Ink to Ashes / Arcane Fanfiction Viktor x Reader

12

"Excuse me- Hi, sorry, could you- Pardon me, I-"

You bumbled about the crowd, narrowly avoiding commuting students and scholars swamped by piles of paper and quills.

You were at the Academy, attempting to find out where on earth Viktor's lab was located in the huge building. Everyone was occupied with to-ing and fro-ing, barely casting you a second glance as you tried ask for directions. You didn't want to even attempt finding the lab by yourself - noy after what had happened last time (though witnessing the creation of a revolutionary technology first-hand again would be pretty cool).

It had been three days since Viktor had leant the umbrella to you. You had intended to return it sooner, but had a few surprise deadlines pop up that needed to be done for the weekend.

You held it close against you now, scared of it being knocked from your grasp or snagged on a coat. You had almost nearly broken it a couple times already. Though it was easy enough to open with a simple click of a button, you had practically wrestled with it for an embarrassingly long time before getting it to close again.

At last, after nearly fifteen minutes of 'Hi-'s and 'Excuse me?'s, you managed to be given a vague set of directions by a harried professor of some sorts.

Armed with information relayed to you in one long, quick sentence, so fast you barely had the time to commit it to memory, you set off.

When not being chased down by a pair of angry Enforcers, you discovered the interior of the Academy was grand enough to rival its exterior. You had only ever traversed the halls at night, and so never had the chance to admire the expansive view of Piltover from the wide windows; inspect the detailed pattern of tiles that decorated the floors in creams and blues and reds and golds; squint at the signatures scrawled in the corners of the many probably priceless paintings that adorned every wall.

To your surprise, at some point the hallways and corridors had began to grow familiar. You recognised certain aspects from your mad chase from the Enforcers nearly two months previously. You looked upon the surroundings with an odd sense of fondness. There was the corner you were spotted by the Enforcers; that was where you had ducked out of sight for a moment before changing directions; which meant that just over there was...

Looking up, you finally came to the door through which you had been pulled by Jayce Talis himself.

You stuffed the umbrella underarm and knocked curtly on the wooden doors.

Silence.

Then-

"It's open!" came a muffled response from the other side.

You hesitantly pushed it open and stepped inside. Instantly you were met with the jarring smell of sharp chemicals combined with old books. You weren't sure whether you found it comforting or heady.

It took you a moment to locate the broad figure amongst the precarious yet orderly piles of equipment stacked around the lab.

"Hello," Jayce called from the other side of the room. Back to you, he stood at a work bench, tinkering away on something you couldn't see. He waved absently over his shoulder. "I'll be a sec'. Put the coffee on the table. Actually, on second thoughts, don't. I haven't had a chance to clean up the-" He glanced behind him and paused.

He blinked.

"Hi," you said.

For an excruciatingly long moment, he stared, frowning, head tilted, as if not entirely sure what he was seeing. He wore protective goggles, which made him look abnormally bug-eyed.