Chapter Text
Caitlyn awoke on her 15th birthday with an absolutely splitting headache. As if the day could not get any worse than it already was with having to attend her mother’s planned birthday bash in the evening, after fighting with herself she finally pulled herself out of bed and into her bathroom to prepare for the excruciating day of niceties to people who only cared about her last name rather than who she was. What she wouldn’t give to have someone want to be with her for herself rather than what her families name was.
After preparing for her day she trudged down the stairs in the most unladylike way she could muster with her skull feeling like it would split in two at any moment before hoisting herself onto the stool in front of the breakfast bar and proceeding to gingerly set her head down on the cool marble. A soft friendly chuckle sounded in front of her as she dared to peek up at her families head chef.
“Rough morning this morning Miss?” He asked her softly as Caitlyn let out a huff before replying not caring for how unladylike it sounds and ignoring the others in the kitchen around her.
“You could say that Edward, my head feels like it is about to split in two so while I know my mother would disapprove could I please have one of the strongest cups of coffee you have available and something light for breakfast?” Caitlyn asks with a bit more familiarity than she would normally use in the company of others but with her head pounding the way it is she can’t bring herself to care at the moment as Edward gives her a soft smile and a nod and turns around.
Caitlyn puts her head back flat and closes her eyes hearing the espresso maker hum and whir before hearing a mug and plate gently set down in front of her. As she lifts her head she grins at the beautifully made cappuccino and croissant as well as the small bottle of pain killers set in front of her. With a grateful smile she immediately picks up the hot coffee and blows on it taking a sip to wet her mouth before immediately taking two of the pills from the bottle and washing it down with another sip of her coffee. She eats and drinks in silence as the kitchen bustles with activity to prepare for tonight’s bash Edward giving soft orders and trying not to aggravate her headache more. While she can feel the pills helping and the pain has reduced to a dull ache she can’t help but think that this sensation will be about as good as it is going to get. Just as she begins to head back up the stairs she grips the railing tighter feeling like her body is flying while being firmly on the ground it is the oddest sensation she has ever experienced and it takes several moments for her to regain her composure and finish heading up the stairs determined to lie down in bed and continue reading through her law textbooks. If she has any shot at becoming an enforcer she needs to pass those exams in 2 years.
After several hours in which she kept feeling her stomach flip on and off and then having to put her books away because her hands kept gripping into a fist of their own will and feeling like they were impacting something she had to give up on the idea of getting anything accomplished. The sensations and feelings extremely distracting and not helping her to figure out what is going on the headache remained as a dull throb in her head but something she could put up with. It wasn’t until one of the staff knocked on her door to inform her that she needed to start getting ready for the party that she finally rolled herself off the bed and began to get ready.
Once her hair and makeup were done and she had slid into the navy blue gown with gold accents that did nothing but draw attention to house Kirammans coat of arms colours she grudgingly took one last look in the mirror before letting out an exhausted sigh, pulling her posture proper and plastering a smile on her face. She came down the stairs to the front entry much more ladylike the second time for the day knowing that guests had most likely already arrived and with her headache persisting she did not need to listen to the lecture from her mother later. At the bottom of the staircase she was pleased to find her father waiting for her, he gave her a warm smile and a kiss on the cheek before offering his arm.
“Ready?” He asked softly as Caitlyn nodded in return.
“As I will ever be, you know I would be just as happy with a family dinner to celebrate my birthday right?” She replies softly taking her father’s arm as he chuckles and begins to lead her into the party the band playing soft music loud enough to allow for private conversations but not too loud as to cut off conversation.
“You know how your mother is” He replies softly so as not to be overheard by others with fondness and love shining through his tone as she breathes out a small huff well aware she wasn’t going to win this one.
Her father brought her over to the group her mother was chatting with and as she looked around she could see no one except Jayce even close to her in age, her mother uses this occasion to further her career just as all the rest of the rich in this room does. She hates it, the pompous rich continuing to be pompously rich and ignoring everything going on in this city. She may be sheltered but she is not blind she has seen some of the people coming topside whenever she gets the chance to sneak out and explore it is one of the reasons she wants to be an enforcer, she wants to protect and help everyone. If only her parents could see that along with every other pompous rich member of Piltover’s upper class. There would be far fewer problems in this city if they would just give a damn. Caitlyn mingled on her parents arm for 2 hours until finally she was allowed to part and go find her favourite chair in the corner and rest. Her headache was getting worse and she could swear she can hear people laughing that are not in this room, just as she settled in her chair Jayce approaches her a smile on his face.
“How’s the birthday girl holding up?” He asks as she gives him a small smile and shrug.
“About as well as can be expected” She replies and sees his face morph to concern as she tips her head sideways, “What’s wrong?” She asks just as she feels a warm drop of liquid hit the back of her hand and looks down seeing a red drop of blood and knowing she is officially in trouble. Just as that thought crosses her mind she hears a young girls voice in her head say the name Vi loudly before the image of a pink haired girl about her age with half her head shaved and one hand wrapped in bandages appears in her head as her head gives an excruciating pound of pain that brings unconsciousness on its heels and she promptly embraces numbing darkness.
She dreamed of an odd paintball arena running around with a girl with blue hair, a darker skinned boy with white blonde hair, a heavier set boy with goggles, and a taller skinny boy with spiky hair. She had never met these people in her life but she felt like she knew them the younger girl had a gun and the others were hiding papers strapped to their chests trying to get her before she shot them. After several losing rounds that Caitlyn had no idea how to play but she wasn’t in control of the body just a spectator everyone was laughing and out of breath.
“Good job as always Powder” A voice not her own said to the young girl with the blue hair as she laughed and smiled up at her.
“Ah, she wasn’t that great I could beat her” Said the cocky skinny tall one.
“Shut it Mylo” The other female voice that seems to be coming from herself says back, “Let’s just get washed up and get home I am exhausted”
“You know what Vi?” Mylo starts back as Vi turns and narrows her eyes at him and he shuts up.
“Come on guys, I am sure Little Man needs to get back to Benzo anyway right?” The bigger boy says trying to placate the rising tension.
“Claggor’s right” The young dark skinned boy says, “Benzo got a few old pocket watches he wanted me to fix, said if I did a good enough job I could keep one” Vi shakes her head and she can feel a smile pull up her lips a bit of her pink hair coming in front of one of her eyes.
“Let’s go” She says and they all start to leave heading out through what Caitlyn can only assume to be the undercity. She watches fascinated as this Vi she is apparently seeing through her eyes keeps looking back over her shoulder. Powder seems to notice.
“What’s wrong Vi?” She whispers to her as Vi looks down at her a smile pulling at her face.
“Nothing, just feels like we are being watched. It’s probably nothing” She replies as Powder nods in understanding.
“I don’t feel anything, you’re probably just tired” She replies as Vi gives a nod as the group climbs the side of a building with ease and begins to parkour through the undercity easily. Caitlyn feels the wind on her face and through the short hair. Felling her heart soar at the freedom of movement that she had never had.
When Caitlyn wakes her soft bed is beneath her and while she can still feel a dampness cling to her skin she also feels the warm dryness that is her bedroom it is an incredibly odd sensation and she wishes she knew what was going on. When she looks to the side her father is sitting in a chair a soft smile on his face that she returns.
“Hey there sweetheart. How are you feeling?” He asks as Caitlyn lets out a soft laugh.
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you” She replies as his smile grows.
“You have had a splitting headache all day, you feel sensations that you shouldn’t, hear words and sounds that are not around you” He says as Caitlyn blinks to him in surprised shock as he chuckles softly, “Sweetheart this is normal for some people. My parents, your grandparents were like this. You are a sensate” He explains as the information clicks into place.
“A sensate, but those are rare” She replies but realizing he is telling the truth, this Vi must be her sensate pair and she’s close just over the bridge. Not that her parents would ever let her go there willingly she thinks bitterly as her father begins to continue to explain.
“They are rare and you will have to learn how to control it, the bond will only strengthen as your matching pair approaches their 15th birthday. If you don’t learn to block it out you will get overwhelmed by the sensations of your paired sensate. You know what they do, you feel what they feel, hear what they hear. Connected forever 2 people but one bonded psycellium. No matter the distance once the two of you have completed the bond you will be able to talk to each other as if you were there many sensates call it visiting. They will be able to see you, touch, hear you but no one else will. It was always an odd thing to watch as an outsider when my parents did it” He explains as Caitlyn nods in understanding.
“How do I shut it off?” She asks as her father’s face softens.
“The only way to truly shut it off is with a blocker, I will get you some but use them sparingly and only if absolutely needed. You begin to rely on them and they could damage the bond between you two permanently. I would much rather you learn to just block it out on your own, it takes some practice and it’s not something I can teach you how to do you have to feel yourself how to do it so the other sensations are not a distraction. The only thing you cannot block out is pain, you will always feel your matched sensates pain unless you take a blocker, if you want to only block out the pain a partial dose would be more than enough while still having the connection though the rest will feel fuzzy rather than clear if my parents description to me was anything to go by.” Her father continues to explain to her as Caitlyn nods in understanding before sitting up and looking down at her hands in thought.
“Do you know who your match is? Perhaps we can see about getting the two of you to meet in person” Her father asks softly as she swallows hard.
“Her name is Vi, she lives in the undercity” She replies as her father’s face falls.
“Well that does complicate things, I will try to talk to your mother about it but you may need to be patient for a bit” He says as she nods in understanding before giving her father a hug.
“I am tired, at least the headache is gone now I would like to take a shower and go back to bed if that is ok with you” She asks as her father smiles and nods before standing and quietly walking out of her door.
Caitlyn stood a shiver running down her spine as the feeling of cold water runs over her skin thinking of Vi’s comment about washing up she must not have hot water, well let’s see if she can feel this back Caitlyn thinks to herself walking into her shower and blasting the water as hot as she can stand before stripping down and stepping in replacing the chilled sensation with a hot one.
“The hell?” She hears in Vi’s voice and a small smile pulls on her face realizing that while Vi has no idea what is going on she can feel some things she can feel as well.
“What now? You’ve been weird all day?” The boy Mylo’s voice that sounds very distant says.
“The water feels… warm” Vi’s voice replies in shock as she feels a bump against her hip.
“What the hell was in the food you ate at Jericho’s? This water is just as cold as always” Mylo replies his voice sounding farther off as she hears Vi scoff.
The connection cuts off then as Caitlyn smiles softly to herself glad she could give Vi some kind of comfort. She finishes up and towels off before heading into bed with a smile on her face she’s always been a bit of a misfit and getting to have this connection to someone else feels so freeing she cannot wait to find where it leads her.