An unusual meet cute
Vi fell back onto the bar stool, letting out a barely suppressed groan. When a soft laugh directly next to her caught her attention and made her turn her head. Where she was met with the sight of a white blouse and purple west that were unbuttoned far past a socially acceptable point.
The pink haired woman looked at what was beneath it for an equally inappropriate amount of time before remembering herself and laying her gaze on the woman's face instead. It was a pretty face with big light eyes, high cheek bones and defined brows and framed by dark blue hair.
The woman seemed to be studying her right back, until another smile crossed her face, and she stepped closer, invading Vi's personal space. The pirate was unable to move, transfixed by the gentle smile and protruding collar bones of the woman. The pretty blue-haired woman, maybe a lady of the night, reached up, stroking along the collar of her shirt.
“Are you from that ship?” her voice, was just as soft as her fingers gliding across Vi's neck. She might actually lose her mind. The pirate nodded her head, not trusting her voice, in response, the woman silently began moving her head up and down in return. Not stopping. Mocking her.
At this point, Vi decided she had to add something to the conversation as well: “What's your name?” The woman finally stopped nodding, instead whispering directly into her ear: “Matilda, but you can call me whatever you want. What's yours?”
Matilda righted herself again, looking straight into Vi's eyes, blue meeting blue. The pirate swallowed heavily, by the gods she was so hapless around beautiful women, before answering: “Vi”
As if rewarding her, the woman leaned in once more, whispering: “It’s lovely to meet you Vi” She twirled a strand of Vi's hair between her fingers. “Do you want to buy me a drink?”
Vi nodded eagerly, immediately turning her head to the bar, enjoying the feeling of Matilda’s fingers against her skin. That was until she didn't anymore. She also didn't feel her necklace anymore.
“Wait a minute!” she called out franticly, turning her head searching for the other woman. Finally, she recognised the purple train of her dress swishing out of the establishment, giving chase without a second thought.
When she had left the tavern, she saw that Matilda had already taken off running, trying to match her speed right away.
A groan escaped Vi when the blue-haired thief started climbing a wall, with determined and skilled speed. She should have just gone to the pawn shop with Powder and Ekko, it would have been so much less trouble. When Vi finally reached the bottom of the wall, Matilda had already scaled it. Standing on the roof, the thief looked down and her eyes slightly widening at the sight of Vi.
She started running again just as soon, but Vi could swear she had heard her curse under her breath first. Vi might not know the terrain like purple dress did, but she was quick on her feet as well, this was not a lost cause yet.
When she reached the top, Matilda was already two rooftops ahead and Vi realised, maybe it was a lost cause. That was, unless she threw the other woman off her game, but coming up with a plan on the fly was Violet’s greatest skill. Therefore, she took one of her heavy gauntlets from the holder on her belt and threw it against the back of Matilda’s knees.
Vi called out in triumph when Matilda stumbled and then proceeded to fall forward. The joy of victory quickly turned to guilt when she heard a scream of terror as she tumbled off the low roof. In her line of work, you could however not afford guilt.
The pink haired woman kept running and jumped off the roof, her coat billowing around her. When she landed Matilda was already working on righting herself while tightly clutching her right arm. Vi knew to take advantage of her opponent's weakness and ramped her against the wall she had just fallen of right away.
The other woman was obviously not new to this lifestyle either and punched her right in the stomach. As Vi toppled over in pain Matilda let her fist crash down on Vi's head. It hurt like a bitch. But Vi barely felt it in her rush, as she was pulling out her dagger and keeping it low by hip until the moment was right. She abruptly righted herself again, when Matilda’s defence was down and pressed her dagger against Matilda’s throat.
The thief's eyes widened in shock as she tried beating down on the pirate’s shoulders again. Vi, now in a frenzy, grabbed her wrists with her left hand pushing them back against the wall with more force than was probably necessary.
Now completely crowded in by the stronger Vi, the blue-haired woman switched tactics, looking at her through her lashes and whispering: “Wow, do they teach you to fight like that on that ship of yours?”
Vi ground her teeth in anger before spitting out: “Shut up and give me my necklace back, or I’ll have to take it back my way.” Matilda continued to look at her through her lashed. Considering her. Just as Vi grew impatient and contemplated pressing her dagger against Matilda’s throat harder, she finally spoke again: “Take me with you, I could be an asset to you and your crew”. Vi, after a moment of astonishment, threw her head back laughing at the absurdity: “I caught you in the act, clearly you are not all that.”
Matilda, who seemed to make a habit of never breaking eye contact, whispered with a sly grin: “You did catch me,” she banged her thigh against the bag at her side producing a litany of metallic clangs, “but no one else did.”
Vi used the hand holding her dagger to reach for the bag herself, opening it, while also increasing the pressure on the thief's wrist. The contents of the bag nearly made Vi's jaw drop, it was filled with coins, jewellery, and anything else that glimmered or seemed to have any worth at all.
Even though Vi tried her best to hide her astonishment Matilda seemed to pick up on it, raising an eyebrow and grinning at her.
Just as Vi was working on a comeback, she heard a familiar voice: “Thought I heard your laugh, Red” Sevika stepped into the alley, her mechanical arm clicking as she raised her shoulder, as she looked at them, she laughed “Am I interrupting something?”
Vi, who only then realised her own compromised position, jumped back, before stammering: “We weren't doing anything. Nothing at all.” Her frantic behaviour had both women looking at her, amusement written all over their faces.
As Vi felt her head turning insufferably hot she heard the words streaming out of her mouth leaving her no control over what she said: “She robbed me, just tore the necklace right of my neck and I didn't even realise until she was gone, and then I came running after her and I caught her, and she said she wanted to join the crew, and then you showed up, and now I am talking way too fast.”
Sevika just slowly nodded at her, looking at her like she was crazy. Before saying something just as insane: “I do think she has a point, just look at what she got in that bag of hers. We should take her to Silco.” Vi's jaw really did drop this time.
“Go on, Red, we should go before she runs again.” As Vi unthinkingly grabbed the thief's arm again, the woman asked no one in particular: “Who is this Silco person?” Vi huffed: “It's Captain Silco to you.”
Sevika imitated her huff saying: “It's Captain Silco to you as well, cadet.” to which Vi could only lower her head not wanting to argue with her superior officer.
Sevika guided them through the city to the ship at the port. The journey was an easy one because Matilda did not fight her, coming with them willingly.
Even after having spent the last three years living on the ship, she was still impressed by “The Silver Lady”, or “The Moon” as it was also called, every time she approached it. The ship was named for the fact that it mostly sailed at night and the way the sails looked like a minute reflection of the moon from a distance, with its bright white sails.
The captain liked to stay on the silver lady even when they were on the coast, so it was not unsurprising to find him in his cabin, studying a map. Sevika was one of the very few people who could just barge into Silco's office without doing much asking.
Vi was too busy ogling at all the treasures hung all over the walls, not really listening to the whispered conversation Silco and Sevika were having. She was only ripped out of her thoughts when Silco asked the thief: “Tell me about yourself?” and the woman answered: “Well my name is Caitlyn and -” “What, no it’s not!” Vi interrupted. The thief looked at her pointedly, responding: “I’m pretty sure it’s Caitlyn.”
Silco laughed at the exchange and stated in his usual cool tone: “The girl can stay until we enter the next port, there she will be given a task to fulfil if she succeeds, she can stay if she fails …”