Work Text:
Jayce has never seen Viktor this way before.
Under the dim light of the backstage, hues of purple and blue catch the angles of his face as his nimble fingers concentrate on sewing back the three golden buttons that have popped off of Jayce's chest. Viktor flattens the white cloth with the palm of his hand as his amber eyes squint at the second button.
"Deep breaths, Jayce," Viktor's gentle accent encourages when he notices Jayce panting softly. Viktor's got his cane hanging off the crook of his elbow by a strap. "Consider it a good thing the buttons decided to surrender here instead of onstage."
Jayce lets out a quiet chuckle. "Yeah, that would've been pretty embarrassing."
They don't address how that even happened in the first place. Jayce had gotten a little too excited as they neared the final act, and he caught Viktor watching him with such a bright and hopeful look in his eyes — wait, did he always look at Jayce like that? — that he ended up swooping his best friend into a tight embrace the moment he got off the stage.
His prince costume — which Viktor had sewn himself — had other ideas.
Jayce watches Viktor sew the third button on with efficiency but finds himself distracted by the way the now orange lights touch his best friend's lashes.
"Do you still remember your lines?" Viktor asks.
Jayce feels caught somehow when Viktor glances up. "U-Uh," he croaks, "yeah, I, um, I do."
Viktor flashes him a toothy smile, the one that bares that small gap between his molar and canine. He gives Jayce's chest a quick pat before looking over his shoulder.
"Well, I think that's your cue." He ushers Jayce to the stage. "Go get 'em, tiger. That's the right expression, yes?"
Jayce shouldn't be laughing — the final scene's supposed to be a tear-jerker. But in that moment, as he bursts into the stage and cradles his lover's body with a wail, all Jayce wants to do is kiss Viktor—
Woah.
He wants to kiss his best friend.
His Viktor.
Jayce sheds his tears and weeps and weeps and weeps until the curtains fall to the sound of applause. Everybody backstage is cheering and they all go up on stage to do their final bow.
Jayce should be celebrating — but all he can think about is Viktor.
Ever since last summer, people had been treating Jayce a little differently when he returned to school after puberty hit him like a truck. Viktor, on the other hand, reassured him that he was all good and that everybody must've been shocked that he shot up like a damn beanstalk in a few months. When Jayce got invited this year to join the drama club, he said why not and dragged Viktor with him.
Drama club sounded like it could be fun, and Viktor was really good at sewing things.
Jayce was expecting he'd be part of the production team, not as one of the actors. He wanted to join Viktor's small group of costume designers — but the director told him that he'd be a waste hidden backstage.
Jayce thinks it was her polite way of saying his embroidery left a lot to be desired with.
Still, it didn't explain why it kind of pissed him off to know that the costume design team consisted of Viktor and some guy named Dmitri. Fine, there were others, but Dmitri was the one who stuck to Viktor like damn glue — like, what the hell was up with him?
Viktor said Dmitri just wanted to be friends, and Jayce sincerely doubted that with every fiber in his body. The director often scolded him for looking angrier than he should during practice.
But Jayce thinks the realization that he wants to kiss Viktor makes everything make sense now — why he wants to be with Viktor all the time, why he wants Viktor's attention to be solely on him, why others who try to get too close to Viktor piss him off, and why some of Viktor's friends tease him often in relation to Jayce.
Cait tells him it's totally normal to notice all the smallest things about Viktor and how his best friend always offers to sew back the buttons on Jayce's overly-tight school uniform — a very common occurrence these days after he started hitting the gym. Jayce would always find himself staring at Viktor hyperfocusing on getting the needle through the cloth, the thread following suit, with his chin on the palm of his hand.
Sometimes, Jayce envies the thread for being entwined with the needle and getting to follow its path forever.
"You look like a fool, Talis," Vi always teases when she walks in on just the two of them at the back of the classroom during lunch break. Jayce didn't know what she meant those times — until now.
God. Jayce didn't realize how obtuse he's been!
When everyone exits the stage, Jayce looks for Viktor and finds him surrounded by familiar faces.
"Vik!"
Everybody in the small group turns to him, but Viktor's the only one who seems genuinely happy to see Jayce. The rest just have a knowing look on their faces.
"'He's not my boyfriend,'" Powder stage whispers to Ekko with an exaggerated expression on her face before throwing her hands in the air. Ekko snorts behind his hand as they both eye the pair of 'best friends' with amusement. "Dude, whatever!"
Viktor playfully rolls his eyes before he meets Jayce halfway, his cane striking the wooden floors with a beat of anticipation. "Jayce, congratulatio— Oof!"
Jayce pulls Viktor into a tight embrace that steals the breath from his best friend's lungs.
"Jayce..." he pats Jayce's back with his free hand. "Can't breathe—"
Jayce startles momentarily before pulling away with a sheepish smile. "Oh, uh, sorry..."
Viktor returns his smile before clearing his throat. "Everyone is, eh, getting ready for the celebratory party," he says. "Do you want to go? You are the star of the show, no? They wouldn't want you to miss it."
While Jayce played the main role in the play, he wouldn't have made it far without Viktor running his lines with him while also making Jayce's costume himself. Truth be told, he would've dropped out of the role if Viktor hadn't continuously been there to motivate him each time he felt his confidence waver.
Jayce just wants to get him alone and express his thanks. Among other things.
Jayce leans down and whispers in Viktor's ear. "Can we not?" he pleads. "I'm kinda tired and I just wanna go home with you."
Viktor's ear turns red before he pulls away. He nods and waits for Jayce to finish changing clothes and accept his congratulations and flowers from everyone. His mamá even visits. Jayce reassures her he'll go home on his own with his bike and Viktor.
Maybe his mamá catches a certain look on his face or the tone of his voice, because she doesn't question him further and just bids him good luck. She tells him she'll ride with Mrs. Kiramman instead before leaving.
Jayce finds Viktor waiting for him by his bike. As always, he doesn't complain and simply lights up at the sight of his best friend.
It's so hard to resist Viktor when he's painted by the warm hue of the streetlight. It makes Jayce wonder how he kept missing this every time.
Without missing a beat, Jayce grabs Viktor's face and kisses him. His first kiss is not as romantic as he pictures in his head. He was imagining fireworks and loud music in the background — but somehow, the awkward yet warm press of their lips feels perfect.
Jayce only pulls away because they need to breathe, but not before he briefly catches Viktor with his eyes still closed and his lips suspended on air to meet Jayce's own.
Viktor, of course, pulls away with his face a bright shade of red. "Since when?" he asks, "Since when did you want to, eh, do th-that?"
"Since earlier," Jayce answers honestly, a little out of breath, "maybe since I met you? You know I'm kinda slow with these kinds of things, V..."
Viktor chuckles. "Very slow indeed. I've wanted to do that ever since you confidently gave the teacher the wrong answer to 6 times 7."
That was all the way back to their early grade school days. "Jesus! That long, huh?"
Viktor purses his lips and fiddles with his wooden cane. "So... What are we now?"
"I don't know, Vik. More than best friends, for sure," Jayce says. "Boyfriends? Lovers?"
Viktor hums. "How about partners?" he suggests.
Jayce beams at him as he gets on his bike. "Partners. Yeah, that sounds perfect." He pats the seat behind him. "C'mon partner, let's go home."
Viktor sits at the back like he always does with his cane hanging from his arm — but this time, Viktor doesn't just squeeze the back of Jayce's shirt like he's always done. This time, he wraps his arm around Jayce's waist and lays his head on his back with a feeling of certainty.
That night, Jayce and Viktor return to their respective homes, feeling like things between them are the same yet somehow entirely — wonderfully — different.