Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

AN: This is my first ever fanfiction guys. I've been reading a few Arcane fictions recently and wanted to have a go writing my own. It might not be any good and I may not do anymore than this, we'll see if anybody actually reads it! It isn't very long, but like I said, it's my first time writing something like this. Let me know what you think.

Chapter One

You never know who you’ll bump into at a memorial. In Zaun, it’s not usually anybody of note, things like that are personal and the only people there are family members. But this? This is certainly a spectacle the likes of which Vi has never seen; she wouldn’t even be here seeing it now if it wasn’t for Powder’s begging and Silco dragging her along. But here she stands, listening to a speech by some Piltie councillor droning on about a disaster that happened over a decade ago. A disaster that had claimed the lives of hundreds of Zaunites, including the parents that she had adored. A disaster that hadn’t affected them half as badly as it had her people, they hadn’t seemed to care when it happened. So why now? It left a sour taste in her mouth.

Her thoughts are broken by the sound of applause and dropping of a large curtain at the front of the crowd.

“Come on Vi, let’s go and find mom and dad’s names on the plaque. I want to see where they are.” Powder doesn’t wait for a response before grabbing hold of her hand and dragging her towards the monument the council had just unveiled. Vi lets her, she can give her sister this. For everything Vi had lost, powder had lost even more. She doesn’t have a lot of memories of their parents; she was barely 4 when they died. She doesn’t remember them coming home with huge smiles on their faces, their dad swinging her round in the living room as Vi greeted their mother. Doesn’t recall helping to cook the stew she used to love so much or the way their mother would scrunch her nose and rub it against theirs to make them giggle. Equally though she doesn’t remember that night. Feeling the ground rumble and shake the whole of Zaun. Doesn’t know what it felt like to sit and wait for their mother to walk through the door and wrap them in one of her hugs and tell them it would all be okay. She doesn’t remember crying and screaming when their uncle Silco came instead and told them that the mine shaft had collapsed, that their parents weren’t coming back, or Vander having to carry her out of their little house because she was too exhausted from all her tears to walk on her own.

Vi is again broken from her thoughts, only this time by a girl crashing straight into her. Sending them both to a heap on the floor.
“Hey, watch where you’re walking toots. You almost flattened my sister.” Powder turned on the stranger, looking almost ready for a fight. Vi just shakes her head at her.

“Excuse-me? I Hardly flattened anybody. If anything, you bumped into me!” Vi takes in the girl, her navy eyebrows are drawn low over the most beautiful blue eyes she has ever seen. It takes her a second to compose herself and stop staring, shaking her head as she stands and dusts off her pants before offering the Blue haired girl her hand.

“I’m sorry, we’re just gonna-” she points to the monument and grabs Powder by the shoulder, pushing her towards the plaques. She turns to watch the stranger roll her eyes and walk in the other direction. Vi has always known she liked girls, it’s definitely not a secret with some of the posters hanging on her bedroom wall, but she’s never seen someone as pretty as that before.

“Hey space-cadet. I found ‘em. You wanna see? Or are you too busy undressing that Posh Piltie with your eyes.”

“Oh, Ha Ha Powder. I was just checking she was okay.” Powder gestures to her lip with her finger.

“You got a little bit of drool right there sis.” Vi rolls her eyes at her sister’s antics, trying to hold back her grin as Powder cackles at her expense.

“Show me these names you little pest. Gotta check they gave mom and dad a good spot.”

As much as she hates to admit it, even to herself, the Pilties have made a beautiful monument, little plaques around the stone base have the names of every man, woman and child that died or went missing that day. People are leaving pictures and flowers, Vi even spots a couple of teddy bears and some toys around the plinth. She wishes she had thought to bring something. They don’t have much of their parents, but she could have bought some flowers for Powder to put down. The sudden stab of guilt brings tears to her eyes.

“Right here. Second Plaque in. Felicia Lanes and Connell Lanes. They’re next to each other. Together for always…... I think that’s nice, right Vi. That they can always be right there for each other, so they’re not alone.”

Vi Doesn’t answer right away, lost in thought, running her fingers over first her father’s name, then her mother’s. She looks up at the statue to fully take it in. It’s a miner’s oil lamp as tall as she is standing atop a great stone, an orange glow coming from within. The exact same lamp her mother used to carry home and light in her and Powder’s little bedroom to use as their nightlight, keeping all the monsters at bay. A set of mining gauntlets rest against the plinth on one side, the other has an old miner’s helmet, Vander has the matching ones hanging from the rafters at The Last Drop. He had stopped mining and opened the bar when he took in the girls and hung them as a reminder to all his patrons. It’s a simple design, but still moves most of the people gathered in some way. Vi can see the tears in Powder’s eyes start to spill down her cheeks. She wraps an arm round her shoulders, pulling her close.

“Yeah Pow-Pow. They’ve got each other. Just like us……. I’m sorry I didn’t think to bring any flowers to leave for them. We can come back with some anytime okay?” The only response she receives is a nod against her shoulder and a small sniffle.

They stand in the glow of the statue for a while. Not needing to say anything, just silently supporting each other in their grief. It may have been almost 12 years but you never fill the hole losing a parent leaves. And on days like this it rips open all jagged and sore and feels like it’s swallowing you whole. Like an ocean wave, washing you out to sea and leaving you to drown. Vi remembers Vander telling her a long time ago that Grief changes shape sometimes, but it never goes. And that’s okay. Because as long as it’s there, she can live to make her parents proud of her. She starts humming a tune their mother used to sing to them, the words long forgotten, softly swaying in her hug with her sister.

Vi loses track of how long they stand there, but the sky is starting to turn pink when Silco finds them. He taps Vi’s shoulder, pulling her from her thoughts.

“Girls we need to be heading back. I’m sorry, we can come back another time. Vander’s expecting you home before he opens the Drop and you know how he can worry.”
Vi nods and turns to follow him, Powder still tucked under her arm. She hadn’t realised how few people were left, nor how chilly it had gotten. Pulling her jacket from her arms she drapes it round Pow’s shoulders, rubbing them to warm her up. She doesn’t notice the curious gaze of one of the few bystanders left from the ceremony. Doesn’t see the Sapphire eyes that follow her as she walks across the bridge, back towards Zaun.

Chapter Text

“Cait we’re going to get our asses kicked!”

She sighs and turns to look at Jayce over her shoulder.

“No, you’re going to get your arse kicked. I can hold my own…. You know you didn’t have to come. I am quite capable of walking by myself.”

It isn’t a lie. She’s perfectly capable of taking a walk by herself. It’s just that this particular walk was supposed to lead her after the pink haired girl from earlier. Something drew Cait to her and she’s desperate to find out what. But if Jayce is tagging along then she’ll have to change her route. There’s absolutely no way he’d go for following two Zaunites home from a memorial ceremony. She had told him she wanted to clear her head, which isn’t uncommon for the young Kiramman, but if he’s this worried about just standing on the Zaun side of the bridge then who knows how he would react to venturing further into the city.

Caitlyn knows he isn’t prejudiced; it’s nothing like that. An awful lot of Piltovans are, there’s no hiding the fact that Zaun has a higher crime rate then Piltover, but that isn’t entirely their fault either. The supposed Peace and Support Act from after the mining disaster doesn’t exactly swing in their favour, especially when some of the councillors still see the Zaunites as beneath them. As something they need to get rid of. Caitlyn really doesn’t like those councillors. It had taken her mother, Councillor Medarda and the newly appointed Councillor Tallis years to even get them to agree to building this statue. Which if she’s honest with herself, isn’t the best she’s seen. It’s pretty, and very poignant, but it’s not on nearly the same scale as some of the abstract sculptures throughout Piltover. It sets her on edge, the outright unfairness of it all.

“Why are we even over here? It’s getting dark and I have never known you to go for a walk at night before Sprout. Don’t you have like, an 8pm Curfew?”

She knows he’s just trying to wind her up, she shouldn’t rise to his bait. She shoves him anyway, but the unmoving wall of muscle that he is just laughs at her attempts.

“I am not a child Jayce. I can do what I please.” She absolutely does not stick her nose in the air as she says it. His eyebrows raise at her tone.

“Shall we go and test that theory Sprout? Cassandra is standing on the dais over there, I’m sure she would love to know that her daughter is following pretty girls into Zaun after dark.”

His tone is joking but she can tell that he is being 100% serious, if she goes any further, he’s going to snitch like a child on a playdate. And she is not willing to sit through the resulting lecture from her mother if she ever found out.

“I’m not following anybody. I told you I needed to clear my head, and I wanted a walk. You know that fresh air always helps me sort my thoughts.” She folds her arms in front of her and glares at the smirk forming on her pseudo brother’s face.

“Yeah, sure. It has nothing to do with the girl with the pink hair that you’ve been staring at all afternoon, huh? I hate to break it to you Cait, but you are not as subtle as you think you are.”

He says with a chuckle. Cait huffs out a breath and turns to walk back across the bridge to where she can see her mother waiting with her driver. If he isn’t going to leave her to walk in peace, then she may as well go home.

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The Last Drop seems especially busy when they arrive. Vi suspects a lot of the people were here to toast to their loved ones after attending the same service her and Pow had just come from. It’s always been popular here, but it had been a while since the bar had been standing room only. She waves Powder over to the door that leads down to their room, she’s about to follow when she feels a large hand on her shoulder, turning to look up into Vander’s face.

“Hey kiddo, it’s busy tonight. I could really do with your help.” Vi takes a deep breath in through her nose. She just wants to sit with Powder and make sure she’s okay, decompress a little bit.

“But I just-“

“Vi. We’re swamped. I need you behind the bar. Come on.” She sighs and looks to the bar’s patrons. If it’s so busy, then where are her brothers? Why aren’t they up here helping? She petulantly refuses to meet her adoptive father’s eyes.

“Can I go to the bathroom first?” Feeling his big hand pat her on the back in confirmation she turns to head to the bathrooms. She just needs a minute; she wasn’t expecting this memorial to hit her so hard as it has done and she needs to centre herself. Leaning on the sink she looks into the mirror at her sullen face reflected back. This is the only thing about being at The Drop Vi dislikes, being expected to drop everything and help just because she’s the oldest. She loves the bar’s atmosphere, it’s very rare nowadays for them to get any problematic customers, and she’s got some regulars of her own that she enjoys seeing when they come in, but tonight she just wants space. She’s only a year older than Clagger, two between her and Mylo, and yet neither of them has ever been so much as asked to wipe down a table. ‘Vi will do it’, ‘she’s the oldest’ or ‘she needs to be responsible’ it’s so unfair. She adores Vander and knows he’s partly only doing it to keep her out of trouble, so he can keep half an eye on her. She’s not stupid, she knows mischief and mayhem seems to follow her, but she still feels like this is a lot to heap on her shoulders. Especially after the emotional day she’s had.

Hearing a knock at the door, Vi splashes some cold water onto her face to help bring down the puffiness and the pink tinge to her eyes. She calls out “Coming, sorry.”
She opens the door to reveal Sevika, her eagle-eyed godmother that misses nothing. Vi sees said eyes narrow on her own slightly puffy eyes and sniffs, opening her mouth to speak, but Sevika beats her to it.

“Why aren’t you downstairs with the others? You’ve been crying and your hands are shaking; there’s no way you should be behind that bar tonight. Did Vander seriously ask you to work after your parents’ memorial?”

She sounds as outraged as Vi felt not even 5 minutes ago, but she finds the energy to hold on to her anger draining with every second that passes.
“It wasn’t really phrased as a question and anyway, it’s busy. He needs me. I’ll be fine.” Sevika scoffs, pulling Vi into a one-armed hug, using her other hand to ruffle her pink hair. Vi playfully shoves her away from her locks but sinks into her aunt’s side.

“What he needs is to hire a bartender, not use his kid as free labour. There are plenty of people out there looking for jobs, he could have somebody in literal seconds. And The Drop is never empty; he can definitely afford it. I’ll have a word with him, you’re a good kid Vi and you should be out there enjoying your youth, not cooped up in here wiping tables.” She lifts Vi’s chin so she can see her face properly, patting her cheek affectionately.

Vi squeezes her tight before letting go and stepping away.
“I have to get to the bar. Drinks aren’t gonna pour themselves! Powder’s downstairs, can you go see if she’s okay for me? She was a little upset at the service, and I don’t know how well she’ll cope with Mylo tonight.” She sees Sevika shake her head and swears she hears her mutter something about Vi being ‘too damn nice’ but it’s too loud in the bar to be certain.

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By the time the last person leaves it’s almost 3am. Vi is using the rag usually slung over her shoulder to wipe down all the tables, putting up the chairs while Vander wipes down the bar and cleans the glasses, putting them on the correct shelves. Her eyes are drooping, fighting sleep even as she walks across the room to start on another table. She can’t stop the yawn that comes, nor does she feel her left foot get slightly stuck behind her right until it’s too late. She falls with a crash into a chair she had already put up, pulling it back down on top of her.

“VI!” she groans, attempting to push herself up to sit, but her arms aren’t cooperating any better than her feet were and she slumps back to the floor staring up at the gauntlets and helmet hanging above her. Tears spring to her eyes and she doesn’t even hear Vander approach her or pick up the chair from beside her and set it to rights again. She’s pulled from her sleepy reverie when she feels his hands around her upper arms, pulling her to sit before going up to feel and check the back of her head for any injuries. He musn’t find any because he pulls her in for a hug, wrapping his huge arms around her like he used to when she was a child. Vi can’t hold back the tears and sobs into his shoulder. She has no idea how long he sits there, rocking her like a child, whispering assurances and apologies into her hair as she cries, but she simply can’t find it within herself to care.

“Oh Vi, you’ll be alright kiddo. Let it all out. I’m sorry Vi, I shouldn’t have asked for your help tonight. I didn’t even realise how late it was. You had a tough day; I’m so sorry kiddo.” He keeps repeating over and over again until she’s calmed enough to take some deep breaths. Once the sobs have stopped Vander stands and carries her towards the stairs and down to her and powder’s room. He places her on the top bunk, pulling a blanket up to her shoulders and kissing her on the forehead. He turns on Powder’s old night light on his way out, knowing that when one of his girls is upset the dark often makes it worse and not wanting them to panic if they happen to wake up. He makes himself comfortable on the couch rather than going up to his own room, wanting to be close in case he’s needed. He can finish sorting out the bar in the morning.

Chapter Text

The first thing Vi notices as she wakes up is how dry her mouth is, like it’s full of cotton. Next is the steady and persistent throbbing behind her eyes, she supposes that’s what she gets for crying so much last night. The final thing of note is that she can’t lift her arms when she tries to rub the remaining sleep from her eyes. She startles, looking down to see that she’s not alone in her little top bunk. Powder is wrapped around her, grip tight like a boa constrictor. She’s snoring lightly and it takes Vi a few tries to pry her off so she can get up. After 10 minutes of fighting herself free, she steps into their small living room, only to be greeted by the sight of Vander squashed into their couch. Vi is touched that he stayed close last night, just in case, but she knows he is going to be very uncomfortable today. Their lumpy couch isn’t especially big and Vander…...well, he is.

Deciding that she can be helpful, Vi heads to the kitchen. She might as well make everybody some breakfast. Pulling eggs, cheese, bacon and butter from the refrigerator, she sets about making some scrambled eggs. She enjoys the peacefulness that cooking brings. The sizzle of bacon in the skillet, the comforting smell of the coffee as it brews. It’s calming, and getting to see her family enjoying the things she’s prepared is also pretty rewarding. Vi’s just scooping a big spoonful of eggs into the serving dish when Mylo makes an appearance, closely followed by Clagger.
“Morning Vi. Is there coffee?” Vi nods Clag towards the prepared pot before slapping Mylo’s hand away from the tray of bacon.

“OW, What the hell Vi?” Mylo shouts, Clagger chuckles, pouring a coffee for himself and another for Vander before topping off Vi’s mug. She nods in thanks as he takes his and Vander’s drinks back through to the living room.

“You have to wait for everyone else Mylo. If you want to be useful you could clear some of your stuff off the table, give us space to actually sit and eat.”
He grunts, narrows his eyes and sticks out his tongue, but does as she asked which surprises her. Putting the trays of breakfast into the oven to stay warm, Vi decides to go and see if she can wake Powder. The kid sleeps like a log and usually the only way to get her up is with food. So, it’s with no small amount of surprise that Vi opens their bedroom door to find Powder sat on the floor surrounded by screws and various cogs and metal parts of what looks suspiciously like her alarm clock.

“Hey Pow, I made breakfast. You better come before Mylo eats all the bacon” She doesn’t get to say anything else as the little blue tornado rushes past her and into the kitchen where Vi can already hear them both bickering. Rolling her eyes and following their noise, she can’t help but smile a little at the picture before her. Vander is handing plates out, Clagger trying to butter his toast and avoid getting hit by Powder’s little egg projectiles as she fires them at Mylo. It’s messy and loud, but this is her family. She takes the seat next to Powder, taking the mug from her sister’s hand before she can take a sip, laughing at her look of outrage.

“Oh, come on. I only want one cup!” Vander chuckles as Vi shakes her head.

“Absolutely not. You’re already crazy, the last thing you need is caffeine.” The family’s laughter and Powder’s whinging are the soundtrack to the start of the Warwick’s day, and Vi loves it. She wishes she could freeze moments like this and relive them forever.
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Caitlyn stabs a piece of melon, maybe a bit more viciously than she needs to, pointedly ignoring her mother’s sharp look. She resents being expected to attend a formal breakfast with just her parents on a Sunday morning. It’s bad enough she has to sit stoically through dinner and polite small talk with them every night, but Sunday is Caitlyn’s day for shooting practice and this is cutting severely into her range time.

“Caitlyn, this is an annual gala. You knew it was coming. You will be attending and you will not spend the entire evening hiding with Jayce. He is a councillor now and so he is expected to socialise and mingle, as are you.” Cait sighs, leaning her chin on her hand, elbow on the table.

“Oh do sit up straight, Darling. You are not a child anymore, this sulking is most unbecoming of a young lady! Jean-Pierre will be here at 2pm to take your measurements for your dress so you will be sure to be here and presentable, am I understood?” She has to fight not to roll her eyes.

“Yes, mother. I understand. I will try not to be late.”

“You will do more than try Caitlyn. A Kiramman is punctual and presentable.”
Cait pushes her plate away, her appetite gone, remembering to thank the server who clears it for her.

“Yes mother. Of course. My apologies. I will be here. Now, may I be excused? I am supposed to be meeting with Chief Grayson and am eager to be on my way.”

She practically runs from the room when her mother waves her off. She wasn’t lying, she is eager to leave. Grayson will already be at the range; Caitlyn didn’t get a chance to tell her that she was going to be late today. Grabbing the jacket she wears on the shooting course and quickly pulling on her boots she sprints to the car, driving slightly above the speed limit. It’s already 11am and if she has to be home by 2 then that means she’s only going to have a couple of hours shooting. For somebody who was so organised, her mother really loved to spring things on her last minute. She hated how off-kilter it made her feel, although that was probably the point. Some kind of tactic she used to keep everyone around her on their toes. Rolling her eyes at her train of thought, she focuses back on the road ahead.

Pulling into the parking lot of their preferred shooting range, she sees Grayson leaning against her truck cleaning her rifle. Caitlyn rushes out of her car, barely remembering to put it in park, calling out,

“Sorry! I’m sorry I’m late. My mother ambushed me with breakfast and would not take no for an answer. I-” She’s cut off by Grayson’s deep, gravelly chuckle.

“Calm down young Kiramman. You gave me time to clean my weapon and re-familiarise myself with the course. If anything, I should be thanking you for the advantage.” Caitlyn huffs out a breath, opening the trunk of her car to retrieve her rifle and checking she has everything she needs.

They have had this longstanding commitment every other Sunday since she was 12 and Grayson had let her win the precision shooting tournament. The trophy sat pride of place on her shelf, there were many others, but that was her favourite. Being told that she had deserved it, that her hard work and dedication were worth the recognition, it was more than her parents had ever said to her. They always congratulated her, but it always felt like they didn't quite understand how important it was to Caitlyn. Her mother may have been the one to teach her to shoot, but her precision and drive for it came from Grayson. She had inspired her. When she had asked Caitlyn what she was shooting for, she hadn’t had a real answer. Only that it was expected. So, hearing Grayson say that she used her weapon to protect others and bring justice had made Caitlyn want to be like her. Grayson was the reason she was currently going through the Piltover Enforcers Academy, with the aim of joining the force and one day becoming a detective, possibly even sheriff, following in her mentor’s footsteps. Much to the disgust of her parents, they would much rather her become a lawyer or a doctor. But this was what Caitlyn wanted, she didn’t get to choose much about her life, her clothes were bought for her, her meals prepared by their chef, her hair carefully trimmed and maintained by her mother’s army of stylists. Even her friends had to be approved by her mother, hence why there were so few. A Kiramman is expected to surround themselves with the appropriate company. But this decision was all hers, and if she got a thrill out of annoying her mother then that was a bonus.

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“Vi, can I have a word.” She looks at Vander, both her hands holding empty dishes, as if to show she was about to clear up.
“Leave the breakfast stuff, you cooked, I’m sure Powder and the boys can clean up.” There’s a chorus of ‘aw man’ and groans from her siblings as they start doing as Vander asked. It may have been phrased as a suggestion, but they all knew it wasn’t really. Vi follows her dad up the stairs to his office, sitting on the little couch as he closes the door.

“Is everything okay? Did I do something wrong? I’m sorry about last night, I think it was just a long day and I was really tired. It won’t happen again-”

“Vi, you haven’t done anything wrong, kiddo. I just want to see if you’re okay, I don’t check in with you enough and I’m so sorry that it’s taken me this long to see how hard you work. Sevika…well, she wasn’t very happy with me last night. And she’s right. I owe you an apology Vi, you literally collapsed of exhaustion. That’s on me, I should never have asked you to help last night. I'm going to take Sevika's advice and hire a Bartender, the boys are also going to start helping. There'll be shifts, I should never have put it all on you. That's going to stop now, I promise." He comes to sit on the other side of the couch, reaching to put his hand on Vi's shoulder.

"Are you okay, Vi? You were pretty out of it when I got you to bed last night, and you were the first one up this morning. Are you sleeping okay? The nightmares aren't back, are they? You can tell me Vi, Let me help." She shakes her head, eyes widening a little at the mention of her nightmares. She wasn't aware he had known about them, thought she had kept them secret from everybody. She tries to speak, but only a squeak comes out. she clears her throat and tries again.

"I'm fine. I guess I rest up pretty quickly." She tries to laugh it off, but Vander doesn't join in. His hand reaches up to cup her cheek, his thumb running under her eye where she knows there's a pretty dark circle. The truth is she hasn't been sleeping enough, but she doesn't want to talk about it. She can handle it, like he said, she's almost 20, not a child. She shouldn't be scared of a couple of bad dreams. Vi smiles at him, placing her hand over his on her face.

"I'm fine. I promise. I'll come to you if that changes." They sit together in the quiet for a few minutes before Vi hesitantly asks, "Dad? Can I go buy some flowers? I didn't think of it yesterday, but lots of people were putting things next to the statue and I want to leave something for mom and dad." Vander stands and takes a few coins out of the jar on his desk, handing them to Vi. He smiles and gently rubs his thumb against her cheek. "Of course, have the day off. I shouldn't need your help, Mylo can start tonight. Give them my love, will ya?" Vi grins at him, grabs him in a hug then turns to leave. She needs to find a flower shop with daisies, they were her mother's favourite...

Chapter Text

Vi stands before the memorial statue, the bunch of flowers in her hand hanging limply at her side. She’s scanning over all the names, tears in her eyes as she sees just how many there actually are. The mine collapse had been awful for so many people, the aftermath devastating. While Vi had known a lot of people had been lost, she was still a child at the time, going through her own grief and trying to be there for Powder at the same time. So seeing all the names is staggering, there must be hundreds. Sniffing back the tears, Vi leans down to lay her flowers against the plinth, taking a few seconds to arrange them so she can see the coloured daisies she had picked, a small array of powder blue, white and a purple/pink colour that the florist had called Mauve. She reaches out and runs her fingers over first her father’s name, then her mother’s and takes a deep breath.

“Hi mom, hey dad. I’m sorry I didn’t think to bring anything to leave yesterday. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t even going to come, but I’m glad Silco talked me into it. It was nice, getting to be here for Pow and see where your names were, well, are…. We miss you guys….. I miss you guys. So much sometimes it hurts. I know it’s not your fault, but I blamed you for a while. Why did you both have to go? Why couldn’t one of you have stayed with me and Pow that night? It’s not fair...” Vi wraps her arms around herself, sniffling a little. “I like to think that maybe you’re watching over us, me and Pow. That you can see what we’re doing. I hope you’re proud of us. I know I’m proud of Powder. She’s so smart and funny, you would adore her, she’s such a great kid. You’ve missed so much time with her…. I sometimes wonder what life would have been like if you were still here, if we would be different.” She takes a shuddery breath in and scrubs her hands across her cheeks. “Man, look at me, I’m standing here crying, talking to a fucking statue.” Letting her arms hang limp again, Vi turns and slowly sinks down so she’s sitting, leaning against the stone. She pulls her sleeves down over her hands and uses them to wipe the remaining wetness from under her eyes, tips her head back and closes her eyes to gather her thoughts. She’s not in any rush, it being Sunday means she doesn’t have anything else to do today, she can sit here and have a moment. The sun is out, making it fairly warm and the sound of the river flowing under the bridge is pretty soothing and helping her tired mind to relax.

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It’s almost 1:30 when Caitlyn leaves the little coffee shop, latte in hand, heading back to her car. She needs to get a move on before her mother starts calling and leaving demanding voicemails about being prompt for her ‘appointment’ this afternoon. She’d just stopped to get herself a victory treat after winning her and Grayson’s informal competition. It always warrants an award as they’re on pretty level pegging, so she can never tell who will come out on top. She supposes that’s probably why she enjoys shooting with Grayson so much, she poses a challenge. Caitlyn is just pushing the button to unlock her car when she catches a flash of pink on the bridge. Focussing on the monument, she sees the girl from the day before. Her hair is blowing slightly across her face in the breeze and Cait thinks she has her eyes closed, which is slightly odd. Before she realises what she’s doing, her feet are heading towards the statue, stopping just out of reach of the girl. She seems to be asleep, though if her small frown and slight whimpers are anything to go by, it isn’t exactly peaceful. Caitlyn stands there watching for longer than she would care to admit, before reaching the toe of her boot out and gently tapping the other girl’s foot a few times. She stirs, blinking slightly, taking in her surroundings. When her eyes land on Caitlyn’s shoes she jumps to her feet, fists raised, looking as if she’s about to swing for whoever is closest to her. Caitlyn backs up a little, hands raised in surrender.

“Woah, are you okay?” The girl blinks again and shakes her head a bit before looking at Caitlyn’s face, eyes slightly narrowing.

“Who the hell are you?” Cait is slightly taken aback at her hostility, feeling her eyebrows draw together and her lips slightly pursing before realising that if she had been in a similar position and some random stranger had come over and woken her up, she would probably react in much the same way.

“Sorry. You were…” She doesn’t want to embarrass the girl by bringing up her impromptu nap, or the fact it sounded like she was having a nightmare. “Um, you must’ve fallen asleep, it didn’t look too comfortable and I didn’t want your neck to hurt when you woke up.” She relaxes a little as the girl marginally lowers her fists. Her gaze assessing Caitlyn, for what Cait doesn’t know. She holds out her hand.

“I’m Caitlyn.” The girl stares at Caitlyn’s hand for a few seconds before taking it in her own and shaking firmly.

“Vi. And thanks.” Caitlyn smiles. Vi. She has a name to put to the face. She wonders if it’s maybe short for Violet, which is a very pretty name. But she doesn’t ask. She tilts her head slightly, taking in the way Vi’s hair falls into her eyes and the scar in her eyebrow. She has a scar on her lip too, and a nose piercing, which really suits her. The sound of Vi clearing her throat makes Caitlyn blush and look up into her eyes. She’s smirking, one eyebrow raised and hell if it doesn’t cause butterflies to take flight in Cait’s tummy.

“Do you like coffee, Vi?” She asks before her brain can engage her filter and stop her. Of course she doesn’t want to have coffee with a total stranger after what was clearly an emotional moment of grief for her. God, don’t be stupid Caitlyn, Just as she’s about to backtrack on her offer she’s greeted with a smile and a “sure” from Vi. It takes a moment to register through Caitlyn’s shocked brain but, smiling back at the other girl, she leads her towards the coffee shop she had just left. There is a niggling thought in the back of her head that she’s forgetting something, but she doesn’t really care at the moment. She’s having coffee with a pretty girl, no, an incredibly stunning woman, everything else will wait.

“What would you like? I can get it, my treat to say sorry for waking you.” Vi smirks at her again before ordering a “Mocha please, no whipped cream, but I’ll take a sprinkle of cinnamon if they have it.” Caitlyn isn’t sure exactly why, but she commits the order to memory. Maybe she’s hoping there will be more chances for coffee in the future. Lost in thoughts as to what she wants to ask her coffee companion as she waits for the drink she’s startled by the shrill ringing of her cell phone. Silencing it without looking at the caller ID, she takes the coffee to the table Vi had selected and sits.

“So Caitlyn, you often interrupt people going about their days and bring them on dates?” She almost spits the mouthful of her latte across the table at the question. She’s fairly certain Vi is joking, if the smirk is anything to go by and she’s just about to defend her actions when her phone rings again. This time she looks at the caller ID only to see it’s her mother. Looking at the time and seeing 2:03 she swears under her breath.

“Shit. It’s my mother, do you mind if I-?” She gestures as if answering and when Vi nods she does. Holding the phone away from her ear a bit as she knows how unimpressed Cassandra is going to be.

“Caitlyn Kiramman. I told you to be home and ready for 2 o’clock today. Were my instructions not clear enough for you? I don’t know how many times I must express to you that you are no longer a child! I should be able to trust you with a task so simple as getting home on time. Jean-Pierre is here and ready, you will leave whatever it is that you are doing immediately and come home. Immediately Caitlyn, not in 5 minutes. Am I understood?”

Caitlyn looks apologetically at Vi, who is trying to hide her laughing behind her coffee cup, but failing miserably. Cait narrows her eyes, still smiling.

“Mother I was on time I promise, but-”

“I do not need excuses Caitlyn, I need my daughter, here, Post haste. Do. You. Understand me? And so help you if the next words out of your mouth are not ‘yes, mother’ young lady.” Rubbing between her eyebrows, feeling a headache coming on she replies.

“Yes mother, I’m coming n-” She’s met with a click as Cassandra hangs up. She can’t believe she forgot. She has just signed herself up for an evening of disappointed looks and aggravated comments over dinner. Joy. Dropping her phone on the table, Caitlyn looks across to see a sympathetic look on Vi’s face.

“So, I guess we’ll have to take a rain check on coffee?” Caitlyn huffs out a little laugh at the question. Rolling her eyes she pulls up her contacts app before sliding the phone across to Vi. “You asking for my number, cupcake?” Caitlyn frowns slightly.
“Cupcake?” Vi laughs, typing on Cait’s phone.
“You’re sweet. Like a cupcake.” She looks up, sliding Cait’s phone back. “You better go before your mom comes searching.” Cait huffs again.

“You’re joking, but she would actually send somebody. It’s happened before. More times than I am willing to admit.” She takes a deep breath. “I’ll text you so you have my number too, then we can go for this coffee. Is that okay?” Vi doesn’t hold back the laugh this time.
“A Beautiful girl asking me out for a coffee? That’s more than okay, cupcake. I’ll see you.” Cait stands and smiles at Vi before leaving. She turns and gives a little wave before getting into her car. She doesn’t know quite how she manages to drive home safely as her thoughts are completely occupied by the woman she had just left drinking her mocha in Cait’s favourite café, but she’s here. Running through the doors and almost colliding with councillor Kiramman herself. Cait bites her lip with nerves as her mother looks her up and down, she knows she’s flushed, she can feel how warm her cheeks are, she also knows she’s still slightly sweaty and definitely has dirty knees from kneeling on the ground shooting earlier. She braces for the dressing down she knows is coming. Opening her mouth to try and defend herself, she’s cut off before she can start.

“No. You do not get to make excuses for yourself right now Caitlyn. I am extremely disappointed in you and I don’t want to hear them. Imagine my absolute surprise when I phoned Chief Grayson over half an hour ago, only to be told you had both left the shooting range with plenty of time for you to make this fitting. Meaning, you purposefully missed it. I don’t understand why you must do this.”

“Maybe if you would let me speak I could tell you!” Her eyes widen, heart speeding up in her chest and she’s pretty sure if she looked in a mirror right now she would be very pale. She never talks back to her mother. It just slipped out, louder than she had intended too. There’s a member of staff on the stairs staring at her frozen in shock.

“My office Caitlyn. Now.” Shit. She can hear how hard her mother is trying to contain her rage, as soon as she’s in that office she’s going to explode. It’s not even like Caitlyn has a good excuse, ‘sorry mother, I got distracted by a beautiful woman and I just had to buy her a coffee and lost track of time.’ Yeah, that would go down well. She flinches at the click of her mother closing the door before she walks over to the window, keeping her back to her daughter.

“Sit.” Caitlyn does. “Go ahead.” Cait looks up confused.

“Pardon?” Cassandra still sounds angry and definitely looks tense but doesn’t turn to look at her. Just waving a hand in a motion telling Cait to speak.

“You wanted to explain yourself. Tell me what had you so busy that you couldn’t even call to let me know you were going to be late. I had to call you. Tell me Caitlyn, What excuse have you cooked up this time.” Cait frowns. This isn’t fair, she’s not usually late like this. It’s not like it’s a habit. It may have happened with her curfew as a teenager, but that is a wildly different situation. She honestly hadn’t meant to be late.

“I’m sorry, Mother. I stopped, to buy myself a coffee. I wanted something small to celebrate winning our competition-”

“It wasn’t a competition Caitlyn, you were shooting with your friend. We have coffee here, that is hardly a good excuse. I cannot believe how irresponsible you’re being. How can I entrust you to take over running the house one day if you can’t even be trusted with an appointment.” She does turn now, her shoulders still tense, eyes locked on to Caitlyn, so fierce it feels like she’s burning a hole through her. She’s not right. Cait tries, she does, but nothing is ever good enough.

“I TRIED!” She stops at her mother’s gasp. She has never raised her voice at either of her parents in temper. Not even as a child. Kiramman’s don’t shout. But her mother does raise her voice with her response.

“You do not ever address me with such disrespect. I keep telling you that you are not a child, but maybe I was wrong. And until you can learn to behave otherwise you will be treated as one. You are to go to the academy for your training then return home. No coffee stops, no meeting up with friends, if they want to see you then they come here. If you want to be a child then I can accommodate that.” Caitlyn stands and storms towards the door, hand stopping on the doorknob.

“You’re grounding me? And how do you plan to enforce that mother? I am 20 years old.” She hears her mother sigh.

“I can take away things you want Caitlyn. One word and you will never see a day of active duty in your career. You will be stuck to a desk. Safe.” At that she does turn, eyes wild.

“You’re threatening my career over this? It was one appointment for a stupid dress that I didn’t even get to choose myself. I would much rather buy a dress in town than go through all of this ridiculous pomp! You want to know what I was doing? I was with a girl mother. We were having coffee and I forgot about your tailor. I was on time, I was trying to keep you happy and be perfect, but like always, I fell short.” She turns back to the door and leaves, heading down the hallway, she hears her mother call, “Dinner is at 6.”
“I’m Not Hungry!” Rounding the corner and taking herself upstairs to her room, she throws herself on her bed and pulls her phone out to see a text from Vi.
Hey cupcake, hope everything went okay with your mom. I’m sorry if I got you in trouble. You free tomorrow for that coffee?

She smiles to herself and responds with a yes. Her mother can be damned if she thinks Caitlyn is going to allow herself to be grounded. She has a date tomorrow, wait until she tells Jayce!

Chapter Text

Vi sits in the living room, feet up on the coffee table, smiling at her phone. Caitlyn had said yes to coffee tomorrow. A beautiful girl actually wanted to go out with her. Dreaming about how their date will go, Vi doesn’t notice her brother until he speaks right next to her.

“What’re you so happy about?” Vi drops her phone in her lap, making sure the screen is off before looking at Mylo.

“I’m not. Aren’t you supposed to be upstairs helping Vander?” He reaches for Vi’s cell phone, completely ignoring what she said about being upstairs. Vi just manages to move it before his fingers can grab it, but he redirects and grabs hold of her arm instead. She tries to get away, but it’s an odd angle, not offering her much leverage. She pulls instead, making him fall onto the couch, she grabs a handful of his hair, pushing his head onto the couch cushion and pressing her knee into his back. Not to hurt him, she’s just playing, but she knows he won’t be able to get out of her hold until he surrenders.

“What the fuck Mylo!” Vi is cut off by the door opening, Vander standing there, arms folded. She knows this looks bad for her, she still has Mylo struggling in her hold as she practically kneels on him. She lets go, her hands flying into her pockets, trying her very best to look innocent, hoping he didn’t see.

“I’m just gonna-” She goes to squeeze past Vander, but he won’t move. Instead, he puts his hand on her shoulder and directs her back to the couch.

“Sit. Both of you.” Mylo does immediately, Vi frowns at her dad, eyes flicking to the door, debating whether or not she would make it before deciding she’d better not try and perching on the arm of the couch.

“What are you both playing at! You’re old enough to know better than to be fighting. You’re not even supposed to be down here Mylo. Get back up to the kitchen now, you’re washing dishes for the rest of your shift.” He gets up with an “aw man” but does as he’s told. Vander watches him leave before turning to Vi. “And you! I gave you the day off but if you can’t stay out of trouble then you can join me working the bar.”

Vi tenses, her gaze meeting his hard stare. “That’s not fair! I was staying out of trouble. Mylo was trying to-”

“I don’t care Vi. You’re almost 20, he’s 17. You should be leading by example not rising to his bait. They copy you, all of them. They look up to you. You start thinking with your fists and they’re going to start copying that too. Is that what you want? Your siblings fighting all the time? Because I don’t.” He sighs. “Go change and get your apron.” Vi can’t hold back the tears of rage, angrily wiping her fist across her cheeks.

“No, You promised! This isn’t fair! Mylo tries to steal my phone and I’m getting punished? No way. Screw this.” She stands up and runs to the stairs, ducking under Vander as he reaches for her and running out the door. She can hear him shouting her name, but she can’t decide whether he sounds mad or upset so she ignores him, running up the street towards the bridge. She doesn’t bother trying to keep up with wiping her tears. She hates crying but she’s done so much of it the past two days it’s almost laughable. Vi doesn’t know where she’s going, anywhere away from The Last Drop for now seems like a good idea. She can’t understand why everything is always her fault, just because she’s the oldest. Like Mylo hadn’t known exactly what he was doing. She loves Vander, she knows that her life would have been so much harder if he hadn’t taken her and Powder in, but sometimes he makes it really difficult to like him.

Before she realises where she is, she’s stopping. Her feet tired and breath hard from her running. She turns and takes in the soft orange light of the memorial lamp, the flowers and things left at it’s base have an eery sort of glow to them. She looks to see the coffee shop Caitlyn had taken her to earlier is still open and heads that way. It’s chilly out here and she had neglected to grab a jacket on her way out, being in a hurry and all. Ordering herself some tea, she’s far too wound up for coffee right now, she sits at one of the tables and gets her phone out of her pocket. There’s a few missed calls from Vander, one from Sevika and a few texts from Powder, all of which she ignores. There are also 4 messages from Caitlyn that she immediately reads, a small smile on her face. They had been exchanging messages all evening, just getting to know each other a little bit. She had told Cait about her job at The Drop and about how she liked motorbikes, Cait had told her about going shooting and that she was in the Enforcers Academy. But Vi hadn’t responded for a little while, due to the argument with Vander.

Hey, what time do you want to meet up tomorrow? I’m training until 1:00, so I can come after that? Or we can do earlier :)

Vi? Are you still up for meeting? If you’ve changed your mind then we can meet another time. It doesn’t have to be so soon…

Are you okay? It’s been 30 minutes…

Vi?

Vi mentally kicks herself for worrying her new friend and quickly types out her response.

1:00 is great! Sorry, had a thing with my dad. I’m definitely still up for meeting, you think you can get rid of me that easy cupcake?

Almost immediately her phone starts to buzz in her hand with a video call from Caitlyn. Vi answers, smiling.

“Hey cupc-”

“You had a thing with your dad? Are you okay? What happened? Are you still at the coffee shop?” Caitlyn is squinting at her phone with the last question, as if she’s trying to make sense of Vi’s surroundings. Vi clears her throat, her free hand rubbing the back of her neck.

“Um, not still. I came back. Just got here actually.” She lets out a nervous chuckle. “I kind of had an argument with my dad and ran. I ended up here and thought why not have a drink.” Caitlyn narrows her eyes in thought, then smiles, showing off the little gap between her front teeth that makes Vi’s knees weak.

“Don’t move”

“Wait, what?” Before she can ask why, Caitlyn has hung up and Vi is just sitting there staring into a hot mug of tea trying not to think about how she’s going to go home and what she’s going to say when she gets there.

----------   -----------  ----------  ----------  ----------

Cait slides her window open, lifting one leg over the windowsill to try and reach the old tree next to it. She can hear her mother downstairs so leaving via the front door is definitely not going to happen. She used to do this a lot when she was younger, not necessarily to sneak out, more to go and play in the gardens of the estate, or to swim in their lake, she used to love night swimming. But it’s been a long time and, somehow, the tree seems further away. She’ll have to ask the gardener to stop trimming it, her mother’s doing, she’s sure. Finally getting a good spot for her foot, she pushes away from the window and grabs onto the tree trunk, starting to climb down, being sure to stay quiet. She has absolutely no idea how she’s going to get back up to her window, but that sounds like future Caitlyn’s problem. Right now, she’s going to meet Vi, and she can’t help the huge grin spreading across her face.

She stares at her car for way too long, wishing she had listened to Jayce and gone with a small electric one rather than the SUV she had chosen. If she starts her engine her mother will no doubt hear it. Cait looks at her dad’s Audi, then to the spare key he gave her “just in case.” His car is quiet. If she’s not out for long then he never needs to know, and she knows he wouldn’t mind anyway. Provided her mother hadn’t filled him in on her house arrest. Rolling her eyes, she unlocks the Audi and gets behind the wheel, the engine purrs, practically silent as she pulls down the long driveway and out of the gates. She can’t stop the happy dance she does as she’s driving toward the town centre. She’s going to see Vi!

Cait sees the shock of pink hair sitting at one of the tables and takes a minute to watch the other woman before she notices her. She looks sad, like she’s been crying, and Cait’s heart drops. It should be illegal to make someone so handsome cry. She watches as Vi picks up her cup and takes a sip, screwing her nose up a little before putting the cup back down and adding some honey. Cait laughs at the cute little faces she’s making, before deciding she’s creeped on her enough and heading inside.

Vi startles as Caitlyn pulls out the chair opposite her, but a smile that lights up her whole face quickly replaces her scowl when she sees who it is. Caitlyn decides that this is her favourite expression of Vi’s and that she will do whatever it takes to see it as often as possible.

“Caitlyn? What are you doing here?” She waves over one of the waitresses and orders them both a pot of whatever tea Vi is already drinking, before answering the other girl.

“You looked sad. I didn’t want you to be here by yourself so I thought I would join you. Is that okay? If I’m intruding, then just say and I’ll leave. I can wait for tomorrow, or later if that’s too soon for you.” Vi’s shaking her head as she reaches across to take Cait’s hand in hers. They’re calloused and bigger than her own, but still soft. Cait decides she likes the feeling of her hands in Vi’s.

“No, I’m happy you’re here. Actually I was starting to feel pretty lonely.” Vi’s phone buzzes on the table, Cait manages to see the name Vander before she turns it over, her smile dropping a bit. She can see that Vi is suddenly a little bit uncomfortable, remembering that she said something about her dad. Cait doesn’t mean to pry, but she knows talking can help sometimes, even to girls you’ve just met.

“Are you okay? You said you had a ‘thing’ with your dad. Was that him?” Vi nods, running one of her hands through her hair. “Do you want to talk about it?”

----------  ----------  ----------  ----------  ----------  ----------

Vi sighs and wraps both hands around the mug in front of her. She looks at Caitlyn, her head tilted, a small smile on her lips, just waiting to listen to what Vi has to say. Not pushing or trying to force her, just waiting. Giving her space to collect her thoughts before she dives into what happened.

“It’s silly really. I was arguing with Mylo and Vander blamed me, He wanted me to work tonight after already promising me the night off, so I got mad, and I just ran. I didn’t know where I was going, just running until I got to the monument. Then I saw the coffee shop was still open and I was freezing so I came in for a drink, you called pretty much as soon as I sat down. I guess I just needed somewhere to blow off some steam.” Cait reaches across the table and squeezes Vi’s wrist; it’s an oddly comforting gesture.

“That sucks, but I’m glad you’re here and I got to see you.” They both smile a little before Cait asks, “So Vander is your dad? Why do you call him Vander?” Vi can feel the blush rise to her cheeks. It’s not like it’s a secret that Vander isn’t really her dad. Pretty much everyone in Zaun knows that all Vander’s kids are orphans, but she was hoping to keep her baggage hidden from Cait for maybe a little bit longer.

“Um, He’s not really my dad. He took me in when my parents died.” Vi wants to kick herself when she sees the smile drop from Cait’s face. Watching as her eyes flick out of the window, knowing she’s looking at the statue sitting on the bridge out there and realising what happened.

“Shit, I’m sorry Vi. I shouldn’t have asked.” Vi shakes her head.

“No, cupcake. Don’t be silly, it’s fine. It was a long time ago.” Caitlyn bites her bottom lip, and Vi can practically see the questions circling around in her head. “You can ask me about it. I can see you have questions.” She smiles as the other girl nods.

“The girl you were with yesterday, at the ceremony, she’s an orphan too?” Vi nods.

“My sister, Powder. She was really little when our parents died. She doesn’t really remember”

“And you said you were arguing with Mylo? Is he your brother?” Vi thinks for a second before answering this one, deciding how much of her siblings she should share with Cait, after all she is still practically a stranger.

“He lives with Vander to. I would consider him my brother, but it’s not by blood. There’s four of us, I’m the oldest, then Clagger, Mylo and Powder’s the youngest. We all lost our parents. Mine were in the mine, so was Clagger’s dad. Mylo’s mom was a single mom then she got sick and asked Vander to look after him. It’s weird talking about it. Everyone in Zaun just knows, I’ve never had to explain it before. I guess that’s what happens when your adoptive dad runs the most successful bar that side of the river.” They sit looking quietly for a few minutes, Caitlyn digesting this new information and Vi hoping that she doesn’t just get up and leave.

“What about you cupcake? You got any brothers or sisters?” Cait laughs, humourlessly.

“No. I always wished for a sibling growing up. I asked for a baby every Christmas and birthday until my mother told me point blank that it was never going to happen and to give up. She was never really the warm hugs and bedtime stories type, she just needed an heir. I just wanted somebody to play with. I suppose that’s one of the reasons I’m so good at shooting, I could do it alone.” Vi’s heart breaks for her a little. Baby Caitlyn sounds like she was so lonely.

“You never played out with your friends?” Vi can see by Caitlyn’s expression that the answer is no.

“I didn’t really have any. My mother hired the best tutors she could find, wanted me to have the best education possible, so there were never any other children around. I wasn’t allowed to leave the grounds without a guard, which made even going to the park incredibly difficult. I had a treehouse that my father built, and a swing. I used to stay in there for hours reading and dreaming up worlds that I could explore.” Vi feels her eyes widen a little as Caitlyn speaks. She wasn’t allowed to leave the grounds? She had a guard? They certainly grew up very differently. She thinks back to the ceremony, to the Councillor giving the speech and unveiling the statue. The resemblance is almost uncanny, of course she would look just like her mother. Caitlyn Kiramman has a nice ring to it, she supposes.

“Your mom gave the speech yesterday, right? Councillor Kiramman? It was a nice speech, made my sister cry.” Vi takes a sip from her mug and almost chokes at the look on Caitlyn’s face. She looks shocked and confused all at once.

“How did you know she was my mother? I didn’t tell you my name, I didn’t want to scare you off.” Vi does laugh at that.

“You didn’t think I would be able to tell? Cupcake, I hate to break it to you, but you kind of look a lot like your mom. I mean, I’ve never seen your dad, but his genes really didn’t seem to put up much of a fight. Then of course there’s the casual mention of not being able to leave your house without a guard. The only people I’ve ever seen with personal security are the Piltovan Councillors. It wasn’t that hard to put together. But don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere. I want to get to know you, that includes your name and your friends and, maybe, eventually, your parents. You have to try harder than that to scare me off cupcake.” Vi looks at Caitlyn, taking in the way her smile makes her eyes go slightly more almond shaped, the gap between her front teeth on display again and her cheeks slightly rosy with a blush. She’s just about to speak again when her phone buzzes for the fifth time. She looks to see Vander’s name, again, and sighs.

“I should probably answer this.” Cait nods and goes to stand up, but Vi grabs her hand “Can you stay? Please?” She nods again and sits back in her chair, sharing the last of the tea between their cups. Vi watches as she adds milk to her own then reaches for the honey to add to Vi’s cup before answering her phone. She doesn’t know why, but Caitlyn knowing how she takes her tea makes her feel warm inside, like she cares.

“Hello?” Vi screws her eyes shut, waiting to be shouted at, but it doesn’t come.

“Vi? Oh thank Janna. Violet, where are you? I’ve had Sevika and Silco out for hours and neither of them could find you. You weren’t answering your phone, you wouldn’t even text Powder back! Are you okay? Tell me where you are, please. I’ll send Sevika to pick you up. We’ve been so worried.” Vi can hear how close to tears he is, it makes her stomach sink. The warm feeling from moments ago completely gone. She had been ignoring her family thinking they were cross with her for running, she never imagined they would be worried.

“I’m okay. I’ll be home soon. I don’t need a ride though, I could do with the walk. Clear my head a little.” She’s not above a little guilt trip. Vander hurt her feelings today, she’s not about to just drop it because he feels bad. He should, maybe next time he’ll listen. Vi knows it’s slightly petty, but she doesn’t care.

“Okay, if you’re sure you’re alright. Do you know when you’ll be back?” Vi clenches her free hand, but relaxes it when she feels Caitlyn place her hand on top. She looks up into the other girl’s face, her eyes somehow look supportive, she’s got a little smile too. Vi doesn’t know how but it feels like they’ve known each other for years, not just a day. Like she could trust Caitlyn with all of her and she would accept it.

“I’m not sure. Probably soon. You don’t have to wait up for me.” She feels a little mean saying that, but it’s the truth. She doesn’t expect him to stay up waiting for her to get there, not after he probably had an awful night’s sleep on the couch. “Love you, dad.” She hears him cough, but knows he’s definitely trying to disguise a sob.

“Love you too, Kiddo.” She hangs up, staring at her blank phone screen until she feels Caitlyn slide into the chair next to her and put an arm around her shoulders.

“I know you said you could walk, but I would be happy to give you a ride home. It’s getting late and I would feel more comfortable knowing you got home safely.” Vi smiles and turns the hand under Cait’s so she can hold it.

“I would love that cupcake. Thank you.” Cait smiles and leans in to kiss Vi on the cheek before standing and heading to the register to pay for their tea. Vi watches her, blushing, her fingers grazing where Caitlyn’s lips had just been, wondering how on earth she got so lucky to meet a woman like her.

----------  ----------  ----------  ----------

Cait chuckles at Vi as she marvels over her father’s car. She’s like a small child, pushing every button and playing with the radio.

“This is a nice car cupcake. Pretty sure it’s not what you were driving this afternoon though. How many cars do you have? Do you have any sports cars? If you have a Porsche you have to take me for a ride.” Caitlyn finds Vi’s excited rambling adorable. The Kiramman’s do have a Porsche, a 911 turbo to be precise. She’ll have to borrow the keys and surprise Vi with a drive one day. If her reaction to the Audi is anything to go by, she would be over the moon with w trip in the Porsche. Maybe she could bring a picnic.

All too soon she’s pulling up outside a tall building with a sign reading, The Last Drop. She sighs, knowing that this is the end of their night.

“Cheer up cupcake. You’ll see me tomorrow, remember? Coffee date? Although, we technically already did that. We’ll try not to be interrupted by parents tomorrow, actually get to finish our date.” Hearing Vi calling it a date makes Caitlyn blush. She had been thinking of it the same way, but the confirmation is nice. She leans over the console to kiss Vi on the cheek again, but Vi turns to say something at the same moment and she ends up pecking her on the lips instead.

“I’m so sorry, I swear I was going to kiss your cheek.” Vi smiles then reaches up to cup Caitlyn’s cheek in her large palm, before leaning forward and kissing her. It’s quick, but it’s enough to paint a shy smile on Cait’s face as she watches Vi get out of the car. She turns to wave before walking into the bar. As soon as she’s out of sight, Cait squeals and kicks her feet. She kissed her. Vi had kissed her. She can’t wait for tomorrow, she needs to go home and call Jayce, she needs his advice on what to wear.