Chapter Text
Kaveh could see him walking down the road towards him. Alhaitham. Though, he gave no indication of noticing Kaveh. Fine, whatever. He had to come to him eventually. Kaveh could wait.
As he turned back towards the water, Kaveh could feel the cool breeze drying the sweat on his face. It was after after 2 am and Lambad's tavern had closed for the night and everyone but the owner had left. Kaveh was sitting at one of the tables outside the tavern and gazing across the river and trying to clear his head of the drunken haze. He sighed, sometimes he wished he could just jump into the water and stay underneath the water forever. He didn't want to die of course, but it would be nice, all the peace and quiet and no tall annoying roomma-
"Ahem," Kaveh turned back to see Alhaitham staring at him with a mixture of disgust and disappointment, looking perfectly put together even at such an ungodly hour. He wanted nothing more than to pick up a chair and throw it at his perfect face. Behind Alhaitham, Kaveh could see Lambad walking out of the building.
"Get home safely you two," Lambad said, after locking up the tavern.
"We will. Thank you for calling me." Alhaitham replied with a polite smile.
"Yes, he will drop me off. You don't have to worry Lambad.", Kaveh added, just to keep things clear. Alhaitham shot him a weird look. Kaveh diligently ignored him.
"Drop you off where? On your bed? Haha. You are funny as always Kaveh", the tavern owner shook his head as he set off for the night.
"If you are done making a fool of yourself for the night, shall we leave?", came Alhaitham's voice and it was then, finally then, that Kaveh realised with horror that he knew. Lambad knew.
"Oh my God, Haitham! Does he know I live with you? Did you tell him?" Kaveh was suddenly feeling very hot.
"Oh for fuck's sake, Kaveh. Don't be and idiot. Everyone knows. You know, I can never understood how someone so talented could be so obtuse. It's not like you keep quiet while you are in the house. The neighbors obviously know."
But Kaveh was really panicking now. If the neighbor's gossiped then...and Lambad told his friends or customers....how long till...
This was bad. This was really bad.
"Hey, snap out of it! I have enough trouble as it is without you creating a scene. Get up so we can go back. I still have some work left for the night."
But Kaveh can't stand, can he? He had hurt his ankle. That is why Alhaitham was here. It took all of his concentration and a lot of grumbling from his roommate about how he was a complete waste of his time, for Kaveh to finally stand up. They finally set off for the house with Alhaitham's arm wrapped around his shoulders and Kaveh's hand around the other's waist. Kaveh could smell ink and the scent of Haitham's soap. He must have taken a shower after returning home. Kaveh was too drunk to even think straight and the smell reminded him of home. He was soo sleepy and Haitham was so warm. He turned his head and may or may not have nuzzled into Alhaitham, and in doing so he missed a step.
"Oi, don't you dare fall asleep on me. Quickly now, we are almost there," Alhaitham shook him up. Kaveh moaned in response. Staying awake hurt too much. "Do you need a doctor? How bad is it? And how did you fall anyway?"
"Nnghh. Mm fiinee. Just tripped at the front door. No doctor. And why is it so bright here?" Kaveh had trouble keeping his eyes open in the harsh light at the front door. They had finakky reached their home.
"What an absolute idiot you are. Fine, rest for now. We will see in the morning how bad is it," and with that Alhaitham took him to his bed and unceremoniously pushed him onto it, turned off the lights and left. Maybe he was drunk and just hallucinating, but he thought the 'absolute idiot' sounded more affectionate than it had any right to be. And with that thought echoing in his head, Kaveh soon dozed off into dreams that smelled of fresh ink and mint, featuring a boy with a beautifully cruel face.
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Kaveh was sick. No, not like that. His ankle was hurting less now. Alhaitham must have put on some pain relieving gel last night. Kaveh did not remember it happening, but his foot was shiny and smelled of medicinal herbs.
It was none of that. Kaveh was sick because he was in love with his annoying roommate and Archons, it was getting really difficult for him to function normally. He even liked it when Haitham insulted him, and berated him. He knew this was very unhealthy. But he enjoyed their fights, the screaming, the tension and knowing that Alhaitham was thinking of him. It was bad. He dreamt of him often, as he had last night too.
Now it was morning and he was still hungover, but he could still remember what Alhaitham smelled like last night. And of course, he woke up very very hard. Ughhh Kaveh hated it. He loved it. And with his financial situation as it was, there was no escape. So, as any man in situation would do, he went to the bathroom to shower and also to jerk off to the thoughts of his crush.