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The concept of homewrecking had always left a bad taste in Mel Medara’s mouth. She’d witnessed the aftermath of affairs as a child; she saw how families in her clan were emotionally torn apart by the betrayals. And so, Mel never thought once that she’d be in the position of a homewrecker. So imagine her shock when she realized she was indeed the homewrecker of Jayce and Viktor’s relationship. Though, in her defense, Mel didn’t realize Jayce was taken when she initially asked him out for dinner. And in Jayce’s defense, he didn’t seem to realize he was taken either.
It all started at one of the council’s many formal galas. Mel had been eyeing Jayce for almost three years now and finally decided to pounce. Since she was a teenager, Mel had been confident and forward in all of her romantic endeavors. She didn't care if it was unbecoming of a woman of her status to court a man. If she wanted it, she’d go for it—that was always her motto. And so, after some flirting at the gala, Mel decided to shoot her shot.
“Are you free next weekend?”
Jayce blinked. “Not during the daytime, no.”
“How about in the evening?”
“Sure! I’d have to let Viktor know, though.”
In hindsight, Mel realized that this was a sign pointing to the two men being together. Back then, however, Mel assumed Jayce said this because he would have to leave the lab early. And so, Mel went on her date with Jayce the following weekend.
The date left Mel gobsmacked. All Jayce spoke about was his partner, Viktor. Every question Mel asked resulted in an answer revolving around the pale man even when it didn’t make any sense to include him.
“What’s your favorite restaurant?”
“Me and Viktor go to this taco food truck all the time.”
“How’s your mother?”
“Good! Her and Viktor are having dinner right now, actually.”
“What’s your favorite color?”
“Me and Viktor like hextech blue.”
“What do you do in your free time?”
“Viktor.”
Mel raised a brow at that answer. The two sat in silence for a moment before Jayce’s face flushed, “I mean we hang out a lot,” Jayce stammered, flustered. “I didn’t mean that.”
Mel didn’t buy that for a second.
“You know,” Mel said, putting down her fork. “I asked you out so we could get to know each other outside of work.”
Jayce frowned, “Isn’t that what we’re doing?”
Mel’s eyes narrowed. “I’m learning a lot about Viktor.”
Jayce just looked lost as the two entered another awkward silence. Mel sighed as she took in the grown man’s pathetic expression that could only be compared to a kicked puppy. Mel decided to grant him mercy as she changed the topic to Jayce’s time at the Academy. She’d let it go for now, but that didn’t mean she’d stop digging.
“You’re asking me about… Jayce and Viktor?”
“Yes.”
“Not their research?”
“No, sir.”
Heimerdinger stroked the fur on his chin. “They’re very close. They even moved in with each other around a year ago.”
“So, they’re roommates?” Mel asked as she secretly pondered if she was just overreacting. They were scientific partners who lived together. Of course they'd be close companions. Jayce spent the majority of his time with the other man, so obviously he’d speak about him constantly. While the logical part of Mel’s brain screamed that she was overreacting, something deep in her gut screamed that she needed to keep digging. And so she did. “Have you been to their place before?”
The yordle nodded, “Yes. It’s quite messy,” Heimerdinger said with a shake of his head. “It seems that they’re too busy to clean.”
“How many rooms and baths?”
The professor paused and squinted his eyes at Mel. The woman resisted the urge to squirm as she stared back. “…You wish to know the layout of their flat?”
“Yes.”
“Two room one bath,” Heimerdinger said slowly, still eyeing Mel with an air of suspicion. “They use one of the rooms as a study,” then suddenly, the yordle’s face dropped and he stared at the ground. Mel caught it immediately.
“Oh? So, they share a room?” Heimerdinger nodded slowly. “Aren’t they a bit old for bunk beds? Or is the room big enough for two whole beds?”
Heimerdinger hesitated, “Now that I’m thinking about it… I only saw one bed in the bedroom.”
The two councilors entered into a heavy silence. “Ah,” Mel said softly, breaking the quiet lull that had fallen upon them. “So, they’re sleeping together.”
“Surely not like that,” Heimerdinger spluttered, waving his fur-coated hands at Mel. The yordle appeared panicked as he caught on to the type of information Mel was searching for in this conversation turned interrogation. “In fact, I went to their apartment before you and Jayce even started to see each other.”
“We’ve only seen each other once.”
“And I heard it went well! Jayce was raving about you.”
“Really?” Mel said as she crossed her arms across her chest. “Unfortunately, I cannot share similar sentiments. All Jayce spoke about on our date was Viktor.”
The two entered another dense silence. Tension was palpable as the two councillors stared at each other. “They’re good friends,” Heimerdinger broke the silence, sounding unsure of himself as he slowly spoke.
“And if they’re more?”
“If they’re more then I genuinely don’t believe that Jayce is capable of infidelity,” Heimerdinger firmly stated. “If they were together, he would have never entertained your affections and led you astray.”
Mel sighed as she said, “I agree with your assessment,” The thought of Jayce being a cheater was a laughable one, really. He exuded puppy dog energy. The man was loyal to a fault. “Jayce Talis is not a man who cheats.”
“But?” Heimerdinger added, eyeing the taller woman closely.
“But,” Mel said, eyeing the yordle back. “There’s something going on between the two of them. I don’t see how I can continue seeing Jayce when this,” Mel said as she waved her right hand around, “is occurring in the background. Whatever this is.”
“Perhaps you should speak with Caitlyn Kiramman,” Heimerdinger suggested. “I’m afraid my knowledge of their emotional states is limited. They mainly confide in me in regards to their research. Caitlyn, however, is a good friend of theirs.”
And so, Mel met up with Caitlyn and decided to be a bit more blunt with her interrogation rather than her ambiguous approach with Heimerdinger.
“So,” Mel said with a raised brow. “Are they an item?”
“They’re totally fucking.”
Right. Mel forgot. With Caitlyn was her undercity beau, who Mel didn’t even know existed until this very moment.
“I’m sorry,” Mel said, not sounding sorry at all. “Who are you again?”
“Vi.”
“And who are you?”
The hot pink haired teen blinked before speaking to Mel like she was a toddler, “My name is Vi. V as in voluptuous and I as in iguana. Vi.”
“She’s my girlfriend,” Caitlyn answered with haste, cutting off the other teen with a careful smile. Mel glanced at the enforcer in training before eyeing Vi closely. The girl had messy pink hair, was clad in dirty clothes (was that a blood stain? Mel was just going to ignore that…), and had her own name tattooed on her face. Mel looked back at Caitlyn.
“And where did you find her?”
“I’m right here, you know-“
“Stillwater.”
Silence. Complete and utter silence.
“They’re really bad at keeping track of prisoners there,” Caitlyn said slowly.
Mel nodded slowly, “Okay.”
“Okay?” Caitlyn repeated incredulously.
“Yes. Okay,” Mel said with a sigh before wiping her face down with her hands. “Out of sight out of mind,” Mel added with a wave of her hands. “Besides, who am I to judge you on where you find a partner.”
“Yeah. Like, you’re dating a dude with a boyfriend.”
Mel gave the girl a dirty look. Meanwhile, Vi gave her a nonchalant shrug, seemingly not noticing (or caring about) the impact her words had on the older woman. “We’re hardly dating. We went on one date.”
“It’s complicated,” Caitlyn interjected before Vi could respond with another off-color comment. “They really aren’t dating, at least not that I know of. I’ve tried asking Jayce about it and he’s always evasive about it…”
Vi shook her head in disbelief while she said, “Come on, cupcake. They’re definitely a thing. Remember that one time we walked in on them kissing?”
Hold up. What? “Kissing?” Mel questioned, astonished.
“It wasn’t like that, though!” Caitlyn said panicked wide eyes. “They were kissing because Viktor solved some equation-“
“I saw tongue.”
“No, you did not!”
“But they were kissing,” Mel said, emphasizing the last word with a stiff hand gesture. “Right? They were kissing.”
The two nineteen year olds shared a look before turning back to Mel. “Yeah,” Caitlyn said with a sheepish smile. “They were kissing.”
“Have you seen anything else?”
The two shared a look again. “Jayce bought Viktor this ring,” Caitlyn admitted, her eyes now glued to the floor. “I asked him if it meant anything and Jayce denied it, but…” The girl trailed off before glancing at Vi.
Vi let out a sigh, “Honestly, it was the gayest shit I’ve ever seen in my entire life. And I saw some really gay shit in prison,” Vi said, her voice airy as she reminisced on old times. “Viktor always wears the ring too.”
Mel frowned, “Did Jayce say anything else about the ring?”
“He said it was to ‘bring Viktor into the family’,” Caitlyn said with finger quotes.
Mel stared at the younger girl in silence before exclaiming: “So, what you’re saying is that they’re engaged?!”
“See,” Vi said with a smug smile. “What did I say? Super gay!”
Mel expected much more than what Ximena Talis gave her. She expected shocked tears or defensive tears or even happy tears from the older woman… but instead, all Jayce’s mother did was laugh.
“Jayce is not engaged,” Ximena said with an amused smile as she poured herself another cup of tea. “He would never hide something as big as that from me.”
“He hid his illegal research from you,” Mel pointed out.
“And he promised me he’d never lie to me ever again.”
Mel surmised that his promise to never lie was a lie in of itself, “He bought Viktor a ring.”
Ximena took a sip from her tea, “It was a nice ring. Jayce made it himself.”
Mel paused. “Jayce made it?”
“Yes! In the family forge.”
Mel put down her own cup of tea with a sharp clink. “Jayce made Viktor a ring and said it was to bring him into the family… but they’re not engaged?”
“What they share is brotherly love.”
Since when was tongue-kissing brotherly love?
“Viktor has dinners with you.”
“Yes, because he has no family of his own in Piltover,” Ximena said with a frown. “It’s sad, really. We had to beg Viktor to come over. I didn’t want someone who endears my son to be lonely.”
Viktor’s definitely not lonely, Mel thought to herself derisively, he literally shares a bed with a man every night.
“So, they’re not engaged?”
“No,” Ximena said firmly. “Jayce would’ve told me! Now, would you like more tea?”
Mel was at a complete loss by the time she cornered Sky, Viktor’s assistant, for her interrogation.
“So?” Mel asked the silent girl impatiently. Mel had given Sky the summary of everything she had learned thus far in her investigation, leading the other girl to go mute. “What do you think?”
“Well,” Sky started quietly, “Viktor knew about your date with Jayce.”
“And he didn’t care?”
Sky physically cringed, “I wouldn’t say that,” Mel stared at her expectantly. Sky shifted uncomfortably under the woman’s gaze and tucked a loose curl behind her ear before continuing, “I promised I wouldn’t tell anyone.”
“I’m not just anyone.”
Sky stiffened. “Yeah, you are,” Sky said with an annoyed look adorning her face. “You Pilties are all the same. You think you’re deserving of everything Zaunites have, even our harmless secrets.”
“Look,” Mel said, holding back an eye roll at the girl’s misinterpretation of her words. “I didn’t mean it like that. I won’t tell anyone, I swear. I just need to know what’s going on so I can figure out if I want to continue seeing Jayce.”
Sky watched Mel for a moment before letting out a loud sigh. “Okay, I’ll tell you,” Sky said, her shoulders sagging in relief as though Viktor’s secret weighed heavily on her mind and she was desperately waiting to share the burden with someone. “Viktor was sad.”
Whatever Mel was expecting, it wasn’t that. “Sad? Viktor?” The two words didn’t go together in her mind. Sassy, sarcastic, confident… Those were words she associated with the scientist. Not sad. “Why?”
“That’s the secret,” Sky murmured, her eyes downturned in guilt. “Viktor… he likes Jayce. A lot.”
Mel blinked. “So… they’re together and Jayce chose to go on a date with me, but Viktor didn’t want him to…?” Gods, Mel thought to herself, did Jayce pressure Viktor into an open relationship? Maybe, he isn’t above cheating after all.
“No,” Sky said, shaking her head. “They’re not together at all.”
Mel blinked again. “That doesn’t make any sense. They’re engaged?”
“They’re not.”
“But the ring-“
“Look,” Sky interjected, her eyebrows furrowed. “I don’t know anything about Jayce’s intentions, but Viktor’s under the impression that they’re not together and his feelings are one-sided.”
“So, Jayce sleeps in his bed, kisses him with tongue-“
“With tongue?!”
“-takes him out to meet his mother, makes him rings, and god knows what else… but he hasn’t verbally committed himself to their relationship?”
Sky was at a loss for words. She shook her head in disbelief, “Yeah,” Sky said, her voice breathy. “I guess that’s what’s going on.”
The two women entered a stunned silence. “Do you think Jayce knows what he’s doing?” Sky said, breaking the silence. “He’s a little… excuse me… but he’s a little dense when it comes to emotional matters.”
Mel snorted, “That’s one way to put it. Honestly,” Mel said with a fond smile. “I wouldn’t even be shocked if Jayce didn’t realize we were on a date,” The joke didn’t land as Mel intended. Rather than laughing, Sky gave Mel a meaningful look. Mel stared into the other girl’s eyes before dread washed over her. “No…”
“Maybe you need to talk to Jayce…”
This could not be happening.
It was definitely happening.
“I’m confused,” Aren’t we all? “What do you mean by ‘what did you think our dinner was’?” Jayce asked with a pout. “It was dinner?”
Mel resisted the urge to throttle the man. “And what was that dinner to you?”
Jayce blinked slowly, “…Supper?”
“Oh my God!” Mel exclaimed, clutching her head with her hands. “Can you just answer the question?”
“I am!”
“No, you’re not!” Mel said, slamming her hands on the laboratory table, causing Jayce to jump. She had cornered Jayce mid-workday in his and Viktor’s shared lab space. The two were alone, as Sky had led Viktor out of the lab so Mel could conduct the interrogation. They’d been at it for five whole minutes now. Five minutes from hell. “Did you think our dinner was a date?”
Jayce’s face dropped. “Did you think I thought it was a date?”
“Yes?!”
“I’m so sorry!”
Ouch? “Why are you sorry?” Mel asked, slightly offended by Jayce’s apology. What’s so wrong about going on a date with her? Has he seen her? “It was supposed to be a date.”
Jayce paused. “What do you mean?”
“What do you mean ‘what do you mean’? I asked you out for dinner!”
Jayce opened and closed his mouth multiple times, struggling to get any words out. After a moment of awkward silence, he settled on: “I thought it was a friendly dinner.”
“What?”
“A friendly dinner between two friends.”
“At night? At a high-end restaurant?” Jayce stared at Mel in silence. Mel gave the man an exasperated look, “You paid for my bill?!”
“Yeah, because I chose the restaurant.”
“I told you that I wanted to get to know you better. What did you think that meant?”
“I thought you wanted to become my friend?”
Mel felt her will to live dying. “We’re already friends, Jayce.”
“We are?” Jayce asked with a wide genuine smile. “I just thought you viewed me as a coworker or a constituent!”
Mel shook her head in disbelief, “If you thought nothing of our dinner, why did you tell Heimerdinger that you had a great time on our date?”
“Because I did?” Jayce answered with a confused frown. “But I didn’t tell him I went on a date. I told him I had dinner with you.”
Oh my God.
“Jayce,” Mel said softly, as though she was speaking to a toddler. “Everyone and I mean everyone thought we were out on a romantic date.”
“Who’s everyone?”
And with that, Mel began listing off names before ending her list with: “Viktor.”
Jayce’s eyes widened, “Viktor too?”
“Yeah.”
The two went silent as Mel watched the man’s face closely. Jayce scratched at his head as he appeared to be sorting through all of the information Mel had just handed him. “I’m sorry, Mel,” Jayce said, looking back up at her. “I don’t think I like you like that.”
Mel, again, felt a little offended by Jayce’s apology. She thought he was hot, sure, but he’s nothing to write home about. Mel wasn’t going to be heartbroken over his rejection and she didn’t need his apologies. Mel was beyond the point of caring about his potential feelings for her. The only thing she cared about now was—
“Because you’re in love with Viktor.”
Jayce’s face immediately flushed a bright red as the normal well spoken man began to stammer. “What? No no no! That’s crazy-“
“Really?” Mel questioned sarcastically with raised brows. “Jayce, you talked about him nonstop during our dinner date-“
“Not a date!”
“-you said you do Viktor in your free time-“
“I didn’t mean it like that!”
“-you sleep in the same bed as him-“
Jayce blinked. “Who… Who told you that?!”
“-you shoved your tongue down his throat in front of Caitlyn and her criminal girlfriend-“
“It was a peck! How do you even know about that? And Vi’s a criminal?”
“-you took him home to meet your mother-“
“My mother is great company!”
“-and you gave him an engagement ring,” Mel said, letting out a deep breath. “Or a promise ring or whatever! You made him a ring! What is the heterosexual explanation for that?”
Jayce’s face resembled a tomato as he stammered out an answer. “Viktor doesn’t have a surname, you know? And he doesn’t have a house so, I thought he could join mine?” Jayce swallowed nervously while his eyes looked everywhere but at Mel’s eyes. “I made it so it had the Talis sigil and I carved some other stuff on there to represent Viktor… I don’t know. I thought it’d be-“
Mel put up a hand, silencing Jayce’s rambling immediately. “That was a really sweet gift,” she said with honesty. She gave him a fond smile, “But it’s not something you’d do if Viktor was just a friend in your mind.”
Jayce went silent and stared into his lap. “I just…” The man cleared his throat. “I can’t admit it.”
Mel frowned, “Why?”
“Because Viktor definitely doesn’t like me back.”
Oh brother. “Trust me, Jayce. He does.”
“No, he doesn’t,” Jayce said firmly, looking back up into Mel’s eyes. “He likes someone else.”
“Who?”
“Sky.”
Oh BROTHER.
Mel had to hold back laughter as she leaned back in the lab chair in disbelief. “You think Viktor likes women?”
“Yeah, he likes Sky.”
“No, he doesn’t,” Mel said with a shake of her head. “Viktor is openly gay. Remember that night when you two broke into Heimerdinger’s lab? Do you remember Viktor’s excuse about the lab not being his room?”
Jayce’s face flushed again. “I think about that excuse a bit too much,” he said before covering his face with his hands.
Mel let out a small laugh, “Let’s just say I’ve caught Viktor sneaking around with enough boys and only boys for that excuse to be believable,” Mel said with a playful wink, causing Jayce to blush even more. “If it makes you feel better, he hasn’t snuck around with boys since the night he met you.”
Jayce put his hands down and sighed, “What if I ruin our friendship?”
“Trust me,” Mel said, thinking back to how Jayce’s horrific communication skills led her to go on a wild goose chase around the city for answers, “you just need to communicate clearly with Viktor and everything will be okay.”
Eavesdropping was beneath a woman of her standing, but Mel Medarda didn’t care. After the last two weeks of chaos she’s had, she deserved this gift.
“Are they making out yet?”
“No,” Mel whispered back before glaring at the pink-haired girl crouched down next to her. “And when did you two even get here?”
Here, meaning behind the door of a supply closet in the laboratory. After Sky and Viktor returned to the lab, Mel and Sky snuck into the closet and had now been camping out there for the last twenty minutes, waiting for Jayce to finally confess to Viktor. Someway and somehow, Caitlyn and Vi ended up in the closet as well.
“How did you get past Viktor and Jayce?”
“They don’t pay attention to their surroundings when they’re nerding out.”
“What-“
“Shhhh,” Sky hissed, “Something’s happening.
The four women quieted down as they watched a nervous Jayce approach Viktor.
“Hey V,” Jayce said with a weak smile. “Can we talk?”
Viktor takes off his work goggles and nods, causing Jayce to let out a shaky sigh and sit down next to him.
“Are you okay?” Viktor asked him with a concerned frown.
Jayce smiled nervously, “Not really. It’s okay, though. I just need to let this out.”
“Did I do something wrong?”
“Gods no. It’s just me being an idiot.”
“Well,” Mel whispered. “At least he’s self aware.”
“You know how I went out for dinner with Mel?” Viktor’s frown deepened before nodding. “It wasn’t… it wasn’t like that. Or at least, I didn’t think of it that way. I don’t like Mel like that and we cleared the air.”
Viktor’s eyes widened in surprise, “You don’t like Mel?”
“No,” Jayce said, shaking his head. “I like someone else, but I’ve been too scared to admit it.”
“I’m your partner,” Viktor said, “I won’t judge you.”
“They’re so gay,” Vi whispered, astonished.
Jayce cleared his throat as his eyes watered up with unshed tears. “Do you promise?”
“Yes,” Viktor said, looking more concerned than before. “Jayce, it’s okay. You can tell me-“
“I like you,” Jayce whispered. Viktor’s eyes widened in shocked as he was stunned into silence. “I’ve liked you since the day you saved me. And I like everything about you… I like your accent, I like your smile, I like your intelligence, and I even like it when you’re mean to me-“
“He looks like he’d be into degradation,” Vi commented with a squint.
Caitlyn grimaced at her, “Sometimes, sharing isn’t caring, Vi.”
“-and I’ll understand if you don’t like me back or you don’t want to work with me anymore-“
“What?” Viktor said as he was broken out of his stupor. Viktor grabbed Jayce’s hands before saying, “I still want to work with you. I meant what I said when I said you’re always my partner.”
“But… I knew I liked you and I still did those things,” Jayce whispered, looking at their hands in his lap.
“What things?”
“I made us share the bed.”
“I wanted that too.”
“I made you that ring.”
“I really liked it, Jayce.”
“I kissed you!”
Viktor gave Jayce a bashful smile, “Jayce, look at me,” Jayce slowly met the other man’s eyes. “I liked it.”
Jayce blinked as his jaw dropped in shock. “You liked it?”
Viktor nodded as his smile widened, “Yeah. I liked it a lot. I like you too, Jayce.”
The two then just stared at each other in silence. The silence was a bit too long, because the four girls in hiding began shifting uncomfortably from their hiding spot in the closet. The silence kept going. And going. And going. And-
“Just make out already!”
The two men’s heads whipped in the direction of the women’s hiding spot. Mel, Sky, and Caitlyn sat in shock while Vi had opened the door of the closet and revealed herself to the two scientists.
“Vi?” Jayce questioned, astonished. “What are you doing here?”
“Sky? Caitlyn?” Viktor added as he looked at the girls crouched on the floor behind Vi. Viktor’s eyes widened, “Councillor?!”
Mel felt her face heat up as Vi continued to speak, “Can you guys kiss already so I can go? Me and Cait got plans.”
Viktor quickly grabbed Jayce’s face and gave him a small peck on the lips. He pulled away and glanced at Jayce’s face, which looked dazed. Viktor smiled at him before turning to the girls, “Does that suffice?”
“Yup,” Vi said as she stretched. “Come on, girls. Let’s go. Our job is done.”
And with that, the girls got up to leave. Mel, however, stopped walking once she got to the scientists and said, “I didn’t mean to homewreck your relationship, Viktor. Forgive me?”
“It’s all forgiven,” Viktor said with a breathy laugh. “I’m assuming this entire conversation happened because of you?”
Mel glanced at a still dazed Jayce before turning back to Viktor. “I may have given Jayce a little push.”
“Since when were you talking with the other girls?”
Mel let out a sigh, “It’s a long story. I thought you two were eloping so, I held an investigation.”
Viktor blinked. “What?”
“Like I said, it’s a long story.”