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The House of Daena was usually a sanctuary of dead silence, save for the rhythmic rustling of turning parchment and the occasional, hushed scrape of a scholar's stool. As the Acting Grand Sage—a title he wore like an unwanted, heavy woolen coat—Alhaitham sat at his massive mahogany desk, buried beneath a mountain of post-Sumeru reconstruction paperwork. The Akademiya was undergoing a massive structural overhaul after the downfall of Azar, and the sheer volume of administrative logistics was staggering.
To cope, Alhaitham had his soundproof earpieces firmly clamped over his ears. They were dialed into a low, droning frequency that completely erased the ambient noise of the room. It was his universal signal to the world: Do not disturb.
Usually, Kaveh respected that barrier. Or, more accurately, he would stand across the room and scream at it until Alhaitham chose to flick the switch.
But today, Kaveh was feeling exceptionally bold.
Perhaps it was the successful completion of his latest architectural blueprint, or perhaps it was the lingering, profound relief that Teyvat hadn’t collapsed into ruin during the Archon Quest. Whatever the spark, Kaveh had bypassed his usual anxious fretting and walked straight into the Akademiya with a deliberate bounce in his step. He wanted to bring a little chaos into the scribe’s strictly ordered afternoon.
Kaveh sauntered into the private office, his heavy gold hairpins catching the warm afternoon light filtering through the stained glass. He didn’t knock. He didn’t announce his presence. Instead, he walked straight past the neat stacks of reference books, stepped right into the narrow space between the mahogany desk and Alhaitham’s leather chair, and casually turned around.
With a smooth, practiced elegance, Kaveh sat directly down onto Alhaitham’s lap.
The heavy quill in Alhaitham’s hand abruptly stopped mid-stroke, leaving a sharp blot of black ink on a budget proposal for the Amurta darshan. His teal eyes snapped up, blinking in genuine, uncharacteristic shock. For a second, the legendary analytical mind of the Grand Scribe completely short-circuited. He reached up, his fingers hooking around the band of his earpieces, and pulled them down around his neck. The soft click echoed loudly in the quiet office.
"Kaveh," Alhaitham said, his voice a low, warning rumble. Despite the stern tone, his hands acted on pure, defensive instinct, closing firmly around Kaveh’s waist to steady the architect's sudden weight. "I am in the middle of reviewing a highly sensitive structural budget. What, exactly, do you think you are doing?"
"You work entirely too much," Kaveh declared. A brilliant, mischievous smile spread across his face, his crimson eyes dancing with rare amusement. "The sky isn't falling anymore, Alhaitham. The Akademiya can survive without you for twenty minutes."
Before Alhaitham could counter with a perfectly logical argument about administrative duties and deadlines, Kaveh leaned forward. He wrapped his arms securely around Alhaitham’s neck, the soft fabric of his sleeves brushing against Alhaitham’s shoulders. Alhaitham, anticipating the usual routine of a frustrated lecture or a demanding request for dinner funds, braced his posture.
Instead, Kaveh tilted his head, leaned in, and pressed a soft, lingering kiss directly to Alhaitham’s left cheekbone.
Alhaitham’s breath hitched slightly, his chest rising against Kaveh's ribs.
Kaveh didn’t stop there. He shifted his weight, his thigh brushing against the edge of the desk, and pressed another firm, warm kiss to the center of Alhaitham’s forehead, right between his brows where a stress wrinkle usually formed. Then, he trailed downward, peppering small, feather-light kisses along Alhaitham’s strong jawline, tracing the path down to the sensitive skin just below his ear.
Alhaitham’s grip on Kaveh’s waist tightened significantly. His large fingers dug slightly into the soft, embroidered fabric of Kaveh’s shirt. The scribe’s eyes darkened, his analytical gaze fading into something much more intense as he tracked Kaveh’s face with absolute focus. When Kaveh finally pulled back a fraction of an inch, Alhaitham slightly parted his lips, leaning forward instinctively to capture Kaveh's mouth and end the distraction.
But Kaveh was playing a game.
Just as Alhaitham leaned in, Kaveh neatly dodged. He turned his head at the very last millisecond, letting Alhaitham’s lips brush uselessly against his jawline instead.
Alhaitham let out a sharp, irritated breath through his nose. "Kaveh."
"Yes, Acting Grand Sage?" Kaveh teased, his voice dropping into a playful whisper. He leaned in again, making it look entirely like he was going for a proper, apologetic kiss, only to swerve at the final second to plant a loud, ridiculous kiss right on the tip of Alhaitham’s nose.
Alhaitham’s eyebrows knitted together. He was a man who prided himself on control, calculation, and absolute predictability. Kaveh was currently dismantling all three with deliberate, agonizing precision.
"You are being incredibly difficult today," Alhaitham murmured. He tried to shift his upper body upward to bridge the gap, but Kaveh placed a firm, open palm against Alhaitham’s chest, holding him back with a soft, triumphant laugh.
"I don't know what you mean," Kaveh hummed, completely unbothered by the warning signs. He leaned down again, targeting the right side of Alhaitham's face this time. A kiss to the temple. A soft kiss to the eyelid, forcing Alhaitham to close his eye. Then, a sharp, teasing nip to Alhaitham’s earlobe that made the scribe’s shoulders visibly tense.
Every single time Alhaitham tried to meet him in the middle to seal the deal, Kaveh pulled back just out of reach. He laughed softly against Alhaitham's skin, deliberately leaving Alhaitham’s lips entirely untouched. It was an exquisite, beautifully executed torture.
"Enough," Alhaitham said. His voice dropped a full octave, thick with a sudden, heavy gravity that usually made stubborn Akademiya researchers tremble.
"Make me," Kaveh challenged, his boldness reaching a fever pitch. He smiled down at him, looking entirely too proud of his successful sabotage.
He didn't get to celebrate his victory for long. Alhaitham’s patience, while vast when it came to deciphering ancient, dead languages, had a very strict, definitive limit when it came to his roommate's antics.
Before Kaveh could dodge away for another teasing strike, Alhaitham’s large hand moved lightning-fast from Kaveh's waist up to the back of his neck. His fingers tangled firmly into Kaveh's golden hair, anchoring him completely in place. Alhaitham didn't pull hard enough to hurt, but the grip was absolute. There was nowhere left to swerve.
"My turn," Alhaitham whispered.
Kaveh’s breath trapped in his throat, his crimson eyes widening as he realized his own trap had closed tightly around him. But he didn't try to pull away. The playful arrogance melted into a quiet, expectant stillness.
Alhaitham pulled Kaveh down those final few centimeters, finally, completely capturing Kaveh’s lips with his own.
The kiss was deep, firm, and thoroughly possessive—a silent, physical reprimand for the last ten minutes of teasing, but laced with a profound, quiet warmth that they had both carried since the turbulence of the Sumeru crisis ended. Kaveh melted instantly against him, his hands shifting from Alhaitham's chest to softly cup the scribe's jaw, his bold teasing dissolving into a soft, breathless sigh against Alhaitham’s mouth. The world outside the office, the paperwork, and the heavy title of Grand Sage faded into absolute irrelevance.
When Alhaitham finally broke the kiss for air, he didn't let Kaveh move far. He kept his forehead pressed firmly against Kaveh’s, both of them breathing heavily in the quiet room. The budget proposals on the desk were completely forgotten, one corner now slightly crumpled under Alhaitham's ignored arm.
"Are you satisfied?" Alhaitham asked, a rare, genuine tug of a smile appearing at the corner of his lips.
Kaveh's flush was brilliant, his heart hammering visibly against his collarbone, but his bold grin returned, bright and unrepentant. "Highly. I think I'll have to interrupt your paperwork much more often."
Alhaitham let out a soft huff, his grip softening into a gentle caress against Kaveh's waist. "If you do, I will ensure your rent increases proportional to the lost hours of my labor."
"Oh, please," Kaveh laughed, burying his face into Alhaitham's neck. "You wouldn't dare."