The Life Of Normal-Taro

Cowering from the sheer intensity of that stare from Lonappan when he received the message, Thankappan had no choice but to comply with Lonappan's wishes. Hence, within a few seconds, Lonappan's phone rang.

"Hello? Yea? Something important? Sure! I'm coming right away." He hung the phone with a serious expression on his face. Ponnappan and Chinnappan had stayed silent for a bit, wondering the reason behind Lonappan's sudden seriousness. "Guys, something happened and they need the seniors' help. Therefore, Ponnappan and myself need to get going!" He muttered as he grabbed Ponnappan.

"You sure it didn't say ALL active MIB agents?" Thankappan asked, trying his best to escape from the old man along with the two.

"Nah, fam. They specifically asked for the senior agents." Lonappan smirked, immensely happy about this while Thankappan cried inside.

"Well, if it's that important, I think we should get going straight away." Ponnappan looked serious as well.

"I gotta agree with the shithead for this one time. By the way, don't worry about me! This guy will keep me company." Chinnappan said as he pointed towards Thankappan.

"I will?" Thankappan asked. He desperately didn't want to. The old man gave him bad vibes.

"Of course, you will. We'll talk quite a bit about many things!" Chinnappan gave out a warm smile which sent chills to Thankappan's spine.

"Now that's all settled, we will get going." Lonappan quickly dragged Ponnappan with him and escaped while Thankappan wailed on the inside.

"So, shall we talk?" Chinnappan asked, folding his arms.

#

Within a few minutes time, Lonappan took Ponnappan on his bike and went as far as he could. Finally, they ended up near a paddy field where no one was present.

"Whew, narrow escape from the old man! I feel bad for dumping Thankappan there though!" Lonappan sighed in relief.

"Why are we here? Weren't we going to the MIB office?" A confused Ponnappan looked around and asked.

Lonappan shook his head in disappointment. "Dude, that was a lie! I made Thankappan call me. For real though, I don't know how you are still the commanding officer if you get fooled by stuff like this!" Lonappan replied, still shaking his head.

"Well, it's not like I trust everyone." Ponnappan spoke. "So, why is it that you brought me here?" He asked.

"Didn't you want to get away from the old man? So, I helped you in it." Lonappan gave a smile.

Ponnappan scoffed. "I can clearly see from your face that the one who needed escaping from the old fart is you. Nevertheless, I'm gonna thank you." He replied.

"You better!" Lonappan chuckled.

"So, what was the purpose behind inviting me for lunch?" He asked.

"I wanted to have a friendly chat between us; two really good friends." Lonappan replied.

"Hmm, let us." Ponnappan liked this idea. Lonappan smiled and nodded his head as well.

However, a few minutes passed and yet neither of them talked. They didn't know where to begin with and desperately wanted the other to do the role of the ice breaker between them.

In the end, Lonappan took the initiative. "Hey, since we're this close, why don't we go all the way and meet Gopan? He's been asking about you, you know?" Lonappan asked.

"No, if I went there, I'll end up using the neuralyzer on him and I don't wanna do that since…" Ponnappan was about to say something, but decided to stay quiet instead.

"Hmm, is that so? We'll not go there then." Lonappan spoke and they had another instance of long silence.

However, this time Ponnappan decided to break the silence. "Can I ask you something?" He asked.

"Shoot."

"What happened to you?" He asked much to the surprise of Lonappan.

"What do you mean?" Lonappan asked. "By the way, the same question can be directed towards you too," He added.

Ponnappan laughed. "Yea, we both changed, huh? Well, it's because of my new position and the powers and responsibility that came with it." He answered.

"These powers changed you to the point that you became a tyrant to your subordinates and a lap dog for the higher-ups?" He asked bluntly. Right now, he was talking to his friend and not his superior, so he did not have to mince his words.

"Isn't that the cliché of every workplace? Unlike you, I became a part of the system. And inside this system, we have to act according to the system's suggestion." Ponnappan replied.

Lonappan clicked his tongue. "Don't blame your mistakes on some non-existent system. Give me a proper answer." He demanded.

Ponnappan sighed. "Proper answer, huh? Would you believe me if I said I was acting before you this whole time?" He asked.

"No."

"Hmm." He thought for a while. "I'm in it for the money?"

"As if you need money in the first place." Lonappan replied in a disgruntled voice.

"I like tormenting people? The higher-ups have promised me a promotion?" Ponnappan gave out the options.

"The second one is possible. However, if that's the case, your friend right here will beat the shit out of you. And you've worked hard for everything you ever did as well. So, a little difficult to believe." Lonappan replied as he cracked his knuckles.

Knowing the intensity of Lonappan's fists, Ponnappan shivered and gave into the pressure. "Okay, look. This is the only way to survive." He replied.

"What do you mean?" Lonappan asked.

"That old geezer fucked up so bad with his statement before his retirement about Glomerans that the higher-ups actually considered shutting down this sector fearing that there might be another batch of idiots just like him. Therefore, to stop that from happening, I had to plead with them. And they asked me to keep a tight leash on you guys, which ended up with me looking like a tyrant." Ponnappan explained.

Lonappan stayed silent for a moment before giving out a sigh. "Damn, why do you have to redeem yourself like this? Just tell the others too. They'll forgive you too!" He cried.

"I don't want them to forgive me. I've been an asshole to them after all." Ponnappan replied. "So, since I told you my reason, why don't you tell me yours?" He asked.

"What?" Lonappan asked back.

"You getting married, having kids, reluctant to leave this place and other stuff generally. Seriously, what happened to the free spirit that I once knew?" Ponnappan asked the question this time.

Lonappan sighed. "I guess I learned to appreciate small things in life now. I didn't expect much when I got married to my wife, however, she taught me to take stuff easily, one step at a time and I became content in doing that I guess? Sure, I might've thought of jumping around places, meeting new people and doing multiple missions when I was young. But now I learned that rather than meeting new people, living with the same people who make you immensely happy is way better! I learned about how having a family is the best feeling in the world. So, yea the free spirited me is no more, I guess." He replied.

"Hmm. And yet, it feels like you got the answer you were searching for the longest time." Ponnappan spoke.

"You could say that." Lonappan nodded.

"So… Friends?" Ponnappan extended his hand which was swatted away by Lonappan.

"What fucking bullshit is this? When were we not friends?" He asked, smiling.

Ponnappan laughed. "Yea. So, should we go back now?" He asked.

"I guess. Although, I now feel bad for leaving Thankappan alone with the old man. I wonder if everything went fine." He spoke.

#

Back in Lonappan's household. "So, shall we talk?" Chinnappan asked.

"I'm sorry! It was me who called Lonappan back then. He wanted to escape from here!" Thankappan quickly blabbered his mouth and betrayed Lonappan's trust. He didn't feel that sorry though.

"I'm very well aware that my son-in-law lied to me about important stuff in MIB, so you don't have to worry about that." Chinnappan assured.

"Well, did you know that Lonappan actually invited Ponnappan to mend their friendship?" Thankappan asked.

"Do you think I'm an idiot or something? I might be a bit old, but by no means I've become senile! I'm aware that I played the role of party pooper in their lunch plan and you were brought in by Lonappan so that you could do something to keep me in check, right?" He asked.

Thankappan was right to be terrified of the old man. He felt like the old man was scarily accurate with his intuitions, even though it could have been deduced by literally anyone with eyes and a decent perception.

"Since, you know about everything that there is to know, what else can I possibly say?" Thankappan asked.

"Don't beat around the bush, kid! You know what I've been interested about ever since I learned about you." Chinnappan replied.

Thankappan knew what he meant. However, he didn't want to talk about that. So, he decided to act oblivious. "What do you mean?" He gave out a nervous laughter.

Chinnappan sighed. "You're gonna play this game, huh? Cool, tell me about the dungeon, kid." He ordered.

#