Perfect next step, Mahi! Here's a
The rain had stopped. The streets were still glistening, puddles scattered like pieces of a broken mirror, reflecting the soft lights of the city. Dhruv walked silently, hands in his coat pockets, the umbrella now folded and hanging loosely from his fingers.
He didn't look back. He didn't need to.
She was already gone, rushing home to deliver her melting ice cream and dramatic best friend. And yet… her presence lingered in his mind like a stubborn echo. The scent of the rain, the way her damp hair had clung to her cheeks, the dramatic way she had screamed when the puddle soaked her, it played on repeat, louder than it had any right to.
He stopped walking and tilted his head up toward the sky. Clouds were still heavy, but the downpour had passed. Still, a strange weight settled on his chest, unfamiliar and unwelcome.
What was that?
He had met countless humans before. Observed them. Interacted when necessary. They came, they went, curious creatures, but not enough to disturb him. Not enough to make him question.
But Riya?
She barged into moments like she belonged there. Not because she tried, but because she just… did.
She wasn't extraordinary. At least, not in the way humans often try to be. She didn't wear grace like a crown or speak with the sharpness of intellect that could command a room. She was messy. Too expressive. Loud. Always full of unnecessary complaints about things like the betrayal of weather forecasts or how "ice cream cravings should be considered medical emergencies."
And yet.....
There was something in her eyes when she spoke. Something that flickered past the dramatics and the sarcasm.
Realness.
Dhruv resumed walking, slower this time, letting the night stretch around him. The city had grown quieter after the rain, as if holding its breath. And maybe he was, too.
"Why do you keep showing up?" he muttered under his breath, not sure if he was talking to her or the part of himself that seemed to stir every time she entered the frame.
She wasn't supposed to be significant.
But now… he could recall too many details. The way she had laughed under the awning, despite being soaked to the bone. How she had glared at him when he teased her with the umbrella. How her voice softened when she said, "Thanks."
Dhruv never dwelled. That wasn't his nature. He was made to observe, to judge, to complete what he was sent to do. Emotions were for the mortals. Attachment was a distraction.
And yet here he was, standing beneath a flickering streetlight, wondering if she had caught a cold from the rain.
Ridiculous.
He looked at his reflection in a puddle. A face without age. Eyes that had seen lifetimes pass.
But tonight, those eyes seemed different, almost… searching.
"She's just a human," he told himself.
But even as he said it, the words rang hollow.
---
Later that night, Dhruv sat near his window, high above the city, in the small apartment he had taken only for convenience. The lights of the world below blinked like stars trapped beneath glass, and the distant sound of life trickled through the window cracks.
He poured himself a cup of tea, not because he needed it, but because Riya had once said, "Tea fixes everything. It's science." He scoffed softly at the memory.
He leaned back in his chair and let the steam brush against his face. Thoughts buzzed.
What was it about her?
Why did she stay in his mind long after she walked away?
He remembered how she had told off Sunny without hesitation. How she had squabbled with Dhruv about umbrella etiquette like it was a matter of national pride. How her eyes had softened when the rain started to ease, her voice quieter, more honest.
People wore masks, even if they didn't realize it. But Riya... hers kept slipping, and she didn't seem to care. That, somehow, made her unpredictable. And unpredictability, in Dhruv's world, was rare.
He didn't like it.
But he couldn't deny that he... noticed it.
He sighed and stood, setting the half-full cup aside.
"This isn't supposed to happen," he said to no one.
But the more he tried to reason, the more confused he became.
She wasn't beautiful in an ethereal, celestial way. But there was warmth in her smile. She didn't speak like a philosopher, but her words held weight when she was being sincere. She wasn't graceful, but when she walked away from him in the rain, half-soaked and muttering under her breath, he found himself... smiling.
Like an idiot.
What had gotten into him?
Was it Earth's influence? Was it the rain? Was it just a moment, soon to pass?
Or...
Had something shifted?
He didn't have answers. And for someone like him, who always had answers, that was what bothered him the most.
But for the first time in ages, Dhruv didn't immediately want answers.
He just... wanted to see her again.
Not because of the mission.
Not because the stars aligned.
But because, suddenly, the world felt less heavy when she was around.
And that... that... was terrifying.
- - - to be continued - - -