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Lily Evans had always loved a good thrill.
She had grown up tumbling through the dirt, learning to skateboard, and playing sports while her sister would stand nearby and complain warily about safety. Tackling any new form of fun had been a longstanding hobby, growing up.
So when her middle school put on The Wizard of Oz , she had dragged her then-best friend to auditions, conquering whatever form of stage fright she might have had as quickly as possible. Because of this, she knew that there was nothing more thrilling, more rewarding, than a live performance.
Though, she thought as she watched the crowd over the rim of her champagne glass, after parties had a certain sort of excitement she could appreciate. The premiere of Interstellar had gone exceedingly well, and just when she thought she would rather be at home with her daughter, they had presented her with alcohol.
“I suppose I can stay a little longer,” she had mumbled to an amused costar.
So there she was, standing near the buffet table in a ridiculously tight dress, attempting to avoid small talk.
“Excuse me?” Someone behind her tapped her shoulder. “I’m sorry to bother you, but I saw you standing around and figured hey, why not ask the real star of the movie a question, you know?”
Lily turned, brushing a curled wave of hair over her shoulder to get a better look at who had approached her. The man standing before her, although tall and undeniably handsome, looked more like a little boy playing dress up in his father’s clothes than anything else, distinctly ill at ease in his suit and tie. The way he was nervously scanning the room every few minutes only added to the image, and she couldn’t help but smile when he ran a hand through his already messy black hair.
“I’m hardly the star,” she laughed, reaching out to shake his hand. “But, sure. Shoot.”
“This is going to sound so stupid, but do you think the fifth dimension beings were aliens? Because sure, it could have been Cooper and TARS acting from the future, or the people settled on Cooper Colony maybe opening the portal, or maybe it was Murph, even, but aliens are always cool, right?” He asked excitedly, before looking absolutely mollified. “Oh, uh, sorry. Janardhan Iyer. I should’ve introduced myself before going for the aliens.”
“There is no better way to start a conversation than with aliens.” Lily told him seriously. “Which they totally were. I’m Lily Evans, but, uh, I guess you’d figured that out.” She let out another laugh.
“Yeah, it’s hard not to.” Janardhan laughed, gesturing around the room. There were posters hung here and there, and while few featured Lily, she’d played a large enough role in the film that people had been gravitating toward her all night. “What with your face everywhere and stuff.”
“I’ve always been told I’m marketable. They handed me to my mom in the hospital and told her I should be a poster child for ginger awareness.” She smiled.
“See, all my mother got was good luck.” He snorted. “Not that I blame her for that, she needed it.”
“Well, you seem to have turned out alright, if you know enough to talk to a girl about aliens. That’s all we’re really interested in, after all.” She said.
“It’s a good interest to have.” Janardhan grinned. “Talking to girls about aliens is a great way to spend an evening.”
“Better than sitting around and smiling.” She agreed easily. “But hey, you look sort of familiar. You aren’t an actor, are you?”
“Not a chance.” He laughed. “I couldn’t act my way out of a paper bag. Tried once in high school, with disastrous results. I play football. Not soccer. The one where we fall on each other and pretend there’s a ball in there somewhere. The good one.”
“That’s it!” She snapped her fingers as his face finally slid into place in her mind. “My ex used to watch your team play all the time.”
“That’s a connection.” Janardhan said. “What did your ex think of us?”
“She thought you were shit, honestly.” Lily said, half amused and half apologetic. “I think she only watched because she liked shouting.”
“Is your ex from Seattle, by any chance?” Janardhan asked, a knowing smile on his face. “That’s the only reason I can think of for thinking we’re shit.”
“You’re right, but you could have learned that with a google search.” She said, moving to tuck a wayward strand of hair behind her ear. “Does the entire city of Seattle have something against you?”
“Seattle’s had a lot against us, especially since the championship game.” He laughed. “Close victory for us, but I think that made it worse for them.”
“Which game was that?” Lily and Dorcas had stopped seeing each other several years ago, and Anne had never been particularly interested in any sport where she couldn’t hit someone, so Lily was entirely out of the loop.
“Well, our latest offense was the championship game last season. Your ex’s Seahawks lost by one point. Thank god I didn’t make that pass to Crabtree-- Sherman was right there. Another second and I would’ve done it.” He winced. “Some things you can see from a mile away when you look back.”
“Hindsight is 20/20.” She agreed, nodding as though she knew exactly what he meant. “Is this season going just as well, then?”
“Well, I’m never really sure, so I’m not the right guy to ask.” He said. “Coach says I’ve got a tendency to undersell the team.”
“Honestly, I’m not sure I’d have understood you if you did know.” She told him truthfully.
“I’m used to it.” He laughed. “My son’s got a good head for the rules, but even he’s completely lost when I start going on about the game.”
“My Anne is the same way with some of my movies.” Lily grinned. “I tried explaining some of the science from the script to her and it was all, ‘but mom, when does the cool stuff happen?’.”
“How old is she?” He asked.
“She’s eight.” Lily said, setting her champagne down in order to dig through her clutch. “I have a picture of her, if you want to see. She looks way too much like me.”
“I’ve got pictures as well.” He said, pulling his phone out of the inside pocket of his jacket. He turned it on, and then held it out to Lily. The lock screen of his phone was a picture of a little boy, hardly two years old, crouched in a red dollar store laundry basket. The boy’s strong resemblance to his father was obvious, despite the terrified expression on his face as he clutched the sides of the laundry basket, as if afraid the bottom would fall out from under him. “Isn’t he precious?”
“Oh!” Lily sighed, smiling happily. “He’s so cute. No wonder he can’t follow the games, though!” She finally freed her phone from the confines of her purse and clicked the home button, displaying her own lockscreen. It was a selfie of her and her daughter, cheek-to-cheek and grinning for the camera. It was nearly impossible to tell where Lily’s hair ended and Anne’s began.
“She’s beautiful. You’re right-- it’s like you figured out cloning.” He said, before unlocking his phone and going searching for another picture. “There. He almost didn’t let me take this one, but first day of school photos are a tradition. At least I’ve made them one.” He held his phone out to Lily again. In the picture he’d found, a school aged boy was standing in what looked to be a sunny front yard, backpack on and actually clipped across his chest. He was smiling shyly at the camera, hands folded together behind his back, and a chalkboard balanced on a chair beside him bore the words “First Day of Third Grade-- August 19th, 2014”.
“He’s absolutely adorable. I didn’t think anyone actually used those clips.” Lily giggled.
“That’s because nobody does.” Janardhan shook his head, putting his phone back into his pocket. “I’ve got no idea where that came from. My ex isn’t the most careful person either, but the boy had to get it from somewhere.”
“I can confidently say that my daughter got her need to shout from both my ex and I.” Lily sighed. “What’s his name?”
“Madhav.” Janardhan said, smiling fondly at the picture before putting his phone into the inside pocket of his suit jacket. “I’ve gotten really lucky. He’s a quiet one.”
“Lucky you.” She laughed. “I’d ask to trade, but I’m not sure anyone else could handle the princess.”
“I’m used to dealing with troublemakers and loud kids.” Janardhan said. “Madhav freaks me out sometimes with how quiet he is.”
“Well maybe you’ll have another kid later on, and they’ll be as loud as you’re used to.” Lily suggested cheerfully.
“I think I’ll stick to what I’ve got, for now.” He laughed. “Maybe after I’m done playing.”
“That’s fair.” Lily nodded,
“We got all the way from aliens to this.” Janardhan shook his head, a bemused expression on his face. “Color me surprised.”
“I told you aliens was a good conversation starter.” She said, shrugging. “If you’d tried small talk, I would have been more interested in the free food than in you.”
“It’s a space movie. Who wouldn’t immediately wonder where the aliens were?” Janardhan asked. “You’re in high demand, I bet, so I shouldn’t keep you too much longer.” He grabbed a napkin off a nearby table before digging a pen out of his jacket pocket to scribble his name and a series of numbers down on it. “Here. Text me about aliens?”
Lily accepted the napkin, red lips curving upwards into a smile. “I might just take you up on that.” She said, tucking the napkin into her clutch, along with her phone.
“Good.” He laughed. “You’d better. Haven’t had this good a time in ages, and it’d be a shame to lose out on a good friendship. There’s not time for many of those, with eight year olds in the house, right?”
“That’s for sure. If it weren’t in my contract, I probably wouldn’t have come tonight.” She said. “But hey, don’t let me keep you.”
“You’ve more than earned a good night, I think.” He said. “I’ll see you around, maybe?”
“Kind of hard not to,” she grinned mischievously, “what with my face everywhere and stuff.”
“I’ll hold you to it then.” Janardhan disappeared back into the crowd of people, and Lily pulled out her phone when she wasn’t immediately approached by someone else.
[10:32] To Alien Sports: so what do u think abt the bee crisis
[11:11] To Lily Evans: crisis is definitely not strong enough of a word
[11:11] To Lily Evans: bees do so much for us and we have paid them back with betrayal!!!!!! not cool
[11:12] To Lily Evans: sorry if u were asleep or something that’s totally my bad
[11:13] From Lily Evans: bee-trayal
[11:13] To Lily Evans: oh my god
[11:13] To Lily Evans: that was bee-autiful
[11:14] To Lily Evans: i would say to save it for posteri-bee but pesticides & irresponsible farming :(
The phone rang just then, a FaceTime request popping up along with a picture of an adorable black dog, and Janardhan sighed before picking up the call. “What?”
“Prongs! So cold!” Sirius whined. “Can’t I want to talk to my favorite dude?”
“I had a long night.” He whispered. “Little dude’s got school tomorrow, so let’s keep the volume down, alright?”
“Long night?” Sirius, obligingly, dropped his volume from ‘very loud’ to ‘loud’. “You said you had somewhere to be, but didn’t exactly tell us where that was.”
“Some… some premiere for some movie, no big deal.” Janardhan shrugged, laying back on his pillows with a soft thump. “Might’ve met my soulmate. Again, no big deal.” He glanced up at his left wrist, the Lily Evans written on it in neat cursive visible now that he’d removed the watch he used to cover it at formal events. The red and gold Niners wristband he used to hide his soulmark at all other times was lying on the bedside table, freshly washed and apparently smelling like an alpine breeze, if his laundry pods were to be believed, but Janardhan didn't care enough to put it on at the moment.
“What, you actually met Lily Evans?” Sirius looked shocked. No, beyond shocked. Janardhan couldn’t tell the difference between the two while this tired, but Sirius definitely hadn’t seen this coming for sure.
“Yeah.” Janardhan nodded.
“At a movie premiere?”
“Yeah.” He nodded again.
“So, like, the actress? Dude.” Sirius groaned, looking visibly upset. “I can’t believe I missed that!”
“Yeah. Just as surprised as you are.” Janardhan chuckled. Being on Broadway had worked out well for Sirius, even if it meant that he saw no use in turning off the theatrics anymore. He’d grown used to them, now, and after nearly two decades of friendship, he’d miss them too much if Sirius toned it down at all. “My soulmate isn’t, as we’ve feared, some fifty year old librarian in the Midwest.”
“I liked the librarian!” Sirius whined.
“Sirius…” Janardhan sighed, closing his eyes.
“Yeah, yeah. How was she? Did she like you? Oh, dude, please tell me you didn’t fuck it up already.”
“She’s pretty.” Janardhan said, cracking his neck before opening his eyes again. “She’s real fond of aliens. I like a girl that likes aliens, you know? She’s right there with me on the Save The Bees stuff and everything. She’s got a kid Madhu’s age, so we’ve got that in common too. We talked for maybe half an hour, but it was so easy, you know? It wasn’t like I was slogging through PR stuff, it felt… good .”
“Why is my best friend such a sap?” He blew a raspberry. “Crushes are gross.”
[11:22] From Lily Evans: well someones got to do some saving, the way the population is declining!!!!
[11:22] From Lily Evans: omg wait were famous
[11:23] From Lily Evans: im starting a fundraiser
Janardhan smiled, a little more softly than usual, before tapping the text notification.
[11:24] To Lily Evans: count me in im always down 2 save bees
He tapped the ongoing call at the top of the screen, returning to an outraged Sirius.
“Excuse me, did you just pause my video? Me? Padfoot? Your absolute best friend in the whole universe?”
“Uh, she texted, and I wanted to say something.” Janardhan shrugged. “Leave me be, dude.”
“Don’t you mean… Leave me bee ?”
“Fuck off, man. Good night.”
The sun was shining, it was a new day, Lily had a phone full of text messages, and she was only slightly sleep deprived. So when Dorcas answered her door, she greeted her ex with a cheerful, “good morning!”
“Good morning.” Dorcas smiled. “Guess what your daughter did last night?”
“Oh, she’s my daughter today? Probably nothing good, then.” Lily hummed.
“She did wonderful on her last spelling test.” Dorcas shook her head. “You should ask her what t-s-i-h unscrambles to.”
Lily couldn’t help the laugh that escaped her. “I’ll talk to her, I promise. And I’ll try not to laugh about it.” She giggled. “Did the teacher write another letter home?”
“We’ve been upgraded to phone call, and it’s only October.” Dorcas chuckled. “I don’t know how we’re getting through this year.”
“Oh, we can afford to switch schools if we have to.” Lily waved a hand dismissively. “It’s kind of cute.”
“We can, but it’d be hard on her.” Dorcas said. “She’s got friends and a teacher she likes… I’ve talked to her some, but you should too, just in case.”
“I will.” Lily assured her. “Is she ready to go?”
“She’s just getting her things together.” Dorcas said, before calling down the hallway. “Anne! Hurry up!”
“So… How’s Marlene?” Lily asked, trying to be casual. It wasn’t that she was still mad at Dorcas for what had happened, but there was still an awkward sort of feeling about her ex having left her for her soulmate.
“Marlene’s fine.” Dorcas, previously at ease, suddenly looked like everything about her posture and smile were forced, arms rigid and elbows practically glued to her sides. Her thumb rubbed over the curve of her right hipbone, where Lily knew the name “Marlene McKinnon” was written on her skin in sloppy cursive. “She’s gotten into this weird yarn thing lately and she absolutely refuses to clean up after herself.”
“Ah, cool. Lucky that you love cleaning so much, right?” Lily rubbed at the back of her neck.
“Everybody finds the right person for them, I guess.” Dorcas shrugged. “No sign of yours yet, huh?”
Lily blew out a sigh, her face twisting into an exasperated expression. “Dorcas, I can’t even read it. How the hell would I find them?”
Lily’s name, after all these years, was still as indecipherable as it had been the day she’d gotten it, at eighteen. All she knew was that the name written just below her collarbone was definitely not in English, and it definitely wasn’t in any language she’d ever seen-- there was definitely a first and a last name there, but the looping, curling letters weren’t ones she or anyone else she knew were familiar with. She’d resigned herself to the fact that it would remain a mystery, after all these years, because her soulmate just walking into her life would be far too easy to be true, wouldn’t it?
“It’ll happen eventually, Lily.” Dorcas said gently. Of course she could say that, when Marlene had bumped into her at the supermarket, the name Dorcas Meadowes clearly written on her wrist in Dorcas’ careful printing. It had been that easy for her, but that didn’t mean it was nearly that simple for everyone else.
Lily, at this point, was quite sick of Dorcas’ positivity.
“Hey, mom!” There was the sound of sneakers pounding down the stairs, and a moment later Anne had appeared, her hair pulled into pigtails. She had a violently pink backpack slung over one shoulder. “How was the party?”
“How ‘bout I give you the details on the car ride home?” Lily asked with a grin. “Say goodbye to your mom.”
“Bye, mom. I’ll see you next weekend.” Anne got on her toes, which Lily and Dorcas had long ago accepted as her command to bend down for a kiss.
Dorcas bent down for a kiss, and then ruffled Anne’s hair. “Be good, okay? Neither of us want any more phone calls from your teacher, sweetheart.”
“It’s not my fault she’s so sensitive.” Anne pouted, already hopping out the door and down the front steps.
“I’ll see you later, Dorcas.” Lily called over her shoulder as she followed Anne to the car.
“I’ll see you two later.” Dorcas waved until the car backed out of the driveway, and then, like she did every week, became little more than a topic of conversation.
[06:37] To Lily Evans: do NOT go on the internet
[06:42] To Lily Evans: i mean you can go on some internets like ur email and stuff but like. do not go on other internets
[06:44] From Lily Evans: how will i look up puns tho
[06:44] From Lily Evans: i cant keep up with u sometimes
[06:45] To Lily Evans: look them up in ur brain
[06:45] To Lily Evans: madhu believes in you
[06:45] To Lily Evans: [selfie of madhav and janardhan clowning around]
“She’s been sufficiently warned. Remember, if anyone asks you anything at school, you don’t say anything.” Janardhan set his phone down, tired of watching the Google News search for “Janardhan Iyer” blow up with articles about him being “sighted” with Lily Evans. Of course he had been-- the Save the Bees Fundraiser needed momentum, and momentum needed meetings. He just hadn’t expected that meeting to cause such a stir. “Alright. How was school today?”
“It was good.” Madhav said. He had busied himself with pulling crayons individually from their box and reinserting them in correct color order. It was incredibly delicate work, as he had told his father earlier, so Janardhan understood why he wasn’t looking up. “They had us practice our cursive, but Molly said that her sister said that we wouldn’t have to use it after elementary school?” He looked up, finally, with a slight pout. “Why would they teach us something we don’t need to use?”
“You need it to sign stuff.” Janardhan said. “I use cursive only for that.”
“So, like an autograph?” He asked.
“Yeah. You’re going to be super famous when you grow up for your cool organizing skills, so you’ll have to practice that.” Janardhan grinned.
Madhav nodded slowly, tipping another crayon out of the box. He studied it for a moment before holding it up. “I’m going to sign in yellow crayon.” He decided. “Because yellow is my favorite color.”
“It was blue yesterday.” Janardhan said, looking amused. Madhav, usually unshakeable in his favorite things, had always allowed this one detail about himself to change. Maybe that was why it changed so often.
“Mmm.” He hummed thoughtfully before shrugging. “Maybe I’ll carry around a bunch of crayons and sign it with whichever is my favorite that day.”
“Sounds like a good idea.” He nodded. “I just carry around the weirdest colored sharpies I can find. Did I show you that garbage green one your Uncle Remus gave me last week? It’s the grossest thing I’ve seen in my life, and I changed your diapers for years.”
“I wanna see!” He said, before pausing. “The marker. Not the diapers.”
“We threw those away years ago, don’t worry. I’ll find the marker. It’s in my work bag, I think. Put it in there so I wouldn’t lose it.” Janardhan shrugged. “We’re playing at home Sunday. Rams, so it shouldn’t be too bad. Wanna come? I’ll need my good luck charm.”
“Sure,” Madhav agreed easily, “but only if you win.”
“Yeah, we’ll do our best. We’ve had some tough moments on the defensive line, but I trust the guys. They’ll hold up.” Janardhan nodded decisively. “We’ve got away games for the next two weeks after that. I should’ve updated the calendar all the way at the beginning of the season, just like you said, but I only went to Week 8. Next year, I’ll listen. I promise.”
“You said that last year.” Madhav pointed out.
“Fine. You can hold me hostage as soon as the schedules for next season come out. Don’t let me go until I’ve done it this time.” Janardhan said. “Deal?”
“Pinkie promise?” Madhav asked, extending his pinkie expectantly.
“Pinkie promise.” Janardhan agreed, hooking his pinkie around Madhav’s.
[07:03] To Lily Evans: dead or eating dinner?
[07:03] From Lily Evans: trying to convince anne to do hw
[07:03] From Lily Evans: so basically dead
[07:04] To Lily Evans: tell her itll give her big brain muscles
[07:04] To Lily Evans: she can use them to beat up losers
[07:04] From Lily Evans: she already does that with her arm muscles
[07:05] To Lily Evans: as a profesional athlete it is important to have the most muscles
[07:05] To Lily Evans: *professional
[07:05] From Lily Evans: what muscles? yur a noodle
[07:05] To Lily Evans: lmao fight me
[07:05] From Lily Evans: yur on, scrublord
Janardhan’s phone buzzed again and he groaned, setting it down on the table. Great. His mother’s horrible habit of searching his name on the internet to “keep up with his career” had struck again.
[07:06] From Amma: Lily evans ? Really ?
[07:07] From Appa: wat r u doing
[07:08] To Appa & Amma: Went out with a friend for coffee and fundraiser talks. Media misunderstood.
[07:10] From Appa: janardhan narayanan iyer
[07:10] To Appa & Amma: yes?
[07:11] To Appa & Amma: appa you can’t just say that and then leave
[07:14] From Amma: A friend named Lily Evans?
[07:16] To Appa & Amma: yes
[07:16] From Amma: Both of you are useless
[07:17] From Amma: சரியான பைத்தியகாரங்கள்
[07:19] To Appa & Amma: amma that is very mean please stop calling appa & i names.
Madhav looked up from his finished box of crayons, glancing between Janardhan’s baffled expression and his buzzing phone.
“Is that Vishu Patti?” He asked.
“And your Thatha too.” Janardhan said. “And she’s angry to boot.”
“What’d you do?” Madhav asked curiously, already well aware at eight years old that his father didn’t have to do much at all to get his grandmother started.
“Remember the friend I was telling you about? From the movie premiere?” Janardhan asked. “We went out for coffee after practice, and, well…”
“Yeah, you told me not to tell anyone about it. That was five minutes ago, Appa.” Madhav pointed out, not unkindly.
“I can trust you not to talk about it. Your grandparents… not so much.” Janardhan grimaced. “There’s a ton of pictures and rumors on the Internet because she's famous, and your grandparents found them, looks like. She’s busy with her kid, so hopefully she hasn’t seen the articles they’re running.”
“Rumors are bad.” Madhav said, propping his head up on an open palm. “But why do Patti and Thatha care?”
“Old drama, don’t worry about it.” Janardhan said, with a wave of his hand.
When his name had first appeared, on the day of his eighteenth birthday, his parents had been shocked to see a distinctly non-Indian name on his wrist. After the disaster that had been the last few months of Janardhan’s already rocky marriage to Madhav’s mother and the complete lack of interest she showed in keeping any custody of her son, they were much more willing to accept any potential soulmate that might actually commit to their son. He’d been worried about what they would think, when they saw the name they were so familiar with next to his on a headline. All he could do, at this point, was hope they would never meet.
“Are you lying?” Madhav asked with a frown.
“No. ‘Cause the drama is old, and I’m not going to let it bother me.” Janardhan shrugged, tucking his phone into his pocket.“Wanna know why?”
“The real reason why, or the silly reason?” Madhav asked skeptically.
“Real reason.” Janardhan smiled, reaching out to grab his son’s hands in his own. He swung them from side to side gleefully like a child might. “Come on, take a guess.”
“I’m bad at this game.” Madhav pointed out, smiling hesitantly. “I don’t know.”
“I have this cool little dude that is a way better thing to spend my time on than digging up old business.” Janardhan grinned, letting go of Madhav’s hands to tap his son’s nose. “And I’m going to put all my time toward him instead.”
Madhav giggled loudly, slapping his hands over his mouth to hide his grin. “Appa!”
“If your homework’s done, we can get two chapters in after dinner.” Janardhan said. “ With sound effects.”
“Can I be Gimli?” Madhav asked seriously. “Because I did most of my homework in class.”
“Of course!” Janardhan exclaimed. “Alright. Rice is gonna need a couple minutes, but you should start cleaning up your crayons now so we can eat, okay?”
After Madhav had run off to begin cleaning up his crayons, Janardhan pulled his phone back out of his pocket, checking the senders of the messages on the lock screen before ignoring the six unread texts from his mother in favor of talking to Lily.
[07:27] To Lily Evans: ha ha my son does homework before i ask :)
[07:28] From Lily Evans: i hate u so much
[07:28] From Lily Evans: wake me up [wake me up inside]
[07:29] To Lily Evans: saaaaaave meeeeeeeee
[07:29] To Lily Evans: we’re gonna make dinner together and read fellowship of the ring
[07:30] To Lily Evans: have fun w/ ur suffering lol :D
[07:30] From Lily Evans: jokes on u
[07:30] From Lily Evans: everyone knows two towers was the best
[07:31] To Lily Evans: new years resolution was to start from the beginning & go through the series
[07:32] To Lily Evans: im regretting making this promise
[07:32] To Lily Evans: alas, i am a wonderful father and promised sound effects
[07:32] To Lily Evans: hows the little princess
[07:33] From Lily Evans: i told her she could pick the movie tomorrow night if she finished by eight
[07:33] From Lily Evans: youd think as an award winning actress she would trust my taste
[07:33] To Lily Evans: my son wont wear my jersey in public bc he worries its the “same one that smells at home”
[07:33] From Lily Evans: and yet shes almost done w/ it now. Lil shit
[07:34] To Lily Evans: i dont think he realizes he is 8 year old sized and i am adult sized. it cant be the same one
[07:34] To Lily Evans: kids are born hating what their parents do i guess
[07:34] From Lily Evans: ill drink to that lol
[07:34] From Lily Evans: hey, u should bring him over sometime. We can make sure anne doesnt freak him out too much
[07:35] To Lily Evans: whooooooo play date ! let me get permission from the man himself
“Hey, Madhu?” Janardhan asked. “I might have a friend for you.”
“I don’t like football.” He said immediately. “I am small and I love you, but I do not like it.”
“Nah. I’m pretty sure she hates football too, don’t worry.” Janardhan laughed. “She’s a good kid, about your age, but kinda loud. You up for it?”
Madhav eyed him for a moment, seeming to think it over. “Okay.” He finally decided. “That could be fun. I’ll bring the crayons, just in case.”
[07:37] To Lily Evans: idea is officially kid approved
[07:37] To Lily Evans: what is annes position on crayon organizing as a fun activity
[07:38] To Lily Evans: if it is weird, my kid totally doesnt do that. if its not weird, he’s bringing crayons
[07:39] From Lily Evans: would he enjoy her messing the crayons up so he can reorganize them?
“Madhu? If someone messed up crayons, would you like putting them back in order?” Janardhan asked, crossing his fingers.
He shrugged. “Dunno. Guess I’d have to have someone do it and see.” He mumbled.
[07:40] To Lily Evans: kid says he’ll test it out and see. i’m around until sunday, then next two weeks are busy. road games.
[07:41] To Lily Evans: so this week or thanksgiving break basically (but not thanksgiving im playing)
[07:41] To Lily Evans: haha crap forgot 2 tell my parents im playing on thanksgiving. moms gonna be pissed. we don’t even celebrate thanksgiving?
[07:42] From Lily Evans: thanksgiving is for genocide loving losers.
[07:42] From Lily Evans: ill watch u play with my dad- it might keep my sister off my back for awhile lol
[07:42] To Lily Evans: how bad is she on a scale of 1 to seahawks
[07:43] From Lily Evans: saying the m word in a theater
[07:44] To Lily Evans: GASP
[07:44] From Lily Evans: oh good u know what that means lol
[07:44] From Lily Evans: u can stay
[07:45] To Lily Evans: my best friend was the biggest theater nerd in hs. hes still reigning theater nerd. u will have to fight him for the title
[07:45] To Lily Evans: idk if u have heard of him? Sirius black?
[07:45] From Lily Evans: I LIED U CANT STAY
[07:46] To Lily Evans: what did he do.
[07:46] From Lily Evans: im blocking u omg no
[07:46] To Lily Evans: frick wait this is why he was so surprised when i said i talked to u?????
[07:47] From Lily Evans: HE DID NOT IM GONNA BEAT HIM UP
[07:47] From Lily Evans: not rlly bc i have a career to think about but i will tweet some very mean things in his direction
[07:47] From Lily Evans: he used to dm me weird shit on twitter all the time!!!!!! I did not enjoy it!!!!
[07:48] To Lily Evans: that was u???? eww ill help u
[07:48] From Lily Evans: i cannot believe he is yur best friend
[07:50] To Lily Evans: hey uh off topic but like. did u ever tell sirius u were a middle aged librarian from the midwest. just checking
[07:50] From Lily Evans: yes????? Why do u know this
[07:51] To Lily Evans: good night
[07:51] From Lily Evans: JANARDHAN MIDDLENAME IYER!!!!!!
[07:52] To Lily Evans: holy shit u spelled it all. im impressed
[07:52] From Lily Evans: i wasnt sure if it was an i or an l so i guessed bUT STOP CHANGING THE SUBJECT
[07:53] To Lily Evans: valid concern but u got it! yaaaaaay
[07:53] From Lily Evans: for yur information i told him i was a librarian to make him stop hitting on me im not crazy
[07:54] From Lily Evans: i cannot believe he told u that
[07:55] To Lily Evans: what did he ask u abt anyway? when he told the story he said he was just being annoying? i promise hes less bad now
[07:55] To Lily Evans: my son lets sirius hug him twice a year even. the little dude has real high standards
[07:55] From Lily Evans: he kept asking me weird personal questions. Tried to pull some soulmate pickup lines which i was not having
[07:56] From Lily Evans: hence the librarian thing
[07:57] To Lily Evans: did he ever show u a picture of the mark or something? yikes @ sirius either way
[07:57] From Lily Evans: lol nah, i know he was full of shit- i saw him in a magazine a few years later? Isnt he gay?
[07:59] To Lily Evans: yup
[08:00] From Lily Evans: well unfortunately for him i am a very female 50 year-old librarian
[08:01] To Lily Evans: well u fooled me
[08:03] From Lily Evans: [a selfie of her in reading glasses]
[08:04] To Lily Evans: ur so old
[08:04] From Lily Evans: im 50
[08:05] From Lily Evans: no talking in the library, punk
[08:05] To Lily Evans: sirius was the punk who would talk in the library
[08:05] To Lily Evans: i was & to this day still am a wonderful delight of a library visitor
[08:06] From Lily Evans: ill believe it when i see it lol
[08:06] To Lily Evans: fine. u vs me. pick a library
[08:06] From Lily Evans: how did u know getting kicked out of libraries is my favorite passtime
[08:07] To Lily Evans: u disgust me. libraries are for learning
[08:07] From Lily Evans: get reckt, nerd
[08:08] To Lily Evans: ur serious abt that playdate tho? is saturday good for u
[08:08] From Lily Evans: oh yeah totally!!
[08:09] From Lily Evans: idk abt Madhu, but anne needs to get out more. Thought it would be fun
[08:10] To Lily Evans: madhu would live in his bedroom if i let him. hopefully they’ll get along
[08:10] From Lily Evans: gr8! Ill see u then :)
“Alright, remember what we talked about.” Lily said, glancing in her rearview mirror to where Anne was sitting in the back. She huffed out a sigh, obviously annoyed by her mother’s reminder.
“I know, I know. Don’t scare him. Don’t yell or hit.” She parroted back.
“If you scare him, I’m probably not allowed to be friends with his dad anymore.” Lily said as they pulled into Janardhan’s driveway. The house at the end of the driveway had big windows and a bright red door, an oddly mismatched array of potted plants arranged along the sides of the doorstep. Someone had given a lot of attention to a neat line of rose bushes that separated the dried out front lawn from the driveway, especially the pink one, which was much taller than its yellow and red counterparts.
Lily exited the car first, waiting for Anne to do the same before they approached the house. Anne reached up to ring the doorbell.
As soon as she’d rung the doorbell, the door swung open, revealing Janardhan, a big smile on his face.
“Hey there.” Janardhan said, solemnly holding out his hand. He looked much more at ease in a worn out hoodie and cargo pants than he had in his formal clothes at the movie premiere, although Lily didn’t have much positive to say about the cargo pants. “You must be Anne. Nice to meet you.”
Anne blinked up at him, her momentary surprise quickly melting into suspicion. She shook his hand with as much force as an eight year-old could.
“That’s me. You’re the sports guy.” She said.
“I’m the sports guy.” Janardhan agreed. “Madhu’s off finding something for the two of you to play with. Why don’t you two come on in, and I’ll go find him.”
Anne stepping in behind him, Lily following close behind. “She’s always like that.” She whispered, once her daughter was distracted looking around the front room.
“She’s a charming little kid.” Janardhan said, doubling back to lock the door before yelling down the hallway. “Madhu! Your friend’s here!”
There was barely a pause before the muffled sound of bare feet gave way to the small boy Lily had seen on Janardhan’s phone several weeks ago. “You must be Madhav.” She smiled, leaning down a bit to offer her hand.
Madhav looked at his father, who nodded encouragingly, briefly before shyly reaching out to shake her hand. “Hello, Ms. Evans.” He mumbled.
“You can call me Lily, if you want.” She told him. “Anne? Why don’t you introduce yourself?”
“Mom, you just did it for me.” She whined, before turning to Madhav. “I’m Anne. Like the ragdoll, but cooler.”
“Hi.” Madhav said. “But, uh, what ragdoll?”
Anne, who had gotten used to introducing herself that way to avoid the eventual comparison, lit up.
“Where’s the other one gone off to?” Lily asked Janardhan.
“Other one?” Janardhan asked, confused.
“The little one.” Lily specified. “I never caught his name, but he’s your lockscreen? In the laundry basket.”
Madhav let out a horrified gasp, turning towards the two adults. “Appa! You lied!”
“Madhu, look, I’m sorry.” Janardhan lied. “It’s too cute.”
“Appa! You said you’d change it!” Madhav looked very close to stomping his foot.
“I did.” Janardhan sighed. “And I didn’t. Fine. I’ll do it right now.” He dug his phone out of the pocket of his jeans, unlocking it quickly before Madhav had more reason to be angry. “You pick one.”
Madhav took the phone, cheeks puffed out slightly in his embarrassment. “You have to stop showing people that.” He chastised softly.
“She hasn’t seen the video yet.” Janardhan pointed out. “That’s one thing I’ve done right.”
“What video?” Lily asked, smothering a laugh.
“There is no video.” Madhav told her seriously, even as he flushed.
“He’s right.” Janardhan agreed. “There is no video.”
“I wanna see the video!” Anne piped up, peeking over Madhav’s shoulder. He immediately handed the phone back to his father, the lockscreen now a picture of Janardhan and his three best friends.
“No, let’s go play upstairs.” He told her.
“We’re not seeing the video.” Janardhan said firmly.
“Aw.” Lily watched as Anne pulled Madhav away, despite the fact that it was most definitely not her house.
“We could watch it.” Janardhan said, once the kids were no longer in the room. “We’d just have to do it quietly.”
“I feel like I’d be breaking his trust.” Lily laughed.
“I break his trust all the time and he still loves me.” Janardhan grinned. “It’s no problem. He’ll be over it soon enough.”
“You’re a terrible father.” She said, but still leaned over to look at his phone.
“Let’s see, where is it…” After a few minutes of searching through Youtube, Janardhan smiled. “There it is.” Thankfully, he’d left his headphones plugged into his phone, and he wiped one earbud off on his pants before handing it over to Lily. “Get ready. This is gonna blow your mind.”
She accepted it, tossing her hair over her shoulder in order to place it in her ear.
Janardhan pressed play, and the video of an old press conference that a tiny toddler Madhu had very loudly interrupted, proved to be every bit as mind blowing as he’d promised.
“My favorite part’s when he tells them I wouldn’t lose.” Janardhan said, in between laughs, once the video ended. “He gets so angry about it too, all frowny and intense.”
“That was so cute.” Lily said breathlessly, carefully wiping a tear from her eye and attempting to avoid smudging her eyeliner. “He’s precious .”
“He is. Love of my life, that little guy.” Janardhan said proudly.
“I feel you.” She sighed happily, tugging the headphone from her ear. “Who needs soulmates, right?”
“Kids are amazing . They love you no matter what you do, and they’re just these small, wonderful little beams of light, you know?” Janardhan said. “Soulmates could be a mess. Who knows? I’ll take the guaranteed good over nothing any day.”
“My ex left me for her soulmate.” Lily admitted with a shrug. “Wouldn’t want to put anyone else through that.”
“That’s one thing we’ve got in common.” Janardhan sighed. “I’m not putting Madhu through that again. He’s… He’s seen enough, in his life. He doesn’t remember, thank god, but it’d just be shitty parenting on my part if I just let someone in who wasn’t going to stay.”
“Yeah. He’s a good kid.” Lily smiled softly. “Anne spends every other weekend with my ex. And when I’m filming somewhere for a long time.” She sighed. “I don’t mind, really, but sometimes when I’m over there it’s… sort of a lot?”
“My ex gave me full custody.” Janardhan said, looking rather tired. “She, uh, wanted to start over with her soulmate, without us as baggage. Dumping me, I can understand, but who’d pass up time with that kid?”
Lily reached out, placing a hand on Janardhan’s arm. “I’m sorry.” She said. “But, for what it’s worth? I think she made the wrong decision.”
“Thanks.” He smiled. “I know she did too, but it’s hard to think about, sometimes.”
“Yeah.” Lily nodded, smiling up at him. “But, hey, let’s talk about something happier! I brought over some references for the fundraiser. Thought we could bang out some stuff while the kids play.”
“Awesome. Bees.” Janardhan nodded. “Gotta get started before a fight breaks out, right?”
“No offense, but I seriously doubt Madhav would be able to fight Anne.” Lily winced as she followed him further into the house.
“He won’t fight her.” Janardhan replied. “He’ll make me fight her, and that’s not fair at all. Not that he’d make me do it. It’d just be an affront to his honor, and I’ve gotta take that, as his dad. It’s in the parenting manual.”
“Of course.” Lily agreed, voice lilting with amusement. “I read it cover-to-cover.”
“It’s required reading.” Janardhan said solemnly. “Alright. Now that that’s covered, let’s save some bees.”
“You sure know the way to a woman’s heart.”
[10:10] To Bees From Space: anne has kicked me out of the kitchen
[10:10] To Bees From Space: again
[10:24] From Bees From Space: my kid never does that :P
[10:24] From Bees From Space: maybe u should come for dinner sometime
[10:28] To Bees From Space: well thats bc u can cook
[10:29] To Bees From Space: or, im assuming u can cook. Anne says i cant, and so i cant.
[10:29] To Bees From Space: that sounds fun
[10:31] From Bees From Space: im my mothers pride and joy for that reason. my only redeeming characteristic
[10:31] From Bees From Space: cool. let me know what ur schedule is like. bring the kid? can't be worse than the play date
[10:32] To Bees From Space: have filming most days till monday, if yur free then?
[10:32] To Bees From Space: honestly im counting him only crying once as a victory
[10:34] From Bees From Space: same lol. monday sounds good
[10:35] From Bees From Space: will be getting home monday morning so that works out great
[10:36] To Bees From Space: cool!! My place or yurs?
[10:38] To Bees From Space: dumb question. Yur cooking, so your kitchen lol
[10:39] From Bees From Space: r u good w spicy food
[11:00] From To Bees From Space: thats a loaded question mr iyer
[11:00] To Bees From Space: but im open to trying anything while u laugh at me
[11:02] From Bees From Space: can't wait for monday!!!!!!!
“Alright. Let’s go over places.” Janardhan said, as he checked his phone to make sure he was putting the forks on the right side of the plate. “When they arrive, I’m going to be near the door, but not so close to the door that it looks like we’re desperate and need to plan everything. You’re going to be…”
“In the dining room, pretending to set the table like we didn’t do it half an hour ago.” Madhav said seriously.
“Excellent.” Janardhan reached across the table to high five Madhav. “We’re in business. Food’s ready and warm, and we are good people that make excellent conversation. We can do this.”
“I believe in us.” Madhav nodded, puffing out his chest.
“And if Anne causes trouble, I’ll step in for you. I promise.” Janardhan held out his pinky. “Okay?”
Madhav’s face lit up and he reached out, hooking his own pinky around his father’s. “Okay. I’ll try not to cry again.”
“You’re a star, little guy.” Janardhan said fondly. “Don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“Be more nervous than you already are?” He suggested thoughtfully. “Why are you nervous, anyways?”
“Ah-- It’s-- Uh-- There’s a big commitment involved, you know? With the saving the bees campaign?” Janardhan scratched his head. “I’ve gotta make sure we’re on good terms so the bees get saved. The bees need a lot of saving. So much saving.” He kept rambling as he walked back into the kitchen to check on the stove. “Do you know where we’d be in a world without bees?”
“The earth probably would have exploded and we’d all be drifting aimlessly through space.” Madhav suggested. “Or, you know. Something like that? Maybe with more volcanoes.”
“That’s right!” Janardhan called from the kitchen. “I love you!”
“I love you too?”
A car door slammed in front of the house, and Janardhan ran up to the front door, checking that it really was Lily Evans before lingering there. It was undeniably her car, an old beat-up, yellow Volkswagen, undeniably her face, and undeniably her kid. Anne was dressed in a pink sundress, and she might have looked even more adorable if it weren’t for the grumpy expression on her face.
Janardhan rubbed his hands together in anticipation, noting disappointedly that they’d gotten sweaty all over again. He rubbed them on his pants before stepping back and taking a deep breath. They could do this. He and Madhav had dinner parties all the time. This wasn’t any different from any other one, even if this was Lily Evans.
There was a knock on the front door, and he pulled it open a moment later. Lily, to her credit, only looked amused when she greeted him. “So do you wait by the door for all your guests, or am I special?”
“We finished getting stuff set up early.” Janardhan said, desperately trying to look less embarrassed than he felt. “So we figured, why not try to maintain good appearances?”
“Don’t worry.” Lily grinned, winking at him. “Your appearance is just fine. Where’s the little dude?”
“Madhav!” Janardhan called over his shoulder. “Come say hi!”
Madhav hurried out of the kitchen, tripping over his own feet and nearly face planting in the hall. “H-hi! Hi. Hello.”
“You don’t have to be nervous, Madhu.” Janardhan said, patting his son’s shoulder. “You’ve met Lily and Anne before.”
“I’m not nervous.” He mumbled, blushing.
“How’re you doing, little dude?” Lily reached out, ruffling his hair.
“Good, Ms. Evans.” He smiled shyly up at her.
“Now what did I say about my name?” She said, pretending to be serious.
“To call you Lily?” Madhav replied uncertainly.
“You got it, champ.”
“Alright. You guys hungry?” Janardhan asked. “Food’s ready to go.”
“We’re really excited to burn our tongues out.” Anne said seriously. “I’ve been preparing myself. I will not be defeated.”
“Preparing yourself?” Janardhan laughed. “How? I’ll pass the details onto my friend Peter, if they work.”
“Uncle Peter doesn’t like Appa’s cooking.” Madhav made a displeased face.
“Peter’s a good guy.” Janardhan said. “He’s just… strange.” He nodded, satisfied with his evaluation. “Right, we shouldn’t make you stand out here forever. Come in.”
The girls stepped inside, slipping out of their shoes. Lily let Madhav lead her back into the kitchen, but Anne grabbed onto Janardhan’s sleeve to keep him from following.
“What's up, small fry?” Janardhan asked, crouching down so he was at eye level with Anne.
“If you upset my mom, I’m not going to be happy.” She said, scowling at him.
“Upset her?” He blinked in surprise. “Why would I do that?”
“My other mom left her for her soulmate. She says she’s okay with it, but I know it makes her sad.” Anne clarified, brown eyes narrowing further. “So if you make her sad again, I’m going to hit you really hard.”
“We've discussed it, and I promise I won’t.” Janardhan nodded seriously. “Here, I’ll give you a head start on the beating, just in case. My opponents like to tell me my right side’s weak. Get me hard there if I ruin it.”
“Great.” Anne smiled, suddenly, patting his shoulder as she stepped past him. “What’s for dinner?”
“Nobody's allergic to lentils or beans?” Janardhan asked as he straightened back up.
“Nope!” Anne said. “I’m only allergic to losers.”
“Sweet. So am I.” Janardhan grinned. “Alright, so we’re having Madhav’s favorite for dinner. It's kinda like… Ground lentil cakes and beans with rice. It's all good, I promise. Not even a little bit poisoned.”
“That doesn’t sound spicy at all.” Anne eyed Janardhan suspiciously.
“You'll see.” Janardhan laughed, as they entered the dining room. “Madhu, is the usiliyal spicy?”
Madhav turned to look at his father silently, eyebrows raised.
“There's the slightly biased opinion I was looking for.” Janardhan said. “Alright, dining room’s this way.”
Once everyone was seated, Janardhan motioned to the pots. “Rice is in the cooker still, first pot is the lentils and beans.” Once Anne and Lily had put enough rice onto their plates, he served himself and Madhav, looking sheepishly at his son before handing him the ladle of the second pot to serve himself.
“Go ahead and take more of whatever you want. Don't know how you guys like your rice seasoned, so there's salt here and butter-ish stuff in the little metal box with the spoon sticking out. If you're real adventurous, there's spiced yogurt and asparagus bits in the other pot. That's real good with this.” Janardhan spooned some butter onto his rice before mixing it into the vegetables. “Madhu, you want me to do yours?”
“Yes, Appa.” Madhav said, smiling across the table. It didn’t seem to occur to him that doing it himself was probably more acceptable in front of guests.
“Spiced yogurt?” Lily seemed curious, but Anne was already reaching for the pot. She’d always been excited about trying new foods, often asking servers for the recipes to take home.
“Sorry, I'm not used to explaining food in English.” Janardhan rubbed the back of his neck. “We haven't spoken in English at home this long since Madhav’s teacher complained in preschool.”
“Complained about what?” Anne looked up with a frown.
“I couldn’t speak English well.” Madhav mumbled.
“Poor thing, school was an uphill battle for him at first. I confused him a lot.” Janardhan sighed. “His grandparents tried to fight the school.”
“They sound like my kind of grandparents.” Lily laughed.
“My mother already thinks you're great.” Janardhan said. “My dad's still trying to figure out Interstellar.”
“Aliens.” Lily said sagely. “That’s really all there is to it. Wait till The Martian comes out.”
“He's going to get so confused.” Janardhan laughed. “He’ll try to read Wikipedia again, and that'll be a whole new family problem.”
“I’m only in the movie for a couple minutes, total screen time.” Lily admitted with a laugh. “So hopefully I don’t start a family feud.”
“It won't be that that starts it.” Janardhan said. “My dad will point out that McConaughey should have died, my mom will say it's a story thing and then they'll both try to get majority vote by involving Madhu and I. Good thing I'm on the road this week.”
“So you’re staying with your grandparents while he’s gone, kiddo?” Lily smiled across the table at Madhav, who ducked his head. “Do you like getting to spend so much time with them?”
“... I guess.” He mumbled uncertainly. “But I miss Appa too. He’s gone a lot.”
“Yeah.” Anne snorted. “Sometimes mom is gone for weeks, just to film one scene from some movie. I totally get it.”
Madhav nodded sagely in response.
“At the end, you get to watch me throw balls at people.” Janardhan pointed out. “That's always fun.”
“I guess.” Madhav agreed hesitantly.
“You can always come hang out with me.” Anne said. “I’m way cooler than your dad.”
Madhav giggled in response, ducking his head.
“Hey!” Janardhan protested. “I am totally cooler than an eight year old! Right, Lily?”
“I dunno,” Lily teased, “you’re kind of lame.”
“I’m not lame.” Janardhan mumbled, picking at his food. “You’re lame, you library invading loser.”
“What?” Lily laughed, pressing a hand to her mouth. “What sort of insult is that?”
“I’m trying .” Janardhan groaned. “Just let me learn, alright? Gosh.”
“The library joke doesn’t even work- I was a fake librarian!” She said gleefully.
“You’ve never played a librarian before…” Anne frowned.
“It’s a long, long story, Anne.” Janardhan shook his head. He glanced over at Lily, who looked positively ecstatic still, and smiled. “You really don’t need to know.”
“But I want to!” She protested petulantly.
“Don’t worry, Princess.” Lily smirked, glancing at Janardhan. “I’m just looking into alternate career paths.”
Lily had always been a bit lost after Anne went to bed. She usually just went over scripts or watched movies she wasn’t in. But lately, she’d taken to texting Janardhan until he went to bed, usually hours before she did. He had made some excuse about an athlete’s schedule, but Madhav had told her that he’d always preferred sleeping and waking up early.
Lily had been watching some cop show her friend Pandora had mentioned to her the other day, but once it had ended, a soap opera had begun. It was in a language Lily most definitely didn’t speak, so she had snapchatted a clip of it to Janardhan.
[10:23] From Bees From Space: what are you watching??
[10:24] To Bees From Space: lmao its fun to try and make up a plot
[10:24] To Bees From Space: youve never done that?
[10:25] From Bees From Space: oh yeah i have. my dad used to get the spanish language option stuck on our tv a lot
[10:26] To Bees From Space: yur dad sounds like a gem
[10:27] From Bees From Space: literally the best. i should text him that
[10:27] To Bees From Space: neeeerd
[10:28] From Bees From Space: excuse me my dad is a precious & pure soul
[10:29] From Bees From Space: speaking of the antithesis of that, how was thanksgiving with the Literal Devil
[10:29] From Bees From Space: aka that sister u’ve been telling me abt
[10:30] To Bees From Space: for a second i thought u meant anne lmao
[10:31] From Bees From Space: never!!!!!!!! anne is an absolute angel
[10:31] To Bees From Space: it was hell ugh. She brought her husband and spent the whole time making smartass remarks abt my divorce?
[10:31] To Bees From Space: like bitch i am a movie star?? Wtf
[10:32] To Bees From Space: next time i should just bring a date to shut her yp
[10:32] To Bees From Space: *up
Lily frowned, realizing after a moment that perhaps she shouldn’t have said that. Janardhan was… he was nice. He was funny, and kind, and liked her admittedly difficult child. Not to mention he wasn’t too hard on the eyes. Not to say she hadn’t been thinking about dating, and specifically dating him. But that would be weird, right?
She just shouldn’t bring dating into the picture at all. They had a good rhythm going, and this could throw it off. She was absolutely, positively fine being single.
[10:33] From Bees From Space: i volunteer as tribute
[10:33] To Bees From Space: aw are u asking me out
Lily felt her cheeks grow hot as she sat up, phone held in her hand. She could do this. She’d just play it cool and casual, like in every movie she’d ever been in. The romances always played out perfectly. They’d banter, he’d be smooth, and then they’d go out to dinner or something.
[10:35] From Bees From Space: sorry i thought u were cool w/ it that was totally presumptuous of me
[10:35] From Bees From Space: im super duper sorry man this was totally not cool. this is not a thing that bros do. im sorry
[10:36] From Bees From Space: sooooooooooooooooooooooo bees?
Right. Smooth.
Lily let out a breathy laugh as she reread his texts. Smooth wasn’t exactly Janardhan’s strong point. This was the man who waited by the door for her to knock. It was… cute. He was awkward and gangly and cute, and he wanted to date her.
[10:39] To Bees From Space: No, i mean, its totally cool
[10:40] To Bees From Space: im hot shit B)
[10:40] To Bees From Space: okay but seriously if u were serious im serious? Id like to go on a date with u. That sounds rlly nice
[10:41] From Bees From Space: ur actually sirius abt that? like u are definitely not joking for sure
[10:42] From Bees From Space: sorry my phone autocorrects serious to sirius cause i keep making that joke
[10:43] From Bees From Space: it’s a sign from god to stop but hell if im listening
[10:44] From Bees From Space: but rlly. im in if u are. lets do this :) <3
[10:44] To Bees From Space: autocorrect is a godsend tbh we might as well turn on predictive text and let it have our conversations for us
[10:45] To Bees From Space: totally in :) <333
An hour later, when Lily was getting ready for bed, she paused in front of the mirror in her bedroom. Her hair was tossed back in a ponytail, as it usually was when she wasn’t leaving the house. There was no makeup on her face, but the giddy expression was more than enough to make her feel beautiful. Though, she supposed, the leggings and baggy tee shirt weren’t helping.
She didn’t feel like a movie star, in that moment. Couldn’t remember the red carpets and flashy dresses and exotic filming locations.
She was just a woman who’d scored a date for the first time in forever.
Her eyes caught on the words inked beneath her collarbone. Curling letters that looked more like art than a name. She’d tried everything to figure out what language it was in, but eventually had given up. It wasn’t as though she could copy-paste it into Google. If her soulmate wanted to find her, they would have to notice it themselves.
Even so, she let her fingertips brush across the soulmark with a sort of resigned feeling. She wasn’t going to sit around waiting for them all day. She wouldn’t dwell on what-ifs and could-bes. She was going to go on a date with Janardhan and enjoy herself.
ஜனார்தன் ஐயர்.
What a pretty name.
Janardhan’s text, while giving her the box to look for and its approximate location in the stadium, hadn’t really told her what people to look for, which wasn’t very helpful at all. Of course, Lily knew Madhav would be there, and she was counting on picking him out of a small crowd to find her boyfriend’s parents. She’d seen pictures, and an occasional embarrassing video, but little more than that.
The rest of the team’s wives, girlfriends, significant others, and families were gathered in the box as well. Several people raised their hands to greet her, and Lily smiled back and pretended that she remembered their names.
A hand tugged at the old jersey she’d stolen from Janardhan, and when she turned she found Madhav standing behind her, a smile etched onto his face. “We’re over here.” He whispered, already tugging her through the rows of seats.
A gray haired woman in her early seventies, obviously Janardhan’s mother, from the strong resemblance she bore to him, sat stiffly in her seat as she stared out onto the field. When Madhav sat down, she put an arm around him, as if afraid that he’d be snatched away from her if he wasn’t secured.
“Oh”, she said, noticing Lily, “who’s this?” Lily got the distinct impression that the woman was well aware of who she was, and was just asking to get her grandson to speak.
“This is Lily.” Madhav told his grandmother as Lily took a seat next to him. “Appa really likes her!”
“So you’re Lily Evans.” She said, looking quite stern. “I see. Well, sit down. We can all watch my son underperform for too much money.”
“She’s really nice.” Madhav said to Lily, who nodded. “She just hates sports.”
“I don’t hate sports, Madhu. I hate your father’s decision making.” She said, neutral expression shifting into a scowl as she spotted her son’s jersey number among those practicing on the sidelines before the game began. “There he is…” She trailed off, muttering something in Tamil under her breath. Judging by Madhav’s expression, it definitely wasn’t anything nice.
Madhav looked distinctly uncomfortable for a moment before his eyes caught on another figure winding through the crowd. He waved his hand, as though to catch his attention.
A tall man, built a little wider than Janardhan was, waved nervously to Lily as he sat down beside his wife, who looked comically small beside him. It was easy to tell where Madhav had gotten his careful, quiet personality from when Janardhan’s father came into the picture-- even within a few minutes, Lily’d easily picked out at least five mannerisms that they both shared.
“I hope my wife hasn’t bothered you.” He said, reaching around his wife to ruffle Madhav’s hair. “She doesn’t enjoy football.”
“Narayanan, behave.” His wife hissed, slapping his hand away.
“Oh, well,” Lily started with a shrug, “it isn’t for everybody, right?”
“It’s alright, Lily. I’m about the only one here who actually enjoys these games.” Narayanan laughed. “Years in the courtroom help you pick out a liar pretty fast.”
Lily laughed. “Sorry. I’m trying the whole ‘supportive’ thing, but I don’t even know the rules of the game.”
“It’s alright. We had to learn along the way as well.” He smiled easily. “Janardhan’s been playing since he was younger than Madhav. It’s come with time for us. It’ll be the same way for you.”
“That’s good to hear.” She said with a laugh.
“The Cardinals are quite good, this season. This will be a tense game.” He returned his gaze to the field. “Madhav, thoughts?”
Madhav hummed thoughtfully, turning to look at the field. “Our defense is really strong this year… And Appa likes consistency and teamwork, instead of flashy stuff. I think we can pull of a tie, even if we don’t win.”
“That poor little boy, Lindley? He’ll be sacked before he knows what’s happening.” Narayanan shook his head. “He’s very new-- they only brought him in because Stanton was injured.”
“Which one is that?” Lily asked curiously. “Our team or theirs?”
“Theirs.” Madhav said.
“I’m Lily, by the way.” Lily suddenly remembered that she hadn’t introduced herself yet, and leaned forward to smile at Janardhan’s father.
“Narayanan Iyer. Nice to meet you.” He nodded. “My son’s been talking about you for weeks. It’s nice to finally see you in person.”
“Don’t embarrass Appa.” Madhav whispered, as though Lily weren’t sitting right beside him. “He’ll cry.”
“I’ve dealt with that for years, Madhu.” Narayanan said solemnly. “I can handle one more day.”
“Very true.” His wife agreed. “Janardhan’s been whining since he was born. That’s one way this sport has been good for him.”
“Vishu Patti,” Madhav tugged at her sleeve, his lower lip jutting out in a pout, “Appa is really great, he doesn’t whine at all.”
“I can say what I want.” She replied. “I gave birth to him. That gives me free reign to say whatever I like.”
“Visalakshi, please.” Narayanan sighed. “His friend is here, let’s not embarrass him.”
“Appa only says nice things about me, though.” Madhav insisted.
“We all say nice things about you.” His grandmother pinched his cheek, causing Madhav to giggle. “Because there are only nice things to say about you.”
“It’s true.” Lily ruffled Madhav’s hair with a conspiratorial grin. “I’m only dating him so I can spend time with you.”
“Dating him?” Visalakshi asked, looking to her husband. “That’s news.”
“Hm. Yes.” Narayanan said, trying to look as if he wasn’t already aware. “News.”
“Blocking Yahoo News worked for a little bit, I guess.” Madhav tugged at his ear.
“Almost.” Narayanan sighed. “We forgot to account for real life.”
“Well, it’ll work for next time?” He giggled nervously.
“Oh, I’m so sorry.” Lily leaned forward to look at Janardhan’s mother. “He’s been so excited about it, I just assumed he had told you.”
“The boy tells me nothing.” She said, shaking her head. “Just like his father. Useless, the both of them.”
“Appa showed me the texts you sent!” Madhav said proudly. “Crazy is a bad word, Patti!”
“At least he’s teaching you to read.” She said. “That’s the only thing he’s done right.”
“He’s done a lot of things right.” Narayanan said, clapping quietly when he noticed his son complete a pass to one of his teammates on the sidelines. “Look. He did that right.”
“One pass.” Visalakshi replied witheringly. “We can’t expect much more than that.”
“I think he’s quite good.” Lily said, watching the game curiously. “He might not take the ball much, but Madhav is right. He focuses on making sure his teammates have an opening. I think, anyways. I’m still not sure how this game works.”
“That’s how it works.” Narayanan nodded. “His job is just to get the ball down to the end as quickly as possible, and he’s doing it. She’s just a little bothered by the fact that he’s doing nothing with his degree.”
“It’s been forever since Appa went to college.” Madhav said uncertainly. “I wasn’t even born yet.”
“Doesn’t feel like that long.” Narayanan said, searching the sidelines for his son again. “It feels like just yesterday that he was your age.”
“No, cause Appa is super old.” Madhav shook his head.
“He said you’d be my sort of people.” Lily smothered a laugh, patting at Madhav’s head. “I think he was right.”
“That’s one thing he does well.” Narayanan said fondly, as the teams took the field. “He’s got a good eye for finding the right people.”
It felt like they were a family, Janardhan thought fondly, as he watched Madhav and Anne squabble over the TV remote. Well, it was more Anne arguing and Madhav looking for someone to come rescue him, but it felt familiar. Easy. Like they could all do this forever without ever getting tired of each other. Lily was leaned against the opposite arm rest of the couch, her feet in his lap as she watched the kids for signs of a fight beginning, and he just felt… warm. He felt warm, and it was nothing to do with how body heat worked and everything to do with how happy he felt with some of his favorite people surrounding him.
Maybe this was what being with your soulmate was supposed to be like, he thought, thinking of Lily’s name beneath his wristband. Maybe it was supposed to feel like this was exactly where he was meant to be, all this time. He could only hope that Lily felt the same way-- she’d never mentioned who her soulmate was to him, and he hadn’t asked about what name she had, because that was intensely private. Plus, if he asked, then she would, and he didn’t want to put that kind of pressure on her. If he turned out not to be her soulmate or if she found hers after this… he didn’t want to keep her in a relationship her heart wasn’t in.
He’d learned what happened when you forced that, and he didn’t want to put Madhav through that again. He looked back at his son, who’d tugged the remote back to himself and was gripping it hard with all the strength in his bony little bird arms, and smiled. He’d do whatever it took for Madhav to be happy-- he’d come first for years, and Janardhan was content with allowing it to be so forever.
Madhav turned to Lily, the closest adult, as he held the remote just out of Anne’s reach. “Lily, can I-” He stopped talking, suddenly, eyes drawn to where her shirt had slipped off one shoulder. Anne snatched the remote from him with a triumphant noise, but Madhav barely seemed to notice. “Appa, look!”
“What?” Lily reached up, moving to tug the sleeve back over her soulmark before she paused. “Wait, can you read it?”
“Of course!” Madhav smiled at her. “Appa didn’t send me to Sunday school for nothing. That’s Tamil.”
Janardhan frowned, looking over at Lily, and his jaw dropped open in shock when he noticed the name below her collarbone. How could he not? He’d been writing it for decades now. He looked back to Madhav, who was smiling happily at him.
“Um.” He said. “Well, that’s... Wow.”
He’d heard of some matches that weren’t mutual (his friend Peter had a name that everyone knew wouldn’t be matched), and he’d been worrying since they started dating, but apparently that worry had been completely unfounded. He had her name and she had his, and they were already together, so there was nothing to worry about except making sure their relationship kept working, for as long as she’d have him.
This was far more than he’d expected.
“What? What is it?” Lily covered it with her hand, looking nervous. “I couldn’t find an alphabet for it online.”
Janardhan looked to Madhav again before speaking up. “That’s my name.”
Lily stared at him for a long moment, green eyes wide with shock. There was a war of emotions on her face, cycling between surprise, confusion, uncertainty, happiness, and finally, embarrassment. “Oh. Oh my gosh.” She retracted her feet from his lap, pressing her hands to her face. Anne, having abandoned the television at the mention of soulmarks, watched gleefully. “That’s… certainly something.” She squeaked.
“Yeah.” Janardhan laughed nervously. “I-- I was not expecting that, to tell you the truth.”
“Oh my god, I’m so sorry.” Lily pulled her shirt over the mark, her face turning almost as red as her hair. “I know we didn’t really talk about it, but I figured you would have said something if yours was my name, and now this is just… So awkward.”
“Appa, Appa, you gotta show her!” Madhav gasped, dismayed at Lily’s embarrassment.
“Yeah, I wanna see!” Anne slapped her hand against his leg. “Come on!”
“Promise you won’t laugh, okay?” Janardhan said, before pulling the wristband he’d been wearing nearly every time Lily had seen him off his wrist. “Really. I’m going to need a written statement and everything.”
“Janardhan.” Lily gave him an exasperated look, seemingly too stressed to banter with him.
Janardhan held his left hand out, palm up, and watched Lily’s face carefully for a reaction. “I-- I know this looks really bad, but I promise, I wasn’t ever going to be weird about it. And I’m really sorry about the librarian thing, Sirius just figured getting a hold of you would be funny once I got your name, and I really did tell him not to, but he didn’t listen, and it looks like we ended up meeting anyway, so it’s not all bad. I think? I’m sorry?”
Lily stared blankly through her fingers at her name, written in neat cursive across his wrist. It was the way she wrote her name on forms and documents, as opposed to the flashy autograph she’d perfected years ago. Lily Evans. “Oh.”
“We match?” Janardhan said nervously.
“This is so romantic !” Anne suddenly exploded, grabbing onto Madhav’s arm and shaking him back and forth. He let out a nervous giggle in response.
“When were you planning on telling me?” Lily peeked out from between her fingers as she thrust her heel into Janardhan’s leg.
“I didn’t want to put any pressure on you.” Janardhan said. “I guess I was planning to keep it quiet until you found out?”
Lily finally lowered her hands, frowning at him in confusion. “How come?”
“You know how it’s been for both of us. With all this soulmate business.” Janardhan said, looking rather downcast. Madhav shifted uncomfortably, picking at a loose thread on his shirt. “I just didn’t want this, what we’ve got going, to become like that because I said something, you know? And it’s not just us we’ve got to think about, it’s these two little ones as well.” He reached down to pat Anne’s head. “I didn’t want to hurt anybody. That’s all.”
Lily didn’t respond at first, simply watching his face as though searching for some hidden meaning in his words. “That’s… probably why we’re soulmates.” She said, finally, as though she had just had some sort of revelation. She said the word carefully, like it was something fragile and rare.
“What?” Janardhan asked, confused.
“It’s just,” she waved her hand past her head, as though trying to pluck words from the air, “it’s never been about thinking, for me. And that was never a good thing.”
“I don't think I've ever stopped thinking in my life.” Janardhan laughed.
Lily laughed, shaking her head. “Well, if you give me half of those thoughts, we can be two functioning people together.”
“That’s what soulmates are all about.” Anne hummed happily.
“I guess so.” Janardhan smiled. “We got real lucky, Lily.”
“Yeah,” Lily glanced around the room, at the kids smiling, the television still playing in the background, and at Janardhan sitting next to her, “I guess we did.”
“You know, I'm glad we skipped doing something fancy.” Janardhan said to Lily, as he put an arm around her waist. “It's nice to just have something to ourselves.”
“But we could have had a big wedding…” Anne whined, obviously upset at having missed the chance to be a flower girl.
“You'll learn the value of this someday, kid.” Janardhan patted her shoulder. The collar of his checked button down was open, and he looked just like he would on any other day. “Sometimes the fancy thing is just too much trouble.”
“And you still get to wear a pretty dress.” Lily reminded her. Lily, herself, was dressed in a plain blouse and slacks. “Plus, this way we avoid paparazzi.”
Madhav nodded in quiet agreement. “They always ask weird questions.” He murmured.
“The less pictures of me that exist, the better.” Janardhan laughed. “Come on, kids. We've got to fend off the grandparents, and you're just as complicit in this as we are.”
“If only we didn’t need witnesses.” Lily sighed.
“No one invited Petunia.” Janardhan pointed out. “And one of them was Remus! You like Remus!” He paused in shock. “You do like Remus. Right?”
“That’s fair.” She hummed in response, leaning up to kiss his cheek before she ushered the kids into the next room. Both her parents and Janardhan’s were standing there, dressed nicely and attempting to make small talk. It seemed her mother, Debbie, was getting along quite well with his father, which could be either wonderful or disastrous.
“It's done.” Janardhan said happily. “We’re officially married. Man, that was stressful. Had to write my name and swear all sorts of stuff. Yikes.”
“Now I’m stuck with him.” Lily sighed in mock frustration. “He trapped me.”
“There's always divorce.” Visalakshi said, earning a glare from her husband.
“I certainly hope not.” Lily’s father, Marcus, harrumphed. “She’s already gone through one of those.”
“At least there wouldn’t be a baby involved, this time.” Debbie reasoned, tucking a strand of faded hair behind her ear. “Besides you two kids, that is.” She reached out to pinch Madhav’s cheek, an act that he was all too familiar with.
“That’s not true.” Anne frowned. “There’s the new baby.”
A hush fell over the two sets of parents, and they looked from Anne to the newlyweds.
“A baby?” Visalakshi asked her son sweetly. “What's that about, kanna?”
“Janardhan Narayanan Iyer!” Narayanan exclaimed, shocked.
“The timing just-- I'm sorry--” Janardhan rambled.
“Lily, are you sure?” Debbie gasped, a hand pressed to her mouth.
“Well,” Lily laughed awkwardly, “at least we’re married now?”