Courage

3: The Blossoming

RR had won, KKR had left, and it was time to party. Normally Dhruv would politely decline, spend some time resting and preparing for the big game, but Yash had dragged him out. Almost the entire team was ready to get crazy, and Dhruv could feel the collective enthusiasm evading his senses. He plastered a smile on his face, and clapped Sanju on his back.

"So what's the plan, Cap?"

"Not much, the families want to relax a little, so some games, dance, and food."

"Sounds great!"

Dhruv was perfectly happy to enjoy the night as a spectator, but apparently the universe had another plan. Just as he sat down beside Ashwin Anna and greeted his babies, Yuzi bhai hollered on the mic.

"Calm down, people, the party's just getting started! We'll start with my personal favourite - Paper Dance!"

The collective groans meant they were in a load of trouble.

As predicted, Yuzi created outrageous pairs - Ashwin and Hetty, Riyan and Burger, Boult and Jos, Yash and Jos' daughter.

Just when Dhruv was about to relax, Yuzi declared,

"And finally, Dhruv and Dev!"

Cheers erupted, and everyone clamored to either watch the game or stand up at the front.

Dhruv looked up in surprise, and found a little relief on seeing the same stunned expression on Dev's face. He wanted to object, but he knew Yuzi would not let him get away with it. Dejected, he just walked over to the other contestants, and signalled Dev to do the same with his eyes.

Dev, for his part, wiped the stunned expression on his face, and graced everyone with his legendary smile. Dhruv could see the ladies literally melting at the smile. Rolling his eyes, he quickly scrambled closer to Dev, and whispered in his ear,

"Don't make me lose, sunshine."

Dev shot him a quick look, but kept mum. They started with a quick round of a newspaper, while everyone hooted at their dance steps. Dhruv was not bad at dancing - all those lessons at Army parties paying off, but he was impressed to note that Dev was holding his own. He seemed a little shy, but other than that, he looked like he was enjoying himself. The music stopped and started again, only this time, the papers were folded in half. Instantly, Dev and Dhruv were forced to push themselves closer to one another to not drop out. Dhruv simply asked Dev to turn towards him, and then they danced. It was clear how uncomfortable they were facing each other and dancing, but eventually, Dhruv gave in. He turned his head away from the crowd and toward his partner.

His partner, who had refused to look at him once.

Well, that won't do.

He tried to get Devdutt's attention, but for some godforsaken reason, Devdutt refused to look at him or even glance at him. Dhruv was normally a sane person, but put him in close quarters with Devdutt, and apparently, that was all that was needed for him to lose his sanity. He ground his teeth, and while the music stopped and the paper folded, let out angry fumes.

When the music restarted, Dhruv wasted no time. He sneaked his hands around Devdutt's waist, and yanked him closer. Surprised, Devdutt could do nothing else but stumble into Dhruv's chest, and steady himself on his shoulders. Their resultant position meant that Devdutt had nowhere to hide, but he still tried to look anywhere else but at Dhruv.

Devdutt's continual ignorance was getting on Dhruv's nerves - what did this guy think? He smiled for anyone and everyone, make friends with anyone he came across, but Dhruv was too much for him? Well, if he was intent on ignoring Dhruv, he had another thing coming.