Work Text:
Coughs. Loud, straining coughs filled the what was supposed to be peaceful and quiet study.
Soft green light filtered through the windows as Kaveh slung himself over his desk, gripping at the sides of it as his chest heaved. His coughing fits had only been getting worse and worse by the days that went by.
Finally, it had stopped as quickly as it had started. Only leaving behind a few spare petals floating to the desk in its wake. He groaned, dusting off the spider lily petals that were covering his current work plans.
As Kaveh brushed them off the desk, they landed gently into a trashcan sat at his side that he had earlier placed there for this exact reason. The bin was already littered with these flower petals, the beautiful red leaves brightly contrasting from the white trashbag that sat inside.
Red spider lilies. They meant death, and Kaveh was well aware of that, as he had used them in his work before. That really fucking scared him.
About a week ago, Tighnari had instructed Kaveh to come back to him the next time he had coughed out more petals. Its not that he didnt want to, just that he really needed to get this comission done. The client was paying way too much for him to cancel on them.
From what he recalled, Tighnari had actually informed him on what his illness was called. "Hanaki Diesease" as it was titled, Kaveh wasnt quite sure why it had been named that.
He didnt know much about it other than the fact that it made working more difficult than ever.
That, and the fact that Alhaitham, and his stupid crush on him, was going to be the death of him. Literally.
Alhaitham didnt love him back. He never would see Kaveh in that light, and he was well aware of it. He had never told him about what was happening to him currently, but he never wanted to.
----🏛🌱----
It had been a couple days now, and Kaveh finally finished his commison once and for all. His client had, as usual, asked for a bunch of riduculous changes last minute. He didnt mind this time, though. Anything to distract himself from Alhaitham was amazing.
Finally ready to give the plans over to his client, they had settled on the bar as a meeting place as usual.
He had found himself being there earlier than his client, but he didnt pay it much mind. It simply gave him time for a couple more drinks.
Finding a empty table nearby the entrance doors, he chose his seat and began to unfold his sketches, looking over them for any last second changes that should be made.
About a couple minutes afterward, his client, Bahar, had entered and came to sit with Kaveh.
"Greetings, Kaveh!" She sounded a bit over exicted, and he chose to return her greeting with a simple smile and nod.
Signaling towards the many papers and sketches that scattered the table for her to look through, he began speaking. "These are the finished sketches, I've made all the requested ch-"
Kaveh cut himself off with a violent coughing fit, struggling to get a breath out. With one hand clasped over his mouth, and the other pressed to his chest, his vision began to become blurry.
His chest heaved in attempts to breathe, all of them failing. He heard his client calling his name faintly in the background, his head to heavy to even try and respond.
Finally, Kavehs coughing stopped, a full spider lily now escaping his lips. Though it was a bit too late, as his vision faded to black and he toppled out of his chair and hit the ground with a thud.
----🏛🌱----
His eyes blinked open, and he immeditaly recognized where he was laying. Scanning the room, all Kaveh could smell was the thick scent of medicene.
Tighnari's hut.
Before he could even question how he got here, a voice spoke. "You're finally awake. Now, did I or did I not tell you to come back to me right when you started coughing again?" Tighnari scolded, though there was no heat behind his words.
Kaveh stayed silent regardless. He had come to the realization why he was here when he spotted a full lily wrapped up in a cloth, placed on a desk across the room where Tighnari was currently sitting.
"You need to tell him. It'll only get worse from here, Kaveh. I'm not sure how much time you have left otherwise." He spoke again, getting up from his chair to stand over him now.
Kaveh's breath rasped, as he still struggled to breathe. More flowers must've grown in since the last time, which only made his situation worse. "H-He doesnt see me like that. He never will, Tighnari. Let it go." It was already a struggle to breathe, let alone trt and talk.
Tighnari's eyebrows furrowed, anger starting to seep through his voice. "This is not something I can simply 'Let go' Kaveh. You are well aware of that." He sighed.
"Well you're going to have to! I'm not going to burden him with this." He snapped back, sitting up from his bed in order to storm out.
"I am not letting you die, simply because you are stubborn." Tighnari spoke calmly, though it was quite easy to tell he was irritated just by his expression.
Stubborn. That word bounced around in his head for moment as he stared at him in disbelief. He wasnt stubborn, he just didnt want Alhaitham to live with guilt because of him. That outcome is worse than dying alone.
Just that was enough to drive him to leave, so he got right on his feet and made for the door. That was, until he began to cough again, stopping him in his tracks. Kaveh was determined to get out of there, though. Ignoring Tighnari calling him back, he stumbled out the door.
The night sky shined down on him as he wobbled down the path back to the city with a struggle. It was awfully cold for a Sumeru night, though he couldnt tell if it was the tempature or how sick he had become in recent days.
Whatever, that didnt matter at the moment. He just wanted to get away from everything. From Sumeru, from Tighnari, and espically away from confronting Alhaitham about his feelings towards him.
So, his coughing persisted, but so did he. Kaveh was walking awfully slow, as it was as fast as he could go, but that just made it easier to catch up with him.
His eyes watered as tears began to trickle down his cheeks. He knew what was going to happen to him, but he was still trying to ignore his fate thats already been written out for him. Archons, why did he have to love him so badly?
Brushing tears from his eyes with his sleeve, he only felt like screaming, but nothing came out.
He didnt realize how far he had gotten until he heard Tighnari coming up behind him, placing his hand on Kaveh's shoulder. "Get back in the hut. You are getting worse, Kaveh. You shouldn't be by yourself." He sighed, trying to convince Kaveh to come back so he could atleast try and care for him.
Giving up on fighting back and getting away from him, he followed Tighnari back. It was pointless, Tighnari was probably going to tell him himself, anyways. His attempts to hide it from alhaitham would all be going to waste.
----🏛🌱----
Bright light shined through inbetween the leaves that held the hut together, waking Kaveh up once more.
He barely had slept through the night, his worries had been consuming him the entire time. Tears stained his cheeks, but his eyes were still watering. Wiping his eyes in attempt to stop himself from crying again. He had purposefully set himself up for this, why get sad over it now?
Getting out of bed, he began to search for Tighnari. Assuming he'd be in his own home, he exited the hut and made his way down there. It wasnt a long walk, so he was able to get there by himself.
Pushing the leaf doors open, he was greeted with a empty room. With how small of a hut Tighnari lives in, he didnt bother calling his name out to make sure he wasnt there.
He stood in silence for a moment, before coming to the realization on where he was.
Fuck.
Tighnari must be at his house right now, telling Alhaitham everything, and there was nothing he could do to stop him. Sumeru city was way to far of a walk to get there alone with the state he's in at the moment.
He had no choice but to head back to the hut Tighnari had left him in this morning, and pray he was wrong about where he actually was.
----🏛🌱----
It had been a hour or two now, and he had been panicking the entire time since he returned. What if Alhaitham doesnt feel the same? What if he just placed a giant burden on his shoulders that he cant do anything about?
He hadnt noticed until just now, but he had also been crying for awhile now. Quickly wiping his tears away, deciding that it was silly to worry over this, as it had already happened, and he couldnt do anything about it anymore. Atleast, thats what he would like to think.
Before he could spiral over this again, the doors were pushed open and he lifted his head.
Alhaitham stood in the doorway, looking at Kaveh with a monotone face, but there was a hint of worry in his eyes.
Thats something Kaveh always adored about him, the way he didnt outright show his emotions, and had a stone cold face almost always, even if he was scared or worried.
But he could always tell what he was feeling, it was something he learned how to do back when they were just in the Akademiya together.
"Why didn't you not tell me?" Alhaitham finally questioned him, after a long period of them simply staring at eachother.
Those six words the ones that broke him. Shit. Tears flooded his eyes again, and he turned into a rambling mess. "I'm so sorry, you deserved to know and I-" He trailed off, breaking the eye contact that they had been maintaining.
"I'm sorry that I love you." He rasped, and depsite not looking at him, he could feel Alhaithams shock from all the way over there.
"What? You-"
The second the words "What" had left his lips, he looked right back at him. Fuck, fuck, fuck. How did he not know? Neither of them spoke for a moment, but Kaveh noticed Alhaitham had been slightly inching towars where he stood.
"Tighnari had just told me about your condition. Not that you.. that I was the one you loved." He was the first to speak after that period of awkward silence.
Kaveh didn't know what to say to that. He had just fucked himself over horribly. All he could think to do is to start saying anything and everything he had been keeping from him since this had started.
"I'm so sorry- I shouldn't have even brought it up, I dont want you to feel like you have to like me just so I dont-" Alhaitham cut his mindless rambling off, pulling him into a kiss.
It was gentle, slow even, when his lips pressed into his. It felt like they actually had all the time in the world as Alhaithams hands tangled themselves in his hair.
Kaveh couldnt think about anything execept the man standing infront of him, the way he tasted against his lips, just everything about him was enchanting.
As much as he wanted to indulge in him further, his coughing began to act up again. Pulling away, his breath hitched in his throat at the sight of Alhaitham, his flushed cheeks and slightly swollen lips were because of him. That was the most addicting feeling in the world, and though he hadn't realized it, his hands were wrapped around his neck.
Alhaitham didnt say it directly, but he had finally gotten his answer on his feelings.
But, before he could even truly admire Alhaitham, he stepped back and quickly clasped his hand over his mouth in a attempt to muffle his coughing. Kaveh's eyes watered as the coughs simply didnt stop, forcing him to hunch himself over the nearby trashbin that he had been using to spit the petals out in.
"Shit- Kaveh, are you alright?" He raced behind Kaveh when he made his way over to the trashcan, placing his hand on his back in a attempt to comfort him.
He couldnt catch a moment to breathe, let alone answer Alhaitham's worries.
Tighnari ran into the hut, clearly out of breath. Alhaitham had to have ran all the way hear the second he got informed about everything. "Ah, I believe he's-" He paused his speaking to catch his breath before contuining. "He's coughing up all the flowers now?" He stated, though he sounded a bit confused himself.
"Is that a good thing?" Alhaitham asked, a undertone of worry in his words.
Tighnari nodded, making his way over to where the two men were standing. "Yes, it just means his lungs will be cleared out pretty soon." He added on to his previous statment, and glanced into the bin, wincing a bit at the sight.
The trashcan was full of entire lillies, the petals and even some of the leaves that had fallen off. A few specks of blood could be barely seen on the petals, but that was expected.
"I'm going to grab some medince, tell me once he's done coughing!" Tighnari turned to Alhaitham, before pacing out the hut down to his own.
----🏛🌱----
It had been about three months since he was sick, and two months now that they had began dating. Tighnari had prescribed him some medicene to soothe his throat, but he was able to stop taking it recently.
Kaveh was hunched over his desk, working on his newest commison. While he was able to complete Bahar's sketches and get his payment what felt like just a week ago, he had already started a new job.
These were only the first few drafts of everything, so papers scattered the ground around him and ink stained his fingers as he kept drawing.
Completely focused on finshing these sketches, he hadn't heard Alhaitham close the front door and creep up behind him, until he wrapped his arms around his shoulders, quickly pressing a kiss into the top of his head.
Kaveh simply hummed in response, he had gotten used to it by now. Though, he really couldnt say the same for him just one or two months ago.
"I love you, Kaveh." Alhaitham smirked as those words were able to stop him in his tracks, leaving him to not even realize he was letting the ink of his pen pool on the paper below it.
Kaveh simply turned around to stare at Alhaitham in disbelief, now thats something he wasnt used too. Despite dating for multiple months, he had never been that straight forward with him before.
Realizing he still hadn't responded yet, he smiled and pressed a kiss into his chin. "Love you too, Haitham."
"Be careful, you dont wanna ruin your drawing." Alhaitham said smugly before walking into the nearby kitchen.
That caught Kaveh off gaurd, leaving him awfully confused. "Huh-" He turned his head down to sketch, seeing the puddle of ink that had stained a portion of the paper. "You-!" Kaveh groaned, launching the nearest pillow towards where Alhaitham stood.