Aladdin felt himself wake up slowly, his gaze going to his surroundings. The woman from earlier was sitting on the couch nearby, working with papers on the desk and mumbling to herself as she moved things around and wrote notes onto her computer sitting on the coffee table. Occasionally a hand would brush a strand of hair back, her eyes drifting to another piece of paper or her teeth biting into her lip as she would look for another piece of paper in the pile.

"If we just maybe… no…" Kougyoku frowned as she stared at the papers and her computer.

"Ah… where's Judal?" Aladdin sat up and looked around, noting that the other wasn't in the room.

"He left. He has better things to do than take care of you." Kougyoku looked at her paper, only taking a second to give Aladdin a frown before she was working.

"He's gone?" Aladdin looked around in a panic, feeling his insides twist. Ah, but more than that, he had to pee. "Where's the bathroom?"

"There's one down the hall an- Hey!" Kougyoku screeched as her papers were strewn about as Aladdin hurried towards the door. He looked around outside the office, heading down the hallway towards where there was a bathroom sign. He avoided walking close to anyone, looking at the tall adults working around the place anxiously.

He ducked into the bathroom and began to go, feeling his face turning a bit pink as he felt abandonment anxiety hit him. Judal wasn't really gone. He wouldn't. His chest was feeling heavy, his body shaking a bit as he sat down after peeing and covered his mouth.

No…

Judal wouldn't do that to him. Judal was a good master. He was his master and masters didn't leave. Guardians didn't leave. Master was not the term that Judal wanted to be called. He was his guardian and Aladdin was his adopted child. Yes. That was how things were.

"-have to pee. Talk to me while I take care of things in here."

"Sinbad. Damn it all. I'm not going to discuss work while you-Sin! We're already running late!"

"Late to be early."

"I don't care, you know I just want to come in and go out. In and out; that's it."

"Tell me about the adoption progress you've made."

"Sin!" The figure outside the stall was quiet a moment before groaning. The sound of pants unzipping could be heard from both figures before the man spoke again. "I've been trying so hard… I graduated from a good school and I have a great job, but they take one look at my past and they're pulling the files of orphans away from me like I've got a disease."

"I'm sorry."

"It's fine. I had one almost go through. I came this close from having a teen to take care of, but… He was a delinquent and was thrown back into juvenile jail for killing three kids."

"Damn."

"Tell me about it. I had gotten so excited for a while there. I had the room ready and everything. It just sits empty in my condo with all those things. I feel like I should almost just buy a dog and be happy."

"Dogs are friendly."

"They aren't… there's something about having a kid, Sin. I swear, Masrur has gotten to me with his little girl Morgiana. I see them together and I'm just painfully reminded of how alone I am."

"You have me whenever you want me." Aladdin could see one of the men leaning closer to the other. "Whenever you need me, you only need to dial my number. Give me an address and I'll be speeding to your doorstep."

Aladdin wasn't going to listen to anymore. Enough was enough, he had to find Judal. He wiped and flushed before quickly hurrying to the door and slipping through it before the other two could look at him. He looked around the hallway again, remembering quickly how uncomfortably full of people he didn't know it was.

He scanned the hallway as he walked slowly down it, looking at everything and leaving nothing out. Somewhere, there had to be Judal.

Somewhere.

Ja'far looked over at Sinbad and frowned as a blue blur whipped through the doorway. "What the hell was that?"

"I don't know." Sin zipped up his pants and shook his head. "Maybe one of the employees has a kid here or something."

"A kid?" Ja'far looked towards the door a minute before he looked back up at Sinbad. "…I really hate you."

"Oh, calm down. Maybe they have a midget worker." He washed his hands as Ja'far complained.

"You know I don't come in during family day at work. I don't want to have to see more children that won't talk to me. Morgiana doesn't even say a word and you kno-"

"In the words of our old boss Solomon, 'shut up and let's go get laid'."

"Yes, well… This is why he isn't running the company anymore." Ja'far moved to open the door and looked outside the room. "You were right, by the way. It is a boy."

Sinbad walked over, looking out as Ja'far moved ahead. The kid was looking around so nervously, his braid whipping around as he peeked into offices and stared at different name plates on the doors. Ja'far caught him as he was looking at a vending machine.

"Excuse me-"

"Ah! Sorry!" The boy leaped back, almost running into someone walking by.

"You're fine." Ja'far smiled at the child, kneeling down to be at eye level. "I was wondering if you could show me the way to the meeting room? My friend and I got a bit lost."

Liar, Sinbad thought as he watched the boy look around again.

"I-I don't actually know either. I can't remember where my guardian's office is."

"That's alright, if you want, we can help you find it and maybe your parent will know where the meeting room is?" Ja'far smiled more, the warmth of such an expression made Sinbad feel himself grin. There was just about nothing that the other wanted more than to have someone to take care of. He was a mother in another life. That was for sure. Yet even with such a compassionate expression and offer, the boy shook his head and took a couple steps back.

"I… um…"

"Aladdin!"

They all looked down the hall as someone spoke up. The young boy rushing- no, sprinting as fast as he could to the man's arms as the figure came down the hall. Any trouble that the other had had written on his face and any fear was now gone, replaced with a warm embrace for the man. "Judal! I thought I had lost you!"

"Lost me? I was gone for five minutes and the old hag is telling me that you ran off."

"I had to pee." Aladdin smiled up at him sheepishly only to earn a groan.

"There's a bathroom in my office, a very good one at that." Judal's arms held Aladdin a little closer as Ja'far stood up, staring at the other in disbelief. Carmine eyes echoed the surprise, although they calmed down as he caught sight of Sinbad moving to the other's side.

"Judal Magi. It's been a while," Sinbad greeted.

"Something like that."

"Have you eaten anything yet?" Aladdin looked up at the other and frowned. "You have to be hungry."

"I'm more tired than hungry. Are you needing some-"

"You both could come have lunch with Sinbad and myself," Ja'far offered. Aladdin looked back at him before he cuddled closer to Judal, holding onto him tight.

"Lunch with you both?" Judal looked at them a bit skeptically before Sinbad stepped forward, nodding. "Absolutely, Ja'far and I would love to have you both join us for lunch."

"Ja'far?" Aladdin repeated the name, looking up at Judal once more before Ja'far nodded.

"That's my name. It's very nice to meet you, Aladdin." He held out his hand, but Aladdin didn't take it.

"…Don't take my Jasmine from me," Aladdin demanded quietly, hugging Judal tightly.

The adviser's gaze immediately flew to Sinbad. The urge to laugh at the reference was almost too much to bear. Even Judal got that, rolling his eyes and ruffling the boy's hair in bemusement. "Damn it, brat. How many times do I have to tell you I'm not a girl?"

Aladdin looked up at Ja'far though, not trusting him until Ja'far nodded. Climbing to one knee, he took on a serious face and spoke directly to Aladdin. "I will not take Judal from you. I promise."

"Oh dear God," Judal covered his scarlet face with one hand, frowning heavily as Aladdin smiled a little bit towards Ja'far.

"Good."

"I would never take anyone away. That character stole his name from me. It doesn't mean I'm a bad person at all. I hope I'm nothing like that man. Sadly, it makes people very nervous when they hear my name."

"Aladdin, I have work-"

Judal was cut off as Aladdin replied to Ja'far, moving away from Judal for a moment to hug him. "That's okay. Sometimes people are mean and there's nothing we can do to change that. At least there are good people. We just need to hold onto them and not let anyone cruel come and take them away." He let go after just a second, moving to take a hold of Judal's hand again and grinning up at him.

"I really can't take my eyes off you for a minute, can I," Judal complained.

"Just take me with you and you won't have to."

"You got to come to work with me. I'm not letting you sit around in my meetings while I present and listen to others. You need to wait in my office for me and not go running around all over the place."

"Can we have lunch soon?"

"We'll have lunch when those two want to have lunch. They'll set it up with Kougyoku."

"We'll never have lunch with her planning it!"

"Sin," Ja'far called softly, dragging the man's attention away from the duo walking away. The adviser looked over at him and bit his lip, smiling despite his best attempts not to. "That's the kind of thing I want right there. A relationship that's built so much on trust that just seeing me would have them running into my arms. God, that was so precious… he gave me a hug and asked me to not steal his 'Jasmine'."

"Ja'far, you're getting very stirred up over someone else's child."

"How does he of all people get a kid? He's arrogant and rude as they come, unable to even wait for his interview with our company like most others did."

"How many times do you think Judal's played as Jasmine for pretend games with Aladdin?" Sinbad grinned, imagining it already in his mind's eye.

"Oh, probably many times."

"There you both are!" A voice had them both turning to find themselves meeting with Kouha. "I thought you had both gotten lost in the traffic or security. Sinbad, I see you have figured out how pants work today."

Ja'far covered his face as Sinbad laughed, nodding before starting up his conversation.

"Why would they invite us to join them for lunch," Judal asked again as he shut the door to his office and looked over at Aladdin.

"Why not?"

"They don't like me, brat. They never allow me to interview with them, they never ask to see more documents or give me the time of day."

"I heard them in the bathroom. Ja'far really wants a kid." Aladdin moved to pick up his tablet, turning it on and playing with it again. He hummed a little bit before he felt a pair of arms wrap around his shoulders, making him jump a bit as the other laughed.

"So we're invited because they know I'm friendly?" Judal chuckled.

"I think so…"

"You're a damn good luck charm, Chibi."

"I am?"

"Absolutely."

"Can we fuck-"

"Ah, no no. I still need you to work all afternoon. I need you to help give a good impression for those two idiots. Okay?"

Aladdin nodded.