Work Text:
After the Irminsul incident, Alhaitham and Kaveh slowly returned to normal day to day life. It was odd, going back to something so familiar after something so strange. Though, even if familiar, it felt as if something had shifted between them.
Alhaitham was highly aware of this. There wasn't a single bone, muscle or nerve in his body that didn't know why things felt a little off.
It's not often that the two work together, especially not so efficiently. They had, for once, put their brains together and done something useful. Something that had actually helped all of Sumeru, all of Teyvat.
Both of them felt a sense of pride, not just for themselves, but each other as well.
And Alhaitham… He couldn't stop himself from thinking about Kaveh even more than before after everything. It's not like he didn't already think about Kaveh a lot, but he thought about him a little differently now. Kaveh had gotten stronger. Kaveh had gotten more confident in himself and his work. Kaveh had changed, and noticeably so to Alhaitham. He was proud of him.
Kaveh, however, was oblivious to the proud, maybe even admiring stares that Alhaitham would give towards him from across the living room as the two went on about their own things. Alhaitham would usually just read, not paying too much attention to what Kaveh was doing in the same room, but now…
Alhaitham wanted to stare. He wanted to know.
Eventually, he'd start asking.
"Anything interesting you're working on?" "What's your current project?" "Can I see?"
Kaveh, as this went on, would get used to the unusual (now usual) questions. He would even start sitting closer to Alhaitham subconsciously, knowing he'd want to see what he was working on anyway.
Alhaitham wanted to be there for Kaveh more than before. He simply cared, and wanted to show it.
Life, when not bickering, was calm for Kaveh and Alhaitham. It was a mutual understanding of needing this sort of life. More so, needing each other in their otherwise dull and repetitive lives. They couldn't live without this sort of domesticity, and neither of them would want it from anyone else.
Through the worries of life, the two would find peace within each other.
And no matter what happened, Kaveh and Alhaitham would return home together.