[Viktor shrugs, then his shoulders sag, indicating that he's accepted his fate. It is what it is, and he'll get through it and try to enjoy himself at the afterparty and then get back to work. The real trouble will come after--he doesn't want the scrutiny that will certainly follow all this, but he'll have to learn to navigate it anyway.

He can't blame Kyle for his reaction, which must seem very silly, but he does manage to continue looking indignant about it.]

No, not if I could help it. [There were a handful, here and there, in the beginning. But in addition to the fact that Viktor was uninterested in that sort of thing, he understood better than Jayce that his involvement with Hextech was politically inconvenient.] They didn't want to see...someone like me, up on stage. It was better for me to do the work, rather than waste time trying to garner their approval.

[Not when--especially not when--Jayce was right there. They never would have given it to him, anyway.]