Work Text:
The night was filled with different sounds, laughs and cheers on every corner, fireworks in the sky and music everywhere. The year was coming to a closing and everyone was celebrating, another great year for Piltover.
Viktor had been sitting in the lab for almost all of the day, he had reached a bump on his research, he was stuck and it was driving him crazy.
He got up and took his crutch, he slowly made his way to the window where he stared at the night sky filled with stars and at the occasional firework, they were blue, pink, green and they exploded in different shapes. He stayed like that a couple of more minutes, hypnotized by the colors and shapes.
He suddenly remembered the old record player they had at the lab. Jayce had brought it because according to him “he worked better when he had music on”. He started searching for it and finally found it under a blanket and next to it there were some vinyls stacked on top of one another. He rifled through the old vinyls and found one that he liked, he remembered Jayce listening to that one. He carefully took it out of its cardboard case and placed it on the player and soon enough he could hear the melody playing.
He took the chair that was in front of his desk and moved to where he had been standing by the window and continued watching the dark blue sky.
The year was coming to an end and he was all alone at the lab, Jayce was at a fancy party along with Heimerdinger and the other council members and Sky was probably with her family. Why did he feel like this? He should be happy, another year alive, another year that his illness didn’t kill him, so why? Why couldn’t he stop himself from feeling sad. He wished he wasn’t sitting there alone, maybe the company of Sky, Heimerdinger or Jayce would help him to not think about all of the negative sides of his life. At this point he could feel tears coming to his eyes, he tried distracting himself by listening to the music -Give me all your love now, ‘Cause for all we know we might be dead by tomorrow- He was so wrapped up on his thoughts that he didn’t hear the footsteps coming towards the lab.
The door that lead towards the lab was opened with loud ‘thud’ and Viktor quickly turned around, it was Jayce “I thought you might be here” he went in and closed the door, “I was just trying to make some progress on the project” Viktor said, Jayce could hear how Viktor’s voice broke slightly, “Hey, are you okay?” Jayce asked, walking towards where the other man was sitting, “I’m fine, I’m fine it’s just that…” Viktor took a deep breath so that he could collect himself and his feelings “The new year kind of makes me a little sad” Viktor took a look at Jayce, he was wearing a fancy white tux, a red tie that was neatly done and black coat, the night was cold Viktor finally noticed “What are you doing here? Weren’t you at the council’s party?” He finally asked, “Well there was so much people that it was kind of stressing me out, so I got out to take a breath” Jayce took the chair that was in front of his desk and moved it next to the smaller man “you shouldn’t be here alone, don’t you wanna come back with me to the party?” “No, it would just make me feel worse...sorry” Viktor quickly responded “That’s fine”
The two of them fell silent and continued watching the starry sky until Jayce noticed that Viktor was slightly shivering, he got up and took off his coat and he gently placed it around Viktor’s shoulders, “won’t you get cold?” he asked starting to take off the coat but Jayce quickly stopped him “I’m fine” he reassured him with a smile and Viktor reluctantly stayed with the coat on. It felt nice around his body, the type of fabric made it a little bit heavy and it was a little big on him and he could smell the faint fragrance of Jayce’s cologne.
“I see you found my vinyls”, “well the silence was making me feel more lonely, so I figured why not” Viktor responded -I can’t go on wasting my time, adding scars to my heart ‘cause all I hear is “I’m not ready enough”- “let’s dance” the taller man said “what?!” Viktor said alarmed, “Come on we are alone, no one is gonna see you” Jayce tried to convince Viktor “but I don’t know how to and also my leg” he said while gesturing towards his bad leg, “come on, let’s try, I’ll teach you” he said enthusiastically, Viktor took a deep breath and led out a small sight, “fine” he reluctantly agreed.
Jayce helped Viktor stand up without his crutch so that he could lean on him. They stood there in the middle of the room silently looking at each other. Viktor put his hands on the taller man’s shoulder and leaned a bit on him, looking for support. Jayce grabbed Viktor's hips from under the coat to help stabilize him, he could feel the bones of his hips and the cold metallic structure from under Viktor’s clothes.
They started swaying their bodies slowly, Viktor was failing on going with the rhythm. Jayce noticed this “one, two, three, one, two, three” he said trying to get Viktor to follow the rhythm. Eventually after a few more seconds the both of them were following the rhythm of the music, swaying and going in circles at a slow pace. -I don’t want to judge what’s in your heart, but if you’re not ready for love, how can you be ready for life?-
Viktor at this point was resting his head on Jayce’s shoulder, sometimes his leg making him lose the rhythm, but overall he felt comfortable, he could smell the shampoo on the other man’s hair.
“Thank you” Jayce said in a low voice.
“For what?” Viktor asked, still dancing in the same position they were. “For everything… for staying at my side, thank you” Jayce responded holding back tears, it had been a stressful year for him, he was happy that there was someone on his side even if it was to share the stress of their work, he was happy that when he fell asleep on the lab’s table there was someone on his side just as tired as him, he was happy that when they made progress there was someone on his side to cheer with him, Viktor had become an important person on his life, at first they were just lab/work partners but they started to connect, they had become close friends and in Jayce’s heart he felt something more than friendship and that made him lie awake at night wondering if Viktor felt the same way.
Viktor noticed a small tear fall from Jayce’s eye, he gently swiped it away with his thumb and rested his hand on the man’s face, “it’s okay” Viktor said in a low voice.
They stayed like that for a while listening to the fireworks and the laughs and cheers outside the building and slowly swaying to the rhythm of the music -so let’s love fully and let’s love loud and let’s love now-.
Jayce took his chance, he brought his big hand to Viktor’s face and moved it gently so that he was facing him and slowly placed his lips on top of Viktor’s, his heart was racing, was Viktor gonna push him away?, would he slap him?, what was he thinking?Jayce's thoughts came to a halt when he felt Viktor respond to the kiss.
The kiss was slow, tender and sweet, Jayce could feel the way Viktor’s lips were chapped and Viktor could feel how soft Jayce’s lips were. They were so caught up in the moment that they weren’t even startled by the loud sound that the tower’s clock was making, announcing the start of a new year.
When they finally separated from the kiss they gently bumped each other’s forehead and stayed like that, there was no need of words to describe what just happened and no need of explanations.
-'Cause soon enough we'll die
'Cause soon enough we'll die
'Cause soon enough we'll die
'Cause soon enough we'll die
'Cause soon enough we'll die
'Cause soon enough we'll die-