Ink to Ashes / Arcane Fanfiction Viktor x Reader

4

"Eh, I work faster when I'm running late. Or when I believe I am, anyway."

As the barricade of Enforcers parted swiftly to let the two of you past, you couldn't help adopting an air of smugness. To your surprise, he lead you directly to the cratered building. After holding the door open for you, he clicked into place a series of locks and chains along the frame. Couldn't be too secure, you guessed.

"So, what do you need me for?" you asked once inside.

"Well, after seeing your drawings, I can tell you have a knack for landscapes; cities, buildings, all very realistic. I was thinking you'd be able to draw out some things for future use. Just some rough sketches, nothing too detailed."

"What exactly is it you want me to draw?"

"I assume you've seen the condition the top floor is in."

"Couldn't miss it. What happened?"

Across the small foyer was a set of elevators. One already stood open. Viktor pressed the button for the top. floor, and the doors slid shut with a  scraping clank.

"It's a... confidential matter," he said over the whirring and creaking made by the mechanisms. "To summarise, there's been a break-in to a civilian's apartment. No motive, nor culprit has been identified. However, the investigation brought to light some... questionable practises held by the homeowner."

"Questionable?" you echoed. "There won't be blood, will there?"

"No, no," he assured. "Maybe a little in some vials, but nothing gory."

"What is this, some kinda mad scientist's lab?"

The elevator doors opened with a cheerful ding! onto a short corridor.

"Actually, yes."

Rounding the corner, you came to the scene of the event. It would've been a rather normal corridor, were it not for the giant sooty stain on the wall opposite the middle door. The faint outline of a body was imprinted mid-shot, arms up, legs splayed, caught in the explosion. You didn't want to know the power of what could cause something like that.

"Mind your step," Viktor warned as you entered the apartment.

You began to form a reply, but choked on a cough. The air was still dense with dust.

Despite the prestigious neighbourhood it was situated on, the rooms were small - barely bigger than your much cheaper one only a few blocks away. The main room - and the site of the explosion - was coated in a thick layer of debris. The gaping hole in the far wall had already been cornered off, though yoh didn't need glaring red tape to know not to go within a considerable distance of it.

The few intact objects that you could identify puzzled you. What was intended to be a kitchen had been converted into what you could only describe as a... lab. There were books filled with frantic scribbles, left open and pages charred at the edges. Cogs, vials, screwdrivers, an assortment of bizarre instruments lay strewn across the ground. You didn't doubt that they had been like that before the blast.

A couple Enforcers tentatively picked at the mess and sifted through the soot whilst one, a woman with a sharp shock of dark hair, prowled between them, hands clasped neatly behind her back. An officer, you assumed.

From another room came the sound of smashing glass, followed by a loud curse and a poof! Moments later, vivid purple smoke wafted down the hallway. An Enforcer stuck his head around the door and mumbled a quick apology.

Viktor pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Idiots," he murmured under his breath, and turned to you. "Go and speak to Grayson," he said, pointing to the officer. "She'll fill you in. I need to sort this out before we all get poisoned."