Chapter 10: I Could Get Used to This

May 19th. 10:07 PM.

Sinbad was surprised that he had been able to sneak up on Ja'far without him flipping out. He'd noticed how well-attuned Ja'far had seemed to be; he'd surprised Sin many more times because he seemed to be able to slip through any sort of radar of detection. Therefore, he'd almost jumped himself when Ja'far visibly startled as he asked him how long he'd been awake.

Sin had woken up the moment he had felt Ja'far shift next to him, to be honest. He felt it, but he had remained quiet, not wanting to startle the slim figure beside him... quietly wondering at how natural it felt to wake up like this. Sinbad had woken up in similar contexts before, but... never before had he felt so relaxed. The arm that he'd slung over Ja'far in his sleep was warm. He could faintly feel the gentle pulse of blood through the thin fabric that separated the two.

He'd kept his eyes closed as Ja'far stretched slowly and slipped away, resisting the urge to pull him back to the bed. Maybe he'd be able to write it off as being subconscious, but... he doubted it, with how sharp Ja'far was. As the other had padded over to the window, though, Sin let his eyes drift open slightly, tracing his profile. Illuminated by the lights from the window, as he was, Ja'far looked... slightly fragile, but... feral and a little otherworldly. Like he, too, was spun from moonlight and mist and would fade if Sin touched him... yet there was something in the lines of how he carried himself that simultaneously whispered of danger. The uniform was still partly on, belted at the waist to hold up the upper half of the uniform that was now slung around his legs. Through a gap in the fabric, Sin could see that his feet were bare. The paleness of the white of his uniform and his hair seemed to intensify twofold, and the darkness of his undershirt seemed to drink in the light. The red wires around his wrists radiated danger, and the look on his face... something caused Sin to catch his breath. He looked calm, lonely, awed, curious... and suddenly Sin thought to himself, Beautiful. He'd only ever used that word to describe a select few things - usually maiden visitors to the palace, and his country, of course - but somehow... that term fit Ja'far, too.

Sin's heart suddenly skipped a beat as he realized Ja'far's gaze was no longer directed out the window, but at him. He slowly let his eyes drift lower, until he could only just make out Ja'far through his eyelashes. Had he seen Sin looking at him? Moments passed, and Sin realized that Ja'far was studying him. Tracing his features like Sin had been doing heartbeats previously. And the look on his face... thoughtful, but... slightly confused, and something else Sin couldn't identify. Then Ja'far had sighed and slumped back against the window frame, turning his attention out the window again. Sin felt a little letdown.

Moving softly as he could - not wanting to startle the other - he pushed himself up and slung his legs across the pallet, feet settling silently on the cool stone floor. He stood up and padded over, wondering if Ja'far was ignoring his presence or hadn't actually heard him. Ja'far's surprise.. well, surprised him too.

Now, Sin studied the slim figure beside him, smiling gently. No reason to thank you, huh? Ja'far was clearly unversed in interacting with other people for long periods of time, but.. it was somehow endearing. Ja'far was determinedly not going to look at him, from the expression on his face, so Sinbad turned, intending on checking out that interesting pile of books from before. As he pivoted around Ja'far, he cautiously - oh, so delicately - let his fingers trace the patch of bare skin on Ja'far's shoulder. His skin was soft and warm to the touch, and oh, he had freckles there too. Ja'far said nothing to acknowledge that he had felt it, and Sin didn't know why he felt slightly disappointed.

He knelt beside the pile of books again and looked over it. It wasn't a huge collection, by any means, but a varied enough collection that Sin was a little impressed. He gestured at the pile. "Are you a scholar?" he questioned lightly, hoping Ja'far wouldn't get annoyed at his probing.

The person in question snorted. Ja'far had moved to sit on the pallet, back against the wall. He'd lit a candle beside the bed, and held one of his knives in his hands, and Sin really didn't want to make him angry when he was holding sharp objects. He'd seen what Ja'far could do with those firsthand. "Hardly. I just like to read."

"Anything in particular?"

"Not really. Knowledge is useful, no matter what the form."

Sin's eyes picked out a certain title near the bottom of the pile. "Even fairy tales?" That was adorable.

Ja'far frowned. He was polishing the blade in his hands with short, efficient movements. "Is there a problem?"

Sin held back a chuckle. "No, not at all." He grabbed a book from the top of the pile and stood up. He liked to read, and he was betting that Ja'far had a good (albeit diverse) taste in reading material. He crossed the room and flopped on the mattress at Ja'far's feet, causing the other to tuck his feet under his body and scowl.

"You have the whole room, do you really have to be in my personal bubble, Sinbad?"

"Yes," Sin replied cheerfully as he flipped open the book. The Flying Dutchman read the faded script. He started reading and immediately was pulled into the book. A crazed captain, a mute cabin boy, a dangerous voyage... Sin still sometimes missed those days traveling wherever the wind would take him, so the book pulled him in with little effort. I should find this book for the palace library... and take Ja'far there too, I bet he'd like it. It was pleasant, sitting and reading in a quiet companionship like this. He eyed Ja'far's castaway boots next to the drawers, then jumped as a toe prodded into his side.

He turned and quirked an eyebrow at the foot's owner. Ja'far had put his blade away and was sitting with a deadpan expression, as though his foot wasn't - oh, that tickled. "What are you doing?" Sin asked, struggling to keep his voice neutral.

Ja'far just looked at him. "Something wrong, Sinbad?" Oh, he was going to get it if he kept this up.

"Do you want something?" Sin twitched involuntarily, trying to escape that prodding foot, and something like amusement flitted over Ja'far's face.

"Sinbad..." Ja'far began, and oh, Sin had finally gotten a slight smile out of him, and it was even nicer than he'd imagined, "Are you ticklish?"

"No," Sin managed as that foot found a sensitive spot, and he wasn't standing for this even if he'd probably get his hair cut off for his efforts or something. He twisted and grabbed Ja'far's foot, and Ja'far yelped and the next thing he knew Sin was lying half off the bed and Ja'far was sprawled by his head.

"Idiot," Ja'far grumped, getting up and moving towards the head of the bed, but he wasn't fooling Sin - Sin could read people most of the time, and he was pretty sure Ja'far was amused.

"Mhm," he agreed, spinning himself around to dangle his feet off the pallet, cause Ja'far could call him whatever he liked. He ran a hand through his hair - and huffed as he felt his hand catch on a bunch of snags and tangles. My hair is a mess... He yanked his hair tie out - with no little difficulty, he might add - and began trying to comb out the tangles with his hands, and it wasn't really working well - and then he jumped as he felt a smaller hand over his.

"Sorry," Ja'far sounded hesitant, his hand drawing back, and Sin guessed he hadn't ever done something like that if he sounded so apologetic. "You... looked like you needed help.."

Sin felt his heart give a strange little thump in his chest, and tossed the hair tie behind him and sensed Ja'far catch it in surprise. "Help me?" he offered, glancing over his shoulder, and Ja'far was looking both unsure and startled, but as he turned his head back he felt Ja'far's slight hands move through his hair again, gently pulling at the snarls. He hummed and pulled his book back toward him from where it had landed by the wall, wanting to make Ja'far seem more at ease. He could sense that Ja'far hadn't done this before, but... man, it felt nice. Sinbad closed his eyes slowly. He... could get used to this, really.