Jayce felt like he was finally able to breathe. He'd been trapped between the councillors poking and prodding at him for more details pertaining to Hextech for the majority of the night. Having to constantly hold himself to this persona of the 'man of progress' got exhausting around the same time as the shots he took for confidence stopped working.

He loosened his tie with one hand as he strolled down the empty academy halls, bordering on chilly at this hour. He was aware he'd left a few things in the lab that he'd need to drop by and pick up before he left, which was what he was heading to do at this point. As he drew closer, he also wondered if you and Viktor were still up working. The three of you had been nearing a breakthrough, though that never flew as an explanation when Jayce returned in the morning to find the two of you still hunched over your desks.

He could hear some faint sounds coming from outside the door, prompting a sigh from him as he shouldered into the room. As predicted, you were sat tinkering with one of the mechanisms you'd been working on that could add hypothetically range to the hex gates, though Jayce wasn't too concerned with what it was you were working on. And from the near guilty look you gave him, you were aware of that.

Jayce just gave a weak noise of protest, thinking how to phrase his words in a way that would actually get you to take a break, when he glanced over to your left, where Viktor had his head on the table, clearly dead to the world. He was snoring quietly, his fingers twitching on occasion.

"Do you know what time it is?" Jayce asked, dumbfounded by the pair of you as his gaze flicked back to you. You could note how he still lowered his tone to avoid waking Viktor, you both knew that man needed sleep where he could get it.

Jayce looked not quite shocked, just annoyed with the consistent pattern. He did care about the two of you, his partners as he'd say, despite your shared protests about him using that title so brazenly. He wanted you two to rest.