Shimmer
Vi stumbles into her apartment feeling beat up and sore from the practices she taught today. It is definitely because she didn’t stretch beforehand, not that she had the time. But nonetheless she ignored the pain as she stumbled up the small flight of stairs in her micro-two story apartment. Jinx was standing at the top of the stairs, her hands propped on her hips and a smirk across her face.
“Hey, sis! I’m having some friends over tonight, just wanted to give you that heads up. They’ll probably still be here once you’re off work at one,” she sings out. She swats a stray strand of her hair out of her face before returning her hand to her hip.
“Alright, who?” Vi mumbles, attempting to squeeze past her sister but remains unsuccessful.
“Uhh… just Ekko and Sevika.”
Vi bites the inside of her cheek. Force of habit. “Just a reminder, if you drink it, you buy it.”
“Yeah yeah, it’s your precious alcohol.”
Vi rolls her eyes and attempts to push past Jinx, but is once again unsuccessful. Her temper is getting shorter. “I’m being serious.”
“I know but… it is my fridge.”
“And it’s my alcohol.”
“And it’s my apartment!” Jinx sings out, confident that she won that battle.
Vi huffs loudly in defeat. “I know I just… you haven’t hung out with these two since the… incident. I want to make sure you’re safe.”
Vi glances to her sister’s hands which are still propped on her hips. Her eyes dart to her middle finger, the one that she’s missing after an incident quite a few weeks ago with her friends. Vi’s eyes flick back to her sister’s, noticing how unbothered she appears.
“Well, thanks sis, but I’ll be fine. Pinky swear.”
“Okay, deal,” Vi says. “No driving though.”
“Don’t have my license!” Jinx giggles as Vi finally makes her way past her sister.
“Hasn’t stopped you before!”
“And we don’t have a car!” Jinx retorts.
“Also hasn’t stopped you before. Just be smart okay? I don’t want you to have something happen when I can’t help you… again.”
Jinx’s gaze softens from across the hall. Vi has already made it to her bedroom entrance but she still awaits her sister’s confirmation.
“Promise, sis. Don’t work too hard tonight.”
Vi closes her eyes and takes a big sigh. “I promise too, sis.”
Jinx disappears into her bedroom as Vi does the same to hers. She shuts the chipped door with a soft thud sound and takes a few steps until she feels the soft crunch beneath her shoes. She picks up her feet and notices the plastic shards of vape sticking to her soles and she hisses, kicking her shoes off.
Vi throws herself onto her bed, practically sinking into the soft surface of the mattress. An audible sigh escapes her lips and she doesn’t even realize she makes the noise. Her phone slips through her fingers, crashing onto the floor along with the other junk that sits there.
She takes her knuckles to her wrists, gently rubbing along the tender skin, hissing at the slight pressure that she applies to it. It’s not much, but a soft sensation against the thin white lines that decorate across her hard, calloused skin. She snarls as she pressed her knuckle down into her skin. The knuckle pops loudly, the sound reverberating across the room and she stops, flicking her hand off her skin.
It’s been awhile since Vi’s actually pierced that thin layer of skin and she isn’t going to break it right now.
“Motherfucker,” she spits out, pulling herself from her bed to change for her shift.
She glances at herself in her broken mirror, only able to make out a distorted image of a fucked up figure. She pulls her sweat pants off and puts on a tight ass pair of ripped skinny jeans. She doesn’t bother changing her tank top or even putting on a bra to hide her nipples.
Nips get tips.
She just re-wrapps her wrists and arms up in bandages to protect her fucked up wrists and arms. She finally has the time to brush her hair and put on some messy eyeliner. She looks like a train wreck. A hot train wreck, but a train wreck nonetheless. Thank the lord lesbians finds this look attractive.
Vi’s phone buzzes as she starts putting on her boots. It’s those twinks again.
Hammerhead: we on da way
Knuckles: okay
Knuckles: be safe
Clockwork: We will be.
She flicks her phone shut and slips it into her pocket.
“Yo! Pow-Jinx! I’m on the way to my night shift. Behave your ass!”
Jinx peaks her head out of her room and smirks, offering a little wave. “No promises.”
“If you don’t still have nine fingers when I’m back I swear- oh, hi Ekko,” Vi mumbles, calming herself down.
Ekko wraps an arm around Jinx’s neck, capturing her in a chokehold. “No more finger disappearances, trust.”
Vi just salutes and walks out, a soft smile on her lips. She’s glad that at least her sister’s happy right now.
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“Detective Kiramman, how are you doing this morning?” Detective Medara asks as Caitlyn walks into their joint office.
Caitlyn uses the back of her hand to push her glasses up a little higher on her nose as she sits down in her rolling chair. She loved her partner, they did the best work in the precinct together. “Better now that I’m here,” Caitlyn chirps, spinning her chair to face Mel.
Mel tosses a thick folder to Caitlyn and Caitlyn slowly looks through it.
“Small robberies, graffiti, loitering… possible gang activity, and it seems to be the same group doing all these things,” Mel says, pointing her finger to the folder that Caitlyn is looking through.
“No leads?” Caitlyn asks, mildly surprised as she looks up from the folder. She closes it and sets it down on her desk.
Mel shakes her head. “Unfortunately no, it seems it’s all been relatively recent but there’s very little to go off of,” she says, tying her hair back in a bun.
Caitlyn nods. “Interesting to see they’ve mostly been stealing from large corporations.”
“Tactical,” Mel observes along with her partner.
“Precisely. Hm… it’s hard because there’s not really a common thread here,” Caitlyn whispers, tapping her foot on the ground.
She spins her chair outward and stands up, making her way to their corkboard in the middle of the room. In her hand she has a picture of the first graffiti piece, which she pins with a small thumbtack. She sets the tip of her finger on her chin in thought.
“All the graffiti seem to have a tag though,” Mel says, pulling more photos from the file, handing them to Caitlyn.
Caitlyn looks at the photos closely as she pins them on the board. “Yeah, this… skull?”
“Appears that way, yes. No common thread on the surfaces that appear to be covered in the graffiti though,” Mel points out.
“These are all just petty crimes though, what’s the significance?” Caitlyn finds herself asking out loud. It is mostly meant as a question for herself.
“The captain speculates that the petty crimes will increase to more violent, major crimes… she commented that this could just be the start of rioting.”
“Rioting? As in these actions are just to get a rise out of citizens and the police department.”
Mel nods, not saying anything.
“Interesting theory, I guess we need to pursue this more in depth. It’s just unfortunate that there’s little to go off of. No footage?”
“The corporations are the only places with surveillance and the quality is horrible. I can grab the tapes, but making anything out is nearly impossible.”
“That would be great,” Caitlyn says.
Mel leaves and comes back quite a few minutes later, two cups of coffee in her hands and the tapes under her arm. She offers a smile, handing one of the coffee cups to Caitlyn.
“You seem a little disgruntled, Cait,” Mel says.
Caitlyn offers a forced laugh as she takes a sip from the coffee. She runs a hand through her messy hair. “Do I really? I’m fine.”
Mel tilts her head, signaling for her partner to sit down and Caitlyn does. “Everything okay with the fiance?”
Caitlyn nods behind her coffee cup, taking another elongated sip of the steaming liquid. “We’re fine, just so much happening at once.”
Mel’s eyebrows furrow together in confusion. “As in?”
Caitlyn bites her lip, setting her coffee cup down on her desk. “It’s nothing important, Mel. Thank you for the concern though.”
Caitlyn’s British accent is crisp and almost dismissive towards Mel, but it doesn’t stop her from prying more towards her partner.
“Cait, let me take you for drinks after our shift. You need a detox and we can chat,” Mel says.
“I’m okay, babe, thank you,” Caitlyn says in a low tone, her accent soft.
“Oh, I wasn’t offering, I was insisting,” Mel smiles, offering a wink.
Caitlyn sighs, but a soft smile is on her face. “Alright, if you insist.”
════❖════
“Motherfucker,” Vi whispers under her breath. She steps in the backdoor of the bar she works at called ‘Shimmer’.
One of her coworkers waves to Vi, and only the lord knows what her name is… Vi doesn’t often work shifts with her, but whenever they work together, it ends with them fucking. That is the last thing Vi wants right now.
“Hey,” the girl chirps, her big eyes batting seductively.
“Imma stop you right there,” Vi mumbles, holding her hand up. The girl seems caught off guard by Vi’s scarred hand in her face. “I have friends coming to work tonight, so we can’t sleep together.”
The girl sighs, but doesn’t let her smirk falter. “No worries, maybe I’ll just see if I can change your mind…”
Vi purses her lips together but doesn’t respond, heading to her station to clock in. Her phone buzzes in her back pocket and she ignores it, figuring it’s Jayce or Viktor letting her know that they’ve showed up. She wipes her hair from her face as she heads out from the backroom to stand behind the bar.
She’s right, Viktor and Jayce are here.
“Hey,” she waves, smiling. They come and sit at the bar in front of her.
“Hello, Vi. Jayce and I would like two shots of vodka please,” Viktor’s thick accent voice cuts through.
“Coming right up, how are you two doing?” she asks, getting out the large vodka container and making two shots for them.
“We’re good, works been hell so what better way to distract ourselves than get some drinks with an old friend,” Jayce chuckles, taking the shots from Vi.
He hands one to Viktor and the two of them clink the glasses together, tossing them back. Viktor takes it incredibly nonchalantly, not batting an eye at the strong liquor that pours through his throat. Jayce on the other hand becomes a gagging, sputtering mess, suddenly choking and gasping for air very loudly.
Vi hands him a chaser that she has on standby, laughing at the way Jayce is dying. He takes it, quickly consuming the contents.
“What’s the newest creation y’all are working on?” Vi finds herself asking.
“It’s new phone technology for Hextech,” Viktor informs. Vi nods, knowing that they can’t share much about the new technology that they’re working on.
A hand flicks in the air from a table across the bar and Vi excuses herself to help the other table. She straightens her apron that falls to the middle of her thighs that are covered in tight, black, ripped jeans. She cracks her neck as she pops her pen and approaches the booth.
“Hey, what can I…” her voice trails off, a small waiver in her tone.
“Oh, Vi. You’ve… changed your look,” Caitlyn’s crisp accent chimes in the loud sound of the bar.
Vi bites the inside of her cheek, willing herself not to get pissy with her ex. It’s the first time they’ve seen each other in ages and that is the first thing Caitlyn has to say to her. Vi feels sick, but she needs to act like she’s not affected.
“Black hair dye does wonders.” Vi’s eyes flick down to the sparkly ring on her left finger. “Your usual?” Vi glances at Mel, her ex’s partner at work, and offers her a soft smile.
“No, actually, two amaretto sours,” Caitlyn quips.
It’s clear to Vi that she has just gotten off of work, her hair the same messy look that she always had when she would come home from work previously. Her outfit is slightly disheveled and her makeup is smudging just slightly around the outer corner of her eye, something Vi always noticed before they broke up.
Vi aggressively presses the pen shut and forces a smile. “Coming right up.”
She tries to walk slowly and calmly back over to the bar where Jayce and Viktor are sitting, but she can tell she fails slightly at her attempt of nonchalance.
She pushes her way behind the bar and groans loudly as she gets out two cocktail glasses. “Fuck,” she grunts out, her fists clenching around the edge of the bar.
“What’s up?” Jayce asks. The two men have somehow acquired more drinks that they’re nursing.
“My ex is here,” Vi spits out, anger laced through her words and across her face.
“Shit, Caitlyn?” Jayce asks. The two know each other outside of Vi’s relationship, so it’s another addition to the mess.
Vi nods, hitting her hands on the bar. She pulls out the amaretto to make their drinks.
“Does she not know you work here?” Viktor asks over the rim of his drink.
Vi shakes her head wickedly fast. “Of course she does, that’s why I don’t know why the hell she’s here.”
Jayce thinks for a second. “It’s not your normal shift you’re working today though,” he points out.
Vi rolls her eyes as she finishes making the drinks. “You’re right. She probably figured I wouldn’t be here, goddamnit.”
A hand snakes around Vi’s waist and she jumps slightly. It’s her booty call and Vi scowls.
“God your timing couldn’t be worse,” Vi hisses.
The girl’s eyebrows shoot up and Jayce and Viktor steal an awkward glance between the two of them. She pulls her hand off Vi’s waist.
“I’m sorry, just here to let you know that one table requested a different bartender so I was gonna take them off your hands.”
Vi feels her stomach drop even lower than it had been all night. What the fuck was Caitlyn thinking.
“It’s not a problem for me to tend to them,” she spits. She bites at the scar on her upper lip. Her stomach is twisting in knots and eating at itself as she makes her way back to Caitlyn and Mel’s table with their amaretto sours.
She clinks them down aggressively. “Close the tab now.” Vi says. It’s meant to be a question, but really it comes out as a command and Vi kicks herself internally.
Caitlyn’s deep eyes scan Vi’s contorted face. There are so many things she wants to say, apologies that she wants to make, but her blood starts to turn hot as she watches part of her cocktail slosh out on the table when Vi puts it down.
Mel takes a sip of the alcohol before stepping in. “Yes, we’ll um… close our tab now, thank you, Vi.”
Caitlyn glances at Mel and furrows her eyebrows. “I thought we were going out tonight, why-”
Mel shakes it off, clear that she doesn’t want to make the situation more tense than it already is. “We’ll just take the bill whenever you’re ready.”
Vi nods, walking back to the bar. She kicks the edge of it, her eyes welling with tears; tears of hurt, betrayal, and so much unspoken pain. Her toenail feels sore as she takes a step, clearly a bruise forming.
“Fuck!” she spits out, collapsing behind the bar. She clenches her fists, her nails delicately digging into her calloused hands.
She feels two people sit beside her. It’s Jayce and Viktor.
She spits on the ground and glances between her two friends. “How the hell you guys get behind the bar?”
Jayce chuckles, resting a hand on Vi’s shoulder. “Security isn’t exactly the best here.”
“And it’s very busy,” Viktor says, his accent crisp against the loud voices crashing through the bar. “We’re sorry, Vi.”
“You know, yesterday was her and my two year anniversary of breaking up… seeing her here just has me more fucked up than I can even express.”
“Well, you can take the rest of the night off, I don’t think anyone will blame you,” Jayce points out.
Vi swipes at her eyes, messing up her already fucked eyeliner. “I’ll get their bill and then I will.”
“You don’t have to-”
“No, but there’s something I need to do.”
Is Vi the petty type? Maybe, maybe not. But right now, she definitely is.
She makes her way back to Caitlyn and Mel’s table, holding a plate of nachos. The cheese isn’t too hot, but it’s gooey and gross and that’s all Vi needs.
“Here’s the bill and- oh, fuck!” Vi gasps as she ‘accidentally’ spills the plate of nachos on Caitlyn’s hand, covering her sparkling engagement ring. Vi smirks. “Congratulations by the way,” she says as she walks away.
Caitlyn doesn’t say anything. She deserves it. The cheese makes her skin feel disgusting and Mel quickly grabs a napkin to help clean Caitlyn up.
“I guess I’ll skip the tip?” Mel asks, making sure Caitlyn feels even slightly avenged.
Caitlyn pulls her engagement ring off, cleaning it and placing it in her pocket. “Doesn’t matter, this was her tip,” she whispers, glancing at Vi’s figure leaving the bar with Jayce and Viktor.