Back Scratch
Nov. 19th, 2021 09:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
esp_dragonv2Fandom: League of Legends: Arcane
Summary: Viktor was still adjusting to his new wings.
Contains: Wingfic, implied Jayce/Viktor
Notes: Happy birthdaaaay, Azure!
First fic in the fandom - of course it'll be a wingfic, heh. I have almost zero knowledge of the League of Legends lore except what's been shown in Arcane so far (ep 6) and some of the promotional videos.
Set between act 1 and 2.
There's a different fic in the works, but that grew a little bigger than expected, so I'll hopefully have that one out later. This one tried to be as big, but it's still way more contained than the other, haha.
Rating: G
Genre: General
Word count: 1,751
Status: Complete
Movement caught Jayce's eye when he opened the door to the lab. It was a light brown feather, just shorter than his forearm. He stooped to pick it up, straightening the barbs with his fingers as he entered.
Viktor was there at the blackboard, muttering under his breath, an entirely new set of calculations there than had been on it the night before. Surrounding him was a scattering of feathers. It was getting to the point that Jayce could tell how long Viktor had stood at the blackboard by how disturbed the feathers were. If they only surrounded Viktor, the feathers had fallen where they had dropped and stayed there; if the feathers were more scattered across the floor, Viktor had at least moved to go back to the other side of the blackboard. This morning, there was feathers seemed to be in all corners of the room. Viktor had been busy.
Was that normal? Viktor's wings usually moulted a couple of feathers throughout the day, but Jayce wasn't sure he'd seen such a large number at once before.
"Were you up all night again?" Jayce joked. Viktor was usually still writing when Jayce left for the night and was already there when Jayce returned in the morning, making it seem like he had never left.
Viktor didn't respond, continuing to write, the taps of his chalk hitting the blackboard never faltering.
Wait...
Jayce looked across at the blackboard, seeing the writing as a whole, not what Viktor had been writing.
It was lopsided. The other end started at the top corner but it sloped slower and lower until it reached Viktor.
"Viktor?" Jayce called out again, frowning as he walked over. It wasn't like him to not notice Jayce's arrival.
Still nothing.
As Jayce got closer, he noticed other things that were off. Viktor's handwriting wasn't just slanted, it was messy.
Shaky.
Jayce could normally read Viktor's handwriting across the room. Now...
"Hey," Jayce said, reaching over and placing his hand over Viktor's, stopping him. Viktor's hand was cold. Jayce felt the tremors, making Viktor's fingers twitch. "When was the last time you had a break?"
Viktor pursed his lips, not looking at him. Viktor's bags under his eyes were bigger than before, his skin paler.
"I don't need a break," Viktor said, trying to tug his hand free.
It didn't sound convincing. Not with how Viktor's voice wavered.
"I'm pretty sure it's the opposite," Jayce said, keeping his hand around Viktor's. Viktor had grown a pair of wings that were almost as tall as he was over the space of a night, one wing sweeping cresting to Viktor's head and dipping down to his knee; his right wing was a little smaller, not resting quite well against his back.
"What I need is to find out how to get the wings to stop distracting me."
"Distracting you?"
Viktor's wings quivered, his feathers rustling against each other. "Aside from their weight, they...itch," Viktor admitted. "In places I can't reach. I can't concentrate with it."
"I could help with that...?"
"And I'll coincidently have a break at the same time, I suppose," Viktor said wryly as he eyed Jayce from the corner of his eyes, a small smile tugging his lips.
Oops, caught.
Jayce gave him a sheepish smile. "Yeah. You still need to rest - lack of sleep won't be helping your concentration either."
Viktor huffed. "What discoveries have happened when a scientist has not been working?"
"What discoveries have happened when a scientist is distracted?" Jayce shot back.
Viktor glowered at him and Jayce held his gaze, not backing down, until Viktor closed his eyes with a sigh. "Fine. A break may be just what I need."
Jayce smiled, though it faltered as Viktor took his arm, leaning his weight there. Viktor didn't usually lean so much into him - had he really been here the whole night?
Viktor's wing pressed into Jayce's back, like it was also trying to hold onto Jayce. Maybe it was; Jayce had noticed Viktor's wings would move in tandem with his arms, trying to do the same his arm was. It didn't happen as often anymore, Viktor gaining better control over his limbs. If he was losing control over them again, that hinted at just how tired Viktor really was.
Viktor lead Jayce towards the back of the lab, and Jayce craned his neck towards the door at their back. "Viktor, the exit's that way?"
"A compromise," Viktor said, still leading him away from the door. "I'll rest and you can try to deal with the itch here."
It wasn't Viktor's bedroom like Jayce had hoped, but if it got Viktor off his feet, it was better than nothing.
There was a basic cot than a bed at the back of the lab, just a combination of poles and a strip of fabric thrown across it, a pillow on one end.
"Do you really sleep here?" Jayce asked, baffled as he helped to ease Viktor down into the bed. How hadn't he noticed before?
"Not always. It wastes less time this way."
It did explain a few things. "Sooo, where are you itchy?" Jayce as Viktor set his cane next to the cot.
Viktor turned over so he lay on his stomach, and his wings splayed out, hanging over the sides of the cot.
"Anywhere the wings connect to my back," Viktor mumbled into the pillow.
"All right." That made it easier. Viktor had his clothes adjusted to have slits cut up from the hem at the back so he could slip his wings into them easier; it was the easiest option when Viktor's wings connected from his scapula to the bottom of his ribcage.
Jayce moved the flap his clothes made between the wings and Viktor shivered. "Oh, sorry. Cold?" He could scratch under the flap without looking, but he liked to see what he was doing. And he had to admit, he wanted another look at the wings.
"No. Just..." Viktor shifted a little, adjusting how his wings lay. "I felt you move that."
"That's...good?" Better than not feeling at all. Jayce perched on the bed next to Viktor's hip, since while Viktor's wings ended near the ribcage, his feathers extended down to his hips.
Jayce reached for Viktor's back, and even before he touched his skin, he felt the heat radiating from him.
Viktor was even hotter than he expected when Jayce brushed just where Viktor's wings connected with his back.
Viktor tensed, one wing flicking up as if it was going to push him away. "Why is you hand so cold?" he hissed.
"Your back is on fire!" No wonder Viktor was so distracted. "Are you feverish?"
"No," Viktor said as he lowered his wing again.
It was from the strain of carrying his wings all day? Jayce traced a muscle, seeing where it connected from the wing and flowed to anchor itself to Viktor's spine. His vertebrae still jutted out under Jayce's touch, and when was the last time he'd seen Viktor eat?
"You have a strange idea of what scratching is." Viktor's voice was muffled against the pillow, but his amused tone still carried easily.
Jayce cleared his throat. "A soft scratching?" he attempted.
Viktor shifted to look at him over his shoulder.
"Okay, scratching properly now," Jayce said with a laugh. He started at the top, near Viktor's shoulders, hearing him exhale. Viktor's feathers brushed against Jayce's fingers, and they were the soft down, not the stiffer feathers on the outside of the wing.
Once he started, it was easy to know where Viktor was itchy - he just had to follow Viktor's soft hums. The stronger the hum, the longer he stayed in the area. It didn't take long before Jayce had scratched the entire area between Viktor's wings. From the marks, it was pretty obvious where Viktor was most distracted by. And Jayce could see the exact feathers pressed against Viktor's skin.
"Could I try..." Words failed Jayce for a second as he searched for the right word, "preening you?"
"Preen?"
"Some of your feathers don't lie flat - I think that might be why they're irritating your skin." Did Viktor have to preen every single feather now?
"It wouldn't hurt," Viktor said, relaxing even further, giving Jayce more access to his feathers.
Smiling to himself, Jayce moved closer so he could reach Viktor's feathers better. ...But how was he meant to do this?
He would just start and figure it out along the way, just like everything else.
Exhaling, Jayce found one crooked feather, and pinched his fingers over both sides and ran them down the barbs. The feather looked better once he was done, and Jayce moved onto the next one.
He was methodological, moving onto the next feather once the last one was tidy as he could make it. There were a few feathers that came free as soon as he touched them or he pulled them, but not as many as he thought there might be.
It wasn't like running his fingers through Viktor's hair, the feathers either too stiff or soft in comparison, even if they were the same colour.
Jayce finished one side of a wing and leaned back to inspect his work. The difference between the two was obvious, the feathers on Viktor's right wing laying flat and neat, while Viktor's left wing looked like someone had tried to drag the feathers upwards in some places.
Jayce's gaze travelled around Viktor's wings, seeing the other ruffled feathers, where they were dented and affected by Viktor's clothes. If he could do the rest of it, how would Viktor feel then?
"How's that?" Jayce asked. Maybe Viktor wanted his back scratched again first.
No response.
He looked up, hearing Viktor's deep even breathing now that he wasn't concentrating on his wings.
He waited for a minute, in case Viktor stirred again, but he didn't. Smiling softly, he just took in the image of Viktor sleeping.
He wouldn't mind if he had to preen Viktor's wings every once in a while, or every day. But that was something to talk about when Viktor woke up again.
Jayce stood up, returning the slit back to place. He couldn't find something resembling a blanket nearby so he slipped his jacket off and draped it over Viktor.
After making sure it wouldn't move and that Viktor was still sleeping peacefully, Jayce went to the blackboard to see what Viktor had been working on before he arrived.
Summary: Viktor was still adjusting to his new wings.
Contains: Wingfic, implied Jayce/Viktor
Notes: Happy birthdaaaay, Azure!
First fic in the fandom - of course it'll be a wingfic, heh. I have almost zero knowledge of the League of Legends lore except what's been shown in Arcane so far (ep 6) and some of the promotional videos.
Set between act 1 and 2.
There's a different fic in the works, but that grew a little bigger than expected, so I'll hopefully have that one out later. This one tried to be as big, but it's still way more contained than the other, haha.
Rating: G
Genre: General
Word count: 1,751
Status: Complete
Movement caught Jayce's eye when he opened the door to the lab. It was a light brown feather, just shorter than his forearm. He stooped to pick it up, straightening the barbs with his fingers as he entered.
Viktor was there at the blackboard, muttering under his breath, an entirely new set of calculations there than had been on it the night before. Surrounding him was a scattering of feathers. It was getting to the point that Jayce could tell how long Viktor had stood at the blackboard by how disturbed the feathers were. If they only surrounded Viktor, the feathers had fallen where they had dropped and stayed there; if the feathers were more scattered across the floor, Viktor had at least moved to go back to the other side of the blackboard. This morning, there was feathers seemed to be in all corners of the room. Viktor had been busy.
Was that normal? Viktor's wings usually moulted a couple of feathers throughout the day, but Jayce wasn't sure he'd seen such a large number at once before.
"Were you up all night again?" Jayce joked. Viktor was usually still writing when Jayce left for the night and was already there when Jayce returned in the morning, making it seem like he had never left.
Viktor didn't respond, continuing to write, the taps of his chalk hitting the blackboard never faltering.
Wait...
Jayce looked across at the blackboard, seeing the writing as a whole, not what Viktor had been writing.
It was lopsided. The other end started at the top corner but it sloped slower and lower until it reached Viktor.
"Viktor?" Jayce called out again, frowning as he walked over. It wasn't like him to not notice Jayce's arrival.
Still nothing.
As Jayce got closer, he noticed other things that were off. Viktor's handwriting wasn't just slanted, it was messy.
Shaky.
Jayce could normally read Viktor's handwriting across the room. Now...
"Hey," Jayce said, reaching over and placing his hand over Viktor's, stopping him. Viktor's hand was cold. Jayce felt the tremors, making Viktor's fingers twitch. "When was the last time you had a break?"
Viktor pursed his lips, not looking at him. Viktor's bags under his eyes were bigger than before, his skin paler.
"I don't need a break," Viktor said, trying to tug his hand free.
It didn't sound convincing. Not with how Viktor's voice wavered.
"I'm pretty sure it's the opposite," Jayce said, keeping his hand around Viktor's. Viktor had grown a pair of wings that were almost as tall as he was over the space of a night, one wing sweeping cresting to Viktor's head and dipping down to his knee; his right wing was a little smaller, not resting quite well against his back.
"What I need is to find out how to get the wings to stop distracting me."
"Distracting you?"
Viktor's wings quivered, his feathers rustling against each other. "Aside from their weight, they...itch," Viktor admitted. "In places I can't reach. I can't concentrate with it."
"I could help with that...?"
"And I'll coincidently have a break at the same time, I suppose," Viktor said wryly as he eyed Jayce from the corner of his eyes, a small smile tugging his lips.
Oops, caught.
Jayce gave him a sheepish smile. "Yeah. You still need to rest - lack of sleep won't be helping your concentration either."
Viktor huffed. "What discoveries have happened when a scientist has not been working?"
"What discoveries have happened when a scientist is distracted?" Jayce shot back.
Viktor glowered at him and Jayce held his gaze, not backing down, until Viktor closed his eyes with a sigh. "Fine. A break may be just what I need."
Jayce smiled, though it faltered as Viktor took his arm, leaning his weight there. Viktor didn't usually lean so much into him - had he really been here the whole night?
Viktor's wing pressed into Jayce's back, like it was also trying to hold onto Jayce. Maybe it was; Jayce had noticed Viktor's wings would move in tandem with his arms, trying to do the same his arm was. It didn't happen as often anymore, Viktor gaining better control over his limbs. If he was losing control over them again, that hinted at just how tired Viktor really was.
Viktor lead Jayce towards the back of the lab, and Jayce craned his neck towards the door at their back. "Viktor, the exit's that way?"
"A compromise," Viktor said, still leading him away from the door. "I'll rest and you can try to deal with the itch here."
It wasn't Viktor's bedroom like Jayce had hoped, but if it got Viktor off his feet, it was better than nothing.
There was a basic cot than a bed at the back of the lab, just a combination of poles and a strip of fabric thrown across it, a pillow on one end.
"Do you really sleep here?" Jayce asked, baffled as he helped to ease Viktor down into the bed. How hadn't he noticed before?
"Not always. It wastes less time this way."
It did explain a few things. "Sooo, where are you itchy?" Jayce as Viktor set his cane next to the cot.
Viktor turned over so he lay on his stomach, and his wings splayed out, hanging over the sides of the cot.
"Anywhere the wings connect to my back," Viktor mumbled into the pillow.
"All right." That made it easier. Viktor had his clothes adjusted to have slits cut up from the hem at the back so he could slip his wings into them easier; it was the easiest option when Viktor's wings connected from his scapula to the bottom of his ribcage.
Jayce moved the flap his clothes made between the wings and Viktor shivered. "Oh, sorry. Cold?" He could scratch under the flap without looking, but he liked to see what he was doing. And he had to admit, he wanted another look at the wings.
"No. Just..." Viktor shifted a little, adjusting how his wings lay. "I felt you move that."
"That's...good?" Better than not feeling at all. Jayce perched on the bed next to Viktor's hip, since while Viktor's wings ended near the ribcage, his feathers extended down to his hips.
Jayce reached for Viktor's back, and even before he touched his skin, he felt the heat radiating from him.
Viktor was even hotter than he expected when Jayce brushed just where Viktor's wings connected with his back.
Viktor tensed, one wing flicking up as if it was going to push him away. "Why is you hand so cold?" he hissed.
"Your back is on fire!" No wonder Viktor was so distracted. "Are you feverish?"
"No," Viktor said as he lowered his wing again.
It was from the strain of carrying his wings all day? Jayce traced a muscle, seeing where it connected from the wing and flowed to anchor itself to Viktor's spine. His vertebrae still jutted out under Jayce's touch, and when was the last time he'd seen Viktor eat?
"You have a strange idea of what scratching is." Viktor's voice was muffled against the pillow, but his amused tone still carried easily.
Jayce cleared his throat. "A soft scratching?" he attempted.
Viktor shifted to look at him over his shoulder.
"Okay, scratching properly now," Jayce said with a laugh. He started at the top, near Viktor's shoulders, hearing him exhale. Viktor's feathers brushed against Jayce's fingers, and they were the soft down, not the stiffer feathers on the outside of the wing.
Once he started, it was easy to know where Viktor was itchy - he just had to follow Viktor's soft hums. The stronger the hum, the longer he stayed in the area. It didn't take long before Jayce had scratched the entire area between Viktor's wings. From the marks, it was pretty obvious where Viktor was most distracted by. And Jayce could see the exact feathers pressed against Viktor's skin.
"Could I try..." Words failed Jayce for a second as he searched for the right word, "preening you?"
"Preen?"
"Some of your feathers don't lie flat - I think that might be why they're irritating your skin." Did Viktor have to preen every single feather now?
"It wouldn't hurt," Viktor said, relaxing even further, giving Jayce more access to his feathers.
Smiling to himself, Jayce moved closer so he could reach Viktor's feathers better. ...But how was he meant to do this?
He would just start and figure it out along the way, just like everything else.
Exhaling, Jayce found one crooked feather, and pinched his fingers over both sides and ran them down the barbs. The feather looked better once he was done, and Jayce moved onto the next one.
He was methodological, moving onto the next feather once the last one was tidy as he could make it. There were a few feathers that came free as soon as he touched them or he pulled them, but not as many as he thought there might be.
It wasn't like running his fingers through Viktor's hair, the feathers either too stiff or soft in comparison, even if they were the same colour.
Jayce finished one side of a wing and leaned back to inspect his work. The difference between the two was obvious, the feathers on Viktor's right wing laying flat and neat, while Viktor's left wing looked like someone had tried to drag the feathers upwards in some places.
Jayce's gaze travelled around Viktor's wings, seeing the other ruffled feathers, where they were dented and affected by Viktor's clothes. If he could do the rest of it, how would Viktor feel then?
"How's that?" Jayce asked. Maybe Viktor wanted his back scratched again first.
No response.
He looked up, hearing Viktor's deep even breathing now that he wasn't concentrating on his wings.
He waited for a minute, in case Viktor stirred again, but he didn't. Smiling softly, he just took in the image of Viktor sleeping.
He wouldn't mind if he had to preen Viktor's wings every once in a while, or every day. But that was something to talk about when Viktor woke up again.
Jayce stood up, returning the slit back to place. He couldn't find something resembling a blanket nearby so he slipped his jacket off and draped it over Viktor.
After making sure it wouldn't move and that Viktor was still sleeping peacefully, Jayce went to the blackboard to see what Viktor had been working on before he arrived.