Work Text:
June 8, 2015
Accidents happen.
That was a universally acknowlegded truth and Malik understood that they did. His left arm (or lack there of) was proof enough of that.
Still, there had to be some kind of limit to the sort of accidents that happened. It just made sense.
A man being bumped into by a child tearing down the frozen dairy aisle, for example, is a reasonable accident.
Even the man falling back against the glass door behind which were colourful boxes of ice cream on sale (that Kadar had whined to him about getting), was perfectly normal.
Falling through the glass would have been painful, but still well within the realm of reason.
Sinking into the glass with a bright flash of light, Malik thought, was just not the sort of thing that was supposed to happen.
But there he was, having been suddenly knocked forward by a screaming child, catching himself with his hand on the glass only to stumble because it was like touching water and he fell face first towards a green floor when he had been facing a shelf full of boxes of ice cream bars.
Malik landed with a wince. There was a loud crackle behind him, followed by a whirr. What stole his attention though was a voice that said, "shit."
~ + ~
Altair had been using the same long distance matter transporter to collect his samples for years. It was ancient (bought on a student's budget) but, back in its day, it was top of the line and, for the most part, it was still reliable.
Most of his colleagues have tried to convince him to trade it in for a newer one for years, citing longer ranges, better accuracy and precision, less noise and as well as often including cup holders or coffee maker attachments.
In the end, after his long distance matter transporter finally broke down, Altair was left with no choice but to replace it with a newer model.
It was sleeker (and came with a free mint dispenser attachment). Altair's previous long distance matter transporter made enough noise to wake the dead as it warmed up. This one was nearly silent as it started up, letting out only a faint purr as the screen attached to its side lit up.
The range was impressive as well. Altair was limited in where he could collect from by the time of year for planets that are further away. He had sucked in a breath when he saw how far this machine's reach was. He had happily homed in on a planet that he wouldn't have been able to take samples from for months yet with his old machines.
It was at the "better accuracy and precision" part that it failed spectacularly on.
He was watching a beautiful duck starting to land on the water and he had set the portal just under where it was going to stop (portals could only be set up on relfective surfaces). But then the bird lands on the water with a flap and it did not end up coming through the portal.
Altair stared and even knocked on the side of the machine (that always helped with the previous machine).
Then the machine's portal glowed (even as the duck happily swam around in a circle on the screen). Then the bright red light on top of the machine began to flash and Altair had enough time to think, well, that can't be good, right before the portal crackled and someone far larger than a duck (far larger than the maximum mass that was safe to transport through any of these machines) fall through it.
~ + ~
The other person in the room ran towards him and knelt down. "Shit." He said again and his hand hovered over Malik's left arm looking horrified.
Malik didn't even look down at his pinned up sleeve. He only leaned back and frowned at the man (with gold eyes? Surely they had to be some kind of contacts), "do you mind?"
He sat up and looked around. The floor was green. Not a pale green, but a very strong green that, Malik thought, really shouldn't be used as floor tiles. Apart from that, it looked like he was in a lab of some sort.
"Look, I'm sorry about your arm. I think I--wait." The man's eyes narrowed, "why is your sleeve pinned up?"
Malik rolled his eyes, "Isn't it obvious?" He gestured at his stump, "clearly something is missing here. Anyone with half a brain could see that."
"Yes, well." The man crossed his arms with a glare, "excuse me if I didn't expect you to have done that if you lost your arm on your way over here."
"I lost it years ago, you idiot." Malik stood up and put his hand on his hip, "and where the fuck is here? Who are you?"
"What? Why couldn't you just get a new one?"
"Right, because arms are so easy to find." Malik snorted, "they don't grow on trees. And you didn't answer my questions."
The other man scowled at him, "I'm Altair. This is my lab, but what you want to know, you're on the planet--" Here the man--Altair, said a name that Malik couldn't quite understand. It sounded a little bit like gibberish to be honest.
Malik laughed. "You're telling me," Malik said while pointing accusingly at Altair, "that this is a--another planet? That's rich."
Altair didn't seem like he was joking though, when he crossed his arm. "There was an accident with my long distance matter transporter and I picked you up by mistake. And now it's broken." As if on cue, the machine behind Altair gave a high pitch whine and sparked.
"That's not possible." Malik said flatly. But it would explain a lot. Like hw he ended up in this room instead of face first in a pile of ice cream containers.
"It is. Look, this isn't even so bad. The machine isn't supposed to transport something of your mass, not safely. At least you didn't lose anything on your way over that wasn't already gone." Then Altair paused, and his expression was downright haughty when he said, "But even if it did, I could grow you replacement parts. I could grow you a new arm in an hour if I had your cell samples."
"Bullshit." Malik said.
"Look, just let me take a sample--"
Malik moved back, "no. You're insane. You can't be an alien. You don't even look like an alien!"
"I'm sorry to tell you this," Altair said without sounding the least bit sorry, "But you're the alien here."
Malik threw his arm up, "how are we even communicating? If we're as far from Earth as you're claiming we are," And it had to be far because no planet in their Solar System had life, "why are you speaking English?"
"I'm not, you asshole. I'm using a universal translator!"
"How does something like that even make sense?" Malik scowled, "how do you even make something like that? We can't even make one for all the languages on Earth--"
"Thank goodness this wasn't made on Earth then!"
"Better than whoever made that thing," Malik gestured at the machine that was still sparking, "it doesn't even work and now I'm stuck here!"
That, was the crux of the issue. According to Altair he was stuck and possibly light-years from home and Kadar didn't even know where Malik was and why he wasn't going to be home. Malik balled his hand into a fist and turned abruptly with a strangled sound of frustration. He did not punch the wall, but kicked it, the toes of his shoes protecting his feet.
They were both silent for a moment before Malik said, "I don't want a new arm. I just want to go home."
Altair sighed from behind him.
"I'll call tech support."
~ + ~
If Malik had to name something that he thought would be the same throughout the universe, phone queues would not be one of them.
He did not hear what this planet's version of 'we are experiencing a higher than normal volume of phone calls' or even what sort of music they played while their customers are on hold (if they played music at all), but Altair's look of increasing annoyance the longer he waited was fairly universal.
"How long do you normally need to wait?"
Altair sighed, "I don't know? My old one's never broke down like this before."
"You mean because you accidentally abducted an adult human?" The words had a lot less bite than earlier and it made Altair chuckle.
"I don't normally try to bring anything like you here." Then he made a face like someone had just picked up on the other end, which morphed into the sort that would be made if when it turned out it was just a recording telling you there was at least a 20 minute wait. Altair let out a grunt then just hung up. "I think I'll try again tomorrow."
Malik wanted to be home now, but Altair had been on hold for, what seemed like, forever. It was frustrating, but it seemed like there was no helping it. "Maybe you can try again later?"
Altair's expressions said that was the last thing he wanted, but he said, "maybe. I don't think I stand a better chance of speaking to someone if I call in the morning."
Which was fair enough. "What were you trying to kidnap?"
"I wasn't kidnapping it. I just wanted to study it." He sounded like he was trying to sound offended, but Altair was smiling, "It was a duck."
It was so ridiculous (so out there) that Malik couldn't help but laugh, "you were trying to abduct a duck?"
Altair rolled his eyes, "I keep telling you it's not an abduction. I was going to study it, maybe tag it then release it back into the wild." There was a moment when Altair stared at Malik, all pink cheeked from laughter. It was a far better look than his scowl earlier. Instead of voicing that thought, he said, "I really could grow you an arm. It wouldn't even take that long."
It was clearly tempting, fromt he way Malik's hand twitched towards his stump. He bit his lip, opened his mouth, then closed it again. Then he shook his head, "I wouldn't even know how I'd explain that. What would I say?" The sarcastic edge came back to his voice, "I got this arm from the frozen meat section? It was on sale so I decided, why not? How does it look?"
He gestured with his arm towards his stump, as if he were showing something off. It wasn't funny but Altair couldn't help but laugh (which, in turn, made Malik grin).
"But is there anywhere I can sleep? Like a couch or something...do aliens even use couches?"
"How many times do I have to remind you that you're the alien here?" Altair said, "there are all sorts of aliens. I don't know if they all have the same type of furniture. Some of them may not even sleep." He pushed himself up to sit ont he table and looked at Malik like he was sizing him up. "I do have something like that you can use."
He trailed off and Malik could tell there was a 'but' at the end of the sentence even if it hadn't been said. When Altair didn't follow up on it, Malik prompted, "But...?"
Altair licked his lips (watched the way it dragged Malik's attention to his mouth) before he said, "but I have a big bed. I don't mind sharing."
The invitation makes Malik's eye brows climb up. The statement was perfectly innocuous, if not for the way Altair spread his thighs in a clear invitation (if he weren't looking at Malik like he was trying to imagine what he'd look like underneath his clothes).
"What if I mind?" He said. But the way he stepped forward seemed to prove that it wasn't true.
"Why would you?" The way Altair leaned back on his hands, in a lazy sprawl was practical obscene. It was his smirk though, that caught Malik's attention (and distracted him with thoughts of what they'd feel like against his own).
"You think very highly of yourself." Malik did not sound (or look) very impressed as he stopped in front of where Altair was sitting. He put a hand on his hips and tapped a finger against his thigh. "Why would I want to sleep with you?"
"Because I'm a good lay." He said and Malik was impressed that the universal translator was able to translate slang. It seemed like the sort of thing that would be difficult to do well. "And because you think I'm attractive." Malik almost seriously considered hitting him. Everything about Altair's self-assurance should have been irritating, but he wasn't wrong (which was the most annoying part part).
"You're an idiot who abducts ducks." Malik said flatly, but he leaned over and kissed the moron before he could say anything else offensively arrogant.
Altair made a sound like a laugh before he pushed forward, not getting off the table, but almost leaning his weight on Malik with his hands gripping his waist. In response, Malik put his hand on the table and pushged back, biting at Altair's mouth sharply.
Malik half-expected the kiss to be awkward or, at the very least alien in some way. But, when they finally moved past just using lips, Malik found the inside of Altair's mouth to be surprisingly human with blunt teeth and a warm tongue that wasn't barbed or forked. The only notable oddity was the feel of Altair's scar as his lips moved against his, but it wasn't barely even strange so much as it was just different.
Altair's hands had long since slid up to bury his fingers in Malik's hair to give his legs room to wrap around Malik's waist almost lazily. When Malik rocked forward against him, he could feel something that might have been a dick there he thought, well, that's convenient. (Or maybe it wasn't. There was no saying what he would find down there.) The sound Altair made in response to that was encouraging and also thought scrambling and instead of thinking about it, Malik ducked his head to plant little kisses along his jaw before taking Altair's earlobe between his teeth.
The hands in his hair slid along his neck and over his shoulders. Altair pushed at him back enough to claim his mouth again as his legs slid down. As he stood, he was pressed flushed against Malik. When they broke apart again, he asked, "So. Bed?" like he was actually asking, "sex?"
It didn't seem like a good idea.
Malik didn't think he was the sort of person who, when an alien got naked in front of him thought the appropriate response was to strip and have sex. It just seemed like something that only happened in porn. Still, Altair's lips were kiss bruised and the colour made them more distracting than it had been before and it didn't seem like such a terrible idea to keep going.
When Malik groaned, it was not a sexual sound but sounded more like he meant, I can't believe I'm actually doing this.
"Do you have condoms? Or something like one?"
"Yeah." Altair said, grinning like the cat who got the cream.
Malik groaned again, "I'm agreeing to have sex with an alien."
Altair only laughed at him. "You're the alien." Then he kissed him again and didn't stop until he managed to wring out a more appreciative groan from Malik's throat.
~ + ~
The trip to the bedroom was slow going because, for all Altair's arrogant declarations, the impatient idiot couldn't keep his hands or his mouth to himself.
By the time they made it through the door (which slid open with a soft hiss), Malik was greedy for skin to touch and annoyed with the clothes they were wearing.
Malik's clothes were already partly undone, so it was easy enough to pull it the rest of the way off once he managed to put enough distance between himself and Altair to do so.
He let the clothes drop to the ground and stopped short of leaning back in when he saw Altair looking at his midriff like he'd just discovered something strange.
Malik looked down at himself self-consciously. He was used to getting some stares at his arm, but there was, as far as he could tell, nothing wrong with his torso. He frowned at Altair, the self-conciousness making him irritated.
"What are you--"
"What's that?" Altair blurted out, reaching out to trace a hand over Malik's belly button.
"Uh. What?" Malik stared at him and was so confused by the question for a moment that he didn't really register Altair's touch. "It's a--you don't have one?" It didn't occur to him at first, but it clicked suddenly. He shouldn't even be surprised. It wasn't like Altair was even human.
"No." He said and he moved his hand, settled his palm on Malik's stomach in such a way so that he could press his thumb on the dip on there. "What purpose does it serve?"
Malik licked his lips, "It's something people have. It's where we were connected to our mothers in the womb and it's tied off when we're born." There was nothing sexual about the way Altair watched him or the way his thumb brushed over the spot, and that only made Malik more self-conscious. "It's called a belly button." He finished lamely.
Altair looked up at that with an expression caught between perplexed and amused. "That's the weirdest name I've ever heard." Then he slid to his knees and placed a kiss on Malik's stomach.
Malik had never thought much about belly buttons during sex. The very name of it seemed ridiculous and unsexy. Still, he couldn't quite contain his shiver when Altair press a line of kisses until he reached Malik's naval. He pressed one quick kiss to it, then on the second one let his tongue dip into the depression. It made Malik gasp. He didn't quite understand Altair's fascination, but was willing to encourage the way Altair teased that particular spot with tongue and lips and teeth. His thumbs hooked under Malik's waist band and his hands spread out over Malik's ass with an appreciative hum that vibrated against Malik's stomach.
Malik squirmed in response and pushed Altair's face away with the heel of his palm against his forehead. "Are you done?" He asked, his breath coming out in pants. Altair smirked up at him before be pushed Malik's hand aside and stood up.
"Impatient?" He asked as he dragged Malik in close.
To which Malik only rolled his eyes. "You were the one who was propositioning me for sex. I figured that meant you wanted to do more than just molest my stomach."
He sounded so very put-upon, despite the flush on his cheeks that it made Altair laugh. He leaned in again and kiss him on his frowning mouth. There was a brief, irritated grunt from Malik before his hand pushed its way up Altair's back, hiking his shirt up as Altair backed him up until his knees hit the edge of the bed.
The sheets were a really bright shade of orange (that clashed with the walls and floor), but they were soft under Malik's back when he lay back against it. Actually, as his fingers gripped the back of Altair's shirt, he thought that the fabrics here didn't feel like anything on Earth (then again, that wouldn't be so strange given the circumstances).
Altair followed him down, settled easily between Malik's thighs without breaking their kiss. When he pulled Malik in by the waist of his pants, Malik wrapped his legs around Altair's waist with a sigh. Altair's body felt warm even through the layers of clothing and Malik wriggled closer, tightening his legs to have that heat pressed tight against his ass as Altair bit and sucked at his neck.
Malik shivered when Altair bit at the skin there and, not seeing any reason not to, rocked against Altair. The wet gasp muffled against his throat was enough incentive to do it again. He dragged his hand up Altair's back, pulling his shirt up over his back until it was all bunched up under his arm pits. They were content to stay that way for a while, with Malik rocking against Altair, dragging his blunt nails over the wide expanse of his back as Altair sucked little marks all over his neck and shoulders.
Then Altair put a hand on the inside of Malik's knee, lightly pushing it to the side as he sat back to strip off his shirt
"Huh." Malik said, reaching out to touch Altair's stomach, "you really don't have one." He drew a circle around the spot where Altair's naval should be, but where there was only smooth skin.
"Don't worry. I have all the parts that matter." He said and it was so juvenile especially with that stupid smirk on his face and the way he rocked lewdly against Malik's body, that it earned him the most disapproving stare.
Malik sat up, "Just stop talking. You're less attractive when you talk." Then, before Altair could make any more comments, Malik kissed him with bruising force, tangling his hand in his hair to keep him there.
Altair (that asshole) had the audacity to laugh against his mouth right before he brought his hand up to stroke Malik's jaw. He seemed pleased by Malik's aggression and, in retaliation, Malik bit at his mouth (though it only made him moan into the kiss).
They were still kissing when Altair's hand worked Malik's jeans open. The material was different, rougher than the fabrics they used, but the scratched against his palm as he smoothed a hand over it wasn't unpleasant.
Malik's breath hitched when Altair reached into his pants. He pressed his face against Altair's shoulder as he took Malik in hand and palmed him.
He swore artfully which only made Altair chuckle against his ear. It did not stop him from lifting his hips to allow Altair to push his pants down to mid thigh, however, no matter how aggravating it was.
"Oh, good. It looks normal." Altair said, pushing Malik to lay on his back again as he stroked his dick, "I was worried it was going to be barbed or something." He sounded more amused than worried though.
"Didn't I--ah," Malik bit his lip as his hand tightened against Altair's elbow, "didn't I say to stop talking?" He pushed Altair's hand away with a scowl, "just shut up and take off your pants."
He expected more teasing. He did not expect the way Altair sat back and obeyed with far more enthusiasm than Malik expected. He was reaching out to yank Malik's pants the rest of the way off when he noticed the way Malik was staring at his dick. Not in a hungry way, but like he'd just seen a snake.
It made Altair pause and look down. He wasn't sure what the problem was because it looked just like it always did (not all that different from Malik's, even). When he looked up again, Malik was sitting up and he had his knees tucked up with a suspicious frown.
"Is it supposed to be doing that?"
Altair blinked at him for a moment and he looked between their dicks again. They were both hard, so that can't possibly be what he's asking about (unless this wasn't normal on Earth? But Malik hadn't seemed to care up until this point). "Doing what? What are you talking about?"
Malik's eyes were still transfixed on Altair's dick, looking both fascinated and weirded out. "The--the glowing! Is that normal?" Because to Malik's eyes, Altair's dick was hard and glowing pink. It was strongest in his balls, but spread in a line up his entire penis, pulsing in time with, Malik assumed, his heartbeat.
Altair looked down and then up again like Malik possibly had some screws loose in his head (that Malik didn't see because he was still staring at Altair's glowing dick). "What are you talking about? My dick isn't glowing."
"Uh. Yes it is. It's glowing pink. It's--" Malik gestured at him with a flap of his hand, "how do you not see that? It's glowing! We could probably use it as a--a night light!"
It was too bright in the room to really tell how bright it was, but it given that it was noticeable even in this light said a lot about how bright it was.
Altair looked increasingly confused until he settled on worried as he crawled forward towards Malik who was watching him suspiciously. It did not lessen even as Altair placed his hand over Malik's forehead.
"You don't seem to be running a fever." He said with a frown. "Show me your tongue."
"What?" Malik glared at him, "why?"
"I think you might be hallucinating."
Malik sputtered, "I'm not hallucinating!"
"It might be my saliva?" He didn't sound sure, though (then again, how could he possibly be sure?), "there might be something different in the composition of my saliva that's acting as a hallucinogen."
Malik turned pale, "oh, shit."
~ + ~
They ended up back in Altair's lab (with their pants on), and Malik had to sit through having his blood, skin and saliva samples taken.
"But how will you know?" This he asked while Altair hooked him up to a machine that scanned for brain activity, "I mean, do you have a database on humans and what makes them hallucinate or poisons them?"
"I don't." Altair said as he pressed one last button before the machine began to let out a whirr. "I do have it for Earth birds. But that might not be complete either. I'm just going to compare the chemical compositions of our saliva and blood, identify the ones that are different and see where that leaves us." Then he looked thoughtfully at Malik who frowned at him.
"Are you goling to ask for urine samples too?" He sounded sarcastic as he asked it and that made Altair grin.
"No." But, as the machine finished its scan with a beep he walked over to go through one of his drawers, placing a few clear containers on the table, "But I would like to get another sample."
Malik pulled the part of the machine that sat on his head carefully (equipment could be expensive, Malik knew that very well). "What kind of sample? What else could you possibly need?"
"Well," Altair started, pulling on a pair of gloves, "if we're going to have sex, I think I'd like to know that you're not going to burn through my condoms or, if you do, that it's not going to be the last time I get laid. If you get what I mean."
Malik groaned and put his face in his hands. "You've got to be joking." He dragged his hand down with a sigh, "no."
Altair actually smirked at him as he made his way to where Malik was still sitting. Malik was still scowling at him when he leaned down to kiss him at the spot where his jaw met his ear. "I'll let you have a turn too."
Malik shoved him back with a scowl (and he most definitely wasn't blushing). Altair's assurance was annoying instead of attractive and Malik had half a mind to just ignore him for the rest of the day.
But his body had been warm with the expectation of sex in his future and even the touch Altair offered now, with his hands dragging down Malik's chest dropped right to his dick.
"Fine." He grounded out and kicked out at Altair for the offensive smugness in his grin as he stood up. He was tempted to ask for the gloves himself and go the bathroom (if Altair had one) and jerk himself off (that would show him). Instead of that,he just unzipped his jeans and pushed them down far enough to pull his dick out. "Where do we do this?"
Altair laughed and moved him to stand with his front to one of the tables. Malik gripped the edge of it tight enough that his knuckles turned white as he waited. He didn't have to wait long though, before Altair leaned against his back and reach around him to touch him. He started at his chest and trailed his hand down (stopping briefly to circle Malik's naval). He was not shy when he gripped Malik's dick and stroked.
Malik half expected it to be more clinical, or at least efficient. Instead of that, Altair took his time, his grip loose enough to bring pleasure, but not tight enough to do much than annoy Malik.
It was enough to drive Malik crazy, honestly. It didn't help that Altair was kissing along the back of Malik's neck and shoulders, occasionally stopping to suck or bite at his skin. And Malik could feel the way his lips curled up every time he wrung any sort of reaction out of him.
Malik hissed when Altair's thumb rubbed over the head of his cock, just enough to make his hips jerk forward, but still just teasing.
"Do you actually know what you're doing or are you just wasting my time?" He snapped, turning his head enough glare at Altair over his shoulder. Altair (that bastard) was smirking at him as he pressed a kiss to the corner of Malik's mouth right before his grip on Malik changed, making him bite his lip to keep from gasping.
Whatever the erogenous zones were for Altair's species, they were similar enough that he knew just the places to press to make Malik shake and moan. The orgasm his body had been denied earlier was creeping up on him again as Altair worked a hand over his dick even without anything to slick the way. There was an odd sort of drag as well because of the gloves Altair wore, but the sensations were not bad, exactly (just different, and a bit strange). When Altair's thumb pressed harder against the vein on the underside of his dick as he dragged his hand up, Malik came with a surprised shout. At some point, he wasn't entirely certain when, Altair had taken one of the clear containers he'd set out and held it near the head of his cock and it caught most of the seed Malik spilled.
When he was finished, he leaned heavily against his hand as he tried to catch his breath.
Altair screwed the container shut and moved over to insert it into the machine with the other samples being scanned.
"There." He pulled the glove off with a self-satisfied look. Then plucked another one from the box and offered it to Malik.
"I believe it's your turn."
Malik took the time to tuck himself back into his pants before he took the offered glove. Despite the flush on his cheeks, he said, with every ounce of professionalism and composure he could muster, "well, if you insist."
~ + ~
With something like sex achieved, they fell into waiting for the machine to finish analysing their samples.
Malik was flipping through what seemed to be the manual for Altair's long distance matter transporter wearing a pair of glasses that changed the words to English.
When Altair had lent them to him, he'd hummed in surprise. "It's like that Google app...except it works better."
He'd smiled at his own joke but Altair had just stared.
"...the number?" He'd asked like he didn't understand.
"No. It's a company that named itself after a number--"
The explanation hadn't taken long, then Malik was trying to read the manual. He was sitting at a table with the manual spread out on its surface. The words took a while to appear in English every time he turned the page, but otherwise it worked very well.
"Hey," Malik looked up (and Altair thought, glasses really suited him), "what's 'pink'?"
"Pink?"
"Yeah. You said my dick was glowing pink. But it couldn't be translated. I guess it doesn't exist in my language."
Malik turned his chair so he was facing Altair. "It's a colour. You know, like...green, purple, yellow...and you're looking at me funny."
"Yeah, none of that is translating for me."
It was Malik's turn to stare, "...don't you have colours?"
"We do, but they're--" and here Altair listed off some names that didn't sound like anything Malik understood.
"I have no idea what you just said except for the part where you also have colours."
Then they started naming any colours they knew the name of. Some of which made them both laugh.
("Seriously? You named a colour after a fish?"
"You named one after a--I don't even understand what it was even after you explained it!")
They were sitting with their chairs close enough that their knees touched. "I know the birds see from this part of the light spectrum. But I didn't realize humans did too."
Malik shook his head at him, "I can't believe you don't. You see by the near-infared spectrum!" He sounded amazed. "No wonder nothing in your house matches."
"Hey," Altair said, reaching out to push against Malik's shoulder, "you're the one who looks weird here." Malik just laughed at him. "But which one is pink light?"
They'd pulled out a piece of paper and sketched out the electromagnetic spectrum (Malik could still remember it vaguely from high school) while they argued about which planet's unit of measure to use to measure wavelengths. This was what Malik stared at before he just shrugged.
"None of them?" Kadar could probably have offered a better explanation, having taken far more courses on the subject matter than Malik. The best Malik could offer was, "Pink light doesn't exist."
Altair only shook his head, "that doesn't even make any sense."
Malik chuckled, "no one said it did." He seemed thoughtful for a moment, "do you think that's why you couldn't see your dick glow?"
"Because pink light doesn't exist?" He laughed when Malik slapped him on the knee lightly.
"Because we see in different light spectrum." Malik said with a frown.
"Maybe." Altair sat back. He licked his lips briefly and Malik was almost certain he was doing it on purpose, "it'd be better than my saliva making you hallucinate. It means I'd be able to kiss you again."
Malik rolled his eyes, which did not prepare Altair for the way he leaned out of his chair and press a chaste kiss against his lips. Altair barely had time to lift his hands (to grab Malik and hold him in place), before Malik had already sat back down.
His hands were still hovering in the air and Malik tilted his head looking so very smug. "Not all kissing needs to involve saliva."
Then Malik picked up the manual again and went back to reading.
~ + ~
Then it was, "but what were you going to do with that duck?"
It was a question that suddenly came to Malik as he went through a helpful table in the manual detailing all the safety symbols and what they meant.
"I was going to study it."
"But why?"
Altair shook his head, "I think it might be easier if I just showed you." He gestured towards the other side of the lab and Malik flipped the book over to keep his page and stood up.
He watched Altair flick a a button on the table, two long metal pieces mounted on the wall behind them hummed and lit up. In between them, was a large sheet of what looked to Malik like glass. Malik turned to it as Altair pressed a spot on the screen and suddenly various images and information appeared on it. Malik was transfixed as Altair explained his research.
"I'm trying to study the relationship between an avian's size in relation to the planet's gravity." He swiped his fingers over a part of the screen and pulled up the image of a bird like nothing Malik had ever seen, "this one came from--" the planet's name was not in a language Malik could wrap his tongue around, but there was no mistaking the excitement in Altair's voice, "--it's odd for a planet with that sort of gravity. I mean, look at the size of it."
Altair had so much data he'd gathered about birds that it was almost terrifying. There were records of wingspans and mass, of the planet's gravitational force and other factors about the habitats the birds lived in. In addition to that, there were the footages he took and the photographs and also included a notebook of sketches that Altair did, all of them of various birds and bird like creatures.
"I didn't think you'd be able to draw." He said as he flipped through the pages.
"I'm not an artist. I have no imagination." Altair said it like it was a joke. Then he pointed to a page, with a drawing of something that looked like a goose crossed with a sabertooth tiger, "but I can look and I can draw what I see."
"Well," Malik said as he stopped on a page with a what looked like the sketch of an Earth eagle, "these are really good. I don't think I can draw anything like this."
He was still flipping through the pages when Altair asked, "what do you do anyway?"
"I'm in robotics engineering." Malik didn't expect the impressed oh? that Altair let out. He looked up from a drawing of what appeared to be a sketches comparing the bone structure of the wings belonging to two different birds. He shook his head, "it's probably nothing impressive for an alien species that's developed a way to transfer matter over light-years."
Altair said, "you're the alien." It took some coaxing to get Malik to explain, to even do some simple sketches of what he meant (and his lines were precise and sharp where Altair's had been soft and flowing). Altair studied them (as well as the bright spark of excitement in Malik's eyes as he talked about his current projects), and said, "robots are things you only get in stories."
"But you have all this." Malike gestured at the lab, at all the equipment in the room.
"Metal isn't easy to work with, but the material we use for the more delicate parts is too fragile to be used on moving parts."
And Malik stared at the room for longer, really studied the corners where the metals were joined, how there were no signs of soldering or melding. The edges came together like a wooden box with a dovetailed joint and suddenly he understood, "You can't melt the metal."
Altair nodded, "the melting point is too high. To use metal, all the pieces would have to be cut out."
Malik was still staring between the various machines, "but what do you use for the mechanisms on the inside?"
"Honestly? I don't know." Altair reached out to pull Malik close to him again, "I'm not really good with machines. But I am good at this." Then he pressed a closed mouth kiss to Malik's lips, his fingers stroking along the line of his jaw.
~ + ~
Altair was watching the test result's progress bar crawl along towards 85% when Malik suddenly asked, "did you remember to calibrate the machine before you used it?"
Altair turned around to find Malik frowning at the manual again.
"What?"
Malik brought his head up and he looked exasperated (but, dare he think it, he didn't seem to be just annoyed). "Did you even read the manual?"
"I didn't think I'd need to. It seemed similar enough to my last one."
When Malik laughed though, it was mean. "I can't believe you." Then he walked over and shoved the manual at Altair's face. "Look, it says here that if the portal isn't showing up where it should you need to recalibrate it." Altair caught the manual when Malik let it go, before it could fall. "And if you turn to the page where it tells you how it reminds you that you need to calibrate it before using!" Malik rubbed at the bridge of his nose, "this wouldn't have happened if you'd read the stupid manual!"
It seemed his words were wasted, however, because Altair just set the manual to the side, once again without having read it.
"Well, I can't say I'm really regretting it."
Malik scowled at him, "That's because you're thinking with your glow dick."
"Hey," Altair said, reaching out to take Malik's hand, brushing his thumb over the back of it, "we'll get you home."
Malik let out a long breath. "Okay." He said and tried not to think about what his brother was doing, whether he'd called their parents and if they were worried. He gripped Altair's hand tightly.
~ + ~
When the results of the tests finally came, Altair seemed pleased by them.
"Well, looks like we're similar enough that there shouldn't be a problem."
Malik took the paper Altair handed to him with a frown.
"How is it even possible? We come from planets that are light-years away from each other and the composition of our semen is a 94% match?" He flipped through the papers, giving the glasses a chance to translate the text before he started reading, "isn't this a little too convenient?"
Altair sighed, "Maybe, at some point, we had the same ancestors. It's rare but not unheard of. It may also be because something about our planets are similar enough for it to happen. I'm just saying, the only thing inconvenient right now is that you seem to want some hard and fast explanation for what might just be a happy coincidence." When Malik only frowned harder at him Altair said, "Look. I think you're attractive and I want to have sex with you but if you don't want to because my dick glows in a colour that doesn't actually exist then that's fine. But I don't think, we're too sexually compatible is a good reason."
Malik put the paper down and pushed the glasses up to rub at the bridge of his nose, "Your dick is weird. But it's not any weirder than everything else."
The way Altair grinned at that was still offensive (but it was better than how he'd looked a moment ago). "So I can fuck you, then?"
Malik snorted but looped his arm around Altair's shoulders when he pulled him in. "It's not off the table." Then he kissed him (since the composition of their saliva was a 97.34% match and thus not likely to make Malik hallucinate).
~ + ~
Malik had turned the lights off in the room.
Altair had grumbled about how he couldn't see him, but Malik had shushed him with a kiss.
"Take off your pants." He said right before he licked at the shell of Altair's ear.
They settled on the bed, with Altair lying with his back propped up against the headboard and Malik sitting in front. He pushed at Altair's knee and Altair parted his legs obliginly, allowing Malik to crowd into his space. They were kissing, all open mouths and panting breaths as Malik's fingers dragged up the inside of Altair's thigh towards his groin. Malik pulled back and Altair chased the movement, leaning in to take one of Malik's nipples between his teeth.
Malik groaned at the touch, tilting his head back as Altair's other hand drifted low on his back. He allowed it because Altair had a wicked mouth, but eventually brought his hand up to take Altair by the chin. He angled Altair's face so he could place a sweet kiss on his mouth before pulling back again.
"Lie back." And kissed him again before he gently pushed against his chest. The motion was slow and there was no force to it, but Altair fell back against the headboard with a thump.
Malik's hand trailed down from his chest, over the bumps and valleys formed by his muscles to where his dick was. They had done this earlier in the lab, with Altair bent over a table (moaning Malik's name).
But this time, it was dark and Malik could already see the faintest glow in Altair's balls from his dick being half hard already. He stroked him, slowly, watching the colour become more prominent and the glow became brighter, slowly spreading upwards towards the tip. When a bead of precome formed on the top, it was pale pink like a flower petal, and Malik leaned down to lap it up (wondered for a moment if it would stain his tongue). By the time Altiar's dick was fully erect, it was nearly a neon colour, bright enough to tint Altair's face in pink. His dick was almost the exact colour of a pink glowstick (but with a bit more orange to it). Probably, Malik should not have found it as funny as he did because Altair sounded offended when he bowed his back, laughing into Altair's shoulder.
"Stop laughing!" He shoved Malik back by the shoulder. Malik was still laughing when he kissed Altair again. He adjusted his grip so he took them both in hand and listened to the way Altair's breathing hitched. But he was still smiling against Altair's mouth even as Altair trailed his hand down to Malik's ass. At the first press of a slicked finger against him, Malik pulled back from where he had been biting at Altair's scar.
"I don't think we agreed on who was fucking who yet." He looked down briefly and found that he'd spread Altair's precome (and one assumed his own too though it was harder to see) over both their cocks from the thin spread of pale pink he could see on himself. Altair pushed Malik's hand away and took over for him.
"I don't think we're going to get anywhere if you keep laughing every time you see my dick."
Altair could not see Malik's smile clearly in the darkness (there was no light for him except what came in through the crack in the door they hadn't closed all the way, hardly enough to see by), but it was clearly there when Malik leaned in to brush a kiss against his cheek.
"I'm sure it'll stop being funny at some point."
For that, Altair pulled upwards, rough enough to make Malik arch and whimper, while pushing his finger in. "Asshole." He said, though the way he sounded almost fond made Malik let out a breathless chuckle.
Malik did not try to take the control back from him. Instead, he cupped Altair's jaw and kissed him deeply, running his tongue over Altair's as he rocked down against the press of Altair's fingers and up into the grip he had on both of them. Malik's hand was sticky with precome and he wiped it on Altair's cheek, smeared it over his shoulder and pectorals while he sucked at Altair's tongue. When he felt it go dry, he slid his hand down over Altair's, fingers brushing over the head of Altair's dick, hard enough to pull another desperate sound from Altair and gathered more of his precome on his fingers. Malik pulled back, trailing his fingers up and caught Altair's bottom lip with his thumb, leaving a spot of pink there before he leaned in to kiss him.
Altair crooked his fingers inside Malik and he gasped into the kiss right before Altair pulled out. Malik made a vague sound of discontent, sighed when Altair gave them one last stroke before he let them both go. As Altair leaned over to a nearby drawer to get a condom, Malik took a moment to observed his handiwork and was pleased by the lines of pink he'd drawn all over Altair's skin.
"Can I turn the light on to get this thing on?"
"Shouldn't you be able to get it on in the dark?" Having said that, Malik leaned in to kiss him again, neatly plucking the condom from his hand, "but if you're having trouble I can help you."
Despite his words though, it took Malik a moment to understand how to open the condom and get it on Altair, because it was packaged differently than how it was done on Earth. Altair couldn't see Malik's expression, but he could still hear the curse he let out when he couldn't figure it out on the first try.
"Need some help?" He asked, leaning back with his arms behind his head.
"No." Malik grumbled. The condom was, most likely some kind of bright blue, that much was obvious when he got it on Altair, making the pink glow of his dick turn purple. There wasn't much time to really consider how weird it looked before Altair lifted his hips, throwing Malik off balance and making him fall against his chest.
They might have knocked heads if Malik hadn't caught himself in time and he glared at him, "watch--mmf!" Altair leaned up and kissed him, one arm over his head and the other idly stroking Malik's ass. Malik bit him in retaliation, which only made Altair's lips curve up into a smirk.
When Malik sat back, it was to help guide Altair's dick into his body. He shivered as he worked his way down in small thrusts until he was fully seated. With Altair's glowing dick inside him, the room was far darker and he couldn't make out Altair's features clearly any more, but he was almost certain he already knew what it would be.
Especially when he smoothed his palm over Malik's thigh and said, "are you regretting leaving the lights off now?"
"No."
Malik put his hand on the headboard to give himself better leverage to push up and down on Altair's dick. His eyes fell shut as he moved, but he could feel the way Altair's hands slid up his side, his nails dragging along his skin lightly enough to tickle. When Altair thrust up, meeting him as he pushed down, Malik let out a surprised shout. It might have been Altair's name, but it might have also been nothing coherent. It didn't actually matter because then Altair was sitting up and pulling him in to kiss him again and Malik's arm went around the back of his shoulder.
They moved together, setting a rhythm that was relentless and hard, making Malik claw at Altair's back as Altair moved his mouth to Malik's neck, letting his teeth scrape against the skin there.
Malik mewled when Altair's hand stroked over his cock, his breath coming out in short and obscenely loud pants as Altair touched him. There was nothing coherent between them, except for when Malik told him to go faster and harder.
"Altair." Malik gasped, after stuttering on the first syllable twice, "Altair, please. Please, I--" but whatever he meant to say was muffled when Altair kissed him, his thrusts becoming jerky as he came. Malik was shaking, still moving over Altair's dick and the sensation of him becoming soft inside him was strange, but Altair's hand was still quick and hot against his dick and when Altair reached down to touch the place where he and Malik were joined he cried out against Altair's mouth and came all over his hands.
~ + ~
Later, before Altair could throw the used condom away, Malik grabbed his hand and stared at it.
Like this, dangling from Altair's fingers it looked like a bag of glowing pink fluids.
"You are way too interested in this." Altair said once Malik allowed him to toss the used condom. The light from the precome Malik had painted on him had faded by this point but the tacky mess of it was still pulling at his skin. "I need to clean up."
Malik stretched lazily and said, "do aliens have showers?" Altair didn't have to look to hear the smirk in Malik's voice.
"For the last time," He said, smothering Malik's laughter with a kiss (it was less effective when both of them were laughing), "you're the alien here."
~ + ~
Malik was not a morning person. He could be awake at ridiculous hours of the day when pressed, but given the choice he'd rather stay in bed until at least ten.
Which was why, when Altair started to kiss along his bare shoulder, Malik only rolled away from him with a grumble.
"Go away." He mumbled into the pillow. Altair only laughed at him and wriggled closer, his arm coming around Malik's waist to keep him there.
"You should wake up." Right after that, he leaned in to nuzzle behind Malik's ear. The grunt he let out at that was in protest not encouragement.
"No."
To which Altair only sighed, nose now pressed against the spot where his jaw met his ear, letting his breath tickle over his skin.
"I promise I'll make it worth your while." As if to prove his point, he drew lazy circles over Malik's bare stomach, dipping teasingly low.
Malik squirmed at the touch but still said, "I'd rather sleep."
And he really would, even if Altair's fingers against his skin was terribly distracting. Still, even as Altair was kissing the back of his neck, Malik could feel himself drifting off again...only to let out an indignant grunt when Altair pinched him.
"I can't believe you're just going back to sleep."
"I can't believe you're not letting me." Malik kicked at him and tried to roll further towards the wall, "let me sleep and maybe I'll humour you later."
Altair had a come back, but right about then, the door started to chime. From a nearby speaker, there was a buzz and then a voice going, "Altair! I know you're in there! Come open the door."
Altair rubbed a hand over his face and when he looked down, Malik seemed to be asleep once again.
~ + ~
When Altair opened the door, Ezio immediately pulled him into a hug.
"It has been too long!" He said and clapped Altair on the back, "how have you been? I heard you finally got rid of that antique."
"I've been busy." Altair didn't bother to ask how Ezio had gotten to that bit of news (it was best not to question Ezio's sources), "how long have you been back?"
"We landed yesterday."
Ezio invited himself into the house because normally, Altair was more than happy to humour his cousin (especially after he'd been gone for so long), but there was still Malik upstairs, making endearing frowny faces as Altair tried to tease him into waking up.
Which hadn't been working anyway, so maybe it was better that Ezio was here to keep him company.
"Is Leonardo back as well?"
"Of course."
Altair rubbed at the back of his neck, "I could use his help for something. My new long distance matter transporter is broken."
Ezio let out a sympathetic sound, "long phone queue for tech support?" Then he squinted at Altair. "You may want to wear a shirt with a higher collar, cousin."
Altair, who couldn't even be bothered to act embarrassed only said, "I'll consider it."
"So who is it? Is it anyone I know?"
"I doubt it. He's not from around here?"
"Ah," Ezio said as he sat down on Altair's couch, "foreigner?"
"Alien." Altair dropped down beside him, "he's sleeping like the dead right now."
He expected Ezio to laugh, to rib him about having tired Malik out. He did not expect the way he stared and went, "huh."
(Likewise, Ezio did not expect the way Altair smiled, all fond and wistful like he wanted to go back to his bed.)
"All right." Ezio finally said, "I must meet this person now."
"I don't think anyone could move him from the bed."
To which, Ezio only flapped his hand dismissively, "You leave that to me. Just let me borrow your kitchen."
~ + ~
Ezio's plan involve luring Malik out of the bedroom with delicious smelling breakfast food.
Altair was convinced it wouldn't work, but when he returned to the bedroom, Malik was sitting up on the bed. He still looked mostly asleep, but he turned to Altair and said, "is that breakfast?"
Altair leaned against the door frame. "You wouldn't wake up for sex, but you're waking up for this?"
Malik only shrugged, "I'm hungry." Altair shut the door because Malik was (gloriously) naked beneath the sheets and he was just swinging his legs off the bed in a careless display of it.
"My cousin wants to meet you."
"Is he the one cooking?" Malik pulled his pants off the floor and inspected them critically, "would it be more or less embarassing if I go out wearing your clothes?"
"Well, he knows we had sex." He said and Malik let out a disgruntled grunt, "I don't think it's going to make any difference."
Malik folded his pants over one arm and sighed, "in that case, I'd rather wear something clean."
~ + ~
Ezio was all bright smiles and warm greetings when Malik came out. Malik must have been momentarily stunned by Ezio's looks (everyone was because half of Ezio's blood came from a planet where the dominant species were well known for being exemplar beauties), because he didn't immediately say anything sarcastic when Ezio said, "I see appealing to your stomach has been a success." It gave Ezio enough time to look him up and down and add, "you look a lot less alien than I expected."
He pulled out a chair for Malik, as if he were the host instead of another guest and served Malik his breakfast. It was the most bizarre colour Malik could have expected, but he only thanked him for the food instead of commenting on it.
"I have called Leonardo. He will be here shortly to fix your machine."
"Who is Leonardo?" Malik asked after swallowing a piece of food and Altair sighed as Ezio's eyes took on a familiar gleam as he began to sing Leonardo's praises to everyone present.
"He's a genius." Altair said, when Ezio had to stop to breathe, "If anyone can get you home, it is him."
That particular statement made Ezio pause and do a double take. "I thought you needed him to fix your long distance matter transporter?"
~ + ~
Explaining to Ezio took very little time. He accepted the explanation with very few questions.
Leonardo, however, had listened to their explanation (when he finally arrived) and came back with a thousand questions of his own.
"That shouldn't be possible."
When his eyes landed on Malik's missing arm, Malik was quick to say, "I lost it a long time ago."
"And Altair hasn't grown you a new one?"
~ + ~
Once Leonardo got to the lab, they left him to work on the machine (and the first thing he'd asked was, "didn't you calibrate the machine before using it, Altair?").
Malik would have stayed to see him take it apart and put it back together, if Altair hadn't taken him by the arm.
"Can I speak to you for a moment?"
Altair took them out of the lab, past Ezio and Leonarder and shut the door behind them.
Malik frowned at him, "What's this about?" Altair seemed nervous, and that seemed so terribly out of place, Malik wasn't sure what to do about it.
"I was thinking," There was something sarcastic on the tip of Malik's tongue that stuttered into nothing when Altair took his hand between both of his, "If Leonardo fixes this thing and gets you home, it'll probably be able to transport something as big as you again."
Malik was still staring at their hands when he said, "I'm sure that will be helpful for your research." (If he sounded distracted it was because he was.)
"It will be. But I wasn't really thinking about that." Altair said, "I just thought we could see each other again."
Malik sighed and tried not to think about the way Altair's expression fell at the sound. "Altair, I'm not really--" He stopped, gripped Altair's hand more tightly before trying again. "It's not that I don't like you. I just don't think it's going to work. I mean, I'm pretty sure, statistically, most long distance relationships end in break up," (Though years later, Malik would find that, statistically it was more like 40%.) "and you don't get much longer distance than different planets...possibly even different galaxies."
Altair nodded like he was agreeing. "But statistically speaking, the chances that we'd be sexually compatible as well as attracted to each other is probably astronomically low. The fact that we also happen to get along and I enjoy spending time with you despite the fact that you're frustrating is another matter altogether. I'm not saying, that it's going to be perfect, or that it's going to work out. But if we're talking about statistics, then we've already got what statistic says is a million in one chance. I'm sure whatever percentage of long distance relationships fail can't be lower than that."
Malik didn't mean to smile, but he couldn't seem to help it.
"That's a terrible argument for why we should start dating."
"Well, most of the time I don't have to make an argument for it." Altair leaned in until their noses bumped against each other, "are all aliens as difficult as you are?"
"You're the alien." Malik said right before he titled his head and kissed him.
January 16, 2016
Malik sighed when a weight shifted above him, pressing a quick kiss to his mouth. He made a whine of protest (he didn't see the time yet but he knew it was far too early to be up) into the kiss. Altair laughed at him.
"Go away." Malik said as he turned over. A kiss was pressed to his shoulder before the blanket was pulled up over it.
"Good morning to you too."
~ + ~
When Malik's alarm finally woke him up, he sat up with a groan.
The space beside him was cold (which was not a surprise, really). And he considered his options for a moment. He didn't have any real plans today, he could go find Altair. He entertained that idea for a moment before he rubbed a hand over his face and left the room.
It had been two months since they'd programmed the co-ordinates of Malik's home into Altair's long distance matter transporter and set up a semi-permanent portal through it. But it still felt odd for Malik to use it so casually.
~ + ~
Instead of going to find Altair, he went to get groceries instead and he couldn't help but smile when he passed through the ice cream aisle. He bought everything they might need (it was the wise decision no matter what Altair said, with a winter storm alert in place for tomorrow).
He might have regretted not bringing someone with him when he had to load all the groceries into the back of his car. It wasn't even that it was hard. It was just cold and despite how long he's lived in this country, his hand was always cold.
So Malik was glad when he was home, to where there was heat and he could slip off his coat.
He hadn't noticed anything amiss at first as he put all the groceries away. It was only after he stuffed the plastic bags into the containers where they kept the plastic bags they used for the green bins, that he realized something was missing.
Malik's brow furrowed as he stared at where the coffee maker should have been, not sure if he should be annoyed or amused.
It was clearly a trap and Malik had half a mind to just ignore Altair just because he wanted Malik's attention.
In the end, though, he marched back to his room and threw open the closet door. His was a decently sized walk in closet. At the back there was a full-length mirror with a panel to the side. Malik slapped his hand against it and waited for it to scan his hand print.
Once it finished, a green light turned on on the corner, and the mirror shimmered briefly. That was all the go ahead Malik needed to step into the mirror.
On the other side of it, Altair was sipping a mug of coffee. His smirk was hidden behind the mug, but it was clearly there all the same.
"The coffee machine?" Malik said, "really?"
Altair put his mug down on the table. "It worked, didn't it?"
Malik shook his head. He did not say, 'because I wanted it to' but Altair must have known, because he was grinning widely as he stood up from where he was sitting to wrap his arms around Malik.
"It's too cold where you live." He said.
"How does that explain why you abducted my coffee machine?"
"I didn't abduct it." He pressed a brief kiss to Malik's mouth, "I borrowed it."
Instead of continuing this conversation, Malik pulled him close and kissed him.