You Don't Know Me ~ An Arcane Fanfiction

Is There Such A Thing As An Illegal Guardian?

I wrote most of this instead of sleeping, so apologies if the characters are a bit OOC. If there's any triggers I should put here, let me know in the comments. For now though, please enjoy this sickening fluff.

Caityln rises at a ridiculous hour, like she always has. Right now, she thinks it's something around 4AM. When she was a child, it was to practice shooting, the one thing she could do any time without her controlling parents intervening. She would find her way to the shooting range and fire until she could hit a bullseye every time: until her fingers were red and raw, and the dark night sky had given way to a grey dawn. Later in life, it was because of her duties as an enforcer - she was always given the earliest shifts, the ones nobody else wanted. Now, however, it's just a force of habit.

As she stirs, she is aware of someone else stirring beside her. 'Vi?' she whispers, and is met with a tired 'mmrf' sound in response. 'Did I wake you?' Another grunt. Caitlyn lets out a soft laugh, and runs her fingers through Vi's hair. The other girl gazes up at her fondly, albeit positively exhausted. The look sparks a warm feeling in Caitlyn's chest, one she's grown very accustomed to these past few months. 'My father doesn't mind, you know,' she says, settling back down. 'If you wanted to, you could've just stayed in here. We've no need to sneak around like teenagers.'

Caitlyn would have to be the stupidest person in the world to think that what she and Vi had was entirely platonic. They'd passed that point a long, long time ago. It was obvious that they felt the same way about each other, but both of them were too stubborn to admit it, in a way. Tonight, she passes Vi's arrival off as deliriousness from injury and lack of sleep.

She traces Vi's tattoos with a finger. She had them all mapped out by this point, more or less.

She wasn't really sure what their relationship was, but she certainly wasn't going to complain about it, either.

'Powder,' Vi murmurs in response, ignoring the implications of Caitlyn's earlier statement. Caitlyn rolls her eyes, letting out an amused breath. 'I think your sister is onto us,' she says. 'When I went to meet her, she teased me about it all the way back here.'

'Not that. She was, uh, tired-' Vi pulls herself up, letting the subtext slip by again, 'So I let her have my bed. Didn't want to sleep on the couch.'

'Ah. Is that so?' Caitlyn raises an eyebrow, and subconsciously bites her lower lip. 'Mhm,' says Vi, sinking back into the bedsheets. 

'What are we going to do with her?' She asks softly. 'I'd like her to stay, but I don't blame you if-' 

'She can stay,' The other girl says firmly. 'You talk to her. She likes you, and you're a better talker. There's too much between us. If I do it, she won't- it won't work.'

'Right,' Caitlyn replies thoughtfully. Vi's probably right. Although her and Jinx had a closer bond than Caitlyn ever would, they had only just started to work through everything. It would probably seem less forced to the other girl if it came from Cait.

As she thinks, her gaze falls on Vi's bandaged wound. Something else occurs to her. 'How did you get in here, by the way? I trust you didn't hurt yourself?'

'Not badly,' she mutters. It's probably a lie: Vi had been itching to move around, and she always was reckless when it came to pain. Caitlyn's father had not let her leave the bed under his watch until her wound had healed, but with his departure the day before it was inevitable she would break the rules. She sighs deeply, but before she can give Vi a piece of her mind, she's asleep again, judging by the slow, rhythmic rising and falling of her chest. Before heading out, Caitlyn takes a moment to watch her.