Fichain #4: [Start date 18 July 2023] - Page 19

Wait, Darshan isn't out yet? 👀

I thought it was ... Nevermind 

Originally posted by: Satrangi_Curls

Wait, Darshan isn't out yet? 👀

I thought it was ... Nevermind 

Will something need changing, m sure not in mine, coz I always kept the angst between them

Originally posted by: oh_nakhrewaali

Will something need changing, m sure not in mine, coz I always kept the angst between them

it's alright. I got this. There's no way Ishaan doesn't know it already but he's waiting for Darshan to talk. You can't have queer people put together without the other knowing, our gaydars work. 😆 

Caught upto 9th...loving the suspense...i love murder mysteries 😍

Segment #28

Darshan plated the dinner for himself and Ishaan. They had a silent dinner. 

"Darsh? What is bothering you?" Ishaan asked.

"Nothing."

"You know you can share things with me, right?"

"I've never had friends like this, so sharing things that are on my mind isn't my thing."

"So, we're not friends?" Ishaan furrowed his brows. His heart fluttered with a possibility. Wait what?

"You are- I mean yes, we are friends - I think -" Darshan mumbled. What is wrong with you? His brain screamed. 

"Darsh?" Ishaan placed his hand on Darshan's hand. "Are you okay?" 

He looked up, his heart beating loudly. "Yeah, I'm fine." Darshan slid off his hand. 

Ishaan's phone buzzed. 

"I found the approximate location of our parcel." The tech expert said. "It's near Maldives coast."

"International waters?"

"No sir, close to the border of India, Sri Lanka and Maldives."

Ishaan looked at Darshan, hoping for some witty or stupid remark but he had none. Ishaan called Manohar to inform him. 

"Take my chartered plane and bring back my son."

"Sir, our jurisdiction-"

"Don't bother about any of that. I am sending my driver, be ready." 

Ishaan prepared his weapons. Darshan secured some knives on himself. 

Few hours later they were flying over international waters, close to the cruise. They landed on a fisherman's boat and we're taken towards the cruise. 

Ishaan and Darshan sneaked on the cruise and found Aarav partying with his special guests. They searched for Simba and Bissa, both missing. 

Ishaan dragged a drunk Aarav into a bathtub and tried to sober him up. "Where is your uncle?"

Aarav tried to protest but Darshan pulled out his knife. "Answer what we ask."

"I don't know. We cut my cake and then I didn't see him."

"When did you last see him?"

"A few hours."

"Exactly how many hours?" Ishaan asked impatiently.

"Give me your phone." Darshan said. He went through the pictures and found the cake cutting ones. "Six hours ago. That's a long time to run away in any direction." 

They heard sirens. The Indian Navy was warning the cruise captain. 

"Why is the Indian Navy here?" Darshan peeked through the window.

"Because we were close to the border, seems like we're in the Indian waters now." Ishaan answered. 

Two officers from the navy came on the cruise to talk with the captain. 

"Who is the owner of the ship?" The officer asked.

"Aarav Gaikwad." The captain answered. 

Ishaan held Aarav's face. "You own this ship?" 

"I don't know." He shrugged. "Maybe this was the gift uncle was talking about." Aarav chugged a glass of water. "He made me sign some papers yesterday. I don't know what they were about." 

"Let's talk to the officers." Ishaan said. He tied up Aarav and the duo walked out.

"Hello officer. ACP Ishaan Kesrani, Mumbai Police." He shook hands with the two officers.

"Dev?" The taller officer moved closer to Darshan, taking a close look at his face.

"No, he's Darshan." Ishaan corrected the officer and glanced at Darshan who seemed uncomfortable. 

"You're mistaking me for someone else, officer." Darshan said.

"Unless you have a twin who also has curly hair, I know who you are, mister. Even if you are hiding your real name." The taller officer leaned in. Darshan took a step back. He hated running into his exes, especially the ones who remembered him too well, but he didn't. 

___

Idk, I thought a random ex might help Darsh finally accept stuff? Maybe a pep talk from the said ex? (⁠๑⁠♡⁠⌓⁠♡⁠๑⁠)

Originally posted by: MochaQueen

Caught upto 9th...loving the suspense...i love murder mysteries 😍

jaldi karo, khatam hone wala hai 

Never had a friend, cue David 👀🙈 

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CvmVA5bovj3/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

The vibe I wanted to go with but didn't happen 😆

Segment #29

"We have it under control, Dev. But I didn't know you were with the police." Kabir said, breaking Darshan's reverie.

"I am a PI, actually, Kabir, Aarav's dad hired me for a case."

"And we'll take over. This is concerning the national security, thank you very much." Ishaan and Darshan shared a confused look. Another officer handed Ishaan the papers.

"I think there is some mistake, Aarav has no idea what's going on here. He didn't even know he owns a ship."

"But he does have ton loads of drugs in his system?" 

Ishaan looked at Darshan, who shrugged.

As the officers dispersed, Ishaan and Darshan looked at each other, not knowing what to do.

"I think we should just go." Ishaan sighed.

"But it's clearly a set up or something."

"Darsh, Aarav's father can handle this. Or even if he can't, there is nothing much I can do, alone."

"You have me!"

"You know that's not I meant. Look, there is something going on here that we don't know about, and if we try to interfere, it won't go well. Atleast, now we know Aarav is safe, if we go back and find a way to get Aarav out of this mess, that'll make more sense."

"I honestly have zero flying effs to give about him, but right now, I just feel so bad for him. Why would Simba do that? Did he do all this just to set Aarav up? Can someone be that cruel?"

"He once got a 10 year old shot because his father refused to pay the extortion money. They all say it was my mistake the kid died, but I know I did everything right, the intent was to always kill the kid, he was just playing mind games with the family and the police."

Darshan looked at him sadly.

"That's messed up."

"I thought I could never understand cruelty, but from that day onwards, I started associating cruelty with Simba. And then, when Trisha died, I spent ages trying to figure out why he would kill her, but now I know, he was doing the same thing he did ages ago, send a message, to me, though he didn't know then, to Ravi Sir, to back off or we would lose our loved ones, like Trish lost Gaurav." Darshan placed his hand on Ishaan's shoulder. 

"Hey Dev!"

"Damn it! Will this dude just give up?"

"Why did you lie to him?"

"I...I was on a case and couldn't tell him I was a PI!"

Ishaan gave him a "are you serious look" but Darshan shook his head and walked over to Kabir.

"Come on, we can't miss out return flight!" He said and Ishaan jogged to him, a part of him wondering how long could they just keep this "will they, won't they" going.

__________

I just gave you the segue to continue with your plot bunny😅

Segment #30

"Are you still in touch with Mike?" Kabir asked as they settled in for the flight.

"Yeah!" Darshan nodded.

"Cool, give my regards to him." Kabir looked around to make sure Ishaan wasn't looking. "Where did you find this twink and how long have you been together?"

"We aren't together. What made you think that?" 

"Please, have you seen the way he looks at you or are you still in denial, not to be confused with the river in Africa." Kabir chuckled at his own joke. Darshan rolled his eyes.

"Look buddy I am not sure what is going on with you but I know for one that sometimes just accepting who you are relieves you of a lot of burden and life becomes a tad bit easier with one less secret to keep. And I know he is a good man and will keep you happy. Trust me when I say this."

"Kabir you don't know anything about my life but I appreciate your concern."

"Dev, we met three years ago for a few hours and I haven't been able to forget you or the time we shared. You're just that good." Darshan looked at him sheepishly. 

"Don't look at me like that, you beast."

"Beast?" Ishant raised his brows at Darshan and Kabir trying to understand what they were talking about. 

"It's not good manners to over here people's private conversations." Kabir said in the matter of fact manner. 

"Sorry we are cops and if we start respecting people's privacy we cannot contain crimes. But, don't worry I did not hear anything before the beast part."

Darshan continued to look out of the window.

"Darsh, have you never seen clouds before?" 

"They're quite relaxing." Darsh said, ignoring the two.

Kabir walked up to his colleague and Ishaan sat beside Darshan. "So, how is the case of mistaken identity going? Saw you two have a heart to heart as well."

"Why are you so interested in my personal life?" Darshan said rather curtly.

"Darsh!"

"Sorry I didn't mean to be rude, probably the lack of sleep is getting the best out of me." Darshan apologised immediately.

"Hey, do you want some drinks?" Kabir asked the two. Ishaan is about to pick a glass for himself. "We also have your favourite cognac, Mr D." 

"No thanks, I'm good."

"You sure? We got a bunch of variety."

"No thanks, I've quit drinking and been sober for over a year now."

"Oh that's amazing, keep it up." Kabir put his thumbs up.

Ishaan left the glass in the tray.

___

Manohar was pleased to see his son safe and got enraged the moment he heard about the trap Simba had plotted. "Ishaan, get me Simba, dead or alive." Manohar looked at Darshan. "Bring him alive, I will do the honours with my hands."

"Sir, you shouldn't taint your hands with a wanted criminal's blood." Darshan said quietly.

"Find him first, I'll tell you what to do." Manohar dismissed the duo. 

___

(´∩｡• ᵕ •｡∩`) 

Segment #31

"Hi." Nushrat almost shrieked in joy as she saw her visitor.

"I am so happy that you are doing ok." She continued as she engulfed Darshan in a hug.

"How are you?" He asked.

"All good, thanks to you."

"Debt paid, then? Did Fiza ask you anything?"

"I said you struck a deal with Manohar on behalf of the firm." Nushrat shrugged.

Darshan looked at her, studying her face. He had always trusted Nushrat. She was his mentor, after all. She had been there for him when he was clueless about himself. She had trained him, from the investigation to the physical training, it was all her, she had practically taken him under her wing when he had moved to Mumbai five years ago.

She was happy, really happy to see him. So then, why was the question bugging him?

"You want to ask me something?" Nushrat asked and smiled.

"Sorry, forgot where I learnt the expression reading from." Darshan smiled sheepishly.

"If you knew Ishaan would lead Fiza to danger, why didn't you just stop her from going to the Voodoo Bar? You knew Juneja was a criminal, yet you let her go to his bar."

"I cannot stop her from doing what she wants. I tried that when I found out that she was dating Afshaan and you remember how she behaved then, so I thought it was easier to put my best detective on the case, to protect her. I should have warned you, I know, but I was scared you'd say no."

Darshan gave her another look and sighed.

"Still on the case?"

"Aarav is in some mess with the Indian Navy. It's mostly something Manohar can deal with, but I think we should still be on Simba's case, to..."

"Give Trisha and Gaurav justice."

"And Ishaan's ex-boss and the kid..."

"The Malhotra kid?" Nushrat asked cutting him off. Darshan stared at her like she was a ghost.

"How do you know everything!" 

"I told you, I am a detective." She winked at him.

_________

Darshan went to the Voodoo bar, bored out of his mind. Though he didn't drink like he used to, the noise at clubs was a great distraction from the thoughts in his head. Studying people was always his hobby, and pubs and clubs were the best place, some would be so conscious of themselves, like people on their first dates, and some so unabashed, like the ones sloshed out of their minds.

Mike kept a glass on the table, breaking his thought chain. He looked up in confusion and Mike pointed to the end of the bar. A man in his early thirties in a green jacket waved at him. Darshan picked up the drink and walked upto him.

"Hi, I am Maanav." He smiled. He had a nose ring that glistened in the dim lights of the bar.

A few drinks down and Maanav waved for the check.

"Want to get out of here?" Maanav asked. Darshan stared at him, as a cute smile flashed in his mind, and he remembered the messy morning hair that he woke up to in the past few days, the whiny groans accompanied by an outburst, it all came back. 

"I am sorry, I have to go." He answered and walked oit. 

_________

Ishaan cut the call after three rings, hoping his mother would get the message. He looked around the huge living room of the house Manohar had given him and Darshan to lay low. He wasn't sure where Darshan was, but he had plans of raiding the liquor cabinet when the doorbell rang.

Ishaan saw Darshan on the door and moved aside to let him in, but Darshan didn't budge.

"I have a question and a confession." Ishaan looked at him in confusion.

"Who is your handler? The one who gave you the note?"

Before Ishaan could answer, he continued.

"And I am gay...and I like like like you, like really like you." 

Ishaan blinked in surprise, not sure how to respond.

"Do you want a beer? Manohar might have something stronger than that too." He said, instead

Edited by oh_nakhrewaali - 9 months ago