Work Text:
Kaveh trusts Alhaitham, even if their situation is odd .
Alhaitham sits across from him in a café, one that is far too expensive for Kaveh to go to normally. Logically, he knows the café is reasonably priced. Nothing seems reasonably priced when you can't afford to pay rent, though.
Kaveh takes a sip of his coffee, trying to savor it. It's been far too long since he last had a proper cup of coffee, having lived off of canned drinks for the past few months. Construction work demands time and energy, far too much of both.
He's proud of what he's made. What he has designed and helped put together, brick by brick, plank by plank.
Though it did leave him as he is now, penniless and meeting with an old acquaintance from years past.
The two hadn't had a proper talk since Kaveh's final year of college. Job searching and working for clients had taken too much of Kaveh's time to reach out, and Alhaitham himself became more scarce as well, taking longer and longer to return texts.
Kaveh tried not to think about it too much. Tried not to think about his eyes, the curl of his lips, the feeling of his hands on his hips. Kaveh had had plenty of experiences being in love, and he knew that Alhaitham never felt the same way about him. Never the romantic. What they had was clinical at best, never meant to last.
Why Kaveh couldn't move past it, he still doesn't know.
He looks up from his coffee and meets Alhaitham's eyes, his stomach doing a tiny flip. Even years apart hadn't lessened his feelings, it seems.
If anything, Alhaitham reaching out to him after learning what had happened just made his feelings worse .
An offer to stay with him.
Kaveh knows he can't decline. He doesn't want to, no matter how much his pride protests the very thought of relying on Alhaitham. There is nowhere else he would rather go. If given the choice, he would have left his apartments years ago just to continue sharing a room with this man.
It's complicated, but Kaveh finally nods.
A lot has changed in the span of a few years.
One of the first things Alhaitham tells him as he's driving Kaveh home (their home) is that he has a kid, a young girl named Nahida. Kaveh's heart twists. He tries to ask, as discreetly as possible, about her mother.
Alhaitham's lips simply quirk up at the inquiry, like there's something funny about Kaveh's question.
"We also have a pet dog," Alhaitham says, completely changing the subject. Kaveh huffs.
"Something sweet for the child, I take it?"
"Nahida. And yes, I suppose she can be considered sweet."
Kaveh mulls the words over in his mind, certain that Alhaitham is giving him bits and pieces just to rile him up. Alhaitham's always been that way: a teasing bastard. And Kaveh falls into it, every single time.
Eventually, Alhaitham pulls up into a driveway. Even in the dark of night, Kaveh can see his medium-sized house is painted in the most boring of colors. Kaveh scoffs. So fitting, yet his hands already itch with the need to paint the walls something better.
He follows Alhaitham out of the car, pulling out his suitcase from the backseat. Alhaitham waits for him before locking the car and walking up to the front door. He unlocks the door quickly, pushing it open as quietly as he can before pausing.
"Nahida," he says, and walks inside. Kaveh peeks in behind him, noting the tiny white haired girl sitting on a couch. There's a dog on her lap, a large german shepherd that looks like it should be crushing her, but she doesn't seem to mind. In fact, she seemed to be hugging it before Alhaitham interrupted her.
"Father," she says, and Kaveh barely refrains from cringing at the formality. Of course Alhaitham would have his child call him that. Of course.
"Your bedtime was two hours ago," he tells her, taking off his shoes. She looks past him, meeting Kaveh's gaze and seeming to shrink in on herself a little.
He waves awkwardly. After a moment, she waves back.
She looks back to Alhaitham. "I couldn't sleep."
Alhaitham sighs and sets his stupid coat aside. He walks over to her and she reaches up for him, Alhaitham lifting her up from under the dog and onto his shoulder. The dog stirs, rolling over slightly when it sees Alhaitham before it notices Kaveh. It stands up immediately, far larger-looking as it growls at him.
Kaveh takes a step back. Maybe this wasn't a good idea. Maybe he should live elsewhere.
But a sharp whistle from Alhaitham has the dog stopping, its tail thudding the couch wildly. He reaches out and pets it.
"Easy, Algorithm of Semi-Intransient Matrix of Overseer Network," he coos, a mischievous smile on his lips, and Kaveh snaps out of it.
"What?" he demands, instantly regretting it when he sees Nahida grips Alhaitham's shoulder tighter. The way she looks at him is odd - a mixture of apprehension and expectation. Alhaitham squeezes her side.
"Algorithm of Semi-Intransient Matrix of Overseer Network," he answers simply, amusement plain in his tone.
"That's not a name."
"That's her name."
"You can't –" Kaveh runs a hand through his hair. At this point, the dog seems calm, regarding him with a tilt of its head. Alhaitham gestures for him to come over, so Kaveh closes the door behind him and takes off his shoes before approaching them. When the dog doesn't immediately try to kill him, he holds out a hand for it to sniff. It does so, a few quick sniffs and a lick, before losing interest in him and going back to sleep.
"Good girl," Alhaitham says, patting its head briefly. It responds with three thumps of its tail, not bothering to open its eyes. Then he reaches up and ruffles Nahida's hair. "This is Kaveh. Go on."
Nahida nods. She reaches out a hand to him, and even though the angle is awkward, Kaveh reaches out and shakes it. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Nahida," he says, unable to keep a note of bitterness out of his tone. She squints at him, as if trying to read him. Alhaitham levels Kaveh with a flat glare.
"Go get ready for bed. You have school tomorrow." Alhaitham tries to put her down, but she shakes her head and clings to his shoulder. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath before rubbing a hand on her back soothingly. "You'll be in the guest room, Kaveh. I'll show you the house tomorrow."
With that, he walks out of the room, taking Nahida with him. Kaveh grabs his suitcase and follows after.
Alhaitham has a queen size bed in his bedroom, far bigger than the one Kaveh often forced them to share in their college dorm, far bigger than the pathetic excuse for a bed that his guest bedroom has.
Despite this, Kaveh does not see another person in the house.
"You found her."
Kaveh levels his gaze with Alhaitham's over the kitchen table, his tone as flat as possible. Nahida looks up from her dinner, legs dangling from her chair.
"Yes," Alhaitham says, as if you can simply find a child. Kaveh raises his eyebrow and looks at Nahida, who hesitates briefly before nodding.
"What about her mother? Her father?"
"I am her father."
"That's not what I meant," Kaveh says, putting down his fork and crossing his arms. Did Alhaitham kidnap her?
"I don't have a mother," Nahida whispers, looking down at her plate, and Kaveh instantly realizes his mistake.
"Sorry," he offers, and Nahida looks back up at him curiously.
She shakes her head. "It's okay," she tells him, and he distinctly feels that it isn't okay.
"Nahida, do you want to make something?" he asks instead. Her eyes widen and she glances at Alhaitham, who nods without looking up from his food.
She looks back at Kaveh, her eyes sparkling with interest. "Father says you make a lot of models. Can I see them?"
"Of course!" Kaveh laughs awkwardly, mind tripping over her words. So Alhaitham does talk about him. The thought makes his heart skip a beat.
Most of his models are long gone, but he's sure he can throw some together for her.
As the guest room ends up covered in glue and splinters, Alhaitham knocks at the door and opens it without waiting for a response. Kaveh looks up at him in annoyance. Nahida has a good brain on her head - her designs are unique and inspired, creative in a way only children can be, yet surprisingly anchored in reality. Part of him wonders if that's Alhaitham's influence.
"Bedtime," he says. He moves to leave, but then Nahida holds up her little cottage, built from balsa wood, glue, and sheer determination.
"Can I keep this?" she asks, and Alhaitham's eyes widen minutely. He walks into the room, leaning down to properly inspect it. He gently takes it from her hands and hums.
"Once the glue dries," he decides, and Nahida's eyes shine. "I don't want our room to smell like glue."
Our room.
It clicks, then, why Kaveh's bed is so small and why Alhaitham's is so large. The guest room wasn't meant for guests, it was meant for Nahida .
Alhaitham was never one for extraneous things, so it follows, then, that his bed is only large because two sleep on it. Not a wife, but his daughter.
And if his child shares his bed, then he almost certainly never has others over for intimate reasons.
Kaveh can't help the sigh of relief then, though he does make a mental note to barter for a bigger bed for himself.