piscesnebula | your eyes are broken bottles [viktor + jayce]

[ Somewhere in all of that, he had said something very wrong, because Jayce's expression falls like someone punched him in the face, and he changes the subject so abruptly Viktor almost gets whiplash.

Mystified, Viktor just says: ]

Not at all? It is the door right next to the bedroom door.

[ What did he say? Was it the suggestion that Jayce teach him hextech? If they are to make a device to send Jayce back to his own time, that is all but necessary -- either that, or they invent a whole new branch of science, and Viktor isn't certain they have the time for that. Surely it couldn't have been the suggestion that Jayce take the couch. Should he have offered his bed, instead? No, it was surely the hextech.

As soon as Jayce goes, Viktor makes a little eh expression, shrugs to himself, and pulls out a fresh notebook to start making notations. The first item on the agenda: sketching the gem in Jayce's wrist, and noting down the rune carved into the surface of it. ]

[ Jayce only nods and gets up - when he makes it to the bathroom he doesn't throw up again, which is good, because this space is just as cramped as the rest of the apartment. Viktor will hear the shower start to run, and Jayce spends too much time beneath the water on the hottest setting he can tolerate - which means said hot water runs out faster than he's expecting. He doesn't get much thinking done by the time he's finished cleaning himself up. He finds some bandages to wrap up his leg again once he dries off, and limps back out into the living space in a towel, not really thrilled at the idea of putting on his filthy clothes again - especially not to lie down on Viktor's couch. It already looks shabby enough without him adding a layer of grime in the shape of himself.

He sleeps - or tries to, his feet hanging off the edge of the sofa, the towel still wrapped around his middle with a thin blanket over him. His thoughts are racing - trying to form some sort of plan. They need more crystals, is the first problem - it took him so long just to find the first batch in the desert. The next best option is finding and dismantling the hammer, if that's even possible in the state it's in. They might be able to locate it with the crystal in his wrist, if they can get them to resonate -

on and on, he goes in his head, until the street below starts waking up, and finally his body gives up. When Viktor sets out in the morning, he'll find a lightly snoring, shirtless man on the sofa. Jayce doesn't wake up when the door opens and shuts, but he eventually does wake up to the smell of food that isn't roasted lizard flesh... ]

... what time is it? [ He's sitting up, groggy, digging the heels of his palms into his eye sockets. Chest bare, the scar over his collarbone is visible, the skin discolored in the same way as his wrist. ]

[ Viktor would admit to being a little irritated when he heard the shower start up -- they had science to do, damn it! -- but he quelled it shortly enough when he realized Jayce has probably been dying for one. Whatever he had been through, he clearly didn't have the time or resources to bathe. Viktor would have been crawling out of his skin in that same situation.

He'd tried to find the baggiest clothes he owned, and they still weren't big enough for Jayce, so a towel would have to do overnight.

Viktor barely sleeps that night. He's too busy staring up at the ceiling, thoughts going in a hundred different directions. What is he like in Jayce's timeline, a timeline where he'd stayed at the Academy and worked on world-changing technology? What the hell had happened to Jayce to make him scarred and filthy, a warzone? Is that what had gone wrong with this hextech he talked about? How is it possible to harness magic to traverse timelines? They'll need to build an encyclopedia of whatever runes Jayce can remember, and if they can figure out the correct combination--

Eventually, he does sleep. A little. When he wakes in the morning it's with the distinct sense that he'd only just closed his eyes for a minute, but that's nothing unusual for him. He hauls himself out of bed, showers, carefully creeps past a snoring Jayce (and tries not to stare because there is a handsome muscular nearly naked man on his couch), and starts breakfast. It's nothing special-- eggs and toast and sweetmilk, but Jayce has the hollow look of malnutrition to him, so he'll probably think anything sounds good. ]

Just past seven in the morning. I hope you managed to get some sleep. I certainly did not.

[ Viktor glances up from scrambling eggs, and eyes the discoloration on Jayce's collarbone. Jayce must trust him, to be so vulnerable around him. It's a bizarre thought. ]

What is the nature of our relationship in your timeline? [ He pauses, and then adds: ] I suppose you can wait until you have woken up a bit more to answer that.

Best sleep I've had in weeks.

[ A hint of wry humor pokes through the exhaustion in his voice. He hauls himself into a sitting position while Viktor is more focused on the stove than him, finding his pants where he'd folded them and reluctantly slipping them back on. Next comes the cobbled together brace.

He catches Viktor eyeing him - a flicker of guilt passing across his own expression, though he quickly shakes his head and lets out a small puff of air like a laugh, his focus back on securing the straps around his thigh. ]

Somehow I doubt being more awake will make this sound any more coherent... [ But Viktor believes him right now, and that's a start. He finishes what he's doing and scrubs his face with his hand again. All that thinking last night, and he still didn't figure out how to have this conversation. ]

We - [ were ] - we're partners. [ Jayce hauls himself up from the couch, blanket remaining wrapped around his shoulders as he shuffles to the part of this space that's the kitchen as he continues, almost reluctantly. ]

We developed hextech together. The theory was mine, but - you were the first person I'd met who believed it could be possible. [ And despite what might sound like a positive development, there's a hollow sadness to his tone. He fixes his attention on the cabinets and drawers, searching out plates and utensils out of habit. ]

That was... over seven years ago.

[ Jayce goes rattling around his kitchen, and Viktor-- supposes he'll allow it. He's usually fiercely territorial of the few things he has managed to own, though it seems Jayce has managed to win a measure of trust from him. Hmm. It doesn't usually happen that quickly. He'll have to examine that later. ]

And what atrocious act did I commit to ruin everything?

[ Viktor shoots a wry glance over his shoulder. ]

I may be crippled, but I am not blind. I see the way you look at me, Jayce. The way you speak about our work. I saw the way you practically jackknifed out of the room to get away from the idea of teaching hextech to me. Whatever I did...

[ He doesn't quite manage to bite back a sigh. It's not a comfortable thought; Viktor likes to think of himself as generally a good person, and he only wants to help the most vulnerable in society. He has never willingly hurt another soul. And yet, the clues are screaming in his face. ]

It must have been truly awful.

[ Jayce stops what he's doing almost immediately, turning to stare at Viktor with that same guilty, pained expression as the night before. ]

That's not - [ His features twist up, palms lain flat against the counter - after a long moment he shakes his head. ]

You were dying. We thought... you were developing something new, we were so sure it could cure you but - [ his mouth forms a hard, thin line, but his gaze is pleading for understanding again, or maybe forgiveness: ] - it wasn't what we thought. You told me to destroy it, and I didn't.

[ He'll take the blame for that. This version of Viktor doesn't look as ill as he did before the attack, maybe in this world he still has more time... ]

... I need to get back to my own timeline. But... I can't let anything we created corrupt this timeline next. Once I'm gone, you have to destroy all of it.

[ Everything he teaches him - notes, whatever device they build. ]

Edited (weird wording fix) 2024-12-27 03:08 (UTC)

[ Jayce's expression immediately lets him know that he's right, though the guilt is an interesting twist. What he gives isn't quite an answer -- it's more of an avoidance than anything, completely lacking in all detail -- but there are enough clues there. In Jayce's universe, that Viktor must also have been suffering from the sump sickness, and hextech had seemed like the answer. Then, that Viktor had changed his mind, but Jayce hadn't.

And... what? Had the hextech changed him somehow? Possessed him? Turned him evil? Does he really have to play twenty questions here? Maybe Jayce does not want to tell him the specific details for fear of accidentally recreating the exact same thing.

Viktor's mouth sits in a dissatisfied slant, but he won't press. For now. Instead, he just puts a heaping of toast and scrambled eggs on a plate, and slides it across the cramped counter to Jayce, along with a fork. The man looks like he hasn't eaten properly in months; it's a look every person in the undercity is intimately familiar with. ]

I thought about that, actually. [ He lifts a mug to his lips, taking a sip. His own breakfast is just sweetmilk. ] I assume harnessing this magic depends on having a crystal present to draw from. [ He nods at the gem embedded in Jayce's wrist. ] Once you leave, and take that with you, I would not be able to do anything with this research even if I wanted to. I do not know where those gems come from, and even if I did, unless they were found right down the street in the undercity-- I would not have the resources to get them.

[ Viktor makes a wry little motion. Wistful, a little, because... gods, science harnessing magic could do so much good. ]

I will destroy the research, of course. But continuing it would be far beyond my reach anyway.

Edited 2024-12-28 01:59 (UTC)

[ He can tell none of this is coming out quite right as he studies Viktor's expression, all but ignoring the non-lizard based food that his body is desperately craving right now. Jayce moves automatically, his hand lifting to rest on Viktor's shoulder - but it only hovers there, uncertain for a few seconds before falling back down to his side as his brow pinches and he stares at the mug in Viktor's hands.

Viktor seems to get the most important (and difficult) part of all of this, which in some ways is a relief - and in another only makes that guilt stab a little deeper into his side. No, there shouldn't be any crystals in the city - he'd had to trek into the desert just to find the ones he had back then - which he was only able to do in the first place thanks to the Kirammans. So it's less of an issue this time... ]

You never told me... I didn't know how sick you were, until... [ until they were both desperate. His mouth twists. Viktor never liked to show any weakness, but Jayce always felt like he was the exception. Maybe if he'd known sooner... ]

If that's what you're facing here, I want to help. [ He has to, he realizes - shooting Viktor another pleading look. This might not be the same man he knows, their paths never intertwining, but looking at him he knows it doesn't matter.

As much as he needs to get back to his own timeline, he can't bear the thought of leaving this Viktor to that abrupt, painful end. ]

Hmm. Quite the To Do List you're building for yourself.

[ Viktor's gaze is unreadable over the edge of the mug. That ever-so-brief moment where Jayce had almost touched his shoulder -- god, how stupid is Viktor for wishing he had completed the motion? He barely knows the man, and yet, Jayce has shared years with another version of him. Their familiarity mismatch is confusing, and frustrating, and...

Is it strange to be jealous of one's other self? Yes, that other self apparently got changed in some horrible way by magic, and caused something awful to happen in another world, but... he had a friend. A partner. A person that maybe sometimes touched his shoulder gently.

A person that cared whether he lived or died. ]

Well, you need not concern yourself with my illness. I have a solution, though perhaps you could help me work out some of the kinks that are troubling me.

[ He nudges the plate of food an inch closer to Jayce, a silent eat, for fuck's sake gesture. His expression softens. ]

But that should not be our priority. You are hoping to save your entire world, and this world too. My little life does not rank highly in importance, by comparison.

[ Quite the To Do List. In spite of everything, that gets a small smile pulling at the corners of his lips, maybe for the first time since he landed here (first time in god knows how long, even). It's followed quickly by curiosity, a little furrow at his brow, and something a little hopeful, too, when Viktor mentions having his own solution.

It's too easy, falling back into old habits like muscle memory.

But just as quickly, his expression falls again - and he implores with painfully earnest sincerity, as if Viktor said something so completely at odds with everything he knows: ]

Of course it does.

[ To him, it does. Again, he seems to catch himself doing something that maybe he shouldn't - being too much to this version of Viktor.

His traitorous stomach takes that moment to make a disgruntled noise.

Jayce takes that interruption to pick up the fork, contemplating the eggs on the plate, then the mug in Viktor's hand with a wearily judgmental frown. ]

Sweetmilk isn't breakfast.

Sweetmilk is the breakfast of champions.

[ The retort comes easily, and-- there goes that idle burn of jealousy again. Did Jayce and that other Viktor bicker like this? Did that other Viktor give the exact same response? Could he really have been that similar?

He's always been a habitual loner; how did that other Viktor gain a friend like Jayce? What kind of miracle did he perform to get that lucky? ]

And-- fine, if my life does in fact matter in this moment, then I will indulge you, and we can work on my improvements together.

[ To do so is mostly an indulgence for Viktor. To have someone to work with sounds thrilling. He knows he's been stagnating on his own, only able to rise to a certain level and no further without being seriously challenged, and it's frustrating, to say the least. Perhaps with Jayce's input, he can push himself to new heights. ]

How familiar are you with the undercity's prosthetic technology?

[ He gives another soft huff and doesn't push the breakfast argument, relaxing again when Viktor agrees to let him help. He'll even shovel some of the eggs into his mouth - and god, after what he'd been living off of - these might be the best eggs he's tasted in his damn life.

Everything about this is both familiar and completely strange. The banter feels normal, comfortable - but the setting is all wrong. In all their time together he rarely spent time in Viktor's flat, they both practically lived in the lab - Viktor even more than him. And this place is obviously... not what Jayce is used to. Even so, the cramped space is still Viktor, ceiling to floor. His own half state of undress hasn't bothered him this entire time, but out of nowhere something about this hits a self-conscious nerve - this feels like an indulgence to him.

The question is met with a sheepish look as he swallows another bite of his eggs, which have rapidly vanished from his plate. ]

Not exactly my wheelhouse, but I'm a quick study. [ he admits this with a sigh and a rueful expression. ] I didn't come down here too often.

[ Pretty much the last time was right before they met - until more recently. By then, things had gotten much worse than he remembered. ]

[ Finally, Jayce starts eating. Honestly, Viktor had started to wonder if there was something wrong with the eggs or bread.

He clicks his tongue at Jayce's response, a form of scoff. ]

You invented an entirely new branch of science in your world, Jayce. Yes, I had assumed you were a quick study.

[ He's maybe a little jealous about that, too. What wouldn't he give to work on something like hextech? Magic channeled into science, an incredibly experimental frontier? The possibilities were endless, and the potential for helping a place like the undercity-- gods, if he did have hextech, he could have made a real difference by now. Instead, he'll have to destroy it all after they make it because it's apparently prone to serious corruption.

How irritating.

Viktor gathers his cane, and vanishes into his bedroom/lab for a moment. He comes out with a journal with a plain blue cover, battered from use, and sets it down on the counter in front of Jayce. It's opened to a page that has a detailed drawing of a pair of steel lungs, a complex valve and intake/exhale system noted on the on the page next to it. ]

Prosthetic technology is fairly advanced in the undercity due to necessity. A lot of children here are born with a limb missing, or too crippled to work, and many adults lose limbs in factory accidents. Still, this would be the first time that internal prosthetics succeed, if I in fact do succeed with the transplant.

[ There's a smile again, and for a moment a glimmer of another person in Jayce's expression - someone a little less worn down and hardened, someone charming and full of heat and pride who had put nearly a decade between himself and the worst day of his life. It's strange now, how small that moment in front of the council when his life nearly ended even feels now. How that feels like an entirely different person.

And then Viktor's leaving, which for a split second has him worried that he'd said something wrong - until the rational side of his brain kicks in and he realizes he's just going to retrieve something from his bedroom-workspace. Jayce wolfs the last of the eggs and the toast before he returns with his journal, shifting the plate to the side so he can look over the notes, the furrow at his brow steadily burrowing deeper. ]

Okay. This is - [ He's scanning the notes a second time, almost touching the pages before thinking better of it, not wanting to smudge it. He leans in, waving a hand near his forehead. ] I mean - even internal prosthetics feels like you're stretching the definition here, V...

[ In another tone, from someone else, the words would sound dismissive. Jayce mostly sounds slight taken aback, but mostly curious and impressed, already engrossed with building the schematics in his head piece by piece, sorting through the necessary materials - anything medical grade is going to cost, well - an arm and a leg.

He doesn't appear to notice how closely he's invaded Viktor's body space, their shoulders bumping gently. ]

Yes, I had been considering alternate terminology. Total mechanical organ replacement just isn't as quick off the tongue as internal prosthetic, though.

[ Viktor, on the other hand, very much does notice the invasion of space. Were it anybody else, he would have moved away by now. Instead, it's the incredibly handsome mostly naked man that slept on his couch last night and who wants to talk world-changing science with him, and... Viktor is having some serious problems trying not to stare.

The scars are one thing. They're fascinating, and bizarre, with their strange colors and organic patterns branching out on olive skin. But the rest of the picture-- the muscles, and the broad shoulders, and the way his thighs shift under that thin towel, and--

Janna help him. Viktor forcibly averts his gaze back down onto the journal. He flips the page, revealing the start of his blueprints for the leg he's mostly finished building. ]

This was easier to design, as I largely worked off the progress that undercity scientists and doctors had already made. I just added some of my own flourishes.

[ Jayce is - fortunately or unfortunately, oblivious to Viktor's discomfort. His mouth twists to one side as he recognizes the blueprints Viktor turns to - and now he looks over at him, studying his familiar features in profile. ]

I said I was a quick study - but neither of us are surgeons...

[ As quickly as he was excited before, there's concern again now. ]

Is there a doctor down here you're working with?

[ How far along was Viktor in this plan anyway, before he stumbled into it? ]

Hmm. I had anticipated the need for an assistant to be able to hand me tools, but I would be doing the bulk of the work myself.

[ It comes out casual, with a hint of a shrug. ]

You have not told me explicitly what your Viktor did to attempt to cure his own illness, save that it involved magic. I assume he did not think of needing surgery, and thus, did not study it. I, however, have been studying anatomy and surgical techniques for a few years now, in anticipation of needing the knowledge for this.

[ Because frankly, he didn't trust anybody else other than himself. Singed would likely have the knowledge, but Viktor did not relish the thought of leaving his life in the man's hands. Any other undercity surgeon, he didn't know well enough.

That left himself. ]

[ The longer they talk - especially about work, it seems - the more expressive Jayce seems to become. The reaction across his features shifts quickly from a slightly dubious really?, to an open mouthed oh, to a huh with the ghost of a smile, and then finally a pensive pinch of his brow. ]

That wasn't his plan, no... did you... ? [ He glances up at Viktor, his question trailing off, then gives him an apologetic look. ]

- sorry. I know you still have a lot of your own questions.

[ That he hasn't exactly been forthcoming with answering. This is an invitation, anyway, to ask while he continues to look over these notes - or not. He leaves it to Viktor to decide next, pulling the blanket up around his shoulders again - more about keeping warm than modesty. ]

[ Viktor opens his mouth to give voice to half a dozen questions, and then closes it again, sighing thinly. ]

Perhaps it would be best if you did not tell me some details. I do not need to know exactly what he did to himself: only that it led to something so bad that it resulted in your mission across timelines. If I did know, and his method was initially safer or better, I might... be prone to obsessing over how to make it work without the terrible end result.

[ Because Viktor is nothing if not honest with himself, and he knows he is prone to lingering on things he should probably leave alone.

He hesitates, and puts his mug down. He should let Jayce get dressed, and they should get to work -- the sooner they figure this out, the sooner Jayce can get back to his own timeline -- but there is one question that's been eating a hole in him. ]

The only thing I'd like to know is-- how bad did it get, exactly?

[ It's jarring for Jayce, every so often, to hear him say he instead of I, but that's his own problem - his inability to separate this version from his own (or maybe his desire for this version back). In any case - Viktor's right, he knows. He's been avoiding the details for this very reason - of course any version of Viktor would want to puzzle out what went wrong, any version of the two of them would do this.

And Jayce can't say he wouldn't be tempted the same, eventually, if they went down that path - even with everything he's seen (and promised).

He stares at Viktor's notes, shaking his head again. ]

Whatever you're imagining - it was worse. We didn't -

[We didn't know. His face has gone a shade paler as he relives that trek to the hexgate. ]

It... it infected everything. There was no more Piltover, no more Zaun, no more people... only - husks.

[ Viktor can come up with no response to that other than to look stricken.

He had assumed it was bad. Though lacking in details, Jayce's explanation had been obviously trending toward some sort of catastrophe. Viktor had changed himself with magic somehow, and what had resulted was so bad that Jayce felt the need to change the entire course of the technology. Just knowing that had been bad enough.

But to hear that whatever he'd done, he had destroyed both cities and killed everyone within--

To know that he is capable of such devestation-- ]

You are right. That is... exponentially worse than I had imagined.

[ He closes his journal with a sudden slap of paper, all thoughts of saving his own life abruptly put on hold. What had once seemed important now seems to pale in comparison to a far bigger mission: finding a way to prevent himself from genocide. Gods. Not even in his wildest nightmares had he imagined such a scenario.

Momentarily speechless, his gaze fixes on the gem set in Jayce's wrist. It is easier than looking at his eyes. Viktor attempts to collect himself: ]

Right. Well, we should get started as soon as possible, then. If saving two worlds is on the agenda, we have our work cut out for us.

[ It kills him to be the cause of Viktor's expression turning like that. For him to put this weight on his shoulders. It's necessary, he tells himself, even as it twists him up - and he has to resist the kneejerk urge to offer some kind of physical comfort, at least -

The slap of the journal slamming closed startles him - he shifts like he means to stop Viktor from pulling it away, managing to stop at the last second, as though it only made him flinch. He watches Viktor's gaze land on his wrist, and resists too the instinct to turn it over, hide the scarring around the shard as though Viktor hadn't already inspected it the night before.

His eyes flick from Viktor's averted gaze, to the journal again - and he carefully places his hand over the worn cover. ]

Two worlds, and this. [ That's not negotiable.

(it is the root cause of everything, really)

He tries to draw Viktor's eyes to meet his own, reaching with his other hand to touch his shoulder, tentatively. ]

Thank you, for believing me.

[ For trusting him. ]

Edited 2025-01-27 05:54 (UTC)

[ Faced with the prospect of saving two worlds, the failing body of one man does not seem important. And yet, to Jayce, it is. Something between jealousy and flattery burns in Viktor's gut -- jealousy for that other Viktor who had been the recipient of so much care, and flattery that he is now the recipient.

Ever the pessimist in matters concerning himself, Viktor immediately reminds himself that it will not last. Jayce will return to his own world once they have completed their work.

Jayce thanks him for believing him, and Viktor lifts one shoulder in a shrug, like it was never in question. ]

It is a bizarre tale, but there is something eminently trustworthy about you.

[ The touch to his shoulder makes his expression soften a touch, sharp golden gaze raking over Jayce's face like he's just now seeing him for the first time. Jayce will eventually leave, but for now, for the first time, Viktor has a fellow genius willing to work with him, and he will jealously hoard all the time he can get. ]

But first, I suppose I should find you some clothes. There is a shop down the road that owes me a few items after I installed an elaborate security system for them, so they can part with a few outfits for you. Will you be alright on your own, if I leave for a bit?

[ Viktor accepts his light touch, and that warmth returns to his expression again - the one that seems to momentarily lift some of the weight from his features, a fondness and deep familiarity that maybe he acknowledges shouldn't be earned, but radiates from Jayce undeniably.

(it is dangerously close to - and might just be - love)

The mention of getting him clothing seems to snap him back to attention, and awareness that he's been letting the blanket slip from his shoulders again. He releases Viktor's shoulder to cover himself up again, nodding and running a hand through his hair, eyeing all the items on the counter. ]

Yeah - I can try not to start any fires. Or, you know, clean up.

[ Clean up the sparse amount of dishes they used. The truth is - with food in his stomach and his poor sleep, he almost feels like he could pass out again. But he'll find something to occupy his time when Viktor goes, probably go through his notebook more thoroughly. ]

your eyes are broken bottles [viktor + jayce]

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excuse me while I bs my way thru runeterra medicine and engineering

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