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There are many things about Piltover that Viktor loves; the dizzying array of sweet treats available, the glorious sunsets that radiate over the sprawling streets of the city, the Academy and everything he’s learned there--but there is one thing that overshadows all these wonderful, positive things.
Winter
Viktor grumbles and continues his slog through the icy, snowy streets between his small Academy quarters and the lab where he and Jayce continue to work on their glorious Hextech dream. It is painfully slow going with his cane and the need to scan the ground ahead of him to ensure he doesn’t slip and fall, and it’s just plain painful; his knee, hip and back all ache in the biting cold and no matter how many layers he puts on he feels chilled down to the bone.
His brace creaks in the bitterly cold air and he prays that it won’t give out like the last one had two years ago. He’d tinkered with the design and tried a new alloy this time around, but he’s starting to question if it’s going to last as long as he’d hoped.
He pauses at the steps to the building where the lab is, breathing heavily into the scarf wrapped around his face like a mask, body aching and throbbing already and he curses softly in his mother tongue before he starts his slow, careful ascent. By the time he reaches the enormous doors, sweat is beading on his back and his lungs ache from the exertion and cold, but he forces himself to keep moving, ignoring his body’s protests.
His fingers are still numb when he gets to the door of the lab, fumbling the keys for a moment before he’s able to unlock it and push his way inside, gaze flickering around in search of Jayce, disappointment filling him when he steps further into the room and sees that it’s dark and quiet.
He goes about divesting himself of his first layer—his well worn coat that’s far too thin for the season but the best he could afford at the time. His scarf is next and he flicks on the lights, his movements jerky and spastic with how tense his cold limbs are and he huffs in frustration, already knowing that his day will be a distraction of pain and discomfort.
Not for the first time he feels a pang of sickening anger at his body’s weakness and he has to force himself to breathe steadily for a few moments before he can move past it and focus instead on making himself a mug of sweetmilk at the small kitchenette in the corner. It’s not much, but it will help thaw his hands and make his work marginally easier--no small thing given how stiff and white they are, bloodless from the cold.
He putters around, looking over their notes from yesterday while the sweetmilk heats, humming softly when he sees where he and Jayce had miscalculated part of an equation. He fills his mug and holds it between his hands as he studies their other chalkboards, leaning back against the edge of his workstation thoughtfully.
He sips the scalding drink sparingly, letting it sink into him slowly, heating him from the inside out while he studies their work and spots two other errors that, once corrected, should allow them to make progress on their work.
By the time he’s finished his mug of sweetmilk he’s somewhat thawed and able to move more freely; his knee, hip and back all still pain him, but it’s easily pushed aside in favor of focusing his attention on their work. He corrects the errors of yesterday and keeps going, the world around him fading away to white noise as he writes, pausing occasionally to ponder an idea before he continues.
When he finally turns back to his desk his heart jolts and he sways in surprise to find Jayce there, watching him with a fond little smile that makes his heart jolt for an entirely different reason. “Good morning Jayce,” he murmurs politely, “I have corrected our mistakes--with the new results we should be able to test out this new resonance machine.”
Jayce nods and grins at him, “You’re amazing Vik! Let me copy down the designs and I’ll head to the forge to get started.”
“Very well, thank you Jayce,” Viktor replies, cheeks warm from the praise and he ducks his head to avoid the warmth in Jayce’s eyes, stomach fluttering as he once again wonders if the feelings he’s grown to harbor for his partner might well be reciprocated. It’s foolish to hope, he knows that, Jayce is well on his way to being a household name and he’s seen the way Councilor Medarda eyes him when they provide their bi-weekly updates--there’s no way that someone as golden and beloved as Jayce could want him.
He makes his way to his workstation and grimaces as he takes his seat, his body protesting and his brace squealing loudly.
“You okay Vik?”
He can hear the concern in Jayce’s voice, so warm and kind and he closes his eyes for a moment and revels in it before opening them and using his foot to set the chair spinning around to face his friend. “Of course; the metal is perhaps not the right alloy for this cold,” he admits, “I will be fine, it simply needs time to warm up.”
Jayce scoffs and shakes his head, “Hard to do in here,” he says bitterly, “this lab they gave us has two exterior facing walls so it’s never going to get warm in here. Not to mention the budget they gave us is even more miserly.” He frowns and looks Viktor over more intently, “Are you warm enough?” he asks, “your leg must hurt in his cold. I broke my wrist as a kid and it hurts every winter,” he says with a shake of his head.
Viktor allows himself a soft smile at Jayce’s concern; “It is no more painful than usual,” he lies, “I am adequately warm,” he assures Jayce, widening his smile when Jayce’s eyes narrow in suspicion, like he knows Viktor is lying.
Jayce lets out a disgruntled sound but nods and smiles at him, “If you say so,” he says, his disbelief still obvious as he turns away and settles in at his workstation to copy down the new equations and the drawings of the machine they had designed, his head bent low over the paper and Viktor allows himself to look now that Jayce isn’t paying attention. He admires the square jaw and the coppery glow of his skin, the breadth of his shoulders and the square tipped nails on his large hands and shivers, suddenly too warm in all his layers.
Viktor turns away and tries to focus his attention on his work and not on the yearning feeling in his chest that’s been plaguing him for almost six months now. He’d admired Jayce’s ambition and drive before he really knew him, and once they had begun working together he’d grown to respect his passion for the work, his eagerness to learn, his openness to new ideas and concepts.
As the weeks had turned to months he’d found out other things about Jayce that had deepened his admiration into affection and affection into painful longing. He’d found out that Jayce had a deep and loving relationship with his mother after he’d been invited over for a Sunday dinner that had quickly turned into a standing invitation and an unexpected feeling of family that had been so long missing from his life that it had nearly brought him to tears when he had first realized what it was that hurt so sweetly in his chest.
He’d discovered that Jayce preferred tools that he himself had cast and forged; only then could he be assured of their reliability, but when they were found to be flawed he found that Jayce was nearly as hard on himself as Viktor was to himself. He found that Jayce liked a creamy mango drink on hot days and milky hot chocolate in the winter, his excitement for both childlike and he daresay, adorable.
Perhaps the first discovery he’d made had been the most important one of all; Jayce was kind, unfailingly so. When Viktor’s cane had been snapped during their foray in Heimerdinger’s office, Jayce had forged him a new one that was elegant and strong, and it didn’t pass his notice that it was also in House Talis colors.
When Viktor made mention of his love for a candy from the Undercity, he’d come into the lab the next day and found a tin of it at his workspace and Jayce with a blush on his face, smile shy as he watched Viktor eat one of the delicious pillowy treats.
Running a hand over his jaw, Viktor sighs softly and shakes his head at his own lovesick folly and forces the thoughts aside in favor of the work that lays waiting ahead of him. Focus comes quickly and he loses himself in the work, all else fading away once more as he flips through the book on the arcane he’d found in a shop in the Undercity over the weekend.
He reads each page carefully, making notations in his notebook, brow furrowed as he flips slowly through the pages, finger tracing over the faded words, his nose nearly pressed to the page in an attempt to make the words out more clearly.
There is one line here that uses a word he doesn’t understand, not in the context surrounding it--it seems as though the author is conveying that magic can be used to heal bodily wounds or illnesses, but…surely that cannot be right. Huffing in frustration, he sits back and scrubs tiredly at his eyes and then looks around for Jayce to ask his opinion, frown forming on his lips when he finds the lab empty.
The forge he realizes; Jayce must have gone to begin the work on their resonance machine. Viktor glances at his pocket watch and finds that three hours have passed; he could wait for Jayce to return, but as awareness settles in around him he shivers and thinks that perhaps a trek to the sweltering hot forge might be welcome. Pushing himself to his feet he grimaces when his hip and back protest loudly, the spasm that wracks his thigh taking his breath away as he leans heavily against his desk and waits for it to pass. When he’s sure he won’t collapse, he tucks the book under his arm and begins his journey to the forge, nodding politely to the students and professors he passes in the halls.
He hears the whispers that follow him; some of them about the work he and Jayce do, others about his leg, all of them he brushes aside as irrelevant--he’s got far more important things to concern himself with.
When he reaches the forge he doesn’t bother with knocking--Jayce has told him that he can’t hear anything over the roar of the flames and the clang of the hammer, so he pushes the door open and steps into the furnace blast of heat. It sinks quickly into his clothes and as he makes his way slowly up the stairs to where Jayce is shirtless, sweaty, and hammering steadily away at a glowing piece of metal, he welcomes the feeling of the heat leaching into his skin.
He’s sweating by the time he reaches the top of the stairs and slightly breathless (from the heat, not the sight of his shirtless partner’s rippling muscles he assures himself) so he leans against the railing and focuses on catching his breath while he watches Jayce work.
It’s only a few minutes more before Jayce plunges the newly forged metal into a bucket of water, the plume of steam that fills the air between them thick for a moment before it starts to dissipate and Jayce spots him, his grin huge and welcoming, nearly as warm as the flames that flicker behind him. He sets aside his tools and waves Viktor over, so he straightens up and crosses the space quickly, holding out the book as he comes up beside Jayce.
“There is a line in here that I am not sure I translated correctly, will you look?” he asks, giving a wordless smile of thanks when Jayce nods immediately and steps closer, wiping a towel over his face.
“Show me?” he asks, panting softly and gleaming with sweat in a way that makes Viktor’s mouth go dry. He opens the book and points out the line, acutely aware of the way Jayce has angled himself so his hand is at the small of Viktor’s back and his chest is bumping into Viktor’s shoulder. He’s so close Viktor can smell the flames on him, feel the rise and fall of his chest as he reads, humming thoughtfully and tilting his head like he always does at the prospect of a new discovery.
“It seems like it’s saying that magic can be used to heal,” Jayce says slowly, amazement in his eyes when he looks up at Viktor, “I’ve never heard of that before,” he says excitedly, “imagine what we could do if this is correct!” He grins at Viktor and then taps the page, “Where did you get this? We need to go back and see if they have more from this author!”
Viktor nods in agreement and smirks softly at Jayce’s seemingly unlimited enthusiasm for all things magic. “From a shop in the Undercity,” he admits, “I will return in a few days--it is not wise to go back too soon or they will know we are eager and will charge us triple the price.”
Jayce nods and grins, clapping a broad hand to his shoulder, “Let me know when you’re going, I’d love to come along.”
Viktor lifts a brow and his smirk deepens, “I think it would perhaps be best if you didn’t solnishko,” he murmurs, “you have a reputation as an easy mark,” he teases, lips curling up into a full grin when Jayce laughs and nods in agreement--he’d told Viktor how much he’d paid for crystals from Benzo’s shop and Viktor had barely been able to breathe he’d laughed so hard at the obvious scam they’d pulled on him.
After the initial embarrassment had faded, Jayce had found the humor in the story and laughed too, bright and distractingly beautiful.
“Well, maybe next time,” Jayce says with a smile, “I’ve yet to explore the Undercity more, I’d like to see where you grew up,” he says, all easy earnestness and affection and Viktor flushes, hoping it’s not noticeable here in the shadow of the roaring forge.
“Perhaps,” he agrees, looking up at Jayce from under his lashes, “It is not so beautiful as Piltover, but it has its charms.”
“I--yea, yea it does,” Jayce agrees, laughing nervously and Viktor feels his face heat even more at the look in his eyes. Jayce swallows and then looks him over and grins, “Aren’t you dying in all those layers?” he asks, gesturing at Viktor’s three sweaters.
Viktor smirks faintly and shakes his head, “My circulation is poor--in the winter I am always cold. I find the heat of the forge welcome,” he admits.
Jayce nods, “Makes sense. Most people think I’m crazy for wanting to spend so much time here,” he says with a wry little laugh and Viktor tilts his head, sensing that there’s a story here. He makes a questioning little sound and Jayce’s mouth twists, eyes shadowing as he glances away. “My father, he thought I should take over the family business; he couldn’t understand why I would want to get my hands dirty or spend hours in a forge when I could sit behind a desk and tally ledgers.” Jayce shrugs and looks back at Viktor with a pained smile, “He’d probably think all of this was a waste of time,” he admits and Viktor purses his lips, annoyed with a man long dead for wounding his son so deeply that the pain of it still lingers.
“It would be a waste of time to have a mind like yours behind a desk tallying ledgers,” he rebuts confidently, “your work is going to change the world Jayce Talis,” he says intently, passion filling his voice--he cannot let his friend think such things about himself, cannot abide a world where Jayce could think so little of himself.
Jayce ducks his head, shy as he looks up through his own impossibly long lashes at Viktor, his lips curled into a hesitant smile. “Thank you Vik,” he says softly, reaching out to wrap his hand around Viktor’s bicep, squeezing gently. “But it’s our work,” he says, voice more assured now as he firms his jaw and raises his gaze to meet Viktor’s square on. “I couldn’t do this without you,” he says sincerely and Viktor’s heart lurches in his chest, breath catching just a little too loudly and he feels it when Jayce’s gaze flicks to his mouth for a moment before lifting back to his.
He watches Jayce swallow hard for a moment before smiling and taking a half step back, the place where his hand had been on Viktor’s bicep cooler without the touch. “You should get back to the lab and drink some water, you look flushed,” he advises, “I’ll be back later.”
Viktor nods, feeling slightly lightheaded at the way that Jayce had looked at him, touched him, and takes an unsteady step back and then another, letting his gaze linger for a moment as Jayce turns back to the forge and picks up his hammer, back muscles rippling appealingly.
Viktor swallows hard and forces himself to move back down the steps without looking back, the slap of cool air as he exits the forge making him sway dangerously for a moment before he’s able to right himself and continue back down the halls, distracted by thoughts of Jayce’s face, soft and open in the light of the forge.
The thought continues to plague him all day, and by the time the sun sets he’s forced to admit to himself that he’s gotten little done. It’ll be fine he assures himself as he makes the slow trek home; tomorrow is a new day and he’ll have no reason to go to the forge and be distracted again.
The problem with that self assurance is that he’s wrong— after just a few hours the next day he has to return to the forge and present a pressing question to Jayce. He stays there for nearly two hours, debating, taking notes, and working on equations until the pain in his leg grows so strong that he has to return to the lab and spend half an hour massaging it out before he can resume his work.
And it’s not just that day he finds himself drawn to the forge, it’s nearly every day that week and he lingers as long as he can to soak up the heat while Jayce hammers out more parts to their resonance machine. Viktor eventually concedes to his body’s will and sits on the ground while he and Jayce speak, and though it’s hard on his back, it’s much easier on his leg and his pride.
The next week there’s a cushion waiting for him when he arrives and when he gives Jayce a questioning look he’s greeted with a bright smile before Jayce launches into questions about his trip to the Undercity for more books.
When Jayce finishes the parts needed for the resonance machine Viktor tells himself not to be disappointed—just because he’d gotten used to going to the forge for hours and carrying that delicious heat with him back to the lab so he could be warm all day didn’t mean he couldn’t survive without it.
He layers on a pair of thermal underwear under his loosest trousers and cuts the fingertips off a pair of old gloves and finds that it’s mostly bearable in their lab after that. Jayce frowns at the sight of all his layers but Viktor assures him it’s nothing more than his poor circulation.
A few days later Viktor steps into their lab and finds that there is now a luxurious heater underneath his workstation, already warm and putting out heat. He stares at it for a long moment and then slowly unwraps his threadbare scarf from around his face and hangs it up to dry beside Jayce’s coat.
By the time he’s gotten his sweetmilk and settled in at his desk, the air around it is warm and inviting and a welcome change for the aching bones in his leg. He finds it’s much easier to focus on his work and passes a few quiet, productive hours before Jayce turns up with a stack of books from the Academy library.
Spinning around on his stool, he waits till Jayce has set them down to clear his throat pointedly and gain his attention. “I must thank you for this addition to our workspace,” he murmurs politely, “but I cannot imagine how you afforded it on our paltry budget.”
Jayce grins at him, an unexpected reaction, and shrugs, “I had dinner with Caitlyn and her family the other night and mentioned how cold the lab is during the winter and how hard it’s making it to do our work. Mrs. Kiramman could see that if our work is to continue, we need a proper working environment.”
Viktor stares at him for a moment before surprising them both and chuckling, “You are a crafty man Jayce Talis,” he says with no little amount of affection and a shake of his head. Jayce beams and blushes, looking away for a moment before glancing back, his gaze almost shy as he speaks.
“I know you said it’s just poor circulation but I couldn’t stand to see you suffer,” he says softly, “and I could do something about it, so I did.”
Viktor smiles softly and nods, “I appreciate it Jayce, thank you, you are a good man.”
Jayce blushes harder and makes a choked scoffing noise as he turns away to fidget with the papers on his desk, “Well I uh, I’m glad it’s helped,” he says, “it’s nice to see you with some color in your cheeks.”
It’s Viktor’s turn to blush, a thrill of delight making him shift in his chair and turn away, unsure of what to say in response. He clears his throat and taps his fingers on his desk and then forces his voice to remain level when he next speaks. “I see the books you requested have become available, why don’t we split them and continue our search for more information, hmm?”
And just like that they’re back to normal—their previous moment of sentimentality forgotten in the haze of research.
It doesn’t end there though—when Viktor’s scarf tears Jayce brings him a new one the next day, thick and warm and in the crimson and gold colors of House Talis. Jayce tells him his mother knitted it and Viktor knows there’s no way he can (or even wants to ) refuse it, so instead he clears the knot of emotion out of his throat and murmurs thank you solnishko. He writes a thank you letter to Mrs. Talis as well and sends her a box of the candy he loves—it had been one of the first things they had bonded over, their love of the jelly sweets from the Undercity, and the next day Jayce beans as he reports how pleased his mother was with both.
Despite the heater in the lab, he still finds himself going to the forge to savor the intense heat while he reads from one of the many books they’ve been scouring for more information on magical healing. He sits on his cushion and idly massages his thigh and savors the way the heat sinks into his bones, better than any heater, and with the added benefit of watching surreptitiously while Jayce hammers away at spare parts for their resonance machine.
Jayce is a believer in creating duplicates ahead of time so if something goes wrong they don’t have to wait for both the creation of spares and the repairs to be complete—Viktor appreciates and admires the forethought and tells Jayce as much so he can enjoy the way it makes Jayce smile like he’s just been given a treat.
Jayce never questions why he spends so much time in the forge, but a few weeks after he’s begun this habit he enters the forge and finds a desk in the corner, the chair comfortable looking and Viktor just stares at it for a moment before settling in, the knot of emotion in his chest so large it takes him a few long moments of unsteady breathing before he’s able to thank Jayce properly.
It strikes him then, all the different ways that Jayce has done something to try and make Viktor’s life better recently, how he’s seen a problem and found a solution, and how much warmer Viktor is this winter than any he’s experienced before. He doesn’t quite know what to do with this information—he could draw certain conclusions, but perhaps that’s his own yearning affecting his hypothesis.
After a few days of careful deliberation and scientific debate with himself where he nearly wears a hole in his rug with all his pacing, he decides that a test of his theories is needed before he can draw a proper conclusion.
Step one is to return the favor and bring Jayce his favorite hot chocolate drink, along with a book on magic that Viktor had found in the Undercity with beautifully painted pictures. This offering earns him a fierce hug and a smile so soft from Jayce that it warms him even better than the heater under his desk. Still, these could be the reactions of a friend, and so, Viktor moves onto step two.
Step two admittedly, does not go well.
He thought he knew everything about Jayce, but apparently he missed the fact that his best friend is allergic to strawberries--the freeze dried fruit was ground into a powder for the coloring in a mini cake that Viktor brought him as a treat, but he’d quickly discovered his error. The face puffiness and rash take days to reduce, but the sound of Jayce’s wheezing breaths are truly what haunt him and nearly cause him to call off the whole ordeal of trying to ascertain Jayce’s feelings for him.
Viktor is no stranger to failure though, and now that he and Jayce are partners, they fail quite frequently in their search to control magic through science, so he knows that he cannot give up, not when a discovery nearly as great as the arcane is a possibility.
For step three he takes Jayce down to the Undercity for a winter festival that had been his favorite to attend as a boy, back when his mother was well enough to take them, even if they didn’t have enough to get many treats. He tells Jayce as much as they spend the day admiring handmade festive figurines, sipping spiced mulled wine, and trying all the food that the Undercity stalls have to offer, and Jayce listens raptly, gaze intent and warm in a way that heats Viktor even in the snowy winter air.
Viktor finds that he hasn’t laughed this much in years, delighted at Jayce’s reactions to the fiery pepper poppers and the slimy squid skewers, and as they make their tipsy winding way back Topside, Jayce bumps his shoulder with his and smiles at him affectionately. “Thank you for taking me and sharing your home with me like that,” he says softly, eyes warm and brimming with emotion. “I’ve never experienced anything like that before and I’m glad it was with you.”
Viktor can feel himself blushing and tucks his chin down into the plush scarf from Jayce that he wears constantly now, nodding silently and glancing back over at Jayce. It’s then that his cane skids on a patch of ice and he feels momentum carrying him down towards the cold hard ground. Jayce snatches at his arm and manages to grab Viktor’s elbow, but not before his bad knee slams into the ground and agony overwhelms him.
His vision goes black around the edges and he pants for air, shaking as Jayce calls his name and drags him upright, his grip unrelentingly strong but gentle. “Vik, Vik! Are you okay? Say something!”
Viktor blinks the tears of pain out of his eyes and breathes raggedly, vision clearing so he can see the deep lines of worry on Jayce’s face, so near his own. He finally notices that Jayce is cupping his face, gaze searching and scared and his heart clenches in his chest at the display of emotion from his friend. “I’m fine solnishko,” he murmurs, smiling faintly and reaching up to wrap his fingers around Jayce’s wrist, “Come, let us go,” he urges, aware as always of the way passerby’s stare at him as he leans into Jayce’s embrace.
Jayce looks worried still and Viktor squeezes his wrist and gently guides his hand away from his face, holding onto it as he speaks. “I will be fine. Walk me home and you can see for yourself,” he urges, and Jayce looks uncertain, but nods before leaning over and snatching up Viktor’s fallen cane to offer to him. He takes it with a soft word of thanks and does his best to hide his grimace as he takes a step forward--Jayce must still see it because he wraps a hand around his elbow and holds on tight.
“Don’t argue about it,” Jayce mutters and Viktor rolls his eyes but allows it, finding that as they continue their journey he’s leaning heavier and heavier into it, his breathing growing ragged as the pain and swelling in his knee grows. By the time they make it to his quarters Jayce’s arm has wound around his waist and he’s mostly holding him upright as they stumble through the door. After that Jayce is a whirlwind of motion, helping him take off his coat and scarf, getting him to his bed, taking his shoes off and propping up his knee on a pillow.
“Do you have a hot water bottle?” Jayce asks, running a hand through his hair, face pinched and worried.
“In the bathroom under the sink,” Viktor directs, turning his attention to his knee when Jayce has left the room. He shifts and undoes his trousers, easing them down his skinny legs so he can assess the swelling in his knee, hissing when he sees how bruised it is already.
“Shit, that looks bad,” Jayce says and Viktor nods tiredly, shifting up on the pillows as Jayce carefully arranges the towel with the hot water bottle wrapped in it on his knee, his face lined with worry and his whole body tense.
Viktor sucks air in between his teeth at the pressure to his knee but then exhales in relief as the heat of the water bottle sinks into his skin. Jayce watches him with worried, guilty eyes, hand scrubbing over his mouth as he shakes his head, and it’s clear before he even begins to speak that he’s going to apologize.
“I’m sorry Vik, I should have caught you sooner,” Jayce says mournfully, “It’s all my fault!”
Viktor lifts a brow and smirks wryly, “Oh? I wasn’t aware you could control the weather Jayce, perhaps you can bring sunshine tomorrow to melt all this pesky snow and ice, hmm solnishko?”
“I-I, that’s not what I meant!”
“Ahh then perhaps you control the funding the Undercity has for street maintenance?”
Jayce glares at him; “You know that’s not what I meant! Vik--”
“Or maybe you controlled the birth defect that made me a cripple, yes?”
Jayce huffs and spins away, both hands scrubbing over his face and hair before his broad shoulders slump and sighs heavily, hands over his face as he speaks. “I should have caught you sooner Vik, that’s all. You’re--you’re important to me and if something worse had happened--”
Viktor stares at his bowed shoulders and ponders this outcome, what it means, and then sighs softly and decides he will have to test one more thing. “Jayce, please look at me,” he asks quietly, smiling faintly when Jayce turns quickly and meets his gaze. “Something worse was averted because you were there,” he explains, “I have fallen many times in the past during the winter--I have sprained an ankle, broken a wrist, suffered a concussion, and this time I have only a bruised knee to show for it. I am grateful you were there.”
Jayce looks uncertain so he smiles a little warmer and pats the bed beside his hip, heart tripping and speeding up when Jayce moves quickly to sit beside him, his face still so sorrowful that it’s almost amusing. Viktor reaches out slowly, heart racing, and takes Jayce’s jaw into his palm, watching as Jacye’s eyes widen in shock.
“I am grateful you were there Jayce, but I am more grateful that you are in my life,” he says quietly, “You are--” he hums softly and smiles, “an unexpected result in a search for knowledge that has led me to more than I could ever have dreamed possible.” He swallows hard and leans in slowly, telegraphing his movements so Jayce has time to pull away, but he doesn't; he stays there, wide eyed and breathing raggedly as Viktor closes the space between them and kisses him.
There’s a moment infinitely long where nothing happens and then Jayce is making a soft broken noise and leaning into Viktor, hand in his hair while the other wraps around his back and pulls him even closer in a move that has his blood heating like he’s back at the forge. Viktor hums softly in approval and nips at Jayce’s lip, savoring the sound he makes and does it again and again till Jayce is pushing him back into the pillows and leaning over him, hungrily kissing all the air right out of Viktor’s lungs.
When they’re finally forced to part for a gasp of air it’s ragged and panting and Viktor hums his approval when Jayce uses the opportunity to kick off his shoes and climb into the bed with him. Viktor tugs at him until Jayce is gingerly placing his weight in Viktor’s lap and kissing him again, the heat of his body like a raging fire hat feels like it’ll burn into Viktor right down to his bones, but he doesn’t mind--Jayce has been keeping him warm for months now and he thinks he quite prefers this method.
When the hot water bottle cools Jayce goes to refill it and Viktor takes the time to change out his shirt for the sweater that he’d stripped off of Jayce some time ago. When Jayce comes back, he pauses in the doorway, shirtless and stripped down to his briefs, gaze darkening as he takes in the sight of Viktor in his clothing. His hands are infinitely gentle when arranging the hot water bottle, as Viktor always knew they would be, and when Jayce slides back into bed with him he leans into his broad chest and savors the warmth of his bare skin.
“Mmm you really are my solnishko, aren’t you?” Viktor hums, tracing his fingers over Jayce’s palm, fascinated in the differences between them. Where Jayce is copper, he is white as the snow outside; where Jayce burns like a sun, Viktor is cool like the winter breeze--they are a study in duality and Viktor smiles softly at the discoveries he’s made today.
“What’s that mean?” Jayce asks, capturing his wandering fingers before drawing them up so he can press kisses to the pads of them that leave Viktor breathless and flushed, watching as Jayce finishes the last one before leaning in and pressing a kiss to his palm that makes his heart clench in his chest.
“Little sun,” he whispers, “because you are always finding ways to keep me warm. It is a good fit, yes?” he asks, gasping when Jayce suddenly leans in and kisses him fiercely, his hand still clutched in Jayce’s much warmer one.
“Yes,” Jayce murmurs against his mouth, “a good fit,” he agrees before pushing Viktor down into the sheets and kissing him till he’s burning with it, down to his bones , and he opens his mouth, his arms, his heart, and willingly embraces the flames.