Hold up, aren't you THAT guy?

by De1nonly_Jain

Summary:

He wasn't that interested in the news, but some stories just stand out.
Or
Five and Einar meet during move-in day in collage and recognize each other from some unhinged news stories.

Notes:

Straight outta the discord server 🔥🔥🔥

Chapter 1

Einar was ready for a roommate. How could he not? He'd been spending the past month preparing himself for the concept of living with some random dude for the foreseeable future. 31 weeks to be exact with a little break in the middle. What if it was some messy, cluttered person with a friend group to invite whenever? That's fine. Einar will draw his lines and ignore it as best as he could. He'd gotten those too-expensive, noise-cancelling headphones for a reason.

But when he'd walked in (after a solid minute of questioning why he didn't pay extra for a 1-person dorm), he got none of that.

The guy sitting in the main living room with a single bag at his feet in a pulled-up hoodie scrolling his phone didn't bat an eye at him. Literally.  He had a black patch over one eye, and the second didn't make an effort.

Einar stared, not because of the eye. But because he was pretty sure he'd seen him before.

"Hey." He finally said as Einar set his bags down to one side.

"Hi. I'm Einar, you?"

God, he sounded like the talkative type next to this guy, and he'd only said one sentence.

"Cody."

Ok. Much less nightmarish than he'd expected. But the familiarity didn't get lost on him yet. The kind when you know you had an impression of someone before but it's just... lost now.

It's fine. He had a whole semester ahead with this Cody. He'll figure it out. Sooner better than later (if he doesn't remember by the time they get to the memory unit in Psychology, he'll get existential).

---

Cody had caught the guy staring at him three time already. Just staring, but they barely talked beyond that initial introduction. Then they'd each gone completely different ways once out of the dorm and he forgot about Einar for a few hours. When he came back, he would've thought that was all over.

But nope. Because it seems lately he hasn't been allowed to have normal interactions with anyone and it started with that damned Stanley.

Cody refused to look at his roommate while he sorted through the fridge. The idiot thought if he stood far enough on Cody's blind side, he wouldn't see him. He couldn't, granted but he could practically feel his eyes- distantly familiar- on him.

In the silence, Einar snorted.

That little shit-

He slammed the fridge door and sharply turned to him. "What's funny?"

Einar, though slightly taken back, kept smiling from where he sat opposite the table. "Nothing. Why do you ask?"

"I wonder why. Not like some rando had been staring at me all day."

He laughed. "You make it sound weird."

"It is."

Einar put his hands up in surrender, which would've been more believable if he didn't still have that damned smirk. "Just saying- I recognized you from somewhere and I was having a laugh about it."

Cody raised an eyebrow. He definitely didn't know him before today, but the feeling he did wasn't lost either. And if he really knew Cody, he wouldn't be getting on his nerves. So he just kept the same edge in his voice. "Do I know you?"

"It's not that simple-"

"It is. Yes or no."

Einar looked at him like he still couldn't see the line in the sand he was about to cross. "I saw you once. On the news."

Oh.

"...And?"

"Didn't you get into that long ass street fight on the news people still talk about?"

Oh. The one time he'd been on the news. How did he even know about that? That was two years ago. And not his best moment by far. The way Einar said it so bluntly... what did he know shit about?

"Didn't your mom kill your dad and get on the news for it too? People are still talking about that."

Silence. Einar's eyes went wide.

If you'd ask him, Cody didn't know how he'd finally remembered. Maybe it was the part about the news. Half of his real-life case studies for criminology came from there. Depressing? Yes. Frustrating sometimes? Very. But accurate? Hell yes. The unhinged cases he'd found there could rival things that actually happened to him.

One of said unhinged cases was about this Icelandic family- the Magnus Family. The details blurred, but Cody knew the dad hadn't died- just went comatose as far as he'd followed the case. An inaccuracy he would berate himself for later.

He half expected to be wrong- for this to be a different Einar than the one allegedly found in a closet when his mother was arrested.

But it wasn't.

---

It had been a few days and neither of them uttered a word to each other since. As a matter of fact Einar didn't even look in Cody's direction and he would rather keep it that way.

Had he (technically) started it? You could argue so. But he was joking about some stupid street fight the police couldn't break up. No one had shut up about it at his high school for weeks. What gave the asshole the right to bring that up? How did he even know about it? Did he work at a damn newsroom?

Einar took it back: he'd rather have a hundred messy roommates over this.

Cody made no move to apologize- or even talk, really. It was fine by Einar, he wasn't rushing to do it first either. But the rage building up was suffocating him. Just like it did in that closet. Just like it did for months after.

But it could never blind him- he wasn't an idiot. And if Cody wasn't going to take that back, he'll make him.

Chapter 2

Notes:

The struggle of remembering to say 'Cody' instead of 'Five' every time TTTT

Cody knew something was wrong the moment Einar plopped next to him on the couch. They haven't been within a 5 foot radius of each other the entire first week. Then Einar went somewhere over Saturday and suddenly... this.

The way he casually hung one leg over the other, took out his phone and leaned back. The way he smiled like he'd taken out the hostility on some other poor person in the back of his trunk.

Well, that was a far-fetched theory but it wouldn't surprise Cody if it was true.

He ignored it and went back to his work.

"Can I have a sip of that?"

Cody's head snapped back up, twisting his neck so the other was actually in his field of vision. Einar looked at him expectantly, pointing to the canned drink on the low table, smiling easily.

"... Why?"

"Never tried that flavor before." Without further prompting, Einar reached out and took a microscopic sip. He smacked his lips and put it back with a less than approving look, put it down and went back to his business.

Cody was vaguely aware that he was goggling, fingers hovering over his laptop's keyboard. Einar didn't spare him another glance. In fact, he seemed more relaxed than before. Like they were old friends hanging out.

… He'd definitely killed someone over the weekend.

---

Einar wasn't just pretending. He was having fun.

He made sure to go against all his instincts when he saw Cody, and the pay-off was worth it. He could see the sheer confusion in his roommate's expression every time they interacted. Like he was suspecting he was on drugs.

Every time one of them walks in and Einar shoots a random 'Hi'.

Every time he asks about his schedule, his classes, when he was free (then never do anything with that information).

Also the one time he started rambling about the kind of coffee he liked unprompted. That was his favorite.

Who's the one gaping now?

As a matter of fact, sulking the entire first week had been the right move. It made it all much more jarring. He didn't need to take psychology to play mind games- they have always been his thing. They came as naturally as speaking. And it was about time Cody realized it.

He heard the front door behind him, merely separated from the small kitchen by a counter so thin, it was more an inconvenience than anything else. Cody came in, hunched over, and threw his bag into his room like one late-night class could ruin his seemingly non-existent sleep schedule. Einar had seen him up at ungodly hours and it's only been a week.

When he saw Einar behind the counter, Cody seemed ready to forget about whatever he was going to get in the first place. But he didn't, to his credit.

Einar waited until he got to the fridge and grabbed a snack. Right when he was leaving, he spoke up.

"Do you ever wonder if someone can figure out what you're think just from the scrunch around your eyepatch?"

Cody froze, his head doing a 90 degree turn to meet Einar's eyes. The awkwardness seemed to seep out in seconds, replaced by a door of annoyance and anger waiting to be unlocked. "What the fuck are you talking about?"

"Never looked in a mirror?" Einar smiled at him, barely keeping the smugness at bay. "It looks like you're squinting under it every time you don't like something."

Case in point, the skin around it contracted as Cody glared. He seemed to realize it too, because he quickly relaxed his expression and sighed.

Einar snickered. "See what I mean? You look like you might burn through it with laser vision."

"Okay, what's your deal?"

There it is.

"I don't follow." Einar shook his head, lips curling.

"You do, don't even act like you don't." Cody insisted, his snack slammed on the nearest seat, forgotten. "Is this your idea of getting back for what I said? Asking weirdass questions?"

"Weird? I'm just trying to get to know you."

"You're not."

"How do you know?"

Cody didn't have an answer- Einar knew that. It showed from how hard he tried not to scrunch around the eyepatch. What he said wasn't completely true- Einar couldn't read his thoughts from that one detail. Not before. He could now, with self-awareness added to the mix.

Einar looked down, pretending to pick at his nails. It was Cody's chance to not break eye contact first and turn back to his room. But that wasn't it. That wasn't enough. Not nearly so.

Finally, he couldn't keep the smirk off his face. "Keep it up, you might just pop out the second one too."

Next thing he knew, Einar was smacked off his seat and onto the floor.

Chapter 3

Notes:

The girls are fighting :o

When told before that he had 'anger issues', Cody couldn't argue. The signs were all there: even small things made him grit his teeth. He would have those outbursts followed by fatigue and regret. He'd hurt people he didn't mean to because of it before.

Smacking down Einar though? That was intentional. He meant it. So technically, it wasn't an 'issue'.

Einar fell off his chair and pressed a hand to his cheek, already bruising purple. His eyes were wide, slowly turning up to Cody. Not in fear- no, it was in matching rage.

It didn't deter his own. "If you think you know shit about that street fight, you've got no clue." He didn't care if his eyepatch scrunched, Cody wanted him to feel every bit on intensity in his glare.

But even then, Einar tried to match it. His glare was different: cold, calculating and waiting for the right time. Or the write words.

Cody used to be great with words. Not anymore. Words seemed like everything to Einar. It was infuriating.

"Should've figured you're the type to punch your problems and hope they go away." He said, no smirk this time.

Cody could only see red when he stalked towards him. Einar barely held his hands up to block Cody's. It didn't work in his favor, his arms bending close to his chest. And he needed both of them to hold off one blow. Cody hit him again with the other, splitting his lip. Einar's defenses came down and he tried to turn away.

He let him, with a last shove into the ground. There was still something simmering in his chest, but it was tamer now. Cody watched Einar trying to pick himself up pathetically. You wouldn't think it's the same guy who'd been running his mouth nonstop all week.

"I'll punch your eye out if you keep your shit up."

With that, he strode back to his room and slammed the door.

---

The fucking, low life bastard.

Einar couldn't dare to take the pressure off his face or it might fall apart. Cody did a number on him; the asshole had slit a lip and bruised both sides of his face. He looked so terrible in the bathroom mirror, blood slowly trickling on the sink. He looked pathetic. Even when his words had started it, they didn't have an effect nearly as satisfying to him.

The shithead was probably proud of himself.

Most days, Einar didn't swear often- out loud, at least. It made him sound immature and honestly? Cursing in Icelandic was way more creative. But today, only colorful words circled his head every time he replayed the fight.

He yanked the nearest cabinet open, looking for anything to treat himself. The bottle of antibiotic definitely wasn't his, and that made using it on his lip feel both better and worse. The bruising will need ice, and he didn't care how great his professor was (very), he was not going to class tomorrow. Maybe not even the day after.

Einar came out of the bathroom still fuming inside. He passed Cody's room door, hearing absolutely nothing behind. He remembered being trapped under him and the jaw-shaking force of his punch. The pressure he put on his chest. The roughness of his voice that sounded so distant and so close at once.

All of which, he decided, were complete over-reactions.

"Fáráðlingur."

Notes:

Fáráðlingur in Icelandic means lunatic or madman (I think). I'm a believer that Einar should've been allowed language slips in the book to curse because Icelandic is just too funny with swearing 😭 They would literally call you a half-grown seal.
Also, gonna have an extra chapter now :D cuz I wanna wrap it up

Chapter 4

Cody hadn't put in this much effort into studying in his life. He was never the best student. But usually, he tried to at least pass. Even studying a major he was fairly passionate about, he wasn't the type to put in more than what got him a 60%.

That changed, seemingly in a blink, after his fight with Einar.

No, he didn't suddenly want an A, but squeezing his brain out for it seemed like the only time he could stop thinking about what he said, what was said to him, and what he did. He'd avoid sleep as long as he could so he doesn't have to lay awake, scrolling on his phone, and be taunted by words he shouldn't care about.

"If you think you know shit about that street fight, you've got no clue."

"Should've figured you're the type to punch your problems and hope they go away."

He wasn't sorry. Not at all, no. Einar learned what 'fuck around and find out' means. Cody had fought with people over less- people who were considerably more intimidating than the Icelandic could ever be with his coy words. He wasn't scared of how Einar would retaliate (if at all). And he wasn't about to make amends he didn't need. In fact, Einar had to come up to him first. He should've manned up to it, admitted he'd started the whole feud, and maybe Cody would forget it all.

Or he could keep being a bitter little shit. He seemed to prefer the second option. Einar was avoiding him like the plague, and so was Cody. If the silence of the first week was awkward, this was another level of silent hostility neither of them wanted to break. Not a problem at all; Cody could live without ever talking to Einar (or to anybody, really). He's not sure the other can, but that's none of his business.

And well, he had studying to do.

Cody read over his own notes, more chicken scratches than any chicken could make. They got less and less occupying by the fifth reread. And the professor just wouldn't get here. He was on the verge of abandoning live classes for good.

As he was busy burning a hole into the board with his eye, someone plopped on his blind side. In the near full room of students from at least 3 different majors, Cody didn't even question it. Not until the person shifted away, once, then twice. Ugh, could they be more readable? They could've held a sign up saying they didn't wanna sit here. Cody sighed and turned to them.

It was Einar.

Because, obviously, the universe hated them both.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Came out before Cody could reconsider. Not that he regretted it.

Einar looked at him deadpan. "Introduction to Psychology, dumbass. I'm supposed to be here."

Cody clenched a fist. What he wouldn't give to actually knock out his teeth this time. The bastard hadn't been in a single class since last week and suddenly he decided to show up. Just to be an inconvenience. Einar's lower lip was still red and his face was mildly discolored. But he had to show up. Who could possibly miss this class? Just when Cody was running out of distractions too.

The professor finally walked in.

---

There is only so much you could ignore someone sitting right next to you, but Einar could tell Cody was trying his best. His best wasn't good enough. Einar caught every glare, every scrunch around the eyepatch, every sudden tightening of his grip around his pen.

It was pathetic, really, how hard he was trying. If his mouth didn't still hurt, Einar would've laughed.

There was quiet relief when the lecture was over. At least, for a hot minute. Then Cody took the same exit, same route- the shortest one to the dorms- at the same pace. If Einar had a little less pride, he would've slowed down and taken a different way there. But he didn't and they ended up walking 'together' the whole way back.

Could that bastard be anymore of a leech?

There was a growing list of things he hated about the guy. One of them being how hyperaware he made Einar of himself. And like all the problems between them, it started when he made that eye-patch-scrunch comment.

He was expecting Cody to do the same, sooner or later. To start reading him as closely as Einar read everyone. He wouldn't slam his door, that would clearly voice his rage. He wouldn't go out of his way to leave a room when Cody was there, Einar would sit through it (he was not a coward) until the other left first. He consciously tried to stick to every old habit of his.

He hated it, because he was never the one on this end of his own analyzing gaze. He never wanted to be again. Too much mental effort that could be put anywhere else. Anywhere that wasn't on how fast he walked in his own dorm or the time between his alarm going off and him getting up.

The again... the extended silence probably said everything Cody would want to know about his state. Or it could not.

Einar took a deep breath, as if that could pull him out of the corner he kept returning to. Cody's head snapped up at him.

Too loud. Shit, he should've done that in his room.

"Starting collage would've been easier on you if you didn't kick it off being a bitch."

Einar turned around, not bothering to monitor his own speed or how wide his eyes were. Cody met him eye-to-two-eyes, like the words were on his tongue for ages and he finally thought 'Fuck it, it can't get worse anyway.'

"I can see, because you've been a real angel too." Einar said, arms folded. So what if this started another fight (he'll probably lose). They did it once, he could survive it again.

"I have actually minded my business."

"This says otherwise."

Cody scowled at the fading bruises on his face, like he hadn't been seeing them all week. "Who's point does that prove?"

Einar wasn't sure. So he scoffed and turned, reach for his door. But a hand grabbed his shoulder. Cody's fist was as rough as he remembered.

"We're not done with this."

"Aren't we? You seemed pretty happy to ignore shit once it happens."

"And what were you doing?"

"Couldn't care less." Einar hoped his bottom lip didn't seem too pronounced. It hurt like a rusty nail and he didn't need more attention drawn to it.

Cody noticed it.

Maybe Einar didn't realize he'd let it twitch. He couldn't tell, but it wasn't a good sign. Cody looked like he had half a mind to do it again. Einar could see it in his sharp glare and half-clenched fist. He was definitely in for another fight.

This time, he acted a little more stupid and punched him first.

Notes:

I lied, there will be more cuz this story just doesn't wanna end ToT
Have fun with it, cuz I'm getting into a slump about Peaceless and it might be a while before I update it.

Notes:

might or might not 👀 be continued

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 1 of Finar: The Ultimate Compilation