Work Text:
The sun shone on the streets of Piltover, a warm summer day making it impossible to stay inside. Jayce had barely finished helping his mom hang up the laundry when he was already begging to go out.
“That ice cream shop. They have the best ice cream in Piltover, you know! And it’s so warm, ice cream is perfect!” He’d been following his mom around their house for a while now, whining about her being busy on such a beautiful day.
“Jayce, you know I can’t. I have so much work left, and I need to prepare for work tomorrow.” Ximena sighed, brushing her fingers through her boy’s hair. “Why don’t you go and find your friends? You could go and get ice cream together.”
“They’re out of town…” Jayce murmured, visibly displeased. “You work so much. Why can’t you get a day off? You did a lot already, so just come with me!”
“Unfortunately, that’s not how it works, sweetie.” His mom smiled at him. “You’ll understand when you’re older. How about you go to the market, see if you can find someone to play with there?”
“The market?”
Ximena chuckled at Jayce’s expression. She knew far too well all of his goals had shifted just now.
“Yeah. I’ll give you a few coins, you can get yourself some stuff for that experiment you’re working on.”
“Mom! You weren’t supposed to see it yet!” He hid his face in his hands, and Ximena couldn’t quite tell whether the boy was seriously devastated or just trying to get a reaction out of her.
“Well, I have no idea what it’s supposed to be, so it’s like I never saw anything. Is that okay?”
“I guess…” He sighed, looking back up at her. “And the market…?”
She smiled, giving her son a knowing look. He was getting smarter day by day, and once he learns proper etiquette, the whole Piltover should prepare itself to make way.
“Go get my purse.”
Jayce left with a sack of money and a new goal. He would go to the market, buy himself parts for his project, and then a little something to thank his mom. He wasn’t sure what it’s gonna be - he decided to wait until he gets there to make a choice.
The market was, as always, full of life. People were everywhere, purchasing, chatting, haggling and selling whatever one could imagine. Piltover’s market was famous for a reason. You could find anything there, from exotic animals to mechanical parts, and the latter is what Jayce chose to go after.
It didn’t take him long to find a bunch of stands that sold parts both new and old. He was more interested in the broken ones, as he was confident he could fix them, and they were always half the price, meaning he was able to get twice as much.
He approached a table filled with all kinds of metal scraps when a boy, maybe his age, pushed his way to the stand with a determined look on his face.
The boy grabbed a bunch of rusty axles and struggled with taking a few Silver Cogs out of his pocket, then looked up at the seller behind the table. “Is this enough?” He asked, showing two coins on the palm of his hand.
“If you want one of all those you’ve got there, yeah.” The man laughed at him. He shot him a cold glare, placing most of the axles back down.
“Then I will take one.” He had a strange accent, Jayce wasn’t sure the first time he spoke, but now it was clear the boy most likely wasn’t a local. Piltovans usually spoke differently.
The strange boy made the purchase, and as he was walking away, Jayce noticed yet another unusual thing about him - he was walking with a cane, supporting himself every step he took.
He didn’t get a good chance to look at him as the boy disappeared in the crowd almost immediately, which immediately made Jayce regret not saying hi. It was clear that boy needed the axles for something, so maybe he had his own project? Maybe he, just like Jayce, also liked to design and build all kinds of things, and maybe they could be friends?
“You buying something?” The seller asked him with a raised eyebrow. Jayce felt his ears go red with embarrassment as he silently agreed - he was spending an unusually long time standing there.
“Um, yes! I’ll take…” He gathered all the things he listed in his mind on the way here, then paused for a second and looked down at the axles. Not giving it another thought he grabbed a bunch, as he wasn’t sure just how much that boy needed. “All of these.”
“Alright. It’s gonna be seventeen Cogs. You got that much?:
“I do!” Jayce smiled at the man, then took out the sack his mom gave him and counted exactly seventeen coins. He handed the money to the seller and packed his stuff into a small bag he had with him, then threw it over his shoulder and dove into the crowd, in an attempt to find that boy.
About half an hour later he finally found him. He was sitting down near a packed playground, fiddling with something big he had in his lap and a screwdriver. He finally had a chance get a better look at him - his hair was brown like chocolate, longer than for most boys, and his skin was very pale. His clothes were dirty, he must've been playing before. Jayce would always get dirty when playing with his friends and his mom hated it. He was also skinnier than him, and sat on the ground with one of his legs straigheted in front of him. Jayce figured it was the one he needed his cane for, which he could see was made of wood and definitely not someone's best invention.
After coming to realization that he's staring again, he shook his head and decided to approach him. Cheerful that he'd actually managed to find him, Jayce quickly made his way over to him.
“Hello, I’m Jayce Talis. What are you doing?”
The boy looked up at him, seeming a little startled. He must’ve not noticed Jayce at the stand earlier. He hesitated a little before answering, but eventually gave in.
“A project. This is a boat,” he answered, showing what he was holding. “It does not work yet, but it won’t take long before it’s done.”
“I knew it! I do projects too! My latest design is a windmill, because my mom always complains how it’s very hot in our house, so it’s like a fan but it looks like a windmill!” Jayce’s eyes glimmered with excitement. He sat down in front of the boy, visibly proud of his own idea.
“Oh, that’s interesting. Are you here to buy parts for it?” He gave him a faint smile, putting his boat away to the side for a moment.
“Yes! I have everything I need now. Oh, and I almost forgot! I saw that you couldn’t buy everything you wanted at that stand, so I got a few axles for you. Are you gonna use them for your boat?” He took the parts out of his bag and handed them to, who he hoped was, his new friend.
The boy stared at him with visible shock on his face. It took him a moment to actually reach out and take the axles from Jayce, not quite knowing how to react to the sudden and very unexpected act of kindness.
“Why would you do this?”
“Well, I saw you wanted them, but didn’t bring enough money. That happens to me sometimes, ‘cause I like to get ice cream on my way to the market, and sometimes I don’t have enough Cogs left for everything I wanna buy.” Jayce grinned at him. “Do you like ice cream?”
“I don’t know… Um, thank you. For these. I really appreciate it, and yes, I’m going to use them to finish my boat.” He stopped for a second, but when he saw Jayce clearly wanting to hear more, he cleared his throat and picked his project back up. “I have to seal these parts, so the water doesn’t get inside. Otherwise, the boat will go down quickly.”
“Ooh, that makes sense! Do these turn?” Jayce pointed at the cogwheels that looked like they were supposed to be powering the boat.
“Yes. You have to wind it up first, and then it’s supposed to swim by itself.”
“I’d like to see it swim!”
“No, it’s not ready. I’m afraid it would go down immediately if we were to test it now.” He shrugged and looked down at the boat, a moment of silence falling in between the two of them. “Would you like to help me assemble the rest of it?”
Jayce gasped. “Of course!”
The two boys spent the next hours assembling, fixing and screwing together parts of the boat, then testing the mechanisms in the air. Despite a few previous failures, they managed to make the cogs turn smoothly with a little bit of spilled oil next to a nearby carriage, and by the time it started dawning, they were finished.
“It works!”
“Incredible. The idea to use the oil was brilliant.”
“You’d figure it out without me anyway.” Jayce grinned, rubbing his dirty hands on his shirt. He knew his mom would be mad, but that didn’t concern him much at the moment. “It’s gonna get dark soon. I should go home.”
“Oh, yes, sure.” His mood seemed to drop a little.
“But we could walk together? Where do you live?”
A moment of silence fell between the two of them.
“I’m not from around here. It takes a while for me to walk home, you shouldn’t bother.” He avoided the question.
“Come on, it can’t be that far! It takes me half an hour just to get to my side of the city, so I know how you feel. I’m sure my mom won’t be too mad when she finds out I was walking a friend home-!”
“It’s not possible, Jayce.” He cut him off, averting his gaze.
“Why?”
He sighed and started to pack his things before answering. This has happened before. It was all pretty sweet until he shared anything about who he truly was.
With the help of his cane, he stood up and picked up the bag he had his boat in.
“I’m from the Undercity. It’s not possible.”
Jayce’s eyes widened. His mom, friends, teachers, everyone told him stories about the nation of Zaun. He was obviously not allowed to go anywhere near the pits leading to the underground, because it was too dangerous.
He was told the people from the Undercity were all criminals and drug addicts with no future.
But his friend was different. He was obviously very intelligent, creative and definitely not a drug addict. In many ways he was no different to Jayce.
“I will go now, thank you for the parts and your help. I’m sure the boat will work perfectly thanks to you.” Jayce barely managed to stand up in time to stop him. He grabbed his hand and looked him in the eyes with a smile.
“It doesn’t make any difference. You’re my friend. I still wanna see that boat swim. And don’t thank me, I only… Provided some objective analysis.” He grinned at him. “Also, still, I don’t even know your name....”
The boy looked at him with awe in his eyes. Nobody on the topside has ever reacted this way to him revealing he’s a Zaunite. Jayce was… Unique.
A smile returned to his face.
“It’s Viktor.”
By the time Jayce realized he hadn't let go of Viktor’s hand, he could only chuckle and mutter a simple apology. His friend didn’t seem to mind much.
Jayce also gathered his things and they left the playground together, talking about Jayce’s windmill and how he could perfect it.
They talked about getting ice cream on their way, but the shop turned out to be closed - Jayce promised Viktor to buy it for him the next day, because they both agreed they’d see each other tomorrow. He even invited Viktor over to his house, but he refused, saying it’s too much of a hassle for Jayce’s mom.
Jayce let it go for now, but he knew he’d be back on this topic tomorrow. He loved working with Viktor, and he just had to show him his windmill, because his description wasn’t doing it justice.
Jayce ended up walking Viktor to one of the pits, where they passed a few suspicious looking people. He ignored them, wanting to spend as much time with his friend as possible. Right after saying goodbye, he sprinted home, partially because he knew his mom would be angry with him for being so late, but also because he couldn’t wait to tell her about Viktor.