Chapter Text
Big.
That's what Viktor always thought when he saw Jayce.
His fellow classmate was big.
Even though Viktor was taller, Jayce's body was fleshed out everywhere. He wasn't skinny like Viktor. Jayce's skin was well oiled and glowing, legs meaty and strong. He was health and perfection in human form.
Viktor couldn't help but marvel at him sometimes.
"Big," Viktor said and Jayce stared at him.
He'd happened to be sitting closer to the other boy and spoke outloud during lunch.
Jayce was startled by his words, eyes widening as he realised that Viktor was talking to him.
Viktor panicked mentally for a second, shifting around as his fingers drummed on the floor, adjusting his grip on his cane. His expression hadn't shifted much, though he did quirk his lips up in an annoyed pout.
He didn't get it.
"Why are you so big?"
Jayce spluttered in defiance, finally catching up to the fact that Viktor was still talking to him. Viktor wondered why that was so surprising? Yeah he was shy but sometimes he spoke when he thought things....
"I'm not," Jayce sulked. He seemed offended.
"Yes, you are," Viktor said practically. There was no denying that Jayce was big. He was bigger than most of the kids around here. Even bigger than Vi. The only one half as big as Jayce was Claggor and Claggor was more round....
"You're taller than me," Jayce countered with a pout and Viktor shrugged cause yeah, that was true.
"Your legs are more meaty, so are your arms and cheeks...." Viktor explained. He felt the sudden urge to squeeze Jayce's cheeks.
"You've got lots of baby fat and you're not skinny. You're big."
Jayce sulked.
"I'm not that big."
"Still big," Viktor insisted. It was practical.
"Stop calling me big!" Jayce sulked now looking in the verge of tears.
"Why are you so upset?" Viktor asked and Jayce pouted looking unsure for a second.
"I.... I don't know," he sniffed and Viktor sighed. Jayce was the most emotional kid in their kindergarten class.
He looked around the playroom just to be sure no one had looked up at Jayce's recent outburst.
Viktor preferred to eat at the corner of the class. Somehow, Jayce had settled closer to him that the others.
"How did you get so big?" Viktor asked switching the focus of the statement. He was actually curious about that. What was this guy doing differently? He wanted to be big and strong too.
"I just eat what my mum gives me," Jayce replied blinking innocently at Viktor. To emphasize the point he showed Viktor his packed lunch.
Viktor took a peek inside his plate out of curious and nearly drooled from the hunger that filled him.
Good lord, what was that?
"That looks really good," Viktor muttered jealously and Jayce beamed.
"Thank you," he smiled feeling better already. "My mum made it..... Hey," Jayce gasped as Viktor began to spoon out some of his food.
"What are you doing?" Jayce frowned.
"I wanna be big too," Viktor said innocently. He raised his eyes from the food to look at Jayce. The look he pulled in that moment knocked the breath right out of Jayce for two seconds.
Viktor had pulled the biggest cutest, most adorable puppy dog eyes that Jayce had ever seen.
Jayce wanted to give him all his food now.
He pushed it over to Viktor without hesitation. Viktor paused at that, eyeing Jayce warily like he was unsure about taking all of his food.
After a moment hesitation he handed Jayce his sandwich.
"Let's exchange," Viktor smiled and Jayce grinned.
"Okay."
He happily took the sandwich and bit into it, wincing at the dry bread.
What even was in this sandwich? He tasted butter and some jam. Ugh.
Meanwhile Viktor was happily nibbling at the food his mum made, looking hesitant but excited. Jayce was happy to see someone enjoy his mother's cooking. It was the best. His eyes sparkled at the little light of joy that now appeared in Viktor's eyes.
"You should get lunch just like this one," he grinned.
"I can't," Viktor said as he spooned another mouthful of food into his mouth. He got a bit of it on his chin so he chased it adorably with his tongue. Jayce reached out to wipe it for him but Viktor got it.
"Why not?" Jayce frowned. Parents were around to do things for their kids. "Just ask your mum to make it."
"I don't have a mum," Viktor said bluntly and Jayce winced with regret.
"Oh...." Things felt a little awkward. Vitkor tried to ignore it. This food was really good.
"I don't have a dad," Jayce said after a while and Viktor looked up surprised. He hadn't expected that. Most of the other kids had a father and a mother. At least, he'd heard that was how normal families worked.
"Mum said he went to heaven," Jayce explained and Viktor nodded.
He understood. Both his parents were in heaven.
"I have a dad," Viktor said. Though an adoptive one.
Jayce brightened up at that.
"Then he can make it!" he grinned. He was still talking about the food.
"We're poor," Viktor deadpanned.
He didn't think there was anything wrong with being poor but they sure couldn't afford all these ingredients everyday. Only on special occasions like Christmas.
Jayce stared at him in shock like he'd just told him the world was ending or something.
"What? Never met a poor person before?" Viktor asked.
Jayce stared at him for the longest time, shifting around a little awkwardly.
"I..... I didn't know you were poor," Jayce said now looking so guilty. Viktor couldn't imagine why.
"You didn't make me poor," Viktor pointed out.
"Well true," Jayce mumbled and looked hesitantly at Viktor. Poor people couldn't have as much as he did. That's what his mum said, so he aught to be greatful for the little they could afford. They weren't wealthy back home, but they sure weren't poor.
Now Jayce could see that Viktor's shoes were extra worn and his clothes looked second hand. Viktor always had a lanky frame but the boy almost looked too thin now.
Viktor was unaware of this analysis. He thought it was really awesome that he'd been able to gain an amazing lunch.
"Thanks," he grinned at Jayce. "This is awesome...."
Jayce hugged him.
Viktor hadn't expected it. He'd been so shocked that he nearly dropped the food. Eyes wide in surprise as Jayce wrapped his arms around him protectively.
Viktor was unused to receiving hugs. He didn't remember hugging his first parents.
It wasn't that his new dad was distant or absent, they just expressed love in different ways like letting Viktor fall asleep in his lap by the fire.
Jayce's hug was different from Singed's hug. It was so soft and so warm. Viktor's eyes widened and he found he couldn't push the other boy away. He didn't even know why Jayce was hugging him.
Did he like the sandwich that much?
"I'm glad you liked it," Jayce sniffled.
Was he crying? Viktor gaped.
"Yeah buddy," he said and awkwardly pat Jayce on the back. "Y...you too."
This was weird. But...he wouldn't mind doing this again.
**
Mrs. Talis was going over the bills for the month. The forge had made good money so they'd be able to make ends meet again today. As long as there were no problems they could afford both materials as well as salary.
Running the family business, as well as her home, while raising a child all by herself was part of her daily life. She knew she was lucky that she had herself such a sweet little boy to help her out when things got tough
Said little boy had just been picked up from Kindergarten. Jayce was setting his stuff down and getting ready to do his homework. He was such a little genius that sometimes he got it done before even coming home.
Jayce set his little bag down on the table before turning to his mother. Mrs. Talis took that as a sign that he wanted to say something.
Jayce was a very vocal child. She'd raised him with the ability to express himself whenever he felt something, wanting him to know that sometimes people needed to be told directly about a problem for it to be fixed. She was so busy that she worried she'd overlook something and Jayce would spiral into some form of trauma, so she was glad that he was the kind to speak up.
If she could help it, his break downs only lasted as long as a night.
"Something the matter, mijo?" she asked with a kind smile and immediately set down her work.
Jayce fiddled with his thumbs a little, eyes to the ground as he struggled to find the right words. She waited for him. Patiently giving him time while adjusting her posture to lean forward so he'd know that she was all ears.
"Mum," Jayce finally said. "I want to carry two plates of food to schol tomorrow."
This was surprising.
"Now Jayce don't be greedy," Ximena scolded confused. He'd never asked for something like this before. Had his portions gotten too small? Was he going hungry? Was someone bullying him and taking his food?
"You can't eat that much food in one day, mijo. It will go to waste," she said softly now worried about why he'd make such a request.
"It's not for me," Jayce said quickly. "It's for my classmate, Viktor."
A possible bully.
"I'm sure Viktor has food," Ximena smiled kindly now wondering if Jayce just wanted his new friend to have extra.
"No, he doesn't," Jayce said indignantly with a small frown on his face. "He's poor."
Ximena nearly doubled over at such a statement, her face one of shock. Her mouth fell open in a gape and she had to cough to regain her bearings.
What did her son just say?!
"Jayce! You can't call other people poor," Ximena scolded now upset with him.
"He said so himself," Jayce said quickly his face flushed and he wrung his hands, also feeling ashamed of himself.
It still felt wrong to say it, even if Viktor said it. The 'P' word felt like a curse word. Mother had said it was wrong to call people 'poor'.
Jayce hadn't known how to react when Viktor went and said it himself.
"Please. Please Mama," Jayce begged pulling his infamous puppy dog eyes. "Or...or put extra for me so I can share with him. He really wants to grow big."
Ximena was still winded from her initial shock but she now realised what the problem was.
"I see," she said partly grateful that he wasn't being bullied.
So this classmate of Jayce's was likely going through a hard time. She could understand that.
It had been hard to hold herself together after losing her husband.
The hard times must be very difficult if even the child was aware of how bad things were.... There was also the possibility that the parents had just managed to send the kid to school or needed a place to keep him while they worked.
Either way, Jayce's new friend was going through a hard time and he wanted to help. Ximena was raising a boy with good morals, she couldn't refuse that.
They didn't have plenty, but they had enough to share.
"Well then. I guess, a little more can't hurt," Ximena said with a small kind smile and the glow in Jayce's eyes let her know she'd done the right thing.
**
The next day, Jayce showed up at school eager for the lunch break. When it finally came, he made a beeline for Viktor.
His new friend was at the same corner he'd been in yesterday. Now that he thought about it, Viktor was always in that corner for lunch. Jayce had never before wondered why. He'd guessed the other boy just liked to do his own thing.
"Viktor!" he called and the other boy whipped his head up in clear surprised. He was still gaping when Jayce got to him and triumphantly presented him with his food box.
Viktor eyed the box warily.
"What's this?" he asked confused.
"It's for us," Jayce grinned and settled beside him. "We're going to share it."
Viktor was bewildered and stared at Jayce like he'd grown two heads.
"You want me to eat your food?"
"We're going to eat it together," Jayce corrected slowly. He happily reached into his food bag and pulled out cutlery. "I brought two spoons."
Viktor was still stunned as well as hesitant. He wasn't used to receiving charity and he didn't particularly want it.
Jayce noticed his hesitation and tried a different route.
"We can split what you brought too," Jayce grinned and Viktor's eyes lit up. Suddenly, it wasn't charity. Suddenly it was...something else.
"Oh okay," Viktor said and looked down at his packaged lunch in a paper bag. He handed it to Jayce who took it with joy like he's just received a medal.
"Yay!" Jayce laughed which brought a small amused smile to Viktor's face. Jayce was glowing.
"What did you bring?" Jayce asked excitedly and stared into the paper bag to see one sad hotdog staring back.
Jayce stared at the food and it stared right back at him. The hot dog bun wasn't very big and it had the sausage on top with a smearing of ketchup.
Jayce stared at the food silently for a brief five minutes thinking.
'Oh my god.... he's really poor.'
Dutifully, Jayce fetched the hotdog from the bag and split it in two. It just seemed right to eat Viktor's food first so he stuffed his entire half into his mouth.
Jayce hadn't expected much after the dry bread from yesterday but the sausage had actually been seasoned pretty well, his eyes lit up in amazement.
"This is good! This is really good!" he said with his mouth full and whipped to Viktor with his eyes sparkling.
Viktor had been eyeing Jayce warily from the moment he touched his paper bag, but that Jayce actually liked his food had Viktor smiling shyly. Jayce didn't seem to be pretending.
"My dad made it," he said softly. And Jayce sparkled.
"Your dad made it? That's awesome!" Jayce was happy that Viktor's parent was cooking for him. The situation wasn't entirely hopeless after all.
Viktor was happy that Jayce liked his father's cooking.
He'd suffered heavy second hand embarrassment when he ran over the proceedings of the other day and feared that Jayce would stay away from him because he'd been so weird and had stolen his food.
Yet here was Jayce now, sitting beside him like this was exactly where he was meant to be. Sharing his food and enjoying his lunch.
Viktor would ask Singed to make more sausages. Especially since Jayce liked them so much.
Viktor now felt more confident about opening up Jayce's food, deft fingers easily lifting the lid. He peered into the box and paused in surprise.
He'd always been fascinated with Jayce's food. It wasn't like anyone else's. It looked different, smelt different. Even tasted different.
"What's this one called? I've never seen it before," he asked with a shy smile, his thirst for knowledge shining forth. He didn't feel so embarrassed around Jayce now. Perhaps the fact that Jayce had chosen to come back after the first time boosted his self confidence.
"Tortilla!" Jayce grinned happy to share his food. Part of why he chose to seat away from others was because he didn't want people talking about his food. Some people thought it was unusual and drew unwanted attention.
He hesitated now wondering if Viktor wouldn't like it.
"Tortilla?" Viktor asked with a small grin. He was struggling with the pronunciation and Jayce grinned back.
"Yes," Jayce said. "Tortilla."
"Tortilla," Viktor said again scrunching up his face a little.
"Tortilla," Jayce laughed. Viktor's accent was kind of in the way. He'd always liked how the other boy talked, Viktor just didn't talk a lot in class.
Viktor tried saying 'Tortilla' five more times before he came decently close to the right sound. He felt really proud of himself and rewarded himself with a spoonful of it.
Jayce held his breath and waited.
"Mmmm," Viktor groaned. His eyes fluttered close for a moment before opening again with a shy smile.
"Awesome," he said using Jayce's words.
Jayce was so excited about his success that he drummed his hands on the floor in glee and shouted "Yes!"
In no time, Viktor would be pretty big too.