glorious thread

The idea of going to a doctor hadn’t been vocalized by Jayce or Viktor. They should, Jayce knew. Chemical burns were no joke. But as soon as they had both stepped out of the shower and inspected their ruined clothes, Viktor made no comment. Only crossed to the other side of the lab, his soaked boots squelching on the concrete, where they kept the rubber aprons they bought at Heimerdinger’s insistence… and then never wore.

The adrenaline from the mishap began to fade as they sat down across from each other, the first aid kit settled on the desk before them, cataloguing their surface injuries.

The arcane experiments would have to be put on pause for today. For now, Jayce and Viktor moved to work on fixing the vessel the singular shard had been suspended in. Viktor sat, hunched over the cracked table with the blueprint for the build of the stabilizer in front of him.

“Maybe we should use temperature manipulation instead of gas to substitute the buoyancy for the crystals…” Jayce rambled, his mind needing the redirect from what was currently in front of his eyes.

He’s never seen Viktor shirtless before.

They had been so caught up in the chaos of the small explosion that Jayce hadn’t even thought about how he’d touched Viktor’s skin. Had seen freckles and moles along his flat belly and ribs while they shared the brief, frenzied shower.

Now Viktor’s hair was beginning to dry and fluff out at the ends, the roots still damp and dripping condensation down Viktor’s long neck, drawing clear lines down his clavicals and his knobbly spine. The thin stream only stopped at the leather brace that hugged Viktor’s middle like a second skin.

Jayce watched the muscles of Viktor’s upper back and shoulders move as he worked, his pale skin rippling with each strenuous turn of the wrench and the way they would relax when Viktor would push his shoulders back with every successful removal.

“Helium is not flammable,” Viktor sighed impatiently as he worked, unscrewing a leg and turning it over in his palm to inspect the gaskets. “There was no spark anyway. We need to test this again in a more controlled environment.”

Jayce swallowed, feeling his neck heat up as he looked his fill. 

It felt silly, getting so flustered at the sight of his partner’s back, of all things. But Viktor was always so… buttoned up. Even when the AC unit broke and the lab would be sweltering. Viktor would only roll up his sleeves (a move that made Jayce stumble and trip over the trash can the first time it happened). No matter how late Viktor worked or if he got soot on his uniform, he always did his best to outwardly appear proper.

And Jayce had always selfishly wondered when he could get a peek. If Viktor would take it easy for once and just… loosen up. 

Jayce also had admitted to himself months ago that he had developed a little bit of a crush on Viktor. 

A lot of a crush.

“Maybe the arcane just doesn’t like oknier leaves.”

“The oknier has healing properties– I want it to like the foliage.”

Jayce smiled at that, shaking his head fondly. Viktor had the kind of unrelenting stubbornness that only rivaled deranged scientists in the movies.

It was something Jayce really liked about him.

Viktor groaned in relief as the last part (that was intact, anyway) finally came free and he sat back, rolling his neck and rubbing the back of it with his hand.

Jayce’s pulse jumped at the sight and sound, his own fingers twitching uselessly at his sides.

“That fall messed something up in my neck, I think.”

Jayce’s brows furrowed, his mind racing as he watched Viktor continue to rub and roll his neck.

“Want a massage?”

Viktor turned his head to give Jayce a critical look.

Jayce blinked as the words came back to him, the heat on his neck spreading.

“I mean– I’m good at it. With my hands.” Jayce laughed quietly, his hands gesticulating.

Viktor had a smudge of dirt under his eye, swiped over his cheekbone.

Jayce stared, he felt his jaw unhinge but didn’t care.

With the wild hair, dirty face and assortment of bandages… legs spread wide with the apron dipping between them, Viktor looked rugged. He looked good.

Jayce snapped his mouth shut when he realized his lips had begun to part.

Another second passed before Viktor’s eyes seemed to sparkle with something mischievous.

“I’m fine, Jayce.” The corner of Viktor’s lips twitched up as he turned back to his work. “Besides, I want to finish this; we both know I’m better at assembling than you.”

“Mean.” Jayce chuckled softly, taking the moment to bodily turn away from Viktor and catch his breath.

Be cool, Talis. Jayce chastised in the safety of his own head. He looked down at his hands, catching sight of his own bare chest and wondered, not for the first time, if Viktor ever had the same distracting thoughts as he did. Jayce would sometimes come back to the lab from the forge, intentionally keeping his shirt off just to see if Viktor would have any reaction. Had begun casually touching him and crowding up against him more often… noting that Viktor never pushed him away, never made a snide comment about it. 

It was maddening. Jayce felt insane for just a sliver of milk-white skin. Desperately wanting to know where else on Viktor’s body was dotted with cute little moles. He could sympathize with the men of old, who would get a hard on from the mere glance of a maiden’s bare ankle.

“You can pass me the tools and accoutrements,” Viktor offered, snapping Jayce out of his spiraling. He waved his hand airily. “Where did the nuts and bolts set get to?”

-

And so Jayce took on his role as best he could. Passing the occasional tool needed to rebuild the device and swallowing thickly every time Viktor reached back, trusting Jayce to drop the needed bit into his waiting palm. Viktor’s bicep flexed with lean muscle that Jayce never would have expected, his forearms and knuckles straining with effort.

Jayce had always assumed Viktor was skin and bone under all those layers. Never in a million years would he have guessed that Viktor was hiding this physique. At least in his arms and shoulders. 

Not as fragile as Jayce had thought.

The sound of the bolts in Jayce’s hands rang as they clattered to the floor, causing Viktor to drop his hand and look down at the mess.

“Shit– sorry!” Jayce dropped to his knees to collect the few special bolts needed. 

Viktor tsk’d teasingly. “Your palms have more surface area, how do you keep dropping things?”

Jayce laughed, but it sounded broken. 

“I think it’s just the gloves.”

“Then take them off.”

Jayce ducked his head as he swallowed thickly, standing straight again and absolutely not making innuendos of Viktor’s words.

-

Rebuilding the skeleton for the device was as far as Viktor got before calling it– a rare case of him insisting on a break instead of Jayce.

Jayce hoped his sigh of relief wasn’t too loud as Viktor and him removed their aprons and began to pack up for the night.

And Jayce tried very hard not to stare at his partner.

“What had you so distracted, Jayce?”

Viktor’s voice carried across the room, where he was currently putting his notebook and favorite pen into his bag. It sounded almost… playful.

“What do you mean?” Jayce hoped the casual way he forced the words out sounded believable enough.

He looked over, watching Viktor pull the thin blue blanket from the couch next to the chalkboard and throw it around his bare shoulders.

“You dropped five bolts, the screwdriver, and the corner braces.” Viktor limped, his cane hitting the floor in that recognizable tapping rhythm. “What’s on your mind?”

“Nothing,” Jayce defended too quickly, averting his gaze back to his desk. He had nothing else to do, so he stood up and met Viktor halfway, slinging his own satchel over his shoulder. “Ah, maybe still reeling from the accident. I’m glad you weren’t hurt.”

Viktor’s brows lifted slightly as he came to a stop just before Jayce.

Then his lips curled in that tiny way that always got Jayce’s stomach flipping over.

“It’s very sweet that you were thinking of me, Jayce,” he took a breath, shrugging. “But I’ve had worse.”

“I still worry, you know? I can’t help it,” Jayce forced a self-deprecating laugh. “It’s what I’m best at.”

“Mm, no…” Viktor looked up at Jayce and, despite the height difference, Jayce suddenly felt pinned under that unreadable gaze. Honey-gold eyes flicking this way and that.

And down and back up.

Jayce’s breath hitched in his throat.

“I’m sure you’re best at many other things.”

Jayce stood still, his brain firing a hundred synapses at once and making his head spin.

Viktor just gave me a once-over. He’s flirting with me… right?

“Still…” Jayce took a breath, daring his own eyes to flit down, taking a half second to sneak another peek at Viktor’s slender chest and abdomen. “Could I at least walk you home?” He met Viktor’s gaze once more and felt warm from the way he didn’t look away. 

“It feels weird to leave in the night without a shirt. Or if I can help in any way to make the journey more comfortable, I can get you a carriage, it would be no problem at all.”

Jayce sucked in an audible breath. Rambling again. He wrung his hands out behind his back, much like he had when he stood behind Viktor, offering no assistance other than to stare and fantasize how big his hands would look over Viktor’s shoulders. How tight his muscles must be from always being hunched over. How he could dig his thumbs into the mole-speckled flesh and push out any discomfort, any tension held there. 

What noises he could pull out of Viktor. 

Jayce wondered what his face was giving away; Viktor stared at him like he would a difficult equation– contemplating, hypothesizing. 

Finally, he blinked and his face transformed before Jayce, falling into something like acceptance, his lower lip jutting out.

“Ah, you know, I really am quite sore from today’s ordeal…” Viktor sighed, his eyelids drooping as he rubbed a palm over his chest. “Maybe splurging on a carriage would be fine… though I wonder who would even be out, it’s the end of the weekend and so late…”

Jayce’s brows narrowed as Viktor spoke, a slow smile creeping up his face.

“Oh, well. If you’d like,” Jayce affected aloofness, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. “My place is closer, you could crash for the night?”

Viktor hummed as his head lolled, audibly mulling the suggestion over.

This was a test; a game. Jayce was certain of his. His heart thundered in his chest, his nerves singing, waiting out the seconds as Viktor– Jayce hoped– was playing coy.

“I would hate to be a burden."

“Never a burden, Viktor.” Jayce grinned, pulling his tongue back at the last second before he pushed it between the gap in his teeth like he used to when he was a kid.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: On what platforms are you running the event?

We're going to be running the event primarily on Tumblr and Bluesky, since those are the platforms the most use. If the event gets enough traction on Twitter though, we're happy to reconsider and add that platform as well!

Our BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/zaundadsweek.bsky.social

Please us the tag #zaundadsweek2026 or @ any of our accounts so we can find your submissions easily!

Q: Can we use a NSFW prompt in a SFW fic? Or vice verse?

A: Absolutely! The mods came up with the prompts to give creators direction on what to do for each day, but we're flexible! If you still want to participate but want to do a something different for any given day, we'd love to see it!

Q: What kinds of fanworks are accepted?

Anything as long as you created it yourself! The mods have a strong stance against the use of generative AI for fanworks, and so we're not allowing AI generated content to be submitted. But other than that, draw/write/knit/embroider/gif whatever you'd like.

Q: Will you have an AO3 Collection?