The pressure on his chest down lead to him flinching because he's already in pain from multiple slash injuries. It might not seem obvious given they're wrapped and he's ignoring it, but a push like that only makes him more aware of his aching body. He lets Viktor go as it seems that's what he wants but he doesn't back away, he just lets his hands drop on either side of himself.
The look he gives Viktor is pure pain, full of undeniable hurt. Viktor may as well have pushed his hand into his chest and ripped out his heart. He can't deny the words he's saying. It was selfish. He is selfish. He is weak. He broke promises and lost his head and he couldn't let Viktor go when he should have. Because he loves him, he damned him. His expressive eyes and face tell the story of the guilt and pain pointing that out causes him and he can't bear to look at him, dropping his gaze to the floor.
"Yes," he whispers, broken. "That's why." Viktor is angry and disappointed in him and he deserves it. His own love may be pure and genuine but it is far from unselfish. And he can't claim Viktor's heart back, not after all that he's done. He isn't owed Viktor's love nor does he probably deserve it. There are tears shimmering in his eyes, held onto long lashes as he looks down dejected.
"I'm sorry." It's quiet. He's ashamed. "I've done a lot I'm not proud of. Things ... you couldn't forgive. And this is one of them." Viktor doesn't know about all his bad decisions lately, he was too horrified to tell him. Jayce is weighted down, shoulders slumped, with all the ways in which he's failed.
drop kicks that puppy straight into his divorce era
There is a terrible impulse in Viktor to literally do just that. To reach into Jayce and just tear his heart right own. It might even be a mercy, given how absolutely destroyed Jayce appears at this moment. The impulse fades, the crueler feeling being that of coldness, the only kind Viktor can feel about now. He curls his fingers away from Jayce and severs their connection there. A connection he didn't realize was more than skin deep, leaving marks behind. Next Jayce changes his bandages, he's find four, glittering fingerprints forever impressed over his heart.
Viktor can't help in leaving Jayce marred by the memory of him.
"It was affection, which held us together..." emphasis on the past tense, "... goodbye, Jayce."
He can't help losing his anger and saying his farewell with all the tenderness of a bruise. Viktor moves to leave, grabbing the blanket they kept in the lab off a nearby chair. How often they both used that over the years. How many times had Jayce put it over Viktor when he fell asleep at the desk..? It should be all he takes with him, that and the twisted remains of his crutch. He shrugs the blanket over his shoulders and then head. Better nobody recognize him as he leaves. The fewer questions to what had occurred here, the better.
Only moments before Viktor was touching him, was allowing him to be close and intimate and do the same, so to use past tense like that feels like a real slap in the face. Jayce thinks maybe he's trying to hurt him on purpose, and maybe he should do that, given what Jayce has done to him and his body, and his free will and autonomy. He may as well be bleeding out at the moment from the way he feels and he puts his hand over his heart, where those fingers reside.
"Where are you going? Viktor, you can't just walk away. We need to figure this out together." This can't just be a goodbye. Jayce isn't going to let him go without a peep, he has to at least struggle to try and stop that from happening. Viktor's angry at him but he's logical too, and they have notes, they are scientists, he shouldn't do this alone. "I know I messed up, at least let me try to ...." Fix it? There is no fixing it. He struggles for words but he follows Viktor a few steps, not simply letting him go.
He reaches out toward him but stops before he touches, letting his hand drop away instead. He has no right to do that right now. And Viktor shouldn't be forced to stay, he'd not appreciate that. Jayce feels painful on the inside and the outside right now, it's not a great time. He is only a few feet away from him though, not willing to shut up quite yet. "Viktor. Please."
Viktor turns fully away from Jayce, hesitating in his exit only to hear the man's last remarks. A demand for knowledge and then desperate pleas. His heart feels numb from betrayal and bitter as a sudden snowstorm. If he stays or allows Jayce to come with him, Viktor knows it will be the end of the man. Jayce has no tolerance for the cold... and it would be cruel to make him suffer the chill of how Viktor feels towards him.
"Let me go, Jayce. I will be where I should have stayed," he answers, firm and determined as he always was, that steeliness of his will unchanged, "the Undercity. My purpose... is in Zaun."
His feet carry him forward, away from Jayce and all the made together, not able to stay a moment longer. Perhaps there is some salvation for him down below, where he was born, where he was forged. He won't tell Jayce where to find him. Viktor doesn't even know where that will be, precisely. It is something he needs to discover for himself, build with his own hands.
If their paths converge again, Viktor hopes it will not be in a collision.
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jayce is a sad kicked puppy rn
The look he gives Viktor is pure pain, full of undeniable hurt. Viktor may as well have pushed his hand into his chest and ripped out his heart. He can't deny the words he's saying. It was selfish. He is selfish. He is weak. He broke promises and lost his head and he couldn't let Viktor go when he should have. Because he loves him, he damned him. His expressive eyes and face tell the story of the guilt and pain pointing that out causes him and he can't bear to look at him, dropping his gaze to the floor.
"Yes," he whispers, broken. "That's why." Viktor is angry and disappointed in him and he deserves it. His own love may be pure and genuine but it is far from unselfish. And he can't claim Viktor's heart back, not after all that he's done. He isn't owed Viktor's love nor does he probably deserve it. There are tears shimmering in his eyes, held onto long lashes as he looks down dejected.
"I'm sorry." It's quiet. He's ashamed. "I've done a lot I'm not proud of. Things ... you couldn't forgive. And this is one of them." Viktor doesn't know about all his bad decisions lately, he was too horrified to tell him. Jayce is weighted down, shoulders slumped, with all the ways in which he's failed.
drop kicks that puppy straight into his divorce era
Viktor can't help in leaving Jayce marred by the memory of him.
"It was affection, which held us together..." emphasis on the past tense, "... goodbye, Jayce."
He can't help losing his anger and saying his farewell with all the tenderness of a bruise. Viktor moves to leave, grabbing the blanket they kept in the lab off a nearby chair. How often they both used that over the years. How many times had Jayce put it over Viktor when he fell asleep at the desk..? It should be all he takes with him, that and the twisted remains of his crutch. He shrugs the blanket over his shoulders and then head. Better nobody recognize him as he leaves. The fewer questions to what had occurred here, the better.
no subject
"Where are you going? Viktor, you can't just walk away. We need to figure this out together." This can't just be a goodbye. Jayce isn't going to let him go without a peep, he has to at least struggle to try and stop that from happening. Viktor's angry at him but he's logical too, and they have notes, they are scientists, he shouldn't do this alone. "I know I messed up, at least let me try to ...." Fix it? There is no fixing it. He struggles for words but he follows Viktor a few steps, not simply letting him go.
He reaches out toward him but stops before he touches, letting his hand drop away instead. He has no right to do that right now. And Viktor shouldn't be forced to stay, he'd not appreciate that. Jayce feels painful on the inside and the outside right now, it's not a great time. He is only a few feet away from him though, not willing to shut up quite yet. "Viktor. Please."
no subject
"Let me go, Jayce. I will be where I should have stayed," he answers, firm and determined as he always was, that steeliness of his will unchanged, "the Undercity. My purpose... is in Zaun."
His feet carry him forward, away from Jayce and all the made together, not able to stay a moment longer. Perhaps there is some salvation for him down below, where he was born, where he was forged. He won't tell Jayce where to find him. Viktor doesn't even know where that will be, precisely. It is something he needs to discover for himself, build with his own hands.
If their paths converge again, Viktor hopes it will not be in a collision.