Chapter Text
Alhaitham was in the car having fun, singing in the car with his family, playing with his little sister, classic road trip activities. As Al and his sister were about to go to sleep, a life changing event would happen.
The next thing Haitham remembered was waking up in a stretcher with a warm liquid running down his ears onto his cheek. He was then given the information that his parents have died in the fatal collision. His sister was in intensive care, not likely she would make it.
Al haitham left the hospital alone.
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He was raised in an orphanage his whole life in Sumeru. He struggled socially, for he could not hear well. The voices of the children would sound like they were talking 30 feet away. After some hardships, he went to doctor over doctor, the doctors always told him he would get his hearing back at the age of 7, two years after the accident. But now hes 8, deafer, but not completely. His ears have become super sensitive. He had to wear hearing aids in the form of earphones. Because of his hearing, he was never invited to play with the other children because they struggled talking to him. Eventually, he grew up getting used to the earphones, only taking them off when he goes to sleep.
After Haitham grew and enrolled, a freshman into the Akademiya, they took into consideration to his condition, giving him the special hearing aids he wears now. He would continue to live a normal life despite his hearing. He stopped going to the doctor after the last 4 visits. It was just a repeat of the other, ‘keep the headphones on when you leave the house.’ What caught his attention was when one sent him to get studies to see if he was eligible for a very special treatment. He was not, but they discovered that he would eventually lose his hearing even more when he grew. He was also told to not be surprised when ringing in his ears started. He was saddened, yeah, but he never really socialized anyways.
Haitham is now a sophomore. When he goes to the library, he doesn’t bring his hearing aids because libraries are supposed to be quiet. If something starts happening,he puts in his old earbuds he carries around everywhere just in case. Today, he didn’t have his earbuds. As Haitham walked in the library looking for his next book, he was interested in sign language. He went to the book section where those informative books are. Unfortunately , the book was all the way on the top shelf. He had to look for a ladder, which he soon acquired. He slowly brought it to where the book was. As he got the book, he climbed down the ladder. All of the sudden, his ears started ringing intensely, which scared and hurt him, forgetting he was on a ladder, he impulsively took a step back, falling. “Ah shit-“ he thought, thinking he was, not only gonna fall on the floor, but the ladder too, making more noise he couldn’t hear. But no, instead he fell into someone's arms. He rest assured, except- *clanck!* The ladder hit the floor. Haitham impulsively pushed the man away, rushing to get it back up so he didn’t disturb others.
“Woah! Are you ok? Did you get that scared by the ladder?” asks the man. Haitham just stares at his lips. The man sees, standing in silence, waiting for an answer . Alhaitham, distracted by his thoughts and silence, analyzes the man who saved him in great pain. Blonde hair that fades darker. Red hair pins to match with beautiful red eyes. He had the Akademiya uniform on, so it was obvious he was around his age.
“Thank…you.” Haitham says, grabbing the book from the man's hand. “A lot.”
“My name!- sorry- my name is Kaveh :)” Kaveh initially spoke loud, but whispered when he remembered what happened.
“My name is Al Haitham. Sorry but, i better get going.” Haitham managed to read his lips, speedwalks away, with massive blush on his face.
For the rest of the year, they meet in the library, getting to know eachother. Haitham always sees Kaveh getting architectural and design books, so he knows he's a junior right now. Haitham was surprised to find out that Kaveh is best friends with his two only friends— if you can even call them that— Cyno and Tighnari. Eventually, all 4 of them started having sleepovers, going places, hanging out, they became an inseparable group. Alhaitham never mentioned his hearing though, for he thought it was extremely unnecessary since he had his hearing aids and also because he feared that his friends would treat him differently. Yes, they would question why he wears headphones all the time, but he would just change the conversation or pretend to not hear. Eventually, Kaveh would become a debt-ridden man, having to move in with Al Haitham. They would get into frequent arguments and their relationship started to deteriorate after Kaveh became addicted to alcohol. Kaveh had to admit, he really cared about Al Haitham. He would admit to himself he had a huge crush on Haitham, but never pursued him romantically. He was planning, but he never knew when the right time was. Haitham though, he would struggle, fighting the fact that he also loved Kaveh to death.
Tighnari and Cyno were invited to a kids birthday dinner, so they relayed the invitation to Kaveh, which told Haitham. It is now 6:14, Kaveh getting out of the shower and Haitham is changing into his clothes. While Haitham is changing, he has his hearing aids off to quiet the noises in the house and Kaveh’s obnoxious singing in the shower. While he's putting his socks on, a faint ringing in his ears starts. Before Kaveh could notice something was wrong, he chugged down some water and took a pill. He then continued on with dressing up with the faint ringing. As he sprayed his perfume, he heard Kaveh getting impatient, walking in loops and starting to tinker with things he forced Al Haitham to buy to make the house not look like an insane asylum. “Hurry up! They are gonna start before us!” Haitham scoffed, finally getting up and walking out as he turned on his hearing aids.
“You exaggerate too much.” Alhaitham put on his jewlery. “It’s only 6:34.”
“Yes but the dinner starts at 7! And from here to the time when we arrive! Do you have any sense of time or are you just a robot like always!?” Alhaitham frowned at that remark. Kaveh always makes those types of insults which, behind closed doors, really damage his self esteem. Haitham sighed, walking out with Kaveh.
The ringing hasn’t stopped. As they arrived, Alhaitham at this point was starting to get a massive headache. They walked in, getting greeted by Cyno, who led them to the kid. Kaveh was carrying her gift which was a fake sword and a fake vision. They greeted her and hugged her, and sat down by Tighnari and Collei as the rest of her family and friends showed up. As they sat down, Alhaitham sat there in silence, looking down and fidgeting with his hands, waiting for the ringing to stop. It eventually got stronger and stronger, but he endured, only talking when talked to.
It kept getting stronger and stronger. It felt like his eardrums were about to explode. He couldn’t hear words, just mumbles. His vision got blurry, he was looking around, turning his hearing aids off to see if that was the problem. It wasn’t. The ringing kept on progressing and progressing.
“….hai...you…..ok?” He heard Kaveh mumble to him. He couldn’t see, vision blurred and clear and blurred. Tighnari eventually noticed, going to check up on him.
“Ka…..ve..?” Alhaitham eventually muttered out, ringing and headache getting so bad he felt like his head was milliseconds from blowing up. “Home…” Alhaitham stood up hazily, going to turn away. 3 steps in, his eyes go dark, ringing reaching its peak, making him black out, falling to the floor.
The next thing Haitham remembers was being carried bridal style by Kaveh who seemed like he was running. He couldn’t quite tell other than that because his vision was still blurry. His ears though , the ringing still peaking. He couldn’t hear a thing besides that ringing noise. He dreaded it. He closed his eyes again, head going limp against Kavehs chest again. Kaveh noticed that he regained semi-consciousness hugging him closer to his body. After what seemed like eons, they finally arrived to the doctor. The next thing Alhaitham knew, he was injected with all sorts of things and hooked up to like 20 machines. He looked down a bit, seeing Kaveh prancing around the room, probably blaming himself, and Cyno huddled up with Tighnari. After that, the ringing suddenly stopped, but then, he went blank.