"You know, I never did get to see this apartment intact."
Viktor waits in the entrance while Jayce starts to fill things in. It's nostalgic, of course, though he scoffs a little bit when Jayce calls it the place they first met, like it isn't also the place where Jayce lived and performed all of his illegal experiments while they were students at the academy. Interesting, though perhaps unsurprising, that he'd refer to it in this way, even as he recreates it in a state that Viktor never saw.
"If you really want to be historically accurate, you should blow out that wall. I'll conjure up Sheriff Grayson to put you in cuffs."
He won't actually do that--he's not sure if he can, first off, and secondly he doesn't really like the idea of re-creating humans, let alone people they know, but he can tease, too.
Jayce loved this apartment. He spent so much time unraveling the information he had, trying to guess at the answer that would finally get him what he needed. This was a glowing memory for him, not as glowing as the lab is for the two of them, where they actually accomplished the things that he used to dream about. But it does remind him of where it all started. It was the location of the lowest point of his life too, standing at the edge, until Viktor's voice 'interrupted.' He has no intention of telling Viktor that he 'interrupted' him in their last talk too. It's not something they've ever directly talked about, they knew what it was.
"No, this time it's going to stay perfectly imperfect, thanks." Because it is imperfect, it's a little messy and cluttered and like the scattered mind Jayce used to have. All his living spaces since have been colder or less used, since he was rarely there. He is glowing with happiness over this, and as he slides his fingers on the chalkboard, it fills up with their final calculations from that night, the one that led to the success.
"Wait," Jayce snaps out of it for a moment, glancing over his shoulder at his friend. "Can we ... put people in here? That aren't real?" He too doesn't really want to re-create a human and won't do it, but he is still curious about whether it's possible. It would likely be a creation of the mind, not the real thing. As far as he knows, Sheriff Grayson was a good person, Caitlyn always spoke well of her as did everyone else. Her replacement turned out to be a horribly corrupt man.
Just watching Jayce start to work is enthralling in its own right, and he smiles to himself when the equations materialize on the blackboard and he recognizes the math. Maybe there's something bittersweet about all this, that Jayce is trying to recreate a time where everything seemed less complicated. It's nice to see, in some ways, affirming his commitment to re-focusing on their partnership now that there are no political distractions in the way, but Viktor can't help but feel like it might be fleeting, regardless. There's no escaping the real world, even with the Horizon available to them.
"I haven't made the attempt myself, but from what I've experienced the effect is...less than authentic. Some things are simply too complex, even for a place like this." In his wanderings, he's seen the domains of other summoned--some have attempted it, but he'd found it unsettling and not something he'd be willing to try. "Besides, it seems, ehn. Slightly irresponsible, from an ethics standpoint."
Not that he thinks he can really talk about ethics, anymore, but that's not something he's going to say out loud.
Jayce knows they can't go back in that too much has happened since, some of it bad recently, but a lot of it good too, all their work together. But for him, it's more about recapturing that part of himself that he feels like he's lost, like Viktor said. He let himself get so far off their path and he can't turn back those choices, but he can stop making the same mistakes. If he can just remember who he was, before the fame and the politics. If he can focus on Viktor and their work and not have so much divided attention.
"I think it would probably be creepy. It'd just be a projection of how you see someone." It can't be the actual person. But it's still interesting. He can be curious about something and still know that it's not the right thing to do. He also is not someone who can talk about ethics. That was more their mentor's thing.
Even as they speak more details seem to ripple through, names on books, colors and notes with more specifics, as he's going from the bones of the creation to more specifics. Jayce knows Viktor's cadence of speech and he raises an eyebrow. "What, do you have a pet?"
"Yes. Creepy. You're welcome to try it, but maybe wait until I've left."
If Jayce wants to experiment with making weird facsimiles of people they know, Viktor isn't going to stop him, but he also doesn't really want to be around for it. They do, however, seem like they're in agreement, and Viktor is content to keep watching Jayce create, scanning the books and the notes and watching more familiar sights fall into place.
He knows he walked into this, by bringing up animals with some kind of authority, but perhaps he hadn't expected the two of them to get to his creations so soon. Viktor, generally speaking, talks very little about his childhood, but now it's unavoidable--he can't have expected to keep Jayce from it forever, especially now that a part of it exists, fully, in his own domain.
"I'll show you later." Noncommittal! "You can't possibly be finished here, yet."
Jayce's eyebrows furrow and he shoots him a look. "Of course I'm not going to try that." It was theoretically interesting, but he doesn't like the idea of having weird projection versions of people around either. It bothers him momentarily that Viktor thinks he would, he's not the experimenting on people type. He didn't even think a person could be created here until Viktor brought it up as a joke about the Sheriff.
That is brushed off when Viktor answers and his eyes light up. "You do have a pet." They've never had a pet in the lab before. Did Viktor have one when he was a child he replicated, or did he just have one here? Jayce has been trying to glean information out of his friend carefully for years, and it's never been easy. He, on the other hand, talks constantly about his past and interests. Viktor knew almost everything about his life before they met within a month of them working together. Jayce rambles.
"I'll have time to fill this in, I want to meet it!" Sorry Viktor, he's a dog with a bone sometimes, and he is utterly starved for any piece of unexpected information. Interesting things about Viktor will always supersede him poking at other things.
Despite the fact that he knows this is entirely inevitable, he manages to look flustered anyway, suddenly losing his composure and tripping over his own words.
"No, no, not a--a pet, exactly." But, of course, that makes it sound even worse, because there's no good way to talk about how he was childhood best friends with a giant pink salamander creature that is now kept in suspended animation and also is possibly being used to produce everyone's favorite mutagenic drug. It's too much to get into, all at once--perhaps he hoped that he'd have more time to sort things out, prepare what he wants to say or how he wants to talk about this, but of course he isn't that lucky. Jayce is going to have questions, and Viktor want to be honest with him. He just isn't quite sure how.
It takes him a second, but he does realize a potential solution, one that doesn't involve dragging them both down to the very bottom of his domain, into a place he'd rather not remember. Viktor looks momentarily defeated, before he voices his compromise.
"Okay," he starts, clearly choosing his words carefully and motioning for Jayce to follow him back out into the hallway. They can go to his study--Viktor is already rearranging the spaces he's created to fit alongside the spaces Jayce is making in turn. It's simply what makes sense. "You can meet her, but you should know that the Horizon has a way of taking your subconscious thoughts and using them to fill in the blanks. That's how--I'm not sure I brought her here on purpose."
Viktor is not someone who flusters easily and Jayce's enthusiasm turns into confusion, unsure why this would throw his friend off so much. He's always been private and typically Jayce would back all the way off just to not push him, but he wants to share more in his life. They live together, share this space together, he is maybe a little too eager to dig into Viktor and claim as much as he can. His desire for more information vies against his instinct to back down before Viktor gets upset.
"Vik," Jayce says after some internal torment, reaching out to grab his elbow and stop them from moving wherever he was leading them. "If you don't want to, you don't have to. It's fine, I can ... make something else." He sounds disappointed because he is, but it's not in him to be happy when Viktor looks defeated. "I was thinking I have to make a forge here anyway for when testing out things, so ... let's do that." Again it's not that hard for him to replicate places and things he knows well.
Jayce's disappointment immediately makes him feel embarrassed in turn, that he's making such a big deal out of something that's probably not a big deal. Hell, he can probably talk the whole thing off as some weird Undercity experience. It's just hard. He's not used to this, and even after so many years together there are still things about himself he feels he can't share, or doesn't want to explain. Irrational, perhaps, though after the last few conversations he remembers from back home, perhaps not unwarranted. Jayce's hand is on his elbow and he stops, shoulders stiffening a little. He turns.
"No, I want to."
That's sincere--he's trying to signal that he means this, no matter how conflicted he feels. Despite any reservations, however, Viktor wants to build this place together. He knows that much.
"I can help you with the forge," he says, as though Jayce doesn't know it like the back of his hand. "Then, I can show you."
Jayce doesn't know if it's a big deal or not, but he is going to react to it like it is, since something is throwing Viktor off. He may have a better idea once he sees said pet, there has to be a reason for him to be anxious about it. The idea that Viktor had a pet before, one maybe in the Undercity, fascinates him. He says so little about himself. It is one of those very rare occurrences where Viktor is opening a small window and Jayce can't help but try to push it open fully.
"Okay. Good." Jayce smiles hesitantly again. This awkwardness between them is sticking around because there are things left unsaid, but they are always capable of moving through it. He remembers to drop his hand away before it lingers too long on Viktor, trying hard to be careful of his boundaries. They rarely fought so that tension is still there from the bridge and the weapon conversation. But he has faith.
"Do we have multiple floors? It's probably best to put it on a lower level. It'll be hot." That is obvious but necessary. Jayce doesn't know if it would be easy to just make it room temperature with their brains somehow, but if he's actually making anything in here, real or not, it'll have to get going. He doesn't want to be doing something in there and Viktor to be sweating in the lab because he still is new to manipulating their area.
"We can have whatever we want." He smiles warmly, trying to dispel some of the tension, even though he knows it's mostly his fault. Vertical is a good instinct, given the fact that the real-world diameter of the Singularity is reflected in the Horizon itself--he's already built up, so why not a lower floor, as well? Jayce's worry that the forge will be too hot to put anywhere else is endearing. It gets a little laugh out of him.
"We're not bound by the laws of the real world. The forge can be as hot as you need without changing the surrounding temperature at all." If he can change his own physical state, then why shouldn't that apply to other things as well? "The sooner you internalize that, the more you can build. Shall we?"
All these years later and Viktor's smiles and laughs are things to be treasured and held close to Jayce's heart, his own responding grin so easy and warm, and it instantly washes away any anxieties or confusion. Viktor's smile is like an eclipse, blotting out anything else, unforgettable. And Jayce does the opposite of what someone should do during an eclipse, staring right at it, so fond and adoring. He's always looked at Viktor with his whole heart in his eyes, from the time they were floating in the lab to now.
"Ignoring the laws of physical science might take a little while to adjust to." Yes he can make it not hot in there, but it probably still will be when he's not thinking about it. Jayce then walks in the direction of where Viktor planned on taking them before, noticing that there's a lift not unlike the one that exists in the main building too. He gestures for them to go on it, kind of lost in the details of how any of this works. Are they going up and down? It feels like it. So strange.
"Okay, uh, let's see." Technically Jayce is more creative than simply replicating places that he's already been, but it seems smarter and easier to go with what they know. It fills in the space faster than coming out of sheer imagination, and there is something comforting about his old apartment, their lab, and now his family's famous forge. Jayce often goes there to think, to get his anger and pain and struggles out in a safe physical way.
Again, Viktor is not oblivious to Jayce's gaze, but he finds himself wholly unable to decide what to do about it. Better to just press on--gloss over it, as he always has. Pointless, to ascribe more meaning than he should, or even to hope for something that might not even be there (and is impossible for him, anyway). It helps that there's still plenty to do, and the mood is lightening. Makes for an easy distraction.
"You'll get used to it."
He isn't sure that he's used to it, but they can figure it out together. Viktor gives him a little nudge as they make their way into the lift (because, of course, he's got a lift--the Horizon is, theoretically, his ideal world, which means stairs are fully optional), the feeling of descent convincing enough. He watches Jayce as he concentrates, not expecting him to get it right the first time, something confirmed when they step out into the newly-created forge and he's hit with a blast of heat. He visibly winces at the hot air (though the rest of it is certainly impressive).
"Well, I suppose this is your first try. Here."
Viktor steps out of the lift, eyebrows furrowed in concentration, driving the heat back into the furnace as he goes. Maybe it's easier for him, that he doesn't have Jayce's particular associations with the space--he can simply focus on the task at hand.
The thing about the way Jayce looks at him is he never asks for anything in return. He doesn't search for the same thing coming from Viktor, he isn't disappointed when it never happens, it's simply honest, just like him. Jayce wears his heart on his sleeve and being open with his feelings is part of who he is. He looks at Viktor because he can't help himself, but he respectfully tries to stop when it goes too long. But he sees no reason to be sorry that he adores his best friend. There's nothing wrong about it in his eyes. It's sincere.
"Sorry," he grimaces, not as good at this right off the bat as he'd like. But sometimes they fail and figure things out as they go. It's part of the experimentation process. Mostly it is familiar. He's been in the forge off and on since childhood, the pumping of machinery, the heat and smell comfortable. This isn't that intricate once it gets started and he pushes away the memory he had last of here. Of the woman, Vi, showing up. There is no sign of that particular regret right now because it's conscious thought.
The heat disappears and it is manageable. Jayce smiles as he walks to the tools strung out on the tables. "My father would take me here. He wanted me to always know what it was to work." Jayce knows he is lucky, he was born into a successful household, but they did not linger in their privilege either. His father was one of those rare subjects Jayce didn't speak about often, compared to everything else he talked about off the cuff.
That said, he immediately takes to exploring the space with interest, especially now that he can temper some of the oppressive heat. It's possible that it won't last, given Jayce's emotional connection to the forge, but for now he can do the work to keep the temperature comfortable. He makes his way around one of the long worktables with ease, only stopping when Jayce brings up a topic he doesn't touch upon very often. Viktor stands opposite him, his expression a little searching, though his hands fidget at a hammer that materializes on the table.
"You don't talk about him, much. Your father."
Probably unfair of him to say, given how cagey he is about his own past--hell, he's sure that most of the stories of Zaun that he'd told Jayce were purposeful exaggerations, to make him squirm. Now it all just feels like a silly defense mechanism on his part, and it occurs to him that maybe Jayce is talking about this now to make Viktor feel more comfortable about sharing, in turn.
It's nice to see Viktor in here, it wasn't a place most people visited him often, although that was part of the design. He liked the quiet of creating their schematics and bringing them back to the lab in a grand reveal. They could technically have other people make things for them, but Jayce preferred doing as much of it himself as he could. The Hexgates of course was more of a huge many-people project, their design turned into a massive scale, but when it's their inventions, he trusts his own hands better.
Jayce always thinks of his father in this space. It is such a close association and for good reason. And yet, he is sharing a little on purpose. He smiles faintly and runs his fingers along one of the tool desks. "You would have liked him." And Viktor doesn't like a lot of people, so Jayce knows what he's talking about. "He cared so much about this city and the people in it. He wanted to put better tools in their hands, for a better world." It is not that difficult to see how Jayce's love and respect for him also became his own version of that same drive.
He picks up a wrench, twirling it in his hand, looking at it instead of Viktor. "He made being good look easy." When Jayce found it honestly so much more difficult to know what being a good man was. He tried, he thought about it a lot, but he doesn't feel like a good one now. His father would have been annoyed by his fame-seeking, rather than impressed.
He used to come much more frequently--back when he felt it wasn't a waste of time to do anything but work in the lab. His visits to the forge were few and far between in more recent years, but that hasn't changed the fact that he likes watching Jayce work. It's so different from anything he does that he can't help but be impressed whenever he sees it (though he knows it goes both ways). His own skills trend towards finer, less physical work--delicate engineering and particularly fussy details. They compliment each other in that way, and now that it's all materializing in front of him, he resolves to join Jayce down here, even if nothing they make can be removed from the space. It will be nice to see him at work again, in this capacity.
"That's quite the assertion." Because, as they both know, Viktor doesn't like a lot of people. He's civil, yes, more than able to navigate the strange particularities of both the Academy and the larger scientific community, but as the years went on mostly withdrew from public life, in part because Jayce was so much better at navigating that world--and more palatable to Piltover, too. Generally speaking, Viktor has his doubts about those who care about the city, because more often than not they only care about one half of the city. Even Jayce, for all his talk of improving lives and their shared goal, slipped on occasion, and Viktor is not so far removed from home that he doesn't remember. Still, he wants to believe it, if only because Jayce is so earnest. Viktor leans against the worktable, thoughtful, eyes on the wrench that Jayce fidgets with.
"Being good is never easy." And it is, also, very subjective. It makes him wonder what they should really strive for, because being a good person is sometimes different than getting results. What is good, even? Doing the least harm possible? Creating actual, tangible change, even at the cost of one's integrity? He can tell, perhaps, based on Jayce's expression, that he's wrestling with similar questions. Viktor doesn't feel like the right person to say this, given the various ways he suspects they've failed to meet their own standards, but the encouragement feels needed, regardless. "What's important is that you try, and you do not compromise, even when it gets hard. Maybe it's not my place to say, because I didn't know him, but I think he would have been proud of you. Of Hextech."
Viktor's exceptional work with delicate engineering is one of the reasons Jayce admires his hands so much. Long, delicate, skilled, whereas Jayce's will always be a little rough and thick in comparison. He smiles and shakes his head. "An assertion from one of the few people you do like has to count for something." To be fair, he knows that his memories of his father are special, and it doesn't mean that he would be entirely correct about who he was in reality. Jayce's feelings are so strong, always. He's never been good at rational thought surrounding them.
Honestly, he's always liked being special to Viktor. He likes being the person he wants to be around, that he tolerates the most. Jayce likes people, on the whole, he can deal with crowds and strangers and it is generally easy for him, although sometimes he gets tired and comes here or to the lab to decompress. Recently the forge was the only place he could do that because the lab just made him think of Viktor's illness and how much their backs were up against the wall. He may be better with others, but it doesn't mean they know him. He would say only Viktor and Caitlyn know him. Enough to know when he wasn't acting like himself recently.
It's a kind sentiment and he appreciates that Viktor is trying for him, the opposite of sentimental ordinarily. Jayce doesn't know if he could be called good anymore, only that he wants to be. But sometimes that isn't enough. "Maybe I don't know if you would like him, but I know he would've liked you. Probably not as much as my mother though, she's a big fan."
Ximena is quiet and on the shy side, but she knows a lot about her son's life, she just tends to stay in the background. But it means she observes more than it seems. She knows Jayce was in a very dark place when Viktor stepped in and then he was happy, passionately talking about their work and partnership. Any mother would appreciate that switch and be grateful for the person who did it. The only reason she doesn't mother Viktor too is that Jayce gently told her his friend was very private and probably wouldn't like it.
Jayce almost asks about Viktor's parents, but like usual he hesitates, so resistant to press him even when dying of curiosity. "Okay, so lab. Apartment. Forge. What other parts do you have?" Kind of dancing around 'show me your pet already.'
There’s an empty space here, one that he imagines Jayce might like him to fill with similar speculation about his own parents, but what is there to say, really? Jayce knows the broad strokes—they were artisans, they wanted better for their brilliant, lonely son, and then they were gone before they could see him go topside to the Academy. Nothing he particularly wants to dwell on. They've both been over it, so he says nothing, instead opting to move back around the worktable, to Jayce.
“No, I believe you. From everything you’ve told me, he seemed like a good man.”
It’s an interesting conversational detour regardless, one that gives Viktor a glimpse into Jayce’s deeper feelings about the whole situation, and the circumstances back home. Again, he thinks he should ask—about the weapon, about what could have possibly happened with the Hexcore, about what went on in those missing two days that apparently has them both so distraught—but the moment is fleeing. Jayce finishes filling in the forge and talking about his father and is content to move on to the next order of business. Viktor hasn’t, at least, forgotten his tacit promise.
“I have a study—much nicer than anything I had back at the Academy.” More like Heimerdinger’s office than the shared space of teaching assistants, perhaps hinting at some of Viktor’s past aspirations, had Hextech not come into play. He thinks for a moment, as if trying to remember everything else he’s built. “Oh, the overlook. You know, above the water treatment facility.” Of course, he doesn’t know that’s also the last place Jayce saw him. “There’s a nice view of the city from there. The Undercity, i mean.”
That seems like a nice compromise—he can bring Rio there, without having to take Jayce down to the ravines and caves that run beneath.
It is difficult for Jayce to think right now that his father would be proud. Of Hextech, absolutely. Of their hopes and dreams and the work they put into it, yes. He always cared that Jayce never gets lazy, never forget where he came from and the value of a hard day's work, and that is something he does still carry to now. But Jayce is not proud of himself right now let alone able to think his father would be. He knows eventually this conversation will have to happen, but it is not something he is ready for. The very thought of it makes him nauseated right now, as they both know Jayce can be when stressed or overwhelmed. Some day.
He knows Viktor well enough to know he is aware they are intentionally not talking about something important. All he can be is grateful that it isn't time to press that particular button yet. Jayce wishes he knew why he was supposed to destroy the Hexcore so he could explain, but that will have to stay a mystery.
"Oh good, I'd love to see what the office you'd make for yourself would look like." It isn't hot in here now but it's still beautiful and cozy, the fire from the forge bright enough to keep light and not need them to squint to see one another. It's nice to think of Viktor creating areas for himself, filling them with his choices, what he wants. Jayce will take anything he can get to observe details about his friend and what he values.
Jayce does not mention that the overlook was the last place they spoke, when Viktor nearly jumped and they had a heartfelt if painful conversation, he just nods. "Of course I know it. It's where you go to think." Thus where Jayce knew to find him in the first place, when he wasn't in the lab or anywhere else. "Like this place is for me." Although Jayce would say it is more a place for him to feel than it is for him to think, but same difference in the end.
"Show me. I haven't decided what else to add." He already thinks maybe the council room, not because he wants to be there, but it might be good to have in case they need to have bigger conversations with other people. A conference room of sorts.
"It isn't as though there's a deadline to add more." Their domains are meant to change and evolve almost indefinitely--he's sure that Jayce will come up with plenty more to, but he knows what this is really about. "Back to the lift, then."
There's no real getting around the whole "pet" situation--it's written all over Jayce's face, and by now he's run out of excuses, so he tries to tell himself that everything will be fine and there's no reason to worry. He should be proud of the things that he's made here, just as he's enjoyed watching Jayce fill in his own spaces, and he gives the forge one last look as they head back out into the hallway and step into the elevator. As it moves, Viktor does a little rearranging in his own mind. Jayce seems the most interested in his study, so that's where they'll go.
Maybe, in another lifetime, Viktor makes his own breakthrough and rises through the ranks of the Academy until he holds some position of power there. A real professor, or a dean of one of the various disciplines taught there, maybe. Someone with enough sway to remove the logistical barriers that keep most Zaunites out, fostering a new generation of innovators who aren't held back by where they came from, who do good work and make sure the Undercity reaps the benefits. A glimpse, perhaps, into what Viktor may have imagined for himself if not for Hextech.
The room is sunny thanks to the vaulted windows, and it's lined with bookshelves and worktables full of little clockwork projects, things Viktor tinkers with to keep his hands busy. It's more inviting than the lab proper, with a certain lived-in quality and various creature comforts: house plants, a coffee pot, plush furniture. And, of course, Rio, curled up near one of the chairs, taking up a not insubstantial amount of floor space. Despite the fact that Viktor literally conjured her here, she seems to act of her own accord, looking up to see what's happening as they enter. Viktor, for his part, heads to her immediately, reaching out to pet her not unlike one would a dog--if said dog was very large and amphibious. He looks back at Jayce, offering an upward quirk of his mouth, a little half-smile.
Jayce joins him on the lift and does know that there's no time limit, which is why he wants to consider the other things he'll add before creating them. He has some more obscure ideas that take more focus, especially if he's still making heat mistakes. And really, he just wants to learn more about Viktor's space and new pet. He genuinely has no idea what to expect since Viktor's uncertainty is new to him.
It is fascinating to step into Viktor's study, the one that he would have chosen for himself given the chance. Whereas Jayce is creating something that already existed, the sentimental person he is, Viktor had vision for something he wanted. He said his life's ambition was not to be the professor's assistant, and Jayce doesn't know what his trajectory would've been if not for Hextech. He hopes one that would be fulfilling with or without him.
Jayce is distracted by hungrily looking around, taking all the details he finds interesting and open about his partner, and then his searching eyes drop on Rio. And he is startled but fascinated. The funny thing is Viktor's made up stories about the Undercity from time to time, to poke at Jayce and he knows it, but this seems more surprising than any of that. In typical Jayce form though, it only draws him close to the creature, eyebrows furrowing as he takes it in.
Oh there's a name for it, one he's never heard before. A waverider. Jayce follows Viktor, drawn close, and offers out a hand to her to sniff. He has no idea if you should be treating a waverider like a dog, as if all animals adjust to people the same way, but he still is not assuming he can just pet her like Viktor.
"No, I never have." He's in awe. "Hi there, you're adorable." Jayce loves animals, even ones he couldn't have expected. "You had one of these as a pet in the Undercity?"
Now that it's all playing out in front of him, Viktor isn't sure what he was anxious about in the first place. Of course Jayce is thrilled with this turn of events, though he does not some hesitation, like he's asking permission. He holds out his hand and Rio leans in to meet it, nudging his palm experimentally, as if feeling him out. Viktor, kneeled down beside the creature, palm splayed out on her head, smiles a little.
"Not a pet, exactly."
It feels like the wrong word to use, given the unique circumstances involved (and also the fact that Rio did not, like, live in his house). Trying to explain that is also too much, so he decides to keep things simple, for now.
"A childhood companion, of sorts. Her name is Rio." Viktor nods to a vase nearby, filled with trumpet-shaped purple flowers, glowing softly--also clearly from the Undercity. "You can feed her one of those, if you like."
He will not warn about the three-pronged, incredibly slimy tongue. Some things you just need to experience for yourself.
Oh that is not what he expected the texture of Rio to be but it's so interesting and he smiles, petting her head gently. Jayce assumes with Viktor naming the type of beast that it's something that lives in the Undercity, or possibly in the water surrounding it since it seems amphibian-adjacent. So she's unusual to him but not in general.
"Oh I'm sad now you couldn't bring her up to Piltover, she's sweet." Jayce assumes that's why, not that any other reason could have changed that. But it is reality that there's no way one of these could be in an assistant's room or stay with him. That would have gone over badly. He immediately grabs one of the flowers.
And yes, some things you need to experience for yourself, her tongue curls out and takes the flower from him, leaving saliva behind and Jayce is startled at first, but much like child Viktor once upon a time, he laughs. "Oh boy, we're going to need to have a towel ready for visitors if she gets licking." Jayce wipes it off on his otherwise perfect Talis clothes but it doesn't last there, one of the things about fixing the way you look making it easy.
"How did you meet her?" Jayce knows to tread a little carefully with Viktor's discomfort with talking about his childhood, but it's a carefully innucuous start.
Viktor straightens, leaning against the closest desk and watching all of this with poorly-disguised amusement. There is, however, something sad about his little smile, especially when Jayce assumes that he just left Rio in Zaun when he came to the Academy. He did, technically, but there were, obviously, extenuating circumstances.
"No, I don't think this would have gone over well at the Academy, but I knew her a long time ago."
He hopes that the past tense and the emphasis on childhood will help Jayce fill in the blanks. Rio simply wasn't around for Viktor to bring her along. At the suggestion of a towel, he shrugs--clearly he finds it unnecessary, especially in a place like this where people can just will themselves clean, like Jayce is doing now. Rio gives a little trill, clearly pleased by this development, then bumps her head into Jayce's side, apparently in approval.
"There was this, ehn. Cave system. At the base of the wall, where my overlook is. I used to play there as a child. That's where she was."
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zvi
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Date: 2022-04-02 08:00 pm (UTC)Viktor waits in the entrance while Jayce starts to fill things in. It's nostalgic, of course, though he scoffs a little bit when Jayce calls it the place they first met, like it isn't also the place where Jayce lived and performed all of his illegal experiments while they were students at the academy. Interesting, though perhaps unsurprising, that he'd refer to it in this way, even as he recreates it in a state that Viktor never saw.
"If you really want to be historically accurate, you should blow out that wall. I'll conjure up Sheriff Grayson to put you in cuffs."
He won't actually do that--he's not sure if he can, first off, and secondly he doesn't really like the idea of re-creating humans, let alone people they know, but he can tease, too.
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Date: 2022-04-03 01:31 am (UTC)"No, this time it's going to stay perfectly imperfect, thanks." Because it is imperfect, it's a little messy and cluttered and like the scattered mind Jayce used to have. All his living spaces since have been colder or less used, since he was rarely there. He is glowing with happiness over this, and as he slides his fingers on the chalkboard, it fills up with their final calculations from that night, the one that led to the success.
"Wait," Jayce snaps out of it for a moment, glancing over his shoulder at his friend. "Can we ... put people in here? That aren't real?" He too doesn't really want to re-create a human and won't do it, but he is still curious about whether it's possible. It would likely be a creation of the mind, not the real thing. As far as he knows, Sheriff Grayson was a good person, Caitlyn always spoke well of her as did everyone else. Her replacement turned out to be a horribly corrupt man.
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Date: 2022-04-03 04:47 pm (UTC)"I haven't made the attempt myself, but from what I've experienced the effect is...less than authentic. Some things are simply too complex, even for a place like this." In his wanderings, he's seen the domains of other summoned--some have attempted it, but he'd found it unsettling and not something he'd be willing to try. "Besides, it seems, ehn. Slightly irresponsible, from an ethics standpoint."
Not that he thinks he can really talk about ethics, anymore, but that's not something he's going to say out loud.
"Animals, however, are possible."
And he is, of course, speaking from experience.
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Date: 2022-04-03 09:34 pm (UTC)"I think it would probably be creepy. It'd just be a projection of how you see someone." It can't be the actual person. But it's still interesting. He can be curious about something and still know that it's not the right thing to do. He also is not someone who can talk about ethics. That was more their mentor's thing.
Even as they speak more details seem to ripple through, names on books, colors and notes with more specifics, as he's going from the bones of the creation to more specifics. Jayce knows Viktor's cadence of speech and he raises an eyebrow. "What, do you have a pet?"
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Date: 2022-04-03 10:34 pm (UTC)If Jayce wants to experiment with making weird facsimiles of people they know, Viktor isn't going to stop him, but he also doesn't really want to be around for it. They do, however, seem like they're in agreement, and Viktor is content to keep watching Jayce create, scanning the books and the notes and watching more familiar sights fall into place.
He knows he walked into this, by bringing up animals with some kind of authority, but perhaps he hadn't expected the two of them to get to his creations so soon. Viktor, generally speaking, talks very little about his childhood, but now it's unavoidable--he can't have expected to keep Jayce from it forever, especially now that a part of it exists, fully, in his own domain.
"I'll show you later." Noncommittal! "You can't possibly be finished here, yet."
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Date: 2022-04-03 10:45 pm (UTC)That is brushed off when Viktor answers and his eyes light up. "You do have a pet." They've never had a pet in the lab before. Did Viktor have one when he was a child he replicated, or did he just have one here? Jayce has been trying to glean information out of his friend carefully for years, and it's never been easy. He, on the other hand, talks constantly about his past and interests. Viktor knew almost everything about his life before they met within a month of them working together. Jayce rambles.
"I'll have time to fill this in, I want to meet it!" Sorry Viktor, he's a dog with a bone sometimes, and he is utterly starved for any piece of unexpected information. Interesting things about Viktor will always supersede him poking at other things.
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Date: 2022-04-04 12:05 am (UTC)"No, no, not a--a pet, exactly." But, of course, that makes it sound even worse, because there's no good way to talk about how he was childhood best friends with a giant pink salamander creature that is now kept in suspended animation and also is possibly being used to produce everyone's favorite mutagenic drug. It's too much to get into, all at once--perhaps he hoped that he'd have more time to sort things out, prepare what he wants to say or how he wants to talk about this, but of course he isn't that lucky. Jayce is going to have questions, and Viktor want to be honest with him. He just isn't quite sure how.
It takes him a second, but he does realize a potential solution, one that doesn't involve dragging them both down to the very bottom of his domain, into a place he'd rather not remember. Viktor looks momentarily defeated, before he voices his compromise.
"Okay," he starts, clearly choosing his words carefully and motioning for Jayce to follow him back out into the hallway. They can go to his study--Viktor is already rearranging the spaces he's created to fit alongside the spaces Jayce is making in turn. It's simply what makes sense. "You can meet her, but you should know that the Horizon has a way of taking your subconscious thoughts and using them to fill in the blanks. That's how--I'm not sure I brought her here on purpose."
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Date: 2022-04-04 12:21 am (UTC)"Vik," Jayce says after some internal torment, reaching out to grab his elbow and stop them from moving wherever he was leading them. "If you don't want to, you don't have to. It's fine, I can ... make something else." He sounds disappointed because he is, but it's not in him to be happy when Viktor looks defeated. "I was thinking I have to make a forge here anyway for when testing out things, so ... let's do that." Again it's not that hard for him to replicate places and things he knows well.
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Date: 2022-04-04 03:15 am (UTC)"No, I want to."
That's sincere--he's trying to signal that he means this, no matter how conflicted he feels. Despite any reservations, however, Viktor wants to build this place together. He knows that much.
"I can help you with the forge," he says, as though Jayce doesn't know it like the back of his hand. "Then, I can show you."
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Date: 2022-04-04 04:07 am (UTC)"Okay. Good." Jayce smiles hesitantly again. This awkwardness between them is sticking around because there are things left unsaid, but they are always capable of moving through it. He remembers to drop his hand away before it lingers too long on Viktor, trying hard to be careful of his boundaries. They rarely fought so that tension is still there from the bridge and the weapon conversation. But he has faith.
"Do we have multiple floors? It's probably best to put it on a lower level. It'll be hot." That is obvious but necessary. Jayce doesn't know if it would be easy to just make it room temperature with their brains somehow, but if he's actually making anything in here, real or not, it'll have to get going. He doesn't want to be doing something in there and Viktor to be sweating in the lab because he still is new to manipulating their area.
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Date: 2022-04-04 10:49 pm (UTC)"We're not bound by the laws of the real world. The forge can be as hot as you need without changing the surrounding temperature at all." If he can change his own physical state, then why shouldn't that apply to other things as well? "The sooner you internalize that, the more you can build. Shall we?"
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Date: 2022-04-05 01:01 am (UTC)"Ignoring the laws of physical science might take a little while to adjust to." Yes he can make it not hot in there, but it probably still will be when he's not thinking about it. Jayce then walks in the direction of where Viktor planned on taking them before, noticing that there's a lift not unlike the one that exists in the main building too. He gestures for them to go on it, kind of lost in the details of how any of this works. Are they going up and down? It feels like it. So strange.
"Okay, uh, let's see." Technically Jayce is more creative than simply replicating places that he's already been, but it seems smarter and easier to go with what they know. It fills in the space faster than coming out of sheer imagination, and there is something comforting about his old apartment, their lab, and now his family's famous forge. Jayce often goes there to think, to get his anger and pain and struggles out in a safe physical way.
Despite what Viktor says, it is hot right away.
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Date: 2022-04-05 02:32 am (UTC)"You'll get used to it."
He isn't sure that he's used to it, but they can figure it out together. Viktor gives him a little nudge as they make their way into the lift (because, of course, he's got a lift--the Horizon is, theoretically, his ideal world, which means stairs are fully optional), the feeling of descent convincing enough. He watches Jayce as he concentrates, not expecting him to get it right the first time, something confirmed when they step out into the newly-created forge and he's hit with a blast of heat. He visibly winces at the hot air (though the rest of it is certainly impressive).
"Well, I suppose this is your first try. Here."
Viktor steps out of the lift, eyebrows furrowed in concentration, driving the heat back into the furnace as he goes. Maybe it's easier for him, that he doesn't have Jayce's particular associations with the space--he can simply focus on the task at hand.
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Date: 2022-04-05 03:34 am (UTC)"Sorry," he grimaces, not as good at this right off the bat as he'd like. But sometimes they fail and figure things out as they go. It's part of the experimentation process. Mostly it is familiar. He's been in the forge off and on since childhood, the pumping of machinery, the heat and smell comfortable. This isn't that intricate once it gets started and he pushes away the memory he had last of here. Of the woman, Vi, showing up. There is no sign of that particular regret right now because it's conscious thought.
The heat disappears and it is manageable. Jayce smiles as he walks to the tools strung out on the tables. "My father would take me here. He wanted me to always know what it was to work." Jayce knows he is lucky, he was born into a successful household, but they did not linger in their privilege either. His father was one of those rare subjects Jayce didn't speak about often, compared to everything else he talked about off the cuff.
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Date: 2022-04-05 04:00 am (UTC)That said, he immediately takes to exploring the space with interest, especially now that he can temper some of the oppressive heat. It's possible that it won't last, given Jayce's emotional connection to the forge, but for now he can do the work to keep the temperature comfortable. He makes his way around one of the long worktables with ease, only stopping when Jayce brings up a topic he doesn't touch upon very often. Viktor stands opposite him, his expression a little searching, though his hands fidget at a hammer that materializes on the table.
"You don't talk about him, much. Your father."
Probably unfair of him to say, given how cagey he is about his own past--hell, he's sure that most of the stories of Zaun that he'd told Jayce were purposeful exaggerations, to make him squirm. Now it all just feels like a silly defense mechanism on his part, and it occurs to him that maybe Jayce is talking about this now to make Viktor feel more comfortable about sharing, in turn.
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Date: 2022-04-05 01:55 pm (UTC)Jayce always thinks of his father in this space. It is such a close association and for good reason. And yet, he is sharing a little on purpose. He smiles faintly and runs his fingers along one of the tool desks. "You would have liked him." And Viktor doesn't like a lot of people, so Jayce knows what he's talking about. "He cared so much about this city and the people in it. He wanted to put better tools in their hands, for a better world." It is not that difficult to see how Jayce's love and respect for him also became his own version of that same drive.
He picks up a wrench, twirling it in his hand, looking at it instead of Viktor. "He made being good look easy." When Jayce found it honestly so much more difficult to know what being a good man was. He tried, he thought about it a lot, but he doesn't feel like a good one now. His father would have been annoyed by his fame-seeking, rather than impressed.
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Date: 2022-04-05 07:58 pm (UTC)"That's quite the assertion." Because, as they both know, Viktor doesn't like a lot of people. He's civil, yes, more than able to navigate the strange particularities of both the Academy and the larger scientific community, but as the years went on mostly withdrew from public life, in part because Jayce was so much better at navigating that world--and more palatable to Piltover, too. Generally speaking, Viktor has his doubts about those who care about the city, because more often than not they only care about one half of the city. Even Jayce, for all his talk of improving lives and their shared goal, slipped on occasion, and Viktor is not so far removed from home that he doesn't remember. Still, he wants to believe it, if only because Jayce is so earnest. Viktor leans against the worktable, thoughtful, eyes on the wrench that Jayce fidgets with.
"Being good is never easy." And it is, also, very subjective. It makes him wonder what they should really strive for, because being a good person is sometimes different than getting results. What is good, even? Doing the least harm possible? Creating actual, tangible change, even at the cost of one's integrity? He can tell, perhaps, based on Jayce's expression, that he's wrestling with similar questions. Viktor doesn't feel like the right person to say this, given the various ways he suspects they've failed to meet their own standards, but the encouragement feels needed, regardless. "What's important is that you try, and you do not compromise, even when it gets hard. Maybe it's not my place to say, because I didn't know him, but I think he would have been proud of you. Of Hextech."
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Date: 2022-04-06 02:04 am (UTC)Honestly, he's always liked being special to Viktor. He likes being the person he wants to be around, that he tolerates the most. Jayce likes people, on the whole, he can deal with crowds and strangers and it is generally easy for him, although sometimes he gets tired and comes here or to the lab to decompress. Recently the forge was the only place he could do that because the lab just made him think of Viktor's illness and how much their backs were up against the wall. He may be better with others, but it doesn't mean they know him. He would say only Viktor and Caitlyn know him. Enough to know when he wasn't acting like himself recently.
It's a kind sentiment and he appreciates that Viktor is trying for him, the opposite of sentimental ordinarily. Jayce doesn't know if he could be called good anymore, only that he wants to be. But sometimes that isn't enough. "Maybe I don't know if you would like him, but I know he would've liked you. Probably not as much as my mother though, she's a big fan."
Ximena is quiet and on the shy side, but she knows a lot about her son's life, she just tends to stay in the background. But it means she observes more than it seems. She knows Jayce was in a very dark place when Viktor stepped in and then he was happy, passionately talking about their work and partnership. Any mother would appreciate that switch and be grateful for the person who did it. The only reason she doesn't mother Viktor too is that Jayce gently told her his friend was very private and probably wouldn't like it.
Jayce almost asks about Viktor's parents, but like usual he hesitates, so resistant to press him even when dying of curiosity. "Okay, so lab. Apartment. Forge. What other parts do you have?" Kind of dancing around 'show me your pet already.'
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Date: 2022-04-07 04:02 am (UTC)“No, I believe you. From everything you’ve told me, he seemed like a good man.”
It’s an interesting conversational detour regardless, one that gives Viktor a glimpse into Jayce’s deeper feelings about the whole situation, and the circumstances back home. Again, he thinks he should ask—about the weapon, about what could have possibly happened with the Hexcore, about what went on in those missing two days that apparently has them both so distraught—but the moment is fleeing. Jayce finishes filling in the forge and talking about his father and is content to move on to the next order of business. Viktor hasn’t, at least, forgotten his tacit promise.
“I have a study—much nicer than anything I had back at the Academy.” More like Heimerdinger’s office than the shared space of teaching assistants, perhaps hinting at some of Viktor’s past aspirations, had Hextech not come into play. He thinks for a moment, as if trying to remember everything else he’s built. “Oh, the overlook. You know, above the water treatment facility.” Of course, he doesn’t know that’s also the last place Jayce saw him. “There’s a nice view of the city from there. The Undercity, i mean.”
That seems like a nice compromise—he can bring Rio there, without having to take Jayce down to the ravines and caves that run beneath.
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Date: 2022-04-08 12:25 am (UTC)He knows Viktor well enough to know he is aware they are intentionally not talking about something important. All he can be is grateful that it isn't time to press that particular button yet. Jayce wishes he knew why he was supposed to destroy the Hexcore so he could explain, but that will have to stay a mystery.
"Oh good, I'd love to see what the office you'd make for yourself would look like." It isn't hot in here now but it's still beautiful and cozy, the fire from the forge bright enough to keep light and not need them to squint to see one another. It's nice to think of Viktor creating areas for himself, filling them with his choices, what he wants. Jayce will take anything he can get to observe details about his friend and what he values.
Jayce does not mention that the overlook was the last place they spoke, when Viktor nearly jumped and they had a heartfelt if painful conversation, he just nods. "Of course I know it. It's where you go to think." Thus where Jayce knew to find him in the first place, when he wasn't in the lab or anywhere else. "Like this place is for me." Although Jayce would say it is more a place for him to feel than it is for him to think, but same difference in the end.
"Show me. I haven't decided what else to add." He already thinks maybe the council room, not because he wants to be there, but it might be good to have in case they need to have bigger conversations with other people. A conference room of sorts.
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Date: 2022-04-12 03:32 am (UTC)There's no real getting around the whole "pet" situation--it's written all over Jayce's face, and by now he's run out of excuses, so he tries to tell himself that everything will be fine and there's no reason to worry. He should be proud of the things that he's made here, just as he's enjoyed watching Jayce fill in his own spaces, and he gives the forge one last look as they head back out into the hallway and step into the elevator. As it moves, Viktor does a little rearranging in his own mind. Jayce seems the most interested in his study, so that's where they'll go.
Maybe, in another lifetime, Viktor makes his own breakthrough and rises through the ranks of the Academy until he holds some position of power there. A real professor, or a dean of one of the various disciplines taught there, maybe. Someone with enough sway to remove the logistical barriers that keep most Zaunites out, fostering a new generation of innovators who aren't held back by where they came from, who do good work and make sure the Undercity reaps the benefits. A glimpse, perhaps, into what Viktor may have imagined for himself if not for Hextech.
The room is sunny thanks to the vaulted windows, and it's lined with bookshelves and worktables full of little clockwork projects, things Viktor tinkers with to keep his hands busy. It's more inviting than the lab proper, with a certain lived-in quality and various creature comforts: house plants, a coffee pot, plush furniture. And, of course, Rio, curled up near one of the chairs, taking up a not insubstantial amount of floor space. Despite the fact that Viktor literally conjured her here, she seems to act of her own accord, looking up to see what's happening as they enter. Viktor, for his part, heads to her immediately, reaching out to pet her not unlike one would a dog--if said dog was very large and amphibious. He looks back at Jayce, offering an upward quirk of his mouth, a little half-smile.
"Have you ever seen a waverider before?"
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Date: 2022-04-12 01:36 pm (UTC)It is fascinating to step into Viktor's study, the one that he would have chosen for himself given the chance. Whereas Jayce is creating something that already existed, the sentimental person he is, Viktor had vision for something he wanted. He said his life's ambition was not to be the professor's assistant, and Jayce doesn't know what his trajectory would've been if not for Hextech. He hopes one that would be fulfilling with or without him.
Jayce is distracted by hungrily looking around, taking all the details he finds interesting and open about his partner, and then his searching eyes drop on Rio. And he is startled but fascinated. The funny thing is Viktor's made up stories about the Undercity from time to time, to poke at Jayce and he knows it, but this seems more surprising than any of that. In typical Jayce form though, it only draws him close to the creature, eyebrows furrowing as he takes it in.
Oh there's a name for it, one he's never heard before. A waverider. Jayce follows Viktor, drawn close, and offers out a hand to her to sniff. He has no idea if you should be treating a waverider like a dog, as if all animals adjust to people the same way, but he still is not assuming he can just pet her like Viktor.
"No, I never have." He's in awe. "Hi there, you're adorable." Jayce loves animals, even ones he couldn't have expected. "You had one of these as a pet in the Undercity?"
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Date: 2022-04-13 01:24 pm (UTC)"Not a pet, exactly."
It feels like the wrong word to use, given the unique circumstances involved (and also the fact that Rio did not, like, live in his house). Trying to explain that is also too much, so he decides to keep things simple, for now.
"A childhood companion, of sorts. Her name is Rio." Viktor nods to a vase nearby, filled with trumpet-shaped purple flowers, glowing softly--also clearly from the Undercity. "You can feed her one of those, if you like."
He will not warn about the three-pronged, incredibly slimy tongue. Some things you just need to experience for yourself.
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Date: 2022-04-13 08:37 pm (UTC)"Oh I'm sad now you couldn't bring her up to Piltover, she's sweet." Jayce assumes that's why, not that any other reason could have changed that. But it is reality that there's no way one of these could be in an assistant's room or stay with him. That would have gone over badly. He immediately grabs one of the flowers.
And yes, some things you need to experience for yourself, her tongue curls out and takes the flower from him, leaving saliva behind and Jayce is startled at first, but much like child Viktor once upon a time, he laughs. "Oh boy, we're going to need to have a towel ready for visitors if she gets licking." Jayce wipes it off on his otherwise perfect Talis clothes but it doesn't last there, one of the things about fixing the way you look making it easy.
"How did you meet her?" Jayce knows to tread a little carefully with Viktor's discomfort with talking about his childhood, but it's a carefully innucuous start.
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Date: 2022-04-15 03:50 pm (UTC)"No, I don't think this would have gone over well at the Academy, but I knew her a long time ago."
He hopes that the past tense and the emphasis on childhood will help Jayce fill in the blanks. Rio simply wasn't around for Viktor to bring her along. At the suggestion of a towel, he shrugs--clearly he finds it unnecessary, especially in a place like this where people can just will themselves clean, like Jayce is doing now. Rio gives a little trill, clearly pleased by this development, then bumps her head into Jayce's side, apparently in approval.
"There was this, ehn. Cave system. At the base of the wall, where my overlook is. I used to play there as a child. That's where she was."
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