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This dinner was already going to shit.
The man in front of Kaveh was spewing nothing but formalities, only talking about his own feats in the Akademiya and essentially, blowing his own trumpet. Kaveh didn’t know whether this man wanted to impress him with his incredible reputation or was simply being prideful.
Either way, he had truly regretted even saying yes to the man’s offer for dinner in the first place. They were both from the same Darshan, were from the same class even, and had bumped into each other and subsequently, the man decided to treat Kaveh to dinner. Of course, Kaveh was too kind to refuse.
Throughout the night, Ayman – his acquaintance and dinner partner – had been making advances at Kaveh. When they arrived at the restaurant together, he ushered Kaveh to their table by placing his hand on Kaveh’s lower back. During dinner, Ayman would knock his legs against Kaveh’s shin, causing him to shift in his seat uncomfortably.
“Say, Kaveh,” Ayman started, “would you like to continue this conversation back at my place?” and to illustrate his intentions, he placed a hand over Kaveh’s, smiling in a way that looked so devilish Kaveh wanted to puke.
“Ah, well…” Kaveh pulled his hand away, chuckling nervously, “I don’t know if I have the time…”
But Ayman was persistent, pushing the topic even further, “Oh, you don’t have to worry about it. It shouldn’t take up much of your time.”
Kaveh’s hands were starting to become clammy with panic. Unsure of how to handle the situation, he stood up abruptly and said, “I’m going to use the restroom.”
He nearly sprinted to the restroom, heart pounding as he locked the door, leaning against it. He was feeling extremely uncomfortable with the current situation, and just wanted to get out of here as soon as possible.
He tried calling Tighnari for help. No reply. The line had gone straight to voicemail. Kaveh pursed his lips, and tried calling Cyno. Also no reply. The two of them were probably up to something if the both of them weren’t answering their calls.
Frustrated, Kaveh ran his hands through his hair. Everyone else in his contacts were either work clients or people that he wasn’t all that familiar with. He was out of options, except for one person. Alhaitham.
He was probably getting ready for bed at this hour, with his rigid schedules and all. But Kaveh didn’t have a choice. He decided against calling Alhaitham, as that might spark a useless argument that he really didn’t have the heart for at this time, so he went with sending his roommate a text instead.
i need help
this guy is making me really uncomfortable and i’m 99% sure he wants to fuck me
i’ll send you my location
After sending the texts, Kaveh decided to wait around in the restroom for a little longer, checking his phone almost every second to see if Alhaitham had replied, but there was no response. He sighed, taking a few long inhales of breath before heading back out of the restroom, greeting Ayman with a strained smile.
“I’m so sorry, I would love to continue the conversation with you but I have a really bad stomach ache and I think I need to head home-” before Kaveh could even finish his sentence, the restaurant door slammed open.
There stood Alhaitham, who looked as if he was positively seething with rage. As soon as he laid eyes on Kaveh, he strode over, grabbed Kaveh by the wrist and dragged him out. They got into Alhaitham’s car, and the ride back home was awkward and silent, save for the quiet radio that was playing in the background.
When they arrived at their apartment, Alhaitham finally spoke up. “You were on a date with Ayman? I didn’t think he was your type.”
“It was not a date,” Kaveh retorted as he closed the front door behind him, “we just happened to bump into each other and he invited me out to dinner. I thought it was harmless until he started acting all flirty and touchy with me.”
Alhaitham whipped around to face Kaveh, eyebrows furrowed, “He touched you?”
Kaveh plopped down on the couch with a sigh, placing his palm to his forehead. “Quite a bit, yeah. I almost wanted to throw up,” Kaveh spared a glance at Alhaitham, who was standing firm in place, fists curled at his sides. But under Kaveh’s gaze, they relaxed, and Alhaitham eased his posture.
“You could’ve gotten hurt,” Alhaitham said pointedly, “he has a reputation of taking advantage of people, you know.”
“And how was I supposed to know that? I haven’t seen him in years, Alhaitham. You expect me to keep tabs on every single person I know?”
“I expect you to at least remember their bad qualities. Like Ayman, for instance.”
Kaveh did not have the energy to be getting into yet another argument with his roommate. Annoyed, he got up and stood in front of Alhaitham, meeting him head on. “Well I’m sorry I didn’t know he was a literal bastard! I genuinely was not aware of this… this attribute of his. Gods, why do you care so much, anyway?”
There was hesitation in Alhaitham’s expression as he opened his mouth to answer. “I am simply looking out for you, that is all.”
Kaveh scoffed, rolling his eyes, “You, looking out for me? The world must be ending if that is what you truly think,” he said in disbelief, crossing his arms in front of his chest, “there is not a day in our lives where we are not arguing with each other, how could you possibly care for the one person you always seem to be fighting with?”
Kaveh searched Alhaitham’s face for a sliver of emotion to decipher, something to prove the point he had just given. But the look Alhaitham gave him was not one of humour, and instead one of complete earnestness. He was clearly very serious about this.
“Should I show you the extent of my concern, then?” Alhaitham muttered, his tone so uncharacteristically gentle it made Kaveh’s heart skip a beat.
“Oh, do enlighten me, please.”
Alhaitham then leaned in to capture Kaveh’s lips in a kiss.
Surprised, Kaveh staggered backwards and fell onto the couch behind him, breaking the kiss momentarily. Alhaitham stood in front of him, and Kaveh noticed his expression shift. “I apologise, I should not have invaded your personal space like that-”
Kaveh pulled Alhaitham by the wrist towards him, whispering into his ear, “You are insufferable.”
And he crashed their lips together again.
Alhaitham positioned himself on top of Kaveh, arms caging the architect on both sides. His knee was pressed onto the couch, between Kaveh’s legs, dangerously close to his crotch. Kaveh’s hands moved to Alhaitham’s nape, pulling the other man as close as he possibly could, until the only separation between them was their clothes.
“Alhaitham-'' Kaveh gasped as he caught his breath, hands pressed to Alhaitham’s chest to push him away. His lips were pink and soft from kissing, and it took everything in Kaveh to fight the urge to pull him in again.
But of course, that was not an option when it came to a man like Alhaitham. This time, he was the one to initiate contact, pushing Kaveh’s back onto the couch and hovering on top of him, kissing like a man starved.
Everything was going so fast. Kaveh was feeling heady from the constant push and pull of their bodies, Alhaitham taking from Kaveh as he wished, his hands gripping onto the other man’s waist like he was preventing Kaveh from escaping his grasp.
We need to stop. I need to talk to him. Kaveh’s mind thought distantly, and so with the final stream of consciousness he had, he pushed Alhaitham away again.
“Gods,” Alhaitham said, exasperated, and Kaveh did his best not to dwell on how raspy Alhaitham’s voice sounded, “you drive me insane.”
“And you are irritable,” Kaveh responded, but there was no real snark behind his words. He stared up into Alhaitham’s eyes, reaching out to hold his face tenderly, observing the way Alhaitham eased into his touch.
His carmine eyes searched Alhaitham’s teal ones, expecting to see regret, or worse, disgust at what they had just done. But he found none of that at all.
Kaveh cleared his throat and uttered, “So what are we? Roommates who kiss? Friends with benefits?” Then, with a little hesitance he added, “...lovers?”
“I am not opposed to the idea of being lovers,” Alhaitham said, matter-of-factly, “after all, I have been harbouring feelings for you ever since we moved in together.”
“You- what?” exclaimed Kaveh, “that was like, years ago, Alhaitham!”
“And what about it?”
“I… I’m just really surprised.”
They stayed like that for a while, just staring into each other’s eyes like they couldn’t get enough of doing so. It was only when Alhaitham complained that his back was starting to hurt that they both moved from their positions.
…………
“Alhaitham?”
“Hm?”
“Why did you start liking me?”
“I’m not sure. You were really pretty to look at, and that went on for a few months until I got to know you better and it just… clicked.”
“Wow, that was extremely unromantic.”
“But you still like me, though.”
“I certainly can’t deny that.”