Chapter Text
It was a typical morning for Altair. He was too late and there'd been hardly time for him to shower, not to mention for him to drink his coffee. So in the end, he was only half-way dressed as he run out his apartment, down the stairs and to the subway station to catch the last train downtown. His jacket hung from one shoulder and he hold a cup of coffee from home in one hand on which he just burned his tongue, because he couldn't wait for it to cool down – or he just forgot to wait. But, and that was much more important, he'd caught his train and now, stood cramped in the middle of a crowd of people like a sardine in a can and hold on to one of the poles while he pulled on his jacket.
He sipped his coffee tiredly and pulled his face into a grimace as his tongue still hurt while his coffee was still hot. Altair sighed and slumped a little into himself, his head leaning against the pole. What a shitty start into a new day... The train stopped and people got off and new ones got into as the train got into motion again. Just as every morning. Sometimes Altair recognized people from the day before. Or on other notion: it was routine. It was routine and Altair was tired.
A few weeks had passed since he'd visited the club. Malik didn't call. After some time had passed, Altair had been so frustrated that he could have thrown his cell into a corner every time it started ringing. Every time it did, his pulse quickened and every time he'd thought it been Malik calling him. But no... that, of course, hadn't been the case. Why should he anyway since Altair had been nothing but a good fuck for him – no more, no less. This one night he had spent with Malik, Altair thought of it as the night of life. He'd been pulled out of his routine and could forget about his daily life's troubles for a short moment as he laid bound to Malik's feet and at his mercy – he'd never felt so free his entire life. But now, now Altair felt like a caged bird, imprisoned by his routine with life passing by and all he could do was waving at it.
The train stopped again, people got on and off and only fife more stations and Altair would get off as well. It got more crowded and an elbow hit him painfully between his shoulder blades as the train took a turn. Altair gritted his teeth, swallowed down the pain and tried to overlook it. Things like that could happen. But as he felt as somebody pinched his behind, he turned around angrily and his face froze. “What the hell...”
“Oh? Is that your way to greet old friends?”, Malik laughed quietly and took the pole next to Altair's head, leaning slightly forward. “Hey”, he said and smiled at him.
Altair swallowed hard and it only took three seconds until he pulled himself together again. “Old friends? Hah!”, he laughed dryly. “Sure”, he huffed and turned away from Malik. He could feel Malik's breath across his neck as he leaned further towards him. “Aw, come on – what's up with you? You're not a morning person?” Malik chuckled.
And something inside of Altair just... snapped. Probably his thread of patience. Angry, he turned around towards Malik and that steam didn't come out of his ears was everything right now. He looked as if he was about to explode. All his anger, all of his frustration from the last few weeks suddenly pushed through the surface. “Are you kidding me?”, he hissed at Malik and was only inches away from his face now. “After everything which happened or rather not happened?” Altair's eyes had narrowed and he poked his finger into Malik's chest. “I greet you like an old friend when you actually deserve that title. And if that's all you want from me then this conversation is as done just as I am with you.”
That hit home. Altair could see it. Something dark had risen behind Malik's eyes which made them look almost black, the corners of his mouth went down and his brow showed small wrinkles as his fingers took a tighter hold of the pole which made his knuckles turn white. It vanished quickly though and Altair was wondering for a moment if he'd just imagined it. Altair was satisfied. He turned away from him and only half a second later, he felt Malik's hand on his shoulder as the train stopped again. It got more crowded, louder and people stood up and moved towards the doors to get off at the next station. “Where do you get off?”, Malik asked and Altair hunched his shoulders and tried to shake off his hand. “Why is it of your business?”, he asked him with no emotion and nodded at a woman, smiling, who looked him up and down.
“Oh, nothing much.”
The doors opened and the crowd pressed through it. Altair took a step aside to let people pass. He took a look over his shoulder and watched Malik walking past him.
“Dinner tonight.” He felt the hand of the man near his jacket pocket as he slipped something inside. “6 pm. I'll wait for you.”
Altair stared after him, dumbfounded and before he could form a reply inside his head, the doors closed behind Malik and the train moved again. Altair blinked one time, two times and then closed his eyes as he felt anger rising within him and took a deep, calming breath. Only then did he reach into his pocket and pulled a small, white card out of it which had an address written on it. Altair crumpled the card up and let it fall onto the floor. Fuck Malik. Fuck him if he actually thought that he'd run after him like a puppy. Not in a million years would he go out with Malik. No, no, absolutely no chance, never!
+++
It was 7 pm when Altair stood in front of the restaurant. He clenched his teeth and his hands were buried deep in the pockets of his jeans. Maybe Malik wasn't even there anymore. He'd probably waited first and then realized Altair wouldn't show up and just went home. Just that, well, Altair was there. He was an hour late though but only because he just decided a few minutes ago to get dressed and go.
Now he was standing there and it was cold and he could see that the restaurant was well-attended, but he kept standing in front of the door. He startled when the door opened and a family went by him, laughing and he heard cheerful chatters coming from inside until the door closed again and swallowed every noise. Just a second later Altair was cursing at himself and turned around, his back towards the door.
This must have been clearly one of his dumbest ideas ever, to get dressed and to actually go to meet Malik to have dinner with him. He shook his head. No. The dumbest idea he'd ever made was the one back at the club, when he'd agreed to spent the night with Malik, to give Malik the power over himself and to let him have at Malik's mercy. Yes – clearly dumbest idea of his entire life.
And still... Altair turned back and took a small step forwards. But instead to go inside he stood still, a slight frown on his face. Malik was by far the strangest man he'd ever met. Maybe even the most interesting when it came to sex.
Absolutely, yes.
To be honest, Altair was curious. Malik wanted to have dinner with him. That was a date, wasn't it? He could have invited Altair to his place and Altair would have known what he's been after. He would have wanted sex, simple as that, but now that he stood in front of the restaurant, Altair wasn't so sure anymore. Did he want sex? Probably not. If he wanted to, Altair was sure about that, he would have simply told him. After everything Altair had experienced with Malik, he knew the man wasn't shy when it came to sex. He would have just told Altair. But now..., well, now it seemed like as if he hold another interest in Altair.
Again, he gritted his teeth and was ready to rip out his fair. What a jerk. Altair wouldn't have cared if he'd never ever heard of Malik again – maybe a little. But after a few weeks he would have simply forgot him and Malik would have been nothing more but a ghost of his past, but when he met him at the train this morning, Malik became suddenly a part of his life again which actually frightened Altair a little. He could no longer pretend anymore that it was all about sex – right? And damn it, he was curious.
He stood there for another ten minutes, before he finally gathered the courage to go inside. Warmth and the smell of food met him as he entered the loud murmur of talking people. A waitress met him, her smile looking like as if it was glued to her face, asking him for how many. Altair was quiet for a few seconds, his eyes searching and when he found the figure sitting on a table near one of the windows he told her that his party was already there and he passed her quickly.
He slumped into the chair in front of Malik and looked everywhere but never at him.
“Ah”, the man sighed and his voice was so quiet that Altair almost didn't understand him. “And here I thought you wouldn't come anymore.” He smirked at him and only now did their eyes meet.
“Well, I was thinking the same”, Altair murmured and opened his jacket.
Malik took a hold of the glass in front of him and oh, what a surprise it looked like whiskey to Altair. He watched him taking a sip, looking at Altair with narrowed eyes. “Well, this is going to be fun then.”