For anon on tumblr, who requested the scene in Aladdin where they meet in the market place for the first time.
Aladdin (Minewt)
The cacophony of sounds from the crowded market crescendo in Newt's ears. This was the first time Newt was visiting the market and while he had heard stories from the servants in the palace, seeing the enormous crowd of people haggling with merchants was an exciting and alien experience.
It was everything he expected it to be. Commoners of all sorts yelling and begging; the merchants sold a variety of goods from food to expensive looking nick-knacks to completely useless and possibly trashy items.
They didn't recognize him behind the layers of brown, raggedy cloth or the emblem of Royalty he still wore around his neck as a keepsake from home. (He might have been running away from home, but that didn't mean he wanted to forget his heritage. He still loved his father after all, he just… didn't love having to get married so soon.)
Despite his desires to flee from the palace, Newt was woefully ignorant. To leave the kingdom meant finding a means of transportation and what better way to find that then the market?
Keeping the hood firmly in place, Newt maneuvered through the heavy crowd. He lumped into hagglers at every opportunity and tried to avoid eye contact with the merchants. One guy in particular seemed adamant in selling him fish. The smell was enough to make him gag.
Newt squeezed his way through a less populated area, relieved to be able to breathe again. How anyone could wake up every day to deal with this insanity he would never understand.
Newt carried along the more open path, regrettably lost and confused – he should have brought a map – when he caught sight of a lone child covered in filth and rags eyeing a bright red apple hungrily. He licked his lips with a tiny wet tongue, big brown eyes wide as saucers. He seemed so small and frail, his limbs scarily bony. The sight of him made Newt's heart ache.
He plucked the biggest apple he could find and handed it to the starving child.
The little boy beamed. "Thank you," he whispered, his voice barely audible over the chorus of voices.
Newt smile in return and watched the boy disappear into the masses.
"You better pay for that apple, boy."
Newt jerked from the stand. The merchant was a large, burly man with a beard thicker than the sultans and eyes a piercing, beady black. It took Newt a second to register the merchant's words and once it did, panic poured into his veins. He didn't think to bring any money with him. How did he plan on escaping the kingdom? Stealing a horse? Hitching a ride with a wandering merchant?
How stupid can you be?!
His silence strained the merchant's patience. "Thief!" He hollered. The large male grabbed the prince's arm without warning and yanked it across the flat surface of his booth. "I will teach you what happens to people who steal from me!" He raised a cleaver into the air, the rusted metal gleaming in the sunlight.
Newt tried to yank back his arm in panic. "Wait, please, hold on! I can give you money! Just let me talk to the Sultan—please!" He snapped his eyes shut in a desperate attempt to avoid the inevitable.
He pictured the look on his father's face when he returned, bleeding and pained. Worse yet, he pictured the look on the merchant's face when he realized what he had done to the Prince.
He felt a sudden whoosh of air then—
"Thank you so much for finding my cousin!"
Newt froze. He opened his eyes slowly. A stranger stood in between him and the merchant, another boy no older than him had his hand on the man's wrist with the cleaver. A mischievous smile lay plastered on the boy's face, making the indentations of his dimples more prominent. He snaked the cleaver away from the bewildered merchant and set it aside, all the while keeping the man occupied with his words.
"I'm so relieved. You see, my cousin's not entirely there, you know? He likes to wander around, getting into trouble. It's terrible really. Thank you for finding him my good sir!"
"He said he knows the Sultan."
The stranger laughed, the sound oddly refreshing to Newt. "He thinks the monkey is the sultan." He gestured toward his furry companion, who'd been in the process of stealing an apple from the stand.
"HEY!"
The boy grabbed Newt's hand and pulled him into the crowd, his uproarious laughter drowning among the sea of noise.
Newt was stunned. He couldn't bring himself to do anything but let the peasant boy lead him away. And yet, somehow, he didn't seem to mind one bit.
They didn't stop until they crawled into an abandoned, broken down home tucked away inconspicuously in one of the alleyways. The place wasn't the best of living circumstances; there was no bathroom or proper insulation to keep away the cold nights. There was no bed save for a pile of shaggily worn blankets and old pillows from the palace huddled in a pile at the corner of the room. What it did have was a gorgeous view of the palace. It left Newt speechless.
"It's not much," the boy said in the silence. "But its home." He grinned.
He tossed Newt an apple. "Minho."
The prince blinked. "Huh?"
Those dimples seemed to get deeper. "My name. It's Minho. You?"
Newt eyed the red luscious apple in his hands for a moment. He smiled. "My name is Newt. Thank you… for what you did back there."
Minho tore a bite out of his fruit, his monkey companion eyeing the treat with something akin to hunger. "Anything for a friend in need."
A friend? Was that how you make friends outside the palace? By rescuing people from getting their hands chopped off?
Something about Minho's words brought warmth to his chest. Newt didn't have many friends. He had cohorts and acquaintances – any friend he did have was either bribed by his father or wanted nothing more than his influence. But Minho wasn't anything like the others. He had saved him from losing a hand and brought him to his home.
Newt didn't know how he could ever repay him… except maybe… for staying home just a little bit longer.
Questions? Comments? Critics?
Leave a review!
Or drop an ask via ladyjanriel on tumblr
