I Am Tired Of Being A Hero
Chapter 100: Hugging Machine

Chapter 100: Hugging Machine

The man was wearing a brown polo neck ribbed knit sweater and navy blue trousers with light brown Converse shoes. There was a gentle smile on his face that made him look utterly harmless but Arlen could not help but frown, his eyes narrowing on the man’s face.

This person made him feel a strange kind of unease. He did not feel any hostility from him and even yet, he could feel a desire to vanish from. Don’t catch his eyes. Don’t attract his attention.

He shook his head, he was stronger than this person he could feel it, but he also felt like something was amiss. Something was seriously amiss with this person.

"Captain. This is Malik Patel. He is our next-door neighbor. Malik, this is the Captain of the Davenport Police Bureau, Arlen Sinclair.

"Nice to meet you." Malik stretched out his hand and Arlen ignored it, leaving it hanging.

"New neighbor. When did you move in?"

"Last week."

"Why did you choose to move in here? Pretty deserted and far from the town. Judging by your clothes, I doubt you would find any problems getting other accommodations in town, so why Harlem?" Arlen’s expression was very serious. He could understand Ravi’s desire to live here but he could not understand this person. Those canvases, he knew the designers and he knew just how expensive they were.

"Arlen!" Ravi frowned, Malik had a sad look on his face that made his heart ache. Arlen was not this kind of person so why?

Malik sighed, "Captain, Is this an interrogation?"

"Should it be?" Arlen pressed forward.

"That is enough." Ravi said coldly, "That is enough. We are late, Captain. Malik..." Ravi just sighed, "I will see you later."

The other did not look annoyed and just nodded, "Okay."

He had a good temper and Arlen was the friendly kind, weren’t they supposed to get along? He pursued his lips ignoring Arlen as they walked to the car.

He stretched his hand for the key.

"You look like you would drive me into a ditch if I gave you the key."

"Are you making jokes, right now?" Ravi did not sound angry, but the trace of disappointment leaking from his voice made Arlen feel as if there was a sharp knife squeezing into his stomach.

"I am sorry. I should not have said that right now." He gave Ravi the key and Ravi entered the car.

The ride was silent and the knife that was in his stomach squeezed deeper.

"Ravi, don’t ignore me. Scold me instead." He paused, "Don’t give me the silent treatment I hate the most."

Ravi looked at him, his fingers trembling at the sadness in his eyes, he parked the car.

"Why? Why did you do that? You were so rude and you were questioning him like he is a criminal and you...that just not the Arlen I know."

"You are right, I am sorry."

"Don’t just apologize, tell me why you did that?"

Arlen looked at him and then looked away, "I was afraid."

"Afraid."

"Yes, he...he does not seem strong but he...Ravi, I think he is very dangerous. My entire body, I just felt like he was really dangerous. So I panicked and he was suspicious as well. He moved to Harlem and next door from you..." Arlen scratched his head, his behavior just now was unsightly and he had shown such a side to Ravi as well, Arlen felt both shame and embarrassment.

He looked at Ravi, afraid to see any sort of disappointment in his eyes but instead, he was met with realization.

Ravi started the car, "You are right."

"Am I right?"

"Yes, Malik is dangerous and he is stronger than you think." The other was an incarnation after all, "But he is not a bad person."

"You can not tell a bad person from his looks alone." Arlen was still worried, "Ravi, why don’t you..."

"I am not going to move away from my house. Malik has no malice in his heart, for either of us and he is alright when you get to know him." He turned his face and smiled at Arlen, "Relax, alright."

"Okay. I would trust you. Maybe tomorrow, when I come over, I will apologize to him, maybe bring a bottle of wine."

"He does not like wine. Bring beer."

Arlen’s eyes narrowed and he could feel the restlessness before coming back, "It has been one week and you guys are so close."

Ravi shrugged. Maybe it is because they had wine together so he felt like he knew Malik a bit better.

"I should also apologize." Ravi’s ears turned red and he held the steering wheel even tighter, "I should not have hugged you like that without your permission."

Arlen looked at him for a minute and chuckled, it was like all those negative emotions faded away in an instant.

Ravi glared, "I would drive this car into a ditch if you laughed at me again."

"Sorry! Sorry! But you have to apologize, Ravi. You can hug me whenever you want and wherever you can’t stress, you can call me, I would drop everything and come give you a hug." He thought for a while and his eyes brightened, "I will be like you, our private hugging machine. You can call me Huggies."

Ravi looked at him and wished that he could pretend that he did not know him, only he could not.

"Huggies?" His disdain of the name was all so present in his intonation.

"Okay. Mr CuddleBunny, Hugzilla."

"Please. Please! By the river of Styx, please stop."

Arlen laughed happily at the exasperated expression on Ravi’s face. He added this expression to his mental book. It was filled with various, vivid , three-dimensional expressions of Ravi. Maybe because this person was the most fascinating person he had ever met, maybe because he liked him and felt relaxed in his presence, or maybe because of his god-damned curiosity that had gotten him fired from the Capital, whatever it was, Arlen found himself enjoying this exploration of Ravi.

"We are good, right?"

Ravi nodded, and then smiled, "Yes. We are good."