[ without hesitation, he hears that cough and he reaches to place a hand on Viktor's back, between his shoulder blades. He didn't really meant to cause that fluster and he catches Viktor's face and the fact that his ears are turning pink. He really didn't think it's outrageous. Of course Viktor is better than the real thing. ]
I'm not flattering you. [ He thinks Viktor has to know he's being entirely sincere. He's rarely anything but that. There's a lip jutting out, the slightest pout at it, too. Which he immediately tries to pull in and get control of. ]
Well, I made a bit of extra doing quests and stuff. So -- [ They looked fun! He still thinks they're fun. He shuffles through the bag and gets a pile out. There's a variety of doujinshi now scattered on the table. Some where they're in other costumes - knights and prince, things from around a lab here, stuff like that. There's some that have R18 on the cover, others that are perfectly game. ]
I thought it would be neat to see what sort of things they make here. I think they see us around sometimes. Definitely me. And then I bought this business. [ And, with a click of his tongue he offers. ] They call our relationship "Jayvik". It's like our names mixed.
[ It's just a slight cough here or there, but Viktor hasn't said anything about his health, not wanting to worry Jayce. He does notice that his lungs and chest do feel heavy at times but it's nothing he's unused to. Either way, Viktor looks anywhere but at Jayce as he says that. The pout would surely take him out if he saw it, and Viktor is far too stubborn to make a quip back.
He listens silently as he looks through the stack of books Jayce has brought back. His face was getting ever more heated. Why. Why did he buy so many?? Viktor is still just as confused about Jayce's intentions as ever. ] Do they...really see our relationship like that?
[ He spares one quick glance Jayce's way before he gets into his head again and looks back at some of those cover arts. He sounds...confused, but it doesn't sound like he minds it either. If anything, his expression is thoughtful and amused, if only slightly. ] The creativity is inspired, I will give them that. On second thought...Jayvik is utterly ridiculous.
[ Jayce is pretty damn certain why their relationship is perceived like that. And he's certain that the three very public kisses they shared, each lasting a little longer than the last, probably didn't help. Plus, he does talk about Viktor a lot when he is with the locals. So even if they don't see him often, they know of him and the way Jayce perceives him well.
He has an uncanny ability to make it sound like Viktoir hangs the sun, moon, and stars in the sky when he talks about them, too.
No wonder people perceive their relationship as this. Some may even think that these doujinshi aren't even really inventing a relationship - that this is the actual relationship that they actually had - just put into new scenarios. ]
I mean -- I guess so. I don't really mind, though. We're really not alone in this, Viktor. There's tons of stuff with other people, too. It seems they pay close attention to people who came here like us.
[ And he doesn't say way because he worries that if he does - Viktor will stop allowing him to show affection in the way that he does, no matter how public it is. ]
I know. [ Ah. But. His hangups go far beyond this place and the locals' perceived relationship of the two of them. It also doesn't help him with his own conflicted and hidden feelings. He's going through it right now. ] I'm not used to...this sort of thing, never have been, as you well know.
[ He would like to disappear into the ground if at all possible. Or he'll just shut himself up in the lab and only go outside when completely necessary, or if Jayce nudges him to, yes, that is the proper way to handle this.
He gives Jayce a look like 'what' when he says that. ] That also sounds...eh, not great.
That's also not...what I meant. [ Said muttered under his breath as he flips through another on of those sappy comics. This one is about their younger years at the academy this time. It's more...erotic than the last, so he closes it quickly before sighing. But, yeah, the point is that Viktor doesn't think it should be a thing that's named at all, because that makes it tangible and real and Viktor can't handle that right now!! But he doesn't want to say it outright. ]
I know. It's -- well. [ He can get it, in a way. It's awkward to have your life spotlighted, no matter if it's positive or negative. But he also can't blame people for being intrigued by him. He's mysterious and easy on the eyes. He has a nice voice that Jayce could listen to for hours he -- realizes he stopped mid-thought and was quiet. ]
The people here are curious about you. They see you as whatever you decide they do. You don't have to be in the spotlight...[ But he also doesn't think Viktor should hide. Ah, what a tragedy it would be if no one but Jayce got to see him. As selfish as he can be... ]
Ah? [ He doesn't really see what the problem is. He thinks the name-mash is fun. It rolls off the tongue. So when Viktor snaps the book shut Jayce cannot resist and reaches to take it, opening it in front of himself to possibly the smuttiest page in the entire book -- something featuring them bending over a desk, fingers in a mouth, and way more saliva than he's ever seen a single human produce. Jayce feels like he just stepped right up to the fire in his forge the way he gets immediately hot and his face lights up. He snaps it shut and pulls up another.
He can't think of any words right now. It seems like the best choice is to find something more innocent. He doesn't even know if this one will do it.
This one is -- well, it seems like it's a prince - Viktor - and his knight, Jayce. ]
[ It's not just awkward. Viktor hates it because people can see his flaws and imperfections to a startling degree, and he hates how he looks, so this is just adding fuel to that fire. ] I don't see why. I'm not certainly not...anything to, ah, look at. There are much better people for that sort of thing, I would think.
[ There's that self deprecation again. But that thought is completely pushed to the back of his mind as Viktor watches Jayce, wide-eyed, take that book off the desk. He takes a sharp breath as he says something. ] Jayce I wouldn't- [ ah, too late then. If he's opened up to the page that Viktor had just closed, it's definitely too late as he stares a bit wide-eyed and embarrassed himself. He doesn't even know why he's embarrassed; maybe it's due to the overtly lewd situation, or perhaps it's because that's a fantasy he's entertained one too many times in his own mind. Maybe it's because it's some kind of perversion of their partnership that it also makes him feel a bit guilty for wanting it so badly.
Jayce's reaction is something to behold, though. Jayce is getting flustered, bothered, turned on, maybe? He's surprised, but that's due to his self-hatred of thinking that Jayce would be entirely disgusted by the image or even the thought. He wonders what Jayce is thinking. Seeing himself drawn, bent over a desk in the academy, forced to be quiet with two of Jayce's fingers in his mouth while he's taken by his partner of seven years.
Viktor feels a heat coiling in his stomach and groin, fleeting as it is, it's there, and he crosses his legs underneath the desk to temper that heat. Right, he swallows thickly as he looks away. They should really find something else. ]
This one isn't bad. Me as a prince? And you're my shining knight in armor, is it? [ An amused look as he leans back in his seat to give Jayce a heated look. ] Should I call you Sir Talis then?
[ Viktor, you're playing a dangerous game right now, especially after that rather smutty misstep. Or maybe that's why?? ]
[ No, there's not better people to look at Jayce wants to protest. But he also doesn't want Viktor to think it's just Jayce flattering or appeasing him. Because he wouldn't be. He genuinely thinks Viktor is attractive a thought he's just realizing is settling in his brain at probably the worst possible time. A thought accompanied by viewing them a very well drawn piece of art in an exceptionally compromising position that Jayce realizes must be plucked from his subconscious. Something he didn't know he would think about but now he's pretty sure it's permanently burned into his memory. He wants to see more of them -- like this. But he can't do that right now with Viktor here.
There's a sudden bashfulness at the whole thing.
And then Viktor says what he does and his entire mind blanks out.
He forgets all words and language. And it's obvious just by his expression that Jayce talis, professional yapper, is at a loss for words. The look Viktor gives him isn't helping him, either. His face must be on fire, right? It has to be some sort of summer magic Viktor has and is using on him, right? His brain is working overtime to pull anything from him -- make him say anything. ]
Ah. [ Not what he meant. He shifts, taking a seat next to Viktor before his legs and body betray him. ]
I mean -- [ Yes. He returns the look at Viktor, face still very flushed. And then, as if to add fuel to the fire: ] If you do, I have to call you Your Highness.
[ Oh. He's definitely enjoying this. This being a problem of Jayce's own making, might he add. If he hadn't brought these books in, they wouldn't be getting into this mess, but it's a mess Viktor is not too displeased about while he teases the other man into looking like he's about to melt from the heat of his own blush. His eyes watch Jayce as he takes a seat, half-lidded as a smirk tugs at the edges of his mouth. ]
That goes without saying. Knights are supposed to follow their chivalric code, and I believe one of them is to listen to their king, or prince, in this case, no? So I'm certainly amenable to it.
[ There's no sense in even pretending he's not blushing. His face is so hot he's certain that more of his face is red than isn't. It reaches the tips of his ears and the back of his neck. He's used to the warmth of the forge but this -- it's so distinctly different and though he's not a stranger to the feeling -- well, he's certainly yet to experience it around Viktor.
And he can't even bring himself to ask Viktor to stop because he's not mad about it. He doesn't know if he wants him to. The other seems to be enjoying it, and if Jayce were honest, he is, too. It's a feeling that settles deep within his gut and he's pretty sure that something has unlocked inside him that he didn't know was there.
Logically, intellectually - he's very aware of what's going on. But that's currently being overridden by emotion and instinct. And when he gets out of the moment for a little while, he'll come to wholly realize it. But for now -- he's going for a ride he didn't know he was on and allowing himself to be pulled along it. After all, one shouldn't be opposed to some self-discovery.
And the way he's looking at Viktor still has that unmistakable yearning that he always has. Affection and fondness for the man who's teasing him and he's willingly participating in it. ]
I wouldn't mind. [ What? Listening to another's commands? Listening to Viktor's commands? ] I'd listen to your every command. [ He doesn't need to be a knight to do that. ] Not just because you're the Prince but because I want to.
[ He sees it as nothing more than a confession to his loyalty for Viktor. ]
[ Viktor's brain cannot compute what Jayce has just said to him, so he actually stares back at the other man with confusion written all over his face and in his eyes. I'd listen to your every command. Jayce Talis, what are you even saying??
Viktor can feel his face just overheat as he looks away, clearing his throat, because, hm. ] That's quite the proposition, Jayce. Quite dangerous, too.
[ Just going to ignore the hammering in his chest and the fact that a pool of heat has coiled itself down in the pit of his stomach. But he's probably teased the other man enough and at his own expense too, it seemed, somehow getting taken by surprise by Jayce's sincerity and overabundance of affection and honesty once again. Affection and adoration that he still doesn't understand entirely. Or why Jayce would so vehemently expose it to him like some offering to do with as he pleased when he hardly thought he was deserving of it in the first place.
He shifts a little in his seat, his eyes taking fleeting glances back at the other man, cheeks still hot. ] While the thought is tempting...
[ But Jayce does look ever so handsome with the color red staining his cheeks. He does lean in a bit closer, his eyes finally meeting Jayce's. ] I wouldn't wish to command you to do anything. I fear that in doing so, I would lose one of the parts of you that is rather endearing, albeit confusing at times.
[ Jayce's uncanny ability to catch him off guard. That spontaneity has been the cause of so many breakthroughs and strangely intriguing late-night discussions. ]
[ Jayce can feel his heart hammering mercilessly against his chest. Here he was, freely offering something to Viktor and getting a response like that. Even in a hypothetical, Viktor would never abuse his trust like that. It was hard to deny how fuzzy that made him feel about it all. His eyes softened a bit - still full of that want directed at the man looking into his eyes.
His legs weren't just feeling weak from the thought of what it would be like to replicate the images in that doujinshi (though if he were forced to admit it, that was something on his mind), it was from something else. Affection, maybe? The word hits him like nothing else had.
In all this time as partners and friends, had this thought been behind lock and key? Just waiting for something to turn and unlatch itself to be set free. For all the affection that Jayce has for the people around him - Mel, his mother, Caitlyn - the affection he has for Viktor is just as everything else is of Viktor's - uniquely his.
It reminds him of the day they met, like he's on the verge of some major discovery. So he has to keep at it. He tries to find the words, on the tip of his tongue. He's enjoying this conversation. He enjoys the pleasant heat that's settled deep in his core.
Does he want to look through more of them? See if he can find something else to catch his attention. Yes... but maybe he should do that on his own time. He's had a challenging enough time to pull himself from the image.
His heart is racing impossibly fast. Here is Viktor being so perfectly kind to him in ways that others weren't. In ways that weren't because they wanted and needed something of him. Endearing. Confusing. It's so perfectly said. ] I guess that's why we work so well together. Even when I'm confusing, you understand what I mean.
[ He thinks, at least. Viktor's probably the only person that can help Jayce shift his perspective easily. He finally shifts a few of the books to the side to peek over at what Viktor's working on. Refocus. ]
Of course. Your calculations and schematics, while a bit sloppy at times, have always been incredible and thought-provoking...but they've always made sense.
[ Said in a somewhat raspy whisper. Viktor's heart is much the same, especially with how close they're now sitting to each other. He can feel his palms getting sweaty as his breath hitches ever so slightly in his throat. At Jayce's words, Viktor can't help but smile, softly, and nod as he looks away towards the blueprints and the beginnings of a small copper body meant for their robot.
Right. Refocus, that's what he was busy with before Jayce arrived. ] Ah. Y-Yes, that's right. I was going through runic configurations for its intended movements. I don't think using the acceleration rune would be wise, unless we would like it to be flung across the segments at high velocity...
[ Which would not end well for their poor little robot. ]
[ It's challenging to recenter himself on actual work now. He's pretty sure he ruined hours of his work day with his curiosity. He'll have to make up for it later. But, he can at least pretend to be focused while he tries to get there. They're close, though. And though he's caught blushes and the teasing he wonders if Viktor is as flustered as he is. He has to be, right? He blushed and all of that.
And every time he tries to think, the image in that doujinshi comes back to his mind.
Then Viktor acting as his Prince. He had managed to calm himself down for only a few moments before his thoughts brought him back to the obvious blush. Still, he peeks over at Viktor's work. ]
Yeah. We should...probably not send it on a segments tour. We could try to balance a couple of different runes and... uh - see if that takes.
[ He's staring, but he doesn't fully realize it. He thinks about how beautiful Viktor is. Jayce is considering himself lucky to have him in his line of sight. He lets out an intentional breath. Thoughts for later. ]
Yes. Definitely not. [ Viktor is trying not to be distracted by the wildly inappropriate thoughts now careening through his mind, thanks to Jayce's little stunt. He should make him apologize for it, for now rendering him incapable of working on their project, but he bites his tongue. Admitting to that would be admitting to his feelings and thoughts about the other, and Viktor cannot do that right now, so he's just going to try and refocus back on his work.
It normally works, but with Jayce so close, there's a sort of tension in the air that is almost oppressive but thrumming with latent energy. He is more aware of Jayce's muscular body, his scent of cologne and soot from the forge, and his intentional breath does not go unnoticed. ]
I'll make some adjustments. [ His eyes finally tick back toward Jayce, the heat of his blush lingering on his cheeks as he does so. ] Unless you have any other suggestions?
Oh - I - [ It's hard to concentrate this close to Viktor right now. He's realized that the source of his confusion is Viktor. The reason that his heart is beating so quickly. The reason for the deep flush of pink on his cheeks. The reason that he's a little turned on right now. All sensations he's going to have to take some time to really think about it.
He'd never want to share things like that with Viktor without knowing it wasn't just some experience sparked by some horny books drawn by people fascinated with their partnership. It's not the appropriate time to let his thoughts settle into the book. So his attention shifts.
Focus. Robots. Work. Robots. Work. HexGems. Runes. Magic. Science. Okay - he thinks he's calmed down just enough to answer something. ]
I think that's the right way to go. [ Like most things they do, some tests need to be done. ] But we won't really know until we try it. But the good news is with one arm working right, the other should work similarly. Hell, figuring out the arms will probably make the legs easier, too. [ Not the same, probably, but similar! ]
Mm, yes. It should be easy to replicate, not just on the bot, but on whatever else we decide to make, too. I should like to run some field tests to make sure the oscillations are stabilizing properly...
[ He will idly twirl a piece of hair with a finger as he speaks, jotting down notes on a spare piece of paper. ] Once we figure out the stabilization pattern needed, everything else will fall into place.
[ His cheeks are still rosy as he looks back at Jayce, turning his head ever so slightly to give him a small smile. ] This reminds me of the past. It's...enjoyable doing this again with you, together, as partners.
Yeah... same. [ Jayce manages to say it confidently. He did miss this a lot. He always felt so at ease working with Viktor. He always felt comfortable and confident in their work. And while he was good with the social aspect that was necessary, this was by far his preferred state.
But honestly, he's finding himself paying far more attention to Viktor in this moment instead of the work itself. Watching as those strands of hair wrap around his finger and he seems to not realizing what he's doing. He's paying attention to the shape of his hands, the way he writes, and -- oh, Viktor's looking at him again.
Without hesitation, he sits upright, hands folding directly on the desk in front of him. His back stiff, clearly a position he had just snapped into to pull himself from his staring. His face is a shade of pink, showing that he's undeniably flustered. What was Viktor saying beyond enjoying this time again?
Shit. Oh right. Stabilization pattern. Finally, he draws out a few runes on a piece of paper. It's a simple series - only four. ]
This is kind of where you were going but maybe -- [ Taps the third one. ] This one? Is something else.
[ It's fine. He's fine. He's totally not turned on and can't chill out. ]
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I'm not flattering you. [ He thinks Viktor has to know he's being entirely sincere. He's rarely anything but that. There's a lip jutting out, the slightest pout at it, too. Which he immediately tries to pull in and get control of. ]
Well, I made a bit of extra doing quests and stuff. So -- [ They looked fun! He still thinks they're fun. He shuffles through the bag and gets a pile out. There's a variety of doujinshi now scattered on the table. Some where they're in other costumes - knights and prince, things from around a lab here, stuff like that. There's some that have R18 on the cover, others that are perfectly game. ]
I thought it would be neat to see what sort of things they make here. I think they see us around sometimes. Definitely me. And then I bought this business. [ And, with a click of his tongue he offers. ] They call our relationship "Jayvik". It's like our names mixed.
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He listens silently as he looks through the stack of books Jayce has brought back. His face was getting ever more heated. Why. Why did he buy so many?? Viktor is still just as confused about Jayce's intentions as ever. ] Do they...really see our relationship like that?
[ He spares one quick glance Jayce's way before he gets into his head again and looks back at some of those cover arts. He sounds...confused, but it doesn't sound like he minds it either. If anything, his expression is thoughtful and amused, if only slightly. ] The creativity is inspired, I will give them that. On second thought...Jayvik is utterly ridiculous.
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He has an uncanny ability to make it sound like Viktoir hangs the sun, moon, and stars in the sky when he talks about them, too.
No wonder people perceive their relationship as this. Some may even think that these doujinshi aren't even really inventing a relationship - that this is the actual relationship that they actually had - just put into new scenarios. ]
I mean -- I guess so. I don't really mind, though. We're really not alone in this, Viktor. There's tons of stuff with other people, too. It seems they pay close attention to people who came here like us.
[ And he doesn't say way because he worries that if he does - Viktor will stop allowing him to show affection in the way that he does, no matter how public it is. ]
Would Vikjay be better?
[ The point is...missed. ]
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[ He would like to disappear into the ground if at all possible. Or he'll just shut himself up in the lab and only go outside when completely necessary, or if Jayce nudges him to, yes, that is the proper way to handle this.
He gives Jayce a look like 'what' when he says that. ] That also sounds...eh, not great.
That's also not...what I meant. [ Said muttered under his breath as he flips through another on of those sappy comics. This one is about their younger years at the academy this time. It's more...erotic than the last, so he closes it quickly before sighing. But, yeah, the point is that Viktor doesn't think it should be a thing that's named at all, because that makes it tangible and real and Viktor can't handle that right now!! But he doesn't want to say it outright. ]
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The people here are curious about you. They see you as whatever you decide they do. You don't have to be in the spotlight...[ But he also doesn't think Viktor should hide. Ah, what a tragedy it would be if no one but Jayce got to see him. As selfish as he can be... ]
Ah? [ He doesn't really see what the problem is. He thinks the name-mash is fun. It rolls off the tongue. So when Viktor snaps the book shut Jayce cannot resist and reaches to take it, opening it in front of himself to possibly the smuttiest page in the entire book -- something featuring them bending over a desk, fingers in a mouth, and way more saliva than he's ever seen a single human produce. Jayce feels like he just stepped right up to the fire in his forge the way he gets immediately hot and his face lights up. He snaps it shut and pulls up another.
He can't think of any words right now. It seems like the best choice is to find something more innocent. He doesn't even know if this one will do it.
This one is -- well, it seems like it's a prince - Viktor - and his knight, Jayce. ]
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[ There's that self deprecation again. But that thought is completely pushed to the back of his mind as Viktor watches Jayce, wide-eyed, take that book off the desk. He takes a sharp breath as he says something. ] Jayce I wouldn't- [ ah, too late then. If he's opened up to the page that Viktor had just closed, it's definitely too late as he stares a bit wide-eyed and embarrassed himself. He doesn't even know why he's embarrassed; maybe it's due to the overtly lewd situation, or perhaps it's because that's a fantasy he's entertained one too many times in his own mind. Maybe it's because it's some kind of perversion of their partnership that it also makes him feel a bit guilty for wanting it so badly.
Jayce's reaction is something to behold, though. Jayce is getting flustered, bothered, turned on, maybe? He's surprised, but that's due to his self-hatred of thinking that Jayce would be entirely disgusted by the image or even the thought. He wonders what Jayce is thinking. Seeing himself drawn, bent over a desk in the academy, forced to be quiet with two of Jayce's fingers in his mouth while he's taken by his partner of seven years.
Viktor feels a heat coiling in his stomach and groin, fleeting as it is, it's there, and he crosses his legs underneath the desk to temper that heat. Right, he swallows thickly as he looks away. They should really find something else. ]
This one isn't bad. Me as a prince? And you're my shining knight in armor, is it? [ An amused look as he leans back in his seat to give Jayce a heated look. ] Should I call you Sir Talis then?
[ Viktor, you're playing a dangerous game right now, especially after that rather smutty misstep. Or maybe that's why?? ]
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There's a sudden bashfulness at the whole thing.
And then Viktor says what he does and his entire mind blanks out.
He forgets all words and language. And it's obvious just by his expression that Jayce talis, professional yapper, is at a loss for words. The look Viktor gives him isn't helping him, either. His face must be on fire, right? It has to be some sort of summer magic Viktor has and is using on him, right? His brain is working overtime to pull anything from him -- make him say anything. ]
Ah. [ Not what he meant. He shifts, taking a seat next to Viktor before his legs and body betray him. ]
I mean -- [ Yes. He returns the look at Viktor, face still very flushed. And then, as if to add fuel to the fire: ] If you do, I have to call you Your Highness.
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That goes without saying. Knights are supposed to follow their chivalric code, and I believe one of them is to listen to their king, or prince, in this case, no? So I'm certainly amenable to it.
[ Viktor STOP. ]
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And he can't even bring himself to ask Viktor to stop because he's not mad about it. He doesn't know if he wants him to. The other seems to be enjoying it, and if Jayce were honest, he is, too. It's a feeling that settles deep within his gut and he's pretty sure that something has unlocked inside him that he didn't know was there.
Logically, intellectually - he's very aware of what's going on. But that's currently being overridden by emotion and instinct. And when he gets out of the moment for a little while, he'll come to wholly realize it. But for now -- he's going for a ride he didn't know he was on and allowing himself to be pulled along it. After all, one shouldn't be opposed to some self-discovery.
And the way he's looking at Viktor still has that unmistakable yearning that he always has. Affection and fondness for the man who's teasing him and he's willingly participating in it. ]
I wouldn't mind. [ What? Listening to another's commands? Listening to Viktor's commands? ] I'd listen to your every command. [ He doesn't need to be a knight to do that. ] Not just because you're the Prince but because I want to.
[ He sees it as nothing more than a confession to his loyalty for Viktor. ]
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Viktor can feel his face just overheat as he looks away, clearing his throat, because, hm. ] That's quite the proposition, Jayce. Quite dangerous, too.
[ Just going to ignore the hammering in his chest and the fact that a pool of heat has coiled itself down in the pit of his stomach. But he's probably teased the other man enough and at his own expense too, it seemed, somehow getting taken by surprise by Jayce's sincerity and overabundance of affection and honesty once again. Affection and adoration that he still doesn't understand entirely. Or why Jayce would so vehemently expose it to him like some offering to do with as he pleased when he hardly thought he was deserving of it in the first place.
He shifts a little in his seat, his eyes taking fleeting glances back at the other man, cheeks still hot. ] While the thought is tempting...
[ But Jayce does look ever so handsome with the color red staining his cheeks. He does lean in a bit closer, his eyes finally meeting Jayce's. ] I wouldn't wish to command you to do anything. I fear that in doing so, I would lose one of the parts of you that is rather endearing, albeit confusing at times.
[ Jayce's uncanny ability to catch him off guard. That spontaneity has been the cause of so many breakthroughs and strangely intriguing late-night discussions. ]
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His legs weren't just feeling weak from the thought of what it would be like to replicate the images in that doujinshi (though if he were forced to admit it, that was something on his mind), it was from something else. Affection, maybe? The word hits him like nothing else had.
In all this time as partners and friends, had this thought been behind lock and key? Just waiting for something to turn and unlatch itself to be set free. For all the affection that Jayce has for the people around him - Mel, his mother, Caitlyn - the affection he has for Viktor is just as everything else is of Viktor's - uniquely his.
It reminds him of the day they met, like he's on the verge of some major discovery. So he has to keep at it. He tries to find the words, on the tip of his tongue. He's enjoying this conversation. He enjoys the pleasant heat that's settled deep in his core.
Does he want to look through more of them? See if he can find something else to catch his attention. Yes... but maybe he should do that on his own time. He's had a challenging enough time to pull himself from the image.
His heart is racing impossibly fast. Here is Viktor being so perfectly kind to him in ways that others weren't. In ways that weren't because they wanted and needed something of him. Endearing. Confusing. It's so perfectly said. ] I guess that's why we work so well together. Even when I'm confusing, you understand what I mean.
[ He thinks, at least. Viktor's probably the only person that can help Jayce shift his perspective easily. He finally shifts a few of the books to the side to peek over at what Viktor's working on. Refocus. ]
Are you working on the bot?
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[ Said in a somewhat raspy whisper. Viktor's heart is much the same, especially with how close they're now sitting to each other. He can feel his palms getting sweaty as his breath hitches ever so slightly in his throat. At Jayce's words, Viktor can't help but smile, softly, and nod as he looks away towards the blueprints and the beginnings of a small copper body meant for their robot.
Right. Refocus, that's what he was busy with before Jayce arrived. ] Ah. Y-Yes, that's right. I was going through runic configurations for its intended movements. I don't think using the acceleration rune would be wise, unless we would like it to be flung across the segments at high velocity...
[ Which would not end well for their poor little robot. ]
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And every time he tries to think, the image in that doujinshi comes back to his mind.
Then Viktor acting as his Prince. He had managed to calm himself down for only a few moments before his thoughts brought him back to the obvious blush. Still, he peeks over at Viktor's work. ]
Yeah. We should...probably not send it on a segments tour. We could try to balance a couple of different runes and... uh - see if that takes.
[ He's staring, but he doesn't fully realize it. He thinks about how beautiful Viktor is. Jayce is considering himself lucky to have him in his line of sight. He lets out an intentional breath. Thoughts for later. ]
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It normally works, but with Jayce so close, there's a sort of tension in the air that is almost oppressive but thrumming with latent energy. He is more aware of Jayce's muscular body, his scent of cologne and soot from the forge, and his intentional breath does not go unnoticed. ]
I'll make some adjustments. [ His eyes finally tick back toward Jayce, the heat of his blush lingering on his cheeks as he does so. ] Unless you have any other suggestions?
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He'd never want to share things like that with Viktor without knowing it wasn't just some experience sparked by some horny books drawn by people fascinated with their partnership. It's not the appropriate time to let his thoughts settle into the book. So his attention shifts.
Focus. Robots. Work. Robots. Work. HexGems. Runes. Magic. Science. Okay - he thinks he's calmed down just enough to answer something. ]
I think that's the right way to go. [ Like most things they do, some tests need to be done. ] But we won't really know until we try it. But the good news is with one arm working right, the other should work similarly. Hell, figuring out the arms will probably make the legs easier, too. [ Not the same, probably, but similar! ]
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[ He will idly twirl a piece of hair with a finger as he speaks, jotting down notes on a spare piece of paper. ] Once we figure out the stabilization pattern needed, everything else will fall into place.
[ His cheeks are still rosy as he looks back at Jayce, turning his head ever so slightly to give him a small smile. ] This reminds me of the past. It's...enjoyable doing this again with you, together, as partners.
[ He has missed it more than he lets on. ]
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But honestly, he's finding himself paying far more attention to Viktor in this moment instead of the work itself. Watching as those strands of hair wrap around his finger and he seems to not realizing what he's doing. He's paying attention to the shape of his hands, the way he writes, and -- oh, Viktor's looking at him again.
Without hesitation, he sits upright, hands folding directly on the desk in front of him. His back stiff, clearly a position he had just snapped into to pull himself from his staring. His face is a shade of pink, showing that he's undeniably flustered. What was Viktor saying beyond enjoying this time again?
Shit. Oh right. Stabilization pattern. Finally, he draws out a few runes on a piece of paper. It's a simple series - only four. ]
This is kind of where you were going but maybe -- [ Taps the third one. ] This one? Is something else.
[ It's fine. He's fine. He's totally not turned on and can't chill out. ]