Viktor x Reader

One

Pain.

Pain was what this world was made of.

You didn't even remember the last day you didn't feel pain. It was a constant companion, like a parasite nestling inside of your body, eating into your flesh and corrupting your cells.

Existing hurt.

Being alive was a burden on yourself.

But you didn't want to give up.

There wasn't much to live for. Not in a place like Zaun, especially not in the lanes.

But there was something.

Someone.

"Viktor...", you mumbled in your sleep as another wave of pain chased cold drops of sweat across your forehead.

Someone moved next to you.

Lazily, a head full of thick, dark brown hair rose.

"Did you say something?", a soft voice asked, slow and thick with sleep. "I can barely hear you."

The slight Russian accent was enough to make your eyes pop open.

"Ah...", you gasped and managed to force a hand up to your face. "I had a nightmare..."

It was a lie.

It was always a lie.

But he didn't have to know.

He shouldn't know.

After all, he deserved a lot more than just worries and fear.

"Hm?", slowly, the scrawny build man came closer and threw a glance at you from above, while the back of his hand wiped away the beads of shimmering sweat. "You're all wet."

You grabbed his hand and smiled.

"I'm just warm.", you said and chuckled.

A cough was scratching in the back of your throat.

You forced it back and almost immediately came to regret it.

The pain that the cough wanted to release stabbed you into the stomach. Your heart pulled together and for a moment it felt like you'd die.

Out of agony, your legs twitched.

His amber eyes jumped down to where the blanket was moving.

You forced your body to calm down.

"You can't be warm.", he said and examined your face a little closer. "It's pouring outside and the walls have holes. Everything is damp."

"Viktor.", you rolled your eyes in a playfully annoyed manner. "Don't be a smart ass."

His eyebrows pulled together.

"I'm not.", he tried to defend himself, maybe taking it a little too serious. "I'm just stating facts."

"Yeah, sure...", with a soft smile on your face you crawled closer to him and buried your face on his narrow chest. "Rest a little with me. We still got time."

Without complain, his arms wrapped around you.

Viktor's chin came to rest on the top of your head while he lay down into the old, used pillows and pulled you with him.

The sound of his beating heart pressed against your cheek.

It was an even beat, not slow nor fast.

You wondered how your heartbeat would sound to his ears.

Back when you two had been kids, he had been smaller than you. His favourite resting place had been in your arms, with his head on your chest to listen to the song of life that your body had to share.

It had always helped him to fall asleep.

But after the pain had grown, you had kept him from listening.

The sound was probably different now. It wouldn't help him sleep.

Maybe even quite the opposite.

Thankfully, Viktor had grown quite a bit ever since and this gave you a good excuse as to why you didn't want him to rest on your chest anymore.

He was the big one now, so you could listen to his heartbeat instead.

From outside the wooden walls, the dripping of shattering raindrops crawled into the room.

The place you two were living in was anything but a home.

It was barely big enough to fit a small cooking place with a gas stove, a bed and some storage room to hide clothes and other valuable things such as Viktor's cane.

It was one of the few luxuries that you were able to afford.

Medical treatment was too expensive, most doctors weren't even real specialists. And the Topside was out of reach.

It would have been a wonder if an enforcer would have let either of you pass the bridge.

The cane was a gift from you for his birthday the year before.

Such a thing was worth gold down in the Undercity, so it was out of the question to hide it.

A deep sigh escaped your cracked lips.

"You sound exhausted.", Viktor noted and let his fingers play with the (H/C) strands of hair in the back of your neck. "Are you getting sick again?"

You shook your head.

The skinny build made it possible to feel every bone in his chest.

Viktor was a scrawny looking young man, too skinny and too short for his age.

But he was a man of the Undercity, a born Zaunite. The pollution and dirty water were explanation enough as to why he wasn't like the people from Piltover.

But that didn't make his outside less charming.

He did have quite a nice amount of thick and dark brown hair. He always made sure to keep it well groomed and combed to the sides, out of his forehead.

Whenever he deemed it too long, he asked you to trim the back.

In a way, that was his way of being vain. Even though appearance wasn't what he put much effort into.

His long face with a narrow yet sharp jaw was always shaved.

With a tired sound, you raised your head to meet his gaze.

The brown of his small eyes was so bright it reminded of the purest of amber.

"I'm fine.", you smiled and placed a soft kiss on the bottom of his right eye.

Viktor had two beauty marks, one on the left side of his face, right above the lip and one underneath his right eye.

As a child, he had always tried to scratch them off because he had deemed them ugly, marks of Zaun.

But you had made it a tradition to kiss them whenever he needed to know you were dead serious or certain about something.

"We should get going.", you rose from his chest. "Your parents are probably waiting already."