Foreigners

A/N: Me(Kolgrim) and teeta, decided to put our heads together and create this story together, we hope you enjoy as much as we have when RP:ing and planning it.

Summary:
Two young foreigners sharing a flat in America. They are different, one an artist, a dreamer, the other an economic student with high goals in life. While the one likes to party, the other rather spends quiet evenings at home. And yet, despite the differences, they discover love, but can they keep it?


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Chapter 1.

-Flat mates-


Chapter 1.

-Flat mates-

Niko needed to find a new place to live and he needed it bad. He refused to spend another night with his current roommate. The guy was just creepy, there was no other word for it and he was sure that if he were to stay, he’d end up as a victim of some weird ritual murder by the end of the semester.

He had seen the add in the university. Some guy was looking for a flat mate and had requested; non smoker (checked), not too loud (checked, but holding the right to be loud in some obvious occasions…) and someone who will be able to share the expenses (that went without saying).

He checked the address and saw that he was indeed at the right place. He stood in front of the door and took a deep breath, preparing himself to a dazzling smile.


Kamil had been experiencing some financial problems. He was a poor student, with some money after getting a job, but he was still in need of some financial help. After thinking about it, he had finally decided that the best alternative was to find himself a roommate. He had asked some of his friends at the uni, but all of them had said ‘no’ so he had done the add. There had been couple of people to see the place, but for some reason he hadn’t been able to accept them as his potential flat mates.

The last two guys had been… obnoxious, to put it mildly. Kamil just wanted to find someone who’d look normal, behave normal and not… Well he started to question whether or not his standards were too high. He had never had a flat mate before, it was not common in his country to have one… He decided that the next guy who’d look half decent would get the place, because he really needed the extra money.

The doorbell rang, Kamil sighed, hoping in his mind that this would be it, but also preparing himself to be greatly disappointed and to meet another weirdo.

When he opened the door he was pleasantly surprised to see a handsome boy standing there, from the looks of him he was about the same age as Kamil. His hair was light brown, with golden reflexes, his eyes were sparkling green. This one was looking intelligent, Kamil took a note, the sort of guy who’d understand not to make too much noise.

“Hello?” he greeted the boy with inquisitive tone.

“Hello,” the boy smiled brightly offering his hand to him, which Kamil took. “I’m Niko, Niko Kettunen, and I won’t be offended if you can’t pronounce my last name and forget it in less than 5 minutes…” Kamil smiled back at him.

“I’m Kamil Lisowski, nice to meet you,” he replied, nicely surprised by the guy’s melodious but deep voice. A foreigner, just like him, which could be an advantage. He seriously couldn’t stand Americans at times, many of them so incredibly full of themselves, looking down on him as if he were a worse human being. And all the popularity drive, it was also something he couldn't understand.

“You were looking for a roommate, right?” Niko asked then, raising his eyebrow.

“Yes, I need… well, I have a room to rent,” Kamil nodded his head and almost slapped his forehead, he was so clumsy at times, they couldn’t just stand at the door like that. “Come in and I’ll show you.”

“Thank you,” Niko said and moved further in, smiling at the guy, studying him carefully. The guy was handsome, dark hair, brown eyes, cute glasses, a few centimetres taller than him. Then he gave himself a mental kick, less than 5 minutes and he was already drooling over him! He took his eyes off of the guy, and started looking around in the small hall. “What would be my room, um, I mean the room that you’re renting?” He asked, turning to face him again.

“The one on the left,” Kamil pointed towards the room with his head, at the same time closing the front door. "It's a bit smaller than mine, but has a nicer view from the window," he told him, actually wanting the guy to be his flatmate, he really did look intelligent, normal and… well, handsome, which might cause some trouble… He told himself to forget it, to not think about it. He opened the door to the room allowing the guy to look inside. "Go in and check it for yourself. Apart from that the flat has a small kitchenette and a bathroom, I know, nothing too fancy ..."

"I like small, and cozy, reminds me of home," Niko grinned at him, before continuing, "my room at home was small too, well not small but, well just right, like this." He moved in front of the window to look out. "Oh can I see what the bathroom looks like?" He asked next.

Kamil remembered the pile of dirty clothes on the bathroom floor and prayed that Niko wouldn’t mind them. He was thankful that at least the tub and the toilet were clean.

"Sure, the bathroom is over there.” He told him, pointing towards the door. Niko moved past him and checked inside.

“Oh, you have a bathtub, I love bathtubs!” Niko exclaimed and Kamil released a silent sigh of relief; he hadn’t said anything about the pants and sweatpants lying in the corner.

"I had a bathtub at home ... would actually prefer a shower ... much more convenient ..." Kamil stammered, unsure why he was even telling him that.

"We had sauna, I wanted a bathtub too, but they said... just like you... about the shower being more convenient... But I would have wanted one just the same, convenient or not." Niko told him, noticing then the dirty pile of clothes on the floor, it bothered him somewhat as he was a little obsessed with clean bathrooms and kitchens; two rooms that should always stay clean."So how about the kitchen?”

"It's there," Kamil showed him the direction. "Sorry for the clothes, didn't have time to do the laundry," he said sheepishly. "The kitchenette, in fact, very small but ... easy to keep clean." Which was a big plus for him, he hated cleaning and the less cleaning, the better.

"Looks good,” Niko nodded, “so, how much is the rent?" he turned to look at the guy.
"Well," Kamil started as calmly as he could. He didn't want to scare him with the price, what if he couldn't afford it? "It's .....750 dollars… Can you pay half of it? Monthly? Plus, of course, electricity and water bills ..." Niko thought about it, it sounded decent enough and he thought that he could afford it, maybe few extra work shifts now and then would be needed, but yes, he could afford it.

"I think I could make it, um, yeah." He nodded again, studying the other boy, it might be better to get to know him a little better, just to make sure that they could get along with each other. "You're not American?" He asked then, quite sure in fact that he wasn’t, he spoke English very well, but there was that slight accent.
"No, I'm not. Polish," Kamil told him, unsure if the guy knew where it was located. "Middle Europe. And you?"
"Um, I'm from Finland,” Niko said, “It’s the country between Sweden and Russia.”He added; it was just something he had gotten used to adding since starting to live there, after getting so many confused looks from people when he told them where he was from. And he thought that people should at least know Sweden and Russia, so…

"I know where it is, learnt my Geography well at school," Kamil told him, feeling a little offended.
"I could even tell you all the European countries with their capitals if necessary ..." He then realised that he had sounded a little rude. "Sorry, you're not American, either, they never know where Poland is and I kind of ... grew accustomed to telling everyone where my country is located, sorry ..." Then he almost slapped his head - again. Feeling just plain stupid. "Do you want tea? Or coffee? Or something?"

"Yeah, Americans, tell me about it!” Niko rolled his eyes. ”You know funny story about that... In the first week of my arrival, I had to go to the hospital, just a routine check really, anyway… the woman at the front desk was taking my information and asked me my country, so I told her and she went like; No, I mean THE country? And so again I told her that yes, my country is called: Finland. But no, she couldn’t take the information! Then, believe this, she asked; isn’t it a part of Sweden? SWEDEN! I was like yeah; like 200 years ago! God these people give me a headache sometimes…” Niko bit his lip, stopping himself from going on and blabbering. “But yes, I’d like a cup of coffee thank you.”

"Oh, so you too have stories to tell?" Kamil grinned at him, putting the kettle on the cooker for the water to boil. "Do you want instant coffee or brewed coffee?" he asked, not knowing how the guest drank his coffee. Americans all drink this coffee prepared by machines ... Kamil couldn’t understand it. Then he remembered that he didn't have instant coffee. "Ok, sorry, no instant coffee, I only have natural coffee ..."

"Yeah natural coffee is fine, hm..." Niko smiled at the sight of the kettle, reminded him of his grandmother, who always said that the best coffee is made that way, and machines are the work of evil. "So you study at the same school? That's where I saw your add about this place."

Kamil nodded his head as he took out two mugs and put two teaspoons of coffee into each.

"Strong coffee?" He inquired.

"With milk, if you have?"

"Sure," Kamil checked the fridge, hoping there is still some milk left. His mother had always taught him that he shouldn’t ever let milk run out. He saw one can of milk, took it, shaking it carefully; it was still half full. "Sugar?" He asked; he always used sugar himself he couldn’t stand the bitter taste of coffee without sugar.

"Only very little, like half a teaspoon."

"Ok," Kamil prepared everything, pouring the boiled water into two mugs, waiting before adding a little milk into Niko’s coffee and then half a spoon of sugar that he had asked for. “So…” He started as he handed the coffee mug to Niko, trying to keep the hopeful note from his voice. “Can I ask you a few questions...? You know, like ... if you smoke?" Smoking was definitely something Kamil hated above all things, he hated the smell.

"No, I don't smoke, I like to keep my lungs healthy," Niko smiled, "how about you?”

"No, God, no! No smoking!" Kamil laughed. "Seriously, haven't smoked in my life." One of his uncles had died of lung cancer caused by smoking so he could say that he would never smoke either. "What about drinking? Not that I'm a teetotaller but ... “

Niko was silent for a minute, he did drink, he drank almost every weekend, not to get himself drunk each time, but… Well and he did enjoy going to clubs to dance, what annoyed him was that in this country him being 20, was still too young to drink, when in his own country he’d been adult in that sense, for good two years now. “I do drink, but I know my limits and er… Do you like to go out? To party or…?”

Kamil took a sip of his coffee.

"Not really," he admitted. "I'm not a party animal, actually prefer to sit at home and read a good book ..."

"Oh," Niko said, tasting the coffee, "home nights are fun sometimes," he nodded his head at this, not really seeing himself with a book on a Saturday evening. Perhaps with a movie and a beer or two but... "So you like to read then?" Okay it was a stupid question and he wanted to kick himself for it.

"Yeah, and ..." Kamil thought he sounded like some bore now ... "... I like watching films, too." And again he felt the urge to hit himself; as if this was something unusual! ‘Kamil! You're an intelligent person, try to say something INTELLIGENT. Or half intelligent at least!’ He scolded himself mentally. "Ok, what about ... practical things. Do you cook? Clean? Things like that?"

"I clean, but as for cooking..." Niko said, looking at the kitchen, "Um, I'm not that fond of cooking, my mom usually kicked me out, she saw it better if I don't even try helping her," he laughed, "But cleaning is okay with me, in fact, the scary part is that I sometimes enjoy cleaning more than what is normal. I'm a cleaning freak sort of speak," he grinned. "Not too freak though," he added almost nervously. Kamil laughed.

"Don't worry about the freak part ... Niko, right?" He checked if he remembered the name.

"Yes," Niko nodded whit a smile. "So... Kamil, do you think this could work?"

Kamil stroked his nose along with his index finger, adjusting his glasses.

"I was about to ask you the same question, in fact. As long as you ... don't make too much noise and allow me to learn in peace ... I can't see the reason why it wouldn't work… How soon can you move in?"

"Not to seem too desperate or anything… but would it be alright if I moved in tonight?” Niko really didn’t want to spend another night with that creepy guy.

"It's OK, I think." Kamil nodded, a little surprised as he had not expected him to want to move so fast.

"Thank you! Um…so I just, I get my stuff here and... I'll come back then? I know this is sudden and must feel weird but thank you again, you're a lifesaver."

"No problem, in fact you're a lifesaver, too ... I really need money ..." Kamil suppressed the urge to slap his head again.

“So I pay you this first month today then and like I said, I return soon with my bags. Deal?" Niko offered his hand again.

"Deal," Kamil shook the offered hand, noticing it's warm and not at all damp; he couldn't stand people with damp, cold hands. "Bring your stuff and move in ... flat mate," he grinned, feeling very much relieved. Now he would be able to pay some of the bills he had this month. He had been ill and doctor's bills took half of his money, plus he couldn't go to work ... Niko was a God's gift to him right then.

"Okay see you in a few hours, flat mate!"

**^^**^^**^^**^^**

Kamil cleaned the room for his flat mate quickly, after all he had said to be somewhat of a cleaning freak and he would appreciate if his room weren’t covered with a centimeter worth of dust. The guy really did seem to be decent, Kamil just hoped that he wouldn’t bring his girlfriends over or if he did, he would keep quiet.

It was less than a three hours later when Niko already returned with heavy luggage. Kamil wondered how he had been able to carry all those huge bags by himself.

"Need a hand with those?" He asked pointing at the bags Niko was carrying.

"Thank you, help would be appreciated," Niko smiled, struggling not to drop anything. Kamil took two bags that seemed to be ready to fall from Niko’s hands.

“You’ve cleaned?” Niko asked as they walked into his new room that certainly looked better than the few hours earlier, plus it smelled better, too.

"Yeah," Kamil nodded and placed the bags on the clean floor. “Do you need a blanket or something for the bed?"

"Thank you for cleaning,” The other boy smiled sincerely. “Oh and no need for a blanket, I have one that I brought with me from home, I like to carry it with me, you know, it smells so homely," Niko explained while taking the said blanket out from one of the bigger bags.

"Ok," Kamil nodded; smells of home ... He wished that he would have something like that from home, but he came there with so few possessions, he didn't know what it would be like living in Colorado. He had taken some clothes and toiletries and ... well, not much more, as he had thought that he would be living on campus, but it turned out I didn't and ... well ...

Kamil watched as Niko started unpacking his things and arranging them. He took out an old teddy bear, missing one eye, then he looked at Kamil, grinning sheepishly. “Also from home, my teddy,” he told him. “My teddy, childish ain't it? I've had it since I was 2 years old."

But Kamil could understand him well, he had had such a teddy for a long time, but he had left it at home. "Teddy is ok," he gave him a small smile. "I hope you'll feel here at home," he told him and walked out from the room, it was time to start preparing supper as it was getting quite late.


Kamil decided to prepare some easily made soup, making enough for two. He wanted to be a good host. He smiled when hearing the other boy quietly singing to himself, while arranging his room. Soon enough he heard the sound of his foot steps nearing the kitchen and Kamil turned to look at him.

"Will you have supper with me?" He asked.

"Yes I'd like it very much, thank you, I am feeling a bit hungry."

"Ok, it should be ready in ..." he checked the time, "thirty minutes or so."

"So... would you mind if I use the bathtub while waiting?" Niko asked, “I’m feeling a bit sweaty.”

"Go ahead," Kamil nodded his head, stirring the soup as he added two spoons of rice to make it thicker. "It's even better if you use it now."

"Thank you," Niko smiled and padded to the bathroom to make the bath ready, then he walked to his room to get a towel, shampoo, hair conditioner and shower gel. He locked himself in the bathroom, checking to see the water’s temperature with his hand, before stripping and getting in.

Kamil continued cooking the soup, wondering if Niko was even going to like it, it was a typically Polish tomato soup and if one wasn’t acquainted with it, it might taste strange. He heard the sound of the water running in the bathroom and found it strange; until now he had been alone in this flat and now ... a flat mate. He wondered what this boy was really like. He heard the humming from the bathroom, water splashing, so he was a shower singer? Kamil shook his head with a smile lingering on his lips. God, it really was strange having someone in the flat with him, not unpleasant, just… strange.

Kamil was tasting the hot soup, checking if it was alright when Niko came out of the bathroom, parading only in a towel.

“Is the soup ready?” Kamil scalded his lips with the hot soup and for a moment he waved his hand, trying to make cooler air repair the damage. Then when the pain was gone, he announced,
"Yes, I'll be serving it in a moment, just go and dress yourself."

"Haha, I will, so you're not into eating supper with a half naked guy?" Niko teased him. "I’ll go and dress," he told him quickly after and almost fled into his room. Kamil looked after him; that was strange, he really would have to get used it, he just hoped that Niko wouldn’t make a habit out of parading around half nude….

He poured the soup onto the plates, at the same time thinking what Niko had told him. That he wasn’t into eating supper with half naked guys ... Niko would be surprised if he told him he was actually gay ... but this was something that one wouldn’t go announcing just like that. Besides, the years in his country taught him that it was not something that everyone was going to accept without problems. Kamil wondered if he should tell him about his preferences ... but no, Niko would probably escape and he couldn't let such a good occasion go to waste, after all, Niko really did seem ok, he could have found a far worse flatmate. His musings were interrupted by Niko coming into the kitchen, this time dressed in sweatpants and t-shirt. "You're right on time, soup is already waiting, I just hope you will like it ... or at least eat it ... err ... it's typically Polish so ...I won't be very much surprised if you say it's horrible. If you need to add something, salt, pepper, whatever ... you're welcome to it." Kamil placed the said things on the table, sitting on the chair and starting to eat.

Niko looked at the soup on his plate.

"Do you have ketchup? Oh and perhaps some cheese?" he asked and this caused Kamil to open his eyes wider. This ... this was tomato soup! It already had ketchup in it! "Sh... sure," He tried not to show how surprised he was. "I have ketchup though not cheese, sorry." He stood up, took out the bottle with ketchup from the fridge and put it on the table, in front of Niko. Then he sat down again and resumed eating, trying not to stare at Niko.

The boy smiled, took the ketchup and squeezed some in the soup. He loved ketchup, if someone asked him, he’d say there could never be such a thing as too much ketchup, plus in this case it would cool down the soup somewhat. He mixed the soup, smelling it. It was a shame that Kamil didn’t have any cheese. He tasted it then… and it was…. Well… weird. He looked at the soup more closely seeing bits of meat and some rice… meat and tomato soup? He thought it was weird. He tasted it again, determined to eat, because if he didn’t, he might hurt Kamil’s feelings and that he didn’t want. "I could go to the store tomorrow, do you need anything?" He said as he continued to slowly eat the soup, trying to avoid the meat pieces.

Kamil watched Niko, it seemed that he saw something strange in the soup, but he had expected this all along."You ... could buy a few things, I suppose. Not liking this soup very much, I see."

"Ah it's... it's good." Niko smiled and took another spoonful to prove his point.

"Liar." Kamil snorted and saw as the other blushed slightly.

"Um yeah... it's different at least," Niko chuckled.

"Well, that's the only way I make tomato soup so ... if you want, you may make some sandwiches, there is still some bread and ... jam," He also blushed. He had been so out of money that he had been eating bread and jam for the last week, plus some soups that didn't need much in them.

“Okay thank you... I- I could take some bread."Niko felt silly, and ungrateful and he truly feared that he might have hurt Kamil’s feelings for not liking his soup. He prepared himself a couple of jam sandwiches and sat down again. "So... you could write down what you need and I buy them tomorrow."

"I will do that, later," Kamil waved his hand, noticing that Niko looked uncomfortable, it might because of his soup offer. "Hey, don't feel bad about this soup, I said I understand if you don't like it. Probably if you made something Finnish I would also have difficulty in swallowing it. Tomorrow I will try to prepare something more ... international."

“Okay, a deal, and I'll clean up the bathroom tomorrow." Niko felt lucky to have found such a nice roommate. "I feel like having some tea, how about you?"

"Would be nice," Kamil finished his soup and washed his plate. "The mugs and tea are in that cupboard," he pointed with his finger and left for the bathroom.

"Tea ready?" Kamil asked when returning.

"Yes it is, here" Niko handed the cup to him. "I didn't know if you use milk or sugar so... Um…" Niko told him, tasting his own tea. “So what made you come here to study?”
"God, no milk with tea, that's ..." Kamil almost gagged. "Only sugar and lemon. Um, I got a scholarship and knew it was the only chance for me to get really good education so ..." he shrugged his shoulders as he took the mug with the tea and put two teaspoons of sugar into it. Sadly, he had no lemon ... but he would get lemons tomorrow. "And you?"

"I can't imagine tea without milk," Niko chuckled. "Um, as for me? I wanted to see what else is out there, and I wanted to get way from my mom's wings, so what a better chance to do that then to go over the sea to study?... Well to be honest I would have preferred to go to England, or Ireland...but here I am. And well it's a beautiful city, just some people that irk the hell out of me." He grinned at Kamil.

"Oh, yeah, they are soo ... would you believe what they told me the first thing I came here?" Kamil shook his head remembering that scene. "That all Poles are idiots. And it turns out that at the moment I am the top student in my year," he muttered, sipping the tea.

"They did? The bastards...Well… I am constantly being called; the Swedish kid," Niko rolled his eyes. "And apparently our people like incest, don't ask, I don't know where they get that." He laughed, Kamil joined him.

"Oh my God, incest? That's the first time I actually ... I mean, really? Do they think that Finns ..." He snorted again with laughter, then added with a bit calmer voice, "Um, we're thieves, too, not only idiots. Imagine, idiotic thieves."

"Oh God they are soo stupid! Oh and get this, one actually though we have polar bears roaming around!" Niko laughed with him.

Kamil snorted again, this time louder, "Wait for this, one asked me if Poland was in Russia!"

Niko chuckled. "Really? That’s silly.” He shook his head slightly, smile lingering on his lips as he suddenly remembered a question that one of his fellow class mates had asked one evening at a party, little after his arrival. He decided to share it with Kamil. “One girl asked me if it's true, that we mostly drink vodka and sit around talking about how to kill ourselves!" He laughed, he still found it terribly amusing.

"Hahaha, geez, they're so ignorant, too. One person asked me if I ever saw potatoes. I mean, man, we eat potatoes with every dinner, so I made big eyes and he thought it was because I didn't!"

“Maybe they thought you come from Japan?” Niko grinned. "Oh God, they don't even know how they make us laugh with their ignorance!"

"Yes, it's kind of ... evil that we laugh at them and at the same time ... study and live here," Kamil gave Niko a smile. "Don't you think?"

"Oh well they deserve it, that's what I say, what goes around comes around." Niko smiled back.
"Well in all truth not all of them are stupid,” Niko felt the need to continue, “some are really nice and smart and for them, I do feel bad about joking, but on the other hand many of them would join our laughter, they actually have a sense of humour too and self irony, at least some do."

"Yes, and I appreciate their ... independence and self-reliance, it's so different from my country," Kamil checked the time on the clock, seeing it's already past seven; he still had to study for tomorrow's test. The professor they had was ruthless and if he failed it, he would have a lot more to learn for the make up session. Not that he was a poor student, but he wanted his grades to be as perfect as he could get them. "Ok, I have to go and learn now, you're welcome to do anything ... that doesn’t cause too much noise."

"Do you have an Internet connection here?" Niko asked with hope.

"Nope, sorry, not at the moment. If you want a connection, you have to talk to the landlord tomorrow."

"Oh okay, I think I will, I'm a computer and Internet whore you see," Niko laughed, "okay I go read some book in my room, I'll be quiet as a mouse, you won't even notice I'm here," he smiled and walked towards his room.

"Thanks. What do you study?" Kamil ask, suddenly curious.

"I study... arts actually, surprised you huh? And you?"

"Economy ..." Kamil smirked; so they couldn't be farther apart with their studies.

"Cool," Niko nodded his head.

"I guess, but not so cool when we have finals, last year was hell," Kamil smiled. "OK, see you tomorrow," he said and got inside his room where he had a small desk, a bookcase and a bed, and a chest of drawers with all his clothes, not many of them, too.

Niko walked into his room, took his sketch book, to work a bit before going to bed, he felt sleepy quite fast after a long and quite eventful day. He had never moved quite so fast in his life. He felt comfortable though, quite sure in his mind that this had been the right choice.

**^^**^^**^^**^^**

The next day, after Niko got home from school, he went to the grocery store to but what they both needed. After the shopping, he decided to talk to the landlord about the Internet connection. The man told him it could be connected as soon as he got the first payment.

He got inside and decided to treat himself with some cucumber and mustard he had bought. He cut the cucumber into pieces, took the jar of mustard and settled himself at the table with the treat and a Donald Duck comic book.

When Kamil came home, he was surprised to find Niko in the kitchen eating… cucumber and mustard? He seriously hadn’t seen anyone eating something like that! “Do you…” He started, but bit his own tongue.

Niko looked up and smiled, he saw the look in Kamil’s eyes; he was weirded by his little snack, but that was nothing new really. It was good and people just didn’t know what they were missing.

"Hello, want to try?" Niko grinned at him, gesturing towards his snack.

"Is this something ... Finnish?" Kamil asked him suspiciously, not reaching towards the 'treat'.

Niko laughed.

"No, rest of our people, as far as I know, do not know anything about this treat, which is a shame really, I think more should try it. So... go on, I dare you to taste.”

Kamil picked one piece of a cucumber and dipped it in mustard, then put it in his mouth. It was a big mistake, he tried to swallow as fast as he could, without even chewing, which was another big mistake because the piece got stuck in his throat for a second, almost choking him. Finally it agreed to go down but his eyes were tearing now.

"Thanks Niko but I say 'pass' to your treat. Oh, it's sandwiches for supper today."

For a moment there Niko had thought that he'd have to safe his new flat mate from choking, but he was glad that it hadn’t come to that; he could have seen the headlines; Finnish killed Polish student with a cucumber... That would not have been good.

"Sandwiches, cool... can we have ketchup and cheese sandwiches? They are soo good, what a shame that they don't have rye bread here."

"I know, all they have is this sponge-like something that pretends to be bread," Kamil nodded as he took the pieces of bread out, cheese and Niko's s favorite ketchup. Kamil thought that if he added ketchup to everything, Niko should be quite satisfied with his cooking. "Could you make us tea?" He asked him as he prepared the sandwiches.

"Yes of course," Niko smiled and stood up, "I asked my mom to send me some rye bread from home, I wonder if she will, and if the bread is still good when it gets here, silly maybe, I think there are easier ways to get it but... I miss bread from home." Again he was just blabbering. He took the kettle and boiled the water. Taking two cups and some tea. "I bought lemon too, maybe I should try tea with fresh lemon I have never had it before,"
"Try it," Kamil nodded his head as he spread butter on the sandwiches, then put the slices of cheese on them and then spread a layer of ketchup on those for Niko. He’d have the no-ketchup ones, he wasn’t that big fan of ketchup, thank you. "I wish I had the bread my mom bought in our local bakery," he informed Niko. "It was so tasty."
Niko watched him doing the sandwiches, he obviously hadn’t done ketchup sandwiches before; one was supposed to add the ketchup first, no butter and the cheese on top, but he didn’t really want to correct him now, it was fine, it had ketchup and it had cheese, he’d try it this way.
"What kind was it?" Niko asked him, taking the sandwich that he gave to him. "The bread I mean," He moved to sit in front of the table.

"Rye bread, too," Kamil smiled, seeing him starting to eat, "With sunflower seeds in it." He added and took a bite of his own sandwich; he hadn't noticed how good the bread with hot tea is ... or maybe it seemed so good because lately he hadn't eaten anything else apart from bread? And had gotten used to it? "So what're you doing tomorrow?" he asked him, curious. It would be Saturday and he wanted to plan his day.

"Hm... tomorrow..." Niko thought about it. "There is this party that I was invited to, so I guess I’ll go there tomorrow evening and at day I think I’ll paint a little. How about you?"

"Sleep!" Kamil laughed. "Then maybe some lazying about, maybe cinema? And a good book in bed! And absolutely no learning for a whole day!"

"Ah sleep, yes I plan to sleep in late tomorrow, too...” Niko nodded and then looked at Kamil with curiosity. “You know... you could maybe try the party? I guess there will be a lot of people coming there, people who… well… drink." After he had said it, he wondered if it had been a good idea to invite Kamil, because knowing himself, when he drank, he often became quite… hm… well he would flirt, apparently a lot, that might not be good…

"Ugh, I don't know ... I need to get up early on Sunday ..." Kamil said, he usually tried avoiding parties at all cost and now he tried not to be too obvious about wanting to avoid the party. There would be those totally strange people, all drinking - and BABBLING later. Somehow he seemed to attract drunkards so he could bet there would be at least one all over him ... "I'd rather not go." He said indecisively.

"Oh, okay, maybe some other time then," Niko smiled. "So, what's you family like?" He decided to change the subject.

"They're ok, a normal family," Kamil shrugged his shoulders. "Yours?"

"Well okay, my mom almost had a stroke when I said I move here to study, she thinks I'll end up murdered or robbed or something, she's way overprotective."
"Mine cried for a week when I got this scholarship," Kamil nodded as he sat more comfortably, stretching his legs as far as he could.

"Moms," Niko smiled and got up after eating. "I think I'll go clean the bathroom now." He told him. "So if you need to go, go now."

"I'll wait until it's clean and shiny," Kamil teased. Niko rolled his eyes and smiled.

"Your choice," He went to change his clothes, collecting the cleaning stuff he had bought and went into the bathroom.

Kamil smiled to himself; the guy must be obsessed with cleanliness! He went to his room and switched on the CD player, choosing the song he had been obsessing about as of late; 'Primo Victoria' by Sabaton and he couldn’t get enough of it so he put it on repeat mode and took a book from the bookcase to entertain himself with. The song started to play and he sang along with the singer, though he tried to keep his voice down.

As Niko cleaned he suddenly heard the music from Kamil’s room. He listened; sounding like some rock his ex had been obsessing about... This was some… song about… war? Not his favorite music really, for one… it reminded too much of… well… his ex… and… then he listened more… it wasn’t so bad after all, it was actually kind of good. But then it started playing on repeat, over and over again. Oh God it was annoying the hell out of him after hearing it about 6 times in a row. He got it; Kamil loved this song, but honestly wasn’t there any other song he could listen to? He cleaned, scrubbed almost knowing the words by heart by then. Finally the whole bathroom was sparkling clean. Then he took a quick shower; feeling sweaty all over after cleaning.


Kamil sang quietly, lying on his side on the bed, his right foot rubbing against the surface of the bed. The book he was reading was really entertaining. The world seemed perfect, what else could he want? Hmm … a boyfriend would be nice, but he had no time for dates, he was really too busy for dating.

Niko went into his room, really wanting to scream, how many times would Kamil play this song??? But he couldn’t bring himself to go shouting at his new flat mate yet, he would swallow up and suffer… or… he thought of a better plan, took his headphones and started listening his own favorite music from his computer while working with some sketches.

**^^**^^**^^**^^**

Saturday was a lazy day for the both of them, they slept till noon. Niko painted in the afternoon and he showed Kamil few of his paintings; seeing them along with a few sketches made Kamil want to take out his own sketch book and draw some as well, he had enjoyed art classes in high school. Then they had eaten dinner together; chicken soup where Niko had added ketchup; it still was weird to Kamil and he wondered if the other boy could ever be taught to get rid of his addiction to ketchup.

After dinner Niko had gotten himself ready for the party, it had not gotten past Kamil how good Niko had looked. After he had left, Kamil had concentrated on reading and finally went to bed early.

Niko had the time of his life tasting so many new and interesting drinks that he had never heard of before. And he had met tons of new people, especially Matthew; ‘Call me Matt,’

It had seemed like a good idea at the party, and now it still seemed like a great idea: to bring Matt home with him. Niko giggled as they walked up the stairs, giggled at the feeling of the guy’s hand on his butt; groping him.

His hands trembled as he tried to find his keys. Matt was firmly pressed behind him, kissing his neck like there was no tomorrow.

“Shhh…we must be quiet.” Niko told him. “My mate room is sleeeepy… hihi room mate! … quiet… shh…” He stumbled in Matt after him, in the dark he managed to hit his arm, “Helvetti!”He cursed and let out a drunken giggle after. “I think we have beer, let’s get beeer.” He managed to find his way into the kitchen and to the fridge. Matt slapped his butt and he squealed out loud in surprise. “Stop it,” he scolded the other with an amused tone, handing the beer to him, which Matt opened with his teeth, grinning at him.


Kamil was woken by the strange sounds; he didn’t know what time it was. He tried to think what was going on, robbers? Then he heard giggles and a squeal, what on earth was happening? He decided to go and check; what if it really was a robber? What could a robber want to steal from him anyway? He walked outside his room, wearing only his gray sleeping pants and a tank top, might not be the best outfit should he encounter some robbers. He saw the light in the kitchen, went there and saw Niko, totally drunk and with some other guy! And… the guy’s hand was… on Niko’s butt!
“Niko?” He asked, “What are you doing, it’s…” Kamil checked the time, “it’s 3 am!”

Niko stared at Kamil, while the other guy was gently nibbling on his neck. Kamil looked hot, he was surrounded by hot looking men. “We party… beer, see?” Noko announced happily lifting the bottle up for Kamil to see… Matt was really groping his butt now, which made him giggle out loud once more. He stumbled a little, taking support from the counter. "You can join us… is gooood," He spluttered, almost about to go and search for a bottle for Kamil as well, the fridge however seemed to be evil and moved away from his hands. “Hmh, straaange…” He noted out loud, looking at the evil fridge.

Kamil stared at the odd pair in his kitchen. Niko was really, really drunk and Kamil didn’t like the situation very much…

"Niko, you've had enough," he told him, not really believing that it would work that easily.

“Show me your room Nikolasss,” Matt murmured in Niko’s ear, “drink it up and show me your room.” Another slap on Niko’s butt, who laughed in return. Niko looked at Kamil, thinking that this wasn’t very proper, some part of him was screaming at him in the back of his mind; screaming how stuid he was acting at the moment, but he was just too drunk to listen to this slowly fading voice of reason. Kamil was looking quite pretty and confused in his eyes and he freed himself from Matt’s hold.

“Not enough,” He told them and took a sip of his beer, “Aaah,” he sighed happily and then, at the strange feeling he looked down and saw a hand rubbing on his front, his crotch in fact. Again he giggled moving away. "Is not proper..." He spluttered again, taking support from where he could reach. "Let’s go to bed..." Matt whined next to him.

Kamil was still in shock of what he was witnessing. Was Niko…? Gay?? But whatever the answer was; he was really drunk and the guy, the stranger was just too forward and…

“Listen, man,” Kamil tried to speak to the stranger. “It was nice of you to walk Niko home, but now… could you go home, too?” Kamil didn’t know how to deal with such situations.

“Nooo… I don’t want to, he invited me, I’m gonna stay,” The stranger told him, pulling Niko towards him, to kiss him straight on the lips.

"Ah, whatever," Kamil waved his hand, he didn’t really want to deal with this, he was obviously not getting through to either of them. He got inside his room, took his CD player and earphones and switched the music on. He was quite sure what was going to happen in the next room, judging by what went on in the kitchen… It felt weird, after all he was gay and apparently, so was Niko. And there Niko was, with the guy he had brought over, with an intention to… sleep with him… and they would be… only a few meters away. Then it felt worse than just weird, it felt awkward like hell. He turned the music up, wanting to muffle any sounds that might come from Niko’s room. He fell asleep with his earphones on.

TBC.