Deadly Deception
Chapter 10
We're in the double digits now!
Vi and Katarina had gone back to Vi's apartment after a short walk in the park, which mostly consisted of the assassin groaning at bad jokes, and the bruiser endlessly telling her that she was supposed to laugh at them. When they got back, the only thing that they could think to do was flick the TV on. It took Katarina about ten minutes to get used to using the remote control, but when she did, the two women fell asleep to a documentary of Noxus that Vi managed to complain as little as possible about.
Which was about half an hour.
Five hours later, Caitlyn managed to quietly open the door with two bags in each hand, and was initially surprised at what she saw, but relaxed and smiled. Vi had fallen asleep on her back, with an arm covering her eyes, and the other resting over the side of the couch, while Katarina had both her arms and her cheek on Vi's knees, which were pointed into the air. Not what she expected, but she found it cute.
Caitlyn had initially been jealous of the rumours that her best friend was engaged to the Noxian, but quickly became happy with the idea. Both women deserved somebody special, and they compliment each other so well. The only thing that worried her was the idea of never seeing her best friend again, but Vi had quickly 'punched a hole' in that.
"Katarina." Caitlyn gently shook her shoulder, waking the assassin. She blinked a few times against the light of the TV, and then looked up at the sheriff.
"Is something wrong?"
"Nothing is wrong." She smiled, placing the bags onto the table and kneeling next to her friend's face. "Vi? It's time to wake up."
"Not yet... Good dream..." She mumbled, shuffling slightly. The movement made Katarina lift her arms and stretch before leaning back into the couch.
"Come on, Vi. There's something for us to do." Her eyes were still defiant as she tried to open them, but she still sat up and yawned widely, looking around.
"Did I fall asleep?"
"We both did." Katarina sighed, rubbing the indent on her cheek.
"It's because of that dumb Noxian show."
"It was a documentary."
"How the fuck would you know? This was the first fucking time that you used a TV!" Caitlyn smiled as she looked between both women. She missed these sarcastic conversations; even if she wasn't part of them.
"Regardless," Caitlyn stood up again and stood in front of them. "I've been speaking to Jayce-"
"Oh, this should be good." Vi grumbled, moving her feet to the floor. The raised eyebrow from the Piltovian made her silent.
"I've been speaking to Jayce, and we are in agreement that it would be dangerous for the two of you to stay here for long." As she turned around to pick the bags up, Vi and Katarina shared a confused look. "So, we decided that the four of us will have a nice night out." Caitlyn smiled, turning back around with the bags. "I've even bought the two of you new clothes for the occasion."
"You want the four of us to go out?" Katarina asked. "Go out where?"
"Probably to a restaurant. Vi?"
"You hate taking me to restaurants, Cupcake." Yet again, the Noxian bristled at the nickname. "You always say stuff like 'You're using the wrong fork', or 'Don't eat your bread like that', or 'I don't care that he called you sir, don't throw your plate at the waiter'." The annoyed look on Katarina's face shifted to trying not to laugh, which made her cover her mouth and look away.
"Well, You've already been banned from all of the nicest restaurants in the city." Caitlyn sighed. "Still, we can have a nice time." With a yawn, Vi stood up and stretched her arms over her head, showing her abdomen muscles.
"Alright, Cait. Where would we be going?"
"The nicest restaurant that you haven't been kicked out of. The Ionian one." Vi looked back at Katarina, who gave the slightest nod.
"I don't think that I've tried Ionian food before." She admitted, straightening her clothes as she stood up. "It sounds like a nice idea." Then she looked up at the Enforcer. "You're not going to get us kicked out of this one, are you?"
"What do you think, Kat?" She huffed, getting a glare from the assassin, and a smile from the sheriff. "What have you got for us, Cait?"
"Here, take a look for yourself." Caitlyn turned back and lifted two of the bags, turning back and handing them to Vi. She opened one of them and looked inside, her confused look becoming a grin.
"You still know my style, Cait." She gently punched her friend's shoulder and jogged into her bedroom. After a few seconds of staring at the closed door with a smile, Caitlyn turned back to Katarina, who was watching her with crossed arms, and a glare.
"You really need to stop doing that." She said, shaking her head and walking to the kitchen. "I understand-" Caitlyn started, holding a hand up to stop Katarina from speaking. "I understand that you're holding a lot of jealousy, but you don't have to focus all of your anger onto me."
"I'm not jealous."
"Katarina." Caitlyn leant on the counter and looked at the assassin directly. "Whenever I even get close to Vi, you glare at me. I'm honestly surprised that you haven't pulled a knife on me yet." As the two women stared at each other, the tension in the room started to build up; to the point where it was almost suffocating. Not even a knock on the door stopped it.
"Hello?" Jayce only managed to take one step into the apartment before the tension hit him. He looked between both women a few times, trying to figure out what to do. "Uhm, Vi? Are you in?" When the bedroom door opened, and the enforcer stuck her head out, both of the other women looked over to her.
"Hey, Hammerboy!" Jayce breathed a sigh of relief, and grinned over to her. "I'm almost ready, give me a few minutes." The door closed again, giving him the attention.
"You guys need to talk this out." He said, kicking the door shut behind him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~X~~~~~~~~~~~~
Quite a few people were staring at the group as they walked through the streets of Piltover. The streetlights did a wonderful job of illuminating their partially matching outfits against the night air. Caitlyn had made sure that they were all wearing black as their primary colour, and their own 'chosen' colours as secondary. Caitlyn herself was wearing a floor-length dress, made of mostly black material. Her personal colour came in two 'belts' around her chest and waist, along with purple high heels that almost made her the same height as her friends. Jayce and Vi almost matched completely. Their jackets were white and pink respectively; Jayce's being long sleeved and Vi's being short sleeved, with her black dress shirt rolled to her elbows. They were both wearing the same dress pants, with Jayce wearing dress shoes, and Vi wearing heavy boots. Katarina was slightly uncomfortable in her mid-thigh black dress, but was adamant about not letting it show. She did appreciate the large, red diamond on the front of the dress that stretched from her navel to her neck, and the short red heels, but not the loose bun that her hair was in. It was apparently to hide her identity, but the scar on her eye was still obvious.
"Here it is." Caitlyn waved the hand that was holding her purple, strapless bag.
"It's very... bright." Katarina mused, looking at the large, flashing sign above the door.
"Hopefully they have a dick big enough to back it up." Vi's comment got two tired stares from Caitlyn and Katarina, and muffled laughter from Jayce.
"This is why you're banned from most other restaurants." Caitlyn sighed, gripping Vi's elbow. "Behave yourself."
"Yeah, fine." The sheriff sighed and led her small group into the building. It was brightly lit and densely packed, leaving little room to navigate the short tables that were placed above shallow holes in the floor, giving the patrons the decision to either sit or kneel at them as they ate. The walls were covered in white curtains adorned with strings of lights, some acting as doorways. Only people who worked there knew exactly which ones were doorways, and which weren't. As they entered the restaurant, a man in a kimono stepped around a desk and bowed to them.
"Do you have a reservation?" He asked, looking the four of them over.
"Yes, it's under Jayce." The defender said, stepping forward and playing with his cufflink.
"Three dates, sir. Very impressive." Vi made no effort to hide her laughter, Katarina hid a smile behind her hand, and Caitlyn just shook her head. "Right this way." Even as they walked through the restaurant, people turned from their tables and stared at the group as they walked through. The only person who noticed was Katarina; still nervous about being recognised in an enemy city. "Right in here." The host pulled one of the curtains aside and bowed.
"Thank you." Caitlyn said, walking into the small room and shaking her head again. "Honestly..."
"Don't take it too personally, Cupcake." Vi grinned, putting an arm over her shoulders. "Or are you gonna be the one that gets us kicked out this time?"
"No. I don't have my rifle." As Vi tried to figure out if Caitlyn was joking or not, Jayce noticed the glare on Katarinas face, ad chuckled.
"Hey," He gently gripped her wrist to pull the attention away from Piltover's Finest. "You have nothing to worry about."
"I'm not worried." The Assassin looked away, confident that she had no feelings on show. Jayce, however, had a knowing smile on his face.
"Alright, let's order something. I'm starving."
~~~~~~~~~~~~X~~~~~~~~~~~~
"That food was weird." Vi huffed, stretching her arms above her head as she and her friends walked outside. "Good, but weird."
"Don't complain." Jayce chuckled, patting her stomach.
"Hey, I'm not complaining. Just saying that it was weird."
"Is everything in Ionia always that... sweet?" Katarina asked.
"None of us have been to Ionia, we can't answer that." The four of them fell into silence, walking through the dark streets without a real destination in anybody's mind. They were still gathering a lot of attention, but again, nobody cared. Then, the sound of music caught both Jayce's and Vi's attention. They looked at each other with knowing smiles.
"We definitely need to go dancing!" Jayce laughed, pointing towards the source of the music.
"Damn fucking right!" Vi looked at Katarina. "Have you been to a club?"
"The only club I know is a wooden bat." Caitlyn smiled, and started to decide if she wanted to playfully torture Katarina or not.
"Then let's go!" Jayce lifted Vi up by her waist and sat her on his shoulder. "To the club!"
"Lead the way, Hammerboy!" As the defender walked towards where he pointed, Caitlyn and Katarina looked at each other.
"We might as well follow them." The sheriff said, waving the assassin over as she started to follow her friends. "Just try and have fun, alright?"
"I doubt that I will." As the group reached the door of the club, Jayce placed Vi back on her feet. The outside looked like the rest of the buildings, but the brick seemed to shake as the bass from the music pumped through the speakers.
"Head on in, officers." The burly bouncer at the door pulled it open, making the music almost deafen them. "There's been no trouble here, tonight."
"I hope so." Caitlyn was the first to walk in, followed by Jayce.
"C'mon, Kat." Vi moved to grip her hand, then flinched back. It didn't go unnoticed. "I know what kinda drinks you'll like."
"I hope so." The assassin stepped closer and curled her fingers around the back of Vi's hand. "I need one." The enforcer didn't know what to do. She stood frozen, staring nervously at her friend. "Come on, let's head inside." Katarina would have smiled if she knew how to force one. Instead, she just looked towards the open door and started walking. Vi was quick to follow, even if she was confused about the handholding. The main floor of the club was down a thin set of stairs; the walls covered in graffiti. Most of the scribbles were rude comments, or rude drawings, but neither of the women cared. They were focused on getting into the club.
As soon as they stepped into the main room, Katarina cringed and covered both of her ears, but Vi just yelled through the noise to Jayce and Caitlyn. The crowd parted for the bruiser as she walked, giving Katarina space to follow closely and avoid getting lost in a sweaty crowd of strangers.
"Vi!" Jayce had to get close to her ear and shout to be heard. "I ordered us the same!"
"Good job," She shouted back, glancing back at Katarina to make sure that she was still there. "What did Caitlyn get?"
"Champagne, what else?" As they walked back over to the bar, Caitlyn held her glass up to them with a warm smile. She waved Vi over and pulled her closer so she could yell into her ear. Katarina clenched her fist and thought about walking over to pull Vi away. Before she could even take a step, Jayce joined them with two large mugs of beer. As he and Vi toasted and started to drink, Caitlyn waved Katarina over.
"I thought you'd like some of this," She shouted, handing the assassin a second glass of champagne. "More than the shots of rum mixed with the strong bitter that they're drinking," Katarina glanced back over and the impromptu drinking content that Vi and Jayce were having, and let herself smile. She starting to think about the things that she'd learnt during the day that could make Vi happier in Noxus. A lot of it was easy; alcohol in the office, a TV, just things that would keep her entertained.
"Kat!" Vi stepped over with her empty mug and put an arm over Katarina's shoulder to lean in next to her ear. "Do you know how to dance?"
"Of course I do," Over her friend's shoulder, she saw Caitlyn and Jayce watching them, smiles on both of their faces. The sheriff gave her friend a nudge, and they both raised their half-empty drinks. "Why, do you want to dance?" She placed a hand on Vi's waist and asked back, telling herself that the thumping in her chest was the heavy music.
"Yeah! Let's go!" Vi gripped Katarina's hand and pulled her back to her friends, handing Jayce her mug and shouting something into his ear. Caitlyn didn't have anything to say to Katarina. She just smiled, nodded, and took her glass from her before the enforcer could drag her onto the dancefloor. As they fit into the crowd, Vi gripped Katarina's other hand and started half jumping, smiling widely and shouting incoherently. The assassin watched her for a minute, unsure of what to do.
"Vi," Katarina reached up and gripped the back of her head so she could pull her down and speak into her ear. "Move slower." She moved one of Vi's hands to the small of her back and gripped her other one.
"This really isn't the music for slow." She didn't complain, though. Vi just followed her friend in swaying slowly side to side. This was the first time in years that Katarina was enjoying being in contact with somebody. Vi was now the closest person to her. She still didn't know what she was feeling, except for a warm one in her chest from being so close to her friend. Katarina then leaned back, surprising Vi, who did the same. As green eyes stared into blue, the assassin cupped her friends cheek and smiled softly. The enforcer started to lean down to ask a question, but the look in Katarina's eyes made her stop a few inches away from her face.
"Stop there." She said, closing her eyes. Both women's heart rates started to quicken as their faces came closer, the world around them silent. Before their lips could even brush, somebody put an arm in front of Vi and shoved her back.
"How about kissing me instead, gorgeous?!" He yelled, trying to grab Katarina's hands.
"What the fuck was that?!" Vi yelled, grabbing the back of his shirt and slamming him into the floor. Within seconds, the club became chaos.
Sorry that this took so long, I was having difficulty with it.