Work Text:
It was late.
Vi crossed to the window and drew the curtains, muting the light from the street lamps outside. Yawning, she scuffed her way toward the bed.
Caitlyn was already nestled under the comforter, propped up on her pillows, reading. Not case files, Vi was pleased to see. Just as they'd talked about. No work in bed. Instead, Cait was engrossed in a book. Something thick. A mystery novel, looked like.
So, perhaps work adjacent, but still technically within bounds.
Rolling heavily onto the mattress, Vi tugged open the bedside drawer and scrounged out a jar of salve. Spinning off the top, she scooped out a dab with her fingers. It smelled sharp, peppery, and clean, like spice and smoke and mint. Carefully, she began to rub it into her hands and wrists, wincing now and again at the old breaks she should have been treating better. Caitlyn had been keeping her promises. Vi knew it was only fair that she kept hers.
The salve was thick and slow to work into the skin. Vi lost herself in the rhythm, listening to the rustle of paper as Cait turned the pages of her book.
Fast reader.
Vi envied her sometimes. So often, text swam when she tried to force her way through it.
It hadn't always done that.
She was up to her elbows by the time she realized the rustling had stopped. Hands going still, she glanced up. Blue eyes caught hers, already lifted and staring.
Vi blinked. "Hi."
"Hi," Caitlyn chirped in reply.
A smile—a little snarky, a little shy—canted Vi's lip. "You need something?"
"Yes, actually."
She should have known better than to expect banter. The look on Caitlyn's face was too open. Too gentle. Too…something. Vi's eyes tracked her hands as she closed her novel and set it aside.
She reached out. "Come here."
Vi ducked her head and capped her salve. Setting the jar on the nightstand, she crawled to Caitlyn's side. She already knew this ask. The tone, the gesture. All of it.
The Invitation.
The offer of something she always needed but rarely asked for.
Caitlyn's fingers found her face. They drifted, cool and slender, from jaw to cheek and back. Brushing her ear, they furrowed her hair, teasing the roots until they glittered with sensation. Vi's senses fuzzed immediately. Slowly, she allowed herself to be guided into Caitlyn's lap.
"Y'okay?" she asked, because by now she knew that this, the gentle way in which Caitlyn touched her, it wasn't only for her. Not always. Not usually. It had taken her a while to get her head around the idea that it was possible to give by taking.
Caitlyn smiled down at her, combing the hair away from her forehead. "I'm fine. Don't worry. I just missed you today, that's all."
She ran the back of her finger along the soft space below Vi's ear, making her hum.
"Missed you, too."
It was a practiced line, but she meant every word. Use hadn't made them tired.
Caitlyn began to trace her brow. Vi closed her eyes in reflex. She was accustomed to this, now, even though she wasn't sure she'd ever be used to it. The affection. All the touching. The kindness and choice and respect. But she knew it was second nature for Cait to offer.
Cait knew it was third or fourth nature for Vi to expect.
Tonight, though, the pattern of caresses felt different.
Usually, Caitlyn's fingers were aimless.
Or—
No, not aimless. She always touched Vi with intention, but that intention was always so simple: she wanted to make Vi feel good. Cared for.
Safe.
All that was true now, too, but tonight Caitlyn's fingers were more purposeful. They strayed, stopping, alighting. Dusting Vi's face with feather-light touches, one after another after another.
Vi slid open an eye. She watched as a hand moved across her field of view. "Whatcha doin'?"
She always slurred a bit when Caitlyn did things like this.
"Oh—sorry. Does that bother you?"
"No." Vi's mouth quirked. "Just wondered what you were...I dunno. Feels different."
"Ah. Well. Promise not to laugh."
"No."
Caitlyn tsked, amused. She touched a spot on Vi's nose. "I was just wondering how many you had."
Vi blinked open her other eye. "How many of what?"
Caitlyn's finger brushed against a point high on her cheekbone.
"Freckles," she said.
"Freckles."
"Mm-hm."
Vi pretended not to feel the heat that rose in her face. She smiled and it came out lopsided.
"What's the count so far?"
Caitlyn let out a thoughtful sound.
"More than before." Her hand suddenly lightened, floating down to palm Vi's cheek. Her thumb moved, drawing a circle around the numerals tattooed there. She smoothed over them. "Must be all the sun."
The words were soft. An intentional afterthought. A little cautious.
Vi's stomach fluttered. Good reasons. A few not-so-good-ones, too, but those weren't as noticeable today.
She eased her eyes closed again. She smiled as Cait went back to counting.
"Yeah. Must be."