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New Year’s Eve in Piltover was always more of a networking event than much of a party. There was always some grand gala, champagne, discussions of goals for the next year. And there was Viktor, rocking his crutch from hand to hand as he sat at a table and watched Jayce work his magic. Mel’s support had been paramount in their ability to continue to work on hextech, but she insisted on them getting further investors, leading to many nights like this. Normally, Viktor would stay behind in the lab and work alone for once. But Jayce had insisted, and Jayce rarely asked him for much, so how could he say no? He’d even bought Viktor a new suit for the occasion. Black with subtle gold pinstripes, and a simple red tie. Jayce beamed when he’d picked Viktor up and saw that he had chosen to wear it.
But he was so bored. Everyone knew he was not much of a talker, so they all addressed Jayce while occasionally nodding at Viktor with a smile and a tilt of their champagne flute. Crystal flutes. Crystal chandelier. Marble floors. All excess. He was lost in this thought when a mildly drunk Heimerdinger approached his table with a tipsy toddle and knocked on Viktor’s chair.
“Happy New Year, my boy!” Heimerdinger tilted his glass in Viktor’s direction, the contents almost sloshing out onto the floor. Viktor wondered how many he’d had that night, and how many flutes of champagne it would take a several hundred year old Yordle to feel even a little tipsy. “You should be proud of the work you’ve accomplished.”
Viktor forced a smile. “Thank you, professor. That is very kind.”
“And you look quite dashing tonight! I’ve even caught a few ladies glancing over your way,” Heimerdinger giggled and raised his eyebrows. Viktor broke eye contact, choosing to stare into the middle distance rather than anywhere Heimerdinger could see any color he had drain from his face.
“Surely a coincidence, sir.” Viktor gulped his champagne inelegantly. “Jayce has been doing the rounds and is just sharing our work so I’m sure perhaps he’s mentioned me.”
“Perhaps?” Heimerdinger sounded almost offended. “My dear boy, you are just as big a part of hextech’s creation as he is! In fact, you should be with him right now! Boasting about the work you completed this year.” Heimerdinger tried to pull at Viktor’s coat. The weight did not move Viktor the slightest, and Heimerdinger swayed drunkenly on his toes.
“If it’s alright sir-”
“I won’t take ‘no’ for an answer this time! You may not be my assistant anymore but maybe you should think about respecting your elders.”
Viktor sensed his night would be much more irritating if he didn’t do as he was told. So with a sigh he picked up his crutch, steadied himself, and walked across the ballroom floor to be at Jayce’s side.
“Viktor! The man of the hour!” Jayce clapped him on the back when he approached, not hard enough for it to hurt but enough for Viktor to lurch forward clumsily. Jayce effortlessly wrapped his arm around his shoulder to make it look natural. Jayce’s innate charisma, Viktor often noted mentally, was one of life’s greatest mysteries.
“Jayce, please,” Viktor looked down sheepishly. He felt the eyes of the group of people Jayce had been speaking to on him, a few even snickering. This was a mistake.
“I was just telling them about the day you found my notes and we started working together.”
“Ah yes. You were eh, quite on edge that evening.”
Jayce laughed nervously, knowingly. “Yeah, well getting threatened with exile will do that.” Jayce continued with his story, his grip on Viktor’s shoulder tightening. He pretended to ignore the words Jayce used for him. Words like “brilliant” or “genius” or “amazing” were not words Viktor would ever identify with. He tried to savor the physical feeling of the moment. The slight buzz of alcohol that warmed his inside, the heat from Jayce’s body warming his outsides. Jayce was always so warm. One of his arms could fully wrap around Viktor. If Jayce ever chose to embrace him in such a way…
“Where is it from?” A question he’d felt was directed at him in an attempt to get him involved in the conversation. It was, graciously, from Mrs. Kiramman, one of the few council members other than Jayce that Viktor felt even vaguely less tense around. She was genuinely kind and even motherly, though she sometimes let her status and station get in the way of it. Viktor still hadn’t answered the question.
Jayce cleared his throat. “Your accent, Vik.”
“Oh,” Viktor blinked and physically shook the cloud from his mind. “Oh I’m from Zaun.”
A few of the people in the circle shared glances of what Viktor could only read as amusement. He was used to this reaction from high society, but he would never hide the truth of his origins. People in Piltover never seemed to understand the kind of geniuses that get left behind in the Undercity due to things like lack of a proper education and means to pursue one. This was something he hoped to correct going forward.
“Talent comes from the most unexpected places, right?”
These words coming from Jayce caused Viktor to go stiff. He felt cold, even next to the walking furnace that was Jayce Talis. Unexpected places? He shrugged off Jayce’s arm and took his crutch back under his arm. He felt Jayce’s gaze, and Jayce’s gaze only, follow him.
“I need some fresh air,” he said without turning to face him back. There was a balcony close by, and it was winter in Piltover so everyone was inside. He leaned against the railing and let out a breath, watching it rise from his lips into the starry sky. He made a note to keep an eye on the kind of light pollution that might arise from larger infrastructure built around hextech, something Mel in particular was very interested in starting. He was really craving a cigarette for the first time since he quit many years ago. Perhaps he should have brought his champagne out with him to warm him up.
He felt a few warm tears stream down his face that he hurriedly wiped away. This was an idiotic thing to be upset about. The amount of impactful inventors that had made their way from Zaun to Piltover and managed to “contribute something to society” was microscopic. Decimal percentages. He was one of maybe a half dozen. But Zaun was full of bright and brilliant minds that could change the world. If Piltover would even give kids down there a second thought-
“Viktor,” Jayce’s voice caused him to stiffen again. He approached slowly, as if Viktor was a wounded animal. He could be surprisingly gentle for a man his size. “Viktor I’m sorry I’m so-”
“Stupid?” Viktor chewed his thumbnail, equally irritated at himself for snapping at Jayce.
“Y-yeah. Really stupid.” Viktor stayed faced away. He couldn’t let Jayce see him cry. “You’re the smartest man I know, V.”
“How unexpected,” Viktor mused. Jayce pouted in his periphery. There were a few minutes of painful silence. Viktor looked down at his watch. 11:55 PM. “Aren’t you supposed to be giving a speech right about now?” Why are you out here with me when you could be inside getting praised endlessly instead of pitying me out in the cold?
Jayce looked down at his feet. “I asked Heimerdinger to cover for me. He’s drunk but his charm is stopless.” He chuckled. “Besides I’m… really tired.”
Viktor looked up at him and could see it. It was something he recognized in himself.
“Talking to people is really exhausting,” Jayce started to shrug his jacket off. His shoulders radiated heat.
“Yeah, tell me about it,” Viktor chuckled.
“I didn’t know what to say and I broke the silence in the stupidest way I could and I’m sorry. I’m honestly not as good at this as I pretend to be. And hurting you is the worst thing I could do.”
Viktor finally looked up at him. He was still looking down at his feet, his face flushed, fiddling nervously with the collar of his suit jacket.
“I…” Viktor trailed off. Before he could stop himself, he was gazing at Jayce. The snow stuck gently to the hair that he’d so meticulously styled, melting when it touched his face and shoulders. He wore a red pinstripe shirt that was perfectly fit to him, and hugged the curves of his muscles beautifully. The light from inside the venue shone on one side, the moon on the other. Warm and cold. Jayce noticed and his blush deepened.
“It’s okay if you’re mad at me, you don’t have to forgive me.”
A few more minutes of silence.
“I’m really excited to see the fireworks we made,” Jayce finally looked back at Viktor with a forced smile. “First time in a while we got to make something for fun.”
Viktor smirked. “For fun? Or for the council?”
Jayce swallowed audibly. It was 11:58 PM.
“Are they traditional in Piltover? Fireworks. For New Years.”
“Uh yeah,” Jayce straightened up. “You never told me about any Zaunite traditions.”
“Well, typically we just watch the clock. Can’t see the sky too well down there.” He couldn’t help but shiver, the cold finally getting to him now that his temper had cooled.
Jayce said a soundless “oh!” and draped his jacket over Viktor’s shoulders. It was warmer than any blanket he’d ever huddled under in these cold winters. And it smelled like him.
“You know, usually in Zaun you’d go to a bar to watch the clock with everyone and get shitfaced,” Viktor turned to look at Jayce, who had not yet removed his hands from Viktor’s shoulders. “And usually you kiss whoever you came with or just whoever is there.”
Jayce’s whole face was pink now. His mouth hung open slightly, the gap in his teeth and his sharp canines barely visible.
11:59 PM.
“I forgive you, Jayce,” he had to turn away in a feeble attempt to hide his own blush. “You don’t have to stay out here. After all, your people await.”
Inside it appeared as though Heimerdinger had brought out a banjo on stage. Where did he even get that from?
“No,” Jayce’s hands slid down and held the lapels of his own suit jacket that practically swallowed Viktor. “You’re my people.”
Viktor snorted, and Jayce pouted. Was Jayce pulling him closer?
Someone inside had loudly started counting down with thirty seconds left.
“Did you ever…” Jayce swallowed. “Participate in that tradition?”
“No,” Viktor laughed. “I am not exactly the most eligible bachelor in the Undercity, and especially not in Piltover.” He just noticed how pink and plump Jayce’s lips were in the cold. He looked at them in spite of himself.
“V?”
10! 9!
“Yes, Jayce?”
8! 7!
“Can we do that tonight?”
6! 5!
“Why would we do that?”
4! 3!
“You are the stupidest smartest man I know.”
2! 1!
The crowd inside erupted in cheers. The hextech fireworks burst into the dark and snowy sky. Just as they had designed them to, they created perfect blue and sparkling spheres that burst into a shower of glittering blue arcane essence. All of it was lost on Jayce, who had pulled Viktor in for their first kiss, and Viktor, who was experiencing an all new cocktail of emotions more powerful than any drug.
“Y-you didn’t have to do that, Jayce,” Viktor said even though he had thought about it all night, and would give anything for Jayce to do it again.
“I know,” Jayce said. “I wanted to.”
Jayce kissed him again, this time lifting Viktor a little off the ground. Viktor had draped his arms around Jayce’s neck and was melting into it, warmer than he’d ever felt. The welcome embrace did come with a slight twinge in his back, and he winced.
“Sorry! Oh my God Vik I’m so sorry.”
Viktor laughed. “How many times are you going to apologize tonight?” He playfully smacked Jayce’s calf with the tip of his cane.
When Viktor finally tore his eyes away from Jayce, he noticed the small group of people looking at them through the glass. They turned away and attempted to look inconspicuous. Embarrassment filled Viktor’s stomach, but Jayce beamed with pride. Like he wasn’t caught kissing his co-worker in the snow, under the fireworks, alone on the balcony. Viktor quickly turned back to the railing, eyes widening in fear. Jayce leaned down to his ear.
“I’ll bring the car around.”