Work Text:
Jayce should have suspected that something was going to happen that day. It was a quiet morning like no other. The Council wasn’t breathing down their necks, nothing had exploded, and, despite the forecast calling for snow, the sky was clear, with only a light, biting wind. And there was progress that day, so much progress! Jayce was in such high spirits and so focused on the prototype that would hopefully help clear the air in Zaun—a project proposed by Sky with Viktor’s support, and one that both he and his partner were taking turns working on so as not to completely abandon the projects that provided the funds needed to keep inventing and living out their shared dream—that he had to look twice to make sure he hadn’t just imagined that in his peripheral vision.
“Viktor!” Jayce exclaimed, his voice catching as all the air left his lungs.
“Hm?” Viktor, who, aided by his cane, had risen from his stool with a grunt and was heading toward one of the chalkboards to check a detail on the diagram he was reviewing, turned toward him. Seeing Jayce’s agitation, he went on alert, feeling nervous himself. “Jayce? What is it?”
Jayce opened his mouth and closed it again. He was gripped by an intense terror unlike anything he had ever felt before, along with a terrible vertigo, forcing him to steady himself against one of the worktables.
“You... You are bleeding,” he said, low and mournfully, seeing a future ahead of him that he believed had been thwarted by Viktor’s treatments. Jayce pointed to the stool, trembling. He felt cold. This couldn’t be it. The end couldn’t be coming. They had so many things to do. Together. Inventions and progress and places to visit, music to listen to, sweets to eat. Jayce hadn’t even mustered the courage to say he loved hi-
“Oh.” Viktor looked at the stool, a bloodstain on its surface, and flinched, grimacing. “Oh no.”
“Oh no?!” Jayce repeated, astonished, almost outraged. “Viktor, are you okay? Should we go to the hospital? What am I saying, of course we’re going to the hospital!” He said it all in one breath, trying to keep panic from taking hold, but Viktor’s calmness wasn’t helping. “Viktor, this could be serious! You know that!”
“Jayce,” Viktor raised his hand, asking him to be quiet and let him speak. “I’m fine, I assure you.”
“Viktor, you’re bleeding-”
“I know. I’m going to the bathroom!” Viktor announced, his cheeks slightly flushed as he grabbed the bag he had left on the sofa earlier. “Jayce, would you be a gentleman and grab one of my changes of clothes and hand it to me? Please,” he asked without looking at Jayce before closing the door behind him.
“O-Okay!”
Jayce ran to the storage room and grabbed one of the uniforms Viktor had left, kept there as a safeguard in case they needed a change of clothes in an emergency—something not exactly unusual when you were Jayce and Viktor and create things that exploded, caught fire or simply spewed oil... or even worse, more dangerous liquids.
“Here.” He knocked on the door and opened it a crack, handing the clothes to Viktor while looking the other way.
“Thanks, Jayce.”
“Viktor, I really think we should get to the hospital. Fast.” Jayce said, leaning his back against the door, one hand clutched the fabric of his button-down shirt, bunching it up in his fist as if holding his own heart to keep it from shattering. “I know you can take care of yourself, but I’m worried. It’s not normal to bleed... hm you know, like that,” he remarked awkwardly. “That’s never happened to me!”
“It is normal for me,” Viktor said, his voice muffled from behind the door. “Not exactly normal now. But it used to happen to me every month. I was so focused on the gauntlets—which, by the way, I need to show you a small tweak I made to—that I didn’t even notice anything. I thought the pain I was feeling was hunger. It’s fine. Please, forget it.”
“What? And no doctor found that odd?” Jayce asked, not forgetting it. “Did you try to find out the cause? Should we get a second opinion? Are you in more pain than usual? And when was the last time you ate something?” he asked, one question after another, not caring if they were too personal. There was no such thing as personal questions between the two of them after years of partnership.
“You’re going to keep asking questions, aren’t you?” Jayce could hear Viktor huffing inside the bathroom.
“Hm, yeah?”
Jayce nearly fell backward when Viktor opened the door. He was wearing new clothes, though they looked very similar. And his face was very serious.
“Jayce, I’ve been planning to tell you this for a while and now seems like the perfect moment. I’m a trans man! And I’m bleeding, but not because I’m dying! It is normal!” Viktor announced, his chin held high. He was pale, paler than usual. Jayce thought it might be due to the blood he had lost, and perhaps in part it was, but then he noticed the slight tremor in Viktor’s chin. He was putting on an act. He was feigning confidence and indifference regarding Jayce’s reaction. Viktor was scared. He needed reassurance that Jayce still saw him the same way. And he would do exactly that.
“Cool!” Jayce placed his hand on Viktor’s shoulder. “Fine by me, partner.” He gave Viktor’s shoulder a pat. “Does this genius man need anything before showing off the changes made to the gauntlets? Medicine? Food, perhaps? Want me to pick up a slice of that strawberry pie you like so much, Viktor?” he asked, smiling, proud of himself for how normal and supportive he was acting. In a smoothly way.
Viktor stared at him for a moment and then he blew a breath of air, a small laugh escaping his lips as he shook his head in amusement. “You know what? I’ll take that piece of pie.” He smiled, a full smile, revealing his crooked teeth, one of the most beautiful things Jayce had ever seen. “Thank you, Jayce.”
He looked at Viktor, really looked at Viktor, not bothering to hide all the affection he felt for the man in front of him, which was clearly visible on his face, and he himself smiled. “Don’t worry, V. I got you.”