jaan//ziam

२.

'Janaab, your kurta'
The Emir smiles at the servant and indicates the chaise lounge in the corner of the room before turning back to his reflection.
He leans in to the mirror, dips the tip of his pinky into the kohl pot and gently applies it to his waterline.
Liam's still in the town for some reason - when he evidently isn't from around here.
Why?
This kid's so painfully unaware of how appealing he is. Strolling around like he owns the place in his silky patialas*, regularly visiting the palatial area with Lewis? Laurence? Luftwaffe? - he's so hot.
Zayn shakes his head, pulls back from the mirror with smudged fingertips.
'Stop thinking like this - you're an emir. He's a commoner!'
There's a knock at the bedroom door and Zayn grabs the ironed kurta from the arm rest, before slipping it on. He starts to button it up as he calls out 'pesh aao'**.
A lithe, blonde woman slips in and smiles coyly at Zayn in the mirror. Her body adorned with the finest silks of the land, the most ornate gems and scented with authentic honey and jasmine perfumes.
She is, after all, the land's princess.
'Gigi' the Emir grins, turns to face her with open arms.
'Jaaneman!***' she smiles and rushes over, embracing the prince with ease, before pulling away and fiddling with his kurta buttons.
The prince tuts, frowning, 'Roshni^ - you're not mine anymore - you're Daniaal's to-be'
She rolls her eyes, 'Hush baba - you just called me Roshni!' but steps back nevertheless.
'Trish-sorry, Rani Sahiba is calling you out for Jawaad's dahej^^ ceremony thing. I'm going to go out to the bazaar. Don't look for me later!'
The Emir nods and turns back to the mirror as she exits.
He makes quick work of the kurta and gels his hair up, leaving a shorter strand to sit over his forehead before slipping on his khussas^^^ and rushing out of the room.
He enters the private darbaar¢ and the first person his eyes land on is-
Liam.
He can't help the smirk that tugs at the corners of his mouth, or the way his tongue darts out to lick his lips because Liam is flushing and squirming and trying to act nonchalant but it's not really working he just looks exceptionally hot in his silk robes-
'Zain beta!' Trisha-Rani Sahib- is walking over with a smile on her face, her eyes shining.
'This is Sultana Ruth's family. Karen, Geoff, Nicola and Liam'
The Emir clasps his hands behind his back and bows forward as Ruth's family greet him.
Liam meanwhile sits stock-still and bites his lip, looking around awkwardly.
Zayn likes to see that look on people who screw with him.
'So, now that everyone is present, shall we proceed?' the Raja¢¢ says, interrupting Zayn's train of thought.
The Emir simply nods and takes a seat opposite Liam and his sister Nicola, who seems to know something is up.
'Mangalwaar dus baje - dahej.¢¢¢' the pandit° says, starting the meeting.
‡
Zayn zones out for most of the discussion, in which time the Payne's have agreed to give a portion of money, property, jewelry, trade income and cattle to the Malik's.
'Finally - a man, or woman who is of marriageable age. Another member of the Payne family, who is eligible for a suitable bachelor or spinster from the Malik clan needs to be handed over. With this final condition, the marriage certificate will be signed officially'
Karen gasps and Geoff frowns. Nicola looks sufficiently worried, as does Ruth.
'But we only have one unmarried child!'
The Emir's mind starts ticking. If Nicola and Ruth are both married, and they have only one unmarried child and Liam is the only other child -
'Liam shall marry me' Zayn decides out loud, his eyes on Liam, burning holes into his lithe body.
Liam gulps and everyone turns to the Emir, shocked.
'But Zain beta-'
'No, Liam will marry me and only me'
Yaser smiles tightly at Zayn, that 'we need to talk' look in his smile.
'...Fine. With the Raja, and Rani and Karen and Geoff Payne's permission - Liam James Payne shall marry Emir Zain Jawaad Malik'
Liam stands up from his seat, livid.
'But I don't want this!' he says, raising his voice. He turns to his parents when no one says anything.
'Mum? Dad?'
Karen looks down at her lap, fiddling with a ring on her finger and Geoff gives Liam a pleading look, something along the lines of "can we not discuss this later?"
Liam looks close to tears when he turns back. He throws Zayn a carefully blank look and chokes back a sob, before storming out of the darbaar.
Nicola stands up next, fire dancing in her eyes.
'Are you even gay or are you planning to use Liam as another one of your whores?'
Karen gasps and loudly whispers "Nicola!" but she's already storming after Liam.
Karen then turns to the Raja and Rani, looking ashamed and worried to no end.
'Forgive her - she's young and she doesn't know what she's saying-I'll go talk to them'
And then Karen Payne's rushing after her kids and an air of awkwardness settles over the court room.
The room is quiet for a second before Zayn awkwardly coughs, and chuckles, breaking the silence.
'So... Um. Wedding dates?'
‡
First off, translations -
* - patialas are puffy bottoms with cuffed ends.
** - 'pesh aao' literally means 'present yourself' so he's asking them to enter
*** 'jaaneman' is an endearment. you've heard jaan, and jaaneman literally means 'the life of my soul'
^Roshni (my dad calls my mum this :)) means 'light'. as an endearment, I've learnt that it could mean 'the light of my life'
^^ dahej' means dowry. dowry is something that in some cultures is/was traditionally given to the groom's family by the bride's family. Almost like an agreement. Nowadays, it is classified illegal in some places because it is sexist, and if the bride's family is financially unstable, the wedding should not be cancelled. However, in the olden days, it was a very popular and well known concept.
^^^ khussas are those curly-toed Aladdin style shoes, yknow? The slip ons that coil up at the end in to a big curl
¢darbaar is a courtroom. So a private darbaar is a private courtroom - a room where only the highest and most respectable members of assembly gather.
¢¢ Raja means king, so in this case, Zayn's father. Rani means queen, which is technically Zayn's mother.
¢¢¢ 'mangalwaar dus baje - dahej' literally translates to 'tuesday 10'Oclock - dowry'. The times when agreements were made were generally recorded just as evidence.
° 'Pandits' are like gurus. The Hindu version of a vicar or a priest. They are generally summoned a lot in Hindu culture nowadays to determine auspicious marriage times and dates, or to read horoscopes or to commence something with a blessed start. In those days, they were summoned by both Hindus and Muslims though, hence the Malik's have called in a Pandit.

Omg have you seen the "Sweatshirt" music video ?
It's decent and expected from someone his age but idk I just hate him so much😌
Hope this was okayyy x