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Jayce checked his watch.
This was the last time he'd let Mel talk him into letting her set up a blind date for him. The guy was already fifteen minutes late and Jayce's coffee had gone cold. All in all, this was beginning to look like a disaster and he was about ready to give up.
"Excuse me, please forgive my lateness, I had another meeting that ran over."
Jayce looked up and his mouth dropped open. Okay, well, this guy was hot enough that Jayce could forgive him being late. Dark brown hair swept up into a bun, sharp cheekbones, and pretty golden-amber eyes smiling at him from behind square-framed glasses. The man was dressed in a sweater vest and slacks, a messenger bag slung over his shoulder and a cane in his other hand that he gingerly set aside as he slid into the seat.
Okay, so maybe Jayce wasn't going to have to tell Mel off. This guy was gorgeous. "Oh, uh, it's no problem. I know how those things go."
The man nodded and let out a sigh. "I'm sure you do, but I appreciate your willingness to continue to meet."
For you, I think I'd do anything, Jayce thought to himself, but wisely didn't say. Instead, he gestured towards the menu. "I hope you don't mind that I already ordered my coffee."
The other man shook his head, a wry smile on his face. "Not at all. Though I'm sure yours is not so pleasant anymore. Can I order you another to make up for it?"
Jayce felt his face go warm. That was… forward, but Jayce was kind of into it. Usually first dates insisted they split the check or made him pay. It was nice. "Um, sure?"
"Thank you," the man said again, settling back into his chair. "I hope you will also grant me a few moments to breathe before we get started. The bus was late and so I had to walk which…" he trailed off, motioning to the cane that was hanging off the edge of the table where he'd set it. "I won't be winning any marathons, let's say."
That was a strange way to begin a date, but Jayce shook his head. "Of course. Sorry that you had to walk, I've heard from my students that the bus system around here isn't always the most reliable."
"They would be correct," the man agreed, cocking his head. "I didn't realize you still taught. Over at the academy?"
What exactly had Mel told this guy about him? "Yeah, I teach over at the academy, both undergraduate and master level courses. I'm also the chair for the Physics department, but I'd rather be in the classroom."
A strange look passed over the man's face for just a moment and Jayce was beginning to wonder exactly what was going on. "I see. I commend you for that, it seems like it would be quite challenging to balance that with your schedule. I was surprised that you were able to find time to meet today."
"Well, I was pretty excited about it, to be honest. Everything I've heard about you has been pretty solid." Mel had talked him up quite a bit; said he was a successful engineer in her firm and had some good ideas that they were looking at protoyping in the future. She thought they would get along well considering they both liked to be outside and could talk science for hours. "So what else do you like to do, besides science?"
The man blinked at him. "Oh, well… I suppose I like to read and spend time with my cat, as silly as that might sound." His cheeks turned a little pink as he reached for the messenger bag. "I didn't expect you to be so interested in anything outside of my work."
Jayce scoffed. "Well that seems silly. How else am I supposed to get to know you?"
The same look from earlier passed over the other man's face but then it softened just as quickly into a wry little smile that made Jayce's belly flip over. "You are quite charming, did you know that?"
"I've been told it's one of my strengths," Jayce joked back, grinning widely. Okay, this had started out a little rough, but it was turning around pretty quickly. Plus, he was very pretty to look at and Jayce could get lost in his voice for hours. He didn't believe in love at first sight, but he was already a little smitten. "So, do you live around here?"
He paused from where he was pulling a folder out of his bag. "I do, but I don't see how that's relevant?" It wasn't said rudely, but the man sounded very confused by the question.
Which in turn was making Jayce feel a little itchy. He scratched the back of his neck as he replied, "I was just… I don't know, I was just curious, I guess? Maybe you travel a lot, that's why you're here, you know?" He knew Mel traveled a lot for the firm, but he'd never asked if any of the engineers or anyone else did too.
The man set the folder down on the table. It didn't look like something someone would bring to a date, but he'd heard weirder things. Vi once told him about a guy who asked her sister out with a hedgehog in his pocket, so who was he to judge? Maybe it had some first date questions or something in because he was nervous. Jayce could play along. "I do travel, yes, but I currently reside here in Piltover. It's one of the reasons I wanted to meet. You are also local?"
"Yes, I am. I've lived in Piltover for most of my life, though I was born in Ixtal. Child of an immigrant, you know?"
He nodded. "I do. While my parents never immigrated, I am also not from here originally. I am originally from Zaun, in the lower country."
Well, Mel hadn't mentioned that. Not that it was a problem, but maybe he wouldn't have made himself look like a bit of an ass when he blushed. "Oh, I didn't realize. That's pretty amazing, though. My little sister's girlfriend is from Zaun, but I think she's from some of the upper parts. Well, she's not really my little sister, but close enough to count, I think."
"I… see." The air grew a little awkward around them and Jayce had to clear his throat. "Well, I think we should go ahead and get started."
"Started? What do you mean-"
Whatever Jayce had been prepared to say was cut off when the waitress appeared and the man rattled off his order of hot tea and a scone, then motioned for Jayce to do the same. He ordered the same coffee from before, despite the other one being mostly untouched, and was beginning to feel a little rattled. "So, um, you were saying about starting something?"
The man nodded and opened the folder up. Inside were what looked like blueprints for devices that Jayce had never seen. Again, something weird to bring to a date, but maybe this was just how engineers flirted? They were pretty complex and despite himself, Jayce was fascinated. "Oh wow. These are amazing! This is your work?"
"Yes? Who else's would it be?" the man sounded offended.
Jayce put up his hands. "Sorry, I didn't mean to upset you. These are just really cool. Especially this one, but wouldn't it work better if the battery was internal instead of external? It seems like the dermal interface would run smoother if it was uninterrupted."
Jayce looked up to see the man staring at him, blinking again. "I… I suppose it would. The problem is that I wasn't sure how to introduce the internal casing because the power source would need to be so small. The math works but-"
"You might need to just switch to a different power source, or switch to a different alloy that would work better with power source you've outlined here. Do you mind if I-" he motioned towards the pen the man had retrieved and started scribbling on the notes himself. It was exhilarating, even if this probably the weirdest date he'd ever been on and probably the best. Maybe that made him weird too. "There, something like that? I had a student who used that alloy in a project and it worked wonderfully as a conductor."
"That… well, are you sure you want me to take these now? We haven't agreed on terms or worked out anything about this partnership."
That seemed like a jump. Jayce was known for moving a little fast, but this was even a bit much for him. "Partnership? That seems a bit much for a first date, don't you think?"
The man froze.
"What?"
"What?" Jayce echoed.
Their drinks arrived and the other man took a hearty sip of his tea, despite the steam rolling off the cup. "First date?"
A slow sinking feeling began in Jayce's gut. "Yeah. Our first date? Blind date? Set up by Mel?"
"I don't know any Mel."
Oh. Oh god. No way. "Are you not the guy from Mel's engineering firm that she offered to set me up with? Peter, I think?" It was bad enough he couldn't remember his name; he probably looked like a giant asshole right now. He'd been so distracted by the man's beauty before it hadn't registered in his brain that they'd never exchanged names. He really was the worst.
The man's eyes went wide behind his glasses. "No, I'm not Peter. My name is Viktor." Viktor, apparently, blinked again. "I guess then it is safe to assume that you're not Dr. Calvert, here to talk about my biomedical research, are you?"
A hysterical little laugh bubbled up in Jayce's throat. He couldn't believe this was happening. "Nope. My name is Jayce Talis, and I'm a physics professor and researcher at the academy." The laughter kicked up a notch and he was surprised when Viktor started to laugh right along with him. The situation was admittedly ridiculous. "Oh my god, well, no wonder you were so confused. I was beginning to think maybe you'd never been on a date before."
Viktor wiped at his eyes underneath his glasses. "And I was thinking that you were incredibly unprofessional." His giggles started to slow down and he took another sip of his tea. "Well, Mr Talis, I apologize for monopolizing your date by accident." He started to gather his things.
Despite not being Peter or whatever, Jayce was not prepared for this to end. Viktor was beautiful and clearly incredibly smart and he had to admit, the research Viktor had hinted at looked pretty cool. "Hey, no. The guy never showed up, you weren't monopolizing anything." He paused, hand hovering over Viktor's like he meant to touch him, anything to make him stay. "And your research was really interesting, I'm not going to lie. I'd love to hear more, even if I'm not your target audience for a proposal."
Viktor seemed to ponder on it for a moment before sitting back down. Jayce couldn't hide the wide smile on his face at how pleased he was. "If you're sure. You do have some good ideas and there are a couple of things that I might be able to pick your brain about…"
—
Four hours later and Jayce was walking away from the cafe with Viktor's number in his pocket and the promise of another date. They had also talked about meeting in a more professional capacity to discuss some other ideas that they might be able to collaborate on at a later date.
Dr. Calvert never did show up and neither did Peter, but neither of them really cared.
Still the weirdest date Jayce had ever been on, but he was pretty sure it was going to end up being the best thing that had ever happened to him.
He owed Mel a fruit basket.