Arcane Characters x Reader

Vi x Platonic!Kiddo!Reader

[BEFORE Y'ALL COME FOR ME. This is purely platonic. Think in the "kiddo forms an emotional attachment to an older person over time except this is just the intro to that because I'm lazy" kinda vibe.]

[Word Count - 248]

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Vi walked down the alley, dragging her knuckles along the worn wood and metal.
She'd been down this specific alley a million times over in her childhood.

Usually it was to run away from people chasing after her, or to teach her siblings various life skills needed to survive down here.

Life sure as hell wasn't easy, but damn did she try.

Her thoughts were broken by the sound of a door being slammed open.

"Stay out, you miserable rat!" An old, scraggled woman barked out, before grabbing a child by the arm and throwing the kid out the door.

Leaving the hidden watcher's eyes, there another hard slam, and it was now just Vi and this kid.

'This is a kid...' she thought.

The young child curled in on themself, and she finally noticed just how bad they looked.

Their clothing was more ragged than the old woman's face, their hair greasy and their skin caked in dirt and grease.

They were also shaking. Violently.

Vi really wanted to turn and walk away.

Really, she did.

'This isn't my problem.' She thought, rather bitterly. 'The kid can handle their own.'

But the longer she waited, with every passing second, she could hear the shallowed breathing and the twitches of their body as their leg would involuntarily kick or their arm would jerk against a nearby wall or crate.

Vi grumbled to herself as she walked over to the kid, removing her signature red short-sleeved jacket and placing it upon them, before effortlessly scooping them up in her arms and walking off.

Within a few minutes, she had made it back across the bridge thanks to her fancy new security clearance (thank you, Caitlyn), and within the hour she was now standing at Jayce's door.

Vi let herself in using one if Vander's old tricks and placed the shaking and exhausted child down onto one of Jayce's spare beds.

She grabbed a washcloth and ran it under some warm water, wringing it out and carefully wiping off the kid's face and exposed hands to remove the top layer of grime.
She knew they'd need a few rounds of bathing before it was all completely washed off.

They were now sleeping peacefully, or as peacefully as possible.

Vi pulled up a chair and relaxed into it, crossing her arms as she gazed down at the kid resting below.

Before long, she was asleep, as well.

. . . . .

The sound of wretching woke her up from her slumber.

Her eyes cracked open, taking in the sight of a childless bed.

"Where the-" she muttered to herself, before hearing glass hit the floor in the bathroom followed by crying.

Vi rushed into the room, kneeling down to the kid's height.

"Hey, hey, it's okay."

The kid froze like a deer in headlights, fresh hot tears still streaming down their face.

"Are you okay?" She tried, reaching out to take the kid's hand.

They recoiled, drawing themself into the corner of the bathroom.

"I'm not going to hurt you, I promise." She said as she got down onto her hands and knees, backing away from the kid and sitting back on her thighs to make herself seem smaller.

"May I ask your name?"

The kid stared blankly before sniffling and wiping their eyes. "[Y/N]..."

"Awh, that's a pretty name. Well, [Y/N]... May I ask what happened in here?"

[Y/N]'s eyes went wide as they shoved themself further back into the corner of the bathroom, bracing themself for any possible strike or hit.

"You're not in trouble, I promise." Vi said, calmly, as she gave them a small smile.

"I'm not..?"

"Not at all, kiddo. Would you like to tell me what happened?"

"I was trying to wash up, but the shiny things were weird looking... I poked it and it fell over..."

"That's okay. Would you like to come over here?"

[Y/N] stared back, rather quizzically.

"What for?"

"To get you away from the glass so I can clean up, and also to assess you for any injury."

"Okay..." [Y/N] said, shuffling over.

"Thank you, [Y/N]. May I check you for injury?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Call me Vi."

"Yes, Ms. Vi."

"That'll work for now."

Vi made quick work of checking for injury, noting the way [Y/N] flinched at any pressure to their ribs and certain places on their arms and legs.

She'd have Jayce and Viktor look over [Y/N], later.

She hugged the kid tightly to her, careful of the sensitive areas.

[Y/N] quickly fell back asleep.

Vi carried them back to the bed, tucking them in and brushing a stray piece of [h/c] hair out of the way, before going to clean up the ceramics and glass.

She sat back down in the chair, observing the way the kid eased in and out of a peaceful sleep.

[Y/N] reminded her of someone.
She just couldn't place it.

She sighed quietly to herself, as to not wake the sleeping child.

'Maybe having this kid around won't be that bad, after all...'