Summary: Alibaba wakes up to hear a stranger breaking into his house- only this stranger is actually Alibaba's idol, Sinbad of the Sindria Trade International. But he should've known finding his childhood hero passed out drunk in his living room wouldn't be as wonderful as he thought it would be. Eventual slash Alibaba/Sinbad, and maybe Kouen...
AN: A Fangirl's prayer.
I'd like to thank god for us joining here together, today
I'd like to thank him for this food,
But most of all
Thank god for yaoi,
And the internet
Cause my life would be fucking miserable without it.
Alibaba Saluja poised the baseball bat over his head, his brother's number already on speed dial. He just needed one well aimed swing at whoever was rattling his flimsy front door, so he could call his brother to pick up the mess. His grip tightened just as the door open, he attacked with a valiant battle cry his neighbors would have been proud of.
Or he would have, if he didn't see long purple hair on the intruder who crashed down onto the floor on his face.
Alibaba blinked, gold eyes wide with disbelief when two facts quickly presented themselves to the troubled young man.
One: His intruder was Sinbad- leader of The Seven Seas Alliance, explorer, innovator and many, many other things.
Two: The man was naked.
Naked as the day he was born, Alibaba blanched, frantically searching for something to cover the excess of bronze flesh soiling his carpet with that horrible alcohol stench. His mother's quilt sat innocently on his shitty couch.
Oh heck no.
Sinbad stirred with a groan, clutching his head, then promptly passed out once more with a quiet snore. Alibaba decided to give Sinbad back some shred of decency, for the sake of his own sanity, by placing a pillow over the man's- uh... Backside. With a sigh he picked up his flip phone and stared down at the highlighted number. Then he looked back to his intruder, pale lips pressed together firmly.
Instead he called his landlord.
"Ugo here..." He was greeted with a yawn.
"Hey, Ugo. Somebody broke into my apartment but-"
"What! Someone broke into your apartment?" Alibaba flinched, holding the phone away from his ear as he rubbed it. "Aladdin and I will be right there-"
"We'll save you Alibaba!" He heard Aladdin yell, but before he could elaborate, the call ended.
He sighed, rubbing his temples in hopes that he wouldn't have a headache going back to bed tonight he nudged Sinbad with his bare foot. "Get up." He grumbled. The man just grapped his foot instead, knocking Alibaba on his back when he wrapped his arms around his leg. "H-hey, get off would you?"
The purple haired man continued to sleep soundly. Leaving Alibaba wondering if this drunk was really the man he had heard so many stories about. He stilled, scoffing when Sinbad's nose began rubbing against his calf.
"Alibaba!" The blond jumped, gaping in horror at Ugo who was carrying a shotgun, followed by Aladdin so charged at Sinbad with a yell. "Get away from Alibaba!"
"Wait don't shoot him!"
""Why not?" Ugo raised a brow, the barrel of the gun poking the intruders face.
"Cause you can't just shoot somebody!"
"Its okay Alibaba, we can deal with the cops- did we get here before he took your virtue?" The blue haired boy asked, blue eyes filled with worry that Alibaba would have been touched by under any other circumstances. Normally, he would have been touched, but this was just embarrassing.
"Aladdin!"
Conveniently, Sinbad chose that moment to wake, and understandably, managed nothing but a manly squeak. "Hey now, there's no need for that!"
Ugo, being the giant he was, focused a cold glare down at the man. "Explain. now." Sometimes he forgot how scary Ugo could be, Alibaba thought as the man hugged his leg tighter.
"I was sent by Alibaba's father to take him back to Balbad." He said, calm despite his previous terror.
"Why are you naked?" Aladdin snapped, raising his cane threateningly. Oh heavens, his friend's were hustling the King of Sindria...
"That... Is a very good question." Sinbad grimaced.
"And why are you violating Alibaba?"
"Violating?" Topaz eyes met his, curious. Then traveled down his body to the leg he held. "Oh." He turned back to his interrogators with a smile. "I must have mistaken him for a woman while I slept."
The bastard!
"Ah," both Ugo and Aladdin nodded understandingly. Alibaba sulked, glowering at the traitors while he chewed on his finger. Freed, Alibaba leapt back onto his couch, draping himself in his mother's quilt as if that could protect him from the mortification he felt. "How the hell do you know my father anyways?" Sure, the kingdom of Balbad was a rich trading country, but it was beneath most notice.
"He taught me everything he knew about trade and economics when I was younger." Sinbad answered swiftly. "It seems my memories are returning." He mused. "I was robbed."
"Robbed?" Alibaba repeated in near hysterics.
"Yep. Robbed." Sinbad smiled, and waved his hand.
"Get out."
The three made noises of surprise. "Get out." Alibaba said, scowling darkly. "And tell my father to leave me alone."
"I can't do that." Sinbad sighed. "You see, your father is dying."
There was no reaction from the blond.
"He asked me to take you back, so you could take your rightful place on the throne."
"Throne?" Aladdin shared a look with Ugo, who wore a grim expression.
"Yes, " Alibaba was relived to find everyone looked away from the blond who fiddled with the blanket around him. "He's the third prince of Balbad, but King Saluja declared Alibaba King before his older brothers could make a claim the throne when he was diagnosed."
Alibaba's vision blurred. He gently set aside the blanket, rubbing away creases and folding it into a square. "All of you... Leave."
"But Alibaba-"
"Get out! Its none of your business!" He roared, dashing away to his room. Licking the door, he swallowed some great breaths of air. Stop shaking. He ordered his hands, flexing them. He collapsed on his bed, staring blankly at the wall he waited until the voices to fade before he hurried his head into his pillow. "Damn it all."
He curled unto a ball. "Damn it all."
When Alibaba sighed for the umpteenth time that day, his boss, immensely annoyed by his mere presence drawled. "If something other than work is on your mind, take a break already." Koumei Ren complained. "You know I'm the one who they'll arrest if you work yourself into a coma." Ren raised a black fan, the air ruffling the fringe covering half his face, dark eyes studying his secretary.
"Good! Maybe then you'd actually do your work rather than passing it all off to me!" Alibaba snapped, continuing his scribbling with a growl. "And tell Kouha to stop making official requests to 'give Alibaba a wardrobe update!' What's wrong with my clothes!?"
"You look like a housewife." Koumei blanched.
Alibaba groaned, reuniting his hand and his face. "Why does everybody say that?"
"Say what?" A gruff voice made the two jump. Kouen Ren stood in the doorway, scowling at the two. Alibaba panicked- now the boss of his boss would think he was a slacker too. "Well?"
"My clothes sir." Alibab grumbled, since Koumei had chose that moment to work with renewed vigor. He sunk in his chair, face warm.
"Oh, you told him." Kouen said to Koumei.
"What's that supposed to mean!?" Alibaba nearly flipped his dems standing up. "I don't look like a housewife!"
Kouen looked Alibaba up and down.
"I don't!" He flailed.
The brothers continued stare at him.
"W-well-" He faltered. "I don't! So get that idea out of your heads!" He sat back down, scribbling furiously.
"Alibaba."
He paused his work to look up at Kouen. "Sir?"
"Can you read?"
Alibaba nearly snapped his pen in half. "Of course I can read!"
"No," the oldest Ren brother looked... Uncomfortable?
"He means to ask if you have vision impairments." Koumei smoothly interjected. "You're peering at that paper awfully close, aren't you?"
"Well..." Alibaba bit his lip. He had always had trouble seeing, especially after the incident but...
"Read." Kouen demanded, holding up paperwork from the pile on Alibaba's desk.
The blond swallowed, hands trembling as he tired to distinguish the letters. It was so hopeless, Alibaba could have laughed. "I can't sir." He mumbled, lowering his head.
First last night and now...
"Let's go."
"Huh?" Alibaba gaped at the boss of his boss.
Instead of explaining, Kouen just pulled Alibaba by the back of his sweater. "Koumei, do your own work."
And that was how Alibaba found himselfRen Kouen's car, former prince of the Kou empire was shoving his keys into the ignition with a scowl. The car roared to life, but Alibaba was not impressed when Kouen sped out of the parking lot. "Shouldn't you slow down?" He stuttered, his meager breakfast threatening to introduce itself to the leather that probably cost more than his own life.
Kouen just grunted, speeding up.
"Please slow down." He begged, his head weakly banging against the window. "I'm going to be sick." The buildings were really going by fast weren't they?
"Throw up. And I'll make you shove it back down your throat." Was his response. "Breathe idiot."
Alibaba rasped. Right. It was like his mother had instructed him. In through the nose. And out through the mouth. Hold tree counts. Except his throat couldn't agree with him, and instead short panicked breaths made his lungs burn. He coughed. Hold three count, he told himself, imagining his mother's quilt around him. "This will keep you safe." Anis promised. "Whenever you feel sad or sick. It will keep you warm."
He managed to get away with some lingering nausea. He saw Kouen looking at him through bleary vision. Elbow propped up on the car door and fist underneath his chin inches away from that ridiculous goatee that matched his brilliant red hair. "Keep your eyes on the road, damn it!" Alibaba shrieked when they almost rammed into another car.
Thankfully, the ride ended shortly after that. His legs felt like jelly when he weakly opened the door and stood on the grass. "Where are we?" Alibaba gasped, in awe over the unusual sights of foreign flora and fauna.
"Family doctor." Kouen rolled his shoulders, walking on the stone path to a humble cabin. He walked in without knocking. Alibaba tentatively followed. How he wished the eldest Ren sister were here to translate Kouen-Speak. "Yuunan!" Kouen roared. Alibaba rubbed his ears.
"Not so loud En... "A soft voice whined, and almost like magic the cabin was filled with light. A pale man ran a hand through his soft, platinum blonde hair, blue eyes watery from sleep. "Rude as ever, I see." The man, Yuunan seemed to have noticed Alibaba. "Oh? And who might you be?"
"A-libaba, mister."
"Just Alibaba?" Yuunan leaned closer, a knowing glint in his eyes. "No family name?"
Alibaba remained silent.
Yuunan hummed, placing a large green hat on his head. "You know Alibaba, omission is lying too. If you keep lying, you won't even believe yourself anymore." Yuunan smiled when Alibaba stiffened. "But you already know that don't you?"
"Lay down for a little." Yunnan patted the plush mattress he sat on. "You can nap while Kouen and I talk."
Alibaba nodded. For some reason, under the warm glow of the light and surrounded by plants, Alibaba felt safe here. The lights dimmed, and a blanket was drawn over him. It was so warm, he could pretend it was his mother, holding him with her quilt wrapped around them during the abnormally cold winters of Balbad.
Of course ... They would be there too. His brother and sister.
"Alibaba." Someone shook him. "Wake up, already." They said in fond exasperation.
"Kassim?" He was met with silence. "I'm sorry."
"Why are you sorry Alibaba?" A gentler voice asked.
"Because I ran. It was cowardly," he whimpered. "I'm sorry." There was a hand stroking his hair, as if letting him know it would be alright. "It was all my fault- I'm sorry."
"Alibaba-"
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..." He cried for the first time in two years.