006

I’m awoken by a loud commotion coming from the hallway. I rub the sleep out of my eyes and sit up slowly against the pillows. Next to me, Ken jolts awake as well, combing his brown hair with his fingers and looks to me as a pair of hush voices gradually increase in volume and severity.

    “You’re being so goddamn clingy. Can’t you leave me alone for a second without you crawling into bed with me?”

    “Are you being serious right now, Ravi? The power’s out, which means so is the heat. You obviously don’t need it since you’re practically robo cop, but I’m cold, okay?”

    He glares at her in such a manner that goosebumps graze my skin.

    “That’s not funny,”

    “Neither is your attitude,”

    Despite the fact that I’m staying in their apartment, Ravi and Rebecca are the absolute last people I expect to be fighting.

    “Whatever. You and your metal can freeze to death alone,” I hear Rebecca mumble before a door slams shut. Ravi exhales sharply and turns to Ken and I, now lying motionless.

    “Sorry we woke you up. Go back to sleep.”

    As soon as the door to Ravi’s bedroom closes, I roll over on my side so that I’m facing Ken. He looks just as shocked as I do.

    “Ravi doesn’t seem himself,” I whisper. He nods twice quickly, cheek rubbing against the pillow and I’m reminded of a little boy.

    “Do you think it’s stress?”

    “I’m not sure. Should we check with N later today?”

    “Y-yeah,”

    “What’s wrong?”

    My teeth chatter violently and I burrow myself deeper into the blankets. Rebecca is right about the heat. The fire had died down hours ago, plunging the entire living room area into a frozen tundra.

    Warm arms gently circle my waist as Ken suddenly pulls me into him. Blood roars in my ears, my heart threatening to give out as he tucks my head under his chin. I try not to tangle our legs together, but he’s so tall that it’s not even an issue. My hands rest against his broad chest, rising and falling slowly, his breath tickling my hair.

It’s almost hypnotic as I feel his breathing slow as he slips back into unconsciousness. My eyelids begin to droop.

~~

The rain has stopped when Rebecca rouses me awake and I’m delighted to find the lights back on. The whites of her eyes are tainted red and I suspect it to be from either crying, exhaustion or a combination of the two. I’m about to ask her if she’s alright when she stops me.

“I practically had to detangle you from him,” she says to me as the two of us move quietly as to not to wake up Ken, who’s still sleeping soundly. She wiggles her eyebrows at me and I bump her with my hip.

We decide to prepare breakfast for the boys. We work efficiently, Rebecca preparing batter as I man the frying pan. I pretend to stab her with the spatula and she shrieks before covering her hand with , eyes wide. The two of us choke on silent laughter.

The air is perfumed with the sweet smell of pancakes, a delicacy that I had mastered after learning that my mother’s cooking was not exactly edible.

“Something smells amazing,”

Ken is finally awake, his voice slightly hoarse and hair ruffled. He stretches his shoulders, his grey sweater creasing from the movement. Wow. He looks wonderful in the morning.

I set out the remainder of the table settings, along with a bowl of cut fruit when Rebecca returns with Ravi at her heals. She’s biting her lip in annoyance and my heart drops at the thought of another argument.

“I’m just saying, you don’t have to be so annoying about it,” I hear her murmur.

“Here we go again. I told you, I’m not hungry.” he snaps, voice like ice.

“You sound like a ing kid, Ravi.”

When Rebecca sees me looking, her face brightens into a smile.

“C’mon, let’s eat. The food’s gonna get cold.”

The four of us all take our seats and I immediately reach for the fruit, the clinks of silverware against plates filling the room as we all dig in, Ravi included.

There’s a long silence and I wonder what happened back in Ravi’s room that made him so upset. He eats quietly, the muscles in his jaw clenching and unclenching as he chews. He looks downright furious and his brows are furrowed together in a straight line above his eyes.

“You’re chewing too loud.” he says simply. He’s looking at no one in particular so we all stop. Ken swallows next to me.

“Sorry,”

“Not you,” he growls. He jerks his chin in Rebecca’s direction.

“Her,”

Rebecca just stares right back at him, mouth set.

“You really want to do this? You’re being ridiculous.”

“I’m not the one eating like a mad cow.”

“What the is your problem? Why are you being so sensitive all of a sudden?!” she demands, leaning forward in her seat. Ravi slams his hands on the table, dishes and glasses rattling. He gets up so quickly that his chair tumbles backwards and he storms off as he grabs a coat, leaving the apartment entirely.

The three of us sit in complete silence before Rebecca’s quiet sobs fill the room. I glance at Ken and he nods in understanding. Wrapping my arms around Rebecca, I guide her down the hallway to her room where I gently close the door behind us.

She’s crying harder than I’ve ever seen her before, tears spilling from her eyes in great drops.

“Hey, shh,” I coo, swiping the wetness away with my thumbs, “it’s alright, you’re okay,”

She attempts to smile, but her lower lip quivers fiercely and she gasps for air as another sob rocks her body.

“I’m s-sorry,” she chokes out, “I’ve never fought with him like this before, especially over something so stupid. I just don’t know why..” her voice cracks and she shakes her head, “I’m sorry.”

“You don’t need to apologise.”

“I know. I’m sorry. Oops.”

The two of us chuckle quietly and I tackle her into a hug. She cries into my neck for a while, staining my shirt with her tears and she apologises again.

“Listen,” I say as she blows her nose with a tissue, “I think something’s off with Ravi,”

“No kidding,”

“Not like that, I mean, I think something’s wrong with him.”

Rebecca stops wiping at her nose, “You mean, like his program?”

I nod.

“Why do you say that?”

I move to sit next to her on the bed, “Last night, his eyes looked like...like they flickered, or something,”

“You mean aside from how they usually do?” she asks.

“Mmhmm. He didn’t seem to be feeling any strong emotions, so instead of blue, they were bright orange.”

Rebecca’s silent now, and she’s hugging herself like she’s trying to hold herself together.

“That’s really weird.” she states quietly and turns to me, “do you think he’ll be back soon?”

“Of course. He loves you more than anything in the world.”

~~

I walk quickly down the hall of offices as the elevator doors slide open. After N’s promotion, his own work space had been given to him, and  I’m determined to see if my hypothesis about Ravi’s software is true. N is just the person I need to see. No way I was going to see Rebecca cry like that again.

“N,” I breathe as I catch myself in the doorway.

The office is a complete mess. Papers and blueprints are strewn everywhere, and countless tablets and laptops litter the tabletops. Among all the clutter is N, tapping away on a keyboard. He’s hunched over and his glasses sit low on the bridge of his nose. He looks like he hasn’t slept.

“N,” I say again as he continues to type.

He flinches and glances in my direction, his lips spreading into a thin smile.

“Hi, Mari,” he mumbles weakly.

“This place is a mess,”

N grunts in response and wheels backwards on his chair to grab a design sheet.

“You wanna take a break?” I suggest softly as he stares intently at the blinking screen in front of him, “maybe get a coffee or a bite to eat?”

“Can’t,” he shoots back a little too quickly and I frown, which he doesn’t see, “the blackout last night crashed all our servers. I don’t know who the wise guy is who decided to put all our most important designs on completely different networks-” N stops himself with a shake of his head.

“The point is I have to back everything up manually to our other system, which is ancient. I wish I could come with you, but I’m way too busy to do that. Sorry.”

I nod but my feet stay rooted to the spot.

“I know you’re really busy, but I need to ask. Did those servers happen to have something to do with any Augments?”

N turns around in his chair so fast it makes my head spin.

“Listen, Mari, I’d love to chat, but I -”

“Right, sure. Sorry for bothering you.”

~~

Ken and I decide to get ourselves out of Skypeak. After Ravi’s incident this morning and seeing how swamped N was, the negative energy is practically swirling about the entire tower.

The two of us take the train into the city, walking the streets still wet with rain. The air smells damp and fresh and we head into a small cafe, ordering some sandwiches and tea, of course.

Ken chooses a booth by the window and he slides in across from me. It’s quiet in the cafe, the two of us are the only customers because of the late hour. Soft music washes over us through the speakers, along with the quiet clinking of dishes as the barista works behind the counter, humming quietly to herself. The mood is calm and somewhat cozy as the two of us eat our food.

After paying, Ken and I stroll down the block with our drinks in hand and enter a quaint, family-owned bookstore. The smell of dust and worn pages fills my nose as I browse the shelves of tattered paperbacks. I pick one out and flip through it quickly, scanning the printed words on the page to decide whether or not it’s worth the purchase. I decide to save my money and put the book back.

“Hey, what’re you doing?” Ken laughs as he emerges from behind one of the shelves, “c’mon, my treat.”

“No way,” I respond back, “I have way too many books back at home anyway,”

He continues to try and find the book I had picked out.

“You didn’t want The Zen of Farting by any chance, right?”

“Wh-? Ken!”

But it’s too late. He already has the book and he’s running toward the register. I dash after him and I lunge to try and grab him by the arm when he slaps the book facedown on the cover, looking back at me with mischievous eyes.

The woman at the register glances down at the cover and then back to Ken.

“It’s for her,” he says as he nods to me and pulls out his wallet. I smile sheepishly at the worker. She shrugs and places the book in a paper bag, handing it to Ken.

“I honestly can’t believe you just did that to me,” I cry out as we leave the bookstore, the chime clinging as the door closes.

“Wait. You think I bought this book for you? No, no, no, this is for Ravi,” Ken puffs out his cheeks, crossing his eyes at the same time and I nearly die of laughter.

“You’re the worst.”

A/N: IM SO SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT ;v; angry ravi is so hot to write hhhh

it turns out my computer snagged a small virus so I've been backing it up for the past few days. I'm going to be uploading a few more chapters today as a little gift for everyone who's been waiting so patiently for updates OTL

the love equation teaser had me on the floor like kEN YOUR HAIR SON

xoxo Sahara