Work Text:
He’s late.
Not that Viktor cared to keep track of his (former) partner’s habits, but Jayce was prone to falling into predictable patterns. It was a system they wordlessly established once they managed to agree on a tentative cease-fire in their rivalry; Jayce would sneak to Emberflit Alley and work on new designs away from the scrutiny of the Council, stay away a few days to avoid arousing suspicion, repeat this a few times until Viktor could manage to find a window of opportunity to sneak back into Piltover to look over some of Jayce’s calculations.
The last time they spoke was over a week ago, and it was raining heavier than normal for that time of year. He had been called to look at the flood barriers installed near the rivers and brought Jayce along. After all, the barriers was the first project they had worked together on since the war started almost six years ago now.
It didn't necessarily mean that they got along, however.
“I told you before, a direct current would have held the shields up longer!” Jayce yelled over the roar of the river, the torrential rain plastering his hair to his face. Why the bastard didn’t have a proper rain jacket was beyond Viktor’s comprehension but thankfully Jayce didn’t complain too much.
“A direct current would overload the circuits upon activation and potentially cause a shortage to the grid, we’ve been over this too many times.” Viktor retorted, barely looking over his shoulder at Jayce while he opened the bottom panel to the shield generator. A flash flood had broken through a weak link in the chain that protected this specific area of the Undercity, a fishing community that relied heavily on the sea trade. Without these protective measures dozens if not more could be washed out of their homes. Jayce knelt on the other side of him, holding his coat over the panel to keep the systems dry-- with limited success-- while Viktor worked.
“What did you use for insulation?”
“Whatever I could find, primarily rubber scraps from the factories.”
“Hold on!” Jayce reached into his back pouch and pulled out what seemed to be a roll of tape, pitch black and shiny, “new from the Chem department, great for quick fixes I’m told.” Even through the mask, Viktor sent him a hard glare in disbelief. Had Jayce finally lost what remained of his mind, that his first suggestion as a solution was tape ?
“There’s no chance the adhesive will stick in this rain and sustain the current.”
“I know, but you can lower the intensity of the beam of the HexClaw, right?” Jayce replied, raising a brow.
“Of course I- oh.” Right, of course. Melt the plastic and create a seal. Unconventional, but effective for a temporary measure.
“‘Oh’ indeed. Now scooch over and hold this!” Jayce’s jacket was thrust into his free hand without hesitation, and Viktor had the petty impulse to let the thing fall into the mud while Jayce set about wrapping the exposed wires in the tape. Regardless, he observed as the exposed wiring was quickly covered by the black material, the remainder torn off by strong smith hands. Then it was his turn.
Controlling the HexClaw was as easy as a thought, sending a short controlled beam down and watching as the tape’s fibers melted and fused into a uniform seal. Rudimentary, but it would hold until a suitable replacement could be found.
“There, now what would you do without me?” Jayce wore one of his signature grins, while Viktor once again was thankful for the mask for allowing him to roll his eyes without being seen.
“Sleep better.” he deadpanned.
“Ass.”
“This will do for now. Can you obtain a proper replacement?”
“Council is starting to ask questions V–”
“Can you or can you not?”
“Yes! Just, give me a couple of weeks.”
“One week.”
“Fine!” They both rose from the ground just as a crash of lighting broke overhead. Viktor realized that he still had Jayce’s useless jacket and threw it back in his face, watching with mild satisfaction as it made impact with a soggy splat. Jayce sputtered and glared half-heartedly, pushing his soaked hair out of his face.
“You should leave Defender, you look like a drowned rat.”
“Yeah yeah, fuck you too. I’ll see you in a week, the usual time and palce.” Jayce’s expression fell at the use of his moniker, a silent resignation falling across his face as he turned and headed for the roads back toward Piltover. Viktor made no move to stop him or say anything further until he vanished from sight.
“One week.”
And Jayce was late.
If their current predicament wasn’t under unpredictable time constraints Viktor would be content to leave things be, but the growing worry of the people living by the river was getting too grand to ignore. It seems that he had no choice; he had to go back to Piltover and get the replacement himself.
Damn Jayce, how dare he inconvenience him so? If he had the misfortune of seeing him tonight then he better have one hell of an excuse for his tardiness. Still, there was one silver lining to all this. He could restock his Sweetmilk stores while he was out.
Standing in the halls of the Academy always brought out a storm of emotions whenever he returned. What once felt so great and welcoming now almost felt too small for his presence. Granted, he was a good two feet taller now than when he first arrived. Give or take a few inches.
He was thankful that the Academy still followed its strict curfews, meaning that the halls were all but deserted save for the few guards that patrolled in lazy rotations. Viktor had to wonder what would happen if anyone found out that the feared Machine Herald regularly haunted these laboratories like a phantom of stories old, sneaking under their very noses even as his armor creaked and clanked slightly with each step. Frankly, he almost felt embarrassed on their behalf.
Such thoughts were interrupted when he rounded a corner and saw the door to Jayce’s lab slightly ajar. Foolish, he thought with an internal sigh, before sliding through the opening as silently as he could before shutting the door with a soft ‘click’. To his surprise, there was no one calling out- it was oddly creepy sometimes, but Jayce had developed this uncanny knack of knowing when Viktor deigned to visit him. His annoyance shifted to slight concern even as he scanned the contents of the lab.
Even after all these years, it still smelled the same; a strange mixture of ozone, metal, and that sweet-yet-clean odor that Viktor could only associate with magic. Despite himself, he had to take a moment to steady himself before he could fall into the pitfall of lost memories. He was here to get something and leave, that was all.
Seeing the half-formed prototypes scattered about the lab in a strange parallel to the chaos of his home in Emberflit brought a strange flicker of amusement, but still, Jayce was never so careless as to leave the labs open when no one was inside. With no sign of disturbance or struggle he ruled out any foul play; but then where was he?
His answer came from a groan on the other side of the lab, near a more shadowed corner where most don’t tend to look when they visit. He spotted a figure slumped against the wall- oh, he’d know those ridiculously wide shoulders anywhere.
“What happened?” he marched over, quickly kneeling down to assess the situation. There were no signs of injury but a quick scan of his sensors showed an elevated rise in temperature all throughout his body. He’s sick.
“v-V?” Jayce croaked, blinking his eyes open wearily, “is- why are you-?”
“Quiet. Can you stand?” he asked quickly, placing a hand around Jayce’s shoulders and hoisting him to his feet. Jayce fell like a ragdoll against his side, groaning loudly as heated skin made contact with cool metal. That was a ‘no’ then. “Right.”
Without further word, Viktor scooped Jayce up into his arms and started marching straight over to the spare cot shoved into the opposite corner of the lab. From the state of the cot, it seemed that Jayce spent more time here than he did at his own apartments. Strange, he thought wryly, how it seems our roles have reversed.
“Strong…” Jayce mumbled, still trying to press his face against any bit of metal he could. Just, what was he doing? How sick was he?
“Hush Defender. When was the last time you changed these clothes?” He was thankful for the mask for obscuring any initial odors but he’s known Jayce long enough to know what clothes worn over multiple nights non-stop looked like. Jayce had the audacity to scrunch his face in a bashful attempt at shrugging.
“‘Dunno… what’s today?” Fuck. He was well and truly sick.
“Doesn’t matter now. How did you let yourself get so ill, Defender?” Jayce frowned, the first flash of clarity Viktor’s seen all night passing over his face.
“Stop… fuckin’ calling me that. Not my name.”
“Obviously,” Viktor replied warily, a bit taken aback at the sudden vitriol before shaking his head, “but this is unlike you. Working yourself like this.”
“Says you, Mister Refuses-to-sleep-until-I-have-to-be-dragged-home Machine Herald.” Jayce lifted a sluggish arm to jab his finger into Viktor’s armored chest, wincing slightly and letting it drop.
“Fool,” Viktor sighed, finally setting Jayce down on the cot and adjusting him so that he was sat up, “where do you keep your spare clothes?”
“Mmm… same as usual,” Jayce mumbled, head hanging low. Once he was certain that Jayce wouldn’t topple over, Viktor rose and stormed over to a set of drawers. Inside, shocker, was a collection of white jackets and other emblazoned shirts bearing the Talis colors. It took a minute of thumbing through to find one that somewhat resembles sleep-wear, a set of constellation-printed fabric that- actually, he didn’t recognize this set?
“A gift… from mom… before-” Jayce trailed off at the end, a heavy silence falling over the room. Viktor didn’t know how to take the passing of Zimena Talis when he finally learned, years after the fact. On the one hand, the woman’s kindness was the closest he could associate with having any sort of motherly figure in his adult life. On the other, in his pursuit of perfection, he wasn’t entirely certain that her death left him feeling heartbroken or just… empty.
“Well then, this will do.” he decided, bringing the set back over while Jayce covered his face with his hand.
“Bet you’re really enjoying this, asshole.”
“Immensely so,” he deadpanned, “now, arms out.”
“S-Seriously?”
“I literally just carried you to bed.”
“And you didn’t buy me dinner first. Gimme those.” Viktor was too stunned by the bold remark to resist when Jayce snatched the clothes away, only snapping out of his stupor once the other started pulling at the buttons of his shirt.
“Suit yourself,” he muttered, turning to head towards the old kitchenette attached to the far side of the lab. So many late-night coffee breaks and hastily-eaten snack times here. He went about the process of preparing a cup of tea almost on autopilot, and if he used the HexClaw to heat up the water a little faster, Jayce didn’t need to know.
When he returned back to the lab, he was greeted with the sight of a rather petulant looking Jayce frowning down at the pajama shirt- and the buttons that were hanging on for dear life trying to keep it partially fastened across that ridiculous chest. Viktor couldn’t bite back a snort.
“You’ve gotten bigger.”
“Did you just call me fat?” Jayce’s affronted expression almost made Viktor laugh, but he bit it back to set the tea gingerly on the bedside table. Jayce’s day clothes were thrown in a heap on the floor, kicked away by a metal boot somewhere under the cot.
“Of course not, but don’t fret; still nothing compared to the size of your head,” he tapped Jayce’s forehead lightly with a clawed-finger, pulling back expecting him to swat it away but freezing when Jayce instead grabbed his wrist, “What is it?”
“Don’t go…” he said with such a small voice Viktor almost didn’t reconcile what came out of Jayce’s mouth with the man sitting in front of him. Why didn’t you say that before- his treacherous mind supplied, but he shook it off. That argument was dead and buried, and this was not a moment to dig up corpses.
“I’m not your nursemaid, besides, I can’t stay for much longer.” Not unless he wanted to get caught by the next round of guards who might happen to be on the wrong side of nosy-
“Feels good…” Jayce whined, leaning more into Viktor’s hand. Ah, the fever, of course. It took a considerable amount of willpower to keep himself from making a remark, funny how Jayce didn’t seem to mind his augments so much now that they were pressed-
And stopping that line of thought, right now.
“Impossible,” he muttered instead, letting his staff rest against the wall before gently pushing Jayce back to lay back against the pillows, “I’ll get you a compress.”
“Mmng, y- you feel better…”
“Ridiculous. Move then.” Was Jayce always this much of a brat when he got sick? Regardless, Viktor had to get Jayce to settle down enough so that he could grab the insulation part and leave. Jayce made a confused sound as Viktor lifted his head off of the pillow enough for him to sit down, arranging himself just so to lay Jayce’s head back down on his lap.
“W-What are you-?”
“Hush, just rest Jayce.” A beat passed before Jayce let out a terse sigh, relaxing against Viktor’s amour. Once Jayce was settled, Viktor opened up a panel in his augmented arm. Seeing as he was stuck here for the foreseeable future, might as well give his internal systems a once over. Anything to occupy his mind away from the humiliating position he was in, playing pillow and cold compress for his former partner.
Briefly, he glanced down at Jayce, taking in his pinched expression and shallow breathing. The only other time he could recall Jayce being this sick was when he braved a rare snowstorm, which Jayce hated with a passion he reserved only for science and (previously) interfering with his plans, just to make sure Viktor’s apartment was warm enough. It was an impulsive thought, but once he made sure Jayce’s eyes were firmly closed he unclicked the clasps around the edges of his mask and exposed his face to the lab.
Drafty, he noted with a slight frown. Paired with the soaking he got from last week’s rain, it was no wonder Jayce worked himself sick. Perhaps he should feel a little bit of guilt, he was the one who requested that Jayce produce the replacement part within the week. Ah well, he was here now. No use dwelling on what-ifs.
Jayce groaned, squirming a little. On instinct Viktor reached out, the palm of his hand resting against his forehead. Upon contact Jayce moaned, honest to the gods moaned, and leaned into his hand. He must have been truly suffering, even Viktor started to feel a bit of heat spread throughout his body from the contact. It was unfortunate that the pajama shirt didn’t close all the way, the sweat dripping from his skin must feel terrible in this environment. Having his chest on display like that, Viktor couldn’t help but stare a little.
Hm, did I give him that mark? I can’t recall-
“Viktor?” he inhaled sharply and averted his eyes, staring down at Jayce who still had his eyes closed.
“What is it?”
“This is… better than a cold compress…” he muttered, nuzzling slightly into Viktor’s hand once more before his breathing finally evened out. Viktor felt a wave of heat travel under his chin plates, pooling around his cheekbones and making his brain go fuzzy. He really needed to recalibrate his internal temperature systems if this was going to be a recurring issue. Once he was certain Jayce was fast asleep, he let out a sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Just, what are you doing to me Jayce Talis…?” he muttered to himself, not certain if he really wanted to know the answer. Slowly, he extricated himself and settled Jayce back against the pillows, pulling the threadbare covers up and over his exposed chest. He was still drenched in sweat but at least his body was fighting the fever, doing what it was built to do. A luxury that the majority of people knew they possessed unless it was suddenly snatched away.
Viktor lingered for just a moment longer, before putting his mask back on and headed back to the main lab. He’d wasted too much time making sure Jayce was comfortable, but it was a purely practical use. If Jayce was sick and didn’t recover, then their terse collaboration would suffer for it and so would their projects by proxy. Perfectly practical.
Scanning his eyes over the various prototypes, Viktor spotted what looked to be the insulation piping he needed next to a hastily written note. It was Jayce’s handwriting, but slightly shaky.
Not feeling well, but finished this anyways. Gonna leave it here. I know you’ll come get it, don’t get caught on the way out.
~JT
Bastard, he thought, despite the wry smile that twitched at the corner of his mouth. Without further ado, he took the part and headed for the exit.
But not before he left a brief reply of his own.
Don’t die.
-V