Courting rituals
For the seventh time that week you found an, admittedly small, pie on your designated desk in Viktor’s lab.
It had found its way to the center of your workspace, right over the sketches you had been working on the prior day. This time the filling was blueberry and cream cheese. Weird, usually you received the strawberry and white chocolate pie in the morning, and the blueberry one in the afternoon.
You pulled off the ribbon and, as always, it smelled divine.
The pastry came inside a pink little paper box decorated with a big red ribbon and the bakery’s signature ornate design. Kind of flashy, but beautiful nonetheless.
The first time it happened, you thought one of Jayce’s secret admirers had left it there for him to find. You took a few steps closer to inspect the item and noticed a small card attached to the box with a twine string.
It read only your name. No signature, no name, no return address.
The second time it happened —that same day in the afternoon may you add— you noticed the only difference, aside from the filling, was the note attached to it. In the evening the note would have a heart drawn with blue ink and nothing more, almost as if expecting you to know it was yours.
This continued for the next two days. You tried arriving early at the lab, but your attempts had been proven futile for the pastry was always there with no trace of the person who delivered it.
It’s not that you don’t appreciate it, really, you are actually very thankful for the gesture as it had saved you from going hungry when your schedule didn’t allow you leisure time to go for a bite at the school’s cafeteria… but who’s leaving the small pastries there?
They were clearly there for you, yet you were not sure of the intention behind it.
So far you had ruled out any of your friends in school, the students you would tutor from time to time, and any gifts from people who wanted your favor regarding the new gallery you were working on.
If not any of them, who?
“Hey, Eda!” Jayce called over to you from the doorway “Huh. What’s got you moping?”
“I’m not-” You started, but his knowing gaze got through your defenses “Ok, you got me…” You raised the little box for him to see.
“I have been getting these” You shook it gently for emphasis “for the past few days and… I don’t know… They are a little…”
He seemed to react to that statement “Huh... Did you not like the strawberry filling or…?”
“Oh, no. No, it’s not that. I actually love them, they are very thoughtful gifts. I’ve always liked both blueberries and strawberries.” You noticed a slight change in his posture at that, but you continued “It’s just that I just have no clue on who’s sending them or why. I would at least like to say thank you, if anything”
“What do you mean ‘blueberries’?” He tried to sound nonchalant, but you knew better. Jayce was hiding something. You eyed him for a second, but thought nothing of it.
You opted to keep his reaction in mind for the time being.
“Oh, well, yeah. In the mornings I usually get the strawberry pies, and then, in the evenings I get the blueberry ones. Weirdly enough I got the blueberry one early today, I think there may have been a mix up…” You thought for a moment “I’m sure my sugar levels are off the roof, but they are just too delicious to ignore, specially when I’m hungry”
His serious expression did not change before speaking again “I see. I uh… have to go. I’ll see you later” Jayce made a rush for the hallway, not even bothering to look back.
Now alone with your thoughts you were left with only one question: how did he know about the strawberry filling before you even mentioned it?
…
The day came and went in a rush. You had only managed to push out one floor plan of the general layout of the new and improved Hexgate design before lunchtime. You sighed when the prospect of having to stay after hours again for the complete master plan came to your mind.
Only a few more weeks before Progress Day and, with that, the first real step towards Hextech being a reality.
The three of you were hard at work. You were in charge of the entirety of the building and surrounding areas, at least on a preliminary level. Jayce was still deciphering some of the more complicated runes and their effects, a key piece to make the nucleus work as anticipated.
Meanwhile Viktor should be working on a few other things to make that same nucleus more stable. Namely, working on the capsule that would contain and send direct commands to it.
A crash and the subsequent mutterings in a foreign language probed you right. He must be getting tired, the last time you saw him leave his workstation was early in the morning, most likely to get another kettle full of coffee “for maximum efficiency” during work hours.
You took a final glance at the drawings and structural plans spread on your desk and decided to check up on him, if only to take your mind off things for a moment.
As you approached his side, you noticed Viktor correcting his posture, quickly straightening his back and putting his work aside for a moment.
“Hey Vik—” Before you could muster up a cordial greeting or to ask what he was working on, he immediately welcomed you “Eda, what a wonderful surprise seeing you here. The pleasure is all mine, yes, yes. What can I do for you?” You didn’t miss him grabbing something off the side of his table and putting it aside.
“Uhmm… I was actually here to check up on y— on how things are going around here, haha” You did your best to disguise your concern about his health habits. Thankfully he paid no mind to your slip up and he promptly turned to show you how his latest advancement was going.
His excitement was somewhat contagious as you found yourself fascinated by both his work and his way of explaining the intricacies of it.
You spent a few minutes talking about the advances towards the final design of the Hexgates and how many square meters would be needed to fit the entirety of the mechanism he and Jayce were working on. It was bigger than any of you had expected at first.
The first sketches depicted a small nucleus the size of a train motor (if that can even be called small), but more recent schemes show that you’d need to build a whole tower to fit every component needed to meet the city’s minimum requirements. There would be a lot to work on for the next few years, to say the least.
That is if you managed to win the Innovators Competition, and the process of design, and getting sponsors, and finding workers experienced enough to work with the technology, and—
Viktor noticed your sudden change in demeanor then.
“Is everything alright?”
“Yeah, I just have a lot in my mind” You sunk on the seat he had grabbed for you while he was explaining the rune-code system he had managed to crack that same day.
“Would some food help you with that? I hear you spiraling into madness all the time until you get a bite of the pies” You chuckled at that “I guess someone is prone to ‘hangry-ness’, don’t you think?”
That last bit caught your attention.
“How do you know about the pies? Did Jayce tell you?”
“Something like that. He told me you seemed… intrigued by their sudden appearance, but did not elaborate further. Are you not satisfied with them?”
“No, it’s not that. I… I’m gonna be honest, Vik” He seemed to be even more attentive to you after that “I don’t think whoever is leaving those pies understands what they mean… to us” You gave him a knowing gaze which he didn’t quite return.
“What they mean to… us?”
“Y’know, us Zaunites” You pressed your hand to your chest, emphasizing your words.
“Ah” Something seemed to click for him “Did you think those gifts were merely that? Favors?”
“I’ve learned the hard way that Piltovian culture is very different from ours, Viktor, Courtesy, especially, is different for them. At first I thought someone wanted something from me, but the note had only my name written on it. No ‘Thank you, miss duMarquis’ or ‘You have been invited to…’, y’know?”
You took out the last note, the fourth heart drawn in blue ink you had received that week, and you extended it for him to see it with his own two eyes.
Common Piltovian courtesy insisted on giving small, yet expensive, gifts to ask for favors or to thank someone for their help. Some other times those same gifts came as a form of invitation to certain events. However, in Zaun, gift-giving had a very different connotation. Elaborate or expensive gifts were only given under two conditions: between packmates or courting rituals.
The first few times you had been given gifts by Salo you had been horrified, then you came to find he had only meant to welcome you into your new home.
Viktor kept eyeing the note, lost in thought, when Jayce entered the room once more.
“Oh, are we having a meeting? Let me grab some—”
“Actually, Jayce, I’m just telling Viktor about the pie debacle. I have to get to the bottom of it”
“Maybe debacle is just a tiny bit of a strong word for that, don’t you think?”
“No I— Jayce, I… uhmm. I don’t think you get the importance of them. It’s fine, I just need to find who’s leaving them there”
“They clearly say your name, Eda. They are yours!”
“No, they can’t. No one’s asking anything from me with them. They have to be someone else’s”
“Eda, they are gifts. Why don’t you just accept them—”
“Because I swear if I continue getting more of these pies I will start believing someone is actually trying to court me!” You stood up, surprising them both.
While no tears threatened to fall off your eyes, your voice still cracked.
It had been really hard for you to adapt to Piltovian mannerisms, but you managed to do it at the cost of your omega’s sensitivity. Many unrequited advances taught you to stick to what was normal for the people here.
Gifts held close to no significance to them, when they meant the world to you.
“Would that be wrong?” Viktor’s voice cut through the silence after being quiet during your exchange.
Even if you didn’t trust your voice, you answered back “I don’t want to be let down again” A sad smile appeared on your face “Besides, I’m busy, and I already have some— I… I don’t think I could reciprocate the feelings for this person. I have you guys to take care of. The Hexgates won’t build themselves I— We have a lot of work ahead of us!”
You cleared your throat and made your way to the door, on the way noting no pie had magically showed up on your desk even as the sky turned dark.
As expected, too good to be true.
“You say you have enough with the two of us, but would you pursue this ‘person’ if given the chance?” Jayce’s voice startled you. How did you not notice him following after you?
“I’m not sure Jayce, I…” Then everything fell in place. Why Jayce knew what the filling was, why Viktor hid something as soon as you got near him, and most importantly why there were two different kinds of pies in the first place “Wait a second. Are you two courting me?”
“In his defence,” Viktor spoke from his desk, not too far away “I came up with the idea. I heard you missed the pies Jericho made. I thought them a good enough alternative. Besides, sending Jayce down there would have cost us millions in scams”
“Hey! I told you I know how to bargain it’s you who won’t let me—”
You couldn’t help but laugh audibly at that. They stopped arguing to join you, seeing the absurdity of it all.
After your hollering died down, Jayce spoke again.
“So… is that a yes or…?”
Viktor glanced at you, expecting an answer too.
“That’s a stop giving me any more trouble, I’m already behind schedule” You finally relaxed, now sure you had no other prospects to worry about.
The pair tried to appear unaffected, of course they would try to hide their disappointment “Of course, sorry” Jayce started walking back to his own desk and Viktor started putting on his protective gear when you interrupted their moping.
“... but we can get back to this discussion as soon as we submit this project”
Their happiness was just as palpable as their previous sulking.
You all got back to work and, to your excitement, the night ended up going better than expected. You even got to go back to your dorm room an hour earlier than expected.
It seemed almost as if your two partners had a new reason to work harder.
…
Extra:
“Viktor, I will actually murder you if you don’t tell me where you bought these” You took one last bit out of the strawberry pie, which had now arrived on schedule.
“I don’t think you will be pleased to know. It’s better if you don’t”
“C’mon, it’s not like you went out of your way to get them with Jericho and then made them pass for another bakery’s so no one would scam Jayce”
“...” Viktor remained silent, opting to take a sip of his coffee.
You left it at that. A warm feeling spread through your chest knowing what they were capable of for you.
You really needed to teach Jayce how to haggle, though.