{Assassin's Creed BroT4 AU}

[ladyhoneydarlinglove]

more brot4 au stuff, same universe as this piece. but with less bros and more boyfriends.

Fandom: Assassin's Creed
Characters: Altair Ibn-La'ahad, Malik Al-Sayf
Rating: PG
Word Count: ~1000
Summary: Altair summons Malik to the planetarium for something Very Important. Altmal. Mostly Unedited.

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I need you to meet me at the planetarium right away is the text Malik receives from Altair mid-afternoon, right as Malik is getting out of his Hydraulic Design class. He frowns at the text for a minute before responding.

 

I can’t; I have homework, he texts back. He hasn’t even managed to put his phone away before Altair responds.

 

This takes precedence.

 

A lot of homework, Malik answers, frowning irritably. Fifteen problem sets, design and cost analysis for selecting the roof deck of a building, draw up a fake contract to redesign the arts building, and starting work on my computer model for a final project.

I think I’ve found a new planet, Altair texts back in response. I want you to come take a look at it.

 

Why? I’m a civil engineering major; I’m not going to be of any help to you. Go talk to one of your professors. Or contact NASA, whatever you astronomers do.

Malik, just come over here. This is important to me.

Say please, Malik texts.

 

Fuck you comes Altair’s very mature response. And then, a few moments later, I’ll buy you dinner. And listen to you talk about concrete while we eat.

Malik rolls his eyes, supposing that this is as close to a please as he will ever get from Altair. With a sigh, and a vague irritable thought as to why Altair always seems to be so damn persuasive, he sets off for the planetarium.

 

Altair is alone in the large, dome-shaped room when Malik arrives, standing behind the control panel. “Shouldn’t you be showing me this at the observatory?” Malik grumbles as he walks over, dumping his bag on the ground.

 

“That’s a thirty minute drive, and I don’t have a car,” Altair says, raising an eyebrow at him. “I’m not going all the way out there unless I have to. I’ve plugged the coordinates into the system here so you can take a look at it; much easier.”

 

He begins adjusting controls as Malik sighs and wanders out into the seats, wondering, not for the first time, why he puts up with Altair’s eccentric and usually very annoying tendencies. He takes a seat in one of the middle rows, looking up at the star-speckled ceiling with passing indifference; he’s never quite shared Altair’s enthusiasm for space. He prefers to stay closer to the ground, amongst concrete and steel, where the rules of physics are set instead of constantly changing.

 

“There,” Altair says, voice oddly flush with a kind of almost shaky triumph. “It’s in this cluster of stars, right here, next to Ursa Major.” Lines appear to connect the stars of the constellation, and Altair uses a laser pointer to circle a small area next to it. Malik looks at the area, frowning. “The one that’s dimmer than all the others, see?”

 

Malik does see; he’s also rather confused. He’s not an astronomer, and it’s been years since he took his first and only astronomy class as a freshman, but he’s fairly certain he’s never seen a cluster of stars look quite so… distinct, before. They’re incredibly bright, especially next to the constellation; they almost seem to be forming some kind of… shape? “Are the stars supposed to be doing that?” he asks, curious.

 

“What do you mean?” Altair asks, and if Malik didn’t know his friend quite so well, he would have missed the slight tremor in Altair’s voice. It makes Malik frown deeply, because the tremor makes Altair sounds nervous, of all things. Malik doesn’t think he’s ever seen Altair nervous before.

 

“I mean…” Malik begins, looking back at the ceiling to try and explain himself. “They just look so… bright. And…” He pauses, eyes fixed upon a formation right next to Orion that he definitely knows was not there the last time he looked. And there, next to Andromeda, was that there before? And there, he realizes as another cluster begins to light up next to Taurus, and by Gemini, and Perseus, and…

 

It takes Malik a moment to realize, but when he’s recovered from his momentary shock, he looks at the ceiling again, and this time, he sees exactly what Altair was trying to show him, which isn’t a new planet at all. Instead, small clusters of stars have lit up everywhere, and when Malik tilts his head back to look at them all, he sees that they spell something.

 

Monteriggioni at 7?

It’s a restaurant that Malik read about in the papers several weeks ago, receiving rave reviews for its superb and authentic Italian cuisine. He’d expressed a vague interest in going, if he ever managed to dig himself out from under his ever-growing pile of homework. Malik hadn’t thought Altair had been listening; he didn’t think Altair even cared that Malik had an interest in fine Italian cuisine, given how little he seemed to think of food himself.

 

Suddenly, the nervous note in Altair’s voice from before makes perfect sense; after all, Malik isn’t stupid.

 

“Monteriggioni?” Malik asks, trying not to smile as he leans back in his seat. “How did you even manage to get reservations?”

 

Malik doesn’t have to see Altair to know that his friend has a pink flush to his cheeks as he mumbles, “Ezio’s uncle is the owner,” in embarrassed answer. Malik is a little surprised. He knows that Altair does not like help from anybody; it’s perhaps a testament to how important this is that he was willing to seek assistance.

 

“Are you sure you can afford it?” Malik asks, despite already knowing what his answer is; it’s not often he gets to make Altair squirm, and he finds that he rather enjoys it.

 

He hears Altair huff indignantly in response. “Yes, I’m sure,” he snaps. “I wouldn’t have asked you if I wasn’t certain I could.”

 

“Of course not,” Malik says, glad Altair can’t see his smile in the dark.

 

There’s a pause, and then Altair asks, much more quietly, “Well?”

 

Malik pretends to mull it over for several long moments as he gets up from his seat to walks back over to the control panel, hiding a smirk at the way he sees Altair fidget, just a little. “Well,” he says leaning in rather closer than he ought, and Altair jerks, caught off guard. “Since you did say you would buy me dinner if I came, I suppose I could be persuaded.”

 

Altair says nothing in response, but he doesn’t need to. His smiles is answer enough.