11. Chaos for a name.

Author's POV

Shaurya sat on a chair, fingers tightening around the pen as he stared at the blank sheet of paper before him. He took a deep breath, trying to gather his scattered thoughts.

The weight of the moment pressed down on him, yet his mind refused to cooperate. With a sharp exhale, he finally lowered the pen to the paper and began writing with unwavering focus.

Veer and Ryan, who had been watching in silence, exchanged glances. Curiosity got the better of them, and they moved closer, peeking over his shoulder.

The moment Veer read the first line, his eyes widened in sheer disbelief.

Ryan, however, simply nodded as if everything made perfect sense.

𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒖𝒓𝒚𝒂 𝑺𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒉 𝑹𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒆
𝑪𝒉𝒊𝒆𝒇 𝑴𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝑫𝒆𝒍𝒉𝒊
𝑪𝒉𝒊𝒆𝒇 𝑴𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓'𝒔 𝑶𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒆
𝑫𝒆𝒍𝒉𝒊 𝑺𝒆𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒕, 𝑰.𝑷. 𝑬𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆
𝑵𝒆𝒘 𝑫𝒆𝒍𝒉𝒊, 𝑫𝒆𝒍𝒉𝒊 - 110002.

Veer's brain nearly short-circuited. He turned to Ryan, expecting some kind of explanation, but Ryan merely nodded again, completely unfazed.

For a moment, Veer genuinely questioned his own sanity.

Then, Shaurya abruptly stopped writing.

Veer exhaled in relief, thinking, Finally! He must have realized his mistake.

But just as he was about to relax, Shaurya frowned, tapped the pen against the table, and muttered,

"Arrey, yeh toh maine socha hi nahi! Mujhe uss ladki ke baare mein toh kuch pata hi nahi hai! Toh ab recipient ki jagah kya likho?"
(Oh damn, I didn't think of this! I don't know anything about that girl! So what do I even write in the recipient's name?)

Ryan, instead of pointing out how absurd this entire situation was, nodded in agreement, as if Shaurya had raised a highly intellectual point.

"Haan... baat toh sahi hai," Ryan said thoughtfully.
(Yeah... that's actually a valid point.)

Veer blinked.
Once.
Twice.
Thrice.

Then, with an exasperated sigh, he finally lost it. "Shaurya, What are you doing?!"

Shaurya, completely unfazed, replied matter-of-factly, "Tujhe dikh nahi raha? Letter likh raha hoon. Tune hi toh diya tha idea."
(Can't you see? I'm writing a letter. You're the one who gave me the idea.)

Veer pinched the bridge of his nose, inhaling sharply. "Bro, why are you writing a formal letter?! Yeh Parliament ko submit nahi karna! Na yeh tumhara school exam hai jisme 'Write a letter to your teacher asking for leave' likhna hai!"
(Bro, this isn't for Parliament! And this isn't your school exam where you write 'A letter to your teacher requesting leave'!)

"Letter ka matlab simple note hota hai, bro! Just say sorry!"
(A letter just means a simple note, bro! Just say sorry!)

Shaurya gave a slow nod, considering his words. "Okay."

"But still," he added after a moment, "we need a name to address her, right?"

Veer and Ryan exchanged a glance before nodding in agreement.

"Yeah, we do," Veer admitted. "Problem yeh hai ki we don't know a single thing about her. Not even her name."

Shaurya leaned back, deep in thought. "You're right... But Siya calls her 'Dove.' Maybe we should give her a nickname-something similar to that?"

Veer's face lit up. "That's a great idea! But what should the nickname be?"

They both began brainstorming, lost in thought.

Then, out of nowhere, Ryan casually suggested, "You can call her 'Lux.'"

Veer and Shaurya stared at him in confusion.

Ryan shrugged. "Arrey, just now you said it should be similar to 'Dove,' right?"

They kept staring, still not understanding.

Ryan sighed, as if he was explaining something extremely obvious. "Dove is a soap brand. So is Lux."

Silence.

Veer and Shaurya just stared at him.

After a long pause, Veer finally asked, deadpan, "...Is he for real?"

Shaurya shook his head in disappointment.

"Bhai, tu accha nickname soch. Siya ko butterfly kehta hai na, kuch waisa soch le," Shaurya suggested.
(Bro, think of a good nickname. You call Siya 'Butterfly,' so think of something like that.)

Veer's expression shifted instantly. His mind drifted into his lala land as he muttered, "Yes... I call her Butterfly because she's so beautiful... just like a butterfly. So delicate... just like a butterfly. So colorful, vibrant... free..."

He sighed dramatically. "Ahh... I miss my Butterfly..."

Ryan rolled his eyes and leaned toward Shaurya. "Bhai, yeh pagal hai. Tune kyun usko yaad dilaya? Dekh, ab kho gaya hai teri behen ke sapno mein."
(Bro, he's crazy. Why did you remind him? Look, now he's lost in your sister's dreams.)

Shaurya shot him a glare. "Or tujhe yaad dilana zaroori tha ki uski Butterfly koi aur nahi, meri behen hai!"
(You HAD to remind me that his Butterfly is none other than my sister!)

Then he turned back to Veer. "Back to earth, Veer. Focus."

Veer blinked, snapping out of his trance. "Haan! Okay, okay. Let's think of names."

He suddenly grinned. "You can call her Rabbit... Bunny... Sugar... Cotton... Sunshine... Moon-"

Ryan cut in with a scoff. "Bhai, tu random words bol raha hai. Agar aise hi naam rakhne hain toh main bhi de sakta hoon."
(Bro, you're just saying random words. If that's all it takes, even I can come up with names.)

Veer smirked. "Oh? You mean like 'Lux'?"

Ryan glared at him before responding in a deep, menacing voice. "Bullet. Caliber. Striker. Dagger. Viper. Blade."

Veer and Shaurya gave him an unimpressed look.

Veer crossed his arms. "Bhai... Jung pe nahi ja rahe hain hum."
(Bro... we're not going to war.)

Ryan shrugged. "Kuch bhi ho, tujhse toh better hai."
(Whatever it is, it's still better than yours.)

Shaurya had enough. He slammed his pen down and shouted, "Both of you, OUT. Right now."

Veer and Ryan protested simultaneously. "What did we do?!"

Shaurya pointed at the door. "NOW."

Muttering under their breath, the two finally left.

Alone again, Shaurya exhaled, tapping his pen against the paper.

Then, suddenly-

A slow, knowing smile spread across his face.

"Yes," he murmured. "This suits her perfectly."

He pressed his pen to the paper and wrote:

𝑻𝒐,.....

___________________________________________