It was too early for birds. Vi always hated them.
All they did was chirp endlessly, steal the leftovers she had already stolen herself, and act like she wasn't suffering from the worst hangover of her life.
They didn't have them in the undercity. They didn't like the depth or the quality of their air. Just crows, sometimes. When they smelled something dead and came for a taste.
These kind of birds were more of a topside delicacy, the fucking noisy ones. Which was just her luck, because Vi was going to be stuck at this reception hall all day and all night. Even though the throb in her head begged for her to just find some corner and lay down so she could never wake again.
She had a double-shift tonight that Sevika insisted upon, which had to be some kind of punishment because she never offered to work with Vi unless she had to. In fact, she was probably inside right now, thinking of all the ways to stick her in the basement, or the kitchen, or some other little closet just to get her out of the way.
She was really starting to piss her off. They had words the other night, nothing serious, but enough to get her ass sent home. It was funny at first, their mutual dislike for each other, but Vi was running dangerously low on patience as of late.
Maybe she did get a little heated. Maybe she didn't need to get so loud. But it wasn't anything Sevika didn't deserve, riding her ass like that all the time.
It was always over such tiny bullshit, too. Vi was convinced she only did it to get on her nerves. Waiting for her to snap, say fuck it and give her a reason.
If this was Stillwater, Vi would give her ten and a fucking fist to the face.
But she had to stop thinking like that. If this was Stillwater. She had to remind herself that she was out of that place, constantly. That things were different out here. The people were the same, most either shitty or just plain stupid. It was the rules that were different. Difficult.
She actually had to mind what she said, the tone she said it in, or else she was getting called back to the office to discuss her "attitude problem".
Fucking whatever.
Vi sat on the ground out back, smoking and messing with her handwraps. All the stains were brown now, dried with old blood. By the time she unwrapped the gauze down to her knuckles, she found all her wounds scabbed over, stuck to the fabric, still trying to stitch itself back together.
Funny. It seemed like Vi had more than a few parts of her still sticking to something old— mending things in all the wrong ways.
She didn't know why Caitlyn's face crossed her mind, right then. Looking at her hands.
Maybe because she was one of many things Vi needed to fix, or apologize to, or just say fuck it and be done with. She couldn't remember how long ago she saw her. That night in the undercity. A few days, maybe. It felt like years.
If it weren't for all those shots that the bartenders kept feeding her, she would be able to remember more than half of that night. All she's been wanting to do lately was go have a few drinks, blow off some steam, try and feel normal again. Talk to some pretty girls, get back into her old ways.
Anything to try and get some kind of control back over her life. Remind herself that it wasn't just Caitlyn, Caitlyn, Caitlyn.
But there she was again. Manifesting out of thin air, smiling like the cruel reminder she was. So Vi knew she would never be able to live down that night in the reception hall. The embarrassment of it.
She was too paralyzed against that door to do anything, say anything, she had planned on telling Caitlyn for days. Or maybe she did mention something about how it wouldn't work between them. It was kind of a blur. It didn't matter anyways.
All Caitlyn did was make Vi chew those words up, spit them out as the lie it was. With some Piltie speechcraft she's mastered, apparently. She didn't even know what happened.
Vi just kept digging herself deeper and deeper with her, and she didn't know how to stop. She didn't hate it, this thing they had, but that's what was so dangerous about it.
She was going to need a goddamn grave by the end of all this.
Everything that girl said was a curveball she couldn't catch. That's why Vi couldn't move. No one's ever spoken to her like that, told her things like that. She didn't understand how simple she made it all sound. Every feeling or wish or concern she had.
I want to know you.
Vi scoffed, out loud. Because who the hell says that?
And who did, really? Know her?
Ekko had a clue before she went away, but even he looked at her sometimes like he barely knew her. Powder might have, at one point, but not anymore. Certainly not after the last time they saw each other.
Vander. He always saw through her, all of her thoughts. But he's gone now.
…That was it. No one else bothered. No one else really wanted to. She made sure of it, after a while.
There just wasn't any bit or piece of Vi's life that didn't just sound sad.
She didn't really realize how awful these things were until she was forced to say it out loud. Even if she put it nicely, toned it down for them. It was one shitty event right after the other. There was no fix to it. No consolation.
Because what the fuck would they know about the choices she made? About what she's done to people? What they've done to her?
Vi just didn't see the sense in it. This attraction Caitlyn had towards her, this urge for more. That hand, clenching her shirt.
She's had girls get attached before, she supposed. It happened more often than she liked in Stillwater, when Vi had a good couple rounds with a girl and all the sudden they were in love. Following her around, getting jealous, starting fights she couldn't give two shits about.
Really, they just saw her as one neat little package: good head and good fists. Something safe to keep by their side, to use at every whim or late-night urge.
But Vi hadn't even fucked Caitlyn yet. She's barely even touched her. Not for her lack of trying. So she didn't get why Caitlyn would crawl down to some hole in the undercity just for her, as though Vi had anything to offer except being a massive dick.
She came all that way just to try and fix things, and all Vi did was bark and bite and put her hands up her skirt.
Not in that order, but still.
The memories were a blur, but whatever she had felt when Caitlyn was up on that counter— now that was inescapable. That was permanent. She could black out and still remember how her heart chased after her. How it took everything in her not to bend that beautiful chest over that counter and give her everything she wanted.
It could've been perfect. Quick. Hot.
Exactly like her dreams.
Only Caitlyn didn't actually want it, even if she said she did. It was all over her face. Vi just wanted to see how far she was willing to go in her generous attempt at mending things between them. It was too hot. Too good to be true.
She knew Caitlyn wasn't like that, though. And she wasn't going to make her do it just because she felt like she had to.
Caitlyn didn't even know what she was apologizing for. That's what really made Vi feel like a piece of shit. She didn't even realize that she didn't need to be apologizing at all.
That's all Vi was trying to tell her. It wasn't you.
She had to send her home anyways, in the end. The shots in her stomach were starting to settle, and Mugsy had pissed her off, and all Vi needed to do was think— but she never could. Not with Caitlyn right there, watching her. Seeing right through her. Throwing away whatever mask she had put up, just to spare her.
It was one thing when it was just them two. No, it was perfect when it was just them two. But when it came to their actual lives, the people they were around, it would never work.
Caitlyn would see that one day.
Until then, Vi had to go to beg for forgiveness to the one person she hated most.
Sevika frowned as soon as Vi sat down. She had a desk but not really. It was just some space all the managers threw their paperwork on, littered with ashtrays and overdue bills.
"That's new," she nodded to Vi's eyebrow, the butterfly tape. The wound was a few days old by now. A lucky shot by some dumbass at the bar who thought she was talking shit.
Ekko said she was, apparently, but she doesn't really remember that part.
Vi leaned back, crossed her leg. Tried not to smile at the memory of what happened after. "You should see the other guy."
Sevika didn't laugh, not that she expected her to. Fingers clacked away at the computer. "You know, you scare the guests enough already. Try not to bleed all over them now, will you?"
Vi would scoff, if that wasn't considered inappropriate. What, was she just supposed to take that?
"You know how it is," she muttered instead.
Sevika flashed her a look. They both knew what the Lanes were like, even though Sevika liked to pretend she didn't as soon as she got topside. It was the most annoying part about her. They basically grew up down the street from each other, but she was still so concerned with whatever these Pilties thought of them.
As long as Vi did her job, no one should be getting on her ass about how she looked, or talked, or whatever the fuck she did after work hours. But maybe she's the insane one.
"You know I wouldn't have to ride your ass all the time if you just listened to me once in a while," she snapped, slapping her laptop shut.
See? Vi didn't even say anything and she was already pissed. "Listen to you about what?"
"About how these people work," she hissed, leaning forward. "You think I don't see the way you look at them? You think they don't see?"
Vi couldn't resist it, rolling her eyes.
"See, that. Right there. You know I have a daughter that's around your age, a little younger. She's not as much of a brat as you, but she has all the same ideas. Fuck them, these are our streets, we need to show them, blah blah blah. It's fucking exhausting."
Vi shrugged, for a point to this.
"I know you think you know a thing or two about people, but believe it or not, not everyone is the same. You want people to stop treating you like some dirty trencher, then stop acting like one."
Right. She'll just do that.
"They're not going to know better. And if you keep scaring them, they're never going to ask. Or learn. Or give a shit, ever. So put on a fucking smile, huh?" Sevika shook her head, grabbed a lighter and a cigar. "Pretend. It's the least you can do. For all of our sakes. Mine, mostly."
Vi didn't know what to say. She didn't really want to stay, but she didn't really want to eat those words either.
Sevika lit her smoke and leaned to crack a window. She looked back at Vi, still lingering, then the chair she was in. "You can get the fuck out, now," she mentioned, waving a hand. Vi sighed and got to her feet, kicking her seat back as noisily as she could.
"And go apologize to Brandt!" Sevika hollered after her, "He's back with three stitches in his ass!"
Vi waved a lazy hand, already gone down the hall. Whatever.
Around noon was when Vi started yawning. The windows were absurdly bright and sobering this time of day. She squinted through her headache, pretending to listen to people's orders.
Maybe getting sent to the basement wouldn't be the worst thing. At least she could be alone down there, sleep it off until a sump-rat started nibbling at her shoe.
It was boring without Ekko here. Vi always found herself following him around, annoying him and his work ethic, just so she could ignore her own. She hung out by the kitchens for a while. The linecooks offered her fries as a cure to her "mysterious" illness, once she complained enough. It helped, only a little.
By the time she wandered back into the hall, lazily dragging her feet, Cupcake had whisked by like a ghost in plain sight. With her mother, of course. A few other nameless faces, getting seated by the host.
Vi had to blink to make sure she wasn't dreaming. Like she wasn't swept along in some daytime fantasy.
They never came this early. Her mother always preferred the evening lot over the day specials. When they got to dress up, make a nightly entrance. This wasn't exactly a place considered to be casual, but for today, apparently it was.
Cupcake had her hair tied up, some frilly blouse pinned up to her neck. Always so proper, even for something as simple as lunch.
She didn't notice Vi across the room. They sat in Brandt's section, which was half a relief, half not. It wasn't like Vi was avoiding her, but she also wasn't sure if what happened last time meant things were good again. The pieces she remembered.
She hoped so. But she still had no idea what to say to her, and she was tired of disappointing her with her silence.
She's never met someone she wanted to tell so many things to, but just never had the right words. Not like Caitlyn always did. She was a Kiramman, she always knew what to say— even when she didn't know.
Vi just goes stupid. Silent. Like some dumb animal, blinking slowly just to communicate.
It frustrated her. Being stumped like this.
Vi busied herself with heavy boxes, lugging them in and out of the hall, all the way from storage. Something to keep busy, distract her.
As she shoved her way through the double doors with a cardboard box full of wine bottles, she bumped into someone. Big blue eyes widened at her, oddly familiar.
It was Cupcake's mom, stumbling back with a hair in her face. The once-over she gave Vi wasn't anything like how it was last time.
"My apologies," she quickly said, pulling on her sweater.
"Sorry," Vi widened the door for her with her foot, allowing her through first, even though she was the one carrying thirty pounds of liquor. Sevika would be proud to see she had some manners, not that this really deserved a pat on the back.
Cassandra hesitated before passing through. As though she wanted to say something but decided against it. One tight smile, and she was gone. It didn't occur to Vi until she was behind the bar that Caitlyn mentioned something about her knowing about them.
Without thinking, she glanced over to their table. She found Caitlyn already gazing back at her, all the way across the room. It sobered her up if anything. That twist inside her, reaching out.
But it only lasted a second. She didn't linger as she usually did, just turned back to the conversation.
Vi felt slow again. Like she wasn't doing something she was supposed to, but just didn't know what. She went back downstairs to grab more boxes.
Caitlyn didn't look at her again as she came back up, and down, and up again. Or at least, she never caught her. She felt it though. Maybe. That gaze on her back, when she disappeared through the doors. But maybe it was wishful thinking.
Vi missed the days when she would simply lean forward on that table. Beckon her closer with a smile, those eyes. Basically daring her to walk right up there and kiss her as messily as she could, right in front of everyone. The excitement, the thrill.
But Cupcake didn't seem to be in the mood for that today. She didn't seem to be in the mood for anything happening right now.
The group was exiting noisily as Vi came down the hallway, carrying another box under her arm. Caitlyn was there, leaned up against the far wall.
Her neck was craned the other way. Distracted by her thoughts. Vi weaved through the bodies until she was right there beside her, watching the bounce in her foot. This felt familiar, this spot they were in. Like they've done this before.
Vi leaned against the wall. "Waiting for someone?"
Caitlyn whipped her way. She tried not to seem as surprised as she was. The tip of her tongue, right on those teeth.
"...No one special," she replied. Dismissive, as always.
Vi nodded. Fair enough. "Ouch."
Both of them smiled then, slowly, and it felt right. Like how it was supposed to be.
Vi opened her mouth to say something lame, like I'm an asshole or I'm sorry, but nothing made it out. None of it sounded right. Like it would do Caitlyn justice.
"Caitlyn."
She shifted back, so Vi did the same. Her mother stood in the doorway, eyes cutting back and forth between them. And shit. She definitely knew.
"And…" she paced forward, "I'm sorry, tell me your name again?"
Vi smiled at that, since she never really asked in the first place. "Vi."
"Vi..." She drifted off. Either waiting for more, or just not liking it. "How pretty. Is that short for something?"
"Yeah," Vi said. Caitlyn looked at her wildly, "But people just call me Vi."
A moment passed, and Vi didn't offer more. Mostly because she didn't want to. And she didn't like how Caitlyn always went stiff whenever her mother came around, like she was always doing something wrong.
The frown couldn't be helped. She just didn't like her. Cassandra seemed to return that sentiment, with one tight smile instead.
Caitlyn looked ready to sink into the floor. "Ready to go, Mum?"
"Mhm. We have more than enough to do today."
Caitlyn pushed off that wall, with a little sigh, and went by her mother's side. Cassandra let her pass, but didn't leave Vi's space. She paused, as though something crossed her mind.
"Speaking of," she mentioned, "Caitlyn's having a few people over at our house tonight. You wouldn't happen to be working, would you? Stopping by?"
Caitlyn looked at her mother like she was insane. Vi tried not to do the same. She adjusted the box under her arm.
"Uh, we don't really outsource…like that…you'd have to talk to the catering people."
Cassandra laughed, once. Like it was a joke she didn't get. Caitlyn's eyes went skyward. "No dear, as a guest. I'd like for you to come. We were just having a little celebration, for Caitlyn, now that she's—"
"Mum," she hissed.
"What? It's nothing big, don't worry," she turned back to Vi, "Just a small get together. A few friendly faces, more couldn't hurt."
No way Caitlyn's mom was doing this right now. As though what went down two weeks ago never happened at all. No mention of it, no apology. Now this?
"Uh huh," came the reply, a moment too late.
Caitlyn bristled, looking more embarrassed by the second. "She doesn't want to come to some random party, Mother—"
Vi eyed that hand pulling Cassandra back. Like the thought of Vi coming, showing her face to these people, was some punishment her mother was exacting on her.
"No? You two were so friendly, I just thought—"
"Vi probably already has things to do tonight," Caitlyn cut off, before that sentence got any worse.
It sounded like she was offering a way out of a terrible idea. Just be another space Vi didn't belong in. Which she understood, good and well, but still stung all the same.
"Yeah, actually. After work. I had this thing with someone, but…"
These should be the words Caitlyn wanted to hear. They weren't. Her brow harshened and her lips went tight, as they always did when she was disappointed. All of this confused Vi, wildly, so she switched gears— "I'll think about it?"
Cassandra had a victorious little smile. She popped open her purse, "Perfect. Here, take my card."
Her card? Vi glanced at it with her free hand. Made out her name, title, and…address.
Cupcake's address.
Huh. Vi looked up and found those eyes, already trained on her.
"And…what kind of party is this?"
"Casual," Cassandra waved a hand, "Wine, the works. Semi-formal," she added, at the end. Glancing down at Vi's attire.
So, formal. "Right."
Maybe she was learning, after all. Cassandra was tugged on again. Before any other little comment could be made. "We should go," Caitlyn said.
All that was left was one polite wave from Mrs. Kiramman, and they were gone. Ghosts in plain sight.
Vi closed the card in her fist and went back to work.
She spent the better part of the next eight hours running drinks and mopping spills. She kept that card on hand though, so that every time she looked at it she could try and decide again if she was going to go walk straight into a trap tonight, like the sump-rat she was.
All she had to do was pretend. Put on a fucking smile. Not that she knew why the fuck she was listening to Sevika all the sudden.
Desperate times, she supposed.
The address led right to this gate— taller than the one at Stillwater, shorter than the one to Hell. Opened wide for all the guests, leading right up to the front stairs. Light flooded from indoors, music drifting through the air.
It seemed nice. Posh. Vi knew it was more of a minefield. Curated perfectly by Caitlyn's mother so she would explode on impact. The cheapest grand finale ever.
She felt stupid standing out here. Looking like this. Coming all this way. But Caitlyn was in there. Somewhere. So if she had to tiptoe around topsiders, and Piltie officials, and fucking landmines just to be near her, so be it.
It would be nice to know if Caitlyn actually wanted to see her before she did all this. She seemed to be well over Vi's shit earlier. Not that she could blame her.
Even Vi was kind of over her own shit. Had been, for a while. Not that she wanted to admit it.
She knew the day would come where Caitlyn would realize Vi wasn't what she wanted. That their lives wouldn't mix, their families, their pasts. She just didn't think it would be today. Tonight. She thought she had so much time this morning.
But Cassandra was eager to move this process along. To let this thing between them fizzle, fade, and die out. Vi didn't want any of that. There was a spark still, she knew it. She felt it. Seeing her again, after all that time. She didn't want them to die out.
She just also didn't want to fuck everything up trying to keep it alive, either.
Before those thoughts could spiral, Vi had stepped through the doors.
The first thing she saw when she entered was a platter of whiskey sours, offered by a maid. Garnished and frothed, a curled orange peel hanging over the rim.
A good start. Cassandra sure didn't waste any time getting her guests happy.
Vi reached for one, hesitating, "This is free?"
The maid blinked at her, as if she was stupid. But come on, she could barely afford to look at Caitlyn these days. The last thing Vi needed was to be in debt to a Kiramman.
She entered the floor with a large sip. The next thing Vi saw was herself, reflected on smooth marble, polished and shined by however many little servants they had running this place. The lights were dimmed by how late the hour was, but they had a good audience still. The place was fucking massive, no doubt about that.
Vi only got to wander a few feet, neck tilted up, before something caught her eye.
Cupcake. When she was about ten or so, holding a rifle as tall as her. She was painted into the Kiramman family portrait, hanging above the staircase. Surrounded by flowers and glitter and gold, right under the symbol of their family crest.
It was impressive, no one could deny that.
Vi didn't know Caitlyn shot. Legitimately, that was. She should have. But all she's done lately was drag her feet, too self-absorbed to learn anything about her like she deserved.
One turn and Vi found those same eyes right over her shoulder. Her heart leapt at the thought of Caitlyn sneaking up on her. Like maybe she was getting back at her for all the times Vi's done it. But that smile dropped, along with her stomach.
Not Caitlyn.
Just her mother. Again. Amused by Vi's disappointment. She knew those big blue eyes they shared always turned her off, immediately.
Cassandra circled her, nursing a glass of champagne. "I was wondering if you'd make it tonight."
"Well, you invited me," Vi greeted back, following her steps. She didn't like having her back to this woman.
"Yes, I was hoping to speak to you. Now that we finally have some time."
Here we go.
She nodded her head for Vi to follow, gliding towards a part of the room that was quieter. It also happened to be near the front doors, just by coincidence.
"I wanted to apologize, sincerely, about how that conversation turned out the first night we met," Cassandra began, "If I had known, well, of course I wouldn't have said anything. Put you in that kind of position. You must know that."
Vi nodded, allowing it, but she sensed more to this than some humble apology.
"I've also noticed my daughters…attraction towards you. As I'm sure you have as well," she mentioned, nails tapping her glass, "Which is fine. I want her to be happy, after all. But there are things about her that you don't know. Things you might not understand. I'd like to keep these certain things under control."
She didn't know why she spoke about Caitlyn this way. Like she was dangerous or something. Vi forced a neutral reaction, despite the turn in her gut.
"...Under control? Caitlyn's a bit old for that, isn't she?"
Cassandra smiled, but it wasn't nice. Vi wondered how many times someone would look at her as if she was stupid, before the night was over.
"These things you don't outgrow."
Cassandra stepped in on Vi. It felt like a test. Seeing if she would back up, lower her head. Vi didn't do either.
"See, Caitlyn can get very attached if she's not careful. She doesn't do anything casually, as you probably do, I'm sure."
Vi scoffed, out loud. Way to be subtle about it.
"She's committed, she's loyal. She gets stressed very easily. It's hard on her. She's not like you or me. I just don't want to see her waste any of her energy on pointless things, or people, if she doesn't have to."
"Pointless things. Like me?" Vi offered.
Cassandra didn't bother entertaining that comment. "I know you think you may know her, but you don't. Not really. Do you have any idea what it's been like for her these past few weeks?"
A moment passed, and Vi couldn't muster anything up. She tried not to look so guilty. Like she hadn't been avoiding Caitlyn all this time for simply liking her too much.
"She's trying very hard to do good things, and the last thing she needs now is little distractions like you, getting in her way. Stealing her attention, only when you want it. It's cruel."
"Why did you invite me, then?" Vi cut her off, aggressively. "If you just planned on telling me to leave as soon as I got here? You could've said this at the reception hall, saved us both the time."
Other than the fact that Caitlyn was there, and probably would have told her go to hell. Just like Vi was seconds from doing.
But Cassandra just smiled. "Because you don't have a clue, dear. You want to know Caitlyn? Look around."
A glass raised to the room, the majesty of it all. All the things Vi would never own, the status she would never keep, the utter and irrevocable difference between them. What would always be, what would never change.
"You understand now?" Cassandra asked, lightly. She didn't even need to go on. To explain it. It was so obvious, it would be embarrassing if she did.
A cruelty spared, she supposed.
Vi swallowed, trying not to shrink herself. Trying not to snarl. To act like some cornered animal, too frightened to know whether to fight back or not. She tried to think of something to say but she couldn't. She just couldn't keep up with these Kiramman's, she never fucking could.
"I'm flattered that you like her. Truly, I am. She's an amazing young woman. But what she needs is someone like her. I don't just mean status, or any of that, but someone capable. Stable. Sensitive and patient," She paused for Vi to take this in. All the things she simply wasn't.
There was a hand that grabbed Vi's arm. It took everything in her not to rip it away. Make a fucking scene, like her blood boiled to do. "I want you to enjoy your night, Vi. But I'd also like for you to tell Caitlyn, as gently as you can, the truth of the situation. As we discussed. And that it would be best if you left."
Vi couldn't stifle it down anymore. That pull on her lips, right on that scar. She'd been glaring off in the distance for some time now, but it turned on Cassandra fiercely. "Why me? You seem to know exactly how I should break up with her. Why not just tell her yourself?" Cassandra didn't reply. Vi stepped in on her. "You think she'll disagree? Get upset, maybe, that she can't think for herself? That she can't like who she likes, without all this other bullshit?"
Cassandra took a step back, and it flooded Vi with satisfaction. That fear that fueled her like fire. One more step from getting burned.
"You want to tell Caitlyn all the reasons she shouldn't like me, then you do it. I don't do people's dirty work for them, I'm not that stupid," Vi snapped. "And I'm not going to ruin her night just because you're too scared to do it yourself. That might be why you invited me here, but it's not why I came."
Vi wasn't even sure why she did come tonight. She didn't know what she wanted, or hoped to achieve.
She just came here because she had to. She had all these reasons not to show and her feet led her here anyways. Vi didn't understand it. How she could miss someone so much and avoid her all at the same time.
Fuck, she missed her. That was it, wasn't it?
All she wanted to do was talk to her. Maybe, hopefully. See her smile, make her laugh. Annoy her just a bit, so she would get a little bossy. Just how Vi secretly liked, but would never admit.
Vi had so few friends left. She didn't want to lose this one. Not by running away like she always did. Just like she did with Powder. Was currently doing with Powder.
Not anymore.
Vi left Cassandra, before any other snide comment could be made. She waved her glass as a cheers and a goodbye, "I think I will enjoy my night, though."
She didn't wait for any reaction, she didn't need it. Vi dived into the crowd and went to chase down that maid with all the little free drinks again. She was going to need a few tonight, she just knew it.
Vi sniffed out some other cocktail, teeth still on fire. She flinched at the voice that snuck up on her.
"You came?"
The real Cupcake manifested now, out of the corner of her eye. Hair astray, eyes bright. Vi tried to find some thought to say that didn't sound as dumb as she felt, just looking at her.
A finger pointed up, to the ceiling that never ended. "This is your house?"
Caitlyn bloomed into a smile. A rare, genuine one. Her hands twisted behind her back. "It is. Um, well. My family's. We've…had it for generations…" she drifted off, oddly. "You dressed up."
It was a question, though she didn't say it like that. Vi glanced down at what she was staring at. The three-piece suit she bartered at Babette's on her way back home, since it wasn't like Vi ever needed anything this nice on her own.
Wasn't too different from her uniform. A little more red. And the tie she left off this time. To Caitlyn's dismay, she's sure. Not that she really needed it to steal Vi's breath.
"I did," she said, breezily opening up her coat, "Semi-formal. Right?"
Caitlyn huffed out, scratching an eyebrow. "No yeah. Right. No, you look…good. Handsome." She paused at Vi's eyebrow, raising, "Nice. For all this. Um."
She could let this drag out, see how red those cheekbones could get. But Vi said she would be nice tonight. "Thanks. So do you. Handsome, and all."
Caitlyn looked down quickly at what she was wearing, as though she forgot all about it. Another slim dress that reached the floor. "Thank you." She tucked a hair behind her ear. "Still feels like a bit much for…"
A hand waved to the bodies around, which Vi just noticed consisted mostly of…law enforcement. Some in uniform, most not. She could tell though. Six years watching them behind bars gave her some insight.
"And uh…what are we celebrating, exactly?"
Caitlyn's mouth opened and snapped shut. Just as they did when Cassandra decided that Vi should come along.
"Well I just got stationed. No longer a recruit. Technically. Officially, now. Well not just me. My whole squadron, it's kind of a whole thing."
She's never seen her so anxious. Maybe that was why she seemed so different. Another hand waved to a few faces across the room, whispering together in the corner. They didn't look nearly as impressed with Caitlyn's manor as Vi was.
"She just offered to host this year. I don't know why my mother said you should come, I told her this was the last place you would probably want to be," Caitlyn apologized. "I'm sorry, I think she just likes involving herself. In anything and everything I find myself even remotely…interested in."
Vi could tease her, once again. She made it so easy. "No actually, it brings me back," she said instead. She searched the room, up and down and around, "Who knows, maybe one of them recognizes me."
She winked Caitlyn's way. Easing her, shoulders and all.
It would be hilarious if Vi found one of her old guards here. Seeing them face to face, making their blood boil like she used to do. They'd find it hard to get back at her now that she was on the other side of the bars. A guest.
Tonight could be lots of fun, actually. Vi just had to put a different spin on it.
"Seeing you get revenge would make tonight more interesting," Caitlyn admitted, stepping closer, "But you might not get to see much of me after, is the thing. Because your ass would be through that door, and my mother would be the one closing it."
And there she was. Lifting that nose, raising that brow. Cupcake Kiramman. Caitlyn.
Damn, she missed this. Them. Her.
"Don't worry," Vi smiled into her drink, circling around her, "I came muzzled tonight. Best behavior, promise."
"How generous," she followed her, eyes alight, "...I didn't think you'd want to come at all. With your plans and such."
Vi could tell what she meant. Though she didn't want to say it.
"Well the free drinks aren't too bad," she joked, just to downplay what she said next. "It wasn't that hard of a decision, in the end, though."
Caitlyn stared, and Vi felt naked. Seen through. Like even that was somehow spilling her guts out. Before she could make some other joke to shove that feeling away, far away, Vi found she didn't need to.
Caitlyn was already distracted by something. Someone. "Sorry, um. I have to go, but I'm glad you're here. Really. I'll find you later?"
She left before Vi could nod. Swept back into her life that Vi knew nothing about. She tried not to let Cassandra's words get to her, but there was some truth in them.
Vi went by the bar, as she always did when left on her own. There were some loud ass Pilties by it, but she didn't really mind until they started knocking their drinks over.
"You wanna watch it, bud?"
One of them looked over his shoulder. He was all smiles, none too kind. "Woah. Sorry. There someone here you gotta look good for?"
"No."
"No?" he echoed. "So what, you just wandered in here?"
The bartender set down her drink. Vi took a sip and grimaced. "No."
He shifted towards Vi like he wanted to play some game. His friends went back to their business, as they should. "Who did invite you then? I haven't seen you before."
Vi waved her drink around, like it was obvious, "Probably whoever threw the party, right?"
He perked up then, smirking, "Oh so you are capable of full sentences?"
Pretend, Vi.
"Yeah and where I'm from, people who talk too much get a good fist to the face," she mused, "Maybe I can show you one of these days?"
Whatever. Fuck Sevika, actually. And fuck this Piltie too.
There was a man on her other side. His mouth dropped. Not with horror, just pure delight. Vi had to laugh then, so everyone else could too, on cue.
The Piltie turned back to his friends, as he should have five sentences ago. Vi just grimaced through another sip. This shit was too sweet, she couldn't even taste the liquor. If there was any.
"You want a better drink?" The man next to her offered. Older. Familiar, somehow. Vi eyed him as he waved over a bartender.
"Another whiskey, neat, please," he nodded to the top of the shelf as if he owned it.
Then it clicked. He did own it.
It was Cupcake's dad.
"You're Caitlyn's friend, right?" he asked.
"Yeah," Vi answered, still in shock. He looked like Caitlyn, but not like how Cassandra did. He was all cheekbones, salt and pepper hair.
"It's good you're here," he picked up his whiskey, slid the other one over to Vi, "She needs more friends her age. Ever since she was a kid, all of her friends were twice her age. Older, even. I never understood it."
Vi smiled, because she could see it. "Sounds like her."
"Tobias, by the way," he greeted.
"Vi."
Their glasses clinked. A comfortable silence fell. Vi didn't mind it. It gave her hope, like maybe Caitlyn's family wasn't completely terrible after all.
And the drink was better. It burned, just how it should.
"You know I always felt bad that Caitlyn was so mature for her age. She always seemed to miss out on those years where you're supposed to just have fun. Make a few mistakes," Tobias released some old-man sigh. Pouting, almost. Drunk, maybe. "Now she's all grown up and doing this detective thing. And I'm proud of her, I am. But I can't help but feel it's only going to get harder for her. Doing what she's trying to do."
Vi nodded, not really knowing what to say. How to console him. She didn't expect him to be so…open. Especially after the way Cassandra practically bit her head off.
"She's got spine, though," Vi attempted.
Tobias chuckled. "That she does…I just wish she didn't need it all the time."
Vi had wondered once if Caitlyn had enough spine to put up with her. All her bullshit, all her thorns. She was willing to prove it, because that's how Caitlyn was. But maybe it was dumb of Vi to think she needed to.
"...She doesn't," Vi mustered up, "I mean, she does have fun. You just might not see it."
Vi tried not to make it sound so lewd, what she was suggesting. To her father. If he even had a clue, really.
But Caitlyn was fun. Even when she played hard to get, long before Vi turned around and did the exact same. Those nails, tapping her cheek. That smile, barely there. Daring her closer.
"That's good. I'm glad you're here, then." Tobias repeated.
Both of them finished their drinks in silence. This was a man Vi could stand to be around. Maybe even like one day, if she was feeling sappy. Caitlyn found her as she said she would, with another face Vi couldn't place. An older woman. Enforcer, by the uniform.
Her eyes cut between the two of them at the bar. "Dad?"
"Cait," Tobias beamed. He spun on his stool and swept her up into a big hug. "We were just talking about you."
She froze mid-hug and glanced to Vi, who just smirked. "Oh really?"
Vi eyed the elder woman over their shoulder. Trying to place her. Too many faces, she had no idea how Caitlyn managed to keep track of them all.
"Grayson," the older woman introduced, seeing Vi struggle. "I remember you. I wasn't aware you knew Caitlyn."
Vi remembered now, she was there that night at the Medarda dinner. The fun one. She scratched an eyebrow, mindlessly thinking about what happened after.
"Oh yeah, yeah." she gestured a hand, "I think Caitlyn knows me waaay more than I know her, though."
Caitlyn turned out of her father's grip, completely scandalized. It took everything for Vi not to wink at her. Be nice, she remembered.
"I just came to say goodbye, Tobias," Grayson continued. He stood to shake her hand, something warm passing between them.
"Retirement isn't so bad," he eased her. "Just a new part of life."
He let go so Caitlyn could take his place. She never took Caitlyn as a hugger, but there she was again. Throwing herself into Grayson's arms, like her life depended on it. Just like her father. It surprised Vi. All these faces she didn't know that Caitlyn cared so much about.
"Still a god awful time to be leaving," she murmured. One tight squeeze, and Tobias was pulling her off.
"You have a good head on your shoulders, Young Kiramman," Grayson said softly, as a goodbye. "Don't let them take it."
Caitlyn watched her and Tobias leave with a frown. She sighed out and slumped down on a barstool. If sitting down was meant to relax her, it didn't. Her neck craned up and away, distant.
Vi leaned to see who she kept looking at. It was those enforcers, all the way across the room.
"...Someone bothering you, Cupcake?"
Caitlyn blinked at Vi's question. She shook her head and lied, outright. "No um. No." She tried again. "Well. Nothing I can't handle."
Her nail went between her teeth, and Vi knew that was another lie. She looked caught then, tucking her hands beneath her thighs.
Vi shifted closer, hoping it would come across as some comfort, instead of some come on. Caitlyn only shook her head again, as though it was unneeded.
"It's nothing. Really. Stupid, even," She cleared her throat. "It's just. All I try to do is make things easier for people. But, it's like they refuse to see reason. Or listen to me. Or take me seriously, at all. Just because of who my mother is. And I knew it would be difficult when I joined, in a way. But…not like this."
Suddenly, it all made sense. Why Caitlyn seemed so different from the one Vi knew. The one who was unafraid to simply look, who told her off, who tracked her down to the depth of the Lanes.
Vi knew what they were celebrating tonight, but in all honesty, she kind of forgot what Caitlyn was doing all this time. Her whole new career path. It was always something Vi really rather not think about.
She wondered how long this had been going on, without her realizing. This weight on her. Since that night in the undercity? Before that?
A couple of assholes in hats didn't seem like much of a problem, but Vi had her methods. Caitlyn had hers, too, only it didn't seem to be working.
Maybe it was the few drinks Vi had, or the fact that she was surrounded by pigs, but Vi couldn't resist laughing a bit at all this. This place, where they were.
It was just the irony. Caitlyn, being the best enforcer and simultaneously the worst. Vi, trying to console said enforcer, even though all she did was wail on them for half her life.
Caitlyn noticed, not nearly as amused as her. "What?"
"You know what your problem is?"
There it was again. Those two little teeth. Too sweet. "Please. Tell me."
"You expect everyone to just give you what you want. How you want it."
Her gaze flicked down right to those hands, nursing that drink— because yes, Vi was a victim of it as well. She couldn't deny it.
She took this chance to lean in, lowering her voice so no one else heard, "If you want people to do what you want, you gotta make them believe you have what they want first," She nodded to whoever Caitlyn sought out across the room. Those eyes, taunting her.
She seemed interested now. Curious. Leaning closer, just how Vi liked her. "And what do I have, exactly?"
Come on. Vi sighed and rocked to her feet, just to circle in front of her. She took in that dress. Those legs, those hips. Every inch of her up to those eyes.
"You're hot, Cupcake," she admitted. There was this look between them that pulled and pulled, until Caitlyn's back hit that bar. Vi ducked in close, but nothing more. Best behavior, after all. "Come on. Why do you think they pick on you?"
There was no way she couldn't tell the effect she had on people. Looking like that, speaking like that. The innocence, the grace. That dip of that back, turning from view.
There was just something about her that begged to be ruined. Thoroughly. Respectfully. She had to be blind to it. Or just too pure, maybe.
Someone had to clue her in to how things worked. Just give it to her straight. Might as well be Vi.
"You want respect, you gotta show them you know what it is," she went on, falling to the side. Vi tried not to smile, like she wasn't some little devil on her shoulder, whispering into her ear. "You don't earn it, you take it."
It was the entire game at Stillwater. Didn't sound too different on the outside. People were the same everywhere. All the same wants, fears, desires.
All the same weaknesses. All the best opportunities.
Vi nodded to those nosy enforcers, the group Caitlyn couldn't look away from. "You know they're only like this because they're scared of you, right?"
She scoffed, exhausted. Like it was all she ever wondered about. "Why would they be scared of me?"
Vi waited a moment, until she was done arguing with herself in her head. Until she gave up on all those thoughts that didn't mean shit, because the truth was right here. Waiting to get those eyes on her.
"Because you're not just hot, Caitlyn. You're hot shit," Vi told her, all jokes aside. "You're smart. And you try hard, even when you don't have to. And they know bullshit doesn't work with you, they know you're too good for it. So yeah. If I saw someone as perfect as you stepping in on my place…I'd want to find a crack too."
Maybe she was admitting too much. Revealing too much about how she thought, how she felt. But with the way Cupcake was looking at her now, maybe all this was long overdue. Maybe all she wanted was the truth, for once.
Vi couldn't get over how pretty she was. Even though she was frowning like she didn't believe her. She was so close. Searching for something, under all those eyelashes. Vi wanted to touch right then. Just her cheek maybe. Those lips. But she knew she wasn't allowed.
"I'm not perfect," she mustered.
Vi smiled, deciding to finish her drink instead. "No, but you're close."
Caitlyn took a moment to speak. Letting the advice settle in her brain. She brushed a hair from her lip. "Well this all sounds like one massive big dick competition, if you ask me."
Vi shrugged. Like it couldn't be helped. "Sometimes it is. You better start packing some heat."
A single nod down below, and Caitlyn's eyes lit up. They flicked around the room, incredulous, before settling back on her. "What, like you?"
Vi cocked an eyebrow, as an offer. She could show her if she liked.
Caitlyn read that look. She smirked like she did that very first night in the bathroom. Like she didn't believe her for a second. As though they've been down this route before and knew how it turned out. Using her height to make a point, as she always did.
Vi felt a snag on her lip, resisting some scoff. Maybe she was right, maybe Vi did talk more than she ever really proved it.
But she could spend a whole night proving her wrong. Over and over again, until she got it right.
There she went again, picking her dress up to step away. Vi tugged that seam without thinking. Just to get those eyes on her.
Caitlyn quickly glanced down at her hand, then back up. It must've been written on her face, all those thoughts stirring up, because she left Vi with nothing but a flick of her hair.
Back to the basics.
Caitlyn spent the rest of the evening talking with pretty boy Jayce Talis. Pretending not to notice Vi watching her from across the room.
She stayed by the bar, keeping her nose in whatever free drinks the maids kept offering. She's met enough faces tonight, she didn't need any more. Eventually everyone started saying their goodbyes. Hugging, and laughing, and wandering towards the door.
They would probably kick Vi out soon too. Cassandra, definitely. Tobias, debatable. Depended on how drunk and merry he was.
She decided not to risk either. She went to find Caitlyn on the stairs, chatting with a maid who took her glass. Vi waited for her to pass by and leave, hands in her trousers.
Caitlyn raised a brow in greeting. "I thought you had someone to see tonight."
"I thought you didn't want me to come," Vi said back.
She didn't understand this game. She was kind of tired of it.
Caitlyn opened her mouth to retort, but stopped at something over Vi's shoulder. More people leaving, filing out through the doors. Her mother as well, disappearing with them.
"You know, you don't have to go yet. It's not too late," She nodded to the other guests. "And you're not exactly like them, you can stay if you want."
Vi turned back at this. Her gaze gave nothing away. "You want me to stay?"
It was an innocent question, that slowly become not so. Caitlyn took a modest moment, gathering her words, "Well I was just going upstairs. Get these shoes off and all. You don't have to. Come with me, I mean. You can stay down here."
Vi didn't mean to stare, but she didn't know what else to do. All this, and she still didn't get it.
"It's not like I really came here to be with anyone else, Caitlyn."
Her back straightened then, like someone pulled her up on a string. Heavy, all the sudden. Vi couldn't read that expression. She looked ready to smack her, for a single second. Or cry, maybe. Or just collapse altogether.
Or maybe she wasn't sad or angry at all, just exhausted. Overwhelmed. All these things Vi didn't know, or understand.
She stepped forward anyways, a foot on that stair, ready to do whatever she needed. She could take a slap in the face. She could catch her, if she needed to.
But all Caitlyn did was bend over that step. Slip that hand in hers. Perfectly discreet. Soft, but bold. One look, and Vi knew not to turn back. Not to risk it.
She followed Caitlyn's ascent silently. Tried not to feel like each step was more illicit than the last. The chatter faded as they climbed high up, leaving any eyes that might be following them.
Caitlyn drifted down the familiar route to her bedroom. All the way at the end.
It wasn't like any dream Vi had before. Any fantasy or wish, when she was stuck in that cell. The marble, the pillars, the depth of it all. The ceiling that touched the sky and the windows that covered them. She had flowers in every corner. Gold-trimmed rugs and curtains, even the canopy that covered her bed.
Vi went dumb again, open-mouthed like some fish. "This is your room?"
Caitlyn was already making herself comfortable. Lighting small lanterns by her vanity table. The glow reflected off the mirror, flickered over the glitter on her dress.
It was another space Vi didn't feel allowed in. Everything in her told her not to touch anything. Do anything. She just watched as Caitlyn tugged at her heel strap, unfastening the buckle with practiced fingers. One shoe clattered away, then the other.
Something gleamed on that table that caught Vi's eye. She approached as Caitlyn busied herself with her earrings, eyes in the mirror. It wasn't some gadget as she thought, just the heaviest pistol she's ever seen. A sleek flintlock design Vi couldn't help but pick up, get a feel for. "You know how to shoot this?"
Caitlyn's eye flicked down to the barrel pointed right at her and grabbed it with her hand, carefully guiding it down. Vi wasn't even aiming it, just looking.
"Yes, very well." She took it from her grip, her other hand still undoing her earring. Both the earring and a round of bullets clattered onto her vanity. She emptied it quickly, as though she didn't trust Vi with it for a second. "My family comes from a long line of sharpshooters. My mother taught me."
Vi perked at her, delighted. "So you do pack a little heat, then?"
Caitlyn just rolled her eyes, smiling. She put the gun down but didn't look back up. Not for a while. "And you…don't have somewhere else to go tonight?"
The question was casual, but Vi knew it wasn't. She didn't get why she kept bringing that up. Why it bothered her so much. But then she remembered how Caitlyn found her last time. Trying to forget all about her at The Last Drop.
Vi answered her, all jokes aside. "I just made that up, Caitlyn."
She looked over, relieved, but Vi knew she deserved more than that.
"I'm sorry," she finally said. "For leaving you last time. Not last time, but you know. That night. It's just. I didn't think I would...like you as much as I did—do? When we first met? I don't know. I don't know what happened. I still don't…know. What's happening."
Vi hated how she sounded. So inexperienced. So clueless. Something touched her shirt, right over her button. Caitlyn had drifted closer, without realizing. Feeling her heart, as she always did. All the things she did to it.
"You like me?" she asked.
It hurt Vi to hear that. Because she had no clue. No clue at all. "Yeah, Cupcake."
Fingers trailed up around the nape of her neck. Brushing Vi's hair from her face.
"…You want to stay the night with me?"
Vi nodded. More sure than anything.
"I usually wash my hair," Caitlyn explained. Offered.
Another nod, more gentle.
"Shower or bath?"
Vi smiled then, at herself. That one wasn't even a question. "Shower."
It was massive inside. Made of stone and gold and glass, same as the rest of the manor.
Caitlyn didn't do bathrooms, but this one was certainly the exception. Steam clouded the room as the showerhead turned on, escaping into her bedroom in wispy trails. Vi lingered by the door, unsure whether to enter yet.
She moved around her bathroom comfortably, like it was home. It made Vi feel like she was intruding. She slipped her coat off, tossed it on the ottoman by Caitlyn's bed. It was more of a distraction to what was happening out of the corner of her eye.
Caitlyn was busy twisting her arm behind her, reaching for a zipper at the nape of her neck. The dress slipped off her shoulders, and Vi couldn't help but glance in that reflection, where Caitlyn was left in nothing but some lacy bra.
It felt illicit, this view. Caitlyn never really showed skin. She was too private, too well-mannered. A little something down her back was all that Vi was gifted with, really. Maybe her legs in that dress she wore to The Last Drop, but Vi was so hungover she could barely recall. She tried to imagine it so many times, all those nights she didn't sleep, but had her eyes closed anyways.
All she had was her imagination. And those thighs. The curve of her hips, planted on that counter. The way she finally got that dress up around her waist. She was like one of those girls out of those sleazy porno magazines, pinned up in people's cells.
Picture-perfect. Sexy. Completely unobtainable.
Caitlyn kept undressing as though Vi wasn't even there. She would look up in the reflection, under the dim lights, as the running water filled the air. But her expression gave nothing away. Her bra unclasped and Vi felt it was better to look away, give her some privacy, at least. Only when Caitlyn was bare and disappearing behind the glass did she glance up. Her heart squeezed at that one second. Her figure, blurred by the door.
Vi closed the bathroom door behind her. Got undressed, piece by piece, followed her in. She tried not to feel so nervous. She was never nervous with girls. At first maybe, but certainly not now.
It was just Caitlyn. Something about her.
She was getting her hair wet when the door slid closed. Eyes closed, chin tilted up to the water. She didn't turn to Vi. Not until she could feel her nose on her neck. Her hands, slipping along her waist. Soft, hesitant touches up the length of her side.
She's never seen skin so unblemished. She still had Piltover written all over her.
Caitlyn had dimples in the curve of her back, down near her hips. As soon as Vi pressed her thumbs there, Caitlyn turned and slipped her arms around her neck, planting her lips on Vi with an intensity she wasn't expecting.
It's felt like ages since they've kissed. Vi forgot how much it consumed her, this heat, this hunger for more of it. She was so pretty and Vi didn't have enough hands to touch her how she wanted. To take what she wanted. She pressed their hips together, gripped her ass and pulled her closer.
Caitlyn licked into her mouth, raising a leg to wrap around her hip. Vi could barely think after that. All she knew was that she needed this girl backed against a wall, or a door, or something to hold onto because she was about to need it.
But it was Vi who got turned around, searing hot water spilling over her face. Her back hitting the cool tiled wall. Her legs getting nudged apart, as Caitlyn's thigh took place in between. The pressure of it right at her entrance had her gasping, unable to finish whatever kiss Caitlyn desperately began. Nails raked through her pink hair, slicking it back and tugging at the nape.
Vi would drown, if this kept up. Not just by the water, but everything else surfacing up too. She never let girls get her like this, get her pinned, get her naked.
The last time someone had her up against a wall, they were trying to shove a shiv up her gut.
Lips trailed down the column of her neck and Vi couldn't breathe. Her panting must have been loud, because Caitlyn drifted back up, aiming for another kiss. Vi allowed it for a second, squeezing her eyes, before she had to pull away to catch a breath.
Caitlyn paused against her, stopping all movement. She blinked through the water. "What? Too hot?"
Vi could blame it on the steam. On the kisses. She knew it wasn't either.
It was happening again. The fucking memories of that place, resurfacing. Clenching her lungs, her heart. Trying to ruin the only good thing she had going at the moment. She refused to let it happen again. To let that paranoia seize her. The distrust welling up at how good this all felt. The pleasure that surely couldn't be real.
Her eyes slid closed. Only for three seconds. "Yeah."
Caitlyn turned to twist the nozzle a little. Vi took those few seconds to wipe her face clear, wipe her mind. Put some goddamn air in her lungs. Count to five, then to ten.
When Caitlyn turned back, she tugged Vi out from under the water. Away from the wall. She pressed her palms to Vi's cheeks and kissed her softly. Playfully. Over and over. Vi laughed between each one, with a swell of relief. Then Caitlyn pushed her breasts against Vi's, and dragged her tongue between her lips, and it was like a flip had switched.
It lit up every nerve in her, head to toe. Pulsing awake, like some electric current. The heat pooled in between her legs as she sucked on that tongue, and Caitlyn's back hit the wall before Vi even noticed she had pushed her there. Caitlyn grunted, but it was swallowed, and it only made her deepen the kiss. Asking for more.
It was like the opposite of that night. When everything started feeling different, but this time it just felt so right.
Fuck, this was exactly how she wanted it. She was out of breath again, but she loved it. She left Caitlyn's mouth to move down her neck, the space between her breasts. That leg wrapped around her waist again, and Vi knew what she wanted. She held her thigh with one hand, and sunk her other hand deep between her legs.
It started with just a graze, right at the entrance. Just like Caitlyn did before. The water helped her fingers slip down between her folds. When she found the right spot to press, Caitlyn arched against her.
Vi remembered the day she first saw her. Really saw her. How she never thought she would gift a Piltie with her fingers, but still entertained the idea— only for her.
It was so different now. It was so much better. She seared kisses along her jaw, along her neck and shoulder where her dark wet hair clung to her skin. Picking up the pace exactly where she knew to with quick, perfect little strokes.
Caitlyn was very still through most of it, as reserved as Vi expected, until this whimper finally just tore from her. She melted against her, leg tightening around Vi's waist, arms practically thrown around her neck. Clinging to her as close as she could, hoping Vi would get the hint and go a little deeper.
Vi left her clit and trailed down her folds again, just to check. It wasn't just the water this time, she was wet on her own. She pressed down on that entrance again. Asked for entry with slow, devious little circles.
Sharp nails grasped Vi's jaw at this, forcing her into a kiss that had her nearly stumbling back. Vi was all teeth as she grinned against her. She couldn't help it. Caitlyn was starting to twitch in her arms, shuddering, panting quick breaths. But Vi wanted those hips desperate. She wanted them bucking against her, begging for it.
Vi pushed her back against that wall, held her down firm as she sunk that finger in deep. All the way to the base. Caitlyn let out another breath and the sound of it made her clench, tight. Vi couldn't resist watching those eyes, fluttering shut, feeling it. Those teeth on her lip.
When she pulled out, there were lips gasping "No," against her ear, and Caitlyn moved herself to sink down on it again. She started circling those hips, finding her own pleasure, and Vi found it so fucking hot she didn't even want to move.
She pressed another finger in. Dragged them up and down those walls of hers— a pulsing, clenching heat that only opened more and more. Caitlyn was getting so wet she could start to hear it.
It only turned her on even more; Vi never expected Caitlyn to be as noisy as she was. She didn't hide any of those weak little moans that begged for more, she put them all into Vi's ear, right where they belonged.
Vi couldn't resist thinking again how fucking right this all was. That this was how it was supposed to be. Caitlyn fucking her hand, all squirmy and desperate with nowhere to go, and nothing to do but ride it until she couldn't anymore.
A third finger slipped in. Vi didn't even mean to do it. She had to hold her down again, readjust that grip on her thigh.
"Fuck, Vi," she was all hands, everywhere. Turning frenzied as Vi took over, pumping in and out of her at that pace she knew she liked. Hard and steady. She pulled out slowly and pressed her thumb right on her clit as she re-entered.
Caitlyn released some shuddering noise Vi had to cover with her hand. The echo of it bouncing off the walls. Harsh, ragged breaths met her palm as Caitlyn arched again, trying to reach that perfect angle. Teeth nipped at her fingers, all defiant now, but Vi only slipped them between her lips to keep her quiet. She still whined around them so fucking loud, Vi worried someone might actually hear downstairs.
"Shh, I got you," she promised. She took her fingers out and replaced them with her lips, "Turn around for me."
Caitlyn obeyed wordlessly, too out of breath to even kiss her back. Vi pressed her tits up against the tile, pulled that ass back against her hips. She wiggled back impatiently, eager for the hand trailing her thigh to reach around and slide down again.
Vi started at her clit again, circling down and around, until Caitlyn's entrance sunk around her. She was nearly bent over now, the new angle proving itself as she started moving on her own again. She wiggled some more, and Vi could help but line herself up behind her, so her hips could help rock those fingers into her.
Caitlyn would grip the wall, if there was anything there to hold. She didn't wait for Vi to find that spot, she searched for it herself, too pent up to not take some control. Her hands were frantic over Vi's, wherever they were on her body.
Vi reached her other hand around just to keep her chest still. She couldn't resist. She brushed along a bud of her nipple and Caitlyn gasped sharply, arching her back straight. She stumbled back into Vi's own chest, shuddering over her fingers, those nails digging deeper into her skin. The sudden weight didn't stop Vi's relentless pace, only deepened it.
Caitlyn's fist curled against the tile, and all they could hear for a moment was the wetness, echoing over the water. Vi could come right there just listening to it. Her entire hand was practically slipping in and out of her.
Another whimper tore from Caitlyn's throat, all sharp and shrill, and she slapped the nozzle to the shower next to her. The water cut off suddenly and she whirled in Vi's embrace, looking absolutely tortured.
"Bed. Now."
Vi could only grin.
The sheets were soaked by the time Vi landed on them. Caitlyn was already waiting, still trying to catch her breath. She didn't bother with a towel like Vi did, running it over her hair so it didn't drip everywhere.
It was the softest fucking thing she's ever felt. Caitlyn's bed was bigger than Ekko's entire house. Vi settled between her legs, enjoying the fucked-out look on her face as those nails reached for her.
She still wrapped those legs around her waist, kissed her eagerly, as Vi practically fell on her. All she did anymore was mold against her, swirling that tongue around her lips like Vi was something she couldn't get enough of. Something sweet.
Caitlyn fucked like a rabbit, apparently. She never wanted to quit. Vi adored it, but her right arm was also killing her, so she had to switch to her left side. It wouldn't be right to leave a girl unsatisfied.
That hand left Caitlyn's cheek to swipe down her left thigh, grasping just hard enough to get a buck out of her hips. It made Vi gasp as it connected with her own. Caitlyn laughed, like this was only going to be the beginning.
Vi leaned back, pulled Caitlyn by her thighs up on her lap. She planted her hands on either side of her head and just sighed at the look of her. All bright-eyed and relentless. She needed a breath if this was going to keep up.
Hands roamed her in the meantime, up her thighs, across her stomach, brushing along her breasts. One hand settled on stroking her throat, right on her windpipe, only closing around it when Vi cursed and smiled into it.
"I've wanted you like this for so long, you know that?" Caitlyn sighed. Her voice was wrecked.
Vi cocked an eyebrow. "Yeah?"
She nodded, those teeth on her lip again, as her thumb trailed over Vi's mouth.
"Like how? On top?"
That earned her a push on her face. Vi caught that hand, and the other one, and pinned them down right above her head. Caitlyn only squirmed again, from her hands down to her hips.
"Just with me," she said, between kisses, "In my bed. Even before we talked, really. God, I wanted this."
"That's funny, considering how hard you blew me off the first time."
That left hand returned, grazing her entrance. She was still wet, easy to slip into. Those hips circled again, sinking down on whatever they could find. Caitlyn was pinned still under her, but she still managed to ride her way back into heat.
It was nice that all Vi had to do was press deep at one certain angle. Let Caitlyn do the rest. It just meant she got to watch her. The way her back arched, the pinch in her eyebrows, as she chased after her own orgasm.
Vi always knew they'd be a good team.
She put that thumb back into place, kissed down her chest until she found Caitlyn's tit again. She licked and bit and dragged her tongue across that bud, until Caitlyn was all kinds of frantic beneath her. She was having trouble keeping her own pace. Vi picked it back up and she immediately got loud again, whiny, close.
Caitlyn finally tore those arms away and they raced to clench Vi's hand— only one of them smacked her head on the way down.
"Ow," Vi joked, a moment later.
Hands found her face, pressing sympathetic little fingers between her lips. "Sorry, I'm sorry," she laughed, breathlessly. She couldn't even keep her eyes open as she said it, keep her mouth closed.
Caitlyn gasped and thrashed so much, Vi had to figure out some way to pin her down again. She didn't expect her to be so sensitive. She could tell by the way her hips jerked, and that bite on her shoulder, there was only one thing she wanted.
All it took was one quick, "Come here," and Caitlyn pushed Vi down to get on top. She rode her hand and squeezed so hard on her shoulders, Vi knew this was exactly what it would take. She could only lay there, let her take what she needed, and feel the swell in her heart as she did so.
Caitlyn still couldn't close her mouth, or keep quiet. She sounded so fucking cute. So unlike what she thought. All Vi wanted to do was stare at those two little teeth. She could feel her own heat boiling over as Caitlyn snapped down on her, again and again, but tried not to focus on it. It wasn't nearly as important as what was going on above her.
Caitlyn was so lost in her own pleasure, so right on the edge, Vi knew she had to lean up and fall on her as she came. Slamming that hand over her mouth so that whine didn't wake up the entire fucking house. Hot breath poured through her fingers, whimpering against her, as Caitlyn rode out the rest of her orgasm.
It was hot and sticky all over Vi's hand when she pulled out. Those hips were still wiggling, enjoying the euphoria washing over her. One big sigh was all that was left, before her eyes finally opened and found Vi smiling down at her.
"Damn, Cupcake," she had to whisper, eyes on the door. "Good?"
Her chest was too busy heaving, up and down, for her to laugh. "Yes. Very."
"You're fucking noisy, you know that?"
Caitlyn just laughed again. "Don't worry, they can't hear."
Vi sat back on her heels, "Oh what, you know?"
"I've tested it out before," she drew another finger down Vi's cheek, tapped on her scar. "Never had any trouble."
She scoffed at this. It was bait, obviously, but she had to bite anyways. "Like with who?"
Caitlyn's lazy grin only grew wider, "Why so curious?"
Vi narrowed her eyes. She wasn't gonna brag about it, but come on. No way anyone else, someone like Blondie, could have Cupcake that loud.
She snorted as her answer. Fell on her back, rested her arm behind her head.
Caitlyn only rolled over on her shoulder blade, molding herself against Vi again. She perked up on her chin, too exhilarated to close her eyes. "Can I ask you something?"
Vi sighed, licking her lips. "Mhm."
"When we met you told me your name was Vi, then today you told my Mum it was short for something else?"
There were those eyes again. Perched on her shoulder. Tell me more.
"Yeah," Vi rolled her own, allowing it. She expected worse, to be honest. "It's um...or it was…short for Violet."
The bed shifted as Caitlyn sat up. "Violet?" she repeated, with a terrifying grin.
"Yeah, yeah," Vi waved her away. Even though she kind of liked how she said it. That accent. Nobody called her that though, not for years.
"Violet?" she said again. Like she couldn't believe it. "But that's so sweet."
"Shut up," Vi grumbled, shoving her face now.
Caitlyn fell over her again to poke at her cheeks. The blush covering them. Then she kissed them, over and over, until Vi closed her eyes. Just to feel it. Her lips on her. The warmth.
No one's ever really been on her this much. Touched her this much. She didn't think she would like this kind of affection. It never felt right before.
Those lips trailed along her cheekbone, down to where Caitlyn pressed a heady kiss on her. Her leg came around to straddle her, chest against hers, and Vi knew when she wanted something again.
She kissed under her chin, down her neck, right at the base of her collarbone, before glancing back up, "Your turn?"
Vi exhaled a laugh, rubbing her back. "Nah, you wore me out."
It wasn't a lie. She could barely lift her arms. More kisses drifted up this time, the warmth back on her cheek, "So? All you have to do is lay here."
She began trailing down again, but Vi stopped her. As gently as she could. "No really. I'm ok."
Caitlyn's eyes flicked up, and Vi's heart squeezed at that look she had. Worried. Like she was doing something wrong.
"Oh. What, is— am I not that good?" She went still. No more fingers trailing her skin. They curled into a fist, right on her chest.
"No, no, it's not that. Nothing like that," Vi answered. It was a hilarious thought, her being bad at it, but she knew better than to laugh. "You're…too much, if anything."
Caitlyn didn't say anything. Just looked down, with dark eyes. Seconds passed and Vi couldn't read that expression, not until she tried to sit up away from her.
"What?" Vi asked, reaching for her.
"Nothing, um." She paused. "Nothing."
Panic washed over Vi as she tugged Caitlyn but she didn't come back. She swallowed, hoping she genuinely didn't fuck up already.
It really wasn't anything personal. Vi knew how to turn girls on, what felt good, what it felt like when they came. She just never really did it herself.
There was no laying there at Stillwater. There was no turning her mind off, no letting go. It just didn't work for her like that. Never has.
It felt good until it didn't.
Vi was a giver. A proud one. She didn't…take. Not unless she had to, at least.
Caitlyn refused to look at her. Vi leaned up, underneath her still, and tightened those arms around her back, "It's not you. I know I say that but…it's just how I've always been."
Her head turned back, searching Vi's face for something. The truth, most likely. Any hint of sincerity. It had to be there, because she leaned back down until Vi's back hit the bed again.
Her nose nudged against hers. Still with that frown.
"I'm okay," Vi assured her. "I don't need it."
"But…" She still wanted to argue. Like she didn't understand.
Vi just swiped a thumb over her cheek, tried to make her smile. "Another time. Okay?"
Caitlyn shifted against that hand, moving it against her lips. She liked it, that kind of touch. But she still had a frown Vi didn't understand.
"I missed you," she whispered.
There was another swell, deep inside her. Vi enjoyed it, thoroughly. Even if it made no sense.
"I'm right here," she told her.
"I know," Her head went into Vi's neck, frustrated, "But when you go, I miss you."
Vi wanted to tell her she was sweet. That if she ever needed anything, she would always be there. But she knew better than to trust life like that. Like everyone she either knew or cared about didn't end up running from her, or simply taken away.
Like it wasn't her fault, somehow, every single time.
"...I'm here now," was all she could say. All she could promise.
Caitlyn lifted her head to kiss her again, but eventually as time passed, she fell asleep. Vi wasn't sure what to do then. She never really lingered like this, afterwards. Mostly because she still didn't really sleep herself. Not in new places, anyways.
She was on fire for most of that night. Itching to get up, walk around, listen for anyone coming. But she couldn't move. Not with Caitlyn pressed all against her, heart to heart, forcing Vi to just sit there and burn.
Only once the sun started peeking through the windows did Vi doze off. It must've been for a while, because when she came back to, Caitlyn had rolled off her, cozied up in her sheets.
Vi wiped a hand through her eyes and got to her feet. The room seemed bigger in daylight, all this space. There was a giant map of Piltover Vi didn't even notice last time, covered in police work.
She flipped through it, aimlessly. It was hard to read Caitlyn's handwriting, it was messier than expected. Frantic.
They were all leads. Bombings. Theft. Graffiti. Little windup toys, left behind at the scene...
Oh, shit.
Vi got dressed as quietly as she could, but the jangling of her buckles must've been loud. Caitlyn stirred, just as she zipped up her pants.
A hand reached out for her belt that was still undone. "Where are you going?"
Caitlyn was whiny in the morning, apparently. Another thing learned. Vi smiled. "Got a long walk back to the bottom."
"Hmph," she replied. Not a good enough answer.
She watched Vi continue getting dressed, turned over on her stomach, arms under her chin. "Can't you stay?"
Vi couldn't deny it. She looked irresistible staring up at her like that. She knelt on the bed and kissed the pout on those lips. "Got work in a few hours. Sorry."
Caitlyn sighed again, dramatically. As soon as Vi shrugged her coat on and headed towards the door, she mentioned, "You can't go that way."
Vi blanked at her and Caitlyn nodded towards the window.
Oh, fuck me. She completely forgot about the window.
"Seriously?" Vi complained.
Caitlyn shrugged. "My mother likes tea in the morning. Unless you'd rather sit down for conversation, on your way out."
Vi glanced between her and the door, and sighed in defeat.
She tried not to feel like one of those girlfriends Caitlyn was always sneaking out. Vi muttered something and shoved open the glass, glancing down at the trellis escaping into the gardens. It wasn't anything she couldn't handle with the way the undercity was built. Still annoying, though.
Vi hopped over the edge and clung to the windowsill, eyeing her way down. Caitlyn got up quickly before she could make her descent, wrapped up in white sheets and a sleepy grin.
"What?" Vi asked, although she knew. Caitlyn leaned over that edge and planted a long kiss on her. A goodbye one. The heat she poured into it was dangerous. It almost made Vi let go of the windowsill just to hold her. That kind of fall down would be humiliating, but worth it.
"I'll uh," Vi said, between kisses, "See you later?"
"Yes please," She stole another kiss. Nudged her nose again. "Bye, Violet."
Vi scoffed at that, pretending not to like it. Caitlyn watched her descend with a smile.
Vi hit the ground right as she disappeared back into her room. She sighed as she pushed through the gardens, back through the fence, feeling light. Tired. Happy.
It wasn't a lie, it was long trek down to the undercity. Across the bridge, through the alleys. Back to the playground.
Babette winked at Vi on her way past, as though she knew that suit did her some good. She just grinned the rest of the way, kicked open the door to Ekko's place.
He came out from the bathroom, half naked. Pissed, for whatever reason. "The hell have you been?"
"Busy," Vi shrugged off her coat, throwing it near the couch. Ending up more near the floor.
"Ok well, we kinda have a fucking problem," Ekko hissed. He slammed that door shut behind her, but there was still sunlight peeking through it. A giant hole Vi didn't even notice.
She leaned over. It looked like a bullet hole. "Who shot up your—"
Ekko fumed.
Oh shit. "Oh, shit."
"Yeah," Ekko drawled, holding his towel, "Imagine how my fucking night went."