Following Jayce's POV

Jayce huffed, sweat trailing down his forehead. He walked back to his dorm, fatigue setting in. Though he didn't feel it fully now, he was sure he'd be sore everywhere tomorrow. He fiddled with the dorm key in his hand as he kept walking back to the dorm.

As he opened the door, he was met with silence. He slipped into the room and closed the door, locking it behind him. He yawned and continued on to his bedroom, grabbing a towel and change of clothes. He walked out of his bedroom, and towards the bathroom, going to take a shower.

_______

After his shower, Jayce slipped into a new pair of clothes and headed for the kitchen. Everything in the dorm had been left the way it was after Jayce had left. No sight of Viktor. Not that Jayce was complaining, though. He rethought about the scene earlier, chuckling at his friends' stupidness.

Jayce made a bowl of cereal, and sat down in the living room, turning on the TV. After a while the Viktor's door creaked as it opened. He watched through the corner of his eye as the man stumbled from his room, seemingly putting more weight on his good leg. Jayce rolled his eyes. The outsider was pathetic.

"Ah, so you do live," Jayce said, his attention still on the TV.

No response. Only the sound of the metal leg brace and cane limping towards the kitchen. Jayce snorted a bit. He was starting to learn how Viktor ticked. When it came to annoying him, that was.

"You should learn to respond to people, y'know. Can't be antisocial your entire life," Jayce continued, propping his legs up on the coffee table.

He heard an almost silent scoff come from the kitchen.

"You outsiders from Zaun are all the same. You come to Piltover, don't interact with anyone, and then commit a crime and leave. Only a matter of time before you follow in all their footsteps," he kept on, trying to draw a response from the Russian.

He heard the other mumble something. Standing up, he walked to the kitchen, leaning on the doorframe.

"What was that?" He asked, an eyebrow raised.

Viktor's shoulders dropped and he paused whatever he was doing.

"You really think I could commit a crime?" He muttered quietly.

"I mean, yeah. You're an outsider."

"You're forgetting something. I'm not just an outsider. You said it yourself. I'm also a weak and crippled outsider," Viktor hissed lowly, his head turning slightly so could eye Jayce from the corner of his eye.

Jayce blinked, noticing the silent rage flickering like fire in Viktor's golden eyes. Jayce kept held his position, still.

"Hm, well. Technically, I never said that," Jayce replied coolly, straightening himself a bit.

"Well you still agreed with it," Viktor muttered, turning back to what he was doing.

Jayce shrugged, "why do you care?"

And once again, Viktor stopped what he was doing.

"Why do I care? Tell me, Talis, are you really that stupid?"

"No-"

"Then I think you can answer that question for yourself," Viktor snapped, scolding Jayce. "Why don't you think about someone else for once. Though, I doubt that you'll ever actually-"

Jayce cut him off, not wanting to be scolded like a child. He found an excuse to shut Viktor up.

"You're loud."

Viktor stiffened at the words before dropping his head once more, letting out a quiet sigh. Jayce watched as Viktor stood there quietly. A knock sounded on the door, bringing Viktor out of whatever thoughts he had settled in.

"Oh, yeah. My friends are coming over. Forgot to mention that," Jayce shrugged, smirking a bit.

Viktor stepped away from the counter, abandoning what he was working on. That's when Jayce noticed Viktor's cane. Black duct tape wrapped around the middle portion of it.

"Aw, that's kind of sad," Jayce pouted, motioning to the cane.

Viktor remained silent, shifting to the side slightly, putting a knife in the sink. Jayce managed to see he had been cutting some tomatoes and carrots, a bag of lettuce beside the cutting board.

"Just gonna abandon your work?"

Another knock sounded from the door, the doorknob turned.

"Not hungry anymore," Viktor shrugged, replying quietly. He finished putting his stuff away and turned, hobbling heavily past Jayce towards his room.

Viktor cast a glance at the dorm's door before vanishing into his room. Jayce shrugged and walked to the door, unlocking and opening it.

"Hey, guys!" Jayce greeted them. "Sorry I couldn't hang out too long during the afternoon."

"It's no worries!" Scott chimed, grinning. "You're free now!"

"Indeed I am! Though I'm quite tired," Jayce chuckled.

"Ah, well, you can just relax with us! We'll all just hang around and chill out here," James said, inviting himself into the dorm, walking over to the couch and sitting down.

Jayce closed the door as Scott and Mark walked in, following them to the living room. The four of them sat around the living room, talking and laughing loudly.

"Jayce, did you see the syllabus for Heimerdinger? There's a partner project coming up in, like, only a month and a half. We better be working together!"

"You know we'd got zero work done together," Jayce laughed, leaning on the couch.

"Oooh? What does that mean?" Mark asked jokingly, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, shut up, I'm not gay," James replied, fake gagging.

"Yeah," Jayce nodded. "Neither am I. T'was just a bit of bromance."

"Right, right, we'll see about that," Scott laughed.

James rolled his eyes, chuckling. Jayce shook his head.

"Well, I wouldn't be surprised one day if you two started going out, seeing how close you two are," Mark said after the conversation had passed for a few minutes.

"Eww, no, I already said I wasn't gay," James replied. "That's gross."

Jayce snorted a bit, remaining quiet afterwards.

"Hey, where's that outsider?" James asked, gazing about.

"Probably just hiding in his room like he usually does," Jayce shrugged.

"Man's a recluse," James laughed.

Jayce nodded at the words, not thinking much of it. He gazed out of the window, the sun setting in the sky. He yawned, stretching slightly.

"Well, I think I might head to bed," Jayce decided. "Thank you all for coming by and hanging out!"

"Bed? This early?" Scott asked, gazing at Jayce.

"I'm tired from practice," Jayce nodded, walking to the dorm's door and opening it.

"Hm, well, we'll see you sometime later," Mark said, patting Jayce's shoulder as the group shuffled out of the dorm, the door closing behind them.

Jayce walked over towards the bathroom and brushed his teeth before heading to bed, collapsing onto it tiredly, closing his eyes.