Chapter Text
Caitlyn rapped on the apartment door and waited in the hall. She had a key she never used unless Mel wasn’t home, since it seemed rude to just barge in - though Caitlyn was absolutely going to give into the temptation to barge right in if Mel didn’t come to the door in the next sixty seconds.
She felt like she was going to burst. She had to tell someone about her night or she was going to blurt out too many details about how phenomenal lesbian sex had turned out to be to some poor, elderly neighbor who had the misfortune of being trapped in the lift with her while she still buzzed with excitement and incredulity and more emotions than she could really name.
The door swung open as Caitlyn knocked for a fourth time, and her knuckles hit air as Mel appeared in the doorway, looking alarmed. “My goodness, what?” she asked, eyes wide - and then wider as she took in Caitlyn’s attire.
Realizing that she never did things like this, and that Mel had no way of knowing for sure that the reason for the urgency was something positive, Caitlyn hastened to reassure her friend. “It’s nothing bad–”
“Well, thank Heaven for that,” Mel replied, sarcastic, and held the door farther open.
Caitlyn shot her a sheepish grin as she walked into the apartment, and as soon as the door shut behind her, Caitlyn asked, “Are you alone?” and, when Mel’s answer was, “Yes,” she blurted, “I just had sex.”
Mel’s eyes were wide as Caitlyn continued, nearly babbling, “That is to say, well, I left Vi’s flat, where we had sex - and dinner, since dinner is rather important, and then I came straight here, because I feel like if I don’t tell someone about this I’m genuinely going to lose my mind. Why did no one mention how good sex is?”
Caitlyn goggled at her friend as she started to giggle incredulously.
“This is not the response I expected,” Caitlyn observed, looking at her friend with a raised eyebrow, which only triggered harder giggles, Mel’s laughter morphing into wheezing guffaws.
Sighing, Caitlyn walked farther into her flat and toward the kitchen.
She needed a drink if her friend was going to be this useless.
“Take your time!” Caitlyn called to a still-laughing Mel, and when all that answered her was more laughter, she rolled her eyes, making her way to Mel’s stash of liquor to pour them both a drink.
______
Vi kept her breathing even as she jogged down the street, avoiding pedestrians.
Caitlyn had left a little while ago, and the memory of their “goodbye” kiss was still making Vi’s lips tingle.
If Caitlyn hadn’t told her that she was new to all of this, Vi wouldn’t have known.
She’d felt so jittery after she’d made sure Caitlyn got safely into a cab that she’d thrown on her running clothes, stretched enough that she didn’t injure herself, and gotten on the elevator to go try to burn off the excess energy that felt like it was rolling off her in waves.
After the delicious dinner and a couple hours on the couch, chilling and cuddling and watching reality TV, she should have been feeling warm and fuzzy and relaxed.
Warm and fuzzy? Yeah.
Relaxed? No.
As she turned into another block, making sure she kept to the side of the street with the lowest number of burned-out streetlights - couldn’t be too careful, even if she wasn’t really all that worried - Vi thought about how the night had gone. It hadn’t exactly been completely surprising that they’d ended up in bed, but it had still been unexpected.
And…well, when she’d pulled back from a kiss that had left Vi reeling, Caitlyn had said, the words full of promises, “Maybe next time I could return the favor?”
Vi shook her hands out as she ran, knowing she looked kind of like an idiot and not caring.
The idea of letting Caitlyn…reciprocate wasn’t as unsettling as she thought it probably should be, based on her other experiences.
Vi…Vi wanted Caitlyn to touch her. She wanted to let her explore and figure out what she liked and didn’t like and what she wanted more of.
As unexpected as it was to find out that Caitlyn didn’t have any experience, Vi felt really honored that Caitlyn had chosen her to do all this stuff with. It meant a lot to be trusted like that.
Vi wondered if Caitlyn felt as weird about trusting somebody with her body as she did. Maybe that was why she hadn’t kissed anyone else before.
It wasn’t really her business, but Vi was curious. Maybe Caitlyn wouldn’t mind telling her more about that, if she asked.
Turning onto another street - an alley, really - to get her headed back toward her apartment, Vi grinned and waved at the whistling, catcalling dancers who were hanging out on the stoop behind Babette’s for their smoke break.
The girls who worked there were sweethearts, which Vi knew because Babette was one of the people she and her brothers sometimes did odd jobs for. Babette and all her girls could hold their own - and the club had good bouncers - but Vi knew that the older woman just didn’t want to deal with figuring out which of the maintenance guys was going to do his job without being a fucking letch if she didn’t have to.
Sighing, Vi turned out of the alley and back toward her apartment. She hated that her training schedule kept her from being able to be involved in pretty much anything that wasn’t MMA. While she was off getting paid to hit things, life kept happening. Sometimes it felt like she was missing out on the big stuff, even though she did everything she could to be there.
If she’d had a fight over the weekend, she’d have had to skip Powder’s expo, which would have sucked. But, she didn’t really own her time right now, and it was what it was.
All Vi could hope for was that it would all be worth it; that, at the end of the season, she’d be the one lifting the belt.
Her apartment building came into view, and Vi decided against another lap around the block. It was getting late and she had training in the morning. The run hadn’t helped her get out that much energy, but she’d stretched her legs and had some time to think, which was going to have to be good enough.
As she buzzed in and then waited for the elevator, Vi realized that she and Caitlyn hadn’t actually set a date for the next time they’d see each other.
She pulled out her phone as she walked into the elevator, trying not to be too eager. But…Caitlyn had suggested dinner, so she figured it was her turn. Only problem was, with the marketing crap they’d built their careers on, they couldn’t really be seen together in public, which meant that they couldn’t do something casual and specifically non-sexual like meeting for coffee or going to the pier for fries, so Vi was going to have to try to figure out how to make sure Caitlyn knew that her dinner invite was actually just an invite for dinner. Vi’d be happy with however the night went, but she didn’t…well, she wasn’t just looking for a hookup.
Ignoring the fact that that was a pretty big change, Vi started typing.
you free on Sunday night?
______
Caitlyn smiled as she read Vi’s text.
She’d just crawled into bed after showering off the long day and having enough water to counteract the effects of the three martinis she’d had at Mel’s while sharing more of the gory details than she’d ever thought she’d want to share. But, it turned out that sex was new and exciting, and Vi was beautiful and exciting, and Caitlyn really, really liked talking about all of it with someone who was nothing but happy for her.
It also did, admittedly, help a bit that Caitlyn knew far too much about Mel’s sex life, and, so, had a fairly good idea that her friend wouldn’t mind a bit of oversharing.
And, now, cozy in bed and unable to stop smiling, Caitlyn had yet another reason to smile:
Vi wanted to go on another date. Or, well, stay in for one.
Caitlyn was, admittedly, a bit disappointed that there really wasn’t anywhere they could go together without inciting the ire of their marketing teams and potentially sending both their careers crashing to the ground. But, Vi’s flat was lovely, and Caitlyn was, in fact, very interested in dinner with Vi to finish off her busy week.
Apart from everything else about all this that Caitlyn found thrilling, it was…it was exciting to have the monotony of training broken up by time with someone she was really looking forward to seeing. And, well, the possibility of sex was certainly another reason she was so looking forward to seeing Vi.
Caitlyn navigated to her calendar, checking her schedule, and was surprised to see that, yes, she was free on the evening Vi had suggested. Immediately, she blocked out the time, so that she wouldn’t forget in the midst of a meeting or a call with her mother and agree to something that would conflict with her much more important plans.
Yes, as a matter of fact. I am free on Sunday.
What did you have in mind?
Caitlyn didn’t have to wait long for Vi’s response to pop up.
dinner at my place? i’ll cook
Grinning, Caitlyn wrote back, “Sounds perfect.”
And then she typed a quick and hopefully not too personal “Goodnight, Vi.” and put her phone on her nightstand where she wouldn’t be tempted by alcohol and the warmth in her chest to say something foolish.
______
When she woke up in the morning, Caitlyn was delighted to see, “goodnight cupcake,” at the top of her notifications.
______
Vi sat in a straddle, focusing on aligning her spine to get her back as straight as possible before she leaned forward, stretching her hip flexors.
Sevika was intense about stretching and mobility training because it was part of her strategy to make sure Vi could take a beating, if it came to that, but Vi knew that there was a bigger reason.
Before she’d lost her arm, Sevika had been an MMA champ. Vi remembered watching her fights, growing up, and thinking that that - Sevika, in her black and neon green kit, pummeling her opponent’s face in - was Zaun, through and through.
Vi would admit to idolizing her a bit.
And she’d also admit to crying, sitting on the couch at Vander’s, as she watched a Noxian fighter pin her up against the cage. Vi still remembered the sickening sound of Sevika’s knee giving out before she could break the leg lock.
It had been…it had been a lot of things. Sevika had lost the fight and Zaun had lost the title, but, more than that, Sevika had been taken out of the game - permanently.
She almost never talked about it, but Vi never said shit about all the extra mobility and strength training. It was helpful, even if it was fucking boring - especially against Caitlyn.
The Piltie was tall, yeah, but she was also basically like a human rubber band. Sevika had said more than once that that was why Caitlyn had so much success in the ring: Caitlyn trained to more than compensate for all of the things that should have been disadvantages.
And, so, if Vi was gonna beat her…she had to train like her.
One of these days, Vi wanted to get a look at Caitlyn’s actual training schedule - maybe go to a sparring session or two. Not even to learn more tips and tricks for how to beat her, but just…just to see how she learned to do all the shit that made her such a formidable opponent.
But, right now, she was doing some boring ass stretching, and she probably should have been reviewing strategies or something for her upcoming fight with Akali, but Sevika was across the gym talking to the owner, and that meant that Vi had nothing to do but think about Caitlyn being like a human rubber band in bed, instead of in the ring.
She swallowed hard as she reached her fingertips over toward her right foot, breathing into the stretch and trying to ignore how wet she was getting, just from thinking about how Caitlyn’s body moved - how she felt…
Add in the fact that Vi had very vivid memories of how Caitlyn felt under her, not looking for ways free of a pin, but soft and pliable, letting Vi pin her down…
Yeah, Vi needed to think about something else.
As she walked her hands over toward her left foot, she tried to think about literally anything but Caitlyn…
And failed.
Her phone mocked her from over on the weight bench. It was far enough away that she’d catch Sevika’s attention trying to get it, and it was close enough to be a goddamn temptation.
Sunday could not come fast enough.
______
Sighing, Caitlyn turned off her car, sitting in the silence for a minute as she tried to muster the energy to get out of the car and go up to her apartment.
Training today had been brutal. Grayson hadn’t pulled any punches - literally - and, for every error, she’d decided that Caitlyn owed her an entire bodyweight circuit.
By the time they’d finished and Grayson had said, “Good work,” Caitlyn’s limbs felt more like jelly than they had after Vi had made her come last night, which was a feat.
Groaning pathetically as her thoughts circled back to Vi for what felt like the millionth time today, Caitlyn popped open her door and started the process of actually getting out of the car.
It took longer than she’d admit to, if questioned, but she made it to the lift, and pressed the button for her floor without incident.
As the numbers ticked up, Caitlyn thought about her training session. The next fight her team had arranged was with Camille, against whom Caitlyn had less than a perfect track record.
Caitlyn and Camille were…similar, in the sense that they were both highly analytical fighters - more cerebral than some of the other people on the circuit. Camille was smart. Caitlyn would have to out-think her if she wanted to win.
Physically, Caitlyn had an advantage, because she had a variety of styles at her disposal, where Camille very heavily favored one. But, she would also have to be extra conscious of how much energy she exerted, because the style of fighting Camille favored was aikido, the foundation of which was to use your opponent’s strength and energy against them. Effectively, more than was usually the case, Caitlyn could be her own downfall.
Caitlyn paused - both mentally and physically - as she exited the lift, a large floral arrangement already visible on her welcome mat.
She could not think of any particular occasion that would have caused someone to send her flowers. It wasn’t her birthday, she hadn’t won anything, no one had died…and, so, as she walked down the hall toward her flat, she wondered if, perhaps, they’d been delivered to her by mistake.
That had happened at one point, and she had had to deal with a very irate blonde whose husband’s Valentine’s Day delivery had been mistakenly set at her door because he’d typed in the wrong unit number. Caitlyn had been accused of being a “homewrecking whore” and the husband, when he arrived, had been chastised so thoroughly that Caitlyn had almost been tempted to record the conversation and send it to him so that he could play it for his therapist.
As far as Caitlyn knew, they were still married, but she sometimes wondered if either of them was happy.
When she reached her door, she could, in fact, see “Caitlyn Kiramman” written in beautiful, scrolling script on the front of the little card attached to the clear stake in the middle of the arrangement, and so she unlocked her door, picked up the heavy vase, and walked into her flat to deposit the flowers on her kitchen counter.
Ordinarily, when she got home, Caitlyn had a strict routine - most of her life was governed by strict routine - but, in this case…curiosity won out, and Caitlyn left her various food and drink containers to be cleaned later as she plucked the card out of the tiny prongs holding it in perfectly level above the flowers.
“Oh, my God,” Caitlyn groaned, reading the text on the inside of the card.
There, in beautiful, scrolling script, that had clearly been handwritten - and not by the sender - were the words,
To replace yours. ~M
Caitlyn pulled her phone out of the pocket of her leggings and snapped a photo of the arrangement, the card held in the foreground. She attached it to a text and sent it to Vi without any caption.
One wasn’t really necessary, even if Caitlyn could figure out what to say about the fact that her friend had sent her flowers for the grand occasion of having lost her virginity.
She attached the same photo to a text from Mel, and captioned this one, “I can’t believe you made some poor florist write this out. Remind me again…why are we friends?”
Leaving her phone on the counter, Caitlyn rolled her eyes at the general state of her life and went about taking care of her usual routine.
Despite the enormous, pleasantly scented addition to her decor, she did have things to do.
When she was done with the dishes, taking a shower, and starting on dinner, she picked her phone back up.
She had two texts.
One, from Mel, read, “Because you love me. Congratulations again, by the way.”
It was accompanied by a kiss emoji, and Caitlyn rolled her eyes, a fond smile on her face as she replied, “I do. Thank you for the flowers.”
Mel was very right about why they were friends. Caitlyn cherished her - even when she did insane things…like sending her flowers to celebrate losing her virginity.
The second text was from Vi, and it read,
damn, i gotta get better friends
Caitlyn laughed, standing in her kitchen while the oven preheated as she wrote back,
What, your friends don’t send you flowers when you have sex?
nope
its cool yours do tho
Mel is insufferable, and I love her dearly.
i like her already
You’re joking, but I think you two would get along.
oh yeah?
Yes, I think you’d get on like a house on fire.
i hope i get to meet her, then
Me, too.
Caitlyn bit her lip against a different, softer sort of smile at the idea of her two worlds colliding. It would be…it would certainly be something if whatever was between her and Vi led to Vi meeting her friends.
Shaking off that thought, Caitlyn changed the subject to something tangentially related.
Do you like flowers?
yeah, theyre pretty
never been sent any tho
Really?
really
That’s a shame.
eh
never really thought about it
the person in the tux doesnt usually get em
As the conversation shifted again, Caitlyn looked up at the gorgeous arrangement sitting on her kitchen island, and felt incredibly lucky to have such good friends.
Even if they were insufferable sometimes.