Chapter 12- The cool guy

" I'm Shashi." He flashed a toothy smile. He quickly retracted his hand after a moment of silence.

" I'm sorry if I startled you, but you looked like people who needed help. "

He stated looking at the still very confused trio who all had different emotions plastered on their faces.

" Was I.... wrong?"

He asked, not getting the response he thought he would.

Darpan regained his senses quick while Aryan and Ashmit too were now standing straight yet maintained their balnk expressions.

" Oh! I am so sorry if we somehow caused you inconvenience. I do understand we were quite loud . The thing is we are in a bit of a pickle now. But I understand if it bothers you, we will go-"

Darpan tried his best to not sound scared but oh would he be lying if he said he wasn't. Pissiing off city people was the last thing he wanted to do now.

" Hahahahaaaa..haha.....ugh..hahaaha."

Shashi laughed while clutching his stomach as if he had never saw something quite comedic in a very long time.

Darpan had expected someone to yell or snicker at him over the course of time but...laughing?? He never did expect in his life that people would purposely ask for assistance to people and then laugh in their faces. City people were different all right.

The man tried to contain his laughter but seemed to be having a hard time keeping a straight face. When he finally did straighten himself , he was met by the horrified expression of Darpan .

" I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to cut you off like that. I am sincerely sorry. It's - It's just that -uhm- I have never seen someone apologize so profusely for nothing. It's been years in the city here and this - right now was quite new to me so I - I uhm just ..... nevermind."

Shashi started off trying to reason but gave up realizing he just tanked his first impression.

Embarassed, he shifts his gaze to the expressionless man standing right beside the pretty man with a small chubby guy who ...looked like he was crying.

Suddenly he remembered what he was here for.

" Oh ! Before I forget. " he exclaimed.

" Nisha , are you still there? It's no use running and you know it. Come on out now. Even if you hide, I will just catch you again you know."

He yelled toward the crowd. Funnily enough no one seemed to pay attention to him.

' Is this normal for city people here?' Darpan wondered.

Suddenly, a small figure sneaked out from an abandoned tea stall. She had been apparently hiding there all this time. All three of the boys watched her with curious eyes.

When the girl lifted her head , a sense of shame and guilt could be seen in her eyes.

" Wait! Isn't she the same girl from before? The one Ashmit almost crushed?"

Aryan seemed to recognise the maiden from their earlier encounter. Ashmit and Darpan both slightly nodded, remembering the incident back there.

The girl shyly took a few steps forward before looking down while playing with her fingers.

" Nisha, what did I say you must do now?"

Shashi tried to coax her to do something while the trio just watched with confusion.

The girl Nisha quietly looked up at Aryan before shifting on her feet uncomfortably and looking around. Suddenly a hand was placed on her shoulder by Shashi who seemed to urge her to speak or act.

With one final look towards the trio, the girl silently took a step forward. She genuinely looked like she was about to cry.

" I am sorry. I am really sorry. I .....I was the

one who stole your money. I- I tried to gr-grab it from the gentlemen back there since you looked like outsiders so- so I thought you were an eas- easy target. "

Nisha stuttered in nervousness while keeping her eyes closed.

" Wait , so you- I mean YOU were the one to steal our money pouch.? But why ? Most importantly how did you manage to steal it in the first place?"

Aryan took a step towards the girl and she instantly backed on her own while squirming under Aryan's accusatory and angry gaze.

She looked up to Shashi with hesitation.

" I did what you wanted me to. I apologized and promised to you to not do it again. Can I just go now? I have my brothers waiting for me back home. Let me go this once please."

She pleaded to Shashi who just stared at her for a second before giving her the okay.

She ran off as soon as he nodded that she practically disappeared into the crowd of the marketplace within a few seconds.

" I'm sorry about that. Outsiders and tourists often face situations like this here. And to me it's a big shame and badge of dishonour on my part. I'm truly sorry that you had to experience this on your first day here." Shashi apologized while turning his attention to the trio.

" First of all, I'd like to know who the hell you are, mister." Aryan raised his brow at the man who just seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. " And how do you know what happened to us? Actually how do you even know it's our first day here in the first place?"

The man in question just smiled before glancing at a very concerned Darpan. Darpan himself actually had no idea what happened in the last few minutes. It just all buzzed by in front of his eyes. And the one thing he wanted the most right now was for Aryan to not make a fool of himself and the others.

Darpan just awkwardly smiled at Shashi before rushing over to Aryan's side, trying to stop him from getting too agressive.

" Aryan, stop it. He helped us. This is not how you talk to people who help you right? Try being a bit softer,huh. " he said calmly while trying to get Aryan to look into his eyes just so he could tell him to calm the hell down.

" Im so sorry. Actually, My brothers' a...but on the rough side.i hope you didn't feel bad at his choice of tone. He just talks like that... to everyone,yeah. He really didn't mean to offend you... I guess. Anyways, please dont be mad. I apologize on his behalf."

Darpan made a 90° bow to showcase his sincerity which earned an amused chuckle from Shashi whilst Aryan just rolled his eyes at his brother's weak attempt to defend him.

Darpan was again flustered. This man was indeed quite weird. He first just appeared out of thin air, gave them their stolen money back, laughed at their situation and even somehow brought the thief back to apologize. He just stared at the amused expression on Shashi's face.

Aryan nudged his brother's elbow while muttering " Bhaiyya, please have some dignity. Don't just now to randos like him"

Darpan shut him up by simply glaring at him straight.

" No no. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for laughing back then and chuckling at you. I swear I wasn't laughing at you at all! Most importantly, I apologize for not introducing myself properly

I am Shashi Saxena. The local Rakshan Adhikari* " He bowed the same depth as Darpan to show him respect and again flashed a toothy smile.

"Its actually my fault either ways. It was not my intention to make you feel uncomfortable. Plus I just ruined my image in front of you- didn't I? That wasn't very professional of me. And.. it is partly my fault that you had to go through this because of my incompetence. "

He looked down in regret. Darpan felt as if his air just changed after introducing himself formally. At first he just thought a kind citizen had helped them out. After finding out it was a Royal officer... It actually kind of made sense. He could only respond to Shashi's glances at him with genuine smiles and looks of acknowledgement . He had never seen a Royal officer before and now that he had....'they just look so cool' was the only thought running through his head.

Darpan took this chance to finally grasp this visual of a royal officer. For someone who was related to the royal army, he certainly didn't look the part- outfit wise.

He was wearing a plain saffron kurta with a black sleeveless cover-jacket. His black pajamas matching the jacket while complementing his white mojnis*

His face....wasn't bad. In fact, he did have a chiseled jaw and face with shining black eyes that just sparkled with life and joy.

His lips were pale pink and thin but his smiles were so wide and bright. Lack of stubble on his face only highlighted his clear brown skin which seemed healthy. He also was blessed in the physique department as his orange kurta did little to cover the noticeable biceps he had. His chest too, seemed to be raised than the rest of his upper body. His hair was slicked back . It almost seemed like it was wet but just the right amount needed to reveal his right ear which had a small golden piercing. He seemed more like a town Casanova , roaming about wooing ladies.

Darpan only broke out of the trance and immediately came back to the real world when he saw two black eyes staring right at him- into his own green ones. Darpan felt bad for staring so much and was very embarassed . He averted his gaze from the person's face and simply stared at the ground. Shashi's eyes just lingered on Darpan for a second before looking back to the stoic-faced Aryan.

" And as for how I knew it was your first day here- " he stated pointing towards the amount of luggage they left on the ground beside them, he continued " - no one really carries those big bags around on a daily basis" he said smiling.

" Need help with those?"

Shashi offered to the three young men . Darpan was flabbergasted. He knew City was different but he would have never expected it to be .... So weird. It was weird but cool at the same time.

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1.Rakshan Adhikari - literally means Guarding officer. Like a police officer or overseer of the town activities related to the branch of Royal Army.

2. Mojni- a type of footwear famous in Rajasthan,India. You can google it of you'd like.