Chapter Text
For once, it was early morning in the lab. Viktor was drowning himself in a cup of coffee by the time Jayce came in, and immediately looked at him with that "don't stress me so early in the morning" look when he saw what Jayce was holding.
"What is that?" Viktor said.
"Can't you tell? It's a gramophone!" Jayce answered joyously.
"Of course, my bad, what I should have asked is 'Why on Earth is there a gramophone in our lab?'"
"Oh, come on, Vik! Just give it a chance, please. Who knows, maybe you'll like it."
"It's not that I don't like gramophones or music, but the lab is just not an appropriate place for it. It will only distract us."
"OR, it will help us relax and work better."
"Jayce."
"Viktor."
"That is a horrible idea."
"Just give it a chance, pleeease!" Jayce said with his best "lost puppy gaze". Viktor looked at him as if he didn't buy it for a second. "I'll let you pick the first record." he tried.
Viktor sighed, but nodded his hand in the air and said:
"Fine. Classical."
Jayce smiled and got the record Viktor picked, putting it on the player with utmost care and placing the needle at the beggining. Only a few seconds later, the soft tune of a violin began to come out of the gramophone, starting with a slow, melancholic chord that was soon duetting with a piano. It was a bit sad for Jayce's taste, but Viktor wasn't complaining, so he counted that as a win.
He went to his desk and sat, placing his materials in the table beside.
"Good morning, by the way." he said. Viktor chuckled briefly.
"Good morning."
They just stayed there for a minute, listening to the music, which was now starting to sound a bit more lively and animated, with an energetic violin and, if Jayce wasn't mistaken, even a few flutes. After a second of listening, Jayce said:
"So, we left off at the temperature variation of the hexcore..."
They continued to work diligently, and actually made quite a bit of progress. At the afternoon, Jayce went to get them some more coffee and a few books in the library, and by the time he returned, he was quite surprised to find Viktor moving his head to one side and the other at the rythym of the music, which was now a very energetic piano composition. They had been using one record after the other all day, but always sticking to classical, because according to Viktor "anything with lyrics would be too distracting". Apparently, though, even with only instrumental, the music was amusing Viktor quite a bit, as it was clear by his animated "dancing" with his head. Jayce watched for a minute, feeling very full of himself, and then purposedly closed the door a loudly so Viktor would hear him. He quickly turned his gaze at Jayce from the desk, looking like he was just caught with adult magazines.
"I got the books." Jayce said.
Viktor cleared his throat.
"Wonderful. Bring them over, then."
Surprisingly enough (or not), that was not the last occasion of Viktor enjoying himself with the gramopone. On the contrary. Since he was usually at the lab before Jayce got there, he picked the albums they would listen to. Jayce didn't mind much, especially since he got there one day and a jazz record was on the turntable. He looked at Viktor with a cocky smile and raised eyebrows and the response he got was:
"Shut up."
Never a dull day with Viktor.
The most interesting occasion, however, was when they got a complaint. They weren't the only scientists in the building, and the room next to theirs was lately being used for physics classes. Jayce liked most people he met, with a few exceptions, and the physics teacer next door was definetely one of them. He was just, well... A pain in the ass, really, so it came with no surprise that he really didn't like the gramophone, and was demanding they stopped "blasting that flabbergasted thing" or he would go to the director's board. Jayce didn't think the director's board would care much about something so simple, but it was still not good to pick a fight with his work colleagues, anyway. Oh, well, a pity.
Viktor did not share his opinion.
"We'll have to WHAT?" he asked when Jayce told him the news.
"We'll have to get rid of it. A shame, I know, but keeping it will only cause us trouble. It's for the best."
"We will absolutely NOT be getting rid of the gramophone."
"I don't think we have much of a choice..."
"I'll speak to that godforsaken teacher. Who does he tink he is, telling us to put away the gramophone..."
"I thought you didn't even want it here." Jayce said.
"Well, people change, don't they? It's the best thing that ever happened to this lab, and I will not let that creature steal it away."
Jayce couldn't even explain what he felt at that. He expected Viktor to admit the gramophone wasn't so bad, maybe even that he liked it a little bit, but to come out and say it was the best thing that ever happened to the lab? Very unexpected. And very... Well, honorable, really. It was rare that Jayce got to see Viktor own up to his feelings, or, perhaps, not own up, but share them out loud. But every time it happened, it sent a shiver down his spine. A good shiver.
He smiled.
"Alright. Then we don't get rid of it."
Viktor looked at him surprised.
"That simple? What if he does go to the director's board?"
"Then I'll simply have to let them know of his habit of keeping shimmer in his bottom drawer. I have a feeling that will sort it out."
Viktor smiled widely, a rare vision of joy. And then that joy was replaced with something even better: mischief.
"Oh, well, if that's how it is then..." Viktor went to the closet and searched through their records, taking a minute to find what he was looking for: a hard rock album.
"We can't." Jayce said instinctivly. "He'll go mad."
"Then perhaps he should use his shimmer stash to calm down."
Viktor looked at him with a rebellious grin and a spark in his eyes. It was quite the sight. He put the record in the turntable and placed the needle, and soon enough, an electric guitar was violently making itself heard in the room. Viktor didn't exactly start to dance, but he moved his head and began to actually SING the song.
"You know this song?"
"It's my favourite band."
Jayce could hug him right now. He cared deeply for all the Viktors he knew, the serious worker one, the dreamer one, even the grumpy one. But the mischievous one, that had to be his favourite. The one whose favourite band was a heavy metal one, the one who fought for what he cared and who danced even if just with his head. Jayce adored that Viktor, the one that looked so alive. So he had no choice but to join him in his rebelliousness.
It's true. He never had a dull day wit Viktor.