Work Text:
Every time Alhaitham closed his eyes for too long, he could swear he saw a never-ending string of words, all on top of each other. Sentences in every language, the feeling of a cold coming and the strong smell of chemicals and rubber followed him home. There was nothing he wanted more than a warm bath, a nice meal and a good book before going to sleep.
“You’re back,” Kaveh’s voice greeted him from the floor, their coffee table and couch invaded by blueprints and sketches. “You stink,” he wasn’t looking at Alhaitham but he could sense the architect’s furrowed eyebrows and wrinkling nose.
“My sense of smell works just fine, I’ll have you know,” the door closed behind him as he was taking off his shoes and hanging his coat – the only thing free from the aftermath of a day of work.
“Well then, take your nose and the rest of your shit-smelling self to the bathroom,” Alhaitham didn’t give it a second thought, too tired to argue with him at the time.
He was considering taking a shower to waste less time and energy he didn’t have when he saw a bath already prepared waiting for him. It wasn’t unexpected by Kaveh’s nature to do something like that, even less as Alhaitham remembered texting him as he was leaving work. But it still took him by surprise, not yet used to his acts of pure affection with no complaints (well, he still complained sometimes, just not as often as before).
Alhaitham came out with a pair of sweatpants and a towel on his neck, dragging his feet until he let himself fall to the floor next to Kaveh. The blueprints disappeared while he was taking a bath, the blond now so focused on a game on his phone that he didn’t even twitch when Alhaitham hugged him from behind and buried his face in his neck.
“Long day?” He freed a hand to pat the archivist’s head while still playing with the other one. Alhaitham had no energy left in him to reply and so he grunted and hoped his message was conveyed. Kaveh’s chuckle was a sign that he understood what he tried to say. “We can buy delivery for dinner.”
“Will you pay for it?” Alhaitham looked up at the screen, curious about what Kaveh was playing.
“Tch, I cooked dinner last night and prepared you a bath today…”
“If you’re so tired of working all day, why are you playing a building game?” He frowned upon the little furniture and houses on screen. “I also paid for all the groceries yesterday.”
“Ungrateful brat,” Alhaitham felt some of his hair being pulled. “Why do you have to question everything I do?”
“It’s funny to see you react,” he missed the feeling of Kaveh’s hand on his hair as he shifted his attention to the game once more. His arms brought him closer and he allowed himself to drown on his boyfriend’s perfume. “What do you wanna eat?”
“Should we get fish rolls? I think I have a coupon saved for Lambad’s,” his words started to sound further away by the second, Alhaitham was feeling too comfortable to reject the sweet temptation of taking a nap right there. Sadly, Kaveh was having none of it. “Haitham… Haitham, wake up. You need to eat something before sleep or else you’ll be grumpy in the morning and I don’t wanna deal with that.”
“Big words from someone who usually survives on coffee alone.”
His eyelids felt so heavy and Kaveh felt so soft in his arms that he didn’t try to move or stay awake. It wasn’t until the blond stood up and left him on the floor that he gave up and followed him to the kitchen.
“The food should be here in a bit. Don’t,” Kaveh pointed a finger at him, “fall asleep before it gets here.”
Sitting down with his arms crossed, Alhaitham kept his eyes on Kaveh’s dancing figure while he was setting the table. Food arrived once he was done and it took little time to finish the meal, both were too exhausted to talk while eating.
Alhaitham’s eyes scanned through their shared library but he felt too tired to read anything. A voice inside his head reminded him he was expected to inspect even more documents the next day, ruining his mood for any lecture he could get done for the night. Yet, at the end of the day, the idea of going to bed and falling asleep next to Kaveh –as he watched a tv show Alhaitham had no interest in–, sounded as appealing as his favourite book.