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The bell above the door rings and Vi straightens up from the counter, the final customer that she was waiting on for their preordered pick up coming through the door. She smiles at the customer who gives her a smile in return as she walks up to the counter. Vi crouches down and grabs the final bottle out from under the counter placing it on top just as she gets to her.
“Caitlyn is still away?” The customer asks as she digs in her pouch for the cogs to pay for the order and Vi’s smile grows at the mention of her girlfriend and the owner of the store.
“She said she would be home either tonight or tomorrow depending on the roads. I am hoping for tonight, I have missed her” Vi replies as the customer nods their head.
“She is a treasure; I don’t know what I would have done for my son if not for her.” The customer replies pulling a soft chuckle out of Vi.
“She is special, I am glad she was stubborn enough to stick around” Vi replies with a fond smile.
She remembers when the potion master had first set up shop in Zaun, she had been looking to purchase herbs for her potions from Vander and Vi had been less than friendly to the Piltover native. Old rivalries between the cities were a hard thing to forget, still Caitlyn hadn’t let Vi rattle her. It was intriguing, while Vi had tried to provoke her at every turn the potion master had been nothing but friendly towards her. When Vander had heard her being rude, he had come out and sent Vi away, Caitlyn had made a deal with Vander for a certain amount of ingredients and paid a premium for delivery each week. Vi had been certain the woman had been messing with her when she had been trying to place the order, wouldn’t be the first time a Piltie had come in and placed a large order only to stick their nose up and claim the quality was too low for their premium potions. The next day though as Vi had hauled the crate of ingredients to an address in Zaun she had been pleasantly surprised that the woman had been exceedingly pleasant to deal with. She had even given her a tip when Vi had woodenly walked into the barren shop and set the crate on the counter for her rather than hand it to her at the door like she was supposed to.
The following week, Vi had been even more surprised to find just how much work the Piltover mage had done in such a short time. She had walked right in when she arrived as Caitlyn had stated to do the previous week, and Vi had once again set the crate on the counter before looking around at all the changes. From one week to the next, there had been shelves set up and built along the empty right hand wall of the shop, the ingredients from the previous week had been placed in beautiful containers showcasing them as functional decorations. The counter had been polished to a shine and the front of it had been pulled off showing the shelves beneath the counter which was now filled with bottles filled with various potions. The wall opposite the ingredients had been painted with a beautiful mural of the 4 elements that Vi recognized as a local artists handiwork. Up against the wall just past the mural was a pedestal with a large tomb on it and as Vi flipped through the first pages she could see it was a book of potions with their various prices listed next to them. Also, to Vi’s surprise the potions were actually affordable for someone in Zaun and it seems the mage had a vast knowledge of potions. Vi would later learn that while growing up Caitlyn and her family travelled the world and she had been studying to be a potion master practically since she learned to read.
On top of the counter was a beautiful bronze cash register and a bell both tucked against one side of the counter near the walk-through area to get to the back of the shop. At the front of the store pushed into the corner of the store was a pair of comfortable looking chairs and a small table Vi guessed as seating for consultations or for waiting if the potion didn’t take long to brew. Honestly, Vi was surprised. Pleasantly so.
She had walked over to the bell and pressed it just hard enough to cause it to ring and within seconds she heard footsteps coming from behind the curtained off area at the back of the shop. As soon as the curtain was pulled back, the mage had greeted Vi with a pleasant smile and Vi got the first glimpse of the tooth gap that would be her downfall. Sure, she had noticed from the minute Caitlyn had stepped foot in Vander’s shop that she was hot, but something about that little detail would be what truly broke down her walls. Caitlyn had thanked her profusely for the delivery and paid her while Vi found herself hesitating to get back to work. Vi had pointed out how the counter needed a pane of glass if she intended to work in the back while leaving the door unlocked. Caitlyn had considered her closely before giving a chuckle and a shrug simply saying if someone was going to steal a potion, they clearly needed it more than she needed the coin. Vi had found her thinking both adorable and concerning, the business truly was good for Vander and she wanted to repay him for everything he had done in taking in her and her sister when they had been orphaned.
So there Vi was offering her services to craft a glass pane for the front of the counter, she had done it in the past for a few of Vanders friends and could be called a bit of an expert in Zaun for her glass and metal working. Being a fire mage certainly helped but while she was good at it, she had never considered doing it as a job until Caitlyn had paid her for the glass pane 3 days later when she installed it. Her skills had always just been something she did to help those around her, never something to look at for a career. That was how Vi had begun her career as a glass and metal worker in Zaun, with Caitlyn being her first customer with that first pane of glass. More business would come when Caitlyn had been complaining about the glass quality of the potion bottles she used as they sometimes cracked when the hot potion was poured into them. Vi had devised a way to stop it from happening and Caitlyn begun exclusively buying potion bottles from Vi. Soon word spread and Vi had a steady income that didn’t rely on Vander, able to stop doing deliveries for him and instead allowing Ekko to begin making money doing the job instead.
The glass bottle deliveries also insured she still got to see Caitlyn, Vi will admit that they had grown close over the few months they had known each other and she hadn’t wanted to give up their chats whenever she stopped by with a delivery. Business had been slow for Caitlyn, Zaun not exactly warm to newcomers and less so to those from Piltover but Caitlyn had persevered. About 3 months after she opened shop was when the incident happened, Vi had just finished her delivery and was heading back home when she had been jumped. They were after her money and she put up a fight, she had held her own well enough until one of them had managed to create a sharp piece of earth while she was busy defending against the other earth mage and managed to lodge it in her side. She had gone down like a stone and she had been afraid she would die there until a bolt of ice had shattered right next to the guy’s head. When they looked to where it had come from, there had been Caitlyn surrounded by ice spikes prepared to launch a deadly assault on the earth mages; The two of them had hightailed it the opposite direction. As soon as they were gone, the spikes had melted and water fell to the ground harmlessly as Caitlyn came over and helped her up and back into her shop.
The next surprising thing Vi learned about Caitlyn; she is a healer. It is a rare kind of water magic, one you had to be born with. While healing potions could heal minor wounds instantly and major wounds over time, though faster than allowing it to heal naturally, water mages with healing magic as long as they were trained properly could heal any wound within minutes. To Vi’s pleasant surprise Caitlyn was very well trained in how to heal wounds, to this day she barely had a scar from the wound that would have killed her had Caitlyn not been there. Caitlyn had insisted Vi stay the night so she could ensure that the healing magic held and she had managed to get all the infection cleared away, even going so far as to send a note to Vander to ensure her family didn’t worry about her. They started dating the next day.
“I doubt much can scare her, made of stern stuff that one.” The customer replied as Vi laughed again being pulled out of the memory.
“That she is” Vi replied with a fond smile as the customer paid and accepted the potion for her son leaving the store with a wave.
Vi walked over and locked the door before flipping the sign to closed and shutting the curtains on the window. Once the shop was closed up, she went through the curtain into the back room of the shop to see her sister struggling with the potion Caitlyn had given her to practice while she was gone. That had been another surprising development, Powder was a fire mage like Vi and had a tendency to cause things to explode more often than not growing up. When she showed an interest in potions, Caitlyn had offered to take her on as an apprentice. In Zaun, potions had been hard to come by before Caitlyn and the ones you could find were overpriced and only worked about half the time. Powder had always wanted to find ways to help her community, but despite how hard Vi worked she knew she wouldn’t be able to send her sister for a formal education when she decided on a proficiency. Caitlyn offering to teach her had opened doors for Powder that otherwise would have been closed to her. While the occasional potion overboiled or blew up the water mage could keep the mess and damage to a minimum and Powder was improving by leaps and bounds in a short amount of time.
Though it seems this particular potion was giving her a hard time. Powder was trying, she really wanted to have it down by the time Caitlyn got back though it was looking to Vi like it wouldn’t happen. Just as she approaches her sister, she hears a hiss come from the desk chair and her head whips to the side seeing her arch nemesis. When Vi had moved out of Vanders and in with Caitlyn, in the apartment above the potion store Powder had been lonely and had decided to get a cat. Fishbones, as she calls the hell spawn, had never liked Vi no matter how much she attempted to befriend the beast. Though the cat loved Caitlyn and whenever the family got together at Vanders for dinner would bound over to Caitlyn and curl up in her lap preventing Vi from getting anywhere near her girlfriend for the entire visit.
“Pow, you know Cait doesn’t let you have that little hellion in here while you brew potions” Vi reminds her sister who just looks over and sticks out her tongue at the reprimand.
“Well, I have been spending so much time here trying to get this stupid potion to work that Fishbones was lonely. I couldn’t just leave her at home another day, it will be fine Vi don’t worry” Powder replies as Vi rolls her eyes finally finishing her approach and looking over her sister’s shoulder and into the large cauldron of bubbling potion.
“That doesn’t look right Pow, are you sure you wrote down all of Cait’s instructions?” Vi asks as Pow’s eyes narrow in a glare at the bubbling liquid in frustration.
“I don’t know what is wrong with it. I wrote down everything perfectly, I even found Caitlyn’s old notes and they match. I don’t understand what I am doing wrong.” Powder replies as Vi gives her sister a hug from behind.
“Why don’t you start over? Come on I will help you empty and clean the cauldron” Vi replies as Powder lets out a sigh sinking back into Vi’s comforting embrace.
They are distracted enough with their conversation, they hadn’t noticed that Fishbones had gotten up from the chair and made her way over to the table next to the cauldron containing the ingredients for the potion. Just as Powder nods in agreement to start over, Fishbones paws at a jar of Atenery root pushing it off the table and dumping the contents into the cauldron. Vi watches in almost slow motion as a few things happen at once first the potion changes colour from the blue glow it had to a green and begins bubbling up violently, second Fishbones hisses while her fur sticks up all over and goes sprinting away from the cauldron, and third Vi spins her sister away from the cauldron just seconds before it erupts and sprays her entire back with the liquid while she shields Powder from the spray. She had always been more heat and fire resistant than her sister, coating her body in flames when in a fight did wonders to build up her resistance that now scalding liquid would barely affect her. Though, she notes absent mindedly, the liquid feels surprisingly cool against her skin and in her hair, the bone deep burn that comes after that though is anything but cool. As the apparently not benign potion takes effect, that hurts like hellfire.
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The minute Vi’s clothing landed in a pile on the floor devoid of her sister is the moment that Powder begins to panic. Caitlyn had warned her over and over about why Fishbones was not allowed in the shop while brewing, this is apparently why. She had just disintegrated her sister, her teacher’s girlfriend and the only blood family she had left. Vander and Caitlyn were going to kill her. Despite the panic nagging at her brain, she pushes it back adopting a calm knowing if she panics then it will only make the situation worse.
Powder immediately picks up the clothes from the floor and stares at the gigantic mess of green potion spilled across the floor and spattered on the wall, Vi had prevented her from getting hit and luckily Caitlyn kept the cauldron in the corner for this exact reason so the mess wasn’t as big as it could have been but it was still a mess. First things first though she has to find Fishbones and lock her in the apartment upstairs while she cleans up the mess. She already lost her sister she doesn’t need her cat gone as well.
As Powder turns to look around the back room, she sees Fishbones go darting out into the main shop. She raises an eyebrow at the odd behaviour of her cat but with the immediate problem of the cat getting into the potion taken care of she turns back to the fire and with a flick of her wrist the fire mage extinguishes the coals from beneath the cauldron that were still smoking. Once she is sure the remains of the potion and anything else in the vicinity cannot catch fire, she deposits Vi’s clothes as well as her brewing gloves on the table next to the cauldron and goes after her cat to lock her upstairs and ensure she is safe. When she exits into the main shop there is Fishbones in the center of the room her butt in the air as her tail twitches and she is clearly gnawing and licking something.
“Fishbones? What do you have there?” Powder asks as she approaches the cat careful not to spook her.
As soon as she is close enough, she reaches down and grabs the cat gently by her scruff and sees a furry red bundle struggling against the cat’s paws and weight. Powder tilts her head curious and manages to get a hold on the furry red thing prying it away from her cat and holding it up in front of her. There in her hands being held by the scruff on the back of its neck is a red Angora rabbit with blue eyes.
“How did a rabbit get in here?” Powder muses to herself until the rabbit narrows what she is coming to realize are VERY familiar blue eyes at her and lets out a snort of annoyance. Powder’s eyes go wide as saucers as she realizes exactly who this rabbit is, “Vi?” She whisper asks in disbelief as the rabbit nods its head and Powder can practically see her sister crossing her arms and tapping her foot in annoyance at the turn of events.
The relief she feels that she hadn’t killed her sister is almost muted by the new panic that arises as she realizes she turned her sister into a rabbit. She feels Fishbones struggle against her grip clearly trying to get at Vi again and Powder quickly looks around the shop for something to put Vi into while she locks Fishbones upstairs. On the shelves she spots a large circular glass jar that is currently empty and she walks over quickly putting Vi into it before carrying the jar without the lid back over to the counter and setting it down on it while scooping the cat more firmly into her arms.
“Sit tight Vi, I am going to put Fishbones upstairs and then I will figure out how to fix this” Powder says as Vi rolls her eyes and Powder can practically hear Vi ask where she would go, since she is stuck in a jar now.
Powder runs back through the curtain and turns immediately running up the stairs and opening the door to Caitlyn and Vi’s apartment depositing Fishbones on the couch before running back out and slamming the door behind her. When she gets back into the shop Vi is still sitting in the same position but she looks pissed, which Powder will admit if not out loud is adorable. Her nose is wiggling adorably in her annoyance and while Powder can picture Vi with her nose scrunched up like it always does when she is mad, well like this it doesn’t have nearly the intimidating effect that it usually does. Once she is back in the shop she begins to pace, the mess in the back can wait until she has figured out how to fix this. She knows Caitlyn is due home sometime between this evening and the next few days depending on the weather, this time of year was notorious for bad storms that would make roads impassable and strand travellers for days. Caitlyn could probably fix Vi up in a few hours tops but with the uncertainty of her return it could be days of Vi being stuck like this.
Powder is trying desperately to come up with a solution when a knock comes from the door to the shop. Her head whips toward the noise and she sees Ekko standing there giving her a wave and she sighs in relief running over to the door to unlock it and drag him inside before shutting it again and locking it behind herself.
“Whoa, where is the fire?” Ekko asks teasingly before taking note of Powder’s distress and adding more seriously. “Wait there isn’t actually a fire is there?” The wind mage asks looking around quickly before Powder shakes her head.
“No, there is no fire. But um… I need your help.” Powder replies as Ekko raises a brow prompting her with his hands to keep going, “Well, I was practicing that potion Caitlyn told me to.” Powder starts as Ekko nods keeping quiet as she explains, “And Fishbones knocked a bunch of Atenery root into it” Powder continues watching as Ekko’s eyes narrow at her accusingly, “I know, I know. Anyway…” Powder acknowledges taking a deep breath before spitting out in a rush, “ThepotionexplodedandturnedViintoarabbit” Powder finishes as Ekko’s eyebrows shoot up to his hairline his head immediately whipping to the jar on the counter containing Vi.
“What?” He asks as his jaw drops open and his eyes widen as Vi snorts again.
“The potion…” Powder starts again slower this time as Ekko shakes his head and interrupts her.
“No, I got that part. What I am wondering is, how the hell you managed to make a successful transfiguration potion by accident” Ekko asks his head tilting to observe Vi as Powder lets out a laugh.
“I am either that skilled, or Vi is just that unlucky” Powder replies as Vi lets out what sounds like the cutest growl Powder has ever heard, “Can you please go get Mylo? He can at least understand animals. Grab Claggor too, he might have an idea of how to fix this” Powder asks as Ekko nods heading back to the door and opening it.
“I will be back soon, if you haven’t yet I would suggest cleaning up that potion and be careful about touching it. We don’t need two rabbits” Ekko jokes as Vi growls again from her position in the jar.
Powder nods and Ekko exits out the way he came in immediately dropping his board to the ground and summoning the wind under it to speed off towards Vander’s shop to get Powder and Vi’s adoptive brothers. With a sigh Powder picks up the jar containing Vi and walks into the back of the shop to start cleaning up. She sets the jar down safely on the desk before putting her brewing gloves back on and carefully cleaning up the remnants of the potion explosion. It doesn’t take long and soon enough Powder walks over to the shelf containing all of Caitlyn’s books and grabbing the one about animals. Many animals provided ingredients for potion brewing like fur or scales, one of the books was about the care of said animals. One of which is rabbits.
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By the time Ekko returns with Mylo and Claggor, Powder had finished reading whatever it was she had wanted to look up in the book she had pulled off Caitlyn’s bookshelf and had found a cooling rack that she put over the top of the jar with a rock to hold it down so the cat couldn’t get to her. She had then let the damn cause of this whole mess out of her and Cait’s upstairs apartment to wander the shop, though the cat was more interested in her and trying to figure out how to get into the jar she was being held in. While the cat sat there pawing at the side of the jar trying to get at her, Vi stayed curled up in a ball staring daggers at the damn cat. If Vi had her magic the cat would be on fire by this point.
Vi watches as the three boys walk into the back room, Ekko had clearly already explained the situation to them as there is no surprise on their faces when they take in the scene of Fishbones pawing at the jar she is contained in. Vi also watches in irritation as Mylo looks entirely too pleased with the whole situation, the earth mage had a particular talent for working with animals. His ability to talk to them being the main reason for it, Vi had to admit it would come in handy to allow her to talk to her siblings while she was stuck. Though, that is only if the little shit decided to be helpful instead of being a pain in her ass for once in his life. Just as Mylo is about to open his mouth and say something that Vi is sure will piss her off more, she beats him to it.
"Not a word about this Mylo or I swear I will make sure you eat ash at dad’s tomorrow night" Vi threatens as Mylo chuckles his face splitting into a shit eating grin.
"Awe, but Vi you look so cute as a fluffy wittle bunny wabbit" Mylo replies while Vi narrows her eyes further and lets out a growl. Without even realizing it her hind leg picks up off the ground and stomps down nearly inaudible but visible to those around them as Mylo's eyes light up in excitement, "Oh don't be mad Vi, I can't help it you are just so adorable and precious" Her brother continues to tease her.
"I said to shut it asshole" Vi grumps back as Mylo just continues to laugh while approaching the jar she is in and pulling out a carrot the greens still attached at the top from his pocket.
"Here Vi have a carrot. You get grumpy when you are hungry" Mylo continues to taunt dropping the carrot into the jar.
Vi hisses in annoyance as the offending vegetable lands next to her. Her glare diverting to it briefly before she narrows her eyes further at Mylo who is now cackling knowing exactly how much his big sister HATES carrots. Before she has a chance to open her mouth and curse him out since he is the only one that can understand her right now, Powder decides to add her input.
"Actually, what's good for a rabbit is the leaves of the carrot. Not the actual carrot itself." Powder says matter of fact and Vi blinks at her sister in surprise before her eyes narrow and she snorts in amusement while Mylo also looks over to her in surprise. Claggor on the other hand just sighs shaking his head at the ridiculousness of this conversation.
"Really Pow? That is the part you focused on?" Mylo asks as Powder narrows her gaze in annoyance.
"I thought it was important to know what to feed Vi until Caitlyn gets back and we can figure out how to fix her. So, I read up on rabbits." Powder explains before continuing, "Rabbits main food source is leaves, radish and hay. A little piece of fruit as a treat from time to time like blueberries and banana is ok as well. Depending how long she is stuck like that she also has to gnaw on wooden sticks to take care of her teeth" Powder continues as Vi feels her back leg wanting to shake at the idea of being stuck like this for a long time.
She hated vegetables, it was no secret. She had always been very vocal about how much she detested ‘Rabbit food’ as she called it. The irony of the situation is not lost on her at all. She put vegetables in her smoothies when she worked out but she had never been a fan of the flavour when it came to eating them by themselves. To add in things like hay, leaves and wood of all things just made her want to gag.
"Nuts and seeds aren't good for them. Potatoes, pasta, rice, meat, eggs and milk are completely forbidden" Powder finishes explaining and Vi narrows her eyes into a glare at her sister having eliminated the majority of her diet with that last sentence.
Claggor starts to chuckle softly breaking into full blown laughter once Powder finishes. Vi shifts her glare to her brother who sobers slightly but wipes a tear from his eye with a shake of his head.
"Don't give me that look Vi. Give me some time. If I can divine where Caitlyn is I can send her a message on the wind to hurry back. I am sure she can fix it." Claggor reassures and Vi feels her ears stand up in excitement for the first time since she got turned into a rabbit.
She hears Mylo burst into laughter and Powder’s soft "Awe" before she realizes that her tail is wiggling adorably behind her. Her ears immediately press back down as she shoots a glare at the offending appendage before turning to glare back at her family and stomping her foot angrily.
"You know Vi. You are not scary when you are angry in this form. Its actually kinda adorable" Ekko admits and now Vi is well and truly pissed, a growl escaping her as she opens her mouth letting out squeals.
"First the fucking cat thinks I am a fucking chew toy. Then Mylo puts a god damn carrot in here thinking that will make everything better. Do I look like I want a carrot you fucker!" Vi yells out as Mylo just laughs harder doubled over at this point at Vi's angry tirade, "I know you can hear me. Quit laughing or I swear when I am back to normal, I am going to burn every last hair off of your head. I'm not adorable, I am fucking pissed and when I am normal again you are going to regret this, I promise you that. God damn pains in my ass. All of you." Vi finishes as Mylo straightens up still laughing.
"Language Vi. Language" Mylo teases and Vi actually kicks off with her back feet head butting the side of the jar before continuing to glare at Mylo throwing in the occasional stomp to signal how mad she is.
When she is back to normal, she is going to kick his ass.
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It took Claggor about an hour and a half of meditation to divine where Caitlyn was. Once he had her location, he stepped outside to send a message on the wind to her so she would know to hurry back as quickly and safely as possible. Vi was still pissed at her siblings but had generally gone back to glaring daggers at everyone in the room. Truly she had the worst luck on the planet at times. By the time Claggor walked back in he had a grin planted firmly on his face and it gave Vi a little hope that he had some good news for her. Claggor was quickly becoming her favourite sibling in this whole situation.
“Well Vi, seems that lucky rabbit foot of yours is working. Caitlyn managed to avoid the storm that stranded a bunch of travellers, she should be back in about 2 hours.” Claggor explains and Vi finally feels her body start to relax, her girlfriend will definitely know how to fix this, “Pow, Caitlyn needs to know exactly what went into that potion and what steps you followed that caused the effects on Vi. She needs that information so she can reverse what happened” Claggor continues to explain as Powder nods immediately turning back to the desk and beginning to write everything down furiously, “I think you have it from here, the rest of us should go.” Claggor finishes as Ekko nods standing up while Mylo opens his mouth to protest, “I know Vi threatened you My, you really wanna be around when she is back to normal?” Claggor cuts him off to ask as Mylo looks a Vi looking wary for the first time in a while.
“Ok, fair point Clagg. See ya tomorrow Vi” Mylo says with a wave as he follows Claggor and Ekko through the curtain.
“If you think being at dad’s is gonna protect you think again asshole!” Vi yells after him and if she could she would smile hearing his increased steps to get to the door as it shuts behind Ekko and her brothers.
With Powder working quietly, the cat finally having given up trying to get at her within the jar, and the knowledge that Caitlyn was only a few hours away Vi finally allows herself to relax for the first time since this ordeal began. The next thing Vi knows she can hear quick footsteps making their way to the back room, she sits up after her impromptu nap just in time to see her girlfriend come through the curtain. Vi immediately knows Caitlyn is exhausted, despite the fact she is good at hiding it from others. Vi can see the bags under her eyes from several days of sleeping in foreign beds, the days of travel and the healing she had done which was the whole reason she had left in the first place.
“Cait!” Powder exclaims jumping to her feet from where she had just finished writing down the steps in the process that had led to Vi being turned into a rabbit in the first place and going to give her a hug. Caitlyn immediately returns it her gaze scanning over the room and zeroing in on Fishbones before her eyes land on Vi.
“Powder” Caitlyn greets softly but Vi can hear the tiredness and worry in her tone as she pulls back to look Powder in the eyes, “I trust this experience cemented the lesson why Fishbones is not allowed in here while brewing?” Caitlyn asks with a teasing raise of her brow as her sister starts nodding rapidly.
“I swear I will never do it again. Promise” Powder replies as Caitlyn nods sharply walking over to the desk and picking up the note Powder had been working on.
“Is this everything?” Caitlyn asks her eyes not leaving the paper and honestly, she is getting upset at being ignored by her girlfriend who usually has a much warmer reception to her when she returns after a trip. Even in this form Caitlyn could scratch between her ears or something.
“Yeah, that is everything that went in and happened.” Powder replies as Caitlyn nods.
“Alright, take Fishbones and head home. I will fix Vi and we will see you tomorrow night at Vander’s for dinner. Take tomorrow off, I am much too tired for a lesson” Caitlyn replies as Powder nods and quickly walks over to pick up her cat and her bag before stopping in front of the jar Vi is still trapped in.
“See ya tomorrow fat paws” Powder says with a teasing tilt to her grin at the change from her usual ‘Fat hands’ nickname as Vi narrows her eyes at her sister letting out a snort causing Powder to laugh before she runs out of the back room and a few moments later the door to the front of the shop shuts.
Caitlyn lets out a tired sigh and sets the paper down before turning towards her and giving her a fond smile that warms Vi down to her toes. She walks over and takes the heavy rock off the cooling rack before lifting it off and reaching into the jar to fish her out. Vi happily allows her girlfriend to pick her up and hold her at eye level as that adorable tooth gap pokes out of her smile.
“Hi handsome, did you miss me?” Caitlyn asks as Vi snorts before nodding and Caitlyn laughs softly before bringing her close to her face in a pseudo hug that Vi hadn’t realized she desperately needed smelling the familiar scent of her girlfriends soap that still clings to her hair.
When she pulls back with Vi still grasped in her hands Vi expects to be set back down in the jar. Caitlyn surprises her when instead she settles Vi onto her shoulder and pulls the hood of her cloak up over her head supporting part of Vi’s lower body while her upper body rests on her shoulder and allows Vi to tuck her head against the side of Caitlyn’s neck. As soon as she is pressed and surrounded by the familiar warmth and smell of her girlfriend, she lets out a soft sound like a purr of contentment. Caitlyn chuckles softly but begins to move towards the door.
“Alright, let me lock the door and we will get you back to normal.” Caitlyn replies as Vi nuzzles in closer perfectly content with that plan.
Once Caitlyn locks the door, she heads back into the back of the shop before turning and heading up the stairs to their shared apartment. Vi is confused briefly until Caitlyn picks up her hairbrush and pulls several strands of her hair from it and heads back down to her cauldron. With a flick of her wrist the cauldron is filled with fresh clean water, Caitlyn heads over to the shelf to grab her matches since Vi cannot light it for her this time and quickly gets the fire lit beneath the cauldron pot. Vi watches her girlfriend work from her perch on her shoulder as she adds and stirs the ingredients into the cauldron masterfully.
It takes her only about an hour to finish, the final ingredient being Vi’s own hair which had transformed the glowing blue liquid to a violet colour. With another flick of her wrist water extinguishes the fire below the pot and Caitlyn picks her up off her shoulder instead setting her down on the ground in front of the pot.
“I am sure you already know this but while the liquid shouldn’t burn, the transformation will. I am sorry darling but it isn’t something I can prevent” Caitlyn apologizes as Vi nods and Caitlyn smiles softly at her.
With a last flick of her wrist the potion from within the cauldron raises out and hovers above her head before splashing onto Vi and only Vi. She would be impressed with her girlfriend’s impeccable control not to have any of the potion hit the floor but the searing bone deep ache is back as her body contorts and reforms back to normal. When she opens her eyes, she is sitting on the floor completely naked and entirely glad no one but Caitlyn is in the room because she isn’t quite sure her legs could support her.
“Welcome back love” Caitlyn says as she walks over and offers her hand down to help Vi to her feet. Vi clasps her hand with Caitlyn’s and helps as much as she can to get herself onto her feet leaning heavily against her equally tired and sore girlfriend.
“Hey cupcake, I missed you too” Vi replies as Caitlyn chuckles softly guiding them upstairs.
“Let’s get upstairs and have a hot bath before bed. I think we could both use it” Caitlyn replies as Vi sighs softly.
“That sounds perfect” Vi replies content to do anything as long as it is with Caitlyn.
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The following evening, they had arrived at Vander’s in time for family dinner and Vi had come through with all her threats. Within minutes, she had narrowed her eyes on the tips of Mylo’s hair setting the tips aflame before extinguishing it before Vander could yell at her. Caitlyn had raised a curious eyebrow at her but had said nothing besides to ask Powder where Fishbones was. Powder had told her that after yesterday she had decided her cat was probably safer in her room for the evening and Vi silently agreed with Powder.
“Dinner’s ready!” Vander called from the dinning room and everyone crowded around the table to take their seats.
Vander walks out carrying a last dish that he sets down next to Vi and pulls the lid off revealing a large casserole dish full of carrots that Vi eyes like it will bite her if she gets too close.
“Go on Vi, eat your rabbit food. It’s good for you.” Vander tells her with a teasing grin firmly planted on his face as she looks at him betrayal written all over her face.
Caitlyn begins to laugh next to her, along with the rest of her family at the jab from Vander. She thought he was way too old to be pulling shit like this on her still but apparently, she was wrong in that assumption. Vi just leans forward over her plate planting her face into her hands and lets out a groan. This story is going to haunt her for years, she peeks over at her girlfriend laughing and smiling. Her own lips tug into a small smile of her own. Well, it might not be so bad.