Altair was a man who studied those around him. He learnt their ways, their actions and their personalities. With enemies he analysed all this in the matter of a second but with people that were close to him, he took time. Malik Al-Sayf was a particularly interesting case. The Dai would always be stubborn and had pride that would never allow him to give up in anything. Arguments especially.
And as the novice Assassin sat beside the dark haired man, he knew that for once, it was his victory.
'You are but a novice,' Malik growled in irritation. 'You must listen and obey to my rules.'
'Those regulations only work while we think of ourselves as Assassins,' Altair answered, leaning back on the wall of the bureau. He had just come back from an assassination and wanted nothing more than to relax before going back to Masyaf. Without realising it, he had sparked up a typical argument with Malik over which of the two held more power.
A hand clipped him solidly on the side of his head. 'And an Assassin you are, Altair. Not the best one I must add but at the moment, yes, you are an Assassin and a novice too which forces you to follow my rules.'
Pursing his lips, Altair slipped a hand under his hood and rubbed the sore spot. 'Maybe, but what if you and me were just people? Not Assassins, just two average men. How would power be dealt with then?'
Amber eyes searched the face of the dark skinned Dai, a smirk playing on his lips when he saw the other man suck on his bottom lip in thought.
'Well,' Malik began slowly, 'I suppose we would be judged by our social class. Whether we are a merchant or a soldier or-'
'No, no, no, Malik,' Altair quickly intervened, shaking his head and allowing his hood to fall into a head around his neck. 'Forget statuses, forget jobs. Just think about two people, nothing more, nothing less.'
Charcoal eyes glared at the scarred face in suspicion, a finger slowly tapping the Dai's bottom lip. Malik ran his eyes over the face of the novice Assassin in front of him. He could see the man had something up his sleeve, his half concealed smile betraying his sneakiness.
'Then I don't know,' Malik muttered. 'Those two men would be no different. They are just men, neither has more power than the other.'
'Aha!' Altair called out in triumph, a smile now openly on his face and crinkling the scar on the lips. 'That is where you a wrong, my friend. Those two men will have a difference in power!'
'Care to explain it, my suddenly intelligent friend?'
Altair gave the smile of a winner. 'Age!'
A dark eyebrow arched. 'Age?' Malik repeated before scoffing. 'Those two men who have no differences will be judged by their age? Preposterous.'
Elbowing Malik in the ribs, Altair leaned into his left before talking. 'Are you saying a mere child would have more power than you?'
'No, but-'
'Exactly, Malik! And you know what that proves?'
'Allah save me if it's what I think it is,' Malik groaned.
'It means right now, since I am older than you, I have more power than you do. Which means you listen to me,' Altair finished victoriously, pointedly stabbing a finger into Malik's chest.
Giving the finger a venomous look, Malik gave a cold chuckle before angling his face back up to the still smiling Assassin.
'And was that what you wanted to achieve out of this, Altair?' he asked. 'To prove you have more power than me? To prove that you don't have to listen to me? Is that it?'
Altair chewed on his bottom lip. He could see the Dai was now in a foul mood, the single loss chipping away at his pride. 'You must admit though,' he said quietly, rubbing the back of his neck, 'it does work out.'
'No, actually it doesn't.'
Swinging his head up, Altair frowned when he saw Malik's lips stretch into a smile, and not a very kind one at that either.
'How does- mmph!'
Altair was broken off by harshly being shoved onto the floor and a pair of thin lips crushing down on his. For a second his eyes widened but then he smirked and placed his right hand on the back of Malik's neck, bringing them closer into the kiss. Malik's rough kiss softened at the touch as he titled his head to the side to be more comfortable, lips moving against Altair's slowly and passionately.
Just as Altair brought his left hand onto Malik's waist, the other man abruptly pulled away and stood up, exiting the room with Altair still lying on his back.
'Hey, wait,' Altair called out as he scrambled up. Striding through the doorway he found Malik standing behind the table in the front of the bureau. His cheeks, Altair noticed, were dusted slightly link but his eyes looked at him with the typical scowl.
'Age means nothing, novice,' Malik said as Altair sashayed to the desk. 'I hoped that proved it to you.'
Altair shrugged as he tugged his hood back over his head. 'Perhaps but mind you, if having lesser power gets rewarded as it just was, I wouldn't even mind being the weaker of the two.'
Blinking, Malik allowed Altair's warm hand to slide across his cheek and felt the warm breath of the other man against his ear as the Assassin leant in.
'But didn't you know,' Altair breathed into Malik's ear, 'that love is ageless?'
Giving a soft chuckle, Malik held Altair's chin in a thumb and finger and brought him closer to himself.
'Now I do,' he murmured, sealing the words with a kiss.
Author's note: First time I was ever that...graphic. I'm so sorry but I tried my best! I'm a learner so please help would be great . And yeah to me I always think that Altair is the older one because well his birthday is really early in the year so it's almost impossible for Malik to be older
I don't own Assassin's Creed
