Work Text:
Alhaitham wakes up later than he’s used to, though it’s a lie to say his body isn’t used to the late wakeup time by now. Now that it’s been a month, has it really been that long?, since Kaveh moved out.
And even if his body is used to waking up at the same time he did when he lived alone--before Kaveh-- his mind isn’t. He’s been struggling to find the motivation to work. That wasn’t new though, not even Kaveh could make him want to fulfil the responsibilities of Acting Grand Sage. What was new though, was the fact that this lack of motivation applied to his personal studies and reading.
And if Alhaitham was honest, he would say Kaveh leaving is the cause of this, but Alhaitham is not an honest man: that much was obvious to Kaveh, especially in their last turbulent weeks living together.
And when Alhaitham is semi-honest, he reminds himself he likes the silence; the routine of living alone, and the lack of chaos that seems to radiate off Kaveh. The loneliness. And so he gets out of bed a bit before noon, pulling open curtains and windows, then working on making lunch.
He makes his way to their kitchen— or his kitchen, he corrects— and sitting on the dinner table is the same note that left him frozen, numb, and irreversibly cruel. An inevitable last note, one he knew was coming, from their very first argument at the Akademiya, to the one they had a month ago. But that was a month ago. He’s survived longer without Kaveh. Without a new note scribbled onto the backs of old concept drawings reminding Alhaitham Kaveh was going to be home late, because now the architect's final note reminds him he’s never coming home.
The acting grand sage’s lunch is bland, nothing like the lively and hearty meals Kaveh prepared, nothing that left him feeling warm the way Kaveh’s company did. Still does, if the fleeting feeling his heart feels whenever he looks at the framed art hanging on every wall says anything.
A month in, Alhaitham is tired of trying to argue that he doesn’t miss the light of Kshahrewar, not when there’s no one left to argue with.