Chapter Text
"You know, when I told you I would give you some time to think about the engagement, I didn't mean you would flee the country to do so."
"Oh, you mean the contract I was bound to without my consent?"
"..."
"Mhm, thought so."
Alhaitham waltzes through the long passage, dragging a small piece of luggage behind him with a travel bag slung haphazardly on his left shoulder. His right hand was holding his phone to his bare ears, having sacrificed his soundproof earpieces for it thanks to a certain someone. Once he gets to the main area, the place is already swarming with people rushing or meandering here and there. He's already brimming with disgust and discomfort as he walks past multiple individuals that were producing so much noise.
Cyno sighs audibly, irking Alhaitham even more. "I do have to commend you for the effort of riding a public vehicle despite your dislike for people. I wonder how you're holding up right now. Don't you just want to go back to the safe confines of your home? Ah, it's so peaceful here right now. No people, no noises."
"No. Home meant you would be there."
"Fuck you," came the response from the other line.
Looking around for the exit, Alhaitham walks further into the area. It was his second time experiencing a very public airport and hasn't been in one ever since because he would usually ride a private plane whenever he needed to travel from country to country. No one needs to know what transpired the first time he did. What everyone needs to know is that he's itching to leave the place and put on his earpieces to finally have some peace after so much time spent without it.
"Can you go now?"
"No," Cyno refuses. "You can't escape from me again, Alhaitham. I know where you are."
"Ah," Alhaitham mutters. He already knew that, of course. A GPS tracker was built into his phone for a reason. He had only accepted Cyno's call to humor himself anyway. Although, he's rather regretting it now. In a matter of a few minutes, he might go crazy from so much noise penetrating his poor, worn ears. Cyno's actually quite lucky he's still in the mood to socialize for now. "As expected of the General. Always so meticulous with his work. So, you're tracking me down. Surprising. Can you also predict where I'm heading now?"
"You fucker, I swear to Celestia once I get my hands on you I will—"
"Stop with the fuss, I will still come back," says Alhaitham, leaving out the part where he will stay for an indefinite time. Or when Cyno eventually has to come to drag him back home himself, that is.
"Why must you do this to me?"
"Your freedom is not the one at stake, now is it?"
"That's—" Cyno groans for the umpteenth time. "You had ample time to think about it here, you didn't have to leave to go somewhere else."
Alhaitham hums and feigns contemplating. "Nah, a change of scenery will do me good. Think of it as my well-earned vacation."
"You really can't be moved. It's like I'm talking to a wall. Very well. I still doubt you'll even survive without my assistance."
Alhaitham rolls his eyes. "I managed perfectly fine when I was in Liyue. It won't make any difference."
"Oh, no, it actually will," Cyno says, and Alhaitham can already hear the smile in his voice. "Your living arrangements were made ready for you back at Liyue. You're now in Fontaine with no one to be at your beck and call. I'll have no one from here be able to contact you except for me. Let's see if you can even last a week over there."
"Is that so?"
"It is so."
"How petty," Alhaitham comments. "You won't cut off my credit card, will you?"
Cyno purses his lips. He did actually think about it, but: "No, I'm not that cruel. Besides, I don't have the right to do that."
"Perfect. I will rent a house here. Maybe even buy an actual one, who knows?"
"Dude—"
"Wait, scratch that. I already paid for one."
Silence emerges from the other line, and Alhaitham waits for Cyno to say anything else before he ends the call. Unfortunately, Cyno starts to nag at him again.
"Must you really be this difficult? Don't you know how hard I worked to calm down the chaos you left? You had the staff hysterically looking for you all over the mansion. I had to console all of them. Even Nilou rushed immediately to become part of the search team. She was about to report you missing."
"I trust that you'll handle everything there for me with your capable hands. And fret not, I'll message her later," Alhaitham simply says. "And I—"
Alhaitham stops in his tracks, narrowly dodging some kid who almost ran into him. Geez, parents these days really don't know how to keep their children in check. Alhaitham shivers at the memory from just a few hours ago at the airplane when a toddler kept whining and screaming for five miserable minutes straight just when he needed to recharge his headphones. He'd die if he heard such a loud noise again. How unpleasant.
"You still there?"
"Yes," Alhaitham huffs. "Just some little gremlin."
"I just checked your location. Why are you still there?" Cyno asks.
"I can't find the damned exit," Alhaitham looks around more, he had been doing so for the past few minutes while bickering with Cyno. He's a few inches taller than most of the people in the area, so he can scan the place quite easily. But there were too many people flocking by the main doors so he's finding somewhere else he can exit from. Just how big even is this airport? Where are the fucking signs?
He guesses that's what you get for (legally) trespassing foreign territory.
"Idiot, the main doors are literally right in front of you. Just go exit like a normal person would." Cyno's facepalm can be heard from the other line.
"No, too many people. I hate their presence."
"For fuck's sake. Go ask around then, you literally speak, oh, I don't know, thirty languages…? But see? Even exiting an airport proves to be hard for you. Come back home and let me do my job in peace."
Alhaitham huffs. "I'm doing this deliberately."
"Oh, go on then. Make yourself suffer."
"M'kay."
Fortunately, he spots a promising exit just at a corner where there are only a few, countable with using his two hands, people wandering there. Perhaps if he can maneuver expertly, he could exit easily like a ghost in the wind.
And so he strides in that direction, figuratively seeing the light at the end of the tunnel as he focuses on that door while analyzing the movement of the people there so he can avoid them.
"Ah, there we have it, an auspicious exit. Off I go now, bye-bye."
"Hey, don't you dare end the ca—"
The phone in his hand makes a rich beep with just a little tap on the screen, and Alhaitham almost cheers as he draws nearer to the light. Seven meters more and he'll taste the sweet relief of the uncrowded vicinity. He speeds up his walk, the wheels of his luggage clicking soundly behind him with swift movement.
If only he didn't have a fixed vision on heaven's door, he would have noticed the force that came zooming towards him and hitting his side. It's only by the physical collision did he manage to see a flash of brown before he went toppling backward and into the floor with a flash of pain in his spine consuming him.
Alhaitham groans as he feels a heavy weight sprawled on top of him. He opens his mouth to talk but regrets it quickly when he almost swallows a handful of stringy texture similar to hair. Because of that, he sits up quickly in surprise despite the weight atop him and regrets it again when a scream assaults him right next to his left ear and almost ruptured his eardrum. If he checks, it could be bleeding by now.
"Oh, my God!" comes another scream, and Alhaitham tumbles forward again when he feels a strong pull around his neck but quickly catches himself with his hands before he could kiss the floor this time with his face.
There's a pain in his right hand when he pulls back to see that he had caught a head full of long brown hair in the process and meets eye-to-eye with someone underneath him. Someone who's looking back equally with surprise and lets out a yelp of pain when Alhaitham swiftly releases his hand from behind their head.
"Ow!" says the stranger when their head smacks against the floor, pushing against his chest. "Get off, get off!"
Alhaitham's eye twitches at the push but stiffens when he hears murmuring around them, looking up to see that a gossiping crowd had bore witness to the collision. The way they looked at the two of them weirdly makes Alhaitham aware of the compromising position he has with the stranger panting underneath him and almost, if not entirely, sitting on his lap.
Well, there goes his smooth exit. Thanks to this stranger, he might just get a violation for public indecency any second now.
"Get off!"
Alhaitham snaps back to reality at that, quickly separating from the human koala attached to him, and stands up to dust his clothes while glaring at the stranger on the floor clutching their hand.
"No, no, no, my nails! It's chipped! No!" whines the other.
He ignores the stranger completely as he searches for his belongings, especially his phone. The bag and luggage were just beside them, thankfully. But he sees that the collision had made his phone drift a few meters away and he goes to fetch it, groaning at the pain in his back as well as his knuckles as he moves. After grabbing the phone, he inspected it and there were multiple cracks on the screen. He presses on the power button as he tries to open it but it only shows a flickering white screen.
He says nothing as he stares at it, but looks to the side when he notices the approaching stranger who comes to talk to him. Blazing eyes meet his teal ones, and Alhaitham analyzes their expression of guilt, especially when those eyes landed on the broken phone in his grip.
"I'm so s-sorry for knocking into you, I didn't mean it p-promise! We were heading in the same direction and I couldn't stop my feet! I'm sorry, I shouldn't have run. Your phone is b-broken now, please let me try and fix it for you! However, I'm in quite a rush right now so I can't…" The stranger pales a bit but soon lights up. They frantically pat their pockets and fished out a piece of paper and a quill before scribbling something and then grabbing Alhaitham's hand.
"But here's my number and my card, so please call me when you want me to fix it. I'll make sure to answer. I'm not an asshole who just hits and runs, I swear. Please trust me! I'll go now, b-bye! I'm sorry again!"
"..." Alhaitham does not utter a word as he watches the stranger go and push through the exit door before he could even respond, feeling puzzled. He casts his eyes on the flashy card and a coupon for a nail salon with the stranger's number written on it that was shoved in his hand moments ago.
Sighing, he puts both of them in a pocket on his bag and mentally notes to throw them in a trash can later. They're of no use to him and he doesn't plan to meet anyone at all anytime soon, wanting solitude to mull over his future before he returns home. He grabs his luggage and starts to walk towards the door. But not before glaring at the people who decided to stick around throughout the whole unfortunate encounter.
They seem to have been intimidated quickly but averted their eyes instead of just going away; Alhaitham clicks his tongue in annoyance at this. In his peripheral vision, he notices a group of women ogling him and swiftly avoids their uncomfortable gazes by leaving the damned airport. During his walk, his mind unfortunately replays the scene and Alhaitham frowns at the small hiccup that happened in this eventful travel of his. He didn't think he would be tackled down like a wrestling dummy once he stepped into the country. Luck has been terrible to him these days indeed.
When he finally and successfully exits, he's quick to walk towards the area where he can hail a cab and searches for one. Once he's inside one, he doesn't care for greetings and immediately tells the driver the direction. Fortunately for him, the whole ride had him seated in complete silence with the aid of his soundproof earpieces as he watched the city of Fontaine from the window, the blur of the speed enveloping his sight.
The next thing he knew, he had arrived at his destination.
Alhaitham marvels at the sight of tall, furnished mahogany shelves stretching for days, full of encapsulated knowledge that anyone is absolutely free to intake. The smell of books, either old and battered or newly printed, was captivating as always, invading his sense of smell with a delightful punch that made his brain go all blissed out.
You absolutely have to give it to Alhaitham to be that person who never fails to visit (and judge) an athenaeum as their first destination after stepping into a foreign country. Could you really shame an avid bibliophile like him for that?
Thus, Alhaitham continued to stride towards the non-fiction area that was practically calling for his name as soon as he opened the doors. It kind of went like in those movies where you enter a room and one patch of area was lit up with rays of blinding sunlight permeating the windows, literally begging for your attention, and the background music produced was this acapella of invisible angels singing in soprano to effectively induce the effect of entering heaven itself. So yes, it went exactly like that for Alhaitham (which he has experienced so many times now whenever he enters a room that has books in the vicinity that he can sniff out like a dog. But who cares? No big deal. He wants more).
Alhaitham's sharp eyes scour the array of spines on the shelves, appreciating the details on the hardcover and also judging the titles engraved on them. He takes his time reading the titles and the names of the authors, trying to see if something intriguing or familiar catches his eyes or better yet manage to find the ones he's been looking for. Although a good number of them were in the Fontainian language, given that he is in a Fontainian library, most of them were, thankfully, in the international Teyvatian language. But it's not like he can't read in fluent Fontainian, it just makes it easier for him to pick out what he likes in a language he is most used to.
And so, it didn't take long for Alhaitham to reach for one of the thick books on the shelves and run his fingers over the book. One may not see it with the naked eye but behind Alhaitham's pressed lips and seemingly emotionless facade is mirth as he reads the title, "Critique of Pure Reason," on the cover. It is a book that he has read at least three times before but another run-through won't hurt. It is important to keep on refreshing your memory, as he likes to say.
Taking another book that seems abstruse, Alhaitham walks his way over to one of the available tables and settles down comfortably, glancing around for a moment to surprisingly see barely any people during this time of the day. Perfect. He opens the first book he took and flutters the pages over to a certain favorite page of his that was memorized by heart and reads the contents in solitude.
After the events that transpired these past few days, one would think he at least deserves a break even for a little while, right? Well, looks like he would be spending a significant part of his day in this corner of the library, so don't mind if he does.
Time has reached late afternoon when Alhaitham decides to finish things up and leave the library and goes to his next destination, which was the rented house he has mentioned to Cyno during their call. He hailed a cab, arrived at a suburban location just a few areas away from the metropolitan area, and now stands on the porch of his newly acquired transient residence (read: hiding place slash refuge).
It's not that late in the day so the landlord must still be inside the house since they were notified of his arrival today so Alhaitham knocks on the door and waits patiently for someone to answer him. Once someone did, an old lady with a kind countenance greets him.
This lady was the landlord he reached out to before leaving Sumeru, who was in fact recommended by a friend of his back at Sumeru. They said the lady was struggling to get someone to rent the house but Alhaitham immediately took the chance since he was in a desperate moment in finding where to escape to.
"Enchanté, you must be the tenant, yes? Please come in," says she, pushing the door wider for Alhaitham to walk inside.
"Have a look around."
"Thank you," Alhaitham says and looks around the house to inspect it.
The interior design was neat, minimal, and quite fitting to his tastes. The walls were mostly white with additional accents of dark wood and some embellishments of brass. The furniture looked quite traditional with a hint of a modern touch, and Alhaitham eyes a particular green bean bag next to the gray couch. The flooring was also smooth and glossy but not slippery, made of fine porcelain tiles. The house was also well-ventilated with large sliding windows left wide open for sunlight to filter in and wind to circulate the area. And when they reached the kitchen, it was near perfect. The counters were the perfect height for him so he didn't need to risk his spine from curving too much.
Next are the rooms. While there were three rooms downstairs, which are the living room, kitchen and dining area, and bathroom slash laundry room, there were four rooms upstairs, which are two bedrooms, one bathroom, and a spare room fitting for an office.
Sure, this rental house was more expensive given the availability of these rooms, which are quite too much for just a single person to use instead of a family of three or four, but the cost wasn't a problem for Alhaitham when he decided to rent it.
The old lady even voices out this concern once they're done with the tour and are now discussing matters over a cup of tea in the living room, saying, "Are you sure you're not going to live here with someone?"
"Yes, the house is enough for me," is his reply.
A house was the best choice. Not an apartment. Never an apartment. He dislikes even thinking of sharing a living area with other residents. Yes, he may have people living in his mansion back in Sumeru, but that mansion is spacious, his workers go in and out of there, and certainly not public. And yes, he may as well have just bought a condo with the huge amount of mora in his person, but what use is that if he can just rent a house and not spend a single dime on a condo that he may not occupy ever again? Just because he's from old money does not mean he wants to splurge on unnecessary things.
He's not like other rich people.
The kind lady chuckles and shakes her head. "Ah, quite baffling, youth such as you these days. You must be well-off. Are you going to work here in Fontaine?"
"No, I just graduated. But if an opportunity arrives, I might."
"Hmm, is that so? Then I must not pry further. You must have your reasons. I do hope you will live comfortably here. You said this was a long-term rental, yes?"
Alhaitham nods, "Long-term would be ideal as I am not sure how long I will stay here. No matter the duration, I will cover all the costs. But to be safe, I'll go for one month and shall renew once necessary."
The lady sips her tea, humming. "Worry not, dear. It has been a while since this house was up for rent but not many had come to take the offer due to the price. Shockingly enough, you already even paid in advance through an online transaction. One would be wary of paying such a large sum before receiving the benefit. However, be a bit more frugal, yes? I'm astounded by how frequently a scam is reported all over the world. Quelle horreur!"
Alhaitham says nothing but nods in response, enjoying his tea for a moment before the old lady slides two pieces of paper toward him. A lease agreement, Alhaitham guesses correctly, and he grabs one to read the contents. After deeming the terms and conditions agreeable, he fills in his details and affixes his signature, and does the same for the other version of the contract.
"Thank you, Mrs. Moreau,” he says as he hands back the copy to the woman.
"Oh, please call me Vivienne. It was a pleasure doing business with you, Alhaitham," the old lady, now he can call Vivienne, smiles gently as they shake hands. "My, such a strong grip and a dashing young face. Pas mal... If my granddaughter weren't married, I would've introduced you to her."
Alhaitham nearly chokes on his saliva but masks it professionally with a small cough. Ah, yes, aged ladies and their penchant for being unsolicited matchmakers. If he was given mora for every time he was introduced or asked to be introduced to someone's daughter, he would be more than fifty mora richer now, most of it thanks to his late grandmother's fancy soirées that he had to attend to before and stay at for at least an hour. He should be used to it by now yet the sheer folly of it never fails to catch him off-guard.
"Ah, you flatter me, Vivienne," Alhaitham comments and grimaces inside like he just chewed a whole lemon. To be frank, he could care less for such a rendezvous with a promise of romantic custom. Since he doesn't even have the time and effort to be social, why should he indulge in an even more complicated setting?
Dating, marriage, and whatnot. How ridiculous.
It would be more productive to take liberties in reading books to counteract ignorance.
The old woman giggles momentarily and then empties her cup, standing up. "Now that we have that down, I shall leave you be for you to settle. Although, while you do that I can bake you some brownies if you don't mind?"
"That would be kind, but I wouldn't want to bother you—"
"Chut! Mon cher, I insist. You would be surprised to learn that I can bake some delectable brownies. My grandchildren from my firstborn devour everything as soon as I set the tray on the table, you know."
He doesn't have a sweet tooth so eating some brownies sounds unnecessary, but Vivienne reminds him of his own grandmother. With that gentle persistence, it's hard to say no. Damn it.
Alhaitham sighs, standing up. "Well, if you insist—"
"Great!" Vivienne cheers, approaching him to pat his shoulder. "Go take a nice, warm shower while I go bake. I already brought the supplies, so you really couldn't say no anyway. Unless... you would've liked to see poor old me leave the house sulking?"
"Uh, that's not what I—"
"Just kidding! Off you go now, lad."
Alhaitham stands there baffled as Vivienne disappears into the kitchen.
What a personality. He hasn't encountered one like her for a long time. While he would've preferred and expected a strictly professional landlord-tenant acquaintanceship, he guesses this one won't hurt.
"Don't forget to go buy groceries, by the way!" Alhaitham hears her shout just as he ascends the flight of stairs to the second floor. He sighs and enters his bedroom, which was the room he chose out of the two available rooms since it was larger and had a balcony perfect for reading out in the sun.
Opening his luggage, he fishes out some clothes, deciding to do the unpacking tomorrow because he's feeling especially lazy today, and goes to the bathroom and takes a good shower.
The water quality was up to par, the shower had an option for cold or warm temperatures, and there was even a bathtub, so overall the bathroom was great. There was nothing to complain about. Living in this house won't be a problem. And sure, it may not be something that he is used to since everything for him was more… opulent in Sumeru, everything proves to be still pretty decent. He can get used to it.
The only thing now is that if he were to stay for a month or more here, he should at least make it comfortable and productive for him. He can stay inside since he can't be bothered to act like a tourist here and will only go out when it's necessary like for grocery runs or when he can go shopping for wine, food, and clothing. Regarding what to even do, it's obviously reading books, trying to stay alive, enjoying some good wine, escaping from Cyno's wrath, exercising to maintain a good physique, keeping out of anyone's sight, and maybe even taking up a freelance job if he's up for it. Not necessarily in that order, but he'll manage to entertain himself.
Alhaitham's pretty confident he won't encounter a lot of problems living here.
He thinks back to his life in Sumeru and there's that nagging feeling in his chest again. Maybe he's feeling a little homesick, but that shouldn't be the case since it wasn't like this when he was studying for a year in Liyue. Therefore, it should tie back to the death of his grandmother and the fact that he had to leave the country because he was running away from his responsibilities. It's the guilt that's nagging him again when he realizes the other fact that he left the country only weeks after his grandmother's death and the distance only makes him mourn even harder.
Despite this, he can't help but still feel indignant at the truth that his grandmother left out the fact that he was betrothed out of his will. Now the inner conflict arrives, a war brewing inside of him between his own freedom and the desire to fulfill the wish of his beloved. Alhaitham knows that his grandmother only did what she knew was best for him, but Alhaitham can't help feeling betrayed since she was the person who knew most of what he felt about his individualism. He may not care that much for such grand and sacred ceremonies like weddings, but it somehow feels like it will disrupt his peaceful life even more if he were to accept that fate. Much more being wed to some stranger that popped into his life out of nowhere just because of a damned contract he knew nothing about before he was told of it after his grandmother's death.
She could've at least talked to him about it before she succumbed to non-existence.
What's with these old people and their arranged marriages and contracts anyway? Passing down all that trauma to the next generation for what? Ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous.
His parents were said to be wed by their parents, and that bond produced him. So, sure, something good came out of it. But how is he able to judge that when he couldn't even witness what married life was to them? They were gone before he even knew what love is. Who will he use as an example for his own marriage now?
If he were to accept his fate and agree to marry that stranger, he could make the choice of not committing to the symbiotic relationship and just honoring the stupid contract. Maybe after a year or so, divorce or legal separation could be the answer to end it all. But he feels like it would be another whole problem if his spouse makes a big deal out of the marriage. He just has to coax (or bribe, if desperate times call for desperate measures) the hell out of his spouse to separate from him if that were the case.
All this thinking is giving him a headache. Alhaitham loves contemplation, but all these thoughts about contracts, marriage, freedom, love, and honoring someone else's wish. All that life-changing shit? Someone may as well end his misery here and now.
Frustration builds up and Alhaitham rubs the towel over his hair aggressively, as though that will somehow help these nonsense thoughts magically disappear. Wet gray hair sticks out in every direction once he's done, making it more messy than when it's dry. Alhaitham thinks that was a dumb thing to do, especially if he left it like that to dry. So, like he was taught to do ever since he was a mere child, he goes to comb his hair like a proper gentleman to make himself presentable to the old lady downstairs who was kind enough to bake him brownies.
Alhaitham removes the towel from his waist and peacefully dons himself with underwear, a white shirt, and gray sweatpants a tad darker than his hair. He slips into his dark green Birkenstocks, a favorite pair he took with him when he escaped, and goes downstairs.
However, halfway down, he hears Vivienne's voice as if she was talking to someone so he assumes she must be on the phone, but a male voice answered her so clearly and in the appropriate volume that would not be said if she had her phone on speaker. Did someone come over? Does she know them? Shit. Is it one of Cyno's underlings?
Once Alhaitham reaches the end of the stairs, he takes a peek from the corner of the wall and sees someone's back and they are standing in front of a seemingly distressed Vivienne.
Alhaitham squinted his eyes, finding that long brown hair utterly familiar but he could not place when and where he saw it. He's seen lots of people with brown hair today, so nothing should be unusual. Vivienne may seem distressed but her body language doesn't seem to show her as being threatened, so that's good. He'd hate to fight someone or encounter the police on his first day in the country. As he's approaching them though, it becomes clear why he finds the uninvited guest familiar.
That voice...
"Oh, Alhaitham!" Vivienne notices him and shouts his name.
And that's when the stranger looks at their back and their eyes go wide in recognition as they look at Alhaitham, the latter freezing in place as his eyes meet the same vibrant eyes from this morning.
Vivienne comes up to him and gently holds his forearm, dragging him towards the stranger and muttering apologies. "I'm sorry for the inconvenience, my dear. It seems like we have a problem."
Alhaitham looks back and forth between the two but his eyes fall longer on the stranger who has their mouth agape like fish out of water at the sight of him. Alhaitham just stares at them while they struggle to form words with their mouth.
Vivienne coughs, noticing the unusual tension between the two but not commenting about it. "Alhaitham, this is Kaveh and—"
"It's you! Y-you!" The stranger points at him.
"It's… me," Alhaitham says back, intelligently.
"Oh, you two already know each other? Quel soulagement! We can discuss this more civilly then." Vivienne cheers and claps her hands together. “Deux beaux hommes dans la maison! Ma fille a besoin d'entendre ça.”
Alhaitham says nothing, only observing the stranger— now named Kaveh, whose brows are furred and currently worrying at his bottom lip as he looks at the ground in contemplation.
Remember when Alhaitham said he's pretty confident he won't encounter a lot of problems living here?
It seems like he has to re-evaluate that statement.