Chapter Text
Jayce hadn't seen Viktor since then.
Despite his best efforts, he could never find Viktor in the lab, his chaotic class schedule didn't seem to cooperate.
They talked so much that night and at the same time it seemed like nothing, he didn't know what department Viktor was in, what his last name was, how old he was, where he lived, what his hobbies were and...
But what was he doing, anyway?
Yes, Viktor had a very... captivating personality seemed like the right word, but they had only talked once, why did Jayce seem almost... obsessed?
Weeks passed and everything seemed normal, except that Jayce found himself waiting for glimpses of Viktor everywhere, in the hallways, in the classroom, in the labs.
Would it be too much to ask the professor about him? He sighed.
Yeah, maybe a little too much.
It's not like Jayce had been carrying around one of his favorite project notebooks for two weeks just because he happened to be reunited with Viktor.
He runs his hands through his hair in frustration, the truth is he can't stop thinking about that night.
The professor finally announces the end of the period, Jayce quickly gathers his things and heads out into the hallway. Outside, he finds Mel leaving one of her political science lectures.
Her worried expression soon gives way to a smile. "Oh, Jayce, it's good to see you, are you leaving already?"
"Hi Mel." He greets her with a hug. "Yeah, my class is over now actually."
"Lucky you, I wish I could say the same." She smiles, the tiredness showing through her voice, it would be unnoticeable to anyone who didn't know her as Jayce.
"What's wrong, Mel? Is something bothering you?" Jayce asks worriedly.
Mel straightens her shoulders, uncomfortably. "It's just tiredness, Jayce, it happens to me too, oddly enough." She forces a smile, hoping Jayce will follow her and drop the subject.
"You know you can talk to me, right?" He reaches out and touches her arm. "Is it your mom again?"
Mel lets her shoulders slump in a gesture of surrender. "Is it that obvious?" She sighs.
Jayce guides Mel to sit on one of the benches in the hallway.
"My mom's been calling me," Mel begins. "I don't know what she wants, and I'm not at all eager to find out. We haven't spoken since... that time."
Jayce nods in agreement, he remembered well what she was referring to. Mel and her mother's relationship had never been the best, they argued frequently and their last fight, about 6 months ago, while he and Mel were still dating, had been quite heated.
"I know it's not easy, but ignoring the problem won't make it go away," Jayce tries.
Mel laughs as she rubs her temples. "Funny, I feel like I've told you that a few times." She glares at Jayce. "It's not fair, you know? Using my own advice against me."
He snorts. "Maybe. Easier said than done, you know." She nods, agreeing with him. "But seriously, Mel," Jayce continues, "You should answer it, who knows, maybe she'll want to work things out."
She looks at him with a raised eyebrow, "Seriously, Jayce? Even you don't believe that." She laughs a little. "But thanks for trying."
Jayce squeezes her hand. "It'll be okay, talk to her, I'll be here if you need help, I promise."
She nods. "I'll keep that in mind, thanks." She straightens her dress and stands up. "Well, I won't keep you here any longer, I have another lecture in 10 minutes and I'm sure you still have to patrol the campus for your mistery boy before you leave."
Jayce's face burns red. "Shhhh." He shushes her. "I told you not to call him that, it's not like that."
"Oh, right. So you weren't looking for him again, were you?" She teases.
"Of course not," he says, quieter than he intended.
"Well, good luck anyway," Mel nods and turns to leave.
Jayce rolls his eyes and continues on his way toward the parking lot, he certainly didn't look in the classroom windows on the way.
...
Maybe he's just tired, the week has been very long, with his pile of tests and an even greater infinity of assignments to be handed in. He tries not to think too much about what Mel said.
He puts the keys in the ignition and starts the car, with no response, he tries again, and again... Very frustrated, he lets his head fall on the steering wheel, the people on the sidewalk startle when the horn is activated by Jayce's forehead.
Back on campus, Jayce finds himself with no other option but to shelter from the freezing cold in one of the college's coffee shops.
Due to the high demand at times like this, the towing service informed Jayce that it would take at least an hour to be able to serve him.
Resigned, he pushes the door of the establishment with a sigh. A small bell rings above his head to announce his entrance. There were few people there, some poor unfortunates like him who were also caught by the misfortune of the bad weather.
The coffee shop was very cozy, but despite being a pleasant environment, Jayce had never visited the place. After all, it was much further away than the other establishments on campus, so it was impractical to walk so far just for coffee.
He walks slowly to the counter and quickly places his order: hot chocolate with whipped cream.
A woman with pink hair and tattooed arms tells him to sit down and wait.
Absently, he flips through and scribbles in his sketchbook. Jayce lets his mind wander, and for no apparent reason, what should be his mechanics project begins to look a lot like someone's face. Angular features, bright eyes, messy hair, but not in a bad way, and finally the most important details: a mole below the eyes and another above the lips.
He stops when his order is placed right in front of him by one of the waiters.
“No hammers today?” the waiter asks.
Jayce nearly chokes on the pen he was chewing on “VIKTOR?!” He nearly knocks the napkin holder off the table as he slams his notebook shut.
Sure enough, standing right in front of him was Viktor, his sweater replaced by the cafeteria uniform: a brown apron tied around his waist and a tight black shirt. He looked very smart on him, Jayce thought.
Viktor chuckles lightly, he places his cane next to the table and sits down across from Jayce.
“Is this all because you’re surprised to see me, or did I catch you doing something you shouldn’t have?”
Blood rushes to Jayce's cheeks. "Oh no!! No, no, no, nothing wrong here." He smiles awkwardly and clears his throat. "It's just a mechanics project, that's all. But yeah, I'm really surprised to see you." He says sincerely. "I would never have guessed you worked here."
"Neither would I, if you asked me," Viktor replies. "But the scholarship can't pay for everything, I have to make do somehow." He shrugs. "It's good here, I work part-time and have flexible days of the week. Vander, the owner, is very understanding of my academic situation."
"That's amazing, Viktor," Jayce says, impressed. "It can't be easy to balance work, college, and Professor Heimerdinger's internship. I don't think I could do it."
In fact, it had been a long time since Jayce had to worry about his financial situation. The Talis family factory had grown a lot in recent years, thanks to his mother's management and the efforts of his late father, what they earned was enough to live comfortably.
Viktor gestures with his hands "Oh, you'd survive, I'm sure."
"I wouldn't be so sure." Jayce laughs. "But I haven't seen you in college since that night, I could have sworn you were in engineering."
"Oh yeah, you're not completely wrong, same department, different wings. I'm an environmental engineer."
"Wow, that's awesome. I'm a mechanical engineer, but I guess you already know that."
Viktor laughs and agrees. "Yeah, I guessed from your designs."
"So, what's that department like? I don't know much about the area."
"Well, basically I study to develop sustainable alternatives for using the environment's resources. You know, saving the planet and all that. It's kind of stupid when I say it like that, but it sums it up nicely."
"It doesn't sound stupid at all," Jayce replies as he leans in to taste the drink in front of him. "It's actually quite - hot!"
"Excuse me?" Viktor raises an eyebrow, amusement in his eyes.
"No, um, I mean the... the drink." He stares at Viktor for a moment and then they're laughing again. Being with Viktor was so easy, that laughing with him seemed almost natural.
"Anyway," Jayce wipes his eyes and continues, "If you've laughed at me enough, you were talking about engineering."
"Yeah, yeah, that's enough for now. What about engineering?" Viktor retorts.
"The department is right next to mine, we would have bumped into each other at some point, could it be that you were avoiding me?" Jayce jokes but there's a slight fear in his chest.
"So you noticed? I thought it would be more discreet." When Viktor sees that Jayce is frozen in place he continues: "I'm kidding, Jayce. It's nothing like that. I just had to go away for a few days."
Jayce lets out a sigh he didn't realize he was holding. "Oh well, I'm glad about that. I mean, not because you didn't go to class, but well, you get the point."
"Yes, Jayce, I get the point."
He blows on the chocolate before taking another sip this time. "I know that it's not my place to ask, but why have you been skipping class? Is everything okay?"
The amusement seems to leave Viktor's eyes for a moment and he looks away. "Oh, it's nothing major, just some personal issues, but nothing I can't handle."
Jayce knows there's more to it than Viktor has to say, but he decides not to push it, whatever it is, he hopes Viktor will tell him when he's ready.
"Oh yes, I get it. Well, if you need any help, I'm here for you."
Viktor nods in acknowledgement. Jayce finishes his drink and they continue talking for a while longer.
"Hey, is it okay for you to be here talking to me?" Jayce asks suddenly. "Shouldn't you be, like, working?"
"Actually, my shift ended at..." He checks his watch. "Almost an hour."
"Seriously? Viktor, you didn't have to waste all that time on me."
"Oh, don't worry. It's been a long time since I've talked to someone like this, it's been really... pleasant."
Jayce stands still for a moment, just absorbing the information.
"Wait, an hour, you said?" Jayce finally remembers to check his phone. "Oh, shit."
Viktor leans in curiously. "Is something wrong?"
"Yeah," Jayce replies as he reads the messages on his phone. "The tow truck texted me about 10 minutes ago, they won't be able to tow the car today" Jayce had already told Viktor the details that led him to be at the coffee shop that day. "It seems like a storm started on the other side of town and they're stuck too."
Suddenly, Jayce's anxiety seems to kick in, he looks out the window only to notice how the dark clouds seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. He was so distracted that he hadn't even noticed.
"What a inconvenient" Viktor says as he stands up and grabs his cane. "Are you coming? Or would another night at the lab be good?"
Jayce blinks, "What?"
"I'm offering you a ride," Viktor shrugs.
"Viktor, I appreciate it, but you don't have to bother..."
"I wouldn't offer if it was a nuisance, trust me," he says, and Jayce believes him. "You already told me where you live, it's on the way to my apartment, it won't be a problem and I'm going anyway."
Jayce doesn't really know why or how Viktor was able to convince him, but he accepts the offer. A few minutes later, they're inside Viktor's car. It's simple and... old, not that Jayce minds.
"Before we go, I'm going to need you to try closing the door again, it's got a problem and it stays halfway open if you don't put force on it," Viktor says, pointing to Jayce's side.
"Are you sure?" Jayce asks uncertainly, as he is quite certain that if he tried to close the door with a little more force the whole thing would collapse.
"Trust me," Viktor says, "This car is older than Heimerdinger. It's more about skill than strength, really." He then leans over Jayce's seat to demonstrate and Jayce stops breathing.
"You hold it like this and pull. Like this, see? It's not that hard, you get used to it," Viktor celebrates.
Jayce just nods, still a little distracted. Viktor is an excellent driver, the way home is smooth, except for the fear that eats away at Jayce inside when he sees the small flakes of ice that begin to fall from the sky. It is Viktor's soft voice as they talk that keeps him from having a panic attack.
Soon, they find themselves in front of Jayce's apartment.
"Viktor, I don't even know how to begin to thank you. You saved me, really.
"Save the pleasantries, Jayce. It was no big deal, I was going to stop by anyway." His words might have sounded rude if it weren't for the inflection with which they were said.
"Still, it meant a lot." He squeezes Viktor's hand. "Thanks."
Viktor nods quickly and swallows. "Oh, well, you better get going, before the snow falls, you know."
"Yeah, you're right." Jayce pulls his hand away and opens the car door to get out. "Thanks again!" He closes the door and then stops. "I didn't close it properly, did I?"
Viktor laughs through the window. "I'm afraid not."
Jayce then opens the door again, replicating Viktor's teaching. Then, it happens quickly, he puts too much weight on one foot, leaning in the wrong direction, and before he knows it, he's lying in an undignified position, his face on the ground.
Viktor immediately gets out of the car and heads towards him. "Jayce! How did you do that?!"
Jayce struggles to lift his head and sits on the ground. In his haste to help him, Viktor ends up losing his balance and falling on top of him.
Opening his eyes again, Jayce finds himself face to face with Viktor dangerously close to his own face.
"Jayce..." Viktor touches his face. "You're... bleeding!"
Oh, shit.