Archive of Our Own ^beta

Aladdin glanced out the window as the car pulled up in front of Auradon prep, his leg bouncing against the floorboard nervously.

This was it. Not exactly a first impression, but first impression without Jasmine there for emotional support or Evie there to fill the awkward silences or…

First impression as just himself. As Jay’s dad.

He envied Jasmine for how easy it had been for her to talk to him. That hadn’t exactly been his sentiment at the time, of course. Aladdin hadn’t found out that Jasmine had sent Jay a letter until the night when Evie texted to threaten them, which also, admittedly, hadn’t been the way that Jasmine intended to tell him.

“I needed to try,” she defended herself firmly. “I haven’t seen him in fifteen years. I couldn’t just…”

“We said we weren’t going to push,” Aladdin had replied, tense as they waited for a message back from Evie. He’d been scared. The last time they saw each other, Jay was a mess, and without knowing what Jasmine had written, he didn’t know if she’d said something that could hurt him. Just getting the letter might have hurt him, if he’d expected them to give him more time.

He trusted Jasmine with everything, but that didn’t mean she should have sent it.

“How else was he supposed to know how to contact us?” she’d answered.

“Clearly his friends knew how to get your phone number.”

“I didn’t know that.”

The argument ended when Evie replied, saying that they had passed whatever screening they were doing on Jay’s behalf, and they’d both been elated when his response came in the mail a few days later.

Since then, he’d tried to do the same, but he didn’t have the poise Jasmine did, in person or on paper. It took Jasmine about an hour to write each letter she sent to Jay, between writing it out and then revising it. She knew how to pick her words and what she wanted to communicate to him.

And Aladdin…

Didn’t.

Every letter he’d tried to write had been impossible, and only the night before had he finally been brave enough to just spit something out in a text.

Hey, wanna get out of your afternoon classes tomorrow?

And for ten, nerve wracking minutes, he’d waited for a response, hoping it wasn’t weird, wasn’t forward, wasn’t the kind of thing that he’d have cringed at if Cassim had sent it to him when he was a kid.

And Jay had said yes! For the rest of the evening, Aladdin had been cheerful at the idea that he’d finally have a chance to try and talk to him, forge the same kind of relationship that Jasmine was doing through her letters…

The feeling had lasted until about midnight, when all the ways it could go wrong started popping into his head.

What the hell was he even going to say?

The car came to a stop, and he looked to the driver’s seat where Carpet had turned around and was patting him on the knee reassuringly before rolling the divider up between the driver’s section and the back.

“Thanks Carpet,” Aladdin said, not actually sure if he was happy for the privacy or not, before looking back to the door. “Wish me luck.”

After taking a deep breath, he stepped out of the car and started walking towards the office. He’d called Fairy Godmother to let her know what the situation was earlier that day, so hopefully Jay wouldn’t have a problem checking himself out at the attendance office, but just in case…

“Hey!”

He turned around, a little surprised to see Jay already walking up.

Looking at him, something felt off. His hair was tied up and out of the way, and he was wearing formal slacks instead of the jeans he’d been wearing every other time they’d met. He was wearing the same vest, so maybe Aladdin was just imagining it, but still, there was something about Jay’s expression that worried him just a little.

All the same, he smiled, waving as Jay reached him, and fighting himself not to reach out for a hug. “Hey!” he greeted instead. “You ready to go?”

The grin Jay shot back at him relieved him, if only for a moment. “Yeah, let’s do it. Where’re we going?”

“Is there anywhere you’d like to go in particular?”

Jay looked at him raising an eyebrow as if he was a little confused to be asked, before shrugging. “Not really? We aren’t actually allowed off campus without permission, so I haven’t really had a chance to look around.”

 Oh. Right.

“Ah-that’s okay, I’ve got a place we come out to all the time when we’re in town. You like burgers?”

Jay snorted. “As long as it’s food, I’m happy.” 

At the reminder, Aladdin tried to keep the smile on his face, but he knew he failed when he held the car door open and saw the expression that had come onto Jay’s face, as if he had said something wrong.

Which was stupid of him - of Aladdin. It was supposed to be a joke. Jay had been joking. Aladdin had made the same joke a dozen times when he and Jasmine went to an official dinner and their hosts asked if they had liked the cuisine offered.

But coming from Jay, it was a reminder that it wasn’t really a joke. How many meals had Jay missed on the Isle? He was well muscled enough that Aladdin wasn’t too worried. He clearly hadn’t been malnourished or missed any growth spurts, at least, but he’d seen Jay and his friends eat every scrap they could get their hands on when they’d gone for pizza after the tourney game, and still snuck leftovers home with them, even knowing that the cafeteria would be open and stocked whenever they needed it.

Jay had ducked into the car before Aladdin had time to recover, so instead, he shook his head at himself and followed him in.

There was a weird moment as they sat there, and the car didn’t move after Aladdin told Carpet where they were heading. In the silence, Aladdin tried instead to find some topic of conversation and wondered why they weren’t driving. His question was answered when the divider rolled down and carpet pointed at one of the lights on the divider panel, the one that indicated that someone wasn’t wearing a seatbelt.

Aladdin’s brow furrowed, checking that his was buckled right and even wondering if a sensor was out before looking over at Jay, who just looked confused by the interaction.

And who wasn’t wearing a seatbelt.

Great parenting. Fifteen years too late and not paying attention to his kid’s safety. Wonderful, Aladdin.

“Oh, um, make sure to put on your seatbelt,” he said, trying not to swear at himself. Had Jay just never ridden in a normal car before? He knew the school busses they used to get to tourney games didn’t have them. Maybe no one he’d ridden with cared if he was strapped in or not…

Jay looked at him, still confused, before Aladdin indicated the strap on his chest, and his eyes went wide and he jerked to put the seatbelt on.

“Sorry!” he blurted, the embarrassment in his voice clear. 

“It’s no problem, Carpet is just really strict about these things,” Aladdin answered, trying to sound calm even as he thought to himself how great of a start they were off to.

Over the divider wall, Carpet made a gesture that indicated that he was completely justified, and Aladdin snorted.

“I didn’t say that was a bad thing. Sands know that police would flip if they found you driving and your passengers unbuckled.”

With Jay strapped in, Carpet saluted them and started driving back towards the main gates and rolled the divider back up, leaving Jay and Aladdin by themselves again.

This time though, Aladdin noticed Jay looking at the divider curiously.

“You can ask, you know,” he said, even though he wasn’t entirely sure what it was that Jay was wondering. Carpet inspired a lot of questions, when they weren’t in Agrabah. For people with talking animals and dragons, a magically animated rug was completely baffling for some reason.

Jay glanced at him before finally saying, “Um, just wondering how you knew what he was saying. Jasmine said you had some kind of sign language?”

Aladdin smiled. “Sort of,” he answered. “He can do Auradonian Sign Language if he really needs to, but around us, he mostly mimics human gestures as best he can. The thing he did there was kind of the equivalent of throwing his arms up?” He copied the motion, pleased with himself when Jay snorted. “Given the context, he’s frustrated and wouldn’t have to be as careful if he could fly around like we used to. Cant win with security though, so he has to live with an uncomfortable relationship with the highway patrol.”

“I know the feeling…”

Aladdin’s brow wrinkled, and he turned to Jay wondering exactly what that meant. But that look had come onto Jay’s face again - the one where he thought he’d said something wrong, and for a second, Aladdin wondered what that would be…

But they were already pulling into the parking lot of the restaurant, and he wasn’t really sure what he would ask anyway. So instead, he went ahead and got out, motioning for Jay to follow him.

The diner they had pulled up to was a fairly standard city restaurant, and for his benefit, somewhere close enough to the castle to know not to make a big deal of visiting royalty. It was one of his frequent stops when he was in town, and seemed like a safer bet than the other places they generally went to, such as Jasmine’s upscale sushi bar, Aziz’s all-you-can-eat steakhouse, Isra’s arcade that also served pizza, or Aladdin’s greasy-spoon-with-a-broken-window.

They were ahead of the lunch crowd, and were able to be seated at a table next to the window. Neither of them said anything to start under the pretense of picking their orders, though all the while, Aladdin was already struggling to find something to say. 

There wasn't a chance before the waitress arrived, smiling at them as she introduced herself and asked, "Can I get you started with something to drink?"

Aladdin smiled back tensely. "A glass of water for me," he said. Before it was completely out of his mouth, he saw Jay moving on the other side of the table. Quick, barely visible under the table. He looked over to see what he was doing, a sick suspicion forming as the waitress turned to look at him.

"And for you?"

For the first time that day, Jay didn't look nervous at all. He was leaning against the table casually, smiling almost flirtatiously. "Just water for me too," he said brightly.

And Aladdin recognized that front.

"Alright, I'll be right back with that," the waitress said, turning around and walking away.

Aladdin kept watching Jay as the look on his face fell away, and he looked back at the table, nerves coming back. He dared a glance up at Aladdin, and Aladdin tried not to visibly wince as he braced himself for what he had to ask next.

"What did you take?"

Every syllable of it sounded wrong to him. He was being judgy. He was telling Jay what to do when he had no right to. He was butting in-

Jay bristled. "What did I..." he started, only for his eyes to go wide. "Fuck." His eyes went wider after he realized what he'd said, and it would have been comical how he'd covered his mouth if not for the horror dawning on his face. 

Compulsive theft. Aladdin had never actually investigated if there was a difference between kleptomania as a mental illness and doing it when you'd been trained to do it to survive, but he still recognized it. Jay was even doing it unconciously apparently. He knew he'd taken something, but hadn't remembered it was wrong to do so, that he could get in trouble, until reminded. Aladdin wasn't familiar with that particular behaviour, but he had to imagine that theft hadn't been a bad thing on the Isle.

Jay looked at the table, gritting his teeth. "I'm sorry," he said quickly. "I didn't..."

"Hey, I'm not mad," Aladdin said quietly, trying to be gentle, but also trying to spit it out as fast as possible so that Jay didn't spiral in on himself for it. "I just...I saw and...you need to give it back."

Jay looked up at him in a panic this time. "What?"

"We don't have to say anything," he replied, Jay's panic almost making him start to panic too. "Just plant it on her and no one will know."

"I...what?"

"Slip it back in her pocket."

The clarification made Jay's brow furrow. He looked back at the table, and seemed to be parsing. Aladdin wondered at the confusion for a moment before it hit him.

Of course Jay wouldn’t know how to return it. There had never been consequences for him taking things until he got to Auradon, and never a reason to learn to discretely return someone's property. Just approaching a former mark discretely was probably out of his skillset. 

He put a hand out gently. “Let me?”

Jay hesitated before handing the object over, letting Aladdin see that it was a wallet, looking ashamed and sure that Aladdin was going to chastise him, but Aladdin tried not to focus on that. One problem at a time, and first he needed to get the evidence back where it belonged. He got up when he saw the waitress at another table, moving to intercept her between them and the kitchen.

“Excuse me, can I ask a question really quick?”

“Uh sure?”

“So here’s the thing,” he started, dropping his voice to a whisper so she moved a bit closer than was necessary. He put one hand on her shoulder, turning her so that they were faced away from Jay, like he was telling her a secret, but also so one of her pockets was closer to him than it would be otherwise. “I missed the kid’s birthday a while back and you don’t have to do the big song and dance or anything-”

Before he said that part, the waitress already looked excited at the idea of a performance. In her distraction, he moved his other hand to drop her wallet into her apron pocket before touching her arm nonchalantly. Thank god she hadn’t recognized him or this would be weird. “Can we please get a couple slices of cake after the food comes?”

“Oh, of course!” she chirped. “But are you sure you don’t want-”

“Definitely not,” he replied. “But the cake would be great, and maybe a candle?”

“I can do that!”

“Great, thank you!”

With that, he dropped his arms and turned back to the table. Thankfully, Jay didn’t look nearly as worried as he had been.

“Did you just-”

Aladdin smiled slightly and put a finger over his lips. “Shhhhhh, don’t make a fuss. Also, sorry if they come out and sing happy birthday to you later.”

He still looked confused, but he leaned a bit further forward, ignoring the comment about the birthday. “You were actually a thief…”

The smile on Aladdin’s face faded a little. “Uh, yeah.” He hadn’t realized that was in question, but for whatever reason, Jay looked almost relieved.

“I didn’t think...You’re royalty now, ya know?”

He snorted slightly, pulling his glass a little closer. “That’s what they tell me. Hard to believe some days.” He stopped himself before he could dig himself in too deep. There were days when being Prince Consort of Agrabah was easy, when he got to help the city and people he grew up with and spend time with his family and not have to worry about food.

Then there were the days when he had to dress the part and make decisions not everyone would like. There were the days when he would grab an extra roll to-go (just in case) from a formal dinner and have to stop himself from shoving it under his hat, reminding himself he might get grease on the expensive fabric or that one of the other dignitaries might see. 

Or worse, Jasmine.

Jasmine, who understood and didn't say anything, but who he also knew would refill the fruit bowl in their private dining area (and what the hell - he had a private dining area???) and make sure to send snacks down to the Guard’s office so if he did need food it would be there. 

But he looked back at Jay, trying to be positive. He wasn't ashamed of where he’d come from, no matter how often he had to remind himself, and he didn't want Jay to be either. And clearly, that was where Jay was leaning towards right now. 

Though also, maybe he shouldn't encourage the pickpocketing?

“It’s been a while since I needed to lift something for real, but it came in handy on adventures, and sometimes it’s useful for work,” he shrugged. “It’s a skill. Might as well try to put it to use for something good.”

Something dimmed slightly on Jay’s face, and he huffed, “try telling that to FG. She’s been nice about it, but I still…” he trailed off, his mouth twisting. 

“Still grab things when you know you don't need it any more?”

“...yeah.”

“It doesn’t really go away,” Aladdin admitted slowly. “I think I was about your age, the last time I had to steal to eat. The same day I met Jaz. I didn't so much go for stuff, just food and money. The money thing was an easy fix. Once I had money of my own, I carried this stupidly heavy coin purse for a while. It’s hard to forget you’re good on money when it’s threatening to drag your pants down.” That wasn't meant to be a joke, but it got a smile from Jay, and he kept on. “The food, though...that one still bites me. Can’t leave scraps behind.” He was the one to laugh this time. “Most common argument I have with Jasmine is over leftovers and whether it’s okay to throw out moldy cheese.”

Jay laughed a bit too. “It’s better when it’s moldy half the time anyway!” 

“I know right?” He fought himself away from thoughts of the Isle's garbage barges. When he looked back at Jay, the look on his face was pensive. There was a beat of quiet as Aladdin wondered if he should say something when…

“I take stuff,” Jay admitted slowly. “Food too, when it’s around, but my d-“ he stopped short, and with everything he had, Aladdin willed his expression to stay the same, to wait until later to think about how Jay thought of Jafar as his father and not derail him with his problems. But Jay was looking at his hands, clenching them into fists and then relaxing again before continuing. “Jafar...Jafar runs a junk shop back on the Isle. It was my job to keep the shelves stocked, or...”

He didn't elaborate further, and Aladdin tried not to fill the gaps in with the worst case scenarios. Was it how he made sure they got to eat? That Jafar let him sleep in the house that night instead of on the streets? To avoid getting beaten? Maybe he was just trying to earn his dad’s love. 

All of them were infuriating, but that wasn't the point right now. 

“How’s it been since you got here?” He asked. 

“I haven't taken anything too hard to return in a while,” Jay admitted, looking up just a bit. “But sometimes the Auradon kids just leave their shit laying around like it’s nothing, and…” he cringed. “I got detention a couple weeks ago because Sofia lost her necklace. I didn't even take it this time...but I did take it three months ago when she left it in the common room unsupervised and right out in the open.”

“You got detention when she lost it, though?”

Jay looked back down, frowning. “No. FG didn't believe me when I said I didn't take it, and when she checked my room, she found the stuff I did steal and hadn’t returned yet. Most of it was Carlos, Mal and Evie’s, but I had a couple of Chad’s watches, a bracelet that apparently belonged to Maia, and a doorknob. So, three hours of detention on a Saturday for theft and vandalism of school property.”

The jewelry Aladdin knew could be explained by the other kids being careless, but the Doorknob? The stuff he’d been stealing from his friends? That could only be catharsis, something to take the edge off when he was feeling off or stressed. 

He tentatively reached out and touched Jay’s arm. “It’ll get easier. It might be a while, but you’ll figure out what to do instead.” 

He paused as the waitress came over, winking at him conspiratorially as she set their drinks down and walked back to the kitchen. Aladdin almost laughed, but it was a good sign that they’d gotten away with the wallet switch. 

Jay was already sipping on his water when he looked back, still looking a little down about their conversation on petty theft, but more relaxed than he’d been before at the very least. Maybe now was a good time for a cheerier conversation. 

Though how to segue out of that?

“But tell me about this doorknob,” he asked, laughing just a little. “What ridiculous finery are they spending tuition money on now?”

Conversation for the remainder of the meal flowed smoothly, and while part of him hated it, Aladdin was glad that they had something in common. They were able to easily laugh over the dress code restrictions and rules that really had no point, and Jay wasn't as hesitant to talk about the things that he’d been getting in trouble at school over. Some intentional and meant to be funny, but also some more theft, and a few fouls in tourney. As predicted the staff still came out and sang happy birthday, much to Jay’s confusion and amusement. 

It was nice actually getting to know him and talk to him like this. As much as he loved Aziz and Isra, they were royalty more than he’d ever be, and they just didn't really get it when habits from his streetrat days came up. It sucked to know that he hadn't been able to prevent Jay from going through it, but on the flip side, he was glad he was able to help, if only a little. 

When they left, and Aladdin asked where they should go next, Jay had been a bit more prepared than earlier, immediately asking if Aladdin had been to the free running park. He hadn't and immediately, Jay had looked excited. 

“Wanna go climb on things without getting yelled at for trespassing?”

And Aladdin was more than on board with that.