Work Text:
1
When Viktor was not occupied, he was one to fidget.
Twirling his hair, running his fingers across whatever surface they could come by, mindlessly… doing whatever.
Occasionally, he put small gears and pieces of metal together. Making little objects, trinkets if you will.
He never cared much about them. Merely a timepass. A distraction, a creation in the face of uncreative sensations.
But sometimes, if Jayce was near him, he would simply pass them over.
Place it on the page Jayce was writing. Set it on his shoulder or arm, or bump some part of him with it.
The first few times, Jayce was confused. He’d ask what it was, and Viktor would shrug. He’d ask why Viktor was giving it to him, and Viktor would shrug again.
Viktor truly didn’t know why. He honestly didn’t care. Before Jayce, he spent quite a lot of time alone. Tinkering for fun. Tossing those small collections of fragments. Or they’d end up in some forgotten scraps bin.
It was something to tease Jayce with now, to poke fun with, to talk about he supposed.
He never thought twice about it.
———————
One day or another, he and Jayce made a stop at the latter’s residence. To grab a forgotten notebook or something, that wasn’t what Viktor ended up paying attention to.
Whilst Jayce had departed to look for something, the other nosed around a bit.
It wasn’t an enormous space. Cozy, humble even, books littered and personal items collected.
But when Viktor met up with Jayce in his room.
He first noticed the walls. Covered with posters, prints, drawings, and notes. Memories.
Secondly, and most importantly, Viktor noticed the shelves.
Scraps? No, no… small innovations. Distantly familiar, formed by Viktor’s own hands. The bursts of resourcefulness with tiny pieces of thought to be nothing.
They lay on display. It seemed almost childlike, but Viktor found that a faint flush warmed his face. Such a small act, a sheltered display of affection. But it meant… more than it should have.
Jayce had followed Viktor’s eyes, trying to act casual about the fact he’d kept what had to be… a lot of tiny nothings, mothered by Viktor’s amusement.
Viktor smiled about that day a lot.
And he had to keep said smile from his face from that point on whenever he presented a charm or trinket, the smallest of inventions from him, to his partner.
———————
2
Harnessing magic was not the easiest task. Commanding such a powerful force was intoxicating and ego-driving, but it was also slow. It was difficult, challenging, and tedious.
Despite it all, Jayce and Viktor worked hard together. Proposing ideas, taking down notes, solving equations. Testing, failing, testing, succeeding.
But both of them could overwork themselves. Especially Viktor. Disregarding safety at times, downing dangerous amounts of caffeine.
Jayce knew this, so often enough it was him ushering his partner out of the lab at well past midnight. Viktor could take care of himself; Jayce was aware of that. But the late days were still worrying.
———————
Steps echoed in the lab. Moonlight shone through the window, Jayce glanced outside as he noticed.
Books in hand, preparing to depart to his quarters, Jayce trekked his gaze to the center of the desk ahead of him.
The man couldn’t say he was too surprised when he was met with the sight of Viktor quite asleep.
His head rested in his arms, face peaceful. God knows how long he'd been awake.
Paper and notes were scattered around his idle body.
Jayce stared.
He quietly placed the books on the desk and leaned against it.
He wished his partner would get even close to enough shuteye, though he wasn’t that much better when it came to their sleep schedules side by side.
Viktor had been working hard the past few weeks. A stubborn and determined man he was. These traits were endearing at times, though moments like the current, they had Jayce worried.
He was also proud of the will it took to get so much done, though it wasn't at the top of his mind when Viktor had pain in his back and sunken bags beneath his eyes.
Viktor breathed steadily. Strands of thick brown hair cascaded before his face, obscuring it.
Jayce didn't want to pull his watch from such a view.
He considered himself a very lucky man.
His lab partner made that true. Jayce appreciated every part of that Viktor.
Each mole decorating his face, his neck, and his body. Maybe kisses from a lover in a past life, an omen from a god or other sacred deity, does anyone truly know?
Each small scar, from experiments or childhood. Hidden behind stories, most likely untold for ages. Years dusting in the mind, snippets of a lifetime that are only remembered at a familiar scent or word.
Brown hair that swooped back naturally. It was getting a bit longer than Viktor typically kept it, Jayce wondered when he would next acknowledge it and cut it. Or maybe he wouldn’t.
Amber eyes that seemed to glow in the right light. Entrancing, angelic.
His slim fingers and his lanky figure. Jayce had discovered about a week prior that his hands work almost completely around Viktor’s waist, whilst helping him out of a sleeping state akin to this.
His leg adorned by a brace, fit almost perfectly. Jayce assisted in its making, he felt a bit possessive making the subtle decision of red and gold.
The jokes and sarcasm that fell out of his mouth so easily. His determination, his confidence, his humor. Some adored it, some found themselves cringing; Viktor never visibly gave a damn.
His beliefs and his doubts. His accomplishments and his failures.
Lord have mercy, Jayce was so lucky.
Life saved by the most attractive stranger in all his years of living, ages ago…. and behold his destiny, that man was his partner now.
He was infatuated.
His heart fluttered in his chest, butterflies swarmed his stomach.
It was a powerful feeling. His sentiments felt layers deep. Not to be easily crushed or cut through, they stayed. His heart and mind entertained fantasies that one day, one fateful day, things could be perfect. A dream Jayce reached for in his sleep, not quite attaining it before he awoke in a daze. A passing thought as he watched Viktor write down recent discoveries, full of life as he rambled about theories and ideas.
He was in deep, and Jayce didn't go a day without being reminded of it.
A shiver running down his spine from a compliment, a doodle in his notebook, a realization he might just have the moles and blemishes on Viktor’s neck memorized… whatever it was, it wasn’t going away.
And Jayce was okay with that.
He stared, a moment longer, hoping to burn Viktor’s peaceful slumbering figure into his memory. He took a few steps off to the side, returning with a blue blanket.
It was draped over Viktor, tucked carefully so it would not fall.
Jayce lingered.
And he finally left the room.
———————
3
Viktor and Jayce shared a lot in common.
A love for discovery and invention, a want to help others, it tied them together.
Besides their smarts and inventiveness, something they both adored was art. Most people enjoyed it in general. Paintings in museums or songs on the radio, but Jayce and Viktor liked the craft of drawing besides their fascination with chemistry, engineering, and magic.
It also helped a lot with their main profession.
Sketching out a design or modeling a theory… it was useful. And enjoyable at times.
Sometimes though, they just did it as a hobby. As it was. Creativity spreads wildly across a sheet of paper… attempts and failures are depicted by messily erased lines around a finished product.
It was a beautiful skill.
———————
Viktor never snooped through Jayce’s things.
He respected the man’s privacy, despite the fact they practically lived in their shared lab.
He only betrayed that moral slightly when Jayce asked Viktor to retrieve a book of his notes from another room they were working in.
Brown cover, some torn pages, symbols across the spine, many pages used already.
“It should be obvious,” Jayce had said.
Viktor entered the space and began searching. It took only a minute or two before he came across a worn, russet-colored notebook beneath papers and equations. He flipped through it a bit to confirm it had been written in a decent amount when something in the very back of the book caught his attention.
He knew it was not his notebook. It was Jayce’s. Old, used, personalized. He shouldn’t intrude.
Yet. Viktor gave into curiosity, flipping to the end of the book. He knew he’d seen drawings of some sort… but sparks of surprise flew throughout him as he saw… himself.
Sketched with a passion, a care, attention to detail… Viktor felt so… breathless.
The drawings furthered in accuracy as he flipped through the pages. Details were added and he slowly looked more and more like himself. The moles in exactly the right spots, cheekbones high and prominent…
Drawings of him dozing on the desk, sitting and reading notes, or solving equations. Smaller doodles of him talking. Just… him. Looking up or to the side, looking past the fourth wall, there were so many. He flipped through so much of him and the more he saw the more his skin seemed to burn.
He shut the book.
Confusion swarmed him.
Why did Jayce draw him so much? How didn’t he notice this before, at all?
His face flushed and his hands shook a bit. It wasn’t a bad feeling, he wasn’t upset, just…
Why?
Viktor took a deep breath. He looked again. His name was written near most of the sketches, as well as Jayce’s signature tagged across all of them. Just like the notes written in earlier pages.
He smiled in some of them. He looked annoyed or tired in others. Doodles of his books, his cane, and other tiny things littered what would’ve been blank space.
Jayce was so talented. And Jayce seemed to like using that talent to draw him. A lot.
Viktor processed.
He should return before Jayce came and caught him snooping. He felt bad for looking at the pages when he was just supposed to grab the notebook and go.
He decided he’d think about this later.
Grabbing his cane, he let out a slightly shaky breath… and turned to leave.
———————
4
Some days were very, very, long.
Jayce was usually an affectionate person, but especially after a wearisome one.
And when Jayce returned from a tediously lengthy and drawn-out meeting with other councilors, he just wanted to rest for a bit. He wasn’t worn out entirely, and it was not quite late enough to leave and sleep for the night… but a moment to relax sounded wonderful.
Stepping into the lab, his eyes came to settle on his partner, Viktor. The man was going over notes they’d jotted down that morning. Ideas for tools to help people in the mines, powered by Hextech. They had been making good progress and were hopeful that they would soon be able to bring their ideas to life.
Usually, Jayce might rest his chin on Viktor’s head from behind him… or maybe he chooses to fold his arms on the desk, lay there for a bit, and just watch the man—something loving in his eyes. He might fidget with Viktor’s sleeve as he reads an article or book, perhaps just hug him. Simply unwinding.
Today, Jayce approaches Viktor. The latter looks up for a moment, acknowledging the man with a low “mmm,” as he returns to reading. Jayce typically would sit next to him in a case alike this one, perhaps lean on him, that's what Viktor was expecting at least.
Instead, Jayce knelt down and rested his head on Viktor’s lap. Now, Viktor was accustomed to Jayce being a very touchy person, but when Jayce looked up he saw a very startled-looking man.
Jayce knew that if Viktor was uncomfortable or upset with what he was doing, he would say something. But Viktor did not object.
“...what are you doing, Jayce?” is all he voiced. A simple question as his face relaxed, gaze tender while it observed.
“Resting here,” he answered. His arms also spread upon his partner’s legs, and he let the tension release from his shoulders as he lay there. “If that’s okay.”
“Alright,” Viktor murmured. Jayce saw a faint redness on the man’s ears.
A couple of minutes passed, silence their only company.
One of Viktor’s hands came down to Jayce’s own, beginning to trace circles in the fabric of the latter’s sleeve while he read.
Jayce nuzzled his face into the man’s thighs, finding a deep sense of comfort in the action. It was rather soothing, despite the look of it all. This was friendly, right?
He cast the consideration to the back of his mind, choosing instead to let his eyes flutter closed for just a bit.