Chapter Text
Vi has never been so relieved to be home. Having been stuck undercover, working on a sting operation in Zaun for 32-hours straight, had taken its toll. She had barely slept, and was still riding on the high of catching one of the more sinister chem-barons of the Undercity. She was glad that now she can finally shower, maybe take a nap, and get a head start on working out the kinks that’s been plaguing her gauntlets since last morning.
Carefully retrieving the gloves from its bag, she places them on her metal workbench with a soft clank. She makes quick work of arranging her workstation, getting all the tools she needed within a hand’s reach, before examining the damage and considers it fixable, by her standards. Jayce Talis and his band of misfits can kiss my ass, Vi smirks.
But before she gets any work done on the gauntlets, Vi notices the smell of sweat and the distinct stink of sewerage emanating from her clothes, to her hair, to her skin. She sighs into the quietness, deciding that probably could use a shower. She also figured that she would catch Caitlyn too, as it was now around the time she would be waking up to start her day.
Along the way to the bedroom, she passes a glance at the clock.
7:12am.
The first thing that Vi noticed the moment she had entered the bedroom, was how quiet it was. A pin could drop, and she would have heard it. Shifting her eyes to the bed, she was met with disappointment. The bed was already made and a handwritten note was tucked awkwardly between the folds of the duvet. Vi works herself to her side of the bed and lifts the paper to her eyes to read it.
Hey sweetheart, figured I'd be gone when you get back. Call the station when you read this. Love you!
Vi’s expectant state falters. But she doesn’t dwell on her feelings any longer than she has to, and gets ahead to do as instructed. She folds the note in half and pockets it as she makes her way to the telephone.
The Piltovian contraption sat like a precious artefact in the apartment's foyer. She remembered struggling with the odd invention at first, awkwardly twisting and turning the apparatus and wondering which end was where she talked and where she listened from. They never had one in Zaun, when she grew up, they were limited to sending messages through the Pneumatic tubes, which in itself was already a luxury for most of the people in the Undercity.
With practiced movements, Vi lifts the wooden receiver off its bracket and was connected to an operator in waiting.
“Hall of Law," Vi called out to the wooden cone in her hand, and a quick redirection sends her to another voice.
"This is the Hall of Law, what's your emergency?" it said, sound coming off the receiver that Vi holds out near to her ears.
"Hey Louise, it's Vi. Badge number 516. Can you connect me with the Sheriff please?"
"Say no more darling!"
After a click, the familiar cadence of polished accent fills the line, which both ached and pleased Vi’s heart. It was warm and it was familiar, and it never failed to make her smile.
"Oh, Vi, is that you?"
"Hey Cupcake. I thought today was your day off?"
"It is. It was. Something came up at the station that I needed to look into. But it might seem I'll have to be here a little longer than expected." Vi frowned at the information.
"Oh, hey if you want me to come in, I can help," she offered, though the slight inflection in her voice had made it sound more like a plea.
"Vi…” Caitlyn’s voice had softened. “You just got off a thirty-two hour shift. You should take it easy for the rest of the day. I’ve got Mohan on this with me.”
"Okay. Do you know when you'll be finished then?"
"Actually, it's kind of the reason I asked you to call. Well, part of the reason.” Vi raised her eyebrows as Caitlyn goes quiet. There was no one who understood the Sheriff better, and Vi already knew that a favor was about to follow. "I was supposed to help out with my mother's benefit garden party later this morning..."
"No way, you cancelled on your mother?"
"Obviously not!"
"Wait, you’re not asking me to cancel for you, because then it’s my funeral," Vi exclaimed. If this was the favor, then she would be smart to back out now.
"Vi, stop it!”
“Well, then what? You obviously cannot be at two places at once,” Vi pointed out, letting the sarcasm drip through.
“You are right, I can’t. It’s why I have you.” Vi's eyes widened, the realization crashing down on her like lightning. It was fast, instantaneous and left her buzzing across her whole body. She suddenly sees where this was going now. “I sort of told my mother that you’ll take my place instead?” And there it was.
"What? No. Cait, please!" She pleaded, for real this time.
"I didn’t think she would say yes. I am just as surprised as you are right now!” Caitlyn exclaimed, the exasperation evident even through the wire. “Look sweetheart, don’t worry too much about it okay. You’ll be fine. I mean how many times have we had dinner with her already, five at this point?”
It was seven. Seven times that she had to sit at the same table as Cassandra, who aimed nothing but disapproving looks at her, and sometimes the occasional judgmental stares when she scarfs down her food a little too fast; or when she makes an untimely joke or two. And then there were the passing comments she would hear, once it was about how Tobias' petunias were constantly being trampled on when Vi used to climb through Caitlyn's window. She also didn't like that she was subject of many, many arguments between the Kiramman matriarch and her daughter.
"Except this isn't dinner. It's a party Cait!"
"Actually, it's the preparation for the Garden Party. The actual party isn't until this weekend," Caitlyn corrected. "Look, all of you have to do is take my place in the committee. I've already done the groundwork, everything should be simple enough. And the garden is so big, you can easily avoid my mother."
Vi sighs. There was an expectant silence on the line.
While Vi was reckless, impulsive and often fearless in her choices, she definitely was not foolish enough to say no Caitlyn Kiramman. Not in this lifetime, at least.
"Fine,” she gives in. “Which part of the Gardens, and what time do I need to be there?"
"She'll be at the apartment at 10 sharp. Bye. Love you!” The overjoyed tone on the other line was unmistakable. Had Vi knew this would be Caitlyn’s reaction, she would have gladly said yes from the start. Probably.
Vi hangs up the phone, body now slumped in surrender. The tiredness of the last 32-hours had suddenly hit her like a truck. She groans out at the knot on her shoulders, uncertain if it was her muscles finally giving out, or the sheer thought of spending more than four hours with Caitlyn's mother. She glances at the clock again.
7:46am.
Vi takes a moment to mentally calculate how she can squeeze in a shower and a nap before Cassandra arrived.
---
It wasn't so much the noise of soft tapping of fingers to flesh, but the feeling that she was being stared at that stirred Vi awake. She turns her head from the back dip of the couch and peers through half-lidded eyes at a figure hovering her.
Vi nearly jumps out of her skin when she finally discerns her intruder. She jolts up reactively from her nap into a sitting position, with her legs crossed over the other, and hands clasp together.
Of course, it was just the kind of erratic reaction you get when you’re in the presence of the terrifying figure that is Cassandra Kiramman, eyes watching.
"H- how'd you get in?" Vi manages to choke out.
"Good morning to you too, Violet,” the councillor said sternly, taking a step back as Vi adjusted herself to her feet. “Did you know, my family started out making locks for a living?”
Vi wasn’t sure if she had heard that last part correctly. She was still steeped in confusion between the sleep in her eyes and trying to make sense of the fact that Cassandra freaking Kiramman had broken into the apartment, and was staring at her sleeping just moments ago. Wild.
As if reading her mind, Cassandra quickly followed up with, "Caitlyn let us keep a copy of the key when you bought the apartment together."
Okay, that made more sense.
"Also, we're late. So, I implore you to get dress as soon as you can. We're expected."
Right. The Garden Benefit Piltie Thingy.
“Oh, I’ll just grab my jacket and we can go,” she responded sheepishly, hands reaching over the back of her hair to smooth out the ends.
Cassandra turns around and sizes Vi up and down questioningly. Once she’s done her full assessment of her, she shakes her head, as if scandalized by Vi’s outfit of choice. However, the moment passes and Cassandra is already making her way out the apartment door.
Shrugging, Vi grabs her red jacket from the coat stand by the front door and reaches for her keys. She takes a glance at the clock again.
10:15am
Vi cocks her head sideways, burning curiosity in the air as she takes a second to muse at the thought that Cassandra Kiramman may have been watching her sleep for fifteen whole minutes. But she quickly waves it off, as the incessant tapping of custom made leather heels against marbled floors was starting to feel like the tick of a timer zeroing on an explosion.
She quickly locks the door behind her, though not forgetting to make a mental note to ask Caitlyn why she had never told her that she gave a copy of the keys to her parents..
---
Of all the things that Vi had assumed about Cassandra Kiramman, she would have never guessed that the woman was a walker; or at least she didn’t think they’d be walking all the way to the event venue when the Kiramman family owned at least two hextech-rigged motor cars, one of which was trailing closely behind them since they left the apartment.
As someone who have had to look over her shoulders her entire life, Vi is acutely attuned to the smallest oddities, such as if the pipes to their apartment was hissing to indicate a leak, or the latch to their apartment window was loose, or if her gauntlets felt a little heavier than usual. So, things like the familiar car following them or the fact that there were no enforcers guarding the councillor had rang alarm bells in Vi’s head.
“I think we might have lost your protection detail,” Vi trailed.
“I’ve dismissed them for the day,” the older woman said simply, not looking back at Vi even once.
While Piltover has been known for quite some time to be the safest city in the region, thanks to its resolute and incorruptible Sheriff, Vi was no stranger to the random chaos that ensues should the activities from the Undercity spill over topside. It was rare, but definitely not predictable to the point that a councillor like Cassandra would feel safe enough to walk around without one.
But Vi stops herself from further questioning, as if her opinion would matter in this very moment, or any moment at all. She has learned over the years that questioning the councillors was as equivalent to talking to a brick wall. They had never seen her as their equal, not even now, even though she herself is now part of its inner circle in more ways than one. On a different day, she would agonise over it for weeks with Caitlyn, who helpfully lends an ear to listen, gives her sound reassurance, and a body to hug it out. But they both knew that this was their reality now, and it was a compromise that they slowly, but stubbornly, had learned to accept.
"We’re almost there," Vi dared a look at the older woman from the corner of her eyes before realizing they were now at the lusher part of Piltover.
She looks around in awe. Views like these with trees as far as the eyes can see always amazes her. The wood and the greens were a rarity, almost never seen when she was growing up in Zaun. Even now that Piltover was home, and sometimes being tasked with patrolling these streets, it was a view that she would relish in.
"Careful Violet, you may catch a bug in that mouth." Vi had to peek a double-take, having sworn that she's heard those exact same words from Caitlyn before. Only this time, it was her mother.
She snapped her mouth shut in earnest and continued trailing behind the taller woman as they made their way deeper into the park. After several more steps, they arrived at a clearing. In the middle was a gazebo where a small crowd had gathered, seated on garden chairs in a circle.
Cassandra almost floats up the steps, while Vi trudged behind her in her thick, heavy boots.
"And here is our Patron, Councillor Kiramman, to say a few words before we start," a woman who was standing in the middle of the circle had said, as she moved aside for the older woman.
The crowd clapped in a pitter-patter manner that made something inside Vi curl unpleasantly. She is reminded again how the Piltie life is something she’d never get used to, no matter how much she tries.
"Apologies everyone," Cassandra voiced out curtly upon taking the floor. "My daughter could not make it today, but in her stead is my daughter-in-law, Violet."
"Actually, it’s Vi-"
And suddenly, she feels a deprecating gaze on her. If looks could kill, Cassandra Kiramman has perfected it down to a T.
"-Violet Kiramman," she somehow yelps out to the crowd, who were all now staring at her. Studying her.
Cassandra looks away and returns to addressing the crowd.
"Violet also happens to be our Undersheriff, as you all may be well to know. So, she will help advise on the party’s security measure. I hope you’ll make use of her today as best as you can."
Cassandra goes on to thank the Garden Committee for sponsoring the venue for the benefit, and then to the rest of the volunteers for their assistance. She also makes it a point to remind everyone that the money that they will be raising will be channeled to the Children of Zaun foundation, a trust that directly worked with the orphanages in Zaun.
These benefits and charities to give back to the children of Zaun, are just some of the many things that the councillors have started committing to since the separation of the two cities. However, it was mostly a way for them to internalize their own guilt and years of neglect for the Undercity.
"Mrs Kiramman?" A voice had sounded out behind Vi. She doesn’t acknowledge it at first, thinking it had been directed to the Councillor, who had suddenly disappeared from her sights. It wasn't until the person repeated herself again, that Vi looks at her.
"Y- yes. Yes. Me. That’s me."
It wasn’t lost on her that she was technically a Kiramman herself now, having married into the family. It was an aggravating realization to know that she had practically become the one thing that her childhood-self had swore to destroy, and yet at the same time it filled her with such immense happiness. The kind of happiness that had been lost on her from the moment before she was thrown into Stillwater, to the many years after that. Punching walls. Blocking punches. Punching back. It was the reiteration of those that she had only known.
For so long she was just Vi, then she was just a number in the system. Prisoner 516. She had retaliated the forced anonymity with the ink on her cheek, hoping to regain at least some semblance of her that she still had left. But that was then, and yet here she stands now, alive, unbroken, and not just Vi. She was happy, and happier still that someone had actually made the conscious choice to share their name with her like a perpetual oath.
The elderly woman smiled sweetly at Vi, breaking her away from her thoughts, before handing her a clipboard. Vi hastily accepts it, still feeling truly like a fish out of water.
"Here is the safety checklist drafted by Sheriff Kiramman, and which the party would need to abide by. And behind that is a floorplan of the garden itself."
Vi looks through the checklist. It was perhaps the most comprehensive checklist that she has seen. Which was to be expected, when it was drafted by the most methodical person she knew. Vi thanks the woman as she leaves and makes a glance towards the clock tower in the distance.
10:48am
Well, she had the day ahead of her, so she might as well get started.
---
A bell rings from a short distance away and Vi looks up from where she had been inspecting one of the fences. She was halfway through her checklist by now.
She sees from a distance, men and women in white tuxedos rolling out carts of food to the middle of the clearing of the garden. They set them all out in a line and arranged the items in quick succession. A voice rings out, the same shrill voice of the woman who had announced Cassandra at the gazebo earlier.
“Ladies and gentlemen, if I have your attention. It’s time for the tasting.”
The words alone made Vi realize that she hadn’t had a bite to eat, not since the quick hot dog she had eaten in the middle of her sting operation last night. The sight of the waiters pulling off the tray covers only seem to allow the growling in the bottom of her stomach to intensify.
She casts her eyes over the food selection. They were small, tiny and so carefully constructed that she sometimes wonders if they were even edible. Though mostly Vi finds it odd, the fact that something so minute could be substantial enough to be considered sustenance. It was the eccentricities like these, of the Topside, that never fails to amaze her sometimes.
Though at the way her stomach was growling, she could care less about the eccentricities, and is just content for the food. She takes them all by the handful once everyone has gotten their bit, much to the chagrin of Cassandra who has rolled her eyes almost more than she could count at this point. But Vi shrugs it off, knowing full well that this was the only expectation of her that she couldn’t conform to, not when she has been stuck eating prison food for a big part of life.
As she gets to her cookies. Biscuits. Whatever Caitlyn calls it. She feels a glance at her direction. At this rate, however, Vi considers the stares and the whispers as something she would need to get used to. The attention she has been receiving for the past hour were blatant. It was as if they were not even trying to hide their appraisal of her.
That said, the gossips were subdued and concentrated mostly on her overall appearance. They spoke about her muscular figure, her wild mop of hair, down to her tattoos. Surprisingly even, they were not even negative comments, but filled with an awe and a certain curiosity, like she was a wild gazette across the dessert plains. One of them even dared as much to approach her.
"It’s Violet isn’t it? You came with Councillor Kiramman," Vi turns around and sees an elderly woman talking to her.
She offers a smile and nods, cheeks darkening. "Yeah, that’s me."
The woman then beams a smile, carefully glancing at Vi. "I'm Marianne Astor, of Clan Astor. It is truly nice to meet you."
She offers a hand and Vi instinctively accepts it.
"Oh my, what a strong grip you have there."
Vi lets off a nervous chuckle. "Sorry about that."
"No, you shouldn't apologize. It's nice to know our Deputy Sheriff keeps up with her physique," the woman smiles even more as she retrieves her hand's from Vi's grip and reaches to squeeze the enforcer's biceps. "And look at those equally strong arms."
Vi freezes on contact, unsure what to make the situation. Sure, she was used to the gawking and admiration she'd get after a public arrest or spectacle, but none so close to home.
"Heh, it’s probably from all the punching and catching criminals," she lets off as a joke and forces a chuckle. Could it get any more awkward than this?
"Very strong indeed, and so very handsome," the lady added. "You know, my daughter also fancies women."
Vi chokes on the cookie that she had stuffed in her mouth and it sends her into a coughing fit. At this point, she can’t imagine what could come next. She might not even want to.
"Ms Aster!" A familiar voice calls out over the gardens. Vi turns to see Cassandra Kiramman now approaching them. "How are the seating arrangements, I would like to give them one more look, if that's alright with you?"
Vi had never been more grateful for the Kiramman matriarch's timely interruptions, until this very moment. She glances at her and, wait, was that a look of concern? She wasn't sure but she nodded anyway, before the two elderly women continued talking amongst themselves.
After setting her plate on the nearby table, Vi quickly grabs a glass of water and downs it with fervor. Had she known that that she would be the subject of the female gaze among the clan wives of Piltover, Vi would have ran as far away from the gardens as she could.
Vi quickly shakes the awkwardness off, the lack of sleep already softly pulsating an ache behind her ears. She looks back at her checklist the moment her stomach had stopped growling, and moves on to the next item left unchecked.
---
It had been an hour, maybe less, when Vi had finished going through all the security measures and ticked off all the boxes of her - Caitlyn's - checklist. Now she was tasked with packing the party favors. In front of her, displayed out in the table, were mountains of confectionaries and grids upon grids of jewel encrusted bracelets, primed for stealing. Vi guessed that if someone were to pawn one of them off in the lanes, it would have been an easy meal ticket.
Vi snorts to herself at the contradiction of her circumstance. She, a past Zaunite, who used to steal from the very people standing around her just to get by was now their Deputy Sheriff, and a Kiramman no less, and is measuredly filling paper bags with jewelry. Did she hate it? Yes, with every fiber of her being. But yet she reminds herself, of all the good that she is doing, has been doing, in Piltover to help people like her. Like this party for instance, which would be luring the fat wallets of Piltover's richest to fund orphanages overlooked by the chem-barons. It was a balancing act and Vi almost always felt herself threading further and further away from shallow waters.
"A penny for your thoughts," a voice from beside her had said. Vi is surprised to see a woman somewhere her age, with blonde hair and light blue eyes, a stark contrast to the sea of older women scattered across the garden.
"Urm... I was just admiring-," Vi randomly picks something off the table, "-these." It was a piece of confectionary.
"That's a toffee. Not much to think about, I believe," the girl pointed out before giggling into her gloved hands.
Vi shrugged, her cheeks blushing in embarrassment, but she tries to play it off by flicking the candy off into one of the bags. It lands perfectly inside.
"Impressive."
"Thanks. I did train for this you know."
They laughed and the other girl does her own attempt with the party favor that she herself had been packing. It misses.
"It is harder than it looks, I must say."
"It's all in the wrist," Vi demonstrates, fanning her palm back and forth.
The other girl attempts again following Vi's 'technique' and it catches, landing into the paper bag with ease.
"See! I told you I trained for it," Vi pushes her shoulders back, cocking a small grin on her face and winks.
"And you're an excellent teacher too," the woman surmised with a wave of a hand. "It's Violet, correct?"
"Actually, you can just call me Vi. Only my wife and her family calls me Violet."
"Ah yes, you're married to the Sheriff. What an odd pairing, you're not exactly her type," the girl quickly clasped a hand over her mouth, probably realizing she hadn't meant to say that. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have spoken out of turn."
"Hell, don't stop on my account," Vi pushed. What had she meant by her type?
The girl shot Vi a sheepish smile, contemplation in her eyes before she said: "It's just, all I've know of Caitlyn is that she prefers pretty girls... I mean, soft girls?"
Vi shoots an eyebrow up, taking in the information with a sudden interest and then a wave of realization. It hadn't occur to her until now, that of all the ex-girlfriends of Caitlyn's that she's had the pleasure of meeting, were exactly as the girl in front of her had described. Soft. Femme. Pretty.
Vi innately smiles, before filing this tidbit into her head for later.
"Well, I like to believe she fell for my sunny personality, rather than my good looks you know," Vi cocks her hip, hands landing squarely on it as she flips her hair back in a smug fashion. The other girl slow nods again and another wave of realization hits Vi. "Oh, you were... you and Caitlyn dated."
The girl blushed profusely, lightly fanning herself somewhat as she flustered at her place. "Well-" she forces a laugh, "-I wouldn't call it dating, it was really just a..." she trailed off.
"A fling?"
"Is that what you call it in Zaun? Well, it was rather short-lived. Her mother and my grand-aunt are really the ones who pushed for a wedding, but then Caitlyn went off to become an enforcer and my family decided that it wasn't a right match."
You would've been her type. Vi thought. Soft. Femme. Pretty.
"Oh, this conversation must be so awkward, please just ignore me," the girl tried to wave it off.
"C'mon. You piltie people really take all this politeness too seriously."
The girl's eyes widened, taken aback by Vi's brashness. "You really are something else Vi. I can see the appeal, and why Caitlyn might have been so taken with you. So rarely has anyone put her in place, except her mother, and you."
Vi wasn't sure what to make of the last statement, having been put in the same sentence as Cassandra. The longer that Vi dwelled on it though, the more she hadn't notice a hand coming up to her cheeks, and light blue eyes staring into hers. She quickly froze.
What was happening?
"Sorry, your tattoo," the girl said, quickly retracting her hands when Vi flinched. "We don't see that around here much."
"Yeah, uh-," Vi smooth the tattoo with the pads of her fingers, seemingly wiping something that wasn't there. "I got this-" in prison, she should have said. Though she guesses it probably wouldn't inspire a lot of confidence with her current audience, nor would it serve to salve the Kiramman reputation that she is now partly responsible for, in some capacity. "-a long time ago."
"Emily!"
Cassandra Kiramman once again has found her way into Vi's conversations again, thankfully.
"Fancy seeing you here. Had I known that another head of the upper houses would be here, I would have assigned a different task for you instead." Cassandra's eyes were cold. So cold that it probably could fill the whole of Zaun with snow for the next twenty years. "And I've seen you've met Violet, my daughter-in-law."
"I didn't want to make a scene Mrs. Kira- Councillor," The girl responded. "And yes, Vi and I have been quite acquainted with while packing these party favors."
"Vi?" The judgement that Cassandra lays on Vi is thick and unassuming.
"Yes, well, Violet I had meant," the girl continued, before looking at the woman in question. "Although, I do think Vi is rather more suitable."
Vi could feel herself coming undone. Unraveling into the perfectly trimmed grass beneath her. She should have noticed from the start, how the blonde's eyes had twinkled at her, and how her lips had slightly parted the moment Vi shot her a grin. How had she not seen it before is probably because she only recognized that look when they were on Caitlyn.
"I'd hardly call flirting with the Undersheriff getting acquainted, would you?" Cassandra's sneers.
Vi felt the heat in her cheeks, the accusation running so deep that for a moment she had forgotten that she was the victim.
"We weren-" The blonde girl said up in protest, squirming under the intense gaze of the Councillor's stare. "I wasn-"
"Look, I think this is all just a misunderstanding," Vi suddenly interrupted, having collected herself and sensing that the tension was becoming a little too thick for her taste.
"Indeed, it might have been," Cassandra did not falter with her tone. Eyes still trained carefully at the blonde girl.
"Well, I'll say," the other girl breathes in a sigh of relief.
Vi watches as Cassandra turns her nose up to the girl, shaking her head and pivoting on her feet. "Violet, if you're ready, I will be taking my leave from here and would prefer if you joined me."
At this, Vi looks around the garden and notices the committee were putting the final touches into tomorrow's event and the crowd was already thinning out. The moment she looks back at where Cassandra was, she was already walking towards the gate.
"Look I'm sorry about that," Vi quickly apologizes to the girl. "I'll see you around, I guess. Emily was it?"
"Yes, Emily Ferros," the girl declared, finally.
Vi nods, slowly. An 'oh' of recognition, almost escaping her lips. But it doesn't. Thankfully.
When Vi had decided to joined the newly minted Wardens almost five years ago, rehabilitated from the ground up by the city's current Sheriff, she had no knowledge on the Piltover noble houses. It took at least staying up two nights with Caitlyn at her family's library for her to even recite half the noble houses, though Vi always remembers the disdain in Caitlyn's eyes whenever Ferros was mentioned.
Scorned lover? The one that got away?
Vi quickly broke away from her thoughts, sensing eyes boring holes into the back of her head. She chances a glance to the direction of the gates and there it was, icy blue eyes, the same color as her wife's, staring at her in complete displeasure. She gulps, her mouth suddenly feeling dry.
Without a second to waste, she gives an apologetic wave to the Kiramman matriarch before passing a quick smile to Emily as a nod of goodbye. She then runs off to catch up with her mother-in-law.