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Alibaba is soft.
Soft as the blanket that's wrapped around him while he's playing on a navy 3DS, and Kassim's kind of just watching him. Not in a weird way though.
No, staring at Alibaba doing stuff had become a normal hobby of Kassim's by now (and Alibaba was more than aware).
Another thing Kassim had unfortunately gotten into recently was having the urge to hold Alibaba, which bothered him. A lot. Because why on Earth would anyone want to hold Alibaba Saluja?
Hold him like if they'd let go he'd just slip right out of their fingers...
"You're doing it again."
Kassim blinked suddenly, as if just awoken from a dream. "Doing what?"
"That thing."
And then Alibaba leaned in close.
Too close, Kassim realized, and the man could've sworn he'd begun to sweat for some reason...
...was...was he nervous?
"What thing? Geez Alibaba, you've got to be more specific."
No, that was crazy. Why should he be nervous about being in such close proximity to Alibaba's shining and gorgeous face—?
"You look unhappy."
Kassim scoffed instinctively. "I'm always unhappy—"
"Even when you're with me?"
Of course this had caught Kassim off guard, and of course Kassim could never be unhappy about being with Alibaba. Who could? Alibaba was always happy, and caring, and he always made people feel warm and tingly on the inside because the man radiated sunshine like the actual fucking sun.
But not Kassim.
Most days Kassim felt like he radiated death.
(Though Alibaba always liked to refer to it as grumpiness.)
So how was it that Alibaba cared about someone so different to himself? Why was it that the blond was now placing his hand onto Kassim's cheek and caressing it with such...care?
(Because of course Kassim was too afraid to use the word 'love'.)
And why did Kassim crave the feeling?
— - — - — - —
Kassim remembers the day Alibaba had first met Judal.
He remembers having seen the new man as a threat.
For what reason? He wasn't actually that sure.
Ok so maybe he had some idea. He'd thought Judal was a threat to his chances of getting with Alibaba, because damn if those two didn't have some kind of chemistry...
Eventually Kassim realized, however, that it was more like the chemistry between two really good friends, and that Judal would never actually be into Alibaba (somehow, because who wouldn't want to be with Alibaba?). And thankfully, Alibaba wasn't interested in him that way either.
...
...was Alibaba even into guys, though?
"He is."
Kassim's eyes widened as Judal nonchalantly responded to seemingly nothing on coincidence.
Then Kassim realized he'd asked the question aloud.
"Oh shit, I didn't mean to—"
"Dude, don't worry I've done it too."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
Judal then handed Kassim a small bottle of Coke.
The two drank silently as the sun set in the horizon, and both men began to ponder about Alibaba's future with the man pining for his affections.
— - — - — - —
When Kassim smokes one morning, he ends up having his cigar pulled out from between his lips and tapped out on the ash tray on his nightstand by the blond-haired masterpiece known as Alibaba Saluja.
Then Alibaba kisses him, softly.
Soft as the blanket draped over their half naked bodies (the same blanket that was wrapped around Alibaba while he was playing on a navy 3DS). A draft blows in from an open window behind the bed's headboard, and the room is dim even though it's the beginning of a new day.
And Kassim can hear the sound of cars and trains outside in the city around them, but it all sort of melts away as Alibaba pulls back and he's able to stare into loving eyes that seem to have been touched by the hand of Midas himself.
And Alibaba whispers to him, quiet as the wind that's wafting in through the window: "Nothing compares to you."
And Kassim adores how poetic it sounds.