Chapter 21: I Cannot Disagree With That

May 25th. 9:20 AM.

"... So you're officially my bodyguard now, huh?"

"Wipe that grin off your face, Sin," Ja'far scowled. He was perched at the edge of the bed, lacing his gauntlets on, and informing Sinbad on what had transpired the previous day. Or rather, he would be, if Sin would concentrate on the serious stuff for long enough. "Let me do my job during the day, please?"

"I make no promises," declared Sin, slipping the last of his jewelry on and rising from the couch, where he had been lounging and quizzing Ja'far (and unabashedly staring as Ja'far dressed). Needless to say, Ja'far wasn't too pleased.

"Don't try to push your irresponsibility on me. I'm not lazy."

"I know you're not," Sin grinned, "but if I want to sneak kisses every now and then, I damn well will." Ja'far felt his face heating up, and he wondered idly if Sinbad would stop smirking like that if he tied him up with his wires and dragged him though the palace... no, bad Ja'far, that would probably not be the best of ideas. "Don't scowl, you like that idea too."

"Shut up." Ja'far leapt lightly off the bed and stretched. It felt strange, not wearing the uniform - he had once again donned the clothes he had worn before - but he figured that would probably be the least of his worries, if things were as bad as the superiors hinted. He had the gauntlets, the wires, his stopwatch hidden in his pocket, and his boots, but that was it. Ja'far liked his boots. They were made for combat too - good for kicking people with. Not to mention the hidden blades concealed in them.

"Oy." Ja'far looked over at Sinbad with a raised eyebrow. "What are you thinking about?" Sinbad trooped over to Ja'far and threw his arm over Ja'far's shoulders with a yawn before pressing a kiss to his head. "Don't worry so much."

"How are you not so concerned about what I just told you?" Really, the man didn't seem perturbed at all. "Idiot."

"I've got you," Sinbad said matter-of-factly. Ja'far looked at him, argument dying on the tip of his tongue, and how did that guy say stuff like that without seeming the slightest bit embarrassed? "So everything's gonna turn out okay." Then he grinned, that stupid, endearing, confident grin.

Ja'far looked away. His ears were burning. "... You're a sap."

"Maybe a little," Sin admitted. Then he began pulling Ja'far toward the door. "C'mon. Breakfast calls, and don't tell me you're not at least a little hungry." Which was true, but he didn't need to know that.

Ja'far pushed back, digging his heels into the ground. "Hang on a second, Sin," he protested. Sin turned his head to regard Ja'far with a quizzical look. "Only a few people knew I was ever here to begin with, and they don't know I returned - isn't it better for me to remain hidden? I am an assassin, you know -" he whacked Sinbad's shoulder with his free hand as Sin showed no signs of stopping, "and I do my work best from the shadows. So walking through the palace and into the kitchens together might not be the best of ideas. Are you listening?"

"So you did steal food from the kitchens." Sin sounded amused.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing." Sin grabbed Ja'far hand. "And maybe so, but if anything goes wrong, wouldn't it be helpful if you were right by my side? You're not wearing your usual uniform, you can't be connected to.. you-know-what. Anyway, there are people who want to meet you."

Ja'far grumbled as Sinbad finally succeeded in pulling him out the door. "What? No. I don't want to meet people. Sin, listen."

"Don't worry, it's not like you're gonna be introduced to everyone in the palace," said Sin unconcernedly. "Just a few generals who told me they wanted to meet you. And I want you by my side, Ja'far. There's no one else I'd have watching my back. You don't have to talk to anyone else - just avoid throwing stuff at them, okay?"

"But I - oh, fine," Ja'far finally gave up, knowing how stubborn Sin was. "But you'd better have some good excuse prepared. I'm still staying in the background. And why would your generals want to meet me? I'm nobody."

"You're not nobody." corrected Sin as they rounded the corner. "You're important to me."

"As are you to me," Ja'far sighed, and ha, Sin's ears looked a little red, the guy could get embarrassed! "But that didn't answer my question."

"Hm? Oh.. well, I'm not exactly sure. But I've been told they wanted to thank you."

"Thank me?"

Sin nodded. His eyes shimmered like liquid gold in the sunlight, piercing in their intensity, and Ja'far looked away to rub the back of his head embarrassedly. This guy...

They walked together in a quiet, comfortable silence to the kitchens. As they approached the doors, Ja'far saw another man dressed in the robes of a general with... what looked like chains wrapped around his shoulders and neck. Ja'far stepped behind Sinbad as he waved, calling, "Hey, Sharrkan!"

The man turned around, spotting Sin and waving with a big grin. "Yo, Sin!" He strode over, and Ja'far fought the urge to go run and hide. He really didn't like meeting new people... "Hey, who is this?" He looked up to see - what had Sin called him, Sharrkan? - looking at him curiously. Sin turned, discretely resting his hand along the arch of Ja'far's back. It was strangely comforting.

"This is Ja'far. He's the one who saved me," Sin grinned, those golden eyes gentling, and Ja'far fought the blush that he felt trailing up his cheekbones. Sharrkan's eyes lit up, and he held his hand out to Ja'far, who - after a moment's hesitation - slowly shook his hand back.

"Hey, man, I wanted to meet you! I'm Sharrkan, the best of all the generals -" he made a rude gesture at Sin's humored 'raised eyebrows' expression - "and all around awesome guy. You need anything, ask me, okay?"

Were all the people here always crazily exuberant? "Okay," Ja'far replied, trying to hide a twitch at the blatant modestly - or lack thereof - radiating from him. Yeah, he'd ask, if he wanted something crazy.

"Anyway, everyone else wants to meet ya! And thank ya," Sharrkan continued, his face going serious for a moment. "Thanks for lookin' after Sinbad, yeah? The guy is powerful and awesome and all -" he shot a thumbs up at Sinbad, who had crossed his arms - "but it's good to know someone was lookin' out for him."

Ja'far blinked. That was... surprisingly sincere.

Then Sharrkan grinned, Cheshire-cat reminiscent, and leaned close. "And you've got to be somethin' special, for Sin to be so close to ya," he stage-whispered, eyes amused. "So what's your secret?" Ja'far fought the urge to run or throw pointy objects Sharrkan's way. At least Sin looked a little embarrassed too.

"Don't be silly," Ja'far responded, hand tracing a wire hidden under his sleeve. "I'm no one important." From Sin's expression, he was going to be hearing about that one later, but he really didn't care. "I just happened to be able to be useful, that's all."

Sharrkan humphed, rolling his eyes. "I'm not sure I'm buying that, but whatever," he grumped. "But I'll find out later. We're gonna be good friends, yeah?" He turned to Sinbad. "And don't you be hiding him, okay? I know you guys have obviously become close, but we wanna know him too. Now, breakfast time." He turned, waving, and helpfully missing the blush that had spread across Sin's and Ja'far's faces at that last part. As Sharrkan waltzed into the kitchen, Sin threw an arm over Ja'far shoulders.

Ja'far rubbed his face. "Are all your generals as crazy as you?" he asked. Sinbad smirked.

"Nah. I'm the best, that's why I'm the king." Sin said, seriously. Ja'far choked back a laugh. "But they're all good guys. I trust them a lot."

"I know that, that's why they're your generals," Ja'far pushed at Sin's arm. "But are they all going to be throwing... comments like that at us?"

"Probably." Ja'far groaned. Sin laughed and placed a quick kiss on Ja'far's head before pulling him into the kitchen. "But it'll be interesting, no?"

Ja'far couldn't disagree with that claim.