[Jayce, please, those pinch points are not going to be good if Viktor moves in the slightest. He stills very much to have Jayce exploring those joints. He bats rather fussily at Jayce digging fingers anywhere they might get stuck or, god forbid, sheered-]
You're being a hazard to yourself, Jayce.
[Viktor grasps both the man's hands by the wrists and pulls them up to his face. He leans into the touch of thumbs to his skin and Jayce's other fingers to where metal began. One of Jayce's palms will get a couple slow kisses, while they're guided there.
Viktor trails his lips to tentatively press to his wrist, where the acceleration rune was bonded into his skin, webbed by patterns of the anomaly. Even if it represented rot, Viktor will dote on it, because that same anomaly could heal Jayce if fed. He's as resentful of it as he is grateful.]
[ if there were any, jayce could count them on a hand. maybe shredding his hands in viktor was the true way he wanted to go. but, fine! he'll respect the fun police! (this is all a joke). despite jayce's quite desperate want to touch and be touched, he respects this limit once breached— and once he got to see, briefly, that little wrinkle at the bridge of viktor's nose that would've likely followed him getting lightly wacked with his cane. jayce's restless hands are successfully led back on course, distracted by devout kisses in his palms and to his embedded wrist. the chill of stone isn't found— its quite warm, in fact, as hot as jayce was, rooted in the veins saturated with nutriment. the bit of contact raises the hairs on his arms and goes up his neck, ripples across his chest under his simple garage-found clothes. a bit of anexaggerated response, but— it's nice. ]
You used to require some convincing. [of which Viktor provided, because he is also a risk magnet. Had to be, to get anywhere in his life. Push boundaries was for science, though, not for one another.... not when they already pushed back against death itself.
Viktor takes Jayce's hand and presses it to the center of his chest, where the brace he once wore for his back had fused into metal and gold. The metal stranding there have the illusion of sinewy muscle, but there were gaps giving way to the interior. Wiring and pumps, self installed, run by batteries he picked up from scavenging. It buzzes more than it beats, but there is a pulsing to what Viktor replaced his heart with. For some reason, he wants Jayce to hear it and feel it beneath his palm,]
I upgraded the replacement I made. Rechargeable batteries, easier maintenance. [he's running on scraps and wit and raw desperation, but when hadn't he been? Viktor thinks he should feel much more different than he does and yet he doesn't. Augmenting his body was routine for him, this is just more dramatic.]
If only I had a hexgem, I would have used that. Would have been... more fitting, perhaps.
[ correct! used to. jayce has gotten some screws loose because of . . . jaybe, viktor? the reaction this receives is a raise of his brows and a knowing dip of his head. he's been all good intentions, bad decisions over the moons compared to being a little uncertain. comes with years next to this man. touché.
jayce has no time to mention it though, even in light jest— only gesture to it. the hand brought to viktor's whirring bust has the draugr in a silent standstill soon enough, though, the humor in his features giving way to attentive tracking of what he feels under his palm. an insistent, nonstop motor that roars behind its encasing.
one more pause at length, and jayce uses it to switch his hand out for his ear, placing the shell of it close to viktor's former ribs. he has to be careful with his antler rack, he'd rather not skewer an eye so his head is kept in a bit of a side slant to avoid unwanted proximity with. with that. the sound is there, deep and ringing.
brilliant, he whispers. and here he'd been, scavenging for parts— viktor was always so many steps ahead of him. ]
I'd make you one if I could. [ a heart for a heart sounds . . . appropriate. but that was if he could. the runes require more testing. but, it's not about that; jayce expresses his longing to help, but that is it. ] How long does a single charge last?
There is always room for improvement. I welcome your attempt at a better solution.
[Jayce is welcome to tinker with him. He's one big experiment, now. A machine that is fit to being better optimized. With Jayce leaning in to listen to his inner clockwork, Viktor's hands reach to the antlers so close by his face. Not out of worry, but fascination. He peels some of the torn velvet away, only for it to creep back into place. Ah. Well, that's not going anywhere it seems. Hopefully it didn't hurt- he can better keep his hands to himself on that one if Jayce winced,]
I haven't stressed tested myself. I swap it each morning with a fresh charge to be safe.
[he used to take pills each morning to mitigate his illness, so it just fits into his routine that way. Viktor wasn't sure how long this body would last without the replacement of that key organ. Perhaps arcane magic would keep him upright a while on its own. Perhaps he would die as quickly as any man without a beating heart. That is probably better left untested.]
[ jayce does not so much as recoil, but he does react. an odd, tingling sensation is caused, like peeling away at skin that's spent too much time under the sun. not pain, but he wouldn't mind the extra grooming. it felt mildly uncomfortable to have them there at all, and so jayce keeps his head lowered where it is, a gentle dip in the direction of a hold while he kept his face to viktor's bust. sensation in some spots were dulled, in others, where the perpetually decaying velvet sat shredded, varied from highly to barely receptive. a mixed pot of uneven, damaged or clinging nerve endings. ]
If it's been favorable, we should keep it that way. And I'll look into alternative power sources. [ jayce's thumbs stroke where his hands have now settled: at the notches of viktor's slim waist (no venturing into unknown holes this time), and after a pause: ] Can you try that again?
Plucking at this velvet? Is it a relief to have it taken off?
[Viktor will delicately do as he's asked, if given the further go ahead. He analyses where it appears the most loose and decayed. The fresh parts are where Viktor believes he shouldn't mess with, for fear of hurting or tearing at free nerves. The dead parts, that can be cleaned up.]
Actually, this might call for... [third arm is well suited to this task! The claw ends are sharp and very precise, can snip at the flesh to trim free what is extra.
Also, Viktor just seems to enjoy using the extra limb, like he always had fun using the Hexclaw in their testing. So, like a little bug at work cleaning a corpse, which is just what this is, Viktor is cleaning up those antlers. Might not last long, but it is a pleasing bit of grooming for Viktor to perform for Jayce.]
[ this isn't strange for them at all at this point, is it. at all. fits the tin perfectly. it relieves the itch and adds a soothing bit of foreplay. jayce relaxes right into a slot in one spindly lap and considers, for a minute, if he should show viktor his chest, too. there's news there, a sight that doesn't look as horrific as it did splayed wide.
he'd get his shirt off, eventually. no need to rush now that his partner is pleasantly occupied with the third arm. ]
Feels nice.
[ even though he might just simply find more peeling off or hanging by decaying threads in new spots the day after this one. some of them will simply cling back after getting plucked. jayce would find his antlers would always be in a state of decay, eventually, decomposing layers never entirely healthy. ]
Viktor, [ he's . . . skipped this earlier, with reason. purpose, but he doesn't want to ignore it. it'd be an easy fall back to something so innovative, something meant to power anything, but. jayce has seen what an agumentation with hextech could do. viktor was no longer caged by illness— he is alive. they don't need magic. at least, jayce isn't so attached to it in the same way he'd been some years back. that wasn't the reason why. ] We don't need Hexgems. No Hextech.
[ not that . . . they were anywhere near something similar. the runes and arcane of this world were another beast, entirely. their combinations yield no results beyond a highly enigmatic puzzle and little possibility to return to runeterra. would their respective timelines even exist if they returned at this point, the changes they've suffered intact? a good or bad possibility?
[This task is one Viktor is very well suited to, a precision based skill. He's also very good at controlling that third arm, already. Thanks, no doubt, to his many experiments and practice with the Hexclaw. Soon enough, the antlers are as clipped clean as they can be. The excess is discarded into bedside trash bin, despite Viktor having one or two bugbrained impulses to chew on the stuff. No. Nope. They have had enough cannibalism between them for one evening, reign it in, Vik. (Maybe another time he'll fail this restraint check.)]
These antlers... do they have much sensitivity to them? [He inquires as he reaches to rub a palm over the now smooth exterior of one. A gentle petting to match the rest of their tender and exploratory affections,
As for Hextech, Viktor cannot help a furrowed brow, looking serious as ever. Resigned, in a way,]
We spent... so much of our lives on Hextech. To just give up on it... [it felt so wrong, but Viktor remembers the Hexcore, he remembers it whispering to him, tempting him towards more and more extremes. He winces to think of Sky- of how she turned to dust-]
No. You're right. Anything else, but tampering further. So many others had to pay the price just for us to learn our lesson. No more.
[ jayce bobs his head in quiet agreement, even if that shifts the weight around in his skull in a way he's not yet accustomed to. there's a strange, equal balance on both sides, but depending on which side he tips the most it all starts to burden one half more than the other. the sensitivity is relative. on hard, bone-white branches, there's nothing to feel. where velvet still clusters and clings for dear life, there's a phantom touch that riles into a too sensitive shiver, that fades up until where the bone is prestine. he's distracted fram giving a more detailed answer, instead showing without words— palms caress bone and jayce closes his eyes, tilting into it.
it had been jayce's life for longer than he'd been alive. he may not have been privy to let it go at hextech's peak, but now? after he's seen what it could cause, what its done to rune terra, to viktor, to himself, what he's done with those damn weapons—
there was no other answer than to fix it, and stand by the true dream. they were their own paradox. jayce lifts his head carefully, now; he can't quite so how clean the antlers are, now, but it felt a touch more refreshing to the air cushioned around them. jayce steadys a hands on one side of his partner while the other tenderly guides viktor's golden gaze to his. his head bobs again, as if to gently confirm with the fortitude of his words: ]
I have everything I need.
[ there is one thing in his life that he'll never give up on. he knows it's not hextech. it's viktor. hextech was only a catalyst. a destructive spark in fate that brought them together. ]
[That's Viktor, cutting right to- well- the heart of what is being said. He levels his gaze to Jayce's with a steady and reaffirming look. They're in this together, no matter what is next for them. A pair, a partnership. Lovers, now, all said and yet not all done.
Pulling back that third arm and steadying his other two, Viktor holds each side of Jayce's biceps, giving them a gentle squeeze. A small smile. The look he gave the man when Viktor first told him his name. It felt like a lifetime ago,]
Would you like out of those shimmer stained clothes? [A little teasing, but given what Jayce has been through, he can be forgiven being a messy eater. As for Viktor's clothing, he couldn't very well fit into the uniform he arrived in. All he has to shed is a cloak he fashioned to hang around him, which is already pushed back behind his shoulders. He can unclasp that and push it off himself fully, letting the fabric fall in a heavy cascade to the floor of their room.]
[ words that could make the weakest man strong. a whisp of disbelief rushes past his lips and betrays the gentle curve of them. brushing away at the clasps of his unfastening cloak to hurry its impending descent. that look was lethal. it was nearly a decade back. so long ago, and yet— it's one of the sharpest memories he has. lucid and bright around the eyes, his lips, and it makes jayce's stress-wrinkled face melt with bittersweet nostalgia. he could kiss him.
he can. he does, with his partner's face in the contours of his hands, a short plant that ends in more teeth than plush flesh because of their spread. ]
I'm not usually this sloppy.
[ a continuation to any light jesting, he's fine with it— makes the reality of what it was a bit more bearable. a bite easier to process, smoother to swallow. jayce crosses his arms at the lower edges of a simple shirt taken off the racks of a gas station and makes a move to yank it toward his head. he'll need help. it's terribly easy to snag on an antler and tear.
underneath, he's all body hair he doesn't want to shave off anymore, and snug bandages around his bust to mask the ugly gape that never closes. he almost feels like— a silly fucking teenager doing something frisky in the backseat, or in the library. giddy, uplifted. he wants to keep feeling that way, although he feels silly with his face caught under stained purple cotton he can't get off because his hands knock into the sharp edges of bone. ]
[He can. He does. Viktor smiles into that kiss he's granted, feeling like it is a gift he's finally ready to accept. His love for Jayce was long held, firmly rooted in him, but it never fully bloomed. He just couldn't let it. There were too many complications, too much going on at any given moment. Even after arriving here, being confessed to naked in a shared bath, Viktor couldn't help be rebuke such feelings.
It is such a weight off his shoulders, to not repress this affection and fondness for the man before him. Even when Jayce is becoming trapped within a shirt with too small a neck hole.]
You are usually this ridiculous.
[The antlers are not going to give, so the shirt has to. Viktor reaches with his third arm and snip, snip, snip. He opens a larger spot at the neckline so there's room. Careful to follow a straight line, they could salvage it if neither of them tried ripping it off Jayce.]
I believe we'll need to modify your clothing to accommodate this, eeh, magnificent rack of yours.
[ well, there goes the shirt. in hindsight, the other changes he'd snagged would likely suffer the same skewering fate. jayce remembers a tailor on the network some days back. it could work. jayce's tongue clicks under muffled laughter. he couldn't really argue when his beard hid away most of the purple stain around his mouth, kissing having spruced the tinted color to his lips and leaving the shade a touch more natural. he is still very sloppy, and absolutely ridiculous to keep going like this at all. viktor was one and the same to even want anything with him this way. he waits just as ridiculously with his arms locked up in twists of fabric until they're cut loose and swiftly give way to his muscle. buttons and zippers for the rest of his unlife, likely. or just no shirts at all. no one would complain.
jayce's messy fingertips shave at the borders of the bandages, but otherwise decides against leaving the ugly laceration bare for such a moment. it can't be comfortable to look at. he knows it's not, for him. the few stitches that arcade had made was supposed to help, but who knew how much it's held up. he'd rather focus, for a moment, on what is teasingly magificent. ]
Like? Well... they give me a terrible urge to chew on you. I'll save that for elsewhere.
[threatening, Viktor, don't just say stuff like that. He's being good, no chewing yet.
His hands fall ever so softly over Jayce's bandaged chest, weary of what was beneath the bandages. Should they really be getting more intimate, knowing the state the man is in? Not all desires are well advised... Viktor will be careful. It feels rather sturdy beneath his palms, thumping with the beat of what was once his own heart. Now Jayce's. The more time goes by, the more suitable that becomes.]
Your heartrate is back up to normal. That's a good sign, I feel. And your skin- it's not so terribly pale. We need to keep you well fed, Jayce. Don't hesitate to ask me. Promise.
[ only because of his ribs does it feel anywhere close to solid. the bandages serve as the skin he needed for now, at least; as long as a terrible amount of pressure isn't applied where the strength of the gauze can run the risk of caving, they . . . should be fine. he can't let it dominate every chance he gets at happiness, so scarce already. jayce wants this proximity, and wants this intimacy. his brows make his eyes sincere in its somber lingering, but—
he is more alive now than he will ever be, going forward. fed. satisfied. powered. full. it was proven, lacking a choice to ignore it, and gods— he didn't even want to. it was too good. too fucking good to say no to, no matter the twinge of disgust still curled into a part of his brain that is dormantly human. he could cry at the thought, during, but he will swallow the bliss with no qualms.
it is not the first time jayce has made a promise either, but he is long done with breaking them. he hasn't broken his last. he will not break this one, closing his eyes and flattening the front of his forehead onto viktor's with his fingers knotting gently into chestnut locks of hair. he wouldn't make it about being filled and healthy. not after what he felt. not after it rivaled the intimate ectacy of sex itself. ]
I swear.
[ and, after a beat— jayce breaks the silence to keep his streak running. he'll be ridiculous, amplify his charm, tip his head sideways just enough to have their lips only ghostly inches away from locking, keeping a featherlight brush as he asks: ]
[Viktor's expression quirks a short smile at Jayce's charm, it really doesn't fail to land. Such a funny man, so adorable. The promise will be held close to his chest, fill the space there where his heart is missing. Not lost. He knows just where it is, where it belongs, with Jayce. Viktor's answer is to leaning in and snap up Jayce's lower lip between his teeth, gnawing there teasingly. His hands drag slowly down the man's front to hook fingers into the hem of his pants, tugging to bring attention there. These would be next off, after all.
He suckles at the man's lip as he pulls away to speak again, tasting the lingering ozone of shimmer clung there,]
Is that what you want, Jayce? For me to explore your body with tongue and teeth?
[ jayce enjoys every damn bit of it. a little curl of his lips to its sides doesn't pull the plush skin from its snare between teeth. if anything, sucking at them brings jayce's top lip into a pursing kiss back. the strong taste was less, by now, replaced with the increasing flavor of . . . his actual mouth, his saliva and pheromone. it's— alluring to him. magnetic to his receptive senses.
he's so . . . glad, to be warm. for both their sakes. digits link against fabric and wedge between the cotton, the flesh of his hips and the body hair that climbs his middle, bringing jayce to prop his palms behind him and allow clear access to buttons and zippers.
that doesn't go without his words to the pointed curve of viktor's jaw, connecting to his ear, ]
Considering what I'll be doing, [ for as long as being undead lasts, but that feels like a bit of a permanent condition, ] It's only fair.
[Jayce is glad to be warm, but Viktor is just glad he looks healthy again. Not so withered away, not reminding Viktor of himself as he deteriorated. He nuzzles his face against Jayce's while he's speaking to him. Joking. It's nice, to be so airy and playful to each other. For things to not feel entirely too dire and serious. Reminds him of good, old times.
The can have some good, present times. Even when things aren't the best, they can take solace and joy in each other.
All those poetics to say that Viktor is taking the other man's pants off, stripping him fully naked. Smirking to do so, even, bemused and eager.]
I want you to enjoy yourself. Fairness isn't so important, so long as that is accomplished.
[Viktor doesn't even know if this strange body of his is capable of arousal in turn, so he's not counting on this being "even" in the traditional sense. He'll take his pleasure in pleasuring Jayce, in bringing him comfort and the bonding, human closeness of sex. The shape that intimacy took didn't matter to Viktor, he just wants to provide and show his love however he can. Too long has that love gone unexpressed.]
[ though the glint in his partner's eyes tells him it's not a point of concern for them. they're long gone from traditional, aren't they . . . and that doesn't seem like an inconvenience to jayce. whatever feels best for the both of them. if it's touching, so be it. if it's more biting, so be that, too. as long as the push and pull was mutual, so long as the pleasure was intermutual, that is all the closeness they need. as long as they merge through the barriers of what is purely physical. that is all that jayce wants as the buckles and straps of his brace come undone by his giddy fingers, and his pants and undergarments slip right off from thigh to knees, scar and ankles. ]
Fairness aside, [ with the use of his hands returned to him, jayce can finally electrify viktor's structure by ghosting the rifts of his chitin and metallic shelling with palms and fingerpads. testing where muscle would be, applying more pressure to the juts of would-be bone and kissing the corners of his mouth feather light, continuous,. ] it's something I want.
[ until he presses harder, with invite, and want. ]
[He speaks soft and low against Jayce's lips in response,]
I want that too- mphh- [his mouth is suddenly pressed against, interrupting the words. Viktor smiles into it after the little flash of surprise. Ah, yes, Jayce is very eager. Adorable, but more than that, it is very bracing to Viktor. Makes him feel secure in this, as certain of their intimacy as he was in their lasting partnership. New ground to tread, very new with their bodies so changed, but better to have this exploration now and together than never.
He kisses Jayce back, open mouthed and greedy. His tongue seeks out Jayce's own, lapping against him with warmth, hoping to taste the man himself and not just the shimmer blood on his breath. Viktor feels along his teeth, along the gap in the center and the sharp pinpoints of Jayce's prominent canines. Amused by himself, Viktor's third arm reaches to back of Jayce's head to hold him there, leaving Viktor's other two hands room to explore the man's body. He can grope along Jayce's shoulders, his absurdly attractive arms. Viktor has crawled himself into the man's lap, one leg between Jayce's, straddling one of his thighs.
Does the kiss even need to break? Neither of them need air, anymore. The limitation no longer exists. They can just indulge and indulge,]
[ the pungency shared in their blood-blended saliva has become a fresh memory, long since swallowed and absorbed. now they may truly taste each other without pause, allowing the tidal flow of each back and forth from their mouths to enhance their probing— and gods is it good, to swallow viktor down and only needing a second of time to do it; the rest can go towards devouring him as his limbs catch tingling fire with every deliberate squeeze that jayce requites. he does have to breathe to make noise, and there is no way he wouldn't react viscerally to viktor's weight between his legs and on him. one gasp shoots in, a grunt blooms out, just as jayce's fingers investigate and hook into the metal handles of what would've been his hip bones. jayce wrenches him forward in a single tugging motion to finish slotting them in like pieces to a mechanism, spreading one thigh to accommodate the snug fit into his groin.
it's keeping up with the kissing, simultaneously, that's beginning to wear for him, containing a deep tremor as he seems to withdraw his lips with squeezing fingers rising up the slope of viktor's torso— it's not because his lips were kiss bruised, god he could care less and keep going. he wants to, but . . .
his brain has rewired. he's getting incredibly aroused, their legs chafe and a needy little rock of his hips forward and back spurs more pleasure, and pleasure spurs more want, and want makes him think to bite to experience that more again, and more on top of the physical satisfaction.
he doesn't need it— that'd be gluttony. but fuck does jayce find himself wanting it like another hit of an incredible drug. the next attempt at kissing him, jayce hovers lip to lip and steers his face sideways, his hands sliding below the small of his back. he doesn't want to give the idea that he wishes to stop when he doesn't, but— he'd feel much better with permission (or lack thereof, to which he'll force himself to listen). ]
[ then jayce makes a face, lips tights and carving a frown, but he really shouldn't be showing signs of complaint when he's the one who ducked his face away first, but then the frustration doubles because he is no longer kissing, when he'd like to have his mouth all over viktor's exoskeleton or arcane-flesh or whatever it was now, half mechanical and half-not, when he'd like to sink his teeth into his lips until they bruised, bite down on the meat of his neck and rut into him like some untamed stallion and let the spurt of blood escalate his pleasure more than touching him would, or maybe have both, at the same time—
greedy. was he always this greedy? jayce has always hit things like nails to a hammerhead when he wanted them. was the spike just a reflection of his fractured, untamed psyche or was there more to his monstrous changes? it takes a grind of his teeth to fall back on what he knows: science. it stays the hand of answering too oddly, where he'd perhaps regret it: ]
I'm not, [ weak. he still sounds miffed. fuck, ] I just— had the urge. Instinctual, [ with the flicking of his wrist, he's trying to figure out how to word it in a way he would overanalyse late. ] the feeling is . . . Similar, when compared to arousal.
[Viktor will call this like it is, Jayce loves this about him, as frustrating as that may also be,]
Your wires have gotten crossed.
[And whose fault is that-?]
I understand. It is... it has become much the same for me. Instinct, arousal, desire, hunger. All feel like the same thing, with far less distinction than before.
[he nudges his forehead to Jayce's, sighing beneath his breath. This is all so much more fraught than Viktor cares for, but then again, he accepts that to be with Jayce. They're both a mess,]
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2025-03-19 04:21 pm (UTC)You're being a hazard to yourself, Jayce.
[Viktor grasps both the man's hands by the wrists and pulls them up to his face. He leans into the touch of thumbs to his skin and Jayce's other fingers to where metal began. One of Jayce's palms will get a couple slow kisses, while they're guided there.
Viktor trails his lips to tentatively press to his wrist, where the acceleration rune was bonded into his skin, webbed by patterns of the anomaly. Even if it represented rot, Viktor will dote on it, because that same anomaly could heal Jayce if fed. He's as resentful of it as he is grateful.]
no subject
Date: 2025-03-19 05:46 pm (UTC)[ if there were any, jayce could count them on a hand. maybe shredding his hands in viktor was the true way he wanted to go. but, fine! he'll respect the fun police! (this is all a joke). despite jayce's quite desperate want to touch and be touched, he respects this limit once breached— and once he got to see, briefly, that little wrinkle at the bridge of viktor's nose that would've likely followed him getting lightly wacked with his cane. jayce's restless hands are successfully led back on course, distracted by devout kisses in his palms and to his embedded wrist. the chill of stone isn't found— its quite warm, in fact, as hot as jayce was, rooted in the veins saturated with nutriment. the bit of contact raises the hairs on his arms and goes up his neck, ripples across his chest under his simple garage-found clothes. a bit of anexaggerated response, but— it's nice. ]
no subject
Date: 2025-03-19 06:13 pm (UTC)Viktor takes Jayce's hand and presses it to the center of his chest, where the brace he once wore for his back had fused into metal and gold. The metal stranding there have the illusion of sinewy muscle, but there were gaps giving way to the interior. Wiring and pumps, self installed, run by batteries he picked up from scavenging. It buzzes more than it beats, but there is a pulsing to what Viktor replaced his heart with. For some reason, he wants Jayce to hear it and feel it beneath his palm,]
I upgraded the replacement I made. Rechargeable batteries, easier maintenance. [he's running on scraps and wit and raw desperation, but when hadn't he been? Viktor thinks he should feel much more different than he does and yet he doesn't. Augmenting his body was routine for him, this is just more dramatic.]
If only I had a hexgem, I would have used that. Would have been... more fitting, perhaps.
no subject
Date: 2025-03-20 01:52 am (UTC)jayce has no time to mention it though, even in light jest— only gesture to it. the hand brought to viktor's whirring bust has the draugr in a silent standstill soon enough, though, the humor in his features giving way to attentive tracking of what he feels under his palm. an insistent, nonstop motor that roars behind its encasing.
one more pause at length, and jayce uses it to switch his hand out for his ear, placing the shell of it close to viktor's former ribs. he has to be careful with his antler rack, he'd rather not skewer an eye so his head is kept in a bit of a side slant to avoid unwanted proximity with. with that. the sound is there, deep and ringing.
brilliant, he whispers. and here he'd been, scavenging for parts— viktor was always so many steps ahead of him. ]
I'd make you one if I could. [ a heart for a heart sounds . . . appropriate. but that was if he could. the runes require more testing. but, it's not about that; jayce expresses his longing to help, but that is it. ] How long does a single charge last?
no subject
Date: 2025-03-20 04:39 pm (UTC)[Jayce is welcome to tinker with him. He's one big experiment, now. A machine that is fit to being better optimized. With Jayce leaning in to listen to his inner clockwork, Viktor's hands reach to the antlers so close by his face. Not out of worry, but fascination. He peels some of the torn velvet away, only for it to creep back into place. Ah. Well, that's not going anywhere it seems. Hopefully it didn't hurt- he can better keep his hands to himself on that one if Jayce winced,]
I haven't stressed tested myself. I swap it each morning with a fresh charge to be safe.
[he used to take pills each morning to mitigate his illness, so it just fits into his routine that way. Viktor wasn't sure how long this body would last without the replacement of that key organ. Perhaps arcane magic would keep him upright a while on its own. Perhaps he would die as quickly as any man without a beating heart. That is probably better left untested.]
no subject
Date: 2025-03-21 11:24 am (UTC)If it's been favorable, we should keep it that way. And I'll look into alternative power sources. [ jayce's thumbs stroke where his hands have now settled: at the notches of viktor's slim waist (no venturing into unknown holes this time), and after a pause: ] Can you try that again?
no subject
Date: 2025-03-21 03:51 pm (UTC)[Viktor will delicately do as he's asked, if given the further go ahead. He analyses where it appears the most loose and decayed. The fresh parts are where Viktor believes he shouldn't mess with, for fear of hurting or tearing at free nerves. The dead parts, that can be cleaned up.]
Actually, this might call for... [third arm is well suited to this task! The claw ends are sharp and very precise, can snip at the flesh to trim free what is extra.
Also, Viktor just seems to enjoy using the extra limb, like he always had fun using the Hexclaw in their testing. So, like a little bug at work cleaning a corpse, which is just what this is, Viktor is cleaning up those antlers. Might not last long, but it is a pleasing bit of grooming for Viktor to perform for Jayce.]
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Date: 2025-03-21 08:31 pm (UTC)he'd get his shirt off, eventually. no need to rush now that his partner is pleasantly occupied with the third arm. ]
Feels nice.
[ even though he might just simply find more peeling off or hanging by decaying threads in new spots the day after this one. some of them will simply cling back after getting plucked. jayce would find his antlers would always be in a state of decay, eventually, decomposing layers never entirely healthy. ]
Viktor, [ he's . . . skipped this earlier, with reason. purpose, but he doesn't want to ignore it. it'd be an easy fall back to something so innovative, something meant to power anything, but. jayce has seen what an agumentation with hextech could do. viktor was no longer caged by illness— he is alive. they don't need magic. at least, jayce isn't so attached to it in the same way he'd been some years back. that wasn't the reason why. ] We don't need Hexgems. No Hextech.
[ not that . . . they were anywhere near something similar. the runes and arcane of this world were another beast, entirely. their combinations yield no results beyond a highly enigmatic puzzle and little possibility to return to runeterra. would their respective timelines even exist if they returned at this point, the changes they've suffered intact? a good or bad possibility?
things to think about when he can't sleep. ]
We'll make something better with what we have.
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Date: 2025-03-23 06:38 pm (UTC)These antlers... do they have much sensitivity to them? [He inquires as he reaches to rub a palm over the now smooth exterior of one. A gentle petting to match the rest of their tender and exploratory affections,
As for Hextech, Viktor cannot help a furrowed brow, looking serious as ever. Resigned, in a way,]
We spent... so much of our lives on Hextech. To just give up on it... [it felt so wrong, but Viktor remembers the Hexcore, he remembers it whispering to him, tempting him towards more and more extremes. He winces to think of Sky- of how she turned to dust-]
No. You're right. Anything else, but tampering further. So many others had to pay the price just for us to learn our lesson. No more.
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Date: 2025-03-24 04:03 pm (UTC)it had been jayce's life for longer than he'd been alive. he may not have been privy to let it go at hextech's peak, but now? after he's seen what it could cause, what its done to rune terra, to viktor, to himself, what he's done with those damn weapons—
there was no other answer than to fix it, and stand by the true dream. they were their own paradox. jayce lifts his head carefully, now; he can't quite so how clean the antlers are, now, but it felt a touch more refreshing to the air cushioned around them. jayce steadys a hands on one side of his partner while the other tenderly guides viktor's golden gaze to his. his head bobs again, as if to gently confirm with the fortitude of his words: ]
I have everything I need.
[ there is one thing in his life that he'll never give up on. he knows it's not hextech. it's viktor. hextech was only a catalyst. a destructive spark in fate that brought them together. ]
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Date: 2025-03-24 05:18 pm (UTC)[That's Viktor, cutting right to- well- the heart of what is being said. He levels his gaze to Jayce's with a steady and reaffirming look. They're in this together, no matter what is next for them. A pair, a partnership. Lovers, now, all said and yet not all done.
Pulling back that third arm and steadying his other two, Viktor holds each side of Jayce's biceps, giving them a gentle squeeze. A small smile. The look he gave the man when Viktor first told him his name. It felt like a lifetime ago,]
Would you like out of those shimmer stained clothes? [A little teasing, but given what Jayce has been through, he can be forgiven being a messy eater. As for Viktor's clothing, he couldn't very well fit into the uniform he arrived in. All he has to shed is a cloak he fashioned to hang around him, which is already pushed back behind his shoulders. He can unclasp that and push it off himself fully, letting the fabric fall in a heavy cascade to the floor of their room.]
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Date: 2025-03-24 09:58 pm (UTC)he can. he does, with his partner's face in the contours of his hands, a short plant that ends in more teeth than plush flesh because of their spread. ]
I'm not usually this sloppy.
[ a continuation to any light jesting, he's fine with it— makes the reality of what it was a bit more bearable. a bite easier to process, smoother to swallow. jayce crosses his arms at the lower edges of a simple shirt taken off the racks of a gas station and makes a move to yank it toward his head. he'll need help. it's terribly easy to snag on an antler and tear.
underneath, he's all body hair he doesn't want to shave off anymore, and snug bandages around his bust to mask the ugly gape that never closes. he almost feels like— a silly fucking teenager doing something frisky in the backseat, or in the library. giddy, uplifted. he wants to keep feeling that way, although he feels silly with his face caught under stained purple cotton he can't get off because his hands knock into the sharp edges of bone. ]
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Date: 2025-03-25 02:29 am (UTC)It is such a weight off his shoulders, to not repress this affection and fondness for the man before him. Even when Jayce is becoming trapped within a shirt with too small a neck hole.]
You are usually this ridiculous.
[The antlers are not going to give, so the shirt has to. Viktor reaches with his third arm and snip, snip, snip. He opens a larger spot at the neckline so there's room. Careful to follow a straight line, they could salvage it if neither of them tried ripping it off Jayce.]
I believe we'll need to modify your clothing to accommodate this, eeh, magnificent rack of yours.
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Date: 2025-03-25 03:12 pm (UTC)jayce's messy fingertips shave at the borders of the bandages, but otherwise decides against leaving the ugly laceration bare for such a moment. it can't be comfortable to look at. he knows it's not, for him. the few stitches that arcade had made was supposed to help, but who knew how much it's held up. he'd rather focus, for a moment, on what is teasingly magificent. ]
I'm starting to think you like them.
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Date: 2025-03-25 03:38 pm (UTC)[threatening, Viktor, don't just say stuff like that. He's being good, no chewing yet.
His hands fall ever so softly over Jayce's bandaged chest, weary of what was beneath the bandages. Should they really be getting more intimate, knowing the state the man is in? Not all desires are well advised... Viktor will be careful. It feels rather sturdy beneath his palms, thumping with the beat of what was once his own heart. Now Jayce's. The more time goes by, the more suitable that becomes.]
Your heartrate is back up to normal. That's a good sign, I feel. And your skin- it's not so terribly pale. We need to keep you well fed, Jayce. Don't hesitate to ask me. Promise.
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Date: 2025-03-25 04:51 pm (UTC)he is more alive now than he will ever be, going forward. fed. satisfied. powered. full. it was proven, lacking a choice to ignore it, and gods— he didn't even want to. it was too good. too fucking good to say no to, no matter the twinge of disgust still curled into a part of his brain that is dormantly human. he could cry at the thought, during, but he will swallow the bliss with no qualms.
it is not the first time jayce has made a promise either, but he is long done with breaking them. he hasn't broken his last. he will not break this one, closing his eyes and flattening the front of his forehead onto viktor's with his fingers knotting gently into chestnut locks of hair. he wouldn't make it about being filled and healthy. not after what he felt. not after it rivaled the intimate ectacy of sex itself. ]
I swear.
[ and, after a beat— jayce breaks the silence to keep his streak running. he'll be ridiculous, amplify his charm, tip his head sideways just enough to have their lips only ghostly inches away from locking, keeping a featherlight brush as he asks: ]
So . . . An erotic chewing, or—?
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Date: 2025-03-25 05:08 pm (UTC)He suckles at the man's lip as he pulls away to speak again, tasting the lingering ozone of shimmer clung there,]
Is that what you want, Jayce? For me to explore your body with tongue and teeth?
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Date: 2025-03-26 12:52 pm (UTC)he's so . . . glad, to be warm. for both their sakes. digits link against fabric and wedge between the cotton, the flesh of his hips and the body hair that climbs his middle, bringing jayce to prop his palms behind him and allow clear access to buttons and zippers.
that doesn't go without his words to the pointed curve of viktor's jaw, connecting to his ear, ]
Considering what I'll be doing, [ for as long as being undead lasts, but that feels like a bit of a permanent condition, ] It's only fair.
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Date: 2025-03-26 03:33 pm (UTC)The can have some good, present times. Even when things aren't the best, they can take solace and joy in each other.
All those poetics to say that Viktor is taking the other man's pants off, stripping him fully naked. Smirking to do so, even, bemused and eager.]
I want you to enjoy yourself. Fairness isn't so important, so long as that is accomplished.
[Viktor doesn't even know if this strange body of his is capable of arousal in turn, so he's not counting on this being "even" in the traditional sense. He'll take his pleasure in pleasuring Jayce, in bringing him comfort and the bonding, human closeness of sex. The shape that intimacy took didn't matter to Viktor, he just wants to provide and show his love however he can. Too long has that love gone unexpressed.]
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Date: 2025-03-26 04:34 pm (UTC)[ though the glint in his partner's eyes tells him it's not a point of concern for them. they're long gone from traditional, aren't they . . . and that doesn't seem like an inconvenience to jayce. whatever feels best for the both of them. if it's touching, so be it. if it's more biting, so be that, too. as long as the push and pull was mutual, so long as the pleasure was intermutual, that is all the closeness they need. as long as they merge through the barriers of what is purely physical. that is all that jayce wants as the buckles and straps of his brace come undone by his giddy fingers, and his pants and undergarments slip right off from thigh to knees, scar and ankles. ]
Fairness aside, [ with the use of his hands returned to him, jayce can finally electrify viktor's structure by ghosting the rifts of his chitin and metallic shelling with palms and fingerpads. testing where muscle would be, applying more pressure to the juts of would-be bone and kissing the corners of his mouth feather light, continuous,. ] it's something I want.
[ until he presses harder, with invite, and want. ]
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Date: 2025-03-29 11:54 pm (UTC)I want that too- mphh- [his mouth is suddenly pressed against, interrupting the words. Viktor smiles into it after the little flash of surprise. Ah, yes, Jayce is very eager. Adorable, but more than that, it is very bracing to Viktor. Makes him feel secure in this, as certain of their intimacy as he was in their lasting partnership. New ground to tread, very new with their bodies so changed, but better to have this exploration now and together than never.
He kisses Jayce back, open mouthed and greedy. His tongue seeks out Jayce's own, lapping against him with warmth, hoping to taste the man himself and not just the shimmer blood on his breath. Viktor feels along his teeth, along the gap in the center and the sharp pinpoints of Jayce's prominent canines. Amused by himself, Viktor's third arm reaches to back of Jayce's head to hold him there, leaving Viktor's other two hands room to explore the man's body. He can grope along Jayce's shoulders, his absurdly attractive arms. Viktor has crawled himself into the man's lap, one leg between Jayce's, straddling one of his thighs.
Does the kiss even need to break? Neither of them need air, anymore. The limitation no longer exists. They can just indulge and indulge,]
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Date: 2025-03-31 03:35 pm (UTC)it's keeping up with the kissing, simultaneously, that's beginning to wear for him, containing a deep tremor as he seems to withdraw his lips with squeezing fingers rising up the slope of viktor's torso— it's not because his lips were kiss bruised, god he could care less and keep going. he wants to, but . . .
his brain has rewired. he's getting incredibly aroused, their legs chafe and a needy little rock of his hips forward and back spurs more pleasure, and pleasure spurs more want, and want makes him think to bite to experience that more again, and more on top of the physical satisfaction.
he doesn't need it— that'd be gluttony. but fuck does jayce find himself wanting it like another hit of an incredible drug. the next attempt at kissing him, jayce hovers lip to lip and steers his face sideways, his hands sliding below the small of his back. he doesn't want to give the idea that he wishes to stop when he doesn't, but— he'd feel much better with permission (or lack thereof, to which he'll force himself to listen). ]
I'll bite you again like that, Vik.
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Date: 2025-04-02 03:29 pm (UTC)If we move to the bath, perhaps. Are you already feeling weak? [... no, he's getting overly concerned, instead fussing!]
Ground rule, moving forward. No spilling of blood in our bed. We'll never manage to clean it out...
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Date: 2025-04-02 03:59 pm (UTC)greedy. was he always this greedy? jayce has always hit things like nails to a hammerhead when he wanted them. was the spike just a reflection of his fractured, untamed psyche or was there more to his monstrous changes? it takes a grind of his teeth to fall back on what he knows: science. it stays the hand of answering too oddly, where he'd perhaps regret it: ]
I'm not, [ weak. he still sounds miffed. fuck, ] I just— had the urge. Instinctual, [ with the flicking of his wrist, he's trying to figure out how to word it in a way he would overanalyse late. ] the feeling is . . . Similar, when compared to arousal.
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Date: 2025-04-02 10:19 pm (UTC)Your wires have gotten crossed.
[And whose fault is that-?]
I understand. It is... it has become much the same for me. Instinct, arousal, desire, hunger. All feel like the same thing, with far less distinction than before.
[he nudges his forehead to Jayce's, sighing beneath his breath. This is all so much more fraught than Viktor cares for, but then again, he accepts that to be with Jayce. They're both a mess,]
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