Chapter Text
Half an hour later, showered and dressed, Jayce stepped into the ballroom. Golden chandelier’s dripped from the ceiling, tall bouquets and white and gold flowers adorning the walls, champagne bubbling on every surface.
Sophisticated, tasteful music was played by a live band in the corner- the smells of rich perfumes pumping through the air.
Jayce walked to the nearest table, grasped a couple of champagne flutes and necked down the liquid- hoping to wash away his nerves at the numbers of impossibly rich people, all expecting great things from him- many of them conflicting.
As the warm light glinted against the room's metallic accents- Jayce spotted Mel and hurried over to her.
She looked gorgeous, draped in a white gown with golden stars like a thousand tiny suns. Her hair was in long braids, swept behind her shoulders.
“Jayce,” she nodded, smiling, as he stepped over.
“Gorgeous party, Councillor Medarda.” he said, dipping his head and raising another champagne flute.
“Yes,” she replied, floating over to him, effortlessly extracting herself from her previous conversation to be by his side, “shame about the people in it.”
Jayce chuckled, clinking his glass against Mel’s and gulping the remnants down.
“How are things coming along in the lab?”
“Good, good. We’re incredibly close to completing the first HexClaw prototype and then we can test it.”
“Hmm excellent. Sorry to have interrupted your progress.”
“It’s okay, Viktor’s handling it. Well… I think so anyway.”
Her eyebrows pinched together, “What do you mean?”
“He’s,” Jayce brought his free hand up to pinch the skin between his eyes, “He’s not particularly well at the moment. I didn’t really want to leave him but I-”
A butter-soft hand pressed against his own- “He’ll be alright Jayce.”
A rush of irritation rippled through him. How could she possibly know that? She hadn’t seen how exhausted he looked or the way his shoulders shook as he coughed into himself. But as her tender thumbs ran across the calloused skin of his palms, he knew she was just trying to comfort him.
“I hope so,” he sighed, eyes glancing towards the door for a moment, “Besides, I wanted to be here for you.”
She snorted, “Councillor Talis, I’ve been doing just fine on my own long before the ‘Man of Progress’ rose to fame.”
“But did you have someone to roll your eyes to when Salo starts banging on about immigration again?”
“I had my reflection.”
“Far nicer to look at then.”
They chatted for a few moments more before Mel gave him a little flick of her head towards the Bolbok’s. He groaned under his breath but nodded, plastering a smile across his face before stepping over and catching up with Councillor Bolbok’s equally insufferable relatives.
The night continued in much the same fashion, lots of hand shaking and fake laughing and empty compliments. He’d resolved himself to making as many connections as he could. If Viktor wasn’t gonna be here, he’d secure enough financial backing for the both of them.
He’d spoken to almost everyone relevant when he noticed his vision starting to sway. Jayce was a fair few flutes deep now, his head starting to buzz and energy surging through his fingers.
Maybe he’d gone a little too far. It wouldn’t be the best look for Man of Progress to start stumbling about the dance floor.
So with a quick nod to Mel, he slipped out the doors- letting the cool, night air of the abandoned hallways rush through his hair.
Viktor. He’d go and see how Viktor was doing.
Steps fumbling a little more than he cared to admit, he headed towards their lab. Slowly, he pushed open the lab doors.
“Vik?” he called out, not seeing his partner sitting at the desk. Where’d he gotten to? Compared to the brilliant lights of the party, the light in the lab was very dim- he could barely make out the table from the floor.
Outside, the storm had picked back up. It seemed to swirl around Piltover- wind pulsing in and out as lashes of rain smacked against the glass panes of their windows.
“Oh, you’re there,” he said, spotting Viktor’s hunched frame- still sat at their shared desk, just below the backboard of the chair, “I couldn’t see…Viktor?”
As he drew nearer, quiet, laborious breaths grew louder. Jayce quickened his pace and was soon at his side.
Viktor was deeply asleep- cheek against the wooden desk, hair spread out across the paperwork, breaths coming in fast and wheezing.
“Oh fuck, Viktor.” hissed Jayce, reaching out and placing the back of hand against Viktor’s sweaty forehead.
Dry heat hummed from his pale skin. Jesus he was seriously burning up.
Jayce sobered instantly. He felt fucking awful. There he was, basking in glitter and glamour whilst his partner was here, suffering alone. Sick as a fucking dog. He’d gotten drunk for god’s sake while Viktor was shivering in this dark, empty lab.
Shivering? Was he cold? Jayce tried not to let the panic consume him- he’s not cold it’s just the fever- it’s not even cold in here. Still, he found himself scrambling to the far corner where they kept a temporary cot and yanked the blanket off of it.
He hurried back over to Viktor and draped it around his narrow shoulders. He reached forward and felt his temperature again, hissing to himself.
Guilt snaked through his stomach like boiling rope. He’d known Viktor wasn’t well, he’d been coughing up half a long all day hadn’t he? He’d insisted he’d be fine but that was such a typical Viktor thing to do.
Jayce cursed under his breath, why the fuck had he believed him?
He needed to get him into bed and some meds into his system. He could try waking him, try getting him to lean on him and hobble to his apartment…
Fuck it.
Jayce looped an arm around Viktor’s middle, taking care not to press on any of the hinges of his back brace and, other arm hooking beneath his knees, scooped his partner into his arms.
It was so strange, having something so warm and solid cradled in his arms. It wasn’t like lifting the cold, grating bars at the gym. Viktor was a blend of soft and hard- tender skin contrasted against rigid collarbones, pulsing heat against the cold bite of his metallic back and knee brace.
Breathing heavily, heart pumping, Jayce headed towards the door, making sure to grab Viktor’s crutch before he left. He’d go to his apartment, it was the closest. And then he’d get Viktor into bed and then, and then…
“Jayce?” came a quiet, disorientated voice, “Wha- What’s going on?” His accent was thicker than ever- heavy with congestion and sleep.
He looked up at Jayce with blinking, cracked eyes, glazed with fever.
“Why am I?” he broke off, seemingly realising for the rest time what was going on and squirming a bit in Jayce’s arms as he strode them down the hallway.
Jayce was about to explain when suddenly Viktor was convulsing in his arms as a coughing fit racked through him. He finished the outburst with a stifled sneeze that he managed to lift the collar of his shirt to bury into.
“Bless you, Vik. I’m so sorry I should never have left you. I’m taking you back and you’re gonna be okay, you’ll feel better soon.”
“Jayce, I don’t,” Viktor shook his head as if trying to clear a whooziness that had settled over him, “I can get there myself.” he finished, voice somehow coherent despite the fever raging through him.
“You’re really fucking hot, I don’t think you realise the state you’re in.”
“Jayce, I can-”
“Please, just let me do this,” Jayce gasped out between steps, “We’re almost there.”
Viktor slumped in his arms, the fight draining out of him and nodded softly.
At last, they reached Jayce’s apartment, tilting his partner down for a moment, he twisted the handle and pushed inside.
Viktor blinked around owlishly- “Wait, this isn’t…”
“It’s… my apartment.” said Jayce, breath coming in as pants from carrying Viktor all the way from the lab.
“Jayce I can’t-”
“Yes you can, you more than can. I just want to get you into bed, I don’t care who’s.” Jayce interrupted, pushing through into his bedroom.
Crouching down and with a tenderness unfamiliar to his usual approach of charging in head first, Jayce lowered his partner onto the bed.
Viktor hissed a little as his back brace jolted against the mattress, tensing as a wave of shivers racked through his frame.
“Are you cold? Of course you are. Hold on.”
He made to lift the duvet and tuck Viktor under when his partner, eyes scrunched in discomfort, raised a hand to stop him.
“Hold on…I need to..” he murmured, trying to sit up, shaking fingers reaching towards his back.
Idiot. Jayce reprimanded himself. Maybe that godforsaken champagne was still clouding his brain. Of course Viktor needed to take his braces off.
Below him, eyes twitching in pain, Viktor was still feebly fumbling for the locks of his back- hurriedly breaking off and bringing his hands back to his face as another sneeze shook through him.
“Oh Viktor.” Jayce said softly, his heart surging at seeing someone he looked up to so wholeheartedly in this state.
He reached forward and cupped Viktor’s hands in his own, thumbs tracing the purple veins across the back of his clammy hands.
Then, before he even knew what he was doing, he raised their connected and hands and pressed his lips to the back of Viktor’s hands, kissing his feverish fingers.
He gazed down at Viktor, emotions swelling through his chest and sealing his throat shut.
Viktor, shivers shaking his slender frame, was breathing heavily, his eyes, confused and hazy flicking between Jayce’s eyes and his own hands, still pressed up against his lips.
“Can I help you take them off?” Jayce asked softly, his breath warm against Viktor’s skin.
He stilled for a moment, eyes darting down to himself. Fear flashed across his expression, like a rabbit- realising it's caught in a wolf’s eyeline. His hands hardened under Jayce’s touch, starting to pull away.
“Viktor, this won’t change anything. I’ve seen your braces before. They’re a part of you. And I wouldn’t change anything about you. Not… not for the world.”
Viktor turned his gaze back to him again, blurry eyes seeming damper than they were a moment before.
“There’s no one…I don’t admire anyone more than you.” Jayce continued and as he was speaking he realised it was true, “There’s nobody I’d rather be with.”
“Mel?” Viktor croaked out.
Jayce shook his head, finger pressing against the pressure point between Viktor’s thumb and forefinger.
“No Vik,” he let go of his hold with one of his hands, moving it instead to stroke away the limp strands of hair plastered against his partner’s forehead.
He wanted to say- it’s you, it's always been you. But Viktor was practically shaking beneath him, sniffling pitifully, barely able to keep his head up to meet his gaze.
Jayce finally let go of Viktor’s hand and moved to his waist, one hand against the cool metal and another against Viktor’s heated skin.
“Let me?” He said softly, imploringly.
At last, Viktor nodded, shifting on the covers to give Jayce a better angle.
With fingers working as quickly as he could, Jayce popped loose the springs keeping the brace together, gently prying it from his partner's frame.
Viktor sucked a breath as the metal slid off his skin, sinking into himself. But Jayce reached out and cupped his sweaty shoulder to steady him, thumb rubbing along the collarbone.
“Almost done.” He said, before reaching down and doing the same for the knee brace.
Finally Viktor was free, he sat slumped, scrubbing at his nose with the back of a fist, looking cold and miserable.
“Thank you.” He sniffed, words barely a whisper.
Guilt rippled through Jayce again. He bit on his lip and guided Viktor back down, pulling the covers over him without looking him in the eye.
“What’s wrong?” croaked Viktor, flushed cheeks stark against the white pillow case.
“Please just, don’t thank me.” Jayce bit out, “I should’ve been there. I should never have left you. I should never prioritise anything over you-I…”
A pale hand slipped out from under the covers and patted the bed softly.
“Sit.”
Jayce obeyed, sitting down heavily and resting his elbows on his knees, his head in his hands.
“My health is not your responsibility Jayce. I should’ve h–hheh-” he broke off suddenly to bring a hand up to his face- hitching breath sending vibrations through the bed. He sneezed tiredly into his forearm and blinked the lingering sensation away. “Sorry, I should’ve rested when you told me to. I just really wanted to finish the Claw.”
Jayce’s head lifted from his palms to gaze down at his partner. Vitkor was looking at him sadly, looking miserable with the sweat collecting on his brow and pink tinges that hung about his face. But his eyes, they swam with tenderness.
Jayce allowed himself, for just a moment, to wonder. Almost subconsciously, he shifted further on the bed, turning around to be closer to Viktor.
And, through the covers, he reached out and placed a hand against Viktor’s thigh.
“The HexClaw is nothing in comparison with your health.”
Viktor sighed which quickly turned into a grating cough, he turned his head away from Jayce to bury the fit into the pillowcase.
Jayce ran his hand up and down Viktor’s leg.
“You’re okay, breathe.” he said soothingly as Viktor turned back around, breathing heavily.
Viktor’s gaze flicked down to Jayce’s hand, still moving back and forth over his thigh. His eyebrows pinched closer, exhaling quietly.
He parted his lips as if were about to say something but pulled them back in again, looking away.
“What is it?”
“Nothing.” he mumbled after a beat.
Jayce waited for a moment, searching Viktor’s face for an answer but he remained stubbornly quiet.
“I’m going to get you some water and some meds, stay here.”
“Quite literally couldn’t go anywhere even if I wanted to.” grumbled back Viktor, shifting in the covers.
Jayce rose and padded into the kitchen. After devoting so much time to the lab and the council recently it had seen better days. Cartons of takeaway food and orange-stained tupperware from his mother littered the surfaces. The dishwasher could definitely do with loading as well.
He guessed that was one benefit of Viktor being so out of it. Although, having seen his partner's bombsite of a room he doubted he would’ve judged anyways.
Grabbing a cup from the cupboard along with some cold and flu relief tablets and a box of tissues, he filled the cup with water and headed back.
Through the wall, he heard Viktor sneeze loudly and unconstrained. So that’s what he sounded like when no one was watching.
He pushed back through the door and walked to the bedside.
“Here,” Jayce said, sliding an arm behind Viktor’s back to help him sit up, “Take these.”
Viktor hummed his thanks and sipped back the water and pills that were brought to his chapped lips.
Jayce lowered him back down and brought the covers up to his chin.
“Are you hot? Cold?”
“A little cold.” Viktor admitted, reaching over to pluck a few tissues from the box and blow quietly.
Turning immediately, Jayce reached into his cabinet and pulled out a large quilt his grandmother had made, tossing it over the bed.
“Snff.. Jayce how long has this been in there? It’s so dusty.”
Jayce laughed and rubbed the back of his neck with a hand.
“Well I tend to run pretty hot. Most nights I don’t even sleep with the duvet. Or clothes.”
Viktor scoffed, “I might have known.”
Speaking of running hot, Jayce stripped off the formal jacket he was still wearing and plonked down in his desk chair.
“Try and get some rest, I’m gonna sit here and read for a bit if that’s okay?”
“This is your room.” Viktor mumbled but his tone was pleasant and he shifted in the bed so he was curled up on his side, facing Jayce.
“Is there anything else you need?”
Yawning, Viktor’s eyes slid shut- “No.”
“Okay well, I’ll be here. Night, Vik.”
Viktor hummed noncommittal, parting his lips to breathe through his mouth.
Jayce picked up his current read (some ridiculous thing about two spaceship captains falling in love that had someone gotten him completely hooked) and attempted to focus.
After a while, Viktor’s slow, even breaths whistling through his open mouth filled the room.
His gaze fell on his partner’s sleeping form- the strand of hair that had fallen across his eye and if he just shifted closer, he could sweep it behind his ear. Or the way his long, dark lashes fell against his cheek. The bare skin of his skin he could bury his face in to…
Taking care not to make a sound, Jayce slid off of the chair and tiptoed towards the bedside, crouching down beside his partner.
Up close, he could see the sheen of sweat across his brow, the shadows under his eyes. But, in sleep, his face looked more relaxed- the lines at the corners of his eyes and between his eyebrows softened.
Like a stab to the gut he realised- Viktor looked younger when he wasn’t in pain. A breath caught in his throat, he wanted to, no needed to find a way to use the Hexcore to save him.
For almost a decade, Viktor had been everything he’d known- that snarky, brilliant presence constant in his life. His essence was woven through every blueprint, every model, every equation.
Viktor was intertwined in his life. Not to mention he owed his life to him. Not just from that time when he’d tried to end it but from every time since- when he’d instilled passion and hope into their work, when he’d brought him a cup of tea after long council meetings, when he’d cracked through something with his brilliant mind.
He couldn’t live without him.
Jayce reached forward, hand hovering by Viktor’s face. He took a breath. And leant forward, stroking along his cheekbones- so prominent on his angular face. They were baby-soft beneath his fingertips, warm to the touch from the lingering fever. Then he ran his fingers down the length of his jawline- light as a feather as not to wake him.
He paused when his fingers reached the middle of his face, thumb pressing against the outline of his lips for just a moment.
Beneath him, Viktor stirred, eyelids fluttering slightly. Jayce drew his hand back and cursed himself mentally, the last thing Viktor needed was some love-sick fool waking him.
So, quietly as a mouse, he crawled back to his chair and picked back up his book, pausing to check Viktor hadn’t actually woken up.
Sure enough he was still softly snoring away. Jayce sighed and flicked through the pages of his book, trying to return to where he was.
His success was limited, with the rain still pattering against the window and the sounds of Viktor’s rhythmic breathing, his eyelids soon started to droop.
After a few minutes longer, Jayce suddenly snapped awake. He’d fallen asleep in the chair, his body jolting him upright before he could topple forwards on to his face.
Shit, he really didn’t want to have to leave Viktor but he was gonna have to retire to the living room couch soon.
He pressed a hand against his knee, making to stand up when he saw a slit of Viktor’s eye crack open blearily.
“Jayce?” he said softly, voice laden with sleep and his stuffy nose.
“Sorry did I wake you?” Jayce grimmaced.
Viktor coughed and shook his head, “Where are you going to sleep?”
“I was just going to take the couch.”
Viktor’s feverish brain seemed to consider this for a moment- “No, I think not.”
“Huh? But I don’t have anywhere else and I’m not leaving you alone in this apartment.”
“Idiot.” whispered Viktor.
Jayce was well and truly confused now. Did Viktor want him to stay on the chair? He supposed if he angled it correctly it would be possible to sleep on there or maybe the floor…
He was brought out of his wanderings by a rustling. Viktor had shifted to one side of the bed and peeled back the duvet.
Did he want?...
“Come on.” he said, flicking his head to the empty space. But despite the confidence in his tone, insecurity flickered across his face, his hand faltering slightly as it grasped the corner of the covers.
Jayce didn’t leave him hanging a moment longer.
“Just let me take this off.” he said, gesturing to his formal clothes, trying not to let the nervous excitement pounding through his chest sink into his voice.
He tugged off his layers, hands shaking slightly, trying to get a hold of his heartbeat that was pounding in his chest.
Stripped to chest his boxers and a vest, he sank into the bed, feeling the warmth from where Viktor’s sleeping form had been.
“Thank you.” he murmured, pulling the covers over his chest.
He turned over in bed, heart somersaulting as he found Viktor’s amber eyes holding his gaze. His eyelashes fluttered slightly as he sucked in a shaky inhale.
Jayce almost laughed. Friends for 7 years and here they were nervous as school kids. But the proximity and the heat from Viktor’s body just inches away was making blood pound through his body like he was 14 again.
The slightest smile was pulling on the corner of Viktor’s lips.
“What?” asked Jayce.
Viktor’s smile widened, turning mischievous, “Ehh, just didn’t think this would be the way I’d finally get you into bed with me.”
Jayce’s heart skipped a beat. What had he meant by that? How was he supposed to interpret that? He was joking, surely?
He had no fucking clue how to respond. Without bursting out with how long he’d been waiting for this chance too.
Viktor’s body suddenly shook with a violent shake and he turned from Jayce to muffle a sneeze into the covers.
“Are you still cold?” Jayce asked as his partner shuffled back around.
“It’s probably just the fever but yes.”
And in that moment, with Viktor’s flushed face and hazy, brilliant eyes staring into his own with a look that even his oblivious brain couldn’t interpret as anything other than wanting, he decided to throw caution to the wind.
Jayce inched closer and tucked a muscular arm around Viktor’s back, bringing him into the warmth of his chest.
Viktor froze at the contact. Jayce’s pulse quickened. Fuck, had he taken it too far? Had he misread the entire situation?
But then Viktor sighed, a soft tiny sound. And with it, his body melted into Jayce’s.
“Jayce.” he whispered, breath against his chest.
“Yeh? I’m here.” Jayce said, voice tight with nerves but also overwhelming joy at having Viktor wrapped so securely in his arms.
“Thank you.”
And with that, Viktor’s breathing became slower and steadier again, his eyes closed- all rigidity he usually held in his body melting away.
Jayce stayed resolutely still for a few minutes, until the adrenaline started to wear down and his previous exhaustion sunk back in.
Viktor was fast asleep. In his arms. It didn’t feel real, couldn’t be real. They had so much to talk about- so many things unsaid, so much time passed. But it would all have to wait for the morning.
He raised one of his hands and combed it through the sweaty strands of Viktor’s hair- taking in his deep, familiar smell.
Then, just before the drag of sleep pulled him under, he leaned forward and pressed his lips to Viktor’s forehead.
And if Viktor’s eyelids had fluttered open for the briefest moment as he did so, Jayce was none the wiser as, within five minutes, he was snoring mercilessly.