Following Jayce's POV

When the door opened, he didn't bother turning to look at the person as he knew who it was. That was until he heard a quiet huff of frustration and looked to the window, noticing it was pouring out. Putting two and two together, he finally turned, his eyes being met with a tired, frustrated man holding a small bag of groceries. He blinked, processing the scene before him for a moment.

Then, he pursed his lips tightly together, trying not to laugh at the amusing image in front of him. Though, he couldn't keep it in for long and eventually started laughing out loud.

He heard an annoyed hum coming from the other man's throat as he stormed towards the kitchen. Jayce stood to follow him, trying to suppress his laughter as he noticed the trail of water the other made.

"You gonna mop up the water, right?" Jayce questioned, leaning against the frame of the kitchen door, his arms crossing.

No response.

"That's kind of rude, y'know? Not responding to a question someone asked you."

Viktor just kept putting away the few groceries he had gotten, one of which catching his eyes.

"Oh, sweet! You got chips," Jayce said, lounging forward and grabbing the bag for himself.

The other man reached to grab the bag back but gave up without a word as Jayce held the bag above his head.

"Whatever," Viktor finally scoffed, turning back to put the last item away. "Hope you like salt and vinegar chips."

"Huh- Ew, you get the salt and vinegar kind? Those kind of chips suck," Jayce scoffed, throwing the bag back into the counter.

"Yes. Yes I do," the Russian responded, turning to face Jayce once again.

Jayce noticed the way Viktor's hair stuck flat on his forehead due to the water. He pursed his lips once again to stifle a laugh. The image of Viktor getting pelted by the rain was amusing to him for some reason.

"Oh, right," Jayce nodded, breaking from his thoughts, "I recommend getting changed and mopping up the water you tracked through here. Some of my friends are coming over."

Something about Viktor shifted a bit, some sort of emotion filling his eyes. But before Jayce could processes it, the shorter man had gazed at the floor.

"Right, of course they are."

He watched as Viktor hobbled off to his bedroom for a few minutes to change, just to reemerge and walk towards the closet tucked between the two bedrooms and grab a mop. He chuckled quietly to himself as the man began to lazily mop the water up. After watching for a few seconds, Jayce went over and flopped down on the cough with a relaxed sigh.

After about thirty minutes, there was a knock on the door. He sat up, gazing at the door. Viktor walked from the kitchen, gazed at the door for a few seconds before retreating away from it, heading towards his room.

"You couldn't have gotten that?" Jayce asked, annoyed.

"They're your friends," Viktor replied.

"Yeah, well you could've been polite-" He was cut off by the door swinging open harshly.

A group of three people barged their way into the small hallway, chattering amongst themselves as they closed the door behind them. Viktor stumbled back a bit at the noise from the group and the door slamming closed. The group fell silent upon seeing him and he stepped back once more, vanishing into his room. They continued to be silent for a moment before one of them spoke.

"Jayce! Buddy, hey! How are you?"

Jayce stood, throwing his hands in the air, welcoming the group to his dorm.

"Hey, guys! I'm good, how are you all doing?"

"We're great! Oh! Also, is he your roommate?"

Jayce chuckled and nodded. "Yes, yes he is, unfortunately."

"Ah, well good luck with that," one of them muttered, gazing at the room Viktor had disappeared into.

Jayce rolled his eyes. "It's already been a mess. He's been quite rude, if you ask me."

"Well, let's not worry too much about that right now. Let's have some fun and catch up!" One held up a glass bottle, liquid swirling around inside of it.

"Guys, we haven't seen each other for, like, only three days. Are you really turning that into an excuse to get drunk?" Jayce laughed, shaking his head.

"We can turn anything into an excuse to get drunk."

Jayce let out a dramatic scoff. Of course they would. He wasn't sure about drinking today as he had to unpack his own stuff. Not to mention he was trying to be healthier before school and football practice began in a week.

_______

That didn't last long though. Within a few hours of the group hanging out, all four of them were laying around, laughing and telling old stories to one another. Jayce was propped against the arm of the couch, laughing along with them. He tipped his head back a bit, watching the ceiling as he chuckled at the slurred words of one of his friends.

Movement in the corner of his eyes caught his attention. Viktor slipped almost noiselessly from his room. Tipping his head back farther to get a better view of the man, he watched as Viktor's nose scrunched up. He chuckled a bit as he watched Viktor lift his left hand to cover his mouth and nose, narrowing his eyes a bit.

"Must not be a fan of alcohol," Jayce thought to himself, amused by the man's response to the smell of it.

Viktor slipped towards the kitchen, the light sound of his cane and brace catching the attention of one of Jayce's friends.

"Ayeee, man!"

Viktor stopped and gazed over at the group of drunk men.

"Yeaaah, you! Russian guy. Get me a glass of water or some-something!"

Viktor scowled slightly and turned his back on the group, disappearing into the kitchen. After a few moments of being in there, he returned, holding a glass of water in his hand and a bag of chips under his arm. The man made his way closer to the living room, glancing at the man who had requested the water before slipping into his room silently, the door clicking closed behind him.

"Uuuuugh, doesn't that man know anything about-" They paused and Jayce could almost see the cogs turning in their head. "About- fuuuck, what's the word?"

"Courtesy?" Another person chimed in loudly, stirring.

"Yeaaaaah! Courtesy!" The other replied.

"You guys are idiots," Jayce mumbled, leaning further on the armrest.

One of his friends shoved him roughly, causing him to tip over and fall off the armrest.

"Owwwww- That huuuurt," Jayce whined, flailing to get upright on his legs.

His swayed from side to side as he stumbled back to sit on the couch, leaning back on it, his eyes growing heavy. Darkness consumed his vision and he slipped off quietly, sleep taking hold.