Street Rat

Chapter 15

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“Aladdin?” The girl gaped, her eyes wide in shock.

“I-uh, I-” Aladdin tried before swallowing nervously.

“You’re…with him?” She asked disbelievingly, slowly backing away as though he were diseased.

“No! I mean uh-” Aladdin quickly backpedalled. “I mean yes…I am” Aladdin looked frantically between Jafar and the girl.

Struck speechless the girl fled, the basket full of laundry lay abandoned at their feet.

“Great” Aladdin muttered, sighing heavily as he watched her flee.

“One of your little friends I presume?” Jafar arched an eyebrow. A small frown formed on his face.

“Yeah, she’s one of the maids for the upper floors. Sometimes we talked about work and stuff. Or if I wasn’t busy I’d help her out a little. Just carrying laundry and stuff, you know.” Aladdin sighed, his shoulders tensing as he imagined what she’d be doing. By now he was sure their secret was already being spread throughout the palace. It was too good a secret for the servants to just let die.

“Fascinating” Jafar’s voice positively dripped with sarcasm. It was enough to make Aladdin smile, a tiny smile but still a smile nonetheless.

As the two stood there, still looking down the corridor where the servant girl had fled, the silence between them grew. Eventually Jafar sighed, turning his attention back to Aladdin. He took in the boy’s trembling fingers, sweat laden brow and resigned expression before making a decision.

“Aladdin”. It was enough to break Aladdin from his thoughts.

“Master I-” Aladdin fell silent as Jafar held up a hand.

“What’s done is done. I have no doubt your little friend will have told everyone she meets about what she has seen. So I suggest you make a decision quickly. You can choose to deny her claims, to convince those she tells that she is lying. Or you can admit to the truth and wait to see what happens. I will not be making the choice for you”. Jafar warned.

“I know” Aladdin sighed, allowing his gaze to drop to the floor. “I just…I just wanted more time. When we started this I knew this would happen eventually”. Aladdin gave a bitter laugh. “I just wanted to enjoy this a little longer. Without everyone around to makes this more complicated. You know?”

Jafar was a man used to only caring about himself. He was not used to having to care for others; he was even less used to providing anyone with comfort of any kind. Except of course when he was balls deep in whatever pretty individual had gained entry into his bed. He had a reputation to uphold after all. Yet as he watched Aladdin work himself into a right state, for the first time in his life, Jafar wished he was the type the provide comfort to another. If only this once.

“You know, I don’t believe things will turn out as bad as you are expecting them to. There is a reason why my previous servants were treated so harshly by their peers. Many believed their position in my bed gave them power over their peers. They mistakenly thought they could give orders instead of taking them. As I’m sure you can imagine their actions and attitudes were not well received. I have had a number of servants come work for me. Yet you are the first that has not adopted such beliefs. You are so far the only one I have taken as my servant and as my lover, whom the other servants have ever claimed to like. You are the only one that I know of, that has earned their respect. While I cannot speak for them, I believe you may be surprised by their reactions. Things may not be as bad as you have feared”. Jafar spoke softly, resting his hand on Aladdin’s shoulder.