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Viktor was getting restless.
Tapping his lithe fingers frantically on his cane, Jayce saw the anxious energy radiating from his partner’s body. He knew Viktor got anxious, but this was a whole new side of him that he had never seen before.
When Viktor got anxious, it was usually when trying to solve a particularly hard equation up in the labs, he would run his hands through his hair, as if trying to find a knot to pick at. Eventually, Jayce had realised that Viktor resorted to self soothing tendencies when things in the lab got a bit stressful. Viktor would play with his hair, run his hands over the nape of his neck, rub the top of his knees while tracing the notches of a gear with his other hand- anything which grounded him. He wondered for a while if it was the repetitive sensation that Viktor found soothing, his body calming his wiring mind after feeling the soothing movements. This was one aspect of Viktor’s habits he realised was true, however he discovered that Viktor also appreciated fiddling. He liked to distract his hands.
One time in the lab while designing the first prototype for the Hexgates, Viktor and himself were immensely stressed. With no sleep for over 2 days and no hot meals the men had became twitching shells of themselves. Jayce usually managed to hide his anxiety from his partner, however -always the astute- Viktor had seen his twisted face when Jayce had crumpled up a blueprint. Without even realising, Viktor had placed his hand over Jayce’s and started to run a thumb over the indents of his wrist, almost tracing them. It was the same repetitive movement which Viktor performed when playing with the edges of a screw or the sharp notches of a gear. Jayce had watched it happen, watched as Viktor performed the movement seemingly under a trance, an unconscious movement. Viktor’s other hand once again was twitching through his hair, further fluffing it up. His brow was curled, his eyes flicking through his notebook, teeth worrying his bottom lip.
If Jayce wasn’t so focussed on soothing his racing heartbeat, he would have told Viktor how beautiful he looked.
Unfortunately, the moment was broken when after half an hour, Heimerdinger had trotted into the lab and complimented the boys on their strong partnership. When Jayce asked what had been the occasion which prompted the remark, a gesture from the professor towards their linked hands on the surface of the table caused Viktor to turn a deep shade of crimson. He ripped his hand back to his lap. It almost looked like the movement was magnetically induced, the hand flying back to its pole. Jayce thought he heard Viktor mumble an apology before getting up and walking back to his work station.
Heimerdinger had given Jayce a sympathetic, almost apologetic look. Jayce decided to ignore whatever Heimerdinger’s expression implied.
Viktor had been quiet for the rest of the afternoon that day, eyes fixed down on his work despite not writing much at all. It was that day which Jayce discovered that Viktor’s tendencies to fiddle was not just for his own body’s grounding or his own sensation, but rather he enjoyed the feeling of sensation altogether. Whenever they were working together in the lab from that point, Jayce made an effort to ensure Viktor that he was comfortable with the habit. He would place a heavy hand on Viktor’s narrow shoulder when looking over at his work, run a hand down Victor’s spine and back brace slightly while supporting his partner when standing at the blackboard, and one time he lay a hand on Viktor’s knee when they were sat side by side in a particularly numbing council meeting concerning Hextech. He found that Viktor’s atmosphere of anxiety and exhaustion would completely diffuse when he experienced that physical contact, replaced by a twitching but focused, upbeat individual.
He always noted the blush however which arose with his actions that fell onto his partner’s face.
The point was that Jayce knew his partner’s anxiety and traits that came with his anxiety better than any man in Piltover. And this, was one of the times Viktor was absolutely bricking it.
“Where were you?”
Viktor’s knee was jumping up and down, his hand resting on the thigh of his weaker leg was rubbing idle circles into the white trousers. “They were asking if I could do the address alone…do you have any consolation how many moth-es are in my stomach?”
“Do you mean Moths? And the phrase is Butterflies.”
“Piss off.”
When the partners had found out that they were to do the speech for Progress day, Jayce was over the moon, his face had lit up like a hundred suns. This was their moment to illustrate the genius which was Viktor to the rest of the world, finally getting the chance to introduce his partner to Piltover officially. Viktor had turned pale, actually having to sit down as his legs started to tremble, threatening to give out. Jayce had wondered what the issue was, until It hit him like an anvil from his workshop.
The attention, the anxiety, his shy personality - Viktor had always stayed in the shadows as he feared the eyes of Piltover, he had never been the most social man.
Jayce decided that he was going to combat this in his own way. He was going to bring all the attention onto Viktor in the speech, whether his partner liked it or not. He would condition his partner into craving attention the same way that he did.
So, he bought his partner a tailored suit. Something which would illustrate the beauty of his partner’s mind in a way which would make Viktor look important, stunning, powerful.
But now he was starting to regret that.
Viktor -in all his anxious glory- looked positively ethereal. He was wearing a complimenting variant of Jayce’s suit, white trousers with silk which cascaded down his long legs, a gold and red leg brace sitting over the top of them. There were golden angular embellishments which ran over the seam of the leg, angular patterns which brought attention to his partner’s lean form. A red shirt lay under a white corset vest, with a white, silk cravat wrapping delicately around Viktor’s pale neck. The corset brought comfort to Viktor’s spine, and brought the eyes of the beholder to his thin waist. Jayce was regretting that decision.
Viktor’s cane was still the same, but he himself had tied a white ribbon round the top of the staff, a bow decorating the appliance. Viktor had laughed at it when explaining that it was just a joke he had wished to play on Jayce, seeing the extravagant suit he had bought him. He had explained he felt like Jayce was wrapping him up like a gift, arguing you can’t have a gift without a ribbon. Jayce had made him keep it for the occasion. It juxtaposed his friend’s strong and sharp demeanour. He really liked it.
However, the aspect of the suit he liked the most was the coat. Jayce had chosen an exact replica of his own jacket, with the Talis crest on each of Viktor’s elegant shoulders. He decided to give his friend longer tails on the tailcoat however, he believed that it would just suit him. The jacket hugged his partner’s frame and the red material on the shoulders brought attention to his partner’s golden eyes. Jayce tried to ignore how his heart fluttered when he noticed how good his partner looked in his family house’s colours, he pushed his feelings of adoration to the back of his mind and settled on the task at hand.
“Sorry, Vitya.” Jayce stopped his eyes from looking his partner up and down, instead bringing his eyes to gaze into Viktor’s wide stare. His partner looked wrecked. “I was just finalising the speech, have you got your copy?”
Viktor brought a shaking hand into his coat, bringing out a crumpled page with his signature cursive writing. He waved it around as he spoke. “Ermm, yes? Of course I have the speech.” He dragged a hand over his face. “Sorry, Jayce. I am struggling to calm myself at the moment. To go up there, in front of them…” Viktor looked up at the golden light of the stage entrance, looking at the large podium that he and his Jayce would be standing at.
His Jayce?
“Viktor, I promise you, It is going to go great!” Jayce ignored the burning urge to run his hands through his partner’s hair, he had to remain professional here. He sighed. “You deserve to be recognised, the world is not prepared for what they are about to see.”
“Gentlemen, one minute.”
A voice called out from the entrance, Jayce stood up straighter and looked to his partner, he was looking rather pale.
“Whatever happens out there, I am here, I will always be here.”
Viktor looked up to his partner, his face glowing with a radiance that Jayce had to swallow to stop himself from crying. Instead, Jayce leant down and placed a hand under his partner’s arm, guiding him up to stand, they walked over the entrance. Viktor gulped audibly as the light turned green on a screen by the door.
Jayce heard and turned to him. “Vik, I have never been more sure of anything in my life, meeting you and of our accomplishments. If there was one person in the world that I would rather go up there with, receive prizes with, experience the scientific world with, its you.”
Viktor’s eyes glazed over, the corners of his mouth trembling with emotion.
“So please, you don’t understand how lucky the people in the audience are tonight to see you, to meet you. Viktor, you look and are absolutely radiant.”
He placed a hand on his partner’s lower back, and felt Viktor relax into the hold as they walked up the stairs, hearing the crowd’s cheers start to escalate.
“Let's show the world the genius behind Hextech.”
The pair of men walked across the stage together, their white suits catching the light and making them shine amongst the gold of the room. Jayce waved out to the audience with a bright smile, Viktor tried not to show how his heart rate increased from the handsome sight of his partner. He walked alongside him, mirroring Jayce’s movements and lifting a hand in a friendly acknowledgment of the cheers. The crowd upon recognising that this shorter man must be Jayce Talis’ partner went bombastic. The cheers became deafening, the council at the front standing up in a show of respect. Jayce moved his hand from Viktor’s lower back to around his partner’s waist, pulling him closer to him as they tapped across the stage.
Viktor’s stunned facial expression and gasp luckily was blocked out by the quieting claps of the audience.
The pair of men stood in-front of the shared podium, Jayce waiting patiently for absolute silence. Viktor felt warm as he watched his partner’s confidence over the situation, not rushing or talking over any noise. When Jayce gave him a soft smile all his resilience up to this point crumbled, and he leant further into his hold.
“Ladies and Gentlemen of Piltover, guests from neighbouring cities, scientists and patrons alike, I welcome you to Piltover’s progress day.”
Screams once again arose from the crowd. Viktor actually laughed at how his partner had so much power of the people. Jayce laughed back at him. They waited together until the audience had died down again. “We were so honoured to be given the privilege of the speech this evening, the city of progress looks beautiful tonight, and we have developed something which we believe will illustrate this name given to our city with pride.”
Viktor reached towards the controller in his pocket which would open the curtains behind them, they were about to show the world a new era of Hextech, a way to improve the lives of all in the city. Viktor swelled with pride, ready for his partner to deliver the cue to uncover the new tech.
It never came.
“However, tonight I believe that there is something more important which I would like to discuss.”
Viktor shot a glare to his partner, what the hell was he doing? His hands started twitching on the podium, feeling his anxiety start to spark up again. Jayce noticed this, and with no hesitation, put a hand over his friends and started to trace his knuckles.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, may I introduce to you Viktor Talis, the true genius behind Hextech. This man has always tried to remain in the shadows, he is courteous and humble, always two steps ahead in our research. He was the brain behind the Hexgates, the first crystal, and what we are here to present to you today.”
Viktor was trembling now, no longer fighting himself to keep a neutral expression on his face. His eyes shot open wide, his mouth opening in surprise with a blush turning his once pale skin a delicate rose. Why on earth had his partner used his last name to introduce him? What did that mean? Viktor didn't have a last name, yes. But what in Zaun had ignited his partner to do that?
Not that he minded too much though, as when he met eyes with his partner, all his confusion and anxiety melted. The radiant smile and doting eyes were now for him, no longer directed to the audience.
“My partner Viktor has revolutionised the way scientists discover. He saved my life, my job, and now has transformed my idea into a shared dream. The city of progress should be proud to have such a strong, intelligent man of progress here tonight, uniting Piltover and Zaun together for the future of science and discovery.”
Jayce lifted his hand holding Viktor’s and placed a kiss to the back of his knuckles, his eyes fluttering shut as he held Viktor’s trembling hand to his lips. The crowd erupted into an unanimous scream, claps overtaking the sounds of the fireworks lighting up the night sky. Jayce smiled at Viktor, seeing how his partner’s eyes had glazed over and light tears were running down his narrow cheeks. Jayce used a thumb to catch them, holding his partner’s waist that bit tighter. He spoke quietly to his partner as the screams continued.
“Vik, I mean every word I say. You are the most electric discovery Piltover has ever had the privilege of knowing, and I am honoured to work by your side.”
Jayce chuckled at the new onset of tears this brought out of his partner, watching a bashful, lopsided smile start to fade onto Viktor’s face. Jayce gave up, and overwhelmed with emotion brought him into a hug. Viktor wrapped his arms around his partner desperately, hoping all his love and appreciation would diffuse from him into Jayce through the embrace. He let his tears soak Jayce’s shoulder, leaning his full weight onto his partner.
When the cries and applause died down, they separated themselves and Jayce mentioned towards the microphone, guiding Viktor by the hand to stand before it. Not once did he remove his hand from his waist, he simply stood beside his partner and looked out at the audience.
His smile was now soft, his eyes squinting with joy, watery and red.
Viktor finished their speech with a charismatic, calm temperament. It was the least he could do seeing that the audience were all highly emotional from the display of affection Jayce had presented them with. Viktor introduced the Hexgem to them with his mellifluous lilt, his hand still receiving feather-like touches from his Partner.
He was confident, his shoulders back and posture straight, leaning more against his partner so he could gesture to the gems with his cane. Jayce had never seen him so regal, he looked cosmic, beautiful, as he explained with passion the uses of the invention for not only Zaun, but Piltover too.
“Scientists seek discovery, It is an honour to serve our world alongside Councillor Talis. I believe finding him in his destroyed Lab was fate, a discovery which will shape the future.” Viktor had reached the ending lines of his part of their speech, Jayce must have gotten too distracted watching his partner’s movements that he hadn’t taken in the gravitas of his words.
He did now.
“Mr Talis has been supporting our dream from the beginning, He has been my voice of reason, my inspiration, my partner, and my reason for living.” He took a breath.
“In the fissures, I believed my life would end before my 20s. This man gave me a reason to dream, to imagine a world where children of Zaun could wake up pain free, and play. He gave me a life in Piltover, a drive to continue.”
Viktor’s lilt had became thicker, Jayce now realised that the shake in his voice was not due to excitement, but overwhelming emotion.
He held Viktor’s hand tighter and gave it another kiss over the knuckles. Viktor turned to him.
“Ladies and Gentlemen of Piltover and Zaun, we at Hextech will stop at nothing to give the children of our nation a life of prosperity and joy. Please place your trust in Jayce and I, we will stop at nothing to make our dream a reality.”
A final roar erupted from the crowd at Viktor’s words. Jayce watched as his partner’s chest heaved with emotion, a smile erupting over his face as he took in the audience’s enthusiasm.
Jayce had always known Viktor was a fantastic man, a being of cosmic beauty, of light and dark. They had walked off the stage together and cried in happiness back in the labs.
The air was electric that night, it smelt of the same arcane buzz that they had experienced that first night with the Hexcrystals.
Jayce was glad he stayed.
Viktor was glad he carried on.
Both men that night, in their own way, had found that their feelings were past partnership, of friendship.
They knew, from the start, that it was love.