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Smiling slightly, Jai breathes out a massive sigh of relief as he finishes up his meditation practice. For the first time in a couple of weeks he was able to complete the self-guided session without dissolving into a puddle of tears. Because although he’s made giant leaps to make reparations for the destruction he caused in his past, there will always be a lot inside he’s contending with. Still, he’s proud of himself for the steps he’s taking in the right direction.
At first, he’d been petrified to let go of the person he’d created to deny himself his true feelings. Raavan was all-feared and powerful. And even though Raavan inevitably took things too far, he had still always been there to keep Jai from feeling any sort of remorse or responsibility for his actions. But as soon as he met Cherry, everything changed. Suddenly the cracks in who he’d molded himself into began to show, and even the men under his employ started to enjoy a version of him that became more emotionally available.
Jai decided to drop his malignant persona after enough time because keeping up the facade was proving to be too exhausting. Suddenly, his body turned against him and he found himself needing to rely on Cherry, Kaakha and others around him for support. Discovering their willingness to help him inspired him to pull himself out of the despair he’d been either reveling or ruminating in at any given time. He was sick of all the death and the oceans of blood. And he actually decided to do something proactive about it for once instead of running away in denial like he’d done oh so long ago. Continuing to run was simply not an option.
The first steps he made were finally reaching out to his brothers, Lava and Kusa, at the behest of his inner-child and Cherry. A few years ago, he’d learned that they’d survived his destruction of their acting stage as children and had been ignoring that fact. But, he was graciously surprised when they accepted his apology. Lava forgave him without him having to say much of anything, really. But it took longer to break through to Kusa because of the struggles he faced after the three of them were separated. Eventually, Jai was able to, though, and Lava and Kusa reside with him here at Jai’s haveli, along with their partners, Kumar and Chitti.
Jai stands, excited that he succeeded in his meditation without succumbing to an emotional breakdown. It’s pleasant when he’s spared the flashbacks of the people whose lives were crushed under Raavan’s polished boots. He quickly leaves the pooja room to track down Cherry. Impatient to know his exact location, Jai calls him up on his cell.
“Yeah, babe?” Cherry says on the other line.
“Where are you?” Jai asks.
“In the living room, come on, Lava made tea,” he informs him.
“Sure, be there soon. Hey…”
“Yeah?”
“I love you,” he states, wanting to tell him outside of the group atmosphere he’s about to join in on.
“I love you, too, sweetie,” Cherry replies and Jai can sense the smile in his voice.
He hears a chorus of aww’s from his brothers through the speaker of his phone and from down the hall as he approaches them. He hangs up the phone, chuckling to himself while pressing his index finger over his mustache. Reaching the trio, he sees Lava and Kusa are engaged in an imperative race in Mario Kart. He deliberately walks in front of the screen while on his way to Cherry to shake them up.
“Jai! Come on!” Lava yells.
“Move!!!” Kusa desperately squeals.
“You are so devious, my love,” Cherry says and laughs as he receives a quick peck on the cheek from Jai.
“That’s right, no mercy! Whatsoever!” Kusa insists, working his fingers fast to catch the last short-cut his elder brother almost made him miss and clinch a win over Lava.
“WHAT!? No, no,” Lava shouts as it sinks in that he won’t make it to first place before the end of the final lap, “NO!”
Jai laughs lightly while pouring himself a cup of tea. He settles in next to Cherry on a loveseat to watch the result of the race. Snuggling in tight, Cherry takes hold of Jai’s bicep to briefly rest his head on his shoulder. Kusa’s avatar crosses the finish line, completing the four-race tournament ahead of Lava in the overall score.
“Woooo!” Cherry and Kusa cheer, and the latter throws his arms into the air.
“I knew you’d cheer for my demise, brothers, you two always do,” Lava says to them with a frown. “I miss Kumar,” he adds.
“Well, if you’d only played like the pro you claim to be at this game, maybe you would’ve come out on top!” Kusa taunts him.
“Uh, sorry, unlike you I actually have a job and can’t just be posted up here all day obsessively replaying maps to memorize them,” he responds grumpily.
“Whatever, you’re just jealous,” he says in a sassy tone, turning away from Lava and waving a hand in his face.
“Fuck off,” Lava chuckles and slaps his hand away. “Rematch! Rematch. You two want in?”
“Thanks, but no thanks, I’m too comfortable here as a bystander,” Cherry says.
“Same,” Jai nods, abandoning his tea on an end table in order to wrap his arm around Cherry’s shoulders.
Kusa rolls his eyes dramatically and says to them, “If you two are just gonna sit there and make out you may as well just go to your room now.”
“Sure, like you and Chitti don’t nearly bang each other right here on the couch you’re sitting on at any given moment!” Cherry retorts.
He reaches out with his foot to gently kick Kusa’s shin in retaliation for his impudence. The affected drama king grumbles and smacks his leg as Lava forwards them toward another tournament in the game. “Don’t touch me,” Kusa complains.
“Don’t be a little bitch!” he says, sitting up a bit so that Jai has to pull him back into the crook of his arm. “I’ll kiss Jai out here, back there… Anywhere! And you can’t do anything about it.”
“Ugh, you’re such an ass. Why are you shit-talking when you aren’t even playing?” he asks, clearly just in a mood to antagonize.
“You started it!!!” Cherry says as he wishes he had something to throw at his brother-in-law’s thick head.
Kusa laughs, “I know.”
“Oh, I’ll kill you,” he chuckles along with him.