Chapter Text
Piltover and Zaun were never meant to blend into one another, Topside made sure of that by isolating the Undercity with pollution and industrial disadvantages. However, there were always certain places where the two worlds meet. A small place where the constant feud was put to a pause.
The waterways along the trenches was a place so many children loved to play in. Despite the multitude of Zaunite kids using it as their primary source of fun, some of the children from Piltover—the ones from lower classes, often come there as well.
It was where Jayce met Viktor for the first time.
He saw him alone by a creak, fixing a little toy boat made of scrap metal. The small smile he had on his face as the make-shift toy came to life captivated little Jayce's heart. Grown ups always said that alphas should hold on to an omega once they feel an attraction towards them, and that's exactly what Jayce intended on doing.
Without any inkling of whether or not Viktor was an omega, it seems that Jayce's premature instincts caught right on. He sat with the other boy and introduced himself, just like Mama taught him to—polite and open for friendship. Even though it's not exactly ‘friendship’ Jayce wanted but that's for future Jayce to figure out. For now, he adored the way Viktor perked up when Jayce said his boat looked cool.
They've been best friends ever since. With no regard to Viktor being from the Undercity, Jayce continued to be by his side for as long as he could. It had come to a point where Jayce wanted to be Viktor's only friend. He'd make up stories about what the other kids were saying about him, talking about how Viktor's leg will only slow them down when they play and how weird he was. The latter tried not to cry with how hurtful those words were, oblivious to the fact that Jayce was making them all up just to keep Viktor to himself.
In truth, everytime someone tried asking Viktor to play, Jayce would grimace and imitate how adult alphas sneered before Viktor could notice. When he turned to look back at his friend, Jayce suddenly switched to an innocent smile, as if nothing had happened. Viktor thought nothing of it, more than happy to have Jayce as his only friend.
They hit it off from the moment they met, only getting closer the more they spent time together. The waterways were less than the ideal place to play in but neither of the boys cared at all. Down there, no one could scold Jayce for being so possessive and touchy with Viktor, doing things that Ximena told Jayce he could only do once he's mature.
“Hey, Viktor, would you mind if I try something?”
“Hm? What is it?”
“I've seen adults do this, so I want to try it on you,”
“Will it hurt?”
“Silly, I'd never hurt you!”
Viktor stayed put in his sitting position as Jayce knelt behind him. With curiosity, he pulls down the back of Viktor's shirt collar and slowly leaned closer. He took a whiff, closing his eyes to try and concentrate on even just a slither of his scent. When he smelled nothing, he got closer and closer until his nose bumped on Viktor's skin.
“That tickles!” Viktor giggled, pulling away from his friend's touch.
“Come on, Vik! This is serious!”
“Okay, okay. I'll be still,”
Jayce huffed but continued to press his nose against the back of Viktor's neck, right on top of his immature scent glands, trying to catch something that wasn't really there just yet.
He had seen his father do this to his mother, and he'd also seen other alphas do the same. Scenting, they called it. Used often with family and loved ones, but it was also commonly practiced among those who wished to make it known that they have their claim on someone. An act Jayce was trying to replicate.
“Silly, Jayce! Only grown ups can scent, you know,”
He knew that but even so, it was only the start of a habit Jayce had come to adopt among many others. His attempts to scent were tolerated by Viktor, who thought nothing more of it even as Jayce’s teeth scraped the skin on his nape, trying to leave marks—a sorry excuse for a mating bite. Despite his disappointment each time he found that the bruises had faded, Jayce still enjoyed the soft giggling it emitted from Viktor.
Jayce seemed to feel the instinctual protectiveness he had for his best friend, promising to keep Viktor safe as long as he was by his side despite the noticeable size difference between them. Being two to three years older than Jayce, Viktor was the taller one by a head as evidence of incoming puberty, something that made Jayce pout when his determination to be Viktor's protector was belittled due to his current height. Even so, he was undeterred, and told Viktor to wait and see in a couple of years. He'll be taller, bigger, and become a real alpha. Viktor laughed but nonetheless, he called him sweet, making Jayce puff out his chest with that small win.
With Viktor, Jayce would always be kind to him, always staying by his side as if they were attached to the hip. None of the other kids ever tried to approach them when they played together, mostly after Jayce scared them away, but Viktor found himself content with his sole friend. Though, Jayce did seem a little controlling towards Viktor after a while. He told him where to go, where to not go, who he could talk to, what games they should play or how they should play, but at the end of the day, Viktor went home with a smile on his face after a fun day with Jayce.
Unfortunately, it wasn't all good days with Jayce. Even as he restricted Viktor as much as he could, he never did anything to hurt him verbally, and definitely never physically.
Jayce was late to meet up with Viktor that day, leaving the latter to play by the stream with the toy boat, now improved with Jayce's help. It still needed some tweaking and a couple of parts, which Viktor was there to test out for. He hasn't felt this lonely in such a long time since he met Jayce, and when another kid peeked through the short cliff above him, he couldn't help but try to catch her attention by cranking the boat to a start. The young girl leaned with interest only to be called back by her friends, leaving Viktor to his lonesome.
He sighed to himself, wondering where Jayce was as he let the boat run down the stream and followed it. Usually, Jayce would be there to run after it when the boat got too far but without him, Viktor resorted to walking as fast as he could with his crutch. He tried to catch it and almost succeeded before he tripped on his own foot, falling flat to his stomach. The boat sailed further away until it fell into a series of small waterfalls leading to a cave. Pushing himself back to his feet, he contemplated whether he should get the boat back by himself or wait for Jayce.
For a moment, he paused, thinking of how much he had become dependent on Jayce. His mother, an omega just like him, had taught him that even with his disability, he should never rely on anyone for help. He was raised to be strong and self-reliant. An omega like him shouldn't succumb to whatever second gender norm society forced on them. Viktor did not entirely understand his mother's words but what he got from it was that he should be doing things himself. He was no longer a child to wait on someone to do this simple task. With that set in mind, he walked down the rocky path with slight difficulty but nothing he couldn't manage.
Down the dim path, he found himself entering a cave. He followed the stream until he noticed a purple light radiating further down. Curious, he hid behind a rock as he stared in awe at the tubes and machinery settled in a small, makeshift lab. There, he spotted a man standing at the edge of the water holding his boat.
“Did you make this yourself?”
His low, rough voice startled Viktor, but he didn't seem hostile. The man stretched out his hand with the metal boat, offering it back.
“It's quite inspired,” He continued as Viktor slowly walked towards him and took the toy from him.
The initial hesitance gradually disappeared when Viktor eyed the contraptions surrounding them with wide eyes, practically sparkling with awe. It didn't help that a large axolotyl creature emerged from the water and rested on a rock in front of him. Rio, was her name and she turned out to be quite the gentle giant. His sense of curiosity had always been larger than himself, so he followed the man on a tour around the lab, absorbing everything he said like a sponge, and ending with feeding Rio some purple flowers Dr. Reveck said would cure her of her illness.
Viktor didn't find out until a few days later that Jayce had gotten a little sick and had been forced to rest at home because of a seasonal flu. They'd been very excited to see each other again, acting as if they've been apart for years. Jayce relished in the way Viktor coddled him just like how an omega wife does to their alpha mate, expressing his concern for his previously unwell friend who reassured him that he was now right as rain.
“So what have you been doing while I was gone?” Jayce asked.
The smile on Jayce's face quickly melted into a scowl with each second of Viktor telling him about the strange man down in the cave. If it weren't for the anger bubbling in his chest, he would have found it all quite intriguing and may have wanted to learn more. Instead, he rose to his feet, and all of a sudden, he raised his voice for the first time at Viktor.
“How could you be so careless, Viktor? You didn't follow my rules!” Jayce yelled with something close to a growl at the back of his throat, baring his teeth and his eyes flaring with intensity right at him. “You're an omega, Viktor! You shouldn't be trusting random strangers, much less a grown-up you met in a cave!”
Viktor couldn't help but flinch with every sentence, trembling quietly frozen in place, and eyes watering with tears threatening to fall. He let out a small whine, guilt and partly fear began to overcome him, realizing that Jayce was right.
An omegan child blindly trusting strangers like that was a recipe for disaster. He should have known better. He should have listened to Jayce.
Jayce had never raised his voice at him like that before. The fact that his friend was yelling at him seemed more important than what he did wrong. It made him feel horrible and hurt.
“I'm sorry, Jayce. I won't do it again,” He sniffled, head held low in shame.
Jayce let out a sigh and shook his head before kneeling back down to give Viktor a hug.
“I'm sorry too, for raising my voice like that. I was just worried about you, that's all,”
Viktor nodded, hugging him back tight, letting out a small whine in apology. It brought him great relief that Jayce started to rub his nose on him, nibbling on a part of his neck to mark him. It must mean he'd been forgiven.
To Jayce, however, he couldn't help but feel a sense of thrill and pride with it all. The dominance he had on Viktor at that moment felt like nothing he had ever experienced. Is this what being a real alpha feels like?
Ever since that incident, Jayce felt the need to scare Viktor a little. He told him of the horrible things he had heard or read in the papers of omegas who had been alone being taken against their will by evil alphas. Some were found murdered and raped, while others were forcefully mated by these alphas.
Viktor did well to heed Jayce's warning for some time in fear of getting hurt or worse. Since then, it had been the last time Viktor ever saw Dr. Reveck and Rio.