Chapter Text
"You know, I think I could marry her," Jayce said excitedly, rocking back on his chair with his feet up on the table.
Viktor felt as if he had been struck by lightning. Well, the moment he'd feared, but knew was inevitable, had arrived.
Viktor and Jayce had been partners for four years, working on developing a new energy source. And for four years now, Viktor had occasionally allowed himself to imagine that Jayce was his. At least to some extent.
During that period, Jayce had dated several women. Two of those relationships lasted a couple of months each. Although it was painful to listen to him talk about them, Viktor got used to it over time. As for Constance Tariost, Jayce's current girlfriend, things were definitely serious.
Constance was one of the richest and most beautiful heiresses of the noble houses of Piltover. The first few months of Jayce's relationship with her were particularly difficult for Viktor. He had to listen to Jayce's enthusiastic speeches about Connie's incredible beauty, her easygoing personality, how effortlessly she communicated with Piltover’s elite, her many friends, and her impeccable sense of fashion, etiquette, and dance. The list went on and on.
Of course, Viktor was jealous, considering that Connie seemed to be everything he was not. No matter how much he wanted to hate her, he couldn't. All he could feel was jealousy and envy.
They hardly ever spoke. But on the few occasions they did meet, she was very friendly and kind toward him.
In short, she and Jayce were the perfect couple—they looked great together at galas, in Piltover magazine photos, and now, it seemed, they would look great in wedding attire at the altar. And then for the rest of their happy lives together.
Viktor could clearly imagine Jayce Talis’s happy life: marriage, two or three kids, a dog, a penthouse in downtown Piltover, or maybe a mansion in a posh neighborhood. There was certainly no place for Viktor in this idealistic picture.
And yet, sometimes he indulged in fantasies about Jayce being more than just a work partner. Considering how Jayce smiled at him, touched him, looked at him, it wasn't difficult to imagine. But that's just how Jayce was—a man who wasn't afraid to show his feelings for the people he cared about. And Jayce did care about him—Viktor knew it for sure.
About a year after they started working together, Viktor accidentally overheard a conversation between Jayce and Caitlyn. She was teasing him about how he couldn't keep his hands off Viktor, hinting that he was in love. It was embarrassing to remember, but her words gave Viktor some hope for a few moments. He couldn't see Jayce's face, but he was sure Jayce had been flustered. Perhaps the thought was shocking to him, or repulsive even.
"God, Cait, how on earth did you get that idea?! He's my best friend! There’s nothing like that between us," he laughed awkwardly.
And although Viktor's heart seemed to be irretrievably broken at that moment, it broke again and again, with every harsh reminder of reality that the man he loved would never be his.
Thinking back on it with a bitter smirk, Viktor did not understand what he’d been hoping for at the time, or why he’d thought he had a chance. Jayce had just broken up with his first girlfriend, but why Viktor had thought he might be the next choice was now unclear even to himself.
Back then, he was in better shape and could still, perhaps, seem attractive to someone. But now... the pain flare ups had become more frequent. He had a lot of work, he had lost weight and... Jayce coughed—apparently, Viktor had been lost in thought for too long.
Pretending not to have heard his partner's words, Viktor turned to him with a neutral expression. Jayce looked at him, waiting for a reaction.
"Sorry, what did you just say? I was focused on my notes."
"I'm saying I think I could marry Constance. Maybe I should propose to her, I don't know... We've been together for a little over a year now. And she's hinted several times." Jayce shrugged. "Besides, in a couple of months we'll finish the final preparations and our battery will go into production. It will be... a new stage in life or something. I could even propose at the party after the presentation!"
"Yeah, that's a good idea," Viktor nodded, forcing a smile, even though he felt as if everything inside him were trembling.
"God, Vik, you'll be the best man at my wedding, right?"
"Of course," he tried to say as naturally as possible, but his voice betrayed him, "It would be an honor."
Jayce didn't seem to notice anything strange. In any case, he looked pleased and continued sharing ideas about the best way to propose to his girlfriend.
Viktor listened to him as if from underwater. His mind was suddenly filled with an image of the future, where he was the best man at Jayce's wedding: he’d witness the man whom he loved more than life marrying the perfect woman he deserved. And then Viktor would sometimes come to visit them—a lonely Uncle Viktor would be invited to New Year's Eve celebrations. After all, Jayce and his wife would be so generous that they couldn't let him spend such a holiday alone.
So he’d come, watch their love, their children, their dog, and all this family idyll. And then he’d return to his old little apartment to mourn his dreams of what could have been and then fall asleep under a dose of painkillers.
Fortunately, Viktor's stream of thoughts was interrupted by a notification on his phone. It was from Pavel about their meeting planned for today—the first in a long time.
"By the way, Vik! When Connie and I get married, she'll probably want to move into a house. I thought it would be great if you moved somewhere nearby too."
"Eh... what?" Viktor raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Why would I do that? I'm happy with my apartment."
"Yeah, sure..." Jayce hesitated for a moment. "But with your salary, you could rent a bigger and better place in a nice neighborhood. And then we could live close to each other! We could drive to work together, you could hang out at our place, we could..."
"Jayce..." Viktor interrupted him firmly. "That's not going to happen."
Jayce looked a little taken aback, like a kicked puppy. Viktor felt irritation boiling up inside him. He tried to control it by taking a deep breath and counting to five.
He started as calmly as possible: "Let me explain why this is a bad idea. First, put yourself in Connie's shoes—you're getting married, you're a happy young family, and your husband's coworker is constantly hanging around, being a third wheel. If I were her..." Viktor nearly bit his tongue. "No one would like that. And second, I know this may sound shocking, but I have a life outside this lab, and you."
Viktor knew he was exaggerating a little—he didn't have much of a life outside the lab and Jayce —but the entitlement pissed him off.
Jayce fell silent, looking a little pensive. "Um, yes, Viktor... I'm sorry. I guess I said something stupid."
"I guess so," Viktor sighed. "Okay, let's just forget it." Anyway, he could never stay mad at Jayce for long.
Viktor received another notification from Pavel. "Speaking of life outside the lab," he commented as he opened the message. "I'm sorry, but I need to leave early today. I’m meeting someone."
"About the project?"
"No, it’s personal."
Jayce raised an eyebrow, and something flashed across his face. Something that Viktor couldn't quite recognize. Was he displeased? But Viktor almost never left work early, unlike Jayce, who had always been responsible for networking and finding investors. Now that their battery was only a few months away from release, and the public considered him the face of progress, even more so than before.
It was becoming increasingly rare for them to enjoy working in the lab together.
"Is anything wrong?" Viktor asked, puzzled.
"Um... no, just... have fun, Vik."
"Thanks. See you tomorrow."
Heavily leaning on his crutch, Viktor walked to the coffee shop where he'd agreed to meet Pavel.
It had been around six years since the war between Piltover and Zaun ended, but there was still a strict visa regime between the cities. Therefore, Viktor did not have the pleasure of seeing Pavel often.
Pavel found him on social media years ago, and since then they'd met occasionally until the war separated them. After that, they continued to exchange messages regularly, sometimes called each other, and tried to maintain a good relationship.
With the end of the war, meetings in person become possible again. However, for obvious reasons, they were still rare.
Walking into the coffee shop, Viktor immediately recognized the familiar broad-shouldered frame. Pavel’s hair had grown out and was tied back in a low ponytail. He was well dressed, although it was quite obvious he wasn’t from Piltover.
"Viktor! You have no idea how happy I am to see you!" Pavel stood up from his chair, took a couple of steps toward him, and gave him a firm hug.
"I'm happy to see you too. You look great."
"Thanks. You, um, too," Pavel faltered. It was an obvious lie. The last time they had seen each other, Viktor was still using his cane. Now, because of constantly compensating for his bad foot, his condition had worsened. Two years ago, he had to switch to a crutch. A year later, he began using a leg brace to stabilize the joint.
Constant sleep deprivation, stress, and overtime work worsened his nerve pain flare-ups. It was a vicious cycle—stress caused pain, and anxiety over the next flare-up caused more stress. As a result, he lost weight and grew thin. He probably got even paler, if that was even possible.
"Don't bother. I know how I look," Viktor replied, sitting down at the table and placing his crutch next to him. His leg had started bothering him again in the afternoon, and Viktor was glad to just sit down.
"That's actually what I wanted to talk to you about, Viktor." Pavel joined him at the table.
"What do you mean?" Viktor's gaze fell on the cup of sweet milk in front of him.
Pavel had the same drink. He followed Viktor's gaze and hurried to explain, "Sorry, I took the liberty of ordering for you. I hoped that your childhood habits hadn't changed either." Pavel smiled.
Apparently, both of them hadn’t changed their childhood habits, Viktor thought.
"It's okay. Thank you. I really do still like it. So what did you want to talk about?" He looked up from his mug.
"Yes... well, officially, I came to Piltover to buy some medical equipment for the clinic. That's what I'll be doing for the next three weeks. But for the most part, it was just an excuse to get permission to enter the city. Actually, I wanted to see my friend, find out how he was doing, and, if necessary, offer him help."
"Do you mind elaborating?" Viktor asked, confused.
"Viktor, you helped me a lot by investing in my clinic. And you kept helping every month..."
"You don't owe me anything if that's what you're talking about. It was in memory of your parents. They did a lot for me." Viktor took a big sip of the warm drink. The creamy taste pleasantly enveloped his palate.
"My parents have been dead for a long time. There's no one left for you to express your gratitude to."
"Well, I also did it for Zaun. While I was developing the battery here in Piltover, Zaunites continued to get sick and die. It was the least I could do. And you're a talented doctor, you can help a lot of people."
"Including you."
Viktor clicked his tongue. "There's no need for that."
"Are you sure? Because you look exhausted. When was the last time you saw your doctor?"
"I don't remember. Maybe a year ago, when they prescribed the leg brace for me." Viktor tapped it with his fingers. "But I had other things on my mind." He waved his hand dismissively.
"Viktor! You promised you'd get checked regularly. And you said you'd have the surgery once you had the chance."
"I’ve been very busy and... I don't know...," he looked away.
Pavel moved a little closer. "Listen, there are great doctors and physiotherapists working at the clinic. We can help you."
"All that will take a lot of time..."
"Yes, it could take six months or even a year, but it's an investment in your future. Imagine how much it will improve your life. And you will be able to work more efficiently."
"Yes, perhaps that’s true. But I could spend this time on research. And then I would have to leave my life in Piltover, leave..." He trailed off.
"Is it worth it, Viktor? Your life in Piltover? You don't look particularly happy," Pavel said gloomily. "While you're trying to help everyone else, you're forgetting that you have to help yourself first. You should’ve had this surgery when you were a kid... I know my parents didn't have the money for it, and the orphanage had even less." He paused.
Viktor drew invisible patterns on the table with his finger, staring blankly into the cup in front of him.
Breaking the prolonged silence between them, Pavel continued, "I understand that after the orphanage, everything started to swirl—the academy, then the war, then your research with Talis. But you said that your project would be launched in a couple of months. Take a break. Choose yourself and your well-being for once."
Later, as they said goodbye at the door of the coffee shop, Pavel asked Viktor to think about his offer and let him know his decision before he left for Zaun. Viktor promised to think about it.
On the way home, he was consumed by memories that had been awakened by his meeting with Pavel.
He could still taste the sweet milk in his mouth. Many children in Zaun loved this drink. His mother used to make it for him when he was little. Then, when she died, Pavel’s parents, who were distant relatives, took him in. From that moment on, he and Pavel would drink sweet milk together in the evenings.
Unfortunately, Viktor's stay in their house didn’t last long either: Pavel’s parents were killed during one of the first uprisings for independence from Piltover. Of course, this was a huge blow to Pavel.
Viktor had few memories of the two years he’d spent with their family. However, he remembered well how, after Pavel’s parents died, the boy stopped talking and spent days crying, falling asleep, waking up, and starting to cry again.
Viktor tried to help him as best he could: reading stories aloud, preparing simple meals, making sweet milk when they had it, or just sitting next to him. But even then, he knew all too well how hard it was to say goodbye to a loved parent forever. Probably, he thought then, losing two was twice as painful.
So Viktor didn't put too much pressure on Pavel, trying to give him time to recover. He did the housework himself and went shopping at the local market while they still had money.
Overall, he did what he thought anyone else would do in this situation.
In the end, when it became clear to those around them that they were left alone without any guardians, they were sent to an orphanage—two different ones, to be precise.
But, as it turned out later, sweet milk was sometimes given in both of them. It was like a little treat. So a warm, albeit distant, feeling of joy arose in Viktor's chest every time he drank it.
The orphanage was not the best time of his life.
Ironically, he remained a loner even though he was surrounded by a huge number of children.
At first, they tried to bully him because of his disability and reserved nature. But when they realized that Viktor could fight back, using his cane and sharp tongue as weapons, they finally left him alone.
He spent most of his time reading whatever books were available to him, wandering around the city, hiding in his secret place, and tinkering with something.
Until, at the age of 17, based on his exam results, he was invited to attend the Piltover Academy as a promising student.
Looking back, he was grateful to Pavel for having decided to find him after so many years.
When they were sent to orphanages, they were 10 and 8 years old, respectively. Therefore, when he received a message from Pavel, he was quite surprised: he thought that Pavel had probably forgotten about him, because by that time they’d spent many more years apart than under the same roof.
But it turned out that the man not only wanted to find him, he also wanted to become his friend. This disarmed Viktor a little. He did not expect such attention to be paid to him. Nor did he expect such a level of involvement in his health situation.
What he told Pavel about being too busy wasn't entirely true. In fact, Viktor knew perfectly well that fear was another reason why he refused to see his doctor as often as necessary. He was afraid to admit that his condition was worsening. He also feared undergoing the surgery, which might improve his situation, but wouldn't completely fix it, and after which recovery would take a really long time.
Viktor didn't want to feel helpless, and that was exactly how he would be for months after the surgery. He didn't want to admit all this out loud either.
"Choose yourself," Pavel said. Viktor found this a little amusing. He did choose himself, actually. To be exact, he was choosing to stay close to Jayce and bask in the warmth of his friendship and affection.
Pavel thought too highly of him, not knowing the extent of Viktor’s selfishness — a quality he half-jokingly accused Jayce of.
On the other hand, perhaps Pavel was somehow right and Viktor should take care of his health, change the scenery, and return home to Zaun, at least for a while.
What was he losing, after all? The opportunity to be the best man at Jayce’s wedding? A wonderful prospect! He'd rather shoot himself in the healthy leg.
Closing the front door of his apartment, Viktor headed straight for the living room. He felt really tired that day. He sank onto the sofa, exhaling with relief. He still had time to think about Pavel’s offer. And he would.