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scribbly-artist · 2 days ago

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With You in the Dark

Summary: You were having a really bad day. Nothing you tried seemed to help, it was a pretty awful episode, not uncommon for you. You’ve gone to your two favourite people to help, Viktor and Jayce, and they are happy to listen to your problems and put a smile on your face in return.

Author’s Notes: I was reluctant to post this (and even finish this, really) as I was writing this when I was feeling really shitty myself (yaaaay we love feeling sad a lot). But I figured if someone else is feeling this way and reads this, maybe they might feel better, too. I projected a LOT onto the Reader, but still used they/them pronouns so everyone can put themselves in their place. I just wanted comfort by getting tickles by my two faves. :( Stay safe out there, everyone.

Words: ~2,500 | AO3 Link

Everything currently feels so… grey.

You saw things in grey. The food you ate tasted grey. The bags under your eyes were grey. The feeling inside your chest… all a disheartening, disgusting monochrome blended into your heart and soul. It felt unavoidable at this point.

And you felt awful about it, as you felt as if you were always meant to be colourful and bright for others. You felt like you were the light for your friends when they needed it most, when they were feeling awful themselves. People came to you when the world was grey for them. But how could you be that shoulder to cry on when you were in this state yourself?

You tried many things to distract yourself from this feeling – but your usual tricks didn't seem to work. Reading books at the library, going for a walk, drawing whatever silly pictures you could, just sitting outside and feeling the warm sun hit your skin… nothing worked, it was all so demotivating.

You lay your head on your arms that were resting on the bench, sighing, looking down at your lap.

You were in one of the academy's laboratories with your two favourite people – Jayce and Viktor. Usually, they would be able to cheer you up right away with their presence alone. But the awfully sad look on your face struck something in them today. You had asked them if you could just hang out and think as they worked. Of course, they agreed.

They attempted to try to help you at first, but you just wanted to be alone with your thoughts for a while, but in the company of others as you felt safer that way. So, at your request, you just… sat and existed for a while.

You wondered if you could bring the colour back into your life at all for a while. You were prone to these episodes, each one feeling like it was longer than the last. It just… happens, you supposed.

You disassociated into your thoughts, constantly thinking for what felt like an eternity. Your brain couldn’t be silenced, loud noises that wouldn’t stop. Time seemed to pass without your knowledge as your thoughts swirled into more of that disgusting colour you despised. At one point, tears started to bud into the corners of your eyes that you couldn't stop from running down your cheeks.

Once the tears came, that's when you finally noticed that the unusual comforting sounds of metal being hit and chalk being scraped halted to a stop, as a warm, comforting hand gently touched your shoulder.

You whipped your head up – both Jayce and Viktor were sitting on either side of you. You hadn't noticed they stopped until now, let alone moved their chairs to sit beside you. Your hands darted to your eyes, wiping the tears away. Looking at both of their faces, though, they started to well up again.

They looked sad – you immediately thought you did something wrong.

“I-I'm sorry,” you gasped out, but their expressions changed to concerned confusion.

“‘Sorry’? What for?” Viktor was the first to pipe up, his golden eyes radiating worry.

“You don't have to apologise for crying,” Jayce nearly looked like he was going to start tearing up himself. “If you feel up to it, you could tell us why you're feeling upset today.” Jayce’s hand on your shoulder slowly stroked some comforting circles into it with his thumb.

You let out a sigh so deep from inside your lungs, you felt like you were going to shrink up and run out of air. “It's n-nothing, really guys–”

“We know it's not just ‘nothing’,” Viktor interrupted you before you could get another word in. “Both of us can tell when you're feeling especially awful. We've known you long enough to deduce as such.”

They were both very perceptive young men. Nothing could get past them.

You turned to your head to your right, seeing what Jayce wanted to say about that.

“You don't have to tell us if you don't want to,” his hand slipped down to your back. “We’re not trying to force you. But, maybe we can help you if you open up.”

You paused for a moment, your face changing from thinking everything over, to an upset frown. You sucked in a shaky breath, mentally preparing yourself to spill all your thoughts out in the open for the first time.

“I don’t know what triggered inside me to feel this way…” your hand reached up to the collar of your shirt, fiddling with a button. “Sometimes, nothing does. Sometimes, my mind will wander and it’ll just happen,” you lowered your head, not daring to attempt to look your two friends in the eye. “But I hate feeling this way. I’m meant to be the one who’s meant to make people feel better, not the other way around,” tears started to well up in your eyes again as your words escaped your throat with raw, bubbling emotion. “How am I meant to help people if this feeling in my chest, suffocating me, won’t go away?”

Your hand moved hastily to fiddle with the hem of your shirt instead. Both men didn’t utter a word as you continued.

“Everyone thinks I’m a happy-go-lucky person, but I’m not. It’s a mask… and sometimes, it falls off,” the tears started to sting more, threatening to fall as your pained voice continued. “And when it falls off… I hate people seeing me this way. I feel stupid for being upset. For crying,” the tears were starting their descent now. “For being a burden. For worrying people… g-guys, I’m sor—”

You weren’t able to get another word in.

Two pairs of warm, comforting arms wrapped their way around your body. You could hear heartbeats through chests on both sides of your head. You were confused in your frenzied state for a moment, until it dawned on you.

They were hugging you.

You couldn’t stop your tears from falling any longer, letting out a wet-sounding sob.

“You will never be a burden on us,” Viktor spoke from your left, hand tangled in your hair. “Please. Understand that.”

“We’re your friends… we want to be there for you, through thick and thin,” Jayce was next to speak on your right, he sounded as if he was on the verge of tears. “It’s fine if you need to lean on us, that’s what we’re here for… you need to fill your own cup up, too…”

Their words were the breaking point.

You cried — you cried a lot. You weren’t even sure how long you cried for, but they stuck by you the entire time. They didn’t even budge, they just held onto you tightly, as if you would go somewhere far away if they let you go.

It grounded you. And it made you feel better. You hadn’t had a big, long cry in a very, very long time. Same with such a nice, comforting hug…

Once you ceased, your head lowered, hands in your lap. “T-Thank you…” your voice was hoarse, weakened with every syllable you uttered.

The men broke their embrace, Viktor sliding a comforting hand up and down your back as you coughed and hiccuped, Jayce using his thumb to wipe the tears off of your cheeks. “Do you feel better?” He asked, a tiny bit of his own tears in the corner of his eyes.

A heavy weight was lifted from your body, so partially. However, you were a bit horrified that they had to bear witness to all of that.

But, at least you could feel a little colour again.

“Guys… I-I'm sorry for crying in front of you.”

“You never have to apologise for showing emotion like that,” Viktor replied.

“We’re glad that you felt safe to do so,” Jayce piped up, placing his hand on your shoulder again with a soft smile. “We just want to see you safe and happy.”

You responded with a nod, a small smile making its way to your face. But not a big one like they were expecting.

Jayce got up, leaning a hand on the bench. “C’moooon, you can smile a little bit more than that, right?” A smirk grew on his face.

To your left, Viktor wanted to be cheeky, so he reached over and gave your cheek a little pinch, pulling on it slightly. “I've seen much larger smiles on your face than this before. Surely you have more in you?”

Your cheeks started to reveal a bit of pink dusted on them. “W-What?” Your head darted to both of their faces, turning left and right. Their gazes started to look a little too eager… both of your index fingers pointed at your face, smiling a tiny bit more to show some teeth. “This is a big enough smile… right?”

Both men exchanged glances, then looked back at you. Clearly not.

A chuckle escaped Viktor. “I believe our friend here may need some… ah, further convincing to cheer up.” He gave you a little poke in the side.

You jumped at the touch, a shiver going up your spine. Your current smile started to turn wobbly.

Jayce’s smirk only grew to look more evil and mischievous. “I agree. We need to make sure our friend doesn’t have anymore sad thoughts in their head, y’know.”

“Don't talk about me like I'm not here!” You jokingly piped up, a bit of nervous sweat started to build up on your forehead, cheeks ablaze.

“I think I have just the trick.” Jayce clapped his hands.

You attempted to get up with a start. You weren't sure what they were planning, and you didn't want to know. But, your escape failed. As soon as you rose from your seat and tried to sidestep Jayce and Viktor, Jayce grabbed you. He held you against his chest, an arm slipping around to hold you just under your arms and along your chest, resulting in you not being able to lower your arms.

“W-We can talk about this, right? Right?” Your bargaining attempt fell on deaf ears, both men shaking their heads.

“We just want to see your big, bright smile. We can help you with that!” Jayce spoke near your ear, and then nodded at Viktor. Viktor’s hands started to approach you, wiggling his fingers. You squirmed on the spot.

“What are you going to– ahahaha!!” You erupted into giggles as Viktor’s fingers touched down on your ribs. Oh no! Tickling? You were too sensitive for this… they’ve played this game with you before. “Nohoho! Wahahait guys!!”

“Laughter suits you much better than crying. Don’t you agree, Jayce?” Viktor nonchalantly said as he scribbled right into your ribs and sides, making you flail about in Jayce’s hold with bright, bubbly laughter filling up the room.

“Definitely! And your laugh is adorable, to boot!” Jayce cooed right into your ear.

If your face wasn’t already red, it was definitely on fire by this point.

“Dohohon’t say that!!” You protested with a whine. Viktor was switching things up to keep you on your toes, digging his roaming fingers into your unprotected armpits, causing you to bubble up in more laughter.

“But it’s true! I wouldn’t lie about that. What’s wrong, don’t you like being called cute?”

You tried to respond, but you tripped over your words with your laughter, shaking your head.

“Quite the opposite, I believe. Judging by how flushed they got… I think they like it.” God, Viktor was annoyingly observant.

“Aww, that’s so cute!” Jayce teased. Realising his other hand was free, he decided he wanted to join in as well, his hand giving your side a couple squeezes.

Your laughter exploded.

“NOHOHOT THEHEHERE!!” A bit of fang was showing from how wide your smile got. You threw your head back, resting it on Jayce’s shoulder.

“Woah, a bad spot?” Jayce pointed out, giving you tender squeezes wherever he could reach, a much different feeling compared to Viktor’s agile wriggling fingers. It was hard to think straight with both sensations at the same time.

“What a charming smile you have,” Even Viktor teased you a little, your ears started to blush alongside your rosy cheeks. “I wonder…” Uh oh, you could hear the curiosity in Viktor’s voice when you knew he was up to no good…

Viktor’s hand’s darted down, squeezing right into your hip bones.

Oh god, you didn’t know how awfully ticklish you were there. You have never been tickled there before, but now you know it was definitely a bad spot. You nearly shrieked from the contact alone.

“I believe that might be what they call a ‘death spot’ ehehe…” Viktor chuckled to himself, giving it a few more squeezes to see you squirm and laugh.

New tears — tears of mirth — started budding into the corners of your eyes. You began to wheeze as your laughter grew hoarse, so both men slowed to a stop. You started catching your breath with a cough, Jayce releasing his grip on you, but he kept a hand on your shoulder as you were a bit weak in the knees from all that energy being sapped from you. He wanted to make sure you didn’t fall over or sink to the ground.

“There, how was that? Feel better?” Jayce asked, giving your shoulder a pat.

You weakly nodded your head, giving a thumbs up as you wheezed.

“We’ll have to remember this for next time you need some cheering up,” Viktor gave a small smirk when he looked in your direction, meeting your eye. “Your laugh and smile… it’s very endearing.”

“Ugh, noooo, stooooop…” You covered your face with your hands, not daring to look at either of them as they shared a laugh at your expense. “It’s embarrassing…”

“What, being called cute?” Jayce piped up behind you.

Your body whipped around, slapping a hand over his mouth. “Shut up, shut up, shushhhhhh.” Your cheeks only burned more.

“Alright, we’ll stop teasing you,” he grabbed your hands, lowering them back down, absentmindedly rubbing a thumb over your knuckles. “How about we go and get you something to drink?”

“You should have some sweetmilk. For a sweet friend. I’ll pay for it.” Viktor patted a hand on your shoulder, a small smile gracing his features.

“I think I need a drink after being tormented…” You were being a tad dramatic. They began to walk to the lab’s entrance, you following them in tow.

“Torment? I think you loved it, actually.” Viktor couldn’t help but tease you just a bit more, chuckling.

“I’m not afraid to hit you, y’know,” You let out a dramatic whine from the tease, sighing. There was silence for a moment as you walked, until you spoke up. “…thanks, guys.”

They were always here for you when you needed it. And they were happy to help out.

Everything felt a little bit more colourful and brighter being by their side.

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