He is...

5. He is clumsy

Shubman's pov

The dinner was not as chaotic as usual, with Virat bhai not uttering a word and everyone being a little awkward. Hardik bhai and Rish tried to ease up the awkwardness by making jokes, but it didn't have the same affect as it used to. The situation had gotten beyond tensed, this was threatening our unity and team spirit. I needed to temporarily fix this until Virat bhai could warm up to Ishan.

I decided that I would have a talk with him and clear a few things, so that this wouldn't affect our efficiency as a team.
After dinner I got up and dragged Virat bhai with me, despite his protests of not willing to have a chat right now. After our talk Virat bhai seemed to be pretty convinced and was back in his cheerful mood. As we were walking back towards the team I whispered,
"Bhaiya, you don't have to work with him right away. He isn't ready yet anyways, he can join us whenever you warm up to him."

"It's fine Shub, I don't mind him joining us right away either. I can even help train him if you like."
Okay that was surprising. I knew the chat would get him to accept Ishan, since I had my way. I mean I wasn't the Mafia King for no reason, I knew how to control my people, but I didn't think he would agree so quickly and easily. I also definitely did not expect him to volunteer to train Ishan, but anyways atleast this won't be an issue for the time being.

As we walked back to the team, I could see Ishan looking a bit sheepishly embarrassed as everyone around him laughed while looking at him warmly. I spotted Surya bhai drenched in water, but he was laughing which eased Ishan up as he started laughing as well. Rohit bhai looked like he was trying really hard to not smile, but in the end he failed and let out a small smile looking at the others.

"What's happening?"
"Ishan tripped over his own feet and accidentally spilled water on Surya bhai."
Said Rish laughing loudly.
I let out a small chuckle shaking my head, this boy was sure clumsy as hell. Virat bhai laughed as well, which seemed to shock the others, but it seemed as if they didn't wanna ruin the moment by pointing it out, so they continued joking around.

I stood there, glad Ishan was getting comfortable already and as Rohit bhai and I made eye contact, he nodded understandingly and knew that I had managed to tame Virat bhai for a little while atleast.
As Ishan and I made our way back to my house, I went into my room to freshen up and change. I had just walked out of the bathroom, after showering in nothing else but a towel, when I heard a knock on my door.

"Come in Ishan."
Ishan entered and froze in his spot when he took a look at me. As I watched him ogling my body, his gaze lingered at my abs and I smirked,
"Like what you see?"
"What?"
"Nothing. Did you need something?"
I said now grinning smugly.

"Uhhhh.... How did you know it was me at the door?"
"Who else would it be Ishan? You're the only one living here with me."
"Oh right..."
He looked flustered, as his face turned red and he looked everywhere but at me.
"Did you need something?"
I asked again when I saw him just standing there, neither speaking nor looking at me.

He looked up at me at that and looked confused.
"I'm sure you came to my room for a reason? Or... did you just want to see me in a towel?"
I said trying to control my laughter when he turned red again.
"ohhh um yeah I was here because I was thinking that since everyone else lives at the warehouse, I should shift there aswell."
"NO!"

He looked startled by my sudden outburst. I realized I had yelled too loudly. I then softly continued,
"Uh I mean why? Are you not comfortable here with me?"
"No it's not that. It's just that.... I don't know, why would you want me to stay here and invade your personal space?"
"You are not invading my personal space Ishan. I want you to stay with me in my house."

"Ohhhh okay. I just thought that since everyone else working for you lived there-"
"Well you're not everyone else."
He blushed again at that and looked away not being able to maintain the eye contact any longer.
"Is that it? Or do you wanna stay back and ogle me a little more?"
At that he blushed even redder if possible and quickly left embarrassed, while I just chuckled.

Just like that a month quickly passed and I kept training Ishan. Ishan and I had gotten a lot closer as we spent most of our time together. True to Virat bhai's word, he had been welcoming and accepting towards Ishan and he had also helped in training Ishan, giving him tips and teaching him how to use a few other weapons like different types of knives.

Rahul bhai had tried to teach Ishan how to work a computer to find out information about the other groups and the police and also for missions and other deals, the keyword being tried. Ishan had not been too good with the computer though and we had concluded to make him stick to just the physical work. Surprisingly in contrast with his figure, he was actually well built and quite strong.

You wouldn't guess there could be so much energy in such a tiny person. With the correct skills and techniques, he could easily take down a man twice his size. He said it was due to having a rough childhood. He had worked hard and long, even working in factories, which had made him strong physically.
"Again."
"I'm tired Shub."

If it were anyone else, I would've glared at the person urging them to follow my orders, but it was Ishan and he had given me his puppy dog face, with his big doe eyes looking at me all cutely, and I had to indulge.
"Fine. You can take a five minute break."
He groaned at that but I looked at him sternly and he just nodded.
After about ten minutes I asked him to get up and continue.

"Just a few more minutes Shub."
"Ish, you can take the whole day off."
"Really?"
He asked excitedly, his eyes shining brightly.
"Yes. Infact you can take your whole life off, like I have already mentioned, you don't need to work for me. You can just stay with me."
"What? No-"

"But if you do want to work for me, and if you keep stubbornly insisting that you are ready to accompany us for our next mission, then you need to make sure that I'm convinced that you are actually ready."
After hearing that he didn't protest anymore as he got up to train again.

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I am so lazy. I even have a new oneshot idea but I keep procrastinating and not writing anything. Again, only was able to publish this since it was in my drafts already.