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It all happened very fast.
The scene was as such: Kaveh drinking, gossiping with Tighnari and Cyno over wine and cards, as per usual. Nothing new.
Alhaitham joined. Not incredibly common practice, given his general feeling towards loud places, crowds, and social interaction in his off hours. But join he did, pulling up the chair next to Kaveh and jumping into the conversation.
Kaveh thought nothing of it when he asked what he was drinking.
"Wine. New blend, actually."
Alhaitham raised an eyebrow.
"New? What's it like?"
Kaveh had never been much of a wine connoisseur. It was good or it wasn't. If it was good, he'd keep drinking it. If it wasn't, he wouldn't. Simple.
"Not sure what you mean. It's wine, it's red, and it's good." He swirled it around his glass, taking a little sip.
And then, it all happened very suddenly.
Haitham's clever fingers hooked through his collar and pulled him forward, other hand holding the back of his head to kiss him, pressing into his mouth insistently, and Kaveh's eyes fell closed as he leaned into-
Nothing. Alhaitham was pulling back, letting go and sitting back in his chair, flagging a waiter down for a glass of the same.
Kaveh sat in absolutely stunned silence for a moment. Cyno did too. Tighnari, miraculously, recovered first, and, thankfully, said nothing about it, merely changing the subject.
"Your turn, Cyno." He tapped at the table between them, jolting Cyno out of his reverie.
"Right. Yes." Cyno rolled, the game continued, and Kaveh finished his glass, and then another. It was good wine. A good night, with good company and good wine.
Like all good nights, however, it had to come to an end. Tighnari stood first, citing an early morning, and Cyno followed, much the same. Haitham settled the tab, because of course he did, and Kaveh trailed behind him, feeling just a little like a lost puppy.
They got home with no incident. Kaveh felt stuck, trapped by the swirl of questions and feelings that whirled inside his brain, confusing, disorienting. Nothing ever stopped long enough for him to place a finger on it.
(It wasn't like he hadn't thought about kissing Alhaitham. On the contrary, it seemed like not a day went by that he DIDN'T think about kissing Alhaitham. When they argued, when they sat silently on the lounge together, Alhaitham begrudgingly allowing Kaveh to rest his feet on his lap while he read. When he came home, grumpy, to yet another conveniently-timed fresh-brewed cup of coffee that Kaveh happened to have just made. When he came out of the shower, smelling faintly of Kaveh's fancy shampoo. He had to know, didn't he? One of the most brilliant minds in the Akademiya, he couldn't be that oblivious.)
Alhaitham, for his part, seemed entirely unphased by the fact that he had just thrown his roommate(friend?)'s life into uproar. He bustled around the kitchen while Kaveh stood in the doorway, one shoe off, and before Kaveh managed to get the other one, the smell of tea, (decaf, herbal,) wafted through the house.
Kaveh walked forward as if in a trance, stepping into the kitchen. Alhaitham didn't turn, busy with his tea, pouring two teacups. (One with space for cream, like he knew Kaveh liked.) He took a sip and hummed, quietly, a little sound only Kaveh knew he made when he was pleased with something.
"Kaveh, I made-"
He turned, teacup in hand, and froze as Kaveh surged up into him, grabbing the back of his head, pulling his face down, kissing him finally, finally, and oh, he'd been right. Alhaitham was strong. His free arm wound around Kaveh's waist, pulling him in closer as he kissed him, insistent, pressing into his mouth as Alhaitham had done hours before, tasting the sweet tea on his tongue and sighing, happy.
It was Kaveh who initiated, and in the end, it had to be Kaveh to break free, pulling back just enough to breathe. Alhaitham, for his part, just put his cup down, gentle as anything, on the counter, and continued, voice hushed, "-tea."
"It's good," Kaveh whispered, still up on his toes, chest pressed to Haitham's, hand tangled in the back of his hair. "Is it new?"
"Yes, it is." Haitham almost sounded cautious.
"What's… what's it like?" Kaveh asked, eyes on his lips, faces mere inches apart.
"I'm not sure what you mean," he replied, tilting his head just a little closer to Kaveh's, placing his hand on his cheek, "it's tea, it's hot, and it's-"
He didn't get a chance to finish the bit. Kaveh heard the permission in his voice, felt it in the beat of his heart. He pressed up again, and Alhaitham swiped his thumb over his bottom lip before kissing him again, again, again. Warm, and sweet, and familiar, despite the newness of the tea, kissing Alhaitham felt like coming home. Perhaps, because it was.
The tea went cold, forgotten.