Aanya shook her head and reopened her book.
She lasted approximately seven minutes.
Then she closed it again.
Sagnik looked over.
"What?"
"I'm hungry."
"We ate."
"That was hours ago."
He checked the time.
She was right.
He closed his notebook.
"Come on."
"Where?"
"Coffee."
Aanya looked at him suspiciously.
"You're taking me?"
"Apparently."
"Why?"
"Because you're hungry."
"I said coffee."
"You'll eat something too."
"I didn't agree to that."
"I wasn't asking."
She stared at him.
He stood.
Aanya eventually followed.
They ended up at a small café near campus.
It wasn't particularly crowded.
They found a table near the window.
Sagnik ordered coffee for both of them and something to eat.
Aanya watched him.
"You remembered what I like."
"I have a functioning memory."
"Since when?"
"Since you started complaining about everything I ordered."
She smiled.
"I don't complain."
He looked at her.
She looked back.
"Okay."
"Exactly."
The food arrived.
Aanya immediately reached for it.
Sagnik pushed the plate slightly toward her.
"Eat."
She took a bite.
Then another.
The exhaustion she'd been ignoring all afternoon began catching up with her.
She leaned back.
"I don't want to move."
"You've taken two bites."
"Exactly."
He laughed.
Aanya rested her cheek against her palm.
"I'm tired."
"I know."
"My hand hurts."
"From writing?"
She nodded.
He looked at her for a moment.
Then picked up a piece of food.
Aanya watched him.
"What are you doing?"
"Nothing."
He held it toward her.
She stared.
Then realized.
"Oh."
She smiled.
"Feed me."
He raised an eyebrow.
"Really?"
Aanya nodded.
"Please."
He leaned back slightly.
"Because, as far as I remember, you were being all powerful just five minutes ago."
Aanya's eyes narrowed.
"Don't."
"You were going to conquer thirty-five days."
"I still am."
"Of course."
He smiled.
"Then why can't you feed yourself?"
Aanya glared at him.
He stared back.
A few seconds passed.
Then he laughed.
"Fine."
He picked up another piece.
"Open your mouth."
Aanya obediently opened it.
She was expecting a normal bite.
Instead—
Sagnik deliberately gave her a piece almost twice the size she could comfortably manage.
Aanya's eyes widened.
She immediately grabbed his wrist.
"Mmph—"
Sagnik burst out laughing.
Aanya tried to chew while glaring furiously at him.
He was laughing so hard he had to look away.
She swallowed with difficulty.
Then grabbed him around the neck with one arm and smacked his shoulder.
"You idiot!"
He laughed even harder.
"I told you to open your mouth!"
"I did!"
"You did."
"You gave me half the plate!"
"It wasn't that much."
Aanya smacked his shoulder again.
He caught her wrist this time.
"Okay, okay."
"You're horrible."
"I know."
"You did that deliberately."
"Maybe."
She glared at him.
He was still smiling.
Eventually, she started laughing too.
She let go of his neck.
He released her wrist.
For a moment, they simply looked at each other.
Then Sagnik picked up another, much smaller piece.
"Again?"
Aanya looked suspiciously at him.
"You're not going to do that again?"
"No."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
She opened her mouth.
He fed her carefully this time.
Aanya chewed.
Then nodded approvingly.
"See?"
"See what?"
"You can behave."
He smiled.
"Sometimes."
She rolled her eyes.
But she was smiling too.
They stayed there longer than they had intended.
Coffee slowly disappeared.
The food disappeared.
The conversation wandered everywhere.
Nothing important.
Nothing they needed to remember.
Just the kind of conversation that happened when two people had stopped being careful around each other.
On the walk back, Aanya was quieter.
Not unhappy.
Just tired.
Sagnik noticed.
"You okay?"
"Yeah."
"Sure?"
She nodded.
Then, after a moment—
"Thank you."
"For what?"
She shrugged.
"Everything."
He looked at her.
She didn't elaborate.
He didn't ask her to.
Instead, he reached over and gently took her hand.
Aanya looked down.
Their fingers settled together naturally.
She smiled.
Neither said anything.
They just kept walking.