Chapter Text
Jayce walks into the laboratory quietly, peeking his head through. He looks around and spots Viktor, head on the desk, fast asleep by the sounds of his snoring. Jayce sighs and walks up to his partner, puts his hand on his shoulder. He whispers, "Viktor, Viktor, wake up." No response except for a sigh. "Viktor," he tries again. Nothing. "Viktor!"
"Ah! What is it, what's going on?" Viktor startles up, goggles propped up and tangled in his hair, a paper stuck to his face from drooling. Jayce peels the paper off before Viktor when registers it was there. "Jayce?" Viktor looks around the messy desk before focusing on said man.
"You fell asleep," Jayce says softly. "I think you should get some rest," he adds, and gently squeezes his partner's shoulder. Viktor shakes his head and replies, "No, I need to get work done." He hunches back over the papers in front of him, papers that are scattered all over the desk. "Viktor..." Jayce says, concern lacing his voice, "When was the last time you slept?"
“Just now,” he replies matter-of-factly. He looks down at the documents, haphazard handwriting and some coffee stains. Jayce reaches down to try and take off the goggles in his hair, but the man sitting swats his hand away. "I need those." Jayce quirks his brow, "For what? It looks like all you're doing is scribbling gibberish, not working on," he gestures with his hand and adds teasingly, "A bomb or something."
Viktor looks down again and actually looks at the papers in front of him. It wasn't gibberish, was it? He looked closely and realized that Jayce was right, some of what he was writing didn't make any sense. His work was the only thing that kept him distracted, that got his mind off of his impending doom. Yet, he messed it up, something he didn’t normally do. He was used to the dread, the fear, the exhaustion that came with his loneliness and condition. Maybe if he wasn't so busy wallowing, there wouldn't be this... "gibberish" on his papers. He doesn’t even remember falling asleep, just putting his head down on the desk, the last thought being contempt remark about the man who had come and woken him up. He feels a twinge of guilt at having thought such a thing about Jayce.
He leaned back in his chair and looked up at Jayce, sighing, he said, "Maybe you're right..." He winced as his back ached, putting more emphasis on how little he had been taking care of himself. "Admitting I'm right without a snarky comment? How unlike you, Viktor," Jayce said with a smirk. Viktor points a finger at him, "No, I'm only saying you're right because you made a suggestion. Besides, I only said 'maybe.'" And he was tired, but he wasn’t about to tell Jayce that. The taller man chuckles and replies, "I'll take it anyway."
"Why don't we go out for a while, you and me," Jayce suggests, because he knew Viktor wouldn't actually go to sleep just because he told him to. Viktor crosses his arms and thinks for a moment. Jayce was always busy with his Councilor duties, running off during an experiment or working on something else entirely when they were together. He admitted (only to himself,) that he had missed Jayce. He was tired of being alone and ignored by his partner. He was tired of thinking too hard, where the only thing that kept him company was the Hexcore and his worries.
"We won't be interrupted by your Councilor duties, will we?" Viktor quietly asks. Jayce shakes his head, "Of course not. All attention on you." Viktor sighs, a slight blush dusting his cheeks and caves in, he really could use some time off. Jayce was his partner after all. "Alright... Let's go out."
Jayce grins and immediately takes the goggles off of Viktor's head. "Hey, I could have done that myself," he says irritably. "I know, but I just felt like it," Jayce replies and proceeds to brush out the bird's nest that is Viktor's hair with his fingers.
Viktor is too proud to admit that he enjoys the man's hands in his hair, so he opts for a quiet "thank you," and gets up shakily from his chair. Jayce helps lift Viktor up by the elbow and hands him his crutch. "You ready?" he asks. Viktor nods, and they walk out the laboratory door, Jayce's hand light and reassuring on the inventor's back.
They walk out into Piltover, it's cold and bright under the night sky. "Where do you want to go?" Jayce asks. Viktor only shrugs, "I thought you had something in mind." His partner shakes his head and replies, "I didn't, unless you want me to take you somewhere in particular." Viktor takes a look around the street they're on. People are laughing and bags are slung over their shoulders. They look so happy, Viktor thinks dismally. "Take me somewhere happy, Jayce," he finally says.