Work Text:
When Jayce had left the lab for dinner, he’d asked Viktor to come with him. But his partner, ever diligent -- and somewhat obsessive, really -- had distractedly waved him away, preferring to stay hunched over his desk instead. Jayce gave him a weary sigh, but left without further arguments. With Viktor, any suggestions that he take care of himself tended to fall on deaf ears.
So Jayce had eaten dinner alone. The walk to the cafeteria had offered a nice bit of exercise as he stretched out his muscles, sore and cramped from spending all day at his desk. Once he’d finished eating, he hesitated a moment before leaving the cafeteria.
With a thoughtful tilt of his head, he backtracked, packing some food into a to-go-box to take to Viktor. Just because the man wouldn’t leave his desk didn't mean he shouldn’t eat, and what kind of a partner would Jayce be if he let his friend go hungry?
With the box of food in hand and a vague smile on his face, Jayce made his way back to the lab. When he swung the door open, he found Viktor in the same place he had left him, head ducked between his shoulders as he studied the piles of notes and books on his desk.
“I’m back,” Jayce announced, though he had a notion that Viktor hadn’t registered his words -- or even his presence.
“Oh, I uh, brought you some food, if you’d like it.”
Still nothing. Not even a tilt in his direction.
“Viktor?” Jayce lightly sang, stepping up to the man’s desk.
He plopped the box of food down directly onto the book Viktor had been reading, his other hand resting gently on Viktor’s shoulder.
The other man looked up at him, having to tear his eyes away from the sentence he’d been reading, with confusion.
“Hm?” Viktor hummed.
“I said I brought you food,” Jayce repeated, a little distractedly this time.
His fingers were wandering along Viktor’s shoulder, feeling their way up towards his neck.
“Jeez, Vik, does that hurt? Feels like you’ve got at least ten knots in this one shoulder.”
Viktor huffed a laugh, pushing the box of food aside so he could continue to read. He scribbled a note in the book before answering.
“Everything always hurts. You get used to it after a couple of decades.”
His voice was lighthearted, meant to brush off Jayce’s concerns, but it only made him frown.
Without thinking, he brought his other hand up, placing one on either side of Viktor’s neck. He didn’t seem to notice, so there was nothing to stop Jayce when he began to squeeze lightly.
Running his thumbs along the back of Viktor’s shoulders, he sought out the collections of tense muscles. When he found a particularly bad spot, he dug his thumb into it, rubbing circles against the knot.
“Ow, Jayce ,” Viktor jumped, craning his head around to shoot the man an annoyed look.
“What are you doing?”
“Trying to get these knots out,” Jayce shot back plainly.
“Well… stop it,” Viktor chuckled nervously, but there was hardly any punch to his tone.
Jayce didn’t stop. He knew that he couldn’t have even if he wanted to.
Letting his hands wander along Viktor’s shoulders, he began to massage his fingers into the terse skin there. He pressed firmly, sweeping his hands down towards his partner’s collarbones. The motion of it pulled Viktor back against his chair, shoulders jerking towards Jayce.
Viktor made a vague noise of annoyance at being disturbed, but it was quickly followed by a light, euphoric sigh. Jayce chuckled softly.
“Still want me to stop?” he asked, and he caught Viktor narrowing his eyes.
“Mmm,” Viktor hummed, and it was definitely not a ‘yes’, considering the man was still leaning slack against the back of his chair.
So again, Jayce didn’t stop. He worked his hands along the length of Viktor’s left shoulder. He rubbed the muscles, letting his fingers dig into his skin. Every once in a while Viktor gave a little start at a sudden tender spot, but his breathing had leveled out, almost as if he were asleep. His neck had gone slack, chin tucked against his chest and head lulling limply to the side.
Jayce couldn’t be sure, but he thought the man was smiling.
Working down to his shoulder blades now, Jayce rubbed his back. This time, however, he was more gentle.
He could feel every one of Viktor’s ribs. They stuck out like stones in his back, his vertebrae like little pebbles. Jayce frowned, fingers caressing the skin gently through Viktor’s shirt.
“You really should eat something,” he murmured as he trailed his thumb down Viktor’s spine.
The other man sighed blissfully.
“Mmhm, later,” he hummed, and Jayce definitely heard a smile in his voice.
Despite the fact that he could quite literally count Viktor’s ribs through his skin, Jayce found himself smiling.
He ran his fingers up Viktor’s back, pressing circles against his shoulder blades.
“Need to… I need to get back to work,” Viktor mumbled, his words slurring as if he were drunk.
“Oh do you now?” Jayce replied, cocking an eyebrow.
He gently dug his fingers into the spaces between Viktor’s neck and collarbone. Viktor moaned, head falling back slightly.
It was so close. Jayce stared at it, eyes traveling up Viktor’s neck and to the back of his head. Then his hands were following suit, fingers stopping just behind Viktor’s ears. Gently cupping his head, Jayce smoothed circles against Viktor’s nape with his thumbs, tracing along the other man’s hairline.
Viktor was practically purring.
“You know,” Jayce started, voice barely above a whisper. “You really should do something about your posture.”
Viktor groaned softly in response as Jayce used his hands to roll his head forward, firmly massaging the sides of Viktor’s neck.
“My posture is fine,” the man finally bit back.
Jayce scoffed.
“Yeah, sure it is. I bet if you twisted the wrong way your back would pop out of place.”
Viktor laughed, a sound that was surprisingly giddy, and reminded Jayce of the few times he had seen his partner intoxicated.
Moving back to his shoulders, he heard Viktor sigh deeply.
“Mm, feels good,” he murmured.
At that moment, Jayce had a thought. The second it was in his head he couldn’t get it out, no matter how hard he tried to pretend he wasn’t thinking about leaning forward and brushing his lips against the soft, pale curve of Viktor’s neck.
He felt his face flush with heat, and the intensity of his embarrassment caused his hands to freeze.
Viktor was his friend . It’s not normal to think about kissing your friend… is it?
Of course it’s not, he internally agonized, alarm bells ringing in his head.
He let his hands slide off of Viktor’s neck. Almost instantly he missed the warmth of the other man’s skin, the muscles in his hands contracting with the sudden longing to keep touching him.
Yeah, definitely a thought someone has about their friend, his inner voice berated.
Shit.
“While I hate to bring this little moment to a close, does this mean you are finally going to let me get back to work now?”
Viktor’s tone was teasing, but not sarcastic, and Jayce found himself picking it apart for any sign of… of what ?
That Viktor had enjoyed it? Did Jayce even want that?
Yes.
I mean, did he really want his partner to think of him in… that way?
Yes yes yes .
Jayce realized he was clenching his fists together when he felt nails biting into the skin of his palms.
“J-Jayce?” Viktor’s voice reached him from his daze, and suddenly Viktor was facing him with a look of sheepish concern on his face.
“Hm, what?” Jayce replied, trying to sound like his heart wasn’t threatening to explode out of his chest.
“Are you okay?”
Viktor’s lips tilted to one side in the way that they always did when he wasn’t quite sure of something.
Wait a minute, why was he looking at Viktor’s lips? He shook his head, trying to shake the strange feeling that had blossomed inside of him.
“Uh, yeah. Yeah, I’m fine.”
He was not fine.
Viktor quirked his head to the side, raising a skeptical eyebrow as if he had read Jayce’s mind.
“Alright…” he replied, obviously not believing him.
Taking a steadying breath, Jayce focused on the box of food Viktor had discarded earlier in an attempt to get his mind off of… things .
With a renewed determination to get Viktor to eat -- and trying not to think about the way his fingers had run over the smaller man’s spine, the way that electricity had seemed to dance in between the cells of their skin -- Jayce leaned forward.
His intention had been to lean around Viktor. In all fairness, he had been expecting the other man to move out of his way. But when he reached an arm across Viktor’s shoulder, reaching for the box of food, the other man froze.
They were so close that Jayce could feel Viktor’s breath against his face. It was frantic, that breathing -- like how it got after he had a coughing fit, or when his leg was hurting him more than usual.
Jayce’s hand stopped short of the take out box, falling flat onto the desk. His eyes connected with Viktor’s, and he felt like he was caught in a trap. The other man stared back at him unwaveringly, the gold of his irises almost glowing.
Jayce recognized this look on Viktor -- it was the same one that he got when he was on the verge of a breakthrough in their research. Intense, purposeful… determined. But now, instead of an equation, it was focused on Jayce.
He felt like he was going to combust, and he could do nothing but stare back, eyelids fluttering under Viktor’s forceful gaze.
Then, all at once, time seemed to move again, and with it, so did Viktor. He raised his hand slowly, like he was afraid that, if he moved any faster, Jayce might disappear. As his hand neared Jayce’s face, his long, slender fingers curled towards his palm -- all but one. Jayce tried not to shudder as Viktor’s index finger lighted on his jaw, right beneath his ear.
Jayce’s eyes flickered downward before returning to peer into Viktor’s, whose gaze hadn't wavered for a moment.
This time, Jayce did shudder as Viktor ran his finger down the length of his jaw, stopping just at the curve of the bone. The other fingers uncurled to place themselves beneath his chin, feather light.
Jayce inhaled sharply, and suddenly Viktor was inches away from him. The smaller man tilted his chin up, brushing it against Jayce’s. Then, with a single swift motion, Viktor closed the gap between them.
Jayce felt Viktor’s lips connect with his own. They were gentle, hesitant, brushing lightly and lingering softly. They settled against him like they were afraid if they pressed any harder, they might leave a bruise.
Jayce opened his mouth and exhaled the breath he had been holding. In response, Viktor craned his neck up even higher, head leaning back as he took it in. Jayce felt the other man’s chest flutter with the exchange of breath.
Taking advantage of the opening, Viktor slowly nudged himself closer, the curve of his bottom lip brushing Jayce’s teeth. Jayce found himself fighting back the urge to gently bite it.
But it seemed that Viktor wasn’t resisting any of his own urges, as the smaller man pushed his tongue forward, sweeping it delicately against Jayce’s before withdrawing it. A surge of energy shot through the taller man, sticking his feet to the floor.
He let out a heavy breath, which was muffled against Viktor’s mouth. Jayce felt the other man’s lips curl into a smile, and Jayce knew that he could live off of that feeling for a thousand years.
Instinctively Jayce raised his free hand, wrapping his fingers lightly around Viktor’s throat, just beneath his jaw. Viktor made a muffled noise, and Jayce felt his Adam's apple bob with the effort of it. Then he felt a hand on his wrist, gripping it firmly, fingers digging against his skin in a way that could only be described as passionate.
Viktor squeezed Jayce’s wrist as he pushed his chin higher, stretching even further so he could reposition his lips on Jayce’s. The latter felt as the other man drew a deep breath in through his nose, letting it out agonizingly slow as he played with Jayce’s top lip. When Jayce felt Viktor take the skin between his teeth, tugging lightly, his legs turned to jelly and he was sure he would collapse.
But then, with a final forward thrust which nearly knocked Jayce off his feet, Viktor slowly inched away, gaze flickering from his lips to look up at him through half-lidded eyes. Jayce had to stop himself from leaning after him, head dropping slightly with the loss of impact. He hadn’t realized how heavily he’d been leaning into Viktor until he wasn’t there anymore.
Viktor, with lips slightly parted, stared at him as though nothing had happened. Jayce, on the other hand, was struggling to keep his eyes focused, eyelids fluttering as he tried to steady himself against the desk.
“Now,” Viktor spoke, soft and low, and the sound of it reverberated through Jayce’s sternum.
“Are you going to let me get back to work or what?”
Jayce stared back at him wide eyed. With every previous thought or ambition gone, he dizzily nodded his head.