Archive of Our Own ^beta

“This is a hate crime,” Viktor declares.

It is barely an exaggeration to say their dorm room currently has a hundred degrees celsius and they’re being slow cooked in the late afternoon heat. Viktor knows what dying feels like and this is too fucking close.

“So, is it the sun that’s homophobic or the AC for breaking in the heat?” Jayce has the audacity to chuckle like he isn’t melting on the floor right next to Viktor.

“Both. And you, too, for being in such a good mood while I’m suffering,” Viktor grumbles. “Seriously, I can’t make it to Friday like this.”

“Harsh, V. But come on, at least Mr. Q gave us a fan.” Jayce smiles, somehow finding a well of patience and goodwill within himself that Viktor would love to harness as well. Except it’s too fucking hot for that.

In their desperation they’ve moved from their desks to the lowest surface available in the room. Heat rises and all that. It’s not helping, not even with the rickety metal fan that’s trying its best to circulate the buttery thick air in a pathetic semblance of a cool breeze. At least Mr. Q—the student dorm janitor, who is actually a really sweet man if Viktor had any positivity left to tap into—was kind enough to supply a substitute for their broken AC at all.

“That thing is older than the two of us together.”

“Honestly, nowadays that’s a sign of real quality engineering.”

Jayce flips through the notes on his lap as if he’s actually able to retain information in this state. He’s down to nothing but boxers but there’s still a sheen of sweat on his warmly flushed skin. That is an observation Viktor makes with complete objectivity. Less objectively and much more annoyingly, Viktor can feel goddamn underboob sweat gathering underneath the loose t-shirt he’s wearing himself. His own boxers stick uncomfortably between his legs, damp with sweat, too. This isn’t the kind of wetness Viktor generally enjoys.

“Yeah, do you feel like you’re getting quality air right now? Because I feel like my brain is turning into soup. I’ve read this passage on thermal kinetics five times and can’t remember a single word.”

Viktor is arguably not at his most graceful when it comes to withstanding extreme temperatures. One might call it cranky. Jayce certainly does. But there’s only so many times you can take a cold shower during the day to cool off, when the sweating starts right back up as soon as you’re out of the bathroom.

So, honestly, fuck summer.

“He promised the spare part for the AC would come on Friday and he’s gonna do the repair immediately. We can make it until then. I mean, we don’t really have much of a choice…” Jayce sighs and leans back against the side of the bed, head falling back onto the mattress.

Viktor notices the sharp curvature of his throat with its pronounced adam’s apple and the pretty dip between his clavicles. A little bead of sweat gathers there. Viktor’s brain is thankfully not fried enough to give in to the impulse of leaning in and licking it off. He’s actually too annoyed and uncomfortable to enjoy being horny. Jayce is inconveniently attractive in any given situation and Viktor doesn’t even have the energy to be mad about it right now. He’s using all of it being mad about the stupid heat.

“Oh, fuck this.”

Jayce looks over at the exclamation in time to witness Viktor taking his shirt off in a burst of annoyance. And since there is no way Viktor is aiding his own heatstroke by confining himself into his binder and body braces in these conditions, that movement uncovers his entire upper body.

“The hell, man?!” Jayce’s head whips in the other direction, away from the sight, like he’s caught walking into the wrong changing room. He even adds the entirely unnecessary hand to the side of his face, censoring himself.

“Don’t act surprised, you know I have tits.” Viktor tosses the shirt in the general direction of his laundry hamper after using it to wipe at the sweat underneath his chest.

“I mean, yeah, but—”

“If you get to be topless in this goddamn heat, it’s only fair if I can be, too.” Viktor grins, very aware he could’ve gone at this in a way that wouldn’t have startled Jayce into awkwardness. It is, however, one of the small joys in Viktor’s life, seeing Jayce blush and stumble over his words. Viktor can allow himself a little treat after suffering so valiantly through this horrendous heatwave.

“Yeah, okay, okay, that’s a valid point, and I absolutely agree—just, like, respectfully, you gotta give me a second—I’m sorry, I don’t wanna be weird about this, it’s so okay that you have—I just have to get used to it for a moment—”

Viktor snorts, turning to the side in Jayce’s direction, resting his elbow on top of the mattress and his cheek against his palm with absolute calmness. “Alright, get used to them. I’m even giving you a full minute to be weird about it first.”

“Viktor,” Jayce winces and doesn’t move.

“You do actually have to turn around and look, though. Exposure therapy only works if you actually, you know, expose yourself to the thing you’re scared of.”

“I’m not—scared of your—” Jayce turns around with an offended frown. He looks at Viktor’s face, then down at his chest, then up at his face again. Then down, once again.

Viktor is about to burst out laughing but he’s not trying to humiliate Jayce even more. If he’s really unlucky that might just send Jayce into an anxiety attack from his embarrassment.

“See, they don’t bite.”

“Oh, fuck off,” Jayce mumbles with a pout. But at least he’s a little more relaxed. He’s looking at Viktor’s chest with simple curiosity now, the way he did when he saw Viktor’s knee brace for the first time. Viktor knows that Jayce wants to ask about the scars, the one running down the middle of Viktor’s sternum and the other along the right side of his rib cage. Even though, technically, Jayce already knows the stories behind them. But that seems to be a topic for another day because Jayce has a more pressing observation.

“One’s smaller than the other,” he blurts out.

Viktor is so caught off guard, he chokes on a laugh. “Yeah, that’s… that’s normal, actually.”

“Hm, really…” Jayce murmurs and, hilariously, cups his own pecs like he’s trying to figure out if that’s true for his own body’s physiology, as well.

“Yours are fine, Jayce, perfectly symmetrical, don’t worry.”

“Yours are fine, too—” Jayce catches himself in the automatic reassurance, clearly unsure whether complimenting your best friend’s tits is an appropriate thing to do or not. “I mean…”

Viktor chuckles, amused. “It’s alright. Thanks, I guess. Not that it really matters, you know that they’re coming off.”

“Ah, yeah, did you figure out when?”

“Eh, still undecided. Sometime after my PhD, I think. I don’t want to think about hospitals and doctors for a few more years. But yeah, you should enjoy the view while you can, because that makes them real—ah, how do you say—limited edition.”

Jayce splutters into laughter at that. “Limited edition?!”

Helplessly, Viktor starts laughing, too. “Yes, very rare and special. You’re lucky you get to see them before they are chopped off, next time I’ll charge for a look.”

“Oh my god,” Jayce covers his face, unable to stop giggling. “That’s not fair, then I’m gonna charge you for mine, too.”

“Eh, on what grounds?” Viktor can’t even be convincingly offended now.

“Well, they’re actually bigger than yours. That’s gotta count for something.”

It’s ridiculous because it’s actually true. Viktor uses a binder primarily to keep his oversensitive nipples from poking through his shirts, the rest isn't exactly of eye-catching proportions. Meanwhile Jayce’s chest is the perfect mix of thick muscles covered in soft tissue, large enough that Viktor couldn’t cover Jayce's pecs with both hands even if he was allowed intimate touch like that. If you want to be really technical about it, Jayce has an actual cleavage to show off where the center of Viktor’s chest is a flat plane. So, unfortunately, Jayce does have a point. In any case, Viktor is laughing too much to argue now, anyways.

“Can we please agree—” Jayce wheezes, while he wipes tears of laughter from his eyes. “—that we’re too broke to pay each other, anyways? We literally both still owe money to Sky.”

“Well, maybe the trick is, that we sell our boobs to people who actually have money?”

“We’re not even through the first year of our bachelor’s degree and we’re already considering sex work?”

“Too early, huh?”

“Yeah, I feel like that’s stuff for when we’re doing our master’s.”

“You’re right, that sounds more reasonable.”

They both nod in vague official agreement and with equally stupid grins on their faces.

“You know, if we wanna make it to our master’s we have to pass this class first.” Jayce smirks, waving his notes in a very smooth transition back to the actual topic of this afternoon. Which wasn’t even the torturous heat (or Viktor’s chest) but studying for their summer semester exams.

“Ugh, it’s still too hot to study,” Viktor groans, mood immediately soured again. He collapses against the side of the bed, head buried into the mattress. It’s Jayce’s and smells nice at least.

“... Summa cum Laude,” Jayce calls out in a rude reminder of the goal they both set themselves.

Viktor looks up with a glare.

“Fuck you.” Because Jayce has a point and Viktor is not happy about it.

Jayce chuckles, when Viktor straightens back up and picks his own notes up. At least the air from the fan hitting the bare skin of Viktor’s chest is really nice now. Small mercies.

Jayce smiles innocently at him, offensively relaxed and unbothered again—both by the heat and Viktor’s shirtlessness. Unbelievable.

“Alright, kinetic temperature, hit me.”

“Honestly, with your annoyingly good mood, I kind of want to.”

“Now, I think that would be a waste of kinetic energy, wouldn’t it?”

Jayce only laughs when Viktor elbows him for that.