Work Text:
Alhaitham sighed as he turned his key in the door. The sunset illuminated the front of his house in gold, but the inside was bathed in cool shadow. He shut the door behind him and toed his shoes off. As he finished hanging his cape, he heard rustling from his room and turned towards it.
“Ah, Haithoomi.” Kaveh stepped out from Alhaitham’s room - their room, as of a few weeks ago - and rubbed his eyes. He looked comfortable, with one of Alhaitham’s sleep shirts hanging off his frame and just barely allowing the hem of his shorts to peek out from underneath. He frowned as he eyed the windows.
“It’s late… Have you been at work until now?” Alhaitham nodded. Though his body was heavy with exhaustion, seeing Kaveh lifted some of the weight of his day off his shoulders.
Kaveh straightened up immediately, his frown deepening. It’s like his tiredness was wiped away, and he quickly made his way across the floor to Alhaitham. He gently took Alhaitham’s arm and led him to the kitchen table, where he sat him in a chair.
“What could be so important that the sages had to keep you there so far past when you were supposed to be, hm?!” Kaveh mumbled as he began to prepare a meal. “I mean, really, is it not enough that you had to basically live at the Akademiya as you overhauled it? Now they need your extended evenings too?”
Alhaitham settled into his chair as he watched Kaveh move about the kitchen. The smell of spices began to waft in the air as the architect worked, warming Alhaitham.
“What’s next? They’ll be asking for your weekends too, before you know it. Why -” Kaveh stopped abruptly as he set something to simmer and turned to Alhaitham.
“Sorry, habibi.” Kaveh placed one of his hands in Alhaitham’s hair, smoothing it down until his hand cupped the headphones he was wearing. “Does your head hurt?”
Alhaitham shook his head and reached up to intertwine his fingers with Kaveh’s, using his other hand to slide his headphones off. Kaveh smiled at him as he used their connected hands to tilt Alhaitham’s face for a chaste kiss.
“Alright. Let me finish this dinner for us. Do you want to tell me about your day?” Kaveh turned back towards his cooking.
“Mm. Nothing much to say. I got held up by Vahumana, they asked for extended funding and had an extended proposal to go with it.” Kaveh hummed as Alhaitham spoke.
“Let me guess - Lesser Lord Kusanali doesn’t approve of you turning on your soundproofing and walking away?” Alhaitham scoffed.
“If she did, I’d have a lot more time and a lot less headaches.” Kaveh laughed. Alhaitham had always loved his laugh. Even in the worst situation, Kaveh could never be less than genuine, and that included his laughter.
If Alhaitham had his way, he would only ever have to listen to Kaveh’s voice again - laughing, talking, scolding him for buying ugly house decor, lecturing him on the different styles of mosaic - even the smallest sigh leaving Kaveh’s lips was held higher than any Sage’s proposal to Alhaitham.
“Well, lucky for her and the Sages, then, that you’re such a good listener.” Kaveh pushed some meat and rice around in the pan he was cooking in, coating it in spice.
A few quiet moments passed, and Kaveh finished cooking and plated their food. He placed a serving of Biryani in front of Alhaitham before taking a seat across from him.
“Do you want to take a bath after you eat?” Kaveh asked. Alhaitham nodded. Kaveh looked to the side and Alhaitham watched his cheeks redden as he spoke again. “Do… you mind if I join you?” Alhaitham waited a moment before answering - just enough time that Kaveh nervously looked back at him, only to see a small smile on Alhaitham’s face.
“Oh, don’t tease - you know what, never mind!” Kaveh snapped his head back to the side and Alhaitham chuckled. He reached across the table to cover Kaveh’s hand with his own.
“No, I don’t mind. Please join me, Kaveh.” If it was possible, Kaveh’s face reddened more. He looked down at his food and pouted.
“Somehow, that’s worse…” Alhaitham chuckled again before withdrawing his hand to begin eating.
“You make it too easy, habibi.” Kaveh scoffed and started shoveling food in his mouth.
The rest of their dinner passed rather uneventfully once Kaveh’s raging blush died down. As Kaveh collected their plates to wash, Alhaitham spoke.
“What did you do today? Were you sleeping most of it?” Kaveh shook his head as he scrubbed the dishes.
“No, I only napped for a couple of hours, I think. I was finishing the draft I was working on last night.” He winced. “I spilled coffee on it halfway through, so I had to restart…” Alhaitham snorted, and Kaveh whipped around to glare at him. “Not funny! It was a lot of work!”
Alhaitham nodded but said, “It’s a little funny. Ready for a bath?” Kaveh shot him one last glare before turning back to place the plate he was holding on the drying rack.
“Yes, yes. I’ll go run it, get your clothes.” Alhaitham ambled off to his - their, he reminded himself - bedroom to fetch his clothes. By the time he entered the bathroom, Kaveh had run the water, added some scented bath product that was just subtle enough to not be overbearing, and lit some small candles to give the bathroom a soft glow.
Kaveh pulled Alhaitham over, helping him divest himself of his work clothes. Alhaitham hadn’t realized how tense he felt until Kaveh eased him into the water and sat behind him, at which point he basically melted into the water. Kaveh laughed as Alhaitham suddenly dropped all of his weight backwards, smooshing him into the bath tile.
“Haitham!” Kaveh laughed, “You’re squishing me! I can’t wash your hair like this.”
“Mmm.” Alhaitham mumbled intelligently, but leaned forward a bit anyways.
Kaveh got to work lathering Alhaitham’s hair with soap. The methodic scratch of his fingers against the scribe’s scalp was so calming, Alhaitham drifted to sleep for a few minutes. He only woke when Kaveh gently maneuvered him to rinse the suds from his hair. After that was done, Kaveh moved to wash Alhaitham’s back. He used it as an excuse to dig his hands into Alhaitham’s muscles, massaging away all of the tension of the day.
Alhaitham’s thoughts drifted as much as he did, and he couldn’t help but feel his chest grow warm when he thought of the care Kaveh was showing him. Even though it wasn’t novel, he wasn’t sure he would ever get used to being so openly doted on.
Just a few months ago, he had been so worried that Kaveh would get fed up with him and move out. Things had been tense for weeks, and seemed to be moving towards an inevitable explosion. It reminded Alhaitham so much of the weeks leading up to their fallout during their Akademiya years - it gripped his heart with panic, but he didn’t know how to avoid repeating the past without completely avoiding it altogether.
He should have realized, though, that neither him nor Kaveh were the same as they were all those years ago. Instead of everything coming to a head with an argument and tears, it broke down with quiet apologies and confessions. He and Kaveh had shared their first kiss.
He and Kaveh had shared many kisses since then, including the ones that Kaveh was laying against his temples to wake him after he had finished washing his back.
“Haitham, habibi, wake up. I can’t lift you out of the tub.” Alhaitham mumbled something in response to Kaveh’s call, but lifted himself out of the water drowsily. Kaveh quickly followed and wrapped both of them in towels.
Kaveh dried and dressed himself quickly as Alhaitham leaned against the wall, wrapped in his towel. Once Kaveh was dressed back into his sleep clothes, he began gently drying Alhaitham. He patted his hair dry before wrapping it in a towel and helping the younger man into his pajamas.
Once they were both sufficiently dry and dressed, they shuffled into their bedroom and under the covers. Kaveh pulled Alhaitham’s head to rest on his chest, and the younger man pressed himself as close as he could while tangling their limbs together under the blankets.
Kaveh smoothed back silver hair and kissed Alhaitham’s forehead before mumbling into his bangs, “I love you, Haithoomi.”
Alhaitham smiled into the junction of Kaveh’s neck and shoulder and mumbled back, “I love you too, Kaveh.”