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It was when Jayce had finished sliding the last gear into place, and bent straight back up only to feel pain rush through his back and shoulders and tiredness seep into his limbs, that a shock of realization rushed through him — …dear Janna, how long have I been working??
Sure, he knew they had been allowed overtime tonight for their current project — a new invention they’d been working on, trying to finalize putting together its inner mechanics before they could get to work on the exterior — from Heimerdinger. Ximena as always had graciously accepted to look after Naph and Ama so that Jayce and Viktor could manage their overtime work. (It had taken a lot of promising of a long fun afternoon at the park and an extra story-time for the next day for them to reassure the twins.)
But as he stretched, trying to get feeling back into his aching muscles (oh, he so was going to make sure he and Viktor got a spa day by the end of this week), he wondered — just how long they had spent in the lab? Time could be a funny thing, especially when one spent enough time focused on their task that the outside world seemed to melt away — what felt like a minute could’ve been hours.
Jayce turned to Viktor, poring over papers, his goggles still on his face even though he had just finished welding those machine axles roughly an hour ago (or was it two? or more?? Honestly, Jayce couldn’t remember in this state.).
“Vik…” Jayce began. “What time is it?”
At that, Viktor paused. He stayed still for a few seconds before he sat up and removed his goggles, revealing the equally confused expression on his face, his amber eyes bleary.
“I don’t know…” Viktor mumbled, his voice slightly slurring, heavy with exhaustion. “Why don’t you pass me that saxophone and we’ll find out?”
Jayce turned to the saxophone in the corner — an instrument one of the Academy students had damaged in an accident the previous day, and brought to the duo in the hopes of repairing it. Viktor had done a fantastic job fixing it in his spare time (with Ekko’s help), and it had sat there, waiting to be eventually returned.
He turned back to Viktor, brows furrowed in confusion. “Th— the saxophone? Why would you need it to tell the time?”
Viktor merely shrugged. “Trust me, Jayce—” He replied, waving his arms sluggishly in what Jayce guessed was meant to be a gesture of reassurance, trying to convince him even when it was clear he was equally on the verge of passing out and falling asleep right there. “I’ll be… I’ll be testing… consider this an experiment, of sorts. I’m testing a… hypothesis, you could say.”
Jayce stared at Viktor for a long, silent while, his expression perplexed as he processed Viktor’s words. Eventually, he sighed.
“Okay. Whatever you say.” He said as he strode over to pick up the saxophone. He’d known better than to question Viktor’s ideas or else they would be stuck here all night debating back and forth.
He walked back to hand the instrument over to Viktor, who huffed as he prepared.
Viktor licked his lips, did a deep breath… and then started blowing.
Minutes earlier, somewhere else in the building, a certain Councilor was also spending overtime.
Salo was aware that, as he pored over the papers on the desk he sat at in his office, overseeing reports and records, that the words on the paper were blurring before his eyes. He was aware that every few seconds his eyelids would almost fall over his eyes, heavy with fatigue, before he would snap himself awake. He was very much aware of the throbbing pain in his forehead, from both the refusal to give in to sleep and from the three glasses of wine he had already drank the previous hour.
But he didn’t care. So long as he had his attention focused on the paper, it was easy to forget. As long as his mind was set on usual Councilor duties, it could push away the memories that would threaten to weaken him, and hide the hole left in his heart from a time long past.
But already he felt himself slipping again — a wave of exhaustion rearing up on him, his eyelids already falling shut, a flicker of wistful memory already fading into view in the back of his head.
The scent of mint, a sweet and floral undertone beneath. Greenish-blue eyes and a coy yet delighted smile, framed by wavy brown hair, everything ever so complimented by either a cape or a jacket in that lovely shade of teal.
The faint memory of laughter, fingers gently brushing against smooth skin and ruffling brown hair, the darling brunette curling up in his arms.
His thumb, gently resting on the other’s lips to pull them down, relishing his little gasp as he leaned in for a—
And that was when he was sharply jolted out of his reverie (and out of his chair) with a most undignified and startled yell, by the most earsplitting sound of a dissonant racket. A grating noise of mangled notes and harsh tunes, distant yet distinct, blaring out from somewhere far enough that it didn’t completely overwhelm him but loud enough that he know it had to be in the nearby vicinity.
As he stared out the window, into the dark starry sky over Piltover, irritation welling up in him at succumbing to his heart’s weaknesses again and being so harshly disturbed by whatever imbecile had made that clamor, he pushed himself to his feet with quiet harsh muttering, marching over to the window and slamming the shutters completely open so that he could lean out.
He had some words to say for the whoever had the nerve to interrupt his peace that night.
It only took roughly 10 seconds of Viktor blowing into the saxophone and Jayce wincing and covering his ears at the discordant noise, until they got a response — a distant scream from somewhere else in the building.
“WHO THE FUCK IS PLAYING THE SAXOPHONE AT TWO IN THE MORNING?!” They faintly heard Salo yell from somewhere afar.
“See?” Viktor said, his tone somehow still satisfied even when it was raspy with exhaustion and his eyelids grew heavy in his near-drowsy state. “It’s 2 in the morning.”
Jayce could only stare, dumbfounded, at his partner and husband. “How… how’d you know—”
“Eh, it’s pretty logical…” Viktor murmured, ever so full of certainty even as his eyes started to fall shut, and he gave another yawn. “Just make noise and eventually someone out there might be irritated enough… to yell out the time… trust me…. I’ve seen this before… doing sleepovers with… my… sisteeers…”
With his head falling onto the nearby table with a 'clunk!', Viktor finally dozed off, leaving the lab silent for a few seconds until he began to quietly snore.
Jayce only shook his head affectionately as he walked over, approaching his partner. He looked so peaceful in sleep, mouth slightly parted as he breathed and snored, strands of his brown hair falling in front of his face. Jayce couldn’t help but tuck some of these strands behind Viktor’s ear, a faint smile forming on his lips as he took in the tranquil sight.
He didn’t stand there forever, though. I can’t leave him here to sleep. He deserves something a bit more comfortable, he thought.
With that, he carefully lifted Viktor up meticulously, taking such great care not to wake him (then again, Viktor had always been such a deep sleeper), carrying him bridal-style over to the nearby couch they had brought in for such overnight times like these. He carefully tucked the blanket around Viktor once he had laid him down and made sure his head was carefully resting on a pillow, making sure he was in a position that wouldn’t cause strain on his spine and braced leg.
And only then, once he was sure Viktor was in the most comfortable position, that he got in to rest beside him, snuggling under the blanket as well as he tucked himself in. For those few minutes before he felt drowsiness tug his eyelids down, he gently placed his palm on his partner’s cheek, gently stroking Viktor’s cheekbone with his thumb.
All those hours staying up so late, and never have I still felt more glad to be with you.
Even overtime, he thought as he stared lovingly at his husband, before he let his eyes fall shut and let sleep embrace him. I’m still the luckiest man in the two cities.
He was definitely looking forward to spending more time with his family the next day.