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their eyes lock, and jayce feels something inside him rebel against what he’s doing.
‘it’s not right,’ something tells him, and he pauses. his hammer slowly winds down as viktor cautiously watches him from above.
“you’re not yourself,” viktor says, soft.
jayce wants to retort, to fall back into the easy camaraderie they used to have, but they’ve both changed.
viktor slowly descends, feet alighting on the floor gently despite the machinery that makes them up. jayce notices he still has his blanket as the other man rearranges it into a makeshift cloak. that’s enough to get him to open his mouth, but that’s as far as he gets as a shooting pain rips through his head.
his hammer drops from its defensive position, hitting the ground hard as he stumbles, head in his hand. he feels as if he’s being ripped apart at the molecular level—he feels as if he’s still in the wild rune.
“jayce,” viktor calls, grounding him. he’s edged closer than he was before and jayce tenses up.
he can’t be losing himself like this, not when he has a promise to fulfill (i won’t fail, i swear it).
“jayce,” viktor calls again, his hand reaching out for him hesitantly as he approaches one step at a time. it’s as if he’s dealing with a spooked animal. he’s sure he looks like one.
he watches viktor’s fingers touch his arm, trailing over where the gem from his bracelet had fused with him. his hand trails lower, touching the back of jayce’s hand before moving towards his palm, it twitching in response. he watches as viktor intertwines their hands together, and feels something inside him crack.
he meets his partner’s eyes again—they’re different still, a swirling kaleidoscope of colors, but the placement of the mole underneath his right eye is still there, stark against the shining metal that crawls up his cheeks.
the familiarity is still there within the shape of his brows, his nose, his accent, and other details; they’ve changed but they’re also still the same: the once assistant to professor heimerdinger and the once naive but hopeful student who had entangled themselves in each other’s lives. he’s as beautiful as the day he left him.
viktor’s other arm comes up to envelope him in a hug, and he finds humor in how he was once the one openly affectionate with the man. he settles his chin on viktor’s shoulder and hugs him back. it’s reminiscent of the hug they had shared when the other man had awoken after the attack on the council.
“i thought you were done with me,” he murmurs.
“i had told you that our paths had diverged, based on affections that were no longer there… i eh… find these affections aren’t gone, though.”
jayce huffs out a laugh, a tear slipping down his cheek.
“my affections for you aren’t gone either, v.”