AFYE chapter 15
Caitlyn's parents were acting weird the days following her visit to the lanes. She was surprised enough that she didn't get grounded for the stunt, but even more so when her parents kept insisting the undercity family should join them for dinner some night. The whole thing threw Caitlyn off balance. She hadn't even told her parents that she and Vi had started dating (well sort of, they hadn't discussed labels but Vi acted as though they were dating so Caitlyn decided that was probably good enough) and they still seemed rather insistent she come up. It wasn't until Caitlyn's father gave her a better idea that Caitlyn even considered bringing Vi topside again.
"You know, dear," Caitlyn rolled her eyes. She was sick of her parents, constantly trying to convince her of all their plans. "Jayce might like to meet your new friend too." Caitlyn paused. Jayce was from a humble family and would probably make a good middle ground between topside and the lanes. If she could get Vi used to someone like Jayce, her parents might not seem so… uptight by comparison.
"That's not a bad idea, dad." Tobias seemed pleased his daughter liked his idea, he opened his mouth to say something more, but Caitlyn was already planning. "I can bring Vi to Jayce's apartment. I bet they'll get along great!" Caitlyn knew Vi was a bit twitchy on the subject of Jayce's apartment, but she figured the brawler would be fine so long as Caitlyn was with her. "Thanks, Dad!" Caitlyn called as she ran off to write a message for Vi, completely missing the bewildered expression on her father's face.
Vi really needed to learn to say no to Caitlyn. She was sure it was a bad idea to go back to an apartment she got caught trying to rob, but Caitlyn insisted it would be fine as she would be there, and that she was the only one who caught them. Vi eventually agreed, but she was still on guard. Who knew what those topsiders would do if they recognized her as a thief?
She kept her head on a swivel, looking over the people they passed in the hallways, waiting for any signs of aggression or recognition. The most she got was a few sneers, but that was to be expected due to her appearance and clothes that were very clearly from the undercity. Finally reaching Jayce's apartment, Caitlyn knocked on the door with one hand and grabbed Vi's with the other, interlacing their fingers in a show of support.
Vi couldn't help but smile at Caitlyn's gesture. She didn't think she could ever get used to the topsider girl showing her affection so freely. Ignoring the fluttering in her chest, Vi traded the smile from her face for a look of cool contempt as the door opened. She didn't know very much about this Jayce, so she decided to stay on guard until she figured out what his deal was.
"Hey, Caitlyn! I was just wrapping up an experiment so ignore the mess." Jayce greeted, gesturing for them to come in. True to his word, there were papers scattered everywhere, and several knickknacks lay in various places along the floor, some even looked broken. If Vi didn't know better, she might have thought a bomb had gone off in the apartment.
Jayce laughed awkwardly as they took in the state of his apartment. "Yeah, maybe I should have put more effort into cleaning up." Vi took to looking around as Caitlyn rushed to assure her friend they didn't care about a 'little mess'. The apartment was a bit different from the last time she had been there. More strange diagrams lined the walls and several more pieces of scattered tech were sitting around. Part of Vi wondered if the place was a better target now than it had been months ago.
At this point Vi had made it to the patio doors, gazing over the fancy designs layered onto the glass. She was about to turn back to Caitlyn when something caught her eye. A splintered piece of wood showed where the door's lock should be held in place. With a quick glance to make sure her companions weren't paying attention, Vi pulled at the door, only mildly surprised when it opened without her even needing to turn the handle.
"Your door's busted," Vi said loudly, catching the attention of the two topsiders.
"Oh, yeah. It's been like that for a few months. I'm still not sure how it broke." Vi raised an eyebrow at Jayce's comment, looking at Caitlyn for answers. When none came, she turned back to Jayce.
"You should probably get that fixed. Someone could break in." Vi could see Caitlyn's embarrassment grow, as did Jayce's confusion.
"We're like twelve stories up, who could even get onto my balcony?" Vi offered a measly shrug in response, leaving the man to fester in confusion. "Umm, well, I've prepared some lunch for us. It's just sandwiches, but why don't we eat?" Jayce directed them to a table with sereval small sandwiches laid out.
Never one to turn down free food, Vi took one and happily started munching. "So, Vi," Jayce started, seemingly not knowing what to do with himself. "Caitlyn's told me a fair bit about you." Vi shot Caitlyn a questioning glance, only to get a blush in return. "But I was hoping you could tell me about yourself."
Immediately, Vi's defenses went up. Jayce was obviously fishing for information. What he planned to do with it, Vi had no idea, but she knew she needed to at least pretend to be nice to the guy. He was Caitlyn's friend after all. She decided to start with the basics. "I grew up in the lanes, I've got a sister and two brothers, and I like parkour." That had to be enough, right? But Jayce still didn't look satisfied.
"I was thinking more personal stuff. Like, what do you like to do on a normal day?" Vi got the distinct impression that 'trying to survive and take care of my siblings' was not the answer Jayce was looking for.
"Umm, sometimes my brothers and I cover shifts at the bar with Vander." Jayce seemed even less impressed with that answer and went to respond but was cut off by Caitlyn.
"It looks like you had a productive experiment today. Has your research progressed at all?" Jayce seemed to take the bait and started telling Caitlyn about a lot of things Vi didn't really understand. Something about wavelengths and energy pulses. It was really more Powder's area of expertise. The fact that she couldn't make heads or tails of the conversation grated on Vi's nerves slightly. Caitlyn seemed to understand everything and Vi wasn't sure if it was because her friend had taught her about it or if it was just something all people topside knew about.
Pushing the uneasy feeling down, Vi made herself content to lean back, put her arm around her girlfriend, and let them talk about whatever. It wasn't until almost 30 minutes later that Jayce realized she wasn't contributing. "I seem to have gotten a bit carried away, sorry about that." He rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "I hope I didn't bore you too much."
Vi just shrugged, really hoping they wouldn't try to include her in the conversation and show just how clueless she really was. "Naw, it's alright. My sister likes stuff like that, so I am usually subjected to her rants and ideas." Jayce looked relieved.
"That's wonderful! Where does your sister study?" Jayce tried to cling to the information, probably figuring it would be something he could use to connect with Vi.
Vi froze and looked at Caitlyn. Formal study wasn't a thing in the undercity, usually parents or guardians taught their children things like basic math and how to read. Sometimes they didn't even do that. Luckily, Caitlyn noticed her distress and jumped in.
"Education functions differently in the lanes. Most of it is practiced through self-study." Vi thought that was a very fancy way of saying 'uneducated and borderline illiterate' but she supposed it was true. Vi only really learned as much as she did because she wanted to teach Powder, and once her sister surpassed her, Vi stopped trying to get more education. She just didn't see the point.
The look on Jayce's face told her he had caught the true meaning behind the overly polished words, but he didn't say anything about it. It was probably some kind of topsider manners to not insult your guest's intelligence.
Striving for anything that could save him, Jayce tried a new tactic. "How did you come to know Caitlyn? She's been pretty dodgy about telling me how you guys met." Vi had to force down her laughter, but some of it was slipping through. She figured by the state of the door Caitlyn hadn't told Jayce how she broke in, but apparently, she didn't tell him anything about it. Caitlyn turned away from her, but Vi thought it was too funny to let go.
"Yes, Cupcake, how did we meet?" Caitlyn glared daggers at Vi, but she didn't relent. "Do you want to tell him?" Vi's laughter was slipping through even more now, catching the attention of Jayce who also seemed amused at the prospect of learning a potentially embarrassing story about his friend.
"Come on Cait, it can't be that bad." He added, only succeeding in getting Caitlyn's glare turned on him. Finally deciding to take pity on her girlfriend, Vi sobered a bit.
"He might actually need to know." Caitlyn shot her a betrayed look and Vi threw her hands up in a peacemaking gesture. "Hey, you know what my siblings are like. And Powder's already been back here once." After a few moments of intense staring, Caitlyn sighed, resigning herself to tell Jayce what happened.
"Do you remember a few months ago, when you asked me to drop off some boxes for you because of your last-minute meeting?" Caitlyn kept her gaze firmly off Jayce, who nodded. "Well, when I came in…" Caitlyn seemed to be struggling to get the words out, so Vi gently took her hand. "I kinda walked in on a robbery."
Jayce immediately leapt to his feet. "WHAT?!" He made a mad dash to a chest with a lock on it and started digging through it. "Caitlyn, that was ages ago, who knows what they could have gotten away with!"
"Nothing." Vi's input seemed to stop Jayce short. "Nothing left this apartment. Caitlyn made sure of it." Vi wasn't going to add how the topside girl trusted they put everything back without actually checking them, but she really didn't need to. It wasn't like Vi wanted to be arrested for stealing something as worthless as a nose-hair trimmer.
"No way." Jayce's face showed his realization and a fair amount of horror. "Caitlyn, please tell me you did ask out the person who broke into my home to steal from me." Now Caitlyn was giggling too.
"Alright. I didn't ask her out." Jayce sighed in relief. "I simply kissed her instead." Vi was pretty sure the whole building heard the exasperated cry Jayce let out following Caitlyn's statement.
"Why? Why would you- what was even-how did-" Jayce stammered, seemingly unable to finish a coherent thought. "How did you even get into my apartment?"
"The balcony," Vi answered, picking up another sandwich. Topside really had some good sandwich meat.
Jayce raced to his balcony door, as though he didn't remember it was broken. "You broke my door!" Vi shrugged.
"Mylo was taking forever to pick the lock." Another exasperated cry later, and Jayce was sitting back down across from them, looking entirely defeated. Caitlyn seemed torn between finding the situation hilarious and wanting to comfort her friend.
"I'm putting a new lock on the door." Giving a nod in agreement, Vi gestured in the direction of the bridge.
"I'd go to the lock shop just north of the bridge. It's the only place I've seen make a lock Mylo can't Pick." She paused for a moment, thinking. "You might want to replace your front door lock too. It really isn't a good one." Vi tried (unsuccessfully) to ignore the rather unimpressed expression her girlfriend's face had taken on following her observation.
Suddenly, Caitlyn's face broke into a mischievous grin that sent chills up Vi's spine. "At least it's better than how you met my parents, what with my mother trying to shoot you and all." Now it was Vi's turn to feel betrayed. It wasn't her fault she thought Caitlyn needed help. For his part, Jayce just looked horrified.
"What?" If they had been discussing any other topic, Vi might have laughed at the way Jayce crocked out the word.
"Oh, yes. You see, my darling Violet," Vi nearly combusted on the spot as Caitlyn laid a delicate hand on her collarbone. "Received a letter from me that had unfortunately been damaged in transit. It led her to believe I was in need of assistance, so, she dropped everything and ran to help. Like a knight in shining armor." Vi hadn't thought it was possible for her face to get even warmer. Was she breathing? Vi didn't think she was breathing. "Of course, given that she thought I was in danger, Vi broke in through one of the manor windows and fought off half of the house staff to get to my room. I had to set her straight." Caitlyn whispered the last part as though it was some kind of secret. "Isn't that right, Darling?"
Vi finally choked out a breath. She really hadn't been breathing. "That wasn't-" Vi's voice cracked, forcing her to pause and clear her throat. "I acknowledge I was wrong, but I stand by my actions. And I would do it again. For you." Vi finally managed to pull her muddled brain together enough to respond, enjoying the blush she got from Caitlyn in return.
A cough from across the table brought Vi and Caitlyn out of their own little world enough to notice Jayce laughing. Vi caught Caitlyn's eye and her girlfriend gave a little nod. "Hey Vi, did I ever tell you about the time Jayce spilled a tea tray all over himself during a business proposal at the manor?"
Jayce's laughter abruptly stopped, making Vi chuckle herself. "Why no, I don't believe you did." Jayce shuddered out a protest, but Caitlyn ignored him and went through with her story. Turnabout is fair play after all.
Cleaning the bar had become something of a calming ritual in the years since the bridge riot. At first, Vander hated it and found it tedious and demeaning. But he knew he had to do it to keep his business going and that business was what provided for him and the kids.
As much as Vander loved his kids, he wished he hadn't come to know them the way he had, seeing them orphaned and in dire need of care. But he had taken them in, and he thanked his lucky stars every day that he ended up with such a wonderful family. It made him even happier to see the kids thriving. Powder had started getting her inventions to work and was continuing to study. Mylo and Claggor have been getting more involved in running the bar so they could take it over or gain experience to use it somewhere else. And Vi had made some important connections topside. Vander got the feeling that new girlfriend of hers would help her a lot.
Apparently, his ritual cleaning also made him sappy.
It didn't really matter if he took his time. The bar was all stocked, the paperwork for the month was done, and his next shipments were ordered. The only thing he had to do before opening in a few hours was get the cleaning done.
Vander's peace was broken when Benzo slammed opened the door to The Last Drop, stumbling around in an attempt to wave around all the tables as he raced for Vander. "Hey, slow down. The bar doesn't open for a few hours yet. Do you really need a drink that bad?" Vander tried to joke, but the serious expression on Benzo's face made him pause.
"No drink." Benzo huffed, still trying to catch his breath from his mad dash. "Came to warn ya," he took one more deep breath before finally standing up straight to look his old friend in the eye. "Something big is goin' on, and it ain't lookin' too good."
Vander's mood shifted from the easy-going bartender he usually was these days, back into the leader he needed to be for the undercity. He gestured for Benzo to take a seat at one of the tables, doing the same when his friend complied. "What's going on?"
"New drug's been runnin' rampant. Had some druggie come into the shop, lookin' like death warmed over, and searchin' fur a cane. Well, he seemed rather reluctant ta part with his money, probably hopin' fur another fix, so I told him I'd give it to him fur free if he told me what the hell he was on." Benzo took a breath, looking as worried as Vander had ever seen him. "Stuffs called shimmer. Guy said it makes folks real big and real strong for a short while, but coming down from the high hits like a freight train. Makes ya weaker every time ya take it. Couldn't get the guy to tell me who sells it, but he said the guy was fixin' to take over the lanes, run it 'imself, an I can't see that going over well fur ya."
Vander stayed quiet through his friend's explanation, his own worry growing. He thought for a moment before making a decision. "I'll get Sevika to look into it. She'll be able to tell me who's making this shimmer and tell me if they're any kind of threat." Benzo nodded, agreeing.
"And I'll keep an ear out. see if any other druggies 'ave loose lips." Vander agreed, getting up to pour his friend a drink for the road, hoping all the while the sinking feeling in his gut was just worry over nothing.