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A chill traveled down Jayce’s spine as the low sound of porcelain on marble echoed throughout the council chamber. A slim, pale figure emerged from the shadows at the far end of the room, moving one measured step at a time towards him. The creature looked like a mannequin, all gleaming white and gilded edges, and its long limbs moved with an uncanny poise. As it approached, a familiar voice echoed in the air around them.
“Allow us a moment of civility, Jayce. We must talk.” Viktor’s voice was distorted, but somehow just as gentle as Jayce remembered.
“Viktor,” he spat. “How did you get in here?” With a glance back at Mel, he hefted his hammer and began to walk carefully towards the vessel, crossing the long distance between them.
The vessel tilted its head, looking around the room impassively. “You once benefitted from my knowledge of this place.”
Something in Jayce’s jaw twitched and he ground his teeth together to still the movement. “That was a long time ago.”
The vessel stared back at Jayce, no expression on its blank, unmoving face. “Had you given me the chance, I would have shown you the merits of my work.” It raised one hand, flexing each gilded finger experimentally, before shifting its attention back to Jayce. “ Our work.”
Despite everything, Viktor’s voice- even as corrupted as it was echoing from the porcelain vessel- still sent shivers across Jayce’s skin, raising goosebumps on his forearms. He swallowed roughly, letting the feeling submerge under the rising tide of his anger as he adjusted his grip on his hammer, shifted his weight. “No. This is your obsession. Everything you’ve done to these people, you did alone.” Then he heaved forward, swinging the hammer heavily down towards the slender vessel. Viktor dodged with a graceful backbend, moving faster than Jayce could track. He fired two blasts of energy, but the vessel simply sidestepped both, rising into the air and out of Jayces line of sight. As he rapidly scanned the rafters of the room, Viktor’s voice echoed out again, smooth and unbroken even through the garbled distortion. “Perhaps,” he said calmly, “But I am alone no longer. I now speak with all of their voices.”
“Say what you came here to say.”
“Somehow, I think you already know what must transpire to complete my mission.” Jayce could practically hear the calm smile he knew must be spreading across Viktor’s face. His voice was serene as he continued to speak. “I would prefer to do so in peace. The Noxian has… other intentions.”
Mel raised her head sharply. “Mother?”
As she spoke, the vessel’s gaze snapped over to her, and in less than a second it was standing behind her shoulder. Mel threw up her hands, a shield of light emanating from them, and the vessel tilted its head curiously.
“The Arcane stirs within you.” One hand raised, and the mannequin’s long, golden fingers touched the surface of the shield, pushing through it with a gentle pressure to reach for Mel’s throat.
There was a flash of prismatic light as Jayce’s hammer fired a blast of energy directly towards them. The creature’s head twisted painfully to the side, fingers sparking against Mel’s shield, which flickered out as she collapsed to the ground. As the vessel righted itself with jerky, unnatural movements, Jayce spoke, shifting his grip on the hammer as he did so.
“Viktor,” he began in a tone that was half plea and half warning, “for all our sakes- stay away from the hexgates.” With that, he lunged towards him, swinging his hammer over his head with a blow that he knew was sure to strike true. But as he brought the weapon down, the figure simply sidestepped it, the fingers of that golden hand brushing against its jagged metal and sending Jayce flying into the table with a single flick. The edge collided with his stomach, making him double over in pain. As he gripped the ledge to haul himself back up, lungs heaving as his breath came in labored gasps, the vessel simply stood behind him, regarding him with that same pallid mask.
“Your mind has become rigid, Jayce,” Viktor said, and his tone was almost tender. “Fear clouds your judgement. This chain of events started with you .”
At that, Jayce hurled himself around, his hammer following in an arc as he lunged forward. But he overshot, and the vessel flipped itself into the air, arching over the hammer and above Jayce, four of those golden fingers finding purchase just below his scalp as it flew over him, landing securely on the table behind him. The legs locked themselves around Jayce’s waist, and the hand that wasn’t gripping his hair went to cup his chin. The touch was gentle, but as Jayce struggled to free himself he found that the limbs were unmoving.
“In my confusion, I was unable to reconcile this,” Viktor murmured softly, his voice dropping to a low rumble. “But… I now understand. The glorious evolution is destined.” The vessel’s grip on Jayce’s jaw shifted as it leaned down over him, and although he knew that Viktor was far from the room, that this was nothing more than a lifeless doll, he swore he could feel his partner’s- well. Just Viktor, now. He swore he could feel Viktor’s breath ghost across his skin.
Viktor continued, his voice now echoing directly into Jayce’s ear. “Let us instead do this once again as partners.” Despite himself, Jayce’s pulse fluttered. A familiar pang of longing shot through him, coupled with the new but already all-too-familiar pang of grief. “My partner died in this room,” he spat out through gritted teeth, willing himself to hold back the tears that were pricking his eyes.
The vessel’s hand threaded itself more securely into Jayce’s hair, and Viktor sighed. “Oh, Jayce,” he said, a strange pity creeping into his tone. “I’ve never felt more alive.” The cool thumb of the vessel’s hand traced Jayce’s bottom lip, and Jayce couldn’t stop the shiver that wracked his entire body at that sensation. He felt like he might cry.
“But you…” Viktor continued softly, cold metal fingers continuing to caress his face and comb through his hair. “You’ve fallen apart without me, haven’t you?”
And that was simply too much for Jayce to take. The soft touch of those cool golden hands, so unlike Viktor’s own, unlike how Jayce remembered, still made him tremble with the force of all of his want, all of his grief, all of his anger at himself. The sob that welled up in his throat then couldn’t be suppressed, and then he was crying, tears spilling over in a flood that didn’t seem to be dissipating. He gasped for breath as sobs wracked his chest, and he wanted to curl up in the lap of this cursed automaton and cling to it, searching for some facsimile of Viktor to hold onto. But the vessel’s grip was firm and he couldn’t move. The hand in his hair was gently scratching at his scalp, and the other was stroking a thumb over his cheek in a soothing motion. He wanted to lean into the touch. It took him half a beat to realize that he already was, that he had turned his face into the vessel’s cool palm, and that it was wiping the tears from under his eyes with horrible tenderness.
“Oh, Jayce…” Viktor murmured, smoothing the hair back from Jayce’s forehead with the vessel’s other hand. The simple intimacy of the act made Jayce’s heart crack with grief, and he snatched the vessel's wrist, tearing his face away from the hand cupping his face.
“Don’t,” he tried to say angrily, but his voice broke, and the word came out strangled instead. “Don’t do that. Don’t give me pity.”
The vessel tilted its head, looking down at Jayce blankly. He wished bitterly that Viktor could’ve come himself, instead of this cold replica. He wanted to be able to read his face, to understand what was going through the man’s mind. Even now, he could picture how Viktor would look down to the minute detail- moles dotting his skin like stars, dark, wavy hair framing his face as he leaned down, bright eyes piercing Jayce’s, pinning him down with a single look like a butterfly to a corkboard. The image was so palpable that Jayce had to close his eyes to clear it.
The vessel interrupted his train of thought with a sudden sharp tug of his hair, making Jayce’s eyes fly open again. Above him, the vessel’s smooth porcelain face hovered only inches away.
“Then what, Jayce?” Viktor asked, his tone even. Jayce blinked, his heart stuttering.
“I don’t- what?”
“If you don’t want pity, Jayce,” Viktor clarified, “then what do you want?” He punctuated his question with another sharp tug, and the sensation sparked through his entire body, making his breath hitch.
“I want you to let me go,” Jayce tried, forcing the words out through gritted teeth, “so that I can kick your ass and stop you from turning everyone in the city into these- mindless pawns.”
“No, that’s not it.” The vessel leaned down until its cold, pale cheek brushed Jayce’s.
“I mean, Jayce,” Viktor murmured, his voice rumbling directly into Jayce’s ear, “what do you really want?”
The sound of his partner’s voice, thickly accented and sonorous, sent a shiver down Jayce’s spine, one that wracked his whole body. He tried to reply, opening and closing his mouth dumbly, as the vessel pulled back slightly to stare down at him.
“I- I don’t-” Jayce inhaled shakily in a vain effort to compose himself. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“I think you do.” Viktor sounded almost amused, and the vessel’s grip on his hair tightened again, its other hand cradling his chin again, thumb passing over his bottom lip. Jayce shivered. “I think you know exactly what I’m talking about.” Viktor’s thumb gently traced the seam of Jayce’s lips, and without thinking Jayce obliged; he let his mouth fall open as Viktor slipped the pad of his thumb in, a soft whine escaping Jayce out as he did so. He looked up at the vessel, still hovering so close above him, and felt an old ache in his chest flare up when that blank mask was still the only thing looking back at him, instead of- golden eyes boring into his own, intense and bright with fury; eyes like pools of sunlight that Jayce would gladly blind himself by staring into, eyes he could get lost in, a single bright point of focus to cling to while Viktor dashed his heart against the rocks-
Jayce screwed his eyes shut, blinking back tears as he did so. Viktor chuckled, a cruel, bitter sound. “There it is.” The vessel dragged its thumb out of Jayce’s mouth and over his bottom lip, smearing saliva down his chin. Its other hand trailed slowly downwards to press a flat palm to the expanse of his chest, directly over his heart. Jayce could feel it hammering wildly, and somehow he knew that Viktor could feel it too, even with only a metal hand to pick up the sensation and a tenuous astral connection to transmit it. Then the vessel’s hand slid up to encircle Jayce’s throat, squeezing tightly, and he felt his face flame as Viktor cut off his oxygen flow with expert precision.
As he fought for breath, Jayce’s eyes fluttered open, gazing dazedly up at the vessel, and he felt a heat stir low in his gut. He was struggling against the vessel’s firm grip, trying to shake it off, but his efforts were weak as he felt his body going limp. “Vik-” he gasped out, a thrill going through him as the vessel pressed down harder against his windpipe. Without thinking, he craned his neck, leaning into the pressure. “Viktor-” he said again, almost pleading. His heart was twisting in his chest, anger and grief and need battling inside of him, and he didn’t know exactly what it was he was begging for.
Viktor seemed to understand, though. The vessel unwound its legs from his torso, shifting out from behind him before pushing him back roughly against the table, long legs boxing him in as it held him down by the throat. It leaned down, free hand sliding languidly up Jayce’s body, palm flattening against his stomach where it began to untuck his shirt, slipping underneath the fabric to dig icy fingers into Jayce’s waist. The grip was so strong that Jayce could practically feel bruises forming, and a needy whine escaped his lips as he bucked up his hips uselessly. The sensation of the vessel’s cool fingers against his burning skin made him a little dizzy- or maybe that was the lack of oxygen. His mouth was gaping open like a fish as he gasped for breath.
“Frankly, Jayce, this is a little ridiculous,” Viktor breathed, his voice only inches from Jayce’s ear. “I thought you’d be more difficult to best. Though I guess all that muscle means nothing when you’re this… desperate.”
Jayce let out another whine, his face hot with shame. “I’m- not- desperate,” he managed to gasp out between labored breaths.
If the vessel had possessed a face, Jayce was sure Viktor would’ve raised a skeptical eyebrow. “Oh, really?” His low voice betrayed a note of amusement, and then the vessel shifted, slotting a pale thigh firmly between Jayce’s legs, drawing out a broken moan. The heat at Jayce’s core throbbed at the sensation, and a gentle pressure on the small of his back encouraged him to buck his hips up again, grinding onto the vessel’s thigh. The sensation, though muffled as it was by layers of fabric, made Jayce bite back a groan, and without thinking he repeated the movement, chasing the stimulation with increasing neediness. The heat between his legs began to ache, the thick material of his pants chafing uncomfortably against him. He whined, squirming under the vessel’s grip as he tried to somehow get his pants off hands-free. “Please-” he began, stopping himself with another frustrated groan.
The vessel released its grip on Jayce’s throat to rake its fingers through his hair. “What is it, Jayce?” Viktor purred, his voice smug as he watched Jayce writhe. “What do you need? Use your words.”
Jayce ground against the vessel’s thigh, looking pleadingly up at the vessel’s featureless face. “Need you, Viktor, please,” he whined impatiently. “Isn’t enough, I need to feel you--”
“Oh, is that all?” Viktor said calmly, and the hand still gripping Jayce’s hip drifted down to his belt, unbuckling it with ease and dipping down to press its cool fingers against his throbbing heat, palming him through his boxers. Jayce’s hips stuttered at the sudden contact, and a low moan escaped his lips as the vessel began to rub him with purpose, fingers teasing at his entrance through the fabric while a thumb circled his clit. Each deliberate touch sent sparks jolting up through Jayce’s body, and he bore his hips down against the vessel’s hand desperately, heat spreading through him and making him shiver with desire. He bit back a whimper at the way the dampening fabric of his underwear slid against him under the vessel’s insistent movements, and Viktor chuckled.
“You’re soaking your boxers, Jayce,” he murmured in a low, patronizing tone. “I haven’t even touched you properly yet.”
Jayce squirmed under him, eyes trained hard on the ceiling to avoid catching a glimpse of the blank face staring down at him. “So touch me, ” he blurted, the words slipping out as a desperate whine rather than in the assertive tone he’d intended. Viktor laughed again, obliging him by snaking his fingers under the waistband of Jayce’s boxers, curling them deliberately into Jayce’s core and pressing his thumb against his clit. Jayce let out a broken moan. The vessel’s fingers worked into him at an obscenely slow pace, stroking him almost lovingly before dislodging and trailing away. Viktor brought the vessel’s hand out of Jayce’s boxers, leaving him whining and rocking his hips at the loss of contact, before he pressed them against Jayce’s lips, pushing inside his mouth in much the same way.
“See, Jayce?” Viktor murmured as the taste of Jayce’s own sex clinging to the vessel’s porcelain fingers filled his mouth. “So wet for me already. You really are desperate.” Viktor probed further into Jayce’s mouth, those cold fingers pressing heavily against the back of his tongue, filling the cavity there. Jayce moaned at the sensation, but as his teeth scraped against porcelain knuckles, it was accompanied by a head rush that wasn’t entirely pleasant. He tried to chase it away by screwing his eyes shut and curling his tongue around those fingers, trying to warm them, picturing Viktor’s golden eyes boring into his- anything to chase away the panic that was crowding at the edges of his mind.
Because Viktor wasn’t here, and that realization crashed down on Jayce like an icy wave. It wasn’t Viktor’s fingers that had pushed into him, that were now exploring his mouth. If he opened his eyes, Viktor wouldn’t be hovering over him, his dark hair framing cut cheekbones and a teasing smirk. He couldn’t even smell Viktor, that telltale combination of axle grease and cinnamon. Viktor was miles away, and the thing currently turning Jayce into a drooling mess was just a lifeless automaton. Suddenly its fingers felt alien in Jayce’s mouth, and more out of instinct than anything else, Jayce slid down to kneel between the vessel’s legs, dislodging the fingers along the way. He didn’t look up, didn’t open his eyes- only pressed his face desperately between the vessel’s legs, nosing for something that wasn’t there. His hands curled tightly around the back of the vessel’s thighs, and he pressed a desperate kiss to the gilded seam between hip and leg before moving downward, his wet mouth sliding over the smooth, cold crotch. Tears of frustration pricked his eyes. Viktor slid a hand into Jayce’s hair, carding it gently back from his forehead. The sensation provided only minimal relief- Jayce sighed into it, craning his neck to chase the sensation but keeping his eyes closed and continuing his efforts in vain. After a few beats, he let out a frustrated whine and pressed his face flat against the vessel’s thigh, squeezing his eyes shut more firmly in an effort to hold back the tears that were welling up unbidden.
Viktor tugged his hair sharply, pulling him off. “Jayce,” he started, “what on earth are you doing?” His tone was teasing, but there was an edge of concern as he continued. “I knew you were eager to please, but this is… a bit much.” Jayce didn’t respond, keeping his eyes shut tightly and his head down, shrinking in on himself. With a sharp tug, Viktor tilted Jayce’s face up towards him. “Look at me when I speak to you, Jayce.” It was Viktor’s voice- stern and low and laced with wry humor, just as he remembered- that sent a shiver down Jayce’s spine, prompting him to obey; reluctantly, he opened his eyes. He almost expected to meet Viktor’s golden ones with his own- and when his gaze fell instead upon featureless porcelain, everything came rushing out of him, and the sob he had been choking down burst from his throat. Before he knew it, his shoulders were shaking as he doubled over on himself, tears spilling from his eyes as he wrapped his arms around himself, sobbing openly now.
The vessel went perfectly still, the hand in Jayce’s hair tightening its grip, then loosening it, as if unsure what to do- how, or even if, to comfort Jayce. “Please- just-” Jayce tried to choke out between gasps of breath. “I need you here, Vik, I need to- fuck. ” He buried his face in his hands, half out of shame and half to block out the image of the lifeless vessel standing motionless above him. “I just want to make you feel good. I just want to-” make it better, he almost said, biting his tongue to stop the words from spilling out. “I don’t know what to do.” He looked up at the vessel then, eyes blurring with tears so that he could almost pretend Viktor was really standing above him, hand loosely tangled in his hair. “Just… tell me what to do, Viktor,” he said balefully, his voice cracking with desperate, aching sorrow.
Viktor let out a breath, and Jayce could feel it fanning warm against his ear. Viktor’s voice was near when he spoke. “Come back to me. Be my partner again.” There was no hope in his voice- only resignation, and Jayce knew his own tone mirrored Viktor’s as he dropped his head, leaning it weakly against the vessel’s pale thigh as he sighed. “I can’t.”
The vessel’s hand tightened in Jayce’s hair for a brief moment before it slid down, cupping Jayce’s face. He couldn’t help but lean into it, fresh tears pricking his reddened eyes. The vessel nodded. “Then there’s nothing to be done.” It let its fingers trail over Jayce’s cheek before stepping away. “Goodbye, Jayce.”
Jayce didn’t watch it leave. He stayed there, on his knees, listening to the echo of its footsteps recede into the distance. By the time he rose to straighten his clothes and wipe the tears from his face, Viktor was long gone.