Work Text:
Sumeru City - 1:08 PM
The sun was high up in the sky, shining brightly and warmly above the Akademiya. The streets and the Grand Bazaar bustled with people, vendors from all over Sumeru gathering for the long summer market period. The green of the plants and colorfull hues of the beautiful flowers around the city sparked an interest in the bees and other small creatures, as they seemed to stare at it in admiration. The kids, whom were running from stall to stall, seemed all the more happy to be here, eventually seeking shade, to hide from the heat of the sun.
There, amidst the hues of bright and slightly darker green, a house resides, some distance away from the busy streets.
Sitting at his drawing desk, Kaveh stands perched over a stack, a mess, of papers. Designs for a renovation of a house of a matra, Kaveh had been commissioned by a matra Cyno was acquainted with. Kaveh was glad to take the commission, originally being given the assumption that the matra was giving Kaveh full creative freedom, but Kaveh quickly realized this wasn't the case. At all.
The requests and changes had been getting so absurd, that Kaveh, for the first time in a while, had a block. He was completely out of ideas. Every suggestion he made was instantly reflected and made fun of. It was starting to really get to him. He let out a loud, dramatic sigh, before plopping back down into his wooden desk chair, he'd designed and built the chair himself, even though it was now full of paint, ink and pencil marks. He tended to scratch his pencil on the chair's armrests when he was deep in thought and working on designs.
Kaveh raised a hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead and eventually settled in his hair. He liked running his hands through his hair, he liked his hair, adored it even. He took very good care of it to make it look presentable, which, compared to his roommate, was a lot of effort. Alhaitham never did anything fancy to his hair, and he still looked like a model whenever and wherever Kaveh saw him. It pissed Kaveh off, because Alhaitham couldn't care in the slightest how his hair looked.
But he also couldn't deny the fact that what he and his 'roommate' had, was slowly turning into something more. More close, more intimate. Though, whenever he mentioned it or brought it up somewhere, Alhaitham would just.. disappear for a while and return a few hours later. Kaveh never got a response. They even got into arguments about it, Alhaitham just ignoring any questions about their relationship.
Kaveh rubbed his eyes promptly, as they were getting dry from staring at these damn designs for hours on end. If he didn't think of a solution, his reputation would be ruined, and he wouldn't even get paid! Who would screw up a renovation design of a matra's house? That person would really be a good-for-nothing. Drowning in the sound of his thoughts and the lines of his sketches, he hadn't heard Alhaitham walk into the room, and coming up behind him. Alhaitham poked at Kaveh's shoulder, and Kavehs soul definitely left his body for a second there as he let out a short yelp.
"Hey-! Would you mind not scaring my ass off for once, you stupid fungus??"
Alhaitham just looked down at Kaveh, unimpressed by the insult. Instead, he shoved a plate of freshly cut fruits and a glass of water into Kaveh's hands. Kaveh looked at his stoic and seemingly annoyed roommate in confusion. He knew he wasn't actually annoyed, that's just how his face was. But the fruits? This was definitely a new level of caring, Kaveh was surprised at the fact he found it to be so endearing.
With the sun shining so brightly, the green stained glass windows reflected a green hue onto Alhaitham's face. It really suited him, complimenting his eyes in a way that stunned Kaveh.
"Kaveh, did you hear what I said? Or were you too busy basking in your own ocean of a head?"
"Huh? .. Yeah, yeah I heard you.."
"Then what did I say?"
Kaveh in fact did not hear at all what his roommate said.
"..."
Alhaitham sighed before repeating himself for Kaveh.
"I said that you should drink more water. Its hot, if you get dehydrated you'll get even less work done. I also cut you some fruits Tighnari gifted us, he stopped by this morning."
Kaveh took a look at the fruits, they looked like literal heaven on his plate at this moment. He just stared at his roommate, literal tears in his eyes, as he ate some fruits.
"I'm sorry for calling you a fungus.. you'd be more like.. a Padisarah flower. I hate you, stupid scribe. You give me too much."
He blabbered as he ate, he felt so mean sometimes, but Alhaitham really brought it upon himself sometimes. Like the time Kaveh's pet beetle died and Alhaitham's only reaction was some stupid fact about the lifespan of beetles. Kaveh didn't talk to Alhaitham the rest of that day.
"Well, if you weren't overworking yourself all the time maybe I wouldn't be forced by myself to give you so much, idiot."
"Not my fault this damned matra won't stop making 3 more remarks for every design choice I show him. I've been staring at this ridiculous design for hours, why can't I come up with anything? I mean.."
As Kaveh told Alhaitham about his troubles, Alhaitham watched him, making sure he ate all of the fruits and drank the water. At the end of the blonde's rant, Alhaitham walked closer to the design desk and maneuvered the tabletop to stand more upright, the sun shining on the designs. He locked it in before grabbing Kaveh's hand and guiding him to the Divan, which was a little further behind his chair. Alhaitham sat down first, before patting the space in front of him. Kaveh stared at him in confusion again, but sat down hesitantly. Kaveh was now facing towards the designs again, just a little further away. He could get a good look at all of them in a good light from here. Whilst he was staring at his own creations, he felt Alhaithams gentle hands undo his hair, letting it down from it's usual ponytail. What was he planning now?
Surprisingly enough, Kaveh didn't mind, not at all. In fact, he leaned slightly into his touch as he focused on the designs. Kaveh heard the sound of paper being flipped, of course. Kaveh knew Alhaitham liked fiddling with something while reading, when he felt Alhaitham starting to braid his hair, he just grinned and tried reverting his thoughts and eyes back to the designs. He made notes on what to change or do differently in the sketchbook he always carried on his person. He also made sure to not move too frantically, as to not stir the man braiding his hair while reading.
Gosh, what a nerd. But Kaveh wasn't surprised, its was normal for him at this point, ever since he met Alhaitham at the Akademiya all those years ago, he's always had his nose in some book. It's become almost therapeutic for Kaveh to watch his friend read books, he liked how invested he was in each book he read, even if it was terrible.
After a long while of sitting comfortably in eachothers silence like this, the sky had turned pink, and the heat had started to lower. Evening birds sat on the branches of the plants around the house, the last vendors of that day's summer market had started closing their stalls, kids were being called inside by their parents, and slowly, the sound of crickets could be heard outside.
Kaveh's head was on the others shoulder by now, both of them unmoved, as Alhaitham continued reading. Although, Kaveh saw as his roommate glanced over at him for a second, then staring back at his book, before closing it, and speaking in a gentle and quiet tone.
"Did that help any? It helps me when I need to think about something, I distance myself away from it before coming back to it."
Kaveh scoffed and stared at the stained window.
"Is that what you do to me? Distance yourself from me whenever there's something new to think about? Whenever there's a change? Whenever we argue?"
Alhaitham went silent at that, not knowing how to respond, his expression was somewhat of a scowl, he hadn't expected that.
"But yes, it helped."
Alhaitham was really quiet and avoidant now, avoiding the others eyes without a sound. He seemed to be in thought, he even let his precious book slide off the couch without even picking it back up. Kaveh sighed, knowing this was going to be like any other time he brought it up. Surprisingly, Alhaitham didn't leave. He didn't even usher Kaveh's head away, instead, he gently turned Kaveh to face him, his head still on Alhaithams shoulder. Slowly, he opened his mouth.
"I did not wish to run, nor leave you to wonder when I leave at the mention of our.. situation. It is just.. new, different to me. I have difficulty dealing with the feelings that accompany it. I do know one thing, and it is that I don't wish to make any changes in the direction our relationship is going. I might have some thoughts and issues when it comes to dealing with the changes, but all of that is worth it if that means I get to keep you with me."
Kaveh lifted his head, completely baffled and honestly, completely smitten. So, he just got the wrong idea whenever Alhaitham left. He thought he left each time so he wouldn't have to deal with Kaveh, or to just ignore anything he said. In reality, he was also really thinking about each and every word, but he was just dealing with the changes in his own way.
When Kaveh snapped out of his thoughts, Alhaitham was staring at him, with a look Kaveh couldn't quite place. What he could place, were the blue-greenish eyes staring at him, like he was trying to read the blonde's mind, like he was trying to trace every last line that defined his face, his hair, his clothes, his lips.
Suddenly, the entire renovation design project didn't seem that stressing or important anymore. As the others eyes bore into him, he could for the first time that summer, really experience the summer sun, its gentle summer breeze, the aroma that defined everything around them. He could breathe, he could feel his face burn, but really the last thing he thought about right now was sunscreen. He would let this sun burn him, no matter the burns, he'd let it evaporate him, turn him into dust.
He was absolutely and completely in love, and at that moment, to him, it felt like the epitome of beauty and gentleness was sitting right in front of him. And he wished he could stare at him for the rest of his life, let it burn his eyes.
He was again snapped out of his thoughts when he felt two callused but incredibly gentle hands cup his face. He felt his breath hitch. And before he could stop himself, he closed the distance between them. He hadn't felt this warm and comfortable since his mother held him. And though the sun had long since gone under, it seemed to shine just a little longer just between the two of them.