Sitting on the ground, Ivan and Ryaan's voices echoed through the empty building, where hardly anyone could hear their laughter or screams. After an entire year, Ivan was spending such a long time sitting with someone, passing the time together. His face was calm and simple, as always, but his eyes which usually lay dull like withered flowers were shining today.
"Your hands move fast. You react so easily. You're too good at video games."
Ryaan nudged Ivan with his arm. Ivan was skilled at the game; his practice with the buttons was good, and he could move easily and very fast.
On the other hand, Ryaan's hands were reacting slowly, and after losing three times in a row, he had become frustrated. This was the fourth game, and he wanted to win it at any cost.
"I've got nothing to do except play games all day."
Ivan replied with his eyes fixed on the screen. The answer came late; by then, the game was on the verge of ending, and he pressed the final button and…..BOOM
"Ohhh… I lost again," Ryaan said, throwing the controller onto the blanket and burying his face in it.
"The sun's already down. Do you want to eat something?"
After finally giving up, Ryaan lifted his head and looked toward the door. The door was open, and outside, the blue light of the sky had been replaced by dark night.
"Hmm," Ivan said softly. He didn't want to refuse him.
Ryaan stood up and, as he walked toward the kitchen, Ivan had gotten up and started looking at the books kept beside him most of them were crime fiction novels. Ivan had an interest in crime novels; he didn't know that Ryaan also liked such books.
"I've got two packets of Maggi. Want me to add a boiled egg with it?"
Ivan replied without looking at Ryaan.
"No… I'm vegetarian."
"Well… I heard a crime news story yesterday," Ryaan mentioned.
It was his daily morning routine to grab the newspaper early every morning and start reading it. He finished the entire newspaper in just a few minutes because he avoided every advertisement and other useless news. He liked to read only crimes. Inevitably, he watched many criminal documentaries while sitting on the couch.
"What was the headline?" Ivan asked, excited to know what it was.
"It said, 'A man killed them and ate their meat,'" Ryaan told him.
"Without cooking?" Ivan questioned. His question was valid.
"Oh, I think he cooked it. Without masala, it would taste yuck," Ryaan remarked.
They were talking about it very casually, as if the subject neither hurt them nor disgusted them. The cruelty of the act didn't weigh on their minds, and the horror behind the words failed to stir any visible reaction. Instead of shock or discomfort, the conversation amused them, almost as if it were nothing more than an interesting story, stripped of its violence and reduced to a form of entertainment.
"Interesting… a killer who eats his victims," Ivan observed.
"There's obviously a reason behind the killings," Ryaan stated.
"Psychopaths are mysterious," Ivan noted.
"They're like puzzles. I'd like to meet one at least once in my life," Ryaan added.
"You'd probably convince him to be your friend," Ivan teased.
"That's just my personality," Ryan replied.
"Humans don't really know what they're doing," Ryaan reflected.
"Emotions aren't easy to control," Ivan responded.
"That's what makes humans imperfect," Ryaan concluded,
"in this imperfect world."