Cold Water

Caitlyn X Vi (3rd Person)

Summary: Cait's late nights don't sit well with Vi. She shouldn't care, but that isn't the type of person she is.

Well, that wasn't that bad, she thought to herself.

She was proud that she's finally able to finish the last piece of last month's paperwork that's been assigned to her by Caitlyn. No one actually believed she'd finish anything. Heck, she swore that she wouldn't lay a damn finger on any of it. Vi's relationship with any documentation sent to her by anyone is so familiar with the police station that there's actually a betting station for it. Everyone would place their bets on how many days it would take for her to accomplish. Needless to say, the winners are always the ones who bets a huge amount of time after the deadline.

So she's amazed by it. She got hit by some weird motivation to finish all of the documentation in front of her.

And it wasn't because there was a bet behind it. Maybe this time, she thought, it wasn't.

The time was 18:34—at least an hour and a half after past closing time. She's placed the last folder on the "in" crate of the documentations room before she could finally leave. She rarely carries any stuff with her, she's got her keys hanging from her belt and that's all she needed to escape this boring hell hole. Drop the papers on the docs station & don't forget to log out on the biometrics—she didn't want to get reprimanded by the mean guy at the accounting department again—and then go home.

As she dropped the papers on the table at the small little, enclosed kiosk on the middle of the office, she notices that the light at the end of the hallway turned on.

She's still here. It's not unusual, knowing how Cait's dedicated to her own cause. Once in a while is okay, but it's been a few days since she's gone home with her commander still hard at work in her own office.

She couldn't help herself. Instead of going out the door, she made her way towards the large wooden ones at the end of the hallway. She peeped from the side of it, a lopsided grin forming on her mouth as she saw Caitlyn still engrossed with her work.

"Sher'f."

"Yes Vi?" She said, barely looking up from her work.

"You still ain't going home? It's waaaaay past 5 and it looks like—" The sheriff's handbag and coat hung by the door, her techgear still flashing all the holographic data in front of her and so many open folders scattered across her desk, "you're planning to stay the night here."

"Since when has my work ever worried you?" Caitlyn sounding a little too eager to dismiss her. She needed time to herself to review this open case but the required evidence is only available in the office. And the only time she could focus on it was when everyone else was on their way home.

"Since the empty bottles of scotch at the dumpster started to pile up." Snarky and observant. Caitlyn has taught her very well, much to her disdain. "Don't judge me. I've been taking them home! They make cool water jugs and they're classy as fu—"

"Those aren't mine." She didn't even know why she had to outright deny it when she could've ignored Vi's assumptions anyway. She saw right through her. And judging by the way Vi snickered at her retort, she's not buying it one bit.

"You don't gotta hide it from me, boss. Nobody in this district drinks scotch worth an arm and a leg." Vi pointed towards the book shelf nestled between the corners of Caitlyn's office. Hidden behind a few of her books was the bottle of a very familiar alcohol. "Also if you wanna hide your alcohol in the office, it's way better to put it under your desk. Hides it from the sunlight and everyone else."

Caitlyn looked more horrified than impressed. "I think I'll have to revisit the cleaning crew's schedule. I'm adding your table to their checklist."

Vi snickered, "Talk about one hell of a power trip," She crossed her arms, her grin never leaving her face. "Is that even legal?"

"It isn't a power trip and it's perfectly legal. Besides, I am the law."

They both fell into a comfortable silence until Caitlyn let out a laugh, driving Vi into a confused state.

This was refreshing. When was the last time Caitlyn found herself in the middle of some playful banter? She was always neck deep in reports, always thinking about evidence, information, scenarios, and possibilities, that she's forgotten how it felt like to have a conversation that wasn't about justice, or crime, or cases.

Vi carefully reached out for the concealed bottle of scotch and then darted straight towards Cait's corner desk.

"There's nothing in the—"

"You keep your glasses here," Vi interrupted. "There's a small freezer underneath where you keep your ice."

Vi expected some sort of nasty comment, or an angry remark why she knew about these little, concealed things about her sheriff's office. But Caitlyn didn't even react, her fingers tapping away on the holographic keyboard displayed on her desk and her eyes scanning the document flashed in front of her at a steady pace.

"I don't drink." She insisted. Vi, placing a few ice cubes on the two glasses she's got placed on the counter desk. Then, poured a good amount of liquor into each glass, equally.

"Yeah. And this bottle of scotch, these glasses, and this nifty freezer are all in your office just because they make your office look pretty and classy," she giggled, then added, "If you discount the fact that they're concealed. It adds a little mystery to your office." She placed the glass on Caitlyn's coaster, a few inches away from her hand. "I get it sheriff, it ain't easy being you with all that 'I gotta be a model citizen' and be lawfully good and angelic and you're supposed to be this super woman who's only supposed to get high on justice or get drunk on peace."

That was pretty clever, even for her own standards. It's highly appreciated that Vi cared about her well being, honestly, it's been too long since anyone's actually given a damn about her at all.

"But everybody has their own way to deal with shit times, ya know? You're still human," she muttered, sounding so much more sincere.

And she's right. Cait's been trying so hard to remain stoic through Vi's little speech but that last line sent her off the edge. It felt nice that someone didn't have this existing assumption that she was some kind of heaven-sent Goddess that does no wrong.

She let out another snicker. Twice in one night, Vi's starting to get under her skin. And as much as she didn't want to admit it, she found it really endearing.

"Sooo... Cheers?" Vi asked, holding her glass out.

She sighed and placed the open file she was currently reading on top of the stack of folders to her right. As much as she wanted to follow the image of her being a model citizen, behind closed doors, she's never one to turn down good liquor.

She took the glass by the lips and clinked it slightly with Vi's own glass.

"Cheers."