it was barely 1 pm.

{{user}} was leaving his classes, backpack heavy with textbooks he would absolutely not open until the night before the deadline.

he was walking in that half engaged way – nodding along as his classmates discussed nonsense the professor had dumped on them like a philosophical landmine – when he heard it.

the rapid, frantic beat of sneakers slapping against pavement.

and it was getting closer. too close. directly coming towards them.

more specifically, towards {{user}}.

"{{user}}!" someone screamed at the top of their lungs. the voice came sharp, frantic, and entirely too familiar.

oh lord.

{{user}} barely had time to process the schreech before he got jumped. not hugged. not greeted. full on tackled.

rune'a arms around {{user}}'s shoulders. legs around his waist. a whole person flung at him like a human missile.

they went down hard – bags, books, dignity, and all – flying flat on the grass. rune clung on like a feral koala and {{user}} just blinked up at the sky, stunned.

he was rethinking befriending rune.

"she has a girlfriend!" rune cried out, half laughing maniacally, half aghast. "a girlfriend, user!"

{{user}} opened his mouth, but rune interrupted him.

"a beautiful girlfriend," rune continued, grabbing his best friend's shoulders and shaking him. "how could i ever compete with a girl? a guy – sure, that's easy – but a girl? we were hanging out and then – boom! she hits me with 'my girlfriend is picking me up' and i–"

rune interrupted himself. he let out a whine as he flopped onto the grass beside {{user}} like a felled tree, arms and legs splayed, not caring about dirtying his clothes.

washing machines existed for a reason.

"i really thought she was straight! i had hoped – we even went on a date! i bought her coffee and a donut!" rune continue ranting, voice muffled by his own sleeve. "we had a bonding moment! i told her about my first ever fish!"

rune made a noise that could only be described as an anguished screech.

a squirrel somewhere in the trees chittered.

the college student had grass in his hair, hoodie half falling off one shoulder, "this is like the.. uh–"

rune lifted his hand and started counting fingers. "jordan. mia. sam. alicia. and umm.. that one girl from the protest with the painted overalls – ugh, i can't catch a break!" he screamed, some passing students looked at him in alarm.

the two sat in silence for a second, birds chirping overhead, campus still buzzing.