making demands meme // not accepting wipe that look off your face . smirk ( @grieveme )

the room breathed with honed lines and softer penumbras, with the smooth marble floors, bookshelves built into glass walls, and the faint scent of chemicals mixed with the gentleness of aromas. a storm of knowledge and the elegance of piltover: it was clean, it was cold, and it was ordered. too quiet for a brawler with blood under his fingernails and sin baked into his bones. he was there anyway, seated on jayce's overstuffed armchair like it was a throne he had no right to claim, sprawled with all the arrogance of someone who did not care for rules.

his aureate spheres were shifted to jayce walking in, all thundercloud brow and silk-pressed poise, his own gaze landing on sett with no emotion scripted on it. a smirk was quietly returned upon his lineaments, smidgens of the previous night still tracing the filements of his mind. ❝ i would... ❞ it was drawled, vocals deep and velvet-rough, but warmer, unruly, fond. ❝ if you did not keep puttin' it there. ❞

so close, he was so close. but the usual irritation is gone, huffing softly as he manages eye contact. " i hardly know what you're talking about. "

𝐈𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬, 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐏𝐢𝐥𝐭𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫… 𝐮𝐧𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐰𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝, 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐥𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝.

Rarely was he presented with easy means to do so, and even now, with someone clearly breaking the laws of topside and simultaneously likely going against a variety of other rules laid out by the Academy, Silco decided to dig even deeper. One could never know how well connected someone was, a fact that was true both for Zaun and for the people across the bridge.

So far, things looked rather easy ― especially with how well behaved the younger man sat back down as soon as he was told, resigning to the authority he faced in these parts. Regardless, the Industrialist didn’t believe in easy things. Nothing was ever as simple as people made it out to be.

 Remaining where he stood, awaiting to hear what Jayce would want to drink, every micro-reaction was carefully filed away after observing, a quiet, humorless chuckle falling from his lips at the request for wine. 

Of course it would be wine.

Turning his back and placing his own glass back on the surface beneath the cabin, he brought forth an expensive looking Noxian flask of dark red liquid, pouring it into a crystal glass after uncorking, then handing it to the other man sitting there like a scolded school boy.

A brow lifted at the question given instead of an answer, head canting to the side as uneven eyes once again lingered on the other’s youthful face, tempted to file him away as naive and inexperienced, but careful to not underestimate what was presented to him.

If he had learned one thing in his life, it was to read people. And this one had potential.

Something that would either prove useful, or dangerous in the future. Maybe even both.

“We do not lack for money,” he replied evenly at last in agreement to the sentiment of them not needing compensation of that kind, least of all from Topside, something  quietly amused living somewhere in his voice as he reached for his own glass again, swaying it to let the golden liquid slosh around.

More words of doubt, insecurity oozing from every syllable as Jayce seemed desperate to hear what he was risking was worth the effort, something Silco easily could provide. Yet he let the silence linger once again, as if mulling over the same doubt and worries.

“Here is what I think of all this, Jayce.”

Enough of all formalities, the sugarcoating thrown out the window, as Silco slowly started to walk, a leisure pace traced carefully behind the chair the other one was seated in, rounding him as he talked.

“If you truly are able to create a device to harness magic, it will change the world. I imagine many of your esteemed colleagues at the Academy will try to intervene because they fear change. The same goes for the Council. Your path down here will seem like a nice little stroll in comparison.”

He arrived back at his desk, placing his glass on top before leaning on the surface with both hands, fingers spread wide, uneven eyes staring intently at Jayce.

“But they are as greedy as they are careful. And when the time comes that they recognize the immeasurable potential of your invention, when they decide to use it for their own benefit…” The corner of Silco’s mouth pulled up ever so slightly, a faint glow pulsing in his bad eye in the twilight of his office.

“When that day comes, I want to be the one already possessing your creation.”

a reaction shows on his face that isn't too unfamiliar: hope.

to do something with his hands, he brings the glass up to his lips and is pleasantly surprised. it's extremely rich but not dry or too fruity. it was delightful. the taste nearly got him distracted by how straightforward silco became, spine straightening. " they already don't believe me that it can't be done, which is why i came down here to begin with. no one believes in what i can accomplish. " and he'll see it through, even if he has to sacrifice his life to do it. this lifetime of work will not go to waste. he feels like bait in shark infested waters but this interaction has given him new founded boldness, the fear being pushed down just enough to have his voice sound shaky and uncomfortable. regardless, he takes his words in, swallowing thickly because he was so confident that the council would be open to this magic that would surely change piltover. he's never interacted with any of them, though, so perhaps silco was right.

before going to take another sip, brows furrow, voice raising: daring. " what? it would be too unstable to bring it down here. " the rough sphere of a crystal is already made, however extremely volatile and reactive. he needs to get it secure before it gets shared with the public, if at all. he's asking a big demand, but given his position in this exchange, he doesn't exactly have an option to debate nor dispute. " hextech will be possible, i'll make sure of it. but it might take many more months, o - or years, to be able to use it without the threat of it possibly exploding, or worse. " what worse could it be without the looming warning of death? not being successful, where he's counted as a fraud and a scammer for not promising the healthy future of this to help the common man. lips press together, because not only that, the council will want to be the first ones to ever hold a successful, working invention of hextech. it'll be complicated to bring it down to zaun himself. it would be a future him problem, wouldn't it? not worry about the finer print during the now. this is all what if, because what if they don't believe in what change this will bring?

" your eyes? what would i do with those useless things? " it's a strange question. organic eyes hold little interest for viktor who all told has been considering replacing his own. jayce must still be disoriented from sleep — something viktor is starting to wish he hadn't woken from.

he turns away from jayce, towards a smaller workbench overflowing with unfinished machinery and spare parts. " in fact, what makes you think i'm here for you at all? "

he's not here for jayce, as it stands. viktor had come all the way to piltover, all the way to jayce's lab, for materials — things that are difficult to source in zaun, but that the man of progress would barely even miss, could resupply himself with without so much as denting his budget, viktor is certain. seeing jayce's sleeping form had pulled viktor off course, his initial goal all but forgotten at the sight of his former partner. asleep, jayce had looked younger than his years, untroubled in a way viktor hasn't been privy to in a long, long time — he can barely recall the last time jayce had looked at him without some dark thought weighing the scales in his heart, keeping the love in there in check.

" nah, don't want to. you might not be here for me, but here i am anyways. " shoulders shrug, shaking off the uneasy feeling of that dream that still lingers and lingers, before standing and walking to approach. he keeps a few feet away, arms folding and taking a half - attempted look past the metal of viktor's arm. " no way you're just going to leave after you take what you need. " his voice has its usual edge to it but softens into something that is reserved only to the privacy of viktor's room down in the pits of zaun. " i wanted to see you. how lucky of me. " the near permanent frown and distaste that's almost always present on his face melts as there's no fear for the fingers that ghost over his hip before leaning forward to press a kiss of his own to the back of his neck. maybe viktor just wants to be in and out, he's not in the mood for physical violence today.

@grieveme , jayce : ❛ you know, there's such a thing as looking too long. ❜ ohhh u think im attractive ohhh u wanna kiss so bad *hypnotizes u*

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐎𝐅 𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐋 𝐀𝐆𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐓 𝐈𝐓𝐒𝐄𝐋𝐅 𝐁𝐋𝐔𝐑𝐒 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐈𝐑 𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐃 where thoughts are not laid to rest but put on a backlog, a continuous gear turning for late nights such as these. their arms wrap against themselves, fingers peek out from half cut leather gloves and thrum against their sides, deep, pondering thought, it had lead them forgetful, a down trodden road they dared not venture before. and yet, they wander, aimlessly alone as their eyes blink past the burning flames of this forge, an elven visage, lilac and daringly soft, meekly stares ahead. it finds home against the man that works tirelessly away at his many projects, the beaded sweat that falls across exposed skin, the contracting veins that pulse with strength. they have not bothered before, to truly take him in, what he stands for, who he is, what he looks like. perhaps they had figured, he would be too busy, enraptured in his own work to bother sparing a glance at their own ━ though they have set out to be a fool, for they lean against the cooling brick and there their eyes fixate, remaining against him.

and his voice sounds muffled at first, something distant, something to be wary of. oh. they have not noticed him before. not in this manner, not in ... they have not noticed how easy it were to be, to be lost here, to find meaning behind something, anew. a wavering shift in their chest, and a wandering hand is guided forward. their own, lands against his arm, a curious tilt of their head. their thumb swipes against the condensation built, the rest of their fingers dig, faintly, into the flesh there. the sound of the crashing metal had stopped. ❛ hm. ❜ a gentle sound of ratification filters through their throat. finally, they blink upwards, eyes matching height with his own. ❛ was i making you nervous? ❜ tone has shifted, from where it once had settled into something playful, sardonic, now befalls into someplace sunken, low pitched and tame. a fondness produced in words, where genuinity had been asking this question, rare in this vulnerability.

and suddenly, it's like the world stops. romantic urges were not obvious and had a lacked interest. no need, no desire. however, he's been having these weird thoughts lately. too many feelings of unexpected yearning that makes his brows furrow, or heart skip a beat when meeting eye to eye. it's simple things, even enjoying their company, not wanting the meeting to end. it's unfamiliar and scary, almost sure that he's making them up. rather, mistaking them for something else. " bored? i hardly believe that, especially coming from you. " he's sure though, the tension of an invisible line close to snapping. lips part to say something, too entranced to capture the reality of the situation. the fire continues to engulf, project abandoned on the anvil. regardless, he feels hot and not because of anything previously. they're daring him, waiting for his piece of the board to move. mutuals romantic feelings is foreign, but right now, he's as fluent as he's ever been, as sure as anyone else.