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Kaveh is drunk tonight. Not that that isn’t a pretty regular occurrence for the architect, but this is… a new level for him.
He’s through a second bottle of wine by now, and Alhaitham wouldn’t be surprised if he has a secret third one stashed away somewhere for later.
When Kaveh stumbles over to speak to one of his Khasharewar juniors, he decides it’s probably time to take his blonde roommate home.
Kaveh was never one who was good at being quiet, and with the added alcohol, he was even worse.
Alhaitham sighed. He walked over to the table where Kaveh was rambling on about the tracery in the Akademiya, and how it was the perfect design to let the light of the sun inside of the marbled halls.
He saw the scholar try his best to keep up with Kaveh’s ramblings. Poor guy. He watched the man tense as he approached the table.
“The Grand Scribe… a pleasure?” He thought he saw the man tremble a little.
“Don’t worry about me, I’m here for this one.” He placed a hand on Kaveh’s shoulder. “Thank you for entertaining my senior, I hope he wasn’t too much trouble for you.” He led Kaveh out of the bar, but not before sliding the man a few mora. It would be rude to not pay for his drink, right?
On the walk out, Kaveh tried to seperate himself from the silver-haired man’s grip, which caused Alhaitham to tighten his grasp on the blonde’s shoulder.
“Alhaitham… let me go… you’re hurting me.”
“If I let you go, do you promise not to walk off?”
“‘Walk off?’ I’m not a child, Haitham.”
The silver-haired man sighed, before letting go of the other’s shoulder.
Kaveh definitely didn’t try to walk off, of course. He’s not a child, after all…
Needless to say, the blonde found himself back in Alhaitham’s grip pretty quick. The architect leaned his head onto the scribe’s shoulder. He didn’t protest.
The walk through Treasures Street was pretty quiet. Most shops were closed, and the residents of the city were either back in their homes, or getting so wasted they couldn’t stand (Kaveh was the latter).
Something spiked the blonde’s interest, causing his head to shoot up.
“The moon is really pretty tonight. Alhaitham, look, it’s almost as pretty as you.” He pointed up towards the sky.
Kaveh wasn’t very subtle, especially not when he was drunk. He knew basically all of Kaveh’s thoughts on himself, how he loved him since they first met as students in the Akademiya, or how he would pretend not to look at him across the room in the morning as Alhaitham brewed them their morning coffee.
It’s not that Alhaitham didn’t reciprocate, but for the sake of Kaveh’s dignity, he would wait until the blonde would be sober enough to make that decision.
He followed Kaveh’s finger, trying not to show the disappointment on his face.
“Kaveh, that’s a street lamp.”
If Alhaitham was one to show his emotions outwardly, he’d probably laugh.
Kaveh stared for a minute before repeating himself. “Yeah, it’s almost as pretty as you…”
Alhaitham shook his head. As they reached the door to their house, he opened the door quickly, and ushered the blonde in first.
Kaveh stumbled into the hallway, almost falling over in the meantime.
“Hey… be careful.” He pointed an accusatory finger at the scribe, like he just insulted him.
He didn’t react. “Alright, architect. Time for bed.”
Maybe it was just the alcohol, but he swore he saw Kaveh’s face flush.
He walked the blonde to his room, careful to not step on the drawings and blueprints strewn across the floor. When he got Kaveh to lay down, he stepped out, turning off the lights and walking to his own bed.
He took off his cape and belt, but didn’t bother with the rest. That would be a problem for morning Alhaitham. He turned up the noise cancellation on his ear pieces.
He’s never fallen asleep so quickly. Apparently, dragging your roommate out of a bar was really tiring work.
A noise at his door, and a weight added onto his bed, the scribe woke up in a jolt, feeling an almost familiar warmth at his side. He sat up to see the blonde laying to his left. The panic in his chest subsided.
He tried a couple times to wake up the architect to his side, but to no avail. The scribe sighed, but less out of disappointment, and more of… contentment? Kaveh was warm in the bed next to him, causing a flutter in his chest. He gave up after a few more tries, laying back down.
The blonde shifted, throwing his arm over Alhaitham’s middle. This time, he couldn’t suppress a smile.
He shut his eyes, and if the scribe’s face was flushed, no one needed to know. This will be interesting to explain to Kaveh in the morning.