Oh, Golden Boy

Viktor ignored the question, his cheeks warming as he looked back down at his book.

“I don’t know what you mean.” He said simply, watching Jayce place his feet into them from the corner of his eye. Viktor could appreciate this new look. The man before him was hairy. Longer hair, facial hair, chest hair leading down his torso, hairy arms and legs from what Viktor could see, and to wrap it all up in a pretty little bow, a happy trail disappearing under the towel.

“Yes you do- I was talking about how I thought I lost them the day we were supposed to leave and you said that room service probably took them!” Jayce huffed, though there wasn’t any annoyance or irritation in his voice, but rather amusement.

“They may or may not have found their way into my luggage..” Viktor muttered, hearing Jayce’s tired voice chuckle as he pulled the pajama pants under the towel and then removed it, slowly sitting down on Viktor’s bed and groaning as pressure was removed from his leg.

“So you stole them is what I’m hearing.. Never took you as a thief.” Jayce snickered, leaning forward and carefully rubbing his right leg.

“Then I suppose you don’t know the fullest extent of my past..” Viktor huffed, looking at Jayce’s leg and frowning. “So then.. Now that you are clean, and more relaxed, do you care to explain who you are exactly? You are Jayce, obviously, but you are much older than the one I saw this morning.”

Jayce stiffened, his hands clutching the fabric of his pajama pants and looking at Viktor who was giving him his full attention, amber eyes staring holes into Jayce’s soul.

Jayce wasn’t sure how to start. Did he speak about the future? Speak about what he went through in the other reality that showed what would happen if the work for Hextech continues? What about the runes and what happened with the Hexcore and Heimerdinger and Ekko-

Jayce’s stomach lurched at the thought of the other two that were with him the day he arrived in the other reality. He hadn’t thought about them in so long because he was just trying to survive, but where did they end up? Were they alright? Jayce hoped that they didn’t end up somewhere like where he did. He hoped that they were able to get out and that above all else, that they were alive and home safe. Then again, could here be considered home? Was this universe’s Jayce still here? Or did Jayce take over his body?

This could be some kind of time travel situation too, but that seemed less likely in Jayce’s mind. Looking around Viktor’s bedroom, he spotted a rolling chalk board in the corner and slowly pushed himself up off of the bed, hobbling to the bathroom to put his brace back on over his pajama pants and then grab the board, pulling it in front of Viktor’s bed.

“My name is Jayce Talis, I’m thirty-two, and I’m assuming I’m from a different reality.”

“Evidently.. But how?”

Jayce looked around, opening his mouth again.

“Do you have any-”

“In the desk, top drawer to the left.”

“Thank you.” Jayce grunted, getting the chalk he needed and then beginning to draw and write on the board, the sound of the chalk dragging over the surface filling the room alongside Jayce’s breathing.

Viktor was watching intently as Jayce frantically wrote, complicated equations and runes being written and smudged in chalk and Jayce shifting his weight to his non injured leg despite the support of his brace. Viktor recognized some of the equations, they were the ones that they used for hextech, but some of them were more advanced, ones he hadn’t even thought were possible just yet.

As Jayce wrote his breathing was picking up, imagining himself in that cave again where he was carving the equations on the stone wall, hearing buzzing in his ears and tingling in his fingers. The only thing that snapped him out of it was the chalk snapping in half when he pressed down too hard, staring at everything he had written and taking a small step back.

“This is just.. A small part of it..” He spoke, voice coming out strained. “There are five key runes, and then there's the wild rune. All of them are under the arcane, or as we call it magic. The wild rune is what brought me to the separate reality where I saw the outcome of everything I’ve done.” Jayce spoke, Viktor standing and holding onto Jayce’s shoulder for support.

“I went down to the underground base of the Hexgates- Ah which doesn't exist here yet- With Heimerdinger and Ekko, you don’t know him but he's a smart kid,”

Viktor did know Ekko, or at least knew of him. The wild kid down the street who was friends with the problem children of the lanes.

“But I’m getting off track.” Jayce huffed, shaking his head quickly and clearing his throat. “When we arrived the Wild Rune began reacting, and then it took us, or took me at least, to a different uh..” Jayce was quiet for a moment, racking his brain for the right word. “Timeline, I suppose? Universe or reality could work too- But anyways; it took me somewhere else where I saw the results of our dream- Of my dream.”

Viktor looked at Jayce and then at the chalkboard again, his mouth settling into a firm line. Maybe he didn’t believe anything was possible, this sounded a bit outlandish, even for Jayce.

“The rune I wear embedded itself into my wrist, and in a way I became part of the arcane because of it.”

The room was silent for a while, Viktor chewing on the words that Jayce had spoken and mulling over it, tilting his head from side to side and letting out a long sigh.

“I find this rather hard to believe.. You are claiming that all of this is possible in just what- Seven, maybe eight years? We hardly have the funding to afford good coffee, it is eh- How do you say..” Viktor thought for a moment, searching his vocabulary inside his head. “Kecáš.”

Jayce didn’t know what that meant, but it didn’t sound good. Viktor had taught him a few words in Slovak, though he was never told what they meant. Thinking back, with the way Viktor would react, they were likely insults or dirty words.

That might be the case now.

“I swear to you, I know it sounds far-fetched and crazy but I swear to you it happened!” Jayce exclaimed, the look on Viktor’s face, one that was being misinterpreted as judgmental and doubtful, made Jayce’s chest feel tight. He could feel his throat closing and his stomach churning, ears buzzing and a sting inside of his head.

The rune embedded in Jayce’s wrist felt like it was throbbing, the man taking a step back from Viktor and causing him to stumble before he caught himself. Viktor called out Jayce’s name but he didn’t hear it, his chest rising and falling as he was having an attack of some sort.

Jayce didn’t realize just how much Viktor’s opinion meant. He had never reacted like this in the past, so what was so different now? This was Viktor, he knew Viktor like he knew the back of his hand. But he couldn’t bear the way that Viktor was looking at him.

Jayce never did great with judgment, it’s why he tried so hard to fit the role when he was made a member of the council. He kept himself well groomed, always smiled, his clothes were always pristine and bright just like the other councilors. He tried his best to fit in, and when something about his appearance or the way he presented himself was critiqued by the council or the public, Jayce would fix it accordingly.

He didn’t like it, it always felt like he was hiding more and more of himself, but at the time he was able to handle it. All that really mattered were a few opinions anyways; His mother’s, the Kirramen’s, Viktor’s, Mel’s, and his own. But then he got into politics, and suddenly everyone's opinions mattered. Jayce wanted to do good, wanted to do right by Piltover and above all else, wanted to do right by Zaun, the place that needed help the most.

They were just about to agree on a peace treaty with Zaun before the Council was bombed and Viktor-

Jayce shook his head, bringing his hands up and covering his ears. They were ringing now, loud and painful just like when he was recollecting himself after the attack. He felt like he was there all over again, staring down at the ground which no longer looked like Viktor’s floor but instead the floor of the council room that was cracked and covered in dust and rubble, the smell of ash and blood filling Jayce’s senses despite neither of those things being present in the room.

Viktor wasn’t sure how to react. He had never seen Jayce in such a state, stepping forward and placing his hand on his shoulder, squeezing the muscle and shaking it until Jayce’s head snapped up, his eyes wide and face pale.

“Breathe.” Viktor commanded, Jayce’s head nodding as he took deep and labored breaths, getting a look in his eyes that Viktor was associating with a very specific feeling. Moving out of the way, Viktor allowed Jayce to move past him to the bathroom, cringing at the sound of Jayce puking and walking to the kitchenette.

He grabbed a cup from one of the cabinets, running the sink faucet and filling the sink with water, setting it down on the counter and then rummaging around in the small pantry before he pulled out a box of some pale square crackers, shaking some onto a plate and gesturing to them when Jayce come out of the bathroom while wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

“I’m sorry..” Jayce wheezed, his hand picking up one of the crackers and bringing it to his mouth, making a face when it dried out his mouth, swallowing it down before picking up the glass over water to wash the cracker down.

The crackers were stale, but it was better than the lizards.

Anything would be better than the lizards.

The two men stood there in silence for a few minutes, Jayce eating the crackers and Viktor watching him with the same look he had when Jayce was facing his trial with the council. Jayce squirmed under Viktor’s eyes, finding them more intense and flustering than he used to. But he really didn’t want to think about the implications of that. His feelings towards Viktor were already complicated and confusing as it was.

“Stop..” Viktor sighed, pulling a stool away from the counter and sitting down, watching as Jayce shifted on his feet. “You were going through something.. Do not apologize for that.”

“I don’t even know what triggered it.. I feel like I was being dramatic..” Jayce whispered, and Viktor thought that he was being ridiculous.

“You can be dramatic, yes, but something like that.. That is not dramatic. That is concerning.”

The air was quiet and Jayce finished his water, his index finger tapping against the glass and closing his eyes, shifting his weight on his legs and squeezing his free hand shut.

“Let it be clear, I do believe there is some merit behind the words that you say, but please forgive me if I am skeptical. Up until last year I did not even think that anything with Hextech or our projects was possible..” Viktor sighed, shaking his head.

“If I had anything to do with you break down then-”

“No- No Viktor you didn’t have anything to do with it..” Jayce croaked, his hand reaching out towards Viktor before pulling back. What was he doing? He was never afraid to be touchy with people before, but it had been so long since he had last touched someone besides from the hour where he held Viktor earlier.

Just the idea of reaching out and touching Viktor was making him unreasonably nervous now that adrenaline had worn off, and he was in a clearer state of mind.

“I.. Uhm..” Jayce started, not sure where he was going with this as he adverted his gaze.

Viktor sighed, pushing away from the counter and faintly smiling. “Come Jayce, it’s time for sleep..”