[ oh, and that — yes, that is why it had sounded so wrong to him, isn't it? the implication that he is like a supernova, that his brilliance (and yes, he knows it is brilliance, there are many things he's not proud of but he can stand behind the knowledge of his own intelligence on steady feet) is the result of his short life, like there is a correlation between them, like one follows the other. and he refuses to have that, to let it be like that; his death may be inevitable, but it has no bearing on anything else.
he looks at octavian, meets his stare and nods. ] Yes. My partner.
[ an answer to two things at once: who told him, and who is behind it, both at once. granted, jayce doesn't believe that he'd died... but viktor thinks he knows better. jayce is convinced, but there is no way he was left breathing after the bomb. and he knows the hexcore. ]
Choose... yes, [ he says, lifting his hand to cover octavian's. ]
Will you be here with me? [ he doesn't say, i can't do that without you, but it rings in the silence between the words, regardless — or perhaps rather i don't want to do that without you. because there are so many things he can do — he knows he's capable of it, all of it, if he just tries. he's always believed in himself, after all. and yet — none of it seems worth much, now, if octavian isn't by his side. ]
no subject
he looks at octavian, meets his stare and nods. ] Yes. My partner.
[ an answer to two things at once: who told him, and who is behind it, both at once. granted, jayce doesn't believe that he'd died... but viktor thinks he knows better. jayce is convinced, but there is no way he was left breathing after the bomb. and he knows the hexcore. ]
Choose... yes, [ he says, lifting his hand to cover octavian's. ]
Will you be here with me? [ he doesn't say, i can't do that without you, but it rings in the silence between the words, regardless — or perhaps rather i don't want to do that without you. because there are so many things he can do — he knows he's capable of it, all of it, if he just tries. he's always believed in himself, after all. and yet — none of it seems worth much, now, if octavian isn't by his side. ]