Chapter Text
Vi didn't understand why the Kiramman girl let the other rich girls make fun of her. If she didn't have to worry about being expelled (again), she would have already punched them in the face. Vi didn't like the blue haired girl, but the other girls were straight up cruel to her and Vi couldn't even comprehend why. For what she had seen, Caitlyn was quiet, passed her homework when asked and didn't cause troubles, so she didn't understand why the others were so awful to her.
"Maybe you could try to befriend her, kiddo." Vander was chopping up some vegetable for the dinner soup.
"I already said that I don't like her." Vi frowned: "I'm just saying that I don't understand why the other girls don't, too. They are all rich, why aren't they friend? Doesn't make any sense if you ask me."
"Then ask her."
"I can't ask her, Pow!"
Powder sighed exasperated: "You've started school four months ago and all you talk about is that girl, just talk to her."
"I don't… I'm not…" Vi's face was the same colour of her hair.
"Girls, just finish your homework, you can talk about Vi's crush later." Despite the serious tone, Vander was smiling.
"She isn't…!"
"Vi, later, you need to study."
Vi huffed, but she was secretly relieved that Vander had stopped that conversation. Yes, Caitlyn was pretty, so? She had eyes, she could see her, everybody could see her, that didn't mean anything, tho.
Before she could spiral more, Vander had rested his big hand on her shoulder: "They're treating you well, right?"
Vi nodded, avoiding his eyes. It was embarrassing, Vander had needed to enroll her in the piltie's school because it had the best accommodation for dyslexic students, best accommodation for everything to be fair. He had said that it was also because they had the best labs for Powder, but Vi knew that Vander was more worried about her than her sister (at least about school matters). Powder hadn't been expelled three times, she hadn't almost lost a year. Powder was smart and Vi was proud, she wasn't envious, she couldn't care less about school, but Vander had said that she at least needed to have a diploma, then she could choose what to do, but the diploma wasn't negotiable. So, to help her, he had enrolled her for her last year of middle school in that fancy school, with uniforms and rich kids. She had to admit that they had helped more with her dyslexia in four months than all of the other school combined in seven years.
"If someone doesn't treat you right, you have to tell me, if I don't know what is happening I can't help you, do you hear me?" Vander was so serious when he talked about these things.
"Yea yea, if something happens I'll let you know."
"Good girl." After a pat on her shoulder, he was back at cooking.
Vi looked down at her books, she needed to complete her maps before Monday. She groaned, she had an oral test on Monday and it was for the geography class, it was so boring she could cry. She wouldn't cry literally, she didn't cry, but geography was so bad, all names and information that she had to know by heart without any logic behind it. Trying to not let her frustration distract her, she started to write.
***
At this point Vi was certain that Caitlyn must have been fucking stupid, why the hell didn't she understand that they were messing with her?
Well, Vi had reached her limit, she needed to say something.
"They aren't coming to your birthday Sunday." Vi tried to make her tone indifferent, like she was talking about the weather.
"What?" Caitlyn looked at her bewildered, gripping the books she had in her hands tighter.
Vi looked around her, all the other students had left the classroom to go home.
"The girls you invited, they aren't coming to your birthday."
"And what do you know? They said that they will be present." Caitlyn looked affronted, Vi didn't know if the posh accent was making the ordeal funnier or sadder.
"Well yea, but they were sarcastic."
"What does it make you think that?"
Vi scratched her head: "The tone of their voice?" Caitlyn continued to stare at her.
"They also were watching each other, you know, like when you are making fun of someone and some girls were actually laughing, so…"
"Oh."
The girl in front of her looked heartbroken, now Vi felt bad.
"Well, if you could excuse me…" Vi noticed tears creeping at the corners of Caitlyn's eyes.
"Wait… I can come, if you want." What the fuck?
"We don't know each other." Vi could feel her face and ears becoming progressively more hot.
"We could use Sunday to know each other." Why was she insisting? Clearly the girl didn't want her at her house, not a big surprise.
"But birthdays should be spent with the people you care about."
Vi didn't know who was more awkward between her and the Kiramman girl.
"Says who?"
"Well the rules."
"What rules?"
"Of the world?" The Kiramman girl, the Kiramman girl was more awkward.
"Think about it in this way: those girls don't care about you." Vi cringed at the crudeness of her words, but it had to be said: "You can pass Sunday alone or with me." What kind of offer was that? Vi wanted to bury herself and never come out. She was half sure Caitlyn would run out the door and never talk to her again.
"I don't understand why would want to spend your Sunday with me."
Vi shrugged: "Nothing better to do, I guess."
Caitlyn nodded and then, after having put down the books, she wrote something on a piece of paper: "This is my address and telephone number."
Vi looked Caitlyn exiting the classroom, astonished, that was the weirdest interaction she ever had.
***
"You said I should be her friend!"
"I said to become her friend, not to make plans exactly the day before a test in a subject where you are struggling."
"I can't not go now, you didn't see how sad she was when I said to her that her friends weren't going to be there."
Vander rubbed his eyes: "You can go, but only after you have finished studying for the test."
"But she…"
"I'm gonna call her mom and let her know that you will be there, but not for the entirety of the day."
Vi crossed her arms, that was embarrassing: "You can't call her mom, you will make me look like a child."
Vander was looking at her fondly: "Violet, I don't know how to tell you, but you are a child."
"I'm going to be fourteen this year."
Vander was chuckling: "Barely alive."
Vi rolled her eyes: "Fine, but if she doesn't want to talk to me anymore it will be all your fault."
"How dramatic. Come on kiddo, go buy her a gift while I call her mom. Take Powder with you, she needs some new books for school."
"Pow, let's go shopping." Shouted Vi.
The walk from home to the shop was animated by Powder's talk about her new projects as always, Vi couldn't help but smile seeing her sister so excited.
"Little man is helping you?"
"Yes, it's just more difficult because we aren't in class together anymore, we can't use the school hours for our things."
"You were terrorizing that poor teachers with your inventions."
"Poor teachers? They were horrible, we should have terrorized them more."
Vi ruffled Powder's hair: "Just don't let them expel you in this new school."
"That's your specialty, not mine."
Vi laughed: "You're right."
After buying the books for her sister, Vi had to face the problem: she didn't know Caitlyn. How do you make a gift for someone you don't know? Browsing between the shelves, her eyes were caught by a book about firearms.
Vi could distinctly remember Caitlyn making a presentation about firearms during history class. It had been hilarious, firearms where in a small paragraph at the end of the chapter, Caitlyn had efficiently, but very briefly, explained the history part, only for using the remaining twenty minutes to talk about firearms. The teacher was visibly displeased, the class was bored, Vi couldn't say she had a passion for guns, but she had found herself interested in what the girl had said.
Without much more thinking, she bought the book and, with Powder, she started to go home.
***
Caitlyn's mom had invited Vi to study with Caitlyn, apparently she also had her tests pre-programmed like Vi. She promised Vander they would study and only when they were prepared for the test they would start the real hangout. Vander looked very pleased with this arrangement.
Vi had agreed, but internally was very confused: why Caitlyn had this kind of accommodation? Was she also dyslexic? What kind of parent force their kid to study during their birthday?
Vi didn't consider herself an anxious person, but while the bus was passing mansions that were bigger than the gym she went to box, she couldn't not feel inadequate. After the bus had stopped, Vi started to walk toward Caitlyn's house, the paper with her address in her hand. Vander had explained Vi how to reach the Kiramman's home, but Vi wasn't good with spoken directions, so Vander had drawn her a map.
"Violet?" Vi looked where the voice had called her.
A copy of Caitlyn, just older and taller, was standing in front of the gate of the biggest house of the neighborhood. Vi stilled, the woman was dressed very formal, her posture strict.
Vi nodded and the woman smiled a little: "I'm Cassandra, Caitlyn's mother. Come with me, she's inside."
"Someone else has arrived?" Maybe she had been wrong, maybe those horrible girls would be here, she didn't know what to hope for.
Cassandra's eyes darkened: "No," Then, the same half smile reappeared on her lips: "but I'm sure she will be happy to see you."
Vi had her doubts about that, but didn't have the heart to disappoint the mother.
"She sounded quite excited when your guardian had called to confirm your presence."
She had said guardian like it was the most normal thing in the world and she hadn't pried, Vi already liked her.
"Not so excited to discover that she had to study for her birthday."
Cassandra chuckled: "She would have studied anyway, I am happy that she can do it with a friend."
Cassandra looked lighter talking about her daughter.
"Vi, you came." Caitlyn was smiling, a real smile. In that moment, Vi asked herself again why the other girls didn't like her.
"Sure, happy birthday."
"Thank you. Let's go to my room, we have to study for tomorrow." Caitlyn was strangely cheerful for someone who had to study the day of her birthday.
That place was huge, Vi could lose herself in there. She had seen ceilings so high only when, with the school, they had visited an old building she couldn't remember the name of (she hadn't listened, she didn't really care). There were paintings on the walls, Vi could recognize Caitlyn's traits in the face that were staring at her. Everything was polished, the only thing that was out of place were some dark hairs on the floor.
"Do you have a pet?"
Caitlyn's smile grew: "Two dogs, Bullet and Ammo. They're outside, we can play with them when we are done studying." Before Vi could reply, Caitlyn's tone had become anxious: "You aren't allergic, are you? I didn't ask, I'm sorry…"
"Princess, relax, I'm not allergic."
"Princess?"
"You know… because you live in a castle."
"This is not a castle, the house is protected by a gate, but it is not fortified and the historical period when it was built does not match with…"
"I was joking."
Caitlyn looked at her, her pale cheeks becoming red: "Yes, I know, obviously."
They had reached Caitlyn's room, it was spacious, a big canopy bed was on their right, while on their left there was a desk under a window.
"You sure you're not a princess? That bed is very princess like."
"It is very comfortable."
"I don't doubt it."
"And don't call me princess." Despite her words, Caitlyn was still smiling, she had understood that Vi wasn't really making fun of her at least.
"Everything you want, my lord."
Caitlyn laughed: "Oh stop it."
It was nice seeing her less uptight, at school she was always so serious.
"Usually I study on my desk, I added a chair so you can study with me."
"Thanks."
Vi was surprised at how easier was studying there. There were no distracting sounds, the light was just right to study and Vi knew she wouldn't be interrupted by Powder or Mylo or Claggor. It was nice, boring, but not terrible.
After almost an hour, Vi was done.
"How much have you have left?"
"Oh, I was finished nearly fifteen minutes ago."
The sentence made Vi's heart sink, every interaction where people had made her feel slow, stupid, coming to her mind. Bat then she looked better at Caitlyn, her face was neutral, her tone wasn't mocking, she was just stating a fact, like the fact that her house wasn't a castle.
"You could have said something, you didn't have to wait for me."
"We had an arrangement, it wouldn't have been fair to go do something else while you were still studying."
Vi didn't really know what to say to that, so she changed the subject: "So we can go play with your dogs, now?"
"Yes."
***
Vi was enjoying herself, Caitlyn's dogs were rough and Vi was more on the ground fighting with them than standing. Surprisingly, Caitlyn was the same, not caring about all the mud and grass stains.
"Girls, aren't you chilly out there?" Caitlyn's father (Caitlyn was so similar to both her parents) was standing just outside the door
It wasn't really that cold to be January, but Vi had to admit that her fingers were numb and she was using the sleeve of her sweater to clean her dripping nose.
"I am." Caitlyn said, but she didn't make a move to go inside.
"Do you want to go inside to eat?"
Caitlyn looked at Vi: "Do you want to?"
"Sure."
Going from the cold winter to a very warm house just made her dripping nose worse. Smiling, Caitlyn's father handed a tissue to her: "I'm Tobias, Caitlyn's father."
"Thank you, sir."
"Violet, you can call me Tobias. I'm not as terrifying as the Kiramman's matrons." He patted Vi's shoulder.
"You can call me Vi, then."
"Will do."
Caitlyn's mother was sat at the head of the table, a blue cupcake was on her plate, as it was in the plate of the other three seats. The sight was a bit ridiculous. And also strange, it was lunch time, would they only eat a cupcake?
"So, Violet, are you finding the new school up to standard?" Cassandra said, pouring herself some tea. Vi should have imagined that there would be tea.
"No toilet has fallen from the wall, so that's a plus from before." Vi sat herself next to Caitlyn, Tobias in front of her.
Cassandra looked horrified: "Toilets were falling from the walls?"
"Well, they technically were attached to the wall, but a girl sat herself on one to smoke and it fell off."
Vi could see Tobias laughing behind a napkin.
"To smoke?" Was she going to have a stroke for a teen smoking?
Vi tried to redeem her confession: "It was only a vape."
"With real nicotine?" Asked Caitlyn. No, false nicotine, what kind of question was that?
"Yea, but it was strawberry flavored. The bathroom smelt of strawberry and…" Vi stopped herself, in front of her Tobias was trying to suppress his laughs without any success, at her right, Caitlyn was flabbergasted, Cassandra looked concerned.
"Anyway, the bathrooms here work really well…" True.
"And no vapes in sight." Totally false, Vi had seen more vapes and fancy cigarettes in that school that in all districts of Zaun. Posh kids didn't use shredded tobacco like Zaun's kids, Vi found them pretty lame, but Cassandra didn't need to know that.
"We are glad that you are finding the new school refreshing." That was a way to put it, refreshing was a good way to say that the school didn't stink of shit.
Sensing that it was time to help Vi, Tobias started to talk: "In my school in Ionia, we had a kid who always put firecrackers in the most unsuspected places. One time we had to evacuate because he had put one in the sink, the floor was flooded. We had a test that day, unfortunately we had to postpone it. The teachers never caught him."
"You never discovered who it was?" Caitlyn asked.
"Never." Tobias winked at Vi, that started to cough to hide her laugh. Bastard firecracker.
"Well, why don't we start to eat?" Cassandra spoke.
"No song?"
"I don't like when people sing to me." Caitlyn was staring at her plate, a frown on her face.
"No singing, gotcha." Vi picked up her cupcake and started to eat it. It was delicious, better than any of the birthday cakes she had ever eaten. Except for the one made by her mom, they were… no, not going there now.
Caitlyn's parent started to talk between them, Vi was too occupied in eating her cupcake to give them much attention.
"You really like that."
"Mmpf?" Vi's mouth was too full to give a real answer.
"The cupcake, I've never seen someone eat one with that much fervor."
Vi gulped down: "I've never eaten a cupcake this good. But… are we only eating this for lunch?"
"What a silly question." Vi couldn't stop the smile that was creeping on her lips, what kind of fourteen year old talked like that? At the same time it was cute, it didn't sound forced like some kids in their school that wanted to seem smarter than they were. Caitlyn just talked like that.
"First we eat the cupcake, than they will serve us lunch."
"Don't you want to eat the sweet stuff at the end?"
"Not really."
"And you want to eat only one of this things? They're so good."
"If I eat more than one I will have a headache, even an entire one is too much. But we have more cupcakes in the kitchen, if you want."
Vi was perplexed, a headache?
"It doesn't hurt your stomach, it hurts your head?"
"It's difficult to explain, is not really a headache, but it's the most similar thing I can say to try to explain how I feel."
"So, no too much sugars?"
"Yes, and no too much sounds and lights and smells and you know… every other thing." Caitlyn was tense, she was fidgeting with her hands. Maybe she was scared that Vi would judge her? Vi didn't really give a fuck.
"More cupcakes for me, then." Vi put the last piece in her mouth and, before Caitlyn could react, she stole the rest of Caitlyn's cupcake.
"You're a menace." But Caitlyn was smiling again, so Vi ate her cupcake with no remorse.
The rest of their lunch was brought by some servers. Vi felt uncomfortable at being served, she couldn't stop thinking that maybe, if the school thing didn't work out, she could be there in the future, serving her friend (they were friend now, right?). It was absurd, Vander worked in a bar, Vi had begged him to let her work with him (he said that she was still a kid, she could wait a couple years) and she had never thought being a server as a demeaning work in any way. But there, sat in a chair that cost probably more than her, the prospect of serving her friend's family made her feel uneasy.
Trying to not let her discomfort show too much, Vi ate her lunch listening to the family. Despite the fact that Vi and Caitlyn's family couldn't look more different, Vi could feel how much they loved each other. They didn't swear and they talked like they were trying win a match of scramble, but they were relaxed, Caitlyn looked content and Vi, although not talking much, didn't feel excluded.
After they all had finished, Cassandra announced that it was time for the gifts.
"I left mine in my backpack in your room." Vi felt embarrassed.
"You made me a gift?"
"Yea? It's your birthday."
"Thank you." Caitlyn looked touched.
"You haven't seen it yet, maybe you will hate it."
Tobias was returning from where he had been to retrieve their gifts. Vi was curious to see what a rich kid would receive. In the months she had passed in the new school she had heard her classmates talking about gifts, she often found them absurd, just to show off. One time she was listening a group of girls talking, one of them had received a watch that would pay rent for half a year in Zaun, and the girls had interrupted their talking to stare at Vi, mockingly, asking if she was jealous. The fact was that Vi wasn't jealous, that watch was ugly as hell and she didn't really feel like she was missing anything in the material aspect.
She was angry, though. She was angry when Powder coughed because the air pollution was so bad that their lungs were already ruined, she was angry when they had to change school because Zaun didn't have the founds that Piltover had, she was angry when she felt scared because enforcers were in their street, because they never had brought safety to Zaun, she was always angry.
Once again, Vi tried to distract herself from her feelings to enjoy Caitlyn's birthday, it wasn't her fault if everything was so fucked up. She was pretty decent for a topsider.
Caitlyn was opening the first packet, it was small and rectangular, Vi couldn't see well what it was.
"It's the newest model, just like the last it will block out useless noises and you will hear voices without a problem. It also can recognize sounds like ambulance sirens and other emergency signals, so you will hear them, but they will not be as loud."
They were earplugs, very small, Vi could imagine nearly invisible once in the ears.
Caitlyn hugged hard her father, who looked very pleased with himself, Cassandra kissed Tobias cheek. When Caitlyn detached herself from Tobias, Cassandra gave her her gift. It was gloves, strange gloves, the right glove left the index and middle fingers uncovered. Vi could see how the seams were perfect and she would bet her life savings (not a lot to be fair) that they were of the best quality one could find.
Caitlyn hugged her mother.
"Uhm, I'll go take my gift."
"We can send someone to bring it here for you." Proposed Cassandra.
No, that was her limit, she could go herself, she didn't need someone else to retrieve a gift: "No problem, I can do it!" And she was sprinting outside the room, running up the stairs and getting to Caitlyn's room. A little out of breath, she was again in the dining room.
"You were fast, we were worried you would lose yourself in here." Tobias said once Vi had offered her gift to Caitlyn.
"Once I've seen a place one time, I'm pretty good at orienting myself. I'm just not very good at following instructions."
"Clearly." Was Cassandra angry? Vi looked at her intently. No, she looked amused.
Caitlyn was opening the book without tearing the paper. Vi waited nervously, she really hoped she had had a good insight with the firearms.
When it was open, Caitlyn just stared at it. Was it wrong? Caitlyn wasn't moving, Vi looked at her parents. Tobias was beaming.
"So, do you like it?"
"It's perfect." Caitlyn face wasn't really showing any emotion that Vi could identify. Maybe something was wrong? But Caitlyn's parents looked so happy. And she said it was perfect, but her face didn't really match with that sentiment.
"Well I just thought that you could like it because you had talked in class about guns and…" Vi was rambling.
Cassandra rested her hand on Vi's shoulder: "It is perfect, thank you Violet." Vi relaxed.
"Let's go in my room." Caitlyn took Vi's hand and started to walk toward the door. Vi let herself be guided by Caitlyn, still unsure about her reaction.
Inside the room, Caitlyn started to flip through the book: "I was looking for this book for ages, it has some paragraphs about handmade guns that no other book has. Where did you find it?"
"A bookstore in Zaun? Nowhere special."
"Do you know if it sells other books about firearms? Or history of the firearms?" Now Caitlyn sounded excited.
Vi scratched her head: "I don't know."
Caitlyn didn't look fazed by her ignorance:"Could you take me there?"
"If you want, but it's really nothing special, just a bookstore."
"I want to go."
"Then, when we will hangout in my home, we will go there."
"We will hangout again?" Caitlyn looked so hopeful.
"Sure."
"So, are we friends now?"
"Yeah Cupcake, we're friends now."
"Cupcake?"
"Because you're sweet, like a cupcake."
Caitlyn was nearly hugging her book and looked so genuinely happy. Vi still couldn't answer why the girls in their school were so cruel to her.
"Do you want to tell me what your parents bought you?"
"Yes! These are the best noise-canceling earplugs you can find, they truly are amazing. This is the newest model, they should be more comfortable for the ears." After having described the headphones, she started to talk about her gloves: "And these are for my training, my old gloves were starting to be too small for my hands. They still fit, but I would have probably needed new ones in a couple months, so we just seized the opportunity with my birthday."
"They're… very practical."
"Yes? Why should I ask for something I don't need?"
Talking with Caitlyn was strange, if anyone else had asked her that question, Vi would have assumed that it was rhetorical at best, mocking at worst. But Caitlyn was genuine, she wanted to know.
"Well, often you don't ask for something you strictly need, you could ask for something you just enjoy or find pretty."
"Yes, but these…" She showed her earplugs: "are the newest model, I don't strictly need them to function, I still have perfectly functional noise-canceling headphones. And these gloves are the best, I don't strictly need the best gloves to train, it's just nice having them. I need them in a broader sense, but I don't strictly need these exact items, so they are the perfect gifts."
"So the book isn't a perfect gift?" Her tone wanted to be playful, but real apprehension was behind that words.
Caitlyn bent her head slightly: "The book is a perfect gift because you chose it with my interest in mind and I really cherish the thought. Furthermore, I spent months trying to find this exact book because I need it for my project."
"Yeah, you just didn't really seem… you know what? Forget it. What project are you working on?"
"I'm trying to build a functional historical rifle." She flipped through the book and pointed an imagine: "It's really difficult and I don't find enough information, but this will help tremendously."
"Isn't it dangerous?"
"Yes, but my best friend, Jayce, is helping me." So she did have other friends.
"Why isn't Jayce here today?"
"He is in Noxus with his girlfriend, but his boyfriend should pass to say 'hi' this evening." Now Vi was really confused.
"He has a boyfriend and a girlfriend?"
"Yes."
Vi was still confused: "They all love each other?"
"Oh no, Viktor and Mel are friends, Jayce is just greedy." Caitlyn chuckled, Vi still didn't understand.
"How does it work?"
Caitlyn was looking at her like she was asking how to make water boil: "They spend time together and respect each other. Like any other relationship."
"Doesn't it bother you?"
"Why should Jayce's relationship bother me?"
Vi shrugged, it just seemed weird to her, but if they were happy, good for them. Vi decided that she knew enough about Jayce's relationship and asked Caitlyn to explain how her rifle would work.
The next couple hours were spent talking about Caitlyn's project, the girl was so passionate that Vi felt like she could see the rifle in front of her, its mechanisms moving and every single piece taking its place. Caitlyn was smart, Vi already knew that, but she was smart in a way that made her feel smart, too. She explained difficult things to Vi not to look more competent than her, but to really make her understand how things worked. It was clear that Caitlyn wanted to talk not to feel superior, but for the love of the subject.
When it was time to come back home, Caitlyn started to fidget with her sleeve.
"You said that we are friends."
"I did."
"So, we could sit together tomorrow?"
"Sure."
Caitlyn smiled at her and Vi smiled back.