"Viktor--" Jayce starts to reply and then he keeps talking, and Jayce waits, letting him say exactly what he already assumed he would say, and then he winces from pulling the strap too hard. Jayce reaches out and grips Viktor's bicep from behind, his hold still gentle, trying to stop him from pulling anymore. He won't use any force, so Viktor can push through it, but he is trying to make him hesitate. "Vik, hey. Please. Just ... pause for a minute."

Jayce moves his hand up to his shoulder. He would try to look him in the face, but he wants to be sure they finish the brace safely. "Listen to me." His voice is soft, close to Viktor's ear as he makes certain he puts everything in place, moving the wrench to tighten the last screws. "I am not judging you. I know why you did it. This is not recrimination for what you did in a bad situation. The entire point is this is exactly what I would have done." So Jayce has no room to talk, this is his playbook, but it's not Viktor's.

He waits for the last of the screws to be turned and he briefly leans in to press his forehead into the back of Viktor's hair. A light bonk, not dissimilar from Viktor's exhausted bonk into the chalkboard, when they're at their wit's end a gesture. "I would have done anything to get back to you, and I will do everything to help you now. So I get it." As solid as that nudge is, it's gone a second later, not lingering, stepping back now that he thinks it's all set.

Jayce sets the wrench down. "But you aren't alone now. That's what I'm saying. So my suggestion is that we put it as one of our financial goals to have enough to pay him off and extract ourselves out of it before anything goes wrong." Jayce raises his eyebrows, looking back to Viktor. "I am not letting you make my mistakes, Viktor."