Ma ahta oseh? – What are you doing? (female)

Aht mamash mihazbenet – You are such a pain (Male)

Toda – thank you

Ani kol-kakh miztairet – I am so sorry (female)

Bihgehinom ma aht osa – what the hell are you doing

000

"M-Malik! Ma ahta oseh?" She squealed as the Dai stood behind her and took her hand in his.

"I am sick to death of your disgusting tea and I will not drink another drop of it. So I am going to show you how to do it properly." He took the spoon from her fingers, "The first thing you do wrong is not letting the water boil long enough, this fire place is not going to exhaust its self…there are not enough leaves either." She watched him show her how to make it, he mentioned every fault she made when she usually made the beverage and he was being very distracting also! How was she supposed to learn with the man pressed against her back and his breath ghosting against the back of her neck? Shalini's hand rested on top of his and made his hand pause in the stirring motions, "What is wrong?"

"Your face fur is tickling my neck." She took his surprise to her advantage and escaped to a safe distance, "Beards are wrong."

"This is hardly a beard and I will have you know I like it this way – without I look about ten." He said defensively though took no offence, he had heard her often enough telling Altaïr to shave when he left it for a few days and she always watched curiously when Malik tidied up his carefully styled facial hair. "Little boys have bare faces and men have 'face fur' as you put it."

Shalini shrugged and smirked at the other, "Then why do you have face fur if it is only for men." Malik scoffed at her response but she could see the amusement in his eyes. She had been there for two weeks and despite being cautious of Malik, she had grown quite fond of him; they would often get into little childish arguments like this one, they played chess, had long conversations that left the Dai impressed by how clever this girl was and lately they had been training together in the mornings. "Anyway – where is my tea? Are you done yet?"

"Aht mamash mihazbenet…You will have to entertain yourself today as I have much to do." He handed her a cup and wandered back over to the counter with her padding along behind him. "I wish Jerusalem were not such a temptation to evil…it makes the reports endless and with so many people who need assassinating it is hard to decide who dies first. You can read some of the books behind me if you like."

"Are they all in Arabic?" he nodded absentmindedly as he pulled out his report book out from under the counter, "Then I can not read them, I was never taught to read Arabic…which is ridiculous because it is our second language after Assamese. It looks like a big scrawly mess to me, except yours." She carefully turned the completed map in front of her to admire the work, it was a little fancier than his other maps, it was decorated with an elaborate border and he had carefully scripted the areas and important landmarks. "You have pretty writing."

The Dai smiled as he wrote in the report book, 'pretty' was a little bit of an odd way to describe a man's handwriting but he took her honesty as a good sign. "Toda, I think maybe I should teach you to read though. It would come in useful if you plan to stay here."

"Are you adding that to the sword lessons too?" she asked sarcastically, "I do not believe you said I wield a sword like a monkey with a stick! I practically matched you with the short blade, throwing knives and stamina…that sword was too heavy for me! Where did Altaïr hide my weapons anyway? I can not fight with your clunky blades."

"A good Assassin learns to use anything as a weapon, if you lose your gear you must make do with something else – steal an enemy's weapon if you must. Besides, you should be ashamed of yourself…getting beaten by a man with only one arm."

"Excuse me but with a name that means master of swords I do not think I had a real chance…you are a higher rank than me – you could probably use your teeth and beat me at a sword fight."

"But you are smaller, faster and you have shown fore thought in your battle strategies; you could have beaten me at least four times. You wield the short blade like an expert and I noticed your own weapons are customised and beautifully crafted, your sword is plain and there is rust on it." There was a disapproving air about him as he worked, "You did not have a good relationship with your blade master, did you? I bet you would run away from the training ring and hide behind your sister; did you watch her train with the daggers? You learn quickly, your masters decided to ignore your sloppy swordsmanship because you were so talented at everything else."

Shalini stared at him with her mouth agape and her eyebrows nearly to her hair line. He was spot on! "How did you…"

"My little brother used to hate throwing practice, so he would hide in a tower and watch me train; he thought I could not see him. And Altaïr did not like water so he ran from lessons about swimming to learn stealth from the higher ranks."

"Did you ever run away from lessons?" came her curious question. Malik became distracted from his work as he looked up to meet her dark brown eyes, he had managed to write a page during their conversation and he was quickly losing the will to bother at all. In two weeks he had learned much about his guest, he knew how she would react to some things and he knew what hurt her. And somehow through her honesty and childlike curiosity she had wheedled information from him that he had never really shared with anyone else. They both knew the other's dirty little secrets and there was a comfort in that as well as fear – but most of all there was trust.

He thought on the question for a long moment, this was one of those questions that he considered private and he contemplated telling her. He could trust her; there was no reason not to. This was the girl he had stayed with during the nights she was in terrible pain and he had comforted her when she went up against Altaïr and lost. "We all had to have lessons from Rafiqs, we had to learn how to document missions, what certain flags meant what outside a bureau and generally just be prepared to be put into administration for when we were too old or injured to fight anymore. I refused to take these lessons. Why should I? I was the best in my class; I worked hard and studied all the time – why waste time doing a cripple's job? I was never going to end up running a bureau…" he gave a cursory glance around the room and sighed. He had been wrong and perhaps like Altaïr; pride brought this upon him.

"But Malik, you are more than skilled enough to carry on being an active Assassin…just because your former master put you here does not mean you have to stay! You are strong, you are smart and I think it such a waste to let you rot in here!" Shalini stared across the counter at him with such a determined look on her face that Malik felt bolted to the spot. She thought so highly of him and he was flattered that she wanted to defend him, that she believed so firmly in what she was saying – how could Altaïr say this girl was immature and treat her like a child? Could that fool not see past Maria and see what he had abandoned? A smart young woman who gave herself so readily to what she believed in.

A sudden yelp from the female novice made Malik snap out of his daze. She had jumped back with a look of surprise as she touched the tips of her fingers to her mouth – he had just kissed her! What the hell was he doing? And when had he leant forward to press their lips together? Opening his mouth to apologise Malik found that she beat him to it. "Ani kol-kakh miztairet!" she exclaimed as she became flustered, "It was just unexpected and I was surprised – I am such an idiot! Such an idiot…" her words were slightly muffled as she tried to hide her reddening cheeks from the man. Surely Malik was giving her a little peck on the mouth because she had said something kind to him – why did she act like he'd burnt her mouth?

"Do not apologise when I am the one at fault, Shalini. I should not have done that…I was not even thinking! I am the one that is sorry. I should not have tried to kiss you like that." He was the fool, was he so enchanted by her supposedly benign façade that he was reduced to an idiot? Yes, she was attractive, she was bright and funny, she could take care of herself and she was easy to get along with but she was eleven years younger than him! Her only romantic experience was with Altaïr and they had both been too drunk to even remember how they ended up in bed together. She didn't even know if she had given her first kiss to the Assassin! "What the hell am I doing!" he hissed under his breath angrily. He was supposed to be taking care of her, he thought as his fingers ran through his dark hair and he continued to berate himself silently.

Shalini was confused, was it not a simple 'thank you' kiss? Did he mean to kiss her properly like she had seen her sister do with other men? Was he embarrassed? She remembered when one of her comrades had been rejected by a girl how mortified he was, how he thought the girl hated him and thought he was worthless – she like Malik very much! She did not want him to feel that she didn't and she quickly tried to think of a way to fix the problem she was certain she had started. This was all very difficult…she was raised in the art of death and this romance stuff confused her horribly. Walking to the other side of the counter, Shalini tapped Malik's back and watched as he turned slowly to look down at her – he was too tall she realised. Luckily for her the Dai was still highly annoyed with himself that it allowed her time enough to grab his shoulder, stand on her toes and press her mouth to his before he had the chance to stop her, "That was all you wanted to do, right? So it is all well again."

Malik looked at her mouth with something akin to amazement, she was smiling up at him so sweetly that he found himself drowning in the feelings of wanting to hold her close and protect her from everything. He was a bad man. "No, that is not what I wanted." Her face fell suddenly as if he'd hit her and she lowered onto her feet again in an attempt to distance herself – was she wrong? He was such a terrible person. Malik grabbed her around her waist and pulled their bodies flush together, her hands tightening around his shoulders as she felt her toes nearly leave the ground as he pulled her up to his face and kissed her. She had gasped when he took hold of her and this allowed the Dai to tease his way into her mouth; his tongue at first flicking against hers in an invitation to play and as she tentively responded he took further advantage by deepening the kiss.

Shalini had no idea what to do. Did she move her mouth like he did, was she allowed to meet the teasing of his tongue with her own, did she stay as she was? She wanted to ask what she was supposed to do but that would mean pulling her lips from his and she just didn't want to! He seemed to pick up on her insecurity and slowed his pace to a near stand still – she was new to this…he had to show her and be patient. Without breaking the kiss he lifted her onto the counter, swallowing the surprised sound she made, they were level now and he could free his hand to rest on the back of her head and guide her movements. She soon understood how to respond to him, that all she had to do was follow his lead as their lips melded together and she realised it was alright to let his mouth slant across hers and that it was completely acceptable to let his tongue invade her parted lips. They had made a sort of a game of it; every time he pushed against her tongue to gain deeper entry she would push back. After what seemed like forever her left hand slid up his neck and her fingers found their way into his hair where she grasped the short strands gently, they tightened as she found her lungs devoid of breath – she needed to breathe but if they stopped…

In the end it wasn't her decision. Malik ripped their mouths apart so that he too could take in much needed air; he smirked when she followed his mouth as if their lips were magnetically attracted. Malik took a moment to look the girl over – surprised to see her looking as she did. Her normally wide, curious eyes were half lidded; her deep brown iris's masked by her lashes as she stared back up at him with a look he had never imagined she would give him, her cheeks were flushed, her lips were slightly parted and becoming kiss bruised and plump. It was enough to make him kiss her mouth again and again, the corner of her mouth, her jaw, behind her ear and finally her neck where she made a particularly pleasing noise as he nipped and sucked lightly on the skin. She took it back – Malik should not shave his face bare – not with how it felt against the sensitive skin of her neck. His hand found her waist again and he pulled her against him once more like a starved animal would pull its prey.

Between the wandering hands and deep kisses neither noticed the entrance of Altaïr until the man growled furiously from the door way, "Bihgehinom ma aht osa!" they tore apart as if the man's voice had been a bucket of cold water thrown over them. Shalini looked over at Altaïr like a scared rabbit, her fingers gripping the material of Malik's coat loosely as she was too stunned to fully let go. The Dai simply stared back at the angry face of his friend as if he did not understand the reason why Altaïr's eyes glared piercingly at him or why the man's mouth was drawn in such a tight line that they were nearly white or why he looked ready to slaughter. "She is a child, Malik! What are you doing? I ask you take care of her not to take advantage!"

"H-he – he is not!" Shalini stuttered quietly as she tried to redirect the man's anger, "And I am not a child! …I started this – I wanted to kiss him!"

"And he should have finished it! You are too young to know what you want – to even know what is good or bad for you! How much further would you have allowed him to go?" if she wanted him to take it out on her than so be it, he would make her realise that she had no idea what she was doing for her own sake! Her sister did not send the girl ahead to make a fool of herself and repeat a foolish mistake. "You do remember what happened the last time, do you not? You are not even going to be living in this city for much longer and you are willing to do something so stupid again? Perhaps if you thought about things before hand you would not have failed your mission!"

Feeling her fingers tighten and hook into his shoulders, Malik quickly jumped to her defence – this was not her fault! "Do not take this out on her, Altaïr." He said lowly as his body moved unconsciously forward as if to shield the novice, "As you said, I should have finished it, though what this has to do with you I am unsure. She is a woman, she is mature enough and smart enough to make her own decisions, she knows what she is doing and your blatant disrespect of her is rather insulting – she is not a child, she is not stupid, naïve or anything else you seem to think!" he paused slightly as he felt her hop off the counter and stand behind him with her head rested against his shoulder blades. "And how dare you bring up something to humiliate her with! From what I heard, you were both drunk and neither of you can even remember the night you mentioned – though you seem to have forgotten that you share part of the blame! She did not get herself pregnant, she did not fail her mission because of an error she made and was not the one who vanished after losing the child!"

"No, instead she can just make another – "

"She is barren, Altaïr! She is not having any children ever again." He cut in furiously, "If you paid any attention to her you would realise that she is not some emotional teenage girl, if you had not runaway you would know the extent of her injuries, if you were not so busy trying to avoid her and take care of her as you promised instead of dumping her here, you would realise that you should stop treating her like a weak little girl because you feel guilty! You made a mistake and you are doing nothing to make it right for either of you. Hiding will not make you feel better…you can not take away her weapons because you are worried she will be spotted with them – just guard her back if trouble finds her."

Altaïr opened his mouth to yell back at the man that he was so angry at but nothing came out. Malik was right. He smothered when he should have embraced. And now he had things worse between himself and the girl he had thought he knew much about, now she was hiding behind Malik with her face hidden in his coat and shivering as if she were terrified of their raised voices. He was the one she was supposed to hide behind and not from, "…I just wanted to protect her."

000

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