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“Do you think I should take Wolfgang out on a date?” asked Rajan at breakfast one morning.
Wolfgang was out for his daily swim, so Rajan wasn’t going to find a better time to ask, though of course there was every possibility that despite his physical absence, he was mentally here with Kala. By now though, Rajan thought he had a pretty good sense of when Kala had company he couldn’t see: her face changed when one of her cluster was with her, her expressions taking on the shadow and echo of another person’s—Nomi’s grin, or Sun’s careful composure, or Lito’s expressiveness—and Rajan could almost always tell when it was Wolfgang who was with her. There was a soft brightness to her, when it was Wolfgang, and sometimes, a flustered heat. Sometimes Rajan thought Wolfgang was the vital spark for their waiting tinder; without him, their love would not have flared to burning life.
“A date? Why?” asked Kala between sips of her chai.
“I just feel that I should, I don’t know, woo him,” said Rajan.
“I think we’re a little bit past that point, Rajan,” said Kala with a smile. “We’ve, you know, already had sex. I’m pretty sure that’s enough wooing for Wolfgang.”
“Did he tell you that? Is he visiting right now? Don’t let him, I want this to be a surprise—“
“He’s not here, no,” said Kala, her smile growing into a grin. “It’s just us right now.”
“So are you going to help me or not?” asked Rajan. “Wait, maybe you shouldn’t, then he’ll know what I’m planning—how did you woo him? Or did he woo you—“
“Okay, that word is not even making sense anymore. And I suppose there was…” Kala bit her lip and squinted, pensive. “Not much wooing involved. There was just—“ She gestured vaguely around her head, waggling her fingers. “You know.”
“Psychic connections? Doing exciting crimes together? Kala, we must do this properly! I know things have been crazy what with the international conspiracies and near-death experiences and weddings, but now we are all safe and we have time to do things right.”
“Oh, properly, alright,” said Kala, schooling her expression into seriousness. “So, will you be visiting his parents to get their permission?”
“Is that an option? I thought you said his parents were dead?”
“They are, which is why this is ridiculous! The only family Wolfgang has that he still cares about is Felix. Are you going to go ask him for Wolfgang’s hand?”
“Should I? I should, shouldn’t I—”
Kala laughed and got up from her seat at the kitchen table to join him at his. She settled on his lap and wound her arms around his neck, enveloping him in the scent of jasmine from her hair.
“It’s a sweet thought, I’m just not sure it’s necessary. I think you—we—already have Felix’s blessing.”
“Fine, but I still think I should woo Wolfgang properly. I don’t have a direct psychic link to his brain, you know. I have to court him the normal human way.”
“And will you court him the way you courted me?” asked Kala. “Flowers and dancing and many fancy dates?”
He brushed a tumbling curl of her hair back, and wished for a fleeting moment that he had a flower to tuck amid the black bounty.
“That depends, does he like flowers? I know he likes dancing.”
Kala tilted her head and bit her lip. “Not so much flowers, no. I feel like if I tell you what he likes, that’s kind of cheating, Rajan. It gives you an unfair advantage,” she said, eyes sparkling with joyful mischief.
“Well then, I shall have to do some investigation myself,” he said, and knew he’d said the right thing when he felt the shape of Kala’s smile against his own lips, and caught the effervescence of her laughing breath in his own lungs.
It would be a bit of a challenge, maybe, but he looked forward to it.
The six months since Paris and all its attendant revelations, terrors, and joys had passed in a whirlwind of change that had yet to settle. Kala and her cluster were no longer in danger, but Mumbai had its own complications. Enough so that no one much raised an eyebrow at Rajan and Kala returning from Europe with a couple of bodyguards.
It was not a state of affairs that would hold forever: Rajan’s father’s ambitions, the reforms and investigations Rajan was attempting in the company, the always restive political situation, Wolfgang and Felix’s places in their lives…eventually, these things would come to a head. For now though, Rajan had his wife, his lover, and the globe-spanning web of connection and love that they brought with them. For them, and for that improbable network of friendship and family, all kinds of change proved easy to bear. Terrifying sometimes, thrilling at others, but easy. As easy as falling in love with Kala.
As easy, it turned out, as falling in love with Wolfgang too, who despite how different he was, despite how impossible it seemed, was an inextricable part of Kala. And yet, there was so much Rajan didn’t know about Wolfgang. Rajan knew what he considered the most important things about Wolfgang: how much he loved Kala, his ferocity, his bravery, the unflagging and fierce devotion to his loved ones that both tempered and distilled the wildness in him. These things were all obvious even with Wolfgang’s tough guy exterior.
He knew a little about Wolfgang’s past too, mostly through the prism of Kala’s limitless compassion—his father was such a cruel man, Rajan, and life has not given him many opportunities—enough to marvel at Wolfgang’s strength. And yet there were so many little things he didn’t know about Wolfgang: his favorite kind of cuisine, his favorite color, his favorite kind of movie, his favorite fruit.
He knew these things about Kala, and Kala knew these things about him and Wolfgang, and that had been enough so far. But surely Wolfgang deserved more, better, especially after all he’d done to protect Kala and her cluster. Rajan just didn’t know how to give it to him, or even where to start. He did at least know who might help him though: Felix, the only family Wolfgang cared to claim from his old life.
Asking Felix without involving Kala or Wolfgang took a little bit of subterfuge in the form of engineering a lunchtime meeting that was “cancelled” after they’d already reached the restaurant.
“Oh no, what a shame,” said Rajan, squinting down at his phone at the nonexistent message. He smiled up at Felix where he had taken up a position on guard beside the restaurant table. “Well, no sense wasting the reservation! Sit, sit, we can eat lunch together.”
Felix did one perfunctory visual sweep of the restaurant, and then folded his lanky form into the seat across from Rajan. “I never say no to a meal I don’t have to pay for!”
Once they ordered their food and drinks, Felix toasting him with a playfully solemn nod, Rajan got to the point.
“Felix, can you keep a secret?”
“That depends, are you asking as my boss, or as my best friend’s boyfriend?”
“The latter,” said Rajan, and when Felix’s mouth twisted with uncertainty, he added, “It’s nothing bad! I just want to do something special for Wolfgang and I need your help coming up with ideas, without Wolfgang finding out.”
“Why not ask Kala?” asked Felix. “She’s, like, his psychic soulmate and your wife, she’d know way better than me about couple shit. Sorry, I mean, throuple shit?”
“I have been informed that would be giving me an unfair advantage in my attempts at wooing,” said Rajan. “And if I ask anyone else in the cluster, that would also ruin the element of surprise. So I am asking you, because you know Wolfgang just as well.”
“I don’t know, I’m not sure I can give you romance tips when it comes to Wolfgang,” said Felix, apologetic. “He’s never been much of a romance guy. Or a relationship guy. He’s definitely never been the one being romanced.”
“All the more reason to show him some proper romance,” said Rajan, and Felix snorted, then grinned.
“Maybe,” said Felix. He settled back in his chair, staring up at the ceiling with his face screwed up in thought. “I might have some ideas for you though.”
Rajan did have to let Kala in on his Wolfgang wooing plan eventually, if only because it necessitated some advance planning in the form of international travel, and he wanted her to come along too. He could maintain the surprise for Wolfgang by pretending this trip to Portugal was a business trip and that he did actually need Wolfgang there as a bodyguard. But Kala didn’t always accompany Rajan on his business trips, having work of her own to attend to, and Wolfgang might ask Rajan to take Felix instead, if Kala wasn’t coming along. If Rajan wanted her to join them and ensure Wolfgang would accompany him to Portugal, he had to reveal the trip’s true purpose, if not the details.
“You know, if you want to do something, just you and Wolfgang, that would be alright,” she said. “You two can do things without me. Guy things, or whatever.”
“This isn’t guy things, Kala, it is me wooing and courting Wolfgang. And if I want him to have a good time—no, the best time—then obviously you must be there.”
Kala smiled, in that way she had where she seemed almost shy about her happiness, which always made Rajan feel a little bit like she was sharing a secret with him.
“I don’t have to be there to be there though,” she said, her smile turning slightly daring.
Any reference to Kala’s true self definitely always felt like her sharing a secret with him, and now that her life wasn’t in peril for it, that secret had a giddily conspiratorial thrill rather than a faintly terrifying one.
“I want you there,” insisted Rajan with a kiss. “As long as you want to be there.”
“Alright,” she said. “Then I will be there.”
Wolfgang clearly began to suspect that some plan was afoot on the plane.
“Private plane?” he said, whistling as they stepped on board. His eyes were no less sharp for the lightness in his tone as he added, “Guess you’re really taking that expense account for a spin.”
“The seating arrangements in first class are awkward for three people,” said Rajan. “And this way we will have privacy.”
“Privacy for what?” asked Kala, squinting at him with an exaggerated suspicion that didn’t much hide her growing delight.
Wolfgang just grinned as he flopped down onto one of the seats, sprawling out with splayed thighs, an unsubtle but effective invitation.
“Oh ho ho, I didn’t know you had it in you, Rajan,” teased Wolfgang. “Are we joining the Mile High Club today?”
Rajan’s face flushed so hot he was surprised he didn’t burst into flame. He’d be lying if he said that hadn’t been part of the consideration for booking a private jet for this trip. He’d suspected Wolfgang would enjoy that particular transgression, its mingled luxury and thrill, and he was pleased to be proven right.
“If you want,” Rajan said.
“What’s the Mile High Club?” asked Kala, and Wolfgang just laughed as the answer clearly came to her via the cluster, her expression flickering between scandalized, delighted, and intrigued as someone—Will? Nomi?—told her.
Later, once the plane was cruising at altitude and they’d drunk champagne and eaten exquisite fresh fruits, Rajan and Wolfgang had quite a good time showing her, and each other, the benefits of the Mile High Club.
When they arrived in Lisbon, Wolfgang took efficient charge of getting them to their rental.
“You’re lucky you managed to book this place, with the city so full for the Eurovision final,” said Wolfgang as he unlocked the gate leading into their little rented villa.
Kala’s eyes went wide, and Rajan knew he’d made the right choice for his attempt to woo Wolfgang from the way her face lit up with surprised joy. He’d been reasonably certain that he’d correctly translated Wolfgang’s careful nonchalance while watching singing competitions, the way he paid close attention while trying to act like he wasn’t invested in the result. And Rajan had been pretty certain that Wolfgang loved Eurovision in particular, thanks to Felix telling him how once, when they were boys, Wolfgang had plotted out a grand escape from Berlin to Copenhagen, with sneaking in to see the Eurovision finals as a significant part of the fantasy. So he’d been pretty sure this would go over well, but Kala’s face right now was the proof.
Kala, his clever beloved, set Rajan up for a perfect reveal. She beamed at him, and then with perfect innocence she said, “Oh? Maybe we could watch the finals in a restaurant or bar. That could be fun, right?”
“Sure,” said Wolfgang. “Eurovision drinking games are always a fun time.”
“Actually,” said Rajan, pulling out three tickets from his suit jacket, “I was thinking we could go to the actual final.”
Wolfgang’s eyes went wide. “No fucking way.”
Kala threw herself at Wolfgang and hugged him. “Yes!”
“Is this, like, part of your business meeting, or—“
“No, I just wanted to bring you here, because I knew you would love it,” Rajan told him.
Wolfgang gaped at him and the tickets in silence for a moment. “But—it’s not even my—our—birthday? What’s the—why would you—”
“I know it’s not your birthday,” said Rajan, stepping close to Wolfgang. “But you know, I had the chance to court Kala, to make all kinds of romantic gestures, taking her out on dates and taking her on trips. I haven’t done any of that with you—for you—yet, but I’ve wanted to. So. This is me trying to romance you. I, ah, hope I’m doing it right.”
“How did you even know I—?” Wolfgang turned to Kala. “Did you—?”
“No!” she said, still smiling. “This was all Rajan!”
“With a little bit of help from Felix,” admitted Rajan.
Wolfgang blinked rapidly, his throat visibly working as he swallowed, but before Rajan could get nervous, Wolfgang’s face warmed into a wondering sort of smile.
“You’re ridiculous,” he said, his voice rough. “You didn’t have to—but yeah. Yeah, you’re definitely doing this whole romance thing right.”
This, evidently, was more than enough words for Wolfgang, because his expression went sheepish, then gruff, before he yanked Rajan close for a kiss, searing and joyful. When Wolfgang released him, both of them breathless, Rajan could only grin wildly at him. He could never be a badass like Wolfgang, nor could he offer Wolfgang the same boundless understanding that Kala could, but right now it didn’t matter. Right now, he felt like some kind of superhero, or maybe the hero of a Bollywood film in that moment when he finally won over his beloved. Rajan would not be surprised if the world burst into song and dance around them.
“So, a good surprise?” asked Rajan.
Wolfgang cupped Rajan’s face in his hands, the skin rough but the touch almost gentle. “Yeah,” he said. “You really are.”
Kala wound her arms around both of them. “The best surprise,” she said, beaming up at both of them.
Well, if he was their best surprise, they were his life’s greatest gift. He was happy to spend the rest of his life giving them what gifts he could in return.