Work Text:
Jayce could tell that something about Viktor was slightly off as they made their way down to the lab. He always tried his best to hide anything out of the norm but sadly a lot about Viktor was out of his control.
As they approached the door to the lab, Jayce sped up slightly, making Viktor slow out of confusion breaking the steady pace they subconsciously fell into. With a cheeky smirk Jayce pulled open the door and playfully bowed in front of Viktor trying not to chuckle at the confused eyebrow raise it got in response.
‘After you my lord’
His attempt at a posh accent was bad enough to get somewhat of a smile from Viktor as he continued walking to the door. The gentle taps from his cane slowed as he came to a stop in front of Jayce leaning forward to kiss the man softly on the cheek in thanks, still too tired to make himself speak.
Jayce had no problem with the lack of words, after all he knew his partner well and today he could feel the sad stubbornness radiating off of Viktor, lord knows Jayce will have to keep an eye on him so he doesn't push himself too far. Smiling softly back, he headed over to their desks ready to set up for a long day of solving math problems for future hextech work.
After a few hours passed, Jayce was beginning to lose focus so he decided to be somewhat kind to himself and take a short break. His head turned slowly, eyes taking in his surroundings for what must have been the millionth time since he stepped foot in this lab. When his gaze reached Viktor it softened and he smiled gently. A harsh scrunch of Viktors face caused the smile to slowly fall. Jayce narrow his eyes, now fully focused on observing his partner for more out of place behaviour.
A finger from Viktors left hand was wrapped through a chunk of hair at the back of his neck twirling it around. This was nothing out of the ordinary Viktor often fiddled with things when concentrating. However, the harsh tensing of his hand every few seconds was not a normal part of this habit.
Now concerned, Jayce was more absorbed in solving the issue of Viktors discomfort than he had been all day with hextech notes. After looking at his partner's face for a few moments, he noticed the scrunches of Viktors nose become more frequent, sometimes followed by a downward twitch of his lips or his neck.
Tics were not drastically uncommon for Viktor. They were something the man had expressed heavy hatred towards as when he became overwhelmed by the harsh pain in his body or constant loud noises his more subtle twitches increased a lot, making him stand out even more then he already did in crowded areas. Jayce was never bothered by them. Of course he wasn't. It was another part of Viktor that made him so unique, that made him the Viktor he loved and cared about every part of his soul.
He adored the way the man's nose would scrunch if he was really happy or excited about something because his body needed some outlet for the strong emotions it was feeling. Or when they slowed down as he melted into Jayces side with a book on the sofa letting him know Viktor felt safe enough with him to be relaxed and content in the moment.
Sadly this was not one of the more wholesome sides of viktors problems. Jayce could tell from the way his partner would aggressively rub at his leg with his right hand paired with him quietly attempting to try to curl in on himself everytime someone passed their lab chatting away that Viktor was quickly getting very overwhelmed by his surroundings.
Jayce rolls his eyes sighing fondly knowing Viktor hadn't said anything because he was A) too stubborn to admit he needed a moment to relax and B) he felt guilty about the idea of disturbing Jayce with his more quote on quote ‘meaningless issues’. As long as Viktor could things done he didn't consider the possibility of asking for help no matter how simple the task.
As casually as possible Jayce stands up and getting out of his chair he stretches. He lets out a loud groan (that he can see makes Viktor smirk out the corner of his eye) as his back and shoulders crunch in relief of no longer bent over his desk.
Now that he's up his brain starts planning out a ways he can help Viktor without making him too uncomfortable at the gesture. It was a near impossible challenge but one Jayce was ready to attempt.
First things on the list is getting him and his partner a drink. Jayce would normally have gotten up to make one around this time anyway frequent short breaks helping the mans attention stay somewhat unwavering from his work. Then again it was difficult to get jayces attention on something fully at all whenever viktor was nearby .
Onces hes strolled his way over to the makeshift kitchen he fills a kettle up with water and switched it on. In all honesty Jayce forgot the kettle made a loud noise; he only registered that it might not be good for the situation when he heard a few muffled clicks and pops coming from the other side of the room.
Knowing Viktor would get annoyed if he stopped what he was doing Jayce took a deep breath and reached into the cupboard for two mugs, a tea bag, and some instant coffee. In his tea he added a teaspoon of honey and a splash of milk when happy with the colour he started on Viktors abomination of a coffee.
It wasn't a secret that Viktor had a sweet tooth. Most of the time when Viktor had an appetite for food he would go down to the nearest cafe and grab a pastry of some kind. Staring at black cup of coffee in front of him, Jayce grimaced before adding 5 teaspoons and a heavy amount of milk to the point where the coffee was nearly white.
When he's sure both drinks are to their liking he turns slowly now facing the direction of Viktors desk and has to stop himself from jumping with he notices his partner turned around watching him. Jayce smirks knowingly and struts over too Viktor placing both their mugs on coaster cautious to not spill anything on Viktor paperwork before dramatically spinning around and heading towards their bookshelf.
Knowing that unexpected voices from outside of the lab was something contributing to Viktor getting overwhelmed Jayce knew he needed to find a way to block it out. Luckily for him Viktor had brought in an old record player a while ago so they could listen to music in the background on more ‘chilled’ working days. Over time the two had managed to gather up a rather large collection of records that included most genres and took up a whole section of the bookshelf.
After a few moments of contemplating what record to play, Jayce decided to go with something more calming and settled on an old classical vinyl. The lab was soon filled with the sound of a low pleasant piano making Viktor hum in content. Jayce nodded to himself knowing this meant he had selected the right one before pausing to think of what else he could do to help Viktor.
He did a quick glance around the room let out a whispered noise of realisation after remembering they kept some quick relief pain meds in a draw for moments exactly like this. When Jayce grabbed them he wiggled his eyebrows at Viktor as he made his way back over to him. The action caused Viktors shoulders to slump in defeat knowing Jayce saw right through him and realised the main sources of his discomfort
Hesitantly, Viktor looked down and held his hand out for Jayce to give him the meds knowing that he was at a point where the pain needed to be tended too. Popping the lid open Jayce shook out some tablets and smiled at Viktor with sad eyes hating how miserable Viktor looked.
As he placed the meds into Viktor's open palm he slowly stretched out his hand and held onto Viktors. The unexpected contact making Viktor look up with a confused smile. Gods Jayce loves this man.
‘You know,’ Jayce starts hesitantly. ‘you are allowed to ask me for help’ Viktor rolls his eyes and pulls a face of mock offence ‘ I'm afraid I don't know what you’re talking about.’ The two stared at each other before Viktors nose scrunches and neck twitches to the side harshly.
Knowing his time of pretending Jayce didn't notice was over he gave up with the mask, his face showing pain as he angrily rubbed him leg ‘I thought it would pass but overtime thing just got worse.’
‘Of course you did’ jayce slowly pulls his hand back leaving the meds in Viktors open hand waiting for him to close. Jayce gently grabs the sides of Viktors face and gives him a gentle kiss before resting their foreheads together. A fond sigh leave jayce before he whispers ‘Please for my sanity Viktor, take your meds’ then pulls away to grab his chair and bring it so he can sit by viktors side.
After twenty minutes had passed Jayce was confident enough in his understanding of Viktors body language to say the pain had eased in his legs and the record had calmed the loudness of his brain.
Viktors face was smoothed out into a relaxed expression clearly concentrating on his work, speaking every so often to respond to a story Jayce was passionately rambling about. Viktors face still scrunched so often but there was only so much Jayce could do in regards to calming his partners tics.
The rest of their day was spent with Viktor no longer as focus on his work but still trying whilst sighing and rolling his eyes at the man sitting next to him who made very little progress on their work content to put his time towards rocking in his chair and distracting Viktor. Not that this was out of the ordinary Jayces brain tapped out quite early most days unless he was hyper focused on a task.
When the day finally came to a close both men were looking forward to spending time together in the comfort of their own house knowing that they had no responsibilities there and were free to do what they pleased. Whether it be cleaning, baking or just sitting in silence with their own activities they loved the warmth of each others presence and that was enough for them.