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Giorno lets Narancia lead them through the caverns built below one of his father’s castle’s old resting places. He knows where they’re going. He recognizes this particular path from the first time Mista and him set out to find water for Mista to drink—but Narancia wanted this to be a surprise, so Giorno keeps quiet. Narancia’s pull on his arm is gentle, their fingers slotted together like burrs to fabric.
The lake should be a straight shot from here, so Narancia drops back enough that they’re walking shoulder to shoulder.
“Okay, okay, I’ve been holding it in this whole time, but I gotta ask—” Narancia grabs the brim of Giorno’s hat and pulls it down, over his eyes, blocking his vision. It’s a floppy, black hat—large enough to work as a personal umbrella. “What’s with this? You know you won’t need it, right? I wouldn’t bring you out in the sun.”
“Of course I do, but I don’t like taking risks.” As if the sun could kill him anyway. “And on the other hand, it’s not often I get the chance to wear this.”
Narancia laughs. “It is a good look on you. Makes you look like a cute gardener at, like, a cemetery. It’s fitting.”
Giorno raises an eyebrow, the side of his mouth twitching up. “I’m not sure those two go together that well.”
“Why not?” Narancia swings their joined hands back and forth between them. The buckles on the bag on Narancia’s other shoulder jingle as they walk. “You’re cute. You’re a gardener. You’re a vampire. You make it all fit together!” He looks over, beaming.
Giorno’s never prepared for Narancia’s honesty and bluntness. He blushes. He’s also not sure he’ll ever be used to the feeling of being able to blush again.
“Oh!” Narancia rushes forward, yanking Giorno after him. “Look! Look, we’re here!”
They emerge from the rock tunnel to a beautiful spot. There’s an opening in the top of the cavern here, showing a newly dusked sky. Bioluminescent algae clings to the walls, lighting the small lake up from the outside in, not unlike the sun must through the top in the day.
“Ain’t it beautiful?” Narancia squeezes Giorno’s hand.
It really is a sight to behold. The teal-filtered light from the algae casts a soft glow on the cave that bends and speckles the light over the waves of the lake surface. The stalagmites that drip water from the skylight keep ebbing and flowing the lake’s surface like a tide. There’s a “beach” starting maybe a couple meters or so from the water, and the various rocks on it cast stark shadows in a starburst.
Narancia pulls him forward again. Giorno lets himself be led until he hears the crunch of sand under Narancia’s shoes.
“Alright.” Giorno plants his feet and pulls his wrist from Narancia’s grip. “What’re we doing here?”
Narancia drops his jingly bag on the ground.
“I guess now’s a good time to tell you.” Narancia throws his hands in the air. “We’re going swimming!”
Giorno freezes.
His eyes shift to the water and back to Narancia.
Giorno can’t swim. Narancia knows that.
The last time they were even at one of these underground lakes, Giorno fell through a layer of ice and nearly drowned. Narancia had to save him.
“Why?” he asks.
“Cause swimming’s fun!”
Gionro raises an eyebrow. “Again, why?” You’re just going back and forth in the water, even if you know how to swim. For their situation, this seems more like a game of fetch for Narancia.
“You won’t get it unless you try it!”
Narancia puffs his chest out, thrusting his thumbs at himself, chin up and eyes closed.
“And I’m gonna teach you!”
Giorno blinks. He looks back at the water.
“C’mon. You taught me how to read!” Narancia grabs Giorno by his biceps and shakes him. Giorno sways like seaweed. “Let me do this for you!”
Giorno swallows. Well… when he puts it like that.
“When I say I’m done, we go back.” Let’s get that down, right off the bat.
Narancia smiles and nods hard enough that it looks like it’d hurt his neck. He drags his grip down from Giorno’s biceps to lock hands. “Of course!”
Narancia tugs, but Giorno doesn’t budge.
“Promise?”
“Giorno!” Narancia smacks a hand to his chest and whines. “Of course I promise!”
“Okay.”
Narancia lifts Giorno’s hat off his head and throws it like a frisbee to land near where he dropped the bag. He grabs both of Giorno’s hands and tugs again, gentler this time, but Giorno still doesn’t move.
Narancia ducks. He looks around Giorno’s eyes.
“We can, uh…. do something else though?” Narancia turns and looks up. “We can, uh… lay on the beach and stargaze? Does that sound fun?”
Giorno melts a little. Narancia won’t make him do anything, and he won’t let anything happen. He’s not trying to make up for anything. They’re here to have a good time. Giorno squeezes Narancia’s hand. “No, this’ll be fine. I was just thinking.”
Narancia eyes him. “Bad thinking or good thinking?”
“Come on.” Giorno heads towards the shore with a spine straighter than he feels. “How do we start? Did you have a plan or were—”
Giorno’s feet dip in the water, and he freezes.
“Brrrr!” Narancia says aloud. He has a point. The water is significantly colder now that Giorno has a heartbeat to warm him. He can feel it where his ankles break the surface, and the freezing temperature brings back uncomfortable memories. “It always does this at first, you gotta wait a second.”
“This is a lot of work for one activity.”
“I usually cannonball in. Makes you used to the temperature way easier. But I get why you’d wanna do it this way.”
It’s a slow crawl into the lake. Giorno doesn’t move until he’s used to the cold, refusing to carry the memories of his first encounter with an underground lake in with them.
Narancia bounces on his toes and paths and wiggles his fingers at the water, but he doesn’t pressure Giorno to speed up, which Giorno appreciates.
They go until Giorno’s almost submerged to the nipple.
“Okay!” Narancia’s only in up to the bottom of his pecs. Damn him for being taller. “Now that we’re finally in—”
Giorno raises an eyebrow.
“Sorry—“ Narancia winces.
“It’s fine. It’s cute that you’re so excited, but I need time.”
Narancia gives a salute. He moves too fast and splashes water in a diagonal across his face.
“Eugh,” Narancia screams. “Ugh—” He sticks his tongue out. “That’s so salty! It’s like drinking sand.”
The weird mood breaks. Giorno hides his giggles behind both hands.
“Okay! Okay, gimme your hand.” Narancia holds out his right, so Giorno offers his left in turn. Narancia keeps a tight hold and moves to Giorno’s side.
“Kick as hard as you can to start,” he says. “And something about your feet moving is what’ll keep you up in the water.”
Narancia’s warm beside him. Giorno may have gotten his heart back, but he’s still not used to the sound of it beating in his ears whenever he notices details like that. He wishes he could be warm so that maybe he could have the same effect on Narancia.
He tries kicking one foot, and it lifts the other off the ground. Kicking makes him more… horizontal than he’d prefer to be.
Once Giorno’s body is at nearly a 45 degree angle, Narancia moves his free hand to Giorno’s belly and helps lift him up.
“Harder than that,” he says.
Giorno’s legs break the water as he continues kicking. Narancia spins in place, pulling Giorno just enough to the left that he moves in circles.
“There, see?”
Giorno really doesn’t, but he’s too focused on kicking to think of a response.
“Okay, stop!”
Giorno does. Narancia lowers him to stand again.
“We’re gonna move around now! More of a real swimming experience.” Narancia moves to Giorno’s front. He takes Giorno’s other hand. “You keep kicking.”
He does. This time, Narancia walks backwards slowly and leads Giorno by both of his hands.
“Just like that! I’m gonna make sure we don’t get too far from shore. Remember: straight legs!”
Giorno looks out towards the middle of the lake with a glance. The light of the algae makes it easy to see where the surface of the water is, but there’s no judging where sudden dips may happen in the sand or where there might be a current. Plus, just because Narancia can stand doesn’t mean—
Narancia drops a kiss right between Giorno’s eyes.
“We’re gonna stay close to the shore. I won’t let you sink,” he promises. “And if you call it, we’ll go in. Try to have some fun!”
Giorno nods. Maybe the motion and the ethereal glow of the algae together will outshine the warmth of his cheeks.
Narancia guides the two of them. They walk in ovals, with Narancia deeming at random points they’ve gone enough in a straight direction and turning Giorno around. It’s almost… peaceful.
It doesn’t pass in a “blur” per say. More like a train of rushing thoughts coupled together on the tracks of things like “if Narancia keeps going deeper in the water, Giorno will warn him about his tongue poking out of the corner of his mouth or else he’ll taste the gross lakewater again. But… maybe not unless that’s about to happen” and “if the wind from the open hole on the roof of the cave blows out enough lights and Narancia can’t see, Giorno will guide him vocally to the shore. They can figure out what to do from there” and how if they have to call it, there’s a town near the Western exit where the two of them can get something especially good to eat, and the growing hope that Narancia doesn’t let go, both because of how nice his hands feel in Giorno’s and also for the small fear that he’ll drown if Narancia does.
Even with the cacophony of his own thoughts and attempts to keep himself buoyant, the time passes… pleasantly. Narancia’s palms warm Giorno’s in the water. Narancia looks up every time he feels Giorno’s eyes linger on him and smiles so wide his eyes bug with it.
If this is what swimming is, Giorno doesn’t mind this. He thinks he’d like doing this with Narancia for the rest of eternity.
“Alright, alright!” Narancia’s voice cuts through Giorno’s musings. “Ready to try on your own?”
Giorno’s not quite sure how long they’ve been out here, but he’s not about to let Narancia know that he hasn’t been paying complete attention.
“Of course,” Giorno says. Narancia’s not moving at all, and it takes Giorno a second to realize he’s been led to a shallower part of the lake. He stands. Narancia smiles.
“I’m gonna swim over there.” Narancia points a lot further out than Giorno thought he would. “And you’ll swim your way to me. Sound good?”
“That’s fine.” Giorno stares at the spot. Narancia should be able to get to him in time if he can’t make it.
Narancia gives him a shark smile and dives, swimming hand over hand. Honestly, if Giorno cared more about swimming, he’d be a little jealous of how fluidly Narancia moves in the water. Narancia must’ve grown up with swimming. Giorno… might be a little jealous.
“Okay!” Narancia rows his arms back and forth and kicks wildly under himself to keep his head above the water. “Whenever you’re ready!” He waves Giorno over.
Giorno looks at the water between him and Narancia.
“Whenever you’re ready!” Narancia yells again. Giorno frowns.
“I’m aware! You don’t have to keep saying it!”
Narancia’s face falls. “Is it too much? We can head in for now.”
“Give me a second.”
Giorno takes a deep breath. In. Out.
He bends his legs and shoves off from the lakebed to get as much distance with as little swimming as possible.
Swimming on his own is very different than having Narancia lead.
He tries to copy the motions of what Narancia was doing, but his head stays more submerged, so he opts for pushing down on the water and crawling his way instead. A cross between what Narancia called “doggy paddle”and “I can’t remember the long name, but it’s like a frog.”
Narancia calls out encouragement as he goes. There’s still water on Giorno’s eyelids from his dip earlier, and he doesn’t want to open them before he has a chance to wipe it away, so he can only guess at how close he is to Narancia judging from the sound of his voice. Damn this cave echo, though.
Next thing he knows, he’s being grabbed around the torso.
“You did it!” It’s a slow turn, but Narancia does his best to spin Giorno around in the water. “How do you feel?”
Narancia’s so warm. Giorno can’t get over that. He’s so incredibly warm. Even the water can’t steal the warmth from him the way it seems to from Giorno. His smile—his eyes are so bright. With the colors of the aurora borealis and the brilliance to match. His ink black hair—haloed by the lights of the algae under and around tint them.
“Amazing,” Giorno answers. He could stay out here and stare at Narancia forever.
Somehow, Narancia smiles even brighter. He leans up and kisses under Giorno’s chin. “I told you you’d like it when you tried it!”
Giorno blinks. He slides his hands up to cradle Narancia’s chin. “Yeah.” Giorno blinks. Narancia’s so… he’s…
“My hands’re getting pruney,” Narancia says. He turns them, looking over his shoulder to aim towards the beach. Let’s call it a day and get back to shore. That sound alright?”
Giorno nods. He’s… hm. He’s ready to finally get out of the water, but this has been nice.
“Do you wanna try and swim back by yourself too?”
“I don’t.”
Narancia laughs. “Fair enough.” He looks back at Giorno and pauses. His eyes flick around Giorno’s face. Focused like he can see, but unfocused like he’d get during their literacy lessons while trying to read a difficult book. His mouth hangs just slightly open, and other than legs treading underwater to keep them afloat, he’s completely frozen still.
Giorno raises an eyebrow. His mouth flicks at the corners.
“Can I kiss you?” Narancia asks, all in a rush, eyes still hovering in that weird mix between here and away. “I know my lips are gonna be all salty and shit from the water, and it might be hard to hold us up at the same time, b—”
Giorno circles his arms around Narancia’s shoulders, biceps past Narancia’s ears, and mashes their mouths together, muffling the last of what he has to say between them.
Giorno pulls away just as fast as he pushed in.
“Blech. You were right. This water does taste disgusting.”
Narancia laughs. “Yeah! I told you!”
Giorno rests his forehead on Narancia’s. “Yeah. You did.”
Narancia smiles at him.
“Alright, let’s get out of this sand-water. Can you hang onto my back?”
“Let me—” Giorno lets go, kicking and pushing hard enough that he stays afloat for Narancia to turn around so he can grab on.
Narancia lets Giorno hold around his neck, and with that, they swim back. It’s… nice. Peaceful. The feeling of the water moving past them is soothing.
Giorno’s… a lot more tired than he thought he was.
“Am I going to be sore tomorrow?” he asks.
“Probably.” Narancia stands. He walks a little forward so Giorno can too. Damn him for being taller. “I like the exhaustion. It makes me feel ali— oh.” Narancia bursts out laugh. Okay, okay, bad. But! If this taught you anything, it should’ve been that a little water isn’t gonna hurt you.”
Giorno hums, disbelieving. Narancia starts walking towards shore, and an impulse passes over Giorno. Before he knows what he’s doing, Giorno surges forward, grabbing Narancia around his waist. Narancia squirms, flailing automatically. Giorno shifts his grip to face Narancia more to him and picks him up.
“Hey— we’re almost there! Just—”
Giorno kisses him, and even though he initiated, it’s like a vacuum steals all the air in his chest. Now that he’s expecting the taste, he can enjoy the feeling of the kiss more.Narancia moans. He slides his knees up Giorno’s sides to wrap them around him, takes his chin to tilt it and deepen the kiss.
Giorno pulls away with one last peck on Narancia’s bottom lip. “It’s a lot easier to pick you up in the water,” he admits.
“It’s all the muscle!” Narancia pulls away enough to flex. He has definition, at the very least.
Giorno hums. “Nothing at all to do with buoyant force working against gravity?”
Narancia shakes his head. “I’m a man, Giorno! Boy-ing force has nothing to do with it.”
Giorno blinks.
“I love you,” he says.
“I love you too, Giorno.” He struggles against Giorno’s grip. “Now let’s get out of here already. I’m pruny, I tell you.”
Giorno lowers him back into the water, and Narancia grabs his hand and leads them back to shore.
As soon as they’re on the beach, Narancia drops to the sand. He lifts his arms above his head and starts rolling around. Giorno hurries out of his way.
“What are you doing?” Giorno asks.
“Drying off!”
Giorno looks over to where their stuff is lying. “Did you not bring any towels?”
“Well, yeah, for you, but I like this! The sand soaks up all the water. It’s like a natural spa thing!”
“No, it’s not. You’re just covered in sand.” Giorno hides his mouth behind his hand on reflex. “You’re not getting in my bed like that. I’ll never be able to get the sand out.”
“Aw, c’mon!” Narancia stills long enough to look up and pout at Giorno. “What was today about?”
“You said it was teaching me that a little water wasn’t going to hurt me.”
“Wh— Oh, well. Yeah, that, duh, but also!” Narancia grabs Giorno’s hand and yanks. Giorno falls onto his knees in the sand. “About not knocking things till you try them!”
Narancia grabs Giorno around the biceps and pulls him down. He rolls until he’s pinned Giorno between him and the beach. Narancia nuzzles his grit-filled hair under Giorno’s chin.
Honestly… he is considerably drier than Giorno.
“I’m only agreeing to lay here to rest,” Giorno says. “The sand is not drying me off at all.”
“You’re a liar,” Narancia hums into his chest. “When you’re done drying, I brought us a change of clothes.”
The exhaustion hits Giorno again. Harder, this time. He doesn’t think he could push Narancia off even if he wanted to.
“You know,” he starts. Narancia looks up, propping his chin on Giorno’s chest. “No one comes down here at all.”
“Yeah! You told us.”
“And it is a long walk back to the nearest tapestry, so the castle is quite a distance away.”
“I came down here with you, Giorno. I’m not dumb.”
“I’m saying, we could stay here tonight. Go back tomorrow.”
Narancia blinks. “You sure?” he asks.
Giorno turns and dumps Narancia on the sand. He pulls himself to curl against Narancia’s side, resting his forehead in Narancia’s hair.
“Didn’t you say something about stargazing earlier?” he asks.
Narancia winds his arms around Giorno and squeezes.
“You can see so many more of them out here.”
Giorno nods. “The light of the castle combined with the nearby towns means we get significantly greater light pollution than they do out here, which prevents us from seeing the considerably weaker stars.” Giorno moves a leg across both of Narancia’s. “You’re right. It’s gorgeous.”
“You’re so smart.” Narancia moves an arm to curl his fingers through Giorno’s loose curls. “How did you get so smart? It’s incredible.”
“Reading, mostly.” Narancia yawns, and Giorno nuzzles his forehead further into his hair. “There wasn’t much else to do in the castle.”
Narancia hums.
Narancia jolts. “Wait,” he says. “What about the sun?”
Giorno yawns. When Narancia pulls away a little, Giorno clings to him tighter. “I’ll be fine. I’m half-human, remember? It’s nonlethal for—”
Something plops on Giorno’s face. He pulls it back to see Narancia smiling wide under the other end of the inner brim of Giorno’s floppy black hat.
Giorno smiles.
“Thank you, Narancia. That’ll work even better.”
“Yeah.” Narancia yawns. He turns his head and shifts so he can rest his ear against Giorno’s collarbone. “Love you, Giorno.”
Giorno nuzzles into Narancia’s hair. “I love you too. Goodnight.”
The two of them fall asleep in each other’s arms on the shore of a cavernous lake. Giorno, with a smile that would make Mista’s jaw drop in its intensity, and Narancia burrowing into the soft lullaby rhythm of Giorno’s heartbeat.