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Jayce had a new project. He and Viktor were in the lab, working diligently as usual. But there was a change, and a Jayce was distracted. Tucked under his sheafs of notebook paper was a little book. The cover was illustrated with curling flowering vines and citrus fruits, surrounding Hebrew letters in navy and cobolt ink. Under the Hebrew was the title in common,
‘A Passover Haggadah’
It started, like most things did between them, with a question.
“Are you busy next weekend, Jayce?” Viktor asked as Jayce pulled his car out of the parking garage for their shared apartment. They were in a rush this morning so Jayce had his coffee in one hand and was balancing a bagel sandwich with the other, while manipulating the steering wheel with his forearm.
“Uh, next weekend?” Jayce had to think. “I mean, we’ve usually been in the lab both days, but if we’re not doing that-“ he glanced to Viktor. His partner was usually the one who insisted on spending more time in the lab, he had initiated Sundays, then Saturdays, too. “-then yeah, I’m free.”
Viktor didn’t reply, just pulled out his phone and began scrolling through it. Jayce took the opportunity to finish his sandwich in three giant bites, then crumpled up the wrapper and jammed it into the center console cup holder.
“-why?” Jayce asked once he had gotten the rest of his breakfast down.
“My aunt has gone completely mad.” Viktor said, “It’s taken years, but she’s finally somehow arranged to invite my entire extended family for Passover.” He glanced back to Jayce, “I thought since your family has been so welcoming, you might like to come?”
Jayce could hear the question mark in Viktor’s voice.
“Yeah, V, I’d love to go.” He paused. “Um, what’s Passover?”
Viktor let out a soft snort.
“Like every other holiday in Judaism, it celebrates a time when someone tried to kill us all and we survived- except for the one about trees.” He said, “I’ll send you a link.” Jayce kept his eyes on the road, but he heard Viktor start to drum his fingers on the passenger door.
“We will have to travel to Zaun.” He said softly.
“I figured.” Jayce gave a shrug. “I’ve been to Zaun. Remember last summer?”
Viktor scoffed, “That was the part of Zaun we show to Pilties. My aunt lives- well, she’s very close to an industrial zone. It can be- oppressive. You would probably need to wear a mask any time you went outside.”
Considering how many issues Viktor had over the years, Jayce wasn’t surprised,
“I definitely want to go. Besides, you dealt with my crazy family last year.” He grinned, “And don’t think you’re getting away with not going this year.” A pause, “You don’t have any secret sisters or brothers who are going to try and kick my ass, do you?”
“No, no.” Viktor said, amused. “But it is quite a large extended family. And they can be-“ He paused.
“A handful?” Jayce asked.
“-temperamental.” Viktor said. “All of the older ones, they immigrated from Czechoslovakia before the communist party was deposed. And then they relocated to Zaun, and had to deal with the enforcer raids and all that came with being from the ‘under-city.’ I know my great-uncle participated in one of the bridge demonstrations.”
Growing up, Jayce had always heard of the events that led to Zaun’s independence referred to as the ‘bridge riots.’ But since meeting Viktor in his classes and after a few months of blundering over and over again about the subject of the other man’s home city, he had reached a place where he could completely understand why the people of Zaun insisted on their own sovereignty.
“It was especially hard for them, being Jewish.” Viktor added. “There were so few of us left in the old country after the Second World War. And when they relocated to Zaun, they were still a tiny minority, and in such dire financial straits, Jayce. My grandparents lived in places that would make my old Entresol apartment look like a palace.”
Jayce nodded. It was beginning to set in just how important this was to Viktor.
“Well, I’ll be honored to meet them.” He said, pulling into the university staff parking lot. “They’re special, they’re where you come from.” He parked the car and turned towards Viktor, slinging an arm behind the other man’s seat. “And besides, I bet they know a ton of embarrassing stories about you.”
Viktor was smiling, there was a softness in his expression that Jayce treasured like diamonds. His partner was always so sharp, it was incredible that he trusted Jayce enough to let him see him so vulnerable.
“I’m very lucky to have you, Jayce.” He said, and leaned in to peck him on the lips. “But you will absolutely not be seeing any baby pictures.”
Later that day, Jayce was in the physics department office grading tests. He was familiar enough with Viktor’s schedule that he knew the other man was likely in the lab, working on one of his personal prototypes or the thesis project that he and Jayce had begun a few years earlier. Usually when Viktor was working in the lab, he was completely focused, so Jayce was a little surprised when he got a text from him.
Viktor had sent him an article, at the top the title was ‘Passover: Story, Meaning, Traditions, and Facts.’ After that he added,
‘This should be a good primer about the holiday. Feel free to ask me any questions you have.’
‘Thanks, V xo’ Jayce quickly typed back, then pulled up the article.
Half an hour later, Jayce was still reading the article, and his stomach felt like a lead weight had settled in it. Passover was complicated, much more so than he expected. Sure, his family threw an enormous Christmas party every year, but that was mostly centered around gifts and food. Passover involved food, too, but it was specific small amounts of food all around a special plate, and every single one seemed to have its own prayer. The wine had a prayer, the bread without yeast that looked like a big saltine cracker had a prayer, and all of them were in Hebrew.
Jayce started to sweat. It was all starting to feel overwhelming. Did Viktor really think he could follow along with all this? Participate without majorly embarrassing himself?
He took a deep breath. He remembered when he had asked Viktor to Christmas with his family, the first time.
“So, I know it’s a really long trip to go back to Zaun to see your aunt, but I hate the thought of you just having to be here, and I figure, hey, it’s good for both of us to take a break. So, doyouwanttocometochristmaseithmyfamily?”
Viktor had looked up at Jayce from his notes, the midafternoon sun catching in his hair like spun gold.
“Jayce, you know I’m Jewish.” He said.
“Uh.” Jayce froze.
That made Viktor furrow his brow, “It never occurred to you?”
“I’m really sorry, V, I guess not. I mean, with my family it’s not really a religious thing, it’s more about getting the family together, eating a ton of food, opening presents, that sort of deal.” Jayce could feel himself rambling, and his sentence was threatening to get out of control, so he abruptly stop and bit his tongue.
Viktor shifted in his seat to face him,
“Despite what you may think, it is, in fact, a ‘religious thing.’” Viktor raised both hands with his fingers in V shapes and rather than bending them to make his air quotes, he rotated his hands forward and backwards. “You don’t think of it that way, but it’s a reminder of our status as ‘other.’” He paused, “but, if your mother will be hosting, I think I must attend.”
And Christmas was great. Viktor was still his same reserved self, but he was also warm and friendly, and listened patiently while Jayce introduced every one of his tias and tios, along with all their children.
He had put so much effort in, memorizing names, singing along when Jayce’s uncles were drunk and enthusiastic, helping to wrangle all his little cousins.
Jayce could at least reciprocate. He printed out two pages of the Passover website and folded them into a tight rectangle and stuffed it into his pocket. He glanced at those papers every time he got a free moment, memorizing what he could. By the end of the week as they piled their bags into the trunk, Jayce was feeling okay, like maybe he wouldn’t even be lost.
Viktor’s shoulders were tense as they got into the car. Jayce pulled them out onto the road and stayed quiet. When Viktor got like this it was usually best to give him time to collect his thoughts. Jayce waited a little over ten minutes before he asked a gentle,
“Everything okay?”
Victor rolled his shoulders, letting out several muffled cracks that Jayce was trained well enough to not wince at.
“I have not seen most of my extended family in a very long time.” He admitted. “Some of them will have been children the last time we met, some weren’t born yet at all.” He sighed, “All that is to say- I want to support my aunt, but the whole affair might be- overwhelming.”
Jayce nodded. There were so many steps to the Passover Seder, no wonder Viktor was concerned about being around all those people. Viktor wasn’t the oldest so he wouldn’t have to lead the prayers, but he might be asked to read certain ones, or recite the Four Questions.
“I’m sure however it goes, your family will just be happy to see you.” Jayce said, reaching out to squeeze Viktor’s knee. When he glanced at his partner, the other man had a smile on his lips.
As they continued onto the freeway that led to the border with Zaun, Jayce watched what looked like a low, dark storm cloud on the horizon gradually drawing closer. The first time they drove to Zaun, Jayce asked Viktor about it, and his partner had launched into a long-winded rant about how Piltover had been taking natural resources from Zaun for decades, and how the rapid industrialization had led to pollution that clung to the nation-state like a bad head cold.
“If we had all the resources in the world.” Viktor had said with grim resolve, “It would still take nearly a century to reverse the damage- if it was even possible.”
Jayce pulled out his ID as they approached the border checkpoint, while Viktor pulled out his passport booklet and a sheaf of papers in different colors, held together with a binder clip.
Just like the last time they crossed the border, Jayce handed over his ID and received it back in about two minutes. But Viktor always had to get out of the car and stand, leaning heavily on his cane while a border agent carefully scrutinized every single one of his documents. Jayce watched the guard shove all the paperwork back to Viktor in a messy heap.
Viktor grumbled to himself in Czech as he got the papers back in order, clipped the papers back together, shoved them into his duffel bag, and leaned his head back against his seat.
“They’re assholes.” Jayce muttered as he maneuvered the car out of the checkpoint and back onto the open road.
“Mm.” Viktor kept his eyes on his window. “It’s easier for me than most.”
Jayce hesitated.
“Go on, ask.” Viktor glanced back at him. “I can hear you overthinking, Jayce.”
“Is it hard for your extended family to come and visit Zaun?” Jayce asked, “Is that why it took years for your aunt to be able to invite everyone?”
“Not exactly. It’s more a limitation of schedules. Most of the family comes from countries that don’t need a visa to come to Zaun. But-“ His tone flattened into the tight almost-monotone he used when describing some fresh hell inflicted on him for being from Zaun, “-it would be different if they were attempting to come to Piltover. It’s easier to travel from another country than it is to get the proper paperwork to cross over from Zaun.”
“It’s just such bullshit.” Jayce replied with the righteous indignation of someone who didn’t have to deal with the process personally. “My mom and I immigrated, but because we already had my dad’s family in Piltover it was so much easier to get citizenship. And you get treated like a criminal.”
“It’s not worth troubling yourself over.” Viktor said. “I’m fortunate to have been able to come at all. It’s enough.”
Jayce chewed on his lower lip, “What if we got married?”
“Jayce.” Viktor said in a warning tone, and he had a feeling that if he wasn’t driving he might have already received a thwack of Viktor’s cane against his shin. “Do you know how common it is for people from Piltover to accuse Zaunites of trying to marry their way into citizenship?”
“Yeah- I know.” Jayce said, deflating. It was quiet between them for a few minutes. Jayce watched the sky as they finally dipped under the heavy dark clouds he’d watched on the horizon.
“Perhaps-“ Viktor’s voice was soft, “If you made a more romantic proposal, I might consider it.”
Jayce felt his face grow hot, “Right, of course. Of course.”
The car crested over a hill and a vast field of wind turbines came into view, stretching far across the countryside. Viktor mercifully struck up a lively conversation about future clean energy projects in Zaun, rescuing Jayce from the mild panic he had induced in him.
The turbines were eventually replaced by stretches of small homestead farms. As they drove past a field of cows, Jayce felt obligated to point them out, and Viktor only rolled his eyes a little.
After that, the factories. They pressed in around the freeway and made Jayce feel vaguely claustrophobic and a little nauseated. He had heard Viktor’s stories about working his first factory job at age 12, it just felt so ludicrous and cruel.
“It was after my father’s health began to fail, and we moved in with my aunt.” Viktor had explained once over one of their rare early morning coffee shop dates.
Not rare because they weren’t absolutely over the moon for each other, but because before they’d met, Jayce was fairly sure Viktor was surviving off of protein shakes, vitamins, and coffee. Convincing him to take an hour or two just to sit and chat over coffee and scones? Took a lot of work.
Apartment buildings appeared, at first slotted between the factories and then in the city proper. Jayce followed his phone’s instructions, winding through side streets that occasionally wouldn’t have an official name at all.
“This should be your aunt’s place up here-“ Jayce said, double-checking the address.
“They’ve repainted.” Viktor said, mildly amused. The front face of the apartment building was one enormous Zaun flag, green with the symbol of the city in the center. “They must have done it after the football finals.”
Jayce winced. 17-0 was a harsh score to remember his own beloved team facing against the Zaun national one. It would have been a mortifying event when he was a kid, but getting to see Viktor lose his fucking mind over Zaun’s monumental win was worth it. Sorry, kid.
Jayce pulled into the dimly lit parking garage under the building and stepped out of the car to grab his and Viktor’s bags, hauling them over his broad shoulders while Viktor headed slowly up a plywood ramp.
“Kind of shoddy, isn’t it?”
“More accessible than buildings at the academy.”
Viktor’s cane tak-taked up the ramp until they reached the double doors to the apartments. To the left of the doors was a call box that Jayce would have described as ancient, and Viktor would have described as still useful. Viktor ran his fingertip down the column of yellowed rectangular buttons and pressed one down with an audible click.
The speaker hissed to life and for a moment only made a series of tinny scraping and stuttering noises, then the voice of an elderly woman broke through,
“Hello! Hello?”
“Lena, it’s Viktor.”
“Viktor!” The voice became high pitched and excited, and exclaimed a string of words in a language Jayce didn’t recognize. Vaguely German? But with some clearing-throat sounds that made it very clearly not.
Viktor replied in the same language, though he was clearly more awkward with it. There was a loud electric buzzer sound and the door unlocked with a thunk.
“That was your aunt?” Jayce asked, holding the door open for Viktor.
“That was my cousin.” Viktor said, “My aunt must be cooking already.”
The lobby of the apartment building had a plush maroon carpet that looked like something had laid down and died in the 1970s and no one had ever bothered to scrape it up. There was floral wallpaper on the walls, peeling and cigarette smoke stained. One of the lights was out. But when Jayce glanced at Viktor’s face, he was smiling.
The elevator was a strange contraption without what Jayce would call a proper door. Instead there was a wooden lattice that Viktor unhooked, then stepped inside.
“Eh, I don’t think this can carry the weight of our bags.” Viktor said, a little sheepish. He gestured towards the stairs.
“What floor?”
“Fifth.”
“That’s not too bad.” Jayce grinned and adjusted the bags over his shoulders. “I’ll race you.” He said, and took off for the stairs. He wasn't huffing and puffing by the time he reached the floor, and he was glad about that, but he was surprised to not find Viktor waiting for him.
"Viktor?" He called, "Hey, V?"
"Over here."
Jayce looked, and Viktor waved from behind the lattice. There was an old man and a young man working on trying to pry it open.
"It won't budge-" Said the younger man, "I told you we needed to get it looked at before he came." The older man didn't respond, just let out a grunt.
"Uh, I've got a multitool in here somewhere, just give me a sec-" Jayce set their bags down and started rummaging through his until he found the bright red multitool stamped with a gold Talis T. He opened the pliers and headed for the lattice. "Excuse me." He said, brushing past them with a nod. "Hi."
"Hello." Viktor said. "Fancy meeting you here."
Jayce laughed under his breath and fought with the wood and metal for a minute, then finally with the right application of pressure it popped open, and Viktor was freed.
"My hero." Viktor said with a dry smile, stepping out of the elevator. He slipped his arm around Jayce's waist and turned him towards the two men who had been trying to help. "Jayce, this is my cousin Isaac-" The younger man gave a small wave. The family resemblance was uncanny. His features weren't as sharp as Viktor's and his eyes were blue not gold, but they had almost identical soft brown waves, and though Isaac was shorter than Viktor, he had a very similar frame. "-and this-" Viktor turned to the older man.
Now this man, it was difficult to see any resemblance at all. First of all, he was bald, and from the looks of the slight amount of hair growing back in, it was a choice rather than necessity. He had a thick salt-and-pepper mustache that fell over his upper lip, and his eyes were pale grey and rhumy. He was also built like a brick wall. In his prime he might have been taller and wider than Jayce. He had the look of a circus strongman from the 1920s, thick around the middle, a solid foundation.
"-is Yosef, my father."
Jayce did a double-take. He looked from Viktor, to Yosef, and back again.
"Sorry?" He said, tilting his head, he must have misheard.
"This is my father, Jayce, Yosef." Viktor said, ever the patient one. "Shall we?"
"Uh, sure." Before Jayce could do anything else, all three of the other men were heading towards a door. Jayce put the multitool back in his bag and hoisted both his and Viktor's onto his shoulder, then followed.
"Viktor!" A chorus of voices greeted them once the door opened. Heads poked out into the front hall from various doorways. As they entered they were swarmed by no fewer than half a dozen people. Viktor made hasty introductions between hugs and kisses.
“This is my cousin, Lena-“ He said, squeezing his eyes shut as a woman their age carrying a baby pressed a kiss to his cheek. “And who is this? Alexis?”
“Alexis is 3 now, Viktor. She’s with bubbe. This is Peter.” Lena said with a wry smile that made her look uncannily alike to Viktor in Jayce’s eyes. Jayce looked down at the baby, who looked up at him with big, unblinking blue eyes.
“-Isaac is Lena’s brother, and Lena’s husband is Mark, they have 2-“ Lena elbowed him, “-3 children, Emma, Alexis, and Peter, now.”
“And you’re Jayce.” Isaac said, extending a hand for Jayce to shake, “It’s good to finally meet you.”
“Likewise, it’s-“
“Oh, we’ll talk later!” Isaac said, “Let me take your bags-“
“Viktor!” A man who Jayce might have actually guessed was Viktor’s father swooped in to wrap him in a hug. Another man in a matching sweater looked on with a grin, carrying a half-full wine glass.
“Ah-haha-“ Viktor staggered into the hug a bit but was clearly pleased to see the older man. Squeezing him tight with his free arm. “This is my uncle Ivan and his partner, Robert.”
“Nice to meet you.” Jayce said. Robert extended a hand for him to shake.
“It’s a pleasure, Jayce.” Robert was the most soft-spoken person he’d met so far, with a Cajun lilt to his accent, deep callouses on his dark palms.
“Ivan is my father’s brother.” Viktor explained, “And Lena’s mother, Deborah, she’s the one who raised me.”
“Right, and her husband was Pavel.” Jayce could at least remember that from the stories.
“Viktor!” A blur of blonde hair swept down the hall and attached itself to Viktor. He laughed aloud and ruffled the hair of the girl clinging to his strong leg.
“Ah, this is my cousin Alexandra’s daughter, Stella, and her brother Pavel should be- ah.” Viktor pointed, and Jayce was struck by the sight of a young boy who must have been about 8 peeking out from behind the legs of two women who were grinning as they leaned in to hug Viktor. The boy was the spitting image of what Jayce would have imagined Viktor would have looked like at that age, down to the large and almost uncanny golden eyes.
“This is Alexandra and her wife, Amy.”
“Hi.” Said Alexandra.
“Hi.” Said Amy, “You want a beer?”
“Please.” Jayce said, and then, “Light, if you’ve got it?”
“And of course, Pavel.” Viktor smiled down at the young boy and waved him closer. Pavel stared up at Viktor with wide eyes and darted forward to hug his leg alongside his sister. “Was your brother able to make it?” He asked Alexandra,
“His flight got in an hour ago.” She said, rolling her eyes. “So he’ll be here, but he’ll be late. As usual.”
“And eh, did he end up bringing the dog?” Viktor asked, gently prying the two children from his leg.
“Of course he brought the dog! That’s why he was late, he was- getting the dog’s tires rotated or something. I don’t know.”
Jayce let out a snort, and both Viktor and Alexandra rolled their eyes in such an identical way that it almost made his heart hurt.
They continued into the apartment and gradually gave up more of what they were wearing and carrying. Lena’s husband Mark and her daughter Emma took their coats, while the two little ones that had attached themselves to Viktor ran with their shoes back to the rack by the front door.
They were ushered into a living room that Jayce would have described as homey and his mother would have called ‘busy.’ The furthest wall was a riot of family portraits, snapshots, and memorabilia like train tickets. There was, of course, a large green pennant for the Zaun football team. There was a cluster of watercolors on another wall, and a shelf with candlesticks and a small collection of leather bound books in languages Jayce couldn’t read. The seating arrangements in the room were a large squishy sectional couch, a recliner, and several scattered folding chairs.
An elderly woman who looked ancient to Jayce was seated on one edge of the sectional, leaning heavily onto the arm with a young girl in her lap.
“Jayce, this is my bubbe- my grandmother. My father’s mother. Stella. And Lena’s other daughter, Emma.”
“Hi, Viktor!” The girl said with a gap-toothed grin.
Stella gestured for Viktor to lean in with one of her pale, powdery hands and said something that Jayce couldn’t hear. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other, feeling antsy and trying to remember the absolute flood of names he’d been exposed to.
Viktor was smiling when he straightened up,
“She says you’re handsome.” He said, putting a hand on Jayce’s shoulder.
There was an older couple seated on the opposite side of the couch, flipping through ancient copies of Reader’s Digest. They both stood to hug Viktor and Jayce, and Viktor introduced them as his aunt Nina (his father’s sister) and his uncle Tomas.
“Nina and Tomas are Alexandra’s parents.” Viktor explained. “And Yakob’s.”
“Not if he doesn’t show up tonight.” Tomas grumbled. His wife gave him a pat on the shoulder.
“He’ll be here soon and you’ll forget what you were so angry about.” She said.
“There’ll be more time to talk at dinner.” Viktor said, “Let me introduce you to my aunt before she hunts us down.”
“Uh, okay.” Jayce watched as Emma stuck a finger up her nose, then Stella put her hand on her wrist, gently tugging it down and handing her a periwinkle monogrammed handkerchief instead.
If the rest of the apartment was a flurry of activity, the kitchen was a typhoon. A petite woman with thick black curls streaked with grey wound in a red bandana and a tiny gold stud in one nostril moved through the kitchen like a conductor turning this way and that to all the different instrument sections. She didn’t notice Viktor and Jayce enter, or she didn’t care, it took a few minutes for her to actually acknowledge them.
“Viktor! Bubbeleh, there you are-“ She wrapped Viktor in a crushing hug that he seemed completely content to allow in a way that Jayce knew he’d never get away with. She kissed his forehead and then turned to Jayce, grinning like a madwoman.
“And here he is! Mr. Talis, I’ve been waiting to meet you-“
“Jayce, please- ah-“ Jayce got the same crushing hug treatment, and because of Viktor’s aunt’s shorter stature, her hug became a kind of backwards Heimlich maneuver with how tight it was. She kissed him on either cheek.
“I’m so glad you were able to join us, Jayce.” She said, turning back to one of the two stewpots on the stove. “Viktor talks about you all the time, of course, but seeing you in person and not just on the sides of trucks and billboards is very different!”
Jayce felt his ears start to burn. They had done a lot to promote Hextech, and being the face of some of the early products powered by it was something that would continue to mortify him for life. Still, if Viktor was anything to go off of, the teasing was a good sign.
“I tried to get him to get me a copy of the Man of Progress calendar for last year, but he stopped answering my texts.” She added.
“Mame! You said you wouldn’t-“ Viktor said, but he was laughing, and he quickly brought up a hand to his mouth to stifle it, “I’m so sorry, Jayce.”
“No, no.” Jayce shook his head. “It’s fine, all in a day’s work for the Man of Progress.”
Viktor’s aunt let out a snort. If there was a grading scale for first impressions, Jayce was sure he’d be getting an A. A totally normal and reasonable thing to want.
Viktor’s aunt shooed them out of the kitchen then and between washing their hands and straightening their clothes, Jayce was able to ask one of his burning questions.
“Hey, um, I just wanted to ask-“ Jayce watched Viktor through the bathroom mirror. His partner glanced back at him, one eyebrow raised. “-it’s just. You said your dad was sick and that you were raised by your aunt. I guess I just assumed-“
“That he was dead?” Viktor asked. Jayce nodded. “It’s complicated.” Viktor said with a shrug, grabbing a lavender colored hand towel to dry his hands with (everything in the bathroom was lavender, it was actually pretty impressive). “He was sick. And then he was absent. I saw him somewhat regularly but he was disengaged. My mother’s death broke him. I think he was waiting to die.”
“I’m so sorry, Viktor.” Jayce murmured, lightly touching the small of his back.
“It’s alright- or, it will be.” Viktor said, reaching out to squeeze Jayce’s forearm. “We are very different people, but he is still important to me. I am glad he has my aunt.”
Jayce nodded, and Viktor moved past him wordlessly. The family was gathering in the dining room so they made their way there.
Jayce took a seat next to Viktor and looked curiously at the spread of plates and serving dishes on the table. He was across from one of the many baby cousins who looked straight back at him, her big brown eyes staring directly into his soul. Then she blew a raspberry and descended into giggles. Jayce couldn’t help but smile.
“Alright everyone, alright, you animals, let’s all sit-“ Viktor’s aunt stood at the head of the table tapping a butter knife against a faceted crystal glass. Very slowly, the chatter around the table died down, and all the attention turned to her. “-you know how hard it was to get you all over here, but I couldn’t be happier. Seeing all your faces-“ She briefly raised a hand to her mouth, and Jayce thought he saw a glimmer of a tear in her eye. “-it reminds me of how important you all are to me. And of how there are many who weren’t able to join us.” She raised her glass and around the table the adults raised theirs, so Jayce raised his, too.
“To our dearly departed, and to life and love for the family- l’chaim!”
“L’chaim!” Called the rest of the family.
“Cham!” The little one across from Jayce burbled afterwards. He couldn’t help but smile over his wine glass.
Viktor’s aunt took her seat and everyone reached for the little pamphlets that were beside their name cards. Jayce’s hands dwarfed the folded pages, but he felt confident.
Until he read the first page. Jayce felt a flutter of panic as he read the words ‘The 30 Minute Seder’ at the top of the pamphlet. He looked around the table and no one seemed surprised by this. His eyes returned to the pamphlet and he quickly flipped through it.
This was nothing like what he had researched. Half of the steps were missing! Was he supposed to have them memorized? He thought they would all be written out- he hadn’t had any hope of memorizing all of the Hebrew terms for each step. Jayce glanced to Viktor, hoping to meet his eyes, but his partner was focused on the head of the table.
There were three blessings, one for the wine, one for the day, and one for giving thanks for the year. Viktor’s father led the table in those prayers. Jayce thought his rumbling voice and thick accent gave the words a kind of gravitas,
“Baruch atah, Adonai Eloheinu, Melech haolam, shehecheyanu, v'kiy'manu, v'higiyanu laz'man hazeh.”
Jayce’s understanding was that the handwashing was very important for the Seder. He was ready to stand and go and wash his hands in the sink, but instead he watched as a few of the adults passed around packets of hand sanitizer wipes. When the pack came to Jayce, he took a wipe and then tried to watch the other adults as they did it. Was there some special technique? Would he offend if he did it wrong?
After a minute or two of panicking, he determined that he just needed to wipe his hands and move on.
One of Viktor’s cousins carried a platter of vegetables so that everyone could take a few pieces of celery and potato for their plate. There were a few little dishes of what Jayce knew would be salt water around the table.
“These are spring vegetables.” Jayce heard one of Viktor’s cousins explain to her toddler, “And it goes in the salt water because?”
“Tears!” The toddler exclaimed, and crammed a piece of potato the size of her fist into her mouth, chewing noisily. Jayce opted for celery and found that dipped in the salt water, it wasn’t half bad.
There was a plate at the center of the table covered with a napkin. Jayce watched Viktor tug it off, revealing three square pieces of matzah, a bread without yeast that resembled a big cracker. Viktor took the middle piece from the stack, set down one half, and then wrapped the other half in the napkin.
“I’ll be back.” Viktor said, standing with a smile, and Lena groaned, leaning over the table towards Jayce.
“He always makes the afikoman impossible to find.” She complained, “He’s the oldest cousin, he’s been doing it since we were kids.”
“Well,” Her husband added, “Your dad always hid it on top of the fridge.”
“He didn’t!” She exclaimed, then looked at Jayce, sheepish, “One time he hid it in the fridge.”
“Can we go and find the matzah now?” Alexis asked, rocking back and forth in her seat.
“Not yet, my love.” Said Viktor’s bubbe. “Viktor needs time to hide it.”
Viktor returned to the dining room with a triumphant smirk on his face. Once he took his seat, they continued.
“Alright, Pavel-“ Viktor’s aunt turned her attention to the young boy, who had half of his fist in his mouth, which one of his mothers hastily tugged away. “-are you ready for the Four Questions?”
“Uhhuh.” He said, and he scrambled into Alexandra’s lap. She reached down beside her chair and pulled a large yellow children’s book for them to read aloud from.
“The Four Questions help us answer the big question.” The boy followed his mother’s finger over each word. Despite how slowly he read, everyone around the table seemed enraptured. “Why is this night unlike all other nights?”
Between each question and answer, the table murmured words in Hebrew, sung to a tune Jayce had listened to obsessively on YouTube over the last few weeks.
“On all other nights, we eat bread that has risen. Why do we eat the un- the uni-“
“Unleavened, my love.” Viktor’s aunt said.
“-the unleavened bread?”
“Because the Hebrews had to leave Egypt quickly.” Viktor said. Jayce looked to him. There was a kind of quiet peacefulness on his face that Jayce rarely saw. As far as he knew, Viktor wasn’t particularly spiritual, but there was something to being here in this room with his family pulled from far away that made the air heavier. Not a burden but like a thick blanket, warm and safe.
“On all other nights, we eat any herbs. On this night, why do we eat the bitter herbs?” Pavel was gaining confidence. Rather than pointing out each word individually, his mother ran her finger under them as he read.
“To remind us of how awful slavery was.” Lena said. The song followed, soft and serene, and it was like being transported back centuries, back generations and generations of families who had sang the same words.
“On all other nights, we do not dip our herbs in salt water. On this night, why do we dip them twice?”
“To remind us that we crossed into and out of Egypt over the Red Sea.” Viktor’s aunt Nina said.
When they reached the last question, Pavel revolted, slapping his hands over the book in favor of shouting his version of it.
“Why do we relax?” Several of the adults around the table snorted and Jayce couldn’t help a grin. Alexandra quietly admonished her son, something about sticky hands.
In the commotion, it seemed that whichever adult had been supposed to answer the question forgot. After the giggles died down, a game of musical eyeballs began, everyone looking at everyone else, eyes slowly widening as they realized what had happened.
Jayce cleared his throat, then read from the pamphlet,
“To remind us of how free people relax?” He couldn’t help adding the question mark at the end. A concession to the fact that he might have overstepped, an invitation for someone to correct him.
Instead, the adults at the table completed the song, and Viktor squeezed his thigh under the tablecloth.
Jayce felt better after that.
After the questions were done, things became a lot more simple, and besides a quick reference for a few of the prayers, Jayce never really had to pick up the pamphlet again. The Seder became much more like a family meal that Jayce recognized.
Large platters of food were passed around the family. Jayce and Viktor regaled the story of how they had met and begun working together. Lena and Mark announced that Lena was pregnant.
“Again?” Viktor snorted, halfway through his third glass of wine of the night.
“Shut up!” Lena cackled, sipping her grape juice.
Later in the night, they let the children loose in the apartment to search for the afikoman Viktor hid. The adults all seemed aware that the hiding place would not be a simple find, so they continued the meal, switching off the family members supervising.
At one point, little Stella ran to Viktor’s side opposite Jayce and tugged at his sleeve. Viktor leaned in to listen and then turned to Jayce with a smile.
“Stella wants to know if you’ll help look for the afikoman.” Viktor said. “She knows it’s for the kids, but she said since it’s your first Passover we should make an exception.”
Jayce could have wept then and there, but instead he made a show of dabbing his napkin suspiciously high on his face as he stood.
“Sure.” He said, and offered Stella his hand.
“You’re a monster.” Jayce told Viktor once the afikoman had been found. Not by Stella and Jayce, but by Emma, who had discovered it neatly hidden away in the slot of an old VCR under the TV in the living room. “What kid was going to check the VCR? They don’t even know what it is!”
“Emma did.” Viktor said, and Jayce elbowed him.
As dinner wound down and the last of the prayers were said, the last song was sung, and the fourth cup of wine was finished, Viktor’s aunt and the cousins all stood to begin clearing the table.
“Jayce.” Viktor’s aunt said, “Could I have your help in the kitchen?”
Jayce sprung to his feet and followed her in. She ordered him about, taking care of the pits and pans that had been used to make the meal while she and the cousins took care of the serving dishes and flatware. Jayce thought he saw Viktor shoot him a knowing look before he returned to the dining room, but he might have imagined it.
“Thank you for joining us this year, Jayce.” Viktor’s aunt said. “It means a great deal to me and I know it must be the same for Viktor. Coffee?”
“Oh, uh, sure.” Jayce stumbled over his words a bit, “I mean- I’m very thankful to have been invited. It’s obviously very important to your family.” He paused, “But if I could ask-?”
She looked up at him from the coffee maker, mirth in her eyes. “Yes?”
“I kind of read up on the Seder before we came, and what you just did was amazing! Don’t get me wrong. But it was a lot more- casual than what I read about.”
The coffee maker burbled in the background as Deborah took a seat at the tiny kitchen table, waving for Jayce to join her.
“Our family has never been strictly traditional.” She said with a smile. “My parents had to leave so many things behind when they came to Zaun, but they had each other, that was the most important thing, you know?”
Jayce nodded.
“So, it was more important to us that Ivan and Robert be able to be married in the 70s than for them to have a certificate.” She said. “And that it was more important that Viktor celebrated his bar-mitzvah than it was for us to have a silly party in some fancy Piltover synagogue. You understand?”
“I do.” Jayce said, feeling a wave of warmth wash over him.
“You really love him.” She said, reaching out to touch the back of Jayce’s hand.
“I do.” He said, feeling his face flush. “I think- I want to marry him.”
A wide grin spread across her face. “Of course you do.” She said, “You’re a good boy, Jayce. You know- his mother, Eva. She worked in a textile factory from the time she was 15. The color from the chemicals they used stained her hands purple, and it killed her far too young.” She sighed, and Jayce put his free hand over hers, squeezing firmly.
“She had those purple hands for so long for her son, so that Viktor could have a chance to build his life here. Viktor’s father was my dear Pavel’s brother, and Eva was my sister in every way that mattered.” Something in her voice wavered, like the soft call of a mourning dove at dusk. “Viktor was so precious to her, to me. And I see how precious he is to you.”
“He is. He’s everything.” He lifted his hand from hers and reached across the table, handing her a napkin that she dabbed at her eyes.
“You should speak to Yosef.” She said once she had composed herself.
“Viktor’s father?” Jayce felt his stomach twist.
“Not for his permission, you understand. But I think knowing my son, it would matter to him. To know you had spoken to him.”
Jayce was still for a long moment.
“Uh, yeah-“ he said, suddenly feeling too large for the chair he was seated in. “Sure.”
“Excellent.” Deborah poured two cups of coffee but stood without taking one for herself. Jayce barely had time to breathe before she was in the doorway. “I think you’ll do wonderfully.”
“Deborah, maybe-“ Jayce rose to his feet, nerves tangling up inside his chest.
Before he could protest any further, he was standing in the kitchen, alone with Viktor’s father. They stood in silence and it quickly became apparent that the older man would be perfectly content with saying nothing at all if Jayce didn’t speak first.
“Uh. Mr-“
“Yosef, please.” Viktor’s father said.
“Yosef, right.” Jayce drew in a slow breath. “I wanted to ask-“ Oh no, he was feeling lightheaded. Was he going to pass out? He might pass out. “-if you would give your blessing for me to ask Viktor to marry me.”
Yosef stared at him, his expression utterly unreadable. After what felt like a full hour, he crossed the room to take a seat at the little kitchen table. He waited until Jayce sat to speak,
“Tell me about your father, Jayce.” He said, folding his hands on the table. Jayce was momentarily taken aback, but he could feel the weight of this request, saw it in the creases in Yosef’s brow.
“Um, he died when I was 14.” It had been a long time since he’d spoken about his father, the words felt heavy on his tongue, like he had to pull them slowly from his throat. “He was an engineer and he ran the Talis Foundry. He taught me everything I know about building things.”
“I see.” Yosef said.” And your mother, she is alive?”
“Yeah- yes.” A flash of bitter cold from his memory made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. “She is. And she-“
“You see your mother?” Yosef interrupted him, leaning in, “You take care of her?”
“Well, actually she runs the Talis Foundry now, so she takes pretty good care of herself.” Jayce said, a little sheepish. It made sense, Yosef wanted to know if he would take care of his family. “But I do see her- Viktor and I have dinner with her every other week.”
“You should go every week.” Yosef said. “It’s good to see family.”
“Uh, sure. I think we can do that.”
The older man sat back, thoughtful,
“It’s good for Viktor to have good relationship with his mother-in-law. His mother’s mother did not like me. It caused no end of strife.” His mustache twitched, and if Jayce had squinted maybe, maybe he could have seen the barest hint of a smile.
Yosef leaned forward,
“What do your hands look like, Jayce Talis? What do the hands look like of the man who wants to marry my son?”
Jayce stared at him for a second and then extended his arms and offered up both hands, palms facing up. Yosef squinted and scrutinized them for a moment, then reached out and put one hand over one of Jayce’s. His hands were wrinkled with knobby joints, evidence of hard living and arthritis. His nails were short and yellowed, there was a deep purple bruise under his index finder and liver spots on the back of his hand. He wore a plain gold wedding band that matched one he wore on a chain around his neck.
“A man can pretend to be good.” Yosef said, running his thumb over a callus on Jayce’s index finger down to his palm, “But he can’t pretend to have the hands of a working man.” He drew his hand back. “You don’t need my permission, Jayce.”
“I know.” He said, “I just- I think it would mean a lot to Viktor if I had your blessing.”
Josef paused. A faraway look appeared in his eyes, something wet and sentimental, unexpected.
“Then you have it, of course.”
The family had retired to the living room when Jayce and Yosef emerged from the kitchen. The kids were gnawing messily on pieces of matzah layered with dark chocolate and toffee, while the adults attempted to be a little more dignified about it. Yosef went to sit beside his sister Nina, while Jayce was stopped dead in his tracks.
Viktor was seated in the corner of the sectional couch, absolutely covered with children. He had Emma and Pavel at either side, Alexis in Emma’s lap, Stella on his strong leg, and baby Peter in his arms. Jayce felt his mouth drop open as he watched Victor carefully cup his hand over the back of the baby’s head, gently stroking his wisps of blond hair as he listened to no fewer than three of the kids chatter excitedly at him at once.
For a moment Jayce was trapped in the spell of watching Viktor with his little cousins, then the spell broke when his partner met his eyes, blushed furiously, and then waved him over.
“Hey, guys.” Jayce said as he approached, a sheepish grin on his face. “Any room for me?”
Stella immediately insisted that she would sit on Jayce’s lap, while Pavel took the spot on Viktor’s so he could chatter excitedly at him about potato batteries. Stella regaled everyone with the story of how Jayce had lifted her up on his shoulders to look for the afikoman in the light fixtures, while Emma put her sister’s hair into a messy braid.
Jayce and Viktor traded off telling stories and chatting with the kids, until one by one they tuckered themselves out and fell asleep in a pile on top of them on the couch.
Jayce looked at Viktor and nudged his shoulder with his chin, grinning when he looked back.
“Hi.” He said.
“Hello.”
“I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
Jayce leaned in to press a kiss to Viktor’s lips, only to be met with a chorus of grossed-out wailing from the kids.
After a night spent with Jayce on the couch (alright, so they weren’t entirely non-traditional) and Viktor in his childhood bedroom with the elusive Yakob (and the dog), the family had breakfast around the same dining table as dinner, and then Viktor and Jayce were headed back on the road again.
“Thankfully this time there weren’t any elevator mishaps.” Jayce said, waving to Viktor’s aunt and father through the front windshield. “What did you talk to your dad about?”
Viktor reached into his light jacket and pulled something out, “This.”
His voice was thick with emotion, Jayce looked down to see the gold ring on the chain.
“Oh, V-“ He pushed on the break and leaned in, nuzzling at Viktor’s cheek. When he looked up, Deborah had her arm around Yosef’s shoulders, and the older man didn’t try to hide the way his expression wobbled.
The next Monday, Jayce spent the first half of the day in the lab and the second half in the forge.
He had a ring to make.