Hello again my lovely readers~
Before we start this new chapter I'd like to thank Otakulover21, Cindrebunneh, and AkatsukiSakuraOddness for following and favouriting,
And thank you to Cindrebunneh for reviewing, look forward to what hakumor have in store
Aladdin looked up from his textbook, and peeked at Titus and Sphinctus across the table. They were having they're usually study group, this week at Titus' house. Aladdin liked Titus' house, it was big, brightly lit, and expensively decorated. But the thing he really appreciated was how the walls were all covered in family photos.
Pictures of a small Titus hugging their sister Marga when she had been a toddler. Their mother Scherezade, looking radiant even as she lay in a hospital bed, holding the both of them as newborns.
Pictures of their father Muu and his Sister Myron popped out amongst the rest, wherever they hung on the wall, thanks to the siblings bright red hair.
The picture that had revealed to Aladdin that Muu and Ren Kouen had been friends in college.
Pictures of birthdays, graduations, Christmas's, family dinners.
Aladdins favourite though, was of Muu and Scherezades wedding portrait, despite the train of her dress touching the floor, Muu was holding the blonde woman (fittingly) bridal style, the red decorations framing her face melded in with her husbands hair. Scherezade had a smile so wide that her eyes were squeezed shut, but like in all photos of the couple, Muu was gazing adoringly at his wife.
Aladdin liked this photo because of how similar the way Muu looked at Scherezade was to the way his mother looked at his father in the few photos he had of them.
"What subject are you guys on now?" Aladdin asked his friends. The three of them sometimes had a habit of going through their work at odd speeds, being three of the few people who's ciriculums were made up entirely of AP classes, little more could be expected.
"History." Sphintus replied flatly.
"I finished five minutes ago, and now I'm helping Sphintus with his history." Titus added on in a sing song voice, earning a growl from Sphintus.
Titus just poked him in the arm with the blunt end of their pencil, "If you hate my help so much why don't you just put the energy you put into biology into the rest of your classes."
"Because I'm gonna be a doctor!" Sphintus threw his arms into the air, causing the gold bangles around his wrist to jangle noisily. "Everyone knows that! So why shouldn't I just focus on the important stuff!"
Both Titus and Aladdin rolled their eyes, this was a conversation they'd had before and neither felt like repeating it now. When Sphintus eventually realised that he wasn't getting the expected reaction he pouted down at his paper, Aladdin noticed however that he kept glancing over at Titus, eventually he gripped his history textbook in his hands and without looking up, stubbornly and quickly said "I don't hate your help." Before slamming his face into his textbook to hide his expression.
Which was a shame because he then missed the dusting of pink that bloomed along Tius' cheeks.
xxxXXXxxx
It was already dark out by the time Alibaba got home. After school Morgiana's older brother Masrur had driven them both to their group therapy. Morgiana had offered to give him a lift back to his house, but he'd smiled and said it wasn't too far a walk.
And it wasn't too far a walk from the Saluja household. But once their car had driven out of sight he'd started the two mile walk in the opposite direction.
He hadn't told any of his friends from school that he wasn't living at his brothers house anymore, he wasn't sure why. No, that wasn't true he just didn't want to admit the reason to himself. There were a lot of things Alibaba didn't want to admit.
Once he made it to the apartment block, he picked up the mail and added it to the grocery bag he had picked up on the way. After scaling the stairs and forcing his shoulder against the stiff front door, he immediately felt the weight of the grocery bags being lifted from his arms. Short for her age as she was, Miriam certainly made up for it with energy.
"Welcome home!" She cheered, dancing out of Alibaba's reach when he tried to take the bags off her.
Miriam set the bags on the table next to the kitchenette and started unpacking the contents, taking pleasure in certain ones, "I want to try out a new recipe." She told Alibaba as he joined her in the 'kitchen'.
"It's my turn to cook tonight." He reminded her, household chores were shared between the three of them, and since Alibaba's group sessions meant he couldn't take shifts at work after school like usual, he did the cooking and cleaning on Wednesday nights.
"But I'm so much better at it than you." She pouted, ever since Miriam's cafe job had promoted her from cleaning to helping out in the kitchens she had discovered a passion for the culinary arts, creating new dishes was her favourite way of expressing it, and Alibaba and Cassim were her favourite guinea pigs.
Alibaba pushed her away from the counter by her head, "Go do your homework."
She begrudgingly went to her room, making sure to call out "You know I'm right!" Before closing the door.
With a roll of his eyes Alibaba got to work, Cassim usually came home late, either because he worked an extra shift or... other reasons that they didn't talk about. He threw various things into a pot and set the stew to simmer, he set the oven timer and threw himself onto the couch, he was used to coming home tired from work or school but therapy left him drained. With a sigh he started picking at the school crest sewn onto the front of his sweater. He remembered the first time Cassim had scene him waring it, he'd thrown his usual taunts and jibes, asking if it felt good to be hanging out with 'his own kind'. That was when he'd still been living with his father. When his brothers had kicked him out a week after the funeral and he'd shown up in the neighbourhood they'd grown up in together, a tear stained wreck and with two bags to his name, Cassim had hung that uniform up in the wardrobe they now shared without hesitation.
Half an hour later the door opened again, even though he'd been half asleep by that point Alibaba immediately sat up, "Cassim!"
"Yeah, yeah it's me." He grumbled, he was massaging the heel of his palm against his forehead, "I have got such a headache."
Alibaba winced, "Sorry." He said in more indoors voice.
Cassim didn't respond, just shucked his back pack onto the floor and thudded down onto the middle of the couch, and even though Alibaba was pushed into the corner their knees still knocked against each other's. Cassim had his eyes closed so he didn't see Alibaba poignantly not looking at the fleeting touch.
"I-I'll uh, go see if we have some aspirin." Alibaba stuttered as he made to get up, but was stopped when he suddenly felt Cassim's hand on his thigh.
Alibaba stiffened at the sudden contact, he looked over to Cassim but the other boy had his other arm draped across his eyes, "No." He groaned, his headache most have been worse than expected.
"Um, well, what should I-" Alibaba's question was cut off when Cassim shifted his body so his feet were up on the other end of the couch and his head was pillowed in Alibaba's lap.
Cassim didn't open his eyes but he folded his hands on top of his stomach, "Just," Cassim's voice was quiet and serious, the same tone he used when Alibaba or Miriam asked him about where he went when he skipped classes or where that extra money had come from, "stay."
Funnily enough Alibaba was more comfortable with this more full on contact, he had been very familiar with touch as a child, he'd cuddled with his mother a lot, and when young Cassim and Miriam had moved in with them, the three of them had slept pressed together in the same bed. So Alibaba relaxed, he smiled, and he occupied his fingers with feeling the texture of Cassim's dreads, they'd been in this position before, sometimes Cassim would start absently tugging on the ends of Alibaba's hair even though he'd been keeping it short lately.
They were both content to stay like that until the oven timer went off and reminded them they were both hungry.
