Vi, as it turned out, was a blanket person. Caitlyn was not.
She preferred the cool of the air, a soft fan, and about nothing else. Why Vi even liked blankets, she didn't know. She already ran hot like a furnace, whereas Caitlyn had about the shitties circulation there was. Her girlfriend was always yelping out when she'd massage her shoulders, or when her foot found hers under the covers. Apparently, her mother had the same problem. Yet another thing she'd inherited from that woman. There was more than she'd like to admit.
Vi's face was hidden, buried in a pillow, comforters stacked upon her, and a few stray blankets tucked under her chin. While Caitlyn happily slept beside her, only covered by a heavy silk weighted blanket. It was cool, but had a delicious pressure about it that felt almost like the red-head lying on top of her (something that happened very often), except for the fact that the blanket was cool, and her girlfriend was anything but.
Light snores could be heard from the other woman, curled up in a mountain of covers. Adorable. Caitlyn had already been awake for a while, due to how early she usually worked. Her sleep schedule didn't miraculously turn off once the weekend came, like Vi's did. The woman could wake up five days a week at the crack of dawn, but not arise until 9:45 the second Saturday rolled around. Because even in her sleep, she was restless. There were no quiet, soft mornings for her. And that was alright with Caitlyn.
Vi was vibrant, and loud. She was restless, and strong-willed, and vivacious. By far the most lively person she'd ever met. Now that everything with the Lanes and Piltover had settled, war concluded and sides merging (with the help of Sevika taking up a seat on the counsel) she'd really come into herself. She was happier. She sang, drifting melodies through the halls at all hours of the day, she tried and failed to cook at least three meals a week, and she was more affectionate than ever. The second she woke up, she was snuggling back into Caitlyn, nose nuzzled into the corner of her neck, arms around her waist, grinning like an idiot whenever Caitlyn even glanced at her. She was perfect.
Of course, there were still bad days. Days when Vi wasn't herself. Days when Caitlyn wondered what was really going on in that beautiful head of hers. She'd wake up quiet, wouldn't get coffee, wouldn't kiss her, and she could see that spark in her had just...gone out. It was terrifying, the first time she'd witnessed it. When she'd call Vi's name and she'd be met with no response until she was screaming Violet! Violet, VI! before her eyes lazily traced back to hers. But Vi wasn't home.
Just the sick thought of those bad days had Caitlyn reaching out to Vi, hand gliding over her feverish skin, reminding herself that today would be a good day. The bads were rare, maybe once a month. She could only chalk it up to a trauma response, the depression, the disassociation. The starving. But then she found how to get better again, and when she woke up the next day, she was just as energetic. Her spark rekindled.
Caitlyn sighed, and in turn, huddled close, pressing her nose to the tattoos on her lover's neck. The warmth was there, and she wasn't alone. Her girl was still here. At some point, she'd have to get Vi to a psychologist about these depressive episodes. They didn't sit right with her, and she didn't feel good just getting through them and moving on. Something was wrong. Something she wasn't able to decipher herself.
Yes, in college she was required a minor degree in adult psychology, but that was only so she qualified for her position as Enforcer and eventually Detective. She was definitely not a professional, and after all, there was a reason why therapists weren't allowed to therapize family members, friends, or loved ones. Things were missed, options overlooked. You'd get a biased view. Hell, her mother had even dipped into psychology when Caitlyn was younger, and had missed every sign of her autism, resulting in a prolonged but a non-biased diagnosis when she was thirteen.
Vi began to stir, pulling Caitlyn from her less than happy thoughts, and she smiled when the brawler went about her usual routine of finding her body in the mess of covers and clinging to her, voice muffled by Cait's collarbone and husky from sleep. Still, the Kiramman was able to make out her barely-conscious mutterings, which were admittedly extremely endearing.
"Mmm...Cait...Babe.." That brought a smile to her face, and she reached down to scratch Vi's thick undercut.
"Hello, My Love. Good morning" She was met with a satisfied grumble and light kisses on her neck.
"Love you.." Vi whispered, voice more awake and deliberate, and she looked up at Caitlyn with big, sleepy eyes.
"I love you too, Violet" She kisses her lover's head, and rubs her ornately-tattooed back.
She swore, Vi grew sweeter every day, even the stubborn woman herself would never admit it. She was going to miss mornings like this when she left for her seminar in a few days. This weekend would be the last together before she was on a two-week business trip in Ionia. And she was excited, too excited, to go. She'd only been to Iona when she was two, a trip she was too young to remember. She was partially Ionian on her father's side. And she was ecstatic to finally see where he grew up. To see her heritage.
On the flip side, she was terrified. She'd never been out of Piltover as long as she remembered. She didn't know the culture there as well as here, she didn't know how things were done there. Her nerves were all over the place. While this trip was for work and not pleasure, she still felt the pressure of the unknown on her. She liked her schedule, she liked her planning, her routine. She craved familiarity. Lucky enough for her, she'd been able to build a life of stability, one that was consistent. She knew when to wake up, who would be next to her, what she'd eat and where she'd work. Now, though, everything was new.
Only to add to her worries, she was half Ionian, and half English. And what she heard about Ionia is that they were very culturally picky. What if she was treated as a misfit there as well, where she was supposed to be better accepted? What if the half of her golden blood wasn't enough? All these things built up in her chest, pounding in her head, but she shoved them back down and held Vi tighter, taking the physical reassurance before she started spiralling even more.
Vi was completely oblivious, too busy using her bust as a pillow to see her worried and thoughtful expression. Of course, that was in true Vi fashion, and she would never hold that against her. She was a big girl, all grown up. She could quell her own worries without making them someone else's responsibility. Shifting, she sat up, shaking her girlfriend's shoulder a bit.
"Love, it's time to get up. We were going to go out for breakfast, remember?" In times when her schedule would soon be at jeopardy, she was extra rigid for her routine. This was a previously planned breakfast date, and she'd be damned if they were late and it though off her entire day.
Vi groaned and sat up, blankets falling to reveal she was only loosely clad in a soft, droopy bra that was slipping off of her. It made Caitlyn smile, seeing how comfortable she'd grown. When they'd first got together, Vi would only wear sports bras and boy boxers, but over time their garments mixed and she adopted some of Caitlyn's smaller bras and her stretchier panties.
"If you're planning on taking a shower before we go, you should probably get on it, Darling"
"Nah. Unless this is your way of telling me I stink" Vi gives her a crooked grin, and even if it's playful, it melts some of Caitlyn's anxieties.
"Well, if you won't, then I will. Get dressed" She kisses the red-head's temple, and slips out of bed.
The shower does wonders, warm water cascading all over her, and for a few minutes, she can pretend that this is just any other Saturday breakfast date, and not the last Saturday before she has to go on her trip. But once the cool air hits her, and the stream winnies down to an absent trickle, she's brought back to reality. She starts drying her navy hair, squinting through the steam on the mirror. So of course, that's when Vi bursts in, trying to find her toothbrush. The sight of Caitlyn naked stops her in her tracks, and she just openly gawks for a while before the taller girl swats her arm and she laughs, grabbing her toothbrush and exiting.
Even if it's their last Saturday breakfast, she knows all this will be waiting for her when she comes home.
Her love will always be there.