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“I think you should go.”
“I never go.” Not once had Viktor ever attended the annual Academy winter gala. Going to the gala would mean making small talk with people he didn’t know and standing up for long periods of time – something he always tried to avoid with the state of his leg.
But Jayce kept looking at him. “V…”
“I never go. This year should be no different.”
Jayce was still looking at him like that. “Emmeline will be there.”
Viktor felt himself blush, and internally cursed his pale skin. Emmeline, the mathematician who he and Jayce had started talking to so that they could get another opinion on their Hextech calculations. The woman who could, a few times a week, be found in their workroom, chalk in hand, covering a chalkboard in intricate calculations.
Emmeline, who would sometimes suggest they take a break, and would then brew the tea, and sit across from Viktor and chat. Emmeline of the pretty eyes and the laugh which made Viktor’s chest constrict in a way that had nothing to do with his condition. That Emmeline.
“All the more reason not to go,” said Viktor. “You know how I am with social occasions. I’ll just make things awkward somehow. The last thing I want is to embarrass myself in front of her.”
“You know,” said Jayce, propping his chin up on one fist, “I have it on pretty good authority that she likes you too.”
“Whose authority?” asked Viktor, a little too quickly.
“Her own. She asked me if you’d be going. She wants to see you there. C’mon, Victor. Look, I know you hate crowds, but we can work around that. I’ll find a way to get the two of you alone together, and then you can shoot your shot.”
Viktor looked unimpressed. “We have been alone together plenty of times. Nothing romantic has happened between us.”
“Except that you end up alone with her a lot more than she ends up alone with me, and by now I’m about seventy percent sure that’s by design. I mean, I remember how clueless I was about Mel’s feelings for me before we got together, but look at us now! I really think you can have that with Emmeline.”
“… I don’t have anything to wear,” said Viktor, with the unspoken agreement that maybe he would go to the gala after all.
“I had a suit made for you.”
“You don’t know my measurements.”
“Yes I do.”
*
The suit Jayce had ordered for him fit surprisingly well. Black, paired with a charcoal grey shirt and a dark red tie. The fit was slightly looser around the waist, but that might just be because Jayce had been optimistic about Viktor’s weight. The doctors had suggested higher calorie foods, but he often got so absorbed in his work that he forgot to eat.
I should do better than that. My health isn’t going to get any better, the least I can do is not actively make it worse by neglecting myself.
Looking in the mirror, Viktor was definitely regretting the skipped meals. He didn’t look bad, in fact he’d always quite liked his appearance, but he could remember a brief period in his early twenties when he’d been away from Zaun long enough that his skin had gained a healthy glow. That would have been the time to make romantic overtures to a woman like Emmeline, not now. Thanks to his illness, the glow was gone.
He arrived late to the gala. As much as he would like a moment alone with Emmy, nothing on this earth would get him to stand there during all those speeches. Jayce must have spotted him, because he made eye contact across the room almost immediately, then pointedly nodded towards the glass doors along one side of the room.
Beyond the glass, Viktor spotted Emmeline standing outside on the balcony, long hair tumbling in waves down the back of her dark red dress.
If Viktor got a proper look at her in that dress, he might develop a heart condition to match his faulty lungs. But there wasn’t going to be another opportunity like this one.
It was slow progress making his way across the room to the glass doors. The great and the good of the Academy weren’t exactly disposed towards making space for a disabled man from the undercity, even if he was half the brains behind Hextech.
He made it eventually, though, and pushed himself out into the cold night air.
*
Emmeline turned when she heard the sound of Viktor’s crutch on the concrete. Usually his clothes were worn and more than a little crumpled from working in the lab, but tonight he was in a dark suit which fit him well. The tailoring implied more than it showed, but it certainly did its job in making her want to see more. Or perhaps that was just because Viktor was the one wearing it.
“Is everything alright?” he asked, offering a smile. “You aren’t usually one to hide from crowds. That’s more my style.”
He limped over to stand next to her so that they were both looking out over the balcony railing.
“No usually,” she agreed, “But it was getting very… Piltover in there.”
“I thought you were from Piltover,” replied Viktor.
“No. I’m from the undercity, same as you.”
“I didn’t know that.”
Emmeline shrugged. “I got out young. This old couple were handing out food down there, and I asked them if I could please have some. They liked the look of me and decided to adopt me. Decided that I must be worth more than the other orphan kids because I remembered my manners. After they realised I was smart, they kept telling each other how they’d recognised my value under the Zaun dirt. Rubbish. It’s not like I was doing equations in front of them that day I asked for bread. I was just hungry. They didn’t really want a daughter. They wanted a reason to feel good about themselves.” She shrugged again. “But… it did get me out. Breathing clean air. I got an education. All their money after they passed away. Still… I won’t pretend that it didn’t mess me up a little.”
“I’m sorry,” said Viktor, “That sounds –” His sentence was cut off by a round of coughing.
Emmeline knew about the Academy gossip that he was sick, but she didn’t know the specifics, and the specs of blood in the handkerchief he pulled from a pocket scared her.
He was bent over, leaning heavily on his crutch.
Emmeline didn’t know what to do. All she could do was watch as, eventually, the coughing subsided.
Catching his breath back, Viktor made his way to a nearby bench and sat down heavily, one hand on his crutch. Emmeline sat beside him.
“I’d heard that you were sick.”
Viktor nodded. “The doctors say they can keep me breathing, but I’m only going to degenerate. Apparently in twenty or so years I can expect to be sitting in a wheelchair with an oxygen tank, so… that’ll be something to look forward to when I hit my fifties. I’m on medication – Mel managed to pull some strings and get me on a clinical trial – but it’s too early to tell if it’s working yet.”
“I’m sorry. Do you need me to get you anything? For your cough?”
He shook his head. “No, it was probably just going from a warm building to the cold outside.”
“Then shouldn’t we go back in there, if it’s better for you?”
Viktor cast a glance back at the room full of Piltover’s finest.
“I don’t think I could handle that right now.”
Emmeline looked around.
“There’s a fire escape off this balcony, but I don’t know how your leg will do on that.”
“We’re what, three floors up?”
“Yes.” Three floors, but the Academy had high ceilings.
Viktor sounded resigned. “Honestly, if it means avoiding the rest of the gala, I think I’ll give it a try. It won’t be fast, but it won’t be –” he gestured back inside, “that.”
“Alright.”
*
The cold cast iron of the fire escape wasn’t kind to Viktor’s crutch, but they made it to the ground floor and slipped inside the Academy’s entrance hall. Viktor immediately leaned against the nearest radiator to warm up.
“So how are you getting home?” asked Emmeline.
Viktor rubbed the back of his neck with the hand that wasn’t holding the crutch. “I was going to take a taxi. Either that or sleep in the lab.”
“I could drive you,” she offered.
*
Emmeline’s car was new, fuel-efficient, and had heated seats. When she turned on the heated seats, Viktor made a noise that most people only made in the bedroom.
“So,” she said, as casually as possible, “Your place or mine?”
Viktor’s head snapped around to look at her. “Emmy?”
She didn’t break eye contact. “V, you turned up late, spoke to me and only me, and then decided to leave. Also, you’ve been very pointedly not looking at the neckline of my dress for the entire time you’ve been here, and it’s not even that low cut. Are my collarbones really that distracting?”
“Yes,” said Viktor, “Yes they are.” He winced. “I, ah, that is to say… my apartment only has a single bed. And it’s not very… homely. So your place. Definitely.”
Emmeline considered breaking the eye contact and putting the car into gear, but Viktor was still looking at her, a soft smile on his lips. He began to lean in.
Emmy leaned in too, sealing the kiss.
*
They’d been able to keep themselves under control for most of the journey home, but by the time they were climbing the stairs to Emmeline’s bedroom, they were struggling to keep their hands off each other.
Shoes had been deposited at the bottom of the stairs, and she had Viktor’s tie off by the time they were in her bedroom. His jacket was dumped on the floor, as Emmy undid the top three buttons of his shirt and applied her lips to his throat.
Their movement toward the bed wasn’t exactly elegant, and in the end Viktor sat down on the bed, placed his crutch on the floor and, after a long kiss, drinking each other in, Emmeline asked, “So how do you want to do this?”
“I’ll need to take my brace off. After that I won’t be able to put much weight on my leg.”
“Okay.”
Viktor’s hands went to his brace, undoing the straps with practised ease, leaving it by his crutch. Then his fingers went to his waistcoat buttons, removing it. The waistcoat went on the floor, followed by his trousers, leaving him in his shirt. Emmeline got to work on his shirt buttons while he reached round to unzip the back of her dress.
Emmy pushed his shirt down until it was crumpled at his waist, and asked, “Does the back brace come off too?”
“I don’t usually sleep in it,” said Viktor, “But without it, I’m not very… manoeuvrable. I should probably keep it on, even if it means not being quite as undressed as either of us would like.”
By way of an answer, Emmy stripped off her dress. Her underwear didn’t match. She didn’t care.
“You’re beautiful,” Viktor told her.
Emmeline gently pushed him back on the bed, until he was lying down and she was propped over him. They kissed each other, long and deep, Viktor’s hand resting on her waist.
“So are you.”
*
She woke with Viktor beside her, and trailed a finger up his bare flank as he smiled.
“Last night was…”
“Yes.” She kissed him quickly, then sat up in bed. “Shall I make tea?”
“Do you have sweetmilk?”
“You want sweetmilk in your tea?”
He gave a small laugh. “No, I want a glass of sweetmilk.”
“Okay.”
She returned with a cup of tea for herself and a glass of sweetmilk for Viktor, which she placed on the bedside table.
“Help me sit up?” asked Viktor.
“Do you want me to pass you your back brace?”
“Not yet. If you help me prop myself up on the pillows, I won’t need it.”
“Right.”
Between the two of them they managed to get Viktor sitting upright, and Emmeline took advantage of their proximity to kiss him again.
She joined him back in bed and picked up her cup of tea.
Viktor sipped his sweetmilk. “I could drink a carton of this.”
“Do it. I have the rest of the carton.”
*
Jayce hadn’t seen Viktor leave the gala, and he’d been too busy with Mel to find out where his friend had gone. It wasn’t that sleeping in the lab was bad for Viktor – the small cot they kept there was comfortable enough. It was just that Jayce felt his friend needed to spend more time away from the Academy. Minds were better at thinking after taking a break, and Viktor was constantly overworking himself.
Aside from wanting to see Viktor happily in love, having a lover to keep him away from the lab in the evenings was another reason why he’d tried to ease Viktor closer to Emmeline. Or, not closer. They were plenty close already. But he was trying to get V to cross the line from platonic to romantic, and who knew how long that would take.
At least Viktor hadn’t slept in the lab last night. The cot was undisturbed, which meant he’d slept in an actual bed. In fact, Viktor was going to turn up late.
Jayce had no plans on berating his partner for this. The hours Viktor worked were long enough already. He was owed more than a few mornings of sleeping in. But he still got a surprise when Viktor walked in.
“… Those are the same clothes you wore last night.”
“Indeed they are,” said Viktor.
“Wait, did you and Emmeline…?”
“Indeed we did.” Viktor smiled in a way that was actually smug.
“Oh hell yes! Finally. V, I have been waiting for this for months. Months. Hey, you know what this means?”
Viktor limped his way over to the nearest chair and sat. In spite of the leg brace and the crutch, there was something of a spring in his step. “Enlighten me.”
“Double. Dates.”
“… Fine. But only because I like Mel. If you ever try taking me out on a triple date, I will fake illness, and I believe Emmy would back me up.”