Chapter Text
In Alhaitham’s room, there is a box. It is made of dark polished ebony wood with golden decorations made with metal and it is locked. It sits atop of a tall bookshelf made of the same wood, pushed back so far that someone who doesn’t have a sense of observation as good as Kaveh’s wouldn’t notice it.
Kaveh saw it for the the first time when he came in Alhaitham’s room to place back some clothes that his roommate had left in the bathroom. Usually, he tried to avoid Alhaitham’s room to respect his privacy. But the box had caught his eye, sitting sternly on that mountain of books.
He was well aware that the content of the box was none of his business. He reminded himself of that fact everytime it tormented his curiosity. But Kaveh was a curious soul, and the box killed him. He was simply dying to know what was inside. It took all of his restraint not to open it.
What could it possibly contain that was so important that Alhaitham deemed it necessary to lock up? Pictures? Classified documents? Research? Rejected project proposal? The keys to some kind of massive weapon that could endanger all of Sumeru?
All of these thoughts were swirling in Kaveh’s head as he was sitting in the living room, the house completely silent. He just arrived back from a meeting with a client and as he expected, the house was empty. Alhaitham only came back from his work at the Akademiya in a few hours.
So Kaveh found himself sitting alone, in silence, afflicted with the uncontrollable urge to just open the box. Alhaitham surely wouldn’t keep anything dangerous inside, right? He valued his peace far too much to be burdened keeping a hazardous object. And realistically, would it really hurt to look inside? Kaveh just wanted a little peak and then he swore to leave it alone. No one would ever know that he opened it! He simply couldn’t resist the temptation.
Before he could bring himself back to earth, Kaveh got up and walked straight for his roommates room, his curiosity overtaking him.
It went without saying that Alhaitham’s room was far more organized than Kaveh’s. It wasn’t nearly as cluttered. The bed was freshly made and the beside tables were devoid of anything that wasn’t a book. Honestly, it felt a bit bland to Kaveh. Lacking much coziness and ambiance. How typical of his old friend. Their taste differed greatly. It was always the case with their… contradicting personalities. He knew Alhaitham probably hated the mess that was Kaveh’s room as well.
What a strange relationship they now had. Back at the Akademiya, they were able to understand each other, but it was like after that fight… nothing could be the same. They couldn’t communicate without it turning into an argument. Nowadays, Alhaitham had developed the talent to get on Kaveh’s every last nerve. Why did he have to be so… cold? Kaveh couldn’t understand it. He was very aware that Alhaitham surely disliked him now, unlike back then. Surely the reason he let Kaveh stay with him was to rub his poverty in his face.
Kaveh sighed and shoved those thoughts away. He didn’t want to think about his broken heart. He didn’t want to think about how much he loved Alhaitham back then. He didn’t want to think about how much his words had hurt. He wasn’t really in the mood to spiral about their weird love-hate relationship.
He focused back on the task at hand, opening the bedside table’s drawer. It was filled with mostly useless things, but on the far corner was a small golden key. Jackpot.
Ha, too easy, Kaveh thought. Surely if the key was this badly hidden, the content of the box wasn’t that secret, right?
Without losing a second, he walked over to the wooden box and slipped it off the bookshelf. It wasn’t as heavy as Kaveh expected, making it even more mysterious. He sat down on Alhaitham’s bed and unlocked it with a click.
The sight that welcomed him was an unexpected one. The box was filled with envelopes, some yellowed by time. They had no indication of who was meant to receive them. They weren’t even sealed.
Kaveh contemplated them for a second. He was so incredibly aware that he shouldn’t read them. But… he’d gotten so far now…
Without thinking further, he took ahold of the first one, seemingly one of the older ones. He opened the envelope decisively and unfolded the piece of paper inside.