Chapter Text
Bathtub:
The walk home never had felt this arduous. The cold season was starting to settle in Piltover, and after another day of helping Ekko sort scrap from the greasy, runoff tributaries to the river, Vi was tired. She was wet and greasy and tired. Numbness set into her always-achy hands, her toes tingled from cold in her boots.
After three weeks of living with Cait, Vi had finally started to feel herself settle a bit. Her stitches had been removed. With access to Piltover’s grocers, the aches of hunger and overexertion in her bones faded. Vi and Cait fell into their daily routine of Cait heading into the Enforcers’ office and Vi heading to Ekko’s to help work on their perspective projects and then walked home together from their meeting place at the wharf.
Her hands hurt fiercely from the cold, a side effect of being broken and bruised too many times; she kept her jaw clenched to stop Cait from seeing her teeth chatter. The gusts off the wharf were freshly cold, salty. Sailboats bobbled on the capping waves against their moorings.
Cait knocked her shoulder affectionately against Vi’s as they walked, reaching down to hold her hand. It made Vi realize in that moment that she’d follow Cait just about anywhere. The feelings, no matter how hard she tried to keep them under control, kept growing. A warm fondness bloomed in her chest. How much she cared about Caitlyn, and how much their relationship had grown in such a short time. “How was your day, lovely?” Cait asked her, “Aren’t you cold? You’re awfully wet for this weather.”
“Nah, I’m good.” She lied, badly, as she was visibly shivering. The two of them sidestepped away from the railings as a wave sent salty spray over the walkway.
Cait made a displeased noise, “How are your hands?”
Most of her body had healed, except her hands. She’d woken Cait by mistake the previous night when she’d startled awake from fierce cramping extending from her fingers to her elbows (which Vi hated, because both of them struggled enough with the oppressive nightmares and anxiety after the whole ordeal with Jinx). “They’re…” She looked down at them, caked with dirt and grease, “They’re fine. Less stiff and crampy than earlier.” It wasn’t entirely a lie. You didn’t just get a steel rod brought down on them when you were a teenager who started a fight in prison and not have any lingering pain.
Punching the wall and all the fights probably had something to do with it too.
She remembered the floor pressing into her face, the scream tearing from her mouth as sat on her and forced her hands flat against the stone—
Vi’s muscles in her back coiled.
“Good.” Cait stated. They made it back to the house. Vi did her best to remove her boots without any muck getting onto the white marble flooring. There was always a distinct floral smell from the candles Cassandra had the housekeepers burn.
Petunia, one of the Kiramman’s housekeepers, exchanged pleasantries with them. She padded across the floor on her soggy socks. Cait stiffened in front of Vi, as if she’d been electrocuted, “Door!” Her voice was sharp, and Vi knew why—because of the Jinx thing. Cait didn’t want anyone getting into the house. The door now always had to be double, triple and quadruple checked.
“Got it, Cupcake.” Vi stated, pivoting on her socks on the floor to reach the front door. She dutifully checked the already locked deadbolt, “All good.”
“Thank you…I…” Cait was shivering too, Vi realized. She wasn’t the only one with anxiety, and also wasn’t the only one who’d been out in the cold all day. Being in the house and sheltered from the gusting wind had stopped Vi’s shivering temporarily.
“Hey….no worries.” Vi gave her voice as much confidence as she could muster, “Why don’t I check out your bathroom, and then you go ahead and shower and I can check all the windows. Will that help?” The Kirammans and all of the Council members had been given increased security, not that Vi was sure it would matter against Jinx, but it did help her sleep a little easier.
“You’re frozen, Vi.”
“I’m alright.” She assured, “I won’t touch any furniture, I promise. Do you want me to sit in the bathroom while you shower?”
Cait paused. Cait didn’t like to ask her for things, but Vi knew enough that it was an affirmative.
“Hey, I’ve got you.” Vi took her hand, pulling her down to her bedroom at the end of the west wing.
“Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me. I live in your house. It’s the least I could do.” Vi led the way into Cait’s bedroom as she usually did, flicking the switch to turn on the lights. A quick glance around the cathedral of a room found it to be empty. Vi bent at her waist to check under the bed without touching her filthy self to the floor.
She went for the window, next, checking that it was still firmly locked. The closet was also clear. Finally, Vi zeroed in on the bathroom with Cait behind her, tense with anxiety. Vi opened the door and flicked on that light as well.
She heard Cait let out a breath, “Let me shower.” Cait stated, and Vi sensed that Cait was doing the same thing as she—trying to shake off some of her anxieties.
“I’ll stay—I don’t mind.”
“I’d….Do you…would it be a bother to check the other windows in the house and make sure Petunia is okay?” Cait pressed her lips together, as if she was ashamed to even ask.
“Of course.” Vi stated, “I’ll make sure everything is okay.”
A small nod from Cait who was also soggy from the afternoon cold rains, “I’ll be quick. Don’t worry.”
“Take your time.” Vi assured. Being asked by Cait felt good. It felt like this was sort of normal. Vi did things for people—it was how she survived the general population of Stillwater. She bartered her fists for friendships and extra commissary when she wasn’t thrown in the hole. She’d spent seven years waiting for this, Vi realized, walking through a Councilor’s mansion while checking their windows. It was so weird, the nightly routine where Vi got Powder into bed, checked on her brothers, and locked up Vander’s little apartment was now what she regularly did for Caitlyn.
“I think Vi is being a security system again.” She heard Tobias say from beyond the parlor doorway, not unkindly. And Vi let herself smile a little despite the fear and unease churning in her chest. It had decreased to a simmer, but it was still there, making her feel perpetually wrung out. She didn’t want to make the wrong move. She didn’t want to be put back in a stone box—the dark walls the subject of many of her nightmares.
Her hands ached. Ever since she’d inadvertently challenged Sevika to a rematch fight she’d be so anxious, the pain that had settled into her hands didn’t help that. She was stupid, too impulsive. Why couldn’t she be normal? Though, the idea of walking away from a fight made her even more nauseated than the idea of eventually trading blows with Sevika again. Vi felt vulnerable. Her own sister had made Cait terrified in her own house. Vi wanted to punch a wall. She wanted to punch her wall in her familiar cell. What the hell was wrong with her?
And then the thought of her cell and her wall made her shiver. The way the guards would come in, smash her against the wall, face pinned on the floor, knuckles crushed under a lead pipe. The way they’d lay it over her hands, slowly pushing more weight down, waiting for her to cry out— sweat prickled down Vi’s back. How long until she fucked something up and was back there? How long until stupid photoshoots and tabloid spreads about the Council surviving the bombing devolved to all-out war?
No wonder her hands hurt—between old injuries and years of impact and how cold the water was where she and Ekko went scrap hunting.
Vi checked with staff members to confirm nothing suspicious had gone on during she and Cait’s daytime absence and was given assurances by the security man patrolling.
She called out before entering Cait’s bedroom, so as not to startle her. The water was off, but the bathroom was still closed. Vi locked the bedroom door first, as she knew walking away with any door unlocked made Cait nervous, and then walked toward the bathroom, “Cait! All good! Just me.” She felt so keyed up. The memory made her quiver with anger and want to plant her fist into the first jaw of a corrections enforcer—
A pause, “I appreciate you, Vi. You can come in.”
Vi came to the door, opening it slowly. Cait was already out of the shower, her flat, shiny hair perfectly combed down her back. She was in a robe, her lean, toned legs sticking out the bottom and impossible for Vi not to look at. How had she gotten so lucky?
Cait was bent beside the claw footed tub, “I ran you a bath, and put soap and Epsom salt in it. It should help your hands. I can leave you to it.”
Vi felt emotion hit her in her throat. When was the last time she’d been run a bath? She would have been so small when her mother last had. She did her best to bite back the tears suddenly threatening to roll down her face, “Cait—”
“You don’t have to…but I thought it would be helpful.” Cait stated.
Vi didn’t know what to say, only that she was so anxious about Jinx and the Sevika thing and the way she would just remember things from Stillwater which made her unable to sleep and for some unexplainable reason only made her want to stand and punch a wall until her knuckles were so bloody and painful that she couldn’t think about anything else. The sweet, sweet high from the first searing split of flesh on stone and the way it would tingle down into her elbow and shoulder. It was what she deserved after slapping Powder and starting this whole fucking disaster—
“I…” She only managed, realizing her head was swimming.
“What’s wrong, Vi?”
“Thinking…so much…” She managed, voice sounding gravelly. The steam of the bathroom felt so good. And the smell of Cait’s soap lingered in the air around them, helping her convince herself she was safe. It was okay. They were safe. Vi tensed her back and flexed her fingers. My fault, my fault. “Will you…stay with me?”
“Of course. Are you alright?” Cait furrowed her brow with concern.
“I…Yes…just….thoughts. About Powder…and Stillwater”
“Not blaming yourself, are you?”
Vi looked aside.
“We’re not doing that, remember?”
“Yeah, but after seven years it’s hard.” Vi squeezed her eyes closed, counting silently backward from ten in an effort to calm her nerves.
“Stillwater?” Cait asked. They’d talked about some of this stuff. When Vi had woke up screaming during the night she’d had no choice but to explain a thing or two. Since then, they’d had a silent agreement to soothe each other when they had nightmares. Things weren’t so raw as a few weeks ago, but Vi was still adjusting, and so was Cait.
“Yes. And Sevika.”
Cait stood at her side, helping her start to unwind her soggy wraps and tossing them into the hamper. Vi forced herself not to flinch away from her as much as it was her initial instinct to do so, “Pain or anxious?” Cait asked, keeping her hand on Vi’s wrist but keeping still.
“Not pain….Alright. Alright. Sorry.”
“You don’t need to be sorry. You had a seven-year ordeal.” Cait pulled one wrap free and immediately went for the second. She helped Vi shrug off her soggy hoodie and tossed it with the rest of her clothes into the hamper. Naked in front of Cait felt vulnerable. How many times had she been here with Cait while she showered? How many bodies had she seen in prison? Too many to count was the answer.
Though Vi was firmly aware it was the first time she was the one without clothes with Cait.
Cait offered her hands to steady Vi while she stepped into the tub. It was so warm on her feet. People just did this? This was good. “Not too hot, is it?” Cait checked.
“No. It’s perfect.” Vi let out a pleased noise as she sank into the water which reached nearly to her shoulders. She crossed her arms over her chest, shivering slightly.
“You okay? Want a towel to hold over yourself?” Cait offered.
“No, no.” She was fine, really. Why was she being bashful? It wasn’t like the rare showers at Stillwater afforded any privacy. Cait pressed her hand over one of Vi’s hands which were latched onto her own shoulders.
“Keep your hands in the salt water, if you can. Can I….wash your hair? Or is that too much?”
“I…” Vi paused, forcing away the initial instinct to say ‘no’. For as long as she could remember she’d been the one washing Powder’s hair. The request almost made her want to get emotional again, “I…okay. You don’t have to.” She didn’t want to be a burden. She couldn’t stand that.
“I would like to. Because you deserve it. You deserve care, Vi. You took care of Powder and your brothers all of those years. Who took care of you?” Cait reached for the shampoo bottle, and Vi tried her best not to wince again. Caitlyn, the patient saint that was Caitlyn, merely paused, letting Vi adjust to the arms moving around her head.
“Sorry.”
“You’re quite alright.” The warm water was lulling her into relaxation, she curled her toes to try to release some of the tension from the muscles in her legs while her brain screamed at her for being in too vulnerable of a position.
Cait raked her fingers through Vi’s undercut, “Lean back.” She did as she was told, letting Cait wet the strands with the showerhead connected to the back of the tub, “Try to relax.”
“’tryin’, Cupcake.”
“You’re doing good. So good.” Cait murmured to her, which Vi had a feeling was directed at both of them, as Cait sat in the bathroom and Vi tried to unwind her riled-up-ready-to-fight brain and muscles, “Does it help if I talk?”
It did. She could live for Cait telling her she was a ‘good girl’ for hours. Though, Vi wasn’t sure she was brave enough to say that yet, “Yes.”
“Alright.” Cait placed her soapy hands on Vi’s head and begun to scratch into her scalp. Vi made a soft moan of pleasure. Cait washing her hair sent heat through her, rushing down to her lower belly and tugged between her legs. Vi tried her best to push down that very particular feeling, especially when Cait was sitting beside her in nothing beside a purple silky robe, “You’re such a sweetheart, you know.” Cait worked her fingers through her hair, starting the shower head to rinse it out, “Lean back.”
“Hmm.”
Soft lips grazed her temple and deliciously warm water ran over her head, “Do your hands always hurt?”
“Most days. Comes with the territory.”
Cait huffed a sigh, “Rest and warm baths. See if we can make them better.”
“How am I supposed to fight Sevika?” She looked down at her skin beneath the water, her thickened and scarred knuckles from years of abuse and childhood scrapping.
“You will. They’ll get better. We’ll find a way to make them more manageable.” Cait assured.
Vi wasn’t sure that was something Cait could guarantee, but the warm water already felt so good, and she tried to keep lulling herself into relaxation as she rested in the soapy, salty water, “Okay.”
Cait swiped a piece of grease from her cheek, and Vi flinched again, “I’m sorry. I’m trying…I promise.”
“Hey, shh, it’s alright. I know. You’re doing so well. I saw where you were, remember?” Cait kept her voice steady, “I need you to supervise me in the shower. You’re not the only one who’s a bit jumpy lately.”
Vi wasn’t sure if there was any point in the past seven years that she wasn’t ‘jumpy’, “Right. Gods, Cait, I want to beat on the wall for a while to calm my ass down.” She exhaled through her teeth.
“That wouldn’t be good for your hands.” She tipped her head against Vi’s shoulder, taking a deep breath, “You’re such a good person. You deserve to hear that. You don’t need to punch walls until you bleed.”
“I…Cait…I’m not used to any of this….” Vi looked to the side, swallowing heavily. This was all so much. She was in a tub, and Cait was beautiful and touching her and so gentle.
Cait paused, “Do you need me to stop?”
“No.” She answered quickly, “Please don’t.”
“Let me know. Does it bother you that I’m touching you?”
“I will. And no….Just not used to it.”
“Okay.” With Cait leaning against her, some of the desire to hit things and rant and rave fled from her. Vi melted into Cait, tipping her head into Cait’s crown. She groped for the bottle of body wash on the shelf by the tub, scrubbing herself down while Cait pressed the occasional kiss to the side of her head. Cait’s fingers moved to her shoulders, squeezing gently and smoothing lightly over the pectoral muscles in Vi’s upper chest.
“Like what you see?” She tried to bring back some of her bravado.
“Actually, yes.” Cait stated, and Vi resisted the sudden defensive urge to cross her arms over her chest again. Cait’s hands reached her hair, nails digging lightly into her undercut once more.
“We’ll have to do this more often.” Vi stated.
Cait kissed her on the side of the head again, moving down to kiss the corner of her mouth and then mush her lips against Vi’s. The position was awkward, and Cait’s sleeve ended up partially in the tub, but Vi didn’t care.
Cait’s lips were warm and soft. Usually their kisses had been more chaste, fleeting between stress and nightmares and Vi unsure of how to accept her touch. She broke the kiss for a moment to reposition herself in the tub.
“You’ve done this before.” Vi stated, mostly an observation. She’d taken Cait to be innocent when she’d brought her to the brothel, it didn’t seem that was the case.
“Kissed a girl?” Cait cocked her brow, “Yes.”
“It’s been a while for me.” She’d been fourteen and one of the waiters at The Last Drop had a daughter her age who she awkwardly tried to kiss a few times when they had time hidden away from Vi’s siblings. There’d been a lusty romp or two where Vi gave and didn’t take in Stillwater because she didn’t take her clothes off there unless she had to. She suddenly felt woefully inexperienced. Not one to back down from a challenge, and more desperate to get her hands on Cait than she wanted to admit, Vi took a risk, “Want to…move to the bed? I’m not used to being touched but…” She paused to shrug, “I’d like to try.”
“Whatever you’re comfortable with.” Cait assured, “Let me know.”
Thanks for reading. There will be a second part of this that’s more smutty!
Leave me a comment : )