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"Huh, it's getting pretty late." Jayce commented, breaking the several-hour-long mutual silence (only broken every now and again by quick comments) as he finally looked up from the intricate mechanical work he'd been focusing on so intently.
Viktor lifted his head from his own work which he'd become equally immersed in to find that it was, in fact, pretty late, the world outside drenched in almost total darkness if it weren't for the bright street lamps lining the city. Piltover was a very bright city, Viktor had quickly to come to realise, sometimes so bright that it had him, oddly enough, missing the dark, muted colours of the undercity. "So it is." He passively agreed.
"Do you want to head home?" Jayce suggested, sounding more like a kindly worded order than an offer, "You said yourself that falling asleep at your desk is bad for your back and the later it gets, the more of a possibility that becomes." He pushed his chair back a little in order to swing his legs up and rest them on the desk.
"If you wish to return home I'm not stopping you. You aren't required to stick around just because I am." Viktor replied, waving him off and returning to his notes.
"You didn't answer my question." Jayce scoffed fondly, "I'll leave when you leave."
Always so difficult. Viktor held back a smile.
"It's a bit too dark to be out in the streets." Viktor sighed, gesturing to the window. "I have work I must finish anyway, I'll lose my train of thought if I leave it till tomorrow."
Jayce frowned ever so slightly, a little bit of conflict to his smile. "The streets here in Piltover are safe. Even when it's dark there's not much risk." He picked his words carefully, aware of their differences in surroundings during their respective upbringings.
"For you, the man of progress. For a cripple from the undercity? Not quite so much." Viktor pointed out, allowing a little of his resentment for the political climate to seep into his words, not aimed at Jayce.
The man nodded sadly in understanding. "With the way some people are up here, I unfortunately suppose that's not entirely false. Why don't you request an Enforcer to accompany you? You're the co-founder of Hextech, I'm sure that gives you some influence."
"I'm afraid that having an Enforcer around would be quite the opposite of safe." Viktor chuckled, though it held no humour.
Jayce was frowning properly now. "The entire job of an Enforcer is to protect people. How would they be considered a danger?"
"The entire job of an Enforcer is to protect Piltover people." Viktor corrected. "If you saw the things they do to the people down in the undercity, you'd understand. And, after all, a trencher is still a trencher, even up here."
"What do they do down there?" Jayce asked with hesitant curiosity. It was a trait of a scientist to seek out knowledge, no matter the consequence to one's self, even if it tore their whole worldview apart. It was a trait they both shared.
"From a young age, all of us from the underground are taught to stay well out of the way of Enforcers. Because sometimes, even just a wrong look is enough to get you killed, or worse."
Jayce had never considered the possibility that there might be a fate worse than death... he didn't doubt it though.
"It doesn't matter who you are, man or woman, adult or child, guilty or innocent, if an Enforcer has decided that you're a problem, you will be dealt with accordingly. And to an Enforcer, every single one of us is a problem."
"That's awful..." Jayce muttered, for lack of a better response. "They've never tried to deal with you, V? Have they?" He added as the thought came to mind, worry seeping into his tone.
"Other than the occasional insult, no. I was mostly able to stay out of their way whilst I was still down there. Now, it's a lot more of a public show when they try to pick a fight."
"Right... that's good. Not good that it happens, but— but I'm glad they've never hurt you." Jayce said clumsily. Viktor understood what he was trying to say despite the awkward delivery.
"I've not been blind the the violence they've caused around me, however." He felt it necessary to add, because despite never sustaining a physical injury from an Enforcer, there had been more than enough mental ones and sometimes, they could be even worse.
"Right. That must have been difficult. I'm sorry..." Jayce sympathised, or at least tried to.
"My father was shot dead by an Enforcer. Right in front of me."
The stunned silence that followed from his partner gave Viktor a sick sense of satisfaction. It wasn't Jayce's fault that Piltover was so corrupt or that the Enforcers were so prejudiced towards the undercity folk. But it still felt rather gratifying to open the eyes of such a sheltered Piltie to the true wounds of his city with the use of a blunt statement, sharpened with the well-earned account of his own personal trauma.
"I was ten." He tacked onto the end for good measure.
The silence remained for a good while, probably very awkward for Jayce but Viktor didn't really feel any particular way about it.
Finally, he decided to face his partner and looked up to catch the absolute look of horror on the man's face. His expression was twisted in a cacophony of raw emotions; disgust, shock, even mourning as if it were his own father the Enforcers had taken. And worst of all, he looked worried. And worry was dangerously close to pity.
Upon seeing his closest friend's face, Viktor no longer felt very satisfied with himself, hell, he wasn't even sure why he ever had. It was a good thing that Jayce had never had to go through anything of the sort, it was good he'd managed to make it through to adulthood relatively unscathed. It wasn't Jayce he should be mad at and it wasn't Jayce that he was mad at.
"Sorry. Forget about it." Viktor sighed, turning his gaze back down to the desk so he wouldn't have to face that look any longer. The look he had just put on his own friend's face. "I suppose I'll just camp out here tonight. The sofa isn't too—"
He was cut off mid-sentence by big, strong arms embracing him. In the span of what had to have been milliseconds, Jayce had managed to launch himself up out of his chair to hug Viktor whose turn it was now to be startled.
"God's, Viktor... I'm so sorry. I never— no, I did know that things were rough down there in the undercity, but I guess I just... never fully grasped how rough they were. Are. If I could change things then I would— and we can! With Hextech we'll... we'll change things, for the better. And nobody will have to go through that again. We can speak to Mel about the Enforcers and maybe she can bring it up to the rest of council."
The councillors knew fine well what the Enforcers did. But Viktor kept that to himself and simply nodded for the other man's sake. "Okay, Jayce."
Jayce's hug was surprisingly nice. Even though it had been years since Viktor had left the undercity and moved up to Piltover to pursue his dreams in science, he still found himself unused to many of Piltover's customs and traditions. Hugs weren't a very common occurrence in the underground, other than between family and even then they were often used sparingly. The only people Viktor could ever remember being hugged by were his mother and...
Jayce's hug was soft in the way only a Piltie could be and calming in the way only Jayce could be. Viktor wasn't entirely against the prospect of simply sitting here and enjoying the moment.
However, eventually, Jayce had to stand back up again, they couldn't just stay like that all night, after all, even if Viktor wouldn't have minded it. Now on his feet, Jayce made his way over to the door, grabbing both of their coats from the rack, putting on his own and tossing the other to Viktor.
"Come on, I'll walk you home." Jayce said with all of his typical Jayce decisiveness. Seeing Viktor's hesitance, he explained himself a little further even if it wasn't necessarily required. "If you're worried about the Enforcers or just people in general then I'll walk you back to your apartment. And if anyone tries anything then I'll just... fuck them up."
Viktor couldn't help but snort at his partner's words. There was just something inherently funny about Jayce swearing, the words just seemed so unnatural in his mouth, more comical than anything as malicious as what people in the undercity spat out so casually.
"Alright, Jayce." Viktor sighed fondly, standing up slowly so he didn't just faint thanks to his low blood pressure — just another on the long list of problems with his body — before putting his jacket on, grabbing his cane and making his way over to Jayce.
"After your." Jayce grinned, opening the door and gesturing with a flourish of his hand.
Viktor laughed but obliged. "Can I trust you to actually lock up the lab this time?"
"That was one time!" Jayce groaned, hiding his face in his hand at the reminder. "And I was insanely sleep-deprived! I know to double-check now."
"Good thing too. Someone might try to steal all of your fancy, Talis hammer branded stationary." Viktor teased.
Jayce raised a brow. "Oh, I suppose I won't mention all of the times you've set the lab on fire then?"
"All of those times were completely intentional, I'll have you know. I was just warming us up, cold hands are difficult to work with so you're welcome."
"Wherever would I be without you?"
"Probably exiled."
"Yeah. Sounds about right."