Chapter Text
This hallway, with its cheerful blue interior, feels nostalgic to you. As a teenager, you remember first coming here on a tour of the academy with your parents. Whilst your father hadn’t given the classrooms, laboratories or workshops much of a glance, your mother shared your passion, peeking with glee through each open door. Then the pair of you had gazed adoringly at the simple, small laboratory. Undoubtedly, it was one of many. Still, each room of the academy had filled you with joy, hope and ambition.
As you head there, to this laboratory you’ve seen once before, you vaguely recall the interior. With each step, your head continues to throb, as if your skull was too tight. Wincing, you recall Heimerdinger’s instructions. Once you had entered the lab, you were to explain to one of the men working there about your ailment. Although everyone knew about the achievements of Jayce Talis and his associate, you couldn’t help but feel honoured to be one of the first people to hear about Hextech’s medicinal prototypes.
Being a psychology student yourself, the idea of advanced medicines created using the fusion of magic and science greatly interests you. For one, the possibilities created by exploring this avenue are countless, and you’ve always been interested in exploration for the sake of progress. Furthermore, there might be something available right now that would fix your aching head.
Tapping gently on the laboratory’s ornate door, you take a moment to smooth your skirt. When the door swings open, it's the man of the future. He greets you softly, listening with kind eyes as you explain what troubles you. With a thoughtful nod, he leans backwards, calling out to his lab partner. Gesturing for you to follow him, he marches back into the lab, alerting his colleague of your ailment. As the pair confer, your right hand clutches your forehead. Though it is surely your imagination, you feel burning hot.
“Hey.” Although your voice is weak, both men seem to hear you. When you’ve gained their attention, you continue, “I think I have a fever.”
Jayce nods, moving towards a cabinet at the back of the room. “Alright, i’ll grab you a prototype sample that might help with that, along with your headache. Viktor, could you please check her temperature?”
“Right.” The pale man coughs lightly, swivelling his chair to face you. “Pull up a seat, please.”
You oblige, rolling what must be Jayce’s desk chair towards him. When you’re sitting before him, ‘Viktor’ leans forwards, pressing the back of his hand against your head. Humming to himself thoughtfully, he stares quizzically at you. Before long, you feel a hand running along your neck, until it’s putting pressure on the back of your neck. To your surprise, the unexpected touch sends a shiver through you. Only then do you realise how long you’ve been staring at his face. Viktor’s features are sharp, incredibly so, and yet something about him is so soft; so gentle. As his hand retreats from your neck, two of his fingers drag along it, pressing down on the skin just below your ear. Turning to Jayce, he remarks, “Perhaps you should get her HexMed prototype 3B. Both her temperature and pulse are irregularly high.”
Regretfully, his touch is gone as quickly as it came to be. Sure, you’ve heard students talking about him - the man who was once the assistant to the dean of the academy and, now, is the assistant to the man of the future - but you’d never seen him in the flesh before. Something about him felt so safe.
Once Jayce has placed the pill bottles in Viktor’s hand, he turns back to you with a light smile. “Here you are.” Before he hands them over to you, he pauses, as if he’s just thought of something. Behind you, you can hear the door close softly. “Oh yes. You cannot crush these pills. They must be ingested whole. Is that alright?”
You curse your luck, blushing slightly as you think about how to answer. With a smirk, Viktor cocks his head slightly. “I hope you don’t mind me asking, are you unable to swallow pills?”
With a sigh, you decide to own up. “No, I can’t.” Grimacing as you lower your head slightly, you add, “Do you think that worsens my chances?”
Viktor’s eyebrows furrow. “Your chances?” He repeats.
“With Jayce.”
He scoffs playfully, tipping one of each pill into his hand. “I think Jayce is already spoken for.”
“Aw, that’s a shame.” You toy, nearly freezing as his eyes meet yours. “Handsome inventors are just my type.”
Another amused scoff. “What a shame for you, that those are hard to come by.” Straightening up, Viktor reaches to his right, grabbing the glass of water that had been sitting on his desk beside him. As it transfers into your hand, your fingertips graze his knuckles. In that moment, you swear that you can see him shudder slightly.
“Now, if you would please attempt to take these.” He hands the two pills over to you. “I will supervise, to make sure that you do not put yourself at risk.”
Truly, you know that swallowing these may not be a likely scenario. Still, you knew that when you came here. From the beginning, you had been committed to attempting this. Popping each pill into your mouth, you glance up at him. He must be a handful of inches taller than you. Taking a sip of water, you allow the pills to rest in your mouth. Though you try, the idea of swallowing them seems just out of reach. Wordlessly, you continue to glance up at Viktor.
“Try to swallow.” He prompts, seeming a bit out of his depth. “One big gulp.” Finally, it takes Viktor, looking down into your eyes, uttering the phrase, “Swallow, for me please.” It perhaps surprises the both of you equally when you’re suddenly able to oblige, eyes enthralled with his as you obey his command.
Without thinking, you do what you would when you were younger to show your mother you had done the same: stick your tongue out. The sight causes Viktor’s face to flush nearly immediately. He turns away, eyebrows knotting upwards and eyes glued to the floor. Perhaps in an attempt to appear nonchalant, Viktor runs a finger across his lower lip.
Once you realise what you’ve done, you can feel your own face begin to turn red. In an attempt to escape the embarrassment, you stand, quickly murmuring, “Thank you, Viktor.”
As you close the door behind you, a soft “You’re welcome.” reaches your ears.
Within the next few days, you feel the symptoms of your head cold leave you. After a long day marvelling at the wonders of HexMed in-between (and even during) each of your classes, you decide that you really should stop by the lab on the way back from your final class. On the way there, you think about what you’re going to say to them. Maybe it would be of use to them to volunteer yourself as a test subject…
Before you can fully approach the lab, it’s door swings open, revealing the man of tomorrow. Jayce smiles warmly at you. “I hope you’ve been feeling better.” His statement seems genuine.
You nod, smiling back at him. “Your medicine really helped. I came to thank you, actually.”
“Well, consider me thanked.” Still appearing cheerful, Jayce began to move past you, towards the cafeteria. “If you want to show your appreciation to Viktor, he’s still working now.”
With another affirming nod and a final ‘thank you’, you slip through the open door into the dark lab.
Before he’s noticed your arrival, you take the rare opportunity to observe Viktor in a moment where he feels the least like he’s being seen. Hunched over his desk, goggles fixed in place, he engraves runes onto some angular hunk of metal with a miniature blowtorch.
From this angle, his slender frame seems so gently caressed by his button-up shirt, as it’s soft yet chrisp fabric hangs over his shoulders, running down the lengths of his arms. His hair springs out in every direction. It’s hard to discern whether his hair is unkempt through days of hard work, or intentionally this way.
Clearing your throat, you make a step towards him. “Hey.” You begin, flashing him a grin when turns around. Immediately, he pulls his goggles off, resting them atop his head before smirking back at you.
“Hello.” He responds, placing his work-in-progress onto his desk before swivelling to fully face you. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
Pulling up Jayce’s seat yet again, you sit yourself beside him. “I just came to thank you.”
At this, Viktor’s gaze rests on his desk. “It was nothing. Thank you for aiding us in our scientific endeavours.”
Suddenly, you remember something you wanted to do. Exclaiming, “Oh!” you pull a chocolate and caramel bar from your coat pocket. “This is for you.”
Although he may not look particularly overjoyed, the corners of his lips twitch ever so slightly at the news. Holding a hand out before you, he coughs into the other. “Thank you; I accept.” It takes a moment after the chocolate bar has left your hand for Viktor to peel it open, taking an apprehensive bite. Once he has, he chews slowly; carefully.
“What’s wrong?” You can’t help but ask.
After a laborious swallow, he turns his attention to you. “Forgive me, but I haven’t been eating much recently. I’m being careful as to not upset my stomach.”
Given the physique Viktor possessed, his lack of nourishment doesn’t surprise you. Still, it is a saddening revelation.
“I guess you don’t have the time to prepare yourself anything to eat.” The sentence comes out in a contemplative whisper.
Taking another bite, he nods. For a few seconds, the two of you sit in a surprisingly comfortable silence whilst he chews and you think. Eventually, you break it.
“I cook dinner for myself every night. It’s difficult to portion when cooking for one,” You’re carefully considering how to word this. “Would you like me to bring my leftovers for lunch?”
It’s then that Viktor swallows very quickly. His immediate response, “I don't think-” is abruptly followed by a moment of re-considering. At last, he sighs. “I’m unsure if that would be a good use of your time.”
“Aw, c’mon, I’m always walking past here.” It may not be the truth, but you feel it is a necessary lie; for the sake of a kindness. “I’d be around here during lunch anyways. I would barely even notice.”
The inventor raises an eyebrow at this, perhaps seeing through your ruse. Still, he folds, casting his gaze downwards with a simper. “If it is really no trouble to you, then fine. I’d be happy to have a little help with time management.”
Pleased with yourself, you can’t help but grin. “Great, great. I’d be really glad to help.” With that, you stand, muttering a quick, “See you tomorrow!” before exiting the lab.
At first, your daily visits to the lab are quite anticlimactic. Viktor is usually deeply immersed in some experiment or study, Jayce across the room doing the same. Whilst you’re usually awarded a brief, “Thank you, Y/N.” when you place the box beside him, the retrieval of the box is much more exciting. When all your classes are finished for the day, you mosey past the lap, peering inside before fully entering. At this point, Viktor is usually the only one left. Unlike Jayce, Viktor seems to find it crucial to work around the clock.
On your fifth day of delivering lunches, you step inside the dark room. Within it, Viktor can be seen, slumped against his desk. With quiet footsteps, you move towards him. Upon closer inspection, it would appear he has, in fact, fallen asleep. Although you know you should just collect your box and leave, you crouch down for a moment, taking in his sleeping expression. You can’t help but think how uncomfortable it looks to be asleep like this. He’ll certainly be sore in the morning. With that thought, you inch closer to him, until his hair brushes against your nose.
“Viktor.” You whisper. In a selfish way, you can’t help but enjoy being so close to him. “I think you should lie down.”
To your surprise, Viktor smiles in his sleep, sighing contentedly.
“Viktor” you try again. “Come lie down.” The navy sofa that the two of them had purchased for late nights like these was just at the foot of the room, on the left side of the extensive cabinets.
Just then, you hear him whisper your name. You freeze. “Soon.” He murmurs, repeating your name. “One moment.”
Such a scene nearly makes you laugh. You’re certain that he would never believe it, but he can be really cute sometimes. Yet, whilst you may not have much to do when you get home, you feel as though you’ve spent enough time trying to wake him gently. Cupping his head in your right hand, you raise it slowly, until his weight rests on your hand. As you turn his chair to face you, you rest his head on your shoulder. Carefully, you move backwards, wheeling his chair towards the sofa. Each step takes a little while, as there are quite a few precarious elements to this arrangement. Even still, whilst your mind is filled with a million different things to consider, you can feel his gentle breathing on your neck. Usually, the thought would affect you greatly, but now, you don’t have the ability to think about it for too long. Instead, you pause, realising that you hadn’t thought about how exactly you were going to transfer him from the chair to the sofa. After a few moments of brainstorming that led nowhere, you snake your arms around his torso. As you do, you swear that you can hear him hum happily to himself. When you’re certain that your grip is solid enough, you gingerly begin to lift him. Once his torso has been laid atop the soft cushions, you do the same to his legs. A soft grey blanket sits folded on the sofa’s left armrest. Unfolding it, you drape it across him, taking a step back to admire your handiwork.
Although his breathing is nearly silent, you can see his chest rise and fall beneath the cloth. Usually, Viktor looks stressed, busy, sometimes even overwhelmed. Now, you relish the sight of him; so peacefully resting.
All at once, your senses come back to you, and you start to exit before anyone can catch you in here, looming over Viktor like this. Behind you, the laboratory fades away as the door clicks shut.
In your bedroom, you toss and turn. It’s too difficult to sleep, to turn off all the thoughts of him. There seems to be an ever-present ache in your chest, one that begs you to wrap your arms around him once more.