Jayce's reaction is to be expected, though perhaps Viktor is a little caught off-guard by how quickly he shifts his attention from the lab to his current appearance. He knows that he doesn't have to say anything--why wouldn't he make himself healthy in a place where that sort of thing is entirely under his control? Still, it's hard not to offer up some kind of explanation, to the point where he has to actively stop himself, caught under Jayce's gaze. It's not pity, or sadness, but something else. Maybe a wishing for something they won't be able to reclaim.

Thankfully it lasts only a moment, and Viktor is able to quickly reconfigure, like Jayce didn't just look at him like that. He makes his way over to Jayce's desk, leaning against it and watching with interest.

"I thought you might. We can share this, if you like. That hadn't been my intent, exactly, when I started to build, but it didn't feel right, to make the lab without your space in it."

So, he'd left it empty, and had been fully prepared for it to remain that way, until now.