Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The room was filled with artificial light seeping from under the kitchen cabinets and a small lamp made entirely of wood, which gave off a surprisingly warm glow. Ever since Vi said she liked it, it had taken its permanent place on the coffee table so they could turn it on during cozy evenings like this one. Two glasses of wine—definitely too brittle for Vi, who once again mentioned that intrusive thoughts were telling her to bite into the thin glass and chew it like a wafer. Caitlyn rolled her eyes.

“Did you know that Misty broke up with Leona?” Vi asked, running her fingers through Caitlyn's hair.

The young Kiramman looked up at her and adjusted her head on the muscular thighs.

“Which time is it this month?” She rolled her eyes. “What's the reason?”

“I think it's the third one,” Vi replied, pretending to be thoughtful. “Don't jump to conclusions or you’ll spoil the best part.” A mischievous smile appeared on Vi's face, and Caitlyn sighed deeply.

“I can't wait,” she snorted. “Misty recently said their personalities aren't compatible, whatever that means.”

“This time the reason is even better,” she replied enthusiastically, her smile widening.

“Stop teasing me and just tell me,” said the no.1 gossips’ hater, with the urgency of a completely uninterested person.

Vi smoothed the wrinkle between Caitlyn's eyebrows, who muttered quietly, and her facial muscles instantly relaxed. She closed her eyes, enjoying the touch.

“Misty said she wants a husband and children,” Vi said, chuckling under her breath.

And so much for relaxation. Caitlyn opened her eyes wide and frowned.

“What?” she exclaimed in surprise, sitting up abruptly. Vi's hand slipped onto her thighs. “I think they're trying to win the lesbian breakup bingo. First it was ‘personality differences,’ then Leona came over and cried on your shoulder that Misty didn't want to have sex with her anymore, and now this. Will they ever give themselves a break? We could use it too. The break, not the bingo.”

Caitlyn turned her head toward Vi, who was already in her own world. Her eyes glowed unhealthily.

“I'm already scared,” Caitlyn muttered, reaching for a glass from the table and taking a hearty sip of red wine. "What brilliant idea has popped into that unpredictable head of yours this time?

“Let's create a Lesbian Breaky-upy Bingo!”

Caitlyn laughed. Vi noticed that her cheeks were turning pink. For a moment that was a little too long for a casual glance, she couldn't take her eyes off this charming sight.

“Okay, but Vi...”

“Yes?” Vi was about to get up from the sofa to look for her notebook and pen, but she stopped mid-motion and flopped back down onto the furniture.

“You know there's no such word as ‘breaky-upy,’ right?”

Vi sighed deeply.

“Reason number one: ‘my smart-aleck girlfriend is mocking me,’” she muttered under her breath as she searched for the notebook, which she finally pulled out of the dresser.

“It's not mocking.” A confident smile spread across Caitlyn's face. “But correcting grammatical mistakes.”

Vi stopped cursing under her breath about the day she met this mean, privileged rich girl only when, encouraged beforehand, she placed her feet on her slender thighs so that Caitlyn could take off her socks and start kneading her feet in places Vi didn't know could give so much pleasure. At that moment, she was drawing a table with crooked lines.

“How many squares are there in bingo?”

“Twenty-five.”

“You're such a nerd,” she snorted. Caitlyn responded with a slap on the bottom of her foot. Vi giggled. “Should I start with violence?”

"For the first reason, you'd better write ‘It turned out I'm straight, baby’.”

"And for the second, ‘I fell in love with your sister’?” Vi's smirk only widened as Caitlyn looked at her with obvious indignation.

"Vi, you're disgusting!”

A moment later, there were only two reasons in the table. Vi began to doubt the success of this mission, and Caitlyn seemed very involved in coming up with more ideas.

“Infidelity!” she declared with satisfaction. Vi just rolled her eyes.

“And who would I cheat on you with?” she asked rhetorically, and Caitlyn's eyes flashed dangerously, though Vi wasn't sure if it was because of another idea that had dawned on her or because of the alcohol.

“There is one person. Give me the notebook,” Caitlyn tried to reach for the notebook, but Vi lifted it up and shielded herself with her knees from the attack the young Kiramman was about to launch. However, she did not expect that instead of trying to grab the coveted item, Caitlyn would unceremoniously lean over her and kiss her scarred lips. Vi groaned with pleasure as Cait deepened the kiss, rubbing the tip of her tongue against hers. She was hot, tasting of tart wine and something so seductively sweet that Vi could completely lose herself in it. She let her guard down, spreading her legs and allowing Caitlyn to lie on top of her. And that was a mistake. Without breaking the kiss, Kiramman took the notebook from Vi's hand, then pulled away from her. The triumphant sound rang out at the same moment that a moan of disappointment escaped Vi's lips. Before she could take back the notebook, Cait had already filled in a few squares of the bingo card. Vi's attention was drawn to the third one:

SARAH FORTUNE ( ｡ •̀ ᴖ •́ ｡)

She snorted.

“Sarah's not bad,” she replied, smiling provocatively, which made Caitlyn even more furious. Fortunately, her parents had taught her composure and etiquette. She raised one eyebrow, looking at Vi seriously.

“Then why aren't you sitting in Sarah's living room right now, instead of mine?”

“Ours!” corrected Vi, already pouncing on poor Caitlyn and tickling her mercilessly.

When Caitlyn stopped laughing, they went back to discussing other reasons for breakups, snatching the notebook and pen from each other every few moments.

“U-Haul? The moving company?”

“You don't know?” Vi raised her eyebrows in surprise. A smirk began to spread across her face. “You, Caitlyn Kiramman, don't know a word?” she began to mimic her. “A noodle like me has to explain it to you?”

“Get off me!” Caitlyn hit her lightly on the shoulder, and despite the indignation in her voice, she couldn't stop the smile from spreading across her lips.

“You know how lesbians bring a wardrobe on a second date?”

“Like you did to me?” she snapped, looking Vi deep in the eyes.

“Don't start a war you can't win, Kiramman,” Vi hissed, already preparing for another attack.

“Okay, I'm sorry.” She held out her hands in a gesture of surrender. “Is that called a U-Haul from the moving company?”

“Roughly,” Vi replied, backing away. She drew a small car in the corner of the grid with the words “U-Haul” written on it.

Caitlyn covered her mouth with her hand, peeking over Vi’s muscular arm.

“That's too much,” she said, and Vi just shrugged. “This is serious, Vi.”

“It'll happen to all of us sooner or later,” she muttered under her breath, filling in the last square.

She tilted the glass, only to find, to her disappointment, that it was empty. The bottle standing next to the lamp was lacking wine too, and Caitlyn snuggled up to the muscular arm and began to mumble.

“Time to sleep, princess.”

The princess frowned.

“I told you not to call me that.”

“Should I add lese majesty to our bingo card?”

“Shut up,” were the last words before her stubborn eyelids involuntarily closed. Vi turned off the lamp, placed the open notebook on the table, grabbed Caitlyn by the legs, supported her back with her other hand, and carried her to bed like a true princess.

She pulled the tight jeans off Caitlyn's legs and let her crawl under the covers while she got rid of unnecessary clothing herself. Caitlyn's face was lit only by the dim glow of street lamps coming through the window. With a gentle movement, Vi brushed a stray strand of blue hair from her face to see her muscles relax. The young Kiramman fell asleep or at least that's what she thought until she heard a quiet murmur:

“I want to be with you forever, Violet.”

She placed her hand on her cheek to stroke it with her thumb.

“Me too, Cait,” she whispered with a warm smile on her face, then fell asleep herself.

⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆

Vi wasn't sure if she was awakened by the joyful chirping of fucking birds, the ubiquitous sun that had burst through the window, shining insistently into her eyes, or the steady throbbing inside her skull, as if her brain had grown legs and was kicking from the inside, letting her know that it had had enough and wanted to get out. One thing was certain—it was not her day, although she would find this out even more emphatically a little later. She let out a groan resembling a wounded animal, rolling over onto her other side and encountering a warm, soft obstacle, which she eagerly embraced with her arm around its waist. However, the obstacle seemed less than pleased with this idea, because it grabbed her wrist and tried to push her away, lift her up, or otherwise free itself from her embrace.

“Vi,” Caitlyn groaned sufferingly.

“Let me hug you, obstacle.”

“What? It's too hot to cuddle, let me go.”

Vi’s whole body was covered in sweat, which she only realized now. She muttered a curse under her breath and let Caitlyn push her away. Only then did she open her sleepy eyelids to see strands of blue hair spread out on the pillow. She sighed, no longer angry. Instead, she felt a pleasant tingling in the pit of her stomach. Caitlyn was still wearing a tight-fitting T-shirt and panties. How could she expect Vi to keep her hands to herself? As soon as she placed her hand on her buttock, Caitlyn turned away with unexpected rapidity.

“I told you it's too hot!” she grumbled. The amusement was gone from her eyes. She was angry, and Vi had no idea why, so she decided to take a shot in the dark.

“Did those damn birds wake you up too?” she asked, but Caitlyn just rolled her eyes.

“I don't know what you're talking about,” she replied curtly, sitting down on the edge of the bed. “I'm going to wash up,” she said, and before Vi could stop her, she was already disappearing behind the bedroom door.

Vi buried her face in the pillow and let out a muffled scream that no one could hear.

Caitlyn came into the living room wearing short fabric shorts and a loose T-shirt. Water was still dripping from her blue hair, and her whole face was glowing from a freshly applied layer of cream. Vi stopped stirring the scrambled eggs and ham in the pan to stare at her for a long moment. An involuntary smile spread across her face, which did not escape Caitlyn's notice.

“You got an one-track mind,” she said, rolling her eyes.

Vi shrugged in response.

“It's hard to think about anything else when you're around. I won the lottery when Princess Caitlyn said ‘yes’ to me.”

Vi really meant it. Every day, waking up next to Caitlyn, she found it harder and harder to believe her luck.

“Vi,” she said, a warning note in her voice, “you weren't supposed to call me that.”

“What, princess?”

If a single stare could kill, Vi would be dead. She might have been dead already if only she could smile sarcastically while spreading scrambled eggs on the plates demised.

Caitlyn sighed as she took her place at the table, and Vi sat down right next to her, which was met with another sound of discontent. Caitlyn moved to a chair further away.

Then Vi felt like two puzzle pieces in her brain fit together to form a larger picture, although she still didn't know what neither the orange oval shape nor something that looked like a fragment of an eye was, but the second one could be either a tree or a miniature guinea pig (literally miniature). She frowned in confusion.

“Something's wrong,” she stated, not asked.

“No shit, Sherlock,” Caitlyn replied, then put a well-cooked scrambled egg in her mouth and ate it with dry toast.

“Are you hungry?” Vi asked contemplatively.

“I'm eating, keep trying,” Cait grumbled.

“Are you on your period?” Vi raised the inner corners of her eyebrows in a pleading, yet apologetic gesture.

The only response was an irritated snort. That unquestionably meant no.

“Are you... sleep deprived?” she tried again.

Caitlyn stared at her plate, poking at the scrambled eggs with her fork.

“Did I steal your blanket last night?”

“I'm straight!”

The fork clattered against the plate and fell with a dull thud onto the floor. A piercing gaze was now fixed directly on Vi's face—on her uncombed hair, on the small wrinkle left on her cheek by the crumpled fabric of her pillowcase, on her wet, gray eyes with their inscrutable expression. She looked like a computer that had frozen. Silence hung in the air, broken only by the cawing of birds outside the window, as if even they couldn't bear the tension. Vi raised her eyebrows.

“What?” she finally managed to say, forgetting to close her mouth.

Caitlyn sat up straight in her chair and placed her hands on her thighs. Her back did not touch the backrest.

“I've thought about it for a long time and... you're a really great partner, but I want a husband and children. I want to commit to Jayce, create a traditional home. Time is running out, I'm not getting any younger.”

Vi didn't know whether to burst out laughing or crying, so she just let out a short cry. Her eyes became even wetter and the corners of her mouth trembled.

“Great joke, honey,” she replied, looking for signs of amusement on Caitlyn's face, but she didn't see any.

Her expression soured.

“You're not kidding?”

“No, Vi,” Caitlyn replied, still maintaining eye contact.

She was so... cold.

“I'm meeting Jayce today. I think he's planning an engagement,” she said matter-of-factly, as if she wasn't breaking Vi's heart at all. As if the shy touches of her hand, the tender kisses, and the ecstatic cries during moments of passion meant nothing. As if they didn't run a household together, didn't have a third dying peace lily in the corner of their bedroom, or a favorite playlist they usually dance to while cuddling in the living room. As if their whole life could be erased in an instant and as if she wasn't the whole world to Vi.

“I'm moving out tomorrow,” she added curtly, and Vi felt an itch in her nostrils and a wave of heat rising to her face.

She blinked intensely, trying to hold back the tears that were inevitably about to stream down her cheeks. She succeeded.

“But...” She cleared her throat as her voice broke. “Everything was fine yesterday,” she said, looking at the blurry image of Caitlyn. The scrambled eggs were surely cold by now, but her tight stomach wouldn't let her swallow a bite anyway.

“It wasn't fine, Vi. You just didn't see it.”

Vi felt her heart racing, as if it were trying to burst out of her chest. Her eyes darted around, searching for help, but all she could see was cracked paint on the ceiling, a blanket left in disarray, a wooden lamp with a warm glow, abandoned glasses, and an empty bottle of red wine.

“Did wine hurt you? Do you have a hangover?”

Caitlyn sighed again, irritated. She was about to say something, but Vi interrupted her.

“Okay,” she raised her hands in a gesture of surrender. “I'm sorry. Give me one more day, I can fix this.”

Caitlyn placed her fingers on her temples and began massaging them with slow, circular movements.

“You have a headache after all?” Vi asked hopefully, but she backed off as soon as Caitlyn gave her a look that seemed to be taken from Cassandra Kiramman when her only child announced that she was dating Vi ‘a bad-tempered lower-class woman who constantly wears the same sneakers that should have been thrown away two years ago.’

“Fine, you have one day,” Caitlyn replied, taking her fingers away from her temples. Her tone still lacked its former tenderness; it was firm, but slightly gentler. “But I'm still going to meet with Jayce.”

Vi gave herself a mental high five.

When Caitlyn finished eating and disappeared into the bathroom to get ready for her date with Jayce (what an absurd idea to set them up!), Vi wolfed down her now completely cold breakfast, shoving it into her mouth as if it were about to magically disappear from her plate, and then set about tidying up the kitchen.

I wonder if Jayce knows how to put his plates in the dishwasher. I bet that idiot wouldn't even know how to do laundry, let alone use advanced technology like a mop and bucket.

Vi was about to go to the bathroom and ask who would clean their very heterosexual (she still didn't believe that part) shared nest, since Caitlyn had always had servants in white gloves do it for her, and Vi had naturally taken over that role when they moved in together. At the last moment she changed her mind, turned on her heel and disappeared into the depths of the kitchen. She opened the refrigerator door to inspect the chicken breasts in plastic packaging, the chanterelles, the mascarpone, and the leftover vegetables, when the sound of heels clicking on the floor caught her attention. Caitlyn looked... stunning. The short, tight black dress left little to the imagination, long earrings with stones that reflected the light hung from her ears. The neckline was large enough to make Vi blush, and a pendant hung between her breasts. Her eyes were heavily lined with shadow. But the worst part was the stockings. Vi knew perfectly well that they were the ones she had bought for her. She wore them instantly and that night they didn't fall asleep until they saw the sun peeking over the horizon.

“Cait...” she whispered as she exhaled, unable to gather her thoughts for a moment. She cleared her throat, trying to restore clarity to her mind. “I didn't think traditionalists dress like that.”

“Women who prefer the traditional model of relationship must first lure a man with their charms and then prove to him that they won't give themselves up easily, which is why their dress code changes drastically after marriage.”

Vi felt the contents of her stomach rise to her mouth at the thought of Caitlyn and Jayce's wedding. What kind of absurdity was this?

“Are you quoting Wikipedia for alpha males?”

“If you want to fight for me, you'll have to try harder, Vi,” she replied, pulling her dress tight in front of the mirror. She put her phone, wallet, and a pack of tissues into the small purse she had to fetch from the depths of their bedroom earlier. “See you later, Vi.”

The room was filled with the sound of the door closing, and then there was perfect silence.

“You're going to drive me crazy one day, Kiramman,” Vi muttered under her breath.

She didn't know when the plan to ‘go to the store for pasta’ had turned into ‘follow Caitlyn and Jayce, because they always meet at the exact same café, and Vi just happens to know where it is,’ but as she adjusted her baseball cap and pushed her sunglasses up her nose, she decided that fate couldn't be changed. And it was definitely fate that had brought her here. After all, she was going to buy pasta, but she ended up at the café, so why not stay?

Part of Vi wanted to believe that she had forgotten about her own birthday and that Caitlyn had come up with the strangest surprise idea. However, her hopes proved illusory as she sat on a bench across the street and watched the scene unfolding at a café table on the street. Caitlyn reached across the table just to grab Jayce's hand. He was visibly embarrassed, but then leaned across the table and gave her a tender, quick kiss on the lips.

“Yuck, incest,” Vi muttered under her breath, grimacing as if she had just chewed on a slice of lemon. Sour as life, she would have thought, although on that day, the phrase sour as this absurdity would have been more suitable.

She still hoped it was just a bad dream which she would soon wake up from. On the way to the café, she tried to pinch herself more than five times (she stopped counting at five), but the longed-for morning with a warm, smiling Caitlyn wrapped in bedding instead of a surly heterosexual woman still did not come.

Young Kiramman, on the other hand, was laughing at something stiff Jayce had muttered, clenching her fingers on his hand.

Vi could have stayed in her safe hiding place, momentarily obscured by the cars rushing down the street between them, but would she be herself if she overcame her desire to hear what they were talking about (and if it wasn’t a secret birthday party)? Of course not. She got up and began to sneak forward nonchalantly. She tried not to lose sight of them, so once she almost hit a lamppost, and another time she kicked a fire hydrant with her calf. She let out a long moan of pain accompanied by a curse. Even the city infrastructure was against her today. Then she froze and slowly turned toward the lovers (yuck!). Fortunately, they were too busy with each other to notice anything happening across the street. Vi decided not to turn around again, but instead sprinted straight to the nearest traffic lights. Then she allowed herself to look in the direction of Jayce and Caitlyn, who had her back turned. He was pulling something small and square out of his pocket, opened it, and then... Vi slid her glasses down her nose in dismay as Jayce slipped a diamond ring so huge that its sparkle could be seen from across the street onto Caitlyn's finger, who seemed delighted. Caitlyn, not finger.

Disgusted, Vi shook her head in disapproval. Not only did Cait hate flaunting her wealth, but she would never, ever fall for Jayce. And yet. Vi tried to pinch herself again, but her mind remained too clear to even take into consideration that she was sleeping. Two red marks from her fingernails remained on her hand. She swallowed hard when the light turned green. She quickly crossed the street and, without taking her eyes off the ugly Jayce's diarrhea-colored eyes (she never liked him), she approached the table abruptly. When the treacherous scoundrel turned his gaze in her direction, she turned on her heel and stormed into the café. The bewildered barista raised her eyebrows in surprise, and before she could ask if it was a robbery, Vi leaned her elbow on the counter.

“Espresso. Double. Black as life and bitter as my dating life.”

A mixture of consternation and amusement flashed across the barista's face.

“I don't know anything about your dating life, but maybe if you invite your significant other to our place, everything will change?” she said, smiling to herself.

Vi pushed her glasses up to the tip of her nose to look the poor girl straight in the eye and replied gloomily:

“It's too late, someone did it for me.”

The girl did not engage in further discussion with her, but turned back to the coffee machine. Vi paid with the coins she had dug out of her pocket, then drank her coffee in one gulp, as if she had mistaken the café for a bar and the espresso for vodka, then took a glass of water and, without unnecessary thanks, sat down at an outside table next to the couple in love. With her back to them, she used the last of her willpower to refrain from punching Jayce in his crooked face.

“Where did we leave off?” Caitlyn chirped. She. Was. Flirting. With. This motherfucking bastard. Vi felt the contents of her stomach rising, so she took a sip of cold water to ease the increasingly intense waves of stomach acid, stress, and growing anger. She wiped her sweaty palms on her pants and rested her head on her hand, listening to the rest of the conversation.

"Ummm.” Jayce, how eloquent nasty fucker you are! “Leave what?”

Caitlyn giggled. In a way reserved for evenings spent together over wine, a wooden lamp, and inventing breaky-upy bingo. Or breakup bingo. Whatever. In a way meant for her: Vi.

“You silly goose. A wedding in Majorca in August, followed by a honeymoon in the Caribbean.” The clink of the mug against the glass surface of the table indicated that she had just taken a sip of coffee from her cup. Vi could imagine the lipstick mark on the light-colored ceramic. “I want to conceive the first child on our wedding night.”

Vi felt the blood drain from her face. She tried to focus her gaze on the water swaying from side to side in the glass to remind herself that she was holding it in her hand and that it was her hands that were shaking.

“Do we have to look so far into the future?” Jayce asked, confused.

“Of course,” Caitlyn said indignantly. “There's no time to waste, I'm not getting any younger.”

“As you wish.”

Simp.

Vi cleared her throat loudly, refraining from saying it out loud.

“How much time do you have left for me today?” Caitlyn asked sweetly, and Vi jumped up as if she had been burned.

Not only did she have to prepare a charming dinner that would bring Caitlyn back to herself (and to her), but she also couldn't risk being exposed. With a loud scrape, she pushed back the metal chair and, trying to walk away, caught her foot on the table leg.

She cursed under her breath when the glass of water tipped over and shattered into tiny pieces on the glass tabletop. Now she really had to run. So she took off, telling herself that she would have to come back the next day and pay for the broken glass, and ran toward the store.

The choice of pasta had never seemed important to her before. Fusilli and penne were too... phallic. Shells seemed too suggestive, and bows... Actually, bows were fine.

She managed to prepare the chicken, clean the mushrooms (although she was ready to throw them in the trash halfway through the cleaning process) and fry the remaining ingredients for the sauce, but there was still no sign of Caitlyn, so she went out onto the balcony, where she was hit by a wave of warm but crisp air. She shielded her eyes from the sun, which instantly invaded her pupils. Before taking another step, she looked around carefully for mock nests, dead pigeons, or other surprises she definitely didn't want to step on. Fortunately, she found nothing, although the day was so strange that she wouldn't have been surprised if a pigeon had pooped on her head and started giggling maliciously like the humanized animals in Studio Ghibli films. She passed the round table with two chairs, where on days like this they sometimes ate breakfast, to rest her elbows on the railing and pull a worn cardboard box out of her pocket. She didn’t smoke in months. The first drag of cigarette restored some stability to her mind. She glanced at the ivy-covered fence that separated the outdoor seating area from the neighbors. A sigh. The smoke drifted up to the leaves, which trembled slightly.

I wonder if poison neutralizes poison, she thought about the fight between tobacco and poisonous ivy leaves, and suddenly she heard a familiar laugh. She felt her heart leap into her throat—warm and dancing, as if they hadn't shared the same apartment for a couple years. Like a silly teenager in love who sees the object of her affection only in her dreams and the school hallway.

Caitlyn stood under the stairwell, Jayce in front of her, her slender palm resting on his chest. She leaned over his ear to whisper something so obscene that Jayce took a step back. Vi felt warmth between her fingers only to realize that she had broken the cigarette in her clenched fist. She struggled with herself for a moment not to throw it at Jayce's head, watching his hair catch fire. She made her mind and finally extinguished cigarette it in a pot of ivy and left it there. What if Caitlyn went with him to the hospital instead of coming home for a dinner and everything went to hell?

The water was bubbling in the pot, just waiting for Vi to throw the pasta in. But the girl decided to drag it out a little longer—if Caitlyn was testing Vi's limits, then Vi would make the boiling water wait. Unfortunately, neither the furiously fried chicken, the browned chanterelles, nor the cream that had almost been curdled could compensate for her terrible day. She began to regret waking up when the room filled with the click of a lock.

“Hello, prin...” She stopped mid-sentence under Caitlyn's reproachful gaze. “...cipled girl?” she finished, raising her eyebrows, and Kiramman just rolled her eyes.

She left her heels by the door, dropped her purse on the edge of the table, and began to tie her hair into a careless bun.

“I don't deserve the dressed-up version anymore?”

Caitlyn looked at her searchingly.

Great job, Vi. You're doing fucking great.

Then a smirk crept onto her face.

“You just feel more comfortable around me?”

“I just don't want to drag you into bed.”

Ouch.

“You already did that multiple times.”

Caitlyn growled, sinking into one of the chairs. She crossed her legs.

“It smells nice,” she said, initiating conversation.

“Jayce wouldn't cook something like this,” Vi retorted mischievously.

“Are you trying to steal me away by denouncing Jayce?”

Vi fell silent for a moment, draining the pasta. She hissed when the steam burned her forearm.

“What does ‘denouncing’ mean?” she finally asked.

Caitlyn remained silent. Vi wanted to repeat the question, naively assuming that she probably hadn't heard it, but as she placed the plates on the table, she saw a look of disapproval.

“Jayce may not be a master chef, but he is exceptionally eloquent.”

Eloquent my ass.

Vi remembered the eloquent “um” and shoved a mouthful of pasta into her mouth to hide the ironic smile spreading across her face.

Caitlyn raised an eyebrow, her gaze fixed on the rude lack of manners.

“And he knows how to behave at the table,” she replied.

Vi felt a wave of uncontrollable frustration wash over her.

“Is this some kind of game, Cait?” she asked, putting her fork down on her plate. She hadn't gauged the force of her movements, because the cutlery clattered loudly and aggressively, emphasizing her hostile attitude. “If so, I've lost, you can stop now.”

Caitlyn chewed the bite she had in her mouth. She swallowed it with unbearable slowness and got up to get napkins from the kitchen cabinet. She left one on the table near Vi's elbow and wiped her mouth with the other after taking her seat. Vi kept her eyes on her the whole time. On the one hand, she wanted to tell her to get out, and on the other, she wanted to take her on the table, regardless of anything else—the broken plates, the wasted food on the floor, or even how much her own desperation would be revealed.

Then Caitlyn spoke.

“I decided to give you one last chance because you wanted it. But if you're backing out, let's not waste any more time.”

“How can I want it when I can see that all you're thinking about is going back to that stupid amateur with his anvil and hammer?” Vi raised her voice, gesturing wildly and knocking over a plate, which hit the table with a loud bang.

Caitlyn snorted, looking away.

“How am I supposed to want to be with you when instead of trying, you just explode?”

“Cait, what's wrong with you? You were never interested in Jayce.” Vi watched as Caitlyn left her plate of uneaten dinner, let down her hair, and walked to the door. She put on her high heels, which clicked as she turned toward her to make a farewell gesture. “What's changed?” Vi asked painfully.

Caitlyn adjusted her purse on her shoulder.

“Apparently, you don’t know me. You never did.”

She didn’t slam the door. Instead, she closed it with the delicacy befitting an heir to the Kirammans. The keys left in the lock jingled—she hadn’t even taken them, as if she had decided she didn’t need to come back here—to their home, their life, to Vi.

She let out a cry of despair, but Caitlyn either didn't hear it or didn't care. The apartment was filled with a steady squeak that could only be heard in perfect silence.

Chapter Text

The first thing she felt before she opened her eyes was an insistent dryness in her throat. So she rushed to the bedside table, where a glass of water had been thoughtfully placed. She felt movement under the covers and heard Caitlyn sigh quietly. She turned toward her and rubbed her eyes. She didn't know what shocked her more: Kiramman's presence or the fact that after the horrendous amount of alcohol she had consumed the previous evening, she didn't even feel a slight headache lurking at the back of her skull. Not that it was bad news. On the contrary. Although Vi couldn't remember when Caitlyn had come home (in fact, she hadn't expected her to come home at all). Kiramman must have come into the bedroom and laid down next to Vi, who was stinking like a liquor store, once she was asleep. She wasn't proud of her bottle-fueled coping, but despair had gotten the better of her.

Now Caitlyn looked like she was in a peaceful sleep, as if she hadn't left Vi for Jayce the day before. Long eyelashes resting on her cheeks, lips slightly parted, full cheeks. Vi wanted to place her hand on one of them and wake her up the way she liked best — with a kiss, during which Caitlyn would involuntarily press her body against her just to open her eyes, and say...

“Good morning, Vi.”

Vi jumped out of her thoughts and spilled water from her glass.

Caitlyn giggled.

“I thought you were asleep,” Vi grumbled, taking another sip of water just to keep her mouth busy before asking about her wedding date with Jayce or the planned name of their first child.

“You're awake already? It's early,” Caitlyn replied. There was a hint of morning hoarseness in her voice — a sound that reminded her of home, lazy weekends spent in bed, and morning wrestling during playful squabbles over who would make breakfast. Vi always caved in to the argument about the burnt kitchen, the soulless break of her favorite plate—completely accidental, of course—and the hour-long wait.

“Yeah,” she replied dryly, setting the glass down on the counter with a dull thud, then suddenly she heard a giggle. She froze, as if any movement of her body might break the illusion of a return to normality. After a long moment, she turned slowly, thinking that straight Caitlyn had probably read Jayce's charming message, but to her great surprise, she noticed that she didn’t stare at her phone. She was looking at her instead, bringing her hand close to the long strands of hair falling between her shoulder blades and combing them briefly. Her hand naturally slid down her back and moved to her chest as Vi turned around.

She looked with surprise at the hand that Caitlyn did not withdraw, then straight into her blue eyes, searching for disgust or some other sign of discomfort, and then back at the hand that Caitlyn had placed on her chest, as if trying to feel her heartbeat.

“Your heart rate is elevated,” she said with a doctorly air, to which Vi snorted, smiling with the corners of her mouth. “Are you that excited about Jinx's party tonight?” Caitlyn's eyes lit up and her face instantly beamed.

Vi, in turn, propped herself up on her elbows, looking at Kiramman's face with genuine surprise. No Jayce, no wedding, no talk of perfect straight life of infected by alpha-male ideology straight Caitlyn. It had to be a trick.

“Jayce will be there too, right?” she grumbled, narrowing her eyes suspiciously.

“Why would he be there? Jinx doesn't even like him,” she replied with a frown. “Did you have a bad dream?” she asked, tenderly placing her hand on Vi's cheek, who felt her heart swell in her chest. Her eyes were warm, focused solely on her. Vi felt like the shattered pieces of her heart were put together into the whole.

“I'm so glad you're back,” she whispered and pulled her close, hugging her tightly.

“W-what are you talking about?” Kiramman managed to say. “Hey! You're crushing me,” she said, still choking on her words, but giggling at the same time.

When Vi finally let go of her, Cait took a deep breath.

“When did you get so strong?” she asked with a mischievous smile.

“I always have been,” Vi snorted in response, though she was actually bursting with joy that Caitlyn must have hit her head hard the day before and suffered a concussion, which had undeniably passed. Or maybe it really was just a bad dream? She really wanted to believe that.

Vi had one more thing to do before Jinx’s party, so she left Caitlyn, who had thrown half the contents of her closet out, unable to decide on the right outfit. She wouldn't listen to arguments about “five hours left until the party” and “no need to do it that early panicking”, but Cait had to plan it now, immediately. Instead of taking Vi's advice, she launched into a half-hour tirade about how none of the elegant outfits befitting the Kiramman daughter were suitable for a bar. The Kirammans don't go to bars. After the 30^th minute of the monologue Vi slipped out of the house and headed to the cafe. The same barista who had served her the day before was standing behind the counter.

“What can I get you?” she asked impassively, as if she didn't recognize her at all.

“Am I that unremarkable?” Vi asked with a mischievous smile on her face (which she couldn't wipe off since Caitlyn had called her “girlfriend” during the tirade), but the café employee just frowned in confusion.

“I have no idea what you're talking about, but I'll be happy to take your order because there are already two people waiting behind you.”

Vi took out her wallet and began rummaging through the coin pocket.

“Actually, I came to settle the bill. I broke a glass yesterday and I want to pay for it.”

The barista's gaze did not light up with a sudden flash of recognition. Instead, she seemed even more confused.

“Are you sure it was here?”

Vi looked around the café. She even turned around and located the table where Caitlyn was leaning over the counter to kiss Jayce on the lips (yuck! The mere memory of it sent unpleasant shivers down her spine).

“One hundred percent,” she replied, turning back to the barista.

“No one broke a glass here yesterday,” she added, scanning the growing line. “Can I get you anything?”

Strange.

Vi studied her for a moment. She thought she looks sharp, but in reality she was pursing her lips and raising one eyebrow, so she must have looked incredibly stupid.

“No, thanks,” she replied, then put her wallet back in a pocket and headed for the door, accompanied by the indignant stares of the customers.

⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆

Caitlyn bit her lip, thinking intensely about something. Her gaze was fixed on the long fringe falling over Vi's eye and nose, though her eyes seemed absent.

Vi nodded, trying to encourage her to get whatever was clearly bothering Kiramman off her chest.

“You're staring at me like you've seen the Virgin Mary. And you know I'm far from a virgin,” she replied with an amused smile.

“I just...” She trailed off, as if suddenly at a loss for words. This time, Caitlyn's gaze wandered somewhere around the bar.

Vi frowned. Caitlyn always knew what to say. Even if she had to talk back to a horny construction worker whistling at her by the roadside, she could bring him down with a single sentence. And she didn't even use a single fuck! Something was wrong.

Vi closed her warm fingers around Caitlyn's cold hand and squeezed it gently to give her a brief impulse of support. When Caitlyn looked up at her, Vi felt her stomach turn. In those blue eyes, she saw regret, sadness, and all the bad news she could possibly hear.

Oh no.

“I prefer someone younger over you,” she began, then swallowed nervously.

No, no, no, no... This isn't really happening.

“Jayce is older,” Vi blurted out, and Caitlyn frowned, looking at her searchingly.

“What does he have to do with it?”

Vi felt like running out of the bar and punching a boxing bag until she passed out from exhaustion. Or better yet, turning “someone younger” to boxing bag. Her hand fell limply to her side.

“Who is it this time, huh?” she burst out, rolling her eyes.

“It-it's...” Kiramman stammered. She cleared her throat into her clenched fist, regaining her composure. “It's Jinx.”

Vi felt as if the ground was slipping away from under her feet, the bar spinning to fall on its side like a dollhouse, and she herself hitting her head on the hard floor, rough with sand and sticky with spilled alcohol. None of that happened, though. She was still standing, and in front of her was Caitlyn, concerned stare plastered to her face.

“Vi?” she asked weakly.

Then a fire filled her whole body – fierce and unstoppable.

“One day you tell me you're straight and you're going to marry Jayce, and the second you fell in love with my fucking sister?!” she snapped. She was sure what came out of her mouth was a shameless scream, though her own voice sounded muffled, as if she were hearing it through glass.

Caitlyn frowned and tilted her head like a dog who doesn't understand what's going on. She was adorable, but Vi focused on not noticing that at all costs.

“Straight? With Jayce? What are you talking about, Vi?” She shook her head, staring at her as if she were out of her mind.

But who would be in that situation?

“How old is she anyway? Sixteen?!” she blurted out angrily.

“What is your problem?” Caitlyn's face flushed with irritation. “You know she's 21.” Her tone of voice suddenly changed into something milder. “I’m aware this isn't easy for you to hear, but you can't change the desire of my heart.”

Vi sighed in exasperation. She closed her eyes for a moment to massage the bridge of her nose, and Caitlyn was already disappearing from view, dangerously close to the bar where Jinx was clinking mugs with Loris.

“Here's to new beginnings!” Jinx cheered so enthusiastically that her voice cut through the music.

Caitlyn leaned her elbow nonchalantly on the bar and spoke to the bartender. Jinx turned instantly in her direction, made an indefinable expression, and Caitlyn... Caitlyn winked at her. That was too much.

⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆

A slender figure sat down on the stool next to her.

“Hey, sis,” Jinx said, leaning on the counter and trying to peek at Vi's face, which was framed by her hair as she sat motionless with her head down and her hand wrapped around a thick-bottomed glass filled with amber liquid. “Empty gaze, pursed lips, and... is that a tear? Guess you're not in the mood for chit-chat, huh?” She laughed briefly and without cheer.

Then Vi let her head fall limply onto her forearm resting on the bar. The glasses rattled. Tears tickled her nose, falling with a quiet thud onto the dirty floor, when the distressed face of Jinx appeared between Vi's legs. Vi raised her head to hide her face in her hands.

“Seems like you're having a bad day, huh, sis?” She heard a voice right next to her ear. She frowned because it was definitely too loud. A tickle on her forearm made her frown, only to realize it was Jinx's braid. Her younger sister was definitely too close in a nosy way Vi didn’t feel like dealing with that time. She moved sideways on the stool, taking the opportunity to drink the whiskey waiting in her glass and signal to the bartender that she wanted another. Then she hid her face in her hands again. “Damn it,” Jinx cursed under her breath, then spoke to Vi again. “Are you having a really bad day because you're stuck in some kind of time loop where your girlfriend keeps breaking up with you?” she asked timidly. Her voice grew quieter with each word as Vi straightened up more and more, tensing every muscle in her body. And she had a lot of them. “I think you've been overdoing it at the gym lately, Vi.” She laughed without joy, slouching more and more.

Vi was no longer sitting on a stool at the bar. Instead, she was standing behind the hunched body of her younger sister, towering over her by a head. Her hands were clenched into fists, her nostrils flared, and her eyebrows were furrowed.

“What do you know about it?” she hissed through clenched teeth.

“I shot?” Jinx tried to smile shyly, but jumped when Vi slammed her fist on the bar counter. The glasses rattled warningly, attracting the bartender's attention. Jinx held her hands out in a gesture of surrender. “Okay, okay. I think you could use a megadose of Vi-lium, sister.” Jinx stared at her expectantly. “You get it? No? Such a shame.”

Vi just growled, and that was enough to make Jinx jump again and start talking.

“Sooo a week ago, I went to an antique shop and found this kind of black magic witchcraft abracadabra book there.”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

Vi wasn't angry anymore. She was furious.

“Be patient, you'll find out in a minute,” Jinx continued undeterred, though her voice was still thin and weak. "And in that book... I found a recipe for a potion that makes people break up.

Vi's eyes, though wet with tears, sparkled with pure rage.

“But I added a little something of my own and...” She paused, resting her chin on her hand in thought. “Wait.” She held out a finger, even though any sane person would be afraid that Vi would bite it off. “Who drank the orange juice?”

“Why the fuck does it matter?” Vi snapped, using the last of her willpower to stop herself from scratching Jinx's eyes out so she could never read anything again.

“Because I kind of poured the potion into the orange juice, but it was meant for Caitlyn to drink, not you.”

And then Vi remembered how Caitlyn had taken the orange juice out of the fridge to find that it had a strange color and consistency.

“Maybe your noble stomach can't digest it, but mine sure can.”

“Even your plebeian stomach can't handle spoiled food,” Caitlyn retorted in a matter-of-fact tone, but Vi was already opening the juice and drinking the whole bottle in one gulp.

She breathed deeply, her nostrils working intensely, expanding and contracting again. She rested her forehead on her hand, trying to calm down. To no avail.

“Did you want to do that to Caitlyn?!” she exploded.

Jinx wiped a drop of saliva from her cheek.

"No, that's not it. I wanted you to break up with her so we could be together again, like in the good old days, but error 404 occurred and something… went... wrong?

Vi's face reddened. Then the bartender placed another glass of whiskey on the counter, so Vi drank it in one gulp and put cash on the counter.

“Let's get out of here,” she ordered in a tone that brooked no argument.

Caitlyn chose this perfect moment to appear next to Jinx and take one of her braids in her hands, stroking it tenderly.

“How did you grow your hair so long?”

Jinx almost fell over, jumping away from her and snatching the braid from her delicate hands.

“Are you crazy?!” she blurted out.

Vi clenched her jaw tighter when she heard Kiramman giggle, smiling sweetly as she looked straight into her younger sister's eyes.

“I'm afraid if there’s anything I'm crazy about, it’s you, Jinx,” she said flirtatiously.

Vi wanted to scream and bang her head on the counter, but before she could take a deep breath, Jinx was already grabbing her elbow and pulling her toward the exit.

“Where are you going? I'm not done with you yet,” Caitlyn's voice rang out.

The bar door slammed shut behind them, and the crisp evening breeze cooled their hot faces.

“That was the most terrifying and disgusting experience of my life,” Jinx blurted out in one breath, putting pointing finger in her mouth and pretending to convulse.

“So now you don't want Cait to break up with me?” Vi asked venomously. Her eyebrows twitched dangerously, as if she might explode again at any moment.

“Something just went wrong, I didn’t want your ug… girlfriend to hit on me. That's probably because I added elderberry syrup,” Jinx tried to explain, but Vi still wasn't buying it. They walked steadily toward Jinx's apartment.

“If only you'd mind your own business instead of...”

“I'm sorry!” Jinx shouted. “I'll try to fix it, okay? There should be a recipe for an antidote in there.” 

“Where?!”

“In my book!”

Vi sulked, kicking a stone that appeared right next to her shoe with all her might. It rolled down the sidewalk, bouncing merrily. Unlike her. Vi neither bounced nor felt merry. She sighed deeply.

“All right, let's try to fix this,” she replied, calmer now. Jinx looked up at her. Her large blue eyes were fixed on her older sister's face with hope.

“So you're not mad at me anymore?”

“Don't push it,” she grumbled warningly.

An awkward silence fell between them, which Jinx finally dared to break:

“If you were a dog, what breed would you be?”

“A Malinois.”

An unpleasant shiver ran through Jinx's body.

“And you'd be a Chihuahua, so I could kill you with one snap,” she muttered. At least she wasn't yelling anymore, though suppressed anger still lurked in the depths of her voice.

“But who would help you break this nasty curse then?” she asked hopefully. “He-he?” Vi, however, was not laughing at all. Her lips remained tightly pursed, her eyebrows furrowed, and her well-built body radiated tension. “Did you know that Chihuahuas actually have brains that are too big for their skulls? They have headaches their whole lives, which is why they're so unpredictable.”

“One more word...”

Vi didn't have to finish the sentence.

“Okay, I'll shut up.”

Jinx's apartment resembled a battlefield rather than a place where someone could live.

“Did someone rob you?” Vi asked. Her face relaxed a little.

Jinx blinked several times, looking at her sister with complete incomprehension. She pouted her lower lip and shook her head.

“No, why do you ask?”

Vi scanned the room once more. All the drawers of were open, their contents spilling onto the floor. The large wardrobe against the wall had suffered a similar fate. The bedding was tangled, a plush monkey was diving face-first into the mattress, its paw and tail hanging limply from the wooden frame.  The nightstand remained open. An army of candy wrappers, notebooks, pink and blue pens, markers, a tattoo machine, and more items that Vi couldn't identify at first glance were piled up on the desk.

“Even homeless people have better living conditions. Are you a hoarder?”

Jinx rolled her eyes.

“You're exaggerating,” she said, kicking clothes, a rustling chocolate cookie wrapper, and more pens aside to put a single feet down on the floor. “It's not that messy in here.”

Vi looked around the room skeptically.

Jinx picked up a pillow from the floor and threw it to her sister, who caught the soft object in midair.

“Here, sit down.”

Vi spread her arms, still clutching the pink furry pillow in one of them, and raised an eyebrow.

“Where?”

“Here.” Jinx pointed to a pile of clothes on the floor, and Vi sighed heartbreakingly, throwing the pillow roughly onto another pile of stuff.

“Careful!” Jinx scolded her. “Rosy has feelings!”

“I thought I was crazy when Cait said yesterday that she wanted a husband and children. Today she changed her mind and wants to get together with my adult sister, who still gives names to the fucking toys!”

Jinx snorted under her breath as she rummaged through her things.

“Where could it be?” she muttered, as if thinking aloud.

“You don't know?!” Vi raised her voice again.

“Calm down, sis. I'm energetically connected to my room, I'll find it in a minute,” she replied in a deranged voice, and Vi flopped down on the unfortunate pillow and hid her face in her hands.

“Here it is!” Jinx's satisfied cry filled the room, and she lifted her head to see a dark leather-bound notebook.

“Are you sure that’s the right one?” She frowned. “It doesn't even have a title,” she added skeptically.

“You're such an amateur, Vi.” Jinx rolled her eyes. She plopped down on the bed and began flipping through the pages. “Ha! There you are!”

Then she looked up at Vi, who was still sitting on Rosy.

“Don't you want to see?”

“I'm afraid I'll be swallowed up by quicksand made of your trash,” she grumbled in response, so Jinx closed the notebook and repeated the process of rummaging through things herself. Every hole she dug was filled in again as soon as she lifted her foot off the floor.

She sat down on the clothes next to Vi and spread the book on her lap, then began to quickly flip through the pages. Vi could bet that she was only paying attention to the pictures.

“Here it is! A vial of purple poison straight from the mouth of the venomous Cai...” She paused, glancing at Vi, who seemed too determined to reclaim her life to worry about insults now.

The handwriting did not indicate any printed source, which made the book even more suspicious. Jinx began tracing her finger across the text, muttering under her breath.

“Here are the ingredients, here's the recipe...”

“It's not a fucking cake, Jinx,” Vi mumbled, but her younger sister seemed undeterred.

She narrowed her eyes.

“When did you drink orange juice?”

“The day before Caitlyn announced she’s into Jayce.” She cleared her throat, and Jinx burst out laughing.

“That's hilarious. Are you sure you don't want to stay here...?”

“NO!” Vi interrupted her sharply. “I already told you about this. Anyway, focus.”

“What time of day? What were you doing then?”

“In the evening. I was drinking wine with Caitlyn, we were watching a reality show, and then we were gossiping about Misty and Leona's latest breakup. Does that matter?”

Vi scanned the text again and sighed.

“If ingredients are added, removed, or their proportions changed, the potion's effects may be multiplied or negated. The potion is context-sensitive,” she quoted.

“Context-sensitive?” Vi frowned, confused by the vague term. “How do you undo that?”

“I've got it!” Jinx clapped her hands excitedly and accidentally closed the notebook with her thighs, so she had to flip back to the drawing of a vial of purple liquid. “In case of adding, removing or changing the proportions of ingredients, the counter-potion’s...” Her expression soured as she continued to scan the text, though she stopped reading aloud.

“What is it?” Vi tried to look over her shoulder, then, impatient, took the notebook from Jinx's pale lap and began to read it herself. “WHAT DOES IT MEAN THERE’S NONE?!”

She looked at Jinx with a mixture of anger and resignation. She slumped down onto the pile of clothes, covering her eyes with her hand.

“It's not all doom and gloom,” Jinx tried to comfort her. “We just have to be creative!”

“Like you were creative when you added the damn syrup, juice or whatever eye of the newt it was and made it impossible to reverse?!”

Jinx shrugged.

“I wanted it to taste better,” she explained, putting on an innocent face.

Vi whimpered under her breath, mentally cursing the day her younger sister was born.

“At least my wish came true,” Jinx smiled to herself.

Vi let out a heavy sigh—one that carried the weight of years, experiences, and having a disturbed younger sister who tries to ruin your life at all costs.

“What wish?” she asked resignedly.

“I got you back.”

Then Vi suddenly jumped up.

“What time is it?” she asked in panic. Jinx stuck her hand straight into the mess scattered on the floor to dig out an electric alarm clock with the Barbie logo, which announced that it was 9:37 p.m. “I don't know what will happen if I don't go back home tonight. I should go now.”

“Will you come tomorrow?” Jinx asked pleadingly.

“I probably won't have a choice,” Vi grumbled, a little more friendly now, though she rolled her eyes.

“We'll think of something,” Jinx said hopefully, and Vi looked away from her. She managed to extricate herself from the sea of things and stand in the doorway. “Vi?” a quiet voice called.

“What?” she replied unpleasantly, but without the previous anger.

“I'm sorry.”

“You're not welcome.”

“You accidentally added ‘not’.”

“No accident detected. Bye.”

And she was gone.

When she returned home, she was greeted by dim lights and a deafening silence seeping sadly from every corner of the apartment.

Strange, she thought. Caitlyn definitely wasn't at Jinx's place and couldn't have stayed at the bar that long. She doesn't even like bars! At least, not my non-enchanted Caitlyn.

“Cait?”

She made her way through the living room under cover of darkness to enter the bedroom, where she saw a pair of glowing eyes staring at her. She was lying in bed, bathed and fragrant. Vi shed her clothes at record speed and lay down on the mattress, placing her knees in the crook of Kiramman's. She pressed her breasts against her warm back, covered with a satin shirt, and hugged her tightly around the waist, burying her nose in her neck. She took a deep breath. The euphoria caused by the familiar scent mixed with sadness.

“Did you really break up with me today?” she asked quietly. She felt her throat tighten and an unbearable heat rush to her face. She couldn't allow herself to cry, so she pulled Caitlyn closer to her, eliciting a muffled groan from her, and buried her nose in the collar of her nightgown.

“You know I did, Vi,” she replied matter-of-factly. Her voice didn't suggest she was falling asleep. It was very clear, as if she had expected the question, made a whole plan for the conversation, and practiced her answer in front of the mirror. “I can't be with you when I love someone else.”

Vi couldn't stop a single tear from desperately rolling down her temple, leaving a wet mark on the pillow. She sniffed and felt Caitlyn start to stir, so she raised her hand and moved to her side of the bed. Then something unexpected happened. Instead of getting up, taking her pillow, and going to sleep on the couch, because they were no longer together, Caitlyn pulled her close and hugged her to her ample breasts.

“I don't want you to cry because of me.” Caitlyn's calm voice broke the silence in the bedroom. She ran her hand through Vi's hair and began to massage her scalp with slow movements. “I was very happy with you, Vi.”

“I'll fix this,” she whispered softly. Determination lurked in her eyes. She didn't yet know that breaking the curse Jinx had cast would be very difficult, if not impossible.

Chapter Text

Sleep came suddenly. Vi couldn't remember if Caitlyn had said anything else the night before, she didn't even know if she had fallen asleep in her arms, because they woke up apart—each sleeping on her own side of the bed. She couldn't remember if she had brushed her teeth before falling asleep, although her breath—surprisingly fresh, devoid of the taste of digested alcohol, suggested that she probably had.

But if I hadn’t, then I think I know the reason for today's breakup, she thought, rolling her eyes.

Then she found out what she definitely hadn't done before going to bed. Her bladder felt full to the brim, as if someone had put a balloon in it in the evening and inflated it during the night. She got out of bed and, with the sluggishness of a hungover hippopotamus, made her way to the toilet.

After emptying her bladder, she stopped in the living room. The dawn sun was shining through the gaps in the curtains, casting a streak of light on the coffee table, where a wine bottle still stood, two glasses reminding her of the carefree days before Jinx started boycotting her relationship, and Cait hadn't tried to break up with her. Sun's rays cut the open notebook in half. She frowned and grabbed it in her hand. The notebook, there’s no way she could grab a sun's ray. She’s not that crazy, or at least that’s what she kept telling to herself.

She saw the bingo they had created two days earlier.

Lesbian breaky upy breakup bingo

The first box read, “But I'm straight,” and the second, “I fell in love with your sister.” Then she had a revelation, as if she suddenly understood that the earth was flat, vaccines caused autism, or she had seen The Creator himself (in reality, she was not a conspiracy theorist nor did she believe in God, but in a twisted way she understood how euphoric an experience of conversion must be).

"Jinx's strange hocus pocus is connected to bingo!” She felt an overwhelming urge to share her discovery aloud, even though there was no one else around. Then she looked at the prophecy for the third day (she wouldn't be surprised if, in her drunken amusement of the day zero, she had actually written “unbrushed teeth”).

SARAH FORTUNE ( ｡ •̀ ᴖ •́ ｡)

She frowned, still not taking her eyes off the notebook. She tore out a page with a crooked table and hung it on the refrigerator.

Vi

Your stupid curse is connected to bingo.

Jinx

What curse? What bingo? Did someone finally hit you so hard that you’re hallucinating?

Vi sighed deeply, trying to chase away the rising anger, then, tapping hard on the touch keyboard, explained the situation to her younger sister.

Jinx

It works! Wow, I'm amazing

I mean

Of course I'll help you sis

So what’s the Jinx’s jinx of the day?

Vi

Sarah Fortune.

Jinx

AHAHAHAHA

I wanna see that!

Vi dropped her phone on the counter and began to think about a solution herself, as her younger sister was clearly not eager to help.

Caitlyn was jealous of Sarah's scrupulous, though unsuccessful, attempts to win Vi's heart. It didn't make sense for Sarah to suddenly express interest in Cait. On the other hand, Kiramman had broken up with Vi to spend the rest of her life with Jayce, and then tried to hit on her younger sister. The conclusion was simple though hopeless: nothing made sense in this cursed alternate reality.

Vi scratched her chin as she looked at the bingo square.

Then her phone vibrated.

Jinx

I can’t believe I’m doing this

But

Maybe try not to let her break up with you?

If Sarah hits on you again, just brush her off

Bingo!

Younger sisters can be useful sometimes.

For example, to fix their mistakes and undo the curses they've cast.

“Vi?”

She looked up from her phone and saw a well-known silhouette leaning against the doorframe, rubbing her sleepy eyes. She felt a wave of heat wash over her, because Caitlyn was wearing only her underwear. The set, consisting of a bra and a mesh top covering her stomach and high-cut panties, made her legs seem even longer, and the thin fabric of the bra accentuated her erect nipples.

She exhaled, placing the phone on the edge of the table. Caitlyn flinched as the device fell to the floor with a crash. Vi seemed unconcerned about the potential damage, because instead of checking if the phone was damaged, she began to walk towards Cait with a mischievous smile on her face.

“Please don't tell me you're going on a date with Sarah dressed like that,” Vi muttered in a lower voice than usual. She couldn't stop smiling, Cait’s outfit causing a little sensation in her stomach. Despite the quiet voice in the back of her head telling that Cait was definitely going on a date with Sarah, because she was stuck in a strange Groundhog Day alternative (caused by Jinx's curse, which cannot be ignored), she was unable to suppress her primal instincts.

Caitlyn frowned, scanning her face for signs of a fall or hit on the head—bruises on her jaw, bloody cuts on her cheeks, or at least a bump in the middle of her forehead, but there was nothing.

“Sarah?” she repeated, surprised. “Your muscles are so impressive, Vi. Which gym do you go to? Maybe we can go together?” she sneered, imitating Sarah's sweet voice.

Then Vi grabbed her waist and pulled her close. She could feel Kiramman's warm morning breath on her face, their lips only inches apart.

“Sorry, Sarah, I'm busy,” she winked at Caitlyn, who rolled her eyes in response, though she couldn't help but smile. “Although my girlfriend seems to be in the mood for roleplay today, where she'll play Sara Fortune,” she added, and Caitlyn pushed her away, chuckling.

“You're disgusting, Vi,” she joked, and Vi giggled instead of taking offense.

Everything will be fine. We just need to stay home today.

Then Caitlyn picked up Vi's phone from the ground—the screen was completely cracked, and despite her tapping on it, it showed no signs of life.

“It's broken, we have to go to the repair shop,” Kiramman handed the device to Vi, who simply put it in her pocket.

“Let's do it tomorrow,” Vi pulled Caitlyn close to her again. Holding her in a tight embrace, she pressed the soft lips to her neck.

Kiramman felt a shiver run through her body.

“I'd love to, but Vi...” She paused, then sighed deeply, trying to pull herself together. “You're expecting an important call today. Did you forget?”

“It can wait until tomorrow,” she replied lazily, then kissed her neck again. She saw goose bumps covering her fair skin with tiny bumps.

“It can't wait,” Caitlyn groaned in disappointment and pushed Vi away with regret. “A representative from USA Boxing is calling today, did you forget? It's the last day to qualify for the competition. You've worked so hard for this...”

Vi felt a cold sweat break out on her skin.

She was stuck in a time loop where Caitlyn broke up with her every day, but the days had to go on. The breakups had no consequences in the days that followed, but she wasn't sure if missing that call would ruin her chances of competing. But if they left the house...

“Shit.”

Vi bit her lower lip, thinking hard.

“Maybe I'll call from your phone?” she suggested hopefully.

“I’d love to let you do this. Do you know the representative's number by heart?”

Of course she didn't know the damn number by heart.

She pulled her phone out of her pocket and began tapping the screen hopefully. First gently, then harder and harder, as if that would suddenly bring it back to life. When a piece of the screen shattered onto the floor, Caitlyn grabbed her hand, so she stopped, looking at her in despair.

“We could try transferring your card to my device,” Caitlyn began to wonder aloud. “But I think your phone still supports larger cards than mine. I told you to replace it.”

“It was still working!” Vi raised her voice, for which she was reprimanded with a glance.

Caitlyn clasped her cool hand over Vi's warm one.

“Don't worry, I can go with you to the repair shop and we'll get everything sorted out, okay?” She smiled reassuringly, but Vi's heart was already pounding and her mind was racing to come up with a new solution.

What would Sarah be doing at the repair shop? She definitely wouldn't be there. I'll fix the phone, we'll go home, Cait won't break up with me, and everything will be fine.

Right?

⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆

Caitlyn looked uncertainly at Vi, who only stopped frantically tapping her foot when Caitlyn's hand rested on her knee.

“What are you nervous about?” she asked. Her blue eyes were full of warmth and concern.

I'm afraid you'll break up with me, she wanted to say, but she couldn't tell Cait about the curse. Who in their right mind would believe it? It was hard enough for Vi herself, and her mind was definitely more twisted than Caitlyn’s.

“Nothing. Why do you ask?” She twisted her lips into what was meant to be a comforting smile, but the look she received in response said (if only eyes could verbalize their thoughts... If only they could think... Never mind): You must be out of your mind if you think that caricature of a smile will convince me of anything.

Kiramman narrowed her eyes, watching a single bead of sweat roll down her forehead, her darting eyes, and her throat, which moved with every nervous swallow every few seconds. Vi wiped her sweaty palms on her pants, then grabbed Caitlyn's hand, though she didn't know if she was trying to comfort her girlfriend or herself.

They were sitting in the waiting room. Vi glared at an elderly man to whom the repairman was repeating for the third time that the screen turning off when the lock button was pressed was not a malfunction, that the battery had been replaced as asked, even though there were no visible screwdriver marks, and that they had not tapped his phone, that service would be much more expensive.

“Even more expensive?” croaked the old man. “Who ever heard of ripping people off like that?” he began to complain. “I went to the store the other day to buy some bread, and do you know what? The price had gone up 30%! In one day! Have you ever seen such thing, young boy?!”

Vi sighed deeply, and Caitlyn gave her a comforting handshake.

“I have to go to the bathroom,” she said.

“Take your time, even if you come back in half an hour, I'll still be here waiting,” Vi grumbled, and her girlfriend smiled sympathetically.

Caitlyn had just disappeared into the crowd in the department store hallway when the click of heels sounded. Vi already knew that this sound did not bode well.

As soon as she turned toward the entrance, she saw a figure with red curls, emerald eyes, and voluptuous curves accentuated by a tight green dress.

“Long time no see, Vi!” she replied cheerfully, sitting down on the chair Kiramman had been occupying just a moment earlier. She spoke at least two tones higher than Caitlyn. “Did your phone break too?”

Vi knew that if there were any gods, they had shamelessly chosen her as their ritual sacrifice.

“Sarah, it's been a while,” she replied, embarrassed, glancing nervously toward the door behind the redhead, who had instantly come into view. Sarah smiled charmingly, and Vi blinked several times.

“I was starting to think your girlfriend was keeping you away from me.” Sarah lowered her voice to almost a whisper, and Vi swallowed nervously. Then she felt Sarah's hand on her knee, so she jumped up as if she had been burned. “These phone glitches can be very stressful.” Sarah crossed her legs just to stretch out and grab Vi's hand. “But please, don’t make a scene. I don't bite,” she replied more calmly, pulling Vi back to her chair, “unless you ask me to.” Sarah chuckled, and Vi took the opportunity to glance at the door, where Caitlyn's familiar silhouette was still nowhere to be seen.

Then she swept her eyes at the old man who was talking away, the bored repairman, just to stare a bit too long at Sarah with her sparkling emerald eyes and full coral lips. She thought they were fuller than Caitlyn's lips, and when she looked up, she realized that Sarah was staring with unhealthy interest at the scar across her upper lip. Vi felt a warmth in the pit of her stomach. There was something exciting about the tension hanging between them. In fact, Sarah had always been her type. Why had they never officially become a couple?

“You didn't answer my question,” Sarah said in a low voice, staring hungrily into gray eyes. She bit her lip slightly, extremely pleased with herself when Vi's eyes wandered down as she uncrossed her legs just to do it again. As if she wanted to attract her gaze with a movement.

“What question?” Vi frowned.

“Did your phone break, or are you here for fun?” There was amusement in her voice.

“I love hearing stories about bread rolls getting more expensive because I have nothing else to do with my free time, how did you know?” Vi snapped in response, rolling her eyes and taking the opportunity to glance toward the counter where the older man was still standing, showing the repairman something on his phone screen.

Sarah giggled sweetly, placing her hand on his muscular arm, and then Vi saw Caitlyn standing right next to them. Her hands were on her hips and she had a stern look on her face. She cleared her throat. Loudly, clearly, reproachfully. Sarah, however, instead of withdrawing her hand, only clenched it tighter on Vi's shoulder, as if testing the hardness of her biceps.

“Hello, Sarah,” Caitlyn replied coldly, staring at her intently.

Vi cursed herself again for leaving the house that day. She could have been exploring the roughness of the mesh covering her flat stomach and searching with her worn hands for new places that made Caitlyn’s toes curl involuntarily and her back arch. She could have listened to moans of pleasure and not cared about anything.

Instead, she was faced with a scene straight out of a Shakespearean drama or a cheap romantic comedy (delete as appropriate). Caitlyn glared at Sarah with a look that could have killed, if only eyes were able to grow... I'm not even going to start.

A spark of challenge lurked in her emerald eyes. Sarah always accept a challenge. Those damn full (surely hot and soft) coral lips widened into an ominous smirk. Vi realized she had been watching them a little too long only when Caitlyn's next grunt snapped her out of her thoughts.

“Looks like you're having fun together,” she snarled.

Vi jumped up as if she had been burned.

Under usual curse-free circumstances, she would have smiled mischievously and not let her forget this scene of jealousy for another month. However, these were definitely not normal, curse-full circumstances, and Caitlyn would probably get brainwashed by curse to forget about this whole situation the very next day.

She grabbed Kiramman's wrist with her fingers, who was about to turn to leave. Caitlyn looked up at her instead.

Vi mustered up some nonchalance, a smirk appearing on her lips as a storm raged in blue eyes, lightning flashing across the darkening sky, and rain streaming down the smooth windows.

“Are you jealous, princess?”

Caitlyn blushed instantly, though the storm still lurked in her eyes.

“No,” she snapped, indignant at the very idea. She was supposed to be jealous of this class deprived individual?

Then they heard Sarah's voice:

“I don't want to interrupt the marital quarrel, but it's your turn.” She nodded toward the station where a limping old man was walking away.

Finally.

Vi found herself at the counter in seconds, fleeing in panic from an awkward confrontation (and inevitable breakup).

“What do we have here?” sighed the repairman, turning the phone in his fingers and trying to turn it on. “Ah, the screen needs to be replaced. That'll be five hundred.”

Vi's eyes widened in shock.

“How much?” she squeaked unnaturally high, clutching her heart theatrically.

“Take it or leave it, up to you,” replied the employee dispassionately, and Vi swallowed loudly.

Great. Not only am I stuck in a twisted Groundhog Day where my girlfriend breaks up with me every day, but now I have to spend a fortune to find out if I'll be able to earn enough money to survive.

She sighed deeply, trying to push the burgeoning anger to the back of her mind, but she only breathed deeper and louder when she felt a slender hand on her shoulder. She turned around in a flash, ready to push Sarah away with all her might, but it was Caitlyn standing behind her.

“Don't worry about the money, Vi,” she said, giving her muscular arm a comforting squeeze. “We'll ask for a repair,” she said to the salesman. “When will it be fixed?”

“Fifteen minutes to two hours,” he said.

“Why such a...?” Vi began suspiciously, but Caitlyn grabbed her hand warningly and nodded. She gave her number as a contact and pulled Vi out into the hallway of the shopping complex. Her usually cool hand was surprisingly warm and soft. Vi sometimes feared that the roughness of her own hands and calluses would hurt the delicate skin of the noblewoman. She even told her so sometimes, and Caitlyn emphatically showed her that she had nothing in common with the stiff nobility—on the contrary, she could let her animal instincts take over.

Then she remembered Sarah, who stayed at the repair shop.

“We didn't say goodbye.”

Caitlyn raised an eyebrow, looking closely at Violet's face, which was covered in cold sweat.

“Does it concern you?”

“N-no, come on.” She nervously adjusted the hood of her sweatshirt.

Then she saw Caitlyn pulling her toward the café.

“I can't waste money like that, I still don't know if I'll qualify for the competition,” said Vi, stopping and forcing her girlfriend to follow.

“Then keep me company,” said Caitlyn, smiling sweetly. How could she refuse?

She left Vi at the table and returned a moment later with two cups of coffee—one transparent, filled with a gradient latte, and the other creamy, with patterns resembling terrazzo.

She placed the latte in front of Vi, who looked at her suspiciously.

“Cait,” she began warningly, and Kiramman sank gracefully into a soft armchair and shrugged.

"I bought two, but I don't think I'll drink the other one.

How could she not love her?

Vi looked around nervously and, after determining that there was no threat from Sarah Fortune in the vicinity, breathed a sigh of relief. She lowered her shoulders and leaned back in her chair to see the consternation written on Caitlyn's face. She sat up straight, her knees together.

“Are you stressed about something?” Kiramman grabbed mug by the handle and brought it to her lips. She blew on the hot coffee, pursing her lips in a gesture that Vi unmistakably associated with a kiss. When Caitlyn looked up at her, she instantly blushed, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. Vi felt as if she were meeting her for the first time again. This slightly too nervous and even more charming girl from the upper classes. When she fell in love with the blue of her eyes, the gap between her teeth, and... the slightly less romantic assets of Kiramman's body. A grunt snapped her out of her thoughts.

“What did you ask?” Vi nonchalantly grabbed her coffee and began drinking it sip by sip, only to realize with disappointment that it was gone. “Has it always been this small?” she grumbled, looking suspiciously at the glass, which now contained only milky foam. Caitlyn laughed.

Just like old times.

“You don't have to stress anymore, the phone will be fixed,” she replied warmly. Her face was painted with satisfaction. She had defeated Sarah. Both of them did.

Vi didn't know how it happened, but apparently she had managed to escape the curse. She settled down more comfortably when, completely unexpectedly, a familiar voice rang out. High-pitched, chirpy, and definitely not Caitlyn's.

Colorful shopping bags and a beige purse with the letters MKMKMKMKMKMK printed on it fell onto the third chair placed next to the table... Immediately behind them appeared a figure that made Vi's hair stand on end, her shoulders instantly tensing again. She shifted uneasily in her seat.

Caitlyn stared at her intently.

“Hi, girls!” chirped Sarah. She dug the rustling bags from behind her back, placing them at the foot of the chair, and finally took out a leather purse with a gold chain attached to the strap and placed it on her lap. Sarah was wearing a tight-fitting dress that left little to the imagination, tights only a few shades lighter than her skin tone, and beige suede slip-on heels. A very short dress, Vi suddenly realized.

“Was shopping successful?” Caitlyn asked, putting her coffee cup on the table and staring intently at Sarah.

“You bet! Fifteen minutes was all it took, who would have thought.” Sarah giggled, and Vi felt her stomach clench dangerously.

“What are you doing here, Sarah?” Vi's voice sounded enthusiastic, even though she put all the boredom and reluctance she felt into it.

“Caitlyn invited me.” Sarah stretched her coral lips into a smile that could just as well have been a sarcastic remark, because Vi felt as if someone had slapped her in the face.

So Caitlyn will dump me for Sarah after all? Such a perfect example of fuck me situation.

“I thought you might want to finish your conversation,” she replied calmly and blew on her cup of steaming black coffee. “So I invited Sarah to join us.”

An awkward silence hung between them for a moment as Caitlyn shifted her intense blue gaze to Vi, as if to say Don't let me down. If only she knew that Vi really didn't want to disappoint her.

“I don't even remember what we were talking about,” Vi said, scratching her head in embarrassment.

Sarah pouted and looked away, thinking for a long moment.

“Do you remember when my parents kept the Mermaid in the harbor to sell the loot on the black market in your hometown, and you came running to me?”

“I remember!” Vi's eyes suddenly lit up unhealthily. “I walked them to Benzo's, and then we spent time together. You gave me my first tactical fink knife.”

“I don't think it stayed with you for long,” Sarah snorted, which clearly embarrassed Vi.

“Unfortunately, I was robbed after a week,” she replied sadly, and Sarah leaned over, clasping one hand on the flap of her purse and placing the other on Vi's knee.

“Don't worry, Vi. You were only twelve at the time,” she said in a low voice that vibrated between them and sent a shiver through Vi's body. The sweet scent of vanilla seemed to envelop her in a trail, leaving traces bordering on dirt, yet at the same time causing a small sensation inside the enchanted girl. “But when I came back four years later, I brought you different kind of gifts,” she added, still in the same low voice.

Vi was sure that Caitlyn had heard everything. She also knew that she should brush away Sarah's omnipresent hand, which was now stroking the fleshy mound above her knee with her thumb, causing electrifying shivers invisible to the naked eye but very clearly felt. However, something intangible made her... unable to do so.

Vi frowned, trying to keep a poker face.

“What gifts?”

Sarah's loud laughter filled the café, as if claiming all rights to it for a moment.

“Myself, silly,” she added more quietly.

Caitlyn's meaningful grunt disappeared in the echo of Vi's pounding heart.

“Sarah, I think it's time...” she began, but the addressee interrupted her, her emerald gaze fixed on Vi.

“I think my bra strap has come undone. Vi, can you help me?”

“O-of course,” Vi stammered. As soon as Sarah stood up, she jumped to her feet as if driven by a spell. She felt Caitlyn's reproachful gaze on her. She didn't even have to look at her to know what expression she had on her face. She knew she was wrinkling her nose, that one nostril was bigger than the other, how she was curling her lips and squinting her eyes. And she could have sworn that she wanted nothing more than to tear her eyes away from the siren who was trying to pull her to the bottom of the ocean, but... she couldn't.

“Which one?” asked Vi, eyeing her up and down.

“Not here, silly,” Sarah giggled. She sounded like a lovesick young fool, whom Caitlyn had an overwhelming urge to throw off the roof of a nearby skyscraper. At that moment, Fortune slipped her fingers into Vi's palm to pull her toward the restrooms. “Watch my shopping, Kiramman,” she said as she left.

Vi heard only an angry snort behind her, but the vanilla scent stuck to the hairs in her nose, clouding her senses and robbing her of the ability to make rational decisions.

Sarah hurriedly weaved her way through the crowd, not caring whether Vi bumped into people or not. Just as she was about to get angry at her for having to dodge again so as not to trample innocent shoppers, Fortune apparently sensed it, because she turned over her shoulder and gave her a smile that eased every pain, softened the deepest wrinkle, and reduced all emotions to one obscene image. It wasn't long before they burst into the bathroom with such violence that the brunette drying her hands, who was carelessly looking at herself in the mirror, stopped mid-motion and made eye contact with Sarah. Fortune must have shown the poor woman something terrible, because she threw the paper on the floor and ran out in panic.

“Which strap is it?” Vi asked naively as Sarah devoured her with her eyes. Without a word, she slid down the strap of her dress, revealing her bare shoulder. Vi swallowed hard, greedily devouring every inch of pale skin with her eyes. Then Sarah turned her back to her, the bra strap matching the color of the dress hanging limply. Vi caught it between her fingers, leaned over Sarah's ear, and whispered.

“Turn around to me.”

Fortune obeyed.

Vi still held the stretched strap between her fingers when she smelled the scent clinging to the abundant curls, one strand of which had separated from the intricately styled hairstyle, so she brushed it behind Sarah's ear with her other hand. The warmth of the girl's cheek drew her in with a mystical force, and coral lips rested on her own. They were even softer than she had imagined. Sarah kissed greedily, as if she knew exactly what belonged to her and had no intention of explaining herself to anyone. This time, Vi belonged to her, feeling one moment a hot tongue between her own lips, and the next, teeth painfully knocking against her own. She didn't know when she had wrapped her arms around Sarah's waist and pulled her close, but it lasted that long.

“Vi? Sarah? Are you ther...”

Caitlyn's voice was like a bucket of cold water, because Vi immediately pulled away from Sarah, clenching her hands on her hips and pushing her away.

Suddenly, she remembered everything—the curse, the bingo, and the fact that she had to avoid breakup at all costs.

Caitlyn ran out, leaving Sarah's shopping bags at the entrance, and Vi rushed after her.

“Cait, wait!” she shouted, but Caitlyn was already disappearing among the silhouettes of passersby.

What kind of sick fucks go for a walk in a mall?

Vi set off after her, looking for blue hair. She thought she had lost her when she saw a familiar silhouette behind the revolving doors, so she rushed between one wing and the other, which moved with such unbearable slowness that she made a basic mistake—she pushed the glass wall. The doors suddenly stopped.

It was impossible for Caitlyn, standing right next to the door, not to hear the curse shouted, but she apparently decided to politely ignore it.

The door started moving again, and Vi followed it with furious tip-tops, finally bursting out into the fresh air.

“Yes,” Caitlyn nodded into the phone. “That's right,” she added after a moment.

Vi found herself right in front of her face. She could have sworn her eyes were red from crying, even though she remained calm and professional during the conversation. She felt something tighten in her chest when she saw Cait like that.

“Cait, I...” she began, only to stop abruptly when Caitlyn pointed her index finger forward, looking at an indeterminate point above Vi's shoulder.

“Thank you very much, goodbye,” she said formally to end the call.

Then her expression changed instantly. Her previously gentle features became sharp, a frown appeared between her eyebrows, and her blue eyes flashed with anger.

“How could you do this to me?” she raised her voice, looking reproachfully into the gray eyes.

“Cait, I'll explain everything.”

“What use are your explanations to me now, Vi?” she snorted, gesturing intensely, still holding the phone in her hand. “Of all people, why Sarah?”

“Because she was at bingo?” Vi twisted her lips without a smile, neither stating nor asking. Her face showed hope that Caitlyn would burst out laughing or, even better, fall into her arms and be ready to listen to the whole twisted story, and then decide not to...

"With that stupid stunt, you ruined our chances for a future together....

…break up with me.

“USA Boxing called, you got in,” she replied coldly, pressing the phone into Vi's bewildered hand. "Good luck.”

And she walked away. Just like that.

Chapter Text

Vi woke up with her head so heavy and sore that she thought she must have hit it, but wasn’t able to recall such event. She sat up, cursing under her breath. Before she even opened her eyes, she began rubbing her temples. Despite her closed eyelids, the room seemed surprisingly bright, and there was a sweet, floral scent in the air. If she had to guess, she would say it was rose-scented perfume, although to her, all flowers smelled like roses, and when she admitted this, Caitlyn called her a disgusting ignorant. Later that day, she would say that she loved her and that she would never condemn her to lessons in ikebana or choosing fragrances to match her outfit and the occasion, which made her grimace enough to quietly envy that ignorance.

The pain wouldn't go away, so she rubbed her eyes and opened them only to realize that she wasn't lying in her own bedroom. Her legs were covered with flower-patterned bedding. It was soft, yet seemed slippery on her skin. Wait... Am I naked?

The bed was pleasantly warm after a whole night, and the mattress was hard in a perfect way so that her body didn't sink into it too much. A velvet canopy in a dirty green color hung from the wooden frame. It was attached to one of the beams with a gold cord so that it fell decoratively at the top and hung frivolously at the bottom. The room behind it seemed sterile and white—a large built-in wardrobe blended in with the wall, betrayed only by its fancy gold knobs. Vi tried to make out the pattern embossed on them, but the room seemed too large to recognize it from this distance. On the other side of the room stood a tidy dressing table (something was wrong here—who has a tidy dressing table? Certainly not Caitlyn, who, in an act of protest against her parents' strict upbringing, allowed herself to maintain “rational chaos” — sometimes intentionally leaving her eyeliner on the counter, placing her perfume crookedly, and other times, after a few deep breaths, not wiping the bronzer particles off the smooth surface). Next to the dressing table was a massive gray chest of drawers with a plant standing proudly, its fleshy leaves curling as if to envelop the pink-petaled flower, which was leaning toward the light coming in through the open windows. Giant windows.

This property must have belonged to someone disgustingly rich, because who could afford a bedroom the size of their living room, kitchen, and hallway combined? Not that Vi had any idea how millions accumulated in a bank account translated into housing standards.

The thought of “someone disgustingly rich” sent an unpleasant shiver down her spine. Caitlyn would surely have taken a deep breath first if she was her, but Vi immediately turned to the person occupying the space next to her in bed. However, she didn't see a face, instead a storm of hair with a familiar shade of blue interwoven with gray appeared before her. Interwoven with gray. She frowned, but immediately felt the throbbing in her temples increase, so she forced herself to smooth it out. This person looked just like Caitlyn from the future.

Awesome. Not only am I stuck in a breakup loop, but also a time loop. All I need now is the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come and we can open a tirement home. I’ll be a perfect fit, because I'm about to go gray myself.

Vi felt her anger rising. Once again, she vowed to murder Jinx with particular cruelty as soon as this nightmare was over. Then she felt the mattress vibrate. She glanced suspiciously at the person lying next to her, looking for any signs of pleasure, moans, or a fucking vibrator of the future in her hand. However, she seemed to be breathing calmly, as if she were still asleep.

Vi scolded herself for this frivolous thought and began fishing under her own pillow to retrieve her ringing phone.

Jinx

“Hey, Vi. Where are you?”

“In the last circle of hell. I was just thinking about how I'm going to murder you when I get out of here.”

The figure covered with a blanket—the same one Vi was under—moved slowly.

“Unless your lovely girlfriend beats you to it.” Vi could hear Jinx smiling artificially at someone. “I really don't know why you asked me to help you choose an outfit for the gala, only to have me wait here with her now. She's going to bite my head off!”

Vi snorted.

“I didn't know I was dating a mantis.”

“You'll find out soon enough. Seriously, I'm surprised you weren't her first victim.”

“Jinx!” she barked into the receiver. “If it weren't for you and your fortune-telling games, I'd probably be there already, but of fucking course you had to find that stupid book and get me stuck in this stupid loop!”

Only a quiet hum answered her.

“Jinx?”

Again, nothing.

“JINX!”

“Beep... This is six, five, five...”

“Your number doesn't even start with ‘six, five, five.’”

“Beep... The number does not exist I repeat: The number does not exist.”

“But you're the one calling, you jerk! I know you're there.”

Vi felt another wave of pain wash over her troubled mind.

“Hey!” Jinx shouted. “Hey! That's my phone, give it back...”

“Vi.” Jinx's monologue was interrupted by Caitlyn's voice, which sent a cold shiver through Vi's body. She clenched her hand around the device. “If you're not at Levis and Wolff in twenty minutes, I swear decapitation will be a blessing.”

Before Vi could decide whether to stammer out an apology, set boundaries, question Caitlyn's authority to threaten her, or remind her which one of them was a professional fighter, Caitlyn had already hung up. Then the screen lit up with five missed calls from Caitlyn and two messages, which she decided to forget about immediately after reading. After all, her goal was to prevent a breakup, not to cause unnecessary conflict. They could talk about it when it was all over.

Her train of thought was interrupted by a short grunt, so she turned her head toward the person lying next to her and jumped in surprise. She didn't know when she had opened her mouth, perhaps she didn't even realize she had done so, because it was only when Cassandra reached out her hand to close it with a gentle but firm movement. The bedroom was filled with laughter—warm, distinguished, and completely unknown to Vi until now.

“You'll have to come to me for another lesson in manners,” she said lightly, with a twinkle in her eye that clearly suggested that... that they...

“Did we...?” she asked, dazed like someone struck by lightning, her gaze still fixed absently on Cassandra.

Cassandra, with a gentle expression on her face and a coquettish look in her eyes, whose playfulness was not even masked by eye roll.

“That joke is getting old. You'll have to come up with a new one to amuse me.”

Vi swallowed and ran her fingers through her hair. Her head stopped hurting instantly, but her heart was beating unnaturally fast. Cassandra's blue eyes seemed to devour what was left of her sanity as she slowly slipped out of her bedclothes. Then Vi did what she knew best. She reached for her, covering the distance between them with one swift movement. She clenched her hand on the fabric of her nightgown and brought her face close to Cassandra's, which showed a smirk instead of terror.

“Caitlyn can't find out about this,” she growled, wrinkling her nose like a frightened animal whose only defenses were its fangs and claws.

And then Vi realized that nightgowns aren't usually this soft and round, and that they don't feel like skin... She looked down to discover that Cassandra wasn't wearing one. Actually she wasn't wearing anything. And her hand was clenched around a surprisingly shapely and firm breast.

She jumped back as if burned, and Cassandra giggled (She can giggle?!).

“I instructed Gabby on how to make you coffee,” she replied calmly, watching with undisguised amusement as Vi frantically pulled on tight pants and a sports bra that had been a good two sizes too small and, despite its substantial elastane content, was difficult to put on. “Pieter will take you to try on your outfit before the gala.”

Vi froze with yesterday's T-shirt in her hand.

“When’s the gala?”

Cassandra sighed irritably.

“Today. You could be better organized. I thought Caitlyn would have taught you some manners by now.”

Another unpleasant shiver ran through Vi's body at the thought of Cassandra using her own daughter to educate her. Stomach acid began to rise in her throat as her unbearable mind conjured up images inspired by what she had agreed to the night before, because the whole situation left no doubt – she had had sex with... her... mother-in-law!

She reached the door (thanking herself in her mind that she hadn't confused it with the perfectly flush closet) and was about to rush out when Cassandra's firm voice stopped her.

“Vi.”

She stood rooted to the spot and turned to her mother-in-law, who was standing completely naked by the bed. Her gaze was no longer amused, but deadly serious.

“Of course Caitlyn can't find out about this. Go now.”

So she went.

Gabby greeted her with a takeaway coffee cup bearing the Kiramman crest, so Vi took two sips and left it behind. Was there anything more foolish than taking such obvious evidence of a crime to a meeting with Cait? Arriving in the Kirammans' limousine, which was waiting at the door of the mansion Vi had just left.

“I can't go with you, Pablo.”

“It’s Pieter, not Pablo,” he replied, slightly irritated. “I insist, miss. You have fifteen minutes until your appointment, and this is the fastest way to get there. Otherwise, the trip will take an hour.”

What was worse? Ending up headless or letting the love of your life find out that you slept with her mother? Cait said that something worse than decapitation awaited me.

She nervously bit her lip and hurriedly got into the limousine. Before the butler could close the door, she slammed it shut. The whole vehicle shook. Pedro let out a sigh, betraying his growing emotions, which he could apparently afford to show in Vi's presence.

On the way, she nervously bit her nails, and when she began to recognize familiar streets, she said:

“Drop me off a kilometer before that store, Pedro.”

The driver sighed irritably, muttered something in a foreign language under his breath, and replied with angelic patience:

“It’s not Pedro, but Pieter, miss. I received clear instructions from Mrs. Kiramman to get you there as soon as possible. That would delay our arrival...”

“Sure, Pedro,” she said, nervously scanning the buildings as they passed by, and suddenly opened the door. The vehicle stopped abruptly. The driver raised his hands, raising his voice with them.

“But miss! You can't just...!”

She didn't hear the rest of what he said because she jumped out of the car and started running towards the store.

Vi thought she was lucky when she didn't find Caitlyn and Jinx standing outside the store, but she quickly reconsidered her situation when she saw the mannered salesman, who gave her such a critical look that even Queen Elizabeth herself would have felt like she had just come out of a garbage can. Caitlyn, on the other hand, avoided looking at her altogether, instead exchanging knowing glances with the salesman, who shifted his weight from one foot to the other, theatrically sticking out his butt.

“Where did you find this rat, sweetheart?” Obviously gay man pointed at Vi, looking her up and down. “You're not going to tell me we have to turn it into Cinderella by six o'clock.”

Caitlyn sighed in despair, grabbing the mannered man by the arm as if she were about to shout, “What terrible news do you bring to my household, dear Pierre?” Okay, that would be over the top, even for her.

“I'm not going to be any fucking princess,” Vi growled. She stuck her chest out, making herself look even more massive, and approached the man close enough to deliberately violate his personal space. He didn't seem to mind, though, because he just waved her off, taking Caitlyn's hand in his.

“This will be the most spectacular transformation of my career.” He looked Caitlyn straight in the eye, smiling encouragingly.

“I always knew I could count on you,” she replied with unfamiliar enthusiasm. Unfamiliar to Vi, because Caitlyn never behaved so... frivolously with anyone else. The whole spectacle elicited a sigh of undisguised irritation from her.

“If you're done cooing like lovebirds, you can start the torture now.”

“Don't exaggerate, sis.” Jinx suddenly appeared, as if she had grown out of the ground. “I'm sure you've been through worse things than trying on suits. Like watching your sister try on suits, for example.”

“Prison torture sounds fun,” Vi grumbled.

When Cait disappeared behind a suspicious velvet curtain with Pierre (she didn't know his name, but his pronunciation of “r” was very soft and suited a mannered Frenchman, so she decided to call him that), she turned her gaze to her younger sister.

“Where did you come from?”

“Um... I've been here the whole time?” Jinx spread her arms, and a smirk appeared on Vi's face.

“Maybe if you weren't so short, I would have noticed you right away, midget.”

Jinx's face instantly turned purple. She took a deep breath and began her tirade:

“And you wonder why I put a curse on you...” She stopped when her older sister's hand covered her mouth.

“Be quiet!” whispered Vi. “Cait doesn't know anything and she can't find out.”

“Boabo?” Jinx babbled, so Vi decided to take a risk and removed her hand from her sister's mouth, though she kept it at the ready. “Why?”

Vi turned on her heel to glance at the people walking on the sidewalk outside the shop window. A woman in a thin red coat stumbled, regaining her balance at the last moment. She looked right, then left, and, relieved that no one had seen her stumble, she proudly continued on her way. Vi bit her lip.

“Vi?” her younger sister's voice rang out. The older sister turned toward her. She glanced anxiously at the curtain from behind which Caitlyn's melodious laughter could be heard.

“I'll tell you,” she whispered so quietly that Jinx had to read her lips, “but you can't tell anyone, understand?”

Jinx raised her hands in a gesture of surrender, then grabbed the clasp of an imaginary zipper with one hand and pulled it across her mouth, pressing her lips into a thin line. Then Vi leaned over Jinx's ear.

“WHAT?! With CAS...” Jinx didn't finish again, because Vi, her heart pounding, covered her mouth with her hand again, pressing her fingers painfully against her cheek.

“Fuck, Jinx!” she whispered furiously. “I'm reminding you that it's because of you that I'm in this situation and...”

This time, Vi fell silent in an instant when the curtain rustled and a smug Pierre emerged from behind it with something made of fabric slung over his shoulder (fortunately without frills or lace), followed by Cait, who trotted along behind him with dignity. The sisters jumped apart as if burned, drawing two confused glances.

Before the confrontation, however, Pierre grabbed Vi's elbow with two fingers and pulled her into the dressing room.

“Please, ripped pants screaming elastane went out of style five seasons ago. I won't even comment on that barbaric T-shirt out of respect for our regular customer,” he lamented, hanging the pants and jacket on a hanger.

“Didn't anyone teach you what individuality is at your school for conceited assholes?” she snorted.

Pierre stopped mid-motion, then turned to her on his toes and put on the same irritating expression he had when he called her a rat.

“You're as individual as the hundred thousand other people who wore an H&M T-shirt with the Sex Pistols logo on it today.”

Then he left, carefully closing the dressing room door behind him.

“What size does she wear?” She heard a not-so-masculine voice coming from behind the dressing room door.

“38, but...” Caitlyn trailed off.

“The Amazonian, I know everything already,” Pierre interrupted her. “You take it to her, I think I heard the sound of a buckle hitting my designer tiles IMPORTED FROM ITALY.”

“Of course I'll take it to her.” Unlike that loudmouth, Caitlyn didn't seem upset at all. There was amusement in her voice, as if she was incredibly pleased with the whole situation. For a split second, Vi was tempted to tell the truth about her and Cassandra, but she quickly came to her senses.

The sound of the door opening made her look up to meet Caitlyn's hungry gaze in the mirror as she stood in women's boxer shorts covered by ripped pants and a T-shirt that clung to her biceps. She held the elegant pants in her hands, twirling them between her fingers.

“It's great to have you here, Cait,” she replied with relief in her voice. "Where's the button on these pants?

Kiramman chuckled as she hung up the white shirt she was holding.

“They don't have one, they're zipper pants,” she replied calmly. “Don't look at me like I'm crazy,” she said, wrapping her arms around her waist and resting her chin on her shoulder. She grabbed the pants in her hands, turning them over and showing the zipper on the side. “Here.”

“What kind of soft porn is this, I thought you’re done ban...” The rest of Jinx's statement was lost in a loud cough that suddenly came over Vi. Jinx sighed deeply. “You're disgusting,” she said when the noise subsided and closed the dressing room door, which Caitlyn must have forgotten about.

A mischievous gleam flashed in Kiramman's eyes as she bit her lip and, in a moment, her nimble fingers unbuttoned and unzipped the tight, intentionally ripped pants, sliding them to the floor as she crouched in a way that sent a wave of heat through Vi's body. She turned to see Cait, with a smirk that could only herald something dangerously delightful, trying to pull one of the legs over her foot, so she lifted it to make it easier. The other leg went just as smoothly, and Cait prepared the new pants, positioning them so that Vi could easily slip her feet into the legs. The diabolical smirk only widened as she pulled the pants higher and higher with unbearable slowness.

“End my torment...”

Then something unexpected happened. Caitlyn left the pants above her knees, instead diving face first into the fabric of her boxers, kissing them in a place she knew exactly how sensitive it was.

“Ooohhh, Cait,” Vi moaned, weaving her fingers through strands of blue hair, pressing her head against the source of pleasure. Cait stuck out her tongue to tease the sensitive clitoris with just the tip.

“Where did you spend the night?” she whispered, and Vi froze in an instant.

Well done, Vi. Could you be any more obvious about hiding something?

She tried to appear relaxed, but she knew it was a poor attempt.

“Didn't I tell you that I stayed late at practice and slept on Vander's couch?”

Caitlyn raised her head, bombarding Vi with her gaze.

“That's interesting, because I called Vander today and he said that yesterday you left on time,” she said reproachfully.

Vi felt herself starting to sweat nervously. Her palms were clammy, her armpits were damp, and a bead of sweat was forming dangerously at her hairline. She had to come up with something fast. Very fast. Actually, yesterday. She hadn’t expected her alternate self from the past to come up with a sensible alibi. Or maybe she had, but the present Vi didn't know about it? She swallowed nervously.

“Actually, that was earlier. Today I slept at your parents' house.”

Caitlyn opened her mouth in surprise, forming a perfect “o.” Vi pushed away the intrusive thoughts of diving into those lips and avoiding further answers.

“I didn't think you might be there. What were you doing there? And why didn't you call?”

“Cas... Your mom asked me to help move something before tonight's gala,” she lied like a rug, and Caitlyn looked at her searchingly from under her furrowed brows.

“Strange, my mother usually asks the staff for help.” She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "I haven't verified this with her, but Vi.

“Yes, Cait?”

“If I find out you lied to me, you know what's coming, right?”

“Something worse than decapitation?”

“Much worse.”

Vi didn't want to test her luck. In fact, luck was testing her, or rather misfortune, dragging her through another day of walking straight into the lion's den. It was as if fate was cruelly mocking her.

When she came out of the dressing room, the shirt was uncomfortably tight across her back, forcing her to pull her shoulder blades together unnaturally, the jacket sleeves reached to the end of her longest fingers, completely covering her hands, and the pants were so stiff and tight that they restricted her movements.

“I'm not going out in this, Cait.”

“Show yourself, if something's wrong, Ulrich will fix it right away.”

Who’s Ulrich? Oh, you mean Pierre.

“No way.”

Pierre sighed irritably, then swung open the dressing room door himself, scrutinizing her appraisingly.

“Those pants fit perfectly!”

“Are you kidding?” Vi protested. “My legs look like gammons connected by knees! I want my pants back”

And that was her tactical mistake, because Ulrich's gaze wandered from the holey pants abandoned on the chair to the work of art tailored for her.

“This caricature of pants that should never have been worn?” he sneered, raising a perfectly plucked eyebrow in judgment. “You must be joking, dear.”

“At least in those I could knock down a werewolf, and in these I can't even sit down without fear of them tearing.”

Pierre sighed heavily and rolled his eyes.

“This can't be!” he lamented, gesturing with his hands.

The next suit was even worse, despite offering greater freedom of movement.

“Do I look like a fucking clover?” Vi protested. She stood in front of the dressing room door, hands on her hips.

“Certainly not a four-leaf clover,” Pierre muttered under his breath, nudging Jinx in the side with his elbow, which was pointedly ignored.

The bright green suit consisted of a fitted jacket ending at the hips and straight-leg pants that hugged the upper part of her muscular thighs. The only accent in a different color was the bright red lapel.

Jinx didn't even look up from her phone, and Caitlyn just shook her head, whispering something in Pierre's ear. Probably about darker colors, because when he brought a purple suit, Vi smiled like a child plotting something mischievous.

“I'll wear it if I can go to the gala wearing Joker makeup.”

Caitlyn gave her a look that could turn people to stone if she had less divinity and more monstrosity in her.

“I'd like to see that,” Jinx snorted.

“Ulrich!” Caitlyn shouted. The salesman's head popped out from behind the curtain. “We're not even trying that on, bring another one.”

When Vi came out of the fitting room, Pierre circled her like a predator preparing to attack, Jinx looked up from her phone, and Caitlyn's eyes flashed with adoration. Vi stood up straight, raising her arms. The black jacket turned out to be very loose. It perfectly emphasized her muscular figure and narrow hips, and the sleeves reached almost to her fingernails. There was a diagonal stripe pattern on the lapel, which Vi didn't particularly like, but she would have given her kidney for the chance to end this ordeal. The pants, on the other hand, fit perfectly, although they were a little too long.

“This one looks good.” Jinx shrugged boredly.

“We'll shorten the sleeves and legs within an hour,” Pierre replied.

“We'll take it!” Caitlyn smiled, shaking his hand.

“Does anyone care about my opinion?” Vi frowned.

“NO!” Pierre and Caitlyn shouted in unison.

“I thought we'd never get out of there,” Jinx yawned, stretching.

“That Pierre was so annoying. How can you get along with him, Cait?”

“Who’s Pierre?” Caitlyn frowned in confusion.

“You know, the French guy who sells suits.”

“He's German, Vi,” Kiramman informed her. “Ulrich Wolff. He even speaks with a German accent.”

Vi just shrugged.

“Now I know where his bad taste and fascist tendencies to subjugate his customers' individuality come from,” she muttered under her breath, and Caitlyn gave her a stern look.

“Vi, what a disgusting suggestion!” she exclaimed indignantly.

Vi bit her tongue before making another xenophobic comment.

⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆

“What have you been doing all this time?” asked Caitlyn, her fingers untangling the golden curtain made of thin strips shimmering in the light. She told her mother that ordering a kitschy decoration that was more reminiscent of a cheap 18th birthday party than a formal gala was a very bad idea, but her mother insisted. All the staff had already been assigned tasks, so the extra work fell to her and Vi, who shook the other end of the annoying curtain aggressively. Still, it didn't untangle.

“Shit,” she muttered under her breath, then turned to Kiramman. "I went to the cafe with Jinx, then picked up the suit, and you came back. She shrugged. “And now your mother has come up with something for us to do, as if we were some fucking kindergarteners who need entertainment,” she hissed through clenched teeth, giving the curtain the middle finger.

“You seem to be getting along well lately.”

“Not really.”

Caitlyn raised her eyebrows in surprise and looked at her, still holding the curtain in her hands.

“You spend a lot of time together, so I thought so,” she replied contemplatively.

Maybe I should have told her about the curse? No, I can't admit that I had sex with her mother, because she’d leave me and it will never end! Ugh, I feel sick again.

“She's my younger sister, there are always problems with them,” Vi admitted, returning to her interrupted work of untangling the curtain.

“I meant my mother.”

Vi choked on her saliva and burst into uncontrollable coughing. She could almost hear the steady clatter of gears turning in Caitlyn's high-speed brain as she analyzed every blink, every tremor of her lips, the temperature of the air, and the direction of the wind.

Does she know?

Vi turned pale instantly.

“I'm sure she still thinks I'm an ill-mannered troglodyte who's leading her innocent daughter astray. Why would anything change between me and your...?”

Suddenly, the spacious living room was filled with the click-clack of heels on polished marble-imitation tiles with beige veins. For a moment, Vi had the impression that the monumental sound would cause the rattle of crystals hanging from the majestic chandelier, which Caitlyn always referred to as “a threat to safety and good taste.” The oncoming person revealed herself in completely unsubtle way, as if she knew they were talking about her.

“Vi, my dear!” A melodious cry came from Cassandra, who was walking toward them, though she did not look at her daughter for a moment. Her eyes were fixed solely on Vi.

“Mom, are you going through a midlife crisis?” Caitlyn asked indignantly.

Vi had to stifle a snort, though at the same time she felt a wave of fear wash over her. As the day with Sarah had shown, she couldn't even trust herself.

The high heels were the least of her problems. The tight-fitting dress with ruffles on the sides and a neckline that almost reached her navel suggested that Cassandra felt a disturbing need to express her sexuality. Between her two round breasts (the texture of which Vi remembered very well under her fingers) was a silver chain with a light-reflecting tanzanite heart in a deep navy blue shade. Her lips were brushed with scarlet, and her eyelashes were definitely not as long that morning.

Vi stood up as if struck by lightning.

“Yes, Mrs. Kiramman?” she asked, standing up straight as a string. Caitlyn frowned, watching the performance intently.

“There are balloons in the hall, can you hang them on the hooks sticking out of the ceiling?”

Vi turned over her shoulder seeking approval to find Caitlyn's blue eyes fixed on her mother. The young Kiramman nodded. As she was getting up from the floor, trying to abandon the Sisyphean task of hanging the curtains, her mother stopped her with a wave of her hand.

“We won't need you, Caitlyn.”

There was a ladder in the hall, which Vi took under her arm, and she clutched as many balloon arrangements as she could hold in her hands, but one ribbon still slipped out of her grasp. Cassandra was walking right behind her, close enough to grab the balloons slipping through her fingers, taking advantage of the moment to brush her hand, injured from constant fighting. Vi felt a cold shiver run down her spine.

“Are you still getting into trouble?” Cassandra asked.

“It depends what you mean.” Vi smiled mischievously, and her mother-in-law snorted.

“I'm asking if you're still beating up passersby on the streets? Are you still stealing?”

Vi's expression immediately soured. She pressed her lips into a thin line and headed back to the living room without a word.

She dropped the balloons on the floor to set up a ladder under one of the hooks. She could feel Caitlyn's curious gaze on her back.

“You climb the ladder, and I'll pass you the balloons,” Cassandra ordered.

“I can climb it myself...” Vi protested, but her mother-in-law cut her off.

“Be quiet,” she said imperiously. “Get on.”

Now I know where Caitlyn gets it from, Vi thought, glancing at her daughter, who looked down at the curtain as if she had been torn from her frenzy and returned to untangling golden hair.

Vi just shrugged and climbed the ladder to take the balloons from Cassandra. She hooked them onto the hook and was about to climb down when a voice stopped her:

“Not like that, Vi,” she snapped. “The gold ones can't hang on one side and the white ones on the other, they have to be mixed, once one, once the other. Hang them differently.”

As Vi hung the balloons, she noticed Cassandra eyeing her buttocks. She felt her cheeks flush.

“That's good,” she replied approvingly, while Vi could still feel her burning gaze. As she climbed down the ladder, she glanced furtively at Caitlyn, who had once again stopped what she was doing to watch her and her mother with a frown. Then Vi did something very stupid. She hadn't even reached the bottom of the ladder yet, and she already wanted to go to Caitlyn, when her foot got stuck between the steps and Vi fell flat on the ground. The floor shook beneath her feet, and the crash must have startled the entire staff. Cassandra was the first to arrive—of course, she was standing closer—but Cait came running shortly after.

“Vi!” they shouted in unison, kneeling over the body muttering a string of expletives not worth repeating. Vi pushed herself up on her hands, and the first thing she saw was Cassandra's cleavage as she leaned over her.

“Now I know where you got them from,” she joked, dazed. She rolled onto her back and, deliberately staring at the carved patterns on the ceiling, rubbed her forehead with her fingers.

“Are you okay?” Cait asked, grabbing her other hand.

“I wouldn't lose to a ladder,” Vi snorted, which Caitlyn acknowledged with a quiet sigh of relief.

Then Vi sat up, and Cassandra put her arm around her. Vi looked at her with a mixture of consternation and fear, so she backed off.

“You can go get ready now, there's nothing for you to do here. I'll ask someone else for help,” she replied coldly, and Caitlyn threw Vi's arm around her neck and wrapped her arm around her waist.

“I'm not that bad, princess.” Vi winked at her, trying to get up bravely, but if Caitlyn hadn't tightened her grip at the right moment, she would have fallen to the ground again.

“I can see that,” she replied with amusement.

“Are you sure you're okay?” Cait asked, sitting down next to Vi on the giant canopy bed. Vi swallowed her comment about another bed in the same house.

“Yes, I feel normal now.”

“Mother confirmed that you spent the night here after helping with the preparations. She also mentioned yesterday's incident with one of the butlers, who ultimately didn't show up for work,” said Kiramman, her gaze fixed absently on the front door. “You don't even know how happy I am,” she added after a moment, this time turning her head toward her addressee. “After your recent lies, I thought you were betraying me again.” She lowered her gaze.

AGAIN!?

The real Vi had no idea what the alternate Vi had done, or rather who she had done it with, but she wanted to give her a good beating. With her and Sarah, it was a completely different situation! It wasn't her, it was Jinx's weird hocus-pocus that pushed her into that disgusting behavior.

Then Caitlyn lowered her voice, and something shiny, horny, and focused solely on Vi appeared in her eyes.

“Do you want to hear about my new dress for tonight's gala?”

“Why would I listen when I can see it on you before it's even released?” Vi's gaze slid from her eyes to her lips, which stretched into a smile. Caitlyn brought her face close to Vi's cheek so she could feel her warm breath on her neck and a brush of lips on her earlobe so delicate that she wasn't sure if they had actually touched it or if they were close enough for her mind to play tricks on her.

“You won't see it before the gala, sweetheart,” she murmured, and Vi let out a groan of disappointment.

“But at the gala, I won't be able to...”

“Hit on me?” Caitlyn came to her rescue. “That is strictly forbidden.” She moved away from Vi to look her in the eyes. “But you'll definitely want to when you see that my dress, in a color you won't recognize by name anyway, is perfectly tailored, hugs my hips, and only flares out at the knees.”

Vi purred with approval and let Caitlyn continue. Caitlyn aka that nasty, ungrateful provocateur lowered her voice to a whisper that had a very... stimulating effect on Vi.

"Plus, it has such an indecent cutout in the back that I have to forego wearing underwear.

Vi felt the blood drain from her brain and pool in a completely different place—one very susceptible to indecent visions of indecent dresses. She swallowed, trying to moisten her throat, which had suddenly become uncomfortably dry.

“What a shame we have to get ready already. If we both have to wash...”

“Then let's wash together!” Vi enthusiastically interrupted her, and Cait's eyes flashed dangerously.

The bathroom was spacious, like every room in the mansion. In addition to a toilet and a sink large enough for three people to brush their teeth at, there was both a bathtub and a shower, into which Cait eagerly pulled Vi, who had undressed at record speed. She grabbed the handle and pulled it. She underestimated her own strength, so she slammed the glass door, but Kiramman, instead of getting upset, placed her hands on Vi's cheeks to pull her in for a hungry kiss. One with a hot tongue, teeth bumping against each other, and oh, Cait.

She pinned her against the wall covered with large tiles, placed her hands on her hips, and tilted her head to take the lead. She tried to stick her tongue inside her hot, inviting mouth, but Cait didn't give up without a fight. Vi clenched her hands on the delicate skin, and Caitlyn squealed. Then she could use the element of surprise to start penetrating the inside of her lips with her tongue. Suddenly, she felt Caitlyn's hand on her sternum, so she pulled away from her with a loud smack. Cait had a mischievous grin on her face as she turned on the water with her other hand, which poured from the showerhead straight onto Vi. It was freezing cold, so she screamed piercingly, pressing her body against the laughing Caitlyn and finding the right spot on her neck, which she pressed her lips against and began to suck.

“Vi, stop, everyone will see!”

“That you belong to me? Fucking awesome.” She pulled away only to say that, then pressed her lips against the pale skin again. Caitlyn laughed even louder, trying to push her away. At least that was her plan at first, because she ended up wrapping her arms around her waist and pulling her closer, trying to close the last few millimeters between them. With a loud moan, she tilted her head to the side, allowing Vi to do everything and more. She bit her lip, but it was too late — everyone within a... very large radius had definitely heard her. Vi pulled away and began to admire her work.

“If you wanted to accuse me of domestic violence, I'd end up in jail,” she said proudly.

“Vi,” Cait snorted, “if I wanted to lock you up, one word would be enough,” she muttered, clenching her hand into a fist on a long strand of hair and pulling it so that Vi tilted her head back. “Because my name is Kiramman.” She looked down at her. Vi could have protested, she could have broken free and easily towered over Caitlyn, but at that moment, there was nothing more tempting than losing control. Fuck bingo, fuck the curse, and... No, don't fuck Jinx, that would be disgusting.

Vi felt the water running down her back become pleasantly warm as Caitlyn placed her hand on top of her head and began to press her down. Vi obediently bent her knees to finally kneel. The water ran down the back of her head, long strands sticking to her bare back, and Caitlyn brushed her unruly bangs behind her ear with unexpected tenderness. Then she wove her slender fingers through the strands and pulled Vi's head toward her own lap with unexpected force. Vi obediently opened her mouth, stuck out her tongue, and as soon as she tried to tease her, Caitlyn pulled her hair warningly—hard enough to hurt, but not enough to pull her away. When Vi dove deeper with her tongue to taste the mucus on her tongue, Caitlyn moved away from the wall, forcing Vi to pull her head back into the middle of the wall of water. At the same time, she held her close, not letting her move even a millimeter away. She tried to breathe through her nose until she finally broke away from Caitlyn and began to choke.

Once she had coughed up the entire contents of her lungs (perhaps lungs included), she cleared her throat, and before she could say anything, Caitlyn leaned against the wall with a dull thud and pulled her back into place, gasping at the contact of her sensitive clitoris with her full lips. Vi slid her hand down Caitlyn's wet thigh to dive two fingers between the folds of skin and...

“Oh!” she cried out in unexpected delight as the tips of his fingers teased her entrance. “RisKY...” she broke off when the tips, pushed in a little deeper, pressed against that hellish mound that sent waves of pleasure through her. She couldn't let that pass, after all. Even before Vi's lips twisted into a mischievous smile as she watched from below as Cait furrowed her brow, squeezed her eyes shut, and blissfully lost control, her head was back under the intense stream of water, but before she lost her breath, Caitlyn graciously allowed her to return to her place. Vi slid her fingers deeper and began to move them. It was enough to slide them in and out, pressing against the right spot inside, while licking the clitoris enclosed between her lips, for Caitlyn to place both hands in her wet hair and scream louder and louder.

“I hate letting you win,” Cait gasped between moans, and Vi quickened her movements, bringing her to the desired climax. A very loud climax.

Vi reverently rinsed the foam from her shapely breasts, helping herself with her hands, even though she didn't have to.

“I'll take care of you later,” she said, not taking her eyes off Caitlyn's chest.

“If I let you,” she snorted.

Vi slowly raised her head, staring at her face with wide eyes. It was as if she had been caught red-handed.

“What do you mean?” she asked, pain in her voice.

“You have to earn it. We can start with you not doing your Joker makeup for tonight's gala.”

Vi's laughter filled the bathroom, just like the steam clinging to the glass of the shower stall, the mirror, and the tiles.

As she descended to the ground floor, pulling down the sleeves of her jacket to pull out the shirt that was bunching uncomfortably at her elbows, she heard a familiar voice.

“There you are!” Cassandra stood at the bottom of the stairs, and as soon as Vi descended the last step, her hand rested on her tie. Vi blushed, squinting at her in confusion, and Cassandra deftly loosened the tie and fastened the button at the neck. Without comment, she tightened it back. Vi wasn't sure if it was the tie that was choking her or the remorse lurking at the bottom of her stomach. She still hadn't recovered from the not-so-quickie in the shower, and her mother-in-law appeared on the horizon, even though she had sworn to avoid her all evening. “Where's Caitlyn?” she asked, pulling Vi by the elbow toward the living room, which had been converted into a banquet hall.

“She's getting ready,” said Vi, allowing herself to be led by the older Kiramman, as if Caitlyn's authoritarianism during the “shower incident” had affected not only the offspring but also the tree.

She stood in the doorway, taking in the dark suits, colorful dresses, and narrow glasses of clear champagne held in the guests' hands. The men had short haircuts, and the women had elegant updos, often finished with hairpins or combs that sparkled in the light. The curtain that she and Caitlyn had worked so hard to untangle was ultimately not hung anywhere, but instead, balloon arrangements hung from the ceiling. Fresh flowers and snacks in small cups stood on long tables, along with canapés arranged on trays and appetizers finished with sharp toothpicks. There was a coffee machine and an army of identical cups. Waiters weaved between the guests with trays, treating them to more glasses of champagne. That was just what Vi needed right now, and she was already moving toward one of them when Cassandra suddenly grabbed her forearm.

“I hope you didn't tell her anything,” she hissed through clenched teeth.

“Of course not!” Vi frowned, indignant at the suggestion. “But you weren't very discreet today,” she added accusingly.

“The pot calling the kettle black. It's good you finished before the guests arrived.”

Cassandra turned her head toward the crowd, smiled slightly, and waved to the guests who were heading her way.

“We'll get back to this later,” she muttered, greeting the guests with surprising effusiveness. Vi stared at her in astonishment for a moment, then shrugged and began hunting for alcohol to help her survive the evening.

In the corner of the room sat a quartet, playing something familiar and pretentious. Vi clattered her empty champagne glass onto the tray of a passing waiter, who gave her a look that showed he was aware of how out of place someone like her was in here, and then she saw her. She opened her mouth in amazement and for a moment couldn't take her eyes off someone who, by her very presence, made Vi consider the violin a rather romantic instrument. And the larger violin, and the even larger one too. Standing straight as a string, she walked forward, the click of her heels seeming to echo in her skull. The dress flowed over her shapely body, one leg slipping out from between the slits in the fabric, revealing... were those stay ups? Vi felt her face flush. Caitlyn smiled, looking straight at her as someone stepped in her way. A polite greeting, a brief conversation, and... Vi was able to whisk her away to the snack table, pretending they were extremely busy choosing food, although instead of the delicacies on display, Vi was unfairly admiring her prominent hips, round breasts, and nipples protruding through the fabric of her dress.

“Cassandra definitely didn't approve this outfit,” she remarked resolutely, incredibly pleased with her comment, and Caitlyn laughed briefly.

“If she had any authority on the matter, I would have come dressed as a nun.”

This time it was Vi who laughed, but not briefly and only a little nervously, because she couldn't stop thinking about how violently Caitlyn could take care of her business and how much the very thought of “violence” and “Caitlyn” in the same sentence excited her.

“You lied,” she said bluntly, and Caitlyn tilted her head, looking into Vi's eyes with unnatural intensity. “Your dress doesn't flare out at the knees at all.”

Caitlyn raised her eyebrows in feigned surprise.

“Where does it flare out?”

Vi didn't need anything else. She put her hand on Cait's hip and slid it down a little.

“Here... Cait, you really aren't wearing any panties!”

“Quiet,” she whispered, giggling and sliding Vi's hand onto her own bare back. They were bare lower down too, and lower... The fabric only covered her shapely buttocks, on which Vi instinctively clenched her fingers.

Their lack of interest in the snacks left no room for doubt, especially for Cassandra, who had appeared out of nowhere right next to them.

“Are you having fun blocking guests from the table?” she asked sarcastically. Caitlyn rolled her eyes, and Vi shuddered and took her hand off her buttock. She nervously bit the protruding skin on her lower lip.

“We are enjoying ourselves indeed. Thanks for your concern, Mother,” Caitlyn replied, taking a glass from the tray of a passing employee and downing it in one gulp. Vi watched her spellbound as she gracefully placed the glass back on the same tray as the waiter, who must have been brain dead because he couldn't take his eyes off her either. Only the metallic sound brought him back to his senses, and he disappeared into the crowd of guests faster than Caitlyn's retort. Which was very fast.

Cassandra watched the spectacle from under her narrowed eyelids.

“Your outfit, while eye-catching, is also extremely inappropriate,” she said coolly. “As are certain indiscreet marks,” she added, touching her own neck in a spot analogous to the very unfortunate bruise on Caitlyn's neck.

“Thank you, Mother. I can always count on your words of encouragement.” Caitlyn smiled, putting her arm around Vi's waist and pushing her forward so they could evacuate to the far corner of the room. They were about to leave when Cassandra's grunt stopped them.

“Actually, I came to have a word with Vi.”

At the sound of her name, she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end and her heart beat faster. She felt as if she could hear the rush of cortisol in her blood. Or was it the rush of blood in my ears? Was there supposed to be blood in the ears?

Caitlyn curtsied gracefully.

“See you later,” she said and walked away.

Vi swallowed nervously.

“What are you doing?” Cassandra went on the offensive.

“What am I supposed to do?” Vi held out her hands in a gesture of surrender, taking a step back. As soon as she spotted the champagne nearby, she reached for a glass. The alcohol was hot in her throat and did not have a calming effect. Something to remember.

“You're groping my daughter in front of all these respectable citizens,” she hissed, and then something clicked in Vi's head. She smiled mischievously and moved closer to Cassandra so that only she could hear the words she was about to say.

“What? Are you jealous?”

For a moment, Vi thought Cassandra would blush like a young girl and look away, but instead she frowned, still bearing the weight of her gaze with dignity.

“That's ridiculous,” she protested, and noticing that more guests were approaching her, she took the opportunity to escape the awkwardness of the conversation. She started moving toward the couple when she suddenly slipped on the tiles and fell straight into Vi's outstretched arms. She blinked a few times and saw Vi's concerned face above her. Caitlyn interrupted her conversation with the guests, watching the scene intently from the back of the room. Cassandra stood up with Vi's strong arms and thanked her dryly before returning to her duties as hostess.

Caitlyn, on the other hand, returned to exchanging pleasantries with a tall man and a woman in a purple flared dress and a melon-sized bun on her head (she actually resembled a Star Wars character more than a respected citizen), so Vi decided to deplete the supplies from the snack table. After eating five canapés and twelve sandwiches (they were tiny!), she was suspiciously eyeing the brown thing in the plastic container when Caitlyn returned to her. She put the container back on the table when she felt hands wrap around her waist and a chin on her shoulder.

“I regret not buying you a decent suit earlier,” she murmured, and Vi felt the warmth of her body on her buttocks. “It increases my motivation to get revenge for what you did to me in the shower.”

“Do you think I'll let you do that so easily?”

“If I blackmail you properly.”

Vi snorted.

“You don't think I'm that easy, do you, Kiramman?” she replied with a crooked smile on her face that she couldn't suppress. The kind that makes dimples appear in her cheeks and her eyes sparkle with excitement.

“I think if you don't dance with me, you won't have anything to allow.”

Vi let out a huff of feigned indignation, then turned in Caitlyn's embrace.

“Lead, princess.”

With a gentle movement of her hand, she brushed a strand of blue hair behind her ear. Caitlyn's face lit up involuntarily. She grabbed her hand, which had been resting on her hair a little too long, and pulled her toward the couples spinning around in the dance. The quartet in the corner was playing something Vi didn't recognize, but it blended in with the rest of the repertoire. The song was slow, the sounds seemed to stretch like bubble gum held between teeth and stretched to the limit by children's fingers.

Caitlyn placed Vi's hands on her hips and put her own arms around her shoulders, her fingers casually brushing the sensitive skin of her neck. She began to move her hips, taking a step back. Confused, Vi stepped on her toes, and Caitlyn began to laugh.

“Take a step back, now to the right, forward, and to the left,” she instructed her, looking down at her feet. “Exactly, you're doing great,” she replied, then felt Vi's fingertips brush against the bare skin of her back. The shiver that ran through Kiramman's body was impossible to ignore. A mischievous smile appeared on Vi's lips.

“I think you...” She didn't finish her sentence because Cassandra suddenly appeared next to them, dancing with Tobias.

“Change,” she ordered, already taking Vi's hands off Caitlyn's hips and placing them on her own. Tobias took one of his daughter's hands, and she placed the other on his shoulder.

“You're back? I was sure you wouldn't be able to make it to the gala,” Caitlyn's quiet voice rang out.

“I missed my two wonderful women,” Tobias replied warmly, and then their voices disappeared into a violin, bigger violin and the biggest violin crescendo.

Vi frowned. Cassandra's eyes were intensely blue, just like Caitlyn's, who had been gazing at her affectionately just a moment before.

“How do you know that?” she asked with a sudden seriousness that didn't fit with the romantic song being played by the band.

“What?” Cassandra raised her eyebrow coquettishly, a smirk playing on her face.

You know perfectly fucking well what I'm talking about.

“About my past.”

They danced silently for a moment. Exactly as Caitlyn had just taught her.

Cassandra snorted, though the sound was more like a quick release of air from her mouth.

“You should ask what I don't know about you, Violet,” she finally replied in a low voice, running her hand through the strands of hair falling over her broad back.

Vi just rolled her eyes.

“What happened yesterday must never happen again.”

The smile disappeared from Cassandra's lips, and her playfully sparkling eyes flashed with fear for a split second before returning to their trained composure.

“I don't want to hurt you, but...”

Cassandra snorted unpleasantly and without cheerfulness.

“You would hurt me?” she asked rhetorically.

Vi hadn't expected such sudden hostility. She bit her lip, tearing off a dry piece of skin that left a small bloody mark.

“I'm with your daughter, I can't do that to her.”

Cassandra leaned over her ear, and Vi met Caitlyn's gaze from under her furrowed brow. Caitlyn, who was no longer dancing with her father, stood frozen between the whirling couples, watching the scene. Cassandra, on the other hand, seemed incredibly pleased with the performance she was leading. Vi felt a shiver run down her spine. A shiver that made her straighten up like a string, and it had nothing to do with Cassandra's warm breath blowing on her ear, accentuated by silver earrings.

The song ended, and it was at that moment that the matron chose to turn everything to ashes.

“Your moans yesterday said something completely different.” Cassandra didn't whisper, she didn't say it in a lowered voice, nor did she exercise any other means of discretion. Vi heard her loud and clear. Probably so did the few couples around them who turned their heads in their direction, and Caitlyn, whose eyes began to fill with tears. Tobias, on the other hand, disappeared from view, which Cassandra must have known. After all, she wasn't a bird that fouls its own nest, although Vi described it a little differently.

Fucker, she doesn't shit in her own backyard, she shits in someone else's!

“Cait,” Vi whispered.

She didn't even have to push Cassandra away, because she moved aside herself and disappeared into the back of the room.

Caitlyn, on the other hand, looked as if she had lost all composure. Her eyes were glassy, her face flushed, and her chin began to tremble. At that moment, she rushed through the crowd, pushing away the bewildered guests to make her way between them. Vi rushed after her, apologizing to all the gentlemen she bumped into, who gave her unflattering looks.

Stupid bigwigs.

Once she got out of the crowd, she stepped into the hallway and saw the high heels lined up neatly by the stairs. Without wasting any more time, she began climbing the stairs, skipping every other step.

She found her in the room. She was sitting leaning against the headboard, hugging the quilt covering her body. She clenched her fist on the fabric. Her makeup began to run down her cheeks along with her tears, creating irregular smudges around her eyes. Dark fabric protruded from under the quilt, reflecting the rays of light coming from outside the window.

Vi sat down on the edge of the bed, looking at her own hands. Suddenly, she became aware of the burning wound on her lips.

Should I tell her the truth and beg her not to break up with me? Or should I lie to her and say that Cassandra had made it all up?

Caitlyn sniffed. The quiet sobbing stopped, and suddenly the silence became more suffocating than the stream of water in the shower.

“When you came home a year ago in the morning, stinking of sweat, alcohol, and blood after a bar fight... You told me then that you had slept with a woman you met in a bar in the undercity, and I didn't feel hurt by the act itself,” she said in a quiet, weak, trembling voice. “The worst part was the feeling that, for a moment, I was no longer the most important person to you.”

Vi felt as if she had stopped breathing. She exhaled through her nose and took another breath.

“I told you...” Caitlyn's voice broke, so she cleared her throat to continue. "I said it could never happen again because it would break my heart.”

Inhale, exhale.

"I said that if you ever felt the need to do it again in the future, you should talk to me about it. That we would talk, and if we couldn't find another solution, we would do it under controlled conditions.

How was I supposed to tell you that I wanted to fuck your mother?

It wasn't me, the real Vi would never have done that to you.

I'm sorry.

None of the answers seemed right.

“Cait, please don't leave me,” she said in a choked, hoarse whisper.

A sad snort escaped Caitlyn's lips. She sniffed and wiped the tears from her eyes, smearing black streaks to her temples. She looked at her dirty fingers, smiling sadly at the miserable sight.

“I never told you this, but I met Jinx once.” Caitlyn stared at an indeterminate point in the distance, as if the scene she was recalling was playing out before her. “She told me that you destroy everything within your reach. I didn't believe her then, and I thought she was just speaking out of her dislike for me, but now I know she was right.”

Chapter Text

Another morning dawned. Before Vi even opened her eyes, she let out a deep sigh. No light penetrated her closed eyelids, so she was most likely not in Cassandra's bedroom anymore. Unless she had either covered the canopy before entering her dream world or woken up in the middle of the night. The mattress was much harder than the one in their apartment, and a single spring was digging into her spine. Vi frowned.

Great, first I slept with my mother-in-law, now it's time for a poor relative? Or maybe incest this time?

The very thought terrified her, and she hurriedly opened her eyes to see only fog in front of them. She blinked and rubbed her eyes to reveal a dark gray ceiling with an irregular stain. She frowned as she sat up. The bed turned out to be a single, which was already a good sign, located in a small room with a tiny kitchen, whose fronts probably used to be creamy white instead of dark gray. On one side of the bed hung a worn-out punching bag, and then something clicked in her mind.

Spirit of Christmas Past, come forth. I'm gonna kick your ass and get back to my life.

The studio apartment she had lived in before meeting Caitlyn looked even more disgusting than she remembered. She had to circle the bag to head for the bathroom door, which hung on a single hinge and lacked any legally required openings. She only learned that such holes were necessary when she and Caitlyn were looking for a place to live. She stretched and turned on the faucet, which first spouted orange water, which then turned just a slightly suspicious yellow. After splashing it on her face, she looked in the mirror and jumped back as if burned. Young Vi stared back at her from the reflection. Featherless, with a silly short hairstyle and skinny arms. How could Cait have fallen for such a weakling? She was sure that this image would haunt her in nightmares for months to come.

The apartment looked even worse from a vertical position. Takeout food containers, bottles, boxing gloves, and other objects that were difficult to identify at first glance were scattered across the floor. Maybe it didn't look as bad as Jinx's room, but Vi concluded without amusement that untidiness must be a genetic condition. She was about to start cleaning when her attention was drawn to two open envelopes. She turned the first one over in her fingers. The sender was AllinONE, whom she didn't recognize at all, and inside was a demand for payment of an amount that made her eyes widen in surprise.

“Piltover District Court,” she read the addressee of the next one, pulling out the eviction notice from inside. She sighed deeply.

So this was what life looked like before Caitlyn.

She ran her hands down her face, trying to remember what was in the next bingo square, when a thought dawned on her. She took her phone out from under her pillow, its screen cracked and glass crumbled in the bottom corner. She turned it over in her hand to see the scratched back and the proud “Huawei” logo. She tried to unlock it, but it didn't work, so she pressed the button again and again. The phone flashed on and off. She exhaled furiously, resisting the urge to throw it against the wall.

When she finally managed to unlock it and confirm that Caitlyn's number wasn't in the phone (waiting for an irritatingly long few seconds with each movement), she put the damn thing down to make coffee and look around the time capsule again.

Alicia Napoleon peered at her from above the bed, her dark eyes fixed on her slim figure, snow-white teeth peeking out from between red lips, muscular arms crossed in front of her chest. Vi used to really like her, but now she seemed like a poor match compared to Cait.

Maybe I liked her success more than her dark eyes?

Still, she smiled half-heartedly at the old poster, which seemed to be the only undamaged thing in the room. Even the coffee was worse than she remembered, the grounds drenched in boiling water seemed to impart only bitterness. She affectionately placed a hand on the punching bag, from which black and red patches of skin were peeling off, and stood in front of the shelf with records and books. She found an old CDs of Sex Pistols and Slipknot’s Vol. 3, for which, despite the March chill creeping under her leather jacket, she had stood in a two-hour line in front of the local music store. She smiled at the memory.

There were only a few books on the shelf, but she remembered one of them very well. Waters' “Tipping Velvet” had been in the city library until Vi got her hands on it. They didn't ask for their book back, so she didn't bother to return it. A more intriguing question remained: what was she doing in the library? It must have been another absurd idea from Jinx. Younger sister had either discovered telepathic abilities or had perfect timing, because she had just started calling. Between the cracks Vi could feel under her fingers on the dirty screen, a name appeared: Pow Pow. Vi smiled involuntarily at the screen. The times when Powder used her real name evoked a considerable amount of sentimentality in her (even though she remembered them as much less messy, indebted, and definitely not clenching her throat).

“Where are you, Vi?” Powder's voice was sweet, almost childlike, even though she was already a teenager. It didn't sound impatient or irritated, as it had in recent years. Vi felt like hugging the phone, as if her little sister had turned into it. Then she remembered that sweet little Powder had cast a big, bitter curse on her, the consequences of which she was now facing. But could she blame Powder for the mistakes of the future?

“I'm sorry, Ji...” She stopped at the last moment to restrain herself. “...Powder. I just got up and I feel like someone hit me over the head with something heavy.”

“Did you get into another fight yesterday?” she grumbled gloomily, but despite her studied manner of an offended teenager, Vi could hear the concern in her voice.

“I have no fucking idea.”

“What do you mean, you have no idea? Anyway, it doesn't matter, I'll wait at our café.”

“Give me twenty minutes.”

Vi knew exactly what their café was. She remembered very clearly the place, only a few minutes away (ten minutes at a brisk pace for the habitually late Vi). She could find it even blindfolded, deftly avoiding the protruding cobblestones, streetlights, and the sign at the watchmaker's entrance that read, “I'll wind you up so well that you'll stop being late.” She had never seen anyone go in there. Unfortunately, unpretentious café, filled with the sentimental smell of roasted beans and moisture, closed shortly after Vi started dating Cait. Suddenly she thought of something as insightful as it was useless at this point. What if the curse was not to be broken by any form of reconciliation with Cait, but with Jinx?

She covered the distance between her apartment and the café in a record eight minutes, bursting into the premises at ninth, panting like a koala in heat.

Powder's eyes were blue, sparkling, and full of childlike enthusiasm that Vi had long forgotten existed. She waved a hand above her head as if trying to ventilate the room, happily without success. Vi inhaled the familiar smell, exhaling through her mouth like a professional smoker. She smiled half-heartedly as she walked over to the table.

She expected Powder to order foamed milk and pour half a sugar bowl into it, but her younger sister proudly stuck out her chest and declared that she was a big girl now and would drink a latte. Vi raised her eyebrows in surprise.

“Can kids drink that?” she chuckled maliciously.

“Vi!” Powder shouted indignantly, but the older sister was already disappearing between the tables in case she decided to throw the sugar bowl at her (and if it turned out that she should take up axe throwing professionally).

The saleswoman at the counter gave her long looks, smiled a little too broadly, and brushed her palm against Vi’s hand as she handed her the receipt. During her long years of happy relationship, Vi had definitely lost her touch with the dating world.

The same girl with large dark eyes and sparse curtain bangs soon placed drinks in front of them — a latte in a tall glass on Powder's side and a flat white in a chunky mug under Vi's nose.

“What's that?” asked the younger sister, pointing to a piece of paper sticking out from under the cup. Vi frowned as she reached for it and discovered a hastily scribbled combination of numbers on a torn piece of slippery paper, which was undoubtedly a phone number. Her gaze immediately followed the girl, who was wiping her hands on a black apron staring unapologetically at Vi. When their eyes met, she winked at her and returned behind the counter. Powder whistled appreciatively, sipping her coffee.

“Someone's popular here,” she replied bitterly. “I wish I sparked this kind of interest too,” she added, hunching over her glass.

Vi winked at her, smiling mischievously.

“Come on, in a few years you won't be able to keep them away.”

Powder sighed at these words.

“I don't know.” She sipped her coffee-flavored milk again. “Right now, only Ekko is hitting on me.”

“And?” Vi raised her eyebrows in genuine interest.

Powder shrugged and began to pick at the edge of her sleeve with her fingernails.

“It's weird. He's more like a brother to me than...” She made a sweeping gesture with her hands that meant absolutely nothing and stared intently at her sister. “You know what I mean?”

Vi took a sip of her coffee, trying to buy time to answer. She grimaced. It wasn't a flat white at all. She felt the bitterness of unmilked coffee spreading across her tongue.

“Not really,” she replied honestly, setting the cup down on the table. “It's a shame, you'd make a good couple.”

She had barely uttered these words when she heard a grunt next to the table and shuddered in surprise. She was about to get angry and give that nasty person a good telling-off for interrupting a private conversation between sisters (maybe you're breaking up families too?! – she would have added for emphasis), but as soon as she saw the slender figure, she opened her mouth idiotically, though nothing came out.

Cait.

Much younger, with a resolute look in her perfectly blue eyes and genuine amusement written all over her face. Dressed in an indecently tight turtleneck, an unbuttoned coat, and pants with decorative buckles on the sides. Vi remembered them well, they hugged her hips tightly and were incredibly difficult to take off, even though Caitlyn was slimmer then.

Oh yes, it's the day I met Caitlyn! How could I forget, Vi scolded herself, still not taking her eyes off her soon-to-be girlfriend.

Caitlyn looked at Vi with equal intensity. She raised the coffee cup in her hand slightly.

“I'm afraid our orders have been mixed up,” she replied with amusement, which apparently rubbed off on Powder, because she snorted loudly.

“Why do you talk like you're straight out of a British costume drama?” she asked, looking at Vi, expecting her older sister to snort, but Vi was staring at the stranger as if spellbound. Powder rolled her eyes and kicked Vi under the table, straight in the shin. She came to her senses instantly.

“Ouch!” Vi cried in surprise, directing a menacing glance at the perpetrator of the violence. “Younger sisters and their manners,” she replied, turning back to Caitlyn. She spread her legs wider and let her back sink comfortably into the backrest in a gesture of feigned nonchalance. A mischievous smile appeared on her face, and Caitlyn merely raised an eyebrow. How could she be so elegant at such a young age? Vi felt her stomach clench uncomfortably. She didn't remember their first meeting that clearly. Maybe Caitlyn was just thinking she couldn't have found a worse loser with skinny twigs for arms, and that they would never really be together? Vi considered every option, because just when she thought she understood the rules of this damn curse, it turned out that the evil spell didn't follow any rules. One thing was certain — if it was human, with its lack of ethics, the curse couldn't be a fighter in the ring.

Caitlyn placed her mug on the tabletop and sat down on the edge of the couch occupied by Vi, who was trying to calm her racing heart and sudden rush of thoughts so chaotic that she began to doubt her ability to form a single coherent sentence. As Cait slid the mug across the tabletop toward her, she caught the sweet scent of the perfume Kiramman used to wear in college. With the last of her willpower, she refrained from sighing sentimentally, because the scent brought back memories of intoxicating moments in a small apartment, tender kisses, and a petite figure held in arms that were not yet so strong. Caitlyn's voice snapped her out of her reverie.

“Your flat white,” she said, nodding toward the cup—the same one in which the employee, probably thinking of Vi instead of her order, had served her disgustingly bitter black coffee. Who in their right mind would think I would like something like that?

“Thanks, beautiful stranger,” Vi replied, her smile widening. Caitlyn's eyelid twitched, as if she were resisting the urge to roll her eyes. Not good. She grabbed her own cup rudely and set it down with a loud clatter right in front of Cait. “I've already drank mine, but you can have it if you don't mind.”

Caitlyn gave her a courteous smile.

“No need, I'll order a new one.”

Goodn’t. No, the nogoodest. The most very good not? Fuck it. Fucking fuckery fuck, I can't let her go.

“Maybe you'll join us then?” asked Vi, suddenly enlightened, straightening up on the couch.

Powder gave her a hateful look from under her narrowed eyes, and Vi pretended not to understand this obvious sisterly betrayal.

The smile on Caitlyn's face became a little more human and expressed something like sympathy.

“I'd love to, but unfortunately I'm here with a friend. Maybe there will be another opportunity,” she cut in.

As Vi tried to come up with another thought that would keep Caitlyn at the table for a moment longer, she had already gotten up and walked away unceremoniously. Vi watched her walk back to the table where mentioned friend was sitting...

Of course she came here with fucking Jayce.

She left both wrongly delivered coffees on the table, but Vi didn't feel like drinking hers anymore.

“You'll forget about her in two days,” Powder grumbled.

Vi's response came too quickly.

“I won't.”

“Sure, because you've suddenly become clairvoyant.” Powder rolled her eyes, and Vi gave her a smile that didn't reach her eyes.

Everything had changed since then. Previously focused entirely on her sister, Vi now kept glancing in Caitlyn's direction. When Powder was talking about the math teacher, she saw out of the corner of her eye that Cait was getting up, and she was ready to jump up herself when it turned out that Cait had only gone to the bar to place a new order. Vi exhaled.

“And then she went to sweet home Alabama to do some nasty shit with her relatives,” Powder finished.

Vi frowned, trying to figure out what was wrong with the story.

“That math lady?” she asked, and Powder sighed heartbreakingly.

“No, Santa Claus, Mother Teresa, and Jack Sparrow merged into one person,” she snapped in response.

It took her five whole minutes to persuade little sister to continue this fascinating story about an unexpected test, the teacher's equally unexpected departure from the classroom, and the children escaping through the window. Vi refrained from looking in Caitlyn's direction, although she was happy to observe the familiar silhouette out of the corner of her eye. Then, completely unexpectedly, Caitlyn turned her head and looked straight at her. She couldn't ignore that. Kiramman's face was lit up with a broad smile, which began to give way to something more intimate, more threatening, sending a shiver down Vi’s spine. Then Caitlyn turned back to the fucking Jayce. This situation repeated itself several more times. Vi felt like they would sit in that café forever, looking at each other with an inexplicable longing that didn't suit people who had exchanged only a few sentences, when Cait stood up and took her coat off the back of her chair. Jayce left in a hurry. This was a very bad sign. Did not getting involved mean breaking up? If they didn't become a couple now, would they still be one in the present? Did the curse mean that Vi could change the past so they won’t be together in the present?

The situation left her no choice—she had to interrupt Powder's monologue. Vi jumped up from the couch.

“Coffee girl!” she shouted. Caitlyn turned her head, pulling on the other sleeve of her coat. Her blue eyes lit up, and melodious laughter filled the room. Vi felt as if all other sounds—the quiet melody seeping from the speakers, the buzz and hum of the milk frother, even Powder’s angry snort—had faded into the background.

“You could have called anyone, everyone here drinks coffee,” Cait remarked resolutely as Vi stood in front of her at a safe distance that did not impose excessive intimacy. She would have loved to throw herself at her, take her on the table, and then tell her about the years of their happy future, but she knew that Caitlyn—especially her younger version—didn't like to get too familiar with strangers. And that's who she was—a stranger. An unpleasant shiver ran through her body.

“Right,” Vi replied, scratching her head. Once she was the center of Caitlyn's attention, she was struck dumb under the gaze of those blue eyes. Her heart began to beat faster again, and the sweet scent began to intoxicate her senses.

Then Caitlyn raised her eyebrows.

An urging, Vi translated in her mind.

“So,” she began, trying to buy herself precious seconds to form a sentence in her head. “Do you come here often?”

Bravo, Vi. First-class flirting, hats off, panties down.

Caitlyn smiled half-heartedly, clearly amused by the awkwardness.

“Not necessarily,” she replied, and Vi began to wonder where she got so much composure. “It's my first time this month,” she clarified.

“Are you free today?” She finally plucked up the courage, staring into Caitlyn's bright eyes like a dog begging for scraps from the table. The only difference was that Caitlyn resembled an exquisite dish she could never afford, rather than some smelly leftovers.

The coffee girl began to ponder, letting out a quiet murmur. She tapped her chin with her finger.

“I'll be free at 5.”

Vi gave herself a mental high five.

“Same place?” she asked, folding her arms across her chest and giving Cait one of her most charming smiles.

“It's too late for coffee, but we can meet here and I'll see where you take me,” she replied cheekily and winked at her.

SHE FUCKING WINKED.

Vi thought that even Queen Elizabeth herself, along with a host of saints, would give her a high five. Unlike Powder.

Despite her best intentions, she was unable to focus on anything else, so Powder sighed heavily and helped her sister choose a place for a date, despite her obvious dissatisfaction with this turn of events.

When she got home, Vi dug out the only clean pants from her closet, because all the rest were lying on the “pile of shame” in the bathroom. They turned out to be black, holey skinny jeans, almost identical to the ones criticized by the tailor. Vi looked at herself in the mirror and decided that they emphasized the beginnings of muscles on her legs.

I hope I won’t stay in this body until the end of bingo.

She began to look through the army of crookedly hung black T-shirts, trying to choose the least flashy one, and since it turned out to be a souvenir from a Korn concert... Well, at least it only had the band's logo on it. She threw on a hoodie in — surprise, surprise — a deep shade of black, and for the first time that day, she began to kick herself for not having any elegant clothing in her closet. The clock on her phone told her she still had twenty minutes, so she began searching through all the drawers, pockets, and nooks and crannies where she could have hidden money, only to conclude with dissatisfaction that the whole discussion with Powder had been completely unnecessary, because she could only afford one pizza, and although eating from one plate on a first date undoubtedly added to the romance, it also completely undermined the image of a good catch that she so desperately wanted to project.

It was 5:02 when Vi began to look around nervously. Something was wrong. Caitlyn was never late. What’s more she was definitely never late for first dates, because that would put her in a bad light at the very beginning of the relationship. Something was wrong. She looked at her phone screen again, tapping her foot nervously on the sidewalk. She was already kicking herself for not getting Kiramman's phone number when the café door opened and she came out. That was the second time Vi started to blame herself for looking like a fucking homeless. Which wasn’t far from true, because she was supposed to become one in the nearest future according to the eviction notice.

The dark green long-sleeved dress fit tightly around her hips and waist. It reached below her knees, although if it were up to Vi, it could have been shorter. She could hear Caitlyn's voice in her head, saying that it was the perfect compromise between class and leaving room for imagination. Vi had a vivid imagination, especially when she saw the row of gold buttons running down the dress and could think of nothing but unbuttoning them. And maybe about the body waiting underneath for the slightest touch, an impatient, trembling breath and lips swollen from hungry kisses. The same thin coat she had worn earlier that day flowed down her sides. Her hair was tied in a loose bun with two thin strands framing her face. Her lips were highlighted with matte lipstick in a muted red shade, long dark eyelashes, shoes with a small thick heel, the click of which drilled into her brain, only escalating her nervous heartbeat. Vi swallowed loudly. If it weren't for the fact that Caitlyn had already noticed her and started walking toward her, she would probably have gone back to the apartment to take the only pair of pants without holes out of the “shame pile” and douse them with the last drops shaken out of a bottle of perfume, air freshener, or anything that would make them seem clean and fragrant. A courteous smile appeared on Caitlyn's face, as if Vi wasn't the most pathetic thing she had seen in recent months, years, or perhaps even her entire life.

A loser with no job, no money, and no taste—just the perfect match.

She was no longer able to improve her hopeless situation in any way, so she decided to pretend that everything was exactly as it should be. She put on a mischievous smile and nodded to Caitlyn.

"I didn't expect someone with such impeccable manners to be late.”

Caitlyn didn't lose her composure, although Vi's trained eye didn't miss the twitch of the corners of her mouth, which revealed one exciting fact — the coffee girl had taken the bait.

"I was waiting inside. You said, and I quote, in the same place.”

Vi sighed, raising her hands in a gesture of surrender.

“My mistake, coffee girl.”

“My name is Caitlyn.”

She fixed sparkling eyes on Vi's face, who suddenly felt that her nose was too crooked, the asymmetry of her upper lip was the most unattractive congenital defect that could happen to a person, and her eyes were too gray—surely reminding Caitlyn of something sad or bland. And she was pretty outstanding, which was obvious at first glance.

How absurd, I'm from the future and I know perfectly well that she's into me! Why am I so nervous?

Was the bingo curse taking over her mind? Was it, like late-stage syphilis, driving her mad?

Vi felt an overwhelming urge to smoke, even though she had quit long ago. The knowledge that there was a pack of Pall Malls and a yellow lighter covered in glue in the hoodie pocket only fueled her craving. Despite knowing how much Caitlyn disliked Vi smoking around her.

“Vi.”

She held out her hand, and Kiramman clasped it with her slender fingers, unmarked by physical labor. In a sudden burst of courage, Vi looked up at her and saw blue eyes she instantly wanted to lose herself in. Caitlyn also stared at her as intensely as if the Emperor of Japan, Lady Gaga, and Amanda Overton herself were standing in front of her. A gaze full of fascination, warmth, and excitement. Full of fear, a very clumsy attempt at restraint, and... love. Vi felt a tightening in her stomach as she realized that they had fallen in love at first sight. She felt a chill run through her body, and then she saw that Caitlyn was shivering, hugging herself.

“Are you cold?” she asked. Cait was about to politely say no, but Vi was quicker—she took off her (luckily washed) hoodie and handed it to the girl. The amusement disappeared from Kiramman's face, giving way to shock and then a broad smile. Her gaze lingered on the sprouting muscles. She pulled the hoodie over her head, and Vi had to refrain from commenting because the garment was too short and too baggy for her. It didn't match the rest of her outfit either, but Caitlyn didn't seem to care. Was there a more adorable sight than a current-future girlfriend in ill-fitting clothes borrowed from her not-yet-girlfriend?

Once they started walking, she put her purse on the other shoulder, holding the strap in the crook between her thumb and index finger. The back of her other hand kept accidentally touching Vi's hand.

“Won't you be cold without it?” she asked with concern.

Vi shook her head.

“Not with you around,” she replied and winked at her, and Caitlyn frowned.

“What does that mean?” she asked, turning her head like a puppy encountering an unfamiliar phenomenon. Vi couldn't help but laugh. Caitlyn was elegance on long legs, yet she remained clueless in a way that was charming enough to melt her heart.

Vi took them to the only place she knew where the pizza was cheap enough for her to afford more than two slices with the coins she had scraped together. She went to pay while Caitlyn was in the restroom.

“I was going to ask you, but there was a more fascinating topic on the table,” she said, silently pulling out a chair to sit down. Vi sat back comfortably, placing her hands on the back of the couch.

“I'm all ears.”

“Are you a fan of corn?”

Vi sat on the edge, resting her elbows on the tabletop. What kind of question was that?

“I don't think so. Why do you ask?”

Caitlyn pointed to the writing on her T-shirt.

“Korn,” she read, and Vi burst out laughing.

“They're a nu metal band. Haven't you heard of them?”

Caitlyn shook her head.

“Do you think they're corn fans?”

Vi laughed even louder. Caitlyn didn't seem embarrassed, she didn't blush like a teenager, which she had only recently stopped being, nor did she start looking at her nails in embarrassment.

“Did someone tell you you're funny?”

“Only you,” she replied nonchalantly, drinking cola from a glass. “Maybe my mother, too.”

Vi choked on her saliva, remembering the day when fate/curse decided to mock her and threw her, poor and unaware, into a universe where she had an affair with Cassandra. She let out a loud cough to raise her tear-filled eyes to Caitlyn.

“Are you allergic to my sense of humor?”

“Let's find out.”

“Sorry to say, that was the worst pizza I've ever had,” Caitlyn said honestly as they stood in front of the restaurant door. The evening had turned into a chilly night, so she pulled Vi’s hoodie down, trying to cover her bottom. Unfortunately, it was too short to do the job (for which Vi thanked herself silently, because it allowed her to assess how tight the green dress was).

Vi looked at Caitlyn's tense expression and burst out laughing.

“It was disgusting,” she agreed, and then Kiramman visibly relaxed.

“Still, I had a really good time,” she admitted, smiling broadly. The blue eyes reflected the lights of street lamps and the headlights of cars speeding across the wet pavement.

Vi didn't respond for a moment.

“Is this goodbye?” she finally asked. “Which way are you going?” she added, not waiting for an answer.

“That way.” Caitlyn pointed behind her. It was the exact opposite direction from Vi's apartment.

“I have an offer you can't refuse.”

Caitlyn smiled mysteriously.

“What is it?” She an eyebrow as if suspecting a trick.

“If you refuse, my heart will be broken and won’t recover for the rest of the century.”

Kiramman's laughter filled the space between them, making Vi's heart beat faster. She lowered her voice, taking Caitlyn's fingers and closing them in her own hand.

“Come home with me.”

The corners of Caitlyn's mouth dropped. She opened her lips, shocked by the bold proposal. She looked away, as if she could find the answer in the moving Land Rover. As if she hesitated for some reason unknown to Vi. Everything had been going smoothly so far, so what was wrong? Maybe Caitlyn was seeing someone? Then she wouldn't go on a date with me.

“Okay.”

And just like that, they headed for the claustrophobic apartment filled with chaos, takeout food packaging, and the smell of loneliness.

“Can I open my eyes now?”

“Not yet!” Vi shouted, making the bed and simultaneously kicking the clinking glass bottles under the bed with her foot, so that she could then run to the bathroom and hide the “mountain of shame” in the cabinet under the sink. The door stuck a little, but she was still happy with the result. The hoodie that Kiramman had taken off in the hallway ended up carelessly thrown into the closet. She was about to tell Caitlyn that she’s ready and she could open her eyes to see the cramped apartment she was renting when her eyes fell on the empty food packaging on the kitchen counter. Suddenly, she realized that pieces of leather were peeling off the punching bag, that a cup of half-drunk coffee was still left on the table, and that dust was gathering in the corner of the room. “Just a moment,” she said, stuffing the trash next to the overflowing bin under the sink. “There.”

Caitlyn took her hands away from her face and blinked a few times, trying to regain her focus. She began to look around the room.

“That explains the muscular arms,” she said with admiration in her voice, pointing to the punching bag.

Vi couldn't help but smile.

“But that,” she said, standing at the foot of the bed and staring at the poster, “doesn't explain why you invited me over.”

Well, yes, Caitlyn was different from Alicia in every way.

The boxer was muscular, with sparkling, mischievous dark eyes and a crooked smile that promised trouble. Caitlyn, on the other hand, was slim, her sky-blue irises exuded composure, and she tilted her head like a cute slender puppy, yet there was something magnetic about her that Vi couldn't resist.

Vi sat down on the bed, stretching her legs out in front of her and nudging Caitlyn's shoe with her foot. She shrugged.

“My taste gets better with age,” she replied nonchalantly.

Caitlyn didn't need to reply. From the twitch of her lips, her attentive gaze, and upright posture, Vi could see that she had given the right answer.

“You're a terrible hostess,” she said instead of answering, though there was no resentment in her voice, and the smile remained on her face. She took a step, then another. “You didn't even offer me a drink.”

Caitlyn was between Vi's open thighs, who watched from below as she slowly lowered herself onto her thighs. Vi couldn't take her eyes off her face. She opened her mouth in surprise, and Caitlyn leaned slightly to give her a gentle kiss. Vi didn't know when Caitlyn had started wrapping her legs around her waist, when her hands had drowned in strands of pink hair, when her own had found their way to her waist, then her breasts, and where the hell had Caitlyn’s dress gone? Not that she minded. On the contrary.

“I have other talents,” she replied mischievously when they finally pulled apart.

Caityln raised an eyebrow.

“Do you?” she asked skeptically, as if the kiss hadn't made her breathe heavily through her lips, as if her skin hadn't become hot and her nipples hadn't become erect with excitement.

“Do you want to find out?”

“Worse.” Caitlyn paused dramatically. Vi almost believed that she would find her dress among the boxes under the bed and leave. “If I don't see it, I won't believe it.”

Vi felt the blood drain from her brain along with her ability to think, form sentences, and do anything other than cup her round breasts, kiss, and... Oh, even deeper kiss. Her senses were lost in the dance of hot tongues, the sweet smell of skin, the texture of a flat stomach under her lips, and sweet moans. Caitlyn's rapid breathing as Vi dove between her legs became a metronome for the movements of her hot tongue, and the drawn-out moans accompanied the salty taste of the inside of her very tip. Caitlyn lost control, pulling Vi's hair one moment and pressing her closer the next, digging her short nails into her scalp. There was a steady thumping on the wall and the voice of a neighbor shouting an incomprehensible sentence about a brothel and something that drowned out in another drawn-out moan. Caitlyn arched her back, screaming “yes” as if she wanted the neighbor to receive confirmation of the illegal activity taking place in the apartment. When Vi sucked on her clitoris, Caitlyn forgot about control, composure, and all the lessons she had learned at the Kirammans' house. All that mattered was the intensity of the sensation. She pressed Vi's face so hard against the surface covered with long hair that she momentarily lost the ability to breathe. Vi knew that even though she hadn't come with her name on her lips, it would happen many times in the future. If only she didn't mess it up this time.

She collapsed onto the bed next to Caitlyn's limp body. She had to lie on her side because the mattress was too small to accommodate both of them. She pulled Kiramman close to her, who, still breathing through her mouth, let herself be led. The top of Caitlyn's head smelled of warmth, floral shampoo, and something human, carnal. She clasped her arms around Vi's waist, buried her nose in her collarbone, and placed a tender kiss above her breast. Vi stroked the loose blue hair that fell onto the sheets, letting the strands slip through her fingers and fall silently onto the mattress. The breath on her collarbone became more and more regular with each passing moment. When she felt the weight on her shoulder, she realized that Caitlyn was asleep.

Vi didn't know when she fell asleep, but she no longer felt a slim body in her arms, there was no familiar warmth peeking out from under the covers, and the mattress seemed uncomfortably hard. Instead, she was awakened by a dull rumbling.

“We know you're in there!” A low male voice came from the hallway. “Open up!”

Who did I punch in the face to make them so angry and eager for a rematch?

When she opened her eyes, she saw the same room she had invited Caitlyn to the day before. She began to touch her face, her arms, her stomach. Everything indicated that she was still in her younger body.

A hoarse moan escaped her lips, muffled by the pillow pressed against her face.

“If you don't open up, we'll be forced to break down the door, as instructed by Mr. Marko.”

Marko? What kind of loud punchable intruder knew the owner of the apartment?

She got out of bed, picking up her boxer shorts and sweatshirt on the way and putting them on. Her attention was drawn to a note lying on the kitchen counter, which definitely hadn't been there the day before. It turned out to be a note written in neat handwriting. She picked it up with a frown.

Date: today

Time: 7:00 p.m.

Place: “the same”

Purpose of the meeting: rematch

See you soon,

C.

A burst of laughter escaped Vi's lips. Nothing could have speak “Caitlyn Kiramman” louder than this message. Suddenly, her heart began to beat faster.

I survived one day and Cait didn't leave me, but wants to meet again. That must mean the curse is broken! Right?

She was about to throw herself on the bed with joy when the rumbling sounded again.

“This is your last warning!”

She rolled her eyes and opened the door. Her first instinct being to lean nonchalantly against the open doorway, but instead she froze with the doorknob in her hand. Two policemen in blue uniforms were standing in the hallway. They were tall, muscular, and armed with the appropriate tools to overpower her.

Shit.

One of them waved his badge, while the other pulled out a piece of paper with an eviction order and began waving it in front of Vi's face.

“You've had it,” he said condescendingly.

Vi began to assess her chances.

If she had a normal body—not that this one was abnormal, just small and weak—she would have beaten them up before one would say “You’re hot, Cupcake”, but how could she do that with her pathetic biceps and triceps that weren't even visible?

She held her hands out in front of her in a gesture of surrender.

“Gentlemen,” she began the negotiations. “Here's the deal: you give me five hours and we'll never see each other again.”

The policemen looked at each other as if they had to swap a single gray cell for one of them to make a decision.

“Two. In two hours, you're not to be here, or we'll drag you out by force.”

Vi sighed in disappointment. The policeman who had shown his badge placed his hand on the belt to which his stun gun was attached. A warning. Vi knew perfectly well how painful it was to be electrocuted, to fall limply onto the cobblestones, to feel her body start to shake uncontrollably. She knew the taste of blood in her mouth when one of the defenders of law and order sat on her hips and delivered the first sharp blow to her cheek. She clenched her hands into fists.

"Two hours and there's no trace of me.”

She quickly looked through the clothes she had thrown out of the closet and the open suitcase to start packing. Well, she was left without a place to live, money, or prospects.

She didn't have time to throw away the trash from under the bed because the police showed up again just to stare at her suitcase and cardboard box. They didn't listen to her explanations, but ordered her to leave everything she hadn't had time to pack and get out. Alicia's poster remained above the bed, as if she were leaving her entire life behind with it.

She sat on her suitcase in front of the café entrance, the cardboard box standing next to her on the sidewalk, as she dialed Powder's number for the fourth time, enraged. The heat was pouring down from the sky, and the sweatshirt and jacket that didn't fit in her bag did nothing to cool her overheated body. Passersby looked at her with condescension or pity. One worse than the other.

Why is no one answering when I need it most?

Leave a message after the tone. BEEEEEP.

Vi hung up, throwing the phone onto the sidewalk. She groaned in frustration and climbed off the suitcase to pick up the broken device from the concrete slab when she heard a familiar voice.

“Vi? What are you doing here?”

Caitlyn was standing in front of her. Instead of a coat, she was wearing thin leggings and a frilly white blouse with a neckline that stirred memories of the previous night.

She straightened up, clutching the device in her hand.

“Cait,” she gasped, speechless, and scratched the back of her head. She considered lying, but the cardboard box and suitcase, which undoubtedly belonged to her, made it difficult to come up with a plausible scenario. She sighed heavily, lowering her gaze to the sidewalk slab. “The landlord kicked me out of my apartment, no one is answering my phone calls, and... Why is it that when something starts to go right in my life, something else has to fall apart?”

Kiramman closed the distance between them and placed her hand on her future girlfriend's shoulder, squeezing it in a gesture of comfort.

“You can stay with me. We had plans to meet today anyway.”

Vi was speechless. She unconsciously opened her mouth in surprise and stood there for a moment with an expression befitting someone who was not quite right in the head. She blinked several times, as if she couldn't believe Cait was there, before finally speaking.

“Really?”

Caitlyn smiled at her and nodded.

“You're in luck. I have just one more meeting left today, which is to be rescheduled.”

“I don't want to cause you any trouble.”

Vi nervously scratched her head, and Caitlyn brought her lips close to her ear.

“I owe you after last night,” she whispered so that no passerby could hear her. A shiver of excitement ran through Vi's body. Her anger, disappointment, and hopelessness evaporated instantly, replaced by a tightness in her lower abdomen, and she couldn't think about anything else.

Caitlyn's apartment was nothing like the cramped hovel Vi used to live in. The walls were decorated with moulding and posters depicting subtle female nudes with silver frames. Chairs with legs curling into small snails at the floor were placed around a glass table, and a modern round lamp hung above it. Next to the quilted sofa stood a coffee table with a top matching the dining table, with a single silver leg reflecting lights. Vi opened her mouth in amazement. Then she saw that there was a freestanding bathtub in the room. She felt her face flush with heat. She left the box by the door and began to look around the bright room, trying to find at least one mismatched element, one crooked chair leg, one poster hanging crookedly. She found nothing. Instead, she heard the rattle of wheels from the suitcase that Caitlyn had just dragged across the threshold and left by the tall mirror.

“There's just one thing I need to tell you...” she began, locking the door.

Vi was already expecting the worst. Maybe Caitlyn did have someone after all, and Vi would have to hide in the closet? Maybe the apartment was expensive and Vi couldn't afford it? Or maybe Caitlyn's hobby in this universe is gutting animal carcasses, inviting a bunch of Satanist friends over and organizing a black mass with them? The highlight of the evening: Vi will be used as the sacrifice. An unpleasant shiver ran through her. Caitlyn bit her lip, and Vi stared at her even more intensely.

“Unfortunately, there's no room for your poster here.”

She snorted with relief and an uncontrollable surge of amusement.

“I left it anyway.” She waved her hand.

Caitlyn was clearly pleased with this statement, because she smiled broadly.

“Your taste is indeed improving.”

⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆

Initially, Vi was only supposed to stay for one day, but the next day Powder called and said that she definitely couldn't stay with her because her roommates will make her pay double rent. She stayed for a third and fourth day... And so it went on for another week. She had already begun to believe that the curse had been lifted and that she would be able to relive all those years. Years of hard work, but she saw it as a chance from fate to correct the mistakes of the past. Then Jinx, fate, or some other troglodyte managing human destinies decided to mock her again.

“Vi!” Caitlyn's irritated voice rang out.

Violet's head peeked through the opening leading to the kitchen.

“Yes, coffee lover?”

Since their first meeting at the cafe, Caitlyn had earned a few new nicknames, though most of them were related to coffee.

Kiramman rolled her eyes.

“I told you not to call me that,” she grumbled discontentedly and pointed to the floor in the living room. “What is that?”

Vi raised an eyebrow, looking at her as if she had suddenly regressed to the infant stage of naming objects.

“The floor?” she replied uncertainly, and Caitlyn clapped her hands. Vi jumped in surprise.

“Yes, Violet, the floor.” Oh. The full name never boded well. “The same one I washed yesterday, and you walked on with muddy shoes. Again.”

Vi bared her teeth in a crooked smile.

“It's not...” She was about to start explaining when Cait interrupted her.

“I'm not done yet, because there's a pile of your clothes on the same floor. The same floor that's adjacent to the wall splattered with red wine five days ago. The same floor that swelled up after you took a bath because no one taught you to wipe it.”

Vi opened her mouth to say something, but Caitlyn was first.

“Don't even get me started on what I found in the bathroom.”

Caitlyn slumped onto the couch, massaging her temple with middle finger. Vi wiped her hands on a kitchen towel and sat down next to her, spreading her legs wide. When her knee touched her thigh, Kiramman moved away from her.

"I'm sorry, Cait.”

Vi kept her concerned gaze on Caitlyn, who was obsessively watching her own hands clenched into fists on her lap. Vi was already reaching out to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear, but she stopped mid-motion when she saw the tear-filled blue eyes that now resembled a boundless ocean of sadness.

“I'm afraid the decision to move in together was too hasty.”

Caitlyn's voice seemed to come from behind the wall. It barely penetrated the sound of her pounding heart, the rush of blood, and the high-pitched squeal ringing in her ears like an annoying mosquito. Vi felt her own heart beating in her chest as if it were trying to break free.

“I want you to find a new place as soon as possible.”

She had never felt her own heart before, never heard her rapid breathing so loud and clear. She had never fainted before. And yet all of that happened that evening.

Chapter Text

As soon as Caitlyn's heels stopped clicking, an undisturbed silence fell over the bedroom, which Vi listened to as if it were a piece of music so captivating that even a sigh could not disturb it. She stared blankly at the wall and window frame, as if they would provide answers or at least clues. Or put an end to her suffering and a miserable life. Not even the click of the lock or the slam of the door, which the newcomer opened with such force that it hit the wall, made her flinch.

“Hey, sis!” Jinx's loud voice rang out, followed by muffled footsteps, each louder than the last. Vi didn't even move under the duvet pulled up to her neck.

The bedroom door opened with equal force, hitting the wall with such force that the vibrations spread across the floor and could be felt even through the thick layer of the mattress.

Jinx groaned heartbreakingly, rolling her eyes. She turned on her heel and fell almost limply onto the mattress at her older sister's feet. Two massive braids hit the mattress.

“I know you're awake, loser,” she said with a surprising mixture of indifference and tenderness. She slipped off her shoes and climbed onto the bed to wrap her arms around knees. “It must be really bad if your girlfriend chooses me, of all people in the world, to make you get your shit together,” even though Jinx muttered indistinctly, Vi understood every word. She moved her legs under the covers and blinked a few times. A single tear rolled onto the pillow, soaking into the fabric.

“I can hear you sniffling!” Jinx said accusingly. “Have an older sister, they said. It'll be fun, they said. Only no one said what to do when your older sister hasn't gotten out of bed in two days and won't talk to her stupid girlfriend!” Jinx spun deftly on the bed to observe the body writhing under the covers. “Ugh, I still can't believe you're dating her,” she added with disgust.

Suddenly, Vi sat up as if struck by lightning. She threw off the covers and stood up straight. Her eyes were red and puffy, her eyebrows drawn together, and her lips curved into a horseshoe shape.

“It's your fault!” She pointed an accusing finger at her younger sister.

Jinx raised her eyebrow, squinting comically at the same time.

“Mine?” She pointed to her own chest, mimicking the gesture. “I think you’re confused, sis. Did you hit your head again?”

Vi's face began to redden, she looked as if she might lunge at Jinx at any moment and start strangling her bare handed. Or disembowel her alive. Or at least knock her down and beat the shit out of her.

“Don't get so worked up, or you'll have a stroke, oldie.” She held out her hands in a gesture of surrender.

“I was so fucking close to getting out.” Instead of calming down, Vi began to speak through clenched teeth and clench her hands into fists. Jinx's face showed incomprehension.

“What are you talking about? Do you have a fever? Is it really a stroke?”

“I was so close to Caitlyn not leaving me. If only I could go back in time—but that's exactly what I did, I went back in time, and yet I couldn't get rid of my damn sister, who made it her life's goal to destroy my already pathetic one by playing a little fucking witch making potions.”

Jinx paled. She opened her mouth as if to say something, only to close it again immediately. The silence of the apartment engulfed them both. Vi's anger seemed to pulse through the vein visible on her forehead, shooting sparks and boiling like an enraged potion pot. Normally, Jinx would have been delighted by this bizarre metaphor, but at that moment, she could only swallow nervously.

Vi moved toward the bed. Jinx was already sure she was going to jump at her throat. Her first instinct was to cover herself with hands, lowering her head. When the mattress sag, she looked up at Vi. Her hunched figure as she sat on the edge of the bed with her face in hands.  She was breathing heavily, as if there was no oxygen in the bedroom. As if Jinx was consuming too much of it and there wasn't enough left for Vi.

Finally, the younger sister gathered her courage and began to speak:

“I didn't want...”

“You didn't want me to be stuck in this fucking breaky upy loop, but Cait,” Vi finished for her, reproachfully.

Jinx frowned.

“There's no such word as ‘breaky upy.’”

With her last ounce of strength, she refrained from hurting her sister badly, which Jinx must have sensed, because she began to speak hurriedly, hope in her voice:

“Maybe I can help you get out?”

“How? There's no antidote in your stupid book.”

“So you've already checked.” Jinx began to scrape the polish off one nail with the sharp tip of another. “Then maybe... let's summarize the facts!”

“And how is that supposed to help?” Vi raised her voice, turning to her sister. Her gray eyes gleamed with animal ferocity, her nostrils flared, and the ring in her nose rose and fell as she breathed heavily.

“Two heads are better than one, right?” Jinx straightened up under older sister's gaze, like a deer frozen in place after coming face to face with a predator. “A little brainstorming never hurt anyone.” She laughed briefly and without joy.

Jinx didn't know how it worked, but Vi breathed heavily and began to speak. She seemed tired.

“The curse...”

“It's a dark magic experiment,” Jinx corrected her.

“I'm about to experimentally throw you out the window!”

“Okay, okay. You really can't get so angry. What else do you know?”

“This thing,” she emphasized with disgust, “is connected to the bingo game Caitlyn and I created the day before.”

“Bingo?” Jinx snorted. “Are you guys sixty years old?”

Vi gave her a look, and Jinx immediately stopped laughing.

“Where is it?”

“On the coffee table in the living room, why...?” Vi didn't get to finish her question because Jinx had already gotten up and headed for the living room. She returned a moment later with a piece of paper in her hand.

“It wasn't in the living room at all, I’ve found it on the refrigerator door.”

Vi stared at her for a moment as if she wasn't there. Then she blinked twice and opened her eyes wider.

“Vi? I'm starting to get scared of you.”

Then she opened her mouth in surprise.

“You look like you've seen a ghost.”

Jinx began waving the piece of paper in front of Vi's eyes.

“I hung it up,” Vi finally said, though her gaze was still fixed on a point in front of her, and she still seemed absent. “On the third day, when she broke up with me because of Sarah Fortune!” She finally turned her head toward Jinx, though her eyes still gleamed unhealthily.

“Good for you?” her sister replied, bewildered.

“You don't understand. I hung it on the fridge on the third day and it’s still there. Everything else goes back to the way it was, as if nothing had happened the day before. Caitlyn didn't remember breaking up with me for Jayce, or falling in love with you, or...”

“Yuck!”

Vi gave her a look from under her furrowed brow.

“I'm sorry, but...” Jinx swallowed, as if the contents of her stomach had just backed up into her esophagus.

“Maybe I'm the only one who can change anything?”

Jinx smiled, her eyes flashing with unhealthy excitement.

“Let's find out!”

She rushed out of the bedroom. Vi jumped out of bed and hurried after her, expecting nothing but bad ideas.

“Maybe I'll break your leg? Or we’ll burn down the building? No! I know!” Jinx put her hand on Vi's shoulder, looking at her hopefully, as if she thought Vi would agree to any of her crazy ideas. “We'll kill one of those noisy rats of Caitlyn’s old lady,” she said, as if she had suddenly turned into a salesperson confident that Vi would buy a set of nonstick ceramic cookware that would make her daily cooking easier, available today for only $999.99 on HSN.

Vi grimaced as she looked at her sister, as if instead of a salesman peddling bad ideas, she had turned into an alien.

“Cait’s family doesn't have any rats.”

“You know.” Jinx rolled her eyes. “Those little squeaky dogs that barks make you want to wring little kittens' necks.”

Vi began massaging her temples in irritation.

“We're not going to break, burn, or kill anyone or anything.”

Jinx groaned in disappointment.

“You are no fun,” she pouted, but only for a moment. Then Vi snatched the bingo card from her hands, grabbed a pen, and began to mark it off.

“We got bingo, sis! What did you win?”

“Hopefully being an only child,” Vi muttered under her breath.

Then she circled the next square.

“You’re unreliable?” Jinx read. “What kind of breakup reason is it?”

“This morning, Caitlyn started complaining that I hadn't gotten out of bed in two days and that I couldn't be relied on at all.”

Bingo.

Vi had a revelation.

“Call her! You have to fix this!” Jinx started shouting and running around the apartment chaotically, looking in all the places where she knew the phone wouldn't be, but pretending to look for it anyway.

Caitlyn didn't answer, so Vi sent her a message that wasn't meant to sound pathetic, but at the same time contained a resolution to improve. Or so she thought.

I'm sorry, Cait, give me one last chance.

The message stared at her from the screen, Jinx paced nervously around the table, expecting that if Caitlyn refused, she would pay for it with her own head, when the sound of an incoming message rang out. The younger sister stopped and ran to the device in seconds.

Meet me at my parents' house in an hour.

Vi felt a wave of unexpected joy and, in her elation, even high-fived Jinx.

⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆

Passing through the gate, she was relieved to see that the mansion looming in the distance hadn't changed at all. It took her at least fifteen minutes to cross the park separating the residence from the rest of the city.

Caitlyn did not specify how Vi could prove her competence and devotion, but knowing what the last few days had brought, she did not expect anything ordinary. A fire-breathing dragon could just be waiting at the back of the estate just for Vi to fight for Cait's favor. The outcome of this duel would instantly take her to the last reason for the breakup, which she wrote down a couple days ago, chuckling to herself. She swallowed nervously, remembering that “great joke.” It was another reason to free from curse as soon as possible and return to normality. Or relative normality? Vi didn't have time to explore the changes that might happen to her after the traumatic attempts to reverse the curse, because she was standing at the door. She poked her head through it and looked around the room. The first chamber seemed unchanged. In the second room, resembling a huge living room that could accommodate ten ships full of refugees and their dogs, Caitlyn stood talking quietly with her parents, who were sitting comfortably on the sofa.

“Hi,” Vi's voice filled the room, and Cait turned over her shoulder, her parents instantly sitting up straight and falling silent. “I always forget that this room is the size of a park,” she added, and then her gaze fell on two well-groomed Yorkies—one with short hair and the other with hair flowing proudly down its body and a blue bow tied on top of its head. She walked over to the couch, reaching out her hand toward the dog lying on Tobias's lap. Cait's father was definitely a safer option than Cassandra, who had almost rubbed her breasts against Vi's just two days earlier (she didn't even know they were that prominent). The dog cowered and began to whimper, trying to hide under Tobias's hand. Cassandra gave her an angry look. Tobias began to pet the dog, muttering something in an unnaturally high voice.

Caitlyn gave her a look that Vi couldn't interpret, which caused a wave of anxiety. She put her hand on her partner's shoulder and a controlled smile played on her lips.

“Mother, Father,” she began, drawing her parents' attention. “Vi will take care of Pancratius and Amadeus today,” she said with the seriousness of a funeral home employee trying not to laugh at a joke. She pointed to the dogs resting peacefully on her parents' laps. Vi didn't have that much self-control, a snort escaped her lips.

“Let me guess, Amadeus is the one with the long hair?”

Cassandra looked at her with distaste, raising an eyebrow.

At least she doesn't want to get into my panties in this bingo-mension. Or for me to get into hers. I don't know which is worse tho.

Vi looked at the two little dogs, not believing her luck. Was there an easier task than looking after two mutts?

“That's it?”

Caitlyn cleared her throat irritably.

“Jayce was supposed to take care of them, but he broke his leg.”

Vi blinked several times.

“What the fuck?” she asked incredulously, but Caitlyn ignored her pompous reaction as if it were a faux pas that had no right to happen on this plot of land.

“The estate staff will be participating in a team-building activity today, so there’s no one who can take care of the youngest Kiramman’s children as I'm taking mum and dad to the Parent's Day celebration.”

“Is there such a thing?” asked Vi, genuinely intrigued.

“Yes, Vi.” Caitlyn cleared her throat again, trying to hide her growing irritation. “The manual is on the table, including meal preparation, feeding times, and a schedule for walks.”

Vi leaned over her ear.

“Your parents really take this seriously. Did they make you go to the bathroom at the same times too?” She muttered quietly enough that only she could hear the joke. Her Caitlyn would have giggled, nudged her in the side, and said it was a very inappropriate comment with a twinkle of amusement in her eye. This Caitlyn, however, seemed to have a serious lack of humor issue, because she looked at Vi with a coldness that could freeze all of Africa.

“Don't worry, coffee girl, I can handle everything.”

Shit, I spent so much time in the previous Bingo square reality that I got used to calling Cait that.

Vi looked straight into her blue eyes with fear. Caitlyn stared at a point in the distance, as if she had just encountered an error in the simulation and was about to start speaking in a robotic voice, ‘Critical error, press the clitoris to reset to factory settings.’ Oh, how Vi missed her sex life.

Something warm, affectionate, and completely out of character for Caitlyn in this reality—stiff as a broomstick and completely devoid of humor—passed over the heiress's face.

“Focus, Vi!” Cait's raised voice snapped her out of her thoughts. She frowned and wrinkled her nose, looking like an irritated puppy—all sweetness, no danger. Caitlyn grabbed her by the elbow and pulled her to the other end of the room. "If you let me down now, it's over between us, understand? I'm tired of babysitting you, doing everything for you, and constantly making resolutions to improve.

Vi frowned. What had she had to do earlier in this alternate reality to turn this smiling puppy into a frustrated, purebred dog? She looked her in the eyes, this time with complete seriousness and determination.

“I won't let you down, Cait,” she replied sincerely. “I lov...” she tried to add, but then Cassandra's voice rang out.

“Caitlyn, we have to go now.”

“Good luck, Vi,” Cait said as she left.

Tobias said a warm goodbye to the dogs, who accompanied them to the door, wagging their tails. Vi gave him a cursory smile.

If you screw this up, there's no saving for you, Vi, she thought encouragingly.

As soon as the door closed behind the Kirammans, the two adorable dogs turned their heads toward Vi and stared at her with their beady eyes. They didn't blink. Vi blinked several times instead as the dogs looked at each other and then back at her. She raised her eyebrows in surprise and crouched down.

“You'll be good dogs, won’t...?” She didn't get to finish because the dogs looked at each other again, nodded their heads, and rushed toward the hallway. Amadeus began to bark furiously at the door, and Pancratius lifted his leg and began to pee straight onto Vi's shoe, which she had left by the exit.

As soon as she saw this, she sighed heartbreakingly.

“You must be fucking kidding me,” she muttered under her breath, trying to chase the dogs away. Amadeus turned toward her and began barking at her. Pancratius (what a stupid name for a dog) was already aiming at her other shoe, directing a perfectly curved stream that went straight into it. Vi tried to chase him away, but then Mozart, in his dog body, grabbed her pant leg with his teeth and began to pull her away.

“What's wrong with you guys?!” she shouted in frustration. She lifted her leg, and the growling Yorkie hung in the air. Then Pancratius started barking. The shrill dog voices echoed with a throbbing pain in her head, and not even fifteen minutes had passed.

It won't be that easy. Fuck me.

When Vi pulled her jeans leg out of the animal's jaws, the dogs started chewing on the corners of the doormat in front of the door. She decided to take the opportunity to sneak into the kitchen, although the place where feasts were prepared at the Kiramman estate could more accurately be called the kitchen command center. In the middle, instead of an island, there was a professional serving counter, although it could be used as a worktop. This is where the stack of instruction sheets Cait had mentioned lay. Vi skipped the games, activities, training, and first aid—she would be the one in need of first aid after a few hours with these little devils in dog bodies—and began reading the feeding instructions written in Caitlyn's neat handwriting.

Lunch: 2:30 p.m.

Amadeus:

Total meal weight: 30 g

Meat: 24 g

• Ground turkey: 12 g
• Ground chicken hearts: 4.8 g
• Cartilage: 3.6 g

Vegetables and fruit: 4.5 g

• Grated carrot: 3 g
• Grated apple: 1.5 g

YourDog supplements: 5 g

Vi frowned. She scanned the kitchen. On the countertop next to two stoves lay two shiny, clean tin bowls, a grater, a carrot, an apple, kitchen scales, a meat grinder...

“You've got to be fucking kidding me, again” she muttered, scanning the sheet again in disbelief. “Weigh-in time?!”

These mutts have a better diet plan than a fighter getting ready for a match in the ring.

She scratched the back of her head. Below was a detailed description of where she could find all the ingredients, including the portion numbers in the freezer. Vi rolled her eyes.

Haven't they heard of dog food? No wonder the furry creatures are so spoiled.

The clock showed that it was 2:00 p.m., and the instructions clearly stated that meals should be prepared half an hour earlier. Vi tried to swallow the resentment that was bubbling up inside her almost noticeably and began to search the refrigerator for ingredients. Pancratius had beef instead of turkey for lunch. Of course, none of the ingredients had been ground beforehand, so she had to do it “fresh” — Caitlyn even made a pointedly sarcastic comment about it, as if expecting Vi to neglect this aspect.

I know you didn't read the first aid manual, so don't even try to feed them meat without grinding it first, or they'll start choking.

Vi snorted, rolling her eyes. She imagined Caitlyn's furrowed brow, her disproportionately serious expression, and prominent lips. She couldn't help but smile. That was exactly what she needed—to remind herself why she was doing all this. For Caitlyn, for them, so that she wouldn't have to go through the grief of separation. Because Cait was all she had left in her miserable life.

She gathered herself and began to weigh small portions of food with the precision of a jeweler. Then something flashed in the hallway, so she turned in that direction. Pancratius—as she thought—stood in the doorway, his beady eyes red and glowing unhealthily. She felt a cold shiver run down her spine, making the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end and her muscles tense uncontrollably. As soon as Vi stared at the animal in confusion, it disappeared into the depths of the house. The feeling went away with it.

Vi officially declared that kitchen scales were the most frustrating objects ever to fall into human hands, that they should all be thrown away, disposed of, and forgotten, so that no one would ever think of producing them on a larger scale. Despite this, she succeeded—the bowls contained mixed food that looked like a pile of random organic waste taken from the neighborhood trash can. She was about to ask herself again what it was all for, but she knew the answer perfectly well. There was only one problem left – she still wasn't sure which one was Pancratius and which one was Amadeus. Caitlyn mentioned in the instructions that the one who got the poultry was allergic to beef, and Vi really didn't want to wade through the five-page first aid section. She had already looked through the illustrations, and that was enough. Right?

Then she had a brilliant idea: she would call one of them by name and he would come running!

“Amadeus!” she called out in a slightly hoarse voice, and immediately heard the sound of dog claws on the tiles.

Bingo!

She would have gladly declared success, if only both dogs hadn't burst into the kitchen, jumping up and down happily and squealing.

“Amadeus?” she asked again uncertainly, and the long-haired Yorkshire terrier barked.

It must be him, she decided, and placed a bowl of turkey in front of him, while giving Pancratius the one with beef.

She breathed a sigh of relief.

It's not that difficult after all.

The dogs sniffed the contents of the bowls and lay down next to them. Amadeus began to lick his paws, and Pancratius stared at her expectantly.

Vi frowned.

“You can eat,” she said, trying to win their affection despite the shoe incident.

Pancratius blinked, grabbed the edge of the bowl with his teeth, dragged it across the floor, and began to run toward the open patio doors that led to a fenced-in area with a gate leading to the rest of the property. Vi just shrugged, expecting him to prefer eating outside. Amadeus did the same. The sound of the metal bowl sliding across the tiles made the headache that had eased a moment earlier start throbbing in her temples again.

Vi followed them to see that both dogs had left their bowls on the grass, which was trimmed so evenly it looked as if someone had cut it with scissors, and had started digging holes. She snorted.

Let dogs be dogs, she thought, and went to the kitchen area (calling it simply a “kitchen” still seemed inappropriate) to prepare her own meal.

The vegetables and meat were so fresh, it was as if they had been delivered to the Kirammans' estate directly from the producers – Vi wouldn't have been surprised if that had actually been the case. A quick pasta dish “with whatever she found in the fridge” and an obscene amount of chicken breast was on the table in front of her just half an hour later. The ingredients were mixed together and clumsily thrown onto the plate—no one in her part of the world cared about presentation—contrasting with the white porcelain plates, polished silver, and starched tablecloth. It was as if she had brought Chinese food bought from Kim's on the corner into a five-star restaurant. Fortunately, this did not affect the taste of the food, and her stomach was already emphatically demanding food. She had barely begun to eat when dogs appeared on the chairs on her both sides, as if they had grown out of the ground and learned to jump high despite their comically short paws.

“Let me guess,” she began with her mouth full. “You buried your food, and now you want to join mine.” She smiled ominously, raising her plate in her hand and leaning on the chair to keep the dish out of reach of the Yorkies. She swallowed and smiled with venomous satisfaction. “It's a good thing you didn't develop thumbs, you shoe destroyers.”

She had the impression that Amadeus was looking at Pancratius and nodding his head in a truly human way. Then everything happened very quickly. Pancratius jumped towards her and snapped his teeth onto the fork, hanging on it. Vi barely managed to avoid breaking the Kirammans' porcelain, but the dish, covered in slippery sauce, slid off the plate and onto the floor. Amadeus immediately jumped off his chair and began to eat, and Pancratius, seeing that the mission had been successful, released the fork from his jaws, landed on all fours like a cat, and joined in the eating.

Vi's irritation began to grow. She put her plate down on the table roughly, threw her fork on it, and turned to the ugly mutts.

“It's not my fault you don't want to eat this mush!” she shouted, gesturing intensely.

The Yorkies, however, seemed completely unfazed, so she left them to their dinner and returned to the kitchen to take a drinkable yogurt out of the fridge and fill her stomach with it. She put the plastic bottle on the counter and looked at the instructions.

Walk

The headline alone made her groan in resignation.

For Caitlyn.

She was ready. A fanny pack with treats for two little devils rested on her hips (Caitlyn didn't forget to mention that they would be deducted from their dinner, as if Vi cared; the devil's spawns didn’t deserve a single treat). She wore a baseball cap with the KRM logo on it and Caitlyn's oversized shoes, which she had luckily dug out of the depths of the closet in the dressing room. Her own shoes had started to stink, so she put them outside, accepting that she would have to write them off as a loss.

Two collars and leashes with snap hooks hung by the door. As soon as they jingled cheerfully, the dogs appeared at the door, wagging their tails happily. They began to bark as if they were competing to see who could be louder and unnerve Vi faster.

When she tried to ignore the shrill whining, leaning over Amadeus first, Pancratius stood on two legs, hugging her leg and began to make movements associated with only one activity that Vi definitely did not want to be involved in.

“Dude, I'm a lesbian, haven't you noticed?” she sighed. As soon as she turned away from Amadeus, trying to push away the Yorkie copulating with her poor, unsuspecting shin, he grabbed her other leg with his paws and began to mimic his canine companion.

Vi straightened up, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. She was on the verge of exploding.

“Can you stop fucking with my legs?!” she raised her voice, but it seemed to have no effect on the animals. Then Vi had a brilliant idea. She reached into her backpack and pulled out two small treats, whose smell suggested that they had spent many years in a landfill, decomposing and absorbing the aromas of their trashy companions. She clicked her tongue at the dogs, holding the food out toward them. The Yorkies instantly broke away from her legs and began sniffing. As Vi still held the treats in her fingers, trying to pull the dogs as far away from her legs as possible, they both bit her painfully at the same moment. She screamed in pain, and the treats fell to the ground only to end up in the dogs' stomachs. Vi shook her head in disbelief. She grabbed the collar again and leaned over Pancratius to wrap it around his furry neck. As soon as she fastened it and stopped holding her hands around the dog's neck, he jumped at her nose and bit her before Vi could jump back. She felt a pinch, and when she touched her face, there was a drop of blood on her finger. She looked angrily at Pancratius, who was standing facing the door and wagging his tail. Fucking pleased with himself. Fucker.

Putting on the leash went smoothly, although she wasted time looking for the first aid kit only to remember that this information should be in the section on dog first aid. It turned out that the Kirammans had drawers with medicines and wound dressing kits in every other room, including the kitchen. After disinfecting the wound on his nose with the antibacterial spray, she grabbed the leashes (which she had previously attached to the collars and hung on the door handle so that the two devils wouldn't get any other ideas) and took the Yorkies outside. At first, it went surprisingly well. Both dogs found a place to relieve themselves, then began sniffing around in the grass, only to catch up with Vi, who was heading for the exit of the property, after a few steps.

The calm didn't last long, because once she passed through the gate, all hell broke loose. A petite brunette was walking down the sidewalk with a Borzoi on a leash, which stopped immediately when it saw Vi and began to stare at her.

Is this some kind of dog curse? she thought. She was already expecting an interracial alliance. However, the Borzoi seemed exceptionally calm, as it lowered its head and began to slowly follow them. The brunette had her eyes fixed on her phone. Amadeus and Pancratius took up a fighting stance—they pricked up their ears and tails, staring at their new canine prey. Vi already knew that this did not bode well, so she tried to click her tongue at them, call them by name, and pull them, but despite her own strength and the dogs' light weight, she was unable to move them. As soon as the Borzoi was within reach of the leash, Pancratius began to bark, and Amadeus lifted his leg to urinate on the unsuspecting dog, who immediately ran away behind the brunette.

Her gaze expressed fury.

“What are you doing? Your damn rats are pissing on my baby!” she asked angrily, and Vi took a step back.

I'd like to know myself.

“Come on, Max,” she called cheerfully to the Borzoi, who trotted after her as far away from the devil's spawns as possible. The barking Pancratius began to lunge in his direction, and Amadeus had already spotted a new victim - a passerby approaching from the other direction. The dogs began to run in two opposite directions, painfully stretching her arms. It was too much.

“Quiet!” she shouted, pulling the Yorkies toward her as they froze. Instead of barking, there was the sound of claws scraping against the cobblestones. A blissful silence ensued. The Yorkies looked at her menacingly. “We'll go home right now if you keep behaving like this.”

As one, the dogs began to follow her back toward the gate.

That seemed to be the end of the walk.

Until they bolted after a passing car.

Vi threw the leashes on the ground, kicked off Cait’s shoes, and dragged her feet toward the couch. She collapsed on it, exhausted.

“No rats in the house,” she said into the air, as if rehearsing a conversation with Caitlyn about their future.

She realized that she hadn't even completed five percent of her walking plan, but how could anyone in their right mind manage this task?

She pulled out her phone, which had a picture of a smiling Caitlyn as its wallpaper. She wiped the imprint of her finger from her forehead with such tenderness, as if she were stroking the real Cait instead of a flat screen. Then she felt something wet on her forearm. Amadeus lay down next to her, rested his head on Vi's thigh, and touched her with his wet nose. In that moment, he looked incredibly cute and gentle, as if he knew he had pushed Vi to her limit. He had big, dark, wet eyes and squeaked apologetically as he tried to stick his nose under Vi's elbow. After all, she wasn't a monster. They were just two unbearable dogs belonging to her future in-laws. She couldn't stay angry for too long, especially if it was thanks to them that she would break the curse. She began to scratch Amadeus on the head behind his bow with her fingertips. The dog rolled onto his back, showing his belly, so Vi stroked him between his front paws.

“You're not that bad after all,” she replied tenderly.

Then there was a rustling sound. She looked up at the coffee table just as a piece of paper slid off it and fell to the floor. She bent down to look underneath just as Pancratius tore it in two, holding one piece between his paws and the other in his teeth. Vi turned pale. When she glanced at Amadeus reproachfully, he no longer resembled the sweet dog he had been just a minute earlier. Something mischievous and deeply ominous flashed in his doggy eyes. He jumped off the couch at the same moment Vi jumped to her feet. Amadeus joined Pancratius and grabbed the piece of paper held in the other Yorkie's mouth. The sound of tearing paper filled Vi's ears, bringing her blood to a boil.

“Fucking rats!” she shouted and rushed after them.

When she managed to retrieve the stolen correspondence, it was no longer in three pieces, but in fifteen. She spread the fragments on the table and recognized the city's coat of arms in one of them. The rats knew it was something important. She glared at the dogs in anger, but they were busy with their own doggy business. She began searching dressers, wardrobes, and even the bookcase in the garage for adhesive tape, finally finding it on the console under the TV. She decided not to dwell too long on this unusual location and got down to work. She managed to fold and glue together half of the sheet, which contained only the addressee—the city hall—and the title “Call to action regarding the undercity.” Whatever that meant. The content of the call was supposed to be the part that was difficult to put together. Suddenly, she smelled something. She sniffed, frowning.

I hope it's not what I think it is.

She got up from the table and headed for the sofa, where two cute dogs were sprawled out.

Cute as tea sweetened with five spoonfuls of salt.

When she saw that the dark carpet was a different color in two places, she knew her worst fears had been confirmed.

“Fucking little shits!”

As if by magic, the Yorkies began rolling around in their own excrement.

Birds flew up from the trees as the area around the estate filled with the bloodcurdling scream of an enraged Vi.

Then she felt her pocket vibrate. She let out a gasp of surprise when she saw Caitlyn's name on the display.

“Vi, I have a favor to ask of you.”

“Good to hear from you too,” she replied sarcastically.

“Can you take the turkey out of the freezer?”

It was the strangest request she could imagine.

“Sure,” she replied, confused and disappointed by the lack of response to her taunt.

“Thank you.”

And she hung up.

The smelly dogs followed her into the kitchen, leaving tiny paw prints on the floor. Vi no longer had the strength to yell at them; she just wanted this hell to finally end.

When she opened the freezer door, the dogs sat down next to her—one behind her and the other in a way that allows him staring inside the appliance. Vi looked at them both suspiciously, then crouched down and wrapped her arms around the gutted, headless turkey. It was heavy, but she managed to hold it in one hand and close the door with the other. The dogs' noses lifted and began to sniff.

“You didn't want to eat earlier,” she said reproachfully to Pancratius, who was standing on her right. Amadeus sat on her left. She felt cornered. She put her other hand under the turkey and was about to put it on the counter when it suddenly slipped out. She tried to catch it in midair, but as soon as she clenched her fingers on the slippery surface of the frozen meat, it slipped out again. She felt as if everything was happening in slow motion when the carcass hit Pancratius, who fell to the ground, and the turkey fell next to him with a loud clatter. She blinked once, twice, and reached for the animal.

It turns out pictures aren't enough to master first aid, she thought in panic and turned the dog onto its back, trying to feel its heartbeat under her fingers. Nothing. The small animal's body wasn't moving at all.

“Fuck, I don't believe it,” she hissed through clenched teeth. Amadeus was still sitting in the same place, staring intently at Vi. It was as if he didn't care about the death of his canine companion, as if he had died honorably, fulfilling his mission of poisoning Vi's life.

Amadeus followed her into the garden, where she began digging a hole. Caitlyn's instructions did not mention the death of the rat, so there was no mention of how deep the dog's grave should be, so she decided to do it intuitively. When she thought it was deep enough that Amadeus wouldn't be able to dig up his companion's body, she put Pancratius in the hole and started looking at him as if he were about to start laughing.

That’s stupid, dogs don't laugh.

She wiped the tears welling up in her eyes and sniffed, then began to scoop dirt onto the shovel and cover the body with it.

She didn't even think about what Caitlyn would say when she found out that her parents' dog had been killed by a frozen turkey. Didn't it sound like the plot of a new Mr. Bean movie? Benny Hill would have laughed, but Vi had had enough.

She tamped down the soil with her shovel and glanced at Amadeus, who was sitting opposite her, staring at her with his dark eyes.

“You're going to miss him, aren't you?” she asked, reaching out to scratch him comfortingly behind the ear, but someone else was quicker.

Suddenly, a hawk swooped down from the sky, grabbed Amadeus's small body with its talons, and lifted him up into the air, disappearing into the sky.

She dropped her arms to her sides and let go of the shovel, which fell to the ground with a dull thud.

“This must be some kind of fucking joke!”

⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆

The doorbell rang. Vi looked around the living room and was pleased to see that all crises had been averted and the damage repaired. The only thing missing was the rug under the couch. She headed for the door with her heart in her throat and her legs so heavy they seemed to sink into the smooth surface of the shiny tiles. She put her hand on the doorknob and took a breath before opening the door just wide enough for her head.

Caitlyn was standing on the porch.

“How did it go looking after Mom's angels?” she asked, smiling half-heartedly.

“Great,” replied Vi. “Thanks for the instructions, it would have been difficult without them.”

Caitlyn shifted from foot to foot and opened her mouth as if to say something, but Vi was quicker.

“Where are your parents?” she asked casually, trying to delay the inevitable.

“They dropped me off at the house and went shopping. They guess we need to talk.”

The very thought sent an unpleasant shiver down Vi's spine.

“Will you let me in?” Cait asked suddenly, and Vi pouted her lower lip.

“Sure.” She opened the door wider. Behind her sat two Yorkies waiting for Caitlyn to take off her coat so they could greet her. One of them had a short haircut, while the other had long hair reaching the floor and a green bow on top of its head.

“Did you have to comb Amadeus?” Caitlyn asked, a smile spreading across her face as she untied her boots.

“It wasn't in the instructions, but yes.” Vi leaned nonchalantly against the wall, folding her arms across her chest. “I searched the entire wardrobe to find spare bows. He must have lost that one.”

Caitlyn took off her shoes and crouched down in front of the dogs.

“Did you lose your bow, you rascal?” she said to Amadeus, stroking his head. He immediately began to fawn over her hand.

Then she looked up at Vi, who stood up proudly, running her fingers through her hair. She didn't expect Kiramman to suddenly get up and throw herself around her neck.

“What a relief. You don't even know how scared I was that you wouldn't be able to handle it.” Cait's voice was barely above a whisper. Her breath spread warmth across her neck and earlobe, giving her goosebumps. Then she cupped Vi's face in her hands and kissed her greedily.

Vi shrugged, smiling broadly.

“Piece of cake.”

She did it. She finally broke the curse. She didn't play entirely fair, but the result is what matters.

Now I have to figure out how to return to the real world, where Cait is herself.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Caitlyn broke away from Vi. Amadeus and Pancratius lay quietly in the hallway, busy licking their paws and cooling their bellies on the cold tiles. Caitlyn frowned. Something was wrong.

Vi felt her heart beat faster as Caitlyn took a step back and turned toward the door, which creaked unpleasantly as she opened it with a focused expression on her face. Upon seeing what was behind it, Kiramman's face showed consternation. Or rather, who was standing behind it. Eliza—a retired neighbor who spent an obscene amount of time in her garden, baked the best yeast cake on this side of the globe, and weeded her flower beds in a blue floral apron—was now standing on bent legs with fury in her eyes, pointing an axe in her hands at Vi standing behind Caitlyn.

“YOU!” she shouted furiously. Caitlyn blinked a few times to follow her gaze toward the accused. “YOU KIDNAPPED MY DOGS!”

Amadeus and Pancratius jumped up from the hallway and began rubbing against the retiree's legs.

“My dear little sunshines...”

Caitlyn looked over Eliza, the dogs, and Vi. She frowned. She sighed deeply.

“Will you explain to me what's going on here?” The officious Caitlyn returned, her voice now devoid of any warmth, replaced by a cold matter-of-factness that made Vi's stomach clench uncomfortably.

Eliza no longer seemed concerned with revenge against Vi, put the axe down on the ground and raised her voice three tones, speaking to the dogs.

“I found two Yorkies wandering the street, so I took them in,” Vi began to explain.

Caitlyn didn't look convinced.

“What happened to Amadeus and Pancratius?”

“They're dead.”

Caitlyn's eyes widened in shock, and a single tear rolled down her cheek. She wiped it away with the back of her hand, trying to compose herself, but her lower lip began to tremble involuntarily and her vision became blurred. Caitlyn turned to face the wall.

“Go away, Vi.”

“But Cait...”

“It was your last chance,” she replied in a trembling voice, clearing her throat and continuing with Kiramman-like composure. “How am I supposed to build a relationship with someone who can't look after two little dogs?”

Vi had no answer to that.

“Those dogs are two devil’s spawns who were asking to be put down” — she probably wouldn't take that well.

“It's not me, it's the curse” – maybe it would work in other circumstances.

“If only I'd thought of the right words, I could have held on to your heart” — too sentimental, and why was that song stuck in her head in circumstances like these?

“You should go now.” She pointed her finger toward the open door. She didn't give Vi a single glance.

⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆

Vi entered the house with Caitlyn’s shoes on, even though she knew she didn't like it. She dropped her keys on the table and reached for the crumpled piece of paper.

Lesbian breaky upy breakup bingo

She smiled to herself, remembering that lovely evening. Her expression immediately soured when she glanced at the last word. She felt a shiver run down her spine, took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly.

If only she had known what was in store for her, she wouldn't have let the bingo happen, or at least she would have created a different one. Then the last square wouldn't have been filled with the word DEATH, written in her own handwriting.

Chapter Text

Caitlyn wiped her forehead with a small towel she took out of her purse, gently pressing it against her skin so as not to ruin her makeup before even reaching the destination. She crossed her legs and tried to fan herself with her phone, but the movement of warm air  wasn't strong enough to provide any relief on such a hot day, so she quickly gave up. She looked out the car window.

“Can't I really open the window?”

“I'm sorry, miss. We're on an unpaved road, all the sand will get inside and ruin your outfit.”

Caitlyn sighed heartbreakingly.

“You're going to kill me one day, James. What's wrong in the car this time?”

“The air conditioning is out of refrigerant, miss.”

Caitlyn sighed again, admiring the view outside the window. Asbestos piled up by the road, cows grazing in the meadow, wooden houses that almost audibly cried out for a thorough renovation or for napalm to be dropped on them and rebuilt. Some of them had broken windows, others were missing roofs. Apart from the general state of disrepair, which Caitlyn estimated to be very severe, they had only one thing in common—those awful curtains with embroidered flowers hanging in almost every window. Finally, she saw a sign that read “Loveladies” and began to recognize the houses along the road. James gradually slowed down and finally stopped the car at one of the houses.

“Thanks, James,” Caitlyn said, opening the car door to step onto the sandy road.

“Miss.” James' voice stopped her, so she turned her head toward him. Her face was painted with anticipation. “Take care of yourself.”

She smiled indulgently.

“Who would want to hurt me here?” she asked rhetorically, not waiting for an answer. As she got out, she slid her sunglasses down her nose to get a better look around, revealing smudged lines on her eyelids. She scanned the area with her light blue eyes. They alone signaled that she was not from here. There was not a single person in the entire village with eyes like hers. Once, she and Vi lay in tangled sheets, touching each other's naked bodies with their hands. Caitlyn found the callouses covering her lover's hands to be exceptionally exotic, imperfect, and attractive. Then Vi told her a story she had heard from her own mother. Apparently, all children with blue eyes were burned at the stake along with their mothers for consorting with the devil back in the Middle Ages. The news spread throughout the area, and since then, no one with blue eyes has dared to live there. Kiramman was so terrified after hearing this story that she couldn't think of anything else that day whenever she saw the eyes of the locals.

A few villagers stopped to look at her. They examined her red polka dot dress with a narrow waist and flared hem that reached above her knees, her impeccable figure, and neatly combed hair. Caitlyn cursed herself for wearing wedge sandals when her foot began to wobble on the stones.

“Viola!” a man's voice rang out. “Viola, the countess has come ta see ya.”

And then she saw her.

Violet (or Viola, as she was called in the village) did not look even one percent as elegant as Caitlyn. She was dressed in a loose T-shirt smeared with mud, dungarees with a prominent hole in the knee and a missing button, causing one strap to droop sadly and rub against her thigh. Her pink hair looked as if storks had mistaken her head for a nest — it was not only greasy but also tangled. Caitlyn frowned. Vi yawned loudly, not covering her mouth, and then Kiramman saw something that made her dizzy. Vi narrowed her eyes, shielding them from the intrusive sun with her hand. She frowned comically, looking at her for a long moment.

Hi, Cait! Vi thought enthusiastically. What are you doing here?

“Hello, Kathrie!” A broad smile spread across her face. “Do yew brang yer sweet bumbum here often?”

Vi laughed cheerfully, though a bawdy cackle escaped Viola's lips. Suddenly, her smile faded and her face showed consternation.

Why the hell did I say that?

She began to panic. She glanced quickly at her hands, where she saw dark marks. She instinctively wiped them on her pants, even though she never normally did that. Then she realized that she had no control over her own body; she was sending messages that Viola was carrying out in her own way. Viola, who is her today. What's worse, her voice was thick, her diction sloppy, and she sounded like a deep fucking countryside babushka with a red neck!

How the fuck am I supposed to keep Cait from breaking up with me in this reality? It’s asking for a fucking disaster!

Caitlyn took off her sunglasses and put them on top of her head. Her eyebrows were furrowed and her face was written with consternation.

“My name is not Kathrie, it's Caitlyn.”

Of course I know! Fuck, I can't say it.

My mistake, ha ha. Of course your name is Caitlyn. Cait-lyn.

“Sheeeiit me nahwt, yew're Kathrierzina,” she replied instead, looking at Kiramman with her mouth open and her nose wrinkled.

Fuck, fucking Viola isn't cooperating.

She noticed Caitlyn's eyelid twitch, betraying her growing irritation. Trying to save the situation, she did the first thing that came to mind: she stepped on the rake lying in the yard with her shoe, quickly grabbed the handle, leaned on it nonchalantly, and asked in a sensually hushed voice, "You couldn't wait to see me, could you?” Right? Not really. Something that would have been very appealing coming from the sexy, muscular Vi, who can say the word “not” not sounding like a damaged frog, did not come across appealing at all coming from Vi from the countryside. What a surprise.

Viola, although she had spent her whole life working on the farm, had neither grace nor nonchalance, nor even the reflexes to catch the damn rake. She stepped on it, but instead of going into her outstretched hand, the handle hit her straight in the forehead. Viola staggered backward, bending at the waist and grabbing the reddened spot. Concern mixed with embarrassment flashed across Caitlyn's face. Once Viola was back on her feet, she stuck out her chest proudly and replied:

“Couldn' wait fer Viola tuh plough ya, eh?”

Vi felt like slapping her forehead with her open palm.

“Ouch!”

Great, you can listen, Viola, just not when you need to.

When she looked up, she saw even greater consternation painted on Caitlyn's face. She raised an eyebrow, looking at Vi closely, as if she were searching her face for the reason for this strange behavior.

“Ayy mowsquito must have landed on muh fawehead,” she explained awkwardly.

Caitlyn turned her head like a puppy. God, she was adorable. Why was she hanging out with such a bumpkin?

“Mowsquito on fawehead,” Viola replied.

Caitlyn nodded as if she understood what Vi was trying to tell her.

Violet, on the other hand, didn't know what was more frustrating – the inability to communicate or the knowledge that nothing in this reality would work, and certainly not stop the elegant Kathrierzina from breaking up with Viola. Ugh. She could only steal a few pleasant moments, if she didn't drop dead from embarrassment by then.

“Vi,” Caitlyn began, approaching her cautiously as her heels wobbled on the uneven ground and grabbing her hands. For a moment, Vi hoped that Caitlyn would fall straight into her arms, but it wasn’t her lucky day. She looked straight into Viola's eyes, and there was nothing good lurking in her blue irises. A pained look, the corners of her eyebrows raised in an apologetic gesture, and a nervously bitten lip. "I have to tell you something.”

Not yet, give me more time. I'll figure it out somehow.

“Whut do yew wonna say?” Vi looked away, gazing at the endless fields behind Caitlyn's shoulder, freeing herself from her grip. Then Kiramman grabbed her by the shoulders and forced her to look at her face. Vi's eyes immediately went to her mouth.

“You need to brush your teeth, Vi,” she said seriously.

Oh, that’s right. I hadn't brushed my teeth. WHY DIDN’T I DO THAT?

“Oh, Ah forgot tuh brush muh teeth,” Viola replied carelessly.

AND WHY DO I SAY MUH INSTEAD OF MY?

“Wait here, Kathrie. Ay'll come bak soon.”

Vi wanted to sink into the ground. If Cait reacted that way to the word “breakup,” what must she think of her now?

Caitlyn just nodded and stared at her phone.

The door of the cottage creaked so loudly that the nearby birds took flight. Vi was about to go to the bathroom when something caught her attention. On the table lay a slightly crumpled piece of paper so white that it seemed to glow compared to the rest of the decor in the small one-story cottage. She lifted the paper to her face and saw a bingo card.

Will this haunt me in every universe?

She saw that the last box crossed out was “U-Haul” with a scribbled car, the next row began with “You can't be relied on at all,” followed by “Class differences.” Whatever that meant. Vi left the piece of paper where she found it and went to the bathroom.

Louder than the creak of the front door was her own scream when she saw her reflection in the mirror. She wet her hands under the water and tried to comb her hair back with her fingers, but it didn't help much. Ultimately, there was something worse than a bad hair day. She was missing her front tooth.

Why hadn't I felt it before?!

Officially, it was the worst scenario bingo had ever taken her to.

She brushed her teeth twice (yes, twice) and, even though the toothbrush was begging to be replaced, she managed to make them relatively smooth. She ran her tongue over them again to make sure there wasn't too much plaque.

Her fresh breath gave her confidence, although she still remembered that Viola was completely unpredictable and would inevitably lead her to a big fucking disaster.

As soon as she stepped outside the creaking door, she was struck by the heat and the ubiquitous brightness of the sun's rays reflecting off the sand and the light-colored facades of the nearby houses. She shielded her eyes with her hand and blinked several times, trying to locate Caitlyn, who was standing where the car had driven off and no longer had her phone in her hand because something else had caught her attention. Or rather, someone else. Vi narrowed her eyes and frowned.

Sophy The Tractorist was standing in front of Caitlyn. At the mere mention of her name, Vi habitually clenched her hands into fists. Sophy was the second (because the first was Viola... I mean Vi!) and last lesbian in Loveladies, she had her hair cut short on the sides, the rest of her hair tied on top of her head in a tight bun that looked like horse manure, a loose T-shirt probably belonging to her older sister who had left for the city, and... were those fake Adidas tracksuits from the stall?! What a wasteful, ugly as the shit on her head, lazy slob who picks up other people's girlfriends and can only sit in a tractor and drive from one end of the field to the other!

And how the fuck do I know all this about a person I'm seeing for the first time in my life?

Before Vi had a chance to stare at the charming smile Sophy directed at Caitlyn, as she accidentally touched her hair and laughed loudly, bawdily, and completely unattractively, showing intact teeth, she was already walking furiously towards the talking couple.

“Eh, Joseh!” Heleen called from the other end of the road, tapping the knee of a villager who had fallen asleep with a newspaper in his hand on the terrace. “Look! They're goin' tuh fight!”

Joseh jumped up from his chair, and the newspaper slid off the terrace, falling straight into a puddle between the freshly watered geraniums.

“Fuck! Ah told yew, it's too hawt, yew shouldn' water ‘em!”

Joseh's shout reached Vi's ears, but she was too preoccupied with the scene unfolding before her eyes to react. Sophy. Tucked. Caitlyn’s. Hair. Behind. Her. Ear.

Vi felt anger growing inside her so great that it was impossible to contain. She clenched her jaw and gritted her teeth.

You dickhead!

Kiramman's expression remained inscrutable, although to Viola she might as well have been giggling and fluttering her eyelashes. She walked up to Sophy and hit her with her shoulder.

“Ouch!” Sophy cried out, staggered backwards, and began waving her arms. “Whut are ya doin', Viola?!”

“Whut Ah'm doing?” Viola took a few steps forward, standing just inches away from Sophy. She took a deep breath, straightened up, and spread her arms, flexing her biceps. “Whut are yew doin' tryin' tuh seduce muh girl!”

“Vi, it’s nothing,” Caitlyn tried to mediate, but neither of the rural lesbians listened to her.

“Ay wouldn’t have ta try!” Sophy cackled. “Ya toothless brat, think ya could whup me?”

She didn't leave Vi a choice, did she? For the very first time Vi and Wiola agreed. She grabbed Sophy by the shirt with one hand and punched her straight in the cheek with the other. Sophy fell limply into the field. She propped herself up on her elbow to start rubbing her cheek with her other hand.

“She just wanted to show off her fake Adidas tracksuit!” Caitlyn reached Vi, trying to pull her away. A mocking smile appeared on Viola's face.

“Yew cain't even afford thuh originals! I'll whup yew up, yew nasty redneck!” Vi spat in her direction and let Caitlyn pull her away from Sophy. “Fuck you,” she added, turning her back on her opponent. And that was a mistake. Before Vi realized it, Sophy jumped to her feet and raised her leg to deliver a clumsy kick to the middle of her back, leaving a mark from her sole on the dark fabric. Wiola flew forward, falling face first. When she turned around, she saw Caitlyn, who approached Sophy with quick steps full of familiar rage.

She stopped so close that the tips of their shoes were only millimeters apart. Sophy blew her a kiss.

“Yew came ta give the prize ta the winnuurr?” she asked, raising her eyebrow mischievously. She smiled broadly, and although the grimace was certainly meant to be charming, it looked disgusting to Vi. Sophy didn't know what was coming yet. Caitlyn swung her arm and gave the peasant girl a sharp slap, which instantly wiped the stupid smirk off Sophy’s face, leaving her with an expression of idiotic disbelief and a furiously red cheek. Joseh and Heleen must have resolved their newspaper conflict earlier, because at one point they burst into thunderous laughter that echoed throughout the neighborhood.

Then Caitlyn crouched down next to Vi.

“Are you okay?”

Caitlyn is worried about this clumsy version of me who’s an awful speaker, has no teeth, and is missing a few screws. Maybe, ironically, this is where I'll manage to avoid a breakup?

Viola looked up to meet the concerned gaze of Kiramman, who placed her hand on her cheek. She stroked it with her thumb, and Vi suddenly felt a rush of warmth unrelated to the heat pouring down from the sky. When Cait smiled at her, she felt as if her heart was about to jump out of her chest.

“You know I don't approve of fighting, but I assume you wanted not only to mark your territory, but also to protect me,” she said, her smile widening with each word. “Besides... When I saw you so feisty, I thought maybe we could go somewhere,” she bit her lip and lowered her voice to a mysterious whisper, “more secluded.”

Vi looked at her speechless. She knew that sparkle in her eye, she could recognize it without fail.

Just tell me where, she thought excitedly.

But Viola had a different idea.

“Here? Where do yew wonna go? Tuh thuh manure?” She cackled, visibly amused.

If only I could stuff this country bumpkin into some abyss of oblivion. I feel like a fucking viewer in an interactive cinema, and I'm sitting in her head... My head... Ugh, it's complicated.

“Maybe to that shed we were in last time?” asked Cait playfully, undeterred. She moved her hand from her cheek to her chest. Her touch began to burn Vi with a living fire.

Yes! Yes! Great idea! I've never had sex on hay. At least I'll be able to make up for everything that's happened over the last... Hell knows how long it's been since you arrived to this shithole. How do people in the countryside live without a watch on their phone?

But a laugh escaped Viola's lips — a bawdy, low, abusive laugh.

Oh no...

“Barn is busy, ‘cuz Austin is plougheen’ Buck there,” she said in a low voice, or at least that's how it seemed to Viola when she stopped shouting at the whole village. Which wasn't that difficult, because it consisted of a dozen or so houses built along the main road and nearby fields.

Caitlyn frowned in confusion.

“What is he doing?” she asked, tilting her head again, which made Viola laugh even louder.

Viola, you mental barn!

Kiramman sighed. She knew exactly what was going on.

“Come in,” she waved and headed towards the house... Earlier she hadn't paid attention to where she was going or what the interior looked like, as if she was used to it. She heard the door creak, she noticed bingo and the splayed bristles of a toothbrush, but nothing else. This house... It can't be hers, right? It had to be hers, since her legs were carrying her there.

Caitlyn swallowed nervously as she looked at the leaky thatched roof, no façade on the outside walls, the walls that were visibly wet despite the sunny weather, and those awful curtains in the windows. Only when she was standing in front of the door did she notice that what she thought was a shed was actually an extension made of rotten wood.

Caitlyn walked through the doorway, which didn't even have a frame, with her soul on her shoulder. She had the feeling that this soul would fly away into oblivion when, as soon as she entered the hallway, something indefinable landed on her nose. It was small and started tickling her nose, so she instinctively began waving her hand in front of her face, only to start scratching her nose frantically.

“What happened?” asked Vi, closing the door behind them.

At least it was much cooler inside than outside. When the itching subsided, she began to look around the room with its low ceiling and uneven walls in a color between beige and gray. Vi was still looking at her with a hint of amusement.

“Some insect landed on my nose,” Caitlyn explained, and Viola laughed loudly.

“Oh, Kathrie, Kathrie. It’s jus' a food moth, no need tuh be so dramatic 'bout it.”

Why do I have to talk so stupidly?

Kiramman opened her eyes wider in surprise.

“A meal moth?” she asked incredulously.

Oops.

“Yeah,” replied Viola, avoiding her gaze just to put the kettle on in the kitchen.

Caitlyn dismissed it with silence and began to pace around the living room. Inside, there was a smell of dampness, old books, and a metallic stench, and although she hadn't paid any attention to it before, suddenly this mixture began to bother Vi. She looked into the kitchen cabinet.

Of course, she had fucking chipped mugs; even intact mugs are too fancy in this godforsaken village. Someone might have stolen them! Or, what’s worse, think that fucking Viola pretends to be someone worth Cait. And a fucking Lipton for such a tea connoisseur as Cait. Vi used to enjoy drinking Lipton until Kiramman taught her what the good earl grey is.

But what else could she do? She took out the Lipton and put the tea bags in the mugs, then poured boiling water over them. She put the kettle on the gas stove and, to her own surprise, carried them to the table without spilling a drop.

Caitlyn stood opposite the sofa and stared at the metal painting of Mary with the baby Jesus. It was gold and took up an overwhelming part of the wall. It seemed strange that Vi hadn't noticed it before.

It's not mine, it must have belonged to some old devout woman who lived here before.

But what came out of her mouth was:

“Someone must have done left it here.” Why I just said “done” in some random part of a sentence?

Caitlyn just raised an eyebrow and didn't ask any further questions. When they took their seats at the table, Vi felt the oilcloth tablecloth sticking to her elbows, and Kiramman sat chained to the back of her chair, her hands folded in her lap. The tea was steaming, and apart from the steady ticking of the clock, it seemed to be the most energetic thing in the whole house. Then Cait reached out to touch her muscular arm. Vi felt a shiver run through her whole body as the delicate hand slid over the muscles. She wanted to close her eyes and purr. She missed the carefree everyday life she shared with Cait so much. Suddenly, Kiramman stopped mid-motion, and Vi realized she had actually closed her eyes.

I hope I wasn't purring, because with Viola's charming voice it must have sounded dangerously close to a rural exorcism.

As soon as she opened them, she saw Caitlyn, whose eyelids were wide open, one hand covering her mouth and the other pointing at something on the floor. Vi followed her finger to see a bug with a black shell scurrying across the floor. Viola wanted to wave her hand, but Vi stopped her at the last moment, straining her/their eyes instead. Scurrying was an understatement—it was racing as if its life depended on it, with long antennae, short legs, and a shape that left no room for doubt. Before she could react, Caitlyn's voice rang out.

“How about we go to the manor?”

How could she not eagerly agree to this proposal?

“Dern tootin’!”

When this nightmare is going to end?

Vi had to remember that fate had not been kind to her, so this was not the end of her problems. Because fucking Viola only had a bike, and the manor house was several miles away from Loveladies. Besides, Caitlyn didn't have the right shoes for such long walks. So she sat down in those fucking wedges on the trunk and they set off for the nearby village. Halfway there, Vi began to regret that she had skipped leg day and focused on her arms instead, as she tried to ride uphill, which she ultimately managed to do without dismounting. Later, she began to wonder how she knew how far the manor was from her (so generously called) home and how to get there, only to conclude that maybe Vi -Vi didn't know it, but Vi-Viola (although she officially denied any connection with this simpleton, who for some incomprehensible reason talked as if she had been dropped on her head as a child) must have known the way very well.

Maybe Caitlyn had never been to Viola's house before, but they always went to the small manor house?

“Small manor house” turned out to be an understatement, because the building was almost the size of the Kirammans' main estate. Well, maybe half the size, but after the claustrophobic cottage, it seemed even bigger than it actually was. It was located in the middle of a park full of green trees, fragrant flowers, and Indian summer lazily stirred by warm breezes. Viola left her bike in front of the entrance gate (because, as was often the case with the Kirammans, it couldn't be called anything normal, such as a door), after making sure three times that “no one would steal it.” Vi admired how classy Caitlyn was not calling it a piece of junk.

“'cuz I have tuh ride tuh thuh shop in Wsiowyce.”

Kiramman seemed to understand instead, which was a big surprise, because even Vi wasn’t sure what an actual fuck Wsyogibberish was. Even tho she had to live in Viola’s head for a whole fucking day.

Before she had time to look around the property, Caitlyn was already pulling her into a room whose smell immediately reminded Vi of the one that hit her when she opened Caitlyn's wardrobe. She took a deep breath, holding it there for a moment and pretending that everything was as usual and that it wasn't Vi that smelled so bad. Kiramman, however, was apparently unable to ignore the olfactory impressions Vi was giving her, because as soon as the door closed behind them, she was already pulling her toward the bathroom. Or rather, it was Viola who stank, because Vi would never smell like hundred animals’ excrement mixed with a scent of sweat and poor ventilation!

The large tiles resembled concrete, there was a gold frame around the mirror, and at the far end of the room was a spacious shower stall that looked strikingly similar to the one in Caitlyn's real room in the estate. Before she could see if the toilet was gold too—as Viola maliciously suggested in her head—Caitlyn had already unbuttoned the button of her overalls and pulled her shirt up to take it off over her head and throw it on the matte tiles. Vi couldn't take her eyes off the sparkling eyes that were now fixed on her bare breasts.

Oh, Cait. You don't even know how much I missed you.

"Oh, Kathrie, Kathrie. Even yew don't know how often Ah thought 'bout boobies of yer.”

Vi tried to swallow the wave of embarrassment that began to flood her, leading to a tingling sensation in the hands she held on Cait's hips.

You fucking idiot, she'll chase you away with that fucking golden toilet if you don't shut up this filthy mouth of yours. Ours. Mine. Fuck.

Caitlyn looked up at her, her gaze free of distaste. Instead, her eyes, shining with excitement, moved to Vi's shoulders, which she began to stroke with her fingers, sliding her fingertips over the peaks formed by the muscles to her forearms, then her wrists. Caitlyn moved her hands to Vi's sides to slip them under the fabric of her overalls and, biting her lip mischievously, slide them off her hips. The pants fell to the ground along with her holey underwear. Vi no longer had the mind to mock Viola for being such a sloppy country girl, because Caitlyn knelt in front of her and stared at Vi with a look full of unspeakable tension. A challenge.

Vi wasn't sure how long she had been holding her breath, but she realized she was holding it only when Caitlyn smiled sweetly, stood up, and undressed herself. Violet felt like she was trembling. She didn't feel the stench or embarrassment, she even forgot she was in this stupid body.

Cait.

“Kathrie,” Violet croaked.

Damn it.

Kathrie, however, seemed unfazed. When the dress fell to the floor, revealing that she hadn't been wearing any panties the whole time, Vi forgot how to breathe again. Kiramman didn't spare her, because, swaying her hips, she followed to the shower door and turned on the rain shower.

“Join me.”

That was enough for Vi to come to her senses and hurry into the shower.

Caitlyn washed her very thoroughly. She rubbed shampoo into her hair three times, which even Vi thought was excessive. She applied cherry blossom-scented conditioner to the ends and proceeded to run her skilled hands over the slippery skin. Vi wanted to return the favor for the shower, but Caitlyn told her to wrap herself in the fluffy towel hanging opposite and enjoy the show. Viola, whose brain had frozen the moment she believed that no one would steal her dilapidated bicycle, didn't know what the show would be, but Vi could visualize it in her imagination even before it began.

She did as Kiramman wished and took her place on the chair, spreading her legs wide. Then Vi felt it. It was as if something was trying to break free from her – something atavistic and unstoppable. Vi already knew. It was Viola.

Just don't say anything, you id...

“Ah never liked theater, I'd rather suck on them boobies.”

 … iot. Fuck. Why does my rural alter ego have to be so disgusting?

Caitlyn was bending her neck back to rinse her hair, which was dripping with water. Her eyes were closed, but she must have heard something because she turned toward the window and wiped the water from her eyes.

“Excuse me?” she asked.

Don't say anything, don't say anything...

“When will yew finish washin' an' come tuh bed with me?”

At least she didn’t use the b-word.

Caitlyn just smiled and winked at her before returning to her interrupted bath. A very slow bath. Vi could have sworn that it was already dark and that Caitlyn's fingers were wrinkled from so much contact with water.

Is it going to be much longer? Damn, I shouldn’t—

“Hey, Kathrie!”

Caitlyn sighed quietly, but not quietly enough to escape Vi's attention. Unlike Viola’s.

“Kathrie!” She called again, even though only five seconds had passed since the previous shout.

Caitlyn leaned out from behind the shower.

“I have a proposal.”

Viola sat up straight in her chair, interested.

“In preparation for what comes next, I would like you to remain completely silent.”

Viola nodded eagerly. She must have looked like a little girl who had just been promised chocolate for keeping quiet.

“Thank you,” Caitlyn replied, smiling at Viola, before returning to her bath.

Vi wanted to congratulate Caitlyn on her ingenuity, but she couldn't speak because she knew that another torrent of words would come out of Viola's mouth (and she expected that she had not yet seen the full extent of rural capabilities).

When the bath was finally over, Caitlyn dried herself off (taking special care to dry her private parts, while looking intently at Vi) and took a bottle from the sink to sit astride Wiola's lap. She put her finger on her lips.

"Remember, not a word.”

That’s my girl!

Viola pressed her lips together, applying herself to the task at hand, while Caitlyn squeezed some cream onto her fingers and began massaging it into Vi's face in circular motions. It was pleasantly cool and left a moisturizing sensation.

“Whut are yew puttin' on muh face?” Viola frowned, quickly renouncing her vow of silence.

“It's just cream, Vi,” Caitlyn replied undeterred, and when she was done, she began to apply it to herself as well.

“Ah don’t agree tuh cream!”

Viola was about to go to the sink and wash the moisturizing layer off her face when Caitlyn pulled her close to give her a long kiss on her full lips. That was enough for Viola to forget what she was going to do, and Cait skillfully took advantage of it to pull her back into the bedroom.

She sat on the edge of the bed and let Vi climb on top of her. Then she unwrapped the towel from her body, and Viola's brain suffered a serious system error and required a reset.

As even this dumbass can't cool her enthusiasm, then maybe something will come of it and Cait won't break up with me.

Vi began to consider that the seventh day might be lucky. She was even ready to become a numerology enthusiast or whatever it was called if it would allow her to escape from under the yoke of the Bingo curse. Caitlyn pulled her into a kiss, wrapping her legs around her waist. Vi saw her reflection in her eyes. She looked quite similar to the original, who did not come from the countryside and did not speak of herself in interjections. The kiss was sweet at first, then turned sensual. Without thinking, she moved her lips to her neck and sternum, encouraged by Caitlyn's panting, and sucked on her nipple. Then on the other one. When a long moan escaped Cait's lips and she jerked her hips, Vi already knew where she should direct her mouth. Then something tempted her. She pulled away from her skin to meet Caitlyn's bewildered gaze. She felt her lips stretch into a smirk that couldn't bode well.

“Is something wrong?” Kiramman asked, concerned.

And then it happened.

“Is that uther one makin' yew moan too, biggie bobbie?”

That’s not what you were supposed to sa... WHAT UTHER ONE?

Caitlyn snorted.

“Shut up.” She tangled her fingers in Vi's hair and pulled her to her lips. Not the ones on her face. She tasted salty and intimate. Pubic hair tickled Vi's nose as she opened her mouth in surprise to say something, but her lips closed over the source of pleasure.

Caitlyn began to move her hips to rub her clitoris against the protruding tongue, which was now circling the entrance. A long scream clearly showed that Kiramman had no one else in her thoughts but her – Vi Viola. Viola Vi? Whatever you call this Vi-like tumor, it was clearly occupying Kiramman's mind.

Then Vi slid just the tip of her tongue inside. Cait was still not stretched enough for her to go deeper. Caitlyn clenched her fingers on the pink hair, and when she relaxed, Vi focused on the clitoris again. It didn't take long for Kiramman to lose control and come in her mouth. Her–Vi’s. Her–Viola’s. I'm sure I'll have some kind of identity crisis after this. But at that moment, it didn't matter. Caitlyn pulled her up so she could taste herself from her mouth. She started to giggle.

Violet let her snuggle up to her chest, wrapping her arm around her waist and stroking her side with her thumb. Caitlyn, in turn, traced circles on her sternum.

When her breathing calmed down, she moved back to her place and rested her head on her hand. She reached out with her other hand to comb the damp strands of pink hair between her fingers.

“You should take better care of yourself,” Cait finally broke the silence.

“Ah do as best Ah can,” Viola replied in a thick voice. Caitlyn, however, didn't seem to mind at all. Maybe she was used to me... like this?

Kiramman raised one eyebrow, her gaze and hand gliding over her muscular body.

“I envy your tan. I immediately turn red and my skin peels off.”

“If yew worked in thuh fields, Kathrie, you'd have a tan too.”

Caitlyn laughed sincerely. The phone left on the nightstand earlier vibrated, and Kiramman flinched at the sound. The smile faded from her face, and Caitlyn the Businesswoman took the place of Caitlyn the Happy After Sex. And Caitlyn the Businesswoman never meant anything good.

She cleared her throat, snapping Viola out of her thoughts.

“Vi,” Cait began, and Vi already knew that tone well.

No. Nonono. What did I do wrong?

“We're from two different worlds, it won't work in the long run.” She placed her hand on Vi's completely stiff cheek.

“Whut are yew tawkin' about, Kathrie?” asked Viola, sounding not like a humanoid ogre, but like a wounded humanoid ogre in the process of mutation. “We have fun together, yew like muh tan an' sheeeiit.”

Caitlyn frowned, looking at her with sympathy.

“I told you that what we have has an expiration date,” she replied, trying to appeal to Viola's rational side. Mistake, Viola has no rational side.

“But whut we have is fun,” poor Viola seemed completely clueless. “Why all uv a sudden?” Her voice broke again, and a tear ran down her cheek, marking her tattoo with a wet line.

Caitlyn sighed and bit her lip, as if considering a lie.

“The feelings between me and Sevika have been rekindled. You knew I was in a relationship with her. Besides, I won't be coming to the summer manor, so we can't see each other anymore.”

Vi felt a wave of anger rising at the mere mention of the name.

Fucking Sevika!

“Let thuh dawg pee on her!” said Viola furiously, eliciting another sigh from Kiramman.

Well said, Viola! It was the second time Vi felt she agreed with her rural alter ego.

"We've already talked about this, you can't be mad at her. I'll get you some clothes and ask James to drive you home.

No, wait!

"Hold yer horses!”

"Please don't make this difficult for me. You and I aren't meant for each other, we're too different.

“'cuz Ah come frum thuh countryside, huh?!” Viola jumped up, shaking off Cait's hand.

There was a long silence, which was finally broken by a confession:

“Yes.”