Muj Milacek | Viktor Arcane x Reader

Hold Me Close in Your Dreams

Your dreams hadn't been kind to you. You often found you woke up more exhausted than you had been when you went to sleep. You tossed and turned all night, desperately trying to sleep, but afraid of what would happen should you do so.

You didn't know if it was like this for you before Runeterra or if it was an effect of your magic, but the nightmares had not gotten better as you'd settled. For years they'd plagued you, the best nights being when you couldn't remember them. They could be completely nonsensical, a monster chasing you through a forest made of teeth, or they could be more realistic. You found the ones where they were clearly never going to happen easy to shake off. It wasn't something you had to worry about in real life.

The worst were the ones that prayed on your real and tangible fears. It always involved losing the people you cared about. You often found yourself trapped in a cage of your own making while reaching for Sky, unable to help as she burned up. You'd scream, waking yourself up as the sound transferred to real life. It always took you a while to calm down after those, the image of Sky turning to ash burned on the insides of your eyelids.

The ones that left you shaky, covered in a thin sheen of cold sweat, and unable to sleep for the rest of the night were about Viktor. Your fear of losing him manifested in many ways. Sometimes you held him in your arms as he took his last breath, tears splashing onto his ashy face. Other times your magic took control, forcing you to wreak havoc on Piltover, ultimately ending in Viktor's death.

"Please," You'd beg, "You have to be alive, this can't be real."

It felt like your insides were shrivelling up, your grief consuming you as your dreams unfolded.

Luckily those realistic dreams didn't happen as often as the regular nightmares. However, years passed without a solution to Viktor's illness, the nightmares happened more and more frequently and began to get more and more vivid.

It was on one night, the fourth night in a row that you had held Viktor close as he died in your dreams, that you didn't think you could take it anymore.

You had shot up in bed, your chest heaving as you sobbed. It had been so real, the image of Viktor's slack face haunting your waking life. You felt an urgent need to check on him, you worried in your anguish-filled haze that your dreams were prophetic. They had been before, what if they were a warning that Viktor needed help now?

You launched yourself out of bed, slipping a nightgown over your sleep shirt. You didn't bother with putting on shoes as you slipped into the hallway, tears still streaming down your cheeks, sobs hiccuping out of your throat. It was well past midnight, the sun would soon start shining out over the horizon and the birds would start chirping. None of that registered with you, your mind was foggy from the effects of the nightmare.

You stepped out of the elevator and onto his floor, trying in vain to wipe the tears off your cheeks as they clouded your vision. It was a good thing no one was around at that point to see you speeding through the dark hallways like a tearful ghost.

You knocked on Viktor's door, you would worry about potentially making him angry later. You just needed to make sure he was okay, any consequences of your actions would be future Mila's problems.

You shuffled your feet, tucking your hair behind your ears as you heard his footsteps, along with the light clanking of his cane head towards you from inside.

Viktor opened the door, his hair mussed with sleep, his pajamas wrinkled. He furrowed his brow in confusion when he saw you standing there. He rubbed his eyes, leaning against the door, "Mila, what are you-"

He didn't get a chance to finish his sentence as you launched yourself at him, careful not to knock him over as you held him close.

"You're okay," You sniffled, your body trembling as you held back sobs of relief.

He laid a tentative hand on your back, still confused in his sleep-addled state, "Yes, of course, I am, but it appears that you aren't."

You didn't say anything, you held on tighter.

He put his hand on your shoulder, gently prying you back so you looked up at him, "Why don't you come inside and we can talk about this?"

Now that you had come down from your state of extreme anxiety, you were starting to get rather embarrassed by your actions. You were sure you looked insane and you had knocked on his door like a madman in the middle of the night.

You nodded, reluctantly letting him go as he led you inside, one hand on your back. He guided you to the couch where you sat down, looking at the ground to avoid his gaze.

"I'm sorry." You croaked.

He chuckled, "It's alright, but I would like to know the reason you showed up crying at my door so early in the morning."

You looked at the clock on his bookshelf, it was five am. You cringed, what an awful time to wake someone up.

You sighed heavily, rubbing your face to try to rouse yourself from exhaustion, "It really isn't anything important, I don't want to take up any more of your time."

"Something unimportant wouldn't have you upset like this, Miláček," Viktor spoke softly, your full name said with such affection and patience sending shivers down your spine.

You looked up at him, eyes shining with poorly held back tears, "I had a nightmare that you died and I had to..." You trailed off, the image of his lifeless face flashing before your eyes, you didn't think you could talk about that, "It was the fourth one in a row and I started to worry it was more of a vision and I needed to know you were okay. I was just so exhausted, I wasn't really thinking straight. I'm so sorry I woke you up."

Viktor gave you a compassionate smile, "Its quite alright, Mila," He placed his hand over yours where it rested on your lap, "You're always welcome here, no matter the time."

Your chin quivered as you attempted to shove down the feelings his unquestionable kindness brought up in you, "Thank you, Viktor."

He nodded, squeezing your hand gently before letting go. You hadn't thought your plan through at all, you were lost as to where to go from there. You'd gotten the reassurance that you needed and you were still feeling bad about disturbing him at such an ungodly hour.

"I should probably go," You said abruptly, moving to stand up, only stopping when he placed a hand on your arm.

"Will you be able to sleep again?" He asked, tilting his head.

"No," You answered, unsure where he was going with this.

"Neither will I, and it doesn't make any sense for you to spend more time alone after your nightmares, why don't you stay here? I'll make us some tea and we can play a card game until morning." He offered, removing his hand from your arm.

You hesitated, you didn't want to impose on him more than you already had but the thought of stewing in your thoughts while waiting for the world to wake up sounded truly awful.

"I'd like that," You smiled at him, "But I owe you one."

He shook his head, "You owe me nothing, Miláček, you can always come to me when you need to. I would never expect anything in return."

He just had to go pulling on your heartstrings again, didn't he? He was so sweet to you, you could hardly bear it. You wondered what you did to deserve his friendship, it must have been pretty spectacular.

"Then let me make the tea at least," You comprised, getting up and heading towards his kitchen.

He laughed, "Deal."

If you added many heapings of sugar to both your teas to help keep you awake, as you knew he liked it, he didn't comment on it. You found yourself relaxing more as you lost again and again to Viktor in your card game. You were sure he had to be cheating, but for now, you'd chalk it up to the fact that you were still exhausted. Or maybe he was just stupidly good at cards.

The giddy feeling in your stomach as you spent your morning with Viktor followed you through the day, leading into your dreams that night. That night your nightmares took a break. They'd come back another day, but for one night you were able to enjoy peace in your dreams, a flower-covered field and rippling stream lulling you into a familiar comfort. You enjoyed your night of rest, you'd need it, for soon your nightmares would become reality and you would need all the sleep you could get.