"Please Stay" - Arcane Viktor x Reader

Chapter 24

You were leaning over some sketches, trying to figure out which direction to take your semestral assignment. You were looking through different ideas, but none of them seemed good enough. Revolutionary enough. Worthy of the Academy's finest.

But honestly, it would be enough if you made a mechanical grooming kit. You've already had the blueprints for it... But you didn't want to set on bare minimum. You could do better than that.

Your favourite record was blasting on the phonograph as you were tapping your foot to the  rhythm. The pencil you held was twisting swiftly in between your fingers. You considered the pros and cons of altering already existing inventions against creating something original when a heavy hand rested on your shoulder. You jumped, at the unexpected company, dropping your pencil to the ground. The graphite filling broke close to the wooden cover and, basing on the loud cracking sound it made, you probably weren't going to be able to use it ever again.

,,Gods, do you always have to sneak around like that"

You turned around facing a familiar lean figure. Viktor took a seat on a chair next to you, as you pushed the phonograph's needle off of the disk, stopping the music with a loud distortion. He placed his cane in a custom-made holder you created as an addition to his chair. You were pretty proud of it, as it clearly made his work in the lab just a little easier.

,,To your knowledge, I did knock... You just didn't hear me over that wrenching noise you were playing... How can you focus while working like this?"

You sighed and turned your gaze back to your papers, feeling as if you had already explained it at least a couple of times.

,,That's the whole point of it. Silence is good when I need to hyperfocus... Predict the outcomes of my equations at the same time as writing them. Figure out the consequences and consequences of those consequences, all at the same time. But when it comes to simple tasks... I tend to overthink them a lot. That 'wrenching noise' as you called it, helps me seprate my thoughts from one another. Sort of like..."

You bit your tongue as you realised you were about to say 'smoking'. You knew, that your Zaunite partner wouldn't appreciate the fact that you willingly poisoned your lungs with smoke, while he had to spend his entire life fearing that he'll choke on it to death.

You had both Amity and Jayce swear, that they'll never expose your bad habits to him. You payed close attention to never smoke, or hell, even mention smoking in his presence. You'd tell the truth to him yourself when the time was right. And if Lady Luck was on your side... Maybe he'd never have to find out anyway.

,,Alcohol?"

The boy finished your sentence and you coughed, realising that both of you were sitting in an awkward silence for at least a couple of seconds.

,,Yes... That... Anyway, I'm trying to make a simple choice of choosing my semestral assignment and yet, I... I can't set my mind on it I guess... I might as well settle on the mechanical grooming kit just to get it over with..."

The boy chuckled and when you looked his way, he was already occupied by his own research, hunching over the hexcrystal, analysing it over a large magnifying glass.

,,I thought you could do better than that..."

He said, not even lifting his gaze away from the gem.

,,Because I can... It's just that... All of the problems that people want fixed seem so...Trivial. I have hundreds of requests for items such as 'carriage wheels that don't splash the mud onto the pedestrians' or 'a mug that keeps it's contents warm for long periods of time'."

,,That last one could have it's uses... I would love to have my sweet milk warm throughout the day..."

You groaned at his comment and made a full 360 on your chair out of sheer frustration.