chapter 2

caitlyn

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Ever since the speech, Caitlyn hadn't found a moment's worth of peace.

It was useless, at this point, to try and convince her mother not to attend these events. Cassandra always had some excuse as to why Caitlyn had to be there, and now that she had masterfully convinced her into making that Progress Day announcement, it was as though every Piltovan official just expected her to be there.

Caitlyn didn't even want to do it. Well, she practiced of course, but it was still her mother's idea. How else was she to confirm her daughter's role in society? Display her name? Make it impossible for her to escape anywhere anymore?

Now everyone thought she was behind this collaboration. Which wasn't a total lie– she was friends with Jayce, and she did support him in every aspect of the word. Her mother just wanted to put it in writing. Make it official. Send it up the bureaucratic chain of command.

Now every vulture with a good nose came sniffing her way. They asked about House Talis, about Jayce, the future of Hextech. If the council really did invest in his technology, or if it was all a scheme to control the market.

Caitlyn didn't know what half of these implications meant, she was so far removed from this world. Most of her nights were spent in her room, studying for entrance exams, or pretending to study so she'd have one moment of quiet.

She learned a long time ago words meant nothing to these people. You could say one thing and mean the opposite, and no one would bat an eye.

If you really wanted the truth, it was in the eyes. They could never hide it. Their true intent.

Caitlyn remembers the day that became so uncomfortably clear. She had never really been able to not see it, since. The masks these people wore, just to lie and sleaze their way to the top.

Jayce was great for the economy, but a threat for large-scale corruption. A bit ironic, for most of these officials. They all wanted pieces of him, but never the whole thing. Only what was bright and shiny…never any of the real stuff.

Caitlyn felt that way too, sometimes. Probably why they made such a pair.

People could look at her and see an opportunity to join Houses, to merge profits, and slide their way into her mother's pocket.

These weren't just parties they were attending, they were minefields.

It would be suicide to just say what you wanted. No, no. Those were precious little secrets; to be guarded with blood, sweat, and stacks of cash.

It was ridiculous, really, how the only honest person she could actually trust in the room was…

Her.

The bomb waiting to go off.

How Vi got employed here was beyond her. One look at the blood on her hand wraps, and her mother went pale. That was before she saw the hair, the scars, the cogs and gears peeking from her collar. She was a heart attack, waiting to happen.

Caitlyn couldn't keep her eyes off her.

Not just because she looked so…distracting. But in other things, too. The way she moved, the way she laughed amongst the other bartenders.

Even the manner of which she spoke to these highly regarded officials…treated like it was nothing. Despite her obvious training, she was still full of quipped sentences and broken slang and hums and grunts. She threw in a Miss or Sir every once in a while, for good measure. But it did nothing to cover the fact she was obviously from the undercity– something the guests like to mutter about with cruel smiles, until the conversation turned back to business.

It pissed her off. Thankfully, Vi never noticed. Caitlyn wasn't sure what her reaction would be. She wasn't sure about anything with her.

The only thing Vi had proved to her was that she was wildly unpredictable and…incredibly bold.

No one had spoken to her like that, ever. No one would dare. And yet, in the past two weeks after careful observation, Caitlyn had decided she was the only person in the room not pretending.

And she couldn't keep her eyes off her.

She had to keep her distance, she decided that night. Her allure was too captivating, too magnetic. It clouded Caitlyn's thoughts, and she very much needed those in order to get through the reception.

There were fewer tables this time, so as to make space for the bustling dance floor. Chandeliers dimmed the room. Drinks fizzled and foamed over pyramids of glass. Even the guests' fashion had a metallic shine to each seam of their suit or dress, implicating the glorious Hextech design that had crafted them billions.

It was a delightful evening full of drinking, dancing, and quintessential Piltovan networking.

Caitlyn didn't bring a date, and she didn't drink. A glass of champagne was fine at the beginning of the night, but she didn't need to be slurring her words or letting little secrets slip from her lips.

It would make the night more interesting, sure, but as of late…

Well. It wasn't too hard keeping herself entertained.

It started with just a look. Then one look turned into two, and then three…and now–

Now Vi was manning the bar tonight, yet Caitlyn was the one who felt trapped. Not even the blur of bodies and flashing lights could release her from those eyes when she saw what she liked. What she desired.

Caitlyn was fully aware of how much Vi wanted her. She had announced herself very clearly the week before, and the week before that. As if she couldn't have any other girl she wanted, with a wink of her eye.

It wasn't like Caitlyn didn't want her, too.

It wasn't like every lingering thought she had strayed back to those hands, or those eyes. The way they would lower down her lips, down the curves of her neck, taking in every inch of her dress, only to rest on the shape of her legs. She might as well be naked under that kind of scrutiny.

She just had to go and run her mouth.

Never in a million years did she think she would be sought after in that way. However brash and...tempting it was.

She refused to be some fling, though. For her. For anyone. Something to forget about as soon as they were done.

Caitlyn was well acquainted with that kind of lifestyle. Every girl has their needs, she supposed. But at least her past girlfriends were girlfriends. Not...whatever they were.

She wanted to believe Vi liked her for good reason. Not just because she was rich, or a Kiramman, or because she simply told her no and got off on it.

With the way she barely gave a shit about the other officials, it seemed logical that she wouldn't care about whatever Caitlyn's title was. But that didn't mean Vi still didn't just see her as some snobby girl she had to convince to get under her. Some challenge to be won.

Caitlyn hadn't been that girl for a very long time, thank you very much. After years of assumptions and belittling statements, it was safe to say she had some redeeming qualities other than her tits. And she'd sooner shove those qualities down your throat than let herself be summed up in such a way.

She was the player now, not the goal. The one with the moves and the tricks. Who knew what she wanted and what she didn't.

She worked too fucking hard on herself to be anything less.

As these thoughts fueled some kind of anger in her, suddenly Caitlyn found herself slipping onto a barstool with something to prove.

What was that about keeping her distance?

It took a while for Vi to notice her. The bar was busy, but cycled through their guests with ease, and much practice. Not too many sat to stick around, not when there were far more private tables and a dancefloor to explore. Caitlyn found a peaceful little corner near the end, to watch Vi with her chin in her palm.

She looked good tonight. Always in the same uniform, but she wore it well. Long black pants, boots, a white button-down she rolled up her arms when things got busy. The vest she always let hang open, even though someone yelled at her every hour to fix it or leave. She never did either.

It's enough I can't breathe with this stupid tie on, now you want me in a corset?

Caitlyn would laugh, if she was supposed to be listening.

It took another bartender whispering over her shoulder for her to notice. She had a clueless look on her face, before her eyes bounced around every patron at the bar and finally landed on her seat.

The way she stilled and quickly looked away, it had Caitlyn giddy. Something twisted deep within her, wanting more of it. She leaned back, crossed her legs. Waited.

Vi looked back a moment later to see if she was still there, staring at her. Caitlyn cocked an eyebrow. Well?

She muttered something to the other bartender, something quick like a curse or a demand. Then Caitlyn lost them to the chaos.

Other workers, flying in and out of the space with drinks clogged the narrow barback, guests flagging them down from all ends. When she looked back up she found Vi slipping between them with ease, headed her way. Caitlyn fought against the speed picking up in her chest. The sensation of being closed in on, like prey.

Vi approached her doing that thing she always did, where her eyes searched for something. An opening, a hint, a way in.

Her smile was anything but well-trained. "See something you like?"

It took a second for her breath to catch.

"Maybe," Caitlyn answered. Her neck craned to study the wall of liquor. "I'm not much of a connoisseur when it comes to these. What can you make?"

"Uhh," She didn't care to hide how inexperienced she looked. "I know how to pour beer, been doing that since forever. Cocktails, on the other hand…"

Caitlyn resisted a smile. "What about a martini?" Her mother's favorite drink. It couldn't hurt to play the dutiful daughter, just for one night.

At this, Vi puffed out her cheeks, then bent over to the bartender beside her. A young black man with pale dreads. Undercity as well, it seemed. With one glance, he sighed and grabbed a bottle of gin. "I got it."

Vi returned to Caitlyn, looking accomplished. "Martini, coming up." She started gathering nearby dishes to wash, rolling her sleeves up and turning on the tap. "Anything else I can getcha, Cupcake?"

"No, thank you. I won't be staying long."

She looked up from the sink, quickly. Then busied herself with another glass. "Got a hot date to get back to?"

"Does it look like I'm here with anyone?"

A shrug. "What about Blondie?"

It took a second for the memory to surface. "You mean Lux? She was visiting for a few days, while her family dealt with some business." A moment passed, and Vi didn't inquire more. "She used to live here when we were young," she offered.

"Old friends, huh?" Vi smirked, but not in a way Caitlyn liked. She wasn't even looking at her.

"Something like that."

There was an even longer pause. "So...did you two ever…" At Caitlyn's look, she raised her hands in defense. "'Cause it looked like–"

"Like what?"

Vi had her mouth wide open, the words were right there on her tongue. Caitlyn couldn't resist looking at it, the tip of it peeking through her teeth. "Like she wanted you. Respectfully," she added.

Not like she wanted to fuck me into next week?

Caitlyn smiled. Maybe she was learning, after all.

"We were very close, growing up together." She wasn't sure why she entertained this subject, but it felt like she had to. Just to pry some kind of curiosity out of Vi. "Had a few…sleepovers. Here and there. My mother caught us one night. Sneaking through my window. Kind of ruined the fun of it after she yelled at us for two hours straight, but." She couldn't help but shrug and laugh at the memories. When she was young, and love-drunk, and girls were the only thing on her mind.

Vi didn't say anything, but smiled politely. She cleaned off a glass that didn't seem to need it.

"But that was a long time ago."

The young bartender-Ekko, if she heard correctly- returned with a martini glass and two olives. "For you?"

"My mother, actually. She's right over there."

Ekko peered to where Cassandra was chatting up some of the other council members, and thanked her as she left. Her mother grew a big smile at the gesture, and waved happily at Caitlyn from across the room. Vi looked between the two, noting the connection but not saying anything about it.

A beat passed. Before Caitlyn could think of an excuse to leave, a tall glass slid between her palms. Empty. "I'll make you something."

It seemed like an olive branch. Caitlyn wasn't sure why she couldn't just talk to her. But maybe she was overstepping; Vi still had a job to do. A mask to keep, no matter how terribly she kept it. "That's alright. I'm not drinking."

That smirk was back, but more inviting this time. "I've seen you drink, Cupcake."

Something about that nickname felt nice. Not that she would ever admit it. She waved a hand. "That was champagne, that barely counts."

Vi huffed a laugh, and it made Caitlyn want to see more of it. "A glass of champagne, then?" she offered. "With a kick?"

"You trying to get me drunk?"

Vi's gaze flicked to her, and it sent a thrill straight to her core. She seemed to resist some kind of comment, or joke, because there was a pause. She sighed and leaned against the bar. "Maybe a little tipsy," she admitted, "This doesn't really seem like a fun place to blackout in, anyways."

"You mean you've noticed, then? The snakes. The weasels. Coming to feast on very expensive flesh?"

A raspy laugh had Caitlyn leaning in, impossibly charmed. "Honestly," Bubbly poured into the glass by her hand. Then a little splash of strawberry vodka. "I don't know how you stand it."

Caitlyn pulled the glass closer to smell, but didn't drink. She looked up to find Vi watching her, and smiled as she looked away. "Hmm?" she pressed.

Don't stop. Play with me.

"Like," Vi licked her lips, and said with a roll of her eyes, "All the meh and the bleh. Ohh, what's it like being from...down there? You know. It's all bullshit. I don't get any of it. I mean you're the only person here who..."

Caitlyn failed to hide how intrigued she was by this sentence. Vi sensed it and clamped her mouth shut. She screwed the vodka top back on very tightly.

"Whatever, nevermind."

"No go on, I'm curious now," she laughed.

Another useless shrug. "I dunno. At least you had the balls to talk to me straight. Everyone else just..." she finished her thought with a flick of her hand. Caitlyn drops the topic.

"Well you were pretty straight-forward yourself," she reminded, gently. She refused to look at Vi as she said that, to let her see just how much she thought about those moments- in the bathroom, by the dessert table. The shameless want in her eyes. "It only seemed fair."

"And you just hated every second of it."

Well shit. Maybe it was written all over her face.

Caitlyn held Vi's amused gaze, because she was never one to back down from a challenge. She rarely ever lost, either.

Vi ceded, with a step back and a nod to her champagne. "You gonna drink that or what? If I had an open bar to go to every week, I would be six deep in those right now."

Feeling a little like Vi let her off easy, Caitlyn lifted the glass to her lips. She took a long sip. It was nice. Sticky-sweet, with a little kick.

Vi did that thing again, where her eyes danced across every feature Caitlyn owned. Her hair, spilling over her shoulder. The way her throat worked, when she swallowed her drink. Back to her eyes, where she just refused to hide her obvious looking.

It drove Caitlyn crazy. And something weird, like jealousy, hit her hard in that moment. Because as much as she could tease and play, only Vi was brave enough to make a move. To do something about it. And it didn't take three or four sips of strawberry champagne.

"Good?" Vi asked, very quietly, like it meant something else.

Caitlyn wiped a drop from the corner of her mouth. She couldn't read that look. She didn't want to admit she couldn't, either.

"Good, yes. It's good."

At some point in the night, Caitlyn found herself on the dancefloor with her father. These parties were always more enjoyable with him around, someone kind and like-minded. When it was just her mother, it was all business. Whoever she danced with, or accepted a drink from, or spoke to for longer than two minutes was a potential prospect. A drink is never just a drink, her mother would say.

Well, they were when she just fucking wanted one.

Too often, she's used her dad as a shield. Cassandra found it incredibly hard to pester Caitlyn's every move when Tobias was there to insist it was just a party, darling.

But it wasn't just a party. It was a six hour interview she was forced to sit through, where she would have to admit, out loud, yet again, that she was studying to become an enforcer. And every time she did, her mother flinched, or frowned, or sighed. Like she couldn't be more embarrassing if she tried. The way these people looked at Caitlyn made her feel childish, and stupid, and like she making the worst decision of her life.

Because why do that, when you have the world at your fingertips?

Because not everyone else did.

Caitlyn didn't go back to the bar that night. It seemed busy anyways, and she didn't know what to say to Vi anymore.

It was after another joke about Jayce and his "useless" efforts to rid Piltover of corruption that she made a point to stand up, silencing the table's conversation.

The only friend she really had, the only one actually trying to do something, and they all had the audacity to sit around and laugh, and act as though they were better than him. Caitlyn turned towards her mother for one final chance to say something, anything, to defend someone she swore she'd back no matter what.

Sit, was all she demanded. With one furious look in her eye.

"Bathroom," Caitlyn said instead, and left through the double doors.

The longer Caitlyn stood out in that hallway, the stupider she felt. She shouldn't have ran from them, like some stuck-up child throwing a fit.

She just couldn't be in that room anymore. Where everyone was looking, and judging, and thinking their thoughts.

At least it was somewhat deserted here. The occasional guest exited the reception hall, stumbling or just plain lost. But it often fell back into silence. The party was ending soon, anyways.

A part of her wished no one would find her. Another part wished someone would.

Mostly, she just wished the floor would stop moving.

There was a flash of pink down the hall, that disappeared behind a corner. A second passed and it returned, and stood in middle of the walkway.

The figure approached Caitlyn like some kind of wild animal, afraid if she moved too fast she would bolt. She cocked an eyebrow at Vi, who in turn did the same.

"Hi," she greeted.

"Hi," Caitlyn said back. Her head tilted to one side, feeling too heavy for anything else. "...Did you follow me out here?"

No reply. But something pulled at Vi's lips. Something she couldn't read. Caitlyn blinked, and found her one step closer.

"It was getting, um...loud in there. And my head kind of hurts from all the talking. Figured I'd waste some time, let them deal with it. They always want to stay and chat. Who wants to chat that much?" The strap to Caitlyn's heel bothered her all the sudden, now that she was on her feet. The room tilted as she bent to fix it, but something strong caught her arm, and released.

She must have been swaying, or stumbling, because Vi snorted laughter. "Damn, Cupcake. How many of those uh, strawberry things did you have?"

"Enough for a grown woman," Caitlyn sneered, standing on her own now, because what was she? Fifteen? "And I'm waiting patiently for my parents to finish kissing ass for the evening, so...I'm right where I'm supposed to be."

She said that as she noticed, with a dizzying glance down, the way Vi's arms carefully rested right next to her. Palms flat against the wall. Caging her in. Ready to catch. Close, so close, but never touching.

"And you can stop…calling me that," she added. A moment too late, because that demand sounded weak, even to her.

"No? But you're so sweet. Like a cupcake."

Caitlyn snorted now. Vi mimicked her— only she sounded entirely too entertained. Entirely too close.

"As if you'd know how I'd taste," the words slipped out quietly, before Caitlyn could think twice of it.

It went strangely silent above her.

A moment passed, and Caitlyn lifted her nose. She never recalled seeing how Vi looked. Just that there was a tie hanging between them, and Caitlyn touched it. The fabric was soft. Easy to wrap her finger around. She tested out a small pull, and noted the way Vi curled her fists against the wall.

"...Would you like to?"

She could be brave, too. It sounded innocent, at least. Enough to challenge Vi's very sober gaze.

A firm hand covered Caitlyn's. It felt like a warning.

All it took was another little tug – and Vi's feet slipped between hers, lips parting silently, and Caitlyn could tell it took everything in her not to slide her leg a little higher, a little deeper, right between her thighs.

"Caitlyn…" Another warning. So low, so serious . It made her toes curl.

She'd never used her real name before. She quite liked it.

Caitlyn tested the waters, because she had to. She brushed over Vi's cheek with her nose. Her soft, slightly-marred skin shuddering at the touch. Vi closed her eyes, as if she could shut out any tempting thoughts she might be having. Caitlyn's nose drifted down so softly, she thought she might collapse.

"You can touch me, you know," she whispered, a little breathless.

"Caitlyn," There it was again. Her name. No one said it like her. Like that. A demand and a plea, all at the same time. Two strong hands pressed her hips to the wall, but they were exactly where she wanted them to be—pressed up against Vi's. "Someone's probably looking for you. To get you home?"

No one is looking for me. No one sees. Except for you.

Caitlyn could taste her breath, they were so close. Lips hovering just so, all it would take was a little push—

But Vi's hands were stronger, keeping her pinned to the wall.

"I thought you wanted me like this."

Vi tensed beneath her, the words sticky-sweet against her ear. "I do— did. But," She craned her neck the other way, Caitlyn's nose running down the other cheek. "Not like this."

Caitlyn wasn't completely lost. She could hear them on the other side of that door. Their feet, their laughter. The seconds counting down from them bursting through and finding them.

It was the bane of her existence.

Caitlyn could only seize Vi's ever-wandering jaw with her hands. Keeping her still, keeping her close. The next words came from so deep within her, so clear, Vi had to focus on her.

"We have ten seconds. Before they walk in here."

This was nothing new for Caitlyn, after all.

And it only took only one for Vi to think about it.

A sigh tore from her. Weary, as if Caitlyn was giving her no other choice. Then her gaze dropped, and drifted down from her eyes to her lips, and that was it.

Her heart leapt as Vi pressed their hips closer. Pushed her back into the wall, with a long, deep, and desperate kiss — every second making up for the last.

Caitlyn's hands were greedy, raking up and down the muscle of Vi's arms, forcing them impossibly closer. She remembers feeling light, pulled off her feet by two strong arms around her back— spinning her around to pin against the opposite wall.

The kiss was starved, wet, too overwhelming to make sense of left or right. Every kiss was fiercely planted, or fiercely taken. Just as she imagined it would, all those nights alone in bed, with a hand sunk deep between her thighs. Three seconds.

Caitlyn took one last greedy lick into Vi's mouth, eliciting a sound from her that she never thought she would hear. Hands seized her body then, the fabric of her dress bunched tightly and squeezed as some weak form of retaliation. As if Caitlyn didn't want just that, just like that-

Then everything went cold. Vi pushed away, releasing the grip on Caitlyn's waist and stumbling backwards. She didn't look as she turned away. Just a quick swipe of her hand over her mouth and she was gone.

Just like that.

One, two, long strides down the hall and the doors burst. Caitlyn's mouth went dry. Her father peeked his head out, smiling politely at Vi as she disappeared around the corner. "Caitlyn!" He called, exasperated. "Your mother's been looking for you! She wants to have a chat, and then we're leaving."

Caitlyn nodded aimlessly, still trying to make sense of what direction she was in. She fixed a hair, and followed her father's voice. "Coming."