A Touch of Courage (Troyler AU)

Chapter 8: Counting Happiness Part 1

"I scarcely remember counting upon happiness—I look not for it if it be not in the present hour—nothing startles me beyond the moment. The setting sun will always set me to rights, or if a sparrow come before my Window I take part in its existence and pick about the gravel."

 ― John Keats

Troye's POV

Troye walked towards his dorm slowly, his feet dragging with reluctance.  He stopped several feet away but knew at once that the noise drifting down the hallway was coming from his room.  He closed his eyes briefly, then continued his journey to his door, opening it slowly.  The music, loud in the hallway, nearly overwhelmed him once he stepped inside his dorm.  The incoherent screams of the singer created a harsh counterpoint to the incredibly fast drums and screeching guitar of the song and Troye wanted to cover his ears.  Instead, he closed the door behind him carefully and leaned against it. 

His gaze slid around the room slowly, taking in the clothes thrown haphazardly across the floor, the used dishes, wrappers and cans of pop. 

He had been gone 2 hours. 

Troye finally turned his attention towards the source of the mess, studying his new roommate with growing trepidation.

Caspar didn't seem to have noticed his presence yet, not surprising given the volume of his music.  He seemed to be very into the song, the enthusiasm with which he tried to match the artist's screams only overtaken by his seeming determination to sing as off-key as he possibly could.  Caspar was in the middle of screeching out an especially loud part of the song when his hands switched from pumping his hand in the air to pulling off his shirt. 

Troye, who had just began walking further into the room, stumbled to a stop quickly and averted his eyes.

"What are you doing?"  Troye asked nervously, continuing to stand awkwardly with his eyes fixed away.  He didn't get a response and after a moment, peeked cautiously towards the blond boy. 

He relaxed slightly when he saw what Caspar was doing, watching silently as his body rose and fell during his pushups.  Caspar still didn't seem to have noticed Troye was in the room. 

"Caspar," Troye raised his voice, frowning when Caspar still didn't look over.  He walked over to the radio and turned the music off with a decisive flick of his wrist.

Caspar's eyes rose and focused on him, although he didn't pause in his movements.

"I was listening to that." Caspar said mildly.

Troye stood awkwardly, simultaneously tracking the up and down movement of Caspar's body and trying to avoid looking at him directly.

"Could you please put on a shirt?"

One blond eyebrow arched up and Caspar held his gaze without halting his exercise.

"Why, does it bother you?"

"Yes," Troye said quietly.

Caspar didn't even sound out of breath as he spoke again, continuing his repetitions while watching Troye thoughtfully. 

"Hey, this is my room too you know.  We live together, you're probably going to see me shirtless a lot.  You can't really dictate what I wear or don't wear in my own room." 

Troye dropped his eyes to the carpet, feeling himself deflate slightly at the words he couldn't entirely deny.  The presences of another pair of eyes in what had been his private haven made him feel incredibly vulnerable and exposed, but that wasn't anyone's problem but his own.