|: I Beg To Differ :|
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A/N: If anyone is against such a portrayal of Abhijeet and Daya, kindly disperse. _/\_
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"And.. full stop!," Daya heaved as he saved the word document and closed the tab on his laptop. "I'm telling you, Abhijeet, if there's one thing I hate from the bottom of my heart apart from attending courtroom proceedings, it's writing case reports. I mean, we should seriously have a dedicated person only to prepare these useless word documents! Or better, we should use a different software for it."
The muscle man shut the laptop, frowning as he continued complaining to his best friend. "I, for one, find it extremely boring to type these reports. First we sweat it out during investigations, interrogations, risk our damn lives to nab the criminals and then explain all of it in a stupid word document. How ridiculous can that be!," he blabbered indignantly.
After receiving no response from Abhijeet for a complete five seconds, he turned to look at him, and scowled as he saw the sharp shooter immersed in his cell phone. "Abhijeet, I'm talking to you!" Daya snapped in a voice loud enough to gather Abhijeet's attention. "Huh! Sorry, I… I was actually busy in a game," replied Abhijeet in a rather casual tone, oblivious to the rant Daya vented a few seconds ago.
Needless to say, Daya's expression was incredulous. "Game? You? You're not serious now, come on!" He grinned, shaking his head in disbelief. Abhijeet, who seemed to be in a relaxed mood that evening, said in a merry tone, without bothering to look up from his phone, "Yeah, there's this exciting quiz game that I came across and now, I'm sort of addicted to it."
Daya blinked. Once. Twice. In the past twenty years of knowing Abhijeet, he had never, in the wildest of his dreams, imagined his best friend to have an addiction to anything which did not involve solving crime and mysteries.
"Would you mind keeping that phone away and listen to me?!," Daya snarled in an evidently annoyed voice and Abhijeet's retort was instant. "Listen to what? Every time you're being made to write a report, you have to rant about it. Don't forget, Daya, a written report contains all the crucial details of a case and is extremely important!," the senior inspector supplied in a matter-of-fact tone and the scowl on Daya's face deepened. "I never said it is not important. I'm just saying that I don't like doing it!"
"The report that was pending has been done already, right? Then why are you arguing over it?," Abhijeet spoke in an irritated tone.
"So now I can't even express about certain things to you!," Daya said, flailing his hands in the air in a dramatic effect. "Order something to eat, yaar! I'm hungry. And I have to go home and iron my clothes for tomorrow before I sleep," Abhijeet said, completely ignoring Daya's trivial comment, and the latter was quick to respond. "Why? Is your father-in-law visiting tomorrow?" Daya teased in a sarcastic tone. Abhijeet raised an eyebrow. "Even if he does, do you have a problem?"
Daya rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Give me the number for the restaurant China Garden. You have it saved in your phone."
"China Garden is so far from here, Daya. They will take at least an hour to deliver. And besides, I don't feel like having Chinese today," the sharp shooter grumbled and Daya muttered something unflattering under his breath before declaring vehemently, "I'm ordering from China Garden! Now give me your phone! And if you need to anything to eat right now, there are biscuits in the kitchen."
Abhijeet settled back comfortably on the sofa, turning his attention to his phone again. "Great, get me the biscuits. And you Google the number, please. I'm at this important level in the game and I want to- Oww!," he winced, rubbing his head after being hit by a newspaper by an utterly vexed Daya who walked to the kitchen without even bothering to look back at his best friend.
It was on extremely rare occasions when the muscle man's house was brought down by continuous peals of laughter over a trivial matter. A dark scowl plastered on his face, Daya found the laughter cacophonous and annoying.
"Hahahahahahaha! Y.. you t..t.. tripped over a log and f..fractured your h..hand! Hahaha.. oh my… I'm imagining it!," Abhijeet was practically rolling on the sofa, clutching his stomach as he erupted into fresh fits while sniggering at the bandage on Daya's hand and the light bruises on his neck.
After nearly ten minutes when Abhijeet was still guffawing, Daya growled dangerously. "Show some fake concern at least. My hand hurts." The fact that Abhijeet found the whole incident funny was something he could not fathom and was rather irritated.
"What concern?!," Abhijeet mocked, struggling to stop the giggles. "You are a man of steel, known to kick criminals' asses and break heavy-weight doors. This is just a mere fracture. You will be fine in no time!"
"You're impossible, Abhijeet! With friends like you, I sure don't need enemies!," Daya snapped and Abhijeet, instead of taking offence, burst into more howls. "I.. I sh.. should have asked someone t.. to take a v..video of you f.. falling. It w.. would have been spectacular!," he said as he visualized his best friend tripping and falling flat on his face. "Fuck off! Go home and continue that laughter," Daya cursed, his features contorted in a frown.
Post a few more minutes when Abhijeet had finally exhausted all his energy by laughing, he took few deep breaths and asked his best friend, "Do you want me to stay over?"
The door-breaker was quick to retort in a frenzied manner. "Of course not! I'd prefer managing things on my own rather than having your ass sneering at me, thank you very much! And besides, I'm not a baby who needs unnecessary mollycoddling. I can very well take care of myself! So, please leave this instant!"
"Who told you I was staying back to take care of you? I'm not going to help you with anything when you are capable of doing things." Abhijeet scoffed and Daya rolled his eyes. "I'm saying maybe we can watch a movie or something," he shrugged.
Daya's face lit up. "We will watch the new Avengers movie," he declared, grinning as Abhijeet gave a long suffering sigh. He knew how much Abhijeet hated action movies. "I'm not watching that one!," the sharp shooter grumbled and Daya laughed. "Ok, ok! We'll watch something else. But what's wrong with action movies, I don't get it. They are so cool and most of them now-a-days are so well directed," he said.
"I beg to differ. I don't find action movies cool. After already enduring so much of action in real life, I like watching movies that soothe my soul, something light," answered Abhijeet.
"I guess this is something we both will never agree on mutually," Daya said as he reached for his laptop and Abhijeet smiled, shaking his head.
It was a surprisingly idle morning in the bureau when Daya entered, and raised an eyebrow as he saw Abhijeet typing something on his laptop with a very serious expression. He approached his best friend's desk, and needless to say, the latter failed to notice his presence.
"What's with you? What are you searching for so keenly?," he enquired and that made Abhijeet perk up his head to look at him. He gave an audible sigh as he answered, "information about yoga classes."
Daya did a double take. "Yoga classes? Why?," he asked in an incredulous tone. "Yea, I have been thinking of indulging in some activity to distract myself from my memory loss issues and the traumatic nightmares I get. And Tasha suggested I join yoga and meditation. I agree with her, Daya. It can also help me to stay fit," said Abhijeet rather grimly.
"Yes, that's a good option. But I've been telling you to join me at the gym but of course, you don't have to listen to me!," Daya protested, displaying a dejected expression.
Abhijeet gave his best friend a look. "Daya, you know I'm not a gym person! How many times do I have to tell this to you?"
"Ok, fine! Join your yoga classes. Be happy!," said Daya swinging his hands in the air as he walked away to his own desk, leaving Abhijeet shaking his head at his back.
"What's the matter, Abhijeet? Why have you called me to this café at this hour?," Daya asked cautiously. The café they were seated at was their regular meeting place whenever they had to discuss matters unrelated to work but equally important. And looking at Abhijeet, Daya knew something was serious.
"I met Tarika yesterday," the sharp shooter said and Daya narrowed his eyes, fearing an unpleasant outcome of the said meeting. Having known Abhijeet and Tarika since a long time now, he was quite accustomed to hearing subtle insights of their relationship. This time, however, Abhijeet's voice suggested something else. "Is everything fine?," Daya asked wearily.
"Yes and no," said Abhijeet. Daya made a face. "Explain!," he said impatiently, folding his arms against his chest. He hated it when Abhijeet delayed giving an explanation, raising unnecessary suspense.
Abhijeet supplied, "So I met Tarika yesterday, and she asked if she-" he paused for a second before continuing with hesitation, "- if she can move in with me." Daya heaved a sigh of relief. "So? That's a good thing! What's the issue then?"
"Daya, it's a big decision. And moving in together without getting married is something I'm not able to register," Abhijeet explained with a frown. Daya gave his best friend a highly unbelievable look. "Are you serious, Abhijeet?! There's nothing wrong in moving in together without getting married if you both are happy. And anyway, you don't plan to get married anytime soon, right? So I think this is a good decision."
Abhijeet still looked unconvinced and Daya took a deep breath as he ploughed on, understanding perfectly well what the former was thinking. "Abhijeet, I think you're just scared that things are going to change. Yes, they are going to change, but come on! You guys have known each other since so many years now and it's high time you take the next step in your relationship." Daya leaned forward to make his point more convincing. "If you ask me, there's nothing wrong in giving it a try. You never know, things might change for the better. The rest is your decision," he finished, straightening back on the chair.
After a complete silence of five seconds, Abhijeet finally spoke, "I'm still a bit skeptical about this, but I'll think about it."
"I'm sure it will be amazing. And besides, I can get more chances to tell Tarika about the way you flirt with random girls during investigations," Daya smirked, his eyes glinting mischievously, earning a dangerous glare from Abhijeet in return.
When Abhijeet walked to the car, he found Daya already on the driver's seat laughing his head off. "What?!," he asked and Daya clasped his stomach to save his intestines from exploding. "In the lab just now, I was telling Tarika about the girl who was getting way too close to you yesterday at the mall and the way you were responding too sweetly, and guess what she said?," the muscle man spoke in a bemused tone, scoffing loudly and Abhijeet's eyes widened to twice their normal size. "YOU DID NOT!," he screamed, almost plunging forward to strangle his best friend.
Daya, who seemed to be enjoying seeing a horrified expression on Abhijeet's face, replied amidst intermittent giggles, "She said- 'Tell me something new, Daya!'. And she did not sound very amused, I must say. I can already imagine the situation when she sees you!"
Abhijeet opened his mouth to speak something completely unflattering but decided against it, his face almost on the verge of tears. "What did I do to deserve this treatment?!," he cried and Daya's retort was instant. "You made me go to the Goddamned court today. You know how much I despise it, and that too, in this fucking sweltering heat!"
"Don't swear! And what's wrong with the heat? It's the month of December and the weather is actually nice and sunny. You should enjoy being outside rather than whining about every single thing!," Abhijeet snapped back, silently thinking of ways to extract revenge for the trouble that Daya had landed him in.
"Enjoy my foot! There's nothing good about standing under the sun in any month, in any weather. I love it when it rains, so soothing and chilly," said Daya in an annoyed tone, as he turned on the ignition.
After a while of arguing on things utterly unimportant and useless, Daya said in a thoughtful tone, "Abhijeet, I have noticed we both have such different perspectives toward so many things in life."
"So what, Daya? Two friends, in spite of being inseparable, do look at the world differently. They can have varied opinions, and why not! They both have different identities, different personalities in the end. It's completely alright. What matters is we understand each other's views and respect them," Abhijeet said.
Daya smiled in spite of himself. "You're right! But on a lighter note, is there anything that we both virtually agree on?," he asked.
"There is. We both feel duty comes first above everything, we both feel nothing should come in our way of fighting for the right thing, we both feel women should be treated equal to men in every possible aspect. There are so many things that we both agree on. And, there's one more thing," Abhijeet said. "What's that?," asked Daya.
"The supreme court has passed a verdict today legalizing gay marriages and homosexuality. That is one sensible decision taken by them and the country finally has a reason to celebrate. That is one milestone achieved, don't you think?," Abhijeet supplied, and Daya nodded his head in agreement. "Totally! It's finally a moment of relief for homosexual people. They can come out without the fear of being judged and they deserve to be accepted the same way the society accepts an alliance between a man and a woman. I believe it is the love that matters at the end, and homosexuality is certainly not to be considered filthy."
"And decisions like these keep our faith in the law system alive," Abhijeet added and they both agreed in unison.
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~~ The End ~~
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A/N: I have no idea what made me write this OS. Turns out I am terrible at writing anything that does not contain angst. *sobs in a corner*
NOTE: I completely understand people have different opinions when it comes to homosexuality, but if you think you're going to talk dirty about it in the review section of my story and be abusive or disrespectful, please DON'T. Use your time and energy somewhere else where it is actually needed, I request you. Thank you! _/\_