Archive of Our Own

It was early in the morning, the sun just starting to show its first signs of rising. Kaveh could say he got up early to enjoy the nice and quiet of the early morning, or to watch the sun rise. That was not the case. Most times it never was.

Groaning loudly, Kaveh rubbed his eyes and sighed deeply. He looked down at his work. It was good, not great. Unfortunately, that was what he had. The client only gave him a short notice to submit his final drafts before starting the blueprints for this project. Maybe Kaveh could still make some final adjustments before his meeting, they scheduled to meet at noon for lunch to talk through the final design so he still had some time. Though maybe he should get some sleep, showing up at a meeting with bags under his eyes would cause a bad impression.

At that moment Kaveh felt his stomach grumbling. Food first, then sleep. Actually add a shower too.

Another grumble made him rise and head to the kitchen. He avoided looking at his reflection on the mirror of his room, he didn't need a reminder of how awful he looked after going twenty four plus without as much as a power nap.

He stopped at Alhaitham’s door with the sudden urge to burst open the door to disturb him and cuddle and spend the day in bed. Shaking his head, Kaveh started to go to the kitchen, where he first put some water to boil to make some fresh coffee. Then he sliced bread and fresh fruit. That was the maximum effort he could do for breakfast for the moment.

After a few minutes the smell of fresh coffee permeated the house, the smell was so intense that soon he heard the familiar sound of Alhaitham's bedroom door opening.

"You got up early. Another all-nighter?" Alhaitham was already grabbing two cups for them. He never said good morning.

"Yes, I had a tight schedule. I'll meet the client at noon, so I'm probably resting before heading out."

Alhaitham pulled the chair for Kaveh to take a seat beside him. He started pouring coffee for Kaveh first, as he usually does. "Good, you look awful." He passed the cup for him. "I'll wake you to make sure you won't be late."

Kaveh murmured a thank you before taking the first sip of coffee. "And how are you gonna do that all the way from the Akademiya?" Wait. "Please, don't waste your lunch break to come here just to wake me."

"No need, I took the day off. Though I have a small appointment in the afternoon, you won't be messing up my plans."

"Ah, if that's the case then I guess you can be nice after all."

"Hm."

"Just today? You didn't take a vacation without telling me, did you?" Kaveh crossed his arms.

"No, I specifically requested only today." Alhaitham said it with an expectant look on his eyes. He did it when he was waiting for Kaveh to realize something.

"I see…" Kaveh was rummaging his brain to see if today had anything out of sorts. Had they agreed to do something? Maybe a special date? Was it a special day in any way shape or form? Did Alhaitham really take a day for the sake of it?

They finished their meal in comfortable silence. Alhaitham took the dishes to wash them saying Kaveh should shower before sleeping. That took Kaveh out of his trance of overthinking.

He went to the bathroom.

Yes, his suspicions were right. He looked terrible. His fair completion lacked any liveliness - when was the last time he went out on a stroll to sunbathe? His hair was dry and sticking to weird angles. The shine of his eyes was dull and they had a tired appearance, looking unfocused.

With a sigh Kaveh undressed and showered. The hot water was dreamy, his muscles relaxing. He could fall asleep right there.

He forgot to bring clothes with him, so after his shower he just dried his hair and wrapped the towel on his waist. Him and Alhaitham were far from shy about their bodies at this point, having seen everything that there was to see in each other.

Kaveh walked calmly to his bedroom. The thought of his warm bed had him drooling. Just the thought of a few hours of sleep sounded like Celestia.

His door was barely open. Weird. He remembered leaving it wide open. He made his way inside and he found Alhaitham on his bed.

Yes, they were in a relationship. And yes, they do sleep together - more often than not. However, it was kinda of an unspoken rule between them that their bed was in Alhaitham's room. The bed in Kaveh's though? That was his.

He was very aware that it was egoistical and strange of him to be like this, but you see, if Kaveh slept on his own bed it meant he needed the sleep and alone time desperately. So seeing Alhaitham there before a power nap made him deflate like an old balloon.

"What are you doing here? I told you I'm going to sleep."

"And I am here to make sure of it." Alhaitham closed the book he was reading in order to stare at Kaveh. "I know you're thinking about making some last minute alterations to your design, either now or before heading out."

"I wasn't- I'm not! And what is the problem if I do anyway?" Kaveh didn't exactly plan on changing something on his design, but he was well aware that he had a bad track record on resisting temptation.

"You need the sleep, Kaveh."

"Fine! Then watch me sleep like a creep for all I care." He grabbed some light clothes to sleep on and plopped on the bed.

The smell was different. Looking at it now, had he changed his bed sheets?

"Have you changed my sheets?"

"Hm, they were dirty. I wasn't going to lie down on that."

"You! I change them regularly."

"If you say so."

Choosing to not pick an argument when his body was begging for him to close his eyes and rest, Kaveh snuggled closer towards Alhaitham until he felt his body heat.

Alhaitham let one hand go from his book to put it on top of Kaveh's head. He started to play gently with the blond locks. Kaveh suppressed the urge to sigh of pleasure, he could feel his consciousness slipping away.

Soon enough he felt his body shaking lightly a Kaveh, wake up popping up in his dream. After a wake up, love he felt himself waking up with a gasp. Alhaitham hardly uses this pet name (or any pet names) but this one always makes his heart quicken and color fill his cheeks.

Snuggling on the body he was resting on, he grumbled. "No. Don't wanna." He took notice that he was on Alhaitham's lap now, resting on his stomach. He felt a strong arm holding him close that was also shaking him.

"Kaveh, you have to meet your client in one hour. You need to get ready." One hour was more than enough to put on his clothes, grab Mehrak and his drafts. He sighed and let himself try to sleep a bit more. Alhaitham was having none of that. "You're drooling all over me."

"Really?" He sat up, rubbing his mouth. He didn't feel anything wet and looking at Alhaitham's lap there wasn't a wet patch or anything. "Ugh, how old are you again?"

"Hm, it still worked." He closed his book and turned to Kaveh. "You had around four hours of sleep, enough for you to be functioning at the very least."

"Yeah yeah, I know. Someday I'll fix my sleep schedule." Kaveh leaned on his shoulder, a small smile making its way. "Thank you for waking me up, Haitham."

"Better this than having you complain later and rushing out of the house without your keys."

Kaveh rolled his eyes and went for a kiss. Just a small, slow one.

Kaveh stretched after he left the bed. He took his outfit from the wardrobe and laid it down. As he undressed in order to change he could few a pair of eyes analyzing every move. Once he felt stripped down and even judged by Alhaitham’s gaze, after all he had striking eyes and looked at things like a hawk. Now he knew that Alhaitham was simply watching him for the sake of it. He definitely analyzed everything Kaveh was doing, but he didn’t care about it anymore.

He finished braiding his hair and putting on the hair clips. He gathered his drafts and Mehrak while Alhaitham was still on his bed reading. He looked at ease, lucky him for having a day off. Kaveh meanwhile would probably leave this meeting with the client to rush back home and start working again.

He made his way to the front door where they left their shoes. Alhaitham accompanied him.

“I’m off then.” Kaveh said as he put on his sandals. “I won’t be long because I have other projects to finish. Can you take care of dinner today?”

“I’d rather eat out.”

“That won’t do,” He shook his head. “I’m short on mora.”

“My treat then.” Alhaitham closed their distance, invading his personal space. He fiddled with Kaveh’s hair for a moment. “You forgot your feather.”

“Right. I’ll, uhm, leave now then.”

He gave a step back to leave but an arm on his waist held him in place. Not a second later hungry lips started to kiss him. He left out a moan from surprise. Wrapping his arms on Alhaitham’s neck to pull him closer and that was incentive enough for him to deepen the kiss.

They kept kissing until a tiny alarm started going on in Kaveh’s head about being late. “Haitham,” He said between kisses. “I need to- ah” The kisses didn’t stop. “Need to go.”

“Just a moment.”

“No, my meeting is in- hmph!”

“One more.”

“Haitham, I-”

And he was cut off again.

“I’ll be late!” Kaveh pushed his boyfriend off. When Alhaitham ignored him and went for more smooshes Kaveh placed his hand on his mouth to stop another attack.

What was with him today? First leaving bed early to have breakfast together on his day off, then keeping company and making sure Kaveh gets his rest and doesn’t oversleep, and now saying he’ll buy him dinner and basically stopping him from leaving the house. Alhaitham was an attentive partner, just that he would do these gestures more sparsely.

And on top of all of that Alhaitham was pouting. Feeling himself loose in a tiny battle Kaveh held his cheeks and leaned for another kiss. He stopped Alhaitham from using tongue because seriously he needed to leave.

“What is it with you?” He said as he put distance on them. “Saying you wanted to make sure I would leave early only to be the reason to make me late!”

“When did you say you’d be home again?”

“Don’t just ignore me!” He scoffed as he grabbed Mehrak from the floor. “In around two hours.”

“Good.” Alhaitham said with relief in his voice.

Kaveh stopped. Wait. That tone of voice he used when he was planning something. He felt the words on the tip of his tongue ready to ask what Alhaitham was planning. A quick look to the clock by the door changed his mind quickly. Shaking his head, Kaveh opened the door - better focus on his meeting for the moment. Whatever plan Alhaitham had shouldn’t be anything to waste time thinking on.

He made sure he had his keys before leaving. Alhaitham leaned on the door and gave him a quick peck on his cheek. “I love you.”

Kaveh’s heart skipped a beat. Though they were already in this phase it always made him flustered, just like the pet names. His cheeks filled with color in a second.

“Uh…” He said as goodbye. He started walking fast to try and hide his flustered state. To no avail because as soon as his back was turned Alhaitham left an amused laugh.

He always did it on purpose! Saying and doing these sweet things to see Kaveh getting red and losing the ability to speak.

—--------------------—

The meeting went better than expected. The client said how sorry they were for the tight schedule, but impressed with the quality of the work given the time. After showing each and every draft the client was satisfied, and with only a few minor changes to make the design was practically finished. They agreed on a new deadline, this time Kaveh was granted a better schedule thanks to a trip his client had that would keep them away from the city. That sure made him feel relieved. If he planned his time correctly no all nighter would need to be pulled.

The walk back home was in high spirits. Having a successful meeting with a client wasn’t the most common occurrence in his life. Also having his key with him to unlock the front door kept his good mood up. The reminder of the other projects he needed to pick up weren’t enough to distract him from a successful meeting.

The lack of boots and Alhaitham’s cape by the front door were.

Weird.

Alhaitham always enjoyed his days off doing what he liked best. Which was nothing at all. He stayed at home either sleeping the whole day or reading. A true day in leisure, to be honest. Kaveh often complained that he should take the opportunity to do something new or different, but Alhaitham just shrugged his shoulders saying I get to spend my free time as I see fit, unlike you who can’t stop working until exhaustion, I know how to appreciate a good day's rest.

Kaveh tsked as he remembered it. To say he wasn’t the tiny bit envious his boyfriend could do nothing without growing fidget or guilty from a lack of productivity was a lie. Kaveh wished he could do that.

On that note he headed to his room where he left his drafts. He picked a few designs that could have some improvement.

He didn’t know for how long he was drawing, but it was for long enough to find unnerving the time he was alone. He checked the house again to see if Alhaitham was back and didn’t say anything - it happened more than once that Kaveh didn’t even notice he wasn’t alone anymore because he was too focused on work.

Alhaitham wasn’t home yet.

Kaveh brewed some more coffee for him and chose to have a nice long bath afterwards. Better enjoy the house for himself when he has it. It probably went by another hour when he finally heard the telling sound of the front door unlocking.

A pleased sigh left his lips knowing Alhaitham was home. He wasn’t exactly worried, he knew that Alhaitham was more than capable of defending himself, still Kaveh found odd of him going out when apparently he didn’t need to.

Which made Kaveh think about earlier. Was Alhaitham planning something? He sounded oddly satisfied that Kaveh was leaving the house for a few hours. He suggested going for dinner tonight, maybe something related to it?

Whatever, certainly nothing to worry about.

—--------------------—

They were dressed for their little outing. Kaveh changed his outfit upon seeing how Alhaitham was dressed up. He took one at his boyfriend and scoffed as he went back to his room.

“Next time you tell me to dress up as well!” He complained.

Alhaitham just shrugged and took a seat on one of their divans to wait for Kaveh.

When he left his room Kaveh felt Alhaitham’s eyes eating him up. He avoided eye contact and crossed his arms.

“Are you going to gawk at me or take me to dinner?” He asked, trying to preserve at least some dignity.

Only then Alhaitham bothered looking at his face. He got up, his book forgotten as he grabbed Kaveh by the waist to kiss him.

Kaveh melted to those lips he was no stranger to. Alhaitham’s hand slowly went to his small back, pressing their bodies close. He let them breathe for a moment before diving in with new hunger.

They’ve done it too many times, but Kaveh was still surprised by how eager Alhaitham was so easily.

He let out a gasp when he felt one hand grabbing his ass, the other pulling his hair to separate their lips, and Alhaitham started plastering open mouthed kisses on his neck. Kaveh was not opposed to what was happening, honestly quite happy to know that his boyfriend got that horny from just from some tight fitting pants and a shirt with a generous cleavage on the front. Which actually wasn’t all that different from his usual day to day wear.

He was hungry though. For food.

“Haitham.” He tried to stop his boyfriend to no avail. This was getting awfully similar to earlier, a sense of deja vu making him shiver. “Honestly, what has gotten into you today? You’re so clingy.”

“And who’s fault is that?” Obviously Alhaitham would stop his advances to retort. “Looking like this, you shouldn’t expect me to hold back.” He gave him a once over again, definitely enjoying the flustered state he left Kaveh in.

“You! Take me to dinner, butter me up with words and alcohol and then you can have me.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.” He let Kaveh go, his hands now trying to put back in place his hair and feather. “Oh,” His eyes zeroed in some spot on his neck. Kaveh had a feeling of what was to come. “You should apply some makeup here. Unless you want people to let you know what we were up to earlier” He gave a smug smile. “Though I don’t mind other people knowing you’re taken.”

“You’re insufferable.” He murmured with no bite.

Finally after covering the growing hickey and avoiding Alhaitham’s wandering hands they left their house. Kaveh was getting a big giddy because of the way Alhaitham was acting. They were walking hand in hand, a pleasant conversation going on. They exchanged a few remarks with no bite to it - mostly Kaveh responding to Alhaitham’s bait.

The restaurant they went to had a reservation under Alhaitham’s name. He insisted Kaveh order whatever wanted and have the best wine the place could offer. He definitely took to heart Kaveh’s earlier comment. Nothing good food and wine couldn’t convince him to do (honestly, no matter what Alhaitham did Kaveh would be more than happy to do whatever his boyfriend wanted to).

Kaveh’s heart was so full from being treated like a pampered boyfriend. These showcases of unfiltered affection weren’t the most often, making them even more special when they came.

Usually Alhaitham showed his love in more subtle ways. Making sure Kaveh ate and went to bed. Reminding him of appointments, cooking him breakfast, paying off his tabs at the tavern and so on.

They did go on dates every once in a while - most of the time by Kaveh’s insistence. Though it was like any other outing. Drinks on Lambad, maybe some lunch at Puspa Café or a stroll around the city. But this time, with Alhaitham dressed up looking more handsome than usual, being clingy and indulging in Kaveh’s whims was - ultimately - the most romantic he has ever been.

Instead of going home like expected after dinner, Alhaitham headed to the Grand Bazaar. It was getting late so most stores were closed. The main attraction at this hour was the street performers and theater.

A small spark of hope that maybe they were going to see a play was short-lived when Alhaitham entered a pastry shop. He had an order waiting to be picked up. As they waited for the employee to get it in the back Kaveh eyed the selection on the front counter.

He had been here once or twice, and he distinctly remembers how good the sweets were.

“Do you want anything?” Alhaitham asked, squeezing his hand to grab Kaveh’s attention.

“Huh?” He looked back to Alhaitham before understanding what he meant. “Not really, no. I suppose you ordered something for both of us so no need.”

“You’re practically drooling looking at the display.”

“I’m not! It’s not my fault they look so appetizing.”

“Then stop being stubborn and take whatever you want.”

Kaveh gave another look at the sweets. Damn it they look too good. If he’s not wrong, the pistachio baklava was delicious.

The employee came back with a fancy looking box in hand. He mumbled a price tag and when asked if that was all Alhaitham was quick to point to the pastry Kaveh was ogling.

The walk back home was peaceful. They were still holding hands. Kaveh shared some bites of his little treat with Alhaitham.

He was on cloud nine. And still no idea what was happening. Why was Alhaitham doing all of this? It confused Kaveh to no end! Alhaitham always and, he means always, had a reason for each and every action he took. Yes, making Kaveh happy would be reason enough, but he did that daily by just being himself!

This was suspicious. He had to be planning something.

Was he maybe- No, that’d be too sudden.

They stopped by the front door and Alhaitham asked him to open it. Kaveh grabbed his keys from his pocket. He let Alhaitham come in first, since he had the dessert. He made a beeline to their dining table before coming back to take off his shoes.

Kaveh was quietly humming as he took off his sandals.

He felt Alhaitham placing a hand on his shoulder. “Let’s grab some dessert.”

“Can we have it with some more wine?”

Alhaitham gave him a tired look. “Didn’t you drink enough already?”

“You bought a crate for me a few days ago. What’s the point of giving it to me if you're going to complain that I drink it?”

“You almost had an entire bottle by yourself during dinner.”

“That you paid for! In fact, I remember you insisting that I had my fill while you were fine having only one glass.” Kaveh took the hand off his shoulder. “Can’t you just let me have one glass? Just one, please?”

Alhaitham looked like he was losing an argument with himself. He stared at Kaveh’s eyes until he gave a defeated sigh. “Fine, let me fetch that for you.” He let go of Kaveh’s hand and headed to the kitchen.

Kaveh took the opportunity to go take a look at the dessert that his boyfriend ordered. He hoped it was a cake, it has been quite some time since he last had any.

He froze when he stepped in front of their dining table.

Because there was probably the prettiest bouquet he had ever seen sitting on the top of the table.

Pretty was not enough to describe it. It was gorgeous.

He felt his cheeks heat up and heart pick up speed. That was the first time Alhaitham bought him flowers.

Speaking of him, he came back from the kitchen with two glasses and plates as well. “Oh, you saw it.” He said.

“What the hell is this?” Kaveh turned to him, his flush both from anger and flusterness.

“Huh?”

“Wha- what is this?” He gestured wildly to the flowers, the dessert and then pointed to Alhaitham. “You! You’ve been, I don’t know, awfully sweet the entire day. Pampering me like a spoiled boyfriend! And- and now flowers? Why?!”

“Kaveh, I don’t understand.” He put glasses and plates on top of the table. “I thought you’d like it.”

“And I do!” Alhaitham arched an eyebrow, looking more confused. “It’s just! What did I do to deserve this? Are trying to-” Kaveh cut himself off. He placed both hands on his mouth to stop saying are you trying to propose to me?

“Kaveh, breathe.” Alhaitham slowly approached him, placing his hands on Kaveh’s shoulder. He gently pressed down, trying to ground him. “I wanted to make today special, simple as that. And don’t question why I’d anything for you. Taking care of you, making you happy, seeing your eyes filled with joy…that’s reason enough.”

He felt his flush getting even redder.

“Oh,” Alhaitham pulled teasingly at his cheek. “Are you embarrassed, senior?”

“Of course, I am!” He snapped the hand from his face. “You shouldn’t say all of that. It sounds weird coming from you!”

“Really? Then why do you seem to like it so much?”

“I-I dont!”

“You’re not fooling me.” He stared down at Kaveh. “Maybe I should be more forward with you, you look rather cute.”

“Gah!” Kaveh squeaked, putting some distance between them. Too much. His heart was beating so fast.

Alhaitham laughed, something exclusive for Kaveh’s ears. He glanced over at his boyfriend having a tiny crisis, maybe he should lay down being this forward if Kaveh was going to react like that every time.

“Wipe that smug ass smile right now!”

“Hm, no.” Then, a pause. “I’ll be right back.” And left to their study.

“Alhaitham!” Kaveh tried to make him stay. Agh, whatever.

While he waited, Kaveh decided to finally open the box and found a love cake inside. He tried not to think too much about it and focused on grabbing the plates and cutting two pieces. He sat at his usual place at the table.

He sighed and his gaze found the flowers. Again, probably the most beautiful bouquet he has ever seen. It was a collection of padisarah, sumeru roses and qingxin flowers. Considering the rarity of padisarahs and the lack of qingxin in Sumeru, that must have been a very expensive purchase.

Kaveh was going to take good care of it. He was already thinking about what vase would work best. Should he separate the flowers and leave them in every single room of the house? But they looked perfect together, it'd be a pity to undo the meticulous work of the flourist.

He heard footsteps heading back to the living room. He straightened in the chair, curious why Alhaitham left.

The question remained unanswered for a short time. Alhaitham took his seat directly in front of Kaveh and extended a delicate dark green velvet box.

Kaveh blinked.

“This is the last present for today. Please don’t make a fuss.” Alhaitham said, nudging the box for Kaveh to take it.

Kaveh took it. He was barely breathing even though his heart was kilometers per hour. Was he right earlier? Was Alhaitham really proposing to him? He at least expected the down on one knee thing, but this was already the best he could expect from Alhaitham.

Wait- was he going to say yes?

He loved Alhaitham. A lot. Deeply.

But they were dating for four months. So, not for a long time.

It’s too soon! He still had a hard time saying I love you’s back!

Deep down he knew that he wanted to be with Alhaitham for as long as time allowed. However, maybe getting married now was just too soon.

“Aren't you going to open it?”

He gulped. He wanted to know what the ring looked like. He was afraid though, the hairs at the back of his neck standing up. A shiver went through his body.

He opened the box.

“Oh.” Instead of a ring, a pair of large teardrop earrings were inside. It was made of gold with two red gemstones. One on the stud, the other and bigger one being the actual tear. “Haitham, this…I don’t know what to say.”

Part of him was glad it wasn’t a marriage proposal. He sighed, some tension going away.

“I was wondering for months what to get you for our anniversary.” Alhaitham started. Wait, their what? “When browsing for gifts I found a jeweler that specializes in custom made pieces. I picked this gemstone in specific because it reminded me of your eyes, the gold was an obvious choice. It suits you.”

“It’s our anniversary?” Kaveh blurted. “We've been dating for four months. Surely you didn’t do all of this for merely four months?”

Alhaitham was shocked. It wasn’t often that the man was left speechless. Kaveh continued. “I don’t mean to say I don’t like it! The contrary, it’s beautiful. Look, let me try it.” He rushed to take off his earrings and put on the new pair. “See! I love it. You can say something now, please don’t get upset I questioned why the gifts I just thought that maybe this is too much for a short time, like it’s better suited for a one year anniversary or something-”

“Kaveh, please stop talking.”

Gladly!

“What do you mean we’ve been together for four months? Kaveh, love, today is our one year anniversary.” He sighed. “I was fine when I noticed you forgot, you aren’t the best at keeping track of anything besides project deadlines. I thought it would be a good opportunity to surprise you, but-”

“No, it’s not.” Kaveh cut him off. “Haitham, we officially started dating four months ago. A year ago we were just- Oh.”

“Hm?”

“Oh my god!” He exclaimed. “Haitham, you’re adorable!”

His boyfriend scrunched his nose. “Uh…what?”

“You say we are together for a year because a year ago that was the first time we hooked up! I’m right, am I not?” He made his way around the table and leaned on Alhaitham’s space. He was smiling like a young girl when finding out her crush liked her back. “You’re so cute! Can’t believe you remember the day. My dear junior, counting the days we were together from the first time we kissed.”

Alhaitham still didn’t say anything. If you squint you could see the lightest color on his cheeks.

For context, they started a relationship officially (as many times stated) four months ago. However, since Kaveh and Alhaitham could never progress a relationship in a more organic way it all started about a year ago.

There was some tension between the two, having been living together for a while they were definitely close once again. They had their meals together, went out for drinks, did shopping together etc - actually not that different from the present.

So they started on light touches and lingering gazes. Though the frequency they had disagreements was much less than from when Kaveh just moved in, they still had it. And then, in the heat of the moment, some words were exchanged and personal spaces ignored. Kaveh might have been a bit tipsy, but he was sure then that he needed to kiss the hell out of his junior.

Due to Kaveh’s insecurity he didn’t label them anything beyond roommates and friends with benefits. Alhaitham never brought it up because he was content with what they had (and actually thought they were dating already).

Literal months passed by until, and one night in their afterglow with Kaveh leaning half his body on Alhaitham, he made the question What are we?

What came after it would result in too long a tangent.

Kaveh ruffled his boyfriend’s hair. “So?”

“We already had this talk, I did think we were together since we were mutually exclusive. You stopped going out on dates even before we first hooked up.”

“Awww, are you going to play smart and not let me tease you?”

“Yes. I have nothing to be embarrassed about. I knew I loved you then, and the longer we are together, the more sure I am of it.”

“You can’t just say these things. It was my turn to embarass you!”

“Hm, you already tried and failed. My turn now.” He stood up and grabbed Kaveh's waist. Oh, he was familiar with that look. “Earlier you made a promise, hope you didn’t forget it.”

“Oh, don’t worry. I remember it well.” The arms around his body squeezed him, pressing them together. Alhaitham’s eyes were hungry even though they had dinner an hour ago. Kaveh kept talking before Alhaitham chased his lips. “But! I, uhm, I really wanna eat the cake. And have more wine. Also, I need to put the flowers in a vase. Padisarahs wither easily. The qingxin flowers I have to talk to Tighnari to ask how to care take of them.”

Alhaitham defleated.

“Sorry, sorry. Just let me do these things first, and then you can have me, alright? No need to pout, it won’t work again.”

Clearly Alhaitham was impatient. He complied with what Kaveh wanted anyway.

The flowers were in a vase Kaveh had in his room. It brought a new life to their dining table.

As they were eating the love cake, Kaveh reached his free hand to interlace it with Alhaitham’s. “Thank you, Haitham, for today. It’s still hard for me to say it and I wish I could say it as often as you.” He took a deep breath. “I love you too.”

Alhaitham squeezed his hand. “Say it again.”

“Uh, the thank you or I love you part?”

“Both.”

“Honestly you.” He rolled his eyes. Then he remembered something. “Oh, do you believe earlier I thought you were proposing to me? I was sure these earrings were going to be a wedding bend.”

“I thought about it. I intend on marrying you some day, not now though. You need to be able to say I love without stuttering.”

Gods this guy. Saying like nothing that he wishes to marry Kaveh!

Kaveh stuffed his face with the last bit of cake to try to save face. He heard a chair being dragged as Alhaitham made his way to his side.

“Had your fill?”

Kaveh nodded.

“Good.”

And then he was in Alhaitham’s arms being carried to the bedroom. Kaveh wished he could say that was the first time it ever happened.

“Wait, Haitham, we need to clean up the table!”

His protest went unacknowledged.

After today they still had arguments about when exactly they should celebrate their relationship. They went on in circles and never truly agreed, because even though they didn’t state the status of their relationship they still were together, right? Labeling something wouldn’t make it true only from that moment on.

Oh, and what if one of the parts wasn’t aware of that? If someone doesn’t see it as a romantic relationship yet, can it really be considered as one? Dating needed both parts to be aware for it to be, well, a thing. You can’t date someone and let them be unaware of it! Even if the feelings are mutual.

This kept going as one of their never ending arguments to when it didn’t matter anymore about who was right or wrong.

At least they could agree on the date of their engagement.