Work Text:
When Viktor awoke, it was to the burning light of the sun in his retinas. It was odd because he had forgotten what having eyeballs was like; it was familiar because pain was an old friend.
God, he’d forgotten the pain of human existence for a bit. He twitched, and his leg yelled at him, sending tremors of pain up to his brain. Viktor groaned and decided to lay still.
“Hold steady, sir, we’re getting medical attention for you…”
Viktor wanted to laugh. Medical attention for him– how ridiculous. There should be no medical attention for a man so determined to surpass his own inadequacies that he’d doom everyone around him. “Glorious evolution–” For fuck’s sake, it sounded like something Singed would say. There was nothing glorious in stripping choice, in stripping autonomy. The glory was always in the choice.
Viktor felt a number of hands grasp him. It shocked him. He’d forgotten what physical touch was, even more so than the pain. Pain had been his constant for years; touch had not. Jayce had been one of the few to hold him in any way, to approach the bony mass of intellect Viktor regarded as his body with a warm hand.
Gods, Jayce.
“Sir. Sir! Please, stay awake…”
Viktor did not listen. He let his eyes close and drift off to dreams of blinding light, warm and brilliant as Jayce Talis.
Viktor awoke again, but he could feel the soft corner fabric of a mattress scratch against him instead of grass.
How fascinating. He’d forgotten so much about how sensory input worked– what the feeling of taking a breath was, what it meant to taste cold air on a tongue or smell anti gauze. He’d forgotten it all. How long had he not been human? Certainly after Jayce had shoved him into the Hexcore, even if he had fooled himself with his cult.
His cult. Viktor suppressed a delirious chuckle, mostly because it would make his ribs ache. He’d formed a cult. Viktor, the scientist from the Undercity, had formed a cult. How insane.
“Viktor?”
“Jayce?” Viktor murmured. He turned his head, and he felt the bones slide and move as tendons stretched. Jayce was next to him, beard and all.
“Viktor,” Jayce breathed out. His eyes were wide and expressive. He was full of relief. Relief over Viktor the cult leader– as foolish a notion as a premise. Viktor wanted to run away, to disappear, but he couldn’t even gather the strength to look away. He stared at Jayce.
“What am I…” Viktor raised his hand to the light. It did not shine through, translucent– instead, his hand warmed. He flinched. “Am I human again?”
“Yes.” Jayce nodded. He wiped his eyes. “Viktor, you’re– you’re alive. We’re alive.”
“I had not expected that,” Viktor murmured. Had he wanted that? No, he had not. Death was an ending, so it had seemed fitting for it to be the ending of whatever he had become in his last few days. A herald of transformation, a proclamation of death and destruction– that should have been destroyed. Viktor sat there, and the guilt stayed like a carving in his ribs. “I thought we would die.”
“So did I.” Jayce got up from his seat, and he did the oddest thing– he took Viktor’s hand. Viktor couldn’t stifle the gasp that escaped from his lips. Jayce had run warm during their university days, and that had not changed. Jayce’s hand grasping his felt like a fire. In Viktor’s wildest imaginations, he could see the fire spreading and disintegrating his bones, burning his flesh off until the bony machine called Viktor was condemned to death.
“Viktor?”
“Hm?” Viktor blinked. He felt oddly buzzy, clearly delirious from whatever injuries he had sustained, along with Jayce being there. Jayce himself was enough to make anyone delirious. “I apologize, I cannot– it is difficult to focus.”
“Yeah, of course. Do you– do you need anything?”
Need. Viktor had thought he’d be able to remove the concept of need, the concept of desire, while keeping morality. He had failed. The very human nature of need and desire had left him for a while, but it had returned. He should have been relieved. Instead, it felt like a boulder in his chest. He had been determined by his needs for so long— how he needed more energy, more time than most to walk anywhere. To be reduced to that again was… humiliating.
“No, nothing… I do not need anything,” he said slowly, ignoring the rumbling in his stomach. Hunger. An odd concept.
Jayce scoffed. He stood up and used a free hand to gesture at Viktor’s stomach; his other one was still grasping Viktor’s hand. “I can literally hear that you’re lying.”
Viktor could visualize a thousand different responses in his mind, ones that would have fit an earlier version of him– a form of teasing, a form of denial. He just shrugged. “I suppose I am hungry, then.”
The scowl disappeared from Jayce’s face. He ran a tongue across his teeth. He looked so worried. He had to be worried about Viktor, but that wasn’t logical at all. Viktor wasn’t worth worrying over anymore.
“I’ll… I'll get you some food,” Jayce said slowly after a moment. “I… it’s really good to see you awake, Viktor.”
I don’t understand, thought Viktor as he gazed at Jayce’s completely open face. How could you feel that way? I want to be asleep. I want to be gone. What use is this body, what use is this mind after all the atrocities I have committed? You are hanging onto a dead dream, Jayce Talis– let go for both of us.
“It is good to see you too, Jayce,” Viktor said instead, for it was the truth: it was always good to see Jayce Talis.
Jayce’s face split into a grin. It was so radiant, and Viktor was hit with the delirious thought that, out of the two of them, Viktor had been the one to lead masses of devoted followers. Ridiculous. Jayce Talis had that natural charisma, that kindness that Viktor had lacked for far too long. Jayce could have led his people into a truer redemption than Viktor could have ever done.
Jayce walked away. Viktor tried not to feel the sunlight as a blistering burn. He mostly succeeded.
The next day, Jayce hung up curtains in the medical wings. When Viktor tried to ask, the words got lodged in his throat. He let himself just nod in thanks to Jayce instead.
Jayce visiting for a couple minutes and then leaving was the pattern for a few days. Viktor was recovering– recuperating from a transformation that occurred in every single atom of his being. He was also relearning what it meant to have flesh and bones instead of the arcane as the body. He had forgotten what standing felt like– it hurt. It hurt his leg, and his back, and it was awful.
After the first three days, he could walk for 15 minutes without pause. He’d tried to leave then, to convince the medics to make room for the others that needed more medical attention. Jayce had not listened.
“Nope. I’m still a councilor, so I have the final say. You need more time to recover, Viktor. I’m going to give it to you.”
VIktor was allowed to recover, to recuperate, to rest, even though he had led a war against Piltover. He would have understood one of the medics for killing him in his sleep. They had all lost people to Ambessa’s wild dreams, to his crazed lunatic want of perfection. Yet, none of them looked at him with malice in their eyes. VIktor supposed it was hard to hate a cripple who could barely drink without getting panicked. The feeling of air going down his throat, much less water, was too much some days.
“Viktor.”
“Hm?” Viktor looked up from where he’d been staring at Jayce’s wrist– the place that had held that embedded gem was now empty. It was a physical reminder of their time in the void.
“Are you alright? You just seem… cold, is all,” Jayce scrambled to say as Viktor opened his mouth to object.
“I am–” Viktor paused. “I am still getting used to physical stimuli,” he said instead. “I had forgotten what it was to be cold. Ridiculous, of course.”
“Ridiculous?”
“That was my childhood,” Viktor mused. “You may be used to heating in Piltover, but the Undercity is not always that lucky. I used to have to gather around a fire with others to stay warm in the winter. I had always thought those memories were embedded in me– I guess they were not.”
“Hm.” Viktor could not read Jayce’s face— there was something like determination there, but Viktor did not know what Jayce was determined about. “I’ll get you some more blankets.”
“I don’t need-“
“I know you don’t need any of it, but I want to,” Jayce said, raising a hand in a plea. Viktor obligingly stopped arguing. “I do need to leave now, though. The council won’t accept my resignation until I’ve ‘done my part.’”
“That is foolish,” Viktor blurted out before he could stop himself. “You’ve done more than your part.”
Jayce blinked, but smiled a bit at Viktor. “Thanks. I’ll be back soon, though. Don’t try and run away while I’m gone.”
“With what legs?” Viktor muttered under his breath. Clearly not quiet enough as Jayce’s laugh rang through the hallways right afterwards.
Viktor fought back a smile. He turned back to the nurse that had approached once Jayce had left. “I’d like to practice walking again, if possible.”
In the middle of the night, Viktor awoke to a pile of blankets. They were all a royal blue, the same color as the one Viktor had held onto even as a machine. He grasped them close when he went to bed.
Whenever Jayce stopped by, he’d always ask Viktor questions. Relatively harmless ones, but odd ones nonetheless. What was your favorite thing we made? Best memory from the labs? Favorite sight in Piltover? Favorite sight in the Undercity? Viktor couldn’t comprehend why Jayce asked all these questions, but he’d always answer truthfully. The automated curtain rods we made so neither of us would have to stand up to shut the curtains when research went into dawn. When we experimented to see if we could flash cook a piece of meat through runes and nearly burnt off your eyebrows. The constellations in the sky— I could never see them in the Undercity. The sight of people dancing together in a bar. Piltover masses tend to be too upright to truly join together in happiness, in revelry. That reservation was not possible in Zaun.
“Oh yeah. I forgot about Silco and his Zaun dream,” Jayce said with a frown.
“It is… more complicated than that.” Viktor swiped past the instinctive reservation of telling a topsider about Undercity politics. This was Jayce- he owed Jayce everything. “There are a significant number of people who would like to be independent. It was not even Silco’s dream, originally– a man named Vander led the Undercity before he was slaughtered by Silco. He had the same hope, just… less reliant on drug-based control.”
“The Undercity really wants out that badly?”
Viktor couldn’t stop a scoff from escaping his lips. He adored Jayce, truly, but he could be so naive sometimes, even after everything. “We have always been the place Piltover rips apart for resources. Having control of our greatest export, mining, has been a dream for a long time. It just almost became reality, so you learned about it.”
“And you?”
Viktor blinked. “Me?”
“You said we,” Jayce said slowly. There was no judgment in his eyes, no accusations, just plain curiosity. “Do you think Zaun should be independent?”
“Jayce, I don’t– I don’t know,” Viktor stammered. He’d always thought it a fun background musing when he was younger. Once he had left the Undercity, it had instead become a distant goal. Maybe, once he found a way to give power to the masses, once he was able to help… That had been forgotten rather quickly.
“You don’t have any opinion on it?” Jayce pressed. “None at all?”
“I… I think the Undercity has suffered enough,” Viktor said slowly. “I think some form of functioning government of their own would be beneficial to all. However, I am not a politician.”
“Neither was I,” Jayce said with a shrug. He laughed, but it was hollow. “Look at me now, I guess.”
“You are still not a politician, Jayce,” Viktor murmured. “I suspect you wouldn’t be trying to leave the council if you were.”
Jayce’s face melted into a gratefulness. “Mel doesn’t get it. I don’t think she ever will.” He paused for a beat. “She’s heading back to Noxus now that her mother is dead. I think it’s the right move for her.”
Viktor could hear the dismissal in Jayce’s voice. He could also hear the lingering fondness. It was clear that Jayce cared for Mel, but that care was not enough for him to even attempt arguing for her to stay. Viktor knew Jayce– if Jayce still truly loved Mel, he would have fought tooth and claw to keep her near. Instead, he was letting her go.
“I think you are right.” Viktor traced the dapple of sunrays on Jayce’s beard with his eyes, and tried to pretend the longing ache in his chest was something he had missed.
“Hey.”
Viktor looked up to see Ekko. he had not properly met the child beforehand, but he had heard rumors. Apparently, he was a skilled inventor from the Undercity. If Viktor hadn’t forsaken human bonds after the mutilations he’d called perfection, he’d probably want to be friends with Ekko. all he could feel, though, was guilt looking at him.
“Ekko.” Viktor inclined his head and sat on his bed. He’d made a record of 13 minutes of walking without feeling such astonishing pain it made him hurl. “Jayce has mentioned you.”
“That’s… Why I’m here, actually.” Ekko looked at him, and there was no humor, only seriousness and the reservation of a leader. He had to be Caitlyn Kiramman’s age, yet he was more a leader than most of the councilors in Piltover. Typical for an Undercity child. “Did you put Jayce up to this?”
VIktor could not put Jayce up to anything, of course, but that was not his first question. “Up to what?”
“Making Zaun real.”
All the breath left Viktor’s lungs.
“He… he really did that?” Viktor croaked. “Then no, I did not. I did not even know.”
“Oh.” Ekko looked confused– Viktor could sympathize. “Well, thanks, I guess. I know you’re from the Undercity too, so I think you had to help if Jayce won’t stop talking about you so highly. It’s good that you looked out for your people.”
But I didn’t, Viktor wanted to cry. I took them. I took your angry, your poor, your huddled masses of misery and I carved out their souls for my own glorious revolution. I did nothing worth anything, in the end.
“Of course,” was what he said instead. When Ekko left, Viktor pretended the churning in his gut was from the little food he had managed to choke down.
“Viktor.”
“Hm?” it had been a bad night, but that was, of course, rather common. While Viktor had tried to petition to be moved once again, it seemed that it was actually easier for the city managers to keep people in the hospital tents. Significant portions of the city had been reduced to rubble, after all. Viktor had taken it in stride; he’d caused enough suffering already.
Viktor sat up to see Jayce by his bedside. “Jayce? What are you– it is late at night.”
“Well, yeah. That’s the point.”
“The point of what?” Viktor’s voice, much to his dismay, was bemused. He was fighting off laughter at seeing Jayce. Part of him still felt guilty every time he experienced an ounce of happiness, every time he felt something approaching relief. Most of him was instead focused on giving that to Jayce in any way possible.
“I haven’t been free for a single damn hour today, so I thought we’d do something fun.” Jayce gestured to the hallway. “Just– follow me.”
Viktor toyed with the idea of refusal for less than a second. While it was an incredibly bad idea– his leg was still giving him pain, he struggled with the feeling of wind on his skin without being panicked, everything was far more intense now– he couldn’t hurt Jayce. This would make Jayce happy, so Viktor would do it.
He slipped on some shoes and followed Jayce outside.
The night was nice, thankfully– only slightly warm. The wind was gentle, barely even rustling the grass. Jayce sat down on the hill; it overlooked almost all of Piltover.
“I’ve been scouting out areas where there isn’t much natural light,” Jayce whispered. There was no need to, of course– they had walked a solid ten minutes into an area surrounded by no one. He was probably just afraid of breaking the silence. “To save on resources after the battle, all the lights in the city shut down from 2 to 7. So…”
Slowly, Viktor could see the dull lights from Piltover flicker out of existence. In its replacement, the stars in the sky began to brighten.
“This is beautiful,” Viktor breathed. He reached a hand up; he traced a constellation with his fingertips. “Why did you look for this?”
Jayce shrugged. It was stiff. “I needed to get out of it all too. This was a better place than most.” He took out a blanket– where had he been carrying that– and set himself down. “Plus, I thought I could ask you about the constellations.”
“Me?” Viktor said with a raised eyebrow. “Why me?”
“You actually know more than most. We’ve gotten used to the stars up here in Piltover, I think. You always appreciated them better than I did, even back then.”
Back then. As if 4 years ago was a chasm to be leapt over. In many ways, it was– Viktor could not imagine telling himself from four years ago all that would transpire.
“Besides.” Jayce elbowed him lightly. “You’re the more studious out of the two of us.”
This was a well-trodden conversation, one Viktor could do in his sleep. He was insanely grateful for it. “I do have to disagree there. Out of the two of us, I am not the one who studied for the fun of it when they could’ve been out partying. ”
“The way you spit out that word shows just how nerdy you are.”
“On the contrary– it’s a reflection of my mature mind.” Viktor let his back fall against the cool grass. His right side was electrified as he laid next to Jayce Talis. “You are still a child at heart.”
“I’m literally a councilor, Viktor. You can’t get more mature than that.”
“Because politicians are famously well-adjusted, mature individuals,” Viktor drawled. He knew he had a point as Jayce sputtered.
“I mean– well–” Jayce sighed. “I’m not winning this argument, am I?”
“I’m afraid not.”
“Fine. Just– tell me about the damn stars,” Jayce said with a huff.
“With pleasure.”
It took a week and a half before he convinced Jayce to let him help around. Jayce had been hesitant for some reason; he’d said something along the lines of “you deserve time to rest,” his favorite refrain, but Viktor was having none of it.
“Jayce. Please.” Viktor swallowed. “I am– I am going mad, sitting there, doing nothing. I need a project.”
Jayce’s eyes softened at that. If Viktor were his machine self again, he would relish in the victory of manipulating Jayce ever-so-slightly. Instead, he wanted to throw up. “Fine. I– we have to reconstruct most of the city. If you’ll help with designing the infrastructure, it’d be greatly appreciated.”
That was clearly a line fed from the few remaining council members. Viktor’s mouth twitched. “You do not sound that appreciative.”
“If I could get them off my back for just a damn minute, I would be,” Jayce muttered. Viktor found his mouth forming a full smile. “They have so many demands for me, no matter how often I tell them I’m busy. They tell me how Piltover should be, how we should reconstruct our city as if it wasn’t our failings that brought this war to us in the first place!”
But it wasn’t, Viktor wanted to say. It was me. I may not have brought Ambessa to this city, I may not have forced her to lead her army, but I am why you needed to defend the city tooth and nail. I am why there was a fight to the extent there was. Blame me, Jayce. Please. I cannot live with your kindness much longer.
“I see,” was what he said instead. “I will assist with the blueprints, then.”
“Perfect. And– try and see what you can do to help the Firelights, too.”
Viktor blinked. He’d heard about them, of course, but not to the extent that it’d explain someone like Jayce knowing about them. “I’m sorry?”
“I got to hang out with Ekko a bit over the last few days, and he… he has some really good ideas. I think– no, I know that, with the right team, the Firelights could be an incredible force for good. I’m going to give them those resources.”
“That’s…” Viktor could not find the words. Unsurprising, since it was Jayce Talis; it was very hard to find the right words for Jayce Talis, the man who constantly defied Viktor’s expectations. “That’s incredibly kind of you, Jayce. Thank you.”
Jayce shrugged, but he blushed a bit. “Least I could do. C’mon, let’s get you back to your corner of the medical wing.”
“I do not see why I can’t leave it yet,” Viktor grumbled, but he took Jayce’s offered arm and hobbled back. He could walk for 20 minutes now, but even with his cane it was a stretch. Jayce had always looked so sad whenever Viktor had made his way and struggled. It had been easier to just give in and let Jayce assist him.
“Just a few more days, Viktor. Promise.”
I swear it. Viktor swallowed the bile in his throat and moved forward.
“Jayce, it is a poor idea to block my vision,” Viktor grumbled, but he could not stop the thrill in his veins that ran from the touch of Jayce’s hands against his face. “I can barely walk with it.”
“Yeah, I know, but it’s a surprise.” Goodness, Jayce Talis and his surprises- Viktor knew he should be scared, but he only felt childish delight. Trust Jayce to find a way to make Viktor feel like he was in his 20’s again, learning the mysteries of the universe with the greatest man he knew by his side.
“Alright.” Jayce removed his hands; Viktor did miss the touch, but he missed the relief of knowing he was in Jayce’s hands more. “You can look now.”
Viktor opened his eyes to a beautifully decorated room. If he had not been leaning so heavily on his crutch, he would have dropped it.
It was… beautiful. That was the best description. Viktor was no poet, he never had been, but he could see hours upon hours of devotion put into every moment here. The ground was good for traction, not slippery, but instead hardwood. The room was not a tall, isolating one like most of Piltover– it was small, cozy, and smelled faintly of cedar from the candles in each corner. Everything seemed perfectly chosen for Viktor, from the doorknobs made in a light silver, his favorite color, to the lighting choices that reminded him of being a young child with only a candle as his light.
There were rows and rows of bookshelves– Viktor had mentioned his love of books early in their partnership. There were natural plants scattered in corners of the room, ones that thrived in shade– Jayce had probably noticed the plant life he fostered in the commune, but also the way he had flinched from sunlight recently. There were two sets of curtains, one to filter out heavy light, one to block it all out. Both were a dark, muted color. The ceiling was painted with the constellations he had pointed out to Jayce that night.
Viktor walked across the room. There was a fireplace in the corner, and it was already burning. Hand-forged fire tools were in a place right next to it. He ran his hands over the cold metal, wishing he could feel Jayce’s hands as he had hammered into them. A new cane was there too. It looked the same as his old one, except for the golden strands that ran through it and glinted in the firelight.
Viktor picked up the new cane as gently as he could. His hands trembled.“You… you did this?”
“Yeah.” Viktor couldn't see Jayce’s expression since his back was turned to him. He instead gazed at the fireplace mantle, which had all their old tools placed on it. How had he found these items? Over the last 3 weeks, how much time had he placed into this endeavor? “Not everything, of course, but it was my idea. I can’t paint a room, I can’t pick out the best books, but I did make those tools.”
Viktor could feel tears welling up in his eyes as Jayce tentatively stepped closer. “I don’t… I don’t understand,” he said. His voice was choked. “Why?”
“‘Why?’” Jayce repeated. A tentative hand was placed on Viktor’s shoulder. It burned as brightly as the fire. “Because it’s you.”
“As if that’s any explanation,” Viktor muttered. He turned on his foot, trying not to let his heart beat his way out of his chest. The disappointed expression that he saw on Jayce’s face broke him in some ways, but it pushed him forward in others.
“Jayce. I don’t deserve any of this.” Viktor gestured with his free hand. “I can’t— why have you done all this for me?”
“I already said it; it’s because it’s you.” He said this so softly, so simply , as if it was an answer. “It’s you, Viktor. How could I not?”
“Because I killed people.” Viktor’s voice was as sharp as his words– he hoped it would force Jayce to step away, it would stop Jayce from feeling the tremble in Viktor’s bones. “Jayce, I led a cult. I took and mutilated people, cutting out what made them themselves all in the name of progress. In the name of truth. I hurt people, Jayce, I nearly ended the world, I–”
“And it was you who did it,” Jayce said. His eyes shone in the firelight. There was not a single sliver of regret in them. “Viktor, how many times do I have to tell you that that doesn’t matter to me.”
“But I betrayed you.”
“I betrayed you too.” Jayce chuckled ruefully. He paused, but then he ran a hand up and down Viktor’s arm; it sent shocks up Viktor’s spine. “Seriously, I betrayed what could’ve been your dying wish because of my own selfishness, and you still care for me.”
“But of course.” How could those two be compared? A single selfish act, one born of general ignorance and foolishness, versus Viktor’s mass cleansing of souls. There was no way to relate the two. “It– it annoyed me, yes, but how could you have known better? I don’t–”
“And it’s the same for me.” Jayce took Viktor’s hand. He placed it on his cheek. “Do you really think I care so little that your betrayal makes a difference?”
Viktor felt the tears begin to fall, and his body was wracked with sobs. It was absolutely foolish. He had staved a breakdown off for weeks, learned how to ignore his feelings, and it was this kindness that broke him,
“Oh, Viktor.” Jayce grasped him and pulled him into a hug. Viktor felt like he was a moth drawn to a flame– there was no leaving Jayce, not now, not ever. “It’s alright.”
Viktor cried silently into the crook of Jayce’s neck. He felt his chest rise up and down, each moment hurting, each movement stinging, but it didn’t matter. It was all drowned out by the pure confusion. “I can’t… I do not deserve this, Jayce,” he said with a shudder.
“And you’ll still get it,” Jayce said firmly. “I don’t give a damn what you think you deserve, Viktor. I love you. You’ll get that love from me no matter what you do.”
Viktor froze, just for a moment. He’d assumed– he’d known– he’d thought– but hearing it be said out loud was different.
“I love you too, Jayce Talis,” he murmured into Jayce’s chest. He felt Jayce laugh, shoulder shaking, and a smile broke his face.
“Yeah, I thought you might. Good to hear it, though.”
Viktor moved back a bit. “I… I do not know how this will go,” he confessed. “It is difficult for me to even exist right now.”
“I know.”
“I can’t guarantee this will not crash and burn.”
“I know.”
Viktor raised an eyebrow. “And you have nothing to say to that? To my– to confessing some potential future failures?”
“No, not really.” Jayce ran his thumb across Viktor’s cheekbone. “I built this room for you, Viktor. I'm building this city for you, and then I'll leave it for you too. I think we’ll figure the rest out along the way.”
And that– that was too much. That was the breaking point. Viktor took Jayce by the lapels of his stupid councilor outfit, and he kissed him. It was warm, and sweet, and it felt as if someone had poured molten gold into Viktor’s veins.
He bit on Jayce’s lip. Jayce groaned, ever-so-slightly, and Viktor pulled him closer. As Viktor broke apart for a breath, Jayce picked him up as if he weighed nothing. It sent a thrill through Viktor’s veins.
“God, Viktor,” Jayce groaned. He placed Viktor on the bed as if he was worth caution. Not as if Viktor was fragile– the scrape of Jayce’s teeth against Viktor’s neck was anything but fragile– but as if Viktor deserved to be handled with care, as if Viktor was whole. “You’re so handsome,” he murmured as he unbuttoned Viktor’s shirt. “So beautiful. Fuck. I wish you could see me as I see you.”
Handsome. Viktor had been called many things, but handsome was a new one. “I wish you could see yourself through my eyes,” Viktor replied back, breathy as it was. Jayce’s hand grasped the sides of his stomach, warm as fire, bright as the sun. “I’ve wanted you for years, Jayce.”
“So have I.” Jayce stood over him to remove his shirt, his muscles flexing. He fell onto the bed next to Viktor, his eyes roaming VIktor’s body as if he was a starving man. There was serious desire in there, as he pressed his hands onto Viktor’s chest. His body seemed to be something worth devotion for Jayce Talis, and it was intoxicating. Viktor felt lightheaded, nearly dizzy with the feeling of awe in his eyes.
“I just… fuck,” Jayce murmured.
“I think that is the plan,” Viktor said wryly.
Jayce grinned back. It was sweeter than wine, sweeter than anything he’d ever seen. “Yeah. I think so too.”
Jayce clasped his chin and brought him closer. It was difficult to formulate any real sentences after that.
“You really do love me,” Viktor murmured afterwards. Jayce was resting his head on Viktor’s chest, ear tilted so he could hear Viktor’s heartbeat.
“Yeah.” Jayce looked up to Viktor, eyebrows raised with a smile. “Was this seriously what finally convinced you?”
“It… helped, yes. The room was incredible, though.” Viktor hummed absentmindedly. “What is the purpose of the fireplace?”
“You were always cold in our lab,” Jayce responded promptly. “I thought you could do with some warmth. And I know we have proper heating in Piltover, but you’ve told me about how some of your favorite memories in Zaun are sitting around a fire. I thought you’d like it.”
Viktor was silent. Jayce had made him a temple, a place of worship– here are your favorite books. Here is your favorite memory from childhood. Here are the objects we worked on together, before it all went sour. Viktor had been sitting on his bed, drowning in self-hatred, and Jayce had taken that as a challenge.
Jayce had built a home, a temple for Viktor out of love. Perhaps Viktor could build himself back up from love too.
“Viktor? You alright?”
“More than,” Viktor replied. “I… I adore you, Jayce. I really do.”
Jayce smiled at him. He shifted, resting his head on a hand, and kissed Viktor. “I adore you too, Viktor.”
Viktor smiled into the kiss. He let it wash away, and grasped the lifeline that was Jayce Talis’ warmth with all his might.