Little snippet after @somewillwin showed me a sketch for the valentine's day soulmates and I wrote some dialogue for it:
The sky turns all the shades of pink in Vi's hair and Caitlyn knows it's time to go.
She's been avoiding walking back home for as long as possible, but that also means she's spent more time with Vi than she has in a while. Confusingly it hasn't felt that way. Which is also something that hasn't happened in a while. It should feel pleasant but the realization makes a knot form in Caitlyn's throat.
"I didn't realize it was so late," she says, "I have to go."
Vi's head flies up in surprise. She's got a sketchpad on her knee and worn down pen in her hand. Caitlyn can't bring herself to look at what she's drawing. She isn't sure she wants to know. There's a smudge of charcoal on Vi's cheek right under her eye, right near the tattoo and Caitlyn feels like the walls are closing in.
"Good--"
"Have dinner with me."
The words leave Vi's mouth in one sentence that runs together. Like she's been chewing on it this entire time. Maybe she has. Caitlyn's eyes glance towards the sketchbook and the scope of a rifle on the page makes her heart jump. She turns back to Vi's face and watches as she looks at her. She can see Vi inspecting her reaction but trying not to show it. Caitlyn wants to scream at how she can do that. Ad that--that tell her what she needs to know.
"I don't think that's a good idea," she says.
She sees something in Vi's face, but then she feels the edges of the paper against her palm and the way her shoulders tense and relax. How she shifts like she's in a fight. That, at least, feels familiar. Caitlyn knows how to fight now. She fights every day. She fights for work. But as she looks at Vi she realizes it's been a long time since she fought for anything like this. Like them.
"Vi--"
"We can go to the noodle place," Vi says before she can object again, "or anywhere you want."
"Do you know what day it is?" Caitlyn questions.
Vi nods.
"It doesn't have to be like that," she continues, "it can be whatever we want it to be."
The word 'we' shouldn't feel like soaring through the air. Caitlyn knows how this ends. She's felt it so many times. There's no reason to think that this will be different. She knows that. She has to remember the landing that comes after falling. She should shake her head, turn and leave. Vi will let her go, she knows that. Except it feels incredibly hard to move. The only thing worse than staying feels like walking home alone with the pink of Vi's hair painted across the sky. A reminder that Vi is making sure she gets home safe no matter how they leave things.
"What if we took them to go?"
"You're not going to stop, are you?" Caitlyn asks.
For the first time there's doubt in Vi's eyes. Doubt that Caitlyn is all too familiar with. But the because it's Vi, her lips curve up into a smile. One that makes the corners of her eyes crinkle. Caitlyn looks at her tattoo and the charcoal smudge and the freckles that stand against her cheekbones. She knows the answer. Pink begins to creep across Vi's cheeks and Vi knows the answer too.
81 is more Cherry-Lemon! This is from when they were kids. It's right after Caitlyn woke up but before she comes off the ventilator
The whimper wakes her up.
It’s faint, but Vi’s been waking up to faint whimpers her entire life. Her eyes snap towards the other occupant of the room. Caitlyn’s eyes are open again. They closed right after they got her back, when the doctors pushed something through her IV. Dr. Kiramman had to quickly explain it was just to help her relax. That both of their bodies were weak, but Caitlyn was having difficulty breathing properly with the pain. The oxygen mask was enough for Vi, but not for her. The tube they had put down her throat had to stay in. Vi had desperately stared at her, hoping those eyes would open again but the relaxants worked. Caitlyn laid there, but she responded to every test they did. She was asleep, not comatose.
Now she’s awake.
Vi reaches for the button to call for help but the movement sends an ache through her ribs. The whimper comes again and Vi turns to see Caitlyn’s eyes are wider and focused on her. Even with the tube down her throat she looks shocked at the sight of Vi. Vi can’t blame her. This is definitely not how she thought this meeting would go. If she was ever lucky enough to meet her Soulmate. Lots of people didn’t. From what Vi pieced together her Soulmate was rich and well cared for. The chances of them meeting were slim. Vi knew she’d never belong anywhere near her Soulmate. The Kiramman’s had frantically searched for her to try and save Caitlyn. Rich didn’t even begin to cover what she was. Vi is still having trouble wrapping her head around it.
Caitlyn doesn’t look like a rich Kiramman though, she looks like Powder. She looks scared. Vi shifts again and Caitlyn makes that same whimper. Vi hopes she’s not afraid of her. It would really suck if her Soulmate was scared of her. She lowers her hands and holds them open. Just to show she’s not a threat. The position is awkward and hurts her ribs. So Vi eases herself upright. Caitlyn relaxes against the pillows fractionally when she’s sitting up. Maybe it’s hope, but Vi gets the feeling Caitlyn isn’t afraid of her. She’s afraid of more pain. Vi can’t exactly blame her. Dr. Kiramman is impressed with her pain tolerance, but even she is feeling like crap. Getting someone’s heart started takes a lot of broken bones. Even though they slapped pads onto Caitlyn’s chest, all the muscles in her torso feel like they’ve been punched.
Like she has a ton of times of the past few days, Vi gets her feet on the ground. She hits the red button that sends pain medication through her IV. She knows it takes a minute to hit, but the urge to get to Caitlyn is too strong. She shuffles forward slowly as Caitlyn watches her like a hawk. Her eyes are wide as Vi tries to shuffle gingerly across the space between their beds. She’s made the journey so many times but it feels harder than it has before. At least before no-one saw if she keeled over or anything. Now she has an audience. An audience she badly wants to think well of her. Finally she makes it over to the bed and looks into Caitlyn’s teal eyes.
She finds the button near Caitlyn’s hand and presses it for her to help take the edge off. Caitlyn tries to follow her gaze with her eyes and then by tilting her head, but then stops at the sensation. Instead she looks up wide-eyed at her. Vi tries to smile encouragingly but it feels weird to do. The corners of both their lips are bruised from when the tube went in. Instead she glances down for anything she can do to make Caitlyn more comfortable. They are both covered in bandages but they just draped a hospital gown over Caitlyn. It’s unspoken that her heart might stop again. They might need to shock her. But she seems alright to Vi. Carefully she reaches out and picks up the corner of the blanket tucked around her hips.
“Here, you cold?” She rasps, “put your hands under.”
Caitlyn tucks her long fingers underneath the blanket and Vi pulls it up. She takes care not to jostle any of the wires stuck to Caitlyn’s chest, but after the way her body jumped she has a feeling those things aren’t going anywhere. She tucks the blanket in around Caitlyn’s shoulders. Caitlyn shrugs one of hers weakly and Vi pauses to look at her.
Or, rather, to let Caitlyn look at her.
Vi’s had days of watching her silently. She knows everything about Caitlyn’s face when it’s asleep. Caitlyn has never seen her before. Her teal eyes dart around Vi’s face. Vi looks for any sign of anger. She’d deserve it. But there’s none there. Caitlyn’s curious and it feels like a balm on Vi’s soul. She’s been really curious too. She swipes a hand through her hair and the corner of Caitlyn’s eyes crinkle a bit. It makes the back of Vi’s neck feel hot as they look at each other.
“I’m Violet,” she says. Caitlyn’s eyes crinkle more, “I know you heard that but—I thought I should introduce myself,” she sounds like such an idiot, “I go by Vi.”
Caitlyn’s eyes dart over for her little notepad. She gives a small, apologetic shrug but Vi is already shuffling around her bed. She grabs it and the pen, shuffling back around to the side closer to her bed. By the time she gets there she can feel sweat starting to bead on her forehead. Thankfully the bandages on both of theirs keep it from getting in her eyes. She doesn’t care if it gets in hers, but she doubts Caitlyn could rub her own eyes with how weak her arms are. She watches her brow draw together in annoyance. Vi mutters an apology and quickly shifts the blanket down. This time she brings it up under Caitlyn’s right arm but tucks it under her left shoulder. She reaches out and steadies the top of the pad. She keeps her eyes up as Caitlyn scribbles before Caitlyn taps her with the pen.
Nice 2 meet u
Caitlyn aka Cait
Vi smiles at the shaky message as Caitlyn holds it up.
“Hey, Cait,” Vi says. Caitlyn’s eyes crinkle. She moves the pen a bit up and Vi realizes she’s pointing at their throats, “does yours hurt?” Caitlyn looks at her, “blink twice for yes?”
One blink.
“Does mine hurt?”
Two blinks.
“Mine's fine,” Vi says quickly, “you dad got me cough drops and stuff,” she says.
THIS ONE IS SO HARD but okay I'll give you my top 3 in no particular order:
Caitlyn hiring Lest in Cherry-Lemon. I love that Caitlyn makes the choice to address this trauma she has without waiting for Vi. It's a real moment of growth for her.
Vi and Jinx's fight in Seismology. I really wanted to explore the two of them arguing as equals. One of the big things in Seismology with Jinx has been her taking responsibility for the hurt she caused and so that fight was really important.
The reveal of Caitlyn in Tsukamaki. Right after I posted it, I was worried that I hadn't built the world up enough for it to hit. So watching everyone spiral out about it was awesome and super satisfying.
Honorable mentions to the bratty boink in Fractal because that first kiss in the brothel was so satisfying and Anomalies with Caitlyn following Vi's tattoo.
"you're always welcome in my space vi" OOF RIGHT IN THE HEART cause all I can think of is that Vi isn't welcome there anymore in the current era of cherry lemon.
Hahaha well it turns out that was on @somewillwin's mind too while doing todays timeline cleanse. So you're in good company and also it hurts so much to think about Vi not being welcome in her space--and Cait not being welcome in Vi's! This era hurts so much!
Are there any fics or random ideas you have in mind but haven’t written??? Hehe wink wonk? Do you think a spin off will happen???
When are you gonna meka caitvi tal in your fics??? 🤨🤨🤨🤨??? The people wanna know (it’s me! I’m prople)
I have ideas coming up but they are in future chapters which I have probably yelled at you.
I think we will definitely see them again on screen, if nothing else in some fanservicey way in a future Arcane show. I don't think Riot can resist. i think we're seeing hints of caitvi getting more producer interest with Katie Leung being in the anniversary when she previously wasn't really part of promos and also with more merch.
I absolutely think we are going to get a Jinx spinoff show given how much of a focal point character she is and I think CaitVi will be a part of that.
CAITVI WILL TALK IN THE SOULMATE FICS WHEN THEY TALK. THEY WOULD BE TALKING IN CHERRY-LEMON IF SOMEONE HADN'T THOUGHT "OH THIS DEVASTATING SITUATION NEEDS MORE ANGST"
So, I felt conflicted about everything in the last chapter. Which I think is a good thing. I get Cait should have talked with Vi about her decision. But I also understand her need to do something for herself. And I've loved that Cait went and did it regardless but also in the end gave Vi a choice to be a part of it. Plus the reconnect of intimacy with the dropped badge was a nice touch because Cait actually recognized Vis trauma.
And I feel for Vi. I do. That is some fucked up shit that happened on that bridge. And not her fault. And Cait should have been more mindful of that. And I need that to be recognized. But here is the kicker: I understand Vis conflicted emotions but I also understand Vander's anger.
Because: Vi is not responsible for her trauma. But as you said: She is responsible for working through it. And what she went out of her way to do is hurt Cait. It's a trauma response. And it makes sense to lash out. But it's no excuse to do it. It's no excuse to go out and hurt ppl. And she did so deliberately. And it's conflicting in the best way. Because on the one hand, the person Vi cares about so so much, who kept her alive, goes off to join the force who hurt her deeply. But on the other hand Vi goes out of her way and maybe only temporarily to hurt Caitlyn who fought hard to keep them alive in a way traumatizing her in return.
It's a great thing! I was conflicted writing it!
I really love what you said at the end because one of the things that really drew me to exploring this AU was how Vi and Caitlyn would experience the Bridge. And we know Vi's trauma, but imagine being Caitlyn who gets tear gassed in her living room. And we see that trauma affecting them as they grow up. Caitlyn has now experienced a taste of the brutality but for all her resources she can do nothing except try to make this one Zaunite a bit less miserable. And Vi grows up filled with anger towards Piltover but also aware that there is at least one Piltover person keeping her alive.
I tried to plant this seed that Felicia, Vander and everyone else thought Vi's soulmate was someone in Piltover with resources, but no-one considered it was the Kiramman's. Vander even says to Cassandra that he wondered why she called off the Enforcers on the Bridge. So Vi's Soulmate is both directly responsible for her survival and very connected to her parents death. I think it leads to a lot of complicated feelings for Vi regarding her Soulmate even though Caitlyn did not do any of those things directly.
Vander doesn't want Vi to make his mistakes. He doesn't want he poisoned by the anger that poisoned him. That's why when he sees her being deliberately cruel to Caitlyn with the face tattoo, he calls Silco. It's almost past the point of whose right or wrong, it's kind of forcing Vi to see that she can have the anger but it's going to cost her a lot. It's almost an echo of the 'who are you willing to lose' scene in the show.
That's why I loved that scene where she finally says to Caitlyn you really hurt me instead of lashing out. And I think that's what lets Caitlyn say Vi hurt her too. The violence turns from physical lashing out to words. They grow past their predecessors because they don't descend into the same violence. Even though it would be justified. When I was a kid learning to cross the street, my mother used to tell me you can have the right of way and still be killed by a car.
Now for the acknowledgement of the trauma, this came up in my other fic but Caitlyn actually takes off the bandage. She has the VI tattoo in her official Enforcer's license. She does it so every time she takes it out she remembers what Enforcers did to Vi and her family. It's a reminder to consider her actions in the line of duty.
And then when Vi becomes an Enforcer, their licenses match.
Also. yes I loved the dropped badge. Especially in the wake of Vi deciding to go with the other Soulmates (which Cait didn't even tell her about to spare her from it). I love that when Vi decides something is more important than her anger, Caitlyn shows her she's always been more important than the badge.
I can't believe I have to write the soulmates "figuring their shit out" and "developing as individuals" when all I want to write is Vi pulling Cait close by the suspenders and Cait burying her fingers in Vi's hair.
36 is a future oneshot with Cathy and Celeste from the Soulmate AU! I love the future sibling relationship with the girls and I also love exploring CaitVi as moms. Vi in particular because she was parentified so young.
Celeste gets gum in her hair on what was a perfectly normal Friday afternoon.
Every trick in the book doesn’t work. Celeste is squirmy on the best of days but also it hurts like hell to pick it out. Until there’s nothing really to be done except the one thing that they’ve been trying to avoid. That is what takes the Friday from ordinary to a day that Vi’s certain none of them will ever forget.
“Celeste—“
“I hate it! I hate it and I hate you!”
“Hey!”
Vi can’t say anything more as Celeste bolts up the stairs, hauls herself over the landing and flies into her room. She’s too young for stair tricks, Vi barely has enough time to dive under the landing in case she falls. But she doesn’t. Of course she doesn’t. A moment later her bedroom door slams shut so loudly Vi isn’t even surprised when the sound of glass breaking follows.
“Shit,” she mutters.
“Mom,” Cathy starts.
“Shit,” she swears again.
Cathy frowns and Vi drags her hand through her hair, digging into her scalp. A moment later she feels her wife’s fingers through the Bond. Cait will be in momentarily even though she’s got a big meeting. It didn’t matter. Not when Celeste had to get her hair loped off. It doesn’t look bad though. But it’s really different from Cathy’s excitement at having hair like her mom. Vi moves her hand from her own scalp to ruffle Cathy’s longer locks, turning her frown into a smile.
“It’s not so bad,” Cathy says.
“Yeah, she’s just upset,” Vi says, “let’s let her cool off, yeah?”
Cathy considers it for a moment and then shakes her head. Vi opens her mouth to ask but the door opens as Caitlyn comes in. In the momentary distraction Cathy dips and climbs the bannister, hauling herself over the rail. VI is less worried about her, but she doesn’t move from the spot where they might lose their grip. Caitlyn frowns and walks to where she’s standing, putting a hand on her shoulder.
“She said she hates me,” Vi says, leaning into Cait’s embrace.
“You know that’s not true,” Caitlyn reminds her, looping her arms around Vi’s waist. Vi nods, “she just needs a minute to cool off,” Vi nods again, letting herself sink into Cait’s embrace, “I’ll make us some tea.”
Neither of them move as Caitlyn presents the Kiramman solution to everything. But Vi doesn’t care as she feels Caitlyn tug out her bun and wind her fingers through Vi’s scalp. They stay like that for a long minute. More than a minute. Until VI realizes it’s too quiet upstairs. It’s another minute before she untangles herself from Caitlyn’s embrace and makes her way up to Cathy’s room. SHe’s not expecting both their doors to be open. Vi can hear voices from Cathy’s room and peers inside.
Celeste is sitting in front of Cathy’s mirror, sniffling. Cathy is behind her, running a brush through her hair. She arranges Celeste’s powder blue locks carefully before pulling out one of the berets from when she grew out her own hair. Vi feels her throat tighten as Cathy carefully clips back Celeste’s hair.
“See it’s not so bad. My hair was this length too,” she says, “these helped.”
“It won’t get in my eyes?” Celeste sniffles.
“No,” Cathy assures her, “but it’ll grow faster than you think” she says, “soon you’ll have your brain back like Auntie Powder.”
“P-promise?”
Cathy nods with all the wisdom in her little body and Vi watches as Celeste touches the beret clipping back her hair. Her eyes dart up in the mirror as she looks at herself.
