#🖋️ corinna

[solitaireships]

The reason Jayce is little spoon despite being a 6 foot 7 giant of a man is bcs if he’s big spoon there is 50/50 chance Corinna will wake up in the middle of the night and discover she’s been trapped under him

[solitaireships]

Homecoming

I'm going ahead and starting my quest to make the writing for Mel and Jayce from the end of this season better, so we're gonna be doing this in chronological order, starting with Corinna and Jayce's reunion! And me trying to come up with a better explanation for why he was Like That in the scene in the council room with Mel + letting him work through it a little so we can have something nicer there. Warning for spoilers for the show, even though I am rewriting parts of it!

Rating: Teen

Genre: Hurt/comfort

Words: 2297 words

Divider by saradika

Content warnings: talk about the end of the world

It’s by chance that Corinna passes Jayce’s apartment when the lights are on for the first time in months. She was on her way to a cafe nearby, one that she didn’t frequent nearly as often with Jayce no longer around to meet her there for coffee. But as she looks up to where his apartment is, left untouched since he and Mel had vanished, she sees for the first time in months that someone is there.

Corinna makes her way up to the apartment on autopilot. It’s been hard keeping faith these last few months that her partners would ever come back. No one knew for sure what happened to either of them, though Corinna had tried to see if Ambessa could tell her anything. She had to believe that both of them were okay, that they had been lost somewhere but would one day make it back to her. As the weeks went on, though, it became harder to believe that was true. She doesn’t know how she managed to make it all this time with both of them so suddenly ripped from her life as things only seem to be getting worse and worse in Piltover. 

But now it seems like Corinna’s faith that things would work out wouldn’t have been for nothing. Maybe it’s not Jayce, maybe someone broke into his apartment since they knew it’s been unoccupied for months. But for now she lets her hope carry her forward.

The front door is left slightly open when Corinna gets to it. As she steps into the apartment, she calls out, “Hello?”

The kitchen by the entrance looks like it's been ransacked. She had cleared out most of the perishable foods when it became clear Jayce wouldn't be coming back any time soon, but someone's gone through and eaten as much of what was left as possible. Corinna doubts that stale snack foods are the most appetizing thing in the world, but whoever came through here must have been desperate. She can hear motion from the bedroom as she steps further in, leaving the door open behind her just in case. She walks towards it carefully. As much as she wants to believe she’ll get there and see her boyfriend, she knows that she needs to be cautious.

But when the door to the bedroom swings open in front of her, it’s as though the weight that’s been crushing her for the past months has finally been lifted.

“Jayce?” Corinna breathes out.

He looks different, but Corinna would recognize him anywhere. His clothes are a mess, dirty and torn, and his hair’s gotten much longer. He’s grown out a beard too, with that seeming to draw even more attention to the couple of scars he’s gotten on his face. Corinna’s heart seizes in her chest at the sight of the brace on his left leg and how he seems to put more weight on his right leg when he turns to see her. But those brilliant golden eyes of his are still the same, even with the dark circles hanging under them.

“Cori?” Jayce asks, his voice rough, like he hasn’t used it often lately.

Corinna moves without thinking, closing the distance between the two of them to pull Jayce into a hug. She tries not to let herself cry— this is a happy occasion, even if it seems like something horrible must have happened to him— but it’s impossible not to let a few tears slip out.

“I missed you so much,” she says.

“I missed you too,” Jayce says as he wraps his arms around her. His grip around her is tight, as if he’s half worried that she’ll disappear if he lets her go. 

With his arms so tightly around her, it’s hard for Corinna to miss the feeling of something hard against her back. At first she thinks it must be the rune stone from Jayce’s armband, though she thought he wasn’t wearing it. She pulls back just a little, still mostly being held tightly against Jayce, but enough that she’s able to take his arm and bring it around to see his left wrist. 

She was right that he’s not wearing his armband anymore. It’s strange not seeing it on him, but what’s far stranger is what’s in its place. The rune stone that had been embedded in the leather band he always wore is now buried in his skin. Deep red marks are etched in his skin around it, forming patterns that almost look like webbing. 

“Oh, baby, what happened to you?” Corinna asks. She runs a finger down his wrist, feeling where flesh is interrupted by the cool feel of a gem. At least touching it doesn’t seem to hurt him, though she can’t imagine what happened to cause this. 

“It doesn’t matter,” Jayce says, resting his forehead against Corinna’s. 

“It does if you got hurt,” she says. “You were gone for months, Jayce. I had no idea what happened, or if you were even alive, or—”

“It was months?” he asks. 

“Yeah.” Corinna sighs, brushing some of his hair back with one hand. “Not knowing what happened to you or Mel was about to kill me.”

“Mel’s gone?”

“She disappeared around the same time that you did. It… it was terrible losing you both. Maybe since you’re back we can try to find her together? I looked everywhere, and even asked Ambessa if she knew anything, but nothing’s turned up yet.”

Jayce is silent. It’s hard for Corinna to tell what he’s thinking, but it’s obvious whatever is going through his head can’t be good. She doesn’t know how to get him to talk to her. Normally conversation between them comes easily. But whatever happened to him these last couple of months must have shaken him. 

“Can we talk more in bed?” Jayce asks after a moment. 

“Whatever you want.”

Corinna untangles herself for Jayce’s arms to sit down on the edge of the bed. She waits for him to get settled next to her, laying down so his head rests on her lap. She and Mel used to tease him that he’s like a giant dog that’s convinced he’s a lapdog, always seeking out an opportunity to be cradled in their arms. He wraps his arms around her middle, laying on his side so that he's facing her and letting his eyes drift closed for a moment.

They cuddle quietly together for a while. Then he says, “I saw the end of the world, and it was my fault.”

All Corinna can manage to respond with is, “What?”

“I went to the hex vault with Heimerdinger and Ekko— his new prodigy, or something— and we found one of the wild runes I told you about before that Viktor had been looking into. It was giant, Cori, and I— I don’t know. It feels like forever ago at this point. But something happened, and the three of us were basically drawn into it,” Jayce explains. “I don’t know where the others went, I don’t know if they’re even still alive. But where I was… it was a nightmare.

“Everything was destroyed. Piltover, Zaun— I’m pretty sure everything outside of them too,” he continues, his voice cracking. “There was no one there. Everyone was dead or turned into these— these mechanical puppet things. There were shells of people out there, but nothing alive. And it was all because of Hextech.”

Corinna’s silent for a moment. If nothing else, she’s sure Jayce is telling the truth of what he saw. Him being gone for the past months was without question real, and he’s not the type to lie, especially not about something like this. But it’s still unbelievable, sounding more like a play that she’d write than something that would actually happen to someone. And Jayce of all people shouldn’t have to go through something as horrible as that. 

“You’re sure it was Hextech?” Corinna eventually asks. 

“Yes, I’m sure. I saw the thing that I made there— the things I spent my life on. I’d know it anywhere,” Jayce says. “And I… I also knew Viktor there, even though he was different. More machine than human. He was controlling everything somehow. And it’s my fault because I used the Hexcore to try to save him.”

“You can’t blame yourself for that. You were trying to help your friend, you couldn’t have known any of this would have happened. Or could happen,” Corinna says. 

“Maybe. But I still need to fix what I started. I don’t know if I’ve done enough yet.”

Another moment of silence comes over them. Corinna feels like whatever he means by fixing things has to be something big, but she doesn’t know what. All she can do is hope whatever it is, he’ll be able to come back to her at the end of it all. 

“Well, no matter what, you know I’m always here to help you,” Corinna says. She squeezes his shoulder with one hand, toying with his hair with the other. “You’re back home, so that’s one step done. We just need to find Mel now, and then… stop the apocalypse while also trying to prevent a war between Piltover and Zaun and stopping Noxus from potentially taking over.”

It feels as ridiculous to say out loud as it is to think about. There are still countless massive things on their plate, and she of all people shouldn't be one of the people trying to fix these problems. She's not a politician, she's not a fighter, she's not anything special. But at least now Corinna can start hoping things can get better instead of worrying she's lost both of the people she loved most. 

“There’s something else we need to talk about,” Jayce says.

“What else?”

“When I was in the wild rune, I could feel magic everywhere. And it felt… familiar. Not just like Hextech, but like— like Mel,” he says. 

“You think Mel has some kind of magic,” Corinna says. 

“I know she does.” Jayce rolls onto his back, looking up at her. “She might not be the person we thought she was.”

Corinna frowns. “What are you talking about?”

“Mel’s the reason that I didn’t die in the attack on the council. I don’t know what happened, but she— she did something, and it saved us,” he says.

“And that’s a bad thing?”

“It is if it means she could have saved everyone but just saved me.”

“Jayce, you know Mel. I’m sure if she could have done something to save everyone, she would have. But maybe it’s something where she just didn’t know what was happening, or there was some kind of limit to what she could do, or… I don’t know, something.”

“Or she just wanted to protect her investment,” Jayce replies drily, his eyes narrowed.

“You’re not an investment.”

“Sure I am. She only took an interest in me because of Hextech anyway.” He sighs, rolling onto his side again to all but bury his face in Corinna’s stomach. “Ugh. I was an idiot. I don’t know why I didn’t think of this sooner.”

Corinna is quiet for a moment, running her fingers through Jayce’s hair. Whatever happened to him while he was away, it must have done something bad to him. This isn’t the kind of thing he would have said before, and it’s hard to tell where this is coming from. Maybe being alone for as long as he was did something to him, maybe it’s some kind of response to everything that he saw there. If anything would make him doubt Mel, it seems the apocalypse is a fair enough reason for concern.

But Corinna can’t bring herself to share that distrust. Maybe Mel does have magic, and maybe she was hiding that from them. But she’s still the woman that Corinna’s grown to love. If she was keeping secrets from them, it had to have been for a reason, and she won’t give up on her so easily. 

She also won’t be giving up on Jayce, though. Not when she just got him back to her. The months apart would have been unthinkable before— they’ve practically been inseparable since he first arrived in Piltover. Corinna doesn’t know what’s going on right now, but he doesn’t seem like himself. The last thing she’s sure either of them needs is to lose the other again.

“You’re not an idiot,” Corinna says. “But I think you might be stressing yourself out more than you need to, Jay.”

“You weren’t there,” Jayce says.

“I wasn’t. But I know you, and I know Mel. If you say it feels like she has some kind of magic, I believe you. I just don’t think that she was keeping it from us for a bad reason. If she just wanted to use you, I really doubt that she would’ve been interested in me too, or that she would’ve told us some of the stuff about herself she did.”

He’s quiet for a second. Then he sighs, rolling onto his back again to look up at Corinna. “You’re probably right.”

“I hope so.”

“I don’t— shit. Nothing makes sense anymore. I don’t know what I’m supposed to think about anything.”

“Well, will staying here for a while and resting help?”

“Maybe,” Jayce says. “I need to shower too. I probably smell and look awful.”

He does, but Corinna’s been able to push past that with how relieved she is to have him back. “We’ll do whatever you want, baby.”

Jayce takes Corinna’s hand in his, guiding it up to his lips to press a quick kiss to the back of it. “Thank you for being here for me.”

“And I will be until the end,” Corinna promises. 

[solitaireships]

Gingerbread Home

Here's the first of the Christmas fics I've been working on! We're leading into them with some Arts and Sciences stuff, partially inspired by something I saw on twitter about Ar/cane characters making gingerbread houses. I didn't really agree with what they said for Jayce, but I did like the concept of the thread enough so here we are!

Rating: Teen

Genre: Fluff

Words: 1039 words

Divider by strangergraphics

“Corinna, dear, could you pass me the gumdrops?” Mel asks, finishing applying a bit of icing to the top of the gingerbread house they’ve been working on.

Corinna picks up the bowl, passing it up to Mel as she does her own work at icing around the windows. “There you go.”

“Thank you.” As Mel starts picking gumdrops out of the bowl, lining them up in a neat row at the top of the gingerbread house’s roof, she looks down at where Corinna’s working. “Hmm, I like the accents around the windows.”

“I figured they’d help it look a little more sophisticated.”

“You figured correctly.”

“Either way, though, I’m pretty sure we’re making the best gingerbread house to ever exist,” Corinna says. 

It is an impressive one, after all. They’ve been working on it practically all day now, with Jayce getting them started by putting together the actual house. Corinna’s used to him going all out with gingerbread houses— going back to when they were kids, she can remember him trying to build gingerbread skyscrapers. While not as ambitious as a building as tall as he is, this year he managed to put together a large, two story gingerbread house that could practically double as a dollhouse. And while Jayce is excellent at applying his engineering prowess to putting together the house itself, he’s left the gingerbread house decorating to Corinna and Mel. 

If Corinna’s honest, Mel’s doing the majority of the work. She’s an incredible painter, and it seems her artistic abilities extend to cookie art. It’s fun getting to help her, even if they’re not just doing it just for the sake of it. Mel’s hosting a Christmas party this weekend, and as much as Corinna dreads an evening stuck with Piltover’s rich and powerful, it’ll at least be nice having something she and her partners made at the center of the event. 

“Ugh, dammit,” Jayce mumbles under his breath. 

“Everything okay?” Corinna asks. 

“Fine. Just not nearly as good at art as you two,” he replies, frowning down at the gingerbread people in front of him. 

Corinna comes around behind where he sits at the other end of the table, taking a look at his work. He's been busy with decorating gingerbread people while Corinna and Mel have been working on the house, saying he needed something to keep him occupied while they worked. There are five gingerbread people in front of him, only two of which are actually decorated. The first has thick, dark lines of icing that are presumably supposed to be locs, with a white dress trimmed in gold. The second is the one he was working on, with hair that starts brown before turning a dark shade of pink. He was in the middle of drawing what looks to be a pair of glasses, though the right rim ended up being a little too big around her frosted eyes. 

“Aww, Jay, are you making gingerbread versions of us?” Corinna asks, grinning at him. 

Jayce sighs, putting down the icing so he can tilt his head back and run a hand through his hair. Mel comes around the table to look now too, a smile lighting up her face as she sees Jayce’s efforts. 

“I’m trying to,” he says. “I don’t get how you’re able to be so precise with these damn things.”

“Mel’s the one who’s actually precise. I’m just good with ideas and broader stuff,” Corinna says. 

“And I think that gingerbread me and gingerbread Corinna are absolutely adorable,” Mel notes. She places one hand on Jayce’s shoulder. “They look lovely.”

“Thanks. And sorry about messing up the glasses,” he says. 

“It’s no big deal. If anything, it adds to the charm,” Corinna says. 

“I’ll make sure everything lines up better for the rest of it,” Jayce promises. “Ugh, I still need to work on ones for me, Cait, and Viktor.”

“I’m sure if nothing else, gingerbread Jayce will be just as sweet as you are,” Mel says. 

“Ha,” Jayce says drily. “Just make sure you leave a couple of the mini candy canes for me. I need them for Viktor and my canes.”

Corinna leans down, giving Jayce a quick kiss on the top of his head. “You’re so cute. And I’m sure that the rest of your little gingerbread people are gonna be perfect.”

“Thanks,” he says. 

“But we’ll leave you to your art so we can finish up their house,” Mel says. She brushes her hand along Jayce’s shoulder as she passes by him, heading back to the other end of the table. “We will be taking pictures of your finished work with it, though.”

“Only as long as those pictures don’t end up on social media,” Jayce argues. 

“I don’t see any reason why everyone shouldn’t be able to appreciate your work.”

“They’ll be appreciating it already with any pictures of the house, they don’t need to also see my terrible cookie art skills.”

“Be nicer to yourself,” Corinna chides. “But I’ll make sure that she doesn’t put it on any official socials, at least.”

“I knew I could count on you, Cori,” Jayce says with an appreciative sigh. 

“Mhm. I will be relentlessly complimenting you for all of them once you finish up, though,” she says.

He grins in response. “Well, I wouldn’t say no to you praising me some.”

Corinna laughs. “I’m sure you wouldn’t. But you’re gonna need to finish them up first so I can do that.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he replies teasingly. 

Corinna gives him one last quick grin before she returns with Mel to finish up the gingerbread house. There’s a joy in the act of creation, that’s what got her into writing in the first place, but there’s something even more special about being able to create something with the ones she loves. 

Maybe that’s a part of getting into the Christmas spirit for her. It’s not just about the gifts, the lights, or anything else. It’s getting to do something she loves with the people she loves, with this house and the cookies Jayce is working on practically being a product of their love. And this is far better than any gift that she could find under the Christmas tree. 

[solitaireships]

Crying bcs I was joking on twitter that someone should draw me and Jayce as this one pic of someone drawing their ponysona cuddling with Obama for some reason and my friend @moonflower-song actually did it. Everyone say thank you Merc

[solitaireships]

Corinna and Jayce were childhood friends and lived next door to each other. They both had crushes on each other when they were in school, but they only ended up actually getting together after act 1 of season 1, I'd say maybe a year or so after the end of that. Then at some point between acts 1 and 2 is when Mel ends up expressing interest in both of them and she ends up joining the relationship

[solitaireships]

hiya, selfship secret santa here! for reference, how tall is corinna?

Hey there! She’s 5 foot 6, tho a little taller in heels. Of course her partners are both super tall, so that doesn’t help much lol

Here’s a reference in comparison to Jayce and Mel! Including ones to factor in Corinna and Mel’s heels depending on what you want to do

[solitaireships]

Ideas from twitter of what I will do to fix Mel and Jayce stuff in my selfship universe. Spoilers for the end of season 2

Instead of stuff with the Arcane taking over or whatever, Jayce learns while there what he set in motion with Viktor becoming the Machine Herald. But what he doesn’t realize is killing him at his commune doesn’t stop that and he still ends up beginning to augment himself

Jayce thinking Mel used him came from him recognizing the feel of her magic in the Arcane and realizing that Viktor manipulated the whole course of his life

Mel gets the comfort she deserves after the torment she went through with the Black Rose. Maybe even lap cuddle time

Mel takes the lead rallying Piltover and Zaun against the newly reborn Machine Herald Viktor. He and Ambessa are working together more actively maybe? idk

Mel gets the Ambessa fight to herself. No Caitlyn involvement, this should be a moment just for her

Jayce and Viktor fight. Neither win, but both are forced back. This is the kind of start of the cycle of things between them, with them always being in opposition with each other. The crystal in Jayce’s arm also plays in somehow but idk how yet

Piltover and Zaun are still in conflict, and things might actually be worse since now Piltover is blaming Zaun for everything Viktor did in terms of the attacks on them

Mel stays for a bit to help Piltover recover and attempt to smooth things over with Zaun. It doesn’t work well. But she’s being called back to Noxus and wants to learn more of her powers. Jayce and Corinna go with her since they don’t want to leave her to deal with all of that alone

Jayce’s leg is still messed up from everything he went through. He has good days where all he needs is a brace, but sometimes he does also need a cane (especially after exerting himself)

[solitaireships]

I remembered this picrew exists. Look at the polycules on my mind

[solitaireships]

Hi guys, it’s time for my polycules. I couldn’t find a good one for a ship with four people, so I just cut together my own from the gibbarts template (I was not trying the rest of it lmao)

[solitaireships]

Hello, Mel! What's your favorite way to spend time with your partners? Are there any activities or hobbies you all like to do together? -- violetsareblue-selfships

Corinna has a tendency to be... independent, I suppose would be the best way to describe it. But both of us are ultimately artists. Sometimes we'll work on our respective crafts together- she'll work on her next play, while I work on my paintings. And Jayce always likes to join us to talk through some of his ideas about the hex crystals and everything else he's working on. I think it helps him to get all of his thoughts out of his head.

We also enjoy to take nights out together. To dinner, or to go see a show at the opera house. And of course Jayce and I always assure we have front row seats for any performances of Corinna's works.

Thank you for this question. I'll have to see about arranging another night out with them soon.

[solitaireships]

Pre-Relationship - 4 & 5 General - 2 & 8 Domestic Life - 10

For Jayce & Mel! :3

This actually is perfect bcs I’ve been contemplating making my ship with Mel and Jayce poly, so I’ll use this as some poly CoriMelJay stuff lol

Pre-relationship 4) Who felt romantic feelings first?

I think that the way things worked out, Jayce and Corinna got together first, with Jayce having a crush on her for a while beforehand. Then Mel started to get feelings for both of them and the three of them all decided to date

Pre-relationship 5) Did either of them try to resist their feelings?

Mel may have a little at first since she wasn’t sure if either of them would be interested in polyamory. It all worked out in the end tho clearly

General 2) Did they have an official first date? If so, what was it like?

As a throuple, I think their first date all together would have been a very nice dinner that Mel decided to treat the others to. Part of that dinner included talking about how their relationship would work

General 8) Who gets jealous easier?

Jayce, tho he doesn’t get super jealous. He mainly just gets a little pouty

Domestic life 10) Who’s the better cook?

Once again Jayce. I love Mel, but she cannot cook lol. Corinna’s a decent chef, but Jayce is really good at cooking from his mom teaching him

[solitaireships]

3, 7, 9 -- violetsareblue-selfships

Answering this with Mel and Jayce!

3) Who really adores the festive season?

Jayce absolutely. I think that he and his family used to go all out with celebrating it, and that's something he's carried on since moving out. He loves the festivities and he's the king of gingerbread house making. Fic about that will be incoming lol

7) How do the three of you spend a day at the ice skating rink? Who is the better skater?

Mel is for sure the best skater, she's in general just so effortlessly graceful that I can see that carrying over. Jayce, however, is awful at skating and is always on the verge of falling. Mel and Corinna spend most of the time on the ice, while he enjoys the sight of his two gfs together and drinks some hot chocolate

9) Who goes out into the cold without a scarf/jacket/etc? And who chastises them and gives them a scarf/jacket/etc?

I think Corinna would be the most likely to tbh, it's less her forgetting something and more just her not thinking about cold it is then being surprised when she goes out. Jayce is like a living furnace tho, so he's glad to give up his coat. Mel chastises her a little, but then gifts her a really nice winter coat to make sure she doesn't forget in the future