AFYE chapter 16
Right after getting back from lunch with Jayce and Caitlyn, Vi tried to write down everything she remembered about the scribbling on the walls of the apartment. While she hadn't really cared about the topic, Caitlyn seemed to understand, and Vi didn't want her girlfriend to think she was dumb or something because she couldn't figure out some stupid topsider's experiment.
After she had gotten down about half of what she remembered, Vi looked it over, feeling just as confused as she had during the lunch. Maybe she had written it down wrong? Vi was just picking up another paper to have a go at writing down the rest of it when Powder came in.
"Vi, have you seen my- Hey!" she snatched the black paper out of Vi's hand. "That's my design paper! Use the scribble paper." She pointed to a stack of blank paper that Vi thought looked exactly the same as what she had been using, but she obliged her little sister's request and got up to grab some 'scribble paper'. "What is this anyway?" Vi turned back around, scribble paper in hand, to see Powder looking over the paper she had written Jayce's equations and notes on.
"Oh, ah, you don't need to look at that! It's nothing important!" If there is one sure fire way to get your sibling to pay attention to something, it is to scream how clearly unimportant it is while also trying to snatch it back. Unfortunately, Powder had been getting faster in her reaction time as well as her parkour and managed to dodge Vi just in time to keep the paper out of her grasp.
"It looks like energy calculations." Powder started muttering to herself just loud enough that Vi could hear. "The energy is in wavelengths, but those aren't the conversion factors for sound or light. Could it be organic? How would one harness organic energy? What would it be used for?"
Powder turned back to Vi, as though suddenly remembering her sister was there. "Did you come up with this?" Vi's heart broke at the way powder sounded so hopeful. She knew her sister was a bit insecure about how smart she was, how it made her different from other undercity kids.
"No," Vi ignored the way her heart squeezed at the way Powers's face dropped in disappointment. "I was trying to figure out the stuff that was all over Jayce's apartment." Vi admitted.
Powder shot her sister a confused glance, looking between her and the papers in her hand. "Why?" Vi sighed. While her little sister was a bit insecure about how naturally smart she was, Vi fell into the opposite category, though she did everything in her power not to show it.
"I don't know. Jayce and Caitlyn had talked about it while we were visiting, and she seemed to understand it just fine. I just don't want her to think I'm…" Vi vaguely gestured toward her head, hoping her sister would just get it.
Never one to disappoint, Powder's face took on a softer, more understanding expression. "She won't. I'm going to figure this out, and then I'll help you understand it!" she declared, already grabbing handfuls of scribble paper and crayons.
"Are you sure, Powder? I don't even know if I wrote down everything right and-" but it was no use. Powder was already down the hall, cackling the whole way. Vi just had to hope she would stay out of trouble.
Caitlyn had thought bringing Vi around Jayce's would help her parents calm down at least a little bit. But, if anything, they only became more pushy about getting the undercity girl to spend time topside at the manor. Caitlyn had tried explaining that it was a long trip, especially on foot, and that Vi had a curfew, but the only change this prompted was her mother and father insisting that Vi could just spend the night, then the whole weekend. They argued that surely Vi's family would welcome her to spend time with such a 'high class family' and they could 'keep her out of trouble'.
Caitlyn was a little concerned about what her parents thought of the undercity family, but eventually relented and invited Vi up for a weekend. It had taken a fair amount of arguing, though to Caitlyn's surprise, she didn't have to argue with Vander. Vi's guardian had agreed to let Vi come up the moment she asked, it was Vi herself that Caitlyn had to argue with.
"A single day is one thing, Cupcake, but a whole weekend? I can't leave my sister and my brothers for that long, what if something happens?" Caitlyn took a deep breath and reminded herself that things were different in the undercity and that siblings had to do a lot more to watch over each other and keep each other safe. She needed to remember that Vi wasn't overbearing, she was just protective and this was how she was raised.
"I'm sure Powder will be fine for a few days. After all, she had Mylo and Claggor to look after her, and I'm sure they can handle themselves." Vi glanced over to where her brothers were fighting over some died meat scraps. Caitlyn had to admit that image didn't help her case. "BOYS!" Caitlyn called out, getting Mylo and Claggor's attention. "Do you think you could handle keeping track of Powder for a weekend so Vi can come topside for a visit?"
Caitlyn knew she made a mistake when Mylo's face broke out into a wide, taunting smile. "Well, what exactly do you have planned for – OW!" Claggor smacked Mylo over the head, cutting him off before he could say whatever joke he thought of. It was right in time too as Vi was beet red behind her, knowing what Mylo was about to imply. If she were to be honest, Caitlyn wasn't faring much better in hiding her embarrassment.
"Yeah, we'll hang around with Powder this weekend." Claggor agreed, still glaring at Mylo, as if daring him to try saying something inappropriate.
"How hard can it be? Vi does it like every day." Mylo interjected, rubbing the back of his head softly. He and Claggor didn't notice the grin on Vi's face, but Caitlyn saw it, and she knew the boys were likely going to learn just how hard it can be to keep up with an 11-year-old.
"Fine, you win, Cupcake. I'll go pack." Caitlyn let herself make a small show of celebrating her Viktory, earning a laugh from Vi and her brothers. Now she could only hope nothing went wrong while they were topside.
Powder had been staring at Vi's notes for hours, but she just couldn't make sense of them. Vi had said she might not have written them down right, but Powder doubted that. Vi was a lot smarter than a lot of people (including herself) gave her credit for, and her ability to memorize anything at a glance was nothing to scoff at. Several times Vi's ability to look at something once and recall it perfectly had helped her and her siblings, but Vi would never accept any credit for it. She apparently just thought everyone could do it.
Even though she was certain Vi's notes were correct, she hadn't recorded everything in the apartment, leaving Powder feeling like she was trying to complete a puzzle with only one third of the pieces. Maybe she shouldn't have interrupted her sister when she was in the middle of writing things down.
Either way, powder had analyzed as much of the notes as she could and still the only thing she could make out was that Jayce was trying to harness some kind of energy source and convert it into a mechanical or thermal energy, but she couldn't figure out how or what the energy source was. At that point, powder had two options. One; tell Vi she couldn't figure out much and let the topic go, potentially making her sister feel worse, or two; find the rest of the puzzle pieces.
To Powder the choice was obvious.
"This is terrible." Caitlyn laughed at Vi's pout, not caring to conceal it in her own home.
"Come on Violet, I've seen you parkour over rooftops and climb vertical walls, surely some ballroom dancing shouldn't get the better of you." Caitlyn relished the way Vi's blush crept up her cheeks. That always seemed to happen when she called the undercity girl by her full name, so Caitlyn made a point to call her that as much as possible in private.
"That's different. This is weird and unnatural." Vi complained as Caitlyn tried to lead her in a simple waltz.
"That's because you haven't done it before. I know you weren't very good at free running when you first started." Caitlyn recalled, remembering Vi story about falling into a dumpster.
"No, but I was 7." Caitlyn fought hard to keep the surprise and horror from showing on her face. Vi had been doing death defying stunts since she was 7?!
"Alright…" she could tell by the confusion on Vi's face that she didn't hide it well enough. "Well, the principals are the same. Just give it a few more tries and then we can stop, alright?" Vi shrugged and focused back on Caitlyn's instructions. The sharpshooter had to redirect Vi's eyes back up from her feet several times, but she surprisingly started to get the steps after a few minutes.
Deciding to try something, Caitlyn directed Vi in a spin, making the undercity girl laugh. "Okay, Cupcake, I can see the appeal."
"I'm glad. We host a lot of parties and charity events that usually include dancing." Caitlyn pulled Vi a little closer and tried to fight off the warmth creeping up her face. "It might be nice if you came to some. We could dance." Holding her breath, Caitlyn hoped it wasn't too much. She knew Vi didn't overly like topside events, and more extravagant ones would probably be worse. But the brawler surprised Caitlyn by smiling at her.
"I can probably do that. After all, it's as good an excuse as any to dance with my girlfriend." Caitlyn promptly choked on her own tongue and doubled over, trying to catch her breath. She vaguely registered Vi rubbing her back and prompting her to breathe. "You alright, Cupcake?"
Straightening up after finally catching her breath, Caitlyn nodded, her face almost certainly beat red. "I'm alright. Just wasn't expecting that." She admitted, though Vi seemed confused by it.
"That I'd say yes?" she asked.
"Ah, no. the other thing." Caitlyn was just proud she got the words out without choking again.
"That I'd want to dance with you?" Caitlyn stared at Vi blankly. Did she not realize what she said? "I know I complained, but I really was enjoying-" Vi started to defend herself, but Caitlyn took a hold of her hand and cut her off.
"No, Vi, that's not it." She took a deep breath. Here goes nothing. "You called me your girlfriend." Caitlyn expected a reaction, Vi getting flustered or maybe even her backtracking, but she just looked confused again, though this time she was smiling.
"Yes, Cupcake, when two girls are dating, they are usually called each other's girlfriends." She replied, laughing. "Are you under the impression we are something else?" Vi's laughing died down, and Caitlyn realized she may have worried her… girlfriend.
"No. I am just happy." Caitlyn said, honestly, prompting Vi to smile widely again. Unable to help herself, the sharpshooter reached around the back of Vi's head and pulled her in for a kiss. Caitlyn could feel how Vi smiled into the kiss, encouraging her to deepen it.
"How's it going in here?" The booming voice caused Vi and Caitlyn to all but jump apart, each whipping around (Vi already in a fighting stance) to look at whoever had come in only to see Caitlyn's dad in the doorway, clearly failing in his attempt not to laugh. "I see I've interrupted. Shall I come back later?"
"No, it's fine. I was just teaching Vi the basics of ballroom dancing." Cailyn told her father, hoping he wouldn't press the answer.
"And I'm sure Violet enjoyed it." Her father teased. Caitlyn might have played into it, but she noticed how Vi tensed at the use of her full name. "I'll see you kids later. Don't get too crazy in here, your mother is still wandering around." Tobias joked, wandering away while laughing.
"Vi?" Vi hummed, turning her attention back to Caitlyn after Tobias was out of sight. "Do you not like being called Violet?" Vi's reaction was rather telling. She immediately dropped eye contact and took a step back from Caitlyn.
"No, it's just… no one's but you has done it for a long time." Vi explained. Caitlyn stayed silent and gestured for Vi to go on. "When Powder was little, she struggled to say 'Violet' so she just called me 'Vi'. She continued to do so even after we moved in with Vander, Mylo, and Claggor and they heard her, so they all called me Vi too. Only my parents ever really called me Violet. And that was a long time ago." Vi shrugged, like she didn't really care either way, but Caitlyn could still see some underlying tension.
"I'm sorry." Caitlyn told her, doing nothing to ease Vi's discomfort. "Do you want me to stop?"
"What?" Vi cocked her head to the side, reminding Caitlyn of a puppy, but she shoved the thought away. This was not the time to get lost in how cute her girlfriend was.
"Do you want me to stop calling you Violet?" Immediately Vi was right in front of her again, her hands hovering over her own, but not quite touching her.
"No! I-" Vi's voice broke and she took a deep breath before trying again. "It's different when you do it. It's not like when someone else calls me 'Violet'. When you say it, it's like a…" Vi paused, seemingly struggling to find the right words. "Like when I call you 'cupcake'. I- I kind of like it." Vi blushed heavily. "It's like something only you can do. And that makes it special." She confessed.
Overcome with emotion, Caitlyn wrapped Vi in a hug, which the undercity girl gladly returned. "I think that is enough dancing." Caitlyn stated, finally pulling away from Vi. "Perhaps we should retire to my room for the evening." Laughing at Caitlyn's formal language, Vi nodded, allowing her drag her all the way through the house and to her room.
Caitlyn wasted no time dramatically flopping onto her bed, followed by a much slower Vi who just climbed on after her.
"You don't really talk about your parent's much." Caitlyn blurted out. She had heard a couple things here and there; they died when Vi and Powder were young, her father was a miner, and the two were friends with Vander, but other than that, Caitlyn didn't know anything about them. She was kind of curious why Vi didn't talk about them.
"There's really nothing to tell," Vi responded from her place next to Caitlyn. "They died a long time ago, it wasn't their fault, and now Vander looks after me and Powder." Caitlyn couldn't help but notice what Vi wasn't telling her.
"How did they die?" She felt crass Just asking it. Vi paused, letting the silence ring out in the room as loud as any answer. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." Caitlyn finally turned her head to look at Vi, only to see her girlfriend already looking at her with a sad yet contemplative expression.
"I'll tell you someday, just not today." Vi said, intertwining their hands and scooting a little closer. "I think I've had enough confessing for one day." She laughed, but Caitlyn could see the tiredness in her eyes. Letting the topic go, Caitlyn wrapped her arms around her girlfriend and relished the way Vi relaxed in her hold. Somethings were better left for another day.
"Hey, Powder, I am going to the market. Do you need any…" Claggor trailed off as he realized his sister wasn't in the family room. It was just Mylo there, practicing his lock picking with a spare lock. "Where's Powder?"
"She went into the bar. She's probably still in there." Mylo barely looked up from what he was doing as he replied.
"No, I just came from the bar. Vander is the only one in there." That finally got Mylo's attention.
"The office?" he suggested.
"Locked."
"The roof?"
"Boarded up."
The two boys looked at each other, both coming to the same conclusion at the same time. "Vi's going to kill us." Claggor lamented, already felling the bruises he knew his sister was going to give him when she found out they lost Powder.
"Not if we find Powder before she gets back." Mylo reasoned, setting aside his lock picking equipment and standing up. "Were would Powder go?" Claggor thought for a moment.
"The scrapyard?" He had never really known Powder to go anywhere else by herself, and if she did go anywhere else, usually only Vi knew about it. The only exception he could think of was… "you don't think she went topside, do you?"
Mylo brushed him off. "Naw, she's only ever gone up there to find Vi or Caitlyn, now that those two idiots aren't dancing around each other, Powder had no reason to go up there." Claggor felt better at his brother's reasoning, but he couldn't shake the feeling that their little sister might be farther away than either of them wanted.