#was too busy to update this fic

[hand-picked-star]

The 13th Annniversary Arshi Fiesta

Moodboard: Historical AU

Whispers of the Heart | Chapter 06

I am not very good at writing ffs. I even read ffs very selectively. But it was an attempt of me to participate in the 13th-anniversary arshi fiesta.

I might be wrong about certain aspects of that age and era, but it's a fantasy, so why not? I don't own Arnav and Khushi and the story is purely fictional and has no relation to any living or dead. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Chapter 6

The Rajputs had organized a puja for the betterment of their younger son's married life, one day before the wedding.

The Maliks were also present with the future bride. Aman and Anjali had known each other since childhood. When their friendship turned into love, they couldn't tell, but they were glad that it happened, and their elders had also blessed their union. Thinking about them, Khushi couldn't help but exhale a heavy sigh, wishing things would have turned out similarly for her too.

Her Amma's voice broke her distraction, "Titliya, ja sab ko bulake la. The puja is about to start and call Arnav too. Tell him I asked him to come downstairs and sit in the puja." knowing very well that Arnav wouldn't reject his Roma chachi.

Suvadra Malik snapped in response to the comment, "Why invite someone to a puja who doesn't believe in God? Main nahi chahti ke us nastik ke aulad ke bajayse yeh puja barbad ho jaye. I only want good things to come to my Anjali Bitiya's married life."

Khushi was about to protest when her amma caught her hand and quietened her with a shake of her head. When Khushi looked at Suvadra the next moment, she realized everybody was already there. The dark look that fell across Arnav's handsome features made her realize that his Nani's rebuke hadn't escaped him.

Arnav never cared much about religion, Seeing his mother on her knees, praying day and night for the betterment of his father, filled him with a mix of hope and desperation. Her whispered pleas, her tear-streaked face, and her unwavering faith became a haunting backdrop to his childhood. Yet, despite her devotion, his father betrayed her, shattering their family. That betrayal caused his mother to choose death over her children. The bitter irony of it all—the unanswered prayers, the blind faith met with infidelity—gnawed at him. He felt abandoned, not just by his parents but by the very idea of a benevolent higher power. In that crushing moment of disillusionment, he swore off religion, cursing the heavens that had turned a deaf ear to his mother’s relentless prayers.

But despite his disbelief in these "riti riwaj", he was determined to ensure his sister's wedding proceeded smoothly. He chose not to give his Nani any reason to cause a scene, prioritizing a seamless and joyful celebration for his sister.

Seeing no other vacant place, Arnav sat beside Khushi. As the puja concluded and the crowd dispersed, Khushi subtly shifted towards Arnav, her voice lowered to a whisper.

"I am sorry you have to hear that.''

''I won't have to tolerate her after tomorrow, now will I?'' he stated, rolling his eyes.

Khushi smiled at his somewhat optimistic yet sarcastic tone of voice. "For that, I am glad."

After sometimes she started again, "She is wrong you know" when she didn't elaborate, Arnav looked at her with questions in his eyes.

"You are not your father-" she stressed " You never will be"

"How do you know?"

She chuckled, "For a change, I know you better than her and - " she paused to gather herself.

''and I believe in you.''

She gazed at him as a soft, tender expression crossed his face, conveying a multitude of unspoken emotions. She yearned to convey to him the significance he held in her life. With wistful thoughts, she silently mused if only he could see himself through her eyes. She hoped for her unexpressed feelings to reach him, emanating from the depths of her heart.

She looked so pretty today, with a green-bordered yellow saree and a green bindi. Of course, Arnav noticed. She had flowers in her braid that day. Arnav's heart gave a twist as the reason drawn to him.

'Can you sit idly and watch while someone else takes her away?' the voice wondered.

'Shut up,' he said, closing his eyes momentarily. But he couldn't ignore the intoxicating aroma emanating from her. He realized it was partly her and partly the flowers, and decided that he liked her smell the most when it was purely hers, without mixing with anything else.

Buaji spent the entire morning urging her to get ready. She styled her hair and adorned it with flowers. Even though it was a simple piece, her Amma's gold necklace felt like a heavy burden around her neck. She didn't want to dress up for Mr. Ganguly. Every fiber of her being rebelled against the thought of establishing someone else's 'haq' over her. It felt like a part of her was being torn away. How could she make Buaji understand that she was no longer fit for anyone else in the world, no matter how many flowers she pinned in her hair? That He had ruined her for all other men.

One time when she was 14, a similar puja for the betterment of crops was ruined. That ceremony took place in a field slightly far from the village. All of them went there and Khushi was so excited to see all the jalebi and golgappa stalls. However, all the merriments were disrupted by a dacoit attack. People were panicking and running to and fro. When the dacoits attempted to grab Khushi and Manoroma, Akash Vai and Arnav intervened. This resulted in one of the dacoits hitting Arnav on the head, causing a lot of bleeding. Fortunately, the dacoit attack was brought under control by the timely arrival of the village people.

They rushed to the Rajput Haveli and a doctor was called. He examined Arnav's head and face and found out the source of the bleeding. It looked like except for the cut below his left eyebrow, his head and the rest of his face were unscratched. The doctor stitched the cut. The cut wasn't too deep, but he lost lots of blood as it was on the face and soon after developed a nasty infection. The whole household didn't sleep that night. Manoroma spent the night sitting beside him as he kept shivering due to a high fever. Khushi didn't know what to do but stared at him from the corner of the room. Buaji kept saying, it was difficult for him to survive the night. Khushi prayed to Devi Maiya repeatedly and even swore on her life to save him. When he opened his eyes the next day, she cried out of relief. Even though weak he asked her why she was crying.

"I don't want the dacoit to take you away too," she said. To this, he laughed meekly "Don't worry, Phati Sari, You aren't going to get rid of me anytime soon."

As Khushi was watching Arnav helping the workers set up the mandap, she silently wondered whether he would make such a promise to her if she asked again.

Arnav was always like that: always helping around the house. He assisted Babuji in the garden, did the grocery shopping, and took on big responsibilities in arranging every event. These were not his tasks, but he did them anyway. In doing so, he exuded a commanding and authoritative aura, as if everyone was supposed to bow to him and acknowledge the "laad governor" that he was. Khushi silently laughed at his demeanour. Laad Governor, Her Laad Governor. She mused fondly.

Arnav always demanded attention wherever he went, didn't he? She thought to herself, at least he had her full attention every single time. Whenever he walked into a room, the conversation stopped and a stunned silence filled the space. Only the 'dhak-dhak' of her heart remained. He made her feel exposed and safe at the same time.

She understood why he helped around the house so much. He wanted to show his gratitude for everything Babuji and Amma had done for him. It would be a shame as a best friend if she didn't understand that. And sometimes she wondered if this was the reason why he was not willing to consider them being together, or if he just couldn't see her as more than a friend. After all, falling in love with someone was not in one's hands. Maybe Arnav just couldn't love her as she loved him.

But one could never be certain about things like that, could they? Just like how wrong she was in her previous assessment of him not caring about whether she got married to another person or not. He clearly was affected; she just didn't know the extent of it or what to make of all this. For example, for the past half hour, he had been glaring at her and her companion, clenching his jaw, and grinding his teeth, making his jaw more prominent. Khushi couldn't help but speculate whether he was angry or jealous as she observed him closely. She didn't dare to hope for the latter reaction; she didn't want to build castles in the air.

With a heavy sigh, she shifted her focus to the man in front of her. Dhruv Ganguly was undeniably handsome; no one in a million years would deny that. Still, Khushi, sitting across from him, couldn't help but scrutinize him. Maybe Bua Ji was right; her 'sanak' had finally gotten to her head.

She couldn't help but notice how he had a round, clean-shaven face, unlike the angular one with stubble. He smiled too much, and his nose wasn't sharp enough. He didn't have a defined jawline, nor did he have piercing eyes that could hold her gaze and make her feel warm all over. His eyes didn't brighten with excitement when she spoke, or flash with rage when she contradicted him, or show amusement and curiosity when she spoke about her favourite book. His eyes didn't conceal any dark secrets either. Instead, he wore black-framed glasses and talked with a downcast gaze. He had a nervous tic of fixing his glasses with his index finger. And alas! His hands were all wrong too—too slender, too light-skinned, too soft-looking. Most importantly, this man couldn't raise his left eyebrow singly when he asked her something. Khushi chastised herself; she was nitpicking for the sake of nitpicking.

Dhruv Ganguly had no flaws. He was perfect: handsome, well-mannered, and well-educated, except for the absence of a scar right beneath his left eyebrow.

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@featheredclover @phuljari @arshifiesta @jalebi-weds-bluetooth @chutkiandchotte @arshiradio @titaliya

[sukirichi]

i’m gonna sound stupid for saying this but i’m acc very upset that real life is keeping me away from being a loser here 😔

[aramblingjay]

not-so-friendly reminder that leaving comments on a WIP demanding an update is the fastest way to never see the next chapter

[instantpansies]

5:15 am we are gonna be shaking tomorrow boys. gotta pull another all nighter tmrw night too 👍 on that grindset smashing out these chords and melodies

[juustozzi]

oop finally got to play the beta story update, gonna ramble in tags (will have spoilers)

[elendsessor]

yakumo stabbing nuwa to prove he’s not a hypocrite only for nuwa to go “awww you’re so silly i love you too :D” is the funniest thing but he also probably apologized a billion times afterwards

[varpusvaras]

Coruscant gets its own Guard.

As her duty as the Queen keeps her on Alderaan, Breha wishes to see more of what happens on Coruscant, and how the troopers stationed on the planet are doing, as the war rages on all across the Galaxy. Bail sends her pictures of the Guard, and one Commander catches her eye.

Then she hands Commander Fox her comlink frequency.

Then he picks up her call.

Part 2 of Up that Mountain, from Breha’s point of view.

[cassmouse]

I'm really emotional today but I'm also really busy and also experiencing the most severe inability to sit down and write I've ever had and my god I want to write a Checkmatch oneshot fic but my god I physically cannot

Also if I'm gonna write anything I really need to write Flowers Bloom 😭 lord help me

[activesplooger]

heres whats on the agenda for my blog:

top priority to least priority:

1.) secret passion fic! (slowly but surely coming along :])

2.) requests!

[atsuchiii]

Me, checking the mikomisa tag on ao3 to see if there's a new fic I haven't read yet:

[egginfroggin]

Hey so I haven't had any issues with any fanfiction-related problems like people harassing me at all, or anything like that, but I just want to drop a little reminder and update real quick:

None of my fanfictions have been abandoned

If I abandon a fanfiction, I will change the tags to say as such

Hiatus does not equal abandonment -- even if the hiatus has lasted months or years

I am currently struggling to make fanfiction for anything, including my new fixation (The Legend of Zelda)

Consider me officially on hiatus from now until my next fanfiction update

I am still accepting asks about my fanfiction and the few comics I have in progress

I am still accepting fanart and fanfiction of my aus and ideas

Please bear with me, this hiatus may last a while, and I've been trying to get back into the swing of things; unfortunately, the summer was a trip, and fall is looking like more of the same

I have some TLoZ fanart that I hope to post to Tumblr soon

I do miss Submas. the bois :<

Still love y'all, both the commenters and the lurkers, the followers and the casual pokers, the one-offs and the regulars. I hope you're all doing well <3

Thank you! ^^

[xnightmare-eyesx]

soo sorry to be impatient but do u have a rough update schedule for glowflies 😅 its just sooo good!! one of my favorite rayfrog fics!! 😁💖

Hi! The rough draft is being worked on! I’ve had a very busy time irl with work/family stuff and also I’m trying to finish up commissions, but the next chapter is being worked on! I accidentally wrote a lot of lore/headcanon lore for the both of them so it’s taking a little longer to edit and write! I wanna say expect it sometime this month but also the latest Pokémon dlc dropped and that has taken up the brainrot at the moment

I promise to feed y’all soon✨

[nonbayanary]

Sorry for the lack of fic updates, everyone

I'm currently trying to survive an abusive household, and neither creativity nor motivation is coming to me right now because I'm constantly in fight or flight

But don't worry, I'll do my best to write this NaNoWriMo!

[oopsallmabari]

ouaaaagh it's been ten million years of plodding away at rewrite but i am 10 chapters away from being caught up with the last chapter i posted nd less than 15 away from the rewrite overtaking the original wip we are so back (half-joking)

[theflyingfeeling]

Imagine if either Olli or Aleksi (or maybe both??) is used to sleeping with someone and just can’t fall asleep without another person and of course a bro helps another bro out and volunteers to cuddle but oops feelings

(also may I introduce this collection of them cuddling 🥰)

noooooooo that's one of my favourite tropes!! 😭💞

and why not combine this with the 'coming up with excuses to sleep together' trope because 🥺💞💕💓💗💕💞💕 the excitement of getting under the covers, the wondering if the goosebumps on the other's skin is just because they're feeling cold or something else... the perfect excuse to cuddle closer anyway 🥰