Work Text:
“Kaveh.”
Silence followed save for the quiet scratching of a pencil on paper, before Kaveh stared at his work for a moment. Something about it still felt off, but he couldn’t figure out for the life of him what it was.
“Kaveh,” the voice called out again.
“Hm?” the aforementioned absentmindedly hummed out in response, but he still didn’t look up from his desk, mouthing out some mental calculations before jotting them down only to immediately erase them with a shake of his head.
Suddenly from behind him, someone gently took the pencil from his hand.
“Wha- Hey!” Kaveh finally protested, spinning around in his seat to glare up at Alhaitham, reaching up to try and get his pencil back from the scribe. “I need that, give it back!”
“You should be taking a break today, you know,” Alhaitham told him instead of doing so however, holding it out of Kaveh’s reach when he hopped up in his seat in an effort to grab it.
“What I should be doing is working on this commission!” Kaveh huffed.
"Today of all days?" Alhaitham asked somewhat incredulously as if the mere notion is blasphemous.
“What in the world are you going on about?”
Alhaitham raised an eyebrow at him. “You do know that it’s your birthday, right?”
“Huh?” Turning around, Kaveh glanced over at the calendar next to his desk and, sure enough, it is indeed July 9th. “Oh, I guess it is," he muttered.
"You didn't realize?"
"Seems to sneak up on me more each year!" he joked and Alhaitham didn't say anything, just staring at him as he waited for an answer. To some it might seem creepy or unnerving but having lived with his boyfriend for so long and having known him even longer, he's aware that this is just how Alhaitham is, he never says anything more than necessary to get his point across. Kaveh shrugged slightly, admitting, "I tend to forget it since I'm usually working, I don't do much to celebrate anyways."
“Even if you don't do much for it, you still should take a break from work as long as you can realistically spare the time. This commission is due next week, you still have time to get it done if you take just one day off."
Kaveh's eyes widened in surprise at the fact that Alhaitham even remembered him saying that but he quickly hid it as he retorted, “As if you don’t do the exact same thing on your birthday,” with a roll of his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest.
“I never denied that. All I said was that you should actually take a break today and let yourself enjoy your birthday for once."
Damn his boyfriend and his level of self-awareness!
He doesn't even know why Alhaitham's being so insistent about this honestly, it's not as if this was much of a departure from how he's spent his last several birthdays after all. Though come to think of it, since moving in with Alhaitham they haven't really been in the same place at the same time the past few years for one reason or another. His previous two birthdays, Kaveh had been out on work trips so they weren't able to see each other, and Alhaitham was only able to give him his gifts after he had gotten back. The year before, Alhaitham was the one away for work-related reasons, much to the scribe's displeasure. And before that, their newly repaired friendship had still been on rather shaky ground and both were careful not to rock the boat more than possible whenever they interacted with each other, so Alhaitham only really acknowledged it briefly before they both headed off to work in the morning, and gave him space to celebrate it how he wished without getting in the way, figuring that if Kaveh wanted for him to be a part of that, he would ask. At the time, Kaveh did but even if he thought that's something Alhaitham would've been interested in, he never would have been able to voice it himself—that was something they were still working on. This was the first time in years where they were actually both home during this specific time of the year.
Kaveh knew he was losing ground at this point and running out of arguments so in a last ditch effort, he asked "And what if I'm enjoying working on my designs, huh? What then?"
"You've been staring at this one for about half an hour at this point and are clearly frustrated with it so no, you aren't enjoying it right now," Alhaitham easily countered without any bite. There was something to be said about how far their relationship has come for Alhaitham to not take the bait, any hint of defiance once being enough of a reason for either one of them to launch into an argument. That's not relevant now though, a thought for another time.
Sighing quietly to himself, Kaveh looked over at the design he's currently working on with a frown. The scribe does have a point but even still..
Sensing Kaveh's hesitation, Alhaitham reassured him that "it isn't going anywhere, you can work on it again after you've taken a break"—at that, Kaveh opens his mouth—"a real break that isn't just getting up to go to the bathroom or get a glass of water." Kaveh promptly closes his mouth.
Alhaitham was stubborn at the best of times and nearly impossible to work with at the worst, so Kaveh knew very well that he was not going to be changing his mind on this. And Kaveh can't really blame him for that because he wouldn't either. Realizing that arguing about this is officially a lost cause, he sighed, sitting back in his chair and deigning not to start bickering in response to the smug smile now on his boyfriend's face as he knows he's won, instead just shaking his head. "What am I going to do with you?"
"That's up to you, it is your birthday after all," Alhaitham replied matter of factly, the slightest hint of amusement in his eyes as he put the pencil he was still holding back on Kaveh's desk and scooping Kaveh up into his arms, causing him to yelp slightly in surprise but he quickly recovers, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend's neck.
Kaveh rolled his eyes. "That's not what I meant and you know it," he huffed, though he smiled a little, nuzzling his nose against Alhaitham's cheek.
"Yes, I am well aware," Alhaitham chuckled, turning to kiss Kaveh softly as he carried him out of his study.