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Jayce
Jayce always hated the way his dress shoes announced his arrival down the long, empty corridor between his office and the lab, but he walked at a steady clip to get to his next meeting, for which he was already, characteristically, late. The corners of his mouth fought his cheeks and won, turning further upward the closer he got to the lab despite his drunken fumbling last night. All of his messages with Viktor this morning seemed normal, which set his mind at ease. Before he could reach the threshold, though, the sound of laughter from within stopped him.
Listening in the doorway, he heard the unmistakable song of his partner’s laugh floating alongside another voice he couldn’t place. Curiosity got the better of him and he popped his head in. He immediately wished he hadn’t.
“Hey Vik–”
The rest of Viktor’s name went into hiding as Viktor pulled his hand away from a handsome stranger. Their eyes met and it dawned on Jayce that in all their years of friendship, he had never seen Viktor genuinely flustered. Stressed, sure, he’d seen that every day. This was something different. It felt unwieldy somehow.
“Jayce,” Viktor said, taking a stab at casual pleasantry so sharp that he killed it. “Come, come in.”
Despite the fact that he’d have preferred to cut his own arms off or launch his cursed body into the sun, Jayce straightened his jacket and walked over to Viktor and the guest. “Jayce,” he said, holding out a hand and striking his most formal tone, “Nice to meet you.”
“Oh, wow, Councilor Talis,” the man replied, his handshake firm. “It’s wonderful to meet you. I’m Dax.”
Jayce’s eyes darted to Viktor only to find that Viktor’s eyes were already on him, a strange expression gathering at his mouth and brow.
“How do you know my partner?”
“Oh, well I listened to a lecture he gave today in one of my graduate classes and I just had to introduce myself,” Dax said, rubbing the back of his neck. “We grabbed coffee before this and I quickly realized that I was out of my depth,” he laughed. “My brain has its limits, unlike some people’s,” Dax gushed, turning his head in Viktor’s direction. His freckled cheeks turned to soft roses.
“You flatter me,” Viktor said. “I was just showing Dax what you and I are working on in the lab. He is far smarter than he gives himself credit for.” Viktor’s hand rested briefly on the student’s shoulder and Jayce thought he might actually scream.
“Terrific,” Jayce said, voice clipped. “Well, I’m late for an appointment. It was nice meeting you,” he said in a way that indicated meeting him was, in fact, the least nice thing he’d do all week. He turned on his heels before he had to listen to one more miserable word come out of that perfectly nice and perfectly handsome young man’s mouth.
Stomping the rest of the way to Heimerdinger’s office would’ve had about the same effect as whatever his legs were doing just then. He stormed past students and professors alike, ignoring polite smiles and greetings. To be safe, he avoided any reflective surface that might confront him with the smoke coming out of his ears.
And what right did he have to this anger, really? He’s had every chance to tell Viktor the truth. Every chance to tell him how beautiful he looks when he’s concentrating and how Jayce would be content to make him breakfast and listen to him read the newspaper out loud every morning for the rest of their lives. And yet here he was, losing to his own cowardice. When he reached Heimerdinger’s office at long last, he took a soothing breath–four in, hold for four, four out, just like Viktor taught him–and fell headlong into the distractions of the day.
Viktor
While gathering his things after giving yet another lecture to yet another class of half-sleeping graduate students, one of them, very much awake, stuck out his hand and introduced himself.
“Professor, it’s so great to meet you. I’m Dax,” he said, the nervous energy of youth lighting up his features–strawberry blonde hair, freckles from forehead to chin, bright blue eyes. He was sunshine personified. He wasn’t the first eager student to make an awkward introduction and he wouldn’t be the last, but Viktor found himself charmed.
“Oh, please, Viktor is fine. It is nice to meet you. Did you enjoy the talk?” Viktor asked, tucking the crutch under his right arm.
“So much, thank you. I–uh–I hope this isn’t weird, but would you like to grab coffee with me? I’d love to pick your brain about your research.”
Viktor glanced at his watch and back up into the many, many freckles before him. “Ah, sure. I have some time.”
The two of them wandered down marbled corridors until they reached the campus cafe. Dax held the door for Viktor and, to Viktor’s horror, the line for coffee was incredibly long. Fortunately, Dax knew very little about awkward silence as he always rushed to fill it. Normally, Viktor would find this sort of blathering tedious, but Dax’s excitement about his work was infectious. His arms waved wildly as he talked, and at some point, he’d unbuttoned his Academy vest and rolled up his sleeves, revealing another shock of freckles. Viktor imagined them covering Dax all the way down to his feet and, disgusted with himself, shook his head to knock the thought loose.
Dax’s breathless exposition took up most of their conversation, but this young scientist with big ideas had endeared himself to Viktor. He reminded Viktor of himself and Jayce all those years ago. And, per usual, the moment Jayce entered his thoughts, Viktor knew he’d linger.
“Why don’t I show you the hexcore?” Viktor asked suddenly. He thought Dax might jump out of his skin.
“Really? That would be amazing,” the student practically yelled, flashing a bright white smile. Viktor would have fallen in love with Dax in the time it took them to finish their coffees in his school days. And he couldn’t help but feel flattered by the admiration even now. Dax ran both of their empty cups to the counter and returned to help Viktor navigate a sea of cramped cafe tables.
Back in the lab, Dax’s eyes nearly fell out of his head when he saw the hexcore for the first time. They talked for a while about the potential of this discovery, but also about the rut he and Jayce had recently fallen into in their research. Viktor felt obligated to dull a bit of the luster of discovery with a dose of reality. Sometimes all the intelligence, money, and drive in the world still isn’t enough.
“What? Well, you can’t give up. You just can’t,” Dax said, taking the tone of an incredulous child learning that wishes couldn't drive rain clouds away. They both laughed and Dax blushed, which made Viktor laugh even harder. As they fell back into a short silence, Dax reached for Viktor’s hand in the most egregious case of poor timing imaginable. Viktor slowly pulled his own hand away, and it was in that millisecond, of course, that Jayce walked into the room.
“Shit. Shit, shit shit,” Viktor thought. This was the first time he’d seen Jayce since their confusing encounter last night over drinks and Viktor cursed the universe for its timing. The look on Jayce’s face tore him straight down the middle. An instant later, he watched pure political seriousness fall over Jayce’s dark features as he introduced himself to the awestricken student.
Viktor did manage to catch Jayce’s eyes again for a second and hoped that somehow, a silent apology floated between them. But before he could find out, Jayce practically barked a terse goodbye and fled the scene. Dax, none the wiser, went back to yammering about the hexcore and Councilor Talis and suddenly, all that talking had lost its charm. He didn’t reach for Viktor again.
~*~
When evening rolled around and Jayce didn’t show, Viktor worried at his watch, checking the time in thirty-second intervals. When the clock struck seven and Jayce was still nowhere to be found, he collapsed, defeated, onto the couch. “Idiot,” he scolded himself. As the punishing minutes wore on, however, he recalled another moment from their conversation last night. Jayce had slept with Mel twice. Twice. And yet a singular touch of Viktor’s hand in broad daylight sent Jayce barrelling into anger. “It turns out people want me too,” Viktor huffed, head down, into his crossed arms.
He knew neither one of them had any right to feel this way. They were best friends, yes. They were partners. But the second Jayce stood on the precipice of honesty last night, he stepped back. The thought of it made Viktor want to send Dax a message to keep the communication alive out of spite, and if Dax weren’t a graduate student, he would have.
But really, he just wanted to find Jayce. They didn’t often fight, but when they did, the tension prickled over Viktor’s skin like a rash until they resolved it. He pulled himself up from the couch and packed his things to figure out where his partner had run off to. To say what to him, he wasn’t sure. To act like nothing happened? To yell? In any case, it was clear Jayce wouldn’t be meeting Viktor at the lab that night. His stomach dropped when he thought about where, or more specifically in whose bed, he might be.
Having sufficiently ruined his own night, he set off. While he locked the lab, he heard shoes clicking at the end of the hall. He turned toward the sound, briefly hopeful that Jayce had come to find him after all, but then saw Mel walking his way. He’d never been happier to see her in his life.
“Viktor, darling, are you finally going home?” she asked, wrapping him into a friendly embrace.
“Hi Mel,” he said. “Yes, even I must go at some point.” He couldn’t help but smile at her. It felt like she had a forcefield around her that put everyone under her spell–some kind of magnetism that took the onus off Jayce and his attraction to her. But really, she was just warm and beautiful and kind.
“Have you seen Jayce tonight?” Viktor asked.
“No, no I haven’t. I was actually headed this way to see if the two of you were working late. I haven’t heard from him in a few days. Give him my best if you find him!”
“I will. It was good to see you,” Viktor said and meant it. Mel kissed him on the cheek and continued on her way. He allowed his mind two seconds to imagine his partner’s body tangled up with hers before he blew out that torturous candle.
Viktor passed by Jayce’s office on his way out and when he saw that the lights were off, he had one last idea about where he might be now that he’d, mercifully, ruled out Mel’s bedroom. With that small comfort in his back pocket, Viktor started the short walk from the Academy to the Talis Forge, tugging up the collar of his wool coat to shield his neck from the cold.
When he reached the forge, he had to use his body weight to pry open the heavy metal door. The entryway lights were dim, but on. Promising. No one but Jayce would be here at this hour. When the door closed between him and the howling wind, he could hear the sound of iron on steel. Jayce was here.