Work Text:
Viktor sighed over his mountain of papers. “I don’t know if we have time for a vacation.”
He still had so much work to do, so many projects he was involved with simultaneously. Papers he needed to write, papers he had agreed to review, the work just didn’t stop. And Viktor didn’t mind it, truly. He was learning still to take care of himself better, to take his rest, to eat as much as he liked in particular, but he also needed something to do. Something to challenge his mind. Vacation might still be a step too far.
“It’s only two weeks,” Jayce said. “Vi and Cait are going, and Ekko and Jinx are bringing Isha. Last I heard, Isha’s been asking if you come.”
Viktor pointed a finger. “You’re trying to manipulate me. You know I can never say no to Isha.”
After Jinx, Viktor was the most proficient with the signs Isha used, and as a result he was the first choice for a babysitter whenever Jinx and Vander were both unavailable. She was a bit of a feral kid, but Viktor had taken a liking to her. Tough, a little survivor. From what Viktor had heard, she’d lived on the streets before Vander had taken her in, and through watching her Viktor had come to learn to focus on the personal sphere, to help those in his direct vicinity. Not lose himself in the grand ideas of science and progress, and endless ambition to change the world.
“Alright, fine. I will go. But only if you help me. I have five more peer reviews to get through, and I am growing tired of them.”
Jayce shook his head before kissing Viktor. “You need to stop agreeing to every request you get. Which one needs to be done first?”
#
Going on a vacation was… nice. Viktor would never quite be able to empty his head, he always liked having another puzzle to solve, but he’d bought a little Sudoku booklet at the kiosk near the beach to keep himself from getting bored. He couldn’t imagine lying on the beach all day doing nothing like some people here did, but he had found a nice spot for himself in a cushioned chair beneath a parasol, where he could watch the waves, and the beach volleyball game Jayce and Vi were playing.
Neither were any good, and somehow whenever these two tried anything together, their performance sank considerably. They missed more balls than hit them, but Jayce did look cute like this. He wore only his swim shorts, soft belly spilling over the waistband. A recent development, and one Viktor liked much more than he would have anticipated. Jayce had always been so sculpted and muscular, forced into a public image he never quite fit into. Jayce had struggled, at first, with the extra weight, but it had also been freeing for him. Viktor loved having more of Jayce, both physically and emotionally.
And Jayce wasn’t the only one who’d grown heavier across the past year. Viktor had started therapy, learnt to identify the patterns of self neglect in regards to his nutrition, and had somewhat overcompensated in the other direction.
He had no regrets though. He loved the way the weight sat on him, how it grounded him in the presence and the world, made him feel like he had a body. He loved how he looked like a different person, far removed from his past of sickness, poverty and self neglect. And he looked cute with a soft, round tummy.
Jinx dropped down into a chair beside him, dripping sea water over him. “You’re going to spend two weeks with your puzzles or what? You can do that at home.”
“I am almost through with these. Still looking for something a little more challenging, I suppose.”
“These do look kind of boring,” Jinx said, looking over his shoulder. “And repetitive. I mean, once you solve one, you solve them all.”
“Not quite. I find them relaxing, but I have done a little too many for them to remain interesting.”
“I’ve got something interesting for you. Isha and I are going to build a sandcastle, and I’m sure we could use a chronic overachiever to build a miniature copy of Piltover.”
Viktor chuckled. “I could not recreate Piltover from memory, Jinx, I don’t know it that well. But I suppose building a sandcastle sounds entertaining.”
#
The amusement park wouldn’t have been Viktor’s first choice of an activity—too many museums he wanted to get through, and only so much time he could spend on his feet—but he’d been outvoted. Even Jayce had chosen this, the traitor.
They’d gone on a week day on purpose, but the place remained too loud for his tastes. Screaming children, music playing for every ride and stall, an overload of stimuli he wasn’t used to dealing with. He missed the lab.
Though Viktor had to admit it wasn’t nearly as bad as he’d anticipated. The park had a decent balance between rollercoaster and less physically extreme rides. Rollercoasters might look enjoyable in theory, Viktor would spend the rest of the week in pain if he tried one. Well, more pain than usual.
Because of Viktor’s inability to go on the more physically taxing rides, he spent most of the morning with Isha, who was still too small for many.
I want to go with Jinx, she’d signed at first. I want to go on the rollercoaster.
“You can once you’re taller, Isha,” Viktor said. “The carts are designed for safety within certain parameters only, and are not designed to contain someone of your size. Why don’t we go to the magic castle instead?”
Isha wasn’t overly enthusiastic about the magic castle, but she was enthusiastic about getting to skip all lines with Viktor’s disability card, allowing them to get through all rides suitable for the both of them by the time the others tired of the rollercoasters. Those included a wizard’s science laboratory that he had to take Jayce on later today, an approximation of Piltover and Zaun drenched in stereotypes Viktor found offensive, and a rather scary haunted mansion Isha quickly decided was her favorite.
“You were very brave in the haunted mansion,” Viktor noted. “I found the zombies quite scary.”
Wasn’t scared, Isha signed.
No, Viktor supposed Isha didn’t startle easily. No one knew exactly what she’d been through, before Jinx found her. She’d lived on the streets of Zaun, and even after Jinx had learnt to communicate with her, she’d never given away much of her past. Vander had attempted to find out where she came from, but nothing. In the end, they’d decided her past mattered less than her future.
Isha pointed out a candy shop, and grabbed his wrist. Cotton candy.
Viktor stopped in his tracks. Isha knew all his weak spots, and with those big eyes, he had yet to figure out how to say no to her. But he wasn’t her parent, and so there was no harm in spoiling her from time to time.
He cast down a mischievous smile. “I won’t tell if you don’t.”
Viktor hadn’t eaten cotton candy in a while, it wasn’t common in Piltover, but he had to admit it was hungry. He loved its overwhelming sweetness, the strange, chewy texture.
Taking a break from walking around all day was a good idea too, letting his leg stretch out while he watched the ducks swimming across a pond, Isha beside him with a piece of cotton candy that had turned out larger than he’d anticipated.
Once I’m grown up, I’m going to eat all the cotton candy in the world.
Viktor snorted at that. “Well, that’s rather ambitious. I don’t think it’ll all fit inside of you.”
Not all at once. Eat a little every day.
“Of course. Do be sure to leave some for me.”
Isha might be the only person more addicted to sweets than Viktor, though that might simply be the age. Vander tried to enforce rules to limit her candy intake, but Viktor still struggled with the concept of reasonable limits for himself.
Once, he’d barely eaten, simply too engrossed in his work, neglecting himself because he believed he didn’t deserve to have nice things. And before then, in his childhood, food had been so scarce the concept of moderation hadn’t made any sense. Sweets certainly hadn’t been available. He guessed restraint was a skill learnt in childhood, and now that he allowed himself what he wanted, he did so more than strictly good for him.
You can have some too. Can we go see Jinx now?
They met with Jinx and the rest of the group by the games, where Isha wanted to try a game of shooting balls at targets with a toy gun, the prize for a perfect score a teddy bear larger than Isha herself. Naturally, she wanted it.
“Let me show you how it’s done, kid,” Jinx said with a smile once Isha failed to hit a sufficient score to win a prize.
The little plastic balls hit target after target, and moments later a disgruntled employee handed over the bear.
Jayce tried next, but he too didn’t score high enough to win anything. He hit a couple of targets, but missed most. Viktor pulled on his wrist, and pointed to a different game.
“I think you might have better luck with the hammer.”
“It’s called high strike. And I suppose so. You want me to try.”
Viktor smiled. “Maybe I also want a teddy bear.”
Jayce played the hammer game only once. No teddy bears at that stall, but Jayce won him the biggest pink waverider plushie they had.
Viktor looked smug. “I thought that might happen. Come, there’s this wizard science lab ride around the corner, you’d love that.”
#
Viktor spent the days after recovering from the amusement park, almost worried he needed a vacation from their vacation. Vi and Jinx in particular could be loud, and while he enjoyed their company, he was tired. In theory, he needed to do little if he were to spend the day on the beach. He had a special tip to his crutch to help him move across sand, and he could sit beneath the parasol shade and stay there all day.
Problem was, the beach was packed with people. Too many for his taste, and he couldn’t handle the noise. Nor was his body in an ideal state to go anywhere, the pain not impossible to move with, but worse than on average.
And so Viktor had returned to bed after breakfast, pillows arranged to help support his back and leg, eating from a bag of candy he’d bought at the amusement park the other day. This was part of the reason he never travelled. One difficult day, and he’d worn himself out, physically and mentally.
Jayce returned from his morning swim, hair wet still, and got into bed beside him. Viktor hadn’t expected him to, he’d told Jayce it was alright to go and have fun. That this was the reason he never went on vacation. He couldn’t handle it, physically or mentally.
“I’m never going to an amusement park again,” Viktor mumbled when Jayce returned from his morning swim, hair damp.
He supposed he did have fun with Isha, and the ability to skip all lines had its advantages. And he’d bought a decent supply of old fashioned candy you didn’t easily find elsewhere at the candy shop, a collection Viktor was working through quicker than he should.
Jayce got into bed beside him. “I know it was a bit much for you, but we did have fun, right?”
“I liked the wizard science lab. But next time I don’t think I can do a full day.”
“Half a day perhaps?”
Viktor scoffed. “Tickets are far too expensive for that.”
He pulled at his pillow, adjusting the one beneath his back, and Jayce immediately rushed over to help. That was still new, allowing Jayce so close. Not forcing himself to do everything by himself, no matter how difficult it became. He never liked giving up independence, but letting Jayce help with small things saved energy overall.
“That’s better. You don’t have to spend the day in bed with me.”
Jayce paused. “Do you want me to go?”
Viktor shrugged. “I suppose I like the company.”
Jayce didn’t drain him of energy the way other people did. They fit together, somehow, easy to exist around. He fell down onto the bed, head on the pillow, and Viktor managed to turn onto his side, a pillow between his legs, the waverider plushie against his chest. Jayce had changed out of his swim shorts, wore only his boxers, and Viktor breathed him in. He ran a finger across the red stretch marks breaking through the brown skin of Jayce’s belly, signs of his skin struggling to keep up with recent expansion.
Jayce didn’t have nearly as many of those as Viktor though, and Viktor had struggled with that change in particular, with his weaker skin breaking open red and angry all across his belly and hips. Not painful, but annoyingly itchy.
“I love this on you,” he murmured, pushing a little further into Jayce’s fat.
Jayce had wanted to go on a diet, when he first noticed, or increase the hours a week at the forge even though they didn’t need that for their work. Viktor had shot down both ideas quickly, he wanted Jayce around him, and he wanted Jayce fed. Bodies changed, neither of them an exception.
And after being underweight for most of his life, the extra weight offered such comfort. He liked feeling so soft and squishy, rather than a pile of bones. And while his doctor had warned him he’d gained more weight than strictly healthy, he felt so much more energetic overall.
“I like it on you too,” Jayce said then, rubbing circles into Viktor’s soft flesh. “I reckon there’ll be even more if you keep eating like you have recently.”
“I hope so,” Viktor said, a desire he hadn’t quite dared to speak aloud.
He had no picture in mind, for how he wanted his body to look, or how much bigger would feel comfortable. He hadn’t been trying to gain weight exactly, but he’d also made no effort moderating what he ate, and had no self control with anything sweet.
Viktor might treat it like an experiment. Keep track of exactly what he ate, and map out the changes to his body. But he could also simply keep eating all he liked, and wait for the results. Both had their appeal, in their own way.
Jayce only kissed him in response. “Then I hope so too.”
“I think I’d like to sleep now.”
Perhaps next vacation, he’d go with just Jayce, not so many people around it exhausted him to this degree. Though now at least Jayce could spend time with the others when Viktor needed rest.
“Have a good rest. I’ll see you for lunch.”
#
The day after, Viktor still had to take things slow, and he visited the beach to read. The day after, Jayce took him and Ekko on a daytrip covering all nearby museums that caught their interest, and not long after it was time to return to Piltover.
He could use a vacation from his vacation, but on the other hand, going back to his regular routine would be plenty. He still had projects to finish after all, and that familiarity was relaxing in its own way.
“You are happy, right, that you came along?” Jayce asked once they were back in the lab.
Viktor shrugged. “I think so? I would like to try again sometime. Though preferably not for another year.”