Chapter Text
Viktor didn’t know where he was going. Well, he knew where he was supposed to be going, but didn’t have any idea where he was. He had been wandering the hallways for fifteen minutes trying to find his advanced physics class.
Finally, he rounded the corner and found the correct plaque:
J225
He tried the handle, only to find it was locked. He scowled at the door, huffed, and rapped his knuckles against the door lightly.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
He waited.
The door swung open, hitting his crutch lightly and knocking it off balance. He recovered quickly and backed away from the door, eyes wide.
“Oh, I’m sorry, my boy! Please, please, come in. No need to be shy now!” His professor, Heimerdinger. He was an eccentric man and Viktor had known him for years. He was a common guest speaker at the University of Zaun and had put in a very good word for Viktor at the University of Piltover, where he taught.
Viktor wasn’t pleased to have to move topside to attend, but when he was told he would have been let in on his grade records alone, well. It was an easy choice.
“Please excuse me, Professor.” Viktor stepped inside the room, his Slavic accent filling the space, which was silent aside from his steps and the clack of his crutch against the tiled floors. Viktor knew all eyes were on him, but he kept his on the floor in front of him.
“No need to apologize, Viktor! I hope it wasn’t too much trouble getting here!” Heimerdinger walked back to the podium, where a tall stool was placed. He climbed up the steps and placed his hands on the podium, a smile on his face as he continued addressing the class.
Viktor scoffed lightly and walked to one of the few empty desks—the first row, of course.
He sat quietly, leaning his crutch against the front of his desk and finally giving his shoulder a break from his bag. He didn’t bother pulling anything out—he knew today would be syllabus breakdowns and nothing else. He leaned back in his chair, fixed his hair, and crossed his arms. He could, at last, let his mind wander.
He thought of the project on his dorm room desk—the leg brace he had been tweaking slightly every day, hoping to improve it.
The work had been going nicely; the brace finally provided enough support for him to put quite a bit of weight on his leg.
It wasn’t enough.
He still had to use his crutch—and his goal was to be able to use his cane again. Six months of work for–
A not-so-gentle nudge to his shoulder brought back his scowl and his focus. He turned his head, only to be greeted by the brightest grin he had ever seen.
“I’m Jayce.” He whispered. Their eyes met and all Viktor could hear was the
Hey.
Hi.
Hello, you.
that came from them. Viktor knew him. He didn’t know how, but he knew him. His brown hair was combed neatly, his almost-black-coffee eyes were focused solely on Viktor’s, his hand held out to shake.
Viktor’s scowl deepened.
He sighed again and took the man’s hand. “Viktor.”
“Viktor.” The other man–Jayce–repeated, grinned wider, and turned back to the front of the class. He didn’t try to push the conversation further, which Viktor appreciated.
He wasn’t interrupted a second time, though he couldn’t bring himself to let his mind wander again.
***
The rest of the day went smoothly. Viktor attended his classes alone, attended dining sessions alone, studied alone, and worked on his brace alone.
No one else had attempted to talk to him outside of his professors.
***
The first half of Viktor’s second day of classes went just as smoothly as the afternoon before. He worked on his brace alone, went to breakfast alone, and attended his first two classes alone. His last class of the day, graduate-level engineering, which was also taught by Heimerdinger, had left him unfocused once again.
Jayce was in this class as well. He sat at the front of the class again, scribbling away quickly in his notebook, turning and typing or scrolling a bit on his laptop (which was much fancier than Viktor’s), and scribbling some more. His eyebrows were furrowed and, most noticeably, the sleeves of his white button-down uniform shirt were rolled up just past his elbows.
Jayce’s scribbling stopped and he looked up slightly, scanning the room a bit before settling on Viktor. His furrowed eyebrows shifted and he was once again grinning at him. Jayce lifted his hand in greeting, glanced at the empty seat next to him, and quickly returned to his scribbling scrolling typing.
There were other seats available–Viktor had made a point to arrive early to all his classes today–but he found himself walking to the seat next to Jayce.
Jayce shifted his eyes up slightly from his notebook when Viktor sat down, but this time his brows furrowed a bit more instead of relaxing as they did before.
Viktor didn’t say anything to him as he pulled out his notebook and laptop. Jayce didn't say anything to him either. He turned his full attention to his laptop. Viktor noticed he was no longer typing, only clicking back and forth aimlessly between the collection of tabs he had open.
Heimerdinger started his lesson and Viktor was able to focus in, writing down the requirements for their thesis. They would be working on this the entire semester, with small graded check-ins throughout. He felt good about it, he could pick whatever he wanted and work at his own pace. Until-
“I’ll be assigning you partners for this thesis.”
No.
No. No. No.
Viktor would not be working in a partnership with anyone. He knew how this went. Viktor doing most of the work. Viktor pulling everything together. And the partner taking all the credit for it.
Heimerdinger continued, reading off names in pairs while students shuffled seats and grumbled to their friends.
Viktor waited in agony.
“Viktor and Jayce.”
Viktor froze before his head snapped up to his professor. He wasn’t even looking at him, he just continued reading names. Viktor turned his head slightly and dared a look at Jayce, who seemed just as frozen as he had been. He wasn’t clicking between tabs anymore.
Viktor’s nerves did not settle. He had dealt with Jayce’s type before as well. Rich boy that got in with his parent’s money. Spoilt boy paying to be top of the class. Viktor decided, quite firmly, that he could kick rocks. Then he thought maybe they should exchange emails first.
He pulled out a pocket-notebook from his pants pocket, wrote his email down quickly, ripped the page out, and turned to Jayce. He went to speak-but the other man beat him to it.
“So I was thinking–” Jayce stopped, stared at Viktor’s outstretched hand, and tried to take the paper from him.
Viktor pulled his hand out of reach. “No, you go first.”
“Well, I was just thinking we could exchange phone numbers.” He held up his phone. Also fancier than Viktor’s.
Viktor couldn’t stop himself from scowling again. “Oh.” He pulled his hand farther back, reaching to drop the paper in his bag. He paused for a moment, considering, before taking Jayce’s phone, entering his cell number, and setting his name.
Viktor
He saved it before handing Jayce his phone back. Jayce looked down at the screen a small smile appearing on his face again. He started tapping away at the keyboard before Viktor felt his phone buzz in his pocket.
He pulled it out and opened the message.
Unknown Number
it’s me!
Of course he didn’t have auto-caps enabled. He added the number to his contacts and set the name.
Jayce
He looked back up at Jayce, only to find that he had already turned back to his laptop.
They didn’t speak for the rest of the class.
***
Viktor had sat down at his desk over forty-five minutes ago and hadn’t touched his brace or tools. He didn’t text Jayce back. He was confused after the neutral interaction they had.
He shook his head and scoffed to his dorm room. He had no reason to be confused. They had met twice and had only said a handful of words to each other.
His phone buzzed on the table. He stared at it for a beat. Two. Three. And picked it up.
Jayce
are u busy tonight? wanna meet up and talk thesis?
Viktor had already rolled and smoked a joint and he wasn’t keen on going out again. He considered for a moment before punching out his reply.
I’m in for the night.
He deleted it and retyped the message.
I’m stoned.
He deleted it again, retyped again, and finally hit send.
Viktor
Where?
The reply came through quickly.
Jayce
the last drop?
He didn’t need to consider this time.
Viktor
Too loud.
Jayce
how bout my apartment? it’s quiet. u can meet cricket
An image came through right after. A small black cat sat on a fancy sofa. Then a third text, his address.
Viktor pulled it up in his maps. It was only a twenty-minute walk off campus.
Viktor
I’ll be over in thirty minutes.
Jayce
:) let me know when u leave
(word count 1,560)