I Am Tired Of Being A Hero
Chapter 117: Chatting with Arlen

Chapter 117: Chatting with Arlen

Asher came out of the dressing room. He was wearing a slim-fit cotton t-shirt with dark wash jeans and white leather sneakers.

Ravi was sitting on a sofa leather chair watching a comedy show, he paused it and looked up.

"Not bad. Do you like it?"

Asher looked in the mirror before shaking his head.

"Put on the next one." They had finished buying groceries and buying clothes from a nearby clothing store for school.

Ravi then decided to bring Asher to choose a suit but seeing other beautiful clothes, he asked him to choose three fits after trying the black suit.

"What do I need a black suit for?" Asher had asked.

"For funerals."

The young teenager had nodded calmly and had tried the suit. Now they were trying for some fit. He had chosen two that looked suspiciously like what Malik would wear, a Cashmere sweater, chinos, and soft cotton tops.

He looked down and pressed play, leaning back so he could watch the comedy.

"Ravi."

Ravi looked up and stared. No surprise.

"Let me guess if you like this one?"

Asher nodded.

Once again, he looked like a young Malik, with a well-fitted crew neck sweater and a charcoal gray tailored trouser with white sneakers.

Hopefully in school, he would like the kind of clothing that other thirteen-year-olds like, well if he did not like it, it was still alright.

His phone beeped and he looked at the notification on his phone.

1 message from Arlen.

His face lit up and his cheeks turned rosy. He reached into his wallet and handed Asher his card.

"Pay. I have to reply to a message."

"Is it from the Captain?" Asher asked and Ravi raised a brow.

"Keep this up and I would suspect that you also have premonition abilities."

Asher smiled and turned to leave with the blue card.

Ravi took a deep breath to calm the anticipation in his heart before he opened the message.

"Ravi, How are you doing? Can I come over tonight?"

Ah! Ravi. Why did the name suddenly sound more intimate in his mind? Like Arlen was whispering it in his ear.

Ravi. This is called delusion.

But the thought still made him smile. He wanted to see him, he could come over anytime he liked. But he had never asked before, the other was the king of impromptu visitation, the feeling that something might have changed, Ravi did not want that.

He did not dream of more, he just did not want them right now.

"Fine. You have never asked before." He typed almost immediately.

"I am asking now?"

Ravi rolled his eyes and his lips twitched as if a smile was about to escape from the confines of his mouth, his eyes softened, the hint of gold shining through the gray. He leaned back on the chair, his entire body relaxing, "You can come anytime you want. You don’t need to ask."

"That is a mighty gift, are you not afraid I might misuse it."

"Captain, are you bored?" The covert playfulness made Ravi smile.

"You always know me so well. We closed the case, I am a little bored now. Do you want to hear the details?"

Did he know him so well? Arlen was private. More private than one would expect from someone so jovial and friendly. What he knew was not enough for him, he wanted to know more. No, not more. He wanted to know everything about him, from the first thought he had in the morning to his deepest darkest desire.

If he could be a journal that the other could store the excess of his mind he would not mind.]

Ravi, he caught himself before he could spiral down. Why?

Why would he have such thoughts? It had not been like this with Alya, he did not know the deep dark thoughts the Immortal had. Why?

"Not really."

"You don’t care about the reason why he did it, right?’ Arlen asked and Ravi nodded.

Realizing that Arlen could not see him, he thought for a minute, "It was a revenge arson, right? So they hurt him and his family? There is no suspense there."

"No suspense?" There was a smiling emoji, "I wonder why he did not kill Mary."

"I wonder too."

"No, you don’t."

Ravi’s lips twitched again, "No, I don’t."

"What are you doing?"

"Buying some clothes for Asher. We went shopping today. He is paying right now."

"That’s great. I will forward the schools that I found to you when I get home. Greet him for me. Don’t forget the sweet treat?"

"Sweet treat?"

"It is customary. If you take a child shopping, you have to buy a sweet treat for them. It can be dessert or ice cream or milkshake. It has always been like that."

In his family perhaps, Ravi knew that Arlen was from a sweet home, and had a caring parent. Such light could only come from a place of love and safety. He envied him a teeny tiny bit for that.

"I know good ice cream spots."

"Really? I have not found a good one."

"Captain, didn’t you just say, ’child’?" Ravi smiled, his hazel eyes twinkling.

"And how do you know the ’good spots’?"

"The Internet. It is called browsing."

There was silence for two seconds and then his phone beeped.

"Alright. You won."

Then a sticker of a dog in a corner fuming.

"I will remember this defeat."

Ravi could not help it, he burst out laughing, attracting the attention of some of the customers.

He was a sore loser. Even though the competition was a flimsy argument. It was like he was gate-keeping something precious. Another secret, a part of the person he loved.

"Okay. Let me not keep you from Asher anymore. I don’t want him to hate me more than he already does. Ravi, I have a present for you. A little something to express my thanks. You are going to love it. Look forward to tonight."