Following Jayce's POV

A few days had passed since Professor Heimerdinger had paired Viktor and Jayce together, and neither of them had spoken to each other about the project. Jayce fiddled with his pen as he gazed around the lecture hall. He sat by himself. Heimerdinger had allowed the partners to work on their projects together the next few days after he assigned the project.

"Perhaps actually... Working with your partner would allow you to progress with this project, yes?"

Professor Heimerdinger's sudden voice beside Jayce caused him to jump, shaking his head clear of any thoughts that plagued it.

"Oh, well- uh-" Jayce stuttered, reaching for an excuse.

"Point proven," the professor spoke with a slight chuckle. "Now go on, can't ignore each other forever, hm?"

Jayce watched as the professor motioned towards Viktor before walking off back down the steps towards his desk. Jayce bit his tongue, dreading having to speak to Viktor. The two just weren't meant to be friends or work together.

Exhaling sharply, he stood, collecting his stuff. He made his way up the steps slowly, towards Viktor. The other must've been consumed in his work as he didn't look up when Jayce's footsteps stopped right beside him. Jayce watched for a moment as the smaller man scribbled in a sketchbook.

Jayce straightened his posture, speaking finally.

"Mind if I-" He lost his words when Viktor jumped in his seat, tensing up.

"Blyad!" The other cursed in their native tongue, shaking his head.

Viktor turned to face Jayce, gazing up at him through annoyed eyes. Jayce chuckled, sitting in the seat beside Viktor, pulling out his work.

"Don't you know not to sneak up on people like that?" Viktor breathed, relaxing a bit.

Jayce laughed, grinning. "I don't think many people get scared by others talking to them."

"I- No, that's not why I jumped," the Russian muttered, facing his work.

Jayce chuckled again, shrugging.

"Well, going back to what I was attempting to ask earlier: mind if I sit here?" He asked.

"You already are, aren't you?" Viktor answered with a question.

"Hm, suppose I am. Well, while I'm here, why don't we try to get along and work on the project?" Jayce suggested, leaning forward, dragging Viktor's sketchbook closer toward him.

"You mean you actually want to work on this project? You're not going to leave me to do all the work?" Viktor asked, an eyebrow cocking.

"Who do you take me for?" Jayce scoffed, gazing over at a page of the sketchbook Viktor had titled Brainstorming.

"Mmm, let's see-" Viktor tipped his head to the side. "An arrogant, loud-mouthed football jock who thinks he's the shit."

Jayce lifted his gaze from the sketchbook, gazing at Viktor.

"Really?" He blinked.

Viktor shrugged a bit, his eyes burning holes into the sketchbook.

"There's more to it," Viktor added. "Though, if we're to get along for the next few weeks, I'll remain silent. As always."

Jayce frowned at the last two words, turning his attention back toward the sketchbook before they could sink into his skin.

"You have.. You have some good ideas here," Jayce mumbled, nodding to the sketches.

"I always have good ideas," Viktor said, rather confidently.

Jayce glanced at him and the confidence seemed to fade.

"Sorry," Viktor muttered, apologizing quietly, looking at the sketchbook. "Er- there's a few more pages of ideas."

The man reached his hand out slowly, flipping through two more pages.

"Six pages? You have six pages of nothing but ideas?" Jayce asked, surprised.

When Viktor remained silent, Jayce gazed over at him, lifting his brows expectantly.

"Oh- uh, yeah," Viktor nodded. "Sorry, yeah I do. Got to find the best option, I guess."

"No need to appologize," Jayce shrugged, pointing to one of the sketches.

It was a small sphere, lightening drawn inside of it. He studied it for a few moment, cocking an eyebrow, intrigued. He read over the notes marked down beside it.

A small, mobile energy-source. Similar to a battery, but can fit easily into any source needed to be powered. Large objects (buildings, cars, future weapons(?), ect.) can be powered by this small object.

"You've put a lot of thought into this," Jayce nodded, having to stop as the notes switched to Russian. "Though, next time I'd recommend sticking to one language."

Viktor chuckled quietly, shrugging.

"Sorry, tends to happen when I'm tired," he said, nodding towards the sketch. "Perhaps you should just learn Russian if you plan to work with me for this project."

Humor flickered in Viktor's tone, Jayce noticed. Jayce chuckled a bit, gazing back at the sketch along with Viktor.

"Tell me how it'd work," Jayce prompted, interested in the idea.

"Well, the idea of it is that it'd be able to power large things. If the right things are put together, then perhaps it would be enough to make this thing come alive."

"Like a battery?" Jayce asked, rereading over the English notes, his eyes trailing the line about batteries.

"Similar to batteries," Viktor replied, quoting his own notes. "Though this would be able to replace them. Ultimately, this creation would be more powerful than batteries for longer, while still being small. Perhaps it'd be able to power cities. In the end, it'd be better for the planet in general."

Jayce listened to Viktor ramble on and on about the idea, nodding along. He had to admit, the outsider was smarter than Jayce ever could have thought. Occasionally, Jayce would ask a question or put in a suggestion. As he listened to Viktor speak, he thought back on what Viktor had said earlier.

"I'll remain silent. As always."

What did that mean? "As always." Did Viktor believe that he needed to be quiet? Jayce knew that him and his friends would occasionally tell Viktor he was obnoxiously loud, though he never thought Viktor took it to heart. He shrugged the thought away, noticing Viktor grabbing his sketchbook and laptop, stuffing it into his bag.

Jayce blinked, confused. "Why did you do that?"

Viktor paused, his brows furrowing.

"Uhm, because the bell is about to ring in ten seconds," Viktor chuckled, zipping the bag up.

"Oh! I didn't-" The bell ringing cut him off. "I didn't realize."

"Perhaps you should pay more attention to your surroundings," Viktor replied.

"As much as I hate to admit it, you might be right about that," Jayce shrugged, packing up his own work, standing.

Viktor chuckled a bit at the statement, gazing down at the floor.

"Should we work on this more back at the dorm?" Jayce asked, watching the students file out of the room.

"Sure, that works," Viktor nodded quietly.

"Sounds like a plan, then. See you then, Viktor."

"Alright. See you, Talis."

Jayce turned, leaving Viktor behind as he walked towards the door, heading to his next class.