#here! fetch!

It was another day of countless hours in the lab. As exhausting as those days were, Jayce and Viktor always found it to be the best way to spend them. It was late in the afternoon, their window allowed the sun to shine directly onto the desk they sat at. They’d been bouncing ideas off of one another for hours, only a few actually snowballing into something bigger. They’d traveled back and forth between the desk the chalkboard at least two dozen times, a dance they were all too familiar with.

Of course Jayce noticed Viktor walking a tad slower today, he wouldn’t call himself a good partner if he couldn’t pick up on things like that.

“You alright?” He couldn’t hide the concern in his voice.

Viktor knew he really meant ‘I can tell something’s wrong, what is it?’ He chuckled. “You’re too attentive, Jayce.” He continued walking towards the chalkboard but instead of setting his cane aside like he usually did when he stood, he was leaning against it. That’s when Jayce knew something was really up. “Does something hurt?” He was met with silence, followed by the scratching of chalk. “Vik.” The other still didn’t reply, only shaking his head dismissively as to say ‘just leave it.’ But they knew each other better than that; Jayce knew something was up and Viktor wouldn’t tell him without prying, and Viktor knew Jayce wouldn’t leave him alone no matter how ‘fine’ he pretended to be.

Viktor couldn’t even write in peace without feeling Jayce’s eyes burning through his scalp. “You’re so pushy, you know that?”

“What’s wrong?”

“Proving my point.” When Jayce didn’t reply he knew he was practically talking to a wall. One glance at him and Viktor could see the stubbornness in his face. He rolled his eyes back to his work and sighed. “My back hurts. There, was that just as exciting as you’d hoped for?” He bantered.

“Did you do something to it? Is it because you haven’t been sleeping in a bed? We need to make sure you’re-”

“It’s not that, Jayce.” He cut him off with a chuckle.

“I’ve just been walking more than usual. It hurts when I get on or off my chair.” He gestured back to the rolling chair that sat by the desk. “One of the wheels stopped turning and I haven’t had the time to deal-”

“Viktor!” It was Jayce’s turn to cut him off. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“It really wasn’t an issue for m-”

“Uhm, yes it’s an issue, you’ve been straining your body! When did it break?”

Viktor shrugged. “Ehh, couple of days ago? I really don’t mind, Jayce. I’ve had much more important things to worry about than a chair.” He proved his own point by returning his attention to the chalkboard and putting more marks down. “If you want to deal with it be my guest, but I’d prefer if you were working on something more productive.” By the time he looked over at him again, Jayce was already over by the desk, chair upside down on the table, investigating where the problem was. Viktor rolled his eyes once more, but he couldn’t help the smile that tugged on his lips. He could pretend to be annoyed but he admired his generosity. Nobody cared about him the way Jayce did, he wasn’t even half as perceptive of himself as his partner was. It was gratifying to have this much devotion from another person.

Within minutes the chair was fixed. Jayce walked it over to the other and gently slid it towards him, letting it bump the side of his leg.

A moment of silence was followed by a meekly “Thank you.” from Viktor.

“You can ask me for help, you know. Don’t be afraid to tell me you need something just because you think it’s inconvenient.” Jayce placed a hand on Viktor’s back, leaning over to look at his face, but he refused to look away from the whiteboard. “There’s people that want to help you, Viktor. Next time you need something just tell me, okay?” He wasn’t going to take any half-hearted acceptance from Viktor, he was serious. He needed him to know that he was there for him, no matter how big or small he felt his issues were.

“Okay.” Viktor had stopped writing to listen to Jayce. “Sorry, I think I just get caught up in our work. It’s easy to overlook…some things.” ‘Some things’ referring to his own health.

“I know, which is why I have to remind you to think about yourself.” Viktor finally looked at him, the two sharing a sympathetic gaze. “Thank you, again, Jayce.” He pulled the chair behind him and grunted slightly as he sat down, his body immediately feeling relief. “God, I’ve been wearing myself out.” He chuckled.

“How about we take a break?”

“Right after you fix my chair? Sorry, Jayce, but I need to take advantage of this for a little while.” Viktor rolled along the whiteboard, stopping at a prototype sketch for some new machine and diving back into work. “I’d appreciated if you helped me, though.”

It took seconds for Jayce to appear at his side with his own stick of chalk. They were slung back into their routine of ideas, notes, and travel between the desk and whiteboard. Minutes turned to hours and after they knew it the whole day had passed.

Their current objective was finding the correct formula for a hex-based-substrate, one of Viktor’s billions of ideas. Although his chair was fixed, his body was still sore from the days of misuse.

Just as he’d noticed his limp earlier, he could tell something was off with the way his partner sat.

“Is your back alright?”

Viktor wanted to curse him for being so observant. He didn’t even notice Jayce come up behind him until he felt a hand on his lower back.

“Ehh- uhm, yes.” He dismissed but a firmer press into his skin reminded him of their earlier conversation.

“Or, I suppose…no.” He set his pen down, reaching up to rub at a spot on his shoulder. “I’m still aching from all my movement over the past few days, but I can’t do much about it other than take some medicine.” His hands returned to his notes but he couldn’t pick his pen up. His body was too tired and his brain too scrambled.

“Let me give you a massage.” Both of Jayce’s hands wrapped around his shoulders and began squeezing before he could get any protest. Viktor, being the stubborn man he was, protested regardless.

“You really don’t need to-”

“What did I say about asking for help?”

Silence followed his question, Viktor had almost accepted defeat. He felt embarrassed enough to ask for his chair to be fixed, let alone a massage.

“I mean I don’t need it. I’ll be fine on my own, Jayce.”

“But it will help, won’t it?” That got Viktor to shut up for good. Jayce let out a triumphant laugh, letting go of his shoulders and pressing his thumbs on both sides of his spine. “Where does it hurt?”

Viktor let his head hang, mostly out of relaxation but partially because his face flushed as soon as Jayce’s hands had touched him and he was not about to let him discover that. “Everywhere.” He chuckled but he was only half joking. He’d been working his body to its maximum, and then some, for years. He’d be lying if he didn’t say everything hurt at least a little. “Just, eh, maybe up on my shoulders?” He wanted to give him some sort of direction so it couldn’t get any more awkward than it already was.

As soon as the words left Viktor’s mouth, Jayce’s hands were back up on his shoulders. He tried his best to feel for the tense spots and work them out. Viktor was already melting under him, Jayce could feel his body physically relaxing from his touch. The first groan that had slipped from him was mutually ignored. It was almost as if they could telepathically feel each others blush and decided it’d be better to leave it. The second time he made a sound he followed it up with a breathy “Fuck.” and a sheepish chuckle.

“Sorry.” Viktor laughed awkwardly again.

“Is this alright?” Jayce avoided asking ‘does it feel good?’, knowing how badly that’d fluster both of them. Viktor nodded, putting the back of his hand over his mouth to prevent any future sounds that would want to escape. Jayce took that as his sign to stop talking and keep going. He massaged in little circles with his thumbs, going across his entire shoulder blades.

Everything was normal until he strayed a little higher up his neck than he’d gone before. Viktor let out another sound but it wasn’t anything like the other ones he’d been making. It was a lot whiner and almost sounded painful.

Almost.

Viktor tried to adjust himself as subtly as he could to get Jayce’s fingers off of that spot. He tried to cover up his whimper as a cough but of course mister observant knew what was up.

“Viktor?”

Fuck. He was already squeezing his eyes shut, practically bracing for impact. He had gone this long without Jayce finding out about that and he wasn’t about to let that change today. Don’t ask. Don’t ask. Don’t ask.

“Are you ticklish?”

He could hear the stupid smirk in his voice.

“Does it even matter what I say?” The defeated tone in his voice made Jayce laugh. “Not really.” He touched the same spot on his neck but with his nails. A shiver ran through his entire body and he instinctively hunched his shoulders. Viktor was persistent in not laughing, but all his efforts started to fail him when those devilish nails started crawling up his neck.

“Jayce.” Viktor hoped that if he sounded threatening enough he’d leave him alone. Unfortunately for him that was a bit difficult to achieve while his voice and body were already trembling.

“Viktor.” Jayce returned in his own teasing tone, which elicited the most satisfying groan from the other.

“No teasing. And- ack! No tickling either.” Viktor nearly crumbled when Jayce’s fingers crept their way along his jawline. He smacked at his hands as if that’d do anything other than earn the chuckle it did from Jayce. If anything he just wanted to look like he was at least trying to fight it.

“No teasing? I thought you’d know me better by now, Vik.” He used all ten of his fingers to scratch at the spots behind his ears, soaking up the panicked yelps and jolts that he was producing from his partner. Viktor’s lips were pressed desperately tight to keep any titters in, forcing him to make awkward peeps and hiccups as one of Jayce’s hands played with his ear and the other skittered across his neck again. After a moment he swapped, tickling the opposing ear and his neck with his other hand. He switched back to using both hands on the back of his neck, never letting him get too used to his touch. It was driving him insane.

Jayce loved how he could hear Viktor breaking.

It was enticing.

“I- ugh! Fuck! You need to stop.” He pushed at his wrists but they didn’t budge.

“I need to? Says who?”

“Says the man you’re torturing!”

“This is torture?” He was hardly scratching at his neck, at least that was from Jayce’s perspective. If you asked Viktor he would say it was overhwelming and mean and hell. “Well, I’d hate to see what you think this is then.” His words sent a panicked chill through Viktor’s body, his struggling quickly becoming more frantic. Jayce dug his fingers into his ribs and wiggled them haphazardly.

Viktor let out an embarrassing squeal, folding over onto the desk in a fit of giggles. He felt his brain spinning but it was likely from fighting off the giggles for so long. He pressed his forehead down on the desk, clasping his arms over his stomach. Jayce started squeezing down his sides till he reached the bottom of his vest. His hands slipped underneath the fabric and started skittering back up. He couldn’t help but laugh at Viktor’s frantic kicking and horrified laughter as his hands crept higher up his torso. His panic became increasingly hysteric the further up his hands traveled.

“Jahahayce!”

“Your ribs are bad, hm?” Jayce asked as his fingers finally made it back to each side of his ribs. Viktor peeled with laughter, his arms squeezing tightly around his stomach as if he could crush his giggles before they escaped.

“Nohohoho!”

“No they’re not bad? I don’t know, Viktor, you might need to rethink your answer.” Jayce kept attacking his ribs, noting the crazed reactions he was eliciting from his partner. Even through his undershirt he was still terribly ticklish.

“Yes- fuhuck! I-” Viktor didn’t even know why he was trying to talk, any word trap Jayce put him in would be resolved with ticklish wreckage. Besides, it was nearly impossible to get a word out through his manic laughter.

“Oho, fuck, this is bad, isn’t it?” He mocked as he vibrated his fingers into his skin. Viktor could feel his eyes start to water as his body was reduced to a puddle. Jayce tormented the spot till Viktor let out a snort.

“Oh my god-”

“Dohon’t even.” Viktor threatened.

“I’m sorry, are you in a position to be bossing me around?” That shut him up. He laughed freely, his legs stomping on the ground every so often. Jayce traveled down his sides again, pinching and scribbling all across his skin, before going back up to his ribs and starting all over again. Viktor’s laughter changed depending on where he was being tickled and Jayce was trying to play him like a piano, relishing the sweet giggles to the hectic shrieks that came from his partner.

How could Jayce stop when Viktor was displayed out all nice for him on the desk like this? He was just too easy to touch, Jayce’s hands practically gravitated towards his body like magnets. He also noted how Viktor hadn’t been fighting much since he started, and he definitely wasn’t fighting right now. That was something he’d taunt him with later. For now he was focused on worming his hands through Viktor’s not-so-impenetrable arm barricade.

“Move your arms.” Jayce sing-songed as he gently scratched at Viktor’s hips. His hands left his stomach for a moment to push Jayce’s away but returned just as quickly as they’d left. Jayce groaned, this time vibrating his fingers into his hip bones. Viktor jumped and barked but refused to move his arms again, knowing what awaited him if he did.

“No.” His voice was muffled against the table.

Jayce was just going to have to come up with something else.

“Viktor.” He sang, taking his hands off of him. Viktor couldn’t see behind him and Jayce’s sudden absence made him panic because he didn’t know where his hands were.

“Noho.” He tittered, curling further into himself.

“It’ll be so much worse if you don’t help me out here, V.”

“No it won’t!”

“Yeah? How do you know?”

“I- uhh…” Viktor couldn’t find any words, his mind was flooded with thoughts of Jayce’s fingers darting across his skin, and the imminent threat of it happening again.

“I’m the one who’s making it bad, eh?”

Viktor shivered, he didn’t even need to be touched, this was torturous enough. He let out a giggly whine, half praying for it to start again so that the teasing was over with. Jayce noticed how Viktor trembled from his words.

“The anticipation seems worse than anything. Wouldn’t you say so?”

“Fuck you.” Viktor spat between gritted teeth.

That was all the fuel Jayce needed to dig in. He attacked Viktor’s lower back, making him sit up and arch. He pulled his arms away from his torso and gripped the edge of the desk. As soon as his arms were out of the way Jayce went in for the kill. He clawed at prodded at his stomach, sending Viktor into his trillionth fit of laughter. He screamed, his body slamming back onto the table. He was far too weak to hold himself up like this. Tears were falling onto the papers below him, his knuckles turning white from how hard he clutched the edge of the desk. He mumbled incoherent protests between the giggly sobs that flowed out of him.

“I’m sorry, can you repeat that?” Jayce ridiculed but was only replied to with bubbly cackles. Viktor didn’t even attempt to form a sentence, he knew he’d get teased to all hell for the mess he’d become.

Jayce reached down and starting squeezing both of Viktor’s thighs, making him jump with each grasp. His hands flew off of the table and gripped onto Jayce’s but he still made no effort to push him away. He kneaded his thighs, loving how it made the rest of Viktor’s body shake. He reached further to prod above his kneecaps which made Viktor let out an amusing screech as he kicked his legs fruitlessly. His hands frantically clutched onto Jayce’s yet he still wasn’t trying to fight him off.

“Ohoh my gohod.” He groaned, making Jayce chuckle and double down, continuing to squeeze along the length of his thighs.

Viktor let go of Jayce’s hands and brought them up to grip his hair, losing himself to his laughter. Jayce could tell he was still trying to fight the sensations. He squealed as his hip bones were prodded, pounding on the table with his fists. Jayce chuckled at him, it really was an enchanting sight.

Viktor couldn’t do anything other than lay limp against the desk and laugh. He’d exerted all of his energy days ago, his body didn’t have enough sleep to fight off this. Jayce went back to antagonizing his thighs and it was sending Viktor into mania.

“I cahahan’t!” He cried, his hands uselessly slapping the table in front of him.

“Can’t what?”

“Tahake it!”

“Aww, really? You seem to be taking it just fine! I can’t see what the issue is.” Jayce dug into his hips again. Viktor’s scream dissolved into giggles and he shook his head. No! He really couldn’t take it! He was going to implode if he didn’t die from the tickling itself. He balled his hands into fists and hit the table so hard Jayce was a little fearful he might break something, if not his bones. A few more squeezes to his hips made Viktor start to hiccup through his giggles.

Jayce only lightened up because he could hear how exasperated Viktor’s laughter was becoming, he refused to completely stop yet though. This was too rare of an opportunity for him to give it up now. He slid his hands under Viktor’s vest again, making him wail in defeat and frustration. The way his body couldn’t defend itself made him feel immensely helpless. Jayce started to tickle his ribs again, but this time much lighter than before.

“Ah- god-” Viktor gasped, he couldn’t say much more than that, he was still recovering from the torment he’d just endured.

“Feeling better?” Jayce taunted, crawling his fingers forwards on his rib cage.

“I sahaid my back hurt.” Viktor growled. “This is not my back.” He huffed, trying to shake Jayce’s fingers off of him with no success.

“You also said everywhere hurt though, right? I’m just trying to help!”

Viktor groaned, he was too witty.

“Yohou’ve been too dihistracted todahay.”

“Is this a distraction? I thought I was helping you.” His fingers scratched oh-so-gently at his rib cage, Viktor squeezed his eyes shut and let out a pathetic sob.

“Nohohot hehelpihing!”

“No? You seem pretty cheery for someone who’s claiming this doesn’t help.” He tickled his way out from under his vest and brought his hands up to scribble at the nape of his neck. Viktor cringed and slapped his hands over his neck but Jayce’s fingers were still able to find every inch of exposed skin.

“Hehey, wasn’t this suhupposed to behe a massage?”

“What do you mean? This is the massage!” Jayce exclaimed, leaning down to taunt in the others ear, “What, you’re not feeling relaxed?”

Viktor snapped his head to the side, his cheek pushed into the desk. He tried to give Jayce a mean glare but his smile was fighting its way through his mug. This was the first time Jayce was seeing his face since he’d started messing with him. His cheeks were flushed pink and he could see tears around his eyes. He’d made him cry. Jayce could feel his own face start to warm up, did he actually tickle him to tears? Did he really get so ruined by this? Jayce’s mind raced with a billion ideas of how to break Viktor with his fingers. He could hardly fathom being that sensitive, it was pathetic in the most charming way.

Jayce cracked Viktor’s mean face by pinching his sides, sending him into a giggly fit of whiny protests.

“Nohoho, plehease.” His voice was breathy and audibly exhausted. “Jahayce.” He begged with desperation. Jayce could see the despair in Viktor’s eyes. He couldn’t tickle him forever. Well…

“Okay, okay.” He rubbed his palms on Viktor’s sides, still evoking laughter from him. “Jahayce!” Damn, he couldn’t even massage the feeling away? How sensitive was he? Jayce retracted his hands, letting Viktor work his way through the residual giggles on his own.

“You suck.” He heaved, his body collapsing further onto the desk. Jayce chuckled, opting to rub his back because surely that couldn’t tickle too.

“Jayce.” Viktor snapped, his body contorting as soon as he touched him. He put his hands up and moved off to the side. “Jeez, ticklish much?” He teased, earning the same annoyed glare from Viktor. After another moment of catching his breath, he sat back upright and began fumbling with his notes in front of him.

“What, that’s it? You’re just going to go back to work?”

“What else am I to do? Wait for the next round?” He caught him with his comeback. Jayce stayed quiet, letting Viktor flip through notes and try to settle on something to tinker with. A few seconds of page flipping went by before Viktor paused, the silence catching Jayce’s attention again.

“Thank you.” He wasn’t looking at him, rather, he couldn’t seem to take his eyes off of the desk.

Jayce was genuinely taken aback. He just thanked him? After telling him he sucked? Was he thanking him for stopping?

“For the massage.”

Oh.

Oh.

“You liked it?” Jayce tilted his head at the other who was determined on avoiding his gaze.

Although Viktor couldn’t see his face, he could hear that dumb smile on Jayce’s lips. He felt his face heat up and decided it would be best to stay facing his notes. It had definitely helped him feel better, in whatever way that was. It might not have been a traditional massage but Viktor felt pretty relaxed after it.