"Always so logical and practical," Jayce said, but it sounded like praise, because it was. Logical, practical, and caring—that was Viktor. "You've seen me shirtless plenty of times, but I'll do as you suggested."
Both because it was proper and because Jayce's body is probably not much of a pretty sight, considering the scars on his back and leg. And though the options had been laid out, and there was a hot shower waiting for him, Jayce found himself reluctant to move away. He did not want Viktor out of his sight if he could help it.
He wanted to tell his partner the full truth, tell him how his other self was blissfully unaware of his own feelings for Viktor, but they still existed; it was only a matter of time until the other Jayce saw things like he did. The path that led there was also filled with destruction and pain, and he wanted to spare Viktor of that, but this is a younger version of the man he knew, and that complicated things.
Then he noticed the color on the man's usually pale cheeks, and that finally pulled him out of his stupor.
"Umm. I'll...go get clean. Thank you again for all this, Viktor. I know I'm a virtual stranger to you and that all this seems crazy, but you're the only reason I'm still alive."
In more than one way, at that. He wasn't simply talking about Viktor stopping him from jumping off his ruined apartment; Viktor's memory also helped him while in the ruined future. He couldn't give up back then; he had all these unsaid things between them that Jayce needed to tell him. Just not now.
He gave a small, last nod and then moved into the bathroom, trying not to grip the sheet too tightly as to not stain it before he could get all the grime off of him.
Well, now Viktor had even more questions. But after Jayce closed the bathroom door, Viktor seemed to come out of his trance and blinked a few times. He didn't linger in his dorm room but instead went back across campus to the laundry.
This sort of thing had been new to Viktor, but apparently, the places that the privileged send their children to learn came fully equipped with housekeeping services. Fortunately, Viktor was on good terms with the washer women that ran the massive machines that washed and dried clothes on an industrial scale since most of them lived in Zaun while working in Piltover. He hadn't corrected the ribbing that he was getting about a romantic conquest, for trying to find clean clothes in Jayce's size.
When he returned to the dorm room, Jayce was still in the shower, so he left the set of folded clothes (without shoes since he couldn't think of a good excuse for needing shoes too) at the foot of his bed. He wasn't so heartless that he couldn't feel any compassion for the obviously harrowing experience that had brought this older version of Jayce here, but he still sat down in his chair to wait. Clean, clothed, and seated, he could allow. But after that, he and Jayce were going to need to have a serious talk. Not least of which was how they were going to get this version of Jayce back to his own timeline.
Alone in the bathroom, Jayce took a good look at himself for the first time in a long time so he could catalog the changes, the new scars, and the lost weight. He didn't like what he saw, but it was pretty much the sight he expected. Maybe not the haunted look in his eyes when he stared down at himself in the mirror, though; that was jarringly new. He looked away quickly, feeling every muscle and bone ache with his movements as he started to undress, not wanting to waste time and keep Viktor waiting.
Unfortunately, even undressing felt like an exhausting chore now that the adrenaline had faded and his leg was protesting. Thank god for that bench; Jayce was sure he would have either slipped or his knee would have folded five minutes into the tub, and the last thing Viktor needed was to deal with him concussed. He already sounded like a madman; it was a miracle the other man hadn't just called the enforcers to take him away in a straightjacket.
The hot water was such a welcome blessing that Jayce could have cried. He had the horrible fear that he might just be hallucinating all this too and would wake up at any moment down at the bottom of the ravine.
Getting clean took longer than he wanted as well; he had to wash his hair thoroughly twice to get rid of all the grime, and his body wasn't much better. His leg looked awful under the bathroom light, mostly because this was the clearest look Jayce had been able to give it and not because the wound was infected or anything of the sort. It was scarred strangely in arcane patterns, the skin multicolored like his wrist where his rune had fused with his skin. I looked alien and ugly, and even though Jayce thought he was well past that, it still made him self-conscious.
He dried himself as well as he could with the towel and the sheets, covering himself with the last one from the waist down, hiding as much of his legs under it as possible. There was no hiding the diagonal scars on his back and shoulder, so he didn't bother. Glancing at the mirror one last time, he wished for a shave, but even if Viktor did not mind if he borrowed his toiletries, Jayce's hands were not steady enough for the task. Too little sleep, too much stress.
When he opened the door of the bathroom just enough to look tentatively around the room, his eyes still did a double take when they landed on Viktor. So, not a hallucination then. Despite his old—well, not that old now—partner already looking like he meant business as he waited, Jayce couldn't help the soft smile that appeared on his lips and the obvious relief in his eyes.
"Hey." He said, still not exactly feeling very talkative but feeling like the complete silence would be worse.
He was reluctant to step out of the bathroom fully because of how he looked, but he also could not half hide behind the door forever. Mentally sighing, Jayce stepped out and into the room proper.
"Your shower is wonderful; I can't remember the last time I could enjoy hot water. Or soap, for that matter."
When Jayce came into the room properly, Viktor leaned toward his desk and picked up the deli paper still wrapped around half of the sandwich he bought for his lunch.
"I don't know if you are even hungry, but I am afraid this is the best that I can do in the middle of the night. I was able to get you some clean clothes, and those are at the foot of the bed. I can turn my back on you while you get dressed."
But he was not going to rise from that chair. The younger Jayce of his time wouldn't have much in the way of modesty, but whatever had happened over the course of years to make this Jayce so unrecognizable made Viktor feel like they were strangers to each other now. Clean and fed and safely squirreled away in Viktor's dorm room, he would allow, but even then, they still would have no time to lose before they needed to send this Jayce to his own timeline.
It took Jayce less than a second to figure out what Viktor was trying to do when he saw the man pick up a familiar-looking wrapping paper. He almost shook his head in fondness, because Viktor not eating regularly due to work, disinterest, or obliviousness was as normal as it was painful to see. Instead he raised one of his hands, despite knowing that eating—not now, but eventually—might do him good.
"Thank you, but no. I can't believe you didn't even finish this one. Did other me at least chide you about it?" Jayce said with a small tone of amusement, but he hoped the other Jayce did. Viktor needed the food and energy more than Jayce did, even now at his lowest.
"Besides, I'm still too anxious; you know how my stomach gets. We would be seeing the food too soon again if I tried to eat."
And the last thing he wanted was to make a mess of Viktor's room; he had already made a poor first impression when he appeared. The clothes, though, got a surprised and grateful look. "Those are perfect, V. And, uhm, that...yes, if you don't mind."
Turning around as he got dressed, Jayce meant, as he approached the foot of the bed and avoided looking at Viktor. He had changed; he knew it, and it was a painful fact for both of them. He wished he could fix the growing chasm between his partner and him, both here and in the future, but it wasn't an immediate process. Jayce briefly looked over his shoulder with a wary look, shoulders relaxing when he indeed saw that Viktor wasn't looking at him, even if guilt also gnawed at him.
"It's not that I don't trust you..." He murmured softly as he worked on putting the trousers on first, careful not to lose his balance. It was harder than he liked, with his busted leg. "I don't mind you looking at me; it's just...I don't exactly make a pretty sight."
The younger version of Jayce had mentioned that he should really finish the whole sandwich, not just half, and Viktor had waved it away as Jayce's tendency to be a mother hen. It was paradoxically comforting and disconcerting to hear the same thing echo across the years. Even with his back now turned, Viktor snorted at Jayce's statement that he didn't make a pretty sight.
"Even if you are horribly disfigured by scars all over your body, you are still the same Jayce Talis that I know, and that much has not changed over the years that are separating us."
Viktor did not turn back around until he heard Jayce sit down opposite him on the bed.
"As you are the same Jayce Talis that I know, you must be aware that your presence alone is altering this timeline from the events that you remember happening. It won't be possible to try to send you back to your own time tonight, but we will both have to send you back as soon as we are able. But the important thing right now is how I will explain your presence to the other version of you that is here already. I agree that you should not interact too much. But as close as we are, it will not be possible for me to keep you a secret."
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no subject
Date: 2026-02-08 10:48 pm (UTC)Both because it was proper and because Jayce's body is probably not much of a pretty sight, considering the scars on his back and leg. And though the options had been laid out, and there was a hot shower waiting for him, Jayce found himself reluctant to move away. He did not want Viktor out of his sight if he could help it.
He wanted to tell his partner the full truth, tell him how his other self was blissfully unaware of his own feelings for Viktor, but they still existed; it was only a matter of time until the other Jayce saw things like he did. The path that led there was also filled with destruction and pain, and he wanted to spare Viktor of that, but this is a younger version of the man he knew, and that complicated things.
Then he noticed the color on the man's usually pale cheeks, and that finally pulled him out of his stupor.
"Umm. I'll...go get clean. Thank you again for all this, Viktor. I know I'm a virtual stranger to you and that all this seems crazy, but you're the only reason I'm still alive."
In more than one way, at that. He wasn't simply talking about Viktor stopping him from jumping off his ruined apartment; Viktor's memory also helped him while in the ruined future. He couldn't give up back then; he had all these unsaid things between them that Jayce needed to tell him. Just not now.
He gave a small, last nod and then moved into the bathroom, trying not to grip the sheet too tightly as to not stain it before he could get all the grime off of him.
no subject
Date: 2026-02-12 10:53 pm (UTC)This sort of thing had been new to Viktor, but apparently, the places that the privileged send their children to learn came fully equipped with housekeeping services. Fortunately, Viktor was on good terms with the washer women that ran the massive machines that washed and dried clothes on an industrial scale since most of them lived in Zaun while working in Piltover. He hadn't corrected the ribbing that he was getting about a romantic conquest, for trying to find clean clothes in Jayce's size.
When he returned to the dorm room, Jayce was still in the shower, so he left the set of folded clothes (without shoes since he couldn't think of a good excuse for needing shoes too) at the foot of his bed. He wasn't so heartless that he couldn't feel any compassion for the obviously harrowing experience that had brought this older version of Jayce here, but he still sat down in his chair to wait. Clean, clothed, and seated, he could allow. But after that, he and Jayce were going to need to have a serious talk. Not least of which was how they were going to get this version of Jayce back to his own timeline.
no subject
Date: 2026-02-16 10:21 pm (UTC)Unfortunately, even undressing felt like an exhausting chore now that the adrenaline had faded and his leg was protesting. Thank god for that bench; Jayce was sure he would have either slipped or his knee would have folded five minutes into the tub, and the last thing Viktor needed was to deal with him concussed. He already sounded like a madman; it was a miracle the other man hadn't just called the enforcers to take him away in a straightjacket.
The hot water was such a welcome blessing that Jayce could have cried. He had the horrible fear that he might just be hallucinating all this too and would wake up at any moment down at the bottom of the ravine.
Getting clean took longer than he wanted as well; he had to wash his hair thoroughly twice to get rid of all the grime, and his body wasn't much better. His leg looked awful under the bathroom light, mostly because this was the clearest look Jayce had been able to give it and not because the wound was infected or anything of the sort. It was scarred strangely in arcane patterns, the skin multicolored like his wrist where his rune had fused with his skin. I looked alien and ugly, and even though Jayce thought he was well past that, it still made him self-conscious.
He dried himself as well as he could with the towel and the sheets, covering himself with the last one from the waist down, hiding as much of his legs under it as possible. There was no hiding the diagonal scars on his back and shoulder, so he didn't bother. Glancing at the mirror one last time, he wished for a shave, but even if Viktor did not mind if he borrowed his toiletries, Jayce's hands were not steady enough for the task. Too little sleep, too much stress.
When he opened the door of the bathroom just enough to look tentatively around the room, his eyes still did a double take when they landed on Viktor. So, not a hallucination then. Despite his old—well, not that old now—partner already looking like he meant business as he waited, Jayce couldn't help the soft smile that appeared on his lips and the obvious relief in his eyes.
"Hey." He said, still not exactly feeling very talkative but feeling like the complete silence would be worse.
He was reluctant to step out of the bathroom fully because of how he looked, but he also could not half hide behind the door forever. Mentally sighing, Jayce stepped out and into the room proper.
"Your shower is wonderful; I can't remember the last time I could enjoy hot water. Or soap, for that matter."
no subject
Date: 2026-02-21 08:35 pm (UTC)"I don't know if you are even hungry, but I am afraid this is the best that I can do in the middle of the night. I was able to get you some clean clothes, and those are at the foot of the bed. I can turn my back on you while you get dressed."
But he was not going to rise from that chair. The younger Jayce of his time wouldn't have much in the way of modesty, but whatever had happened over the course of years to make this Jayce so unrecognizable made Viktor feel like they were strangers to each other now. Clean and fed and safely squirreled away in Viktor's dorm room, he would allow, but even then, they still would have no time to lose before they needed to send this Jayce to his own timeline.
no subject
Date: 2026-02-24 07:58 pm (UTC)"Thank you, but no. I can't believe you didn't even finish this one. Did other me at least chide you about it?" Jayce said with a small tone of amusement, but he hoped the other Jayce did. Viktor needed the food and energy more than Jayce did, even now at his lowest.
"Besides, I'm still too anxious; you know how my stomach gets. We would be seeing the food too soon again if I tried to eat."
And the last thing he wanted was to make a mess of Viktor's room; he had already made a poor first impression when he appeared. The clothes, though, got a surprised and grateful look. "Those are perfect, V. And, uhm, that...yes, if you don't mind."
Turning around as he got dressed, Jayce meant, as he approached the foot of the bed and avoided looking at Viktor. He had changed; he knew it, and it was a painful fact for both of them. He wished he could fix the growing chasm between his partner and him, both here and in the future, but it wasn't an immediate process. Jayce briefly looked over his shoulder with a wary look, shoulders relaxing when he indeed saw that Viktor wasn't looking at him, even if guilt also gnawed at him.
"It's not that I don't trust you..." He murmured softly as he worked on putting the trousers on first, careful not to lose his balance. It was harder than he liked, with his busted leg. "I don't mind you looking at me; it's just...I don't exactly make a pretty sight."
no subject
Date: 2026-02-26 10:10 pm (UTC)"Even if you are horribly disfigured by scars all over your body, you are still the same Jayce Talis that I know, and that much has not changed over the years that are separating us."
Viktor did not turn back around until he heard Jayce sit down opposite him on the bed.
"As you are the same Jayce Talis that I know, you must be aware that your presence alone is altering this timeline from the events that you remember happening. It won't be possible to try to send you back to your own time tonight, but we will both have to send you back as soon as we are able. But the important thing right now is how I will explain your presence to the other version of you that is here already. I agree that you should not interact too much. But as close as we are, it will not be possible for me to keep you a secret."