"Hey, Aladdin," Solomon wiped his mouth before looking at the kid. "Good looking kid, Judal. I can see why you would be taking him in. Are you in school right now, Aladdin?"

"I do my work on a tablet," Aladdin replied.

"Homeschooled?"

Judal nodded, sipping at his water and holding Aladdin in his lap. "Yeah, I don't like how the education system is run. We have so many kids in public schools and we don't pay teachers enough to teach them. This idea that they're going to learn through hours of work, regurgitating, and throwing them under all sorts of pressure just isn't right."

"I see," Solomon nodded. "I like it. That's a smart idea, but colleges are looking at appl-"

"Colleges look at lot of things. Aladdin's bright. He won't have to worry about such things. Besides, I happen to not trust letting a kid be stuck for hours in some place without any way to reach me."

"Wise enough. I have to say I should have done the same for my kid." Solomon poured himself another liberal drink and chugged it down. "I should have been smart."

"Oh yeah?"

Solomon nodded, looking over at Judal as Ja'far shook his head vigorously. The man was not seeing him though, pointing at Judal as he chugged down a bit more liquor. "My son, wonder and bright little thing he was, was left with my useless excuse of a wife. I sat him right down and went, 'I'm going to California to build a world for us all' and then I find my wife and son move when I return. The divorce papers are thrown in my face but no one tells me about my boy."

Aladdin's stomach dropped as the man spoke. Oh this way bad, this was really bad.

"I went on for weeks fighting in the courts before my wife found out about my brief affairs. She had a shark of a lawyer too. I left her and went to Dubai, I needed to find myself and let things settle, but I came back to find that her lawyer had taken complete custody of our kid. I was going to miss his entire life."

"What happened?" Judal's question made Aladdin's stomach churn.

"My boy was kidnapped; no one knows quite what happened to him. My wife died in a car accident with a strip club owner. Meanwhile I was just in Dubai, sitting with a bunch of stock in the Sindrian Company."

Judal looked down at Aladdin and nodded, "That would be a bad way to go."

"Ha, you're telling me. I have nothing to share my work with. What am I-"

"You make it sound like such a problem." Judal shook his head, making a loud sound. "kids are a pain in the ass. Most kids these days are only concerned with taking your money and spending it whatever way they can. Then they sit there and listen to music or go smoke anything that they can set on fire. Either that or they're shoving it up their nose. You would think after the baby stage they would grow up, but most people these days need to go live with some parents."

"Kids are nice to have though," both Solomon and Ja'far were saying this, looking at one another as Judal rolled his eyes.

"Kids are a pain in the ass. Better off without, I say."

"Ah… Morgiana, Aladdin, why don't you both go swimming?" Ja'far looked at the two kids, standing up and leading them away.

Solomon shook his head. "Let's change the subject. I'd rather not talk about this. I would rather finish getting drunk out of all sanity!" The man began to down a bottle of wine as Judal shook his head.

"Fine," Judal leaned back, sipping his drink before Sinbad spoke up. "So… are you a sports person?"

Aladdin and Morgiana changed into different attire, Aladdin standing happily as Morgiana nervously looked at the pool.

"I don't really like swimming," she confessed.

"That's okay. I have no idea how to swim. We'll just splash in the shallow end for a while maybe. Judal gave me these so maybe they'll help." He held up the goggles and Morgiana stared at them.

"Those cover your nose too…"

"Mhmm! I noticed that too! I think I could probably dive under the water with them." He was quite proud of that fact, especially when Ja'far pointed out that he had some diving toys around. He went and grabbed them, letting the two climb into the pool with a few of the adults. It was kind of hard to put the goggles on, but he liked the fact that his eyes and nose were covered as he took a daring move and dipped under the water. The pool had a design on the bottom that kinda looked like a penis or some kind of weird drawing.

Aladdin popped up out of the water, smiling over at Morgiana and taking the goggles off as Morgiana held onto the side of the pool. "Here, you should try these. It's really cool down there."

She hesitated a moment before Aladdin helped her out, putting them on her and checking to make sure they were on well.

"Try going under the water."

"Ah- Aladdin, I don't know."

"It's fine! I did it and I can't swim either."

She lowered herself a bit more, taking a big gulp of air before she dived beneath the water, coming up a few feet away with a smile on her face. "Aladdin! These are great!"

"I know! Here! I will throw the toys and you go swim for them!"

With that he grabbed the rings from the side of the pool and tossed them, getting near some of the adults only to make them chuckle and toss the rings away. Morgiana swam after them, bringing them immediately back to him and grinning more and more over time.

The more they did this, the more attention they seemed to get.

Aladdin looked over to find Sinbad and Masrur coming to sit by the pool. Masrur looked genuinely shocked as Sinbad laughed, slapping Masrur's shoulder. "Look at her! I haven't seen Morgiana ever swim!"

"She can't." Masrur watched Morgiana swim back and hand the toy back to Aladdin. The two were already halfway across the pool, feeling braver than they had before. Aladdin held the edge of the pool, tossing the rings from a new angle so that they weren't in the way of the last couple of people who were sitting on the stairs of the shallow end.

"You can take a turn after another throw if you want," she told him, making Aladdin nod and throw the ring again.

Sinbad spoke up before Morgiana lunged after it. "You are doing amazing, Morgiana! Good form!" She blushed, diving under immediately before Sinbad was laughing a bit more. "She's such a cute kid. I can't believe she's swimming." Sinbad slapped Masrur on the back again as he turned, "Come on Masr-"

The man was falling into the pool though, taking Aladdin under with him. The two struggled under the water as Sinbad gasped.

"MASRUR!"

Judal looked over, immediately looking at the water before he was up. The sight of the blue braid in the water had him sprinting, not even thinking as he ran.

"SIN! HE'S ON ALADDIN!"

"DAMN IT!" Sinbad was pealing his clothes off, but a figure rushed past him, diving into the water immediately in a black blur. The man was swimming quickly to the bottom of the pool, shoving Masrur towards the stairs before he wrapped his arms around Aladdin and pulled him up, breaking the surface and holding Aladdin close.

The boy was coughing, clinging to Judal's clothes and person. Judal held him close, swimming towards the shallow end as Ja'far helped Masrur out of the pool.

"Judal…" Aladdin clung to him, not even looking at anyone else as they went passed Morgiana in the pool and the others. The others in the backyard had all stopped talking, looking over at them and a few shouting for towels and things.

Ja'far offered his hand to help them out of the pool, "Judal, I'm so sorr-"

"Don't need a kid! Better off without!" Solomon shouted from the table. "I see you are a man of your word!"

"Go fuck yourself," Judal barked back at him, rubbing Aladdin's back.

Ja'far hurried after them as soon as he had Masrur sitting down. The man had his daughter swimming over in a hurry and climbing out. She climbed into the man's arms and hugging him.

"Are you okay, papa?"

Masrur shook his head. "I think I need a pair of those," he replied after coughing, tapping the goggles as Judal walked Aladdin towards the house.

The black haired man was ignoring the advisor running alongside him, offering a towel or anything. Solomon followed after Sinbad who tried to do as Ja'far did and apologize.

"Masrur's not a swimmer, it was an accident." Sinbad grabbed a towel and wrapped it around the man's shoulders. "Let me get you a drink or something. You both have hardly-"

Aladdin held onto Judal tight as he walked out the front door. Judal's brisk pace getting them to the car and opening the passenger door manually. Aladdin clung to him more as he tried to set him down in the seat though.

"Chi-"

"Please no. I don't want to let go." Aladdin buried his face into Judal's chest before the man pushed him against the seat more, buckling him in and handing him his stuffed animal before slamming the door shut.

Ja'far and Sinbad looked were still apologizing as Judal walked around his car. The man didn't seem to be caring. He opened the driver's seat door and climbed in, starting the car and backing out of the space. He kicked up dirt behind them as he took off, heading towards the road again.

"Judal…"

Aladdin looked over at him, shivering a bit.

"Judal… I think I'm okay." His throat and nose hurt from the experience. His voice was hoarse. But if anything, he seemed more bothered. His knuckles were white against the steering wheel as he swerved to the shoulder of the road and threw the car into park.

He shut off the engine and reached over, unbuckling the seatbelt around him and pulling him close. Aladdin gasped a bit as he was pulled into Judal's arms. The other's lips were on him, kissing him repeatedly.

"you fucking brat," he hissed. "You stupid idiotic, short, stupid-"

"Judal," Aladdin blushed, not sure what to make of this. Judal kept kissing him though, even as he insulted him.

"How did you do it," Judal hissed.

"I don't kn-"

"You wormed your way into being important to me." Judal held him, hugging him in a tight hold that Aladdin felt like he would never be released.

"Judal, we're dripping all over the seats." Aladdin squirmed in his arms, feeling one of Judal's hands cup his face and lift it up.

Those lips were right there, hovering before his a moment before the other cursed again, closing the distance between them and kissing him hard. Judal's lips were so soft, so inviting. The feel of his hands shaking as they held him, the feel of desperation in his touch and kiss; it made Aladdin's body shiver. He held onto his rescuer and kissed him back, nuzzling against his chest as Judal pulled away for air.

"We aren't going back, are we?" He didn't want to go back. This, this right here was what he had wanted. It was all he wanted. Those eyes filled with what he believed to be love. Those arms holding onto him for dear life.

"No," Judal breathed, leaning back in the seat. "Fuck no. There were how many people there and they were all waiting for an idiot to jump into an eight foot deep pool to drag a steroid takingman off a kid drowning. I'm not taking you there again."

"Good." Aladdin looked up at him, pressing a kiss to his jaw before he looked around. "We should go home."

"I need a minute."

"You need a minute?" Aladdin frowned. "What's wrong?"

"I'm pissed off and need a minute."

His features seemed to be paling more, his arms shaking uncontrollably. The more they sat there, the worse he seemed to be getting. His grip was getting tighter.

"Judal?"

"Damn it, Chibi. Let me think in peace."

"You're hurting me a bit," Aladdin confessed, squirming in Judal's arms only to be let go of fast enough to honk the car horn. They both jumped before Aladdin leaned forward and kissed him again. "You look scared, Jugemu…"