Work Text:
"Alhaitham?"
"Hm."
"I love you."
The kitchen is filled with the hissing of hot oil in the pan, embracing the bite-sized pieces of meat. The golden rays of the evening sun streamed through the open window, casting a warm, ethereal glow within the haze of smoke, a result of the sizzling meat on the stove. Sounds and voices of the Sumeru City's streets carried inside the house with a gentle breeze, that slightly caressed the fire.
Nothing has changed.
Except, maybe, the wooden spoon Alhaitham was stirring the meat with became a little heavier in his hold.
He slowly turns around to look over the kitchen isle, at the man sitting on the couch in the living room, bent over the coffee table with a bunch of big and small paper sheets covering it's surface. Kaveh's golden hair pulled up into a bun held pierced by a pair of pencils. He's focused on something.
"What.. what did you just say?"
Radiant and vibrant crimson eyes looked up from the papers and glanced in his direction, eyebrows raised in a surprise.
"Hm? You didn't hear it? I said I love you."
And he turned back to finding solutions and solving equations Alhaitham was never interested in but always admired the way Kaveh could deal with them on the go, no matter the state he was in, mind clear, sleepy or drunk.
Again. Nothing has changed.
Alhaitham looked at Kaveh. Looked at his blueprints. Looked at the wooden spoon in his hand. Looked outside of the window.
He waited. For as long as he could remember he always waited for those words, for Kaveh to finally say them. Years. For years he thought about this moment, imagining all sorts of scenarios it could play itself with. It was always something big. Important. Huge. Something that changed everything and them all together. It was emotional. It somehow cleared all the misunderstandings. It brought the sense of relief and closure. The whole world should've feel newer and brighter.
But nothing has changed.
It was simple. The sun was still shining the same and people on the street kept walking and talking and laughing as if nothing happened. And he, too, stood in the middle of the kitchen. The same man he was before.
"Alhaitham, meat's gonna burn."
"Ah. Hm."
He turns to the stove. He turns over the pieces of meat bathed in oil. They are perfectly gold and crispy from all sides. He turns off the stove. He puts the meat in the two dishes with mashed potatoes. A little bit more for Kaveh, a little bit less for himself.
His mind is running miles per hour.
He said I love you. Kaveh said I love you. Kaveh said he loves me. Kaveh loves me. He loves me. I love him. I love him.
Yet his body simply put the dishes and two cups of freshly brewed coffee, one with spoonful of sugar and the other with non, on the tray Kaveh carved the other day.
He brought the tray to the table where Kaveh cleared enough space for it, most papers and tools now stacked on the floor nearby.
When they sat together on the couch, their knees touch, their shoulders brush. As they always did. They never leaned away. They didn't now.
Nothing has changed.
"You used that new seasoning?"
"Mhm."
"Tastes good, we should buy some more while it's still fifty off."
"We can buy for full price if you like it."
"Mm. Also the rose tea, we are running out of that one."
"What were you working on?"
"Oh it's a small project, the storage building. It's gonna connect to a bigger facility so I'm trying to figure out how to do it most efficiently and while keeping the same pattern of the design."
"Mhm."
As they drank coffee, Kaveh kept leaning down to his blueprints to make some notes so he won't forget them later. Alhaitham watched his face light up with new ideas every other minute.
I love him.
Every time Kaveh straightened back to take a couple sips of warm drink, their shoulders and elbows touched again.
I love him.
He wears a long white shirt. It's stained with coal and paint and old coffee spots. It's too big for his small figure. It most likely once belonged to Alhaitham.
I love him.
Kaveh finishes his drink and places empty dishes and cups on a tray to take them to kitchen and clean.
I love him.
He humms some melodic tune under his breath, something he heard on a most recent concert in Zubayr Theater they attended together.
I love him.
The setting sun colors his skin in bronze as he dries his hands with a towel.
I love him.
He looks beautiful when he's gathering his papers and tools and pencils to bring them back to his room and continue working there. Alhaitham can't look away and watches his every step and every movement.
"I love you."
Kaveh stops half way to his room. He slowly turns around and their eyes finally meet again.
Nothing has changed.
Because there was nothing to change to begin with. They always loved each other. They always were aware of that. It would be too stupid of them to not notice. The way they look at each other, the way they care, the way they yearn.
They showed love to each other in so many ways throughout these years they were already familiar with it's presence, and what were words if not just another way to remind of that feeling. To express it. Words didn't tell them anything they didn't know already. It was nothing new. Nothing big or life-changing.
Kaveh smiled.
"Do you want to read in my room while I'm working on this?"
Alhaitham stood up and picked up a book he left earlier on another couch.
Their eyes meet again as they stand there for a second in silence, basking in the last rays of this day.
Kaveh silently nods, disappearing inside his room.
Alhaitham follows him, closing the door behind them.
Nothing has changed.
Except maybe for two hearts that started beating a little faster. Just for a moment.