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1.
Jayce watched Viktor pour an ungodly amount of brightly colored spice onto his stew with fluctuating amounts of fascination and horror. He’d actually convinced Viktor to go out to dinner for once, instead of spending all day in the lab working on their new project, and he was glad Viktor agreed, even if he couldn’t look away as Viktor scooped up a bite with a piece of flatbread, his graceful hands contrasting starkly with the extremely over-seasoned food.
“Geez Vik, would you like some stew with that spice?”
“Hm?” Viktor questioned, in the middle of swiping another bite.
“I’m just surprised you can taste the stew, is all. You’ve added so much- what even is that anyway?”
“This?” Viktor pointed at the reddish, orangish spice that practically turned his entire bowl into a sunset. “It’s xantha, it’s a Zaun thing. You wouldn’t get it.”
Jayce frowned at that. “I could get it. Here, let me try.” And before Viktor could stop him, he dipped his own bread in the soup and took a bite— and promptly started coughing, eyes watering at the pungent taste. “Good god, what is that?”
Viktor at least had the good sense not to laugh. Jayce ignored the hint of a smile playing at the edges of his lips that meant he was internally laughing at him. “I told you, it’s a Zaun thing. Sometimes the food is not always so fresh, so we add xantha. It drowns out the flavor, and now,” he shrugged. “I’m used to it.”
All at once, Jayce’s good humor dried up. He didn’t like thinking about Viktor as a small child, choking down over-seasoned food so he wouldn’t taste the flavor.
“That’s- that’s awful, V.”
“Eh, it is what it is. It is not so bad, I happen to like xantha. Besides,” he glanced at him out of the corner of his eye then quickly looked back at his food. “This is not as bad as what we would do when we ran out of food.”
He paused, waiting for Jayce to ask more. Jayce did not want to ask more. “What would you do when you ran out of food?”
“We ate slugs.”
Jayce’s stomach churned at the thought. “You what?”
“Yes,” Viktor nodded, his face solemn. “It was very tragic. No food to eat, no clean air, nowhere to go. Poor, poor Zaunites. Down there, we had to fend for ourselves. It was just us…. Well, us and the slugs. Slugs were everywhere, so we just…” he pantomimed tossing something into the air and snapping it up with his teeth.
Jayce stared at him in horror.
“Oh,” Viktor said, observing Jayce with concern. “Is everything alright? You’re looking sort of green.”
Jayce’s stomach heaved again, but he pushed it down. “Yup! Never better.”
He turned back to his food, trying his best to push the image out of his mind, completely missing Viktor’s silent snicker.
2.
Jayce and Vi stared at each other in silence, both waiting for Caitlyn to return. She’s introduced them several months ago, and while they got along like a spark and a flint when given a task (Caitlyn banned them from teaming up at cards ever again), they still didn’t quite know how to talk to each other when left, well, unsupervised.
“So,” Vi said, hands shoved deep in the pockets of her red jacket. “You and Vlad, huh?”
Jayce stared at her. “Vlad?”
“Valory? Shit, um, Vince?”
“Viktor?” Jayce supplied.
“Right!” She snapped her fingers. “Viktor. How’s that going?”
“It’s going well. I mean, we hit a few bumps in the road,” he said, thinking of the half-finished device that exploded in his face last week, “but all in all, we’re right on track.” And it was true. At the rate they were going, they’d have a prototype of their handheld rebreather complete in time for next month’s council meeting. As much as they wanted to demonstrate it at this month’s meeting, they were still working out some of the finer details.
“That’s good,” she nodded. “Cait and I hit a few rough patches at the beginning too, but she always said it’s a good thing. You gotta work that shit out to get to the good part.”
Jayce nodded, not quite sure exactly what project Vi was referring to but agreeing with the concept overall. Maybe she was helping Caitlyn create a new training curriculum for the new recruits. It would make sense. Vi’s real life combat experiences would be invaluable when designing training scenarios.
“You know,” Vi added, “I’m glad you guys finally worked it out. Caitlyn’s been saying for months that you two need to get your heads out of your asses and figure it out. No offense.”
Jayce laughed. “None taken. It took us a lot of work, but things are finally slowing down. I think we might actually be able to get some sleep for once.”
Two hot pink eyebrows raised to the top of her forehead. “Damn, good for you man. I didn’t realize you guys were down like that. Long time coming, huh?” Then she smirked. “Literally.”
“You could say so,” he nodded. This plan was one of Viktor’s first ideas early into their partnership, but they couldn’t get the design small enough, so they set it to the side. Before long, it got lost under piles and piles of other projects and schematics, until Jayce knocked the whole stack over and they rediscovered it. They’d been working pretty much nonstop since then, and Jayce was looking forward to collapsing for at least twelve hours. “Every time we’re ready to take a break, Viktor thinks of another idea and then we’re there for another two hours at minimum.”
“Wow, okay, he’s got a secret freaky side, I like it. Not as much as you like it, I bet.”
It was true. Not a day went by where Jayce wasn’t grateful for Viktor. People always tried giving Jayce the credit, but so much of their ideas really came from Viktor. He had insight into the Undercity’s most pressing needs in a way that Jayce, for all of his book smarts, just couldn’t replicate. All of Jayce’s own projects would be far less effective without Viktor’s input.
“People often think I’m the idea guy, but the genius is actually Viktor.”
She nodded thoughtfully. “I can see that. Is he any good?”
Jayce laughed incredulously. “He’s the best in all of Piltover, and probably Zaun as well.”
“Damn,” Vi whistled, low and long. “It’s always the quiet ones, huh?”
Before Jayce could respond, Caitlyn swept back into the room, glancing between them with a soft look in her eye.
“You two seem to be getting along.”
“Oh yeah,” Vi slung an arm around Caitlyn with a grin. “Jayce was just telling me all about Viktor. Apparently he’s the best in all of Piltover. What do you think about that, cupcake? Think we could give him a run for his money?” She wiggled her eyebrows, and Caitlyn went pink.
“Violet,” she chastised. “I did not need to know that about Jayce.”
Jayce watched the proceedings with slight bafflement.
“Come on,” Vi crooned in her ear. “You’re telling me you aren’t feeling even a little competitive? I know you, you’re always competitive.”
Caitlyn pursed her lips. Then… “Fine, you ridiculous woman. Jayce, you can see yourself out.”
Then she dragged a dopey and dazed-looking Vi out of the room, leaving Jayce in the foyer alone.
That was strange.
3.
“That was quite the presentation, Mr. Talis.”
Jayce perked up at the sound of Mel’s smooth timbre, turning around to greet her with a warm smile. It was always nice to see her after a daunting two hours staring at austere, expressionless faces.
“You think so?”
“Of course. I’m impressed with your work. Rebreathers open up an entire world of possibility. Doctors treating contagious illnesses, underwater excavation, enforcers in Zaun… Truly innovative.”
“Oh,” he laughed a little awkwardly. “Viktor and I weren’t thinking about all that. We made them with the Undercity in mind, to provide people with affordable, long-lasting protection from the toxic air. Imagine how much tragedy and senseless loss will be prevented with these! So many health conditions are caused by the smog, and the rebreathers will be able to eliminate possibly as high as 23% of preventable deaths per year!”
“I see,” she said, contemplative. “And how are you expecting to make a profit off of the rebreathers? The Council will need to earn more than the cost of manufacturing them in order to justify the use of resources and expenditure. Most Zaunites will not be able to afford such luxuries.”
“Well,” Jayce floundered, head suddenly empty of everything he and Viktor had discussed about the rebreathers. “We- we’d wanted to-”
Mel’s expression softened as she watched him struggle for words. “Why don’t we discuss it in my office this evening.”
The implied so you can gather your thoughts went unspoken.
He smiled gratefully and wrapped her up in a hug. “Thanks Mel, you’re the best!”
She was tense in his arms, which Jayce wasn’t too surprised about. Viktor was the same way sometimes. Jayce’s private theory was that neither of them got many hugs growing up, so he made a point to hug them when he could.
Mel relaxed half a second later, patting his back with one manicured hand. “Of course, Jayce. I will see you tonight.”
…
Jayce stepped into Mel’s office later that evening and was greeted by an expensive looking glass decanter on the desk and Mel in a different dress than she’d been wearing before.
“You look lovely, Mel. Hot date tonight?”
She smiled at him, her makeup glinting like artificial gold in the dim lighting. “Not exactly. Bourbon?” She gestured at the drink.
“Sure,” he affirmed, setting the glass down when she handed it to him.
“I really am glad you could join me tonight. I know you’re a busy man now, with all of your,” she paused, “scientific endeavors. Between that, the Council, and House Talis, you’re quite in demand these days.”
Jayce nodded, trying to pay attention, but his ears picked up on a faint tap-tap-tap growing steadily louder from the hallway, and it was all he could think about.
“Mr. Talis.”
Jayce snapped back to attention, and the look on Mel’s face implied this was not the first time she’d said his name.
He winced, smiling guiltily at her. “So sorry Mel, I was just-“
The door opened, and Jayce beamed as Viktor entered the room. He’d changed out of his work uniform into something a little more formal, and Jayce drank in the sight. The chocolate-colored fabric flattered him, bringing out the honey-amber in his eyes. Jayce tried not to think too much about the way his vest snugly hugged his waist and the way his trousers stretched over his hips.
“Sorry I’m late, Jayce,” Viktor drawled, precise and slow in a way that did something to Jayce’s insides. “Councilor Medarda.”
“Viktor,” Mel said, eyes narrowed slightly. “What a surprise. Jayce didn't tell me you were coming.”
Viktor smiled thinly and made his way across the room. He took the seat next to Jayce, who reached over and squeezed his leg in greeting. He was so glad Viktor was here. Jayce struggled with articulating his thoughts sometimes, but Viktor never did. He’d be able to explain the rebreather much better.
“Did he not?” Viktor said lightly.
“No,” Mel said back, not breaking eye contact.
Jayce looked back and forth between the two of them, trying to understand the strange staring contest that was taking place. After a few long seconds, Viktor looked away first.
“He asked me to come, so I am here.” Then gaze landed on the decanter. “Ah, bourbon? You are too kind.”
Mel’s face shifted through a few different expressions as Viktor poured himself a glass and took a long, slow sip. Jayce couldn’t help but compare the liquid in the glass to the liquid in his eyes, and the way they both caused something inside of him to burn.
“Now,” Viktor said, setting down the half-empty glass. “Jayce said you wanted to talk about our rebreathers?”
Mel’s posture shifted into what Jayce privately referred to as Councilor Mode, her personal thoughts and feelings locked away as her expression drew into a calm, professional mask, her fingers steepling in front of her.
“Indeed. Let’s begin, shall we?”
4.
Jayce stared incredulously at the blue haired girl in their lab, tinkering with the rebreather and dancing to invisible music. She wasn’t supposed to be there… right? Jayce watched her hands fly expertly over the prototype, tightening the screws and messing with what looked to be the filter, or maybe the mouthpiece. It was hard to tell from this angle.
“What are you doing?”
She jumped at his voice, then whipped around and hid the rebreather behind his back with a wide, guileless grin.
“Who, me? I’m just looking around, that’s all.”
He frowned at her. “No, you were making changes to the rebreather. Here, let me see it.”
He snatched it out of her hand, ignoring her startled “hey!” and examined the prototype.
“This wasn’t here before,” he poked and prodded the edge. “What is this?”
“It’s a secondary filtration system. You factored in the smog, but you forgot targeted chemical weapons like smoke bombs.” She said it very matter-of-fact, and as Jayce turned the rebreather over in his hands, he saw she was right.
“Huh, I hadn’t thought to add that.”
“Duh, that’s cause you’re a soft-bellied little Piltie. You’ve never actually needed one of these,” she rolled her eyes. He blinked at her, and she added “No offense.”
He was too busy studying the design to be offended. “I would have thought the added filtration would significantly increase the bulk and the weight, but this feels almost as light as before.” He tossed it in his palm, evaluating the heft. “How many additional filters did you add?”
“Six.”
He stared at her. “Six.”
“Yup,” she grinned, rocking on her heels.
“No,” he shook his head. “Not possible, not for this size. Viktor and I calculated all the parameters in excruciating detail. Six filters isn’t possible.”
She shrugged. “It’s not my fault you can’t invent for shit. Read it and weep, nerd boy, it’s all there.”
He muttered to himself, hastily sketching the new schematic on a piece of paper, making several notes on the side.
He wasn’t so caught up in his work that he didn’t notice the girl attempting to sneak out of the lab while his back was turned.
“Hey,” he stopped her. “Who did you say you are, and why are you in our lab?”
“I didn’t,” she smirked at him. “But if you really must know, I’m Vi’s sister. You can tell her hi for me!”
Then she skipped out the door, blue braids swinging behind her.
Jayce was halfway through his sketch when he realized she never said why she was there or how she got in.
Once he finished his notes, he immediately left to go find Viktor, who was waiting for him at their favorite pub. Caitlyn and Vi were there as well. They’d taken to meeting once a week because, as Caitlyn put it, he’d spent so much time around machines that he forgot how to talk to real people, whatever that meant. Viktor was a real person, and he seemed to like him just fine, so Jayce took her concern with a grain of salt. Usually Jayce arrived to the bar on time, but today he’d needed to drop off some last minute supplies at the lab, so he’d sent Viktor ahead of him with the promise that he’d catch up.
That was twenty minutes ago now.
He jogged all the way to the bar and right through the doors, too excited to show Viktor the new rebreather to remember propriety. Bypassing any sort of small talk, he squeezed in the booth right next to Viktor, thighs and arms pressing together. Caitlyn and Vi exchanged amused looks from their side of the booth, saying something or other about partners and boys and the honeymoon phase. Jayce tuned them out.
“Take a look at this,” he handed Viktor the prototype, vibrating with excitement as he turned it over in his hands, a frown curling at the edges of his lips.
“Someone vandalized our rebreather?”
“What? No.” It was only then that Jayce noticed the hot pink, purple, and blue doodles all over the sides. “Well, yes I guess, but look here, additional filtration!”
Viktor delicately pried the top off to examine the inner mechanism. “I don’t believe it,” he said to himself. “How did you get this to work?”
“I didn’t,” he beamed. “Vi’s sister did.”
The bottom of Vi’s tankard hit the table hard. “What did you just say?” She asked with a poleaxed expression.
“Your sister?” Jayce said, looking from Vi’s softening brow to Caitlyn’s hardening one. “She improved our rebreather. I ran into her in the lab just a few minutes ago.”
“That little wench!” Caitlin slammed her hand down, palm first. “I can’t believe she snuck in Piltover and sabotaged your project.”
“Oh,” Jayce said, unsure what exactly was going on here. Maybe Vi and her sister were in a fight? “She didn’t sabotage it, she actually improved it.”
“That’s what she wants you to think,” Caitlyn said darkly.
“Is she still there?” Vi chimed in, her voice tinged with something that sounded like hope.
“No, she left before I did. Sorry Vi. If I see her again, I’ll tell her to pay you a visit.”
Caitlyn’s jaw tensed, but Jayce’s attention was drawn away by Viktor’s muttering.
“The spring-loaded mechanism is ingenious. And the addition of filters inside the mouthpiece itself is actually quite clever. Violet, where did your sister study engineering?”
“She taught herself.”
Both Viktor and Jayce stared at her.
“How old is she?”
“Eighteen.”
“Eighteen years old,” Viktor mused out loud. “Creating augmentations like this out of spare parts from our lab? Is she applying to the University?”
Vi snorted. “Not likely. She’s not the studious type, and her hobbies aren’t exactly campus-friendly.”
“That’s putting it lightly,” Caitlyn said under her breath.
Viktor nudged Jayce with an elbow, grinning at him from underneath a flop of brown hair. “Sounds like someone else I knew in university.”
“Hey!” Jayce protested. “I was studious.”
He couldn’t really say anything about campus-friendly hobbies.
After several seconds of staring at each other, they burst into laughter.
Across the table, Caitlyn and Vi gave each other that look again, but Jayce didn’t care. He didn’t care if nobody in the world understood him, as long as Viktor did, as long as they could think back on past mistakes and laugh until their sides hurt, and they had to lean against each other for support.
5.
It took another several days to create a second prototype, after taking apart the first one to create a full schematic and make a few changes here and there.
They also couldn’t get the doodles off of the metal, so there’s that.
They needed a fully operational model to demonstrate to the council, and it had to be flawless. Any small mishap could set their project back months, placing the rebreather at the end of the council’s to-review list. Zaunites couldn’t wait the months or even years a setback might cause. They needed those rebreathers now. Every day wasted was a life lost.
Their council appointment was in two days time, and they only had one more item on their checklist: Testing.
Viktor initially volunteered to test out the rebreather in the Undercity by himself, and for some reason he appeared surprised when Jayce asked to come with him. It wasn’t like Jayce had anything better to do, this was important work, and he wouldn’t do anybody any good sitting around in the lab and worrying track-marks into the floor with all of his pacing, as Sky frequently pointed out.
When Viktor got nervous, he grew still and quiet, withdrawing into his own head. When Jayce got nervous, he apparently annoyed the entire research department about it. It was a problem.
And so, he found himself in Zaun for the first time in months, following Viktor to a narrow street, shadows lit up with brightly colored neon signs that Jayce couldn’t read. The street was fairly busy with a steady stream of people entering and exiting shops, and several tired, rough-looking people leaned against the brick walls, smoking something heavily perfumed and purple. Shop owners on a short break, Viktor said.
It was the perfect location to test the rebreather. The air was thick with green-black smoke, which left a musty, sour, and ever so slightly sweet twang in Jayce’s mouth. He tried to hold in his cough so he wouldn’t stand out so much, but Viktor assured him that many people in the Undercity lived with a perpetual cough, and that he was going to stand out anyway so he might as well cough.
Jayce had thought his thrown together Zaunite outfit was pretty good, but from the look on Viktor’s face, he’d get laughed all the way back to Piltover if he said as much.
“Okay,” Viktor pulled the metal contraption out of his bag. It looked so small and unremarkable in the palm of his hand, just a few pieces of junk soldered together, practically worthless.
In reality, it was worth a heavy chunk of Jayce’s salary, at least the original design. They’d used and discarded many different materials and filtration systems, but part of reason for all their trial and error was to create a rebreather that was not only effective but cost-efficient. It would do no good to create a breathing device for the Undercity if no one in the Undercity could afford it.
Viktor ran a thumb down the edge of the dull metal, and it sent a shiver of something down Jayce’s spine. Anticipation, maybe.
“Here goes nothing,” Viktor said, putting the rebreather up to his mouth. Jayce watched his expression for any minute change, holding his own breath as Viktor inhaled in and out. He took a second breath, then another breath, then took the rebreather out with a whoop. “It’s working! Try it and tell me it’s working.”
Jayce took the rebreather from him, then hesitated for a short moment. The mouthpiece was shiny from being in Viktor’s mouth, and he felt that feeling again, the one that he felt deep in his chest, or maybe down to his fingers.
“Jayce,” Viktor asked. Shit, he’d been staring too long. “Is something wrong? I can clean it if you want—”
“No!” He said too loudly, then covered his mistake by shoving the rebreather between his lips. Where it sat, in his mouth, after having just been in Viktor’s mouth. Between his lips.
It was such a striking thought that he forgot, for a second, to breathe. When he did, he nearly gasped. The air was fresh and clean, void of not only the heavy cloud of smog but also any unpleasant odors wafting through the narrow street.
He pulled it out of his mouth and grabbed Viktor by the shoulder, shaking him ever so slightly. “You did it, oh my god, you really did it!”
Viktor beamed at him, all teeth and dimples in a way his smiles usually weren’t. Usually it was just a quirk of the lips, something small and soft, or sharp or wry. But this was open joy on Viktor’s face, and it was beautiful .
“No Jayce, we did it.” Then his eyes fell on the rebreather in Jayce’s other hand, and they lidded slightly in consideration. “Though I guess I ought to test it one more time, just to be sure.”
He said it calmly, consonants crisp, and it wasn’t different from the way he said everything else, but something about it sent Jayce’s heart racing.
He plucked the rebreather from Jayce’s hand in much the same way, slow, calm, but his fingers brushed against Jayce’s palm when he did it. The touch lingered, and Jayce swallowed thickly. He’d never been so aware of his palm before. Was it hot down here? He was sure it wasn’t this hot before, but now he was sweating.
Now Viktor’s smile was one of his usual ones, just the hint of a smile curling at the edge of his mouth like purple smoke. He always looked like this when he was amused by something Jayce did, or when he was making fun of him, or the day Jayce spent the entire afternoon with a huge slick of oil smudged across his cheek without noticing.
Viktor always noticed. His fingers had touched him then too, wiping off the smear with a firm brush of his thumb.
This felt kind of like that.
Viktor placed the rebreather in his mouth deliberately, holding eye contact with Jayce as he did it, and Jayce couldn’t look away. There was something tugging at the edge of his consciousness, the same feeling he got right before a breakthrough, but he didn’t have time to chase it down. He was too busy watching Viktor, and Viktor’s honey-amber eyes telling him something he couldn’t decipher, and Viktor’s clever fingers run along the edge of the dull metal, and Viktor’s chest rising and falling as he breathed clean air through the same piece of machinery that gave clean air to Jayce’s lungs, distributing oxygen to every part of Jayce’s body, Viktor’s body.
He couldn’t stop thinking about it. He couldn’t stop watching.
It took Viktor removing the rebreather and tucking it away in his bag for Jayce to snap out of his trance.
“Well,” Viktor said, voice strangely upbeat as he messed unnecessarily with the snaps and zippers on his bag. “I would count this as a success. We can make a few final notes on the prototype tomorrow, and then we will be ready to present. You are free to return home. I’m going to run a few errands first.”
Jayce blinked stupidly as Viktor smiled absentmindedly at him without looking him in the eyes, then turned on his heel and walked away, leaving Jayce standing under a flickering neon sign, watching him go.
+1
Jayce watched him go for several more seconds before he realized what was even happening. He was looking at Viktor’s retreating back, the clack of his cane growing steadily fainter.
He was watching him go.
He was watching him go .
All at once, like neurons colliding, it snapped into place.
He didn’t want to ever watch Viktor go. He wanted to be beside him, always.
He wanted to feel Viktor’s fingers on his palm again, and he wanted Viktor to look him in the eye again, gaze burning, and he wanted to share a rebreather like an indirect… kiss…
Stars, he was an idiot. If Viktor could hear his thoughts, he’d call him the stupidest genius in Piltover. Jayce would say back, There’s only two, so all I have to do is be smarter than you , and Viktor would laugh, and Jayce would feel alive enough to sketch a thousand prototypes, build a thousand rebreathers.
Viktor disappeared around a corner, and Jayce jolted into motion. Shit, how was Viktor so fast?
Then again, maybe he wasn’t that fast. It was possible Jayce had been staring after him for an embarrassingly long time. In his defense, Viktor cut quite a figure. As Vi would say, Hate to see him go, love to watch him leave.
Maybe Caitlyn was right, maybe Vi was a bad influence on him.
Twenty long strides later, Jayce reached the alley that Viktor ducked into. He was only a few feet away, and it didn’t take long for him to close the gap.
“Jayce,” Viktor stopped short at the sight of him, forehead wrinkling between his eyebrows. Jayce wanted to smooth it out. He wanted to smooth it out with his mouth. This was going to be a problem, wasn’t it? “Did you forget something?”
Jayce stared at him with wide eyes, unsure quite what to say now that he’d caught him. He wanted to share his revelation with Viktor (he always wanted to share his revelations with Viktor), but he wasn’t sure where to start.
“I- the rebreather. You- and then I ,” he said helplessly, and Viktor clicked his tongue.
“Speak clearly, Jayce. I can hardly understand you.”
He wanted to say something heartfelt about their partnership and Viktor’s significance in his life. He wanted to say Being your partner has been the greatest thrill of my life. I want to be your partner in all things, always. Or maybe something simple but true, something like I love you , or please give me a chance, please let me have one chance, let me prove that I’m worthy to be by your side.
What came out instead was none of those things.
“I want to share rebreathers with you forever.”
He felt like he’d run all the way from one end of Zaun to the other, heart pounding, face completely flushed. He also felt like Viktor’s stupid genius again.
Thankfully, Viktor had lots of practice reading Jayce’s mind.
“Okay,” he said, like it was that easy.
Jayce blinked at him. “Okay?”
Viktor leaned forward and pressed a short, chaste kiss to his lips, eyes laughing at the look of utter shock and wonder on Jayce’s face. “Okay.”
Apparently it was that easy.
As Viktor would tell him later, leaned up against his chest, head on his shoulder, plans for rebreather production signed and approved on their bedside table, it always had been.
Jayce surged forward to kiss him again, over correcting and almost knocking them both over.
Viktor swatted him with his cane, clinging to the lapels of his jacket to stay upright. “Eager,” he chided, humor softening the blow.
“Is that okay?” Jayce said, eyes lighting on Viktor’s eyelashes, the corner of his mouth, the long glide of his neck, his hair. One hand cradled Viktor’s cheek and the other pressed a stabilizing force to the expanse of his upper back, and there were so many places they were touching.
“Still the stupidest genius in Piltover,” he tutted, but to Jayce’s ears, it sounded like yes and I love you and I want to build rebreathers with you forever, even if you let a known criminal vandalize our first prototype with brightly colored, indestructible markers.
“We’re actually in Zaun,” Jayce murmured, eyes landing on Viktor’s lips, half an inch away from his.
“Well then,” Viktor’s voice came out somewhat breathless, and Jayce was addicted to the sound. “I’ll have to conduct further research.”
This time when Jayce kissed him, he didn’t miss. All he had to do was close the space between them. They fit together seamlessly, like two gears interconnected, like Viktor’s dream made reality with steel and aluminum, pressed flush against Jayce’s lips in the city of beggars and dreamers, the city without stars, Victor’s home.
They fit together like they’d always been there, and Viktor’s hair was soft under his hands, and Viktor’s hands were soft on his face, thumb stroking a firm line across his cheek, wiping up an invisible slick of oil.
Jayce pulled back just so that he could kiss him again, then again, then again.
“What are you doing?” Viktor murmured indulgently.
“Just repeating the experiment, for your research.”
Jayce meant it in a goofy way, in a stupid way, but heat flashed across Viktor’s features, setting his honey-amber eyes on fire, and he grabbed Jayce by the back of the head and pulled him in again, kissing him deep and long and making all the words and numbers disappear from his head.
He might have stayed there forever had someone not knocked into him from behind, jostling them hard enough for Jayce to take in his surroundings and realize they’d been making out in the middle of a random alleyway in the middle of Zaun.
“Put on a better show or get a move on,” the hunched, hooded figure that shoved them hollered.
Viktor raised an eyebrow mischievously. “Do you want to…?”
“Viktor,” Jayce hissed, turning red from the middle of his chest all the way to his ears.
“Relax, I’m teasing,” he pet his hair, smile soft and shoulders relaxed of all tension. “You really are clueless sometimes. What would you do without me?”
Jayce sighed into his touch, resting his head on Viktor’s chest in contentment and, despite the smog and the noise and the chaos all around them, complete bliss.
“Lucky for me, I don’t have to find out.”
“No,” Viktor smoothed a hand down his spine, landing firm and strong on his lower back, holding him up. Always holding him up. “You don’t.”