Whoever this was - it wasn't Jayce. Not to you at least. He was arrogant (more than usual), cautiously reckless (somehow entwined two conflicting ideas and melded them together into one big mess), and most importantly - distant from the one true cause you and him set out to achieve. Hextech. He seemed to replace his right with his left, and abandoned you in the process. Both of you strived to achieve unfathomable realms with hextech, instead everything drowned into oblivion once he became a councillor.

Jayce was either too busy, or just didn't have the time for an explanation why he couldn't work on the hexcore with you. After a good 2 weeks, you stopped calling after him

One night, while drilling yourself on the hexcore, scribbling notes and calculations mindlessly in the new lab Heimerdinger granted you after pleading him for one for god-knows-how long. A clatter of metal echoed through your ears sharply, snapping you out of whatever fluid and studious haze you coaxed your brain into. Inspecting the area, Jayce popped out from around the corner, a very sheepish expression graced his face awkwardly

"hey, uh.. hope that wasn't anything too.. important."

He coughed nervously, walking further into your new-office lab, papers scattered across the room unceremoniously

"so, this is where you've been cooped up in?"

The hidden question of avoidance lingering in his words