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He supposes that as many times as he's gotten the call, he should be used to it, by now. But he never is. At first it was the unknown number. The digits he came to associate with disaster. He'd hoped, however feebly, that titling them something official would ease the anguish. That had failed. He tried something stupid, and that failed too. And now, as Jayce reached for his buzzing phone on his desk, his stomach sank into the floor before a slingshot brought it back into his throat.
The name "Murder Hut INC." Lit up his screen, and with a groan, he decided that he needed to just change it back to the official name.
"...Is...everything alright?" Mel's voice brings him back into reality for just a second, where they were sitting in a private library room together, sharing a desk, looking over research materials for an upcoming symposium. Her brow delicately upturned, lips parted, every ounce of in sincere in the ways he'd come to understand were earned with her, not given.
"I, um...maybe not, actually, can I take this-?" He holds up the phone for her to see. She squints, face contorting with confusion before she motions for him to go ahead.
He manages to pick up right before it goes to voicemail.
"Hello?"
"Hi, is this a Mr...Talis? Jayce?" The voice on the other end is chipper. Waaay too chipper for the line of work that they're in.
"...yes, that's me."
"Hi, Mr. Talis! This is Peonia at the Piltover Medical Institute. So sorry to bother you, we were warned that you were likely busy, however..." She trails off. But he knows this script backwards and forwards and upside down. He hides his face in his free hand and drops the elbow to rest against the surface of the table.
"It's Viktor, right?"
"...yes, sir, it is. He told us not to call, but you are his emergency contact and we figured we should, at the very least, reach out." That...sounded good, at least. If it was a formality, maybe this wasn't so bad. A test that...went a little long. Maybe Vik couldn't get himself home! That's all- "Viktor was admitted today-" shit "after presenting with disorientation," shit "fever," shit "and a general discomfort and shortness of breath." Shit. That was basically the cocktail of every bad symptom he could possibly have, all at once, all rolled into one. "We got him in pretty quickly, and it looks like everything is coming back to normal...likely a flare of his already existing conditions reacting poorly to a side-effect of one of his medications, but until we can determine which it is, we're likely going to have to admit him for the night. Hopefully he'll be able to go tomorrow if we find what we're looking for, but if not, he could be held longer.
For a long moment Jayce is silent. There are no words he can think to say. None of them speak to the situation, or his horror that he wasn't there to take Viktor to the hospital himself, or-...had he had symptoms this morning? Jayce scrapes through his memory. Through seeing him at breakfast. Through leaving the house together...and none of it seemed out of the ordinary. Then again...Viktor had long since gotten good at hiding when his body was malfunctioning more than usual. A deep shame washes over him. A tide that crashed, ebbed, and crashed again. Only broken by-
"Mr. Talis? Are you still there?"
"Yes-" his voice cracks "yes, sorry, um..." He clears his throat. Attempts to put himself back together. "Uh...did he...is he the one who called for help?" Jayce absently wondered if Viktor had attempted to call him first. But that was quickly eased-
"No, sir, it was called on his behalf by a member of the University."
Right, because Viktor wasn't exactly the type to go seeking out treatment. He always hurt, he'd reasoned to Jayce on more than one occasion. And any new reason they could give him for the pain? Well...it was just one more on an already long list that he'd stopped caring to add to. At least it meant he hadn't missed a call for help.
His shoulders slump and Mel reaches out to brace him.
"Okay...okay, so is he-...I mean, can I-..." Jayce swallows, blinking back the burning of his nose, the welling of his eyes- "Is he lucid? Can I talk to him?"
"Yes sir, I believe we can make that happen." She has a new edge of kindness to her voice, now. HE thought he covered it up pretty well, but...she likely has a lot of experience in hearing people cry. "Hold just one second for me, okay?"
"Right...thank you, so much." He hears a little bit of clicking, before a recording of classical music that sounded twenty years out of date began to drone in the hold.
"Is it Viktor?" Mel asks only out of formality. She knows the answer already, he can see that. But all the same, he nods. "...is that the hospital?"
"Yeah...Someone...p-probably Sky, maybe Heimerdinger, called in for him...disoriented, and...short of breath, and those are the two worst." He has to cover his mouth before a choked sob escapes him. Mel clicks her tongue in that affectionate way about her. She could be so intimidating, but there was a softness about her that was difficult to deny. She draws his head in to rest against her shoulder, patting his back while he still held the phone to his ear. She doesn't speak anymore. There is no advice she can offer, no solution to suggest but a mere comfort. The silence is only finally broken by the end of the orchestral music, and a weak-
"...yes?" Jayce nearly bumps heads with Mel with how quickly he shoots upright.
"Viktor-!"
"Ah...I asked them not to bother you-" There is no venom in the tone. At least not towards Jayce. Instead, it sounds tired. Likely somewhere between sleep and wake, on one thing or coming off something else in an effort to get to the bottom of it all.
"Of course they're going to bother me- n-not that you're a bother-!" Jayce pinches his brow and heaves a sigh. "...look, they said they want to keep you overnight...I'm coming down there. What do you need?"
Silence. The only reason Jayce knows the other line hasn't gone dead is because of the soft beeping. EKG machine measuring his pulse and heartbeat...a slow and steady beeping, that to an untrained ear could seem average. Jayce could hear the arrhythmia. Sniff it out like a bloodhound. "V? Still with me?"
"I'm thinking." The answer has a tiny bit more bite. But again...Jayce doesn't think he was the intended target. "...in my office there are some...documents from the most recent trials. I believe my cane was left there, as well. If you could retrieve them, I'd be grateful. When I asked, they said the hospital gown was not necessary. That my own clothes would be fine, so a change or two of something...unobtrusive would be good."
"...I'm not bringing you work, Vik."
"Just my notebook, then."
"No-!" Jayce doesn't mean to snap. Really, he doesn't! But...hah, he reels himself back in. "I just think...that it's very important for you to be getting some rest. Not looking at numbers, or worse, revising them and making more work for yourself later, because you're not in a clear enough head to do it correctly. So just...I can bring the cane, and the clothes, hm? You can rest from there."
"I wont be resting, I'll be dying of boredom." Jayce can't help cringing-
"I am begging you-" he says "word that any other way."
The huffing laughter on the opposite end tells him that was the intended reaction. At least Vik retains his sense of humor.
"...I'll figure something out, but I am not bringing you work. Sorry, but I'm putting my foot down."
Another long pause before a sigh.
"...as you please." He listens to Viktor hum for a moment, while in his mind going over the checklist he needed to head before actually getting to the institute. First the office, then the apartment...just that would probably take a half hour or so. Then over to the medical institution- "Ah. If you also could...would you, ehm-...that...blanket that you got me for my birthday last year...would you bring it? I swear, it is freezing here..."
That gets a little laugh out of Jayce. Just a breathy one, just a quiet exhale and a release of tension. "Yeah, Vik, I can do that...just...hang tight, alright? I'll be right there, fast as I can."
"...thank you."
A moment later, Jayce is directed back to the nurse, and is disconnected just after. He sighs, and puts the phone down. He melts back into Mel and she wraps her arms around him. He knows he should be jumping up to get those things for Viktor. Sooner he does, sooner he can go see him. Sooner he can lay eyes on the man himself, and make his own opinions on how furious he should be with himself for not seeing a problem earlier.
"...it's going to be alright." Mel coos to him, pulling back to cradle his face in her hands. He's sure he looks just...pathetic, compared to her, all calm and collected. She leans in to peck his cheek and gives a smile. "You go ahead and get what he needs. I'll wrap up here, and message if I have anything that needs your input. The bulk of the symposium work is addressed anyhow." Immediately she's cleaning up her belongings. Loading them back into her back without a hint of ire, and yet he can't help feeling guilty, leaving her to handle it on her own.
"I'm so sorry-" He's saying, still unable to find his legs to stand.
"Don't be." She says, giving his cheek a pat. "Viktor needs you more than I do, right now. I can handle myself just fine. We'll meet back up when he's home, alright?" He nods...and resists leaning to her hand as she pulls away, but only just barely. "I'll stop by later...bring something to eat that isn't whatever the hospital is serving. I doubt he'll touch it, but...it's nice to have."
And finally, Jayce finds it in him to stand. To gather his things. To walk out of the library with her and into the light of early summer...which was already scorching. Lab first, then home.
~~~~~
Cane, check. Clothes, check. Blanket...check.
Jayce was rushing around the apartment, shoving anything and everything he thought Viktor might want into the go bag he kept. Normally it was stocked if something happened in the middle of the night, and they needed to get him out, quick...but this one would be a little more about Viktor's comfort. He wraps the blanket nice and tight, humming under his breath in a way that was, definitely, not manic. Absolutely not manic at all.
But that still left the boredom issue. He knew Viktor wouldn't rest, otherwise...Boredom, perhaps, was his strongest motivation to get into something he shouldn't...he'd described it once like a numbing and a pounding behind his eyes all at once. Like his brain was so tortured in the under stimulation that it would crawl out his ear to find some kind of occupation. The good news was, however, that his focus was immaculate. A task, a distraction...often they worked well, and for hours at a time. But if it wasn't work, And Jayce refused to crack and bring his notebook, thank you very much, then...what? Viktor's hobbies weren't exactly portable. Tending to plants was probably frowned upon in a hospital room, anyhow. Just as he was rushing to find something, or even call it quits and just head straight to the hospital, his eyes found it-
Their bookshelf.
Not the work shelf, mind you. There was a separation. This one was the collection of recreational books that the two of them had purchased, been gifted, or had found somewhat interesting over the years, and ashamedly...most were still unread. There just seemed no time. When their days were consumed with reading, research, mathematics, physics...to read for pleasure almost felt like a waste. Valuable time that could be employed elsewhere, for other things or different purposes. Reading something 'of merit.' But this? Well...maybe this was as much of a shot as he'd ever get. Jayce grabs half a dozen. Doesn't pay attention to the titles. And just as he's about to walk out the door again...he can't help pausing. Maybe make it a dozen, just to be sure? Two dozen. Two dozen...good range of options-
~~~~
Getting to the hospital, it all felt hazy. All he was really conscious of was the weight of the bag on his shoulder. It anchors him. Tethers him to this realm of existence where he worried he might float off, otherwise. But not when Viktor needed him. Not when he had something he had to do. He was directed up to one of the quieter wards. And one, he notes with some distaste, is reserved for people admitted long term. But...that's probably just because Viktor has a lot of issues, right? And he needs to be somewhere...quieter. Without a bunch of screaming kids and angry parents and people cycling in and out for minor issues. That was all. Just...logistics! That made sense, he could live with that.
He backs the heavy wooden door open, bracing himself for what he was about to see. And...very thankfully, it was not as bad as it could have been. He'd been prepared for some of the worst states he's seen Viktor in. Tubes criss crossing his chest and arms, his face as pale as the sheets he was laid on...and in the worst cases, unresponsive. But rounding that corner? Viktor was awake. Though maybe just barely, his eyes were open. His bed was positioned so he could sit up, staring absently at the screen that buzzed in the corner of the ceiling, playing some senseless noise of a game show that he was both tortured by and engrossed in. He wasn't as pale as he could have been, though his pallor always left something to be desired. Eyes a little sunken, a little rimmed with purple form a lack of sleep, though...again, that was nothing too new. Upon seeing Jayce, though, they slid back into focus, and even softened, a bit.
"Ah...I was wondering where you were." He muses, before turning his eyes to the screen again. Coming from anyone else? It would have been dismissive. Coming from Viktor, it's an admission. He'd been waiting. Viktor had been wanting to see him. And being that Viktor was often bordering upon reclusive...that sent a deep sense of comfort through him.
"Sorry, it...it took a while to get everything together. Here-!" Jayce hefts the bag onto the bed, and it bounces against the surface. That was more than enough to catch Viktor's attention as it jostled him, as well.
"...what do you even have in there? The entirety of our lab?"
"Nope! No work, remember?" Jayce gave him a smile, reaching in and starting to unpack the bag. "So first off, I've got clothes for you-" Soft pajama pants, a worn, oversized T-shirt that used to belong to Jayce, and a cardigan that Viktor favored. "The blanket-" Heavy, blue, and quilted, courtesy of his mother and made just for Viktor. "And-..." He trails off upon realizing that...you know, maybe? This was a little too much. He started unloading book after book, stacking them against the foot of the bed and watching as Viktor's expression grew more and more bewildered.
"A dozen? You brought me a dozen books? How fast do you think I read? Really, I'm flattered-" Viktor picked up one of the books to examine the cover. Flips it over, looks at the back-
"Well, I just-..." Jayce flushes. Looks away, runs a hand over the back of his neck. It had made so much sense at the time. "I figured you'd want some variety! You know? I wasn't sure what you were wanting to read, so I just... brought a little bit of everything."
That brings a smile to Viktor's face, as he grabs two. Then seems to rethink his decision, and grabs a third to move onto his nightstand. "Well...as long as you're the one carrying them, I guess this is fine, hm? Did you get my cane?"
"Oh-!" Jayce had nearly forgotten about it, pulls it from it's balance against the crook of his elbow, and it's not lost on him how Viktor's body language eases almost immediately. This cane was his life line. Had been custom fitted for him, his height, the length of his arm and leg...by that nature? Expensive. Not having it in hand had likely been a more unnecessary stress on his overloaded system. "Right, here. Right where you left it, no one had bothered it."
"Mmh." Viktor takes a breath and Jayce attempts to ignore how labored the motion sounds. "Thank you, Jayce."
With a sigh, the man settles in against the sheets. And Jayce can't explain it, but it's like something else falls away in that moment. He stops holding himself together. Lets the ache and exhaustion play against his features. He didn't have to pretend in front of Jayce. That was as much a blessing as it was a curse. But he takes that as the implication that Viktor had what he needed, and he could relax, for now. He gathers the remaining books back into the bag, and drops into the chair beside the bed. Somewhat soft, but still reeked of antiseptic, comfortable in everyway if it weren't for the nature of the purpose it served. Vigilantly sitting at the bedside of a loved one.
For a little while, neither of them feels the need to speak. With his cane returned, and a little bit of support, Viktor's able to get to the bathroom, change, and return looking a lot more like himself. His hair is longer than normal. Out of habit, Jayce had even grabbed him a clip, and it's refreshing to see him looking...human, again. The warm tones of the clothes seemed to bring color back to his ashen skin, and when he crawled back into the bed, again with Jayce's help, the whole tone of it seemed to have shifted. Like he was whole, again. Present, more than he'd been before.
For a long while, they don't talk. They don't need to. Viktor draws the blanket close around his shoulders and starts to read. Jayce brings out his notebook to continue plucking away at numbers and variables and then swap gears to symposium organizing and back again...and he pretends not to notice when Viktor cranes his neck to see the page. But...the comfort could not last forever.
After a half hour or so, Jayce's focus is broken by an annoyed huff from his partner. Shifting. Resettling. Shifting again. A page flips, then flips back...and Viktor scrubs at his eyes.
"Everything okay?"
"Yes, it is fine." He responds, but it obviously is not. His eyes seem to have a haze to them, that...startlingly, Jayce hadn't seen before. He'd heard about it, but...this feels off. Feels wrong.
"You...wanna try a different book?"
"...No, I want this one." He sounds like a petulant child. But it's clear that no matter how badly he wants it, his eyes are not cooperating with him.
Jayce watches for a few more seconds. The ways that Viktor's eyes scan over the page without truly taking in information, before a shake of the head brings his eyes to the top again. And under the frustration was the growing panic. The fury with himself. The discomfort. The anger. Academics were the singular thing he was promised. Promised, to be his. Promised that he would excel at. If his body was not up to the task, at least his mind was. His eyes and his keen perception, and in this moment, those were failing him.
But that spiral is broken by Jayce plucking the book from his hands. Immediately, his lips curl into a snarl, a starving dog who's meal had been taken. "I was reading that."
"I know. I just figured...we could read it together? This is one I've been wanting to get my hands on for a while. I'm getting jealous, watching you." Jayce responds with an easy smile, settling into his chair and looking the book over. Really...none of those things were lies. But he had another plan in mind. But that...seemed to appease Viktor. Even if he knew the real reasons. Even if they were written on walls or screamed from roof tops, the protection of his pride was something that he could allow.
"...It would be nice to rest my eyes, anyway." He says, as he settles back. "And...we can start over. I don't mind."
Jayce's heart gives an excited little skip, at that. A relief that he'd cracked the code. Figured it out. Brought Viktor peace in some form or another. He opened the heavy, hardcover book. A collector's edition, he absently recognized. Which was ironic for a book that neither of them had read. He thinks...Viktor must have been gifted this, if he remembers right. From Caitlyn. Maybe from Mel? The edges are gilded, and a fine, silk page keeper dangles over its spine. He clears his throat, turns to the first page, and begins to read.
"My father was a king, and the son of kings. He was a short man, as most of us were, and built like a bull. All shoulders."
~~~~
"He touched my jaw with his right hand, drew his fingertips along it. "Here. Your face is wider than it once was." I reached my hand up to see if I could feel this difference, but it was all the same to me. Bone and skin. He took my hand and brought it down to my collar bone. "You are wider here, also." He said. "And this." his finger touched gently the soft bulb that had emerged from my throat."
Jayce's voice came smooth, and even. Filled the room in a warm and sweet rumble that drowned out the worst of the medical equipment. He'd been reading for hours by this point. The run that had hung high overhead when Viktor was first admitted had now sunk nearly below the horizon and was bathing the hospital room in warm oranges and purples. A few times, he'd paused in his reading. Viktor looked as though he were asleep, lashes fluttering against his cheeks. But the moment that the steady stream of words and syllables ceased, they would fly open again, more lucid than ever, looking to Jayce expectantly to continue...so he did. "Just imagining." He'd say, when Jayce asked if he was listening. Even when the nurses came in, and out. They would insist that he continue, they would only be a moment. But both of them couldn't help noticing how they would linger at the doors a moment or two longer before finally departing.
"Jayce."
His lips are immediately silenced. A single utterance of his name is enough to silence him completely. He looks up to Viktor expectantly, seeing how his eyes open just enough for the other to regard him fondly.
"Yeah? Everything okay?"
"It's fine...Just...could you open the window, for me?" That gave him a moment of pause. Like a bristling of danger, somehow, but Viktor rolled his eyes. "What, you expect me to leap from it? I can barely stand at the moment, in case you are forgetting. I'm sure there are more effective ways of doing so, regardless." The joke doesn't elicit a laugh from Jayce, rather, it makes him flinch. He doesn't argue, however. Just cracks the window open, brings in a breeze that wafts over Viktor's face. Yes, he chilled easily...but the freshness of the air he couldn't argue with. He merely pulled his blanket a tiny bit tighter around his shoulders and takes a deep breath. It's easier than it was earlier. And that...that makes it worth it.
"Is that good?"
"Yes, thank you." Viktor takes a breath, but it's cut short in a cough. "We can...we can continue, now." He says, drawing the blanket around him and looking to the window. The sunset just beyond it. And Jayce, where he stood in front of the glass, silhouetted by the orange glow. Viktor would rather be anywhere else, in circumstance. We would rather be healthy, and at the lab. He would rather be at home, wrapped in blankets in the privacy of his own room. But for the sight of Jayce, like this...? ...He doesn't want to be anywhere that Jayce isn't. He doesn't want to be anywhere that this sight is lost to him. And for that, he guesses...he doesn't mind being right here.
"We'll start back in a minute, alright?" Jayce pats his shoulder. Ushers him to lie back where Viktor hadn't even realized he'd sat up.
"I'm fine to continue now-" Viktor starts to protest, a rising feeling near panic, at the thought that he'd somehow shown himself to be too infirm to listen to Jayce read. "There is no need, I-I can-"
"Relax!" Jayce's tone is easy. He sits on the edge of the bed, reaches to squeeze Viktor's un-IV'd hand. "I'm the one doing all the work here, I just need to get a drink. You probably need some water, too! Then we'll start up again, alright?"
That...soothes him, somewhat. And also makes him feel foolish. Causing such a scene, when...when all that's happening is a break for water. But he nods, watches Jayce move for the door, and tries to settle in. Jayce peeks his head around the corner a last time. Smiles, and then pushes the heavy door open again.
Once he's out of Viktor's sight, that smile melts from his face. He takes a breath. Sighs. Stretches. The doctors that had come flitting in and out every now and again were setting him on edge. But...they never made any comments about Viktor's condition worsening, so...that...that was good, at least. He's so in his own head, walking away from the door, that he doesn't notice he'd about to collide with someone until they're a nose away from him-
"Oh, there you are-!" The voice is honied. A breath of fresh air. Mel stands with a bag in each hand, and a smile on her face.
Jayce can't help melting in to hug her.
"I hadn't heard from you. Was worried that...perhaps, things had progressed, so-" She lifts her hands, and shows that the bags are filled with food. Some in the white take-out boxes of the restaurant Viktor favored near the campus, some in tupperware that Jayce recognized as his mother's, and some in the fine wrappings that denoted them as being the rather high quality chocolates that Mel favored, in a sampler for Viktor. "I bring provisions."
"God, Mel..." He cant help the relief that colors him. Paints him from head to toe in that moment. "I'm...I am so happy to see you. I was just about to go...get a drink, if you...would you mind coming?" He's quick to alleviate her of the bags. His mother raised a gentleman, after all.
"Of course. And the feeling is mutual. I worried for a bit there that you'd some how gotten lost. Fallen down a rabbit hole somewhere." She teases, giving him a bump with her shoulder. "Your mother contracted me to bring her share...said she'd be up tomorrow morning, just as soon as she could be. I wasn't sure what Viktor would be...up for trying, so I have an assortment of things. Hopefully something in there catches his eye."
"Yeah, hopefully." Jayce sighs. "...not...not sure how hungry he'll be. The meds they have him on work as an appetite suppressant, and...well, you know V, not much of an appetite on good days." He sighs, as they make it to the vending machine at the end of the hall, and he sets down the bags, shuffles around in his pockets for enough coins to make it work. "But uh...you know, he hates- hates leaving my mom's food untouched. He'll..." A fumble with the coin- "He'll try anything she makes. Says he feels bad if she wasted the effort- shit!" He hisses, as another coin drops and rolls under the machine. His fists shake. Clench. Unclench. A hiss as he can't help smacking the machine, before turning to look at Mel-
"I know." Her voice soothes, as her fingers carefully slip the coins into the machine for him, from her own pocket. "This is a lot. You've had a long day. Let's see...water, for Viktor, though I'm sure he'll ask for coffee as soon as we arrive...and for you..." She hums, looking over the options, and looking to him with a nearly conspiratorial grin. "an orange soda?"
That defuses much of the frustration that had been building in his chest almost immediately. He can't bring himself to speak, right away, just nods as tears bite at the corners of his eyes. He felt so...worthless. "Thank you." Is all he manages as she gathers the drinks into her arms, an extra water for herself among them. She doesn't force him to move on, just stands as he collects himself. Regathers the bags. He swallows hard and looks to her in a way he can only imagine as pitiful. "...I just want him to be okay."
"And he will be." Mel's voice leaves no room for argument. Her hand lifts his chin. Her thumb catches a stray tear as it finally spills over. "He will be. You are...being an excellent support system, but you need support too. It's alright...we don't have to go back until you're ready."
They stay like that. In the little waiting room at the end of the hall, with the buzzing of the vending machine and the din of the nearly mute television. For just a minute or two longer. Jayce can't head back into that room teary. He needs...Viktor needs him. And if he goes in there less than put together...V will start trying to push him out. Make him go home. Give him the relief that Jayce had been hoping to offer him, instead, and it'd just...it'd just...push them all back.
"...Okay." He says finally. "Okay. I'm ready, I'm good."
"...Good. Deep breaths, Jayce, it's going to be alright." She promises. Pats his cheek, and sets off down the hallway from the direction that he came.
~~~~
The food had been received well, if for nothing but the gesture alone. And true to Jayce's prediction, Viktor didn't have much of an appetite. But he picked at the rice his mother sent. Managed a few forkfuls. Even accepted a piece of chocolate from Mel. True to form, he'd immediately asked if coffee was not an available option, even if he knew as well as they did that they would not so willingly offer it to him, like this.
For an hour or more, they talk. Mel has this...incredible tact, and knack for treating this hospital room as though it is a classroom. A boardroom. Somewhere more within her element. She fills Viktor in on the developments in the symposium she and Jayce are organizing. Her desire that, should he be available, he could make a small presentation on what he and Jayce are currently pursuing. Jayce shoots her a bit of a look, but she shoots one right back. He'd set the rule on no work talk, but...perhaps she was onto something, since Viktor seemed a little more lucid. His eyes less hazy, more present, recalling figures and timetables and schedules for testing that he could likely work into a report.
But even that, after some time, was beginning to wear on him.
"Well, consider it." Is all that Mel needs to cap the conversation. She closes the box from which she'd been absently munching and tosses the last of her own meal before standing. "Unfortunately, I have a call I need to get to. Once you're feeling up to it, and not a moment before, you let me know what you decide, hm?"
She comes to stand beside Viktor's bed, and he gives her his own half smile. "Right, I will. Though if you're waiting for me to be at one hundred percent, do not hold your breath. I certainly can't."
She scoffs at his attempt at dark humor, rolls her eyes, and smacks a kiss to the crown of his head. "I'll settle for seventy-five."
And with that, she is gone. Promises to return soon. Well wishes. And then the door is shut behind her.
Jayce clears his throat a bit, bringing Viktor's gaze his way. "Still hungry? Want anything else?"
"Mmh...no, thank you...you'll have to tell your mother, I'm sorry. I'm just...not in much the mood to eat. I feel like she's-"
"It's not a waste." Jayce is quick to cut him off, gathering the emptied boxes and moving them aside. "It'll get eaten. Whether by you, or by me, or some of those nurses that I'm sure would be grateful for a fresh meal." He chuckles a little bit, before settling in. "...one more chapter?"
A sly grin splits Viktor's face. "...just one more. Couldn't hurt."
~~~~
"What had Deidemeia thought would happen, I wondered, when she had her women dance for me? Had she really thought I would not know him? I would recognize him by touch alone, by smell; I would know him blind, by the way his breaths came and his feet struck the earth. And I would know him in death. At the end of the world."
One more chapter had turned into several. Jayce swallowed hard at this passage, an attempt to keep his voice even. He paused long enough that he expected to hear Viktor's voice. His prodding, his questioning on why the pause had extended, but the longer he waited...it never did come. He looked up and realized that Viktor had finally fallen asleep. And likely a deep one, at that. He was wrapped in his blanket, hair still up and the claw clip moving his head to an angle that Jayce knew he would regret in a few hours. With a hum, he marked the page. Closed the book.
Viktor looked younger, when he slept. Not that he was an old man, by any means. But he was carrying a lot of years that were not his own, and in waking, it was as though there were two faces layered over his. Now, as he rested, the other was put to rest. vanished, beneath the sheet of sleep draped over him. He looked nearly peaceful. Jayce admired for a long moment...before he risked ruining the scene.
Very carefully, he slipped the clip out of Viktor's hair. Set it aside for him to find in the morning. His fingers eased out the bunches and knots, leaving him a bit more comfortable to shift and move as he pleased. Jayce then drew the blankets in closer. Pulled up the hospital comforter. Closed the window to keep out the chill. And finally, dimmed the lights. All that was left was a soft glow against Viktor's cheeks, and the machines that pumped, whined, beeped...he'd grown used to them, now. An odd little lullaby that he could rest to. A song that meant Viktor was alive. That meant he was going to be okay. With a sigh, he starts to make himself comfortable in his chair...upon realizing that despite bringing Viktor what felt like half their bookshelf, he'd neglected to even grab a fresh set of clothes for himself, but...so be it. He'd survive a day without a shower.
"Good night, V." He says. He doesn't receive a response. He didn't expect one. But the sound of breathing that meets his ears is more than enough.
~~~~
"Is that really necessary?"
The next morning saw Viktor awake, and mostly back to normal. Whatever interaction between medications had affected him so heavily the day previous had seemed to abate and be handled relatively quickly, and they were now rushing to prepare him for discharge. Jayce had talked to his mom, who had demanded to be put on the phone with "both of her boys," in order to be convinced that the didn't need to come and pick them up.
"Just until we can get you out of here." Jayce insists, as he gathers the crutch, the book bag, Viktor's belongings that were brought to the hospital with him, and motions to the wheelchair that had been delivered to the room. "Besides, I can't carry all of this!" That was a lie, he could, they both knew it...but if Viktor needed extra support...that's where things got uncertain. He wasn't as able to grab him, support his weight, whatever he needed...combine that with less reactive than normal motor skills, and it was an accident waiting to happen. "If you're in a chair, I can put some of this in your lap."
That...seems to soothe Viktor enough to agree, shuffling to the edge of the bed and swinging his legs over it to ease into the chair. He held the left over food, and Jayce wrapped his blanket around his shoulders, so if nothing else, he felt like he was contributing some space. "Are we taking the train like this? Because if we are, I will-"
"No, relax...Mel is coming to get us." Jayce chuckles, kneeling to get Viktor's shoes on.
"...I can do that myself."
"I know." He replies simply. But he makes no move to stop. "...I wanted to."
That pulls a smile to the other's face. Small. But it also doesn't remove the roll of his eye that follows just after. "...Thank you. Can we go now?"
"I think we are....all set!" Jayce cheers, slipping behind the chair to start pushing it from the room with a spring in his step. "We'll get home, we'll get you situated, and then-"
"Can we finish the book?" The question comes quick. Almost overeager. It gives Jayce a moment of of pause...before huffing a laugh and continuing to the elevator.
"Yeah. I think we can. You missed a really good part last night...I'm gonna have to go back to it."
~~~~
"I could not make him a god," she says. Her jagged voice, rich with grief. But you made him. She does not answer me for a long time, only sits, eyes shining with the last of the dying light. "I have done it," she says. At first I do not understand. But then I see the tomb, and the marks she has made on the stone. Achilles, it reads. And beside it, Patroclus. "Go," she says "he waits for you."
"In the darkness, two shadows, reaching through the hopeless, heavy dusk. Their hands meet, and light spills in a flood like a hundred golden urns, spilling out of the sun...and that is the end."
Jayce's voice is barely above a murmur, as he finishes the book, and closes it. He and Viktor had gotten home hours ago. He'd managed to get Viktor to eat a little something more, and plied him by handing the book over, and having him read while Jayce heated up some of the leftovers his mom sent. For hours, they migrated around the apartment, swapping who was reading, until they now found themselves in bed together, Viktor pressed to the curve of Jayce's body, where his face fit perfectly in the crook of his neck, the slope of his shoulder. And when Jayce laid the book on his chest, Viktor's hand slides over it almost reverently.
"...that's going to be a hard act to follow." He mutters. Jayce's fingers find his. They link.
For a long moment, Jayce just listens. He closes his eyes, and listens to the evidence of Viktor beside him. The breathing. The shifting of fabric. The rising and falling of his chest and the sweet rumble of his voice made heavy with fatigue and intimacy. And he thinks...he, too, would know Viktor blind. He, too, would linger at their shared grave until they could be reunited. He would chase death, if that was what it took.
"...Right. Hard act."