Work Text:
It should be known that Kaveh does love his stupid boyfriend…roommate….life partner..whatever they are. He does. He truly, honestly does. Even when he leaves his books lying around, gathering dust, scrolls and parchment tilting to the side and taking up space, he loves him. He loves him when Alhaitham gets that funky little look in his face when Kaveh reaches up to kiss him, as though he can’t quite believe this is happening. Everything, through all the good and the bad, he loves his stupid, idiot man.
It’s a little hard to remember that right now.
Kaveh’s sitting at his usual spot in the Tavern, nursing his third or fourth drink, and he’s trying his best not to replay their earlier argument before. Alhaitham had been bringing work home constantly over the past few weeks, and despite the fact that both were avid workaholics, they at least tried to spend some meaningful time together, whether or not that was working side by side, or even just going to bed together. Alhaitham, on the other hand, had avoided both of these possible avenues, and had shut himself in his study for long stretches of his time. By the time Kaveh woke up, it was to an empty bed, with nothing but the faint smell of his darling’s cologne to indicate his presence.
Kaveh was…feeling lonely, yes, but that’s not the entirety of it! He’s worried about his lover.
And…tonight, as Alhaitham had moved to shut himself in his study once again, Kaveh had caught him, and had used his usual firm tone that was reserved for Alhaitham wrangling, asking him to come sit down and have dinner with him.
Apparently it had been the wrong thing to do, considering that the look that Alhaitham gave him should have slaughtered him right then and there. His lover repeated the same excuse that he had work. Kaveh had tried a softer, gentler approach, realizing that Alhaitham was excessively stressed, but all he had gotten was the door quietly closing in his face.
That was the thing about Alhaitham. Despite how much they fought, how much they bickered and irritated each other, he would never slam a door in Kaveh’s face. It was always quietly closed, as though the man on the other side was quietly closing his heart and mind down, away from his lover.
Kaveh had sighed, crippling loneliness festering at the back of his mind, but also the impending feeling that his darling was very stressed and needed help. Usually, he’d ask Alhaitham’s intern as to what was going on, to see if he could give some support from home – but the man had quit in a rage. Apparently Alhaitham had been insufferable since, firing and making interns quit consecutively afterwards.
His darling. Always a little bit of a ruffian.
He had looked back at the dinner he had ordered (because he wasn’t allowed to be in the kitchen, given how much of a disaster he was) – and decided he wasn’t going to sit alone again.
Which is why he’s here, at the Tavern…sitting alone.
He sighs again, almost forlornly, into his drink, when the most irritated woman he’s ever seen storms into the Tavern. She sighs, and slides onto a stool next to him, and rubs at her eyes so vigorously, her entire body seems to jingle, her earrings swaying crazily, the bracelets on her hands clinking against one another in cacophony. She orders, still rubbing at her eyes, and when she finally pulls her fingers away, the eyeliner she had on before has made a home under her eyes, making her look like a Mondstadt animal he had once seen before, a raccoon.
It takes Kaveh a minute to realize she was actually crying.
He looks over to the raccoon girl, slightly concerned. “Are..” He starts. “Are you okay?”
The girl sniffles, and looks over to him, before absolutely bursting into tears. Despite this, she nods, wailing. “Yes!”
Oh my god. Okay, he didn’t quite realize that it’d take one question for her to cry. He shoves his hand into his briefcase and gently pulls out a handkerchief. She takes it without question, wiping her face. He looks on sympathetically as her tears slow, and when she finally calms down, she reaches for her drink and takes a long sip.
“Okay, woah. What’s going on?” Kaveh isn’t really in the habit of inviting conversation when he himself hasn’t had a good day, but for some reason, he couldn’t help it.
She sniffles, before rubbing at her face. “My boss… I’ve only been working for three days, and it seems like he’s doing anything and everything to make me quit. I brought him coffee this morning because some others from the Akademiya told me he likes the drink, but he didn’t touch it! And when I asked him why, he said ‘I don’t drink subpar coffee.’ Like?! What does that mean?” She shrieks, shaking her head.
She continues on, apparently now having the courage to lament. “And then today, I was goofing around and after I finished my filing task, I stuck a sticker to my forehead and said I got a gold star! It was just for fun! But then he glared at me and said that the Rtawahist Darshan would be very upset if they saw the mockery I was making out of them. What does that have to do with me?” She wails, clearly upset.
Kaveh has to restrict himself from sniggering at that last one–after a minute of letting her stew in silence, he quietly asks her the thought that’s been on her mind.
“Quick question, but by any chance, are you Alhaitham’s new intern?”
The girl blinks, and practically turns towards him. “Yes, I am. I’m Kanmani.”
He grins. “I’m Kaveh.” He introduces, and watches how the recognition colors her features.
“You’re–!” She blinks, before panic fills her features. “Please don’t think that I hate your husband! I don’t, I swear! He’s just being really mean right now!” She says, her head dipping in apology.
Kaveh laughs quietly, reaching out to pat her shoulder.
“Hey hey. We’re not married yet. Oh, and don’t stress. Alhaitham can be a little bit of a handful right now because he hates the idea of change. He likes his routines a little bit much. You just have to get him used to you. Like the thing about his coffee.. How have you been bringing it to him?” He asks.
“Black. Two spoons of sugar.” The intern answers, wide-eyed. She looks like even more of a raccoon with her dark eyes all wide and innocent, eyeliner smudged to high heavens around her lids, her hands grasping around the drink. Had he been a more touchier man in that moment, perhaps he would have patted her head.
“Ah. Next time.. Try a medium roast. Keep it black, but a pinch of cinnamon, or syrup if you have it, and a bit of cardamom.” Kaveh hums. “That’s how he usually makes it at home.”
Kanmani practically brightens, and she reaches for a quill, quickly scribbling down instructions. Kaveh tells her what she needs to know, and a part of him feels bad, selling his darling out like this, but he knows damn well that things will be easier for all three of them in this way.
“Now… I helped you. I don’t mean to sound intrusive, but could you tell me if there’s a big problem happening? Alhaitham has been stressed about something, and it’s clear that he’s been bringing it home with him.” Kaveh murmurs, trying not to sound like he’s prying too much.
Kanmani blinks at him, before leaning closer, flicking her braid over her shoulder to cup her hand towards her lips, as though she’s a fifth grader telling him a secret. “There’s been a little problem with one of the matras. Apparently there’s dissension in the ranks. He’s been swamped with a lot of paperwork But, not to worry, Master Kaveh. I’ll have Boss sitting at your dinner table tomorrow.” She promises.
Kaveh can’t tell if he’s slightly scared after seeing the mischievous glimmer in her eyes, or hopeful. Either way, he laughs.
“Yeah?” He asks, raising an eyebrow.
“Before the sun sets.” She challenges.
“Pleasure working with you.” He grins, and their glasses clink.
—
His intern is still here.
Alhaitham isn’t one to be surprised often, but this time, he is. He was sure that after his behavior yesterday, he’d be facing the approval of an eighteenth intern.
It’s not like he wanted to be particularly difficult—it’s just that in his mind, he’s already dedicated the spot of intern to the man who first worked with him, a scholar who he respected and had worked in tandem with for years. Adi had been great, had known his boundaries and had worked as though he was another limb of Alhaitham’s, increasing his efficiency.
But Adi’s time with him had come to an end, much to his disappointment. He didn’t hold any ill will to the man, and despite what the sordid rumors of the Akademiya liked to cite, Adi wasn’t fired, nor did he quit in a rage. He had just wanted to quit his job so he could be a good househusband and spend more time with his kids, and that had been so novel and brave, that Alhaitham hadn’t thought twice about processing his resignation. (Adi still wrote to him. Last week’s message included a picture of a girl with chubby cheeks and twin pigtails showing her Uncle Alhaitham her mouth with a missing tooth. The picture is safely tucked in one of his books.)
It’s just— in his mind, he knows that it would be very unlikely that anyone would come close to replacing his beloved friend. Adi had known him down to the minute and second of every single day, and to get a new person to that point would mean training, understanding, and compatibility, all of which he didn’t have time for. He was increasingly stressed with the possibility that a traitor had infiltrated one of the matra’s ranks, and with the uncertainty after the Sages’ firing, he couldn’t afford more bad press for the Akademiya anymore.
It only meant more work for him, after all.
So, yes. He’s been a little bit of a tyrant in the hopes that the Akademiya will realize that he is not suited for an intern anymore, and that they’ll stop assigning people to him.
At least, that was the plan. The girl in front of him is throwing him off a little bit.
Kanmani, he knows her name to be, and despite three whole days of working with her, he can safely say that she’s a wild card, and just as deserving as anyone else to be at the Akademiya. What’s interesting though, is her personality. She skips through the halls as though she doesn’t really understand how the hallowed halls are home to priceless amounts of information, yet she completes all her work on time, and addresses him respectfully. (She calls him Master Alhaitham, but recently, she’s taken a liking to ‘Boss’. He’s not really sure how he feels about that one, but a part of him suspects that it doesn’t matter. She’s going to call him that whether he likes it or not.)
She’s good at her job, is the problem, and the fact that she has too much of a cheerful attitude to be really bothered at what he says.
Don’t get him wrong. He sees the way her eyes narrow at him when he makes ridiculous demands or says something a little too crazy, but she always seems to brush it off within the next moment, simply beaming at him and nodding along in concession.
At times, he can’t even help but feel fondness for her, like how she squatted and played with a puppy the entire time that he was out getting information from another matra. He supposes there was nothing for her to do at that moment, though a part of him knows damn well that he would have berated any other intern for daring to not pay attention.
It’s stressful, is what it is. He wants all of this nonsense, the matra, the intern, all of it to stop.
“Hiya, boss.” She bounces towards him, and plonks a coffee cup on his desk. He stares at it with detached interest—he had made a comment about her coffee skills yesterday, and for her to try again today was rather odd. And something about the smell—familiar..And well…he really could do with a nice cup of coffee.
He takes a small sip, and looks at her with wide eyes as the familiar scald of the liquid hits his mouth. It’s…like the coffee that he makes at home. Spiced with a little cardamom and some cinnamon—as though the coffee’s trying too hard to be chai (which in a way, it is, and then the question would be why Alhaitham couldn’t just make chai instead. That question would get you a glare and a quiet grumble that chai from anyone else but Kaveh didn’t taste right.)
“Is it good?” Alhaitham sees somewhat of a glimmer in his intern’s eyes as she looks at him. “Or is it subpar again?” She says this innocently, but he can practically hear the teasing in her tone, see it in her expression. It’s intentional, the way she’s throwing his words back at him.
He closes his eyes for a moment and sighs. “It’s good.” He mutters, and tries to hide his small smile behind the lip of the cup as Kanmani strikes an excited pose for her victory. He quickly masks with a facade of indifference, raising an eyebrow at her. “Go over the archive requests.” He says, and she seems to not be phased by the arduous task assigned to her, nodding and skipping off in a trail of the clangs and clashes of her jewelry.
She’s back within an hour.
The archive requests, that used to take Adi at least 3-4 days of continuous work, that every other intern paled at, has been completed in a mere 60 minutes. When she returned, he had been dubious and asked to check. He sits now, dumbfounded, flicking through her work. Kanmani, on the other hand, has taken it to mean that she’s free while he checks, and she rambles on about some book that she’s been reading.
“So one of them’s a workaholic, right? We can call him… Em. And Em keeps staying late at work. Like, he doesn’t go home to his husband, like, ever. His husband, H, kinda sits lonely at home, and then as the days pass, he starts heading out to the club.” She rambles, as he flicks through her work, checking.
“These are really idiotic names.” Is his only comment, and despite his distracted appearance, he’s still listening to her.
She seems to not be distracted by his comment, continuing on with her rambling. “It’s kinda fun, reading how he finds company when Em leaves him so lonely. But then, here’s the spicy part of the book, he meets someone new at that club, and slowly, he starts to fall in love with him. H and this new dude, Ni, they fall in love.”
“What kind of stupid names—they what ?” Alhaitham turns to look at Kanmani in absolute horror. “But—!”
“Yeah, I know, right? But it kinda makes sense. I mean, if I was H, I’d feel pretty bad about being left alone so much. I mean, if Em communicated, perhaps their relationship would be different.” She sighs, tilting her head. “I don’t really know how the novel ends, actually. I’ll keep you updated. I’ll probably finish it tomorrow.”
Kanmani goes on to talk about the author, and how talented she is at…something, Alhaitham forgets her words, but in his defense, he’s a little too preoccupied with her story. He’s slightly unsure as to why he’s so bothered by these fictional characters—-perhaps it’s the stress weighing on him.
An image of Kaveh, sitting at the Tavern lonely, a shadow behind him buying him a drink—-
“We have to go.” Alhaitham stands brusquely. “We have to go ask Aarav to sign off on a report.”
“We?!” Kanmani bounds to her feet excitedly, rubbing her hands together. “I can go out on the field with you?”
The last three times, he had rejected her from coming along, burdening her with some kind of paperwork task. But his eyes catch sight of the archive requests that she finished in one sitting, and he sighs. Hard work has to be rewarded, and she’s done well.
“Fine.” He growls, as though it’s absolutely taxing for him to agree with this. “No running off to talk to other people, and no petting dogs.” He warns her.
She nods enthusiastically and crosses her heart, though a part of him knows damn well that whatever he just said went through one ear and went out the other. He inhales, and sets out of the Akademiya, to the outskirts of Sumeru City.
He just needs to find Aarav, hope that the rogue Eremite faction that was supposedly working hand in hand with the impostor was willing to cooperate with questioning, and return to his desk to compile all of this nonsense into a report. Maybe… tonight..he’d be able to sit with Kaveh, and apologize for being all distant. Kusanali knows how exhausted and tired he’s been without the gentle touch of the other man.
He mentally runs through that list again, and sighs. Knowing how things go, it was clear to see that he was due for another long night. He can apologize tomorrow. Kanmani trails behind him, silent for once, and he appreciates it.
“Aarav.” He greets the matra as he spies him in the distance, the other turning to look at him with surprise.
“Ah, Scribe. Good to see you, though your timing is a little off. I just got word that the Eremites have been spotted in this area. I was unsure if there was going to be an altercation, so I’ve just set out a slight evacuation order, though I’m hoping it doesn’t come to that. I can’t help you with your paperwork until that’s finished, though.” Aarav says, though it’s with a touch of apology.
Alhaitham sighs. He knew it. “It’s fine. I will aid you.” He says stiffly, and looks back at his intern. “Kanmani, head back. This is no place for a civilian.” He orders, and when he doesn’t get the usual dejected sigh and chirp of assent, he turns back fully, and realizes that Kanmani is not standing behind him, looming like the petite shadow she usually is.
He blinks, and realizes that she must have wandered off. He swears under his breath. That girl—what if she wandered right into the hands of the Eremites? She’s unarmed—no way to protect herself. He should have just told her to stay back.
With a growl, he does his best to spread out over the area with Aarav, his mission now expanding past the usual need to get his paperwork signed. Now his intern is involved.
“Alhaitham.” Aarav calls out as they scour the forest, 30 minutes later. There’s an odd tone to his voice, one that Alhaitham himself can’t quite understand, though he approaches the matra regardless.
Ah.
He understands.
Sitting cross-legged, cards in her hands, three Eremites sitting around her with their own cards in their hands, is Kanmani. She beams up at the two as though they were just here to spectate her little picnic.
“Hiya, boss.” She says cheerfully. “Found them. You can get your paperwork signed now. I think they’re rather willing to answer any questions you two ask of them. Isn’t that right?” She slaps a card down and the Eremite woman makes a distressed noise.
“Damn it, what kind of card—? Uh, yeah. We’ll answer whatever,” The Eremite says, clearly distracted with the game.
Aarav is clearly hiding a smile behind his hands, amused at the cheeky intern smiling up at Alhaitham. With that, the situation is clearly controlled, Alhaitham and Kanmani slowly walking up the ramp to the Akademiya.
“What were you thinking?” Alhaitham says suddenly, breaking the silence. “You are unarmed. It’s not logical to go charging in when there are possible hostiles.”
Kanmani smiles, tilts her head. “I understand, Boss. I’m sorry.” She hums. He deflates, taken aback by her easy acceptance. He would have expected more arguing.
They reach his desk once more, and Alhaitham moves to sit down, but she blocks him, smiling serenely up at him.
“What are you—?”
“There’s no more work to be done.” She says, matter-of-factly.
“Perhaps not for you if I don’t assign anything, but I have to submit a report on what just happened. And there’s the filing of—“
“I’ve already written up a draft. The filing was done by a friend of mine, so we’re good on both fronts, boss.” She says simply, and Kanmani looks positively pleased. “The work is done for this situation, and we can go home. Good timing too. I want to see if Em does ever make it home to his H, and see what happens after H has been lonely all this time.” There’s a hint of a smirk on her face.
Alhaitham blinks. Once, twice, just staring at the intern who he has a couple of good inches on, who couldn’t be more than twenty, who still has a small smudge of chutney on her nose from devouring her idlis during lunch. And a part of him realizes that it’s quite possible that Adi’s met his match. (And a small, very small part of him, might understand that he himself , has met his match.)
“Fine.” He says gruffly, then repeats it a little louder. “I will see you tomorrow, intern.”
“I will see you tomorrow, boss!” She says cheerfully. “Perhaps it would be wise to pick up a bouquet of Sumeru Roses before you head home. I heard they have bloomed.” She says slyly, and before he can whirl around and raise his eyebrow at his intern, Kanmani has already bounded away, her jimmikis swaying left and right as though laughing at him. Even her braid flicks its tail at him, snickering.
—
Alhaitham stands at the door, swallowing dryly. The stems of the roses feel dry against his palms, though they’re sure to moisten soon with how hard he’s sweating. He feels a little stupid, knocking on his own front door, but the embarrassment can’t well and take him over, because the front door swings open, and there stands Kaveh, looking quite perplexed.
“Alhaitham? Why are you knocking? Did you forget your keys? I feel like our roles are reversed—“ Kaveh doesn’t really get the chance to finish his sentence before Alhaitham steps forward and crushes him in a hug.
“I’m sorry.” He mutters, nosing and inhaling the familiar scent of Kaveh, strands of his hair tickling his nose. “I was an ass. I just… I was stressed.”
Perhaps a younger, more immature Kaveh would have pushed him away and ranted and raved, but this Kaveh just wraps his arms around him and rubs his back. “I know, honey. I just wish you’d at least tell me, or let me take care of you sometimes.” He murmurs.
Alhaitham pulls back, and nods. “I know. I’ll do better. I can work on a proper system to communicate with you.” He says, and Kaveh smiles, and for a moment, it feels as though the warm, healing rays of his smile have shined down on his cloudy days.
“That’s all I ask for, love.” His darling murmurs. Alhaitham shivers, and resists the urge to press the man into the nearest possible surface and decorate his face with soft kisses, and instead gently hands the bouquet of flowers over.
“Oh! What’s this?” Kaveh laughs, but takes the bouquet with a grateful smile and a kiss placed to his cheek.
“Someone told me that they bloomed..” Alhaitham says, and then he pauses, realizing about his earlier conversation with Kanmani.
“They’re lovely, let me put them in a vase—“ Kaveh turns, apparently looking for a vase, when Alhaitham strides up to him, arm circling his waist and pulling him back into his chest.
“Kaveh.” He says urgently. “I know I can’t ask you to not go to clubs. But if you do go to clubs, please don’t talk to any man named Ni. Or Nu, or Ne. Or…just be suspicious of every man, okay? Even if they buy you a drink.” He says urgently, as though if he didn’t get out the words, they were doomed.
Kaveh seems to blink, quite perplexed, before amusement coats his features. “Clubs aren’t my thing, darling, and I don’t think I like the idea of strangers buying me drinks. Noo or Ni or whatever his name is has no chance.” He says, clearly pursing his lips to bite back laughter, though Alhaitham sighs in relief.
Dinner passes in a soft, comfortable din of quiet conversation, and as the moon rises high in the sky, Alhaitham reads in his bed, his Kaveh slowly drifting off to sleep.
Kaveh’s communicator pings, and he glances over.
He says nothing at the notification. But he presses a soft kiss to his lover’s forehead, slumped across his chest, a small smile tugging at his lips. And if he holds his darling tighter and whispers a ‘thank you’ into his hair, well..that’s only for him to know.
[FROM KANMANI: told you so. enjoy the night with boss, master kaveh ;)]