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."
"Oh, I see." If this was a childhood friend, that makes sense, although Jayce has no idea what the life expectancy is. That's too bad, but it's good that Viktor can have a version of her here. It may not be entirely real, but it's as real as everything else in here. She feels real, and Viktor is clearly not consciously controlling her. It's fascinating, all things considered.
Jayce laughs when she bumps up against him and beams at Viktor, pointing at her obvious affection. She likes him, success! Yes he counts it as a win when figments of the imagination in this magical space like him too. He looks forward to sharing their space with her, she's far less annoying already than Heimerdinger's yappy little creature.
Then Viktor is opening up a little, explaining where he met her, and Jayce is hungry for any crumbs of his past. "Is that why you like going up there to think?" It reminds him of where he came from. Jayce wondered why that place in particular appealed to him. "I think we would've gotten along as kids too. I'm not all that different." Obviously he is in a few ways! But some elements will always be the same.
Viktor, too, is having something of a Time processing the fact that he created a living being--something from his past--that thinks and behaves on its own. It's a lot to take in, but it's also heartening, especially when he considers the Hexcore. That had been an adaptable device, and it's likely that if he brings it here, it will act as it would in the real world without Viktor needing to guide it.
Of course Jayce is pleased that Rio seems to like him, but why wouldn't she? He just fed her. Viktor laughs and shakes his head a little, content to watch.
"One of the reasons," he says, finally. "It's also as close as we would get to Piltover, as children. I didn't venture up into the wall until I was a little older. That's where I met Heimerdinger."
He can vividly imagine Jayce as a child, which certainly says something, though he imagines the same is true of himself. It may not be hard to guess that Viktor didn't have many friends--the other children unable to keep up with him mentally, just as he was unable to keep up with them physically. The thought elicits a small smile, though there's something a little bittersweet about it.
"Perhaps. I was, uh. Something of a loner." As evidenced by the fact that he spent his time crawling around in a cave making friends with a giant pink lizard. "You might have scared me off."
Jayce imagines Viktor and other Undercity kids, looking up at Piltover and it seeming so close and yet so far. These are the kind of details he really took for granted, being from there, not knowing the full scope of the other side. Viktor got out because he had a sponsor, a very powerful one with Heimerdinger being the head of the council. And that's a very low possibility for anyone else.
As usual his heart hearts thinking about their mentor. He doesn't regret the things that he said, he believed every one of them, but he regrets how it went down. How it had to go down. And since he'll never see him again, there will never be a backup conversation, either for them to apologize or just try to see one another's point of view. Viktor and Jayce were both cared for by him, in his own detached way. "I can see how you would draw him in."
Heimerdinger likes to shape minds but he also likes to control them, in Jayce's opinion. Uncharitable, probably, but he has mixed feelings.
"I would have been annoyingly persistent." Jayce smiles, petting Rio. He can imagine young him following after Viktor, trying to get his attention. "I didn't have any friends." People think that Jayce being the way he is, confident and friendly, means he was surrounded by admirers even before Hextech. But it wasn't the case. He was too smart, just like Viktor. "Nobody has ever appreciated my rock collection." He smiles wryly.
A shrug. They both know Viktor has never been one to follow the rules, if he thinks the rules are wrong. Perhaps, venturing up to Piltover had been one of those instances. He can't deny it changed his life, so he'd probably do it all over again, if given the chance.
The thought of a young Jayce without any friends is slightly surprising to him, but he supposes it makes sense. For a moment, he looks a little sad, thinking of them both as lonely kids, but then Jayce mentions a childhood fixation and he has to admit that yes, maybe they would have been friends after all.
"Okay. I would have appreciated your rock collection. That's fair."
"A rebel from the start. He probably shouldn't have been surprised when we made trouble." He sounds fond, again, there are a lot of mixed feelings he has for their mentor. But Heimerdinger did favor students who were bold and brilliant, who pushed the envelope and didn't always follow the rules. He never would've expected that pushing Viktor and Jayce together, even briefly, would have led down the path it did.
And Jayce is grateful, how else would they have met? They'd been technically in the same place for years and never crossed each other's path. Jayce was very absorbed in his illegal study, after all. He let no one in on it, but he was always the top of his class, he managed to juggle all of his studies well. It didn't exactly afford himself time to make friends. Story of his life. But it was all a choice. His work over his life.
It's no wonder he ended up really bad at balancing the two when he suddenly had a life outside of science. No practice.
"Rock and crystals." Jayce chuckles. "I was in the forge early, already making tools, so I would've wooed you with them." His father was serious about getting him skilled at tool making as a child, and he appreciates that a lot of it is natural to him now. But it was another way that made him different from other kids.
"I was an excellent assistant. I just didn't want to be one for longer than I had to."
It also (fortunately? Unfortunately?) helped that Heimerdinger was largely oblivious to a lot of the things going on right under his nose. Running off with Jayce to complete Hextech was, perhaps, a very dramatic way of submitting a resignation letter, but, given the chance, he would do it all over again. Just...perhaps with less of a time limit. He'd been aware of Jayce before that fateful assignment, and finds it somewhat surprisingly that they'd never crossed paths, in the few years they overlapped at the Academy, in the end he supposes he's glad it all played out the way it did. They might have been caught, if Viktor had been in on the research much earlier.
Hearing about Jayce as a child is endearing, of course. It makes him want to share a little more, in turn.
"How old? I thought Piltover had laws against that sort of thing."
Viktor pulls up a stool, reaching over for something on the workbench. When his hands emerge from behind a pile of books and other gadgets, they're holding a small clockwork boat (though, perhaps large enough for a child), which he hands, gently, to Jayce.
"These are the kinds of projects I worked on. You probably would have liked them."
"Of course you were an excellent assistant, you're excellent at everything you do." Viktor is a literal genius, there is no end to what he's capable of. Jayce may be biased but he also thinks it's pretty obviously true. Jayce knew generally that Heimerdinger had an assistant, but he didn't know anything about him. When Heimerdinger visited him, he didn't bring anything other than his pet along with him. Jayce was very absorbed in his own life and work.
Jayce shrugs. "Technically they do, but it's a family business. Training your own kid young is just smart." Kids take in tons of information and they learn well, so by the time Jayce was older, it's all become second nature. He isn't at all sorry about it, he loves that he knows the trade. "I was already interested. I was playing with hammers as far back as I can remember."
Jayce's eyes widen and he takes the adorable clockwork boat, smiling as he looked it over. The cranks and wheels could turn, he sees that, perfect for putting into the water. "I would have. You were already inventing things even then." His mind is so beautiful it actually hurts Jayce to think about it sometimes.
"Unfortunately, neither of us would have been where we were when we met if we always had each other." They wouldn't have been lonely. Maybe they would have come up with incredible things earlier, but so much of who they are is also defined by what they didn't have. Their drive to be better, to prove themselves. Having a childhood soulmate would have changed that. "But I like the idea anyway."
But, for all Viktor is not an egoist, he's fairly self-assured when it comes to his own abilities. He has to be, when he also has to deal with significant limitations--not that he's ever let that stop him. There's a joke to be made here, about child labor in Zaun, but he lets it go. Not the time or place. Instead, he rests his chin in his palm and listens to Jayce talk about his formative experiences. When he takes the boat, Viktor's expression becomes a little fond.
"Clockwork toys made of scrap metal." Impressive for a ten year old, maybe. "It did work, after a few iterations."
Maybe, meeting Jayce as a child, they could have worked on these things together. The possibilities of what they might have accomplished seems endless, and almost pointless to dwell on, considering he isn't even sure whether or not they'd get along, not having grown into their adult personalities yet--but it's a pleasant thought exercise, regardless.
"Maybe we would have been expelled together." Maybe that would have been more bearable, for Jayce.
"It's not flattery, it's the truth. Try being less competent if you don't want to hear it."
Jayce rolls his eyes at him in a playful way, he's going to keep flattering him because he can and he always means it. Jayce is not actually prone to giving a lot of compliments that aren't legitimately what he thinks. He had to try that out a little bit while sucking up to the Council and while he found he's pretty good at it when he needs to be, he doesn't like it. Both Viktor and Caitlyn get annoyed when he showers them with praise though, they'll have to live with it.
"If you think I was protective of your reputation when we were strangers, imagine already having been my friend." Jayce immediately tried to refuse Viktor's offer to sneak into Heimerdinger's office to continue their illegal experiments. He couldn't justify hurting someone else's future like that. After thinking of that though, Jayce's eyes brighten and he grins.
"Oh I have an idea." He pets Rio one more time, unsure if she'll be following them from now, although she's welcome. Jayce sets the boat down and reaches out to tug on Viktor's sleeve. "Come on." He goes back to the lift, waiting for Viktor to join him, and in the process of it moving, he creates another floor for them to stop on, not straight to the forge. It takes him some focus, he closes his eyes to get it right, since the forge going cold was difficult for him to make sense of. This time he'll be on top of it.
Jayce opens a door to a familiar hall, where Viktor once said this is not my room, and he opens Heimerdinger's door to show the lab exactly as it was on that special night for them. It's glowing beautiful blue and Jayce winks at Viktor before intentionally stepping inside and floating up into the ceiling.
"Just as well. There would have been even more allegations of favoritism."
Heimerdinger's favorite, palling around with the Dean's Assistant. People talked enough about Viktor's position. Just as well they didn't over-complicate things, as interesting a hypothetical as it is to consider.
Rio will not be coming with them--she bumps Jayce's hand again and then flops onto the area rug, seemingly content to stay exactly where she is. Viktor imagines he'll find her back in the caves soon enough, though he's still getting used to having an ostensibly living thing in here with a mind of its own. For now, Viktor follows along, letting Jayce take the lead. Once they're out of the lift, though, it's very easy to see where this is going.
Jayce smiles almost as wide as he did that first night. It's nice to see.
"You're sentimental."
Viktor stays on the ground, just for the time being, but he leans against the door frame and folds his arms, taking in the view.
They were definitely favored by Heimerdinger, Jayce in particular had been told multiple times by their mentor that he reminded him of himself. And for someone like him, that was the greatest of compliments. Jayce does hope there comes a time when he can remember Heimerdinger again without so many mixed emotions. That he won't be angry or guilty or sad, that it'll be a person who was special and important to him, even if things went wrong. But that's the sort of thing people in their 50s manage to do, not their 30s. Alas.
This was the best moment of his life, floating in this space, their discovery finally realized, a partner in science crime, the endless possibilities ahead of them. It was pure in its beauty and importance and sweetness. Jayce swims into the air and he does look lighter in more ways than one, but good memories are worth being stuck in.
"You know that about me," Jayce says with a laugh. He is very sentimental. He keeps everything for years. He plucks a gear that looks exactly like the one from that night, making it in the air, and pushes it toward Viktor who is still standing there. Maybe as an enticement, or as a reminder. It was the last time he saw Viktor smile that wide, although for those good years, they did smile and even laugh together. But they were both so free that night.
There was never really any question as to whether or not Viktor would join Jayce in his recreation of the night they changed the world--it's just that, perhaps, he likes playing a little hard to get. Maybe it's more satisfying for Jayce, if he puts up a fight and then eventually concedes, and Viktor can't deny he likes the look on his face when he realizes that, yet again, Jayce has won him over. Still, he doesn't do it without a slight roll of the eyes. For effect. To pretend he isn't enjoying this just as much.
Viktor leans his cane against the door frame and then takes a step inside, closing his eyes and allowing the blue glow to take him just as it had seven years ago. He'd never forgotten what it was like, to be suddenly unhindered by gravity--weightless, painless, overwhelmed with possibility.
He doesn't smile quite as wide--he's not sure he remembers how--but he does get close.
There is definitely something thrilling about when he gets Viktor to give in, knowing that he can get through his friend's armor and convince him to let go. He feels like those are victories so the playing hard to get works. He knows Viktor likes giving in when he does too, otherwise he wouldn't do it. He waits and takes in the look on his face as Viktor floats up too, his eyes closed, his healthier face from the Horizon soft.
The amazing thing about that night was there was a physical manifestation of the glory of their discovery. Proving any theory is incredible, but it is particularly thrilling when it looks exciting too. And having an entire weightless room, glowing blue, as a monument to what happened, makes this special for them. Jayce made this and he's going to keep it.
Viktor's smile is the biggest victory he could ever ask for and Jayce beams right back at him. His chest feels full and warm and he's so happy in that moment. "Maybe we should come down here when we get frustrated in a project and remember that we are brilliant and will always figure it out."
Jayce does a roll in the air because he never got to do that before, and he's always wanted to. Now he can. He's a kid again. "This is exactly what it felt like with the mage, you know. Everything was blue and weightless as we teleported. It was beautiful."
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zvi
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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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Date: 2022-04-16 04:34 am (UTC)Jayce laughs when she bumps up against him and beams at Viktor, pointing at her obvious affection. She likes him, success! Yes he counts it as a win when figments of the imagination in this magical space like him too. He looks forward to sharing their space with her, she's far less annoying already than Heimerdinger's yappy little creature.
Then Viktor is opening up a little, explaining where he met her, and Jayce is hungry for any crumbs of his past. "Is that why you like going up there to think?" It reminds him of where he came from. Jayce wondered why that place in particular appealed to him. "I think we would've gotten along as kids too. I'm not all that different." Obviously he is in a few ways! But some elements will always be the same.
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Date: 2022-04-16 02:16 pm (UTC)Of course Jayce is pleased that Rio seems to like him, but why wouldn't she? He just fed her. Viktor laughs and shakes his head a little, content to watch.
"One of the reasons," he says, finally. "It's also as close as we would get to Piltover, as children. I didn't venture up into the wall until I was a little older. That's where I met Heimerdinger."
He can vividly imagine Jayce as a child, which certainly says something, though he imagines the same is true of himself. It may not be hard to guess that Viktor didn't have many friends--the other children unable to keep up with him mentally, just as he was unable to keep up with them physically. The thought elicits a small smile, though there's something a little bittersweet about it.
"Perhaps. I was, uh. Something of a loner." As evidenced by the fact that he spent his time crawling around in a cave making friends with a giant pink lizard. "You might have scared me off."
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Date: 2022-04-16 06:42 pm (UTC)As usual his heart hearts thinking about their mentor. He doesn't regret the things that he said, he believed every one of them, but he regrets how it went down. How it had to go down. And since he'll never see him again, there will never be a backup conversation, either for them to apologize or just try to see one another's point of view. Viktor and Jayce were both cared for by him, in his own detached way. "I can see how you would draw him in."
Heimerdinger likes to shape minds but he also likes to control them, in Jayce's opinion. Uncharitable, probably, but he has mixed feelings.
"I would have been annoyingly persistent." Jayce smiles, petting Rio. He can imagine young him following after Viktor, trying to get his attention. "I didn't have any friends." People think that Jayce being the way he is, confident and friendly, means he was surrounded by admirers even before Hextech. But it wasn't the case. He was too smart, just like Viktor. "Nobody has ever appreciated my rock collection." He smiles wryly.
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Date: 2022-04-17 02:06 am (UTC)A shrug. They both know Viktor has never been one to follow the rules, if he thinks the rules are wrong. Perhaps, venturing up to Piltover had been one of those instances. He can't deny it changed his life, so he'd probably do it all over again, if given the chance.
The thought of a young Jayce without any friends is slightly surprising to him, but he supposes it makes sense. For a moment, he looks a little sad, thinking of them both as lonely kids, but then Jayce mentions a childhood fixation and he has to admit that yes, maybe they would have been friends after all.
"Okay. I would have appreciated your rock collection. That's fair."
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Date: 2022-04-17 08:17 pm (UTC)And Jayce is grateful, how else would they have met? They'd been technically in the same place for years and never crossed each other's path. Jayce was very absorbed in his illegal study, after all. He let no one in on it, but he was always the top of his class, he managed to juggle all of his studies well. It didn't exactly afford himself time to make friends. Story of his life. But it was all a choice. His work over his life.
It's no wonder he ended up really bad at balancing the two when he suddenly had a life outside of science. No practice.
"Rock and crystals." Jayce chuckles. "I was in the forge early, already making tools, so I would've wooed you with them." His father was serious about getting him skilled at tool making as a child, and he appreciates that a lot of it is natural to him now. But it was another way that made him different from other kids.
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Date: 2022-04-18 12:14 am (UTC)It also (fortunately? Unfortunately?) helped that Heimerdinger was largely oblivious to a lot of the things going on right under his nose. Running off with Jayce to complete Hextech was, perhaps, a very dramatic way of submitting a resignation letter, but, given the chance, he would do it all over again. Just...perhaps with less of a time limit. He'd been aware of Jayce before that fateful assignment, and finds it somewhat surprisingly that they'd never crossed paths, in the few years they overlapped at the Academy, in the end he supposes he's glad it all played out the way it did. They might have been caught, if Viktor had been in on the research much earlier.
Hearing about Jayce as a child is endearing, of course. It makes him want to share a little more, in turn.
"How old? I thought Piltover had laws against that sort of thing."
Viktor pulls up a stool, reaching over for something on the workbench. When his hands emerge from behind a pile of books and other gadgets, they're holding a small clockwork boat (though, perhaps large enough for a child), which he hands, gently, to Jayce.
"These are the kinds of projects I worked on. You probably would have liked them."
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Date: 2022-04-18 01:42 am (UTC)Jayce shrugs. "Technically they do, but it's a family business. Training your own kid young is just smart." Kids take in tons of information and they learn well, so by the time Jayce was older, it's all become second nature. He isn't at all sorry about it, he loves that he knows the trade. "I was already interested. I was playing with hammers as far back as I can remember."
Jayce's eyes widen and he takes the adorable clockwork boat, smiling as he looked it over. The cranks and wheels could turn, he sees that, perfect for putting into the water. "I would have. You were already inventing things even then." His mind is so beautiful it actually hurts Jayce to think about it sometimes.
"Unfortunately, neither of us would have been where we were when we met if we always had each other." They wouldn't have been lonely. Maybe they would have come up with incredible things earlier, but so much of who they are is also defined by what they didn't have. Their drive to be better, to prove themselves. Having a childhood soulmate would have changed that. "But I like the idea anyway."
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Date: 2022-04-19 11:38 pm (UTC)But, for all Viktor is not an egoist, he's fairly self-assured when it comes to his own abilities. He has to be, when he also has to deal with significant limitations--not that he's ever let that stop him. There's a joke to be made here, about child labor in Zaun, but he lets it go. Not the time or place. Instead, he rests his chin in his palm and listens to Jayce talk about his formative experiences. When he takes the boat, Viktor's expression becomes a little fond.
"Clockwork toys made of scrap metal." Impressive for a ten year old, maybe. "It did work, after a few iterations."
Maybe, meeting Jayce as a child, they could have worked on these things together. The possibilities of what they might have accomplished seems endless, and almost pointless to dwell on, considering he isn't even sure whether or not they'd get along, not having grown into their adult personalities yet--but it's a pleasant thought exercise, regardless.
"Maybe we would have been expelled together." Maybe that would have been more bearable, for Jayce.
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Date: 2022-04-20 02:55 am (UTC)Jayce rolls his eyes at him in a playful way, he's going to keep flattering him because he can and he always means it. Jayce is not actually prone to giving a lot of compliments that aren't legitimately what he thinks. He had to try that out a little bit while sucking up to the Council and while he found he's pretty good at it when he needs to be, he doesn't like it. Both Viktor and Caitlyn get annoyed when he showers them with praise though, they'll have to live with it.
"If you think I was protective of your reputation when we were strangers, imagine already having been my friend." Jayce immediately tried to refuse Viktor's offer to sneak into Heimerdinger's office to continue their illegal experiments. He couldn't justify hurting someone else's future like that. After thinking of that though, Jayce's eyes brighten and he grins.
"Oh I have an idea." He pets Rio one more time, unsure if she'll be following them from now, although she's welcome. Jayce sets the boat down and reaches out to tug on Viktor's sleeve. "Come on." He goes back to the lift, waiting for Viktor to join him, and in the process of it moving, he creates another floor for them to stop on, not straight to the forge. It takes him some focus, he closes his eyes to get it right, since the forge going cold was difficult for him to make sense of. This time he'll be on top of it.
Jayce opens a door to a familiar hall, where Viktor once said this is not my room, and he opens Heimerdinger's door to show the lab exactly as it was on that special night for them. It's glowing beautiful blue and Jayce winks at Viktor before intentionally stepping inside and floating up into the ceiling.
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Date: 2022-04-21 09:24 pm (UTC)Heimerdinger's favorite, palling around with the Dean's Assistant. People talked enough about Viktor's position. Just as well they didn't over-complicate things, as interesting a hypothetical as it is to consider.
Rio will not be coming with them--she bumps Jayce's hand again and then flops onto the area rug, seemingly content to stay exactly where she is. Viktor imagines he'll find her back in the caves soon enough, though he's still getting used to having an ostensibly living thing in here with a mind of its own. For now, Viktor follows along, letting Jayce take the lead. Once they're out of the lift, though, it's very easy to see where this is going.
Jayce smiles almost as wide as he did that first night. It's nice to see.
"You're sentimental."
Viktor stays on the ground, just for the time being, but he leans against the door frame and folds his arms, taking in the view.
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Date: 2022-04-22 01:45 am (UTC)This was the best moment of his life, floating in this space, their discovery finally realized, a partner in science crime, the endless possibilities ahead of them. It was pure in its beauty and importance and sweetness. Jayce swims into the air and he does look lighter in more ways than one, but good memories are worth being stuck in.
"You know that about me," Jayce says with a laugh. He is very sentimental. He keeps everything for years. He plucks a gear that looks exactly like the one from that night, making it in the air, and pushes it toward Viktor who is still standing there. Maybe as an enticement, or as a reminder. It was the last time he saw Viktor smile that wide, although for those good years, they did smile and even laugh together. But they were both so free that night.
"Come on, V. You know you want to."
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Date: 2022-04-23 06:35 pm (UTC)Viktor leans his cane against the door frame and then takes a step inside, closing his eyes and allowing the blue glow to take him just as it had seven years ago. He'd never forgotten what it was like, to be suddenly unhindered by gravity--weightless, painless, overwhelmed with possibility.
He doesn't smile quite as wide--he's not sure he remembers how--but he does get close.
"Okay. This is fun; you've convinced me."
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Date: 2022-04-24 09:59 pm (UTC)The amazing thing about that night was there was a physical manifestation of the glory of their discovery. Proving any theory is incredible, but it is particularly thrilling when it looks exciting too. And having an entire weightless room, glowing blue, as a monument to what happened, makes this special for them. Jayce made this and he's going to keep it.
Viktor's smile is the biggest victory he could ever ask for and Jayce beams right back at him. His chest feels full and warm and he's so happy in that moment. "Maybe we should come down here when we get frustrated in a project and remember that we are brilliant and will always figure it out."
Jayce does a roll in the air because he never got to do that before, and he's always wanted to. Now he can. He's a kid again. "This is exactly what it felt like with the mage, you know. Everything was blue and weightless as we teleported. It was beautiful."
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