A Tumbler Full of Tales - ICT and beyond (ON HOLD)

Friendship - Oh you menace! (Ft. Hardik and Rahul - a sprinkle of MSD - 2019)

Friendship - Oh you menace! (Ft. Hardik and Rahul - a sprinkle of MSD - 2019)

A/N - Life has a funny way of going its own way without taking any of your feelings into consideration. It is quite an impressive thing in itself; come to think of it.

I run with ideas - some do not make sense even to me until I have spent a while trying to pen it down and until I can almost taste the feelings captured in the words. Though sometimes they do not make sense even then but I allow them to stay - give them a little room so be it.

This 'room kids' are the works I end up finally sharing. Ah Well! Not the best, but certainly the ones I understand to some extent.

"Hey, don't want to have dinner?"

"Not really?"

"Asking me or telling me?"

"Huh?"

"Your words... Are you telling me or..." Rahul trailed off. "Are you alright, Hardik?"

"I think so." Hardik looked out at the oncoming waves kissing the sandy shores; the water looked somewhat black. Not as per norm; not the perfect shade of blue it should be.

"Think so?" Rahul moved around and sat on the ground, right next to him. "What is going on in that non-existent brain of yours, Harry?"

"Not much really." Harry chuckled and wrapped his arms around lifted knees. "Nothing much at all. I am just thinking about the tournament."

"The World Cup? What is there to think about? We practice hard and then, it is all about delivering during the games."

"Yeah well; there's that."

The waves kept coming and the dull roar of the sea echoed around the surroundings; Harry kept looking out at their endless expanse.

"Do they trust me, Rahul?"

"What?" Rahul looked around to stare at his best friend.

"The Team.. Do they trust me?"

"As a player?"

"As a Player. As a Team member, a friend... As anything really. After that show...."

"Are you still thinking about that?" Rahul wished he could sound offhand, make light of things, but he couldn't. Not just yet.

"Always." Harry jiggled his shoulders. "I don't think anyone expects me to. They probably think that I am all good again. That I have forgotten what I said and how the world reacted." He grabbed a handful of sand and clenched his fist around it. "I have not forgotten, Rahul. Not what I said, not what it led to. Not my ban and certainly not yours. And I can never forget that I almost lost your friendship forever. Or Mahi bhai's love. And Rohit and Virat's trust. I....I don't know how to make it alright again."

"They have forgiven you, Harry." Rahul held unto Hardik's knee and squeezed. "Why are you letting all these things get to you?"

Hardik looked over. "Have they really. Rahul? Forgiven me, that is?" He ignored the rest of his friend's question. "Have you?"

Rahul shook his head. "No. I have not," he stated; the last thing he wanted to give Hardik was falsitude. "But I am learning to let it go. The others; they have forgiven you. There are no two ways about it."

"Did they forgive the Hardik Pandya me or the Harry me?" The words did not come as designated but they got the job done in some manner.

Rahul shook his head. "First tell me what the hell happened! I have never seen you be this thoughtful about damn anything; it is fairly worrying!"