12:12 PM.
The colon between the numbers blinked at what seemed to the impatient young man who was sitting in the dorm hallway to be much slower than was really necessary.
Blink.
Blink.
12:13 PM.
Blink.
Blink.
Fuck. Still another seventeen minutes until his coworker would return, allowing him to go down and take a quick lunch break.
The restless male in question wore a nametag that identified him as "Jack Overland, Resident Assistant", and he was certainly a sight to behold. His naturally dark hair had been bleached to the point where it could be easily confused for white, lending him the nickname "Frost". His eyes were so blue that people often asked if he wore contacts (he did, actually, as most people do nowadays; however, they were clear, and the color of his eyes was, in fact, very natural). His long, lean body was lusted after by males and females alike. Its shape was accentuated by the dark skinny jeans and tight-fitting, royal blue staff shirt that he was required to wear for move-in day. The look was completed by a single black stud earring in each lobe. Oh yes, he was a tall drink of water, alright.
Jack sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. He drummed the fingers of his other hand against his knee as he checked his watch again, only to see that the unmerciful object was still staring at him with the cold, stony glare of 12:13. He was just about to send his co-RA a teasing text bugging him to come back from lunch early when the now-familiar sound of a key being inserted into a lock reached the young man's ears. He stood up, brushed himself off, and approached the crash doors, preparing to help another resident get all checked in and ready to go.
What Jack had not prepared for, though, was the way that his breath would catch at the sight of the boy walking through the door. He was really more "adorable" than he was traditionally "attractive": pale, scrawny, brown hair that almost gave off a reddish shine, green eyes that were a little too big for his face, slightly crooked teeth…
But the thing that stood out to Jack and made him really take notice was the freckles. He would never admit it, but freckles were his biggest turn-on. Even just a small smattering would make Jack go weak in the knees, and this boy seemed to have them everywhere. He was wearing a forest green wife-beater with his brown denim pants and brown leather wristband, giving Jack an all-access pass to check out the way the freckles trailed down the boy's arms. Good lord, he had so many, his shoulders were practically solid brown.
Jack caught himself before it was obvious that he was staring and cleared his throat to refocus his thoughts. "Hi," he said with his signature crooked smile that made the girls melt. "I'm the RA, Jack. Are you moving in?"
The boy gazed back at Jack with a sarcastic glare. He looked around to all of the boxes being carried in by the large man behind him before turning his attention back to Jack. "With all of this stuff? Nah, I just decided today would be a fun day to take everything I own up two flights of stairs in the blistering heat. Why, were you expecting someone?"
Well shit. He had a sense of humor, too. Jack let out a small chuckle and shook his head before responding. "Well, if that's all you're doing, I'll just leave you be. I just need to get your name and room number so I can get some paperwork. You do know you need a permit to bring your possessions on parade here."
The boy cracked a smile. "Of course. You can't just let anyone bring their crap up, can you?" He laughed a little bit before continuing. "Anyway, I'm Henrik Haddock, room 338. You can call me 'Hiccup', though."
"'Hiccup'?" Jack asked, raising an eyebrow. When the incoming resident shot him a look, Jack shrugged and let it go. He guessed it wasn't much stranger than "Frost" or some of the other weird nicknames around campus. "Well, let me just go and grab that stuff for you, and then we can get you settled."
"Sounds good," Hiccup replied, and he proceeded to move his things to room 338.
Jack, meanwhile, was returning to his room to get the paperwork. He shook his head, allowing his cheeks to relax and flap a little bit in the air.
This had happened before, of course. This was the beginning of Jack's fourth semester as an RA (he had been pulled in as an emergency replacement at the beginning of the second semester of his freshman year), and he had seen some incredibly attractive residents walk through those doors. Not once, though, had he compromised his professionalism (well, not more than usual, anyway), a point of pride for the young man. Anyway, this boy would just be another one of those instances, he was sure of it.
When Jack returned, the man who had been following Hiccup, presumably a relative of some sort based on the very slight resemblance in facial structure, had already moved at least 10 or 15 boxes into the not-so-empty-anymore dorm room. Jack knocked on the propped-open door, startling Hiccup to the point where he nearly dropped the box of clothing that he was holding. "Ah, why would you do that?" The younger male called out in surprise.
Jack put a hand up to his mouth and suppressed a short laugh. "Aw, I'm sorry," he said, "I just need to get you to sign a form real quick." Jack waved the carbon-copy paper at Hiccup and stepped forward into the room. "This is a room condition form. It just details any minor damage to the room so you don't get fined for it later and so that you're aware of any minor issues, blah blah blah… Point is, I need you to sign and date here," he pointed with his blue pen, "initial here," another point, "and fill out some basic information here," and one final point, "so we know how to reach you if anything goes wrong."
Hiccup nodded and reached for the paper and pen that Jack was offering him. "This is my dad, by the way."
"Nice to meet you," the large man boomed in a Scottish rogue, nearly crushing Jack's hand as he took it in his own. "I'm Stoick. You take good care of my fish-bone of a son here, or I'll have your hide as a rug in my den, you hear that?"
"Yes, sir, loud and clear." Jack almost saluted, but he feared that the man might actually skin him alive.
"Don't listen to him," Hiccup rolled his eyes as he filled out the form. "He's just a little overprotective. He wouldn't even let me get a dog back home. Something about not wanting me to get bitten."
"Yeah, I get that." Jack laughed quietly to himself. "Anyway," he continued, pulling the cap off of a Sharpie with a satisfying pop, "you said you like to go by Hiccup? Like…" Jack finished his question by pretending to hiccup, his chest moving up briefly and a small noise coming from his mouth.
"Yeah, just like the bodily function." The auburn-haired lad rolled his eyes. "Thanks for summing that up for me."
Jack found himself laughing again. He was really going to like this resident. He began writing the unusual nickname on the paper guitar that would be hung on the door for the whole year. When he had finished, he took some pieces of painter's tape off of the roll on his wrist and affixed the door dec to the solid, gray portal. "There you are." Jack smiled and gestured to the door. "Now everyone who passes by this entrance knows that 'Hiccup the Horrendous' resides in this humble dorm room."
"Thanks for that." Hiccup handed the good-humored male the carbon copy paper with an almost-embarrassed smile.
"Cool, thank you" Jack returned the smile with one of his own and handed the boy a small, blue, laminated card. "This is your hall entry card. You'll need it to get into the building after 11 PM. Wehave a mandatory floor meeting at 3:30, so I'd better see you there." It took everything that Jack had to not throw in a wink at the end of that sentence. "If you have any questions about anything, feel free to come ask me or my co, Jaime."
By this time, Stoick had clearly gotten bored and wandered off. He turned from where he was staring at a bulletin board in the hallway and called out, "you know what, Hiccup, it looks like this man's got it handled. I'm gonna' be heading back home to take care of some business. You behave, and call me when you're done unpacking."
"Alright, Dad," Hiccup poked his head out of the door to wave down the hall. "Thanks for helping and everything. Have a good trip back."
And with a quick "bye, son", the large Scottish man was gone. Jack turned his head to watch his newest resident begin to unpack for a moment. "Your dad is huge," he stated finally, aching to break the silence.
"Yup, that's my dad for ya'." Hiccup hefted a box (that couldn't have really been that heavy, I mean honestly) up onto his bed with a grunt. As he bent forward, his wife-beater rode up a bit in the back, allowing Jack a glimpse at the freckled lower back being exposed to him right now. But he also caught sight of something else. There, on the back of Hiccup's left hip, Jack spied a black mass of leathery-looking skin. It took the older male a moment to realize that what he was looking at was a small portion of a tattoo. He smiled and made a mental note to ask about it later. He was insanely curious as to what was hidden down there, but as quickly as it appeared, it was gone with a swift tug downwards on the shirt.
"So…" Hiccup turned around to face Jack again, stretching his arms as he did so. "What exactly do you do here?"
Jack then began explaining his position as RA and what his role was on campus. Hiccup continued asking questions, and before Jack knew it, Jaime was tapping his shoulder and telling the "lover-boy" (as he so put it) that it was his turn for lunch. Jaime picked up Jack's end of the conversation as the white-haired boy begrudgingly walked down the hallway to go eat his quick lunch in his supervisor's office.
Oh, yes, Jack thought as he pushed open the heavy door, this was going to be a fun year.