Chapter Text
Viktor knocked on the bottom of the door with his cane. No response. Vi snorted and reached over his shoulder to bang with her fist. He gave her an unimpressed look and she shrugged.
"We're not open yet, come back in an hour!" A voice shouted.
"We're not customers!" Vi shouted back. "I've got a delivery for Babs!" A blatant lie, but she never claimed to be moral.
Several clicks sounded as locks and deadbolts were undone on the other side of the door. It cracked open to reveal a beautiful pair of teal-green eyes set into a suspicious face.
"Hi, pretty boy," Vi greeted. She nudged the door open with her shoulder and ruffled his hair, earning herself an angry protest as he batted her away and tried to fix it.
"I have a name you know," the man grumbled.
Vi shrugged. "Is Babette around?"
Pretty boy grunted and gestured toward the stairs. Viktor gave him a friendly smile and followed Vi as she bounded up the steps. It had been a while since he'd visited the Undercity and a lot had changed. The streets were cleaner, the people were less twitchy, and shimmer was running less rampant now that the enforcers were cracking down on it. The wonders that having a citizen of Zaun on the Council could do.
Apparently, Vi ran into an old friend while patrolling a few days ago and promised to come visit when she had an afternoon off. Viktor was admittedly rather curious about the changes that he'd been hearing about in his birthplace and asked if he could tag along. Vi tried not to show it, but she was thrilled to have company.
"Babette? You in here?" Vi pushed aside a beaded curtain and motioned for Viktor to enter.
"Vi? Is that you, honey?"
Viktor coughed a little at the heavy incense that filled the room and felt his eyes begin to water. A small yordle woman was perched on a chaise lounge across the room and smoking from a long stick. Heavy blue eyeshadow was smeared across her lids and brought attention to her pale red eyes and vibrant hair. Viktor purposefully kept his gaze firmly affixed on her face and did not look down at the low cut of her shirt. Just because it was an intentional choice on her part did not mean it wasn't disrespectful to stare.
"Oh, who might you be?" The woman waved some of the smoke away to see him more clearly.
"Viktor Talis, I'm Vi's friend." He extended a hand in greeting.
The woman chuckled and shook his hand as though it amused her. "Any friend of Vi's is a friend of mine. I'm Babette, and please sit, dear. I'll call for some tea." Babette stood and sauntered over to the archway that led into the hall, giving Vi a tight hug on the way by. She leaned out to talk to someone and Viktor perched delicately on the edge of the sofa. He wasn't incredibly trusting of the cleanliness in this establishment, but he'd also been in far worse places. Singed's lab was a health inspector's worst nightmare.
Vi plopped down next to Viktor and immediately stretched out, sinking into the cushions like it was the first time she'd sat in days. Babette made her way back over and resettled onto the lounge, immediately launching into a series of questions about how Vi was liking Piltover, if she saw the new renovations at The Last Drop, et cetera. She even directed some of her attention toward Viktor, asking how he knew Vi and where he was from. It didn't escape his attention that she relaxed a little at hearing he was from the Undercity. Some things might never change.
At some point in their conversation, there was a rustle of beads and a new person entered with a tray of tea.
"Lest?" Viktor startled.
The woman turned in confusion and jolted as soon as she laid eyes on him. "Viktor? What are you doing here?"
He felt a bright grin forming as he laughed a little and stood to greet her. "I'm just visiting with a friend, do you work here?"
Lest matched his smile and set the tray down to pull him into an embrace. "Started a few months ago. It's been years, how have you been? Where have you been?"
"It's kind of a long story," Viktor wrapped an arm around her back and leaned into the hug.
Vi cleared her throat and he pulled back with a flush. "Sorry. Vi, this is my friend Lest, we grew up together. Lest, this is my friend Vi, she's the one who brought me here."
The two women sized each other up, seemed to find something they approved of, and nodded congenially.
"Lest, why don't you join us?" Babette suggested.
"Please," Viktor tacked on. "We have much catching up to do."
Lest's eyes locked onto his left hand and flashed with interest. "I can see that."
Viktor followed her gaze and smiled fondly when he realized she'd spotted his ring. "Ah, yes. I would've invited you to the wedding, if not for the fact that we didn't have one."
"They didn't even bother to tell anyone for years," Vi huffed and crossed her arms.
"Untrue," Viktor sat back down. "Ximena knew, she sent us flowers and a strongly worded card."
"Jayce's mom doesn't count," Vi protested. "She knows everything."
"So his name is Jayce?" Lest sank into the free chair next to them.
Viktor nodded, feeling surprisingly shy. Maybe it was because he hadn't seen Lest in so long and she was a childhood friend, but it felt almost like he was telling her about his school crush and not his husband of seven years.
"Are you seeing anyone, Vi?" Babette asked with the faux innocence of a grandmother wanting to know if she was going to get any great-grandbabies soon. "I distinctly remember there being a blue-haired girl with you last time you were here."
Vi practically vibrated with excitement and broke off into a tirade about her love for Caitlyn that Viktor had heard a million times over. He turned back to Lest and they started their own, much quieter conversation about everything they had missed in the last ten-odd years. They had grown up in the same part of the city and were both seen as outcasts for different reasons, which had led to them growing close in their ostracization. They were each other's only true friend for many years. When they got older and Viktor left for school, they had fallen out of touch. However, talking to her now, it felt like almost no time had passed.
They chatted for a good half an hour, drinking tea and enjoying the pleasant atmosphere that had been created from new friends meeting old ones. Eventually though, there was a slight commotion downstairs and Vi stood with a frown. "I'll go see what that is."
Viktor did not miss the way that Lest shifted a little closer to him, old memories igniting that protective instinct she'd developed growing up. It made him smile fondly, even if he wanted to remind her that he was a grown man and could take care of himself.
Vi's sudden laugh startled them. "Hi, Cupcake! You can let them up, pretty boy."
Footsteps thundered up the stairs and Vi grabbed someone's hand to drag them into the room excitedly.
"Cait, meet Babs. Babs, this is the love of my life."
Caitlyn flushed at the introduction and stuck her hand out robotically, stammering through a greeting. Babs cooed and pulled her into a hug, which made Caitlyn squeak.
Viktor was distracted from their interaction by the familiar thump of steel-toed boots across the wooden floorboards.
"Hey," Jayce greeted softly.
Viktor drank in the sight of his husband in the dim brothel lights. Jayce had not gotten a haircut in a while now and the strands had grown just long enough to hit his chin, his beard coming in rather full as well. There was dirt smeared on his cheek, a clear sign of an afternoon spent in the forge, and the overall picture he painted was incredibly rugged. Viktor would be lying if he said he didn't like it.
"Oh, now I understand." Lest was grinning like a cat that caught the canary. Viktor blushed and kicked her ankle lightly.
"Jayce, this is my old friend Lest. Lest, behave."
"A pleasure," she purred.
A heavy weight settled around Viktor's shoulders and he felt himself being tugged against his partner's side.
"The pleasure is all mine," Jayce replied with his business smile. "How did you two meet?"
"One of our classmates said I was disgusting and Viktor hit them with his cane."
Jayce let out a startled laugh. "When was this?"
"Around 25 years ago."
"You knew Viktor as a kid?" Jayce perked up in interest.
Lest leaned forward conspiratorially. "Do you want to see pictures?"
Viktor was suddenly regretting ever introducing the two of them.
They had to leave shortly after Jayce and Caitlyn arrived so that Lest and Babette could start working, but contact information had already been exchanged with a promise to meet up soon.
As they exited the brothel, Jayce pressed a scratchy kiss to Viktor's forehead and quietly thanked him for introducing him to his friend. Suddenly, Viktor couldn't bring himself to regret a single thing that had happened today. Even if it meant Jayce now had pictures of him as a child that would probably end up on Ximena's mantle.