Work Text:
Alhaitham doesn’t know if it’s the extra work of his new (temporary) position adding to his irritability, but he’s begun to find Kaveh exceptionally annoying.
It’s not uncommon for Kaveh to work himself from night to morning to night again when he starts a new project. Kaveh is a perfectionist when it comes to work; even when the Akademiya was dependant on the Akasha System, Kaveh would do his own research–studying materiality, collecting data through field work, checking and rechecking every single calculation–choosing to rely on his own intellect rather than the system. If Alhaitham has to be honest, it is one of Kaveh’s admirable traits.
However, lately it seems as though Kaveh has been working even harder despite his recent injury, each night going to bed later and later (if he even goes to bed at all). It doesn’t even matter that Alhaitham keeps his headphones on at night—Kaveh’s sleep and work schedule makes itself known in other ways. Light from Kaveh’s room will pool into Alhaitham’s during the night, and during the day Kaveh–seemingly waiting for Alhaitham when Alhaitham returns from the Akademiya just to argue–debates with less and less energy each day. Once, Alhaitham even caught him sleeping in the living room when he returned.
It’s frustrating.
Infuriating.
So when he sees light pouring into his room for the thirteenth night in a row, Alhaitham finds himself slamming open Kaveh’s door without even knocking. The flustered look on Kaveh’s face does nothing to lighten Alhaitham’s mood as it usually does.
“Go. To. Bed.” Alhaitham seethes.
“Alhaitham! Do you understand what the concept of privacy is?”
“It’s my house,” Alhaitham answers simply, walking towards Kaveh’s desk. “You’ve been working like this for days. It’s keeping me up. Go to bed.”
“You’re just looking for an excuse to bother me, aren’t you? I haven’t even been making much noise, there’s no way my work is keeping you up.”
But it is. For some reason I can’t help but worry about you and that’s what’s keeping me up. Alhaitham shakes his head.
“Deflect the blame all you want. What have you been working so hard on anyways? Hopefully not another project that will send you even further into debt. You’re still late on your rent.”
Kaveh gives Alhaitham a smirk.
“Well I’ll have you know, I’ve picked up a couple of lucrative projects. I’ll probably even be able to pay my rent early this time.”
“A couple?”
“Well, I realized I can’t be dependent on you all the time. A couple weeks of an extra workload will be worth it.”
“What do you mean by that?” Does being not dependent on Alhaitham mean moving out? Alhaitham’s neutral expression falls into a grimace for a half a second.
“Of course you wouldn’t understand, Acting Grand Sage.” Kaveh crosses his arms and looks to the side, almost as though he was going to roll his eyes and decided half way through he didn’t want to make the full trek back to look into Alhaitham’s eyes. He sounds almost… shy. “I don’t want to have to rely on you all the time. In fact,” Kaveh’s eyes return to Alhaitham’s, a hint of a smile emerging on his face. “I’d like it if you could rely on me a little too. To be each other’s equals, to be able to challenge each other while supporting each other–isn’t that what being lovers is about?”
What?
“What?” And, with a bit more eloquence slightly more befitting of a member of the Haravatat, Alhaitham elaborates, “So you’ve been working yourself to death… because you want me to see you as my equal? As my lover?”
Kaveh returns his gaze to Alhaitham, a look of irritation flashing in his eyes, but not flashing bright enough to shine through the haze of… affection that clouds Kaveh’s eyes.
“Is that not exactly what I said? Or do you prefer to continue hovering over me like a cosetting mother.”
Kaveh’s exasperated tone is more familiar; it beckons for an answer, to continue Kaveh and Alhaitham’s usual song and dance. However, Alhaitham’s mind is blank. No, that is not entirely accurate, it’s more like his mind is too full, thoughts overlapping each other until they create an incoherent cacophony.
I already see you as my equal.
You challenge me in ways nobody else can.
I would not be me without you.
“We’re not lovers,” is what Alhaitham settles on. “So you have no need to prove yourself. Get some sleep.”
“What do you–” Kaveh starts and Alhaitham prepares himself for Kaveh’s yelling. However, Kaveh cuts himself off and his eyes return to the floor. “It seems I’ve misunderstood. Apologies.”
The quiet apology feels louder than Kaveh’s loudest, drunken rants. Alhaitham bites his tongue for a second. Unlike what Kaveh says, Alhaitham is capable of empathy and it would probably be the best for the both of them if he didn’t interrogate Kaveh. But it’s in the nature of a scholar to seek the truth, so he can’t stop himself from asking, “What gave you the impression we were lovers?”
“It was just a misunderstanding. Don’t worry, I haven’t told anybody anything. The embarrassment is confined within the walls of this house.”
“But–”
“Alhaitham, please, just… please,” Kaveh pleads with a sincerity that makes Alhaitham feel like he’s suffocating. Even though Kaveh doesn’t specify his request, Alhaitham gets the idea. Without another word, he turns away and leaves Kaveh’s room.
At least he’ll stop keeping me up by working all night.
Alhaitham is incorrect for the most part. Kaveh does stop working in his room from dusk to dawn, but the growing mess of sketches and notes forgotten in the living room shows that he’s still probably overworking himself, just not inside the house when Alhaitham is home.
And Alhaitham finds it even harder to go to bed at night. If thoughts of Kaveh were running around his head before, they are now sprinting at a speed that makes Alhaitham dizzy. Is Kaveh taking care of himself? When and where is he sleeping? Who is he with right now? Why is he avoiding Alhaitham?
Why was Kaveh so okay with the idea of being lovers?
Since when did Kaveh think they were dating?
Alhaitham sighs and stares at his dark ceiling, accepting his fate of another sleepless night. He begins his new nightly routine of replaying his and Kaveh’s every interaction and tries to think about when and where this misunderstanding stems from.
They did get dinner together a couple of weeks ago.
Kaveh insists on following Alhaitham to the shops when Alhaitham goes out to buy new furniture. Kaveh’s presence doesn’t stop Alhaitham from buying the most obnoxious looking wingback chair. In fact, the blood rushing to Kaveh’s face and the furrow in his brow merely encourages Alhaitham to buy it. Kaveh argues with Alhaitham the whole time they’re looking at the chair, only pausing when Alhaitham goes to speak with the shopkeeper.
“Stop your complaining. I can furnish my house however I want,” Alhaitham says to Kaveh after he’s done giving their address to the shopkeeper. “Come on, let’s go eat.”
Kaveh’s head perks up at that, the tips of his lips curving upwards and his brows unfurrowing. “Are you offering to pay?”
Though Kaveh’s frustrated expression brings Alhaitham satisfaction, Kaveh’s excited one brings Alhaitham a different, warmer kind of joy.
“I’ll add it to your debt to me.”
And frustrated Kaveh is back.
“Of course; I was almost worried for a second that you were replaced by a proper gentleman.”
“I’m still paying for your meal, is that not ‘gentlemanly’ enough.”
Kaveh clicks his tongue.
“The idea that a man pays for a date is antiquated. Just paying doesn’t make you a gentleman.”
“Oh? Then please, show me how it’s done, Senior Kaveh.”
Kaveh holds out his hand with a flourish and smirks.
“But of course.”
And Alhaitham rolls his eyes and takes Kaveh’s hand.
Could it be that Kaveh thought the dinner invitation was a date proposition? Alhaitham shakes his head. No, they always bicker like that, and the atmosphere at dinner had been no different than normal.
Then could it be even before then? Alhaitham recalls a couple nights prior to that dinner when he was picking up a drunk Kaveh from Lambad’s… again.
It feels like Kaveh is leaning all of his weight onto Alhaitham when they leave the tavern, both Kaveh’s arms wrapped around Alhaitham’s left arm. Alhaitham has to bend awkwardly due to their slight height difference which allows Kaveh to rest his head in the crook of Alhaitham’s shoulder.
“Kaveh, I’m going to trip over you and then you’re going to wake up to both a hangover and a sprained ankle,” Alhaitham says when their legs tangle against each other for the nth time.
“Then carry me; exercise a little Mr. Feeble Scholar.” Alhaitham can feel Kaveh’s breath against his skin with each word and Alhaitham slips his arm out of Kaveh’s gasp to tear Kaveh’s face away from him.
“If you’re coherent enough to talk back, you’re coherent enough to walk on your own.” As if to prove Alhaitham wrong, Kaveh allows himself to slump onto the ground. Alhaitham walks away at a slowed pace in case Kaveh actually is feeling too drunk to walk. Not hearing Kaveh’s footsteps, Alhaitham takes a quick glance behind him only to find Kaveh staring at him forlornly. The look makes Alhaitham immediately pivot and return to Kaveh’s side. He holds his arm out for Kaveh to grab, but Kaveh doesn’t make a move to get up. Instead, he leans against Alhaitham’s leg and closes his eyes. His expression reminds Alhaitham of a cat and he unconsciously cards his fingers through Kaveh’s hair. Kaveh hums contently.
“I thought you were actually going to leave me for a second.”
“I would never leave you,” Alhaitham answers almost immediately. He quickly amends, “It’ll be a hassle if you went missing; with all the fights we have in public, I would be the first suspect.” Kaveh simply hums in response, but still doesn’t move to get up. After a few seconds, Kaveh speaks again.
“Alhaitham?”
“I’m here.”
“I think I’m going to be sick.”
And Alhaitham sighs, picks up Kaveh princess style, and speedwalks back to their home where he will hold Kaveh’s hair as he vomits into the toilet.
Could their conversation that night be read as a confession? But that wouldn’t make sense. Kaveh is too much of a romantic to allow a drunk confession to be the official start of a relationship. Plus, like the dinner, their relationship didn’t change at all after that night.
After reliving through more memories, Alhaitham still can’t find any significant turning point in his and Kaveh’s relationship since Kaveh moved into Alhaitham’s home. It frustrates him.
Alhaitham turns onto his side, closes his eyes, and tries to fall asleep.
The next day Alhaitham has a meeting with Dehya, who is currently acting as Cyno’s substitute while Cyno is in Mondstadt. After another night of restless sleep, Alhaitham feels like shit.
“You look like shit,” Dehya tells him, sitting down in front of Alhaitham’s desk. “Is everything alright?”
“Yes, everything is fine. Let’s just discuss the report.”
“Right, because you’re always so enthusiastic about work. Talk to me, what’s up?”
Alhaitham considers deflecting again. Dehya will probably drop the topic (for now, at least), but Alhaitham questions if he wants her too. Dehya is intelligent and only one of his non-Kaveh acquaintances who is both not close to Kaveh and not a god. This could be his only chance to discuss this and sometimes the best way to understand things thoroughly is through the presence of another.
“It’s my roommate,” he starts.
“Oh, the one you can’t stop complaining about? What did he do this time?”
“He didn’t do anything,” Alhaitham defends quickly. “He was just under the impression that we were in a romantic relationship and I can’t understand why.”
“Have you talked to him about it?”
Alhaitham shakes his head. “He’s been busy with work. And I believe he might be avoiding me.”
“Well the only way you’re gonna get any answers is by chasing him down.”
Alhaitham frowns. Dehya’s answer makes him realize that he never actually tried looking for Kaveh. He must still be in the vicinity of Sumeru City if he’s accidentally leaving stuff at home, and he probably visits the house when Alhaitham is at work if he’s able to consistently avoid Alhaitham. Logistically, it wouldn’t be hard to track him down.
But what would he even say when he sees Kaveh face-to-face?
“I feel I should give him space if he’s determined to avoid me to the extent he is. Plus,” Alhaitham pauses, thinking about how he wants to phrase his next sentence. “I think I need some space too.”
“Why? Does him liking you make you feel uncomfortable?” When Alhaitham takes another long pause to parse through his thoughts, Dehya groans. “You Akademiya folk, too busy thinking about how to phrase things perfectly that you can’t communicate for shit. Stop thinking, just answer from your gut.”
Considering how messy Alhaitham’s thoughts are right now, he decides to take Dehya’s advice.
“No, I don’t believe I am.”
“You don’t believe ?”
“What I mean is that my roommate doesn’t make me feel uncomfortable, even with this misunderstanding. But still, I feel uncomfortable. I don’t know what I would say to him.”
“You don’t have to know exactly what to say to him before you say it.” Alhaitham scowls for half a second at the thought, so Dehya changes her approach. “Alright. What information would you need to know before you can talk to him?”
“It’s as I said before; I want to know where this misunderstanding originates from. I’ve been reviewing our past interactions and I can’t seem to find when he possibly could have gotten this idea.”
“I don’t get it, you can’t talk to him until you find an answer that only he really has.” Dehya shakes her head. “What does it even matter when he started thinking that? Doesn’t it only matter what you do from here on out?”
“It matters because of what it implies about me,” Alhaitham answers too quickly. He coughs, realizing he may have gotten too loose with his tongue. “It means he’s been seeing my behavior towards him as that of a romantic partner for Archons know how long.”
“So you’re not uncomfortable that he likes you, you’re uncomfortable that he thinks you like him.”
Dehya looks at him with a neutral expression, as though what she said was obvious and not the revelation that Alhaitham felt it was. However, when she sees Alhaitham’s posture stiffen and eyes dart to his desk, she lets out a full-bellied laugh.
“No way, could it be that the Acting Grand Sage Alhaitham is embarrassed of a crush like a schoolgirl?” She pauses for another short burst of laughter. “So what, do you actually like the guy?”
Alhaitham’s lips tighten. A couple of seconds pass and Dehya acknowledges that this is the most she is going to get out of Alhaitham, which is still an impressive amount (Alhaitham briefly wonders if she makes a better interrogator than Cyno and mentally commends Cyno’s choice of his substitute). “I guess I can’t really ask you for an answer if you don’t have it yet. Aren’t we supposed to be talking about work anyways?”
It’s a forced transition, but Alhaitham accepts Dehya’s mercy. For once he is glad for the distraction that work brings him.
Alhaitham is not so desperate for a distraction that he buries himself in work. He leaves his office at 5 o’clock sharp and if anybody asks him any questions he will firmly remind them that he is off the clock (not that anybody does, they are well acquainted with the former Scibe’s work ethic). This does mean he is forced to think about Dehya’s question as he walks back home. He decides not to go searching for Kaveh just yet, especially now that he has a new facet of the situation to look at.
“Do you actually like the guy?”
By the time Alhaitham reaches their house, he still has yet to find a concrete answer. He places his key on the dish by the front door and does his best to ignore how lonely it looks sitting in the bowl by itself. He finds himself unable to think in the silence of their home—which is rare for Alhaitham—so he plays music, sits on the couch, and ponders.
Do I like Kaveh?
If Alhaitham is to be pedantic (which he is wont to do depending on the company), he would answer yes; he would not allow Kaveh to live with him if Alhaitham didn’t—to some extent—enjoy Kaveh’s presence, but what is the defining step between platonic and romantic attraction?
Could it be physical attraction? Sure, Kaveh was objectively attractive and the way he presents himself does him many favors: the intricate braid that allows the perfect amount of hair to frame his face, the light makeup he uses to accentuate his sharp eyes and soft lips, the shirts that sometimes dip a little too low in Alhaitham’s opinion. But could he imagine kissing those lightly glossed lips? Imagine disheveled hair and dilated pupils as he slips a hand easily through the large window of Kaveh’s shirt—
Alhaitham coughs. He’ll put that thought on the back burner for now. After all, romantic relationships involve more than just sexual attraction, and there exists platonic relationships with a more physical aspect to them.
Instead of trying to see if Alhaitham’s feelings for Kaveh could be defined as romantic, Alhaitham decides to look at it the other way: what if Kaveh and he were lovers? How would that look to Alhaitham?
Alhaitham thinks about the stories his grandmother would always tell him about his parents. He thinks about stories of how they would always be testing each other only to still sleep in the same bed at night. The way they would either take turns fretting over each other or both be passed out from overworking. The way they would take jabs at each other but still vehemently defend each other from other people.
Alhaitham frowns. Isn’t that already similar to how he and Kaveh behave? Then what difference can the label of “lovers” really bring to their relationship?
Alhaitham shakes his head. No, it would change everything. With the label comes instability. As roommates or however a person would define their perverse arrangement, each fight doesn’t come with the fear that it will be the last. There’s no fear that the fire of passion will eventually diminish. There’s no pressure to keep the relationship alive. Their friendship almost completely died when their joint research project fell apart and even now it feels like it’s teetering on the edge again and Alhaitham doesn’t know what he’s going to do if their relationship finally snaps and he loses Kaveh for real when he can barely handle a couple of days of separation—
And then Alhaitham realizes.
The fear of losing Kaveh, the uncomfortable silence Kaveh leaves, the worry Alhaitham constantly has for Kaveh’s wellbeing, the emptiness the lack of Kaveh’s presence brings him.
Archons, Alhaitham doesn’t just like Kaveh. He loves him.
The impact of the revelation causes Alhaitham to shoot out of the couch, only for him to immediately sit down again due to the dizziness he feels from standing up too fast. What was he going to do anyways, immediately run to Kaveh and give him an impassioned confession like a character in a play? No, even if Alhaitham is confident in his ability to find Kaveh (he helped discover a coup against a god for Archon’s sake, Alhaitham is sure he can find one person, especially when that one person is somebody Alhaitham knows as thoroughly as he knows Kaveh), Kaveh would probably run away and hide somewhere even harder to get to. Even if Alhaitham manages to catch up to Kaveh, Alhaitham feels if his confession is anything less than perfect, Kaveh will run away figuratively, closing himself off from Alhaitham and refusing to believe him. Kaveh was infuriatingly, endearingly stubborn like that. Any chance of a romantic relationship between the two of them has already started off on a bad foot with this misunderstanding, so Alhaitham rather take time to reverse the damages than risk exasperating them.
Then, an idea hits him. Kaveh may be sporadic at times, but there is one thing Alhaitham can rely on: Kaveh is a people pleaser. The two of them have plans to meet Tighnari and Cyno when they return from Mondstadt in two days. No matter how desperate Kaveh is to avoid Alhaitham, Kaveh wouldn’t skip those dinner plans without warning, especially since Kaveh can’t rely on Alhaitham to apologize on his behalf. Alhaitham decides to use that day as a hard deadline. On that day, he will confront Kaveh about the situation and present him with his findings.
Sure enough, Alhaitham sees Kaveh sitting at a table with Tighnari and Cyno at Lambad’s. Kaveh’s back is facing the entrance and Alhaitham takes a moment to compose himself. He feels like a man taking a gasp of air after almost drowning; it’s refreshing, but overpowering and leaves his lungs stinging.
After he’s sure he is composed, Alhaitham leisurely makes his way towards the table.
“Hey Alhaitham!” It’s Tighnari who notices him first. Kaveh jumps a little bit at the mention of Alhaitham’s name and the ever-so-vigilant (and ever-so-blunt) Cyno latches onto that immediately.
“Did something happen between the two of you?”
“He’s just nervous because he’s about to be late on rent for the second time in a row,” Alhaitham lies easily, taking a seat next to Kaveh. Alhaitham knows that lie would work with most people (or would at least cue people that he doesn’t want to delve into it much deeper), but unfortunately the General Mahamatra is not most people.
“Is that all? I didn’t realize that was out of the ordinary; I was under the impression that Kaveh’s debt to you was an ever growing list.”
“I pay him back!” Kaveh cries. “I’ll have you know that recently I came across a couple of lucrative commissions and you guys won’t be able to make fun of my finances any longer!”
Cyno looks like he’s about to ask another question, but Tighnari cuts him off. “I’m happy to hear you’re doing well for yourself Kaveh. Shall we play a game of Genius Invokation to celebrate? Speaking of commissions, Cyno actually managed to commission Calx for new card backs.”
Cyno perks up at this. Alhaitham knows Cyno knows that this is an attempt to steer the topic away from whatever fresh fight Kaveh and Alhaitham have found themselves in, but it seems the temptation to fawn over his new favorite artist (who Cyno had spent nights praising before leaving for Mondstadt) was stronger than his curiosity. Cyno pulls out his deck box to show off his new card backs.
Even though Kaveh asserts that Alhaitham doesn’t have an artistic bone in his body, even Alhaitham can acknowledge the quality of the design on the cards. Even so, Alhaitham finds himself spending most of the night staring at Kaveh.
Only an hour passes before Kaveh yawns for the tenth time. Alhaitham notices that Kaveh hasn’t drunk any alcohol that night, so it isn’t alcohol making him sleepy. He can only assume that Kaveh’s sleep schedule hasn’t gotten any better since his flight from their house and Alhaitham looks away from Kaveh to keep himself from fretting needlessly. Luckily, Tighnari frets for him, sighing before looking at Kaveh with a gentle expression.
“Maybe we should end the night a little early. Cyno and I are a bit tired after journeying back from Mondstadt.”
Cyno looks at Tighnari, then Kaveh, then Tighnari again before nodding in agreement. Kaveh looks opposed to the idea.
“Are you sure? But you haven’t finished telling us about your trip!”
“We can save it for another time,” Tighnari answers. “You’re going to want all the energy you can get to sit through Cyno’s retelling of his jokes. Plus, I’m sure he would prefer a captivated audience over a captive one.”
“That’s funny,” Cyno says and Tighnari immediately frowns.
“Sounds like a good idea,” Alhaitham cuts in before Kaveh can say anything else. He stands up and walks up to Kaveh. “Come on, let’s go home.”
Kaveh looks up at Alhaitham from his chair, lips pursed. They stare at each other for a couple of seconds before Kaveh looks away and pushes himself out of the chair.
“Alright, let’s head home.”
Alhaitham is happy to be able to label the warm feeling that spreads around his chest hearing those words. He motions for Kaveh to leave first (mainly so he can keep Kaveh in his sights this time) and follows Kaveh out of the tavern.
Cyno reshuffles his cards, seemingly deep in thought.
“I will be quite vexed if my first report back as General Mahamatra is a noise complaint for banging.”
“…”
“Do you not get it Tighnari? Because banging can refer to both the sound and—”
“Cyno, please. Shut. Up.”
Kaveh is the one to break the silence on their walk home, which surprises Alhaitham.
“Haitham, I’m… I’m sorry.”
“For what?” Alhaitham asks, forgetting he was going to try to avoid being overly difficult that night. Kaveh stops walking and keeps his gaze glued to the ground. Alhaitham stops walking too, standing at Kaveh’s side.
“You know for what.” When Kaveh realizes Alhaitham will give him no leeway, he looks up at Alhaitham with resignation. “I’m sorry for avoiding you. Even if it was fully my misunderstanding, I should not have disappeared so suddenly.”
Alhaitham swallows. He didn’t foresee Kaveh apologizing and he worries how this will affect his plans for his confession. He was supposed to bring Kaveh back home without saying anything that could scare him off. “It’s fine. All that matters is you’re coming back home now.”
“I also wanted to let you know I’m looking for new housing.”
With this, Alhaitham realizes he’ll have to deviate from his plan. He hates when his plans don’t go his way, but the idea of Kaveh moving out upsets him so much that he can’t stay quiet.
“You don’t have to move out.”
“Me living with you was always supposed to be temporary. Plus, it’s a bit awkward to live with you now that you know I like you.”
“I don’t mind.”
“Well I do!” Kaveh begins trembling. “I know I joke about your lack of empathy but I know you’re capable of it. Think about it from my perspective. Do you know how hard it is to have to wake up in the morning to a cup of coffee made just how I like it when I know the gesture will never mean what I dream it does? Or how hard it is to have to see you come home from work and know you haven’t yearned to see me all day as I have you? And now I don’t even have the hope that maybe, just maybe , you do feel the same way!” Kaveh is breathing heavily at this point, as though he had to physically exert himself to pull those words from his heart. Alhaitham uses this chance to butt in.
“All I said is that I wasn’t your lover, not that I didn’t want to be.”
Kaveh’s jaw drops.
“Kaveh, that day, do you remember what you said? That lovers are supposed to challenge each other, grow with each other.” Alhaitham doesn’t break eye contact as he tells Kaveh the thoughts that had run through Alhaitham’s mind that day. “Whatever it is about me that you like, you should thank yourself for. I would not be the Alhaitham you see now if it weren’t for you. I do see you as my equal. You push me in ways nobody else does, and even if I find it irritating at times,” Kaveh pouts at this, “I find myself returning to you, to push me and challenge me again. Through your presence, I find myself understanding more things that may have otherwise been unfathomable.” Alhaitham takes a deep breath. “I love you Kaveh, will you date me?”
Alhaitham doesn’t know how long the silence between them lasts. Realistically, it’s probably only a few seconds, but to him it feels like hours. Hours of staring at Kaveh’s face, the moonlight highlighting the blush of his cheeks and the gold of his hair and his wide eyes staring into Alhaitham’s.
“You’re lying,” is what Kaveh finally settles on, though his accusation holds no conviction. “You’re just saying this to make me feel better.”
“Yes, because I’m well known for lying for the sake of other people’s feelings.”
“Then, then you’re just toying with me! You’re just teasing me as you always do!”
“Do you truly see me as somebody so cruel as to do that?”
“Of course not!” Kaveh answers too quickly. His brows furrow when he sees Alhaitham smiling slightly and realizes Alhaitham wasn’t being serious. “Fine then, if you truly like me, then you wouldn’t mind if I do this!”
Kaveh snatches Alhaitham’s hand, practically crushing Alhaitham’s fingers with his grasp.
“I don’t,” Alhaitham confirms, shifting his hand so that their fingers interlock. Kaveh blushes even harder.
“A-and if I were to hold you like this?” Kaveh takes his free hand to caress Alhaitham’s cheek.
Alhaitham leans into Kaveh’s touch. “I wouldn’t say I dislike it.”
“And if I were to kiss you?” Kaveh’s voice is considerably quieter when he asks this, his hand traveling from Alhaitham’s cheek to his shoulder. Alhaitham leans in until their noses are touching, wrapping his free arm around Kaveh’s waist.
“With how things are progressing, I’d be quite disappointed if you didn’t.”
And so Kaveh does. He closes his eyes, leans forward, and kisses Alhaitham gently on the lips. It’s a feathery light touch that leaves Alhaitham craving more. As Kaveh attempts to pull away, Alhaitham tightens his hold on Kaveh’s hand, uses the arm around Kaveh’s waist to press Kaveh flush against himself, and chases Kaveh’s lips down like a hungry animal. Kaveh lets out a noise of surprise.
It is nowhere near the gentle kiss Kaveh had offered. Unlike Kaveh who was afraid to lose Alhaitham if Kaveh were to bear everything, Alhaitham knew he would lose everything if he didn’t offer all of himself to Kaveh.
Luckily for Alhaitham, Kaveh has always been good at adapting to new situations.
After his initial shock, Kaveh begins kissing Alhaitham back with equal fervor. The hand on Alhaitham’s shoulder snakes its way to the back of Alhaitham’s head, calloused fingers carding though gray locks. Kaveh opens his mouth slightly and Alhaitham follows suit. Kaveh takes this chance to slip his tongue into Alhaitham’s mouth and Alhaitham feels like he’s being consumed. He tastes their shared breath on his tongue, feels the rough yet caring touch of Kaveh’s fingers through his hair, smells the pleasant, warm scent that is just so distinctively Kaveh.
Alhaitham is the first to pull away, slightly out of breath. He leans his forehead against Kaveh’s and simply enjoys the feeling of Kaveh’s breath against his lips, the warm puffs of air acting both as a reminder of what just transpired and a seductress, beckoning towards Alhaitham.
“Fuck, this is real right?” Kaveh says after he’s done catching his breath. He pulls himself away slightly so he can look into Alhaitham’s eyes. “You seriously love me?”
“I feel like I’ve sufficiently answered that question.”
“I want to hear you say it again.”
Alhaitham rolls his eyes but relents nonetheless. “I love you.”
“Again. With my name this time.”
“I love you, Kaveh.”
“Again.”
“Kaveh,” Alhaitham deadpans. “You know you haven’t answered my question yet.”
“Huh? What question?” (Alhaitham ignores the flutter in his stomach at the idea that he just kissed Kaveh stupid).
“Will you date me?”
“Oh Archons, do you even have to ask?”
“I want to hear you say it,” Alhaitham says cheekily. Kaveh rolls his eyes, but smiles at Alhaitham with so much endearment that Alhaitham is tempted to pull him into another kiss.
“Of course I will date you. I love you too, Alhaitham.”
And then Alhaitham does pull him into another kiss, not one as passionate as their last, but it still makes Alhaitham’s knees weak.
“Oh, and also,” Alhaitham says when they pull away. “Please ignore the state of our house when we return.”
“What? Why? What did you do?” Kaveh asks, but Alhaitham has already turned his back to Kaveh and has started making his way back to their home.
“It doesn’t matter, since you are going to ignore it.”
“Alhaitham, what the fuck.”
“That doesn’t sound like ignoring the state of our house.”
“How am I supposed to ignore this? Did you leave the house with candles on?”
“The candles use the same technology as elemental monuments, it can’t set the house on fire.”
“And how many padisarahs did you have to pluck to cover the ground in petals? Wait a second, did you place these petals in the shape of a heart?”
“Look, it’s not my fault you’re so bullheaded. I knew if I just told you I like you, you wouldn’t believe me, so I decided to appeal to your hopeless romantic side.”
“Alhaitham, surely even you realize this is too much for even the most hopeless of romantics.”
“I thought it better to be safe than sorry.”
“I can’t believe the Archon’s appointed Acting Grand Sage is such an idiot.” Kaveh laughs and wraps his arms around Alhaitham. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
And Kaveh pulls him into another kiss.