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So, they'd messed up.
In all fairness, they were trying to set up their horrifically lonely friends. And, when all was said and done, they'd succeeded at that!
But to do that, Kaveh had to pretend to be engaged to Alhaitham, of all people. And you know what? They'd succeeded at that too! Tighnari had had no idea that his baby brother—adopted, of course—wasn't really head over heels in love with Alhaitham, one half of the famous show biz duo from the Zubayr Theater that swept the nations, blah blah blah, until it all blew up in his face.
Alhaitham wasn't that great, okay. His voice couldn't hold a candle to Cyno's, that deep crooning bass that captivated the world in general—and Tighnari in particular. (And, now that his brother's head is out from under his fluffy tail, Kaveh is happy for him, truly. Tighnari was the vocal talent of their duo, and anyone just had to listen to him and Cyno sing together to know they were meant to be.)
Alhaitham could hit the notes when he sang and that was about it, but.
But when he danced—
Kaveh hugs his knees to his chest. He has got to let this go. It was a lie! It was his suggestion! They'd agreed at the time it was an act, another performance, it was just—
Alhaitham's hand on his low back, on his waist, with the power and surety that he belonged there, that this was his, that Kaveh was HIS—
Kaveh lets out a silent shout, hands fisting in his hair and yanking.
They're singing on either side of that glowing, glittering tree, snow finally falling behind them, and Cyno has Tighnari's face in his hands and they're kissing, sweet and deep, and Alhaitham turns to him with an indescribable look, he licks his lips, and—
Kaveh pushes away from his dressing table, trying to get it the fuck together.
There's a quiet knock on the door, and he knows who it is before Tighnari calls out, "Kaveh?"
"I'm fine!" he says, hurried and unconvincing.
"…"
Thing is, come the new year, they're supposed to be taking a train to their next gig in Fontaine. Cyno was coming along, apparently unwilling to leave Tighnari's side, instead of returning to Sumeru City with Alhaitham. Mondstadt had been good to them—despite the lack of snow—
"Mondstadt's lovely this time of year," Alhaitham says, his voice is flat and almost sarcastic, but when Cyno turns to look his eyes are nothing but earnest. As he turns back, though, Alhaitham catches Kaveh's eye and winks—
Kaveh whirls around, kicks his costume trunk, and immediately howls in pain.
"Kaveh!" The door bursts open, and Tighnari—perfect, wonderful Tighnari—takes one look at Kaveh and sighs.
They end up on Tighnari's bed, his tail curled around Kaveh so he can press his face in the comforting fluff. He sniffs, he doesn't want to cry on his brother's fur, but it's like he's five again, parents newly dead, the Valuka Shuna from the caravan theater troupe the only one willing to hold a hand out and draw him in.
"I d-didn't wan-nt it t-to be f-f-fake," Kaveh stammers in between sobbing hitches of his breath. "B-but he, he, he looked so, s-scared," he drags a corner of his sleeve over his eyes, "when I… when I…"
Tighnari rubs his back, the tip of his tail twitching. When it becomes clear that Kaveh can't get anything else out, he takes a deep breath.
"I can't speak for Alhaitham, of course," he murmurs. "But… I can explain why I was scared of love. Nothing to do with you, asalam," and Tighnari rubs his nose into Kaveh's hair. "You know how people treat my kind. 'Sexy' is supposed to be some kind of… compliment, and I hate it. Men are all the same… or so I thought." He sighs. "It's not going to be the same thing, but. Chances are Alhaitham has some… thing, some hangup, that makes him scared to fall in love."
"Or he just doesn't like me," Kaveh mumbles, mouth full of fur.
Tighnari stares flatly into the mirror on the vanity across the way. "…Kaveh."
"Whh?" he glares at his brother through the mirror.
"…Trust me on this. If he could fall, there's no one else he could possibly fall for."
❄
"Well," Cyno says, glancing up from the piano keys, though it didn't stop him from the slow vamp he was playing.
Alhaitham, leaning on his elbows on the top of said piano, won't quite meet his eyes.
"You got what you wanted. Forty-five minutes, all to yourself. And a lot more besides, I'm going wherever Tighnari goes, so who knows if you'll ever see me again."
Alhaitham blows out a breath, half a smirk touching his lips. "Dramatic, are we?"
"I've been told I have a talent for… drama." Wait, was that enough to count as a proper joke? Hm…
Unfortunately, his partner knows him all too well. "You're a musical genius, but please. Stay out of comedy."
Cyno grins. "…It's not like you to toss out compliments so casually. Good mood, or…"
Alhaitham looks away again.
"…Ah. Phenomenally bad mood." His fingers curl on the keys, slowly coaxing out a soft, sad arpeggio. "Could this have anything to do with the Avidya Brothers leaving in the morning, along with your best and only friend, because the plot to make him fall in love and stop working himself into an early grave actually worked?"
The glare he gets for that is strong enough to level a mountain.
Cyno stops playing, and braces his elbows on the keybed. "Haitham. I say this because we're comrades, and I love you. Here it is: I think you're very stupid, and I've been trying to let you figure it out, but at this rate I'll be on a train to Fontaine and you will still have your head up your ass. Look."
He slaps a sheet of paper down on top of the piano—it's a flyer for the show they'd just put on. Specifically, the part that says 'now featuring: the Avidya Brothers' was circled.
"What," Alhaitham says, staring at it.
"What if we partner with them? Permanently. I talked to Tighnari about it already, he wants to remain an independent act but if they worked under our label, they'd have their pick of performance venues, and they'd always have a theater to come home to. It's a good deal."
"We've never had partners," Alhaitham says flatly. "We gave everything to stay independent when the Akademiya wanted to eat us up, and now—"
"Haitham." Cyno's voice is steady, deep. He only has one eye visible, but it's enough to stake Alhaitham in place. "Why are you resisting? This is what you wanted. Tighnari's a capable business leader, working together will give you the time to yourself you've always wanted.
"Is this about Kaveh?"
"No," he says, too fast.
"…" Cyno does not look impressed.
Alhaitham sighs. "…It was supposed to be fake," he mutters. "It was an act, to convince Tighnari he didn't have to worry about his little brother anymore. An act like any other. I was playing a part, and so was he?
Cyno leans forward, pressing a lone low F key. "…And then?"
Cyno and Tighnari are kissing, on one side of the side. Wind blows a chill in from outside, where snow has started falling. They're a matched set, over here. They have an audience. Cyno and Tighnari are kissing, it's only right that they—
Alhaitham presses his lips together harder, trying everything to avoid his friend's pointed stare.
—And then he leans in and catches those lips in his own, a hand curling around his waist. Kaveh's wind around his neck as he melts, immediately, kissing back with a soft sweet rightness that echoes like a gong in his soul, why didn't they tell him, why didn't anyone tell him it would be like this—
"…And then we kissed, at the end of the show. Because, and I want to make this clear, you two were the ones that started it. I was just—we were just following your lead and preserving the symmetry of the stage."
Cyno blinks at him. "Haitham, Haitham. Do you even hear yourself right now?"
"No," he growls, stubbornly. "I don't. You see, thanks to saving someone's life I have fifty percent hearing loss in one ear—"
"Oh, don't start that again." Cyno groans running a hand through his hair. He walked into that one. "I thought you were the smart one, that's all."
Alhaitham frowns. "I am the smart one. What am I supposed to do? He ran off after the show and I haven't seen him since then. He won't even look me in the eye or be in the same room as me. What now?"
Cyno folds the flyer in half, and in half again, then tucks it into Alhaitham's breast pocket. "Go find him. Talk to him. Make him an offer, so he knows you actually want him around for more than just kissing. Then… tell him how you feel."
"…I don't know how I feel," he grinds out.
"Oh, that's easy." Cyno grins. "You wish it had been real."
❄
Kaveh's almost entirely packed up—clothes and feelings—when he hears a knock on the door.
"Look, Nari, I don't know what else to tell you—"
It's not Tighnari.
Alhaitham looks… well, bad. As bad as it was possible for the guy to look, which wasn't very. He had dark circles under his eyes, his hair was a tiny bit out of place, and his tie was undone.
Oh my god, was he dying??
"Alhaitham," Kaveh says stiffly, not knowing what else to say. Hello?? You look like shit?? How dare you kiss me with that mouth and not mean it??
"I want to offer you a job."
That… wasn't what he expected. Not in the slightest.
"Wait—that's not what I." He winces.
Fascinating. Alhaitham was a words guy, he wrote all the lyrics for their songs, he always knew what to say and how to say it. Kaveh had never seen him flustered.
"…Cyno and I want to offer you and your brother a partnership." He tucks his hands in his pockets, pushing his jacket back enough to expose the green suspenders hidden under it. "You'd still be the Avidya Brothers, but we'd work together and collaborate on shows and you could stay at the Zubayr, in between gigs. If you wanted. You wouldn't have to—I just mean, Cyno obviously wants to see more of Tighnari, and I."
Kaveh's eyes blow wide open. "…And you what?"
If he'd stopped, if he'd just ended it with 'Cyno wants Tighnari', Kaveh still would have said yes. He and Alhaitham made their bed setting those two up, of course they'd just have to deal with the consequences.
And I—
Alhaitham seems just as frozen in place as Kaveh is, eyes wide, like he really didn't mean to say it and he absolutely wishes he could swallow it back up.
Which means it's something important.
"Haitham, and you what?"
It's the first time Kaveh's dropped the 'Al', he knows it's kind of an archaic name to begin with, but it's really supposed to be a title. Al-Haitham. So Cyno drops it, for the most part, because he's old-fashioned, but Kaveh never has.
Alhaitham looks like he's been kicked. By a horse. In the solar plexus.
"And-I-want-to-see-more-of-you-too," he practically vomits out, looking like he'd rather die.
"What?!"
Kaveh stomps over to him. He feels his forehead, pushing up silver hair, checking with his palm and comparing it to his own.
"I'm not sick," he drawls, getting his confidence back now that Kaveh's doing something stupid. "I mean it. I… want to see you more."
"No you don't," Kaveh snaps. "That's not—you can't mean it. Really?? Do you know what you're saying, Alhaitham?"
"Dalam mikhad bishtar bebinemat," he murmurs, and Kaveh almost punches him right in the mouth.
"You stop that!!"
"I know what I'm saying, and you do too."
"That's not—"
Alhaitham catches him by the hand, and another goes around his waist, and like a siren call, Kaveh melts into it—he curls a hand around Alhaitham's shoulder, and their bodies move in an easy, synchronized sway.
His eyes may have said, go fuck yourself. His words may have said, I'm not the marrying kind. But when Kaveh's in his arms and they're dancing? His body has always told the truth.
Alhaitham dips him down, low enough that his blond hair brushes the floor. "Oh," he whispers, breathless. "You do like me."
He pulls him back up and the momentum brings them chest-to-chest, practically breathing the same air.
"Was that not obvious when I kissed you?" he murmurs. Kaveh can feel his lips move.
"Well, that was—"
"Let me try again," he interrupts, and this time, the kiss is just for them.