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It happened too fast for him to do anything about it.
One moment, they were just…sitting there. In the Café, relaxing like it was any other day. Then, just—chaos. Everywhere. Windows were shattering, there were people screaming, and then Alhaitham hit the floor. His ears rang. He’d grabbed Tighnari, who was sitting next to him, and pulled him close to try and protect him. Somewhere, Kaveh cried out. There was a crash, so loud his hearing aids blacked out. Everything went silent. His head knocked against the floor, holding Tighnari to his chest.
When he cracked open his eyes, Kaveh was lying on the floor. There was blood on the wood and the carpet. Raising his head, Alhaitham glanced around. Cyno was a few feet away, already fighting. There was a bloody wound on his thigh.
Kaveh hadn’t moved.
In his arms, Tighnari squirmed around. He pulled away from Alhaitham, panic in his eyes. He said something. Shaking his head, Alhaitham reached for his hearing aids, his ears. There was a crack on the left headpiece. “Alhaitham,” Tighnari signed. “Look at me.”
“On it.”
“We need to move Kaveh out of the way of the fight. Now.” Nodding, Alhaitham threw himself to his feet. He and Tighnari dragged Kaveh behind one of the low screens. Glancing over his shoulder, Alhaitham spotted Cyno again. A couple of Matra who’d been relaxing at the Café. There were four attackers, one of them with lightning dancing on their fingers. Cyno was targeting that one, polearm out and eyes narrowed.
What happened? He turned back to Kaveh, who still hadn’t moved. Tighnari had an ear pressed to his chest. His fingers hovered right above Kaveh’s lips, under his nose. A few seconds passed. Shoving himself up, Tighnari tried to put his hands on Kaveh’s chest. He didn’t make it all the way. An odd look came over his face, and he tilted to the side.
Grabbing his arm, Alhaitham shook his head and raised his hands. “Do breaths. CPR?”
Tighnari nodded.
“I’ll handle the compressions.”
Shoving himself up, Alhaitham placed his hands in the middle of Kaveh’s chest. They had gone over this several times, with Cyno and with Tighnari separately. One of the first things they had learned at the Akademiya was how to do first aid. With Tighnari and Cyno, they reviewed the skills every three months. They had just reviewed them.
At least he couldn’t hear Kaveh’s ribs cracking, especially not the way Tighnari did. Even feeling it was bad. Tighnari, though, winced as Kaveh’s sternum broke. It was this wet thud-pop under Alhaitham’s palms as he counted. Don’t hesitate. If you hesitate, you’ll lose him. We just need to wait for Cyno to finish the fight.
Electro users can stimulate heartbeats with their elements. Cyno has enough control. He’s strong enough to resuscitate people. It’s okay. We just need to last long enough for him to get here. Lying on the floor, Kaveh was limp. His face was pale, lips slightly bloodless. There was a set of red Lichtenburg figures on the side of his neck, trailing up his jaw to his left eye and down beneath his shirt to his chest.
They must have hit him with lightning, Alhaitham realized. At his side, Tighnari tapped his arm. Hands on Kaveh’s chest, Alhaitham watched as Tighnari forced air into him. Once, twice. Then, Alhaitham was back on his part of cardiopulmonary resuscitation. It must have stopped his heart. Not the worst sign, but—
We’re all going to have nightmares over this.
Especially Tighnari and Cyno. They’d been dating when Nahida was rescued, when the revolt happened. When Tighnari had been struck by lightning for the first time. He still bore the scars. Sure, Kaveh probably wouldn’t keep his scars, since they weren’t done by a false god using an Archon’s power. They would only be around for a few days. Cyno would be having nightmares about if Tighnari had died back then, or if Kaveh died here. As for Tighnari? Probably survivor’s guilt at the least.
And if Kaveh didn’t make it—no. We’re not going down that line until it happens. If Kaveh doesn’t make it, we can think about it then. Kaveh’s stronger than that. He doesn’t give up that easily.
Footsteps thundered on the floor. Tighnari tapped his arm again. Glancing over, Alhaitham watched Kaveh’s face for any sign of him waking. Nothing. So, back with the compressions. We’re not giving up on you this easily, Kaveh. Don’t you dare give up on us.
Tighnari was shaking beside him, tail curling and brushing against Alhaitham’s hip. Ignoring it, Alhaitham went right back to compressions. Under his hands, there was another snap-pop. It was wet, and deep in Kaveh’s chest. If Kaveh complained about broken ribs, then he was alive to do it. Come on, Kaveh.
Someone grabbed Tighnari and pulled him away. Fixing something to Kaveh’s face, they pushed at Alhaitham’s arm. Someone else was kneeling on Kaveh’s other side. Hands covered his own. Looking up, Alhaitham met the gaze of someone else as he kept compressing, kept up the pattern. One of the medics, from the Bimarstan.
As soon as he had finished the round, someone grabbed him and started to drag him away.
Thrashing, he tried to fight back. His hands were shaking—why was he shaking so much? He shouldn’t be shaking so much. When he glanced back, he saw Tighnari and Cyno. Some of the Matra had the assassins pinned to the floor. However, two of them had grabbed each of Cyno’s arms. Tighnari was shaking, held by one of the poor staff members.
Tearing his gaze from them, Alhaitham looked back at Kaveh where he lay on the floor. The medics were still leaning over him. Worse, one of them had their hands on his chest, trying to bring him back. Shaking, Alhaitham grabbed onto whoever was holding him—when did Nilou and Dehya get here? Someone slipped by him, hurrying to Kaveh’s side. She blocked Alhaitham’s view of him.
Dehya’s grip on him was gentle as she pulled him back to one of the few upright tables, settling Tighnari and Cyno down with him.
He couldn’t see Kaveh anymore.
+
When Kaveh woke, the three of them were there with him.
Thankfully, Tighnari had finally managed to get some sleep, as had Cyno. The both of them were lying against Alhaitham’s right shoulder, Cyno pressing Tighnari into him. The pressure was good for him, especially when he was stressed. The number of times that Tighnari had needed some to lie on him like a human weighted blanket (which was a redundant phrase) was more than Alhaitham could count on his hands. Tighnari had been sleepless out of anxiety, Cyno because of night terrors. Alhaitham had been too stressed to stay awake, so he simply took his boyfriends, got them settled, and slept as normal. A good thing, apparently. Someone had to make sure they weren’t all sleep-deprived.
And no, being unconscious did not count as proper sleep—Kaveh.
Speaking of the man, he was just starting to look around. Alhaitham had heard his monitors begin to speed up as he woke. His eyes were still glassy from sedative and painkiller. When they landed on Alhaitham, Cyno, and Tighnari, however, relief flooded his gaze. “Get some rest, you’re still injured. We’ll be here when you wake.” Alhaitham said. With a small yawn and an equally bite-sized nod, Kaveh closed his eyes and drifted off again.
When he woke an hour later, with no memory of such an event happening and now with Cyno and Tighnari awake, Kaveh was in a much more chatty mood. He was sitting up, listening to Cyno’s awful jokes as the nurse checked his vitals and then fiddled with his IV. Cyno was by the bed. He would be in the bed, if it weren’t for Tighnari.
Tighnari had decided to climb into the bed with Kaveh and curled up against his side, one arm stretched over his middle and his face currently buried in Kaveh’s chest.
They had tried to get him out of the bed. Instead of getting out, Tighnari had bristled and snarled at both Cyno and Tighnari. They weren’t about to risk getting bitten or clawed. Tighnari’s nails weren’t sharp, but honestly Alhaitham swore they got sharper when he got angry. So, Tighnari stayed in the bed cuddling with Kaveh. Maybe it would help with the survivor’s guilt.
(Either way, Alhaitham didn’t have the heart to really try pulling Tighnari away. If it wasn’t hurting Kaveh, and Tighnari wasn’t hurting himself, then there wasn’t any point. When they got home, Cyno and Alhaitham would be joining them.)
Purring softly, Tighnari curled closer to Kaveh. “So, Kaveh—” Cyno began. “Why did the tornado break up with the hurricane?”
“I don’t know. Why?”
“Because it was a whirlwind romance.” The nurse rolled her eyes as she tested Kaveh’s arm for a vein. Alhaitham pulled his gaze away. If Kaveh passed out, he was already in the hospital bed. Personally, Alhaitham didn’t feel like joining him. “What do you call a photo that a mollusk took of itself? A shell-fie.”
“Honestly, it’s not nearly as bad as the joke he made about prisoners with the same punchline.” Tighnari mumbled, voice muffled by the way his face was buried in Kaveh’s chest.
Kaveh sucked in a sharp breath, mouth twitching. Glancing at his arm, Cyno kicked up the jokes. He also jumped into the explanations. “What’s the heaviest meat? The mut-ton. See, it’s funny because a ton is a measurement of weight and mutton, mutton. It’s a pun.”
He kept rattling off jokes until eventually, the nurse pressed a cotton ball to Kaveh’s arm. “He’s allergic to the typical adhesive.” Alhaitham warned. Glancing at him, the nurse nodded and found one of the bandages that wouldn’t cause a reaction. Sure, it wasn’t anaphylactic shock, but it was bad enough seeing Kaveh in the hospital. He didn’t need the extra complaints about the raised, reddish marks Kaveh always got with the typical bandages.
Looking over, Kaveh spotted the vials of his own blood. “Oh, is that what that looks like? That’s super cool. Wait, did it separate already?”
Tighnari groaned against Kaveh’s chest. Turning to Cyno, Alhaitham let out a small sigh. “No, that’s what the centrifuge is for. This is an acrylic gel that helps separate whole blood cells from the serum. Can you make sure that your name is spelled correctly for me?” She showed him the vials.
“Oh, yeah, it’s spelled just fine. Wow. That’s crazy. Alhaitham, look—”
“No, thank you.” Alhaitham sighed. “I’ve seen enough of your blood already.”
“Well, that’s rude. Cyno, tell him he’s being rude.” Pouting, Kaveh crossed his arms. The nurse left before she could witness more of the domestic argument. It never evolved into anything physical, and nowadays they didn’t even get that bad (certainly not like their thesis argument). There wasn’t any need to worry. “Or Tighnari. One of you—ooh, I’m woozy.”
Pushing himself up, Tighnari shoved Kaveh down so he was lying flat on his back. “It’s the sketchbooks all over again.” Cyno commented.
“Mhmm.” Alhaitham mused.
Kaveh was fine with blood, for some reason. As soon as he thought about bleeding? Not so much. Once, he’d managed to spatter some of his own blood on a sketch from a small injury (just a scratch to the arm, it hadn’t even needed stitches). Despite being fascinated by the pattern, he had then faceplanted on his desk and nearly slid out of his chair. Thankfully, he hadn’t. When he woke up, though, he was shocked to find that his friends (at the time, they had only been friends, even Cyno and Tighnari hadn’t been dating yet and wouldn’t for another two months or so) hadn’t been nearly as interested in the pattern.
“Those sketchbooks…were cool…” Kaveh said, speaking in that familiar way that meant he was a good portion of the way to passing out. He had a couple signs. The dizziness was one, the sped-up breathing was another. Head dropping back, he let out a groan and then went limp.
“Nice job, Kaveh.” Tighnari mumbled softly, rolling his eyes with a smile as he glanced at Cyno and Alhaitham. “Doesn’t pass out when his ribs are broken. Or when he gets stabbed, or strangled—do you remember that time?”
“The other assassination attempt? Yes.” Alhaitham sighed.
“Hold on, which one?”
“Which assassination attempt?” At that statement, Alhaitham paused and tilted his head to the side. “And that’s a statement that I just made. I feel like we all need to have a conversation about that. At home.”
“Definitely at home.”
+
(A few nights later, when Kaveh was finally back home again, they were curled up on the couch together…sort of.
Kaveh was sitting on the ground, letting Tighnari braid his hair while Cyno leaned against his shoulder and Alhaitham read a book about Mondstadt’s tornado siren history to them all. One of his legs was thrown over Kaveh’s shoulder, just to bother him. Currently, Kaveh was trying to surreptitiously tie a ribbon to Alhaitham’s leg. He wasn’t very successful at it, and he would be found out when Tighnari tried to find the tie, but Alhaitham let him have his moment.
Flipping the page, feeling Tighnari shift to lean into him a little more as he twisted Kaveh’s hair into a complicated five-strand braid, with Cyno drifting off against Kaveh’s shoulder, Alhaitham smiled to himself and kept reading quietly.)