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"I'm moving out!"
Kaveh looked more than happy when he announced the news. Of course, because he and Alhaitham did nothing but argue when they were in each other's presence. And the blonde was all too happy to chat about how the Traveler kindly offered a room in their place and nearly half of their expenses for Kaveh's projects (and his debt) as he packed up his stuff in order to get ready to move.
Alhaitham didn't understand why this had him feeling, unnecessary emotions. Of course, he may have been the one to have offered Kaveh his place at first, but they don't ever see eye-to-eye. So he should be glad that the nuisance is finally gone. He could finally sleep on peaceful nights without needing to hear the sound of a hammer crashing against some other material Kaveh managed to procure with his limited funding. No more days where they endlessly argue on and on about needless things, it was annoying, and he was finally glad to be rid of that inconvenience too.
The only reason he offered Kaveh to stay at his place was because he doesn't delight in other people's misery, that was all.
He wouldn't be seeing Kaveh anytime soon, anyway.
The next time Alhaitham saw Kaveh was in Puspa Cafe, humming to himself as he sketched up a new design while the Traveler and their fairy companion watched on. Alhaitham made his way to exit as soon as possible when he overheard their conversation against his will.
The Traveler had complimented the design and Kaveh was excitedly ranting about it's practical uses and appearance. He sounded nothing like he did when he was with Alhaitham, even during the rare times where they were in good moods and didn't argue with each other. (Of course, it wasn't like those moments ended peacefully, one way or another, they'd end up arguing again.) He sounded so carefree and happy in his conversation with the Traveler, like a thousand sumpter beasts had finally been lifted off his shoulders and he was finally free. (Well, Kaveh was. Free from Alhaitham, that is.) And once again, Alhaitham didn't know why unnecessary, strange feelings bubbled up inside him. It was annoying, and it distracted him.
Alhaitham left Puspa Cafe without a second glance.
The second time Alhaitham saw Kaveh was in the House of Daena.
The architect was simply browsing through books of interest, even when Alhaitham never saw Kaveh touching a single book during the entire time he was living with Kaveh. It wasn't like anything was wrong, Kaveh could browse through what he wished. But Alhaitham didn't know about this side of him. Alhaitham stopped his thoughts before they ran too wild, why would he care about knowing what Kaveh does in his free time? With the Akasha terminal shut down, of course there would be many more people flocking to the House of Daena for knowledge and information, or even just for things like stories and fairytales, it was the largest library in all of Teyvat, after all.
Why would he care?
Alhaitham chose a book and sat down at a desk to read it. Kaveh could do what he wanted anyways, Alhaitham doesn't care about him one bit.
Surprisingly (but also not), the third time Alhaitham saw Kaveh was in the Traveler's very own realm.
He was just visiting, of course. The Traveler's fairy companion had lightly tapped his hand with a golden tablet and he was curious to know what it meant. Paimon explained to him that it was a Realm Dispatch, and that essentially allowed him to enter and exit from the Traveler's home as he pleased. This happened shortly after the Traveler invited him on their journey, and seeing as he had nothing much to do, Alhaitham decided that he'd join the Traveler occasionally.
While exploring the realm, he had heard Kaveh's conversation with a young man with horns.
"It's great, isn't it? I don't even need keys to come in and out whenever I want, so I don't have to worry about being locked out! I have funding, I have space. I even have a room all to myself to tinker with projects! Nothing like where I used to live."
"The little dude's amazing, isn't he? Almost offered his place to me and the boys immediately to crash whenever we needed it. How was your last place, anyway?"
"Don't get me started on it!"
Kaveh was laughing. He was laughing. Alhaitham never heard Kaveh laugh like that. It shouldn't be bothering him that much, but it was. He felt his stomach twist and his heart freeze, Kaveh was living a better life without him, but why would Alhaitham care? Kaveh was annoying, he was a nuisance, they bickered back and forth. No, no, it wasn't like Alhaitham was jealous or anything. He couldn't be. So what if Kaveh was laughing and smiling without Alhaitham around? He had his peace and quiet in his own home, that was all he needed, really, it wasn't like him to get caught up in unnecessary feelings like the ones he's having now.
He shouldn't be caring if Kaveh was talking to a blonde Alchemist about the various contraptions he made and how they could be improved with alchemy or otherwise with a smile on his face.
It wasn't like Alhaitham.
He was sitting with the Traveler at Puspa Cafe when they suddenly asked him something.
"Alhaitham, could you be jealous?"
Alhaitham wasn't the type to spit out drinks in surprise, but that would've been his reaction if he weren't reading right now. He wasn't jealous, no, why would he be? There was no reason to be jealous at all. "Of course not, I have just been in a terrible mood lately." (Excuses, the Traveler thought.)
"That's not what it looks like to Paimon!" Oh, the fairy companion wouldn't shut up.
"Kaveh's been living well ever since he moved out of your place. He's been brightening up the realms with his creations, and he's been getting along with everyone who visits." "Is that so?" Unnecessary information, Alhaitham doesn't care about what Kaveh's been up to. He had no reason to, Kaveh wasn't his roommate anymore. "I don't need to know about that." His face is the same poker face he keeps up every day, but for some reason Aether continues to talk. "Of course you don't, of course. It's not like your expression falters just a little when you see Kaveh smiling as he talks with someone you don't know. And it's most definitely not like your chest feels tight and uncomfortable when you see different sides of Kaveh that you never knew about." Aether was getting on his nerves with how much he was talking.
But he knew Aether was right, he couldn't just deny what they said. It still got on his nerves though.
"You're jealous that so many people have gotten along with Kaveh while you haven't. You just push everything to the back of your mind and ignore it as best you can." "Because you really secretly like him!" Enough. Alhaitham nearly slammed his book on the table when he caught himself. Anger was unnecessary. "I don't 'secretly like' Kaveh. I see him as a nuisance, I don't understand why you continue to talk to me about him when all of us know that is not the case." Alhaitham tried to calm himself down, his emotions seem to have affected his words, they were unlike him.
Aether had a strange expression on his face. "...If you say so."
They got up to leave before Alhaitham did. And when they couldn't see him anymore, Alhaitham nearly slumped onto the table before him.
He was jealous, wasn't he?
"Aether told me you had something to say."
Kaveh was sitting across from Alhaitham, his face cold and annoyed. Nothing like when Kaveh was with other people. (But it was everything like what Kaveh was around him.) It made his chest tense up and freeze and suddenly Alhaitham felt like this was one of the worst ideas he's ever had. He's gone off and done something completely irrational and let his emotions guide him instead of his mind. But ignoring the situation would make him feel worse in the end, and Alhaitham doesn't know if he was right or wrong to have decided to talk with Kaveh in the first place.
"Are you going to say anything? Or is this just another attempt to confuse and make fun of me? If that's the case then I'm leaving."
Kaveh was getting up from his seat, he was going to leave. Alhaitham would miss this chance and he'd never make amends with his senior researcher, he'd always have his heart tug around his chest and his stomach curl up uncomfortably when he sees Kaveh smiling or laughing with someone else he doesn't know. Kaveh would think of him worse than he already does and Alhaitham knows that'd be the worst feeling in the world.
"Wait."
Kaveh stopped in his tracks, turning around and trying to hide his surprise. Why wouldn't he? Alhaitham's voice never stammered or held this much emotion before.
He didn't know what to say, his chest tightened and his mind ran at supersonic speeds trying to find the right words and what to say. As a Haravatat graduate, he's never felt more like an idiot than now. He felt incompetent when he lost his voice and his mind tried to piece together a sentence.
"I'm sorry."
Only two words were spoken by him that day.
"You two have been conjoined at the hip ever since. I assume things went well?"
Alhaitham wasn't one for violence, but he felt like Aether deserves a right hook to the face right now.
Kaveh had slowly changed his attitude around Alhaitham ever since they talked. ('Talked' was an exaggeration, Alhaitham could only muster out an apology before stopping his speech altogether. He couldn't get another word in, so Kaveh ended up being the one asking numerous questions and Alhaitham only shook his head or nodded.) He started to smile more, laugh more. They even got through an entire conversation without arguing with each other in the end.
He felt like these little things don't matter much anymore, but they always gave him more unnecessary feelings when he noticed them.
Kaveh gave him such unnecessary feelings, but it wasn't like Alhaitham didn't like how happy they made him.
He took a sip from his cup when Aether's next question came out of nowhere.
"So what are you two officially now? Lovers?"
Alhaitham choked on his drink.