Archive of Our Own

In the seconds before he was consumed by the arcane, there was an onslaught of stimuli that forced Viktor into a state of sensory overload. Blinding light and the screech of his universe grinding to a halt. A rush of coldness enveloped him and Viktor expected the icy chill of death.

But all he felt was the warmth of Jayce next to him, of Jayce’s hands on his neck and on Viktor’s own hand. Afraid of whatever would happen next, wherever the dying hexcore was taking them, Viktor just kept his eyes locked on Jayce’s, taking comfort in the determination and fear in Jayce’s own eyes.

Then he stopped existing as his mind and body were devoured by the dying hexcore.

Which made waking up both a blessing and a curse.

Viktor sat up, his chest sucking in lungfuls of air. He lifted his fingers up to his face, the inky blackness of the void he was in pinching at the edges of his flesh. Pink and soft and human, entirely human. Viktor ran his hands over his face and his chest, a quiet sigh leaving his lips.

He was alive and somehow in his body, his body, the one he'd lost when he was healed by the hexcore. Viktor wrapped his arms around himself, thankful that the arcane gave him this, at the end.

“Viktor?”

Viktor turned around so fast at the sound of Jayce’s voice that he almost fell over, his arms catching himself on solid ground, a tesseract of repeating glimpses of other universes and futures and destinies. Sprinkled in between were Viktor’s various memories, a not insignificant number of them of Jayce.

“Where are we?” Viktor asked. He saw Jayce's shoes at the edge of his vision and looked up. Jayce looked around them, at the shifting multiverses around them. Then Jayce looked back at Viktor, dropping to his knees to help Viktor into a more comfortable sitting position.

“I'm not sure,” Jayce said. “A pocket dimension outside of time and space? A black hole within the hexcore as it dies? Who knows.”

“Jayce--”

“I've just woken up myself.”

“Jayce, I--”

“Maybe we're dead and this is the afterlife for us.” Jayce chuckled like that idea was funny to him. His casual tone creeped itself into Viktor’s chest, tightening around his heart. He didn't deserve this, for Jayce to sit here and act like Viktor was worthy of it. Of any of this, to have the one thing he wanted most after all he'd done.

“I'm sorry,” Viktor whispered, his throat closing around the words in anguish. “I'm sorry for everything. You're stuck here with me, after everything I did. After I hurt you and--”

“I don't need an apology from you, Viktor.”

“My God, what I almost did. I'm scared that I could do that.” Viktor curled in on himself, content to keep going until he disappeared entirely. Then he felt the heavy weight of Jayce's hand landing comfortably on his back.

“You stopped before you could do anything permanent. You might not be thought of as a hero but you're not a monster.”

“I almost forced a hextech hivemind onto the people I swore to help. I am a monster.”

“It doesn't matter,” Jayce said. Viktor opened his mouth to argue that point, but one look at the kind expression on Jayce’s face quieted Viktor’s rebuttal. Jayce smiled, shy and small. “You didn't do that and the only person left to seek forgiveness from is me. And I'm just happy to have you back.”

Viktor's eyes stung as they filled with tears. For what he almost did. For the people he hurt. For himself, for being disappointed that he could do this, for allowing himself to be so corruptible.

For Jayce, that such a patient and kind man would ever waste his time with Viktor as he was now. Stuck wasting whatever time they had left in this world.

Jayce's face somehow, impossibly softened more. He slipped an arm around Viktor and pulled him to Jayce's side. Viktor went, not offering any resistance in his moment of weakness. Jayce tucked Viktor's head against his shoulder and they both sat in silence for a second.

“You're not usually one for crying,” Jayce said after a while.

“I'm not crying,” Viktor said. “Crying would require tears to fall from my eyes. That's not happening.” Jayce turned to look at him and smiled. Viktor tried not to just stare into Jayce's warm eyes, but in this world without gravity or a sun, Jayce's eyes did just as well.

“You're staring,” Jayce told him.

“I'm not used to this beard,” Viktor said. He reached up to touch it, a gossamer trace of his fingers along Jayce's chin. Before he could pull his fingers back, Jayce caught his hand and molded it to his cheek. Viktor didn't try to pull his hand back.

“I think it's grown on me too,” Jayce said, smiling at his own corny joke.

“We're trapped, potentially in a pocket dimension, and you're making jokes.”

“Fine,” Jayce said with another chuckle. “I'll only be serious from now on.” Jayce followed this statement up by reaching out to tuck a strand of Viktor's longer hair behind his ear. “I'm happy to have you back.”

“Jayce--”

“This is how you should be, Viktor. Flesh and blood and--”

“Beautiful imperfections?” Viktor said with a small smile.

“Yeah,” Jayce agreed. Viktor pulled his hand away from Jayce's cheek so he could instead rest it over Jayce's heart, laying his head back on Jayce's shoulder. They were quiet after that, settling into the circumstances, what they'd endured and what it meant that they were here together.

“What do we do now?” Viktor asked.

“Do you still feel any connection to the hexcore?” Viktor raised his palm and held it out as if to demonstrate its normalcy.

“Not at all. Whatever happened to it, it's not with me.”

“That's probably for the best,” Jayce said. Viktor tried not to take the comment personally, as if he couldn't be trusted not to go down his dark and corrupted road if he had access to it.

“Probably,” Viktor agreed.

“Then I guess we just wait here until something happens.”

“Jayce, I'm sorry-”

“Don't apologize to me again, Viktor.”

“Will you listen to me? You can't know the anguish I feel. I hurt all those people but I hurt you too. I need you to know that I regret that. Maybe most of all.”

“Then I'm sorry for hurting you too!” Viktor closed his eyes and breathed in shakily. He wasn't deserving of this, for Jayce to sit here and hold him, to try and placate him.

“You haven't hurt me, Jayce.”

“I have,” Jayce said defiantly. “All those times you needed me and I wasn't there. When I didn't have your back. When I refused to destroy the hexcore after it hurt you.”

Viktor watched the quick flash of negative emotions across Jayce’s face. It dawned on Viktor then that these were regrets Jayce held, the flashes of what Jayce saw as his own weakness that had hurt the people he cared about and encouraged him to be stronger.

“When I ordered the attack on the Undercity,” Jayce whispered, refusing to look at Viktor despite still holding him so tenderly. Viktor could only nod because that had hurt him. “When I reached for Mel after the council chambers bomb instead of--”

Jayce stopped for a second and took a deep breath. Viktor didn't remember that time. He'd been standing in the council chamber and then he'd woken up later, fused with the hexcore that he'd begged Jayce to destroy. He didn't remember Jayce reaching for Mel and it was too far in the past to matter now.

But Viktor remembered the overwhelming relief on Jayce's face when he'd woken up later. Jayce had looked like he'd witnessed a miracle firsthand, like the thing he'd wished for above all else had come true. That expression was what kept Viktor from believing he was dead, that waking up was a dying man's dream.

Because Jayce was finally looking at Viktor like he was the most important thing in Jayce's world and that felt too cruel to be a dream.

“Mel,” Jayce said with a laugh, adding his former lover to the list of things he felt he needed to apologize for.

“You don't need to apologize for Mel,” Viktor said. Jayce just shook his head.

“I do. I pursued her even though I knew how you felt about me. That was cruel of me to do.”

“How I felt about you?” Viktor asked, confused. Not because it wasn't true. Viktor had always felt very strongly about Jayce since that first day when he was sent as an envoy to Jayce's apartment after the explosion. He'd been tall, dark, and handsome with passions not dissimilar to Viktor's own.

Viktor was just surprised because he'd never voiced those feelings out loud before.

“I've known since that night in the lab,” Jayce said and the way he said it left no doubt for which night he was referring to. Before hextech's explosion in popularity made Jayce Talis too famous and before Viktor's disease took a plummet for the worse.

It had been quick, two horny young men who had been working too hard and too often, exhaustion a palpable tinge to their arousal. But Viktor had finally felt triumphant, holding Jayce against him as they both got off. Jayce Talis, the soon to be Man of Progress, was all Viktor's for one brief night.

Hextech as an invention was always tied to Jayce first and foremost. Viktor supposed that maybe he was too.

“It was one night, Jayce. You couldn't have known I was in love with you after only one night.” Jayce turned to look at him fully, the intensity in his gaze overwhelming.

“You can't see how you look at me,” Jayce whispered. Viktor drew in a deep breath. “How you've always looked at me. How you're looking at me right now.”

Viktor didn't give Jayce a chance to say another word. He slipped his hand around Jayce's neck and pulled him down, their lips colliding in what Viktor could only describe as a supernova of warmth and passion.

This was not the clumsy kissing of two rushed youths. This was the kiss of men in the midst of world ending events, who knew that they wanted this. Knew, finally, that what they wanted the most was each other.

Jayce's arm around Viktor's waist tightened, his fingers pulling at the loose robe Viktor still wore. Viktor's own fingers hungrily crawled at the edge of Jayce's shirt, dipping below tauntingly. With minimal urging, Viktor let Jayce guide him into his lap, Viktor's thighs pinning Jayce's down.

“Does that hurt?” Jayce whispered, pulling back from the kiss so he could run his big hand, made for forge work and caressing Viktor, across Viktor's leg.

“No,” Viktor said. “I may be in my old body but I believe my affliction is gone.”

“Good,” Jayce said. He fit both arms around Viktor's waist and pulled him in closer so that he and Jayce were chest to chest, flush. Viktor blushed at the proximity but Jayce smiled to reassure him.

“I never thought I'd see you like this again,” Jayce said.

“Human?” Viktor asked.

“Like the man I fell in love with,” Jayce responded. And there it was, the unspoken feeling between them finally spoken into reality. Jayce loved him as Viktor had always loved Jayce. Viktor could be upset that they were only confessing to this now, after they'd put each other through hell.

But Viktor was just happy to have him, to have the man he loved so he didn't have to endure this alone.

“Viktor?”

“Sorry,” Viktor said. “I'm sorry I was ever not the man you loved. I'll be better.”

“I'm sorry for trying to kill you,” Jayce countered. Viktor couldn't help but laugh at that.

“That one you really don't have to apologize for. Evidently I talked you into it.” Jayce leaned forward so his forehead was resting on Viktor's collarbone.

“No more apologies,okay? We're just going to be in whatever time we have left.” Viktor nodded.

“I'd like that.”

“Me too,” Jayce agreed, nodding as he raised his head up to kiss Viktor again. Viktor opened his mouth almost instantly and moaned when he felt Jayce tongue in his mouth. If this was the last infinity before the hexcore collapsed, Viktor couldn't think of a better way to spend it.

Viktor ran his hands through Jayce's long hair and into his scruffy beard. He gave a gentle squeeze to the scruff and Jayce bucked his hips up. Viktor pulled back from the kiss, only by centimeters, panting as he felt arousal spread through him.

For all his scientific understanding of the universe, this--the cosmic rightness he felt being held in Jayce's hands-- would always amaze him. Viktor wasn't made for glorious evolutions. The universe had made him for Jayce, to love and be loved in return.

“Are you okay?” Jayce asked. Viktor just chuckled.

“Better than okay,” Viktor said. “I believe these are metaphysical versions of our bodies.”

“Yours is nice,” Jayce said. Viktor smiled at him then reached out to touch the ground beneath them, if ground was even the right word for it. The solid edge of the void around them with all its bursts of Viktor's memories and other potential universes.

“This--whatever it is--is feeding off of my memories.”

“Mine too,” Jayce confirmed. Viktor nodded, guessing that was the case. They were quiet for a second, taking in the impossibility of the situation.

“Viktor?” Jayce finally asked.

“Yes?”

“Can I have you?” Jayce asked. “I mean, can I--”

“Jayce, you've always had me,” Viktor said. “But if you're asking if we can have sex, then the answer is yes.”

“I was trying to phrase it more romantically.”

“We're scientists, Jayce. We're concerned with the how and the why. Your adherence to that is what I find romantic.” Jayce just nodded before he tightened his hold on Viktor and spun them around so that Jayce was holding Viktor down. Viktor let out an involuntary huff when his back collided with the solid ground.

“Fine,” Jayce whispered. “Then I want to fuck you, Viktor. Is that what you want me to say?”

“Well, now you're being crass,” Viktor teased. Jayce sat back and laughed. The sight took Viktor's breath away because Jayce was so unbelievably and undeniably handsome, but the happy laughter made his face shine.

“I can't win with you,” Jayce told him. Viktor shrugged.

“But don't you prefer the challenge? Putting in the effort to figure me out?” Jayce leaned forward so that his and Viktor's faces were inches apart.

“Where do you suggest I start?” Jayce asked, his voice suddenly deep and sultry. Viktor felt his skin prickle as excitement coursed through them. Jayce's voice promised that he'd take his time, make this last enough for however many lifetimes they'd be trapped here. Viktor wanted it desperately.

“Empirical evidence suggests you should start lower,” Viktor whispered.

“Lower?” Jayce asked. Viktor nodded so Jayce leaned forward and kissed his lips. Just as Viktor went to deepen the kiss, Jayce pulled back so he could kiss Viktor's chin and then his jaw. The first press of Jayce's lips to Viktor's neck had Viktor sucking in a gasp.

Jayce nipped and sucked at Viktor's neck voraciously, his tongue and his teeth leaving a wet trail over Viktor's skin. The scratch of his beard made the sensations razor sharp and Viktor was worried he'd lose himself just like this.

Jayce pushed the edge of Viktor's robe aside, his lips following the path of his fingers as he sucked a bruise into Viktor's collarbone. Viktor's fingers tightened in the sides of Jayce's shirt as Jayce sank lower.

“Here?” Jayce asked, his breath ghosting over Viktor's now bare chest. Viktor pretended to think about it.

“Lower,” he commanded. Jayce smiled before he resumed his path of kisses downwards, over one of Viktor's nipples and across his abdomen. While his mouth worked, Jayce's hands undid the tie at Viktor's waist that kept the robe closed. Viktor wanted to be embarrassed that he was the only one naked, his white skin laid out like it was.

But then he saw the way Jayce's hands trembled as they slid across his hips and down his thighs. It felt reverential, like this body was the one Jayce worshipped. Not the machine he'd become.

“Viktor,” Jayce whispered. Viktor didn't say anything, just watched as Jayce laid his forehead to the skin above Viktor’s right hip. “I thought you were lost to me.”

“I'm right here, Jayce.”

“I know,” Jayce said, his eyes finding Viktor’s. “You're beautiful, Viktor.”

“Thank you,” Viktor said, repaying Jayce's earnestness with his own. “You make me feel beautiful.”

“Good.”

Jayce didn't say anything else, just resumed his earlier act. He kissed his way down Viktor’s thigh, stopping every time he got to a scar. Viktor wasn't sure why the hexcore hadn't removed those, the areas he'd carved runes into his skin in order to trigger the hexcore’s power. But at this moment, it didn't bother Viktor. Not when he had Jayce to kiss them.

Jayce kissed his knee and Viktor felt a surge of emotions in his chest. There was the arousal of the moment and the all consuming love he'd almost lost. But there was also gratitude that Jayce had always loved him and his flaws, not in spite of them. Viktor had spent so long angry at his leg for not working, angry that his body didn't crave life the way his mind did.

The simple truth was that sometimes you didn't see that you were perfect as you were until someone else saw first.

“Jayce!” Viktor cried out when Jayce began his slow, agonizing trek back upwards to where Viktor's cock was waiting.

“Now you want me higher?” Jayce teased.

“Just wait until we switch. My revenge will be sweet,” Viktor promised. Jayce stopped what he was doing to look at Viktor, his eyes wide. Viktor smiled at Jayce's confusion. “You didn't think I would be willing to give? We're partners, Jayce. Equals.”

“Fuck,” Jayce whispered, evidently picturing it. There was a notable red tint to his tan cheeks and Viktor smiled. God, he was in love.

“I love you,” Viktor told him because it felt vitally important to say it out loud. Jayce blinked out of his own imagination and smiled.

“I love you too,” Jayce replied.

Then he wrapped one of those big hands that Viktor liked so much around Viktor's cock. Viktor gasped out at the immediate waves of pleasure that leaked along his nerves. Jayce gave a few soft strokes before he lowered his head. He didn't take Viktor into his mouth immediately, just kissed and licked tentatively, but the gestures had Viktor squirming in pleasure nonetheless.

By the time, Jayce finally put his lips around the head of Viktor's cock, they were both panting. Viktor was sure Jayce was hard in his pants and Viktor couldn't wait to tear Jayce's clothes off, feel Jayce's muscles under his palms.

The first bob of Jayce's head made Viktor's eyelids flutter closed. He couldn't stop himself from fisting a hand in Jayce's shaggy hair, needing to hold onto something desperately. He tugged, rougher than he'd have done if he was more in control, and Jayce moaned. Viktor filed that information away for later before electricity shot down his spine.

“Jayce, Jayce, Jayce.”

Viktor wasn't capable of saying anything more than Jayce's name over and over again, a prayer. The hair pulling and Viktor's moans must have encouraged Jayce because his grabbed Viktor's thigh with one hand and lifted it for better access.

Viktor was sure he was close to coming undone. He felt like a live wire, an effervescent current running through the very core of him. And Viktor wanted to just let Jayce finish him except for the fact that Viktor knew more pleasure was possible.

“Jayce, stop.” Jayce did, pulling Viktor out of his mouth but he took Viktor's cock in hand to stroke him in place of his mouth.

“What's wrong?” Jayce asked. Viktor couldn't look at him. Jayce's voice was rough and scratchy, likely the byproduct of having Viktor in his mouth. Not to even mention the red plumpness of his lips.

“It's very good,” Viktor reassured him.

“But?” Jayce guessed. Viktor sat up on his elbows which might have been a mistake because now he could clearly see Jayce kneeling between his thighs, still slowly stroking Viktor's cock.

“Well, you're still wearing your clothes and I still want you to fuck me.” Jayce laughed but he took the hint. He sat back on his haunches and made quick work of his shirt. He tossed it next to Viktor's discarded robe. Viktor let Jayce slip out of his shoes before he beckoned Jayce to him.

Jayce went, letting Viktor pull him into a kiss as he settled back between Viktor's open thighs. As Jayce undid his pants, Viktor greedily ran his hands across Jayce's bare shoulders, along his ribs, and down his back. Jayce only pulled back so he could kick his pants off.

And then it was just Jayce and Viktor, not even air between them in this astral place.

Viktor ran his hands down Jayce's chest, through Jayce's chest hair, to cup his pecs. Jayce just smiled at him, happy to let Viktor touch him however Viktor wanted.

“Who knew forging hammers would make you so large,” Viktor commented.

“My father was a pretty big man so I think it's genetic.”

“Thank the stars for that,” Viktor said.

“You like your men large, Viktor?”

“I like them brilliant and passionate,” Viktor countered. “But your largeness certainly isn't a turn off.”

Viktor beckoned Jayce and Jayce wrapped his arms around Viktor, pressing their bodies together fully. Viktor let out a shaky breath at being pinned beneath Jayce's bulk, his thoughts swimming to how much he wanted Jayce, wanted more, wanted forever.

Viktor captured Jayce's lips with his own, his arms wrapping around Jayce's neck. They stayed like that, just kissing and touching and grinding together, each thankful that they'd removed any barriers, physical or emotional, between them.

After what felt like an eternity, Jayce pulled back so he could look at Viktor. “Have you been with anyone else, since--”

“No,” Viktor answered honestly. “There was no one else for me after you.” Jayce's expression turned pained, likely thinking about how that hadn't been true for him. He'd been with Mel after Viktor.

“Viktor--”

“No apologizing for past stuff, remember?” Viktor cupped Jayce's cheek and Jayce leaned into it. “Besides, I was dying and obsessed with preserving my life. I wasn't really thinking about carnal pleasures.”

“I should have been there for you,” Jayce insisted.

“You're here now. That's all that matters.”

It was true. It didn't matter what or who came before this moment. Moving forward, there would only ever be the two of them, Jayce and Viktor, two parts of one synchronized whole. Jayce would have Viktor's body, his heart, his mind all at the happy exchange of his own.

“You should see the way you look at me,” Viktor said, echoing Jayce's earlier words. Jayce smiled.

“I don't have anything to prepare you,” Jayce admitted shyly. Viktor shrugged.

“These are metaphysical bodies. I don't think pain or discomfort exists here.”

“So you think I should just--”

“Yes. You'll either prove my hypothesis correct or disprove it.”

“I don't want to do that at your expense, Viktor.”

“Between you and me, I don't think my hypothesis is incorrect.” Jayce gave him a look. Viktor just shrugged. “Besides, I don't want to wait anymore. I have my body back and all I want to do with it is feel you.”

“I guess I can't deny you that,” Jayce said.

He reached down and took Viktor's left thigh in his hand, lifting it until Viktor could slip his ankle around Jayce's waist. Then he did the same with Viktor's right leg, slower, to make sure it wouldn't cause Viktor any pain.

Jayce braced his arms on the ground and held Viktor against him as he lined up his dick with Viktor's entrance. Viktor's even breathing hitched at the first breach, evening out again as Jayce's hips continued to roll. When Jayce was all the way in, his hips flush to Viktor's, they looked into each other's eyes before Jayce pulled him into a kiss.

Viktor had inhabited three different bodies since the last time he and Jayce had had sex. It gave him a new awareness for his human body, a heightened sense for the intimate feelings of his flesh. He felt every tiny movement of Jayce inside of him and it almost felt like too much. The warmth and the fullness and the friction all paired to have Viktor's toes curling.

It was clear in the slow roll of Jayce's hips, the slow drag of his cock almost all of the way out of Viktor and then back in, that Jayce was deliberately dragging this out. Viktor wasn't sure if it was to be teasing or to make the pleasure last. Maybe slow was the only speed at which Jayce Talis knew how to make love.

“That feels so good, Jayce.”

Jayce just nodded, too focused on what he was doing to respond. Viktor smiled, finding Jayce's concentration cute. Jayce was treating fucking him with the same seriousness that he'd treated his studies of the arcane.

Viktor reached out and brushed the hair off of Jayce's sweaty forehead. Jayce smirked and Viktor pulled him into another kiss. His arms had Jayce in a vice grip, his fingers leaving bruises on the back of Jayce's neck and his shoulders.

Viktor broke off the kiss as a particularly strong shock of pleasure coursed through him. Jayce was speeding up, his thrusts becoming harder and more intense. Viktor tucked Jayce's face into his neck and closed his eyes, letting the pleasure completely consume him.

Jayce was panting and grunting in his ear, a perfect accompaniment to the soft moans that left Viktor's lips with every press of Jayce's body. There were no other noises in this place, just their sounds of pleasure and the collision of their bodies.

Jayce brought a hand up to cup Viktor's chin, turning his head so Jayce could kiss him. Viktor's hand traced the length of Jayce's arm to his hand, intertwining their fingers together. Viktor's chest felt warm with love, cherished, reassured that Jayce always had him. Jayce was the one that nourished his soul, the stimulation that intrigued his mind, and the body that knew his.

“Touch me, Jayce,” Viktor whispered, his lips trailing over Jayce’s as he spoke. Jayce met his eyes and Viktor nodded. Jayce shifted them so he could move the hand off of Viktor's cheek down between their bodies. He took Viktor's cock in his hand and began stroking.

Viktor covered his mouth with his hand, trying to hold back the new wave of moans. It felt too good, more intense as Jayce stroked Viktor ever closer to the edge.

“Don't,” Jayce whispered, his voice gruff as he fought down his own pleasure. “Let me hear you, Viktor. Please, I want to hear you.”

Viktor just nodded his head and stopped trying to be quiet. Viktor let every moan and cry of pleasure fall from his lips and it was worth it for the look on Jayce's face, all enraptured affection.

“I'm close-” Viktor warned him. Jayce nodded. “Don't stop, Jayce.”

“I won't,” Jayce whispered. He leaned forward to kiss Viktor again and within seconds Viktor felt his arousal reach its peak, before he tumbled over the edge. Viktor grabbed Jayce's shoulders as he came, moaning against Jayce's lips as he spilled.

Jayce stroked him through it and Viktor felt his mind go blissfully blank, no regrets or anxieties. Just the final waves of pleasure and the feeling of Jayce all around. Viktor was just coming back to himself when he felt Jayce's body tremble as he met his own orgasm. Viktor held Jayce tightly with his arms and legs as Jayce's hips stuttered and he gasped into the space between Viktor's neck and shoulder.

Finally they were both still, only moving enough for Jayce to pull out and maneuver so he could lay on his side. Viktor pulled him closer so Jayce could lay his head on Viktor's chest, Viktor's arms cradling him. They didn't need to speak as the feeling of love flowed between them in every place they touched. It filled the air.

Even after they had sex, it was obvious that they couldn't stop touching each other. Jayce laid his hand on Viktor's side, his thumbs tracing a path over Viktor's skin. Viktor ran his hand over Jayce's scalp and Jayce leaned into the touch. Viktor ran his fingers over Jayce's eyelids and across his cheeks. Jayce caught Viktor's hand and kissed his wrist.

“If this is a creation of the dying hexcore,” Viktor said, “I'm glad you're here with me.”

“Whatever happens next, I'm with you,” Jayce told him.

They didn't say anything else, scared for whatever the future might hold. Viktor just got comfortable and held Jayce tightly, until both of them fell asleep.
-
A bright light in the other side of his eyelids forced Viktor to open his eyes, blinking as his eyes adjusted. He was met with the wide expense of Jayce's back. Viktor smiled and pressed his cheek against Jayce's shoulder blade. They were both still naked and Viktor shivered as a breeze blew over him.

It was a testament to how worn out he was that it took Viktor over a minute to realize that there should not be a breeze.

He jolted upright and looked around. At the vast blue of the sky above him and the rolling green hills in every direction. Viktor looked down at his feet, surrounded by tall grass. He looked around but didn't see or hear anything but the tranquility of nature.

“Jayce, get up.” Viktor gave him a gentle shake. Jayce groaned so Viktor shook him again.

“Too early, babe.” Viktor sighed then grabbed Jayce's shoulders and forcefully rolled him on his back. Jayce's eyes jolted awake with the movement and he looked first at Viktor and then the sky.

Viktor saw the moment of recognition on Jayce's face before he also sat up. Viktor, for the briefest moment, took in Jayce's nakedness before he looked away. This was a moment of scientific conundrum, not for loving ogling.

“Where are we?” Jayce asked.

“I do not know.”

“Do you think we're--” Jayce stopped for a second, not wanting to voice his thought out loud, “--dead?”

Viktor contemplated this idea for a second before he reached out and lovingly ran his hand over Jayce's jaw. Jayce smiled at him and Viktor smiled back before he plucked a hair from Jayce's beard.

“Ow,” Jayce exclaimed, hand coming up to rub his face. Viktor inspected the hair in his hand.

“Not dead then,” Viktor said. Jayce chuckled because Viktor's scientific nature was always the thing Jayce had loved about him.

“Then we're really home?” Jayce asked, running a hand over the grass below them. Then he and Viktor looked at each other at the same time as the same hypothesis occurred to them.

“The teleportation rune!” they said in unison.

Jayce stood up and Viktor averted his eyes. Jayce was talking away, his idea about the rune engraved on the stone Viktor had given him being somehow responsible for a spontaneous new location. Viktor tried not to think about Jayce's dick being so close to his face.

Which was when Viktor felt hopeful for the first time. He and Jayce were alive. The world hadn't ended. So if he and Jayce wanted to fuck or fight or lay back down for several days, they could. Because they were alive.

“We're not dead,” Viktor whispered. He looked at Jayce as he shrugged into his pants, their clothes somehow coming with them. Jayce looked at him, the same hopeful expression on his face.

Jayce came back to Viktor and kneeled beside him. Then he took Viktor's face in his hands and kissed him deeply. Viktor smiled into the kiss so happy to have an alive Jayce to kiss.

Jayce pulled back but he didn't let go of Viktor's face. He looked around them again and asked, “what do you think that other place was?”

“My conjecture is that we had to pass through the hexcore which kept the teleportation from being instantaneous.”

“Do you think we're close to home?” The smile slid from Viktor's face and Jayce waited for Viktor to share whatever he was feeling.

“I can't go back there, Jayce. Not after what I've done.” Jayce just nodded, understanding Viktor's suddenly somber mood.

“Then we'll figure out where we are and go in the opposite direction of Piltover.”

“You can return home, if that's what you want,” Viktor whispered.

“No,” Jayce said immediately. “Where you go, I go.”

“Okay,” Viktor said. He knew it was selfish of him but Jayce's reluctance to part made him happy. Jayce wanting to be with him when he had nowhere else to go was different from Jayce wanting to be with him when he could go anywhere, go home.

“Let's get dressed and we can get moving,” Jayce said as he stood up again. He put his hand out to Viktor and Viktor took it. Jayce pulled him up but the second Viktor put weight on his right leg, it buckled beneath him. Viktor fell but Jayce caught him before his knees could even touch the grass.

“My leg,” Viktor said. Jayce looked down at the offending appendage before looking back at Viktor.

“What's wrong? I thought you said it didn't hurt?”

“It didn't before but that place was metaphysical,” Viktor said. “Now I truly must be back in my original body.”

Viktor tried to keep the disappointment off of his face. After being free of struggles for so long, it hurt to suddenly have them again. But Jayce just held him tighter.

“Did your sickness return too?” Jayce asked. Viktor let Jayce continue to hold him while he breathed in deeply. He expected the resistance he'd experienced towards the end of this body, but all he got was a lungful of clean air.

“I don't think so,” Viktor said. “My lungs seem to be working fine and I don't feel weak. Perhaps the hexcore healed that but my leg was bad my whole life. It's always been a part of my original body.”

“That's great, Viktor.”

“Wait until you have to carry me to say that,” Viktor said.

“Do you want me to carry you?” Jayce asked. And Viktor understood that this wasn't a pity. This wasn't Jayce flaunting his able body in front of Viktor. This was Jayce loving him and just wanting to do his part to make Viktor's life easier and happier. If Viktor wanted his help, Jayce would be there to offer it. Viktor had only ever had himself for that and he felt overwhelmed that someone cared for him so much.

“What about your leg?” Viktor asked. Jayce smiled.

“It's okay, Viktor.” Viktor nodded.

“When I get tired, you can carry me,” he said. Jayce's smile widened and Viktor was reminded of a dog whose tail wagged when it was praised. Viktor limped over to where his robe was and then, with Jayce's strong hand to steady him, he got dressed.

Before Jayce could put his shirt back on, Viktor beckoned him closer so he could kiss him again, his hands happily resting on Jayce's bare chest. Jayce pulled back but stayed close.

“There's plenty of time for that,” Jayce told him.

“I know,” Viktor said. “I'm happy about it.”

“Me too,” Jayce said.

Viktor smiled but he let Jayce go. Once they were both dressed, Jayce took Viktor's right hand in his, and they set off. No longer the Machine Herald or Councilor Talis. Now they were just two men and all people would say about them is how obviously in love they were.