Rule of Threes-Jayce/Viktor/Mel

Francis Forever

Viktor woke up & automatically realized his knee was out of place, he grimaced, knowing exactly what that meant. The room was cold, it was always cold, it made his joints hurt worse then they already did.

He slowly sat up, firmly grasping his kneecap & pushing it back into place with a single shove, he hissed, gritting his teeth as the pain settled. His mornings were never nice, never romantic or pretty, but he supposed pretty mornings weren't for him.

With calculated movements, he stepped out of bed, wincing at the cold floor against his feet, he grabbed his crutch from his bedside, slowly starting to make his way to the small kitchen. His knee didn't seem to want to cooperate with him, so he had to lean entirely onto his crutch for support, something that never failed to make him feel absolutely childish, as if he couldn't take care of himself. A feeling he hated.

He opened the fridge, the light had gone out a long time ago...he should probably fix that. He took out a carton labeled in shaky handwriting that more resembled Russian than English, 'sweet milk'. With some minor effort he got a cup & tried pouring some into it, but grimaced in frustration when only a drop came out, he cursed under his breath in an incomprehensible language, closing the fridge & deciding he was now too annoyed to eat.

He shambled back towards the bedroom, leaning his crutch against the bed & haphazardly throwing on a button-up shirt & some pants that were definitely due for an ironing, he didn't need to look fancy today, he just had to stay standing.

After finally managing to get ready he started the walk to the laboratory Jayce & him shared, it was always a pain in the ass. For the city of progress they sure lacked any sort of accommodations for anyone who struggled walking.

Viktor made it to the laboratory after a rather painful walk, but at least now he got to run some equations by Jayce that had been stuck in his head lately. As he unlocked the door & walked inside he found the windows were gray with clouds, for some reason it gave him a sinking feeling in his stomach.

He got to work, but it was hard to focus without Jayce there to bounce ideas off of. His missing lab partner showed up several minutes later, frantically fixing his hair & straightening his collar "sorry I'm late, Vik, i got uh, caught up with something" Jayce tried explaining, but the smell of roses was potent, Viktor wasn't stupid. He knew what had happened.

Viktor gave a simple hum "nice cologne, Jayce. Did Mel happen to give you that recommendation?" He said, dry as always. Jayce stammered "ah-well-" he closed the door, trying to come up with an excuse quickly "me & Mel, we just hung out" he said, Viktor didn't even lift his head from his work "I know what adults do under the influence, Jayce. I am not a fool"

As Viktor spoke he finished a line on the blackboard, handwriting quick, almost dramatic in nature. Jayce couldn't answer. What would he say? No? Viktor turned to face his partner, finally looking at him. Jayce threw his hands up in frustration "yeah! Ok! So I have a...thing with Mel! So what? I mean, it doesn't affect our work here!" Viktor scoffed "you're becoming distracted" he said, turning again to continue writing.

Jayce was getting angry, he hated when Viktor talked to him like a teacher talks to a child "excuse me if I don't want science to be all I live for! Just because you throw all your time away in here doesn't mean I have to!" He'd raised his voice, face hot with emotion. He automatically regretted the words that came out of his mouth, quickly closing his lips tight as Viktor abruptly stopped writing, pausing in place.

Viktor turned, dropping the chalk in his hand unceremoniously & making his way towards the door, pushing past Jayces shoulder. Jayce tried to stop him "Vik, I'm sorry I just-" Viktor cut him off "my calculations are in my notes. I am going back".

With that he was gone, leaving Jayce in the quiet laboratory full of regret & words with meanings he couldn't rewrite.

Viktor returned to his room, pushing the door open & letting it slam behind him, he was so...so angry. He'd devoted his life to Hextech, to Jayce & all he got in return was this. Wasting his time? Was that all it was to Jayce? He leaned against the wall, his hands gripped into fists so tight he thought they might break.

Jayce, his stupid...everything, the way he did everything right even when he failed miserably, the way he so casually had the most wealthy woman in Piltover in his corner, things Viktor could only dream of. He groaned, gripping his hair as the anger dissipated, leaving only soul crushing sadness in its wake.

He wasn't jealous of Jayce. He didn't want to be him...but he wanted to be by his side. He wanted his approval. Jayce was the capital letter & the period at the beginning & end of Viktor's sentence, he was the warmth of gold & the structure of a temple Viktor could only pray at, he was but a devotee at the feet of Jayce's shadow.

He thought he was ok with that, watching from a distance, dying behind the curtain of a play he would never get to see...but the ache in his chest wasn't going away. He felt like he was thinking too fast, stumbling across the floor to get to the bathroom where he stilled in front of the mirror, hands coming up to grab at his face.

He couldn't help but think to himself that he looked like a corpse, it was a forceful reminder that no matter how much he gave away, how much he tried, he would never be good enough to be a topsider. Never. His feet felt heavy as the smell of roses filled his head, he leaned against the counter, coughing hard enough that his entire chest shook.

Was it because he wasn't clean? Mel was certainly clean, she was flawless, full of life & beautiful. He wasn't clean. He was sterile, like a hospital or a lab rat. He couldn't compare to Mel, a polished gemstone worthy of the most beautiful of jewelry, a necklace proud to be shown to the world.

His vision was blurry but through his eyelashes he could see a vague red splatter on the sink, he couldn't help but let out a single dull chuckle before collapsing into a heap on the floor.

Even his blood wasn't as vibrant as theirs.