Chapter Text
The moon is high
Like your friends were the night that we first met
Went home and tried to stalk you on the internet
Now I've read all of the books beside your bed…
——
Kaveh’s childhood was a blur to him.
Memories came in color to him during his adult life, but as a child it all was in black and white. He remembers being woken up many nights when he was around three or four years old by his parents yelling. Having to walk out of his room with his blanket dragging behind him and peering around the corner to hear the contents of their argument.
It was usually about things to do with him.
“Why did you let Kaveh do this?”
“How come you didn’t pick Kaveh up from daycare early today? He was sick!”
“Why did you buy Kaveh a new toy! You know we can’t afford it.”
So as a child who didn’t know any better, he let them argue.
He would tell them to be quiet on particular nights. He was a growing boy trying to sleep!
But as he got into school the arguments got worse until one day he came home from school and his dad’s stuff was on the front porch.
It was hard to think about because his parents were soulmates. Destined to be together by fate.
Specifically a soulmark.
On his parents' good days, they would tell him the story of how they met and how one day he would get a soulmark. They were matching butterflies.
But as he looked at his father’s stuff on the front porch of the house he grew up in, he decided he didn’t need to find his soulmate because it didn’t matter. All the love he knew ended in pain.
He didn’t want to suffer anymore.
As he grew into his teenage years, he remembers being shoved back and forth from his parents' houses every weekend.
All he ever got was pain from their relationship.
When Kaveh went into the Akademiya he felt so much joy. He wouldn’t have to be rushed back and forth anymore. He wasn’t even required to talk to them anymore.
Then his memories start turning into color. The greyscale era was gone.
But Kaveh didn’t entertain the idea of love. It was just a silly concept.
——
“Hey, could you pass that book?”
Kaveh looked over to see a gray haired younger student pointing towards the book in front of him. They were sitting in the library at the Akademiya. The crowded halls for exam season had everyone there.
Kaveh passed off the book and the man said “thanks” then continued reading.
Kaveh felt a weird burn on his shoulder. It wasn’t painful necessarily but it stinged a little.
“When I met your mother, I felt a weird burn on my arm…” Kaveh remembered his dad’s words, “I went to get ready for bed that night and saw my soulmark. It was a butterfly, which matched your mom’s…”
Kaveh didn’t dwell on it too much, in fact, he didn’t think about it at all for the rest of the day.
When he was getting to the shower that night, he looked in the mirror and saw a tree branch with blossomed pink flowers on his shoulder.
He felt fear. He was hoping he didn’t have a soulmate. Destined to be forever alone and all. Maybe it was a platonic soulmate? He’d definitely heard of those.
“Great…” he mumbled.
This is truly what he needed before exams.
Kaveh went on with life. He kept running into the man. Most people would be ecstatic! His soulmate was really handsome. Like holy shit.
But fear rose in his chest when he saw the man, who was named Alhaitham, as he learned. He remembered the pain he felt from his parents' fights. They were soulmates and fated mates! Why did he have to be cursed to be someone with a soulmate?
Alhaitham must’ve known too. As much as Kaveh tried to avoid him, he always kept running into him!
One day he decided to speak up about it.
“Hey! You!” Kaveh said in the library one day, approaching him. “Why are you following me?”
Alhaitham looked up at him from his book, “we are soulmates, are we not?”
Kaveh froze.
“We should at least get to know each other.” He continued, “do you want to get coffee sometime?”
Kaveh was scared. He didn’t want to do this, really. But people were looking at him now. He realized he might’ve been a little too loud when approaching the man. He was afraid people would think he’s an asshole if he declined.
“Okay, you win. Fine.”
He was a few months from graduating at this point. He really didn’t have that much to lose, except maybe his sanity.
They exchanged phone numbers and went on their way.
——
The wine is cold
Like the shoulder that I gave you in the street
Cat and mouse for a month or two or three
Now I wake up in the night and watch you breathe
——
The days before the date were a blur for Kaveh.
They texted quite a bit so he didn't want to stand Alhaitham up. They seemed to get along okay. He had exams coming up too so he expected that may have been part of the reason for the blurry days.
He walked into the coffee shop that they planned to meet at and Alhaitham was already there.
“I’m glad you didn’t stand me up.” He said.
“I was thinking about it.” Kaveh replied, laughing nervously, “but I decided to come anyway.”
His hands were fidgeting the whole conversation as they talked about everything in their life from school to art. Despite his hesitation, he liked the guy. He seemed quite intelligent too.
“Did you want to go to the arcade?” Kaveh asked suddenly.
Alhaitham looked taken aback by this statement. “Oh. Sure.”
They walked around the mall near their campus and then they reached an arcade.
“Oh!” Alhaitham said once they got there, “I’m gonna win you a plush.”
Kaveh felt the heat rise to his cheeks, “sure…!”
The pair walked around for a bit before Kaveh settled on a stuffed koala.
Alhaitham caught it immediately.
“How are you so good at this?” Kaveh asked, surprised. The claw was moving over to the opening when suddenly…
“Damn it!” Alhaitham mumbled, “it’s stuck on the ledge.”
“Hm…” Kaveh said, teasing, “wow I guess you aren’t so good after all?”
“Oh shut it.”
Kaveh laughed, “we can get an employee. They don’t get paid enough to care.”
Alhaitham hummed in reply, “okay, you stay here while I get one from the desk.”
Kaveh stood there as Alhaitham walked away. He liked the guy. He turned towards the stuffed koala when fear rose in his chest again.
“Okay…” he mumbled, “this is good… maybe I will be able to be happy… I don’t have to be like my parents.”
He felt tears well up in his eyes before he heard footsteps coming towards him.
“Oh yeah that’s stuck.” The employee, based on her name, was called Collei, “here! I’ll get it for ya!” She replied smiling.
She unlocked the machine and handed the koala to Kaveh. “Have fun both of you!”
Kaveh held the plush close to him and smiled, “thank you.”
Alhaitham’s cheeks were dusting pink, “oh, it’s no problem. You had this look in your eyes that you really wanted it. I noticed when you saw it. You were excited and hopeful.”
Kaveh didn’t know he was that obvious.
“Yeah…”
The pair sat down waiting for a game of laser tag after that.
An employee, who looked vaguely familiar from one of his classes, told them the rules. They were with another two people.
“I’m Tighnari.” One of them told Kaveh.
“I’m Kaveh.” He replied, “Well it looks like we have to team up here, huh?”
Tighnari noticed the blue light on his vest, “yeah, I guess so! We have to beat them. My boyfriend and I have a bet on who will win. Loser buys ice cream.”
“A valid reason to win.” Kaveh smiled.
The two came up with a plan while waiting for the start. They could hear the other two arguing across the arena.
“Well they seem to be getting along.” Kaveh smirked. “This is Alhaitham and I’s first date. I’m having fun despite not really wanting to go at first.”
“Well I’m glad to hear that.” Tighnari replied when suddenly a voice came over the speaker counting down from 10 to start.
“You ready?” Tighnari said.
“As I’ll ever be.”
Buzz
And they started.