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Under the stars, Jayce and Viktor lie apart by just a few feet, their backs flat against the cold ground. With his arms folded behind his head, Jayce’s fingers were wrapped tightly around his triceps, the backs of his hands brushing against the coarse grass beneath him with each slight movement. A million thoughts wracked his mind, the stressors of the earlier day unrelenting in their mental havoc.
To Jayce’s right, Viktor was settled supine, his arms outstretched at his sides with his palms facing the sunless sky above. Viktor’s legs were crossed loosely at his ankles and his crutch rested in the space between the two.
Having been dragged out of their laboratory by Jayce, Viktor hadn’t gotten a chance to switch from his uniform to a less restraining outfit. The damp grass encircling the engineers was slowly wetting their clothes, and despite their combined intellectual ability, neither of them had the thought of mind to bring a picnic cloth to rest on.
Around them, dew clung to each blade of grass, the earth moist from the day’s earlier showers and clouded skies. It was late, and their shared poor scheduling caused the duo to miss the sunset they planned to watch together. Under the darkness of the night, the sky was clear of airships and clouds, granting the two a brilliant view of the midnight’s starry expanse. Sparkling constellations and vibrant swirls of distant nebulas stretched across the entirety of the horizon, yet neither Jayce nor Viktor were looking toward the stars.
Eyes closed, the two relaxed in a comfortable silence. Their earlier conversation had long faded, drifting out of reach like a gentle cloud, but it mattered not. They weren’t here to chat. Since Viktor’s recent prognosis turned diagnosis, the academy’s medical practitioner instructed him to go outside for “fresh air, for once,” rather than staying “cooped up indoors doing useless research and recycling the same dusty air.” Whatever that meant, Viktor didn’t care to even consider the proposition. Jayce did, however.
The way Jayce spun it, they were here to put their brains on pause. For Viktor to take a step back from his never-ending research, and for Jayce to escape his overwhelming list of newly obtained council duties. They were here to take a much needed break and relax, and when worded a way so mutually beneficial, Viktor actually agreed.
By some fortunate serendipity, tonight turned out perfect for their brief escape from reality. Gloomy showers raged from morning to noon, trapping the city of piltover indoors and giving the duo nothing better to do than dedicate their energy to their personal affairs. With efficacy, Jayce was able to power through his Hexgate security revisions and crank down on potential weak points. Viktor made similar progress with his Hexcore research, beginning trials to utilize it’s arcane properties in augmenting plant matter. In short, it was a busy day for the both of them, but now, they were free.
Despite the moist earth being an annoyance, the weather truly worked in their favor. The past few days had been crisp and dry, but the downfall added a certain wetness to the air that seemed to aid with breathing, causing Viktor little respiratory distress since the discovery of his terminal illness.
So, here they were. Laying in a small patch of grass in the city of piltover, just a brisk walk away from the academy. Grand architecture towered above the two engineers, stretching high into the sky yet somehow appearing infinitesimal when shadowed behind the nearby trees. The view wasn't much, and there were objectively much nicer places to relax at, but with their lack of desire to venture very far out, the crummy field of damp turf was what they settled with.
The goal of their night outside was to escape the present, yet Jayce’s mind was relentless in dissecting the past few days. His attempts at silencing the voice in his head were futile and he was growing annoyed. Jayce gritted his teeth, clenching his jaw hard.
First the Firelights attack a material transport shipment at the docks. Then, they light a building within Piltover aflame, kill six enforcers, and break into Jayce’s own laboratory to steal the stabilized Hextech crystals. God, then there’s the council. Which he’s now a part of, not by his own volition, yet--
“Jayce,” a soft voice interjects, the sound of a rustle following. “You’re thinking too hard, again. I can smell it. Stop it,” Viktor insists, unmoving where he lies on the hill.
Unclenching his jaw, Jayce runs the tip of his tongue across the ridges of his teeth, swallows, and opens his mouth. “You can smell it, huh?” he prompts in a low voice, beating around the bush.
“Yes. Take a whiff,” Viktor quips, not missing a beat, and draws in a slow breath.
Eyes still closed, Jayce followed suit, breathing in deeply through his nose. Runeterra’s scent of fresh earth and soil after rain is overpowering. The crisp aroma of dusk petrichor infiltrates his nostrils, sending a jarring chill down his spine that wraps tightly around his very skeleton. Gooseflesh rises across his body and he shivers, then shakes his head.
They don’t touch back on the topic, instead falling into another lapse of silence.
Toned arms cushioned behind his head, Jayce listened to his surroundings with intent, now seeking an auditory distraction from his ceaseless thoughts. His ears take in the soft rustling of brittle leaves as the slow breeze whisks by and the distant commotion from busy Piltovan university students treading the street below.
Shifting against the dull grass, Jayce refocuses his attention to his partner next to him. He listens as Viktor inhales and exhales beside him, oh so slowly. In and out, a pause, then once more. In and out. There’s another rustle of leaves and Jayce’s eyebrows furrowed together. He attempts to tune out all other sounds, focusing strictly on Viktor’s breathing.
In and out, pause, in and out.
As the breeze picks up, the wind howls low.
In and out, pause, in and out.
Repeat.
The leaves swish.
In and out, pause.
The noises begin to blend. The cold, gusting wind overpowers all other sounds and the rhythm of Viktor’s respirations becomes intercepted. The pause from a few moments ago drags out and Jayce’s ears miss a breath, then two. Suddenly, everything auditory is replaced by his heart throbbing in his ears, his pulse gone rapid.
Jayce jolts to a sitting position, a hand clutching hard at his chest to get the pounding to silence. He scrabbles to face Viktor, amber eyes wide with panic. Under the night’s sky, Viktor is pale as the moon above. The bags under his eyes are near translucent and illuminated in a sickly way, his prominent cheekbones sunken in. His chest rises and falls steadily, and it very quickly occurs to Jayce that Viktor hadn’t ever stopped breathing.
In a fluttery sort of manner, Viktor blinks up at him. His gaze is distant, and he appears as if he were somewhere else for a beat. He takes in Jayce’s alarmed countenance with a measured inhale, his honey eyes darting between each of Jayce’s own. Viktor’s long lower lashes cast a shadow down his cheek that sways with each breath. He doesn’t move where he lies.
“What? What’s wrong…?” Viktor begins, his question slipping quietly from his lips. His voice is dry and scratches like frayed yarn catching on splintered wood. The breeze begins to die down and Viktor lets out an exhale, his look resigned as he comes to an assumption. “If you need to attend to something, Jayce, you can go. I… I do not mind. This was nice-- I mean, we don’t get to have moments like this very often, anymore, and I--”
Jayce cuts him off midspeech, shaking a frantic hand in a disapproving gesture. “No! I'm not going anywhere. There’s not- no. I thought…” he trails off in defeat, hanging his head stupidly and dropping his hand to the turf. The coolness of the grass takes him by surprise and he blinks back his shock, moving his hands to instead rest in his lap.
Beside him, Viktor can’t find the energy to re-engage the conversation, which he makes evident in his face. So, the two remain in silence until Jayce continues, just a few seconds later. His next sentence is hushed, a foolish admission of over-caring that tinges the apples of his cheeks a light shade of rosy embarrassment. “I thought you stopped breathing.”
The confession gets a rare chuckle out of Viktor. A deep one, followed by a raspy cough that leaves a pained look on his face. “No, not yet, sorry. You’re stuck putting up with me for a while longer, Jayce. No good news, tonight,” Viktor remarks, his tone heavy with sarcasm. A half-smirk tugs his lips upward, but it doesn’t quite meet his eyes.
Taken aback, Jayce nearly physically recoiled from the joke. “Oh my- that’s not what I meant in the slightest, and you know it. Nothing about ‘good news’ and you ‘stopping breathing’ even remotely belong in the same sentence,” Jayce criticizes his sense of humor with clenched teeth and a voice laced with concern that overpowers any other emotion. In his lap, Jayce’s hands balled into angry white fists.
Unrelenting, Jayce continued his scolding, to which Viktor breaks their eye contact to look off toward the stars above. In the constellations' intricate patterns and shapes, Viktor is near-instantly reminded of the spinning runes on the Hexcore.
He promptly squeezed his eyes closed, erasing the mental image before it could further form. Raising a hand from where it rested beside him, Viktor placed his left palm against his chest, rubbing across his hypochondrium with the pads of his fingers. The work-induced callouses on his palm snagged on the front of his vest and he winced, a scowl contorting his face.
To his left, Jayce hasn’t stopped rattling on, but Viktor already tuned him out a short bit ago. The breeze picks up in intensity and Viktor goes tense against the grass, his fingers pausing. He attempts to turn on his side as if to escape the conversation, but in reality, his chest is starting to burn. Despite lying outside in the fresh evening petrichor and under the stars, the oxygen available to him feels so scarce and out of reach.
For a beat, Viktor thrashes, his weaker right leg unable to get him proper leverage to turn. It takes him a smothering second, but his left foot manages to find traction against the damp field and he rotates laterally, turning his back to Jayce. Viktor burrows his free hand in the grass in an attempt to better orientate himself. The cold wetness gathered on the greenery from earlier’s storm seeps into the fabric of his sleeve whilst muddy dirt makes its way under his nails.
Viktor hacks out a few dry coughs, the action heaving his frail body and wringing him of energy. Behind him, Jayce finally falls silent, and Viktor overhears movement as Jayce hurries into his proximity. The man of progress speaks, asks him a question or something, but the burning of Viktor’s trachea as he coughs leaves his diaphragm sore and his mind too preoccupied to process anything else.
Jayce makes haste to move Viktor’s crutch aside, kneeling in the soil behind his science partner in its place. He ignores the dampness that transfers from the earth and onto his pant leg and places a large, warm hand against Viktor’s back. At the touch, Viktor flinches, yet melts into his palm as Jayce starts rubbing in slow circles.
Another dry cough wheezes its way out of Viktor’s system and he grimaces. The hand clutching the front of his vest releases his now crumpled uniform and he situates his left palm over his mouth, muffling the next rough round of coughs that leave him shaking.
Jayce continued his ministrations, and beneath the many layers of Viktor’s uniform, he could feel the jagged outline of his spinal brace. The shape of the back support was rigid and inflexible and Jayce’s eyebrows pinched together as he considered how uncomfortable it must be to wear all day. Suddenly uncertain if Viktor can even feel his hand, Jayce decided to alternate between patting gently and rubbing up and down with a bit more vigor.
The heaving of Viktor’s chest began to slow and he flickered his eyes open, vision momentarily too blurry to take in anything properly. The breeze gusted by and Viktor followed a leaf with his eyes as it tumbled free from a far off branch and rode the wind to oblivion. Left hand still covering his mouth, Viktor turned his head, unfocused eyes meeting his partner’s gaze.
Jayce’s hand on his back doesn’t falter, but his expression downturned at the pallor of Viktor’s skin and the pained look on his face. “You alright, V?” he urged, volume no higher than a whisper. He spoke as if he raised his voice just a little too loud, Viktor would float away and disappear with the breeze.
Devoid of energy, Viktor answered with a simple nod of his head, tilting his chin upwards by mere centimeters. He gaped at Jayce leaning over him with a blatant look of admiration in his eyes. Even beneath the cool shroud of the moon, Jayce’s skin was sunkissed and tan, his eyes as radiant as the missing sun. Everything about him emanated warmth, from his tender and sunny personality to his strong physical appearance. There was no person more suitable for the title of Piltover’s golden boy.
Viktor was awestruck. His hand slipped from covering his mouth to flop limply over his pectoral. He remained wordless as he caught his breath and suppressed the next fit of coughs that threatened to erupt.
Above him, Jayce’s gaze darted across Viktor’s face, his eyebrows pinching together with worry. He took in the beads of sweat gathered at Viktor’s hairline and the sight of his chapped lips. Just below one of Viktor’s nostrils were flakes of dried crimson blood from an earlier nosebleed, which only added to Jayce’s concern.
Jayce let out a worried sigh, watching as Viktor took in a labored breath, his chest rising and falling with effort. As his breathing leveled out, Jayce halted the hand that rubbed at Viktor’s back. Viktor shifted so he was lying flat rather than awkwardly positioned on his side, and Jayce opted to instead clasp his hand over Viktor’s left shoulder. He gave his science partner an affirming squeeze and frowned at how bony Viktor felt beneath his hand.
“Viktor…? Can you say something?” Jayce beckoned, seeking further confirmation to ease his worries. His voice was oozing with concern so thick it was almost palpable. Viktor was certain if he reached forward just a few inches, he could tangle the concern between his fingers. He wanted to clench it between his fists and squeeze it into nothingness, yet he didn’t move a muscle. He wasn’t sure he could.
A beat passed before Viktor mustered the energy to speak. “I'm okay, Jayce. As alright as I can be,” he confirmed, hoarse. He's tired, and it bled into his voice, making his accent curl a little thicker around his words than usual.
Jayce doesn’t look like he fully believes him, warm eyes shifting between Viktor’s with doubt, yet he refused to press on. Busying himself, Viktor reached sluggishly for his tie with one hand, his right still burrowed in the wet grass at his side. His fingers were shaking as they wrapped around the cloth. Noticing his struggle, Jayce insisted to be of aid, his tone firm, “Here, Viktor- please. Let me help you. I can't stand feeling so useless.”
The man of progress leaned closer, placing his hand atop Viktor’s own and for a mere heartbeat, they didn't dare to move. Jayce doesn’t wait for vocal confirmation before peeling Viktor’s fingers away from his tie. He makes quick work of loosening the knotted constraint, his deft fingers moving with swiftness over the silk. Years of handiwork and metalsmithing casted strong hands capable of delicate motions.
“I meant what I said earlier, you know.” Jayce began, looking away from his tie for a quick second to catch Viktor’s dreary gaze. Beneath him, Viktor hasn’t once broken eye contact. Jayce is so near that Viktor can feel his warm exhale clash against his cheek. His breath smelled of dark, roasted coffee and Viktor breathed him in.
“I- I know, Jayce. I was just joking around,” Viktor explained after a brief silence, his voice quiet but apologetic. He was an overly sarcastic person, they both knew this. Even so, he failed to take into consideration Jayce’s stark disapproval for self-deprecating comments. Jayce had a history of destructive tendencies and he despised being surrounded by negativity. Viktor needn’t fuel the fire, bearing in mind how draining their current quandary already was.
“Well, you shouldn’t joke about stuff like that!” Jayce whispered with scolding vehemence. Perhaps he said it a bit too loudly or with the wrong tone of voice because Viktor promptly squeezed his eyes shut, breaking their eye contact. He turned his head to the side, clenching his hand further into the grass. Viktor knew he struck a nerve.
A conflicted look pulled the corners of Viktor’s mouth downward and Jayce was suddenly reminded of how reclusive Viktor tended to be. He was lucky enough to have convinced the other engineer to join him outside… He didn’t want to shy him away just because he raised his voice, especially considering they had limited time together.
Jayce leaned back where he kneeled by a few inches, dropping Viktor’s now undone tie against his vest. Raising his hand to his face, Jayce pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and his index finger, suppressing an oncoming headache. He took in a deep breath, the earthy smell of petrichor grounding him.
“Listen. I care about you, Viktor. Okay? You’re one of the first real friends I’ve had, and- I have never met someone damn near as smart as I am... You even rival me,” Jayce spilled, honesty flowing off his tongue in a manner that caused his voice to waver with each word. He dropped his hand from his face, resting it back on Viktor’s shoulder.
“I appreciate the sentiment, Jayce,” Viktor told him, amber eyes locking back onto Jayce’s above. He wanted to diffuse the situation and apologize, but he could tell Jayce wasn’t going to let up. Perhaps he needed to let his frustration bleed out.
“I'm being serious. Meeting you was one of the best things that’s ever happened to me. I adore you. Hell, I wouldn't be alive without you. I just--” Jayce continued, only to get cut off as another unexpected bout of coughs jolted Viktor beneath him. Viktor clasped his hand back over his mouth, his pupils constricting to tiny dots.
He made no move to turn back on his side, so Jayce’s only way of supporting him was squeezing his shoulder, rubbing his thumb across the inside of his arm. As coughs racked Viktor’s body, his eyebrows rose steadily to his hairline, a new fear blanching his face.
“Deep breaths,” Jayce tried weakly, mirroring the fear on Viktor’s face without meaning to. Viktor inhaled through his nose, one end of his tie slipping off his chest upon exhale and flopping soundlessly atop the ground. Jayce’s attempt at advice actually helped, and almost effortlessly, Viktor was able to regain control of his breathing. The look of fear, however, remained plastered on his face.
Jayce couldn’t identify the issue until Viktor pulled back his hand and blinked up at him with shy, copper eyes. The engineer parted his lips, yet couldn’t muster the courage to speak. Hand extended in front of him, his question died on his tongue, but Jayce could see it in his eyes. It was a question he had asked him on a handful of occasions since his diagnosis.
‘Is there blood?’
Taking Viktor’s hand into his own, Jayce dragged his thumb over his knuckles, caressing him as if he were molded from porcelain. He turned Viktor’s hand, supinating his palm so it was again facing the glittering expanse beyond. With the pads of his fingers, Jayce traced lightly along the creases in Viktor’s palm, his jaw clenching at how cold Viktor’s hand felt in his.
He followed the curve from Viktor’s pinky to the opposite end of his palm, down to the pulse point just below the inside of his thumb. Pressing his index finger flat against his radial artery, Jayce palpated the heartbeat that pounded fervently beneath his skin, ensuring for himself that Viktor was indeed alive.
Beneath him, Viktor’s hand was pale in comparison to Jayce’s, a striking contrast reminiscent of the moon and the sun. His eyes waltzed across Viktor’s palm like heels on a dancefloor, scanning the various raised calluses and discolored nicks littered across his epidermis. It was a site concerning enough to knit his eyebrows together, but at the very least, Viktor’s palm was a canvas free from stains of red.
“No blood,” Jayce finally confirmed, his voice a whisper carried to Viktor’s ears by the frigid breeze. Viktor’s shoulders sagged and he wrapped his fingers loosely, tenderly around Jayce’s. Those two simple words were enough to crash a wave of relief over him strong enough to drown him.
They were holding hands, and Viktor was clinging to Jayce as if he were the oxygen his lungs lacked. Breaking his long lived lapse of silence, Viktor swam to the surface, his next sentence punctuated by his newfound source of air.
“Not this time, huh? Guess we’re not all out of good news,” Viktor tries to say it nonchalantly. With his usual sarcasm and as if he’s not literally withering away, but they both know his fate is set. Damnit. Viktor doesn’t want to spend his final hours with the only person he truly cares about mad at him.
“Jayce, I'm sorry. I- I know you are not fond of, urgh... Self-deprecating humor. I understand it- it was a bad joke, okay? The whole ‘you being stuck with me’ thing, I said. It was untimely…” Viktor trails off to catch his breath and he tightens his hold on Jayce, wordlessly signaling he isn't finished speaking.
Jayce’s hazel eyes were dull as they scurried over Viktor who looked beyond sleep deprived against the field. His jaw was tight, teeth grinding together with unease as he heard Viktor out. He was beginning to realize Viktor apologizing isn't necessary, nor something he wants to hear.
“I know you care about me, and I care about you, too. I did not mean to imply you don’t. I was just… attempting to make light of a dark situation and I--” Viktor explained, careful with his choice of words until Jayce, for once, cut him off, rather than the other way around.
“Hey… It doesn’t matter, honestly. I was being dramatic. It's been a frustrating past few days. We don’t need to let this get between us. We’re partners.”
“But- I want to apologize.”
“Viktor. It’s nothing, okay?”
The golden boy shakes his head in a dismissive manner, and only then does he realize how close they are to one another. Mere inches apart, Jayce looks between Viktor’s yellow eyes and down to the mole on his cheek. His back is starting to ache from the awkward position he’s kneeling in, their hands still clasped around each other’s when at last, Jayce makes the choice to pull back.
“Listen, it’s late. The temperature’s dropping. I- we both have a busy day tomorrow. Maybe we should get some sleep and...” Jayce trails off, shrugging his shoulders once, up and down. “Just put this behind us.”
Viktor’s words feel lodged in his throat and he swallows, then nods. Jayce squeezes Viktor’s hand in his, giving him a heads up before he pulls Viktor toward him, helping his science partner upright. Viktor’s free hand begrudgingly lets go of the grass at his side and he flicks his wrist, flinging dew from his fingers. Nose scrunched up, he wipes the back of his dirtied hand across his pant leg, freeing the grains of silt in his nail beds and smearing mud on his pants.
“Thank you,” Viktor whispered as their hands separated. Jayce gives a nod and moves with haste to assist Viktor in rising, a hand back on his shoulder. Once Viktor’s in a standing position, he digs his shoe into the earth beneath him with hesitance, testing it. Grass was still a difficult terrain for him to master. Fields were bumpy and unreliable, and there was never a way to know if his next step would be in a soft puddle of mud or a random out of place stone hidden behind the countless blades of grass.
Stepping aside, Jayce raised Viktor’s crutch from where it rested in the greenery. He reached a hand back to grab the tail of his council attire and using it as a rag, wiped the excess moisture off the handle. Moving to the neck of the crutch, Jayce wrapped the fabric around the metal and dragged it downwards.
“I-- You do not have to do that, Jayce,” Viktor interjected, reaching forward and causing Jayce to sidestep, effectively dodging him. He continued his wiping, turning the tail of his suit in hand.
"I want to,” Jayce insisted, adamant. His attention had been spread too thin as of the past few days. Council duties, the Firelight’s attacks, meaningless political disputes, the recent Hextech partner program… He wanted to focus on the things that mattered to him. The people that mattered to him.
“But- now, your suit is stained,” Viktor tried disapprovingly, his lips pulling back in a grimace. He let out an audible exhale, his already hunched posture drooping in a tired way. It was rare he felt like an inconvenience, but it was becoming one of those moments.
Content with his handiwork, Jayce released the end of his garb and held out Viktor’s crutch to him. Sliding the shoulder rest beneath his arm, Viktor leaned his weight against the mobility aid, his fingers wrapping familiarly around the now dry handle of the crutch.
“Viktor. We've been laying in a sopping wet field for the past three hours. Everything’s already stained,” Jayce reasoned, a small smile sneaking it’s way to his lips. Viktor’s logic often got a little skewed when he was sleep deprived, which never failed to humor Jayce.
“Urgh, I guess. I’m still sorry.”
“Not your fault. Besides, no one will notice. My suit will be washed by morning and good as new. Don’t fret it,” Jayce continued, clearly unbothered. He took a step down the field, brushing a hand over the front of his council garment to flatten the fabric. Blinking down at himself, Jayce let out a light scoff. He turned to face Viktor, gesturing toward his front with a pointed finger.
“Look at me, I’ve got stains all over,” he spoke with a stupid smile still plastered on his face. From a few feet away, Viktor narrowed his eyes at the smudges of green on Jayce’s pant leg, just below the knees from where he was kneeling. Jayce performed a little spin, pausing to allow Viktor a moment’s glance at his back. He showcased the blotches of dampness spread over his shoulders, ass, and lower back, and Viktor failed to suppress the dry chuckle that escaped him at the sight.
“You look like you got in a fight with a bush,” he bantered, taking a slow, crutch assisted step in Jayce’s direction and meeting his eyes when Jayce completed his spin.
“Oh, yeah? Did I win?”
“Heh, not by a long shot. It kicked your ass,” Viktor sneered, another smirk tugging his lips upward. This time, his smile was genuine, and it squinted the skin at the corners of his eyes, joy blossoming like fireworks over his yellow irises.
“Damn. I’ll beat it next time.”
"I’m sure you will, Jayce.”
The science partners progressed down the hill, their pace slow and bordering leisurely. The small field they were situated in had a pretty large slope to it, and with the storm from earlier, the grass beneath them was near the opposite of solid. Abovehead, the brilliant moon shrouded the city of Piltover in darkness. Their only source of light were the nearby streetlamps, but even then, it was difficult to step with confidence.
Jayce turned where he stood, walking backwards for a few haphazard strides and giving Viktor a quick peer up and down. Akin to Jayce, Viktor’s appearance was a mess. The top of his suit was unbuttoned and his vest was crumpled like a page of discarded research. His silk tie was undone and hung loosely around his neck with one side dangling a few inches lower than the other.
Viktor’s hair was wild, greasy from twirling it nonstop between his fingers and damp from being pressed against the wet earth for so long. Sections of his hair jutted out with a lack of pattern, curled in every direction imaginable. As the breeze howled past, the wind tousled a strand of his auburn hair loose, the lock falling curled before his eyes.
Picking up on Jayce’s staring, Viktor raised a curious eyebrow and tilted his head, prompting Jayce to speak. The motion caused the strand to twist on his cheek, settling just below his mole. Jayce moved into Viktor’s vicinity and rested a hand atop his shoulder, looking at him with feigned sorrowful eyes, as if he were preparing to deliver soul crushing news.
"You look like Poro.”
Hunching forward without warning, a fit of high-pitched laughs spilled from Viktor, causing him to tighten his grip around the handle of his crutch to keep his balance. His laughter floated out and into the air like bubbles and Jayce found himself smiling, relishing in the sound. He attempted to commit Viktor’s laughs to memory, repeating the impression in his mind when Viktor eventually fell silent.
“Ah, come on. That is cruel,” Viktor scoffed, a toothy smile wide across his face. Straightening his back, he reached up to card a hand through his hair, smoothening down an unruly portion in a late attempt to save his image. Jayce moved his hand from Viktor’s shoulder and down to the small of his back, etching his science partner’s joyous expression into the walls of his memory and giving Viktor’s scoff a short chuckle of acknowledgement.
Just behind Viktor, the moon was shaped like a halo above his head. The distant planet acted as backlighting and illuminated a faint, glowing border around him. Jayce found himself mesmerized, only coming back to reality at the distant hum of the wind. They had fallen back into a comfortable silence.
As the two advanced down the hill, the small field of grass quickly began giving way to the city’s cobblestone pathway. Jayce kept his hand steady on Viktor’s lower back, supporting him with each step up until they reached the junction connecting the terrain.
Viktor’s shoes met with the sturdy concrete beneath him and he exhaled a shaky breath, relieved to be back on solid ground. His crutch found its place next to him with an audible tap and he looked up, eyes shifting between Jayce’s. A heavy silence hung in the air as Viktor’s palm moved to Jayce’s bare forearm, his cold fingers raising goosebumps on Jayce’s skin from the touch.
He still wanted to make amends for their earlier miscommunication. He needed to. Heart thumping against his ribcage, Viktor took in a sharp breath, the aroma of the dusk petrichor washing over him and supplying him a boost of needed confidence.
“Hey, Jayce? I adore you, too.”