Somewhere in Between

Barely Functioning

KS was asking her Maddam Sir. It's only fair that her Maddam Sir answers.

HM sighs. Consequences be damned.

"Humein bhi aapke saath sone ki aadat ho gayi hai," She answers barely above a whisper, but KS hears it anyway.

To be fair, she already knew what the answer going to be. KS just wanted her to say it. Which is why she can't help but nod in approval when HM admits it without much effort.

They were barely functioning without each other, it wasn't the time to show chivalry and keep denying it.

"Hmm..." KS acknowledges, allowing the small truth to give herself the energy to continue their little charade. She confronts Urmi once again. "Toh humara offer bhi valid hi hai. Agar neend na aye toh tum humse baat kar sakti ho."

"Pakka?" HM asks with hesitance, not sure if KS is offering her or Urmi.

"Pakka." KS confirms as if she understood the unsaid question and is willing to be there for both sides of her.

HM nods, accepting the comfort without much complaint. Although...

"Wese... ek baat kahein?" She begins once more, changing the topic to address something important.

KS gives her a curious look.

HM smiles with mischief.

"Yeh sab kya hai?" she points out, gesturing to her out-of-character appearance.

KS raises an eyebrow, slightly offended.

"Kyun tumko hum ache nahi lage?"

Urmi backtracks at once, "Nahi, nahi. Ek dum mast. Ati sundara ahes tu, chatak chandani."

"Phir?" KS teases, enjoying her nervous mess of a girlfriend.

HM squints, catching her hidden smile. And corrects herself properly, "Lekin hume aap apne kapdo mein zyada achi lagti hain, Karishma Singh."

Despite her resolve, KS swoons at that.

Damn it! She thinks miserably. She was supposed to be the one playing HM here, not the other way around!

But it's too late, because KS is already blushing and HM looks entirely too smug about it.

"Maate, aap kripya kapde badal lein toh behter hoga," Urmi suggest after a moment, taking pity on her. "Khud ki duplicate lag rahi hain."

KS frowns, remembering the whole reason this was happening in the first place.

"Kese badlein?! Humare saare kapde toh-" She almost yells in frustration, getting in HM's space threateningly.

HM automatically puts her hands on her shoulders in defense, before pulling back to maintain a platonic distance.

"Arrey. Shaant, shaant, meri action pichker ki hero," Urmi answers first, making sure KS doesn't go off before HM helpfully cuts in. "Jaante hain aapke saare kapde aapke sasural mein hain. Is liye toh hum aapki uniform saath laye hain."

KS fumes. Now was not the time to remind her of her "sasural" and have her be planning their wedding all over again. She was supposed to be mad.

"Kahan hai?" the ball of anger questions, quietly appreciating the fact that her Hasee knew exactly what she needed at all times.

HM finds her anger quite adorable, but refrains from commenting on it when she's ready to explode.

"Gym room mein," she says instead, nodding towards the place she'd kept all of KS's morning essentials.