Handling the Drop Ball

Vi snuck out of the apartment before Caitlyn had awakened.  The 5am Monday morning weight lifting had come way sooner than she would care to admit.  Normally she loved the two hours of working out and building up her bodily strength.  Today was different though.  Today she knew Caitlyn was still annoyed with her after the discussion at family dinner the night before.  While that weighed heavily on her mind, more importantly this was the first Monday she woke knowing she was waking up beside her fiancé and she just wanted to sleep in for once.

The other Commodores knew she had been planning on proposing upon arriving back from Noxus.  She’d announced it while they were enjoying their team dinner Friday evening, before she had met Sarah Fortune in the lobby of the hotel to discuss Ionia.  There had been audible gasps and plenty of cheers.  She thought Derst and Amik were going to pass out from excitement.  She loved how close particularly Amik had gotten with the ace in the past few months.  Vi knew true friendship with teammates was something Cait had never in Ionia.  Piltover had afforded her that opportunity.  

While using her leg press machine, the music she’d been listening to cuts out in order for her phone to announce a text message had arrived.

Violet, everything is ready for tonight.  We shall see you at 6. ~ Cassandra

Vi can’t help the slight mischievous smile that tugs at her lips.   

- - - - - -

Caitlyn arrives at practice determined to still show her face and let her team know that she was going to support them for the next two weeks even if it was from the bench.  The team is still preparing for practice in the locker room when Sevika enters to make an announcement.

“Don’t worry about cleats or turfs.  We’re just watching film.  I’m giving you the gift of a free evening so use it wisely, children.”  Cait looked at her, dumbfounded.  They’d lost two games in Noxus.  She expected for Sevika to come into Monday’s practice hellbent on running the team ragged, or as she liked to say, until they threw up.  “Meet in the war room in15.”

“That’s odd.  She seems way too calm for someone whose team just lost two games they should have won,” Caitlyn remarks to Vi.  

Vi removes her turfs she’d just put on, placing them gently back into her cubby.  “Eh, she’s not really a focus on the loss as much as a focus on the post-lost lesson.”  Vi chuckles, causing Caitlyn to look at her curiously.

“Why are you laughing?”

“It’s just, I forget you’ve not been here when we’ve lost.  It’s a drastic difference from my freshman year when we lost a lot.”

Caitlyn hums. “I guess you're right.  After a loss in Ionia, we would add an hour to the following practice.  It was generally an extremely brutal hour.”

When Vi stands, she leans into Cait and responds, “See, that’s horseshit and not my style.  Doesn’t teach you anything other than perfection is the only acceptable outcome.  You have to learn to overcome adversity.  Every failure is an opportunity.”

No matter how much they were around each other, Vi constantly did something to surprise Caitlyn.  Even though she knew Vi had an insanely high game IQ, her brain worked in so many other ways when it came to game play.  Vi viewed everything that happened on the field as an opportunity to learn more about the game.  A win was an opportunity to build on what you did well and how to treat others when they suffer a loss.  A loss was an opportunity to overcome adversity and learn how to treat others when they win and you don’t.  Errors were an opportunity.   Successful plays were an opportunity.  Everything to Vi was an opportunity to get better as not just a player but a teammate and human. 

“You’re amazing, do you know that?” Cait can’t help but smile as she realizes more with each passing day how extremely lucky she is to have Vi by her side.  

Vi, on the other hand, blushes with embarrassment due to the sentiment.  Her hand lifts to the back of her neck, rubbing back and forth to try and sooth her nerves.  “Uhh, I don’t know about that.  I just believe we can always be better players and teammates.”

Cait once again flashes a smile and says, “Come on, love.  Let’s go listen to Sevika tell us how much we sucked.”

————————————

The car ride is quiet.  All of the anger Caitlyn had felt the night before at dinner roared back once again through her veins. She still cannot believe Vi agreed to sign a prenup

.  

“I still cannot fathom how you can stomach something so insulting to your character,” she ranted.  Her eyes faced forward, not wanting to look over at Vi who was focusing on her phone as Cait raged.  “Vi, are you listening?”

The catcher didn’t respond, instead she frantically tapped on her screen. 

“Vi?” Cait couldn’t help but worry there was something brewing.  It was her go to emotion, worry. 

Vi snaps out of her haze.  “Sorry. I was texting Sevika.  6-4-3 wants to interview us before we open at home in a few weeks against Bilgewater.”

Rolling her eyes and tightening her grip on the steering wheel, Caitlyn quips, “I swear they’re just using us for viewership.  I never had these many requests in Ionia.”

“Cupcake, we are reigning players of the year on a team predicted to win it all.  And we’re sleeping together.  Makes for good tv.”

Caitlyn scoffs, “Sleeping together?  Is that really all this is?”

Chuckling, Vi retorts, “I mean, there are other things we do too, but I was trying to keep it PG.”.  She ends the thought with a wink which flushes Cait’s cheeks with pink. 

As they pull up to the manor, Caitlyn feels a pit form in her stomach.  She’s unsure why she should be nervous.  After all, Vi is the one under a microscope not Caitlyn.  Still, she remains steadfast in the idea her mother is beyond out of line and Vi would never do anything to hurt her. 

When she looks to Vi, the woman is once again focused on whatever is happening in the digital world.  “Are you sure about this?”

Vi closes her phone, stuffing it in her back pocket as her car door closes.  Through a beaming smile, she replies, “You bet.”

The two women approach the front entryway, Caitlyn feeling the rage building more and more with each step she takes forward.  Something internally kept her ruminating over the absurdity of her mother forcing Vi into the prenup.  

And Vi just agreed.  

As Vi reaches up to knock, Caitlyn’s hand snapped up to stop her.  The catcher’s head whipped to look. “Wait. I don’t want you to do this.”

“Cait, it’s okay.”  They stare at one another for a few fleeting moments with Caitlyn still latched on.  Huffing with annoyance, Vi eventually lifted her free hand and knocked with it.   

Cait rolls her eyes, “That’s cheating.”   Vi simply flashed her signature grin and shrugged the sentiment off.  Having lost the battle, Caitlyn releases Vi’s hand, shoving her now empty hand in her hoodie pocket.  

The door opens to reveal none other than Cassandra Kiramman herself.  Caitlyn immediately finds it odd.  Normally at this hour in the evening her parents would either be finishing dinner or enjoying some time together in the sitting room.   Either way, it should be a servant answering the door rather than Caitlyn’s mother.  

“Violet.  Caitlyn.  Please, come in.  I have everything set up in the back hall.”

As they enter, Caitlyn scoffs, “The back hall?  Rather odd location to do official family business.”

Cassandra snickers at the sentiment.  “My dear, I have guests here to aid Violet and I.   I set them up where we would have the most privacy.  It’s really quite simple.”

They walk further into the home in peace.  When Cait looks over to Vi, she sees that same gigantic smile the woman has had on her face since they exited the vehicle.  She cannot fathom how in a matter of days Vi has completely betrayed all of her ideals.  She also cannot understand how after leading the women to believe she had finally accepted Vi, her mother was pulling this stunt.  Either way, Vi would sign the papers and they could head home.  

Her dream of heading home is shattered when they arrive at the large back dining room her mother leads them to.  When the door opens Caitlyn is surprised to see her team, her coaches, and her father.   They are obviously waiting for her and Vi to arrive.  When the women enter the room, cheers erupt. 

“Congrats Caitlyn and Vi!” Is what the banner on the main wall reads.  Below are their official media day pictures, both their individual photos and the one they took together.   Table decorations are all colored to match their uniforms.  Little hearts adorn each place setting with a name and number. 

Vi leans in and whispers in Cait’s ear. “When I called from Noxus to warn your parents I was proposing, your mom said she wanted to throw a surprise party for you with the team.  Sevika said this would be a good team bonding thing after the mentally hard weekend we had.  There’s no prenup, Cupcake.  It was all a ploy to get you here.”

The ace’s jaw all but drops wide open when she hears what Vi has to say.   When their eyes meet, the catcher sees the tears in her fiancé’s eyes.  “My mother did this?”

Nodding, Vi leans in and kisses her.  “All Cassandra.  I just worked Sevika.  All the food and shit was her.”

When Caitlyn turns to Cassandra, she sees her mother openly doing something she’s not sure she’s ever seen her do.  As Caitlyn’s eyes meet her mother’s, Cassandra is genuinely smiling.  Her whole life, she’d been expected to act properly, succeed, please the crowds at fundraisers and parties, and live under the unnecessary pressure that being the eventual head of House Kiramman entails.  Her mother had ruled her life with what felt like an iron fist.  Rarely did Cassandra let the veil fall to show how much she truly cared for her daughter.

Tonight, however, something was different.  Not once during her entire engagement to Maddie had her mother even acknowledged the Noxian.  The sentiment was so strongly against it, when Caitlyn had informed her mother of her engagement, the argument between the mother and daughter had been so intense they ended up not speaking to one another for three weeks.

Something had slowly evolved as Cait’s relationship with Vi had deepened.  The first time Caitlyn had brought Vi to the house for the first ball, the atmosphere had been extremely tense between the catcher and Cassandra.  Of course that was partially due to the fact Vi had been convinced Cassandra was responsible for the death of her parents.  Still, it was clear her mother didn’t trust Vi.  Things changed at the Christmas party and Caitlyn is sure it’s because of Vi’s display of dominance in Noxus.  Following the fight between Maddie and Vi that led to the catcher’s injury, Cassandra slyly used Vi as a means to get some sort of vengeance against Maddie for her betrayal of Caitlyn by publicly displaying Vi as Caitlyn’s suitor. Then Vi showed up after the Ionia trip, stood up to Cassandra, and finally earned her full stamp of approval.

Caitlyn approached Cassandra meekly, disgusted and disappointed in herself.  She had truly believed her mother had suddenly changed her mind about Vi, not trusting she would respect Caitlyn.  

“Mother.”  It’s all she can say before she moves forward and wraps her mother in an embrace.  She feels Cassandra’s arms tighten around her, affording Caitlyn the knowledge that her mother truly is happy for her.

“I’m so happy for you, my daughter.  I know I’ve not told you enough, but I am so incredibly proud of you.”  She hears her mother’s voice nearly crack.  The sentiment causes Cait to tighten her grip.  For what may be the first time in her life, she feels a maternal love exuding from Cassandra.  So many years of craving this affection and at the age of 22, she has finally received it.

“I love you.”  Cait whispers it, afraid the words may scare the matriarch off.

It has the opposite effect.  Cassandra leans her head into her daughter’s ear and replies, “I love you too, my darling daughter.  You’ve chosen well.”

- - - - -

The clock reads 12:36am.  Cait rests her head on Vi’s bare chest, recalling the evening.  The surprise dinner had been just that, a surprise.  Caitlyn had truly fallen for the tactic used by Vi and her mother.  She’d been so angry when they’d walked into the manor.  Then seeing all of the girls, Sevika, Steb, and her parents gathered around a table ready to break bread in their honor, it was incredible.  

“You need to go to sleep, love.  That 4 AM alarm is going to come soon.”

Groaning, Vi tightens the stronghold her arms have on Cait.  “I’d much rather do those other things I mentioned earlier,” she coyly whines.  Caitlyn can’t help but giggle as she feels Vi’s finger graze her rib cage in a playful manner.  She’s begging for her lover to stop, flailing her arms as Vi continues to assault her rib cage.  Eventually the battle concludes with Vi relenting, allowing Caitlyn to settle back into her original position.

The silence lasts only a few minutes until Vi chimes in, “I would have done it, you know.”

Caitlyn lifts her head so she can look Vi in the eye,  “Would you have really?”

There’s no hesitation.  “I would.  I meant what I said last night.  I would never just use you for your money.  That shit doesn’t mean a thing to me.  I’m not like Maddie.  I don’t care what your last name is or where you come from.  So yea, I would have signed it if it’s what you or your family wanted.”

Their lips crash together, passionately.  It’s a long, drawn out deep kiss.  When Cait finally pulls away, she says, “The thought never even crossed my mind.  Honestly, I was very angry you were so willingly caving to her.”

Reaching up, Vi pushes the strands of hair that always fall into Cait’s face when she’s above her behind her ear.  “I know and I’m sorry.”

“Are you sorry enough to tell me about this job prospective?” Caitlyn chirps playfully. 

The query causes Vi to shake her handle chuckle.  “Nope.  That’s still between me and the potential employer.”

“Gods, you’re an ass.”  Her growl is interrupted by Vi leaning up and kissing her.

“Yes, but I’m your ass and I’m gonna be your ass forever.”

-  - - - - - - -

6-4-3 Weekly Show

“Friday starts the Bilgewater games.  It’s not as big of a tournament as what Noxus hosts, but this weekend is going to be interesting because we are going to see what sort of adjustments Coach Sevika has made to her playbook without having Kiramman in the rotation.  It was obvious they weren’t prepared to lose the ace as they couldn’t recover in the Ionia game and then lost their game against Noxus,” Janet Bilts 

“Piltover’s achilles heel last year was the lack of a true ace.  They had all of the other pieces together and were statistically better than Ionia on paper.  However, like I said they lacked that true ace and their bullpen had been hit with injuries prior to the natty.  Now, they have that ace, but she’s started off the season with an injury.  The question is, does she recover or will it nag her for the reason of the season?” Toni Miller.

“As long as Kiramman takes her time coming back, I don’t see any problems lingering, but I worry she’s going to beg to come back as soon as she can.  I can’t imagine Sevika will want to pitch her a full 7 innings when she returns, though.  If she comes back in the presented time table, that puts her returning in Pilt’s first series against Bilgewater, which is home.  I think that’s a good one to sort of ease her back in.  Plus she doesn’t have to worry about hauling equipment through an airport and putting more wear and tear on herself.  She can pitch, see the trainer, and spend the evenings at home.” Bilts again.

“Does she still break the record?” Miller this time.

“I don’t see why not.  She’s only missing two weekends of ball.  She’s aided by the fact her catcher can frame anything and make it look good.  I think by the time Pilt plays Ionia about middle way, we’re going to be on the record watch.” Bilts.

“That would be interesting as it’s her old team.  Last question before we move along, does this change Piltover’s chances to finally win that elusive national championship?” Miller.

“No.  I think if Kiramman comes back fully healthy, the way they can swing the bat and how good that defense is, you’re going to see them raise the trophy at the end of the season.  The question I can’t answer is, who will they play.  Before we started I would have said Ionia, but now, Coach Ambessa has Noxus looking like a serious contender.” Bilts

“Well, it’s for sure going to be interesting.  Last thing to add about Piltover and Kiramman, we hear that congratulations are in order for Kiramman and Lanes as they were engaged this weekend.  Those two are the best of the best and are great humans so we here at 6-4-3 want to wish them happiness and love.  We’ll be watching for our wedding invites in the mail.” Miller.