The Life Of Normal-Taro

What Kunjan expected was a dejected Thankappan who was getting pissed thinking about paying the money for the stay, but the MIB agent looked unfazed by it and the plankton didn't know why.

"What the hell man?" Kunjan decided to voice out his frustration.

"Hmm? What happened?" Thankappan asked. Slowly but surely, a smile began emerging from his face.

"I knew it! You got something planned. I don't know what that is, but there seems to be something." Kunjan stared at Thankappan hoping that it would make spill out what it is.

"What do you even mean?" Thankappan asked with disbelief on his eyes.

"Nah, man. You can't fool me with that." The plankton moved away from the MIB agent as some sort of reflex action.

"I literally have nothing to fool you with. So I just don't know what you're saying." The disbelief stayed in Thankappan's face as he spoke.

"Again with that. I just!" Words didn't come out of Kunjan's mouth after that. Instead, it was a bunch of growls that came out.

"Hmm, so who's paying?" Gopan asked.

"I will be-" Thankappan was about to take on the task, when Kunjan finally got out of his growling phase.

"Wait a minute. I'll be paying for the ride." He announced.

"Cool. You do that then." Thankappan stepped back with his offer to pay for the ride upon hearing that.

"Damn it. At least change the damn expression for a bit! You're being way too easy going about this. And that's suspicious as heck as well." Kunjan spoke.

"Dude, I've always been the same as right now. I don't care either way. Just tell me your decision, will ya?" Thankappan asked.

The plankton sighed. "Screw this. I'm paying for the room. I feel like you're planning for something and it will work out if I'm to choose paying for the drive." The plankton replied.

"You know, there could be a slight chance that I'm deliberately doing this so that you have to pay for the expensive room." Thankappan whispered in Kunjan's ears.

"Fuck… That's a possibility as well. But would you even reveal something like that if you aren't gonna pull something out of your ass? That's my question." The plankton spoke up.

"I'm doing my best to cause discord in your mind and now that I see it up close and personal, it seems to be working." Thankappan shrugged.

"Yea, it is working for some odd reason. Well, it's not that odd, since you're the one being the devil's advocate right now." Kunjan spoke.

"Nah, I'm just being leisurely about it. I don't care either way." Thankappan replied.

"Argh! I don't get it. Are you trying to make me pay the price for our drive or do you want me to do the exact opposite thing?" Kunjan asked to Thankappan.

But it wasn't The MIB agent who replied. Instead, it was the Wadorian who jumped in. Taro was simply fed up with the pointless banter.

"Screw this shit, okay? Screw both of you. Taking all this time for some bullshit thing. Gopan, don't worry. I'll be the paying the fare." He assured. "And as for you two, just fuck off or something. I just don't wanna hear something like this ever again." He warned.

"Ah, your wish is your command, my lord." Thankappan gave out a reply—bowing down and all.

"Now, what did I just say right now, huh?" Taro sighed as he had to hear that.

"I'm sorry." Thankappan apologised.

"I'm sorry as well—for doing pointless banters and all." The plankton jumped in this apologizing bandwagon as well

"Yea, it's fine—for now, that is." Taro mumbled before going back to the main point. "Anyhow, since I'll be paying for the trip, I suggest that we head there as soon as possible. I don't wanna waste more time than necessary. And about the room thing, you do whatever you want to. I don't give a damn." He spoke.

"Well, I'll pay for the room then." Thankappan offered his help on that matter.

"As I said before, I don't care. You do you, my man." Taro replied. "Let's go then, shall we?" He asked.

"Sure. Let me get the vehicle from the back and we'll get going." Gopan said as he ran way towards his auto taxi.

Meanwhile, Thankappan walked towards the plankton. "You happy now? It resolved peacefully, didn't it?" He asked.

"Yea, as long as I don't have to pay for shit, I'm happy." The plankton nodded his head.

"Damn, since when did you become such a money hungry alien?" The MIB agent asked.

The plankton took in a deep breath. "Well, you see, I'm from the plankton civilization. And it seems like I gotta refresh your memory on what we do. We are freaking mercenaries. We risk our life for money. So, whether it be intergalactic money or Indian rupees, it's always gonna be valuable for me. And why didn't I show this miserly face of mine before, you ask?"

"I didn't." Thankappan interrupted the flow of the conversation for a cheap comeback, which made Kunjan speechless for two good seconds.

"Ah, great. A lame joke is always great to hear." Kunjan clapped his hands and laughed in the monotonous way possible. That was the only time that his voice matched his exoskeleton.

Thankappan could only laugh awkwardly since that's what the clap made him feel. "It wasn't planned or anything. It was more of a reflex action. Forgive me." He spoke.

"As I was saying, the only reason I didn't show this face of mine was because the money I spent wasn't mine to begin with. It was the MIB's. But now, I'm being asked to use the money I earned and that's something I hate doing." Kunjan finished up his previous statement with that.

"Hmm, what if I were to tell you that it wasn't really MIB's money, but a short loan instead and you gotta pay it back with the money you are earning currently, huh?" Thankappan asked.

"Well, if that's the case, then better be prepared with a bomb squad or something because I'll burn your entire establishment of MIB into ashes." Kunjan replied.

"Oh, man! Thankfully that isn't the case, so you can hold on to your horses." Thankappan spoke.

"Great. Everything will be fine then. As long as no one touches on my money, everything will flow smoothly." Kunjan assured.

"Hey, what the hell are you two doing? Taro and I have been calling for you two for a while now." Gibli came running towards the both of them.

"Wait, weren't you with us just a few seconds ago?" Thankappan had a confused look on his face.

"What the hell are you even saying? Wait, it doesn't matter. Hop into the auto right now and be prepared to suffer the wrath of Taro. K mean, he looks really pissed off right now." Gibli spoke.

"Shoot. Maybe we should hurry. Pissing Taro off isn't a good idea after all." Thankappan said as he ran towards the auto where Gopan was waving for them to come. Other than that, there was a dark aura as well. They could see Taro's fury from a mile away, so they were gulping as they headed to the auto.

#

Contrary to what they expected, Taro didn't blast off on then when they got into the auto. They thought that Gopan's involvement was the reason behind Taro's meek nature, but that wasn't the case. He simply couldn't care about it anymore and just wanted to end this whole journey thing.

After a few hours worth of journey, they finally reached Athirappilly. But the thing was that the place was completely pitch dark.

"I can't see a thing." Thankappan spoke out once Gopan left the premises.

"Well, you knew that would happen, didn't you?" Taro asked.

"I kinda did, yes." Thankappan nodded his head.

"Doesn't matter. The waterfalls still look beautiful as heck." Gibli said with a really elated look on his face—except Thankappan couldn't see that as well.

"Dude, how can you say that when you can't see shit?" Thankappan asked.

"What do you mean?" Gibli looked confused. "I can see everything clearly." He added.

"Wait, you can see things clearly at night?" Thankappan asked to which the Arkian nodded his head.

"Of course! It ain't that big of a deal. I mean, everyone here can see at night too, right?" Gibli asked.

Thankappan looked as if he heard the most ridiculous thing in his life. "What in the world are you talking about? Of course n-"

"I mean you ain't wrong." Taro interrupted Thankappan, which left the MIB agent bewildered.

"Of course, yes. I mean, who can't at this point." Kunjan shrugged.

Gibli turned back towards Thankappan and gave a knowing look. "See? What did I say?"

"So, that means I'm the only one who can't even see a step ahead of us?" Thankappan asked.

"Yup." Gibli nodded.

"Oh, shoot. I forgot that he wasn't like one of us. Being a human can be excruciating at times, eh? Don't worry. I can give you a play-by-play commentary if you want me to." Taro patted Thankappan's shoulder as the Earthling felt alienated by the aliens.

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