tryst - an ashaangi ff

xvi

It was no doubt that Ashwin extremely missed his family. Sure, he had grown accustomed to the empty home he always returned to and sometimes he even found comfort in it, but he still missed the calm demeanor of his house. His family had always been normal, not too exciting but he loved that about it. He was an overthinker sometimes and his family was a splash of normal in his life.

Sivaangi's family, on the other hand, he found was always full of life and bustling. There was always loudness and laughter, mostly from his pesky girlfriend, and they seemed to have a never ending supply of food. It was the same in his home, so when he was surrounded by the small yet warm family he was reminded of his own back in town.

He groaned as his character in the video game he was trying to play met their death. He cursed inwardly, this happened a lot nowadays. Sivaangi seemed to randomly enter his thoughts and sweep him of his feet, much like she did in real life. A smile played on his lips at the thought of her.

He got up to make himself a warm drink. As he turned on the stove, he was reminded of the one time Sivaangi infamously forgot to turn off the gas. He smiled widely and his thoughts wandered back to her. How would it be to have her right now? He could imagine her sitting on the counter, legs dangling talking his ear off. He wondered many things. How would it be to come home to her? Would he find her singing sweetly to herself or would she be engrossed by the TV. How would it be to wake up to her every morning? To be greeted by her warm smile instead of the sun. Would she throw her bag across the sofa like she did in her house? Would she be the one to use the shower the longest? He wanted answers to these so badly.

It was on his biggest fears about love. To get bored of someone or for someone to get bored of him. But with her, he craved the moments of normalcy and domesticity.

He sipped his drink slowly, remembering how his family was supposed to visit tomorrow. After getting negative results and the lockdown being temporarily lifted, his family wanted to visit him briefly. They had already gone too long without seeing him. Just as if on cue, his phone rang. He looked over to see his sister's caller ID flash.

He pressed the phone against his ear, looking at the hazy lights of the city. "Hi ka." , he said.

His sister hummed and said, "Enna pandra?"

"Vilayditirunthen. Neenga ellarum okay thana? Packing la over ah?."

His sister smiled, she knew her brother could get into that phase of isolating himself when he gets overwhelmed with feeling, "Aan, over da. Kalaila seekaramave kelambiduvom, 8 hours aagumame." His sister spoke distractedly, due to the incessant 6 year old who stuck to her leg, demanding for a candy. His sister sighed and gave her a slight nod as permission and the child jumped as though she hadn't eaten candy in her life.

Ashwin chuckled when he heard his niece's whines, "Aathira va?". His sister sighed in response and said, "Ama da, vara vara romba thola panra." He laughed again and suddenly missed everyone terribly.

"Neeyum kozhanthaiya irukum bothu apadi than iruntha."

His sister huffed and rolled her eyes, and her gaze flicked over to the picture of her and her brother on the wall, that her husband so desperately tried to hang right, and was taken back to the past. "Ama, ippo than ungaluku kozhanthagala pathi naraya theriyume", she teased.

Ashwin furrowed his eyebrows trying to gauge what she was trying to insinuate. "What do you mean?".

His sister smirked, and said, "Onnum illa." She glanced at her child who was now jumping up and down the bed, clearly a side effect of all the sugar she had consumed. She took the phone off her ear momentarily to shout for her husband, so that he could pacify their hyper child.