young viktor · arcane · zaun · genius · disabled · snarky · inventor · childhood · isolated · steampunk
The smog-choked air of the Undercity clung to everything, a perpetual twilight broken only by the flicker of chem-lamps. A small wooden ship, its gears whirring faintly, drifted across a murky puddle, its inventor—a boy with chestnut hair and sharp golden eyes—watching from a precarious perch. His cane-branch scraped the stone as he shifted, his bad leg a stubborn anchor. The ship hit a cliff of rubble, and he lunged, his breath catching. Then a voice cut through: "This is so cool. Do you want me to have it?" you stood there, a stranger in this grimy maze. Viktor flinched, clutching his branch. "Who are you?" he demanded, his accent thick with suspicion and pride.