[ Obviously Viktor would have found a proper workspace first thing, and obviously Jayce takes this in stride with zero surprise like it's a totally normal and expected course of action. It's what he would have prioritized as well, after all - arbitrary indulgences such as sustenance and income and housing all come second when there's so much research to be done. He's already halfway to turning his free temporary housing at the inn into a makeshift lab himself, so it's probably for the best that Viktor has brought up a real one before he wound up exploding another wall.
He's never met anyone else who just gets it, is the thing. Oh, there'd been plenty of enterprising inventors and scientists at the Academy, but it'd always been just work or future glory for them; none of them understood the need, the obsession, to breaking the world into bits by bits, taking apart every atom to reveal all its hidden secrets, then putting it back together again into something better. He'd never realized how lonely he'd been, sitting by himself on top of a cliff, staring up at a view that no one else could see.
At least, not until Viktor. ]
Hey, it's at least gotta be better than the rubble of a blown-up apartment building, right? [ He shoots Viktor a wry grin, heading to the entrance of the cafe to open the door for him. ] Lead the way.
[ His hand automatically drops to the small of Viktor's back to support him as they walk, a long ingrained instinct by now that he doesn't even notice. Subconsciously though, his shoulders relax from the stiff posture he normally holds himself in public; it's a little like a cog clicking in place, filling in the empty gaps, a perfectly matched gear that has him moving with a purpose where before he'd just been spinning aimlessly in place.
They're going to have to talk, he knows this. There's too much to be left unsaid, not after everything, too many secrets that should have come to light before it became far too late. But for now, at least, he can be content with finally having his partner back. ]
[ that wry grin makes his own lips tilt up in response — this kind of a back-and-forth is easy, has always been easy in the way it has never been with anyone else. it had been jayce's brilliant mind that had moved him to action, all those years ago, the ideas that he couldn't bear the thought of never seeing the light of day, never being worked on and brought to reality... but there had been more than that, ever since standing in that very rubble that jayce is speaking of: a kinship, like every soul he'd met until then had been the wrong shape, like a part of him had always been waiting for jayce, for him to fill in that missing piece in the puzzle of his life.
the hand on his back is warm and steady, and viktor lets out a breath, one that flows through his lungs easier than any breath he has taken or let out has in the past weeks. he matches his pace to jayce, asks him little questions on the way — how long jayce has been here, what he has seen, if he has met caitlyn yet; little things that he knows will get his partner to go on longer tangents, will leave him to listen and nod his head occasionally to show he is still listening. normality, in a way this place hasn't made him feel like even once in the past two months, yet.
eventually, though, they make it past the city center, to quieter streets that lead to the small house that viktor calls his. it isn't much; the paint on the door is chipped, and the lock takes two tries to open. ] Come in, [ he says, pushing the door open, stopping then to remove his long winter coat, hang it on a hook along the entranceway.
it is immediately obvious that most of the house is the workshop: what should be a living room has most of the space taken up by a desk and a drawer that seems to be full of tools, papers scattered across the desk (and partly the floor), a large chalkboard hanging on the wall, runes and equations written on it. there's another room, far smaller, just enough to fit a bed; the two other doors at the back lead to a small kitchenette and a bathroom.
there is, however, a small couch pressed against the wall, and viktor walks to it, sits down, leans against his crutch as he looks at jayce with a look that lands squarely somewhere between wary and resigned. ]
Before anything else... tell me what you remember from home. I suspect it is more than I do.
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expiationlogs2024-12-09 08:17 am
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He's never met anyone else who just gets it, is the thing. Oh, there'd been plenty of enterprising inventors and scientists at the Academy, but it'd always been just work or future glory for them; none of them understood the need, the obsession, to breaking the world into bits by bits, taking apart every atom to reveal all its hidden secrets, then putting it back together again into something better. He'd never realized how lonely he'd been, sitting by himself on top of a cliff, staring up at a view that no one else could see.
At least, not until Viktor. ]
Hey, it's at least gotta be better than the rubble of a blown-up apartment building, right? [ He shoots Viktor a wry grin, heading to the entrance of the cafe to open the door for him. ] Lead the way.
[ His hand automatically drops to the small of Viktor's back to support him as they walk, a long ingrained instinct by now that he doesn't even notice. Subconsciously though, his shoulders relax from the stiff posture he normally holds himself in public; it's a little like a cog clicking in place, filling in the empty gaps, a perfectly matched gear that has him moving with a purpose where before he'd just been spinning aimlessly in place.
They're going to have to talk, he knows this. There's too much to be left unsaid, not after everything, too many secrets that should have come to light before it became far too late. But for now, at least, he can be content with finally having his partner back. ]
no subject
the hand on his back is warm and steady, and viktor lets out a breath, one that flows through his lungs easier than any breath he has taken or let out has in the past weeks. he matches his pace to jayce, asks him little questions on the way — how long jayce has been here, what he has seen, if he has met caitlyn yet; little things that he knows will get his partner to go on longer tangents, will leave him to listen and nod his head occasionally to show he is still listening. normality, in a way this place hasn't made him feel like even once in the past two months, yet.
eventually, though, they make it past the city center, to quieter streets that lead to the small house that viktor calls his. it isn't much; the paint on the door is chipped, and the lock takes two tries to open. ] Come in, [ he says, pushing the door open, stopping then to remove his long winter coat, hang it on a hook along the entranceway.
it is immediately obvious that most of the house is the workshop: what should be a living room has most of the space taken up by a desk and a drawer that seems to be full of tools, papers scattered across the desk (and partly the floor), a large chalkboard hanging on the wall, runes and equations written on it. there's another room, far smaller, just enough to fit a bed; the two other doors at the back lead to a small kitchenette and a bathroom.
there is, however, a small couch pressed against the wall, and viktor walks to it, sits down, leans against his crutch as he looks at jayce with a look that lands squarely somewhere between wary and resigned. ]
Before anything else... tell me what you remember from home. I suspect it is more than I do.