Chapter Text
Jayce knew there was a certain number of unpleasant things that could happen on the grounds of the lab. Some of them were hugely unpleasant.
„Kurva!“ Viktor shouted in a foreign language as a flying metal piece almost hit his head and flew up and then down to the floor. Jayce shot his eyes from the catapulted device back to their project. Well, was-project. There was smoke coming out of it, filling the room with carbon dioxide, making him cough as he accidentally inhaled it.
„And I thought finally, this time, the calculation was already gonna work.“ He took his cane and sulkingly made his way to the nearby window, opening it and making the space breathable again.
„I can fix it, it won’t take longer than a few hours in my forge,“ Jayce suggested, blowing on the smoking catastrophe to prevent it from setting their lab on fire.
He heard Viktor’s muffled words, turned to him and saw a very exasperated scientist, holding his cane so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
„V, it’s okay, we can–„
„Go to the forge, fix the basic design, I’m gonna run over all the calculations again.“ That was unexpected. Viktor sometimes overreacted when something did not work out the way he wanted it to but he never looked like that. Maybe it was the nearing council where they were supposed to show of their invention; another big step in the hextech, as Heimerdinger repeated with enthusiasm quite often.
He thought maybe trying to calm Viktor down, assure him that they still have more than 24 hours and this is the final step, but what could Jayce do when the firm voice ordered him to do something. It made his stomach turn in an unknown sensation as he nodded.
„Okay,“ he crouched and picked up the now only warm metal piece. „Gonna be here in an hour.“ He strolled to the door, glancing one more time in Viktor’s direction. He looked lost in thought, hand over his eyes, muscles in his shoulders tensed.
So to sum it up, the times when their projects wouldn’t work were the highly unpleasant. Now there were also midly unpleasant moments they shared. You see, falling alseep on a table is not very wise.
„Gentlemen!“ a rejoiced voice of Heimerdinger sounded in the lab. The morning light was shining through the windows, falling on their table full of scattered blueprints and scientific devices.
Jayce blinked his eyes open, straigtened in his chair as a cramp shot through his lower back. He hissed and massaged the place with his hand.
„Shit,“ he exhaled under his breath and looked to his left, where was Viktor, folded on the table, picking up his very being, seeming very disoriented.
„What a delightful morning we have here. I see you once again spent the night here, must have been comfrotable.“ Hemierdinger made his way to them, looking from one to the other, his right hand behind his back. He appeared very civil and collected in comparison to them both.
„Good morning, professor,“ Viktor moaned and stretched his arms up trying to hide the pain he must had been feeling after spending a night in not very relaxing position if you consider his bad leg. Jayce felt sad for him.
„I must infrom you that we have only a week until the big reveal,“ he stated, pointing his finger up victouriously. „The council is waiting for your world changing invention. As I like to say, another big step in the hextech.“
„Yes, unfortunately,“ Jayce aswered.
„Pardon me?“
„Nothing, ehm, yes, fortunately, the project is going steady, we should be finished in a couple of days.“ He quickly turned his gaze to Viktor, he seemed lost in thought and maybe a bit on edge, the anxiety caused by their slightly slower work hidden in his eyes.
„I’m glad to hear that. Now, I’m confident you have your presentation prepared. I hope you don’t mind that I would like to see beforehand.“
„No, of course,“ Viktor mumbled, pressing his hands to his eyes, still waking up.
„I think I better leave you to wake up properly, so at noon, expect my presence, and, gentlemen, try to assess the right time to leave the lab better next time.“ With that, he walked to the door, wished them good day and left.
„Ugh, how does he do that? It’s like fourth time he choose the exact morning we overslept, no, dozed off while working and woke us up,“ Jayce said as he ran a hand through his hair, trying to fix his appearance to be at least a bit presentable.
He heard Viktor chuckle next to him.
„What?“ A slender finger pointed to his cheek, soft laugh escaping him. „What is it?“ he demanded. Was something on his face? Jayce stood up, ignored the numbness in his right leg and walked to the little mirror in the corner of their room.
He glanced up and was met by a funny looking pattern on his cheek. If you squinted your eyes, you would be able to make out the shape of their shared tools on which Jayce decided to take a nap.
„Don’t laugh at me!“ He said sulkingly, smoothing the skin, trying to let the pressure sore leave.
„Sorry for your inconvinience,“ Viktor joked and stretched his bad leg. Jayce saw in the mirror how his expression darkened, not hyding the pain.
„Are you okay?“ he asked as he turned on the water and splashed some on his face.
„Been worse,“ he answered slowly as a silent hiss escaped his lips, indicating that this is one of the worse times.
Jayce turned around, walking to him. „Can I help you somehow?“
„Jayce, it’s okay, I just need to lie down for a bit.“
„Okay, I’m gonna work on the presentation before you come back.“
„No.“ Jayce shot him an unsure look. „You’re gonna go home as well, take a long nap and half an hour before noon we meet here to prepare it.“
There was no space for negotiation, he was sure of it from the tone of Viktor’s voice. It caught him unprepared, it surprised him.
So Jayce, if you asked him, would name all the unpleasant moments that occured in the lab so far. He was not fond of failure, but he knew that only with mistakes there is progress. And if it included living through all of these things with Viktor, he valued it the more.
He loved his work, profoundly. He enjoyed every day in their laboratory, trying new things out, building a future together, spending time together, it was brilliant.
They somehow dropped into this unsaid intimacy where they could almost read each other’s minds, handing themselves tools which the other needed, helping each other out. Jayce grew used to that.
He liked the simplicity and predictability of it, nothing to surprise him, just the easy going atmosphere of their partnership.
But that was about to change soon.