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A soft snipping sound echoed in the lab. In the center of the room, two figures were hunched over each other, sitting on the floor. Spread out beneath them was a gigantic cloth, small strands of chestnut brown slowly decorating its surface. Viktor looked up at Jayce through his lashes, frowning slightly. He had merely mentioned once that his hair was getting in his eyes, and suddenly Jayce had jumped at the opportunity. Honestly if Jayce hadn’t done this, he probably would’ve got home in a few weeks and used the kitchen scissors to cut it himself. Even or not, practicality was more important than anything, it would’ve grown out in a month or two anyways. Perhaps a few years ago, he would’ve been obsessive over his appearance, trying his hardest to fit into high-society, but ever since they discovered Hextex, it seemed as if all those worries faded away. Who gives a damn about your appearance when you’re trying to make it into the history books?
“I asked for a trim, not a makeover, Jayce.”
Jayce, who was holding the scissors delicately, puff out a breath of air. “Well, it would look better this way, wouldn’t it?”
Viktor tried his very best not to roll his eyes, “Well looking better is not exactly crucial to making scientific breakthroughs, is it?”
“Maybe not, but it does make you look great when you do make one,” Jayce looked down for a second, flashing a mischievous grin.
“Can you hurry up then? I feel like I’m about to lose all my hair with how long you’re taking up there.”
“No, no, you just think that because it looks like a lot, I’m adding layers right now, it’ll look amazing I promise, it’ll just be a few more minutes.”
“Jayce.”
“Oh come on, I know you get headaches from how thick your hair is.”
A sigh, “Jayce.”
Jayce moved directly in front of Viktor, concentrating on his bangs now. The Zaunite hurriedly closed his eyes as his hair was snipped off. A thick finger moved to brush off some of the stray locks of his hair under his eyes, lingering for just a second longer than necessary. Viktor looked up again.
“Are you finished?”
“Beauty takes time, Viktor.” Jayce leaned back for a second, as if assessing him.
“Who am I trying to impress with this ‘beauty?’” Jayce leaned in to run a hand through his hair, messing it up slightly before leaning back again.
“Well, I, for one, would like it.” He exchanged the scissors with a thin toothed comb, dragging it gently through his bangs.
“So you’re calling my previous haircut ugly, Jayce?” Viktor said teasingly, a smile tugging on the edge of his lips.
His handsome features twisted, “What? No, no, of course not, you always look great, amazing in fact, I honestly can’t get enough of.” He paused for a few seconds, after which Viktor saw a particularly large chuck of hair fall to the ground. “Just know, you still looked really good beforehand, really, it’s just that this’ll make you look even better.” He paused, “Yes.”
“Is that so?” Viktor smiled.
“Very much so yes.”
Viktor looked up at Jayce’s flushed face, laughing fondly, “You know Jayce, if this is how you flatter our sponsors, I have no idea why they fund our expenditure.”
“I charm them with my beauty, that’s why this haircut is so important, right?” Viktor could feel his breath on his face.
He sighed, exasperated, “Well, please just hurry up, will you?”
“Just for you then, Vitya.”
Viktor’s eyes widened, face flushing, “Jayce, where did you even—“
“Professor Heimerdinger told me that it was a less formal form of your name,” He looked down at the wavering golden eyes, “What, is it wrong?”
Viktor took a deep breath, as if ready to refute the mere idea of it, but then pressed his lips together tightly before swallowing. “No, no he’s not wrong at all, I just… wasn’t expecting it is all.” Heavens, whoever Heimerdinger got that inaccurate information from should be given an award for this godsend of a gift.
“It’s like a nickname right?” He felt Jayce lifting up some hair from his left side.
“Ehhh, I guess it could be counted as one.”
“Then do you mind me calling you that from now on?” Jayce shot a quick look down as he carefully snipped the dead ends off, “Only in private of course.”
“No, yeah, of course, why wouldn’t I,” He let out a laugh that sounded suspiciously forced.
“You don’t have to agree if you don’t want to, you know, I get if it’s too far.”
Viktor answered far too quickly, “No!! I mean— no, it’s not too far, really, I would really like that, actually.”
Jayce gave a distracted hum, messing with his bangs again. About fifteen minutes later, Jayce finally put down the scissors, letting out a satisfied breath of air. Viktor, on the other hand, let out a sigh of relief. As he went to grab for his cane, he was gently pushed back down by Jayce, who then proceeded to rush around the lab looking for something.
After a few moments of digging around in his cabinets, he emerged with three items. A straightening iron, heat protectant, and hair spray.
Viktar gapped slightly, “Why do you even have those things? I’ve never seen you use any of them!”
Jayce just laughed quietly, “Who do you think did Caitlyn’s hair, genius? She’s the whole reason why I even know how to cut hair.”
Viktor was still skeptical, “And her parents… allowed this?”
Jayce shrugged, “Well, as long as it looked good and proper enough, they didn’t really care too too much about it.”
“Too too much?”
“Yeah, there was a system where I’d cut her hair short, and she’d just say that she did it herself and get grounded for a week in exchange for a good haircut. It was a great. No one ever caught us, and now the Kirramans are used to short hair.”
Viktor sighed, “Well I guess I can’t blame you for giving that girl at least some semblance of self expression.”
“Exactly, now tilt your head up.”
“When I said makeover, I was joking.”
“I didn’t take it as one.”
“I could be figuring out the key to the Hextech gates right now as we speak.”
“Don’t tell me you wouldn’t enjoy this even for a moment.”
“I would not enjoy this–”
“Please?” Jayce put on his most pitiful expression, eyes wide with the smallest pout on his face.
Viktor loathed himself for being so weak, “...Alright.”
Instantly, Jayce’s face brightened. Jayce started to set up the straightening iron before covering Viktor’s eyes with one hand to shield them from the heat protectant spray. The distinct smell floated through the air and Jayce set the bottle down. Using both hands, he ran his finger through Viktor’s bangs, sweeping them back.
Gingerly, he took a portion of hair from the front of his head and slowly ironed it to curve back while still holding volume. He did the same with the other side before adjusting it with his fingers this way and that. He went in again with a few bits from the side of his head for, quote on quote, “more volume,” before turning the wretched device off.
Viktor felt like his hair would never recover, but instead of saying this, he just sat blankly staring off into space while thinking of possible rune sequences to try. Jayce fussed a bit more above him before turning on the iron again, saying that the left side was too flat. Viktor lamented silently in his heart, they’d already been here for probably an hour, and he felt like he would die if he wasted a second more.
After another five minutes of adjusting, fixing, and fixing and adjusting, it seemed like Jayce was finally, finally, done. He supported Viktor as he got up, leaning some of his weight on his cane. He then led him to a full body length mirror that Jayce had installed himself, covering his eyes the entire way.
Suddenly, the Jayce’s hand that was floating around his waist wrapped all the way around his midsection to support him more. When Jayce took his hand off of Viktor’s eyes, it took a moment from him to blink the light away, adjusting to the brightness.
He soon caught sight of himself in the mirror, and suppressed the urge to gap. He looked like some– some spoiled rich private school piltie!
“Looks great right?”
“Jayce, I look like some elite Piltover trash who has never had to wipe their own behind for themselves.”
“But it looks great right?!”
Viktor studies himself in the mirror. If he was being objective, it did make him look better, the added volume to his head made his face appear smaller which in turn made his features more compact and more aesthetically pleasing to look at. He turned his head a little, studying his face. But even so, in the end, it was still the same, sickly, fatigued face.
“If you think so.”
“I do.”
Viktor turned towards Jayce then, looking up at him with narrowed, teasing eyes, “Do you really, Talis?”
He saw Jayce’s Adam's apple bobble, “Yes, I really do, Vitya.”
Viktor snorted quietly, rolling his eyes, “If you like it so much, I’ll let you do it again next time I’m coerced into attending one of those fundraiser banquets.”
Light shone in Jayce’s eyes, expression brightening in a matter of seconds, “Really?!”
“--When we get this sequence right,” Viktor had a self-satisfied expression on his face. The pleasures of scientific discovery were second to none, and it would do Jayce good with a few more incentives… Not to say that he wasn’t focused, he was just able to get sidetracked more easily is all.
Viktor turned towards his desk, twirling the pencil in the palm of his hands as he picked up where he left off.
Behind him, Jayce’s expression visibly fell. This specific sequence was eighty-five runes long, they had practically no chance of finishing it within the next two months.