Archive of Our Own

“Anything could happen tomorrow, so tonight is for drinking.”

At least, that was Loris' proposal, and he was very convincing. Frankly, Vi thought he was probably just itching to dig into the Kiramman stores of fancy liquor. And honestly? Vi couldn’t blame him; it was good shit. Plus, after watching her drown herself for months, he’d been so glad to see her put back together again, Vi couldn’t disappoint him a second time. She definitely hadn’t apologized enough for how badly she’d sucked back then; memories - booze soaked and bruised - rose to the surface. Vi did her best to tamp them back down by aggressively clearing her throat. It half worked.

So, when Loris proposed, Vi seconded, Caitlyn reluctantly agreed, and now all five of them had gathered in the library, sampling a choice collection of Ionia’s finest liquors. But the pall that clung to the air dampened any bright spot - even with the liquor flowing, it wasn’t a party. 

Vi’d stepped in to play bartender - Vander’s prodigy in every way - mixing every drink. Wasn’t quite enough of an apology, she knew, but given that this could be their last night literally ever, Vi figured it was a moot point anyway and kept pouring.  

Tomorrow. Tomorrow loomed over the former Hellfire dream team, even when they were trying to avoid directly talking about it. Loris contentedly sipped on his bourbon, Maddie nursed a second Mai Tai, while Steb had finished his vodka stinger and was stoically munching his way through his fiftieth tiny sandwich. The conversation was light. Sparse. Comments about texture and taste removed none of the tension settling hard and harsh over the Kiramman library - a blanket of fog rolling over a bay of terror. Nevertheless, they tried their best to keep things light.

“Whew, Vi,” Maddie giggled loopily. “You sure know how to concoct a cocktail, don't'cha?” Vi smirked, wholly unsurprised the Junior Officer lacked any tolerance for alcohol. 

“My dad wasn’t just good at hitting things and pissing off Pilties,” she mused, pouring herself a heavy three fingers of a particularly peaty scotch she’d found gathering dust in the collection. She made her way over to the rest of the squad in the cozy armchairs that dotted the giant library, and continued as she settled into her own chair nearest to the bar. “Not that he was teaching me how to tend bar, but you tend to pick some things up when you live in one for a decade.”

“Cheers to your da, then,” Maddie loped, wobbly leaning over from her seat on the sofa across from Vi to set her glass on the table.

Caitlyn, seated next to Maddie on the sofa and nursing a fine glass of rich, ruby red Ionian wine, deftly slipped a marble coaster underneath Maddie’s glass. So softly, Vi noted, she doubted anyone else had even seen it happen, least of all Maddie. You can take the princess down to the underground, but you can’t take her out of the castle, Vi mused. 

“I’ve a need for the powder room,” Maddie lilted, shakily getting to her feet. Stabilizing, she began trotting out to the hallway. 

“Don’t get lost,” Vi teased. “Princess here has a mighty big castle.” She caught the echo of chuckle from Maddie’s direction as she departed, and nearly a full snort from Loris, who had taken to sniff-testing some of the more untouched bottles on the bar top. 

“Hope she doesn’t fall in,” Vi cracked once the doors clicked shut. “Piltie toilet’s can be intimidating.” This time Loris full out guffawed, and having found a satisfactory smelling booze from among the collection, settled back into his overstuffed leather chair between Vi and Steb. 

A huffy breath from Cait piqued Vi’s attention. 

“At least she knows the difference between a bidet and a toilet,” the hostess grumbled with an edge that wasn’t exactly friendly. Vi cracked a lopsided grin, dramatically slapping one hand over her chest like she’d been struck true. 

“You wound me, Cupcake! I’ll have you know, I’m very civilized.” Vi immediately slammed back the rest of her scotch in a petulant kinda show.

That was a mistake. Vi’s throat burned instantly. The thickness of the liquor combined with its fiery bitterness made for a poor shooter. Her eyes watered as she valiantly held back the impulse to hack and cough. Steb and Loris both looked like they were on the verge of cackling while Caitlyn glared.

”That’s 50-year amber stone rye!” Caitlyn squawked. “It’s meant to be a sipper!” 

Abandoning any sense or care, Vi shrugged and gave into the cough that tore through her chest. This time, Loris actually howled, and even Steb cracked a smile. Through watery eyes and gasping breath, Vi showed a single finger their way for laughing at her pain. Steb returned the gesture and Loris helpfully clapped her on the back, ignoring the gesture and the glare. 

Caitlyn rolled her eyes at the display, huffing again before pulling a haughty sip of her own drink. Still, though, Vi couldn’t help but catch the small smile dancing across Cait’s lips as she swirled the glass before raising it. Vi eyed the pulse and plush of those lips against the crystal - the smooth pull of sweet wine, and the delicate roll of her swallow down the column of her throat.

Fuck me, Vi thought to herself, heat and want settling into her gut, fingertips itching to join the fray. 

Cait lowered her glass, and her front teeth sank softly into her bottom lip. Her free hand drew Vi’s attention back to those plush lips. Caitlyn flipped her wrist, gently tracing the pad of her thumb below her mouth and catching a drop of the wine that had run off the edge of the glass. Vi watched as Caitlyn dipped that wine wetted thumb between those lips, and Vi couldn’t help but remember the feel of those lips against her own, pressing in with hunger as-

”Didn’t get lost,” came the singsong call from Maddie as she stepped back into the room. “Didn’t fall in either, even washed my hands t’boot,” she finished, sparkling a stupid wink towards Vi.

Vi shook herself out of her stupor, hastily checking to make sure no one had seen her hyper-focus on Caitlyn’s mouth. Steb was impossible to read as ever, but seemed unperturbed while munching on a stray slice of cucumber. Cait had been looking over at Maddie’s re-entrance, so Vi was safe on that account, and Maddie - with Caitlyn’s immediate assistance - had busied herself with returning used glasses and plates to the bar to be bussed away by any of the many Kiramman staff.

That was where Vi’s luck ran out. Loris was staring straight at her, an awful combination of a knowing smirk, a pointed eyebrow, and something a little too close to pity in his eyes made Vi grimace in return before shooting a subtle middle finger his way.

She got her own subtle middle finger from him in return, hidden behind his glass as he pointedly looked away. A shaggy shaking of his head in mock disappointment signaled her secret was safe with him, so all was well.

And having someone who’d seen you at your worst - who gave shit as good as he got it - was kinda nice, Vi thought as Caitlyn passed by, retaking her seat across the circle from her. At her shittiest point - blacking out, punching strangers, vomiting all over herself and the sidewalk - through it all, Loris had been kind. He started calling Vi’s blacked out, vicious alter-ego “Clematis, cuz it’s the worst kind of Violet,” he’d explained through a chuckle one early afternoon when Vi was still sober enough to appreciate it. “And if you’re real nasty, I’m calling you Clem.” She shook her head in mild amusement at the memory, as Maddie finished up her bussing and crossed the distance over to the table.

Not just the table, Vi noticed suddenly. Maddie had gone past her own half of the sofa and straight over to lean into Caitlyn’s. Vi sank into her own ultra lush leather armchair, transfixed as Maddie reached down to cup Cait’s cheek, gently caressed it with her thumb, and tilted her head over toward Caitlyn’s ear. 

“Let’s go to bed, darling.” 

The murmured sound floated into the space just loud enough for Vi and Loris to hear, before Maddie’s lips pulsed against Caitlyn’s cheek. 

Impossibly blue eyes held Vi’s astonished gaze. A feeling like a massive gauntlet squeezing her heart overrode any ability to read whatever she might have seen flashing in Cait’s stare.

But Vi couldn’t dwell on the crushing pressure in her chest, nor the meaty squish of her heart falling out her own ass. If she’d taken the time to look at Loris before reacting, she might have seen the Oh, shit, look that manifested in concern. But, Vi had always been the type of girl to act first and think later, and this situation was no different. Jumping up out of her plush smoking chair, she managed to get some air underneath her and shouted before she could hear if Cait had responded to Maddie’s suggestion.

“Shots! We’re doing shots! It’s time for shots,” Vi shouted quickly. Ignoring what she was certain was now a deeply concerned look from Loris, she plowed ahead - moving to the bar as she did. “Maybe a little dancing. Definitely some toasts. But shots first. Let’s go.” 

“Vi,” Caitlyn started. 

Vi really shouldn’t’ve. But she did. She made the colossal error of turning her attention to Caitlyn - whose blue eyes shined across the room. Her gaze. That look - tinged with… something, Vi registered under a haze of panic. Sorrow? Apology? Annoyance? Vi really didn’t care to parse that at this particular moment, and instead busied herself with rummaging through the bar for small glasses. 

“We probably shouldn’t,” Loris offered - having sensed the danger, but still followed Vi to the bar. 

“Shots?” Maddie giggled nervously. Vi tightened her grasp drastically on the glass as the laugh reverberated, but she managed to stifle the impulse to break something and relaxed her hand. “I haven’t done shots since before Officer’s Academy.”

“What better time to do them than now, right?” Vi barked in a strained voice. “Steb! You’re the tiebreaker here, Councillor. What’s the decision?”

He chewed thoughtfully, his eyes flicking between Vi, Caitlyn, and Loris. Vi was peripherally aware of Loris mouthing don’t at Steb, but if Steb clocked it he didn’t seem to agree. He lifted his narrow fingers to point toward Vi, his eyebrows arching up high on his forehead. The point transitioned to a stable thumbs up, and nodded curtly. Vi slapped her free hand against the bar top, whirling back to her rummaging so fast she barely clocked the way Cait had pressed her palms into her own thighs, or the way Maddie placed her own directly on top of them. Caitlyn’s other hand sandwiched over Maddie’s absent-mindedly, nimble fingers squeezing once and releasing quickly. What’s the matter, don’t wanna share PDA in front of the soldiers? Vi thought nastily. Cait’s sudden reservation somehow made the crushing sensation worse, like she thought Vi was too fragile to handle it. As if the hand holding being short meant Vi wouldn’t cause a scene. Cait pointedly got to her feet, moving swiftly towards Vi at the bar. 

Ah, shit, Vi thought, here comes the pity parade. She quickly busied herself by pretending to inspect five identical shot glasses, but Cait’s path stayed true and she planted firmly at the bar.

“Vi,” Caitlyn said sternly, but gently, “Are you certain that this the best course of action?” Vi set the glasses across the countertop, evenly spaced as she uncorked the clear liquor she’d scrounged to distract from the crushing blow to her chest. 

“Of course not,” she said with false cheer, her heart still having absconded via ass. Not like you care anyway, Vi’s brain added cruelly. Vi busied herself with drink pouring, sliding Loris one of the glasses and holding one up to Caitlyn as well. Even in presenting her the glass, Vi stubbornly refused to look Cait in the eyes, knowing the look she’d find there. Those same nimble fingers that had just a moment ago wrenched Vi’s gut now wrapped softly around her wrist instead of the proffered glass.

“Really,” Cait breathed, her eyes brimming with concern as Vi struggled fruitlessly to dodge that knowing stare. She focused as much as she could on the plum scent on Cait’s breath mingling with the lingering scent of apricots from her fancy bath soap as Cait pressed on. “You don’t have to-”

“She can be such a worrywart sometimes, can’t she?” Maddie’s brogue cut through the tension as she blithely bounded up to the counter. She deftly grabbed the glass out of Vi’s hand, seemingly ignoring the muted confrontation occurring in front of her. Or, maybe just oblivious, Vi mused to herself. She shook free of Cait’s loose grasp with a shrug. 

“See, Cupcake? All shiny here.” She raised her own glass up, moving to initiate the new game. Cait seemed to deflate slightly, her shoulders slumping in defeat as she picked up the last unclaimed glass from the bar. 

”A toast off,” Vi proposed. “Hell, since this might be the last ones we ever get, make it the filthiest toast you got.” She didn’t dare look at Cait at this moment, but she could certainly feel some kind of pointed energy coming from her. Likewise, Loris seemed apprehensive at best, but if someone else could get the energy rolling, Vi was pretty sure he’d at least keep up the momentum. Starting with Steb was, well, a non-starter, and Vi really hadn’t planned this far ahead herself, so only one option remained. 

“You’re up first, kid,” she said, gesturing at Maddie with her shot. She hadn’t meant to emphasize the word kid as much as she did, but she was already struggling not to lose her cool enough as it was. Maddie, at least, once again hadn’t seemed to have noticed anything amiss. Ignorance is bliss, Vi thought ruefully. 

“I’ve not done this in a while, so I guess I’ve only got a simple one: Here’s to a long life and a happy one; a quick death and an easy one; A pretty girl-” Maddie leaned a shoulder in to Caitlyn’s as she said it, and it was all Vi could do to avoid grimacing noticeably. Still, Maddie continued blithely, “-and an honest one. A cold drink and another one. Chin chin.”  They all threw back their shots, Cait wincing at the sting of the alcohol as Vi immediately poured another round. She’d correctly guessed that Loris was going to swing with the energy; his toast was far more lighthearted and silly.

“May the splinters always point floor-ways as you slide down the banister a’ life.” Glasses clinked, another slight cough from Cait as they all drank. Vi poured another, although she did note in the back of her rational mind that Maddie had begun to teeter. Caitlyn took a bit longer to decide on a toast, the alcohol likely beginning to affect her otherwise razor ship wit, but hers was just as easy. 

“To the stars that guide us,” she offered wistfully after a few moments of staring hard into her glass. “May we follow them home.” Clink. Drink. Vi almost mechanically was already pouring the next round.

Steb simply raised his glass in front of him. They’d become accustomed to his gestures pretty clearly by this point, so there was no hesitation as they all mirrored him. He waited as they matched up, and then he quickly brought his glass down to the table. Everyone followed, and once they arrived, he moved to the next position: his shot glass in the center of their configuration about the bar. Without a moment of delay, they all joined again, clinking glass against glass before throwing the fourth round of drinks back.

Vi’s turn at last, and so far nothing had really relieved the immense pressure in her chest. Everything was hazy around the edges, and worse, nobody had been filthy enough. Even still, the energy was now clearly flagging after the fourth round. Steb and Loris leaned heavy on the bar, while Maddie’s forehead was planted against the wood. She might have been snoozing, but Vi couldn’t be bothered to check. Even if she had been concerned, her focus was firmly attached to Cait, whose gaze was just as pointedly fixed on her. The edges of the room were certainly slipping out of focus for her, but not Cait. 

All Vi could see was the blaze of those eyes: Azure, piercing, plus something behind the gaze that Vi couldn’t begin to decipher. As Vi geared up to offer her toast, she clocked Cait’s arm crossing the space between her and Maddie. No doubt Cait’s hand gently cradling the small of Maddie’s back, Vi’s brain threw at her sourly, her heart finding its way back up her ass and into her throat instead.

Maybe the fourth round had knocked away her last bit of caution. Maybe it was the likelihood of death skyrocketing after the sun came up. Maybe she was just feeling like a petty bitch and wanted to vent. Whatever the reason, Vi steadily raised her glass, aiming directly at those blazing, shining blue eyes to offer her toast.

“To your two favorite things: gunpowder ‘n’ gash.” Caitlyn’s eyes shot wide in shock and anger, but Vi continued. “Live by one, die by the other. Love the smell a’ both.” Vi polished off her shot with ease, holding Caitlyn’s infuriated gaze all the while. It was mean, and it was wrong, but god damn was it satisfying.

“Fuck’s sake, Clem,” Loris muttered quietly enough only Vi could hear. Steb blinked furiously, pointedly avoiding eye contact as both men threw their shots back in an awkward way.

Caitlyn, however, didn’t bother. She evenly set her glass down to the table - next to Maddie’s similarly untouched shot glass - before placing two fingers at Maddie’s pulse. Caitlyn’s jaw clenched and worked, eyes never leaving Vi’s stubborn gaze. Any of the warmth Vi had managed to clutch back to her chest by her defiant toast was immediately sliced away by Cait’s tone as she finally spoke. 

“Gentlemen, would you help her to my room?” Steb and Loris stiffened, as though they’d been suddenly roped into something they’d had no interest in, but Cait continued icily without breaking her stare-down with Vi. “Out the door turn right, fifth door on the left. She needs to sleep it off.” A tense moment of silence passed, but the boys nodded and placed their glasses onto the wooden tabletop. 

Suddenly feeling a bit like a cornered animal, Vi licked her lips and nodded absently. She finally mustered the strength to break Cait’s glare before rounding the bar and heading toward the door. She’d finished what she’d started, the damage was done. She’d not even made it a full step away from the counter before Cait’s voice rang out, hard as flint, and grabbed her by the throat.

”Vi,” she bit, colder than the river Pilt in midwinter, “may I have a minute?” Anger overrode Vi’s self-preservation instinct in that moment.

”Sure, Cupcake. You may.” Vi sneered. Even buzzed as she was, Vi didn’t miss the way Caitlyn’s hands curled into fists at that shot. A brutal silence hung in the air as they waited for Steb and Loris to configure the smallest soldier between the two of them to take her to bed. To Cait’s bed, Vi thought derisively, before suppressing it so violently she thought she might have created a new kinda brain damage.

One last disapproving look from Loris was all Vi got in support as the boys left with their cargo. Caitlyn moved quick; swiftly locking the door behind them as they did.

'Cool. A cage match,’ Vi mused wryly, huffing with frustration. The oppressive silence now broken by the huff, Cait wasted no time and whirled on her heel, whipping up a twister of cobalt hair and fury. 

“And just where do you get off?” Cait barked with a sudden increase in volume and anger. Vi reacted before she could consider the consequences. 

”Wherever the fuck I want.” she snapped. 

”I mean, how dare you?” Cait shot back, her face screwing up with rage. “You absolute…piglet!”  

“Did you just call me a piglet?!” Vi couldn’t help but to snort with derision. Caitlyn closed the distance between them, clipping consonants in her righteous fury.

“If one is willing to wallow in filth and behave in an infantile manner, then one is going to be addressed as such.”

“Oh, get off your high horse, Commander,” Vi spat. She knew the title wasn’t any source of pride for Caitlyn, but she wanted to make sure Caitlyn knew how much of an insult she meant by it.

“Don’t call me that,” Caitlyn snarled, straightening up indignantly. Smirking in victory, Vi pressed the attack.

“Well, if the big, stupid hat fits, Commander!”

“ENOUGH!” Any semblance of restraint was gone from Caitlyn, now practically shouting as she stepped closer. “Enough with the name calling. What do you think you’re doing? Riling me up by bullying a subordinate? Spewing filth in front of your colleagues? Digging under my skin to provoke some kind of reaction? What do you want from me, Vi?”

Well, that was the question, wasn’t it? Vi seethed internally. Her jaw worked furiously, her anger roiling up from her gut. 

“What do I want from you, Cupcake? Nothing.” The lie burned her own mouth, but the way Cait’s glare faltered against it led to Vi savoring the pyrrhic victory. It wasn’t enough, and Vi forged ahead before Caitlyn could recover.  

“Actually, you know what? I want answers, that’s what I want. Maddie? Are you fucking serious? Junior Officer Nolen,” Vi sang mockingly, her title and last name a parody of Maddie’s voice, and launched another assault. “She’s a fucking stuffed poro! A gods damned seat filler. That's what you’re settling for, Darling?” Caitlyn didn’t respond to the obvious bait, but Vi saw her strikes were landing, so she dug even deeper. 

“Fine. I don’t need answers. You picked the first mousy coworker in arm’s reach, and I’m only here cuz if Piltover falls, so does Zaun.” She took a deep, steadying breath. “I don’t need anything from you. I know nothing changes if I bite it out there tomorrow. You come back to this big, fancy house, and live every day like you never met me at all. Shouldn’t be too hard since it was so easy to replace me last time. Oh, and just so we’re clear on where you and I stand? I want from you exactly what I mean to you - nothing. Not a god damn-. 

Maybe it was the alcohol dulling her senses, but it took Vi a little longer than she would have expected to register the first slap. The stinging began several seconds after her ears clocked the reverberation, and Vi’s eyes went wide with shock as she looked back at Caitlyn.

“What the f-”

The second slap she did see coming - just not in time to do anything about it. Her cheek now screaming, Vi tried in vain to gather her wits as the room grew quiet again.

Caitlyn, in some ways, appeared almost as shocked at her actions as Vi did. Her hand balled into a fist before she managed to shake it out, trying to release both the anger that inspired it as well as the sting in her hand that Vi was sure matched the feeling in the side of her face. Another moment of silence passed in the firelight as Vi’s shock eventually gave way to indignation. 

”What the fuck was that for?!” Vi shouted, one cheek flushed from the slaps and the other from her rising temper. 

”Cruelty doesn’t suit you,” Caitlyn breathed angrily. “Doing something to hurt someone else isn’t in your nature. You’ve never been cruel, don’t you dare start now just because you’re angry with me. She doesn’t deserve that. She doesn’t deserve any of this.” Vi snorted.

“Agreed, but on different points.” Caitlyn’s face scrunched up at that shot. Good, Vi thought.  “One slap, I can understand. Hell, I can forgive one. You wanna explain that second one?” 

Caitlyn’s eyes softened, her breath falling out of her. Her jaw moved noiselessly for a few turns as she struggled to form the words. 

“How dare you,” Cait whispered, voice sunken in her chest, eyes swimming in an endless sea. “How dare you suggest you mean nothing to me.”

Now it was Vi’s turn to struggle with words. She tried to form some kind of protest, but no coherent words appeared in her mouth as she tried. Only sounds of protest; a consonant here, an indignant vowel there, but no actual words. Taking another step towards Vi, Caitlyn continued.

“Come off it,” she breathed softly, warm air tinged with the sweetness of wine hitting Vi’s cheeks. “You are not simply here for political alliances, and you know that.”

“Do I?” Vi dared, her words starting to return. The feeling of anger she’d almost lost welled up, building steam and spewing out the edges as she spoke. “The only thing I know is that you’re fucking a subordinate, and we’re about to head into a war and I don’t know what to do with all of this in my chest.” Vi thudded her palm heavily against her sternum, trying to strike out the roiling tide. She didn’t mean to shout, but the surging energy churning inside her needed some kind of release. 

“I can’t drink it away. I can’t get it beaten out of me by someone else's fists. I can’t put it anywhere that makes any sense, and I can’t even give it to you, because you don’t want my help - I know you don’t! You don’t want me here. And you sure as shit don’t want me. You know what? I’m done. I’m out. I can’t do this anymore.” Vi turned and started moving to the door, the turbulence in her chest hitting a fever pitch. 

“Vi.” Cait’s tone had an edge again, but it wasn’t cold. It was a warning.

”No. Don’t tell me I’m wrong. I know better, I know-”

”You’re wrong.”

Cait could have just as well thrown chains around Vi with how fast she’d said it. No anger, no fight in the words; just a plain statement of fact, without any hesitation. Vi craned her head back toward Cait, half-afraid of what she’d see. She hadn’t even finished turning before she felt Cait’s soft palm wrapping around Vi’s wrist, just as softly and as certainly as her tone. Vi’s heart pounded as Caitlyn’s thumb traced soft circles against her overheated skin. She could feel Cait’s eyes tracing up her tattooed arm, sapphires mapping her pulse, all the way to the center of her chest, lingering for just a moment there before rising up to meet Vi’s own. Caitlyn’s gaze was soft, clearer than any crystal. Her tone was gentler than before as she spoke again, but no less sure. 

“You’re wrong.”

Every ounce of fight melted off of Vi’s shoulders. 

“Caitlyn,” Vi tried to stop herself from pleading, but all the pain and sorrow that she had been locking inside poured out, rolling like a river across her tongue. Her heart, now living in her throat, made her speak before the rest of her thoughts could catch up. “Tell me that you thought about me. Tell me the whole time you were with her - touching her, kissing her, fucking her - tell me the whole time you were thinking about me. Tell me that, and I swear, I’ll stay.”

All of a sudden, they were too close to each other. All of a sudden it was too hot in this stuffy, prissy room of dusty books and ancient liquor and stale cigars. All of a sudden Vi’s head was spinning, and she couldn’t remember the last breath she took. All of a sudden, her eyes burned raw with tears, Caitlyn’s hands were tangling themselves in Vi’s shirt. And suddenly, Vi was moving, far too fast for her brain to catch up. 

Up this close, Cait’s eyes sparkled like the brightest gemstones, brimming with unshed tears. Vi felt the press of Cait’s forehead to her forehead, the push of Cait’s nose against her own; there was force behind it, but restraint too. The scent of plum and apricot, wine and bath soap, soaked Vi’s senses as they both tried futilely to pull in a single ragged breath between them. Fighting to steady against the immediate closeness. Vi didn’t dare hope, not again, she couldn’t afford to. But she needed to know, she needed to hear it, out loud, she needed- 

”Yes,” Caitlyn huffed in the space between them - breath brushing against Vi’s lips - desperate and commanding all at once. “Yes to all of it.”

And that was enough.

Caitlyn’s lips were soft, honey-sweet, and liquor soaked. Caitlyn’s mewling sound of surprise bounced against her soft palate, a whimper of need more than anything else as Vi took and took and took some more. Demanding and - once the shock wore off - rewarded with the soft needy pulse of Caitlyn’s lips returned.

Vi snaked a forearm up Caitlyn’s spine, cupping her palm on the back of Caitlyn’s neck while Caitlyn pressed, tangling her fingers in Vi’s hair. Pulling and climbing together needily, Caitlyn surged forward, slotting a long lean thigh against Vi’s core - earning a whimper that built and grew. 

Vi lifted her by the thighs, and Caitlyn wrapped herself around Vi with only the smallest noise of protest. Pressed tightly together - grasping, tugging at each other's clothes. Vi carried Caitlyn toward the brass ladder that climbed the shelves of books. Breath ragged, chests heaving, hearts pounding, pressed together like they could melt into one in the dying embers of the fireplace at the far end of the library.

”Cait.” Vi’s breath slammed against her lips through the heat that enveloped every single sense. 

“Vi, please,” Cait mewled back, tugging at Vi’s hair and tensing her thighs to grind. She begged with every breath, and Vi was more than happy to provide. Tensing her torso and encouraging the roil of Caitlyn’s hips as she clumsily stepped forward and returned the kiss with every fiber of her being.

Six steps finished, and Vi made it. Setting Caitlyn’s ass on a step about waist high, Vi got to work on the buttons of Caitlyn’s trousers. She pressed her torso against the heat of Caitlyn’s grinding hips to hold her in place. Caitlyn, still maintaining a greedy clutch on Vi’s hair, dragged Vi’s head up to her exposed neck, demanding she give it attention.

”Touch me,” she begged and babbled through hitching breath. “I don’t just want you; I need you. I need you to. I want you to. Make me feel something. Anything.” And yet again, Vi was more than happy to provide. 

“Hold on,” Vi hissed. Caitlyn obeyed, digging her nails into Vi’s shoulders. Vi’s groan of pleasure crawled up her throat and escaped, vibrating against Caitlyn’s racing pulse even as her breath caught rough in her chest. ”Oh fuck, Cait…that feels so good, bu–the ladder, I meant the ladder.”

”Sorry,” Caitlyn managed laboriously, swallowing thickly as she greedily pulled in air. Vi felt the pressure from Cait’s nails ease up, almost apologetically. Vi gently grabbed her wrist - pressing her lips to the soft skin there before Caitlyn could pull it away.

“Don’t worry about it, Cupcake - scratch my back all you want.” Her words were punctuated by a sharp intake of air as Cait’s grip sunk back in. “I like it. But first, I gotta get these pants offa’ you.” Cait steered Vi’s face away from her neck to lock eyes again. The perfect gap between Cait’s front teeth taunted Vi as Cait sank them into her own lip. Those gentle hands, firmly controlling Vi’s gaze by cradling her flushed cheeks in her hands. Her eyes, sparkling sapphires in the dim light of the library, flashed mischievously.

”What’re you waiting for?” she teased before shifting her grip to the brass ladder, those eyes sparking up a blaze that would melt steel. But Vi was made of sterner stuff. 

Under Caitlyn’s watchful gaze, Vi plucked the button, pulled the fly, and unfastened the waistband of Caitlyn’s ridiculously tight pants before purposefully tugging them to Caitlyn’s knees. Pausing for only a second to gather more stupid fabric in her fists before pulling them all the way off and throwing them across the room. Vi took a second to admire the lay of soft lavender lace over neat cobalt curls before hooking her fingers in the waistband and pulling those off too.

Slick. Musk, thick and delicious, floated forward on the air. Vi’s mouth watered. Her tongue desperate to swim and tease and taste. 

“Fuck, Cait,” the words escaped on a bark before floating soft and settling into a beg, “you’re so beautiful. May I?”

Caitlyn’s fingertips tangled in the straps of Vi’s tank top, pulling Vi forward into a searing kiss, only breaking off for air to grant permission.

“Please.” 

Vi was on her knees before she could even think. Her eyes darted up one last time - earning a nod before leaning forward. In one long, lean lick, Vi found home. The explosion of musk and tang on her tongue - absolute bliss.

Vi worked, greedily inhaling every bit of slick she was willing to give as one of Caitlyn’s hands firmly captured a tuft of Vi’s hair - a leash to pull Vi exactly where Caitlyn needed her: that needy little bud that tanged salted copper on her tongue. Vi flicked and swirled around the thing before building a seal with her lips to build suction.

Caitlyn’s every sound was music; the gasp at new attention, the mewling, “yes” that bubbled from her lips as Vi’s right hand dug into the muscles of Caitlyn’s thigh. Vi held her there, on her shoulder, thigh pressed against Vi’s cheek. Warm. Soft. Slick against skin. Vi laved. Delighted. Pulled ragged breaths through her nose as she buried every care in warm wet Her.

“What do you need, Caitlyn?” Vi groaned, pressing her temple against slick soaked thigh as she surfaced for air. Her voice was too rough, too needy even to her own ears, but Vi was well past caring. Vi was drowning in Caitlyn. In her nose, on her tongue, and ready to dive in once more.

“Your fingers. Inside. Please,” she begged on half-halting breath.

“So polite,” Vi smirked, sinking her teeth into Caitlyn’s inner thigh and earning a yelp - and a damn good pull of her hair - before Vi lapped her tongue over the bite and pressed a warm wet soothe with her lips, latching and sucking for just a moment to make sure the mark would take. Cait, chest heaving from Vi’s attentions, craned her head as she realized what Vi was up to.

“...Did you just give me a hickey?” Vi shot her a wolfish grin.

“Something to remember me by.”

Caitlyn’s eyes darkened at that. A realization dropped in Vi’s gut. No lines. No scratch marks. Not even a fading bruise in an intimate place. Caitlyn was utterly unblemished and halfway to ecstasy from a little bit of foreplay. Before Vi could stop herself, the words escaped. 

“You…you don’t let her touch you like this.” It should’ve been a question, but Vi knew the answer.

“No.” Caitlyn admitted. Her grip shifted from Vi’s hair to caress two fingers down the side of her forehead, curling over her cheekbone and stalling at her tattoo. Cait’s gentle touch reminded Vi that the tattoo was there to begin with; it was something she’d nearly forgotten in the months she spent smearing greasepaint over herself. At first she told herself it was to stay hidden; a tattoo on your face of your own name was an easy calling card.. But the more times she covered it up, the closer she’d get to forgetting it existed. To losing the calling card itself. To seeing a different person in the mirror. Someone who wasn’t that tattoo.. Eventually, there was a point where even registering ‘Vi’ was as big a challenge as the fights. Lost in the greasepaint and the roar of the crowd until she was pulled back to sense. 

Vi registered pressure - Cait pulsing her two fingers against the tattoo, spinning her wrist to swipe her thumb gently over the spot. Her other hand, Vi saw, reverently caressed the rapidly forming bruise Vi put on her inner thigh. And all Vi knew were those touches and that sense before Cait’s words blew all that to smithereens.

“Only you, Vi,” Cait whispered.

A feeling welled in Vi’s chest - three little words desperate to break free. Vi swallowed them back before they could escape her. Heart hammering in her throat, Vi bluffed bravado to steady herself.

“Then I guess, uh…” Vi dipped the middle and ring fingers on her left hand into her mouth to gather slick, pulling them free with a smack of her lips. “I really should get to it.”

“Don’t make me beg again,” Caitlyn chided, blessing her with a half smile.

“Wouldn’t dream of it, Cupcake. You ready for me?”

A nod, a breath, and Vi twinned those fingers to press forward and up. Curling into inviting muscle, Vi earned the softest “oh” from Caitlyn’s throat as her eyebrows knit at the stretch and press of ‘full’. Vi leaned forward onto her knees once more, using her tongue to swirl and tease around that incredibly sensitive bud, as she worked and pressed and fucked further into salty sweet want.

Vi drew her fingers back before curling forward once more. Building a rhythm. Focused solely on Caitlyn's face as she tasted and teased, charting every movement and capturing every breath in technicolor. To hold every whimper and whine tender and tight to her memory, an ember glowing in her chest as she built - they built - together. Caitlyn’s breath hitched. Her eyebrows knit tighter as those sapphires blew wide and her sounds pulled tight.

“Vi! Vi. Vi. Vi.” She chanted in a beautiful climbing benediction. “I’m. Yes. That.” She babbled - her words building higher - as Vi maintained her rhythm, position and pressure - all while humming her understanding. 

It was enough. 

The string pulled taut before snapping in a rush and gush of sound. A cry from Caitlyn that rang close to Vi’s name, before tapering off into a more guttural long “ah” sound as the aftershocks took hold and rolled their way though Caitlyn’s thighs and hips.

But Vi didn’t stop. She followed every buck and pitch of Caitlyn’s hips. Stilling her sheathed fingers and holding tight to move with absolutely perfect Her. Tasting every flutter and hitch and press of Caitlyn’s climax. Holding it more precious than any prize won, and swallowing any bit of Her she’d been willing to give.

Caitlyn’s thighs twitched tight to Vi’s cheeks and her grip tightened in Vi’s hair. Strong, narrow fingers pulled Vi back. Back. Back just enough to reveal a glistening chin and break connection. Vi could feel the dopey, sated grin that spread across her own Caitlyn soaked lips.

Vi huffed a breath up at Caitlyn before a thick swallow, pulling her fingers free and earning a delicious groan from Caitlyn. 

“My favorite part,” Vi murmured while staring at the slick coating those digits. Her eyes flashed up once more to hold Caitlyn’s gaze - making sure she was watching - before dipping those dirty fingers behind her lips, letting tang and taste run wild. Caitlyn was still catching her breath through the words. 

“If you say, ‘the frosting,’ I will choke you out with my thighs,” Cait panted deliriously. Vi chuckled and released half-cleaned fingers while shrugging out from under Caitlyn’s thighs. 

“Don’t threaten me with a good time, Cupcake.”

“You’re incorrigible.”

“I know. C’mere.” Vi curled her fingers toward her palm and laid back on the cold hardwood floor - a welcome respite from the sweat dripping down her back. Caitlyn followed on shaky legs, managing to straddle Vi’s thighs with only minor difficulty. She leaned down into Vi’s chest, half curling into a snuggle before pulling back to find Vi’s eyes again.

“How do you want me?” Cait’s voice was warm and ragged in the best kinds of ways. Vi’s brain didn’t even have the chance to think - her heart spoke first.

“However you’ll let me have you, Caitlyn.” It was only after those words were free that Vi realized Caitlyn was asking about short term configuration. The soft shock - the way Caitlyn’s lips froze in the littlest “o” shape before snapping shut - had Vi scrambling to apologize. 

“I didn’t-I mean, shit. That’s not-I’m sorry, Cait, I-”

“Sorry for what?” Cait’s face was serene, a laugh playing about her eyes as Vi stumbled around her words. She reached out a hand to caress Vi’s cheek again, a soft, sweeping brush over her damp skin. “You’ve nothing to apologize for here. If all we have is tonight, it will have been worth it. All of it.” Vi sat up with a groan, hardly believing her own ears.

“You don’t mean that.”

“I do,” Caitlyn insisted tenderly, hand moving from Vi’s face down to deftly entangle her fingers in the straps of Vi’s threadbare tank top. The hold was loose, almost gentle, but Vi couldn’t move even if she had wanted to. Caitlyn’s eyes danced around Vi’s collarbones, drinking in Vi’s scars and tattoos like she was trying to find the words she was seeking in them. Her gaze continued its dance up Vi’s neck and back to her face, finally finding her eyes before continuing. 

“I have failed in so many different ways getting here. I failed my family, my friends, myself… I failed you. I would keep every misstep and mistake if it brought me right back here, Vi. I wouldn’t trade that for anything, and I-”

“Shut up,” Vi clipped, cheeks heating with embarrassment. Caitlyn’s affronted scoff tickled Vi, as did her indignant retort.

”You don’t get to tell me to shut up!”

”I just did,” Vi shrugged defiantly. Cait’s free hand started grasping the air in mild frustration.

”I’m trying to tell you how important you are to me, you ridiculous idiot.”

”I don’t need apologies, Cait,” Vi said, gently setting her hand on Cait’s fingers still tangled in her shirt. “I really don’t. You don’t gotta make restitution, or whatever shit you topsiders do. I just…I gotta know this time things'll be different.” 

A breath passed in silence as Caitlyn processed, brilliant blue eyes never leaving Vi’s. It was like the last weight of fear and doubt between them seeped out from their lungs and into the open air, evaporating into nothing and leaving behind only the moment of now. Their next inhale in perfect sync, slow but expectant, charged a spark they both felt under their skin.

”I’ve changed,” Cait stated firmly, sapphires blazing with intent. “Let me show you.”

She surged forward first this time, a soft press of lips to lips as her fingers tightened their tangle in the hem of Vi’s shirt. The press and swirl of tongues deepened, Cait ravenously devouring every part of Vi’s mouth she could reach. She finally pulled back, breaking the kiss just long enough to flick her gaze down to the hem of Vi’s shirt. 

“May I?” Cait asked, tugging at the hem of Vi’s shirt. Vi’s head reeling from Cait’s devouring kiss, she gave Caitlyn’s strap-tangled fingers a quick squeeze before replying.

”Yes.”

In a flash, Vi was left in nothing but her chest bandages. Cait’s fingers free of one garment, they now danced at the layered folds of the next.

”These too?”

”Uh, that’s-” Sensing her hesitancy, Caitlyn pulled back by degrees. 

”We don’t have to, if you don’t want to.” 

“It’s not that I don’t want to. Like, not at all - they’re just…” Vi trailed off, struggling to find the words. “Kind of a bitch to take off.” Caitlyn’s eyes dropped to Vi’s chest, the impossible blue unable to contain the horizon of her pupils. 

“I simply wish to admire all of you, Vi. Please?” she begged.

”Didn’t take you for a tit fiend, Cupcake,” Vi smirked, wolf-grin bared. Cait snapped her eyes back up to Vi’s, clicking her tongue in mock annoyance.

”Shut up,” she teased, turning Vi’s defiance around on her. Vi didn’t miss the opportunity, immediately showcasing her best impression of Cait’s accent.

”’You don’t get to tell m-’mmf!” She’d made it almost all the way through the bit when Caitlyn leaned forward to pull Vi into another searing kiss, eliciting a fresh moan from Vi in a gnash of teeth and lips and tongue. Vi’s voice reverberated deep as Caitlyn dipped her attention to Vi’s neck, finding her target in the gear tattoo and diving in. Overwhelmed by the sensation, Vi made a show of mock surrender.

“Okay, okay! I’m on it.” Cait relented, breaking away and donning an innocent expression, blinking doe-eyed. Vi’s cheeks began to ache from smiling as she reached down and dug into her ribs, finding and releasing the end of the bandage. Cait’s elegant fingers danced along the edge of Vi’s wrist as she spoke.

”Let me?” Cait offered. Vi nodded, passing over the bandage’s end for Caitlyn to unfurl. She crawled on top of Vi, easing her back against her elbows as Caitlyn began to unroll the wrap. From her dominant straddle, she never once took her gentle stare off of Vi’s as she traded the ever growing bundle between her hands, around and in front of Vi, circling her torso purposefully. When the tension of the thing released, the cotton fell into a puddle around them, and Caitlyn gathered the whole thing lightning quick, tossing it away without a care for where it landed. Vi initially watched it fly, but her attention slammed forward with the softest brush of fingertips, coupled with the sweetest sound of adoration.

”Oh, Vi,” Cait breathed appreciatively as her fingers brushed the curve of Vi’s tit, “they’re marvelous.” 

”My nipple piercings?” Vi mumbled dazedly, reeling from the touch. Cait giggled, a look of mock pity on her face.

”No, your radial arm cannon that protrudes from your-YES, Vi. Of course your piercings.” Vi chuckled, looking down at her simple silver barbells, capped with bullet shaped opal studs. 

“You can touch ‘em. If you want?”

“Can I?”

”That’s what they’re there for.”

Nimble fingers extended out longingly before hesitating. Cait drew her fingers back, finding Vi’s gaze again before asking the single hottest question Vi had ever heard. 

“Show me how?”

Vi couldn’t help herself but kiss Cait again, buzzing with electricity. But she couldn’t afford to get lost in that feeling, as she had a lesson to teach. She narrated as she moved, using her left hand to work at her left piercing. 

“It’s really easy. You can pinch or lick or suck, but pinching is a good start. Just pinch and roll just a bit. You’ll feel the metal in there, and it feels real nice for me too.” Her breath hitched at her own touch. Using her thumb and first knuckle of her index finger, Vi pinched and rolled gently, staring down at herself while she worked before bringing her gaze back up to meet Caitlyn’s. 

And Caitlyn was a sight. Her mouth had fallen open, tongue prodding at her lower lip, eager to taste. She had enough sense, it seemed, to trace her left hand up the ridge of Vi’s abdomen, gracefully threading her fingers on either side of Vi’s piercing in her other tit. She groped and grasped, teasing for what felt like an eternity before following Vi’s directions. She pinched the bud between the pads of her fingers, rolling playfully and pulling another groan from Vi’s throat.

”MMf. Fuck, Cait.” Caitlyn stilled immediately, her gaze snapping from the piercing directly up to Vi’s gaze.

”Don’t stop,” Vi murmured. “You’re perfect. Keep going.”

”I want to put my mouth on you.” It was such a simple statement, gunshot quick. Vi’s stomach flipped with want. 

“You can,” she offered, breathless.

”Not like this,” Caitlyn specified, eyes flashing as she maneuvered her way to her feet. “Stand please?” Caitlyn offered her hand down to Vi, but Vi saw a chance for a little petulance, and crossed her arms over her chest in mock protest. 

”Only if I'm not the only one who is about to be naked, Cupcake,” she teased, denying Cait’s view.

With barely a grumble, Caitlyn reached over her head, gathering the fabric of her turtleneck behind her shoulder blades. Without taking her eyes off Vi, she swiftly ripped the entire thing off with a vengeance. 

It would have been so hot, Vi rued, if only she hadn’t gotten stuck in the neck. Like an angry mongoose caught in a rolled up carpet, Cait struggled mightily with the fabric, pulling it and grumbling the whole while before finally popping free. Holding the tactical garment balled up in a fist, Cait cut a phenomenal sight with her cheeks flushed and eyes blazing azure in triumph, even as her normally silky cobalt hair stood up staticky on end.

But it was the lilac lace that caught every inch of Vi’s attention. A sinfully soft see-through mesh laying out patterns; corded and knotted to trail and tease over curves that begged for fingertips. Not see-through enough to get an eye full, but plenty see-through to chart the way the moonlight and firelight fought to be the light to cover her chest. Her perfect bountiful chest. Vi stood awestruck as her eyes followed curves to speckles of moles - perfect imperfections from a master artisan’s paintbrush - to gorgeous stretch marks to even more bountiful curves. Vi’s eyes must’ve bulged out of her skull. Her mouth went dry. Caitlyn flicked her wrist in a half hearted wave directly in Vi’s eye line before pointing up to her own eyes with two equally sharp movements. Caitlyn’s haughty grin sent Vi’s heart into a tailspin. 

“Didn’t take you for a tit fiend, Oil Slick,” Caitlyn teased. 

“Hah. Hah. Very funny.” Vi attempted to mop up some form of composure but her last two brain cells were warring for third place, and she quickly found her eyes drawn south. “But you’ve still got a bra on, and we said naked.”

“And you’re still wearing your trousers,” Cait shot back easily.

“Fine. On three?” Caitlyn nodded. 

“One.”

“Two.”

“Three,” they said together. 

Vi straightened up after shucking the rest of her clothes, and was rewarded with the most beautiful sight she’d ever seen. Gorgeous soft curves. Full hefts of teardrop shaped Her. Beautiful brown nipples, begging for Vi’s lips.

They both drank their fill of one another as time stopped. Long lean muscle. Rough and rugged tattoo. Matching every inch and a little extra of Caitlyn to every inch of Vi. 

Janna’s fucking breath, she’s beautiful. Vi’s heart stutter stepped in her ribcage. 

“Spirits, you are marvelous,” Cait breathed, breaking the appreciative silence.

“You’re not so bad yourself, Hot stuff.” Undersell of the century, Vi, she thought to herself as she said it. Caitlyn pointed her first finger toward the floor, twirling it in a sort of circle. 

“Give us a spin?” Cait had put her mask of innocence back on, and Vi could only answer with a quirk of her eyebrows in a ’why?’ kind of shape. Caitlyn demurred for only a second, tutting gently like the answer was obvious. 

“So that I may admire your tattoos,” she stated deliberately.  “All of them.”

”Sure, Cupcake,” Vi half chuckled, starting her spin. And, if she was flexing the whole time, who was gonna tattle on her? Vi broke the breathy silence just before she completed a turn.

“You, uh…you wanna head to that whole-ass bed by that bay windo-“ 

Vi wouldn’t get that last word out. Caitlyn was already on her. Everywhere. Lips pressed to searing lips. Fingers trailing along muscle and hooking under her thighs to lift. Holy shit. To lift. Vi’s words escaped on a stunned groan.

“Holy shit, you got yolked?!”

“Pardon?” Caitlyn grunted the smallest bit. She shifted her weight to lift Vi higher, engaging surprisingly strong thighs and an impossibly tight core. The shock sparked hard in Vi’s chest. It bubbled amusement in her gut, and sent an electric thrill down her legs. 

“You can pick me up?!” Vi couldn’t help but giggle at the sensation.

“I can do a lot of things now,” Caitlyn teased, voice gravelly and rich, before diving back in to kiss and press and taste - for more and more and more. 

Caitlyn whirled, carrying Vi in the opposite direction from the daybed toward the bar. Not that Vi was paying attention; Vi was too busy gripping Caitlyn with her thighs, tangling her fingers in Caitlyn’s hair, and kissing like Caitlyn’s lips were the last point of oxygen in an underwater room. Vi kissed and pressed and dipped her tongue to taste, pulling sweet, soft, muffled sounds from Caitlyn’s chest. 

“Hold on,” Caitlyn murmured against Vi’s lips, cutting ‘tender side of the bar. Vi obeyed, engaging her thighs tighter and wrapping her arms over Caitlyn’s shoulders. She pulled close while Caitlyn huffed, shifting Vi’s weight to one arm and - one handed - found a tea towel (somehow), laying it on the bar in a haphazard throw that landed perfectly. Caitlyn set Vi’s bare ass on the minimal cushion, smugly looking up at Vi and pinching a victorious smile.

Well, Vi thought defiantly, Can’t let her get away with that.

Vi’s tangled her left hand in Caitlyn’s hair, swiftly pulling her into a vibrant kiss. Caitlyn’s palms found the dip of Vi’s waist, tickling and teasing as she stepped between Vi’s thighs. Close. Closer. Not close enough, Vi pouted as Caitlyn broke off their kiss and pulled back.

”Now, where was I?” Caitlyn mused, those sapphires darting south to Vi’s piercings. Vi’s toes curled involuntarily as a judder of excitement ran down her spine.

She didn’t even have the chance to offer a haughty remark. The “hop to it,” she’d thought to say died in her throat as Caitlyn practically dove at Vi’s right nipple piercing, tonguing and tasting. One hand’s fingertips dug into Vi’s thigh, while the other traveled to tantalize and tease at the other piercing. 

Vi couldn’t do anything but give into the sweet sensation of suction and pleasure. She grit her teeth, soft needy vowels clawing their way out of her throat as Caitlyn worked and sucked and teased.

Vi’s left hand tangled in cobalt once more, cradling Caitlyn’s skull as she worked, while her right planted back on the bar and upended one of the still full shot glasses. Vi startled, and Caitlyn paused the kisses she was planting between Vi’s breasts - traversing to lave some attention on the other piercing, but stopped in the middle. Vi could see gears turning in Cait’s mind as she eyed the still full shot glass, continuing to kiss her way toward Vi’s other piercing. She licked and flicked a smooth circle with the tip of her tongue before latching on, drawing a moan from the well of want deep in Vi’s gut. 

Seeing an opportunity for a merciful reprieve, Vi plucked the last still full shot glass and grinned. 

”Body shots?” Vi sang the question as a tease. Caitlyn hummed, pulling back off Vi’s piercing.

“Go on then,” she murmured against overheated skin. She pressed her lower lip - curling it back - against the swell of Vi’s breast to catch the liquid. 

In a rare moment of mortal flaw, Cait wasn’t incredibly successful. But Vi watched in wonder as the clear liquor beaded and tumbled its way down Vi’s glistening body toward Cait’s plush, perfect lips and bifurcated smile. What didn’t flow over lip and pulsing tongue to make it into Caitlyn’s mouth directly was suckled and lapped, cleared with delicate ministrations and an additional tea towel Caitlyn had picked up - where from? Vi couldn’t be fucked to care. 

Tossing the towel somewhere, Caitlyn released Vi’s nipple and stepped away. Vi fought fruitlessly against a groan at the loss of her warmth, while Caitlyn rinsed her hands in the sink on the wall behind the bar. Shaking the excess water off her agile fingers, she turned back with a devilish grin. 

“Now, where were we?”

Caitlyn immediately resumed kissing Vi with a vengeance, her grasping fingertips leaving indents on every inch of Vi’s thighs. Caitlyn spun her right wrist and dragged those first two still wet, still cold fingers up Vi’s inner thigh in a delightful bit of torture before pressing those fingers back into her own warm, wet mouth. She pulled them free, shining slick, and gently asked the question Vi was desperate to answer.

“May I?”

”Fuck, Cait,” Vi begged, “Two. Please.”

“Oh, so pent up, Love,” Cait cooed, her left hand cradling Vi’s sweat soaked nape. “Let me take care of you.” She dropped her right hand back down, spinning her wrist and pressing forward with two graceful fingers. Vi groaned into the stretch, the curl and pulse of long, lithe fingers pulling every bit of sense out of her. 

“God, yes,” Vi hissed as Caitlyn curled and worked, building a rhythm that flowed like vodka down a torso. Vi climbed, the press of Caitlyn’s fingers curling up while her thumb curved to swirl and tease and pulse at Vi’s clit, ratcheting the feeling to a whole new level. Clutching with need at Caitlyn’s neck, Vi pulled Cait closer to her chest. Caitlyn got the message and immediately tongued at Vi’s piercing, using suction to play - just enough.

”Harder,” Vi begged through ragged breath. Caitlyn obliged, curling and driving fingertips deeper, swirling tongue and pulsing thumb, working to build as Vi held tight.

The climb tingled in Vi’s toes. It sparked in her cheeks. 

“Cait, Cait, Cait. Yes! Close! Fuck!” The huffs of breath wound tighter and tighter as Vi heard herself chanting furiously. She couldn’t hold back any longer.

“Caitlyn!” The shuddering cry erupted from her, the release stealing her last bits of sense, the judder and shake of pleasure’s aftermath rolling through her. Caitlyn moved in sync with her, holding close throughout, pressing against overheated skin. 

“There you are,” Cait cooed, her voice low and rasping with praise. “That’s it. Marvelous, Vi. Oh, my love. Absolutely stunning.” Vi hiccuped and caught her breath - utterly boneless, but with enough sense to haul Caitlyn in for a ragged and rough kiss, filled with her whole heart. Achingly pressing those three words through her lips, hoping Caitlyn got the message. 

“I’m going to remove my fingers now,” Cait whispered, pressing her forehead to Vi’s.

”’Kay,” Vi managed through her delirious afterglow. They shared calming breaths in the inches between them as Caitlyn slid free. Vi’s eyes rolled back in her head, and she groaned a breathy sound at the loss. Caitlyn, seeming deeply satisfied with the results of her work, hummed a soothing sound as she made a show of examining her hand.

“The frosting is also my favorite part,” Caitlyn declared with a smirk, dipping her own filthy, Vi coated fingers between her lips. Vi’s well-fucked and sated chuckle lurched out without resistance. 

“You're the worst, Cupcake.”

“I’m well aware,” Caitlyn said smugly, planting a gentle kiss to Vi’s forehead in a prim movement and tapping Vi’s thigh with still filthy fingers. “Head to the daybed. I’ll clean up the spill and be there in a moment.”

Vi followed directions and plodded across the hardwood floor slowly. Bare feet. Bare body. Bare soul. Her heartbeat screaming those three little words with every step. She finally made it to the bed and laid back with a thunk. 

Caitlyn finished her task before too long, and Vi heard her footsteps as she made her way toward the bay window. Finally in view, she opened a hidden drawer in the wall and gathered a blanket. 

“I want to take an opportunity to… clear the air,” Cait said, setting the plush blanket over Vi’s naked body as she sat on the daybed. “While I will always have affection for her - she got me through a very difficult time, and her friendship is important to me - Maddie and I are not together. Not anymore.”

“What?” Vi sat up, blinking owlishly. 

“She dumped me.”

“You’re kidding.”

“I’m not, actually,” Cait stated simply. Vi felt a warmth rising in her chest.

”So, all that…touching and flirting tonight?”

“Strictly platonic. We are simply warm bodies to one another. A convenience should the itch need to be scratched. Nothing more.”

”Really?”

“Truly. She wanted someone who reciprocated her feelings, and I couldn’t fault her on that account.” A wistful smile danced across Cait’s lips. “Nor could I reciprocate. Not while thinking of another.”

“Gotcha,” Vi said as the warm feeling surged up burning harder in her chest. “And this… other person?”

“A terrible flirt. Even worse communicator.” Cait’s tone was matter-of-fact, but Vi couldn’t possibly have missed the mischievous sparkle in her eyes as she said it. “Tends to pour vodka down their torso when they’re being ridiculous, but they have the most marvelous behind and utterly scintillating tattoos.”

“Yeah?”

“And they’re rather fond of themselves,” Cait continued, turning fully toward Vi as the smile in her eyes spread to her lips. “Quite like to be told how utterly stunning they are. Very clever. Impulsive. Bit of a brat, but I enjoy that about them.” She brought her right hand up, quickly caressing Vi’s cheek with her thumb. 

“They’re incredibly important to me,” Cait finished, sapphires sparkling radiantly. The warm feeling in Vi’s chest kept growing, steady and constant. It spread up to her cheeks, splitting her lips into an unsuppressable smile. 

“C’mere,” Vi chuckled, overcome by an insatiable need for closeness. She pulled Caitlyn down into a snuggle and tented the blanket over them, the two rolling to get situated on the daybed. They luxuriated in the skin to skin connection, the warmth still radiating steadily from their bodies. Caitlyn lay on her back, and Vi quickly spread on top of her. She clung - clematis to bark - and Caitlyn returned the favor, tangling her legs with Vi’s while Vi joyfully planted kisses along collarbones in sloppy little rows. She finally settled her ear to Caitlyn’s chest, and the ba-thump of Caitlyn’s heart began lulling them both closer to sweet, sated sleep. Cait wrapped one arm around Vi, arm crossing perpendicular to her spine to squeeze Vi’s far shoulder.

“You are,” Caitlyn said reverently, brushing a fluff of fuchsia off of Vi’s face. She trailed soothing circles with her fingertips in Vi’s scalp, and tightened her grip on Vi’s shoulder with her other hand. “You know that? You mean everything to me, Violet.”

The burn at the corners of her eyes didn’t bother her. The words flowed easy from an open, mended heart. 

“I love you too, Cait.”