Work Text:
A knock forced the sleeping dancer to wake up, his hair ruffled from his deep slumber and his movements uncoordinated as he put on his slippers and walked to the door. His pijamas shorts sliding down ever so slightly, showing the border of his boxers and the lack of a shirt showing off the muscles he worked his ass off to get. He opened the door without even bothering to dress, figuring that if the person knew him well enough they wouldn't mind.
He grunted as he rubbed his eyes, trying to dispel the bit of sleep off his face. “Yeah?”
A tall woman stood in front of him, her expression sheepish while she wrung the bag on her hands. Caitlyn Kiramman blushed the second she noticed Vi's nakedness. “Did I wake you? I didn't mean to. Madam Spinoza commented in class that you had taken a day off to heal? What happened?”
He looked up at her, smiling widely as he noticed her looking anywhere but his body. He crossed his arms, making his biceps and shoulders stand out a bit more. “Ah, Doctor Cupcake. I should have figured you would come over. Come in.” He opened the door wider for her.
“I got worried. It's unlike you to skip rehearsal. I would have called but I forgot my charger and…”
“You know I'm right here right?” He interrupted with a taunting voice. “You can look at me. Or are you shy?”
“Don't be mean. Just put on a shirt and tell me what happened.”
Vi laughed loudly at the demanding tone in her voice. “I'll do it just because I want you to look at me, Cupcake.” He quickly grabbed a discarded t-shirt from his couch and put it on, grabbing the woman's wrist and pulling her to his chest. “Is that better, pretty thing?”
A large blush covered the woman's face but she still managed to smile at him as she wrapped her arms on his neck. “Much better. Now tell me what's wrong. Don't think I didn't see that limp, Mister Warvick.”
He sighed before he dropped his head on her shoulder. “It is nothing. I did a dumb thing,” the dancer tried to brush it off. “You know how I was helping Madam Spinoza with the younger class?”
She nodded with a soft smile, the image of her partner teaching the young ballerinas flooding her mind. “Yes, of course. But what happened?”
“I might have taken a tumble. Well, not exactly. I was playing around to make them laugh, falling to the ground like Buzz Lightyear when someone said Andy. And they were loving it. But I didn't realize there was a shoe on the floor and when I went to do it again I stepped on it. I fell on my right knee, and you know that one is a bit fucked up.”
Vi stepped back and sat at the couch, looking up at her. He showed his right knee, a large bruise covering the skin, forcing a loud gasp to leave her lips.
“Oh my God, Vi!” She quickly walked to him and looked at his knee. “That isn't nothing! Did you go to the doctor?”
“Yeah, that was the first thing I did. He told me to take it easy,” the dancer shrugged. “Some ice, creams and painkillers, like always. And a dose of cuddles from my pretty girlfriend.”
She giggled even as she fussed over him. “He prescribed you that?”
“Yes he did, should I bring you the note?” He jokingly answered as he offered his hand. “Now come on. Cuddle me.”
Caitlyn shook her head, avoiding his grasp. “Let's put some ice on that booboo first.” She teased him before walking to his kitchen.
He sat back, his head thrown on the backrest as he waited for his partner to come back.
“How was class besides the minor misstep?” She asked from the other room.
“It was actually fun. There's a kid there, a short little thing,” he giggled, his face lighting up as he saw the woman come back. “They actually remind me of myself when I was that age.”
The woman worked on putting the ice around his bruised leg, leaving a soft kiss on top of it before sitting next to him, snuggling to him. “I… I never thought about that. How were you as a kid?” She quietly asked.
Vi smiled widely, nostalgia filling his face. “I was a scrawny little thing.” He stretched to grab his phone from the coffee table and look a picture up. The image that was revealed to the woman was anything but what she expected.
It was Vi, scrawny like he had said, but it was more than that. He was smiling widely, his front teeth missing, his clothes were big on him, most likely handed down by someone else. His hair was longer than she had ever seen on him but she could see the uneven chops in some strands, letting her know that he had taken a scissor and started to cut it off before someone stopped him. He was showing off to the camera his first ballerina shoes, standing outside the only dance shop in Zaun, Martha's shop. His eyes sparkled from happiness and Caitlyn could see some bruises and scrapes on his legs from falling down.
“Vander bought those for me,” he started quietly, resting his foot on the coffee table to keep his knee from hurting. “I drove him mad for weeks after he stupidly took me to a screening of Billy Elliot. I didn't even wait to be on the sidewalk to ask him to take me to lessons. I bothered him so much that he finally said yes and took me.”
The woman stared at the picture as her partner spoke. She quickly stole his phone and before he could even react, sent the picture to herself.
“Hey!” He laughed loudly before snatching his phone back. “You could have just asked!”
“Tell me more,” her voice was barely a whisper as she snuggled to him. “I want to know more.”
He let out a breathless laugh while wrapping an arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer. “Well, I remember the moment I walked into the academy. It felt so big back then. Madam Spinoza was actually the one to greet me and Vander. She helped me put on my shoes and guided me inside.” Vi's voice slowly became quieter. “I remember her putting a tutu on me. I hated it. I hated the whole outfit actually, except the shoes. It felt so… not me, y'know?”
Caitlyn looked up at him, seeing the way he seemed far away as he spoke. She snuggled closer, her hand grabbing his and leaving a small kiss on the back of it. “And what happened?”
“I cried. Sobbed my little heart out. Madam Spinoza told me that if I missed Vander I could simply go see for myself that he was waiting outside, poor woman, she couldn’t calm me down, she thought I was feeling bad because of that. She had to sit me on the counter while some older dancer continued the lesson and she taught me breathing exercises.” His hand started to go up and down her arm, leaving goosebumps on its way. “She managed to get me talking after a while. I told her I wanted to be Billy Elliot, not one of the ballerinas. I wanted to dance like him, dress like him. Luckily she understood what I meant.”
Vi looked down at the woman in his arms and left a soft kiss on the top of her head, earning a small and content sigh in response.
“She talked to Vander that exact day, told him to go back to Martha’s shop and to buy me the masculine set, the shirt and tights. Madam Spinoza said, and I quote her on this, no child of mine will be feeling uncomfortable on stage. If they wish to lead, then they will lead and send us on our way. Prohibited my return until Vander bought me the clothes. He couldn’t understand what happened,” Vi laughed wholeheartedly as he remembered the face of the man as he guided him back to the store. “We were helped by the owner's daughter. A sweet woman named Sol. Vander just stammered out do you have masculine clothes in his size? And let her give us whatever we needed.”
“That sounds adorable,” Caitlyn whispered.
“I guess it was. I came back the next week dressed with what felt like me and Madam Spinoza congratulated me before forcing me to do the jumping drills for 10 minutes straight. It was a nice day.”
The woman stayed silent as she listened to her partner talk. When he grew quiet she straightened up, looked at him lovingly before moving the ice pack from his knee, she grabbed a few ointments she knew would help him and started to spread them on his skin, massaging the knee around the bruise to make him relax the muscles. “And the kid, the one that reminds you of yourself? How are they in the class?”
“They have a mouth, that’s for sure.” The dancer let out a laugh that turned into a hiss once his girlfriend touched a particular tender part of his leg. “They failed a jump a few times and screamed Fuck out loud. I had to leave the room before I broke down laughing while Madam Spinoza scolded them. But they are good. Real good. And tiny, the tights reach almost their ribs but they’ll grow out of them.” Vi smiled as he saw Caitlyn hum in concentration, her eyes focused on his knee but he could tell she was paying attention. “Oh, and get this! Their mother begged us not to let them have scissors because they will cut off their own hair. So I know what I will be doing next week.”
“Vi! You cannot possibly be saying that you’ll cut off a kid’s hair against their mother’s wishes!” The woman stopped the massage for a moment, her eyes finding her boyfriend’s in shock.
“That is exactly what I’m saying,” he answered with an infuriating smirk. “I remember being that age and being told I was exaggerating when I said I hated my hair and I wanted to cut it. It wasn’t until I grabbed some scissors and did most of the work myself that Vander took me seriously. I will not let this kid grow up hating their hair just because their mom said they couldn’t. I will cut it and there’s nothing you can do about it, Miss Perfect.”
Caitlyn couldn’t help but to roll her eyes. “Alright, you are right.” She whispered as she continued the massage, her heart racing a bit as she realized how sweet her partner actually was.
“Admit it,” he taunted her. “You just fell a bit more in love with me, didn’t you?” Vi gasped as his girlfriend pressed down on his bruise a bit in retaliation, but he smiled once he noticed the large blush appearing on her face. “Cupcake, I love you too. Now cuddle me.”
The woman pouted slightly as she moved to lay on his side, snuggling to his neck and breathing in his cologne. “I did fall a bit more,” she quietly admitted.
“I knew it.”