TW : Themes of panic attack, threats and fear
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Following that man was hard.

A) Because I was too busy. I have boards... Give me a break Narayan... But no you put me up to this task.

B) Yudhishthir can't roam around the city alone.

C) I thought A and B are sufficient to convince you. Don't waste my time asking for another. I need to do vector algebra.

Anyways, as the next few days passed, I managed to find few minutes every day to entertain my time travelling house guest and room mate.

Sometimes we woul go scour the temple area, others we would walk around the streets or parks, simply to see if any newspaper sellers sat by.

We found nothing.

It's quite frustrating.

As I sat one day, hands in hair on my table, at a stupid matrices question which refused to be solved, there were two hands in my head, massaging it.

" Ahh. I never knew that you loved me so my darling Mini. Enough to massage my hair? " I said, relaxing.

" It's not her. " Someone whispered, it was unusual as I didn't recognise the voice.

" It's not? Then who -"

" Listen carefully girl. Tell Yudhishthir. Ashwa has come to find him. Stop looking for me. I'll find you again. On my own. " He whispered menacingly, whisking away with the wind, as if he was never there.

All I could do was pant. One attack on me wasn't enough that I now have to suffer for stalking someone?

Humor solves all of life problems... Right? That's what I was trying.

Who's to say he wasn't a fan of my absolute beauty....

Yeah it wasn't working. Each bated breath I took made me recall the incident at the gym. His intentions were not like those, he only meant to warn. But one seems to confuse everything in a panic. I looked around worriedly for Yudhishthir who had gone to take a bath.

He walked out in a blue dhoti, no jewelry.

Now, I had only seen my father and grandfather partially naked. That's because they romaed around the house after bath like that.

This man. I had seen him without a top, but it was generally covered under heaps of jewelry and his angvastr.

Now, my panic hindered any appreciation I could show for his physique.

" Ash -ash-" I managed out before sitting down. Fear captured my mind.

" What? Who? Ajatshatru? " He asked, voice hard at his name. That was weird.

" No. Not AJ. Ashwa. Yes. That's what he called himself. Ashwa. He said don't come af-after me. He-he'd find us again. Why! Why me! WHY ME! " I screamed finally, the fear now entrapturing my mind. It was paralysing. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't see. All I could feel was a blur.

Then, a hand. A strong hand. Comforting hands. Then two. Two hands raising me up. Sitting on the bed. A glass of water. Drinking? I could drink? No. My mouth was pried open gently. I could feel the cold liquid going down my throat, cooling the heat in my heart. The fear. Dousing the fire of fear.

" Look at me. Look at me Sagarika. Look here. I'm here. You'll be fine. Let's calm down. No one's here now. Let's just breathe. " He whispered, holding me close.

It felt surreal and warm yet I felt that I would die if I let go. So I grabbed on, as much as I could. In hindsight, I shouldn't have done that. His arms were bleeding. I don't wear long nails.

It took me about half an hour to finally be able to feel.

The first thing I did feel was wetness. Under my fingertips. Opening my eyes, I saw the blood. I was scared so I suddenly looked up. His face was twisted in pain, yet he kept whispering reassuring words to me.

" Yudhishthir. " I finally managed to answer as he opened his eyes.

" Thank Mahadev you're alright. Are you okay? I didn't know what to do! You were so scared and I -" I shut him up with a hand on his mouth.

" I am fine now. It's okay. You did the right thing. Thank you. " I told him as his eyes finally shined with relief.

" What happened? Are you alright? You were saying something like Ashwa? " He asked, detangling his hands, but keeping me close. So much for his lectures of proprietary.

" The man we saw. The one Krishn asked us to look for. He came to look for you. Told me, that we should stop looking for him. He'll talk to us himself. " I told him, quietly.

" Alright. We'll let him come. You don't need to worry. You focus on your exam. I'll deal with whoever this is. "

" But you didn't tell me who he looks like." I said.

" He looks like Drauni. My friend."

" Drauni. Dronputr. Ashwatthama. Ashwa.... Oh my God! "

" Yes. Exactly. "

" Alright. Well, show me your arms. Now. Don't bother hiding the pain I saw it on your face. " I told him as he hid away his hands sneakily.

" I'm f-"

" Shut up. " I told him, getting up to see the extent of my damage. Huh. Not much. Guess I still need to work out more.

" You're fine. " I said, towering over him. He was right there. One hand behind my back to steady me.

" I told you. " He said smugly.

Which was when I realized how close I was standing. He looked up the same time I looked down .

It was weird. Not bad weird. Good weird. Like fluttering butterflies. Happy dandelions...
He smiled, the soft one. Reserved one. I reciprocated, unwilling. My heart took over as my brain went away on a long drive.

"Ahem." I said, moving away.

" Yes. Well. We'll just. I'll get my. " He said, moving away to find his angvastr.

We crossed paths, trying to move to opposite sides of the room.

" You go first. "
" No you. "

And we collapsed. Again. Tell me why I'm the one who has to face this each time?

Best part is, this time on top of each other.

^•^•^•^•^•^•^•^•^•^•^•^•^•^•^•^•^•

ℝ𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥. 𝕎𝕖'𝕣𝕖 𝕓𝕔𝕜 𝕥𝕠 𝔸𝕁

" Parth. This is my friend. Ajatshatru. He lives in the southern part of Aryavart. He has come from the foreign countries recently after his tour to look for a friend of his. That's why he looked different. "

" But Madhav. Who is his friend. Maybe we might have seen him. "

" Her name is Devika Parth. I think she is the princess. Of Sivi?"

" Ji Vasudev. Sivi Raajkumari Devika. She is a very talented woman. She was also someone known to Jyeshth, as she is the Yuvrani of her kingdom and Jyeshth was just about to become one. " Sahdev said.

" Jyeshth. Which reminds me . Where is Jyeshth? " Bheem asked.

" Majhle bhaiya Bheem. Your Jyeshth has been sent by me on a mission. A very important one. He'll be back soon. Don't you worry. He has support too. "

" Uchit hai Madhav. I trust you. "

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I know it's short... I'm sorry.... I'll try compensating later....

It's just.... Freaking modern physics just decided to manifest itself.

Anyways. Share your comments. I have never actually had a panic attack, so I can't exactly say how I did. Tell me in the comments how I can improve.

Much love

Radhekrishn ❤