#lee!viktor

Pain. A persistent, aching pain that radiated in the fissures between each joint in Viktor’s body. Sometimes, he swore they were separating, the tendons and ligaments tearing themselves from his bones. It would explain the swelling and the agony.

Unfortunately, life couldn’t be that simple. His joints were simply unstable, the tissue between them coming “pre-loosened at birth,” as Jayce so eloquently put it when Viktor explained his condition. It had made him smile at the time, but not even Jayce’s sweet silliness could distract him from the aching.

With a groan, Viktor attempted to sit up in bed. His spine lit up with an oddly cold pain, his vertebrea feeling…wrong, for lack of a better word. He could tell he’d be spending a decent amount of time in bed that day.

As Viktor contemplated ripping his spine out, Jayce popped in to check on him. He always rose earlier than Viktor, getting up to prepare breakfast for the two of them. The slimmer man could smell the pancakes cooking on the stove. The bright smile on his face slowly melted into a concerned frown as he noticed Viktor’s grimace. “Vik? What’s wrong?”

“Flare.”

That simple word told Jayce everything. With a small sigh, he walked over to the bed, giving Viktor’s forehead a little kiss before heading back out of the room. He returned a small while later with Viktor’s heated blanket, painkillers, some tea, and his pattented 2XL “blanket hoodie” for Viktor to drown in.

It didn’t take long before Viktor was situated on the heated blanket, his back pain slightly soothed by the warmth. Jayce’s tea helped the painkillers go down, and being surrounded by Jayce’s familiar scent was rather comforting.

Plus, of course, there was the strong man holding him, his thumb rubbing gentle circles on Viktor’s wiry shoulder.

“At least it’s not a lab day…” Victor muttered, pressing his face into Jayce’s bicep. He tried not to let his disability interfere too heavily with their schedule; unfortunately, that also meant he’d force himself to work through the pain.

Jayce huffed at that, pressing a kiss to the crown of the man’s head. “Focus on resting. No thinking about work or deadlines right now,” he said, giving Victor a little squeeze.

Despite the affection, Victor still had to get one last sentence in. “Just…resting for the morning. I can still get some things done around the flat later on.” He squirmed in Jayce’s arms to emphasize that point, carefully turning away from his partner.

That got a scoff out of Jayce. “No you won’t. You’re gonna rest until you get some color back in your cheeks.”

“Really now?” he goaded, quirking one thick brow at his partner. “And just how do you expect to enforce that rule, Jayce?”

In hindsight, provoking Jayce was a poor decision; then again, it was rather fun for Viktor to watch that mischeviously playful smile tug at the corners of his lover’s mouth. He knew some form of retaliation would follow, but frankly, he couldn’t find it in himself to try and resist. Jayce always looked so happy when he was being a goof.

Predictably, Jayce attacked. His warm hands latched onto Victor’s sides, leg swinging over Viktor’s hips to straddle him. Every movement was intentional, care placed in each motion to ensure that his aching partner wasn’t harmed.

“Jayce!” Viktor laughed, loosely shoving at his partner’s shoulders. He was hardly putting up a fight, hands sliding to smoosh against Jayce’s stubble-covered cheeks. Their soft tousling was ridiculous, yes, but it was also rather fun.

It wasn’t long before Victor felt a gentle prodding at his sides, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “Whyhyhy?!”

Jayce chuckled at his partner’s giggly question, pressing a quick kiss to Victor’s upturned lips. “Your nerves are being evil and picking up pain. Making you laugh and smile is a much better use for them.”

‘Thahat’s nohohot— hehehey!”

Viktor's lips were stopped by Jayce’s own, causing the man’s eyes to roll. Not only was it absurdly sappy of his partner to kiss him, but it was also a bit adorable to see the pure joy on Jayce’s face during the embrace.

Unsurprisingly, Jayce was loving the kiss. He couldn’t get enough of the liveliness—Victor’s laughter, warm and alive, vibrating against his lips, little puffs of hectic air hitting his upper lip. It showed Victor at his core, Jayce thought: uncontrollably present, beyond the layer of steely composure he so often wore.

Jayce couldn’t get enough of it.

His partner needed air, however, so Jayce was eventually forced to let up on his tickly kisses. His fingers stilled, sliding down to rub at Viktor’s ever-sore hips. The breathless giggles that followed brought a bright, rosy hue to the mechanic’s cheeks.

“Youhu ahahare a mehenace, Talihis,” Victor huffed, squirming beneath his partner. His joints still ached, but the dopamine rush from Jayce’s shenanigans did help ease the mental load of it all. “Shahame.”

“Hmm…nope, none of that here,” he shrugged, enjoying his shamelessness. He’d made his partner happy; where was the shame in that? “I made you smile. That’s a good day for me.”

That got a scoff out of Viktor, though he was struggling to suppress a smile. “You have no right to be so cute after acting so cruel.”

“It’s a talent.”

Jayce flopped down beside his tired partner with a kiss. Once the blankets were spread semi-evenly, he carefully slotted his leg between Viktor’s and snuggled closer. Their eyes met, and a fond concern softened the edge of Jayce’s smile. “Feel any better?”

A small warmth buzzed in Viktor’s chest at that. Jayce had done all of that hoping to help with his pain, or at least to raise his spirits. Not only did he respect Viktor’s pain, but he tried his best to be present without babying the man. What did he do to get so lucky?

“Much. Thank you, Jayce.”

The joyful satisfaction Jayce felt was nearly palpable. He pulled Viktor in for one more kiss before clicking their lamp off. “I’ll make food in an hour or so. You try to sleep.”

Viktor huffed as his forehead received a little poke. With a roll of his eyes, he adjusted the temperature of his heating pad and let himself melt. The aching in his joints was still present, but not as jagged around the edges. Tolerable.

Jayce’s methods may have been a bit odd, but Viktor had to admit: they worked. He let his eyes close, pleasantly surprised by the hope he felt towards the rest of the day.

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.

“Hey, V- holy fuck! What happened?” Jayce rushed over, taking some of the weight off Viktor’s dead arm from him. 

“Some idiot decided to try and scam a child. I stepped in.”

“What’s this I hear from Mr No Unnecessary Fighting?” Jayce couldn’t help but tease, even if the hexclaw singed his hair for it. 

“This fight was necessary. Are you going to help, or stand there?” 

Jayce rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, don’t get pissy. Wow, they really did a number on you huh?”

He poked into the mess of wiring that was the cavern in Viktor’s side and he squirmed away. 

“Stop that. Get me over to the table.”

The table was the one in the corner, kept clear and reserved for when one of them fucked up so badly they had to be put back together. Normally it was Jayce on the table. Viktor hauled himself up onto the table and unclasped his mask, tossing it to the side. His face was contorted in discomfort - while his modifications dulled pain, it could not remove it completely. 

“How does it look?” He asked Jayce, his tone betraying his anxiety. Jayce peered at the arm, and then into his side. 

“Hmm. The arm is only torn at the hinge, and none of the wiring broke so that will be an easy enough fix. You’ve demolished some plates on your ribs and the wiring is a mess so that will need a little more time. Jeez, what did they hit you with?”

“Death ray.” 

Jayce gave Viktor a deadpan look and Viktor raised his eyebrows. “It was purple.”

“Sure. Anyway, let's get this armour off and get you fixed.”

Once the armour was off and Viktor had laid down, Jayce pulled out a box lovingly labelled as ‘Vik’s Robo Parts’ and got to work. They kept up conversation the whole time, and Viktor admitted it took him longer to get back because he wanted to make sure the kid was looked after. Jayce should have expected as much - for the stubborn front he put up, Viktor sure had a soft spot for children. 

It took about an hour and a half of work to fix everything back up, not without complaints from Viktor.

“You’re soldering that wrong, I can feel it.”

“No, I’m not. I’m soldering it my way, which is the correct way and not your weird version.”

“Mine is superior and holds stronger. Redo it.”

Jayce sat back and put the soldering iron in its stand. “Do you want me to get the cattle prod while you're immobile here?”

Viktor glared, but couldn’t help the flush that rose to his cheeks. They had recently discovered that powerful electricity had a very different effect on Viktor than it did Jayce. It turns out that when you shock someone who has partially metal nerves, it tickles like hell. Jayce had used this incessantly when Viktor was being annoying and it pissed him off to no end, never mind the fact that Viktor himself had a bad habit of using the hexclaw to torment Jayce. When he was the victim, it was a hate crime in his eyes. 

“If you do, I will put that fun powder I made in a random set of your socks and wait for you to put them on.”

Now it was Jayce’s turn to blush. The powder referenced was an accidental concoction of Viktor’s that made the victim ridiculously sensitive to any form of touch. Getting the stuff off was bad enough, but the fastest way to dissolve the effects was to provide… certain stimulation. This war between the two had been going on for months, and at this point Viktor was winning.

Viktor huffed out a smug laugh. “That’s what I thought.”

Jayce gave him a weary look and went back to screwing the plates into Viktor’s side. He kept his face schooled as he carefully slipped a small disc under the panel without Viktor’s knowledge before screwing it closed. 

“Well, there you go. Good as new.” Jayce stood and wiped his greasy hands on a rag. 

Viktor powered half his body back on with an audible whirr, flexing his arm and feeling hte plating on his ribs. 

“Decent.”

“Just decent?”

Viktor groaned. “What do you want from me? ‘Oh Jayce, it’s the most wonderful repair ever! However may I thank you, big strong beefcake who has come to save me?’”

Jayce couldn’t help but laugh at Viktor’s ridiculous impression of himself. “Well I don’t know, that could be nice. Being called a beefcake is a plus.”

Jayce flexed his arms in jest and Viktor recoiled. 

“Forget it, I am never speaking to you again.”

“You don’t mean that.”

“This time, I do.”

In the week following life went on as usual, and while Viktor did have to stitch up Jayce’s leg after someone decided to run at him with a knife it was uneventful. Which is the perfect environment for them to start pissing each other off. This time Viktor had left blueprints all over Jayce’s workstation. 

“Viktor, is it seriously that difficult to pick up after yourself?”

Viktor shrugged, not even looking at him. “My lab, my space.”

“Which you are currently sharing.”

“What did I just say? My lab.”

Jayce huffed, stashing the blueprints into the box they came out of. “You are a problem.”

“Oh, I’m a problem now? I wasn’t a problem when you ran into a knife two days ago. I even gave you lidocaine.” 

“You’re like if a tin can could speak and it was bad.”

Viktor turned to throw a piece of chalk at his head. It missed, so he turned back to his board with a grumble and realised he had in fact just thrown his last piece of chalk. Jayce could almost see the steam rising off his shoulders. 

“Jayce. My chalk, if you please.”

“Hmm… no.”

“What?”

Jayce laughed at the slightly dumbfounded look on Viktor’s face. “You chuck chalk at my face and expect me to give it back?”

Viktor started striding across the room towards him. “Motherfucker I am going to strap you down to a table and make you feel torture like you’ve never known.”

“Not if I get there first.”

Jayce jammed a hand in his pocket and closed it around a small remote, flicking the switch on the side and turning the knob up three clicks of the seven that were on it. Viktor stopped in his tracks and shrieked, falling to his knees and clawing at his side as a loud zapping noise started. He tried to speak, but Jayce turned the dial up another level and Viktor keeled over on his side, laughing. 

“JAHAYCE!”

Jayce turned the dial down to one, watching Viktor giggle and catch his breath. 

“Whahat did you dohoho?” 

“Hexbug.” Jayce said, turning the dial up and down again and making Viktor cackle. 

“Ehehe… elaborahate!”

“I made it! I took a cattle prod apart and made a little bug out of it. It can emit the same shocks that the prod does. Cool, right?”

“NohohOT COOL! Why- ahaha! Why is it insihide me?” 

“I put it there.” Jayce played with the dial, turning it up and down for fun. “And it means I can do this.”

Jayce placed his thumb on a joystick and Viktor felt something inside him move. The awful ticklish feeling was centred over a spot on his ribs, but that was now rapidly crawling down his side. The current stopped and Viktor felt tiny legs latching onto the wiring in his chest and crawling around. Viktor barely held back a yell as he fell backward onto the floor, kicking uncontrollably. Jayce knew the wires he was messing with connected to his nerves. At least if it was maintenance he could smack away his hands but this? He couldn’t exactly rip apart his own chest, no matter how badly it tickled. 

“JAHAYCE YOHOU AHAHASSHOLE!”

“Aw, does that tickle?”

The bug burrowed into a section of wiring near his spine and zapped again, making Viktor jolt. Jayce noticed the reaction and sent the bug on a fast paced adventure of his internal wiring, zapping at random intervals. This very quickly dissolved Viktor into a squirmy, hysterical mess. 

Jayce watched the carnage with a grin, turning down the voltage and piloting the little bug up Viktor’s spine until it was sitting near his central nervous controls. Viktor’s eyes widened when he felt the bug step onto the motherboard. 

“Jayce- Jahayce I don’t think you realise what this will do to me-”

“Really? Cause I think it’s gonna tickle really badly.”

The bug walked fully onto the board and Viktor made a choked noise, half a laugh in his throat already. 

“I wanna see what each voltage does here.”

 “Jayce, no!”

“Why? Is it gonna tickle?” 

Viktor felt the bug electrify and the popping noise started, along with what felt like a gentle, unbearable tickle throughout all the metal parts of his body. 

“Shihit! Ihit’s everywhehere!”

Jayce lit up like the sun, and Viktor knew he shouldn’t have opened his mouth. “Wait, that translates to all the augmentations?” 

Viktor didn’t confirm, and he didn’t need to. 

“So what you’re saying is if I turn this up here it’s going to tickle all over?”

Jayce turned the dial up to level two, and he broke.

“YEHES!” 

Jayce leaned in with a grin. “Good.” 

The dial turned up to three, and then four. Viktor screamed. 

“Four… five…”

“PLEHEHEASE AHAHAHA!”

“Six…” 

“IHIT TIHIHICKLES!” 

“Aaaand seven!” Jayce counted through all the levels, paying close attention to how Viktor reacted with each one. At the highest level he could see the electricity arcing over Viktor’s body while the man thrashed on the floor, completely lost in his own frenzied laughter. Jayce let him sit through the torture for a few seconds before turning the dial back to zero and switching the remote off. 

Viktor curled into a ball on the ground, still giggling at the last zaps of the current. 

“How are you feeling?” 

“...how do you THINK?” Viktor spat, sitting up. His hair was a tousled mess and his face was flushed adorably. “You just tickled me from the inside! I didn’t even know that could be fucking done!” 

Jayce felt a little bad. Just a little. “If you hop on the table I’ll remove the bug.” 

Viktor heaved for breath and held out a hand to stop. “No, no, just leave it. I can’t be bothered going through the rigmarole. I do ask that you don’t leave it directly over my nervous system though.” 

“Oh!” Jayce started, turning on the remote again. The bug took a step and Viktor arched his back, squeaking. 

“Ah, sorry. Heh. This will tickle.” 

He carefully drove the bug down to Viktor’s side while his partner tittered, placing it somewhere he could easily access the next time Viktor took himself apart. Jayce turned off the remote and placed it on his desk. 

“You deserved that.” 

Jayce got a hexclaw middle finger in response. Viktor stood and brushed himself off.

“I hate to admit it, but I do have to hand it to you. I did not see that one coming.” 

Jayce beamed with pride, and Viktor caught his expression with narrowed eyes. 

“This is not something to celebrate, Jayce. See, now I must one up you. Prepare yourself.” 

“You know. I could sling you over my shoulder and it would be like picking up some grapes.” 

“Now that’s just insulting.” Viktor sputtered and Jayce laughed.

“You’re like the human incarnation of a grumpy cat.” 

Viktor barked out a bewildered laugh at the comparison. “I’m not sure where these are coming from, Jayce. It is- ah, two in the morning. That accounts for some I guess.” 

Jayce wrung his hands together and made a little growl. “I wanna squish you. Pick you up and just-” 

He mimed squeezing into a hug before leaning his head on the desk. “I get cute aggression.”

Viktor raised an eyebrow. “Are you calling me cute?”

“Yes. Like a sad wet kitten left on the street.” 

“Oh my- I am not a drenched cat!” Viktor protested, half smiling at the absurdity. “If anything it’s you that resembles a kicked puppy most of the time. I can imagine a little tail wagging back and forth along with those puppy eyes of yours. Pathetic, really.” 

Viktor grinned at Jayce’s overtly aghast expression, hand over his chest. “You wound me, Vik!”

“Eh, grumpy cats are mean. I thought you realised that already?” 

Jayce pouted for a second before standing and clapping his hands together. “Well, alright then.”

“What are you doing?” 

“Nothing that you don’t deserve.” 

Viktor suddenly recognised the slightly hungry look in Jayce’s eyes and felt his own widen. The last time Jayce looked like that… well, he wasn’t set free for an hour. 

“Don’t you dare you fiend, I’ve done nothing that you haven’t already.” he stood and backed away, cane held out in self defence. 

“Mmm, maybe, but I’m bored and we’ve been here for hours. Sooooo…” Jayce smiled and shrugged. “What’s the harm?”

“What’s the- you know the harm! I’m not putting up with being manhandled!”

“Are you worried it’s gonna tickle too much?”

He stiffened at the mention of the word and felt his cheeks flush. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” 

“Yeah you do. Come on, it’ll be fun!” Jayce wiggled his fingers and Viktor recoiled.

“For you, maybe! Not for the person subjected to that torture!” Viktor spat.

“I distinctly remember you never once telling me to stop last time.” Jayce teased with an evil grin, and Viktor short circuited. Instead of using words, he just stuck his tongue out and made the stupidest face he could while aiming a middle finger at Jayce.

“Suck on that.” 

“Ohoho, that’s it!” 

Jayce lunged at Viktor and he expertly sidestepped, jabbing his side with his cane before grabbing a chair and stacking it on Jayce. He took another and put it over his legs before shuffling back and holding a third in front of him - he knew running wasn’t going to work, so slowing Jayce’s offence was his best bet. 

As badly thought out as it was, Jayce did actually struggle for a minute with the chairs before tossing them aside.

“Really Viktor?” 

Viktor threateningly held the chair in front of him up, and Jayce leaned down into a rugby player’s stance. He ran forward and grabbed the chair, throwing it to the side and grabbing Viktor around the waist and hauling him over his shoulders. Just as Viktor planned. 

The minute he was upside down Viktor mercilessly dug his hands into Jayce’s sides from the back, making him jump and laugh. 

“What, I thought you liked tickling?” Viktor teased, ignoring the blood rushing to his head. 

“Cuhuhut it ohohout! Ihim gonna drohop you!”

“No you won’t.” Viktor assured, and he believed it. He pushed one of his hands under Jayce’s shirt onto his stomach and he folded like a lawn chair, falling to his knees. 

“VIHIK!” Jayce cackled, keeling to the side under him. With his feet on the ground Viktor readjusted himself so he could tickle properly, sticking his other hand under his shirt and really squishing the soft flesh of his stomach. Jayce arched his back and shrieked, squirming around on the floor.

“Yohou little shihihihit! Ihi’m gonna get yohohou!”

“You can certainly try- whoa!”

Viktor was interrupted when Jayce gained the willpower to sit up and scoop him up. Expecting him to try and push him away, Viktor was caught completely off guard and yelped as he was pulled close with his arms pinned to his sides. He started kicking and wriggling as Jayce stood up, picking him up off the floor. Hands halfheartedly wiggled at Jayce’s sides, but all it got was a breathless chuckle from him. 

“Oh, no you don’t. That’s not gonna work again.”

“Come on, Jayce! Look at me, I can’t run away! You wouldn’t attack a helpless man, would you?” Viktor bluffed, playing it up.

“Nope.” Jayce huffed, turning Viktor around so his back was to his chest and hoisting him higher. “If anything you’ve just proved exactly how capable you are. So don’t expect mercy from me.”

Viktor jerked when felt a hand on his ribcage and another on his side, both preparing to tickle him. He had about half a second to ramble out some nonsense before those hands dug in, tearing peals of laughter from him. Jayce had immediately started counting between Viktor’s ribs, and by Janna it was killing him. 

“Nononohohoho! I swehehear I’ll hide ahall of yohour erasers!” 

“Well I had better make this worth it then.” 

He kicked out when the hand on his side kneaded into his hip, cackling. “Bahahastard! Mahay ahahall your equations behehe off by ohohone decimal point- AH!”

Jayce yanked his shirt up and started a hand skittering over his stomach, making him throw his head back in mirth.

“Jahayce!”

“What?” 

“Dohon’t!”

Jayce saw an evil opportunity and took it. “Don’t what?” 

“Tickle me!” 

Viktor fell for it hook, line, and sinker.

“Well if you insist!” 

Jayce lifted him higher and sent the hand on his ribs under his shirt, pulling it up so his side was completely exposed. Viktor tensed in trepidation, sensing that whatever Jayce was about to do was going to tickle bad.

And, well. He was right. 

Jayce pressed his lips to Viktor’s side and blew a huge raspberry into his skin before continuing in a trail up his ribs. When he got to the first, lowest rib Jayce gave it a little nibble before blowing a raspberry and proceeded to do this for every single rib. Viktor shrieked at the first one and continued to kick and scream the whole time Jayce worked up his ribs, yelling and swearing hysterically. 

“AAHAHAHA! NOHOHOT THEHEHERE!” 

“Not where? Here?” Jayce nuzzled into his side, nibbling at one of his ribs about halfway up while drilling his fingers into the opposite side. “Why, does it tickle?” 

Viktor went completely limp in his grasp, temporarily losing the will to fight while Jayce attacked what was undeniably the most ticklish spot on his whole body. 

“YEHEHEHES! JahaYCE I cahahHAn’t breheEEHEHEathe!” 

“Alright, I think that's enough of a payback.” 

Jayce stopped tickling and set Viktor down on the ground, laughing when he practically melted onto the floor. He lay there for a minute catching his breath and Jayce sat by his head.

“You’ve killed me. Say goodbye to Hextech, as it dies with me.” Viktor said.

“What do you want on your gravestone? ‘Here lies Viktor, who was too ticklish for his own good’.” 

Jayce got a firm punch on the leg for that one and he giggled when he slid down to join Viktor on the ground. He yawned. 

“It’s probably time to get some rest. We’re sure to be back here in a few hours.” 

“Considering we have both ended up somewhat hysterical, that sounds wise.” Viktor said, removing his arm from his chest and laying it next to Jayce’s. His fingers loosely entwined with his own and he felt a surge of affection before Jayce was pulling him up with a firm grasp on his hand. 

“I’ll walk you home.” Jayce offered, and how could Viktor refuse.

They lay there in each other's presence for a while until Jayce sat up again.

“I can tell you’re stuck in there.” He tapped on Viktor’s forehead. “What do you need?”

This was a familiar song and dance with them, so Jayce let Viktor silently take his hands and put them on his rib cage. Jayce’s look of concern morphed into a knowing smile at Viktor’s pink tinged cheeks.

“As you wish.”

Jayce leaned down and pressed a sweet kiss to Viktor’s forehead before dragging his hands down to the hem of his shirt. His hands slipped under it and Viktor twitched when Jayce’s hands replaced themselves on his ribs. His touch was warm and comforting, so Viktor let himself relax into it while burying his face in the nearest pillow - no way was he able to look Jayce in the face while asking for this.

Two fingers started delicately tracing feather light patterns over his ribs and Viktor twinged to the side, not making a sound. His arms stayed close to his sides, not pressing down but still defensive. Jayce smiled and kept tracing, noticing the spots that made Viktor twitch or wriggle.

“Can you lift your arms higher?” Jayce asked, and Viktor shuffled downwards so he could wrap his arms around the pillow he was hiding in. They both knew keeping still was a gargantuan task that neither of them could achieve, but arms? Still a hard ask, but that was fair game.

Two more fingers were added to the fray, paired up on each side to keep up the tingly patterns that were as comforting as they were tickly. Jayce was starting to hear muffled snickers coming from the pillow, so he pushed his shirt up fully to reveal the expanse of Viktor’s torso. His brace was off, tossed to the side, so he had full access to all the little marks that made his partners’ body his. Jayce pressed a kiss to a mole on his side and Viktor jerked, still quiet.

He figured it was time to make some noise, so Jayce added the rest of his fingers to the mix. With ten fingers spidering over his ribs, Viktor truly could not hold anything back. Full giggles started making themselves known, and slowly Viktor released his hold on the pillow and let Jayce see his face. His nose was scrunched up and his eyes were closed, but Jayce couldn’t look away from his wide smile.

“J-Jahahyce!”

“Yeah?” He replied, moving his spidering under his arms. Viktor squeaked in response, legs pedalling a little on the sheets before going completely floppy. He was laughing openly now, and Jayce couldn’t help but pepper little kisses all over his face and neck.

“Fuhuhuck, Jahayce!”

“You already said that.” Jayce teased, and Viktor looked him dead in the eyes.

“Amp it up.”

Jayce grinned and cracked his knuckles, laughing at Viktor’s eye roll before wiggling his fingers and burying them in his ribs. Viktor yelped and broke into full laughter, now unable to stop squirming. His ribs were a bad spot and Jayce knew it.

“Yohou fuhucker!” Viktor cried, and Jayce dragged his fingers down his ribs and skittered up his stomach a few times.

“I cannot stress how much you literally asked for this.”

Viktor made a choked noise and tossed his head to the side, almost trying to meld into the pillow behind him.

“Ihit tickles”

“You know what I bet would tickle more? It’s a game I call ‘I wonder how many ribs Viktor has…’”

“Ohoho, nonononO-!”

Jayce’s hands set themselves at the base of his ribs, wiggling between each one leading up to the top and making Viktor’s laughter turn silent. When he reached about halfway, just before a spot he knew would get him screaming, Jayce stopped.

“Ah shit, I lost count. I guess I’ll have to start again, super precise this time.”

Viktor just about lost his mind at that. “I’m gohoing to kihIHILL YOHOU!”

The whole torturous process started again and Viktor thrashed under him, steadfastly keeping his arms out of the way despite how badly his instincts told him to bring them down. This time Jayce kept going up his ribs and ever so gently wiggled his fingers into a particular spot just below the centre. Viktor cackled and just about kneed him in the stomach, yelling gibberish.

“Whoa, who knew that spot was bad?”

“YOHOU FUCKING DIHIHID!” Viktor cried, still laughing uncontrollably.

“This is like a tickle button!” Jayce teased, drilling into his death spot. Viktor was nearly crying and jerking like a fish out of water, but it still wasn’t enough. He needed more.

Jayce moved back to spidering over his ribs and stomach and Viktor narrowed his eyes at him.

“Hahah… that’s the behest you’ve gohohot?”

Jayce raised his eyebrows at the challenge. “Just remember. You signed up for this.”

Hands attached themselves back onto the extremely ticklish spot on his ribs and Viktor had about a second to prepare before Jayce was blowing a huge raspberry on his tummy. That was it - Viktor shrieked. It tickled more than his poor brain could comprehend, but it was perfectly filling the deficit in his soul. Viktor completely let himself go, thinking it couldn’t get any worse, but boy was he wrong.

Jayce pulled one of his hands away and pressed Viktor’s left arm to the bed while blowing a trail of raspberries up to his ribs, his other hand still skittering wildly. Once the raspberries reached that sensitive spot, Viktor lost the will to fight. Jayce was nibbling and tickling over his ribs like it was a five star meal, his scratchy beard wreaking havoc at the same time and Viktor felt like he was simultaneously in heaven and hell. He was pretty sure he was screaming, and there may have been some pointed knocks on the walls but there was no chance he could hold back now.

Once Viktor had been reduced to a gasping, laughing puddle of bones and tickle spots Jayce relented, scooping his hands under Viktor’s shoulders and cuddling close. He couldn’t help leaving a few last tickly kisses on his neck, though.

“I think my brain is sludge.” Viktor managed, coming down from the high. Jayce laughed.

“I’m impressed you can talk.”

“Shhhhut up.”

“You never changed the code. And your security system is child's play.” 

The burning orange eyes of the Herald’s mask left no room for conversation, and Jayce sighed. He wasn’t going to fight today.

“At least take off the mask, V. What do you need?” 

If Viktor could emote through a metal visage Jayce would have seen surprise on his face at the ease of his question. He was expecting resistance, especially after recent events. Viktor raised a hand to his mask and hesitated - it had been a while since he’d shown his face to anyone. He pressed the divots on either side of the mask down and it unlatched with a soft hiss.

Viktor set his mask down on a bench and Jayce let out a soft oh at his appearance. His hair was longer, but still endearingly soft and messy pushed back from his face. Metal covered his skin up to his cheekbones, and one of his eyes had been replaced with a mechanical version. The glowing orange ring of the eye nearly matched the honey-hazel of his remaining eye, and Jayce could only remark that after months it was still him. It was still his Viktor under the mask. 

“I have a problem I can’t fix on my own.” Viktor started, and his voice was the same as Jayce remembered, if not a little scratchy from disuse. “Some wiring was shaken loose during a fight, and I can patch it but can’t fix it. It controls the use of one of my arms and the Hexclaw, which I have to turn off in order to mend it. So… I’m down a few hands.”

Jayce almost laughed at the comment, but a sharp look from Viktor silenced him. “Why come to me? I’m sure you have plenty of Zaunite mechanics itching to help you.”

Viktor looked uncomfortable for a minute, unwilling to make eye contact. “I trust only you with this.” 

Jayce stilled. “After everything we’ve done to each other? What I’ve done to you?”

A single look from Viktor gave Jayce the answer he needed, so he stood and started clearing off one of the benches. 

“Alright, old friend. Let’s take a look.” 

Viktor took off his cloak and double checked the door was locked before laying down on the table, pulling his right arm over his head to give Jayce access to his side. He concentrated for a minute and Jayce watched the Hexclaw and his arm go completely limp.

“You‘ll need to pop the casing off the side of my torso. I’ve turned off the arms, but left nerve activity so I can tell you if something isn’t right. Don’t worry about anything hurting.” 

Jayce caught hesitation in Viktor’s last words so he set his screwdriver down and looked at him.

“Viktor. I have no intention of causing you pain. If something hurts I am going to stop and make sure you’re okay, and then find another way.” 

Viktor had no answer for him, just stared at the ceiling. Jayce frowned, but continued, 

“I’ll get the casing off now.”

After less than an hour the two of them were back to a semblance of what once was normal. Ideas for improvements were bouncing off each other, solutions to problems were being formed and true to his promise Jayce had never caused so much as a twinge in Viktor’s nerve receptors. Viktor almost found himself smiling, happy and content in the familiar routine but it was tinged with sadness. They caught up as well as they could, Jayce filling Viktor in on Caitlyn’s escapades and Viktor telling him about some advances he’d made in undercity prosthetics. 

“You know, I can’t believe no one ever tried- aCK!” Viktor interrupted himself, jerking one of his legs on the table. Jayce immediately stopped what he was doing, pulling the pliers out of Viktor’s side and holding his hands up.

“Whoa, you okay? Did that hurt?”

Viktor stared straight ahead and tried to ignore the traitorous heat in his face. He’d have to try and get rid of that soon.

“Fine. That wasn’t painful.” 

Jayce’s initial panic morphed into curiosity and he tilted his head, examining Viktor’s now flushed face. 

“… no way.” He said, a grin growing on his face. “You’re still ticklish, aren’t you?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Viktor steadfastly ignored Jayce’s eager expression.

“You sure? Cause that sounded like it tickled.” Jayce picked up his pliers and found the spot again, making Viktor choke down a giggle. 

“Oh my gods, after all this time you haven’t found out how to stop being ticklish? It even translated between the old you and the metal - I swear you had a bad spot on your ribs around here…” Jayce joked, prodding around which made Viktor yell and squirm. 

“Fucking- stop that! It’s a complex function that is surprisingly difficult to counteract.”

“So you’ve tried to turn it off?”

“… not concentratedly. You can imagine it’s not the highest on my list of priorities.”

Jayce raised his eyebrows at Viktor. “Maybe you didn’t want to turn it off.” He muttered under his breath.

Viktor started yelling at him and Jayce threw his hands up in defence. “What? We used to have fun, that’s all! Regardless, you’ve done a number on yourself and the wires around that point are tangled. I need to remove and resolder a bunch of them, so you’re gonna have to put up with it.”

“You promised not to hurt me!”

“I did. I never promised anything about tickling.” 

Viktor grumbled under his breath but seemed to resign himself to his fate. “Well, get going. I don’t have all night.”

Jayce got back to work with a smirk, dutifully started to unhook wires from where they had gotten stuck in gears and each other. Viktor had gone silent, and when Jayce looked up he had his eyes squeezed shut and was biting his lip, trying not to give in to the feeling. Just to be a dick, Jayce stuck his screwdriver in his side and wiggled, single-handedly breaking the dam Viktor had built. He jerked again, cackling and swearing.

Satisfied, Jayce refrained from commenting and got back to work to a soundtrack of laughter. This was fine until Viktor started wriggling around on the table in earnest, making it very hard for Jayce to move things accurately. 

“Stop squirming, you ticklish motherfucker.” Jayce couldn’t help teasing. Viktor made an angry face before losing it again.

“Fuhuck off fuck off fuck ohohohff!” 

“Seriously, if you don’t stop moving I’m going to have to hold you down. I’m sure I’ve got some strong magnets around here somewhere.”

“Mahagents? You think magnets are ehenough to hoahaAHA!” 

Viktor accidentally kicked a dent in the table and nearly shrieked when Jayce hit a particularly sensitive spot, trying desperately to resist the sensations ravaging his body. 

“Huhuhrry up! Cahan’t - AH! Cahan’t hohold out under thihis much tihickling!” 

“Okay, okay, I’ll go as fast as I can.”

Despite Jayce’s best efforts Viktor left a few more dents in his bench, truly unable to hold back under the hands of someone who knew him as well as he knew himself. 

“I think that’s the ticklish part done.” Jayce said, pulling out his pliers and cocking his head. “Actually, I think that’s the whole thing done. Try turning your arm on.” 

Viktor caught his breath before concentrating again, switching the limbs on. It felt ten million times better, and he caught himself sighing in relief. 

“It’s fixed. You have no idea how bad the feeling of your wires getting caught in the surrounding gears is. Thank you. Even if you could have been a little more tactful about it.” Viktor added.

Jayce rolled his eyes as he reattached the casing. “I think it was gonna be that bad no matter what. Still, it was nice to catch up without… well, you know. Trying to kill each other.” 

Viktor sat up and pulled his cloak over his shoulders. “It was. I hope our paths may cross again someday.” 

Jayce smiled and nodded, but the pulling in his chest told him a different story. He missed him terribly. Viktor picked up his mask and hooked it on his face, pushing it upwards so it wasn’t yet covering him while he walked to the window. Jayce followed him and watched while he pulled himself over the ledge and onto the railing.

“Goodbye, Jayce.”

Jayce met him at the window ledge. “See you later, Viktor.” 

Before Jayce could react, soft lips were on his for a heartbeat before they were gone. 

“I never stopped loving you.” Viktor whispered shakily, and then he pulled down his mask and disappeared into the night air. Jayce held a hand to his lips, frozen.