Arabian Nights [Bakugou x Reader] [Aladdin!AU]

~ A Diamond in the Rough ~

~-=+=- Based on the original Disney cartoon; 1992 -=+=-~

Oh, I come from a land, from a faraway place, where the caravan camels roam. Where it's flat and immense and the heat is intense. It's barbaric, but hey, it's home! When the winds from the east and the sun from the west and the sand in the glass is right, come on down, stop on by, hop a carpet and fly to another Arabian night!

The wind whipped around the sandy dunes, swirling the golden dust into the air and over the blanketed land. The night sky was lit up by thousands of stars that twinkled, shining light down onto the ever-changing ground below. Heat radiated off of the sea of sand, reflecting back towards the hidden sun where it had emerged from that day.

Arabian nights, like Arabian days, more often than not, are hotter than hot in a lot of good ways. Arabian nights, Beneath Arabian moons. A fool of his guard could fall, and fall hard, out there on the dunes.

The dust settled near a stand filled with all sorts of odd trinkets and old artifacts. From the back, a man with blond hair like the sparkling stars in the night sky popped up and leaned gently onto the side of the tent. "Ah, bonjour and good evening to you, mon ami," he said. "Please, please, come closer." He gave a slight yelp as a nearby buyer moved closer. "Too close! A little too close!" The buyer moved back slightly, looking at the blond man with uncertainty. "There! Welcome to Agrabah, city of mystery, of enchantment, and the finest merchandise this side of the river Jordan, on sale today come on down!"

He gave a small chuckle as the customer picked up a strange-looking contraption from the nearby table. "Look at this! Yes!" The man exclaimed, shaking the poor customer by their shoulders and taking the contraption out of their hands. "Combination hookah and coffee maker - also makes Julienne fries. Will not break," he tapped it quite harshly onto the table. "Will not-," the strange machine quickly fell into pieces and lay on the ground. "It broke."

Waving his hands in the air, trying to distract the buyer from the fact he had just broken something, the blond snatched a container of tupperware from another table. "Ooh, look at this! I have never seen one of these intact before. This is the famous Dead Sea Tupperware. Listen." Looking up to make sure he had the customer's attention, he opened the container quickly, making a sound with his mouth as he did, closing it a moment after. "Ah, it's still good."

The customer was fed up with the stand of obviously useless junk and turned away to leave. But the blond, in a last-ditch attempt to hold onto any amount of money, ran in front of him. "Wait! Don't go!" The customer stopped and raised an eyebrow at the peddler. "I can see that you're only interested in the exceptionally rare. I think then, you would be most rewarded to consider," somehow the man pulled a small golden lamp covered in dust from his sleeve. "This. Do not be fooled by its commonplace appearance. Like so many things, it is not what is outside, but what is inside that counts."

The buyer backed away slowly from the blond who was practically begging at this point. He ran forward towards his customer and stood a little bit too close to their face. "This is no ordinary lamp! It once changed the course of a young man's life. A young man who liked this lamp was more than what he seemed. A diamond in the rough. Perhaps you would like to hear the tale?" The customer no longer seeming disinterested, gave a small nod. The blond tilted the lamp, causing a sparkling sand to pour out onto his hand. Dramatically, he threw it up into the air, the grains blending in with the stars and becoming a part of the night sky.

"It begins on a dark night, where a dark man awaits, with a dark purpose."

The same starry sky no longer covered the peddler's stand, but a man in the distance sitting on a horse. He sat straight up, a green bird on his right shoulder, as he watched the empty sand dunes and waited. The red and white halves of the man's hair fluttered in the dusty wind as the hot breeze rolled over the desert. The sound of clunking steps sounded from behind him, but the man clad in red robes did not bother to turn around. He already knew who it was.