Hextech was reaching new heights, heights Jayce and Viktor had dreamed of reaching when they’d started working on it years ago. Jayce was beaming with excitement as he looked over new models of the tools they wanted to create with the magic gems but Viktor couldn’t enjoy the strides they’d made in the same way, too fixated on cracking the Hexcore that his brilliant mind couldn’t crack.

“You’re going to give yourself a headache if you keep staring at that thing” Jayce laughed. “It’s proving more challenging than I imagined. It requires my full concentration” Viktor assured as his feathery hair fell a bit in his eyes, forcing him to let one second of his time go to brush it out the way. “Maybe you should take a break…sometimes stepping away from something can help you see it with a fresh pair of eyes” Jayce suggested. “I feel like I’m getting closer. I can’t just step away right now” Viktor shot down, getting a shrug of a failed attempt from his partner.

“Or maybe…you should just loosen up a little” Jayce added. “Jayce, I cAAhahNnnTT! AohAWWhAATtaARReEyoOUAohADoOiiiNnGG?!” Viktor tried to make sense of with Jayce’s wily fingers wiggling around in his armpits. “I’m loosening you up!” Jayce explained with a pearly smile as Viktor squirmed and floundered around in his chair. “STtoHoHopPP!” “No way! I don’t remember the last time I’ve heard you laugh anything close to this” the handsome scientist refused as he dug in a little deeper, instantly ratcheting up Viktor’s dry laughter another notch.

“JjAAAYYyCCEE!! AoAOhAEennNOooUuUGGhHH!!” Viktor protested through his forced laughter but couldn’t shake his friend’s hold. “See? You seem looser already” Jayce pointed out from behind the chair as he continued occupying Viktor’s underarms with 10 tireless fingers determined to make the fellow scientist a little less worried about his work. “SSTToHOHoOHOPP!! TThHIiIiSSIiiSSAhAOHA JJjUuVEeNnNIiiLLEEE!” “Consider me juvenile then” Jayce laughed before letting his attack shift to Viktor’s ribs, his large hands easily dominating the slender frame. “AAhAHAnANoOHOHO!” shot out of Viktor before he could attempt to control himself, never one to be so reactionary but in this situation, all he could do was react.

“There we go! Laughter’s good for the soul, Viktor!” Jayce assured while wiggling in and all over the ribs until his partner was writhing around in the chair and trying to pry his arms away. “No no, you’re not getting out of this one” Jayce pointed out before grabbing Viktor’s hands and locking his hand around both wrists to pull his arms above his head, leaving the more reserved tinkerer totally defenseless. “Ok! Jayce, this is silly!” “A little silliness is exactly what you need” Jayce answered before diving back in and reigniting his buddy’s laughter.

“NnOOAoAHOAH!!” was all Viktor could think to say once Jayce’s hand returned, this time seemingly going for a more wide-spread approach as he moved between his pits and ribs and sides, pinballing back and forth to keep Viktor’s brilliant mind guessing and consumed with his own laughter instead of the Hexcore for a change. “JJAYAHAyAYCCEE! SSTToHOHHOPP!” “It’s hard to stop tickling you when it’s so nice to see you like this” Jayce explained before suddenly wiggling around Viktor’s neck, earning a squeakier laugh as he tried to fight it off with his chin. “Man, I never knew you were so ticklish, Viktor” “AhoAAohANnOooHoOWWAOhA YyOoOUUAohKNNOOoOOWW!!” he answered in hopes the discovery would be enough to quell Jayce’s desire to stir him up like this but the charming topsider wasn’t done just yet, surprising Viktor again by letting his arms go only to sink back into his armpits for the worst yet.

“AAhAhAHAHAHAAHNNOOAOHA!! JjJAAHAYAYyCCEEE!!” rang out with more power than Jayce had heard from Viktor’s voice in some time as he burrowed into both shallow pits through his shirt until his partner was begging him to stop. “AhAOAOoKoOK!! AOhAPPLLLEEAASSEE!! aohOHAAoHAYYOOOuUUWWiIiNN!!” “So you’ll start taking breaks from work?” “OhaoAYYAYYEEEESS!! YyyeEAAHAESS!!” Viktor agreed as the strong fingers made any answer other than ‘yes’ seem horribly unwise. “Great. That’s what I like to hear” Jayce answered as he finally backed off and let Viktor think straight again. “That was…uncalled for” Viktor added as he caught his breath. “Agree to disagree” Jayce answered with another flash of his perfect smile before returning to what he’d been looking over before the tickle attack.

Viktor turned his attention back to the Hexcore but didn’t engage the controls this time, instead sitting at the desk trying to realign his thoughts to what track they were on before Jayce was playing his ribs like a piano. After a few minutes, his hands reached back out for the controls but retracted, redirected by a new thought that put an uncharacteristically mischievous grin on Viktor’s face. After grabbing the Hextech glove from the desk, Viktor stood up and powered one of the devices on that they’d created.

“I thought the claw machine was finished…unless you think you can improve upon it” Jayce added with a light laugh without even turning around from his desk, figuring his partner had thought up another addition to the device. “Jayce, would you mind looking at this for me?” Viktor asked, convincing Jayce to stand up and face him without a second thought. “What are you doing? HeEY!” Jayce shouted as Viktor manipulated the claw device with the glove and latched around him, clamping the claw around his arms so they were stuck to his sides. “Here I was thinking we’d built that to help miners” Jayce added as he tried to get loose. “The best tools have more than one use” Viktor added as he made the machine lift Jayce off the ground a couple feet.

“Viktor! What are you doing?? Come on!” a now concerned Jayce questioned as his tan face contorted with curious frustration and he tried to wiggle his way out of the machine’s hold. “You wanted me to loosen up…maybe I should be more ‘juvenile’ like you” Viktor offered as he walked closer to him and got to the floor to lye on his back and shuffle a bit until he was under Jayce’s feet. “This isn’t what I meant! I was just having some fun!” “Who says I’m not doing the same?” Viktor answered as he reached up and began messing with the left boot, making Jayce’s eyes widen with surprise. “Wh…wait! Viktor, this is ridiculous! Be serious!” “I thought I was too serious…” Viktor challenged as he finished undoing the boot so he could pull it off, revealing a long, socked-foot.

“Ok, you made your point! Just put me down!” Jayce tried to convince. “Now that you know my sensitives, I should get acquainted with some of yours” Viktor pointed out with a few strong strokes down the middle of Jayce’s foot. “AAhANO! Come on!” Jayce all but yelped, making Viktor’s thin-lipped smile grow a bit. “Viktor! This isn’t what we built the claw machine for!” Jayce again tried to steer his situation away from the direction it was headed but couldn’t persuade Viktor from going after his foot again, this time without pulling away.

“AhAHA! AohAHAAhANOO! AoHAOHANNOAOhAOHA!! ViIkkTToOoRRoHoA!!” Jayce couldn’t help but let out as his warm, bubbly laughter bypassed any attempt to keep it from coming out. The face of Hextech blushed with ticklish helplessness as Viktor’s skinny fingers ran up and down his socked-foot worse than he could’ve imagined, forcing out embarrassingly uncontrollable laughter from just a little specific attention. “I am used to studying what makes the Hexore tick…humans are much simpler to figure out” Viktor teased as the turned tables brought out a more playful side, seemingly the happiest he’d been in a while sitting under Jayce’s captive feet.

“EenNOOouuGGhH! YYoOUoUmMAaAADdEE YYoOOUuRRpPOohoIIInNTT!” “Some things are worth reiterating” Viktor answered before pulling the toe of Jayce’s sock out so it was stretched and used the laser of the claw machine to slice the tip off. “Woah! That was a little close, don’t you think??” “If you’re trying to say I’m beginning to master the machine, you are correct” Viktor answered before pulling the sock back down and shoving it up toward Jayce’s ankle to exposed Jayce’s bare foot. Grunts of Jayce trying to escape the claw intensified as he realized there was no sock left to provide even a little protection, ramping up his efforts to get free until his focus was completely lost.

“OoAohAhAONNOO! AOhAOHASSHHiIITT!! AhAAoHAOhAOAA!!” Jayce erupted with heavier laughter than before after only a split second of trying to hold it in, no match for the skin to skin tickling now plaguing his size 13. “Funny how much difference a sock can make” Viktor grinned as he glided up and down the rich, wide sole, his fingers practically melting into the buttery bottom of Jayce’s foot. “NOOOAhAOA!!! SSTToHOHoPPP!! AohAOhAAVViIkKkTToOORRAOHAOHA!!” Jayce quickly went from laughing to howling with even less composure than before as his smile grew to an exaggerated size and his perfect hair began to lose its integrity.

“Your toes seem to be trying to get my attention as well…” Viktor pointed out before using his other hand to make five new friends, clawing along the lush undersides and making Jayce’s whole-body cringe with acute sensitivity. “AAAHAHAADDAAMMIIIT! STTOHOP!!” Jayce borderline growled from the intensity but Viktor responded to his findings like any man of science by testing them some more. One hand soon had to hold Jayce’s ankle to keep him from kicking but his other went to work scribbling all over the soft, pink, buffet of a sole and scratching at his toes, the combination move impressing and surprising Jayce as his laughter spiraled to humiliating heights. “AAhAHAHAHANNOO!! AOhOHAohAOAHMmMmEERRCCYY!! AHoOHAAOHAOOKOOKK!!” Jayce surrendered through his off-the-rails laughter, unable to even focus enough to use his other foot to try to block the tickling or fight the claw in hopes of escaping.

“Begging for mercy is a universal white flag but I think a rule should be agreed upon before I let you go, one that will somewhat contradict what you made me agree to earlier” Viktor explained without dialing down his attack. “AHAOOkOokK!!” “If I am working, you let me be. No mention of taking a break or me working too much is allowed” Viktor laid out as he found a particularly good spot just north of Jayce’s heel, convincing him to concentrate on it once he explained his terms. “AHAGGHAHA!! AAALLLRRIIiiGGHhTT!! AOhAOHAALLlRRiiiGGhHTT!!” Jayce agreed after a shriek of a laugh exploded out of him and he struggled to sound anything short of delirious from Viktor’s nails on his beefy, defenseless foot. “Alright, what?” “AAALLLRiIiGGhHTTOHAOAH DDEEAAALLL!! AOhAOHAIiiIUunNnDEERRRsSSTTAHAHANnNDD!!” “Perfect” Viktor answered before sliding out from under his buddy’s feet and standing up to use his gloved-hand to make the machine release him.

Jayce had never looked so frazzled while Viktor had never looked so happy with himself. “I’d say that…as uncalled for” Jayce added while catching his breath as he sat down in his desk chair. “I’m not usually an advocate of such childish reasoning but, you started it” “Yeah…I guess you’re right. I didn’t think you had that in you” Jayce admitted with a light laugh. “Our work here is important and requires a level of thinking most aren’t capable of harnessing the right way; using one’s intelligence to understand something as complex as Hextech is special. Developing an appetite for revenge over something like tickling is much more common.”