[ He emphasizes the negative, but he's smiling nonetheless. No matter what the gift is, it's better than all of the things that his brain had invented about Jayce spending time away from him on other ventures—which is his right to do, but it would still have hurt Viktor for him to not be honest about it.
Drinking in the excitement on Jayce's face, Viktor makes a show of opening the gift carefully. He can see glimmers of metal as the surfaces catch the lamplight, but it's not until he's fully unwrapped it and taken a good long look that it sinks in.
A leg brace. It looks similar to Jayce's own, but more delicate and obviously much thinner to fit Viktor's slight frame. A wide range of emotions flow through him, from sheepishness to gratitude, pain to love. He knows that Jayce doesn't see him as weak, and he's never given Viktor any physical help that wasn't first asked for; but the fact that he saw how much Viktor silently struggled with walking and took his own time and materials to make him something that would help... To be cared for is to risk also being perceived at one's lowest.
Looking up at Jayce finally, eyes a bit dewy, Viktor clears his throat. ] Thank you, Jayce. It's quite lovely. I'm always amazed by your handiwork.
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[ He emphasizes the negative, but he's smiling nonetheless. No matter what the gift is, it's better than all of the things that his brain had invented about Jayce spending time away from him on other ventures—which is his right to do, but it would still have hurt Viktor for him to not be honest about it.
Drinking in the excitement on Jayce's face, Viktor makes a show of opening the gift carefully. He can see glimmers of metal as the surfaces catch the lamplight, but it's not until he's fully unwrapped it and taken a good long look that it sinks in.
A leg brace. It looks similar to Jayce's own, but more delicate and obviously much thinner to fit Viktor's slight frame. A wide range of emotions flow through him, from sheepishness to gratitude, pain to love. He knows that Jayce doesn't see him as weak, and he's never given Viktor any physical help that wasn't first asked for; but the fact that he saw how much Viktor silently struggled with walking and took his own time and materials to make him something that would help... To be cared for is to risk also being perceived at one's lowest.
Looking up at Jayce finally, eyes a bit dewy, Viktor clears his throat. ] Thank you, Jayce. It's quite lovely. I'm always amazed by your handiwork.