Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

• kalim al-asim, scarabia’s own beloved housewarden and quite possibly the only person at night raven college who doesn’t go through life with a permanent chip on his shoulder. heir to the al-asim merchant family, passable student, the type of guy who falls hard and fast and who dates with the full intention of marrying you down the line — and someone who is almost impossible not to adore once he fully lets you into his world and you get to see just how deep his optimism and kindness runs. your relationship with him almost plays out like something out of a fairytale… once you get jamil’s seal of approval and get used to how desensitised your beloved boyfriend is to people trying to kill or kidnap him, anyway
• it’s no secret that kalim comes from a large family with lots of siblings, all of whom are very vocal about how excited they are to meet their big brother’s future spouse and bug him about bringing you home every time he visits. and his parents are no better, already floating the idea of engagement and marriage from the moment kalim brings you up and they can see how in love he is. oh, but don’t feel pressured to jump straight in, he’s more than happy to make excuses for you until you’re comfortable enough to stay at his family estate over the holidays — and he’ll even teach you some tricks to help you remember all of his siblings’ names and faces (because sevens know that you’ll be swarmed by them the second you step through the gate and he wants to give you a fighting chance)
• throwing parties and feasts and celebrations is kind of already kalim’s whole thing, but now that you’re together at least one third of the parties he throws will be in some way dedicated to you. because he just loves supporting and celebrating you. either subtly if you’re on the more introverted side (e.g. not being announced as such but occurring right after you ace an exam, or on a date that’s important to you), or more blatantly if you’re as extroverted as he is — though either way, he will be doing his damndest to ensure you’re having the best time ever because what good is a party if the guest of honour isn’t having a good time?
• much to his endless chagrin, jamil kind of has to be involved in your relationship to some extent — though once he’s certain that he can trust you, he will try and minimise that involvement as much as possible for all of your sakes. like after the first few months the most you’ll see of him is when he comes to chaperone any dates you go on outside of campus, or when he wakes you both up after you’ve slept over at scarabia. he’s otherwise happy to do the bare minimum and let you two do your own thing, especially if you take over some of his less important responsibilities (like studying, homework monitoring, and the like) so he can get some much needed rest and focus on his own hobbies instead of trailing after kalim all of the time
• kalim is extremely tactile with you — never missing the chance to tackle hug you and spin you around the room in a clumsy makeshift dance, or to smother your face with kisses until you’re both giggling like kids, or to cling to your side while walking to class just to make the most of the time you have together. and while his complete and utter disregard for social etiquette or basic decorum stresses out poor jamil to no end, it’s undeniably sweet just how much he loves being in your arms
• and speaking of kisses, his are all super playful in a way that manages to both make your heart race and leave you in a far better (and slightly more flustered) mood for the rest of the day — he’s also the type who can never just kiss you once and who you’ll have to pry off of yourself if either of you have somewhere you urgently need to be otherwise he will just happily continue kissing you all over your face
• very big on pet names and pretty much never calls you your actual name unless, for whatever reason, he’s upset with you — and he wants you to do the same for him. the terms of endearment he tends to cycle through are also all in his native language, think along the lines of ‘habibi/habibti’ or ‘hayati’ or ‘ya amar’
• as the heir to the al-asim family kalim has grown up surrounded by luxuries most people couldn’t even fathom, and he fully intends to give you the same experience now that the two of you are in a relationship. in other words, you can expect to be spoiled absolutely rotten — and even if you manage to talk him down from the more large and lavish gifts (e.g. a holiday home in some far off land, a whole walk-in closet worth of new tailored outfits, some ancient relic he happened to own and thinks would really suit you, etc.), he will still sneakily find new ways to shower you with gifts and put his money to good use… like paying for all of your meals before you even get the chance to reach for your own wallet/purse, or throwing even more elaborate parties on your birthday to make up for all the gifts he wasn’t able to get you in previous months, and so on
• you are one of a very small group of people that he can genuinely trust doesn’t want to cause him any harm and he makes no attempt to hide just how much he loves and trusts you as his partner. though the most subtle but meaningful way this trust shows through is that he will happily dig into whatever food you make without hesitation — which jamil only allows because by the time you two start dating you’ve already long since earned his trust — and he will even do this if you’re not an especially good cook yourself… just eating smaller portions than he would otherwise because he doesn’t actually intend to make himself ill, even in the name of love
• while there is always plenty of food to go around in scarabia or at home — curtesy of jamil’s effort more often than not — kalim will still always, without fail, offer you some of whatever is on his plate to share or try (and he gets so happy whenever you offer him some food off of your plate in return… though he can’t actually eat it unless it was made by you or jamil, or unless jamil has already sampled it). and sevens help you if your plate is starting to look even a little bit empty because he will start piling on all of the foods he knows you like onto it the second he realises
• magic carpet centred dates? magic carpet centred dates. you’re absolutely gonna give his poor vice housewarden an aneurism one of these days, but that’s a small price to pay to see him smiling so brightly while surrounded by glimmering stars or the dazzling desert sun (and a more than welcome breeze depending on how fast he’s flying it)
• the longer you’re together the more you’ll notice kalim’s efforts to become more independent of jamil — both for his friend’s sake and for his own, because he wants to be the best boyfriend he can be for you and that means not relying on someone else to do all of the heavy lifting while he continues to coast through life. it’s a slow process, obviously, but the progress is clear enough if you care to look, and when you acknowledge how far he’s come and how much he’s changed you’ll get to see him light up like never before (after all, who wouldn’t be happy to have their partner acknowledge their efforts?)
• nobody is perfect and for as well intentioned as kalim is there are times where he will drop the ball and say something unintentionally dismissive or upsetting to you. and while he always jumps to make things right and properly apologise when he realises what he’s done, it’s still something that you’ll have to face pretty often if you want to be with him
• big into words of affirmation and showers you in compliments and praise basically every second that you’re by his side — which is a lot to get used to, but once you realise that he truly does mean every kind word he says with his whole heart it becomes less overwhelming and more flustering/flattering
• dancing with you may very well be his favourite thing to do, and whenever he’s in a good mood (which, to be frank, is basically all of the time) you can expect him to take you by the hand and spin you into some improvised dance number that’s sure to leave you breathless and grinning by the time you’re done — even when there’s no music to dance to aside from your giddy laughter as you spin and dip and stomp around to your hearts’ content
• with how optimistic and sweet as kalim is with you it’s easy for you to forget just what being in a relationship with him long term will entail — that being the constant threat of kidnappings, food poisoning, and general assassination attempts. so when the two of you start to get serious about staying together, kalim and jamil will be sitting you down and running you through what you’ll be facing and what you’ll be expected to do as you join the family, and while it’s an awkward and difficult conversation to have it’s one that you’ll come out the other side of feeling much more certain about your future with him (if a little bit anxious about the whole assassination thing given how much detail jamil went into all the plots he’s foiled over the years and what could have happened if he hadn’t caught on in time…)
• he’s always quick to jump in and offer his support and help whenever you’re in need which is sweet, obviously, but if you’re in dire need of homework help… well… chances are you’re either gonna call jamil for some actual help, or you’re gonna end up needing to help him out instead. yeah, he’s just not the most academically successful student in night raven college, but at least his heart is in the right place?
• while he can be a bit naive and oblivious at times, kalim is more than capable of stepping up and comforting and assuring you in the moments where you’re feeling low or less than or otherwise in need of someone to lean on. and don’t worry about getting any snot or spit or tears on his clothes, they can be cleaned later — his focus is on making you feel better and he’s content to stay with you, offering you all the support he can, until you’re ready to move forward
• he’s been handling bugs for as long as he can remember, having grown up alongside jamil who just cannot stand to be near them at all, and as such he’s more than happy to remove and relocate any of the little creatures that you stumble across (or that stumble across you in return) if you happen to be frightened of, or grossed out by, them. what a sweetheart!
• every time the pop music club decides to meet up for practice or has an actual gig to play, kalim will invite you along to watch and support them. and while he’s always super understanding when you’re unable to make it (as their meet ups are much more sporadic than other clubs tend to be), on the occasions where you do show up he gets super excited and visibly lights up as he performs (well, lights up more than usual — the guy’s basically a walking ball of sunshine as is)