He watches Jayce run himself ragged between the Council and the lab, attempting to both stick his hand in Piltover's core while also pursuing research on Viktor's behalf. He probably watched Jayce lose sleep over it, watched him pull away from other people for it (c'mon now, we all know Jayce likely didn't have time for much like his mom or Caitlyn during that period), all while being convinced their 'life-saving research' will go somewhere.

Viktor gets to witness all of it, and he stays quiet, because what else can he do? He wants to live too. He's known that his disease would likely take at least half his life off the block, but he *wants* to live, damn it. He wants to pretend that Jayce's efforts will actually go anywhere.

And maybe he does have some kind of hope for it. At first, at least, the hexcore is actually working. Shimmer is working. Until it kills Sky, and he can no longer support his own survival if it means the potential to hurt or kill another person (let alone someone he adored as much as Sky).

I can imagine him contemplating his suicide attempt. I don't think it was as much spontaneous as Jayce's was (sure, it could've been a part of it) but it seemed planned in advance. He chose a secluded spot, overlooking Zaun, from what I remember, in a place that no one would likely find him for some time. Viktor was hesitant because he knew this was coming, unlike Jayce that fully embraced the idea of killing himself on a whim to avoid his life falling apart.

I can, also, imagine his realization that he cannot die on his own terms. Because Jayce is here, because he knows Jayce *needs* him here.

But he also can't keep letting Jayce chase the false hope they both had, because it'll only make his death worse. He can't let Jayce try something he knows he will, because it'll only end up hurting someone. It already killed Sky.

So he tells Jayce to break the Hexcore, not only because Viktor is terrified of what its capable of and hates what its done, but because he can't let Jayce think it isn't over. He needs Jayce to start processing the inevitable while Viktor is still alive.

sometimes they think about children. it's something both of them want. little ones running around an otherwise quiet home... but regularly jayce wakes up screaming in the night, finding himself back in that apocalyptic world where every noise terrifies him. and viktor cannot even bare the idea of visiting a local village, afraid that the hexcore is still inside him, and it'll consume people who get too close.

every day is a struggle. jayce sees faceless machines in the mirror. viktor mistakes the wind as the hexcore whispering to him. and on their worst days, neither of them can leave their bed, finding comfort only under the safety of blankets and in each other's arms...

...until they don't. a clap of thunder on a stormy night and viktor sees jayce killing him. another flash of lighting, and jayce swears for a moment that viktor's face begins to rip down the middle.

little ones are a lot of work. they sometimes scream, and cry, and jump out at you from hiding spots in the dark.

A montage of mage!Viktor traveling to the different time lines and slowly, inevitably realizing Jayce really is "it" for him in all of them. I wanna see him go from not thinking much of it in the first dozen, to slowly growing suspicious after the first hundred, and eventually reach this mix of horror and deep, unbearable tenderness after a thousand more. I want a scene that cuts from him crying to laughing at the absurdity of it all — and finally just sitting there, trying to quietly process the fact that he is loved across infinity. Give me gorgeous visuals of varied settings and scenes, showing him go from someone reluctant to even consider the idea of soulmates, to someone who has no choice but to believe — because no matter how strange or chaotic or absurd the time line, it's always Jayce who anchors him to his humanity.

viktor was never able to go on the swings as a child because of his disability and no one was there to push him