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"Caitlyn? I swear if you're hiding in here..." Vi called over the creaking of the heavy door. Not two steps into the dim room, a voice answered.
"Nobody here but me, I'm afraid." Viktor turned his stool, resting his hands on the hand-brace of his crutch. He didn't appear startled by the sudden intrusion. Vi snickered quietly, scuffing her foor against the stone floor.
"You heard me before I even opened the door, didn't you?" He simply tipped his imaginary hat with a smirk. "Sometimes I forget you're from the Undercity too."
"Sometimes I wish I could." He shrugged before taking a deep, determined breath. On shaky legs, he stood, grunting with the effort of it. Vi jumped forward, bandaged wrapped hands held out in front of her as if to catch him. He held up a hand of his own, waving her off. He limped to a nearby table, littered with what appeared to be coffee-making supplies. There was a click and hiss of a burner turning on and a gentle thunk of the kettle being set on top of it. "Would you like anything?"
"No, I'm good. Not much of a coffee person." She replied, taking a few meandering steps around the lab, shoving her hands into the pockets of her jacket.
"Truth be told, I'm not either. But there's still work to be done." Viktor set to clearing space, softly cursing as he moved dirty cups and stacks of notebooks out of the way. The man was methodical in every motion, a far cry from the stumbling that Caitlyn would be doing in the same situation. Vi felt her lips curl up into a smile remembering that very morning, when she'd offered a reassuring hand on Caitlyn's waist as she scrambled to collect all the documents she needed for her presentation to the lieutenants.
"Do you want me to help? You can sit if you want." She wandered to the table, leaning back against it gently.
Viktor shook his head. "No, that's alright. I find it..." He paused, looking up to the ceiling like it would provide the word he was searching for. "Meditative." He provided, feeling out the word carefully. When Vi tilted her head in confusion, he continued. "It's calming. Clears the mind of unnecessary thoughts."
"Ah..." She sighed, pulling her hands from her pockets and curling them into gentle fists. "That makes sense." She said distantly, her voice so low it was like she was talking to herself.
"Fighting is the same for you, yes?" Viktor asked, turning off the burner with a click and lifting the kettle. There was a gently tinkling noise and the smell of fresh coffee began to rise from the cup in front of him.
"I guess. When I fight, it's like the whole world just..." She trailed off, eyebrows drawn into a tight line. "It's like nothing else matters. It's simple."
Viktor huffed beside her. "I wouldn't say fighting is simple." He set the kettle back down on the burner and looked despairingly back towards his desk. Slowly, he shuffled, once again shaking his head at Vi's well-intentioned hands hovering around him.
"More simple than any of this." She grunted, gazing up at one of the chalkboards in equal parts awe and fear. "All this might as well be another language to someone like me..."
"Mathematics is a language, in a way." Viktor sat with a grunt. He leaned his crutch against the table carefully, hand hovering for a moment before resting it in his lap. "The equations on that board describe how much strain can be put on a material before it breaks." A thin finger pointed at another board on the other side of the room. "Those ones illustrate the relationship between the hardness of a particular type of steel and the temperature it is heated to during processing. And when you put the two together, we can determine how to temper the steel used in our prototypes to withstand the forces put on the components." He sipped his coffee, grimacing at the bitterness of it.
"That's what I mean though. It means nothing to me. All I know how to do is punch things." She sighed, crossing her arms over her chest. At first glance, her expression could have read as frustration, but behind the pursed lips and narrowed eyes, there was a hint of doubt.
"Violet," At the sound of her full name, she flinched. How long had it been since someone called her that? How did he even know that? "if I'm permitted to use that name." She nodded carefully, eyes boring holes into his. "You have skills that others do not posess. And you use those skills to help others. At the heart of it, that is what matters."
"But I..." She started, expecting him to stop her, but he didn't. He sipped his coffee patiently while she figured out what it was she was trying to say. After a few long moments of huffing and stammering, she stared directly at the floor and started again. "Anyone can fight. I'm not special for it. Hell, I still get my ass kicked on a regular basis."
"Anyone, hmm?" He chuckled, setting the cup down. "Even me?" He folded his hands in his lap, interlocking his thin fingers. "Trust me when I say that fighting is not in my skill set." Vi flushed, looking up. She frantically started on an apology, but he continued. "That is not a thing to be ashamed of. Much like your illiteracy in mathematics, skills of the physical sort are not something that I am likely to be good at."
"Great pep talk..." She muttered, turning for the door.
"It would be, if you would let me finish." He replied, his smirk creeping into his voice. "For much of my life, I believed that I was less than others. Because I could not walk without the assistance of a cane, because I could not defend myself. Because nobody around me could understand the things my mind could imagine. But these things do not make me less. But this," He tapped his temple, leaning back against the edge of the table. "my mind is my greatest asset. I simply needed to be in a position where I could use it. And I believe that you are much like me, in that regard."
"I don't understand..." She shook her head, scratching the patch of short hairs behind her ear.
"For you, becoming an enforcer means becoming someone who can protect others. You want to change the Undercity, yes? To make the lives of those who live there better?" She nodded, dropping her hand to grip the back of her neck. "We have the same goal. Not every problem can be solved with mathematics. Some problems require fighters. You are not less just because you are different from them. Caitlyn sees this, just as Jayce does as well."
As if summoned by their names, their voices drifted in from the hallway, much louder than either of them realized.
"Speak of the devils..." Viktor started.
Vi grinned and finished the thought for him. "And they will appear." The two Piltover natives turned the corner into the lab, all rolling eyes and mocking tones. The realization played across their faces in slow motion, and each peeled away to greet their respective partners.
"Of course you're still here." Jayce attempted a firm, disciplinary tone, but his eyes were too soft.
"Where else would I be?" Viktor shrugged, looking particularly smug.
"I don't know, at home? In bed? Do you have any idea what time it is?" Jayce protested, squeezing his shoulder. Viktor melted under the touch, even when he tried his best not to.
"So says the man coming back from a council meeting at such a time." Jayce sputtered, trying to come up with any retort that didn't sound hypocritical, but fell short with a sigh.
"Seriously, how long can they all talk for?" Vi rolled her eyes as Caitlyn crashed into her, tucking her face into Vi's very muscular shoulder.
"It could have been longer if Cait didn't save us. Seriously, how did you get so good at that?" Jayce leaned down to press a kiss into Viktor's hair, who just hummed appreciatively and sipped on his coffee.
"Years of dealing with my mother, obviously." She lifted her head long enough to speak and subsequently buried her face again, nosing at Vi's half-exposed collarbone.
"That bad, huh?" Vi asked, voice soft as she brushed stray hairs out of her partner's face. She just nodded, pulling Vi closer by the waist and groaning. Vi chuckled, and squeezed back, both firm and gentle at the same time. Cait attempted to mutter something, muffled by her current position. "What was that cupcake?" Vi asked, smirking.
Caitlyn lifted her face, looking particularly puzzled. "I asked why you're in here."
"Violet was just visiting." Viktor supplied, grabbing his crutch and standing, unable to brush off Jayce has he assisted. "We had a wonderful conversation about mathematics."
"Math?" Caitlyn asked, at the same time as Jayce softly sounded out a perplexed "Violet?"
"Yeah, Viktor was explaining what the stuff on the boards is for." Vi shrugged, looking up at the mess of symbols and numbers. "I don't understand it, but that's your job, not mine."
Jayce chuckled, deep and full. "Right, and your job would be punching people?" Viktor exchanged a knowing smile with her as the four of them ambled to the door.
"Yeah, something like that..."