Courage

2: The First Glance

Rinku remembered the first time it happened, so starkly, because it was unlike anything he had ever seen. He had been playing for KKR, and he was beyond excited to meet Dhruv, Yashasvi, and the gang - he was chummy with his team, but no one got him more than his old teammates and friends. He jogged toward the SMS stadium, eager to spend time with his friends - when a ball narrowly missed him, swinging hard and fast toward the boundary line. He looked up in surprise, and narrowed his eyes against the harsh sun to see who was about to injure him. He jogged ahead, and was shocked to find that it was none other than his bestie - DJ.

"Dhruv yaar, mujhe kyu toda?"

Dhruv turned his head toward the sound, and looked shocked to see Rinku beside him.

"Wha–How–?"

"How do you not see anyone when you're practicing? Oh wait, are you angry practicing again?"

Before Dhruv could respond, Yashasvi came bounding in. He slapped Rinku on the back, and booped Dhruv on his forehead.

"You idiot, coach is going to make you run laps if you don't stop this. We lost - get over it. It's just one match."

"That's....that's not what I'm mad about."

Yash and Rinku exchanged glances.

"You're not? Then what's all this ruckus for?"

Dhruv clenched his jaw, and growled a little. Rinku always told him he looked scary when he did that, but he figured Dhruv had taken it as a compliment.

The scary in question turned a little, and pointed his bat to a distant figure on the field. The figure in question was laughing and hugging Iyer, Rinku's captain, as if they were long lost friends.

Rinku looked at Dhruv in surprise.

"Dev? You're mad at Dev? What'd he do? He wouldn't even hurt a fly."

"Exactly - that boy doesn't have a destructive bone in his body. We lost, and yet he's frolicking around, laughing and giggling at everything and everyone. It's just.....aarrgghh!"

Yash and Rinku looked at each other, and burst into laughter.

Dhruv wiped the sweat from his brow, and looked at them with annoyance.

"What?" he barked.

They continued laughing. Eventually, Rinku stopped enough to look at Dhruv. With tears threatening to burst forth from the excessive laughter, Rinku cleared his throat.

"Dhruvi, that's just how he is. You have your coping mechanism, and he has his."

"Then why are you guys laughing so much?"

Before they could answer, the object of their conversation barreled into Rinku with the force of a golden retriever, and tumbled on the ground with Rinku in tow.

"Rinku! Oh, how glad I am to see you! When did you get in? Where are you staying? Oh we simply must go to that restaurant I was telling you–"

"Alright alright, give him some space, would ya," grumbled Dhruv, as he helped Rinku stand up. Dev, in his own world, ignored Dhruv's warning and snuggled closer to Rinku.

Dhruv looked at Rinku pointedly, as if to say, see what I'm talking about?

Rinku gave a short laugh, and ruffled Dev's hair.

"We'll do everything, but for now, let's practice, yeah?"

Dev beamed at him in response, and went to greet his friends.

Two heads swiveled toward Dhruv in unison, and he blurted out,

"See? How does one cope with so much..."

"Dhruvi, stop being such a grouch! He's a cutie, and we're not the only ones that think so."

Rinku pointed toward the stand, where a gaggle of girls were holding up signs of "Dev" and squealing when the person in question gave them a gummy smile and waves.

Dhruv simply rolled his eyes, and muttered something about 'nutty fan clubs' before resuming his batting practice.

Rinku looked at Yash, a worried expression marrying his face.

"Yash, everything is okay, right?"

"Don't worry about it, it's just Dhruvi being Dhruvi."

Rinku heaved a sigh of relief, and went to find his teammates.

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Dhruv understood what Rinku and Yash were trying to make him understand - that evening when he arrived at the RR entertainment room, he saw a multitude of players, both RR and KKR involved in video games, hand wrestling, gossiping, etc. He knew people had different means of coping, and he accepted that, but there was just something about Devdutt that had him bugged from the start. He was happy, no matter what - someone ragged on him, he responded with laughter; they lost the match, Dev was goofing around - there was no dampening his spirits. Right now, for example, he was involved in what looked to be an intense FIFA game with Yuzi, but there was no malice behind his bantering - you could defeat him, raze him to the ground, he would simply bounce back with a smile. It was infuriating for someone like Dhruv, who was intense on his most normal days.

For once, Dhruv decided to take Rinku's advice, and decided to loosen up a little, and who better to help him than the beam of sunshine in the RR jersey? He walked up to the both of them, and it seemed like Yuzi was losing, as evident by the way he simply threw the remote at Dhruv once he saw him approaching.

Dhruv sat down on the bean bag, cringing at the heat from Yuzi's butt. He took his time making himself comfortable, and it irked him just a little that there was no peep from his partner, as if he would wait for eons with the patience of a saint. Well, it bugged Dhruv a little.

He finally settled, and threw a predatory look at Devdutt.

Devdutt, who simply beamed in return, and asked,

"Ready for a round?"

Dhruv stilled. And then a thought occurred to him.

"Why do you never say my name?"

"Huh?"

"You - I've never once heard you say my name."

"I do."

Dhruv was having fun riling Devdutt up - just one reaction, he thought, anything to crumple his 'cool' reputation.

"No you don't."

"Yes I do."

"You don't - does my name offend you or something?"

Dhruv felt a smile creep up his face when Devdutt stopped, and took a deep breath, as if to calm himself. Gotcha! Then he turned toward Dhruv, an impassive look on his face. His voice, when he spoke, was devoid of any laughter, when he said,

"I do take your name. Dhruv."

Dhruv shivered at the tenor of his voice - his name had never seemed so special, so striking, so important before. He shuddered, and looked straight at Devdutt. He saw a gleam of challenge in Devdutt's eyes, but before he could respond, a loud shout from their coach inconveniently distracted them.

Next time, thought Dhruv, next time I'll make him say it again.

He did not stop to question why.