longer.blue

══════════════════ ⊹ Unencrypted 2/2 ⊹ ⊹ Jayce + Viktor ⊹ ══════════════════ Viktor’s expression softened at the tender kiss. If he’d been asked even a month ago, he wouldn’t have thought any of this was a possibility. Not the books, not Jayce looking at him like that, not him feeling this soft. Crazy, how quickly things could change. “We’re close,” Viktor insisted again, more quietly this time. “Pass me the first journal. We must have missed something.” "Mm... The English one?" He scooped up the book in question. Viktor hummed his affirmation. The encryption within was nearly identical. A few glyphs varied between the two, indicative, they thought, of two unique sets of verbalizations - two languages, two pronunciations to represent in phonetic writings. "Do you want the decoding, too?" He passed Viktor the journal, then slipped out from under the enticing touch. Viktor let go, admittedly with a little reluctance. He maintained that Jayce was the more cuddly one of the two of them, but he could be pretty reluctant to stop touching his partner, too. “That could help,” he agreed, holding out a hand for it. What he wanted to say was that he didn’t need it, but that would be insane. Of course he needed it. He wouldn’t know what he was looking at, otherwise. Or, he shouldn’t. Jayce parted the sea of books to find the notes in question. He flipped through the pages, in search of where he began the process, marked by a sticker tab adhered to a title page for that section. He passed this to Viktor, too. “I don’t know how we’ll spend our free time once we crack these,” he joked, shifting onto his back once more and propping the book on his chest, staring down at it. He thumbed through the pages, scanning the text and symbols briefly. He had no clue what he was looking for, but he’d know it when he saw it. At least, that had worked so far. "We'll find something, assuming I don't manage to acquire another of these in the meantime. We always have." Both were obsessive problem-solvers and completionists, which extended to nearly any activity they shared together. (Apart from the time Jayce fell asleep during Viktor's choice of movie. It made sense that Viktor expressed some disappointment.) The provided, gray two-seater sofa in their living area was small. Still, Jayce reasoned, if he laid Viktor's feet on his lap, the pillow on top, and the tablet on atop that, he'd be able to work a little closer to his partner. He settled in like this, absently squeezing at the other's leg. He peered over the book to watch Viktor's expressions for signs of recognition or frustration. Viktor glanced up. Another statistical anomaly. Viktor never let anyone get so casually acquainted with his leg like this. And yet, here he was, perfectly comfortable and relaxed as Jayce kneaded absently at the muscle there. The wonders never ceased. After a few beats, each turned back to their study. Ordinarily, Viktor was thorough when he was trying to figure something out. So methodical. That had been true for most of his time trying to help crack the code of these journals. But now, he just scanned. Just looked at it. No less focused than ever, though, brows furrowed slightly in concentration, half listening to the murmur of Jayce’s voice testing out the language in the background. There. He stopped, staring at a particular page. There was something here. He didn’t know what, exactly. But there was something here that made his brain itch and his skin buzz. He pulled the book up closer to his face, staring intently. Like if he just looked hard enough, something would happen. It sounded absurd. And yet, something did happen. His vision sharpened, hearing dulled, Jayce’s voice fading to a low hum. He sucked in a sharp breath, skin buzzing so intensely that it almost hurt, like pins and needles across every inch of him. He looked up, wide eyed, almost afraid to keep going, but looking away didn’t make it stop, not this time. “Jayce,” he called, but his voice didn’t sound right to him, reverberating in his own ears. Jayce's focus broke at the resonant sound of his name (and it was unmistakably his name, even if the voice came from somewhere unnatural, inside of his head and all around him and distinctly to the left, where Viktor was.) Viktor. He looked up and met Viktor's gaze. The man's fearful eyes glowed with the intensity of lightning, limitless white and painful to look at. Jayce sucked in a deep breath that caught in his throat, and his lips parted dumbly before he could swallow his paralysis down. He squinted, holding Viktor in his sights against the sting of the light. Reflexively, his arm drew up, eager to shield him. He didn't let it. "Viktor...? How are you doing that?!" Viktor couldn’t see himself, of course, but looking at Jayce, he could see his partner’s face light up - literally, as if someone was shining a flashlight into it. Was he glowing? Even now, Jayce’s voice sounded almost distant, like he was listening from just under the surface of water. The humming didn’t help - a low droning in his head, gradually getting louder. “I don’t-“ he started to protest to Jayce’s question, before cutting himself off, going completely rigid. A little glowing wasn’t the end of it. There was more. He doubled over abruptly, squeezing his eyes shut, crying out at a sudden burst of pain. Of power. Even with his eyes shut tight, even with it being the middle of the day, he could see the light that flooded the room. The toning in his head was near deafening, but he could still vaguely make out the sound of furniture scraping against the floor as it was pushed away from him...