A hooded figure strolls through the busy crowd, paying no mind to the brief stares from the bystanders, merchants, and onlookers as she passes by stores that each sell their own unique products. A puff of air releases from her mask as she dodges two brawling men. Holding her bag close, she takes a sharp turn to a dark alleyway. A couple of smokers occupied the side of the alley, insulting each other as they play a card game. She ignored her rising anxiety as she walks past them, a quiet sigh of relief coming out of her as they take no notice of her.
She catches herself before she could slip and fall on the greasy stone way, now walking carefully until she could reach her destination; an artisan workshop. The man on the counter nods at her as she enters, her nodding back as a silent reply. Unclasping the belt behind her head, she takes her mask off, inhaling and exhaling at the dense air, silently thanking the shop's window filters for the cleaner air. She stomps her boots on the rug to get rid of the dirt, taking heavy strides to the door at the corner of the room. The loud squeaks piercing her ears as she struggles to slide the door open, even more so as she closes it back.
"You really need to oil that damn door of yours." She jumps over the five steps of stairs, pulling her hood off of her and catching her breath. The bag's weight pulls on her arm as she lets it fall off her shoulder, her form now leaning to the side. Setting her eyes on the teenage boy sitting at a cluttered desk, hands busy with repairing a complicated looking pair of goggles.
He hums, not looking up from his work. "Hello to you too."
She pushes the tools on his desk to the side to make space for her bag. "Almost bashed my head on the way here-"
"As usual."
"-I still don't understand why he wouldn't just relocate somewhere out there. Wouldn't he get more costumers that way?"
He shrugs at the mention of his boss, shifting his focus from his work to the bag that she roughly dropped beside his work. "Costumers prefer a more secure transaction. They don't want suspicious eyes watching what they bring in and out of the shop."
"Hah. Yeah. Like a pair of rusty goggles, right?"
"Like weapons, Ica." He gave her a pointed look before continuing his adventure through her bag, looking for a specific bottle of his favorite drink. "No sweetmilk?"
Pulling a chair beside him, she sat down with her full weight, head resting on his shoulder. "Sorry, Vik. Gave them to the strays I passed by earlier." She lied as easily as she breathes.
Rolling his eyes, he knew she would be too scared to even approach an animal, or anyone in the undercity for this matter, in fear of getting attacked again. It was 5 years ago when she got robbed going down here all alone, not surprising as she was wearing the most obvious 'i am rich' clothes, very dumb of her really. Thankfully, nothing else horrible happened to her as someone was kind enough to help her find her way back to Piltover. Viktor still remembers her describing her maids' reactions to her getting home dirty and crying, her school bag and jacket gone. He just assumed it didn't traumatize her as much because the next day she tried going to the undercity alone again. Although she still joke about it, it did change her thoughts about Zaun not being that dangerous.
The moment he found the bottles of sweetmilk, he calls her out on her lying which she only replied with a sweet smile. He started consuming half of the bottle, enjoying the sweet taste as he gulps it down.
"Therapy's getting really boring, I wish I could escape it just for a day."
"You're just saying that because it's your dad."
"Well, yeah. It's embarrassing talking to him about teenage stuff, I would feel more comfortable talking about it with my mother." The atmosphere shifted as the tone of her voice became quiet.
He stopped himself before he could ask a question, knowing how sensitive she gets when it comes to the subject of her mom prioritizing her work over her. It's for a good reason, though. Ica's mother had become famous for her invention of Reset, a medicine that could regenerate, heal, and strengthen a person's body with just one pill. It has helped many people in countless ways, the perfect solution for one of humanity's greatest problem, sickness. The medicine gave everyone hope, including Viktor. But of course, the councilors had to step in once again to deprive Zaun of its opportunity to rise up. It had worsened the tension between the two nations, and in every passing day it felt to Viktor like war could happen any minute now.
"You know you can always talk to me about anything." This was his attempt of consoling her.
"I'm pretty sure you wouldn't like hearing about the bleeding from my-" Viktor coughed loudly and cleared his throat, his mannerisms that she knew too well. Ica laughed, teasing him by poking on his cheek. "See?"
His embarrassment was worth it as it made her laugh. Doesn't mean he has to let her continue teasing him, though. He pushes her hand away and shoves the half empty bottle on her mouth, stopping her from saying more. She slaps his shoulder but still taking a gulp of sweetmilk nonetheless, letting it wash out the sadness the thought of her mother had made her feel.
The desk was starting to overflow as Viktor pulls out from her bag the devices and objects he's going to repair and work on for the day. She helped him by moving his finished works on the smaller desk at the side of the room.
Viktor found a fancy envelope crumpled at the bottom of the bag, he pulled it out to show it to Ica with a curious look. "This is?"
"Oh, what? It was there? I've been looking for it." She sat down beside him, snatching the letter from him with a small "Thanks." and opening it to read the contents as if it was new. "An invitation to be a contestant for this competition that's going to be held at the end of the year. The winner apparently gets a place at the Academy."
He was instantly by her side at the mention of Piltover's Academy, leaning in to look over her shoulder, reading the letter out loud. "The most ingenious inventions will be winning...You're competing, right?"
"Well, I can just enroll without needing to compete on anything..." She trailed off, side-eyeing Viktor that was just an inch away, his eyes searching the letter with his mouth slightly opened. "...so it got me thinking, perhaps you want to go instead of me?"
His eyes widened, turning his head to look at her before falling back to her chair. "What? Me? But..." The only sounds that came after were a series of stutters. Ica waited for him to collect his thoughts with a small smile. "Would that even be allowed? I mean, I'm not, I'm not from Piltover."
She rolls her eyes. Of course that's what his first thought is. "Look, it doesn't matter where you came from. You've got quite literally the greatest skills I've ever seen, well, aside from my mother, but you get my point." Facing him, she took his hands and held it between them. "You want to help people with your inventions, right?"
He nodded, the look of uncertainty on his face. Viktor knows his worth, his intelligence and his skills. What worried him was that he's a Zaunite, and he knows people from Piltover will only look down on him as soon as they discover that. If he could list down the differences between Zaun and Piltover it would fill a whole notebook, the thought of him sticking out like a sore thumb in a crowd of well-dressed, rich Piltoverans just makes him undeniably anxious.
"This is a good opportunity for you to reach resources you can never have here in Zaun. If you win, just imagine how much you can accomplish by using the advantages of being a student of the Academy."
She's right, he thought. I can't pass up this chance, especially when she's willingly giving me a ticket for the future I've been dreaming of. Oh, her pure soul.
"Alright."
Before she could start celebrating, he held his index finger out. "But! Only if you help me."
She gave him a look, pretending to be annoyed. "Well, I have no other choices, do I?"
Chuckling, he reached for her cheeks, pulling on both simultaneously until she starts slapping his hands and screaming for him to stop.
-
more doodles⁉️⁉️ it's 2am
teenage viktor crumbs im h
i think hes emo
i forgot abt the playlist i made for them im just gonna put the link idk if itll work but here:)) <3
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4EWMZiNHdqeERNjCTOambG?si=68f29c6df3a64123