Snippet - Forward, but Never Forget/XOXO - A Fine Line
Vi slowly wins over Caitlyn's parents...
Forward, but Never Forget/XOXO
Snippet:
The kitchen is a modest sunlit geometry. Vi gets started on breakfast. Caitlyn handles the tea-brewing and the clean-up. After moving in together, they've developed a system. Vi has taught Caitlyn how to hang her towels, do the dishes, fold the laundry. Caitlyn has taught Vi how to pick wines, deposit a check and write 'Thank-You' cards. The slow ramp-up of domesticity is sweetened by a shared sense of novelty.
It’s a freedom neither of them has enjoyed before.
Cracking two eggs one-handed against the bowl, Vi begins whisking. Into the silky saffron froth, she sprinkles a pinch of sea salt and a dash of cayenne. Poverty and pickles go hand-in-hand—that's the saying belowground. Yet Piltover is the real loser when it comes to zesty cuisine. All the premium produce in the world doesn't compensate for their lack of spice.
Since moving in together, Vi has shown Caitlyn a dozen ways eggs can be served. There is no wrong way to cook one, so long as it's flavorful. Ditto for stews, soups, sandwiches. Her sump-vole fritters—a barbarism to most Topsiders—have won the highest praise. Since then, Caitlyn has sampled all the dishes in Vi's repertoire: a charcuterie board of pickles, rice and onion pilaf, crawfish stuffed with cheap macaroni.
Last week, she'd invited her parents on a tentative dinner. Their first together in a month.
Councilor Kiramman had stared at her plate with polite revulsion. But as the wine flowed and Mister Kiramman proffered genial compliments on every dish, the matriarch began to thaw. Midway, she'd tasted a forkful of Vi's sump-vole fritter. A startled smile had softened her severe face. In that moment, the resemblance to Caitlyn was uncanny.
"Where did you learn this dish, child?"
"Down-low, Councilor," Vi replied, smiling.
"Is it always so spicy?"
Vi cocked her head. "There's a fine line between good flavor and a hole in your gut. You gotta walk it."
Caitlyn had stifled a snort. Mister Kiramman hid a smile behind his handkerchief. The Councilor was less amused. But the food had woven its magic, and by the time dessert was served—a tart berry crumble, the only dish Vi could make without setting off smoke detectors—she'd unbent so far as to ask Vi directly for the recipe, instead of addressing Vi obliquely through her husband.
Vi had given her the recipe: a personal gift.
Afterward, Caitlyn grinned with unabashed pride, Vi's hands clasped in hers. "I think she's warming to you."
"Like mother, like daughter, huh?"
Caitlyn's kiss was all the answer Vi needed.
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Kiradad fanart because I wanted an excuse to draw his magnificent beard. I'm quite happy with this, it did take a few days but I only ahd trouble with his hand position and whatever the fuck his shirt is...so hope you like it x.
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i have unexplainable obsession with the kiramman family from arcane. tho i'll admit i'm probably mischaracterizing all of it's family members horribly in my mind.
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