Bartering for love
When Monday evening’s practice rolled around, Caitlyn hadn’t heard from Vi. It wasn’t unusual for them to not have time to chat throughout the day, but Vi had promised to let Caitlyn know how her appointment with the orthopedic specialist went. Since Vi was an athlete at the university, she was scheduled for an appointment as soon as possible. Ten o’clock. Sevika would take her since Cait had class. Vi would call after. The call never came.
When Caitlyn arrived at the evening team practice at 3:40, Vi was nowhere to be found. That’s when the nerves started to set in for the pitcher. Vi was always one of the first at the facility. Yet, she wasn’t there. When Sevika entered the locker room, Caitlyn tried to make eye contact with her, but the woman wasn’t having it.
“Meet in the cages before heading to the field. Grever, run outside real quick and make sure no one is already there.”
Caitlyn tied her turf shoes and headed to the meeting location. May be Vi was already outside and just needed to be told they were meeting first. However, when Grever returned alone, Caitlyn could suddenly feel her panic setting in.
The whole team, minus Vi, was sitting in rows waiting for Sevika. “Yo, Kir, where’s your girlfriend? It’s not like her to miss.” Tutler.
“I don’t know. I haven’t seen her today.” Lie. Vi had stayed at her apartment. When they’d arrived home from Ionia, Vi had taken two pain killers an Ionian doctor had prescribed her to help with the pain. They had knocked her out cold. When the ace left for class that morning, Vi was still passed out. So, Caitlyn kissed her cheek and started her day. She could have been honest, but she just wasn’t in the mood for the jokes suddenly.
“Good evening, ladies.” Sevika’s booming voice signaled for everyone to shut up. “Before we run down this past weekend, I’m sure you all can see Lanes isn’t here.”
“You kick her off?” Derst quipped.
“No, you’re stuck with her. However, she’s shut down for the remainder of fall.”
“What!” Caitlyn can’t hold it in. She and Sevika lock eyes and the ace can tell her coach is genuinely shocked she doesn’t know.
“There’s time for grieving later. She will be having surgery Wednesday morning to repair a minor tear to her labrum. The hope is to have her back by the end of January or first of February. Along the same lines of play stupid games, win stupid prizes,” Sevika once again demands Caitlyn’s presence by locking eyes with here, “because of the situation with Nolen, Lanes has also been suspended the first three games of the season.”
That sends the room into an uproar. “What the fuck do you mean three games!” Caitlyn isn’t sure who shouts what.
“What about Nolen?” Caitlyn can’t help, but ask the question.
“Nolen received five games.” Good.
“What the fuck did Vi do?” Derst.
Sevika clears her throat. “RAC representatives were informed the play was intentionally set up by Lanes with the plan to cause the collision at home. The situation intentionally put the safety of players at risk which is a violation of RAC policy.”
“How did I not get suspended then?” Caitlyn can’t believe it.
The silence is deafening as the other players wait for Sevika’s answer. The coach shifts her weight to her right side, crosses her arms, and says, “No evidence was presented by either university to suggest you had any involvement.” Vi had taken the fall alone. “The conference call was held at noon today. Both universities and their respective programs came to the agreement this was fair punishment considering the outcome and have agreed to not appeal anything.”
“So wait.” Fruth this time. “What did Vi say to Nolen that triggered the punch? Like, we need details.”
All eyes lock on to Cait who is still trying to grapple with the fact Vi is having surgery and now suspended for three games. It isn’t until someone clears their throat, she realizes she has an audience awaiting her response. Her head swivels back and forth to discover all eyes in the room truly are on her. “That’s between us.”
“Boo, that’s lame. Come on! This isn’t Ionia. We aren’t sticks in the mud.” Amik this time. There is no way in hell Caitlyn can share this info and survive the rest of the season with Amik.
A chorus of voices chirp their agreement with the sentiment that they are way more fun than Caitlyn’s previous squad. That she can agree on. She’d never laughed so much when playing softball. She’d never felt like so many people cared about her. She’d never felt more alive.
Rolling her eyes, she sighs. Caitlyn looks to Sevika who throw her hands up in the air and announces, “Finish story time and be on the field in 10 ready to warm up.” She starts walking out of the room, not wanting to hear the line for probably the 10th time since Saturday’s game.
“If you sharks must know she said Nolen may have had me first, but that she has me now.”
“That’s not what she said!” Sevika shouts as she closes the door behind her.
Growling, she shouts “Fine!” Cait can feel her cheeks and ears turning read with embarrassment. “Gods! She told Nolen that she may have fucked me first, but it’s her name I moan at night.”
An eruption of laughter and oh shits fill the large space. The last thing Caitlyn hears after snatching her glove off the ground and bolting out of the room from embarrassment is Amik announcing, “Vi is an absolute fucking legend.”
——————
The bar was crowded even for a Friday night. Powder had stepped up to assist Vander since her sister had incapacitated herself for a while. She pours drinks and chats up the customers. The friendlier a customer is, the more alcohol they to consume. When she first started helping, she struggled to talk to people. Communication had never been her forte, even with her family. Strangers obviously caused her to lock up even more.
Then Ekko started coming in and talking to people with her. It helped her loosen up around some of the regulars who just wanted the company and conversation while they enjoyed a beer or two after a hard day’s work. Those skills converted to her being able to chat with the random customers that would appear. Eventually, she became a crowd favorite, her presence being requested for special events and holiday.
She’s listening to a regular complain about his wife when the girlfriend arrives. At first, she doesn’t see her, but the murmurs through the crowd of normies lets Powder know she’s there. They’ve all seen the video and heard the news. Most of them watched it happen live in the bar on Saturday. Powder can’t help but laugh at how loud the bar got when the Noxian landed the punch on Vi. Later in the evening after Powder told them everything Vi had shared on their post-game phone call, 4 rounds of beers were consumed to celebrate the kid from Zaun who stands up for her girl.
“What’ll it be, ace? Old fashion? Whiskey sour? Oh I know. How about a Piltovian mule to celebrate ol’ mommy dearest.” She knows the sentiment makes the older woman uncomfortable based on how her body flinches. It brings a little comfort to her, but also regret when she thinks of her sister.
“Sorry. I’m under strict instructions to play nice with you and I probably shouldn’t have said that.”
Caitlyn laughs. “It’s fine. I won’t tell her.”
Powder hums. “So, I assume bitch mittens upstairs called for you to come and cuddle her after the day she had. May be do a little more than cuddle?”
The other woman sneers at the younger sister, garnering her a laugh in response. She shakes her head and says, “No. I haven’t heard from her. When I got to her apartment and she wasn’t there, I assumed she was here. I need to talk to her.”
Powder barks out a laugh. “Huh. A Piltie with a heart. Who the fuck knew they existed. Well, I hate to break it to you, sweetums, but she’s high as a kite right now. Took a dose of pain meds with a few shots of whiskey and passed out.”
Concern projects from Caitlyn’s face. Mixing alcohol with the medication the Ionian doctor game Vi was surely the last thing that needed to occur. “And you let her?” The words come out harsher than she means, but not at the same time. The ace can’t believe of all people, Vi’s sister would allow her to do something so stupid.
“Relax. Just be glad it’s not the shit they gave her when Lex died.”
An uncomfortable silence falls over the two women at the summoning of the former lover’s name. A bar patron beckons for Powder to bring another drink to him, and she obliges, leaving Caitlyn alone with her thoughts. The younger woman watches Caitlyn, assessing every movement she makes. What makes her so special that her big sister finally allowed herself to shed her armor and open herself up to companionship once more, especially considering who this woman’s mother is.
After pouring a few more drinks, she takes two shots of vodka and sets them in front of Caitlyn. The pitcher looks down at the glasses and then up to connect with Powder’s gaze. “Is this a test?”
Powder barks out a laugh. “Sort of. Ask the question.”
Caitlyn’s eyes squint, “What question?”
“You know exactly what question. You just don’t want to ask it because you’re afraid of the answer.”
A pause. Powder knows they are on the same page. She hears a sigh and watches as the ace closes her eyes. “Was Lex another victim of my mother’s?”
Another barking laugh comes out of Powder. “Damn, not the question, but I’ll allow it. Not exactly. Next question.” She sees the instant reaction of frustration from Caitlyn and chuckles. “Hey if you’re going to hang with this family, you’ve gotta know the answer isn’t always surface level shit.”
“What does that even mean?” Caitlyn’s anger suddenly boils over and Powder is loving every minute of it. Nothing gives her more joy than fucking with people who are always used to getting exactly what they want.
“It means, princess, you gotta ask the right question to get your answer. You know what it is.”
Pondering, Caitlyn looks away from her by looking up at the tv to see a clip from a baseball game playing on whatever news show is being played. Powder returns to the other side of the bar to refresh and refill a few drinks. She sees Vander walking in from what she assumes was checking in on Vi. He nods his head in acknowledgement of her presence and enters the bar, silently taking his place beside her.
As she leans over to pick up a new glass, she hears the question leave Caitlyn’s breath. “Why was Lex walking alone that night?”
Upon finishing the drink refresh, she returns to her perch in front of Cait. Picking up one of the shot glasses that’s still holding the clear liquid, she stares through the glass, straight back at Caitlyn. “That, Ace, is the right question. They had a fight. Lex was a year older than Vi and was supposed to be graduate this past June. She told Vi she’d been offered a job already in Ionia to teach art. Sis was ready to transfer to Ionia to follow her. Then Lex made a fatal mistake, literally. She asked Vi if she wants kids.”
Powder sees Caitlyn tense up. She’s not sure if it’s the mentioning of Vi transferring to Ionia or the mentioning of offspring. Either way, the girl is uncomfortable. “Vi told her no. She worries about what happens if something would happen to the both of them. Vi knows what it’s like to be an orphan and she doesn’t want that for anyone else. It was a deal breaker, and Lex gave her ring back to Vi. She left and never made it home. I don’t know that Vi will ever fully forgive herself.”
Powder sees any bravado Caitlyn had deflate when she hears Powder’s words. “Another person’s blood on the hand’s of my mother.” Caitlyn lifts the shot glass and stares at Powder, demanding her attention. The taller woman points at the glass still resting on the bar, signaling for Powder to pick it up. The younger sister obliges and watches as Cait lifts the glass up in the air. It’s a toast.
“Peace to the fallen.”
Powder parrots the sentiment and they both throw the shot back and drink it in one gulp. She’s forgotten how much vodka burns as it seeps through her chest. In all honesty, she never thought she’d
drink the liquor. Her thought process was to make the woman so uncomfortable she’d leave. It seems she’s just as hardheaded as Vi.
“I think I’m in love with her.” Caitlyn says the words absent mindedly and that catches Powder off-guard. She looks up to see the woman’s desperate face looking at her. “I never thought I’d say that about someone ever again. I’ve felt like it since the night of my going away party, which sounds crazy because we’d only known each other a few weeks. She consoled me after my mother blackmailed her. I knew then it was happening. Then when she got into the fight with Maddie, I knew I had found someone willing to fight for me finally.”
Powder hums and pours two more shots of Vodka. “You know Ambessa demanded they kick her off the team, right?”
The pitcher’s pupils expand, and her fist hits the bars in rage. “What the bloody hell for!”
The shorter woman jumps back, shocked at the response. Patrons have quieted, waiting to see if they are about to witness a classic Friday night bar fight. Much to their chagrin, it’s simply an enraged woman unable to properly process her emotions. Cait is almost hyperventilating with has ragged as her breathing is. Her eyes are almost black with as wide as her pupils have blown. Her teeth are clinched, and her nostrils are flaring. She looks like a bull ready to charge.
“Easy there, tigress. Fuck man. Obviously, it didn’t happen. Sevika argued that Nolen was no less innocent in this. So, Vi agreed to take the three-game suspension, not participate in any fall activities, and to not play in any game against Noxus in the spring season if it wasn’t an elimination game for Piltover only if Nolen got a five-game suspension and you were left out of it.”
“That’s how I ended up off the hook.”
Powder nods. “Yep, so it seems like to me, you aren’t the only one thinking about the L word.” That brings a smile to Caitlyn’s mouth. This time Powder initiates the toast. She lifts her glass and looks at Caitlyn. “To Vi.”
Through a gigantic grin, Caitlyn parrots, “To Vi.”
- - - - - - - - -
When she makes her way downstairs, she finds Vi passed out on her stomach, sprawled out on a bed off in the corner of the basement apartment. She slowly makes her way over and sits on the bed. Her conversation with Powder had gotten off to a rocky start, but after a little bit of talking they’d ended up having quite the pleasant time together.
Caitlyn can’t help but smile as she hears the gentle puffs of airs escaping Vi’s mouth with each breath. The sleeping woman stirs ever so slightly, rolling on to her left side, her healthy arm thankfully. Not sure what else to do, Cait removes her shoes and curls her body up against Vi’s back. When her arm wraps around the catcher’s waist, she feels Vi’s hand interlock her finger with Caitlyn’s.
“Hello, love.” Caitlyn tries to keep her voice as soft as possible. She knows Vi has had a hellacious day and doesn’t want to cause any more issues.
“You heard.”
“Yes, I heard.”
Vi sighs, still groggy from the meds and booze. She squeezes Caitlyn’s hand and wraps the ace’s arm around her tighter. “Cait?” She says her name as if it’s a plea for help.
“Yes, love?”
“Thaddeus Baxter was released from Stillwater today.”
Suddenly, Caitlyn can only see the color red.