What Time Is It?

It was loud. Like, the loud that blares through your ears and pierces your brain. Or, in other words, the loud that was fucking awful.
OR
University AU where Vi convinces Caitlyn to come to a party and it's a trainwreck. I got this idea from a fan comic where Jinx asks "why don't you ever drink at parties?" and Caitlyn just says "I'm on antidepressants" LMAOOO

Work Text:

"C'mon, Cait. We don't hafta, but I don't wanna just leave you here and go to some party with Pow." Vi explains, sitting by Caitlyn's desk. The taller girl would usually borderline gag at manspreading, but Vi had a way about her when she did it that just made her smile.

The two met in the first year of university and were roommates– or roomies, as Powder called it. Caitlyn basically begged her parents not to pay for a single-student allocated dorm, and she's glad it worked out because now she has a beautiful butch all to herself (her words exactly). After a long study session (or a long session of Caitlyn going into hyperfocus and Vi doing everything in her will to distract her), the more athletic one of the pair suggested a party to loosen up.

"No, no, I understand. I want to come, I just feel like I won't be able to let you enjoy it. I don't want you to have to look after me, you know?"

"Pshh. Me? Not wanting to look after you? Don't even stress it. If you wanna dip, we'll dip. Yeah?" Vi replied. Sometimes Caitlyn wanted to see the way Vi spoke written down on paper.

"Alright. Alright, let's do that."

After much consideration about outfits and makeup, the two were ready to semi-enjoy the party. Vi was dressed like Adam Sandler who had a butch glowup, really– black tank top, baggy jeans, and a carabiner hanging from her beltloop. Caitlyn wore a thin black turtleneck and a skirt that was on the shorter side but still swayed side to side when she moved around (this is crucial in a skirt, did you not know?). And, of course, held Vi's belongings in her purse because neither of them had trust in Vi's pockets.

Caitlyn held Vi's arm all the way to the party and then some. The blue-eyed femme scritched at the shorter side of her butch's hair, tracing patterns into the overgrown shave. The party itself, on first thought, was loud. It was loud. Like, the loud that blares through your ears and pierces your brain. Or, in other words, the loud that was fucking awful.

"You cool, Cupcake?" Vi asked, patting her lower back as they entered the threshold of the house. "This utz utz shit is a lot. We can head back."

Caitlyn shook her head adamantly, finding her earplugs from her purse and placing them in her ears. The shorter woman grinned, showing off the chip in her canine tooth that Cait found oddly endearing.

"This is why you're the brains here." Vi barked out a laugh as they headed further into the party. Vi grabbed a drink from those stupid little red solo cups, taking a sip of it and grimacing at the taste of what Vi could only describe as berries and hand sanitiser. Caitlyn tried some too and almost coughed up a lung.

Powder was sitting on a stair railing, drinking something that definitely would've made Caitlyn's mother drop dead in contact with it. The engineering student grinned, that almost maniacal twinkle in her eyes not dimming for a moment.

"Oh, you made it!"

"Yes, we did. Vi's great at negotiating."

"Yah, I guessed. You look, like, 70% leg. What boots are those?"

"Alright, alright. Stop buttering up my girlfriend so she'll ask your professor to give you an extension instead of getting you to do it yourself."

"Do you really think I'd do that?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah, fair enough."

The banter was nice, and Vi had her hand on the back of Caitlyn's thigh– not in an inherently sexual way, just for the comfort of her touch– but it was starting to get a bit much. It felt like all of the noises and colours and textures were melting together like a watercolour painting. Not in the pleasant way, but in the way that makes you want to cry because the blotting of the paints are causing the paper to rip and soak through. The third year roughly wiped her eye with the heel of her hand– she wasn't teary, she just needed a way to subtly block out any visuals. Vi, ever the mind-reader, tapped her thigh and turned to Powder.

"Uh, Pow, we're gonna take a quick break."

"Cool. Mercury in Retrogay or whatever?"

"Yeah. I swear, it's the utz utz music. God awful."

This forces a small smile out of Cait, before she's scooped away and into a quiet bathroom.

Vi's back meets the door and slides down it until she's sitting, gathering Caitlyn to her chest and breathing deeply so she can feel it. Cait never understood how her girlfriend managed to carry her around, since she was 6"0 with uber long limbs. But she appreciated it anyways.

"Hiya." Vi whispered, taking Caitlyn's earplugs out just to place her hands over Caitlyn's ears. The navy-haired woman closed her eyes, pressing Vi's hands to her ears with her own. The steady pressure was her saving grace right now.

"Was really loud in there."

"Yeah. You could've told me you were overwhelmed, Cupcake."

The nickname came from when Caitlyn first moved in, holding freshly baked cupcakes in an attempt to make a good first impression. The two finished them together in the first hour of meeting eachother.

"You were having fun out there."

"I'd always have more fun if I knew you were okay, too."

"Always?"

"Always."

The two just stayed there for a while– Vi didn't care WHO needed to piss, they could find a bush or something. After that long moment of silence and distant chatter and utz utz music, Caitlyn speaks up.