Malcolm's Room

Malcolm laid back in bed, staring at the ceiling of his bedroom. He wore a simple black tank top and camo pajama pants. It had to be at least 1:00 in the morning and Malcolm didn't know exactly why he couldn't just fall asleep in the dark room. He had tried reading some books, doing a few crunches, and even tried counting sleep, but nothing worked. The magician descendant of Amenhotep III step up, swinging his legs to the side of the bed, and opened the drawer of his bedside table. Inside were a few charms; amulets, rings, bracelets, his wallet, watch, and the shabti Malecai gave him a couple of days ago.

They had been communicating, like actually communicating for about a month now. Two months before that, Malecai would give out random facts, a before tha- just know it took six months to lead up to them just talking. He took the shabti in his hand and concentrated, trying to summon the follower of Thoth. Hopefully he'll come.

Malecai was up late in the library, way passed his designated "Malecai Time", which explained why he was just no getting ready for bed. He would have stayed in there all night if it weren't for that evil Set kid that threatened to tell. The last thing he needed was for all of his "Malecai Time" to be revoked.

The follower of Thoth had gotten out of the shower five minutes ago and had just finished putting on his plaid pajama pants when something made him freeze in his steps. That something was like a whisper - not the creepy kind, but the kind that made him want to pull out a book and research it. He wrapped a thick blanket around his shoulders and followed the whisper outside of his room and to the door adjacent to his. He opened the door and walked in a few steps, pausing when the whispering stopped. Malecai locked eyes with the other magician holding the shabti he made him about ten steps away, and gulped. "...Ciao."

It felt like forever to Malcolm between the time that he summoned him and when Malecai came to the door. The door opening, revealing the follower of Thoth made his heart sink. He looked into the blue eyes of his as if searching his soul before greeting back in Italian saying, "Buongiorno, Malecai," Malcolm put the shabti back in the drawer before standing up out of the bed, "Come stai?" His pronunciation of words in Italian had gotten better since he started using it to speak to Malecai.

"I couldn't sleep and I was wondering maybe you would like to play a game of chess?" He stuck his thumb up and gestured to his drawer that was underneath his plasma flat screen television. "Unless you want to play checkers or something else?" This was the first time he's been over to his room so you can imagine how nervous he was.

Malecai stared right back into Malcolm's eyes, partially wondering what he was thinking and partially wondering else was going through his mind. Malcolm always made him curious; he was a book he hadn't read and wouldn't fully understand until he read it a few more times. A very faint smile grew on his lips when he heard the language he was most familiar with, and the pronunciation improving. "Sto bene. E...tu?"

Malecai secured the blanket around him even more, looking between Malcolm's thumb and his drawer. He wasn't really tired, after all. And it wasn't like he had many friends here, or anything else to do. He ran a hand through his hair, sighing, and looked back at Malcolm. "Yes, I would like that. A, um, game of chess." His face reddened just slightly and he looked to the blanket gathered in his hands. "I need to finish...uh..." He started to back out of the room. "But I will return shortly. I promise."

Seeing the almost non-existent smile made Malcolm feel as though he made some sort of accomplishment. There had to be something else that he could do to make that smile grow. Baby steps, baby steps. "Stesso, graize." He bowed his head a bit. What was that about? Anyways.

Malcolm realized that he hadn't finished getting dress which made him feel bad about. "Oh, okay. I can set everything up while you put on a shirt. I'm sorry." He turned around and went to get the board and it's pieces. "Take your time." His excitement was still maintained with him spending some time with Malecai. He was so different from anyone else in the house. So technical and intelligent. One of these days Malecai will have to sit down with Malcolm and tell him about his life, Italy, and his research.

By the time the Italian-American came back, Malcolm was sitting crisscross on the bed with the chess board in front of him with the pieces already in place. Also, he decided to listen to The Temptations "I Can't Get Next to You", playing it on low.

"Don't worry about it. It's fine." Malecai mumbled when Malcolm apologized, now trying to fight through his own tongue-tied-ness. He didn't know what else to say so he just left to finish getting dressed. He put on one of his big sweaters, one that said "Normal People Scare Me" (it was a gift and it was true), then slipped on his pair of black slippers. He decided to keep the big blanket, walking back out of his room with it still around his shoulders.

When Malecai opened Malcolm's door again, the sound of music playing made him think that he might have walked into the wrong room - which would have been very embarrassing, even for him. But, no, this was Malcolm's room. There he was on his bed with his chess board. Malecai closed the door behind him and walked over, carefully sitting across from him so that he didn't knock over any of the pieces. He listened closely to the song because he was sure he knew the tune, then his little faint smile from earlier returned. He glanced up at Malcolm briefly before moving his piece. "The Temptations?" He asked.

Upon Malecai's return, he lifted his head from the board. A small came upon his face as his eyes gave a quick scan over his new sleeping attire. He liked it, but wouldn't say that. Malcolm has noticed that the follower of Thoth gets all flustered and frazzled when something is said that he didn't except.

He was actually about to turn it off, but Malecai asked if that were The Temptations. Malcolm nearly chuckled in awe at the fact that Malecai actually knew who they were. "Yes, actually, it is. I have been that I have an old soul. I love Aretha Franklin, Earth, Wind, and Fire, Rod Stewart and artists like that. I'm drawn to music that have meaning behind it." He moved one of his pieces. "And jazz is...- just listening to Nat King Cole or Louis Armstrong causes my worries of this world to sail away like a boat on calm seas and a bristly blowing wind."

Malecai listened to Malcolm speak, nodding along to each artist he named because he actually knew all of them. His father used to play them all the time back in Italy, even though they weren't translated to Italian. Malecai knew all of the words to each song without knowing what those words meant. And now after researching them a great deal later, he fell in love with them all over again.

"My father used to listen to all of them. I am very familiar with older, more soulful music." He moved another pawn, trying to set up a chain. That's right, I was in chess club and I'm proud of it. "I love jazz. It - that was a very interesting use of personification to express emotion. Is that from an author of which I am not familiar, or is that an original?"

He was still shocked that Malecai knew off of these famous, black artists and musicians. Malcolm scratched the side of his face, his smile staying in place. His mother and father used to see these types of songs around the house along with hymns and gospel music. Malcolm fell in love more with the more worldly music.

The follower of Ptah nodded his head. "Mm...that's amazing. I didn't know their type of music was worldwide." Malcolm soon was able to notice that Malecai was creating a chain formation. This caused him to actually chuckle. "That came from the heart. Well, not the heart technically, my brain. More specially the left side of my brain." He had to think about what move he would make. This game was more than just to pass the time, no, this was because Malcolm wanted to show Malecai his intelligence. After a second, he moved one of his pieces. I don't know shit about chess.

"Speaking on the topic of authors, who are a few of your favorites?"

Malecai shifted his weight, holding his blanket snug around him still. He felt like he should say more, but never really had practice talking this long with other people unless it was about something regarding information. Hell, he hadn't had practice sitting in anyone's room before, except Marina's, and it was only for a few minutes until Devin showed up and he was kicked out for some reason. He felt like, though, with Malcolm it didn't matter if he talked or remained silent.

"I'm not sure, but my father was born in America. And...my grandmother used to play this music all the time." He decided to reply. He raised an eyebrow when Malcolm chuckled at his chain formation, capturing his piece with his pawn after he moved it. "Oh...well that was very, very creative. Especially to be authentic. I wish...I wish I had that much creativity." He really did; the most he could do was create an unsolvable Sudoku.

He was caught off guard by this question, "Oh. Uh...Larsson. Stieg Larsson. Dickens if I'm in a classical mood. I typically only read nonfiction, however, And yours?"

Malcolm nodded his slowly to the information he was receiving from Malecai. "Oh, so your father was born in here? I didn't know that. I thought he was born in Italy and that's why you were born in Naples." He would have to write that down somewhere. "But that's interesting, Malecai." He didn't feel hurt, not in the slightest when he took one of ha pieces. Malcolm knew who he was playing against. "Thank you for the compliment. I appreciate it very much." He clicked his tongue and moved another piece. "What you lack in creativity you make up in viable information,
نعم فعلا?" He glanced up at him for a second before looking back down at the board.

He perked up a bit. "Charles Dickens?" Malcolm liked him some Charles Dickens. "Personally, Earnst Hemingway, Edger Allen Poe for those not-so-good times, if I'm in a modern, James Patterson, mm...oh, and Oscar Wilde." He cleared his throat. The nervousness he had was nearly gone. "Did you know that Oscar Wilde was actually imprisoned for being a homosexual? Baffling, I know. Then again this was also the time that those who had mental disorders and illnesses had in some way cursed by the God."

OOC: Doing a thread with Malecai and Malcolm makes me feel smarter.

"Sì, he was born in New Jersey. Both of my grandparents were from Naples, and he moved back there after they died, and met my mother." He didn't know that Malcolm knew he was from Naples, but then again Malecai had lived in this house for ten years. A lot of people probably picked up a few tidbits about the strange follower of Thoth that practically lived in the library. He nodded when Malcolm thanked him, but then raised an eyebrow when he spoke in Arabic. His magic allowed him to understand what he had said, it was only "yes", but Malecai decided to pretend he didn't speak it. What? Bookworms had fun too. "I guess you could say that. What language is that, by the way?"

He felt himself grow excited as Malcolm went on to talk about his favorite authors, appreciating the follower of Ptah more and more with each one he named. Malecai bit the inside of his cheek when he went on to talk about Oscar Wilde; he was all too familiar with the author.

"They tried to cover that little fact by saying that he was only homosexual for a 'period of time', which is ridiculous to me." He shook his head and finally moved another piece, a very bold but hidden move. As he spoke, his hands made the motions his words couldn't express. "You can't just - just temporarily be homosexual, then banish it away. It's just a mitigation to make heterosexuality seem more habitual."

Malcolm listened to him talk about his family's history. He could listen to him talk for ages about any and everything. His accent was interesting and the way he said certain word made Malcolm smile. "My condolences." He finally said when Malecai was finished. He shifted his position so that he didn't get that numbing tingling feeling in his feet. "Arabic. I'm currently teaching myself how to speak and write it. I've been at it for about seven months now. Hopefully I will be fluent in the language along with Italian." So, Malecai didn't understand Arabic? That will come in handy. Heh.

He nearly scoffed in agreement. "The whole philosophy, if you can all it that, is appalling and offensive." The follower of Ptah looked over the chess board, trying to figure out what would be the best move for him. He finally was able to take one of Malecai's pun, but didn't say anything. "Many have tried and failed, صديقى." He mumbled to the last comment that the follower of Thoth made. "As a bisexual, demiromanitc African American male, I believe that you are born with your sexuality. You can't help that."

Malecai nodded once to show that he accepted Malcolm's condolences. He didn't have the chance to meet his grandparents, but if they had introduced his father to that music, he figured they weren't half bad. He watched him switch positions, really because he was just very observant. "So you have an interest in learning languages." He concluded. "Italian is a...a beautiful language."

His eyes seemed to glitter with interest as Malcolm gave his opinion on the philosophy. He'd never talked about such a sensitive topic with anyone before, and now he was glad that he did. When Malcolm took his pawn, Malecai was able to take his piece thanks to his chain. "Foolishly enough." He mumbled in return. He translated yet again and almost smiled at the fact that he recognized his words, but Malcolm didn't know that. His next words shocked him - he didn't know Malcolm was bisexual. "I, too, believe that..." He shifted his weight uncomfortably; most people didn't understand or accept his sexuality like the others. He didn't think Malcolm was like that, but oen could never be too sure. "A-as an advocate."

"I have an interest in culture. It's very important to me especially when it comes to my ancestors." With having the blood of the Pharaoh, he's been into finding out what other ethnicities after than Egyptian coursing through his veins. "I agree completely, Italian is a very beautiful language. Similar to Spanish and Portuguese." He took in a deep breath. "So, you being a follower of Thoth; how does that work? Like, mm..." He tried to figure how to say it. "Oxymoron in a way? Practicing scientific, rational magic?"

The taking of his pawn made him smile. Smile of zeal and interest. Then an actual smirk passed his lips at what Malecai said. "Idiotically enough." Who knew talking with someone so antisocial could be so fun? Malcolm started to mess with the amulet around his neck, rubbing the orange ox head pendant with his thumb and index finger. "مجرد داعية ؟ سيء جدا." He shrugged his shoulders a bit.

"That is very...interesting, Malcolm." Malecai almost chuckled at his wittiness, that really wasn't all that witty and more lame than anything. He could mentally laugh at his own jokes, okay? "Very similar. And French as well." He added with a curt nod. "You can...say that in a way. The magic I practice has more to do with finding out more, and expanding on previous knowledge. Scientific, rational magic is the best way to describe it. I couldn't have said so any better myself."

Malecai tapped his fingers on his thigh as he watched for Malcolm's next move. "...I wasn't going to be so blunt, but that's correct." He said with the faintest bit of humor in his tone. He pressed his lips together as he mentally translated his words again. He pressed his lips together. "Do you mind speaking English or Italian? I can't understand you." This was fun for him.

The follower of Ptah smirked at the little witty remark. He liked those no matter how corny they actually were. "Oh, yes. We can't forget about the language of love. Well, technically it's one of several languages of love, but the most common." Spanish is among those languages; fun fact. "Well, thank you and knowledge magic is very important and innately, powerful. However it can be dangerous if it falls into the wrong hands."


"Sometimes being blunt is occasionally needed." He shrugged his shoulders some. "Oh! Yes, of course. Sorry, that was rude of me to speak in another language that you're not familiar with." He laughed a bit, biting his lip. "My apologize, Malecai." Saying his name the way it would be pronounced in Italian.