"I just don't see how you can wear those things around all the time." Caitlyn chuckled, leaning back in her chair. Vi stood at the other side of the kitchen, dropping their plates gingerly into the sink. "Hm? What's that, you want me to show you just what I can do with these, cupcake?" she taunted, pointing a massive steel finger at her.

Raising an eyebrow, Caitlin crossed her arms across her chest, leaning back and balancing her chair on its rear legs, "All I want you to show me is how you intend on washing the dishes with those things on." Vi paused and squinted her eyes, turning once to the sink and then back to her partner. "These dishes?" "Do you see any other dishes that need to be washed?" "No way! It's not my turn again, not already!" she protested, huffing and waving towards the sink with a single, massive gauntlet. Caitlyn snickered and shifted forward, her chair returning to four legs with a hollow thump, "There's only two of us, it's not that hard to remember."

Vi slumped her shoulders and dropped her head in the most dramatic display she could muster, before turning her back to the Sheriff and facing the mess head-on. "Oh, come on Vi. Here, I'll help you out, just this once" she said, getting up from the table.

Before Vi could object, she felt Caitlyn's chest pressed to her back, her arms wrapping around her waist. "Cai-? W-what are you-" Shifting her weight to one side, Vi arched her back forward to escape, holding her gauntlets awkwardly above her head. With Caitlyn pressed in so closely behind her however, she only found any escape barred as her hips pressed against the edge of the sink.

Giggling behind her, Caitlyn moved her hands from Vi's waist to the sink, picking up a plate in one hand while turning on the tap with the other. "What's your deal? It's not like you can do dishes with those things on, so if you won't take them off, wellllll-" "Okay, okay! I'll take them off! J-just give me some space here, geez!" Vi slid out from behind Caitlyn in a single motion, taking a few extra steps back for good measure, and watched her with a leer as she disengaged her gauntlets.

Setting them down on the table as if they were fragile china, Vi threw her arms up in the air and returned to the sink, "Happy? Happy now?" she asked, ending with a curt snort. Leaning over the dishes, she shot Caitlyn a sidelong glance, which promptly turned into a quiet glare. Caitlyn was propped up by her elbows on the kitchen counter with both hands firmly planted over her mouth, stifling laughter to the point of breathlessness.

Vi slid her tongue over her upper teeth and blinked for a few beats, clearly seething as she awaited the punchline. Finally managing to assemble some form of composure, Caitlyn gasped out an explanation, pointing as she spoke "Y-your hands, Vi!" While her partner snickered and rubbed her eyes, Vi looked down at her hands - from the elbows down, they were nearly black from sweat and tarnish. Caitlyn's amusement was quickly replaced by regret as Vi turned away, her face flushed a deep red.

"Oh, wait...hey...look I'm sorry, it's just funny, since you know..." Caitlyn trailed off, at a loss for words as her partner turned to the table where she had left her gauntlets. "Wait, no, it's-" Without thinking, Caitlyn reached out for Vi and grabbed her by the wrist, pulling her back to the kitchen counter. As Vi turned back, her mien shifted almost immediately from one of anger back to embarrasment as Caitlyn pushed her back to the sink, forcing her arms under the running tap. Grabbing the bar of soap, she rubbed down Vi's arms and hands as she stood like a ragdoll, washing them gently in the basin. "See? Well, the dishes will get dirtier, but then once we're done, everything will be nice and clean!" She turned with a hopeful smile to Vi, who only returned a look filled with shame and rage. "...Vi?"

Caitlyn gasped as Vi snatched herself away and stormed across the kitchen, roughly drying herself off with a dishrag. Snatching up her gauntlets in one arm, she tossed the towel in Caitlyn's face and retreated to her room, slamming the door in her wake. Stunned, Caitlyn stood frozen for several moments before she could gather up the composure to pick up the towel and turn off the tap.

With her heart still racing from the confrontation, she rested her elbows on the edge of the sink and trudged through the dishes, staring out the kitchen window into the dim night scenery. As she placed the last dish back in the cupboard, she felt a warm stream down her cheek and clenched her eyes tightly, rubbing her face on her sleeve.

After what felt like an eternity of gathering her resolve, she finally took a deep breath and went to Vi's room, knocking meekly and cracking the door to peek inside. "Vi...?"

On the bed in the back corner of the room laid a ball of blankets so large it seemed as if three people were beneath it. From beneath the great mound of down and cotton, she could hear Vi grumbling an angry reply. Creeping quietly towards her, Caitlyn kneeled down at the edge of the bed and rested her cheek on the mattress beside the mountain of comforters, "Look, I'm sorry, I..."

Before she could finish searching for words, a finger slipped out from under the blankets and lifted the edge just enough to reveal a single red, tear-soaked eye. Caitlyn bit her lip, feeling a knot tying in her throat, "Oh, Vi..." Without a thought, Caitlyn had already thrown up the hoard of covers and slid into bed beside Vi, wrapping her arms around her pulling her in close. Before the blankets could even fall, Vi was squirming and voicelessly uttering obscenities, dumbstruck by Caitlyn's sudden embrace.

"Wha...Cait, you, I..." Vi wriggled around, positioning herself to push out from under the covers. However, as she grabbed Caitlyn's shoulders, she felt them bobbing against her grip, and all at once noticed the warm, wet patch rapidly growing on her chest. "...Caitlyn?" Loosing her grip on her shoulders, she slid her arms behind her neck, holding Caitlyn to her chest as she sobbed weakly. "You're such a little wuss..." Vi teased, wiping away tears that were quickly replaced on Caitlyn's cheek. "I-I was just s-so worried that you..." she trailed off, hiding her face in Vi's arm.

With a curt sniffle, Vi rubbed her face violently against her other sleeve, laughing with a brash confidence. "The only thing you should have been worried about is that I'd throw my babies back on and knock you clear to the other side of Piltover for barging into my room like that." Caitlyn let out a meek chuckle and nodded, wiping her eyes and looking up at Vi, "I just...never want to make you sad." Vi held her gaze for a long moment, and opened her mouth as if to say something, but instead clenched her teeth and turned away, frowning "Y-you...the only thing that's making me sad now is how disgusting this wet shirt is" she said stoically, all the while holding Caitlyn just a little bit tighter.

FIN