Chapter Text
The prequel comics were Jayce’s all-time favorite. There was no doubt that he loved every issue of Tech Hexed, but the rarity of the main character’s mask being removed meant that he was obsessed with seeing his face.
A few prequel chapters of the boy’s love manga showed the Machine Herald with a totally unmodified body, including when he used his cane and brace. Witnessing his favorite powerful character’s truly human origin and seeing the evidence of what motivated his actions made Jayce emotional enough for tears at times. He wished they’d produce more unmasked merchandise. All he had was a single sticker, lovingly placed on the water bottle he used at home; the rest of his hoard was all of an armored and masked Herald, postered over the walls and represented in standee.
The masked Herald is still very beloved by Jayce. There are only a few areas of wall that weren’t covered in some depiction. The largest was on the wall adjacent to his bed, a full-size poster that went almost all the way to the ceiling. It even included the Hexclaw.
Jayce was practically kicking his feet, not holding back audible laughs and exclamations of surprise as he read. Every unmasked panel was making him feel heated, and as the plot heated too, he was antsy to see what the Herald and Defender would do with each other. But the Defender was so frustrating, even more of a dick in these prequels. Jayce understood it was necessary for plot progression but God, why couldn’t he just understand the Herald for once?
A full color page of them bickering over that very thing made him giddy.
The Herald looked so perfectly imperfect; Jayce could tell he loved the Defender even through this fight. A poster of this page, whether or not it was officially released, would be going on his wall.
Fighting quickly turned to fucking, and Jayce finally allowed his hand into his pants. Reading new chapters on his phone was very convenient for this, and then he’d get to wait excitedly for its physical arrival and entrance into his collection.
The visible emotion written into the Herald’s face tugged at his heart and made him tug harder on his cock. Before this series, he’d felt a fool for how emotional his desires were.
These strong men sharing that trait with him had unlocked something in him. Everyone Jayce slept with expected him to be strong, in control. The Herald could break down the Defender, who was bigger than Jayce (as much as Mel may disagree). In the prequels, it didn’t matter that the Defender was bigger either. The Herald could still dominate with just a word.
Jayce thought about him, human, with those hard words but soft eyes. Pure affection was hinted at in the story and Jayce imagined earning it: a kiss from the Herald, warmth around his cock as the Herald rode him.
It was difficult to keep his eyes open as he approached orgasm; he gazed at the expertly inked lines of the Herald’s unmasked face contorted in pleasure. He was so jealous of the Defender sometimes.
Come spurting into an easily-available tissue, he wondered if the Herald had ruined him for real people.
—
Jayce entered class a hair under late. Everybody was getting together with a new lab partner without being instructed; university students know the procedure for a class like this. Friends were already paired up. Jayce looked around for anyone he knew, not too worried if he had to pair with a stranger.
A tap on the shoulder prompted him to look down. His mind blanked in a flash.
It was the Herald, unmasked and human and real, looking up at him with a familiar expression of curiosity.
“Do you want to be my partner?” the Herald asked, accented and enticing.
“Sure,” Jayce said automatically.
He knew his face must look ridiculous. It had taken time to train himself into accepted facial expressions, and he tried to school himself now so he didn’t freak out this gorgeous, gorgeous man. As for himself, the freakout was well underway; he felt like did when he had overestimated the size of rollercoaster he could handle as a 6-year-old.
“We’re in the same engineering track.” The man said like he was clarifying his request.
How had he managed not to lay eyes on him if they’ve been in the same classes for three years straight? Jayce has been wasting his time.
“What’s your name?” Jayce asked.
“It’s Viktor.”
“Jayce.”
The Herald had a name. He’d always agreed with the majority of the fanbase that the MCs didn’t need names, but now he understood those who were pro-reveal. Jayce followed Viktor to one of the lab tables that was still open, knowing that he was doing very poorly at a regular first impression. It was hard to think straight.
He was looking at, following behind the real life manifestation of his favorite fantasy. Unfortunately for Jayce’s wandering train of thought, Viktor didn’t have anything to say as they sat.
The auburn hair touching over his ears; his sharp cheekbones, blushing with blood that had never been rendered in anything other than the prequel. Even his beauty mark, a mole above his lip. Would he have the same moles as the Herald on the rest of his body?
It was a shock to Jayce’s system to watch Viktor use his cane as he was led across the room. It was like he was seeing every missing panel of Tech Hexed.
There was no way he was acting normal right now, and nothing was helping him to not ogle the body of his new lab partner. Exactly as he imagined but real, he could see the weight of him now and imagine holding him in his hands.
And now this is the creepiest he’d ever felt in his life. This man had said about five words to him, and he was already fantasizing about him.
This is why Jayce initially didn’t want to read BL. Anxiety over becoming a creep, being seen as a creep. It wasn’t bad to be bisexual, but Jayce had taken some time to feel that way about himself. Private school can be a tough place.
“I can’t believe I haven’t seen you before.” Jayce finally said.
“I transferred in at the end of last semester.” Viktor’s tone was inscrutable.
“Ah.”
Jayce was relieved that he hadn’t somehow overlooked Viktor before. He just couldn’t think of anything else to say that wasn’t about his goddamn manga, so he didn’t say anything at all. He tried to read the instructions to get set up for the lab, but he was forced into inaction by the paper that just said to wait for the professor.
“So, did you put off your bio lab requirement until senior year too?” Viktor asked.
“Yeah,” Jayce said. “There’s a lot of sophomores in here, huh?”
“Unfortunately.”
Sardonic too? Jayce is gonna die. He’ll die quicker if he isn’t able to text Mel and Cait about this as soon as possible.
And fuck, he couldn’t stop looking at Viktor’s cane; he knew that it was obvious and that there was no good explanation for it, but he had to. He imagined this is how his mother would feel if Jesus Christ showed up toting the Holy Cross around behind him. All Jayce could picture was the Herald using his own cane to pin the Defender down.
Think about something else.
“Think we can finish the labs in half the time and use the extra for senior thesis work?” Jayce asked.
Viktor chuckled, barely detectable, and cast his eyes around at the others in the room.
“Certainly.” He said.
Jayce smiled too hard.
The professor finally spoke up and started going on about the plasmid edit process they’d be doing over the semester. Jayce couldn’t help but think this laboratory was the perfect setting for Viktor.
If it were empty — or maybe even if it were not — it’d be the ideal location to play Herald and Defender. Jayce could bend Viktor over the blacktop table, hold his hips up and fuck him. The Herald is so strong, he can take anything, pointing out the bulge in his lower abdomen every time the Defender pushes his cock all the way in.
Jayce squeezed his fists to try to banish his thoughts. They’d never crept up on him like that before. He had been warm since Viktor tapped him, but now started to feel tingling in his fingers and toes.
The professor clarified that this was a intensive course, meaning lab time would be for using the materials only; partners are expected to spend time outside of class preparing for and doing assignments on their work.
Jayce’s chest tightened in panic — no fucking way was Viktor going to enter his room that was covered in Herald parphernalia. The masked version didn’t look too much like Viktor, but that wasn’t Jayce’s main concern.
He can’t let his stunning new lab partner know he’s a yaoi obsessive during their first work session.
Only Mel and Cait know about his predilection, and Mel had been the one to introduce them both to this realm of fiction. They were the only souls he ever planned to discuss Tech Hexed with. The idea of Viktor seeing his place, learning he’s a freak and then spreading it around school made him feel miniscule. Made him feel like a teenager again, being called a slur for confessing feelings. What if he got kicked out of student council?
“Can we work at your place?” Jayce asked.
“I don’t know about that,” Viktor said, giving a sympathy-edged grimace. “Do you share a bedroom or something? I do not mind.”
Jace cursed himself; he really had no reason that they shouldn’t go to his place. He had a studio to himself right on campus.
“No, it can just get messy sometimes.” Jayce said.
Viktor quirked an eyebrow. Jayce wished he hadn’t had to confess that as a cover. He hoped he wasn’t being judged for it.
“My place does not work,” Viktor said, looking uncomfortable. “For a multitude of reasons.”
“I can clean mine. It’s close by anyway.”
Jayce tried to flash a charming smile, his photo-ready practiced one. His body was on the edge of trembling from adrenaline, making him unsure if he’d struck the right look.
Viktor’s discomfort relaxed, that almost-a-smile returning.
“Excellent.”
—
Jayce lingered by Viktor’s side as class ended. They walked out together, Jayce holding the door and feeling like a gentleman until Viktor’s sharp eyes cut into him. It felt too weird to apologize, so he decided to just not do that again.
The first day of a lab — especially those for sophomores — tended to end early after lab partners and lab safety were covered. Jayce had never been disappointed about that until now, his time with Viktor cut quite short.
He needed to know more about his real-life Herald. What sort of engineering is he interested in? Is he very social or a lone wolf? Does he act as sarcastic as the book Herald? Why does he use a cane? Is he gay? Would he judge Jayce for his self-indulgent reading habits?
“I’m headed this way.” Viktor said, Jayce finding he had been lost in his head.
Spending the few steps to the end of the hall in silence had made Jayce miss his opportunity. Jayce’s next class was very regrettably in the opposite direction to where Viktor was indicating.
Jayce knew they likely wouldn’t need to spend time outside of class together until late next week, but he wasn’t ready to stop looking at his Herald’s face. Living, breathing, standing before him.
“Wait!” He said, too urgently. “Let me give you my phone number? So we can meet up.”
“Oh, of course.”
Viktor handed his phone over, already prepared with the screen to enter a new contact. Jayce felt very smooth as he handed it back.
“Okay, next time then.” Viktor said, turning to leave.
Jayce had been staring.
—
Bedtime is a routine and simple affair, self-care tasks quickly performed before settling into blankets. Then, Jayce can read about his favorite character railing or being railed by his second favorite character.
Today he chooses one of his favorite Tech Hexed chapters. Not a prequel.
Viktor doesn’t need to have anything to do with this.
Jayce likes the buildup of these chapters, even if they almost always lead to sex. The emotion behind it is what gets him feeling the most intense. And though he disagrees vehemently with Mel and Cait that he resembles the Defender in any way other than height, he likes imagining himself in the Defender’s position.
He starts running his free hand over his chest, sometimes grazing his nipples as he reads. The Defender has broken into the Herald’s lab, a reversal of the usual situation. They’ve missed each other.
They’re also idiots with their feelings so they fight about it, getting closer and closer until their lips collide. It’s at this point Jayce closes his eyes, inserting himself fully into his mental narrative of the memorized chapter.
“That what you came to steal?” The Herald asks, his back screeching metal against the concrete of the wall.
“And if it was?” The Defender — Jayce replaces it with himself — replies.
The Herald shifts up and suddenly they are flipped, Jayce’s flesh and meat back scraping up against the wall in a much more unpleasant manner. He miscalculated how good his hold was on the Herald; he’d been tricked.
But he has nothing to fear — for the next twenty seconds, at least — because the Herald is kissing him. Iron of blood and slick tongue, claiming him where he stands.
The Herald’s hand draws up Jayce’s chest, tweaking his hard nipples with enough force to draw a whine. It isn’t in protest.
“Think I can make you come from this again, Defender?”
“You know you want more than that.” Jayce spits back.
He is proven right as the Herald pulls back and drops to his knees with a loud metallic clunk.
“Feeling generous, huh?” Jayce asks, unfortunately forced to say what the Defender would.
“Quiet.” The Herald commands, and there is a click of mechanism.
Shit. Jayce had forgotten why this chapter was one of his favorites.
The Herald removes his mask, placing it on his own thighs for safekeeping. Then his hands are upon Jayce, unbuttoning and revealing his sinfully hard cock. Leaking wet like he is now in real life, hand moving quickly over his length, from the teasing touches and the idea of his cock in the Herald’s mouth.
The Herald’s face, melded with metal on the cheeks and pallid with an otherwordly complexion, looks up at him from under his cock. It is obvious from the half-concealed shifting of his hips how much the Herald cannot resist his own desires. The dark-rimmed honey eyes dart between Jayce’s face and cock like the Herald can’t help but look back at what he wants.
The cool metal fingers of one hand and the warm skin of another stroke his cock expertly. Jayce and the Herald know each other so well.
He was getting frustratingly close to finishing while his imagination hadn’t even gotten to the good part. He sped up his mind instead of slowing down his hand. There was always the option to go again in a little while if he really wanted to.
“Please, Herald.”
“Yes, I’ll fix this for you.”
Wet heat around his cock and the Herald is taking him into his mouth, looking up with blown-out pupils like Jayce is providing his greatest dream. One hand held Jayce at the base and the other held his hip, maintaining control even from the ground.
Jayce was desperate for it, staring down at those incredible amber eyes and auburn hair, where his large cock pressed between pink lips. He reached down to put a hand into Viktor’s hair out of pure appreciation for the pleasure he was receiving.
Viktor strokes in time with the motions of his head while his tongue does something crazy on the underside of Jayce’s cock. His enthusiasm is being expressed verbally — or as verbally as possible, deep hums around the length in his throat.
He pops off, a line of spit connecting them still. Viktor’s heavy breathing, flushed cheeks, and mussed hair are an intoxicating cocktail. If this were the Herald, Jayce would grip into his hair and move his head like a toy, but he doesn’t want to hurt Viktor. He lets Viktor do his work. This includes taking a moment to lathe his tongue over the head, deft fingers providing delightful pleasure at his base.
Viktor would take it like an expert, eyes watering with exertion but still dedicated to the task. Not just taking him but making a show of it, pulling out all the stops for Jayce; eyes never leaving Jayce’s, slurping on the upstroke. He’d make sly little smirks up at him, ghost a hand up Jayce’s thigh to make him shiver. He came into his trusty tissue while picturing Viktor pulling him in by the hip to bury balls deep in his throat.
Jayce was not infrequently disappointed after orgasm, usually because he hadn’t lasted long enough to get to one of his dildos or buttplugs. This time he was just horrified.
Could he ever think about his Machine Herald again without thinking of Viktor?