Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"Alhaitham," said his archon, "I have a question for you. When a tree bears rotting fruit, what must be done to its branches?"

Nahida looked at Alhaitham expectantly, a thoughtful expression on his face. She was seated across from him at his office at the Akademiya, at a meeting she had suddenly called to have with him for "extremely important reasons." At first, Alhaitham thought that there might have been an emergency, but if there was, she would have told him by now.

He was still adjusting to his new role of Acting Grand Sage - a role he wasn't exactly happy with, since he never considered himself to be the leader type, even if he was rather competent at it. Among the many things Alhaitham had to get used to was speaking to Nahida and getting used to her penchant for metaphors. "I suppose you cut them off. Or treat the fruit, and salvage what you can," he answered.

Sticking with the metaphor seemed to be the correct way to go, because Nahida smiled in response. "Exactly. That's what I intend to do with the Akademiya. So many changes have rendered a lot of jobs obsolete. Take the Akasha terminal as an example - many staff positions pertained to the maintenance and enforcement of wearing them. Now, of course, that's not needed anymore. Therefore, I intend to repurpose these positions."

Alhaitham nodded carefully. He already knew of Panah being reassigned to deliver papers to Alhaitham's office on occasion, because his previous role as a Mahamata was to give Akasha terminals to anyone who needed it. It made sense that many other roles had to be changed as well. "Repurpose them how, exactly?" 

"Well..." Nahida put a finger on her chin, "I recently learned about this fact when I was talking to some performers. Apparently, the sages have preached heavily against the arts, and have done so for a while. Artistic performances and the like in Sumeru don't happen very often because of this. So, I think it would be better to dedicate some positions to the arts so that they have a chance to grow and bloom as well."

"Your idea is certainly unprecedented, but I'm not against it." Alhaitham mulled over her words. Overall, it would be a positive boost to Sumeru's cultural scene, since the Akademiya controlled so much of the city. He only worried about how other scholars might view the idea.

"I know," Nahida said. "But I think a big change like this will help me gain the people's trust. Right now, they don't know how I'm any different from Azar."

"That's true," Alhaitham nodded. "So, what would you have me do?"

"For these positions to be truly realized, there should be an area in the Akademiya dedicated to the arts. We should build new branches instead of trying to force people into the old ones. After that, I think we can start selecting the new sages and you can return to your previous role."

"You mean something like a renovation, right?" If Alhaitham comprehended her, what Nahida was saying was a significant undertaking. He didn't know the last time the Akademiya had a renovation beyond simple upkeep and preservation.

"Yes. I think if we have a wing in the Akademiya dedicated to the arts, it would really help it flourish. Along with that, it has been far too long since this nation has had a direct archon's rule. Having my own office in the Akademiya to fit this is essential," Nahida explained. "Also, whenever you go back to your previous role, I actually want the Scribe's office to be next to mine. So you'll be getting a brand new office as well."

"I see," Alhaitham said slowly. Although he didn't think it was necessary, he could understand why Nahida wanted his office to be next to hers. She already had a great amount of trust in him due to his involvement in the government coup. Even when the new sages were selected, she didn't want Alhaitham's contribution in Sumeru to be for naught. "I assume you'd like me to oversee these changes."

"Not the designs specifically. After all, you're not an architect. I'll need to commission somebody to help with the designs and construction. The Akademiya is one of Sumeru's most prestigious buildings, and adding to it is no ordinary feat. Whoever ends up designing these renovations needs to have a specific vision for Sumeru in mind, someone who can put true meaning and emotion in their work."

She didn't need to say who she had in mind for Alhaitham to know. "You mean Kaveh." It wasn't a question.

Nahida nodded. "I don't know how well you know his works, but he's very focused on making Sumeru look its best. Still, I want to know your opinion, since you will be managing what he does, not me."

"I know him," Alhaitham stated simply, although he knew that it was much more complicated than that. "He's the Light of Kshahrewar for a reason. I think he would be your best choice." Inwardly, he couldn't wait to see Kaveh's reaction - from the excitement of such a significant commission to the inevitable disappointment when he realized that Alhaitham would be overseeing it all.

"Then, I'll send him a letter right away telling him to meet with us tomorrow," said Nahida.

"I can also tell him. He's my roommate," Alhaitham mentioned.

"Really? He is? Huh... That's interesting." Nahida paused in surprise. "I'll put down your home address then. He should get the letter tomorrow morning, but I'm sure he would like to hear the news from you as well."

"Eh, I wouldn't count on it," Alhaitham muttered. "Anyway, if that's all, it is five o'clock." He started to stand up.

Nahida glanced at the clock. "I'll see you and hopefully Kaveh tomorrow!" she said as she started to leave Alhaitham's office.

As Alhaitham started to put some books away before leaving, he thought about what Nahida had said. It certainly wasn't every day Kaveh's name was mentioned at work, but with the name he had made for himself, he had come up every once in a while. Alhaitham couldn't help but recall the number of people in the Akademiya talking about Kaveh when the Palace of Alcazarzaray was completed, even though none of them had known what Kaveh was truly going through at that time. So yes, his roommate's prowess was well-known, but despite the fact, Alhaitham rarely thought of Kaveh like that. More often than not, he still saw him as that witty, charming senior he'd met years ago, with the same impossible ideals and unshakable stubbornness that he carried to this day.

When he returned home, Kaveh was in the kitchen eating. He glanced up as he saw Alhaitham enter. "Oh, good, you're back. Help me finish these leftovers."

After removing his sleeves, washing up, and putting his earpieces away, Alhaitham joined Kaveh at the table. Before he could say anything, Kaveh started, "You won't believe what happened with my client today!"

If only Kaveh knew about the letter he would be receiving tomorrow, Alhaitham thought. "Hm? What happened?"

And so Kaveh ranted about a client he had for the next twenty minutes, and Alhaitham quietly listened as he ate dinner.

-

The next day, Alhaitham was in the bathroom getting ready when Kaveh barged in, practically bouncing with excitement. "Alhaitham! Look! The Dendro Archon sent me a letter!" he exclaimed. He showed the back of the envelope and pointed to the seal that confirmed that yes, it indeed was a letter from Nahida.

Alhaitham had to fight back a smirk as he splashed water on his face. "I didn't even know that she knew who you were," he deadpanned.

Kaveh scoffed. "Everyone knows who I am - because I actually talk to people, unlike you. Besides, this is definitely good news. Maybe she's commissioning me. Or giving me a free house, I can finally be free of this place."

"Definitely not."

He proceeded to open the envelope like it was a birthday present, tearing the seal with little decorum.

Dear Kaveh,

With the changes occurring all over Sumeru recently, I believe it is time to also make some changes within. On behalf of the Akademiya, I would like to formally commission you to be the main architect for the Akademiya’s next major renovation project. This would include creating new offices and adding a new wing dedicated to the arts. Your direct supervisor for this project will be Acting Grand Sage Alhaitham.

Sincerely,
Nahida

At the bottom were instructions to meet her that day to discuss details if Kaveh was interested.

Alhaitham scanned the letter over Kaveh's shoulder quickly, interested to see how he would react. Kaveh’s initial smile only seemed to grow as he read on, but then it quickly dropped. “Wait. Wait. What. What.”

"Hm?"

Kaveh glanced up at his junior, frowning. "You're overseeing this? Why?"

"Because... I'm the Acting Grand Sage?" Alhaitham said.

Kaveh groaned. "Wait - you definitely knew about this already! Couldn't you have told me yesterday?"

"You didn't ask," Alhaitham said with a shrug. "You were too busy complaining about that client and how they wanted... a carpeted bathroom, right?"

"You'd get it if you were there! Reasoning with him was awful! It was like he had no common sense, and - ugh, don't distract me!" Kaveh said, lightly pushing at Alhaitham's arm. "I can't believe this. I finally got the commission of a lifetime, and you have to come in and ruin everything! Why does this always happen to me?"

"I thought you already got the commission of your lifetime," Alhaitham remarked, crossing his arms. "You know, with the Palace."

"Well, yes, of course, but - the Akademiya!" Kaveh said, excitement returning in his voice. "Think about all the people who go through there. It's the main thing Sumeru is known for! People around the world might get to see..."

"I'm surprised Nahida picked you of all people," Alhaitham said sardonically.

In annoyance, Kaveh threw the letter at Alhaitham, but the latter hadn't finished drying his face, so it just got drops of water on the paper. Kaveh gasped in shock as he quickly tried to salvage the letter from getting too wet.

Meanwhile, Alhaitham said, "Well, you should get ready soon. We need to meet with her."

Kaveh's eyes dropped to the bottom of the letter. "Ugh, we? Why do you have to be there?" he lamented with a frown.

"Because I'm the Acting -"

Kaveh raised his hands. "I get it, I get it! You don't need to rub it in!" he exclaimed as he dashed to his room to change.

Alhaitham laughed quietly to himself as Kaveh shut the door. His entertaining reaction to the whole ordeal had certainly made the morning less dull. Thinking about this, and this new project the two were about to embark on, Alhaitham finished getting dressed and drank some coffee, but noticed that Kaveh was taking a while. Oh well, he was probably still overthinking the whole project. It was a lot, after all.

"Are you ready?" Kaveh heard Alhaitham call from the living room.

"Uh, just a sec," he replied. Kaveh's mind was racing with nerves, and because of that, he was taking longer than usual to get ready. He didn't know how professional he should dress. From what Alhaitham always wore to work, it probably didn't matter much, but Kaveh still felt nervous. Who wouldn't be nervous meeting their archon for the first time?

"It's been many seconds," Alhaitham said.

"Okay, I'm coming." Kaveh emerged from his room wearing a white blouse and saw Alhaitham waiting for him on the divan.

"Then let's go." Alhaitham started to walk to the front door, grabbing his keys, but Kaveh stayed put.

"Do we have to walk together?" Kaveh grumbled.

Alhaitham furrowed his brow. "Nahida knows we live together, so it would be illogical for us to arrive at different times."

"And just why does she know that?"

"I told her."

Kaveh's eyebrows shot to the ceiling. "Huh!? Why were you talking about me? And I told you not to tell people about my living situation!"

Alhaitham rolled his eyes. "She still needed your address, didn't she? How do you think you got your letter?"

"Oh, right..."

"Besides, she can read others' thoughts, so it's not like I can exactly hide anything," Alhaitham added casually. With that, he donned his cloak with a swish and quickly headed out the door.

Kaveh, after overcoming his initial shock, ran to catch up with Alhaitham, who was heading towards the Akademiya at a brisk pace. "Excuse me? She can what? You're kidding, right?"

"Actually, I'm not."

"Really? How am I supposed to keep my thoughts in check?"

"What could you possibly be thinking that's inappropriate to the situation?" Alhaitham asked, as if that didn't inspire anything in Kaveh's head.

"I - nothing!" Kaveh uttered, cheeks turning pink. "I just don't wanna be rude to her in my thoughts or something." He was terrified that he would have an intrusive rude thought, and then Nahida would know, and then she would change her mind about commissioning him, and then Kaveh would lose this one chance, this one opportunity, to actually work on Sumeru's grandest building, to actually make a difference, and he would forever blame himself for it. And then he'd get blacklisted and never get another commission, and then he'd become even more broke, and then at that point, Alhaitham would probably kick him out -

"Stop spiraling," Alhaitham said sternly. "If it helps, she doesn't actually use that power often. Do you truly think the Dendro Archon is that invasive of your privacy?"

"How'd you know I was... ugh, whatever. Still, you don't know that for sure. Maybe she's been reading your thoughts all the time and never said anything," Kaveh pointed out.

Alhaitham shrugged. "If she has been, I don't really mind."

"Of course you don't," Kaveh grumbled. Alhaitham probably just thought about books all the time or something, nothing crazy.

Normally, Kaveh would feel a bit awkward walking around with Alhaitham like this, because they never walked to the Akademiya together. In fact, it reminded him of when they were younger, especially as they entered the House of Daena, with its familiar tall ceilings and marble floors. However, all the bickering that the two had done on the way there had distracted him, and before he knew it, he was entering a small private conference room upstairs.

Kaveh didn't exactly know what to expect, but he certainly hadn't been expecting Sumeru's archon to look like a young girl. At first, he thought they had entered the wrong room, but there was some kind of energy that surrounded the girl that made Kaveh realize who she was.

"Thank you both for coming," Nahida said lightly.

While Alhaitham merely nodded and sat down, Kaveh bowed his head and said, "Thank you for the invitation, Lesser Lord Kusanali. I truly appreciate the honor."

Alhaitham coughed to avoid laughing at Kaveh's overt politeness, and Nahida replied, "No need to be so formal, Kaveh. I've heard a lot about you."

"Ah, right..." Kaveh said as he finally sat down. "All good things, I hope."

"More than. I've learned a lot about your projects, and they're each a marvel on their own. Most especially the Palace of Alcazarzaray. I can tell you put a lot of thought into the symbolism in everything you've designed, symbolism that really puts Sumeru in the best light so it can shine and continue to grow."

Kaveh blinked. He couldn't remember the last time he had received such extensive praise. The things he would do to hear such words from a client - to have someone truly see what he meant in his designs! And yet he had done nothing for his archon and received her approval anyway. "I... Thank you. That means a lot, because I put my heart and soul into anything I work on. Architecture is how I can express myself best."

"I'm glad you agree. Now, about what I plan for the Akademiya..."

Nahida summarized the details of what she had told Alhaitham the previous day. Kaveh listened with rapt attention, crimson eyes bright with excitement as he nodded along eagerly. On the other hand, Alhaitham fixed his eyes on a random spot on the table and tried not to zone out.

"Yes, I completely understand! Trust me, I will not let you down. I can start sketching drafts right away," Kaveh assured.

"Don't get ahead of yourself," Nahida said with a small laugh. "This is a big project, so take as much time as you need. Right now, I'm not sure yet how many people will be staffed with jobs related to the arts, so the size and scale of the arts wing is still unknown. However, adding my office and the Scribe's new office would only be another corridor extension in the administrative wing. Therefore, I think it would be best if you first start with that."

"Right, your new office... and Alhaitham's..." Kaveh said, his voice turning into a grumble at the end. He pulled out a notebook and jotted down some notes on what Nahida had said. "Well, do you have any preferences? If you tell me now, it would be rather helpful once I get to sketching."

"Hmm, lots of natural light would be good, but honestly, I trust you'll sketch the perfect idea, so do you what you think is best. I don't have any strong preferences," Nahida answered.

"Natural light, got it..." Kaveh muttered as he wrote it down. He was glad Nahida wanted to give him so much freedom in this project. While Kaveh knew it was only natural to have preferences, he hated when his ideas clashed with his client's.

"Aren't you going to ask me too?" Alhaitham suddenly spoke.

Kaveh nearly forgot Alhaitham was there, since he had been mostly silent. "Nothing you'd prefer would even look good, so why even bother?" he muttered.

Alhaitham was about to respond, but Nahida quickly cut in before the two could start arguing. "Speaking of which, I want to add that Alhaitham will be managing most of the administrative and financial side of this project, like budgeting and coordination with the rest of the Akademiya. You can still come to me for questions, of course, but he will be the main person to go to for this."

"Of course," Kaveh replied, shooting a glance at Alhaitham with a small frown on his face. Even though he wasn't really happy that his new client was his annoying asshole roommate, he didn't want to appear unprofessional in front of the archon.

"If you don't have any other questions, then I will leave both of you to discuss logistics. I... trust you two can work together?" Nahida asked with a laugh. The two men nodded, despite what they might have been actually thinking. "I am glad you're taking this commission, Kaveh, and I can't wait to see what you do." She stood up and tilted her head in acknowledgement, and then left the conference room, leaving just Alhaitham and Kaveh.

Kaveh was uncharacteristically silent, so Alhaitham turned to him and asked, "Well, what are your thoughts?"

"I... think I feel sick."

Alhaitham raised an eyebrow. "From nerves?"

"No, from the fact that I have to work with you every day," Kaveh responded.

"Oh." Alhaitham leaned back in his chair and paused. "Listen, it's just like what I do with funding proposals. If you've done something wrong, I'll reject your draft and tell you why. If it fits within the budget and I like it, then I'll accept it. Simple as that."

Kaveh sighed. "For you, it might be simple. But I've heard enough students complain about your rejections to know that I'll soon get frustrated too."

"It won't get that far. As much as I'd like to annoy you, I also should do my job," Alhaitham replied. He stood up from his seat, and Kaveh followed his lead with an inquisitive expression. "Anyway, we shouldn't waste work time arguing. Let's go. I'll show you my current office so you can get some ideas. I also need to give you the building's old floor plans and the proposed expansion site."

Chapter Text

Although Kaveh was passionate about this new project in a way he hadn't been since the Palace, renovating the Akademiya had its unique hurdles. What Kaveh had enjoyed the most about designing the Palace of Alcazarzaray was that he could make it as grandiose as he wanted, with all the hidden motifs for those who cared to notice. Dori had given him much of the freedom and budget (at least, before the Withering had come to ruin everything) that most architects only dreamed of.

Luckily, Nahida seemed to have similar expectations for Kaveh, and in fact placed a lot of trust in his designs. She didn't pressure Kaveh on any hard deadlines, nor did she have irrational preferences that Kaveh would have to work around. However, there was a clear difference between this Akademiya project and designing the Palace of Alcazarzaray — Kaveh wasn't creating something completely new this time. He had to add onto an already magnificent structure, and would have to make sure that his addition complemented the rest of the Akademiya while still possessing that personal touch Kaveh craved to imbue in all of his buildings.

This, of course, presented no real challenge to the master architect. But it was something different than what he was used to. Therefore, the next few days went by in a blur as Kaveh spent hours in various halls in the Akademiya. Sketches of the Akademiya's archways, doorways, and windows filled his notebook, serving as inspiration for Kaveh's designs.

One of the many rooms he would survey was Alhaitham's office. When Alhaitham had taken him there the first time, right after Kaveh had accepted the commission, he had gotten roped into a meeting, and Kaveh didn't get to talk to him very much. He needed to go again to confirm things with him and take measurements. 

As Kaveh arrived at the top level, he saw Alhaitham look up from his spot at his desk. It was so stupid, Kaveh thought to himself. Why was Alhaitham's office so big? (It was the Grand Sage's office, so it made sense, but still.) Half of it was filled with bookshelves, and his desk could be a dinner table with how long it was. In fact, he thought Alhaitham's office might be the same size as, if not larger than, his house.

"Can I help you?" asked Alhaitham monotonously. "If you're here to complain about something, I'm busy."

"You're so rude. I'm just here to take some measurements and... ask if you have any preferences for your new office. I can't say it'll be this big," Kaveh gestured dramatically to the area, "but if you want to keep something or change something, it would be good to tell me now."

"Oh," Alhaitham said, his expression seeming to soften just the slightest. "Just make sure my new office has a door. I don't exactly like this current layout with the elevator."

"Okay... anything else?" Kaveh obviously had already planned for Alhaitham's new office to have a door, anyway, so this wasn't exactly helping.

"Not really."

Kaveh groaned. "You Haravatats are all like this — completely oblivious to any sense of aesthetics. Do I need to spell things out for you? When I ask for preferences, I mean more than whether there's a door or not! Do you want your desk to look like this?" He gestured to Alhaitham's current desk. "Do you want bookshelves? Was there anything specific you wanted, like more windows or a design on the floor?"

Alhaitham leaned back in his stupidly comfortable-looking Grand Sage chair and crossed his arms. "Huh. You didn't seem to mind when Nahida said she had only a few preferences," he pointed out.

"I didn't mind because she actually trusts me to design something she likes. You, on the other hand..." Kaveh sighed. "You're just going to nitpick everything like the control freak you are!"

"Control freak? If anything, you're the control freak," Alhaitham corrected. "You don't even care about my opinion. If I told you any preferences, you would still do what you wanted. Isn't that the main reason you fight with your clients all the time? So, why should I waste my time telling you in the first place?"

Kaveh bristled at his words. "I do care about opinions, I just — !" He paused as he got an intense sense of deja vu, not from the environment, but from his feelings. It was that same type of frustration he always felt with clients, a feeling that started fights that left Kaveh with no Mora as his client abandoned him to find another architect. "Never mind. Fine. I admit it, I don't always share my client's preferences, and it shows in my designs. But!" He jabbed a finger at Alhaitham. "There's no need to be such a smug bastard about it."

"I'm being realistic, not smug. Not every project is a canvas for your whims and desires." Alhaitham glanced down at his papers, picking up his quill and fidgeting with it absently. "I'm trying to be as least difficult as possible. You're the one making this complicated."

Kaveh opened his mouth, an easy insult on the tip of his tongue — but then thought better of it. Many times, their arguments would spiral and overflow into anger, even when the actual subject of conversation wasn't that important. He couldn't risk it. Nevertheless, that bubble of anger burned low in his chest. How dare Alhaitham say that he's the reason some of his projects don't work out! How is it his fault that some of his clients have such poor taste and understanding of design? "I won't argue about this anymore. I'll just... I'm just going to take the measurements I need and go."

Alhaitham didn't look phased by Kaveh's sudden change in tone. "Be my guest. I won't bother you."

"Good, you've bothered me enough for one day..." Kaveh muttered. "No, for one lifetime."

He got out his materials from Mehrak to take some measurements of the room and some of the shelves. Alhaitham, as he promised, remained steadily quiet and absorbed in his work. It almost felt like some of the moments they would have at home, where Alhaitham would be reading on the divan and Kaveh would sit next to him, drawing in his notebook, although there was a lingering tension in the room from their argument.

Today, he had gotten too close to lashing out at his roommate, Kaveh thought. They had bickered countless times before, but only occasionally would one of them strike a sore point, such as today. While Alhaitham definitely shouldn't have insulted him like that, in the end, he was the client, and Kaveh shouldn't be doing anything more than designing and collaborating. He should just suck it up and do his work.

Kaveh only wished that they didn't argue again. He can't risk losing this commission because of his or his roommate's temper. With the payment he'll be getting, the fame, and the legacy that he might get to leave, he had to hold his tongue.

Over the next few days, Kaveh continued showing up in Alhaitham's office, his notebook in hand. At first, they didn't speak much; both were focused on their respective jobs. Soon enough, however, Kaveh started filling the awkward silences by bombarding Alhaitham with a bunch of architectural questions filled with jargon Alhaitham didn't understand, or asking him for help searching the Akademiya's archives for old building plans and blueprints.

By the end of the week, Kaveh had made a little corner for himself in Alhaitham's office, papers and sketches strewn on the ground. One afternoon, after an hour of sketching, he stood up and stretched, his paper in one hand and his pencil in the other.

"Alhaitham," Kaveh called.

"Yes?" he responded dryly, his eyes fixed on some documents he was signing.

"Could you, uh, look at this? It's by no means a final draft, but I wanted to know your thoughts," Kaveh said, moving towards Alhaitham's desk.

Alhaitham put his quill down and turned to his roommate. "What is it?"

Kaveh placed what appeared to be a sketch of Alhaitham's new office on the desk. Since Alhaitham refused to give him any restrictions, Kaveh had taken many liberties with it. There were a lot of flourished out parts, evident in the designs for the windows, the ceiling, and even the wall trim.

Kaveh watched Alhaitham study the design closely for several seconds. His expression remained painfully neutral, and Kaveh had no idea what he was thinking. "Well, is it okay? Do you like it?" he asked anxiously.

Alhaitham glanced up from the draft, and Kaveh realized just how close the two had gotten. He never saw Alhaitham's eyes up close like this. Kaveh had always wondered how a man with so little taste for the arts had such beautiful eyes. 

He swallowed and looked away from his roommate, embarrassed by his thoughts. He could not be getting distracted like this!

Meanwhile, Alhaitham looked over at the clock on the wall. A small smile graced his face for just a moment before he steeled it back into his usual frown. "You'll... have to ask me later."

"Huh? Why? Do you need time to think about it?"

"It's five o'clock, so I'm done working. I'll answer your question tomorrow," said Alhaitham smoothly as he stood up and tidied the documents on his desk.

"Excuse me?" Kaveh said in astonishment. "You bastard, just say whether you like it or not!"

"I don't work overtime," Alhaitham replied, but he was smirking. And he was also still standing there, not moving. He looked at Kaveh expectantly. "Well?"

"Well what?"

"Let's go home."

"Just because it's five o'clock doesn't mean I'm done, Haitham. You know that's not how I work," Kaveh explained.

Alhaitham paused for a moment. "I know this is a big commission, but it's inefficient to overwork yourself."

If Kaveh listened hard enough, it sounded like Alhaitham was being kind. "Wow, you actually care about that?" he responded, starting to put his things away.

"I care about doing my job, which unfortunately revolves around you for the time being. And if you overwork yourself too much, this project might take longer than expected, which... won't be good."

"Huh..." Kaveh hummed thoughtfully as the two got on the elevator. "But don't you remember? Nahida didn't seem particularly insistent on deadlines."

"That is correct," Alhaitham agreed. "She doesn't mind how long this takes. However, earlier this week, she told me that once the renovations are complete, I can retire from my position and go back to being the Scribe."

"Oh, right," Kaveh muttered. He remembered that Nahida had specifically explained that Alhaitham's new office was for when he returned to his old position as the Scribe, and his current office would be given to whoever would replace him as Grand Sage. "I don't even know why you want to retire from such a lofty position."

"Do you think I enjoy meetings about budgets or Darshan assignments and then having to answer people's inane questions because my explanation was too confusing?" Alhaitham said, frustration evident in his tone. "Compared to being the Scribe, this job is significantly more demanding, and being in such a position of power was never the life I wanted."

"Wait, really? I thought you took the position to spite everyone," Kaveh said honestly.

"Then you clearly haven't been paying attention enough. I'm only in the 'Acting' role because I insisted on it. Otherwise, I would've been in this spot permanently," Alhaitham replied.

Alhaitham had complained about work before to Kaveh, but never like this. He didn't realize how many deeply lodged qualms Alhaitham had with his job. "Now that I think about it, I guess that makes sense. Still, you're good at leading, right? Even if you are an asshole."

"Just because I'm good at it doesn't mean I want this for the rest of my life. You of all people should know how it feels to have an unfulfilling job."

"I..." Kaveh paused.  Alhaitham really knew how to get to the root of all things with the blunt way he spoke. "Then, what do you want for the rest of your life?"

Alhaitham was quiet for a while, and the two continued to walk in momentary silence. Eventually, after some thought, he said, "I want a life where I'm free to choose how I spend my time. That's all."

Kaveh blinked. "That's it?"

He turned to Kaveh with a flat look. "You sound disappointed. Did you expect me to say something flowery? Like making Sumeru a better place, or something like that? If you did, I would urge you to rethink your perception of me."

Kaveh thought back on how Alhaitham had acted. With the organized coup, Kaveh had thought that perhaps his roommate did have some ambitions. He couldn't help the confusion he was feeling over this contradiction. "If your dream is to do nothing all day, then why did you save Sumeru?"

"You misunderstand me. I never said my dream was to do nothing. It's to do as I please, which is different. Maybe I'd read, or travel, or listen to you, or help save Sumeru. The point is that I would choose to do all of those things." Before Kaveh could respond, he continued. "Besides, the Akademiya was going to collapse over its own incompetence. Life would become inconvenient if I had done nothing."

Listen to me? Kaveh couldn't help but think. Why had Alhaitham included listening to him with all those other things? "To each their own, I guess. I can't understand that. I'd feel useless if I lived only for myself."

"You make me sound selfish."

"You are."

"Maybe. But if I constantly worried about how to please others, I would never get anything useful done."

It was silent between them after that. Kaveh thought long and hard about Alhaitham's words, and the strange honesty and vulnerability that lay beneath them. Sure, he had heard Alhaitham voice enough times that everyone should live as they pleased, but this was the most he had ever heard about his personal philosophies.

Eventually, they reached the front door of Alhaitham's house, but Kaveh had been in the front, so he started to reach for his key. He patted his pockets, but he realized nothing was there. "Huh?" he muttered, trying to hide his dilemma from Alhaitham, who was standing behind him.

After a few moments of Kaveh's floundering, Alhaitham pulled out his own key, revealing Kaveh's key also attached to it, and stepped in front of his senior to unlock the door.

"Hey! You took my key again?" Kaveh asked in surprise.

"What does it look like?" Alhaitham said flippantly as he opened the front door and went inside. He quickly took his boots and cape off, placed both his key and Kaveh's on the dish, and rushed to sprawl on the divan.

"Ugh, you lazy ass —" Kaveh muttered as he watched Alhaitham lie on the cushions as if he'd been waiting for this moment all day. Kaveh similarly divested himself of his shoes and cape and headed for the kitchen to prepare dinner.

-

Kaveh dropped off his draft at Alhaitham's office first thing in the morning, after making some finishing touches the previous evening, along with the revisions of the administrative wing that he had also been working on. The office had been empty save for Panah, who informed Kaveh that Alhaitham was at some morning meetings and that he'd be in his office later that day to review his draft. Leaving the office, Kaveh, in a surprisingly good mood, decided to take a walk around his old school grounds and work on Nahida's new office design as well.

A strange sense of peace filled him as he admired the hallways and rooms of his alma mater. Unlike other projects, Kaveh hadn't experienced any lack of inspiration or burnout. A lot of times, he'd be fighting with a deadline and end up pulling all-nighters to get things done, but with this, things were actually more relaxed.

Part of it was likely due to Alhaitham dragging him away from their shared study when the night got too late, or subtle comments on not overworking. It wasn't any different than his usual behavior, but normally, Kaveh would ignore him and continue banging on his structures late into the night. However, now, Kaveh chose to listen to him since he was the one overseeing his work anyway.

As Kaveh pondered this, he eventually passed by the cafeteria, where most of the students and staff were eating lunch. Among the people eating was a familiar head of silver hair, at a table by himself. How lonely he looked, Kaveh thought, though he knew Alhaitham likely preferred it that way and didn't mind. It made him remember a much younger Alhaitham, alone at the House of Daena, always studying, always reading. Of course, just like he had done all those years ago, Kaveh had to go sit with him.

He approached the table from behind and pulled out a chair to sit down. Alhaitham perked up at the sound and looked over at Kaveh, who grinned. "Is my poor junior eating all alone? How sad," he teased.

Alhaitham looked wary. "I don't always eat alone. If Cyno's around, I sometimes eat with him. But he's busy chasing down some scholars doing illegal research."

"Isn't he always doing that?"

"That or TCG."

"Huh." Kaveh peered over Alhaitham's arm to catch a glimpse of his bowl. "Hey, isn't that the leftover biriyani I made yesterday? Can I have some?"

That confused him. He brought up his arm and shifted his bowl and body away from Kaveh. "Didn't you bring your own food?"

"No..." Kaveh replied. "I forgot. But I'm glad to see my cooking was so good you brought the leftovers to work."

"I only brought it because it was the easiest food to reheat, and the least messy," Alhaitham claimed. "If you don't have any food, then go buy some. It's called a cafeteria for a reason." He nodded over to the line of students with trays in the distance.

"That line is sooo long though," Kaveh whined. "Just... lemme—" While Alhaitham was sipping his water, Kaveh reached over and snatched his spoon, taking a bite of the rice on it.

Alhaitham frowned at Kaveh. "That's so unsanitary."

"Are you serious? We literally live together," Kaveh muttered as he quickly shoveled more biriyani into his mouth before Alhaitham could do anything. Alhaitham just watched with a disapproving glare as he crossed his arms.

"Whatever, I've lost interest in eating now that you've used my spoon," Alhaitham said. Kaveh didn't respond and continued eating, so Alhaitham added, "Also, I have an answer about your draft. I was looking at it earlier."

"What, really?" Kaveh said, although his words were muffled by the food. "W-What'd you think then?"

"I'm going to have to ask you to make some revisions," Alhaitham admitted.

Kaveh swallowed. "What? Well, I'm not surprised."

"The hallway in the administrative wing is good," Alhaitham offered. "But you're going to have to redo my office."

By now, Kaveh had finished the portion of the biriyani that Alhaitham had effectively conceded to him. He pushed the bowl back to him and questioned, "But why? What's wrong?"

Alhaitham reached for his satchel, which had been leaning against his chair, and pulled out the draft that Kaveh had given him from a folder. However, lines of red ink desecrated what Kaveh had thought was a great design. Kaveh stared at the paper, looking at everything Alhaitham had written. It reminded him of how he used to annotate textbooks back when the two were students, correcting everything Kaveh had underlined. But this felt much worse. He felt his stomach sink as he took it all in.

"It's not functional," Alhaitham stated simply. "With the budget we're giving you, I think it's too much. You can read my notes and figure it out, but one concern is that you've put too many Haravatat embellishments in the room. It doesn't... add anything." He pointed accordingly at the paper.

"And? It's your Darshan. I thought..." I thought you'd like it. "I thought it would look good," Kaveh replied, irritation edging in his tone.

"Aesthetics are no reason to disregard function and budget. Save all of your imaginative ideas for the arts wing. Besides, Haravatat hasn't had the best reputation lately, and I've never had much school pride." Alhaitham pointed to some other notes he made. "Here, I also think the spatial planning is cramped, and therefore, inadequate, with all the extra beams and arches, even if you'd argue that you think it looks nice."

Kaveh scoffed. "You think that's cluttered when you litter books all over your own house?"

"I do most of my work in my office, not at home. Perhaps you don't understand that, since you work wherever you like. They are different spaces." Even though he was right, it felt like he was insulting Kaveh somehow. Kaveh's expression grew more and more offended as he continued. "Anyway, right now, I think this is much too overindulgent to function as an office for me. You can keep a few of the aesthetic choices you made, but the majority need to go. Otherwise, there won't be enough space in the budget for the other renovations."

"Overindulgent!?" Kaveh exclaimed. "I put actual effort into that. Do you know how long this took? Archons forbid your office have some personality."

"Well, I don't like it," Alhaitham stated bluntly. And then, he dared to add, "You need to stop taking things so personally." 

"How else am I supposed to take it? I'm not you, like some — like some heartless machine who can just go back to work as soon as I know what to do. I have feelings, you know..." 

The words slipped out before he could take them back. Kaveh didn't actually think Alhaitham was heartless, even though he was definitely acting like it. But it was too late. A flash of hurt appeared on Alhaitham's face. He took a deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment. "If you can't handle my criticism—"

"I can handle criticism," Kaveh interrupted, his voice hardening. "What I can't handle is you acting like my time means nothing to you."

Alhaitham sighed and pressed his lips into a line. His hands gripped his knees tightly. "I never said that."

"So? You never say anything. You never tell me what you're thinking. You didn't even tell me your preferences, and you're expecting me to just know what you want."

"I never meant anything bad, I'm just doing my—"

"Did you even look at my draft before writing all that? Doesn't any of my effort mean anything to you?" Kaveh's voice grew quiet. Alhaitham's silence could only mean one thing — he didn't see anything special about his work, just another thing to reject like his funding proposals. But this wasn't simply another funding proposal form that hundreds of Akademiya students filled out. It was something with ideas, with artistry, something far more valuable that should be recognized as such.

"Of course I did. I also have an unannotated copy if that's your—"

"That's not my concern, Alhaitham! You're being ridiculous."

"Could you not interrupt me?" Alhaitham uttered, anger seeping into his words. "Not everything is about you. I don't know why that's such a hard concept for someone so educated. From what you've said, it seems like you despise working with me. So, perhaps it would be better if I find someone else to do this."

"Excuse me!?" Kaveh's voice grew in volume, and he saw other people looking at them, listening, but he hardly cared. "You think this is about me? That I did all this for me? I did all this for you! To impress you! And now you're sitting here not even showing an ounce of care at my work!" Kaveh stood up from his chair, a lump forming in his throat. His next words came out shaky. "If you really think I hate working with you, go find someone else. I doubt you'll find a better architect, but I can't work with someone like you anyway."

"Kaveh. Kaveh, wait—" Alhaitham started, but it was too late. Kaveh had already hurriedly walked away, not sparing another glance at his junior.

Many people, including Alhaitham, watched as Kaveh stormed off. He frowned as he looked at Kaveh's empty seat, the empty bowl of food that Kaveh had eaten from, and then back at his departing figure disappearing through the door. Then, he traced a finger over the annotations on the drafts, his brows furrowed in thought. Perhaps it would be better if I find someone else to do this. Alhaitham didn't really mean that. He had never intended to replace Kaveh, because Kaveh had been right — there wasn't a better option. Among the residual anger he was feeling, Alhaitham was also unnerved by their fight. He thought he had been perfectly reasonable until he sort of lashed out at the end, so why did Kaveh react so negatively?

Of course, they'd had fights like this before, even ones with more yelling from both sides, but it was mainly over petty things like forgetting to wash the dishes or Alhaitham buying another ugly wood carving. Normally, in a few days, the tension would roll off and they'd be back to normal. But he had never mixed in Kaveh with his work before. 

(He meant work as in his actual job, his professional life. If he used the broader definition of work, however, then he had indeed mixed in Kaveh with his (academic) work before, and he knew how poorly that went.)

In this case, due to the project, Alhaitham couldn't exactly wait a few days for the tension between them to dissipate and for Kaveh to return to normal, seeing as Nahida expected them to be checking in every day on the progress.

Speaking of Nahida... it was probably best to inform her about this, in case Kaveh really did intend on quitting. Alhaitham pushed his chair back, gathered his things, and left the cafeteria, ignoring the glances of students intrigued by the earlier argument. He tried to force his face back into its usual unbothered expression, pushing down the guilt that curled deep within his chest.

-

He entered the Sanctuary of Surasthana with perhaps less decorum than was usual for him, but luckily, his archon didn't seem to mind. "Oh! Is something the matter?" she asked.

"I..." Alhaitham hadn't even planned what he was going to say, and paused. "I don't know if I can continue to work with Kaveh," he confessed. "He's... upset, and I highly doubt he wants to work with me anymore."

Nahida didn't look surprised. "I expected something like this to happen. And also... you're upset too. Actually..." She paused and studied Alhaitham's expression. "This might be the most upset I've ever seen you, which is very interesting."

He's upset? Besides the moment he lost his temper and raised his voice earlier, Alhaitham thought he was back to normal. Yet when Nahida said those words, he realized how his jaw had been clenched, how tense his arms were, and the tightness in his chest that refused to go away since their argument.

"What happened?" she asked softly.

He took a deep breath and tried to relax. Best to just state it as straightforwardly as possible. "Kaveh submitted a draft to me today. I asked if he could revise it and told him what to fix, and he got offended."

Nahida hummed and then slowly closed her eyes. The tips of her white hair glowed for a few moments before she opened her eyes again. "You didn't just tell him what to fix. You said you'd find someone else."

"...Yes, I did," Alhaitham admitted. He shouldn't have left so much out. "But I didn't actually mean that."

"Even if the sun is shining, a sudden wind will still startle and drive away a bird," Nahida said. "Similarly, you drove him away, even if you had good intentions. I can tell from your memory of it that Kaveh is very hurt by what you said."

I should've figured she would take Kaveh's side, Alhaitham thought. The two were more similar than they realized.

"I'm not taking anyone's side," Nahida said. "I'm trying to tell it to you as it is. Kaveh feels things strongly; we both know that. When he's proud of something he makes, it's because he sees a part of himself in it. With this knowledge, it's no surprise he felt insulted."

"I critiqued the work, not the person. Which is exactly what I said I'd do when we started this project. I don't see why he reacted like that."

"Still, it wouldn't hurt if you were kinder to him," Nahida tried.

Her words reminded him of Kaveh's words, all those years ago. No matter how hard he tried to suppress that memory, now, of course, it decided to echo in the back of his mind.

"If you could just be a bit kinder and help out the others a little bit, maybe I wouldn't be your only friend!"

Perhaps Kaveh had forgotten, but Alhaitham could never forget how that joint research project had ended. It was a shame, because it was truly valuable research, and oh, there was no use fooling himself. The truth was, it was a bigger shame because he had lost Kaveh that day. He had watched Kaveh graduate months after their fallout and accepted that he would never see him again after that, that maybe he was wrong, and Kaveh would go and achieve all the lofty dreams he had idealized for so long.

"I know you don't want this to end the same way it did last time," Nahida said, stirring Alhaitham from thoughts that she must have been listening to. "You can still fix this."

He didn't need an archon's advice to know that he could fix this if he just went and apologized. That wasn't why he was really here. "Despite the fact that we barely scratched the surface of this project, we got into an argument. Even a few days ago, we were also on the brink of a fight, but I noticed Kaveh stopped himself from things getting worse. What's to say it won't happen again, and neither of us holds our tongues?"

"It might," Nahida answered. "You're both strong-willed people, so conflict is bound to emerge."

Alhaitham furrowed his brow and muttered, "I've worked with difficult people before, with no problems."

"But they didn't matter to you like Kaveh does."

Alhaitham looked up, his jaw tensing under Nahida's all-knowing gaze.

"I mean that you two are familiar with each other. He gets you like no one else does, and he gets under your skin like no one else does," she explained. "If you want to avoid that, then we can work on looking for someone else, but I don't think that's what you want."

"I don't," agreed Alhaitham.

Nahida smiled. "I've observed humans for a long time, and I've noticed that many disputes would be resolved sooner if people just put their pride aside and apologized. You know what to do."

After a few moments, Alhaitham nodded. "...Thank you," he said. "I'll go talk to him right away."

-

Alhaitham cancelled the rest of the meetings he had that afternoon, opting to look for Kaveh instead. He knew that Kaveh was likely trying to avoid him, since that was his typical behavior after they fought. However, he also knew that he should apologize before things got worse.

He started with the usual spots, beginning with Lambad's Tavern. As Alhaitham walked around the first and second floors, he saw no sign of the architect.

"You're looking for Mr. Kaveh, I presume?" asked Lambad as Alhaitham went back downstairs. Since it was just past noon, the tavern was hardly busy, nothing compared to the rowdy crowds in the evening.

"Yes. Have you seen him?"

"He came by and purchased some alcohol about an hour ago, and then he left."

That wasn't surprising. Kaveh normally turned to drinks after any heated argument with a client. "I see. Thanks, Boss," Alhaitham said curtly as he left.

With that knowledge, Kaveh had probably gone home. As Alhaitham rounded the corner to his house, he started to fish for his key, which he always kept in his belt pouch. However, when he approached the door, he heard loud, muffled voices coming from inside, which was uncommon. Kaveh never had guests, because he hated giving his address to others.

Slowly, Alhaitham took off his earpieces and put his ear to the door, curious as to what was going on.

"— can't believe him... he acts like I'm the unreasonable one, saying 'not everything is about you,' ugh!"

"Whoa!! He really said that?" said a high-pitched voice. Alhaitham remembered that voice — it belonged to the Traveler's floating companion.

"Did he apologize?" asked another voice, whom Alhaitham recognized to be the Traveler. Why were these two in his house, of all places? Alhaitham didn't even know they were acquainted with Kaveh, besides the one time they ran into him and Kaveh in the House of Daena. It made sense, though, since the Traveler was friendly with just about anyone.

"Yeah, right. That guy never apologizes." He heard the clink of glass against a table. "He's always been like this. I don't know why I care what he thinks. It was a first draft after all, and those never end up making the cut. I argue with clients all the time, and yeah, it hurts, but this hurts differently... I guess I thought I would finally get his approval through this project. Haha... a senior looking for their junior's approval. Now that's an idea."

"I'm sure he means well," said the Traveler. "And that he cares about you. He's just... bad at showing it."

"Yeah, Paimon agrees! Maybe he just wasn't thinking."

"But all he does is think! That's his whole thing..." Kaveh said something else that Alhaitham couldn't make out.

"Really? Paimon knew it!"

"Shush, it's not a big deal," Kaveh said. "It doesn't matter anyway — he'd never want that. That's just how he is. Still, feelings aside, I just... I guess I thought we were becoming friends."

Alhaitham furrowed his brow. What did Kaveh mean by that? Was he saying that Alhaitham would never want to become friends? That didn't make much sense, because Alhaitham thought it was obvious he was trying to remedy their old friendship, but apparently not. He continued to listen for more clues.

"If you ask Paimon, Paimon always thought you two were friends! And it's okay, friends fight sometimes! Even Paimon argues with the Traveler!"

"Haha, yeah. Once, I even threatened to turn Paimon into emergency food..."

The voices grew quiet again for a few moments, and then he heard Kaveh. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to rant about him like this. Gods forbid I tell Tighnari and Cyno enough. This always happens as soon as I drink anything. I don't even know why I bought this if I was trying to forget about it all... he seems to be the only thing I think about. Sorry again. Anyway, we should definitely get lunch sometime before you head to Caravan Ribat."

"Paimon agrees! Actually, Paimon's getting hungry already!"

"I'll see you, Kaveh. And I hope everything with Alhaitham goes well."

"Thanks, you two. I'm... going to my room to lie down. You guys can leave whenever you're ready. I'll leave the tea out if you want more." Alhaitham heard the sound of feet shuffling and Paimon talking to the Traveler about dinner options.

Soon enough, the door opened, and Alhaitham, Paimon, and the Traveler all stared at each other for a second.

Paimon spoke first. "Alhaitham!? What the heck are you doing here!?"

"I live here," he stated, as he put his earpieces back on — Paimon's voice was rather grating.

"Oh, right..." Paimon looked at the Traveler and whispered, "Do you think he heard all that?"

"You whisper rather loudly," Alhaitham said.

"Oops... hehe, Paimon's been told that before." She hovered awkwardly in the air as she exchanged a glance with the Traveler. "Well... we were just leaving, right? Um, good luck with Kaveh! Don't say anything stupid again!"

"Right..." Alhaitham sighed. "See ya." He waved goodbye to the duo and stepped over the threshold.

The house was quiet, and he saw two empty mugs on the table in the living room, along with an empty wine glass. From what he heard, Kaveh should be in his room. Alhaitham approached the door to Kaveh's bedroom and knocked.

"You two need something?" he heard.

"It's me."

There was silence from the other side. Alhaitham was about to consider walking away when Kaveh asked, "What do you want?"

He didn't sound mad anymore, just exhausted. "I wanted to apologize for what I said earlier," Alhaitham said honestly. "I didn't mean it."

Kaveh didn't reply at first. Alhaitham heard the sound of the bed squeaking. "...Come in."

He opened the door and saw Kaveh sitting up in his bed, a pillow in his lap. On the nightstand was an open bottle of wine, which already had a considerable amount missing. That must've been what he bought at the tavern, Alhaitham thought. He eyed the bottle and questioned, "Did you drink all that?"

"Uh..." Kaveh glanced at the nightstand and shrugged. "I guess so, yeah."

"Hm." Slowly, Alhaitham closed the door and stepped closer to Kaveh, a bit unsure where to go from here. He didn't know if Kaveh's mild inebriation meant that they should discuss this another time or not. Still, he was in his room already. "About earlier. I shouldn't have said what I said. It was rude and inconsiderate of me," he stated.

Kaveh's brow pinched in confusion. "Are you okay? Did Nahida put you up to this or something?"

"She did give me some advice," Alhaitham admitted. "But I came here to apologize because I wanted to. So... I'm sorry."

"I must've passed out earlier because you cannot be apologizing to me," Kaveh said, still not believing him.

"I mean it. I wasn't trying to belittle you or your work. It was good, which is exactly why I trusted you could make it better."

Kaveh averted his gaze, fiddling with the blanket on his bed. "You could've just said that, instead of threatening to replace me."

"I know," Alhaitham replied quietly. "I never wanted to replace you. I was just getting frustrated."

"Oh? So the Acting Grand Sage does have feelings," Kaveh said sardonically. "We've fought so many times, and now is the first time you come to apologize? Why now?"

"Because..." Should he really say it? Alhaitham thought it might just be water under the bridge now, but at the same time, he still got a sick feeling in his stomach when he thought about their falling out. His voice grew quiet. "Because I didn't want this project to end like it did before... with our joint thesis."

Something changed in Kaveh's expression, and the look in his eyes grew distant. "You still remember that? After all these years?"

"Yes, of course," Alhaitham responded. "I sometimes... I sometimes wonder if things could be different, if we both didn't cling so stubbornly to our views."

Kaveh sniffed, and he frowned. "Don't — don't say that, Haitham. Let's... not talk about that."

He looked away for a moment, gathering himself. It seemed like their joint research project from the Akademiya was still a touchy subject for Kaveh.

"About the renovations. I suppose I should accept your apology..." Kaveh said with feigned reluctance. "I just don't know where this leaves us."

"Nahida and I both trust you to do this better than anyone else," Alhaitham said plainly. He added, "I think it would be reasonable to try again. Our collaboration... and... whatever else this is."

"Are you saying... you want to be friends again?"

Alhaitham raised an eyebrow and then remembered what he overheard Kaveh saying earlier, about how he thought they were becoming friends. "Did we ever stop?"

Kaveh stammered, "I, er, well — I guess I just assumed —"

"Why would I let you stay at my house indefinitely if we weren't friends?"

"You didn't contact me for years! What was I supposed to think?" Kaveh exclaimed.

That wasn't true. Alhaitham did contact Kaveh when he was first provided with the research center turned house. But when Kaveh had shown no interest in the place, Alhaitham had taken it to mean that he didn't want to be friends either. "I didn't know if you wanted to talk to me anymore." You said you regretted being my friend, Alhaitham thought, but didn't say. There was no use making Kaveh feel guilty for something so long ago.

Kaveh was silent for a few moments. "I guess part of it was my fault," he admitted. "And part of today was my fault, too. I shouldn't have overreacted like that." He swung his legs over the bed, his feet dangling above the ground. "I just... wanted you to like it. To like me," he mumbled.

Alhaitham paused. Kaveh had said something similar to the Traveler and Paimon, as well as during their earlier argument — that he wanted to impress Alhaitham, but Alhaitham didn't expect Kaveh to admit it so truthfully now.

"Ugh... I shouldn't have said that. Forget about it," Kaveh muttered under his breath, his eyes fixed on the floor.

"I do like you," Alhaitham said simply. "Isn't that how friends work?"

Kaveh huffed in surprise. After a long pause, he said, "Well, yeah, but — I just get worried sometimes." He started to get out of his bed, swaying a little. "...Whatever. You owe me dinner for all of this, though."

"Sure." It was his turn to cook anyway. He headed towards the doorway, Kaveh now lingering behind him. As Alhaitham started to reach for the door, he suddenly felt hands around his waist, pulling him in for a hug.

Alhaitham's hand froze above the doorknob. He wasn't used to this — Kaveh never hugged him. Sure, he might be a bit clingy when he was really drunk, but while Kaveh's words seemed a bit more honest than normal, he must be lucid enough to know that this wasn't usual behavior. As the two stood silently, Kaveh's forehead slowly came to rest on Alhaitham's bare shoulder, taking care not to pull the wire connecting his earpieces to his pouch.

"So... uh, call it even?" Kaveh whispered into his back.

For several seconds, Alhaitham genuinely had no clue what to say or what to do. His mind raced with possible replies, but each one seemed worse than the last. He couldn't think straight when he felt Kaveh's chest press lightly against his back. "Your hands are warm," he blurted, in lieu of a proper response.

Kaveh's breath tickled Alhaitham's neck as he laughed. "Haha, what's that supposed to mean? It's probably because I was lying under my blanket earlier."

"I just meant..." Alhaitham stopped himself. He almost said that it felt nice, and he didn't know how he could ever say that to Kaveh. He'd sound like someone starved of affection, and he didn't want to sound like that, even though that was exactly what he was.

"Hmm?" Kaveh hummed against his skin.

Shivers ran down Alhaitham's spine from the feeling. "...Nothing. We're even." He opened the door, and Kaveh's hands fell. "I'll go get started on dinner," he said awkwardly as he escaped to the kitchen.

Chapter Text

Over the next few weeks, the renovations for the project went smoothly as ever. Kaveh worked tirelessly on the designs, but with the cleared air between him and his client, he had new motivation and energy. Meanwhile, Alhaitham managed the project as well as juggled all of his other sage duties while he counted down the days to when he'd finally get to go back to being the Scribe.

As for the two of them together, well, Kaveh told himself they must be back to normal, or whatever counted as normal between them. They still met occasionally, working to get the designs finalized for the offices and the arts wing. They still bickered at home when Alhaitham would leave his books out or Kaveh would be too loud at night. But at work... After Alhaitham's harsh critiques from before, he had been noticeably more hesitant to offer his input on Kaveh's designs. Still, they managed to find a middle ground, and they eventually met with Nahida to inform her that all the designs had been finalized.

She was pleased to hear this news and informed them of the next phase, which Kaveh was well acquainted with: starting construction. With his knowledge and experience, Kaveh helped Nahida hire a construction team, and besides being present at the occasional meetings on material costs and budgeting, Alhaitham took a backseat from the project. Kaveh started to spend more time at the construction site and less time meeting with Alhaitham.

In fact, when he thought about it, he rarely saw Alhaitham these days. Before, it felt like all he did was talk to Alhaitham, since he saw him at work and at home. But the construction phase was always the most exhausting for Kaveh, because of all the complications that arose with managing big groups like the construction team. He tended to get home late, and even if Alhaitham was awake, they were both too exhausted to hold a conversation. Kaveh's typical propensity for rambling was absent, and he found himself missing Alhaitham's dry, sarcastic remarks.

Luckily, tonight, Kaveh was done working for the week and joined Cyno, Tighnari, and Alhaitham (after enough prodding and convincing) at Lambad's Tavern. Tighnari had told them he would be in town for the weekend, so of course, they had to meet up. He had been looking forward to getting together with his friends for weeks, but with the aftermath of the sages' removal, everyone had been so busy that schedules rarely aligned.

The four men had been pleasantly drinking and chatting, a mild buzz filling Kaveh's head as he smiled lazily. As their laughter died down, Tighnari pointed out something.

"You know, Kaveh, you haven't complained about any of your clients even once. Work must have been going pretty well for you."

Cyno chimed in. "He hadn't complained about Alhaitham at all, either. Is everything okay? Are you really Kaveh?"

"Haha..." Kaveh laughed. "About that... Alhaitham's actually my client."

"Huh?" Tighnari's ears perked up in surprise.

"That's not a very good joke," Cyno said seriously.

Alhaitham spoke for the first time in several minutes. "He isn't joking."

Tighnari blinked. "Really? I mean... That's still hard to believe." He looked at Kaveh. "You can barely stand living with him, so how would working with him even look like?"

Kaveh huffed a laugh. "Yeah... I know it sounds like the last thing I'd do, but it's a huge project. It's from Lesser Lord Kusanali, and she really wanted me to do it! I couldn't turn that down, even if Alhaitham was managing it."

"And how long have you guys been working together?"

"Umm..." Kaveh struggled to remember. The whole designing stage seemed to have gone by in a blur now that it was over. He swirled around the contents of his drink with a furrowed brow.

"Two months, now," Alhaitham replied easily.

Even Cyno raised an eyebrow at that. "That's a long time. I'm confused as to why I haven't needed to stop you two from murdering each other yet."

Alhaitham shrugged, his gaze flitting in Kaveh's direction. "We did fight."

"Ah, right..." Kaveh remembered with an embarrassed smile. "But we're fine now. He's decided to become less of an asshole, I think."

"Sounds like you guys are finally building bridges," Cyno joked, causing the others to collectively groan. "Get it? Because Kaveh's an architect—"

"You don't need to explain it," Tighnari cut in. "But... we can toast to that. To bridges."

"To bridges," Kaveh echoed, as he clinked his glass with everyone else's. After he took a long gulp of his wine, he added, "Oh, by the way! Since we're talking about the project I'm working on, have any of you seen the construction site? It's—"

"I have," Alhaitham muttered.

"—by the — I know you've seen it, you idiot— but anyway, it's by the Akademiya, and it's where I'm building the arts wing. I honestly can't wait to see how it turns out."

Tighnari's eyes widened. "An arts wing at the Akademiya? I never thought I'd live to see the day."

"Considering how suppressed it used to be, that's impressive progress," Cyno noted.

"It would be a good idea to see it before you head back to Gandharva Ville," Alhaitham agreed, facing Tighnari. "Honestly, despite all Nahida's been through, she's quite a competent leader. She's been more progressive than a lot of the other archons."

"Progressive how?" Cyno asked.

"I just mean that she's taken a more active effort than most of the other nations ever since she's been reinstated. I'm slightly thankful for this, because if she weren't here, I would be doing more work."

Kaveh huffed. "Of course, that's how you see it. Don't you care about what it means for Sumeru?"

"I do," Alhaitham replied. "Earlier this week, I was reading a book about the other nations and how their government works. Some of them have completely ceded reliance on any archons or gods, such as Liyue and Mondstadt, and instead are all led by human governments."

"Hmph. That's probably what you'd do if you were an archon. 'Cause you're so lazy," Kaveh teased. He missed these jabs at his roommate, so he was taking every chance he got.

Alhaitham looked unimpressed. "Liyue's the richest nation for a reason. They must be doing something right." He then spoke for a little longer, into more detail on the book he had read, and Kaveh listened attentively despite his inebriation. Somehow, when Alhaitham was the one explaining it, he felt like he could listen for hours.

A few minutes later, Lambad came by, so Kaveh ordered another bottle of wine for everyone. He had decided to indulge as much as he could tonight, before he inevitably became busy with work once again.

"Um, I wasn't planning on having any more," Tighnari said with a small laugh when Kaveh pushed the bottle in his direction.

"Me neither," Cyno said. "I have some paperwork to finish after this, and an early patrol tomorrow."

"Ugh, paperwork on a Friday night? You two are so boring. No wonder you're friends with Alhaitham."

"Aren't you also friends with me?" Alhaitham pointed out. "According to your logic, that means you're also boring."

"You—!" Kaveh couldn't exactly refute that anymore, not when he had specifically agreed to start being friends again with Alhaitham after their fight. Instead, he merely pushed the bottle towards him, since Tighnari and Cyno weren't drinking anymore.

To his surprise, Alhaitham refilled his glass, making that his third drink of the night. From Kaveh's experiences with Alhaitham at the tavern, his junior rarely went beyond two drinks, something about not wanting to jeopardize his rationality. Perhaps he wanted to loosen up even more than normal.

The conversation between the four shifted to how research had been in the Akademiya. Everyone agreed that the termination of the Akasha changed a lot for current students, especially Alhaitham, who was growing talkative on the subject.

"Students have grown much too reliant on the Akasha to feed them the knowledge they need, instead of going to seek it out for themselves. It's no wonder they're struggling to find research topics. Of course, this should be my job to fix, but I think waiting it out might be the best course of action. There's a certain level of struggle all students must go through if they want to become knowledgeable."

"Right..." Tighnari said absently.

"You have a point," Cyno agreed. "Far too many students have been prying into research that mentions forbidden topics as of late."

Kaveh opted to drink instead of speaking and watched the others with a lazy smile on his face, although after a few minutes, he was mainly watching Alhaitham. It was almost enchanting to see Alhaitham so invested in a topic, because it didn't happen very often. The way he laid out every reason with that perfect precision, that small smile that graced his lips at the satisfaction of his own reasoning... it had Kaveh hanging onto every word.

He thought maybe Alhaitham had changed from when they were students, but as the minutes passed, he started to wonder if perhaps his perception of him was the real thing that had changed. He always admired Alhaitham's speaking skills, especially in the context of an intellectual debate. That was normally what had infuriated him — how Alhaitham nearly always matched odds with him in intellectual conversations, both in wit and in opposing opinions. But now that infuriating frustration that Kaveh usually felt around his roommate had settled down, and something far larger was replacing it.

"Is there something on my face?" Alhaitham asked, breaking Kaveh from his reverie. Now, Cyno and Tighnari were busy talking about something else with each other, something about herbs, and Alhaitham was fixing Kaveh with a pointed look.

"Huh? No..." Kaveh slowly replied. "Why?"

"You were staring."

Oh. He definitely was staring. "It's not my fault you're..." so good to look at, Kaveh thought, but luckily knew better than to say.

Alhaitham raised an eyebrow and opened his mouth to respond, but then Lambad walked by and placed a plate of cut Zaytun Peaches on the table. "Ah, thanks," he said instead.

Kaveh didn't realize he was hungry until he saw the fruit. "Huh... Who ordered those?" he asked.

"I did, since you're planning on drinking so much, you should eat something," Alhaitham responded, handing him the fork.

"How'd you know that?" Kaveh mumbled, mostly to himself. He propped his chin on his hand as he continued to look at the fruit, forgetting about the fork in his hand.

"You haven't had any alcohol since our argument, and that was weeks ago now. Therefore, I knew you were going to make the most of your time here."

How did Alhaitham catch onto all that? Maybe the wine was starting to get to Kaveh's head, because he couldn't figure it out. "Hmm... that's so sweet. You're so sweet, haha," he slurred.

Alhaitham looked amused. "You're definitely drunk."

Cyno and Tighnari, who had long finished their conversation on medicinal flora, were both watching the other two, a small smile on Tighnari's face.

"Noo... I only had four glasses," Kaveh stammered, reaching for his fifth.

"You had five already. I've been counting."

Why had he been counting? Did Alhaitham not trust Kaveh to count for himself? What a nuisance, Kaveh thought as he frowned at his (sixth, apparently) drink. He drank it steadily, and once he finished it, he started to reach for the bottle of wine again, but Cyno pulled it away from him.

"I think you're done, Kaveh," he said steadily. "Unless you want Alhaitham to carry you home."

"Alhaitham probably wants to carry him anyway," Tighnari joked.

"No, I don't," Alhaitham said firmly. He glanced at Kaveh, who had now laid his head on the table. "Besides, I've also had more than usual. Carrying him wouldn't be safe for either of us."

"You're holding it well," Tighnari noted.

"You guys are so mean..." Kaveh interrupted, a pout on his face. "I worked so hard this week... and you aren't — hic — letting me have another drink. I should just be friends with Nahida... she'd let me have as much as I want."

Alhaitham huffed a laugh. "I should tell her you said that."

Kaveh's eyes started to flutter, and his gaze fell on the peaches that Alhaitham had gotten for him. They did look good...

"Are you going to eat, or do I need to feed you?" Alhaitham said, his tone more demanding rather than requesting. "You're going to feel sick if you don't." 

"Ugh..." Kaveh scowled at the peaches and started to lift his head before bringing it back down on the table again. It seemed like far too much work to eat.

Alhaitham sighed, and Kaveh felt him take the fork from his hand, spearing a peach slice with it and holding it towards his mouth. "Eat."

Well, if Alhaitham was making it this easy, who was Kaveh to refuse? He opened his mouth and took the fruit into his mouth, cool and sweet on his tongue. He chewed slowly until Tighnari spoke.

"So is that how you two eat dinner at home?" he said with a grin.

Kaveh took a moment to process Tighnari's words. "Wh — what!?" He then promptly choked on the peach and coughed harshly.

Alhaitham wordlessly reached for the water jug and poured a cup for Kaveh. "Careful now."

"I — I'm fine!" Kaveh exclaimed, gulping down the water.

"More than," Cyno said. "You know, Alhaitham's practically spoiled you."

"What?" Kaveh said with confusion.

Tighnari's eyes brightened. "Wait, Cyno's onto something. I mean, you're in his house, he buys you drinks, he feeds you..."

"He doesn't do all that..." Kaveh protested weakly.

"It must look that way to you two," Alhaitham said thoughtfully. He didn't seem offended or against what they said at all. "I guess I do too much for Kaveh."

"I can take care of myself!" Kaveh exclaimed, shooting a scowl in Alhaitham's direction. To make his point, he grabbed the fork from him to poke at the peaches, but he missed twice before finally getting one, while his friends laughed at the sight.

"With all that wine you had, I doubt it," Alhaitham replied. He turned to face Cyno and Tighnari. "By the way, if you two wanted any fruit, you should have it now, before Kaveh tries to eat it all."

Tighnari laughed awkwardly. "Thanks, but actually, we should get going."

Cyno nodded. "Like I said, I have an early patrol tomorrow. So, peach out."

Everyone was silent, except for Kaveh, who huffed out a small chuckle.

"Now I know Kaveh's really drunk, if he's laughing at Cyno's jokes," Tighnari said. "Alright, well, anyway, I'll let you know if I go check out that construction site you mentioned. Have a good night... and make sure to take care of him. Spoil him if you must." He nodded towards Kaveh, whose eyes were fluttering as he lay his head down on the table.

"I will," said Alhaitham. "Goodnight."

Kaveh hummed something as well, blinking blearily as he watched Tighnari and Cyno exit the tavern.

Alhaitham took a few of the peaches for himself, a contemplative expression on his face as he chewed. He looked over at Kaveh, whose head was still on the table. "Are you awake?"

"Mhm, yeah," Kaveh muttered, cracking an eye open. "Jus' thinking."

"Finish eating these, then we should get going," Alhaitham said, tapping the plate of fruit.

"I don't wanna go..." Kaveh whined. "It's so comfy... and you're here."

"I'm sure your bed will be more comfortable," Alhaitham replied. Realizing what Kaveh had also said, he added, "and I'll also be with you at home."

Kaveh blinked as he ate the last of the Zaytun Peaches. "You'll be with me?" he repeated.

"We live together."

"Oh, haha, yeah... that's good, then."

For a reason Kaveh didn't know, Alhaitham found this funny and chuckled lightly. He tapped Kaveh's shoulder. "Since you're done, let's go."

Kaveh groaned as he slowly started to stand up, leaning heavily against the table. The world spun around him as he looked towards the door. Still, he didn't want to rely on Alhaitham — he could take care of himself! So, he tried to walk to the door himself, staggering a little.

It wasn't long before Alhaitham caught up with him a few moments later. "You're going to run into someone if you go off on your own."

Kaveh groaned. "You... You prob'ly don't even care."

"It wouldn't be good for the Akademiya if their lead architect got hurt because he was too drunk to walk."

"Ugh, don't wanna talk about work right now..." Kaveh mumbled, leaning against Alhaitham heavily as they made their way outside. Since it was nighttime, it was only a little cool, a relief from the stuffiness in the tavern.

They walked in silence for a moment before Kaveh stopped walking. "Oh no..."

"What's wrong now?"

"I forgot to pay! We need to go back," Kaveh said, sobering up a little and turning around.

"No, I paid for you. It's fine," Alhaitham said.

"Really? Phew," Kaveh replied, resuming their walk, Alhaitham's hand hovering at his back. Normally, he would be more confused and say more about how he could take care of himself, but he could hardly think about Alhaitham's reasons for paying. He was too focused on not tripping over the pavement and embarrassing himself any more than he already had.

"It's rather nice out," Alhaitham commented suddenly. "It makes me think of that Rtawahist class we took for fun. The stargazing one... I thought it was rather interesting."

"Rtawa... ah..." Kaveh tried, stumbling over the word. "You... remember that?"

"Hmm. Yes, it's been crossing my mind quite often," Alhaitham said, honesty coloring his tongue. "I noticed the construction site you've been working on is very close to the spot our professor used to take us."

"Right..." He took his eyes off the cobblestones for a moment to glance over at Alhaitham, who was focused on the road. A question formed in Kaveh's mind. "Alhaitham... are you also drunk?"

"Not as much as you," he replied. "I... guess it's obvious. You saw how much I had, and also, I don't usually mention the past."

"I thought you forgot it all," Kaveh said quietly, still surprised at Alhaitham's recollection. He paused and thought about the Akademiya class that Alhaitham was talking about. "You skipped all of your classes except for that one and that Harav... that runes class."

"Those classes were actually interesting," said Alhaitham with a roll of his eyes. "The others were easy enough to self-study."

A dazed smile appeared on Kaveh's expression. He remembered how the professors couldn't stand Alhaitham for getting the highest scores on exams despite not bothering to show up for class. He laughed quietly at the memory, causing the other to gaze at him. Unexpectedly, Alhaitham reached over and brushed hair from Kaveh's face, his hand warm and soft. Those were hands that had never regularly handled the roughness of wood or hammered away into the night. Kaveh wanted to hold them all the same.

"You're being weird," Kaveh said, but he was smiling.

"There was hair in your face," Alhaitham said quickly.

"Well, it's not fair. You're being weird," he repeated. "You're making me think you —" Before Kaveh could finish, he stumbled and tripped on the ground. Alhaitham caught him in time, rushing forward to steady him. One hand rested on Kaveh's waist and the other on his arm to stop him from falling.

"Careful."

Kaveh groaned at his clumsiness, insistently continuing to walk despite his near-fall. However, Alhaitham gripped his wrist tightly and walked alongside him. "You — you don't have to do that..."

"I think I will."

"Noo... I'm fine, really..."

"You're going to fall again if you don't." Alhaitham sounded as matter-of-factly as usual, and as much as Kaveh liked to argue with him, any words of opposition had died on his tongue long ago. At this point, he just wanted to get into his bed and sleep. 

He didn't respond and continued, and the grip on his wrist loosened to less of a vice and more of a gentle touch.

By the time they reached the street to their house, Alhaitham's hand was entwined with Kaveh's, even though Kaveh could not remember when Alhaitham had moved his hand from encircling Kaveh's wrist to holding Kaveh's hand. He could feel the softness and the lack of calluses from his junior's hand as much as he wanted to, and he did want. He wanted so much more, so badly... but yet. There was something going off in Kaveh's head, something that sounded distantly like alarm bells, but they were so faint from the buzz of alcohol that he hardly noticed.

Alhaitham's eyes were fixed forward, the view of the Akademiya looming far in the distance. "Do you ever miss it? Back then," he asked.

"Hmm..." Kaveh processed the question. "Sometimes, haha. I used to think those were the best years of my life... Maybe they were. Things were... eh, less complicated." As they stepped onto their porch, something made Kaveh not want to step through the front door. There was a special space they had created on the walk home, and Kaveh was afraid that if they went inside, the softness that Alhaitham was exhibiting right now would go away. "What about you?"

For a moment, Alhaitham averted Kaveh's fluttering gaze and looked out into the dark street. He hadn't begun to look for his keys yet, even though they had reached the door. "I think I took it for granted. I was too focused on my studies... But now, I look back on those days often." He paused, and with the light in his face, Kaveh could tell he looked uncertain. "I do miss our friendship back then. Like many other things, it was less complicated, like you said."

With that, he finally let go of Kaveh's hand and reached for his key. Kaveh meant to reach for his arms to stop him, but he grabbed onto Alhaitham's waist instead. Alhaitham's eyes widened a fraction, but he made no move to stop Kaveh. "You're not fair... Why do you only say these nice things when I'm drunk?"

Alhaitham gazed at Kaveh steadily. "I don't think you'd take me seriously if you were sober," he replied, before unlocking the door and helping Kaveh over the threshold.

Kaveh stumbled over to the divan, collapsing on it almost immediately, while Alhaitham went into the kitchen. He came back a few moments later with glasses of water. "Drink," he ordered, shaking Kaveh to rouse him.

He mumbled something under his breath, but eventually drank the water. Alhaitham himself also drank a glass. "Thanks for walking me home..." Kaveh muttered. "Even though it's also your home."

"You're welcome."

"Okay, um... goodnight." Kaveh stood up and shakily made his way to his room.

"Night."

The next morning, Alhaitham awoke to a painful headache and that uncomfortable, overwhelming feeling he always got when it was too noisy, even though the only sound he could hear was the quiet chatter of the city from the window. He groaned as he got up, and when he checked, he saw it was already lunchtime.

Although Alhaitham did enjoy sleeping in like most other people, this was well past his normal routine. If he was feeling this hungover, he could only imagine how Kaveh was feeling...

Oh, right... Unfortunately, Alhaitham remembered in perfect detail everything that occurred the previous night. Kaveh's unacceptably nice clinginess. Alhaitham's rambling about the past. Those looks that Kaveh gave him. And likely worst of all, Alhaitham held his hand the whole walk home.

The truth was, Kaveh had been right when he said Alhaitham was being weird, because he had recently realized that his feelings for Kaveh weren't exactly platonic. He could hardly admit it to himself even now. Seeing him even more often than normal due to work made things difficult. Luckily, now that the construction phase was starting, Kaveh wasn't meeting with him as often, and he'd only have to deal with his feelings when he saw Kaveh at home.

As for today, he didn't know what he would say to Kaveh when he saw him. He figured Kaveh would also remember most details; after all, he had an excessive amount to drink, but not that excessive. Alhaitham decided to go see if he was alright.

However, when he squinted at the light in the living room, he saw that Kaveh was sitting on the divan, sketching something. He was still in pajamas, but it seemed like he had been awake for a while. His feet were propped up on the table, and a cup of coffee was a scant distance away. As Alhaitham entered, Kaveh glanced up and, in a voice too loud, said, "Oh, good, you're up!"

Alhaitham winced. "Could you be quieter?" he asked. "Also, aren't you hungover?"

"Uh... not really, haha. I guess you took good care of me last night."

Last night. Right. "About that... do you remember last night?"

Kaveh put his pencil down. "Why? Are you embarrassed?" he responded cheekily. "But yeah, I remember most of it."

Alhaitham rubbed his temples, trying to will his headache to go away. "Unfortunately, so do I."

"It's okay, if you regret anything you did or said. You were drunk too," Kaveh said lightly. "Also, there's more coffee in the kitchen. I figured you'd need it."

That was the problem — Alhaitham didn't regret anything he said. He didn't regret holding Kaveh's hand either. In fact, it was more genuine than he had ever been. He wouldn't attempt the same thing sober because Kaveh would never believe they were genuine, and would likely recoil in disgust.

With that in mind, he went to get coffee from the kitchen and a couple of painkillers for good measure. When he returned, Kaveh had gone back to sketching. He was acting awfully calm about this whole ordeal, Alhaitham thought. Normally, Kaveh would feel anxious or embarrassed about his drunken actions, like when he accidentally told the other patrons at the tavern who he was living with. Wouldn't it be the same in this case? Wasn't he embarrassed, too?

"Did you... want to talk about it?" he asked.

Kaveh glanced up, a nervous expression on his face that Alhaitham had been expecting to see from the start. With some trepidation, he said, "Er, well, I didn't think there was anything to talk about. We were just... being drunk." He laughed awkwardly.

Alhaitham didn't push him further. Of course, Kaveh didn't want to talk about it. Despite being such an emotional person, Kaveh tended to avoid such direct conversations about feelings.

Kaveh added, "Also, I don't know if you care, but I'll be busy later. I have to show Tighnari the construction site before he leaves."

"Tighnari?"

"Yeah, remember? You said yesterday that he should go check it out. So, he came by this morning and said he'd be free later today." Kaveh explained. "...You can come too, if you'd like."

Alhaitham wasn't sure if that was supposed to be a sincere invitation or an offhand remark, but either way, he wasn't feeling too keen on going. "I think I'll stay home," he muttered. "Is it just you two?"

Kaveh nodded. "Cyno's busy today, so yeah."

"Hm." Alhaitham nursed his coffee, and Kaveh went back to sketching. "What are you sketching?"

"Oh, uh... nothing relevant to the project." Kaveh showed the paper. He had drawn a fancy pavilion.

"Hm," Alhaitham hummed, too exhausted to say anything else.

"What, is it bad?"

"I didn't say that."

"But you're making that face. That judgy face."

Alhaitham crossed his arms. "This is just how my face is."

"Either you have an awful migraine, or you're judging my drawing really hard."

"It's the first one," Alhaitham stated, leaning back against the divan and closing his eyes.

Kaveh studied him closely and announced, "I'll make some food for you; that should help." He put down his sketchbook and headed into the kitchen before Alhaitham could refuse.

Not bothering to get up, Alhaitham lay back on the divan. In the background, he heard the sounds of clanging pans, sizzling food, and Kaveh quietly cursing. After a few minutes, Kaveh returned with two Pita Pockets. "Here you go," he said. When Alhaitham hesitated to eat, Kaveh continued, "Consider it as repayment for yesterday. You paid my tab and took care of me, after all."

"That's..." Alhaitham didn't want repayment. He had paid for Kaveh because he wanted to, not because he expected anything in return. But he knew what Kaveh would say if he brought it up. He knew that Kaveh hated to depend on others. His reaction to Tighnari's and Cyno's jokes about Alhaitham spoiling him was just one indication. If this repayment soothed Kaveh's heart, then Alhaitham didn't want to start an argument about it. "All right," he acquiesced, taking a bite of the food.

Kaveh smiled as he plopped down on the divan next to him, starting to munch on the Pita Pockets as well. It was silent between the two for once, causing Alhaitham's mind to drift. Inevitably, he started to think about last night. How Kaveh felt pressed against his side, how nicely Kaveh's hand fit in his, the warmth that twisted in Alhaitham's stomach and his head. Alhaitham shouldn't have had so much to drink — curses to his loose tongue and his loose memories of the past! Still, it was nice to know that Kaveh shared a similar sentiment over their Akademiya days, since it was brought up so rarely.

Oftentimes, Alhaitham worried he had to tread lightly on certain topics around Kaveh. Many of their fights culminated when Alhaitham failed to exercise restraint in those subjects. So when he inadvertently brought up the past last night, he was surprised Kaveh didn't seem to mind.

He glanced over at his roommate, who was sitting only a few feet away, wiping his mouth with a napkin. How easy it could be, to sit just a little bit closer, to have their knees and shoulders brush the tiniest bit. Alhaitham would never ask for anything else.

No, there's no use wasting time on these thoughts. Alhaitham would take what he could get, and if that was a Kaveh at arm's reach, that was all right. If that was a Kaveh that only touched him when he was especially drunk, Alhaitham wouldn't complain.

Abruptly, Alhaitham stood up to go wash his plate, taking Kaveh's as well. He pretended to ignore his senior's protests. "Hey—! It's my treat, I was going to wash the dishes! You don't have to... do that," he finished lamely as he watched Alhaitham turn on the water from the doorway.

"Consider it as repayment for repayment," Alhaitham responded as he scrubbed the plates clean.

"You know that's not how it works!" Kaveh huffed. "I'll just have to repay you some other time."

"I look forward to it."

"Ugh, you're impossible... Whatever. I need to go get dressed for when Tighnari drops by. I'll see you later." With that, Kaveh headed to his room.

Alhaitham listened to the door click shut, then the faint sounds of water running, the thud of Kaveh's construction boots, and his many drawers opening and closing shut. Meanwhile, he poured himself another cup of coffee and returned to the divan, for once not bringing a book with him. He didn't know if he could focus on reading words right now, what with his persistent headache and all.

While Kaveh was still in his room getting ready, there was a knock on the front door. "Haitham, would you get that?" Kaveh called from his room.

He figured it was Tighnari and guessed correctly when he opened the door and saw the Forest Ranger standing outside.

"Oh, hey Alhaitham. Is Kaveh home?"

"He's getting dressed. He should be out soon. You can come in."

He led Tighnari to the divan, who took in Alhaitham's disheveled appearance as he sat down. "So," started Tighnari, "looks like you're still recovering from yesterday."

Alhaitham narrowed his eyes. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I just mean you're still in your pajamas and it's almost two o'clock," he said with a small laugh.

He had a point. Alhaitham shrugged, his expression relaxing. "I don't really feel like doing anything today."

Just then, Kaveh returned to the living room in the usual attire he wore when he would be working onsite — a cream colored tunic with the sleeves rolled up, tucked into fitted black pants. His hair was also done up with his usual red hair clips, including his bangs, so that it was out of his face.

"Hey! Ready to go?" Kaveh said, looking at Tighnari.

"Yep, I was just waiting on you," Tighnari replied. "Alhaitham, you're not going?"

He shook his head. "Eh, no. You two have fun."

Tighnari started to stand up, and Kaveh headed to the door, fastening his work boots. "Don't laze around too much," Kaveh warned, but he was smiling. "I'll see you."

"See ya." Alhaitham watched the two leave, and when he was finally alone, he let out a long sigh and lay back on the divan. He was still too torn about yesterday's events to fully appreciate the current peace and quiet he normally loved.

But Kaveh doesn't want to talk about it. So last night must mean nothing to him, Alhaitham reminded himself. While he was relieved that he didn't have to outwardly acknowledge it, he was also worried about Kaveh's perception of last night. Did he just think Alhaitham had held his hand purely to stop Kaveh from stumbling, or did he realize that that wasn't the only thing on Alhaitham's mind? 

His eyelids felt heavy from all his thinking, so Alhaitham closed them and shifted further into the cushions. For a moment, his head stopped hurting, and all he could feel was the comfort of the pillow against it. Before he knew it, he slipped into sleep.

"Well, here it is! This is the site so far, in all its glory."

Tighnari stood next to Kaveh as they faced the construction zone ahead. The beginnings of the arts wing were starting to form, with steel beams and scaffolding all over the area. Luckily, it was quite empty, since it was the weekend, so they had the area to themselves, save for the few Akademiya students that happened to pass by.

Tighnari took it all in with a contemplative expression. He noted, "It's impressive this much was completed already."

"I know, right? Kusanali hired a really skilled construction team. They're... sometimes a pain to work with, but we've been able to keep true to the blueprints rather well," Kaveh said with a smile. "Honestly, this project has been going very well, even though it is time-consuming. Besides fighting with Alhaitham, everything's gone according to the plan. With the scale of this project, I might actually be able to pay off some of my debts once it's complete."

"That's really good. You know, you've been so unlucky with other projects, so I'm happy this one is turning out well," Tighnari said. "Speaking of Alhaitham, you mentioned that you two fought yesterday, too. What's that all about?"

"He was the one who mentioned it, first of all, and second..." Kaveh hesitated as he thought about all the details of their fight. "It's no big deal. I just sort of overreacted to his criticisms of my draft. Typical disagreement with my clients. He apologized afterward, so we're all good now."

"He what?" Tighnari looked genuinely surprised, ears perking up and all. "That's... shocking. He never does that."

Kaveh had been trying to ignore the fact that a lot of Alhaitham's behavior recently had been very unlike him. But if Tighnari also noticed it... maybe he wasn't grasping at straws. "You think so too? Thank the archons, I knew it wasn't just me! He's been acting so weird lately!"

"I think so? Even Cyno thought something was up. He could tell how lovey-dovey you two were after a few drinks yesterday, and you know how he never notices those kinds of things."

"E-Excuse me!?" Kaveh stammered. First, Alhaitham wanted to talk about last night's events, and now Tighnari? What was getting into his friends? "We — We were perfectly normal, for your kind information!"

Tighnari rolled his eyes. "You continue telling yourself that."

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Kaveh said petulantly.

"I'm just saying, I've never seen you that clingy. And I've never seen Alhaitham look so pleased by it."

"Pleased?" Kaveh scoffed, ignoring the heat rising in his cheeks. "Yeah, right."

"That's part of why Cyno and I left early, by the way. We were afraid you two were going to start making out or something, with all the looks you guys were giving each other." He hesitated. "...That didn't happen, right?"

Kaveh's eyebrows shot up. "What in Celestia—! No, are you shitting me? That would never happen." Continuing, he explained, "After you guys left, he paid for me and then... we talked about old Akademiya stuff on the walk back." Kaveh decidedly left out the part where they were holding hands; he didn't want to give too much away to someone who apparently already saw him and Alhaitham as a couple.

Tighnari looked thoughtful. "I guess that's more realistic for you two. Did Alhaitham mention anything about it today?"

"...He did ask if I wanted to talk about last night," Kaveh muttered, suddenly quiet. "But I said no."

Tighnari pinched the bridge of his nose. "And why would you do that?"

"I panicked, okay?" Kaveh shot back. "I mean, yeah, sure, maybe you're onto something, but what if you're just misreading everything? Maybe he's just being nice to me now!"

"Kaveh, he obviously feels something too. Why else would he want to talk about your... drunken actions the next day? It's because he wants to tell you that they're rooted in actual feelings," Tighnari reasoned.

Still, Kaveh looked apprehensive. "You might be right," he started, "but no matter how either of us feels, it isn't right to bring feelings into our current situation. He's still managing the Akademiya renovations. He's still technically my client until this project's over. I don't want to make things awkward. I don't want the project to..." To end in another fight, he thought.

Tighnari tilted his head slightly, looking patient but also exasperated. "You know, I think you're convincing yourself that the situation is more fragile than it is. From what I know about him, I don't think Alhaitham would let personal matters interfere with professional ones. You should've seen how serious he was when he was working to overthrow the sages. As for you, well..."

"Hey! I can be professional!" Kaveh exclaimed, crossing his arms indignantly. Despite his words, he knew Tighnari was right, at least with the last bit. That was the whole reason he fought with Alhaitham that first month. Kaveh had a habit of making all his work personal — but how could it not be personal? It was his designs, his blueprints, his creations, that he was trying to make a reality.

"I'm sure you can," Tighnari agreed with a laugh. Before Kaveh could start ranting again, Tighnari started to walk away, circling some of the pillars at the site. "Anyway, I didn't mean to get off topic. This really is amazing. It's clear you put your heart and soul into it... I was wondering, does Nilou know about this construction? I'm sure she'd love to come see it too."

“Nilou? I’ve seen a lot of her performances, but I don’t actually know her all that well,” Kaveh admitted. “Besides, isn’t she Alhaitham’s friend? Which doesn’t even make sense, because I thought that guy didn’t care for the arts. If anything, I should be her friend, since we both actually have similar passions!”

"There you go again..." Tighnari sighed. "I think they became friends because she was part of the whole plan regarding the old sages."

So unfair, Kaveh thought. He was happy to hear the news, of course, when he first learned that the sages had been overthrown, but to learn that all of his friends had been involved felt like an inside joke that he would never understand. At least Tighnari had been one of the few who didn’t know the whole plan until it was over. He had simply trusted Cyno immediately when his help was needed. Kaveh wondered – would Alhaitham ask for his help in the same way, if he hadn’t gone to the desert those few weeks?

He shook the thoughts away and gestured to another spot at the site. "Uh, anyway — over here, I've planned some reliefs of famous artists in Sumeru. In the past, they used to be more well-known, but now it is actually rather difficult to find information on some of them despite their impact." He started to walk further in. "C'mon, I'll show you my favorite area so far."

-

After seeing the construction site, Tighnari and Kaveh got some snacks at Puspa Cafe, and with the amount of chatting they were doing, it was nearing evening.

"Cyno promised he'd make dinner for me before I head back to Gandharva Ville, so I'm afraid I've gotta get going," Tighnari said.

"Aw, that's sweet of him," Kaveh remarked. "I agree, though, it is getting late. Tell him I say hello. And safe travels home!"

"Thanks! I'll be back soon, don't worry." Kaveh watched Tighnari wave goodbye and then turn away, his ears and tail swishing in the wind. Kaveh smiled to himself and turned towards the direction of Alhaitham's house.

Now that Kaveh was alone, he started to think about what Tighnari said about Alhaitham and his feelings. Although he always trusted Tighnari to give good advice, Kaveh couldn’t help but feel hesitant at the thought of talking about feelings — even platonic ones — with Alhaitham, of all people. That guy was like the exact opposite of feelings! At least, that’s what Kaveh liked to tell himself (and Alhaitham, when they argued), even though he knew when Alhaitham was happy by the slight curve of his mouth and the creases under his eyes, and he knew when Alhaitham was upset by the tenseness of his jaw, and he knew when Alhaitham was sad, because the guy did actually get sad, like all other people, when his eyebrows would furrow just slightly and his eyes would be downcast towards the floor.

He continued grumbling to himself about all this, even as he got home and opened the door, where he was greeted by the exact same sight he had left: Alhaitham sitting in the same spot on the divan, reading a book. The mug of coffee from several hours earlier was still on the table too. "Are you serious? Did you even move while I was gone?"

Alhaitham blinked up at Kaveh, then rolled his eyes. "Obviously. I didn't have a book with me when you left."

"Lazy bastard," Kaveh muttered under his breath.

Alhaitham huffed a laugh at the insult. "How's Tighnari?"

"You just saw him yesterday. I'm sure you know he's about the same," Kaveh said flippantly. "Oh, he did mention that I should inform Nilou about the arts wing construction, but you know her more than I do." He tried not to sound offended.

"That's not a bad idea. I'll let her know when I get the chance."

“Uh, also…” Kaveh added, now more hesitant. He wanted to say that he did want to talk about last night, because he really was curious about what Alhaitham meant by his strange behavior. But some knowledge isn’t worth knowing — the Akademiya emphasized that enough times — and Kaveh was also afraid that these details were that kind of knowledge. Alhaitham looked up expectantly from his book, as if to say, Well? Kaveh took a deep breath. “Er… I know you asked earlier if you wanted to talk about yesterday. If there was something you wanted to say… uh, I can listen.”

"Oh," Alhaitham said, with some surprise in his tone. He put his book down and paused for a while before speaking. "I suppose I just wanted to tell you that... I was being genuine and honest yesterday. It's not something I regret or feel guilty about, like you implied earlier today. And... Well, if my explanation doesn't matter to you, that's fine too, since you've seemed unperturbed all day." Despite his even tone, he glanced up anxiously, awaiting Kaveh's response.

His words, however simple they sounded, held a lot of meaning. "Uh, well, I can believe that. I mean, people get more honest when they're drunk, right? Haha..." Kaveh's laugh came out forced and awkward, but he didn't know how else to reply.

"I meant it regardless of the wine," Alhaitham asserted.

Kaveh shifted on his feet. "Okay... I just don't know why you're telling me this. Is there something I'm missing? Like something else you need to tell me? Because... that's kinda what it sounds like."

Alhaitham sat up a little straighter, studying Kaveh carefully before responding. "There is," he said with a small shrug.

Furrowing his brow, Kaveh asked, "Is it something about the project? Is something wrong?"

"No," Alhaitham responded curtly.

"...Uh, was it something I said?" Kaveh guessed.

"No."

Kaveh didn't know why Alhaitham had gone from his initial openness to his now vague responses. Why had he suddenly decided to hide what he wanted to say? "Did I forget rent again, and you didn't want to tell me outright?"

At that, Alhaitham chuckled, a rare sound. "No, obviously." 

Confused, Kaveh steepled a hand on his chin. What else could Alhaitham be hinting at? Why were they playing this guessing game all of a sudden? He remembered what Tighnari had said earlier — about the looks Kaveh and Alhaitham exchanged, and their behavior, but Kaveh doubted it had any basis now, seeing Alhaitham's passive expression looking back at him. How stupid would it sound to ask, Is it because you have feelings for me? Yeah, no, that wasn't happening. "Can't you just tell me?"

Alhaitham hummed. "I'll tell you... when the project is completed."

"What!?" Kaveh exclaimed. "That's — that's in like three months! You can't possibly expect me to actually wait —"

"Patience is a virtue, and you'd do well to learn it," Alhaitham interrupted, that annoying smirk appearing on his face. He started to pick up his book with one hand and went back to reading, and with his other hand, he tapped on his earpieces.

"Hey, you —! You put that book down right now!"

Alhaitham effectively ignored him, of course.

Chapter Text

Many people inflict trouble upon themselves, but they would inflict less trouble if they thought before they spoke more often. This was one of the principles Alhaitham lived by.

Alhaitham had something very important to say to Kaveh. So, following his principles, he was going to think about it before he said it. In fact, he was perfectly fine if he mulled over it for three months. That's just how important this thing was.

If Alhaitham was going to confess to Kaveh his feelings, there were many reasons why he would choose to wait until the project's conclusion before telling him:

1. Kaveh had been stressed recently. Alhaitham had noticed this. Although the Akademiya renovations were Kaveh's greatest source of excitement, they also exhausted him. If Alhaitham confessed his feelings now, wouldn't that only put more burden on Kaveh?
2. Similar to something Alhaitham said to Kaveh when drunk, Kaveh wouldn't believe Alhaitham if he confessed his feelings outright. Kaveh tended to doubt any genuine kindness imposed on him, despite being so generous to others. If Alhaitham waited, it at least showed Kaveh that he wasn't being impulsive (even if he was rarely impulsive anyway).
3. It gave some time for Kaveh to figure it out for himself, which Alhaitham trusted he could if his feelings were returned. This would save Alhaitham the trouble of spelling it out, which was ideal.
4. It was amusing to see Kaveh get so frustrated about this simple thing.

Alhaitham was normally a serious man, but that last reason tended to be the one he thought of the most as the next several days went by.

During dinner, while Alhaitham was filling up a pitcher of water:

"Is it about Cyno?"

"Hm?" They had been silent up until that point, so Alhaitham didn't even know what Kaveh was talking about.

"The thing you're going to tell me. Is it about Cyno?"

Alhaitham, distracted by Kaveh's odd question, almost let the pitcher overflow, and hurriedly turned the faucet off. "What? No."

"Ugh!" Kaveh groaned and disappeared to his room. He didn't join Alhaitham at the dinner table that evening.

While Alhaitham was brushing his teeth:

"Here, I'll ask a broader question. Is it related to any of our friends?" Kaveh asked as he turned on the faucet next to Alhaitham's.

Alhaitham couldn't exactly respond just yet, due to the toothbrush in his mouth, but he did narrow his eyes in annoyance. If Kaveh meant "our friends" as in people who were friends with both of them, then the answer to his question was no. But if he meant "our friends" as in people who were friends with Alhaitham plus people who were friends with Kaveh, then the answer was yes, since Kaveh was indeed Alhaitham's friend. The intricacies of language never failed to surprise Alhaitham.

After spitting into the sink, he simply said, lingering toothpaste in his mouth and all, "It depends."

"What does that mean? Hey, I'm—" The rest of his words came as almost silence, since Alhaitham tapped on his earpieces.

During one of the project meetings with the construction team:

Kaveh, seated next to Alhaitham, tapped his arm. "Is it about anyone in this room?"

Alhaitham smirked. "Yes."

"I—What!? Who!?" Kaveh loudly exclaimed.

"I'd appreciate it if everyone were listening and not talking," said Nahida, from the head of the table.

"Er... sorry, Nahida," Kaveh apologized. The construction manager continued to drone on in the background.

Eventually, Kaveh gained his senses and stopped asking such inane questions. Or so Alhaitham thought, until he opened one of the books he had been reading for the last few days. Next to his bookmark was a small slip of paper, which read, in tiny, neat, architect's handwriting:

Is it about me?

Alhaitham smiled and tucked the note into his pocket. At least Kaveh wasn't completely hopeless.

Later that day, Kaveh came home and saw Alhaitham reading. "Hey, did you see my note?"

"What note?" Alhaitham bluffed.

"It was in that book you're reading. Around the—wait, are you messing with me?"

"Just... be patient," Alhaitham said mysteriously, and despite Kaveh's successive attempts to goad him to say more, he remained silent.

Kaveh seemed to have this idea that eavesdropping on Alhaitham would give him clues as well, which Alhaitham learned after he had a meeting with General Mahamatra Cyno about finding an old student's rejected research proposals. Since Cyno was so serious about his work, they didn't once devolve into personal matters about their friends, despite the fact that the two were well acquainted. They only spoke about the case Cyno was working on and the documents he needed to glean information.

Cyno bid him a curt goodbye and went down the stairs, where the elevator was, across from Alhaitham's desk. "Kaveh?" Cyno said, causing Alhaitham to perk up from his desk.

"Oh... haha, hey, Cyno, I was just going to, uh, meet with Alhaitham!" said Kaveh's voice, which was indeed coming where the elevator was.

"When did you even get here? Did you hear my conversation with him?" Cyno's tone was dead serious and definitely accusatory.

"Uh... no?"

"If you did, I'm going to have to arrest you. That was confidential information."

Alhaitham now stood up and walked over to the stairs. "Cyno, it's fine. It's just Kaveh. I don't mind."

Cyno looked at Kaveh, then Alhaitham, then back at Kaveh again. Kaveh had an oddly defiant gleam in his eye as he glared at Alhaitham, who looked back with his usual impassive expression. "If you're truly pardoning Kaveh, then I'll leave you two be. I'll see you later, Alhaitham." He took the elevator down and left.

Once Cyno was gone, Alhaitham's expression changed into an even deeper frown. He had very clearly posted his meeting schedule, so Kaveh's impromptu appearance during his meeting couldn't have been an accident. "So, what's all this about?"

"I don't know!" Kaveh yelled defensively. Alhaitham gave him a look, and Kaveh sighed. "Alright, fine... well, maybe, I was hoping you guys would talk about... that thing you're not telling me."

"Are you serious? I have never once had a personal conversation with Cyno during work hours. Even if I tried, he'd dismiss it immediately. You know how serious he is about his job. He could have seriously arrested you then if I weren't still the Acting Grand Sage."

"Well. So sorry for disturbing you, oh high and mighty Grand Sage," Kaveh scoffed.

Kaveh didn't pester Alhaitham with details again, the threat of being arrested seeming to scare him from the thought for the time being. It had only been two weeks since Alhaitham first told Kaveh that he would have to wait three months before he told him. Besides the frustration Kaveh got every time Alhaitham failed to give him the answer he needed about this long-awaited confession, Kaveh had been so invested in work that the two didn't speak as often as normal.

It was nearing the end of the first month, and Kaveh gave himself and the construction team the Friday off after they finished some of the foundational work ahead of schedule. Alhaitham was genuinely pleased to hear this news. Even if he refused to say it, he was starting to get a little worried that Kaveh was going to overwork himself.

When he got home from work, he saw Kaveh in the living room fiddling with Mehrak. "Wow, you're finally home for once," Alhaitham said sardonically.

"I've been busy running all over the city trying to keep up with missing materials all week; that's why I've been getting home late," Kaveh said, his eyes still on his briefcase. "Besides, shouldn't you be happy that I've been gone? You finally had your peace and quiet that you love so much."

Alhaitham ignored his second question. "Isn't the whole construction phase ahead of schedule? That's probably why you haven't received the shipments you need yet," he pointed out, dropping his keys by the door and shrugging off his cape.

"And? I'm still trying to get this done as fast as possible without ruining the quality of the work," Kaveh said.

Alhaitham was about to ask why, but he realized the reason was clear. The faster the renovations were done, the quicker Alhaitham had to tell Kaveh about his feelings. Although the estimated time left was now two months, it was definitely a possibility that they would finish ahead of schedule. "Whenever you want a break, do you want to get dinner at Lambad's?"

Now, Kaveh glanced up, and Alhaitham saw bags under his eyes that hadn't been there before. His roommate looked truly worn to the bone, and Alhaitham started to feel guilty. Was this all because he refused to confess until the project was complete? Was he doing this to Kaveh?" "Sure, I'll go. As long as you do one thing for me."

"What is it?"

A sly smile crossed Kaveh's face. "If this information you wanted to tell me regarded me, would it be a good or bad thing?" Kaveh asked. "Answer that and I'll go with you."

Not this again. Alhaitham sighed. "That depends on your perspective and definition of good."

Kaveh laid his head on the table. "The definition... You Haravatats are so irritating."

"So I've heard. I still answered your question, so let's go get dinner."

They ended up at Lambad's Tavern because Kaveh was never one to refuse good food, especially after the hell of a week he's had.

As they were eyeing the menu, Alhaitham stated, "Order something heavy. You've barely eaten."

Kaveh looked offended. "How would you know? You haven't even seen me."

It was obvious. "Aside from the food I eat, I haven't seen much other food disappear from the fridge. Unless you've been eating out every day—which I know you haven't, since you don't have the Mora—that means you haven't been keeping up with your meals."

Kaveh frowned. "Did you need to be so rude? Ugh..."

They soon got their food, and from then on, conversation actually flowed quite naturally between the two. Kaveh did well not to ask about the important information Alhaitham was withholding, so their chat felt completely at ease and relaxed. Kaveh ranted about work, and Alhaitham listened and tried not to gaze at Kaveh for too long at a time. 

Inwardly, Alhaitham felt a sense of peace. This was how things were supposed to be. Sumeru was always the nation of Dendro, the moon was always full, and Alhaitham would always listen to Kaveh.

Kaveh wasn't one to give up. Everyone had their breaking points if you chipped away long enough. It wasn't a principle Kaveh lived by, exactly, but it had been a thought he had been thinking more often ever since he started barraging Alhaitham with questions about this so-called "information" that he would tell him once the project was over. So far, Kaveh had a few things noted, listed haphazardly on a random page in his sketchbook.

Thing Alhaitham wants to tell me?

• NOT about Tighnari, Cyno, Nahida, or any specific person we know
• NOT about the Akademiya renovations
• Might be about me?
• Might be related to the overthrow of the sages, something like confidential gov info
• Might be about him?
• This guy sucks! He is so unhelpful

 

Ideas:

• Ask questions -> didn’t work, he ignores me half the time
• Write notes to him -> also didn’t work
• Look through his stuff -> stupid guy only has stuff in languages I don’t understand
• Translate the papers?
• Listen into conversations with friends -> almost got arrested, sorry Cyno
• Make a bunch of wild guesses and watch his reaction… This is so stupid, because that guy has the most indifferent expression permanently plastered on his face!!

Yeah, it wasn't getting anywhere.

At the same time, there was a strange thrill in messing with his junior like this, in a way that was wholly different from their usual bantering. But Kaveh, despite being such a hopeful person at his core, was starting to lose hope. He had also been so busy with work that he didn't have time to indulge in teasing Alhaitham like normal.

Now, as he sat across from Alhaitham at Lambad's, complaining about the construction team, Kaveh realized it had actually been quite a while since they'd had dinner together like this, even though they lived together. The whole month had gone by in a blur, and most of the time, Kaveh would skip dinner and go straight to bed when he came home since he was so exhausted.

He dug into his Tandoori Roast Chicken with a fervor that he hadn’t been expecting. “Man, I really am hungry,” he said with a laugh.

Alhaitham watched him with an amused smirk. “Told you so.”

“Hmph. Just because you’re right once doesn’t mean you’re right all the time,” Kaveh mumbled between bites.

After poking at his food for a couple of minutes, Alhaitham asked, “Are you going to work this weekend?”

"Uh..." Typically, even if construction didn't go on during the weekend, Kaveh was in constant meetings to discuss logistics and budgeting and scheduling and progress and whatever else ended up being his problem to fix. "Probably. I mean, we have to plan out the next phase soon."

Alhaitham narrowed his eyes. "You've been working nonstop. I think you should take a break."

"This is my break." Kaveh gestured to the food around them.

"No, this is dinner. The weekend is for relaxing," Alhaitham uttered. "As the Acting Grand Sage, I'm ordering you to rest."

“You really love throwing that title around, do you…” Kaveh muttered. “Listen, I’m fine. You’re not my mom, so you don’t need to tell me when to eat or when to sleep or when to work or any of that crap.”

"No, I'm not," Alhaitham agreed. He chewed thoughtfully on his fish rolls. "However, the signs are obvious—you're running yourself to the ground."

“Signs?” Kaveh said doubtfully. “You don’t even notice the new decorations I buy, how am I supposed to believe there’s ‘signs?’” He put his hands up in air quotes and rolled his eyes.

“First of all, I’ve already mentioned how you’ve barely eaten.”

“So? That doesn’t mean—”

“Second,” Alhaitham interrupted, “your handwriting in all the construction updates you’ve been sending me has gotten sloppier. You should be glad I’m used to your handwriting enough not to ask you to rewrite it. Third, the whole construction team has been complaining to me that you’ve been uncharacteristically irritable.”

“That’s not—”

“Additionally, of course, you haven’t been as punctual with all the usual chores you’ve been doing. Oh, and you haven’t been as detailed with your appearance as of late.”

That got a rise out of Kaveh immediately. "What!? Are you trying to say I look bad?"

Alhaitham's brow rose. "That's not what I mean. I mean that... When I’ve seen you, you’ve been wearing studs instead of those dangly earrings you usually wear. Same for your hair – it’s not braided nor done up with those red clips or that blue feather you love so much.”

Kaveh touched his hair, which was in a low ponytail – a quick hairstyle because he didn’t have the energy to do anything better. Then, he touched his ears and felt the gold studs that he had started wearing a few weeks ago so that he wouldn’t need to take them out when he went to shower or sleep. 

Thinking harder, he remembered all the chores he had been skipping out on. He hadn’t even noticed up until then, because… because Alhaitham had started taking over without Kaveh even realizing. Kaveh had forgotten to do laundry for weeks and didn’t think to question how the folded piles of clean clothes appeared on his bed, or how the wood scraps he had left on the table were gone the next morning, or how the coffee beans had magically gotten replaced when they ran out.

He didn't know if he should be infuriated or endeared by his roommate's explanation. As annoying as Alhaitham put it, it was undoubtedly caring that he had taken over on the chores, or even noticed Kaveh's stress in the first place. "You... really noticed all that?"

Alhaitham tilted his head. "Yes, I live with you. How could I not?"

That should’ve ended the conversation, but something about Alhaitham’s tone made him pause. Throughout his detailed observations, even in what he just said now, despite the logical way he delivered it all… he sounded almost fond. Awfully, painfully, unbelievably fond. 

He glanced up and saw Alhaitham still gazing at him. It looked like he was still waiting for a response, but there was no mistaking the warmth in his eyes.

A lot of things clicked in that moment their eyes met.

Oh, archons, Kaveh thought. 

Tighnari was fucking right. Alhaitham did have feelings, and that was what he wanted to tell Kaveh.

"Why else would he want to talk about your drunken actions the next day? It's because he wants to tell you that they're rooted in actual feelings."

Everything came together now, a dawning that felt more like the crashing of a wave. That night, when they decided to talk about their drunken behavior from the night before, the bastard had almost told Kaveh... and then decided to wait, because... because of the exact same reason Kaveh also hadn't said anything, because he didn't want to distract Kaveh from the project. That had to be why he's waiting until after it's complete.

Kaveh felt heat crawl up his neck, and quickly averted his eyes, his chicken seeming all the more interesting. “Haha, uh… You have a point, I guess. I’ll take some time for myself this weekend.”

“Good.”

“Also, I should, uh, probably apologize to the construction workers. I never meant to take my stress out on them.”

“That’s unnecessary. I… sort of apologized on your behalf,” Alhaitham admitted.

That certainly convinced Kaveh of the fact even more. He tried to hide his creeping blush by taking a sip of water. “Okay, um… Well, I should at least apologize to you. For being behind on all the chores, I hadn’t even realized.”

“Again, wholly unnecessary. I don’t really mind.” The words sounded so curt, but Kaveh knew what Alhaitham was really saying. He knew Alhaitham did mind, because he normally disliked doing menial work, especially doing more than his share of chores.

Kaveh thought about his recent revelation and about how he could respond. Is it that you have feelings for me? He could say the words he had been thinking for longer than he wanted to admit, and watch as Alhaitham faltered but tried to hide it. But Kaveh didn’t have it in him to say that, especially because he understood why Alhaitham, who had always been a steadily patient man, had decided to sit on his confession for a few months. He didn’t want to embarrass Alhaitham with his knowledge, if Alhaitham was even capable of feeling embarrassment.

He could, however, do the same thing Alhaitham was doing to him. Dangle some form of knowledge around him without actually saying anything. He thought back to what Tighnari had said again – he really would have to thank him later:

“I’ve never seen you that clingy. And I’ve never seen Alhaitham look so pleased by it.”

That was right, in the sense that Kaveh remembered being excessively clingy that night. Alhaitham always acted a little stiff when Kaveh would touch him, but he thought it was from repulsion, not from trying to keep his affection under the surface. But now that Kaveh thought about it, Alhaitham had never tried to pull away either.

An idea started to form in the recesses of Kaveh’s mind.

-

The rest of dinner was uneventful but enjoyable. The two conversed on a variety of other subjects, not at all related to Alhaitham's feelings nor Kaveh's suspicion of such, but as they left to go home, Kaveh decided to put his idea into action.

As the two went out into the night, Kaveh held onto Alhaitham's arm, his hand easily slipping into the crease of his elbow. Alhaitham had taken off his sleeves after work earlier, so Kaveh relished the feeling of bare, smooth skin on his hand.

However, he felt Alhaitham tense up. "You didn't even have any alcohol, what are you doing?" he asked suspiciously. Despite his accusatory words, he made no move to step away from Kaveh or push his hand off him.

"Didn't you tell me to relax more?" Kaveh said cheekily.

"This wasn't what I had in mind." Still, his actions continued to betray his words. Kaveh noticed Alhaitham deliberately slowed down so that their paces matched, which made it easier for Kaveh to hold his arm.

"Do you want me to let go?"

Alhaitham didn't reply. He said nothing, and continued to say nothing as Kaveh held onto him the whole walk back.

Chapter Text

Ever since Alhaitham had gotten dinner with an exhausted and overworked Kaveh, things have been… weird, for lack of a better word. 

Alhaitham, for as long as he could remember, wasn’t at all a touchy person. So many of his beliefs lay in self-sufficiency that he tended to shy away from physical affection of any sort.

Kaveh was different, and Alhaitham had always known this. He saw it when he would shove Tighnari gently as a joke, or kick Cyno under the table when they played TCG, or even pat the shoulder of a stranger. And he saw it when Kaveh nudged Alhaitham playfully, or poked him when he turned his earpieces to noise-cancelling.

(If Alhaitham looked back a little harder, he would remember a time when Kaveh had been much more affectionate. He would remember late nights studying at the House of Daena, where Kaveh would usually fall asleep and his head would loll onto Alhaitham’s shoulder. He would remember their arms brushing while they talked in Razan Garden. He would remember that once, Kaveh had claimed that he lost the book he needed to read for class, so why don’t they both share Alhaitham’s copy, except when they sat side-by-side on Alhaitham’s bed with the book on Alhaitham’s lap, Kaveh had been leaning on him more than necessary and Alhaitham realized far too late what Kaveh’s flimsy excuse meant.

But Alhaitham had pushed these memories far, far away into the corners of his mind after their fallout. He didn’t like to think about it, because he knew if he dwelled on it too long, he’d get upset at how little he had cherished it in the moment and how quickly it had all gone away.)

So why was this – Kaveh’s recent behavior – so different?

For example, the weekend after their dinner, where Kaveh had miraculously decided to stay home and take a break, Alhaitham made some tea for both of them, and was drinking it in the kitchen.

Kaveh had walked behind him to get the pot, but before he did, he ruffled Alhaitham’s hair. More specifically, he threaded his fingers from front to back, so that Alhaitham’s bangs were brushed out of his face for a moment before Kaveh moved his hand away. Alhaitham nearly spat out his tea and had to cough.

Not commenting on his reaction, Kaveh asked, “Did you use up all the milk?”

Alhaitham cleared his throat. “No,” he rasped.

“Perfect, I can make Fatteh later.” He walked away with a mug of tea in his hand, and when he left, Alhaitham coughed quite a bit more.

Then, whenever they crossed paths with each other at work, which was very often, since Kaveh was constantly at the Akademiya’s construction site, Kaveh’s greeting changed a bit. Before, he would say “Hello!” or “Hey!” and wave to him, and Alhaitham would look up and nod or hum in recognition, and they would both go their respective ways. 

Now, however, Kaveh would say the same sort of thing, but he would then reach over and grab Alhaitham’s hand, raising it up and squeezing it for a split second before letting go. The first time it happened, Alhaitham froze in place, hand still in midair, while Kaveh walked off. After that, of course, Alhaitham acted as indifferent as always, even though he was internally a bit flustered. He was still human after all, and it had been so long since someone acted like this with him. For once, he felt a bit lost for how to respond.

A few weeks later, Kaveh came home earlier than normal (meaning well into the evening, but not past dinnertime). Alhaitham was sitting on the divan reading, as he always did. Kaveh sat on the other side of the divan, furiously writing something down. He was facing Alhaitham, which Alhaitham noticed was a bit odd since he himself was facing the door. He continued reading his book, though, and besides a few pleasantries exchanged when Kaveh entered, they remained companionably silent.

That was until Alhaitham felt two feet with white socks rest on his thigh. Alhaitham audibly took in a breath at the surprise. He narrowly moved his book to the side so that Kaveh’s feet weren’t covering the words. Then he glanced over at his senior, who hadn’t taken his eyes off his notebook. “Is this your new way of getting my attention?”

“Uh, nope,” Kaveh replied, looking up for a moment.

Then why are you doing it? Alhaitham wanted to ask, but didn’t, because he figured Kaveh would take it as aversion and move away. He felt heat moving up to his ears and knew Kaveh could see, because Alhaitham wasn’t wearing his earpieces. He subtly adjusted his hair so it would cover his ears better and then returned to his book. Only one problem – he couldn’t really focus when he felt heat radiating off of Kaveh’s feet and onto his thigh. 

Unfortunately, Alhaitham spent the rest of the evening reading the same page of his book over and over, because all he could think about was the pressure on his lap and how Kaveh was acting like it was the most normal thing in the world.

--

After the end of the second month, Kaveh and the construction team had worked hard and efficiently enough that they were set to finish two weeks ahead of schedule. This meant a lot of things – it meant Alhaitham had to keep his promise and tell Kaveh about his feelings in two weeks. It meant that they had to start planning for the opening ceremony of the new wing, which unfortunately meant a lot of work for Alhaitham. And most of all, it likely meant a new chapter for Kaveh was about to begin. Alhaitham had heard enough rumors – he knew that the general public was treating the Akademiya wing like the next Palace of Alcazarzaray. He knew that Kaveh was getting paid well for his work, unlike the Palace, and that he would be happy and hopefully satisfied once it was finished.

At work, Alhaitham felt his focus drifting even more than usual, and he knew why. It was all Kaveh’s fault, like most things in Alhaitham’s life. Kaveh and his damn touchiness recently. Alhaitham didn’t understand just what had gotten into him. He suspected that Kaveh knew about his feelings, and if he was right, that all the little touches had been intentional. But he was still uncertain, and figured he would remain uncertain until the completion of the new wing.

As he was planning out the schedule for the opening ceremony, Kaveh came into his office. “You’re late,” Alhaitham muttered without looking up.

“Not my fault your elevator is so slow,” Kaveh retorted, as he moved to sit across from him. He had Mehrak with him – Alhaitham never saw him without Mehrak these days – and pressed a few buttons to get several documents out. “How’s the planning going?”

“Eh…” Alhaitham sighed. “It’s a lot, but I have most of the speech orders set up. First, Nahida will give a brief introduction, the purpose of the new wing, all that. Next, I’ll say a few words. Then, I’ll have you right after, since you’re the lead architect. And finally, a few other scholars who will be working there will speak, or maybe one will speak for the group.”

Kaveh grinned. “Yes! A speech!”

“There are time limits for these things, so I’ve decided to give you…” Alhaitham made a show of scanning his paper, “thirty seconds.”

Kaveh’s face fell. “Give that to me.” He snatched the paper from Alhaitham, who immediately let go so it didn’t rip. “Hey, it says five minutes!” 

Alhaitham rolled his eyes. “Obviously, I wouldn’t give you less than a minute for something so big. I know you can’t wait to talk about all the thought you put into it.”

“I have a lot prepared,” Kaveh said. “For example, the choice in ceiling was because I –”

“Save it for opening day,” Alhaitham cut in. “I have something else for you to do. Nahida told me to plan out the decorations, and that most of the ceremony will take place in front of the arts wing and inside the main hall there. However, I think you’d enjoy and also be more fit to be the one planning the decorations, since you claim I have ‘no taste in decor.’”

“Really? Yes, that’d be great! I’ve always dreamed of that!”

“Your dreams are rather odd…” Still, if it saved Alhaitham from doing some work, he wouldn’t complain.

“Oh, by the way, I ran into Cyno on the way here. He told me to tell you that he’s arranging security for the event and not to worry,” Kaveh mentioned. He placed the papers he had gotten out on Alhaitham’s desk.

Phew, that was another workload off Alhaitham’s back. “Got it.”

There was a beat of awkward silence, then: “Uh, so was that all? Because I have a few questions.”

Alhaitham nodded. “Just make sure to have your speech done by the end of the week, because I’m supposed to be approving everyone’s. Same thing goes for whatever decorations you end up going with; I need to approve those, too.”

“Okay, that’s doable,” Kaveh noted. “I was wondering, though, is there any private event as well? You know, just for the people that were actually involved in the project?”

“Hm. Actually, no. But that isn’t a bad idea. I can bring it up with Nahida if you’d like.”

Alhaitham could’ve sworn he saw stars in Kaveh’s eyes as they lit up. “Yes, you definitely should!” He shifted a little bit to point at the time schedule Alhaitham had made, and their knees touched under the table. “I was thinking – maybe like a reception-type party right after the opening ceremony? Just for a few hours.”

Alhaitham swallowed. “...Yes, that sounds good. Anything else?” He hoped his voice sounded steady enough.

“Oh, yeah. I had another question. Are you also arranging seating for the event?”

“Well, yes. I’m arranging almost all of it, like I said.” Alhaitham pointed to a quick sketch he had drawn up earlier, at the two big squares marked for seating, which was a mistake, because Kaveh leaned far too forward to get a look at it, and their foreheads almost touched. Alhaitham tried his very best to keep his eyes glued to the paper. “But if you wanted to move where the actual chairs are, that’s okay.”

After a moment, Kaveh moved back in his seat. “Are we sitting next to each other?” 

Alhaitham raised an eyebrow. “I assumed that’s what you wanted, so yes. Also, you’re speaking right after me, so it makes logical sense.”

“Sounds good,” Kaveh said, leaning back with a smile. “Wow, I can’t wait! I just need to power through these next couple of weeks, and hopefully everything will work out as planned.”

“Don’t worry, you didn’t build anything over a Withering Zone this time.”

“Hey!”

“Alright, if that’s all, I have to get back to work.” Alhaitham gestured to the elevator.

“Okay, okay, fine,” Kaveh grumbled. “I’ll just ask the rest of my questions at home.”

“See ya.”

“Bye!” Kaveh called as he started to leave.

--

That same evening, Kaveh indeed asked Alhaitham a lot of questions about opening day. The questions themselves came from a good place and were mostly inconsequential – all about VIP lists, whether there would be a ribbon to cut, decoration options – it was just that Kaveh always kept leaning far too close into Alhaitham’s personal space when they talked about this. Instead of using his own hand to point at things, Kaveh would take Alhaitham’s wrist in his hand and guide it to whatever he was talking about. Or he would poke Alhaitham on the cheek when making his points. It had slowly been driving Alhaitham crazy. Alhaitham didn’t know if he wanted to punch Kaveh away or kiss him. Well, actually, he knew it was the latter, but it wasn’t the time to tell him. Not yet.

This sort of behavior followed over the next two weeks, where the two men had to work a lot more together, similar to the beginning of the project. The main difference now was that Alhaitham felt a million unspoken undercurrents between him and his roommate, since Kaveh kept being unnecessarily touchy. Every time Alhaitham thought maybe he had stopped, Kaveh would surprise him with a hand on his hip to help Alhaitham put up banners, or hook a chin on his shoulder when Alhaitham was checking items off on a clipboard.

Most of the time, they met in Alhaitham’s office, which had now begun to fill with boxes as he packed up to move to his old office and return to his old role as the Scribe. Other times, they’d be in the shining new arts wing, setting it up for the opening events.

The evening before the opening ceremony, that’s where the two were – sitting in some of the chairs that had been set out in the arts wing. Other workers hurried around, checking to make sure everything was in order. In fact, Cyno and a few of the matra had just come by earlier to check what time they needed to be there tomorrow and confirm the security arrangements.

“You know, I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of this place,” Kaveh said, gazing at the vaulted ceilings with wonder. “I wish I could live here.”

“You’re only saying that because you designed it,” Alhaitham scoffed. He looked at Kaveh out of the corner of his eye. This was probably the most relaxed he’d seen Kaveh in months now. Even though Kaveh tried to play it down, the weeks of pushing himself had taken a toll. 

Then, Alhaitham thought about what Kaveh had said. He knew that with all the money he would make from this Akademiya commission, Kaveh would have more than enough to live on his own. It wasn’t Alhaitham’s business, so he tried not to ask him about it or think about it much. But Kaveh would definitely be the kind of person to want to design a lavish house for himself if he got the chance.

A wily smile crossed Kaveh’s expression. “I know I haven’t asked about it in a while, but would you consider the whole project complete now, or is it complete tomorrow after the opening ceremony?”

Alhaitham knew what that meant: Are you telling me the “thing” today or tomorrow?

Honestly, he hadn’t been thinking that far. Or rather, he hadn’t thought that far initially because he had planned to figure out the more specific details later, but he never actually did. “I can consider it complete now,” he said lightly. "I'll... explain myself tonight when we get home."

Kaveh’s smile grew into a grin. “Alright, well, we should get going soon anyway. Since we finished checking with Cyno earlier and rehearsed the speeches, there isn’t anything else we need to do, right?”

Alhaitham’s thoughts were too busy racing several hours ahead, and he took a moment to respond. “...Yes, that’s right. We can go.”

The sun was beginning to set as they left the Akademiya together. Alhaitham was quiet, which was normal for him, but his mind was going through a long list of the possible ways he could "explain himself," as he had put it. He still didn't know if Kaveh already knew about his feelings. It made sense that Kaveh did, hence the increased touchiness recently. Either way, Alhaitham knew that if he said nothing now, he'd regret it later. He was getting increasingly worried that Kaveh might move out after he got his full payment, and they'd never share the closeness they currently have ever again.

Meanwhile, Kaveh was walking with an excited bounce in each step. "Stop walking so slowly! Listen, there's still leftover tahchin at home, right? Why don't we just finish that? I don't wanna eat a lot anyway because there'll be tons of food tomorrow."

“That’s fine,” Alhaitham replied, not really paying attention. What was he going to say? How was he going to say it? His heart raced with anticipation.

Alhaitham felt his stomach twist and turn while he twisted and turned his key in the door. This really was it. The two stepped inside Alhaitham’s house, and he put down his things with an unsteady hand. Kaveh walked over to the kitchen to get the food, while Alhaitham stood awkwardly by the door, still deliberating.

“You coming?” Kaveh asked when he noticed Alhaitham hadn’t moved.

Alhaitham cleared his throat. “Yes,” he said, following Kaveh to their dinner table. 

While Kaveh got out plates, reheated the tahchin, and portioned it out for both of them, Alhaitham fiddled with his hands, going over various ways he could confess. Despite being so well-versed in language, this might be the hardest thing he would ever say.

Eventually, Kaveh sat across from him, and seeing him now, anything Alhaitham wanted to say died in his throat. How could he ever have thought he had the courage? He gave himself so much time, and still, it didn’t feel like enough.

“Stop looking so nervous. It’s unlike you. Seriously, I don’t think whatever you haven’t told me could be that big of a deal,” Kaveh said. That was wrong. It was a big deal to Alhaitham. It was the sun and the stars and whatever was hidden behind the fake sky. “Besides, I think I already have a good idea.”

“You do?” Alhaitham said, trying not to sound too surprised. 

“You’re not exactly subtle.”

“Most people would argue the opposite.”

“Most people haven’t known you as long as I have,” Kaveh shot back. “So, are you going to tell me?”

The thought of confessing still made Alhaitham’s chest tighten uncomfortably, so he tried to stall. “Why should I? It sounds like you already know.”

“I have an idea, yeah.” Kaveh shrugged. When Alhaitham gave him an expectant look, Kaveh looked taken aback. “I still want to hear you say it, though. Even if I’m right… I still want to hear it from you.” His voice grew quiet.

“You don’t even want to guess?” Alhaitham tried.

“Lazy coward. I know what you’re trying to do. I am not doing your work for you.”

Perhaps it wouldn’t be efficient to draw this out any longer, Alhaitham thought. What he wanted to say were just words, Alhaitham told himself, words from a language he had studied for longer than he could remember. They were just words, and they couldn’t hurt Kaveh. “Fine. I…” Alhaitham hesitated and took a deep breath. He couldn’t bear to meet Kaveh’s eye and stared down at his untouched food instead. “I have feelings for you.”

He expected wide eyes, raised eyebrows, or maybe even that little nose scrunch Kaveh does when he’s deeply confused. But when Alhaitham finally managed to look up, he saw that Kaveh did none of those things. Instead, Kaveh’s lips curved up into a small smile. “Well, I know that, silly. Is that it? Is that what took you three months to say?”

Alhaitham felt his heart stutter. Maybe he didn’t express it properly. “No, Kaveh, you don’t understand. I’m in love with you.”

Still, Kaveh’s expression remained the same. “Okay… Again, it took you long enough.”

Was Kaveh seriously making fun of him right now? “I had a reason for waiting, you know,” he said, not acknowledging the weight of what he had said.

“But, come on, you’re so… obvious about it. Even Tighnari could tell, and how often does he see us, once a month or so?” 

Alhaitham paused, thinking. “If you knew, why didn’t you say so earlier?”

“I already told you,” Kaveh said as he huffed a laugh. “It’s not my job to say something when you had promised to tell me anyway. Still, it was fun making you squirm a bit these last few weeks.”

Squirm? “You mean – all the excessive physical affection?”

“Of course you would call it such an unemotional name,” Kaveh replied. “But yeah, that’s why I kept doing all that. It was pretty funny watching you try to hide your reactions, by the way. I was hoping you’d change your mind and tell me earlier, but it seems I forgot how stubborn you are, since it didn’t work.”

“You’re just as stubborn,” Alhaitham pointed out. “Still, I suppose I owe you an explanation. The main reason I waited all this time was because… everything’s changing tomorrow.”

Kaveh raised his eyebrows. “Huh?”

“You’ll get fame, I imagine – even more so than with the Palace. And you’ll get your full payment,” he explained. “And you don’t need to tell me for me to know that it’s more than enough to get your own place to live.” 

He tried not to sound hurt. But Kaveh seemed like he could easily tell, because he said, softly, “Is that what this is about? You think I’d just leave you?”

“You’ve said before —"

“I’ll admit it, I have threatened to move out. But I say a lot of things when I’m mad. If I intended to leave after this project, don’t you think I would’ve told you by now? Or at least started to pack my things? I haven’t even considered looking for a new place. I wouldn’t abandon our – our home like that.”

Our home. Oh, archons. Kaveh said it so casually as if it had always been that way. “It was just a thought I had,” Alhaitham said quietly. Abruptly, he stood up. This whole conversation was becoming too much for his heart. “Anyway, that was all I needed to tell you. I should go.”

"Don't even think about leaving right now, Alhaitham!" Kaveh said sharply. "Sit back down."

His intense tone spurred Alhaitham to obey, who returned to his seat, brow furrowed in confusion.

"Of course you would say all that and try to retreat," Kaveh continued with a sigh of annoyance. "Don't you want to hear what I have to say?"

“I thought you were done,” Alhaitham said matter-of-factly. “You said you knew already, and ––”

“I’m not done,” Kaveh interrupted. “You should know how I feel as well.” He took in a breath, lips quivering, and looked at the floor and back up again. His next words came out more gently. “I love you too.”

“Oh,” Alhaitham said. He watched Kaveh’s anxious but sincere expression. “That’s good.”

Kaveh groaned, his tone now annoyed. “Do you hear yourself? ‘That’s good?’ And you wonder why everyone at the Akademiya suspects you’re a Fontanian meka.”

“I don’t care what other people think,” Alhaitham said reflexively. “But I do care what you think. And I’m glad to hear you say that. Is that better?”

Kaveh relaxed. "Yes, you insufferable bastard."

The two looked at each other, and suddenly Kaveh's expression hardened into something more resolute. He got up from his chair and moved towards Alhaitham's side of the table. "What are you—"

"Look at me," Kaveh said, his voice low. Alhaitham looked up, seeing Kaveh standing by his chair with a determined glint in his eyes. "Do you remember, at the Akademiya, we played 'Never Have I Ever' a few times?"

Alhaitham was momentarily confused by the question. He did indeed remember, silly games played over drinks with Kaveh and sometimes other colleagues, names and faces that he could scarcely recall now. "...Yes, but why is that relevant?"

"You said once that you've never kissed anyone," Kaveh stated. "Has—Has that changed?"

Alhaitham averted his eyes, heat creeping up his neck. Although the words made it seem like Kaveh was trying to tease him, his tone only sounded curious.

"It's okay if not," Kaveh said sincerely, after Alhaitham failed to respond. "I just wanted to know."

"That hasn't changed," Alhaitham muttered reluctantly. Who else would he want to kiss besides Kaveh, anyway? "But... why do you want to know?"

A smirk appeared on Kaveh's lips. "Because... maybe this senior can still teach his junior a thing or two."

"I..." Alhaitham felt his heart jump to his throat. He had never been a man of many words, but now, he didn't know what he would say if he tried.

Carefully, like Alhaitham was one of Kaveh's models, Kaveh cupped his face with both hands. His palms were warm, and his fingers lightly threaded in his hair. "Is this okay?" Kaveh mumured.

"Mhm," Alhaitham nodded slightly, a small jerk of his head. Up close, he could see Kaveh in far more detail than normal. There were freckles dotted along his nose and cheeks, a hint of kohl around his eyes, and the way that those vermillion eyes gazed at him with intent.

"Let me just—" Kaveh moved his hands to take off Alhaitham's earpieces, which he then placed on the dinner table. "Alright. Don't worry, I've got you." He returned his hands to where they were and gave Alhaitham a reassuring smile before he closed the distance.

Kaveh's lips were exactly like Alhaitham expected—warm, sure, and soft. However, he sat stiffly for a moment as he felt Kaveh's lips press against his, unsure how to respond. Eventually, he closed his eyes and pressed back, trying to mimic Kaveh as best he could.

A few seconds later, Kaveh pulled back a fraction, his breath close to Alhaitham. "You can move a bit more, you know," he muttered. "I won't bite... unless you want me to."

"Okay," Alhaitham said as he stifled a laugh.

Kaveh nudged their lips together again, and one of his hands tapped at Alhaitham's jaw, signaling for him to turn his head, and oh—the kiss got a lot better after that. "That's it," Kaveh murmured against Alhaitham's lips. The praise lit something in Alhaitham, and before he could second-guess himself, he pushed to his feet, pressing his lips hard against Kaveh's and grabbing his shoulders. Kaveh tasted like vanilla and mint and the Padisarah petals he had been embellishing the tahchin with, and Alhaitham couldn't get enough of it.

He felt Kaveh smile against his mouth at the action, and when Kaveh nipped a little at Alhaitham's bottom lip, Alhaitham gasped.

Kaveh huffed a laugh at the sound and pulled back a little to say. "Someone's eager." They stumbled back together until Kaveh's shoulders hit the wall of the kitchen. When they pulled away to catch their breaths, Kaveh quipped, "Looks like my cute little junior learns fast."

Alhaitham's already visible blush only deepened. Even now, Kaveh was unreasonably talkative. "Don't call me that."

"Why? It's true," Kaveh replied with a teasing smile, already leaning back towards Alhaitham.

"Kaveh—" Alhaitham’s breath caught as he felt Kaveh move off the wall to plant firm kisses along his jaw. He made a startled noise and immediately hated how needy he sounded. It was all just so much at once. He always knew Kaveh was confident in everything he did, but not this confident, and he was starting to like it, even if he wouldn’t admit it.

“Aw, your ears are so red,” Kaveh whispered as his kisses approached Alhaitham’s ears. “You’re cute when you’re flustered like this.”

Cute... Kaveh kept calling Alhaitham cute. He had never considered himself cute, but if it inspired Kaveh to continue kissing him, he wouldn’t argue. Besides, he couldn’t even focus enough to respond to the outrageous claim anyway. “Ah – stop that,” Alhaitham said breathily when Kaveh tried to nip at his earlobe.

“Hmm…” Kaveh hummed. “Yeah, we should probably stop. At this point, our food’s gone cold and I need to heat it up again.” He sounded very reluctant to do so and placed one last, softer kiss on Alhaitham’s lips before letting his arms fall away.

While his roommate went over to grab their plates to reheat, Alhaitham felt like he was moving in slow motion as he returned to his seat. Did all that really just happen? The fire in his stomach and the dizziness in his head told him that it certainly did, but he still felt like it was hard to believe. He raised his hand to the underside of his jaw, as if he could still feel the kisses Kaveh left there. He couldn’t stop replaying the gentle way Kaveh handled him and kissed him, his teasing words, and how… how kind he had been. Alhaitham had expected, at the very least, a bit of mockery when he confessed his feelings. Instead, he had been kissed. No, the kiss wasn't the half of it. It was how carefully Kaveh had treated him, the knowledge that it was Alhaitham's first kiss, the checks to make sure he wasn't overwhelmed, despite the want that had clearly simmered under the surface.

Meanwhile, Kaveh busied himself at the stovetop once again, and he shortly brought the reheated food back to the table. “I, uh... Um... Are you okay over there? Was that too much?” he asked, seeing Alhaitham’s thoughtful expression and how silent he had been.

Alhaitham took a bite of the hot food. “It was… uh, a new experience, but I’m alright,” he said, his voice coming out rougher than he intended.

“That’s… fine. That’s all fine,” Kaveh said. “I don’t expect you to know how to do all of this. We can figure it all out as we go along.”

“Sure,” Alhaitham agreed.

Kaveh narrowed his eyes. “Why do you sound so indifferent now?” He sighed. “Whatever. Can I just ask you one question?”

“You just did.”

“You—! You know what I mean!” Kaveh exclaimed. “I wanted to ask if you… wanted to match tomorrow? For the Akademiya event.”

“Match?” Alhaitham echoed, perplexed at the sudden change in topic.

"Like... y'know... I don't know if you already picked out what you're wearing, but it'd be fun to match... especially if you wanted to make this... uh, official," Kaveh stammered, growing nervous as he continued. "Not—not like we have to, and I also just realized you never actually specified what you wanted, I just assumed—"

“You’re overthinking it,” Alhaitham interrupted. “Yes, that’s what I want. We can be partners, if you want to call it that.”

“Oh, so now you’re all calm and composed. Where’d all your nerves go?” Kaveh scoffed.

Ignoring him, Alhaitham continued, “And yes, we can match if you’d like. I had a few options on what to wear tomorrow, but I hadn’t actually decided yet. We can figure it out after dinner.”

“Really?” Kaveh’s eyes immediately brightened up. “Good, because sometimes I get embarrassed by your choice in clothing. Did you know you wore two different shoes to work last week?”

It wasn't Alhaitham's fault that all his black shoes looked identical. "No, and I don't really care—"

“You should really start trusting me with these kinds of things,” Kaveh cut in.

“Sure,” Alhaitham shrugged. “It would certainly make things more efficient.”

They finished the rest of the meal talking about color coordination and bickering over Alhaitham’s apparent lack of style. The initial tightness that Alhaitham felt in his chest when he first entered the house had all disappeared. He had been bracing for awkwardness, Kaveh being potentially upset, and complicating an already complicated relationship when he confessed, but none of that happened. In fact, it almost felt like nothing had changed, even though a lot of things had, and even more things would change tomorrow. But Alhaitham was okay with all that change, because he knew that despite it, Kaveh would care for him, and he would care for Kaveh, and that was all he needed.