Archive of Our Own

Looking back at his life wasn’t something Viktor liked to make a habit of. Especially now, after he’d lost so much through his own fault. But in this moment, soft and contemplative in his quarters, he thought back to his childhood. The one he loved and lived in before Singed had dug his horrid claws into him.

He remembered specifically his mother’s face, gaunt like his yet elegant in a way he would know in a heartbeat. Ivanna had been beautiful, though in a way that standard beauty couldn’t replicate. She’d always been wiry; her frame had never been feminine in the slightest, now that Viktor looked back at it. Her skin had always been ghostly and pale, dotted with dark moles, and her hair had been straw blonde. 

He remembered through most of his childhood her slate gray eyes had been heavy rimmed with illness, her warm arms thin enough that she could wrap her slender, long fingers around her wrists almost twice over. No other would hold a candle to the soft, comforting beauty she exuded. 

Even in his memories, Viktor’s mother held herself with such grace befitting of a woman made for the stage. She’d often tell him of her days before she’d fallen in love, how in her youth she’d been a ballerina. He could believe it, even without the worn, faded pictures and battered slippers hung in a frame on their kitchen’s wall next to Viktor’s very first mechanical toy on a shelf. She’d always told him to never get caught up in how evil the world outside their little corner of it could be. He didn’t understand, of course, until he was older. No one ever did at that young.

He could remember his father only in bits and pieces. His mouse brown hair, always dirty with soot, crooked smile, the slight lean to the left he walked with, the way he slapped his knee when something was particularly hilarious to him. His father wasn’t much different from his mother, truly, though he didn’t know much about him as a person apart from five facts. He loved Viktor and Viktor’s mother more than anything, he was always proud of Viktor, he was brilliant just like Ivanna, he was the funniest man Viktor had ever known, and he was also one of the most mentally troubled men Viktor had ever known. 

He remembered his father’s reaction when Viktor had joyfully and proudly announced he’d gotten a job as a Canary in the same mine that his father worked in. He’d been in tears, kneeling before his son and holding his small hands tight as he begged Viktor to quit and never show his face at the mines. 

That first night he’d not understood. Why would his father be so upset that he was contributing to their household? Yes, it was hard for him to traverse where he could, and he’d felt like water was in his lungs more than just a handful of times, but he was not frail, he was not weak. He could work, he was sure of it.

Obviously, every person his age had it rough if they grew up in the fissures, but Viktor had been dealt a particularly monumentally shitty hand. A crippled Canary with a miner father and a bookkeeper mother, he’d worked his ass off even just as a child just to get a scrap of the respect that other children had. He’d worked for years, actually, in the mines his father begged him to never experience. He’d been the oldest in the group of canaries he’d been assigned to, so of course it was his duty to watch after the younger children even in his poor condition. He felt like he’d aged ten years in the few months he’d worked in the specific mine where he’d been stationed the night he quit. They’d only had one incident, but it was enough to change Viktor’s perspective of everything forever. 

Something noteworthy to remember now, as in his adulthood Viktor still shook as if he was still ten and shouting at the top of his lungs for the miners to pay attention , was that he couldn’t have gotten there in time to save the poor thing suffocating in the arms of a desperate miner running for the exit even if he wanted to. With how frail he’d been at that age and how deep the other boy had gone into the cave with the miners, he would have died himself if he’d tried any harder. And he’d already done the best he could with what he had. He’d tried so hard. That had sobered him up quickly, watching a fellow Canary die right in front of him due to too much exposure to the gray they all had been inhaling day in and day out. He was so much younger than Viktor had been, and it had been Viktor’s job to take care of him. He had quit on the spot and never looked back, tears blurring his vision as he stumbled home caneless as fast as he could. Which wasn’t very fast. He’d ended up getting home well past dark, his mother fretting over him and cleaning his bleeding scrapes and blooming bruises as he sobbed in her arms.

Viktor, alive and older and wiser and safer , didn’t hesitate to open his eyes and shake himself from the spiral he’d caught himself in. He had a second chance now. He could do things right now. Granted, he didn’t have his parents or… who he wanted the most by his side, but he had Sky, and she was lovely company. Brilliant and sharp and perfectly capable of advising him as he guided the commune. With the influx of new inhabitants, they’d had to devise a plan to feed more mouths faster. He was a scientist before he was a leader, and this was where he excelled the most, after all. He had a lot of time to ruminate on his past in this space, but he also had a lot of time to take care of those he could protect now. 

He disconnected himself from the iridescent tendrils hooked into the ports in his back, drifting down from where he’d floated in his quarters to rest. Right, rest . That’s what he’d been trying to achieve. Serves him right, getting caught up like that when he was trying to do something he’d trained himself out of in the heat and passion of young adulthood and discovery. He supposed he was still a young adult, but that was semantics he didn’t care to delve into.

Huck greeted him at the entrance, all golden and glowing yet so cold in a way that made Viktor shudder internally. He’d never associated gold with chill, not before. It felt so odd to do so now. 

“My Herald,” Huck bowed deep and low, how Viktor insisted he stop doing the first time. It dug under his skin to be treated like he was better than anyone here. And that word, My , it dug further into his heart. What a horrible word. Viktor detested it so. He put up a smile for his most devoted follower, since truly Huck was doing nothing particularly wrong, just slightly uncomfortable. He’d lived with discomfort his entire life. Huck, by comparison, was luxury. Well, not as luxurious as…

Jayce…

“Huck,” He greeted, a little alarmed by his own voice. How it caught in his throat just thinking of his part- ahem. Ex partner. Viktor’s chest did some horrible little twisting feeling like it always did and he stifled the wobble in his bottom lip again. “To what do I owe the pleasure of another talk with you?” He barely hummed out the syllables before Huck’s face twisted into something akin to poorly hidden anxiety. Huck had always been that way, even under Viktor’s careful guidance. Viktor felt a frown pull at his own features in response.

“Oh?” He tilted his head. “This is not a positive meeting, is it?”

“No, my Herald, I’m ‘fraid not.” Huck shook his head and looked to the ground, ashamed he hadn’t guarded that anxiety tighter. Viktor opened his posture some, welcomed Huck’s feelings with gratitude to know them. His auburn hair, streaked with that pristine platinum and gold, hung in his eyes. A deep sigh rattled in his (much sturdier now, thanks to Viktor) chest, making Viktor’s already bleeding heart ache with such a sympathy that he almost visibly wilted. 

“What has happened, Huck?” Viktor gently prodded, stepping closer. The scrape of his metal-alloy heel was the only sound between them for a moment. Of course, he and the other man had grown close as time went on, how could they not? Viktor felt like he owed it to Huck to be there through the shock of suddenly gaining back his autonomy and Huck felt he owed it to Viktor to worship the ground he walked on. It was an interesting dynamic, that Viktor could say at the very least.

“It’s, ah, complicated. My Herald, you’d mentioned a man with a hammer when Salo had… Ah, passed, correct?” The mercury hammer. The HexTech powered hammer only one man on all of Runeterra wielded. Viktor felt suddenly sick to his stomach, ten years old and unable to do anything again. He swallowed and took a shallow breath, no doubt looking pale. “My Herald? Viktor?” Huck reached a hand out to steady Viktor as his world spun. Viktor gratefully rested his own on Huck’s forearm. 

He closed his eyes and let his consciousness flit from person to person in the commune, frantic in its search for gold as warm as the sun through Piltover’s clean air. He wasn’t even sure if he was ready to see Jayce, wasn’t sure if he was ready to face his horrid decisions at their source again. He’d ruined Jayce’s life, building him up like that only to become so harsh towards him near the end. Jayce didn’t deserve that, no matter how much he’d played Piltover’s political games and slept with pretty women while Viktor grappled with his feelings. He needed to see him, though.

Sky perched on his shoulder.

Sky, with her grounding words and her soft smiles and her brilliance. Truly, a star snuffed too soon. He agonized over her death more than he was humble enough to admit.

“Viktor, what’s the hurry about? You know how Jayce is, let him come to you. He always comes back to you.” She said, suddenly standing with him in the infinite cosmos as she ghosted her fingers over his arm. It truly was tempting to let her soothe him, but he felt as if he was consumed by a frenzy. He was desperate to just lay eyes on Jayce again. To see him alive and perfect and golden as he always was.

“I can’t,” He breathed, “ Jayce -!” He choked on a sob and Sky gasped as Viktor crumpled to his knees. His chest hurt . Like a rapidly expanding bullet wound, like the ache of gray as it poisoned his lungs again. He trembled where Huck held him, feeling so impossibly small as the man walked him back into his chambers. He’d have to thank him later for this, as Viktor was gasping for air he felt he didn’t have and couldn’t exactly sacrifice any of the sobs wracking his body to attempt an apology for his reaction. How was Huck supposed to know how viscerally Viktor would react? That wasn’t his fault. Viktor understood his alarm. 

Huck held his face with one hand as he supported Viktor’s torso with his opposite arm, the tendrils of light that the hexcore so graciously provided plugging into his spinal ports with a sickening vacuum sound. Viktor couldn’t breathe for a moment, every memory of making the wrong choice, doing the wrong thing, risking lives he didn’t mean to put in jeopardy slamming into him full force like an airship crashing down onto him. He needed to fix this, he needed to do something . 

As subtle as a gunshot and as nuanced as a slap to the face, like a furnace-hot rod of steel had been shoved into Viktor’s spine, Viktor felt the atmosphere change. Electricity stuttered in the air and Huck held onto him until he could sit upright again, his eyes snapping open as they darted towards the entryway. 

He’d felt that before. When Jayce had first tested the mercury hammer. Something in the world had shifted that had left Viktor incapacitated for hours and the air smelling of ozone and sulfur. He lost what breath he’d caught for a moment as the hexcore fought him into a tense sort of calm.

Let him come to you, it insisted, You needn’t worry, we will take care of everything else .

Viktor felt himself artificially calm, even after he pleaded with the hexcore to let him feel this so he could fix it. Huck gently let go of where his hand had tentatively rested on Viktor’s ankle, now floating just high enough for the other man to press a reverent kiss to the metal there. If the hexcore hadn’t just dulled his senses, it would’ve made his blood boil. 

“I will- … I will leave you now, my Herald… Please, call for me if you need anything .” Huck mumbled, his eyes darting up to meet Viktor’s. Viktor could only stomach to nod at the other man hesitantly. As soon as the other had turned his back, Viktor’s eyes slammed shut in search of Jayce once again. 

And he found him.

Glaring at him through the eyes of a young child not unlike himself at that age, shockingly and heartbreakingly tarnished and worn thin and a complete one-eighty to the polished, pristine, Piltovan political puppet he’d left back in the lab. He’d anticipated this. Yet it became so much more real next to the people of his commune. Salo had been one thing, always privy to overindulgence and hedonism as worship that it didn’t really process next to him.

Oh, Jayce …

Who could have done this to such a beautiful mind? 

It was obvious to Viktor as Jayce twitched and groaned where he stood that Jayce had suffered more than he’d thought, if he could take out that panic and pent up energy on a child. The mercury hammer was poised and ready to fire after all, the blinding ball of pure kinetic energy ready to explode out into a harsh light and hurt how he obviously needed something to hurt. He’d take it on the chin with infinite gratitude and grace if Jayce needed to hurt him . He hardly seemed to not deserve it at this point. But… instead of the hammer’s distinct whine before it fired, a soft whir seemed to hum from it as Jayce disengaged the beam.

Viktor let out a sound like a kicked street dog.

“ Bring him to me. ” He begged. “Bring him to me, please. ” He was gasping as the child obeyed in an instant, still shocked at how much power he held. That small hand seemed to startle Jayce and the hexcore dulled the overwhelming sorrow it brought before it could consume him. Viktor couldn’t watch any longer as Jayce acquiesced to taking the hand, quickly retreating and manually calming himself in preparation for Jayce’s arrival.

The minutes it took were some of the longest Viktor had ever lived through, longer than the seconds it’d taken for his fellow canary’s eyes to drain of light. 

He was terrified.

For the first time since he was a child, Viktor was terrified. Truly, genuinely, heart splittingly terrified. 

And then there Jayce was, and suddenly the fear didn’t matter anymore.

And all he could think about was gathering the man into his arms and holding him until their souls melded together like the Talis steel Viktor had put his full trust into. His Jayce. The Jayce the hexcore had promised him when he’d fused with it, faint whisperings as he’d healed of love and partnership and requited feelings. He couldn’t help the stupid little smile that graced his face like a warm sunbeam as he gazed at his golden boy. Just as radiant as ever, even as he obviously was worse for wear. He’d hoped for Jayce to show him a sliver of affection just as he’d done before, but he didn’t blame the other man in the slightest when that wasn’t what he got. He knew he didn’t deserve it. He knew he deserved what actually came, the sharp furrow of Jayce’s brow and the snarl on his pretty mouth as he raised the mercury hammer to brace on his hip bone. He needed to at least speak to him, though, needed to tell him he was sorry. He fought through the hexcore’s sudden need to raise his hackles.

He was silent for just a moment, he was sure, but he could hear his blood rushing in his ears and his heart beating abnormally normally.

He swallowed, his saliva thick and cloying in his throat. Suffocating him.

“Jayce,” he croaked. He hoped that Jayce would hear every ounce of emotion he’d poured into it. Begged the hexcore to keep to itself just this once. He needed to shut out its whispers. Funny how Sky heeded that plea without having known it was given. 

Jayce’s expression shifted and Viktor lost his breath. Jayce had always been so expressive, wearing his heart on his sleeve more than even Viktor himself. Viktor could’ve sobbed in that moment, truly he could’ve, but his beloved Jayce needed him and he couldn’t let himself get in the way. Not again. He unplugged himself and drifted down to greet Jayce, keeping distance between them so as to not spook the poor thing he’d come to think as almost doglike in loyalty over the years. 

That loyalty had always been Jayce’s downfall. Even now.

“You’re here…” He breathed, not unlike how Jayce had marveled at his life in the lab. “Jayce, I-” He forced himself to pause, squeezing his eyes shut and just thinking for a moment. He couldn’t gather his thoughts, remembering one of the reasons why he’d even agreed to the hexcore in the first place. Jayce had always been Viktor’s downfall. Even now. Jayce would always be, even if Viktor had turned and gone home after the trial instead of going to find him. 

“I am… so sorry, Jayce. What I did in the lab, it was… I cannot fathom how you felt, I… I am sorry.” He could feel the shame of his own actions bubble up in his chest uncomfortably as he failed to meet Jayce’s gaze. “You did not deserve my callous. I should have at least listened for a moment before making my decision.” After all, Jayce had done the same for him countless times.

The silence seemed to stretch on forever. Viktor would’ve been sweating if he could. 

Why wasn’t Jayce saying anything?

Viktor gasped and pulled his arms close to his chest as the mercury hammer clanged against the floor where it slipped from Jayce’s bruised fingers. He finally looked up at him.

“Jayce,” He whimpered, seeing the other man step just the slightest inch closer. “Jayce, please …” He let his face pull taut with anxiety, backing up just the same. “I was wrong, I can accept that. Just… You’re scaring me, Jayce.” Viktor kept his arms close to his chest, his fingers wringing each other as he continued that pattern of backing up when Jayce advanced on him until the floor started to curve. He expected Jayce to reach for him, perhaps in anger, to grab him and shake him the way he’d seen Jayce get close to with councillor Hoskel. What he didn’t expect was for those gentle hands to fall back to his sides as the other man collapsed. 

Viktor was by his side in an instant. In a fucking instant . 

“Jayce, what…” He whispered. “What happened? Did I do this to you? Why didn’t… I could have fixed this, Jayce. I could take away your pain. Let me, please, Jayce. I could- I could…” Viktor lost his breath to a sob and hesitantly reached for Jayce’s face, never touching. He couldn’t bring himself to potentially break him further.

Jayce seemed to disagree, frantically grasping Viktor’s bony metal fingers with an almost painful grip. Viktor startled and instinctively tried to pull his hand away, to which Jayce let him. Easily. Viktor’s hand was right back where it was in seconds, though.

Jayce still wasn’t speaking.

Why wasn’t he speaking? It felt like this was some sort of divine punishment, the universe telling him he’d irreparably fucked up by stealing his love’s voice from his ears. Viktor felt himself tear up. He felt hot, fat tears spill from his eyes and shame burned bright and hot like a tesla coil inside of him. 

“Jayce please say something, I can’t…” He whispered, not trusting his voice to carry the not command in the slightest.

The hand was back on Viktor’s, calloused and careful and warm and tender.

“Viktor…” Jayce breathed. Viktor felt his world tilt as his heart hammered from where he felt like it’d stopped in his chest. He let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding onto. “You’re beautiful…”

Viktor choked on a sob, shaking his head as his shoulders shook.

“Not… quite as I remembered you, But you are so beautiful, Viktor.” Jayce whispered.

“ Don’t say that ,” Viktor begged, “Not when I ruined you like this.”

He felt those warm, strong arms wrap around him and Viktor’s heart splintered and barbed him with the sharp edges. He sobbed. He cried. He didn’t know what to do with himself. He sat there for a moment and wailed out sobs in Jayce’s arms until he could convince himself that Jayce was giving him the opportunity to reciprocate.

His arms were around Jayce so fast that it knocked them off balance, gasping, shuddering cries ripping through him in the silence of the false hexgate. 

Jayce waited until Viktor’s anguish reduced in volume to continue, pulling back to hold his face in his hands. Viktor had missed how those hands felt on him and he reached up to wrap his fingers around Jayce’s wrist to keep him there. The soft tickle of Jayce’s warm breath against his cheek was the most grounding thing Viktor had ever experienced.

“I don’t need to be fixed. You never needed to be fixed either. My sweet Viktor… Let me show you please…” Jayce whispered. Viktor couldn’t help the soft whimper that bubbled up in his throat, tucking his face into Jayce’s warm hand.

And of course, how could Viktor ever say anything but,

“Okay… Okay.” 

Jayce studied his face for a moment, perhaps looking for something to imply Viktor would use this in some way to circle around and bite him in the behind. Viktor didn’t know how to make any other expression than pure trust, though, so he didn’t exactly know what Jayce would find. Whatever it was he did find seemed to satisfy him, though, and he’d begun to lean in in a way that made Viktor momentarily lurch back. Jayce only petted his hand down Viktor’s neck in response.

“It’s okay, it’s okay… Just trust me.” Jayce whispered like Viktor was some startled cat, which probably wasn’t an inaccurate assumption right now. Viktor nodded and sniffled wetly, making himself cringe a little. He felt disgusting, now that he was at least somewhat coming down. The self awareness was short-lived, though, as Jayce pressed his forehead to Viktor’s. It knocked the wind and thoughts out of him and he gasped for shreds of air as his consciousness was thrown ass over heels into Jayce’s.

Viktor didn’t know what to expect.

It certainly wasn’t to find so much of himself . Every corner of Jayce’s mind held something or another about Viktor to a degree that would’ve been concerning if his own mind wasn’t consumed in a similar fashion. His smile, his hands, the way his eyes creased whenever he smirked triumphantly, knowing he’d just solved something Jayce had been agonizing over for days on end. His laugh, his crooked canine which Viktor himself had lamented about countless times, the slivers of skin Viktor rarely awarded him in moments of quiet when he couldn’t quite calibrate his back brace by himself. His moles, particularly the one above his lip and the one below his eye, both accompanied by visions of Jayce tenderly kissing them that pointedly and unfortunately were not real. The slight curve of his hips and the even slighter circumference of Viktor’s rib cage (strikingly similar to his mother’s in a way Viktor had never noticed before,) which seemed to be wreathed in pink and gold and light so warm it hurt to look at. Viktor wanted to run and hide, to shrink back inside himself and never look Jayce in the eye again. Shame reared its ugly head again, darkening everything in Piltover blue even after Jayce’s voice echoed all around him so very warmly. Viktor felt so small. Yet he felt cradled here, like Jayce held him so tenderly in the palm of one of those rough, warm hands. Jayce had loved him so powerfully that Viktor’s own quiet affections seemed miniscule by comparison.

Of course, he was here for a reason, though, one which Jayce tried to gently guide him to seeing. He appreciated the gesture, but Viktor wasn’t some sniveling babe prone to jumping at every sign of-

Oh.

Oh no .

Viktor realized the cause for Jayce’s less than soft concern, the reason he looked so worn thin and tread over.

And once again, without fail, it was Viktor’s fault.

Miles upon miles of warped metal and fractal anomalies, bodies encased in the same alloy that composed his own where he and Jayce sat in the center of the commune, stagnant air that allowed dust and metal shavings to collect in the thick layer of smog that overlaid the entirety of what he could only guess used to be Piltover. Void of sound save for a low, imperceptible hum and the crunch of Jayce’s boots. He hated how silent it was, it made him grow cold deep in his chest. The colors in his astral form shifted dark and sickly as he followed Jayce, deeper still into the desolate world, still in his pretty House Talis colors. His perfect Jayce. Always perfect. 

It made his heart fall through the floor how eerily similar the doll-like automatons looked to his own creation, made him realize with a stark amount of sobriety that it wasn’t a far cry from his plans he held now. How had his hope for a better Zaun turned into something so volatile, something so soulless? Where had he misstepped? Where had he turned his back on his plans for a better beginning, where had his glorious evolution stopped and this began? He didn’t understand, and as Viktor watched Jayce tumble down into a ravine in his terror and desperation to get away from such beings, something wasn’t adding up.

“Wait, Jayce…” Viktor mumbled, pressing his hand against the incorporeal form of Jayce’s consciousness next to him. His heart withered where Jayce had stiffened under it. “This isn’t… you’re not showing me everything.” 

Jayce looked back at him, apprehension and tense worry written into the lines of his face. His beautiful face. 

“Are you sure you want to see this? It’s not… pretty.”

“Nothing is pretty about this, Jayce. I must see what I did.” Viktor whispered, running his hand up Jayce’s arm to his shoulder. Jayce slumped into the touch with a weary sigh unbefitting of someone in their age bracket. Viktor’s eyes flitted over where a replayed memory of Jayce heaved himself out of the crack in the earth, panting and exhausted and much more like the Jayce that had stepped into the commune with the obvious intention of snuffing Viktor out. He looked back to Jayce’s conscious being and let his lips tighten into a thin line. 

“Alright…” Jayce sighed. And Viktor recognized the resignation in his voice, had seen it in himself when Jayce flashed those sad eyes in the lab when Viktor was being particularly stubborn about setting his work aside for the night. Viktor wanted to kiss away the tension from between those dark brows of his. Jayce’s hand grasped his as they drifted deeper into the cavern, Viktor’s eyes widening and his lips parting in a sharp gasp as he watched Jayce’s leg shatter on the impact of the mercury hammer. Viktor sat on his knees beside him, gently holding his face even as his fingers phased through those sweet, warm cheeks. Jayce, even unconscious from pain, was gorgeous. Of course he was, when was he ever not? He wondered distantly for a moment if Jayce could see his thoughts as clearly as he could see Jayce’s. 

He stepped back as he remembered that this was just a memory, that he couldn’t do anything about this now, and thought back to what he’d told Huck upon first meeting him. 

So much senseless pain . 

He couldn’t lean into Jayce like he wanted to, could only stand by him and watch as his memories played out before him. Jayce did come to kill him, after all. He didn’t mean to hurt Jayce. Never intentionally and never like this. He guessed the road to hell had always been paved with good intentions. 

Jayce’s hand on his shoulder startled him, his head snapping up as their eyes met, the taller man’s shoulder strategically blocking from view as memory Jayce delved further into insanity before them. 

He wanted to run and hide. He wanted to escape and make anew, like he had with the canary and Rio and Sky. Who had mysteriously not come to guide him like he expected her to. It was only himself and Jayce here. Jayce’s brow furrowed, his hand reaching up to wipe away a tear Viktor hadn’t even noticed he’d shed. Was he really this easy to read, or did Jayce just know him like the back of his hand like he had for almost a decade? The idea that maybe he hadn’t changed in the slightest while Jayce suffered through this much change scared him, and Jayce looked up at the entrance of the cavern as his memory began to climb, braceless.

Watching Jayce struggle so hard was in equal parts agonizing and fulfilling in a way that made him want to tear his hair out. Now Jayce understood, yes, but how dare Viktor think this way of him? It made him choke on a sob. Jayce didn’t deserve this and Viktor knew it and he wanted to stomp out the small part of himself that thanked some higher power that Jayce understood. 

He never asked for this . 

He watched every attempt, every time Jayce tried and tried to assemble his brace in a way that actually helped instead of hurt him worse, and as soon as memory Jayce was out of the cavern, so was Viktor, petting through his hair soothingly even though this Jayce couldn’t feel it. 

He looked out, over the miles and miles it would’ve taken Jayce to get where he assumed they’d be going, the hexgates looking about as welcoming as the entrance to the cave Singed had met him in. He’d hoped, in a funny sort of way, that there was at least something good there for him, just like Rio had been for Viktor. Jayce deserved peace and quiet after all of this. 

Viktor looked back at Jayce’s incorporeal form, the wobble in his bottom lip unmistakable now. 

“I understand now. I’m so sorry, Jayce. I want to go back.” He muttered. Jayce set a heavy hand on Viktor’s shoulder, his expression still grim.

“I know, just a little longer, I swear. Then we can go.” Jayce whispered.

The way he said it made Viktor’s heart scamper up into his throat, so tender and kind and understanding. He was grateful, at least, that Jayce was holding him accountable in this moment, making it impossible for him to tuck tail and hide. 

The walk to the hexgates felt like agony. Every single time memory Jayce would pause, Viktor would curl his arms around him and beg him to keep going through soft whispers, trying so hard to keep in mind that this had all already happened before. He never lost his love for Jayce and mentally kicked himself once more for ever insinuating that that affection was a bad thing. His adoration, his inspiration he found in Jayce, could never be negative. He saw that now. Loving Jayce Talis was never a mistake. Loving him wasn’t what doomed him, but what did was still Viktor’s fault.

Looking at the mage made something in him shiver, a cold dread spreading out to the very tips of his fingers as he leaned closer to Jayce for some semblance of comfort. That same warm hand rested on his back, grounding him back to the moment even as the mage and memory Jayce’s interaction played back. 

He could distantly grasp that memory Jayce was speaking, but it felt like he was speaking through water, muffled and indecipherable as Viktor stared at himself in the mage.

“I thought I could bring an end to the world’s suffering,” and it was strange to hear his own voice slightly warped by age. He didn’t think he’d ever get to hear it. What did he mean ? Of course they could end the world’s suffering; they could bring an era of peace that could last for eons . Viktor didn’t understand.

Of course he didn’t. He held his tongue.

“But when every equation was solved,” Viktor eyed how the statue looked eerily similar to Jayce, that same dread eating him alive, “all that remained was fields of dreamless solitude.” He looked out at the endless expanse of a decimated Piltover, of a decimated everything , something clicking in his mind as he stared at the automatons. He couldn’t let this happen. His peaceful commune, their dream, HexTech, this wasn’t what was supposed to happen. He was supposed to fix it , not make it worse. His breath caught in his throat and his knees threatened to buckle. Only Jayce’s hand around his waist held him up.

He wanted to run, wanted to wrap his skinny fingers around the mage’s throat and squeeze as the mage continued, just to shut him up.

“There is no prize to perfection. Only an end to pursuit.” 

Only an end.

Viktor choked on a sob and ran frustrated hands through his hair, gripping tight. 

This wasn’t what was supposed to happen. Wasn’t he helping people ?

He curled in on himself, hiding his face from Jayce as he panted. No. No no no. He wouldn’t let this happen. He couldn’t –

“In all timelines,” Jana, shut up –

“In all possibilities,” He wanted to cry. He was crying, he recalled numbly. Tears pouring down his face as he hid from Jayce, kneeling on the floor like he had as he’d cradled Rio’s withering frame as a boy and before his mother to sob to her what had happened even younger. He was ashamed of himself. This wasn’t supposed to happen. He didn’t mean to do harm. He thought he was doing good .

“Only you can show me this.” And suddenly everything made sense. So much so that a wracked sob tore through him, cutting through the tranquility as the memory seemed to pause for a moment. The mage, previously stuck in the replay, turned to Viktor and Viktor all at once felt the strength to flee return to him. He was stuck, though, held in place. The mage stepped forward and Viktor couldn’t stop sniffling and sobbing and being weak in front of Jayce. 

The mage helped Viktor up. They shared a look between them, an understanding as the mage ran a tender thumb over Viktor’s cheek to wipe away his tears. 

You understand now, ano?

I do, but I wish I didn’t have to see this.

The mage nodded, wrapping his younger self in a hug that made Viktor’s heart ache . They’d really grown up to be so much like their father. Viktor hugged himself back and sniffled. The mage just gave him a quick squeeze, before pulling away to give him a smile filled with an emotion he’d probably understand when he was older. For now he let himself be confused, leaning closer to Jayce. For some reason that made the mage smile. He looked at Jayce with so much love and yearning and Viktor couldn’t blame him. How many years had it been, since the mage had gotten to see his own Jayce as himself? The mage’s lip wobbled in the smile it’d been perched in, his eyes drifting back to Viktor. 

He chose this, to be by my side for the rest of our eternity . 

That fact knocked the wind out of him as he looked at Jayce. 

“What am I supposed to do now?” He asked the mage, reaching his hand to hover over Jayce’s cheek. His warm eyes bored into VIktor’s own, opening up his ribcage to take his rightful home in him right alongside Viktor’s heart. An inseparable piece of everything Viktor adored about Jayce. 

“You will make the right decision,” He said, and Viktor doubted him.

“How will I know?” Viktor looked back at the mage, getting a soft smile instead of a verbal response. The mage stepped away to let the memory continue and Viktor’s fingers hesitantly brushed against Jayce’s where he’d dropped his hand. A silent offering.

Memory Jayce’s words were clear this time as he spoke.

“Send me back,” He huffed, and Viktor could understand the anger in his voice, the determination to make things right. “I won’t fail. I swear it.”

I won’t fail .

Jayce hadn’t failed in the slightest, he knew.

The memory faded and Viktor felt himself shift back into his own body, his eyes fluttering open as he took in Jayce’s visage. Warmth radiated from his smile, near blinding in its beauty. Viktor’s bottom lip wobbled and he felt tears spill from him for the nth time that day. He couldn’t stop crying for some reason. He felt raw .

“Jayce,” He whispered, and huffed a disbelieving laugh as Jayce looked at him adoringly, one hand on Viktor’s shoulder and the other lacing their fingers together as they knelt on the chamber’s cold floor. Viktor’s opposite hand came up to cradle the wrist of the hand that rested on his shoulder, his thumb gently rubbing circles into the scarred flesh there. It brushed over the acceleration rune and Viktor pressed their foreheads together once more. Just to stay there, just to show Jayce how much he mattered to Viktor.

“Viktor…” Jayce whispered, and that was all it took for Viktor to heave out a sob harder than the one that came before it, prompting Jayce to pull him in close onto his lap and hold him as he cried it out. Jayce had always been his rock, the man he could turn to when nothing else made sense. 

“Let me prove myself, please…” Viktor whimpered. “I didn’t mean… I didn’t want that, I swear…!” 

“I know, I know you didn’t, Viktor.” Jayce murmured into his hair. “But no one’s perfect, and those imperfections are the most beautiful thing about humanity. The most beautiful thing about you.” Jayce squeezed him gently and Viktor genuinely believed for a moment that Jayce could squeeze his broken pieces back together. He cried out softly as Jayce pressed a kiss to the top of his head.

“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…” 

“I know, Viktor. I forgive you.”

“Let me show you… I need to show you, please Jayce.”

And because Jayce would follow Viktor out of hell and forgive if Viktor looked back, just as Viktor would do the same for him, Jayce’s response was,

“Okay. Okay.”

Viktor let out a grateful little sob and smiled, pressing their foreheads together one last time before getting up out of Jayce’s lap. He helped him up just the same, staring for a moment before wrapping him into a hug and squeezing him gently. He breathed him in, right at the crook of his neck, pushing aside the smell of death and rot to get to the lingering remnants of Jayce’s warm, spiced cologne and the laundry detergent Ximena always bought him. Viktor missed her just as much as he missed Jayce. His warm arms around Viktor’s waist, keeping him close… They felt better than anything the hexcore could have promised him. He didn’t deny it any more. Not like he did when they were still just lab partners. Viktor was unequivocally in love with Jayce Talis.

When they parted, Viktor’s hands rested on Jayce’s chest to adjust the lapels of his coat. He sniffled, taking a moment to breathe and collect himself just a little bit. He wiped his tears away and gave Jayce a wobbly smile. 

“If you’re ready.” Viktor whispered. Jayce simply nodded and took Viktor’s hand in his. 

The first step was always the hardest, he found. And though feelings like these never got easier, Viktor had learned how to deal. He blinked into the sunlight filtering through the commune, a few of his followers turning to behold Viktor. He shied away a little, tucking closer to Jayce in shame as he guided him to the edge of the dirt path. Jayce looked at him, offering a smile, squeezing his hand. This was no time to hide. Right now, in the moment, this place was still somewhat good. His intentions had been good here. He’d only wanted to help here. He tried to remember that as he stood a little straighter. Took a deep breath. Met eyes with his beloved followers, friends, and Jayce. 

The walk was slow. And quiet. The sounds of the commune around them were the only soundtrack in their soft little moment. Viktor watched with tentative hope as Jayce marveled at it all. He’d missed how Jayce’s eyes would widen in wonder at something he’d thought was ingenious, or amazing, or particularly pretty. He thought Jayce had only reserved that look for HexTech and Mel Medarda, but he could recognize now that it was truly reserved for himself. 

The gentle smile on Jayce’s face as they paused at the forge was everything Viktor had hoped for. His sweet Jayce seeing the influence he still held over Viktor, how Viktor had woven him into every decision he’d made towards helping the commune, It was like Viktor had new life breathed into him for the first time since seeing Jayce at the trial. 

Viktor just watched Jayce for a few more moments, taking in every single detail he could and memorizing it in case this was just some strange hallucination the hexcore had forced upon him. It did that sometimes, gave him something it had promised, just to take it away. He wasn’t sure why, but every single time it showed him Jayce he felt something inside of him die just a little bit. So just in case, Viktor wanted to document every little feature and imperfection he could. He turned away after a moment, hand in hand with Jayce as he led him somewhere new before he could get caught staring. 

The beaten dirt of the commune’s paths ended and soft, marshy grass began, wet with the morning’s lingering moisture as the air grew just a hint heavier with humidity, dragonflies and firelights drifting lazily around them. Viktor hiked up the edge of the blanket wrapped around himself as he guided Jayce through the tall grass to the field of yellow flowers the commune got its clean air from. 

Jayce gently squeezed his hand for a moment.

“You kept it.” Viktor looked at him quizzically after Jayce spoke.

“What do you mean?” He curled his fingers into the blanket further and looked back at their joined hands. Jayce gently squeezed his hand again.

“The blanket. I didn’t expect you to keep it.” Jayce stopped and turned so that Viktor could look at him, the motion of his other hand jerky as he internally debated whether or not to grab the hand holding Viktor’s blanket out of the marsh. Viktor’s eyes softened and he stepped closer, squeezing Jayce’s hand back.

“Of course I did. This was all I had left of you.” He said softly. Jayce’s lips pursed thin. Viktor knew it was well within the other’s rights to say that he could’ve stayed or that Viktor should’ve been done with him the moment he stepped away, but he didn’t say any of that. He just gathered his arms around Viktor and gently squeezed him for a moment before pulling away to press his lips to Viktor’s forehead. Not exactly a kiss, just resting them there for a moment in a show of quiet, loyal affection. Viktor’s heart could have burst right then and there from how loved it made him feel. 

Jayce turned to behold the thousands – maybe millions – of flowers before them, linking their fingers together once more. 

“These fields aren’t natural… You bred these here. What was the purpose?” He breathed. 

“Do you like them? They’re what keeps the commune’s air clean. I noticed that the stream that runs through this area had more plant life than the others with similar attributes, and when I looked into it further, I found that these flowers were the cause of it. They consume methane and carbon dioxide at a rate much larger than normal plants do, and are especially good at converting gray to oxygen.” Viktor’s smile came back to him as he rattled off how the flowers worked. He felt Jayce come closer and Viktor plucked a flower from its stem, hesitating with it near Jayce’s ear, before going lower to tuck it into the breast pocket of Jayce’s coat. “With enough of these, the entirety of Zaun could be breathing clean air without wasting energy that could be used for housing, food, and power. Isn’t it wonderful, Jayce?” Viktor looked up at him and he was sure that there was some sort of hopeful expression on his face, because Jayce seemed to mirror his excitement.

“Viktor, that’s…” Jayce hesitated, that soft smile on his face. Viktor adored the gap between his teeth. He wanted to kiss him just to feel it with his tongue. Viktor had never been so eager for another person’s attention and approval as he was for Jayce’s.

“Brilliant? I know.” Viktor preened as Jayce chuckled.

“Of course it is. You are brilliant, V. You always have been.” And oh, that nickname made Viktor melt a little inside. Viktor grabbed Jayce’s hand again and brought him over to a mossy log to sit with him. He had so many things he wanted to tell Jayce.

“You know, Jayce, I never thought I’d ever get to do this with you again.”

“What do you mean?” Jayce looked at him, an unreadable look on his face. 

“I never… thought that I’d get to share… any of my findings like this with you again. I missed this. I missed you. Dearly.” Viktor murmured, reaching for the gear to rub his thumb over. He kept it on him at all times, a quiet reminder of everything good that had happened to him because of Jayce.

Jayce seemed to look at him in a way that made Viktor’s heart do the nasty little twist it always did when he was about to get some sort of bad news. Viktor’s own smile dropped.

“I missed you too. I missed you more than anything.” He muttered after a moment.

“Viktor, I…” Jayce tried, sighing heavily through his nose. Viktor felt that small, helpless feeling creep back up into him. “Look, this is… What you’ve done here, It’s amazing. It really is. This is what I hoped Zaun would be like after I’d passed the peace treaty.” Why did Jayce sound so… defeated, saying that? “Everything is just… You’ve done an amazing job with the place. But the people, you can’t just…” And Jayce paused then, looking like he was turning the subject over in his mind. Viktor waited. He’d always wait for him. Maybe this is what the mage meant by Jayce choosing Viktor. He’d wait for Jayce to choose him, whether it took a second or a lifetime. 

“You can’t make people perfect. You can give them better conditions, you can accommodate them, but what you’re doing is neither of those things. Without the margin of error, the human condition… It just doesn’t exist.” Jayce said. Viktor looked down at the gear in his lap, running his fingers over the anomalized metal. 

“I… I know, Jayce.” Viktor said finally, hanging his head low. A warm hand rested on his shoulder and Viktor couldn’t help but curl into it. “I just… wanted to help… I didn’t want them to be in pain.” He heard Jayce huff out a little chuckle and looked up, giving him a sharp but completely un-heated glare.

“Of course you wanted to help. I know you didn’t want them to be in pain.” Jayce’s smile was back on his face, though it was tainted with sadness. “Just… remember all the times you told me you didn’t need to be fixed whenever we worked together? That your disability didn’t mean you were any less capable than anyone else? I sure do remember all the times you hit me with your cane whenever I became too overbearing for you. Your pain didn’t give me the right to do something about it for you.” Jayce rubbed his shoulder as he said this, and it made Viktor realize he’d been going about this all wrong again . 

Viktor sighed and put his head in his hands, bunching his fingers into his hairline. He couldn’t believe himself. How could he have lost sight of something this important to him? His own autonomy was something he coveted like it was holy. He hated to have decisions made for him, it made him feel inferior, yet here he was acting like he held any position to do the same for others. What a hypocrite that made him. He felt his bottom lip wobble again. 

“I’m sorry.” He whispered, weak and soft but with a finality that begged understanding. 

“I know… I know, Viktor. Hey.” Jayce gently tilted Viktor’s chin up to make him look at him, his soft, warm smile only making Viktor feel worse. How could he smile at him after he’d made such a choice? Viktor didn’t understand. “It was just a mistake. You can still make it better.” He whispered. Viktor couldn’t help the weak, pathetic little whimper that came out of him. Jayce gathered him into his arms again and Viktor gripped the back of his coat tight.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry, Jayce. I let you down.” Viktor felt like he was gasping for air that didn’t exist again. He felt sick. 

“No you didn’t. You didn’t let me down. You did what you thought needed to be done. You just… Didn’t use the right method. We’re researchers, we get things wrong a hundred times before we get it right. You’ll get it right next time.” Jayce pet his hair and let Viktor tuck his face into his warm neck as he spoke. He pulled away after a moment, holding Viktor’s face. Viktor felt the air rush back into his body as he stared into those pretty, gold green eyes. Like tarnished bronze, so warm and beautiful that he believed Jayce just from the way he looked at him.

“I can make it right…”

“I know you can.” Jayce’s smile got warmer and Viktor swore a wilted part of him peeked its leaves up towards the sunlight. “Just… you can fix what’s broken, but don’t take away what makes people… Uhh…” Viktor giggled wetly and held Jayce’s hand on his face.

“People?” Viktor supplied. Jayce went pink and Viktor fell a little more in love.

“Yeah.” And Jayce looked so pretty when he smiled.

“I think I can manage that… I want to improve the lives of the people that come to me… but I don’t… I didn’t want to make them not themselves. I don’t know if that makes any sense.” Viktor mumbled, and the world around them seemed to hum. The hexcore was letting him have a surprising amount of time to himself. It made him wonder faintly if Jayce had something to do with it or not, if the hexcore saw Jayce about as threatening as a fly or if Jayce was just… that good at persuasion. The Jayce he’d known before everything certainly had been.

“It did,” Jayce chuckled as he spoke, kissing his forehead. “And Viktor?” 

Viktor’s almost scared of what comes next, and by the soft, sweet look in Jayce’s eyes, he almost wants to be.

“Eh, yes, Jayce?” Viktor says, and mentally kicks himself for the verbal slip up. Jayce pets his thumb under his eye and a soft, sweet, shivering part of Viktor rejoices in the knowledge that it’s right over the mole under his right eye. 

“It’s not your fault, what you went through.” Jayce whispers. Viktor feels like the world stops on a record scratch for a moment as his heart grows fearful and cold, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

“What?”

“It’s not your fault. None of it. You didn’t deserve any of what happened to you.”

And Viktor feels like crying again.

“I… I know, Jayce…” A soft hand through his hair. Viktor can’t handle this.

“I know you know… I just… It’s not your fault, Viktor. You need to hear it.”

“I’m…”

“Fine, I know. I know you are. Just… Hear me, okay?” Jayce looks at him so earnestly, so desperately, and Viktor feels the world fall out from under him as he nods. 

“Jayce…” Viktor whispers barely above the sound of crickets singing in the tall grass. 

That soft hand pets him again. Those warm eyes bore into him, searching, knowing, loving . Viktor feels breathless again. One of Jayce’s hands moves to the back of his neck and he thinks he knows what comes next. He feels like he’s overflowing. He feels too big and too small at the same time. He wants more of this, this soft quiet, just the two of them. He’s scared. He’s delighted. 

Jayce’s eyes dart to his lips. Viktor wishes he’d just lean forward already. 

He’d thought of this countless times, countless ways, none of them soft and remorseful of missed chances like this. Mostly, he’d thought it would happen in the heat of the moment, after a successful outcome of a project they’d been working on for weeks, or perhaps after a showcase of their latest inventions. Never like this.

Jayce leans forward and Viktor saves him the trouble by meeting him in the middle, their lips brushing just ever so slightly as they breathe the same air. A push forward, Viktor doesn’t know by whom, and suddenly he’s kissing the man he’s loved for a decade, and it’s everything he’s ever wanted. 

How cruel it would be, he thinks as he brushes a hand through Jayce’s sweaty hair, if this was all just something the hexcore was conjuring to keep him complacent. 

He pushes it out of his mind as a warm tongue parts from chapped lips to ask him oh so politely for entry. He gives it, willingly, openly, and a soft sound escapes him as Jayce moves his hands to hold him with a reverence befitting of a god being worshipped by its most devoted, beloved follower. 

Viktor thinks selfishly for a moment that he wouldn’t mind being worshipped by Jayce. 

Viktor’s lip wobbles and Jayce whispers a soft, “It’s okay,” under his breath as he holds him securely against Jayce’s chest. Viktor lets the tears fall, doesn’t try to stop them or hide or run this time. He’s rewarded with a thumb brushing his waist lovingly, and he leans into it. It feels so very relieving all at once that Viktor gasps, shuddering and soft, his hands pulling Jayce closer like he’d fall away if it weren’t for the fingers in his hair and arms around his neck.

“I love you,” He whispers breathlessly, Jayce smiles into the kiss and gently lifts him to place him into his lap. 

“I love you too. I always have, Viktor, and I always will.” Jayce’s voice warbles with the words and Viktor knows Jayce has started crying as well.

Viktor huffs out a laugh, peppering little lingering pecks on Jayce’s mouth in disbelief. He couldn’t fathom how long he went without this. How long he went starving himself of this. And truly he felt as if he was starving. For love, for Jayce, for sharing a space with him again. 

Viktor turned his head just a bit, one hand moving to cradle Jayce’s jaw, and gasped softly as Jayce surged forward to deepen the kiss. His other hand reached to grasp at Jayce’s jacket just to keep himself upright. One of those warm hands rode up the ‘skirt’ of his blanket, brushing even warmer, bandaged fingers up the side of his metallic thigh. Viktor gasped softly and felt like static crawled up his spine, a deep shiver racing it back down. Oh. He didn’t know this was how things were going to go. He wasn’t complaining, though. 

“I’ve needed you,” Jayce growled between kisses, moving to kiss across his jaw and down his neck, “craved you for so long Viktor. Let me show you how hopelessly I need you.” He panted. Viktor felt lightheaded, nodding frantically before Jayce could even whisper, “ Please.”

“Yes…” Viktor breathed, bowing his back some so that Jayce could get more room, his neck tilted to the side. “Alright, yes… Jayce…” And oh how Jayce’s lips felt against where flesh met metal… He’d never get over it. He could feel briefly a zap of discomfort as the hexcore began fighting against him again, hissing in pointed whispers how Jayce couldn’t give him what the hexcore had so graciously blessed him with, but that was drowned out by Jayce’s real, warm, grounding presence making him lightheaded and giddy. 

Those big ( Jana, what else about him was big? ) hands circled his waist and Viktor moaned softly at the realization that Jayce’s middle fingers and thumbs could just barely touch where they held him. 

“You’re gorgeous,” Jayce murmured against his skin, making a hot spike of desire pierce Viktor’s belly. He’d never viewed himself as particularly more attractive than the rest of the general population of Piltover or Zaun, but he knew at the very least that other people thought as much. With the amount of bed partners he’d had before he met Jayce (because if he’s honest with himself he hadn’t had actual sex since then and had completely forgotten it was an option,) it wasn’t hard for him to acknowledge, at least on a scientific and objective level, that he was hot. Jayce made him feel hot though, made him feel pretty and sexy and all the positive adjectives that could go alongside hot.

“ Jayce, ” He keened as Jayce bit into the soft but tense flesh right below his chin, where his flesh began to thicken and harden at his throat. He felt more than heard Jayce groan, Viktor’s fingers tangling into Jayce’s hair to tug him closer like a dog on a leash. A buck of the other man’s hips told Viktor exactly how he felt about that, making him repeat the action with a soft little smile.

“I’m serious,” Jayce’s hands crept down to get two firm handfuls of Viktor’s ass, making him fluster for a moment. “You’re the sexiest man I’ve ever seen in my life.” He continued, then after a moment of sucking a dizzyingly hot mark into Viktor’s neck, “Do you know how hard it was to keep it in my fucking pants whenever you explained your work to me? God, Vik, I came just thinking about you talking to me so many fucking times. You’re addictive.” And if that didn’t preen Viktor’s ego, nothing did. Jayce, the smartest man he knew, thought it was hot that Viktor himself was smart. He shivered. 

“Fuck… Jayce, we-” Those hands would be the death of him, he swore, feeling them massage at his thighs as Jayce’s lips trailed to his collarbone. “Jayce, please …” Viktor was not going to have sex with Jayce Talis for the first time on a fucking log. 

“Mmh… Please what, baby?” And that would be so goddamn sexy and such a huge turn on and get Viktor unbelievably wet if he hadn’t just thought about how uncomfortable it would be to get fucked on a log. 

He curled a fistful of Jayce’s hair in his fingers and pulled, wrenching a moan out of Jayce in the process.

“Jayce Talis.” The whimper that earned him was golden. “You are not putting your penis inside of me until we are back in the commune. I’m not fucking you in the marsh.” He scolded. Jayce nodded the best he could, his hands coming up to grasp at Viktor’s waist once more. 

Viktor paused, thinking for a moment, before trying something.

“Good boy.”

He wanted to eat the moan that came out of Jayce’s mouth at that. Holy shit.

He gently pried himself from Jayce’s grasp, letting go of his hair so he could steady himself with a hand on Jayce’s shoulder. The way Jayce’s eyes followed him almost made him fluster into fleeing, but he stayed steadfast even as his partner’s hands wandered his metal thighs.

He thought for a moment. Huck, bless him, hovered at the best of times and practically followed Viktor’s every move at the worst of them. He needed to think of a way to get Jayce somewhere private so he could enjoy what little peace he had with him without alerting his commune that he was asking Jayce to join by fucking him. Though, it really wasn’t about joining the commune and was more so about the fact that Viktor really missed Jayce . That and the few times he’d allowed himself to think about Jayce like that, Sky oh so helpfully pointed out that the purple under Viktor’s metal carapace went pink with arousal. He couldn’t exactly walk around essentially screaming to the commune that he was horny and wanted Jayce to manhandle him like he was made of nothing but feathers and flower petals. 

He took a few breaths to calm himself, watching as the veins of mana that ran through him shifted back to purple from the hot pink they’d stained into. By that point Jayce had stood up, making Viktor ogle him for a few moments before turning away and inhaling sharply to keep himself decidedly not horny . 

He straightened out his blanket some, definitely not glancing at the hardness in Jayce’s pants. Good lord. He went red in the face, having to take deep breaths again just to keep himself calm.

“Jayce, take your jacket off and tie it around your waist.” Viktor sniffed, trying to seem less obsessed with this new information than he was. The whole ‘Jayce being bigger than him’ thing had fueled many of his fantasies back when they worked together, but they had both firmly agreed both for professionalism and cleanliness purposes that they would never actually have penetrative sex. Professionalism flew out the window when Jayce had discovered that Viktor liked it when he got desperate and possessive during sex, but he prided himself in a clean (ish) workspace that had positively zero traces of human reproductive fluids. Yay!

Most of the time when they did this back at the lab, if not all of the time, Viktor would always be in Jayce’s lap with his back turned to him. He’d always felt how reactive Jayce was, but that was much different from actually seeing it. And even in trousers, what a sight it was. 

“Oh, uh, right. Thank you, Viktor.” Jayce hurriedly shucked his arms out of the jacket, almost getting stuck in the process, before kissing Viktor’s cheek as he tied the arms around his waist. Viktor’s eyes widened and his face went just faintly red. Jayce chuckled.

“Funny how I can get ‘the Herald’ to blush just by giving him a kiss on the cheek.” Jayce teased. Viktor snorted and gently shoved his shoulder. 

“Shut up.” This only made Jayce laugh, his hand drifting to wrap securely around Viktor’s waist as they began the trek back. 

“I can steady myself, you know.” Viktor hummed as they stepped out of the soft earth and back onto the dusty path of the commune. Jayce hummed back in response. It felt like they were stupid academy students in their mid twenties again. Viktor loved it.

“I know, yeah. I just… Missed doing it for you, I guess.” And that made Viktor’s heart swell and warm in a way he’d forgotten it could do. Viktor smiled and reached a hand up to Jayce’s cheek, the other leaning into it and pressing a kiss to the smooth metal there. He almost began to lean in, in the beginnings of shifting his weight onto his heels so he could stand a little higher, Jayce starting to bend in response, before he damn near jumped out of his skin at the sound of Huck’s voice.

“My Herald!” Huck greeted cheerfully. It wasn’t lost on him, the grunt Jayce made in response to the My in that sentence. A mutual sentiment, then. He put a placating hand on Jayce’s arm just in case as Huck approached. “I am so glad to see you were able to talk our guest into some sense.” Viktor had to give Jayce a look so he would calm down. It worked only halfway.

“ Huck ,” He said pointedly, making Huck straighten his back as he realized that he’d made a blunder. “This is Jayce , my partner. You remember how I spoke of him, correct?” Viktor gave him a pointed look, Huck nodding almost immediately.

“Yes, my Herald. My apologies. I didn’t realize we’d loosened up on our values.” Huck said, giving Viktor a look right back. Viktor raised an eyebrow. We’re playing that game now?

“We haven’t. Jayce didn’t know what he was doing was wrong.” Viktor said, crossing his arms. Was Huck jealous? What did he think they had? Viktor was not Huck’s partner, he was Jayce’s. 

“It was your word that declared no weapons, my Herald.” Like Viktor didn’t know his own laws, that he’d written and decreed with his own hands. Viktor scoffed.

“I am aware. Jayce did not come through the entrance, if he did, you wouldn’t have had a reason to notify me of his arrival. The mercury hammer is safe in my chambers, he cannot harm anyone in the commune.” Viktor countered. That seemed to take the wind out of Huck’s sails, and Viktor only felt a little bad. 

“Yes, my Herald.” Huck cleared his throat, his hands going back to their position clasped behind him. “Is there anything I can do for you?” An olive branch, he knew.

“Yes, I request the utmost privacy. I must speak with Jayce on important matters and we cannot be interrupted.” Viktor said. Huck looked like he didn’t know whether to feel overjoyed that he was being useful or disheartened that he was being told to leave Viktor alone. Which made Viktor feel a little worse, but it wasn’t like he wasn’t justified in his need for privacy. 

“Yes, my Herald.” Huck sighed, before turning away to walk back towards the entrance of the commune. 

Viktor looked at Jayce.

Jayce looked at Viktor.

“Important matters, my Herald?” Jayce teased. Viktor laughed.

“Shut up! I did my best!” Viktor’s heart fluttered from how soft of a look Jayce was giving him. He smiled wide, gently grabbing Jayce’s hand before he could put it on the small of Viktor’s back, pulling him towards his chambers. 

“You’ll have plenty of opportunities to woo me when we’re alone, golden boy.” Viktor false-chastised. Jayce hummed and followed along like a lost, lovesick puppy. 

“Won’t that be in what, five seconds?” Jayce mumbled, catching up just a little more so he could cuddle up next to Viktor as they walked. Like an overeager Saint Bernard. It was adorable as much as it was a hindrance to Viktor’s walking.

“It would be, if you gave me the room to step forward properly.” Viktor stepped over the threshold of his chambers and pulled Jayce inside as he spoke. Jayce chuckled and finally, finally looped his arms around Viktor’s waist like he so desperately wanted but couldn’t do when they were out in the open. Viktor couldn’t help the giddy smile that stayed firmly on his lips as Jayce pressed his own over them. He hummed contentedly and propped his arms up on Jayce’s shoulders as he kissed back in earnest.

He missed Jayce. 

He opened his mouth for Jayce to have more of him before he even had to ask and Jayce responded by licking into his mouth and humming. Those big hands began to wander as Viktor backed them both up against the far side of the chamber, switching their positions so Viktor could lower himself to the floor and Jayce could be on top of him. Jayce noticed the break in their previous routine from seven years ago and moaned softly for him, gently squeezing his hands around Viktor’s waist. Viktor sighed into the kiss and moved his hands to run through Jayce’s hair as he let Jayce settle his weight on him.

He loosened the white belt that held his blanket in place and shimmied it off, breaking the kiss for just a moment so he could loosen the brooch that held it to his shoulder.

“Oh? Getting naked for me already? I thought the Herald was supposed to be poised.” Jayce didn’t hesitate to get his hands under the blanket, though, gripping at Viktor’s bony hips as Viktor gave him a dangerous little smile.

“Watch yourself, Jayce. Respectfully, I’ve been waiting to have this with you again for seven years. I go at the pace I want.”  

“Respectfully, the last time I jerked off you were there. So maybe we’re both on the same level.” Jayce’s snark earned him a sharp tug of Viktor’s hand in his hair, and a sharp, crooked canine scraping the soft flesh of his neck. Viktor delighted in the shaky, loud moan he got. 

“I said, watch yourself , Jayce.”

Jayce’s moan only fueled the fire that was quickly catching in Viktor’s tummy, his hands squeezing once more when Viktor tugged his head back further to truly get his mouth on that lovely skin. Viktor hummed softly against Jayce’s throat, watching as he rutted against open air with a sort of sadistic satisfaction. 

“I should be hearing a verbal response, not you humping the air like a dog.” Viktor tightened his grip on Jayce’s hair, the choked off little moan he got was music to his ears.

“Yes sir! Yes sir, please, oh god, fuck…” Jayce babbled. Viktor’s heart fluttered in his chest and he smiled so big. He kissed the corner of Jayce’s mouth and lifted his thigh, before deciding to push how far Jayce could go and lowering it once more.

“That’s what I thought. Good boy.” Viktor was whispering right up against Jayce’s ear now, letting him tuck his face into Viktor’s neck as those big warm arms tightened around him.

“Viktor…” 

“Yes, Jayce?” He traced a hand down Jayce’s spine, the only thing separating him from Jayce’s lovely warm skin being the threadbare shirt he’d had beneath his jacket. That seemed to make Jayce even more desperate, more pretty sounds slipping from his chapped lips as he bucked his hips into nothing. “Are you going to cum just from a few mean words? Poor Jayce. So pent up. I can fix that, if you’ll be good for me.” He promised. 

Jayce let out a sound akin to a sob, pulling Viktor closer. Viktor rewarded him with another sharp tug to his hair. Jayce did sob then, and Viktor kissed the side of his head.

“Please, Vitya, touch me… I’m so close, I wanna cum in you, please, I don’t- Please, touch me!” Jayce whimpered. Viktor flustered a little from the nickname, not having heard it in so long, and almost gave in. Instead, he took a deep breath and pet Jayce’s hair.

“Color?” He whispered. Jayce relaxed like he was boneless.

“Green. So green.” Jayce was panting as he said it. Viktor felt like a man starved. 

“Good. Then you’ll cum where I want you to.” And with that, Viktor yanked Jayce’s head back by his hair, making Jayce moan and tense up once more. 

“Viktor, please, wait, I'll be good I promise, please, I'm begging you!” Pretty tears poured down Jayce’s face, and Viktor wanted to lick them up. He kept that as an inside thought and continued as he was. 

“Hush.” He hummed, kissing Jayce’s cheek. “Either you cum now and get to fuck me after, or you don’t cum at all and I ride your face until I’m satisfied.” Jayce seemed to not know what to choose, but he nodded anyway. His eyes rolled back as Viktor scratched his nails into his scalp, shivering as his mouth dropped open.

“Are you going to be good?” Viktor goaded. Jayce nodded, whimpering when his hair was pulled just from the movement. Viktor knew he was bright pink now, probably glowing faintly like he knew he always did thinking about Jayce like this. “Show me you’ll be good and cum for me. Right here.” He purred. 

Jayce looked about as run ragged as Viktor felt, panting and flushed as Viktor kept tugging and tugging and tugging on his hair. Viktor reached his other hand to gently circle Jayce’s throat, applying the barest amount of pleasure, and that was all it took. The sound he let out was like an angel’s song and Viktor sighed out with him in response, letting Jayce tuck his face into VIktor’s neck as he let go of his hair. He offered him his thigh to grind against finally and Jayce took to it like he hadn’t just cum.

“Overeager puppy,” Viktor breathed, feeling the near oppressive heat of Jayce seep into his leg. “Good boy.”

He let Jayce ride out his orgasm until his hips stuttered to a stop and his eyes dried from their tears, moving his arms to curl around Jayce and pull him close into his embrace. He pet through his hair with gentle fingers, humming to him softly as he pressed his lips to the top of his head. Viktor internally cringed at the feeling of the greasy strands and pulled back to look at him.

“Would you like to freshen up before we continue, Jayce?” Viktor offered, reaching one hand down to massage at the sore muscles of Jayce’s bad leg. He’d ask to at least take the infection away once Jayce got back from his shower. His poor Jayce looked wrecked. He almost felt bad for making him cum like this. Almost. 

He felt more than heard Jayce inhale against his skin, nosing further against the somehow soft and pliant metal there. His warm arms tightened around Viktor’s torso and Viktor couldn’t help the smile and soft sigh he let out. Jayce was everything to him. His whole world. Viktor gently scratched the downy fuzz at the base of Jayce’s skull and nosed into the warmth of Jayce’s hair. Jayce was always so warm. Even before Viktor had changed, he adored Jayce’s warmth. Maybe that’s why he stayed so cold all the time, he was waiting for Jayce to come warm him up.

“ … Yeah… That’d be nice…” Jayce’s warm breath sent a shiver up Viktor’s spine, one so pleasant and comforting he couldn’t even be mad at himself for letting the heat in his core deepen. He smiled and gently rocked them both side to side, feeling how Jayce relaxed his weight onto him. He knew Jayce wasn’t tired. Not entirely, anyway. The man just always liked the comfort of Viktor holding him for a while after something like this. And who was Viktor to deny him when the act of embracing Jayce was one he held close to his heart? So for a few more minutes they sat.

Viktor gently tapped Jayce’s back after he felt he and Jayce had been resting long enough. 

“Jayce,” He cooed, soft and quiet and only for Jayce’s ears. Jayce looked up at him with those beautiful, tarnished bronze eyes. “It’s time to go take a shower. Can you find the bathhouse by yourself,  zlatíčko?” Those eyes darted across Viktor’s face like Jayce was trying to memorize him again and Viktor didn’t try to hide from him this time. Jayce nodded, leaning up to kiss Viktor so very sweetly. So sweetly that Viktor made a happy little hum, unable to tamp down his smile as he kissed back. He gently plucked the flower that made its way into Jayce’s hair out of it so that it wouldn’t get crushed, petting Jayce’s cheek and pulling away before the kiss could get truly heated. 

He reached down and patted Jayce’s ass.

“Go take a shower. I’ll be waiting.” 

Jayce went the most beautiful ruddy red and Viktor wanted to kiss it right off his face as he got up, instinctively reaching for the hammer as he paced around for a moment.

Viktor snapped a few times behind him. “Ah-ah,” He chastised, “No weapons, Jayce. Leave it here.”

“It’s a tool. It’s a part of me.”

Viktor sighed and sagged where he laid. 

“I understand, Jayce. But… You did almost use it on a child today, and I’d prefer not to repeat that.”

Jayce looked almost indignant as he gaped for a response, making Viktor wilt a little bit. He hadn’t meant to hurt Jayce’s feelings, but Huck did have a point. Rules were rules, and Viktor had been adamant about the no weapons rule. It wouldn’t be fair or right of him to make exceptions just because he loved Jayce. He withered even further when Jayce huffed and slammed the hammer back down to seat it firmly into the floor. Soon enough he was in the echoing room all by his lonesome as Jayce sought out the bathhouse, and instead of dwelling on why Jayce’s reaction stung so bad, he decided to be at least somewhat productive.

The ports on his back connected to the arcane tendrils and he hovered just slightly above the ground. He sighed. It would be hard to work if he kept thinking about Jayce, he knew, but what else could he do? He’d just gotten the man back into his life. He’d left him, missed him, managed around the very Jayce shaped hole in his heart, tried to move on, and got him back. He’d gone so long with the emotional handicap of not having Jayce around that now that he was around, it felt like pulling his head above water only for someone to grab a handful of his hair and shove him back down whenever Jayce pulled away. He supposed it was within Jayce’s rights, though. After all, Viktor had done the same.

The hexcore decided then and there that now was a great time to come and pester Viktor. Which truly, that’s what its little speeches were at this point. Pestering. Viktor was tired of living under its conditions, under its law. He missed the freedom of working with Jayce, without restrictions or conditions. It had been seven years since the last time he had been allowed to work independently from any higher power. 

This will not last. It hissed. Viktor sighed. 

“Yes it will. Jayce loves me, he said so.” 

You actually believe him? After all this time, after his intent was to kill you?

Viktor cringed. Yeah, he did do that, didn’t he? He wondered for a moment why Sky’s voice had joined the chorus.

“It’s different this time. I was able to get through to him, I showed him what good the commune can do.”

At the expense of the autonomy we gave you, Viktor. You would be nothing without us.

Viktor’s bottom lip wobbled. They were partially right, Viktor couldn’t have gotten as far as he did without the hexcore’s supplied power. 

But as he thought about it more, and thought about what Jayce truly thought of him, he remembered that sweet smile and the gap between his two front teeth, those tarnished bronze puppy dog eyes, the sweet way Jayce’s voice curled around his name so adoringly, how Jayce had insisted they start signing their names together so that Viktor could gain his footing in Piltover’s academic society. At least, that was his excuse. Looking back, Viktor recognized Jayce just wanted him to be a part of House Talis as his romantic partner. Viktor’s heart swelled with a love so sweet, so kind, that he couldn’t help but smile and take his focus off of what he had been working on (the irrigation systems needed tweaking, if you were so inclined to wonder.)

He will never love you like we do.

Thank Jana. 

That got him an indignant sort of twinge, a sharp bolt of pain down his spine and into the deep muscular structure of his leg. He hissed and stretched out the offending limb to ease it. 

Now that he was thinking about it, something was wrong. He felt a panicked sort of anger deep in the base of his psyche, going into his mind to root out the problem. Apparently he’d been too nosey, since suddenly he was looking through Huck’s eyes, finding Jayce’s staring right back at him as Jayce lifted him from the ground. Viktor gasped and retreated almost immediately. That was… one way to solve Viktor’s overbearing most devoted follower issue, he guessed. While he couldn’t entirely blame Jayce, seeing as he’d seen how possessive he got firsthand, he couldn’t exactly condone that kind of behavior. 

He took a deep breath, focusing for a moment as he thought of how he could… reprimand Jayce. Obviously, he couldn’t actually scold him, he’d seen how that turned out for him. He didn’t want to potentially cause something like what had happened the last time they were in the lab together. In fact, he wanted to avoid that at all costs. He’d almost caused it again before Jayce had left for the bathhouse. 

He remembered how… reactive Jayce had been to him being cruel when he’d made Jayce ruin himself right in front of Viktor, thinking briefly of how it would feel to feel that inside of him, before that train of thought won out and he made up his mind. He’d be fucking the bad behavior out of Jayce. And the bad attitude along with it. 

Viktor heard the shuffle of Jayce trying his best to be quiet as he stepped into the room again, smiling softly to himself. A man Jayce’s size didn’t really get around anywhere very quietly. The soft clink clink clink of his brace shifting with his movements didn’t really help either. He heard Jayce come closer and the tendrils in his back retreated one by one, a pair of warm hands coming to rest on Viktor’s waist as he opened his eyes. He rested his hands on Jayce’s shoulders to steady himself, leaning forward to press his face into Jayce’s now clean hair. He despaired quietly at the loss of the sweet scent he normally associated with him, lamenting internally about how he’d have to make something at least similar to what Jayce used to wear to make him smell of himself. 

“You’re so graceful…” Jayce murmured, like he was scared to break the peace. Viktor kissed the top of his head carefully. “I love you, Viktor.” And Viktor’s heart fluttered lamely in his chest. He was supposed to be getting onto Jayce, yet here he was flustering like some silly schoolboy over Jayce essentially calling him pretty. 

“I love you too, Jayce.” He whispered, kissing the shell of Jayce’s ear and taking a long inhale of his now clean hair. 

His feet were safely on the ground once more, he knew, but as he was set back to his natural height, he couldn’t help but cuddle into Jayce’s arms for a few moments. It was only after this that Viktor truly noticed how cute Jayce looked in the commune garb. 

Oh, how sweet . 

He hadn’t accounted for anyone his partner’s size to join the commune, since on all accounts Jayce was exceptionally large. The result of this was Jayce standing before him in a too small sleeveless hood and an almost midi length skirt. He had wrappings up and down his leg where the brace was, wrapped in gold and gray and white jewelry all over like the rest of the commune goers. Of course, under Viktor’s gaze, he quickly gained the posture befitting of someone much smaller than him, his face going pink and bashful in a way that made Viktor swoon. Jayce just couldn’t get any cuter, could he?

Viktor was pulled out of his thoughts of how he could see Jayce being absolutely adorable like this by Jayce clearing his throat, fidgeting where he stood. Viktor’s heart melted and a stupid smile spread across his face.

“I didn’t find any clothes my size…” Jayce barely got above a shy murmur as he spoke. “I’ll live with these for now, but I might need some proper sized ones eventually…” He said, eyes darting away from where Viktor assumed his own were boring into the poor thing. Viktor simply continued to smile and gently grabbed Jayce’s hand from where it fidgeted with his belt. 

“It’s okay.” Viktor whispered. “You look very handsome, Jayce. It is eh… quite cute, I suppose.” He said, like it wasn’t all he was thinking about. Jayce was adorable and Viktor wanted to take a bite out of him. He rejoiced quietly in the way Jayce’s face pinked at that as he finally looked up to meet Viktor’s gaze.

“Really?” Jayce squeaked. Viktor could have started to cry at how cute that sweet little voice crack was. He smiled wide. 

“Very cute, yes. Though, I’m sorry to say that it will have to come off in a moment,” He sighed, feigning a sad look on his face. Viktor almost wanted to take it back and kiss the actually sad look that dawned on Jayce’s face.

“I saw some of what happened after your shower, Jayce… You know that while I love that you stood up for me, you can’t go around with such a bad attitude.” Viktor said, trying to make it obvious that the scolding was false and he was actually kinda rewarding Jayce for saying what had very obviously become popular opinion around the commune. It’s why he and Salo had gotten so close while he’d lived, Salo was the voice of reason to Viktor’s need to pay back what he owed Huck.

His hands began to wander, drifting up Jayce’s arms as he stepped closer by just an inch. He’d clipped his blanket around his waist for modesty while Jayce had been gone, and now it hung loose around his jutting hips. He gave a quick squeeze to Jayce’s bicep, biting his lip at the thick ridge of muscle that lay just beneath the skin. Even after Jayce had very obviously lost weight, he was still the most attractive man alive to Viktor. His sweet Jayce had no reason to feel like he was unattractive or unfit for Viktor’s love, since truly Jayce would look like he was carved from Noxian marble in any shape through Viktor’s eyes. 

He noticed how Jayce’s gaze went hot, how his tongue darted out to wet his lips. Viktor was obsessed with it. 

“What will you do about this bad behavior of mine, Viktor?” That voice, if Jayce truly used it against Viktor, would have him shaking and weak in the knees. Luckily, Jayce was just being a bit of a brat and not truly using it to leverage any position over Viktor. 

“Eh, reprimand you, of course. My word is absolute here, and I can’t just have my puppy dog growling and snapping at anyone he pleases.” Viktor hummed noncommittally, running his hands down Jayce’s firm, toned chest to look up at him through chestnut colored lashes. He gave Jayce’s pecs a quick squeeze, biting his lip at the firmness. Goddamn. Viktor was such a lucky man.

“Your puppy dog? I think I’m a little bit bigger than a puppy, Vitya.”

Viktor snorted, setting his hand on Jayce’s shoulder at his words and gently pushing down. He would’ve been rougher if Jayce’s leg wasn’t in such poor shape.

“Not on your knees, you’re not.” He cooed, watching as Jayce lowered himself to the floor and set his hands on Viktor’s thighs, his cheek resting on the bottom of Viktor’s hipbone. “A dog all the same.” Viktor ran his hand through Jayce’s hair, gently scratching at his scalp. Jayce’s face nuzzling into his metallic flesh made him smile, his heart softening for him. “Look at you, acting sweet like you’ll get out of your punishment and get a treat. Silly puppy.” The sound that came out of Jayce felt like Viktor got a shot of shimmer injected directly into his bloodstream. 

“I’ll take everything you’ll give me Viktor. I swear it.”

Viktor spread his legs a bit, Jayce’s eyes widening as he gently gripped Viktor’s thighs just a little tighter.

“Are you hungry, puppy?” The hand in Jayce’s hair gently tugged to make him look up a little further.

“Starving…” He breathed. Viktor only chuckled, unclipping the brooch that held the blanket around his hips, letting it drop and relishing in the way Jayce groaned, his hands sliding further up Viktor’s thighs as he stared in awe. He was panting, his eyes heavy lidded and staring at the near neon pink folds that hid between his grayish purple metal legs. Viktor began petting him again as a reward. 

“Please? Can I? Please Vitya??” Jayce whined, swallowing thickly and panting as his eyes darted between Viktor’s wet, warm center and the smirk Viktor knew he had on his face. 

“Go on, then. Needy boy.” Viktor sighed like this was some boring, trivial thing he had to do, when in reality he was just as desperate. Barely a second passed once the words were out of Viktor’s mouth that Jayce lunged forward and wrapped his lips around Viktor’s cock.

A shocked moan left him and one hand flew up to cover his mouth as he moaned, his eyes fluttering shut as his other hand gripped at Jayce’s hair to pull him closer. He took a deep breath in to compose himself a little, (a herculean task, truly. Jayce’s mouth was lethal,) opening his eyes to look down at Jayce.

“Desperate thing, aren’t you?” He teased, breathy and pitched slightly. Jayce only whimpered in response, gently squeezing Viktor’s hip. His warm, big paw was on Viktor’s mound, thumbing at his cunt’s outer lips so that evil tongue could lick just under the tip and suck so beautifully. Viktor set his hand over Jayce’s to hold it where it was as he leaned his head back. He knew for sure his ears were bright red, and if his neck was still flesh, it would’ve been pink. It was, actually. Not that he would know, he couldn’t see where the barrier between supple, pale flesh and hard metal had softened. 

He felt Jayce’s hand on his hip migrate, reaching back and up until it supported Viktor’s lower back, letting him lean back just slightly and allowing Jayce more access. His thighs were soaked in glittery pink slick, glinting in the sunlight from the skylight in the ceiling. Viktor could only moan as Jayce’s lovely mouth suckled so very sweetly on his throbbing cock. 

He looked down, sure his face was flushed and sweaty already as he made eye contact with Jayce.

“Such a good boy… Just like that, puppy…” He whispered, gently scratching Jayce’s scalp. The moan that earned him sent a lightning bolt shooting up his spine, making Viktor let out his own sound of desperation as Jayce picked up his ministrations with a fervor he’d never gotten from any man before. Jayce treated eating pussy like a full time, maximum paying, full benefits job. Viktor was obsessed. 

Jayce moved his hands to grab the backs of Viktor’s thighs, right at the junction where ass and leg met, pulling Viktor to shift his weight so he was essentially riding Jayce’s face. Viktor let out a surprised moan and panted, gripping Jayce’s hair with both hands as his warm mouth shifted to tongue at Viktor’s weeping entrance. Drinking right from the source, Viktor thought absently, before his brain practically melted out of his ears when Jayce started eating like he was starved once more. 

“Jayce…” Viktor whined, bucking his hips to grind his cock against the hard, straight ridge of Jayce’s nose. The slight arch in the otherwise perfect, smooth line where Jayce had broken his nose once before was the perfect amount of friction, and if he could keep going just like this he’d let Jayce lap at his pussy like it was producing honey for as long as he desired. 

Jayce at the worst of times had a big fucking mouth. Ran it like it’d win him gold in a marathon, and often enough that Viktor had to write his scripts for him when he’d first began showcasing their inventions. Now though, that wasn’t a bad thing, as Jayce’s deliciously thick tongue was deep inside of him, lapping up everything Viktor would give him and rubbing at that lovely little spot inside of him impatiently. Viktor couldn’t even chide him for being greedy, as opening his mouth only resulted in the most pathetic, pleasure stricken sounds to come out. How embarrassing. 

It seemed like Jayce wanted him speechless as well, since soon his impatient fingers were drifting lower to brush across his already full hole. 

“Jayce–!” Viktor gasped, his back arching all pretty as his hands scrambled to keep himself steady by gripping the back of Jayce’s head. It was his turn to start panting like a dog, Jayce’s noises only fueling him to keep desperately rocking his hips against Jayce’s mouth and nose. He felt like those seven years of borderline abstinence were catching up to him, and he felt embarrassingly close embarrassingly fast as one thick, warm finger pressed into him. Jayce knew how to play his body like a damn fiddle and Viktor both loved and hated it. His voice went up an octave as Jayce started cruelly thrusting said finger in and out, bullying Viktor’s insides so kindly and so lovingly that it drove him mad. 

“Jayce, wait! ” He begged, his only answer being another finger pushing up into his warm cunt. Viktor keened and closed his eyes tight, his chest rising and falling rapidly as he tried to catch his breath. He hadn’t stopped when Jayce asked, why would Jayce? Just to be sure Jayce knew how much Viktor was enjoying himself, though, He choked off a moan to whimper out:

“Green, green! Green green greengreengreen …!” Viktor wanted to jab his ankle into Jayce’s back for the sinfully sexy chuckle he heard but refrained, focusing instead on how Jayce’s mouth moved back up to suck maddeningly and lick tight little circles around his cock, his fingers working tirelessly to press against the spongy, slightly warm spot inside of Viktor. 

Viktor couldn’t help but shakily moan and scramble for purchase in Jayce’s hair, his legs tensing and his toes curling as he tried desperately to keep up.

“Jayce! Fff fuck …! I’m going- ohhh Jana , FUCK!” Viktor babbled, feeling the hot, sharp, stinging coil in his stomach launch from potential energy to kinetic energy as he came hard . His voice broke on the moan – almost wail – he let out and his ears rang as white exploded in his vision, hot and bright and overwhelming. Jayce damn near shoved a third finger inside of him (probably just to feel Viktor tense and spasm around him) and sucked harder. His moans only drove Viktor closer to madness. 

Viktor couldn’t think, couldn’t speak, only mewling and keening for Jayce as he fingerfucked him through the most mind blowing orgasm he’d ever experienced. It had been a minute, okay?

He was infinitely thankful that Jayce knew his boundaries, knew where the line for pleasurable overstimulation ended and painful discomfort began, because as soon as he began to whimper, Jayce eased his movements and pulled away from Viktor’s cunt. 

They were both panting. Viktor could only stare through heavy lidded eyes at Jayce’s absolutely sloppy appearance. Jayce’s face from his nose down was drenched. His beard glistened with Viktor’s fluids, cum and natural lubricant combined. Pink and glittery. It would’ve made Viktor giggle if he hadn’t just had his soul eaten out through his pussy. 

Jayce was still three fingers deep in him, Viktor realized hazily. Viktor didn’t really mind. 

“That was…” he panted, “Holy shit. Good fucking boy.” Viktor breathlessly chuckled and ran his fingers through his own sweaty hair. That earned him a lovesick smile, Jayce’s adoring gaze still on him as he rested a warm, wet cheek against the inside of Viktor’s thigh. 

He felt Jayce shift, making Viktor feel like he weighed nothing to him as he transitioned from carrying most of his weight on Jayce’s broad shoulders to sitting him delicately with most of his heft (what little there was) in Jayce’s lap.

“I’m glad you enjoyed it as much as I did.” Jayce whispered, so soft and sweet to him that Viktor couldn’t help but go boneless in his arms. He felt so… safe. Warm. Loved. He didn’t worry about if Jayce would take care of him, because of course he would. 

That sweet train of thought came to a grinding halt as he noticed with no small amount of heat rebuilding in his tummy that Jayce was hard. It felt, in Viktor’s opinion, painfully so. He chewed his lip, his insides giving a weak little twitch as he willed himself to be fucking normal about this information. He couldn’t even if he did have the strength to. Getting Viktor off had gotten Jayce to a solid ten on the Mohs hardness scale. Viktor didn’t know what to do with this information. Actually, he knew exactly what to do with this information.

Oh, this was going to be fun .

His hand crept back, pressing ever so slightly against the hard curve pressed against Viktor’s ass. That tight little skirt was doing Jayce no favors in modesty and Viktor was suddenly very grateful he hadn’t thought to make clothes big enough for him. Jayce shakily gasped and Viktor donned that evil little smirk again.

“That didn’t feel much like a punishment to me. In fact, I feel like I just rewarded your bad behavior. Let’s fix that, hm?” Viktor whispered, hot and heavy right against Jayce’s ear. The hitch in Jayce’s breath was delicious. He looked like a pleading puppy, the way he borderline pouted as he looked at Viktor. His pupils almost eclipsed his irises, and Viktor was sure he wasn’t much better off. 

“I swore I’d take everything you give. I meant it, Viktor.”

Viktor wrapped a hand around Jayce’s cock through the soft fabric and squeezed meanly. 

“Hush. And hands to yourself, puppy. If you touch, we start over. Understood?” Viktor ordered. Jayce bit back a moan and nodded pathetically, his hands vacating Viktor’s hips like they were made of white hot steel. Viktor watched as Jayce went to support himself with his hands against the floor, putting one solid, slender hand against Jayce’s chest and pushing so that Jayce was laying flat.

“Get that hood off. I want to see those lovely pecs of yours. You’re so cute when you blush down to your chest, Jayce.” He kept his voice as commanding as possible but couldn’t help the tinge of affection the last of his statements carried. He thought everything about Jayce Talis was adorable. From the way he rambled when he was nervous to the way his pretty back bowed whenever he was surprised by pleasure.

He could see the way Jayce curled in on himself once the offending clothing item was off, and that simply would not do. He ran his hands up Jayce’s stomach, fingers light in their exploration, before using both hands to grab and squeeze Jayce’s tits. 

He hummed a moan in the back of his throat. 

“Perfect. Simply perfect, everything about you. My golden boy. Piltover’s finest couldn’t even begin to deserve this view.” He praised, leaning down to kiss and suck at the thin skin over Jayce’s Adam's apple. “Pretty boy. You’re a work of art. And all mine.” Jayce’s sweet whimpers and the way he seemed to be losing himself already delighted Viktor like nothing else could. Jayce was already blushing, even before Viktor sucked an angry red mark into his neck.

Viktor sat up after a moment, watching Jayce as he worked the skirt down enough for his cock to spring out. It made him jump when it made contact with his behind, a soft gasp escaping him.

“Oh, big boy. You’re fucking perfect. I couldn’t have picked a better partner. What a specimen you are.” Viktor said, all mean as he moved to grind his cock against Jayce’s. He held Jayce’s cock against the slick plushness of his cunt, grinding them together while his other hand grabbed Jayce’s face. “Look at me, Jayce. I want you to watch while I serve you your punishment.”

Jayce’s action wasn’t as immediate as Viktor would’ve liked it to be, but he could fix that. As soon as Jayce’s eyes were open, however, Viktor took full advantage of it by putting on the best show he could. He bit his lip as he rocked his hips against Jayce’s cock, massaging the head and teasing the slit like he knew Jayce liked. He considered it mission accomplished when Jayce let out a wrecked groan and couldn’t stop staring. Good. He wanted Jayce to watch as Viktor took him apart. 

“Oh, gods, Viktor- I understand why they worship you. You look divine .” Jayce breathed, and Viktor dug the dull points of his fingers into Jayce’s thigh with his other hand. 

“I didn’t tell you to speak, dog .” He hissed. Jayce moaned and nodded, looking up at Viktor with those pretty puppy dog eyes, now tinged with tears. “Good boy.” He watched as Jayce’s hands indecisively twitched at his sides, and he lifted himself up so that his pussy was no longer riding the length of Jayce’s hardness. Jayce gasped out a pitiful sound close to a sob. “Hands to yourself. I won’t tell you again.” And said hands clenched into fists, knocking against the floor as he watched Jayce will himself to stay still. 

Viktor was having so much fun. 

Jayce’s cock was pouring precum like a fountain by now and Viktor wanted more than anything to lap it up until Jayce was cumming right down his throat. This was supposed to be a punishment, though, and if he was totally honest, Viktor was seconds away from taking Jayce all the way to the base and riding him like he was in a goddamn rodeo. 

“Needy fucking thing. You look so desperate like that. Do you even know what’s going on, zlatíčko?” Viktor cooed, beginning to stroke Jayce’s cock at a punishingly fast pace. He kept his grip light, not enough but way too much, like he knew Jayce would react to. “You’re just desperate to get inside me. Desperate to fuck my wet cunt and cum inside of me like you deserve it in the slightest. After that little display, you don’t even deserve what I’m giving you now.” He said it in a tone so kind he was sure the words were going to rot his teeth out. It was like he was speaking lead right down Jayce’s throat, dangerously sweet. 

He could see the frustration on Jayce’s face, the way his nose scrunched up and his lips curled into a snarl as he whined and moaned and writhed through it. It was one of the best views Viktor could have ever been granted. And it was one he caused all on his own. It was addictive, the way Jayce glared at him like he’d actually do anything about how this was going down. Viktor chuckled, finally starting to stroke Jayce in earnest.

The whimper and choked off moan he got in response was delicious. Viktor wanted to bottle it and play it on repeat for the rest of their lives. Jayce couldn’t control how he was bucking his hips and Viktor knew, let him think he was finally being rewarded for his patience. He smiled and cooed to him so very sweetly.

“There you go, good puppy. Oh, so close, aren’t you?” He pet Jayce’s thigh lovingly, his thumb sweeping over the head and smearing precum down the shaft to make his job easier. Jayce’s fingers scrambled for purchase against the floor and his moans became breathy, his eyes finally drifting away from where Viktor was stroking him to look at him so very pleadingly. Viktor would allow the way he was mouthing ‘please’ over and over, since technically he wasn’t speaking.

Pretty, glossy tears finally rolled down Jayce’s cheeks as his hips stuttered in their rhythm, and Viktor knew he had him right where he fucking wanted him. 

“Ohh, come on, come on, Jayce! Good boy!” He encouraged, stroking faster and smiling so very kindly,

Before gripping the base of Jayce’s cock almost painfully tight just as his balls began to draw up. Jayce sobbed out loudly, thrashing his head from side to side and growling as Viktor simply laughed at him. The glare he got would’ve been withering if it wasn’t so fucking cute.

“I know, puppy. I know. I’m sorry,” He whispered, letting go of Jayce’s dick in favor of petting through the happy trail on his stomach. “You took your punishment so well, I’m so proud of you, Jayce. So good for me.” He leaned over as Jayce’s growls turned into whines, kissing the tears from his cheeks. 

Viktor gently massaged Jayce’s biceps and across his pecs as he sat up, urging him to relax and take deep breaths as he came down. 

“Normally, I’d be a little more, eh… sadistic than that. Maybe get two or three more edges out of you. But you followed my orders so well, so now you get a reward.” Viktor promised. Jayce’s sweet sobs slowly died down as Viktor got him to calm, his poor cock twitching and throbbing where it leaked, purple and painful looking where it stood proud and tall for Viktor to admire. 

As gently as he could, so as to not overwhelm his beloved Jayce, Viktor gently took his cock in hand to steady it. 

“Wait, I can’t-” Jayce started, “- I can’t take it, please …” He was gasping. Viktor cooed.

“Yes you can. Don’t you want your reward?” Viktor pet Jayce’s tummy and delighted in the way it quivered. “Color?”

“ Green! ” 

He lifted himself up, gently squishing the tip of Jayce’s cock against his puffy hole before easing down slow and gentle all the way to the hilt. Jayce moaned beautifully for him, and Viktor felt bad at how Jayce’s hands jerkily shot up only to slam back down.

He bit his lip at how full he suddenly felt, Jayce’s twitching warmth stretching him out so nicely. Viktor looked at Jayce like he hung every single star in the sky. “It’s okay, puppy. You can touch me now.” He whispered, suddenly very very breathless. Jayce’s hands were around his waist in an instant.

It was at this exact moment that Viktor noticed something very intriguing. Something very, very interesting that if Jayce hadn’t had that exact hand placement that he did, he wouldn’t have noticed it at all.

Jayce was bulging out of Viktor’s stomach. 

Not just faintly, no. there was a significant, sharp curve where Jayce’s cock poked against his soft insides, stretching him past his limits. The moan Viktor couldn’t help but let out was soft and shaky. He closed his eyes and tried to take a breath to calm himself, but his hands drifted to feel where Jayce was throbbing inside of him. Jana, he was so big . Why had he ever denied himself this?

He ground experimentally down onto Jayce’s lap, whining as that thick cock poked at his tummy further. The feeling was too overwhelming, too good. He needed something to ground him. He knew exactly what.

“You can sp– hmmn … speak now, puppy…” He mewled. 

He knew Jayce was well beyond the point of no return. The way he obeyed went straight to Viktor’s hellish, horrible reproductive system though, making him flutter around Jayce at the sound of his voice.

“Please, please Vitya, I… Please !”

Viktor moaned and nodded, putting his hands on Jayce’s knees as gently as he could to leverage himself up. He despaired at how Jayce’s cock left him, before rectifying it, almost slamming back down and moaning as the tip squished against his cervix. Oh, it would not take him long to cum. 

He let his eyes slip closed once he felt the hands around his waist tighten, warm thumbs squishing the metal around where Jayce’s cock poked out. He felt dizzy. He kept going. Jayce’s moans only fueled him as he started riding him, a slow but harsh pace that had him panting and drooling and shaking. 

It only took three minutes.

Three minutes of the only sounds echoing through his chambers being their moans and the unsteady fwop fwop fwop of Viktor’s hips slamming down against Jayce’s. Three minutes of Viktor’s own sounds getting progressively louder and needier than Jayce’s as he came close. Three minutes of Viktor and Jayce frantically chasing their orgasms. Until Viktor came first with a shout, his back going rigid and straight and his head being thrown back as his insides, now much warmer and much softer, went vice tight around Jayce’s cock and milked him for all he was worth. 

He heard Jayce grit out a groan and felt him curl up, those pretty lips pulling into a snarl once more as he pulled Viktor close and bucked up into him. Viktor just took it, squealing at how each little nudge pumped him full of Jayce’s cum. He curled his arms around Jayce’s neck and keened shakily, burying his face into his shoulder and trembling. 

Viktor felt like his limbs were made of jelly as he relaxed on top of Jayce, panting and whimpering softly as he came down from his high. That was fun. 

He waited for a moment for Jayce to pull out like he thought he would, for him to snuggle Viktor into his arms and gently squeeze him as he nuzzled into Viktor’s hair. But that didn’t happen. What happened, much to his surprise, was a frustrated huff from Jayce as he looped an arm around Viktor’s back and flipped so that Viktor was under him, his thighs bracketed by Jayce’s arms and his ankles next to his wrists. 

Viktor stared up at him like a rabbit caught in a snare, Jayce’s expression unreadable but dark nonetheless. 

“I’m not done.” He growled. It was simultaneously the hottest and scariest thing Jayce had ever said to him. Viktor only nodded quickly.

“G-... Green.” Viktor whispered. Jayce smirked wolfishly. Viktor’s stomach did a weird little flippy fluttery thing. Jayce looked like he was about to eat Viktor whole. The way Jayce was able to fold him in half like Viktor was made of hot rebar was dizzyingly attractive and made Viktor make an embarrassingly whiny little sound.

“You said you’d reward me, I think I’ll take what I’m owed by myself. Think you can take it, little God?” Jayce challenged, and suddenly Viktor’s knees were touching his shoulders. He’d always been long legged, and Jayce had always been great at pointing that out. Viktor bit his lip and gasped a soft little ‘mm-hmm!’ in response. 

“That’s not a response, Vitya.” Jayce huffed. Viktor was shocked at how commanding his normally soft, docile golden boy was. It made him so fucking horny that he was dizzy. 

“Yes!” He gasped. He was rewarded with Jayce slowly pulling back, looking down at the way his tummy moved with him, before he got the wind knocked out of it with the force Jayce used to shove his cock back in. Viktor’s eyes rolled back and his mouth hung open uselessly. And then, frustratingly, Jayce refused to move. Dickhead.

Jayce used that wonderful weight of his to pin Viktor as he was beneath him and Viktor’s mind went fuzzy for a moment. “Then you better take it all like a good boy , because I won’t stop until I’m certain I’ve knocked you up, understood?” He whispered hotly against Viktor’s ear. 

Viktor genuinely couldn’t help the sound that left him upon hearing that, honest. He didn’t know where it came from truly. He didn’t even notice that as Jayce took over, his body could start to focus more on whatever it was doing. The change of rigid purple metal to soft, pale, mole dotted skin was now just slightly past his shoulders. It was easier to tell now how scars were left behind where the glowing parts of him once were, shiny and iridescent like the tendrils that would plug into his back and webbed like the wild mark of the arcane. 

Viktor didn’t know why the prospect of getting pregnant had suddenly become so appealing to him, when previously the idea of pregnancy he’d avoided like the plague. Somehow, if it was Jayce, he’d follow him blindly right into oblivion. 

That was not important right now. Not when he had Jayce’s cock bullied so wonderfully inside of him.

Teeth dug into Viktor’s neck and he couldn’t help how he gasped and fluttered around Jayce wonderfully. It felt like every time he even tried to get his body to cooperate and just calm down for just a moment so he didn’t seem desperate, it went against him tenfold. He squirmed under Jayce’s ministrations and cried out for him like he was some desperate slut begging for attention. 

Jayce finally started to move and Viktor sobbed in relief. No tears fell, though, which he was sure Jayce would be eager to remedy if Viktor allowed him. The slow pace was going to kill him, he was also sure. Before he could even begin to beg Jayce seemed to have read his mind and began fucking him like he meant it. Viktor felt like he was losing his damn mind. Jayce was too good at fucking him, he felt. 

“You squeezed me so well when I mentioned getting you pregnant. Is the idea of me breeding you appealing, Vitya? Is that something you want? You want your puppy to fuck a litter into you?” Jayce panted, his hot breath right up against Viktor’s ear. The whine that left him was just as embarrassing as his body’s reaction to those words. It’s like his pussy tried to make itself even more inviting, squeezing and rippling and gushing for Jayce. 

Jayce gave him a few thrusts that bordered on too rough, making Viktor’s eyes widen to the size of dinner plates. 

“Use your words.” It was so fucking hot when Jayce commanded him like that.

“Jayce!” 

“That’s my name, not a response.” Jayce slowed his thrusts.

Viktor whined. He could’ve bitten Jayce right then, so very frustrated and needy. 

“FUCK!” He moaned. “ Please , Jayce, breed me!” Viktor leaned his head back and squeezed his eyes shut, whimpering and bucking his hips in an attempt to get more. He could feel Jayce considering his response before he was rewarded, Jayce’s cock going back to the almost punishing pace he’d started previously. Viktor moaned. Loud. So loud that it echoed off of the chamber’s walls, his voice lilting slightly with every thrust as Jayce essentially used his pussy for his own fun. 

Instead of just bringing Viktor along for the ride after that point like he expected Jayce to do, Viktor was pleasantly shocked to find that Jayce meant it when he challenged Viktor to taking it , if the sharp yank to his hair was any indication of this. It made Viktor gasp as his world spun for a brief moment and he knew that if he was in any position other than the fucking pretzel Jayce had him in his legs would be weak. 

“Look at what I do to you.” He commanded. “Watch how I’m carving a space for myself inside you.” And Viktor did as he was told, no questions asked. “No one else will ever have you like this. Only me. Say it. Say I own you. Say you’re mine.”

“You own me! I’m yours!” Viktor barely heard the words coming out of his mouth, short and gaspy as he suddenly felt way too close to his orgasm. Was he really this easy that a little bit of dirty talk and a good dicking was all it took? They’d already been fucking for at least longer than when he’d previously orgasmed, but thirty minutes was hardly something to brag about. He thought he was better than this. 

“Is my little God gonna cum? Is your dog ’s dick that good, my Divine?” Viktor wanted to kiss him but also to slap him silly, his whole face going bright pink and his ears going a lovely shade of scarlet. The transition from metal to skin was halfway down his chest, almost to his stomach, a change Viktor was finally able to notice. It made him whimper, wondering if Jayce was doing that. Probably. Viktor didn’t care enough at the moment to look into it, not when his insides were pulsing more and more desperately, begging for Jayce to lovingly and sweetly shove him right over the edge into oblivion. “Go on then, be a good Herald and cum for your bitch.” 

Jayce was so mean.

Viktor barely lasted a few more thrusts before he sobbed, his cunt squelching sloppily around Jayce’s cock as he came. He felt like he was melting from the inside out, so hot that he was convinced for a brief moment that he was going to pass out. Jayce’s face tucking into his neck like he was comforting him through it really wasn’t helping.

“You’d make a better whore than you do a God, Vitya.”

“J-a-ayce!” He squealed. Jayce grunted in response, his eyes shut tight in concentration as he rearranged Viktor’s organs like it was his damn job. The change was much more rapid now, more and more of his skin coming back to him until a familiar ache in his hips and back slammed into him like poorly timed déjà vu. Turns out when banishing a sapient mechanical parasite of his own making when it had repaired parts of him that had been malformed since birth, the defects kind of came back. It was barely a second that Viktor had to dwell on this before Jayce came inside of him again, filling him with his warmth and groaning so pretty right against Viktor’s ear. Viktor whimpered, his legs spasming with their refound weakness even as Jayce got him into a better position. 

He panted as they both laid there, the wide expanse of Jayce’s back free for Viktor to pet as they were chest to chest. 

Viktor’s leg began to cramp up in an equally familiar as it was unpleasant way. But he was more focused on the heartwrenching whimper that came from his partner, making him stop his petting in favor of looking at Jayce.

“Jayce? Zlatíčko, are you hurting?” He whispered, soft and worried and kind into Jayce’s hair. Jayce made a sound like an injured dog.

“I’m fine. It’ll pass.” He gritted. Viktor frowned. No it wouldn’t.

He didn’t know if his powers gifted to him by the hexcore lingered, seeing as how it’d now exited stage left, but Viktor wasn’t about to ponder on it much longer. As soon as Jayce’s tears started, he gently had him pull away to look at him. 

“Let me help. Please, Jayce. I… I won’t fix it, I promise. I’ll just take a look and do what I can to make it heal correctly.” He begged. It broke Viktor’s heart into a million tiny little pieces to hear Jayce sob, so small and weak that it made Viktor feel the same way.

“There’s nothing left to heal, Viktor. It’s destroyed.” And Viktor wanted to cry himself as Jayce maneuvered to be to the side of him. He quickly sat up, wincing as he did, and grabbed Jayce’s face in both hands. 

“Let me try,” Viktor begged. “Let me try, Jayce, please.” He pressed their foreheads together and gently pet Jayce’s cheek. 

And of course, since they trusted each other, Jayce’s response was a soft, unsteady:

“Okay, okay…”

Viktor let out a sigh so relieved and heavy that it visibly moved him. He kissed Jayce tenderly for a moment, something chaste and soft just to comfort him. He pulled back to look at him and immediately hesitated as he brought his hand up. One deep breath later and he gently pressed his fingers to Jayce’s forehead, surprised when he accessed his powers without so much as a push. They just… Happened. Much easier, in fact. It was like the hexcore had been blocking something out of him, like once the arcane became a part of him it accepted him and it was the hexcore that made it difficult for Viktor to get a good grasp on it.

Jayce’s mind was once again flooded with Viktor and Viktor trembled a little bit at how overwhelmingly loved it made him feel.

***

“Jayce,” He cooed, the much larger consciousness of Jayce curled up with his head between his knees in front of him. He stepped forward, a gentle hand on his leg. He saw the memory of the mercury hammer pulverizing both tibia and fibula in one fell swoop, how dozens of tiny little bone fragments scattered into the meat of Jayce’s leg in an instant. Viktor gasped, just like he had before.

“You shouldn’t have survived this. Yet you persist.” Viktor was in awe. 

“I had someone,” A shuddering breath, “To come home to.” 

Viktor’s bottom lip wobbled and he gently, so gently pressed himself up to Jayce’s calf to embrace him. 

The shattered bones highlighted themselves to him now, along with the coursing infection that should have been well on its way to Jayce’s brain by now. Somehow, and he had an idea as to why, it wasn’t.

He stepped back some, their perspective shifting so that they were the same size now.

“Jayce,” He tentatively began. “I’m going to put the bones back. Hold onto me, please. In the real world. This will not be pleasant.” He distantly felt Jayce wrap his arms around him like Viktor was a teddy bear at the doctor’s office for children to squeeze whenever they got vaccinated. 

“Okay… Give me a countdown, will you?” Jayce sounded so nervous, so terrified. It hurt Viktor’s heart to listen to. 

Viktor nodded, looking up at Jayce for a moment before making a grasping motion with his hands just to hold onto the fragments before he pulled. 

“One…” 

Jayce whimpered.

“Two…” 

Viktor silently apologized.

In the space where he was supposed to say three, he instead tugged his hand back in one sharp motion, forcing the bone fragments all back into place. Jayce shouted and damn near crushed Viktor into his chest.

Viktor gently pet Jayce’s hair and held his face, letting go of Jayce’s bones immediately after he was done.

“Shh, shh… I know,” He cooed, kissing all over Jayce’s face in his mind, “I know. I’m so sorry, Jayce. If I didn’t do it fast, you would have suffered worse. It’s all over now. I won’t touch it anymore.” He promised. He let Jayce curl against his chest and cry, using one hand to pet Jayce’s pretty white hair while the other made a softer, more subdued pulling motion. Without Jayce even noticing, he cleared the infection and began to grow a metal cast around Jayce’s leg. 

***

“You did so good, Jayce. I’m so proud of you.”

He watched how Jayce tried to put up that false front, but even if Viktor wasn’t literally sitting in his mind with him at that very moment, he would’ve still known better. He knew Jayce like he was just another fact of Viktor’s life. All the shame and embarrassment and feelings of incompetence and inadequacy boiled over, clouding what Viktor could see of Jayce. He gasped, clinging tighter to his partner and hiding Jayce’s face in his neck. 

“Jayce, no…” He spoke softly so as to not spook him, pulling out of his mind to kiss Jayce in his own body. He felt warm tears on the warmth of his skin and his heart broke at the weak little whimper that followed. He pulled back to look at him. “Jayce, you came all this way to complete your mission, you stayed on course. You did it. You are… a much stronger man than I could have been in your shoes.” He whispered. Jayce just sobbed and squeezed his eyes shut, his head bowing to thump against Viktor’s collarbone. 

Viktor snuck a hand down and pressed it to the slowly shaping form of Jayce’s metal cast, tracing the edges of it so that it faintly glowed with a new imbuement of magic. Just to give Jayce some relief from the pain. It was the very very least Viktor could do. He couldn’t stand just sitting by and doing nothing while Jayce suffered. He understood why Jayce did what he did after he… died. He would’ve done much worse if the roles were reversed, after all. 

Viktor leaned in and pressed a kiss to the knit in Jayce’s brow, before looking at the cast. It was true gold, unlike everything else in the commune that shone bronze and silver. Jayce was his golden boy, after all. The cast really only held the form and structure of a cast, but didn’t fully cover Jayce’s leg like plaster and gauze would. Instead, to keep adequate blood flow and let air reach Jayce’s wound, the cast webbed like wild runes across Jayce’s leg in strong, delicate lines. Enough to support Jayce’s weight, but with the illusion of being too thin for Jayce to actually put said weight onto it. Viktor looked back up at Jayce so very softly. With so much love in his heart that he didn’t know where to set all of it down. 

Piltover could have their man of progress. The golden boy they thought they coveted and then threw away was Viktor’s to keep. 

“Viktor…” 

Viktor was just about to respond, reaching his other hand back up to join where his first cradled Jayce’s face, but he was stopped by the sound of a weasel-y throat clearing. Viktor wanted to shout. Instead he scrambled to grab his blanket and cover himself, gasping softly as he tossed part of it over Jayce as well. 

“Herald,” Huck greeted. Viktor tensed slightly at his tone. He covered his chest with his hands before turning to look at their guest with a strained smile.

“Huck!” He saw the man smile at Viktor saying his name and deeply wished as his eye twitched that he could tell him to wipe it off his face. Huck had firmly pushed his boundaries today, and while Viktor would normally be thankful for his presence, Viktor had given specific instructions and Huck was intruding on them. Jayce shifted uncomfortably next to him and tucked his face into Viktor’s shoulder, obviously trying to hide his tears. Viktor reached a hand up to pet his hair, one of those big strong arms wrapping around his waist. “Can I help you with something? I recall requesting the utmost privacy.”

“Yes,” Huck said, raising an eyebrow. “I recall. For important matters.”

Viktor scowled at him. “Indeed, important matters.” He insisted. “Jayce was hurt, I was healing him.”

Huck huffed. “I’d hardly say that’s an important matter, Herald. None of your previous miracles involved you or the other party having to strip bare as the day you were born.” Viktor flustered, his ears going red.

“Huck, that is highly inappropriate! What is this about?” Viktor demanded. Not important? Had Huck lost his damn mind? Since when had the act of healing, the very foundation Viktor’s commune stood on, become not important ?

“Me? Inappropriate? Herald, I believe it is inappropriate that you are having relations with someone who threatened the commune!” Huck was raising his voice. Viktor wanted to raise his voice right back. 

“What, am I not allowed to have sex? I am a grown man, Huck. We are not far in age. And why on Runeterra is Jayce such a threat to you specifically? He went out into the commune around everyone else and showered, and no one else batted an eye. Why are you specifically so threatened by him?” This was getting petty. Viktor knew this. “We have had people come into our commune who have done worse things than Jayce and you welcomed them with no problem.” The first that came to mind were Jinx and Vi, on a very surface level, and although he and the younger butted heads with no amount of subtlety, the two sisters and their little family had acclimated well. Viktor leaned into the little kiss Jayce planted on his neck, running his fingers through his hair.

“He is dangerous! He threatened me!” Huck insisted. Viktor leveled him with the same look he gave Jayce when he’d insisted the people of Zaun were dangerous. He heard Jayce mutter under his breath and gently pinched his cheek.

“I worked with him for years before I left Piltover to come home to the Fissures.”

That seemed to make Huck flounder some, opening and closing his mouth without anything but stuttered syllables coming out. 

“Whatever the reason was, Huck, you have been pushing my boundaries and not giving me the room to speak on them for months. Jayce has been nothing but an angel on that front, and it is not surprising to me that a man I love would become a threat to you. I understand I saved your life and I do not regret that. But there is a point of respect that you have walked right past without even giving it a passing glance.” He felt Jayce’s hands ride higher to cradle his ribcage and he gently patted him. As much as he loved how handsy Jayce always had been, how cuddly he’d always treated Viktor, now was not the time. 

Huck, whether due to seeing Jayce’s hands wander or from genuine shame, turned his head, stunned into silence. 

“You may leave.” Viktor said, with a finality in his voice that made Huck’s eyes widen. He nodded and quickly bowed his head before exiting hastily.

Viktor sighed.

He seemed to wilt into Jayce’s arms, bringing his face closer and laying his own head against one of those broad shoulders. Jayce’s warm lips pressed against one of his moles and immediately the tension melted out of Viktor.

The tenor cadence of Jayce’s voice eased him further, making him sigh and press a few kisses to whatever skin he could reach.

“You’ve done amazing. It was about damn time you told him off.” Jayce snorted. Viktor smiled.

“Oh, but the horrible part is that he’s usually not this bad. I don’t know what’s gotten into him.” Viktor sighed and allowed Jayce’s hands to wander this time. Protective. Possessive. Viktor felt safe and loved there, and he brought his hand from Jayce’s hair to pet through his beard adoringly. Upon further inspection, the gold embedded in Viktor’s previous metal form had stayed, etching warbling lines where his back brace had fused with his skin. Viktor let Jayce’s fingers trace them, sighing softly as he looked up at his lover and partner with a deep reverence.  He held so much love for his partner. He knew at this point they were more than just lab partners, but he still couldn’t help but hold back just a little bit, in case this would all be gone by tomorrow. He’d already planned on asking Jayce to join the commune, but if Jayce was still so far gone under the influence of the council, he didn’t know if Jayce would agree.

Better to be hopeful yet prepare for the worst case scenario. 

And yet. And yet.

Jayce still looked at him like Viktor was the reason the sun rose in the mornings and met the moon at night. Viktor was astonished that after everything he’d done Jayce persisted. 

He supposed Jayce had promised him. Before all of this happened.

“I love you. I love you in every timeline. I’m by your side in every timeline.” Jayce mumbled, leaning down to press his face into the top of Viktor’s head. Viktor almost began to tear up. He reached up with both hands now to hold Jayce’s face, studying him for just a moment before he closed his eyes and pressed their lips together.

It was quiet. 

Peaceful in a way Viktor had so desperately needed from the moment he met Jayce. His whole life he’d not only been fighting to gain back just a scrap of his autonomy, but for the chaos around him to just calm into peaceful quiet like this. 

And it was warm.

Warm like Jayce’s smile as he chuckled into the kiss, warm like the sun through Jayce’s window when they had sleepovers in his dorm. His was always closer. Viktor never complained. 

“I love you,” He whispered against Jayce’s lips, soft, only for him, “I always have. You are my partner in every universe, Jayce.” 

They sat like that, in the quiet together, trading kisses and love confessions and soft laughter for a few more moments. They found each other nude once more, but not for sex like their previous hurried attempt to get a grasp of each other’s bodies as fast as possible. No. Now, it was just to feel close, to do everything just shy of melding their souls together to show how much Viktor loved Jayce and Jayce loved Viktor. 

I trust you.

I know you do. And I trust you too.

Jayce was dozing off with one hand tangled in Viktor’s hair after a few minutes, his chest rising and falling the most evenly Viktor had seen it since they reunited. Viktor laced their fingers together as he laid on Jayce’s chest, looking up at him with wide, curious eyes.

“Jayce,”

“Mmn?” Jayce peeked one eye open to look at him, a smile so soft and sweet growing on his features.

Viktor stared for just a moment, before inhaling a soft breath and squeezing his eyes shut.

“I…” He began, before sighing and trying again. “If you have somewhere else to go, I won’t stop you. If you have another quest, or another Viktor to convince, I don’t mind. But I would like you to stay, if you have nothing else. I would like for you to have a place… by my side here in the commune to come home to. We could try this. Once again.” He opened his eyes to look into Jayce’s. “As partners.” 

Jayce’s warm hand came up to hold Viktor’s face and Viktor gratefully leaned into it, kissing the meat of his palm. He seemed to despair, and Viktor closed his eyes to await the inevitable denial of his invitation.

“Viktor… Nowhere else matters. No other quest matters, no other Viktors matter, only you. Always you. I… I didn’t know if you’d agree to give me a place here after my… Less than flattering arrival. I’ll always be by your side if you’ll have me.”

Sorry, what?

Viktor looked at Jayce, shocked for a moment, before he finally responded. 

“I thought you would say no.”

“Why on Runeterra would I say no to the opportunity to be by your side?” Jayce had a wonderful point. If he was given the same choice, just mirrored, he’d take it. “You’re everything I worked towards. You’re the reason why I kept going through everything ever since you rudely interrupted me at my place.”

Viktor snorted and smiled. His bottom lip was wobbling. He felt wrung dry, though.

“So rude, stopping you from stepping off the gaping hole where your apartment used to be.” Viktor rolled his eyes and pecked Jayce’s lips. Viktor rested his head on Jayce’s chest again and smiled up at him to continue.

“Am I interrupting?” Jayce mimicked Viktor’s accent (very poorly) and Viktor couldn’t help the laugh that rushed out of him as Jayce stuck his tongue out. He covered his mouth with his hand and watched as Jayce faked a pout. His sweet Jayce. That pretty, gap-toothed smile soon returned, along with a warm, soft expression that made Viktor feel like he was melting on the inside. 

“What the hell is your problem?” Viktor mimicked right back, shitty rendition of Jayce’s Piltovan accent and all. Jayce fought back a guffaw and Viktor smiled triumphantly. Oh, sweet victory. Viktor tucked his face under Jayce’s chin to kiss one of the marks he’d given Jayce earlier, humming happily.

“Thank the gods you don’t have a Piltovan accent, that does not suit you.” Jayce said as he pet down Viktor’s gold lined spine. 

And it was quiet again. Soft. 

They were always comfortable together, and only together. There was no Viktor without Jayce and there was no Jayce without Viktor. The line where one ended and the other began had long been blurred, even through their separation. 

So obviously Viktor noticed when Jayce’s silence became weighed down by tension and a deep, regretful sadness. Viktor looked up at him.

“Jayce?” He cooed. “Hey, what is the matter?” His brow furrowed up in worry as he reached a hand to hold Jayce’s face. Jayce’s jaw clenched in the telltale way it always did when he was about to cry. Viktor crooned softly and pet his cheek tenderly.

“I… I wanted to apologize. For breaking my promise to destroy the hexcore. For… Everything. That I’ve done.” Jayce’s voice broke just a little and Viktor made a despaired little sound, kissing the corner of Jayce’s mouth. He went to say something but Jayce held up a hand and continued.

He wasn’t looking at Viktor. Viktor’s heart ached.

“I just,” Jayce took a deep breath, “When I realized you were dying, I couldn’t let it happen. I couldn’t let you go. I needed you here with me, I needed you alive. I spent my whole life doing what others thought I could and should do, and especially when I was… Involved with Mel. I acted selfishly. And I’m sorry…” 

“Jayce…” Viktor whispered, barely any sound coming from him. 

Jayce made a sound so horrible and small and petrified that Viktor immediately scrambled up further to hold Jayce tight. His leg twinged and he grunted but that didn’t stop him. 

“Jayce, I already forgave you. For everything.” He whispered. He pulled back. “Jayce, please look at me.”

Jayce did as he was told and immediately began crying, his jaw tight and tense from where he held back the little sobs that shook his shoulders. Viktor felt his heart break a thousand times over. 

“My Jayce… My partner.” Viktor smiled at him and ran his hands through Jayce’s hair. 

Jayce bowed forward and curled around Viktor like he would evaporate into thin air if Jayce didn’t, and of course Viktor let him. He wrapped his own arms around Jayce’s strong back, pressing kisses to his shaking shoulders and shushing him gently. He sobbed openly and Viktor let out a sigh of relief, giving Jayce a squeeze and petting him like he was a lost baby animal in need of comfort.

“Of course I was angry at you at first…” Viktor began, and Jayce seemed to stiffen. He had a point with this, though, one he knew Jayce would be better for hearing. “Of course I was stricken. My partner, the one man I demanded the most respect from, after everything we’d been through, broke the one promise he made to me. You stole my autonomy, you silenced me, you made me feel small.” Jayce sobbed out a soft ‘ I’m so sorry ’ and Viktor rubbed his back and shushed him once more. 

“But then, when I arrived here and had the opportunity to sit with my emotions, I realized the reason that I felt so betrayed is because you were the only person in all of Piltover’s society to genuinely respect me as both a person and an academic equal.” Viktor smiled as he recalled every single good moment that dinky little lab back in Piltover held. All the delirious giggling late into the nights, all the mornings he’d wake up with the same blanket around them draped over his shoulders, the time Jayce dropped a pair of heavy bolt cutters on his dominant hand and how Viktor patched him up and kissed his bruised hand better only halfway jokingly. 

How from the moment he began working with Jayce, he fell so hopelessly head over heels with him. How Jayce included him in everything he could in the early days. How he started being recognized by the newspaper as Mr. Viktor Talis after Jayce had signed their notes ‘Viktor and Jayce Talis’ enough times. How that made his heart soar. 

“You were the best decision I ever made, Jayce.” He swore, kissing the side of Jayce’s head as he took a moment to breathe him in. “The only reason I was mad was because you made me feel human again and I desperately didn’t want to lose you to those snakes in the councilroom.” He gently pulled Jayce back to look him in the eyes.

“I would choose you over and over again until you got sick of me. I love you, Jayce.”

Jayce’s sweet smile was everything to him. “I love you too, Viktor. Don’t worry, if I ever get sick of you, I’ll take some tylenol and ask my mother to make me croquetas .” And Viktor laughed. He knew Ximena would march down here herself and slap Jayce silly if she found out he and Viktor had separated. 

“I think Mrs. Talis would have a conniption if she found out you and I had ever spent time apart. She’d probably be more devastated than I was, to be honest.” He pressed their foreheads together and delighted in the wet little giggle that got him. 

“Don’t you dare call her Mrs. Talis to her face, she will hit you with a wooden spoon. It’s Ma and nothing else to you, young man.” Jayce false scolded, his voice rough with tears. Viktor chuckled.

“Oh, right, my apologies.” Viktor cooed. He smiled and hummed softly. “You know, my mother would have made you sleep outside if you called her anything but Ivanna.” He murmured, soft again between the two of them. “My mother was the sweetest woman you’d ever meet, but she ruled the stage with a silk-clad iron fist and wasn’t scared to instill some respect into anyone who thought her beneath it.” He smiled so big and with such conviction as he recalled quite the few times that his mother had gracefully but effectively dished out ruthless retaliation for anyone who disrespected her and her family. 

He sighed wistfully. “I wish you could have met her. And my father. You would have loved  them both and they would have been all over you.”

Viktor kissed Jayce’s cheek and smiled as it squished the grin Jayce had stretching his face. Cutie. 

“I’m sure they’re proud of all the good you’ve done for the world… Of all the things you’ve accomplished and are yet to prove possible…” Jayce murmured. Viktor smiled.

“I’m sure they would have been.” He agreed. 

Quietly, and without alerting anyone to its disappearance, the mercury hammer began to dissolve. Its details went one by one, first the warped tip of the handle, then down towards the clutch engage, the firing mechanism, and the rune iron that had been inside of it. The tips of the false butterfly head were next, then the HexTech gemstone powered beam, then the bottom wings, until all that was left was a House Talis red ribbon that had warped and webbed with the arcane around its edges. The ribbon itself almost seemed to be carried to Jayce, and Viktor moved so it could land on Jayce’s warm shoulder. Jayce jumped as he turned to look at it.

Viktor knew who it was from.

He smiled.

“I think somebody misses you.”

Viktor laughed softly at the way Jayce went red from the tips of his ears all the way down to his collarbone. He watched as Jayce took the ribbon from his shoulder, staring at it so fondly that if he was even slightly sweeter Viktor’s teeth would have fallen right out of his skull. 

Viktor laid his head back on Jayce’s chest as the other man tied what little of his hair that was long enough back behind his head. Viktor hoped he kept the long hair and beard. As much as he thought clean shaven, perfectly coiffed Jayce was just as adorable, something about the ruggedness of the beard and long hair combo just melted his heart. It was like those big, tarnished bronze puppy dog eyes just got even bigger and even sadder. 

“Do you want to sit here with me for a while, or do you want to be introduced to the commune?” Viktor mumbled. He felt like a nap. Jayce thought on it for a moment and Viktor fell in love again with the way he worried his lip when he was making a decision. Viktor smiled when Jayce seemed to melt into the floor.

“I feel tired. Who thought crying and fucking could get so exhausting?” Jayce sighed and feigned overexhaustion. Viktor snorted and gently slapped Jayce’s chest.

“Councilor Talis! Don’t be so uncouth.” Viktor giggled. The laugh he got as an answer made him melt.

Jayce wrapped his arm around Viktor’s slim waist as he gently shifted them to turn over, letting him cradle Jayce’s face to kiss at the bridge of his nose and the bags under his eyes. Viktor sighed happily as Jayce laid him gently gently gently on the floor so as to not have his hips or back resting at an odd angle. He felt so cared for, so loved, so seen. 

“Yeah, well. I’m only your golden boy, not anyone else’s.” Jayce nosed into Viktor’s chest as he said this and pet along Viktor’s ribcage. “Now rest with me.” 

Viktor smiled and pressed a gentle kiss to the top of Jayce’s head, running his fingers through Jayce’s hair in such a way that didn’t disturb the ribbon. He already felt his eyes closing, already felt the rest of the world slipping away as he barely caught a muffled:

“Alright, have a good nap, baby.”

He managed to hum out a soft, “Mm… Hmm…” before he was out. Hard. Crashed like a child exhausted after a day of fun, in the carriage on the way back home. 

He roused much later in the evening to Jayce’s warm, welcoming chuckle jostling where his head now rested on Jayce’s chest again. Jayce must have decided that using Viktor as the weighted blanket was more efficient as they slept. He groaned and dug his face further into the valley of Jayce’s ample pectorals. 

“Hi sweetheart… I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you up…” Jayce murmured into the quiet of his (their) chambers. He hadn’t truly slept in so long, the hexcore having essentially powered him like a HexTech gemstone operated wind up toy. Viktor only grumbled in response and moved his freezing hands to squeeze at Jayce’s tits. Jayce’s resulting gasp and squeal was the best thing Viktor had heard all day. 

“Viktor, it’s ticklish, come on.” Jayce chided. Viktor pouted and huffed softly.

“I really thought I could get away with that one…”

Half of his face was mashed against Jayce’s chest still, his eyes firmly closed and the corner of his mouth wet with the beginnings of drool. 

“It’s getting late, we should get something to eat.” Jayce’s voice was angelic the way it whispered to him. Viktor would never be able to get enough of it. 

“Food?” He whined.

Ah, yes. Food. 

When was the last time Viktor had eaten? Not since coming out of his cocoon, that was for sure. The hexcore had provided him with everything he needed to survive, it was still odd to feel the almost alien sensation of hunger. He still disliked it as much as he remembered. 

“Yes. Dinner.” Jayce supplied. He pressed a kiss to Viktor’s hairline as Viktor processed having a sense of hunger again. Jayce patted Viktor’s hip as he spoke again. “Come on, get up, chiquito .” And Viktor obeyed, groggy as he whined low in his throat. He had just truly slept for the first time in a year and Jayce was making him get up? Cruel.

The next few minutes were a disorienting blur to his body, still trying to come back online from what he was sure was some Jayce induced sleep sorcery made specifically to goad Viktor into sleeping as soon as possible. Jayce helped him dress, got his own clothes on, and took off the very broken, very archaic brace he’d toiled the whole way here in. Viktor, with a slight limp as his body began to realize again that it wasn’t okay anymore, led Jayce to the commune’s kitchen. They stopped on occasion whenever someone came up to compliment his new appearance or see who the newcomer was, Viktor practically hanging off Jayce’s arm barely awake until they made it through the door. The smell of food immediately woke him up and his stomach voiced its complaints loudly. 

Vi caught Jayce’s eye and Jayce caught hers where she and Jinx were guiding their newest family addition through the line to plate what had been made for dinner. Isha was the cutest little thing, truly. He smiled and waved to her as Jayce chattered aimlessly with the oldest of the three sisters. 

Viktor gave a calm grin to Jayce once they were finally at the head of the line, gently petting Jayce’s arm as he grabbed a plate. 

“I didn’t know you were acquainted with Violet.” He hummed. He was happy Jayce wouldn’t have to completely start over here.

“Oh, yeah, she’s Cait’s girlfriend. Or used to be. It’s a messy situation, but they’ll figure it out…” Jayce cringed slightly as he thought about it a little more. Viktor’s eyes widened. Yikes. He knew how that felt. “Probably. She’s awesome to be around though, she’s like my best friend basically.”

Viktor smiled warmly and nodded. Jayce let out the sweetest, most endearing little laugh. It made some soft, mushy part of Viktor (all of him, really,) go gooey and warm. After a moment, plates now full, Jayce went sheepish as he looked out towards the now crowded tables of the dining hall. 

“I don’t want to eat here, Viktor. There’s too many people. Can we go somewhere else?” And Jayce really did look so pretty in every expression he made, even pleading, slightly anxious ones. Viktor frowned softly and nodded in understanding.

“Of course, Jayce.”

“Can we go back to the flower field?” Viktor was sure his heart was going to burst from all the sweet little looks Jayce was giving him.

“Whatever you wish.”

Jayce seemed to relax and smile, grabbing Viktor’s wrist delicately and pressing a kiss to his thumb. Viktor went pink. He wanted Jayce to kiss him properly. 

In any case, Viktor led Jayce out to the flower field, his strides becoming more stilted and labored the closer they got to the log, until they were both near hobbling a few yards away from it. Viktor was panting slightly when they finally decided to stop where they were and take a break. Jayce spoke up first.

“I should’ve kept my brace…” He groaned. Viktor nodded.

“I had forgotten how difficult walking was.” Viktor just wanted to eat his damn food. He forgot how taxing walking without a cane had been, having become a bit spoiled from the hexcore fixing his leg. Jayce stretched his arm out towards Viktor and Viktor gratefully took it, resting his weight more on Jayce so that he could get a break from how unevenly his weight had been distributed in his hips. He did not miss this feeling.

“I think you should get a new cane, like the one you had when we met… And maybe I can get something similar to that too…”

Viktor’s heart ached at how Jayce’s voice seemed desperate to get the words out. He frowned and leaned up to kiss Jayce’s cheek. 

“Let’s sit down then and I’ll make you some crutches.” He hummed, pulling Jayce along as he hobbled the rest of the way to the log. Sitting down was a relief he remembered that he’d wished for his entire early adulthood. Viktor smiled as Jayce groaned and massaged his calves upon sitting down. He grabbed his fork and dug into his food, warm, spiced yellow rice with sautéed fruit and a spoonful of savory sauce over the top. It wasn’t meant to be truly filling in every food group, as Viktor didn’t enforce any sort of meal being more important than the others. Other people ate when they felt hungry, if they wished for more they could have as much as they wanted. 

Of course, the food was wonderful as always, but Viktor jumped at the downright obscene noise that came out of Jayce. His eyes widened as he stared at him for a moment, before he laughed softly.

He swallowed the mouthful of food he had before he spoke. 

“Were you hungry, Jayce?” He teased. Jayce was indignant and a little flustered as he spoke through his food, a stubborn and pointed ‘yes!’ coming from him. He quickly gulped down another mouthful of rice and fruit before addressing Viktor properly.

“The last time I ate was two days ago, it was a roasted salamander. So yes, I’m hungry. And I’m hungry for people food, not half-dead dog food.” He huffed. Viktor stared at him owlishly, trying to process the information he was just given. 

Instead of Jayce waiting for him to finish processing like Viktor thought he would, he seemed to go pink in the cheeks and sheepishly tuck into himself. He was quick to speak again.

“I mean, obviously, I’m exaggerating but like… Yeah.” And Viktor knew better than believing that.

He smiled softly and scooted closer to Jayce, picking a piece of juicy, off blue and soft pink fruit and holding it up to Jayce’s lips for him to eat. His own stomach protested desperately, but he’d had his every need taken care of for the last year. Jayce didn’t have that luxury. Jayce melted for him and accepted the bite easily. 

“Let’s fix that then, ano?” Viktor muttered. Jayce simply looked at him like a lost puppy and nodded.

They ate in comfortable quiet, listening to the crickets and cicadas and firelights and frogs sing their evening symphony as the leftover light from the sunset cast the commune in the distance in a rosy glow. 

As the sun dipped sleepily below the horizon, casting the fissures in darkness, the firelights glowed green and danced in a lazy jubilee of Jayce’s arrival. Viktor shifted to relax with his head in Jayce’s lap, getting used to his powers being much easier to use. Quite a few times he’d began to work on the base of Jayce’s crutches, only for the metal forming in his hands to grow too sharp and too big, much too fast. Jayce collected every single one and examined them.

“This is… Incredible, Viktor.” Jayce breathed into the soft silence.

“Ehh, right now it’s a little tedious.” Viktor muttered, tongue between his teeth as he finally got a functional crutch foot to form in his hands. “Ha!” He triumphantly held it up to show Jayce. 

“This is an amazing work!” Jayce clapped softly for him and Viktor preened.

Viktor looked up at Jayce for a moment to admire him in the green glow of the firelights floating through the air. He was beautiful.

For the first time in a long time, Viktor felt fully in control of his life. Here, with Jayce by his side. 

“I love you.” He mumbled, reaching up to pull Jayce into a kiss.

“I love you too.” Jayce purred against his lips.

Everything was perfect. He got what he wanted.