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Jayce gently ran a hand through Viktor’s hair, a fond smile on his lips. The morning sun had already risen, but he was in no hurry to get up. Not when his partner looked so perfect snuggled up against his chest like this, soundly asleep and deeply content. All the less reasons to part from him.
Plus, there were no more politics, no more Hextech, no more magic.
Just this peaceful life they had built together.
Just them.
Jayce and Viktor Talis.
Married. Bearing the same name. Waking up in the same bed.
Positively affected by the thought, Jayce brought his husband’s hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to the golden, gear-shaped band wrapped around his ring finger. After all, how could he not worship this symbol of their devotion toward one another, of their love, much like he adored to worship Viktor himself?
His fingers then trailed underneath, down the soft curve of his palm, until they reached the rune on his partner’s wrist. It wasn’t the real thing, of course. Just a discreet, innocuous tattoo, there to represent this bond they shared across all universes, across all timelines, and to mirror its twin inked into Jayce’s own skin.
No rune, no arcane existed in this new land they’d be sent to after saving Piltover from destruction.
Even the influence of the Hexcore had faded away upon their arrival, returning Viktor back to a human body. He hadn’t been the only one affected by this change, though. The festering marks left on Jayce’s body by the apocalyptic dimension had also vanished, along with the fingerprints on his forehead.
Not a trace of otherworldly power remained in them anymore. Only their knowledge of it subsisted, utterly useless and inapplicable.
And that was for the best.
Because, to Jayce, no breakthrough, no grandiose discovery held more worth than the immeasurably precious man curled up in his arms.
And he’d been so close to losing him.
With extreme tenderness, Jayce caressed the moles on Viktor’s forearm. So many little imperfections, each one lovelier than the last, that he once thought he’d never get to admire again.
So many little details that made Viktor him.
Jayce felt a bit more conflicted toward the two runes incised into his partner’s shoulders. Mostly because their sight filled him with guilt. You weren’t there when he was so scared, so desperate, that he sliced himself open, it reminded him.
But I’m here now, he silently countered as his lips brushed over the intricate patterns. They deserved some credit, after all. Without them, Viktor wouldn’t have survived the council’s explosion, and Jayce wouldn’t be here, busy lavishing his beloved husband with affection.
Maybe he wouldn’t be anywhere at all.
Even though this future had never come to pass, such thoughts filled Jayce with dread regardless. To seek reassurance, he placed a hand right over Viktor’s steadily beating heart.
And, consequently, right over the large scar that covered all of his chest.
The scar Jayce had placed there out of love, despite how excruciatingly painful it had felt to do so.
However, the gentle thumping under his fingers left the ghosts of his past no chance, because Viktor was alive and they were happy and they had gotten married and nothing else mattered.
The horrors of Hextech wouldn’t find them ever again, now that they had settled in a remote village and led an infinitely simpler, kinder life than what Piltover could have ever offered them. Here, his face wasn’t plastered on mugs. The ‘Man of Progress’ didn’t exist. He was only Jayce, co-owner of a humble forge and workshop with his partner Viktor.
An occupation that maybe didn’t fit the ambition of their younger selves, but what need did they have to be great, when they could do good instead?
Together, they built everyday tools. Repaired broken machinery. Helped the people around them.
Invented toys children loved to play with rather than deadly weapons.
What a sweeter dream this was, compared to their Hextech one. Maybe because this time, Viktor was at the center of it, and not unfairly relegated to the side. Maybe because, in this world, the medicine needed to treat his illness had long since been discovered.
Or maybe because it, blessedly, wasn’t a dream at all.
“Hmm, say, I do not mind lingering in bed with you, but shouldn’t we be opening the forge?”
Jayce jumped, startled by his husband’s unexpected intervention, and almost hit his head against the headboard.
“Careful there. I wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself.” Viktor gently chastised his endearing clumsiness.
“How… How long have you been awake?” Jayce asked, beyond flustered.
As an answer, his partner took hold of the hand resting over his heart, maneuvering it just so, and kissed Jayce’s knuckles in a flawless reenactment of what had happened minutes prior. Then he propelled himself on his elbows so he could greet his husband with a soft brush of their lips, before settling back on his broad chest.
“Long enough. But that doesn’t answer my question.”
“I got… distracted?”
“Oh, is that so? What could have possibly gotten you so distracted, I wonder? Perhaps you should show me.”
Jayce didn’t have to be told twice. He leaned down to kiss the mole at the corner of Viktor’s lips, then a scar on his jaw – this one a courtesy of Jinx’s shark missile. With keen enthusiasm, he pulled his husband closer, wrapped his large hands around his waist…
Only to abruptly stop when their messed-up legs bumped into one another, causing them both to wince.
They exchanged a long, silent look.
Then burst out laughing, unbridled, happy.
“So that is your plan for keeping me in bed? Incapacitation? Not what I had in mind, I must admit,” Viktor mercilessly teased.
“Sorry, sorry! Would a massage make up for it?”
“Well, now you’re tempting me. In a minute? First, I’d like to stay in your arms a little longer. It’s rather cozy in here. I might just choose to never leave.”
“Sounds like someone’s not so eager to open the forge anymore,” Jayce chuckled.
“And whose fault is that?”
“Mmh, difficult to say. Maybe you should kiss the culprit, so I’ll know for sure?”
“Well, if you insist…”
Jayce’s heart raced in the most pleasant way as Viktor took his sweet time caressing his beard, then leaped when their lips joined once again.
He closed his eyes.
Let all thoughts about Hextech, Piltover and Runeterra as a whole slip from his mind.
Only the here and now mattered.
Only Viktor mattered.