AFYE chapter 9
It wasn't long after Vi's siblings confronted her that Caitlyn made another trip to the lanes. And, true to their word, the three joined Vi and Caitlyn at the arcade with only minimal groaning and the small bribe of ice cream.
"You've got to keep your hand up, cupcake. That guard will keep you from blocking with your face." Vi could hear her sibling snicker, but she chose to ignore it in favor of focusing on teaching Caitlyn to box. They were both squared up in a makeshift ring, going through drills at a slow speed so Caitlyn could get the mechanics down before trying the boxing machine again.
"I'm trying," Caitlyn responded, panting a little. "Maybe I should teach you to shoot, see how well you do with that." Vi chuckled at the idea. She had tried Powder's shooting game only to find she couldn't hit the broad side of a barn, let alone a target.
"Not really my skill set. That's more Powder's area." Caitlyn's brow furrowed and she dropped her guard completely, turning to the girl in question. Powder was currently setting up the shooting game as she liked to take it apart every time they left, just to keep someone else from using and breaking it.
"You shoot?" Caitlyn called, causing Powder to pause her work.
"Yeah. I use that pistol." She gestured to the compressed-air powdered gun that they often used when she or Mylo shot. Vi dropped her guard as Caitlyn stepped out of the makeshift ring to get a closer look at the pistol and the shooting game.
"Can I see?" Powder's eyebrows shot up in surprise. She glanced at Vi in a small panic, causing the older sister to chuckle and shrug her shoulders.
"You can show her if you want to Pow-pow. You're a good shot, might as well show it off." Powder stared at the two of them for a few seconds before nodding and hooking up the last connection for the game, causing it to light up and start moving.
Caitlyn seemed taken aback for a moment when everything started moving but quickly refocused on Powder as the young girl jumped over the edge of the booth and picked up the pistol. Vi watched her sister take a deep breath and aim for the middle of the targets as she waited for the countdown.
Watching Powder shoot was always Vi's favorite thing to do. To see her little sister so calm and confident always made her glow with pride. It never failed to impress Vi every time, the way she aimed and shot the fast-moving targets with such ease. And a quick glance at Caitlyn told her the topside girl felt the same.
"Wow," Caitlyn said upon Powder's completion of the game, causing the younger girl to bite her lip in anxiety. "That was amazing." Shock overtook Powder's features, and her jaw dropped as Caitlyn's compliment sank it.
"It's… really nothing." Powder mumbled, gathering up the plastic balls she shot and reloading the gun.
"I have to disagree. I know a few high-level shooting competitors that wouldn't be able to hit a single target on a course like this." Powder looked at Caitlyn, almost star-struck, causing Vi to chuckle again.
"Do you…" Powder trailed off before taking another deep breath, apparently gathering her courage. "Do you want to try?"
Vi was so wrong. She absolutely loved watching her sister shoot, but that was nothing compared to watching Powder teach Caitlyn to shoot her gun on the course that she designed. She watched as Powder explained the mechanisms of her gun and, when prompted, how she designed it, then how she designed the whole game. Vi thought she could burst with pride as Powder showed off everything she'd made.
Eventually, Caitlyn did try a couple of rounds on Powder's shooting game and, with Powder's advice, managed to score 7th on the leaderboard. Then, to Vi's absolute shock, Powder cheered for her victory alongside the rest of them. Soon, everyone was taking turns trying to beat Caitlyn's score.
Vi had never been so happy to fail so miserably.
Eventually, the five had to go back to The Last Drop or risk getting caught out after dark with the addicts.
Caitlyn's mind was spinning the entire trip to the bar with information on Powder's game. It wasn't wildly complicated, but it was rather involved and required a lot of skill. Part of her was even tempted to try to recruit the girl to do the Pistol shooting competitions in Piltover because of how good she was.
Pulling her out of her thoughts, Vi pulled her aside and quietly asked her if she should escort her back to her house topside, which Caitlyn thought was sweet, but she told her friend she had gotten Jace to cover for her with her parents. Vi nodded, accepting this answer before pushing open the doors to The Last Drop.
The bar had a few patrons, though it wasn't yet busy, leaving room for her and the others to sit at the bar. The bartender - Vander Vi had called him - poured Vi and her siblings glasses of juice before coming over and stopping in front of Caitlyn.
"H-hello. It's a pleasure to meet you properly." Caitlyn was still embarrassed about how they first met. Finding her in his daughter's bed probably didn't make for the best first impression.
However, despite her doubts, Vander smiled at her and reached out to shake her hand. "It's nice to meet you too. Any friends of my kids are welcome here." He winked at her and smirked knowingly, causing Caitlyn to blush.
"Don't you mean girlfriend?" Powder drawled from the end of the bar, prompting a round of laughter from the boys and a blush from Vi, but Caitlyn's mind froze. Girlfriend? She wasn't Vi's girlfriend. She didn't even know if Vi was gay! The last thing she wanted was for Vi to think she was a creep or something.
"Powder!" Vi called back. Caitlyn couldn't help but find her flustered state cute. However, she decided to have mercy on Vi and changed the subject.
"If it's alright with you, sir, I'd like to ask if I could stay the night." She asked Vander.
"Of course. I must say, I prefer knowing that you are down there instead of finding out my children were sneaking you in." Caitlyn blushed again, this time embarrassed.
"Okay, how about we go down?" Vi quickly suggested before chugging her drink and hopping down from the barstool. "I'll see you tomorrow, Vander." The bartender nodded to Vi before walking over to refill a group's drinks.
Vi led them down to the old storage room that now functioned as the family's home, where she didn't hesitate to plop down onto the couch. Caitlyn went to sit down next to her friend, but a hard shove threw her off balance and she fell into Vi's lap.
"Mylo!" Vi cried as she wrapped her arms around Caitlyn's waist, trying to steady her hand to keep her from falling. Loud laughter filled the room, and Caitlyn could tell her face was bright red as she hung onto Vi for dear life.
"Hey, I'm just helping." Mylo defended himself, still laughing. "You guys wanted to sit together anyways." Caitlyn could feel Vi jolt underneath her as she choked. When she finally got stable enough to shift around, Caitlyn looked back at Vi, only to see her face the same burning red as she guessed her own face was.
"Yeah, this way we all have a place to sit," Claggor added in, sitting down in the chair next to the couch. Powder just rolled her eyes and sat at the opposite end of the couch from her and Vi.
"You guys are-" Vi started to yell at her brothers, but Caitlyn cut her off by placing a hand on her shoulder.
"Ummm, Vi?" she pointedly looked down to where Vi's arms were still wrapped around her waist. Vi blushed impossibly brighter as a new round of laughter started. The bigger girl shifted so Caitlyn was sitting next to her instead of in her lap.
"There you go. Sorry about that, Cupcake." Vi scratched the back of her head nervously and Caitlyn couldn't help but find it adorable. Until she saw Vi's brothers making kissy faces at them. Vi saw them too if the way her face hardened was any indication. "That's it!" She cried, launching herself at Mylo and getting him in a headlock.
Caitlyn smiled and shook her head at their antics, content to watch Vi noggie her brothers into submission. She was laughing at Mylo's call of "Uncle! Uncle!" when a small tap on her shoulder got her attention. She turned to see Powder looking at her intently.
"Why do you keep coming back?" she asked bluntly. Caitlyn's eyes widened in surprise, and she began stammering before she could come up with a response.
"Oh, ummm… I ummm… I like it here?" she tried to say, but it came out more like a question. Powder just looked at her, unimpressed.
"You just 'like it' in the undercity? When you could be topside instead?" She deadpanned. As Caitlyn wracked her brain for something to say, she couldn't help but look back at Vi who somehow had pinned both her brothers and was laughing as they tried to get free.
"The company is good," Caitlyn spoke without thinking, but once she realized what she had said, she turned back to the young girl, worried about her reaction. Powder sat there a few moments before nodding slowly. It was at that point a loud crashing noise drew both their attention. The boys had broken free, and they were now rolling close to the bed stands.
"Ahh! I need to stop them before they break another bed stand, we are already down to only three beds." Caitlyn had no idea how Powder planned to stop them. She was far smaller and not all that loud. How was she going to get them to stop? Caitlyn's question was not answered when Powder dug around in a drawer and pulled out a small wind-up toy. "Cover your ears." She warned Caitlyn as she wound up the toy. Caitlyn could just make out her whispering; "Please work" to the toy before she set it loose in her sibling's direction.
The toy took a few steps, clicking the whole time, towards the fighting kids before it stopped, and an ear-splitting screech sounded off from inside the toy. Vi and the boys immediately stopped fighting and covered their ears. Caitlyn thought that was it, but a few seconds later, the noise cut off as the toy exploded in a pink and blue cloud.
Caitlyn cried out, looking for her friends, but the air cleared quickly, reviling Vi, Mylo, and Claggor coughing, completely unharmed, but covered in pink and blue powder. They all sat stunned for a few seconds, as though taking in what just happened when a whoop sounded from the youngest.
"It worked! Vi, it worked! I did it!" Caitlyn watched, mouth agape as Powder celebrated. She was almost sure Vi would be mad about her sister's prank, but the pink-haired girl practically lit up like the sun, racing over to wrap her arms around her sister, also covering her in the powder substance in the process.
"Yeah, it did, Pow-Pow! I'm so proud of you! I knew you could do it!" the two boys looked a little less enthusiastic about their little sister's apparent success, but they both smiled and clapped her on the shoulder.
It was then that Vi turned back to her, a mischievous glint in her eye that Caitlyn didn't like. "Vi." She warned as she took a step back, only to be matched by the undercity fighter. "Vi, don't you dare." But Vi continued to take several steps forward, faster than Caitlyn could take them backward. "I mean it!" but Vi didn't listen as she charged Caitlyn, grabbing her around the waist and lifting her into the air, covering her in the colorful powder as well.
Despite her annoyance at being covered in an unknown substance, Caitlyn couldn't help but laugh along with Vi as the girl spun her around.
"We need to show Vander!" Powder proclaimed, prompting Vi to put Caitlyn down.
"I think that's a great idea," Mylo said, his hand on Powder's shoulder.
"Absolutely." Vi agreed. There was a small pause, then chaos as the siblings all raced for the door to the bar, apparently wanting to be the first to get to their adopted dad and cover him in the colorful substance as well. Caitlyn laughed and followed, albeit a little bit slower, to watch Vander get ambushed in his own bar.
Judging by the lack of serious reactions from the bargoers, Caitlyn guessed this wasn't an uncommon occurrence to see the small family all but storm the place, ambushing the bartender. As the family laughed, Caitlyn vaguely wished her family was a bit like them. A little less serious and a little more playful.
The topside girl couldn't even remember the last time she had spent time with her parents which didn't end in some kind of lecture on how she needs to be better or needs to change. She hadn't realized just how much she missed being carefree with her own family until she saw it in this undercity family.
Caitlyn had her somber thoughts cut short as Vi apparently saw her brooding in the corner and dragged her back into her family's shenanigans. Deciding she was already covered in the results of Powder's prank and couldn't really make it worse, Caitlyn gave in, laughing with her friends and their parent as they all celebrated Powder's success in what was probably the messiest way possible.