Chapter Text
- 🏛️ -
Kaveh was preparing dinner when his roommate finally got home. He heard Alhaitham’s footsteps echo down the short hallway just as Kaveh finished the rice.
“Oh good, you’re finally here! Did you bring the Padisarah blossoms and Sumeru Roses I asked for?” The blond called from the kitchen. He was craving some Padisarah pudding earlier and had decided he would make some for dessert.
“No. I forgot,” Alhaitham drawled with a shrug of his shoulders. He hung up his keys before sprawling himself on the couch, flipping open yet another dull book on ancient languages.
“Liar!” Kaveh complained, waving a wooden spoon at the silver-haired scribe. “Your memory is damn near perfect, and you know it!”
“The key word there is near perfect,” Alhaitham observed passively as he flipped a page in his book. Kaveh gritted his teeth.
“Is it so hard for you to do a favor for me every once in a while?”
“I let you live in my house,” the scribe countered.
“And you make me pay rent to do so. How exactly is that a favor?!”
Alhaitham rolled his eyes. “ Because ,” he sighed, “rooming you also includes putting up with your attitude.”
”My attitude?! Mine? What about your attitude? You’re no boquet of Kalpalatas yourself, Alhaitham.”
”I can be polite when I want to. I simply don’t deem you worth the effort.”
”You—!” Kaveh seethed. He threw his hands up in the air. “Fine! See if I try to make dessert again.”
”Dessert is unhealthy anyway. It’s much better for you to eat foods with nutritional benefits.”
”Dessert is food for the soul! It’s about the taste,” Kaveh argues. “You wouldn’t understand. It’s purpose is to feel good, not to sustain you.”
”A waste of ingredients and Mora — Mora that I might remind you that you don’t possess. I have to buy the ingredients for you.” The scribe pointed out. He closed his book. “Now keep cooking before you ruin your already subpar food.”
”Bossing me around like I’m his personal chef,” Kaveh grumbled to himself, turning back to the stovetop. “Insufferable. My food is always good!”
Kaveh placed two steaming dishes on the table. For him, butter chicken with a side of Masala cheese balls and rice. For Alhaitham, a stack of pita pockets.
The scribe turns up his nose at anything that would stain or spill on his beloved books. It’s a hard task to find anything that fits the request — most food that Kaveh tries to make gets vetoed anyway. How can he still be picky about taste after complaining about spills? The toppings are the best part of the dish — that’s why you don’t like it, you picky bastard! Just wait until you’ve finished dinner to read, dammit! He thinks.
Alhaitham handed his senior a stack of letters and documents. “Your mail,” the man offered. Kaveh took the papers from Alhaitham and rifled through them. A few commissions — he’ll look through those later — a letter from Dehya and Candace, and then he saw it.
The letter.
The letter is small and unassuming — neither of good paper quality nor of a sender of high status — but… the handwriting is familiar. He knows that handwriting. The loopy, elegant script is burned into his childhood memories. In notes to his father on the fridge or in his lunch sack for school. His mother’s handwriting.
To Kaveh of the Kshahrewar , it read. Not his last name, he dimly thought to himself. Though that’s nothing new.
His mother has been keeping in contact with him for a while now. It started back up around the time the new Akademia officials revealed the Sage’s coup to the public. She had wanted to make sure he was okay. She addressed every letter the same way. There was no tinge of affection anywhere visible from the envelope. It was as if she was writing to a colleague, not her son.
Kaveh sighed, looking at the offending letter with apprehension before setting it back down. He turned back to his dinner and began to eat. Alhaitham sent the blond a look. “What? It’s rude to read at the dinner table,” Kaveh defended, glaring at his roommate.
“Kaveh, you draw at dinner all the time,” Alhaitham pointed out, raising a brow.
”That’s different.” Kaveh waved a hand dismissively. The scribe rolled his eyes and returned to his book. Kaveh stuffed some butter chicken in his mouth.
After dinner, Kaveh took their dishes to the kitchen. He washed them, and then washed the rest of their dishes. He then set them in the cabinets. Which he then rearranged twice. He took out the trash and swept the floor. Kaveh was about to resign himself to cleaning the bathrooms before Alhaitham grabbed him by the shoulders. The scribe steered him back towards the living room and sat him in front of the table.
“Just read the letter,” Alhaitham chided. “All your pacing and anxiousness is annoying me.”
”Fine! Also, for your information, I wasn’t avoiding the letter. The house needed cleaning, that’s all.”
”Whatever you say.” Alhaitham stood up to peruse the shelves for another book. Kaveh steeled himself and opened the envelope.
’Hello, Kaveh. I hope this letter finds you well. I wanted to send you this letter to give you one last update.
My husband and I have moved into the same house for a while now, you know of that. But now, we’re having a child! A little boy. I am overjoyed that I’ve been able to move on from the past and find someone new to care for, and I thank you for your part in helping me move on. Your support has meant the world to me. You’re welcome to visit us to assist with the preparations if you so desire — if you decide to, bring a gift for him! And, also, let me know if you have name ideas.
Sincerely…’
Kaveh’s grip on the smooth paper tightened. He had stopped reading after his eyes saw the words “having a child.” His eyes were hot. He sat there, paper crunching beneath his tight hold. Kaveh scrubbed furiously at his eyes before any tears could drop on the letter. He would not cry. He couldn’t. Why was he even upset? Having a child is a big occasion. A happy one. He doesn’t feel happy right now. He couldn’t tell how long he sat there like that for. Next thing he knew, Alhaitham was sitting back down next to him.
”You didn’t get another bill from Dori, did you?” Alhaitham prodded, giving Kaveh a strange look.
”No, fuck you. I know how to budget now, I’ll have you know.”
“Well, something happened.”
“Everything is fine. Just peachy. My mother is having a baby.” His voice came out strangled. He coughed, wiping at his eyes again with the palm of his hand. “Congrats to her.”
“I didn’t say something was wrong. You said that yourself. Now that you’ve outed yourself, would you like to tell me what’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong. I’m fine. I’m going to the tavern now.” Kaveh stood up and strode towards the door.
“I’m not paying for you,” Alhaitham called from the couch. Kaveh didn’t respond. The door shut behind him.
- 🌱 -
As Alhaitham stepped into the tavern, he caught sight of a few familiar figures waving at him from across the room. Cyno and Tighnari were motioning him over from a booth in the corner.
As he made his way closer, he noticed Kaveh slumped over a cup of wine. Empty bottles surrounded him, and if his swaying was anything to go by, he was incredibly drunk. The master architect didn’t notice his two friends’ distraction or his roommate’s arrival.
“Thank the Archons you’re here!” Tighnari hissed. “Kaveh’s been out of it all night and won’t tell us why.”
This was very unusual for Kaveh. Often, after a few drinks he would spill all his problems to whoever would listen. Alhaitham couldn’t think of a time before that Kaveh had kept his lips sealed while inebriated.
“As glad as I am I don’t have to listen to him ramble drunkenly about you all night, I am worried about him,” Tighnari continued. “He isn’t acting his usual self.”
Cyno nodded. “Agreed. He never gives up a chance to complain about you. We’ve tried to ask him about you three times now with no response.”
”As I see it, it’s a good thing he’s not talking. Gives us all a break, does it not?” Alhaitham noted.
”Well, yes,” Tighnari grudgingly agreed, “but it’s not normal.“
Alhaitham sighed. “I suppose I can ask him what’s on his mind.” Alhaitham slid into the booth seat next to Kaveh. His roommate looked up at the commotion, and Alhaitham noticed the dried tear tracks on his face.
“Ohh! ‘Haithaamm, y-you’re here?” Kaveh slurred, stumbling over the syllables a bit. Yep, he was definitely drunk. Kaveh’s ability to speak lessened after a few cups or so. He straightened slightly to get a better view of the scribe. “Wh… why are you here?”
“Because you need to get home somehow, and you’re obviously not making it home yourself,” Alhaitham responded. Kaveh made an annoyed noise. “Though, you can stay longer if you tell me why you’re here in the first place. You ignored me when I asked you earlier.”
” Fiiine ,” Kaveh groaned, flopping backwards onto the backrest of the tavern booth.
”Soo, I toldd you ab-about my… my mom’s new kid, righht?” Kaveh‘s brows furrowed and he clutched his glass closer. Cyno and Tighnari surreptitiously leaned closer to listen.
”That’s about all you told me, but yes.”
”Wha-what I diidn’t tell you was that,” Kaveh started, leaning closer. “They’re a boy.”
Alhaitham blinked. ”And?”
”Aaand, in the…“ Kaveh paused, thinking. “…the letter, she didn’…. call me her son ooonce. She did-didn’t use mmy — our — last name once . Ddo you — do you kknow what that means?”
Alhaitham, Cyno, and Tighnari shared a look. Knowing Kaveh’s thought process, the scribe could guess what the blond had deduced.
“She’s replaacing me, ‘Haitham!” Kaveh wailed. The architect sniffled some more before throwing back another cup of alcohol. He wiped his eyes on Alhaitham’s cape, causing Alhaitham to crinkle his nose in disgust. “She— she wants to… start her family o-over withoutt me! Th…though, I don’t blame her.” Kaveh slumped over to lean on his roommate. Alhaitham sighed. Kaveh was always overly touchy when he was drunk. It never did any good to tell him off, he never remembered. “…I wwas the one who— who got my father… killed, affter all.”
“That wasn’t your fault, Kaveh,” Tighnari argued. “He was an adult. He made his own decisions.”
“But I sti— I still influenced hhis decision,” Kaveh hiccuped. “He wouldn’t have died if— if I hadn’t toldd him ab-about the contest…” He trailed off.
“He was a popular choice to compete in the first place,” Cyno reminded. “Even if you hadn’t said anything, it’s quite possible he would’ve done it anyway.”
“Besides, you didn’t kill him,” Alhaitham spoke up. “Sachin was the most likely culprit for that.” Kaveh grudgingly nodded. Alhaitham poked the architect, saying, “Now continue with your explanation.”
“Righht, um. Where… where was I?” Kaveh mused.
“Your mother was starting a new family,” Cyno reminded.
“Yeahh! Thaanks, Cyno. So, as— as I was sayingg—” the architect continued.
“She’s moving on, isn’t she? Isn’t that a good thing? Or, at least, better than… well, other alternatives?” Tighnari gently interrupted. Kaveh’s shoulders slumped.
“S…she’s moving on, yeah. But th-that means that… that I’m being left behind,” Kaveh stuttered. “I haven’t livedd with her for— for how long? Almost… ten years, I thinkk. But when she se— sent me the letter, it… fuck, it reminded me about — about how alone I am.”
Kaveh buried his face in his empty hand, taking another sip of his drink. “She left Sumeru— she l-left me — behind affter I ruined our family. Hah, what a m-mess I am.”
“You’re not alone Kaveh,” Cyno said quietly. “You have friends who care for you dearly.” Tighnari put his hand over Cyno’s and nodded in agreement.
“No, no, I meant— I meant like, alone. I don’t ha-have any family left. And you knoww who I have to… to blame? No one bbut me, myself, and I.” Kaveh looked at his reflection in his drink with true loathing — worse than the glare he gave Alhaitham sometimes. It made the scribe’s stomach clench.
He took Kaveh’s drink from him and downed it. Kaveh whipped his head up and glared at Alhaitham. “Wh—what was that for, yyou bastard??” The architect yelped.
“You’re done drinking for tonight. And I said you could stay long enough to finish your story. You’ve finished,” Alhaitham reminded. Kaveh groaned, burying his face in Alhaitham’s jacket.
“Do I haaave to?” Kaveh whined.
“Yes. We’re going home.” Alhaitham pulled Kaveh up by the elbow and helped him stumble to the door. Kaveh mumbled something so quietly that he almost missed it over the din of the filed tavern.
“Home,” the blond mused. “Home. Yyeah, let’s go home.”
-bonus-
Tighnari couldn’t stop thinking about what had happened earlier at the tavern. Even as he reclined on the sofa next to his partner, he couldn’t get Kaveh’s words out of his head. “Cyno?” He asked.
“Yes, ‘Nari? What is it?” Cyno murmured.
“Do you think Kaveh really believes he’s alone? That his mother doesn’t care for him?”
“Well, some mothers really don’t.”
“But… they were so close before. Would she really… stop loving him because of something that wasn’t even his fault?”
“Love is a strange thing. Sometimes it is undeservingly given or taken. Though, we can always hope he’s overreacting,” Cyno replied, running his fingers through the other man’s hair. Tighnari sighed.
“I worry about him at times.”
“He has Alhaitham. Even if Kaveh claims that Alhaitham hates his guts, the guy lets Kaveh stay with him.”
“Yeah, true,” Tighnari agreed. “And have you seen how he looks at Kaveh when he thinks no one’s paying attention?”
“Yeah. Those two need to get it together. Or just get together. Oh, that reminds me,” Cyno grinned. Tighnari groaned. “What do you call two birds in love?”
“Please, no,” Tighnari complained. “I can’t take any more of this!”
“Tweet-hearts. Do you get it?”
“Yes, I do! Now please, just shut up.”