It was weird to be at work on time. Altair had somehow managed to get up and out without waking Maria, which was really odd considering how pissed off she was when he got home. The only way he could get her to shut up was to 'take care of her'. A shiver went down the man's spine. The woman was really something else.
He flopped down in his chair with a sigh. Ezio and Leonardo didn't seem to be coming in that day, which was fine with Altair. He wouldn't be able to stand the ridicule from Ezio about his little excuse for not going home to Maria. And undoubtedly, Leo would have joined in and even drawn a little cartoon about what he perceived to have happened. Altair pulled his hood up and drifted off into thought. A thought about Malik, specifically. He wondered who it was in Malik's apartment. It had never crossed his mind that the other man was gay, nor that he had a…significant other. Why hadn't Malik just told him? Oh, wait, it was because they didn't like each other…
Out of shear boredom (Altair clearly didn't feel like doing any real work today) he picked up a pencil and started to draw. It was nothing at first; just a few squiggles. But then he thought of Ezio and drew him. Then he drew Leonardo. Before he knew it he had drawn the entire design team and moved on to the other groups in the building. Shaun and Rebecca were two of the programmers and he knew they were friends but that Shaun was gay so he thought it would be funny to draw them as a couple and tape it too the British man's computer screen when he went on break. Then there was his own supervisor, Desmond Miles, but he never really saw the man do anything so he drew a little cartoon of him yelling at everybody to get back to work while he went and slept in his private office.
It went on like this until Altair finally got to Malik. He hadn't cared to get to know the man all that well. All he knew was that he was bossy, bitter, tall, had impossibly dark eyes that sparkled when the light hit them just right, was surprisingly fit for a computer nerd, had a little beard that just covered the tip of his chin…. Why was Altair thinking about Malik's looks…? Or Malik at all, for that matter? He tried to shake the thoughts away but that seemed to only make them angry as they became more and more vivid in the man's mind (and more inappropriate). He felt his face warm and hadn't realized he had been drawing Malik the entire time and in amazing detail.
"Altair?" Altair jumped at the sound of Malik's voice, "Incredible! Not only are you here on time for once but you're actually wor…king…" Malik trailed off and scowled when he saw what it was Altair had seemed so concentrated on (Malik had apparently been standing in the doorway for a few minutes in disbelief that Altair had decided to grace them with his presence). He sighed and looked at the empty chairs that usually seated two Italian men, "Great, so the one day you actually show up for work and these two are missing in action."
Altair laughed nervously and moved his hand to inconspicuously cover his Malik drawing. Malik noticed the movement, however, and asked to see what he had. Altair refused and said it wasn't done yet, "No, you can't look! It's not fit for the eyes of mankind!"
"Just let me see it, you idiot." Malik insisted before pulling the drawing out from under Altair's hand. Ha looked at it with surprise. He knew Altair could draw but he never knew so well. He admired the sketch for a bit too long it seemed because Altair snatched it back with a blush on his face.
"I told you it wasn't done…" he mopped.
"Actually, I like it. Could I see the others?"
Altair hesitated for a moment but he sheepishly handed Malik the pictures. He watched from under his hood as Malik smiled and even laughed at his little drawings of the people he knew or had seen around the office. Altair had never seen Malik smile before. He found that he liked making the man laugh, even if it was just a light chuckle here or there. With heavy modesty Altair stood, looking over Malik's shoulder and said, "They aren't exactly my best work. Look here. I messed up on Shaun's glasses and hands. I can never do hands well. And that hat that Leo always wears? I messed up on it too. It looks like he's wearing a potato."
Malik laughed at that too, "Are you insane? It looks perfect. Would you mind if I kept the one you drew of me? I think my brother would like it."
Altair smiled, slightly, and agreed to let Malik take it. However, just as Malik was about to leave, Altair noticed something on his neck, "Hey, what's that on your neck there? Is that a bruise?" the man asked innocently, pointing to the discoloration.
To Altair's disappointment, the other man's light expression immediately turned sour, "It's none of your business. Get back to work." And with that, Malik turned and left, leaving Altair incredibly confused.
Malik, about halfway down the hall, remembered why he had gone to Altair's area in the first place, which was to give the man his newest assignment. However pride would prevent him from turning around. He would just get someone else to deliver it for him later. In the mean time, though, he would throw himself into his work. He tucked Altair's picture away in his bag and did just that. He didn't even realize it was lunch time until Shaun and Rebecca asked if he wanted to join them. He declined, saying that he wanted to get a bit more work done and that he would just take a late lunch. It wasn't ten minutes later that he saw Altair sneaking about. He knew he shouldn't get involved but his curiosity only grew and there was no way to ignore it.
"What are you doing, idiot?" Malik sighed when he found Altair snooping around Shaun's computer.
Altair flinched, "Uh…nothing?"
"And by nothing you mean?" Malik pressed.
"Gah! I'm just trying to have a little harmless fun! Don't be such a prude." Altair moaned as he stepped aside to let Malik see his handy work.
The older man recognized the cartoon-ized Shaun and Rebecca coupling from earlier but there were a few smaller ones and some words scribbled in illegible hand writing. Malik's lips twitched up into a smile. He didn't seem to notice how Altair blushed and turned away, "Don't say anything to Shaun when he comes back from lunch. And if you could just kinda let me hang out here so I have an alibi…?"
Malik smirked and had to admit he wanted to see how the Brit would react to such a childish prank, "Alright but only on one condition. You have to draw me more of these pictures." Altair happily agreed, eager to do something other than work, "Oh, and I have your next assignment."
"Heh, yeah I figured it would be too much to ask you to let the work go for a day." Altair said, only mildly disappointed.
Malik smiled and motion for the other man to follow him back to his desk. They chatted until the lunch break was over. When Shaun and Rebecca returned, they got an odd look from the two. No one had ever seen the two men actually getting along. A few seconds later they heard giggling and a very angry British man yelling a rainbow of profanities. Altair and Malik both laughed. But soon Malik was the only one laughing when Shaun came out and started throwing crumpled up pieces of paper, "Altair, you bastard! I've had it with you and your childish games! This isn't even that funny! Stop laughing!"
"The picture's not what's so funny! There's nothing funnier than a swearing British guy! Ouch! What was in that one?"
"A rock!"
Rebecca could still be heard in the background laughing even louder than before. Altair glanced at Malik, still laughing himself, before making a hasty retreat back to his own office. Shaun gave chase form the first half of the hallway but gave up soon enough. Just to be on the safe side though, Altair shut his door and leaned against it, giggling to himself. He would definitely have to draw more of those pictures.
. . .
Altair came home a little late that night. He had actually stayed longer so he could get enough of the design done so that he wouldn't feel stressed for not taking it home. Maria sat on the couch with nothing but one of his jackets zipped up and a very tiny pair of underwear on but Altair didn't notice. He dropped his bag and went straight to his home office. He dug around the drawers of his desk and pulled out a sketch book. It had been a while since he had actually drawn for fun but his mind was suddenly reeling with ideas.
The man barely had enough time to flip through it before Maria was sticking her nose into things, as usual, "What do you have there, Sweetie?" Altair visibly cringed at the pet name but Maria didn't see as she draped her arms over his shoulders from behind. He resisted the urge to pull away, "Just an old sketch pad. I never filled it."
"Can I see?" she wasn't really asking permission, as shown by her already yanking it from his hands.
"Hey!" he yelped in protest.
"Oh, hush. I'm your girlfriend. Nothing in here is going to surprise me." She said with a coy smile.
Altair grudgingly allowed her to look through the pictures he had drawn. She smiled almost falsely. When she was done she said the words Altair hated to hear about any of his work, "They're so cute!" she chimed. He said nothing as he held out his hand, silently asking for it to be returned to him. She obliged but said a few other words that he dreaded (especially from her), "Would you draw me?"
"I don't think that's such a good idea. I'm not that great at drawing women." He lied…poorly.
"But that other girl was in there a lot! Why would you draw your ex-girlfriend but not me?" she showed those crocodile tears once again but Altair didn't want to hear it this time.
"Adah was different! Don't you dare use her to get what you want out of me!" he began to raise his voice.
"What the hell? Don't you yell at me! What's wrong with you? You won't draw me, you won't fuck me, and sometimes you don't even come home! You can't get mad at me if I think your cheating on me! How do I know you're not seeing her again?"
"Shut up, Maria!"
"You are! I swear if I ever see her I'll kill her!"
"She's already dead!"
Silence.
Altair had a reason for never mentioning Adah to Maria. She never knew when not to bring something up. Adah's death still stung, fresh in his heart. She was the only one that knew… not that Altair had ever said anything. But Adah was a smart girl and figured it out for herself. She knew exactly what Altair was feeling and never pressed him on it. He missed her…a lot.
Maria made a small noise, barely audible, but if Altair wasn't currently wracked with the pain of an old wound he might have actually considered hitting a woman, "Well, you should have just said so earlier…" and she walked out. Altair threw his sketch book at the wall before storming out. Maria called out to him, "Where are you going?"
"Out." Altair said coldly just before he slammed the door. He got on his motorcycle and sped in a random direction. It was a little while of directionless driving before he decided to go over to Ezio's place. He wasn't planning on going home tonight. He pulled up and parked near the front of the apartment complex. As he walked up to the door he heard strange noises coming from inside but what they were exactly didn't register.
He knocked on the door, "Ezio! I need a place to crash for the night! Open up!"
There were a few swears and a ruckus from the other side of the door. It was several minutes before the door was actually opened. Ezio was looking more than a little pissed, "What is it, Altair?"
The older man couldn't help but notice the Italian wasn't wearing a shirt, "Uh…Maria and I had a fight. It was pretty bad. Can I just stay here for tonight? I promise I won't drink all your beer this time."
Ezio seemed to think for a moment. Clearly he had interrupted something rather important. Any other time he would have taken his friend in without question but tonight was different, "Sure, Altair. But I'm afraid it's not my beer I want you to leave alone tonight… Come on in."
Altair entered the small apartment with confidence but when he saw Ezio's guest his heart jumped. There, standing in the middle of the living room with a nervous smile on his face, was Leonardo. Altair pretended not to really care one way or the other. He might be dense but he wasn't stupid. He knew what Ezio and Leonardo were…at least now he did. But he knew him being judgmental in the slightest (for tonight anyway) would only land him on the street.
Ezio cleared his throat, "So…now you know… well, we weren't planning on hiding it from you but it never really came up, you know?" he cleared his throat again but didn't say anything else.
On the outside, Altair showed little emotion; that was normal for them and easy for them to be comfortable with in an awkward situation. But on the inside, he wanted to run. He couldn't face any of this. It seemed everyone was happy with someone. Ezio and Leonardo had been together for who knew how long, Malik had his boyfriend, he had even seen Shaun and Desmond give each other less than discrete looks or actions. But he…he was alone. Even though he was with Maria, he still felt alone and miserable. How could they do it? How could they endure the ridicule, the hateful glances, the constant preaching that what they were doing was wrong and that they would suffer for all eternity for it? Why couldn't they just hide like…like him…?
"So, I'll just sleep on the couch then. It's late so I'm just ganna go to sleep. I'll see you guys in the morning I guess…"
Ezio nodded and the two lovers disappeared into their room. Altair tried to sleep, he really did, but before he knew it, it was three in the morning and he hadn't even dozed. His mind was so troubled with the past events. He didn't really know why he stayed with Maria. She provided a security blanket he supposed. True, she wasn't the greatest person to be around a lot of the time but… And then Adah crossed his thoughts. He hadn't thought of her in quite some time. She was a kind woman; knew when to be gentle and when to stand firm and, above all, knew when to leave Altair alone. He missed her.
Eventually, the man gave up on sleep and decided to take a walk outside. He didn't pay attention to where he was going. He just let his body move on instinct. One foot in front of the other. No thinking required. He focused on his feet. Left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot. Suddenly, his feet stopped. He looked up to see where he was and was surprised to find himself in front of Malik's apartment. A few lights were on. He heard faint yelling, a couple fighting somewhere. He thought for a second that he might go and say hello to Malik but then he remembered it was three in the morning. He thought of Malik curled up next to his lover, sleeping peacefully. That same feeling of anger and jealousy rose in his gut like bile. He stared at what he remembered as Malik's door for a long moment. He really wanted to see him. If he couldn't be happy then why should anyone else? Especially Malik.
Altair bit his lower lip in frustration as he turned back towards Ezio's apartment. The sun was starting to peek over the horizon. It seemed to be mocking him, as if it were saying 'no matter how shitty you feel, the world is going to move on with or without you.' He walked in through the door and felt a sudden exhaustion wash over him. He flopped on the couch and closed his eyes. He thought about skipping work the next day but decided against it. Work actually sounded nice at the moment; anything to keep his mind off things.
He managed to get about an hour of sleep before Ezio woke him up, saying they needed to get ready for work. Altair dragged himself off the couch and resembled the living dead. He realized he didn't have any fresh clothes.
"Don't worry, Altair. You can borrow some of my clothes." Ezio said kindly.
Leonardo was a surprisingly quiet person in the mornings. He wondered if this was the same man that greeted him with such enthusiasm every morning in the office. Although, he didn't usually get in until around ten on a good day. Altair grabbed a quick shower and changed into his borrowed clothes that were most definitely not his style. The outfit consisted of a pair of tight fitting, black jeans and a white t-shirt that had an interesting design of black and red swirls covering the top right part of it. He wasn't going anywhere without his jacket, though.
He came out of the bathroom and saw his two friends just pulling away from a sweet, morning kiss. He felt a small ache in his chest and pretended not to have noticed, "I'm ganna go ahead and leave. Mindless work sound pretty good right now. See you guys in a few." Altair waved as he left and the two men agreed to meet him at work in a few minutes.
When he got to his office he shut the door. He got to work immediately. Even though he was nearly done with the assignment already, it wasn't due until tomorrow and he planned on using up every bit of that time. Hours went by. Ezio and Leonardo had shown up as promised, but Altair stayed in his own little world. He didn't speak, he didn't move, he didn't even so much as scratch his ass. And nobody noticed. It was like he wasn't even there.
A knock came sounded on their door and Altair was the only one who didn't look up. He already knew who it was, "Altair, could I see you for a moment please?" Malik asked.
The man sluggishly got to his feet and followed Malik without even looking at him. Malik led him into an empty conference room and shut the door. Altair already knew this wasn't going to be fun.
"So, I have a favor to ask of you." Malik said, sounding almost shy.
It was then that Altair looked up and saw the large bruise that covered Malik's left cheek, "What the hell happened to you?" Altair asked not quite surprised.
"I could ask you the same question. You look dead. Rough night?"
"You could say that… But seriously, what happened?"
Malik paused for a second, "I tripped. Hit my face on my kitchen counter." Malik could see Altair wasn't really buying it and that he was bound to hear more about it later.
"Right… so, what about this favor?"
"Oh, yes, I'd like you to, if you don't mind, that is, draw this picture for me? Well, it's not really for me, it's for my brother but you get the gist." Malik cleared his throat. Why was he stumbling over his words? He never stumbled over his words. He took the photograph out of his jacket's pocket and handed it to Altair, who looked it over, "It's of our parents. They died when Kadar was pretty young so he doesn't have a lot of memories of them but I thought it would be a nice graduation gift."
"Graduation, huh? What's he in? High school?" Altair asked, his voice laced with exhaustion.
"College, actually. He'll be graduating his final year of med school this December. Can you have it done by then?"
"Before then. That's a whole two months away, Malik. Why are you giving this to me so early?"
"I didn't know how long it would take… And if you could hold on to it until then that would be nice. My place is…not exactly doodl- …er…art friendly. I lost that picture you let me have, the one of me?" they both blushed slightly and broke eye contact.
"This won't be a problem. I'll have it done in no time. You can come by and check it out when it is. Sound good? Here, give me your number so I can call you when it's ready." Altair finally said.
Malik nodded and scribbled down his cell phone number on a scrap piece of paper before he exited the room, quickly. He shouldn't be having these feelings for someone else, let alone a straight man, no matter how much of an ass Abbas was. Malik wouldn't stoop so low as to cheat on anyone. He was distracted for most of the day. He wanted some bit of normalcy to sprout in his confusion. He sat quietly at his desk. No one spoke to him and he never looked at the clock. He ate a small lunch when he was hungry but that was the only time he really ever left his desk. He didn't realize how late it had gotten until the janitor came around his section. That was when Malik decided he should probably go home.
On his way out of the building he noticed Altair coming out of his own office, "Lose track of the time, did you?"
"I'd say more like purposely forgot when to go home." Altair jested.
The two men walked out together. It was a good thing too. Much to Malik's dismay, Abbas was waiting for him when he came out, "Abbas…what are you doing here?" Malik asked hesitantly.
Altair watched, warily, as the man called Abbas drunkenly stumbled over towards them. The man smelled strongly of cheap liquor and his words were slurred. There didn't seem to be any strange cars around so at least the man had walked here.
"I came to see my man! Is that so hard to believe? Of course, I wasn't expecting to find him with someone else! Ha! You son of a bitch. Is this the guy that did that ugly picture of you? Hmm? Haha!" Abbas slurred.
"Abbas, you're drunk. Come on, let's get you home." Malik said. Altair would have sworn he heard a hint of uncertainty in the man's voice as he walked toward his boyfriend.
Abbas suddenly grabbed onto Malik's arm with one hand and squeezed, "You fucking slut. You'll just go and sleep with anyone won't you?"
"Abbas, let go. You're…" Malik really just wanted to go home. Altair was standing right there. He felt so ashamed that he could now see where the bruises had truly come from. He glanced and Altair, who stood with an expressionless face, but his body was ridged, ready to pounce if need be.
"You fucking whore! I'll teach you to make a fool of me!" Abbas yelled as he squeezed harder. Malik flinched as the man brought up his free hand and half slapped half punched Malik in the head.
"Hey!" Altair yelled, now closing the distance between him and the other two men. He grabbed Abbas's arm before he could strike Malik again. Abbas let go of Malik's arm to try and go after Altair but he had was too slow. Altair punched Abbas squarely on the nose, breaking it. But that only seemed to piss the man off. He flung his fists wildly at Altair, who dodge and blocked all of them, save for on lucky blow that connected just under his right eye, splitting its corner. Altair kneed Abbas in the stomach and then brought that same knee to Abbas's head. The man staggered back and stared Altair down before he turned tail and ran. It was only when he could no longer see Abbas that Altair turned to inspect Malik's wound.
The man was standing off to the side, eyes unfocused and holding the injured side of his head. He seemed oblivious to what was going on at that moment. Altair walked over and touched Malik's shoulder, earning him a flinch, "Hey, are you alright? Let me see." Shame filled the older man's eyes as he calmly allowed him to inspect the injury. It was already starting to turn purple and swell slightly but there was no blood from what Altair could see in the limited light of the street lamps, "Malik…"Altair tried to get the other man to look at him, unsuccessfully, "Malik… Are you going to be okay? Do you have anywhere to go?"
Malik stared at the ground, dumbfounded as he shook his head and began to shake uncontrollably. Altair wasn't sure what to do. He knew Malik was in shock but what could he do to help bring him down from it? He supposed getting the other man to feel safe would be a start, "You can stay at my place for a while if you want…? I'm sure my girlfriend won't mind it too much." And if she does I'll just kick her out, Altair thought to himself. Malik nodded again, "I drive a motorcycle, but I don't have a spare helmet. Do you just wanna take your car?" Malik shook his head quickly. He wanted nothing to do with anything that reminded him of Abbas, "Well…here, you can use my helmet, I guess." Altair handed over the helmet and got on his bike. He was thankful for the dark night as he blushed when Malik wrapped shaking arms around him that only tightened as he sped off toward his apartment.
He really hoped Maria would be asleep already or at the very least feel bad enough about the fight to not argue with him when he brought Malik in through the door. Of course, that would be too much to ask, "Who the fuck is that?" Maria whined, "And what happened to your face?"
"Maria, this is…a friend from work. He'll be staying with us for now." Altair said in a warning tone.
"And you just decided this without consulting me? We share this apartment you know!"
"Well, maybe you shouldn't have gotten kicked out of yours." He said calmly.
"Ah!" Maria yelped, "W-why didn't you answer your phone when I called you today?"
"Oh, for the love of…"
"Answer me!"
Altair sighed, "Forget it." he said turning to Malik "I'll just drop you off at Ezio and Leo's. The place is too small for the both of us but you can stay, no problem."
"Absolutely not! I won't have you make me look like a total bitch! Your friend can sleep on the couch but you and I are going to have a talk!"
Altair rolled his eyes as Maria stormed off to his bed room but gave Malik a smile, "She's not the brightest, falling for a trick like that. I'll get you a pillow and blanket. The couch folds out into a bed so I can help you with that too. I'll be right back."
Malik watched the other man disappear down the hallway. He took the time to look around. The place was pretty spacious but there was a minimum of furniture; just a couch, chair, and coffee table in the middle of the living room. There was a breakfast bar in the kitchen but no seats. He was assuming that they ate in the living room or on the run. It was nicer than his apartment, which was probably being destroyed right now by Abbas. The money he had stashed away under the couch had most likely been discovered and would only fuel the fire. At least he had no way of knowing where Malik was.
Altair returned with the promised pillows and blanket. Together, the converted the couch and made the bed. Altair looked at Malik, "Man, that's a pretty bad bruise…"
"I look better than you." Malik stated. Altair touched the split near his eye and winced at the sting, "You should clean that out. Where are your wash rags?"
"Uh, in the drawer next to the fridge." Malik found a rag and wet it in the sink. He then proceeded to dab the cut on Altair's face, gently. Altair winced but let Malik finish.
"It looks like it might scar." Malik said.
"Just another to add to the collection." Altair spoke lightly, pointing to the prominent scar that ran through his lips.
Malik smiled slightly but looked away, biting at his lower lip, "Thank you…" he said finally.
Altair looked a little surprised, "What would you think I was going to do? Just stand there? Don't worry about it."
"Heh, it's kind of weird, not being at each other's throats, isn't it?" Malik joked lightly.
"Oh, I'm sure things will be back to normal soon enough. Goodnight, Malik."
"Yeah, goodnight."
