. She slowly ventured down, one hand holding all her stuff, the other lightly trailing along the handrail. She kept her gaze on her feet, to prevent herself from missing a step, or tripping. Soon she made it down, now standing along what seemed to be a ledge in the middle of an open space. It was too high for her to jump down, and any attempts to climb down were too steep. Water pooled in a small lake at the bottom, though was quite shallow, having dried up over the years. A little stream flowed behind some rocks in the scenery. Once lush plants now wilted, some having turned to thin vines, others having bunches of yellow leaves curled up from lack of care and water. 

The artist often went here for quiet time, a simple escape from the loud city and the stresses that came with it. Sometimes she would draw, other times she would walk around and simply wonder about the part of Piltover that was so different from the main city. She’s drawn this place a couple times, deeming it the only scenery she would be willing to draw on her own time. In her sketchbook, one could find Marly’s studies of the glass windows in the side of the ledge. The glass hadn’t been cleaned in a while, dimmed and damp with time, water leaking from them. She believed the pattern and arrangement of the material to look similar to a geometric skull, perhaps a menacing face or even a mask someone would wear, encased in the circular rim. 

Anything from lazy marker sketches that took Marly twenty minutes, to intricate charcoal pieces, she drew this little area. She’d even find ways to implement it into her personal art and even school projects. The wilted plants appeared in the background as a supporting element to a piece about nature’s toll on human structures. The shallow lake has some sort of creature drinking out of it, for a creative fantasy painting. That window design that looks so much like a mask is turned into an actual mask, for a fake product design project. This simple area that Marly discovered on a whim has become something so substantial in her art journey.

Standing on the start of the suspended ledge, Marly tilted her head. She slowly stepped away from the base of the staircase, walking towards the middle of the area. She could spot what seemed to be a red shed, its door missing and roof chipped and weathered away. This hasn’t caught her attention before. It’s paint was wearing off, whoever used this in the past was definitely long gone, abandoning the small shed. These were similar traits to the couple of smaller huts and sheds behind this one, lost of their use. As she looked around, she compared the buildings on the ledge to those in the distance, of which were a part of the main Piltovan land. The ones with her were obviously older, in fact this whole area seemed older. Compared to the rest of Piltover, this area still retained its natural composition. It was created by a large fissure, rather than carved out by hand like the rest of the city. 

Continuing to make observations, Marly spotted a large wall, fit with three holes. She tilted her head, squinting her eyes slightly. The holes seemed to be drainage openings, the faint speckle of moving machinery behind them. In past years, the wall wasn’t there, and she would be able to see the city behind it, had she known about this spot then. 

Marly came to the conclusion that this abandoned land had been left behind during Piltover’s main industrialization era. It was now its own little bubble, a humble reminder of how the grand city started. She hoped that this lovely area wouldn’t fall to the Piltover ways, and end up caught in a construction project, hammered away to make room for the next big thing the city has to offer. Thankfully, judging by now everyone had seen to have forgotten this place, there was a bigger chance that it would be left safe.

Turning her attention back to the red shed, Marly stared at it, her gaze sharp. She then stuck her hand into her purse, pulling out a pencil case. Opening it, she dug around, carefully not to knock any supplies out. Marly grabbed an old red marker, something she kept on her for the sake of luck and its familiarity. She made her way to the shed, arms flapping slightly as she jogged. Once she reached it, she uncapped the marker, setting it to a barren section, where the paint was gone, and now unmarked wood was left. Marly’s eyes widened slightly when she saw how the color match was almost perfect, her marker being a slight bit too dark and saturated. Though it added a slight charm to the shed, an imperfect human touch, something that Piltover’s buildings often lacked. She continued to work away, coloring like a child over their parent’s walls. She had no reason to do this, Marly just thought it’d be nice to do something, and leave a bit of herself in this place.

Shifting her foot slightly, Marly’s heel caught on a bit of scrap metal sticking out the ground. She stumbled, arms flailing about as she yelped. Clutching her marker tightly in one hand, Marly slowly regained her balance, sticking her arms up as she looked around, slightly fazed and faltered. She glanced around wildly, searching for the cause of her almost tripping. She quickly spotted the metal, and tilted her head. To be sure it was just that, Marly looked up and around some more, making sure this wasn’t the cause of a person. There was no one around, so why would there be? She’s pretty sure she was the only person that bothered visiting this place. Though, as her gaze flitted over the large wall, she paused. 

In the middle drainage hole, there was a figure. Marly couldn’t make out any big details about who it could be. But there was a person! In the same little space she thought no one else visited, there was a person. They seemed to be sitting on the ledge of the hole, the posing of their body suggested that they were looking at her. Marly perked up, and upon closer examination, they seemed to be wearing the Academy uniform. She furrowed her brow and tilted at this, as it was a holiday. Yes, she considered the uniform pretty, but why wear it on a day with no school? Raising her hands to cup the air around her mouth, she decided to speak. 

“Hey!!” Marly called out, closing her eyes as she spoke. When she thought to ‘speak’, she actually meant ‘yell’. Her voice rang out through the area, and Marly was glad that no one would be close enough to hear her. God forbid Marly ever forget how loud she could be. Thankfully for today, it would only be her and this mystery student. 

The continuous whirring of cogs and machinery is interrupted by the rhythmic clank clank clank of Viktor’s cane. He slowly made his way to the edge of the large drainage hole, ducking underneath the swinging mechanisms. Grateful for the holiday, he sat down on the edge of the hole, staring out into the old land. His blank stare stops when a small blur of color comes into view below. Looking down, Viktor tilted his head, amused as he watched the figure.

The girl had come back again, colorful as ever. Viktor watched her saunter throughout the ledge, as he stayed hidden away in the drainage hole. He often came to this area to think, to get away from the stress of the city. Viktor technically wasn’t supposed to even be at the Academy, he snuck in and hasn’t been discovered since. It wasn’t a particularly burdensome thing to do, pretend to be a student, though it didn’t really allow him to pursue what he wanted to be, a scientist and inventor. Specifically to change the world and make it a better place for everyone. But with his current position, he had a feeling he would just have to wait until someone noticed him. 

Turning his attention back to the colorful figure, Viktor knew he had seen the girl before. The first time he spotted her, he had mistaken her for a child that had run away and gotten lost. She was dressed in strikingly bright clothes that looked out of place in comparison to Piltover fashion. Her figure was small, so from far away he assumed she was a kid. Though, seeing her appear on the ledge below in the Academy uniform made him reform his thoughts. She was simply short, conundrum solved. 

It was always the same girl that appeared. Often clumsy in the way she moved sometimes, while other times moving sharply, as if she was a choppy animation. But in general, she moved like a cartoon character, with big gestures, her shoulder length black hair swaying whenever she moved. When she didn’t wear the Academy uniform she wore uniquely bright clothing. When she did wear the uniform, she kept her colorful shoes, and the abundance of accessories on her arms. Viktor couldn’t make out much more of her, since he was so far away whenever he saw her. He noted that she often had things with her. She would sometimes sit down and look around, before glancing down to what seemed to be paper. Perhaps she was some sort of artist? He had never seen her in the Academy before, staying as his unsolved equation for all the one sided encounters he had with her. Viktor had gotten small glimpses of her face when he glanced in his general direction, but never directly at him. They never interacted, she stayed on the far ledge, and Viktor stayed up in the drainage hole, surely he was just specks of color from her perspective. He never watched her for long, usually a few minutes at most. It would be impolite to invade her privacy, but seeing as she also knew this secretive place, Viktor couldn’t help but be curious.

Today, the girl seemed to contemplate things, before approaching the old red shed. She jogged, her bright clothing making her look like a bright beetle, scurrying about. Viktor tilted his head, and moved to sit on the ledge of the hole. She rarely interacted with the land, usually sitting down and observing. He left his cane behind him, leaning it against the wall. The whirring of machinery behind him was the continuous soundtrack whenever he went here. He let his legs dangle off the ledge, watching as she did something to the shed. She was too far away for him to fully know what she was doing, but all he could pick up was that she was heavily focused on it. 

She moved slightly, before stumbling. Viktor assumed that she almost tripped. He leaned forward as he watched her flail around, the falter earning a yelp from her. The yelp earned a raised eyebrow from Viktor, as he’s never heard anything from her up until now. The girl looked around frantically, staring at the floor. She continued to look around, before her gaze fell on him. Viktor paused, looking back. She had never acknowledged him before, or even been aware that he was even there in the distance. He tilted his head, the girl mirroring his action moments later. 

All of Viktor’s thoughts were interrupted as a loud ‘Hey!!’ sounded, and his eyes widened in surprise. For someone so small, she seemed to pack an explosive voice. He flinched slightly, his hand reaching to the wall to steady himself, before attempting to peer closer.

“Don’t fall!” Came the voice of the girl again, noticing his movement. Viktor chuckled softly, he didn’t plan on it. She waved her arms, the soft rattling of her bright bracelets filling the air.

Today had many firsts for them. First time having the girl see him, first time interacting with her, and first time hearing her speak. Viktor hoped that she would come back to this place, while knowing he would be there. She made quite the first impression when interacting with him. Whoever this was, she seemed very open to being friendly.

After watching the mystery student move from her call, Marly yelled out not to fall. She didn’t want to be the reason such a serene place suddenly becomes a crime scene. She had so many questions about this person. Who are they? Why are they up in the drainage hole? How did they even get up there? How do they also know about this place? But for now, she would focus on interacting with them now.

“Hello!” Marly called out. The figure lifted their arm, waving at her. When there was no verbal response, she assumed they were too quiet for her to hear. She waved back, smiling excietly at the figure. She needed some way to remember this. So she quickly grabbed her sketchbook and a mechanical pencil. “Stay still!” She exclaimed. Thankfully listening, the figure stayed still. 

Marly quickly sketched the figure. It was loose, messy, perhaps even ugly. But it provided all she needed to commit them to memory. Closing her sketchbook and looking back up at the figure, she could see the start of a shadow creeping over the wall. It was getting darker outside. Not wanting to get caught up in walking home at night, she promptly cleaned up her stuff, waving her arms. A short encounter, yes, but perhaps the person would come back to this place. If Marly believed that this was a nice, secret place, maybe this mysterious student did, too. If they believed this was a nice place, they would most likely come back, and maybe then they could talk. 

“Bye! See ya soon!” She smiled, waving her arms once more, colorful kandi bright as a friendly siren. She was sometimes blunt with these things, always straight to the point. The figure stood up after she spoke, pausing before they retreated into the background. Marly turned away, grabbing her things. Sure, she never really got a response from the mystery figure, but there was some sort of understanding connection whenever she spoke. A non-verbal response was just as good a response as any, and she was grateful the figure even did respond. Most students from the Academy would have either ignored her, or thought of her as weird. 

Marly mentally jotted down that she would have to visit the spot again. She hoped the figure would still be there, maybe she could find out more about them. Marly made her way back to the main city, eager to make it home. Then she would be able to jot out all her thoughts, and decipher who this new person could be. In all honesty, they weren’t that much of a mystery. It was only the who are you’s and what you are doing here’s that categorized this person anywhere in the unknown. She shouldn’t even care that much, whoever that person was had all the rights to be in the area as she did. 

When school started again tomorrow, Marly would try and find time to figure who the person was. Perhaps she would ask around, see if anyone knew. For now, she would stick to the scribbled drawing she had. Messy marks on a page, her only proof that someone else shared this serene space with her. Holding all her stuff, she glanced back at the drainage hole, an unknown feeling lingering in her chest. This was certainly one of Marly’s stranger encounters with someone from her school, to say the least.

(the secret spot in question ⬆️)

[textbookz-n-sketchbookz]

Textbooks and Sketchbooks :)

Heyo!! It's me Marly/Scrunkly (Main blog is @scrunkalicious), and this is the writing blog for a story called "Textbooks and Sketchbooks"! MARTOR NATION RISE UP,,,,,,

This will be the official story/lore for Martor, Marly x Viktor WOOOWWW... and this will also be the easiest way for me to export lore to y'all :3

The story will take place before Arcane starts, and will eventually follow the episodes story when they happen (I CANT WAIT FOR SEASON 2). Sooommeee divergence from canon but we ball

The story follows an art student from Piltover's Academy, Marly!! Energetic, friendly and loud, Marly is always ready to chat and make new friends. She soon meets Viktor, intuitive and witty (i loooovee viktor). Blah blah they do stuff become friendz and they like art & science and maybe kiss and cuddle later on

Uhhh those like fanfic tag things that tell you what the story contains: Fluff (a lot), angst (a lot later), strangers/acquaintances to friends to lovers, maybe a bit of academic rivalry, some violence, discrimination (will add/edit as time goes on!!)

There will be some racism/discrimination scenes based off my own personal experience (I'm Filipino!!) sooo yeah,,,

ALSO. This will be an entirely SFW story. I don't plan on things getting too suggestive, but if anything happens to get a little 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓴𝔂 than I didn't originally planI WILL LET Y'ALL KNOW DW <33

UUUHHHH the story usually follows Marly's viewpoint but I may sometimes change the POV to Viktor sometimes!! When changing I'll use these fun lil borders that I drew <3 (they're so unnecessary but whatever, everything execpt the plush on marly'z border drawn by me, but the hexcore/gear/boat on viktor'z are directly from the arcane show)

Border for when changing to Marly's POV:

Border for when changing to Viktor's POV:

I will NOT be doing a taglist for this blog/story!! If you wanna be notified for new chapters just turn on notifications on this blog because I'll only be posting chapters here!

{MASTERLIST}

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

under the cut is me rambling abt this story lmao

UUUHH IM SO HAPPY TO FINALY BE PUTTING THIS OUT HERE,,, YALL GET THE FULL LORE <333 ill be writing as i go so im literally making up the finer detailz as time goez on lmao,,,

One thing I like about the Martor story is that, in the grand scheme of things, I'm getting you interested in a side-story. Compared to the story of Arcane, all things considered, Marly is a side character. Someone who just happened to know be in the right place, right time, right characteristic to end up knowing Viktor. With Arcane's plot, she could be considered a character maybe comparative to Mel (heeyyy gorgeous). I may or may not have seen a video a few days ago about video games that have you play as a side character okay anywayz YAAAAAAAAAAAYYYY