Memories in gold against a purple sky

Even if we don't make it: Part 5 (Venky-Nitish)

After a very long time, when Nitish and Venky felt up to returning to the hall, they found the party still going on in full swing.

"Hi Nitish bhaiya, hi Venky bhaiya," said Rinku with bright eyes. "You're back!"

"And you didn't come looking for us!" said Nitish.

"Er--"

"Nitish!" scolded Venky.

"What?" complained Nitish. "He should come and looked for us--he shouldn't have just stayed on in the party--"

"HEY GUYS!" Shreyas bore down upon them. "YOU MADE UP! YOU'RE FRIENDS AGAIN!" He turned and bellowed to everyone, raising a glass in a cheers!-gesture. "NITISH AND VENKY ARE FRIENDS AGAIN!"

Everyone cheered at the top of their voice and swarmed over to hug the two in question. Venky, shaking his head, bore with it, but Nitish rounded on Shreyas.

"And why did you, being the captain, let the celebrations go ahead without the two of us being friends?"

"How could he help that, Nitish?" asked Venky.

"I DON'T KNOW, HE SHOULD KNOW, HE'S THE CAPTAIN."

Shreyas backed away, foreseeing trouble.

"And Rinku!" Nitish grabbed Rinku's arm. "And you too," he added to VC who was watching with wide eyes. "How did you guys lift a trophy and dance for--" He consulted his watch. "--four hours when Venky and I weren't talking?" 

"Well, it was unfortunate that you two chose this exact time not to talk," said VC, deadpan.

"When that unfortunate thing did happen, why did you not do anything?"

"Like?" demanded Shreyas.

Nitish turned to Venky, who was hardwired to support each and every of Nitish's hare-brained ideas.

"Like postpone lifting of the trophy till we'd made up," he said solemnly.

"How--" began Shreyas.

"If you didn't collect the trophy, we couldn't have lifted it," said Nitish.

"Yeah, as captain, you were the ones calling all the shots, skip," added Venky.

"No, I was not! They called my name and I had to go and collect the trophy!" said Shreyas.

"I fail to understand," Gambhir, who'd somehow been convinced to stay up late by Manish, said, "why you are bothering to justify yourself at this point, Shreyas."

"Because they always gang up and blame me for everything," wailed Shreyas.

"Who fault is it, this time?" asked Nitish.

Angky tried to speak up for the sake of justice.

"Nitish bhaiya, he couldn't have refused to collect the trophy--"

Nitish gave Angky such a look, he promptly melted into the crowd.

"He could have," said Venky. "If they could say DRS is down and give Jaani out, Shreyas could say I would collect the trophy half an hour later just as well."

"Exactly!" cried Nitish, throwing an arm around Venky.

"What I fail to understand is how it did not occur to either of you to not fight when the trophy lifting was approaching," said Dre Russ, throwing his arm around Shreyas, with whom he'd danced all night.

"Why did you fight again?" VC persisted.

"Why do you want to know?" asked Venky. "Just why do you want to know this badly? You are not a curious person, in general."