Chapter Text
The summer of 1963. When everybody called Powder "Baby" and it didn't occur to her to mind.
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"Are we there yet?" Powder whines, slouching in her seat. The wind blows through the car window and pushes her hair into her face. It keeps getting in her mouth, and frankly, she's getting close to screwing up the window again.
But without it, she'd burn alive with the sun beaming down on them.
"Almost. Just around this corner." Vander calls out, leaning his head against his hand perched up on the car door.
"I can't believe we're staying at the Kirammans." Vi sighed.
Powder pushes her hair back with her hands, ready to rip it off her scalp out of sheer annoyance. "Me neither. To think, we'll have to be around snobby rich people for the whole summer."
"And join them in their dumb community events." Vi added.
Still fiddling with her hair, she turned to her sister with a grin. "We should practice our best rich people talk."
She laughed, clapping her hands together. "Okay, ready?"
Vi clears her throat and puts on an accent. "Good evening, ma'am. A young lady like you should join us for charades tonight!"
Powder can't bite back her smile as she answers in that same tone. "Charades? Why yes, that just so happens to be my favorite game of all time!"
"Winner gets a small prize of five hundred dollars and a lifetime supply of tea!"
"My oh my, only five hundred?" She grabs Vi's hands. "Here, take another four hundred for your troubles!"
"Why thank you, ma'am! I'm most definitely not going to keep this to myself."
The two burst out into laughter, followed by Vanders chuckles.
Powder lets go of her hands. "Yeah, I think we failed that one."
"I agree."
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They arrived at their destination— The Kiramman Mountain House. Driving up, there's already a perfect display of people painting together outside of the massive resort building. People dancing, conversing, or walking around to their next event.
There's loads of people unpacking their vehicles, piling their luggage onto the ground.
There's a man walking around the area, announcing their available activities loudly into a microphone.
Powder and Vi step out of the car, staring at everybody around them.
"Looks like so much fun." Vi says sarcastically.
Powder chuckles, bumping her hip against hers, making her stumble a little.
Vander steps out of the car, ready to help unpack their luggage when he spots Cassandra and Tobias Kiramman walking their way.
"Oh, Vander!" Cassandra calls out.
"Cassandra." He smiles.
"To think, after so long, I finally have you up on our mountain."
"Took some convincing, that's for sure."
Powder opens their car trunk, not caring for the conversation. She grabs her suitcase and rests it on its wheels.
Grabbing another bag, a man steps in, dressed in uniform and is way taller than her. The first things she notices about him is that he has piercing green eyes and pointed ears. He's unique, that's for sure.
Based on the uniform, she's assuming he works here. She looks down at his name tag, reading that it says 'Scar.'
"Thanks." Powder says, putting another bag onto the ground.
"No problem."
Vi walks up to them, grabbing her own suitcase from out of the trunk. "There's a merengue dance lesson being held. They're insisting Baby joins it."
"Me?" Powder asks, raising an eyebrow.
"Who else is called Baby?"
"I dunno, but I was hoping you'd say otherwise."
They load their bags onto a nearby luggage cart. Vi laughs. "No. They're talking about you."
"Ugh. What even is that?"
"No clue. They say it's a good activity for someone like you."
"Someone like me? What's that supposed to—"
"Baby!"
Powder looks over to Cassandra who's already grabbing her arm, beginning to lead her somewhere.
"H-hi.." She looks behind her confused.
"Come, darling, I've saved you a spot in this dance lesson."
"Uhm.. I have to help my family settle in." She huffs out a laugh. "You know... Uhh... It's a lot of bags."
"Don't you worry. Go and have fun." Vander crosses his arms.
Powder grimaces, trying to signal with her eyes that she in fact does not want to go learn the merengue.
But, he knows. She knows that face. Always teasing her and putting her into situations as long as they don't hurt her and she's just being petty.
She sighs, turning back to Cassandra.
"Wonderful. I'll return her in one piece." She waves before leading her again.
Powder reluctantly follows, trying to see the light of it. Maybe it's fun. Just maybe.
They follow the stoned passageway, passing the many trees and people doing even more activities. Just how much do they do here?
Water flows underneath them as they cross a bridge leading to the back of the main resort building.
There's a bunch of smaller houses behind it, almost like a neighborhood of hotel rooms. This is the kind of thing she's only seen in movies.
Nearby is a gazebo where a group of people are huddled together, idly dancing to some music. She's guessing this is the class.
To no surprise, Cassandra leads her straight to the group. She gets the attention of the dance instructor, who looks way too happy to be working here.
"Room for one more?"
The lady turns around, looking straight at Powder.
She gasps. "You are gorgeous! Yes, of course." She takes her hand. "Come right this way."
Powder smiles, waving goodbye to Cassandra as she's being pulled away to the group. For the short time she's been here, she for sure has been tossed around like a doll.
"Alright everyone, our last lady is here! Let's get lined up, come on, come on!"
The crowd starts to shuffle around the platform, getting into lines. A few people knock up to her, whispering quick apologies before settling in their space.
Somehow, she ends up in the front of the line. Great. She should've dragged Vi along with her. The thought of her sister doing a line dance has got to be the funniest thing ever.
The record skips, and a more playful and upbeat tune starts playing. The dance instructor starts clapping to the beat.
"Okay everybody, are you ready?"
The crowd answers with a cheer.
"Follow my lead, we're gonna start going to the right." She starts stepping to the side, sliding one foot to the other and repeating that step.
"1, 2, 3, 4, let's go ladies and gentlemen!"
Powder starts to follow her dance step, along with everyone else. She's careful not to step on anyone's foot. Though, it's almost impossible when everyone is getting out of line with the beat.
The instructor keeps counting to four and spouting motivational nonsense.
Dancing is fun. Just not when you're in a line with people trying not to trample over each other. She keeps her eyes down to look at her feet, making sure she doesn't overstep.
Soon, everyone gets into the swing of it and their footsteps create a harmonious beat. It's satisfying to listen to, she can't lie.
"Great, now you're getting the hang of it! Fellas, follow me round. Ladies, inner circle! Let's go!"
She starts walking in a circle and the men of the group follow behind her. Powder is lost for a moment before she just starts following behind the other women who are circling in the middle.
The others seem to really get into it, cheering and giggling along with the instructor.
"Come on now, ladies! Put those hips to work!"
Powder bites back a laugh. Looking to the floor again.
"Now when I say stop, I want you to find the man of your dreams!"
That wipes the smile right off her face. She pushes her lips together, looking around the room. There's just a bunch of old men here. What's she's supposed to do with that?
"Stop!" The instructor yells, grabbing a man's hands and leading him to dance with her.
Powder stands still as everyone goes to find a dance partner. She starts doing her own thing, dancing in place and feeling the music. No way she's doing what they're doing. At least not here.
The dance goes on for way too long after that. By the end of it, Powder is exhausted.
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After a long search, she finally finds her hotel room... or really, house. It's one of the outdoor ones, secluded from the rest. She was about to knock, when she realizes that she'll have to get ready for dinner soon.
Why not just have a look around first? She doesn't have to wait for her family to do that. And besides, she bets anything that Vi is doing the same thing. Powder lowers her hand from the door and steps down the stairs again, heading to the main house.
It's more quiet outside, now that the activities have calmed down for the evening.
She can actually appreciate how beautiful it is here. With the soft breeze of the night and the many lights illuminating the passageways.
There's a pathway to the main house, and she follows it, skipping along the rocks and humming a tune. The song from earlier is stuck in her head, unfortunately. But truly, it wasn't a bad one.
Powder keeps an eye out for her sister, wanting to talk with her about how she feels about this place so far.
Arriving at the main house, she passes by the dining hall that is currently closed. But, the door is slightly ajar, and she hears arguing coming from it. Curious, she steps closer, peaking into the room.
It's Cassandra Kiramman, holding a paper in her hands and is looking around the room to all of her waiters.
"I should not have you remind you guys. This is a family place. That means keeping your act together, keeping your fingers out of the water, and most especially giving our people a good time." She glares at a specific waiter. "Everyone. Including the dogs if you have to."
A man walks into the room, followed by a group of people all wearing a certain uniform. She can't be for sure on who they are. But he stands out from the rest of them. She turns her head to the side, trying to get a better view of him.
He has a green jacket swung over his shoulder, white locs that are pulled back into a ponytail, and an incredible aura to him.
"I hope you guys are takin' notes." He says, smiling.
Cassandra turns to him. "You! Ekko, I want you to keep you and your entertainment staff in line. You've been getting a little too comfortable recently. Listen, I want you to teach people the mambo, the cha cha, whatever it is— But that's it."
She begins to walk away. "No funny business. No flirtatious conversations. Keep your hands to yourself!"
There's silence in the room before she leaves, giving them all one final look.
Powder has no idea what that was about. Her lips purse, stepping further to the side so they wouldn't see her. They're an interesting bunch, that's for sure. Guess the men here like to flirt. Gross.
A man from the waiter staff laughs. "Hope you can remember all of that, Ekko."
Ekko sighs, stepping closer to the man. "I hope you can too. Don't forget to put your pickle on everybody's plate tonight. And quit acting like your job is harder than mine."
He turns to leave, swinging his jacket behind him and causing a cup to knock over onto the ground. The group of men all collectively react, and he makes his exit along with the entertainment staff.
Powder's lips twitch up into a smile. She's glad this Ekko guy isn't afraid to put people in their place.
She slips away from the door, trying to avoid any drama in case they spotted her. She'll just continue to stroll around the area. Maybe she can find Vi and tell her about this too.
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Powder eventually did find Vi, and she told her about what she saw in the dining room as they walked back to their room.
"Cassandra secretly mistreating her staff? Shocker."
"I know, but maybe she's just genuinely giving them orders. I mean, that one guy did seem pretty mean."
"Who? The guy for the entertainment staff?"
"No, the other one."
"I guess so. That guy's lucky he didn't beat his ass."
Powder giggles. "I know you would."
"Damn right." They made it back to their place, and Vi opens the door.
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After getting dressed and heading down to the main house together, they all ate dinner. It wasn't the best food she's ever had, and the portion sizes are definitely smaller, but it wasn't the worst experience.
Cassandra and Tobias had introduced her family as their 'special guests,' of course using the name Baby to introduce her to the waiter.
Soon enough, Cassandra calls over a woman who looks so much like her that Powder can only assume immediately that it's her daughter.
She puts a hand on her shoulder. "This is my daughter, Caitlyn."
The woman smiles, something polite and most likely forced.
"She goes to the best law school in Piltover. Don't you, dear?"
"Yes." She clasps her hands together in front of her.
Vander nods, giving them a friendly smile. "Baby's starting university this fall. And Vi here is going to be training for her first national competition."
"Nationals?" Caitlyn seems to perk up.
"Yeah. Boxing tournaments." Vi answered.
"Interesting. How do you—?"
"I believe we must go make sure everything's in order with tonights events, Caitlyn." Cassandra interrupts.
Her expression drops again. "Yes, mother."
With that, they walk away from their table. Janna, that was awkward. That entire conversation was.
Honestly, she feels bad for Caitlyn. She was obviously interested in what Vi had to say.
For one night, she sure has seen a lot of bad signs with this family.
Whatever, as long as they don't attack them next.
Powder pats Vi on the shoulder, pulling her closer to whisper in her ear. "I think she's into you." She teases.
Her sister huffs out a laugh. "You're crazy. That was the most 'I'm just making small talk' small talk I've ever heard."
"Isn't that what these guys are good at? Small talk?"
"I guess it's cause they're always getting interrupted to go do something, they can never hold a—"
"Good evening, just to let you know, our nightly dance party is about to start." A waiter says, picking up a few plates from their table with a smile.
Powder and Vi share a knowing look, their smiles growing.
"Oh no, it's already affecting us."
"What?" The waiter blinks.
"Nothing. We'll be there." Powder grabs Vi's hand.
The waiter nods before walking off with the plates. They turn to look at Vander.
"You coming?" Vi asks.
He leans back in his chair, swinging an arm around the back of it. "You girls go on ahead. An old man needs his rest."
Powder pushes back on her seat, causing it to creak. "Hear that, sis? His bones are already starting to crack."
Vander chuckles and shakes his head. She gets up from her chair, pulling up Vi with her. Passing him to get to the exit, Powder pats his shoulder. "Cya later!"
He waves his goodbye, and the two go off to go find the party.
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It wasn't hard to find. All they had to do was follow the crowd and ended up in the right area.
There's a stage on one end of the room, where a band plays upbeat music in which everyone is dancing to. There's some people chatting as they watch the people on the dance floor, drinks in hand and feet tapping.
Powder leaves Vi to do what she wants, while she makes her way to the dance floor. It seems that everyone that's dancing is in a pair. Maybe it's another dance she doesn't know.
Instead of finding out the hard way, she idly dances off to the side. She grabs onto the hem of her dress and starts swaying it around with her.
People join together on the stage and start dancing in harmony— the rhythm of their shoes tapping the floor and filling the room. This really is a family place.
Everyone treats each other like they've known them for years. Which, she can't say she expected.
Still, there's not much appeal in doing group activities all day long. The kinds of hobbies she has, these people wouldn't even touch with a ten foot pole.
Just when she thinks she'll get bored, a new pair enters the dance floor. It's the man in charge of the entertainment staff from earlier. Ekko, if she remembers his name correctly. And a woman with blonde curly hair and a fair figure. She's wearing a deep purple dress that shifts perfectly with her movements as they walk to the middle of the floor.
The music shifts, and it's a tune for a mambo dance. The crowd cheers and squeals as everyone's dance steps start to change.
Powders eyes are locked on those two though. As they start to dance, it looks like every move and every step is purposeful.
Ekko dips his partner down, her back arching in a way that almost looked impossible. She sways a little before snapping back up perfectly on que. They join hands and shift into a side step, completely dominating the dance floor.
Every step they do, the woman moves her hips in a way where her dress moves with her. It's complimentary, and definitely on purpose.
They spin around the space, doing a full circle before letting go of each other and doing their own thing.
Even then, they maintain eye contact and are still completely in sync with each other.
Powder is mesmerized, to say the least. She's never seen a dance like this in person. The way they move is so fluid— like every step comes to them naturally.
How long does it take to learn to dance like that? She can't even imagine the amount of effort.
Ekko walks forward, her steps following his in harmony. He grabs her hand and twirls her around. She does the same for him and uses his hand as support to do a high kick.
The crowd gasps, and Powder's eyebrows raise. Oh, they're good.
A man behind her scoffs. "Show offs."
She turns her head to look at him. "You jealous?"
His eyebrows furrow. "No. But, they'll never get lessons like this. It's too intimidating."
"I don't see the problem. Can't help it when you have talent." Powder pushes her lips together before speaking again. "Unlike some people."
The man looks offended at that, but she doesn't have time for that right now. She wants to see how this dance ends.
Ekko dips his partner down, her legs going into the splits and then back up, landing on her feet like it was nothing.
He spins her around, twice this time before pushing her away, keeping their hands connected so he can easily pull her back in. When he does, she twirls on her heels, ending with her back against his chest.
They skip together to the other side of the floor before ending up facing each other again. They join hands, turning their heads to the side and back in perfect time with the song.
She does a high kick again, this time her leg lands on his shoulder. He backs up, carrying her body and making it look effortless. The crowd backs up, looking at them in disbelief.
The woman stands back up straight and lets go of his hand, twirling repeatedly around the room until she ends back up in his arms. Ekko picks her up and lifts her above his head before bringing her back down.
The crowd cheers, clapping for them as they seperate and bring others in to dance with them.
Powder is in awe, stuck on their performance as everyone else begins to dance again like normal.
Is this normal for them? If so, they're lucky.
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After a while, the party became a bunch of horrible stand up comedy and magic tricks. Some people even came on stage to start singing, and that's when Powder knew she had enough of this.
She found the exit again and slipped out, the music becoming faint as she walks away.
Walking mindlessly, she plays with her hair, replaying those dance steps in her head over and over again. She knows a lot of people probably disapprove of it, but it was genuinely thrilling to watch.
She comes across a sign that says staff only... But, it's in her path, so why not go?
It's a normal grassy pathway like many here. Powder walks along it, just seeing where it goes.
Eventually, she spots the interesting looking man from earlier— Scar. He's carrying three oddly shaped watermelons across a bridge.
"Hi!" She calls out to him.
He turns to look at her. He looks confused. "Why're you over here?"
Powder doesn't answer his question, instead just grabs a watermelon from his hand. "C'mon, let me help ya out!"
She looks up to the building across the bride. "What's up there?"
"That's a secret."
"I can keep a secret, I promise!"
He adjusts the watermelons in his hand. "Really, Cassandra would kill me."
"What she doesn't know won't kill her..." She drags on the last word.
Scar sighs. "Fine."
Powder cheers, walking towards the building and heaving the watermelon in her arms. Over the bridge and up the stairs, she can faintly hear music coming from within the walls.
'Do You Love Me" by The Contours is playing. And when Scar pushes on the door, the sound comes bursting out.
What she sees nearly knocks her off her feet. People... dancing? Couples grinding against each other to the music— some even grabbing each other in inappropriate places. Like hands running along each other's frames, caressing the others ass or thighs.
Still, they're on beat with what they're doing. Powder's jaw drops. If what she saw in the party just now was sticking with her, what will this do?
Tonight has been eventful. She doesn't think she's ever had this many surprises in one night.
"Is this normal?" Powder asks Scar.
"Every night. Been doing this since they were kids."
"What?!"
He laughs, walking further into the place. She follows, looking around at everybody dancing. Powder witnesses a woman bend in a way she didn't even know was humanly possible. All while a man squeezes her hips and legs.
She feels out of place. It feels wrong— Like she's witnessing people having sex fully clothed but also dancing to music blasting in her ears. Is this considered erotic dancing?
Powder and Scar sit down on the sidelines, watching everyone do their thing.
She laughed. "Could you imagine if Cassandra saw this?"
"She'd close the place down before anything."
"You're right." She grinned.
The crowd cheers as someone else enters the room. It's Ekko and the woman from before. Powder sits up straight, tilting her head to get a closer look.
She watches as they make their way to the center, immediately getting into the groove. They're confident people, she can tell.
The woman sways her hips to the beat as Ekko holds onto them, smiling and guiding her.
"They look great together." Powder says, mouth agape.
"So much so, you'd think they were a couple."
"They aren't?"
"Nah, not since we were kids."
She blinks, watching the woman go down on her knees and tilt her head back at the same time. For people not dating, these dance moves scream intimacy.
Ekko lifts her back up and into the air, letting her knees rest on his shoulders as she moves her hips to the beat, swaying her dress around.
Powder gasps, impressed. "Who's that woman anyways? She's amazing."
"That's Bonnie. Her and Ekko dance together all the time."
"Woah."
The music ends, and the crowd goes wild, huddling together and laughing.
The music picks back up again, and this time 'Love Man' by Otis Redding plays.
Everyone gets back to dancing, giving it their all and grinding sensually against each other.
Ekko leaves Bonnie to dance with someone else and makes his way over to where she's sitting.
Powder nearly jumps out of her skin, looking around like he wasn't looking directly at them.
"Hey, Scar." He smiles before continuing, looking over to her. "What're you doing here?"
"Uhmm.."
"She's with me. Was too curious to leave it alone."
"I- I carried a watermelon."
Ekko looks confused before nodding. "Okay then..." He walks away and goes back to the dance floor.
She looks down, cursing herself. "I carried a watermelon? Seriously?"
The crowd parts for Ekko and Bonnie as they tap their heels on the floor, walking and creating music with every step. Everyone around them cheers them on, clicking their heels and humping against the air slowly.
He lifts her leg, supporting her back as he dips her down quickly before bringing her back up. She smiles and twirls, getting lost into the crowd again.
Ekko walks up to Powder again. He grabs her hands, guiding her to stand.
"Y'know what... Come on, I'll teach you."
She looks to Scar and then back at the man in front of her. She can't think of an excuse, and her body follows him on instinct. She can't say she's not curious.
He pushes on her shoulders. "Bend your knees."
She does, unsure of what to do with her hands. He does the same, and starts moving his hips in a circle. Powder follows his movements, except she's stiff and unsure of herself. She starts avoiding eye contact, looking off to the side and slowing down her hips.
Ekko taps her shoulder. "You got this."
She starts moving again, smiling from sheer embarrassment. He puts his arm around her waist, bringing her in closer. The simple circular movement turns into them grinding against each other. Powder can't help but let out a laugh.
He laughs, too. "Yeah, you're a natural already." He backs away from her, rolling his hips the other way. "Now roll this way."
She does, growing more confident. Still off, and nowhere near what the other people in this room are doing, but it's something.
Is this the kind of dance lessons they were talking about earlier? Surely not.
"Good, you got it." He grins, throwing her arms over his shoulder before going to guide her hips again.
She can tell he enjoys what he does. Shame he probably can't teach dances like this often.
Powder giggles, letting loose and feeling the music more. She allows him to guide her, moving her legs along with his and holding onto him.
He dips her down, catching her by surprise. She goes along with it, shaking her head to the beat before he pulls her back up.
"You've never danced like this before?"
"Never." She breathed out.
He huffs out a laugh. "You're better at it than most people I see."
"Thanks." She tilts her head.
Ekko smiles, twirling her around just in time for the song to end. Everyone starts clapping, and Powder joins them this time.
She's still confused, but it felt good. Something about this feels like a fever dream. Like she'll wake up and still be in her room.
She's never grinded against somebody she just met in a crowd of people doing that exact same thing. But, there's a first for everything, she guesses.
Somewhere in the midst of everyone cheering and regrouping, she lost sight of Ekko.
Powder walks off the dance floor, going back to where Scar is sitting. As much fun as it is, maybe she'll just watch from the sidelines for right now.