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There weren’t really fresh flowers in the Undercity. Between the run-off from noxious chemical spills, and the constant, choking air of the Grey that got more toxic the further down you went, it wasn’t exactly the ideal environment for growth.
Honestly, the only time Viktor could ever recall seeing fresh flowers was when he fed Rio those glowing purple ones when he was a boy. They were a mutation, though, weren’t they? At least, that seemed to be what Singed implied when they first met.
Of course wealthier Zaunites, Chem-Barons and their ilk, could always stop by the Promenade and get a bouquet, or even go Topside for more variety for extra special occasions. Options that would have never been available to someone like Jinx growing up as she had, and that she wouldn’t have even thought of when she had the means as Silco’s daughter.
Call Viktor a bit of a romantic, under his usual stoic demeanor, but even that wouldn’t be fully accurate. He wasn’t this way for just anyone, and frankly, until he met Jinx he found such gestures like buying flowers uselessly sentimental.
Now, however, he would do anything to make her shimmer-pink eyes sparkle, her whole face alight with joy at his small, silly gestures, wrapping her skinny limbs around him. Jinx had worked her way into a part of himself he thought he had shut off completely, and her enthusiasm was infectious.
The only problem being, of course, Viktor had no idea what Jinx’s favorite flower was, or if she even had a favorite flower. He supposed he could ask her directly, but he wanted to keep this a surprise, and Jinx had a rather annoying habit of sniffing out his surprises before he had revealed them. He pushed his goggles up, mussing his hair further. Leaning forward, elbows on his desk, hands propping up in his chin as he thought.
His gaze wandered to some scrap copper and wires in a corner, leftovers from a project that he hadn’t used yet. He preferred to use every inch of material he could—wasting anything useful made Viktor terribly uncomfortable. He had to find a use for this scrap metal, and that’s when the idea sparked. Give him a few hours and, well….
Viktor was no artist, but working with materials like these were the one constant in his life, and he was nothing if not good at taking things apart and putting them back together. This was no different, really. After several hours of cutting, shaping, and welding the scrap metal he had results he was fairly pleased with.
Ever the perfectionist, Viktor knew he could tinker with his creation for hours, but he simply didn’t have the time, not when he promised he would meet Jinx. The pair made time for each other wherever they could between busy hours in their respective workshops, and tonight was a rare night they would have solely for themselves.
He gathered his present for Jinx and headed to his small sleeping quarters to clean himself up and get ready.
Viktor had barely gotten dressed after his shower, his hair damp and uncombed, when he heard the familiar clomp of boots down the hallway.
Jinx never bothered to knock.
“Vik?” She peered around the corner, those long blue braids of her swinging.
As always, his heart did that little leap when he saw her. “I’ll be ready in a minute.”
Jinx took in his damp hair and pouted. “Seems I was several minutes too late.” She walked over to him, pressing her long, lithe body against his.
His hands automatically went to her waist, that spot where he always held her. He kissed her on the forehead. “I thought you said you wanted to go out?”
“Maybe I’m rethinking my priorities.”
He chuckled at that, though the thought was deeply tempting. “Give me a few moments.”
“Fine.”
She walked over to his desk in his small bedroom and perched herself atop it, legs swinging. Viktor finished combing his hair.
“I’ll be right back,” he told her. “Left something in my lab.”
“You always do.”
He grabbed the completed gift from its place in the lab and returned to where Jinx sat, the gift hidden behind his back. “I have a surprise for you.”
She perked up, pink eyes shining. “What kind of surprise?”
He brandished what he had been working on all afternoon. A bouquet of flowers sculpted and welded out of scrap copper and wires, shaped like those flowers he knew in his childhood feeding Rio. He had rigged them to glow as well, changing colors powered by a much smaller HexTech gem.
Jinx hopped off the desk and launched herself at him. “It’s so beautiful! Thank you.” Wrapping her arms around him, kissing his face, his neck, his jaw.
This was what Viktor lived for, seeing the happiness in his lover. Jinx, who had known so much pain and suffering in her twenty years, deserved so many more moments like these, and that’s all he wanted to give her.
Finally, Jinx broke the close contact to examine the metal flowers in more detail. Leaning in, she looked up at Viktor. “You scented them?”
He nodded. “To have flowers with no scent wouldn’t be right.”
“These are even better than real flowers,” Jinx declared, holding onto the bundle tightly. “Because they’ll never die.” She looked up at Viktor and reached to squeeze his metal hand, encased in his glove, as per usual.
With his free human hand, he caressed the side of her cheek. The implication was clear in her words.
“I’m not going anywhere, Jinx. That’s a promise.”