My Lover's The Sunlight...

Satranga

Shubman woke up the next morning at the chirping of the morning birds. The sight he was greeted with was ethereal. He was spooning Ishan who had a protective hand wrapped around little Aleya, both of them were drooling a bit - habits were truly inherited through genes. Deciding to sneak a picture of them both, the opener reached for his phone on the nightstand, but that very moment, his "best friend's" phone pinged with a message coming in. Shubman knew it was bad manners to check other's phones without their explicit permission, but he was dying to know the secrets the guy was clearly hiding from him. He read it from the notifications, careful to not give away his crime. It had come from the BCCI president saying, "Stay away from #77." 

His brows furrowed at the cryptic note. Why would Ishan stay away from him of all people and who the fuck was BCCI to dictate their actions?! Feeling righteously furious, Shubi grabbed his own phone, taking a few pictures of the sleeping beauties before opening his Instagram which was blowing up with the notifications of the messages coming in. The content which stood out most was a picture of him carrying Aleya and walking with Ishan just outside Tilak's apartment complex. The heading was "The fallen Prince spotted carrying a child with the former player who ghosted the world for the past five years..." The articles being circulated on a viral scale were nothing but trash talks as people speculated who the child was - was she related to Ishan, Shubman, Tilak or Brevis? The world wanted to know though it was none of their business.

Coming to the comments, Shubman's eyes skimmed through the multitude of hate comments for all four of the players - him being hated for not playing well, Ishu being hated for dropping off the face of the world and the other couple being hated just for being gay. He remembered the video on Instagram that had been posted by Dewald and Verma together. The public didn't like it, but the ones who hated it the most was the BCCI and team management. Tilak had been downright dropped from the 2027 world cup team as it would have, in the words of the BCCI, "Destroyed the reputation and legacy India had built over the years in cricket." "Fucking bullshit", he cursed in his mind. The Indian team needed a strong batting order that time around and all-rounders like Tilak were always welcome, but who would teach those idiotic boomers to be inclusive. India had lost that time very badly, like very, very badly, not even reaching the semi-finals. 

A huge protest against the BCCI had been staged by the players and common people alike. Cricket, being a religion in India, forced the mindset of the millennials to change. Amendments started, a fight against the heteronormativity as many celebrities came out as either members of the LGBTQ+ community as allies. The public was now divided into two groups - the haters and the supporters, but the BCCI, wearing the mask of supporters the old hags were still very much haters to the core. "Subah subah muh latkake kya padh raha hai?" He tried shielding his phone from the just awoken angel but it was snatched from him, before his reflexes could kick in. He saw the eyes dim as they took in the comments. 

Were those tears in his eyes? But before he could muse any more, Ishan's phone rang, disturbing the serenity of the morning, "Hello?" Hardly few words were exchanged between him and the person on the other end on the line when Ishan excused himself to the balcony. Shub decided to focus on Aleya. It was already 7 a.m. Just how long had he been scrolling through his phone?! After freshening up, he tickled Aleya into the land of the awake people. Her yawning was so cute that he had to take another picture. "Papa?" She asked rubbing her eyes. "Ishu is talking to someone on the phone. Come on, let's freshen up, ok?" "Okie." Her little feet pattered on the tiled floor as she beelined into the bathroom after him. 

She was an obedient child, unlike someone Shubman knew. He brushed her teeth, gave her a quick bath and dried her hair as best as he could with the towel, before rummaging through her Barbie bag to find a comfortable outfit for her. While he was dressing her up in a cute baby pink frock, Ishan entered the room, "Tu ja, nahale. Bhije jama gaye shukale thanda lege jabe." (If you dry wet clothes while wearing them, you'll catch a cold.) "Tune bengali kahase sikhi?" "Kal bola tha na, 5 saal WB mein raha hun. Ab ja." The batsman was leathering up his body with the shower gel when he heard a knock on the bathroom door. "Kya hua?" "Mein brush kar lu? Warna practice ke liye late ho jayenge." "Aaja." The glass partition between the shower and the sink was literally non-existent. "He didn't even care to draw the curtain for the  sake of modesty", Ishan noted. Well, it was nothing he hadn't seen before.

While he brushed his teeth, Ishan looked up in the mirror to find Shubman staring back at him, through the glass. He looked tantalizing as the water washed away the foam, bit by bit from all parts of his body - leaving nothing to imagination. Kishan's heart beat so fast that he could swear the it was audible to everyone in a mile radius from him. He felt hot and bothered, his body reacting in ways he had never felt in the past five years. Shubman swore that Newton's law of gravitation never sounded so true. Ishan was pulling him far more than the earth could. He was the sun to Shubman's moon. He stepped out of the shower reaching for the towel he had kept aside, the eye contact through the vapoured glass never breaking. 

Ishan was the first to look away - what the fuck was he doing when the BCCI secretary had just shouted on him to do some mother-fucking damage control for the trolling all of them were facing? His cheeks reddened at his shameful thoughts. Suddenly a warm hand grabbed his waist, turning him around, using the balls of his feet as a pivot. Well, face to face, Shubman looked hotter. He could feel the heat emanating from the player through his thin undershirt. The towel was wrapped under his waist, but Shubman knew that it was doing a poor penny worth in hiding how Ishan affected him. He raised a hand to cup those soft cheeks, to frame that jawline, fingers tracing around the edges of redness on the fair skin, turning it darker - like a blood rose in full bloom. 

Both of them were panting, the air, electric between them. The pull one had on the other was incredible as their faces gravitated towards one another - Shubman leaning down while Ishan craning his neck. Their lips met midway. Ishan tasted just like Shubi had imagined, soft, warm, chocolatey with a hint of vanilla - the taste was addicting, a new drug he couldn't live without. Ishan closed his eyes the moment as rough, slightly chapped lips landed on his. Shubi tasted just like the way he remembered but without the flavour of alcohol. He tasted like morning dew, like raw nectar collected from the flowers with an undertone of mint. They lost themselves in the sensations as their hands, seemingly having minds of their own, traversed the planes of the other's bodies. Both decided such an experience must last an eternity, need for oxygen be damned as they attacked each other's lips with same vigour, but someone had different plans. Their heavenly make-out session was interrupted by the slamming of the bathroom door, followed by a scandalised scream of "PAPAAAAA!" 

AUTHOR'S NOTE: 

Socha tha exam khatam hone ke baad update dunga, but Ishman are too addicting. 

Inn BCCI waalo ki amma behen par aa jane ja mann karta hai kabhi kabhi. Saalo ko Ishan ke party karne se bhi problem hai? Inhone Indian ma-baap hone ka kaam kuch zyada seriously le liya hai. 

I just want Ishu to be fine and back asap. He is too cute to be made to suffer for so long by these horrible people. 

Yeh happy chapter enjoy karlo, next waala itna angsty hoga  na, rula ke chhodunga.

Aur ek baat. Mereko "Animal" movie nahi pasand, aur nahi meine film dekhi hai. Bas yeh gaana suna, mujhe yeh achha laga. Isliye chapter title bana diya as this chapter has so many various moods in it and "SATRANGA" literally means the rainbow and what comes in your mind from 🌈? LGBTQ+ community!

Enjoy, Adiraj.