Work Text:
1.
When Ravi was young he is not quite the put-together, man-about-town type that he’s groomed himself into by present day.
There’s a lovely group of children from his primary that could best be described only as “budding sociopaths.” The kind of boys that you cross the hall to avoid because if you cross their path getting an elbow to the side is simply part of the deal.
He has an understanding with the second lieutenant of sorts. Ravi once shrugged off that the other boy was copying every other question on his math test. In his defense, he allows the cheating to slide that original time because he’s caught in a feverish panic that he’ll be legitimately immurred in the janitor’s storeroom for his trouble if he protests. Later, when the cheating has branched off into a tree of copiers copying one another all the way across the left half of the room, it’s all he can do not to say something.
This understanding he has with the group works well enough for partway through the spring term when he sees them knocking a schoolmate’s books down on the ground. Each time, a different member of the group yells for him to pick them back up and when he does -- with a menacing crescendo of laughs amongst them -- they knock them back down. In an unfortunate side effect of being young and scared, Ravi walks past averting his eyes so the group won’t redirect their efforts to him.
It backfires and draws more attention from the other boy -- called Lawrence -- who first copied off of Ravi some months back. “Oy, Ruv,” he shouts around a mouthful of spit and laughter. “C’mere.”
Ravi shuffles over with his head still down and struggles to raise his chin to meet their eyes. When he does they all laugh again and bang shoulders in amusement at his weirdness. He knows this because Lawrence leans back to one of his mates, Craig, to say, “What a weirdo.”
They ask about the math test as though the other boy isn’t there still shaken with fear he’ll be beaten and his books in a pile at his feet, temporarily forgotten. The boys escalate to requesting that Ravi get in on the party only instead of knocking his books they want him to take a swing at the boy. So he does.
Ravi would share this information if ever asked because he’s come to respect truthfulness when it’s needed and would happily admit he has done his fair share of regrettable misdeeds. It just so happens no one has ever asked about the first time he hit another person so he doesn’t have to tell them that he did it quite easily. He doesn’t volunteer this story, however, since it's one of his most shameful experiences--he's lucky the chance of it being shared is probably quite rare.
When he hit the other boy -- Jacob -- he shook off the pain in his hand and tried to use it to his advantage in talking up the group. They seemed quite receptive after it was clear the punch left Jacob’s lip split, but eventually their interests wane and they leave to illegally smoke out the windows of the upstairs bathroom instead of attending the first half of math class.
After they're gone, Ravi helps Jacob wipe at his lip with a cold paper towel in the boy’s lavatory. He prefers playing doctor with his sister’s Cabbage Patch dolls since those patients don’t make the entire visit about how overrated The Next Generation is.
(Ravi doesn’t pick a fight because he already punched the guy once today.)
2.
He boards for sixth form and it goes about as poorly as expected. The only time he’s not on the receiving end of a fist is when during any given tussle, one of his flailing arms connects with something while blocking his face.
It happens just the once, but he fondly remembers the time that he helped start the (very true) rumor that Sergei Okal gave himself a black eye.
3.
Liv and Clive come sprinting down the alleyway after a suspect but are just a few yards short of their assailant to catch up. At least not without a very special kind of speed boost that would come with a whole bunch more questions besides, “Why aren’t you an Olympic athlete?” from Clive afterwards.
What they don’t realize is that Ravi is back from getting coffee and now standing at the very van the perp is planning on fleeing in. When the man gets close enough to realize this, they do an awkward stare off while they both try and formulate a better option than wrestling the keys into the door.
Finally, like an Abbott and Costello routine hitting the punch line, Ravi does the same and knocks his fist at the shorter man’s chin. It’s enough for him to drop to the ground like a sack of potatoes.
“Nice hit, kemosabe!” Liv says as they both arrive in time to gang up and subdue the other man.
"Please don't ruin my hero moment with your sloppy racism," Ravi laments with a frown.
"Wha--?" Liv blanches and shares at him with that vacant expression that has made this week's brain unbearable.
“Every time I think I know you two, one of you cold-cocks a guy to the ground the other calls your boss the wrong kind of Indian. You’re terrifying individuals,” Clive says, pulling out his wrist ties and walkie to call it in. “Genuinely terrifying.”
Liv lazily huffs but finally puts the pieces together. She laughs without her mouth hanging open, "Ha, I get it --Tonto." They shake their heads at her.
4.
Ravi’s not sure what it says about him that two out of the only four times he’s hit someone occur by accident. Perhaps he’s a free-spirited hippie in the making.
That didn’t seem right to him while he struggles to remove a boxing glove from his left hand with his right hand and then his teeth. Major has long been offering free workouts and of course the one and only time Ravi has bothered to take him up on it results in him accidentally slugging his best friend in the neck.
Major is a big guy but a solid left hook from Sirs Patrick Stewart or Ian McKellen (what Ravi has nicknamed his biceps left to right respectively) is enough to knock the wind out of the best of the best. His ego is more bruised than anything since Major really only gets annoyed at Ravi for not following proper glove tightening procedure.
“Ravi, was that a bit -- or did you really just attempt to punch me? Because if so we need to definitely focus on your upper body strength next,” Major says in a way that makes Ravi bristle so intensely if feels for a second like his beard grows a couple millimeters in length.
5.
He hits Major, again. “Oops.”