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Around six months ago Kaveh had gotten back from a long term project in the desert. A lot happened during his absence including the freeing of Lesser Lord Kusanali and the falling of Azar, the Grand Sage of the Akademiya. His roommate, junior and boyfriend Alhaitham had a great part in the planning and execution of these changes. But as his reward, he was promoted to Acting Grand Sage, against his wishes.

At first it didn’t seem to change much, but Kaveh had noticed the last few weeks he had barely seen him. He would get home late, maybe have time for a quick catch up before he would leave to do more work in the study, often taking him until the early hours of the morning to finish. He’d crawl into their bed for sleep, only to wake up again early and repeat the proceed day after day. Alhaitham was an incredibly capable person, Kaveh knew this first hand, not just from their romantic times together, but from their days as students. But he also knew these capabilities came at a cost for Alhaitham, which is why is ideal life had always been one of leisure, hence him taking the easy job of the Akademiya’s Scribe.

He wanted to say something to him but Alhaitham was stubborn and he didn’t know how the conversation would go. So instead he worked on something secretly that he felt would help give him back some quiet time. He had planned to give this secret project to Alhaitham for their anniversary, which was fast approaching. If he could get the prototype finished in time he had a feeling his partner would appreciate this gift and use it as much as he did his noise cancelling headphones. Keeping his project a secret from him was difficult, because he was making strides in his creation and he wanted to excitedly talk about it, but that could wait until it was done and it was time to give it to him.

Kaveh heard the familiar sound of Alhaitham’s key in the front door and got up from his desk to greet him, while quickly shuffling his projects notes under various blueprints on his desk. Alhaitham took his shoes and coat off, turned the noise cancelling off but left on his headphones and sat on their divan.

“Welcome home.” Kaveh said softly as he sat beside him. “You’re back late again.” Alhaitham didn’t verbally respond but he nodded before shifting so he could lay his head on Kaveh’s lap. Before they had finally admitted their romantic feelings to each other a comment about getting home late would’ve erupted in an argument. But now it was clear Kaveh wasn’t saying it out of annoyance he was saying it out of concern.

“You look exhausted.” Kaveh commented as he ran his fingers through Alhaitham’s hair.

“I am.” Alhaitham said as he closed his eyes, enjoying the feel of Kaveh’s hands in his hair. He lay there enjoying the brief moment of relaxation before raising his hand to his face.

“Hh’GSSs-chhn!” He groaned, Kaveh paused running his hands through Alhaitham’s hair and moved his hand over his forehead instinctively.

“Bless you. Haitham, are you getting sick?” He asked concerned, as he moved his hands from playing with his hair to gently checking him for signs of a fever. Haitham didn’t feel feverish at least, but getting sick when he is so busy and stressed doesn’t seem fair. Kaveh thought to himself.

“Wouldn’t surprise me.” He responded with another groan.  

“Your hours didn’t seem so bad as Acting Grand Sage until a few weeks ago, did something change?” Kaveh queried, as he continued to help Alhaitham unwind on his lap.

“Nothing changed, that is the issue.” He said with a grunt, shifting his body so he could look up at Kaveh. “Azar was running the Akedemiya as his personal fiefdom. He was micromanaging everyone including the other Sages,” Alhaitham sighed and closed his eyes once more. “I think I was the only person he didn’t because he knew it was a wasted effort. But now the issue is no one seems to have any idea what they are meant to be doing anymore. So all of it has began falling on me.” He groaned before his breath hitched.

“Hh’Hh’nGsCHH! Hn’Gnkt-chhhn!” He half stifled his sneezes while he continued to lay on Kaveh’s lap.  

“Sounds like there are a lot of incompetence going on.” Kaveh half laughed, intentionally trying to ignore his sneezes, hoping it would be more comforting to ignore them, then expressing further concern.

“There is. It is infuriating.” Alhaitham closed his eyes again. “Panah is useless as my assistant. I start the day having to finish the previous days work because there simply isn’t enough time in the day to get it done with no one else is doing any. Not to mention they keep coming to me with the Scribe’s work as well as no one has been hired to be a temporary Scribe in my absence.”

“You’re going to burn out Haitham. I’m worried you’re reaching your limit.” Kaveh’s voice was laced with worry as he saw Alhaitham put his hand to his face for the third time since getting home.

“Hn’GTk! Hng’Tchh! Hn’GkSh-shih!” It was beginning to get harder for Kaveh to continue ignore the state his junior was in. But before he could say anything Alhaitham sniffed.

“I’ll quit before then.” He tried to reassure him, they both knew it wasn’t true though.

“Every time I try and speak to Lord Kusanali she seems either unavailable or unwilling to speak about my resignation, which I handed in months ago.” He exhaled tiredly.

“I get the feeling she doesn’t want you to step down as Grand Sage and wishes you could just take the position.” Kaveh said sympathetically continuing to run his hands through Alhaitham’s hair.

“That’s the feeling I have as well. But there is no way I am staying at this rate unless there are some major changes.” He grunted, crossing his arms over his chest.

“What would you change?” Kaveh queried.

“My consulting hours to start w-wh-ith..Hhi’ghK-Chh!” Kaveh sighed, he could imagine that Alhaitham was being approached and requested things all day nonstop.  

“What else?”

“I need another proper assistant, someone who knows what needs to be done without me having to spend time telling them what to do. I need to hire someone to take my place as scribe who is also competent and I don’t need to micromanage.” He paused relaxing into Kaveh’s touch before stifling yet another two sneezes.

“H’gSt-ChhT! H’kgt-uchh!” Kaveh stopped playing with his hair letting out a loud sigh unable to ignore the sneezes further.

“Alhaitham you are most certainly getting sick.” He said crossing his arms over his chest and looking down his boyfriend sniffling on his lap.

“Generally, I would just want to change the culture that Azar had created. Who knows how long the Akademiya has been run like this.” Sighing, Alhaitham sat up.

“Hey! Don’t change the subject!” Kaveh raised his voice a little causing Alhaitham to flinch and put a hand over one of his ears. “Ah.. sorry I didn’t mean to raise my voice.” Kaveh said softly. Seeing him flinch like that told Kaveh all he needed to know, which was that Haitham was fast approaching his limit. The younger leant over to Kaveh to rest his head against his shoulder. He wanted to give him a quick hug and a fleeting kiss before getting up but hesitated due to his sneezing.

“Need to work?” Kaveh asked sadly, already knowing the answer.

“Sorry, if I don’t get it done no one else will.” Kaveh nodded, he didn’t want to push the issue further and give Alhaitham more stress than he already had. He could visually see the tension it was causing him.  

“Don’t wait up for me.” Alhaitham sounded exhausted, as he got up Kaveh gently tugged him back down and gave him a soft kiss on the lips.

“No hug or kiss today?” Kaveh pouted. Alhaitham’s expression momentarily softened.

“If you insist.” He said stoically as he embraced his caring boyfriend. “I didn’t think you’d want one with me since you’re convinced I’m getting sick.” He said shrugging.

“I always want a kiss. Hmph!” He pouted crossing his arms across his chest again. “That said, you ARE getting sick Haitham, can’t you just rest for tonight?” Kaveh pleaded in vain.

Alhaitham just shook his head, and stood up before he bent down giving Kaveh another kiss before he walked off to his desk silently and began to work on everything he couldn’t finish at the Akademiya due to constant interruptions and the mountain of incoming work. He could hear Alhaitham stifling more sneezes as he sat down at his desk.

Kaveh sighed and remained on the couch a little longer. Desperately wishing there was more he could do to help. He went to the kitchen to at least make Haitham a hot drink to try and help before returning to his own desk and continuing to work on his project, they may have been close to each other but he knew Alhaitham didn’t have the time or energy to enquire what he was working on so felt safe resuming. After working on the project for a while longer he decided he was tired and wanted to head to bed. Alhaitham still hadn’t eaten but at least he had drunk most of the tea. Kaveh decided he would make him another before he headed to bed.

“Hn’GSSchuu! Hn’hHGsschh! HnG’schyuu!” Kaveh winced, he was beginning to sound worse.

“Here, more tea.” He said as he put it down next to Alhaitham. He put his hand against his forehead again, he still didn’t seem feverish at least.

“Come to bed.” He wanted to say more, but knew it would be pointless. Alhaitham sniffed and shook his head.

“Can’t yet, sorry.” He said tiredly. “I’ll join you as soon as I’m done.” He tried to offer Kaveh a reassuring smile, but he just looked too tired for it to be remotely reassuring. He returned his focus to his work as Kaveh silently walked off to their bedroom.  

The next week continued in much the same fashion. Alhaitham would come home exhausted, Kaveh would offer him a brief period of relaxation to metaphorically recharge his battery, before he would continue working from home until the early morning. It at least didn’t seem like his cold was anything serious but Kaveh could tell it was draining what little spare energy Haitham had left at the end of the day.

Today started the same as the last handful of days had, at around 6am Alhaitham woke up, having had very little sleep, he had a coffee before having a short shower, followed by a second coffee before getting dressed.

“Hh’Hg’GSSschu! H’hehHh’HG’SSschuu!” He sneezed, as he adjusted his coat. He heard Kaveh move under the sheets.

“Bless you,” Alhaitham turned to Kaveh who was sleepily looking at him from the bed.

“Thanks.” He replied sniffing.   

“You’re not getting better Haitham.”

“I’m not getting worse.” He quipped back sniffing. Kaveh wanted him to take better care of himself, if the roles were revered he knew Haitham would’ve chained him to the bed. But he also understood, the difference in their work currently. Alhaitham must feel like the whole fate of the Akademiya is resting on his tired shoulders. Kaveh thought to himself. Alhaitham placed a gentle kiss on Kaveh’s cheek and turned to leave. Kaveh tiredly reached out and grabbed Alhaitham’s hand as he was walking out. He jumped slightly at the unexpected touch. Which was unusual for him, he seemed slightly jumpier than his usual calm self.

“Haitham, it is so early, you haven’t even had four hours of sleep.” He gave his hand a little tug.

“Come back to bed, the Akademiya won’t collapse if you sleep in a little. I’m worried you’re reaching your limit.” He whispered, for the sake of his boyfriends tired head. 

“I’ll be fine Kaveh,” Alhaitham gave him another goodbye kiss. “I know my limits, I have a handle on it. I’m not the same as when I was your junior in the Akademiya.” He pointed at his noise cancelling headphones that he had built and designed himself before his nose and face scrunched up and he turned to duck his face away from Kaveh.

“Hh’HksS’Chuu! Hh’Hn’GSSchhu! H’huh…atT’GSSchuuh!” How very comforting Kaveh sarcastically thought to himself as Haitham readjusted himself and blew his nose.

“I appreciate your concern though Kaveh. Have a good day…Still want a goodbye kiss?” Kaveh gave him a disappointed look, as if he even needed to ask! Kaveh pouted until Alhaitham placed a final kiss on Kaveh’s lips before quietly leaving for the day. Kaveh waited to hear the front door close before he let himself go back to sleep hoping that his worries were unfounded. He hadn’t seen Alhaitham look that rough since some of their more stressful days as students. But he was comforted enough by Alhaitham’s words so let himself fall back asleep for a few more hours. 

Kaveh was between jobs at the moment and wanted to give Alhaitham extra support, he ensured everything was taken care of at home, then he could happily work more on his project. It was around midday when he heard a knock at the door. It was far too early for Alhaitham to be home, unless he was feeling sicker. Did he work himself to death so much he got worse? But then again he wouldn’t have knocked anyway. Kaveh thought. Kaveh was the one that would misplace his keys not Alhaitham. When he opened the door he was surprised to see Panah standing in front of him.

“Sir Kaveh, I am glad you’re home,” he said out of breath, panic in his voice “is the Grand Sage here by any chance?” Panah asked tentatively.

“Alhaitham?” Kaveh asked surprised, Panah nodded. “No, he left for the Akademiya this morning, why what is going on?” He asked concerned, why doesn’t Panah know where Haitham is, he is meant to be his assistant for Archon’s sake. What if he passed out because of his cold, but that’s doesn’t make sense it is only a head cold urghhh! I should’ve chained him to the bed! Kaveh thought to himself as he began churning through various scenarios in his head.

“Sir Kaveh, do you have any inkling as to where he might be?” Asked Panah, who was beginning to sound increasingly desperate. Kaveh thought to himself, if Alhaitham had decided to stay home he would know, likewise if he didn’t want to be at work but was otherwise fine he would’ve come straight home.

“What was his schedule today meant to be?” Asked Kaveh. Panah hesitated for a second before rummaging through his pockets to find a small diary.

“His day starts at 9am,” He would’ve arrived closer to 7:30am, As his assistant you should be there before him Panah. Kaveh thought to himself rolling his eyes, but waited silently as Panah continued.

“He was there before I arrived, he had a few unscheduled meetings with various students and teachers before I arrived,” Why the hell is he having meetings with students? God, no wonder he’s frustrated, why isn’t Panah screening who’s seeing him? Kaveh grimaced to himself.

“Then we headed to a meeting at 9:30am to discuss reassigning the Sage positions. After that we were meant to have an 11am meeting but he never showed up.” Panah finished, putting his diary back in his pocket.

“The 11am meeting was an important one, regarding the current situation with the Fatui encroachment in several areas around Sumeru. Lord Kusanali and the General Mahamatra were both there. It has concerned Lord Kusanali greatly that the Grand Sage didn’t show, and it has caused people to wonder if he stepped out of the Akademiya and was met with… unfortunate circumstances...” Kaveh heart skipped a beat, surely nothing like that could have happened without someone seeing. But then again…could he fight to his full potential with his miserable head cold? No way even with a cold Alhaitham is still Alhaitham he wouldn’t just roll over and let some Fatui bastard hurt him. He thought to himself trying to calm his worst fears again.

“I didn’t see him much this morning as he was out of bed before I woke up and I only saw him for a brief moment when he was saying goodbye.” Kaveh pondered where he would have gone. His memories of his husband sneezing tiredly this morning kept playing on a loop in his head.

“Did he seem to be acting any differently today?” Kaveh asked trying to steady his thoughts away from panic.

“Differently in what way?” Panah responded with a question to Kaveh’s question and immediately Kaveh understood why he was not cut out to be Alhaitham’s assistant. Kaveh sighed.

“Different, as in, not as per usual. He’s been extra tired from all the work recently, but it has been like that way for weeks. Was his outward behaviour during the first meeting and your interactions with him earlier different than the last few weeks?” Kaveh clarified his question giving Panah a thorough description of what he was asking for.

“Hmmm, he seemed a bit quieter this morning. He barely uttered a word in the initial meeting.” That’s unusual even if he is a little sick. Kaveh thought as Panah paused to ponder if there was anything else.

“Oh, on the way back to his office after that meeting someone walked into him and he almost stumbled to the ground, he seemed like he was in a bit of a daze all morning I suppose.” Dazed? Alhaitham didn’t seem dazed this morning, maybe he did became feverish? After almost a week of being sick though seems unlikely… Ah! Suddenly Kaveh had an inkling of what had happened, and where the Grand Sage could be. But he knew if he told Panah where he suspected Alhaitham was it wouldn’t result in anything positive for Alhaitham, and at this point Alhaitham’s wellbeing was his only concern. Stuff the Akademiya He thought.

“You said Lord Kusanali is concerned about him, correct?” Panah nodded in response.

“Yes, very, she has sent the General Matamatra to find him by any means. He isn’t in trouble mind you, she is just concerned by his sudden disappearance and wants to ensure he is safe.” Kaveh pondered if what he was about to request would be what Alhaitham would want him to do, or if he was about to make things infinitely worse for the man he loves. But he felt helpless and he decided taking action as better than doing nothing.

“I suspect I know where the Grand Sage is.” Kaveh said with a hint of disapproval in his voice. “However, I need to meet with Lord Kusanali personally before I disclose his whereabouts to anyone.” He placed one hand on his hip, as he watched Panah gawk at the outrageous request.

“Wait here.” Kaveh said, leaving Panah to consider how to respond to Kaveh’s request. Kaveh closed the door, put on his coat and shoes, and grabbed the prototype of the project he had been working on gently folding it into his briefcase before returning to Panah.

“If you don’t help me see Lord Kusanali I’ll just have to approach her on my own.” He said flatly, giving Panah a dirty look as he locked his front door and began walking towards the Akademiya.

“W-Wait! Sir Kaveh!” Panah called flailing behind him and running to catch up. “I don’t know if Lord Kusanali will see you or not.” Panah face was white and Kaveh could tell his insistence on meeting his Archon combined with the Grand Sage’s untimely disappearance was causing him to sweat buckets.

“I guess if she wants to see her Grand Sage again she’ll have to give me at least a few minutes of her time.” Kaveh said with a smile that read ‘Don’t fuck with me when it comes to Alhaitham’ Panah sighed, Kaveh could be fierce when he wanted to be.

“I-I don’t know if she’ll see you, but I’ll take you to the Sanctuary of Surasthana, that is where she should be if she isn’t out also looking for the Grand Scribe herself.” Kaveh nodded allowing Panah to lead the way. He had stood his ground on wanting to meet and discuss the situation with Lord Kusanali, but now he was on his way to meet his Archon for the first time he could feel his heart racing with sudden nervousness. Panah led him right up to the Sanctuary of Surasthana before turning around and asking Kaveh to wait for him a moment. He spoke to the guards standing outside the door, one of them knocked on the door before entering and came out less than a minute later. He nodded towards Panah who then proceeding to walk back to Kaveh.

“I’ve confirmed with the Corps of Thirty members stationed at the Sanctuary of Surasthana that Lord Kusanali is indeed in, they have sent word that you would like to speak to her, she has agreed to meet you. Please proceed, everyone is very tense since the Grand Sage vanished.” He added as he motioned Kaveh towards the door of the Sanctuary of Surasthana. Kaveh took a deep breath. He was going to meet his Archon, he had no idea what to expect. Every time he had asked Alhaitham about her, he would just shrug and say she was normal and change the subject, like what does that even mean!? He would wonder back. Alhaitham would just give him a cheeky smirk and shrug and tell him that he would meet her eventually and when he did he’d understand.

“Please come in. 🎶” He heard before he had even knocked. He steadied himself and pushed open the door. As he walked in he looked down at the ground, not wanting to look directly at his Archon before showing his respect. He knelt down before he heard a playful giggle and soft footsteps approach him.

“There is no need for such formalities Kaveh. 🎶” Kaveh looked up and saw his Archon, she wasn’t what he expected at all. She was a tiny child, with beautiful porcelain skin. White hair with shimmering emerald streaks, a beautiful green dress and a contagiously cheerful disposition. She was like a living doll, he was honestly unsure if he had ever seen anyone like her in the way she was radiant with a playful childlike curiosity and cuteness. Quickly he forced himself to snap back to his senses.

“Lord Kusa-”

“Please call me Nahida. 🎶” She interrupted him. “I don’t like formalities, also, I don’t mind if you sit on the floor, but please don’t kneel. 🎶” She giggled, as Kaveh quickly changed his position to sitting with her on the ground with his legs crossed in front of him.

“It is a pleasure to meet you Nahida.” He nervously said, smiling gently at the cute childlike Archon in front of him. He knew she was was many centuries years old which was astounding to him.

“It is my pleasure to meet you Kaveh. 🎶” She chimed back, “I am a big fan of your work, your artistic abilities are truly a marvel. 🎶” Kaveh felt himself blush at getting such a wonderful compliment from the very Archon of Wisdom herself.

“Everything I’ve heard about you tells me you truly understand what it means for Sumeru to be the nation of Wisdom, it is a pity more people don’t understand it the way you do. 🎶” Kaveh was speechless, this wasn’t what he expected when he had demanded a meeting with the Dendro Archon.

“Thank you Nahida, you don’t know how much that means to me, coming from you.” Kaveh was grinning ear to ear, all his nervousness and tension from needing to talk to an Archon suddenly washed away, as if there was none to begin with. Nahida just smiled.

“Are you here to help us locate our missing Grand Sage? 🎶” She asked playfully.

“Well, yes. In a manner of speaking.” He responded hesitantly.

“Whatever you wish to discuss is fine Kaveh, I promise. 🎶” Kaveh was shocked at how well she could read him, he was used to Alhaitham being able to read him like an open book but this was as if she could read his mind.

“Thank you Nahida.” He smiled. “How much do you know about Alhaitham, and umm, has he ever mentioned me?” He asked tentatively.

“I know you two met in the Akademiya as students. You were the only person he was ever close to and you had a terrible argument that led to the dissolution of your friendship over a project regarding affordable housing. 🎶” Kaveh nodded and allowed Nahida to continue.

“I also know that both of you are without familiar attachments, and that Alhaitham grew up in the care of his grandmother, who herself was a scholar, after the untimely death of both his parents who were considered to be prodigies. 🎶” Nahida said with a sad look on her face.

“I know at some point Alhaitham and you managed to fix your relationship after you moved in together before you began your romantic relationship. 🎶” Kaveh sighed Alhaitham taking him in was meant to have been a secret, Sumeru’s worst kept secret, he blamed Alhaitham but knew it was likely himself that let the secret slip time and time again.

“I know you still live together and according to Alhaitham you are the only person allowed to annoy him, he’s the only person allowed to annoy you and you’re the only person he could ever love. 🎶” Kaveh’s heart fluttered hearing that, why can’t Alhaitham say these things directly to me?! He thought slightly jealously.

“He also said you’re the only person that could ever unfortunately love him and put up with him. Those are his words not mine. 🎶” She laughed, as did Kaveh. Alhaitham always got on his nerves, as he did his. Their bickering was something he missed, Alhaitham’s busy schedule meant little time to spend together, and he didn’t want to squander that time arguing about pointless things. How stupid am I? I miss him so much I am missing his annoying habits.Kaveh thought to himself before trying to feign a smile.

“That sums it up nicely.” Kaveh nodded.

“You seem sad Kaveh. 🎶” Nahida suddenly interjected. Can she actually read my mind? Kaveh thought in a brief panic.

“I am a little sad, Nahida. I’ve barely seen Alhaitham the last few weeks. Maybe on a good day we get twenty minutes of quality time together. The last week he’s almost been fighting off a cold, so even during the few moments he has to rest, he can’t.” He felt childish complaining to an Archon about this. Nahida patiently listened though nodding along as Kaveh vented.

“I did notice he seemed a bit quieter the last few days. I had heard him sneezing a few times around the Akademiya over the last week but didn’t think much of it at the time. I didn’t realise Alhaitham was sick, he should’ve told me so he could’ve gotten some rest, I don’t want my Grand Sage to have his health negatively impacted by work. 🎶” She said, sounding disappointed in herself for missing the clues her Grand Sage was unwell.

“Actually Nahida, that’s way I came to talk to you about, well… kind of..” He hesitated not exactly sure where to start this conversation.

“This is a safe space Kaveh. 🎶” Nahida once against reassured him. Kaveh genuinely smiled as he continued.

“Alhaitham handed in his resignation some months back, at least that is what he told me, why hasn’t a new Grand Sage been appointed?” He asked directly, he then watched Nahida for her response. She almost looked a bit nervous she brought her hands to her chest.

“The old Grand Sage Azar, even many of the Grand Sages before him had me imprisoned in this room.” Kaveh had known a little about her story, but the word ‘imprisoned’ coming from Nahida’s lips made rage well up inside him, and he wanted to personality whack Azar over the head with his claymore.

“I doubt that would happen again, but I want a Grand Sage I can truly trust and work with, to help continue Sumeru’s commitment to knowledge, wisdom and the countries prosperity🎶. Preferably someone who isn’t particularly ambitious, that I don’t need to worry about potentially trying to overthrow me again, someone who is wise and insightful in their own ways. 🎶 Doesn’t that sound like someone we both know? 🎶” She rhetorically asked playfully.

“Ideally, Kaveh, I’d like to do whatever needs to be done to keep Alhaitham as the Grand Sage permanently. 🎶” She sighed. “However, if he is miserable and truly wishes to return to being Scribe then maybe it is selfish of me to ask that of him, after all he needs to be able to live the way he wishes, I don’t want to keep him locked up either. Seems cruel to reward him for his part in my rescue by putting him in a cage of his own. Hmmm. 🎶” She pondered, her expression looked sad, which began breaking Kaveh’s heart a little.

“I think maybe there is a way for both of you to get what you want.” Kaveh intervened in her train of thought.

“Oh! I am all ears! 🎶” She said excitedly, almost jumping for joy.

“This is what I suggest..” Kaveh and Nahida talked for sometime about the changes that would be required to encourage Alhaitham to stay and rescind his resignation. Kaveh explained the difficulties he had been having, Nahida listened intently nodding as he talked. Kaveh further explained, to be kept between just the two of them, what he suspected had happened and that Alhaitham, while extremely capable had never sought leadership positions for exactly this reason. Throughout the conversation Nahida listened carefully, understanding and appreciating the suggestions and concerns Kaveh had.

“What do you think?” He finally asked.

“I think all of that is more than reasonable. 🎶” She said with a smile, tilting her head to the side. “Should we put it in writing? 🎶” She asked. Having the discussion documented worried Kaveh a little, he already thought there would be possible backlash of him overstepping. Alhaitham didn’t need someone to fight for him after all and maybe Kaveh had asked for too much.

“Hmm, I think this would be better,” he reached out his hand. “Let’s shake on it.” He smiled gently.

“OH! Better yet! 🎶” Nahida exclaimed as she locked her tiny pinky finger with Kaveh’s. “Pinky swear! 🎶” She giggled cutely.

“Pinky swear!” Kaveh replied and they gently shook interlocked their pinkies tightly. Kaveh felt so much joy being with Nahida. But looking around the room he also felt immense sadness. It was a beautiful structure no doubt, but the interior didn’t reflect anything of Nahida’s personality, tastes or wisdom. It just felt cold, empty and lonely, I guess that is the point of a gilded cage. He sadly considered. Nahida noticed him looking around the room deep in thought.

“Now you have your freedom Nahida, why do you choose to stay in here?” He asked, maybe a little too bluntly.

“Oh, well, this is the home I’ve always had I suppose. 🎶 I am now free to come and go as I please but it is nice to have somewhere to call home right? 🎶”

“Yes, that is true.” Kaveh thought back when Alhaitham first took him in, and the nice feeling of when he started calling it home, rather than Alhaitham’s house.

“Does it make you sad Kaveh? 🎶” Nahida asked, as she gently placed her small hand on top of Kaveh’s soft blond hair.

“A little, but if it is home for you, that is what matters. It just doesn’t seem to reflect you at all.” Kaveh looked around, his artist sensibilities considering all the changes he would make if he had been in charge of the initial designs.

“Nahida, you mentioned earlier you like my artist tastes?” Kaveh queried.

“Yes, very much so. 🎶” She chirped, softly grinning, already knowing what Kaveh was going to ask next. “Why? 🎶”

“It just… I am sorry for being so presumptuous but it feels so lonely and cold in here. This room is your home, yet it doesn’t have any trace of you around, well, except maybe the beautiful green tiling which matches your dress. But even still, don’t you think a brighter colour would suit it more? Something warm like a shade of pink or yellow to compliment the cool greens…” Kaveh began rambling off all the different possibilities that would make the room a nicer place.

“Are you suggesting you want to redesign the Sanctuary of Surasthana? 🎶” Nahida asked with a gentle smile locking her hands together behind her back.

“Yes, if I may be so bold. I want to bring some of your personality into this room, where it seems to be lacking it from my perspective. But I shouldn’t impose my own tastes onto you.” Kaveh laughed.

“If Alhaitham was here right now he would scoff at me and drag me out of here for letting my emotions dictate my thoughts.” Nahida watched as the thought of a simple interaction with Alhaitham lit up Kaveh’s face.

“Kaveh, there is nothing wrong with your emotions dictating your thoughts and I would be delighted to commission you to redesign the Sanctuary of Surasthana. 🎶” She responded warmly with a giggle.

“R-Really?!” Kaveh’s eyes lit up brightly, Nahida appreciated the beautiful shimmer his carmine eyes gained at the thought of being able to redesign her room.

“Yes, Kaveh it would be my honour. When things have settled down I’ll speak to the Grand Sage about allocating some funds for you. 🎶” Kaveh was about to open his mouth and politely refuse to take a single mora but Nahida quickly put her hand out in front of her.

“Don’t even think about trying to do this without taking payment, Kaveh. I’ve heard about your kindness, but I wish not to take advantage of that. It is kind enough you wish to assist me with your artist talents. I won’t allow this to proceed without a fair contract of payment. 🎶” She put her hands on her hips and looked at him sternly, well as sternly as a very cute young Archon can look anyway.

Kaveh smiled gently. No way he’d be able to argue with her, especially with that adorable face. He held out his pinky again.

“Deal.” Nahida smiled, her eyes lighting up as she excitedly did a second pinky swear with Kaveh.

“Well, now that is settled, I better go get my - I mean, I better go find Alhaitham.” Kaveh stumbled on his words, he was going to say something more intimate but stopped himself. He stood up, still grinning at Nahida.

“It was a true honour to meet you Nahida, I sincerely hope we can spend time together in the future. I’d love to have you over for dinner one night, just for fun, if that is something you would enjoy.” He offered, Nahida instantly accepted with a smile, and walked Kaveh to the door.

“Kaveh,” she paused before curiously asking. “Where do you think Alhaitham is? 🎶” She asked. Kaveh smiled and put his finger to his lips.

“Sorry, that is a secret only I am allowed to know.” Nahida smiled, she nodded and respected that, not using her powers to pry further, even if Kaveh would be none the wiser. She happily waved him off as he walked back towards the main Akademiya building.

As Kaveh walked through the Akademiya’s massive collections he reminisced the times he had studied in the same halls with Alhaitham in their younger years. He smiled recalling the many times he sketched Alhaitham from afar without his knowledge, even during the times they weren’t speaking. He got to the elevator in the centre of the room. Upwards led towards the house of Daena, the Grand Sage’s office, but instead of going up he went down to the basement. It was a bit grungy down there but it was quiet. There were a lot of restricted areas down there, mostly file storage and a few empty admin offices. Most importantly there was a room that he and Alhaitham had frequented as student, it was a quiet and dusty space where the Akademiya kept old records and old research materials that had be archived. It was generally off limited to students, but upon special request to the Akademiya’s Scribe student were allowed to gain access.

Kaveh remembered the first time he had found Alhaitham holed up in the room. It wasn’t a pleasant memory, he was in quite the state by the time Kaveh had found him. He half hoped he wouldn’t be in there, but likewise half hoped he would so he could comfort him. He fished out a lock-pick from his pocket, it was the same one he had used a few times as a student to get in when he knew Alhaitham was hiding inside. The door clicked open and as he suspected he saw Alhaitham sitting in the dark, eyes closed tightly, his hands firmly gripping over his ears, his knees brought up to his chest. He scanned the room, vaguely noticing the crumpled tissues scattered around the floor and a strange metallic green something in the corner of the room. How many years has it been since I have been in here with Haitham? Kaveh wondered before quietly closing the door. He used his foot to push some of the tissues on the floor aside before sitting beside him. Placing his hand on the side of his leg, causing Alhaitham to jump slightly, cracking open his eyes in surprise. He wasn’t expecting anyone to find him, guess if anyone was going to, it would be Kaveh. I can’t believe he remembered this place. He thought.

Alhaitham went to open his mouth to speak but Kaveh put a finger to his lips. Before he moved his hands to sign.

“I can see you fine even though it is dark, want to sign?” Alhaitham nodded and sniffed, slowly removing his hands from his ears. Kaveh instantly noticed his headphones were missing. But he had definitely been wearing them when he had left this morning, where are they now? Kaveh looked a little panicked before asking.

“Where are your headphones?” Kaveh signed. He watched as the question seem to bother Alhaitham he put one hand to his face in frustration and used the other to point to the corner of the room where the headphones lay broken. Alhaitham began signing to explain further before he felt the need to sneeze come out of nowhere, he quickly grabbed a few tissues to sneeze into.

“Hh’..Hah’GSSChuuH! Hh’hyt’GSSChuu! TSS’Chh! H’gCHht! Hhn’Yss-CHUHH! Snrff..Uhh..snnf.” He groaned. His sneezes sounded more wet that before and he looked miserable as he blew his nose.

“Oh Haitham, you sound worse.” Kaveh signed. But Alhaitham shook his head. Gesturing to the old boxes of archived files surrounding them.

“The dust is making it worse.” He signed tiredly before pausing and blowing his nose again.

“I was already having a crappy day before that happened.” He signed, giving special emphasis to that and pointing to the broken headphones laying in the corner.

“I came down here for some quiet to try and fix them but got frustrated, overwhelmed and instead had a sensory overload episode. You can guess the rest.” He finished signing, looking exhausted and gloomy.

“Do you want to tell me what happened?” Kaveh asked, he could tell he was a bit rusty with the Sumeru Sign Language. He had learnt it for the sole purposed of communicating with Alhaitham during times like this, when he was suffering from sensory overload, in fact when he learnt about Haitham’s tendency to suffer sensory issues he was the one that suggested they both learn. Aside from the silent nature of the language, the movement of Kaveh’s hands tended to help calm Haitham down a bit faster than just sitting in silence or communicating via written words ever seemed to. 

“Firstly,” Alhaitham signed hesitantly, avoiding eye contact with Kaveh. “I am only signing this once okay?” He gave Kaveh a deadpan look sighing. Kaveh waited, he wasn’t sure where Alhaitham was going.

“You were right.” He signed speedily immediately looking away. Kaveh grinned, but tried to hold back the urge to gloat.

“About?” He signed slowly. Receiving a death glare from Alhaitham.

“If I have to sign it out for you then I take it back.” He huffed, looking away again.

“I’m joking. I’m joking.” Kaveh said unconsciously out loud while he laughed a little, but tried to do it as quietly as possible. “Sorry, I couldn’t help myself, if it is any consolation I didn’t want to be right about this. We haven’t been in here together for years.” He signed, giving Alhaitham a sympathetic look.

“Not since we were students.” Alhaitham signed back, returning his gaze to Kaveh. “I love you, my precious senior Kaveh.” Kaveh grinned ear to ear.

“I love you too, my adorable junior Alhaitham.” He signed before placing his hand on the side of Haitham’s cheek. Haitham leaned in to the touch of his senior’s hand briefly before Kaveh continued to sign.

“Want to tell me what happened?” He asked continuing their tradition of signing to one another. Haitham nodded and began explain his awful day with his hands. Starting with a meeting he felt too burnt out to contribute to, after he wanted to escape the noise of the Akademiya and go somewhere quiet for just thirty minutes. It would’ve been enough to get him through the day. But unlike what Panah had said to Kaveh about him walking into someone, the real story was a bit worse. Alhaitham explained that a teacher had been trying to chase him down for something, he had his noise cancelling on and was trying to get away, since he knew it wouldn’t be related to either his position as Acting Grand Sage or as Scribe. Yet they were so desperate to ask Alhaitham they yanked his headphones off so he could hear them and they fell to the ground, smashing apart. Kaveh let out a sympathetic and frustrated sigh after Alhaitham finished signing. While the younger sniffled and grabbed a few more tissues to sneeze into.

“Heh’ISSs—shyuu! Hhi’Hh…Hn’TSSChuu! Hh-H’tSCHh’uh!”

“Bless you.” Kaveh signed once he knew Alhaitham could see. “What was left of the teacher after that?” He asked presuming that Alhaitham might have lost it.

“I didn’t have the energy at that point to do anything, he’s lucky, otherwise I might have pulled out my sword and used the dull side to whack his head.” He groaned as he continued signing.

“I did give him a murderous look, so he ran off looking terrified.” He added. Shrugging. “I still don’t know what he was trying to ask me about, but I know he shouldn’t have been asking me any-” He sudden stopped signing midway through a word.

“Hhaah’TSSCHH! Hn’Ttsschnn! HhI’hhI’TSCHhi!” Sitting in a tiny unventilated dusty room wasn’t the smartest idea he was beginning to realise.

“..I’m so tired Kaveh.” He signed before looking up teary and exhausted. Kaveh could tell he had cried earlier and the fact he was beginning to get teary again was a bad sign, even during a sensory overload episode.

“I know.” Kaveh signed back.“You officially have the rest of the week off at least. Five whole days to rest including the remainder of today.”

“Wait, what?” Alhaitham replied this time verbally. He sounded astonished and confused. Kaveh wasn’t sure whether that meant Alhaitham was ready to talk or if he was so surprised it had just come out like that.

“Do you still want to sign?” Kaveh asked in sign before continuing. Alhaitham shook his head.

“No, I think I’m alright the ringing in my ears has died down from when I first came in here, having you here helps.” He spoke gently and softly.

“If we’re not signing anymore, did you want to lay down on my lap and close your eyes a little?” Asked Kaveh as he patted his legs with a soft smile. Alhaitham didn’t have to think twice before he shifted himself to be lying down on Kaveh. Blowing his nose again before he lay down and got comfortable.

“Probably not as comfortable doing this here, then at home.” Kaveh softly laughed the floor was concrete, dusty and cold. He began rubbing his hands through Alhaitham’s hair, he could feel some of the tension easing.

“So, you said I had the rest of the week off, I am curious as to how this change in my busy schedule occurred?” Alhaitham questioned Kaveh.

“Yes, well, I have quite the story for you too.” Kaveh laughed.

“Panah arrived knocking on our door in some distress when they couldn’t find you. It didn’t take me long to figure out that you might be here, I wasn’t one hundred percent certain, but I was ninety nine percent certain.” Alhaitham hummed at Kaveh, happy he knew him well enough to find him.

“Good thing I know all of my precious juniors favourite hiding spots. Hmm?”  Alhaitham didn’t respond but Kaveh felt him smile against his leg so continued.

“I told Panah that the only way I’d tell anyone where you were was if I was allowed to speak to Nahida first.” At this Haitham sprung up from Kaveh’s lap and turned to Kaveh in surprise.  

“What?” He exclaimed, before realising like the sudden movement had kicked up the dust on the floor.

“Hh’huuuh, hih’uh…h’hh!! H’ISs’Chuuh! Hh’hIGChuu!! Heh’hh’h’huuh!-GYISs’SCHUUH! Heh’hh-heh’IGSHCHHUU!” Kaveh silently passed him a tissue, the dust was definitely making his cold worse. Kaveh wanted to suggest they leave but he didn’t want to force Alhaitham to leave the comfort of the dark silence. As Alhaitham finished blowing his nose again he repeated his question slightly calmer and more congested.

“What?”

“Don’t be angry.” Kaveh quickly added. Putting his hands up reflexively.

“I’m not angry but, what? I’m a little confused, also did you just call Lord Kusanali Nahida?”

“She told me to call her Nahida, she insisted in fact. Does she not ask you to?” Alhaitham sighed, his tired, sneeze-shaken and overloaded brain was still playing catch up.

“She does and I do. Please continue.” He focused his sharp teal and tangerine eyes on Kaveh. Making the older gulp at the intense way his boyfriend was looking at him. He had to force himself to focus his brain back to the subject at hand.

“I know I probably overstepped, but I’ll explain everything, so please don’t say anything until I finish.” Kaveh said sounded reluctant to tell the story, he was convinced his boyfriend was about to get mad at him.

“Panah told me everyone was frantic that you had missed an important meeting about the Fatui in the region. He himself said Nahida was very worried for your safety. I demanded to speak to Nahida because I knew if anyone would be able to get through to her on your behalf I could.” He paused and cautiously looked at Alhaitham, he was listening intently but so far didn’t look upset.

“She very happily agreed to see me, we hit it off actually, she’s very cute.” He chuckled to himself recalling her cute personality.

“I told her about your various concerns, about how things at the Akademiya weren’t functioning. Your issues with the way Azar had previous run things, the way she hadn’t accepted your resignation, but simultaneously hadn’t thought to appoint a new Scribe. She agreed all of these things were an issue.” Alhaitham reacted to that with a surprised expression, he didn’t expect that to have gotten through. Maybe Kaveh could communicate better with her on a personal level. He pondered. He looked up at Kaveh who looked nervous and gave him a small but gentle smile.

“Please co-ContHin HiiH’hh Hg’GSSchuu! Ahuh!-A-Archons…Hah’IGSSSchuu! Hn’GSSchhh! Ugh…snnf…Please continue, Kaveh.” He said softly. Kaveh felt his heart warm and ache simultaneously my poor sick Haitham he mused.

“I asked her, why she hadn’t accepted your resignation. I am sure it comes as no surprise to you that she has some trust issues surrounding Grand Sages as this point. She really wants you to stay on Haitham.” Kaveh sighed. “She wants you to stay so much, that she was willing to make a few concessions to make things more manageable.” Kaveh continued.

“Oh?” Alhaitham sniffed, his curiosity sparked. “Did you specifically ask, or were these her suggestions.”

“A little of both actually,” Kaveh hesitated. “I tried thinking about everything you’d told me these part few weeks. I wanted to ask for changes that would make your life easier, but also make enjoyable for you to do the job of Grand Sage. In turn, making it easier to Nahida to be Archon with a trustworthy and competent Grand Sage by her side.” 

“Oh? What were these changes?” Alhaitham asked, curious about what Kaveh thought, they often didn’t see eye to eye, so he wasn’t without his concerns. Though he acknowledged Kaveh was proving how well he knew him in his time of need.

“Firstly, I asked for you to get a proper assistant. Not a matra, but an actual assistant. I also informed her that if you were to stay as Grand Sage, she would need to replace you as Scribe, preferably by someone of your choosing. That it would also be beneficial to have a second assistant to help adjust the rest of the sages and personnel to your leadership and management style. Essentially the second assistant wouldn’t assist you but would be there to intervene on your behalf to teach people to manage their own time and roles rather than relying on you to micromanage them.” Alhaitham’s face didn’t shift at all, his eyes laser focused on Kaveh, not letting even the slightest of emotions show.

“On top of that,”

“Hn’nGt! H’kngXt! H’ngSch! H’gSxt! Hi’Gt-CHt!” 

“S-should we get out of here Haitham?” Kaveh finally asked as he watched Haitham pinch his nose to stifle more sneezes. But his junior just shook his head and gestured him to continue while using another tissue to cover his nose in the hope it might protect him from the dust.

“I suggested that your consultation and meeting hours be limited to between 10am and 2pm. This way you would have time either side of the day to get work that only the Grand Sage can do completed without having to take any home. I also thought that the 2pm cut off would limit the amount of last minute request you would receive. I also suggested, that rather than just Panah you have a Corps of Thirty member escort you around the Akademiya, not for your protection but to stop people from needlessly bothering you with useless problems that aren’t your responsibility to solve.” Kaveh paused, giving a look to Alhaitham’s precious headphones broken in two.

“It would probably avoid situations like today happening again. Finally, I told Nahida that if she wishes for you to be Grand Sage then she needs to acknowledge the fact you don’t like leadership positions, don’t have any upward ambition and therefore would need a lot of space to just do your own thing. When you wanted to get involved in something further you would, likewise if you didn’t want to get involved with something at all you wouldn’t.” Kaveh finished, sheepishly looked up at Alhaitham who was still covering his nose with a tissue, giving absolutely no signs of how he felt about all of this.

“I wish you’d say something.” Kaveh mumbled looking down at the floor. “You’re making me nervous.”

“You told me not to say anything until you were finished.” Alhaitham sniffed, removing the tissue from his face to talk.

“I’ve finished! So please say something.” Kaveh said crossing his arms and making a scoffing sound. Kaveh braced himself for being told off, I had asked for too much, I had been unreasonable, Haitham didn’t like being in anyone’s debt, let alone an Archon’s, he didn’t want the job anyway this was a big mistake. He began to panic but before he could say anything Alhaitham closed the space between them and locked Kaveh into a passionate kiss. When the kiss finished Alhaitham didn’t pull away but rested his forehead against Kaveh’s.

“Thank you Kaveh.” He said continuing to rest his head against Kaveh, who felt a bit speechless.

“That’s it?” He asked.

“What do you mean? Was my sincere thank you and affection not enough?” Asked Alhaitham incredulously, pulling away from Kaveh and raising his eyebrow.

“No- I mean Yes argh! Your thank you was amazing.” Kaveh said a little flustered. “I just thought you’d be annoyed at me for requesting all that from Nahida.” He said hesitantly.

“No Kaveh, I am not upset, I am incredibly grateful and touched.” Alhaitham said sincerely. Only Kaveh knew this side of him, it didn’t always come out, Alhaitham himself understood why Kaveh thought he could get angry.

“Those request you made not only show how well you understand me as a person but that you were listening and thinking about how to solve my problems. I appreciate the thought truly.” Alhaitham looked at Kaveh with love as he sighed.

“Even if Nahida conceded to one or two of those things…Hhh’hHI’CHht! nGt! Hn’GSs-chnn!..snnrf. It would significantly improve the situation.” He mumbled tiredly between sneezes.

“Even if?” Kaveh laughed, realising he hadn’t actually told him Nahida’s response. Alhaitham moved closer to Kaveh again.

“What?” He asked sniffing, as Kaveh put his hands on either side of Alhaitham’s cheeks. Kaveh really wanted to kiss Alhaitham’s poor red nose seeing it up close, but thought better of it in case it set him off sneezing again.

“She agreed to all of it Haitham.” Kaveh said as he watched Alhaitham’s reaction and expression change.

“Nahida wants to keep you as Grand Sage so much she was willing to make as many changes as needed, she thought everything I suggested was very reasonab-” Alhaitham had rudely cut off his senior mid sentence as he embraced him tightly,  kissing him again. After breaking from their kiss Alhaitham kept on holding onto Kaveh who gently embraced him back.

“Kaveh.” Was all Alhaitham said. It was gentle and the tone filled with love and gratitude. They sat in silence embracing each other for a while before Kaveh excitedly interrupted the silence.

“Oooh! OOH! Nahida is going to hire me to redesign the Sanctuary of Surasthana! Don’t you think it is terribly gloomy in there? Imagine spending hundreds of years trapped in their by your own people! I am so mad at them and how dare Azar try and create his own Archon! He’s obviously insane! I can’t believe he got off so easily! Why did they think she needed replacing anyway! She is so wise and Haiiithaaam she is so cute! She is literally like a living doll.” Kaveh ranted animatedly as Alhaitham continued the embrace. Smiling to himself and thinking how wonderful Kaveh was, even when he was ranting. Alhaitham silently squeezed him a bit tighter as he spoke.

“Okay, I should stop before I give you more sensory overload.” Kaveh said softly. “Sorry, didn’t mean to get so excited.” Alhaitham let go of Kaveh, and shook his head gently.

“I know over twenty languages and yet don’t have enough words to describe how much I love you right now. Thank you and I love you doesn’t seem like enough.” His sharp eyes and his smile genuine giving Kaveh a giddy feeling of happiness.

“I love you too Alhaitham.” Kaveh whispered, initiating a brief kiss. “Shall we head home? Let’s get out of this dusty room.” He offered. Alhaitham sighed and looked down at the floor as his eyes moved to his broken headphones.

“It’s is still daylight, I presume, if we try and leave now I’ll get hit with more sensory overload. I don’t particularly want to have another episode or worse break down in front of people at the Akademiya. Wouldn’t be a good look for the new Grand Sage.” He sighed, Alhaitham would rather stay in this dusty room sneezing than return home to comfort if it meant avoiding random onlookers gawking at his state.

“I’d rather wait until it is quiet, so we can sneak out of here without me feeling the need to walk through the Akademiya with my hands covering my ears.” Kaveh understood and nodded.

“You’ve been amazing today Kaveh. Thank you for understanding.” Suddenly Kaveh remembered he had packed the prototype he’d be working on into his briefcase, specifically for this in mind.

“Hold that thought Alhaitham, I thiiink I can do better!” Kaveh declared energetically, grabbing and opening his briefcase which accidentally kicked up more dust immediately setting off Alhaitham.

“Hhh’huuh-hah…Th’GTSSchnt! Hn’TSSChhn! TschH’uH!”

“Sorry…” Kaveh said sheepishly before continuing to excitedly show Alhaitham what he had been working on.

“You’ll forgive me when you see what I have been working on! This as a prototype for you, I honestly don’t know who else would have a practical use for this in daily life.” He said as he pulled out a long hooded green trench coat. It was the same shade of green as Alhaitham’s eyes, with orange accents to match. Alhaitham raised his eyebrow, before blowing his nose, he was certain that there had to be something more special to the trench coat than it seemed currently for Kaveh to be this proud of it.

“I think a great many people would have a use for a long trench coat, but maybe not as much in the warmer climates of Sumeru.” Alhaitham commented matter of factly, as he ran his fingers against the material. It was lighter than it looked, but yet somehow looked thick.

“It isn’t exactly what it looks like, here, get up and try it on.” Kaveh said as he hastily stood up and pulled his taller boyfriend up with him.

“Hn’GTSSChuu! Hah’GS’SCHH!” He sniffed wetly as he reached for the last tissue he had. Damn he thought to himself. Kaveh didn’t wait for even a second before he began putting the coat on Alhaitham, pleased when he saw his measurements had been accurate, Alhaitham with his broad shoulder and amazing chest looked a bit silly in the trench coat, especially with the hood up. The sleeves were too long they went right down to and even covered the end of Alhaitham’s fingertips and the bottom of the coat touched the floor.

“It’s a bit too long.” He muttered, sniffing, still a bit baffled by Kaveh’s excitement, he must’ve been missing some special feature of the material, maybe it is very durable or resident to certain elements, maybe it is magical and repels stupid people, wouldn’t that be wonderful. He considered, smiling to himself.

“It isn’t too long, I designed it that way intentionally.” Kaveh said as he moved between the tips of the sleeves and the bottom of the coat and the way the hood covered Alhaitham’s entire face while Alhaitham just stood there looking perplexed beneath the hood, sniffling.

“Want me to pass you a tissue?” Kaveh asked without looking up as he checked that the coat was meeting all the requirements he had in his head, slowly ticking them off one by one.  

“Ran out.” Haitham responded with another loud sniff.

“Unfortunate.” Kaveh said simply as he finished the checks, happy with how it was sitting. Alhaitham couldn’t help but smile at his curt response, it was amazing watching how passionate he was about the coat he created. If nothing else special the coat made Alhaitham feel Kaveh’s love. He carefully stood up paying extra attention to not kick up the dust.

“Now, keep in mind it isn’t one hundred percent finished,” Kaveh added. “I was preparing this for our anniversary.” He fished out a small mirror from his briefcase and positioned himself in a way that Haitham could see from under the hood, he held it up for Alhaitham to see himself.

“What do you think? How do you look?” He asked grinning ear to ear. Alhaitham saw himself in the mirror, well he saw mostly just the green trench coat, the hood was so big he couldn’t even see his face with it up. He was honestly a bit lost, but Kaveh did like to invent and design interesting things, he was sure that there had to be more to this than it just being an oversized trench coat.

“No comment? Okay.” Kaveh said cheekily, almost pleased by Alhaitham’s lack of response. He turned the mirror around so there was nothing reflected. Before Alhaitham even had a chance to catch his thoughts and respond he heard a soft clicking sound and Kaveh’s face lit up with the smuggest grin he’d seen on him in some time.

“Okay, but how do you look now.” He asked smirking as he held up the mirror again, but Alhaitham couldn’t respond, because he actually couldn’t see anything, it was just blurry like the mirror was reflecting nothing at all.

“Kaveh...I…” Alhaitham was literally speechless.

“Speechless?” Kaveh asked beaming with pride, “I can’t see you by the way, but I could hear you saying my name! Aaaa I wish I could see your face right now.” He said, as he clicked something again and was then able to once again see his junior. He pulled back the hood to see his face. Alhaitham looked flabbergasted, which was not an expression Kaveh had seen on him before.

“How?” He eventually managed to ask as he ran his hands over the material again.

“I was out visiting Tighnari a month ago, and he had been complaining about an increase of Fatui presence in Avidya forest. I offered to help, when we got there it didn’t take us long to clear them out and I had knocked the Pyro Fatui Agent unconscious-”

“Hhh-H’hNGs-chhn! Hn’GnKt-chnn!.. Urgn Sorry please continue.” Alhaitham said sniffling, becoming increasingly desperate for a tissue he looked down at the sleeve of the coat considering wiping his nose on that before Kaveh continued with saying.

“If you wipe your nose on my prototype I will be very upset, one second.” he sighed, as he undid the blue sash he used as a belt around his slim waist. “Here. Use this.” Alhaitham blushed, feeling a little bad for having to wipe his nose on a part of Kaveh’s favourite outfit. But it was soft and at least pleasant to wipe his sore nose on.

“Sorry..” He said embarrassed.

“Don’t worry about it Haitham, I’ll wash it later. I don’t think washing the coat is possible currently though, so for now until I confirm, please keep it clean.” He insisted.   

“Where was I?… Right, Tighnari was busy complaining how annoying the agent were because they would spin fire around and how often that would result in accidental forest fires, but I was fascinated by his jacket. After all the Fatui agents don’t have visions, they have delusions, and it occurred to me that the jacket might be special since they are able to become invisible. So after we finished them off, I stripped him of his clothing and took it all back home with me to see if I could replicate the technology. It took me a while to work it out, and I wasn’t able to replicate it exactly, but TA-DA!” He beamed proudly ear to ear raising his hands to present the coat.

“This was around the time when you’d began getting stressed from your duties as Grand Sage. I thought if I could get it working properly, you could use it to go on breaks and not be disturbed. Okay! So now tell me, what do you think?” Kaveh waited with baited breath.

“I am speechless.” Alhaitham still needed more time to gather his thoughts. Kaveh waited patiently for Alhaitham to continue as he confidently grinned ear to ear.

“You’re right, aside from me, I am not sure who else would have use for something like this. But this is truly genius, not to mention, snnf, incredibly thoughtful. I’m very impressed. My precious Kshahrewar Senior Kaveh.” He replied cheekily. Kaveh seemed to grin even more if that was even possible.

“Alright, ready to get out of here then? Let’s take it for a test run,” He paused, he didn’t want to push Alhaitham to leave if he wasn’t ready, bit he knew going home would vastly improve his recovery.

“Yes, let return home.” Alhaitham said softly.

“When Nahida asked where I thought you were I told her it was a secret. I didn’t want your spot to be found. So let’s see if we can get you home using this, without anyone being any the wiser that you in fact hadn’t left the Akademiya at all.” Kaveh reached out his hand, which Alhaitham gently took smiling.

“You’re going to let this go to your head aren’t you?” Haitham laughed.

“Absolutely, and since this is my anniversary present to you, yours better be just as good!” He quipped, “Also, since I rescued you and your job, you owe me drinks.” He snickered as he walked over to the broken headphones on the floor gently picking them up and putting them in his briefcase. He turned towards the door, before turning towards Alhaitham and putting his fingers to his lips.

“Don’t forget to be quiet,” He whispered as he reactivated the invisibility. “If you’re not already, put your hands over your ears so the noise doesn’t get to you. I can’t see you either so, no trying to scare me okay!” He exclaimed before turning to the door again and opening it quietly peeking out.

“Coast is clear, let’s go!” He excitedly whispered Alhaitham smiled as he followed behind Kaveh invisibly. He could tell Kaveh was getting wrapped up in the fun and adventure of his latest invention and that was very attractive to Alhaitham, it took all his self control to stop him from grabbing Kaveh to kiss him while invisible. 

They quietly exited the room and went in the elevator. Kaveh sent it to the highest floor so he could pretend he had gone up there to look for Alhaitham as to not give away his hiding spot. Kaveh could hear Alhaitham sniffling next to him.  

“Shhh.” Kaveh reiterated. “You’re invisible but I can still hear you.”

As they continued riding up Alhaitham cheekily reached for Kaveh’s hand to hold which startled him, causing Kaveh to yelp, a deep laugh to escape from Alhaitham just as the doors began to open, he quickly covered his mouth to make it stop. Panah rushed to the open elevator door hoping it would be the Grand Sage, instead seeing Kaveh. So he asked if Kaveh had seen the Grand Sage, Kaveh smiled.

“Yes, he was feeling under the weather, Lord Kusanali has allowed him to rest for a few days at home. She and I had an excellent talk.”

“If he’s at home, why are you up here?” Asked Panah. Kaveh confidently walked to Alhaitham’s desk and grabbed a few random documents.

“Hn’xt! Hng’t! hiDt-CHt!” Kaveh rolled his eyes, he was lucky he was facing away from Panah, he was sure Alhaitham had tried his best to stop the sneezes but stifling them was the best he was able to do in the end. Kaveh also recognised the jingling of the metal accessories attached to the belt he had given him to use as a massive handkerchief.

“Oh NO! I must be catching Alhaitham’s cold!” Kaveh exclaimed awkwardly over acting, he was an atrocious lair and he knew Alhaitham would be laughing at him for this later.

“Anyway, to answer your question, he told me to grab this for him so he could consider the proposals over the next week days. Anyway I better head back. I wouldn’t want to get you sick Panah.” Kaveh said hoping that would be a believable white lie. He rushed back to the elevator hoping Alhaitham was in there and said his goodbyes to Panah. As the doors to the elevator were closed Alhaitham lent down slightly to whispered.

“Smooth.” In Kaveh’s ear, eliciting another startled scream and playful scowl from his senior.

“Don’t make me regret being thoughtful!” Kaveh threatened, when he heard Alhaitham chuckle.

The walk home was silent, Alhaitham held his hands tightly over his ears so he could manage the noisy Akademiya and crowded streets of Sumeru city without his noise cancelling headphones. Kaveh unlocked the door for them both and let them both in, he held the door open a little longer than normal not entirely sure if Alhaitham was there or not. But suddenly, felt a pinch of his side.

“EE! Stop that!” He cried out, as Alhaitham’s laugh echoed throughout their house. He clicked the button to turn off the stealth technology. To see his boyfriends laughing face, despite the tiredness and his cold, he looked pretty happy at this particular moment. But elicited a playful ‘Aww’ from Alhaitham as he carefully took off the jacket.

“Give it back so I can finish it off, I want to sew the button in and make some minor adjustments here and there.” Alhaitham carefully handed it back. Legitimately excited for it to be properly finished to Kaveh’s expectations of perfection.

“Do you want this back?” Asked Alhaitham as he held out the blue sash before his eyes flutter and he quickly put it against his face and sneezed into it.

“Hn’GSsCHn! Hh’GnKt—chhn!…snnf…S-sorry. Never mind.” He looked up embarrassed again, and Kaveh who just shook his head and shrugged.

“Yeah, you can hold onto that until we find you some more tissues. I am in no rush to put that back on at this point. Maybe instead of an oversized invisibility coat I should make you a set of simple handkerchiefs” He teased.

“That would be wasted on me I am rarely sick like this,” Haitham scoffed. “On the other hand I am a very antisocial person so an invisibility jacket is much more useful. Thank you again Kaveh.” He finished softly as he walked towards Kaveh to embrace him.

Finally home, knowing he didn’t have work for a few days, the stress and overwhelming feeling of the build up so his sensory overload began to lift and Alhaitham let out a loud and tired yawn.

“Want to go have a nap?” Kaveh asked, rubbing his back as they continued the embrace.

“I thought you’d never ask.” Alhaitham replied. They finished up their embrace, both taking off their very dusty clothing, before climbing into their bed and taking one of the best naps Alhaitham had ever had in his life.