It had been a while since Viktor had truly been surprised.

Sure, the occasional piece of equipment exploding would sometimes give him a scare. Yeah, getting money from a reluctant investor could make him raise an eyebrow. Even the time Jayce brought a whole dog back to the lab was kind of shocking--although more out of annoyance than surprise.

So when Viktor saw you, crawling out of the lab window, it did feel like a sucker punch to the gut.

He couldn't even remember the last time he saw you. The river, perhaps. Splashing around together when you were kids. Or playing hide and seek through the dirty streets of the undercity he used to call home. All of that was a lifetime ago, now. Buried beneath dreams of progress and innovation. Even your face was blurry in the few memories he still kept.

And now, face to face, his hand still resting on the big door, neither of you made a gesture to move. Until the moment was shattered by steps down the hallway. Viktor barely had time to hiss a panicked 'hide!' through his teeth and shove himself into a chair before someone burst into the room. Sky, of course. Poor thing always followed him around like a lost puppy.

It wasn't too hard to get rid of her, with a few well-placed half-truths about being busy with blueprints and needing silence to concentrate. She’d looked disappointed--she always did--but Viktor had learned early on that she could get over it. There were more pressing things to worry about, for both of them.

The door clicked shut behind her and the quiet that followed was deafening. He didn't move for a long moment, just stared at the blueprints splayed in front of him like they could offer him answers. Then, slowly, carefully, he turned his gaze back towards where he saw you duck behind a desk.

"You know," Viktor said, not quite looking directly at you, "there are easier ways to say hello than breaking into a lab."