Nature's Comeback

38- Shopping

Neer didn't realize when sleep took over his thoughts or how much time he had actually slept as he still felt exhausted after waking up. When he moved to remove his hold on Ahana, he noticed that she was already awake.

"You should've woken me up." Neer felt guilty for rendering Ahana immobile. Neer wondered since when she had been patiently waiting for him to wake up.

Ahana sat up, stretching out her arms which had been stiffened due to being in the same position for a long time. "It's fine. I didn't want to break your sleep. It has been too exhausting lately."

"True," Neer agreed. So much had happened within the span of two days.

"Oh!" Neer looked around the almost empty room in astonishment, "Where are the villagers?"

"A few social workers came. The villagers are taken to the shelters until something can be done about the village."

"That's good. At least they wouldn't be wandering around like us."

"Avan told me that they were crying happily upon finding the cows and buffaloes." Ahana chuckled, "Who will say that they had willingly left them behind?"

"Aye, don't be like that. If it wasn't for Avan and Maanvi, we wouldn't have cared about those animals either." Neer playfully pushed her with his shoulders.

Ahana pushed him back a lot more forcibly, before turning to face him properly.

"Speaking about Maanvi, shall we go and see her. Let's ask if she is doing okay and also make sure that she will keep quiet about what she saw," Ahana suggested, looking at Neer with wide, raised eyes.

"About that...," Neer fumbled, "she already left," he informed Ahana sheepishly.

"When?!"

"Last night," Neer answered, playing with the sleeves of his shirt.

Ahana had lots of questions but she kept quiet when she noticed his dejected tone. Patting his shoulder twice, Ahana ended the topic but not before saying, "I am here for you. Let me know when you are ready to share."

A tear dropped from Neer's eye and he went forward to hug her tightly. "Soon," he promised.

They were in the same position for a few seconds before Neer pulled back, "Gosh! You stink of ashes. Go and wash up." He pinched his nose in exaggeration, making Ahana hit him.

"Stop overreacting, it's not like I am smelling of sewage water," Ahana counter attacked, showing her tongue to him.

"You are gone now," Neer threatened.

All the sadness was left behind as the twins pulled each other's legs. Their play fight continued until they ended up ruining the tense atmosphere.

"Oops," both of them muttered in unison as they saw the irritated faces of researchers.

Neer raised his hands in surrender, before slowly backing away.

"Is there any problem?" Ahana asked, standing rooted in her place, not following Neer's lead.

"It's nothing," Reyansh tried to wave it off with a fake smile, but Sarika jad enough.

"You were right all along. We were trying to string all of you when we don't even have accommodation for ourselves. Our headquarters managed to find a lab and also the task we need to work on. But they couldn't find a place for us to stay," Sarika vented out in anger.

Ahana whistled at the situation, increasing the anger of researchers.

"What's so amusing to you?" Kriti snapped.

"Well....if there are so many problems then just go back to your homes," Ahana responded with a shrug. At least they had a permanent home.

"Or...you could try finding hotels or rest houses like this near the lab for the time being," Neer interjected in a gentle voice.

"I agree with them. We all know that the situation isn't the best, but we have to adjust with what is available if we want to survive," Reyansh said, taking back the role of a team leader.

He stood up with enthusiasm, trying to encourage everyone. "Okayyy...Let's show them how tough we are. I promise we will come out of this problem very soon."

"We should freshen up until we receive further updates from the headquarters," Payal suggested.

Everyone nodded with a sigh. They didn't have fresh clothes. In a hurry to get out of the research building, no one was able to gather necessities.

"Tej can fit into my clothes. And then we both can go and buy clothes for everyone else," Gyaan suggested, looking at everyone for agreement.

"What about the clothes for ladies? We can't have you two buy clothes for us," Sarika asked, feeling awkward. At times like this, she really wished for her daughter's boldness.

"I don't think we are of the same size but Kriti, Rewa and Sarah might fit into my clothes. We four can go and buy the necessities for the ladies." Ahana extended her hand for help.

"Would you have three sets of extra clothing?" Rewa asked in astonishment.

"We have our whole wardrobe with us," Neer answered instead.

"Ah yes! How can I forget? You two keep needing to find a new home. Either Ahana exposes her power due to her anger or you two get low on your energies," Gyaan muttered, shaking his head.

"Will anyone feel bad if I kill him? Just for once," Ahana asked everyone, and to Gyaan's shock everyone supported her.

His mouth was hung open at the atrocity.

"Learn to not overdo it. She might have said this jokingly today, but there's a huge chance that she will burn your ass one day," Neer warned Gyaan.

"Yeah yeah," Gyaan muttered offhandedly, before going to take a shower.

The ones who were going shopping took showers first while others waited patiently for them to come back.

"Thank you for your help," the female researchers thanked Ahana. They hadn't expected her to come forward willingly.

They all started out listing the absolute necessities for them and what type of clothing they were comfortable with. Also the list they were okay with in case the girls couldn't find what they had originally asked for.

Meanwhile, Reyansh was continuously on his phone, speaking with the headquarters about the arrangements and also requesting for vehicles to take them to the destination.