Work Text:
the darkened dimly lit room carried a sense of heaviness to it. perhaps it was due to the fact the few light sources in the room were flickering candles that danced and shimmered at every breath breathed by the sole two figures that inhabited the area , or perhaps it was their concentrated and studious demeanour they portrayed that gave the room such an intense feel to it.
they both sat at the aged wooden table, located in the centre of the room, covered in an array of items ranging from pencils to beautifully intricate metal scraps. blueprints too, lay under the mess. Revealing both intensely detailed and annotated drawings. the sharply cut, geometric sketches, of what looked like mechanical parts, was paired with handwritten annotations, written by a clearly firm hand as the ink had bled quite heavily through the thick paper, even seeping into some aspects of the diagrams.
Paired alongside the sharp mathematical diagrams were smaller, less hardened shapes which looked like they were drawn by a more artistic hand. Alongside them small shaky handwriting spelled words like “blue” or “soft” however, much of the scribble was illegible.
despite the size and faintness, the letters held similar characteristics to respective doodles in that they held a strangely artistic style unique to the writer.
a soft clink-clink quietly cut through the heavy silence resembling the sound of a coin. a pale hand fiddled with a golden cog mindlessly whilst his other hand was occupied with scribbling in his notebook. despite the break of silence, his face showed no sign of hesitation. in contrast, he wore an expression of great content and perhaps tiredness. his bags under his eyes gave away that he had clearly been at this task for a very long time.
his brown eyes studied the book almost lazily, scanning the words at a slow pace. he continued for a while, allowing only the sound of the cog to betray his behaviour. until they skimmed over something that caught his eye. pausing- he stopped his movement and studied the text closely.
“Jayce,” he spoke into the silence, his hand dropping the cog onto the table and moving for a ruler. his voice came out softly, almost hoarse as if he hadn’t used it in a while.
“Jayce,” he repeated whilst hastily scribbling across the book page. his hand moved raggedly, as though it took a great amount to control it in this way.
his call rang unanswered and instead the only noise in response was the soft sound of lead on paper.
he placed his pencil down with force, annoyed that his partner had ignored him. “Jayce!” he said sharply, glancing up to rebuke the man at the other side of the table, only for his frustrated expression to melt into surprise.
the larger man had slumped in his seat. his arm resting on the table whilst the other sprawled out with the pencil still in between in his fingers. his cheek rested on his palm whilst his head was supported by a stack of heavy looking books. his position had him leaning forward and from behind, his jacket slung loosely over the chair’s backrest.
Jayce had fully fallen asleep. Right here in the middle of the workshop.
The pale man’s face still rendered with shock as he processed the situation. at first he felt slightly uncomfortable as he felt unsure of what to do. throw something at him? cough loudly? leave the room? but his doubt turned to something new as Jayce sighed contentedly in his slumber.
his stomach turned and he felt uncertainty rise in him. he couldn’t help but study his sleeping partner.
Jayce had never looked so at peace. He had gotten to know his hardworking, loyal partner and was unfamiliar with this new person. He also didn’t know that Jayce’s eyebrows could soften so much.
A moment passed and he felt a wave of nervousness pass over him.
he shook his head. he needed to get a grip. it was too late at night and he was loosing his marbles.
just as he had began to bunch a piece of paper to chuck it at the sleeping man, Jayce stirred, his heavy eyes blinking and his hands came to his eyes.
“Viktor?” he murmured, his voice hoarse.
“you fell asleep,” Viktor quickly stated, feeling strange that in that moment he felt he needed to fill the silence.
“What time is it?”
“about….. one thirty.”
Jayce groaned, his head pressed into his palms.
“perhaps it is time to call it a day.”
Viktor spoke carefully, standing up and turning so his back was to him. He went for his jacket and slung it around his shoulders. In reality, he felt no need to dress but rather disliked this growing feeling in the pit of his stomach that was telling him to move closer to Jayce.
“you’re definitely right.”
They both gathered their things and headed to the door. Viktor tuned the key and locked the sensation firmly behind him.
they walked down the corridor together, Jayce mumbling about his exhaustion, and stopped at the place where they usually parted.
“i can’t believe how long we worked,” Jayce chuckled and Viktor felt his gut squirm.
“technically it is tomorrow,” he responded
“i’d best get back, Mel’s going to be wondering where i am. she can’t sleep when I’m not in.”
His heart stopped.
Mel,
of course.
how could he… even consider…
Viktor lowered his gaze.
“goodnight Jayce.”
“goodnight Viktor.”
he turned, and they parted, manoeuvring away on his crutches as briskly as possible.
once safely away Viktor let out a deep breath hoping to release the tension in his chest.
he would be lying if he said he didn’t know what the feeling from the workshop was. he had felt it before, long ago.
But he had to suppress it, to not ruin this journey, to not shatter their shared dream.
and that feeling was love.