Third person point of view
The next day, they all quickly started with the decorations right from the morning. Dev turned to the side and saw Aravind getting on a ladder to hang them. He noticed the ladder wobble a little. He quickly went and caught it. " Be careful. I don't want to be responsible for your death ". Aravind looked down at Dev. " You- "
" No cursing in college ". Dev warned and Aravind quickly shut up. He just went back to climbing the ladder. " Can you actually reach ? " Dev asked in a teasing tone. " Fu- " Aravind swallowed the curse that almost left his mouth. He was not short. Aravind was 5'11 while Dev was 6'2. Dev just loved to jab at that wound whenever he had a chance.
Aravind glared at him hard. " You might not be but I will definitely be responsible for your death if you say one more thing wrong. Got it ? " Dev laughed and just held the ladder. Aravind went up and quickly finished his work. Once he was done he got down and glared at Dev. Dev just patted his head but Aravind quickly pushed his hand away.
He picked up the ladder and took it with him to hang the other side. Dev went to help again. He didn't notice the eyes of the girl who was glancing at them from time to time. They were done with the day and actually finished quite an amount of things. " Do we need to take care of the things backstage too ? "
Sushanth asked as they all sat down in the evening to talk about the remaining things to be done. " Should we ? " A guy from some other class asked. " At this pace, we will be done with our things in the next two days. The professional helpers already finished their thing. We just need to do some things and will have time left. So if you guys want to, we can help them after that ".
Dev turned to Aravind. This lazy guy does everything well when asked to, but Dev knew Aravind wasn't a fan of doing a lot of physical work. He was definitely doing all of this now because it was with their gang. Aravind shrugged. The others all discussed and decided they would do it. " Fine. Then once we are done with these the day after tomorrow, let's discuss about that ".
They all dispersed to go home. Dev noticed Aravind walking like he had no energy. He took his bag and hung it on his other shoulder. " Tired ? " Dev asked and Aravind nodded. Dev chuckled. He put his hand around his shoulder massaging it a little. Aravind chuckled. " It is fine ". They went back home and Aravind fell on the bed as soon as he entered his room.
He let out a long groan. He just stayed on the bed like that. " Aru, go take a bath. Dinner is almost ready ". Aravind reluctantly got out of bed after hearing his mother call him and took a bath. He then went to have dinner. He went back to his room once he was done and picked up his phone. He saw Dev left a message.
Dev : Take a hot shower. If it is too much for you let me know.
Aravind chuckled and replied.
Aravind : Did. It is fine.
Dev read it almost immediately.
Dev : Alright.
Aravind was not weak or anything, he just didn't really do a lot of work just because he was lazy and didn't feel like it. He shook his head at Dev's message. He put his phone away and decided to sleep. He was tired after all. And was out at the speed of light after all the bustling about during the day.
The next day, they worked at a faster pace and finished more work than before. There were also three more students who helped them with the decoration. Their tactic understanding also improved after working together and the team spirit made them work easily.
And that next day, by lunch, everything was done. They all cheered when they saw the result. Everyone was ecstatic. The result was really good. They went to have lunch and then gathered again. Just like they agreed, they went to the backstage and looked around. They were done with the inspection and went to sit in the front again.
" I think we should check all the tube lights and bulbs and fans too. Besides that we need to get the cleaning done too. We can take it slow though. We have a lot of time in our hands ". The girl's name was Rashi. She summarized the situation for them. The others nodded. They all discussed and distributed the work.
Dev went back stage along with Aravind to check for the tube lights and bulbs. Dev went into one of the makeup rooms and found the switches. He turned them on and off one after the other and checked. He noted down which had a problem. " Dev ". He heard a voice call him and saw it was Rashi.
Dev's face had no expression as he spoke. " Sorry but I prefer being called Nandu or you can use my full name ". Rashi was a little shocked by his sharp words but quickly nodded. " Sorry ". " It's fine ". " You will be able to finish this right ? " Rashi asked and Dev nodded. " Alright then ". She walked out of the room.
" Dev ! " Aravind called out from the other room. Dev quickly walked out and went to the other room. Rashi's jaw dropped to the floor. She was dumbfounded and just watched as Dev walked away. " Did he not just tell me to call that ? What kind of double standard is this ? " She mumbled to herself and walked out as well.
She turned to look into the other room and her eyes went wide. She smiled widely. The two of them in there did not notice her. Dev went in and saw Aravind standing in front of the wall. " Turn the regulator once ". Aravind said and Dev nodded. Dev stood a little on tip toes and turned it. The tube light turned on.
" Done ". Aravind said and nodded. Dev also stood beside him. Rashi walked closer to the other room with a smile and peeked in. She saw the two of them standing close while discussing something. She couldn't really hear it but she didn't care. Her eyes twinkled and she walked away giggling to herself. She went towards where the others were.
" I understand the double standard ". She mumbled to herself. One of her friends looked at her wondering if something happened. " Why are you smiling like that ? " Rashi just shook her head saying it was nothing. Dev and Aravind walked out and told Rashi about them. " I will transfer you the money. Would you mind buying the things necessary ? " Dev nodded.
" How much should I send ? " She asked looking at them. " How about you send after we buy ? We will bring you the bill ". Aravind said and Rashi nodded. " Sure ". They all gathered again. " What about the cleaning ? " Arjun asked. " Should we ask the management to have someone do it ? " Sushanth asked.
" They will just tell the staff who will once again do it half heartedly. Let us just give it a one nice clean. What do you guys say ? " Abhay suggested. They all nodded. They were all positive about it and were pumped from the good results in the morning. " Fine. Let's just do it ". They decided to get the supplies from the janitor and get it done the next day.
On their way home, Dev and Aravind stopped at a shop to buy the bulbs. They brought all those that they wanted and got the bill after paying for it. Aravind handed Dev the cover when he got down the bike. " Keep them with you. I will forget them ". Dev nodded and took the cover with him.
-MG