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nyxsedai · 1 month ago

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under the water

Pairing: Counselor!Sevika x Assistant!Reader

Summary: When Sevika's eyes catches your frame across the lit up circle of the Council, the air stills and it evades her lungs. Everything that was, changes in some degree, and nothing can be done for the lack of words that turmoil until they're a river of it, flowing nonstop, all about you.

WC: 4k words.

☆。*。☆。

Under the water alone I pray for calmer seas…

To Sevika, most conversation ended in one of either paths—uncomfortable, or annoying. She hated it. The less there were of it, the better; it’s a wonder and a half she ended up where she is now. In this ridiculously high chair, surrounded by people who loved words. Loved talking. Indulged, thriving in the sound of their own voices.

What am I doing here? she was thinking. It’d been only the beginning of the meeting and although she was more of an observer and “pot stirrer” as Counselor Jayce liked calling her one time, Sevika was here. She cared about that.

This was a place of position, and she learned long ago to respect those.

At first, she’d been at a loss. In under a week, she understood she needed to know and be a step ahead to be in the same wavelength as these other folk. Sevika learned about them. She brought her own notes, which she busied herself with quite often, and listened to Salo trying to sound as he did nowadays—knowledgeable and less prejudiced, but what Sevika had been thinking of regarding the old man slips away when, without meaning to, her eyes realize—

Behind Medarda.

Sevika had been so busy with everything going on inside the circle that her senses escaped the outskirts of it, and there, almost as if bathed by the low veil of darkness that stretches behind every chair, there was a figure. Someone whose notepad glimmered in gold, matching the bracelets adoring the wrists.

It’s the gold that catches her eyes, she realizes.

Sevika’s drawn by sparkling, beautiful things as much as the next person—which is to say, she loved when something seemed like it had a natural, beautiful glow.

Until this day she recalled seeing the Blue Morpho swimming on the edge of what used to be the Downside River. The glow in the wings, resembling the neon lights of the street but somehow prettier—Sevika stayed there for hours at end, and she would stay here too, now.

Because…

well, aren’t you a sight?

A sight. Sevika’s eyes work on their own accord, drinking every inch in. From the sparkling notepad to the shoes, the legs, the middle, the arms, the all of it.

The temperature in the room stops being what it once was.

Being a woman of very few words meant this: when Sevika found herself without a single one to spare—without even the start of a syllable forming in the back of her mind or finding its way to the tip of her tongue, everything stopped.

Then, it kind of spinned.

And when she saw you, it did.

There used to be things running her through her mind, a tree of connected talks and concerns regarding Zaun and Piltover, the people that counted on these hard heads making somewhat decent decisions, and here she was, with her neck stiff.

Sevika first laid eyes on you in the middle of a meeting, without intention or notice, and you noticed.

Why is she looking back at me?

The temperature was no longer the same, and neither was the curiosity in her mind. That had already taken a life of its own.

Such pretty eyes. Such a pretty mouth.

There—those are words. Too bad they’re the inappropriate and addictive kind, and they make her feel her lips dry.

Then, you turned away, took notes on a piece of paper you held in your arms, and she was forced to confront the notion that it was you, not your eyes that had a certain—power.

Who is this?

The notion of how to make a sense of more than just a few words — such pretty eyes… such a pretty mouth being the only ones — and realize the discussion is still happening only appeared after what felt like an eternity. She stood there in the same pose; the only sign of life being her fingers twirling her pen, over, around, under, then again.

In those spare seconds where she managed to fit a small cut of an eternity, Sevika did something else she thought to be an art long gone from her body and already lost in her sea of things that left to never return:

Cataloging a body. Analyzing the traces and curves, shaped by the way the light hits and how the fabrics picked out by you — cashmere and silk, she dared guessing — and how it all hugged your body.

Apparently, it’s one of those things you never unlearn: Bike riding, cooking a dish, checked someone out.

The reason why her eyes found your frame in the first place sat in front of you—Councilor Medarda, a consultant to this circle, was the person to whom you leaned in and whispered something after finishing your notes.

That meant you had to be the Apprentice mentioned by Medarda as the mediator she’s hired who acted as her extent in her matters, and it’s instantaneous what landing her eyes on you does to Sevika.

She stills.

The moment her eyes find you and there, your eyes are opened and gazing, staring right through Sevika—

then, in one, two seconds, you look away.

The gaze that was on Sevika’s frame—somewhere between her fingers which now twirled around with the silken thread and the lower half of her face, landing her on her eyes staring equally back at you; those sparkling eyes are now set on the notepad held by that golden clipboard, making Sevika wonder what’s more interesting in them.

And the hardest part of all is: words escape her lips and the trail of thought keeping up with the meeting around her dissipate into a thin, fresh cloud of mist, but in her mind, there’s plenty going on.

It had been ages since someone’s frame robbed her of north for a moment, making her pause. Look.

Take in.

Ache a little bit—curiosity is a pain when it clenches at your insides.

Sevika kind of hates this.

And as much as she had nothing to say, out of the sudden, her mind detoured to roads her feet wondered to too long ago.

It’s been to long since she wanted to know what other people were whispering about. Ages since she found herself squirming where she sat, with a source for her discomfort pulsing in the guilty rhythm of her heartbeat right between her legs.

And as much as Sevika had other things to do, as well— pressing things, important matters that also filled countless layers of paper with information right in front of her, something else she considered to be an atrocious and silly thought, much like checking out somebody else — Sevika’s eyes crawled back for a bit more, eager to paint in her mind each inch of the gorgeous shape that were your lips.

Which were not her only source of distraction.

“—don’t you think, Counselor Sevika?” asks Jayce.

It fucks her up—one simple question; one she missed, because she’s far away. On the other side of the circle, to be more precise.

Having to think fast, Sevika hides the need to twist her neck or do something else to show she feels the weight of everyone’s eyes on her. “I can’t recall the last time I agreed with you.”

Some of the others laugh, Jayce included.

A knot unties in Sevika’s chest, and having gotten what he wanted from her ambiguous response, Jayce turns his calm features to Salo, going back around to his point.

Sevika’s given up.

There was more than generally everything so obviously entrancing about you.

There were also your eyes. The ones that caught her in the middle of her…. gazing. That looked away when both pairs of eyes seemed to lock with a click.

Piercing orbs, shining for those singular eternal two seconds, then taking away all their entrancing glow somewhere else, leaving her with no other option but to drink the bridge that went down to your nose. Partaking in true Piltover fashion, there was a piercing on your nose, glistening in the same material as the rest of the jewelry on your body. It put all the other colors in the room pale in comparison—she’d only felt that staring at Mel Medarda for the first time after the Rebirth, and not even then did she look so much.

Sevika eyes followed the hair style and the way your hair fell on your shoulders. That concentration, thick and palpable in the features you proudly exhibited, simply… existing there.

Shoulders postured back and that seriousness on your face that was probably what rendered Sevika this way—frozen, even though she’s aware of at least that.

A part of her mind reminds her she should be ashamed of stealing so many looks—

Ogling. I’m…

Stunned. Hiding it poorly that this meeting is all but fucking over to her.

She’d later keep this part to herself, but each squirm Sevika’s body is incapable of holding down in that ridiculous big chair of theirs, it makes everything worse. Nothing makes her comfortable anymore.

She had seen the interesting choice for shoes, the discerning outfit, penciled and tailored to elevate the aura of knowledge already placed naturally on your shoulders, the bracelets—a pair set of them, that being the only jewelry you wear other than the noticeable tattoos on your shoulders and neck, when she finishes her check up and finds it there, already waiting for her, the very same set of eyes which turned her buttoned all the way up jacket to feel the same as an armlock. As tight and uncomfortable.

Not nearly as warm, though.

It’s hot.

Under the collar of her clothes, choking the knot already forming on her throat at looking back at you.

Gorgeous.

That’s word, she thinks with humor.

At the smile that climbs up the corner of Sevika’s mouth, your gaze is gone again, and there’s a sudden alarm that goes off somewhere, a siren blasting—

“Councilor Sevika?” it’s louder.

It’s a repetition.

Heimerdinger’s eyes are soft as ever, but it unnerves Sevika that he’s not the only council member now looking at her.

“Councilman Salo asked if you agree with him,” Heimerdinger repeats himself, and isn’t that a saving hand?

She’d been distracted by an entrancing and hypnotizing set of… well, she would say lips, but part of her had been wondering who was the person who gifted her those bracelets, because Sevika knew that metal from up close and recognizes runic work when she saw them—they looked special and something told her they had been a gift, so it was not only about the lips.

She thanks whatever is out there that she always takes her time to replying, and wishes not for the first time she had a cigarette. This is the second distraction. She might have to drown in alcohol tonight.

“Counselor Salo…” who were you? “The last time we talked about these matters, your opinion was that somethings are just consequences of improper governing. Then, you said so many absurdities after that, that I’m trying trying to find my footing believing what comes out of your mouth or not.”

“Well, that’s because you seem to want to live in a world made up for fantasies, Counselor Sevika.”

Nailed it. She had to give it to him—making sure every time he said her name prefaced by her designation sounding like a mockery, in a measured, calculated level, was an art by now.

Sevika catches a smile across the room formed and exposed midst the golden hues of Medarda’s tattoos.

That’s another part Sevika fails to tell Vi or Nina later on: a Medarda’s smile does wonders to turn bold someone’s already high ego.

“I’m not the one who watches outer space opera in an exclusive island of dubious descent and proven Arcane touches.” There—it’s the most she’s said the whole meeting, and it’s dipped and swimming in the knowledge that it was observed.

Sevika’s collar burns once again, and it makes her want to say more.

Stupid.

Salo opens his mouth again, but the gods are gracious and Jayce speaks up upfront. There are worse graces than being saved by Talis, and it spares Sevika of two evils.

One, listening to Salo a bit more.

Two, pretending she’s capable of understanding what she’s listening.

Getting through the meeting turns out to be a hassle. A frown sows its way into her face, and she does her best at juggling having seen the most beautiful person in a good damned while and yet another meeting that felt it had its weight in gold and titanium, as heavy as the new left arm she’s yet to accustom to.

When it all ends, Sevika’s mind feels wrung out, and her body, a boiled, needy mess of knots.

It takes forever for everyone to be sat at the round table, but in under a minute, they’re all gone, it seems, and Sevika feels a little less on alert at taking in the silence and the illuminated circle. There’s not a single dust flying in the air, and when she breathes in, it almost burns her nostrils. An icy, cold breath, every time.

“Counselor Sevika?”

Well, shit.

She turns around to face Medarda and—yeah. Sure enough, there you are.

By her side, this time.

“I was hoping to introduce you to someone,” Medarda continues. If she’s bothered by Sevika’s silence like most people from Piltover seem to be, she’s great at hiding it. “This is my assistant and good friend.” Your name flows out of Medarda’s lips, swimming inside of Sevika’s mind, diving deep.

She wants to repeat it out loud, so she presses her lips together instead. She’s end up whispering it like a fool.

Medarda says your name again, “this is Counselor Sevika.”

“Hello, Counselor.” Against all odds, your voice follows everything else she’s so far seen about you: somehow perfect, with a touch of unique, with a glint of curiosity tingling underneath Sevika’s skin. She’d been around Piltover folks for months at end now and none of them had this—you tilt your head at her, looking up from underneath your thin framed glasses. “I was hoping to ask you some questions.” And Sevika was hoping there were five of them. Ten. It could be an interview, for all she cared. Mistaking her silence for something other than an infatuation blossoming, standing as tall as the chairs behind her and as much as she’d like to name it as ridiculous, she’s incapable of that. When you blink twice and add, “If that’s alright with you,” sounding so close to worried, she managed a mental self slap.

“Of course.”

Your shoulders relax. “Right.”

Smiling as cattish and slippery as a fox, Medarda claps once her hands together. “Wonderful.” Looking at Sevika, Medarda says. “She’s managed to get out all the information she wanted from all the other counselors already.”

Oh. Sevika had no business walking around or going out in Piltover. Certainly not around the same circles as Mel Medarda and her assistant. “I see,” there’s the project of a smile hiding in the right corner of Sevika’s lips.

If there’s anything bothering you about your boss and good friend exposing the nature of your questions intent, you’re good at hiding them, too.

“You only answer what you’re comfortable answering. Of course.”

“Of course,” Sevika repeats. Then, it slips out—your name, falling from her lips.

“Yes?”

She’d have to think fast but the curiosity’s taken in when she heard the name already, not followed by anything. “Folks from Piltover are very careful to say their last name or the family they’re being financed by these days.”

The implied question is met with a challenge in your eyes that reaches inside her gut. “They are.”

Sevika’s eyebrows fly up.

“I’m from Undercity.”

Of course you are. She switches her “What are the questions?”

“I’ll find you outside?” Medarda asks you. After a nod and and unspoken conversation shared in a couple of glances, there are only the two of you in the room.

Sevika’s arms remain stiff and awkward, not knowing where they should stand—your body’s so perfect in its stillness that it bubbles the squirming itch underneath her own skin.

“Okay.” You pull out the notepad from somewhere and clip your pen, looking at her with the same weight of piercing orbs that made Sevika lose and entire meeting, alternating between floating and couching up layers of thoughts and thoughts of you. “I dug most of these information out of the others through—dubious questions, but I guess with you I can—I’ll ask you directly, and you reply if you want to.”

“Is this your first meeting?” it seemed you had figured out how Sevika worked already despite never been here in person.

You shake your head. “The golden round globe was me.” You referred to the item Medarda had laid in front of her for the last three meetings. “So, technically, no.”

“Got it.”

“Can I start?”

“Sure.”

“Are you aware of the involvement of the Fireflies with the Underwater and Undercity trades?”

As soon as the words are out of your mouth, so is the smile of out of hiding. Sevika’s lips pull up without her permission, and the best she can do is hold down her laughter. “Oh.” When you keep staring, expectant and as serious as before, Sevika’s shoulders are the first part of her to relax. “Yeah.” She holds her right hand to her hip, and tells herself she can get through this for as long as she keeps her eyes on yours, and no other part of you. “Of course I am.”

“Right. Are you aware they’re being followed by members of a lower guild looking to steal blueprints of their technology and hiding spot?’

Any laughter dies inside of her, and Sevika shakes her head. “How many members?”

“As far as I know, five.” You write something down. “Are you aware that Jinx is still alive?”

That re postures her. The last — and only time — someone asked her this, they ended up pinned between her metal arm and the concrete wall. “How do you know that?”

“I was one of the first who realized it. Tried to keep it on the low for as long as I could, but it was only a matter of time before someone else caught on. Three months ago, someone did.”

The golden round globe was me.

That was three months ago.

The next question manages to outdo the previous one in surprise—not by content, but by tone. “Is she okay?”

Worry.

Sevika’s tried wrapping her brain around the fact Jinx became what she did. “Yeah, she is.” Usually, she calls people ‘kid’, or another nickname to remind them of their place. The only thing that’d fall out of her lips now could get her in trouble.

“Good. Jayce’s been walking circles around something for a while now and it might link itself to her, although, I wish it wouldn’t. How much do you trust Jayce?”

For a second, she has to think; then, the answers just find its way out of her.

None of your questions are things she’d like to evade.

If only people asked everything in such a direct and honest matter—she’d have more opportunities to laugh inside this beautifully re-constructed room, much like she does when you ask, “and do you think Salo has had a change of mind and heart?”

She laughs.

It’s a burst of it, and it’s made ten times better when Sevika sees that it breaks at your impassive mask, turning both corners of your lips upwards.

“Do I have to answer that?”

“I think you just did,” you’re smiling.

Sevika’s made countless women smile before in her life, but it’s been too long since she cared about doing it. “Guess I did.”

“What of Counselor Heimerdinger?” You asked taking another note. “Do you trust him?”

Over the course of five minutes, Sevika’s interrogated. Through those same minutes, she finds herself answer most if not all of your questions.

The ones left unanswered are the ones she has no idea up until now, but every one of them gave her something to think about.

When she feels it’s nearing an end, she can already feel a grip around her heart and stomach, something squeezing at the thought of leaving your presence without the knowledge of when it’ll happen again—looking at you and being looked back, so unabashedly.

Sevika sort of wants to stay here.

She’s been close enough to get a whiff of what you smell like. The dance of your hand against the paper seems almost familiar in comfortable under such short notice. Sevika holds down the squirming in order to look composed enough after how lacking the distraction must’ve looked on her face.

When it happens, Sevika tells herself the staring is okay for as long as you are doing it.

“Thanks for your patience,” you tell her.

“Not a problem.”

“It was much better than enduring space opera to interrogate Salo and his business partner, I’ll tell you as much.”

Sevika smirks. “Oh—you don’t have to lie to me.”

For the first time, you let it out—it’s a breath of a laughter, but it works just as fine. “I’m not.”

“This ten minute interrogation was better than space opera?”

“It was.” The intentional look into her eyes makes Sevika want a tall glass of cold water. That’s how fancy, hot, and delusional it leaves her feeling. One single look and—is she dragging this out, too?

“I have a hard time believing that.”

“You should.” This time, it’s you who squirms under the silkiness flowing down your shoulders. “This was easy and… comfortable.”

“Space opera was not?”

“I think you can imagine how it feels like to watch something otherworldly among people and beings whose mere existence makes you feel like an outsider.”

If there was any doubt lingering in Sevika to where that authenticity came from—the spark of glow amidst supernaturals and geniuses, it settled there and then.

“I would imagine it’s beautiful.”

Breathless, the words come out confessional. “It was.” Then, you lick at dry lips and swallow around a visible knot. “Too bad I couldn’t enjoy a second of it.”

It makes a whole burn in her chest, but for the thousandth time in her life, her silence’s mistaken for something else.

“You don’t need to hear my whining,” you laugh is self deprecating, but you’re talking before she can finish opening her lips. “You’ve done enough. Thank you again, Counselor.”

She hated being called that.

In your lips, it sounded almost nice. “Don’t worry—like I sad, it was not a problem. I—I enjoyed the—honest conversation… too.”

It comes out stiff—as frozen as her whole frame there, shadowing yours.

“Right.” Both of you are only capable of looking, but before the heat in Sevika’s skin can reach her clothes and catch something on fire, the sound of your shoe taking a step back makes air find its way to her lungs again. “I should get going.”

“Me too.”

You take a couple of steps to the side, but it’s only after a smile that you say, “I’ll see you at the town’s anniversary, Counselor Sevika.”

Sevika’s human hand clenches into a fist because—say it again, call my name again, say it a hundred more times—

Wait.

“What?”

“Piltover’s anniversary. A month from today. All counselors must attend… familiar?” the words do ring bells—many of them, and Sevika nods looking down at her boots.

“Of course.”

She hears your puff of laughter. “I’ll see you there.” She prays to hear it again.

“Yeah. I’ll see you there,” she finishes off with your name, almost as if tasting it.

She needs another few minutes before she leaves.

Everything is as bright as it was when she first saw you across the room. The roof of her brain has this new smell that she’d die and kill to discover that the hell it is made of. The smell of you.

Sevika’s at a loss of words, but at every turn, she finds a couple of new ones to describe the ridiculous things swirling inside of her whenever you cross her mind.

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issa-wasteland · 5 months ago

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Upon rewatching Arcane S2- Act 1, there are a few things I wanted to point out that could be up for discussion 💥SPOILERS AHEAD💥

Episode 1

The theory about Mel wearing armor and that’s why she wasn’t hurt or dead

Caitlyn’s dad tone when he asked why was Vi still there. As if she was to blame for the deaths of the counselors and I don’t like how it’s emphasized about how Vi is “one of the good ones” compared to the people of Zaun.

When Mel explained how it had to be someone from the inside who let the chembaron assassins in and there’s a quick cut to Ambessa. Like we all knew she was a warlord who wanted to cover up her crimes, but the fact that she was actually pulling the strings was the kicker.

When Ekko was talking to Caitlyn about how enforcers would hunt people down like animals back in S1, and then Caitlyn was having that dark thought of hunting down Jinx like an animal before Jayce came to see her……

Episode 2

Now that Silco is dead, Zaun has rapidly gone worse to the point it got really dark when you see children getting kidnapped to go do labor or worse. As the henchmen who are trying to grab Isha have numbers on their forehead. I don’t know if it’s easier for them to be identified but they’ve been offed by Jinx.

Smeech pokes fun of Sevika mywife for being a funny-looking rat because she’s not the right-hand who kept things in order and doing dirty work. I honestly think Sevika is fine being that right-hand and getting in the field to fight for her people than to step in and take Silco’s place like some people would expect. She knows how much work it is to be the boss and it’s frustrating when the current chembarons are fighting each other than the oppressor who’s the real enemy and why the people of Zaun are surviving off horrible conditions.

This is actually one of the few times we see Sevika become more vulnerable as she’s was struggling to fix her arm, clean up the mess that Silco left behind, and no plan on what to do next. We see how (valid) she is being hostile to Jinx before they get on a familiar footing about Silco, making them do his dirty work.

Ekko's character is very much alike to Miles Morales as this comparison has been on my mind for a while. They're almost the same person. Especially when it comes to wanting to protect their family and people while taking on hard decisions at a young age.

How was Sevika gonna defend against Smeech and his men if Jinx's gun wasn't kicked out of her hand? Since she followed Jinx and she was clear that she wouldn't sell her out.

I do like how Jinx added the gambling part to Sevika's arm from the little games she made when she was a kid. It's something that they connect to from the little games Jinx created and it being from Sevika's gambling. The new arm is unexpected, and she doesn't know the outcome, yet Sevika starts to grow into the gambling bit.

Episode 3

Salo pointed out that the Kiramman name bewitches people, and Ambessa is putting Caitlyn in power. It is not because she is qualified for the job, but she is easy to manipulate, just like the Kiramman name is easy to persuade other rich families and counselors to follow.

Despite Caitlyn being good with a gun, she wasn't in the right head space to even take the shot. She claimed she wasn't gonna miss, but Isha was trying to protect Jinx and clinging to her tighter, moving around. A small part of that scene, you can see her little head blocking Jinx, so I don't believe she had a clear shot.

The guy who looks similar to Vander left being an enforcer as I'm curious to know what he knows from experience. He knows this isn't gonna end well.

Idk what ya'll think so far?

#arcane #arcane league of legends #jinx arcane #violet arcane #sevika arcane #caitlyn kiramman #ambessa medarda #mel medarda #arcane silco #ekko arcane #arcane spoilers #isha arcane #salo arcane

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skvaderarts · 30 days ago

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Clandestine Covenant

Summary: Work Count 13k! AO3 Link

(In which Jayce and Viktor commit several SEVERE HR violations)

It's been a few short weeks since the fateful night that everything changed between then, and between time spent at the Hextech labs and schedule mishaps, Jayce and Viktor have yet to steal a single meaningful moment away from it all to do the one thing they both want to do most: spend meaningful time alone with one another and explore the depths of what their new blossoming love means to them. And how they seek to express it. After all, the possibilities are endless, and scientists seek discoveries.

The direct sequel to On the Breath of Yellow Tulips. Set about three years into the season 1 time skip. I decided to write more since everyone seemed to love it. Thank you! This is my first time ever writing smut. Let me know what you guys think!

Masterlist

Clandestine Covenant

Note: A week ago I finished OTBOYT and decided to throw this together while procrastinating the next chapter to another fic I also want to write. I am broken. Either way, READ “On the Breath of Yellow Tulips” BEFORE you read this one because THIS IS PART TWO! That’s all. Enjoy! I hope. Thanks!

—

The Piltover Academy labs were an extension of the body that governed the entirety of the city, and as such, had very specific standards regarding adherence to codes of conduct. Many of them were contradictory by their very nature, seemingly designed to create loopholes for those who were not officially expected to adhere to them. They were mostly concerned with keeping up appearances. But for lesser mortals, they would be enforced, hypocrisy notwithstanding.

And they were meeting none of them.

It was not considered appropriate to enter into a romantic relationship with a coworker. It was even less appropriate to display that affection in the workplace. To act upon more carnal desires? Absolute barbarism. The actions of a base, lecherous beast with no semblance of self-control. Lowly and beneath contempt.

Nepotism was fine, though. Expected, even. How else did one explain the appointment of counselor Salo?

The question of course was: where did the two illustrious co-founders of Hextech stand on that social ladder? Due to the unconventional nature of their recent engagement, they hadn’t exactly had the opportunity to enquire about it beforehand, coming to the conclusion that being married would more or less absolve them of the expectation to not allow their eyes to linger on one another for just a bit longer than was considered socially acceptable. If they could go that long without being discovered.

Perhaps it was the giddiness expected of any newly engaged couple. Perhaps they were just a bit overly excited about the prospect. But it seemed that they couldn’t maintain eye contact for more than a few seconds without the urge to be close to one another overwhelming them like heat syncope on a sweltering day. Surely it had nothing to do with the resplendent ecstasy that came from discovering that your unrequited love was not so secretly madly in love with you.

They were not school children, lacking impulse control or self-discipline. And yet at times, they felt like it, so intoxicated by the mere presence of one another as they were. The fact that they never left work did nothing to aid matters. Surely it would be much easier to relieve the building urge to be close to one another if they could just steal one quiet moment away from it all. But it had been a month and there had been no such release. No release of any sort, in fact.

They’d stolen a moment or two here or there when no one was looking. A gentle caress of the arm here and a delicate look of adoration there. Jayce had even managed to play with Viktor’s hair for a minute under the guise of adjusting his goggles for him. All meaningful little moments in their own ways, but not the grand gesture they both felt themselves building up to.

If their tame little trysts were discovered, would they be admonished for them? They’d told no one, after all. Not yet.

Well, Jayce wasn’t willing to find out. Not yet, at least.

Yet still, the longing remained. Jayce wanted the chance to hold Viktor. Yearned for his embrace. To tenderly look into his eyes for a long moment and bask in his unearthly aura for just a hair longer than what was considered acceptable. To feel his head rest against his shoulder as they stood in silence with one another. He wanted another moment like they’d spent together at the botanical gardens, blissfully unbothered by the way the world kept turning without them, just as they’d like. Good, it could ignore them long enough for them to savor the taste of one another, then. A kiss after a stressful week of prototype work would mean the world to them both. He knew Viktor would agree without even asking him. He was the risk-taker of the two of them, after all.

Much to Jayce’s curiosity, Viktor had been gradually warming up to the concept in the month since their clandestine engagement. Viktor had never been one to initiate physical intimacy. He still wasn’t. But Jayce had taken notice of the little ways that Viktor seemed to be working his way up to something. The way he looked deep in thought so much of the time their eyes met, but not in the way that he’d grown accustomed to. His eyes were filled with something different. Something undefinable to him.

His love was a silent, torrential thing with all the intensity of a newly formed star. It manifested in gentle praise for work well done and quiet, lingering smiles that spread to his golden eyes. Pleasant conversation over niche topics and mundane facts. In the tiny details, he’d heard once a year ago but never forgotten no matter how hyper-specific. Jayce adored the way Viktor leaned his cheek against his palm and absentmindedly twirled his fingers in his hair despite only grasping the ends. Had it been longer once, before he’d moved to Piltover from the Undercity?

What would longer hair look like on him he wondered to himself.

He looked down at the blueprints in front of him and realized that nothing had changed. It remained blank, the protractor still lying where it had been twenty minutes ago. His pen untouched. Sighing almost wistfully he reached over and grasped the well-loved book nearest to him with his family crest emblazoned onto the cover. A small smile crept onto his face that instantly bloomed into a larger, fonder one as he recalled the way Viktor had started to clasp his hands together in a slightly different manner recently to hide his ring. He refused to take it off as if doing so would take his ring finger with it. No one was to see it just yet, but they would not take from him the simple joy that peeking at it idly when he sat at his desk gave him. Something he was doing right now, in fact.

Jayce opened the journal under the false guise of checking and curating his notes, instead turning his attention to a blank page. He wondered if Viktor felt his tiny glances towards him, checking for reference. Of course, he did. Nothing slipped past his keen sixth sense. But he continued, swirls and circles becoming less errant and lines more defined as a rough sketch took shape before him. So engrossed in the task was he that he didn’t hear the stool skid away from the desk or the footsteps that approached, accompanied by the familiar clink of Viktor’s cane.

“What are you doing?” The words came from over his shoulder, whispered into his right ear as a familiar pressure made itself at home behind him. Right where it belonged. They weren’t touching, and somehow that was worse than if they’d simply done so. The way his partner’s breath ghosted gently over his neck made his skin prickle, tingling pleasantly. But he wanted it to be his lips. Imagined in his mind so many times what they felt like there.

What fools they’d been thinking they could just return to work, back to business as usual.

“I’m… “ Jayce knew that Viktor was no fool. His vast, keen intellect and inquisitive spirit were some of the qualities that he found most attractive about him. His eyes, beautiful as they were, functioned perfectly. And he could see the outline of Jayce’s work from where he stood, rendering any ill-fated fantasies of utilizing his cunningly scientific mind to dig himself out of this particular hole moot.

Perhaps it was best to just be honest with his partner.

Sighing in defeat, Jayce allowed the notebook to fall out of his hands with a soft plop, his forehead coming to rest in the palm of his hand as his elbow propped him up against the desk. He closed his eyes and scoffed to himself, his face turning a noticeable shade of red. Why was it so difficult to tell the man he adored most that he’d decided to take a break after hitting a wall? That he’d seen the way the light illuminated his face and it had bewitched him, compelling him to document the moment for posterity? Was it the sentimentality of it all? The lack of professionalism in the workplace? His inability to concentrate on the task at hand and not fawn over his soon-to-be husband with all the doting admiration of a teenager’s first love?

There was that word again. Husband. He felt his heart flutter as levity overtook him. He was overthinking this, and overthinking was leading him to be overly critical of his every action. He was madly in love, plain and simple. Perhaps there was a quiet beauty in that. There was certainly joy.

“I can’t think straight.” He confessed earnestly, a palpable level of exhaustion evident in his tone. “We haven’t had an overlapping day off in our schedules since that night and I just… “

Was it possible to miss someone you spent all day with? Jayce was convinced that it indeed was. They couldn’t unwind here, at least not in the way that he wanted them to. That he needed to. There was no hostility between them and no reason for there to be, the same harmony present in their movements, rhythms, and routines that had always naturally manifested itself. The same unbidden passing of a tool or correcting of an unaccounted-for variable in an equation over the shoulder. But the energy was different. There was a tension that wound like an over-coiled spring, threatening to break if they didn’t address this sooner or later.

Some of those lingering glances had lingered in undeniable ways, those breathless moments electrifying, arching between them like the flow of untamed lightning in a Tesla coil. No matter where they were they could hear one another's pulse; feel it as though their skin were making direct contact. Because it needed to. They yearned for a reprieve to simply unmask and settle in, quietly lingering in unbridled infatuation someplace where that love could not be deemed inappropriate. Work was not the place, but it was where they lived; their place of respite undergoing a peculiar, twisted metamorphosis into an unrecognizable proxy purgatory.

There was just this undeniable sense of… frustration…

“Coffee.”

The single word cut through the silence that had settled over the room, almost echoing due to the width and breadth of the space. His tone was so matter of fact that Jayce did an involuntary mental doubletake, crooking his head to the side to get a better look at him.

“What?” Jayce responded softly, bewildered and honestly wondering if he’d blacked out and missed part of their conversation.

“Do you want coffee?” Viktor inquired firmly, an undertone of finality to the statement indicative of the fact that he’d just decided on something Jayce had no knowledge of. His eyes were distant, his thoughts a thousand miles away as he seemed to go through the motions without considering them, walking over to the section of the room where they kept their drink-making equipment and preparing to make good on his suggestion. “I think I’ll make us some.”

He’s deflecting. Changing the topic. Jayce noted mentally. He cleared his throat, noticing how dry it was. Caffeine wasn’t the best option to alleviate that, but judging by the fatigue that had settled into Viktor’s shoulder and the way Jayce was still propped up against the surface of the desk, they required something stronger than tea. He nodded vacantly, slowly sliding down to rest his head on his now folded arms, fatigue setting in as he lingered on the cusp of slumber.

Moments later there was a clatter followed by a barely perceptible sigh. “... It appears a trip to the supply closet is in order.”

“Were out?” Jayce groaned, his tone as exhausted by the prospect of getting up from the spot he’d settled into as he was perplexed by the conundrum they now found themselves in. It wasn’t unheard of, but they typically did everything in their power to avoid supply issues for critical materials. “I thought I just restocked that the other day…”

Viktor shrugged, incredulous. Regardless of their previous assumptions, the profound lack of evidence to support that statement was damming.

“Well, then the effects of prolonged sleep deprivation are playing tricks on one of us. All the more reason we need the coffee.” Viktor retorted, almost sounding genuinely unsure as to which of them was misremembering despite having just seen the evidence for himself.

Before Jayce could offer to run the errand for him, he was already heading towards the door, slipping out into the hallway and out of his line of sight. Jayce was a bit slow on the uptake, his mind taking time to buffer the command for his legs to move until the precise moment that the man or progress recalled where the coffee grounds were located.

Viktor hated dealing with the door to the supply closet. It was a hulking, pressurized thing that had an unfortunate tendency to violently shove anything in front of it out of its predetermined closing path. It often knocked items out of the grasp of anyone foolish enough to linger in front of it and not move at an exigent pace. Viktor had nearly been knocked over by it on a handful of occasions while trying to brace his back against it in the hope of navigating larger objects out of its confines with his limited arm real estate.

It had been brought up to the maintenance team who’d then brought it before the department bookkeeper who had then forwarded the issue to the council where it had been promptly waived off as a nonissue. An occurrence that Jayce couldn’t help but question the ethicacy of. If he’d been the one to ask, he had a hunch that it would have been done within the day. His brow knotted noticeably at the thought as he hurried to catch up with Viktor, locking the door to the lab behind himself and then lightly jogging to close the distance between them, something that seemed to startle Viktor slightly as he took notice of his approach.

“This is not a task that I require assistance with.” He mused, his tone unbothered as they proceeded toward their destination. This was far from the first time that Jayce had attended him when he’d ventured elsewhere purely for the sake of being close to him. His tone softened as he continued, contemplative and a bit amused. “I am perfectly capable of carrying a bag of coffee grounds, feeble as my arms may seem.”

“We should study that next. The surprising rigidity of such low-density cylinders.” Jayce couldn’t help but smirk playfully as he gestured towards Viktor’s arm, a small chuckle sounding off from deep within his chest. “Might come in handy with our current project.”

Viktor rolled his eyes at the statement, only half managing to muffle the huff of amusement that accompanied the action. He then groaned at the fact that he’d found that amusing, earning him an endearing look from Jayce.

The twinkle in his eye was arresting.

The duo maintained scant eye contact for the remaining duration of the trip, appearing nonchalant to the other members of the faculty that they passed along the way. No one paid them so much as a passing glance, all except for the pleasant smile of one newcomer who greeted them with pleasant fervor in the hallway, clutching her journal to her chest as she smiled vividly, genuinely pleased to see them outside of the confines of the lab for a change.

Bright as daylight and cheerful as holiday spirit, she’d just entered her probationary period at the academy lab. And so far, she’d been an absolute joy to work with on the few occasions they’d had reason to. She spent a sizable portion of her time downstairs with the other junior scientists working on other more casual projects, but she did check on them from time to time while she was running errands that she’d been press-ganged into by other members of the faculty.

They needed to post a memo about that. Or maybe Jayce could just send Viktor down there to have a word with them... It would have the same effect.

She exhibited too much promise to be the designated office meal courier. Maybe they would poach her to help them with a project one day.

Coming to a stop in front of the door Jayce gripped the handle and, with a resolute grunt, heaved the heavy stone and metal door open, revealing the deep, pitch-black storage room on the other side. A space a few meters deep lined with built-in shelves in a U shape. It was designed to appear flush with the surrounding wall, air-tight with no ventilation on the inside. A safety oversight, surely, but one born ironically enough as the result of a security concern. The majority of the storage lockers in the building stored sensitive documents and materials, and as such, most were designed this way. At least this one opened from the inside and could not be locked. The heavy-handed faulty door was the real issue.

They had no use for a room such as this, so it currently served as a glorified pantry that they shared with some of the junior scientists downstairs. The only thing currently worth stealing inside their lab was Viktor’s lovely illustrations of plants, the only thing he was capable of drawing if he were to be taken at his word. And Jayce was the only person who probably liked them enough to want to snag a few. He wasn’t sure that Viktor saw much merit in his artistic skills. A shame.

Jayce had the better handwriting of the two, having been put through formal schooling as a child. Penmanship classes had been standard and required. But Viktor had a natural artistic flare when it came to the natural world and inanimate objects. Things with perspective and defined shapes. Jayce preferred to illustrate people. But Viktor drew most of the blueprints, even if he didn’t like to sign them. He had to break him out of that habit.

Maybe when he had a last name to add to them he’d be more eager?

“Ehh. Good thing you came.” Viktor said nonchalantly as he gestured to one of the boxes well above his eye line. Typically there were step ladders in the storage rooms, but Viktor wasn’t especially willing to risk such a thing unless no other choice was presented. “They’re up there.”

“Ah. Got it. Just a second.” Jayce released the door and stepped in behind him, coming to a stop next to his partner as he assessed the box. The door closed behind them with a resounding thud, sealing them inside with all the certainty of a pharaoh's tomb. He reached over Viktor as the shorter of the two stepped back behind him, out of the path of any potential falling objects. But the instant that his hand brushed up against the box in question, he felt a hand snake up from under his arm behind him on the right side, gently grasping his outstretched arm and then gingerly running down it until it reached his shoulder, making a detour for his neck. It then grasped his chin and rested a thumb tentatively on his lower lip with all the tenderness that a lover's embrace should possess. No pressure. Only the certainty that he would melt into his hands where he rightfully belonged.

Jayce paused dead in his tracks, turning to face the source of the touch. And when his eyes met Viktor’s, his breath stilling under his gaze as he saw the look in them. Even in the nearly pitch-black setting of the storage room, Jayce could still clearly make out the soft honeyed gold gleam in his beloved’s eyes. Only this time his brows were relaxed, a nearly intangible quirk in the left corner of his mouth. Unspoken, all-consuming hunger ravaging his visage, raw and primal. Yet there was no aggression; no malintent. Instead, there was a strange tenderness where there had been only fatigue before, reverent and affectionate. It was arresting to behold, especially with such a minuscule amount of room between them.

“Viktor-” Jayce began, his breath softer and more uneven than he’d realized. But before he could speak any further, Viktor took two steps forward, closing what little distance remained between them. He seemed to be on high alert, but his conviction did not waver.

“Quiet…” His tone was hushed as he gently shushed him, his eyes just as unflinchingly intense as he held his finger up in front of his own mouth to further reinforce his point. Behind them several sets of footsteps grew louder, growing closer to the pair’s location before decrescendoing and disappearing into the middle distance, around a corner, and down an adjoining hallway. They were alone again. Viktor slowly lowered his hand, but he did not move beyond that. He was precisely where he wanted to be.

“I must apologize for the deception, Jayce. We are not out of coffee.”

It had all been a clever ploy to get him to follow him to the storage room. One of the least trespassed locations on that floor of the building. Viktor had known that Jayce didn’t possess the resolve required to let him leave without him. He’d been his constant shadow since the moment he’d arrived at work a few days earlier. Even if he knew that his help was neither needed nor required, he would always offer it. Viktor could always expect it. Rely on it. Rely on him. He’d become predictable. And that blessed predictability had been just what he’d needed to arrange this little moment.

There had been no need to beckon a man who couldn’t help but follow him.

Viktor. Ever the risk taker of the two of them.

Jayce blushed despite his earnest attempts not to. He didn’t want to acknowledge the rush of excitement that leaped through him as Viktor stood silently in front of him, how his breathing slowed and his heart raced ever so perceptibly at the prospect of such a thing. So expectant in his affections as such intrinsic curiosity hung from his meager frame. So far they hadn’t done anything they couldn’t walk back. Anything unbecoming of their professional ethics or the facade that they both labored under, at least. But they were standing on the precipice of sensibility now, and he could not deny the appeal of such a risky endeavor, even if it came as a total surprise to him that he would even consider a proposal so… fraught with consequences. If someone were to hear or see them…

And yet.

Leaning in just that little bit closer, he allowed his face to hover just above the skin of Jayce’s neck, the only sound shared between them being the melding of their breath as they inhaled and exhaled in sequence. Soft but so utterly tinged with longing. Viktor was above begging, but he would indulge to the extent that he was allowed. Coercing Jayce into doing something he was uncomfortable with was beneath his dignity, even if he knew deep down how easy it would be. How easily convinced Jayce truly was when it came to the pleasure of those he loved. How eager he was to prove himself worthy of love. But to use him like that… the thought refused to manifest in his mind. As reprehensible as it was utterly inconceivable.

He’d seen the way that Jayce had reacted when he’d leaned over him back in the lab, the way he shuttered and stuttered as his breath ghosted across his neck. How the tendons in his neck had clenched at the fantasy of being caressed by his waiting lips. A tiny, almost imperceptible smile spread across his face, his eyes gleaming with affection as he considered the prospect of withholding that gentle act of intimacy for just that little bit longer, if only to see true desperation settle into his large, golden eyes. Yearning for even the most rudimentary form of affection. But neither of them would find any thrill or satisfaction in denying the other what they truly wanted. Not when the unspoken words between them betrayed the reality that neither of them could claim to want it more than the other.

“There’s a certain thrill to the prospect, isn’t there, Jayce?” His words were barely more than a whisper, their chests mere centimeters apart as Jayce’s shoulders rose and fell with his breath. A slight tremble settling into his body that so rarely displayed physical weakness. His eyes were half closed as he opened his mouth to speak, but his brain refused to conjure the words. “It’s easier to act natural when you don’t know what to expect.”

The taller of the two hummed in response, a soft, knowing chuckle resonating from deep within his chest. So that was his game, then? He couldn’t give away the plan if he didn’t know what Viktor was up to. It made sense, in all honesty. Neither of them was especially gifted at deception when put under the harsh light of scrutiny, but Jayce was especially awful at it, oftentimes not managing to say anything noteworthy in his defense at all. It would be funny if it weren’t so undoing when the time called for it.

“And you’re a poor liar,” Viktor added, his lips so close to Jayce’s ear that even a whisper sounded deceptively loud. He scoffed playfully, raising his left hand to flick Jayce’s right earlobe, sending a shudder through his body and a feeling of intrinsic satisfaction through Viktor as Jayce leaned into his touch, his golden eyes glistening, brimming with a wordless plea. The wanton, desperate hope that perhaps he would reciprocate his desire.

Their eyes met briefly as Jayce turned just enough to see him. And then Viktor leaned back in, his lips falling from his ear back down to the crook of his neck. He pulled his hand away slowly, knowing that Jayce would follow it and the scant comfort that it had brought him like a storm passing over a parched parcel of land in a barren desert. And when he’d moved his head just far enough, he allowed it to rest on his palm again.

And he leaned in and kissed him in precisely the way that he knew he wanted. With just enough pressure to be not enough. To drive him utterly mad.

Jayce shuddered, his breath shaking and his legs quaking as he raised his right hand and placed it against Viktor’s upper back, pulling him closer with the same unspoken care that someone might use to grasp a delicate flower, heeding its limitations so that one did not accidentally pluck it from its stock. Delicate as his peppered kisses were, they held enough weight to keep him rooted to the spot, his heart hammering like the rhythm of a war drum. Like a forge hammer striking white-hot metal against an unyielding anvil. Again and again until it bent into shape. Again until it surrendered.

His left hand joined the right, only this time at the small of his back, pressing him gingerly but firmly into position against him like wet clay into a mold. His grip was slight but reassuring, no doubts as to his security felt. Viktor sighed as he closed his eyes and applied a fuller measure of pressure, extracting a fuller measure of pleasure in return. He allowed his hand to go slack and his cane to rest against the shelf to his right, knowing that he would not need it for the task he had in mind. But he would require both hands.

“I was not laboring under the illusion that you wanted to wait until after the wedding to-,” His voice was low and torturously soft, his pitch a few notches lower than what Jayce was accustomed to for the brief moment that he allowed him to continue speaking. His breath hitched as their lips met, Viktor taken by surprise by the sheer searing heat of his beloved’s desire. Not so much force that he might stumble, but just enough so that he may yield to Jayce’s desperate plea that he follow his lead.

With a soft hum of approval, his heart thrumming away in his chest as the warmth of their embrace enveloped him and seeped deep into the marrow of his bones, Viktor raised the arm typically reserved purely for his cane and wrapped it around him, bringing his open palm to rest at the back of his shoulder blade. His left arm abandoned Jayce’s shoulder where it had fallen when he’d suddenly kissed him, joining his right as he held on for dear life despite his lack of a reason to.

He suddenly felt so small, so utterly minuscule and insignificant in comparison to the sheer stature and build of the mountain of a man who held him with such care and adoration that it stole his breath away. What little hesitation that still clung to him dissolved away, taking his reservations with it. He was a sheep in the knowing presence of an utterly loyal sheephound. He did not, nor would he ever fear Jayce Talis. His dearly beloved who only knew how to love him, even when he didn’t love himself.

Viktor drew back slightly, just enough to see Jayce’s face. And when their eyes met he felt his chest tighten, constructing the muscles in his ribcage as his breath abandoned him. He’d never seen that in his eyes before. There was a warmth, that same vibrant golden brown glistening in his irises that he adored so very much. But it was darker, purposeful. His gaze held intention and the drive required to fulfill his goals. Filled with a glint of adoration and wanton desire that hit him with seismic force, toppling over every carefully built defense he’d ever constructed and leaving him quaking in its wake. Bristling and tilled, waiting to be cultivated. Plowed.

What was going through that overactive imagination of his?

He would’ve stood on his tiptoes to search his eyes deeper were such a thing possible. To explore the depths of his soul and bask in his love like the depths of an endless ocean. Instead, Jayce hunched slightly to take the strain off of him, feeling the growing shudder in his back as he stood at full extension, an unsustainable position to occupy, to say the least. And one he would abide no longer. With not so much as a groan from the imperceptible amount of strain that it put on him, Jayce lifted Viktor off the ground, just enough to take him off of his feet, and pivoted, pressing his back into the wall. Holding him there.

Returning the favor, Jayce kissed him deeply, not giving him the chance to catch his breath. Lips electric with hunger, ever seeking and discovering as their embrace deepened. Only breaking away after the better part of a minute when the myth of oxygen betrayed him and left his own vision blurred, rendering the smaller of the two nothing more than a shadow of his former self, watering eyes pooling with unshed tears. Chest heaving and shuddering. Viktor’s grip never wavered, never waning under the palpable flood of warmth that filled every fiber of muscle in his body.

Viktor’s pupils dilated, but not from the darkness. They’d both long since adjusted to it. No, it was the sensation of Jayce’s bare, calloused hand slipping under the bottom hem of his now untucked shirt and vest and the mellow yet still somehow feverish heat that it introduced to his cool body. The way he hadn’t expected to lean into it. Almost enough to make him shudder. Nearly enough to beckon him to come undone. Such was the power it held over him. Inconceivable.

Soft as a feather and unyielding as ironwood, his grasp felt familiar but entirely new all at once. Harsh and vengeful with raw materials, yet always so gentle with him. Jayce leaned in and distributed an uneven yet deliberate smattering of deep, lingering kisses across his neck and ear. His jaw and then his cheek. Taking his earlobe between his lips and then into his mouth. Covering every part of him that he could find in wordless declarations of adoration. Drawing a map in his mind with closed eyes that still saw everything that they needed to. He’d arrived there by accident, but now that he was there…

Perhaps he should kneel at the altar and partake of its flowing waters. Venerate. Deconsecrate something sacrosanct by virtue of the very nature of his worship.

Jayce’s lips left him after a final lingering kiss, tugging a sigh of something resembling disappointment in tow behind them. His arms left him, stealing back their pleasant heat as they left him behind. He would’ve smirked at the look of disappointment on Viktor’s face if it wasn’t so sincere. So endearing. So telling in its honestly and what that betrayed about his state of mind. Viktor wore his emotions on his sleeves, his expressions so pure and instinctual. The prospect of seeing how he would react to the idea he was currently formulating inside of his mind made his pulse soar like he’d been infused with liquid radium.

Viktor watched as Jayce slowly lowered onto one knee in front of him. Then the second. Their eyes never broke contact, his gaze holding the kind of scorching heat that would put an overheating furnace to death from the shame of inadequacy. Viktor blushed under it, his face flushing pink as some inkling of what his love might have in store for him washed up on the shores of his subconscious. He tried to play it off, struggling to conceal the way his mind frayed and sputtered like the death throes of a dying star. And then he felt it. Pressure. A set of hands undoing the buttons at his fly.

The garment came undone with a sleight of hand that gave him pause, his tired back going stiff at the prospect. There was no hesitation, only the cruelty of reality and the fact that it brought with it such risk. This had been his idea, and yet, it still felt so surreal. If someone were to see them…

As if he could sense his growing disquietment, Jayce carefully lowered his left hand, gently grasping his right leg and kneading the muscles in his thigh. His right hand slinked up his back, coming to rest against the upper left side of Viktor’s back, just above his hip, massaging him gently as he felt the tension flee from him in increments, his breathing deepening in measures so slight that he could only detect them because his face was pressed against his stomach. His downward gaze fixed on his new target.

Golden brown eyes swept up his body with deliberate, almost agonizing slowness before they locked with Viktor’s again, cradling his imagination with his gaze just as he cherished his body in his hands. Savoring the way his pulse raced as his chest rose and fell with his breath. Slowly deepening. Drinking in the majesty of the moment that was seeing Viktor like this for the very first time. This was something to be savored. Relished.

Viktor stared down at Jayce, awestruck. Trapped by the implications in his eyes and the exquisite intimacy of his touch as it ghosted over the two most guarded parts of his body. Places where no one else could simply touch him like this. And he did not attempt to stop him. He would allow this. He wanted this. A privilege reserved for Jayce and Jayce alone. His pulse quickened in anticipation, yet no number of intakes of breath dulled the burning in his chest. The air would not come, his mind racing but drawing a blank. A sensation his vibrant mind was unaccustomed to. And then it hit him. A moment of clarity so impactful that he chastised himself wordlessly through barely open lips, his eyes burrowing into Jayce’s very soul.

Jayce was asking his permission to continue.

What a quaint gesture, given the present circumstances. Viktor mused to himself, his eyelashes fluttering as a fond smile slowly crept across his face in spite of his best efforts to conceal it. And yet, he could only appreciate it for what it was. Jayce’s caution born of genuine affection. A desire to do no harm. It was never correct to assume you were in a position of dominance in an encounter such as this without asking. Jayce knew he had his permission in the same way that Viktor knew he held dominion over his heart. They spoke through hushed whispers and caresses of the soul by virtue of shared glances, unbidden and ungoverned by words. But neither of them would ever assume anything, least of all consent to utter vulnerability. To the body of one another.

“I believe our positions were switched somewhere along the way,” Viktor spoke softly in as playful a manner as he could muster, his eyes betraying the fondness that his face made such an effort to make light of. He wanted to appear unphased, amused but otherwise perfectly in control of the situation. And for the most part, he was. But those eyes. Those glistening spheres of pure amber that shimmered like the smoldering remains of a dying flame. They made his heart flutter and his knees shudder, such was the transparency of his love. How was a creature forged from such hopeless hardship meant to process such indulgent infatuation?

“And let you hurt your leg on the stone floor? No.” He sounded offended by the notion, his demeanor and voice as gentle as they were eager and full of want. The searing heat of his gaze held dominion over the entire storage room, his intentions clear as day even in the deep, sightless ebony of their chosen arena. He had things in store for him. Everything about the sight of Jayce like this was arresting, begging to be explored by a thorough and studious mind. And Jayce wanted to indulge him. He’d utterly rejected the alternative in favor of this outcome. Who would he be to refuse such a generous offer? A more cautious man. But the concept of caution had never spoken to his soul the way risk and discovery did.

Jayce raised the bottom of his shirt, leaning in to press his mouth against his navel, leaving a lingering kiss. Viktor shuddered as Jayce peppered kisses in a straight line downward, his pace so slow and intentional that they overlapped, each time holding his lips there as his gaze tore into him, his eyes never leaving Viktor’s face. The smaller of the two flushed deeply from his ears to his neck, his breathing becoming noticeably more ragged as his love approached his intended destination. Jayce made a mental note of the sight, etching it into his memory like an expertly chiseled relief in the halls of a gallery. It was a nice color on him…

He took a moment to fumble him free from the confines of his fabric prison, careful to make as little physical contact as possible during the process, a decision that earned him a hissed intake of breath as Viktor brushed this side of his hand against his face, running it along this side of his ear in a manner so scant that he didn’t need to be looking up at him to know that he was pleading with him. Permitting him. Begging him not to make him beg. To not shatter the intrigue and mischief, or the silent game of tug of war they were playing would come crashing down and bring the illusion they both enjoyed so much with it.

But before he went any further, Jayce paused.

“Say you want me to.” It was a ruse. He would not make him beg. Not unless he wanted him to. Even if it would light a flame in him that he wasn’t sure either of them could extinguish. And yet he hoped he might indulge, sweetening the deal with another abiding kiss, this time at the very base of the one place he knew that he most wanted him to be at the opposite end of. Like a promise he would fulfill with gleeful enthusiasm if only he’d humor him and speak those four little words he so desperately wanted to hear.

Shuddering in response, Viktor partially closed his eyes, his gaze hanging heavy and low as he affectionately stroked the side of his face. A sound somewhere between a huff and a scoff escaped him, yet there was no irritation in his demeanor. He almost seemed… impressed? Amused by the audacity? Regardless, he’d asked nicely enough. Almost. “Say please first.”

Jayce blinked, genuinely stunned by the request. He chuckled despite himself, crooking his neck to the left and focusing on making his eyes appear as large and pathetically desperate as possible. It was almost as playfully mocking as it was intimate, adding levity to a moment that neither of them realized needed it despite the lack of acknowledgment of it.

With a sigh of feigned defeat, Jayce nodded, breathing heavily and earning himself a shudder as he attempted to conceal the smug look of satisfaction on his face as he spoke. “Please, Viktor.”

He stroked his face again, playing with his ear as he hummed in approval, a genuine smile on his face that stole Jayce’s breath. There were no games in his gaze. Only the quiet knowledge that this was what they both wanted. Jayce yearned to pleasure him, and he longed to be worthy of that desire, heedless of the fact that he already was.

“I want you to, Jayce.”

Everything seemed to slow to a stop as Jayce wasted no time fulfilling the request. In the same manner he’d employed to reach his destination, he kissed him intently, only this time vertically instead of descendingly. The scorching heat of him was a thing to marvel at, especially from someone normally so characterized by being cold to the touch. And then his lips reached the summit. Enveloping him wholly and utterly.

For a moment, Viktor forgot where they were.

He gasped as though he’d been plunged into freezing waters, his right hand flying to the back of Jayce’s head as his left arm fell limply to his side. He succeeded in bracing himself against the way in the same manner that his swimming mind was succeeding at formulating meaningful thoughts.

Kneading his fingers through Jayce’s short hair, grasping but not gripping. The intention to direct him was evident from the moment his fingertips had grazed him, but he faltered the instant that sensation struck him. Tingling like raw plasma, bursting into tendrils of comforting warmth that trickled through him like a solar flare. Like the flight of a passing migratory bird, the thought flew overhead and disappeared over the horizon, leaving nothing but awe in its wake. Only a crystal blue sky with wisps of clouds.

It’s easier to act natural when you don’t know what to expect.

The truth of his own words struck him with the force of a falling tree.

He’d been right, of course. But he’d never imagined his hypothesis would be proven correct like this. With such intimacy. Through an act so fraught and primeval, yet brimming with such tenderness. So thoughtful and refreshing and delightfully unexpected. This thing he never dared imagine he’d receive, so certain he’d once been that it was impossible. Such folly.

This was what it felt like to be cherished. To be desired above all else. And it was intoxicating.

Jayce indulged him in long, even strokes. Deliberate and purposeful, dragging a shudder from his trembling spine as he used what remained of his mental fortitude to try and focus on Jayce’s face as everything before him became blurry. Admittedly, it was not a sight that assisted in that endeavor, but it was one that he found vastly preferable to anything his rapidly fraying mind could ever hope to conjure. Each breath tore from his lungs in a gradually deepening crescendo, his legs ready to surrender to the bursts of sensation that trickled down them like white-hot molten metal surging through a carefully crafted mold.

There was something about the way he did it that made it maddening, more fulfilling than anything he’d experienced up until that moment in any other context. Perhaps it was the consistent build-up of pleasure that bordered on uncomfortable from the sheer overabundance of stimulation. The inexperienced and almost borderline clumsy way he went about the task, every action so laced with enthusiasm and reverence that he could only find his efforts endearing and so undeniably effective. Pleasurable. Maybe it was the knowledge that it was Jayce Talis, his secret beloved, the two of them sequestered away on this clandestine little adventure that held such terrifying stakes. One thing he could be sure about was that it had everything to do with that wild look in his eyes.

It had settled there the moment he’d allowed those fateful words to exit his lips and its intensity had only multiplied since then, burrowing into his very soul as Jayce gripped him gently at the waist. His fingers curled against his skin, applying pressure just below his navel in time with his movements in a way that would’ve led Viktor to question the sheer speed his blood was circulating through his body at if the sensation hadn’t robbed him of all capacity for logic and reason. If not for Jayce’s steady grip on his leg and side, he wasn’t sure he’d still be standing. And still, there was only comfort in his embrace. Serenity and security, trust and familiarity in the feeling of his skin against his own, only never like this. Until today, at least.

Jayce continued, exhibiting no indication of slowing down. He’d set himself to a task. And he would see it completed. With efficacy.

Gradually, a method manifested itself. Each stroke became more consistent and precise in accordance with Viktor’s reaction to them. Clarity as to where he should press and where the heat of his tongue was most appreciated. The way that he’d nearly toppled over when he’d hummed with his mouth over him, the vibration it caused simply too much bear in tandem with everything else. There was only so much one could hope to learn in a single encounter, but the knowledge that this was only the first of many was enough to make Jayce’s heart flutter, the skin on his neck flush. They did need to pick a better venue for their next rendezvous, though. This was a tad more compromising than he would have preferred. But he didn’t have the strength to say no to that look in Viktor’s eyes. And a sizable part of him wasn’t bothered by that at all. Even if some desolate little corner of his mind was concerned with the honesty of that revelation.

But it suddenly became apparent that this would not be a concern either of them would need to tolerate for much longer. Viktor shuttered, his entire body trembling as his breathing became noticeably ragged and uneven. His hand moved from Jayce’s hair to delicately grasp his chin, curling his fingers under his jaw. He didn’t pull. There was no intention to. He simply wanted his attention as his gaze had understandably drifted amidst the intensity of their intimate actions and the capacity to speak had fled him long ago. Jayce looked up at him, that same twinkle in his eyes again. And when he saw the disheveled state that Viktor existed in, the look of primal lust in his eyes only intensified, distilling into a more concentrated form of itself. A comforting sense of pride swelled in him as he realized that he’d been the one to bring Viktor to such a state. His normally put-together and unyielding partner reduced to a shambling shell of his former self. Not from pain, but from pleasure. An act of pleasure he’d bequeathed to him purely from a desire to see him come undone. His pleasure was satisfying.

As he reveled in this, he took note of the way his eyes had nearly closed. The drowsy look in his beautiful golden eyes. The slump of his shoulders as sweat ran down his face and neck. He wanted to taste it. To savor it. The salt of his skin in tandem with everything else his body had to offer.

Jayce released him and abandoned his post, an action that drew an almost agonized whine from Viktor as he stood. But he would not leave him to languish. Shushing him tenderly as he slipped his right arm up his back, he grasped the back of his head and pulled him away from the wall. He leaned him back, dipping him slightly as he dove in and licked up the length of his neck from his collar to the base of his chin. The taste of him was exquisite, salty but pleasantly so. Just as he’d envisioned. Pulling him close enough to brush against him as he slipped a leg between both of his, his hand dipping down and grasping him gently. Encapsulating him fully.

The sensation shot through Viktor like a lightning bolt, his legs clenching and tightening around him in futility as he realized with panicked pleasure that he could do nothing meaningful to escape his touch and the sensitivity that reduced him to little more than a simpering wreck. He was trapped. Panting and whimpering as Jayce held the majority of his weight as though it were meaningless. Applying even pressure as he traversed the length and breadth of him with practiced assurance. Tracing his thumb up the source of his pulse and resting it where it was most needed. Most desired. Most torturously sensitive. This was an act he was far more familiar with from an abundance of first-hand experience.

Pressing kisses back down the front of his neck before traveling back up and seizing him in a searing kiss, Jayce took note of the dampness of his face. The way the moisture that had collected in Viktor’s now closed eyes ran freely down his face, his chest heaving from the labor of trying not to tumble over the edge. He shushed him reassuringly, kissing away the stray tears as he leaned over to whisper in his ear.

“Lie to me more often. I’m glad I tagged along,” Jayce said breathlessly, relishing the steady rhythm of his heart. The way his breath grazed his ear as he kissed him gently before taking his ear lobe into his mouth yet again.

And that was all it took.

Viktor couldn’t recall the last time he’d felt a sensation overtake his entire being that wasn’t pain. Excruciating or merely unpleasant, it was an unyielding constant. But for that brief, revelatory moment, he felt ecstasy.

Jayce held him against him, his hand gripping him firmly but not painfully so, stroking him tenderly as he surrendered and slumped into his embrace, no longer able to stand. He’d put up a valiant effort, but was no longer able to withstand his onslaught in their war of attrition. He opened his mouth, but there was no sound to be made. His lungs were empty, though not the only part of him that had been reduced to such a state in the process. Instead, he let out a choked, oxygen-starved gasp, a deep, guttural groan following it before he fell silent, all but for the sound of his breath in Jayce’s ear. Every muscle in his body now fully limp.

They lingered there, Jayce holding him in a half-kneeling crouch as Viktor’s ravaged mind resurrected itself from its state of near death, his eyes barely open and his nerve endings quivering as his partner rubbed his back soothingly, shushing him with all the tenderness he could muster. His head on his shoulder as Jayce cradled him gently, his face against his own. Both of them breathed heavily despite the reality that Jayce hadn’t received so much as a single direct touch. Something that Viktor aimed to remedy.

Slowly, the sound of his pounding heart receded and his ears regained the capacity to detect sound. Viktor swallowed laboriously, his mouth and throat dry as he softly batted Jayce's hand away from the opening in the front of his pants, resisting the urge to flinch. Simply redressing himself would be an exercise in self-flagellation when the time came. As well-meaning as he remained, Viktor could no longer bear the gentle adoration of Jayce’s touch. Not if he hoped to function.

Besides, he had a wrong to right.

Pulling Jayce downward, he braced himself on his left hand before placing his right hand on Jayce’s chest, pushing him backward with just enough force to topple him, but not so much that he would fall onto his back. Jayce slinked back with a soft huff, resting in a half-sitting position, propped up by his arms as he regarded Viktor with an enraptured smile. Viktor’s brow knitted in brief discomfort as he pushed Jayce’s raised legs away and positioned himself between them, a sight that sewed a pang of worry in Jayce’s heart that Viktor instantly chased away with a kiss. When he saw the deranged gleam in Viktor’s eyes he flushed again, his chest heaving in anticipation as Viktor pressed his open palm against the outside of his fly, drawing a shudder from his body and a whimper from his clenched lips despite his best efforts. Viktor shook his head.

“And you were so quiet before.” Viktor teased playfully, a mischievous smirk playing across his asymmetrical features. “No, that simply will not do.”

He undid the front of Jayce’s pants, slipping just the tips of his fingers over the outside of the fabric as he slowly traced a path upward, dipping them over the hem of the garment. Leaning in for another kiss. Jayce met him halfway, chasing the warmth that the separation of their bodies stole away from him. He so desperately wanted to hold him close. To cherish him once again as he so thoroughly deserved. As he’d promised him he would always do that night in the botanical gardens. When he’d agreed to be his. His.

Every atom between them was a crime punishable by death.

Just as Viktor’s hand reached him, the door juddered.

Scrambling to redo the buttons on the front of his pants, Viktor gasped as he was suddenly lurched from his position on the floor and pulled to a semi-standing position, his hand falling away as his task was finished in the knick of time. The door slid open, and inside stepped a familiar face.

Taking note of their utter breathlessness and their noticeable disheveled appearance, Jayce and Viktor watched in silent, unbridled horror as a familiar junior scientist observed them with quiet confusion, trying to comprehend what she’d just seen. Eventually, the gears in Sky’s head rotated into place as she came to the correct conclusion as to what they’d actually ventured to the supply closet for. Her eyes were wide as she blinked rapidly, a hand on her cheek and her journal at her chest as she seemed to process the current of bewilderment that passed through her.

Viktor blanched and Jayce flushed deeper as she stepped just that little bit further into the room and pulled the door nearly closed behind her, leaving only a crack to provide light.

“I was sent to, um… “ She adjusted her glasses, pushing them up as she snuggled down into her shoulders, refusing to make further eye contact. There was a tinge of pink to her face that couldn’t be denied. Try as she might to appear incognito and nonchalant, she simply couldn’t hide her blush. She pointed up over their heads to a familiar box, their eyes following the gesture as though their lives depended on it.

“Coffee… “ Jayce said the word as though he were in disbelief. It made perfect sense, but there was still a surreal quality to the revelation that made him chuckle in denial, teetering on the brink of mania, but concealing it in that polite, well-practiced way that he always did. He reached up onto the shelf to get the box down. There was no reason not to.

Attempting to make himself look more presentable and less like a man who’d just been caught red-handed white-knuckling his lab partner’s thigh, Viktor smoothed his palms across his face and through his hair, rubbing his eyes as he did so. Sky crooked her head to the side, the glint of something in the light cast by the door catching her eye.

Viktor gave her a curious look, his mind racing through every possibility he could imagine as to why she might be looking at him like that (outside of the obvious) until his pupils dilated in abject horror. He blinked rapidly, calmly lowering his ring-bearing hand as he clasped it inside the grip of his other hand. Amidst everything else going on, he’d forgotten that he needed to be making a conscious effort to conceal it. Curses.

“... That’s… a beautiful ring… ” She said softly, her voice barely above a whisper. There was a hint of something he couldn’t define in her voice that troubled him further despite the lack of malice or ill intent behind it. Some aspect of the observation that seemed almost melancholy for no readily discernible reason. She seemed pleased for him, but also not all at once. At first, he’d thought that he’d imagined it, conjured up the image in his stress-riddled, sleep-deprived mind. But despite how flush with melatonin he now was, he knew himself to be correct. He just didn’t comprehend why.

If it were possible to hear someone tense up, then the way that Jayce nearly dropped the box he was lowering to the ground would’ve been very noticeable, indeed. Instead, he managed to play it off as clumsiness, procuring the box and walking over towards her sheepishly so that she could grab what she needed from within. Careful to keep his hands on the outside. Once content, he made an effort to pretend that they’d ventured there for the same reason, turning to allow Viktor to grab a ration from within despite the fact that everyone present knew that the illusion had been resolutely shattered long ago.

“Thank you, Miss Young,” Viktor spoke as though he were holding back the urge to choke, clearing his throat after he’d finished speaking. Both men looked like sad, wet dogs who’d just been left out in a storm, their eyes filled with pleading, embarrassment, and remorse in equal measure. Neither of them felt comfortable saying anything about what had just occurred out loud. How would one even broach such a taboo concept with a coworker?

A look of realization spread across her face as her pupils widened. She’d just hand an epiphany. Her eyes flickered from Viktor to Jayce, laced with an indescribable look of awe as she took note of something before wordlessly nodding to herself. She then smiled softly as if to excuse herself and backed out of the room, closing the door behind her with a brief wave. The click of her shoes scurrying away, fading into nothingness as they were left in abject silence again, with only their thoughts for company.

Jayce and Viktor stood unmoving in the darkness for nearly a full minute, dread blanketing them like storm clouds on a dreary day as the taller of the two panted like a panicked prey animal and rubbed his face with his hands. He then floundered, retrieving a handkerchief from one of his pockets to wipe his hands and face on as he tried not to think about what he’d just accidentally done. He checked his clothing and exhaled. Viktor simply stared blankly, his demeanor giving nothing away but his face telling the story of a dead man walking. There was nothing to do now but return to the lab and await the inevitability of disciplinary action.

—

It had been the better part of an hour and they’d gotten nothing done.

An atmosphere of fear so potent that it could sink a Noxian armada permeated the air of the lab, settling over the pair of them like ash in the wake of an explosion. The anticipation was maddening, gnawing away at them like an infestation that refused to abate. Waiting for your execution was always worse than the act of dying itself. Death was painless.

“Maybe she didn’t say anything?” Jayce said diplomatically as he stood in the center of the room, his arms wrapped in front of himself as he labored under the illusion that perhaps he’d imagined that aspect of their encounter. His eyes wide in abject terror.

“It’s a possibility.” Viktor attempted to appear nonchalant as he sat at his desk with his back to him, pen in hand with an equation that needed solving splayed out in front of him. In truth, he was in turmoil, the calm waters above concealing the churning storm brewing in the depths below. He’d made no progress in the last thirty minutes, sighing as he stood and faced Jayce, his eyes on the chalkboard on the wall behind him.

“And it’s equally likely that half of the building knows by now and the only reason we don’t know is because everyone is in their offices laughing,” Jayce said with a defeated sigh. Neither of them got the impression that Sky was a salacious gossip, but when a tale this thrilling presented itself…

Silence settled over the room again. For a minute or two, they stood in one another's presence but did not make a sound save for their breathing. A stalemate that Viktor finally broke with the addition of two mournful words.

“I’m sorry.”

Jayce looked up, his brows furrowed and his head slanted slightly to the side as though his companion had just regressed into speaking a different dialect entirely. “What?”

“It was my brilliant idea. To go to the storage room.” The regret was palpable, his sorrow evident as the weight of the potential consequences settled over him like a stone. The excitement had clouded his judgment. He knew better. They both knew better. It had been a Sisyphean task to climb this high in life, and now his actions could very well be the bolder that dragged them both down to hell.

Jayce’s anxiety slipped away instantly as he took in the sight of Viktor standing before the chalkboard, his breath still as the grave and his eyes a thousand miles away. He took a handful of steps to close the distance between them, unable to bear the sight of his partner in such a state.

“Viktor no, I-”

Jayce wasn’t afforded the opportunity to continue. A moment later there was a soft but firm knock at the door and the door slid open, revealing their would-be visitor. Or perhaps their executioner.

“My dear boys! May I have a moment of your time?” Professor Heimerdinger inquired exuberantly, entering the space with the familiarity of someone who’d been there a thousand times. His little poro tagged behind, skittering about as it explored the confines of the lab. It paid the unfolding conversation no mind, as was its prerogative.

They both straightened, going rigid as they assumed as proper of a stance as they could muster under the given circumstances.

“O- of course, Professor. How can we be of assistance?” Jayce offered diplomatically as he folded his hands behind his back and bowed politely. He was the picture of a well-mannered Piltoveran despite the desire to grab Viktor and sprint from the room broiling just below the surface.

“Word of your little, ahem, incident in the storage room has reached me.” He said, his migrating gradually to something decidedly more serious. The atmosphere grew heavy as he faced them, a questioning look on his face. He examined them both thoroughly, studying them and making a mental note of just how uncomfortable everything suddenly was.

“It did?” Jayce subconsciously wondered if anyone else present could hear the sheer volume of his pulse, his ears ringing as all the blood rushed to his head. His limbs suddenly felt numb.

“Oh yes. And I must say, I was shocked. An unpleasant surprise, indeed!” He quipped, his tone tinged with a rare undertone of annoyance. He shook his head in displeasure, huffing as he glanced over at the half-solved equation on the board behind Viktor. It was liable to make little to no sense given the state of mind of the man solving it, but it seemed to hold his attention for a moment nonetheless.

“Yes, professor. I imagine so… “ It was Viktor’s turn to interject. He made his way closer to the center of the room. Closer to where Jayce stood. It was the only place he wanted to be at present. He would face their shared fate bravely. With some measure of dignity. This wouldn’t be a pleasant conversation, especially considering the fact that they would have to have it with their revered former professor, but he wouldn’t shy away from it. He never had. Despite everything, he still possessed some measure of pride.

“But rest assured that the door will be fixed come this time tomorrow! We will have no more falls! Someone could be seriously hurt.” Heimerdinger said with a resolute nod, beaming with pride as he unclasped his hands and gestured towards them both affectionately. “I can only apologize, my dear boys. It shouldn’t have taken a potentially serious injury for this simple matter to be resolved. It seems we’ve become complacent.”

Jayce and Viktor feel silent, utterly flabbergasted by the statement. They stared at the professor and then pivoted their heads to regard one another with nothing short of total and utter confusion. Were they experiencing an episode of shared hysteria?

“With respect, professor… I beg your pardon?” Viktor’s voice betrayed his rapidly unraveling mental state, a crazed gleam to his eyes that could not be understated. He stammered, his brow creasing and his lips pursing as he squinted, the action doing nothing to increase his comprehension of the current topic of conversation.

“Oh, Miss Young came back in something of a tizzy. She was most displeased. When I inquired as to the source of her dismay she simply stated that she’d seen the door to the storage room malfunction yet again. Apparently, it was quite disheartening for her to see you both reduced to nothing more than a bruised heap of tangled limbs on the floor, and I must say, I share her dismay! Simply unacceptable.” He shook his head as he regarded them both with concern, his arms folded in front of himself. He genuinely looked worried that they might both be seriously injured.

Walking over towards the chalkboard, he regarded the wall with a nod of approval, seemingly finding the mess of mathematical symbols and runes to his liking. To be fair, the equation was indeed very complex and impressive, but in its unfinished state, it was sorely lacking in clarity.

“I insist you both take the next few days off to recover. Head and back injuries can be quite deceptive, as I’m sure you're both well aware!”

Jayce drew a blank, his mind struggling to allocate a sufficient amount of grey matter to the task of comprehending the reality he now found himself in. Surely this was a cruel joke, yes? An uncharacteristic twist of the knife on the part of their beloved long-time friend before he regretfully dismissed them both for engaging in sexual activity on the premises? Surely Sky hadn’t gone to the trouble of covering for them when she had no motivation to do so and was more than likely appalled by their recent behavior?

Surely…

Viktor exhaled sharply, the sound cutting through the otherwise silent room in a manner that was distinctly attention-grabbing. Whether he intended it or not, he was now in the crosshairs yet again. “Yes… that is very true, Professor. In fact, I feel lightheaded right now.”

At first, Jayce assumed that Viktor was simply being agreeable or attempting to make light of their supposed accident. But one look at his face told an entirely different story. He looked pale, all the blood retreating from his face and taking the color along with it. Heimerdinger seemed to take notice as well, approaching him and giving him a thoughtful look.

“Oh, that is no good at all, now is it? And this is precisely why I insist you take a few days to recuperate. We wouldn’t want to damage those brilliant young minds of yours, now would we? They are a precious commodity.” He spoke with the sort of kindness and genuinely well-placed concern reserved for only the most caring of grandparents, his blue eyes gleaming with sympathy.

“No professor.” Jayce agreed, stepping closer to Viktor to steady him. He wrapped his arm around his back, grasping his shoulder with his left arm as if to request his attention. He wasn’t swaying, but he did look as though he were considering taking an impromptu trip to the realm of slumber on the stone floor of the lab.

Professor Heimerdinger clapped his hands together, nodding in agreement with his former assistant and his wayward student. “Then it’s settled! Jayce! See to it that Viktor makes it home safely. And that he actually goes to bed and rests! No working from home, lad. That hardly counts!”

“I think the bed is precisely where I’d like to be right now, yes.” Viktor retorted limply, his mind so addled with disbelief and confusion that he couldn’t muster the energy to attempt to disagree even if he’d wanted to. He genuinely couldn’t believe it…

“Fantastic. Well then, that’s all for today!” He said with an air of finality as he pivoted on his tip toes jubilantly, turning away from them and towards the door. His poro scurried back to his side, following his lead as he vacated the premises. “Farewell to you both and good day! Oh, and mind your step on your way back to your residences. It’s quite wet outside!”

With that, the door shut behind him and silence returned to the room. And for the second time that day, they were left alone with their thoughts. Only this time they were too perplexed and relieved to try and untangle them. A wave of solace overtook them as they entered a state of repose, the breath that Jayce hadn’t realized he’d been holding vacating his lungs with a huff as he slumped over against one of the rearrangeable multipurpose structures at the center of the room, regarding Viktor fondly as relief settled into his core. And then he recalled the conversation they’d been having before they’d been interrupted.

“... I don’t regret today. We took that risk together and it… Seeing you like that was… “ He trailed off, unsure as to how to put into words how impactful the experience had been. How despite the terror it had been entirely worth it to him. That the risk of failure had never frightened him so much as it did the moment that door had opened, but he’d reckoned with that reality and was now stronger for it. That everything felt possible when it came to them.

Removing the space between them, he grabbed his coat off the back of his chair. His gaze softened as he took Viktor’s hand into his own, concern evident in his face as he slid in front of him, wordlessly requesting his full attention. His gaze fell, remorseful. “Do… you wish you could take it back?”

Viktor’s gaze lingered downward for a moment before he looked up at Jayce, nothing but adoration and affection in his eyes as he seized his other hand tenderly and pulled him into a gentle kiss. They both relished the contact, the first of its nature that they’d ever shared within the confines of their lab. Their shared space. Their sanctuary. Viktor spoke clearly, no ambiguity present in his tone as stared deeply into his eyes. Those golden brown irises that enraptured him so.

“Absolutely not.”

Jayce smiled, squeezing his hands gently before releasing the right one and raising the left to his lips, placing a single kiss on the back of Viktor’s hand. Watching the barely perceptible shudder that rolled off of him in response to his touch. The appendage was so small, so fragile in comparison to the strength of his grip. And yet he knew that Viktor knew he would never harm him. His trust in him was absolute. Unwavering. Undying. And the knowledge of that bond made him overflow with pride. He looked down at the ring on his finger. And beamed.

Viktor Talis. It had such a beautiful ring to it. Soon…

“Good. Then let’s get out of here. Apparently, we both had a terrible fall today.” Jayce retorted, playfully raising Viktor’s hand and allowing it to fall limply from his grasp. The shorter of the two shook his head at the gesture, rolling his eyes at the audacity of it all. Jayce’s jokes would never get better. Good. He liked them just the way they were. Utterly terrible. It added to his idiosyncratic charm. He would play the role of the annoyed spouse, but the genuine nature of his effortless humor was endlessly endearing to him.

“How unfortunate for us,” Viktor added dryly as Jayce handed him his own coat, walking to the door with him. Holding it open for him as he passed through, the ring of his cane echoing through the stone confines of the hallway. Ever in synchronization, their speed just the right tempo to be comfortable for them both to walk side by side. As they always would. Jayce would carry the umbrella this time. His arms were longer. And besides, Viktor had never fully shaken off the stupor he’d been in since they’d returned from the supply closet. He seemed like he needed a good nap.

As they closed the door and locked it behind them, Viktor’s eyes darted around the hallway, scanning to his left and right until he was assured that they were alone. No one would hear what he was about to say. Jayce tucked the keys away, regarding him with silent curiosity. Expressive as ever. His heart on his sleeve where it belonged. Where he could reach it.

“Perhaps we could collectively fall through yet another doorway. One of ours. When we leave her, I mean.” The words carried an almost bashful tone, a tinge of pink returning to Viktor’s colorless visage as he slowly looked him up and down, his eyes lingering on his belt just a bit longer than what would be considered appropriate for the workplace. Then they darted towards his face, anchoring him in the implied elicit fantasies of his heavenly gaze. He intended to finish what they’d started. He wasn’t the sort of man to leave a task half-completed when he set his mind to it. Something they shared in common. Another facet that unified them.

Jayce felt his mouth grow dry as his pulse quickened ever so slightly, heat pooling lower than he was willing to acknowledge as he refused to break eye contact. That dark wildness returned to his eyes that had been there before returning as his mind raced at the prospect of what it would feel like. What it would look like to watch, to behold his beloved as he attempted to satisfy him. His fingers in his hair, his hand on his thigh as he…

Then he turned towards the exit, his arm resting across Viktor’s back as he gave him another gentle squeeze. As long as Viktor fell into his embrace, they could stumble through any door they liked.

“Perhaps.”

—

This ended up being 30 pages. HELL. It was meant to be a quick little one-shot and well… yeah, it’s 13k words. Well then. Also, sorry if the smut section was lackluster. I don’t write smut. This is the first time I’ve tried to write it in over a decade of writing fanfics lol! A quick aside, this fic is also a birthday gift for Ellenchain! Her comic Playground is the best thing ever so go read it! Happy birthday! Hope you liked the fic! If you did, I’d love to hear what you thought! And yes, any art or whatever that you might decide to create in relation to this fic is totally okay! In fact, I’d love to see it if you do. It would make my day! Links to all my socials are in my profile if you want to throw ideas at me or just chat. My inboxes are always open! Take care and I’ll see you in the next fic. Bye bye!

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grownpredictable · 3 months ago

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New chapter in my Caitvi camp counselor AU = new obligatory post promoting it

" “What could have possibly compelled your parents to hire someone like her?” Salo asked with a stupid-looking smirk across his pale face.

Caitlyn and the other counselors looked in the distance at the newest hire. She was standing near the fire pit, a pile of firewood in front of her and an axe swinging in her hands. The sun was beginning to creep below the horizon. The orange light illuminated her figure as the woman raised the axe above her head. She swiftly moved it down to split the log in front of her, the muscles in her arms highlighted. She wiped her forehead with the back of her hand before picking up another log from the pile to split.

Caitlyn could understand what Salo meant. This new counselor was certainly different from the image her parents typically wanted associated with the Piltover’s Faithful Summer Camp. She had short reddish-pink hair, multiple visible tattoos– even on her cheek and the side of her neck, a pierced nose and a double piercing on her upper ear. Also, and Caitlyn hated to stereotype, but this woman was clearly queer. She was the type of person her parents would have told her to stay away from at school “for her own good.” It certainly didn't make a lot of sense that they would hire her. It was especially odd considering the fact that other new staff were hired months ago. This new counselor was only brought on board that day. Caitlyn caught her eye for a brief moment as she tightened her grip on the axe’s handle. She paused her movements as she locked eyes with Caitlyn. A small scowl spread across her face and she raised an eyebrow leerily at Caitlyn. Caitlyn turned to face the group again, a deep flush spreading across her cheeks. She realized she didn't know how long she had been staring. "

Read more -> https://archiveofourown.org/works/61699969/chapters/159112450

#caitvi #arcane #fic rec #my fic #violyn #vi arcane #caitlyn kiramman

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truestverdicts · 9 days ago

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Hey there! A delivery for councillor salo from @miniseka :) a very stylish looking crop top! Have a great day!

☆ 》 rp under cut

Upon entering the House Salo, a lavish estate, Gertrude is met with a front door about twice the size of her own height. An apt knock on the door is met with a silence only accompanied by the sounds of Piltover around her.

More silence.

Eventually, the door opens, someone who is definitely not Counselor Salo, meets her gaze.

"Hello. Do you need something?" they ask, cutting her off and ignoring her speech while only keeping the door open a little bit, "The house is not open for visitors at the moment."

#arcane roleplay #{☆} answered asks #{★} roleplay

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stargazingbitch · 4 months ago

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I think the last lines from vi and Cait haven't been talked about enough actually. I know what the "I'm the dirt under your nails" means when It comes to their own relationship. They had difficult moments this season, the disagreed in a lot of ways because of where they came from.

But the conflict of the show has always been (at least in s1) this gap between the people of Piltover and zaun. Piltover oppressed zaunites and wanted to make them invisible, to erase them. But the tools that Jayce was using to build hextech came from a little shop in zaun. Marcus was the chief of police of that perfect city and he was still corrupted, negotiating with the man who controlled all of the undercity. The brilliant mind that saved Jayce and helped him with his proyect was borned and raised a zaunite. Counselor Salo was using a drug created in the deep parts of zaun to cure his body. Piltover wanted to be the city of progress being all shiny and perfect but the were cracks there, they wanted to erase their history, the city right beside them but they couldn't. And at the end they had to accept it, they always needed them to achieve actual progress

So Caitlyn asks "Are you still in this fight Violet?" There's still so much to do so, do you still want to get up and make things better? And Vi, a girl who always wanted to make things better for her people responds "I'm the dirt under your nails cupcake" "Nothing's gonna clean me out" We have always been here, we'll always be here, nothing can erase us

#im still mad about how they treated the conflict between the cities #but this line goes deeper for me #idek if this makes sense #but it does to me #i needed to get this out of my system #piltover and zaun #vi arcane #caitlyn kiramman #arcane vi #arcane piltover #arcane zaun #arcane #arcane season 2 #arcane spoilers #arcane s2 #arcane analysis

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alex-the-bringer-of-chaos · 5 months ago

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Piltovans - my Arcane hcs

Sheriff Caitlyn "Cait" Kiramman (she/her) - the Sheriff of Piltover.

Nonbinary girl, Lesbian (canon) greyaro and Monogamous.

Dating Vi. Had a foveo with Maddie.

Cassandra and Tobias' daughter. Powder/Jinx's sister-in-law. Vander's daughter-in-law.

Piltover's sheriff. Lost her eye after the explosion on Jayce's apartment, meeting Vi at the hospital in Piltover.

Professor Cecil B. Heimerdinger (he/him) - the Revered Inventor.

Cis man, Aego aroace and Callistic.

The founder of Piltover, was head of its council, but stepped out of his position to become a full-time professor, scientist, inventor and mechanic, as well as an entertainer in Zaun. Had Viktor as an assistant and Jayce as a pupil. Now has Ekko as his pupil, working alongside him and Powder/Jinx.

Grayson (she/her).

Cis woman, Straight orchidrose and Demiamorous.

In a simulship with Vander.

Stepped out of the Piltover's sheriff position. Trains officers and others interested in the appropriate usage of firearms, with Caitlyn being her best student. Close friends with the Kiramman family.

Jayce Talis (he/him) - the Defender of Tomorrow.

Cis man, Bi demiace and Biamorous.

In a polyamorous relationship with Mel and Viktor (dating Mel, delamour with Viktor).

Ximena's son. Ambessa's son-in-law. Scientist and inventor, works with Viktor to improve the health of the zaunites, creating new technologies as well, with Mel backing their research.

Lest (she/her).

Trans woman (confirmed by va), Sapphic and Mesoamorous.

In a soft romo relationship with Mel.

Works in the healthcare services, being a health psychologist helping people with chronic illnesses. Also work as a spy for Mel on her fellow councilors.

Loris (he/any).

Unlabeled and Singleish.

Friends with Vi. An enforcer in times of need is a substance use counselor, after recovering from his own addictions.

Councilor Salo (he/him)

Androgyne, Abrosexual and Gamyflux.

Felt attraction to Ambessa and Lest.

A member of Piltover's council, is in a wheelchair (you decide why).

Councilor Shoola (she/her).

Genderfae, Abrosexual and Sensualarian.

In a pqpr with Mel and Sevika.

A member of Piltover's council. Was near the bridge between Piltover and Zaun, getting hurt by an explosion.

Enforcer Steb (he/any).

Libramasculine, Toric and Mesoamorous.

One of Piltover's enforcerers.

Other hcs

Noxians

Zaunites

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pidgeon-queen · 5 months ago

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Now that i have actually slept and didn't need to run errands anymore, I am finally watching season 2 of Arcane. For anyone who didn't see my last post on season 1, just a bit of inforalmation.

This is my thoughts and opinions on the characters, questions that seem unanswered, and looking at reasons behind characters actions, but not excusing them.

Season 2

Episode 1

It works well for the scene, but the static in the opening made me think my computer was busted. What a way to start off a season.

Point again on why I blame Jayce for everything. Victor knew he was dying, and explained they had to get rid of the hexcore because it was too dangerous. Victor always knew he was dying and Jayce decided to not grant him the mercy of death. I know this has consequences later on.

That little girl leaving the flowers is supposed to be Marcus's daughter, right? That is the only reason I could think or for her to have color why everything else is a charcoal sketch. The first 5 minutes has such beautiful art.

Salo seemed like the kind of person to be completely uninterested in anything but the perks of his job. Even with the death of the other council members, this argument doesn't sound like his words. I think Amvessa got in his head first

I am curious about Caitlyns father and why he acts as he does in both seasons. I feel like their could be more development as to who he is outside of her father and the husband of a former council member.

It took Vi all season to finally accept what others were saying. And even then, I think she is still wrong. It's not the Powder she remembers. Powder matured in a different environment than Vi and that is who she became. It just added a name change.

Who's this homeless enforcer? He sounds vaguely like Vander, and if i squint while exhausted, could almost look like Vander and Benzo combined.

Jayce put Victor in a chrysalis and it looks kind of creepy. Also, the fact that it reached out to Mel, i wonder if it would have eaten her like it did Sky. If things were different, I could see Jayce, Mel, and Victor working together in a different way that probably wouldn't have included Victor becoming part of the hexcore.

I'm glad Heimerdinger was kicked off the council because i am worried he wouldn't have survived.

Maddie Nolan is really suspicious. I wonder if Caitlyn actually said all of that. I am more interested in this fake drunkard than what Mel has to say. He has a story, and I worry I won't get to know what it is.

I've seen images of the counselors statue, but i thought it was only two of them.

There is a distinct lack of blood when it comes to more serious injuries. Someone got ripped by a chainsaw and there was nothing, but a bloody nose is fine.

They really left Jayce to die. He didn't even pick a good weapon, or go for the other nose tube. That had an affect Her.

The enforcers with Maddie, they didn't get an name, but definitely deserved one before this fighting. Same with Homeless.

Once again, Vi and Jayce working together to fuck up one shot.

I can see why Vi joined the enforcers, Caitlyn is losing it and doesn't know how to stop what is happening. Vi has been fighting her whole life and learned how to cope and plan. Fuck her for turning on her people the way she does, and what method she uses, but I understand the thought process of joining.

Caitlyn really chose to break the genevia convention laws using her mother's creation that was meant to save children of the undercity from the same fate as Victor.

What is with the special task force and their weapon choices. I get the sniper as Caitlyn is good with it, but Maddie has what looks like a toy gun from the arcade in season 1, and Homeless has a shield. Give him a brass knuckle as least so he has some way to fight back. It doesn't even need to be hextech. This specialized force has 2 unnamed characters still.

Why did Singed need to gas wolves? I know there is a reveal later on, but seriously, what did they ever do to you? The scars came from the explosion that killed Milo and Calgger. Animals did nothing to you.

Episode 2

This beginning is a reminder of the shape of water ending. This is another scene where they are leaning away from a father-daughter relationship and towards something else. I am pretty sure that's not what they wanted. Is it weird to hope the monsters in the bottom of the water ate Silco?

Good on Isha biting hard enough to cut through skin. I love her design. She also took Jinx up on the offer of a family and I never saw someone talk about that. Please other people talk about it.

The gray is so interesting. I can't wait to learn more.

Sevika is the middle ground between Vander and Silco. She just doesn't have the same kind of charisma they did. She also didn't have to be so terrible with the screwdriver. Angle your hand and body a little more and it would have been fine. She might have needed more help if the bolt was in too tight, but she chose not to hold it at a better angle.

Jinx comment about the eye shot is definitely from her perspective of Silco having her help, but i do still wonder if he wouldn't do it alone because he added shimmer to it and caused a physical reaction compared to before in season one when he had no problem in the room with Singed.

The sign of a bad leader is seeing everything collapse immediately after you disappear or die. Things could have continued if Vander left and Benzo took over, but Silco took charge and left an unstable legacy to collapse in his absence.

Victor hearing Sky's voice just proves to me the hexcore ate her. Jayce really couldn't let go, and it broke Victor. He doesn't look human anymore, and i can see the resemblance people make to him being Jesus. Jayce hasn't been given time to process and he is going to regret what he's done. Shame he can't see it sooner.

Ekko should have only been worried about capacity issues, then someone came and fucked with the tree. He needs a break.

I love Heimerdinger. He is 300 flyers old, but he is acting like a teen sneaking through his place. I needed this laugh after the previous episode. Where is Heimerdinger's pet? I miss him.

The offensive Ekko takes to tea.

This is the first time Vi has probably thought about Claggor in years. I wished we heard her or saw her facial reaction to it. I mentioned in my last post, but Vi is a shitty person when I comes to comforting others and how she reacts to loss without someone to comfort her.

I love Sevika's new arm and how it so clearly was made by Jinx, proving they will still work together, and how it is just an trade toy as well. That is some insane violence for someone who has never fought with the arm before. Why is Isha poking him? Leave the rat alone.

I'm starting to suspect Victor going to the undercity is what cause the arcane to affect Ekko's tree. That is definitely not Victor anymore. Why would he think to do something like that. How could he have know to heal others when Sky was killed by the same thing. The symbolism is a little on the nose.

Episode 3

Destroying you mother's legacy is not how you cope with loss Caitlyn. You ruined her memory like this and I know she is disappointed in you. This task force definitely had those hung and mutilated dolls coming. Who sacrifices the city just to maybe catch one person. It's the opposite affect you guys wanted.

The idea the gray gives him allergies.

The black rose has some interesting powers. The hissing, second voice is something I live for in storytelling. It's a shame I don't know how to write it in a way people pick up on.

Again, everyone doesn't seem to believe 2 identities can exist in one person. Vi also begged Caitlyn to not change when she herself changed. Whay a hypocrite.

Of course Salo is using shimmer.

Mel using her influence and is slowly losing it because Ambessa suddenly showed up. If Ambessa wasn't here, she might have more control over the situation in piltover.

I theorized that the arcane was living, by my comments of it eating Sky, I hope you understood that, but to see the story going in that direction kind of makes me smile. I suck at theories, but I guessed something right.

I love Jinx loving art but not being a protege.

Again, Jayce is at fault for deciding to not care about the undercity. Kiramman's sponsored Jayce and I would be surprised of Caitlyn's mother didn't warn him if she was the one to insisted the undercity deserved to breathe. I wonder if he either didn't listen to her, or she didn't get an say in how it was constructed. Either way, Jayce indirectly chose to sacrifice the undercity because he didn't care to think.

Heimerdinger, why would you risk touching that spot on the ground. Just tell everyone what you found first.

Vi chose this moment to not blame herself for the one thing she is definitely to blame. Caitlyn had to tell her they were using the Gray and Vi said yes, gas my people. Let me become what I hated and justify it by blaming Jinx.

Jayce really messed up with not understanding the arcane before trying to control it. And he is fucking up a fight. He felt it do something to his hammer, and still touches it.

Caitlyn doesn't seem to notice her gun breaking the laws of reality outside of being electrocuted. That is interesting.

Jinx is laying on the alter table about to be sacrificed in front of the undercities goddess. The goddess eyes look like they are glowing. I think that is why Caitlyn, who is known to be a great shot, couldn't shoot shit in that moment.

Piltover did need a makeover, and outside of it possibly releasing the gray into Piltover, I aprove of the method.it looks fun.

Vi still cares about the young people of the undercity, and it is proven in that scene where she stopped Caitlyn and let Jinx go to protect the child. The one thing I don't understand is how Caitlyn could be so willing to shoot a child when the only thing she successfully shot off was Jinx's finger. That is a big difference between her and Jayce. Isha would have just been collateral, while the boy Jayce killed was a complete accident. It does bring up, however, that Vi was fine with the kids in the shimmer factory ending up in the crossfire, but not Isha. Isha knew what she was doing jumping in the middle of the fight just like the kid who pulled the alarm. But Vi had a different reaction.

More evidence that Vi and Caitlyn are a very unhealthy and toxic relationship. Vi is in a similar position to Powder, and this time, nobody tried to come back for her. While not death, she again has nk comfort and is slowly breaking.

The artistic way the black rose is used is wonderful. I hate we only had a couple of minutes at best of that scene with Mel.

Please stop showing me Homeless and give me his name and backstory.

Ambessa chose Caitlyn because itbis the best way for the people to trust Noxian soldiers, and i think the people needed trust in someone who wasn't part of the council. Why does Maddie join in so quickly? Who is she really? And Homeless knows something. I want his lore in Arcane. I should mention I don't play league of legends, so there is a good chance a lot of lore and Easter eggs go over my head.

Singed will die long before Warwick is given enough blood.

Episode 4

Caitlyn sucks at her job. All of these people joined a cause Junx unintentionally created and she doesn't really hide herself. I basic cloth that sometimes doesn't cover her braids, making noise in the old arcade and fighting with extreme violence and enforcers keep arresting the wrong people.

Time has definitely passed based on the opening so this isn't like the next day, but I'm suspicious of Caitlyn and Maddie's relationship. Part of me thinks Maddie is a little obsessed with Vi and how she looked up to her, or it is Caitlyn she looked up to, and managed to get into a relationship with her in a moment of vulnerability, or caitlyn was looking for a rebound from a toxic relationship and Maddie was the girl who was there. Calling out Ambessa's words from Caitlyn is interesting. There is a certain look in her eyes that makes me wonder what Maddie is thinking.

I like how Isha is non verbal. Jinx knows how to communicate with her and shows Jinx is in her right mind.

If Jinx believes her name is dead, then what is her new name? You need to have something.

Ambessa doesn't know what Jayce did, and i think it is his fault nothing is working anymore.

Scar being there. That's it. Him seeing and being there.

"Why is peace always there justification for violence?" That's a good quote. We need more leaders to thank and answer this question.

How much time has passed? Ekko, Jayce, Mel, and Heimerdinger are all missing and time has passed enough for Mel be considered dead by some.

How did Sevika get in contact with the Firelights? Scar seems supportive of Jinx as he called for the people to fight at the checkpoint, but how did it come to that? Ekko is on the wall, but the firelights survived, so it is a sign he was a good leader. I wonder if he ever told Scar he still cared about Powder and if she ever gave him the chance, he would still save her.

Isha's fist do nothing, but she did her best and I am proud of her. Question, does Isha not get a name until 23 minutes into episode 4? I know her name from spoilers, but i think that's the first time she is given a name in the show.

Singed knowing they won't stay long but i doubt he knows how safe the Zaunites really are when Warwick arrives.

I love Sivika and Jinx being more buddy buddy this season. She's really really pissed that someone hated her pants. Then some creepy actually hitting on her.

She barely interacted and went into hiding, but they all somehow knew not to call out cheers or speak, just acknowledge her as a thanks. And the Woman who flirted with Claggor added Her aunt status to Jinx as well.

Do you see Jinx as an older sister to Isha, or a mom? I thought older sister based on some spoilers, but i can see a mom figure as well.

Going back to the chainsaw with no blood. Why was Warwick able to cause so much damage and spray blood like that?

Did Isha say Mama?

Warwick still has Vanders facial structure. And it proves to me Homeless looks like Vander.

Episode 5

Look, I was just thinking about Homeless.this guy still hasn't learned how to take a punch or at least protect his jaw as it's the weakest part on him.

Vi, how do you fuck up bad enough Homeless gives up on you?

Look at Jinx following her sister's footsteps. Fake tattoos and name written under her eye.

Ambessa survived, but i wouldn't be surprised if she faked her death so Warwick would leave her alone.

Caitlyn is still making the same mistakes as before. Going places she really shouldn't alone.

I don't know what to say about Signed so we are skipping over it.

Poor Mel seeing someone she cared for killed by the black rose. Imprisonment Socks. I wonder if she might change the way the prisons are run if she gets the chance. I do not believe she couldn't see him before he stepped i to the light. If that was supposed to be true, then the lighting should have been different.

Why would Jinx eat something you have to claim to get glowing

Vi really doesn't know what is going on. "Bitch mitten" are something I love. As well as that slap. Vi really hurt the kid she protected from Caitlyn.

Caitlyn can't even make a dungeon to hold people. She doesn't know what she is doing.

Mel's brother has a couple of close up to his eyes, and for a moment to, it looked like there was something in the pupil. Arcane doesn't show reflections in others eyes often.

"No mention of his crime." Caitlyn, can you guess based on his lab? Or do you really need an answer?

Isn't it implied that Singed removed his daughters heart for one reason or another?

Rose Mel's eyes looked so beautiful. Does Mel possess magic and that is subconsciously what drew her to Jayce and his research.

The memory of Vander with Silco and The girls mother. the casual replacement of alcohol with juice. Good Job Vander. Also, why did she suddenly decide Vander and Silco would raise her kid. She has a husband. Make him raise Vi first.

Both deserve the chance to heal. Isha and Vander are a part of that.

Salo, stop being creepy and dead. Bodies don't get to keep moving after you stop breathing. He sounds like Victor even before his mind took over Salo's body.

Jayce finally learner. And Heimerdinger was right. I wish we got to see a different angle your Salo's death. It looked pretty cool.

Another point to why this is all Jayce's fault. He chose to keep Vicgor alive, and look what that has done. You now have to physically kill Victor. Should have listened the first time. Should have never brought magic to piltover.

Episode 6

How does Victor say it's not Jayce and there is something else when He isn't even himself and keeps talking to the disembodied voice of Sky, who was eaten by the hexcore.

Vi really left hextech on the ground for anyone to take. Place of peace or not, I could sell that stuff

Grandpa Vander. I love him so.

Warwick knows there is something wrong with Victor. But he is trying to his kids.

I love Jinx and her comments and throwing shade.

Another beautiful artstyle showing their past. Jinx did deserve to have more time with her mom.

Vi talks about staying in Victor's place, but completely ignored that Ekko had the firelights trying to do the same thing. The difference, however, is Victor removes their desire and individual agency, creating more of a hive mind. Ekko has more freedom and the people don't see him has a Harold, but equal to each other.

There are 2 groups trying to fuck over Vander and his chances at a family again. Jayce unknowing because he is trying to fix his mistake, finally, and Ambessa who just wants war.

Caitlyn really wiped that spit into her mouth. Madam, you are in a relationship with Maddie. Stop that.

It took not being with Jayce for Vi to not fuck up. Let's see if not being around Vi helps Jayce, or still fucks everything up.

So far, he didn't kill a child. So maybe that's good.

Yes Vander! Protect your daughter.

Jayce didn't either. Vi and Jayce just need to not work together if they want to do anything in life.

This is what happens when you kill the leader of the hive mind. And unfortunately, Jayce is the reason Vander lost all humanity he had left. He's crying and suffering.

Victor didn't need to speak such truth.

Isha, sweetheart. No.

In a more serious note, I heard somewhere the reason tour life flashes before you life before you die is because your brain is looking for a memory to help deal with the event and save you, but since it has never experienced death, there is no immediate memory to help. I will sob silently for Isha, but every happy memory she had was with Jinx, do I believe, are the only memories she has. Trauma pushed away the bad ones so all her brain can do is show her the happy ones before her death.

Episode 7

Starting off with the record. It's not Vi and Jinx.

Ekko without face paint is a shock. But him actually seeing Benzo again. This might be the first time he thinks about what happened that day. Oh it hurts. I still see Homeless in Benzo's face, but i think it's more the sideburns.

This does explain why Jayce is the only one to escape in act 2. And proves Jayce did NOT eat Ekko and Heimerdinger like some people theorized.

I actually yelled seing Milo. I wasn't ready to see him with a posh accent and a mustache. I didn't yelled, but wtf! Heimerdinger with a guitar? Ekko is losing it.

So the answer to the time they were missing was 3 years. I thought it was weeks or a few months.

Jayce left his hammer in a place he doesn't know to chace a stranger who could hurt him. And he finds the remainds of a destroyed Piltover.

See! It's all Jayce's fault. Granted, Vi died, but she isn't that great of a person anyways.

Is this Heimerdinger singing at 13 minutes? That would be pretty funny. Watching...... it is!

So hextech almost existed, but Vi died in the explosion and Jayce lost everything because nothing got stolen. Still doesn't change the fact it was his fault for bringing the crystals to Piltover. It's a good thing that is where Ekko and Heimerdinger landed or we really wouldn't see them again.

Where did Jayce end up? How did he hang on with those things

I really don't think i could have done it. They look terrifying.

Ekko has his time skill! I do think the time in this reality is what gives Ekko the chance later on to try again with Jinx. His chances to tell Benzo the truth and actually say goodbye.

Seconds later, Ekko forgets this isn't his universe and makes the same mistakes as asking Powder if it's her fault this Vi was killed.

There is a screenshot worthy point around the 30 minute mark of Milo and Clagger. I hope someone has do that. It needs to be memorialized.

Powders dress reminds me of the moonflower for some reason when she spins.

Finally, Timebomb fans! Be fed!

If Heimerdinger dies....

Powder better get her Ekko back...

She does! Now what happened to Heimerdinger

Oh an episode almost solely for Ekko, finally making up for lost time.

Episode 8

We return to Mel and her magic i forgot about with everything else that was going in. She was controlling the other counselors throught their corruption. I guessed that right. Yay.

What is Mel going to do now?

It is interesting how they bury the people.

Vander needs to be left alone. He's been through enough.

I knew it was a hive mind.

Homeless is Back! When was his name Lois? I was close at least. (I'm not watching with subtitles so unless the speak the names, I have no idea who people are).

"We can't erase our mistakes." Yeah, like you gassing the innocent?

Jinx has lost everything, her family has been lost 4 different times. She finally gave up after losing Vander again, and losing Isha.

Mel and Jayce meeting again after their separate imprisonments. Mel finally being called out on her control. And being blamed for something she could t control.

Where did Victor's new body come from. This fight scene reminds me of the I, Robot based on Victor's movements.

It is nice to see an actual conversation between Silco and Jinx without it pushing her towards his goal of Zaun.

Break the cycle with broken knuckles. Nice on Vi.

This creature. The fact Jayce still sees it as living. Should have been labeled thing.

Heimerdinger's pet! I missed it.

Caitlyn. What about Maddie? ..... vie doesn't care, but that doesn't make Caitlyn a shitty person for cheating.

Even with the arcane, Victor never love Sky the way she did. How dare he take everything from Vander. He has died enough, why take the memories away too?

Episode 9

Oh boy, here we go.

Jinx has beautiful hair. Long and short.

Ekko is back and he is trying. I am so proud of him.bittersweet(X) as long as their alive in the end, I think i can accept the ending of the series. But I just got through the intro so good so we will see.

Maddie has to be working with Ambessa.

Maddie put the nail in, didn't she? Maybe she deserved to be cheated on. I didn't think she really loved Caitlyn in the beginning. I was just wrong about it being obsessive... death works too.

Jinx and Ekko working on the same side as it should be. Welcome Zaunites to the party. Thanks for bringing it.

Victor looks so gross.

Not Sevika! She grew on me.

Do you think Vi finally understood it wasn't just her and Jinx left? Do you think she will finally remember Ekko and continue to care about him in the future?

Mel's story so so much more complex than season 2 had time to delve into. I do. Ot understand the black rose as much i they probably wanted us to.

They still leave Ekko alone and assumed dead. Even after he did so much to save them both.

Ekko is the only one. Jayce is gone too. How will he try?

Yes ekko!!!!!! Some risks must be made.

That is an interesting callback to what Jayce saw in the alternate universe and explains what he meant.

I may have to ammend my statement a bit. Not by much though. Victor is the instigator for the use of hextech. But I thought that's where it started. Is it more accurate to blame this on Victor?

We once again see Vi not coping with dead and lacking a comfort. Her failure to listen and move resulted in Jinx having to jump down. It is a shame Vi couldn't learn better ways of coping outside of self destruction and lashing out immediately.

I hate we don't see Ekko actually go back to the firelights or see him step as a leader for Zaun we all know he easily could have been.

Now that everything is over, I will go back to my question 3 paragraphs above. Should Victor now be the blame for all of this? As he gave the rune to Jayce knowing he was the only one who could show something good from emotion and resistance. This goes against my firm belief that, as adults, you are responsible for your actions, and your actions alone. Your actions have an affect on others as seen in life and Arcane. Victor planted the seed of thought and useless chip in Jayce as a young boy. Jayce, however chose illegal research and storing dangerous and illegal contraband in his room unsecured.

This answer can only be found by looking into another question. How important were Jayce and his mother's lives? His mother would have died without arcane magic, and as he was a child, Jayce may have too. Allowing him to die young would have meant Jayce could bring the crystals to Piltover, and his house wouldn't have been robbed. Nothing in Arcane would have gone the same way. Say young Jayce would have survived and made it to Piltover, he still wouldn't have interacted with magic and see it can be harnessed by someone without being born with it, and his research probably wouldn't have been different. Who knows if he would have gone to the undercity then, but it grunted his house wouldn't have exploded because of the crystals. If all characters must be alive and Victor's past self needed to save Jayce, then it is my same argument. Jayce shouldn't have brought contraband to Piltover and not secure it and hide it.

There is a note to add that if Victor didn't give the chip to Jayce after saving his mother, then maybe Jayce wouldn't have found the crystals, but I disagree. He would have been searching still. I don't doubt he wouldn't have found them on his own without a shards with an engraved rune as a reference piece.

Thanks everyone who actually read this far. I can now continue my doom scrolling here without worry of spoiling anything now.

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