Efflorescent Feelings

Chapter 17

A full day passed where the three were away in their little room. Malik was losing his interest in the idea of fighting the ex-Templar, William, and Altaïr was beginning to feel anxious at being cooped up with nothing to do but stare up at the ceiling. Maj was perfectly content with amusing himself by sprinting around the room, pretending he was attacking a random target and killing them: something he did all to much in the years he was with his mother.

"Mal?" Malik blinked, looking up from his hands as he looked to his lover, who was sprawled out on the bed opposite from himself, hands folded on his stomach his thumbs twirling idly in a lazy circle. "What's going to happen when we get back to Masyaf?"

The former Dai was a bit confused by his question, but he shrugged answering as best as he could: "You were already named Master Assassin once again. Despite your blunders in the past, the men look up to you," he paused and continued before Altaïr could protest, "They don't show it, but every time a man would walk into my bureau they'd compare their fighting styles, the way they did everything to you. You inspire the men almost as much as you inspire me, and if you took control over the assassins you will complete great things."

There was a knock at the door, William entering as he looked between the two, the boy now sitting down at the base of Malik's bed, looking around as if he was bored of the conversation that had been taking place but was also trying to be polite. "Am I interrupting something?" the man questioned, his eyes narrowing ever so slightly as they hit Altaïr.

"Of course not," Malik stated, not noticing the almost glare that the other man was giving his assassin. "Are you ready for our duel?"

"Yes, that is why I am here," the man stated, nodding his head twice, "Come with me, I cleared it with the crew and they will not be in our way."

Altaïr passed Malik his blade, which he took in his hand staring down at it as if silently communicating with it. He looked down at the feeling of Maj's hands on his side, looking up at him with wide, hopeful eyes. "Good luck, Malik," he said with a wide grin.

The ex Dai smiled back and nodded his thanks, looking up to Altaïr, who was looking troubled as he stared at a crack in the floor. "If he does anything to harm me, you could always jump in and avenge me," he said, more trying to cheer the other up than call himself weak.

The assassin's eyes drifted to him, before he gave him a smile and nodded his head, "You won't be needing me," he stated confidently.

Stepping outside, Malik was greeted with stares from the crew members that had gathered to watch the duel. Noticing that he only had one arm, they looked to William questioningly, wondering what had gotten into him challenging a man with only one arm. This annoyed the ex Dai. Sensing his tension, the assassin walked next to him, putting a hand on his shoulder and whispering in his ear, "Ignore them. Beat him so you can prove your point and we can go back into the room."

Why Malik had thought that comment to be drenched with a sexual hint was beyond him. He pushed the thought to the back of his mind, looking to the man who challenged him, and glared. "Ready to be beaten?"

"Ready to become the beater, not the beaten," William cooed back, confidently, pointing his sword to the one armed man, smirking.

As Malik raised his blade in return, he was not expecting the other to lash out so quickly. "When you start your training," the Dai muttered as their swords slid together, hilts hitting, "You will learn not to be the first attacker. It leaves you open," he pushed him back slamming his sword against the other's leaving William baffled for a split second as he marveled at the other man's strength.

Swords clashed back and forth, skidding from impact on both sides, and huffs of breath, battle war cries were coming from the ex-Templar as he began to loose his focus in his want to beat the other man. When Malik knocked the sword from Williams hand, all the other could do was drop to his knees, panting and staring up at the collected man, who handed Altaïr his sword back. "What are you?" he asked, over the cheers from the sailors and other passengers.

"Just a simple Jerusalem Rafiq," Malik answered, turning his back to the other as he headed back to the room.

Altaïr stepped forward, offering his hand to William, who took it gratefully. "You have an amazing partner, Altaïr," he stated, looking up to the taller man, who nodded his head.

"I know. I could not ask for a better man to be at my side."

Altaïr meant that, in both meanings. He walked into the room, looking about for his lover, blinking as he didn't see him at first glance. "Mal-" he was cut off feeling his arm being yanked to the side, his body being pressed against the Rafiq's, who clung up to him. "What about Maj... if he sees us-"

"This is nothing..." Malik stated, reaching up and capturing the assassin's lips in his own. Altaïr couldn't resist, not Malik's lips. He didn't care who, at this point, walked in and saw them. At the sound of the door being closed by Malik's foot, the assassin grabbed Malik's waist, dragging him over to a bed and pushing him down, crawling over him. "Now who's concerned?" Malik teased, earning a tender bite on his neck making him gasp.

"It's been days..." Altaïr breathed on the other's neck, making his eyes flutter slightly.

"It's been weeks, Altaïr" the ex-Dai corrected, the assassin grunting in response as he pressed his lower half between the other's legs. "We can't here, brother..."

The assassin let out a whimper, clinging to Malik's sides as he licked his way up the curve of Malik's neck. "When we get back..." he warned, the ex-Dai half laughing in return.

"You're just like a wolf," he mused, the other looking to him confused, a brow raised, "I'm the lamb and you are the wolf. You are told no, but you keep coming back craving my taste."

"Lambs don't taste good," Altaïr mumbled in return, licking over Malik's Adam's apple, "Your taste is divine... any god would sell out their powers to taste as you..."

Blushing, the Dai looked away, "I wouldn't go that far," he grumbled, gasping as he felt his lovers hand cupping his groin. "Not here," he hissed, grabbing at Altaïr's hair and pulling his head up to his again, "Just... kiss me."

Altaïr let go of his hold of Malik, reaching that hand up to rest on his chest, instead. He leaned down, and tenderly kissed the man underneath him. The assassin then rolled off of Malik as quickly as possible at the sound of the door opening.

"Baba? What were you doing to Malik?" Maj asked, walking inside and closing the door behind him.

"Malik was choking... and I was... trying to stop him from dying..." Malik shot Altaïr a glare, earning a cheeky grin in return.

"Are you okay, Malik?" The boy crawled in bed with them, laying between them, looking up at the ex-Dai, concerned as he latched onto him.

"I'll be fine, you're father saved me," He answered back, nearly laughing at Altaïr, who was pouting due to the space between him and Malik.

"A Sailor told me we only have two days left," Maj looked to his father who groaned as he rolled over on his front, burying his face in a bundle of blankets. "Baba?"

"He's just homesick is all," Malik stated, chewing on the inside of his cheek. Two days? They waited this long, if two days was all they had left, it wasn't much to wait at all. "You hungry, Maj? I think I saw a place on the ship that had a bushel of apples." the boy nodded his head vigorously, climbing over the one-armed man and sprinting out the door. "Fix yourself..." the Rafiq whispered, leaning over and kissing the back of Altaïr's neck, before standing up and following the boy out the door, closing it behind him.

Fix himself? Altaïr rolled over and groaned, staring up at the ceiling. He didn't really want to fix himself, not without Malik anyway. He bit onto his finger, looking around the room for anything that could possibly distract him. The room was very dull, very bland. But what more did he want from a free room in a ship to Acre?

Sitting up, he sat Indian style looking down at his hands. His hands that were stained with invisible blood, they seemed so normal other than his missing finger. He slipped off his hidden blade, letting it drop off to the side as he studied the lines on his hands. How did he get in this mess of a life, anyway? His father was a great assassin, Al Mualim had told him this countless times, and also told him that he fit his shoes perfectly. No, he did not regret his life. It was the only life he had ever known. But why now was he beginning to doubt his life? Why now was everything crashing down on him like a ton of bricks?

He pulled off his shoes and let them drop with his gloves and blade, how long had it been since he had looked over his body this much? He ran his tongue over the back of his teeth, studying each bumpy and smooth surface upon them. He wasn't much different than other people, other than the fact that he was a skilled killer and fighter. What was the point to all this? 'The Templars... They need to be stopped.' he nodded his head and looked off to the side once more, 'But can I really do all of this? There will be more... more in the future, ones I will not be alive for. But how can I help?' His brows furrowed as he laid back in the bed, his eyes drooping slightly. 'I need to find a way to do so...'

Malik blinked as he felt the bed shift. It was the dead of night, and he had thought everyone in the room was asleep. As he peered at the assassin grinning next to him, he could see he was gravely mistaken. He blushed as he felt the other's hands on his abdomen and raised a brow as he scooted closer. "What about Maj?" Malik whispered, groaning very lightly as he felt the other's hand lower.

"He's a hard sleeper, even so, we can be quiet," he stated, kissing Malik's cheek as he slipped his hand in his pants. The Rafiq bit his lip, huffing softly as he felt the other's fingers curl around his now growing erection.

"Altaïr," The smaller man whispered his name as he rolled over on top of the assassin. Altaïr grabbed at Malik's shirt, pulling it off as he leaned up, licking tenderly at his lover's nipple, making the other squirm lightly in an attempt to keep his moan to himself. He reached down, stroking at himself as he felt the other's hand's leave him, reaching behind him as he slipped his index and middle finger inside him. "Oh, Allah..." he leaned down, pushing the other back as he forced him into a kiss in an attempt to drown out his moans.

The taller man pumped his fingers inside him, stretching him out as he added a third finger. Their tongues slid together in a tango for dominance as Malik reached into Altaïr's robes pulling out his cock and sliding forward, teasing the other man as he ground down against him. "F-fuck," Altaïr whispered out, pulling his head back to nip at Malik's shoulder and suck it. "It...it might hurt," the assassin warned as Malik teased him with his hole by pressing it against his member.

"I don't care..." Malik whispered, pressing down against him, holding him still with his hand as he slid down onto the other. His cheeks went red at both pain and pleasure as shock pains shot up his spine in an attempt to warn him to stop what he was doing. Altaïr leaned up once again, causing a tear to fall from Malik's eye at the movement. He felt kisses against his temples in an attempt to distract him. He shook his head, reaching up and grabbing his lovers chin, crushing their lips together hastily.

It was only a matter of moments of tongues caressing each other, Malik's fingers playing with the base of his lovers hairline, but to the both of them it was as good as heaven. The Ex Dai groaned against the assassin's lips as he started to move his hips, moving the other inside him. Altaïr nipped at the other's lips in an attempt to lower the sound of his moans, placing his hands on his hips and helping him thrust up and down.

"I love you." Altaïr blushed, grunting softly as he lowered his head, kissing at Malik's neck tenderly.

"I don't think you'd let... anyone do this if you didn't," the assassin groaned in the ex Dai's ear, panting softly as he bucked up into him. Malik grabbed onto the others shoulders, moving up and down faster, he bit down on his lip hard, trying hard not to moan out, Altaïr scooted forward laying Malik down on his back thrusting into him, the ex-Dai clinging to Altaïr's back, panting.

"Al...Altaïr," Malik panted out, squirming as Altaïr took Malik's cock in his hand and pumped. He timed his strokes with his thrusting as he thrust harder, making it harder for Malik to keep quiet. "I'm... close... ah..." he bit down on the other's neck, closing his eyes tight as he attempted to hold back.

"I am too," the assassin panted huffing as he started to slow. "You don't have to hold back..." he bit his ear softly, thrusting up hard.

The hard thrust was all it took for Malik. He gasped out, clinging harder leaving nail marks on his lovers back as he hid his face in Altaïr's neck, juices spilling out from his member as he struggled not to scream out. A few thrusts later, the assassin thrust forward once more time, climaxing inside his love collapsing next to him, panting.

The two were silent, Altaïr holding Malik close as they caught their breath. He opened his eyes at the feeling of the ex Dai pressing his face against his chest, and smiled, peering down at him, brushing his hair out of his face. "I need a haircut..." Malik grumbled, making Altaïr laugh softly.

"That's the first thing you can say after that?" Malik opened his eyes and looked up at the other, smirking.

"Would you prefer me to just fall asleep on you?"

"No, I suppose not."

"Wake up." Altaïr groaned, rolling on his front as he heard Malik's voice. "Altaïr, we are nearly there. Get dressed and come to the dock."

It took a few minutes, but the assassin reluctantly got up with the help of his son and his lover. He didn't know why but he was feeling extremely tired lately. He narrowed it down to it being because of him being stuck on a boat with no where to go for a few days. He trudged out of room, stretching and rolling his arms as he looked out at the horizon that was Acre. "It's good to be back home," Malik stated, earning a nod from the assassin who looked over to him.

"I've been thinking... It's going to take a lot of work to build up these assassins, and to trust them to carry out our work after we are gone..." Malik blinked, looking to his lover, confused, his brows furrowing together. "If you don't want to... Just say the word. I'm not going to force you." Malik's mouth opened slightly, then closed as he bit his lip. The silence between the two only made the master assassin more nervous that his assumption was correct.

"I'm not going anywhere, brother..." Malik let out a half laugh, "And to have you thinking I wanted to go off and do something else... It's rather insulting." He placed his hand on Altaïr's shoulder, "You aren't getting rid of me."

Altaïr smiled very slightly as he refrained from taking the other's hand. He looked down, noticing Maj jumping up and down as he tried to see over the railing of the boat, smiled wider and grabbed his son, picking him up so he could see. He looked behind to see William behind them, looking over Acre. He smiled to their new recruit, knowing that he was not the only one they were going to have to train hard to teach them the ways of the Creed.

But everything, in the end, he knew was going to be worth it. The Templars would be defeated. He would find a way to see it possible, even if it was a thousand years down the line, he would see it happen.

The End

Notes:

-First off, I'm sorry, SO VERY SORRY, for the abrupt ending. I was trying so hard to make it more... less... abrupt? But every other idea and ending I came up with read sequel all over it, something I don't want to tease out since I don't very well know if there will be one, or not.

-Second...Who got ACR? :D I've been playing it non stop since I got it when Gamestop opened on the 15th xD; I love it. Though, has anyone else noticed when you play Alty it is easier to fight than with Ezio? I mean I know Ezio is old and stuff, but come on D: (and they changed Alt's voice actor... which mmm xD; )

-I also apologize for the delay with this chapter. I was playing through the game, looking for anything I'd like to add from the game into the story before I ended it here, but then I remembered the small fact that this is only fiction, it can have mistakes in it, and be whatever it is the author wants it to be.

I really want to thank everyone who had stuck through this story till the end, especially the ones who kept reading even through that minor dry spell in between updates. I don't know when I'll put out another AC fic that will be longer than a few chapters, but when I get another idea as big as this, I hope to see you all there!

Until next time~!