PSEUMINO | VENTO AUREO

24 | narancia.

═ ☆. WHEN NARANCIA KNOCKED HIS MUSICAL knock on your door, you unlocked it before hoisting yourself above the door with a swing you'd made with White Satin. You bit their lip to keep from laughing as Narancia's messy head poked into your room, peering around like a curious bird.

"Hello? I swear, you better not jump out at me."

He cautiously closed the door behind him and considered your room with his hands on his hips. At this point, you were convinced all of his outfits had to have at least one orange article in them. Today, the orange item was the puffy vest over a black hoodie and side stripe sweats. You could see him squinting at their closet door, probably wondering if you were crouched behind it. Narancia walked over slowly, and just as he put his hand on the closet handle, you let a strip of White Satin brush his neck.

"Holy shit!" he yelped.

You laughed, but the sound turned into a shriek as Aerosmith appeared out of thin air and zipped towards you. Its propellers nearly nicked you in the shoulder, and you leaned too far back trying to dodge it. A jolt went through your body as you lost their hold on White Satin slipped out of the swing.

You fell on the ground with a thump, something solid cushioning their fall. You looked down to see you'd landed on top of Narancia and knocked him over. Narancia groaned pitifully and you rushed to scramble off of him.

"Are you okay? I'm so sorry!"

"I'm seeing black spots," Narancia said, raising his head. He brought his fingers below his jaw. "Where's my pulse? It's so weak, I can barely feel it." His head fell back to the floor dramatically.

"Why do you always get hurt when you're around me?" you asked, nudging his leg with their foot. "Sorry I fell on you. I wasn't expecting Aerosmith to take my nose off."

"It's a reflex at this point," Narancia said, making his voice weak. "I stubbed my toe the other day, and Aerosmith almost took out the window in my dorm."

"What'd you come here for?" you asked, hauling Narancia to his feet.

"I'm usually on top of my classwork, but recently I've been all out of whack. I can't get anything done. I was wondering if you wanted to come with me to the library to study?"

You gaped at him. "You came over to ask me to study? How lame is that?"

Narancia winced. "Hella lame. But I'm not trying to fail, and I know you're not either. Studying is always more productive with friends, right?"

"No."

"Gah, please? Fugo's doing errands or something else grandmotherly. You're the only friend I can ask to study with without being laughed into the ground."

"I was just messing with you. Of course, I'm going," you said. You grabbed their bag and started packing their notebooks and textbooks. "I can't help with any math above an elementary level, though."

"Oh no, but I'll fail all my classes without you."

You rammed their desk chair against Narancia's legs.

‣ ♡. ⁀

Upon entering the library, three students immediately dapped Narancia up. As you made their way to a table, a dozen more people greeted him, Narancia tossing his cheeky grin to everyone he met, waving like some minor celebrity. You didn't understand it. Was it because Narancia was a sophomore, and people had known him for longer? The casual friendship and recognition he was getting were what you had always wanted. As you passed through, all you got were side-eyes.