Chapter Text
Give me a good reason (to fall for you)
Chapter 1
“Hurry up you dummies we have to go!”
Vi pushes Mylo towards the railing, just as Claggor grabs onto the edge of the rooftop to hoist himself up. Mylo glares at Vi, and she glares right back, and then the boy follows Claggor up, legs dangling in the air for a few seconds as he does. Vi takes a quick look down to make sure no one from the street is looking up, before grabbing onto the railing as well, ready to flee the scene of the crime.
Not a crime, really, they were just here doing some recon work thanks to Little Man’s intel about a penthouse filled with interesting and expensive junk, and now they’re all done. Should be good to go in a few days, maybe they’ll bring Powder too, that’ll make her happy.
Vi readies herself, heart jumping happily at the prospect of parkouring all the way down home…
But then a voice makes her stop in her tracks, and her heart effectively drops in her chest.
“Who are you, and what are you doing here?”
The words are said in a posh accent, and accompanied by the unmistakable sound of a cocking gun, instantly triggering Vi’s fight or flight response. Every instincts she’s ever had scream at her to make a run for it, to grab onto the railing and follow Mylo and Claggor up there and never look back, but then again, there’s a weapon pointed at her back, and that is not a situation she ever wants to be in. The person sounded young, most probably a girl, but that doesn’t mean they won’t shoot if she attempts to escape, and Vi’s not taking that risk.
First she’s got to assess the situation. Mylo and Claggor are safe up there, she’s the only one still exposed down here, so at least there’s that. She needs to see what the shooter looks like, and who knows, maybe she’ll manage to talk her way out of this one? She’s never been in a situation like this before. She’s not exactly known for her sweet talk but…
Vi takes a sharp breath, ignoring the pounding of her heart, and slowly turns around, raising her hands in front of her to show that she’s not armed.
Her heart skips a couple of beats as her eyes fall on the girl with the gun pointed at her.
She’s young, probably her age, if Vi had to guess. Shoulder-length dark blue hair, piercing blue eyes, probably slightly taller than Vi herself, and with a steel-like expression that bears no questioning as to whether or not she’d shoot that gun if she has to. At least that’s Vi’s first impression, from her first glance, but then she notices the slightly trembling hands, the obviously wealthy clothes, and she’s not so sure anymore.
“It’s not the first time I see you around here,” the girl states, never once blinking as she stares Vi down, “I know you’re plotting something with your friends, so what do you want?”
Vi thinks she would be a lot more threatening if she didn’t talk so much – not like she needs to, since she’s got a gun and all, but yeah. She makes an appeasing gesture, taking a step forward then freezing when the girl aims her gun right at her head. “Easy there, princess–”
“Don’t call me that.” It’s deadpanned, and paired with a deeply annoyed frown, and somehow it makes Vi grin. The annoyance on the girl’s face intensifies because of it, and she gestures her gun at Vi. “Step away from the railing,” she demands, taking a step to her left, and Vi gulps despite herself.
“Alright, alright,” she says, doing as she’s told, taking slow sideways steps until her back hits the wall beside the balcony door. This being held at gunpoint thing really isn’t ideal. She hates it, but doesn’t think she can punch her way out of that one – she doesn’t really want to anyway, the girl really has a pretty face, would hate to ruin it. Or to take a bullet in the chest for attempting to.
“Now tell me why I shouldn’t just call the Enforcers,” the girl says, sharp and commending, and Vi’s almost impressed – almost, because the mention of Enforcers surpasses that and makes her grind her teeth in deep annoyance and hatred.
“What, so they can beat me up and leave me for dead in an alley?” Vi snaps back.
“They don’t do that,” the topsider girl retorts with a frown, and Vi seethes at the credulity of that rich brat.
“Uh, duh, that’s all they do to people like me.”
“You’re from the Undercity.” The girl’s eyes narrow as Vi offers her a ‘duh’ look, and for a split second it’s like there’s no gun between them and they’re just two girls arguing about something – at least that’s what Vi feels. Then the girl shakes her head and aims the gun a little higher, and goes back to her questioning: “Why are you here? Why do you want to rob Jayce’s lab?”
“Heard there was a lot of interesting stuff in here,” Vi shrugs, then bites her tongue when she realizes she probably shouldn’t have said that – she doesn’t know why she did, if the girl’s interrogation techniques are working or if Vi’s just too distracted by the blueness of the topsider’s eyes or something. She has no idea. It's weird.
The girl raises an eyebrow at the admission, and Vi thinks she might be as surprised as she was herself, which is a little embarrassing but whatever. “Oh that’s true,” the girl concedes, her lips twitching for some reason, “but that doesn’t mean you should steal it. Why do you want it anyway?”
Vi’s not getting tricked again. “None of your business.”
“But it is, my business, since my family owns this building.”
Vi doesn’t even try to prevent her snort at that. “Oh so you are a princess then.”
The girl very obviously clenches her teeth, making Vi grin at how deeply offended and annoyed she looks. “You’re awfully cheeky for someone held at gunpoint,” she states, and Vi offers her what she hopes looks like a smug grin in response.
“You don’t even know how to fire that thing.”
“Want to see me try?”
A shiver of fear runs down Vi’s spine, and somehow she’s back to that first impression that the rich brat currently aiming a gun at her definitely will fire said gun if she has to, no question asked. The girl seems to see the shift on Vi’s face, or maybe in her stance, because it’s her turn to offer her a smug grin, and Vi’s heart somehow skips a beat at that. She crosses her arms over her chest, hiding the tremors in her hands, and pretends to sigh in annoyance. “Alright, so what do you wanna do now that you’ve ‘got’ me?”
“I should alert the Enforcers,” the girl retorts back with no hesitation in her voice. Except she doesn’t. She stands there, staring at Vi, and somehow Vi knows that she won’t. She’s not sure how she knows, but she does, and doesn’t understand why. Seemingly echoing her thoughts, the girl tilts her head to the side, her blue eyes growing thoughtful, and Vi’s heart skips yet another beat for no apparent reason: “I’m just having trouble understanding why a kid like you would want to steal that kind of equipment.”
It’s Vi’s turn to look deeply offended, and it makes the topsider girl grin a lopsided grin that messes with Vi’s heart again. “Pretty sure I’m older than you,” she boasts, feeling ridiculous but unable to help herself.
“Pretty sure it doesn’t matter since we’re both kids,” the girl retorts, definitely amused.
“Whatever.” Vi thinks her cheeks shouldn’t feel that hot, but they do, and she doesn’t like it very much.
There’s a small silent then as they stare at each other, and once again it feels like there’s no gun between them… until they both seem to remember where they are and what’s going on. “What are you going to do with these things anyway,” the girl starts, gesturing with her gun to the door to Vi’s right, “build weapons?”
“What?! No! I just need money.” The words are out of Vi’s mouth before she even thinks them, and she bites her tongue again, cursing herself.
“Money?”
Of course the rich topsider girl would be surprised by that. Vi glares at her, uncrossing her arms and clenching her fists as anger rises like a wave in her. “Yeah, money,” she spits, ignoring how the girl raises startled eyebrows at her outburst, “you know, for food? Medicine? New clothes? Crayons for my little sister? You have no idea what it’s like down there, princess.”
Princess bites her lower lip then, her blue eyes wide and distracting, and somehow lowers her gun just a little. Vi knows that look, and she hates it, hates that she knows what it means, hates that her heart does a flip from seeing it in that stupid rich girl’s stupid blue eyes. “If that’s what you need–” the girl starts, voice filled with pity, but Vi cuts her sharply before she can finish:
“I don’t need your charity.”
“Oh, you don’t need it,” the girl retorts with a shake of her head, “but somehow stealing from my family is fine?”
This time Vi knows she’s blushing. She knows she is, she’s blushing hard, and she knows the other girl definitely notices. She hates it. “Whatever.”
The girl’s grin is wide enough for Vi to see that she has a little gap between her front teeth, and she hates herself for noticing it. They stare at each other, Vi seething and the topsider girl looking a little smug, and somehow Vi fails to notice that the gun is almost entirely lowered down – or that the girl’s finger hasn’t been on the trigger for a while now.
It doesn’t matter anyway, because after a moment they both jump as a voice comes from inside the penthouse: “Cait, are you still in there? What are you doing?”
Cait?
The girl’s eyes widen in panic, and suddenly she’s right at Vi’s side, grabbing her forearm with a warm and steady hand. “That’s Jayce, you have to go!”
“W-what?” Vi stares at the girl in awe, heart pounding wildly in her chest for some reason. The girl really is taller than her – not by much though. She also smells really nice, but that’s probably not something Vi should think about right now.
“I never really had the intention to alert the Enforcers,” the girl – Cait? – explains hurriedly, eyeing the balcony’s door warily, “but Jayce probably will, you need to go, now!”
Vi stumbles on her own two feet as the girl gently tugs her towards the railing, unable to keep her eyes from trailing all over the girl’s face. “I–”
“If you do come back,” the girl adds, moving to her side and pushing her lightly, “please stay away from the blue gems? They’re dangerous and awfully unstable.”
“That’s–”
“Hurry!” The girl is frowning now, pushing Vi one last time against the railing, and somehow this finally gets Vi to move. She hops on the railing, the girl taking a step back, and climbs back on the roof, her arms screaming as she hoists herself up there. Just as she sets her feet on the rooftop, she hears the door to the balcony open, and she holds her breath and stills, absolutely stunned by what just happened.
“What are you doing out here?”
It’s a man’s voice, and Vi has no problem hearing the topsider girl’s response to that: “Nothing, just, admiring the view.”
“With your rifle out?” the man – Jayce, she supposes – retorts in a disbelieving tone. Vi cannot help her amused grin at that, even more so when the man voices her own thoughts out loud: “Caitlyn Kiramman, you are a terrible liar.”
“Whatever.”
She sounds petulant, annoyed, and Vi finds herself longing to see what face Caitlyn Kiramman is currently pulling because she’s sure it’s most definitely very cute – what, no, hilarious rather. She’s not thinking that the topsider brat is cute, no. way.
The man laughs, dragging Vi out of her deeply denial-y thoughts. “Let’s get you home, your parents are probably worried by now.”
“Fine.”
There’s sound of steps, then the balcony door closing, and then all that’s left is Vi, sitting uncomfortably on a rooftop, not entirely sure what just happened and why her heart is pounding so hard right now.
That’s a lie, she knows why, and she also knows that she kind of hates it but also doesn’t.
Because today she met a topsider girl that held her at gunpoint and threatened to call the Enforcers – not that odd of a situation – but then didn’t and helped her escape and even tipped her on what not to steal in her friend’s lab, and really that’s just, what?
Caitlyn Kiramman. Definitely, maybe reconciling Vi with topsider girls. Maybe. Or maybe it’s just her. Vi’s not sure – definitely confused about the whole thing. Definitely confused about how distractingly blue her eyes were. About the curve of her lips and the little gap between her front teeth. About how warm and soft her hand had been when she’d grabbed her forearm, and how sweet and lovely she smelled too. Is that weird? That’s probably very weird. She needs to get her head out of her ass and go home, now.
Forget about the whole thing. Forget about Caitlyn Kiramman, and how she stood up to her when no one not even Claggor ever does. She can do that, right? She can forget her. Stupid topsider doesn’t mean anything – not even when she helped her instead of ratting her out to the Enforcers.
Yep, not important. At all. Vi will probably never see her again anyway.
(She is not disappointed about it, absolutely not.)
(Maybe she is, just a little bit, but she’s barely admitting it to herself, because that’s embarrassing.)