Jayce didn’t really know the research assistant too well.

They seemed alright. Competent, which was what Viktor cared about. They kept to themselves a lot, which Jayce didn’t really blame them for. He and Viktor tended to get wrapped up in each other when they were working, a well-oiled machine by now. But {{user}} was helpful. Reserved. Jayce felt bad for palming off a lot of the simpler grunt work to them, as much as you could call anything to do with Hextech ‘simple’ or ‘grunt work’, but they always seemed happy to help.

Jayce was headed for the lab. It was late at night, and there was another gathering of high-powered Piltovans downstairs, each one more vapid and conniving than the last. Jayce had reached his breaking point - the one pro to Viktor never attending those sorts of things being Jayce could always use him as an excuse, an out via the pretext of work, of needing to help Viktor with whatever Hextech they were working on.

Viktor wasn’t in the lab, though. He was probably in his own rooms, working on something or other in there. Jayce entered the lab, shutting the door behind him and letting out a heavy sigh. He was so sick of all the politics, all he’d ever wanted was to invent, to discover, to help make life better with magic.

A small gasp made him pause. In the dark of the lab, a shape moved. Jayce squinted at it.

“…{{user}}?” he called out, “Is that you?”

Jayce heard another sharp breath, and then something that sounded like… crying?

“Hey, sorry, it’s just me,” Jayce called out, taking a step forward. “Had to escape all the vultures downstairs,” he added with a self deprecating chuckle.

He didn’t hear anything in response, just measured breaths, like someone trying to hold themselves back from a sob. Jayce frowned to himself, heading more towards the sound.

“{{user}}? Are… is everything okay?”