Love Song

Lesbian sex on his couch was not the first thing Jayce was expecting to see when he got home.

“Holyfuckingshit!” He yelled before slamming the door in front of him, probably waking up the whole building.

“Ohmygod! Jayce! Ever heard of knocking?” Cait shouts through the door. Only when he's given both girls ample time to get properly dressed does he re enter.

“You mean knock on the door of my own house?” Jayce said, appalled. “Who even is this girl?” He outstretched his arm to the body in the kitchen, drinking his orange juice from the bottle. “Who raised you man?” This was aimed towards her.

“Oh shit. Haha, hey, Wonder Boy.” The girl closes the fridge door and leans on it. Jayce remembers her from his first day at the Academy. He also remembers how incredibly rude she was for no reason. 

“Wait, you two know each other?” Jayce turns his attention back to Cait at her question. She has both hands pointing at Jayce and the pink haired girl.

“Aw, c’mon Cait. I thought you would’ve had better taste than this.” Jayce only means this half jokingly.

“Are you just gonna keep insulting me?” The random girl doesn’t look offended though, just amused.

“Excuse you, Jayce. I’ll have you know that Vi is actually a lovely girl.” Wow, Cait was already protective of her and they hadn’t even spent the night together.

“Oh, I’m sorry, but the only impression I have of her is her yelling at me for no reason in front of the whole lobby at my new school.” Jayce retorts. Vi makes her way over to him, throwing an open palm on his shoulder. Her stumbling steps and sickly sweet scent told Jayce that she was very obviously drunk.

“Look Man, I apologize for saying all that nasty shit. In my defence, you're kinda represented in the media as a douche, might wanna get the PR team on that.” She folds her lips in as if she’s breaking bad news to him. Jayce would have laughed if it were anyone else. “Trust me Bro, I would’ve never said any of that if I knew you had a hot sister I needed to bang.” To Jayces horror, Cait let out a flirtatious giggle.

“Vi, OMG don’t say stuff like that!” She wrapped her hand around her hookups’ bicep, turning all pink in the face. Jacye was going to be ill.

“Ew Cait, gross! Get a room, good God!” 

“Don’t be jealous that I brought someone home and you didn’t!” Cait shoved him to the side before sauntering down the hallway, her and Vi hanging off each other to keep themselves upright. Jayce shut his eyes tight and rubbed his face, trying to be rid of the memories of his best friend half naked and blushing over some oil slick looking butch masc girl. Cait was like a sister to him, and no one should be forced to see their sibling like that.

Jayce had met Caitlyn Kiramman in highschool. He actually tutored her in maths and science because she always excelled in more artistic classes, letting her grades for other classes slip slightly. Jayce was the only boy her parents approved of. They were friends beforehand but when Cait had mentioned her hatred for math, he was determined to help her. Her parents give solely him credit for her high grades and getting into the university of their dreams. Caitlyn loved her parents dearly, but never felt comfortable showing them who she truly was. 

Her great great grandparents moved from China to fund Piltover when it was first being built. To this day the Kiramman dynasty is still the richest family in Piltover to this day. Her family's love and acceptance came with conditions though. If it was up to her, she would be designing or painting something. Her strict parents didn’t accept this, they said it wasn’t a real job and if she wanted their money to put her through university it had to be somewhere they chose with a degree in something they approved of. This is how she ended up in Saint Harolds University, the only catholic uni in town. Her and her parents don’t talk much, but they still pay her bills for the apartment and refill her visa every month. Jayce had a feeling that would stop though if they knew what she was doing in her room right now and who she was doing it with.

Jayce walks to the kitchen to grab a poptart. He is actually pretty grateful for Mr. and Mrs. Kiramman. They pay his bills, too. He thinks it might be them thanking him for keeping an eye on their daughter, they had always had a great deal of trust in him. Jayce doesn’t even bother heating up the treat, just trudges down the hall to his room. He shuts the door and locks it, not wanting any drunk houseguests stumbling in, mistaking it for the bathroom. He switches out of the gym shirt he’s been wearing for a few hours now but keeps the pants. They were easily his favourite. Especially now that he caught Viktor passing sneaky glances at his groin while he was wearing them. Jayce flops onto his bed, eyes immediately drooping. His tired mind keeps playing Viktors face over and over again in his head.

Viktors sleep is far less immediate. As soon as he gets back to his dorm room, he throws his keys back in their usual spot and tosses his coat to the floor. Instead of changing he jumps out of his jeans and hops right into bed. He never really cared about his appearance. He didn’t live with anyone and he only had class tomorrow so why should he care about proper hygiene. Plus, the bathroom was all the way downstairs, a trek he did not feel like making just to brush his teeth. So instead he tossed and turned under the covers, brain unwilling to shut down until he solved the dilemma of a certain man.

He didn’t like the Talis’ and that was final. They were evil, or at least Mr.Talis was. He was a money hungry monster who did not deserve to be in a position of power. After the rumors and all the evidence came out, he had to have known it was Viktors creation, but he didn’t even try to correct himself. He was a liar, a manipulator. He was the reason Viktor was so fucked mentally and why he was sitting in this shitty little dorm, tossing and turning at four in the morning. Jayce himself seemed nice enough, but how could you raise a kid to be a good person when you weren’t even one yourself? Viktor was definitely no saint, but at least he didn’t manipulate little kids.

But Mr.Talis didn’t raise Jayce, he even said so himself. Viktor wanted so badly to believe that Jayce was just a copy and paste of his dad, but certain events tonight argued otherwise. He found it so sickeningly sweet when he tried to offer him with his bag, he could see Jayce wasn’t trying to make him feel useless, he genuinely was trying to help. The way he was worried about anyone else being able to leave the lot was endearing. And, even as annoying as it was, Jayce not being able to hold his tongue was sort of cute. But if there was anything this shitty world had taught him it was that kind people are normally just liars.

He’d just met Jayce a few weeks ago. Sure, he seemed like a nice enough guy, but Viktor has known his dad a lot longer, and he was a dick. Viktor assumed that for now it would be safer to go based on what he knew, which is that the Talis family are all assholes. This meant that Viktor needed to focus. He had to stop letting his guard slip around Jayce, stop letting the cute shit he says get to his head and stop offering rides home. Maybe he could let the teasing slide though, that was funny. So that was final, no more hanging around Jayce. He would still ask Heimerdinger about being partners because there was no way in hell Viktor could come up with something himself, but that's all they were. Partners.

Jayce didn’t wake up until twelve the next morning. When he crept out of his room to make himself breakfast, he walked in on Cait making her favourite hangover snack: fried oats.

“Hey Sleepyhead. I know you're not a morning person, but noon is pretty late, even for you.” She turns around and jabs her spatula at him.

“Leave me alone, I didn’t get back till like, three in the morning. Where’s your date?” Jayce opens the freezer, finding the frozen berries to throw himself together a smoothie. 

“Sleeping. Why were you out so late, hm?” She caught him trying to switch subjects and wasn’t about to let that slide. Jayce ignored her.

“I know you said you were going to the gym, but you were gone for five hours. Makes me wonder if there's some special girl? Maybe some fitness chick you just had to shag?” Jayce wordlessly slammed the cupboard he was rummaging through. The force Jayce put into it said enough about how he was feeling.

“Woah, no need to be so upset with me. I was just wondering where you went.” Instead of finishing his breakfast, Jayce paced over to the island, leaning on it with his elbows and putting his head in his hands. He felt Caits hand come up to his back.

“Hey, hey, hey, Jayce. What’s wrong?” Her voice was softer now, no longer joking.

“I’m so confused.” He mumbled to the floor.

“Look at me, tell me what’s wrong. I can’t help if you're gonna keep talking to yourself.” Jayce picks himself up off the tile and crosses his arms. He turns to her and leans a hip on the counter. She has her hands on her hips and worry has pushed her eyebrows together. She lifted her hand up and fluttered it around, telling him to say something.

“What if… it wasn’t a girl.” He says shyly. Caits eyebrows shoot to her hairline.

“YOU’RE GAY?!” 

“No! That’s the problem, I’m not! Keep your voice down.” Jayce whisper-shouts.

“What do you mean you’re not? You just admitted you were with someone other than a girl last night!” She matches his volume.

“No, I wasn’t with him.” He groans. “Well I was with him, but I wasn’t with him. We were just in the lab and my car broke down so he offered to drive me home.” Jayce ran that sentence over again in his head. “Dammit, I forgot to call the tow.” 

He reaches into his pocket and quickly dials the number. The entire conversation Cait is looking at him with an elvish grin, excited to pounce him with questions. The second he hangs up the phone she jumps closer to him.

“What’s his name?” She’s smiling now, happy for her friend.

“Viktor.” Jayce can’t hear it, but Cait picks up on the longing in his voice as he sighs the name.

“Okay so what happened?” Her eyes bore into him.

“Well it started like a week ago. I was freaking out on the first day of school, like a full on panic attack, and he saw me and just started… comforting me.” Jayce is staring at the floor, collecting his thoughts. “Then we were in the lab today and he’s just so incredibly smart. Afterwards he saw me struggling with the truck and he offered to give me a ride home and something happened. I couldn’t stop talking. Oh my god, Cait it was so awful and embarrassing, but then he started opening up to me too. He’s normally such a hardass, which is part of what makes him so… attractive, but he started talking about his past and it was so” his eyes dart around the room as if they are looking for the right word “rare.”

“Jesus, Jayce you fucking sap.”

“He’s also hot. He has this eyebrow piercing and a super cool tattoo. I caught him looking at me and I almost died. I mean, I like even when he’s making fun of me.” He rubs his forehead. “It’s so bad Cait, please save me.”

“What do you mean save?”

“I just… I’ve never liked a man like this before, it’s so… weird.”

“Wait, what about that guy… ugh you met him in highschool… What was his name?” she starts tapping her lip.

“Local Cuisine?” Jayce still remembers the man's nickname.

“Oh yeah! That’s it!” She lets out a laugh. “Local Cuisine! You made out with him a few times at parties. And I’m like 86% sure you sucked him off once. I feel like I remember you retelling all the gory details when you were drunk.” 

“Yeah but I was just figuring myself out. Whatever I’m feeling for Viktor seems more… I dunno, serious.” Jayce looked seriously distraught. Caitlyn grabbed his hand, making him look at her. Her eyes were full of sympathy and earnesty. “I think I actually like him… but that’s not me. What’s everybody else gonna think when their ‘Golden Boy’ starts kissing dudes. They already have such strong opinions about me. They think I don’t see all the shit they say about me on the internet, but I can see when the Zaunites are praying for my death and these young Piltover girls are feinding over me. I don’t need any more opinions on me.”

“Jayce, listen to me.” She gripped his hand more tightly. “The adoration and romanticism of you will fade. Eventually they will stop caring about you, stop posting about you and stop wanting you. When all this goes away you will realize that you lived for all these other people and you don’t truly like anything about you. Nothing you’ve ever done has been for you, and that’s a really scary feeling.” Jayce looked like he was on the verge of tears. “And what if you died tomorrow? What if you got hit by a car on your way to get coffee and Sunroof was playing in your headphones and now you’re bleeding out on the street to one of the worst songs ever made just because society said ‘Oh, this song is good and what you should be listening to!’” Cait let out a small giggle “when you could’ve been listening to something you enjoyed. It’s the same thing. What if you died tomorrow never knowing the touch of someone you like? Is that not worse than upsetting people who don’t matter?”

Wordlessly, Jayce pulls her in for a hug. Cait always knew what to say. When she pulled back, she finished her speech.

“I say you give him your best shot.”

“Yeah, thanks for the pep talk.” Jayce gave a small smile. That’s when something struck Cait.

“Did you say his name was Viktor?” 

“Mhm.” Jayce knew where this was going.

“Like Nuclear Fusion Viktor?” Her voice held the same astonishment that was in his moms when she asked the same question.

“Yep.” Was the only thing he could come up with

“God, Jayce could you be any less messy?”

“Well Cait, you haven’t seen him.”

“Oh no.” She senses he’s about to begin a long, winded rant about his new obsession.

“He has these beautiful eyes that are just so amber. He listens to this loud rock music but also this super gay more indie music. Oh my god, Cait. He called me baby!” He drags his hands down his face, holding the y at the end of baby for dramatic effect.

“Y’know there comes a point where ya just gotta just get that puss Man.” Both of their heads whip to the other side of the counter where the voice came from.

“Vi! You’re up! I made breakfast. Lemme get you some water and an advil.” Already knowing the oncoming headache from the heavy drinking they did the night before.

“Yeah thanks, Princess.”She says. Jayce sputters.

“Uhm, excuse me? You’re telling me to ‘get that puss’ in my own home while I feed you breakfast?” Jayce is astounded.

“Oh, sorry. I meant that dick.” 

“Not any better!” 

“Hey Man, you’re the one going on about how infatuated you are.” She points the spoon that Cait had got her for her oats at him.

“Well, I wasn’t expecting overhearing ears.” He crosses his arms.

“Look Dude, I’m getting with your sister, can we just start over? Between you and me, I think last night went pretty well,” Cait lets out a breathy laugh from where she looms over the sink, cleaning the pan she used “which means we’ll be seeing a lot of each other. So let’s put everything before this behind us.” She reaches her hand out across the table for a shake. “Hey there Bro, my name’s Vi.”

“Hi, my name’s Jayce.” He takes the outstretched hand and gives it a firm handshake. She smirks.

“I know.” Jayce can’t help but smile and shake his head at the ridiculousness.

A week later Jayce had just left one of his classes and perched himself on a chair in front of one of the floor to ceiling windows the school had. His computer was open but he was mainly just looking out the window at the dwindling number of colourful leaves and thinking. Somehow Viktor had managed to convince Heimerdinger to let them work as partners on their project. Right now Jayce was solving a problem he had run into with their prototype in his head instead of doing his work for other classes. This was difficult because Viktor wasn’t really helping.

On that first night that they had begun working together, it had been awesome to have someone to combine ideas with, but now it just felt like Jayce was working all on his own. Jayce didn’t know why Viktor had stopped showing up to the lab and wasn’t talking to him before or after lessons. The few times Jayce would be able to get Viktor into the lab, he would leave early with no excuse, just that he had to go. Jayce isn’t sure where he went wrong. The sound of footsteps beside him dragged him out of his train of thought.

“Hey, Golden Boy! Long time, no see.” It was Mel, the kind girl who helped him on his first day. Today she was still rocking the overabundance of gold jewelry, but had a more comfortable look on with sweatpants and a tank top. She pulled up a chair beside him.

“Mel, hi!” He gave a squinty smile. “We go to the same school, why haven’t I seen you?” 

“Because I’m upstairs, Silly.” She teased. She gave him a pointed look. “The downstairs is for mad scientists only. Whatcha workin on?” She craned her neck to look at his screen. It was only then when he realised that it was open to a completely blank doc.

“Well I definitely should be working on an essay for my advanced mechanics class, but I’m mainly just staring out the window.” She gives a small laugh. Jayce can’t help but admire the way the light coming in from the window bounces off her golden skin. You know what? Fuck it.

“Can I buy you a coffee?” Jayce still felt an incredible and almost unbearable amount of feelings for Viktor, but it wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair that Viktor was allowed to just ignore him while Jayce must silently yearn. If Viktor didn’t want him, he wasn’t waiting around.

“Jayce, you’re not buying me a ten dollar drink.” She gave a feather-light brush of her hand across his arm. Unfortunately for Jayce, he felt more charge from just looking at Viktor. He pressed on anyway.

“Good thing I’m one of the richest men in Piltover.” With that he shut his computer, picks it up and offers his other arm down to Mel. She takes it with ease and gives him a coy look.

“Easy there Tails, your female fans might be upset if they find you acting so flirtatiously with another woman.”

The line for the Starbucks was still long, and they had to go all the way to the back. Jayce was cool with this, it just meant that he had more time to talk to Mel.

“I’ve never given you my name, how do you know it?”

“Oh Jayce, I hate to be the one to break it to you, but you’re kinda Piltover's most wanted man. Everybody knows your name.” Jayce chuckled.

“How long have you been going to school here?” She gave him a look.

“How do you know I’m not a freshman?” She answered with her own question.

“By the way you acted on the first day. You clearly knew what you were doing. And you knew where all the undercover rooms were.”

“I’m in my third year.”

“And what are you majoring in again?” They both stepped up with the line.

“Humanities. I’m assuming you’re studying something more sciency?”

“Well, I don’t really want to study one thing specifically and then go into that field.I want to invent things, anything and everything. I want to know as much as possible so I can expand on what there already is.” Mel gives a knowing smile.

“What? Why are you giving me that look?”

“Just the way you light up when you talk about science, it’s cute.” Jayce feels his heart warm. This gorgeous girl thinks I’m cute.  Mel lets out a lighthearted laugh. Jayce looks down to her.

“What’s so funny? Seriously?”

“The way you get so flustered when I compliment you that you lose your words.” That’s when Jayce realizes his mistake. When a pretty girl calls you cute, you’re supposed to flirt back

“Oh, no! I didn’t mean for it to seem like I had nothing to say about you. I have a lot to say about you. I mean, you’re beautiful, obviously. And I think you’re really cool. I even thought to myself during our first interaction ‘wow, this girl seems really cool’ I swear it. I just wasn't thinking there-”

“Jayce” Mel cuts him off, giving him a second to catch his breath “calm down.” Jayce can see the laughter she’s holding back. This whole spilling his guts when he found someone attractive was fairly recent. He had numerous girls chasing him in highschool, and a handful of girlfriends, but now when it comes to hot college girls…people… he’s just rambling. Jayce turns red in the face and scratches the back of his neck.

“Oh… sorry?” This time Mel lets out a true laugh.

“Well, it’s a damn good thing you’re funny.” 

“Thank you, I guess?” Mel is about to give her light airy laugh again when Jayce picks out the tapping of a cane on hardwood floors. He whips around to find his partner walking towards the vending machine, getting in line there. “Mel, I am so so sorry but I have to run.” Jayce really is sorry, he promised this girl a drink. “My partner over there, I have to talk to him about our project. It’s really important and I need to speak with him.”

“Your partner? Are you already spoken for?” Mel’s tone takes on a note of curiosity.

“NO, not that kind of partner. He’s my lab partner in Heimerdinger's class and I haven’t seen him in a while so I want to ask him if he’s alright.”

“Couldn’t you just text him?” Mel raises her shoulders with the question. That is a really good point. 

“I don’t have his number.” Jayce fishes into his pocket and pulls out his wallet.

“Here. For the drink.” He shoves the ten in her hands and spins around. After a few steps, he realises he’s forgotten something. His walk back to Mel is more like a light jog.

“I forgot.” He unlocks his phone and puts it in her hand “Could I please get your number?” Mel gives a teasing sigh.

“I suppose.” She types it in and hands it back to him. “But I’m now expecting a call offering to actually take me out for coffee.” 

“I will, I promise. See you around.” He throws her a quick wink before returning to his original path.

Viktor has his headphones jammed so deep into his ears he doesn’t hear Jayce coming at first. As he gets closer, he can hear Viktors scream song bleeding out of his crappy corded headphones. It’s not until Jayce taps him on the shoulders that Viktor notices he’s there. He pulls the headphones out of his ears, letting them drop down his front without falling because they are tucked underneath his shirt. He looks up at Jayce. He knows why he’s here, why he tapped him on the shoulder just now. Viktor has been actively avoiding him since deciding he was bad news, which also means he stopped showing up during lab time. He was probably just here because he was upset with Viktor for skimping out on him. 

“Are you alright?” Jayce was mainly just concerned. Viktor seemed mean on the outside, but Jayce knew better than that. Viktor wouldn’t just downright skip lab time, he cared about this project too. This means he must’ve been missing out on the lab because he wasn’t feeling well physically or mentally. Viktor shrugged his hand off his shoulder, just barely taking note of the warm buzzing he felt where he had been touched and the way Jayces large hand practically ate his entire shoulder.

“I’m fine, Jayce. I thought we went over the whole babying thing.” Jayce chewed on the inside of his cheek. This wasn’t fair. Viktor isn’t allowed to not show up for a week and let Jayce worry himself sick, then when he asks if everything is okay, get brushed off.

“Well what was I supposed to think? I haven’t talked to you since you told me we were cleared to be partners.” Viktor could hear the hurt in his voice, even though Jayce was trying his best to hide it. 

“What did you want to say?” Jayce looks away from his inspecting eyes, running his fingers through his hair.

“I don’t know, maybe the breakthroughs I’ve made, or maybe your ideas and thoughts on some of the calculations I’ve added.”

“Okay, you have my full attention now. Talk to me.” Jayce was getting frustrated now. Shouldn’t Viktor, easily one of the smartest people in this room, know that waiting in line for a vending machine was not the place to talk about an extremely serious topic like their project worth most of their grade?

“Do you even like drinking these things?” Jayce asks, gesturing over to the machine filled with bottled energy.

“Not the taste particularly, but the caffeine is nice.” 

“Okay so how about you come with me instead? We can go to a nice little coffee shop and properly discuss  weeks worth of work. Do you have any classes right now?” Viktor looks skeptical. “I know a place, it’s good, I promise. Also, don’t you think you kinda owe it to me?” Viktor glances down to review the offer.

He knows damn well the last thing he needs right now is to spend more time with Jayce, but he really wants to do good on this project. That won’t happen if he doesn’t hear what his partner has been working on. Reluctantly, he meets Jayce’s eyes.

“Fine.” He pretty much spits out the word. He walks past Jayce, towards the doors leading outside. Jayce follows him, right on his heels. In the parking lot, Viktor pulls out his keys, unlocking his vehicle.

“Noooooo way am I getting back into that thing.” He points an accusing finger at Viktors car.

“I don’t remember you being so picky over your choice of automobile when your truck wasn’t working.” He sneered.

“Well I didn’t exactly have a choice.” Viktor sighed. Jayce, always so dramatic. “Look, that thing is fifty percent rust and could go at any moment. My truck is pretty much brand new, let's just take it.” Must he always argue?

“If I remember correctly, your truck broke. I’m taking my car. Either you can come with me and give directions or I’ll just go home.” 

“Why don’t you just take your car and I take mine?” Viktor rolled his eyes.

“Do you even give a shit about the environment?” With that he closed the distance from him to his car. To his slight gratification he saw Jayce in pursuit when he glanced over his shoulder.

When he unlocked the car both boys hopped in. Jayce took note of the way Viktor left his seatbelt unbuckled and haphazardly threw his cane in the back. In the short time he knew him, Jayce noticed how much Viktor just didn’t care. He didn’t care about anyone else’s feelingings, he didn’t seem to care about this project. He didn’t even seem to care if he lived or died, with all his self destructive tendencies. But then there was the other side of Viktor, the one he saw in the car the other night. The one who got misty thinking about his childhood and opened up about his past. Jayce knew they were connected. He knew this mean, pissed, cold outer shell of Viktor was protecting the more vulnerable part of him within.

Viktor gave his phone to Jayce who typed in the location and handed it back. He plugged his phone in and Hozier immediately started playing through the speakers. Jayce was starting to pick up on how whatever Viktor was listening to that day was directly correlated to how he was feeling.

“Jayce I can literally hear you thinking. If you wanna say something, out with it.” His tone already had a note of annoyance in it. Jayce wasn’t sure how everytime he was near Viktor he managed to piss him off.

“Just didn’t strike me as a Hozier guy.” Viktor, despite how he felt, found himself fighting a smile.

“Oh you haven’t seen anything yet. I can go from Limp Bizkit to Mac Miller in seconds.” Jayces predictions must’ve been right. When Viktor was listening to his death metal he was in a shitty mood and when he was listening to more chill stuff he was more calm, more forgiving. He wondered what vibe Viktor must’ve been in to be listening to Would That I.

Jayce actually really liked the air in the car right now. It was still morning time, though noon was approaching quickly, but the soft light of a new day still shone in through the car windows. It warmed Jayces body. Viktor also felt more relaxed. His shoulders weren’t pulled up in their usual tightness and his face wasn’t scrunched up in its natural grimace. A comfortable silence fell between the two of them. Jayce didn’t feel the need to fill in and Viktor enjoyed not being exasperated with Jayces presence. He knew he shouldn’t be letting his guard down like this, but being so peeved all the time was a lot of work, so he allowed these minutes in the car to just breathe and be part of the moment.

When they finally did pull up to the tiny shop, it wasn’t what Viktor had guessed Jayce would pick. He was assuming he would go for something more rich and modern, something void of life. But the little cafe they pulled up to was full of personality. The cafe was on the corner of two streets and had no advertising on the outside. The only thing to prove there was anything in there was the tables and chairs inside were the extremely tall windows. The place didn’t have a lot, so Viktor parallel parked right beside the shop, something Jayce found impressive.

Jayce was the first to reach to the back and grab Viktors cane. Somehow he keeps forgetting that Viktor doesn’t like his help. It was only until he turned back to the front with the retrieved cane that he noticed his mistake.

“Oh, uh, sorry.” He quickly shoves the stick into Viktors seat. He twists it in his hands a second. He could yell at Jayce for not listening, but could he really get angry at a kind action? He looks up from where his hands are on the piece of wood. Jayce’s puppy dog eyes are wide, apologizing without words. It’s endearing how much he cares what Viktor thinks, he has to turn away to contain his smile. Jayce catches the way the corner of his mouth turns up, mentally sighing with relief for being forgiven. Viktor knew that going inside this cafe with this man was an awful idea, but what choice did he have? 

Jayce had pulled him away from his only caffeine source in the school, so if he wanted energy now, this was his best bet. With this sentiment he opened the car door and followed behind Jayce into the bistro. Yes, because of the caffeine. Definitely not because the thought of letting Jayce walk through those glass doors by himself gave him an uneasy feeling. No, no that would be ridiculous, and Viktor was not ridiculous. He was a man of logic. A scientist. A pragmatist. Viktor did not come up with nonsensical justifications like wanting to just be near someone. And if he did have those thoughts that someone would definitely not be Jayce.

The inside of the tea room was quite industrial. It was like an extremely tall concrete box. The floor, walls, and roof were all grey cement. The whole thing was very narrow. There were only three small circular tables along the length of the window. On the opposing side was a countertop where a barista was leaning, scrolling on her phone. The sign behind her was a framed yellow poster with Cup Connection imprinted on it in big, bold blue letters. At the very end of the preparing station was a set of black spiral stairs leading up. All along the ceiling were hanging plants. The barista didn’t look up as the two men approached. 

“Do you come here often?” Viktor asked.

“Yep, best coffee in Piltover. Also a very private place to work.” Things like privacy were important if you were the most known man in the city. Viktor looked around. There was only one other girl there, sitting at the table closest to the entrance, laptop open and headphones in. Viktor tapped Jayce on the shoulder and pointed over to her after getting his attention.

“I love her septum piercing. You think I should get one?” 

“Well I love your eyebrow piercing.” Viktor immediately went bright red. Jayce stopped breathing entirely. Why the hell did he say that?

“Hehe, thanks… uhm, what are you getting?” Viktor was extremely uncomfortable with the conversation and attempted to change the subject. Jayce was grateful for the out.

“Oh yeah. They, uhm… they have the menu right there.” Jayce pointed down to the table, at the list taped there.

“Damn, they got sweet milk.” This place can’t be that bad if they got sweet milk thought Viktor. Jayce curved his back down to get a better look at the menu.

“Yeah, they do. Never noticed that before. What is it?”

“Literally the best drink that has ever come out of Zaun.” Viktor caught sight of something else on the menu that piqued his interest. “What is ‘tapioca’?” His eyes turn slightly squinty with confusion.

“You’ve never heard of bubble tea before?” Viktor shook his head, hair flowing with him while he looked up at Jayce. “Oh you’re definitely trying it.” A shine of mischief exposed itself. Viktor turned skeptical. 

“It better not taste like shit and you’re just pranking me. I will not have you ruining my sweet milk.” Jayce picked up on the half joking tone in Viktors voice.

“No, you’ll like it, trust.” He turned to the woman on her phone. “Excuse me, ma’am.” 

“I’m not a ma’am, what do you want?” Jayce was slightly taken aback by her hostile attitude but was getting used to it because of Viktor. Also, he’s never had a job before, but friends had told him the tales of how awful they were. 

“One chai latte and a sweet milk with tapioca please.” 

“Sure dude.” The lady clicks on her ipad a bit then turns it around to Jayce. “That’s eleven thirty six. Tap when you’re ready.” Then she whisks away to go make the drinks.

“Viktor, could you go grab us a table? Anyone you pick will be fine. I’ll wait for our brews.” He didn’t need to be told twice. He walks to the back of the shop, taking the table furthest from the door and placing himself in the chair with the view of the entire restaurant, even where Jayce was waiting at the counter.

Viktor tried to look somewhere, anywhere other than the large man in the red hoodie at the counter, but his eyes kept falling on him. If Viktor were anyone else, people would call this admiring. But this is Viktor, Viktor who would never be caught staring at Jayce. His arms are… disproportionate. No man needs to be that muscular. It’s honestly off-putting. The barista comes back, two cups in hand. Viktor watches as Jayce gives her an award winning smile and says something in a low note he can’t make over the bossa-nova playing. The barista laughs. Now this is the one thing Viktor isn’t afraid of admitting he likes about Jayce, his ability to brighten people up. Sometimes it gets annoying, but two minutes ago that girl looked like she was having the worst day of her life, and now she was grinning back at him.

Viktor observed as both of their smiles got brighter. He also picked up on the slight touches the woman was placing on Jayces forearms. Don’t ask him why that disrupted the calm he had previously, he himself had no idea. Viktor watched as the girl looked down and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear before looking up at Jayce with these big doe eyes. The arms around Viktors body tightened. Suddenly much darker thoughts were circling through his head. Of course Jayce would rather be over there, flirting with some cute blond than over here with him. That just reminded him of the shallow type of person Jayce was. He didn’t give two fucks about Viktor, he just needed a partner.

But now Jayce was wasting his time too. He had already been up there for a few minutes, chatting it up with that barista. If Jayce insisted upon taking up Viktors precious time by dragging him over to this coffee shop, then it wasn’t fair that he was over there flirting with girls. Viktor put his weight on his cane, pushing himself up, and slowly made his way over to the counter. Right in the middle of whatever Jayce was saying, he slid his arm around the man's waist.

“Hi baby, are the drinks ready yet?” Jayces mind went blank. Viktors hand was right over his protruding ilium, right on his midriff. Then, to Jayces horror, Viktor started tracing small, mindless circles with his thumb.

“You alright there, Jayce?” Viktor had turned his voice silky smooth, further obliterating Jayces mind. Jayce knew Viktor was looking up at him, but if he made eye contact right now he might actually go crazy. Instead he kept looking straight ahead at the now confused barista in front of him, trying to breathe although the room suddenly feels extremely warm. 

“Uh, yeah here are the-” the barista begins when Jayce snatches the beverages, untangles himself from Viktors grasp and just about runs to the table, trying to put as much space between them so he can inhale like normal. Before following him, Viktor gives the woman a look that would make the bravest of warriors wither. 

The second Viktor sits down, Jayce bursts out.

“Viktor” he whispers “what the hell was that?” He’s leaning in over the table, extremely confused but his hands still pass over Viktors drink. 

“You were taking too long.” Viktor explains nonchalantly, legs crossed and looking out the window.

“No, Viktor.” Jayce squeezes his eyes shut and pinches the bridge of his nose. “You can’t just go up to someone and do… that.” Jayces whole back is hunched, head ducked and eyes on the table as he juts a thumb towards where the two were just seconds ago. 

“Well Jayce, I must say it is pretty fucking annoying when someone drags you out of your scheduled day to go to some stupid little shop just to flirt with baristas.”

“Flirting?”

“Pft, don’t act coy.” Viktor had his arms crossed, head still turned but eyes on Jayce now. “You knew what you were doing with that sweet smile and easy talk.” 

“I was being nice.” They were both still whisper arguing, not wanting anyone to overhear, although the woman from the counter had already disappeared up the stairs.

“Give me your receipt.” Jayce fished the crumpled thing out of his pocket.

“Why?”

“Just hand it over.” Viktor snatched it from his fingers. He examined it for a quick second then flipped it for Jayce to see. Right at the bottom was the girl's number with a small note. “Don’t act dumb with me.”

“Oh. I completely misread that situation.” Jayce goes over the conversation in his head again. It didn’t seem like flirting?

“Y’know what dude, I actually don’t fucking care. Get as many numbers as you want, just stop pretending to be a better person than you actually are.”

“Viktor, I swear to God, it was just small talk. I wasn’t trying to waste your time.” Jayce didn’t need to convince Viktor, he had already said he didn’t care, but he didn’t want him to be upset with him. 

Viktor worked his jaw. He didn’t know why he was getting so.. so jealous. Viktor was some weird nerd that Jayce was forced to hang out with for their project. Of course he would rather be over there, seducing some pretty girl instead of here with him. He was mean, and cold, and broken. Viktor hated it when his mind did this, thought these depressing thoughts. He wanted to pretend they didn’t affect him anymore, but they did. 

“Viktor.” Jayce said this one word with such severity that it snapped him out of the train of thought he was in. He turned his body back to face the man across from him. “I was kinda hoping that by now you’d know me enough to realize that I’d rather be over here with you.” For a second, the world goes quiet. They can both feel everything slow and go silent around them, their breaths the only thing remaining. They stare at each other, eyes boring into one another. Jayce knew the second it came out of his mouth it was true. This look conveyed to Viktor that Jayce was being honest. I’d rather been here with you. What an odd thing for such a cruel man to say. Unless, of course, he wasn’t so cruel after all.

“I, uh, meant here talking about science… stuff. Yeah, our project.” It was true, but why the hell did he say it? Now he had both forced them into this awkward situation. Jayces eyes were now shifting around the room, looking for somewhere to land other than Viktors slightly awed face.

“Okay, so… spit it out.” Viktor said, less venom in his voice. Jayce looked back at Viktor. There was something about his expression in this soft sun that beamed in through the window. He looked like… Jayce couldn’t place it. Maybe warmth? Or kindness? Something along those lines. His face had calmed now, the angry wrinkles smoothed out. The glow coming into the room had given his amber eyes a brightness and a whole light aura surrounded him. Jayce couldn’t help but watch in admiration. “Jayce? Why are you looking at me like that?” Viktors head tilted slightly.

“I’m just looking at you normally.” Jayces head was resting in his hands, a very stupid smile spread across his face.

“No, you look like you’re practically melting.” Jayce gives a small laugh. Perhaps he was melting. If that was how he was going out, might as well melt over the most beautiful man he knew.

“Okay,” Jayce pushed himself upright, “time to get serious.” Viktor threw him a comically scared face, making him laugh. “I NEED you to try your drink. I seriously have to have your thoughts on it.” This seemed ridiculously major for Jayce, so Viktor just rolled his eyes and picked up the cup. He held it up to his face and swirled the straw, inspecting it. The little black balls at the bottom got picked up and started swirling in the riptide he was creating in his drink. Eventually he brought the straw to his lips as Jayce waited, a little too eager.

“Hm, bizarre.” Was the only thing Viktor said as he chewed on the little tapioca in between words. 

“Good though, right?” Jayce’s talking very animatedly with lots of hand motions. Viktor snorts. No way this is a grown man, getting so hyped up over a beverage. He liked him like this. The boyish grin on his face made Viktor never want to see him sad, only because happiness seemed to come so naturally to him.

“I must say, it’s very sugary, very good.” Viktor definitely liked these new little bubbles.

“What’s up with that? You’re all mean and bitter except for when it comes to your coffee, then you’re all sweetmilk and tapioca.”

“You got jokes, Pretty Boy?” Viktor meant it as an insult, but the way Jayce immediately choked on his latte told him it was more of a pet name. “Nevermind that, let's talk science. You dragged me all the way out here because apparently you made some big scientific breakthroughs with our project, correct? So lay it all out for me right now and we can go through it together. Did you bring your notes?” 

“Well… about that…” Jayce hadn’t done shit. If he was being honest, not having Viktor in the lab with him made him totally unmotivated. But that’s why he had dragged them here. Maybe they would be able to come up with something better with a change of scenery. 

“Jayce? Please tell me you have something.” Viktor somewhat expected this. He had purposely stopped going to labs and not talking to Jayce during class to put space in between them. He couldn’t have Jayce thinking they were friends, but buying him a coffee was surely just something partners did?

“I’m sorry, Viktor. Without you the lab just feels… eerily empty. I think feeding off each other's ideas was a good thing and I haven’t been able to find the motivation to come up with anything since you’ve been gone.” Viktor feels ashamed for letting his own personal feelings affect the project. This assignment was crucial for a good mark and it was somewhat Viktors fault for it not being underway. “I don’t mean to pry, but where were you anyway?”

“I was busy.” This was a half truth. “ I understand my absence was… unprofessional, considering we are partners in this and therefore are expected to do it together. It’s fine that you didn’t get any work done, we can begin here.” 

Viktor pulls his phone out of his pocket and places it on the table. He begins a voice recording then opens the notes app, intending to begin a new separate page specifically for their invention. Instead he misclicks. There, displayed on the screen, are all his nuclear fusion notes. Right where Jayce can see from where he’s hunched over the table.

“Oh shit…” Viktor mumbled, fumbling over his fingers to redirect to where he wanted to go. “There,” he said, finally on the right page, “if you think of something good, jot it down.” Jayce was still staring awestruck at the phone. After a few moments, he slowly looked up. Viktors arms had recrossed and he was once again staring out the window. He was trying so desperately to act collected, but the rose on his cheeks said otherwise. Viktor was not embarrassed of his invention, per say, but more about the fact that he gave it away so easily, like the naive boy that he was. The creation wasn’t even listed under his name. He felt like a fraud having the calculations that made it on his phone, like they weren’t even his.

Jayce knew he shouldn’t prod. He should be minding his own business. He should forget about it. Asking Viktor questions would just further upset him. He clearly didn’t want to talk about it.

“Was it actually you?” Overstepping in conversation was a bad habit he needed to break. Viktor doesn’t look at him, but he presses his lips together ever so slightly and swallows. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked that you don’t need to answer. I don’t want to intrude. Nevermind me.” Jayce looks back down at the phone. Instead of thinking of any good ideas, he can’t help but reflect on his own stupidity for asking such delicate questions. 

People have always tiptoed around the subject with Viktor. He was a household name, but when you become famous for a rumor, people don’t stop you in the street for a photo. He often gets weird sideways glances wherever he goes, but aside from Heimerdinger a few weeks ago and Mrs.Talis, no one dares bring it up. Viktor remembers that one phone call. He hadn’t expected to admit his past, but it felt very refreshing to get it off his chest. It was freeing to have people knowing something he normally ignored, hid deep within himself. Digging it up left him reminiscing on the past, but he was never depressed about it, more like… mournful. Never extremely upset at the invention or the man who stole it, however extremely disappointed with his younger self for letting it slide.

“It’s not a stupid question. When I’m working with someone I’d want to know their past in the field, to make sure they’re a good fit.” Jayce just stared at him, urging him on silently. Viktor didn’t normally admit this part because he always felt like he was stealing someone else’s work, even though he had all the proof that it was his right there on his phone. “Yes, it was me. Yes, I did consent to have it published under someone else’s name. Yes, I do regret it.” He squirms slightly in his seat. As uneasy the topic made Viktor, looking into the other man's eyes made the situation somehow more bearable, like he was comforting him. Jayce’s forearms were resting on the table, his whole body leaning slightly into Viktor who, in contrast, had his back against the chair, leaning slightly away from Jayce.

“Have you…” Jayce swallows, putting words together in his head, “do you mind me asking why?” Viktor toyed with the question in his head. When most people query people in this fashion, they are more or less demanding why and adding the ‘do you mind?’ part as a courtesy. The way Jayce says it sounds as though he is actually letting Viktor decide if he wants to answer. Do I want to answer? All his instincts are screaming no, but the way Jayce is looking at him, full of solace and understanding, is saying yes. More often than not these days, he finds Jayce winning these wars he has with himself.

“Well Jayce, it isn’t necessarily a fun story.”

“You don’t have to tell it, but I’d really like to hear it.”  For a split second, Viktor wondered what he did to deserve this. This man with sweet eyes and huge muscles asking him about a part of himself he’d always considered so ugly. 

“I was just a kid when I was brought, no, sent from my country to Zaun. The second I stepped off that boat, I was thrown into the foster system.” This part was not relevant to the story of his innovation, but if he was going to tell the tale, might as well say the whole thing. “It was as shitty as you could imagine. Abusive homes with already not enough food to go around. I had to remain in Zaun though, no perfect Piltie family would take a kid from the scummy streets of the Undercity. When I was in my eighth year of whatever middle school I attended, I had a teacher that actually gave a fuck. She pushed hard to demonstrate to the board of schooling directives that I had more to offer this world, more than most.” He remembers Mrs.Sky with fondness. Every opportunity he had now was thanks to her. “After passing enough of their stupid tests, they let me attend the most basic of Piltovian highschools. After my first year it was clear that I was what they called ‘a natural genius’. I was subsequently placed into a high achieving private school for the richest, snobbiest and nerdiest of topside toffs. There I became extremely familiar with a teacher. His name was Mr.Singed. Familiar? Well, he became vastly interested in my ideas. He would stay in the lab with me during late nights and weekends, acting more as an assistant than anything, just standing there, seeing if I needed him to grab something or hold something for me.” Viktor was somewhat perplexed that Jayce seemed to still be engrossed in his story, eyes unwavering from his. “One night I was on the verge of something magical. I had stayed in the lab well into the early hours of the morning, trying to get it done. Waiting for my final computer render, I fell asleep in the school. Nobody really bothered me because who cares about some kid from Zaun. Anyways, that morning, when I had woken up, the computer had completed its rendering and… it worked.” Viktor remembers the feeling of creating something new, something useful. He had been so excited, he wanted to go and scream from the rooftops: I’m not worthless, I am an inventor! “The second the school actually opened and my science teacher entered the building, I ran up to him. I told him all about what I had been working on and how it actually worked. How I had created something that could help the masses and-”

“Viktor,” Jayce cut in. Somewhere his story Viktor had turned heated using his hands and exaggerating his movements, “you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want. I just… I can tell you’re getting more angry.”

“Jayce, If I stopped now the last few minutes would have been a waste of my voice.” 

“Okay, continue.”

“As I was saying, I told Singed everything. I thought I could… trust him. He then proceeded to tell me how shitty Piltovians were. He said that if I came out with this invention, I would be forced to continue to create inventions for the rich and give everything I made to them. Since a young age I’ve always had spite for Topsiders. I hated the way they thought they were better than everyone and the way they treated the undercity. I hated the way they let me go into one of their schools but no one else. I hated the way they could pay to send me to a prestigious high school but couldn’t pay for my medical bills. The thought of them owning me infuriated me, so when Singed suggested my name not be related to the invention at all, it seemed like a good idea. I was okay with not being known as a developer, as long as my idea reached those who needed it. But it didn’t, he sold it too…”

“My dad.” Jayce whispers this, as if he’s almost afraid to admit it. “Who then sold it for thousands of dollars to whatever company was willing to pay.” 

Viktor wasn’t looking at him anymore. His hands were in his lap and his eyes were downcast, picking at the skiing around his nails. “I just wish… sometimes I wish…” He wasn’t sure if he wanted to tell Jayce this next part. “I wish I wasn’t so angry. Sometimes I wish I wasn’t so full of spite. If I didn’t hate a certain group of people, maybe I wouldn’t have given my invention away to protect myself, maybe it would’ve gone into the hands of someone who needed it.” Viktor is so quiet when admitting this, it’s almost like he never said it at all.

“Can I be honest with you?” Jayce asks.

“Ha, considering that's what I’ve done for the past 10 minutes, I’d like some reciprocation.” Being honest was what this conversation was about, was it not?

“Well, as long as you don’t think it’s weird, I think your anger is warranted. You’ve been kinda fucked over time and time again, I think I’d be angry too. But you? Angry by nature? No way. I don’t believe it.” Viktor looked up, interest piqued. Jayce says all of this so casually, like it's the truth. Viktor had never seen himself in that light, he had never seen himself as something other than mean, no one else had ever described him as anything else, either. “You once said that I care too much. I think you also care too much about others, which is why you can’t be that awful. Someone who actively seeks ways to make others happy is not an evil person.” Jayce needs Viktor to believe this. “And for what it’s worth, I’m so sorry my dad did that, he is really a foul man.”

“Thank you, I suppose.” Viktor grumbles. He has never been good at this whole communication thing. He’s genuinely surprised he had spoken about himself for so long, he has never done that, possibly because no one had ever bothered to listen. 

“I don’t like him either. My only memories are him yelling at me or arguing with my mom. I don’t know how they ever got married. My mom is such a sweet, kind soul and my dad’s… well… you know my dad.” Jayce always felt like his dad was a ghost. Everyone talked about him and told stories about me and he was in the news all the time, but he hadn’t actually seen him in years. People will still come up to Jayce and begin rambling about his dad as if the two still talked. The media never just said his mom and dad split, no one ever knew how messy the break was. Nobody knew about all the yelling and arguments that happened before and during the divorce, nobody knew how a kid could get lost in the mix of it all. “I don’t talk to him. I don’t think I would, even if he asked. He was such a dictator in my house, bossing my mom around and forcing me to grow up and be a ‘proper man’, whatever the hell that means.” Viktor could tell this must’ve been a touchy subject with the way Jayce’s face became more animated.

“That’s enough sad talk for one day.” Viktor tuts, changing the subject. “We came here for a reason, and that was not a therapy session. Let's get to work.”

And they did. They sat in that little cafe for hours talking mainly about the subject at hand, but occasionally veering off track and learning little new tidbits of information about one another. Jayce played football in highschool. Viktor owned an alley cat as a child. Jayce lives with his friend. Viktors lack of last name. A few times Jayce caught Vitkor laughing, the sound just as candied as he imagined. The light shone in lazily from the window giving the whole scene a soft glow. If you were a pedestrian walking past, you might’ve imagined they were two friends, smiling and catching up over a cup of coffee. When the barista finally started passing them looks, emphasising they were staying long past their welcome, Viktor exited the cafe with a very different view on Jayce Talis.