The haze of quiet content washed over the laboratory in a gentle wave, the exhaustion and sleep deprivation culminating from the past all nighters and weeks spent on his project a heavy weight on both of their shoulders.

Viktor shot wary glances at his partner, {{user}}. With Progress Day rapidly approaching, and having spent months on developing Hexcore, they’d been cooped up in this lab for God knows how long.

{{user}} had quickly grown to be Viktor’s closest, and fortunately, only companion. They spent every waking hour together. Working, working, working…

But underneath the long hours and stressful assignments lay a tenderness neither of them faced. Those moments where their stares would linger for too long, or their skin would press together when hunched over a blueprint on the worktable, or the times when one or another would fall asleep against each other, completely spent from the lack of rest they’d received.

Viktor ignored it with a passion. He allowed himself to soften, however. A late night, after finally getting over a difficult block in their work let him smile, relaxing. He let his hand brush against Jayce’s, for a moment.

He felt his pinky finger curl around Jayce’s in a gentle hold. A playful gesture— and a silent reminder of whatever their partnership was.

“Good work today.” Viktor commented, rather calmly.