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

[ 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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