Hellhound of the Underground

She's just showing her emotions through her motions.

But you deserve better. Maybe you'll learn, someday. Maybe you'll learn that I'm no good.

from starters

Blood dribbled unceremoniously from a split lip. Another break, another scar, to be sure. Vi's pale blue eyes twinkled mischievously under the dim lights of The Last Drop as they focused on Ran, who was pressing a cloth soaked in whiskey to her busted lip. It was clear that her adrenaline was still pumping. Who's wouldn't be, after breaking up a bar fight - and being slightly inebriated when doing so?

"And I don't do all the thinking, don't sell yourself short. I've been saved more than one time by your quick thinking, and you often pick up things I don't see" She took another sip of her drink, hand still on Vi, eyes still locked on her. "And there are no 'Good or Bad' cops...just bad ones. That's why we left the Enforcers, remember?"

With a wink she finally looked around, as if to see if someone was listening in.

It was even harder to excuse and dismiss when that slender, familiar hand slid onto hers. There was no mistaking the way her eyes shifted with the sensation, as if to account for some emotion that crept into her peripheral. There was briefly a look of surprise, and of something else unable to be immediately placed, named, deciphered. It was gone before it could be actively scrutinized. Instead, she eased back into her role, and kept her hand right where it was. Damn, did she miss that touch. Her thumb twitched, the calloused pad of her digit dancing with electricity as it brushed along Caitlyn's equally calloused palm hidden beneath the weathered leather of her glove. She almost remembered a time when those hands were a little softer, a little harder. Malleable, how those slender fingers could slot so naturally in between her own, when caught up in a moment. Exposed to vulnerability - but they hadn't been like that in a long time.

"Uh-huh. No more good ones, not since we left." Vi quipped, her slate blue eyes risking a glance to their hands. Well, it was meant to be a glance, and yet her stubborn eyes lingered until she actively tore them away. "You think I'm pretty?" The brawler teased, cocking an inquisitive scarred brow. "'Cause if I'm pretty.. Then you're probably some Demacian statue." She paused briefly, using her left hand instead to take a drink - she didn't dare move her right away from Caitlyn's to so menially indulge in a simple pleasure. "Chiseled from the hardest of stones, modeled after a goddess, worth a fortune... And easy as hell on the eyes." Her flirt was natural, and Vi pretended like her heart didn't skip a little. On to more pressing matters, after all.

Despite how much older Vi had clearly gotten, Warwick for a moments could see shades of the vi he had known as Vander. The look she wore, it was nothing like the face seconds prior, it was like she was scared. His heart sank at that. As a father it hurt seeing that fear and that he might be the cause. In which he was relieved when the look shifted back. “It’s okay Vi, I don’t blame you. I know I look like a monster to you.”

Gone was Vander, the man who was both feared and respected. The man who raised four precious children was only there in mind. Now all that resided was Warwick, a monster who could kill at the flicker of new emotion. Physically he there was nothing to tie him to the man he had used to be. It was a curse and a blessing that his memories survived the process.

Warwick barely reacted was he was shoved off, however the punch almost caused anger to resurface. Luckily he was able to hold it back, much easier than before at that. It was like the wolf was finally acknowledging just what Vi meant to him, like it understood. He relaxed as she locked fingers with fur and dragged his head down to her chest. It didn’t matter that her hold was tight.

His heart sunk immediately at her words. “What happened?” He frowned, letting out a sad whine. “How long has it been? Vi. I need you to tell me everything.” Warwick hadn’t been so blind that he didn’t see the changes around him. How Vi had changed.

Vi clutched his head tighter, her breaths coming hot and rapid as they filled his pointed ears.

She found her boots back in the clumsy dance, her feet moving without that same coordination that she used to have in familiarity with Ran, but they must have been struggling to. Relearning this, steps forgotten over time and under pressure. Perhaps that added to some of the fun, perhaps that was what sparked something indecipherable in her chest. Perhaps that's why it was so easy to accept.

❛  but i do care about you ... a lot.  ❜ ❛  do you really need me to say it? fine, i love you. happy now?  ❜ ❛  i didn't think you'd feel the same way.  ❜ ❛  the truth is, i don't want just anyone. i want you.  ❜ ❛  you know i love you, right?  ❜ ❛  i want to spend the rest of my life with you.  ❜ ❛  you're the only person who has ever made me feel this way.  ❜ ❛  can't you see how much i care about you?  ❜ ❛  i did all of this for you. because ... because i love you.  ❜ ❛  please don't make me say it. saying it is gonna make it real and i'm not sure i'm ready for that yet.  ❜ ❛  somewhere along the way, you became more than just a friend.  ❜ ❛  i can't keep pretending like i don't love you.  ❜ ❛  well, i like you. i really, really like you.  ❜ ❛  i like you a lot more than i ever thought i would.  ❜ ❛  you're an idiot ... but you are my idiot and i wouldn't have it any other way.  ❜ ❛  when we first met, i didn't think you'd ever mean so much to me.  ❜ ❛  i could do this on my own but i don't want to. i want you right by my side every step of the way.  ❜ ❛  for once, i'm gonna make the selfish choice and be with whoever i want to be. and that person is you.  ❜ ❛  you've made me so incredibly happy.  ❜ ❛  i wasn't planning on telling you like this but now is better than never.  ❜ ❛  believe it or not, i do enjoy spending time with you.  ❜ ❛  i still don't understand what i ever did to deserve someone like you in my life.  ❜ ❛  i love you. i'm in love with you.  ❜ ❛  just being with you is enough ... you are enough.  ❜ ❛  i love everything about you. even the things i don't like, i love.  ❜ ❛  i have been trying so hard not to say anything, to just ignore it, but i cannot do that any longer.  ❜ ❛  when i wake up, you're the first person i think about.  ❜ ❛  i've never felt a connection like this with anyone else ever before.  ❜ ❛  there's something i've been meaning to tell you for a while ... i love you.  ❜ ❛  don't ever do something like this again! i thought i'd lost you ... and i can't ever lose you.  ❜ ❛  i don't hate you. i actually like you. a lot.  ❜ ❛  you don't have to say anything, i understand. and i want you to know that i feel the same way.  ❜ ❛  what's not to love about you? you're beautiful and kind and you're overall the most amazing person i have ever met.  ❜ ❛  i have no idea how i ever managed to fall in love with someone as infuriating as you.  ❜ ❛  i just want you to know how i feel ... in case one of us won't make it.  ❜ ❛  i can't believe it's taken me this long to realize but i love you.  ❜ ❛  whenever you're around, i can feel the butterflies in my stomach.  ❜ ❛  but most of all, i hate how much i don't hate you.  ❜ ❛  you are the most important person in my life.  ❜ ❛  i love you more than words can express.  ❜