Viktor and you slowly walked towards the Academy’s courtyard. You were especially looking forward smelling the flowers that had just bloomed. As soon as you got outside, Viktor lifted a hand to cover his eyes from the sun. When was the last time he had seen any sunlight?
"Judging by how pale he is," you thought to yourself, "Maybe weeks ago.
You didn't mind walking at a slightly slower pace just so Viktor could catch up with you. When you finally found a good place to sit, he looked nervous as he moved in his place.
"So..." You said, trying to make him talk. You were thirsty for gossip and to figure out how Viktor and Jayce could come to be. "Jayce and you..."
"So," he mused, "Jayce and I..."
And that's when you remembered; Viktor is a genius. A brilliant scientist who's constantly thinking outside the box with ideas faster than he can manage to build. But he's not good at talking to people.
That conversation was getting awful awkward before it even began. And, regardless, you were still worried. Didn't his job (and her own job) depended on whether they could keep Councilor Medarda happy? What if she was courting Jayce at that very moment?
"You have feelings for him." Viktor nodded slowly, thanking you on his thoughts. He had been having problems to articulate whatever his heart was doing to him.
"Yes. At least, that's what I think."
"Let's..." you were unsure as if you should keep feeding into whatever this was, but the way he looked at you brought back memories, about all the times Viktor's eyes sparkled whenever Jayce walked nearby. "Let me try to figure it out for you."
"Are you a love expert, Miss Y/N?" Viktor inquired with a hint of humor in his voice. You felt yourself blushing, not due to embarrassment, but due to a slight feeling of anger that started boiling in your chest.
"Actually, Viktor," you took a deep breath in an attempt to calm down, "I am currently conducting a research on love when I don't have any active assistant duties. You... You'd know this if you bothered to talk to me before."
Viktor had his undivided attention on you, and waves of guilt washed over him as your voice got higher as you talked.
"Y/N..." Suddenly noticing what he had done, he was looking for the right words to make up for this huge misunderstanding. "I'm so sorry. I've been so focused on my work that I haven't taken care of my friendships."
"Friendships?" you blinked, confused, "You consider myself your friend?"
"You don't consider me yours?" you saw him gulp with worry in his eyes. He knew he had messed up. And you knew he knew.
"It's... It's hard when I thought this whole time that you hated me." You mustered your confession. Viktor's free hand went to the back of his neck.
"Well... This is awkward." You simply nodded. "Why were you willing to listen to me, then?"
"Partly because I promised Jayce I'd get you to take a break... Partly because of my current research."
And party because you wanted to listen to him.
"So... I'm some kind of unwilling test subject?" You snorted at his reply, and that seemed to make him smile. How many times have you seen him smile since you became their assistant? That had to be the first time he smiled when Jayce was not around.
“No. But, I mean, if you want to be…” you mused, and his grin got a bit bigger. “Why don’t we start over? Hi, I’m Y/N and I’m going to be yours and Jayce’s assistant from now on,” you extended your hand to him, and he shook it with a firm grip.
“Viktor, Hextech researcher. I’m sure we’ll make great things working together, miss Y/N,” and then both of you were laughing.
“No, but for real, just call me Y/N. If I have to call Jayce and you by your names, then it’s only fair you do the same.
“Fair.”
“So… wait,” you began to look rummage through your bag, promptly getting a pen and a notebook out. “There, now we can talk… What exactly do you feel when Jayce is around?”
A tint of red was starting to tinge Viktor’s cheeks, and you made sure to write every detail of it down, which didn’t seem to help his case.
“Well…” his hand went back to the back of his neck, “This- This is going to be the first time I put it into words, so you’ll have to be patient with me.”
“We have all the time in the world.”
“I feel… at peace,” Viktor finally mustered, your eyes fixated on your note taking task, “Like everything will be fine as long as we work together, like partners do. He can be stubborn, and maybe he has too much energy, but he brings some life back to our research. I feel… warm when we get close to a breakthrough.”
“Aha…” you mused, that feeling of dread coming back to life just to pester. You, deciding to keep it to yourself. At that moment, you were a scientist. Once he finished, you’ll be back to be his friend.
“I also feel… warm” Viktor’s eyes squinted, deep in thought, however you still noticed his pale cheeks slowly getting a tinge of pink on them. Your hand trembled as it kept writing down, “Like one just got out during a sunny day, like today.”
“I thought you didn’t like sunny days?” your scientist persona slipped off a little as you teased him.
“Just because I have too much work doesn’t mean I don’t like it,” he gave you an equally warm smile as his voice continues, “But, yes. It feels warm when he’s around. Like he’s his own sun. He’s also so optimistic that I’m not sure where I’d be with all the extra energy, he provides to the lab… And most of the time, when he’s happy, I’m… happy. He simply makes my days brighter by being there. I actually look forward to see him. Oh, heavens… that sounds quite cheesy, doesn’t it?”
You wrote everything down, your hand still trembling. What in the world was happening to yourself?
“Well…” You looked through your clearly used, aged notebook, not other handwriting was as messier as this last one, “That seems to match the feelings my other subjects described…”
“Does it?”
“Yeah,” then you glanced back at him, “But I think the biggest giveaway was the fact that you want to give him the Dais of Love.” Viktor cleared his throat as he looked the other way. You couldn’t help but think he looked… cute. He looked cute when he was as flustered as that. “Anything else you’d like to add to my research?”
“I feel… envy,” his words were slow, as if he was trying to decipher the puzzle that his feelings had become during those last few months. “His relationship with the Councilor seems… different- and I can’t help to think…”
“Why not me?” you offered, but the man shook his head.
“No, not quite. She’s smart, and a beautiful well-spoken woman. I’m sure those two would make great leaders as Jayce gets more involved in Council business…” Viktor’s smile wasn’t reflected in his eyes. You had been through similar situations during your research; people forcing themselves to smile because they knew that expressing jealousy would make them into the bad guys. The pen kept scratching your notebook as you kept writing down. “I think that’s it. For now.”
That was your signal. Your signal to ditch the notebook and go back to your normal persona, the friend.
“I do want to tell him how I feel,” Viktor said, not noticing you’re not taking any more notes, “I might do that soon. I’ve been thinking about it for a while-“he sounds as if he’s talking to himself rather than talking to you, “I’m sure he’ll reject me. And I can respect that. But… regardless, I need to try. Your face tells me you’ve gone through something similar, yes?”
“No… not quite.” You mused, feeling like a deer heading towards headlights, “But I’ve heard the same over and over again during my research.”
“And what happens to the people who reveal their feelings?” Viktor’s head tilted, his undivided attention back at you.
“Research is, at best, inconclusive.” He sighed, as if he was already giving up, and you weren’t sure if you could help. “And, as your newest friend, I have to advice against giving the flower, or telling him anything at all. Isn’t he dating Councilor Medarda?”
“That information is, at best, inconclusive,” he repeated, and you weren’t able to reply anything to that. He was right, you didn’t have any actual confirmation of whether Jayce and Mel were a thing, and you guessed Viktor didn’t either.
“Well, there’s still a long time until the Winter Solstice,” you mused, looking at the heavens, praying Janna she helped you decipher whatever was going on in your chest at that moment, “You could at least think about how to tell him… but, if I was in your place, I would stay quiet.”
“I… I understand your viewpoint,” you hear Viktor’s voice as it softly spoke to you. You briefly look at his direction, it seems like he’s also looking at the clear sky above you both, “There’s a… high risk I will embarrass myself. But I won’t be able to live without trying.
You closed your eyes, ready to listen to the same spiel other test subjects had given you. About how, if they didn’t tell their beloved about their true feelings, they’ll feel like they’re going to die. How much they’d rather die than never speak. And without fail, Viktor said more or less the same things you had heard before.
“I won’t sit and watch as someone else and get him. My point of view might be rather… selfish, and greedy,” your head slowly turns to him as he keeps speaking, his hand holding onto his cane so tightly that his knuckles are turning white. “But- I must do something. I must tell him!”
At that point, whatever you said would go through one ear and exit through the other without his brain processing correctly. Viktor would hear anything he wanted to hear. You sigh and sit up, giving him the warmest smile, “Well, I wish you the best of luck in your endeavor! You have to tell me everything once you come back, alright?”
“I will, Miss Y/N,” his smile was radiant and his eyes glimmering with something that you didn’t see before since you met him. Hope. Viktor stood with his cane, but then his free hand took yours ever so slightly, and you felt like you could melt under his touch. “Thank you for listening to me.”
“A-Anytime” you muster as you see him slowly limping towards his destiny. You sigh while looking at your own hand. “Anytime…”