Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Vi jostled Ekko, both of them laughing while they shoved through the door to their room at the Olympic Village. 

“Aaaaand here we are! Home sweet h–” 

Vi stopped mid-word, arm extended out in her best impression of one of those women who worked on tv game shows as she finished turning around and came to a halt, getting a look at their room. 

The room was pretty small, but that was fine. She had grown up sharing a room - and often a bed - with her little sister. She could deal with small. And the sliding door onto a balcony was nice, for sure, although…it kind of looked like they were just looking straight across at other hotel rooms, instead of at any of the actual, you know. Views. 

What had stopped Vi in her tracks, and what now had Ekko laughing incredulously next to her as he saw it, staring between it and Vi with wide eyes was…

They had cardboard beds. 

Vi didn’t even have to touch the “frame” to find out - she could see the folded edges from where she was standing just inside the door. 

Ekko dropped his shit, walking forward so he was standing in front of one of the beds before turning and sitting down in a rustle of… papery noises. 

He bounced a few times, the motion causing yet more papery noises to come from the direction of the bed. 

Ekko shifted a few more times, and they listened to the sweet sound of helping a friend move, of a pizza being opened, of helping Vander out by hauling in the alcohol from the store room. 

“Comfy,” Ekko said, deadpan and straight-faced, looking at Vi. 

Vi stared at the bed and then up at Ekko before they both cracked up laughing, doubled over and wheezing. 

From the direction of the hallway on the other side of their closed door, they could hear more laughter. 

Cardboard fuckin’ beds. 

Here’s the thing: they were at Olympic Village, a place that had literal bowls of condoms at, like, every single place a person might pass it by in public because the Olympics - both summer and winter - were basically a fuckfest.

You didn’t have to fuck, but the strain of finally getting to compete at the highest level after years of prep, the thrill of winning, the sting of losing, and the fact that they were all athletes with (usually) higher than average sex drives? 

Yeah. 

Olympians fucked. 

It was, like, common knowledge that you didn’t get in any of the hot tubs unless you wanted to go straight to your doctor when you got home. 

But…it seemed like this year’s host city had really wanted to put a stop to all that. Vi guessed that the Freljord was more prudish than other places?

Ekko’s eyes widened, “Dude…how much weight do these things even hold? ”

Vi burst into a fresh set of giggles, imagining some of the larger athletes on these tiny fucking beds. 

Because, oh yeah, they were cardboard, and they were very clearly only large enough for one, medium-sized person. 

Some of the bigger athletes were going to have to pull over the little nightstands to rest their arms on, so they weren’t fucking dangling all night. 

Real great for getting good sleep before their events. 

“Oh, God,” she gasped out, catching Ekko’s attention, “The fucking hockey players.”

She and Ekko stared at each other for a few seconds before Ekko cackled so loud his body shook and his bed started making little, shifting papery noises, and Vi laughed so hard she had to sit on the floor. 

They were friends with some of the hockey players - she and Ekko were snowboarders, and they trained on one of the mountains around Zaun, which also had the best (the only) hockey rink in the area. Vi made a mental note to snap a selfie with the bed and send it to her friends, asking how they were holding up. 

She’d volunteer her own little nightstand if one of them needed it for their feet. 

Vi’d fit on the bed - it would be a little bit tight for her shoulders, but should be fine, and Ekko was a small guy, so the two of them would be okay. She could loan out her nightstand for one of her friends who was absolutely not going to fit on the damn thing. 

______

The cardboard beds sucked. 

They sucked… so bad. 

The mattresses were really thin, the stupid things made noises like you were in a library every time you rolled over, and Vi was pretty sure it had given her a papercut on her elbow. 

Her elbow.

But, she was at the Olympics, an event she had been training for basically her whole life just by virtue of pushing to be the best, and then deliberately for the past four years, and Vi was…Vi was ready.

Even beat up by the stupid bed, and a little tired, and adjusting to the higher altitude and the fucking jet lag and the taco salad that had fucked her stomach up yesterday…Vi was ready.

That feeling had been with her ever since she had first stepped off the plane. 

Getting on, she had been nervous - the flight had been her first ever, and the turbulence had been hell, and she was pretty sure the next person who tried to move those armrests was going to end up with an unexpected souvenir from their trip, but…stepping out onto solid ground? 

Vi was ready. 

She was ready as she went through the beginning few days of acclimation, practice, and orientation; she was ready through the interviews and meeting new people; she was ready through uncomfortable nights inside a cardboard box; and she was ready now, as she stood between the gates, waiting for the signal to fucking fly down the mountain. 

Vi took a deep breath, feeling the gates through her gloves, hands flexing against the metal. 

The attendant next to the gates held his hand out. 

Vi thought about the course: the jumps, the tricks, what she wanted to fucking do out there. 

Three…

Vi inhaled deeply.

Two…

A grin spread across her face under her fleece gaiter. 

One…

Vi blew the breath out of her lungs.

Go.

She flew.

Chapter Text

Well. 

The games were over. 

The closing ceremony had been pretty fucking epic, and Vi was ecstatic that her social media was blowing up with people who had watched her compete - or who heard about it later and looked her up. Her follower count had basically doubled since winning the gold. 

The reason why meant a lot. 

A lot.

But…the games were done. Four years of prep. Four years of blood, sweat, tears, and way too many trips to the emergency room, and…it was done. 

As Vi and Ekko sat at their booth in the crowded bar with some of the other members of Team Zaun, she felt…bittersweet. 

She had done what she came all the way out to the freezing fucking Freljord to do - done more than that, really - and, now…? She was nearing thirty - old for a slopestyle rider, and she had won the gold. She didn’t have anything else to prove. 

Lost in thought, turning her beer bottle between her fingers as she peeled off the label, a loud burst of laughter from across the bar startled Vi out of her reverie, her head snapping up to look for the source of whatever had jolted her -growing up in Zaun meant constant vigilance was pretty much ingrained in Vi’s bones.

Registering the lack of threat - it was just a group of skiers from Ionia having a good time - Vi’s eyes were drawn to one of the TVs over the bar, this one playing a highlight reel from the games. It was a mishmash of different sports, bobsled teams neck and neck, a skier - a big jump, an even bigger fall, Ekko - killin’ it on the half-pipe (Vi nudged him and raised her beer bottle, a smirk pulling at the corner of her lips). 

The reel continued to play as Vi lost interest in the screen, looking around the bar, trying to take in the moment, live right here, right in the present. 

Vi’s gaze passed over bunches of teams huddled together, identifiable by bits and pieces of matching gear, over couples making out sloppily - maybe together for years, maybe just for tonight, over a couple guys downing tequila shots - she’d be sure to stay away from them later, and, finally over a dark-haired woman sitting alone at the bar. 

Something about her, about the short, sharp cut of her hair, razor-edged at the top of her shoulders, her blue and white beanie, the strong, slender shape of her, the long legs crossed and tucked up under her barstool pulled at Vi. 

And, well. 

She needed a refill anyway. 

“Hey, I’m gonna get another beer! Anybody need a refill?” Vi said loudly over the racket in the bar, the celebration, the ever-present awareness that this was temporary, this was precious time, filling the warm, close air of the room and tingling her skin. 

She got a nod from Ekko, and a few other nods around the table. Vi saluted with two fingers, sliding out of the booth as she adjusted her beanie, Zaun flag displayed proudly, and walked toward the bar. Toward the woman sitting still among the chaos. 

Vi’s eyes caught the highlight reel, the screen bright, the image clear. 

She saw a slender, dark-haired woman, gaiter pulled up over her nose, meeting the bottom of her polarized sunglasses, strong legs moving her skis forward across flat ground before she unslung a… gun? from her back and laid down on the ground, knocking down a set of circular targets almost faster than Vi could blink. 

The footage cut to the same woman, the long, smooth movement of her legs coordinated with her ski poles to slide her effortlessly across inclined ground toward the finish line, breath puffing through her gaiter, the crowd screaming on either side. 

One skier, alone with the crowd and the line. There wasn’t anybody else behind her. 

Vi’s footsteps slowed, transfixed by what was happening on the screen. People passed by her, jostling her, and she could vaguely hear the noise in the bar, the clinking glasses, the shouting, but the woman on the screen had her full attention. 

Vi knew how fucking hard cross-country skiing was. She had tried it a few years ago and was pretty sure she had sprained both her quads. And maybe also her ass. Her abs had been sore for days. It was not an easy sport. 

This woman…this woman was doing something special. It took a lot of work and a lot of talent to make something that hard look effortless. 

The woman slid her way across the finish line, collapsing in a heap on the ground just after she crossed the line, rolling sideways, her arms out to the side, her ski poles askew, her legs tangled together, her full chest snapping up and down as the crowd screamed and hugged and her coach ran over to help her up. 

New. 

World. 

Record. 

C. Kiramman from Piltover, of all the fuckin’ places, had fucking smashed the world record. 

Hold up.

Vi’s eyes widened, moving from the screen to the woman still sitting quietly at the bar, a rocks glass in front of her. 

She had dark hair…she was slender…she had legs for days…and …her beanie was Piltover colors. 

Vi walked forward the final few strides and slid in next to her, doing her best not to jostle her as the rest of the athletes at the bar pushed and shoved each other, excitement radiating off of them. 

Vi cleared her throat, doing her best not to startle her, “Is uh…is that you?” she asked, inclining her head toward the screen when the woman - Gods, she was fucking gorgeous - lifted her head to look at Vi with beautiful, curious blue eyes. 

“Oh! Um…yes. It is,” she said, lightly accented voice sending shivers down Vi’s spine, making her tongue go thick in her mouth as she registered the sharp angles of her face, the blue of her eyes, the strength in her slim figure. 

Vi fought against the urge to panic and say something stupid like, “Cool,” before ordering her beers and never talking to her again. 

Vi needed to know more about her. 

Even if her knees were weak and her tongue felt like sandpaper against the roof of her mouth.

So, she faked the fucking confidence. 

“World record,” Vi started, “Pretty impressive. You’re an alright shot, Cupcake,” she said, smirking. 

And the cross-country skier (who also, for some reason, had a gun? Who the fuck had invented a sport like that?), the marble statue come to life, the most beautiful woman Vi had ever seen, raised one perfectly groomed eyebrow, her expression playful, confident - oh, fuck - and replied, “I’m an excellent shot.”

The smirk on her straight, plush-looking mouth nearly did Vi in, but she managed to stay standing. 

She was a gold fucking medalist at the Olympics, she could handle one conversation with a literal goddess. 

Totally. 

“Fair enough,” Vi said, smiling, extending a hand. 

“Vi. Slopestyle.”

The woman looked at her hand for a moment, assessing, before extending her own, her long, slender fingers wrapping around Vi’s hand, their callouses rasping together in a way that sent shivers jittering up Vi’s arm, “Caitlyn. Biathlon,” she replied, giving Vi’s hand one firm pump before withdrawing. 

Vi immediately wanted the contact back. Her skin fucking tingled where Caitlyn had touched her. 

There was a pause, though not really an awkward one, as Vi tried to think of something else to say, and Caitlyn watched her with careful eyes. 

______

Caitlyn wasn’t really sure what to make of this situation. 

She’d been enjoying a nightcap after a successful Games - the expected outcome, but still - enjoying her own company in a bar filled with rowdy athletes whom Caitlyn often wished she could be.  

She wished she could be these people who expressed themselves so exuberantly after a games, wished she could be these people who had groups of friends to spend time with, wished she could be a person who made friends as as easily as the hockey players down at the end of the bar recruiting a few curlers for some Olympic Village mischief on their last night. But she simply…wasn’t. Either by nature, or upbringing, or both. She simply wasn’t. 

Caitlyn would fly home tomorrow, a gold medal in her carry-on luggage, and everything would be exactly as it had been, except that the glass trophy case in her parents’ study would finally be filled. 

And, she imagined things would go back much to the way they had been - training every waking moment, and stealing a few moments when she should have been sleeping to spend time with her closest friends, play a few video games. She was an excellent shot in both the real and virtual worlds. 

Caitlyn wasn’t really even sure if she wanted to continue training - the process was brutal, and pushed all athletes to their limit - but…it was what she knew. All she had to her name, really, other than both a law degree and a medical degree, neither of which she had any interest in actually using.

But…none of that mattered right now. 

Right now, she was at a bar in the Olympic Village, she had bought herself a celebratory cocktail, and she had planned to enjoy it by herself before taking another lap around the Village to really take everything in, and then go to bed so she could make her flight early tomorrow afternoon. 

Her plans for solitude had been - rather pleasantly - interrupted. 

She was currently surveying the source of the interruption, and was…well, to say she was pleased was an understatement. 

The woman who’d slid onto the barstool next to her was gorgeous. She - Vi - was an unexpected mix of strong and delicate. She was clearly in incredible shape, even through the layers keeping her warm in the Freljord’s brutal winter, and her heart-shaped face was adorned with scarred pink lips that smiled easily, and wide, grey-blue eyes that sparkled with warmth and confidence. The pink hair poking out from under her beanie - Zaun’s colors - and the very edge of the black ink poking out over the collar of her zip-up fleece spoke of a… wildness Caitlyn yearned to know more about. 

She took a sip of her drink, summoning her confidence, willing the sparking electricity from the handshake out of her fingers and trying to think of something to say that might not belie how nervous she was. Caitlyn had managed to hold her own a few moments ago, not thinking too much about how she responded, but that was…well, she was chalking it up to Vi being so attractive that actually registering her body’s strong response to Vi’s presence had taken a moment. 

Similar to when her PC needed to boot up a game with a lot of visuals. 

Gods, don’t talk about gaming, Caitlyn.

She fought the urge to groan, giving up on the confidence as she watched Vi watch her and taking another sip of her drink as she flicked her eyes back to the many televisions around the bar…on which was…a pink-haired snowboarder going over a massive jump, one hand on her board, the other in the air behind her, a pink-haired snowboarder whipping her board around to stop at the end of the course in a spray of snow, arms thrown out wide, and a pink-haired snowboarder grinning wide as she held her unzipped jacket open, a shirt that was very clearly the colors of the lesbian flag proudly on display over the rest of her uniform, the score for the three medalists clearly displayed in the top corner of the screen. 

Well. 

That was certainly good to know. 

And…

"Is that you?" Caitlyn asked Vi, knowing the answer, but wanting her to confirm it anyway, wanting her to make it real.

Vi nodded, one eyebrow raising as if to say “why do you want to know?”  

Caitlyn hummed. 

Because she did want to know. 

But, more importantly, she needed to say, "Congratulations on the gold.” 

Taking a bracing sip of her drink, Caitlyn continued, "I think it's wonderful that your sport allows you to make that sort of statement. Seeing athletes being open about their sexuality like that would have made a big difference for me when I was younger, and I know it means a lot to people now, to see that." 

Vi’s other eyebrow joined the first, both now way up her forehead. 

Caitlyn watched her go through what looked like several different emotions before she settled on a soft smile and a nod. 

“Me too, Cupcake. Thought it was important that I could be me up there, winning the gold, and if I can help anybody else know that they’re not alone, that’s really just the icing on the cake, you know?” 

Caitlyn hid her grimace behind the rim of her glass. 

“What?” Vi asked. It wasn’t defensive, just…curious. 

She hadn’t hidden it well enough, apparently. 

“Nothing, it’s just that…I can imagine , but I’d like to have known. I’m afraid I’m leaving the games with a bit of regret.” 

Vi’s eyebrow winged up again, the expression turning her expression teasing, more confident somehow, “Regret after winning gold and fucking annihilating the world record?”

Caitlyn sighed, draining her drink and swirling the glass to clink the ice cubes together forlornly. 

“Yes,” was what she thought.

“That was the goal,” was what she said. 

Vi’s expression scrunched, confused. 

“The…goal was beating the last world record holder so bad they might as well not even have raced?” 

Caitlyn shot her a look at that. 

Vi shrugged, unconcerned. 

Caitlyn rolled her eyes, “I won silver in the last games. It was close, but I just,” Caitlyn shrugged, “wasn’t good enough. Lost by half a ski length. The goal this year was gold. The… expectation, ” Caitlyn said, bitterness coloring the word, “was gold.” 

“The world record was a nice bonus,” she added, almost as an afterthought, trying to take another sip of her drink before she remembered it was empty. 

Embarrassing. 

“But…well. I’m not out as an athlete. I couldn’t - wasn’t able - to do what you did. The world record doesn’t make a difference for anyone. I’m proud to have won gold, and to have broken the world record, but…at the end of the day, it’s an impressive benchmark that someone else is likely going to exceed in the next Games. It doesn’t… matter. Not like what you did.”

Caitlyn had been staring down at her ice for the duration of her little speech and she jerked her head up to see Vi watching her with wide eyes. 

She flushed, “Oh, I’m sorry, I–” 

Vi held up a hand, gently waving off her apology, “You seem like you definitely need another drink, Cupcake. Can I get you another of what you’re having? Or…I was supposed to order another round for the table. Want to join us for a beer?” 

Caitlyn opened her mouth to refuse, like she should, like she would have, in Piltover, since it was getting late, and she had a flight, and hanging out in bars with people who were getting more rowdy at a rapid rate as the alcohol kept flowing was highly improper. 

But…Vi’s beautiful face was open, and…not expectant, really, but hopeful, maybe, and Caitlyn found herself doing something for herself for the first time in a long time, found herself speaking the truth:

“I’d love to.”

Chapter Text

Caitlyn was a little quieter than the Zaun team, but that didn’t bother Vi at all. Most people were. 

And, as time passed, she became more and more comfortable, smiling wide enough that Vi found out that she had the most adorable gap in her front teeth - something that made her even hotter somehow - and leaning into Vi’s side, their thighs touching together under the table as she laughed at Ekko’s story about that time they’d decided to attach boot bindings to a bunch of different shit - a kayak, a trash can lid, whatever they could find that was portable and flat on the bottom - and slid down the mountain on it. 

Ekko’d sprained his wrist falling off the trash can lid, and Vi’d had to veer off into the trees - kayak first - to stop her momentum. 

Her ass had had a bruise shaped like a heart on it for what felt like months. Worth it, though. 

“Hey,” Vi said under her breath, leaning a little closer still to Caitlyn to ask her a question while Ekko and Zeri argued about the order you were supposed to make cereal in (for the record, Vi was on Ekko’s side–milk first), “you seen the rings in the Village at night yet?”

Caitlyn chuckled at Vi’s teammates, smiling across the table at them before she was suddenly very close. They were almost nose-to-nose, and Vi’s breath caught, the full force of the fucking blue of Caitlyn’s eyes hitting her in a rush that tingled all the way to her toes. 

“I’ve only seen them in the day, I’m afraid,” Caitlyn said, hesitating slightly and staring at Vi for a second before a sheepish smile spread across her face. 

“This is actually the first night I’ve been out.” 

“What?” Vi’s mouth dropped open before she could stop the shock from showing on her face.

Caitlyn cleared her throat, sitting up a little, that little smile vanishing, and Vi tried to make her face a little less “how the fuck?” 

Vi nudged her with her elbow gently, an apology, “Sorry, no - I just meant that I’m surprised. You really haven’t seen any of the Village?” 

Some of the tension left Caitlyn’s jaw, and she shrugged, shaking her head, no.

Vi nodded, taking a sip of her beer.

She watched Caitlyn watching her. 

Caitlyn had this… intensity that made Vi nervous in a way she hadn’t been in a long time. She felt sixteen again, fumbling with asking a pretty girl to the homecoming dance. 

She hadn’t managed to get over the nerves when she was sixteen - just rubbed the back of her neck and mumbled something about hearing Powder calling for her. 

But…

She wasn’t sixteen anymore. 

And even if Caitlyn was literally the most gorgeous person she’d ever seen in her entire life, and her mouth dried out every time they made fucking eye contact, she wasn’t about to let her leave the Village with just a gold medal. 

She deserved to have a little fun after smashing the absolute fuck out of that world record. 

Vi drained her beer. Here went nothing. 

“Right,” she said, gesturing for Caitlyn to slide out of the booth. 

Caitlyn didn’t move, instead glancing toward the bar and then back at Vi, making a confused face.

“You haven’t seen the Village, right?” Vi asked. 

Caitlyn nodded, still looking confused. 

Which was fair. 

“So…let’s go. I’ll be your tour guide. You can’t leave the games without celebrating your shiny new medal,” Vi said. 

Caitlyn raised one of her perfect eyebrows, a smile starting to tug up at the corners of her pretty, pink lips, and Vi kept faking the confidence, kept holding her hand out toward the bar, waiting.

“Well…” Caitlyn said finally, teasing, a smile finally winning out, “If you insist.” 

______

Vi groaned, throwing her hands in the air, “Come on!” 

Caitlyn chuckled, “Perhaps we should play a game that isn’t based on my sport?” she grinned, teasing, “I do have a gold medal, you know.” 

Vi laughed good naturedly, “Fair enough.” 

They handed the toy guns back to the attendant, thanking him before leaving the little shooting game area. 

Apparently one of the things the Freljord had provided for the athletes was an entire video game facility - they had everything. Virtual reality games, old arcade-style games, the newest military games, couch co-ops, gaming computers and headsets for athletes who wanted to log into their online accounts and keep up with their regular gaming, and… lots of sports games. 

Vi had spotted the shooting game first, and the queue hadn’t been long, so they’d tried their hand. 

Caitlyn had, unsurprisingly, kicked Vi’s arse. 

It seemed that Vi was eager to remedy that, though. 

Caitlyn spotted the snowboard VR game suite just after Vi did, and couldn’t help but share Vi’s infectious grin as the pink-haired snowboarder waggled her eyebrows, walking backward in the direction of the suite and rubbing her hands together excitedly. 

Caitlyn chuckled as Vi spun back around with easy grace, making a beeline for the queue for the snowboarding game, which was quite a bit longer than the one for the shooting game. 

They got in line, and Vi stepped slightly out to take a look at just how far they had to go, “Damn, looks like it’s gonna be a while. What do you think, Cupcake, a round of ‘I Spy?’” 

Vi’s eyes flashed to hers, grin still in place, a question in her eyes, and Caitlyn tilted her head, her confusion, she was sure, written all over her face. 

Vi raised an eyebrow, “‘Twenty Questions?’” 

Caitlyn continued staring at her. 

Vi’s second eyebrow joined the first, “‘The Alphabet Game?’” 

Caitlyn shrugged, still confused, and not sure what to say about it, since Vi had listed all these names like they should mean something. 

They did not. 

Vi looked at her for another moment, assessing, though it didn’t seem judgemental, specifically, though Caitlyn felt her hackles starting to raise at the scrutiny, regardless, “My family played those all the time on long car rides, in line at Jericho’s on Saturday night, like…literally any time we had to wait for anything.” 

Caitlyn chuckled helplessly, “I’m afraid I’m not familiar.” 

“Okay, well, what did you do when you had to wait as a kid?” Vi asked, teasing. 

Caitlyn gave her an unamused look before she shrugged, “Sat or stood silently, I suppose,” she said, thinking back to all her lessons on acceptable behavior and etiquette and whatever else she’d learned as part of being the perfect daughter, Piltover’s princess. 

“A lady is seen and never heard, you know,” Caitlyn said, aiming for humor and missing the mark entirely, the words coming out bitter. 

Vi didn’t say anything to that, and Caitlyn glanced up, an apology halfway to her lips, chastising herself for saying too much, being too much, and found Vi regarding her with a curious expression that split into a wry grin. 

“Well, I am for sure not a lady, then,” she said. 

“I have three siblings—and Ekko, who you met who’s basically my brother—so our house was literally never quiet growing up.” 

A fond smile spread across Vi’s face as she talked about her family, and Caitlyn felt warmth spreading through her chest at how much Vi loved her family, had loved her childhood. 

“…like this one time, we only had one bathroom, you know? Between the four of us and Vander, and Mylo was taking way too long working on his hair, and just being a complete dick when we all had to get to school, so Clagg literally broke the door down, picked up Mylo and his tub of hair gel, and threw ‘em both into the hallway,” Caitlyn felt her eyes go wide at the utter chaos Vi was describing. Her upbringing had not, at any point, been quite so… enthusiastic, “We had to fix the door, but, you know. We got to school on time,” Vi shrugged, comfortable in her body and her place in her life and Caitlyn felt a grin spread across her face.

A phenomenon that was almost startlingly common around Vi. 

It wasn’t that she never smiled, but Caitlyn had learned very early to be guarded and that having constant control over her expressions gave her an advantage in most interactions. 

Additionally, well. 

There had been a not insignificant number of comments about the gap in her front teeth—both by her peers and several publications in Piltover that had speculated that the Kiramman family had lost their wealth, since they apparently couldn’t afford dental care for their only daughter. 

So, Caitlyn was careful with how she presented herself, and smiled less than she had when she was young and unselfconscious. 

But not around Vi, she was learning. 

Vi felt as comfortable as she was intriguing, and Caitlyn wasn’t sure yet what to do with either that strange mix of feelings or the fact that she was actually having fun with a stranger she had met at a bar, of all things. 

Wonders never ceased, evidently. 

Something that became even more true after Caitlyn beat Vi’s arse at the snowboarding game, too. 

______

Vi was still in shock that Caitlyn had beat her at the fucking snowboarding game, honestly. 

She had a gold medal. 

It was all official and everything. 

Didn’t fucking matter where Caitlyn was concerned, though, apparently. 

Didn’t matter for any game, actually. She was just… insanely good at video games. Had whipped Vi’s ass at everything they’d tried in the tent. 

Old-school arcade games? 

Shooting games? (Vi really should have seen that one coming.)

Driving games?

Archery game? 

The fucking curling game? 

She’d kicked Vi’s ass from here to fucking Ionia at every single one. 

And the thing was… Vi didn’t even fucking care.

Which was a pretty big deal, since Vi was what her siblings liked to call, “stupid competitive,” and she hated losing. 

Turned out she didn’t mind so much when the person beating her had cheekbones like a marble sculpture and the cutest gap-toothed grin. 

They’d left the game center - Vi’s ass still smoking - and Vi grinned at Caitlyn as they stepped out into the fucking freezing night. 

Zaun got cold in the winter, but the Freljord was something else. 

“Alright, Cupcake, next stop is…” Vi turned her head both ways, trying to make sure they were headed the right direction, “this way,” she said, gesturing the direction they needed to go like one of those hosts on the shows Vander liked to watch during dinner and turning to grin at Caitlyn, grinning wider when she caught sight of that little tooth gap in Caitlyn’s own grin. 

Vi was getting addicted to making her smile. She didn’t know Caitlyn that well yet (obviously), but based on what she’d seen at the bar, it seemed like Caitlyn only smiled if she meant it. And… maybe she didn’t mean it all that often. 

Seeing that little gap in her teeth - being the one to make her smile - felt special. 

“Where are we headed next?” Caitlyn asked as she fell into step beside Vi, still tugging her mittens over those long fingers. 

Vi winked at her, “Can’t ruin the surprise, Cupcake! That’s half the fun.” 

Caitlyn shook her head, still smiling, and didn’t ask anything else. 

Vi shot little glances at her when it seemed like Caitlyn was looking the other direction, taking in the Village she hadn’t had a chance to see yet - or, if she’d had one, hadn’t taken it.

The more they talked - at the bar, in line, doing the standard “road trip” games Caitlyn hadn’t known anything about, while playing video games, and walking between the things Vi wanted to show her - Vi got more and more curious about Caitlyn. 

It seemed like, for everything she said, there were ten little things that went un said. She was a mystery wrapped up in a smart, gorgeous, incredibly athletic package, and Vi wanted to know more about her. That hadn’t changed in the time since Vi had first spotted her in the bar. 

What had changed was that Vi now definitely wished they had more time. 

But…they didn’t. They were both leaving to go home tomorrow morning. 

So Vi was going to make sure she and Caitlyn had fun tonight - that Caitlyn had fun, because she deserved it, and because Vi wanted to make her smile that gap-toothed grin as many times as possible before they both had to leave tomorrow. 

Vi started to turn right, nodding her head in the direction they needed to go, and Caitlyn followed her silent direction, staying in-step with her easily as they walked along the cobblestone walkway toward their next stop. 

The Freljord was like…a million years ahead of Zaun. The cobblestones were heated, which meant that Vi hadn’t eaten it once on ice the entire time she’d been here for the Games - a change from her daily routine in Zaun, where everybody slipped all the fucking time on the ice that coated the walkways. 

They walked in comfortable silence until they started to hear shrieks of laughter - and just regular, terrified shrieks - and Caitlyn raised an eyebrow at her, “Where, exactly, are you taking me?” 

Vi smirked, “What, don’t trust me, Cupcake?” 

Caitlyn just kept looking at her, one eyebrow raised, and Vi laughed, “I swear I’m taking you somewhere fun - we’re almost there.” 

Caitlyn’s eyebrow stayed up, but it looked like she was suppressing a smile as she shook her head, looking ahead down the path, apparently done with her interrogation. Vi smiled to herself like an idiot, enjoying how easy it was to be around Caitlyn way too much. 

We’re both leaving tomorrow, Vi told herself as their destination came into view. 

“So…” she started, looking at Caitlyn, “do you know how to ice skate?” 

______

Caitlyn stared at Vi for a beat before raising an eyebrow pointedly, smirk pulling up at her lips. 

“Right,” Vi said, rolling her eyes good-naturedly, “should have figured. Come on, Cupcake.” 

Caitlyn kept pace with Vi as she headed toward a building off to one side of the lit-up, outdoor rink, which was populated, but not overly so. 

Caitlyn supposed it was getting rather late on the last night of the Games. All the events over and done with, medals awarded, closing ceremony complete…all that was left now was to go home in the morning. 

Caitlyn’s brow furrowed, falling a little behind Vi as she followed her into the little building, her eyes skimming over the little pieces of pink hair visible out from under Vi’s green and black beanie and down fixing on her broad shoulders, covered by her parka. 

She was flying home in the morning.

Back to Piltover. Back to tacit congratulations for the expected result. Back to outward perfection and underlying hypocrisy. 

She was suddenly resolved to…let herself enjoy tonight with Vi. 

Caitlyn was a little surprised at how at ease she felt with Vi. It was not a feeling to which she was particularly accustomed, but…the conversation flowed well, the silences were comfortable, and, Caitlyn had to admit, Vi was an excellent tour guide. 

She had seen more of the Village in just a few hours than she had the entire time she’d been in the Freljord. 

That thought was a little sad, if she lingered on it, but she was honestly more excited about having the opportunity now to experience everything with someone. 

Someone who was unlike anyone Caitlyn had ever met, not because of her background, but because of her warmth.

Caitlyn had honestly never met someone so genuine, so outwardly and immediately kind.

She had also never met someone so incredibly attractive, which was still throwing her for a bit of a loop every time Vi looked at her with those gorgeous eyes, or Caitlyn caught sight of the tattoo crawling up the side of her neck. 

And now she got to spend the evening with her - one last evening at the Games where she had finally lived up to her family’s expectations - and she was going to enjoy the little time they had together. 

Caitlyn pushed away all thoughts of tomorrow, and her return to Piltover, and the things she still had to pack away into her bags for her flight, and watched as Vi approached a counter with a large sign proclaiming “Rental Skates” hung above it. 

She smiled as Vi gestured her forward, and they both requested a pair of skates. 

Vi made no comment, verbal or otherwise, on the size of skate Caitlyn needed, and Caitlyn liked her a little bit more, which was a tad alarming, since she already liked Vi quite a bit. Liked her easy smile, and her authenticity, and her love for her family. Liked, also, that she seemed thrilled to  spend her last night in the Village showing Caitlyn around, playing tour guide. And she hadn’t once made Caitlyn feel like it was an imposition or something she’d need to repay her for. 

That was new - no one ever did anything in Piltover without the expectation of something in return. 

Caitlyn was finding more and more that she liked being the person Vi brought out. 

They walked out to the rink together and laced up - Caitlyn, quickly, and Vi…not quite so quickly. 

Caitlyn laughed as she watched Vi struggle to lace up both skates evenly. 

“I know what you’re thinking, but snowboarding boots don’t have laces,” Vi said, a little defensive, and Caitlyn raised both eyebrows as Vi looked up, smiling and shrugging, and obviously not too embarrassed. 

Caitlyn wondered what that was like. That… confidence.

She might never know, but she did know that it made her lower stomach clench, despite how silly the situation was. 

A winter sport gold medalist struggling to lace up her skates, tongue adorably poking out of one side of her mouth as she concentrated on doing it just right… ridiculous. 

Caitlyn found herself smiling along with Vi as the snowboarder turned to her, grinning victoriously as she gestured down to her skates, both tied at the top with lop-sided bows. 

Caitlyn’s own skates had been laced up for ages, and the laces were wrapped around the tops of her skates and tucked efficiently inside so that they didn’t come undone and become a trip hazard. 

She stood, still laughing, and held out both hands in front of her, “Ready?” she asked, and sucked in a breath when Vi’s hands wrapped around her outstretched ones, mitten-to-mitten, the layers of warm fabric doing absolutely nothing to combat the fact that Caitlyn was finding out that Vi’s grip was strong, but not bruising. Careful, almost. Conscious of her strength. 

Caitlyn fought the urge to bite her lip as Vi let go and turned on wobbly skates to walk toward the gap in the boards, stepping confidently out onto the ice…

…and then went down hard in a heap of flailing limbs. 

Through her giggles as Vi tried to push herself back up to standing, smiling sheepishly, freckles standing out against the pink flush on her cheeks - from embarrassment this time, rather than the cold - Caitlyn thought, for the first time, to ask what now seemed to be a pertinent question, “Do you know how to ice skate?” 

______

Vi panted as she struggled to stand, her skates slipping out from under her, and she stopped for a second as Caitlyn’s question registered. 

“...no.” 

Sue her, she figured it couldn’t be that hard. She was a fucking gold medalist in snowboarding - she had good balance!

But she had found out very fucking quickly that balancing on ice skates was really different than balancing on a snowboard. 

She had fucking knives on her feet. And they were fucking slippery.  

Fucking respect to the figure skaters, was all she could think, trying to imagine herself doing a flip and landing on a fucking ice knife.

Caitlyn was still giggling as she stepped out onto the ice and stayed standing. 

She actually looked comfortable.

Vi flopped to the ice on her back, finally giving up as Caitlyn skated over and stopped by her feet. 

“Would you like some help?” she asked, looking down from her impressive height - more impressive now that she was on skates. 

Vi grinned, wide and embarrassed, “...maybe.” 

Caitlyn smiled that gap-toothed grin as she leaned down, holding out both hands. 

Vi sat up and took them, and then suddenly, she was standing, having been hauled to her feet in one big tug. 

She looked at Caitlyn, wide-eyed, and found the biathlete smirking at her, and very close. 

Caitlyn blinked, pulling back slightly, and said, nodding toward Vi’s feet, “Okay, so you want to put your feet shoulder width apart, and bend your knees.” 

Vi did as she was told, still holding onto Caitlyn’s hands, and, weirdly, not worried at all that Caitlyn was going to let her hit the ice. 

“Okay, so in snowboarding, your weight’s forward, right?” 

Vi nodded. 

“In skating, you want your weight slightly backward, so if feel yourself starting to fall, you can just sit down and minimize the risk of–”

“Eating shit?” 

Vi looked up to find Caitlyn laughing. 

“Well, yes.” 

Vi huffed a laugh, “Okay, Cupcake, what next?” 

“Alright, here, let’s…” Caitlyn moved, turning them so Vi was facing down one side of the oval rink, Caitlyn in front of her. 

They were still holding hands. 

Or. 

Well. 

Caitlyn was making sure she didn’t fall flat on her face again. 

Vi didn’t know if that counted as “holding hands.”

“Okay, I’m going to start skating backward, but while I do that, you’re going to turn out one of your feet…” 

Vi did.

“...and push off gently,” Caitlyn said, giving her a pointed look, like she knew Vi was absolutely going to fucking floor it if she hadn’t told her to take it easy. 

Vi pushed off, and felt Caitlyn tugging her gently, and she was gliding, not falling.

She jerked her head up, grinning wide and excited, and she got to watch as Caitlyn’s eyes widened and a smile spread across her own face. 

Vi’s breath caught at how gorgeous Caitlyn was. 

She kept forgetting, which was stupid, but true. 

They stood there, still gliding slightly, Vi staring up at Caitlyn, their breath fogging the air between them, and Vi’s breath caught again as Caitlyn’s eyes flicked to her lips and immediately back up. 

The moment was broken a second later when someone bumped into Vi from behind, sending her crashing into Caitlyn, who caught her around the waist with strong, lean arms. 

Vi blushed as Caitlyn helped her stand, holding her hands again but not standing close, or looking at her lips, “Okay, let’s try that again.” 

______

Caitlyn was impressed at how quickly Vi picked up on skating - she supposed the balance she had from snowboarding had helped, but she’d quickly mastered (or at least was now passable) at all the basics of skating. 

They practiced marching, swizzles, and Caitlyn ensured she knew how to stop without the aid of the boards, and once she was confident Vi wasn’t going to go down in a heap again, Caitlyn let go of one of her hands, skating next to her, rather than facing her. 

If they were now skating in slow circles around the rink, doing something that bore a remarkable resemblance to holding hands, well…it was all in service of helping a new friend learn a new skill. 

Though that explanation was becoming less and less applicable as Vi got more and more comfortable, her grip on Caitlyn’s hand turning easy and casual, rather than nervous and desperate. 

She glanced over to check to see how Vi was doing, and she winked at her. 

Caitlyn snapped her gaze forward, clearing her throat. 

Get it together, Caitlyn.

She’d almost kissed Vi earlier, for Heaven’s sake. 

She might have gone through with it, if that other skater hadn’t shattered the moment. 

Part of her was grateful to have been saved the potential embarrassment…another, more insistent part of her was a little frustrated that she might not get another opportunity like that. 

Especially since she was now mindful of staying a respectful distance away, just in case Vi didn’t want to have her personal space invaded by a near-total stranger…even if her pink lips had parted slightly, and it seemed like maybe…

Caitlyn shook her head, trying to clear the whirlwind of thoughts and focus back on the present moment - skating around an outdoor rink in the Freljord, holding hands for the purpose of stability with the most attractive woman she’d ever seen. 

It might be the best night of her life, actually, which might have been a depressing thought if Vi hadn’t picked that moment to smile at her and ask, “Do you like hot chocolate?” 

“Love it,” Caitlyn confirmed. 

“Great! That’s our next stop - it’s colder than a witch’s tit out here,” Vi said, starting to tug her along, skating a little faster toward the next gap in the boards so they could head toward wherever the hot chocolate was. 

“No surprise this time?” Caitlyn asked, lightly teasing. 

Vi turned to look at her, grinning as she stumbled slightly on her skates, her grip on Caitlyn’s hand tightening, “Oh, you’ll be surprised.” 

Caitlyn raised her eyebrows at Vi’s confidence, and at the mystery. 

After they returned their skates and put their normal boots back on - Caitlyn didn’t miss Vi’s happy sigh when walking didn’t take any effort - they started walking toward the mysterious hot cocoa, and Caitlyn soon found out why Vi had been confident she’d be surprised. 

They were walking toward the chair lift, which was, for some reason, still running even though none of the slopes were lighted. Caitlyn looked curiously between the lift and Vi as the snowboarder walked confidently toward it, no indication that anything was out of place. 

They got into the short line of shivering people - cold, even with their big coats on - and Caitlyn said, “You were right.” 

Vi grinned, “Just wait, Cupcake.” 

They didn’t have to wait long since the queue moved slowly but consistently forward, and soon Caitlyn and Vi were sitting on a chair lift so cold that Caitlyn’s trousers did absolutely nothing against the chill, and being carried smoothly up the mountain, through the pitch black. 

Thankfully, someone had apparently thought about how cold it would be on the lift at night with the wind, and the lift operator had handed them a fur as they’d gotten on. 

One fur. 

For the both of them. 

Which meant that Caitlyn’s side was pressed against Vi’s, the fur tucked securely over them as the lift moved through the darkness. 

Caitlyn tried to focus on the fact that their proximity was for warmth - she shouldn’t be enjoying it. 

“Warm enough, Cupcake?” Vi asked, her voice soft enough that it didn’t break the quiet cocoon of dark around them. 

Caitlyn startled slightly even so, her concentration on not enjoying the closeness broken, “What? Oh, yes.” 

“Really?” Vi asked. 

“Mhm,” Caitlyn replied, despite the fact that her arse was freezing off. 

“Because,” Vi said, “my hand is freezing.”

Caitlyn’s breath caught at the implication in her tone, “Oh?” 

“Yeah. I was much warmer at the rink,” Vi said, a smile in her voice. 

‘At the rink.’ Where they had been holding hands.

Caitlyn’s eyes widened. 

She cleared her throat, gathering her courage. 

She couldn’t very well let her… something freeze. 

“Well, we can’t have that, can we?” she asked, hand searching for Vi’s under the fur, and squeezing mitten-covered fingers when she found them. 

Vi squeezed back, “Much better. Thanks, Cupcake.” 

Caitlyn was sure, if she could see Vi, that the snowboarder would have winked at her again. 

She wasn’t sure what else to say now that they were deliberately holding hands - there was no excuse now, no need for stability or reassurance on the ice. It was just them, sitting together under a fur in the dark above the slope. 

She needed to be casual, maybe flirty. The most attractive woman she’d ever met wanted to hold her hand - had all but directly asked - and Caitlyn needed to say something that wouldn’t give away the fact that her heart was about to hammer out of her chest–

“I used to be terrified of the lift,” is what came out. 

Well done, Caitlyn. Childhood fears. Very flirtatious.

“Really?” Vi said, voice still quiet, not breaking their little cocoon. 

Might as well press on, Caitlyn thought. 

“Mhm. I didn’t like how much the chairs moved and rattled. I always felt like I would slip under the bar and fall. It was years before I even liked skiing at all, simply because of how harrowing I found getting to the top of the mountain. My parents always told me I was being silly, but…it scared me anyway,” Caitlyn said, frowning at the memory, at how stupid and childish she had felt. 

Her parents had made her get on the lift by herself as soon as she was tall enough - which had happened early, after a growth spurt that occurred over the course of a summer - and, then, she’d had no one to hold onto. Just the bar and the emptiness under her. 

It was one of the reasons she liked cross country skiing so much. 

No lift involved, usually. 

Vi’s fingers tightened around hers, pulling her back into the present moment, in which she was older, no longer afraid…and no longer alone. 

“I’m sorry,” came Vi’s voice again, even softer now. 

Caitlyn turned to look at her, forgetting it was useless to try, since it was so dark, “For what?” 

She felt Vi’s shrug, “Just…for how hard that must have been. You’re a gold medalist - I know how much time on the slopes that takes. And,” Vi said, voice softer still, “I brought you on a lift. In the dark.”

Caitlyn couldn’t bear the distress in Vi’s voice, so she reached out to comfort the only way she could at the moment, squeezing Vi’s hand and leaning closer until her head rested on Vi’s shoulder, “Don’t apologize, Vi. The lift doesn’t scare me anymore…” Caitlyn trailed off, summoning her courage for the next thing she felt like she needed to say - that she wanted to say, even if she didn’t need to, “And you’re right here with me. I’m having a wonderful time.”  

Vi shifted her arm under the fur so that Caitlyn’s elbow was hooked around hers - a much more comfortable position for how Caitlyn was leaned against her - and Caitlyn felt soft pressure against the top of her head before Vi’s voice came again, nearly a whisper, “Me too, Cupcake.” 

Caitlyn smiled in the darkness, and snuggled deeper against Vi’s side. 

______

Vi felt like she was barely breathing, trying to keep her fucking heart from dropping out of her ass and into the snow below them. 

It was fucking surreal to be where she was right now: on the same fucking lift she’d been on a thousand times since arriving for the Games, but this time, under a fur with Caitlyn - the gorgeous woman she’d seen at the bar just a few hours ago - cuddled up next to her. 

She’d been up here once before with Ekko - it’s how she knew Caitlyn was going to love where they were going - but it was a little different to share body heat with your sibling while trying to scare them shitless because you “heard a noise” in the fucking dark on a mountain.  

Vi didn’t want to scare Caitlyn, didn’t want to play any of those games with her - especially not after finding out how scared she’d been as a little kid - because the quiet dark was different with her. 

It was…nice. 

Vi heard and felt Caitlyn’s quiet gasp next to her, and realized that they were closer than she’d thought - it was really hard to judge where they were when they couldn’t see jack shit - and she really wished she could see Caitlyn’s face right now. 

In front of them, quickly getting closer, were lights.

There weren’t that many - just the regular lighting on the lift station, and then…beyond that…darkness all around it…multicolor lights outlining a little hut. 

Vi knew the resort had “big lights” they used when they lit the slopes for night skiing - lights like daylight for the restaurants, and the rental places, and all the amenities the Freljord had decided needed to be on top of the mountain in addition to below it - Vi was actually pretty amazed that she’d managed to win gold in a place that had winter sport resources like this - but…for the Games…

“What is that?” Caitlyn asked, whispering in the dark, and Vi smiled, 

“You’ll see.” 

Vi bit back a laugh at Caitlyn’s little huff of annoyance, and listened to the soft hum of the lift motors as they were brought closer and closer to their destination, lifting her head up from where it had been resting against Caitlyn’s and firmly grabbing the fur so it didn’t fall as the lift slowed. 

Caitlyn unlinked their arms when it was time to hop off, and Vi was a little sorry they couldn’t have just stayed on the lift all night, just like that - even if she had been freezing her ass off. 

They hopped off and Vi handed the fur to the attendant, starting to walk toward the little hut - it was so dark that even just the lights on the hut illuminated the snow enough to see pretty well. 

After a few steps, Vi felt pressure around her fingers, and she looked over to see Caitlyn smiling at her softly.

“I wouldn’t want you to get cold,” was all she said. 

Vi hid her smile, and was glad the darkness kept Caitlyn from knowing how red her face was as she looked ahead toward the hut and squeezed Caitlyn’s fingers through two layers of mittens. 

As they got a little closer, the lights getting brighter and brighter, Caitlyn spoke again, “Is that…?” 

Vi nodded, grinning at her, knowing Caitlyn had finally noticed the little sign on the front of the hut that read “HOT CHOCOLATE.”

“How did you even find out about this?” Caitlyn asked, and when Vi glanced over, her blue eyes were wide - probably pretty surprised that there was a little drink hut at the top of a mountain. 

Vi didn’t blame her. 

She hadn’t expected this, either. 

“A magician never reveals her secrets,” Vi said, shooting Caitlyn a wink. 

Caitlyn shot her an unimpressed look. 

Vi laughed, giving in, “It was in that booklet they gave us of all the athlete activities. Ekko and I came up here to check it out - you remember how cold it was a few days ago?” 

Caitlyn nodded, and Vi shrugged, “Probably not the best time to take the chair lift at night. My tits about froze off, even with the fur and all my winter gear, plus a balaclava. I’m not even sure we really enjoyed the hot chocolate, we were so fucking cold - it was pretty much frozen chocolate by the time we got done drinking it.” 

Caitlyn giggled, and Vi squeezed her hand, tugging her forward the last few steps to secure them their place in the short line. 

There weren’t that many people up here tonight, which was actually kind of nice. 

The quiet on the mountain didn’t feel lonely with Caitlyn. It sometimes did on long training days, when Vi got up so early the lifts weren’t even running, and climbed to the top of the morning for conditioning so she could snowboard down. 

Vi loved the mountains…but Caitlyn was turning out to be much better company. 

There were only a few people in line and, soon, they were stepping up to the counter that had a little menu sitting on it. 

Basically, the options were: hot chocolate, booze, and hot chocolate with booze. 

Vi watched Caitlyn read the (short) menu before turning to look at the inside of the hut. She’d been too cold the other night to really appreciate the cozy space - plus, she and Ekko had gotten their hot chocolate with booze to try to warm up, so she was a little fuzzy on details anyway. 

The Freljord was pretty famous for its strong drinks. 

The hut looked really cozy, and Vi could feel the heat coming from the little room, which was lit with a single lightbulb, swinging slightly from the ceiling, and then just…multicolor lights everywhere. They hung from the walls, and wound between the big thermoses of hot chocolate and glass bottles of booze that were set on a long table. 

It was probably a fire hazard, but it made Vi smile all the same. 

Vi watched as a pair of black, fuzzy ears - jingle bells hanging from several earrings - twitched and jingled just above the counter, and then, suddenly, a yordle popped into view, a big smile on its black and white striped face.

“What can I getcha?” the yordle asked, and Vi tried not to laugh as she realized that the yordle was wearing…pink earmuffs that looked more like a fashion statement than anything that was actually for warmth, and the gaudiest sweater Vi had ever seen, name tag fixed in place over a knitted image that was either supposed to be a picture of figure skaters, or two seals fighting over a grape. 

“Uh,” Vi said, probably staring too long at the yordle, their outfit, and the thousands of lights that were really pretty, but were sort of making her feel like she was in some sort of fever dream. 

“I’d like a hot cocoa, please,” Caitlyn said, obviously picking up on the fact that Vi needed a minute to process all this, “uhm…Badger.” 

“Sure thing,” Badger - because that’s what the name tag read - said, “And you, hun?” 

Vi startled as she realized that she was being spoken to, “Uh yeah, same. Thanks.” 

Badger nodded, and hopped down, jingle-bell-tipped ears the only thing visible over the counter. 

Vi turned to Caitlyn, eyebrows up, and opened her mouth. 

Caitlyn smiled, lifting her free hand to make an approximation of the “shhh” gesture, even though she couldn’t really do that because of the mittens. 

A second later, Badger popped back into view and slid two steaming drinks across the counter toward them with a, “Have a good night you two,” and a knowing wink. 

Vi nodded past Caitlyn after they’d picked up their drinks and said their thanks, and Caitlyn took the hint, walking away from the hut and the lights. 

“So…that was…” Caitlyn started. 

“...a little strange,” Vi said, laughing as she took a sip of her hot chocolate. 

“Fuck, that’s good,” she said, groaning. 

Caitlyn hummed in agreement. 

Badger knew his shit. 

Vi looked up from her drink, and realized they were in the right place. 

She bumped Caitlyn’s shoulder, and, at her curious look, gestured in front of them. 

Caitlyn gasped. 

______

The whole Village was visible from up here, a bright spot in all the black, nearly sparkling from all the lights, and the snow, and…

“Look! There are the Rings!” Caitlyn exclaimed, so excited that she was pointing like a child, the gesture somewhat hampered by her mittens and the fact that she was holding delicious hot cocoa. 

Caitlyn blinked rapidly, clearing the tears that had sprung to her eyes. 

It was… magical.

She laughed, sniffing slightly and blinking again. 

She had spent years of preparation on getting gold, had lost in the last Games, and now she’d finally, finally won, and…it was just now hitting her, staring down at the outline of the rings in the glittering Village from a mountain where she’d just been given hot chocolate by a yordle in a brightly lit shack, how beautiful it was to have been here, competing at the highest level with athletes from all over the world. 

“Thank you,” Caitlyn whispered, squeezing Vi’s fingers, hoping she knew at least a little bit of how much this meant to her. 

Vi squeezed back in a way that made Caitlyn think she might have understood exactly what Caitlyn had been trying to say. 

They stood there for a while, hot cocoa cooling, but no less delicious cold, holding hands and looking down at the lights and the symbol that meant so much to both of them. 

“I love it up here,” Vi finally said. 

Caitlyn smiled, “Me too.” 

It was the truth. 

And a surprising one, honestly. 

She’d been competing so long - training so long - that the snow and the mountains had lost a bit of their allure. They were a challenge, not something beautiful. 

But they were beautiful tonight. 

And so was Vi, who was spending her last night in the Village with her, and who had brought her here and showed her how wonderful this place that had been her battleground was. 

Caitlyn was suddenly very aware of the fact that they didn’t have much time left. 

“What’s next?” she asked, hoping Vi had an answer, hoping they had more time together - hoping Vi wanted to spend more time together. 

Vi thought for a moment before she said, “Hmm…you got any team merch you’re not super attached to?” 

Caitlyn raised an eyebrow, curious, “I have a few patches back in my room I could part with, but I”m afraid I only really have the toque.” 

“Beanie it is, then,” Vi said, grinning. 

“Oh!” Caitlyn said, suddenly remembering as she went through her mental inventory of all the things Piltover had sent her with, “I also have a lanyard.” 

“Perfect. Ready to go back down?” 

Caitlyn hummed, taking another long look at the Village, the lights, the Rings, “Ready.” 

______

The ride back down was pretty much the same as the ride up, except that neither Caitlyn nor Vi made any excuses for why they needed to sit close or hold hands. 

“So you know how you were talking about being afraid of slipping under the bar when you were little?” Vi asked quietly, when they were about halfway down the mountain. 

In this direction, they got to see the Village the whole way down, lights getting closer and closer. 

“Mhm,” Caitlyn replied, equally quietly. 

Vi huffed a laugh that jostled Caitlyn a bit, “So…we used to slide out on purpose up toward the top so we could practice landing after big jumps. …but mostly for shits and giggles.” 

Caitlyn laughed, imagining the chaos Vi and her siblings must have caused, “I’m sure mountain patrol loved that,” she said.

“I actually work mountain patrol, so they weren’t too upset…as long as I wasn’t in my uniform at the time.” 

“Oh?” Caitlyn asked. 

Mountain patrol was an incredibly important job - and a difficult one - keeping the mountains safe and rescuing people who had gotten themselves into trouble. 

“Yeah, I like it. It’s nice to be able to help people. Plus, a big bonus is that the job comes with a lot of perks - they give you a free lift pass, access to the gym and other shit, and they’ll front your gear, so that was a big load off of training costs. Less pressure to get sponsorships, which are really hard to get in Zaun.” 

Caitlyn hummed, understanding but not relating. Piltover had plenty of money for sponsorships, though she hadn’t actually needed one. Regardless, Caitlyn hadn’t wanted to have her career entirely reliant on her parents, so she’d sought one out from a tea company in Ionia. She was herself a coffee drinker, but that mattered little where advertisements were concerned. 

“That must have been difficult. Do your siblings all compete, as well?” 

Caitlyn felt Vi’s nod against the top of her head, “At one point or another, yeah, we’ve all competed. Claggor doesn’t like heights much, so he prefers to skate - we’ve been trying to get him into hockey, since he’s a big dude and he’s good in a fight. Mylo skis, and he’s good, but he’s not super interested in the dedication it all takes to compete at a really high level, you know? So he competes when there are competitions in Zaun where you can sign up day of - usually wins - but otherwise he just likes to ski without all the pressure. Powder could really be something at snowboarding if she wanted to, and she competed more when she was younger, so we’ve got a bunch of those mini trophies, but now she designs gear. Has her own company and everything.” 

Caitlyn smiled at the pride in Vi’s voice as she talked about her siblings. 

She thought back to that highlight reel, showing the big jump, and…

“Your board in the highlight reel was very brightly colored,” she said. 

Caitlyn felt Vi nod again, “Yeah, Pow designed that. She used to do really elaborate graffiti on… everything. Like you know how people tag buildings?” 

Caitln nodded. 

“Pow tagged buildings…and credit cards, and books, and every piece of furniture in our house, and people…” Vi laughed quietly, “Finally, she figured that everybody was getting her art for free, so she might as well sell it. But what she said - in a live interview about her brand, ‘Jinx’ - was, ‘my shit looks sicker than anything else out there. I gotta make sure people have options that aren’t so fucking boring, yeesh.’” 

Caitlyn laughed, both at Vi’s impression of her sister, and at what she imagined to be the expression on the interviewer’s face. 

“I’d love to see more of her work - does she have an online store?” Caitlyn asked. 

Vi’s board really had been “sick,” from her memory of it. 

“Oh! Yeah, she does. She also does a ton of custom stuff. All her pieces are unique, anyway - other than the jackets and stuff, since she has to get the fabric printed - but she’ll do whatever you want.” 

Caitlyn hummed, thinking, “I don’t often get to Zaun, but…it might be worth a trip.” 

Realizing what she’d just said - the implication of coming to Vi’s home, getting custom gear from her sister - her heart felt like it stopped, “For the gear! Of course. Uhm.” 

Vi chuckled, the laughter reverberating through her, and flexed her arm, squeezing Caitlyn’s elbow against her, “Sure, Cupcake. For the gear.” 

Caitlyn was glad Vi couldn’t see her blush. 

Before long, they were swinging lightly into the lift station at the bottom of the mountain, and Caitlyn was following Vi toward yet another unknown destination. 

Ordinarily, Caitlyn liked to have an itinerary - preferably one that was color-coded - but she was finding that she liked this spontaneity with Vi, the way the unknown was turning out to be fun and exciting, rather than completely disastrous. 

Caitlyn had fallen a few steps behind Vi in the bustle of people getting off the lift, and when Caitlyn sidestepped a woman in a neon orange parka, she looked up to see Vi had stopped to wait for her, and was holding out her hand.

______

Vi liked walking through the Village, hand-in-hand with Caitlyn. 

Caitlyn had thanked her, on the lift, for spending her last night playing tour guide, but the truth was…there was no place Vi would rather be. 

She’d already seen the Village with Ekko and her teammates, and a bit by herself - she was really enjoying spending it with Caitlyn, getting to show her around and share things with her. Getting to spend time with her, even though they only had a night. 

Vi squeezed her hand, smiling when Caitlyn squeezed back. 

Neither of them said much on the way to their next stop - the second to last, since most of their other options were bars or the hot tubs, and Vi was pretty sure Caitlyn didn’t want to take a venereal disease back to Piltover with her. 

Caitlyn was looking around as they walked, not stopping, but occasionally Vi felt a little tug on her hand as Caitlyn turned to get a better look at the Village around them. 

Vi thought back to the tears she had seen shimmering in Caitlyn’s eyes on the top of the mountain, and she thought about how special every moment had felt since she’d seen Caitlyn sitting at the bar. 

Vi had expected to have a conversation with - or maybe to get rejected by - a gorgeous athlete. 

She hadn’t been expecting Caitlyn.

Caitlyn, who’d won a gold medal but didn’t really feel like it meant anything. 

Caitlyn, who laughed and joked with her team like they were old friends - had fit right in, despite being reserved. 

Caitlyn, who asked about her family and seemed like she genuinely wanted to come to Zaun to get custom gear, just because she had liked Vi’s board. 

Caitlyn, who taught her how to ice skate, and held her hand, and had been so kind when she could have mocked her for losing or for falling on her ass. 

Caitlyn, with whom Vi only had one night. 

Vi exhaled, letting the pang of disappointment go with the big cloud her breath made in front of her, the night getting colder the later it got. 

They had one night. 

Vi could work with that.

Chapter Text

A while later, Caitlyn was sporting a colorful Ionian team beanie and a keychain with an adorable poro, for which she’d traded her lanyard, and they were on the way to Vi’s super secret last stop - all she’d say about it was “Trust me, Cupcake,” and when she shot a wink and a crooked grin Caitlyn’s way, how could she not? 

“Alright,” Vi said, breaking the relative silence they’d been walking in, still hand-in-hand, and pulling Caitlyn to a stop. 

Caitlyn raised an eyebrow, curious about Vi’s serious expression. “We’re almost there, and I think you need to experience this in its full glory, so I was wondering if maybe,” Caitlyn’s other eyebrow joined the first at the flash of nervousness on Vi’s face, “you’d shut your eyes? I promise I won’t let you trip over anything.” 

Caitlyn watched her for a moment, mind already made up but deciding that she could let Vi sweat about the request a little. 

The confident snowboarder had an adorable little crinkle of uncertainty between her eyebrows and she was chewing on her lip. It was, perhaps, the cutest thing Caityn had ever seen. 

Finally, she smiled, grinning wider when Vi’s face lit up at the permission that was there, even without Caitlyn’s next words. “I wouldn’t want to miss the full glory of whatever you have planned.” 

Vi’s laugh at her teasing was one of the nicest sounds she’d heard all night. 

“Definitely not, Cupcake,” Vi said, lifting her other hand so it was palm up. 

Caitlyn slid her mittened hand into Vi’s with no hesitation, shutting her eyes. 

Now that the Games were done, she wasn’t sure of much. 

But she was sure of Vi. 

The knowledge that this was their only night together pulsed in her chest as Vi tugged on her hands, softly encouraging her to start to walk forward. 

That knowledge stayed with her as Vi continued her soft instructions and bolstering squeezes of her fingers. 

And it nearly knocked her on her arse in the snow when Vi finally pulled her gently to a stop and whispered open your eyes.

Caitlyn blinked against the cold, something suddenly very bright after the darkness, and when her vision cleared, she was met with the most beautiful sight she’d ever seen: Vi, a grin on her gorgeous face, excitement sparkling in her grey eyes, and pink hair aglow with the bright light from the Rings, standing larger-than-life behind her, a shining beacon in the darkness. 

She looked at the Rings - really looked, and felt the knowledge that she’d done it and it was over and she’d won settle gently in her ribcage, the feelings of inadequacy and all the pressure and the voice in her head that sounded an awful lot like her mother falling quiet as snow began to fall, flurries catching the light. 

Caitlyn inhaled, letting her lungs fill with freezing air and feeling the full, unencumbered expansion of her ribs against her thermal winter gear. 

The cloud of her breath as she sighed her exhale mixed with the snow swirling in the air, unexpected warmth filling her chest. 

Caitlyn squeezed the hands still holding hers, lowering her eyes from the Rings to Vi’s beautiful face, tattooed and tinged pink with cold. 

There wasn’t anything left to do but to tug Vi closer and lean down. 

______

Caitlyn’s lips were cold, and Vi could feel snowflakes clinging to her eyelashes, and when she moved to wind her arms around Caitlyn’s waist, her hands got tangled in a scarf and a parka and… 

It was the best kiss of Vi’s life. 

She could have stayed there forever, honestly. Caitlyn’s lips on hers, Caitlyn’s mittened hands sliding over her hair and knocking her beanie loose…but, eventually, Caitlyn pulled back slightly - enough for Vi to realize it was snowing even harder, and, despite the fact that she felt like her skin was on fire, the way their breath almost looked opaque between them meant that it had gotten a lot colder. 

It was probably a good idea to…

“Would you like to go back to mine?”

Vi blinked. 

She’d been in the middle of trying to figure out how to invite Caitlyn back to her place, even though she was sharing it with Ekko and they only had one bedroom and a flight tomorrow, but…

“Hell yeah, Cupcake.” 

______

Caitlyn’s mind was melting out of her ears.

Though, really, she wasn’t particularly sorry about the loss of her cognitive abilities - not when the cool, solid wood of the door to her room was at her back, and Vi was hot at her front, pressing her into it with hungry kisses and strong, searching hands. 

The walk to her room had been a blur of irrepressible grins, the cold wind chilling their faces and practically whistling through the gap in her teeth, and breathless kisses when either of them simply couldn’t take not being pressed together for one more instant. 

She was almost giddy. Caitlyn hadn’t felt like this since she was a teenager. 

It was possible she hadn’t even felt like this when she was a teenager. 

She’d certainly never been this desperate for someone to touch her.  

Vi’s teeth found her earlobe and Caitlyn gasped, her thoughts about how strange it was that she felt like this vanishing with the sharp sensation, the fingers on the one hand she’d managed to free from her mittens twisting into Vi’s hair and clutching her close. 

Vi’s moan, right next to her ear, so close she could feel the vibration of it on her skin, sent electric shivers all the way to Caitlyn’s toes. 

Unable to stand it a moment longer, Caitlyn used the hand in Vi’s hair to pull her away from her very distracting attention on her ear and back to kissing properly. 

Caitlyn groaned at the feeling of Vi’s tongue swiping at her bottom lip, welcoming the way the kiss turned open-mouthed and messy, her tongue sliding against Vi’s in a way that made her squirm, hips arching toward the woman keeping her blissfully trapped up against the door. 

Caitlyn felt more than heard Vi chuckle, and then a thick, muscled thigh was between hers, and Vi’s hands were squeezing at her hips, and Caitlyn let herself be guided down until her cunt was pressed against Vi’s thigh. 

Vi swallowed her gasp with another kiss, this one deeper, slower, lips moving in time with the unhurried flexing of Vi’s thigh. 

Even through entirely too many layers, the pressure against where she was aching and utterly soaked was exquisite and not nearly enough. 

Caitlyn groaned again, this time in frustration, leaning her head back against the door. 

______

Vi bit back on a noise, watching the way Caitlyn was rocking her head side to side against the door, strands of hair sticking against the wood from the static. 

Somehow, Vi kept forgetting just how gorgeous she was, but like this? Flushed and panting and trying desperately to grind harder against the thigh trapped between her legs? 

“Fuck yes,” Vi groaned, gripping Caitlyn’s hips tighter and pressing her thigh up higher, really liking the way Caitlyn pulled her hair. 

She did it just right - fingers fisted right up against her scalp, holding a big handful of hair. Enough pull that Vi could feel how desperate she was, enough so Caitlyn could direct her mouth where she wanted it, but not enough to hurt. Sometimes, whoever Vi brought home for the night just hauled off and fucking yanked. Vi liked it when she could make somebody feel good, sure, but she didn’t want to go bald. 

Vi bit her lip hard as Caitlyn moaned, grinding harder and faster, ignoring Vi’s hands trying to guide her slow.

Vi pressed her knee harder into the door, flexing her quad as hard as she could to give Caitlyn that little extra, to give her something to really grind against, and a few minutes - or, fuck, maybe hours - later, Vi watched in the dim light from the windows as Caitlyn tensed, arching and gasping loud, grabbing the back of Vi’s neck with mittened fingers.

She groaned in harmony with Caitlyn as she realized how much heat was up against her thigh, even though way too many fucking layers, and made sure to keep her thigh flexed, using her grip on Caitlyn’s hips to help her keep her rhythm while she came, working her all the way through it. 

After a few long moments, Caitlyn went limp against the door, and Vi held her up, keeping her steady as she panted and swore in a way that really didn’t help the goddamn lake in Vi’s own snowboarding pants. 

Vi looked at the state of them in the darkness of the room, the cold moonlight spilling through the windows, and started laughing, apologizing through her wheezing as Caitlyn frowned at her. 

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, it’s just…the only clothing we’ve managed to get out of is one of your mittens and you…” 

Caitlyn chuckled, clearing her throat a little nervously. “Jumped the starting gun a little?” 

Vi leaned in and kissed the anxious expression off her face. “Yeah, maybe…but I liked it. You good with me making that happen again?” 

Caitlyn raised her eyebrows, and Vi liked how fucking… snobby the expression made her look. 

She’d think more about that later.

“Frankly, yes,” Caitlyn told her. “But first, uhm…I need…” Caitlyn trailed off awkwardly, pointing to the side. 

“Oh, shit,” Vi replied, looking where she was pointing. “Yeah, go for it. I probably should, too.” 

Caitlyn nodded, giving her a quick peck on the cheek before Vi stepped back to let her head quickly toward the little attached bathroom. 

While Caitlyn took care of business, Vi looked around the room. 

It was nicer than her and Ekko’s, and the view was fucking amazing - the windows overlooked the big, central courtyard in the middle of all the buildings, and all the lights from the people up late made the snow look like it was glowing as it fell in swirls. 

Vi traced her finger through the frost on the window, drawing her name and the Olympic symbol. 

“Okay, all done,” Caitlyn said from behind her, and Vi turned to see that Caitlyn had slipped out of her heavy clothing, leaving her in a pair of leggings and a long-sleeved shirt that hugged her curves tight, her muscles and the gentle movement of her ribs visible through the stretchy fabric as she breathed. 

Vi did her best to grin at her casually, tapping Caitlyn’s - fucking rock hard , wow - stomach with her fingertips on her way past her toward the bathroom. “I’ll be quick, promise.” 

Vi shrugged off her coat on her way, hanging it up next to Caitlyn’s, and wiggled out of her boots and her other outer layers, too, setting them near the door to dry out. 

She didn’t look back at Caitlyn on her way into the bathroom - she fucking had to pee, and she’d never do that if she got distracted kissing Caitlyn again. Vi felt like she could spend a fucking eternity doing that and never come up for air. 

If she suffocated, she’d be fine with that. 

As she’d promised, she did what she needed to do quickly, brushing her teeth with her finger and a little of Caitlyn’s toothpaste and taking extra time washing her hands just to see if she could get them to stop fucking shaking.

She wasn’t cold, but the chemistry she and Caitlyn had wasn’t like anything she’d ever felt with anyone else, and it was kind of overwhelming. 

Vi needed to have her fucking head in the game when she went back out there. 

Out of habit, she started going through the mental routine before she did her snowboarding runs. 

And then she groaned quietly, bending over the sink and pressing her dripping hands to her forehead. 

It was so fucking lame to go through her Olympic snowboarding run prep before sex. 

Caitlyn wasn’t a goddamn sporting event.

Vi dried her hands off and tried to ignore the little voice in her head that whispered that Caitlyn might be more important than a sporting event. 

She put a grin on her face as she opened the door, head still not quite in it but not wanting to leave Caitlyn waiting any more, and, also, she kind of figured she might never get her fucking head in it if she hid in the fucking bathroom any longer. 

“Hey,” Vi said, smiling when Caitlyn turned, fingers tangling together a little nervously. 

Caitlyn stared back at her, eyes hot and dark like they had been when Vi’d had her pinned against the door, but fingers still twisting together; Vi started to tell her that they didn’t have to do anything, that she could go, or she could stay and they could watch a movie or just keep talking, but then Caitlyn crossed the distance between them in two long strides and slammed their lips back together. 

Vi grunted, startled, but recovered fast, wrapping her arms tight around Caitlyn’s waist and pulling their stomachs together, moaning when she could feel Caitlyn’s warmth through their thermal shirts like she hadn’t been able to before through all the layers that they needed to stay fucking alive out here in the Freljord. 

Caitlyn’s fingernails scratched at her scalp and down her neck, dragging down her back and starting to yank at her shirt, managing to ruck it up around her ribs before she made a frustrated noise and started going for her leggings instead, shoving them down impatiently. 

Vi laughed, breathless and so goddamn turned on as she slid her hands to the hem of Caitlyn’s shirt and tugged it up, nipping at her collarbones through her shirt. 

Caitlyn stepped back just far enough to help Vi yank her shirt off, and then they were pressed together again, and Vi suddenly needed more of her skin against Caitlyn’s than just the part of her stomach Caitlyn had managed to expose with her frantic yanking. 

If the way Caitlyn pulled on her lower lip with her teeth was any indication, she felt the same. 

Vi grunted in frustration, letting go of Caitlyn - fucking homophobic that she didn’t have four hands right now - to rip her shirt off, going for her bra, too, and nearly falling over when she felt Caitlyn’s mouth on her upper stomach, kissing and sucking at the line of her ribs while she panted and tried to wiggle out of her sports bra and asked the universe why she the fuck she had elbows at a time like this. 

Caitlyn’s hands gripped her hips, keeping her upright, and Vi finally managed to throw her sports bra somewhere off the edge of the fucking continent right as Caitlyn’s lips met the waistband of her underwear, her tongue tracing back and forth along the edge of the fabric. 

“Okay?” Caitlyn asked, looking up at her, and Vi felt herself clench at the sight of Caitlyn on her knees in front of her, even as she noticed how stupid she probably looked with leggings lassoing her knees together.

Vi grinned and nodded, faking confidence that Caitlyn had been shaking all night. 

Caitlyn held eye contact, and Vi’s knees nearly fucking buckled as she opened her mouth, tongue out slightly against her bottom lip, and leaned forward, pressing a wet, open-mouthed kiss to the spot just over the waistband of her underwear. 

“Fuck,” Vi hissed, nodding again and suddenly breathing hard as Caitlyn helped her get the rest of her clothes off. 

As they both struggled, giggling a little, the moment half-broken by the way Vi’s ankle got caught - she would have tipped over sideways if not for all the balance required for snowboarding - Vi found herself wishing she’d picked a summer sport. 

Swimming, maybe, so all they’d have to get out of was those tiny ass swimsuits. 

Vi snorted at the mental image of hooking up while still wearing swim caps. 

Maybe not.

When they’d wrestled one of her legs free, Caitlyn ducked her shoulder down and caught the back of Vi’s bare thigh, and Vi had just enough time to get her balance back before Caitlyn’s hands were on her ass and she was moaning as her tongue met where Vi was fucking soaked.   

Vi wound her fingers into Caitlyn’s hair, swearing under her breath as she tried to stay standing while Caitlyn ate her out sloppily. 

It felt fucking good.

Vi couldn’t predict what speed, what pressure she’d choose next, and the short bursts toward the orgasm she could feel building were driving her fucking insane, her toes curling into the shitty dorm room carpet. 

Fuck, Vi’d never been this wet before. She could feel it starting to drip down her thighs, and she was closer than she should be, and she just needed…

“Fingers,” Vi panted, her hands flexing in Caitlyn’s hair, eyes opening long enough to see Caitlyn looking up at her, nose pressed to her skin, nuzzled in right up against her so that Vi could feel everything.  

______

Caitlyn kept up the motion of her tongue, trying not to move anything but one hand as she maneuvered her arm so that she could press a fingertip to Vi’s entrance, feeling the wetness, the smooth, slick warmth of her. 

Vi gasped and strong fingers tightened in her hair as she sank her finger inside. 

Caitlyn couldn’t stop her moan, even as it made her lose her rhythm slightly. 

Vi felt just as incredible as she tasted, and Caitlyn was convinced she’d made it to heaven, here on her knees the night after she’d won gold. 

“Nngh! Two!” Vi gasped, and Caitlyn sucked hard at her clit as she slid a second finger in alongside the first, enjoying how Vi’s legs shook and she ground her cunt down onto her face. 

Experimenting a bit with thrust depth and speed, Caitlyn figured out that Vi really liked it when she drove her fingers in deep and worked her with rapid pulses. 

Slick noises, harsh breathing, and grunted curses were the only sounds Caitlyn could hear, and all she could feel around her and above her was Vi, and the entire experience was so arousing she could barely focus on getting Vi there past her desire to do absolutely everything with the incredible woman she’d met by chance at a bar. 

Higher, increasingly frantic cries echoed in the small room, and then Vi shouted wordlessly, buckling forward and holding Caitlyn’s head tight to her cunt as she pulsed and squirmed and came.  

Caitlyn chased after Vi as she straightened up and leaned back, and it was only Vi’s hands on her forehead pushing her away with shaky, uncoordinated motions that finally convinced her to remove her mouth from pure bliss. 

Vi chuckled. “Goddamn.” 

Grinning up at her, Caitlyn sat up on her knees to suck a wet kiss into one of her incredibly, deliciously defined V-lines. 

“You’re gonna kill me,” Vi groaned, pulling her to her feet and Caitlyn might have had a retort, but Vi dragged her down for a kiss, uncaring of her come-slicked face, and was doing something with her tongue that was effectively eliminating any of Caitlyn’s ability to think. 

Something about Vi’s wonderfully overwhelming presence and her lack of judgement the entire evening made it so that Caitlyn didn’t care about what Vi might think of her body as they managed to free her from her clothes. She just…something about Vi made it possible to stay in the moment, rather than be pulled in a million different directions by anxious thoughts. 

They crossed her mind, sure - thoughts about being unappealingly tall and gangly, or about coming too quickly or not quickly enough, or about not focusing enough on Vi’s pleasure and being perceived as selfish came to her…and then they went, banished by Vi’s smile and the warmth of her touch and the adorable eagerness with which she pushed Caitlyn down onto her cardboard bed. 

The slide of Vi’s gentle calloused hands over her shoulders and her arms and the heat of her mouth on her breasts and the ticklish puffs of air over her stomach as Vi groaned and cursed while she sucked and licked and bit at the lines of her abdomen were just this side of overstimulating, and by the time Vi’s hands tucked behind her knees to splay her wide, knees pressed into the thin mattress next to her shoulders, even the concept of self-consciousness was far from Caitlyn’s mind. 

Vi ate her out like she was starved, and Caitlyn was coming again before she even really realized what was happening. 

“Oh!” Caitlyn exclaimed, whimpering, her toes curled to the point of cramping as Vi gently and unexpectedly started to build her back up. 

She wanted to return the favor, but Vi was leaving her with very little will - or, indeed, strength - to do so. The gentle brushes of her soft lips around where she was overly sensitive, and the sudden little sparks of pain from Vi’s teeth on her inner thighs were making Caitlyn positively soak her Piltover-issue bedding. 

And she didn’t care one bit. 

“Gods, you’re so fucking wet,” Vi rasped, appreciative, releasing one of Caitlyn’s legs to touch questioning fingertips to her entrance. 

Caitlyn nodded frantically. “Please,” she gasped. 

Suffusing relief rushed through her as Vi’s fingers - two of them - worked inside of her. The snowboarder’s fingers were a little thicker than hers - knobby, more than specifically thick, really - and strong.  

Caitlyn’s breath rushed in and out of her; she was nearly hyperventilating at the feeling of being filled with curling, stroking fingers while Vi’s mouth latched over her clit again.

She hooked her own hand under her sweaty knee to keep herself spread wide, give Vi more room, and slid an encouraging hand into her pink hair, tugging her closer. 

The pleased little noises Vi was making as she went about her task were as arousing as they were encouraging, and Caitlyn lost herself in it, grinding her hips up into Vi’s face as best she could, chasing another high, a peak so tall that her legs were already shaking from the effort of climbing it. 

______

Vi’s focus narrowed like it did on a run, but instead of feeling her body move with her board, carving a path, calculating the distance to the jump, feeling the way her muscles flexed as she prepped for it, she felt the ache in her jaw and how her wrist was kinked at a weird angle and she knew she should have been uncomfortable as shit, but she fucking wasn’t.

Because Caitlyn’s fingers were twisted in her hair, and she was whimpering and fucking screaming as she came, tightening down and gushing all over Vi’s fingers.

The hamstring under Vi’s other hand was tight, flexed up against her palm, and Vi was trying so hard to breathe and not focus on how she was dripping down her own thighs that she almost forgot to be appreciative of how fucking strong Caitlyn was. 

She was just…fucking gorgeous; wrapped in lean, powerful muscle, with curves to fucking die for. 

Vi had a weird urge to fucking paint her like that one movie with that guy where there was definitely room on that door. 

Pushing off the regret she felt that this was the only night they’d get to do this, Vi followed Caitlyn’s twitch and the tug of her fingers and moved away from her pussy. 

That was gorgeous, too, which was honestly fucking ridiculous. 

Vi wasn’t into feet, and she hadn’t gotten a good look, but by now she was kind of figuring that Caitlyn probably had gorgeous toes. 

“Do you–” Caitlyn panted, and Vi was really fucking smug about the fact that her legs were still shaking and that she couldn’t put her thoughts together. 

Caitlyn was strong and really fucking smart, and the fact that Vi’d made her come hard enough to short both of those things out? 

Yeah. 

That felt good. 

Caitlyn started over. “I have–” 

“Yeah?” Vi asked, trying not to laugh at her. It would only be because she was so goddamn cute, but she didn’t want Caitlyn to get the wrong idea. They didn’t know each other that well - at all, really - even though it felt like they did. 

Caitlyn released the leg she was holding and pressed the other against Vi’s hand, and Vi let go, helping her lay down comfortably on the bed, and when Caitlyn made cute little grabby hand gestures at her, Vi crawled up off the floor and tried not to wince as her knees cracked. 

Caitlyn was nice enough not to mention it, but Vi caught her raised eyebrow. 

Maybe she’d get into more detail later about her five knee surgeries and all the shit that had happened…if they kept talking long enough for that to matter. 

Vi really hoped it mattered one day.

“I have a strap,” Caitlyn murmured, and Vi fought a shiver both at the words and at the way Caitlyn was scratching her fingernails over her side shave. 

She’d figured out that particular weak spot fucking immediately. 

“Yeah?” Vi responded, clearing her throat when her voice cracked a little. 

God, she wasn’t going to make it though this with any fucking dignity.  

Caitlyn chuckled warmly, leaning in to rub their noses together and hum an affirmative, and Vi felt herself clench. 

“Do you want me to get it?” Caitlyn asked, and Vi gulped at the intensity that was back in her eyes. 

They’d been sex-hazy not thirty seconds ago, but now…

Oh, yeah.  

“Yeah,” Vi squeaked, clearing her throat again, and Caitlyn kissed her on the nose before goosing her gently in the sides. 

Vi took the cue to move, and then Caitlyn was stumbling off the bed on those legs and Vi was watching very appreciatively - like a fucking pervert, honestly - as Caitlyn bent over to fish in her bag for the strap. 

When Caitlyn turned around, harness in one hand and dildo in the other, something suddenly occurred to Vi. 

“Wait, you brought a strap to the Olympics?” 

Caitlyn just stared at her like “well, duh.” 

Vi laughed. “No, I’m serious! You really went, ‘okay, I’ve got my skis, and I’ve got my kit, and all that fuckin’ swag they gave us, and…now I gotta grab the dildos’?” 

Caitlyn hefted what was in her left hand. “I only brought one dildo.” 

“That confident about size, huh?” 

Vi went to smirk and then probably made some stupid expression instead because a dildo was flying at her face. 

“I don’t know, what do you think?” Caitlyn asked, nodding at the dildo Vi had barely managed to catch. 

It was smooth silicone, and, even though it was dark in the room, Vi was pretty sure it was almost the same blue as Caitlyn’s eyes, and when Vi fit her thumb and forefinger around it, she could barely close them. 

She bit her lip, looking between the slowly warming silicone and Caitlyn, who was standing there, harness still dangling from her right hand. 

“Put that on,” Vi rasped. 

______

Caitlyn blinked at Vi, who was staring at her with an intensity she hadn’t yet seen. 

It was… exciting.  

“Yeah?” Caitlyn asked, wanting to confirm she’d understood. 

Vi nodded, and the gesture was…small, somehow, even with the primed energy that seemed to be coming off her in waves. 

Caitlyn would ask about that in a moment, maybe, but first…she had to get her legs through the mess of straps and buckles. 

“Fucking shit–” Caitlyn muttered, trying to figure out harness geometry while so aroused she could die.  

Vi was giggling at her in earnest by the time she got strapped in securely, and Caitlyn crossed the room to her in a few long strides, straddling her lap and banishing the giggles away with hot, open-mouthed kisses. 

When Vi was moaning into her mouth and pulling her closer by the leather straps around her hips, Caitlyn leaned back. 

“How do you like it?” 

Suddenly…the confidence Vi’d been displaying all evening was a little less present. Instead of an irreverent smirk and swagger, she had nervous hands and shifting eyes. 

Caitlyn kissed that away, too. 

Vi cleared her throat, flicking her eyes up in short glances as she admitted quietly, “People kind of tend to…assume, and I guess I just–” Vi shook her head, leaning forward instead to kiss Caitlyn’s breastbone. 

Gently, Caitlyn threaded her fingers through Vi’s hair, using that and a hand on a shoulder striated with muscle to coax her back into making eye contact. 

“They assume?” Caitlyn asked, keeping her voice low, not wanting to shatter the surprising intimacy of the moment. 

Vi shrugged, and her expression turned a little…resigned as she chuckled, self-deprecating. “Yeah, I mean. I’m a big, tough snowboarder. Not really into…into frilly dresses or tea parties or whatever. That kind of…yeah, people usually decide things. Based on that.” 

Understanding settled in her stomach like a stone, and Caitlyn swallowed hard, making sure to think her response through before she spoke. She sensed that maybe this was important, and she wanted to be as considerate of Vi now as the kind, gentle snowboarder had been to her on the ski lift, listening to her fears. 

“I’m not much for frilly dresses or tea parties, either,” Caitlyn told her, smiling when Vi lifted her eyes again. 

“Yeah?” Vi asked, voice rough, and Caitlyn shook her head, leaning down to kiss her cheek, just under her little, numerical tattoo. 

When she pulled back, Vi’s expression was a little lighter, her shoulders a little more square. 

“It’s just daft to think you know what someone likes just by looking at them,” Caitlyn remarked, watching how the words sank in for Vi, lightened her expression further still. 

“So…” Caitlyn whispered, dragging her fingernails over the buzzed hair on the side of Vi’s head and watching the snowboarder’s long, dark eyelashes flutter, “I’d really like it if you’d tell me how you want me to fuck you.” 

Vi groaned, and Caitlyn squeaked as she suddenly had steely arms wrapped around her waist and insistent, hungry lips on hers. 

By the time Caitlyn thought to pull away long enough to get an answer to the question, Vi was flat on her back, she was making a mess of Vi’s stomach, and a bit of a check-in with the rest of her revealed that she could feel something… not hand-like on her back–

Bursting into giggles, Caitlyn barely managed to ask, “Are you still holding the dildo?” 

Vi’s expression was sheepish as she held it up between them. “I uh…yeah, I guess I kind of forgot I was holding it. You distracted me.” 

“Well,” Caitlyn started, thinking about how wet she was, and how wet Vi must be, and the harness around her hips, and the object Vi was currently holding, “Would you like me to take that from you?” 

______

Vi keened, arching her hips up as Caitlyn pressed her gently back down with a long-fingered hand splayed over her stomach. 

Caitlyn’s other hand was… lower, her palm warm over the trimmed triangle of hair Vi tried to keep from getting too unruly, and her thumb rubbing gentle circles on her clit as she slowly worked the silicone cock strapped to her hips inside. 

When Vi had told her she liked it nice and slow, and that she got more out of plenty of attention on her clit than something inside her, even though she liked that, too, she hadn’t expected Caitlyn to be this fucking considerate.

She was going out of her goddamn mind and Caitlyn wasn’t even fully inside her yet. 

Caitlyn’s thumb slid lower, and Vi could feel her fingertip tracing back and forth along the side of the dildo, where it was fucking inside her, before dragging back up and rubbing smooth circles over her clit. 

Vi opened her mouth to tell her to fucking get a move on, but then Caitlyn did, and the sight of her abs bunching and flexing as she arched her hips back and then thrust them gently forward made whatever Vi’d been about to say come out as a pathetic, choked noise. 

She was going to die like this, and that was fine, actually. 

She didn’t need dignity or oxygen. 

Slowly - like Vi’d asked, and like she’d promised she would - Caitlyn started up a rhythm, using the power in her hips to grind her calloused thumb into her clit every time she bottomed out, and Vi…

Vi was panting and whining and drooling and gripping Caitlyn’s arms and neck and ribs and anything else she could reach probably too hard, trying to find a way to withstand the pleasure slamming through her. 

Gods, she’d never felt like this before. 

Ever. 

She’d had good sex, sure. 

She’d even had partners who’d been mostly fine with her wanting them to wear the strap occasionally. 

But she’d never felt like this; never been with someone who wanted this as much as she did. 

Caitlyn’s breath started to come faster, and her own started to saw harshly in and out of her, and the sensation of Caitlyn’s thumb rubbing harder on her clit felt almost as good as the thoughts spinning through her head, 

She wants this.

She wants to.

She wants me.

Vi cried out, whimpering and curling upward to bury her face in Caitlyn’s neck as she came, choking off harsh cries and whatever other embarrassing fucking noises she was making as she came so hard she could feel it dripping down the crack of her ass. 

As she flopped back onto the bed, breathless, and she caught sight of Caitlyn’s gap-toothed grin, she realized…that was it. 

This whole night, it had felt like Caitlyn wanted her there. Not somebody who could show her a good time. Not just anybody. 

Her. 

She felt…well, Caitlyn made her feel special.  

This whole time, she’d thought she was the one doing something for Caitlyn - making her last night here special, when it was really fucking clear the rest of her trip hadn’t been. 

But…it turned out, Caitlyn had been doing the same for her. 

“Shi– iit!” Vi gasped, moaning loud as she registered more goddamn sensation. 

Looking down to where her legs were now wrapped around Caitlyn’s waist, she realized that Caitlyn was still moving, still thrusting nice and slow - long thrusts with a little pause just before she almost pulled out that were about to make her fucking cry from how bad she wanted this. 

“Oh, Gods,” Vi choked out, twining her arms around Caitlyn’s back and digging her fingers into the defined, ropey muscles along her spine as she kept up those long thrusts. 

Vi could feel the power in her body as she moved, pressed together this close, and it was fucking intoxicating. 

She’d last had a few beers hours ago, and she felt fucking drunk. 

There wasn’t anything she could do this time but fucking cling to the woman above her while sensation rolled and fizzled through her. 

Vi’s ears were fuzzy, and everything sounded kind of muffled, but she could hear Caitlyn’s little grunts and pants, the curses she was mumbling, and the… fuck, the praise she was murmuring as her arms started to shake. 

Vi knew it wasn’t from exertion, and the thought that Caitlyn was this worked up made her fucking moan. 

“Mm~! You feel so good,” Caitlyn whimpered, punctuating the breathy words with a hard suck to her gear tattoo, and Vi arched into it, sweaty and helpless and being fucked so good she felt like she was about to goddamn melt. 

Vi gasped as Caitlyn’s teeth sank into her neck, soothed a second later by her tongue. “Y- you, too.” 

A nod into her shoulder and another quiet curse was Caitlyn’s only answer, and then Vi felt her weight shift…

…and fingers bumping the inside of her bicep and scraping down her side and brushing her stomach, and then Caitlyn changed the angle a little…

And Vi ratched straight to a fucking ten as Caitlyn made enough space between them to rub her clit. 

“Fuck!”  

Just like that, she was coming with a shout, her body going tense and liquid and everything all at once. 

Caitlyn kept up the motion of her hips and the circling of her fingers, and Vi shook so goddamn long she was surprised her back didn’t fucking snap from the tension. 

Her body collapsed onto the hard bed, and she felt…floaty as she came down from her high, panting and trying to make her eyes focus. 

Slowly, she registered lips on her cheek, and her nose, and her forehead, and her temple - Caitlyn was kissing her gently all over her face, and it was so silly and sweet and fucking ridiculous that Vi laughed, breathless, and cupped the back of Caitlyn’s head to pull her in for a real kiss. 

That was slow, too, and gentle…until it wasn’t. 

The fucking need was still there, between them. That chemistry, that electricity that Vi’d felt the moment Caitlyn had turned toward her and she’d gotten so nervous she almost hadn’t said anything.

Vi was glad she had…and she hoped Caitlyn was, too. 

But, before she could find out - and maybe also find out if there was any chance this could be more than a one-night thing - she needed to make the woman lying on top of her come again. 

She could feel the tremble in Caitlyn’s fingers as they slid over her shoulders and down her arms and splayed on her ribs, and she could hear Caitlyn’s desperation as she broke the kiss to slide down, sucking marks into Vi’s tits that she’d enjoy having as little reminders of this, if she had nothing else in the morning. 

“What about–” Vi panted, “--you?” 

Caitlyn sucked her nipple fucking hard before she smiled cheekily and Vi about fucking died. Again. 

“Me?” 

Vi grinned at her, leaning forward fast to hook her hands under Caitlyn’s arms and haul her up again so they were on a level playing field. 

“Yeah,” Vi said when they were nose-to-nose and Caitlyn was startled and breathless, “You.”

______

Caitlyn pressed the heels of her palms into Vi’s chest where soft breasts became hard muscle, and did her best not to fight Vi’s hands, which were gently and very considerately guiding her down onto the dildo now strapped to Vi’s powerful hips.

Everything in her wanted to just let her full body weight drive the cock inside of her so she could feel the burn and the stretch - that razor edge between pleasure and pain - but it really was very sweet that Vi was being so cautious, so conscious of her own strength, and Caitlyn was enjoying this immensely, so she supposed she could survive the incremental, intensely pleasurable invasion. 

When she was seated - after, by her estimation, a thousand years - her hips flush with Vi’s, and her arousal mixing with the come already smeared all over the base of the strap, Caitlyn took a moment to appreciate the moment. 

She’d done it. In the freezing north of the Freljord, she’d finally won a gold medal, and, now, after an incredible evening, she was in bed with the most astoundingly wonderful woman she’d ever met, about to ride her until she came all over the strap she’d just been fucking her with. 

This was, to put it plainly, the best night of Caitlyn’s life. 

And she was going to enjoy it to the fullest. 

Slowly, relishing the way Vi’s fingers dug into her hips and her pink-haired head arched back into the criminally thin pillow, Caitlyn started a rhythm, rocking her hips back and forth until her eyes were practically crossing from the pleasure of the dildo pressing and rubbing inside her, before she used the strength in her still-shaky legs to push herself up…and then sink back down. 

Groaning, Caitlyn reached for one of Vi’s hands, lacing their fingers together as she started to ride her in earnest, zipping, rushing sensation spiraling through her. 

Vi moved with her, thrusting her hips up in time with Caitlyn’s thrusts down, and oh, that was so good. 

“Fuck, Cupcake,” Vi grunted, squeezing her hand. 

Something about the…the sweetness of the gesture spun Caitlyn higher, and that, combined with how Vi’s thrusting was starting to approach the exact right angle, to, to…

“Oh! Ohhh~ oh, gods, oh, fuck, don’t stop~!” Caitlyn chanted, unselfconscious of her wanton begging or the sweat dripping off the tip of her nose or any of it as Vi did exactly as she asked, coaxing her with perfect rhythm and soft lips and gentle hands toward another peak. 

The bedding was slipping and sliding underneath her knees with their frenetic movements, and the sounds echoing through the room sounded remarkably like someone throwing a cardboard box down the stairs, and it was all more perfect than Caitlyn could have ever dreamed. 

Her legs began to shake so hard she was losing rhythm, and her pathetic whimpering must have alerted Vi to it, because she let go of her hand to dig perfect, knobby fingers into her arse and help her to keep the punishing rhythm that was making her see stars–  

All at once, it was enough, and Caitlyn was coming hard, back bowing as she frantically slammed her hips into Vi’s, and she plunged over the cliff…

No, Caitlyn registered - barely - she was actually falling, landing on top of Vi with a solid thump, and still she was coming, the abrupt surrender of the cardboard excuse for a bed apparently no obstacle to her body’s release. 

Under her, Vi was swearing, and then laughing, and as her breathing returned to something approaching normal, Caitlyn could see the humor in the situation, but she still felt so good, and–

______

“Shit, are you oka–” 

Vi’s surprised laugh died in her throat, her concern that the bed’s collapse might have hurt the woman on top of her evaporating as she felt Caitlyn shift her hips, a guttural moan rising in the space between them. 

“Fuck,” Vi breathed, eyes going wide. “You gonna come again?” 

Caitlyn’s only answer was a whimper, her short nails sinking into the flesh of Vi’s shoulder as her hips made another stuttering grind. 

Oh, fuck yeah.

Vi slid her hands to Caitlyn’s ass again and dug her fingers into the muscle there, encouraging her to move how she needed. 

The bed’s collapse meant that Vi was now basically sitting upright in the mess of cardboard and bedding, Caitlyn in her lap. The new angle made it easy to lean forward, pressing their sweaty stomachs together and taking advantage of the closeness to lay open-mouthed kisses along Caitlyn’s sharp collarbone. 

Caitlyn moaned again, one hand gripping tighter at Vi’s shoulder, the fingers of her other hand winding into the longer side of Vi’s hair and pulling.

Vi groaned as the little sparks of pain made her clench, nipping Caitlyn’s collarbone in retaliation. 

______

The little shocks of Vi’s teeth against her collarbone, the little bit of sharpness to all the liquid, molten pleasure spilling through her made Caitlyn’s head fall back, another moan shuddering out of her chest as even that small movement shifted the cock inside her. 

She couldn’t help the desperate, slick grind of her hips, or the noises that tumbled out of her mouth. 

It was all too good.

Sex had never been like this before. Caitlyn had never, not once in her entire life, felt this close to another person. 

If Vi had left her with any brain power at all, she’d have thought it was an utter travesty that this was only a one-night-stand. That they were unlikely to see each other again. 

As it was, Caitlyn couldn’t feel anything but the orgasm building to a crescendo low in her belly, nudged there in leaps and bounds by Vi’s muscled body underneath her, the soft lips and tongue at her throat, the strong hands on her arse and the hips thrusting up into hers, helping her keep her rhythm even when the pleasure started to, again, overwhelm her senses completely. 

Somewhere, in a distant corner of her mind, Caitlyn stopped denying how much she wanted this to continue past tonight. 

But, then, that vague thought fizzled into nothing because Vi’s lips wrapped around her nipple, and she sucked, and that little bit of extra sensation sent Caitlyn toppling over the edge into sparkling oblivion. 

When she came to this time, Caitlyn became suddenly aware that she was… not in the most comfortable position. Her knees were digging into an uneven, broken surface, her thighs were almost painfully splayed apart after all the effort of working through two orgasms, and her left toes were starting to cramp. 

Vision still a little blurry, Caitlyn watched Vi look around and grimace slightly.

“Shit.” 

“Are you alright?” Caitlyn laughed, kissing Vi gently and humming in sympathy when Vi shifted.

“Uh…” she started, trailing off and squeezing Caitlyn’s hips. “I’m…you know, I’m great, Cupcake, but I think my trainer would kill me if she could see what I’m doing to my knee right now.” 

Caitlyn looked down, trying to locate… oh.

“Oh!” Caitlyn exclaimed, discovering that one of Vi’s legs was straightened all the way to the side, dangling off the edge of the broken “V” of the ruined bed, and the other was tucked up underneath them, her calf and inner thigh supporting Caitlyn’s arse and therefore most of her weight. “Yes, I can see how this wouldn’t be…the most…” she said awkwardly, trying to figure out how to get off of Vi when the strap was still buried deep inside her and her legs felt like jelly. 

God, how had Vi gotten any leverage to thrust up into her like that a few moments ago? 

Finally, after a significant amount of giggling - and a fair amount of pained grunting - Caitlyn was standing next to the bed on shaky legs, come dripping down her inner thighs, and staring down at Vi, who was still sprawled in the middle of the broken bed, glistening silicone cock standing straight up from her hips. 

Caitlyn snorted at the ridiculous scene. “Would you like some assistance, darling?” 

Vi’s grin was like sunshine, and Caitlyn ignored the fond squeeze of her chest as she helped her up.

______

The bed was a disaster, so they pulled the blankets and pillows onto the floor next to it to cuddle up, and neither of them mentioned anything about probably needing to head out. 

They just curled up together, laughing about how the floor was about as comfortable as the cardboard fucking beds, and then laughed some more as they looked toward the cardboard bed in question…and the sad, collapsed heap they’d turned it into. 

Sleep came both quick and slow, pulling at them with warmth and gentleness as snow fell outside the windows.

Chapter Text

Vi winced as she started to wake up, both from how weirdly her body ached, and also from the bright ass sunshine. 

Cracking open one eye, Vi tried to wake up enough to figure out where the fuck she was and why the fuck her arm was dead. 

She figured both of those things out pretty quick - she was on the floor of Caitlyn’s room, and her arm was dead because the biathlete was sleeping on her shoulder…and drooling. 

It was the cutest thing Vi had ever seen. 

She smiled, even though now that she realized her arm was dead it was starting to hurt, and freed her other arm from the tangle of blankets to brush a few strands of Caitlyn’s hair out of her face and trace the patterns the sunshine was making on the shoulder peeking out of the blankets. 

Caitlyn nuzzled farther into her shoulder, squeezing her eyes shut against the world, and Vi laughed, trying to stop when the jostling made Caitlyn frown.

It really was a perfect morning–

Vi’s eyes widened. 

It was morning. 

And…

“Shit!” Vi exclaimed - quietly - gritting her teeth with frustration as her heart hammered in her chest. 

It was morning. 

It was morning after the Games. 

She had a flight this morning. 

…she was gonna miss her fucking flight. 

The expletive made Caitlyn groan herself groggily awake, and she was the fucking picture of godsdamn perfection and Vi had to leave her right now if she was gonna make her flight. 

Fuck her fucking life. 

“Sorry,” Vi apologized. “I uh– I didn’t mean to stay the night, and I have a flight to catch…”

She had started to shift during her explanation, and as Caitlyn, who apparently was not a morning person, realized what she’d said, she immediately sat up, letting Vi do the same. 

Vi rolled out her shoulder as soon as she sat up, trying to wiggle some life into her fingers. 

“Oh,” Caitlyn said, noticing. “I’m sorry, is your arm alright?” 

Vi grinned at her. “I’ll survive.” 

She stood up with only a little bit of cracking in her knees and looked around, noticing that her clothes were thrown all over the room - and so were Caitlyn’s - and she didn’t know where her phone was…and, fuck, Caitlyn was still naked, and so gorgeous…

Vi made a garbled noise of frustration. 

Godsdamnit it all to hell. 

She didn’t want to leave, but she had to. 

She couldn’t afford the airfare all the way home from the Freljord if she didn’t make her flight. 

Caitlyn cleared her throat. “You have a flight?” 

Vi did. 

The next few minutes were a rushing whirlwind of thrown clothes and frantic hands tugging them on instead of off, and then Vi was dressed, and so was Caitlyn…

And she had to leave. 

Vi really didn’t want to leave. 

She’d promised herself she wouldn’t get fucking sappy about this last night, and that she’d just enjoy the time they had, but now…

Now, she had to go, and they’d run out of time. 

“So, I…” Vi trailed off, hand on the frame of the door she’d yanked open. 

As she turned around, so the busy hallway was at her back, she realized…

She didn’t know what to say. 

What were you supposed to say to the person you’d just shared the best night of your life with? 

Caitlyn smiled softly, gentleness around her eyes and creasing her mouth. “Me, too.” 

A clatter in the hall and the buzzing of her phone in her pocket reminded Vi that she had to go. 

“I gotta–” Vi said, jerking her thumb toward the hallway as anxiety squeezed her chest.  

Caitlyn stepped forward, and then Vi had warm, long-fingered hands cradling her jaw and soft lips on hers, and it was the best and the worst kiss she’d ever had. 

After a moment that felt like it was frozen in time, Caitlyn pulled back, breaking the kiss, and Vi reluctantly let her. 

“It was nice to meet you, Vi,” Caitlyn told her, and she was smiling, but her voice was a little sad, and Vi leaned forward, pressing another quick kiss to her lips. 

“See ya ‘round, Cupcake.” 

______

Caitlyn watched Vi jog off down the hall and felt a sort of…emptiness settle inside her as Vi’s figure disappeared from view. 

Swallowing hard, she stepped back fully into her room and shut the door softly. 

While she wasn’t in a rush like Vi had been, she had a flight to catch relatively soon, and she needed to pack. 

She’d left that task for yesterday evening, but…she’d enjoyed how she’d actually ended up spending the evening much more. 

Selfishly, a part of her hoped that Vi might miss her flight, and they might see each other at the airport…

Retrieving her phone from the floor where it had apparently fallen and wedged behind a boot, Caitlyn frowned as she realized it was dead and went to plug it in. 

As it charged, she started gathering her things. 

Her motions were rote, the product of years of traveling - usually for competitions, extra training, new, custom gear…anything that might help her win a medal. 

Shiny gold caught her eye and Caitlyn picked up her hard-won prize. 

It was heavy, like everything that was attached to it, and a small part of her wanted to fling it out the window and return home empty handed, just to find out whether anyone would be happy to see her - just her. 

Shaking her head because it was pointless, and she had a flight home, and she couldn’t very well abscond to the Summer Isles or somewhere else equally ridiculous. 

She had her skis and her gun with her, for gods’ sake. Either one by itself was a travel nightmare, but both?  

No. 

No, she had to go home with her medal and bear the endless compliments and back patting and the…the ownership that people felt over her success. 

She slid the medal back into its protective pouch and stowed it in her carry-on, and then she went about gathering the rest of her things, which took less time than it might otherwise have. 

Caitlyn didn’t believe in unpacking - moving in. Everything was temporary. 

As she walked into the bathroom to retrieve her toiletries, she caught sight of herself in the mirror. 

She looked a little forlorn, and her hair was a disaster, but other than that…her cheeks were flushed, the dark circles under her eyes were faded, and her shoulders were relaxed. 

Caitlyn frowned as she realized she looked happier than she had in a long time. 

She looked alive. 

And she felt it, to be honest. 

Even her sullen contemplation of her dubious accomplishment hadn’t dulled how life seemed to thrum through her, like it had from the moment Vi had talked to her at the bar last night. 

It really was a shame that they’d only had one night. 

______

“--eah, I’m on my way, just– shit!” Vi skidded around a guy carrying a big ass sled, shouting an apology over her shoulder as she kept going, her run a little awkward since she was holding her phone against her ear. 

“Dude, you’re so late,” Ekko told her over the phone, sounding nervous. 

They wouldn’t wait for her, if it came time for the bus to actually leave. 

There were a lot of athletes who needed to catch their planes, and Vi was a drop in the bucket. 

So, she was fucking booking it.  

Fucking bless him, he’d thrown her shit in a bag for her and grabbed her board, and all she had to do was get on the bus.  

As she skidded around another corner, the bus came into view, but Vi didn’t let herself breathe a sigh of relief yet. 

She sped up as she sprinted for the doors and jumped through them and onto the slippery steps just as the bus driver was reaching for the handle that would close the door. 

“Glad you decided to join us,” her coach commented, raising her eyebrows, and Vi grinned sheepishly, shrugging. 

There wasn’t much she could do. 

She’d made it. 

Everything was fine. 

Ekko threw his arm up when he saw her coming up the aisle, snorting like he didn’t get paid enough to deal with her. “Fucking hell, Vi! Cutting it a little close, huh?” 

“Yeah,” Vi panted, jerking her head to tell him to scoot over. 

She slumped into her seat just as the bus lurched into motion…and then her stomach dropped to her toes as she realized something important. 

She hadn’t gotten Caitlyn’s number.

______

Caitlyn walked through the airport, in her street clothes for the first time since she’d left Piltover. 

She wasn’t required to wear team kit on the plane, and, well. She didn’t want to, so she wasn’t. 

The Piltover team management had made quick work of getting them to the airport, ensuring all their various, oversize luggage was safely checked, and now, all of them were through security, and Caitlyn was in search of coffee. 

Frankly, the Freljord had dismal coffee, but sleeping in with Vi had meant that she hadn’t had time for caffeine this morning, and it was going to be a long travel day. 

It was going to be even longer, since she’d just gotten a notification - and a subsequent deluge of group chat messages - that their flight was delayed. Winter storms here were brutal and unpredictable - they’d really gotten very lucky during the Games that all the events and ceremonies had gone off without a hitch. 

Sighing as she finally found a little kiosk that appeared to have an actual espresso machine, Caitlyn got in line behind a broad-shouldered athlete in Noxian gear. 

Just as she reached the front of the line and forced her face to smile at the frazzled-looking barista, dismayed shouts and groans rolled through the airport, along with a veritable symphony of phone notifications. 

Deciding that she needed coffee if she was going to deal with whatever had just happened, Caitlyn didn’t look at her phone - she just ordered two coffees. 

______

Vi groaned, flopping uncomfortably across two airport seats. 

Their flight was fucking delayed. 

Coach was standing in line to argue with the gate agents, who both looked like they were on the verge of tears, and…it wasn’t looking good. 

Without saying anything, Ekko - who was absolutely hungover - handed over his phone, which had the weather app up and a purple-pink blob all over the screen. 

Fucking winter storms.  

Vi grunted, handing it back, and pulled out her own phone, which was low on charge. 

She’d figured she’d just plug in on the plane, since she been, you know…having sex and not charging her phone, but it looked like she was stuck with a phone battery that was in the red for probably hours.  

More people just kept pouring into the airport, and it was getting crowded.  

Everybody on the Zaun team had wanted to stay until after the closing ceremonies, but…so had basically everybody else who’d either competed in or come to the Games. 

Sighing, Vi pulled up social media…and checked that no one was watching her phone screen as she started looking for a very specific account. 

She and Caitlyn hadn’t exactly said it was a one-night stand…and, sue her, Vi liked Caitlyn. A lot. 

And she’d been a fucking idiot not to get her number, but she could fix that. 

______

Caitlyn was using the several hour delay at the airport to catch up on correspondence - she had a fair number of emails after so many days determined to stay in the moment as much as she could. 

She also made a call to Jayce, who’d insisted on picking her up from the airport, and let him know that she was going to be hopelessly delayed. 

Caitlyn smiled at her phone when his response came back almost immediately with a screenshot of the text alerts he’d set up for her trip. 

She really was very lucky to have such good friends. 

Jayce and Mel had flown all the way out to the Freljord to watch her compete, even though they were both appallingly busy. They’d had to leave the same night, but Caitlyn appreciated it more than she could say. 

Her parents hadn’t flown out. A bitter part of her sort of wondered if it was because, last time, they’d made the effort and she’d lost. 

Dismissing that thought to consider more never, Caitlyn switched over to her social media account, which she kept very private. 

Her public account was managed by the brand agency she worked with, and that suited her just fine. Caitlyn didn’t like social media much, and she was content to lurk. 

And lurk, she did, finding Vi’s very popular account almost immediately and proceeding to check surreptitiously around her before she started scrolling through. 

It was good she’d checked - Vi had a fair amount of photos and videos on her page where a sports bra was the only thing covering her stunning, tattooed torso. 

Caitlyn felt a bit of a pang as she scrolled by one of them, knowing that she’d spent last night seeing even more than that…and she was unlikely to see it ever again, or make Vi laugh the way she had when she’d felt freer than she had in years. 

That hollow emptiness was back at the forefront of her feelings as her thumb hovered over the “SEND MESSAGE” button. 

They hadn’t really spoken about whether or not their night together was supposed to be more, and she hadn’t asked for Vi’s number, but Vi hadn’t asked for hers, either… 

And she didn’t want to be the pathetic girl who, Gods, slid into Vi’s DMs after assuming sex was something more. 

A pit yawned in her chest, and Caitlyn shook her head at herself, determinedly closing the app. 

She fished in her carry on for the book she’d brought with no intention of actually reading, and tried to focus.

______

“No…nonononono…” Vi muttered, shaking her phone like that would keep it from dying. 

When she looked up, Ekko was watching her like she was insane. 

She might be sort of insane, but…her phone was fucking dying, and Caitlyn’s public account was really specifically brand-managed. 

It was in her bio and everything. 

And Vi’d been in the middle of deciding if she was really lame enough to DM her anyway, even knowing she’d have to, like, talk to a publicist in the hopes they decided she wasn’t a psycho and put her in touch with Caitlyn, when her phone had up and died. 

Ekko was quiet as he watched her, and then, shaking his head, he declared, “You need help.” 

Vi couldn’t even disagree. 

Ekko got up, patting Vi consolingly on the shoulder as he walked out of the gate area. 

______

Caitlyn sighed, standing up to stretch out after another half hour of sitting. 

Their flight had been canceled, and the best their team management had been able to do was to book them all on separate flights, which was a bit of a nightmare given that, to get to Piltover, you had to get on at least one connecting flight, but, they’d done it, and Caitlyn was planning on sending very generous gift cards to each member of the management, because this airport during a storm, was, frankly, hellish. 

It was overcrowded, since the cancellations hadn’t come in before people made the trek out to the airport for their flights, and the energy from the assembled crowds wasn’t particularly calm. 

Caitlyn had no…no space to process the odd loneliness she felt. 

The hollowness. 

The…the loss, as silly as it sounded, and she could admit to herself that it did sound silly. 

She’d spent a single night with a stranger, and now she was experiencing something that felt eerily like grief. 

Sitting back down, Caitlyn fingered the edge of her boarding pass, feeling the bumps of the perforation where it had been torn from the long string of other passes sending travelers all over the world. 

And, as she noticed that her boarding time was, thankfully, relatively soon, Caitlyn got up, making an attempt to shake off the strangely deep feelings and very determined not to get on this flight without adequate caffeine and some food, since she knew better than to expect much of airplane meals. 

She still had plenty time to make it to her new gate. She’d been camping out with the rest of the Piltover athletes in the little pocket they’d managed to carve out in the hectic airport, but it was definitely time to move on. 

Waving goodbye to the athletes and management personnel whose flights were even later than hers, Caitlyn rolled her carryon next to her, guiding it carefully around sprawled legs, fast food wrappers acting as placemats, and various children and their toys. 

______

Vi jerked awake to someone shaking her. 

“I’m up!” 

As she rubbed her eyes and then was able to focus on a frowning Zaunite skeleton luger, she knew he wasn’t really buying it. 

Obviously over her shit, he threw her duffle on her stomach, and now she really was awake after the fucking gut punch. 

“Boarding,” was all he said before slouching off toward the line. 

Vi sat up with a groan, cracking all her joints in sequence to pop some life back into her aching body before she slung her bag over her chest and went to get in line herself. 

She and the guy who’d woken her weren’t friends - they’d just realized they were on the same flight home and had agreed to watch each other’s stuff while they waited. 

Ekko had managed to get his scrawny ass on an earlier flight along with most everybody else.

Vi’d been last on the bus so her coach had put her on the last flight, and Vi couldn’t even be mad. 

Fair was fair. 

Kicking her bag in front of her as she shuffled forward in line, Vi dreaded the flight to Zaun. It was her second ever, and she’d already been stuck in an airport for the whole goddamn day. When she’d gotten here, it was still morning, and, now, it was fucking dark out. 

Her flight delay should mean that she could beg her dad to take them to breakfast when she got in, though. 

There was a sick brunch place near the airport that they almost never made the trek out to. 

The thought of hashbrowns cheered her up a little, even as the sight of the claustrophobic tunnel to get on the plane didn’t. 

______

Now that she really was on her own, standing in line with no one familiar around her, Caitlyn felt that strange sense of emptiness really settle in. 

It had been with her since this morning, and it had stayed with her, following her through airport security. It had sat with her during her hours of waiting, and now it was walking with her in slow steps toward the gate agent scanning boarding passes. 

And…as much as she thought it was silly, and she was trying to banish the feeling back to the depths where it belonged, it stayed with her as she progressed slowly up the line to scan her boarding pass with all of the other members of society who needed to fly from the frigid cold of the Freljord to the slightly less frigid cold of Zaun. 

She also thought it was a shame that there was no way she was going to see Vi, even with her connecting flight’s location. 

The snowboarder had left so much earlier this morning, and the storm hadn’t hit until this afternoon. 

Vi was long gone, and, it would seem, she’d taken a piece of Caitlyn’s heart with her. 

As she scanned her boarding pass and made slow progress up the jet bridge, that sense of something missing screamed at her every time she moved and felt the burn in her abs, the ache between her thighs. 

The emptiness didn’t leave her as she was making even slower progress up the aisle to her seat, her gaze focused firmly on the roll-aboard suitcase of the passenger in front of her, which was dragging so far behind them that she was actually having to put effort into not tripping. 

Caitlyn noted row numbers in her periphery as she walked, loneliness clinging to her like cobwebs. 

She didn’t bother to take note of any of the other passengers as she made her way to her seat. 

If she had, she might not have been quite so shocked to hear the words, 

“Hey, Cupcake.”