Undercity Development Section

The Bastion of Hope and the Threshold

It all started in the enthusiasm in Viktor's voice when he brought the partnership proposal between UDS and HexTech to the table. Later he admitted to having spent the previous night at the UDS discussing projects with [y/n] and never had Jayce seen Viktor be so cheerful after an all-nighter before.

Then it was his newly discovered fondness of break times. Before the partnership, Viktor wouldn't bother much with following a healthy work schedule, taking a break to eat or rest only when his body demanded (and sometimes, not even then). Now, he started becoming more aware of the time, as [y/n] had a routine of visiting them during breaks - he continuously took glances at the clock as the time she would visit them got near.

Viktor's way of flirting, Jayce noticed, was amping up his cheekiness to eleven - whenever [y/n] was around, he'd find a way to tease her. Luckily for him, her boldness wouldn't let her back down and it often resulted in them engaging in short duels of playful mockery.

"I never expected to have to decipher notes outside of the classes I helped Heimerdinger minister." Viktor commented, holding one of [y/n]'s journals open. "Shouldn't architects have legible handwriting?"

"If you have time to worry about handwriting quality when working..." [y/n] replied with a smirk, taking the journal away from Viktor and closing it with more force than necessary. "... Maybe you're not focusing well enough on what's important, hm? "

Speaking of [y/n], Jayce didn't know her as well as he knew Viktor, but she certainly had a specific way of acting towards his partner. She was very cheerful and easy going whenever she was with Jayce, but the moment she heard the familiar sound of Viktor's cane as he approached, she'd clearly tense up. When she spoke with Jayce, her tone was calm and she articulated every word with ease, when speaking to Viktor, she'd speak way faster, sometimes even tumbling over her words. She had no problem looking Jayce in the eyes whenever they interacted, whereas she couldn't face Viktor head on - eyes darting from him to the floor at every moment. She could only look at him when he wasn't facing her.

Again, Jayce didn't know [y/n] as well as he knew Viktor, but if he would bet she was as smitten with his partner as he was with her. And she had even less idea of what to do with herself.

But he still had to test the waters before trying to set this ship off to sail.

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It had been a year since the partnership started, the Ventilation System project was green lit for construction. The sites where the system would be built on in the Undercity had already been isolated and all material and equipment was neatly piled up on the construction sites, ready to be used. There was only one thing left to be done.

"I'll go make a last checkup down in the Lanes before letting the buildwork start." [Y/n] announced setting a small block of paper on a clipboard. "I need to make sure everything is in order down there in order to mitigate as many errors as possible."

"Didn't you already give the team managers all the necessary blueprints and schematics ?" Jayce questioned, watching the architect put measuring tools in her bag. "I mean, I've seen the precision on all that documentation you sent down to the construction sites, I do believe they are enough."

"Perhaps..." She answered, pulling her bag over her shoulder and picking up the now stuffed clipboard from her desk. "I just want to make sure nothing is amiss."

There it was, Viktor thought to himself, the fiery passion that made his chest hurt. He might have been oblivious to the growing fondness he had been holding for [y/n] for the past few months, but his leg made sure he was ever so conscious about his body. And he noticed early on how his body reacted to the girl's presence. How simply her voice brought him to a good mood, how her scent intoxicated his senses, clouding his thoughts and making it hard to concentrate on the task at hand, how her touch would spark a reaction deep within him that traveled from the point of contact over through his whole body. It took him a while to diagnose these symptoms as infatuation, but once he did, the fondness just grew.