Chapter Text
….
Kaveh didn’t think of himself as a coward.
Until he was faced with the dread of actually losing his life over a highschool crush.
Back in his Akademiya days, he couldn’t focus on silly things like love or romantic relationships.
His one and only goal was to successfully finish his time as a Kshahrewar student and make a name for himself.
Maybe that was the reason why the consequences didn’t catch up to him until older, finally submerged in debt and in a rocky relationship with his roommate and also long-term.. friend? Acquaintance.
One of his theories was that this hadn’t started in the Akademiya but recently, as he started to take his interactions with Alhaitham into more consideration.
It didn’t matter at all in this current moment.
He started coughing up the flowers soon after a memory of Alhaitham wholeheartedly laughing at something he’d done.
Watching him laugh like that was uncharacteristic and also dropped a very heavy, volatile weight in his stomach.
Every now and then he woke up with drops of blood in his pillow, smudged on his mouth and sometimes in the middle of the night just tasting that familiar metallic slightly salty flavor.
Whenever he brushed his teeth afterwards he’d see his spit either pink or full on red. As if he had a open, gaping wound inside of him.
Which in all honestly, didn’t seem too far off.
Debating on whether going to the house of daena or to the birmastan, he couldn’t find the strength in him to just get up.
If he was glad of something, it was that Alhaitham hadn’t come to see him, maybe thinking he’s oversleeping after being overworked. (By himself).
Hearing as the front door closed and locked, he gathered himself and weakly walked over to the kitchen, but everything he saw just made his stomach twist in itself.
He was attacked by another coughing fit, startled by the abrupt action, he tightly grasped his chest losing all power in his legs, letting him fall painfully knees first into the hard wood floor.
Once again, he had made a mess.
He couldn’t stand seeing those flower petals covered in blood.
Picking them up weakly, he placed them in his hands and just.. stared at them.
There wasn’t a lot of blood this time, but the petals sure did make up for them.
In his frail heart he hoped this day would end sooner.
….
Alhaitham had to leave for a couple of days, and Kaveh was sure that was the reason he suddenly felt way better and regenerated.
With sheer will power and a nice breakfast, he headed out to the doctors.
Today was going to be a good day.