Work Text:
Alhaitham believed himself to be a patient man, but the twitch in his eye told him that, maybe, a limit had been reached.
"Again?"
A screech and Kaveh almost fell off their shared bed. He turned, eyes wide and pale as a sheet of paper.
"Haitham! Y-you...almost gave a heart attack! Are you crazy?! Sneaking up on me like that! Is that the way you treat your-"
"Fold that and put it in the bag. Again.", Alhaitham said, voice stern and arms crossed - glaring at the shirt between Kaveh's trembling fingers.
The latter whined and rolled on the bed, covering Alhaitham's traveling bag with his whole body.
"I don't want to", he pouted.
The Scribe sighed.
"Kaveh, we've already talked about this. I have to go. It's work."
"You spend your days signing requests and drafting boring documents and now, all of a sudden, you have to go to the desert?"
"Isn't that what you do all the time? Leaving home for a project only Archons know where?"
"But- But! It's different! I'm not used to seeing you go while I remain here, alone... sad and abandoned...", his voice taking a more and more miserable turn as he dramatically clasped his hands before his chest; the right eye wet from a single, unshed tear.
"I'll be gone for just five days. I'm sure you can manage such short period without your annoying, stubborn, arrogant and absolutely infuriating roommate. Can't you, senior Kaveh?".
And the way Alhaitham looked at him, with the "I-know-you're-annoyed-haha-I-win" look in his eyes, made Kaveh jump off the bed in an istant.
"You! You're so infuria-", he stopped, finger still pointing to the Scribe's chest.
"Go on, say it".
The architect pursed his lips, finally realizing the trap he'd been caught in.
"S-s-so... Such a prick!".
"Oh", Alhaitham arched a brow, "that's new".
"Stupid! Stupid Haitham! That's it, I'm done trying to be romantic. Here's your bag".
"How was that romantic?"
"It was! I was expressing my-
I mean, I was clearly showing that I'll mi-
Ugh, nevermind. You wouldn't probably understand anyway. Not a romantic bone in your body, I'm telling you".
And just like that, mumbling, he exited the room.
Alhaitham's eyes didn't leave him for a moment.
****
Kaveh followed him around the house as he arranged the last bags, never too close, never too far.
He just observed in silence.
"Alright, all done", announced Alhaitham.
Kaveh just stared from the other end of the corridor, his fingers twitching.
Then, Alhaitham opened his arms.
"Come here"
Kaveh didn't need to be told twice.
He closed up the distance in a heartbeat and immediately circled the other's waist, holding him tight.
The Scribe's arms found their way around the blonde's shoulders and they stayed like that, unmoving and silent.
"Let me accompany you", Kaveh mumbled, burying his face against Alhaitham's neck.
"You have a project to finish, don't you?", came the soft reply, this time devoided of any teasing.
"I can posticipate the deadline".
"You already did a week ago to work on your engineering projects".
"Then I can finish it while we travel".
"You need a bigger paper and a steadier surface, we both know that".
Again, silence.
"I don't know what to say"
"It's alright", said Alhaitham, tracing invisible patterns on Kaveh's back with the lightest touch of a finger.
"I'll miss you too, you know. But I'll be back before you even notice".
The blonde sighed and let go of the other.
Then, Alhaitham took Kaveh's jaw in one hand and softly kissed his lips, half a smile on his face.
"See you, then".
He turned to the door, but was stopped by the architect's sudden call.
"Wait! Here, take this".
He took Alhaitham's hand and deposited a small, round object on his palm.
The Scribe looked down, only to see Kaveh's weirdly cute keychain.
He then met the blonde's gaze and found him blushing slightly.
"It's a keepsake. And also, you know, for good luck. Since you always take it by mistake, maybe you could have it, uhm, legally now. Just once, tho".
Alhaitham smiled, a real, content smile that only this type of comforting, abitual intimity could create.
Despite the years passing by, Kaveh was still Kaveh. The same witty, dramatic, foolish, kindhearted person that he always was.
This kind of stability was oddly reassuring after all that happened in Alhaitham's recent life, after all that happened with Sumeru and the Sages.
"Thank you, Kaveh".
A small peck on the corner of the lips and Kaveh was already pushing the other towards the door, now sensibly happier.
"Now go! The sooner you go, the sooner you come back".
****
The desert sun was unforgiving, and that's why the shadow offered by some ruins admist the flowing sands of the dunes became so suddenly attractive.
Alhaitham sat on a stone, brushing off some of the dust from it before settling down, and resumed compiling his notes on the brown-leathered notebook he always carried around. Every stroke and turn of the quill was neat and precise, as a result of years of practised calligraphy.
He'd had to accompany a little group of so called "promising" Amurta students, wandering between the dunes to study the survival tactics of local fauna against the burning sun and freezing night; together with a couple Kshahrewar academics, always interested in the discarded machines and ancient ruins laying in the sand.
So why sending the Scribe with them? Since the general mahamatra was constantly needed in the city to handle the chaos following the fall of the Sages, and forest watcher Tighnari was watching over the now former guides of the six darshans, the only trusted person, conscious of where to look at and what to search for during a large scale field research, was Alhaitham. And it did help that the Scribe also didn't refuse, nurturing a deep interest in studying the ancient Deshret ruins himself.
Another straight stroke and the the quill stopped, Alhaitham's eyes scanning through the notes again.
With a sigh, he put everything in his bag and stood up, ready to return to the absolutely useless students he left at the nearby oasis.
A soft clacking sound made him turn around, seeing the little lion keychain watch him from the stone ground.
Kaveh said it was a lion, but, sure enough, to Alhaitham it seemed more like a cat stuck in a gear.
Frowning, he picked it up and turned around again, but a sudden whistle had him frozen in his tracks. A thud and the wall behind him crumbled, revealing a ruin drake crashing its head onto the adjacent wall.
The sound of heavy, metallic steps and rotating gears filled the narrow hallway of the ruin.
Alhaitham's sword materialised in his hand and, stepping back just a little, he made quick work of the machine, using his second blade to stab right through its glowing eye.
Having fought a couple of them back in the forest proved to be quite useful.
The hole in the hallway was sensibly bigger than before and some of the surviving furniture had been destroyed, but nothing more than that.
The Scribe's swords disappeared and it was at that moment that he realised something was missing. The keychain. It wasn't in his hand anymore.
The search came to an end when he found the remains of the little lion-cat, crushed under a fallen stone brick.
He could only stare at its miserable shattered pieces.
Well, that was bad.
And not because he had somehow become attached to the ugly thing, that certainly wasn't the case, but because Kaveh would surely lament the loss in the most dramatic way possible, probably shedding a few tears and screaming at him.
That would've been bothersome.
His frown deepened.
He had to do something.
****
Kaveh was sulking.
"I'll be back before you even notice", Haitham had said. But Kaveh had already noticed, thank you very much.
He had noticed and had been miserable since the first day.
Sure, he usally traveled a lot for work too, much more than Alhaitham, but it was different. Visiting a new place and working on a construction site always managed to keep him from thinking too much about home, about Haitham. But now, having to stay at home, only able to draw and draft blueprints, while knowing that Alhaitham was travelling to a dangerous place without him being able to reach him fast enough, made him feel sick.
Especially after the stunt he pulled while overthrowing Sumeru's government. That absolutely selfless idiot. Diving so willingly into dangerous situations without a second thought to him and their relationship, with no regards of his own feelings.
So he was anxious.
And stayed anxious for the whole time, never really able to concentrate on anything different from when will Alhaitham come back?
That was when he, desperate to channel this pent-up stress-derived energy somewhere, decided to prepare something for the Scribe's return.
But what, exactly?
It's not like Alhaitham had expressed specif needs or had any material desires. Books? There wasn't enough time to get one exotic enough to be of Alhaitham's taste. A romantic dinner was already on the list, but what else?
The perfect idea popped up when he went buying groceries for their candle-lit dinner.
He closed the door and made a move to put the key in his pants' pocket when suddenly the realisation hit him: he gave his keychain to Alhaitham. Alhaitham's key had none.
He could give him one. Make him one!
Kaveh grinned and rapidly walked away with jumpy steps, quietly humming a joyous tune.
First stop: Ahangar's smithy.
****
The caravan from the desert arrived at Sumeru City an hour later than expected.
First thing first, Alhaitham visited the Academiya, dropped all the papers in his office, and ran back home, tired and in absolute need of a shower.
The faint sound of the key in the keyhole was followed by a loud thud from the inside and the sound of hurried steps behind the door. One moment Alhaitham was opening the door, and the next he was enveloped in an hug so tight it was hard to breathe.
His hands immediately flew to the golden mane nuzzling his cheek and a content sigh escaped the blonde's lips.
"Welcome back, Haitham".
"Hm. I'm home".
Alhaitham didn't know how long they had been hugging, but the moment he opened his eyes, Kaveh was letting go of him.
Having closed the door, the architect took the other's hand and led him inside, then helped him our of his coat and boots and finished it off with a peck on the cheek.
Touchy as always, but Alhaitham liked the attentions.
Kaveh led him to the table, covered by a fancy tablecloth and with all sorts of food on it: from salads to meat, both cold and steaming. And, obviously, a nice bottle of whine and a candle lit in the middle.
That, Alhaitham thought, was really, really to be expected from Kaveh. Even the small things, like the glass set upside-down or the napkin on the left of the plate, it all screamed his name.
His heart swelled in his chest, the beginning of a smile bloomed on his tired face.
As the blonde went on blabbering, while serving them both some biryani, the Scribe hugged him from behind, resting his chin on the other's shoulder.
Kaveh caressed Alhaitham's hair with a hand and he sighed, slightly slumping against his body.
"I know you're tired. Do you want to skip dinner? I can put all of this away and be in bed with you in ten minutes".
Alhaitham shook his head.
"No. You prepared it, I want to eat".
"Are you sure?"
"Mh. Then we cuddle".
Kaveh chuckled.
"Yes, yes. Then we cuddle".
Even if the architect wasn't that great behind the stoves, dinner still went well enough and one hour and half later they were comfortably tucked in bed, arms and legs interwined.
"I missed you", murmured Kaveh.
"Obviously"
The blond snorted.
"Weren't you, like, about to fall asleep?"
"I am, but I'm also very happy to see you again".
That, that was something Kaveh still had to get used to. That shameless bluntness. Haitham could very easily tease him the whole day and bring him on the verge of madness, be cold and heartless with everyone else, and just come out with the sweetest, most embarrassing observation in the world, making Kaveh's brain short-circuit.
The blonde cleared his voice.
"I- I'm very happy too".
A beat of silence and then-
"Oh! I just remembered I have something for you", and having said that, he moved away from the other, searching for something in his nightstand's drawer.
"Can't you wait until tomorrow to-".
"Here!"
He took Alhaitham's hand and placed a small, hard object on his palm.
It was, upon closer inspection, a keychain: wooden eagle hung from a diamond shaped crystal on the top, eyes green and feathers highly defined. It was of exquisite manufacture.
"Do you like it? I made it. I bought everything at Ahangar's and carved the eagle myself. I even added a crystal capable of splitting the light in a rainbow, just like the one you have in your office. I know you like watching the reflections on the walls".
Alhaitham could only stare at the tiny, beautiful object, suddenly feeling moved and guilty at the same time.
"You can, uhm, tie it to your key and then we'll have, you know, matching? Kind of? Matching keychains. You...don't like it, do you?".
Alhaitham brought the wooden eagle to his chest, gently holding it close to his heart, but at the same time avoided Kaveh's piercing gaze, feeling bad for what was to come.
When the Scribe turned around a took something from the travelling bag near the bed, Kaveh's anxiety partially morphed into curiosity.
"Haitham?"
"Here".
What he gave to the architect left him speechless. An ugly thing, shaped to vaguely resemble a cat. A wooden ball with uneven ears stuck in a metallic gear, polished and cleaned, but that still visibly remained a used gear. The eyes and the mouth where the only parts of the object perfectly traced, probably due to how steady the man's hands were. The cat's expression was somehow in the middle between surprised and apologetic.
Kaveh stared at the keychain in disbelief, not quite understanding what he was seeing.
"An unexpected encounter occurred and the lion keychain you gave me... It broke", Alhaitham said, trying to maintain his voice even.
"I tried to repair it, but to no avail. And I knew that you liked that thing very much so I...I made one...myself".
Kaveh's silence only worsened his internal panicking.
"It's not that nice to look at. I don't really have your artistic talent and in the desert there are only so many raw materials you can find, so... What I intend to say is that I'd understand if you didn't want to use it".
He looked up from the architect's hand and found a bright, ecstatic smile adorning his face.
He didn't look half as annoyed as he'd imagined.
Kaveh's crimson eyes found his tael ones.
"I love it, Haitham!"
The Scribe was frankly surprised.
It was really ugly.
"Of course, it's a bit crooked and uneven, and it resembles more a cat than a lion-".
Alhaitham huffed.
"But-"
Kaveh held his hands, showing both the lion and the eagle keychains in their open palms.
"You made it for me, and I'll treasure it. Even if it's ugly".
The other snorted and shook his head.
"You can stop saying it's ugly, you know".
"Naw, I'll tease you for all eternity!".
The orange light softened their smiles and hid their now interwined fingers.
"I like your gift very much too".
"Heh, I know".
"Don't get cocky now, your cooking is still mediocre".
Kaveh huffed and, putting away the keychains, pushed Alhaitham between the blankets and the pillows, hovering over him.
"You know what I'm good at?"
"Hah, I can imagine. Now get off and cuddle up with me, before I change my mind and send you sleeping on the couch. That can wait until tomorrow".
Kaveh whined, but obeyed nonetheless.
A kiss on the forehead, one the lips and everything went quiet.
A long silence...and then-
"First thing in the morning?", came the whispered murmur.
"Sleep, Kaveh".