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Today was field trip day, which meant that Kaveh was stressed. Far more than usual, too. There was always so much to do on the morning of a field trip like this. Paperwork to check, medical supplies to check and pack, more paperwork to check on, work booklets to print off, bind, and pack, paperwork to check, and extra supplies for the students who forgot to bring their things with him.
Did Kaveh mention paperwork? There was always so much paperwork, and it was the bane of his existence. Permission slips, emergency plans, allergy information and action plans… all very important, of course, but it still meant that Kaveh arrived at school much earlier than he actually wanted to, just to ensure that he wasn’t missing anything. To do this, Kaveh left the house at 6:30 in the morning. He barely had a proper breakfast, and he hadn’t had time to make his coffee or stop to get some. These two factors, combined with the annoying paperwork checks and the large folders that he had to pack and lug around all day meant that Kaveh was in an awful mood. All it would take is one little thing to set him off, so Kaveh was desperately hoping that no one would show up to annoy him—
“I finally found you, Kaveh.”
Ah. The last person Kaveh wanted to see or hear from right now. Alhaitham.
It's not that he disliked Alhaitham. It was very much the opposite, actually. They were in a committed relationship and had been living together for quite a few years now. They were long-time friends turned lovers who had fallen out shortly before the end of high school and reunited once they had both entered the workforce as adults. One thing led to another, and after far too many years of tension, they ended up together, surprising absolutely nobody.
The thing about being in a long-term relationship with someone who you are also good friends with is that the other person will inevitably end up knowing you well. Very well. And in Alhaitham’s case, he knew exactly how to piss Kaveh off with just one or two words. Sometimes Alhaitham didn’t even need to say anything to rile him up. It was equal parts impressive and infuriating.
Kaveh sighed as he slowly turned around to face Alhaitham. It wasn't often that his partner came to the staff room, which meant that he was probably there just to annoy Kaveh. Great. “Alhaitham, if you’re here to do what you do best, please don’t.”
“Oh? Okay, I guess I’ll take my ability to be a loving partner somewhere else then,” Alhaitham replied, an amused smile playing on his lips. “Maybe someone else will appreciate the coffee that I bought for you.”
At this, Kaveh’s eyes widened. He immediately looked down at Alhaitham’s hands to see that he was, in fact, holding a coffee in each hand. Just like that, Kaveh’s earlier frustrations faded away. “Have I ever told you that I love you, Alhaitham? Because I do. I really do.”
“You just love coffee,” Alhaitham joked as he handed it over. He watched fondly as Kaveh took his first sip of the coffee, then handed over the bag of food. “When I got up, I saw that you had left your dishes from breakfast in the sink. I figured that if you didn’t have time to do the dishes, you didn’t get to have a coffee either, so I decided to pick one up for you. It’s from that cafe that we like, the one that Collei works at.”
Silence settled over them as Kaveh gratefully took a few more sips of the coffee. It was his usual order — he shouldn’t have expected anything less from Alhaitham, actually. Alhaitham may know the best ways to piss Kaveh off, but he also knows the many other little, lovely things that make him smile too. Kaveh's coffee order, his favourite foods, the specific blanket that he uses on the couch, his favourite movies that he saves for rainy days… these were all things that Alhaitham had memorised, even before they started dating. And Kaveh was grateful for it, especially now. He really needed that coffee.
Once he had drunk half the coffee, Kaveh returned his attention back to the paperwork that he had previously been double-checking. "Alhaitham, have I ever told you that I hate paperwork? Because I do — why are we even relying purely on physical permission slips anymore? I had to print six extra copies for one student because he kept losing it. Surely we could utilise a digital system too."
"We would need to have both systems available, but I could bring it up with the deputy principal in our next meeting if you'd like?" As he spoke, Alhaitham grabbed the stack of paperwork that Kaveh had just set aside—the aforementioned permission slips—and placed them into their folder. He hadn't even been asked to do it, and he didn't need to be. Their friends often joked that they were able to reach each other's minds because of this, which amused Alhaitham to no end.
Finally, Kaveh was down to the last binder of paperwork that he needed to check. After that, all Kaveh needed to do was double-check the itinerary for the day. Oh, and mentally prepare himself for the stress of supervising his class while on the field trip. Who could forget that? As he focused on double-checking that final binder of paperwork, Kaveh failed to notice that Alhaitham was getting ready to leave the staff room.
A gentle tap on his shoulder startled Kaveh, and he whipped around to see who it was, only to be met with Alhaitham, who was sporting a very amused smile. “Oh, you scared me! Are you leaving already?”
Unfortunately for Kaveh, he failed to notice the mischievous glint in Alhaitham's eyes as he stared intently at Kaveh. "Yes, I'm on front office duty today. Oh, that reminds me. Plans for your field trip have changed at the last minute," Alhaitham said casually as if he wasn't about to ruin Kaveh's morning. "Have you considered walking to your destination?"
Truly, Alhaitham’s ability to piss Kaveh off was unmatched. Outstanding. Normally, it made Kaveh want to smash his head into his desk. Right now? It made Kaveh want to cry. It also made him angry. And because of that, strangling Alhaitham sounded like a good idea right now. Would Kaveh get sent to jail for it? Sure. That didn’t mean that it wasn’t appealing. “Have I considered walking to my destination? Alhaitham, I am taking my class, a group of seventeen-year-olds, by the way, to an art gallery in the inner city, and then we're going on an architecture tour. That alone is already a forty-minute drive—so no, I have not considered walking!”
“Well, that’s a shame,” Alhaitham replied nonchalantly as he patted Kaveh’s shoulder in mock sympathy. “I hope you don’t mind waiting an extra thirty minutes to an hour for the bus then.”
Okay, now Kaveh was confused. “What?”
“The bus — it’ll be delayed. Best case scenario, it’ll only be thirty minutes. Realistically though, it will be an hour,” Alhaitham explained, cautiously taking a step backwards. “When I came in, there was a voicemail from the bus driver waiting for me on the school phone. Traffic is apparently horrific today. A whole bunch of students will be late today as a result, and it means you can’t leave for your field trip at the previously planned time. See what I mean now? Plans have changed at the last minute.”
Kaveh looked around desperately for something to throw at Alhaitham. Something soft, since he didn’t want to seriously injure his partner. Unfortunately, he couldn’t find anything that would be suitable, so he settled on smacking Alhaitham’s arm, hard. “What the hell, Alhaitham? You should have just said that instead of leading with your stupid little 'Have you considered walking to your destination?' question. I feel like I just aged thirty years in the last five minutes."
“Yeah, but if I did that I wouldn’t have gotten to see your annoyed face. I do like to see it, y’know. It’s very cute,” Alhaitham teased. Less than half a second later, he expertly dodged as Kaveh tried to smack him once more. “Careful, if someone who doesn’t know we’re together walked in right now, they’d think you’re treating me unfairly.”
The sigh that Kaveh let out was long and drawn out, and it bordered on a frustrated huff more than anything. "You're always doing this. You know, last week I had one of my students ask me if I was going to be fired. I was so confused — why did she think I was going to be fired? I haven't done anything to deserve that.
You know what she told me, Alhaitham? She said, 'Oh, Mr Kaveh, you've been called to the office during break times five times this week, and it's only Wednesday. They always say it's an important matter, and the class is starting to worry. You seem to get called to the office a lot.' Alhaitham, do you know how awkward that was? I had to reassure my students that my job wasn't at risk. And I had to do it without actually saying the real reason why I'm constantly being called to the office, which is that my boyfriend is a pain in the ass and likes to call me over just to waste my time!”
Alhaitham chuckled before he could stop himself, and then immediately regretted it upon realising that Kaveh was glaring at him. “Sorry, sorry. Also, I don’t think it’s fair to say that I’m ‘an ass who is only wasting your time’. Two of those times, I called you over because you had forgotten your keys at home, and another one of those times was so we could have lunch together.”
“That means that two of those times was to just mess with me though,” Kaveh countered, refusing to back down.
“Yeah, they were,” Alhaitham admitted. Then, before Kaveh could get angrier with him, he continued. “Okay, even if they were, it wasn’t that bad. Maybe I just wanted to see you?”
Kaveh let out a long-suffering sigh. “If you want to see me, just text me. Ugh, I don’t have time for this right now. If we’re not leaving until later, I need to figure out what to do with my students until we leave. Thanks for the heads-up about the bus — I’ll see you later. Probably at home, not here.”
***
“I hate field trips,” Kaveh announced as he all but collapsed into one of the staffroom chairs, dropping his bags on the floor next to him. The chairs weren’t exactly comfortable, but it was good enough for Kaveh right now. His back was killing him, he had a headache that had only intensified as the day went on, and his arms were so sore from carrying multiple bags of supplies all day that it hurt to even move them.
A quiet hum could be heard from Kaveh's side, and he glanced over to see that his friend, and fellow teacher, Tighnari was staring at him with a hard-to-read expression on his face. "Mmm, no you don't. You just hate the aftermath."
Kaveh didn’t even have it in him to argue with Tighnari — he wasn’t exactly wrong. “I hate the aftermath more than anything, but everything besides the actual field trip itself? Hate it. Getting approval to even go on one in the first place? Hate it. Calling places and booking activities or tours? Can’t stand it. Paperwork checks? Bane of my existence. Ugh.”
Tighnari chuckled as he nodded in sympathy. “Tell me about it. I’m trying to organise something to take my seniors out for a field trip, and getting approval to take them to a workshop so they can complete practical laboratory activities is worse than pulling teeth. They’re studying biology and it is a part of their curriculum. What more justification do I need?”
“Pfft. I asked to take my class to a gallery with free admission for schools and almost got denied. God forbid you give students studying art any enriching experiences,” Kaveh said. He rubbed at his eyes, trying to wake himself up enough to drive home. “I should probably head off soon, God knows I do enough extra work out of working hours as it is — I am not staying later today. Actually, do you know if Alhaitham has already gone home?”
At the mention of Alhaitham’s name, Tighnari perked up. Uh oh. That couldn’t be good news for Kaveh. “Yep. Did you two fight again? He was looking like a sad, abandoned puppy when I saw him earlier.”
“Uh… I guess so? I told him about my students asking if my job was in trouble. Do you remember me telling you about that?” Kaveh paused for a moment to allow Tighnari to respond. When he received a nod, he continued to explain what had happened that morning. “Well, I was already in a bad mood because of the paperwork I needed to check. Initially, Alhaitham actually made me feel better because he bought me a coffee on his way to the school. But then he had to be a pain in my side by asking me if I considered walking to my destination, which was his way of telling me that the bus was delayed and my class had to leave later. I got a bit frustrated with him after that.”
Tighnari pressed his lips together, clearly trying to hold back a laugh. “The two of you are ridiculous. You know, I’m not sure how your relationship hasn’t been found out by other staff at this school, or your students. The two of you aren’t subtle.”
“That’s what you took from this? Seriously?” Kaveh shook his head as he got up from the chair that he had been sitting in. He rolled his shoulders back and forth a couple of times, trying to dispel the tension that had settled into them. “Anyway, as nice as this chat has been, I’m going to leave now. If I don’t, I’m going to run into traffic. Or fall asleep. Or both.”
Tighnari flicked Kaveh on the forehead and then handed over the rest of his half-drunk coffee. "Drink this. It's instant, but it'll do the job. And drive safely. If you don't text me to tell me you're home, I'm going to text Alhaitham every 5 minutes until one of you confirms that you got home safely."
Immediately, Kaveh gratefully chugged the coffee that he had been handed. Then he gathered his things, waved goodbye to Tighnari (and assured him that he would exercise caution while driving), and finally left for the day.
The drive home felt like an eternity for Kaveh. All he wanted was to curl up on the couch and sleep for forty years. Too bad he couldn't do that since it was only Wednesday and he still had classes to teach tomorrow. Why had he scheduled this field trip for a Wednesday? What was he thinking? He knew he would be exhausted afterwards…
When he finally arrived home, the first thing Kaveh did was slip off his shoes and hang up his jacket. Then he pulled out his phone and sent off a quick 'home safely' text to Tighnari. After that, he went to the study that he shared with Alhaitham to deposit his bags and supplies. He took the time to place each thing back in its respective place on the big shelf that he had built for his teaching materials and supplies, knowing that future Kaveh would be very happy with the past version of himself. Once that was done, he headed off to the bedroom to get changed into something comfortable.
Kaveh didn’t hear or see Alhaitham at all during all of that. It wasn’t until Kaveh made his way to the living room that he saw Alhaitham. The other man was sitting on the couch, in his usual spot at the far end of the couch, a book in hand. There was space left for Kaveh to sit with Alhaitham if he wanted to and his body moved on its own, dragging him over to stand in front of Alhaitham. For a moment, he stood there silently, just gazing down at Alhaitham. Then, a moment later—
“Are you just going to stand there, or will you sit down?”
Irritation pricked at his nerves as Kaveh weighed up his options. He could sit with Alhaitham, putting aside their discussion from that morning, or he could be petty and go lie in bed. Or, better yet—
Kaveh pushed aside Alhaitham’s book for a moment and then dropped himself into Alhaitham’s lap, slinging his legs over Alhaitham’s so that he could lean his back against the armrest if he wanted to. A moment later, he reached for his partner’s free hand and intertwined their fingers together. Kaveh was still annoyed with Alhaitham, but he was also exhausted. He needed this.
Alhaitham raised an eyebrow but said nothing as he adjusted his arms to accommodate Kaveh. Then, once Kaveh leaned forward so that he could rest his head on Alhaitham’s collarbone, Alhaitham let out an amused huff. “You know, I had planned on going to make you some tea since you looked so tired. I can’t do that now.”
“I don’t care. Just stay here,” Kaveh mumbled into Alhaitham’s skin, eyes already half-closed. “I don’t want it, anyway. You’re just trying to suck up to me because of this morning.”
Another amused sound left Alhaitham at this. “You’re sending me very mixed messages here. Are you angry with me or not?”
“Can’t a man be angry with his boyfriend while also using him as a human pillow?” Kaveh replied, voice muffled as he leaned further into Alhaitham.
Alhaitham didn’t bother to reply; he knew that the ‘fight’ was already lost. Instead, he closed his book, set it aside, and then brought his hand up to card his fingers through Kaveh’s hair, trying to help him relax enough to drift off to sleep. As much as he enjoyed annoying and teasing Kaveh, he liked this a lot more. They stayed like that for a while longer, until Alhaitham gently shook Kaveh awake so that they could eat something for dinner, and then properly head off to bed.
Unfortunately for Kaveh (and fortunately for Alhaitham), he couldn't stay mad at Alhaitham for too long. Not when he was as sweet as this.
***
The next day, Alhaitham dropped into Kaveh’s class, sporting a serious expression and carrying an unlabelled folder. He wordlessly deposited it on Kaveh’s desk while he was in the middle of teaching, then moved to the side of the classroom so he could observe as Kaveh tried to continue his explanation. It unnerved Kaveh and his students, and those feelings only got worse when Alhaitham let out a quiet hum and then nodded curtly at the blond as he finally left the classroom.
Five minutes later, once Kaveh finished explaining their activity for the day, he sent the students off to complete their work. All of Kaveh’s students exchanged worried glances when he opened the folder, and their concerns grew further when he let out a long, drawn-out sigh and ran his hand over his face. Inside the folder was a short, handwritten note:
You forgot your lunch. Come to my office during your next break.
Kaveh burnt Alhaitham's food in retaliation later that night when he cooked dinner. It didn't really matter because Kaveh ended up giving Alhaitham some of his own food. After all, he felt bad, but it's the thought that counts.
Right? Right.
(Kaveh still couldn’t stay mad at Alhaitham. He never could.)