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He woke with a start and a scream on his lips, darkness still surrounding him like it had a moment before. Enveloping. Complete. Crushing. A swirling speck of stars danced in front of his eyes, pulsing in time with his heartbeat. It slurred together, morphing and shaping and spiking. The only fixed point in floating nothingness–
From somewhere, he felt his body returning, the warmth of blankets around him. Cool air on his shoulders, arms, chest. He was sitting up.
His eyes were not yet used to the gloom slowly lighting up, when he heard a voice next to him, still hoarse from sleep. It was familiar, soothing in it's rough state.
"… Jayce? Are you alright?"
He looked over to find a pair of eyes looking at him, opal and amber mixing in the dim light. Brown hair peppered with white framed his face, his brows furrowed in concern.
"I'm okay. I– Yeah ...", Jayce breathed, his voice shaky and ragged. His heart was still racing, slow to calm down. Visions swam before his eyes, of a city destroyed by ambition, her inhabitants reduced to burnt husks. Soulless eyes stared at him, shimmering in the gloom, jerky movements making them come closer and closer. Following him. Always following him.
A soft touch on his arm brought him back, cool fingers on heated skin. "I know. It haunts me too", Viktor whispered and Jayce took his hand in his own, placing a soft kiss on the delicate digits. Old scars littered them, following tendons and muscles. He remembered their golden color, stars and shooting stars littering a purple night sky. The motion turned, fingertips tracing the spiderweb of scars on Jayce's wrist now, each shimmering a different color, shifting when he moved. Ripples of light embedded in his skin. It had faded now, just like the pain that spiked in his leg when the weather was about to change. But it was still there. Always a reminder of the promise he had made. Of the promise he kept, time and time again.
The city outside was alive, awake already and bustling. He could hear it now, sounds brought to his ears from beyond the window panes: The muffled noises of carriages and feet on the pavement. A parent shouting after their child. Birds zipping by the window hunting insects, their screams pitching up and fading out again.
"The Arcane leaves a trace on those who touch it. It's unavoidable. Beautiful and terrifying at the same time", Viktor continued, those eyes like the universe looking up from the webbing of scars on Jayce's wrist. The rasp of his gentle voice filled the room despite him speaking quietly. He had that effect, especially in the twilight of the mornings and evenings, when nothing seemed quite real. But Jayce knew it was.
"All those times things went wrong ...”, Jayce sighed. “I see myself dying in a myriad of versions, all the memories flooding in from outside, crushing me ... And yet they're mine. Every single one"
"… I'm sorry I had to show you this. It was the only way. I wish I could take away that burden from you now, as you have taken mine" Slender arms wrapped around him from behind, holding him tight. They'd had this conversation countless times. It was the smallest of rituals now, an unspoken promise that he would not leave, and if he were forced to, he would find the way back. He always would.
Jayce could feel Viktor breathing, the sound accompanying it so much calmer than it used to be. There was still a small rattle to it if he listened closely enough, lungs fighting against the last of the scar tissue making it hard to breathe after years of abuse and a body that refused to give up that life. The man's short beard tickled his skin as he placed a kiss on his shoulder, nuzzled into the nape of his neck. Jayce smiled, turning to rest his forehead against Viktor's.
“I know. But I've got you – And that is enough”