a/n: writing another chapter of DoZ > studying for my midterms. Guys college is quite literally kicking my ass, wish me luck
Also I made a Spotify playlist for DoZ, pls accept this as my apology for the time this chapter took to make: Diamond of Zaun
Chapter 3
“He’s here for you again Y/n!”
A shiver runs through your body as your head quickly dodges into a hand mirror, brushing strays of hair away from your face, reapplying your new lip tint before setting it back on the table. You smooth your skirt down, lounging into the green vines that rest about the chaise.
“Let him in.”
You pretend to be enamored by a small novel as the curtain to the room is drawn to the side. The tall silhouette slips into the room, making its way towards you, taking a seat on the table in front of you. You feel the book being guided upwards as he glimpses at the front cover.
“A love story? I didn’t take you as a hopeless romantic.” your eyes glide up from the words on the page to glimpse into his heterochromic ones. A smirk pulls at your cheeks, “Can’t a girl have her dreams?”
Your last words are cut off by patrons enjoying themselves next door. He glances back at the book, a rueful smile on his face, “Not here.”
A moment of silence passes before he takes the book into his own hands and moves to sit beside you on the chaise. He reads the contents of the page to you, your head moving to rest on his shoulder. Despite the distracting sounds of pleasure from across the curtain and raucous shouting from outside, you shut your eyes, drowning out everything but the melancholic words of romance and grandeur pooling from his mouth.
It’s only when the cacophony outside becomes too much that his words come to a stop as he folds a tassel into the book, setting it on the side table. You feel Silco’s eyes slide on to you as you knowingly avoid his eyes, a smile slipping on your lips. You feel the warmth of his hand resting on your thigh, “Sweetheart?” “Hm?”
“May your voice tonight?”
You look up into his eyes and for the first time tonight your cheeks slightly flush. “You desire to hear me sing that much?” you avert your eyes, whispering, “you ask this every time you visit.” Silco chuckles, lowering his head to speak directly into your ear,
“and I thank the gods everytime you grace me with it”
You playfully sigh, trying to calm your heart, sitting up. And you take a deep breath, releasing your siren song.
Current Time
Your breath grows ragged in your throat as you finally reach the door to the hideout, almost slamming into the door. The doorknob turns in your grip as you enter, your body freezing on the spot as you see her.
You glimpse her pained expression as she presses her hands to her dripping torso, gritting her teeth, as your blood drains from your skin. It feels as if you’re at the bottom of a lake, the air dragging on your limbs as you take one step, willing your feet towards Vi, coming to a stop a step away. Caitlyn rushes past you, going to sit next to her, feeding Vi some of the liquid. Vi wrenches, bolting upright. You instantly drop down to your knees, cupping her cheek, your thumb tracing her cheekbone, “It’s alright, it’s alright…i’m right here,”
Vi slowly comes too, her eyes focus on yours, widening. You begin to slip your hand away to give her space but the very next moment her hand is clasped to yours, holding it flush against her face,
“No…stay.”
You feel your face begin to buckle as you feel a lump in your throat that you can’t quite swallow. Vi’s other hand comes up to brush back your hair, studying your face, the new scar on your nose, the purple tinted triangles under your eyes, the way your ears have been pierced. You in turn search her eyes, looking from one to the other as the tears in your eyes threaten to fall.
Vi’s mouth begins to open as Caitlyn, who has stood up, mentions their search for Jinx, “...who’s powder?” Vi’s eyes leave yours, looking to where caitlyn stands by the door, she sits up, answering her question. Vi stands and as the two begin to speak once again, but your ears catch an increase of howls. Your hairs stand on end as you rise, moving towards the door, closing one eye to focus your attention through a splinter in the wood. Your blood goes cold, eyes becoming round as you glimpse the tall figure standing, holding his arms graciously to the beggars, poison in hand.
Your head whips around to glimpse Vi also becoming aware of the noises, before you can say anything, her hand is on the knob of the door. Thousands of thoughts fly through your head. Silco never hid that he wasn’t fond of this particular Zaunite, and if he sees you holed up with this particular ghost…
In that split second you fling yourself against the wall out of sight as Vi opens the door. Inadvertently you bump into a pillar that shakes the foundations of the hut, the walls rocking and creaking as the sway. You hear Silco’s voice echo across the chasm, the volume of your heartbeats beginning to drain it out.
All you can hear is the escalating drumming in your ears, as the world becomes a hazy blur of brown and gray…
What if he sees me?
What if he already saw?
What’ll he do if…?
He won’t trust me anymore.
he won’t …need me anymore.
You’re knocked forward as the splinter brimmed beam behind you sways forward under the force of Caitlyn’s fist. Your vision becomes clear as you’re jolted back into the moment, head shooting up to glimpse the creaking nails slowly being wedged out of their posts. You step back just in time as Vi turns, striking the beam with her fist, the sounds of cracking wood and bending metal filling your ears. Your eyes close out of reflex, arms moving up to shield yourself, before you feel a grip on your wrist urging you forward. When you open your eyes you glimpse the red of Vi's jacket, dodging the falling debris as she guides you both towards the lights of the city.
Looking back, you see Silco cowering on the ground, surrounded by his collapsed minions, the flickering neon light illuminating their hunched, distorted forms.
As your attention is drawn away you manage to side step on a beam, your ankle giving way, folding under your weight. A strangled cry escapes your throat as you go down, but Vi is quick to wrap your arm around her shoulders, hoisting you both forward. The three of you climb and manage up the ravine to make it to an upper area, you taste the dirt coating your mouth as you heave ragged breaths, unable to keep up. You stop to catch your breath, biting your lip at the dull throb of your ankle. Vi turns to look at you but your attention is drawn by a billowing blue smoke rising above the city tops.
“Powder…” You hear Vi whisper, her eyes glossy. You put together the puzzle pieces in your mind and sooner than you can realize it, you place your hand on her cheek,
“Go to her.”
She turns back to you, brows furrowed, “No- I’m not leaving you I-”
“Vi” You speak more firmly, “I will be okay…go to her.” You glimpse her lip trembling as she looks into your eyes, jaw clenched. You glance at the smoke once more, whispering
“She needs you more than I do..” you summon a smile of reassurance, trying to distract from the tears collecting in your eyes. Vi looks at you, eyes helpless as she looks from you to the smoke, biting her lips as she thinks. She finally squeezes her eyes shut, launching forward as she embracing you, her death-like grip hardly giving you room to return the touch
“I will be back, I promise.”
She releases you, hands coming up to cup your cheeks, face inches from hers. You gaze up into her eyes, the world seems to still for this very moment, unable to hear anything other than Vi’s rough voice
“I-”
Her mouth hangs open, words on the tip of her tongue, eyes earnest as she searches yours. She blinks hard, eyes casting down
“I promise..”
She whispers the reassurance to you before turning to sprint down an alleyway towards the smoke, Caitlyn not far behind. You let out the breath you unknowingly held, leaning against a wall, letting your eyes fall shut. Only then does the staggered buzzing of a neon light remind you of another.
As quickly as you can, you limp back down the way you came, cascading the side of the ravine. You traverse the broken beams and metal sheets. You hear him before you see him, a crazed shout that you’ve never heard from him before. He erratically kicks and yells before going limp on one of the metal beams. You can’t help the shake in your voice.
“Silco…?”
His head whips to meet your voice, his eyes holding a cold hatred that you’ve never seen directed at you. Just as soon as he realizes it's you, his eyes widen turning back to the rubble
“What are you doing down here? I’ve told you it’s dangerous.”
Your steps are slow, avoiding the debris, teeth grinding as pain shoots up your leg. “I know.” You come forward, placing a hand on his shoulder as he buries his face within his hands. You smooth your hand across his back, sitting alongside him
“That ghost is not dead” he grits out, your hand stilling for a moment, breathe leaving your lungs. You blink rapidly before intaking a breath, continuing your motions
Pairings: Vi x Reader, Silco x Reader could be more later...
Tags: f!reader, performer!reader
Content Warnings: Drug Use, Angsty Angst
a/n: Hey guys! had to take a bit of a break cuz scholarship essays were due 🙃 but I'm back! you'll get a little glimpse of what I meant by may be more later, I hope you enjoy!
Chapter Two
You awake to a searing pain in your head. The pain travels through all of your limbs, burning like the fires that surround you. Your eyes slowly open, taking in the ash and rubble that blur and crowd your vision.
“Vi?...” you mean to shout it, but it comes out of your throat, a hoarse whisper. As you sit up, a chill runs through your body. The building around you is crumbling. You hear a shift in the foundation, looking up, you roll away seconds before a piece of concrete would have smashed you into the ground. You stagger to your feet, limping away from the structure, watching as more of the upper floors collapse. You feel a dull throb in your head, placing your hand to it, you see crimson coat your fingers.
“Vi?...Mylo?...Claggor!...” Your screams become more desperate as you lethargically claw at the rock, digging, searching for anyone, until your fingertips bled.
You collapse in a heap, tears running down your cheeks, sobs painfully forcing their way out of your throat. The sun casts a vermillion shadow over your face, reflecting the pools of blood all around, bathing the new day in the carnage that took place in the one before.
You were too late.
Ekko had come running to you as you were about to step on the train to Topside.
Your bag was left sitting on the platform, along with your letter of acceptance, as you were already halfway to the abandoned building. You arrived only to be blown away by a blue explosion.
All you could see was a twinkle in the smoke before you slammed into the brick and it all went black.
You were too late.
“Y/n?”
You turned to be bombarded by a small boy with white hair. Your hands quickly held him tightly in your arms.
“Are they..?” Ekko started. You glimpsed at the building, still burning, most walls broken down, exposing the debris inside to the morning light. “They’re…they’re gone,” You whispered, cradling his head with one hand. You felt Ekko's arms tighten around you, feeling your shirt grow wet beneath his eyes. You thought of Vi, probably crushed, burning amongst the rubble.
I’ll protect you.
You squeezed your eyes shut, holding your tears back. You pulled little man closer, swearing to yourself, and Vi,
“I’ll protect you.”
…
You brushed down your skirt and checked your face once more in your hand mirror, glancing up at the sign above the building. You entered, brushing leafy vines out of your path, passing masked and unmasked patrons lounging about the couches and carpets, their eyes and hands wandering… You continue brushing past a draped door to the front desk, to a woman taking a drag on a pipe.
“I want a job.”
Current Time
You fumble to unlock the back door to The Last Drop, shaking in anger. How dare she say that I don’t care anymore!? Where has she even been?... If she wasn’t dead, then …where?
You walk through the door, leaning back and slamming it closed. You take a breath, your hand going up to cradle your temples.
“You sure are out late…”
Your head whips up to the almost empty bar, eyes widening. A man sits, back straight as he takes a sip of a glass of whisky. He turns, his heterochromatic eyes boring into yours before moving down and scanning the rest of your body.
You quickly relax your tensed shoulders and force a small smile onto your lips, quickly crafting a lie you hope he’ll take, “Just taking a look at my new billboard, it looks especially bright at night.” You walk towards the bar, taking a seat next to the man. “What has you up so late,…Silco?” The man stares into his glass before setting it before you. You take the cue and take a small sip from the glass, letting it burn its way down your throat.
“I hear there's word of a pink-haired girl in the Lanes.”
You choke on the liquid, setting the glass down with a thud. You feel his hand calmly patting your back as you struggle to intake air. Once your breathing steadies you turn towards him feigning ignorance, “You don’t think it’s…” You cast your eyes down at the wood of the bar, “ We both know she died that night…” You do your best to sound convincing despite the pounding in your chest, that you hope he doesn’t hear. Silco studies your face, his hand coming up to turn your chin to face him. He moves to cup your cheek, caressing it with his thumb.
“I know that she’s dead, I just wanted to make sure you’re okay…We both know the effect she had on you,” He pauses, glimpsing from one of your eyes to the other, “No one likes shadows of their past showing up to haunt them…” You resist the urge to hold your breath, keeping it even as his hand slides up to touch his gifted flower in your hair. His hand moves down your cheek, stroking the column of your neck, pausing on your shoulder, “Stay in tonight,” He stands, slipping a strand of hair behind your ear. He turns away and steps toward the stairway, halting on the first step,
“Shadows tend to make their way out at night.”
…
You stared into your dressing room mirror, the bright saturation of the flower standing out among the locks of your hair. You carefully remove it and gently place it back into the vase, making sure it connects to the water.
Threading a black mask around your ears, you fix it to cover the bottom half of your face. The green bills feel rough in your hands as you count through them, making sure it’s all there before stashing the wad in your pocket, and slipping out the window. You walk through the neon lights and the old buildings, making your way to the oasis within the dust, but something catches your attention. You look down from the bridge you currently stand on, catching a glimpse of a pink-haired girl, limping, and a blue-haired one trying to support her.
Vi?
Yet again, you’re filled with questions, all of them having something to do with this pink-haired girl. Intrigued, you jump over the edge of the bridge, sliding down a rooftop. You run past walls of rock before glimpsing down into the pit below,
Why would they go…here?
You take a few steps back before running forward, jumping to grab a hold of a metal pole, gliding down to the ground. It’s dark, but you know not to shine a light, some things want to stay hidden. Swiftly walking past all the groans and reaching the hands of the beings that surround you, you finally glimpse a hooded figure, standing upright unlike all the others. You even spot a bit of blue peeking out from underneath the fabric.
You walk up behind her, softly placing a hand on her shoulder. She immediately whips around, her gun pointed and ready. The sudden motion knocks you off your balance and sends you falling to the ground.
“Easy, easy! You make a display of showing your empty hands before lowering one to remove the mask from your face. “It’s just me…” Her eyes widened, recognizing you from earlier, before shoving the gun closer to your face.
“Why are you here?” she questions, furrowing her eyebrows. You glimpse the building behind her, the building that harbored so many memories. Your eyes turn back to her, “I saw Vi limping… is she okay?” The girl frowns deeper, weighing the pros and cons of trusting you,
“She’s been stabbed…she needs a doctor" she states sternly, lowering her gun. Your eyes widen, racking your brain of how you can fix a stab wound down here. A more grim solution is the only remedy you might be able to get in time.
“There’s no doctor,” you cringe, “ But there may be something else.” You motion for her to follow you, making your way to a stand covered by metal bars. Your fingers reach out, causing melodic chimes before an inner door slams open.
“Ailment?” You confer with the apothecary, trading before a magenta-colored potion is set on the ledge in front of you. Taking it, the blue-haired girl turns to you, placing a hand on your shoulder, “Thank you…truly,” You look towards her hand giving a brief nod. She takes her hand back nervously.
“It’s Caitlyn, by the way.” You’re only half listening to her words, your attention turning again towards the dilapidated structure that Vi currently resides in. Caitlyn notices and takes a few steps, gesturing for you to follow, “You should come along, Vi would like to see a familiar face.” You shake your head, looking toward the ground, a pained smile making its way onto your face. “Vi’s seen enough of me, she only wants to see her sister,” Caitlyn pauses, her face covered with confusion.
“You can’t seriously think that can you?” your eyes raise to meet hers, your face mirroring her puzzled expression. “The second she heard you were at The Last Drop she came running for you.
She was looking for …you?
Caitlyn turns and makes her way back to the hut, yet again emotions run through you, anger, sadness, fear, fear of rejection, causing you to step back on one foot, feeling the need to run away. But the same words bubble up to the surface of your mind,
“I’ll protect you.”
And yet again you feel yourself running to see the same pink-haired girl another time.
Pairings: Vi x Reader kiiiiinda Silco x Reader could be more later...
Tags: f!reader, performer!reader
Content Warnings: angst, kiiiiiiinda age gap! relationship
a/n: Chapter two everyone! this one actually gets into the plot so im really excited to see what y'all think. Also I'm making it to where Vi and reader are both 17 pre time skip, so around 24/25 after the time skip.
Also Also I've been binging some playthroughs of Final Fantasy VII and I'm absolutely smitten with Cloud Strife so don't be surprised if some drabbles of him come through teehee.
Chapter One
“I finally got a letter back”
Vi’s head instantly turned to you from the couch she was lazing on,
“What does it say?”
You held up the sealed envelope so Vi could see it. She quickly vaulted over the back of the couch to meet you where you stood at the entrance of the gang’s little clubhouse. She waits for you to open it, glancing back and forth between the letter and you, biting your nails in anticipation. “Oooh I can’t open it, I’m too nervous.” You extend the envelope to Vi, flashing a smile, “Can you do the honors?” Vi raises an eyebrow at you and tuts, but regardless, she takes the envelope. She messily tears it open, although careful to not damage the contents of the letter inside. She clears her throat and reads in a pretentious accent,
“Dear Miss Y/n L/n,
With great pleasure, we are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted into the Piltover Institute of Dance and Performing Arts-”
Vi wasn’t able to finish reading the letter before you grabbed her hands, jumping up and down squealing with excitement. You hop up on the boxing machine platform that has doubled as your mock stage over the years for your ‘grand performances.’ Mostly only for Vi. “I can see it now!” You spin on the stage, holding an air microphone, “Everyone will know my name…I’ll even have it in lights!!” You turn and smile down at Vi. You can feel your cheeks heat up as she looks up, smiling warmly at you. You nervously put down your hands and breathe out a small sigh of relief as she looks back down at the letter. Your excitement swiftly fades to confusion as Vi’s eyebrows furrow, and she continues reading,
“...and we eagerly await your presence on campus in Piltover one week from now… “ she looks up at you, the corners of her lips becoming down-turned, “You’re leaving us in one week?” You step down from the stage to stand in front of Vi once again. You don’t meet her eyes, looking towards the floor,
“Well, classes would begin in one week so…” A moment of silence passes, both of you contemplating the limited amount of time you’ll now have together. You finally gather up the courage to look up at Vi and slip both of your hands into hers. She gazes back into your eyes, despite her tough exterior, you can sense the sadness in her expression. “I promise I’ll come back to you every weekend!” you convince, trying to coax a smile out of her face despite the melancholy moment. You pull her towards the make-shift stage, backing up until you can step up onto the platform. Your thumbs rub circles on her hands as you muster up your award winning smile,
“You know that you’ll always be my favorite person to perform for.”
Current Time
It’s almost as if time had stopped, the way you stood frozen in the hallway outside of your dressing room. Your hand would have shaken if not for its stabling hold on the door. You could hear the blood pumping in your ears as your vision became foggy, the image of Vi fading from the sight of her in front of you, to the way you saw her seven years ago, bloodied and…
“Hey Dia, everything alright?” the sound of one of the club’s bouncers jumpstart your brain back into motion. You look towards him then follow his eyes back to Vi and also another tall girl with blue hair that you don't quite recognize, standing behind her. “Is there a problem?” You’re about to open your mouth when Vi hoists herself up from the couch, and strides up to you, placing her hand on your shoulder as she passes. You can only watch, mouth agape, as she turns to the bouncer, grinning at him “No, no problem here, we were just heading out.” She takes ahold of your hand and slips somthing in it, nodding to the bouncer and continuing down the hallway. The blue-haired girl follows close behind, skittishly looking between you and the bouncer before jogging to catch up with Vi. Who is that girl?
Once your brain catches up with the events that just transpired, you move to catch up with them, her name fighting to be freed from your throat, but the bouncer grabs your arm, “Yes?” you hurriedly ask him, you keep your eyes locked on Vi, desperate to catch up with the mystery that is currently walking away from you, carrying all your answers with it.
“Boss left something for ya in your office.”
That catches your attention, and you turn to the bouncer, “the Boss did?” “Yep, came and dropped it off himself.” Thoughts fly through your brain once again but you quickly filter through them, the time-sensitive ones flying to the top. You glance back toward the hallway and once you see it’s empty, you rush toward the door and glance out into the bar. Your eyes squeeze shut in frustration once you realize that Vi is already long gone. You turn, retreating to the back hallway, letting your head fall, but your gaze reminds you of a folded piece of paper in your hand. You quickly return back to your dressing room and open it up. You chuckle at the chicken scratch handwriting thats virtually unintelligible, that is, to almost anyone but you.
Meet me in an hour. You know the place.
Shivers ran down your spine. As time went by, ghosts from your past always seemed to go away, either fading into something else or being gone permanently.
This was not a ghost you’d ever thought you’d see again
After boring holes through the folded, crumpled paper with your stare, you set the note down to get ready. But once you glance up, you're reminded of the ‘something’ that was left in your room.
Not noticing the grand bouquet of fresh flowers sitting square in front of you on the dressing table goes to show the level of distraction that you are currently dealing with. You sit up in your chair, breathing in the scent of fresh tulips. You cup one of the buds in your hands as you glimpse the corner of a card peeking out from the center. You pull it out and have no trouble reading the excellent penmanship,
My Diamond,
I’m so terribly sorry I had to miss your show, but I have no doubt you were as dazzling as usual, please do take these as an apology
-S
Compliments and other such flattery have long since grown weak on you, having heard everything in the book, but you pretend to not feel a slight heat on your cheeks as you place the note back into the bouquet. Instead, you pluck one flower out of the bundle and arrange it into your hair, pulling it up and back away from your face. You quickly change out of your performance outfit and into something you can wear through the streets of the underground. You slip out into the night, heading exactly where you know you’ll meet the pink-haired ghost of your past.
~
You make sure to listen intently to your surroundings as you traverse your way to the old clubhouse. It being abandoned and such, you never know who could be slinking around, especially with Shimmer affecting the citizens the way it does, causing them to find solace in the shadows. You wish you could retreat in such shadows, but the light always seems to find you.
You reach the broken glass window and navigate through, without marking yourself on the shards. Scars wouldn’t be good. No one likes a damaged product. The glass crunches under your boot as you wander through a place you once practically lived in. Your hand brushes against the boxing machine that holds so many memories. You looked up at the leaderboard. If the power was on it would show Vi holding the top places, and many more after that. Without your knowledge, a smile began to tug at your lips as wetness started to well up in your eyes. Your hands blindly start to grasp to find the switch.
“Don’t bother, they won’t work.” You didn’t need to turn your head to know who was speaking from behind you. Nonetheless, you whirled around, once again glimpsing Vi and an unidentified blue-haired girl. You had questions about her, but those could wait.
“Vi, I-” “Where's my sister?” you two spoke at the same time. “...your sister?” you spoke after a moment of silence. Vi began to stride towards you, her voice becoming more intense and frantic.
“Yes, where's Powder, I need to find her now-”
“Vi where have you been?” Vi stops in her tracks, only a few feet from you as you cut her off. You can feel your throat start to close up as tears start to well in your eyes. You will not let them fall. Your eyebrows furrow in anguish and frustration, why did she leave you?
“I thought you were dead and - and now you just reappear like nothing happened?” You glance down at the shards splintered on the cement floors down below, trying to blink away the wetness in your eyes. “...not even ask how I've been?”
There's a moment of silence between you, but you refuse to look up into her eyes. You’re scared of anything you might see on her face, sadness, anger, but most of all,
Indifference
You could have never imagined the sinking in your stomach when what you were afraid to see is instead delivered to your ears,
“I don’t have time for this-I don't even know why I bothered…you’re too busy galavanting on stage, prancing around for everyone- for Silco.” She spat the words at you like it was poisen in her mouth. You finally look up at her in time to see her turning her back, “...You don’t care about us anymore.” She begins to take a step away but she stops at the sound of your voice,
“You have no idea what I care about!” Your chest tightens and the tears run freely down your cheeks. Images of the seven years you were apart, the seven years you had to do what you could to survive, images of the Garden. Your head buzzes with anger and anguish, and you release it all out onto Vi. You aren’t aware of what you’ll say next, the feelings that have been built up over the last seven years cause words to stream right from your heart to your tongue.
“You have no idea what I have done to protect those I care about...including you.”
You don’t even take a minute to catch your breath before taking long strides towards the broken glass in which you entered. But instead of moving out of the way of Vi you aggressively bump into her shoulder, leaving her stumbling as you continue to the exit. You kick in the glass at your feet, trampling smoothly through the gaping hole. The cool air from outside in the alley blows through your clothes as if they weren’t even there, swiftly calming your hot head and bringing you back to reality. You take a deep breath and turn your head, just enough to be perfectly silhouetted by the neon lights blazing on from outside the valley.
“And by the way, it’s not Powder. Your sister’s name is Jinx.”
I'm working on part two of TDoZ I think I'm going to write almost like an anthology series with performer! reader alongside it because originally this was all my hyperactive maladaptive daydreams🙃 and performer! reader can work with almost any arcane character in such delicious ways that don't really work with the cohesive story I'm trying to make with TDoZ, what do y'all think?
a/n: heyy... how y'all doing? .... ik i haven't posted in a few years while, but I decided to finally share the absolute lore of my maladaptive daydreams. This first part is pretty introduction heavy, but the following parts will be more content heavy plus there might be chances for audience participation.
Chapter Two
“Do you think I could ever be popular enough to perform on topside?” you spoke, winding the dial on the old radio, slightly hitting the side of the box, allowing the voice of a woman to flow through the static. The pink-haired girl chuckled and shook her head, trying and failing to wind a white bandage around her knuckles post-fight.
“Ugh, I’m serious! What do you think, Vi?” you move to sit next to her, thigh pressing against hers as you take her hand in your own and rewind the bandage to properly care for the wound. Vi looks away, thinking, as you finish tying up her bandage, a pout grows on your face as the pinkette doesn’t respond. You’re looking towards the radio before you feel two hands take hold of your face, turning your face to look into her blue eyes,
“I think you’ll be so popular that everyone will be all over you… but I’ll fight ‘em off!
“...I’ll protect you.”
You smile against her hands, “You promise!?”
“I promise.”
Current Time
The neon pink of the billboard reflects the wet in your eyes. The figure in the center of the sign stands posed on a stage, with bright glittering eyes, lush lips, blowing a kiss to any passersby who might look up at her image. Her hair and clothes flow about her, as she beckons with one hand, convincing anyone who sees her to join her, to join the party. The neon words on the sign flicker on and off against your face in bright shades of green and pink, until you feel a harsh shove against your shoulder. Crowds of people push past to get to their nooks and crannies of the Underground. You wipe at your eyes and dive back into the crowd, heading to your own dark corner of the city, glancing at the sign one last time,
Come join the Diamond of Zaun at The Last Drop!
Your body moves with the music, weaving in between the tables as the mic in your hand propels your voice all about the bar. Normally the patrons of The Last Drop go about their business, passively listening to whatever entertainment is provided, but not now. Not today. Today, with you on stage, the bar is bustling, tables filled, eyes on you. No one dares interrupt or draw attention from the Diamond of Zaun.
Your sweet siren voice entrances admirers, while your body moves in tune with the rhythm, your sequined two-piece outfit catching the lights of the club, ensuring all eyes stay on you. You breathe out the last verse of your song, returning to the stage. And now for the time of the night that many have leaked forward to since you stepped on the stage. In between the songs of your set, the patron who spends the most during the duration of the previous song gets your exclusive, undivided attention during your cooldown between songs.
You step off the stage and grit your teeth, forming it into a smile. You beg and plead to the gods that your ‘guest’ won’t be like the one from your previous performance, a man old enough to be your great-great-grandfather from Topside. Who paid just enough money to have your guards conveniently look away when he breathed his rum in your face and slid his wrinkly hands down your thigh. You followed your guards through the crowd to a table near the back, sitting with some middle-aged man who spent all his current and future wealth to have a few minutes with you. You laugh at all his jokes and flash your winning smile in his direction, asking him to buy you a drink, recommending the most expensive one on the menu, draining every last penny from his wallet. Though, once the well runs dry you blow him a signature kiss goodbye and make your way back up to the stage for the last song in your set.
You start to move your body, ending the night with a jazzier, slower song. You’re almost done when you glimpse a flash of pink hair from the crowd. Your breath hitches as your eyes flick back to a familiar short, pink haircut, thinking that you imagined her face, and it will be some other rose-haired guest.
But no, It's her. It's Vi.
Her face can be seen as clear as day, the lights reflect off of your dress and into the crowd like a disco ball, placing a perfect spotlight on her face. She looks up at you from the back of the club, a look of confusion, sadness, and disbelief dawning on her face. “What is she doing here?” “I thought she was dead!” “Who’s that blue-haired girl with her?” Hundreds of thoughts and questions fly through your head but a nudge on your leg from your guard brings you back to the present: on stage, in front of a crowd of people who are watching your every move.
You quickly snap yourself out of it and flash your smile about the crowd, winking at a few to wipe the memory of your mask slip from their minds. You continue the set, adding a bit more flare to your performance to recover from the slip-up, once enough time has passed, you glance back at the spot where Vi once was, to find an absence in her stead. You try to subtly look around, desperate to catch one more glimpse of the girl, finding nothing but disappointment. Despite being frazzled, you finish up the song and bid goodbye to your adorers.
You make your way to the back of house and walk down the hallway, slightly leaning on the wall as you take off your high heels. You rub at your temples and rationalize what you saw tonight.
I know she’s gone, there's no possible way for her to be here, so I must have imagined her… but why did I see her so vividly?
Head in your palm, you lean over and push open the door to your dressing room, head spinning. But what really makes your whole world spin completely off its axis, is when you open the door to Vi, reclining in the middle of your couch, toying with one of your sparkly mics.
Vi feels a little jealous after one of your performances and decides to show you what's her's
Words: about 1k
A/N Inspired by Dove Cameron's "I could be a better boyfriend than him" clip + my maladaptive daydreams after rewatching arcane for the fifth time, plus thank you for all the love on my last post, please enjoy <3
The crowd cheers and buzzes as you step off the stage, making your way through the crowd to the back.
"Hey! why don't you give me a private show tonight!" some man shouts, laughing with his friends. You push past him, playfully rolling your eyes as you pass,
"Hey, buy me some diamonds and I'll think about it!" Multiple other patrons offer you drinks or to sit down but you politely refuse. You finally reach the curtain separating the bar area and the back rooms and push past it, closing it firmly behind you.
You breathe out, rubbing your eyes to adjust them to the dim back rooms compared to constant neon lights in the bar. Listening to the waning sounds of cheers and desperate men's propositions, you make your way to your dressing room.
Coming to your door, you step inside and slump down on the chair in front of your dressing table, setting down your mic and resting your head on your hand.
"How was the performance?"
You look up and make eye contact with the pink-haired woman outstretched on the small sofa behind you, hands rested behind her head. Your leg begins to shake, and you look away, mentally calming yourself.
"You should know," You reached forward and took a sip of the fruity drink the bartender made for you. You look back at her through the mirror, "I saw you, watching from the back."
Vi stands and takes slow steps toward you, taking hold of the back of your chair, "They sure do love you, up there, angel," she gestures big with her hand and takes ahold of your shoulder with the other, "After all, you are the 'Diamond of Zaun,'"
You swirl your drink in your hand, Vi had been somewhat teasing you, more and more every night, coming so close to admitting what she felt for you, but just not quite.
You look up at her through your eyelashes, letting your award-winning grin slip out, "You think so?"
Vi stares at you intently before all at once dragging your chair around to face her, legs screeching on the cement floor. You gasp, your eyes widening as she bends down and takes the drink from your hand. Her eyes stay fixated on yours, as she takes a sip, right where your lips touched. Her predatory gaze makes you feel small in your chair. Vi's eyes descend your face, halting at your lips. Vi then lowers the drink,
"You wanna know what I think hun?" Vi comes closer, her hand resting behind you on your chair, the other finding their place on your jaw, tilting your face upwards. Your eyes flutter closed as your hands shake in anticipation. The warmth radiating off her face makes you feel like you're slipping into a dream…
The harsh knocks echo off the cheap hollow door and break you out of your fantasy
"Hey uh, Y/n? I got you a drink! Maybe we could uh...talk…?"
You recognize the sound as one of your regular patrons. Vi raises an eyebrow, almost challenging you to leave this moment. You're about to grab her face and dive back in, but the knocks from the door continue.
"Y/n?..are you in there? They said you hadn't left yet..." You grimace, squeezing your fists at the missed opportunity, and stand up, pushing back your chair as you do.
"Yes Oliver, I'm coming!" You hastily prepare yourself, hoping the blush has faded away by the time you open up the door.
The handsome, yet nervous man you know as Oliver stands at your door, brightening as he sees your face. "Oliver! How are you?" you keep the door close to your body, hoping to keep this prompt, as you can feel the burning glare of a certain pink-haired woman directed towards the back of your head.
"I'm quite fine!" He answers, "I got you this!" He hands you a drink identical to the one currently sitting on your desk. "Oh, um, thank you," you try to close the door but Oliver continues, "Oh yes, and your performance today was amazing… you looked absolutely stunning."
He looks expectantly at you but you simply utter your generic appreciation line you say to all customers. You try to quickly usher him away as you can feel the looming presence of Vi coming up behind you.
"Yes, yes, thank you, Oliver, I appreciate the drink, but I have to go," You try to slam the door shut, but Oliver catches it with his hand. His eyes darken and his tone shifts, and he murmurs, "You know Y/n, I've been thinking and I really would like to-
It's too late to stop her when Vi grabs ahold of your waist, twisting you around, slamming you against the door you tried so hard to keep shut. And with passion you've never seen before, she hungrily devours your lips, claiming you as hers for Oliver and anyone else who might pass by, to see.
The moment feels like it lasts an eternity, your emotions running rampant, blood pumping through your veins at 100mph. You can taste the fruit of the drink on her tongue, her hands sloppily pulling you closer to her, you try to think but the only thought that comes to mind is her. You nearly descend into madness due to the sheer splendor.
Vi eventually breaks away to breathe, your head spinning, trying desperately to regain a stable breathing pattern. All the while, Vi turns to your respected regular, who stands stunned in the doorway of what he just witnessed, to say,
"I'm pretty sure she has to go now," winking as she slams the door shut, supporting your weakened body on her other arm.
You, finally catching your breath, your performer's mind quickly coming back to you, and you blink in surprise at Vi, after all, he was one of your regular patrons,
"Vi?!"
Vi looks at you, through her side-swept hair and rests her hands on your hips pulling you closer to herself. She playfully rolls her eyes, similar to how you did before. Coming close to your face and saying through her smug grin,
"What? you know I could be a better boyfriend than him anyways," snatching Oliver's drink from your hand and downing it in one gulp.
Vi comes home bloodied after a fight, you help clean her up, despite Vi's other thoughts
"Hey,"
You gaze up from your book, Vi stands there, blood staining her lips, along with all the various scars and bruises littering her body.
"Hey," you breathe, glimpsing back at the book before slamming it shut. Vi watches intently, jumping a little at the harsh closing of the book.
This is a somewhat common occurrence, but you have still never gotten used to it. Sighing, you rise from your seat, heading to the medicine cabinet.
She plunges herself down on your still warm seat, you cringe as the blood drips into the upholstery.
You gather the disinfectant and a cloth and take slow steps. You come to stand in front of her, waiting expectantly.
She looks up at you, a bloody, apologetic smile on her face. You blink slowly in return, shaking your head. You hate seeing her like this, knowing the pain that's behind every bruise and scrape.
While you're contemplating Vi's suffering, you feel her eyes travel up your body, very slowly.
Internally rolling your eyes, you drop down into Vi's lap, straddling her hips, careful not to brush any wounds. You soak some of the cloth with the disinfectant, feeling her rough hands settle on your waist.
"This may sting," you warn, reaching up. One of Vi's hands comes up to catch yours, before you can clean the wound on her forehead.
"Hey...hey, look at me," Vi tries to catch your eye, to convince you of the worthiness of this fight. You, instead keep your eyes trained on her wound. You hold your poker face, if you break this early, you'll never get her cleaned up.
You hold your silence, until Vi speaks again, "I'm sorry, baby I just-"
You softly break your hand out of the grip of hers and lean in. She grunts as you connect the cloth with her forehead, her other hand's fingers digging into your waist. Your hand comes to her jaw, lightly lifting it up for easier access to her other cuts. "Hun, please stop, it stings," Vi huffs.
You search her face for more, saying, "I told you it would," matter of factly.
Too trained on making sure none of these cuts gets infected, you don't notice the glint in her eye that seems to grow everytime you ignore it, or the way her hands are dancing their way up and down your spine. Your firm concentration is finally broken when Vi suddenly leans in, centimeters from your face, eyes staring directly into yours.
"Hun, won't you please stop being so cold..." You feel yourself shiver, suddenly very aware of her emboldened wandering hands.
Your eyes drop down to her lips for just a moment, before your brain steps in to declare, "...I have to get this cleaned." You quickly grab her jaw and push the cloth to a cut on her cheek.
"Agh, that was dirty, babe," Vi grits through her teeth. You sigh in relief, momentarily escaping the tension.
You breathe out and push up from her shoulders and start back towards the cabinet to grab another cloth. But Vi swiftly catches you by your belt loop and tugs you back. You stumble and fall rearward on to her lap. Her arms entrap you, your back against her chest. you groan,
"I'm trying to make sure you don't get infected,"
"and I'm trying to get some love,"
you try to say something, but Vi expertly presses a kiss on your neck, right where it's sensitive. And just like that, any words you intended to say, dies in your throat.
"I…"
"uh huh, tell me about it hmm?" Her kisses persist down to the base of your throat. You feel your body grow weak, as Vi grabs the bottle from you and sets it on the side table, the cloth simply dropping to the floor. Your mind, losing whatever you were supposed to be doing.
"ohh..mmm," you hum. Vi turns you around on her lap to face you, and you easily comply. After all, at this point, you're like putty in Vi's hands
Your body leans in without thinking, your hands grasping at her shoulders as her hands squeeze at your waist.
Her lips meet yours, that oh-so familiar gash sending heat blooming throughout your body. Your nose brushes against the cold metal of her nose ring, causing you to gasp.
Vi seizes the moment and deepens the kiss, exploring every inch of your mouth, as if she doesn't already know it like the back of her hand.
Although you'd love to bask in her rich presence, the taste of blood in her mouth brings you back to reality.
You push back, head still reeling to create a cohesive thought,
"No..no I have to…" She silences you with another kiss,
"No, no I think you should stay here with me, my pretty girl~"
It takes everything in you to push off her shoulders and quickly back away out of her reach, your legs shaking, especially after that last...statement.
"No!..I won't succumb to your siren's spell!" you exclaim, leaning on the opposite armchair.
After a moment of silence, Vi bursts into laughter and you eye the long forgotten bottle of disinfectant.
"...Oh god...you are too cute." Vi states as she stands up, approaching you. Cornering you against the wall, you plea, "Vi stop, I haven't finished cleaning you up yet!" Vi smiles and leans down, whispering in your ear,
"Don't worry hun, you can clean me up in the shower."
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