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Through the view from the window and the silence in his mind, the commune sleeps peacefully. Beside him, Jayce does too.
Three months ago, his former partner appeared brandishing a giant hammer and uttering words of hatred (of confusion, at heart, for hatred is born from fear of the unknown), and Viktor managed to convince him to put his feelings aside and join him.
A smile and open arms were all it took.
For years, Viktor had harbored a secret passion for his friend, and after their most recent reunion, it was finally reciprocated. Rightfully, Viktor apologized for abandoning Jayce, just as Jayce apologized for doing things the wrong way. He promised to listen to and respect Viktor from then on, and the Herald's heart couldn't have beaten faster when, right after that promise, Jayce held his face — a familiar touch, even if it had never happened before in their relationship.
Little by little, the two reconnected, and their connection deepened. Jayce asked not to be healed like the others; he wanted the energy used on him to be redirected to someone more important. “You are the most important in the world though,” Viktor said, without much thought, something unusual for his personality, and in response, Jayce touched his face again in that way, his thumb too close to his lips, his eyes staring too intently into his.
After a week, Viktor, with courage probably drawn from his new body, finally kissed him — right on the third time Jayce touched his face — and was promptly reciprocated, as if there were no doubt about what the two should mean to each other. After ten days, he invited Jayce to his quarters at night, pulling him by the collar with more hot kisses. There was something addictive about Jayce's body, still unhealed by Viktor, as if their natures were so different that they needed to explore each other as one.
Which happened very often, since, despite no longer practicing their profession, both remained scientists at heart. His new existence was a catalyst for Jayce to undress him in analysis, touch his curves with curiosity, and ask to experience Viktor in his new glory. Jayce ran his fingers over his new holes — lighting from the Arcane's magic —, admired the light emanating from his crevices, treated his body as something divine, precious, and appetizing all at once. He kissed his leg the way Viktor had wanted him to in their past life, and took his insides as if his body were still the same as before. He kissed him so much that his lips cracked, and Viktor kissed them back, hoping to heal them with the magic of his love.
That time, and every time that followed, they followed the script. And, in a way, Viktor never felt tired of it — having Jayce living inside him was something he had always dreamed of, and with the real thing happening, he couldn't let it become any less special.
Even when Jayce clung to him with tears in his cheeks, trembling against his lap.
“I'm a coward,” Jayce admitted, hiding his face, “and you have to see all these crises, V, must tire you out, right? It's not fair—”
“Jayce. I'll never get tired of you.”
After sex, Viktor and Jayce cleaned each other. Soon after, or later during their sleep, Jayce had anxiety attacks that were calmed by caresses in his hair and presses against Viktor's cold body. Time and again, the herald calmed his lover with whispers and caresses, with kisses and squeezes, because his body no longer emitted heat. And it always worked.
That night, in particular, Viktor held him with his head against his chest. Jayce had finished crying — how many nightmares remained in his human mind? Would Viktor ever be able to heal him from mental pain? What had happened during their separation? — and sniffled against his sternum.
Just before falling asleep, Jayce began to caress Viktor as well, his waist already recovering from the marks he had made earlier.
“It doesn't beat…”
“What doesn’t?”
Jayce lifted his face to look into his new eyes — lilac, weak, a mirror of whoever watched them.
“Your heart.”
Viktor took his hand and placed it against the side of his head. Jayce stroked it, and even though Viktor didn't feel it the same way he would have before, he closed his eyes to appreciate it.
“But right here I still love you. I'm still capable of it.”
A pause. Jayce was analyzing his features, he knew.
“I love you too, Viktor.” He kissed his lips. “Forgive me.”
“For what?”
“For being such a crybaby.”
Again, Viktor pulled them onto the bed, covering them both, letting Jayce snuggle against his body. Perfectly fitted together, they could rest their foreheads together, watching each other sleep.
“Don't apologize for that, Jayce. Whenever you need me, I'll be here.”
And they kissed once more.