Chapter Text
“Please don’t forget, the new guy is coming over tomorrow,” Kris said, standing up from the couch and heading towards the door to go to bed.
“What new guy?” Jan asked from his place on the floor, his attention still glued to the film playing on the TV screen.
“The new Martin,” Bojan said bitterly, arms crossed.
“He’s not the- we’re not replacing Martin. We now have a spare room to rent out and we can’t afford the rent between the four of us.” Kris reasoned.
“I still don’t like it.”
“Can you at least promise to be on your best behaviour tomorrow in front of him, please? He seems a really nice guy and I don’t want you trying to scare him off.”
“Fine.”
“You too, Jan.”
“I’m just going to hide in my room with Igor,” Jan said, quietly, finally shifting his attention from the TV, instead focusing on a random spot on the wall across from him. Had that part of the wallpaper always been peeling off?
“You two are impossible sometimes. I’m going to bed.” And with that, Kris left, leaving Bojan and Jan alone in the lounge.
“I miss Martin,” Bojan admitted, his voice quiet and fragile in the late hour, his face scared in the TV glow.
“Me too. I don’t know how I’ll feel having someone different living here. Especially if we don’t know him. What if he doesn’t like Igor? What if he upsets Igor?”
“Then I’m immediately kicking him out.”
The two fell into a comfortable silence after this.
“It’ll be okay, I’m sure,” Jan said, trying to convince himself as much as Bojan.
“We’ll see.”
Eventually, once the film had finished and the two of them had sat staring at the rolling credits, they both finally headed to bed, Bojan going to his room on the first floor, Jan on the second.
As he walked into his room, Igor perked his head from the nest of blankets he had wrapped himself in on top of Jan’s bed. Jan sat down, offering the still half-asleep cat some welcome head scratches.
“New guy coming round tomorrow, buddy.”
Igor just meowed in response, bumping his head into Jan’s hand.
“I agree, I’m not too happy about it either, but there’s nothing we can do. We can just ignore him if he doesn’t like cats, don’t worry.” At this Igor gave a happier meow.
“We can hide in here together, it’ll be okay.”
***
Waking up to the screech of his alarm, Jan decided to lie on his bed, still, trying his best to hold on to the last few dredges of sleep slowly slipping out of his body. The harsh sliver of sunlight beaming through the slit in his curtains didn’t help this. With a groan he sat up, reaching over to his desk chair to grab a faded and ratty-looking, but undeniably soft, band shirt, slipping it on in a bid against the morning chill. It may have only been mid-September, but autumn was already laying claim to Ljubljana.
Glancing across the room, Igor was still dozing happily, croissant-curled against the cold.
Adorable, Jan mused to himself.
Closing his bedroom door, so as not to disturb Igor, of course, he headed downstairs. He was desperately in need of coffee if he wanted to feel awake enough to get any sort of studying done.
In the kitchen, focusing intently upon a stack of papers, was Kris.
“Morning Jan.” He said, without looking up.
“How did you know it was me?” Jan asked, immediately heading over to pour himself a large cup of coffee, grabbing one of the pastries on the side that Kris must’ve bought earlier that morning.
“I know the sound of you walking. And don’t eat all those pastries. They’re gluten-free and I bought them for the new guy.”
Making direct eye contact with Kris, Jan took a huge bite, scattering pastry flakes all down his shirt and onto the tiled floor.
“Does the new guy even have a name?”
“Nace Jordan.” Kris returned his attention to his papers, which now Jan could see seemed to be dealing with the imminent arrival and moving in of the new guy - Nace. “He’ll be here soon, by the way. So if you’re planning on hiding, the kitchen is a bad place.”
“I’m not hiding from him, I’m not scared. I’m going to avoid him. That’s a difference.”
“Either way, it’s not going to make him feel welcome if you’re avoiding him or whatever, and Bojan is looking like he’s three minutes away from killing the poor guy. I’ve spoken to him and he’s really nice. Works in a bakery. Loves animals.” Kris said the last part with a pointed look at Jan.
“You’re just saying that to appease me.”
“No, in his application he spoke for about five minutes about his turtle.”
“Is he bringing the turtle?” Jan couldn’t lie, he was now somewhat more interested. Still very opposed to his arrival, however.
“Presumably? It’ll be nice, Igor will have a friend.”
“Igor already has a friend, he has me. Anyway, I don’t know if turtles and cats get along well.”
“Hmmm no, I don’t think I’ve ever thought about it.”
The two returned to sitting quietly. Jan sat sipping his coffee, Kris leafing through his papers, occasionally punctuating his movements with a sigh or mutter. Eventually, they were both brought out of their reveries by the sharp trill of Kris’ phone.
“Nace is on his way, should be here in about fifteen minutes apparently.” Kris read off his phone before quickly typing a response. With that, Jan immediately got up from the table, coffee mug in hand, heading towards the door. “Seriously, Jan?”
“Kris,” Jan pleaded, his voice gentle. The other man’s face softened at that.
“You’re right, it’s okay. I get it. If you just wanna chill in your room today, then that’s okay. Maybe it would be nice if we all had dinner tonight? I can always bring you something up if you don’t feel like it though. No pressure.”
Jan felt himself relax hearing this, knowing Kris was looking out for him.
“Thank you.”
Kris just waved him off with a fond smile on his face, attention once again back on the papers. Jan decided to take this as his cue to retire back to his room. Knowing that Nace would be arriving incredibly soon, Jan probably didn’t have much opportunity for a shower. The last thing he needed was his first interaction with the new housemate involving him in a state of undress. Settling on just washing his face and brushing his teeth, he returned to his room, closing the door. Nestling back onto his bed, he grabbed his laptop and headphones, deciding if he was going to be sitting in his room all day he might as well spend it studying.
The next few hours passed by in a surprising flurry of productivity, Jan only getting up to go to the toilet and to let Igor out of the room so he could wander and eat. The third time he got up, he was pleasantly surprised to see a plate in front of his door, with his favourite sandwich, a handful of crisps, and a note written in Kris’ neat handwriting.
Figured you would forget to leave your room to come and eat. Nace is moving his shit in. He’s very nice. You’ll like him ;)
Jan felt himself blush as he read the last part of the note, having absolutely no idea what Kris could be meaning. Part of him was tempted to ignore the sandwich out of some protest, but he had to relent, he was far too hungry to do that. As he returned to his bed to eat lunch, he could faintly hear some voices on the floor below him. The house’s soundproofing had never been great, but it was still difficult to make out anything distinct, rather than the vague sound of vowels and consonants. Definitely, there was Jure, he’d be able to recognise his laugh any day of the week. The other voice was unfamiliar, deep, and warm. Nace, Jan supposed.
With a shrug, Jan grabbed his headphones from where he had previously discarded them, putting them back on and turning the volume right up, hoping to lose himself for a couple more hours in the world of equations.
However, this would prove easier said than done. Despite his, rather large he must admit, reservations about the arrival of Nace, he couldn’t deny his growing curiosity. So far he didn’t have much to go off: he worked in a gluten-free bakery, had a turtle and apparently Jan would like him if Kris was to be believed. Granted this was nowhere near enough evidence to go against Jan’s inherent distrust. It was only curiosity, nothing more.
And Jan was definitely not curious as to what the guy with the seemingly warm and deep voice looked like. Absolutely not. And if he was (which for the record, he really wasn’t), it was only because he didn’t want to be surprised if he went to the bathroom in the middle of the night and was met with an unknown face.
It had happened before and it was distinctly not one of Jan’s favourite experiences, so sue him if he wanted to avoid a repeat of it.
Realising studying seemed futile, Jan reached to grab his phone which he’d had on do not disturb, checking to see if there were any messages or updates. Aside from a few push notifications from Twitter and Instagram, there was nothing that caught his interest. Or so he thought. As he was aimlessly scrolling between apps, he noticed a new group chat had been made - a new one for the house. Opening it, he clicked on the unknown phone number, taking him to the contact’s page, where he clicked the profile picture. It was a photo of a man - tall, Jan noted - most likely smiling, but the way the sunlight was shining on him and the distance from the camera, it was practically impossible to make anything out.
Shame.
Rationally, Jan knew he could do a quick social media search since he knew his full name and at least Kris must’ve already added him on Facebook or something. But he wasn’t going to do that, he didn’t care that much.
He’d just wait until dinner.
As if on cue, his stomach rumbled.
He could go to the kitchen to get a snack, but then there’d be the risk of bumping into Nace earlier than he wanted. It would feel like admitting defeat somehow. Maybe a nap would help, he thought.
Clambering back into bed, this time pulling the cover tight across himself, burying his face into his pillow.
He managed to drift off for a little over an hour before he was, rather rudely, awoken by a knock on the door. Ambling to the door, he crossed his fingers that it wasn’t Nace - his brain hadn’t woken up from his nap fully enough for him to be particularly polite or civilised. Thankfully, it was Kris.
“Good, you actually ate the sandwich that I made.” He said, peering over Jan’s shoulder to see the empty plate. “If you’re hungry, Jure’s made dinner. But you’re not hiding up here. Please.”
Jan groaned, preparing to turn around and head back to bed before Kris gently closed his hand around Jan’s wrist.
“Jan, you need to meet him, because we need to see if you actually have a problem with him, rather than you just making one up in your head because you don’t want to meet a new person.” Kris reasoned.
“You know what I’m like,” Jan said softly, staring at where Kris’s hand was, now rubbing a comforting circle on the other man’s hand.
“I do. And I don’t wanna make you uncomfy. But you can’t hide in your room all the time.”
“Give me like five minutes, I’ve just woken up.”
“That’s a good Janči.” With that, Kris left, leaving Jan alone. Feeling somewhat exposed in his pyjamas and band shirt (what if Nace made fun of his music taste?) he decided to grab a hoodie, one that was suitably oversized so, if needed, he could practically hide in it. Taking one last deep breath, he headed down to the kitchen.
As he approached he could smell Jure’s cooking, curry, he guessed, his stomach rumbling in anticipation. The closer he got to the closed kitchen door he could hear the sound of laughter and conversation. From the muffled sounds he could make out, he figured that Bojan had pretty quickly gotten over his initial concerns. Great, so now Jan was firmly outnumbered. Deciding that there was no point in trying to procrastinate anymore, he pushed the door open and walked in.
The minute he did this, he regretted not doing even the most basic social media stalk.
And Kris was right God damnit.
Why had none of them warned him Nace was hot?
“And, as I’m sure you’ve guessed, that’s Jan who, it looks like, hasn’t fully woken up from his nap yet,” Kris said, clearly trying to save Jan from dying his embarrassment considering he was standing there staring.
“Uhm. Nice to meet you.” Jan mumbled, ducking his head and quickly heading over to grab himself a serving of dinner before he could possibly embarrass himself any further.
“It’s great to finally meet you too. I’m Nace, although you probably know that already. I’ve been told you’re the one with the cat that I see walking around.” Nace said, turning his attention firmly on Jan once he had said down, giving him no opportunity to escape. Wonderful.
“He’s mine. Igor. He’s very nice and likes most people as long as you’re nice to him.”
“He does seem friendly even if he did give me a bit of a fright when I went to the bathroom and he was hiding in there. Clearly takes after his owner.” Nace smiled, Jan felt like he’d been caught in a spider’s web if a spider could have surprisingly fluffy-looking hair and big brown eyes.
“Sorry,” Jan occupied himself with taking a bite of the curry, hoping Nace would get bored and shift his attention on to someone else.
“Don’t be silly, there’s nothing to apologise about. I get it,” Just Jan’s luck that of course he had to be nice as well. This whole anti-new-guy campaign was proving to be a little harder than expected. The two returned to quietly eating their dinners, listening in to Jure’s stories of his latest shift at the bar and the antics of some of their drunkest customers.
“So, I feel like I know nothing about you. Aside from Igor,” Nace said once his plate was cleared and before Jan could escape back into his room.
“Oh.”
“Tell me about yourself, then.”
“I don’t know, I’m pretty boring.”
“I highly doubt that. And even if you are, we’re still living in the same house.”
“Well, I’m studying for my PhD in maths. And I tutor kids in maths as well, sometimes. Play the guitar sometimes. Read. Cuddle Igor.”
“Shit you’re clever, then,” Nace leant forward slightly at this and Jan really wished his eyes didn’t look so big in those glasses.
“Hardly,” Jan muttered, “I, uh- you work in a bakery?”
“Technically, I own a bakery. But yes. Actually that’s the reason I moved Here I couldn’t afford to live by myself in my old apartment and open the place. This was a compromise,” Nace shrugged.
“That’s pretty cool.”
“I love it. It does mean that I sometimes work fucked up hours. Some mornings I’m awake at 3:00AM.”
“Don’t worry. Jan’s a night owl, so he’ll be able to keep you company,” Bojan chimed in from the other side of the table. Whatever happened to their alliance, Jan thought to himself moodily.
“I look forward to it.”
Once the conversation had moved on and Jan could return to a far more observatory position, he eventually excused himself from the table, heading back to his room. Stopping in the bathroom on his way up, as he left he bumped into Bojan on the stairs.
“You’re not hiding again, are you?” The shorter man asked.
“No. What happened to our alliance, anyway? I thought we both didn’t like the idea of replacing Martin.”
Bojan pouted for a moment, clearly in the midst of conflicted thoughts.
“You’re right, I don’t. But Nace is surprisingly really nice. We’re going to the gym together tomorrow,” Bojan shrugged, heading to his room.
“ The gym? ” Jan hissed at Bojan’s back, but he didn’t respond.
Feeling well and truly betrayed at this point, and believing he would be entirely justified if he tried to find a new codependent group of friends, he went into his room to be met by Igor sitting, looking at him expectantly.
“Oh, come on. Don’t tell me you like him as well.”
Igor remained silent.
“Typical. I’m the only one with sense around here.”
Igor cocked his head slightly, still looking at Jan.
“No don’t you start, too,” Jan stood, arms crossed, “I know exactly what you’re thinking and nope. I do not think he’s attractive. And if I did it wouldn’t matter because I don’t want him living here.”
The meow that Igor gave in response to this truly did not sound convinced.
***
Somehow, by the next morning, Jan had foolishly forgotten about the arrival of Nace. It being a Monday, he was used to the house being relatively quiet. Kris was really the only one of them with a sensible 9-to-5, the others usually shifting between classes, or in Jure’s case, between the bar and film sets. Jan, much to his joy at his planning abilities, didn’t have any classes on Monday mornings, meaning he normally got the house to himself for a few hours.
These Monday mornings had slowly become a big part of his weekly routine, and the thing that would often make or break his entire week. If the weather was nice, and not too cold, he’d make himself a coffee and then sit outside in their small but suitable garden, either playing mindlessly on his guitar or reading his latest book. And despite it being September, the weather was not too bad, as long as he brought a blanket with him, and so he decided to do just that.
“Oh, good morning! I didn’t know anyone else was in, sorry,” Nace said when Jan walked into the kitchen, standing stuck in the doorway for the second day in a row.
“I thought you worked at the bakery,” was all Jan could muster up in response.
“I do, but I took the last few days off so I could move in.”
“Oh.”
“Do you not have classes or something? For your PhD.”
“Not on Monday. I normally spend Monday morning reading or playing the guitar.”
“Not a bad way of spending the morning. Well, I won’t get in your way anymore, I’m supposed to be meeting Bojan in the gym in an hour or so, so I should probably get ready.” Grabbing his coffee cup, and what seemed like a notepad, Nace got up, leaving Jan standing alone in the kitchen, the sound of the kettle boiling.
Once outside, and wrapped up cosily in his favourite tartan blanket, he took a deep drink of the coffee, relishing its hot bitterness before opening his book, quickly becoming absorbed in it and all thoughts of Nace Jordan and his warm smile vacating his mind.