Chapter Text
Moons. Cosmos. Constellations. Planets and stars born and dying. He is reeling between a hundred lives, hundreds of versions of himself. Burning alive in a shared embrace. Eternity. He is himself, a late night spent in a lab. He is himself, dead in a blast. He is himself, changing from flesh to metal. He is a line running parallel, butterfly wings blooming, fires burning in revolution.
He is. He is. He is-
Awake.
Viktor lurches up, gasping. his body twinges at the sudden, violent movement. For a moment he doesn’t quite feel real. He cannot recognize his surroundings. There is a strange buzzing behind his eyes as he fights to catch his breath.
He is desperate for a moment for something to latch onto. He whips his head to the side in search of something, anything….and the recognition is instant. The lump of man and blankets beside him snores on, undisturbed. Thick brows relaxed over closed eyes, eyelashes fluttering with every other breath, hair a mess from a night's rest.
Jayce.
And just like that Viktor is centered again. He is in their shared bed, in their shared apartment. It is early morning; they most likely only have a few hours left to sleep before they must rise for work. He is himself. Viktor. Engineering physics professor at Piltover University. inventor in his personal time. Partner of Jayce Talis.
Viktor reaches a hand out to brush a stray hair from Jayce’s eyes. He must have forgotten to get a haircut before the semester started…yes. The semester. Viktor sighs and leans back into his pillow, head bumping up against the headboard. Perhaps he was stressed about the upcoming semester; all the lesson planning and project grading that would keep them both up late into the night often. It also meant less time to work on their personal projects. He must just be weighed down by all of that, and it caused the vivid dream. Such is the consequence of an overactive mind.
Viktor wanted to believe that. To just slide down and snuggle back into bed. Instead, he knew better. It was no normal dream created by an anxious subconscious. It was too real. He could still feel the burn of starlight on his skin.
Viktor sighed and turned his head to watch Jayce as he peacefully slept. As usual he was energized at the prospect of the new school year. Not even the fall chill in the air slowed down his enthusiasm. Viktor admired that about him, so much. Even in the middle of summer he found his enjoyment stunted by the prospective cold months, which brought forth more intense aches and pains. That’s just how they were, he supposed. Jayce; a shining star in everyone’s sky while Viktor clung like a doomed asteroid in his orbit.
It had been that way since they met in university many years ago. Even when Jayce chose Viktor (for some reason he could not logically work out to this day), he remained highly aware of his inadequacies. Viktor knew he was smart. He knew he was a hard worker. But he knew that no matter what, he must bog Jayce down to some extent. He was a gifted scientist, on his way to becoming a patented inventor in a few years time. In fact, Jayce almost gave up his chance for a position at Piltover University because he insisted Viktor be welcomed onto the staff as well.
Viktor remained so lost in his mind that he did not catch Jayce turning over, seeming to have noticed the lack of a body attached to him. Even not yet awake he reached out to search for Viktor. A hand found Viktor’s leg, settling on his knee. Jayce’s eyes blinked open blearily, looking up to find Viktor sitting up instead of sleeping.
“S’mthing wrong?” He murmured, pushing himself up with a yawn.
Viktor shook his head and gently pressed on Jayce’s shoulder, urging him to stay lying down. “No, it’s nothing. My mind is just…being too loud, I suppose.” Jayce let him press him back into the mattress. He smiled up at Viktor, a careless one that showed the gap in his front teeth. He raised a hand and cupped Viktor’s face in it. Despite himself, Viktor leaned into the touch.
“You’re already overthinking and the leaves haven’t even turned yet.” Jayce observed, brushing his thumb softly over Viktor’s cheekbone. “Not getting rest won’t help. Focus on what you can do right now.”
Viktor sighed and nodded, face still pressed into Jayce’s warm palm. Calloused from tinkering and working with metal. He pressed a kiss to the skin and finally slumped down onto the mattress.
Jayce immediately wrapped his arms around Viktor, easily encompassing him. He pressed a kiss to Viktor’s forehead, then sighed and closed his eyes. Viktor lay there, listening as his breathing evened out. The beat of Jayce’s heart next to his ear calmed him. Enough, at least, to close his own eyes and sleep. He hoped it would be a dreamless one.
It was not.
He dreamed of blood on a desk, strange runes cut into skin. In the morning he felt the phantom press of a blade even after waking.